Mother Jones – by Michael Mechanic

On January 23, 1961, a B-52 packing a pair of Mark 39 hydrogen bombs suffered a refueling snafu and went into an uncontrolled spin over North Carolina. In the cockpit of the rapidly disintegrating bomber (only one crew member bailed out safely) was a lanyard attached to the bomb-release mechanism. Intense G-forces tugged hard at it and unleashed the nukes, which, at four megatons, were 250 times more powerful than the weapon that leveled Hiroshima. One of them “failed safe” and plummeted to the ground unarmed. The other weapon’s failsafe mechanisms—the devices designed to prevent an accidental detonation—were subverted one by one, as Eric Schlosser recounts in his new book, Command and Control:   Continue reading “A Sneak Peek at Eric Schlosser’s Terrifying New Book on Nuclear Weapons”

Jon Rappoport

Yesterday, I referenced a USA Today piece which cited a federal law-enforcement source (off the record), who states that Aaron Alexis, the accused shooter, cleared a Navy Yard security checkpoint in his car. After parking in the lot, he got into an argument and opened fire on one or two people. He then entered the building where he went on a killing spree.

So did Alexis shoot his way past security guards at the building’s separate checkpoint? Why weren’t the guards waiting for him just outside the building with their weapons drawn, after he, Alexis, had already shot people in the parking lot?   Continue reading “Navy Yard shooting: Aaron Alexis narrative crumbling”

Jon Rappoport

I’ve covered a number of mass shootings. Assuming the people arrested or killed had anything to do with them, one of the top questions is: was the shooter on psychiatric meds?

The mainstream press doesn’t push for answers.   Continue reading “US Navy Yard shooting: is it possible to learn the truth?”

Common Dreams – by Matthew Rothschild

1. “I possess the authority to order military strikes.”

No you don’t, Mr. President. Only Congress has the authority to declare war, and ordering military strikes would be a clear act of war, thus violating the Constitution. It would also violate the War Powers Act, which says that the President can’t engage in hostilities without a declaration of war or specific Congressional authorization unless there is “a national emergency created by attack upon the United States, its territories or possessions, or its armed forces.” And Syria has done no such thing.   Continue reading “The 5 Most Ludicrous War Claims in Obama’s Syria Speech”

Common Dreams – by Glenn Greenwald

It has been previously reported that the mentality of NSA chief Gen. Keith Alexander is captured by his motto “Collect it All”. It’s a get-everything approach he pioneered first when aimed at an enemy population in the middle of a war zone in Iraq, and has now imported onto US soil, aimed at the domestic population and everyone else.   Continue reading “Inside the Mind of NSA Chief Gen. Keith Alexander”

Common Dreams – by Jacob Chamberlain

Internet privacy safeguards known as encryption technologies promised by email, online banking, and other such online databases have been virtually ‘defeated’ by the U.S. National Security Agency, according to new documents obtained by the Guardian, New York Times, and ProPublica.

According to the Guardian—which has reported extensively on the NSA’s dragnet surveillance practices revealed by NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden—the NSA and its British counterparts the GCHQ have used “covert measures” to control and manipulate international encryption standards to the benefit of the NSA, largely through building “industry relationships” with many technology companies and internet service providers.   Continue reading “New NSA Revelations: Internet Privacy Encryption Virtually ‘Defeated’”

P-800 YakhontThe Economic Collapse – by Michael Snyder

Russia has sold Syria highly advanced rocket launchers, anti-aircraft missiles and anti-ship missiles.  In fact,the P-800 Yakhont anti-ship missiles that Russia has equipped Syria with are the most advanced anti-ship missiles that Russia has.  When the United States strikes Syria, they might be quite surprised at how hard Syria can hit back.  The Syrian military is the most formidable adversary that the U.S. military has tangled with in the Middle East by far.  Continue reading “Russia Has Equipped Syria With Their Most Advanced Anti-Ship Missiles”

Aldi has confirmed horsemeat has been found in its withdrawn beef productsThe Guardian

The environment secretary is due to meet the Food Standards Agency, food suppliers and retailers on Saturday to discuss the horsemeat scandal after Aldi became the latest supermarket to confirm its withdrawn beef products contained up to 100% horsemeat.

Owen Paterson said it was unacceptable that consumers were mis-sold products, but that the problems originated overseas.   Continue reading “Aldi confirms up to 100% horsemeat in beef products”

Dennis Rodman at Pyongyang airport, North Korea. The NBA star plans to hang out with Kim Jong-unThe Guardian – by Jonathan Kaiman

The retired US basketball star Dennis Rodman is back in North Korea and the stakes are high. Rodman could influence the fate of an American political prisoner toiling in one of the country’s labour camps. Or he may start a basketball league.

One thing is certain: before Rodman leaves the “hermit kingdom” five days from now, another chapter will unfold in one of the world’s strangest friendships. Call it “absurdist diplomacy” – a notoriously erratic retired NBA player meets a despotic boy king; the two become close friends.   Continue reading “Dennis Rodman returns to North Korea to meet ‘my friend Kim’”

Common Dreams – by Abby Zimet

Days before Bradley – now Chelsea – Manning was sentenced to 35 years in prison for helping expose U.S. war crimes in Iraq, the Obama Department of Justice filed a petition in federal court arguing that the perpetrators of those crimes – Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld et al – enjoy “absolute immunity” against criminal charges or civil liability.   Continue reading “Obama Gives Bush “Absolute Immunity” For Everything”

A man is arrested during the Occupy Wall Street protest September 17, 2012 on the one year anniversary of the movement in New York.(AFP Photo / Stan Honda)RT News – by Robert Bridge

A Department of Defense training manual obtained by a conservative watchdog group pointed to the original American colonists as examples of an extremist movement, comments that have sparked fear of a broader crackdown on dissent in America.

The training manual provides information that describes, among other things, “common themes in extremist ideologies.”   Continue reading “DoD training manual suggests Founding Fathers followed ‘extremist ideology’”

Common Dreams – by Matt Sledge

FORT MEADE, Md. — Bradley Manning was sentenced to 35 years in prison on Wednesday for releasing 700,000 documents about the United States’ worldwide diplomacy and wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Manning was a 25-year-old Army private first class at the time of his arrest. He saw himself as an idealist acting to end the wars, and said in online chats with hacker Adrian Lamo that he was particularly concerned about the abuse of detainees in Iraq. No political or military higher-ups have ever been prosecuted for detainee abuse or torture in Iraq, Afghanistan or at Guantanamo Bay.   Continue reading “Bradley Manning Headed To Prison, While Those Who Authorized Torture Go Free”

Common Dreams – by Lauren McCauley

In what they describe as an “Insurance Release,” Wikileaks posted links for a series of encrypted files to their Twitter feed and Facebook page Friday, urging readers to download and mirror the links, in a digital threat they hope will “nullify attempts at restraint.”

Though not uncommon, many are speculating that the size of the files—one at an impressive 349 gigabytes—in conjunction with the timing of their release—raises the possibility that these files contain “some serious material.”   Continue reading “WikiLeaks Posts Encrypted Data as ‘Insurance’ Against Govt Threat”

meth lab cleanupMother Jones – by Jonah Engle

With big profits on the line, the drug industry is pulling out campaign-style dirty tricks to keep selling the meds that cooks turn into crank.

THE FIRST TIME she saw her mother passed out on the living room floor, Amanda thought she was dead. There were muddy tracks on the carpet and the room looked like it had been ransacked. Mary wouldn’t wake up. When she finally came to, she insisted nothing was wrong. But as the weeks passed, her 15-year-old daughter’s sense of foreboding grew. Amanda’s parents stopped sleeping and eating. Her once heavy mother turned gaunt and her father, Barry, stopped going to work. She was embarrassed to go into town with him; he was covered in open sores. A musty stink gripped their increasingly chaotic trailer. The driveway filled up with cars as strangers came to the house and partied all night.   Continue reading “Merchants of Meth: How Big Pharma Keeps the Cooks in Business”

Abdul-Baki Todashev, FBI deathThe Guardian – by Richard Luscombe

The father of a Chechen man shot and killed by FBI agents investigating the Boston Marathon bombing has hired two prominent Florida civil rights attorneys in his attempt to uncover the truth about his son’s death.

Abdulbaki Todashev spoke at a Tuesday press conference in Tampa at which the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), a Muslim advocacy group, announced that lawyers Barry Cohen and Eric Ludin had been retained to represent the dead man’s family as three separate investigations into the 22 May shooting progressed.   Continue reading “Lawyers to investigate FBI shooting death of Boston suspect’s friend”

Common Dreams – by Eugene Robinson

President Obama’s message about the government’s massive electronic surveillance programs came through loud and clear: Get over it.

The president used more soothing words in his pre-vacation news conference Friday, but that was the gist. With perhaps the application of a fig leaf here and a sheen of legalistic mumbo jumbo there, the snooping will continue.   Continue reading “What NSA Reforms? Obama’s Real Message to Americans: ‘Get Over It’”

Rense.com – by J. Speer-Williams

Ethel Barrymore (1879-1959) was perhaps the most accomplished actress of her generation. It was Ms. Barrymore who said, “You grow up the day you have the first real laugh – at yourself.”

Do you remember your first real laugh at yourself? Mine came when I was about thirty years old.

Anyway, my maturing came after reading Gary Allen’s, None Dare Call It Conspiracy, and finally realizing there was no substantial difference, in practice, between the Democratic and Republican political parties.   Continue reading “When Was Your First Chuckle … At Yourself?”

Common Dreams – by Sarah Lazare

Critics charge that an aggressive NSA purge of 90 percent of its system administrators—in an apparent attempt to prevent the next Edward Snowden from having access to secret information—is evidence that the agency seeks to hide the truth about spying from the public and remove the roll of human conscience from the agency, instead of curbing spying in response to mass anger.

“It would be nice if they reduced the amount of information they are collecting on people by 90 percent,” Dave Maass, spokesperson for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, told Common Dreams.   Continue reading “NSA to Can 90% of Admins to ‘Purge Potential Whistleblowers’”