Lockerbie bomber release linked to arms deal, according to secret letter. Repeals Propaganda Ban, Spreads Government-Made News To Americans. For decades, a so-called anti-propaganda law prevented the U.S. government's mammoth broadcasting arm from delivering programming to American audiences. But on July 2, that came silently to an end with the implementation of a new reform passed in January. The result: an unleashing of thousands of hours per week of government-funded radio and TV programs for domestic U.S. consumption in a reform initially criticized as a green light for U.S. domestic propaganda efforts.
So what just happened? Until this month, a vast ocean of U.S. programming produced by the Broadcasting Board of Governors such as Voice of America, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, and the Middle East Broadcasting Networks could only be viewed or listened to at broadcast quality in foreign countries. The programming varies in tone and quality, but its breadth is vast: It's viewed in more than 100 countries in 61 languages. Lynne added that the reform has a transparency benefit as well. A Timeline of CIA Atrocities. A Timeline of CIA Atrocities By Steve Kangas The following timeline describes just a few of the hundreds of atrocities and crimes committed by the CIA. (1) CIA operations follow the same recurring script.
First, American business interests abroad are threatened by a popular or democratically elected leader. The people support their leader because he intends to conduct land reform, strengthen unions, redistribute wealth, nationalize foreign-owned industry, and regulate business to protect workers, consumers and the environment. So, on behalf of American business, and often with their help, the CIA mobilizes the opposition. This scenario has been repeated so many times that the CIA actually teaches it in a special school, the notorious "School of the Americas. " The Association for Responsible Dissent estimates that by 1987, 6 million people had died as a result of CIA covert operations. (2) Former State Department official William Blum correctly calls this an "American Holocaust. " Late 40s. Operation Ghetto Storm - operation_ghetto_storm.pdf. 93 reasons why Obama supporters should switch to Gary Johnson or Jill Stein.
Foreign Policy - the global magazine of economics, politics, and ideas. The Real Problem with the National Defense Authorization Act by Laurence M. Vance. By Laurence M. Vance Recently by Laurence M. Vance: Was It Worth It? For each of the past forty-eight years, Congress has passed the misnamed National Defense Authorization Act to set forth the budget of the Defense Department. President Obama just signed into law the latest version of the NDAA, but not without some controversy. The House originally passed this 1145-page bill (H.R.1540) back on May 26 by a vote of 322-96. The 926-page Senate version of the bill (S.1867) was passed on December 1 by a vote of 93-7.
But it is the Senate version that, as amended in two ways, raised such a firestorm of controversy. Conservative, religious, and animal-rights groups were upset with a provision in the Senate bill seen as legalizing sodomy and bestiality in the military. (a) Any person subject to this chapter who engages in unnatural carnal copulation with another person of the same or opposite sex or with an animal is guilty of sodomy. Section 125 of the UCMJ adds this explanation: Mr. Progressives and the Ron Paul fallacies - Glenn Greenwald. As I’ve written about before, America’s election season degrades mainstream political discourse even beyond its usual lowly state.
The worst attributes of our political culture — obsession with trivialities, the dominance of horserace “reporting,” and mindless partisan loyalties — become more pronounced than ever. Meanwhile, the actually consequential acts of the U.S. Government and the permanent power factions that control it — covert endless wars, consolidation of unchecked power, the rapid growth of the Surveillance State and the secrecy regime, massive inequalities in the legal system, continuous transfers of wealth from the disappearing middle class to large corporate conglomerates — drone on with even less attention paid than usual.
Because most of those policies are fully bipartisan in nature, the election season — in which only issues that bestow partisan advantage receive attention — places them even further outside the realm of mainstream debate and scrutiny. Due Process. Eric Dondero is slime! Does Ron Paul Support Gay Marriage? Ron Paul - Key Votes. Look up the FY2012... Obama Takes on the LRA. On Kony 2012. Healthcare's Dirty Little Secret. There was a time, not so long ago, when a career in medicine was both honorable and reliable, as well as reasonably lucrative. That was, however, before it was considered "un-American" to make a profit on the practice of medicine, and certainly before the passage of the now infamous "Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act".
The sad reality presently, is that many physicians, and more and more hospital systems, are already going broke and closing their doors – All at a time when there will be a predictably huge influx of new patients into the system as a result of ObamaCare. What most people don't understand about healthcare, is that it is the only industry where there is essentially no connection between the amount charged and the true cost of goods and services; it's largely a fabricated cost structure that relies on the insured and private payers to cover the cost of the un- or under-insured.
There are currently 45 million Medicare beneficiaries in the United States. Supreme Court Bombshell: No Right to Remain Silent. The Supreme Court handed down a decision on June 17 that has been ignored by most media outlets, despite its devastating effect on one of the most fundamental rights protected by the Constitution. In a 5-4 ruling, the justices ruled that a person no longer has the right to remain silent as guaranteed by the Fifth Amendment.
In relevant part, the Fifth Amendment mandates that no one “shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself.” Thanks to the Supreme Court’s decision in Salinas v. Texas, that part of the Bill of Rights has been excised — and has joined the list of so many other fundamental liberties that now lie on the scrap heap of history. Here’s a little background of the circumstances of the Salinas case, as told by Slate: Two brothers were shot at home in Houston. There were no witnesses — only shotgun shell casings left at the scene. Consider the ripple effect of the Salinas decision. This also is but an affirmance of a common law privilege. Joe A. Worst Idea Ever? Via Chris Blattman, we learned that Invisible Children (brief background of the organization: 3 kids go to Africa, make movie about child soldiers, show it to every college student on the planet) has launched a new film and campaign: “Abduct Yourself to Free the Abducted.”
Um. Chris posts a letter he wrote to Invisible Children’s Mission Director explaining his discomfort with the project. He makes the point that their work is (a) kind of obsessed with glorifying the filmmakers, (b) based on a creepy, White Man’s Burden-y savior complex, and (c) taking up resources that could be occupied by “intelligent advocacy.” We completely agree and offer this photo of the three founders of Invisible Children in support of the “who is this about anyway?” Critique: We also have a couple of related concerns: “Bad development work is based on the idea that poor people have nothing. By the same token, any old awareness advocacy you dream up doesn’t necessarily constitute “helping.”
4 Stupid Ways the Government is Embracing the Internet. It's no secret that the citizens find it hard to feel anything beyond phantom intestinal discomfort when "government authority" mixes with "Internet stuff. " And if the U.S. government's recent efforts to connect with the populace by expanding its social media presence are any indicator, Americans are about to feel a lot gassier. #4. Police Departments Have Begun Live-Tweeting Patrols "Tweet-alongs" are becoming a popular way for police officers around the country to show us what it's like to go out on patrol by sharing unsolicited case-related information with the entire world for absolutely no reason whatsoever. While this is an attractive initiative from a PR standpoint, it is perhaps not the most practical idea, because the police occasionally depend on everyone in the world not knowing exactly what they're doing at any particular moment.
Twitter"Was the rock thing in frame? Twitter Twitter"It's almost as if they knew we were coming. " #3. . #2. . #1. The U.S. Private Prisons. 25 Shocking Facts That Prove That The Entire U.S. Health Care Industry Has Become One Giant Money Making Scam. What is the appropriate word to use when you find out that the top executive at the third largest health insurance company in America raked in 68.7 million dollars in 2010? How is one supposed to respond when one learns that more than two dozen pharmaceutical companies make over a billion dollars in profits each year?
Is it okay to get angry when you discover that over 90 percent of all hospital bills contain “gross overcharges”? Once upon a time, going into the medical profession was seen as a “noble” thing to do. But now the health care industry in the United States has become one giant money making scam and it is completely dominated by health insurance companies, pharmaceutical corporations, lawyers and corporate fatcats. In America today, just one trip to the hospital can cost you tens of thousands of dollars even if you do not stay for a single night. But wasn’t that what Obamacare was supposed to do?
It is almost unbelievable how much money some of these companies make. Anyone who knows...