In northern Africa, the Obama administration is trying to fight a proxy war to curb the growing al-Qaeda presence in the region (which was triggered in part by the NATO war in Libya that collapsed the Gadhafi regime and flooded the area with foreign jihadists). The U.S. is trying to step up support for thousands of Nigerian soldiers, but the Leahy law is getting in the way.
Daily Archives: 30. Juni 2013
HRW slams Saudi Arabia after 7 jailed for ‘inciting protests’ on Facebook
Human Rights Watch has slated Saudi Arabia for violating international human rights obligations after it jailed seven people for up to 10 years for ‘inciting protests’ via Facebook. The indicted denied charges and said they were tortured into confession.
Museveni pays tribute to Garang, Gadaffi
PRESIDENT Yoweri Museveni has said the late Muammar Gaddafi and John Garang are among the great statesmen of the African continent.
ASEAN hope to reduce China fears
ASEAN members the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei, plus Taiwan, also claim parts of the strategically vital sea.
Verteidigung, nicht Angriff: 10-Punkte-Plan für Chuck Hagel
(10.3.2013) Offener Brief an Verteidigungsminister Chuck Hagel: Ein 10-Punkte-Plan
An Open Letter to Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel: A 10-Point Plan
(07.März 2013)
1. Refuse to put troops into harm’s way as part of an illegal, immoral war of aggression. The 2001 Authorization to Use Military Force (AUMF), signed as a knee-jerk reaction to 9/11 has been used, first by the Bush administration, and now by the Obama administration, as a blank check for perpetual war.
DAS IST KEIN GEHEIMGESETZ, IHR SCHURKEN, DAS IST DIE „AUTHORIZATION FOR USE OF MILITARY FORCE“ DIE IHR AM 14.9.2001 UNTERSCHRIEBEN HABT!
…
Die stehen da und sagen „Also, da gab´s ein Geheimgesetz, nach dem die Regierung gemacht hat was sie will.“
http://t.co/4eNge53Uze
Bipartisan Group of 26 Senators Seek Answers from DNI Clapper on Bulk Data Collection Program
“We are concerned that by depending on secret interpretations of the PATRIOT Act that differed from an intuitive reading of the statute, this program essentially relied for years on a secret body of law,” the senators wrote in the letter. This and misleading statements by Intelligence officials have “prevented our constituents from evaluating the decisions that their government was making, and will unfortunately undermine trust in government more broadly. The debate that the President has now welcomed is an important first step toward restoring that trust.”
Merkel Plays to Germans as She Jousts With Europe
Ms. Merkel, 58 and in power since 2005, will seek a third four-year term in national elections on Sept. 22. Until then, she wants to avoid rocking the boat with voters, who give her popularity ratings in the 60 percent to 70 percent range and seem quite content with the give-and-take, muddling-through approach she has adopted in the protracted euro crisis, often to the consternation of financial markets.
Facebook‘s outmoded Web crypto opens door to NSA spying
Facebook uses encryption keys with a length of only 1024 bits, while Web companies including Apple, Microsoft, Twitter, Dropbox, and even Myspace have switched to exponentially more secure 2,048-bit keys.
Ich reg mich ja schon seit Tagen über Merkel und co auf, die jetzt plötzlich gerechten Zorn über die Schnüffelei simulieren, dabei sind sie selber bis zum Hals verstrickt.
Der NSA-Lauschposten in Berlin auf dem Teufelsberg ist recht bekannt, ansonsten gab es da noch einen recht großen in Bayern in Bad Aibling, und auch sonst noch einige andere.
Hahaha, Die EU-Parlamentarier sind erschüttert und entsetzt, dass die USA nicht nur alle anderen EU-Bürger abhört sondern auch sie!1!!
Da ist plötzlich keine Vokabel zu stark
Glenn Greenwald’s Speech to the Socialism Conference [with Transcript]
What we are really talking about here is a globalized system that prevents any form of electronic communication from taking place without its being stored and monitored by the National Security Agency. It doesn’t mean they’re listening to every call. It means they’re storing every call and have the capability to listen to them at any time and it does mean that they’re collecting millions upon million upon millions of our phone and email records.
Glenn Greenwald hat bei einer Sozialisten-Konferenz eine Rede gehalten.
Und er kündigt auch gleich die nächste Runde der Veröffentlichungen an:
Attorneys Openly Revolt Against General Counsel Over Failure To Punish PG&E For Pipeline Explosion
A deadly explosion killed eight people and destroyed 38 homes in San Bruno, California on September 9, 2010. The cause of the destruction was a natural gas pipeline owned by Pacific Gas & Electric that ran underneath the homes.
Iran to host 3rd summit of GECF
The Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF) is an intergovernmental organization of 11 of the world‘s leading natural gas producers made up of Algeria, Bolivia, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Iran, Libya, Nigeria, Qatar, Russia, Trinidad and Tobago and Venezuela.
Iraq not to transit Iranian electricity
Baghdad says that Iraqi Kurdistan‘s problems should be solved before the country starts transiting Iran‘s electricity to Syria and Lebanon, Iran‘s Deputy Energy Minister Esmaeel Mahsouli said on Sunday
If People Knew What Was Going On, They Would Stop It
Right now the U.S. Trade Representative is negotiating a Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal with eleven countries, including Japan, Mexico, Canada, Singapore and Vietnam. For months, the Trade Representative has refused any public access to the Trans-Pacific Partnership‘s composite bracketed text – the language proposals being negotiated on by the United States and other countries.
I believe in transparency and democracy, and I think the U.S. Trade Representative should too. So I asked President Obama‘s nominee for U.S. Trade Representative, Michael Froman, three questions:
FBI Document—'[DELETED]‘ Plots to Kill Occupy Leaders ‚If Deemed Necessary‘
To repeat: this comes from the FBI itself. The question, then, is: What did the FBI do about it?
Senators accuse government of using ‚secret law‘ to collect Americans‘ data
The senators accuse officials of making misleading statements and demand that the director of national intelligence James Clapper answer a series of specific questions on the scale of domestic surveillance as well as the legal justification for it.
Jordanians ‚suspicious‘ about US military deployment
Jordan Perry, a senior analyst at Maplecroft risk group, said Washington wanted to assure Amman that it „remains committed to upholding the country‘s border security as the conflict in Syria continues and threatens to spread even more outside its borders.“
Trans-Pacific Partnership and Monsanto
Something is looming in the shadows that could help erode our basic rights and contaminate our food. The Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) has the potential to become the biggest regional Free Trade Agreement in history, both in economic size and the ability to quietly add more countries in addition to those originally included.
The Tajiks Who Fight Their Own Government
It was the kind of operation the U.S. – worried about instability on Afghanistan‘s northern border – has been training and equipping Tajikistan‘s special forces units to carry out.
But to the people of Khorog, the operation looked very different. The scale of the attack – using helicopters, mortars, and the country‘s most elite soldiers – was clearly far beyond what was necessary to capture four men.
New program plans to mandate electronic updateable license plates that track your every move
According to tech website PopSci:
A small company in South Carolina is attempting to introduce electronic license plates for the state‘s cars and trucks. The plates are fairly simple: An electrophoretic display that can display certain bold words when necessary, like „STOLEN“ or „UNINSURED.“
Rescue roaches: Scientists make cyber-critters blaze trails in disaster zones
Researchers embedded a chip with a wireless receiver and transmitter on to a Madagascar Cockroach, with the backpack wired to the creature’s sensory organs.
Google reveals London ‚groundscraper‘
Director of Allford Hall Monaghan Morris Simon Allford said: „This building is underpinned by cutting edge design intelligence and technologies to provide a sophisticated twenty first century working environment for Google‘s staff.
Crown Post Office Staff Stage Strike Action
The Post Office insists staff will be transferred to a new employer or offered voluntary redundancy, but the Communication Workers Union predicts 800 jobs will be lost.
GPS-based system to track Bharat Nirman hoardings
The department of audio visual publicity is shortlisting firms that can provide state-of-the-art technology to set up the GPS-based system for outdoor publicity, officials said.
Columbus statue taken from pedestal
A court issued an injunction temporarily blocking its transfer to another location.
PM pledges Pakistan terrorism help
He said: „This is a battle that requires a tough and uncompromising security response.
Cameron In Pakistan To Meet Newly-Elected PM
Although the talks will cover Afghanistan, issues of „prosperity, security and trade“ are also on the agenda.
ASEAN foreign ministers and dialogue partners gather in Brunei for regional meetings
The unity of the-10 nation Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is expected to be under spotlight again this weekend as its foreign ministers and their counterparts from dialogue partners gathered in Brunei.