statism

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 →

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Disabled veteran kicked off boardwalk because of service dog

"A North Wildwood police officer issued Jared and his wife a summons because of the dog. Goering said, 'I expected to get more respect from him because of the jobs that we both have to do.' 'He mockingly asked if all veterans get service dogs,' said Jared’s wife, Sally Goering, 'his dog is medically necessary and he is a service dog.' In 2009, Jared was serving in Afghanistan when his vehicle was blown up by IEDs, twice, within 36 hours. Now, Jared uses his 3-year-old service dog, Gator, short for Navigator, to help him walk, and to get up and down stairs." Continue reading →

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Montana Attorney General blames reporters for online threats against them

"Montana Attorney General Tim Fox (R) suggested that Associated Press reporters who were threatened after their personal information was leaked online brought it upon themselves. 'Whether or not there is a chilling effect I guess the media, the journalistic profession needs to contemplate when they ask for information whether or not they are creating a chilling effect in their own profession,' Fox told Montana Public Radio (MPR) when asked about the threats, which followed his office’s denial of an AP request for a copy of the state database concerning concealed firearm permit holders. A 2013 state law made such information classified." Continue reading →

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U.S. Navy admiral pushes officers to curtail ‘jargon and gibberish’

"The fight against acronyms, adjectives and adverbs is one Kirby attacked with a handful of examples. 'The world isn’t a dangerous place. It’s a ‘dynamic and complex international environment'' Kirby mocked. 'We didn’t tell people we were reducing to one the number of carriers in the Middle East. We told them we were responding to a ’1.0 carrier presence requirement in the CENTCOM AOR.'' Faced with declining resources and a growing gap between the military and the American people, officers must communicate better, the email implored." Continue reading →

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NSA ditching 90 percent of its system administrators to avoid leaks

"NSA director Keith Alexander told a conference in New York City that headcount among its system administrators would be severely curtailed in the future. Roughly 1,000 such employees maintain the agency’s networks and equipment. The NSA is dismissing all those people in the name of secrecy. 'What we’ve done,' Alexander added, 'is we’ve put people in the loop of transferring data, securing networks and doing things that machines are probably better at doing.' An automated system operated by a minimum of human beings, on the other hand, will make the NSA’s digital assets more defensible." Continue reading →

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McCain: Young Americans admire Snowden, see him as ‘some kind of Jason Bourne’

"A deep distrust of government has led young Americans to hold up NSA leaker Edward Snowden as a hero, Sen. John McCain said Sunday. 'There’s a young generation who believes he’s some kind of Jason Bourne,' the Arizona Republican said during on 'Fox News Sunday,' referring to the lead character in the Bourne movie trilogy who battled his own government, particularly the CIA. 'Right now there’s kind of a generational change. Young Americans do not trust this government,' Mr. McCain said. 'Without trusting government you can’t do a lot of things.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingMcCain: Young Americans admire Snowden, see him as ‘some kind of Jason Bourne’

Maine Governor LePage: I’d like to blow up newspaper building

"Maine Gov. Paul LePage (R) wasted no time in making a disturbing joke after boarding a flight simulator during a Friday appearance, the Bangor Daily News reported on Friday. 'I want to find the Press Herald building and blow it up,' LePage said in video posted online from his appearance at an event hosted by defense contractor Pratt & Whitney, referring to the Portland Press Herald. LePage later told a WMTW-TV reporter he was targeting both newspapers in the simulation. Later that day, LePage sent a tweet to the Press-Herald, saying, 'Threatened? It was a joke, folks.' Local FBI officials told the Press-Herald they did not expect him to carry out such a threat." Continue reading →

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“Punishment Has Been Achieved”

"'Punishment for this offense has been achieved.' With those words, which are found near the end of an August 8 motion to dismiss a spurious battery charge against Sandpoint, Idaho resident Rita Hutchens, the author – Bonner County Chief Deputy Prosecutor Shane Greenbank – incriminates himself. Rita Hutchens is a tiny 57-year-old internationally respected quilt artist who has never committed a violent act against anybody. She was accused of 'criminal battery' because she threw a ballpoint pen at a desk in the Sandpoint City Hall while doing research for a potential lawsuit against the city." Continue reading →

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Are Mexican drug cartels recruiting U.S. soldiers as hit men?

"What would cause U.S. soldiers to utilize their skills in such ways? Well, quite frankly, the pay is good — really good. From their military income, Walker brings home around $2,500 per month and Corley about $4,500. Both had agreed to perform the hits for $50,000 each in addition to receiving a supply of cocaine. Burton said that trained soldiers from the U.S., Mexico and Guatemala are highly sought after — and extremely valuable — to the cartels, who can more readily and easily transport drugs into and throughout the states, as well as carry out hits within the country using U.S. servicemen." Continue reading →

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U.S. Drones Kill More Than 30 in Yemen; School Targeted in One Attack

"'The drones are killing our people, killing our children, and destroying our homes,' one man said, as he sat among the sheared rebar and crumbled concrete that was once his village. Another man related that after he picked up his daughter from school to take her to a doctor’s appointment, Hellfire missiles fired from U.S. drones destroyed the clinic. He grabbed his daughter and ran back to the school to take cover. Before he got there, though, the school was obliterated by a second missile. His daughter was struck in the back of the head by debris and she bled to death in his arms. 'What did my daughter ever do to them?' he cried. 'She was eight years old.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingU.S. Drones Kill More Than 30 in Yemen; School Targeted in One Attack