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unhappycamper
unhappycamper's Journal
unhappycamper's Journal
December 14, 2013
Workers can be seen on the moving line and forward fuselage assembly areas for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter at Lockheed Martin Corp's factory located in Fort Worth, Texas in this October 13, 2011 handout photo provided by Lockheed Martin.
Singapore says in 'no particular hurry' to buy Lockheed F-35 jets
WASHINGTON Thu Dec 12, 2013 8:23pm EST
(Reuters) - Singapore's Defense Minister Ng Eng Hen on Thursday said his country was seriously considering buying Lockheed Martin Corp's (LMT.N) F-35 fighter jet but was in "no particular hurry" to buy new jets since its F-16 fighters were still in good shape.
"Singapore is seriously looking at the F-35s to replace our F-16s," the Singapore official told reporters at the Pentagon during a joint news conference with U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel.
"We're in no particular hurry, because our F-16s are still very operational, and they're due for upgrades. But it is a serious consideration," Eng Hen said.
The minister said he saw a demonstration of two F-35 B-models operated by the U.S. Marine Corps during a visit to Luke Air Force Base in Arizona earlier this week and described the new aircraft as "quite an engineering marvel." The B-model takes off from shorter runways and lands like a helicopter.
Singapore says in 'no particular hurry' to buy Lockheed F-35 jets
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/12/13/us-lockheed-fighter-idUSBRE9BC02J20131213Workers can be seen on the moving line and forward fuselage assembly areas for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter at Lockheed Martin Corp's factory located in Fort Worth, Texas in this October 13, 2011 handout photo provided by Lockheed Martin.
Singapore says in 'no particular hurry' to buy Lockheed F-35 jets
WASHINGTON Thu Dec 12, 2013 8:23pm EST
(Reuters) - Singapore's Defense Minister Ng Eng Hen on Thursday said his country was seriously considering buying Lockheed Martin Corp's (LMT.N) F-35 fighter jet but was in "no particular hurry" to buy new jets since its F-16 fighters were still in good shape.
"Singapore is seriously looking at the F-35s to replace our F-16s," the Singapore official told reporters at the Pentagon during a joint news conference with U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel.
"We're in no particular hurry, because our F-16s are still very operational, and they're due for upgrades. But it is a serious consideration," Eng Hen said.
The minister said he saw a demonstration of two F-35 B-models operated by the U.S. Marine Corps during a visit to Luke Air Force Base in Arizona earlier this week and described the new aircraft as "quite an engineering marvel." The B-model takes off from shorter runways and lands like a helicopter.
December 14, 2013
Lockheed aims to deliver all 36 F-35 jets in 2013, sees progress on program
By Andrea Shalal-Esa
FORT WORTH, Texas Sat Dec 14, 2013 12:08am EST
(Reuters) - Lockheed Martin Corp (LMT.N) still expects to deliver the final seven of 36 F-35 fighter jets to the U.S. government from its Fort Worth, Texas facility, before year-end despite a five-day halt in test flights due to bad weather over the past week, the company's F-35 program manager said on Friday.
Lorraine Martin, executive vice president and F-35 general manager, said 2013 has been a transformative year for the $392 billion program, marking the beginning of pilot and maintainer training, reductions in production costs, and progress on software, weapons testing and other technical issues.
She said the program - the Pentagon's most expensive weapons program - remained intensely focused on finishing development and flight testing of the next-generation fighter over the next three years, as well as driving down the cost of building and operating the planes.
"The program is on stronger footing than ever before," Martin told 2,000 workers and guests at a ceremony celebrating completion of the 100th F-35 at the company's mile-long plant in Fort Worth that included patriotic songs and videos.
Lockheed aims to deliver all 36 F-35 jets in 2013, sees progress on program
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/12/14/us-lockheed-f-idUSBRE9BD00R20131214Lockheed aims to deliver all 36 F-35 jets in 2013, sees progress on program
By Andrea Shalal-Esa
FORT WORTH, Texas Sat Dec 14, 2013 12:08am EST
(Reuters) - Lockheed Martin Corp (LMT.N) still expects to deliver the final seven of 36 F-35 fighter jets to the U.S. government from its Fort Worth, Texas facility, before year-end despite a five-day halt in test flights due to bad weather over the past week, the company's F-35 program manager said on Friday.
Lorraine Martin, executive vice president and F-35 general manager, said 2013 has been a transformative year for the $392 billion program, marking the beginning of pilot and maintainer training, reductions in production costs, and progress on software, weapons testing and other technical issues.
She said the program - the Pentagon's most expensive weapons program - remained intensely focused on finishing development and flight testing of the next-generation fighter over the next three years, as well as driving down the cost of building and operating the planes.
"The program is on stronger footing than ever before," Martin told 2,000 workers and guests at a ceremony celebrating completion of the 100th F-35 at the company's mile-long plant in Fort Worth that included patriotic songs and videos.
December 14, 2013
Strategy, Not Just Sequester, Drives A-10 Cut: Air Force Chief Gen. Welsh
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.
on December 13, 2013 at 12:43 PM
Budget cuts won’t make the Air Force give up any of its current missions, the service’s Chief of Staff promised today. But, Gen. Mark Welsh acknowledged, the cuts will force it to do those missions with different and perhaps not optimal aircraft.
Yes, the famous A-10 “Warthog” is “the best at close air support” – i.e. hitting targets right in front of the troops on the ground – but it’s an aging aircraft that has to retire sooner or later and other planes can do CAS just fine, said Welsh, a former A-10 pilot himself. Yes, the combat search and rescue mission – flying in to rescue downed pilots – is “a sacred trust,” he said, but we may not be able to afford a new CSAR helicopter any time soon.
In either case, Welsh told reporters at the Pentagon today, “the mission will continue to get done, guys.”
“We’re talking about lots of things we must have,” Welsh said. “The question is in what order do we recapitalize as the budget comes down, (and) the top three for us are clearly the F-35 (fighter), the KC-46 (fuel tanker), and the long-range strike bomber.”
Strategy, Not Just Sequester, Drives A-10 Cut: Air Force Chief Gen. Welsh
http://breakingdefense.com/2013/12/strategy-not-just-sequester-drives-a-10-cut-air-force-chief-gen-welsh/Strategy, Not Just Sequester, Drives A-10 Cut: Air Force Chief Gen. Welsh
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.
on December 13, 2013 at 12:43 PM
Budget cuts won’t make the Air Force give up any of its current missions, the service’s Chief of Staff promised today. But, Gen. Mark Welsh acknowledged, the cuts will force it to do those missions with different and perhaps not optimal aircraft.
Yes, the famous A-10 “Warthog” is “the best at close air support” – i.e. hitting targets right in front of the troops on the ground – but it’s an aging aircraft that has to retire sooner or later and other planes can do CAS just fine, said Welsh, a former A-10 pilot himself. Yes, the combat search and rescue mission – flying in to rescue downed pilots – is “a sacred trust,” he said, but we may not be able to afford a new CSAR helicopter any time soon.
In either case, Welsh told reporters at the Pentagon today, “the mission will continue to get done, guys.”
“We’re talking about lots of things we must have,” Welsh said. “The question is in what order do we recapitalize as the budget comes down, (and) the top three for us are clearly the F-35 (fighter), the KC-46 (fuel tanker), and the long-range strike bomber.”
December 14, 2013
The two variants of the Navy Littoral Combat Ship — LCS-1 Freedom and LCS-2 Independence – side by side off the California coast.
Congress Targets Littoral Combat Ship Survivability In NDAA
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.
on December 13, 2013 at 3:00 PM
~snip~
Instead of restricting spending on the program until the Pentagon gives an official, in-depth answer to Congress’s questions – the usual formula – the NDAA language makes two distinct and separate demands. The first is an official review by the Joint Requirements Oversight Council, a Pentagon body composed of the vice-chiefs of the armed services and generally considered a rubber stamp – but a very slow and ponderous one.
The second, harsher requirement is for a “coordinated” evaluation of the LCS test program not only by the Pentagon’s acquisition chief but also by the independent Director of Operational Test and Evaluation, which is famous for its harsh assessments of the LCS and other weapons.
DOT&E must specifically sign off on the LCS’s survivability in combat, which is perhaps the single most controversial aspect of the relatively lightweight vessel, and one DOT&E has criticized in the past. It also must examine the LCS’s mechanical and electrical breakdowns (“casualties” in Navy-speak), which have been a major blight on the Pacific deployment of the first Littoral Combat Ship, the USS Freedom.
But what’s the pain put on the program until it passes these tests? Not that much, in truth. The bill would prohibit spending any money for “construction or advanced procurement of materials” for LCS 25 and LCS 26. But Littoral Combat Ships 5 through 12 are still under construction, while ships 13-16 are “in pre-production phase.” LCS 17-24 are still awaiting Congressional authorization. 25 and 26 are a long way in the future, and if there’s any impact on their production it won’t be felt for years – and there’ll be plenty of opportunities to make up for lost time.
unhappycamper comment: A brief history of the Littoral Combat Ship:
The Navy's Bluewater plan (has disappeared from the internets) that defined the LCS also stated it would cost arounf $200 million each. LCS-1 cost $584 million; LCS-2 was $704 million.
Our congresscritters, in their infinite wisdom said "Oh my, these are expensive" and promptly ordered another 24 of them.
Brilliant. Just fucking brilliant.
Congress Targets Littoral Combat Ship Survivability In NDAA
http://breakingdefense.com/2013/12/congress-rebukes-navy-littoral-combat-ship-in-ndaa-but-doesnt-slow-it-down/The two variants of the Navy Littoral Combat Ship — LCS-1 Freedom and LCS-2 Independence – side by side off the California coast.
Congress Targets Littoral Combat Ship Survivability In NDAA
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.
on December 13, 2013 at 3:00 PM
~snip~
Instead of restricting spending on the program until the Pentagon gives an official, in-depth answer to Congress’s questions – the usual formula – the NDAA language makes two distinct and separate demands. The first is an official review by the Joint Requirements Oversight Council, a Pentagon body composed of the vice-chiefs of the armed services and generally considered a rubber stamp – but a very slow and ponderous one.
The second, harsher requirement is for a “coordinated” evaluation of the LCS test program not only by the Pentagon’s acquisition chief but also by the independent Director of Operational Test and Evaluation, which is famous for its harsh assessments of the LCS and other weapons.
DOT&E must specifically sign off on the LCS’s survivability in combat, which is perhaps the single most controversial aspect of the relatively lightweight vessel, and one DOT&E has criticized in the past. It also must examine the LCS’s mechanical and electrical breakdowns (“casualties” in Navy-speak), which have been a major blight on the Pacific deployment of the first Littoral Combat Ship, the USS Freedom.
But what’s the pain put on the program until it passes these tests? Not that much, in truth. The bill would prohibit spending any money for “construction or advanced procurement of materials” for LCS 25 and LCS 26. But Littoral Combat Ships 5 through 12 are still under construction, while ships 13-16 are “in pre-production phase.” LCS 17-24 are still awaiting Congressional authorization. 25 and 26 are a long way in the future, and if there’s any impact on their production it won’t be felt for years – and there’ll be plenty of opportunities to make up for lost time.
unhappycamper comment: A brief history of the Littoral Combat Ship:
The Navy's Bluewater plan (has disappeared from the internets) that defined the LCS also stated it would cost arounf $200 million each. LCS-1 cost $584 million; LCS-2 was $704 million.
Our congresscritters, in their infinite wisdom said "Oh my, these are expensive" and promptly ordered another 24 of them.
Brilliant. Just fucking brilliant.
December 14, 2013
Secret U.S. drone bases in Germany revealed
By Hans Leyendecker, Frederik Obermaier and Bastian Obermayer
December 11, 2013, 11:45 am
~snip~
German agencies and politicians have long been accustomed to American intelligence and military right here in their own backyard: tapping, code cracking, recruiting informants, observing suspects, kidnapping and abducting foreign enemies. Germans have known all that for years. But what they didn’t know is that the U.S. has been launching deadly drone strikes in Africa from German bases, often with the collaboration of German intelligence agencies.
Some 43,000 American soldiers are stationed in Germany, operating a total of about 40 military bases, and reportedly storing nuclear weapons on the German airbase in Büchel, southwest Germany. The U.S. spent $3 billion in Germany in 2012. Only in Afghanistan—where there is still an ongoing conflict—does the U.S. spend more money annually. There’s no war in Germany. But where the U.S. army and intelligence agencies once protected the West during the Cold War, they now lead a worldwide secret war.
We uncovered how the U.S. Secret Service, Department of Homeland Security, Central Intelligence Agency and National Security Agency–as well as a large shadow army of private spies–have acted without accountability on German soil. Some of the contractors don’t even work for the NSA or CIA, but rather for German federal ministries. These private companies—some of whom have been involved in human rights violations—are allowed access to data from the highest levels of German authorities. We also showed which projects of German scientists are supported by the Pentagon, and demonstrated how the city of Frankfurt has turned into a U.S. military-intel metropolis.
But first and foremost, we revealed how the U.S. drone war in Africa is controlled from U.S. bases in Germany. American soldiers—on bases in Ramstein and Stuttgart—are conducting a bloody drone war in Africa from within Germany. When they receive intelligence on potential targets and suspected terrorists, they deliver that information to U.S. intelligence officers, also based in Germany. The U.S. soldiers are regularly supported by German intelligence service Bundesnachrichtendienst. The service questions African asylum seekers, whose knowledge is unwittingly used to drop bombs in their home countries.
Secret U.S. drone bases in Germany revealed
http://www.icij.org/blog/2013/12/secret-us-drone-bases-germany-revealedSecret U.S. drone bases in Germany revealed
By Hans Leyendecker, Frederik Obermaier and Bastian Obermayer
December 11, 2013, 11:45 am
~snip~
German agencies and politicians have long been accustomed to American intelligence and military right here in their own backyard: tapping, code cracking, recruiting informants, observing suspects, kidnapping and abducting foreign enemies. Germans have known all that for years. But what they didn’t know is that the U.S. has been launching deadly drone strikes in Africa from German bases, often with the collaboration of German intelligence agencies.
Some 43,000 American soldiers are stationed in Germany, operating a total of about 40 military bases, and reportedly storing nuclear weapons on the German airbase in Büchel, southwest Germany. The U.S. spent $3 billion in Germany in 2012. Only in Afghanistan—where there is still an ongoing conflict—does the U.S. spend more money annually. There’s no war in Germany. But where the U.S. army and intelligence agencies once protected the West during the Cold War, they now lead a worldwide secret war.
We uncovered how the U.S. Secret Service, Department of Homeland Security, Central Intelligence Agency and National Security Agency–as well as a large shadow army of private spies–have acted without accountability on German soil. Some of the contractors don’t even work for the NSA or CIA, but rather for German federal ministries. These private companies—some of whom have been involved in human rights violations—are allowed access to data from the highest levels of German authorities. We also showed which projects of German scientists are supported by the Pentagon, and demonstrated how the city of Frankfurt has turned into a U.S. military-intel metropolis.
But first and foremost, we revealed how the U.S. drone war in Africa is controlled from U.S. bases in Germany. American soldiers—on bases in Ramstein and Stuttgart—are conducting a bloody drone war in Africa from within Germany. When they receive intelligence on potential targets and suspected terrorists, they deliver that information to U.S. intelligence officers, also based in Germany. The U.S. soldiers are regularly supported by German intelligence service Bundesnachrichtendienst. The service questions African asylum seekers, whose knowledge is unwittingly used to drop bombs in their home countries.
December 14, 2013
The FAA Creates Thin Privacy Guidelines For The Nation's First Domestic Drone "Test Sites"
OpEdNews Op Eds 12/12/2013 at 07:00:03
By Electronic Frontier Foundation
Commercial unmanned aerial systems are set to start flying over US airspace in 2015. In November the Federal Aviation Administration released its final privacy rules for the six drone "test sites" that the agency will use to evaluate how drones will be integrated into domestic air traffic. These new privacy requirements were issued just days after Senator Markey (D-MA) introduced a new bill, the Drone Aircraft Privacy and Transparency Act, intended to codify essential privacy and transparency requirements within the FAA's regulatory framework for domestic drones and drone test sites.
In 2012 Obama signed the Federal Aviation Administration Modernization and Reform Act, which mandated that the FAA implement "test sites" to fly domestic drones before opening the door to nationwide regulations and licensing for commercial drone flying. 24 states have applied to be FAA drone test sites. While the FAA's rules do establish minimal transparency guidelines for the new drone test sites, the new rules apply only to the test sites and do not apply to the drones that are already authorized to fly.
The new transparency rules require each test site operator to create, post, and enforce its own privacy policy, as well as set up "a mechanism to receive and consider comments from the public." The FAA rules further state that test sites must require all drone operators to establish "a written plan for the operator's use and retention of data collected by the UAS." Although the FAA's rules require the test site privacy policies to be made available to the public, there seems to be no similar requirement for the UAS operators' "written plans." There also appears to be no FAA oversight for these transparency rules -- the rules basically call for the test sites to police themselves.
While we appreciate the steps the FAA has taken so far, the agency could and should go further to require similar transparency from all drone operators. The FAA has already authorized almost 1,500 permits for domestic drones since 2007, but, despite our two Freedom of Information Act lawsuits for drone data, we still don't know much about where these drones are flying and what data they are collecting .
The FAA Creates Thin Privacy Guidelines For The Nation's First Domestic Drone "Test Sites"
http://www.opednews.com/articles/The-FAA-Creates-Thin-Priva-by-Electronic-Frontie-Domestic-Drones_Drone-Spying-131211-354.htmlThe FAA Creates Thin Privacy Guidelines For The Nation's First Domestic Drone "Test Sites"
OpEdNews Op Eds 12/12/2013 at 07:00:03
By Electronic Frontier Foundation
Commercial unmanned aerial systems are set to start flying over US airspace in 2015. In November the Federal Aviation Administration released its final privacy rules for the six drone "test sites" that the agency will use to evaluate how drones will be integrated into domestic air traffic. These new privacy requirements were issued just days after Senator Markey (D-MA) introduced a new bill, the Drone Aircraft Privacy and Transparency Act, intended to codify essential privacy and transparency requirements within the FAA's regulatory framework for domestic drones and drone test sites.
In 2012 Obama signed the Federal Aviation Administration Modernization and Reform Act, which mandated that the FAA implement "test sites" to fly domestic drones before opening the door to nationwide regulations and licensing for commercial drone flying. 24 states have applied to be FAA drone test sites. While the FAA's rules do establish minimal transparency guidelines for the new drone test sites, the new rules apply only to the test sites and do not apply to the drones that are already authorized to fly.
The new transparency rules require each test site operator to create, post, and enforce its own privacy policy, as well as set up "a mechanism to receive and consider comments from the public." The FAA rules further state that test sites must require all drone operators to establish "a written plan for the operator's use and retention of data collected by the UAS." Although the FAA's rules require the test site privacy policies to be made available to the public, there seems to be no similar requirement for the UAS operators' "written plans." There also appears to be no FAA oversight for these transparency rules -- the rules basically call for the test sites to police themselves.
While we appreciate the steps the FAA has taken so far, the agency could and should go further to require similar transparency from all drone operators. The FAA has already authorized almost 1,500 permits for domestic drones since 2007, but, despite our two Freedom of Information Act lawsuits for drone data, we still don't know much about where these drones are flying and what data they are collecting .
December 14, 2013
Catch a Bloody Knife
OpEdNews Op Eds 12/12/2013 at 11:52:02
By David Glenn Cox
The US military will no longer report on the hunger strikers it holds at the concentration camp in Guantanamo. Tick, tock and open up a fresh barrel of ugliness, let us become intoxicated on money liquor and madness. A police officer murders an unarmed bible college honor student; the chief offers the officer has an extensive background in law enforcement, having worked eight different jobs in nine years. The dead shed tears for the living as the living don't know they're dead yet.
The occupation forces in Afghanistan report the 16 transport planes purchased by the US tax payer at a cost of $500 million for the Afghan Air force are a total loss. Nearly half have been cannibalized for parts and sit in the weeds, while the culprits sit in soft clover. Misdemeanors in the rape of the innocents, murdering babies in the United States of Wal-mart and before the spring comes, malnutrition for American children will become as common as dandelions. A working single mother with two small children, earning just a bit over minimum wage, never but never, working forty hours per week is entitled to $50 a week in food stamps.
In answer to the expected, anticipated, and gleeful joy at the prospect of starving American children, the Department of Homeland Degradation is spending $80 million for added security measures anticipating food riots. Spending eighty million tax dollars to protect the government from you its citizens! Defense Secretary, Chuck Hagel warns (warns) the Pakistani government, it risks losing aid after Pakistani human beings, block supply routes protesting the slaughter of their brothers, sisters, husbands, wives and children by US drone attacks. This is the mindset of their criminal madness. Money is more important, it's the money Uber Allis philosophy, and if you dare disrupt the schedule of the Gestapo of the skies, we'll take our revenge in coin.
Only once before in modern human history has a world power begun a ten-year aggressive military campaign, cloaked as defensive war. Murder is the order of the day, blood is the uniform. Shame our badge, eternal its duration. Here is a morsel worthy of a good long savor; on November 1st a CIA drone strike killed the leader of the Pakistani Taliban. The CIA is an intelligence agency, not military, but murders with impunity. No trials, no courtrooms or pesky laws of human decency to slow the process. American Fascism rolls on seeking to rule the world from 30,000 feet with a gun in one hand and checkbook in the other.
Catch a Bloody Knife
http://www.opednews.com/articles/Catch-a-Bloody-Knife-by-David-Glenn-Cox-Children_Children_Congress_Fascism-131212-753.htmlCatch a Bloody Knife
OpEdNews Op Eds 12/12/2013 at 11:52:02
By David Glenn Cox
The US military will no longer report on the hunger strikers it holds at the concentration camp in Guantanamo. Tick, tock and open up a fresh barrel of ugliness, let us become intoxicated on money liquor and madness. A police officer murders an unarmed bible college honor student; the chief offers the officer has an extensive background in law enforcement, having worked eight different jobs in nine years. The dead shed tears for the living as the living don't know they're dead yet.
The occupation forces in Afghanistan report the 16 transport planes purchased by the US tax payer at a cost of $500 million for the Afghan Air force are a total loss. Nearly half have been cannibalized for parts and sit in the weeds, while the culprits sit in soft clover. Misdemeanors in the rape of the innocents, murdering babies in the United States of Wal-mart and before the spring comes, malnutrition for American children will become as common as dandelions. A working single mother with two small children, earning just a bit over minimum wage, never but never, working forty hours per week is entitled to $50 a week in food stamps.
In answer to the expected, anticipated, and gleeful joy at the prospect of starving American children, the Department of Homeland Degradation is spending $80 million for added security measures anticipating food riots. Spending eighty million tax dollars to protect the government from you its citizens! Defense Secretary, Chuck Hagel warns (warns) the Pakistani government, it risks losing aid after Pakistani human beings, block supply routes protesting the slaughter of their brothers, sisters, husbands, wives and children by US drone attacks. This is the mindset of their criminal madness. Money is more important, it's the money Uber Allis philosophy, and if you dare disrupt the schedule of the Gestapo of the skies, we'll take our revenge in coin.
Only once before in modern human history has a world power begun a ten-year aggressive military campaign, cloaked as defensive war. Murder is the order of the day, blood is the uniform. Shame our badge, eternal its duration. Here is a morsel worthy of a good long savor; on November 1st a CIA drone strike killed the leader of the Pakistani Taliban. The CIA is an intelligence agency, not military, but murders with impunity. No trials, no courtrooms or pesky laws of human decency to slow the process. American Fascism rolls on seeking to rule the world from 30,000 feet with a gun in one hand and checkbook in the other.
December 14, 2013
Blowing the whistle on powerful factions is not a fun thing to do, but it is the last avenue for truth, balanced debate and democracy
Former whistleblowers: open letter to intelligence employees after Snowden
theguardian.com, Wednesday 11 December 2013 09.45 EST
At least since the aftermath of September 2001, western governments and intelligence agencies have been hard at work expanding the scope of their own power, while eroding privacy, civil liberties and public control of policy. What used to be viewed as paranoid, Orwellian, tin-foil hat fantasies turned out post-Snowden, to be not even the whole story.
What's really remarkable is that we've been warned for years that these things were going on: wholesale surveillance of entire populations, militarization of the internet, the end of privacy. All is done in the name of "national security", which has more or less become a chant to fence off debate and make sure governments aren't held to account – that they can't be held to account – because everything is being done in the dark. Secret laws, secret interpretations of secret laws by secret courts and no effective parliamentary oversight whatsoever.
By and large the media have paid scant attention to this, even as more and more courageous, principled whistleblowers stepped forward. The unprecedented persecution of truth-tellers, initiated by the Bush administration and severely accelerated by the Obama administration, has been mostly ignored, while record numbers of well-meaning people are charged with serious felonies simply for letting their fellow citizens know what's going on.
It's one of the bitter ironies of our time that while John Kiriakou (ex-CIA) is in prison for blowing the whistle on US torture, the torturers and their enablers walk free.
Former whistleblowers: open letter to intelligence employees after Snowden
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/dec/11/whistleblowers-open-letter-after-snowden-revelationsBlowing the whistle on powerful factions is not a fun thing to do, but it is the last avenue for truth, balanced debate and democracy
Former whistleblowers: open letter to intelligence employees after Snowden
theguardian.com, Wednesday 11 December 2013 09.45 EST
At least since the aftermath of September 2001, western governments and intelligence agencies have been hard at work expanding the scope of their own power, while eroding privacy, civil liberties and public control of policy. What used to be viewed as paranoid, Orwellian, tin-foil hat fantasies turned out post-Snowden, to be not even the whole story.
What's really remarkable is that we've been warned for years that these things were going on: wholesale surveillance of entire populations, militarization of the internet, the end of privacy. All is done in the name of "national security", which has more or less become a chant to fence off debate and make sure governments aren't held to account – that they can't be held to account – because everything is being done in the dark. Secret laws, secret interpretations of secret laws by secret courts and no effective parliamentary oversight whatsoever.
By and large the media have paid scant attention to this, even as more and more courageous, principled whistleblowers stepped forward. The unprecedented persecution of truth-tellers, initiated by the Bush administration and severely accelerated by the Obama administration, has been mostly ignored, while record numbers of well-meaning people are charged with serious felonies simply for letting their fellow citizens know what's going on.
It's one of the bitter ironies of our time that while John Kiriakou (ex-CIA) is in prison for blowing the whistle on US torture, the torturers and their enablers walk free.
December 14, 2013
Gitmo "A Prison That Should Never Have Been Opened," Says the General Who Opened It
by Abby Zimet
12.13.13 - 12:46 AM
After so many years of so much abuse, Maj. Gen. Michael Lehnert, USMC, the first commander of the hellhole that is Guantánamo, says the prison's "entire detention and interrogation strategy was wrong," most of Gitmo's detainees "never should have been sent there," and it should be closed. Keeping the prison open, he added in an op-ed this week, "validates every negative perception of the United States." Yes. Now.
Gitmo "A Prison That Should Never Have Been Opened," Says the General Who Opened It
http://www.commondreams.org/further/2013/12/13-0Gitmo "A Prison That Should Never Have Been Opened," Says the General Who Opened It
by Abby Zimet
12.13.13 - 12:46 AM
After so many years of so much abuse, Maj. Gen. Michael Lehnert, USMC, the first commander of the hellhole that is Guantánamo, says the prison's "entire detention and interrogation strategy was wrong," most of Gitmo's detainees "never should have been sent there," and it should be closed. Keeping the prison open, he added in an op-ed this week, "validates every negative perception of the United States." Yes. Now.
December 14, 2013
A greener Arctic will be the new normal, says annual Arctic Report Card
NOAA: Expect 'Widespread, Sustained Changes' in the Arctic
- Andrea Germanos, staff writer
Published on Friday, December 13, 2013 by Common Dreams
Three decades of a consistent warming trend have made a greener Arctic the new normal, and "widespread, sustained changes" are set to come to region, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said in an assessment this week.
While its newest annual Arctic Report Card doesn't reveal the series of record-setting events seen in last year's analysis, the NOAA says the warming trend remains clear.
“The Arctic caught a bit of a break in 2013 from the recent string of record-breaking warmth and ice melt of the last decade,” David M. Kennedy, NOAA’s deputy under secretary for operations, told press at the American Geophysical Union annual meeting in San Francisco. “But the relatively cool year in some parts of the Arctic does little to offset the long-term trend of the last 30 years: the Arctic is warming rapidly, becoming greener and experiencing a variety of changes, affecting people, the physical environment, and marine and land ecosystems.”
The yearly assessment, based on contributions from over 147 authors, shows that the Arctic had its sixth warmest year on record; the Arctic sea ice extent was the sixth smallest on record, and the seven lowest recorded sea ice extents happened in the last seven years. Further, the thickness of the ice continues to descrease. The decreased ice coverage has brought warmer than average temperatures to Arctic boundary waters in the summer of 2013. The North American snow cover was the fourth lowest on record, while the snow cover in May over Eurasia hit a record low.
NOAA: Expect 'Widespread, Sustained Changes' in the Arctic
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2013/12/13-7A greener Arctic will be the new normal, says annual Arctic Report Card
NOAA: Expect 'Widespread, Sustained Changes' in the Arctic
- Andrea Germanos, staff writer
Published on Friday, December 13, 2013 by Common Dreams
Three decades of a consistent warming trend have made a greener Arctic the new normal, and "widespread, sustained changes" are set to come to region, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said in an assessment this week.
While its newest annual Arctic Report Card doesn't reveal the series of record-setting events seen in last year's analysis, the NOAA says the warming trend remains clear.
“The Arctic caught a bit of a break in 2013 from the recent string of record-breaking warmth and ice melt of the last decade,” David M. Kennedy, NOAA’s deputy under secretary for operations, told press at the American Geophysical Union annual meeting in San Francisco. “But the relatively cool year in some parts of the Arctic does little to offset the long-term trend of the last 30 years: the Arctic is warming rapidly, becoming greener and experiencing a variety of changes, affecting people, the physical environment, and marine and land ecosystems.”
The yearly assessment, based on contributions from over 147 authors, shows that the Arctic had its sixth warmest year on record; the Arctic sea ice extent was the sixth smallest on record, and the seven lowest recorded sea ice extents happened in the last seven years. Further, the thickness of the ice continues to descrease. The decreased ice coverage has brought warmer than average temperatures to Arctic boundary waters in the summer of 2013. The North American snow cover was the fourth lowest on record, while the snow cover in May over Eurasia hit a record low.
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