Taken from the album Will To Be Well
Daily Archives: 21. August 2014
The killer on the (Saudi) king‘s highway
The House of Saud, directly and indirectly, and the proverbial wealthy Gulf Cooperation Council donors are the Mom and Dad of ISIS. All duly vetted/approved by the industrial-military-Orwellian-Panopticon complex.
And yet „Assad must go“ had other ideas for Syria. He didn‘t go. He and his army resisted and counter-attacked. So the original mission in Syria morphed across the (non-existent) desert border towards Iraq. ISIS kept expanding – via extortion, kidnapping, captured oil fields, tribal smuggling networks.
EFF, ACLU Demolish “It’s Just Metadata” Claim in NSA Spying Appeal
Americans Deserve Full Protection of the Fourth Amendment for their Telephone Records, Groups Argue
Council On Foreign Relations: The Ukraine Crisis Is the West’s – Not Putin’s – Fault
The news is starting to go mainstream …
Stocks Hit All Time Highs After Russia Announces It Has „No Plans Of Military Incursion Into Ukraine“
So will this be today‘s catalyst to push the S&P over 2000 (so far it is working with the S&P hitting fresh record highs on the statement), and will futures continue to rise on hopes that Russia will step back from its trade war with the west, something which has failed to produce a correction in stocks, and yet where every rumor of de-escalation leads to higher highs in the market? We should have the answer shortly.
And the result…
The Double Identity of an „Anti-Semitic“ Commenter
Like many other news websites, Common Dreams has been plagued by inflammatory anti-Semitic comments following its stories. But on Common Dreams these posts have been so frequent and intense they have driven away donors from a nonprofit dependent on reader generosity.
A Common Dreams investigation has discovered that more than a thousand of these damaging comments over the past two years were written with a deceptive purpose by a Jewish Harvard graduate in his thirties who was irritated by the website‘s discussion of issues involving Israel.
The Secret Playbook of Internet Trolls
Similarly, anti-Semitic posts weaken websites by making them seem less reputable. Indeed, Common Dreams says that the troll’s anti-Semitic comments drove away many of that site’s largest donors … dealing a severe blow to its continued viability. That’s exactly what trolls spewing anti-Semitic bile are trying to do: shut down logical discussion and discredit and weaken sites which allow rational criticism of policy.
Big Banks “Bought” Congress … So Credit Derivatives Are Bigger than Ever
There aren’t better internal controls [at the big banks]. And they have a bigger, more opaque, more complex market with more players.
Switzerland Rejects Requests to Skirt Russia‘s Embargo
Switzerland has rebuffed attempts by some European Union food producers to sidestep a Russian ban on food imports from the EU and other Western countries by routing supplies through the Alpine country.
Switzerland is exempt from Russia‘s retaliatory measures because it isn‘t participating in Western sanctions against the country following its annexation of Crimea earlier this year
What Is the LRAD Sound Cannon?
The LRAD device has been used on several occasions against activists in the US. The first documented use was in Pittsburgh during the G20 summit in 2009. The Pittsburgh police used it again following the Superbowl in 2011. The LRAD has reportedly been used against Occupy protestors in Oakland and recently against Occupy Wall Street protestors in Zuccotti Park.
‚This is the Story of Power in this Country‘: Ferguson, Institutionalized Racism and the Militarization of Police
The 1033 program
How did we come to this? The reasons are complex and deeply ingrained in America’s troubling racial history, but the source of the problem is simple: widespread partnerships between law enforcement and government agencies, including the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Defense.
Gov. Nixon Orders National Guard to Withdraw from Ferguson
„That‘s the million-dollar question,“ he said. „People just want justice. Time and again, they don‘t get fair justice.“
How Can Humans Survive This? Living in the Moment in Gaza
I wonder how a human being can survive this, not just physically but psychologically? I was blocks away and it terrified me.
Whose sarin?
(19. Dezember 2012) in recent interviews with intelligence and military officers and consultants past and present, I found intense concern, and on occasion anger, over what was repeatedly seen as the deliberate manipulation of intelligence. One high-level intelligence officer, in an email to a colleague, called the administration’s assurances of Assad’s responsibility a ‘ruse’. The attack ‘was not the result of the current regime’, he wrote. A former senior intelligence official told me that the Obama administration had altered the available information – in terms of its timing and sequence – to enable the president and his advisers to make intelligence retrieved days after the attack look as if it had been picked up and analysed in real time, as the attack was happening. The distortion, he said, reminded him of the 1964 Gulf of Tonkin incident, when the Johnson administration reversed the sequence of National Security Agency intercepts to justify one of the early bombings of North Vietnam.
Possible Implications of Faulty US Technical Intelligence in the Damascus Nerve Agent Attack of August 21, 2013
(14. Januar 2014) – The Syrian Improvised Chemical Munitions that Were Used in the August 21, Nerve Agent Attack in Damascus Have a Range of About 2 Kilometers
– The UN Independent Assessment of the Range of the Chemical Munition Is in Exact Agreement with Our Findings
– This Indicates That These Munitions Could Not Possibly Have Been Fired at East Ghouta from the “Heart”, or from the Eastern Edge, of the Syrian Government Controlled Area Shown in the Intelligence Map Published by the White House on August 30, 2013.
– This mistaken Intelligence Could Have Led to an Unjustified US Military Action Based on False Intelligence.
– A Proper Vetting of the Fact That the Munition Was of Such Short Range Would Have Led to a Completely Different Assessment of the Situation from the Gathered Data
Zwei US-Forscher legen Studie zum Chemiewaffenangriff vom 21. August 2013 bei Damaskus vor: Washingtons Darstellung ist falsch
(21. Januar 2014) Bereits am Dienstag vergangener Woche legten zwei US-Forscher einen Untersuchungsbericht zum Chemiewaffenangriff im syrischen Ghuta bei Damaskus im August 2013 vor. In westlichen Ländern berichteten darüber nur wenige Medien, obwohl die Studie zu dem Schluß kommt: Die Giftgasmunition konnte nicht aus den Gebieten, die von syrischen Regierungstruppen kontrolliert wurden, abgefeuert worden sein.
Autoren der 23seitigen Analyse sind Richard Lloyd, ein früherer UN-Waffeninspekteur, und Theodore Postol, Professor am Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Unter dem Titel »Mögliche Auswirkungen falscher technischer US-Aufklärung« legen sie ihre Ergebnisse der Überprüfung jener Raketen vor, mit denen nach Erkenntnis von UN-Waffeninspekteuren am 21. August vergangenen Jahres Sarin in mehrere Ortschaften in der Region Ghuta geschossen worden war.
ISS HD Earth Viewing Experiment
For a display of the real time ISS location plus the HDEV imagery, visit here: http://eol.jsc.nasa.gov/HDEV/
Military source dismisses reports on terrorists entering military airport in Raqqa
A military source dismissed as baseless media reports which claimed that terrorists entered al-Tabqa military airport in Raqqa province in north central Syria.
The source stressed to SANA reporter that the army units defending the airport managed to establish control over the adjacent Ejeil town and the surrounding areas, killing large numbers of terrorists, in addition to seizing their weapons.
Paris: Schon „vor Monaten“ Waffen für syrische Rebellen
Bereits tags davor hatte Hollande in einem Interview mit der Tageszeitung „Le Monde“ erstmals Waffenlieferungen an die syrischen Rebellen bestätigt, allerdings nur indirekt. Auf die Frage, warum Frankreich den Kurden im Irak Waffen liefere, nicht aber den syrischen Rebellen, sagte Hollande: „Wer sagt Ihnen denn, dass wir den Rebellen, also der demokratischen Opposition, keine Waffen gegeben haben?“
.. Aber man kann auf ihm rumtrampeln.
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@GrueneBundestag @dieLinke Ein Sprichwort sagt: Jemanden der sich schlafend stellt, den kann man nicht wecken. Das stimmt.
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Stunden später kommt plötzlich auch @dieLinke hinterher. Dann klappt´s auch mit der Sondersitzung. Faszinierend.
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Sondersitzung des Bundestages könnte nächste Woche stattfinden
Einer ursprünglich von den Grünen geforderten Sondersitzung des Bundestages über Waffenlieferungen in den Nordirak steht fast nichts mehr im Wege. Nachdem die Linken darauf eingegangen sind, spricht sich jetzt auch die Koalition dafür aus.
Israeli ship is blocked from unloading in Oakland for four straight days
San Francisco Bay Area activists have not allowed a vessel from Israel’s largest shipping company to unload in the Oakland Port for four consecutive mornings.
On Tuesday, 19 August, at 6:45am, activists declared yet another victory against the Zim Line, which has been trying to make its way into Oakland since Saturday, 16 August.
Erzbischof Emeritus Desmond Tutu: Mein Appell an das Volk Israels: Befreit euch, indem ihr Palästina befreit
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Four arrested after occupying Senator Feinstein’s LA office to protest military aid
This is great. Another civil disobedience action in solidarity with the bombed people in Gaza. Folks who were appalled when Senator Dianne Feinstein voted to send $225 million to Israel in the middle of a massacre occupied her Los Angeles offices yesterday to protest. Four people were arrested.
JVP calls on Jewish community leaders to stand up for justice in Gaza
New York, NY (August 20, 2014)—A group of 30 members of Jewish Voice for Peace visited the UJA-Federation of New York offices on Wednesday to demand that the institutional Jewish leadership take a public stand for an immediate ceasefire and an end to the blockade of Gaza that makes life unbearable for Palestinian residents. Activists delivered a petition signed by over 30,000 concerned members and supporters of Jewish Voice for Peace calling on Federation President Jerry Silverman to make a public statement in support of ending the siege of Gaza.
Union fights Israel ‘security risk’ claims to ban Palestinian union activists from West Bank workplaces
Hotel workers in Los Angeles, unionists in Italy and Denmark have put their hands in their own pockets to raise funds for the legal defense of a Palestinian workers leader sacked for speaking up for union rights. Nearly US$2000 has now been raised from international contributions to defend Hatem Abu Ziadeh who was sacked from a West Bank settlement workplace – the Zarfaty Garage – during the middle of the Gaza war.
The independent Israeli trade union center WAC- MAAN needs to raise approximately US$10,000 for the ongoing defense of Abu Ziadeh and his workmates – and has successfully crowd-sourced some of the money to date. Please consider helping out.
Sind so kleine Hände
Die genannten Beispiele kommentiert das Verteidigungsministerium (BMVg) wie folgt: „Diese Maßnahmen stehen in keinem Zusammenhang mit Personalwerbung und Personalgewinnung im Kindergartenalter.“ Auch lägen ihm keine Informationen vor, dass Spenden der Bundeswehr, „sei es in monetärer oder sächlicher Form, an Kitas geflossen“ seien.
Heartbleed-Bug: Daten von 4,5 Millionen Patienten gestohlen
Gesundheitsbezogene Daten gelten als besonders sensibel und können für Hacker sehr wertvoll sein. Auf dem Daten-Schwarzmarkt werden sie von Versicherungsdienstleistern erworben, die sich damit einen Eindruck über den Gesundheitszustand eines potenziellen Kunden machen. In den USA ist beispielsweise einer Frau die Krankenversicherung verwehrt worden, nachdem sie „Multiple Sklerose“ gegoogelt hatte, weil ihre Nachbarin an der schwerwiegenden Knochenkrankheit litt.
Usual blather on UN rights chief for daring to criticize Israel: must be biased, anti-Semitic, filled w/ hate. Israel never violates rights.
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Israel/Egypt: Provide Rights Groups Access to Gaza
Israel should immediately allow access to Gaza for Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and other international human rights organizations so they can investigate allegations of serious violations of international humanitarian law by all parties to the conflict, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch said today.
BBC Has 12 More Articles Shoved Down The Google Memory Hole Thanks To ‚Right To Be Forgotten‘
The European Court of Justice‘s awful „right to be forgotten“ ruling is continuing to memory hole perfectly factual stories — but publications like the BBC are bringing them back to light. Google has informed the BBC of 12 more stories that it is removing from its index thanks to requests from individuals who‘d prefer that their history no longer be accessible to the public. While Google does not reveal who is making the request, it‘s often not too difficult to figure it out — even though Google is now warning the BBC that sometimes the requester‘s name may only be in the comments.
Pakistan: Regierungsgegner stimmen einem Dialog zu
Etwa 20.000 Demonstranten belagerten am Mittwoch dennoch weiter das Parlamentsgebäude in der pakistanischen Hauptstadt Islamabad. Sie fordern den Rücktritt von Ministerpräsident Nawaz Sharif, dem sie Wahlbetrug vorwerfen.
Money And Power: The Real Reason For The NSA Spying On Everyone
More than four years ago, we wrote about all the buzz that you were hearing about „cyberwar“ was little more than an attempt to drum up FUD to get the government to throw billions of dollars at private contractors. We noted that Booz Allen Hamilton (yes, the last employer of one Ed Snowden) had hired former NSA director and also Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell as its Vice Chairman. He was the leading voice out there screaming about the threat of „cyberwar“ getting on TV and having lots of opinion pieces in big name publications — all of which mentioned his former government jobs, but almost none of which mentioned that his current employer, Booz Allen Hamilton, stood to make billions selling „solutions“ to the government. And, indeed, Booz Allen has been raking in the cash on „cybersecurity.“
This is worth keeping in mind as you read this fascinating interview with NSA whistleblower, Bill Binney, in which he lays this out plain and simple.
CETA-Leak: Geheime Schiedsgerichte eröffnen Konzernen Paralleljustiz – Ziel: Rechtsstaatliche Kontrolle ausschalten
Im Windschatten der öffentlichen Aufmerksamkeit um das Transatlantische Freihandelsabkommens TTIP zwischen der EU und den USA und das plurilaterale Abkommen zum Handel mit Dienstleistungen (TISA) steht das europäisch-kanadische Wirtschafts- und Handelsabkommen (CETA) kurz vor dem Abschluss. Nun zeigt der geleakte Vertragstext, dass auch das CETA, das als Blaupause für das Freihandelsabkommen TTIP gilt, nationale Regierungen den Klagen privater Investoren aussetzt.
Ari Shavit calls out every brutality, except the ones Israel is complicit in
Ari Shavit is perhaps the slickest “liberal” apologist for Israel’s brutal policies working today. He at least acknowledges the Nakba but claims the ethnic cleansing, massacres, and terrorism were justified because it resulted in a Jewish majority state on someone else’s land, and he needed that state more than those backwards, disposable Palestinians did. (Cue every apologist for colonialism, ever.)
But he’s outdone himself in sheer absurdity this time, with the most stunningly un-self-aware piece of writing I’ve ever seen him write — and that’s saying something. In my opinion, this piece should discredit him from being listened to by any serious person ever again.
The article is called “Liberals, look at the new Middle East,” published in Haaretz on August 14. The full text is below, along with my comments.
‘Lesson: The Jews will defend themselves even if it means killing children’
Yaacov Lozowick is the state archivist of Israel. A scholar who moved to Israel from Europe, he is a true believer in the necessity of Jewish nationalism. Scott Roth and I once met him in West Jerusalem and had a polite conversation that became more adversarial when it was continued on email in the months after.
Yaacov has an active twitter account in which he trumpets Israel; and on August 4 he tweeted:
„Lesson of this war: The Jews will defend themselves even if it means killing children. Just like every warring nation in history.“
The West Bank may be on the verge of exploding
Armed men roam the streets, enlisting people to the Al-Aqsa Martyr’s Brigade, Fatah officials call for the end to security coordination with Israel and Mahmoud Abbas is seen as the enemy of the people. Is the explosion closer than we think?
American Jewish leaders fiddle while Israeli democracy burns
Jews fight for freedom, equality and minority rights in America but exempt themselves from the same battle in Israel.
Israel will be better off when my generation is dead
Someday, a new generation will arise in Israel, look at what we‘ve been doing, and say to my generation: You had your chance. You blew it. You‘re done.
‘I mourn my Jewish community, which seeks to justify these inexcusable acts’
This morning, I stood with a group of young Jews coming together through #IfNotNow to block the entrance to the Jewish Federation/Jewish Community Relations Council building, two of the largest Jewish institutions in the Bay Area, to mourn lives lost in this most recent Gaza massacre, through performing shiva, the Jewish mourning ritual.
We were there to demonstrate our dissent for the American Jewish institutional response to the violence, which continues to blindly support the state of Israel without acknowledgement of the immense suffering and disproportionate lives lost in Gaza.
Death toll in Gaza reaches 2,065 as Israel intensifies attacks
More than 40 Palestinians have been killed in the Gaza Strip over the past two days, taking the death toll from Israel’s war against the Palestinian enclave to over 2,065.
Palestinians Search for Survivors After Air Strikes in Gaza
(Video)
SPD-Linke gegen Waffenlieferungen in den Nordirak
Die Generalsekretärin der Partei, Yasmin Fahimi, rechnet laut »Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung« nicht damit, dass das Thema für die Sozialdemokraten zur Zerreißprobe wird. Sie erwarte bei der anstehenden Präsidiumsklausur am Samstag zwar ernsthafte Debatten. Sie glaube aber »nicht, dass es hoch hergehen wird«.
American Jihadists in Syria Could Bring Fight Home, U.S. Official Warns
(25. Juli) „The numbers are growing as the conflict there continues,“ said Olsen, who has run the counterterrorism center for three years and is slated to step down later this year. „It remains a magnet for extremists around the world.“
Former FBI Director Robert Mueller, speaking on the same panel, said the intensifying conflict in the Gaza Strip threatened to further „fuel“ the ranks of foreign fighters inside Syria. „It may contribute to the number of individuals who feel that they want to become part of the fight, but not necessarily in Gaza,“ Mueller said.
Übersetzungshilfe: das Weisse Haus sagt hier, es hat diesen Sommer Militäroperationen in Syrien durchgeführt.
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Statement by Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism Lisa Monaco on Attempted Rescue Operation
As the Department of Defense has now announced, earlier this summer the President authorized an operation to attempt the rescue of American citizens who were kidnapped and held by ISIL against their will in Syria. The President authorized action at this time because it was the national security team’s assessment that these hostages were in danger with each passing day in ISIL custody. The U.S. Government had what we believed was sufficient intelligence, and when the opportunity presented itself, the President authorized the Department of Defense to move aggressively to recover our citizens. Unfortunately, that mission was ultimately not successful because the hostages were not present.
Given the need to protect our military’s operational capabilities, we will not be able to reveal the details of this operation.
Army continues large-scale operations against terrorists across country, inflicts heavy losses upon them
The army units targeted terrorists’ gatherings in the areas of al-Owaijeh, Serjeh Kabira, Balat, al-Jadideh, Khan al-Assal, al-Kalaseh, Kafer Da’el and al-Sha’ar roundabout in Aleppo and its countryside.
Kommentar des Departements für Information und Presse des Außenministeriums Russlands zu den Aussagen des Parlamentsvorsitzenden der Ukraine
Wir hören nicht auf, uns über die Menge an Spekulationen, Unwahrheiten und offenen provokativen Lügen über die russische humanitäre Hilfe für die in Not geratene Bevölkerung des Südostens der Ukraine zu wunderen.
Wieviel Tinte wurde bereits von zahlreichen „Analytikern“ verbraucht, die in den schönsten Farben den „hinterlistigen Plan“ Russlands für Waffenlieferungen an die Volksmilizen und den Truppeneinmarsch im Osten der Ukraine unter dem Vorwand und unter dem Deckmantel der humanitären Hilfe beschreiben? Mit solchen Schlussfolgerungen zeichneten sich nicht nur die Schreiberzunft sondern auch zahlreiche Staatsmänner aus, welche diese Version in den offiziellen Diskurs im Westen einbrachten und lange Zeit absolut ernsthaft die „Gefahr eines russischen Einmarsches auf den weißen KAMAZ-Lkws“ diskutierten.