Rogue State

America has history when it comes to forcing down planes in defiance of international law

"International law (and the Chicago Convention regulating air traffic) emphatically asserts freedom to traverse international airspace, but America tends to treat international law as binding on everyone except America (and Israel). Thus when Egypt did a deal with the Achille Lauro hijackers and sent them on a commercial flight to Tunis, US F-14 jets intercepted the plane in international airspace and forced it to land in Italy, where the hijackers were tried and jailed. In 1986 Israel forced down a Libyan commercial plane in the mistaken belief that PLO leaders were among its passengers, and the US vetoed UN security council condemnation." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingAmerica has history when it comes to forcing down planes in defiance of international law

Bob Higgs: Where’s the Outrage?

"We have now reached a condition in which state authorities know an immense amount about the personal lives of virtually everyone in the U.S. and many foreigners, as well. Do people suppose that this access to personal information will be used only for the pursuit of terrorists? Anyone who has looked even superficially into previous government information-collection programs knows better. State authorities will, at minimum, employ the communications data and other personal information now at their fingertips to pursue various sorts of criminals, especially persons suspected of tax evasion. Moreover, they will almost certainly use the information for partisan political purposes." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingBob Higgs: Where’s the Outrage?

Justin Raimondo: Is America a Free Country?

"Jimmy Carter is making waves: 'America does not have a functioning democracy at this point in time,' he told a meeting of the American Bridge, held in Atlanta, when asked about Edward Snowden’s exposure of Washington’s secret global surveillance system. Carter’s previous statements about the Snowden affair were mildly supportive. Yet this new statement goes way beyond that: it is a sweeping condemnation of the current regime. That a former US President would say such a thing has got to be the scariest public pronouncement I’ve heard since the Watergate era. What’s even scarier: Carter is right." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingJustin Raimondo: Is America a Free Country?

Judge, Jury, and Executioner: Questions on the Legality of Executive Assassination

"We’ve ruled out the AUMF. The Executive Order cited above hasn’t been rescinded. And no one can cite any changes in the laws governing assassination. But clearly, something has changed. And if the law hasn’t changed, then it must necessarily be that those laws have been reinterpreted to mean something they didn’t mean before. The question becomes – who reinterpreted them and by what authority did they do so? The answer to the first half of that question is easy – the unelected lawyers acting on behalf of the Bush and Obama administrations reinterpreted them. The second part is more difficult." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingJudge, Jury, and Executioner: Questions on the Legality of Executive Assassination

NDAA Indefinite Detention Reinstated by Appeals Court

"The U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals sided with the government Wednesday in vacating a permanent injunction sought by several prominent journalists and activists barring the enforcement of a provision of the 2012 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). In a 60-page decision, the court ruled against such an injunction additionally arguing that the case’s plaintiffs, which include Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Chris Hedges, Pentagon Papers whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg and renowned linguist Noam Chomsky, among four others (collectively nicknamed 'The Magnificent Seven'), do not have standing." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingNDAA Indefinite Detention Reinstated by Appeals Court

Government Attempts to Dismiss Lawsuit Over Wrongful Arrest, Psych Ward Detention of Facebook Marine

"'It’s bad enough that the government is targeting military veterans for expressing their discontent over America’s rapid transition to a police state, but for any government official to suggest that they shouldn’t be held accountable for violating a citizen’s rights on the grounds that they were unaware of the Constitution’s prohibitions makes a mockery of our so-called system of representative government,' said John W. Whitehead, president of The Rutherford Institute and author of A Government of Wolves: The Emerging American Police State." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingGovernment Attempts to Dismiss Lawsuit Over Wrongful Arrest, Psych Ward Detention of Facebook Marine

Ex-Military General Dynamics Contractor: ‘I Hereby Resign in Protest Effective Immediately’

"I have served the post-911 Military Industrial complex for 10 years, first as a soldier in Baghdad, and now as a defense contractor. At the time of my enlistment, I believed in the cause. I was ignorant, naïve, and misled. We have become what I thought we were fighting against. Recent revelations by fearless journalists of war crimes including counterinsurgency 'dirty' wars, drone terrorism, the suspension of due process, torture, mass surveillance, and widespread regulatory capture have shed light on the true nature of the current US Government. I have always believed that if every foot soldier threw down his rifle war would end. I hereby throw mine down." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingEx-Military General Dynamics Contractor: ‘I Hereby Resign in Protest Effective Immediately’

Email exchange between Edward Snowden and former GOP Senator Gordon Humphrey

"I only wish more of our lawmakers shared your principles - the actions I've taken would not have been necessary. The media has distorted my actions and intentions to distract from the substance of Constitutional violations and instead focus on personalities. It seems they believe every modern narrative requires a bad guy. Perhaps, in such times, loving one's country means being hated by its government. If history proves that be so, I will not shy from that hatred. I will not hesitate to wear those charges of villainy for the rest of my life as a civic duty, allowing those governing few who dared not do so themselves to use me as an excuse to right these wrongs." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingEmail exchange between Edward Snowden and former GOP Senator Gordon Humphrey

Paul Craig Roberts: Coup d’etat

"During my professional life it was Soviet Russia that persecuted truth tellers, while America gave them asylum and tried to protect them. Today it is Washington that persecutes those who speak the truth, and it is Russia that protects them. It is not the US that is damaged by Snowden’s revelations. It is the criminal elements in the US government that have pulled off a coup against democracy, the Constitution, and the American people who are damaged. It is the criminals who have seized power, not the American people, who are demanding Snowden’s scalp. The Obama Regime, like the Bush/Cheney Regime, has no legitimacy." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingPaul Craig Roberts: Coup d’etat

Snowden’s full statement from Moscow: ‘I did what I believed right’

"A little over one month ago, I had family, a home in paradise, and I lived in great comfort. I also had the capability without any warrant to search for, seize, and read your communications. Anyone’s communications at any time. That is the power to change people’s fates. It is also a serious violation of the law. The 4th and 5th Amendments to the Constitution of my country, Article 12 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and numerous statutes and treaties forbid such systems of massive, pervasive surveillance. My government argues that secret court rulings, which the world is not permitted to see, somehow legitimize an illegal affair." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSnowden’s full statement from Moscow: ‘I did what I believed right’