President Barack Obama gave a eulogy for the Fourth Amendment on Friday, and not even his fans are proclaiming victory. In this moment when Obama is actually doing one thing I agree with (talking to Iran), more and more people seem to be slowly, agonizingly slowly, finally, finally, finally, recognizing what a complete huckster he is when it comes to pretty speeches about his crimes.
Obama's speech and new “policy directive” eliminate the Fourth Amendment. Massive bulk collection of everybody's data will continue unconstitutionally, but Obama has expressed a certain vague desire to end it, sort of, except for the parts that are needed, but not to do so right away. The comparisons to the closure of the Guantanamo death camp began instantly.
Being pro-defense in the Hall of Mirrors of Versailles on the Potomac means, in the salty words of my late friend Col. David Hackworth, one of the U.S. Army’s most decorated combat soldiers, putting “the toys before boys.”
5.0 out of 5 starsModern Bible for Covert Operations — Joins Dulles, Helms, Colby as a Classic, June 3, 2014
I strongly recommend this book! I happily disclose that I received the book from the publisher at my request and that I have worked for Jack directly. I have also reviewed hundreds of books on Intelligence. This is easily the most insightful and sophisticated look at the important covert action aspect of the intelligence business. This critical tool of statecraft was established in the charter that created the CIA during the Truman administration. It gave CIA the mandate to carry out “special activities as directed by the President.” Over his 32-year career, Jack was uniquely involved in a wide range of these covert activities, including the ousting of Allende in Chile, the Iran Contra affair, the successful defeat of the Russians in Afghanistan, the hunt for drug Kingpin Pablo Escobar and the reinstatement of Aristide in Haiti.
Jerome C. Glenn co-founded and directs the Millennium Project, a leading global participatory think tank supported by international organizations, governments, corporations, and NGOs, which produces the internationally recognized State of the Future annual reports for the past 14 years.
A review of the trends of the 28 variables used in The Millennium Project’s global State of the Future Index provides a score card on humanity’s performance in addressing the most important challenges. (See Box 1.)
An international Delphi panel selected over a hundred indicators of progress or regress for the 15 Global Challenges in Chapter 1. Variables were then chosen that had at least 20 years of reliable historical data. The resulting 28 variables were submitted to an international panel selected by The Millennium Project Nodes to forecast the best and worst value for each variable in 10 years. The results were integrated into the State of the Future Index’s 10-year projection. Chapter 2 presents a summary of this research. SOFIs can also be created for countries or sectors.
Where are we winning?
· Access to water
· Literacy rate
· Life expectancy at birth
· Poverty $1.25 a day
· Infant mortality
· Wars
· HIVprevalence
· Internetusers
· GDP/capita
· Women in parliaments
· School enrollment, secondary
· Energy efficiency
· Population growth
· Undernourishment prevalence
· Nuclear proliferation
Where are we losing?
· Total debt
· Unemployment
· Income inequality
· Ecological footprint / biocapacity ratio
· GHG emissions
· Terrorist attacks
· Voter turnout
Where there is no significant change or change is not clear?
· Corruption
· Freedom rights
· Electricity from renewables
· Forest lands
· R&D expenditures
· Physicians per capita
Edward Snowden, who worked for the National Security Agency (NSA), revealed a secret order of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC), that requires Verizon to produce on an “ongoing daily basis… all call detail records or ‘telephony metadata’ created by Verizon for communications (i) between the United States and abroad; or (ii) wholly within the United States, including local telephone calls.”
Here is the proof — in the form of a just released reputable survey — of the point I have been making. Large numbers of Americans see their government as the problem. It reminds me of conversations I had with Russians and others in the Soviet Union before its fall. Click through to see the charts that accompany this report.
