thenatureofmind

Finian Cunningham - CIA Terror Chief Pulls Rank in Kiev

There could hardly be an American official more sinister than CIA director John Brennan, yet when his mysterious visit to Kiev at the weekend is exposed in various news media the White House responded with vacuous naiveté and as if Russia is foolishly over-reacting.

It is not without good reason that Brennan is known unofficially as Obama’s «assassination and torture tsar». The 58-year-old spymaster is the embodiment of how Washington has itself become a secret, unaccountable government that has set itself above the law in the running of torture and assassination programs by presidential command. Brennan is the «éminence grise» of the White House’s covert world of state terrorism.  

Following disclosure of Brennan’s weekend visit to the Ukrainian capital, the White House was evidently caught on the back foot. The Oval Office made the somewhat unconvincing attempt to portray it as a perfunctory meeting between security officials. Well, if it was merely a routine itinerary then why was the fact of the meeting such a closely guarded secret – up until the matter was leaked by parliamentary sources in Kiev?

Finian Cunningham - CIA Terror Chief Pulls Rank in Kiev

Anti-govt protesters seize Ukrainian APCs, army units 'switch sides'

Kiev’s military faced off with protesters in east Ukraine on Wednesday to sort out their differences…and found none. Soldiers appeared reluctant to go into battle against anti-government activists.

When Ukrainian Armored Personnel Carriers (APCs) entered downtown Kramatorsk as part of Kiev’s military operation against anti-government protesters in the east of the country, they were stopped in their tracks, surrounded by crowds of local residents. 

One YouTube video of what happened next shows a woman coming to a soldier with the reproach: “You are the army, you must protect the people.” 

Anti-govt protesters seize Ukrainian APCs, army units 'switch sides'

Washington DRIVES The World To WAR CIA INTERVENTION in Eastern Ukraine

This report from Paul Craig Roberts:

The CIA director was sent to Kiev to launch a military suppression of the Russian separatists in the eastern and southern portions of Ukraine, former Russian territories for the most part that were foolishly attached to the Ukraine in the early years of Soviet rule. 

Washington’s plan to grab Ukraine overlooked that the Russian and Russian-speaking parts of Ukraine were not likely to go along with their insertion into the EU and NATO while submitting to the persecution of Russian speaking peoples.  Washington has lost Crimea, from which Washington intended to eject Russia from its Black Sea naval base. Instead of admitting that its plan for grabbing Ukraine has gone amiss, Washington is unable to admit a mistake and, therefore, is pushing the crisis to more dangerous levels.

Washington DRIVES The World To WAR CIA INTERVENTION in Eastern Ukraine

To be yourself....

“To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.” 
― Ralph Waldo Emerson

America's Coup Machine: Destroying Democracy Since 1953

Soon after the 2004 U.S. coup to depose President Jean-Bertrand Aristide of Haiti, I heard Aristide's lawyer Ira Kurzban speaking in Miami.  He began his talk with a riddle: "Why has there never been a coup in Washington D.C.?"  The answer: "Because there is no U.S. Embassy in Washington D.C."  This introduction was greeted with wild applause by a mostly Haitian-American audience who understood it only too well.

America's Coup Machine: Destroying Democracy Since 1953 | Alternet.

White House confirms CIA director visited Ukraine over weekend

White House spokesman Jay Carney confirmed that CIA Director John Brennan visited Ukrainian capital Kiev over the weekend and met with high-ranked Ukrainian officials.

Previously, deposed Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich accused Brennan of ordering a crackdown on pro-Russian activists in the east of the country.

The CIA had already dismissed these accusations as "completely false", but did not disclose whether its chief had actually been to Kiev - until now.

White House confirms CIA director visited Ukraine over weekend — RT USA.

2014 Pulitzer Prizes honor NSA revelations

A smackdown of the secret government...

The Washington Post and The Guardian won the Pulitzer Prize in public service Monday for revealing the U.S. government's sweeping surveillance efforts in stories based on thousands of secret documents handed over by National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden.

The Pulitzer for breaking news was awarded to The Boston Globe for its coverage of the deadly Boston Marathon bombing.

The awards are American journalism's highest honor.

2014 Pulitzer Prizes honor NSA revelations - CBS News.

Out in the Open: Inside the Operating System Edward Snowden Used to Evade the NSA

When NSA whistle-blower Edward Snowden first emailed Glenn Greenwald, he insisted on using email encryption software called PGP for all communications. But this month, we learned that Snowden used another technology to keep his communications out of the NSA’s prying eyes. It’s called Tails. And naturally, nobody knows exactly who created it.

Tails is a kind of computer-in-a-box. You install it on a DVD or USB drive, boot up the computer from the drive and, voila, you’re pretty close to anonymous on the internet. At its heart, Tails is a version of the Linux operating system optimized for anonymity. It comes with several privacy and encryption tools, most notably Tor, an application that anonymizes a user’s internet traffic by routing it through a network of computers run by volunteers around the world.

Out in the Open: Inside the Operating System Edward Snowden Used to Evade the NSA | WIRED.

A Thought from Rumi...

Out beyond the world of ideas of wrong doing and right doing, there is a field. I will meet you there.

Fueling the Fleet, Navy Looks to the Seas - U.S. Naval Research Laboratory

Scientists at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory are developing a process to extract carbon dioxide (CO2) and produce hydrogen gas (H2) from seawater, subsequently catalytically converting the CO2 and H2 into jet fuel by a gas-to-liquids process.

"The potential payoff is the ability to produce JP-5 fuel stock at sea reducing the logistics tail on fuel delivery with no environmental burden and increasing the Navy's energy security and independence," says research chemist, Dr. Heather Willauer. 

Fueling the Fleet, Navy Looks to the Seas - U.S. Naval Research Laboratory.