hi all, I tried to warn you. right after 9/11 I could smell the writing on the wall. (or the dead rat.) bush decided to build up the DHS, dept of homeland security in response. that single decision has led to some very heavy, now-metastasizing karma.

its taken 2 yrs of some serious investigative reporting. the wash post announced a new series of articles on the US police state. they have trouble naming it. its not really the "military industrial complex" of eisenhowers generation, because it doesnt make weapons anymore. its primary "product" is information analysis, basically IT coupled with armies of analysts.

they say its out of control. I think thats an understatement.

they say its like an unaccountable 4th branch of government. I think they are putting it lightly. they didnt tell you about that branch in school did they?

they portray it as a vast, possibly ineffective bureacracy. I would suspect it is not so harmless. quite to the contrary. its mere existence is a massive threat to human rights everywhere-- not merely to americans.

they dont call it a "cyber police state", but thats clearly what it is, isnt it?

the parallels with nazi germany are unavoidable. does that make me unpatriotic? whatever. now, obviously, nazi germany's secret police force was largely aligned to identify jews and the other "undesirables" to figure out who to ship off to the concentration camps. overtly, we do not "yet" have that situation here in the US, although there are many rumors of concentration-camp like facilities around the US.

so our secret police force is a little different, its focused internally, but also has a strong external focus all over the world.

but the point to make is that the Nazi german police force, as massive and feared as it was, pales in size to this gargantuan, monstrous, living self-purpetuating bureacracy, that sits right beside us, growing, like a cancer.

lets take another legendary secret police in the world, the KGB. the KGB was tiny compared to the current size of the US cyber police state. one simlarity is that the KGB was focused on political activists and dissidents. but here there is strong overlap with the US cyber police state.

its repeatedly reported that political protestors are on the US no-fly lists. so they're not sent to jail. but these days, isnt flying in a plane, crossing countries, or freedom from intrusive/invasive body searches at borders something nearing a basic human right?

is it protecting us? the propaganda blaring over the gaping black silence assures us it is so. but the authors of the article make the point that its impossible to actually determine that, even for those that are managing it. its an out-of-control, basically cancerous bureacracy.

* * *

oh, lets see. the fbi recently sent a letter to an ISP about a blog site called "blogetery" talking about material that violated national security. now I had never hit this site [has anyone seen it? are there archives anywhere?], but I doubt that it was all that different from open salon. the ISP deleted the site. tens of thousands of blogs were deleted.

and do you think those shadowy intelligence agencies had nothing to do with this? if so, I think you'd be very naive.

and how do we know this information was not posted as a prank? or that it is what the feds claim it was?

and what if someone wanted to take down another blogging system, like, say open salon? do they just anonymously post this magic illegal information and the whole site is shut down? thats quite a Denial of Service trick there, which Im sure a few bored teenagers might like to try sometime. heck, maybe they can find it in the google cache?

I wonder if the FBI even told the ISP which page was "illegal". maybe they just said, "hey, you have illegal al-qaeda info on one of your blogs. sorry, we cant tell you which one, thats classified." and of course the FBI would never make an administrative mistake, right?

like notifying the wrong ISP? hahaha, that would be really funny. arent you laughing? or how about this-- maybe the page was satire or parody. or maybe the user took it down after the fbi mailed their letter? maybe the exact same info is on some other web sites. heck, maybe some of it is on government sites. all wacky, comical scenarios. I find them hilarious. and not entirely implausible.

arent you proud to be an american?! "due process." "justice." "the american way." "innocent until proven guilty." "greatest human rights and freedoms." boy we sure have the worlds greatest brand recognition, advertising slogan, and marketing campaign, dont we? HAHAHAHA

so, feel safer? and so far this blogetry closure is totally unchallenged. there is no fallout, no flack. there is no lawsuit. the cyber force moves/marches onward to the next target. swift, stealthy, deadly, unchallenged. like a remote-controlled drone over afghanistan. a cyber drone strike! thats the way they like it. thats just the way they "roll". CYBERWAR [tm] ... look, are those crosshairs next on... lets see... wikileaks?

this is the monumental "shadow side" of the US govt, consuming inconceivable amts of tax dollars. 

this is the compartmentalized-cheneyesque-outsourced-corporate-authoritarian-surveillance dystopia, realized. in the flesh. staring at us in the face. we stare at the abyss, and the abyss stares back.

I would argue that it is likely this system is not really concerned fundamentally with national security. its massively outsourced to corporations. its corporate-owned and managed.

therefore, it seems likely it is actually sophisticated veiled system for protecting the corporatocracy.

you may scoff at me, but can you prove me wrong? not even the president of the US has the authority to determine the actual operations of all those SAPs, special access programs.

the idea that the president is "in charge" is an obvious hollywood fantasy, strongly divorced from reality. its been that way for decades, and the slow, choking takeover of govt by the corporatocracy is almost complete.

* * *

whats the solution?

to recognize it, to begin with.

joe sixpack will go on glugging, of course, and it will take many years to ramp this abomination down even if the public starts to smell the rat that it is.

but, it is possible. clinton managed to downsize the military industrial complex significantly in the late 90s when there was talk of the "peace dividend". gates is talking about cutting budgets [of course the fine print is that he wants to cut domestic military budgets in favor of foreign expenditures].

I suggest that we are ready to reap a similar "bogeyman" or "boondoggle" dividend when the public realizes that this behemoth bureacracy is actually a towering scam.

knowledge is power. educate yourself, educate your friends, spread the word. this is a bipartisan issue. (I hate to use that word, but its the only one that fits.)

those who are familiar with psychology understand that we are prone to unthinking reactions from our "reptilian" brain. it really is measured in neurobiology to have massive influence over our behavior. it is measured to exaggerate the fears and actual threat associated with certain situations such as "enemies".

I would argue that the police state, the shadow govt, is a sort of outward embodiment of this psychological imbalance. and it is not harmless! it does not protect us. overreaction is expensive and costly. its like collateral damage or what the cia calls "blowback". overreaction can be damaging, and deadly. it is not so measurable today with our govt, but I believe it will soon become more obvious and "transparent".

and "transparent" is the key word here. did you hear obama talk much about this since  he entered govt? the invisible/shadow police state is a diabolical affront and monolithic counterforce to his legislative agenda emphasizing transparency. but he doesnt have a strong spine to challenge it.

so far, he has mostly let it slide, and in fact legislated in favor of it, for example when he caved, broke a key campaign promise, and voted to approve the retroactive immunity to telephone companies for massive illegal wiretapping. he claimed the "state secrets" privilege in barring the ACLU lawsuit vs. the NSA. [this appeal was just rejected by the supreme court.] all signalling a big Green Light to the continually encroaching police state-- not just by the Executive, but by all the other 3 branches of government, now lying supine, prostrate, subordinate below the superordinate 4th branch.

there is a sliver of light here. obama recently fired his DNI, director of national intelligence, over the underwear bomber fiasco, and congress is nearing hearings on selecting his successor. hopefully a few congressmen will read these articles. of course there certainly isnt much else for them to read about this sprawling monstrosity. because its a new shadow branch of the govt, they're just as "out of the loop" as everyone else.

Top Secret America Grows Out of Control
http://projects.washingtonpost.com/top-secret-america/articles/a-hidden-world-growing-beyond-control/

"Top Secret America" Washington Post Investigation Reveals Massive, Unmanageable, Outsourced US Intelligence System
http://www.democracynow.org/2010/7/19/top_secret_america__washington_post

Report: U.S. intelligence community inefficient, unmanageable
http://www.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/07/19/intelligence.report/

US officials push back at ‘troubling’ spy agency report
http://rawstory.com/rs/2010/0720/officials-push-troubling-spy-agency-report/

DC’s spy establishment in panic mode over Washington Post expose
http://rawstory.com/rs/2010/0716/dcs-spooks-panic-mode-post-expose/

Acting Director of National Intelligence Resigns, Officials Say
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/06/24/acting-director-national-intelligence-resigns-officials-say/

Bomb-making tips, hit list behind Blogetery closure | Media Maverick - CNET News
http://news.cnet.com/8301-31001_3-20010923-261.html

Bomb-Making Tips Behind Blog Closure - Tech Talk - CBS News
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-501465_162-20010965-501465.html

Search Top Secret America’s Database of Private Spooks | Danger Room | Wired.com
http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2010/07/search-through-top-secret-americas-network-of-private-spooks/

BBC News - Thousands of blogs shut down over 'terrorist material'
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-10692501

Hosting Company Says al-Qaeda Website Reason for Removing 73,000 Blogs
http://www.infowars.com/hosting-company-says-al-qaeda-website-reason-for-removing-73000-blogs/

Professor who criticized Bush told added to terrorist 'no-fly' list
http://www.rawstory.com/news/2007/Professor_who_criticized_Bush_added_to_0409.html

6-Year-Old Ohio Girl Placed on 'No-Fly' List
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2010/06/26/year-old-ohio-girl-placed-fly-list/

CIA Holds Terror Suspects in Secret Prisons
Debate Is Growing Within Agency About Legality and Morality of Overseas System Set Up After 9/11
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/11/01/AR2005110101644.html

CONCENTRATION CAMPS IN US: ARE THEY REAL?
http://www.americanfreepress.net/html/hilder_concamps_7239.html

Unlikely Terrorists On No Fly List
Steve Kroft Reports List Includes President Of Bolivia, Dead 9/11 Hijackers
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/10/05/60minutes/main2066624.shtml

American Man in Limbo on No-Fly List
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/16/world/middleeast/16yemen.html

Are You on the No Fly List, Too?
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jim-moore/are-you-on-the-no-fly-lis_b_42443.html

Threshold for Getting Onto No-Fly List Lowered
http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2010/01/no-fly-list/

My Daughter's on the No Fly List
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/chris-kelly/my-daughters-on-the-no-fl_b_406847.html

Stuck in No-Fly Limbo [ACLU lawsuit over no-fly list]
http://original.antiwar.com/fisher/2010/07/01/stuck-in-no-fly-limbo/

Terror Watch List Counter: A Million Plus
http://www.aclu.org/technology-and-liberty/terror-watch-list-counter-million-plus

Small, focused watch lists are better for civil liberties and for security.
The Government's Own Damning Assessment of the Watchlist System
http://www.aclu.org/technology-and-liberty/watch-lists

DoD Releases Records of Illegal Surveillance
http://www.truth-out.org/dod-releases-records-illegal-surveillance57329

Following Bush lead, Obama moves to block challenge to wiretapping program
http://www.rawstory.com/news/2008/Obama_follows_Bush_policy_on_wiretapping_0406.html

Hepting v. AT&T
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hepting_v._AT%26T

ACLU v. NSA
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ACLU_v._NSA

FBI broke law for years in phone record searches
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/18/AR2010011803982.html

The Geek Labyrinth
The most frightening thing about our unfathomably complex intelligence bureaucracy.
http://www.slate.com/id/2261462/

Intell chief denies charges of too many contractors
http://gcn.com/articles/2010/07/20/intelligence-community-contractor-dependence.aspx

Max Keiser: NSA, CIA and Secret America
Alex and Max talk about the “fourth branch of government,” the top secret government dominated by corporations.
http://www.infowars.com/max-keiser-nsa-cia-and-secret-america/

U.S. government 'outsourcing its brain'
http://www.rawstory.com/news/2007/U.S._Government_outsourcing_its_brain_0330.html

Shadow Elite: Selling Out Uncle Sam & Outsourcing American Power
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/janine-r-wedel/emshadow-eliteem-selling_b_655392.html

Corporate Media Discover Private Spies. In Other News, No WMD in Iraq
http://www.thenation.com/blog/37734/corporate-media-discover-private-spies-other-news-no-wmd-iraq

Tim Shorrock Asks Why It Took the Washington Post So Long to Investigate the US Intelligence System
http://www.democracynow.org/2010/7/19/tim_shorrock_asks_why_it_took

Outsourcing Intelligence: Author R.J. Hillhouse on How Key National Security Projects Are Contracted to Private Firms
http://www.democracynow.org/2007/7/26/outsourcing_intelligence_author_r_j_hillhouse

Who Runs the CIA? Outsiders for Hire.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/06/AR2007070601993.html

Outsourcing National Intelligence
The Nation: Private Corporations Are Now Able To Insert Their Agendas Into President's Briefings
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/07/25/opinion/main3095935.shtml

Ron Paul: On the Bloated Intelligence Bureaucracy
http://www.infowars.com/ron-paul-on-the-bloated-intelligence-bureaucracy/

Slaying the US intelligence behemoth
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/LG24Ak02.html

CIA enlists Google's help for spy work
US intelligence agencies are using Google's technology to help its agents share information about their suspects
http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/tech_and_web/article3652494.ece

Exclusive: Google, CIA Invest in ‘Future’ of Web Monitoring
http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2010/07/exclusive-google-cia/#ixzz0v6O7TN8t