When These Experts Savage U.S. Drone Policy, It's Time to Worry

Last month, experts drawn from the highest reaches of establishment national-security circles quietly released a report that savages Team Obama's lethal drone program. Repeated attempts are made to give those in power the benefit of every doubt. "We believe that US government decision-makers make targeting decisions in good faith and with genuine care," the report states. "All of us on this task force have worked inside the executive branch and have great respect for the integrity and thoughtfulness of the individuals connected with targeted strike decisions, from the president down to the men and women piloting weaponized UAVs."

The expert panel, led by General John P. Abizaid, former commander of U.S. Central Command, and Georgetown Professor Rosa Brooks, former counselor to the undersecretary of Defense for policy, nevertheless issued all of the following stinging critiques:

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The Latest Snowden Leak Is Devastating to NSA Defenders

Consider the latest leak sourced to Edward Snowden from the perspective of his detractors. The National Security Agency's defenders would have us believe that Snowden is a thief and a criminal at best, and perhaps a traitorous Russian spy. In their telling, the NSA carries out its mission lawfully, honorably, and without unduly compromising the privacy of innocents. For that reason, they regard Snowden's actions as a wrongheaded slur campaign premised on lies and exaggerations.

But their narrative now contradicts itself. The Washington Post's latest article drawing on Snowden's leaked cache of documents includes files "described as useless by the analysts but nonetheless retained" that "tell stories of love and heartbreak, illicit sexual liaisons, mental-health crises, political and religious conversions, financial anxieties and disappointed hopes.

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Top Obama official blasts Israel for denying Palestinians sovereignty, security,

Israel’s ongoing occupation of the West Bank is wrong and leads to regional instability and dehumanization of Palestinians, a top American government official said Tuesday in Tel Aviv, hinting that the current Israeli government is not committed to peace.

In an unusually harsh major foreign policy address, Philip Gordon, a special assistant to US President Barack Obama and the White House coordinator for the Middle East, appealed to Israeli and Palestinian leaders to make the compromises needed to reach a permanent peace agreement. Jerusalem “should not take for granted the opportunity to negotiate” such a treaty with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, who has proven to be a reliable partner, Gordon said.

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Century of Enslavement: The History of The Federal Reserve

What is the Federal Reserve system? How did it come into existence? Is it part of the federal government? How does it create money?

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Corporate Fraud is Up Dramatically: Has anyone told John Cochrane?

By William K. Black

John Cochrane, the U. Chicago apologist-in-chief for elite corporate criminals, might want to read what the industry says about fraud.  Cochrane claims that the reason we have a modest economic recovery has nothing to do with inadequate demand, but is instead caused by government civil suits (not even prosecutions) against the financial industry’s massive frauds.

Cochrane apparently knows that corporate fraud does not exist, which is why he describes the government’s civil fraud suits as a “witch hunt.”  As I’ve described several times, Cochrane refuses to read the relevant criminology literature, but perhaps he’s willing to listen to the industry.

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US military studied how to influence Twitter users in Darpa-funded research

THE GUARDIAN

The activities of users of Twitter and other social media services were recorded and analysed as part of a major project funded by the US military, in a program that covers ground similar to Facebook’s controversial experiment into how to control emotions by manipulating news feeds.

Research funded directly or indirectly by the US Department of Defense’s military research department, known as Darpa, has involved users of some of the internet’s largest destinations, including Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Kickstarter, for studies of social connections and how messages spread.

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Senate committee passes CISA cybersecurity bill that could broaden NSA powers

RT

New cybersecurity legislation cleared the Senate Intelligence Committee on Tuesday during a closed session. Critics fear it may broaden the NSA’s already formidable access to Americans’ data.

Written by Senate Intelligence Chair Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and Senator Saxby Chambliss (R-GA), CISA – or Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act – is widely seen as a redux of last year’s CISPA bill, which was widely protested by online privacy watchdogs and ultimately defeated in Congress.

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The Only Thing More Shameful than the Shelling of Eastern Ukraine is the Silence From the Left

Most of the casualties are civilians. If just hearing about this doesn’t phase you, then go look at some of the images (warning: graphic) or footage taken on the ground.

Of course the big names in the corporate media like Fox, CNN and NBC are silent about this. That’s no surprise. Scorpions will be scorpions after all. However when “progressive” news outlets like the Huffington Post whitewash the story, that’s a special kind of despicable.

Why do I reserve a special mark of shame for pseudo left? Because they dress themselves up as champions of humanitarian values and compassion.

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Birth control microchip 'could be on sale by 2018'

MicroCHIPS, an IT start-up company with links to Massachusetts Institute of Technology, is developing a radical new contraceptive - a tiny microchip implanted under the skin that can be operated wirelessly by remote control.

In the 1990s, Robert S. Langer - the David H. Koch Institute Professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and reportedly "the most cited engineer in history" - and his colleagues Michael Cima and John Santini, developed a microchip technology that could release controlled amounts of chemicals.

Fast-forward to 2012, and Langer's MIT lab received a visit from Bill Gates, who inquires with Langer whether it would be feasible to create a new method of birth control that a woman could turn on and off as she likes and which she can use for many years.

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Border Meltdown: Obama Delivering 290,000 Illegals To U.S. Homes

The vast majority of 50,000 unaccompanied youths and children who have illegally crossed the Texas border during the last few months have been successfully delivered by federal agencies to their relatives living in the United States, according to a New York Times article.

A second New York Times article report revealed that officials have caught an additional 240,000 Central American migrants since April, and are transporting many of them to their destinations throughout the United States.

The 290,000 illegals — so far — are exploiting legal loopholes that allow them to get temporary permits to stay in the United States.

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In NSA-intercepted data, those not targeted far outnumber the foreigners who are

WASHINGTON POST

Ordinary Internet users, American and non-American alike, far outnumber legally targeted foreigners in the communications intercepted by the National Security Agency from U.S. digital networks, according to a four-month investigation by The Washington Post.

Nine of 10 account holders found in a large cache of intercepted conversations, which former NSA contractor Edward Snowden provided in full to The Post, were not the intended surveillance targets but were caught in a net the agency had cast for somebody else.

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Angela Merkel is Accomplishing Hitler’s Goals

German Chancellor Angela Merkel is not even remotely similar to Hitler. Got That?

Hitler was a psychological dervish. Left to brood on his own, as he did while convalescing after World War I, he manufactured a world view of his own fantasies. Unfortunately for the human race, he had the skill to get multitudes of others on board with him. Possibly finding himself idolized by mobs of supporters was the thing that changed him from grumpy eccentric into hysterical madman.

Hitler introduced a word into the English language. Lebensraum literally means living space. It was the Fuehrer’s excuse for invading Russia. Not that he cared much for Muscovy; his real interests were the minerals of the Donbass and the rich black soil of Ukraine.

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Radioactive material stolen in Mexico: officials

The Mexican government warned Friday that a vehicle containing radioactive material has been stolen, and issued a dire warning to the thieves against taking the potentially deadly material from its protective container.

Federal civil defense officials said the vehicle had been transporting deadly iridium-192, a radioactive substance used in making some industrial products.

The substance "can be dangerous for human health if removed from its container," the officials said in a statement, adding that the material can be lethal even if handled for only a brief time.

The theft in Mexico state prompted officials to issue an alert throughout the capital region and in neighboring states.

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Feds Threaten Journalist With Prison Over Report On Illegal Immigration

In a certified letter sent to Infowars, the Defense Department claims that I engaged in “unauthorized photography and broadcast” which were somehow “detrimental” to the “safety and security of the installation” even though the photos of Lackland’s illegal alien shelter, which is housing nearly 2,000 illegals at a cost to taxpayers of around $250 per immigrant per day, were taken outside the shelter and are clearly in the public’s best interest.

“You are hereby put on notice that should you make unauthorized entry into any of the Joint Base San Antonio (JBSA) installations in the future, a debarment order will be issued,” stated the letter, which added that further action could lead to imprisonment.

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How Bulgaria’s Bank Run Affects Ukraine’s European Dream

BLOOMBERG

Joining the European Union was meant to give Bulgaria a fresh start. Try telling that to Anna Dimitrova.

“Bulgaria didn’t gain from the EU as much as it could have, because it’s mismanaged by corrupt politicians,” said Dimitrova, a law student, in central Sofia. “Our politicians are not visionaries. Their horizon is too short.”

Seven years after entering, Bulgaria has had three governments, remains the poorest of the bloc’s 28 nations and is repeatedly told by the EU to cut graft and corruption. In January, the EU said corruption “poses a significant challenge for the Bulgarian authorities.”

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HHS Bars Congressman From Seeing Immigrant Children

A Health and Human Services official refused to allow a member of Congress to enter a facility in his district where some of the unaccompanied immigrant children are being housed.

Representative Jim Bridenstine (R., Okla.) was told he could schedule an appointment for July 21. ““What are they trying to hide?” Bridenstine said after the incident. ”Do they not want the children to speak with Members of Congress?  As a Navy pilot, I have been involved in operations countering illicit human trafficking.  I would like to know to whom these children are being released.”

There are 1,200 immigrant children at the base.

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FBI Hanky-Panky on Guantanamo—Part of Larger 9/11 Mystery?

What in the world is the FBI up to at Guantanamo? Why is it harassing the defense team of the accused 9/11 mastermind Khalid Shaikh Mohammed and his alleged accomplices?

The FBI is hip-deep in yet another dubious activity but, this time, even the not-so-adventurous New York Times is kinda-sorta on the trail. The self-proclaimed “paper of record” has produced several articles, albeit confusing ones, on the mysterious doings of our much-vaunted national police force.

What should be made clear is that by connecting a few dots, one can make out a major—even explosive—story hiding just out of plain sight. This story has a lot to do with the larger pattern of FBI misbehavior and points to at least one of the reasons why we never get better, more complete answers about the events of 9/11.

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Blackwater Threatened to Kill State Dept. Official in Iraq

An internal State Department memorandum featured by the New York Times Monday reveals how the investigator, Jean C. Richter, alerted his superiors following the incident, only two weeks before Blackwater mercenaries shot and killed 17 Iraqi civillians in Nisour Square.

According to Richter, a Diplomatic Security special agent, Baghdad’s Blackwater project manager, Daniel Carroll, threatened to kill him at the end of the month long investigation.

“Mr. Carroll’s statement was made in a low, even tone of voice, his head was slightly lowered; his eyes were fixed on mine,” Richter’s memo stated. “I took Mr. Carroll’s threat seriously. We were in a combat zone where things can happen quite unexpectedly, especially when issues involve potentially negative impacts on a lucrative security contract.”

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The story of activist Aaron Swartz

The Internet’s Own Boy follows the story of programming prodigy and information activist Aaron Swartz. From Swartz's help in the development of the basic internet protocol RSS to his co-founding of Reddit, his fingerprints are all over the internet. But it was Swartz's groundbreaking work in social justice and political organizing combined with his aggressive approach to information access that ensnared him in a two-year legal nightmare.

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Wells Fargo Wants Incriminating Evidence Removed From Indybay Site

Wells Fargo, a client of PhishLabs Security Operations, wants the “Wells Fargo foreclosure manual” removed from Indybay.org as soon as possible.

On March 12, 2014, the New York Post reported, "Wells Fargo, the nation’s biggest mortgage servicer, appears to have set up detailed internal procedures to fabricate foreclosure papers on demand, according to allegations in papers filed Tuesday in a New York federal court."

On March 17, 2014, The Washington Post published Wells Fargo's 150-page manual to attorneys for fabricating foreclosure papers. The Post states, "Wells Fargo created an elaborate guide for how to produce missing documents to foreclose on homeowners, according to a lawsuit that has caught the attention of state and federal regulators."

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