U.S. Tells South America to Shut Up About Legalizing Drugs

Source: StopTheDrugWar
Scott Morgan

Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano has a message for everyone who thinks the drug war is bad: you're wrong, it's awesome.

(Reuters) - Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano defended Washington's drug war strategy on Monday despite calls by some Latin American leaders to consider decriminalizing narcotics.
...
"I would not agree with the premise that the drug war is a failure," Napolitano said. "It is a continuing effort to keep our peoples from becoming addicted to dangerous drugs." [Reuters]

Okay, but what do these two sentences have to do with one another? Yes, we know the drug war is "a continuing effort to keep our peoples from becoming addicted to dangerous drugs [and marijuana]," but I don't understand what that has to do with whether or not it's been a failure. This is like saying, "I would not agree with premise that asbestos is toxic. It is a material used to insulate buildings."

So in a metaphorical sense, you could say that American drug policy is made of asbestos, and Janet Napolitano has been given the fun assignment of convincing a bunch of frustrated foreign leaders that the sickness and death presently surrounding them was caused by something other than the one thing that's obviously causing it.

Document Proves DHS is Monitoring Social Media for Government Criticism

Source: Prison Planet
Paul Joseph Watson

Keywords agency is tracking include “body scanner,” “nationalist” , “police,” and “immigration”

A Homeland Security training manual belies claims made by DHS representatives during a Congressional hearing last week that the federal agency is only monitoring social media outlets for “situational awareness,” and proves the fact that Big Sis is also tracking online criticism of government, including discussion of airport body scanners.

“Analysts for a Department of Homeland Security program that monitors social networks like Twitter and Facebook have been instructed to produce reports on policy debates related to the department, a newly disclosed manual shows,” reports the New York Times.

The manual, entitled Department of Homeland Security National Operations Center Media Monitoring Capability Desktop Reference Binder, was obtained by the Electronic Privacy Information Center via a FOIA request.

The controversy over DHS spying on social media erupted last month following the release of 300 documents which detailed how DHS had hired an outside contractor, General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems, to monitor social media outlets along with a list of websites, on a “24/7/365 basis,” in order to uncover “any media reports that reflect adversely on the U.S. Government and the Department of Homeland Security.”

During a subsequent Congressional hearing on the matter, DHS representatives Mary Callahan and Richard Chávez denied the fact that tracking criticism of government agencies formed any part of the program, and that the effort was merely aimed at developing “situational awareness” of potential threats, mostly related to extreme weather events.

However, the 2011 manual makes it abundantly clear that the program was a backdoor effort to keep tabs on what the American people were saying about not just the DHS, but a whole host of federal agencies, including the CIA, the ATF, the TSA, FEMA, as well as organizations outside of the U.S. government such as the United Nations and the Red Cross.

Terror War Cheerleader Gets Reality Check on Underwear Bomber Facts

Source: Prison Planet
Paul Joseph Watson

C-Span callers hammer home U.S. government’s role in aiding Abdulmutallab.

A proponent of the war on terror was left with egg on his face during a recent C-Span appearance when caller after caller hammered home the fact that the underwear bomber, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, was allowed to board Delta flight 253 by the U.S. government.

The victim of this ‘truth bomb’ was Mickey McCarter, a prominent mouthpiece for the military-industrial complex that relies heavily on the manufactured ‘war on terror’ to the tune of billions of dollars every year. McCarter is a journalist specializing in “homeland security matters” and has also worked for government agencies like the US Navy’s Bureau of Naval Personnel and the Defense Contract Management Agency.

After discussing the recent conviction of the underwear bomber with no mention of the fact that he boarded the plane only with the aid of the U.S. government, McCarter faced a barrage of callers who set him straight. The first caller immediately drew attention to Flight 253 passenger Kurt Haskell, an attorney who witnessed a well dressed Indian man force airport officials to let Abdulmutallab board the plane despite the fact that he had no passport and was on a terror watchlist.

“Why would a CIA agent….get that guy on the plane,” the caller asked, to which McCarter responded by claiming, “I am not familiar with the story,” before erroneously claiming that Abdulmutallab “raised no alarm”.

In reality, the State Department was ordered not to revoke Abdulmutallab’s visa by “federal counterterrorism officials” even though the accused bomber had known terrorist ties, in addition to the fact that his own father had warned U.S. intelligence officials of the threat posed by Abdulmutallab a month before the attempted attack.

After initially claiming otherwise, the FBI finally had to admit that Kurt Haskell’s testimony was true. When Abdulmutallab signaled he wanted to call Haskell as a defense witness, it threatened to blow the whole case wide open. However, within 48 hours he mysteriously withdrew the call and admitted all eight counts of guilt.

The notion that McCarter, who bills himself as a terror expert, has no idea about Kurt Haskell’s testimony, FBI confirmation of the fact, in addition to media reports concerning how AbdulMutallab was helped on the plane by a well-dressed man, over two years after it was initially revealed, is dubious to say the least.

FBI, DHS, Pentagon, Fed Using Social Media for Spying, Propaganda

Source: Corbett Report


TRANSCRIPT AND SOURCES:

The US Federal Bureau of Investigation posted a Request for Information last month calling on IT companies to demonstrate their ability to design software for monitoring, mapping and analyzing social media.

The RFI, posted to the government’s Federal Business Opportunities website in January, reveals the FBI’s desire for software capable of monitoring social media websites like Facebook and Twitter to provide alerts and analysis for publicly posted information. The software would require the ability to:

The State Has Declared War on the American People

Source: Infowars
Paul Joseph Watson

With the announcement that 30,000 drones are expected to fill American skies within ten years, the U.S. government has officially declared war on the American people, turning to technology normally used to hunt down insurgents abroad as the whole arsenal of the war on terror is re-focused domestically.

“The Federation Aviation Administration said up to 30,000 drones could be in airspace shared with airliners carrying passengers,” reports UPI.

Once signed by president Obama, the FAA Reauthorization Act allows for the FAA to permit the use of drones and develop regulations for testing and licensing by 2015.

Some types of surveillance drones are already being used by police departments across the country, including in Montgomery County, Texas, where the Department of Homeland Security recently gave the go-ahead for law enforcement in the United States to deploy the ShadowHawk mini drone drone helicopter that has the ability to taze suspects from above as well as carrying 12-gauge shotguns and grenade launchers.

US law enforcement bodies are already using drone technology to spy on Americans. In December, a Predator B drone was called in to conduct surveillance over a family farm in North Dakota as part of a SWAT raid on the Brossart family, who were suspects in the egregious crime of stealing six missing cows. Local police in this one area have already used the drone on two dozen occasions since June last year.

The DHS also recently announced a plan to spend up to $50 million dollars on a spy system that has been used to hunt insurgents in Iraq and Afghanistan for the purposes of “emergency and non-emergency incidents” within the United States.

While preparing the use of surveillance drones against Americans, the U.S. government is also keen to characterize a myriad of behaviors and activities, no matter how normal or mundane, as potential indicators of terrorism, encouraging citizens to spy on each other in a chilling throwback to how people were hired as informants under the East German Stasi.

As part of its Communities Against Terrorism program, the FBI is encouraging business owners from across the spectrum to spy on their customers.

Everything is Terrorism: Mike Adams on Infowars Nightly News

Source: Infowars Nightly News

Mike Adams lists the innumerable different behaviors the FBI has characterized as indicators of terrorism.

DHS To Launch Insurgent-Tracking Drones Inside America

Source: Prison Planet
Paul Joseph Watson

Technology used to hunt enemy combatants in Afghanistan will be used for “non-emergency incidents” within the U.S.

The Department of Homeland Security plans to spend up to $50 million dollars on a spy system that has been used to hunt insurgents in Iraq and Afghanistan for the purposes of “emergency and non-emergency incidents” within the United States.

The DHS is seeking four contractors to provide “aerial remote sensing” services, using LIDAR (Light Detection And Ranging) technology fitted to drones or manned aircraft that will provide surveillance capability for “homeland security missions,” as well as “management of emergency incidents by Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) regional offices, joint field offices and by state and local government.”

“DHS believes these airborne images are essential for homeland defense missions, such as planning for National Special Security Events (Super Bowls or a national political conventions come to mind); enhancing border, port and airport security; as well as performing critical infrastructure inventories and assessments,” reports Government Security News, adding that the technology will be used for “emergency and non-emergency incidents nationwide.”

Homeland Security is Reading and Recording Every Keystroke

Source: The New American
Joe Wolverton II

With so many of our most essential liberties under attack from the oligarchy on the Potomac, it is little wonder that the freedom of the press and speech are next on the government guillotine.

 

The Department of Homeland Security’s National Operations Center (NOC) released its Publicly Available Social Media Monitoring and Situational Awareness Initiative last year and in that report the intelligence-gathering arm of the DHS, the Office of Operations Coordination and Planning (OPS) gives itself permission to “gather, store, analyze, and disseminate” data on millions of users of social media (Twitter, Facebook, YouTube) and business networking sites (Linkedin).

 

Specifically, the Initiative sets out the plan and purpose behind the DHS’s collection of personal information from news anchors, journalists, reporters, or anyone else who posts articles, comments, or other information to many popular web outlets. The report defines the target audience as anyone who may use “traditional and/or social media in real time to keep their audience situationally aware and informed.”

 

Journalists and bloggers need not worry, however. DHS promises that it will not routinely gather and use Personally Identifiable Information (PII). From the abstract of the Initiative:

 

While this Initiative is not designed to actively collect Personally Identifiable Information (PII), OPS is conducting this update to the Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA) because this initiative may now collect and disseminate PII for certain narrowly tailored categories. For example, in the event of an in extremis situation involving potential life and death, OPS will share certain PII with the responding authority in order for them to take the necessary actions to save a life, such as name and location of a person calling for help buried under rubble, or hiding in a hotel room when the hotel is under attack by terrorists.

 

In other words, the government promises that all the personal electronic data that it monitors and records will only be used in “narrowly tailored” circumstances, saving a life, for example. There is no requirement that the data be used only in those instances, but there is a promise that it will be.

 

This unconstitutional, unwarranted search of private information is designed by DHS “to provide situational awareness and establish a common operating picture” of target audiences.

Homeland Security Monitors Journalists

Source: RT

Freedom of speech might allow journalists to get away with a lot in America, but the Department of Homeland Security is on the ready to make sure that the government is keeping dibs on who is saying what.

Under the National Operations Center (NOC)’s Media Monitoring Initiative that came out of DHS headquarters in November, Washington has the written permission to retain data on users of social media and online networking platforms. 

Specifically, the DHS announced the NCO and its Office of Operations Coordination and Planning (OPS) can collect personal information from news anchors, journalists, reporters or anyone who may use “traditional and/or social media in real time to keep their audience situationally aware and informed.”

According to the Department of Homeland Security’s own definition of personal identifiable information, or PII, such data could consist of any intellect “that permits the identity of an individual to be directly or indirectly inferred, including any information which is linked or linkable to that individual.” Previously established guidelines within the administration say that data could only be collected under authorization set forth by written code, but the new provisions in the NOC’s write-up means that any reporter, whether someone along the lines of Walter Cronkite or a budding blogger, can be victimized by the agency.

Also included in the roster of those subjected to the spying are government officials, domestic or not, who make public statements, private sector employees that do the same and “persons known to have been involved in major crimes of Homeland Security interest,” which to itself opens up the possibilities even wider. 

The department says that they will only scour publically-made info available while retaining data, but it doesn’t help but raise suspicion as to why the government is going out of their way to spend time, money and resources on watching over those that helped bring news to the masses. 

The development out of the DHS comes at the same time that U.S. District Judge Liam O’Grady denied pleas from supporters of WikiLeaks who had tried to prevent account information pertaining to their Twitter accounts from being provided to federal prosecutors. Jacob Applebaum and others advocates of Julian Assange’s whistleblower site were fighting to keep the government from subpoenaing information on their personal accounts that were collected from Twitter.

Last month the Boston Police Department and the Suffolk Massachusetts District Attorney subpoenaed Twitter over details pertaining to recent tweets involving the Occupy Boston protests. 

The website Fast Company reports that the intel collected by the Department of Homeland Security under the NOC Monitoring Initiative has been happening since as early as 2010 and the data is being shared with both private sector businesses and international third parties.

Upon Release of Martial Law Documents, The Plan For America's Destruction Becomes Apparent

Source: The Excavator
Saman Mohammadi

The top news story of 2011 is not the assassination of Osama Bin Laden (a CIA psyop), but the advancement of the Martial Law agenda in America under the public radar.

On Wednesday, December 21, Infowars.com published a brand new Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) document dated November 18, 2011, that "that show military involvement in a FEMA-led takeover within the United States under partially-classified Continuity of Government (COG) plans," and designate "the American people as ‘enemies’ under a live military tracking system known as Blue Force Situational Awareness (BFSA)."

The FEMA document, appearing under the headline "National Continuity Programs (NCP) Program and Mission Support Services (PAMSS)," ask contractors to assist FEMA in national emergencies. But don't let the bureaucratic language fool you. This is really a Martial Law document. FEMA is not interested in emergency preparedness, but in establishing a military dictatorship in the United States.

Ordinary Americans are classified as the enemy in this FEMA document, and similar Martial Law documents, such as this one from Halliburton/KBR that Infowars.com published on Tuesday, December 6, 2011. The militaristic language that appears in these Martial Law documents, and in the draconian NDAA bill that the treacherous Congress passed last week, suggests that the hijacked U.S. government desires that there be insurgents and domestic terrorists in the United States.

The traitors in Washington need enemies, both foreign and domestic, in order for the politically and morally bankrupt National Security State to remain relevant and powerful in American society. This is a militarist and secret system that is led by the most evil personalities in the 21st century who create fake enemies (Al-Qaeda) and stage false flag terrorist attacks (9/11) just to remain in power. The word restraint does not exist in their vocabulary.

The day will come when the traitors in Washington, led by President Obama, will issue orders to the military and police to fire on Americans and enforce Martial Law. At that point, even the most blind and ignorant people will probably come to the obvious conclusion that it is not Al-Qaeda who desires the destruction of America, but the hijacked and treasonous U.S. government.

Pentagon Drones Now Targeting Rural Americans

Source: RT

Predator drones have been used to fight the war on terror worldwide. Recently Iran shot down a US drone flying over the country and now reports have surfaced indicating these same drones are being used on American citizens. Alex Jones, radio show host, joins us to help us dig deeper and find out why US citizens are being targeted.

Department of Homeland Security Shuts Down Blog For a Year on False Pretenses

Source: Prison Planet
Paul Joseph Watson

In a chilling illustration of how far Internet censorship has advanced, the Department of Homeland Security seized a popular music blog and shut down the website for over a year on charges it now admits were completely false.

The website in question – www.dajaz1.com – was not some obscure, dubious blog – it was a popular platform for DJ’s that was once featured on MTV.

“Around Thanksgiving 2010, the Department of Homeland Security seized more than 70 domains with no trial, accusing them of copyright infringement,” reports the San Francisco Chronicle.

Dajaz1.com was caught in the dragnet after DHS claimed four songs posted on the website were used without permission, when in fact the musicians and publicists concerned had sent the tracks directly to Dajaz1 with express authorization.

That didn’t stop Homeland Security from seizing and shutting down the blog for over a year, violating the law by refusing to tell its owner why the website was taken and subsequently missing the 90 day deadline for explaining why the owner should forfeit the property permanently.

“Or at least that’s what the owner assumed when he heard nothing. Then the court told him that the government got an extension.”

“But the owner couldn’t see the extension because all the filings in the case were sealed, and was not allowed to testify in court to ask for his property back, says TechDirt.”

The saga finally came to a close when the owner was handed back control of the website only yesterday.

The lesson to take from this is that Homeland Security can now just claim your website contains copyrighted material with no evidence whatsoever and seize it without any recourse.

“This whole thing has been a disgrace by the US government, starting with a bogus seizure, improper and illegal censorship, followed by denial of due process and unnecessary secrecy,” reports TechDirt.

Obama Administration Launches Major Anti-Terror Propaganda Offensive

Source: Infowars
Kurt Nimmo

The Obama administration has launched a major propaganda offensive in the war on terror. On Thursday, they unveiled details of a new strategy to battle homegrown terrorism by fostering coordination between local authorities and teaching officials to better recognize violent extremism, according to ABC News.

Obama claims to have killed a number of top al-Qaeda operatives, but has provided no evidence.

“Protecting our nation’s communities from violent extremist recruitment and radicalization is a top national security priority. It is an effort that requires creativity, diligence and commitment to our fundamental rights and principles,” reads a report entitled, “Strategic Implementation Plan for Empowering Local Partners to Prevent Violent Extremism in the United States.”

The report equates domestic terrorism with crime. “Just as we engage and raise awareness to prevent gang violence, sexual offenses, school shootings and other acts of violence, so too must we ensure that our communities are empowered to recognize threats of violent extremism and understand the range of government and nongovernment resources that can help keep their families, friends and neighbors safe,” the report said.

“What we have to do is be prepared for these different types of approaches that al Qaeda is pursuing,” Obama’s chief counterterrorism adviser, John Brennan, told NPR. “The large attacks, the small attacks, the groups that are operating together and the individuals who may be vulnerable to these types of entreaties.”

Obama claims that during his tenure 22 of the top 30 al-Qaeda operatives have been killed. The administration has claimed bragging rights over the alleged assassination of Osama bin Laden in Pakistan despite the fact the government has yet to provide conclusive evidence of this. Additionally, there is also no evidence the U.S. killed Pentagon dinner guest Anwar al-Awlaki in Yemen.

The Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee is also engaged in creating a fanciful mythology for public consumption in the war on terror, designed to last generations. It says there have been 33 plots involving homegrown terrorists uncovered since 2009.

With three exceptions, all of the high-profile domestic terror plots of the last decade were FBI frame-ups, according to a recent report by Mother Jones. The government is making its dubious claim based on the fact that terrorism-related charges are so difficult to beat in court, even without evidence, that defendants often don’t risk a trial.

Corbett Report Radio - Shooting the Messenger with Julia Davis

Source: Corbett Report
James Corbett

This evening Corbett Report Radio welcomes Julia Davis, a former Customs and Border Protection Officer who attempted to blow the whistle on serious weaknesses in America’s border security. As a result of her report, the Department of Homeland Security targeted her in a campaign of retribution that has altered the course of her career, her family and her life forever. Join us tonight as we go in search of the truth behind the DHS and the new “domestic terrorism” paradigm. Find out more about Julia Davis’ remarkable story at her documentary homepage, terrorwithindoc.com

Super Globalist, #OWS Updates, Climate World Cup - New World Next Week

Source: Corbett Report and Media Monarchy

Welcome to http://NewWorldNextWeek.com - the video series from Corbett
Report and Media Monarchy that covers some of the most important
developments in alternative news and open source intelligence. This
week:

Story #1: Super Globalist to Replace Italy's Berlusconi
http://ur1.ca/5voe1
Update: Reserved Anti-Berlusconi Mario Monti Sworn In As Italy's Prime Minister
http://ur1.ca/5voe6
Greece's Papademos Wins Confidence Vote on Austerity Measures
http://ur1.ca/5voet

Story #2: Surprise, Homeland Security Coordinates #OWS Crackdowns
http://ur1.ca/5vofd
The Police State Vs. Occupy Wall Street: This Is Not Going To End Well
For Any Of Us
http://ur1.ca/5vofz

Story #3: Durban Climate Summit "Will Be Bigger Than the World Cup"
http://ur1.ca/5vogp
Flashback: Arctic Monkeys Shiver At Climate 'Hypocrisy'
http://ur1.ca/5vohz

New World Next Week on Archive.org
http://ur1.ca/557ap

Subscribe to New World Next Week to get hi-quality episodes to
download, burn and share. And as always, stay up-to-date by
subscribing to the feeds from Corbett Report http://ur1.ca/39obd and
Media Monarchy http://ur1.ca/kuec Thank you.

America’s New Role as the Dark Force

Source: Boiling Frogs Post

Elizabeth Gould & Paul Fitzgerald

As the U.S. becomes more and more the kind of country it has traditionally opposed, the answer to where we are headed may lie more in the arcane traditions of a dim past than in a bright future.

"‘We’re the dark matter. We’re the force that orders the universe but can’t be seen,’ a strapping Navy SEAL, speaking on condition of anonymity, said in describing his unit."

 

If anyone (correctly) thought that the war on terror and Washington’s response to it had taken on a fantastical otherworldly quality, this recent quote on the front page of the Washington Post seemed to confirm it.

Following 9/11, the elected government of the United States of America delivered the country to a whole department (of Homeland Security) dedicated to expanding the government’s fear of darkness into everybody’s life (remember the 2003 duct tape and plastic sheeting craze?) Now we also have a top secret military operation known as the Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) that thinks it is the dark.

Begun as a modest hostage rescue team, JSOC has morphed into a veritable heart of darkness, with the power to murder at will and with immunity from American legal jurisdiction (which apparently still maintains that such assassinations are illegal). 

Even within the military, JSOC operates as a “Stovepipe,” operation, meaning that it operates completely in the black, reports to no one and continues to employ rogue ex-CIA professionals such as indicted Iran Contra operative Dewey Clarridge.  The Navy Seal Team that took out Osama bin Laden operated under JSOC. Retired military personnel refer to JSOC as “Murder, Incorporated” and the “most dangerous people on the face of the earth.”   

 

But if JSOC’s reputation for secrecy, vengeance and death from above can’t be explained from within the context of traditional U.S. military operations or U.S. law, then what set of rules is it operating from? Or is it simply that the traditions of rationalism and law that most Americans took for granted about the United States are subject to deeper, religious, or perhaps even mystical rules, whose anachronistic logic has found a renewed acceptance in an irrational world of  personal, private and holy war?

'Rogue Websites' Bill Creates Chinese-Style Ban List

Source: Inforwars
Paul Joseph Watson

ISPs would be forced to block websites by government decree.

The newly introduced ‘rogue websites’ bill that has attracted bi-partisan support in the House will force Internet Service Providers to create a list of banned websites and prevent their users from accessing the sites, creating a Chinese-style ‘ban list’ that could easily be abused to silence free speech.

“US lawmakers introduced a bill on Wednesday that would give US authorities more tools to crack down on websites accused of piracy of movies, television shows and music and the sale of counterfeit goods,” reports AFP.

“The Stop Online Piracy Act has received bipartisan support in the House of Representatives and is the House version of a bill introduced in the Senate in May known as the Theft of Intellectual Property Act or Protect IP Act.”

Although the legislation is primarily aimed at foreign websites, it could just as easily be applied to all .com domains.

The most chilling part of the legislation makes it clear that this is about empowering the federal government to create a blacklist of banned websites.