statism

Woman violently arrested for playing banjo in wrong place at Syria war protest

"Iraq war veteran Emily Yates was arrested on Friday after a dispute with police about where she could stand while playing her banjo during a protest against U.S. military action in Syria. Video uploaded to Live Leak shows Yates asking Federal Parks Police why she could not stand in a shaded area of Independence Mall in Philadelphia. After several minutes of discussion, two officers bent Yates over a park bench and handcuffed her. By the time Yates is dragged from the park, at least eight officers are participating in the arrest." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingWoman violently arrested for playing banjo in wrong place at Syria war protest

U.S. court grants Nigerian asylum-seeker the right to testify about his own torture

"The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals decided today that a Nigerian man, Olakunle Oshodi, will be allowed to testify fully at his deportation hearing about the torture he suffered as a political dissident at the hands of Nigerian officials before he fled his homeland. The lower courts and dissenting judges refused to hear what happened the first time an unsympathetic immigration judge deported him, back in 1978. Oshodi returned to the United States in 1981, eventually married a citizen and had a child. Despite that, he faced deportation years later and then applied for political asylum." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingU.S. court grants Nigerian asylum-seeker the right to testify about his own torture

North Korean spy’s memoir details ‘enemization’ training by abducted South Koreans

"After graduation, the focus switched to training the agents to pass as locals. South Koreans abducted and smuggled back into the North were among those who instructed them in mastering the right accents and understanding the social and political culture of the capitalist South. This 'enemization' process gave them their first real taste of life outside the isolated North, as they consumed a daily diet of South Korean TV shows, movies, magazines, newspapers and books. Popular songs and dance moves were memorised, along with the names and careers of prominent TV celebrities and sports stars." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingNorth Korean spy’s memoir details ‘enemization’ training by abducted South Koreans

2 of the Worst Warmongering Neocons Demand To Know

"Why were Beyonce and Jay Z allowed to visit Cuba? Of course, the real question is: how dare the state order us to stay away from places we want to go, East German style? I must say, I'd love to visit Cuba myself. I am told that if one does, one can go through Mexico City and the Cubans do not stamp your passport. Indeed, I'd like to visit Iran, Syria, Gaza, North Korea, and all the other places the parasites don't want us to go." Continue reading →

Continue Reading2 of the Worst Warmongering Neocons Demand To Know

Gitmo inmate who was deemed no threat on hunger strikes and force feedings

"'Two times a day they tie me to a chair in my cell. My arms, legs and head are strapped down. I never know when they will come. Sometimes they come during the night, as late as 11 pm, when I’m sleeping. There are so many of us on hunger strike now that there aren’t enough qualified medical staff members to carry out the force-feedings… They are feeding people around the clock just to keep up. ' Like most of the striking inmates, he has never been charged with a crime or put on trial, and is not viewed as a threat to US national security." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingGitmo inmate who was deemed no threat on hunger strikes and force feedings

Guantanamo Gulag and the Human Rights Lie

"The US military running the Guantanamo Bay prison have cracked down hard on the dozens of prisoners who have, in desperation, engaged in secret hunger strikes so that they may die in peace making their point about the American gulag without being force-fed by US authorities. Of the 166 who remain in indefinite detention, without charge or trial, 86 have been 'cleared for release.' But they will not be released. They will most likely be held until they die. Many have likely already gone insane, as they were captured with no evidence, given no trials, tortured, and forced to live in a tropical Siberia. Yet the US has the gall to hector and lecture [other countries] about 'human rights.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingGuantanamo Gulag and the Human Rights Lie

Is the U.S. the World’s Moral Authority as Obama Thinks?

"A U.S. bombing of Syria is an aggression because it cannot be justified by claiming defense or national interests. The U.S. cannot claim that it is acting for the world or the world’s good, surely not when it is being warned outright by other nations that the results may well be catastrophic. The U.S. cannot claim it is enforcing a treaty because Syria has not agreed to a chemical weapons treaty. Furthermore, the existing agreement among states did not include a provision that declares non-signers as outlaws and then authorizes the U.S. to be the policeman. The U.S. is acting unilaterally and outside the bounds of international law." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingIs the U.S. the World’s Moral Authority as Obama Thinks?

The Syria vote: Britain’s new mood

""There is no evidence that British public opinion has turned isolationist. There is plenty of evidence that it is fed up with the debilitating post 9/11 years of national sacrifice, with the humiliating excesses of US national security policy (not least its abuses of human rights and surveillance), with the unequal burden-sharing among allies and, above all, with the failures of policy. Iraq casts a very long, very dark shadow. As a result, right from the start of its spiralling civil war, Syria has felt like a sacrifice too far. When the latest call to arms came, though it came from a respected American president and was provoked by clearly intolerable war crimes, the answer was a clear one. Enough." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingThe Syria vote: Britain’s new mood

UK Asked New York Times To Destroy Edward Snowden Documents, Request Ignored

"The British government has asked the New York Times to destroy copies of documents leaked by former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden related to the operations of the U.S. spy agency and its British partner, Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), people familiar with the matter said. The British request, made to Times executive editor Jill Abramson by a senior official at the British Embassy in Washington D.C., was greeted by Abramson with silence, according to the sources. British officials indicated they intended to follow up on their request later with the Times, but never did, one of the sources said." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingUK Asked New York Times To Destroy Edward Snowden Documents, Request Ignored

Glenn Greenwald’s Partner ‘Was Carrying A Stunning Amount Of Sensitive Documents’

"The Daily Telegraph's David Barrett tweeted out some of the details from the statement made Friday by Oliver Robbins, deputy national security adviser for intelligence, before U.K. judges. 'The material seized is highly likely to describe techniques which have been crucial in life-saving counter-terrorist operations, and other intelligence activities vital to U.K. national security,' Robbins said. 'The compromise of these methods would do serious damage to U.K. national security and ultimately risk lives.' The government told The Guardian newspaper that it had 'no confidence in their ability to keep the material safe.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingGlenn Greenwald’s Partner ‘Was Carrying A Stunning Amount Of Sensitive Documents’