(MediaRoots) – With eight years of scandal, contempt and two illegal ground wars deep, a strong anti-bush sentiment was pervasive among American citizens leading up to the 2008 presidential elections. During Obama’s campaign for President, he made it clear that water boarding was torture, and that Bush administration officials broke the law with their counter terrorism torture strategies. Read the rest of this entry »
(HigginsBlog) – The CSPAN grand prize winning documentary warns US can repeat WWII mistake of rounding people up into concentration camps again by suspending the constitution. Read the rest of this entry »
(TheNewAmerican) – José Padilla (left) is a citizen of the United States and a convicted terrorist. On Monday, he filed a petition for a writ of certiorari with theU.S. Supreme Court requesting that the nation’s highest court review the decision of an appeals court to dismiss his suit alleging torture at the hands of U.S. government officials. Read the rest of this entry »
(RussiaToday) – A leaked CIA memo reveals Bush was advised that the torture techniques he authorized the CIA to use are felony war crimes and chose to use them anyway. Read the rest of this entry »
(PaulWatson) – In the aftermath of Barack Obama’s Presidential Policy Directive which forbids controversial provisions of the National Defense Authorization Act from being used against lawful residents, a former architect of the infamous Bush torture program today testified in favor of indefinite detention for US citizens. Read the rest of this entry »
(GlobalResearch) – Travelers to Cuba and music lovers are familiar with the song “Guantanamera”— literally, the girl from Guantánamo. With lyrics by José Martí, the father of Cuban independence, Guantanamera is probably the most widely known Cuban song. But Guantánamo is even more famous now for its U.S. military prison. Where “Guantanamera” is a powerful expression of the beauty of Cuba, “Gitmo” has become a powerful symbol of human rights violations—so much so that Amnesty International described it as “the gulag of our times.” Read the rest of this entry »
Gen. Iván Ramírez Led Unit that “Tortured and Killed” Palace of Justice Detainees in 1985
“Infamous” Commander “was “Passing Military Intelligence to the Paramilitaries,” according to U.S. Ambassador
(NationalSecurityArchive) – A Colombian army general acquitted today in one of the country’s most infamous human rights cases “actively” collaboratedwith paramilitary death squads responsible for dozens of massacres, according to formerly secret U.S. records obtained under the Freedom of Information Act by the National Security Archive. Read the rest of this entry »
(RussiaToday) – There is a bill in the Senate that is attempting to keep torture alive as an interrogation technique. The National Defense Authorization Act is being debated in Congress and if passed, American citizens could be detained without a court hearing anywhere in the world. President Obama stated he will veto the bill if it should pass. Is Senate Bill 1867 threatening the US constitution? Paul Craig Roberts, former Reagan administration official and columnist, gives us his take on the proposed bill. Read the rest of this entry »
The ACLU and over 30 other organizations sent a letter to the Senate asking them to oppose an effort in Congress that threatens to revive the use of torture and other inhumane interrogation techniques. If passed, an amendment introduced by Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.) to the Defense Authorization bill would roll back torture prevention measures that Congress overwhelmingly approved in the 2005 McCain Anti-Torture Amendment, as well as a 2009 Executive Order on ensuring lawful interrogations. It would also require the administration to create a secret list of approved interrogation techniques in a classified annex to the existing interrogation field manual. Read the rest of this entry »
(CBSNews) – “In terms outside — if you are talking about financial aid and things like that, all of that is going to the military,” Abdalla explained. “The U.S. government, the British government — of which, I am a citizen of Britain — you know, European governments, all over the world Western governments are supporting this military.”
“The teargas, which is clinging to my lungs, which was bombed in the square last night, is from stocks which have been replenished over the last nine months. Every canister says it’s come from the U.S. And that’s something that causes me great sadness.” Read the rest of this entry »
See Also: (Guardian) – US students arrested in Egypt’s Tahrir Square not being held in prison – Read More Here
(NewsMax) – The Egyptian military has been using a banned chemical agent to deal with hundreds of thousands of protesters, according to several news sources.
At least 23 Egyptians have died and more than 1,700 have succumbed to a lethal gas military forces have been using during the past three days in clashes in and around Cairo’s Tahrir Square.
The International Business Times reports that demonstrators have been struck with “dangerous levels of CR gas over the past two days of protests” and Australia’s The Age said Wednesday that the canisters are marked “Made in the USA.” Read the rest of this entry »
(WashingtonsBlog) – While everyone knows that the use by police on peaceful protesters is brutal, many don’t realize it is illegal … and can cause lasting damage.
(AJC) – The latest on the NYT attempting to link Alex Jones to the alleged White House shooter and Forbes claiming Jones and trends forecaster Gerald Celente are attempting to instigate a run on banks. The failure of the unconstitutional Super Committee.
The online “hacktivist” group Anonymous published the personal contact details on Monday of a California university policeman who used pepper spray on protesters, and it urged supporters to flood him with phone calls and emails.
YouTube videos of Friday’s incident on the campus of the University of California, Davis have gone viral and led to the suspension of the college police chief, two police officers and calls for the chancellor to step down. Read More Here
(EFF) – FBI Sanctioned for Lying About Existence of Surveillance Records
Using the strongest possible language, the court disagreed: “The Government cannot, under any circumstance, affirmatively mislead the Court.” Islamic Shura Council of S. Cal. v. FBI(“Shura Council I”), No. 07-1088, 3 (C.D. Cal. April 27, 2011) (emphasis added). – Read More Here
(NYTimes) – Airlines worry frustrations with security procedures contributing to decline in travel
The Air Transport Association expects 2 percent fewer people will fly this Thanksgiving week compared with last year, while AAA projects a 4 percent increase in automobile travel. Read More Here
Video
(PaulWatson) – TSA Agents Think They Are Above The Law
TSA worker in uniform flashes badge, brutally rapes woman
Yet another example of a TSA agent engaging in rampant criminality and believing themselves to be above the law emerged yesterday, when 52-year-old TSA worker Harold Glen Rodman allegedly approached a woman in full uniform before flashing his badge and proceeding to brutally rape and sodomize her. Read the rest of this entry »
(PaulWatson) – Michael Moore Blames Homeland Security For Pepper-Spray Brutality
Says Incident Is Occupy’s ‘Tiananmen Square Moment’
Filmmaker Michael Moore blamed the Homeland Security-funded militarization of college campus police for the shocking incident Friday where a University of California police officer pepper-sprayed demonstrators directly in the face, labeling the footage the ‘Occupy’ movement’s Tiananmen Square moment. Read the rest of this entry »
(TheAmericanDream) – Pepper Spray To The Face, Rubber Bullets At Point Blank Range And Brutally Dragging Women By Their Hair Read the rest of this entry »
(NYTimes) – The University of California, Davis, said on Sunday that two police officers had been placed on administrative leave after using pepper spray on seated protesters in a widely recorded encounter on Friday afternoon.
Reflecting widespread anger over the police behavior, the university chancellor, Linda P.B. Katehi, said Sunday that she would insist that the investigation be completed in 30 days. A day earlier, she had said it would take 90 days. Read the rest of this entry »
Justifying the Use of MORE FORCE, Including Baton Strikes
(WashingtonsBlog) - In a Police State Like Modern America, Even Peaceful Resistance Is Considered Violence and Cause for Even More Brutality
As I’ve repeatedly documented, passive resistance is considered “violence” and aggression in today’s militarized police state. Read the rest of this entry »
(RussiaToday) – Video: 400 handcuffs: OWS 2-month birthday gift – Video Link Here
(DailyMail) – Video: Shocking video as police pepper spray UC Davis students staging passive sitdown protest
A shocking videotape of police forcefully pepper spraying a group of students staging a sit down protest has emerged.
Footage of the tense standoff between police and Occupy demonstrators at the University of California, Davis, shows an officer using pepper spray on a group of protesters who appear to be sitting passively on the ground with their arms interlocked.
Witnesses watched in horror as police moved in on more than a dozen tents erected in the campus quad drenching demonstrators with the burning yellow spray and arresting 10 people, nine of them students.
See Also: FLASHBACK – February 2008 – (Youtube) – Video: Humboldt County Sheriff Tortures NonViolent Women Activists – Video Link Here
Also: (CivilLiberties) – Pepper Spray, Pain and Justice
Pepper Spray as a police tool first came to the notice of the courts in a footnote describing torture of suspects in India.
Today’s pepper spray is a far cry from the natural substance the police in India found useful. Ads on the Internet tout it as being thousands of times more concentrated and consequently having much stronger effects. It is strong enough to be classified by the Army as a “chemical agent.” Read More Here
Video
(WashingtonsBlog) – Oakland Police Strike Army Ranger With Nightsticks On His Back, Ribs, Shoulders and Hands, Lacerating His Spleen and Causing Internal Bleeding
(TheAustralian) – Occupy movement will go on as long as the people are feeling aggrieved – Read More Here
(BigGovernment) – New Video Reveals: New York Times Reporter Natasha Lennard Is #OccupyWallStreet Activist, Supporter – Read More Here
(DailyMail) – Is this the end of the Wall Street camp?
Occupy Wall Street protesters have begun to squabble over money with some demanding a reported $500,000 the movement has in its bank be shared more equally.
And with the cold weather beginning to take a firm grip on New York City, doubts have been raised as to whether the anti-corporation demonstration can make it through the winter. Read More Here
(Presscore) – U.S. military warns of plot by Federal Reserve bankers to have CIA mercenaries from Libya kill New York cops – Read More Here
(DailyBail) – OCCUPY GEORGE – Protesters Stamp Inequality Graphics On Dollar Bills (PHOTOS) – View Here
(SocialistAlternative) – 48-hour general strike sees biggest workers’ protests in decades — All out occupations and strikes! Kick out the Pasok cuts government! For a revolutionary government of the workers and poor! – Read More Here
(Youtube) – Video: 9/11 Truth and the Occupy Wall St. Movement
Joshua Blakeney Speaks at Occupy Vancouver
(HigginsBlog) – Watch Live: #OccupyChicago Arrests Now Under Way On Livestream #ows #OccupyWallStreet – Read More Here
In many ways, Australia is the emblematic police state. In 2003, as if attempting to outdo the United States with its Patriot Act following 9/11, Australia’s parliament unveiled a range of draconian Gestapo-like powers under the ASIO Terrorism Act. In 2008, the Labor Party joined China and drafted a wide ranging internet censorship bill custom-tailored to silence political speech. Read the rest of this entry »
(MediaRoots) – Author of several books: Torture Taxi, the first book to comprehensively cover the CIA’s extraordinary rendition program; I Could Tell You But Then You Would Have to be Destroyed by Me, a book looking at the world of black projects through unit patches and memorabilia created for top-secret programs; and Blank Spots on the Map: The Dark Geography of the Pentagon’s Secret World, a book that gives a broader look at secrecy in the United States. Audio Link Here
(NaturalNews) – As he campaigned for the presidency in 2007 and 2008, then Sen. Barack Obama made clear there would be no torturing of terrorism suspects on his watch, as had been done by the agency with White House and Justice Department approval during the Bush administration in the years following the 9/11 attacks.
“Up over my head, nothing but clouds of blood” — Bob Dylan, “Cold Irons Bound”
(EmpireBurlesque) – Here’s a story where it all comes together, where the guiding ethos of the age is exposed: torture turned to private profit, state terror as a business deal.
The Guardian reports on a remarkable case uncovered by the legal rights charity Reprieve: private contractors who flew American Terror War captives to torture hellholes around the world coming to blows in court over a grubby dispute over expenses. The case reveals the inner workings of the infamous “rendition” program, where contractors charged U.S. taxpayers for wine and chocolate as they carried kidnap victims to “black sites” and proxy torturers across America’s global gulag: Read the rest of this entry »
(HigginsBlog) – An innocent man imprisoned by the U.S. government for 5 years in CIA torture camps survived electroshock torture and witnessed lethal beatings of prisoners.
A report by Russia Today reveals how the U.S. government imprisoned a man in the CIA torture prisons for 5 years and eventually released the man without charge. Read the rest of this entry »
(RussiaToday) – Guantanamo Bay continues to wreck lives, despite President Obama’s pledge to shut the notorious prison. RT spoke to one former prisoner, Murat Kurnaz, who says the US has not issued even a simple apology for his years of torment. Read the rest of this entry »
(Guardian) – A US human rights group has called on foreign governments to prosecute George W Bush and some of his senior officials for war crimes if the Obama administration fails to investigate a growing body of evidence against the former president over the use of torture. Read the rest of this entry »
(SkyNews) – Amnesty International says Syrian security forces may have committed crimes against humanity during their military crackdown on pro-democracy protests.
The human rights group cites witness accounts of deaths in custody, torture and arbitrary detention during a military operation against civilians in Talkalakh, a town near the Lebanese border. Read the rest of this entry »
Alex talks with Becky Aker, a freelance writer from New York who writes for The New American. On Tuesday, Becky wrote about the TSA accosting a 95 year old woman who suffers from leukemia, forcing her to remove an adult diaper at a Florida airport. Alex also covers the latest on Obama’s illegal wars in the Middle East, South Asia, northern Africa, waged without congressional consultation or formal declarations of war. Alex covers other important news of the day and takes your calls. Read the rest of this entry »
6 years old girl, Jana, from Nabi Saleh explains what happens in her home town every Friday. This interview took place on the Friday of “Freedom in Colors” that was organized to draw a smile on the children’s face. It included kites making workshop and face paintings. As the children moved to fly their kites on the hill. The army attacked them with gas and stun grenades.
Friday, June 24, 2011
(RussiaToday) – The UK failed to track detainees handed over to the U.S., neglecting to protect them from possible abuse. The shocking revelations, forced through by British MPs, expose a secret agreement over the treatment of prisoners passed over to Washington by London. Read the rest of this entry »
(DemocracyNow) – Dozens of Americans hope to set sail this week on a U.S.-flagged ship, “The Audacity of Hope,” as part of an international flotilla which aims to challenge Israel’s embargo of the Gaza Strip. Palestinian solidarity activists are setting sail from a number of ports just over a year after Israeli forces killed nine activists on an aid boat called the Mavi Marmara, which was part of the first such international flotilla. Israel says it will again use force to stop the aid flotilla from reaching Gaza. We speak with passengers of the U.S. boat, New York labor attorney Richard Levy and peace activist Kathy Kelly. Read the rest of this entry »
(AlJazeera) – The nature and scale of human rights abuses by Syrian security forces in the crackdown on anti-government protesters over the past two months could qualify as crimes against humanity, Human Rights Watch (HRW) has said.
In a statement released on Wednesday, the New York-based rights body said interviews with victims and witnesses indicate “systematic killings, beatings, torture using electroshock devices, and detention of people seeking medical care”. Read the rest of this entry »
(SteveWatson) – Utah To Follow Texas Lead In TSA Grope-down Revolt – Read More Here
(NewAmerican) – Washington Times: ‘Texas Senators Need to Grow a Backbone’ – Read More Here
(AaronDykes) – Video: Texans Revolt Against TSA Tyranny, Storm Capitol
Exclusive footage of the Texas Capitol takeover Wednesday, when angry demonstrators led by radio host Alex Jones descended upon the Senate to rebuke threats used to quash a TSA bill that passed the House unanimously and was poised to clear the Senate with 30 of 31 senators supporting. Read More Here
(PaulWatson) – TSA Thug Grabs Crotch of Wounded Vet – Read More Here
(KurtNimmo) – Video: FBI Steps Up Harassment of Political Activists – Video Link Here
(CBS) – POLICE STATE: New LAPD Cruisers Equipped With Infrared Cameras, License Plate Scanners… – Read More Here
(Politico) – Machine to Sign Patriot Act Extension Into Law – Read More Here
(RawStory) – Senator Rand Paul slams GOP for blocking efforts to amend PATRIOT Act – Read More Here
(KurtNimmo) – Obama Signs PATRIOT Act Extension – Read More Here
(ZeroHedge) – The Pain In Spain Comes Mainly In The Form Of A Police Baton…(Coming To AmeriKa Shortly…) – Tyler Durden – Read More Here
Video
(BusinessInsider) – Graphic Video Of Police Brutality On Protesters In Spain
Police in Barcelona have attacked protesters that have been camped out since May 15 in the city’s Plaza Catalunya. The protesters originally were trying to apply pressure to the public to not vote in last weekend’s local Spanish elections. Those elections resulted in sharp losses for the country’s Socialist Party government.
Protesters have remained in squares across Spain since the election, demanding government reforms and renewed attention to the country’s unemployment crisis. Read the rest of this entry »
(NaturalNews) – Let’s ask the commonsense question: If the TSA can run security checkpoints at not only airports but also local high schools, and if the TSA can reach down your pants and feel your genitals in complete violation of your Fourth Amendment rights, and if the TSA says it has the complete authority under the U.S. Constitution to do whatever it wants, then what are the limits on the TSA’s power?
It’s not just an important question, it is THE question of freedom: What are the limits of government power? Read the rest of this entry »
(WashingtonsBlog) – Virtually all of the top interrogation experts – both conservatives and liberals (except for those trying to escape war crimes prosecution) – say that torture doesn’t work:
“Experience indicates that the use of force is not necessary to gain the cooperation of sources for interrogation. Therefore, the use of force is a poor technique, as it yields unreliable results, may damage subsequent collection efforts, and can induce the source to say whatever he thinks the interrogator wants to hear.”
Senator Levin, in commenting on the Senate Armed Services Committee report on torture declassified today, drops the following bombshell: Read the rest of this entry »
(KurtNimmo) – Now that the government claims it offed Osama bin Laden – never mind a complete lack of evidence – it is time to elevate the brutal and medieval techniques the government said it used to break the case.
Darth Vader, aka Mr. Darkside Dick Cheney, former Justice Department official John Yoo – who said it is legal and permissible to crush the testicles of little boys to extract information – and Congress critter anti-jihad crusader Peter King from New York all said this week that “enhanced interrogation,” otherwise known as torture, is a vital element in the war against manufactured enemies. Read the rest of this entry »
The details come from leaked classified files, however, the information contained in the files has been in the public domain for some time. Read the rest of this entry »
(RealityReport) – Gary Franchi responds to the video of the 6 Year Old Girl Groped By TSA and provides valuable insight into other abuses of children at the hands of the State. Please comment, rate and share to help end these abuses. – Read the rest of this entry »
See Also: (KurtNimmo) – Complaining About TSA Molestation Will Get You Profiled as a Terrorist – Read More Here
Also: (SteveWatson) – “Outraged and Disgusted” Congressman Introduces Legislation To Bar TSA From Groping Children – Read More Here
(SteveWatson) – Following the emergence of a video of a TSA agent subjecting a scared and confused 6-year old girl to an invasive full body pat down this week, another incident has come to light today in which an 8-year old boy was recently groped in the same way. This despite the fact that the TSA claimed it had changed its security procedure for children. Read the rest of this entry »
(WashTimes) – The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) hoped it could avoid a public revolt over its intrusive airport security measures by dialing back operations while scrutiny was at its peak over the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays. That didn’t stop more than a dozen federal lawsuits that have since been filed against the agency by airline pilots and a former governor, among others. State lawmakers also are looking for change. Read the rest of this entry »
(Reuters) – Human rights group Amnesty International on Wednesday called on Egypt’s government to investigate accusations that the army tortured and abused women arrested in anti-government protests earlier this month.
At least 18 women were arrested on March 9 when army officers forcibly cleared Tahrir Square in Cairo, centre of the protests that toppled president Hosni Mubarak in February. Read the rest of this entry »
See Also: (WSJ) – TSA, Republicans Spar As Agency Skips Scanners Hearing – Read More Here
(NBC) – Transportation Security Administration chief John Pistole on Wednesday asked Congress for money to deploy 275 more full-body image scanners at the nation’s airports, NBC News reports.
The technology used by the machines “has been proven safe and I assure you our operations respect individual privacy,” John Pistole told a House budget commitee. He said TSA also seeks to add 100 more dog teams around the country to help screen passengers for explosives. And he’s asking for money to sustain federal air marshal coverage of domestic and international flights. Read More Here
