Accountability for torture
Since 2004, the ACLU and its partners — the Center for Constitutional Rights, Physicians for Human Rights, Veterans for Common Sense, and Veterans for Peace — have been litigating under the Freedom of Information Act for documents concerning the abuse of prisoners held by the Department of Defense and CIA. The litigation has resulted in the release of thousands of pages of government documents, including the Justice Department torture memos that were released in April, the FBI emails that discussed the torture of prisoners at Guantanamo, and dozens of autopsy reports relating to the deaths of prisoners in the custody of the Defense Department. ACLU
China’s fractional-reserve banks
North Korea launches 7 missiles off its east coast
Defying the United States on Independence Day, North Korea fired seven missiles on Saturday into the sea off its east coast.
The test-firings came two days after North Korea, which is being squeezed by the U.S. government and other countries for its recent nuclear test, fired four short-range missiles into the sea. Link
NEVER go to the police for “help”…
… with a domestic problem, unless your intention is for potentially fatal harm to come to you or the relative with whom you’re having trouble.
A 14-year-old girl from Tucumcari, New Mexico wound up in the hospital with a Taser dart embedded in her skull after her mother, Stacy Akin, took her to the police department because the two of them had been fighting, reports the Portales News-Tribune. [via The LRC Blog]
Meet the deadliest cop in Florida
His name is Juan E. Mendez and he has killed four people in his 25-year career, wounded a few others and was even jailed for a night on felony charges back in the 1990s.
But has been able to maintain a prosperous career at the Miami Police Department.
In 2002, he was named the Deadliest Cop in Florida. And it appears he still maintains that title although I am going to have to do some more research to confirm that.
Either way, he has cost taxpayers hundreds of thousands in settlements. Check out the story on NBCMiami. [via Photography is Not a Crime]
New cyber sword
Austin Heap:
In the upcoming days, Daniel Colascione and I will release a new program to provide unfiltered internet access to the people of Iran. A software package for Windows, Mac and Unix systems, called Haystack, will specifically target the Iranian government’s web filtering mechanisms.
Similar to Freegate, the program directed against China’s “great firewall,” once installed Haystack will provide completely uncensored access to the internet in Iran while simultaneously protecting the user’s identity. No more Facebook blocks, no more government warning pages when you try to load Twitter, just unfiltered Internet.
The network will be supported by donated high-quality servers outside of Iran. We will be able to provide an individual user with unfettered internet access that costs the donor $0.015 to $0.0375 per month.
Link
ryan on July 5th 2009 in Quick Links
US-backed Colombian soldiers execute innocent for cash
The Colombian government of President Alvaro Uribe is facing questions about its handling of the war against the country’s FARC rebels following a UN report that accuses Colombian soldiers of systematically killing innocent people for a cash reward.
Obama and Zelaya’s attempted coup in Honduras
American statesman Lyndon LaRouche today asked if President Barack Obama’s support for last week’s attempted coup d’etat by former Honduran President Manuel Zelaya, is a reflection of Obama’s own plans to try something similar in the United States.
Never mind the waterboarding… here’s the sodomy
“Yasser tearfully described that when he reached the top of the steps ‘the party began…They started to put the [muzzle] of the rifle [and] the wood from the broom into [my anus]. They entered my privates from behind.’ …Yasser estimated that he was penetrated five or six times during this initial sodomy incident and saw blood ‘all over my feet’ through a small hole in the hood covering his eyes.” Link
Times are bad
The vast wasteland that the U.S. economy has become hasn’t given a lot of room for hope. Positive reports about the decrease in increases of unemployed numbers really just doesn’t excite anyone. Telling statistics, instead, are about increased savings as workers prepare for a bleak future. Link
Poor little me
Rotting safety nets
Gary North on what the state is doing to you and your children. Link
Saddam said he had WMDs out of fear of Iran; Hid out in a familiar spot
After the 2003 invasion of Iraq, Saddam Hussein stayed in Baghdad until he saw “the city was about to fall.” Months later, he was caught hiding at the same farm where he had fled in 1959 after taking part in an attempt to kill the country’s prime minister.
Unclassified FBI interviews conducted during his incarceration at a U.S. detention center offered new details Thursday about the late Iraqi dictator’s life on the run - both before and after he was ousted.
The documents also confirm previous reports that Saddam falsely allowed the world to believe Iraq had weapons of mass destruction - the main U.S. rationale behind the war - because he feared revealing his weakness to Iran, the hostile neighbor he considered a bigger threat than the U.S. Article
ryan on July 4th 2009 in Quick Links
US says it will preserve secret jails for terror case
The government will agree to preserve the secret overseas sites where a defendant in a terror case was once held and, his lawyers say, subjected to harsh interrogation techniques after his capture in 2004, a prosecutor indicated in court in New York on Thursday.
Lawyers for the defendant, Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani, told a judge this week that they were afraid that the so-called black sites, which were run by the Central Intelligence Agency, would be demolished as the agency has said it will discontinue their use. Link
It’s not secret that the banks own the government
It is no secret that the banks own the U.S. government. For example:
- Leading economist Dean Baker wrote today “Banks Own the US Government“
- The number two ranking Democrat in the Senate, Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL), said: “Frankly, banks own the place.”
- Collin Peterson, Chairman of the Agriculture Committee, said: “The banks run the place … I will tell you what the problem is — they give three times more money than the next biggest group. It’s huge the amount of money they put into politics.”
Of course, not all banks are equal. For example, Goldman Sachs clearly has a leading role.
via George Washington’s Blog
Real change on Cuba
A good place for Barack Obama to begin his program of change would be U.S. policy on Cuba. The change would move America toward three important principles on which our country was founded: economic liberty, civil liberty, and a limited-government republic.
US Marines hit Taliban heartland as part of Barack Obama’s ‘big surge’
The Marine Corps: When it absolutely, positively has to be destroyed overnight. Link
FBI’s last formal Hussein interview completely redacted
“High Value Detainee # 1″ - otherwise known as Saddam Hussein - participated in at least 20 formal interviews and at least 5 “casual conversations” with the FBI after his capture in December of 2003.
Transcriptions of the chats were finally released the last two weeks through Freedom of Information Act requests conducted separately by a New York Daily News reporter and the National Security Archive. The Washington Post’s Glenn Kessler reports that they were “released with few deletions, though one, a last formal interview on May 1, 2004, was completely redacted.” Link
US faces resentment in Afghan region
A new American military operation in southern Afghanistan may ignite further tensions among a weary population, residents and local officials warn. Link
Biden visits Iraq, underscoring fragile “sovereignty”
Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. began a two-day mission that he said was intended to “reestablish contact” with Iraqi leaders. NYT
Auditing the Fed
DHS cybersecurity plan will involve NSA, telecoms
The Obama administration will proceed with a Bush-era plan to use National Security Agency assistance in screening government computer traffic on private-sector networks, with AT&T as the likely test site, according to three current and former government officials. Link
ryan on July 2nd 2009 in Quick Links
ryan on July 2nd 2009 in White House
Mandatory home inspections under climate bill?
H.R. 2454 is a 1400-page promise to audit every aspect of your home and life under the guise of creating jobs, clean energy and a sustainable world. However, before we get into the bill lets examine the way it’s been handled.
The secrecy of the bill and the speed of which the legislation is being railroaded is quite alarming. The last two times I’ve seen this was with the Patriot Act and TARP legislation.
Congressman Ron Paul told the Washington Times that no one was allowed to read the Patriot Act, and for that, we received one of the most anti-American legislations we’ve ever seen. Complete with secret arrests, indefinite detentions and forced DNA collection from “suspected terrorists.”
TARP had similar shenanigans, it was rushed through the house, no one could read it and threats of Marshal Law were made. Rep. Brad Sherman tells us in the clip what happened behind closed doors.
Goldman Sachs behind every market crash since 1920s
Goldman Sachs has played a crucial role in creating every market bubble since the 1920s — and has profited from not only the bubbles, but from the crash that followed as well, says a new expose in Rolling Stone magazine.
An article in the July 9-23 issue of the magazine, written by Matt Taibbi, lists five asset bubbles that the 140-year-old investment bank helped create — and one that Taibbi asserts the firm is currently working to make happen. Raw Story
Job losses rise
The pace of job losses quickened last month with the American economy shedding 467,000 jobs, as unemployment rose to its highest level in 26 years.
It’s Obama’s war now
The U.S. military has launched the first major offensive of Barack Obama’s new Afghanistan strategy, sending thousands of troops to Helmand province under the moniker Operation Strike of the Sword.
Time to put a freeze on foreign aid/arms deals
75% of US aid to Israel is used to buy weapons made in the US. WTF?
The lying, cheating Federal Reserve
How Much Money Inflation? Due to a policy of allowing banks to reclassify checking deposits as savings deposits, the Fed increased the money supply 70% from May ‘08-May ‘09. The increase in M1 is “only” 16%. Mises
ryan on July 2nd 2009 in Quick Links
ryan on July 2nd 2009 in White House