WikiLeaks: Information Suppression, Compliant Corporate Media - Evidence - Afghanistan

ꕤ Media Bullsh*t Corporate-Serving Corporate Media In Service of Aggressive Neoliberal Foreign Policy |  Manufacturing Consent Bias.  Censorship.  Disinformation.  Compliance. censorship & disinformation is denial of informed consent COMPLIANT CORPORATE & 'ALTERNATE' CORPORATE MEDIA Why We Need WikiLeaks EVIDENCE USA's spy agency, NSA, conducted mass surveillance on entire country (actually, more than one country ... but let's focus on Afghanistan) James Clapper says: 'untold damage'  Well, he would say that to justify US mass surveillance of entire countries in the free world & mass surveillance of free Americans.  Duh! Director of National Intelligence, James Clapper: #Snowden killed ‘important’ program in #Afghanistan / unnamed 'Intercept' country = Afghanistan http://pakobserver.net/detailnews.asp?id=272816 UPDATE It was the WikiLeaks follow-up identification of Afghanistan as country being surveilled that led to surveillance program closure/rejection by Afghanistan: In March 2014, The Washington Post, citing documents provided by Snowden, reported on a program called MYSTIC, under which the NSA was collecting “every single” phone conversation in a foreign country. The Post, following requests by U.S. officials, withheld the country’s name. Two months later, the Intercept news site published a similar story about the NSA’s “secretly intercepting, recording, and archiving the audio of virtually every cell phone conversation” in two nations. The site named the Bahamas as one country. It refrained from naming the other, citing concerns that doing so “could lead to increased violence.” Several days later, the anti-secrecy organization WikiLeaks reported that the country was Afghanistan. Soon after, “the program was shut down by the government of Afghanistan,” said Clapper, speaking at the Intelligence and National Security Summit in Washington. SOURCE https://archive.is/94N16 ---------------------- ꕤ  ---------------------- NO words for the suppression of truth by the corporate and 'alternate' corporate press: Washington Post The Intercept  It's anger provoking to see information denial and abuse of state power, in black and white. WikiLeaks was the only publisher that gave the world:  the truth. PS It's just occurred to me that the US spies on Japanese leaders, and European politicians and corporations, as well as entire countries. So if the public is told that a surveillance program has been rejected by a vanquished state, does anyone really believe there's genuinely been follow-through from the US-appointed Afghan government or from USA? On consideration, I really don't buy that they're done spying on Afghanistan. ꕤ

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#Iraq #Afghanistan #Pakistan 'War on Terror' - Body Count  - REPORT 101 page report, by Physicians for Social Responsibility PDF - Mar 2015, Interl Edition http://www.psr.org/assets/pdfs/body-count.pdf  COMPLIANT MEDIA - EVIDENCE James Clapper says:  untold damage Director of National Intelligence, James Clapper: #Snowden killed ‘important’ program in #Afghanistan / unnamed 'Intercept' country = Afghanistan http://pakobserver.net/detailnews.asp?id=272816 ---------------------- ꕤ  ----------------------  UPDATE It was the WikiLeaks follow-up identification of Afghanistan as country being surveilled that led to surveillance program closure: In March 2014, The Washington Post, citing documents provided by Snowden, reported on a program called MYSTIC, under which the NSA was collecting “every single” phone conversation in a foreign country. The Post, following requests by U.S. officials, withheld the country’s name. Two months later, the Intercept news site published a similar story about the NSA’s “secretly intercepting, recording, and archiving the audio of virtually every cell phone conversation” in two nations. The site named the Bahamas as one country. It refrained from naming the other, citing concerns that doing so “could lead to increased violence.” Several days later, the anti-secrecy organization WikiLeaks reported that the country was Afghanistan. Soon after, “the program was shut down by the government of Afghanistan,” said Clapper, speaking at the Intelligence and National Security Summit in Washington. SOURCE https://archive.is/94N16 ---------------------- ꕤ  ---------------------- NO words for the suppression of truth by the corporate and 'alternate' corporate press: Washington Post The Intercept  It's anger provoking to see information denial, in black and white. WikiLeaks was the only publisher that gave the world:  the truth. #WikiLeaks #Snowden Hillary e-mails Rep. Mac Thornberry (R., Tex.) chair HAS Cttee /  "helped our primary adversaries" not a fan  /  funding increase ploy? http://freebeacon.com/national-security/house-armed-services-chief-intel-losses-including-clinton-emails-caused-serious-damage/ Why Murdoch Pushes for War ⟴ by Craig Murray  on September 7, 2015 1:33 pm EXTRACT Given the disgraceful Sun front page and middle spread urging war on Syria, and the all-out propaganda on Sky News, it is important to understand why Murdoch is pushing so hard for war. I therefore reproduce my article from February 2013. It is important to note that the links are to industry publications: this is very genuine, hard information.  Israel Grants Oil Rights in Syria to Murdoch and Rothschild Israel has granted oil exploration rights inside Syria, in the occupied Golan Heights, to Genie Energy. Major shareholders of Genie Energy – which also has interests in shale gas in the United States and shale oil in Israel – include Rupert Murdoch and Lord Jacob Rothschild.  [...] FULL AT SOURCE https://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2015/09/why-murdoch-pushes-for-war/ #Syria ex US intel analysis Concurs with Assange  / US War on Syria author/journalist, Wayne Madsen US plans to topple Syria’s Assad go back to 9/11 http://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2015/09/10/428634/Syria-Assange-US-Assad-Wayne-Madsen-911 WikiLeaks BOOK  http://www.versobooks.com/books/1931-the-wikileaks-files #Syria #WikiLeaks #ASSANGE US is an Empire 'US planned to oust Assad long before 2011 uprising' http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/foreign/10-Sep-2015/us-planned-to-oust-assad-long-before-2011-uprising EXTRACTS - UK SECRET DRONE BOMBING SYRIA / AGAINST PARLIAMENTARY VETO NEW direction: criminal law treated as 'global law' Cardiff jihadist: Jones informed of Syria drone strike Written by: iFreePress Prime Minister David Cameron said the attorney general had agreed there was a “clear legal basis” for targeting Khan. Prime Minister David Cameron was challenged to shed light on specific threats that led to the killing of Islamic State (IS) militants Reyaad Khan and Ruhul Amin in the Syrian city of Raqqa, which he declared “an act of self-defence”. He said: “These were terrorists who’d been planning a series of attacks on the streets of our country, some involving public events, there are other terrorists making similar plans and we have to do what we can to keep our streets safe”. [ ...] Last week The Washington Post revealed that the Central Intelligence Agency and US Special Operations forces have launched a “secret drone campaign” in Syria as part of a “targeted killing program that is run separately from the broader U.S. military offensive against the Islamic State”. What we are talking about are enemy combatants who have chosen to take up arms against the armed forces of their own country and its allies. [ ... ] “There was no other way of preventing the kind of armed attack they were involved in planning”, Fallon said, during an interview with ITV, cited by the Guardian. They say they will target ISIL fighters. Ministers said the decision had been taken on advice from the attorney general, Britain’s chief legal advisor. Now, he said, the USA “warlike paradigm” had been adopted instead. And may they assist finish the struggle in Syria or make it worse? When it was suggested that drone operators had targeted and taken out British individuals in Syria without the endorsement of the Commons, he said: “Put it like that, then that is wrong”. Phillipe Sands QC, professor of law at University College London, however, told the BBC’s Today program that Cameron’s line of argument represented a “new direction” for the United Kingdom, which had previously treated cases like this as matters for criminal rather than global law. http://www.ifreepress.com/cardiff-jihadist-jones-informed-of-syria-drone-strike/ ---------------------- ꕤ ---------------------- COMMENT News that caught my eye. Assange Transnational Security Elite, Carving Up the World Using Your Tax Money London  OCT8 Antiwar Mass Assembly (2011) Link  |  here ꕤ

CANADA - Secret Saudi Arabia Arms Deal

SOURCE http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/harper-assured-details-of-saudi-arms-deal-would-stay-under-wraps/article26105853/ Harper assured Saudi Arabia details of arms deal would stay under wraps STEVEN CHASE OTTAWA — The Globe and Mail Published Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2015 3:00AM EDT Last updated Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2015 6:26AM EDT Ottawa is contractually obliged to keep secret the details of a controversial $15-billion arms sale to Saudi Arabia – a transaction that Stephen Harper personally assured the country’s monarch will be guaranteed by the Canadian government, documents say. Foreign Affairs e-mails obtained by The Globe and Mail under access-to-information law indicate the Saudis have made excess publicity about the sale of armoured fighting vehicles a deal-breaker. Officials were scrambling behind the scenes in January, after media coverage of the arms deal, to determine the consequences of publicly releasing the terms of the Saudi contract. Aliya Mawani, a Canadian diplomat based in Riyadh, the capital, told Foreign Affairs colleagues on Jan. 21 that “we [the government] would be breaking the terms of the contract” with Saudi Arabia if details were made public. “The contract is under a Canadian government guarantee in terms of fulfilment,” Ms. Mawani wrote in a Jan. 21 exchange with colleagues on why Ottawa couldn’t make the terms public. “This was confirmed in writing by our Prime Minister in his letters to the King,” she said, speaking of Mr. Harper and the late Saudi King Abdullah. A cloak of secrecy surrounds this agreement, first announced in 2014, with Ottawa refusing to divulge any substantial information on the vehicles Canada is selling to the Saudi regime – or how it justifies the sale to a nation known for human-rights abuses. A federal agency responsible for sales to foreign military, Canadian Commercial Corporation, is actually the “prime contractor” for the transaction even though it is General Dynamics Land Systems Canada in London that manufacturers the vehicles. Records obtained by The Globe offer a great deal of insight into Ottawa’s role in brokering the transaction, which supports more than 3,000 jobs in Canada. In another government e-mail exchange in January of 2015, Brigette Walenius, deputy director with Foreign Affairs' Middle East-Maghreb Commercial Unit, cited General Dynamics officials who spoke of a “confidentiality clause in their contract with the Saudis” and how Riyadh “could terminate [the] contract if too much info is released.” Nonetheless, senior Canadian officials were delighted at the deal behind the scenes, e-mails show. Mr. MacDonald, Canada’s envoy in Riyadh, gave Ottawa early notice that the deal was coming together as far back as 2012. In an October, 2012, e-mail with the subject line “GDLS lands the Big One,” Mr. MacDonald informed Foreign Affairs staffers, referring to General Dynamic Land Systems. The Canadian ambassador ends this e-mail with a jubilant expression “Gotta LOV the LAV!” but not before sketching out some bare-bones details. He wrote that General Dynamics “have been chasing” the contract since 2009 and it’s a boon for the plant in London, Ont., because the company’s work on LAVs for Canada’s mission in Afghanistan was wrapping up as the Canadian combat mission ended in 2011. These new orders will “replace the decline from Canada’s Afghanistan withdrawal,” Mr. MacDonald said in his e-mail. The ambassador wrote that the LAVs “are going to be ‘fully loaded,’” that they would be the “most advanced ever made” and that delivery would start 38 months after the contract was signed and last another 108 months, or nine years. A separate January 21, 2015, e-mail from an official in Foreign Affairs’s export-control division said documentation received from General Dynamics to date suggests the vehicles could possibly include turreted LAVs “equipped with automatic firearms.” The Canadian government is nevertheless taking care to play down the Saudi connection. In one case, Foreign Affairs appeared to have struck references to Saudi Arabia from speaking notes prepared for a cabinet minister’s media event at the request of the Canadian Commercial Corporation (CCC), which is handling the LAV deal. An official from the government agency previewed speaking notes for Minister of State Lynne Yelich before a January 9 media event to celebrate a Saskatchewan-based company’s role as a sub-contractor in the LAV sale. “Thanks for letting me know what the speaking notes are,” Lina Seto, then a CCC official, wrote Foreign Affairs. She asked for “the removal of one of the mentions of the buyer country,” adding this was “important to the supplier,” meaning General Dynamics. “We are sensitive to the Saudi Arabia references, due to confidentiality,” Ms. Seto explained in an e-mail to Foreign Affairs on January 7, 2015. A final version of these speaking notes obtained by The Globe under access-to-information law contains no reference to Saudi Arabia as the buyer. Several years ago, the Conservative government in Ottawa refocused international relations to make “economic diplomacy” in service of private industry the centrepiece of Canadian foreign policy. SOURCE http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/harper-assured-details-of-saudi-arms-deal-would-stay-under-wraps/article26105853/ ---------------------- ꕤ ---------------------- COMMENT Canada has dispensed with democracy, transparency, and accountability, in favour of "economic diplomacy" IN THE SERVICE OF PRIVATE INDUSTRY. Wow. This is huge. Canada is a corporate dictatorship. This article illustrates why the press generally, why whistleblowers, and why whilstleblower publishers/journalists like WikiLeaks, are so important to keeping government open, accountable, representative and therefore closer to democratic than government would otherwise be, were those in government permitted to run their own show, without question. ꕤ

CANADA's Recipe for Oversight & Transparency: Cowboy Spy Agencies, Useless Overseer & Ineffectual FOI

The Guy Who Oversees Canada’s Cyberspy Agency Is Cash-Strapped and Worried April 2, 2015 Justin Ling By Justin Ling A meeting room at CSE's new office. Is this where they read our emails? Who can say? Photo via Government of Canada This post originally appeared on VICE Canada. The Honorable Jean-Pierre Plouffe is worried he won't have the resources to keep tabs on Canada's rapidly growing spy behemoth. Plouffe is the overseer for the Communications Security Establishment (CSE), a secretive agency that runs Canada's signal intelligence work. As an integral part of the Five Eyes—the intelligence-sharing consortium involving Canada, America, New Zealand, Australia, and the United Kingdom—CSE is basically a sidekick to the American NSA. Financial reports released on Tuesday show the commissioner is going to have to cut back his review processes due to lack of funds, even though CSE's budget is larger than ever. (Motherboard has reported thoroughly on CSE's extensive powers, with help from leaks released by Edward Snowden.) Plouffe, as the CSE Commissioner, is responsible for making sure that the agency does not go outside its mandate. Currently, the agency is forbidden from intentionally collecting Canadians' data, unless it is doing so under the authority of another Canadian agency. However, Snowden's documents as well as Plouffe's own investigations show that CSE does end up with files on Canadians. When that happens, CSE is supposed to delete them. They don't always do so in a timely manner. Yet documents also show that CSE was scooping up Canadians' data as they logged onto a WIFI hotspot in some airport in Canada. Plouffe ultimately cleared the spy agency of wrongdoing in that operation. Concerns remain, however, that CSE is going well outside its mandate. But, as VICE reported in February, the Harper government isn't worried. "The CSE Commissioner's report indicates that they have been operating inside the law," Justice Minister Peter MacKay told VICE. The commissioner, however, doesn't have the power to compel information from CSE. "The office has no authority to enforce specific actions by CSE," reads the commissioner's financial reports from this year. "Cooperation, collaboration, and professional respect between the office and CSE is essential to my office for the conduct of rigorous review and for the formulation of meaningful recommendations for change, where needed, and essential to CSE for the timely and appropriate implementation of corrective action." But even the commissioner's power—which is largely based on the honor system—might be further at risk. In a financial report tabled on Tuesday, Plouffe warned that "Without this positive relationship being in place, the review process will flounder and opportunities for positive change will be lost."  [Think his position might be pointless, so where's the problem?] He said the review process was already at risk, thanks to a lack of funds in his office. "Cost sharing related to central agency initiatives and fiscal restraint measures are reducing the flexibility of the office's available funding. CSE, however, is growing and its activities are changing in response to its changing environment," Plouffe's office wrote. The commissioner begged the federal government for more money. He's not the only one. As VICE reported on Tuesday, Canada's Access to Information Commissioner is also cash-starved, and she says it will hobble her ability to pry documents from resistant government departments. And as Toronto Star reporter Alex Boutillier reported in Wednesday's paper, the review body for Canada's other spy agency, CSIS, has already been impacted by a lack of resources. The commissioner's office has a budget of just over $2 million, which has been pretty much flat for years. CSE's budget, meanwhile, tops out around $829 million. The commissioner's office has a full-time staff of 11, in addition to Plouffe, who works part-time. The lack of money means that CSE needs to cut back on its review process and "focus review resources on CSE activities that pose the greatest risks to non-compliance and/or privacy." As Plouffe may be considering bake sales and silent auctions to keep the lights on, the Conservatives have spent months boasting of Canada's world-renowned intelligence oversight agencies as they defend their controversial anti-terror bill, C-51. That legislation would vastly expand CSE's ability to receive information on Canadians, and to share it among allies. Speaking before a committee on Monday, Public Safety Minister Steven Blaney said Canada's intelligence review bodies were "the envy of the world." VICE got a chance to ask Associate Defence Minister Julian Fantino about the recent revelations about CSE—he is, after all, now responsible for the organization—and he was unconcerned. "First and foremost, we don't talk about operational matters and certainly I'm not going to do that," Fantino began. "Having said that, I can say that CSE operates within the parameters of the law, well established and well supervised. Accountability is there." [Oh, sure.] VICE asked about documents showing that CSE is using its capabilities to attack foreign networks. Fantino wouldn't comment. [LMAO!] "If you won't comment, how can Canadians have faith in what CSE is doing?" VICE asked. "You weren't listening. I just did," Fantino said before he walked away. http://www.vice.com/read/the-guy-who-oversees-canadas-bulk-data-collection-agency-is-cash-strapped-and-worried-785 Canada's intel agency sounds like the world's shonkiest cowboy op ... with a budget of $829 million! The overseer's office is a joke.  An honours system?  Cannot compel?  Understaffed.  The point of not putting funds into this and into freedom of information is to allow politicians and intelligence agencies to do whatever they want ... which they already seem to do in free hand Canada. Creepy.  Supercharged their powers as well - see C51. Terrorizing Canada With Stephen Harper. The Odious C51 “Secret Police Act” http://www.globalresearch.ca/terrorizing-canada-with-stephen-harper-the-odious-c51-secret-police-act/5438134 Might have to come back to read the Global Research article ... too tried now.

TWITTER CENSORSHIP - CABLEDRUM / WIKILEAKS

TWITTER CENSORSHIP COPYRIGHT DISCLAIMER Copyright Disclaimer under section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for “fair use” for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, education and research. CABLEDRUM https://www.cabledrum.net/news/twitter LINK “The WikiLeaks Supporters Forum” at wikileaks-forum.com website, the pseudo forum: Mark Goeder Tarant’s anti- #WikiLeaks anti- #WLsup Operation intensifies on #Twitter (Update 15/03/2015)

SWEDEN: 'Sweden is not some kind of equality paradise' vs "When Journalists Rape"

SWEDEN OFFICIAL LINE 'Sweden is not some kind of equality paradise' Published: 10 Mar 2015 10:43 GMT+01:00 Updated: 10 Mar 2015 12:25 GMT+01:00 It's time to challenge the image of Sweden as the world's gender equality frontrunner, writes Cecilia Schelin Seidegård, head of the Swedish government's special inquiry on gender equality. Swedish governments often boast about gender equality in Sweden. Government upon government has claimed that these advances have given Sweden a strong international position. The latest is the feminist government, spearheaded by Stefan Löfven, which insists that Sweden is and ought to be a frontrunner in the area of gender equality. On its home page the government writes that Sweden has great international reputational capital to maintain and develop. I believe it is high time to challenge the image of Sweden as some kind of equality paradise. Even though Sweden has a good position in many international rankings, it does not mean that the country is equal. Rather, it could be understood in relation to insufficient progress in many other countries. Nor does it mean that things are moving forward in Sweden. The country's position in the Global Gender Gap (World Economic Forum) ratings has gone from the top in 2006 to fourth in 2014. The same tendency is visible in the Inter-Parliamentary Union's list of the number of women in national parliaments, where Sweden can nowadays be found as number six, after having enjoyed a leading position for a long time. It is problematic that progress in Sweden is more or less standing still. As Sweden now has a feminist government, it is time to assume a strategic and long-term approach to gender equality policies. Since April 2014 I have led a special government inquiry to follow up and analyze the progress of equality between women and men over the past ten years. The inquiry will also analyze the implementation of equality policies and assess how efficient political measures have been in relation to the equality political objective – that women and men should have the same power to shape society and their lives. Against this background the inquiry should propose a direction and organization of future equality politics. On March 8th, International Women's Day, the inquiry released some of the research that has been produced within the scope of our remit. Our preliminary results do not make for a merry read. 1. We can conclude that male dominance in positions of power in politics, state and businesses has not been broken in the past ten years. The number of men in parliament has instead gone up in two consecutive elections, as has the number of men in parliamentary committees and as committee chairpersons. Three-quarters of all board members of listed companies are men and 77 percent of professors in higher education are men. Our reports show that the more hidden the positions of powers in politics and private business are, the greater is the gender gap. Private business has not succeeded in bridging the gender gap by voluntary incentives. 2. As far as financial equality is concerned, the employment market and businesses still have a clear lack of equality. A strong gender divide is still prevalent in the jobs market and a large number of women work part time. But despite a slight decrease in gender segregation – women's work hours have increased and women's levels of education are higher than men's – it has only had a very small effect on wages. Even taking various parameters such as age, education, work hours and that women and men are found in different sectors and work groups, women's salaries have stayed at 93 percent of men's salaries. This figure has remained much the same since the middle of the 1990s. Income inequality between women and men is still 93.500 kronor a year, or about 3.6 million kronor for 40 years of work. [I'm no statistician, but if women largely work part-time, higher education or slightly more part-time hours aren't going to bridge any gap in wages -- which, given a large portion of part-time women workers, doesn't look a significant hardship to me.] Cecilia Schelin Seidegård heads the Swedish government's equality inquiry. Photo: TT 3. Even though differences between the sexes have decreased in the past decade, women still carry out a greater part of unpaid home and care work. Men continue to claim less parental leave than women and they also take less leave to care for ill children (VAB, 'vård av barn'). In 2013, men claimed 25 percent and women 75 percent. Moreover, our research shows that women generally carry out more unpaid work, but have on average just as long working days as men. In the past ten years, however, men have increased their unpaid work by 12 minutes on weekdays and 15 minutes on weekends. The unequal divisions of unpaid home and care labour lead to lower incomes for women and by extension lower pensions than men. [So what does the govt propose to do, enter Swedish households (like part of a kinky threesome) and assign household chores on some more equitable basis?] 4. As far as the target of ending men's violence against women goes, close to every third woman in Sweden has been the victim of serious physical or sexual violence as an adult. One in five women has at some point in her life been subject to physical violence, sexual violence where physical violence or the threat thereof has been involved, or to repeated and systemic psychological violence by a current or former partner. Almost 40 percent have been exposed to harassment, including sexual harassment. The figures painfully speak for themselves; men's violence against women has not been eliminated in the past decade, even though the problem has been given a lot of attention.  [Without the details on how the figures have been obtained & the demographics, the figures don't speak for themselves, and this may not be a case of men's violence -- as in ALL men -- but a case of violence perpetrated by men in some demographic or other of Swedish society.] During the last two parliamentary terms a substantial 2.6 billion kronor effort was made to carry out specific policy initiatives. While there of course were several deliberate and thoughtful measures within the strategic framework, such as putting the spotlight on the issue of men's violence against women, our analysis shows that there were also serious flaws. That there was no overall comprehensive strategy is one example. The work was also generally linked to a project organization that would be dissolved when the specific targets had been met. [I'm going to hazard a guess that there may not be a one-size-fits all strategy, as violence can be due to any number of things:  drugs, alcohol, poverty / poor socialisation, cultural factors and so on.] This notwithstanding, we note that there is a long way to go towards an equal society. The latest gender equality inquiry from 2005 concluded that there has been progress from 1995-2005, but it has happened slowly. Ten years later it seems that this inquiry, too, can conclude that there has been progress, but it has happened slowly. With the addendum: in some cases it has also moved backwards.  [Utopia.] The gender equality inquiry ('Jämställdhetsutredningen') now works to outline proposals for the government on how equality politics can become more strategic, long-term and efficient. We urge the feminist government to put the leader's jersey back on and take responsibility for and control of the gender equality work, once and for all. This is a translated version of a piece written by Cecilia Schelin Seidegård, head of the government's special inquiry into gender equality, and originally published by Dagens Nyheter. To limit the overwhelming burden on our moderators, it will not be possible to comment on this article. Feel free to join the conversation on our Facebook page. [They're just dodging the negative comments they'd get.  Comments should be unmoderated, anyway.  Otherwise, what you get is a lie by omission.] http://www.thelocal.se/20150310/sweden-is-not-some-kind-of-equality-paradise SECTOR OF PUBLIC OPINION When journalists rape http://swedishsurveyor.com/2015/03/09/when-journalists-rape/ 'Julia Caesar' (pen name), described as a journalist who originally wrote and published this article, translated from Swedish to English in the article linked above. It is a confronting article of the kind that we don't see published in mainstream media and this article, also refers to figures (outdated from 15-20 years ago, that the government purportedly relies on); it draws attention to mass immigration and violent crime as a social problem in Sweden, that is being ignored and even covered up by Swedish politicians and media; and it, too, calls on feminists. The impression I have of Sweden is that there is a sector of Swedish society that feels politically disenfranchised and that there is genuine dissatisfaction with the political and social status quo. I've not read widely on the subject, but from what I've encountered so far that's certainly the impression. In the above article, journalists stand accused of covering up crime committed by ethnic minorities and passing those crimes off as committed by the Swedish (right down to using misleading identikits), endangering those who are unaware of the prevalence of violence perpetrated by immigrant minorities; and it charges the journalists of doing so, while hiding behind 'ethical press guidelines' and assuming a position of know-best superiority over the 'peasantry' who are denied the right to information, vital to risk assessment and self protection. The article refers to a 'public Sweden' and indicates that the state and the media is silent on all that would show the negative consequences of mass immigration policy, if I understand correctly.  By extension, journalists commit 'rape' of the public denied information and politicians, who are policy makers, are deemed the worse 'rapists' who sacrifice many thousands of women each year on the altar of multiculturalism rather than doing the obvious:  curtailing immigration. The official line article is on feminism and society.  However, this state feminism glosses over the gritty types of issues the second article voices, while paying lip service to a blanket state of Utopia that Swedish government intends to impose on civil society. While the second article is a hard-hitting social and political commentary not usually encountered in politically correct mainstream media offerings, I think it raises some interesting and starkly contrasting views relevant to Swedish foreign (and other) government policy, immigration, crime, feminism and the press. Analysis of the 'feminist Swedish government' (whatever that is) and of the gritty, contrasting conditions and opinions at grassroots level, in opposition to the status quo and official line (government and press), would probably be a sociologist's dream. ........................................................................... Other: * Note:  lenient sentencing in respect of serious violent crime (assume youth was a factor). Note:  I'm not a journalist or sociologist.  These are just my impressions on articles that caught my attention.

USA - Guantanamo Bay - Hunger Strike - Media Suppression

U.S.A. US 'Secret State' #US national security state w/in a state = 6 million classified persons (larger than Norway, NZ or Scotland pop)! >> https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=aMYqzGwwoF8 … Guantanamo Info re Guantanamo Bay, #Cuba is being withheld from press (+ public) ... media don't know how many on hunger strike ... infowars > Get this: ".. or how frequently assaults on guards take place" infowars GTFOOH, it's the other way around. A joke article?    Torture "I prohibited – w/out exception or equivocation – the use of torture by ..USA. I ordered the prison at Guantanamo Bay closed" TheHill >> That was Obama 5 years ago @ UN Assembly - http://goo.gl/8QSRWg  >> Man, what happened? Still unwanted 'tenant' of Cuba? “Under international law, States have an obligation to prevent & combat torture ..." ohchr/org >> Does TonyAbbott's legislator know this? >> "Every nation must know: America will live its values, and we will lead by example." ... LOL ... Stop squatting in Cuba! Media http://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/civil-rights/218224-global-commitment-to-healing-torture-survivors This article is SO COOL - "Global commitment to healing torture survivors" [TheHill]... Makes you feel all warm & cuddly when you read that. > "donations from ..international community into one fund for torture survivor rehabilitation" .. The Sadists' torture kitty? TheHill so obvious .. 1) Obama bull re commitment 2) Torture fund healing worlds tortured victims 3) launch into Real Agenda: slam #Syria "human rights atrocities committed in Syria " - ATROCITIES ppl!! > UN Puppet has run out of words 2 depict gravity of crimes! -----------------------------------------------------  COMMENT Guantanamo must be a sensitive subject for the Americans.   Just as soon as I posted the information that the press is being muzzled, some guy jumped on to point the finger at Cuba! Hopefully the above makes sense.  It does to me, but that might be because I handled the information and it's fresh in my mind. Not sure if the InfoWars people are referring to a *current* hunger strike, or if it was just general information that they're after that's being suppressed by the Obama government. In any event, it's an interesting snippet of America's goings on. Should mention this is part of a wider story -- journalists unhappy about White House suppression of press that's been ongoing (eg  picky re foreign affairs correspondents, reward those that comply & exclude those that challenge authorities (ie do their jobs), law suit regarding NY journalist (think he may have been investigated, spied on, searched and basically harassed, from recollection).  Don't remember the name of the journalist or too may of the particulars, but I think the case is a big deal and it relates to freedom of press etc.   From prior information, it's known that the NSA have been involved in vetting news (LA Times former reporter). Reporters also unhappy in USA that even common reporting (such as routine crime data & statistics etc, that were previously available at police stations as a matter of course) are now being blocked by officials at police stations, who consider the press an intrusion these days.   Just going by memory.  Citations are here somewhere on blog, I'm too lazy to search for links.   Tried to set up the standard Google search thing in Blogger, but it wasn't working.  Might have to tackle it again some time, as it's pretty handy. And check out the size of the US 'secret state'!

AUSTRALIAN 'SUPER-INJUNCTION'

WikiLeaks and the courts: keep the debate open By Carla Silbert Posted about 7 hours ago The ability of state institutions to shield their actions from public scrutiny is scandalous, and WikiLeaks' latest exposé adds a new and disturbing dimension to this issue, writes Carla Silbert. Australians have found themselves the beneficiaries of WikiLeaks' latest exposé - the publication of a Victorian Supreme Court suppression order so broad in scope that even the order itself is suppressed. ... It comes as little surprise that this "super-injunction" - an order that suppresses not just information such as the identity of a witness from publication, but the contents of the order itself - has come from Victoria, the state notorious as the "gag order capital" of Australia. ... When the reasons behind a court's actions remain secret, there can't be any scrutiny of those actions. That can never be in the public interest. In an era when the privacy of Australians is being increasingly compromised by the introduction of powers such as those currently being considered by Parliament to enable ASIO and ASIS to spy on private citizens in the National Security Legislation Amendment Bill, the ability of state institutions to shield their actions from public scrutiny is all the more scandalous. The WikiLeaks release has added a new, and troubling, dimension to this. Not only does the court have the power to keep us both ignorant and unaware of information of national concern, but if the cat gets let out of the bag and the documents are leaked as they have been here, we immediately find our freedom of speech restricted by threats of prosecution if we dare discuss it. Such discussions are vital to our ability to challenge the reasons why this information was withheld from us in the first place. Without these discussions, those doing the withholding can't be held to account. Extracts SOURCE - ABC - here.

So you elect a government and then the government (along with unelected intelligence agencies who presumably work for the public) do whatever they like; and then they go running to court to use the excuse of 'national security' to erode civil liberties and to fetter freedom of press, while they're scrambling to cover up some international scandal that involves government.

Having shut down scrutiny and debate by way of secret court order, the government's deftly sidestepped transparency and accountability and has, ultimately, undermined notions of democratic government.

How can this possibly be right?

AUSTRALIA - PRESS GAGGED - SUPPRESSION ORDER 'SUPER-INJUNCTION' - WIKILEAKS - CORRUPTION SCANDAL COVER UP

Social media users could be charged for sharing Wikileaks story Date July 30, 2014 - 12:55PM Julian Assange, Wikileaks publisher, described the Victorian Supreme Court suppression order as 'unprecedented'. Social media users could land themselves in legal hot water if they share Wikileaks' reporting of a secret suppression order made by the Victorian Supreme Court. The wide-ranging suppression order was published on the group's website on Wednesday and was quickly shared on websites including Twitter and Google+. Fairfax Media's report of Wikileaks' action created a strong response on social media, and was shared thousands of times within minutes of the exclusive report's publication. It is against the law for Australian media organisations to publish the contents of the suppression order. Media lawyer Peter Bartlett, from Minter Ellison, said anyone who tweets a link to the Wikileaks report, posts it on Facebook, or shares it in any way online could also face charges. Using a hashtag such as "Wikileaks" is not in breach of the order but any mention on social media of the information detailed in it, such as people's names, is banned. Mr Bartlett said it would be difficult to prosecute Wikileaks and its publisher, Julian Assange, given they are outside Victoria. Mr Assange remains at the Ecuador embassy in London where he has been given political asylum to avoid being extradited to the United States in relation to the leaking of secret US documents. However, any Victorian social media users, or the person who gave the documents to Wikileaks, may be easier to find and prosecute. "Unless someone within Australia somehow authorised or was deemed to have published that suppression order on Wikileaks it would be difficult to find someone to prosecute," Mr Bartlett said. "The person within the state of Victoria who has sent the suppression order to Wikileaks themselves has breached the suppression order so if police could find that person they could prosecute them." Mr Bartlett said he did not know of any person being prosecuted for sharing a court order on social media. A case involving former Manchester United player Ryan Giggs sparked debate in England about the effectiveness of court orders given the prevalence of social media. Giggs went to court to try to stop The Sun newspaper from publishing details of his extra-marital affair. The court initially banned the publication of his identity but the court's order was then widely disseminated through social media and tweeted by about 500,000 people. Giggs' case against the newspaper was eventually thrown out of court and no one was charged in relation to the tweets. The Victorian Supreme Court has been contacted for comment. SOURCE - BRISBANE TIMES - HERE.

First of all, the government uses 'national security' grounds to obtain a court 'super-injunction' suppression order to gag media coverage on some kind of international corruption scandal involving the Australian government, and THEN the press is gagged AND every Australian is threatened with imprisonment -- for the sake of this government cover up -- according to WikiLeaks.

Bloody, hell.   It would help knowing in advance which information can get you in strife.  Not clear to some (namely blogger) ... Doh!  

Will let you know how gaol was, if I've breached anything.  LOL. 

Anyway, this is democracy, freedom of press and freedom of speech at work in Australia.

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P.S. 

What is the point of these gag orders when overseas press is reporting pretty much on the contents, the issue and on prior arrests of overseas people?