Court Rules Once Again that Torture is A-OK in the USA

Because the U.S. has turned into a country that tortures people with impunity -- and brags about it -- the news that a federal appeals court has ruled against a "detainee," an "enemy combatant," comes as no surprise.

Courts are a reflection of the society in which they exist. They're not on Mount Olympus. And the courts since 9/11 especially have repeatedly sided with the government and against civil liberties and plain old ordinary justice.

Justice, you scoff, ha! What does justice have to do with anything?

Tom Tomorrow

Brilliant cartoon by Tom Tomorrow. Click to enlarge. The last frame is frigging hilarious! (And if you don't know who he's talking about there, try this.)

Andy Singer: Drones and Guns, Fear and Loathing in America

Cartoonist Andy Singer. As always, click to enlarge.

Armed cops raid home of American reporter, seize files

Armed agents bashing down your door before dawn, while you're still asleep in bed or in the shower or on the toilet, pointing guns at you and screaming, scaring the shit out of you and your children, and often, one of their favorites, shooting your family pet? And sometimes, for good measure, raiding the wrong house?

Where does this happen? And how often?

In the USA. Every day. Over 100 times every day.

Don't believe it? Then you don't know what's going on in your own country. Maybe you should watch something other than American Idol or Homeland or MSFuckingNBC and read something more than just emails from MoveOn or your Fearless Leader who sits in the White House.

These raids happen in this country every day. (I know, I know, but it's usually "just" drug dealers or "terrorists," so you don't give a shit.) Even though it's false that it happens to "just" drug dealers or terrorists. Because it happened to computer analyst Thomas Drake. It happened to Cheye Calvo, mayor of a small town in Maryland. It happened to dozens of non-violent peace activists. I could keep listing people, but at over 100 a day, every day, I'd run out of bandwidth.

So it should come as no surprise that the latest home invasion by our fascist overlords -- and yes, that's precisely what they are -- took place at the house of a journalist. An ordinary American journalist.

R.I.P. Lou Reed

Lou Reed dies at the age of 71.

Look at these beautiful words by John Cale:

Unlike so many with similar stories—we have the best of our fury laid out on vinyl, for the world to catch a glimpse. 

And here's an elegant tribute by the BBC. 

Sandy vs. Terrorism – which is the bigger threat? Redux

Since the country is marking the one-year anniversary of Hurricane Sandy, which devastated huge portions of the East Coast, I thought I’d also note the event.

Here’s what I wrote last year about the death and destruction caused by this super-storm -- and ones like it -- versus the mayhem caused by terrorism. (Hint: guess which one is an actual threat as opposed to a vanishingly small but relentlessly hyped one?)

(Photo: Reuters/Lucas Jackson)

Deficit

More Shooting in the Land of the Free

There's so much deranged shooting in this country, it's hard to keep up. And that's not even counting the constant -- constant -- shooting of people over drugs. Here are two more out-of-the-blue shootings, both of which come just days after yet another school shooting:

California police shoot and kill boy carrying replica of assault rifle

Santa Rosa officer opened fire on Andy Lopez Cruz, 13, as he walked down street carrying pellet gun, authorities say

and:

Massachusetts student, 14, charged with murder of high school teacher

Police say blood found in Danvers high school bathroom before body of Colleen Ritzer, 24, found in woods behind school

Ted Rall and Dick Cheney

Once again, the brilliant Ted Rall. As always, click to enlarge. And check the "Ted Rall" tag below for more of his great cartoons that I've posted.

Apology

Pledge of Allegiance

Another School Shooting in the Land of the Free

Oh, looky -- another school shooting. This time, it was out west:

Nevada student opens fire outside middle school, wounds 2 boys and kills teacher, then self

Oh, well, ho-hum. Just another day in the good ol' USA!

US Security Forces Harassing People Even Before They Travel

When are you people going to fucking get it??

Our government is spying on all of us and using the information it collects not only to gate-rape us at the airport, which the masses of sheeple don't give a shit about, but to target and harass people based purely on their ethnicity. 

Do you even pay attention to what's going on in this country?

Wait -- lemme guess -- "it's okay as long as it doesn't happen to me!"

Leaked TSA document causing trouble for Jon Corbett

Our buddy Jon Corbett is back in the news again.

You may recall that Corbett, who has written for us here at TSA News, was the first person in the country to sue the TSA on the grounds that its strip-search scanners and body groping are violations of the 4th Amendment. Corbett also demonstrated, in a widely disseminated video, that the scanners are worthless pieces of junk.

None of this, of course, has made a dent in the armor of the blue-caped crusaders. Corbett's lawsuit is ongoing, as is the money being sucked out of his pocket. He's a modern-day hero, fighting not only for his rights but for those of his fellow Americans too gutless to fight for themselves. But I digress.

Poverty vs. War

Only one thing wrong with this graphic: that should read "war spending," not "defense spending":

Thanks to Jodda Mitchell of today's LUV News for the graphic and for this synopsis:

Dick Cheney's Ticker Still Ticking

Ha ha ha ha! I was waiting for a good guffaw this morning, and here it is:

Cheney had heart device partially disabled to prevent a terrorist from sending a fatal shock

I'm sure I'm not the only one with a bottle of champagne chilling in the fridge for a certain, hoped-for occasion . . . .

(And take a stroll through the comments, too; some of them are hilarious.)

TSA air marshal taking pix up women’s dresses

Gee, why am I not surprised?

Just another criminal in the already criminal ranks of the TSA.

Glamour Girl: Harvest Ball 2013

New Glamour Girl post is up, here.

Jen Sorensen: Why Can't They Compromise?

The great Jen Sorensen (thank god we're lucky enough to have brilliant political cartoonists; otherwise, I don't know how we'd get through the day, surrounded as we are by so many bullshitters, bloviators, liars, fascists, sociopaths, and just plain morons):

Dry Runs and Dry Ice: the United States of Paranoia

Two stories have come to light in the past few days that have some people on edge and others suspicious.

TSA still assaulting, abusing passengers - so what else is new?

The Arizona Republic filed a FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) request, and guess what they found out? That the TSA abuses people at the checkpoint.

Khalil Bendib

From the great Khalil Bendib (click to enlarge):

Americans: more concerned about stuff than about their rights

Comment I just left at this NYT article, which may or may not get printed. If you’re so inclined, you can do likewise. Call me crazy, but I think getting your privates poked by a government goon is more important than how much shit you can shove into the overhead (and wish I could’ve used that language!):

Wow. Americans are pathetic. They scream and fight over how much crap they can take on a plane (take less, people, or pay up and shut up), yet when it comes to being abused by the TSA, it’s one big “meh.” 

Land of the Free. Uh-huh. 

(Photo: Alan Cleaver/Flickr Creative Commons)

Drunk Dial Congress

Best thing I've seen all week:

Furloughed Worker? Mad at Congress? Drunk? Well, DRUNKDIALCONGRESS.ORG is the Place for YOU!

"The Senator" looks tasty. And it has the added benefit of a Proustian haze built in!

(Photo: Thriving Vegetarian/Flickr Creative Commons)

TSA bullies disabled boy, makes family miss flight

Gee, I'm shocked, shocked, I say! Ya mean the TSA harassed yet another disabled child and made yet another family miss their flight? Never happens!

Stop Putting Kids in Solitary

Solitary confinement is torture. It has been understood to be such for decades. It's torture when you subject an adult to it, but it's beyond barbaric when you subject children to it. Yet that's what this country is doing.

This country is barbaric. We will have no way to change it unless we acknowledge that. You have to recognize and acknowledge something before you can change it.

This post relates to the one I did earlier today. Watch this video. Sign the petition. Pass it on. We are torturing our children:

Police Brutality: Just Another Day in the USA

I've done several posts on police brutality. And the sad, sick truth is that there will always be more. So many more that I'll never be able to keep up. Just as with the TSA and the NSA and the so-called War on Terror™ -- and yes, these things are all related -- the increasingly abusive tactics of the authoritarians in our midst aren't about keeping us "safe." 

It's not about security. None of it is about security. It's about compliance. It's about control. It's about compelling obedience.

That compelling is relatively easy when you have a credulous populace that believes A Terrorist Is Hiding Around Every Corner. It becomes less so when the populace turns testy, or skeptical, or sick and tired of feeling the boot on its neck. Then our overlords resort to more and more repressive measures to keep people in line.

Obama Supporters

As always, click to enlarge:

Puppet Regime

TSA Gropers Working Without Pay

Ha ha ha ha! Best news I've heard all week:

To the Citizens of the USA from Her Majesty the Queen

The following has been going around the internet for years, since back in the Bush days. But it's still funny and still apropos. Sorry I don't know to whom to give attribution (and P.S., I am not a fan of Obomneycare):

Leaks -- Okay For Me But Not For Thee

Even though he carried water for the Obama administration in the run-up to the 2012 election, when he knew -- or should have -- that Obama is a wolf in sheep's clothing, Robert Scheer still does important work at Truthdig.