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unhappycamper
unhappycamper's Journal
unhappycamper's Journal
September 30, 2013
Jeremy Scahill (r), a contributor to The Nation magazine and the New York Times best-selling author of "Dirty Wars," said he will be working with Glenn Greenwald (l), the Rio-based journalist who has written stories about U.S. surveillance programs based on documents leaked by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden.
Dream Team: Scahill, Greenwald Investigating NSA Role in US 'Assassination Program'
- Jon Queally, staff writer
Published on Sunday, September 29, 2013 by Common Dreams
Though they refused to offer many details on the project, journalists Jeremy Scahill and Glenn Greenwald on Saturday night announced that they are now working together on joint investigation on how the U.S. National Security Agency has been involved in the wider overseas "assassination program" run by the Obama administration.
As the Associated Press reports from Rio de Janeiro—where Greenwald and Scahill attended the South American premiere of Dirty Wars, a documentary film based on Scahill's book of the same name—the U.S. journalists "known for their investigations of the United States' government" have now "teamed up to report" on how the vast surveillance network of the NSA operates in conjunction with clandestine operations run by the U.S. military or CIA.
"The connections between war and surveillance are clear. I don't want to give too much away but Glenn and I are working on a project right now that has at its center how the National Security Agency plays a significant, central role in the U.S. assassination program," said Scahill, according to AP, while speaking at a roundtable discussion at the Rio Film Festival.
"There are so many stories that are yet to be published that we hope will produce 'actionable intelligence,' or information that ordinary citizens across the world can use to try to fight for change, to try to confront those in power," Scahill added.
Dream Team: Scahill, Greenwald Investigating NSA Role in US 'Assassination Program'
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2013/09/29Jeremy Scahill (r), a contributor to The Nation magazine and the New York Times best-selling author of "Dirty Wars," said he will be working with Glenn Greenwald (l), the Rio-based journalist who has written stories about U.S. surveillance programs based on documents leaked by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden.
Dream Team: Scahill, Greenwald Investigating NSA Role in US 'Assassination Program'
- Jon Queally, staff writer
Published on Sunday, September 29, 2013 by Common Dreams
Though they refused to offer many details on the project, journalists Jeremy Scahill and Glenn Greenwald on Saturday night announced that they are now working together on joint investigation on how the U.S. National Security Agency has been involved in the wider overseas "assassination program" run by the Obama administration.
As the Associated Press reports from Rio de Janeiro—where Greenwald and Scahill attended the South American premiere of Dirty Wars, a documentary film based on Scahill's book of the same name—the U.S. journalists "known for their investigations of the United States' government" have now "teamed up to report" on how the vast surveillance network of the NSA operates in conjunction with clandestine operations run by the U.S. military or CIA.
"The connections between war and surveillance are clear. I don't want to give too much away but Glenn and I are working on a project right now that has at its center how the National Security Agency plays a significant, central role in the U.S. assassination program," said Scahill, according to AP, while speaking at a roundtable discussion at the Rio Film Festival.
"There are so many stories that are yet to be published that we hope will produce 'actionable intelligence,' or information that ordinary citizens across the world can use to try to fight for change, to try to confront those in power," Scahill added.
September 30, 2013
NYC cost per inmate almost equals Ivy League education; Expenses tied to Rikers boost cost
Published September 30, 2013
Associated Press
NEW YORK – A recent report has found it costs almost as much to jail an inmate in New York City in a year as it does to pay for four years at an Ivy League university.
The Independent Budget Office found it cost $167,731 in 2012 to house each of the 12,287 daily New York City inmates. That's about $460 per inmate per day.
Experts say certain, expensive fixed costs in New York's system keep the figure high despite a large drop in incarceration that peaked in 1991 with about 22,000 inmates.
Another factor is the hundreds of millions of dollars spent a year to run Rikers Island, the 400-acre island located next to the runways of LaGuardia Airport that has 10 jail facilities, thousands of staff, its own power plant and transportation system.
NYC cost per inmate almost equals Ivy League education; Expenses tied to Rikers boost cost
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/09/30/nyc-cost-per-inmate-almost-equals-ivy-league-education-expenses-tied-to-rikers/NYC cost per inmate almost equals Ivy League education; Expenses tied to Rikers boost cost
Published September 30, 2013
Associated Press
NEW YORK – A recent report has found it costs almost as much to jail an inmate in New York City in a year as it does to pay for four years at an Ivy League university.
The Independent Budget Office found it cost $167,731 in 2012 to house each of the 12,287 daily New York City inmates. That's about $460 per inmate per day.
Experts say certain, expensive fixed costs in New York's system keep the figure high despite a large drop in incarceration that peaked in 1991 with about 22,000 inmates.
Another factor is the hundreds of millions of dollars spent a year to run Rikers Island, the 400-acre island located next to the runways of LaGuardia Airport that has 10 jail facilities, thousands of staff, its own power plant and transportation system.
September 30, 2013
The One Telco Exec Who Resisted The NSA Has Been Released From 4+ Years In Jail
from the tell-it-like-it-is dept
If you were around during the reign of Joe Nacchio at Qwest, you already should be aware that he was not particularly well-liked. He was brash and obnoxious and often rubbed people the wrong way. There's a famous story, for example, of him calling up an executive at US West, a company that Qwest bought, which had a building directly across the street from Qwest's headquarters. Moments after the buyout closed, Nacchio got the exec on the phone and supposedly told him he had 15 minutes to change the sign on the building from US West to Qwest. Qwest collapsed in a somewhat spectacular manner not long after that, with some comparing it to the Enron collapse -- a lot of hype and stock pumping built on very little substance. A few years later, Nacchio was famously convicted of insider trading -- and certainly many people who had witnessed his earlier antics reveled in that result.
However, it was only later that it started to come out that Nacchio was alone among all of the major telco execs to tell the NSA to get lost when they came calling, demanding the ability to basically tap Qwest's entire network. For years, Nacchio has insisted that the entire lawsuit against him was retaliation for his refusal. When he first made those claims, it sounded far fetched and ridiculous. However, in the intervening years, as more and more details of the NSA's activities have become clear, Nacchio's initial arguments seem a hell of a lot more plausible.
It turns out that Nacchio was just released from prison after his 54 month sentence was completed. The WSJ has an odd but entertaining (and unfortunately paywalled -- though, you can get around it if you Google the title) article about his life in prison, where he apparently came out much healthier than he went in (lots of exercise) and is now best buddies with some former drug dealers who had his back in prison. One of whom, who goes by the name Spoonie, calls Nacchio "Joe-ski-luv" and says that they're best friends. "If he ever needs a lung or a bone, I'm there." Right.
~snip~
I would imagine that Nacchio could add quite a bit of useful information to the ongoing debate. And, in fact, it appears he intends to do so, with plans to write a book about "Americans' loss of liberty based on his experiences with the NSA and other government agencies." I look forward to reading it.
The One Telco Exec Who Resisted The NSA Has Been Released From 4+ Years In Jail
http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130927/14413024680/one-telco-exec-who-resisted-nsa-has-been-released-4-years-jail.shtmlThe One Telco Exec Who Resisted The NSA Has Been Released From 4+ Years In Jail
from the tell-it-like-it-is dept
If you were around during the reign of Joe Nacchio at Qwest, you already should be aware that he was not particularly well-liked. He was brash and obnoxious and often rubbed people the wrong way. There's a famous story, for example, of him calling up an executive at US West, a company that Qwest bought, which had a building directly across the street from Qwest's headquarters. Moments after the buyout closed, Nacchio got the exec on the phone and supposedly told him he had 15 minutes to change the sign on the building from US West to Qwest. Qwest collapsed in a somewhat spectacular manner not long after that, with some comparing it to the Enron collapse -- a lot of hype and stock pumping built on very little substance. A few years later, Nacchio was famously convicted of insider trading -- and certainly many people who had witnessed his earlier antics reveled in that result.
However, it was only later that it started to come out that Nacchio was alone among all of the major telco execs to tell the NSA to get lost when they came calling, demanding the ability to basically tap Qwest's entire network. For years, Nacchio has insisted that the entire lawsuit against him was retaliation for his refusal. When he first made those claims, it sounded far fetched and ridiculous. However, in the intervening years, as more and more details of the NSA's activities have become clear, Nacchio's initial arguments seem a hell of a lot more plausible.
It turns out that Nacchio was just released from prison after his 54 month sentence was completed. The WSJ has an odd but entertaining (and unfortunately paywalled -- though, you can get around it if you Google the title) article about his life in prison, where he apparently came out much healthier than he went in (lots of exercise) and is now best buddies with some former drug dealers who had his back in prison. One of whom, who goes by the name Spoonie, calls Nacchio "Joe-ski-luv" and says that they're best friends. "If he ever needs a lung or a bone, I'm there." Right.
~snip~
I would imagine that Nacchio could add quite a bit of useful information to the ongoing debate. And, in fact, it appears he intends to do so, with plans to write a book about "Americans' loss of liberty based on his experiences with the NSA and other government agencies." I look forward to reading it.
September 29, 2013
8 Most Exceptionally Dumb American Achievements of the Twenty-First Century
By Tom Engelhardt
September 26, 2013
~snip~
1. What other country could have invaded Iraq, hardly knowing the difference between a Sunni and a Shiite, and still managed to successfully set off a brutal sectarian civil war andethnic cleansing campaigns between the two sects that would subsequently go regional, whosecasualty counts have tipped into the hundreds of thousands, and which is now bouncing backon Iraq? What other great power would have launched its invasion with plans to garrison that country for decades and with the larger goal of subduing neighboring Iran (“Everyone wants to go to Baghdad; real men want to go to Tehran”), only to slink away eight years later leaving behind a Shiite government in Baghdad that was a firm ally of Iran? And in what other country, could leaders, viewing these events, and knowing our part in them, have been so imbued with goodness as to draw further “red lines” and contemplate sending in the missiles and bombers again, this time on Syria and possibly Iran? Who in the world would dare claim that this isn’t an unmatchable record?
2. What other country could magnanimously spend $4-6 trillion on two “good wars” in Afghanistan and Iraq against lightly armed minority insurgencies without winning or accomplishing a thing? And that’s not even counting the funds sunk into the Global War on Terror and sideshows in places like Pakistan, Somalia, and Yemen, or the staggering sums that, since 9/11, have been poured directly into the national security state. How many countries, possessing “the finest fighting force in the history of the world,” could have engaged in endless armed conflicts and interventions from the 1960s on and, except in unresisting Panama and tiny Grenada, never managed to definitively win anything?
3. And talking about exceptional records, what other military could have brought an estimated 3.1 million pieces of equipment -- ranging from tanks and Humvees to porta-potties, coffee makers, and computers -- with it into Iraq, and then transported most of them out again (while destroying the rest or turning them over to the Iraqis)? Similarly, in an Afghanistan where the U.S. military is now drawing down its forces and has already destroyed “more than 170 million pounds worth of vehicles and other military equipment,” what other force would have decided ahead of time to shred, dismantle, or simply discard $7 billion worth of equipment (about 20% of what it had brought into the country)? The general in charge proudly calls this “the largest retrograde mission in history.” To put that in context: What other military would be capable of carrying a total consumer society right down to PXs, massage parlors, boardwalks, Internet cafes, and food courts to war? Let’s give credit where it’s due: we’re not just talking retrograde here, we’re talking exceptionally retrograde!
4. What other military could, in a bare few years in Iraq, have built a staggering 505 bases, ranging from combat outposts to ones the size of small American towns with their own electricity generators, water purifiers, fire departments, fast-food restaurants, and evenminiature golf courses at a cost of unknown billions of dollars and then, only a few years later, abandoned all of them, dismantling some, turning others over to the Iraqi military or into ghost towns, and leaving yet others to be looted and stripped? And what other military, in the same time period thousands of miles away in Afghanistan, could have built more than 450 bases, sometimes even hauling in the building materials, and now be dismantling them in the same fashion? If those aren’t exceptional feats, what are?
8 Most Exceptionally Dumb American Achievements of the Twenty-First Century
8 Most Exceptionally Dumb American Achievements of the Twenty-First Century
By Tom Engelhardt
September 26, 2013
~snip~
1. What other country could have invaded Iraq, hardly knowing the difference between a Sunni and a Shiite, and still managed to successfully set off a brutal sectarian civil war andethnic cleansing campaigns between the two sects that would subsequently go regional, whosecasualty counts have tipped into the hundreds of thousands, and which is now bouncing backon Iraq? What other great power would have launched its invasion with plans to garrison that country for decades and with the larger goal of subduing neighboring Iran (“Everyone wants to go to Baghdad; real men want to go to Tehran”), only to slink away eight years later leaving behind a Shiite government in Baghdad that was a firm ally of Iran? And in what other country, could leaders, viewing these events, and knowing our part in them, have been so imbued with goodness as to draw further “red lines” and contemplate sending in the missiles and bombers again, this time on Syria and possibly Iran? Who in the world would dare claim that this isn’t an unmatchable record?
2. What other country could magnanimously spend $4-6 trillion on two “good wars” in Afghanistan and Iraq against lightly armed minority insurgencies without winning or accomplishing a thing? And that’s not even counting the funds sunk into the Global War on Terror and sideshows in places like Pakistan, Somalia, and Yemen, or the staggering sums that, since 9/11, have been poured directly into the national security state. How many countries, possessing “the finest fighting force in the history of the world,” could have engaged in endless armed conflicts and interventions from the 1960s on and, except in unresisting Panama and tiny Grenada, never managed to definitively win anything?
3. And talking about exceptional records, what other military could have brought an estimated 3.1 million pieces of equipment -- ranging from tanks and Humvees to porta-potties, coffee makers, and computers -- with it into Iraq, and then transported most of them out again (while destroying the rest or turning them over to the Iraqis)? Similarly, in an Afghanistan where the U.S. military is now drawing down its forces and has already destroyed “more than 170 million pounds worth of vehicles and other military equipment,” what other force would have decided ahead of time to shred, dismantle, or simply discard $7 billion worth of equipment (about 20% of what it had brought into the country)? The general in charge proudly calls this “the largest retrograde mission in history.” To put that in context: What other military would be capable of carrying a total consumer society right down to PXs, massage parlors, boardwalks, Internet cafes, and food courts to war? Let’s give credit where it’s due: we’re not just talking retrograde here, we’re talking exceptionally retrograde!
4. What other military could, in a bare few years in Iraq, have built a staggering 505 bases, ranging from combat outposts to ones the size of small American towns with their own electricity generators, water purifiers, fire departments, fast-food restaurants, and evenminiature golf courses at a cost of unknown billions of dollars and then, only a few years later, abandoned all of them, dismantling some, turning others over to the Iraqi military or into ghost towns, and leaving yet others to be looted and stripped? And what other military, in the same time period thousands of miles away in Afghanistan, could have built more than 450 bases, sometimes even hauling in the building materials, and now be dismantling them in the same fashion? If those aren’t exceptional feats, what are?
September 29, 2013
Twelve cases of unauthorised surveillance documented in letter from NSA's inspector general to senator Chuck Grassley
NSA employee spied on nine women without detection, internal file shows
Paul Lewis in Washington
theguardian.com, Friday 27 September 2013 17.08 EDT
A National Security Agency employee was able to secretly intercept the phone calls of nine foreign women for six years without ever being detected by his managers, the agency's internal watchdog has revealed.
The unauthorised abuse of the NSA's surveillance tools only came to light after one of the women, who happened to be a US government employee, told a colleague that she suspected the man – with whom she was having a sexual relationship – was listening to her calls.
The case is among 12 documented in a letter from the NSA's inspector general to a leading member of Congress, who asked for a breakdown of cases in which the agency's powerful surveillance apparatus was deliberately abused by staff. One relates to a member of the US military who, on the first day he gained access to the surveillance system, used it to spy on six email addresses belonging to former girlfriends.
The letter, from Dr George Ellard, only lists cases that were investigated and later "substantiated" by his office. But it raises the possibility that there are many more cases that go undetected. In a quarter of the cases, the NSA only found out about the misconduct after the employee confessed.
NSA employee spied on nine women without detection, internal file
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/sep/27/nsa-employee-spied-detection-internal-memoTwelve cases of unauthorised surveillance documented in letter from NSA's inspector general to senator Chuck Grassley
NSA employee spied on nine women without detection, internal file shows
Paul Lewis in Washington
theguardian.com, Friday 27 September 2013 17.08 EDT
A National Security Agency employee was able to secretly intercept the phone calls of nine foreign women for six years without ever being detected by his managers, the agency's internal watchdog has revealed.
The unauthorised abuse of the NSA's surveillance tools only came to light after one of the women, who happened to be a US government employee, told a colleague that she suspected the man – with whom she was having a sexual relationship – was listening to her calls.
The case is among 12 documented in a letter from the NSA's inspector general to a leading member of Congress, who asked for a breakdown of cases in which the agency's powerful surveillance apparatus was deliberately abused by staff. One relates to a member of the US military who, on the first day he gained access to the surveillance system, used it to spy on six email addresses belonging to former girlfriends.
The letter, from Dr George Ellard, only lists cases that were investigated and later "substantiated" by his office. But it raises the possibility that there are many more cases that go undetected. In a quarter of the cases, the NSA only found out about the misconduct after the employee confessed.
September 29, 2013
Army orders ban of malaria drug mefloquine
Published: 12:00 AM, Sun Sep 29, 2013
By Pauline Jelinek
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON - The top doctor for Green Berets and other elite Army commandos has told troops to immediately stop taking mefloquine, an anti-malaria drug found to cause permanent brain damage in rare cases.
The ban among special operations forces is the latest development in a long-running controversy over mefloquine. The drug was developed by the Army in the 1970s and has been taken by millions of travelers and people in the military over the years. As alternatives were developed, it fell out of favor as the front-line defense against malaria, a mosquito-borne disease that international health officials say kills roughly 600,000 people a year.
The new prohibition among special operations forces follows a July 29 safety announcement by the Food and Drug Administration that it had strengthened warnings about neurologic side effects associated with the drug.
The drug's other side effects include anxiety, depression and hallucinations.
Army orders ban of malaria drug mefloquine
http://www.fayobserver.com/articles/2013/09/29/1284087?sac=fo.militaryArmy orders ban of malaria drug mefloquine
Published: 12:00 AM, Sun Sep 29, 2013
By Pauline Jelinek
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON - The top doctor for Green Berets and other elite Army commandos has told troops to immediately stop taking mefloquine, an anti-malaria drug found to cause permanent brain damage in rare cases.
The ban among special operations forces is the latest development in a long-running controversy over mefloquine. The drug was developed by the Army in the 1970s and has been taken by millions of travelers and people in the military over the years. As alternatives were developed, it fell out of favor as the front-line defense against malaria, a mosquito-borne disease that international health officials say kills roughly 600,000 people a year.
The new prohibition among special operations forces follows a July 29 safety announcement by the Food and Drug Administration that it had strengthened warnings about neurologic side effects associated with the drug.
The drug's other side effects include anxiety, depression and hallucinations.
September 29, 2013
LEFT BEHIND: US Scrapping $7B in Military Equipment in Afghanistan to Protect War Profiteers
Facing a tight withdrawal deadline and tough terrain, the U.S. military has destroyed more than 170 million pounds worth of vehicles and other military equipment as it rushes to wind down its role in the Afghanistan war by the end of 2014.
The massive disposal effort, which U.S. military officials call unprecedented, has unfolded largely out of sight amid an ongoing debate inside the Pentagon about what to do with the heaps of equipment that won’t be returning home. Military planners have determined that they will not ship back more than $7 billion worth of equipment — about 20 percent of what the U.S. military has in Afghanistan — because it is no longer needed or would be too costly to ship back home.
That has left the Pentagon in a quandary about what to do with the items. Bequeathing a large share to the Afghan government would be challenging because of complicated rules governing equipment donations to other countries, and there is concern that Afghanistan’s fledgling forces would be unable to maintain it. Some gear may be sold or donated to allied nations, but few are likely to be able to retrieve it from the war zone.
Therefore, much of it will continue to be shredded, cut and crushed to be sold for pennies per pound on the Afghan scrap market — a process that reflects a presumptive end to an era of protracted ground wars. The destruction of tons of equipment is all but certain to raise sharp questions in Afghanistan and the United States about whether the Pentagon’s approach is fiscally responsible and whether it should find ways to leave a greater share to the Afghans.
LEFT BEHIND: US Scrapping $7B in Military Equipment in Afghanistan to Protect War Profiteers
http://www.secretsofthefed.com/left-behind-us-scrapping-7b-in-military-equipment-in-afghanistan-to-protect-war-profiteers/LEFT BEHIND: US Scrapping $7B in Military Equipment in Afghanistan to Protect War Profiteers
Facing a tight withdrawal deadline and tough terrain, the U.S. military has destroyed more than 170 million pounds worth of vehicles and other military equipment as it rushes to wind down its role in the Afghanistan war by the end of 2014.
The massive disposal effort, which U.S. military officials call unprecedented, has unfolded largely out of sight amid an ongoing debate inside the Pentagon about what to do with the heaps of equipment that won’t be returning home. Military planners have determined that they will not ship back more than $7 billion worth of equipment — about 20 percent of what the U.S. military has in Afghanistan — because it is no longer needed or would be too costly to ship back home.
That has left the Pentagon in a quandary about what to do with the items. Bequeathing a large share to the Afghan government would be challenging because of complicated rules governing equipment donations to other countries, and there is concern that Afghanistan’s fledgling forces would be unable to maintain it. Some gear may be sold or donated to allied nations, but few are likely to be able to retrieve it from the war zone.
Therefore, much of it will continue to be shredded, cut and crushed to be sold for pennies per pound on the Afghan scrap market — a process that reflects a presumptive end to an era of protracted ground wars. The destruction of tons of equipment is all but certain to raise sharp questions in Afghanistan and the United States about whether the Pentagon’s approach is fiscally responsible and whether it should find ways to leave a greater share to the Afghans.
September 29, 2013
Poison Gas, Poison Values, Poison History
ROBERT C. KOEHLER FOR BUZZFLASH AT TRUTHOUT
Thursday, 26 September 2013 07:57
Poison gas is not only a "moral obscenity" — one the United States stockpiled for decades after its use was banned in warfare — but a metaphor for human recklessness and wasted science.
~snip~
The enormous toxic mess that encircles the globe needs serious and sustained attention, something present-day governments are, seemingly, incapable of. The fact that this mess of our own making exists at all ought to inspire not missiles and self-righteousness but the deepest questions we know how to ask. And the first question is this: How in God's name do we untangle ourselves from this mess collectively?
~snip~
"Turns out, according to Army documents the paper obtained, from the end of World War II until 1970, the Army jettisoned 64 million pounds of nerve and mustard agents, 400,000 chemical-filled bombs, land mines and rockets and more than 500 tons of radioactive waste into the coastal waters off 11 states that virtually ring the country; has only a vague idea where these dump sites are; has made only haphazard stabs at monitoring a few of the sites even though leakage and container breakdown are inevitable; and has not bothered to inform the affected states or other agencies about the dumping."
Add to all this our nuclear stockpiling and ongoing development, our use of white phosphorous and depleted uranium, our complicity in Iraq's use of poison gas against Iran and Iraqi Kurds back in the '80s, and I'm wondering how we can ever atone for what we've done, let alone clean up the leftovers.
Poison Gas, Poison Values, Poison History
http://truth-out.org/buzzflash/commentary/item/18217-poison-gas-poison-values-poison-historyPoison Gas, Poison Values, Poison History
ROBERT C. KOEHLER FOR BUZZFLASH AT TRUTHOUT
Thursday, 26 September 2013 07:57
Poison gas is not only a "moral obscenity" — one the United States stockpiled for decades after its use was banned in warfare — but a metaphor for human recklessness and wasted science.
~snip~
The enormous toxic mess that encircles the globe needs serious and sustained attention, something present-day governments are, seemingly, incapable of. The fact that this mess of our own making exists at all ought to inspire not missiles and self-righteousness but the deepest questions we know how to ask. And the first question is this: How in God's name do we untangle ourselves from this mess collectively?
~snip~
"Turns out, according to Army documents the paper obtained, from the end of World War II until 1970, the Army jettisoned 64 million pounds of nerve and mustard agents, 400,000 chemical-filled bombs, land mines and rockets and more than 500 tons of radioactive waste into the coastal waters off 11 states that virtually ring the country; has only a vague idea where these dump sites are; has made only haphazard stabs at monitoring a few of the sites even though leakage and container breakdown are inevitable; and has not bothered to inform the affected states or other agencies about the dumping."
Add to all this our nuclear stockpiling and ongoing development, our use of white phosphorous and depleted uranium, our complicity in Iraq's use of poison gas against Iran and Iraqi Kurds back in the '80s, and I'm wondering how we can ever atone for what we've done, let alone clean up the leftovers.
September 29, 2013
Halliburton’s Lethal Crimes Get a Slap on the Wrist While Non-Violent Minority Drug Offenders Get Long Prison Terms
JACQUELINE MARCUS FOR BUZZFLASH AT TRUTHOUT
Thursday, 26 September 2013 09:45
On September 19th, 2013 Halliburton, an oil and construction company that rose to a multibillion dollar industry under Dick Cheney’s supervision, pled guilty to federal charges of destroying critical evidence concerning British Petroleum’s 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion. Halliburton shredded the evidence because it proved that the company had committed gross negligence pertaining to cuts in safety maintenance decisions in order to increase profits. Shredding evidence: that’s probably a felony crime, right? Only if you did it or if I did it, but oil tycoons need not have to worry; the laws are conveniently shredded along with the evidence.
~snip~
Halliburton provided the plugs called “centralizers,” which keep the drill pipe centered in the well as cement is poured. Instead of using 12 “centralizers” they used six. The upshot: When it comes to necessary security maintenance, Halliburton, like BP, chose the cheapest and riskiest way to build the foundation of the well in their reckless pursuit of profits. Given the lack of government oversight, otherwise known as the “cozy relationship between the US government and the oil industry,” the culpable, dripping-in-oil Mineral Management Services (MMS) turned a blind eye to BP’s and Halliburton’s sins, which was and is common practice.
On April 20, 2010, British Petroleum’s Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded, resulting in 11 deaths, followed by 5 million gushing barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico, followed by the worst sea mammal and mass bird and fish killings in history. Thousands of dead dolphins, whales, pelicans, turtles washed up on the oily shores and were quickly bagged and buried at secret garbage dumps. To put Halliburton’s crimes reduced to a petty misdemeanor in context: Under the Obama administration, federal laws were passed forbidding photo journalists from taking pictures of the mass fish kill, the secret dump, and workers who became seriously ill from the toxic oil and dispersant Corexit. If caught taking photos, they would be arrested for committing a federal crime, sentenced to several years in prison and charged a hefty fine. Those unjust laws were harshly enforced.
The BP oil spill was and is the most deadly ongoing environmental catastrophe in American history, and the toxic effects are still being felt along the Gulf Coast. For the last three years, BP has been more concerned about protecting profits and presenting a public smiley face image than making the residents of the coastal shores whole.
Halliburton’s Lethal Crimes Get a Slap on the Wrist While Non-Violent Minority Drug Offenders Get Lo
http://truth-out.org/buzzflash/commentary/item/18218-halliburton-slap-drug-offenders-prisonHalliburton’s Lethal Crimes Get a Slap on the Wrist While Non-Violent Minority Drug Offenders Get Long Prison Terms
JACQUELINE MARCUS FOR BUZZFLASH AT TRUTHOUT
Thursday, 26 September 2013 09:45
On September 19th, 2013 Halliburton, an oil and construction company that rose to a multibillion dollar industry under Dick Cheney’s supervision, pled guilty to federal charges of destroying critical evidence concerning British Petroleum’s 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion. Halliburton shredded the evidence because it proved that the company had committed gross negligence pertaining to cuts in safety maintenance decisions in order to increase profits. Shredding evidence: that’s probably a felony crime, right? Only if you did it or if I did it, but oil tycoons need not have to worry; the laws are conveniently shredded along with the evidence.
~snip~
Halliburton provided the plugs called “centralizers,” which keep the drill pipe centered in the well as cement is poured. Instead of using 12 “centralizers” they used six. The upshot: When it comes to necessary security maintenance, Halliburton, like BP, chose the cheapest and riskiest way to build the foundation of the well in their reckless pursuit of profits. Given the lack of government oversight, otherwise known as the “cozy relationship between the US government and the oil industry,” the culpable, dripping-in-oil Mineral Management Services (MMS) turned a blind eye to BP’s and Halliburton’s sins, which was and is common practice.
On April 20, 2010, British Petroleum’s Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded, resulting in 11 deaths, followed by 5 million gushing barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico, followed by the worst sea mammal and mass bird and fish killings in history. Thousands of dead dolphins, whales, pelicans, turtles washed up on the oily shores and were quickly bagged and buried at secret garbage dumps. To put Halliburton’s crimes reduced to a petty misdemeanor in context: Under the Obama administration, federal laws were passed forbidding photo journalists from taking pictures of the mass fish kill, the secret dump, and workers who became seriously ill from the toxic oil and dispersant Corexit. If caught taking photos, they would be arrested for committing a federal crime, sentenced to several years in prison and charged a hefty fine. Those unjust laws were harshly enforced.
The BP oil spill was and is the most deadly ongoing environmental catastrophe in American history, and the toxic effects are still being felt along the Gulf Coast. For the last three years, BP has been more concerned about protecting profits and presenting a public smiley face image than making the residents of the coastal shores whole.
September 29, 2013
Fessing Up to Our Imperial Footprint
DAVID SIROTA ON BUZZFLASH AT TRUTHOUT
Friday, 27 September 2013 08:12
~snip~
"The United States has a hard-earned humility when it comes to our ability to determine events inside other countries," he declared in his speech to the General Assembly. "The notion of American empire may be useful propaganda, but it isn't borne out by America's current policy."
The rhetoric sounds nice and it deftly portrays the United States as the sympathetic victim of an international conspiracy. The problem is that it glosses over how current U.S. policies do, in fact, create an imperial footprint.
This is most easy to see when it comes to our military. According to a 2010 report by the Pentagon, the United States has 662 overseas bases in 38 different countries. Additionally, the United States recently invaded and occupied Iraq and Afghanistan and helped invade Libya. It is also prosecuting undeclared wars in Yemen and Pakistan, while propping up dictators in most of the Middle East. Oh, and we are also the world's biggest exporter of weapons and spend more on our military than most of the world combined.
On the intelligence side of things, it is a similar story. The National Security Administration is not only collecting domestic communications, it is constructing a global surveillance system. That includes collecting communications data from countries across the world, surveilling heads of state in Brazil and Mexico, hacking computers at the Indian embassy, spying on the United Nations and wiretapping Brazil's state-owned oil company. And that's just what we know about.
Fessing Up to Our Imperial Footprint
http://truth-out.org/buzzflash/commentary/item/18220-fessing-up-imperial-footprintFessing Up to Our Imperial Footprint
DAVID SIROTA ON BUZZFLASH AT TRUTHOUT
Friday, 27 September 2013 08:12
~snip~
"The United States has a hard-earned humility when it comes to our ability to determine events inside other countries," he declared in his speech to the General Assembly. "The notion of American empire may be useful propaganda, but it isn't borne out by America's current policy."
The rhetoric sounds nice and it deftly portrays the United States as the sympathetic victim of an international conspiracy. The problem is that it glosses over how current U.S. policies do, in fact, create an imperial footprint.
This is most easy to see when it comes to our military. According to a 2010 report by the Pentagon, the United States has 662 overseas bases in 38 different countries. Additionally, the United States recently invaded and occupied Iraq and Afghanistan and helped invade Libya. It is also prosecuting undeclared wars in Yemen and Pakistan, while propping up dictators in most of the Middle East. Oh, and we are also the world's biggest exporter of weapons and spend more on our military than most of the world combined.
On the intelligence side of things, it is a similar story. The National Security Administration is not only collecting domestic communications, it is constructing a global surveillance system. That includes collecting communications data from countries across the world, surveilling heads of state in Brazil and Mexico, hacking computers at the Indian embassy, spying on the United Nations and wiretapping Brazil's state-owned oil company. And that's just what we know about.
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