Gary Webb and the CIA

Check out Andrei Burke's 10-3-14 article entitled "When the CIA Conspired to Kill Journalist Gary Webb."  Here are a few excerpts:

"The recent trove of documents that the CIA released under the Freedom of Information Act contained a six-page article titled 'Managing a Nightmare: CIA Public Affairs and the Drug Conspiracy Story' [written by Nicolas Dujmovic] that was published in the agency’s in-house newsletter Studies in Intelligence. The article is a detailed account of the initial impact and eventual aftermath of Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Gary Webb’s groundbreaking 'Dark Alliance' series of reports, published in 1996 by the San Jose Mercury News. Webb’s series was an in depth investigation into the CIA’s implicit role in the explosion of crack cocaine in America’s urban centers, through Nicaragua’s Contra rebels, who were trafficking cocaine into the United States to fund their counter-revolutionary campaign […].

"The CIA closely observed these developments, and collaborated when and where it could with outlets challenging Webb’s story. In 'Managing a Nightmare,' Dujmovic boasted that the agency virtually abandoned its longstanding policies in order to discredit Webb and the series. 'For example, in order to help a journalist working on a story that would undermine the Mercury News allegations, Public Affairs was able to deny any affiliation of a particular individual—which is a rare exception to the general policy that CIA does not comment on any individual’s alleged CIA ties,' he wrote.

"[Ryan Devereaux of] The Intercept notes:

"[Dujmovic's 'Managing a Nightmare'] chronicles the shift in public opinion as it moved in favor of the CIA, a trend that began about a month and a half after the series was published. 'That third week in September was a turning point in media coverage of this story,' Dujmovic wrote, citing '[r]espected columnists, including prominent blacks,' along with the New York Daily News, the Baltimore Sun, The Weekly Standard and the Washington Post. The agency supplied the press, 'as well as former Agency officials, who were themselves representing the Agency in interviews with the media,' with 'these more balanced stories,' Dujmovic wrote. The Washington Post proved particularly useful. 'Because of the Post‘s national reputation, its articles especially were picked up by other papers, helping to create what the Associated Press called a "firestorm of reaction" against the San Jose Mercury News.' Over the month that followed, critical media coverage of the series ('balanced reporting') far outnumbered supportive stories, a trend the CIA credited to the Post, The New York Times, 'and especially the Los Angeles Times.' Webb’s editors began to distance themselves from their reporter.

"The CIA 'didn’t really need to lift a finger to try to ruin Gary Webb’s credibility,' said Webb biographer Nick Schou. 'They just sat there and watched these journalists go after Gary like a bunch of piranhas.'

"What was a minor victory for the CIA became a living hell for Webb. He was eventually removed from his position at the Mercury News, and ultimately took his own life […]."

To read Burke's entire article, click HERE.

The War on ISIS

I highly recommend reading Tory Newmeyer's 9-13-14 Fortune Magazine article entitled "The War on ISIS Already Has A Winner:  The Defense Industry."  Here are some choice excerpts:

"It’s far too soon to tell how the American escalation in the sprawling, complex mess unfolding in Iraq and Syria will play out. But this much is clear: As our military machine hums into a higher gear, it will produce some winners in the defense industry.

"New fights mean new stuff, after all. And following the U.S. withdrawal from Iraq and Afghanistan—and the belt-tightening at the Pentagon imposed by steep budget cuts—military suppliers are lining up to meet a suddenly restored need for their wares […].

"'The drone builders are going to have a field day,' says Dov Zakheim, who served as Pentagon Comptroller during the George W. Bush administration. That could mean a tidy profit for privately held General Atomics, maker of the Predator drone, the granddaddy in the category and still widely in use, as well as the second-generation Reaper, designed to carry 3,000 pounds worth of bombs. And to help survey vast expanses of desert, the military will rely on the Global Hawk, made by Northrop Grumman to hover at altitudes as high as 50,000 feet for up to four days at a time. Those vehicles will likely be making use of the Gorgon Stare. This sensor, developed by privately held Sierra Nevada, is capable of scoping a 4-kilometer diameter by filming with nine cameras […].

"It is the munitions makers, however, who stand to reap the biggest windfall, especially in the short term. Topping that list is Lockheed Martin, producer of the Hellfire missile, a precision weapon that can be launched from multiple platforms, including Predator drones. Raytheon, which makes the Tomahawk, a long-range missile launched from the sea, and General Dynamics, which also has a munitions business, are also well-positioned, analysts say."

To read Newmeyer's entire article, click HERE.  

"What Is a Cloud?" in the CHIRON REVIEW

My short story "What Is a Cloud?" has just been published in the latest issue of the CHIRON REVIEW (#97, Fall 2014).  Here's the first sentence of the story:  "During my last semester in high school, at Kurt T. Shery High, a cop almost beat the crap out of me because of the way I answered a question posed to me in a Biology class."  And if you'd like to know what happened after that, order a copy of the CHIRON REVIEW #97 TODAY!!!  (It's a true story, btw.)

To order a copy of the CHIRON REVIEW #97, simply click HERE.

BOXES O' SPIES AND SAUCERS!

About an hour ago I received two boxes from England overbrimming with copies of my first book of fiction, SPIES AND SAUCERS.  Yes, it's available for purchase at last.  Support your local/nonlocal author!  Every sale counts, my friends!  To order a copy of SPIES AND SAUCERS, visit PS Publishing's website by clicking HERE.  (A regular edition as well as a signed, limited edition are both available.)

Thoughts Through Space!

From George Dvorsky's 9-3-14 io9.com article entitled "The First Successful Demonstration of Brain-to-brain Communication in Humans":

"For the first time ever, neuroscientists have demonstrated the viability of direct — and completely non-invasive — brain-to-brain communication in humans. Remarkably, the experiment allowed subjects to exchange mentally-conjured words despite being 5,000 miles apart.

"It's the neuroscientific equivalent of instant messaging. Two human subjects, one in India and one in France, successfully transmitted the words 'hola' and 'ciao' in a computer-assisted brain-to-brain transmission using internet-linked electroencephalogram (EEG) and robot-assisted image-guided transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) technologies.

"It wasn't the most elegant set-up, but it represents an important step towards achieving technological enabled telepathy — the ability to exchange thoughts directly with another person."

To read Dvorsky's entire article, click HERE.

Fake Cell Phone Towers

Some choice excerpts from Avi Bhunjun's 9-12-14 Neon Nettle article entitled "Fake Cell Towers Across U.S. That Gain Access to Your Smartphone":

Around 19 phony cell towers have been located around the United States according to a security company selling Samsung Galaxy S3s with enhanced encryption.  The fake cell towers were discovered in July and were reported by Popular Science that the towers have the ability to attack mobile phones through gaining access to personal information by installing spyware […].

Les Goldsmith, chief executive of security firm ESD America, told Popular Science:

"Interceptor use in the US is much higher than people had anticipated.

"One of our customers took a road trip from Florida to North Carolina and he found eight different interceptors on that trip […]."

He said several of the masts were situated near US military bases. "What we find suspicious is that a lot of these interceptors are right on top of US military bases," he said […].

These tracking devices have existed in the U.S for decades and have even benefited the police and homeland security. However critics suggested that using these devices were morally unethical.

The Wall Street Journal reported in 2011 that the Federal Bureau of Investigations used a [tracking] device known as a stingray to catch tax fraud Daniel David Rigmaiden.

Whilst according to L.A Weekly, The Los Angeles Police Department purchased a stingray/stinger and used it to monitor 21 individuals suspected of murder and burglary. They used this in spite stating the device would be used for 'regional terrorism investigations' in a grant application submitted to the Department of Homeland Security.

Popular Science said that the devices target the smartphone's 'baseband operating system.' This receives radio signals such as Bluetooth and Wi-Fi. Users are worried this compromises the constitutional rights of Americans.

To read Bhunjun's entire article, click HERE.

STINGRAY

What follows are excerpts from Cyrus Farivar's 9-1-14 Ars Technica article entitled "Cities Scramble to Upgrade 'Stingray' Tracking as End of 2G Network Looms":

OAKLAND, CA—Documents released last week by the City of Oakland reveal that it is one of a handful of American jurisdictions attempting to upgrade an existing cellular surveillance system, commonly known as a stingray.

The Oakland Police Department, the nearby Fremont Police Department, and the Alameda County District Attorney jointly applied for a grant from the Department of Homeland Security to "obtain a state-of-the-art cell phone tracking system," the records show.

Stingray is a trademark of its manufacturer, publicly traded defense contractor Harris Corporation, but "stingray" has also come to be used as a generic term for similar devices.

The cellular surveillance system's upgrade, known as Hailstorm, is necessary. Existing stingray devices will no longer work in a few years as older phone networks get turned off.

According to Harris' annual report, which was filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission last week, the company profited over $534 million in its latest fiscal year, the most since 2011.

"We do not comment on solutions we may or may not provide to classified Department of Defense or law enforcement agencies," Jim Burke, a spokesman for Harris, told Ars.

Other locales known to be in the process of related federally-funded upgrades include Tacoma, Wash.; Baltimore, Md.; Chesterfield, Va.; Sunrise, Fla.; and Oakland County, Mich. There are likely many more, but such purchases are often shrouded in secrecy.

Worse still, cops have lied to courts about the use of such technology. Not only can stingrays be used to determine a phone’s location, but they can also intercept calls and text messages. Relatively little is known about how stingrays are precisely used by law enforcement agencies nationwide, although documents have surfaced showing how they have been purchased and used in some limited instances. Last year, Ars reported on leaked documents showing the existence of a body-worn stingray. In 2010, Kristin Paget famously demonstrated a homemade device built for just $1,500.

Robert Shipway, of the Alameda County Public Defender’s Office, said he was not aware of their described use during the process of criminal discovery in county prosecutions in recent years. That could mean that local law enforcement and prosecutors are concealing or obscuring their use […].

"The most frustrating part of this whole situation is that the county continually refuses to share information on what the technology does, while telling lawmakers and the public to just trust them," Michigan state representative Tom McMillin said in a statement in June 2014. "Among other things, this technology can mimic cell towers to collect data, and citizens wouldn’t have any way of knowing their privacy, or worse their rights, have been violated. To me, that runs into our constitutional rights."

To read Farivar's entire article, click HERE.