Rogue State

Brazil threatens to take claims of U.S. spying to the U.N.

"Brazil said Wednesday that it may go to the United Nations over US spying, which it said was not only used to combat terrorism, but also for industrial espionage. 'We are not satisfied with the explanations presented' by US Secretary of State John Kerry during a visit Tuesday, Communications Minister Paulo Bernardo told a congressional panel. 'Consequently, we will bring the case to international organizations, probably the United Nations.' American officials have defended the espionage programs as entirely lawful measures that have helped foil dozens of terror attacks globally." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingBrazil threatens to take claims of U.S. spying to the U.N.

The NSA-DEA police state tango

"As revolutionary and noted hypocrite Thomas Jefferson once observed, the spread of tyranny only requires our silence. Millions of people have been sent to prison on drug-war convictions over the last 20 years. Most of those people have been poor and black. We will never know how many of those cases resulted from secret evidence collected by spy agencies, but it might not be a small number. One of the Reuters articles that broke this story quotes DEA officials as saying that the 'parallel construction' tactic had been used by the agency 'virtually every day since the 1990s.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingThe NSA-DEA police state tango

‘Intelligence laundering’

"One of the things that is really telling in this story is that the DEA bizarrely didn’t seem to think that there was really anything wrong in what they were doing. I think they got blindsided by the reaction. It’s similar to the completely clueless statement by Michele Leonhart when talking about the perjury of supersnitch Andrew Chambers. They have gotten so used to considering themselves above the law, that they actually forgot that’s where they went. Lying it’s just what you do to get the job done. Re-creating an evidence trail from scratch is just part of the standard red tape that you go through to complete a drug arrest." Continue reading →

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Send Mail To Bradley Manning (And Any Other Patriot In A Federal Dungeon)

"He is a political and persecuted prisoner just as our brothers and sisters overseas are. Indeed, most of the USSA’s inmates fall into that category since they have committed no crime: the only thing of which they’re guilty is angering a politician or bureaucrat because they persist in buying or selling plants Our Rulers dislike, or they consider their money their own rather than the IRS’s, or they’ve defied the totalitarian State in some other way. I don’t know whether the tyrants running this country have taken a page from North Korea and Saudi Arabia to deny Manning his mail, but no matter: writing him reminds the brutes that we are out here and we’re watching." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSend Mail To Bradley Manning (And Any Other Patriot In A Federal Dungeon)

‘Slipping Back Into Cold War Thinking’

"Russia's loss is Sweden's gain: On Wednesday, the White House revealed that US President Obama will visit Stockholm on September 4-5, on his way to the G-20 summit in St. Petersburg. 'Sweden is a close friend and partner to the United States,' said the press secretary in a statement. And right now, Russia isn't. Obama was originally planning to be in Moscow on these dates for talks with President Vladimir Putin -- but the Russian leader has been given the brush-off. It seems the Kremlin's decision to grant asylum to fugitive US spy agency contractor Edward Snowden was the final straw." Continue reading →

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Criminal defense lawyers demand access to secret DEA evidence

"Criminal defense lawyers are challenging a U.S. government practice of hiding the tips that led to some drug investigations, information that the lawyers say is essential to fair trials in U.S. courts. The practice of creating an alternate investigative trail to hide how a case began – what federal agents call 'parallel construction' – has never been thoroughly tested in court. Defense lawyers said that by hiding the existence of the information, the government is violating a defendant’s constitutional right to view potentially exculpatory evidence that suggests witness bias, entrapment or innocence." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingCriminal defense lawyers demand access to secret DEA evidence

NSA spying illegal, even under the unconstitutional Patriot Act

"Last week, Rep. Justin Amash, R-Mich., introduced an amendment to the Defense Appropriations Bill that would have limited the NSA’s blanket collection of metadata to those 'relevant to a national security investigation.' The Patriot Act is unconstitutional, according to any reasonable interpretation of the Fourth Amendment. The NSA’s activities do not even meet the lower standards set by the Patriot Act; they are illegal even under an unconstitutional law." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingNSA spying illegal, even under the unconstitutional Patriot Act

Obama’s abuse of the Espionage Act is modern-day McCarthyism

"President Obama has been unprecedented in his use of the Espionage Act to prosecute those whose whistleblowing he wants to curtail. The purpose of an Espionage Act prosecution, however, is not to punish a person for spying for the enemy, selling secrets for personal gain, or trying to undermine our way of life. It is to ruin the whistleblower personally, professionally and financially. It is meant to send a message to anybody else considering speaking truth to power: challenge us and we will destroy you. Only ten people in American history have been charged with espionage for leaking classified information, seven of them under Barack Obama." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingObama’s abuse of the Espionage Act is modern-day McCarthyism

NEW Spying Scandal — Is This One the Last Straw?

"The DEA unit responsible for this program is a secret organization. It cannot be investigated by defense attorneys or called into court. Even the location of the Special Operations Division is classified. Now Your so-called 'representatives' promised you that the NSA only spies on those associated with foreign terrorists. They’ve insisted that there is no domestic aspect to this spying. You now know this to be untrue. It’s just one more lie. So let me ask you ... When will enough be enough ? At what point does our so-called government cease to be legitimate? At what point do we declare it to be a criminal entity?" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingNEW Spying Scandal — Is This One the Last Straw?

CIA Should Probably Stop Having Drones Fire Again On Whoever Shows Up After a Strike

"Double tapping is sure to make even those who support the use of drones at least a little queasy. To many, it is uncomfortably similar to the tactics used by some of the terrorists we are supposed to be morally superior to: Hamas, for example. Some argue that it is a violation of international law, including at least one UN official. At the very least, it is a risky tactic for a country that holds itself up as an example of rectitude in the world and it weakens our moral authority. Worse yet, it creates a justification that could be used against us by future enemies who don't even pretend to have our level of regard for human life." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingCIA Should Probably Stop Having Drones Fire Again On Whoever Shows Up After a Strike