Eric Holder holds secret meeting with press about secret guidelines for prosecuting journalists who reveal secret human rights abuses
After two days of wrangling, several major mainstream media organizations agreed to meet Friday, May 31 with Attorney General Eric Holder to discuss the circumstances under which the Justice Department would imprison journalists for reporting on human rights abuses if that reporting is deemed to be damaging to national security. Neither the Columbus Free Press nor Wikileaks was invited to attend or offer comment.
Several news organizations, including the Associated Press and Fox News, both of whom have been placed under electronic surveillance, declined to attend the meeting because it would be secret and off the record. It is not known if the First Amendment was on the agenda, which was secret.
At the last moment, Holder loosened the rule for journalists attending the meeting, permitting them to interview each other after the meeting without threat of imprisonment. Three out of the five journalists who did attend spoke briefly with reporters. They have not yet been arrested.
Several news organizations, including the Associated Press and Fox News, both of whom have been placed under electronic surveillance, declined to attend the meeting because it would be secret and off the record. It is not known if the First Amendment was on the agenda, which was secret.
At the last moment, Holder loosened the rule for journalists attending the meeting, permitting them to interview each other after the meeting without threat of imprisonment. Three out of the five journalists who did attend spoke briefly with reporters. They have not yet been arrested.
Hacktivist faces 10 years in plea agreement for exposing corporate spying on human rights activists
Hackivist Jeremy Hammond accepted a non-cooperating plea agreement Thursday, May 30 in the Stratfor case which could land him in prison for 10 years. Hammond was arrested in March 2012 for his role in the LulzSec hacking attacks on private security and public safety servers.
StratFor is the the trade name for Strategic Forecasting Inc., which bills itself as a private CIA. In documents released by Hammond to Wikileaks, it was revealed that StratFor was spying on ecological and corporate justice activists and marketing it's intelligence to major corporations and government agencies for a subscription fee that often ran to $40,000.
Hammond has spent 15 months in incarcerated without bail and the last several months in total isolation where he is restricted from family visits for 1 year and community visits for 2 years. Additionally, he may be required to pay up to $2.5 million in restitution to his victim, the private intelligence firm StatFor, for lost business and a judgement in civil action against them by their clients for failing to properly secure their private data.
StratFor is the the trade name for Strategic Forecasting Inc., which bills itself as a private CIA. In documents released by Hammond to Wikileaks, it was revealed that StratFor was spying on ecological and corporate justice activists and marketing it's intelligence to major corporations and government agencies for a subscription fee that often ran to $40,000.
Hammond has spent 15 months in incarcerated without bail and the last several months in total isolation where he is restricted from family visits for 1 year and community visits for 2 years. Additionally, he may be required to pay up to $2.5 million in restitution to his victim, the private intelligence firm StatFor, for lost business and a judgement in civil action against them by their clients for failing to properly secure their private data.
State Crimes against Democracy? Or a "Conspiracy Theory"?
Recent events at Sandy Hook, the Boston Marathon bombing, and the Oklahoma tornado have brought forth some outlandish conspiracy theories. Alex Jones called the Boston bombings a "false flag" operation without offering a motive beyond the general motive of pushing America farther down the road of "fascism". Jones again weighed in on the Oklahoma tornado , claiming it was an exercise in weather control. Even more outlandish were the people, including Alex Jones, who believed that Sandy Hook never happened , that it was a staged event which would then allow the government to take your guns away.
But not all Conspiracies are created equal, as I have argued before.
But not all Conspiracies are created equal, as I have argued before.
Recovery? Not for the common people
Without vision, the Bible teaches, the people perish. And in Chicago, Detroit, Atlanta, Newark and cities across the country, the people are perishing.
Each week in Chicago, we witness more pain. Teachers are laid off and schools are closed. Transit workers are terminated and bus service is cut. Families lose their homes, and thousands remain underwater, unable to refinance mortgages greater than the worth of their home. Hospital budgets are shut, and costs go up. Summer Pell grants are cut, and students drop out into an economy with no jobs. Schools cut athletics and music and afterschool programs, and can't understand why more students drop out. Parking meters are sold off, and parking becomes unaffordable.
Each week in Chicago, we witness more pain. Teachers are laid off and schools are closed. Transit workers are terminated and bus service is cut. Families lose their homes, and thousands remain underwater, unable to refinance mortgages greater than the worth of their home. Hospital budgets are shut, and costs go up. Summer Pell grants are cut, and students drop out into an economy with no jobs. Schools cut athletics and music and afterschool programs, and can't understand why more students drop out. Parking meters are sold off, and parking becomes unaffordable.
Our Twisted Politics of Grief
Darwin observed that conscience is what most distinguishes humans from other animals. If so, grief isn’t far behind. Realms of anguish are deeply personal -- yet prone to expropriation for public use, especially in this era of media hyper-spin. Narratives often thresh personal sorrow into political hay. More than ever, with grief marketed as a civic commodity, the personal is the politicized.
The politicizing of grief exploded in the wake of 9/11. When so much pain, rage and fear set the U.S. cauldron to boil, national leaders promised their alchemy would bring unalloyed security. The fool’s gold standard included degrading civil liberties and pursuing a global war effort that promised to be ceaseless. From the political outset, some of the dead and bereaved were vastly important, others insignificant. Such routine assumptions have remained implicit and intact.
The “war on terror” was built on two tiers of grief. Momentous and meaningless. Ours and theirs. The domestic politics of grief settled in for a very long haul, while perpetual war required the leaders of both major parties to keep affirming and reinforcing the two tiers of grief.
The politicizing of grief exploded in the wake of 9/11. When so much pain, rage and fear set the U.S. cauldron to boil, national leaders promised their alchemy would bring unalloyed security. The fool’s gold standard included degrading civil liberties and pursuing a global war effort that promised to be ceaseless. From the political outset, some of the dead and bereaved were vastly important, others insignificant. Such routine assumptions have remained implicit and intact.
The “war on terror” was built on two tiers of grief. Momentous and meaningless. Ours and theirs. The domestic politics of grief settled in for a very long haul, while perpetual war required the leaders of both major parties to keep affirming and reinforcing the two tiers of grief.
Who’s behind internet voting?
The new push for internet voting is being spearheaded by charities, think-tanks and policy wonks that are in bed with right-wing fundamentalists, union-busters, unreconstructed cold warriors, semi-retired intelligence agents, child sex traffickers, militarists, and an odd progressive or two brought along for the apparent appearance of bi-partisanship. These forces, working together with an electronic election industry already fraught with ongoing allegations of fraud and partisanship, seem poised to push one more layer of obfuscation and unaccountability into an already deeply flawed system that is the American election system.
Tracing who is funding this strange alliance and magnifying their voices offer insight into who’s lobbying for hackable internet voting.
Tracing who is funding this strange alliance and magnifying their voices offer insight into who’s lobbying for hackable internet voting.
Rape and Winning
Maybe the problem is that rape is an extension of military culture. And it’s metastasizing, even as legislation to address it stays trapped in congressional subcommittee.
Scandals and outrage come and go, but rape is ever-present. In 2011, a Pentagon report estimated that 19,000 sexual assaults had occurred in the U.S. military, of which barely 3,000 were reported because of the stigma and risk involved in doing so. The “I own you” system of military justice traditionally turns on the victim far more than the accused. That year, in response to the shocking statistics, U.S. Rep. Jackie Speier (D-Calif.) introduced a bill that would, among other things, remove the investigation of rape cases from the military chain of command, which has far more interest in ignoring the problem than prosecuting it.
Now a new Pentagon report is out, estimating that 26,000 cases of sexual assault occurred in the U.S. military in 2012, with, once again, just over 3,000 incidents reported. And Speier’s legislation has been sitting the whole time in the House Armed Services Committee, denied even a hearing.
Scandals and outrage come and go, but rape is ever-present. In 2011, a Pentagon report estimated that 19,000 sexual assaults had occurred in the U.S. military, of which barely 3,000 were reported because of the stigma and risk involved in doing so. The “I own you” system of military justice traditionally turns on the victim far more than the accused. That year, in response to the shocking statistics, U.S. Rep. Jackie Speier (D-Calif.) introduced a bill that would, among other things, remove the investigation of rape cases from the military chain of command, which has far more interest in ignoring the problem than prosecuting it.
Now a new Pentagon report is out, estimating that 26,000 cases of sexual assault occurred in the U.S. military in 2012, with, once again, just over 3,000 incidents reported. And Speier’s legislation has been sitting the whole time in the House Armed Services Committee, denied even a hearing.
Time Warner Cable: Anti-Union
I don't like corporate monopolies but I needed to pay the rent, so I got a job at Time Warner Cable in the fall of 2012. My job title was Technical Support Representative. To a lesser degree, I was happy to be working for the company that produces Real Time with Bill Maher. Insight Cable Company was recently bought up by Time Warner Cable. The transition from Insight Cable to TIme Warner was happening gradually as I started working there. One thing myself, and many other employees, were concerned about was the number of people getting fired. It seemed like one employee would lose his or her job every two weeks. A co-worker approached me and told me she was interested in starting a union. She and I began talking to workers to see if they were interested in forming a union and we got a good response.
Child poverty is the real scandal
Washington is descending into another silly season. Let’s end this diversion of dust and smoke as partisans hype mock “scandals” for political profit.
The real scandals — like that of children in poverty — are simply being ignored. In this rich nation, nearly 8 million children under the age of 18 are being raised in what are called “areas of concentrated poverty.” These are the ghettos, barrios and impoverished rural areas where more than 30 percent of families live below the poverty line (a little over $22,000 for a family of four in 2010, when these figures date from). The number of children living in these communities is rising: It’s up 25 percent since 2000, according to the Data Snapshot of Kids Count, the nonpartisan organization whose report is the source of this data.
The real scandals — like that of children in poverty — are simply being ignored. In this rich nation, nearly 8 million children under the age of 18 are being raised in what are called “areas of concentrated poverty.” These are the ghettos, barrios and impoverished rural areas where more than 30 percent of families live below the poverty line (a little over $22,000 for a family of four in 2010, when these figures date from). The number of children living in these communities is rising: It’s up 25 percent since 2000, according to the Data Snapshot of Kids Count, the nonpartisan organization whose report is the source of this data.