Link of the Day::This is a story for the ages: a factual description of the U.S. National Security State by Tom Engelhart, of the Web site Tomdispatch,

Ripley's 0059 (Photo credit: WraithTDK)

The seal of the U.S. National Security Agency. The first use was in September 1966, replacing an older seal which was used briefly. For more information, see here and here. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Link of the Day Jan 6 2013: This is a story for the ages: a factual description of the U.S. National Security State by Tom Engelhart, of the Web site Tomdispatch, which he calls “a proselytizing warrior religion” that has spent untold trillions of dollars around the world, whose operations are shrouded in secrecy, which classified 92,000,000 documents in one year, spends  more money on the military than the nearest 13 states put together, and that taken all in all constitutes  ”A Ripley’s Believe It Or Not Security State” conducting “An American Jihad in 2014,” that, dedicated to stopping terrorist attacks on the United States, cannot claim a single success.

Furthermore,although Engelhart does not mention it, our own little high priests here inCanada seem to be keen to emulate the behaviour of their big brother. Read the full article here.

(“Imagine what we call ‘national security’ as, at heart, a proselytizing warrior religion.  It has its holy orders.  It has its sacred texts (classified).  It has its dogma and its warrior priests.  It has its sanctified promised land, known as ‘the homeland.’  It has its seminaries, which we call think tanks.  It is a monotheistic faith in that it broaches no alternatives to itself.  It is Manichaean in its view of the world.  As with so many religions, its god is an eye in the sky, an all-seeing Being who knows your secrets.

(“In addition, in the service of that faith, NSS officials may -- and their religion permits this -- lie to and manipulate the public, Congress, allies, or anyone else, and do so without compunction.  They may publicly deny realities they know to exist, or offer, as Conor Friedersdorf haswritten, statements “exquisitely crafted to mislead.” They do this based on the belief that the deepest secrets of their world and how it operates can only truly be understood by those already inducted into their orders.”)