Daily Archives: 16. August 2013


16.08.2013 - 22:43 [ Techdirt ]

Wyden And Udall: Latest Revelations Of Abuses ‚Are Just The Tip Of A Larger Iceberg‘

If the past is any indication, the intelligence community and the White House will ignore this. Sooner or later they‘re going to have to realize that every misrepresentation, every denial later proven false and every outright lie is only making things even worse. The window has probably already passed for the administration and the intelligence community to regain the trust of the public, but if it‘s going to happen, having the government come clean would be a good start.

16.08.2013 - 22:40 [ Politico ]

Obama upends intel panel

The White House dismissed the bulk of President Barack Obama’s premier panel of outside intelligence advisers earlier this year, leaving the blue-ribbon commission largely vacant as the public furor built over the National Security Agency’s widespread tracking of Americans’ telephone calls.

16.08.2013 - 22:28 [ Techdirt ]

Right Before Snowden Leaks, President Obama Fired Nearly All Members On Key Intelligence Advisory Board

Remember last week‘s press conference, where President Obama insisted that he had already kicked off the process of a major review of the way we do intelligence and surveillance in this country — and about how he was going to set up an „outside“ review group to look all this over? The same review group that will be set up by and report to James Clapper (but, the White House assures us, not run by him)?

16.08.2013 - 22:10 [ The Raw Story ]

Bloomberg endorses fingerprinting housing project residents for their own good

The idea was criticized by two candidates for the Democratic primary nomination, Christine Quinn and Bill de Blasio.

“It’s a completely ludicrous and outrageous notion that (Housing Authority) residents and their guests should have to be fingerprinted to gain access to their own homes and to visit family and friends,” Quinn told the Advance.

16.08.2013 - 20:32 [ ABC News ]

McCain, Graham Call for Suspending US Aid to Egypt

Sens. John McCain of Arizona and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina traveled to Egypt last week at President Barack Obama‘s request. McCain and Graham said Friday the interim government and the military are, quote, „taking Egypt down a dark path, one that the United States cannot and should not travel with them.“

16.08.2013 - 19:45 [ Radio Utopie ]

Militärdiktatur in Ägypten: Klarstellungen zu populärem Schwachsinn

Nachdem ich mir eben die ARD Tagesschau antun musste, hier schnell die Klarstellung von auch dort immer wieder vorgebrachten Falschdarstellungen und indirekten Rechtfertigungen des laufenden Massenmordes an demonstrierenden Ägypterinnen und Ägyptern, maßgeblich Wählerinnen und Wähler der Muslimbruderschaft und des demokratisch gewählten Präsidenten Mohamed Morsi.

16.08.2013 - 19:43 [ Muslimbruderschaft ]

Video: Coptic Priest Says Police Did Not Protect Churches from Violence Despite Plea

In a video (Preview) , a Coptic bishop complains that the government and police refused to do their duty and guard the churches or even help put out the fire which could have easily been contained.

He also says the attacks were orchestrated, happened all at the same time, using the same methods, and were carried out in parallel with the Rabaa massacre.

The Anti-Coup National Alliance condemns, and will never condone any acts of violence, especially against houses of worship, citizens or property.

16.08.2013 - 17:34 [ Bruce Riedel / Al Monitor ]

Saudi Arabia and The Illusory Counterrevolution

Sisi is well known in Riyadh, where he served as military attaché before being promoted to chief of Egyptian military intelligence. He is said to be a favorite of Prince Muqrin, third in line to the throne. There are widespread rumors in the Middle East that Saudi intelligence provided funding and support for the downfall of Morsi’s government and encouraged the growing popular opposition to his government.

16.08.2013 - 17:26 [ Daily Caller ]

Egypt’s key player: Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia is thought to have been heavily involved in President Morsi’s ouster, partly due to its rivalry with the Muslim Brotherhood’s key financier, Qatar, for regional influence in the Gulf. Just days after Morsi was overthrown, Egypt’s new leaders received a $12 billion aid package from Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Kuwait, and gas shortages that had been plaguing Morsi’s Egypt for months suddenly stopped. Saudi Arabia, with whom General al-Sisi has longstanding connections having been the military attaché in Riyadh, offered its continued support throughout the interim period.

16.08.2013 - 17:21 [ Al Arabiya ]

Saudi King Abdullah declares support for Egypt against terrorism

King Abdullah said Egypt’s stability is being targeted by “haters,” warning that anyone interfering in Egypt’s internal affairs is „igniting sedition.“ (..)
“The situation in Egypt is very critical and Saudi Arabia has put itself on the right side of history,” he said.
Qallab added that King Abdullah had to “take a historical step and side with the correct form of Islam.”

16.08.2013 - 17:13 [ Neue Züricher Zeitung ]

Geheime Gruppen: Das internationale Netzwerk der Polizei

13.6.2012 International aktiv ist die Schweiz weiter in der «Cross Border Surveillance Working Group» (CSW) – seit 2005 –, deren Kern zwölf EU-Mitgliedstaaten bilden. Die Gruppe tauscht Informationen in den Bereichen grenzüberschreitende Überwachung und Observationstechnik aus, so wie diese explizit in den Polizei-Kooperationsverträgen und im Schengener Abkommen vorgesehen seien, betont Bersier.
Auf diesem Arbeitsgebiet nimmt das Bundesamt für Polizei regelmässig an Konferenzen zur «Quellen-Telekommunikations-Überwachung» im Ausland teil. Diese Technik stelle eine Möglichkeit dar, Kommunikation vor der Verschlüsselung abzugreifen, erklärt Bersier. Wie die deutschen Dokumente zeigen, war auch die Kantonspolizei Bern an solchen Treffen präsent.

16.08.2013 - 17:05 [ Indymedia ]

Project ISLE

24.07.2012 Europol provides a secure database and communication channels in order to permit secure communication and information exchange between participants.

ISLE‘s official starting date as an EU-funded project was 9 November 2009, with one document stating that the project „will take no more than 36 months, including three months for the production and submission of the final report.“

16.08.2013 - 17:03 [ Jura Blog ]

International vernetzter Schnüffelstaat mit Schweizer Beteiligung

Juni 2012 Im Zusammenhang mit dem Bundestrojaner gelangten auf deutschem Umweg im letzten Jahr unter anderem auch Informationen zum international vernetzten Schweizer Schnüffelstaat an die Öffentlichkeit. Auf meine Nachfrage hin bestätigte das Bundesamt für Polizei im Februar 2012 ausserdem die Beteiligung der Schweiz an folgenden internationalen Arbeitsgruppen:
Cross-Border Surveillance Working Group (CSW, seit 2005) European Cooperation Group on Undercover Activities (ECG, seit 2003) International Business Secretariat (IBS) International Working Group on Undercover Policing (IWG, seit 1990) Remote Forensic Software User Group (RFS User Group, ursprünglich DigiTask User Group, seit 2008) Neue Erkenntnisse zum international vernetzten Schnüffelstaat

16.08.2013 - 16:58 [ Global Research ]

‚COPS WITHOUT BORDERS‘: The Secret International Working Group of Undercover Police

(12.2012) “Private-sector companies are also involved in this group. It is possible that it encourages the use of audio surveillance technology during undercover operations, such as that which came to light in connection with operations by British police spies in Germany. In Germany, however, audio surveillance of this kind violates federal and state laws.

16.08.2013 - 15:28 [ Ria Novosti ]

Ägypten sagt Marineübung mit Türkei ab

„Dieser Beschluss resultiert aus dem Protest gegen unannehmbare Erklärungen und Handlungen der Türkei“, heißt es in einer am Freitag in Kairo veröffentlichten Erklärung des Außenministeriums. Diese Handlungen stellten eine Einmischung in die inneren Angelegenheiten Ägyptens dar und liefen dem Willen des ägyptischen Volkes zuwider, wie die Nachrichtenagentur Reuters meldete.

16.08.2013 - 15:28 [ Jennys Blog ]

Der ESM bekommt einen Risiko-Zulieferer: Im Herbst 2014 kommt der SSM

IWF, EZB, EBA, EFSF, ESM und viele andere Abkürzungen schmücken die Europolitik. Im Herbst 2014 soll der SSM hinzu kommen. Das Kürzel steht für “Single Supervisory Mechanism”. Diese zentrale Bankenaufsicht soll Voraussetzung dafür sein, dass angeschlagene Banken direkte Finanzhilfen aus dem Rettungsfonds ESM erhalten können, was eigentlich nie vorgesehen war.

16.08.2013 - 15:13 [ Bundeskanzlerin ]

Bundeskanzlerin Merkel telefoniert mit dem französischem Präsidenten Hollande zur Lage in Ägypten

Die Bundeskanzlerin erläuterte, dass die Bundesregierung angesichts der jüngsten Entwicklung ihre Beziehungen mit Ägypten auf den Prüfstand stellen werde. Sie ist sich mit dem Präsidenten dahingehend einig, dass auch die EU die Beziehungen zu Ägypten einer umfassenden Prüfung unterziehen solle.

Die Bundeskanzlerin und Staatspräsident Hollande haben vereinbart, sich zur weiteren Entwicklung in Ägypten eng abzustimmen.

16.08.2013 - 15:01 [ AntiWar ]

Egypt’s Tiananmen

Sen. Rand Paul’s bill to cut off US aid to Egypt certainly was prescient, wasn’t it?

16.08.2013 - 14:58 [ Techdirt ]

Simple Question: How Could President Obama Not Know That Ed Snowden Had The IG Report That Showed Widespread NSA Abuse?

So here‘s the thing I don‘t understand: by this point, the government must at least have some idea of what documents Snowden got, even if they haven‘t quantified all of them. They had to know that this Inspector‘s General report was out there and there was a high likelihood that Snowden had leaked it as well.

So I honestly can‘t figure out what the White House was thinking in having Obama make such a statement.