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Eric Holder: Drone strikes against Americans on U.S. soil are legal

March 6, 2013 in ANON NeWs, Headline, Politics

By  Joel Gehrke  —  washingtonexaminer.com

drone-strike-suspectedTerroristAttorney General Eric Holder can imagine a scenario in which it would be constitutional to carry out a drone strike against an American on American soil, he wrote in a letter to Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky.

“It is possible, I suppose, to imagine an extraordinary circumstance in which it would be necessary and appropriate under the Constitution and applicable laws of the United States for the President to authorize the military to use lethal force within the territory of the United States,” Holder replied in a letter yesterday to Paul’s question about whether Obama “has the power to authorize lethal force, such as a drone strike, against a U.S. citizen on U.S. soil, and without trial.”

Paul condemned the idea. “The U.S. Attorney General’s refusal to rule out the possibility of drone strikes on American citizens and on American soil is more than frightening – it is an affront the Constitutional due process rights of all Americans,” he said in a statement.

Holder noted that Paul’s question was “entirely hypothetical [and] unlikely to occur,” but cited the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks as the type of incidents that might provoke such a response.

“Were such an emergency to arise, I would examine the particular facts and circumstances before advising the President on the scope of his authority,” he concluded.

Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, an attorney and Judiciary Committee member, told The Washington Examiner last month that the drone policy so far outlined by the administration is too vague.

“That has the potential to swallow the rule,” Lee said after the drone program white paper was leaked. “If you’re going to regard somebody as presenting an imminent threat of an attack on the U.S. simply because you have concluded that they are an ‘operational leader’ or they are involved in planning an attack in one way or another, you find yourself giving way to much discretion to the government.”

Lee said that the White House should release the formal legal analysis underpinning the drone program. “We know that in some instances where the government has released its legal analysis, it gets it wrong,” he said.

Gun Control and the Politics of Opportunity in America

January 22, 2013 in ANON NeWs, Editorial, Finance, Headline, Occupy, Politics, Update

By Nick Hathaway  – roguemedia.org

There have recently been a few tragic incidents involving mass shootings by what seem to be hapless and insane individuals in the U.S.  All politics and viewpoints aside,  these events are tragic, and should be avoided.  But,  not at all costs.  That solution,  “fix the problem, at all costs,”  is what is driving this country over a cliff that we will never be able to climb out of, if we keep current course.

Mentally deranged people should probably be monitored alot more than just making sure they don’t own firearms,  god forbid we allow a lunatic to pump gas and blow everyone up at the local gas-station as well.  I hope u get the point,  everything we do on a day to day basis while daydreaming of something else is dangerous.  Take driving your car for example,  most people think nothing of it.  That is most likely the single most lethal thing americans do on a day to day basis.

Seattle_Panthers4

Black Panthers, on the steps of the state capitol in Sacramento, CA
Instrumental in the fight for civil liberties that happened over the last 50-100 years.

Gun control,  and the new fervor for passing into law some draconian ideals that are fueled by sensationalist media campaigns on the evening news should not escape anyone’s notice.  One side will argue that these [mass killings] should never happen again,  the other will argue that we need to uphold the 2nd Amendment,  both sides are right.

However,  despite the debate that ensues after every one of these incidents there are a few things to keep in mind ::

1)  Those who would sacrifice liberty for safety, deserve neither   ( Ben Franklin,  founding father of the United States of America ).   I mean no dis-respect to him when I paraphrase this to say,  ‘you are responsible for your own safety and well being,  make smart choices and keep yourself armed.’

2)  Keeping guns out of the hands of law abiding citizens only makes the problem worse,  in that case all the criminals will have guns and no one but the police state will be around to save you.

3) All of these recent incidents have numerous reports from eye witness’ that say there was more than 1 shooter.   This should raise a huge false flag to anyone that cares about the truth of the news reports they hear.

4) Mentally unstable people should probably not be allowed to have weapons that are intended to kill large amounts of people all at once.  This may actually include gasoline at filling stations,  let’s be honest.

5)  Our own government has been involved in supplying people, that most of society would view as mentally unstable, with automatic [ i.e.  illegal] weapons that EVEN NOW BEFORE NEW LEGISLATION,  CIVILIANS CAN NOT BUY OR OWN !!!!   (cough ,  cough,  Fast and the Furious Scandal, MK Ultra,  Iran Contra Scandal, not to mention the laundry list of U.S. law officers that have come forward to say that the C.I.A. is involved in a domestic drug cartel,  the list is virtually endless.)

6)  We already live in a fascist police state,  and the time to claim and hold on to your 2nd amendment rights is NOW !

7)  A smart criminal that really wanted to could build his own assault rifle,  with or without gun control,  and do the same things that have happened in these recent cases of violence.  Including building their own ammunition,  the fact is it is fairly easy,  and all the tools are available to anyone willing to take the time to do it.   If you are worried about psychopaths with automatic assault rifles,   gun control legislation will not help you.

8) After passing the recent NDAA,  which allows indefinite detainment WITHOUT TRIAL of anyone (including US citizens) the executive branch of government decides is a terrorist,  they can send you to guantanamo.   REAL FACT.   It’s current law in the U.S. after Obama’s executive order,  and that means he has every reason to disarm the populace.. .   What better time,  disarm everyone,  and then any “insurgents  (read,  people that don’t agree with the master plan )  “  can just be held in offshore prisons where we don’t have to account for anyones health, security or well being…

9) When political protest becomes illegal, and as you have seen if you are awake by now,  peaceful protest is met with violent police state, fascist style repression,  not only in the form of beating and subdueing protesters and activists…  But,  also in the form of mass media repression of the topic.  The major corporate backed news networks simply refuse to cover any protest action,  as if they can totally ignore the communication links already building within the masses.

 

The future of this planet, and our children’s children,  and those to come after depend on us..  Let’s make our voice heard,  I for one want to live on a planet that is sustainable.

 

“Failure of Epic Proportions”: Treasury Nominee Jack Lew’s Pro-Bank, Austerity, Deregulation Legacy

January 11, 2013 in ANON NeWs, Finance, Headline, Occupy, Politics, Video Perspective

democracynow.org

 

Former bank regulator William Black and Rolling Stone’s Matt Taibbi join us to dissect the career of Jack Lew, President Obama’s pick to replace Treasury Secretary Timothy Geither. Currently Obama’s chief of staff, Lew was an executive at Citigroup from 2006 to 2008 at the time of the financial crisis. He backed financial deregulation efforts while he headed the Office of Management and Budget under President Bill Clinton. During that time, Clinton enacted two key laws to deregulate Wall Street: the Financial Services Modernization Act of 1999 and the Commodity Futures Modernization Act of 2000. Black, a white-collar criminologist and former senior financial regulator, is the author of “The Best Way to Rob a Bank Is to Own One.” A contributing editor for Rolling Stone magazine, Taibbi is the author of “Griftopia: A Story of Bankers, Politicians, and the Most Audacious Power Grab in American History.”

Keystone XL Pipeline Blockade – Texas

October 4, 2012 in ANON NeWs, Documentary, Finance, Headline, Occupy, Politics, Video Perspective

Despite being denied a permit at a national level, which is required by U.S. law.  TransCanada is continuing construction of it’s Keystone XL pipeline through Texas to the Gulf of Mexico.  The pipeline will connect the volatile and environmentally devastating tar sands of Alberta to the world market, and in the words of Bloomberg’s news drive UP the price of oil in the US.

As new pipelines including TransCanada Corp. (TRP)’s Keystone XL are built to ship oil from Canada and North Dakota to the U.S. Gulf Coast, U.S. crude prices are likely to rise, diminishing a key cost advantage for U.S. refiners and shrinking profits – bloomberg.com

People are currently putting their bodies on the line to stop this illegal construction, which TransCanada lawyers are trying to justify by getting judges in the state of Texas to sign off on evicting landowners from their land.  Something that is illegal according to U.S. law as the pipeline is intended to cross international borders and serves only private corporate interests, not the general public as certain eminent domain law arguments might be argued.  The following story  shows the environmental implications of this pipeline, shows how what TransCanada is currently doing is illegal, and details the efforts of people that are standing up to this company and it’s illegal pillaging of our fellow Americans land and rights.

From TransCanada’s own website in their own words describing the process they must comply with, and in effect admitting that on going construction is in violation of the law :

Keystone XL Pipeline Project :  transcanada.com

TransCanada is fully committed to the construction of the 1,897-km (1,179-mile) Keystone XL Pipeline from Hardisty, Alberta to Steele City, Nebraska. We will re-apply for a Presidential Permit and expect a new application to be processed in an expedited manner, making use of the exhaustive record compiled over the past three plus years of regulatory review to allow for an in-service date of 2015. TransCanada anticipates approval of the Presidential Permit application – which is required as the pipeline will cross the Canada/U.S. border – in the first quarter of 2013, after which construction will quickly begin.

Notice that they say construction will begin only after approval by the president, as that is legally required for this foreign company to do the work they are doing within the U.S.  This is not the case,  and as you will see in the article below they are currently involved in construction.  The company is trying to use several legal snafus that their lawyers made up to say that the state of Texas has the authority to grant permission.  They are using eminent domain laws to scare home and landowners into signing agreements that they do not agree with or condone.

http://tarsandsblockade.org/  -  video credits as seen in youtube links


Read the rest of this entry →

Bin Laden book No Easy Day ‘contradicts official account’

September 6, 2012 in ANON NeWs, Headline, Occupy, Politics, World News

bbc.co.uk

 A first-hand account of the May 2011 raid by US forces that killed Osama Bin Laden contradicts the official story, the Associated Press claims.

It has purchased an advance copy of an unauthorized account of the raid, No Easy Day, by a former Navy Seal.

The book says Bin Laden was shot dead as soon as he looked out of his bedroom as Seals rushed up the stairs, AP says.

But US officials have stated he was shot only once he had ducked back into the bedroom.

They have said his actions suggested he might be reaching for a weapon.

The alleged contradiction will add to existing controversy over the book.

It was written under a pseudonym, Mark Owen, but only hours after the book’s existence came to light the author’s real name was revealed by Fox News.

Military officials also say the publishers failed to submit the book to the Pentagon to ensure it discloses no secret information – part of normal protocol – and are scrutinizing its contents. Read the rest of this entry →

Obama’s executive order on communication violates US constitution

July 14, 2012 in ANON NeWs, Finance, Headline, Occupy, Politics, Update, Video Perspective

The US government seems to know beyond any doubt that revolution is coming here,  just like it has to the rest of the world  They are pulling all the stops to make preparations now,  enacting new draconian, facist and medieval policies in order to protect the wealthy few at the expense of the public good…  If you are a red blooded American,  this should make you angry.  If you are a true patriot, your blood should be boiling.

Published on Jul 12, 2012 by 

This edition of News Analysis reviews US President Obama’s move to issue a new executive order allowing the White House to control all private communications in case of emergencies.   The full order can be seen below. Read the rest of this entry →

Home Owners Across Nation Sue All Bank Servicers and Their Offshore Havens

May 8, 2012 in Finance, Headline, Occupy, Politics, Update

occupywallst.org

Home Owners Across the Nation Sue All Bank Servicers and Their Offshore Havens;

Spire Law Officially Announces Filing of Landmark Lawsuit Largest International Money Laundering Network in History Formed During Obama Administration;

U.S. Banks’ Theft of Home Owners’ Money Laundered Through Cayman Islands, Isle of Man and Numerous Offshore-Based Affiliates NEW YORK, NY, Apr 23, 2012 (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX) — In a lawsuit alleged to involve the largest money laundering network in United States history, Spire Law Group, LLP — on behalf of home owners across the Country — has filed a mass tort action in the Supreme Court of New York, County of Kings.

Home owners across the country have sued every major bank servicer and their subsidiaries — formed in countries known as havens for money laundering such as the Cayman Islands, the Isle of Man, Luxembourg and Malaysia — alleging that while the Obama Administration was publicly encouraging loan modifications for home owners, it was privately ratifying the formation of these shell companies in violation of the United States Patriot Act, and State and Federal law.

The case further alleges that through these obscure foreign companies, Bank of America, J.P. Morgan, Wells Fargo Bank, Citibank, Citigroup, One West Bank, and numerous other federally chartered banks stole hundreds of millions of dollars of home owners’ money during the last decade and then laundered it through offshore companies. Read the rest of this entry →

VOTING FRAUD BY GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS CAUGHT ON TAPE!!! WHY ARE THEY NOT IN JAIL?!?!

May 8, 2012 in ANON NeWs, Finance, Headline, Occupy, Politics, Video Perspective

Uploaded by on Jul 25, 2008


What would happen to you if police caught you on video fraudulently voting? Would cops quickly arrest you and throw you in jail, only to have the District Attorney immediately charge you with fraud?

What would happen to elected government officials if they were caught doing the same? Absolutely nothing? Read the rest of this entry →

Obama signs a martial law executive order – that will be in effect during peacetime…

March 25, 2012 in Headline, Occupy, Politics, World News

rt.com  -  As folks headed out to happy hour last Friday evening, President Obama signed an executive order that could potentially give him the power to institute martial law in the United States in times of peace or during a national threat.

The National Defense Resources Preparedness Executive Order will give Obama power over “resources and services needed to support such plans and programs.

Many Americans were shocked to find out that this order gives the president practically unlimited power over US citizens and their property. All  in the name of national security of course.

In the order it states, “in the event of a potential threat to the security of the United States actions are necessary to ensure the availability of adequate resources and production capability, including services and critical technology, for national defense requirements.

According to a White House press release, the US “must have an industrial and technological base capable of meeting national defense requirements and capable of contributing to the technological superiority of its national defense equipment.Read the rest of this entry →

Who Controls Whom?

March 6, 2012 in Headline, Politics, World News

by Gary Leupp

The Obama-Netanyahu Encounter

By all reports, Barack Obama and Binyamin Netanyahu dislike and mistrust one another. An exchange between French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Obama in Cannes last November, inadvertently caught on an open microphone, revealed  the two men’s feelings for the Israeli leader. Sarkozy said he “couldn’t bear” Netanyahu and called him “a liar.” Obama responded, in apparent agreement: “You’re fed up with him, but I have to deal with him even more often than you.”

Now Obama has to deal with him again one-on-one as Netanyahu visits Washington, pressing his demand that the U.S. bomb Iran or at least give him the green light to start something that will inevitably involve the U.S.  The Israeli prepared for the meeting by hosting powerful senators John McCain and Lindsey Graham in Israel last week. (McCain is the Ranking Member on the Senate Armed Services Committee, and Graham also a member). Their visit followed February visits by U.S. Director of National Intelligence James Clapper and Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, both of whom warned Israel not to bomb, as this would compound U.S. difficulties in the region. Read the rest of this entry →

How to Fund an American Police State: Real Money for an Imaginary War

March 6, 2012 in Editorial, Headline, Occupy, Politics

by: Stephan Salisbury   –  truth-out.org

At the height of the Occupy Wall Street evictions, it seemed as though some diminutive version of “shock and awe” had stumbled from Baghdad, Iraq, to Oakland, California.  American police forces had been “militarized,” many commentators worried, as though the firepower and callous tactics on display were anomalies, surprises bursting upon us from nowhere.

There should have been no surprise. Those flash grenades exploding in Oakland and the sound cannons on New York’s streets simply opened small windows onto a national policing landscape long in the process of militarization — a bleak domestic no man’s land marked by tanks and drones, robot bomb detectors, grenade launchers, tasers, and most of all, interlinked video surveillance cameras and information databases growing quietly on unobtrusive server farms everywhere.

 

The ubiquitous fantasy of “homeland security,” pushed hard by the federal government in the wake of 9/11, has been widely embraced by the public.  It has also excited intense weapons- and techno-envy among police departments and municipalities vying for the latest in armor and spy equipment.

In such a world, deadly gadgetry is just a grant request away, so why shouldn’t the 14,000 at-risk souls in Scottsbluff, Nebraska, have a closed-circuit-digital-camera-and-monitor system (cost: $180,000, courtesy of the Homeland Security Department) identical to the one up and running in New York’s Times Square?

Read the rest of this entry →

FBI : Cyber attacks – America’s top terror threat

March 4, 2012 in ANON NeWs, Headline, Politics

Organized cyber crime is replacing terrorism as the number one threat to the American nation, says the FBI chief. The bureau is preparing to battle internet-based aggressors with recently created cyber-squads policing the web.

­The Cyber Crime section of the FBI website pledges that the bureau is ready to defend America from the cyber space threat. This vow, however, did not help much when the bureau’s website went down after a massive attack by Anonymous hacktivists on January 20.

Over the last few months, the Anonymous hacker community attacked the websites of the White House, CIA, FBI, Department of Justice, US Department of Homeland Security, Universal Music Group, Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and Motion Picture Association of America.

Just as the internet is not a boys’ toy anymore, hackers are no longer boys, either. Nowadays, previously “isolated hackers have joined forces to form criminal syndicates,” FBI boss Robert Mueller said at the RSA security conference in San Francisco on Thursday. These syndicates are often international, so this poses additional difficulties because it takes close work with foreign security agencies to achieve a result in the material world, while the internet knows neither borders nor boundaries, Mueller explained. Read the rest of this entry →

Barack Obama Waives Rule Allowing Indefinite Military Detention Of Americans

March 2, 2012 in Headline, Occupy, Politics, Update

WASHINGTON — The White House released rules Tuesday evening waiving the most controversial piece of the new military detention law, and exempting U.S. citizens, as well as other broad categories of suspected terrorists.

Indefinite military detention of Americans and others was granted in the defense authorization bill President Barack Obama signed just before Christmas, sparking a storm of anger from civil libertarians on the left and right.

The new rules — which deal with Section 1022 of the law — are aimed at soothing many of their gravest concerns, an administration official said. Those concerns are led by the possibility that a law that grants the president authority to jail Americans without trial in Guantanamo Bay based on secret evidence could easily be abused. Read the rest of this entry →

EXCLUSIVE: Cointelpro Gothic II: Midwestern Police State Paranoia Continues! Winona & Des Moines hubs of spurious “terrorism” & great FBI statistical accomplishments!

March 1, 2012 in ANON NeWs, Headline, Occupy, Politics

http://www.hongpong.com/archives/tags/breaking

EARLIER: October 13, 2010: Cointelpro Gothic: Docs prove Iowa FBI’s Wild Rose Rebellion a pretend RNC “Terrorism Enterprise” for great “statistical accomplishment”

BY DAN FEIDT — HongPong

Feds Invade Homes of Independentistas and Trade-Unionists, Steal Documents, Brutally Assault Journalists

Another level of the seemingly endless, unregulated Midwestern law enforcement campaign against political activists has been revealed in 525 pages obtained from the Department of Justice by Freedom of Information Act requests filed by David Goodner of Des Moines. (FULL PDF 62MB / Scribd.com)

Two related stories emerge: in 2004-2006, federal agents spurred to achieve career-advancing “statistical accomplishments” spied on people the G-Men linked with the CrimeThinc Anarchist publishing label — in Des Moines and Winona, MN anyone linked to anything CrimeThinc is deemed a great target for further snooping. Read the rest of this entry →

Obama ’s Tenuous Lead

February 29, 2012 in Headline, Politics

White House / Pete Souza

By E.J. Dionne, Jr.  –  truthdig.com

If the election were held right now, President Obama would likely win by about the same margin that propelled him into office in 2008. But how fragile are his current advantages?

The biggest concern for the Democrats (and the best hope for the GOP) is that the president’s lead is far from overwhelming, even though Republicans—and particularly Mitt Romney—have been badly weakened by their nomination battle, and Obama has been left largely unmolested by the conservative super PACs.

Democrats are certainly disappointed by the apparent fading of Rick Santorum in the final week before the Michigan primary and his surprisingly disjointed performance in last week’s debate. It’s not as clear to me as it is to others that Santorum would be less competitive than Romney as Obama’s opponent. What’s plain is that Democrats have an interest in the Republican contest going on indefinitely. Romney victories in Tuesday’s Michigan and Arizona primaries would likely shorten the process, and ending the nomination battle quickly is the precondition for a Republican counteroffensive. Read the rest of this entry →

Jeb Bush eyed as latest ‘white knight’ candidate in GOP presidential race

February 29, 2012 in Headline, Politics

  -  Guardian.co.uk

Jeb Bush, right, with his brother President George Bush at an Orlando fundraiser in 2006. Photograph: Jason Reed/Reuters

Former Florida governor was critical of current field in a speech this week, prompting rumours he could be a surprise contender.

Speculation that a late challenger might still emerge in the increasingly bitter race for the Republican presidential nomination is set to surge after former Florida governor Jeb Bush made remarks criticising the current field.

Bush, who is the brother of President George W Bush and son of President George Bush Sr, is a beloved figure among many conservatives who see him as a strong and charismatic leader who is popular in the must-win swing state of Florida.

Read the rest of this entry →

Bradley Manning, Solitary Confinement and Occupy 4 Prisoners

February 23, 2012 in Uncategorized

by Bill Quigley

Today US Army Private Bradley Manning is to be formally charged with numerous crimes at Fort Meade, Maryland.   Manning, who was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize by members of the Icelandic Parliament, is charged with releasing hundreds of thousands of documents exposing secrets of the US government to the whistleblower website Wikileaks. These documents exposed lies, corruption and crimes by the US and other countries.  The Bradley Manning defense team points out accurately that much of what was published by Wikileaks was either not actually secret or should not have been secret.

The Manning prosecution is a tragic miscarriage of justice.  US officials are highly embarrassed by what Manning exposed and are shooting the messenger.  As Glen Greenwald, the terrific Salon writer, has observed, President Obama has prosecuted more whistleblowers for espionage than all other presidents combined. Read the rest of this entry →

How the 1% Destroys Jobs and the Real Heroes are Everyday People

February 16, 2012 in Finance, Headline, Politics

By Lynn Parramore

Mitt Romney & Co. want us to think that making the rich richer will create jobs. That’s not true. And it’s not the American way.

For three decades, we have been told that “trickle-down” economics that benefit the wealthy is the key to creating jobs. But that’s baloney. The evidence shows that ordinary people, not the rich, are the real job creators.

Conservatives like to promote a simplistic view that all you need are capital (cash or goods that produce income) and entrepreneurship in order to create wealth. They maintain that wealth, in turn, spurs rich people to do productive things, like creating jobs, and so the more concentrated wealth is, the more jobs are created. If you tax the rich, they argue, then jobs will be destroyed. Mitt Romney frequently echoes this line of thought by promoting economic programs that would give enormous tax breaks to the wealthiest 1% and concentrate wealth in their hands. Romney, who paid 13.9% in taxes in 2010 and likes to tout himself as a job creator, has just announced a plan that calls for preserving the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy, lowering the corporate tax rate, and repealing the estate tax.

Turns out, this ‘trickle-down’ mythology it is horribly wrong, and the 99 percent has paid for it. There’s a reason why the Wall Street Journal acknowledged that George W. Bush, the last trickle-down president, had the worst job creation record in U.S. history. So before we consider having another trickle-downer in the White House, let’s talk about the failure of this idea and why if you want to see a real job creator, you should look in the mirror.

Read the rest of this entry →

Wall Street on Track for Record Political Spending in Attempt to Defeat Obama

February 13, 2012 in Finance, Headline, Occupy, Politics

by: Josh Israel

With Wall Street profits and bonuses falling and big banks cutting jobs right and left, it seems that the financial services sector would be scaling back its free-spending ways.

But, according to a Center for Responsive Politics analysis, they likely to set records in 2012 on political spending — the bulk of which is aimed at defeating President Barack Obama and electing Republicans opposed to the Dodd-Frank financial regulations enacted to address the sector’s 2008 meltdown.

It seems Wall Street has had its feelings hurt by the Obama administration’s increasingly vocal support for policies that benefit the other 99 percent, and as a result, the financial industry is giving heavily to Republicans and, in particular, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney (R). Politico reports:

Despite a large overall fundraising advantage, Obama has raised just $5.1 million from the finance, insurance and real estate sectors so far this cycle compared with $12.4 million for Mitt Romney’s campaign, according to Sheila Krumholz, executive director of [the Center for Responsive Politics]. [...]

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Waging War in Secret vs. American Democracy

February 9, 2012 in Headline, Politics, Update, World News

By fighting terrorism with covert CIA actions, President Obama deprives us of the ability to meaningfully evaluate American foreign policy.

The War in Iraq is mostly over. We’re drawing down forces in Afghanistan. Barring an unexpected terrorist attack or another Libya-style troop deployment, Election 2012 will proceed in a world where the War on Terrorism is being waged by intelligence agencies making drone strikes in places like Pakistan, Yemen and Somalia, and one in which we may be taking covert action inside Iran too.

In others words, much of American foreign policy will be a state secret.

Think about what that means for democracy.

The Iraq War was a major campaign issue in 2004 and 2006. President Obama owes his victory in 2008 partly to the fact that he opposed it, persuaded voters he’d exercise better judgment if faced with a “3 a.m. phone call,” and vowed to double down on winning the War in Afghanistan.

Read the rest of this entry →

Government ‘may sanction nerve-agent use on rioters’, scientists fear

February 9, 2012 in ANON NeWs, Headline, Occupy, Politics, World News

by  Steve Connor     -   from independent.co.uk

Leading neuroscientists believe that the UK Government may be about to sanction the development of nerve agents for British police that would be banned in warfare under an international treaty on chemical weapons.

A high-level group of experts has asked the Government to clarify its position on whether it intends to develop “incapacitating chemical agents” for a range of domestic uses that go beyond the limited use of chemical irritants such as CS gas for riot control.

The experts were commissioned by the Royal Society, the UK’s national academy of sciences, to investigate new developments in neuroscience that could be of use to the military. They concluded that the Government may be preparing to exploit a loophole in the Chemical Weapons Convention allowing the use of incapacitating chemical agents for domestic law enforcement.

The 1993 convention bans the development, stockpiling and use of nerve agents and other toxic chemicals by the military but there is an exemption for certain chemical agents that could be used for “peaceful” domestic purposes such as policing and riot control.

The British Government has traditionally taken the view that only a relatively mild class of irritant chemical agents that affect the eyes and respiratory tissues, such as CS gas, are exempt from the treaty, and then only strictly for use in riot control.

Read the rest of this entry →

States prepare brakes on citizen-detention option, NDAA

February 8, 2012 in Headline, Occupy, Politics, Update, Video Perspective

by Bob Unruh   –  from  wnd.com

State and local officials in surging numbers are telling Washington they simply won’t cooperate with any plans to detain Americans the federal government may choose to describe as “belligerents.”

The issue centers on provisions in the National Defense Authorization Act of 2012, signed by President Obama, for the indefinite and rights-free detention of those Washington cites as belligerents, whether American citizens or not.

WND reported when  Rep. Daniel P. Gordon Jr. immediately drafted a resolution in the Rhode Island legislature to express opposition to the sections of the NDAA “that suspend habeas corpus and civil liberties.”

Now the Tenth Amendment Center confirms that the resistance to the federal bureaucracy is catching on.

The instruction manual on how to restore America to what it once was: “Taking America Back.” This package also includes the “Tea Party at Sea.”

Read the rest of this entry →

Demonstration at MN Obama campaign headquarters, part of National Day of Protest Against NDAA

February 8, 2012 in Headline, Occupy, Politics, Update, Video Perspective

By Kelly O’Brien   –  from  fightbacknews.org

Protest against NDAA at Obama campaign headquarters, Feb. 3 (Fight Back! News/ Jess Sundin)

Minneapolis, MN – More than 75 people rallied here, Feb. 3, as a part of the National Day of Protest against the provision of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that allows for indefinite detention without trial. The protest occurred outside the Obama campaign headquarters. President Obama signed this unconstitutional bill into law Dec. 31. According to Anh Pham of the Committee to Stop FBI Repression (CSFR), “This law allows the government to continue to oppress anyone who doesn’t agree with them.”

Sam Richards of Occupy Minneapolis stated, “The NDAA of 2012 is the largest assault on our rights since the Patriot Act. Obama ran as a champion of civil liberties. We demand an end to the attack on our civil rights.”

This demand rang clear as activists joined in chants, speeches, guerrilla theater and an occupation of the Obama headquarter building as part of the direct action. The message of the protest was apparent, with signs such as “No war on our rights: No NDAA,” and chants like “Hey Obama, pay attention! We say no to indefinite detention!”

Video by Rogue Media
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Legal framework required to stop CIA drone carnage

February 8, 2012 in Editorial, Headline, Politics, Video Perspective

from   -   rt.com

СIA drones are attacking funeral processions and civilian and Taliban rescue teams in Pakistan. A staggering report exposing the practice has outraged NGOs and legal experts, who are demanding international laws to govern drone warfare.

­Paramedic staff provide medical treatment to a victim of a missile attack in the tribal region, at a local hospital in Dera Ismail Khan March 26, 2009 (Reuters / Mustansar Baloch)

The investigation is a follow-up to last summer’s report issued by the London-based Bureau of Investigative Journalism, says Chris Woods, the author of the report.

“We’ve uncovered evidence that the CIA has repeatedly been targeting civilian and Taliban rescuers at the site of previous drone strikes [in Pakistan],” Woods told RT. “We identify by name 48 civilians killed in such attacks. We also identify two funerals deliberately attacked by the CIA…The Bureau also names five civilian mourners killed in a separate strike.”

Read the rest of this entry →

NDAA is now law, Hope you don’t get Indifinitely detained

February 6, 2012 in Editorial, Headline, Occupy, Politics, Video Perspective

Uploaded by on Feb 6, 2012

On Febuary 3rd 2012, a group of protesters from Occupy St. Paul and Minneapolis went to Obama’s campaign HQ in Minneapolis to let them know how they felt about the NDAA. This law that Obama signed into law on Ney Year’s Eve allows for anyone labeled as hostile to the state to be indefinitely detained without a trial. This is what happened.

Panetta: “When we say someone is a terrorist, then we can kill them, because they’re a terrorist.”

February 5, 2012 in Headline, Politics, Video Perspective, World News

from — patriot-newswire.com

In an interview with CBS 60 Minutes’ Scott Pelley, Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta revealed more about the secret process the Obama administration uses to kill American citizens suspected of terrorism without trial. According to Panetta, the president himself approves the decision based on recommendations from top national security officials.

“[The] President of the United States obviously reviews these cases, reviews the legal justification, and in the end says, go or no go,” Panetta said.

“So it’s the requirement of the administration under the current legal understanding that the president has to make that declaration, not you?” Pelley asked. Panetta replied, “That is correct.”

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ACLU Sues U.S. for Information on Targeted Killing Program

February 2, 2012 in Headline, Politics, Update, World News

Posted by Nathan Freed Wessler, National Security Project  -  taken from aclu.org

Today we filed a lawsuit under the Freedom of Information Act to demand that the government release basic — and accurate — information about the government’s targeted killing program.

Our government’s deliberate and premeditated killing of American terrorism suspects raises profound questions that ought to be the subject of public debate. Unfortunately the Obama administration has released very little information about the practice — its official position is that the targeted killing program is a state secret — and some of the information it has released has been misleading.

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Obama administration assaults press freedom like no predecessor

February 2, 2012 in Headline, Politics

By Wayne Madsen  -  taken from intrepidreport.com

(WMR)—WMR has learned and has personally experienced the unprecedented assault by the Obama administration, aided and abetted by its intelligence and internal security infrastructure, on the First Amendment right of freedom of the press.

The Obama administration has indicted a total of six U.S. government employees for violating the arcane 1917 Espionage Act for allegedly communicating classified information to the press. The Obama administration, according to multi-agency U.S. government sources , has authorized the eavesdropping of journalists’ e-mails, text messages, and phone calls to determine with whom they are in contact within the government, particularly in the Departments of State, Defense, Justice, the CIA, the U.S. Congress’ intelligence oversight committees, and the National Security Agency (NSA). The NSA and FBI are also monitoring what websites are visited by government employees.

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Obama to Israel: No US War on Iran

February 2, 2012 in Headline, Politics, World News

By Gareth Porter  -  taken from consortiumnews.com

President Obama is caught in a dilemma, how to dissuade Israel from going to war with Iran without alienating pro-Israeli voters in November. So, the Obama administration has told Israel that the U.S. won’t support an attack on Iran but has done so quietly, Gareth Porter reports for Inter Press Service.

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Martin Dempsey told Israeli leaders on Jan. 20 that the United States would not participate in a war against Iran begun by Israel without prior agreement from Washington, according to accounts from well-placed senior military officers.

Dempsey’s warning, conveyed to both Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak, represents the strongest move yet by President Barack Obama to deter an Israeli attack and ensure that the United States is not caught up in a regional conflagration with Iran.

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Martin Dempsey (left) with Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, Vice President Joe Biden, President Barack Obama and former JCS chairman Mike Mullen (White House photo by Pete Souza)

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With Restrictions Gone, “1 Percenters” Dish Millions, Alter Race for White House

February 2, 2012 in Finance, Headline, Politics

by: Greg Gordon, McClatchy Newspapers -  taken from  truth-out.org

Washington – Forget about the poor, the unemployed and the sinking middle class participating in the democratic process.

The race for the presidency is increasingly being bankrolled by “1 percenters” — those among the richest of Americans.

Year-end campaign finance reports show that many of the nation’s wealthiest individuals and their companies have written huge checks to Republican and Democratic “super committees” that are exempt from the usual $5,000 campaign donation limits.

Texas businessman Harold Simmons and his Contran Corp. have donated $7.5 million to two GOP committees. Las Vegas hotel casino owner Sheldon Adelson and his family have poured more than $10 million into a so-called super political action committee backing Newt Gingrich. Filmmaker Steven Spielberg gave $100,000 to one of several committees aiding Obama.

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