COLLECTIVE MADNESS


“Soft despotism is a term coined by Alexis de Tocqueville describing the state into which a country overrun by "a network of small complicated rules" might degrade. Soft despotism is different from despotism (also called 'hard despotism') in the sense that it is not obvious to the people."

Saturday, December 28, 2013

Federal Judge William Pauley who rules NSA spying on US citizens is OK previously freed an American who spied for Israel

“Court documents showed that Ben-Ami Kadish, who was fined $50,000 but spared prison time, reported to the same handler as Jonathan Pollard, an American who spied for Israel in the 1980s and triggered a scandal that rocked U.S.-Israeli relations."

"Kadish pleaded guilty in December to acting as an unregistered agent of Israel. He was arrested in April 2008 on four counts of conspiracy and espionage. The spying charge, dropped under a plea deal, had carried a possible death sentence.”

"[U.S. District Judge William Pauley] said he gave a lenient sentence due to Kadish’s age and infirmity, but said Kadish had committed 'a grave offense' and had 'abused the trust' of the United States."

This is part of this judge’s ruling. Now we need to connect some dots on this judge:

“As the September 11 attacks demonstrate, the cost of missing such a threat can be horrific,” he wrote in the ruling. “Technology allowed al-Qaida to operate decentralised and plot international terrorist attacks remotely. The bulk telephony metadata collection program me represents the government's counter-punch: connecting fragmented and fleeting communications to re-construct and eliminate al-Qaida's terror network.”

It gets worse from this judge:

Judge Pauley said privacy protections enshrined in the fourth amendment of the US constitution needed to be balanced against a government need to maintain a database of records to prevent future terrorist attacks. “The right to be free from searches is fundamental but not absolute,” he said. “Whether the fourth amendment protects bulk telephony metadata is ultimately a question of reasonableness.”

Did the judge really say that The Constitution needs to be balanced against national security requirements?

He is not interpreting The Constitution. The judge is saying that he thinks it shouldn’t apply here.

Then what is the point of The  Constitution?

Does a federal judge really have the ability to ignore The Constitution when he deems it ‘getting in the way’ of national security?

Who is this judge? Who does he represent? 

The  Constitution was written precisely to ensure that judges and politicians are not able to do this. The right to privacy is fundamental to any democracy. The fourth amendment does not permit searches and seizures without suspicion of illegality. That is the law of the land and should be obeyed. If those in power want to do something different they need to make their arguments and get the consent of the people to change the constitution.

130 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. What about Miranda... is that also “fundamental but not absolute”?
      Habeus Corpus...”fundamental but not absolute”?

      The judge is either a moron, hyphenated in his loyalties or bought and paid for. You choose.

      Delete
  2. Dysfunctionality at it's finest, Its Time! Time for all the Snowden Documents to be made Public!

    There is no justice in American Courts. It's just a machine to produce decisions to favor the power establishment. If you're on that team, then it's love. But if you’re the little asshole looking for value long forgotten, you’re screwed.

    Never mind though, it is only the ruling of another district court judge who lives in the world of the dysfunctional judiciary - can’t blame the grain of sand for the self-inflicted oil spill on the beach.

    The core issue is a corrupt criminal regime masquerading as a "democracy", claiming "freedoms", spewing myths of "our values" and the monotonous propaganda repetition of "it's not who we are". (The world got the message the first time in speeches - no need to repeat the dribble. The Bush quote is below in case anyone has forgotten.)

    Who exactly are "we"? Apart from the feeble attempt at the assumed collective “we", when "we" have a desire to patronise the electorate who voted for "we" - "we" are incapable of comprehending the concept of moral fiber, behave like sociopaths in heat and hell bent on creating their own fanciful nation, (and even a world), where corruption, criminality and deviancy prevail, while privacy (and other) standards, common to the rest of the western world fly out the window.

    The US electorate placed these corrupt and dysfunctional clowns in power. It may be a clue to sack them and get a real government that remotely comes close to having the credibility to talk about "our values", "democracy" and "freedom". Right now, US citizens have the least freedoms in the western world - of course individuals with real freedom normally do not have to spout the word incessantly and contribute inane flag-waving posts on chat boards.

    Overall, a seriously sad scenario which no human being needs to tolerate from blatantly corrupt vermin... Government exist to serve - spelling the word correctly is a progressive move.

    "See in my line of work you got to keep repeating things over and over and over again for the truth to sink in, to kind of catapult the propaganda."
    - Dubbya Bush

    ReplyDelete
  3. It's going to the Supreme Court........watch out.

    But the Congress can stop it at any time.

    Need to elect people who are pledged to stop this shit. Then kick them out if they don't do it, and elect someone who will........

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The more you read the decision of this judge, the worse it gets. The judge said 9-11 might have been avoided if the government had had access to this type of metadata. How so?

      The FBI had verbal and specific warnings from its own agents, which through incompetence and neglect it overlooked.

      For this judge to claim that metadata would have made a difference is absurd. The country has been hijacked.

      Delete
    2. How can she, and Deuce too, be so right on this stuff, and so confused about Israel and the Arabs, I ask myself, muttering.

      Delete
    3. Obama plays golf in Hawaiii, powerless or unwilling to even begin to act in any meaningful way while at the same time the American constitution is slowly and steadily dismantled by greed, power lust and madness on his watch.

      Delete
    4. Is the judge also a JEW?

      Delete
  4. This is the Neocon dream come true. Obviously, to any judge with a secret, anything the government does is constitutional. Face it, we are observing the last vestiges of the civilized, moral, and just democratic system we inherited fall away before our eyes. The strength of the NSA lies in this ignorance; that is why control of the mainstream media is vital to their operation; they have already co-opted numerous major corporations, as well as the Congress of the United States, and stacked the Supreme Court with like minded conservatives.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Judge William H. Pauley III, a federal judge from New York who just ruled that collecting NSA data was legal "because of 9/11," in the past let admitted Israeli spy and dual citizen Ben-Ami Kadish go scot-free.
    Wikipedia notes:

    Ben-Ami Kadish (September 2, 1923 - July 16, 2012) was a former U.S. Army mechanical engineer. He pled guilty in December 2008 to being an "unregistered agent for Israel," and admitted to disclosing classified U.S. documents to Israel in the 1980s. His unauthorized disclosure of classified U.S. secrets to Israel was concurrent with the espionage activity of Jonathan Pollard...

    In December 2008, Kadish pleaded guilty to acting as an unregistered agent of Israel, admitting he gave classified documents to Israel in the 1980s. Prosecutors asserted that Kadish had furnished classified American secrets to Yosef Yagur, the same Israeli agent who had received secret documents from Jonathan Pollard. In determining the sentence, Judge William H. Pauley III asserted, "Why it took the government 23 years to charge Mr. Kadish is shrouded in mystery." Pauley stated that prison would "serve no purpose" for a man of Kadish's advanced age and infirmity, opting to levy a $50,000 fine against Kadish. The prosecutor stated that the decision to accept the plea agreement was based on Kadish's cooperation and his willingness to admit wrongdoing. Prior to sentencing, Kadish faced the judge standing with the aid of a cane and stated, "I'm sorry I made a mistake ... It was a misjudgment. I thought I was helping the state of Israel without harming the United States."

    A Press Release from the U.S. Attorney Southern District of New York dated May 29, 2009 stated, in part,
    FORMER U.S. ARMY ARSENAL EMPLOYEE SENTENCED FOR CONSPIRING TO ACT AS UNREGISTERED AGENT OF ISRAEL
    BEN-AMI KADISH was sentenced today to pay a fine of $50,000 in connection with his participation in a conspiracy to act as an unregistered agent of the Government of Israel. The sentence was imposed by United States District Judge WILLIAM H. PAULEY III in Manhattan federal court.
    KADISH, is a former employee of the U.S. Army's Armament Research, Development, and Engineering Center at the Picatinny Arsenal in Dover, New Jersey. On numerous occasions from about 1980 through 1985, KADISH provided classified documents relating to the U.S. military -- including some relating to U.S. missile defense systems -- to an agent of the Government of Israel who photographed the documents at KADISH’s residence. On December 30, 2008, KADISH, 85, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiring to act as an unregistered agent of the Government of Israel.
    News reports at the time noted that Kadish, a Connecticut-born U.S. citizen, was facing a maximum of five years in prison and that "The Israeli embassy had no immediate comment." [Also See: The Israeli Spy Ring.]
    Also from Wikipedia:

    William H. Pauley III (born 1952) is a United States federal judge. Born in Glen Cove, New York, Pauley received an A.B. from Duke University in 1974 and a J.D. from Duke University School of Law in 1977. He was a law clerk, Office of the Nassau County Attorney, New York from 1977 to 1978. He was a Deputy county attorney of Nassau County Attorney' Office, New York in 1978. He was in private practice in New York City from 1978 to 1998. He was an Assistant counsel, New York State Assembly Minority Leader, New York from 1984 to 1998. Pauley was nominated by President Bill Clinton on May 21, 1998, to a seat vacated by Peter K. Leisure. He was confirmed by the United States Senate on October 21, 1998, and received his commission on October 22, 1998. Among his notable decisions was that involving Ben-ami Kadish, a U.S. national who pleaded guilty to passing classified information to Israel...

    ReplyDelete
  6. What are you trying to do, remove Duck Dynasty from the headlines?

    ReplyDelete
  7. There is a time when the operation of the machine becomes so odious, makes you so sick at heart, that you can't take part; you can't even passively take part, and you've got to put your bodies upon the gears and upon the wheels, upon the levers, upon all the apparatus, and you've got to make it stop. And you've got to indicate to the people who run it, to the people who own it, that unless you're free, the machine will be prevented from working at all!

    ReplyDelete
  8. This turd Pauley the Third was a damned Hillary/Billary appointee.

    It's hard to figure the odds on a Supreme Court decision.

    Our WASPless Supreme Court.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies

    1. “It’s often said that those who are unduly bothered by gays are latent homosexuals.
      Isn’t it possible that people obsessed with racism are themselves racist.”

      ― Ann Coulter

      Delete
  9. This is not about terrorism but population control and economic dominance. Enough with the Al Qaida bullshit and the so-called Iranian threat. Mass surveillance and collection and storage of citizens' electronic activity has very little to do with terrorism and everything to do with control and Big Business.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies


    1. “The real division is not between conservatives and revolutionaries but between authoritarians and libertarians.”

      ― George Orwell

      Delete
  10. Lest we forget, Reagan made AQ in the first place.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Roberto - el Loco CagaderoSat Dec 28, 10:17:00 AM EST

      Another iece of bull shit anti-US propaganda.

      Reagan did nothing to 'make' aQ, at all.

      He DID utilize their predecessors in Afghanistan, against the Russians.

      But they were already there. He did not 'create' them.

      Reagan was many things, but he was not a God.

      Sorry if that bursts your bubble.



      Delete
  11. Hat tip Jenny. She doesn't like Conga music.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies

    1. Authenticate that racist and misogynist statement, Farmer Fudd!

      There is nothing to indicate here is any disparagment of Judaism, in anythin that was posted!

      You are a fraud and a liar.

      The Fudd that claimed access to Google on 22DEC13, when in FACT you were Google capable in November of 2013.

      Your wife was never 'dying'.
      You have no niece.

      You are a bigot, racist and fascist Fudd.


      bob - the authentic anonymous.

      Delete
    2. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

      Delete
    3. ...if that was really you. If not, disregard. Thanks for the info. :)

      Delete
    4. Hey Desert Rat,

      Yesterday, you claimed Israel had collected $110 billion USD from NSA contracts since 1977.
      When challenged to present a link proving your assertion, you could not.
      Cutting to the chase, you simply had to admit it was a lie concocted of "fuzzy math".
      You are a liar...nuff said...

      Delete
    5. Farmer BobSat Dec 28, 09:27:00 AM EST
      Or Jews.

      Bob, I am confused about the thesis of this thread myself. Is it 4th Amendment, Pollard, what's his name, the Judge, NSA, Israel, Bush...

      Is it possible to go one hour without the Jewish stuff? I would take it as a personal favor. Not to worry, the resident liar will drag the blog down into the sewer. That's what rats do.

      Delete
    6. Roberto - el Loco CagaderoSat Dec 28, 10:30:00 AM EST

      desert rat made no posts yesterday.

      He is still traveling, writing a book.

      That is the report, anyway.

      It was noted that you, allen, fabricated a piece of "evidence", in your frenzy to implicate desert rat in your own paranoid fantasies, nothing much can be done about that.

      As to the rest, doubt if anyone else cares that you've gone a bit daffy, in your obsession with ...

      . . . . . the desert rat . . . . .


      Delete
    7. Roberto - el Loco CagaderoSat Dec 28, 10:32:00 AM EST




      Remember Mordechai Vanunu, Israel’s heroic nuclear whistleblower


      He should have received the Nobel Peace Prize.
      Instead, he spent 18 years in solitary confinement.




      bob

      Delete
    8. Roberto - el Loco CagaderoSat Dec 28, 10:40:00 AM EST


      The fabrication of evidence, allen that was really ...

      Shall we say ....

      Over the top!

      This desert rat has really gotten into your head, hasn't he?

      Fabricating evidence, that is a new BOLD step, well beyond your normal attempts to merely dissemble and misdirection.

      You have allowed this game to warp your purported sense of honor and values.

      But those were merely projections, weren't they. Part of your facade, your cover story.

      The reality, you threatened, in the name of Israel, to destroy Western Civilization.

      'nough said, about that ....

      Nah.


      heh, heh, heh!



      bob

      Delete


    9. Captain Queeg: Ahh, but the strawberries that's... that's where I had them.
      They laughed at me and made jokes but I proved beyond the shadow of a doubt and with....
      .... geometric logic... that a duplicate key to the wardroom icebox DID exist,
      and I'd have produced that key if they hadn't of pulled the Caine out of action.

      I, I, I know now they were only trying to protect some fellow officers...

      Delete
    10. Roberto - el Loco CagaderoSat Dec 28, 11:09:00 AM EST


      Bogart, in the court room scene, on the witness stand ...

      As Jack Nicholson later said ....

      You can't handle the truth!"


      heh, heh, heh!


      bob

      Delete
    11. Roberto - el Loco CagaderoSat Dec 28, 10:40:00 AM EST

      The fabrication of evidence, allen that was really ..


      I'll keep it simple, then, you are liar. Anything you write is suspect. Israel did not have contracts with the NSA for $110 billion USD as you claimed to know.

      Liar, liar, pants on fire...

      :-)

      Delete
  12. The real question should be: How many American spies have been captured by our allies and simply released and told to go home?

    It has been proven that America spies on many allies on a regular basis.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies

    1. Why is that the 'real' question?

      Whether or not the US spies on foreign lands does not vialate the basic liberty of US citizens.

      Anonymous has a faulty perspective, or one that is foreign based, not US centric.

      Another fuckin' foreigner.



      Roberto - el Loco Cagadero

      Delete
    2. American citizens do not have liberty. America has been HIRING out internal spying to England, Canada, Israel, Germany for decades.

      Now you act surprised.

      Delete
  13. It's all the fault of Joe Albertson. That dead S.O.B. and his heirs want to know my shopping habits so's they don't have to worry about losing me to Rosauer's ! They need to know when I shop, how often, where, what I buy, all of it..... Quirk once was working undercover for Joe and was captured by the Rosauer's folk. You know what they did? Released him ! Right out to the street. Told him to just 'go home'. We couldn't believe it. ! The S.O.P. at Joe's when a foreign spy was caught was to at least put them to boxing groceries for a few years........Everyone spies on everyone out there in the world. You got to do it to remain competitive.......it's just that some are so much more civilized about the necessary nastiness than others.....

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The gov does it and the panties get all bunched up but a private comp - meh...

      Delete
    2. How are you today, my good man?

      And a Happy New Year to do, Ash !!!!

      Delete
    3. And a Happy New Year to YOU, Ash !!!!

      (just woke up)

      Delete
    4. Happy happy. I'm on the road with the family. Currently in Orlando with kids at park and me and wife golfing so not too talkative.

      Delete
    5. I hear the weather is fine after a recent cold snap. Enjoy! Happy New Year...

      Don't faint, I will remain as irascible as ever.

      Delete
  14. Roberto - el Loco CagaderoSat Dec 28, 10:08:00 AM EST



    Remember Mordechai Vanunu, Israel’s heroic nuclear whistleblower


    He should have received the Nobel Peace Prize.

    Instead, he spent 18 years in solitary confinement.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. If he had been caught as a whistle blower of China, North Korea, Pakistan, Iran, Iraq, Russia, Libya, The Palestinain authority, Arabia, Yemen, Sudan, Egypt, Lebanon, Syria they would have executed him, then no story.

      Delete
    2. I'll send him flowers for his next birthday. When is that?

      Delete
  15. First This

    NSA feeds raw intelligence data to Israel
    By Bill Van Auken
    13 September 2013

    A secret memo provided by former National Security Agency (NSA) contractor Edward Snowden to the British Guardian newspaper reveals that the US spy agency is funneling raw intelligence data, including information from intercepted communications of US citizens, to Israeli intelligence.

    “The National Security Agency routinely shares raw intelligence with Israel without first sifting it to remove information about US citizens,” the Guardian article by Glenn Greenwald, Laura Poitras and Ewen MacAskill reports.
    The undated five-page memo records an agreement reached between the NSA and its Israeli counterpart, the ISNU (Israeli Sigint National Unit), in March 2009, during the first months of the Obama administration.
    Entitled “Protection of US Persons,” it purports to lay out a protocol for the Israeli spy agency’s handling of “signals intelligence information that has not been reviewed for foreign intelligence purposes or minimized,” i.e., raw intercepts provided without any filtering by the NSA itself. “Minimization” refers to an ostensible policy of determining whether phone calls, emails and other communications intercepted from American citizens are “essential to assess or understand the significance of the foreign intelligence.”

    The memo states that the terms of the agreement are designed to ensure that the handling of such material by Israeli intelligence is “consistent with the requirements upon NSA by US law and Executive Order to establish safeguards protecting the rights of US persons under the Fourth Amendment of the US Constitution.”

    The Fourth Amendment, part of the Bill of Rights, protects against “unreasonable searches and seizures,” barring searches without narrowly defined warrants based on probable cause. It has been ripped to shreds by the NSA’s domestic spying operations, which amount to the wholesale seizure of personal records from virtually every American citizen and millions of people abroad, with no specific warrants whatsoever.

    While insisting that the Israelis operate with deference to the US Constitution and law, the memo adds, “This agreement is not intended to create any legally enforceable rights and shall not be construed to be either an international agreement or a legally binding instrument according to international law.” In other words, in practice ISNU and the Israeli intelligence agency Mossad are free to do as they please.

    The memo requests that the Israelis notify the NSA whenever it fishes data on US citizens out of the raw intelligence stream, but allows them to keep “any files containing the identities of US persons” for up to a year. It also permits them to “disseminate foreign intelligence information concerning US persons” gleaned from the unfiltered data provided by the NSA to the Israeli agency’s “customers,” so long as it does so in “a manner that does not identify the US person.”

    The most extraordinary passage in the memo requires that the Israeli spooks “destroy upon recognition” any communication provided by the NSA “that is either to or from an official of the US government.” It goes on to spell out that this includes “officials of the Executive Branch (including the White House, Cabinet Departments, and independent agencies); the US House of Representatives and Senate (members and staff); and the US Federal Court System (including, but not limited to, the Supreme Court).”
    The stunning implication of this passage is that NSA spying targets not only ordinary American citizens, but also Supreme Court justices, members of Congress and the White House itself. One could hardly ask for a more naked exposure of a police state.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. “The National Security Agency routinely shares raw intelligence with Israel without first sifting it to remove information about US citizens,” the Guardian article by Glenn Greenwald, Laura Poitras and Ewen MacAskill reports

      Many of those "citizens" are active members of Hezbollah and Al Queda.

      Delete
    2. Roberto - el Loco CagaderoSat Dec 28, 11:11:00 AM EST



      But the vast majority are not.



      bob

      Delete
    3. Israel spys FOR America on Americans. Then when it's exposed? It's all Israel's fault. LOL

      Are you folks that naive?

      Delete
    4. Roberto - el Loco CagaderoSat Dec 28, 11:14:00 AM EST


      No, no one here is naive.


      What is "Occupation" - Sun Dec 22, 10:49:00 AM EST

      I wonder how long til the Palestinians get lucky and murder a few dozen Israeli kids…


      http://2164th.blogspot.com/2013/12/the-ducking-dynasty-of-us-culture.html?showComment=1387737764585#c3552581149787224786


      :):):):):)

      bob

      Delete
    5. It is extremely difficult to find within the native born population of the US competent linguists. Additionally, Israel already has collected many, many "dots" on its own account. By connecting the NSA dots with the Israel dots, nodes are detected. From the nodes, an entire web of connections can be constructed.

      As to the legality of what is transpiring, the court will have to decide.

      Yes, you live in a police state - amazing you just noticed. Try having a smoke outdoors in New York or San Fran.

      Delete
    6. Roberto - el Loco CagaderoSat Dec 28, 11:52:00 AM EST


      Israel, a secular and socialist state that was built upon ...
      ... the Three Pillars of Apartheid

      The first pillar “derives from Israeli laws and policies that establish Jewish identity for purposes of law and afford a preferential legal status and material benefits to Jews over non-Jews.”

      The second pillar is reflected in
      “Israel’s ‘grand’ policy to fragment the OPT [and] ...
      ... ensure that Palestinians remain confined to the reserves designated for them ...
      ... while Israeli Jews are prohibited from entering those reserves but enjoy freedom of movement...
      ... throughout the rest of the Palestinian territory.

      This policy is evidenced by Israel’s extensive appropriation of Palestinian land,
      which continues to shrink the territorial space available to Palestinians;
      the hermetic closure and isolation of the Gaza Strip from the rest of the OPT;
      the deliberate severing of East Jerusalem from the rest of the West Bank;

      and the appropriation and construction policies serving to carve up the West Bank ...
      ... into an intricate and well-serviced network of connected settlements for Jewish-Israelis ...
      ... and an archipelago of besieged and non-contiguous enclaves for Palestinians.”


      The third pillar is
      “Israel’s invocation of ‘security’ to validate sweeping restrictions on Palestinian freedom of ...
      ... opinion, expression, assembly, association and movement [to] mask a true underlying intent ...

      ... to suppress dissent to its system of domination and thereby maintain control over Palestinians as a group.”

      Delete
    7. Roberto - el Loco Cagadero aka the dessert rat...

      Thanks for reminding us that Israel is surrounded by true criminal savages called the Palestinians. Within the last 4 months? The savages that govern Gaza and the West Bank have committed over 150 terror attacks.

      That's were my out of context quote comes from.

      The Palestinians? have a blood lust for murder.

      But the GOOD NEWS? 1.2 MILLION Arabs have freedom, living as citizens of Israel. And they refuse to leave. They want NO part of the fake nationalistic movement called "Palestine". They know the truth.. The fake nationalistic movement called "palestine" is nothing more than a ruse. And the biggest victim? are the arabs...

      Delete
  16. {...}


    The pretense that Israeli intelligence stumbling across such material would “destroy” it without so much as a peek is ludicrous, and everyone involved in preparing the agreement knows it.
    Israel is ostensibly one of Washington’s closest allies. The two countries’ intelligence agencies collaborate on joint operations such as the unleashing of the Stuxnet virus on the computers at Iran’s main nuclear enrichment facilities.
    But part of the $52.6 billion “black budget” request made for 2013 by US intelligence agencies, revealed in a document obtained by Snowden and released last month to the Washington Post, states that these agencies’ counterintelligence operations “are strategically focused against [the] priority targets of China, Russia, Iran, Cuba and Israel.”
    According to a report on defense contractors’ security prepared by the US government’s General Accounting Office in 1996, Israel “conducts the most aggressive espionage operation against the United States of any US ally.”
    This has resulted in high profile arrests of Israeli spies such as Jonathan Pollard, a civilian US intelligence analyst for the Navy who was turning over extensive top secret material to Israeli intelligence, and Lawrence Franklin, a mid-level Pentagon official sentenced to 12 years in prison for passing secret documents to Israeli officials. Two senior lobbyists at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) were indicted in the Franklin case, but charges were ultimately dropped.
    Israeli espionage has focused on US policy in the Middle East, military secrets and industrial/commercial information that could benefit Israeli corporations. Israeli intelligence agencies are continuously engaged in efforts to manipulate US policy to serve the interests of the Zionist regime. No doubt, the raw intelligence provided by the NSA is gone over with a fine-tooth comb to uncover information that could be useful in this regard.
    This latest in the series of revelations provided by Snowden demolishes claims made by President Obama last month that the NSA and his administration are taking the strongest possible measures to ensure the privacy of US citizens whose telephone calls and electronic communications are swept up in the spy agency’s massive dragnet. On the contrary, these communications are being handed over to a foreign secret police organization, one of the most aggressive and deadly on the face of the planet. Mossad is well known for organizing extra-judicial assassinations around the world.
    The information disclosed by Snowden and the Guardian has been largely blacked out by the corporate-controlled media in the US. The New York Times, the supposed “newspaper of record,” has ignored the Guardian ’s exposé of NSA-Israeli intelligence sharing entirely, while the Washington Post relegated it to the bottom of its “technology” page, below stories on the lack of female characters in computer games and false rumors about Apple’s new iPhone.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I am confused: Is Israel an ally or a threat? Your comment makes the case for both. Could it be that agencies within the US government view Israel differently? That's a fine kettle of fish, if true.

      There are approximately 350.000,000 Americans. There are approximately 6,500,000 Israeli Jews. Are you seriously arguing that the US is dependent on this tiny nation to handle its intelligence. If that is true, the US is royally screwed up beyond repair.

      Delete
    2. Roberto - el Loco CagaderoSat Dec 28, 11:58:00 AM EST


      Three key features characterize Israeli apartheid:

      • Four million Palestinians in the Occupied Territories lack the right to vote for the government that controls their lives through a military occupation.

      In addition to controlling the borders, air space, water, tax revenues, and other vital matters pertaining to the Occupied Territories,
      Israel alone issues the identity cards that determine the ability of Palestinians to work and their freedom of movement.


      • About 1.2 million Palestinian Israelis, who make up 20 percent, or one-fifth, of Israel’s population, have second-class citizenship within Israel, ...
      ... which defines itself as a Jewish state rather than a state for all its citizens.

      More than 20 provisions of Israel’s principal laws discriminate, either directly or indirectly, against non-Jews, according to Adalah: The Legal Center for Minority Rights in Israel.

      Millions of Palestinians remain refugees in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, and elsewhere, unable to return to their former homes ...
      ... and land in present-day Israel.

      Even though the right of return for refugees is enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

      Delete
    3. I see rat just keeps posting nonsense.. I hope you are proud Deuce...

      he does it cause he loves you...

      Delete
  17. ...But part of the $52.6 billion “black budget” request made for 2013 by US intelligence agencies, revealed in a document obtained by Snowden and released last month to the Washington Post, states that these agencies’ counterintelligence operations “are strategically focused against [the] priority targets of China, Russia, Iran, Cuba and Israel.”

    According to a report on defense contractors’ security prepared by the US government’s General Accounting Office in 1996, Israel “conducts the most aggressive espionage operation against the United States of any US ally.”


    This has resulted in high profile arrests of Israeli spies such as Jonathan Pollard, a civilian US intelligence analyst for the Navy who was turning over extensive top secret material to Israeli intelligence, and Lawrence Franklin, a mid-level Pentagon official sentenced to 12 years in prison for passing secret documents to Israeli officials. Two senior lobbyists at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) were indicted in the Franklin case, but charges were ultimately dropped.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. America spies on Israel. Should Israel arrest and publicly embarrass America?

      Should Germany, England, Italy and France also arrest American spies?

      Delete
    2. That would be up to them, wouldn't it?

      Who is Anonymous, or anyone else, to assume to know what is best, for them.

      The national interest, often referred to by the French expression raison d'État
      (English: reason of the State).


      The expression refers to a country's goals and ambitions whether economic, military, or cultural.

      The concept is an important one in international relations.
      The pursuit of the national interest is often associated with political realists.




      bob

      Delete

    3. It was in Italy where US nationals, acknowledged employees of the CIA were indicted,
      then tried in abstentia, and convicted for their activities in Italy.

      One of the guilty parties was later arrested at a Panama/Costa Rica border crossing, but he was released prior to extradition proceedings commencing, if the Italians had been so inclined as to pursue them.


      bob

      Delete
    4. Pollard is the only high profile case. Accusations have been made and charges dropped - no harm, no foul. Pollard is getting old (what, 30 years old). Find another target or you are going to appear "needy".

      Delete

    5. Remember Mordechai Vanunu, Israel’s heroic nuclear whistleblower


      He should have received the Nobel Peace Prize.
      Instead, he spent 18 years in solitary confinement.

      Delete
  18. What is AIPAC doing roaming the halls of Congress? Why are we tolerating this internal interference by a foreign country?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Cause it's an American organization?

      Made up of tens of thousands of Americans?

      Exercising their CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS to lobby Congress?

      Oh yeah, Jews and others that support Israel don't deserve those rights we give to all other, arabs, italians, poles, russians....

      Delete
    2. DeuceSat Dec 28, 10:31:00 AM EST
      What is AIPAC doing roaming the halls of Congress?

      ...for the same reason that thousands of lobbiests, representing people, companies, and governments from all over the world "roam the halls"...As long as one is registered there is nothing illegal about lobbying.

      Delete
    3. Theodore RooseveltSat Dec 28, 11:15:00 AM EST


      The man who calls himself an American citizen and who yet shows by his actions that he is primarily the citizen of a foreign land, plays a thoroughly mischievous part in the life of our body politic.

      He has no place here; and the sooner he returns to the land to which he feels his real heart-allegiance, the better it will be for every good American.”

      Delete
    4. There are even SWEDES lobbying Congress, for heaven's sake.

      Delete
    5. "Kadish pleaded guilty in December to acting as an unregistered agent of Israel

      The government charged Kadish with conspiracy and espionage, later dropped. If the government had a case it should have made it. That it did not might show prosecutorial overreach - not uncommon. Since the government presented to Judge Pauley only Kadish's plea of working while unregistered, the judge could hardly be expected to hang Kadish from the closest yardarm.

      Because the government failed to make its case for conspiracy and espionage, any evidence it may have gathered to that effect was of no consequence. There exists no record proving that Kadish was guilty of anything other than lobbying without a license. Therefore, any other complaints or opinions relative to the case are based on mere hearsay.

      If that sticks in your craw, write a letter to George W. Bush, on whose watch this prosecution occurred. See how far that gets you.

      Delete
    6. Roberto - el Loco CagaderoSat Dec 28, 11:38:00 AM EST


      “One of the hardest parts of my job is to connect Iraq to the war on terror. ”

      ― George W. Bush

      Delete
    7. AIPAC's lobbying is done primarily by citizens.

      Not paid lobbyists.

      Kinda bites ya in the ass Deuce that 10.000 American citizens embrace their duty to contact their representatives?????

      Delete
    8. It costs us citizens about 2k a year each to travel to DC and meet with our elected representatives.

      It's quite the sight, all those American citizens, of almost every race and creed, lobbying for AIPAC.

      Gays, Straights, blacks, whites, hispanics, Jews, christians of all stripes... Men, women all lobby as citizens...

      LOL

      DOnt like it? create your own citizen lobby group...

      Delete
  19. Roberto - el Loco CagaderoSat Dec 28, 10:41:00 AM EST




    Remember Mordechai Vanunu, Israel’s heroic nuclear whistleblower


    He should have received the Nobel Peace Prize.
    Instead, he spent 18 years in solitary confinement.




    bob

    ReplyDelete
  20. "Kadish pleaded guilty in December to acting as an unregistered agent of Israel. He was arrested in April 2008 on four counts of conspiracy and espionage. The spying charge, dropped under a plea deal, had carried a possible death sentence.”


    No plea deals for Jews

    ReplyDelete
    Replies

    1. “It is wrong and immoral to seek to escape the consequences of one's acts.”

      ― Mahatma Gandhi

      Delete
  21. Federal judges have been "interpreting" the Constitution for well over two hundred years. Judge Pauley has done nothing unusual. So pervasive are attacks on the Constitution in the Ninth Circuit that it holds the dubious record of having the most decisions overturned by the SCOTUS.

    The government garnered data a priori, rather than make its case before a court for monitoring specific potential threats, say, tens of thousands of Saudi students in the US and acting a posteriori. I fail to see how the NSA made its case that everyone is a danger to the US until proven otherwise, something patently absurd. Therefore, I do not understand Judge Pauley's ruling.

    Historically, Pauley's behavior is not surprising. Stalin and Hitler both had the approval of their respective courts. When Congress approved the enabling legislation for mass surveillance following 9/11, the horse was out of the barn. I doubt things will ever be the same; once empowered, Robespierre did what he did. It took a bullet to the jaw to get him to the scaffold.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies

    1. Stella {Goldschlag} Kübler Isaacksohn
      was a Jewish woman born in Germany who collaborated with the Gestapo during World War II, exposing and denouncing Berlin's underground Jews.

      Kübler was very successful at finding her former schoolmates and handing their information over to the Gestapo.

      The number of her victims varies from between 600 to 3,000 Jews.
      Kübler's charisma and striking good looks were a great advantage in her pursuit of underground Jews.
      The Nazis called Stella "blonde poison".

      Stella {Goldschlag} Kübler Isaacksohn was a Fifth Columnist..


      bob

      Delete
    2. What the hell am I doing in the Ninth Circuit? What does northern Idaho have to do with San Francisco? That Circuit should be broken into two or three.

      Delete
    3. Roberto - el Loco CagaderoSat Dec 28, 11:41:00 AM EST


      Why add more Federal bureaucracy, why grow the Federal Government?

      More Courts and greater Defense Spending, that is what you have endorsed!

      The NSA is the military, dimwit.
      They are all Generals running that deal.

      What is your real agenda?


      bob

      Delete
    4. Roberto - el Loco CagaderoSat Dec 28, 11:48:00 AM EST

      How is it that your Blogger account was created in November of 2013,
      when you claimed to have accomplished the task on 22DEC2013?

      Why did you tell us a false tale?

      What is your real agenda?

      Delete
    5. Gosh, he did not receive the Nobel. Yasser may have that year. Life sucks for the traitor.

      Delete
    6. AnonymousSat Dec 28, 11:17:00 AM EST

      Stella {Goldschlag} Kübler Isaacksohn
      was a Jewish woman born in Germany who collaborated with the Gestapo during World War II

      That would have made her a patriot, Blockkopf.

      Delete
  22. There was a man in Lewiston, a demented man, who stood on the bridge day after day, rain or snow or shine, and waved his hands and shouted the same old things........it was really sad........I asked a cop about him one time......he looks dangerous ......no, he's not dangerous, just messed up, he replied.......I often thought he'd be better off in a mental institution than standing out there alone day after day shouting the same old things.......but he's not a danger to himself or others.......so I have been told.....

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Roberto - el Loco CagaderoSat Dec 28, 11:44:00 AM EST


      “It's not necessary to tell all you know...
      You're not gonna change any one of them by talkin' right.

      They've got to want to learn themselves,
      and when they don't want to learn there's nothing you can do
      but keep your mouth shut or talk their language.”

      ― Harper Lee

      Delete

    2. Captain Queeg: Ahh, but the strawberries that's... that's where I had them.

      They laughed at me and made jokes but I proved beyond the shadow of a doubt and with....
      .... geometric logic...
      ... that a duplicate key to the wardroom icebox DID exist,
      and I'd have produced that key if they hadn't of pulled the Caine out of action.

      Delete
    3. Bob,

      Unlike our exhibitionist, he was probably not a liar and racist.

      When rat came up with that $110 billion USD deal with Israel, I ROFL. I knew he was lying and it was so easy to prove. Out of his own mouth he made my case. It doesn't get any better than that - liar, racist.

      Delete


    4. Remember Mordechai Vanunu, Israel’s heroic nuclear whistleblower


      He should have received the Nobel Peace Prize.
      Instead, he spent 18 years in solitary confinement.

      Delete
  23. f these allegations about the Israelis spying on the US are true, then it is scary to think about the software and technology that the NSA is putting into place for foreign and domestic surveillance. There could potentially be a backdoor that these software firms have put in place in order to watch over the NSA's activities, which would compromise our national security. However, if the allegations here are unfounded, then there is nothing to worry about. If you're looking for a job in the NSA or another security/surveillance position, I would recommend using Granted, as it is one of the largest job databases in the US, and has millions of jobs all over the US in an easy to search database.

    ReplyDelete
  24. If a lobbyist can get a Congressman to vote against the basic desires of his constituents he is a damn good lobbyist.

    The fact is most Americans support Israel.

    The fact is most Americans do not support the Muslim Brotherhood, even though Obama does, nor do they support Islam in general.

    Even though there are as many or more Islamic type lobbyists - some sitting in the White House quite frequently, chatting with the President - than there are AIPAC lobbyists, Congressmen and women will support Israel because that is what the heavy majority of their constituents wish them to do.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies


    1. Remember Mordechai Vanunu, Israel’s heroic nuclear whistleblower


      He should have received the Nobel Peace Prize.
      Instead, he spent 18 years in solitary confinement.

      Delete
    2. Somehow, the numbers of Americans supporting Israel just doesn't sink in here. If Israel goes to war, the vast majority of Americans will support it. If Israel nationalizes disputed land, the vast majority of Americans will support it.

      If the Jews inadvertantly kill a Palestinian child, it's OMG!!!! When the Syrians murder 87 children, you cannot hear a pin drop. There is no sense of proportion or rationality.

      Delete
    3. AnonymousSat Dec 28, 12:00:00 PM EST


      Remember Mordechai Vanunu, Israel’s heroic nuclear whistleblower


      Maybe I'll send him a flute instead of flowers for his next birthday. When is that?

      Delete
    4. When desert rat uses a number, say 18 years, it is usually a lie.

      Delete

    5. “You presume to name those who have no name.
      We are pandemonium and disaster.
      We are the dancing, gibbering horror of the world.”

      ― Brenna Yovanoff, The Replacement

      Delete

    6. No one cares about the villain when he loses, while everyone cheers for the 'Underdog'

      Delete
  25. Roberto - el Loco CagaderoSat Dec 28, 10:30:00 AM EST
    desert rat made no posts yesterday.

    He is still traveling, writing a book.


    That will be a short read. NSA and its $110 quadrillion USD deal with Israel.

    :-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies

    1. Israel’s isolation grows as it falls out with Romania and the Netherlands

      http://www.redressonline.com/2013/12/israels-isolation-grows-as-it-falls-out-with-romania-and-the-netherlands/

      Delete
    2. AnonymousSat Dec 28, 01:01:00 PM EST

      Israel’s isolation grows...

      Hardly. It will soon become a member of CERN. Behind the scenes, its influence on the Arabian peninsula will grow - Saudi Arabia and Israel confront a common enemy in Iran. When the US pulls out its protection of Iran via the fleet, this defacto alliance may become much more visable. Without relying on borrowed cash from China, Saudi Arabia can fund the building of a lethal, long reach military. In this enterprise, Israel will be vital.

      Saudis lament, 'we have been stabbed in the back by Obama'

      “The bond of trust between America and Saudi Arabia has been broken in the Obama years," al-Ibrahim said. "We feel we have been stabbed in the back by Obama."

      "Every time that Obama had to choose between his enemies and his friends, he always chose his enemies," he said. "We don't know what he's putting in his tea."

      "We no longer believe that America alone can safeguard our freedom from Iranian aggression," said al-Ibrahim, "that's why we are expanding our forces and integrating our missile defenses with our neighbors."

      He added, "the world should understand that the GCC will not stay quiet and leave our member-states vulnerable to bad actors and bad deals in the region. It is our duty to protect our region."


      Canada recently expressed its unfaltering support for Israel.

      Reports of the death of the "Zionist entity" are wishful thinking.

      Delete
  26. I'll give John Paul II credit, he had the Bobster (Dylan, not Farmer) perform "Blowin' in the Wind" in 1997 and Ratzinger tried to stop it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. No being a Catholic it's none of my business but I loathed Ratzinger. He put two good authors I like on the Catholic banned authors list.

      This new guy can't help but be an improvement, IMHO.

      Delete
    2. The Roman Church is nearly two thousand years old, if Paul is to be believed. Some of its doctrines are purposely obscured (predestination), but on the whole it is pretty clear cut. When non-practicing Roman Catholics mock the Pope, they insult the spokesman of Christ – Christ being to the Church the incarnate god. It is not possible to be a conforming Roman Catholic while supporting abortion. Sorry, that's the way it is. If you cannot stand the doctrines of your faith, find another. The Church has no need to change hurriedly.

      To be fair, Orthodox Jews permit abortion under certain circumstances. It is never to be a means of birth control. The life and health of the mother take precedence, as a general rule.

      Sagan was a Jew, who steadfastly clung to atheism while in good health. When he was dying, he turned to the Wall. I have observed that most marginal Roman Catholics behave much the same when the Reaper is near – they gladly accept the ministrations of the priest.

      Delete
  27. The US has become a neo-Byzantine culture, without the stunning art.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Roberto - el Loco CagaderoSat Dec 28, 01:12:00 PM EST



      You should go visit Detroit, they've got art.
      All that, and more.

      You really should come visit the Americas, expand your horizons.


      bob

      Delete
    2. Roberto - el Loco CagaderoSat Dec 28, 01:12:00 PM EST
      You should go visit Detroit, they've got art.
      All that, and more.


      If I ever need advice on art, I will not look to you.

      If I ever have need for underage girls, I'll call. Don't hold your breathe. I am going to ignore your appetite for fudge packing.

      Delete
  28. Jonah Goldberg: Vulgarity invades entire culture; few options for escape

    "Pornography" is a sweet Latin word having to do with whores. It fits well with much media output. The Romans did it with paint; we do it with sundry media. In both cases, we are surrounded by it.

    ReplyDelete
  29. For any who may have missed it during the last fifty times of its posting, stop what you are doing, Brothers and Sisters, bow your heads and pray to our Heavenly Father in Heaven (he's not on vacation in Monaco) for our brother:

    Roberto - el Loco CagaderoSat Dec 28, 10:41:00 AM EST



    Remember Mordechai Vanunu, Israel’s heroic nuclear whistleblower

    He should have received the Nobel Peace Prize.
    Instead, he spent 18 years in solitary confinement.



    bob

    ReplyDelete

  30. Portuguese plumbers discover ancient mikvahs


    ...no sex without the bath...When setting up a community, the first thing built is the mikva; the synagogue comes latter.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The community.

      Jews have had "communities" in the "west bank" and "gaza" thousands years before the term "palestine" was invented.

      What is amazing about the entire area? The Jews/Israelis are not creating FACTS on the ground they are UNCOVERING the FACTS of the GROUND.

      No disputing the Jews have had communities for thousands and thousands of years there.

      Now the "term" palestinians? (when referring to the arabs and NOT the Jews) is a very recent creation.

      Delete
    2. Yes, indeed, it used to be an insult to Muslims to call them Palestinians because for centuries Palestinan had meant Jew. One would have to crack a book to know that. There is little chance of that happening. Inbred anti-Jewish prejudices are much too strong.

      Israel must stop with the stuff "We are just like you". Bigots don't believe it nor do Jews. We are not like them. We are civilized.

      Delete
    3. In 1949, Isralel could have ethnically cleansed all of the territory taken by force of arms and the "Allies" could have said nothing since they had just finished systematically killing hundreds of thousands of repatriated Germans and POWs. (They don't like to talk about that)

      In 1967, Israel could have driven every Muslim out of the "territories" and Jerusalem and the US would have been speechless since it was poisoning the country of Vietnam and killing hundreds of thousands of Vietnamese in the process. Anyone looking at the numbers would be appalled at the devastation wrought. And for what? Who knows? Ho Chi Minh - "number one".

      Delete
    4. Israel needs a PM who will say, "These are the borders of Israel. If you don't like it, come and change them".

      Imagine 1,000 drones in five tiers, each drone armed with an air-to-air weapon and each loaded with an air-to-surface weapon. No piloted aircraft could survive. No ship could survive being attacked by one hundred missiles coming in at 360 degrees.

      Just a thought...

      Delete
    5. ...Imagine 1,000 drones in five tiers, each drone armed with an air-to-air weapon and each loaded with an air-to-surface weapon. No piloted aircraft could survive. No ship could survive being attacked by one hundred missiles coming in at 360 degrees.

      Just a thought...



      Don’t get too dreamy with the technology. Imagine 5000 drones, all costing less than $1000 each loaded with aerosol canisters charged with radioactive waste.



      Delete
    6. Now what would be funny?

      Imagine a Hezbollah attack using drones and radioactive waste all crashing down of the very families of Hezbollah...

      Delete
    7. The Arabs have out numbered the jews for thousands of years. The ruled supreme for a vast majority of that time. Now that the Jews have removed the foot from our throat? We will never forget the treatment our cousins have given us...

      that's why we don't TRUST them.

      For thousands of years the seed of Ishmael has abused, tortured, looted, raped and pillaged us.

      We offer true peace, they still offer the sword.

      But now? We can fight back.

      The Arabs being the cowards they are? Will take aim at those who cannot fight back...

      Delete
  31. The bottom line is this will go to the Supreme Court. The irony is that I doubt that any of the Jews on the Court will travel with Pauley. Ginsberg, Breyer, and Kagan will all side with Leon’s decision, not Pauley. All the catholics will go with Pauley

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. To side with Leon will require a lot of dexterity. His opinion is not well constructed. Of course, neither is Pauley's. In either case, the NSA's precious secrets will be exposed.

      I doubt religion will play any part. The religious dedication of any of the justices is questionable.

      Delete
  32. Ah... Great Day...

    The Moslem Brotherhood, (the mother of Hamas) decided to burn University buildings and riot!

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-25534791

    A student has been killed in Egypt as supporters of the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood clashed with police and university buildings were set on fire.

    State TV blamed protesters for the fire in two faculties at al-Azhar University.

    Police said 101 people had been detained after the clashes.

    The campus fires had been brought under control by Saturday afternoon, but exams at the business faculty reportedly had to be postponed.

    LOL...

    talk about "arab" unity!!!


    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Five die during clashes between Egypt police, Morsi supporters

      http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2013/12/28/world/five-die-during-clashes-between-egypt-police-morsi-supporters/#.Ur9kU5GR8jF

      CAIRO – With water cannons and tear gas, Egyptian riot police battled on Friday with hundreds of rock-throwing supporters of ousted President Mohammed Morsi in clashes across the country that left five dead, according to officials.

      Authorities, meanwhile, unveiled a new tactic to contain protests called by Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood group and its allies, calling on large families to post armed men near the likely sites of demonstrations

      5 dead... wow...

      Delete
    2. Beirut bomb kills Lebanese ex-minister who opposed Assad

      That was on Friday.

      (Reuters) - Former Lebanese minister Mohamad Chatah, who opposed Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, was killed in a massive bomb blast on Friday which one of his political allies blamed on the Shi'ite Hezbollah militia.

      The attack in Beirut killed five other people and threw Lebanon, which has been drawn into neighboring Syria's conflict, into further turmoil after a series of sectarian bombings aimed at Shi'ite and Sunni Muslims over the past year.

      Delete
    3. DeuceSat Dec 28, 06:02:00 PM EST
      Don’t get too dreamy with the technology. Imagine 5000 drones, all costing less than $1000 each loaded with aerosol canisters charged with radioactive waste.


      But that would be wrong.

      Delete
  33. What is "Occupation"Sat Dec 28, 06:05:00 PM EST
    Imagine a Hezbollah attack using drones and radioactive waste all crashing down of the very families of Hezbollah...

    No

    ReplyDelete
  34. Being a traditionalist, I'd still like to see who wrote the piece, and where it was published.

    ReplyDelete
  35. After adding in the approx. 3.1 Million young people that have been allowed to stay on their parents' policies, it looks as if Obamacare has brought coverage to, at least, 9.1 million Americans.

    ACA Signups

    ReplyDelete