Author: Millard

Tom Dispatch – by Tom Engelhardt

He came and he went: that was the joke that circulated in 1979 when 70-year-old former Vice President Nelson Rockefeller had a heart attack and died in his Manhattan townhouse in the presence of his evening-gown-clad 25-year-old assistant.  In a sense, the same might be said of retired CIA operative Robert Seldon Lady.

Recently, Lady proved a one-day wonder. After years in absentia — poof! — he reappeared out of nowhere on the border between Panama and Costa Rica, and made the news when Panamanian officials took him into custody on an Interpol warrant.  The CIA’s station chief in Milan back in 2003, he had achieved brief notoriety for overseeing a la dolce vita version of extraordinary rendition as part of Washington’s Global War on Terror.  His colleagues kidnapped Hassan Mustafa Osama Nasr, a radical Muslim cleric and terror suspect, off the streets of Milan, and rendered him via U.S. airbases in Italy and Germany to the torture chambers of Hosni Mubarak’s Egypt. Lady evidently rode shotgun on that transfer.   Continue reading “Now You See Him, Now You Don’t”

End the Lie – by Madison Ruppert

For the first time since Edward Snowden leaked information on the National Security Agency’s surveillance programs, the owner of an ISP has publicly discussed how the NSA got him to install equipment to directly spy on one of his customers.

Pete Ashdown, the CEO of XMission, detailed his experience when he received a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) warrant in 2010 which forced him to allow the federal government to monitor a customer of his.   Continue reading “Owner of small Utah ISP describes how the NSA got him to install surveillance equipment”

Washington’s Blog

“I mean—hell, I been surprised how sane you guys all are. As near as I can tell you’re not any crazier than the average asshole on the street.” – R.P. McMurphy – One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest

“Years ago, it meant something to be crazy. Now everyone’s crazy.” – Charles Manson   Continue reading “Trying to Stay Sane in an Unsane World – Part 1”

 Truth Dig –Peter Z. Scheer

Since Edward Snowden blew the whistle on the NSA’s mass surveillance of Americans, interest in cryptography has been piqued. That’s fine if you’re a nerd, but what about Grandma’s privacy? Luckily there are fairly simple ways to communicate privately.

Just be warned, if you use encryption, the NSA has reportedly decided it can hold on to your data indefinitely, whether you’re American or not.  Continue reading “Five Ways to Have a Chat Behind Big Brother’s Back”

Washington’s Blog

How Much Do Americans Despise Congress?

Business Insider notes today:

A June Gallup poll [showed that Congress] had a 10% approval rating [while] and one in March that showed North Korea with a 12% favorability rating among Americans.   Continue reading “Congress Is Less Popular than North Korea, Cockroaches, Lice, Root Canals, Colonoscopies, Traffic Jams, Used Car Salesmen, Genghis Khan, Communism, BP during the Gulf Oil Spill, Nixon During Watergate or King George During the American Revolution”

Smoking Mirrors – by Dog Poet

Submerged, below the sensors of The Lidless Eye, seeing in all directions from atop the pyramid, indifferent to the dictates of conscience, impartially contemptuous of all life, driven by one imperative and that is, the power to control and to rule without resistance, no matter how draconian or twisted may be the edicts of the scepter.    Continue reading “The Lidless Eye and the Yo Yo Dance of Butch Napolitano.”

Common Dreams – by Tom Engelhardt

I mean, come on.  You knew it had to happen, didn’t you?  In a 2010 Department of Homeland Security report, wrested from the bowels of the secrecy/surveillance state (thanks to a Freedom of Information Act request by the Electronic Frontier Foundation), the Customs and Border Protection agency suggests arming their small fleet of surveillance drones.  The purpose: to “immobilize TOIs,” or targets of interest, along the U.S.-Mexican border.  Those arms would, of course, be “non-lethal” in nature.  It’s all so civilized.  Kinda like the Star Trek folks putting their phasers on “stun,” not kill.  And count on it, sooner or later it will happen.  And then, of course, the lethal weapons will follow.  Otherwise, how in the world could we track and eliminate terrorists in “the homeland” efficiently?   Continue reading “Welcome Home From the Wars, Drones!”

Common Dreams – by Sarah Lazare

The White House spiraled into panic mode late Friday after Edward Snowden’s earlier appearance in Russia, with President Obama moving forward with plans to personally call Vladimir Putin to urge the Russian president to deny Snowden asylum.

Snowden went public earlier Friday to announce his intention to apply for temporary stay in Russia until he is able to arrange safe travel to Latin America. The whistleblower forcefully defended his moral choice to expose the vast US spying dragnet, declaring “I did the right thing.”   Continue reading “Panicked Obama Dials Putin After Snowden Appearance”

Common Dreams – by Abbey Zimet

In response to protests against test drilling for a controversial proposed $1.5 billion open-pit iron ore mine in northern Wisconsin by Gogebic Taconite, the mining company has hired masked, camouflaged, assault-rifle-toting guards from a self-described “no compromise” security force that boasts of “rigorous tactical firearms training” and “professional operators” who combine “logistics with tactical support” to “instinctively and smoothly manage surrounding threats.”  Thanks to the mindless Rambo-ing up, the “surrounding threats” are now mostly the once-peaceable, now-pissed residents who, in a letter from Democratic legislators, blast the company’s “confrontational and incendiary step that will clearly do more to intimidate local citizens and increase local tensions than it will to make you, your staff, or your equipment any safer.”   Continue reading “Bulletproof Security: Mining Company Hires Paramilitary Commandos to Guard Their Precious Equipment, Wisconsin Is Unhappy”

Continue reading “Mass Protests”

End the Lie -by Madison Ruppert

Protests against the surveillance programs run by the National Security Agency (NSA) are occurring across the United States under the banner of the “Restore the Fourth” campaign.

Restore the Fourth is supported by a wide range of groups and companies from the Electronic Frontier Foundation to the Freedom of the Press Foundation to Mozilla.   Continue reading “Restore the Fourth: protests against NSA surveillance programs sweep the nation”

NewsMax – by Matthew Auerbach

Five-time NBA champion Dennis Rodman wants to add another trophy to his collection: the Nobel Peace Prize.

The Washington Times reports Rodman, in an interview appearing in the current issue of Sports Illustrated, lays out the reasons behind his controversial trip to North Korea and his belief that he should be in the running for this most prestigious honor.   Continue reading “Dennis Rodman Says He Should be Considered for Nobel Prize”

Common Dreams – by Edward Snowden

The following is the full text of a letter by Edward Snowden to the President of Ecuador, Rafael Correa. Written in Spanish, it was obtained and translated by the Press Association in London.

There are few world leaders who would risk standing for the human rights of an individual against the most powerful government on earth, and the bravery of Ecuador and its people is an example to the world.   Continue reading “Letter to the President and People of Ecuador”

Rense.com – by Jim Kirwan

The death of this nation began a very long time ago. I’ve been tracking it since the1960’s. This year I explored various television series programs, some of them covering ten years of programming.

The results were astounding, not so much in relationship to the past as they were absolutely clear about the total farce of every aspect of American life today.   Continue reading “The Invisible Death”