John Steiner: From Sanity Central on NSA and the Surveillance State

“The potential of the surveillance  state goes way beyond anything in George Orwell’s 1984, (said Guardian Editor) Alan Rusbridger . ‘Orwell could never have imagined this concept of scooping up everything all the time’. The NSA stories were ‘clearly’ not about totalitarianism, but an infrastructure had been created that could be dangerous if it fell …

4th Media: EXPOSED – Thai “Independent” Newspaper Funded by US Government [Good Intentions, Rotten Incoherent Conops]

EXPOSED: Indy “Newspaper” Funded by US Government Deep network uncovered as fake “indy” rag is forced to disclose funding. Note: A copy of Prachatai’s recent disclosure can be found here. Editor’s Addition: A conflict of interest occurs “when an individual or organization is involved in multiple interests, one of which could possibly corrupt the motivation for …

Rickard Falkvinge: ON ART

The Question Was Never “How Do We Make Sure Artists Are Paid”. It Was Always “How Do We Ensure Art Is Made And Available”. Posted: 28 Sep 2013 12:14 PM PDT Copyright Monopoly:  The copyright monopoly was never intended to ensure income for a particular group of people. This is a common false counterargument in …

Chuck Spinney: Sy Hersh Channels John Boyd, Chuck Highlights Hersh

In identifying “difficult subordinates who should have been promoted, I should have included Colonels Doug Macgreagor and Jim Burton and especially Major Don Vandergriff.  Sorry for the omission CS note – Hersh channels John Boyd* : my comments are inserted in “blue” [italics]   my added emphasis to Sy’s words in bold black.  Of course, this …

Owl: Hedges, Others, Predict US Financial Collapse in 2014

Collapse is Soon, says Hedges, and Others Predict it for 2014 “It is estimated that total derivative exposure of the financial system is between one quadrillion and one and a half quadrillion. A quadrillion is 1,000 trillion dollars and it has largely collapsed.The entire Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of all the world’s countries in 2011 …