Foreign Governments Line Up To Buy U.S. Drones

RQ-4 Global Hawk

Foreign buyers are itching for the opportunity to buy American-made pilotless reconnaissance aircraft, and the Department of Defense does not plan to get in the way, despite concerns that the military technology could fall into the wrong hands.

The Global Hawk spy plane has been a great product for defense contractor Northrop Grumman since it first began selling them 11 years ago. The U.S. Air Force has relied on the drones to collect intelligence in Iraq and Afghanistan, flying up to 60,000 feet and on missions lasting 32 hours at a time. And while the Global Hawk is not cheap—$30 million apiece—it’s considerably more affordable than piloted aircraft like the $85 million Joint Strike Fighter.

Countries looking to purchase Global Hawk include Japan and South Korea (to help both improve their spying of North Korea), Australia, Germany, Singapore, Spain, New Zealand, Canada and the United Kingdom. Once the aircraft is in foreign hands, there’s no guarantee it won’t be resold to third parties—something that has happened to other U.S. military hardware.

Poker Face – Losing My Mind

http://www.youtube.com/v/l3edDOkNCDk&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l3edDOkNCDk

Congressman’s Island-Capsizing Query Goes Viral

Only a few years ago, a member of Congress serving up an inane comment in a congressional hearing would have merited a brief gossip column mention, or more likely gone unnoticed.

Unfortunately for Rep. Hank Johnson, a Georgia Democrat, his bizarre question about the island of Guam possibly tipping over–he used the word “capsize”–if additional troops were stationed there became a YouTube sensation on Thursday.

It’s no April Fools’ Day joke: the 55-year-old congressman and member of the House Democratic leadership told a naval officer who was testifying on March 25 that: “My fear is that the whole island will become so overly populated that it will tip over and capsize.”…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zNZczIgVXjg

TSA Letter Confirms Naked Body Scanners Transmit Images

Earlier this year, as the government began to roll out in force its dangerous and intrusive naked body scanners at airports around the country, we were told the machines are unable to save images. For instance, the claim is made in the Associated Press report below.

As it turns out, the machines can save images. This was confirmed in a letter sent to Rep. Bennie G. Thompson, Chairman of the Committee on Homeland Security, at approximately the same time the government claimed the machines are safe and cannot save images. In fact, this ability is a government requirement.

“TSA requires AIT machines to have the capability to retain and export imagines (sic) only for testing, training, and evaluation purposes,” states a Homeland Security letter dated February 24, 2010 and signed by Gale D. Rossides, Acting Administrator…

CNN Video: Phoenix Dubbed U.S. Kidnapping Capital

Did Hannity Call His Audience "Tim McVeigh Wannabees"?

http://www.youtube.com/v/ani93EHvXcE&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ani93EHvXcE

He says it very clearly at 7:55 into the video…“the Tea Party movement…the people…all these Tim McVeigh wannabees here…”

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Audience Cheers As Sean Hannity Calls Them “Tim McVeigh Wannabees”

Launching his book tour several days ago, Sean Hannity met with California Congressmen Kevin McCarthy and David Dreier in front of a live audience of Republican and Teabagger fans. The three men spend a good deal of their time venerating Ronald Reagan, dissing the current administration and being standard Republican talking-heads.

Seven and a half minutes into their adulation of Reagan, Hannity says this.

HANNITY: See, can I add one thing? I think we won the debate.

DREIER: We did win the debate.

HANNITY: When you think about the vast majorities that they have in Congress and they had to bribe, backroom deals, corruption, that’s all because the tea party movement, the people — all these Tim McVeigh wannabes here.

(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

HANNITY: Guys, thank you for being here.

What in the holy hell? You would think he was being sarcastic, but at no point do they discuss anything remotely having to do with Conservative threats of violence or anything similar. It is completely out of the blue. He simply calls his audience “Tim McVeigh wannabe’s”, they cheer and cut to commercial.

Disgusting, inappropriate, untimely and extremely ignorant. It is bad enough of a thing for Hannity to say, but the fact that it is cheered is doubly upsetting. Given the recent arrest of the “Hutaree 8,” an apocalyptic Christian militia organization planning to attack federal officials with improvised explosives, the surge in vandalism against Democratic offices, and the upcoming Second Amendment March – scheduled for the 15th anniversary of the Oklahoma City Bombing this April 19th. That act of terrorism was in turn performed on the anniversary of the final assault on the Branch Davidian cult in Waco, Texas.

So what the hell was this? A joke? Sarcasm? Simple stupidity on a level not even Glenn Beck could manage?

If it wasn’t a joke, but a sincere compliment given to American citizens, that is something far worse. Timothy McVeigh was a lone-wolf terrorist driven by resentment of the federal government, extreme libertarian political views and a fascination with organized Militia movements. He killed 168 people, including 19 children.

This is not a person to cheer. This is not a person to idolize. This is not a person to emulate.

Update:

Apparently the comment was not entirely “out of the blue”, but did lack a greater context. On his radio program the day before, Hannity spoke of the Tea Party movement saying “We’ve got veterans, we’ve got stay-at-home moms, people who really don’t like the direction of the country. They’re speaking out and they’ve been compared to terrorists, Tim McVeigh-wannabes. They’ve been called un-American. They’ve been called every name in the book. Now, the latest attack is that these people are violent…”

From this it is much easier to answer the questions posed above. It was most definitely sarcasm. It was also extremely stupid.

Pfizer Ordered To Pay Up Over ‘AIDS-Like’ Virus Infections

In what is being hailed as a major victory for workers in the biotech and nanotech fields, a former scientist with pharmaceutical firm Pfizer has been awarded $1.37 million for being fired after raising the alarm over researchers being infected with a genetically engineered “AIDS-like” virus…

Conspiracy, Or Must-See TV? Wikileaks To Unveil Secret Video

On Monday, Wikileaks plans to show classified video of a 2009 U.S. military air strike in Afghanistan that reportedly claimed the lives of dozens of civilians.

Existence of the video is no secret. In May 2009, Gen. David Petraeus, the head of U.S. Central Command, told National Public Radio that the military planned to show part of it in a press briefing. The footage, military officials said, would prove that the Taliban deliberately tried to draw U.S. fire onto buildings crowded with innocent civilians.

That video was never shown. Now Wikileaks claims it has “cracked the encryption” of a copy it obtained. And it says the video will show proof of a “Pentagon murder-coverup.”…

Read More http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2010/04/hype-conspiracy-or-must-see-tv-wikileaks-to-unveil-drone-video/#ixzz0k2hoPCl1

FBI Warns Letters To Governors Could Stir Violence

WASHINGTON — The FBI is warning police across the country that an anti-government group’s call to remove governors from office could provoke violence.

The group called the Guardians of the free Republics wants to “restore America” by peacefully dismantling parts of the government, according to its Web site. It sent letters to governors demanding they leave office or be removed.

Investigators do not see threats of violence in the group’s message, but fear the broad call for removal of top state officials could lead others to act out violently…

Will Feds Use Letter Sent By Sovereign Citizen Group To Stage False Flag?

Is it possible the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security will exploit the Restore America Plan in order to stage a false flag event that will be subsequently blamed on the patriot movement?

It is now almost certain the FBI set-up the Hutaree group in Michigan by inserting agents provocateurs who encouraged violence. The corporate media then orchestrated a hysterical campaign designed to insinuate that the Tea Party movement shares the Hutaree’s anti-government philosophy. The sensationalized raid in Michigan followed a week of corporate media propaganda claiming racist Tea Party activists had assaulted Democrats in Washington as they prepared to vote for the Obamacare bill in Congress.

As Infowars.com and others have demonstrated, the accusations had absolutely no basis in fact. The effort was part of a larger campaign designed to portray the patriot movement as extremist and potentially violent. For months now, CNN, MSNBC, and the corporate media at large – taking their talking points from the SPLC and the ADL — have argued that opposition to Obama and the unconstitutional expansion of the federal government represents the ascension of a dangerous white supremacist and militia movement in the United States…

U.S. Judge Denies Bail For Militia Group Members

(Reuters) – A U.S. federal judge on Friday ordered eight members of an extremist militia group held in custody until they could be tried on accusations of plotting to kill police officers and wage a war on the U.S. government…