Psuedo-journalist David Gregory of Meet the Press failed to disclose a lobbyist for a private defense contractor that is employed by the NSA. (hat tip crooks and liars.com)
John Amato has this up, too. A good summary of the media’s coverage…
…and their lack of true journalism.
…is hard to come by on the airwaves, but the CSPAN discussion with Scott Amey of the Project on Government Oversight is one of those discussions:
POGO has this link to the NY Times OP-Ed on Snowden and the exposure of the extent of outsourcing government work…and we’re not getting our money’s worth. Color me shocked. Not.
From the article:
At a Senate hearing on intelligence contractors in September 2011, a witness from the Project on Government Oversight, a watchdog group, cited research from 2008 showing that the government paid private contractors 1.6 times what it would have cost to have had government employees perform the work.
I haven’t watched today, but in the past few days, MSNBC has been running a rabid campaign on Edward Snowden, making his fleeing capture the story instead of the warrantless wiretapping, which should be the object of discussion.
CNN is doing a little bit better–it depends on which broadcaster is on at the moment.
It’s just mindboggling that these are supposed journalists who are like rabid dogs going after a whistleblower…especially after the revelations of phones being tapped at the AP.
What is really intriguing is that Judge Vaughn Walker had ruled that the wiretaps were illegal. So….why were they still doing them?
Another story on the cyber surveillance here.
Electronic Frontier Foundation has this up. Note that they claim there are “no names”, but as the article states there are names kept separately. I mean, really, what would be the point if there were no names attached to the phone numbers? Wouldn’t that be counter to the objective of tracking people?
Here is an excellent point:
They contain information on criminal activity or a threat of harm to people or property.
—This is not very comforting – the Fourth Amendment wouldn’t mean anything if the government could search your house everyday, but would only act if they found evidence of a crime inside.
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(italics mine)
So…I have a question…why is it NOT okay to track someone with GPS without a warrant…but quite all right to track someone by phone without a warrant??
This also from EFF. They are fighting the good fight trying to get this out in the open…where it belongs.
…it can be done. (hat tip to poster on FDL)
common dreams has this up on the Big Brother-spying-on-Big Brother program…the dark side showing its paranoia and utter control of information and those who might actually uphold the law…you know, the Constitution, not the Patriot Act.
The program could make it easier for the government to stifle the flow of unclassified and potentially vital information to the public, while creating toxic work environments poisoned by unfounded suspicions and spurious investigations of loyal Americans, according to these current and former officials and experts. Some non-intelligence agencies already are urging employees to watch their co-workers for “indicators” that include stress, divorce and financial problems.
“It was just a matter of time before the Department of Agriculture or the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) started implementing, ‘Hey, let’s get people to snitch on their friends.’ The only thing they haven’t done here is reward it,” said Kel McClanahan, a Washington lawyer who specializes in national security law. “I’m waiting for the time when you turn in a friend and you get a $50 reward.”~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If they start paying people to turn in one another, we’re toast as a country (not that we’re not there on the ledge, already).
In this economy, folks facing a quandary of feeding their families/paying the mortgage/keeping the lights on and turning in a coworker that really hasn’t done anything wrong, but…
The Salem Witch Hunts on steroids…
…..it’s worse than we thought…
In Communications, they call an infringement on the First Amendment the “Chilling Effect”, because the flow of information suddenly grows quiet. That’s what has happened with the sources supplying the AP with news tips. (hat tip to FDL)
Since the disclosure of the DoJ’s subpoena, Pruitt on Wednesday said AP reporters have experienced a chilling effect on newsgathering. Sources are “nervous and anxious” about talking with reporters, he said, and it goes beyond just the AP. “What I learned from our journalists should alarm everyone in this room and should alarm everyone in this country,” he said.
L.A. Parents fought back when Parent Revolution tried to take over yet another public school.
From the article link:
Gone are the days when slick, professional organizers can disguise school upheaval as parent empowerment by marketing laptops to every student, bullying parents into signing petitions, threatening families with loss of immigration status, or silencing teachers and principals trying to answer parents’ questions. These are just some of the tactics parents and teachers have reported experiencing at the hands of Parent Revolution.
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Love that they didn’t let the bullies intimidate them when they tried to intimidate them by cutting in line and other tactics.
Eat Sh*t. (Yeah, I know, I’ve said it before, but it speaks so well of the contempt of the poor). As they debate the Farm Bill, once again they target the vulnerable and less able to fight back: the food stamp recipients….giving them even less money for food that they can’t afford now…
I was watching CSPAN this morning with Rosa Delauro who is adamant on keeping the food stamp funds as is…and targeting the fraud in other areas that nobody speaks about. You never hear the so-called conservatives, who love to kick the poor when they’re down, talk about this. They try to categorize the Food Stamp program as full of fraud and waste….but never quite get around to putting facts out there. Ronald Reagan started the “welfare queen” lie by taking a true story (a woman on welfare arrived to pick up her food stamps when they were still paper, in a Cadillac. What Reagan and his ilk failed to report was that the woman was being given a ride by a wealthy lady so she could pick up her stamps. Nice way to skew public perception to hate these lazy good-for-nothings that are driving around in luxury vehicles../snark.) Good on Rosa when a woman caller called in spewing the conservative talking points that there was massive fraud and waste in the program. A man also called in saying, “I don’t want to see anybody starve, but there are other ways for them to get food. You have to cut these programs.” Yeah, he doesn’t want to see people starving, so they best do it behind closed doors to soothe his conscience.
From the article:
Government audits and court records show hundreds of millions of dollars in losses due to fraud in a variety of farm programs, including crop insurance and subsidies that help agribusinesses promote their products abroad. The rate of food stamp fraud, on the other hand, has declined sharply in recent years, federal data shows, and now accounts for 1 percent of the $760 billion program, or $760 million a year.
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It would be damn near impossible to commit fraud with the food stamp program. (Note that the error rate is at 3 percent. 3 % !! ) You must give them employment information, bank statements, rent information, number in household, etc., and you are checked up on. And if they see anything that doesn’t sound right to them, they will call you and question it.
For instance, when I told them how little I made when in FW, they were questioning me on how I could make it on that low amount. I told them that I washed my clothes in the tub (with the exception of once a month washing my jeans and towels in the washing machines); I cut my own hair (with sometimes hilarious results); went without deodorant except for important things like job interviews; washed my hair every other day, even though it needs it every day especially in the hot weather; I walked nearly everywhere so I didn’t use gas; I brush my teeth with baking soda, I count the number of squares of toilet paper I use, and other things like using cloth pads (but I didn’t tell them that as it’s really none of their business).
Everything that I needed (thyroid and other supplements) my son helped pay for. I am actually quite proud of myself for handling this as I have–this isn’t how I was raised and it’s been a learning experience.
A caller called in who said she was a former food stamp recipient but now has a college degree and is working. But, alas, she says now that the program should be cut. Hello? It never ceases to amaze me how those who have made it forget how difficult it was and lose their empathy for those in that position. (As a side note: it also never ceases to amaze me how quick conservatives are to take money for themselves at taxpayer expense, but still have the nerve to deny people something as basic as FOOD.)
And I have a college education, but look where I am now….done in by stupid amalgams put in my mouth that made me ill, and wages that stagnated (otherwise, I might have been able to keep from losing my home and weathered the storm until I got well…perhaps not, but it would have been worth the shot.)
They mentioned on CSPAN that most folks on food stamps are disabled. A man in the building I used to live in said he only gets $16 per month in food stamps. He’s in a wheelchair. Others on disability are not living it up. You can’t buy cigarettes and alcohol on food stamps. You also can’t buy toilet paper, soap,shampoo, trash bags, and other necessities. Some people were using the plastic grocery bags for their trash in my building…much to the disdain of the management (throwing them down the trash shoot created mega problems).
Also mentioned in the CSPAN program is the fact that good ole Teflon Bill Clinton had changed the Food Stamp program drastically…while signing away jobs per NAFTA….Reagan would have been sooo proud. It wasn’t until 2008 that they had addressed it again.
This whole debate is nonsensical. No one with a shred of conscience can seriously say that denying people a basic need such as food is something that “has to” be done…especially when there is so much corporate welfare out there and a bloated defense department. (OMG, did she really say cut the defense dept? Watch out for drones, dear…)
Report here.
After the incident, a representative from Turkey’s Socialist Democracy Party (SDP) issued a statement confirming that the individuals seen throwing the Molotov cocktails were not affiliated with the party, despite photographs of them carrying SDP flags.
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This just sickens me…there is just too, too much going on in the Middle East with what seems to be conflicts between those who are more progressive in their thinking who are sick of the austerity/conservative /pro-war gov’ts. That’s just my take on it, your mileage may vary…
…it’s just my experience that most of the public, be they Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, or whatever, are for peace. They just want to live their lives and be let alone…
I’m thinking it’s time for a worldwide political party: the Leave Us the Hell Alone Party. We don’t *stand* for anything–we just live our lives following the Golden Rule of Doing Unto Others as We Would Have Done Unto Us….”
God Bless Us everyone…
Eagle 
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