Realitista

If you're an American citizen, under NDAA activities as mundane as "writing a book" or "organizing a demonstration" could result in your indefinite detainment, without trial, by military forces - even on U.S. soil - Huffington Post

A Few Ways To Get Yourself Detained Indefinitely:

• Interview a member of the Taliban
• Attend a fundraiser
• Write a book
• Organize a demonstration
• Help out a friend

Congressmen Seek To Lift USA Propaganda Ban

Yeah, that was the problem. Americans weren’t getting enough propaganda. The march to fascism continues.

An amendment that would legalize the use of propaganda on American audiences is being inserted into the latest defense authorization bill.

The amendment would “strike the current ban on domestic dissemination” of propaganda material produced by the State Department and the Pentagon, according to the summary of the law at the House Rules Committee’s official website.

The tweak to the bill would essentially neutralize two previous acts—the Smith-Mundt Act of 1948 and Foreign Relations Authorization Act in 1987—that had been passed to protect U.S. audiences from our own government’s misinformation campaigns.

The bi-partisan amendment is sponsored by Rep. Mark Thornberry from Texas and Rep. Adam Smith from Washington State.

Mexico's Drug War: 50,000 Dead in 6 Years

So, seems like that’s working out, then.

Since Mexico’s President Felipe Calderón began an all-out assault on drug cartels in 2006, more than 50,000 people have lost their lives across the country in a nearly-continuous string of shootouts, bombings, and ever-bloodier murders. Just last weekend, 49 decapitated bodies were reportedly discovered on a highway in northern Mexico. The New York Times reports on an increasing numbness and apathy among Mexicans after years of worsening carnage, about which they’ve been able to do virtually nothing. Gathered here is a collection of recent photographs from Mexico’s drug war and the people so horribly affected by it. [44 photos]

Poll: 74 Percent of Americans, Including 67 Percent of Republicans, Want Obama to End Medical Marijuana Crackdown - Hit & Run : Reason.com

In my ongoing series entitled “Fucking government, y u no do what we want”?

A poll conducted earlier this month by Mason-Dixon Polling & Research on behalf of the Marijuana Policy Project finds that 76 percent of Americans want President Barack Obama to end his crackdown on medical marijuana in states where medicinal use of the plant is legal.

According to MPP’s release, “Support for keeping the federal government out of state medical marijuana issues was universal across all demographics. With respect to political affiliation, 75% of Democrats, 67% of Republicans, and, notably 79% of Independents said that President Obama should respect state medical marijuana laws. Even among the least supportive group (those identified as over 65 years of age), 64% were in favor of respecting state law.”

76% of Americans Favor Military Cuts

Now if we could just get a government that actually gave a rats ass what we wanted…

Seventy-six percent of survey-takers, including 90 percent of Democrats and 67 percent of Republicans, say they would cut the Pentagon’s budget. That places the majority of respondents at odds with Democratic President Barack Obama’s policies and the proposed budgets of the majority Republican Party in Congress. Obama has essentially held defense spending steady at around $550 billion by cutting its recent rate of increase. The Republicans have proposed adding billions of dollars to the president’s budget.

Jill Stein is the Green Party Presidential Candidate

Glad to hear, I liked her the best.

After winning Green Party primaries in Maryland and Delaware, Dr. Jill Stein announced this weekend that she crossed the 50% threshold to winning the Green Party’s 2012 presidential nomination. With 200.5 delegates required to win the nomination, and 105.5 delegates in hand, Dr. Stein has moved from frontrunner to prospective nominee. She has won over 75% of all delegates allocated, with the next nearest candidate, Roseanne Barr, at 14%.

“I am thrilled to be well on my way to representing the Green Party in this year’s presidential race,” said Dr. Stein, who is beginning her search for a vice presidential running mate. “We’re the only national party that isn’t corporately owned, and I am proud to stand for those who are committed to putting their votes where their values are.”

George W. Bush, Dick Cheney Convicted Of War Crimes

It would restore my faith in humanity if justice was served here.

This past Friday, a five panel tribunal delivered a unanimous guilty verdict after a week long trial that, unsurprisingly, was not covered by American media.

The witnesses included several ex-Guantanamo detainees that gave testimony on the conditions and human rights violations that were systematically carried out under orders of the Bush administration.

Former President Bush, Former Vice-President Dick Cheney, Former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and the legal advisers Alberto Gonzales, David Addington, William Haynes, Jay Bybee and John Yoo that crafted the legal ‘justification’ for torture that basically said, ‘we can if we want to even if it’s illegal’ were the defendants. None were present, of course, but international war crime trials do not require the presence of the accused. The trial was run according to the standards set by the Nuremberg Trials to convict war criminals after World War II.