Pardon My Politics

Another reality in the post-9/11 growth of intelligence analysis capability is outsourcing. We have outsourced the management of billlion-dollar technical collection programs, and we have contracted intelligence analysts.

The National Reconnaissance Office is a lot more than an office; may have the largest budget of all the U.S. intelligence agencies. It may also be the best example of how U.S. government contractors, i.e., private industry, are taking over the government and costing us needless billions of dollars. The NRO buys spy satellites. Over the course of the last ten years, much of its government employee expertise has largely been eliminated by swapping career experts out Read the rest of this entry »

Speculators at petroleum exchanges in New York City, London, and Singapore relentlessly drive up the price of a barrel of oil to ever higher levels. These speculators are nothing but underhanded imperialist thieves manipulating “demand” for oil within the context of the demand and supply fundamentals. Read the rest of this entry »

In reaction to 9/11, our modern Pearl Harbor, the Federal Government has gone far beyond taking measures to prevent terrorism. They’ve taken measures to prevent the freedom of US citizens. In the hurricane of post 9/11 legislation sweeping through Congress, a suspicious little addendum to a military appropriations and tsunami relief bill (HR1268), the Real ID Act of 2005(HR418), handed to the Federal Government all control over our state-issued driver’s license. Read the rest of this entry »

The Iraq war was one of the most disastrous foreign policy decisions of the last few decades, and citizens across America and the world have looked on with horror as politicians and power got out of hand. Some of the primary arguments around the real motivations for war surround the rebuilding effort, and the benefits this would bring to US-based contractors and business owners. However, there are a number of reasons why this argument, in particular, is flawed and the Iraq war has actively punished the US economy - in addition the punishment dealt to innocent Iraqis and young Americans in the armed forces. Read the rest of this entry »

The Iraq war has cost us all a great deal. In terms of the taxes, we’ve paid heavily towards invading Iraq needlessly, and we continue to pay towards the ongoing war effort. In terms of the economy, we’ve paid the price thanks to NAFTA and service contract outsourcing. In terms of human lives, we’ve paid the price with our young adults. But from the wreckage of Iraq and the disaster of an invasion that took place initially, the advantages of war have been cast to foreign shores, diverting jobs from the struggling US employment market to the detriment of the economy.

The jobs arising from Iraq and the rebuilding effort could have gone to American families. However, the North American Free Trade Agreement has meant that jobs have been diverted largely to Mexico and Canada, resulting in further damage to the US economy as a result of the campaign in Iraq. Read the rest of this entry »