Tag Archives: crime

International, U.S.

World War 3: Proof that U.S. forces officially operating in Rogue Mode, detainees placed in prisons known to U.S. forces as torture sites

“They said they would rape me, and one time they took a stick and dipped it into chili powder and threatened to insert the stick into my anus. They tried to pull off my pants. When they did that, I confessed to everything they wanted.”-prisoner at Kandahar prison

“After [the torture] was finished I told them that I only confessed because of the beating. But they responded to that by beating me again. I swear by God and by my children that I am innocent.”-prisoner at Kandahar prison

U.S. forces know prisons use torture because they were told about it in an order in 2011!  However, the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission has evidence of several cases where people were sent to the torture prisons, after U.S. personnel were ordered to stop such practices, and it looks like U.S. forces also operate their own torture centers!

The United States detains thousands of individuals all across Afghanistan, with the majority held in the Detention Facility in Parwan (DFIP) as well as a number of temporary detention sites, including a secretive U.S. screening facility at Bagram Air Base run by the U.S. Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC).-report titled Torture, Transfers, and Denial of Due Process: The Treatment of Conflict-Related Detainees in Afghanistan

Investigators discovered there are U.S. units that officially operate outside NATO/ISAF command, even though there’s only one commander for Afghan operations: USMC General John Allen.  However there are some U.S. units that are even exempt from General Allen’s authority!

It is important to note that some U.S. forces in Afghanistan operate as a part of Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF), a U.S. led counter-terrorism coalition that is separate from ISAF forces. Known as U.S. Forces Afghanistan (USFOR-A), most of these non-ISAF U.S. forces are special operations forces and also referred to as Combined Forces Special Operations Component Command-Afghanistan (CFSOCC-A). CFSOCC-A forces frequently conduct operations in which individuals are detained. USFOR-A is under the command of General John Allen, who also serves as the commander of ISAF (COM-ISAF). There are also a number of U.S. military units that operate separately from ISAF and USFOR-A forces, and are not under the command of General Allen.-report titled Torture, Transfers, and Denial of Due Process: The Treatment of Conflict-Related Detainees in Afghanistan

Investigators also discovered that prisoners have tried to report the torture, but are punished for doing so: “I have nothing else to say. They will put me somewhere else after I talk to you. They will disappear me.”-prisoner in Herat prison

They even torture children: “We wrote a complaint letter once, but the director found out, and then we got hit very hard with the pipe after that.”-child prisoner Juvenile Corrections Center in Helmand

The latest investigation was conducted between February 2011 and January 2012.  In September 2011, the United Nations said they found evidence of torture at 16 detention centers in Afghanistan.

The latest report also talks about coalition forces and goes into detail about torture run by U.S. supported Afghan prisons.  Torture, Transfers, and Denial of Due Process:The Treatment of Conflict-Related Detainees in Afghanistan

 

Business/Economics, U.S.

Corporate Evil: Proof that there are plenty of skilled laborers in the U.S., Ford just doesn’t want to pay them what they’re worth. Mike Rowe patsie for Corporate America

“….we’re surprised that high unemployment can exist at the same time as a skilled labor shortage.”-Mike Rowe, testimony to Senate Commerce Committee

Don’t be so surprised Mike Rowe.  Your sponsor, Ford, is a prime example of why there is not a skilled labor shortage, only a shortage of skilled laborers who want to get paid less than what they’re worth!

Ford has forced 1,700 skilled employees to take early retirement.  The last day for those employees will be June 1, 2012.

Last autumn Ford announced they were cutting their skilled workforce.  Ford officials said they have too many skilled employees!!!

But wait, Ford isn’t in trouble, in fact they’re planing to hire hundreds of new skilled workers, why?  Because Ford will pay them much less than experienced employees.

An announcement by Ford, and the United Auto Workers union, said the move to push out experienced skilled workers is so Ford can replace them with new hires at half the cost!!!

This is another proof that there are plenty of skilled workers in the United States!  That’s right Mike Rowe, it’s not about any lack of skilled workers, it’s all about paying them less and less!!!

International, U.S.

World War 3: U.S. citizen killed in Yemen, anti-U.S. protests rage, foreign teachers being targeted

March 18, 2012, as protest against the U.S. puppet government of Yemen rage on, a U.S. citizen is assassinated.

Witnesses say two men on a motorcycle shot and killed the director of the Swedish Language Center, located in the city of Taez.  The director is a U.S. citizen.

This follows the kidnapping of a teacher from Switzerland on Friday, March 16.

Business/Economics, Technology, U.S.

Government Evil & Corporate Welfare: Republican controled Congress gives Oil Industry $4 billion in taxpayer subsidies

How would you like to own a business that’s making money hand over fist, and get paid by the government on top of that?  The Oil Industry is!

People are literally going hungry in the United States, and Republican controlled congress keeps cutting welfare for the poor, yet the Oil Industry gets 4 billion of your tax dollars every year!!!

“…the United States government provide a heavy public subsidy to petroleum companies, with major tax breaks at virtually every stage of oil exploration and extraction, including for the costs of oil field leases and drilling equipment.“-WikiPedia

Now realize the Oil Industry has been reporting record profits for the past few years.  Recently Exxon Mobil CEO, Rex Tillerson, said his company is spending billions to extract new sources of oil.  But wait, if the U.S. taxpayer paid subsidy is supposed to cover those costs, then who’s money is really going where?

On top of the $4 billion taxpayer subsidy, here are a few more tax breaks for the Oil Industry, and its investors:

Enhanced oil recovery credit. Covers the costs to “enhance” a well’s oil or natural gas production.

Non conventional source fuel credit. Tax credit for production of “qualified” fuels such as oil shale, tight formation gas, and certain synthetic fuels produced from coal.

Lease Operating Expense. Covers the day to day costs involved with the operation of a well, and re-entry, or re-work, of an existing producing well.

Intangible Drilling Costs. Labor, drilling rig time, drilling fluids etc.

Intangible Completion Costs. Labor, completion materials, completion rig time, fluids etc.

Depletion Allowance. Investors in a producing well are allowed to shelter some of the gross income derived from the sale of that oil/gas.  Generally 15% of the well’s annual production can be sheltered from income tax.

So don’t feel sorry for the A-holes!

International, Technology, U.S.

World War 3: U.S. citizen, posing as travel agent, caught illegally mapping Chinese cities which just happen to be near military bases

The Xinjiang Bureau of Surveying and Mapping has revealed that they detained a U.S. citizen after he was caught using two GPS devices to map out cities in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region.

The detention happened back on January 31, 2012.  Chinese officials say he collected and stored over 90,000 geographic coordinates using his GPS receivers.

Officials with Xinjiang Bureau of Surveying and Mapping were tipped off in August 2011, after several people told them they had spotted a U.S. citizen using GPSs around a local military base.

China’s National Administration Bureau of Surveying and Mapping confirmed the man did not have permission to do any GPS mapping of China.  The U.S. citizen claimed he was establishing routes for tourists from the United States!

 

 

Business/Economics, Idaho, U.S.

Idaho’s Republican governor pays his female officials less than his male officials, much less

Governor Butch Otter pays the females in his administration an average of $20,000 less than his male administrators.

“Director Gould is about $38,000 under the newly employed Jeff Sayer. You can’t argue she doesn’t have as many employees. Our state is no different than the national averages that show women reach a ‘glass ceiling’ for promotion and pay.”-Representative Wendy Jaquet of Ketchum

Idaho Agriculture Director, Celia Gould, has worked for Butch Otter since 2007.  She’s paid $106,621 per year.   Jeffrey Sayer, Commerce Director (running a smaller agency), has worked for Butch Otter since October 2011, yet he gets paid $145,018 per year.

The median salary for females in Butch Otter’s cabinet is $85,446.  The median salary for males is $103,002.

Oh, but Idaho is a Right to Work state.

International, U.S.

Week of Terror Drone strikes, March 11-17

March 13, two U.S. drone strikes in Pakistan, one in North Waziristan, one in South Waziristan, killed 15 people.  Two of those killed were pro-government militants!

March 11, Israeli drone hits family as mother walked her children home. All ended up in the hospital with cuts and fractures. One 15 year old boy died.

“We were coming back from school along with six of our companions when suddenly a drone hit us. I had the sensation of flying.”-Hani Al-Qanoo, boy injured in attack

“The drones fly low over the night sky, the explosions are now less frequent but nobody is relaxing or being lulled in to any false sense of security, Gaza is awake and will not sleep tonight.”-eyewitness living in Gaza Strip

March 11, nine people killed in Yemen by U.S. drone strike. Three people killed in Jabal Khanfar, a hill overlooking the Abyan town of Jaar. Six people killed in Makhzan, southeast of Jaar.  Witnesses say at least six missiles were fired from several U.S .drones.

 

 

Technology, U.S.

United Police States of America: CIA will spy on you through your TV, radio, computer, etc

“Items of interest will be located, identified, monitored, and remotely controlled through technologies such as radio frequency identification, sensor networks, tiny embedded servers, and energy harvesters, all connected to the next generation internet using abundant, low cost, and high power computing. The latter now going to cloud computing, in many areas greater and greater supercomputing, and, ultimately, heading to quantum computing.”-David Petraeus, CIA boss, statement made at meeting of In-Q-Tel, the CIA’s venture capital firm

Technology, U.S.

United Police States of America: Utah National Guard base to become site of largest personal data center in the U.S. You are the target!

Photo via National Security Agency, 28DEC2011.

This is a 2011 photo of the  National Security Agency’s $340-million Gordon Regional Security Operations Center at Fort Gordon, Georgia, and it wasn’t big enough so they’re building a bigger one in Utah.

“this is more than just a data center….Everybody’s a target; everybody with communication is a target.”-unnamed intelligence official

Camp Williams is expanding by 240 acres to become Utah Data Complex, run by the National Security Agency. It will be the biggest ever, and should be completed by 2013.

The center will not only spy on, and collect, domestic emails and phone calls, but even what you buy!

The domestic spy center is costing taxpayers $2 billion to build.

Business/Economics, International, Technology, U.S.

Whistleblower & Wikileaks founder Julian Assange running for Australian Senate, hosts Russian TV show

Despite being under house arrest in United Kingdom, Assange is getting a new TV show, and running for political office in Australia.

Assange is scheduled to host The World of Tomorrow for RT (Russia Today): “Assange to record TV series for RT while under house arrest – I am sure it will be an amazing show!” -Margarita Simonyan, RT editor in chief

Assange is also running for a seat in Australia’s Upper House.  Wikileaks is also sponsoring a candidate to challenge Prime Minister Julia Gillard.