Aug
09
2013
Uprising’s Friday guest expert Adele Stan, longtime chronicler of the right wing, and senior Washington correspondent for RHRealityCheck.org, analyzes today’s news headlines:
The US government has ordered the evacuation of its staff from the US Consulate in Pakistan as a rash of attacks have killed dozens of people. The move comes on the heels of a State Department announcement warning Americans against traveling to Pakistan because of the threats of a terrorist attack. There were major bomb attacks at a funeral in Pakistan and a cemetery in Afghanistan yesterday that led to near 50 people being killed on the first day of Eid al Fitr. President Obama told Marines at Camp Pendleton this week “The end of the war in Afghanistan doesn’t mean the end to the threats to our nation.”
Two companies that provide email encryption services have closed down, apparently over a legal battle with the US government to turn over users’ data. The BBC is reporting that Lavabit and Silent Circle have reportedly closed their doors. Lavabit’s owner, Ladar Levison wrote a letter on his website saying, “I have been forced to make a difficult decision: to become complicit in crimes against the American people, or walk away from nearly 10 years of hard work by shutting down Lavabit.” He also went as far as to say “without congressional action or a strong judicial precedent, I would strongly recommend against anyone trusting their private data to a company with physical ties to the United States.”
A young Latino graffiti artist named Israel Hernandez has been killed in Miami Beach, Florida, by police using a taser gun to his chest. Police pursued Hernandez after catching him spray painting a building, and said they were “forced to use the taser to avoid a physical incident.” The young man was a budding artist and weighed less than 140lbs. His family is demanding an inquiry into his death.
