Anyone who doesn't believe that the US is an incipient fascist state needs only to consult the latest assault on civil liberty by Fox News (sic). Instead of informing citizens, Fox News (sic) informs on citizens. Jason Ditz reports that Fox News (sic) "no longer content to simply shill for a growing police state," turned in a grandmother to the Department of Homeland Security for making "anti-American comments."

The media have segued into the police attitude, which regards insistence on civil liberties and references to the Constitution as signs of extremism, especially when the Constitution is invoked in defense of dissent or privacy or placarded on a bumper sticker. President George W. Bush set the scene when he declared: "you are with us or against us."

Bush's words demonstrate a frightening decline in our government's respect for dissent since the presidency of John F. Kennedy. In a speech to the Newspaper Publishers Association in 1961, President Kennedy said:

"No president should fear public scrutiny of his program, for from that scrutiny comes understanding, and from that understanding comes support or opposition; and both are necessary. [...] Without debate, without criticism, no administration and no country can succeed, and no republic can survive. That is why the Athenian law makers once decreed it a crime for any citizen to shrink from controversy. And that is why our press was protected by the First Amendment."

The press is not protected, Kennedy told the newspaper publishers, in order that it can amuse and entertain, emphasize the trivial, or simply tell the public what it wants to hear. The press is protected so that it can find and report facts and, thus, inform, arouse "and sometimes even anger public opinion."

In a statement unlikely to be repeated by an American president, Kennedy told the newspaper publishers: "I'm not asking your newspapers to support an administration, but I am asking your help in the tremendous task of informing and alerting the American people, for I have complete confidence in the response and dedication of our citizens whenever they are fully informed."

Lawyers and media pundits in Nigeria are accusing the government of acting illegally by agreeing to settle criminal bribery charges against Dick Cheney out of court.

Nigeria charged Cheney and applied for an Interpol arrest warrant earlier this month in connection with a $180-million bribery case. Cheney's former employer, Halliburton, reportedly agreed to pay $35 million to see the charges dropped.

But Nigeria could see as much as $250 million from the deal, in "the form of a deal to free up Nigerian money that had been locked away in Swiss bank accounts," The Nation's John Nichols reports.

Critics of the deal say it has no basis in Nigerian law, which reportedly does not allow plea deals in criminals cases.

In a letter to Nigeria's anti-corruption watchdog, Osuagwu Ugochukwu, a prominent lawyer in Abuja, said the withdrawal of charges against Cheney was a breach of the law.

Iran on Tuesday hanged a man found guilty of feeding Israeli spy agency Mossad with Iranian military secrets and information on its missile programme over a period of six years, news agency IRNA reported.

Ali Akbar Siadat was hanged in Tehran's Evin prison after being condemned to death for "working for Mossad," IRNA quoted the Tehran prosecutor's office as saying.

Siadat was found guilty of having had links with Mossad for six years. "He had received 60,000 dollars to give classified information to the Zionist regime," the state news agency said.

Siadat had acknowledged having established contacts with one Israeli embassy overseas and that he had been giving information "about missiles belonging to the Revolutionary Guards."

The two greatest visions of a future dystopia were George Orwell's 1984 and Aldous Huxley's Brave New World. The debate, between those who watched our descent towards corporate totalitarianism, was who was right. Would we be, as Orwell wrote, dominated by a repressive surveillance and security state that used crude and violent forms of control? Or would we be, as Huxley envisioned, entranced by entertainment and spectacle, captivated by technology and seduced by profligate consumption to embrace our own oppression? It turns out Orwell and Huxley were both right. Huxley saw the first stage of our enslavement. Orwell saw the second.

We have been gradually disempowered by a corporate state that, as Huxley foresaw, seduced and manipulated us through sensual gratification, cheap mass-produced goods, boundless credit, political theater and amusement. While we were entertained, the regulations that once kept predatory corporate power in check were dismantled, the laws that once protected us were rewritten and we were impoverished. Now that credit is drying up, good jobs for the working class are gone forever and mass-produced goods are unaffordable, we find ourselves transported from Brave New World to 1984. The state, crippled by massive deficits, endless war and corporate malfeasance, is sliding toward bankruptcy. It is time for Big Brother to take over from Huxley's feelies, the orgy-porgy and the centrifugal bumble-puppy. We are moving from a society where we are skillfully manipulated by lies and illusions to one where we are overtly controlled.

Orwell warned of a world where books were banned. Huxley warned of a world where no one wanted to read books. Orwell warned of a state of permanent war and fear. Huxley warned of a culture diverted by mindless pleasure. Orwell warned of a state where every conversation and thought was monitored and dissent was brutally punished. Huxley warned of a state where a population, preoccupied by trivia and gossip, no longer cared about truth or information. Orwell saw us frightened into submission. Huxley saw us seduced into submission. But Huxley, we are discovering, was merely the prelude to Orwell. Huxley understood the process by which we would be complicit in our own enslavement. Orwell understood the enslavement. Now that the corporate coup is over, we stand naked and defenseless. We are beginning to understand, as Karl Marx knew, that unfettered and unregulated capitalism is a brutal and revolutionary force that exploits human beings and the natural world until exhaustion or collapse.

"Dissent is what rescues democracy from a quiet death behind closed doors."

- Lewis H. Lapham

The year 2011 will bring Americans a larger and more intrusive police state, more unemployment and home foreclosures, no economic recovery, more disregard by the US government of US law, international law, the Constitution, and truth, more suspicion and distrust from allies, more hostility from the rest of the world, and new heights of media sycophancy.

2011 is shaping up as the terminal year for American democracy. The Republican Party has degenerated into a party of Brownshirts, and voter frustrations with the worsening economic crisis and military occupations gone awry are likely to bring Republicans to power in 2012. With them would come their doctrines of executive primacy over Congress, the judiciary, law, and the Constitution and America's rightful hegemony over the world.

If not already obvious, 2010 has made clear that the US government does not care a whit for the opinions of citizens. The TSA is unequivocal that it will reach no accommodation with Americans other than the violations of their persons that it imposes by its unaccountable power. As for public opposition to war, the Associated Press reported on December 16 that "Defense Secretary Robert Gates says the U.S. can't let public opinion sway its commitment to Afghanistan." Gates stated bluntly what has been known for some time: the idea is passe that government in a democracy serves the will of the people. If this quaint notion is still found in civics books, it will soon be edited out.

In Gag Rule, a masterful account of the suppression of dissent and the stifling of democracy, Lewis H. Lapham writes that candor is a necessary virtue if democracies are to survive their follies and crimes. But where in America today can candor be found? Certainly not in the councils of government. Attorney General John Ashcroft complained of candor-mongers to the Senate Judiciary Committee. Americans who insist on speaking their minds, Ashcroft declared, "scare people with phantoms of lost liberty," "aid terrorists," diminish our resolve," and "give ammunition to America's enemies."

Be true to yourself, and keep your inner Madoff where he belongs.

How do you recognise a psychopath? It's not easy. You can start by reading or watching the film of The Talented Mr Ripley by Patricia Highsmith. Tom Ripley is a man with no prospects who inveigles his way into the lives of the wealthy East Coast elite and, when it seems his con is about to be found out, murders them. Ripley has no moral core.

Or you could study Bernie Madoff, the creator of the world's biggest Ponzi scheme. Ripley is fictional, Madoff is real: but in the mind of a psychopath reality is only a construct, so what's the diff? Like Ripley, Madoff was an impostor in the moneyed world he inhabited until his downfall. Like Ripley, Madoff also appeared not to feel any shame for his crimes. At the time of his trial a Vanity Fair reporter observed that Madoff smirked and did not say sorry. "A sincere apology would imply remorse - a conscience. But then, if Madoff had a conscience, he would have committed suicide by now."

Today the British newspaper The Daily Mail ran a 'human interest' story about a British soldier who is planning to run 52 marathons to "raise money to thank the medical staff who helped him".

Private Karl Hinett was involved in an event that took place in Basra, Iraq in 2005 that produced the 'iconic war image' of Hinett's burning Armored Personnel Carrier (APC) and his comrade Sgt Long in flames jumping from the turret. Hinett, who was on fire inside the APC, plans to run the marathons to contribute to a £3million appeal launched by The Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham Charity to fund a Home For The Brave, a non-medical centre for injured military ­personnel.

According to The Daily Mail, the back story on the image is:

Pte Hinett was just 18 when the attack took place on September 19, 2005. The Warrior came under attack from a mob throwing bricks, stones and petrol bombs in the southern Iraqi city of Basra.There were four other soldiers on board - Sgt George Long, 2nd Lieutenant John Cliffe, Lance Corporal Jo McCann and Private Ryon Burton - who all escaped serious injury.

It was Sgt Long who was seen in the horrific image relayed around the world, his body in flames as he jumped from the turret. Pte Hinett was on fire inside the tank.Seconds after the picture was taken, he wrestled his way out and on to the ground, where he passed out and was taken to hospital. Doctors feared he would die of his burns.

And that's it folks. There's nothing else of any public interest in this story. It really is just the heart-warming tale of a brave British soldier who wanted to give back to other brave British military personnel who did so much for him and for the Iraqi people....

Well, there is one other little detail, but it's so insignificant I can fully understand why the Daily Mail failed to mention it. Although I seem to remember commenting on it at the time:

December 23, 2010 KONG TV News

Both the financial elite and their servants who maintain this system, appear to exhibit behavior that is consistent with symptoms associated with a medical disorder known as psychopathy.(*) Psychopaths, also called sociopaths, are categorized as those who exhibit superficial charm and intelligence, and are absent of delusions or nervousness. Their traits include:

• Unreliability
• Frequent lying
• Deceitful and manipulative behavior (either goal-oriented or for the delight of the act itself)
• Lack of remorse or shame
• Antisocial behavior
• Poor judgment and failure to learn by experience
• Incapacity for love
• Poverty of general emotions
• Loss of insight
• Unresponsiveness in personal relations
• A frequent need for excitement
• An inflated self-worth
• An ability to rationalize their behavior
• A need for complete power
• A need to dominate others

Psychopathy is basically an emotional disorder. The book, The Psychopath, by James Blair, Karina Blair, and Derek Mitchell, states, "The crucial aspect of psychopathy is ... the emotional impairment." According to Dr. J. Reid Meloy's book, The Psychopathic Mind, although psychopaths don't feel emotion in a normal sense, they do experience boredom, envy, exhilaration, contempt, sadistic pleasure, anger, and hints of depression.

Generally, those who believe it's caused by environmental factors use the term sociopath, and believers of the biological theory use the term psychopath. Psychopathy closely resembles Antisocial Personality Disorder (ASPD or APD) or Conduct Disorder (CD) as outlined in the DSM-IV. These disorders are detected using the Psychopathy Checklist-Revisited (PCL-R), the DSM-IV, and other diagnostics.

These character types, comprise about 4% of the population and span every level of society. Psychopaths can be found in every race, culture, profession and class. Because the term psychopath has been used to describe APD types and sociopaths, in this chapter I'll use it as a universal label for these three character types.

I find this to be truly diabolical. I'm reminded of someone I know who grew up in the eastern bloc, telling me that if you didn't join the right party-sponsored organizations as a young student, then you'd find yourself having trouble getting into college, getting a decent job, etc. You had to be on the "inside" and "vetted" by the state to really get anywhere in society. In America, this TWIC and SWAC stuff smacks of exactly that sovietization, and, as usual, is already creeping incrementally. And the TSA is involved in it, extending their reach way beyond what we might have expected.

DHS is leaning on NYC unions, via a "directive," to encourage member construction workers to get TWIC (transportation worker identity credential), a biometric ID, that requires you submit to a government background check and give the government your DNA! You know the rest of the story -- either get vetted by the TSA or you don't work (shall be able neither to buy nor sell).