Top Interrogation Experts Agree: Torture Doesn't Work
Apologists for torture say that it was a "necessarily evil" to stop future terror attacks. However, the top interrogation experts all say torture that doesn't work.
Montana jail tries for detainees from Gitmo
Economic development officials in Hardin are looking at the soon-to-close detention facility in Guantanamo Bay as a possible fix for the jail sitting empty in Hardin.
Obama's Department of Justice pushes to limit suspects' rights
The Obama administration is asking the Supreme Court to overrule a 23 year-old decision that stopped police from initiating questions unless a defendant's lawyer is present, the latest stance that has disappointed civil rights and civil liberties groups.
Senate Dems Oppose Torture Commission
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid will back President Obama in resisting calls to immediately create an independent commission to probe the CIA's harsh interrogation program, the New York Times reports.
Suit: Torture began before Bush administration sanctioned it
A Tunisian man detained after the Sept. 11 attacks was tortured at CIA-operated secret prisons in Afghanistan months before a Justice Department memo sanctioned the practices, according to a lawsuit filed Thursday.
Self-Confessed 9/11 "Mastermind" Also Falsely Confessed to Crimes He Didn't Commit
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the self-confessed mastermind of 9/11, was waterboarded 183 times in one month, and “confessed” to murdering the journalist Daniel Pearl, which he did not. There could hardly be more compelling evidence that such techniques are neither swift, nor efficient, nor reliable
US Army Acts As Suicides Hit Record Level
The US Army is taking steps to address mental health issues after it emerged that its soldiers are committing suicide at a rate of more than one every other day.
Franklin Still Electrifies
A professor with his nose deep in a library archive in London has stumbled upon 47 previously unknown letters from, to and about Benjamin Franklin.
Stress-Tested Banks May Struggle for Funds as Bad Assets Triple
U.S. banks that get preliminary results today of U.S. government stress tests may struggle to raise money after bad assets at the biggest lenders almost tripled on average in the past year.
Time running out on Chrysler
The embattled automaker has one week to reach deals with Fiat, unions and banks, raising doubts it can avoid bankruptcy and a shutdown.
White House: No independent interrogations probe
The White House on Thursday said it did not support creation of an independent panel to investigate the Bush administration's harsh interrogations of terror suspects.
Holder Says He Will Not Permit the Criminalization of Policy Differences
As lawmakers call for hearings and debate brews over forming commissions to examine the Bush administration's policies on harsh interrogation techniques, Attorney General Eric Holder confirmed to a House panel that intelligence officials who relied on legal advice from the Bush-era Justice Department would not be prosecuted.
Secret tally has 87,215 Iraqis dead
At least 87,215 Iraqis have been killed in violence since 2005, according to a previously undisclosed Iraqi government tally obtained by The Associated Press.
Calif. approves nation's 1st low-carbon fuel rule
The standards approved Thursday by the California Air Resources Board are expected to create a new market for alternative fuels and set the stage for a national debate.
Shattering the Myths
By Jim Kirwan
The entire American political myth rests upon three massive lies that have prevented any real change from ever taking place.
A Nation of Helpless Idiots
By Karen De Coster
The tyranny of the masses is, and has been, a significant apparatus for serving the government in its crusade toward a totalitarian agenda.
Texas lawmakers consider telling U.S. gov't to 'cease and desist'
After Gov. Rick Perry's recent comments about some Texans talking secession from the union made national news, legislators are considering issuing a "cease and desist" order to the federal government.
Swat's Taleban expand operations
Taleban militants operating in Pakistan's Swat region who agreed a peace deal with the government have expanded operations into nearby Buner.
Dozens of militants have been streaming into bordering Buner to take over mosques and government offices.
ACLU: US Attorney OK'd GPS to track cell phones
The American Civil Liberties Union says the U.S. Attorney's Office for New Jersey under Christopher Christie, now a GOP gubernatorial candidate, tracked the whereabouts of citizens through their cell phones without warrants.
California ponders changes in constitution
Fed up with the budget crises and partisan battles that have paralyzed California for years, some influential voices believe it's time to tear open the state constitution and start anew.
Venezuela: Interpol seeks arrest of Chavez foe
Interpol has issued an arrest warrant for Venezuelan opposition leader Manuel Rosales, who is seeking asylum in Peru after President Hugo Chavez's government accused him of corruption, authorities said on Thursday.
Poll: Gullible Americans high on Obama, direction of US Sadly, in the future we're more than likely going to be experiencing, tax increase after tax increase, double digit inflation, a devalued dollar, roving gangs, and riots.
Microsoft sales fall for first time in 23 years
Microsoft Corp. said Thursday that declining PC sales hurt revenue, as the software giant reported quarterly sales that fell for the first time in its 23-year history as a public company.
Head Of Al-Qaeda In Iraq Arrested In Baghdad - Army
“Abu Omar al-Baghdadi was arrested today in Baghdad,” Baghdad security spokesman Major General Qassim Atta told AFP. “It was Iraqi forces who arrested him based on an intelligence tipoff from someone.
Flashback - Senior Qaeda figure in Iraq a myth: U.S. military
A senior operative for al Qaeda in Iraq who was caught this month has told his U.S. military interrogators a prominent al Qaeda-led group is just a front and its leader fictitious, a military spokesman said on Wednesday.
Obama Plays Hamlet on Torture
By Ray McGovern
Well, well. The New York Times has finally put a story together on the key role played by two faux psychologists in helping the Bush administration devise ways to torture people. We should, I suppose, be thankful for small favors.
Obama pledges protections for credit-card users
President Barack Obama said Thursday he is determined to get a credit-card law that eliminates the tricky fine print, sudden rate increases and late fees that give millions of consumers headaches.
Killer robots and a revolution in warfare
They have no fear, they never tire, they are not upset when the soldier next to them gets blown to pieces. Their morale doesn't suffer by having to do, again and again, the jobs known in the military as the Three Ds - dull, dirty and dangerous.
No Kidding, One in Three Children Fear Earth Apocalypse
There's a new bogeyman lurking in the closet, and this one isn't imaginary. Us. One out of three children aged 6 to 11 fears that Ma Earth won't exist when they grow up, while more than half—56 percent—worry that the planet will be a blasted heath (or at least a very unpleasant place to live), according to a new survey.
Holder won't selectively release terror memos
Attorney General Eric Holder told Congress on Thursday he won't play "hide and seek" with secret memos about harsh interrogations of terror suspects and their effectiveness. In testimony before the House Appropriations Committee, Holder said he's willing to release as much information as possible about the interrogations.
They were tortured for information that did not exist.
Simon Johnson Sees Speculative Attack on U.S. Banks
Blodget’s latest installment is an interesting conversation with Simon Johnson of Baseline Scenario. Johnson claims that credit investors are engaged in a speculative attack against U.S. banks:
High Priests of OLC Turned CIA Torture Into Holy Acts
These are medieval documents, these Office of Legal Counsel memos. And not just in the sense that torture techniques like the waterboard date back to medieval times, but in the way that the OLC acted for the CIA.
Waking up to torture truths
By Steve Chapman
The Bush administration claimed that the waterboarding of Khalid Shaikh Mohammed helped foil a planned 2002 attack on Los Angeles -- forgetting that he wasn't captured until 2003. Maybe we'll get a better answer if the administration grants Cheney his request that it declassify material supporting his case, as it should.
Nobel Laureate Accuses Israel of 'Ethnic Cleansing'
Nobel peace laureate Mairead Maguire on Tuesday accused Israel of "ethnic cleansing" policies in annexed east Jerusalem, where the municipality plans to tear down almost 90 Arab homes.
Are Members of Congress Being Blackmailed?
By Dave Lindorff
For some time now, many Americans have wondered how Congress, the elected body that the nation’s Founding Fathers saw as the bulwark of liberty, could have been so thoroughly unwilling to, or incapable of challenging the dictatorial power-grabs and the eight-year Constitution wrecking campaign of the Bush/Cheney administration.
China sees EU as mere pawn
Viewed from Brussels, China’s importance to the world’s security and economic systems has never been greater. Viewed from Beijing, the European Union’s importance has rarely been smaller.
China vs United States: A Visual Comparison
As we discussed in yesterday’s post, whether the United States and China like it or not, the economic futures of both countries are intertwined. Everyone knows that China’s got more people and that its importance as an economic superpower has escalated in recent years.
Is this Man Lucifer?
By Henry Makow Ph.D.
It's disturbing when a respected Illuminati researcher like Wes Penre is taken in by a psy-op. But we can learn from his mistake, and also glean some credible information from the lies directed at him.
Independents, greens, Ron Paul's son & conservatives joining to End the Fed, but is it an "extremist" agenda?
At noon this Saturday, the local branch of the "End the Fed" group will have a demonstration against the Federal Reserve Bank in downtown Minneapolis; supporters are trying to have demos at every Fed facility nationwide. Here, participants will walk around the local branch of America's public/private central banking entity, and advocate for shutting it down.
Iran warns of 'mock assassination' ring
Tehran's governor says a foreign-backed group intends to stage mock assassinations to disrupt Iran's pre-election political climate.
China to flex naval muscle in unprecedented show
China is set to display its maritime might in an unprecedented show Thursday as it parades its warships and nuclear submarines with 14 other nations to mark its navy's 60th anniversary.
Existing Home Sales Drop In March
On Thursday, the National Association of Realtors reported existing home sales in March fell short of expectations, dropping 3.0% to 4.6 million units, below the downwardly revised level of 4.7 million in February, and 6.1% lower than the March 2008 reading of 4.9 million.
New jobless claims rise more than expected to 640K
New jobless claims rose more than expected last week, while the number of workers continuing to filing claims for unemployment benefits topped 6.1 million.
Police Pull Teens Off School Bus For Invasive Strip-Search
The superintendent of the Red Creek school district is investigating complaints by students, parents and the Civil Liberties Union of Central New York that a physical search of several students for drugs might have been too intrusive.
Trust Mises and Gold, Not Keynes, Bernanke, and Fiat Money
By Gary North
In my recent article, "Why Gold Owners Are Targets of the Government," I made the point that the international gold standard served as a restraint on the ability of governments to defraud their citizens through monetary inflation.
The Great Brazilian Sat-Hack Crackdown
Brazilian satellite hackers use high-performance antennas and homebrew gear to turn U.S. Navy satellites into their personal CB radios.
Deadly Pathogens May Have Gone Missing At Fort Detrick, Maryland
Army investigators are close to closing a probe into the disappearance of deadly pathogens at Fort Detrick's infectious disease laboratory in Frederick and have found no evidence yet of criminal misconduct, the Army's Criminal Investigation Command said yesterday.
How Things Change Out From Under Us
By Paul Craig Roberts
Anyone who has been around for a while and who pays any attention to the news sees many disturbing changes. Recently, I read a report that two children, ages seven and eight, had an altercation at school during recess. They were carted off in handcuffs by the police. The teachers or principal had dealt with the boys’ disagreement by calling in the law.
Torture, War and the Imperial Project
By Chris Floyd
With the release of the U.S. Senate's report on the Bush Administration torture program, it is now incontrovertibly clear – and officially established by the highest, most respectable Establishment institutions – that George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld and a host of other top officials deliberately, willingly, and with malice aforethought, established a system of interrogation using brutal techniques that they knew were against the law.
Sources: GM to shut plants this summer for up to 9 weeks
General Motors Corp. is planning to temporarily close most of its U.S. factories for up to nine weeks this summer because of slumping sales and growing inventories of unsold vehicles, three people briefed on the plan said Wednesday.
Cops can now 'take all your stuff'
To the surprise of at least one legal expert, the Supreme Court of Canada last week unanimously gave the provinces incredible powers to seize assets allegedly connected to crime.
The Pulitzer-winning investigation that dare not be uttered on TV
The New York Times' David Barstow won a richly deserved Pulitzer Prize yesterday for two articles that, despite being featured as major news stories on the front page of The Paper of Record, were completely suppressed by virtually every network and cable news show, which to this day have never informed their viewers about what Barstow uncovered. Here is how the Pulitzer Committee described Barstow's exposés:
Awarded to David Barstow of The New York Times for his tenacious reporting that revealed how some retired generals, working as radio and television analysts, had been co-opted by the Pentagon to make its case for the war in Iraq, and how many of them also had undisclosed ties to companies that benefited from policies they defended.
American Stonehenge: Monumental Instructions for the Post-Apocalypse
The strangest monument in America looms over a barren knoll in northeastern Georgia. Five massive slabs of polished granite rise out of the earth in a star pattern. The rocks are each 16 feet tall, with four of them weighing more than 20 tons apiece.
Report links CIA to military harsh interrogations
The brutal treatment of terror detainees and prisoners by members of the military followed directly from the CIA's use of harsh interrogation techniques, according to a Senate report that is likely to add fuel to the debate over the United States' use of torture.
Wiretap reveals reach of US pro-Israel lobby
Rep. Jane Harman, the California Democrat with longtime involvement in intelligence issues, was overheard on a National Security Agency (NSA) wiretap telling “a suspected Israeli agent” that she would lobby the Justice Department to reduce espionage-related charges against two officials of the American Israeli Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), the most powerful pro-Israel lobby in Washington, according to a report released Sunday night in Congressional Quarterly (CQ).
U.S. Might Not Try Pro-Israel Lobbyists
The U.S. government may abandon espionage-law charges against two former lobbyists for a pro-Israel advocacy group, officials said yesterday, as a prominent House lawmaker denied new allegations that she offered to use her influence in their behalf.
Scientists Have No Idea What's Up With the Sun
The protective shield of energy that surrounds our solar system, has weakened by 25 per cent over the past decade and is now at it lowest level since the space race began 50 years ago.
Gates may recommend new 'Cyber Command'
While no final decisions have been made, Defense Secretary Robert Gates is expected to recommend the creation of a new military command to face the growing threat from cyber warfare, a senior U.S. official told NBC News on Tuesday.
Soaring U.S. Budget Deficit Will Mean Billions in Bond Sales
Millions of lost jobs mean billions in lost tax revenue for the U.S. government, and billions in additional Treasury debt to fund a federal budget deficit that may soar to more than four times last year’s record $454.7 billion.
National service bill to get Obama's signature
The AmeriCorps program started by President Bill Clinton will triple in size over the next eight years, and tens of thousands of other Americans will soon see new opportunities to give back to their communities.
Iraqi victims outraged at slow Blackwater exit
Some Iraqis wounded in the September 2007 shootout by guards for the former Backwater Worldwide security firm expressed anger and dismay Tuesday after reports that the company will continue work in Iraq longer than previously thought.
U.S. to give Chrysler, GM new aid
The Obama administration will make about $500 million available to Chrysler LLC through the end of this month as it seeks to reach an alliance with Fiat, and up to $5 billion through May to help General Motors Corp restructure outside of bankruptcy, an independent oversight report on the Treasury Department's corporate rescue fund said on Tuesday.
Israeli minister compares Iran to Nazis
Iran is trying to replicate Nazi Germany's treatment of the Jewish people, Israeli deputy prime minister Silvan Shalom said Tuesday ahead of a Holocaust ceremony at a former death camp.
Former astronaut: Man not alone in universe
Earth Day may fall later this week, but as far as former NASA astronaut Edgar Mitchell and other UFO enthusiasts are concerned, the real story is happening elsewhere.
HR 45 to impose federal gun control
Well, one cannot be surprised to see this Bill come to the House of Representatives. When Democrats took control of congress in 2006 and began setting up their plans, waiting for a Democrat in the White House who would sign their legislation, those who were watching knew gun control would not be far behind any socialist spending spree they got away with. Now here it is: HR 45 Blair Holt Firearm Licensing & Record of Sales Act of 2009. So far, this legislation is flying under the radar, and Democrats in Congress are hoping that it remains that way.
Tea Parties
Apparently, the good folks from Greeneville S.C. are also sick of politicians. In the video below, watch how they reacted to republican congressman Gresham Barrett, who voted for the TARP. I don't think that this crowd could be considered to be right wing activists. People from both sides of the political spectrum have had just about enough of the bank-owned government stealing from us.
Obama gets euphoric CIA welcome
President Barack Obama heaped praise on the CIA, vowing his "full support" and telling employees not to be discouraged by his release of stunning details on the agency's harsh terror interrogations.
Hill Holds Fire on Harman
House leaders in both parties were publicly mum in response to a story that nonetheless lit up Capitol Hill on Monday, alleging that Rep. Jane Harman (D-Calif.) engaged in a quid pro quo with a suspected Israeli agent to advance her stature in Congress.
Report: Hackers break into Pentagon's fighter jet project
Hackers broke into U.S. Department of Defense computers and downloaded terabytes of data containing design information about the Joint Strike Fighter, a $300 billion stealth fighter currently under development, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Cheney Calls for Release of Memos Showing Results of Interrogation Efforts
Former Vice President Cheney says he knows how successful the interrogation techniques were in collecting intelligence for the United States and wants that information to be released to the public as well as the legal memos explaining the decision to allow the heavily criticized methods.
Big banks have a big credit problem
Banks are socking away funds for future loan losses at a record clip. But at the sickliest institutions, problem loans are rising even faster.
Yuan trade move 'far reaching'
The Chinese government's decision this month to let exporters in a small number of cities settle their overseas trade in yuan rather than in US dollars has far-reaching implications, according to economists, even though the immediate impact is minimal.
The Bees' Needs: £10m To Save Dying Insects
Over the last two years, 15% of honeybees have died out, while the numbers of other pollinators - like butterflies and moths - have also declined.
Obama Asks Congress For USD100 Bn IMF Boost
President Barack Obama Monday sought the Congress' backing for a proposed USD100 billion U.S. loan for the expansion of an International Monetary Fund (IMF) emergency fund by USD 500 billion, reports say.
Israel wants to buy US rocket intercept system
Israel wants to buy a rocket intercept system from the United States to protect against militant fire from the Gaza Strip, Defence Minister Ehud Barak said in an interview published on Tuesday.
Meltdown losses of '$4 trillion'
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has warned that potential losses from the credit crunch could reach $4 trillion (£2.75tn) and damage the financial system for years to come.
Cash-Strapped Cities Try Private Guards Over Police
Facing pressure to crack down on crime amid a record budget deficit, Oakland is joining other U.S. cities that are turning over more law-enforcement duties to private armed guards.
Key Points About Hyperinflation
The hyperinflation that blighted Germany between 1920 and 1923 had its roots in World War I. Prices rose by 240% between 1914 and 1919. This figure was equivalent to price rises in France and the UK, but masked more serious problems in Germany.
Bank bailout may hurt taxpayers, be open to fraud
Taxpayers are increasingly exposed to losses and the government is more vulnerable to fraud under Obama administration initiatives that have created a federal bank bailout program of "unprecedented scope," a government report finds.
Scientists: Carbon emissions fuelled by high rates of obesity
High rates of obesity in richer countries cause up to 1bn extra tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions every year, compared with countries with leaner populations, according to a study that assesses the additional food and fuel requirements of the overweight. The finding is particularly worrying, scientists say, because obesity is on the rise in many rich nations.
FBI spied on TEA Party Americans
Even as average Americans were planning to get out in towns and cities to demonstrate against Big Government and Big Taxes, Federal Bureau of Intelligence Investigation (FBI) surveillance was being unleashed upon them. In fact, unsuspecting Tax Day TEA Party participants were being closely watched during the demonstration planning stages in a covert operation that began on or about March 23, 2009.
Senate Newspaper Hearings To Begin May 6
Sen. John Kerry is wading into a fierce national debate next week by holding hearings on the future of newspapers. In a letter to the "Boston Globe family," Kerry wrote about his determination to help save newspapers. Excerpts of the letter were released by the Globe today.
‘Superweed’ explosion threatens Monsanto heartlands
“Superweeds” are plaguing high-tech Monsanto crops in southern US states, driving farmers to use more herbicides, return to conventional crops or even abandon their farms.
Meet the New Bank of the World
Inside a cavernous assembly hall in downtown Washington, dignitaries gather twice a year for routine meetings of the International Monetary Fund. Before long, though, the room could take center stage in the IMF's transformation into a veritable United Nations for the global economy.
Former 9/11 Commission Vice Chairman Makes Bizarre Comments about Intelligence Failures before Attacks
Former 9/11 Commission Vice Chairman Lee Hamilton recently made some bizarre comments about the Zacarias Moussaoui case in an interview for Vanity Fair. The interview was used for a wide-ranging and very interesting oral history of the Bush White House. Hamilton’s comments appear to show complete ignorance of a key aspect of the investigation of which he was vice chair.
Walkout at UN conference after Iran president calls Israel 'racist'
British delegates joined a dramatic diplomatic walkout today when President Ahmadinejad of Iran told a major UN conference against racism that the state of Israel had been founded "on the pretext of Jewish suffering" during the Second World War.
Crisis as a way to build a world-wide totalitarian state
As the world financial and economic crisis comes into its own, the Western community leaders are seeking to impress on mankind the idea that this upheaval will end up ‘turning the world into something different’.
Exxon Mobil overtakes Wal-Mart to top Fortune 500
Exxon Mobil Corp. unseated Wal-Mart Stores Inc. in the 2009 Fortune 500 list, shrugging off the oil price bubble and weathering what the magazine called the worst year ever for the country's largest publicly traded companies.
Bank Lending Keeps Dropping
Analysis of Treasury Data Paints Starker Picture Than Official Government Snapshots
Major scandal erupts involving Rep. Jane Harman, Alberto Gonzales and AIPAC
By Glenn Greenwald
Jane Harman, in the wake of the NSA scandal, became probably the most crucial defender of the Bush warrantless eavesdropping program, using her status as "the ranking Democratic on the House intelligence committee" to repeatedly praise the NSA program as "essential to U.S. national security" and "both necessary and legal."
Going after the torturers, we’re told, would be too divisive. Well, yes, it would divide the Democratic Party, first and foremost, as the complicity of Pelosi & Co. is made all too clear and it turns out that torture is a bipartisan sport.
Inflation is looming on America’s horizon
The US last week showed its first signs of deflation for 55 years, prompting inevitable fears of further deflation in the future. Yet the primary reason for the negative rate of US inflation is the dramatic 30 per cent fall of commodity prices. That will not happen again. Moreover, excluding food and energy, consumer prices are up 1.8 per cent from a year ago. That is the good news: the outlook for the longer term is more ominous.
Welcome to the Machine, Kurzweil’s nano neural nets
As previously noted in this series, our entire world may be simulated. For all we know we’re sitting on a powerful supercomputer somewhere, the mere playthings of posthuman intelligences. But this is not the only possibility. There’s another way that this kind of fully immersive ‘reality’ could be realized—one that doesn’t require the simulation of an entire world. Indeed, it’s quite possible that your life is not what it seems—that what you think of as reality is actually an illusion of the senses. You could be experiencing a completely immersive and totally convincing virtual reality right now and you don’t even know it.
Axelrod suggests 'Tea Party' movement is 'unhealthy'
Senior White House adviser David Axelrod on Sunday suggested the "Tea Party" movement is an "unhealthy" reaction to the tough economic climate facing the country.
U.S. Border Screening Under Fire
Civil liberties groups are renewing calls for the Obama administration to change screening at border posts by limiting questions about Americans' political beliefs and religious practices and establishing a process for U.S. citizens and residents who are mistakenly included on terrorist watch lists to clear their names.
Rattle That Regulatory Saber
By Floy Lilley
"OBAMA TO REGULATE ‘POLLUTANT’ CO2" screams the headline. Thus does our most recent fearless leader thumb his nose at We the People. Not trusting to democratic institutions like Congress, Obama hides behind EPA’s skirts in a spineless ploy to have his way mandated upon us.
Iraq bomber kills 'several' US soldiers
An Iraqi police official has declared that a bomber dressed in a police uniform has killed several US soldiers and Iraqi police officials.
Jamaican police capture CanJet hijacker
The standoff between a man who seized a Canadian charter flight in Jamaica and authorities ended Monday with the capture of the hijacker, police said.
Tons Of Released Drugs Taint US Water
U.S. manufacturers, including major drugmakers, have legally released at least 271 million pounds of pharmaceuticals into waterways that often provide drinking water -- contamination the federal government has consistently overlooked, according to an Associated Press investigation.
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed Was Waterboarded 183 Times in One Month
I've put this detail in a series of posts, but it really deserves a full post. According to the May 30, 2005 Bradbury memo, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed was waterboarded 183 times in March 2003 and Abu Zubaydah was waterboarded 83 times in August 2002.
‘America lives in a fascist state’ – trend forecaster
The merger of corporate and government powers in modern America is plain and simple fascism, believes Gerald Celente, the founder of the Trends Research Institute and publisher of Trends Journal.
