Nanny State: December 2010

29 December 2010

Because of you the world doesn't have to wait any longer

Going on 9 Guantánamo Years

Tuesday, 28 December 2010 06:30
By Debra Sweet
worldcantwait.net

Lost in the flurry of bills passed as Congress ended was the inclusion in the 2011 National Defense Authorization Act of language that forbids any Pentagon funds being used to transport any detainee from Guantánamo to the U.S. for any reason. There’s no evidence that the Obama administration really opposed this language; they’ve accepted that detainees such as Khalid Sheik Mohammed won’t be tried in federal courts. They’ve delineated a group of detainess for indefinite detention for the reason that they’ve been tortured, and such information, from the government’s standpoint, can’t be made public.

More >>>>

27 December 2010

The inhumane conditions of Bradley Manning's detention

BY GLENN GREENWALD
salon.com

"Bradley Manning, the 22-year-old U.S. Army Private accused of leaking classified documents to WikiLeaks, has never been convicted of that crime, nor of any other crime. Despite that, he has been detained at the U.S. Marine brig in Quantico, Virginia for five months -- and for two months before that in a military jail in Kuwait -- under conditions that constitute cruel and inhumane treatment and, by the standards of many nations, even torture.

...What all of this achieves is clear. Having it known that the U.S. could and would disappear people at will to "black sites," assassinate them with unseen drones, imprison them for years without a shred of due process even while knowing they were innocent, torture them mercilessly, and in general acts as a lawless and rogue imperial power created a climate of severe intimidation and fear. Who would want to challenge the U.S. Government in any way -- even in legitimate ways -- knowing that it could and would engage in such lawless, violent conduct without any restraints or repercussions?"


More >>>>

05 December 2010

Surrendering our civil liberties - Opinion - Al Jazeera English

Surrendering our civil liberties - Opinion - Al Jazeera English

Government Workers Ordered Not to Read Cables

By ERIC LIPTON
NYTIMES
Published: December 4, 2010


WASHINGTON — In a classic case of shutting the barn door after the horse has left, the Obama administration and the Department of Defense have ordered the hundreds of thousands of federal employees and contractors not to view the secret cables and other classified documents published by Wikileaks and news organizations around the world unless the workers have the required security clearance or authorization.

[Fellow froggies, is the water getting warmer?]

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/05/world/05restrict.html?_r=1&hp