Winning Hearts & Minds

More Americans Going Galt

"President Obama promised he would unite the world…and he’s right. Representatives from dozens of nations have bitterly complained about an awful piece of legislation, called the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA), that was enacted back in 2010. They despise this unjust law because it extends the power of the IRS into the domestic affairs of other nations. Wouldn’t all of us get upset, after all, if the French government or Russian government wanted to impose their laws on things that take place within our borders? The law is so bad that it is causing a big uptick in the number of Americans who are giving up their citizenship." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingMore Americans Going Galt

Welcome to Post-Constitution America

"On July 30, 1778, the Continental Congress created the first whistleblower protection law, stating 'that it is the duty of all persons in the service of the United States to give the earliest information to Congress or other proper authority of any misconduct, frauds, or misdemeanors committed by any officers or persons in the service of these states'. Two hundred and thirty-five years later, on July 30, 2013, Bradley Manning was found guilty on 20 of the 22 charges for which he was prosecuted, specifically for 'espionage' and for videos of war atrocities he released, but not for 'aiding the enemy.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingWelcome to Post-Constitution America

Filipino farmers destroy genetically modified ‘Golden Rice’ crops

"A group of activist farmers in the Philippines stormed a government research facility and destroyed an area of genetically modified rice crops the size of 10 football fields. 'The Golden Rice is a poison,' said Willy Marbella. The farmers attacked the fields at the research facility in Pili, Camarines Sur out of concern that their own crops could be pollinated and thereby contaminated by the GMO plants, possibly resulting in a boycott of their products like U.S. farmers of soft white wheat saw when a strain of Monsanto herbicide-resistant wheat abruptly appeared in an Oregon field. South Korea and Japan both halted imports of U.S. wheat." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingFilipino farmers destroy genetically modified ‘Golden Rice’ crops

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

Americans Giving Up Passports Jump Sixfold as Tougher Rules Loom

"Americans renouncing U.S. citizenship surged sixfold in the second quarter from a year earlier as the government prepares to introduce tougher asset-disclosure rules. The U.S., the only nation in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development that taxes citizens wherever they reside, is searching for tax cheats in offshore centers, including Switzerland, as the government tries to curb the budget deficit. Shunned by Swiss and German banks and facing tougher asset-disclosure rules under the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act, more of the estimated 6 million Americans living overseas are weighing the cost of holding a U.S. passport." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingAmericans Giving Up Passports Jump Sixfold as Tougher Rules Loom

Border Patrol agent who shot Mexican teenager dead will not be charged

"U.S. authorities will not bring charges against a Border Patrol agent in Arizona who shot dead a rock-throwing Mexican teenager two years ago because the fatal injury did not occur in the United States, the Justice Department said on Friday. An unidentified Border Patrol agent shot Ramses Barron, a 17-year-old Mexican citizen, through the border fence in Nogales, Arizona, in the early hours of January 5, 2011. Over the past five years, U.S. border agents have fired into Mexico at least 10 times, killing six Mexicans, according to a report released earlier this year by the Washington Monthly and the Investigative Fund at The Nation Institute." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingBorder Patrol agent who shot Mexican teenager dead will not be charged

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)

The Security State’s Reaction to Snowden Shows Why It’s Doomed

"Networks, when attacked, become even more decentralized and resilient. A good example is Napster and its successors, each of which has more closely approached an ideal peer-to-peer model, and further freed itself from reliance on infrastructure that can be shut down by central authority, than its predecessors. Hierarchies, on the other hand, respond to attack by becoming even more ossified, brittle and closed. Hierarchies respond to leaks by becoming internally opaque and closed even to themselves, so that their information is compartmentalized and they are less able to make effective use of the knowledge dispersed among their members." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingThe Security State’s Reaction to Snowden Shows Why It’s Doomed

Greek youth unemployment soars to 64.9% as Biden claims stake in Greece’s success

"Greek prime minister Antonis Samaras will hold talks with US President Barack Obama later on Thursday. Mr Samaras is keen to secure US approval for stimulus policies for Greece's recession-hit economy, in contrast to the austerity emphasis preferred by many of its European partners, most notably Germany. US vice president Joe Biden said America had 'a stake' in Greece's economic recovery and wanted the crisis-hit nation to stay in the eurozone. 'The administration has always taken the view that it's overwhelmingly in our interest to have Greece remain a strong and vital part of the eurozone,' he said." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingGreek youth unemployment soars to 64.9% as Biden claims stake in Greece’s success

SWAT-Team Nation: The Militarization of the U.S. Police

"Inside, gallerygoers were looking at art and dancing to a d.j.; outside, on the patio, several young women were goofily belting out the lyrics to 'Hakuna Matata,' from 'The Lion King'. Only then did masked figures with guns storm the crowd, shouting, 'Get on the fucking ground! Get down, get down!' Some forty Detroit police officers dressed in commando gear ordered the gallery attendees to line up on their knees, then took their car keys and confiscated their vehicles, largely on the grounds that the gallery lacked the proper permits for dancing and drinking. More than forty cars were seized, and owners paid around a thousand dollars each to get them back." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSWAT-Team Nation: The Militarization of the U.S. Police