Our "terrorist" tracking system by the numbers

Ashley Wells, Pfc. Sandoval, Wisdom Quarterly; Jeremy Scahill and Ryan Devereaux (The Intercept, "Barack Obama’s Secret Terrorist-Tracking System, by the Numbers"

Support independent cartooning: join Sparky's List—and visit Tom Tomorrow's Emporium of Fun, featuring the new book and plush Sparky! (The Nation/ThisModernWorld.com).

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Biggest group on watchlist not terrorists

Nearly half of the people on the U.S. government’s widely shared database of terrorist suspects are not connected to any known terrorist group, according to classified government documents obtained by The Intercept.

 

Of the 680,000 people caught up in the government’s Terrorist Screening Database -- a watchlist of “known or suspected terrorists” that is shared with local law enforcement agencies, private contractors, and foreign governments more -- than 40 percent are described by the government as having “no recognized terrorist group affiliation.” That category -- 280,000 people -- dwarfs the number of watchlisted people suspected of ties to al Qaeda, Hamas, and Hezbollah combined.

1984: The numbers are shocking and aimed at something far more sinister than "terrorism."

 

Peter, are you targeting American citizens?

The documents, obtained from a source in the intelligence community, also reveal that the Obama Administration has presided over an unprecedented expansion of the “terrorist” screening system. Since taking office, Obama has boosted the number of people on the no fly list more than tenfold, to an all-time high of 47,000 -- surpassing the number of people barred from flying under [Unprecedented President] George W. Bush.

 

Obama and Nixon (TTDB)

“If everything is terrorism, then nothing is terrorism,” says David Gomez, a former senior FBI special agent. The watchlisting system, he adds, is “revving out of control.”

 

The classified documents were prepared by the National Counterterrorism Center, the lead agency for tracking individuals with suspected links to international terrorism. Stamped “SECRET” and “NOFORN” (indicating they are not to be shared with foreign governments), they offer the most complete numerical picture of the watchlisting system to date. Among the revelations:

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When Guns Are Everywhere in police hands (Tom Tomorrow/thismodernworld.com)

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• The second-highest concentration of people designated as “known or suspected terrorists” by the government is in Dearborn, Michigan -- a city of 96,000 that has the largest percentage of Arab-American residents in the country.
• The government adds names to its databases, or adds information on existing subjects, at a rate of 900 records/day.
• The CIA uses a previously unknown program, code-named Hydra, to secretly access databases maintained by foreign countries and extract  data to add to the watchlists.

Puppet "Capt. America" and Nixon (thenation)

A U.S. counterterrorism official familiar with watchlisting data told The Intercept that as of November 2013, there were approximately 700,000 people in the Terrorist Screening Database, or TSDB, but declined to provide the current numbers. Last month, the Associated Press, citing federal court filings by government lawyers, reported that there have been 1.5 million names added to the watchlist over the past five years. More

The Burning Continues across USA

CC Liu, Ashley Wells, Pat Macpherson, Wisdom Quarterly; SCPR.org; TheGuardian.com

Ukraine tired of police abuse then lost Crimea

A wildfire burning in a steep, remote area of the Angeles National Forest is 90 percent contained and no flames were showing.

 

Forest spokesperson Justin Tyler says crews made good progress Friday against the fire that has charred 190 acres of dry brush and chaparral. He says crews are busy dousing hotspots.

 

The blaze was reported shortly before 1:00 pm Thursday above the foothill city of Glendora, northeast of Los Angeles. No buildings are threatened.

 
Two firefighters received heat-related injuries and a third was cut while battling the flames in hot, dry weather. The cause of the fire is under investigation.

Saying NO to Israel

The Guardian via Transudationism

(We Blocked the Boat!)  Blockade succeeds as word spreads that ship is off the coast of California, closer to Santa Cruz, and will not be docking that day

An Israeli ship that was scheduled to dock at the port of Oakland in California on Saturday [Aug. 16, 2014] remained at sea as between 2,000 and 3,000 pro-Palestinian Northern California activists streamed towards the port entrance, chanting and waving flags. The protesters intended to form a picket line to prevent work crews from unloading the ship. Activists had originally planned to meet at 5:00 am for a blockade of the Zim Integrated Shipping Services vessel, but word that its arrival had been delayed prompted organizers to push the protest back until later in the afternoon. More

When Pigs Surf

Jesus Christ lizard running across stream

(GoPro) Kama can hang ten in Hawaii because pigs, like other four-legged animals, can swim simply by walking in (not on) water. Except for the Jesus Lizard the Basilisk, who can walk on water (like naga-dragons or snakes who fly in Southeast Asia). How is it this gentle man can go from loving a piglet, one of the smartest and most sensitive creatures in the animal realm, yet eat it with an apple in its mouth or as bacon or as thoracic area "ribs" with BBQ sauce? Guess most people only think they "love" animals until their conditioning kicks in. Our minds being colonized to think flesh eating is "normal," we simply follow this training which goes against our nature, which is basically good.