How the government turned five stoner misfits into the world's most hapless terrorist cell
(Rolling Stone) "The government has a responsibility to prevent harm," says former FBI counterterrorism agent Michael German, now the senior policy counsel for the ACLU. "What they're doing instead is manufacturing threatening events."
That's just how it went down in Cleveland, where the defendants started out as disoriented young men wrestling with alienation, identity issues and your typical bucket of adolescent angst. They were malleable, ripe for some outside influence to coax them onto a new path. That catalyst could have come in the form of a friend, a family member or a cause. Instead, the government sent an informant.
read more...
Showing posts with label government. Show all posts
Showing posts with label government. Show all posts
Thursday, October 18, 2012
Thursday, August 30, 2012
Monday, August 27, 2012
Friday, August 24, 2012
Child Porn, Coke Smuggling: Hundreds of DHS Employees Arrested Last Year
(Wired) Border Patrol agents smuggling weed and coke. Immigration agents forging documents and robbing drug dealers. TSA employees caught with child porn. Those are just a few of the crimes perpetrated by Department of Homeland Security employees in just the past year.
According to a newly released DHS inspector general’s summary of its significant investigations, 318 DHS employees and contractors were arrested in 2011 (.pdf). That’s about one arrest per weekday of the men and women who are supposed to be keeping the country safe. The report lets us not only see how corrupt some agents tasked with protecting the homeland can be, it also gives us a scale of the problem. In short: There are a lot of dirty immigration and border officers.
read more...
According to a newly released DHS inspector general’s summary of its significant investigations, 318 DHS employees and contractors were arrested in 2011 (.pdf). That’s about one arrest per weekday of the men and women who are supposed to be keeping the country safe. The report lets us not only see how corrupt some agents tasked with protecting the homeland can be, it also gives us a scale of the problem. In short: There are a lot of dirty immigration and border officers.
read more...
Monday, August 13, 2012
Thursday, August 2, 2012
Friday, July 20, 2012
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
Tuesday, June 19, 2012
Security increases around Pennsylvania nuclear disposal site
Security around a nuclear waste site in western Pennsylvania has been upgraded, with DHS armed security guards replacing private guards around the site; the reason for the elevated security is the finding, by the Army Corps of Engineers, of more “complex” nuclear materials on the site; it was originally believed that the site contains only low-level nuclear material[.]
Read more...
Read more...
Wednesday, June 13, 2012
US Claims on Russian/Syrian Arms Deals: Pot, Kettle, Black
by M. Murry
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has accused Russia of supplying attack helicopters to the Syrian government in support of its defense against violent attacks from foreign-backed insurgents.
Interestingly, one of the models of helicopters which the Syrian government has in its fleet is the Mi-17, which is also the same type as the 21 machines sold by Russia to US forces in Afghanistan just over a year ago, not long after the US lifted sanctions on Rosoboronexport, the Russian arms export corporation, in 2010. The US is also currently set to sub-contract Rosoboronexport for ammunition supplies.
In addition to the Mi-17, Syria also possesses several dozen Mi-24 and Mi-8 helicopters, which are still under repair and modernization contracts with Russia. The Obama administration has not clearly identified weapons supplied in violation of these contracts, much less any violations of sovereign or international law in its recent press releases.
Several US Senators have voiced opposition to the Pentagon's continued contractual dealings with Rosoboronexport in recent weeks because of the previous sale as well as the possible purchase of an additional 12 helicopters, and the recent reports of the Russian arms exporter supplying Iran with rocket equipment and technology (much like in 2005/06, right before imposing sanctions).
The US position of playing both sides of the fence on arms exportation and supply while leveling accusations of misconduct against the Russians is the pot calling the kettle black. At the very least, the US government contracting with the very same corporation that the US government routinely condemns for atrocities and violations of international law and democracy sends a mixed message to the people of the nation and the world.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has accused Russia of supplying attack helicopters to the Syrian government in support of its defense against violent attacks from foreign-backed insurgents.
Interestingly, one of the models of helicopters which the Syrian government has in its fleet is the Mi-17, which is also the same type as the 21 machines sold by Russia to US forces in Afghanistan just over a year ago, not long after the US lifted sanctions on Rosoboronexport, the Russian arms export corporation, in 2010. The US is also currently set to sub-contract Rosoboronexport for ammunition supplies.
In addition to the Mi-17, Syria also possesses several dozen Mi-24 and Mi-8 helicopters, which are still under repair and modernization contracts with Russia. The Obama administration has not clearly identified weapons supplied in violation of these contracts, much less any violations of sovereign or international law in its recent press releases.
Several US Senators have voiced opposition to the Pentagon's continued contractual dealings with Rosoboronexport in recent weeks because of the previous sale as well as the possible purchase of an additional 12 helicopters, and the recent reports of the Russian arms exporter supplying Iran with rocket equipment and technology (much like in 2005/06, right before imposing sanctions).
The US position of playing both sides of the fence on arms exportation and supply while leveling accusations of misconduct against the Russians is the pot calling the kettle black. At the very least, the US government contracting with the very same corporation that the US government routinely condemns for atrocities and violations of international law and democracy sends a mixed message to the people of the nation and the world.
Wednesday, May 9, 2012
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
97% Owned [HD]
This is a film about UK monetary policy, but US policy is the same. The state of Europe over the past few years is a true indicator of the accelerating consequences of modern imaginary computer money. The main reason Americans don't have a clue is because of the dollar's status as the world's reserve currency. Once countries decide to pay with and accept other currencies, what has been comfortably and conveniently on the other side of the world will be in their faces.
Thursday, April 5, 2012
Saturday, February 25, 2012
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
Borderland
Borderland from California is a place. on Vimeo.
Terrorism is used to justify perpetual warfare and sexual harassment or assault against men, women, children, seniors, and the handicapped in dozens of airports across the country, but thousands of miles of borders are ignored or neglected.
How many national defense policy-makers demand their neighbors be searched when entering and exiting the neighborhood but leave all the doors and windows open in their own homes? How many of them recommend that strategy as a common-sense safety precaution to their own friends and family? None of course...because that would be stupid.
Friday, February 17, 2012
Underwear Bomber Witness Kurt Haskell's Victim Impact Statement to Court
*Corporate news outlets have largely omitted Haskell's testimony, and are currently omitting this statement or references to it from their coverage of Abdulmutallab's recent sentencing.
FULL TEXT:
Exclusive: Personal Statement from Kurt Haskell, Delta 253 Passenger
Kurt Haskell
Prison Planet.com
Thursday, February 16, 2012
Every victim of a crime in Michigan is entitled to make a statement in open court regarding the impact of the crime on their life. The statement is limited to the victim’s physical, emotional and financial well being as it relates to the crime. Keep that in mind as you read my statement. Below is a copy of the victim impact statement I gave today at the Underwear Bomber sentencing hearing. When reading my statement, keep in mind that I am a practicing attorney in the State of Michigan. In addition, I regularly practice in the Court the hearings are taking place at and therefore, I am somewhat limited as to what I can say. We were limited to 5 minutes each.
I wish to thank the Court for allowing me these 5 minutes to make my statement. My references to the government in this statement refer to the Federal Government excluding this Court and the prosecution. On Christmas Day 2009, my wife and I were returning from an African safari and had a connecting flight through Amsterdam. As we waited for our flight, we sat on the floor next to the boarding gate. What I witnessed while sitting there and subsequent events have changed my life forever. While I sat there, I witnessed Umar dressed in jeans and a white t-shirt, being escorted around security by a man in a tan suit who spoke perfect American English and who aided Umar in boarding without a passport. The airline gate worker initially refused Umar boarding until the man in the tan suit intervened. The event meant nothing to me at the time. Little did I know that Umar would try to kill me a few hours later as our flight approached Detroit. The final 10 minutes of our flight after the attack were the worst minutes of my life. During those 10 minutes I sat paralyzed in fear. Unfortunately, what happened next has had an even greater impact on my life and has saddened me further.
When we landed, I was shocked that our plane taxied up to the gate. I was further shocked that we were forced to sit on the plane for 20 minutes with powder from the so called bomb all over the cabin. The officers that boarded the plane did nothing to ensure our safety and did not check for accomplices or other explosive devices. Several passengers trampled through parts of the bomb as they exited the plane. We were then taken into the terminal with our unchecked carry on bags. Again, there was no concern for our safety even though Umar told the officers that there was another bomb on board as he exited the plane. I wondered why nobody was concerned about our safety, accomplices or other bombs and the lack of concern worried me greatly. I immediately told the FBI my story in order to help catch the accomplice I had seen in Amsterdam. It soon became obvious that the FBI wasn’t interested in what I had to say, which upset me further. For one month the government refused to admit the existence of the man in the tan suit before changing course and admitting his existence in an ABC News article on January 22, 2010. That was the last time the government talked about this man. The video that would prove the truth of my account has never been released. I continue to be emotionally upset that the video has not been released. The Dutch police, meanwhile, in this article (show article), also confirmed that Umar did not show his passport in Amsterdam which also meant that he didn’t go through security as both are in the same line in Amsterdam. It upsets me that the government refuses to admit this fact.
I became further saddened from this case, when Patrick Kennedy of the State Department during Congressional hearings, admitted that Umar was a known terrorist, was being followed, and the U.S. allowed him into the U.S. so that it could catch Umar’s accomplices. I was once again shocked and saddened when Michael Leiter of the National Counter terrorism Center admitted during these same hearings that intentionally letting terrorists into the U.S. was a frequent practice of the U.S. Government. I cannot fully explain my sadness, disappointment and fear when I realized that my government allowed an attack on me intentionally.
During this time, I questioned if my country intentionally put a known terrorist onto my flight with a live bomb. I had many sleepless nights over this issue. My answer came shortly thereafter. In late 2010, the FBI admitted to giving out intentionally defective bombs to the Portland Christmas Tree Bomber,the Wrigley Field Bomber and several others. Further, Mr. Chambers was quoted in the Free Press on January 11, 2011 when he indicated that the government’s own explosives experts had indicated that Umar’s bomb was impossibly defective. I wondered how that could be. Certainly, I thought, Al Qaeda wouldn’t go through all of the trouble to plan such an attack only to provide the terrorist with an impossibly defective bomb.
I attended nearly all of the pretrial hearings. At the hearing on January 28, 2011, I was greatly disappointed by the prosecution’s request to block evidence from Mr. Chambers “as it could then be able to be obtained by third parties, who could use it in a civil suit against the government”. It really bothered me that the government apparently was admitting to wrongdoing of some kind as it admitted that it was concerned it would be sued. It further upset me to know that the government was putting its own interests ahead of those of the passengers.
When I attended the jury selection hearings, I questioned why versions of the same two questions kept coming up, those being:
1. Do you think you’ll be able to tell whether something is actually a bomb? and 2. Do you realize that sometimes the media doesn’t always tell the truth?
I continued to be greatly saddened at this point as I felt the truth continued to be hidden.
When Umar listed me as his only witness, I was happy to testify, not on his behalf, but on behalf of the truth. I never expected to testify, as my eyewitness account would have been too damaging to the myth that the government and media are putting forward. A mere 5 days after I was announced as a witness, there was an inexplicable guilty plea which exasperated me as I no longer would be testifying.
In closing I will just say that regardless of how the media and government try to shape the public perception of this case, I am convinced that Umar was given an intentionally defective bomb by a U.S. Government agent and placed on our flight without showing a passport or going through security, to stage a false terrorist attack to be used to implement various government policies.
The effect this matter has had on my life has been astounding and due to this case, I will never trust the government in any matter, ever.
In regards to sentencing, nothing I’ve said excuses the fact that Umar tried to kill me. He has waived his valid claim to the entrapment defense. Umar, you are not a great Muslim martyr, you are merely a “Patsy”. I ask the court to impose the mandatory sentence.
FULL TEXT:
Exclusive: Personal Statement from Kurt Haskell, Delta 253 Passenger
Kurt Haskell
Prison Planet.com
Thursday, February 16, 2012
Every victim of a crime in Michigan is entitled to make a statement in open court regarding the impact of the crime on their life. The statement is limited to the victim’s physical, emotional and financial well being as it relates to the crime. Keep that in mind as you read my statement. Below is a copy of the victim impact statement I gave today at the Underwear Bomber sentencing hearing. When reading my statement, keep in mind that I am a practicing attorney in the State of Michigan. In addition, I regularly practice in the Court the hearings are taking place at and therefore, I am somewhat limited as to what I can say. We were limited to 5 minutes each.
I wish to thank the Court for allowing me these 5 minutes to make my statement. My references to the government in this statement refer to the Federal Government excluding this Court and the prosecution. On Christmas Day 2009, my wife and I were returning from an African safari and had a connecting flight through Amsterdam. As we waited for our flight, we sat on the floor next to the boarding gate. What I witnessed while sitting there and subsequent events have changed my life forever. While I sat there, I witnessed Umar dressed in jeans and a white t-shirt, being escorted around security by a man in a tan suit who spoke perfect American English and who aided Umar in boarding without a passport. The airline gate worker initially refused Umar boarding until the man in the tan suit intervened. The event meant nothing to me at the time. Little did I know that Umar would try to kill me a few hours later as our flight approached Detroit. The final 10 minutes of our flight after the attack were the worst minutes of my life. During those 10 minutes I sat paralyzed in fear. Unfortunately, what happened next has had an even greater impact on my life and has saddened me further.
When we landed, I was shocked that our plane taxied up to the gate. I was further shocked that we were forced to sit on the plane for 20 minutes with powder from the so called bomb all over the cabin. The officers that boarded the plane did nothing to ensure our safety and did not check for accomplices or other explosive devices. Several passengers trampled through parts of the bomb as they exited the plane. We were then taken into the terminal with our unchecked carry on bags. Again, there was no concern for our safety even though Umar told the officers that there was another bomb on board as he exited the plane. I wondered why nobody was concerned about our safety, accomplices or other bombs and the lack of concern worried me greatly. I immediately told the FBI my story in order to help catch the accomplice I had seen in Amsterdam. It soon became obvious that the FBI wasn’t interested in what I had to say, which upset me further. For one month the government refused to admit the existence of the man in the tan suit before changing course and admitting his existence in an ABC News article on January 22, 2010. That was the last time the government talked about this man. The video that would prove the truth of my account has never been released. I continue to be emotionally upset that the video has not been released. The Dutch police, meanwhile, in this article (show article), also confirmed that Umar did not show his passport in Amsterdam which also meant that he didn’t go through security as both are in the same line in Amsterdam. It upsets me that the government refuses to admit this fact.
I became further saddened from this case, when Patrick Kennedy of the State Department during Congressional hearings, admitted that Umar was a known terrorist, was being followed, and the U.S. allowed him into the U.S. so that it could catch Umar’s accomplices. I was once again shocked and saddened when Michael Leiter of the National Counter terrorism Center admitted during these same hearings that intentionally letting terrorists into the U.S. was a frequent practice of the U.S. Government. I cannot fully explain my sadness, disappointment and fear when I realized that my government allowed an attack on me intentionally.
During this time, I questioned if my country intentionally put a known terrorist onto my flight with a live bomb. I had many sleepless nights over this issue. My answer came shortly thereafter. In late 2010, the FBI admitted to giving out intentionally defective bombs to the Portland Christmas Tree Bomber,the Wrigley Field Bomber and several others. Further, Mr. Chambers was quoted in the Free Press on January 11, 2011 when he indicated that the government’s own explosives experts had indicated that Umar’s bomb was impossibly defective. I wondered how that could be. Certainly, I thought, Al Qaeda wouldn’t go through all of the trouble to plan such an attack only to provide the terrorist with an impossibly defective bomb.
I attended nearly all of the pretrial hearings. At the hearing on January 28, 2011, I was greatly disappointed by the prosecution’s request to block evidence from Mr. Chambers “as it could then be able to be obtained by third parties, who could use it in a civil suit against the government”. It really bothered me that the government apparently was admitting to wrongdoing of some kind as it admitted that it was concerned it would be sued. It further upset me to know that the government was putting its own interests ahead of those of the passengers.
When I attended the jury selection hearings, I questioned why versions of the same two questions kept coming up, those being:
1. Do you think you’ll be able to tell whether something is actually a bomb? and 2. Do you realize that sometimes the media doesn’t always tell the truth?
I continued to be greatly saddened at this point as I felt the truth continued to be hidden.
When Umar listed me as his only witness, I was happy to testify, not on his behalf, but on behalf of the truth. I never expected to testify, as my eyewitness account would have been too damaging to the myth that the government and media are putting forward. A mere 5 days after I was announced as a witness, there was an inexplicable guilty plea which exasperated me as I no longer would be testifying.
In closing I will just say that regardless of how the media and government try to shape the public perception of this case, I am convinced that Umar was given an intentionally defective bomb by a U.S. Government agent and placed on our flight without showing a passport or going through security, to stage a false terrorist attack to be used to implement various government policies.
The effect this matter has had on my life has been astounding and due to this case, I will never trust the government in any matter, ever.
In regards to sentencing, nothing I’ve said excuses the fact that Umar tried to kill me. He has waived his valid claim to the entrapment defense. Umar, you are not a great Muslim martyr, you are merely a “Patsy”. I ask the court to impose the mandatory sentence.
Thursday, February 16, 2012
Democracy? What Democracy?
Establishment election fraud field-tactic exposed: Nueces County, Texas, 2008. It almost couldn't get any more brazen than this. When grassroots democracy pushes hard enough, the true authoritarian face of government and the two-party system is revealed.
Thursday, December 22, 2011
Thursday, November 24, 2011
"Paradox": Federal Workers/Contractors Donate More to Candidate Promising Most Cuts to Government
from The Washington Post:
Bloomberg:
Ron Paul, the presidential candidate who says he’ll shrink government the most, is attracting more campaign cash than any of his Republican rivals from two unlikely sources: U.S. government workers and employees of the biggest federal contractors.
Related:
Military personnel donate more to the candidate who promises an end to most military operations world wide than all other Republican candidates combined, even outpacing the Nobel Peace-Prize-Winner-in-Chief.
Bloomberg:
Ron Paul, the presidential candidate who says he’ll shrink government the most, is attracting more campaign cash than any of his Republican rivals from two unlikely sources: U.S. government workers and employees of the biggest federal contractors.
Related:
Military personnel donate more to the candidate who promises an end to most military operations world wide than all other Republican candidates combined, even outpacing the Nobel Peace-Prize-Winner-in-Chief.
Thursday, October 27, 2011
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