Others, though, including Seattle, WA photographer Michael Holden, said the Tweet Smart campaign could be just the start of a slippery slope in which reporting is silenced to a larger degree.
Daily Archives: 14. August 2014
New Behind-the-Scenes Video: Airship Flight Over the NSA Data Center
San Francisco – The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) today released a video by acclaimed documentarian Brian Knappenberger (The Internet‘s Own Boy) that explores how and why an unlikely coalition of advocacy organizations launched an airship over the National Security Agency‘s Utah data center. The short documentary explains the urgent need to rein in unconstitutional mass surveillance, just as the U.S. Senate has introduced a new version of the USA FREEDOM Act.
Illegal Spying Below: Activists Fly Anti-Surveillance Airship over NSA‘s Utah Data Center
To celebrate the Fourth of July, EFF teamed up with Greenpeace and the Tenth Amendment Center to launch an airship (yes, you read that correctly) over the NSA‘s sprawling data center in Utah. Acclaimed filmmaker Brian Knappenberger documented our campaign in a short, powerful video. Check out the video and share it with your friends.
A Recap of the First EFF CUP Workshop
At the SOUPS conference in July, we convened the first EFF CUP Workshop. The one-day event brought together a diverse group of software developers and researchers around the common goal of developing an end-to-end encryption communication tool which is both secure and usable. Specifically, our goal was to explore the current state-of-the-art and evaluate the feasibility and usefulness of awarding a prize for the solution today that is closest to this goal.
In Ferguson, Washington Post reporter Wesley Lowery gives account of his arrest
FERGUSON, Mo. — For the past week in Ferguson, reporters have been using the McDonald’s a few blocks from the scene of Michael Brown’s shooting as a staging area. Demonstrations have blown up each night nearby. But inside there’s WiFi and outlets, so it’s common for reporters to gather there.
Filming and Photographing the Police
The ACLU, photographer’s groups, and others have been complaining about such incidents for years — and consistently winning in court. Yet, a continuing stream of incidents of illegal harassment of photographers and videographers makes it clear that the problem is not going away.
MARTIAL LAW PROCLAIMED IN ST. LOUIS.
ARREST OF THE PRESIDENT OF THE BOARD OF POLICE COMMISSIONERS OF ST. LOUIS.
America‘s real patriots fought to expose and end torture
After more than a decade of denial and concealment on the part of our government, President Obama‘s recent acknowledgment that „we tortured some folks“ felt like a milestone. Even in its spare, reductive phrasing, the president‘s statement opened up the possibility, finally, of national reflection, contrition and accountability.
But the president moved quickly to limit that conversation, painting those who authorized torture as „patriots“ who were making difficult decisions under enormous pressure and urging the public not to feel „sanctimonious“ because our military and intelligence leaders have „tough jobs.“
Know Your Rights: Demonstrations and Protests
The right to join with fellow citizens in protest or peaceful assembly is critical to a functioning democracy. But it is also unfortunately true that governments and police can violate this right – through the use of mass arrests, illegal use of force, criminalization of protest, and other means intended to thwart free public expression.
Under Swiss Copyright Reform, Private Sharing And Downloads From Unauthorized Sources Would Still Be Legal
Anybody can download a movie or a soundtrack and share it with his family in the realm of the private sphere. The downloaded movie or soundtrack cannot, however, be made public on the internet — for example through a social media platform — or transmitted to third persons, the [Swiss] official said.
Pakistan: Imran Khan, Tahirul Qadri lead protest march
Both camps are angry about the sinking economy, growing militancy, and failure to deliver core services such as a steady electricity supply.
U.N. Reports Dire Impact on Children in Gaza Strip
But stringent Israeli controls on goods going into Gaza severely constrained past efforts at rebuilding, Ms. Ironside said. She urged an end to Israel’s blockade. “The international community cannot accept the rebuilding of Gaza on the same terms as before,” she said.
Berlin bans car service Uber
Uber was banned by the Tribunal de Commerce in Paris on Aug. 1, and told to change its invoicing system if it wished to continue operating there.
Erinnert ihr euch noch daran, dass die Mautdaten niemals nie nicht für irgendwas außer Mauteintreiben verwendet werden würden?
Ihr müsst euch keine Sorgen machen, sagten sie, wir wissen, dass das ein völlig unerträglicher Grundrechtseingriff ist, den wir da vorschlagen, daher nutzen wir die Daten nicht? Die Polizei war mal wieder auf dem Ohr taub.
TTIP – Gefahr für die Demokratie
Die Verhandlungen zu TTIP, dem Investitions-und Handelsabkommen zwischen der EU und den USA, finden nicht nur im geheimen statt, sondern bedienen vor allem Konzerninteressen. Das zeigen hartnäckige Recherchen und durchgesickerte Dokumente. Was passiert, wenn der Vertrag tatsächlich abgeschlossen wird? Unsere Campaignerin Annette Sawatzki gibt einen Überblick – im Interview zu den Hintergründen:
Putin: Russians need to engage, but have no confrontation with wider world
“We have to develop our country with calm, dignity and efficiency, without barricading ourselves from the outer world or breaking ties with partners, but also without allowing anyone to treat us with disrespect,” he told Russian MPs in Yalta, Crimea.
St. Louis County police will no longer be involved in policing Ferguson
On Wednesday evening, protests in Ferguson for the fourth straight day appeared to resemble a war zone when militarized police began firing tear gas and non-lethal ammunition into the streets towards private residences. Two journalists, one from Washington Post and another from Huffington Post, were briefly detained while on assignment.
Noam Chomsky: Israel’s Actions in Palestine are „Much Worse Than Apartheid“ in South Africa
Part 2 of our conversation with famed linguist and political dissident Noam Chomsky on the crisis in Gaza, U.S. support for Israel, apartheid and the BDS movement. „In the Occupied Territories, what Israel is doing is much worse than apartheid,“ Chomsky says. „To call it apartheid is a gift to Israel, at least if by ‚apartheid‘ you mean South African-style apartheid. What’s happening in the Occupied Territories is much worse. There’s a crucial difference. The South African Nationalists needed the black population. That was their workforce. …
„Sadistic & Grotesque“: Noam Chomsky on How Israel Limits Food & Medicine in Occupied Gaza
On Gaza, MIT Professor Noam Chomsky says the debate inside the Israeli government is whether to allow „bare survival“ or to inflict „misery and starvation,“ as a former Israeli national security adviser recently proposed. „Israeli experts have calculated in detail exactly how many calories, literally, Gazans need to survive, and if you look at the sanctions that they impose, they’re grotesque,“ Chomsky says. „I mean, even John Kerry condemned them bitterly, they’re sadistic — just enough calories to survive.“ Chomsky also addresses
Bündnis gegen Stromprivatisierung in Mexiko
Aktivisten hoffen auf Zwischenwahl zum Abgeordnetenhaus 2015. 15 Millionen Unterschriften nötig. Linke gewinnt an Zuspruch
Pope arrives in Seoul praising peace
A North Korean delegation refused an invitation from the South to attend a Mass of reconciliation which the pope will celebrate at the Myeong-dong Cathedral, seat of the Archdiocese of Seoul.
The pope‘s message was clearly aimed at the North as well as to encourage his Southern hosts.
„For diplomacy, as the art of the possible, is based on the firm and persevering conviction that peace can be won through quiet listening and dialogue, rather than by mutual recriminations, fruitless criticisms and displays of force,“ said Francis.
Embedded deception in the BBC’s coverage of Israel’s onslaught
In the Middle East, people used to say “the BBC says” to adduce truth to their claims. Those days are now gone.
NY Governor Cuomo: Stop supporting Israeli massacres in Gaza!
On August 10, 2014, New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo, Senate Majority Co-Leaders Dean Skelos and Jeff Klein, and Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, announced an upcoming “unity visit” with Israeli leaders “in light of the continued threat of attacks by Hamas and other terrorist organizations”1
But the justification for the visit is in fact a lie; Israel‘s latest massacres in Gaza — whose victims include hundreds of civilians, children, entire families, the elderly, and the disabled — are NOT an act of self defense.
Sign on: Jews Say: End the War on Gaza — No Aid to Apartheid Israel!
(22. Juli) In 1967, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. opposed the Vietnam War with his famous declaration: “For the sake of the hundreds of thousands trembling under our violence, I cannot be silent.”
Today, *we* cannot be silent as the “Jewish state” — armed to the teeth by the U.S. and its allies — wages yet another brutal war on the Palestinian people. Apartheid Israel does not speak for us, and we stand with Gaza as we stand with all of Palestine.
Was willst du jetzt dagegen machen, du „Parlament“?
…
Also, die #CDU-#SPD-Regierung schickt deutsches Militär in das Kriegsgebiet Irak. Und, #Bundestag, du Wrack, du Witz, du Nichts?
…
Lagebeobachtung Irak: Deutsche Operation Kurdenhilfe läuft an
Am (morgigen) Freitag, so erfuhr Augen geradeaus!, sollen vier Transall vom Fliegerhorst Hohn zunächst in Richtung der türkischen Airbase Inçirlik starten und dann weiter nach Erbil (Arbil/Irbil) fliegen, der Hauptstadt der Kurdenregion im Nordirak. An Bord: so genannte nicht-letale Ausrüstung, vor allem Sanitätsmaterial. Weitere Flüge sind geplant.
Amazing crowds on both sides of the Mall. Change will come InshaAllah. #AzadiMarchPTI
…
Sharifs should realise this is end of their monarchy.Tsunami on the Mall & will go all the way 2 Islamabad InshaAllah
…
Siege mentality grips Pakistan ahead of Independence Day protests
Riot police sealed off Pakistan‘s capital with barbed wire and shipping containers on the eve of Independence Day, in a bid to foil mass protests aimed at toppling embattled Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.
Marc Ellis
Marc H. Ellis (* 1952 in North Miami Beach, Florida) ist ein US-amerikanischer jüdischer Befreiungstheologe und Friedensaktivist.
Israel’s latest plan – Abbas to oversee a national security state in Gaza
The ceasefire negotiations continue on. Or will stop and begin again. Does it really matter?
Deadlines with Israel should be redefined as bully-lines. Do this, right now, as we say – or continue to die.
Our Jewish arrival after the Holocaust is permanently redefined. Not security. Expansion. Not normalcy and reconciliation. Aggression without limit.
Take that Palestinians. Take that world. No one hold’s Israel – or Jews – to account.
Israeli soldiers celebrate shooting a Palestinian youth
The Canadian volunteer, Vern, who witnessed the soldier firing, stated, “After the soldiers left the roof, I went to confront them about why they had fired. One of them said to me that he was the one who fired and that he was proud of his actions. He then asked me to take his picture.”
SWAT Team Shows Up In Ferguson, Detains Reporters Live Tweeting Their Actions
We‘ve been debating internally whether or not to cover the mess that is currently going on in Ferguson, Missouri. There has been plenty of attention paid to the protests and the failures by police there — and we frequently cover problems with police, as well as the militarization of police, which was absolutely on display in Ferguson (if you‘ve been under a rock, police killed an unarmed teenager there last week, leading to protests over the past few days — and the police have been handling the situation… poorly, to say the least). However, the situation was changing so rapidly, it wasn‘t entirely clear what to cover. The pictures from Ferguson of a very militarized police force were disturbing, and we‘ve been thinking about writing something on that (and we may still). However, this evening, things got even more ridiculous, as not only did the SWAT team show up, but it then arrested two of the reporters who had been covering the events: Wesley Lowery of the Washington Post and Ryan Reilly of the Huffington Post. Both had been vital in getting out the story of what was happening on the street.
Adherence to law sole path to Iraq peace: Iran official
A senior Iranian official has stressed that all Iraqi political factions should abide by the law as the sole path to achieve peace in the Arab country, PressTV reported.
Alfano says Renzi ‚on right track‘ on Article 18
Critics have complained that the measure protects workers at the expense of employers, thus damaging business and creating unemployment.
In response, Renzi, who leads the centre-left Democratic Party (PD), has said the statute needs to be completely rewritten.
„The last thing we need is a ideological debate about Article 18,“ Renzi said earlier this week.
European markets fall on German data
Unexpected weakness in the German economy, Europe‘s largest, triggered financial market turmoil Thursday.
Italy demands ‚coordinated‘ EU action on Iraq
Italian Foreign Minister Federica Mogherini on Thursday called on the European Union to adopt a coordinated front on the crises in Iraq and Ukraine.
NATO nears agreement on beefing up presence in eastern Europe: Poland
NATO member states are close to reaching consensus over steps to beef up the alliance‘s military presence in eastern Europe in response to Russia‘s intervention in Ukraine, Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski said on Wednesday in an interview.
You are Not Machines: A WeirdwithBeard/ meistsonnig Collaboration
Tracklist
Europäische Union will Einfluss auf Lateinamerika nehmen
Schwerpunktländer sind Brasilien und Chile, die überzeugt werden sollen, keine landwirtschaftlichen Erzeugnisse nach Russland zu liefern.
Turkey needs new opposition, PM says
„A new opposition capable of competing with the ruling party will inevitably appear in Turkey,“ he said.
Erdogan said that the weakness of the opposition and its candidate were demonstrated in the presidential election in Turkey.
ECB warns against ‚insufficient‘ reforms
ECB President Mario Draghi said last week that a major contributing factor to Italy‘s weak economy has been „the low level of private investment“ in the country. And much of that is due to investor „uncertainty about (Italy‘s) reforms, a very powerful brake that discourages investment,“ Draghi said, noting that countries which have successfully implemented structural reforms have tended to be stronger.
ECB warns of risks amid weak German, French economic data
Geopolitical risks are threatening the economic recovery in Europe, the European Central Bank warned Thursday.
Ukraine crisis sends NATO ‚back to basics‘
More than two decades after the collapse of the Soviet Union brought an end to the Cold War, Ukraine‘s crisis is driving the U.S.-led defense alliance back to its original purpose: To protect its members against a perceived Russian threat.
..Na denn nochmal: Wann kommt die neue USPD?
#Irak @dielinke #etc
Hey, falls jetzt wieder jemand schwer atmet: tut mir leid, dafür kann ich nix.
…
Gysi zu „Blauhelmen“ aka deutschen Soldaten im Irak: „können wir in unserer Partei..über die Beschlüsse diskutieren“
…
„Der Irak als Staat ist zerstört. Syrien ist als Staat zerstört. (…) Wir brauchen eine neue Ordnung.“ #Gysi
…
Wie “Die Linke” dem Euro-Kapitalismus zuarbeitet und die Demokratien Europas gefährdet
(30. August 2012) Jederzeit könnte der Zinsdruck von den europäischen Demokratien genommen werden. Der Frankfurter Währungsdiktator müsste nur sein Staatsanleihen-Kaufprogramm SMP (Securities Markets Programme) wieder starten, welches die EZB seit Jahren zynisch immer wieder an- und ausknipst, um die europäischen Staaten zu Entstaatlichung, Entdemokratisierung und entsprechende Verfassungsänderungen zu erpressen, wie Spanien im September 2011.
Ausgerechnet das linke Aushängeschild Sarah Wagenknecht warnte nun Ende Juli, im Duett mit Marktradikalen, Finanzextremisten und allen etablierten Parteien, vor einem “Aufkaufen von wertlos werdenden spanischen Anleihen durch die Europäische Zentralbank” und wurde dabei sogar von britischen Zeitungen und Bankern links überholt.
Warum aber wollen weder EZB, Geldmärkte, noch Regierung oder “Die Linke” den mörderischen Zinsdruck auf die europäischen Demokratien beenden? Weil sie diese beenden wollen, aber nicht deren Staatskrisen. Statt selbst Geld zu drucken und das SMP wieder anzuwerfen (ohne dass sich dabei die im Umlauf befindliche Geldmenge erhöht), wollen EZB und Bundesregierung die staatlichen Fonds EFSF und nachfolgend ESM belasten, um den Griff an die Gurgel der Unterzeichnerstaaten zu bekommen. Würde die EZB aber machen, wozu sie überhaupt da ist, würde offensichtlich, dass EFSF und ESM in jeder Hinsicht überflüssig und gefährlich sind. Das wäre explizit für “die Linke” peinlich, für die das Gleiche gilt.
Klar ist: die Reichen werden immer reicher und die Armen werden immer ärmer. Die Lösung kann nicht sein, alle Staaten in denen das passiert zu vernichten.