July 10, 2013

Correspondence and collusion between the New York Times and the CIA

Mark Mazzetti's emails with the CIA expose the degradation of journalism that has lost the imperative to be a check to power

Glenn Greenwald
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 29 August 2012 14.58 EDT

EXCERPT...

But what is news in this disclosure are the newly released emails between Mark Mazzetti, the New York Times's national security and intelligence reporter, and CIA spokeswoman Marie Harf. The CIA had evidently heard that Maureen Dowd was planning to write a column on the CIA's role in pumping the film-makers with information about the Bin Laden raid in order to boost Obama's re-election chances, and was apparently worried about how Dowd's column would reflect on them. On 5 August 2011 (a Friday night), Harf wrote an email to Mazzetti with the subject line: "Any word??", suggesting, obviously, that she and Mazzetti had already discussed Dowd's impending column and she was expecting an update from the NYT reporter.

SNIP...

Even more amazing is the reaction of the newspaper's managing editor, Dean Baquet, to these revelations, as reported by Politico's Dylan Byers:

"New York Times Managing Editor Dean Baquet called POLITICO to explain the situation, but provided little clarity, saying he could not go into detail on the issue because it was an intelligence matter.

CONTINUED with LINKS...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/aug/29/correspondence-collusion-new-york-times-cia

That's a good example.

July 9, 2013

Why the Ruling Class is So Upset About Edward Snowden

“The Damage to Our Intelligence is Gut-Wrenching to See”

Why the Ruling Class is So Upset About Edward Snowden

by GARY LEUPP
CounterPunch June 26, 2013

EXCERPT...

It all, in my humble opinion, boils down to this. The entirety of the ruling elite and the journalistic establishment are keen on defending the programs Snowden has exposed; keen on punishing him for his whistle-blowing; determined to vilify him as a punk, narcissist, egoist, attention-hungry ne’er-do-well (anything but a thoughtful man who made a moral choice that has enlightened people about the character of the U.S. government); feverishly working on damage control while anticipating more damning revelations; and determined to get those four laptops with their incriminating content back into the bosom of the national security state.

What sort of state is it, that says to its own people, we can invade a country based on lies, kill a million people, hold nobody accountable but hey, when one of us does something so abominable as to reveal that the state spies constantly on the people of the world, we have to have a “manhunt” for him and punish him for treason?

The Director of National Intelligence, James Clapper, has the audacity to tell NBC News, “It is literally gut-wrenching to see” Snowden’s revelations… because of the “damage” they do to “our intelligence capabilities”! As though there were really an “our” or “us” at this point. As though we were a nation united, including the mindful watchers and the grateful watched.

[font color="green"]No, there are us, and there are them. The tiny power elite that controls the mainstream press and cable channels, the corporations that dutifully hand over meta-data to the state (and then deny doing so to allay consumer outrage), the twin political parties, are sick to their stomachs that they’ve been so exposed.[/font color]

CONTINUED...

http://www.counterpunch.org/2013/06/26/why-the-ruling-class-is-so-upset-about-edward-snowden/

July 8, 2013

Not just Guantanamo. Ask Don Siegelman.

Justice for Just-Us.
Welfare for the Wealthy.
Wars without End for Black Gold.
No New Deal for the 21st Century.
Spying on Everybody, especially those who Dissent.

Other than that, I don't have a problem with the program.

July 8, 2013

Thank you, cascadiance! Outstanding Op-Ed, that.

I’m not convinced that Roberts is packing the court with patsies for the national surveillance state. But it is anomalous that all 11 members of this important court are appointed by the chief justice, albeit from a pool of judges nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate for ordinary federal trial courts.

The FISA court has morphed into an arm of those people it's supposed to watch: the BFEE.

July 8, 2013

Secret Laws and Secret Government are un-American.

Secret laws mean those in on the secrets are above those who aren't.

Secrecy means We the People aren't in charge.

July 8, 2013

Of course, 12 years ago nobody remembers James R Bath links Houses of Bush and bin Laden.

The short version: Back in the day when George W was defendin' Texas from the Air Force of North Vietnam, he met a man by the name of James R Bath. They both were drummed off the flight line for failing to take physical exams -- coincidently, no doubt, right about the same time the government starting testing pilots for illegal drugs 'n' such. Note how the Bush White House redacted a proper noun here and there. Here're two versions of the document:



Now this document shows that the House of bin Laden selected James R Bath to be their official U.S. business agent.



Isn't it something? Why no one in the press corpse ask Bush about this is understandable considering the subject must be off-limits to those without the necessary Top Secret clearance.

July 6, 2013

It's beautiful.

Why waste time away from the tee vee? The GSTV keeps me informed of bargains and values inside the station. Standing in line at the post office, I can see CNN and read the scroll of stock prices zooming by. At the grocer's, a tee vee tells me what Fox and Fiends are saying. In the auto repair shop waiting room, a talking head helps me think. I'm in heaven.

July 6, 2013

SERVILITY of the Satellites: The Snowden Affair and the Destruction of Effective Democracy in Europe

A couple of kids exploited as mules, I believe, in Morocco. More info here. We better get used to it, as that's what's coming to the United States and Europe if the warmongers and traitors on Wall Street continue to have their way.



THIS is what the problem is -- justice vs just-us. Who spies on whom. Who orders whom. Who owns What.

Like the great DUer rhett o rick said: It's a life-or-death battle between the 99-percent and the 1-percent.

No, it's not fair. We're not in the Club. And while we may have the numbers, they have the cash on hand in Switzerland and the Caymans. So, we don't have anywhere near the means to buy back the government.

We better get used to it. Or else wake the hell up.

July 5, 2013

Why you find fun in the BFEE is your own affair, SidDithers.

Bartcop coined the term "Bush Family Evil Empire" to denote the 60-year pre-eminence of one family in the formation of the political philosophy in the United States, that of the War Party. And, yes, personally, I have tried to chronicle their influence on the ascension of the national security state. At least three generations have held high national office, while also making big money off war and looting the public Treasury. The last president of the United States, a man who wasn't elected fair and square by any stretch of the imagination, actually said: "Money trumps peace" at a press conference. For some reason, not a single "journalist" had the guts to ask him what he meant by that.

Why that doesn't bother you is your business. It does bother me.

PS: Something I've notice about you is that you never seem to post anything that adds to what we know about these treasonous warmongers. I do remember that you do like to post emoticons, sorry to say.

July 5, 2013

Forcing down Evo Morales's plane was an act of air piracy

Denying the Bolivian president air space was a metaphor for the gangsterism that now rules the world

by John Pilger
The Guardian, Thursday 4 July 2013 14.00 EDT

EXCERPT...

The forcing down of Bolivian President Evo Morales's plane – denied airspace by France, Spain and Portugal, followed by his 14-hour confinement while Austrian officials demanded to "inspect" his aircraft for the "fugitive" Edward Snowden – was an act of air piracy and state terrorism. It was a metaphor for the gangsterism that now rules the world and the cowardice and hypocrisy of bystanders who dare not speak its name.

In Moscow, Morales had been asked about Snowden – who remains trapped in the city's airport. "If there were a request [for political asylum]," he said, "of course, we would be willing to debate and consider the idea." That was clearly enough provocation for the Godfather. "We have been in touch with a range of countries that had a chance of having Snowden land or travel through their country," said a US state department official.

The French – having squealed about Washington spying on their every move, as revealed by Snowden – were first off the mark, followed by the Portuguese. The Spanish then did their bit by enforcing a flight ban of their airspace, giving the Godfather's Viennese hirelings enough time to find out if Snowden was indeed invoking article 14 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which states: "Everyone has the right to seek and to enjoy in other countries asylum from persecution."

Those paid to keep the record straight have played their part with a cat-and-mouse media game that reinforces the Godfather's lie that this heroic young man is running from a system of justice, rather than preordained, vindictive incarceration that amounts to torture – ask Bradley Manning and the living ghosts in Guantánamo.

CONTINUED...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/jul/04/forcing-down-morales-plane-air-piracy