Bradley Manning Takes ‘Full Responsibility’ For Giving WikiLeaks Huge Classified Government Data Trove

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– Bradley Manning Takes ‘Full Responsibility’ for Giving WikiLeaks Huge Government Data Trove (Wired, Feb 28, 2013):

FORT MEADE, Md. — Wearing his Army dress uniform, a composed, intense and articulate Pfc. Bradley Manning took “full responsibility” Thursday for providing the anti-secrecy organization WikiLeaks with a trove of classified and sensitive military, diplomatic and intelligence cables, videos and documents.

In the lengthiest statement to a military tribunal Manning has provided since his nearly three-year long ordeal began, Manning, 25, said WikiLeaks did not encourage him to provide the organization with any information. But he also sketched out his emotionally fraught online interactions with his WikiLeaks handler, a man he knew as “Ox” or “Nathaniel” over Internet Relay Chat and Jabber, and whom the government maintains was Julian Assange.

Manning’s motivations in leaking, he said, was to “spark a domestic debate of the role of the military and foreign policy in general,” he said, and “cause society to reevaluate the need and even desire to engage in counterterrorism and counterinsurgency operations that ignore their effect on people who live in that environment every day.” Manning said he was in sound mind when he leaked, and did so deliberately, regardless of the legal circumstances.

Remarkably, Manning said he first tried to take his information to the Washington Post, the New York Times and Politico, before contacting WikiLeaks.

The statement came as Manning pleaded guilty on Thursday to ten of 22 charges the Army has levied against him. Manning admitted to improperly storing classified information; having unauthorized possession of such information; willfully communicating it to an unauthorized person; and other “lesser-included” offenses. Each of the ten offenses to which Manning pleaded guilty carries a sentence of up to two years’ imprisonment, for a total of 20 years in prison.

Read moreBradley Manning Takes ‘Full Responsibility’ For Giving WikiLeaks Huge Classified Government Data Trove

All Of This Whining And Crying About The Sequester Shows Why America Is Doomed

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– All Of This Whining And Crying About The Sequester Shows Why America Is Doomed (Economic Collapse. Feb 27, 2013:

If we can’t even cut federal spending by 2.4 percent without much of the country throwing an absolute hissy fit, then what hope does America have?  All of this whining and crying about the sequester is absolutely disgraceful.  The truth is that even if the sequester goes into effect, the U.S. government will still take in more money than ever before in 2013 and it will still spend more money than ever before in 2013.  So it is a bit disingenuous to call what is about to happen “a spending cut”, but for the sake of argument let’s concede that point.  Even if the budget really was being “cut” by 85 billion dollars, that only would only amount to a “cut” of 2.4 percent to federal spending.  It would barely make a dent in the federal budget deficit for 2013.  The U.S. government would still accumulate about as much new debt in fiscal year 2013 as it did in all the years from the inauguration of George Washington to the inauguration of Ronald Reagan combined.  Our debt to GDP ratio would continue to soar.  The sequester cuts would essentially only be a minor bump on the road to financial oblivion.  But if you listen to Barack Obama and his allies, they would have you believe that we are facing a great national crisis because of these impending cuts.  They would have you believe that hundreds of thousands of people will lose their jobs and that many government agencies will no longer be able to operate effectively.  They would have you believe that “granny won’t get her lunch” and “roofs blown off by Hurricane Sandy won’t get repaired”.  Well, if all of that is true, then what in the world would our country look like if we actually cut a trillion dollars from the federal budget this year and started living within our means?

Read moreAll Of This Whining And Crying About The Sequester Shows Why America Is Doomed

The Draco Kill Shot … The Longest Lasting Gamma Ray Burst Ever Observed

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– Huntsville’s young scientist (WAAYTV, Feb 26, 2013):

HUNTSVILLE, Ala (WAAY)- When William Lucas was 13 years-old he did made a huge discovery before NASA, the US Air Force, or any other scientist around the world; he discovered a massive Gamma Ray burst.

William, a student at Whitesburg Middle, has long had a love for Science.

“It’s fun, it’s interesting, it’s something new, you get to explore new things that haven’t been discovered before,” said William while talking about his love for all things scientific. So when his 13th birthday rolled around in 2011 he had a big decision to make.

“My parents told me for my 13th birthday to either have a dirt bike or a Geiger counter and I chose a Geiger counter for good reasons,” he said while explaining the dirt bikes are a bit too dangerous and with a Geiger counter he could learn more.

Read moreThe Draco Kill Shot … The Longest Lasting Gamma Ray Burst Ever Observed

Will Italy Be The Spark That Sets Off Financial Armageddon In Europe?

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– Will Italy Be The Spark That Sets Off Financial Armageddon In Europe? (Economic Collapse, Feb 26, 2013):

Is the financial collapse of Italy going to be the final blow that breaks the back of Europe financially?  Most people don’t realize this, but Italy is actually the third largest debtor in the entire world after the United States and Japan.  Italy currently has a debt to GDP ratio of more than 120 percent, and Italy has a bigger national debt than anyone else in Europe does.  That is why it is such a big deal that Italian voters have just overwhelmingly rejected austerity.  The political parties led by anti-austerity candidates Silvio Berlusconi and Beppe Grillo did far better than anticipated.  When you combine their totals, they got more than 50 percent of the vote.  Italian voters have seen what austerity has done to Greece and Spain and they want no part of it.  Unfortunately for Italian voters, it has been the promise of austerity that has kept the Italian financial system stable in recent months.  Now that Italian voters have clearly rejected austerity, investors are fearing that austerity programs all over Europe may start falling apart.  This is creating quite a bit of panic in European financial markets right now.  On Tuesday, Italian stocks had their worst day in 10 months, Italian bond yields rose by the most that we have seen in 19 months, and the stocks of the two largest banks in Italy both fell by more than 8 percent.  Italy is already experiencing its fourth recession since 2001, and unemployment has been steadily rising.  If Italy is now “ungovernable”, as many are saying, then what does that mean for the future of Italy?  Will Italy be the spark that sets off financial armageddon in Europe?

Read moreWill Italy Be The Spark That Sets Off Financial Armageddon In Europe?

How A Family Of Four Manages To Live Well On Just $14,000 Per Year

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– How a Family of Four Manages to Live Well on Just $14,000 Per Year (Business Insider, Feb 26, 2013):

In the years since the recession, the median household income in the U.S. has dropped to just over $50,000, while fixed costs like health care, higher education, and housing have only soared. Now imagine trying to support a family of four on a fraction of that income.

It’s a reality that stay-at-home wife and mother of two Danielle Wagasky has lived for the last four years. And, perhaps a little surprisingly, she wouldn’t have it any other way.

Wagasky, 28, lives with her her husband, Jason, 31, and their two young children in a three-bedroom family home in Las Vegas, Nevada. While Jason, a member of the U.S. Army, completes his undergraduate studies, the family’s only source of income is the $14,000 annual cost of living allowance he receives under the G.I. Bill. Despite all odds, the family has barely any credit card debt, no car payment, and no mortgage to speak of.

Read moreHow A Family Of Four Manages To Live Well On Just $14,000 Per Year

Bhutan … First Country To Go 100% Organic

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– Bhutan To Be First Country to Go 100% Organic (Natural Society, Feb 18, 2013):

If there was ever a nation that could see the purpose behind organic, sustainable farming, it would be a nation that is composed mostly of farmers. Such a place does exist, and it soon may be the first nation to go 100% organic, paving the way for others to do the same on a global scale.

The Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan is known for a high level of citizen happiness, but it is doing something even more noteworthy in the near future. With Prime Minister Jigmi Thinley making a major announcement regarding the organic farming project at the Rio+20 Conference on Sustainable Development which took place last month, the move has made national headlines. It’s called the National Organic Policy, and it is fueled by the simple concept that working ‘in harmony with nature’ will yield the most powerful results — all without sacrificing human health or the environment.

What this comes down to is no GMO, no pesticides, no herbicides, no fluoride-based spray products, no Monsanto intrusion at all, and a whole lot of high quality food available for the 700,000 citizens of Bhutan. Food that, at one time, was simply called ‘food’. In the statement to other policy makers, Prime Minister Jigmi Thinley explained the move:

Read moreBhutan … First Country To Go 100% Organic

Peanut Oil In VACCINES Behind Widespread Peanut Allergy Epidemic

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– Peanut oil in vaccines behind widespread peanut allergy epidemic (Natural News, Feb 7, 2013):

Editor’s Note: Since the publishing of this article, Dr. O’Shea now claims that he never wrote The Doctor Within, even though the book is directly attributed to him at the following website, and even lists his name as the direct contact: http://www.thedoctorwithin.com/. If any further developments come from this story, we will create a timely update for our readers.

More than one million children living in America today suffer from peanut allergy, and a significant percentage of these have such severe symptoms that they must carry around self-injectable epinephrine just in case they accidentally become exposed to the wrong food. According to available records, however, virtually nobody had peanut allergy prior to 1900 despite the fact that people have been eating peanuts for ages, which begs the question, why do so many people have peanut allergy today, and from where did this potentially-deadly allergic condition emerge?

Read morePeanut Oil In VACCINES Behind Widespread Peanut Allergy Epidemic

50 Signs That The U.S. Health Care System Is A Gigantic Money Making Scam That Is About To Collapse

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– 50 Signs That The U.S. Health Care System Is A Gigantic Money Making Scam That Is About To Collapse (Economic Collapse, Feb 24, 2013):

The U.S. health care system is a giant money making scam that is designed to drain as much money as possible out of all of us before we die.  In the United States today, the health care industry is completely dominated by government bureaucrats, health insurance companies and pharmaceutical corporations.  The pharmaceutical corporations spend billions of dollars to convince all of us to become dependent on their legal drugs, the health insurance companies make billions of dollars by providing as little health care as possible, and they both spend millions of dollars to make sure that our politicians in Washington D.C. keep the gravy train rolling.  Meanwhile, large numbers of doctors are going broke and patients are not getting the care that they need.  At this point, our health care system is a complete and total disaster.  Health care costs continue to go up rapidly, the level of care that we are receiving continues to go down, and every move that our politicians make just seems to make all of our health care problems even worse.  In America today, a single trip to the emergency room can easily cost you $100,000, and if you happen to get cancer you could end up with medical bills in excess of a million dollars.  Even if you do have health insurance, there are usually limits on your coverage, and the truth is that just a single major illness is often enough to push most American families into bankruptcy.  At the same time, hospital administrators, pharmaceutical corporations and health insurance company executives are absolutely swimming in huge mountains of cash.  Unfortunately, this gigantic money making scam has become so large that it threatens to collapse both the U.S. health care system and the entire U.S. economy.

The following are 50 signs that the U.S. health care system is a massive money making scam that is about to collapse…

Read more50 Signs That The U.S. Health Care System Is A Gigantic Money Making Scam That Is About To Collapse

Trust Me, This Time Is Different …

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– Trust me, this time is different… (Sovereign Man, Feb 26, 2013):

By 1789, a lot of French people were starving. Their economy had long since deteriorated into a weak, pitiful shell. Decades of unsustainable spending had left the French treasury depleted. The currency was being rapidly debased. Food was scarce, and expensive.

Perhaps most famously, though, the French monarchy was dangerously out of touch with reality, historically enshrined with the quip, “Let them eat cake.”

The Bourbon monarchy paid the price for it, eventually losing their heads in a 1793 execution.  But it took the French economy decades to finally recover.

Along the way, the government tried an experiment: issuing a form of paper money. It didn’t matter to the French politicians that every previous experiment with paper money in history had been an absolute disaster.

As French Assemblyman M. Matrineau put it in 1790, “Paper money under a despotism is dangerous. It favors corruption. But in a nation constitutionally governed, which itself takes care in the emission of its notes [and] determines their number and use, that danger no longer exists.”

Translation: This time is different. We’re different. We’re smarter. We won’t suffer the same fate. TRUST US.

Read moreTrust Me, This Time Is Different …

Ben Bernanke’s ‘Inflation’ Record

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– Bernanke’s ‘Inflation’ Record (ZeroHedge, Feb 27, 2013):

Addressing a question yesterday, from Senator Bob Corker, on his “being the biggest dove since World War II” and the “degrading effects that he’s having on society,” Bernanke responded proudly that be believed his “inflation record is the best of any Federal Reserve Chairman in the post-war period.” Of course that is by his measure. We suggest, he and few of his transitory colleagues look at the chart below for a sense of just what his ‘dovishness’ looks like to the rest of the food- and energy-consuming world… or perhaps by ‘best’ he means ‘most’.

CORKER: So I think that, you know, I don’t think there’s any question that you would be the biggest dove, if you will, since World War II. I think it’s something you’re rather proud of…. Just wondering if you — if ya’ll talk at all in your meetings about the degrading effect that’s having on our society.

BERNANKE: You called me a dove. Well, maybe in some respects I am, but on the other hand, my inflation record is the best of any Federal Reserve Chairman in the post-war period, or at least one of the best, about two percent average inflation.

The Bernanke Era Inflation…

German Finance Minister Warns: ‘I Never Said The Euro Crisis Was Over’

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– German FinMin Warns “I Never Said The Euro Crisis Was Over” (ZeroHedge, Feb 27, 2013):

Following on the heels of Merkel’s adviser Lars Feld’s comments, German finance minister Schaeuble has raised concerns over the results of the Italian elections. His comment that,“I never said the euro crisis was over,” stands in contrast to the claims of Monti, Draghi, Lagarde, Barroso, and Sarkozy who all have. along with the market’s “doubts that a stable government can be formed,” raises the risk of turmoil spreading to other euro countries. Schaeuble commented further that, “now it is up to those who were elected in Italy on Sunday to form a stable government. The faster they do this, the quicker the uncertainty will be overcome.” The problem, as Reuters reports, appears to be not just Italy’s public dissension over Germany’s demands for austerity but his French counterpart’s comments that “austerity has gone far enough,” to which the German rebuked, “France must also do more here, Hollande knows this and so does Pierre Moscovici.” Tension is certainly rising in the depression-addled union, even as Draghi explains – it’s all ok, he promises.

  • Barroso (The Guardian): “we can say that the existential threat against the euro has essentially been overcome”
  • Monti (Bloomberg): “the euro area crisis is almost over”
  • Draghi (BBC): “the worst is over, the situation is stabilizing”
  • Lagarde (Voice of Russia): “eurozone crisis largely over”
  • Sarkozy (China News): “I think we came out of the financial crisis”

Via Reuters,

Read moreGerman Finance Minister Warns: ‘I Never Said The Euro Crisis Was Over’

Merkel’s Economic Advisor: ‘Euro Crisis Will Return Shortly And With A Vengeance’

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– Merkel Advisor Feld: “Euro Crisis Will Return Shortly And With A Vengeance” (ZeroHedge, Feb 26, 2013):

For all the groundless, starry-eyed optimism permeating Europe’s bureaucratic corridors of the fading oligarchy these days (because this time is not like every other time that, too, was different), there has always existed one sure, never-fail antidote: Germany, which without fail has managed to ground Europe any time its delusion of grandure hit escape velocity. Sure enough, while all the statist soothsayers who threatened with armageddon if the outcome of the Italian elections happened to be precisely the one that transpired, were stuck in backpedal mode, and scrambling to calm nerves that all shall be well after all, one person who refuses to play by the script is Lars Feld, member of panel of economic advisers to German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who in an interview with the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung tomorrow says the euro crisis is to return shortly and “with a vengeance” as capital loss will lead to higher risk premiums for Italy’s interest rates.

From Handelsblatt, previewing the FAZ Wednesday edition:

The Italian economy would not find their way out of the recession, according to the pessimistic assessment by Lars Feld: “The sustainability of Italian public finances is in jeopardy. The euro crisis will therefore return shortly with a vengeance.”

Read moreMerkel’s Economic Advisor: ‘Euro Crisis Will Return Shortly And With A Vengeance’

Senator Rand Paul’s Third Letter To The CIA: Can You Kill With Drones In The USA?

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Related info:

– Targeted Killings: ‘It’s Ok If Obama Does It’

– Rand Paul’s Third Letter to the CIA: Can You Kill with Drones in the USA? (Liberty Blitzkrieg, Feb 27, 2013):

This letter is a few days old, but is very important for every American to be aware of. Essentially, Rand Paul is threatening to filibuster Barack Obama’s nominee for the CIA, John Brennan, due to his refusal to answer a simple question:

Do you believe that the President has the power to authorize lethal force, such as a drone strike, against a U.S. citizen on U.S. soil, and without trial?

This should not be a complicated question to answer, yet it seems Obama, Brennan and pretty much every other little power consumed bureaucrat is incapable of doing so.  Below is Rand Paul’s letter reprinted in full (my emphasis added).

Read moreSenator Rand Paul’s Third Letter To The CIA: Can You Kill With Drones In The USA?

Founded By Geniuses And Run By Idiots

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– Founded By Geniuses And Run By Idiots (Monty Pelerin’s World, Feb 27, 2013):

H. L. Mencken correctly observed:

Government is actually the worst failure of civilized man. There has never been a really good one, and even those that are most tolerable are arbitrary, cruel, grasping and unintelligent.

Mencken also was prescient:

As democracy is perfected, the office represents, more and more closely, the inner soul of the people. We move toward a lofty ideal. On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their hearts desire at last, and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron.

But this is not about Mr. Mencken. Rather it is about some unknown individual who committed the following to the email world:

Food for thought…

  • If you can get arrested for hunting or fishing without  a license, but not for being in the country illegally … you might live in a  country founded by geniuses but run by idiots.
  • If you have to get your  parents’ permission to go on a field trip or take an aspirin in school, but not  to get an abortion … you might live in a country founded by geniuses but run  by idiots.

    Read moreFounded By Geniuses And Run By Idiots

Winter Storm Dumps As Much As 22 Inches Of Snow In Oklahoma, State Of Emergency Declared

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– Winter Storm Dumps As Much As 22 Inches Of Snow In Oklahoma (News 9, Oklahoma, Feb 26, 2013):

OKLAHOMA CITY – A significant winter storm has brought as much as 22 inches of snow to parts of Oklahoma on Monday, according to the News 9 Weather Team.At the request of Gov. Mary Fallin, Monday afternoon, Lt. Governor Todd Lamb declared a State of Emergency for 56 Oklahoma counties due to the excessive snow and severe weather. The executive order allows state agencies to make emergency purchases related to disaster relief and preparedness. It is also a first step toward seeking federal assistance, if it’s needed.

The area just west of Alva, Oklahoma, received 22 inches of snow during the storm.

Read moreWinter Storm Dumps As Much As 22 Inches Of Snow In Oklahoma, State Of Emergency Declared

Air Force To Stealth Fighter Pilots: Get Used To Coughing Fits

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An F-22 takes off on a training flight last month. Photo: Air Force

– Air Force to Stealth Fighter Pilots: Get Used to Coughing Fits (Wired, Feb 25, 2013):

The Air Force has some bad news for the pilots of its F-22 Raptor stealth fighters: Your planes are going to make you feel crappy and there’s not much anyone can do about it. And the message to the maintainers of the radar-evading jet is even more depressing. Any illness they feel from working around the Raptor is apparently all in their heads, according to the Air Force.

Those admissions, buried in newly released Congressional records, represent the latest twist in the years-long saga of the F-22?s faulty oxygen system, which since at least 2008 has been choking pilots, leading to confusion, memory loss and blackouts — combined known as hypoxia — that may have contributed to at least one fatal crash. Ground crews have also reported growing sick while working around F-22s whose engines are running.

The Air Force claims its has a handle on the in-flight blackouts. All 180 or so F-22s are having faulty filters removed and new backup oxygen generators installed. There have also been changes to the G-suits pilots wear. But the Air Force says the alterations won’t do anything to fix the so-called “Raptor cough,” a chronic condition afflicting almost all F-22 pilots.

Read moreAir Force To Stealth Fighter Pilots: Get Used To Coughing Fits

UK’s Top Cardinal Accused Of ‘Inappropriate Acts’ By Priests

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– UK’s top cardinal accused of ‘inappropriate acts’ by priests (Guardian, Feb 23, 2013):

Three priests and former priest report Cardinal Keith O’Brien to Vatican over claims stretching back 33 years

Three priests and a former priest in Scotland have reported the most senior Catholic clergyman in Britain, Cardinal Keith O’Brien, to the Vatican over allegations of inappropriate behaviour stretching back 30 years.The four, from the diocese of St Andrews and Edinburgh, have complained to nuncio Antonio Mennini, the Vatican’s ambassador to Britain, and demanded O’Brien’s immediate resignation. A spokesman for the cardinal said that the claims were contested.

O’Brien, who is due to retire next month, has been an outspoken opponent of gay rights, condemning homosexuality as immoral, opposing gay adoption, and most recently arguing that same-sex marriages would be “harmful to the physical, mental and spiritual well-being of those involved”. Last year he was named “bigot of the year” by the gay rights charity Stonewall.

Read moreUK’s Top Cardinal Accused Of ‘Inappropriate Acts’ By Priests

TV Licence Evader Refused To Pay Because The ‘BBC Covered Up Facts About 9/11 And Claimed WTC 7 Fell 20 Minutes Before It Did’

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– TV licence evader refused to pay because the ‘BBC covered up facts about 9/11 and claimed tower fell 20 minutes before it did’ (Daily Mail, Feb 25, 2013):??

  • Tony Rooke represented himself at Horsham Magistrates’ Court in Sussex
  • Told inspector on visit in May 2012 that he would not be paying licence fee
  • Rooke said he was withholding fee under Section 15 of Terrorism Act 2000
  • This states it’s an offence for someone to provide funds used for terrorism
  • He said he didn’t want to give money to an organisation ‘funding terrorism’
  • Rooke said BBC claimed World Trade Centre 7 fell 20 minutes before it did
  • But judge made Rooke pay £200 costs and gave him conditional discharge

    • A 49-year-old man refused to pay his TV licence because he believed the BBC covered up facts about the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

    Tony Rooke, who represented himself today at Horsham Magistrates’ Court in West Sussex, said he did not want to give money to an organisation ‘funding the practice of terrorism’.

    Rooke, who admitted owning a TV and watching it without a licence, was found guilty of using an unlicensed set, given a six-month conditional discharge and told to pay £200 costs.

    He was visited in May 2012 by an inspector after withdrawing his licence in March, but said he was withholding the funds under the Terrorism Act.

    Section 15 of the 2000 Act states that it is an offence for someone to invite another to provide money, intending that it should be used, or having reasonable cause to suspect that it may be used, for terrorism purposes.

    ‘I am withholding all funds from the BBC, the Government and subsidiaries under Section 15 of the Terrorism Act,’ he told the inspector.

    He added that he had already lodged a complaint with the BBC.

    Read moreTV Licence Evader Refused To Pay Because The ‘BBC Covered Up Facts About 9/11 And Claimed WTC 7 Fell 20 Minutes Before It Did’

    So Much For BBC Transparency: 90 Pages Of BBC’s Jimmy Savile Report Blacked Out

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    – ?So much for BBC transparency! 90 pages of BBC’s Savile report blacked out, DG goes to ground… and no one is blamed for fiasco (Daily Mail, Feb 22, 2013):

    The BBC faced ridicule last night for publishing an ‘open’ dossier into the Jimmy Savile scandal that was covered in censor’s ink.

    The corporation had repeatedly promised to be open and transparent about the material, which formed the basis of last year’s Pollard inquiry into the Savile crisis.

    But there were accusations of a cover-up after large swathes of staff testimonies about the saga were blacked out.

    Despite the redactions, which covered around 90 pages, stinging criticism remained – including Jeremy Paxman’s fury at the ‘contemptible’ way the BBC handled the affair.

    He said it was ‘pathetic’ Newsnight had not tackled the Savile issue sooner, and said it was ‘common gossip’ at the corporation that the DJ ‘liked young…girls’.

    Read moreSo Much For BBC Transparency: 90 Pages Of BBC’s Jimmy Savile Report Blacked Out

    All 67 Florida County Sheriffs sign pledge to protect the right of citizens to bear arms

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    – All 67 Florida County Sheriffs sign pledge to protect the right of citizens to bear arms (WatchdogWire, Feb 17, 2013):

    Constitutional Sheriffs sent an email stating, “I have added the names of the following 61 Florida County Sheriffs [who] joined the previous six Florida County Sheriffs to announce that they will not enforce laws that violate the Constitution or infringe on the rights of the people to own firearms.”

    This means all of Florida’s county sheriffs have now signed the pledge, the first state to achieve 100% compliance with the 2nd Amendment. The list is bi-partisan.

    The following Florida Sheriffs have taken a stand to defend the second amendment:

    Read moreAll 67 Florida County Sheriffs sign pledge to protect the right of citizens to bear arms

    There’s An Even Worse Scandal Hidden In Obama’s Secret Drone Memo

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    – There’s An Even Worse Scandal Hidden In Obama’s Secret Drone Memo (Business Insider, Feb 22, 2013):

    The Obama administration’s classified legal memos justifying targeted killings contain potentially shady protocols with foreign governments and “case-specific” details of strikes, two sources aware of their contents told Krisitn Roberts and Michael Hirsch of the National Journal.The accords with foreign governments — which include Pakistan and Yemen — are a key element excluded from the Department of Justice (DoJ) “white paper.”

    A legal expert outside the government “who is intimately familiar with the contents of the memos” told the Journal that targeted-killing memos written by the DoJ’s Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) are being withheld to protect this information.

    The Senate and House intelligence committees have only been allowed to examine four of the nine OLC memos.

    The expert told the Journal that the administration believes Congress would leak the information to the public, which could be extremely embarrassing to the U.S. and its foreign partners given the unpopularity of the drone program and any legal or ethical liberties taken in the agreements.

    Read moreThere’s An Even Worse Scandal Hidden In Obama’s Secret Drone Memo

    FBI On Sexting Employees: Everybody Does It

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    See also:

    – FBI Terrorism And The False Flag War Against America (Veterans Today)

    – Files Reveal How FBI Tracked Internet Activist Aaron Swartz (Guardian)

    – FBI on sexting employees: Everybody does it (NBC News, Feb 23, 2013):

    Disciplinary reports published by a news outlet reveal that FBI employees have a nasty habit of sending each other sexually explicit messages — from both personal as well as government-issued cellphones— forcing the agency to comment on the matter.

    “The instances described are not unlike those that occur among employees of any other large agency or organization in the country,” a spokesperson for the FBI Office of Public Affairs said in a statement to NBC News. “It is important to note that in an organization of more than 36,000 employees, these disciplinary incidents involve a fraction of one percent of FBI employees.”

    Read moreFBI On Sexting Employees: Everybody Does It

    FBI Agents Caught Sexting And Dating Drug Dealers

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    – FBI agents caught sexting and dating drug dealers (Telegraph, Feb 22, 2013):

    Dating drug dealers, harassing ex-boyfriends with naked pictures, and pointing guns at pet dogs: these were just a few of the offences committed recently by serving FBI agents, according to internal documents.

    Disciplinary files from the Bureau’s Office of Professional Responsibility record an extraordinary range of transgressions that reveal the chaotic personal lives of some of America’s top law enforcers.

    One male agent was sacked after police were called to his mistress’s house following reports of domestic incident. When officers arrived they found the agent “drunk and uncooperative” and eventually had to physically subdue him and wrestle away his loaded gun.

    A woman e-mailed a “nude photograph of herself to her ex-boyfriend’s wife” and then continued to harass the couple despite two warnings from senior officials. The Bureau concluded she was suffering from depression related to the break-up and allowed her to return to work after 10 days.