One Man War on Tor

ꕤ Unofficial / 'Civvies' FBI Support for Tor? LINK | Vice Article [ CLICK image to enlarge / for clarity] One Man War on Tor [ CLICK image to enlarge / for clarity] [ CLICK image to enlarge / for clarity] Tor Project Runs Away From Public Questions at 32c3 Dec 29, 2015 http://surveillancevalley.net/blog/tor-project-runs-away-from-public-questions-at-32c3 Tor military contractors try to shut down my reporting Dec 27, 2015 http://surveillancevalley.net/blog/tor-military-contractors-try-to-shutdown-my-reporting [ CLICK image to enlarge / for clarity] What Snowden won't tell you: The conflicted government ties of the Tor Project Oct 11, 2015 http://surveillancevalley.net/blog/everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-tor-project ---------------------- ꕤ ---------------------- US Politics | Koch Industries A People’s History of Koch Industries: How Stalin Funded the Tea Party Movement http://exiledonline.com/a-peoples-history-of-koch-industries-how-stalin-funded-the-tea-party-movement/ ---------------------- ꕤ ---------------------- [Tor's a privacy browser]   No time to properly read all of these right now, but I think the one-man-war on Tor is interesting, as is the lengthy Koch Industries article, I would say. These are on the 'to-see' list. The Tor 'debate' has been ongoing for a while, I think. Not sure what the go is with Tor.   I've no idea if it secure or not, or whether it's part of some US regime change greater strategy. It's not the end of my world if it's not 100% secure, because the most I'd ever probably want to do with Tor would be to maybe bypass censorship or something like that. ꕤ

Koch Whores - Wikileaks Expose: Kochs, Neocons & Covert Regime Change Ops (By Yasha Levine)

Koch Whores / October 17, 2011 Wikileaks Expose: Kochs, Neocons and Covert Regime Change Ops By Yasha Levine http://exiledonline.com/wikileaks-expose-kochs-neocons-and-covert-regime-change-ops/ 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. ................................................................ 'Anti-interventionalist' Kochs 'democracy building' in downtown Dushambe and former Soviet surrounds? ................................................................ Dushanbe Capital Tajikistan Largest city. Dushanbe means "Monday" - from market town on Mondays Saturday, 7 Mar - 3:20 pm, 5°C Sunni Islam / Secular Among others: Achaemenid, 1st Persian Empire Hephthalite, Iranian/Turkic  Samanid, Sunni Persian Mongol Timurid dynasty, Sunni Persianate Russia Empire Lang: Tajik = dialect of Modern Persian 'Stan' = 'place' {Persian} Tajikistan = Land of Tajik Islamisation = 7thC ................................................................ ROUGH SUMMARY - LEVINE ARTICLE CHARLES KOCH 'libertarian' think tank:  FREEDOM HOUSE one of the most notorious CIA / US State Dept front groups for American Empire Funding pro-Western opposition movements & seeding regime change across former Soviet Union[2] INSTITUTE OF HUMANE STUDIES (IHS) 'Libertarian recruitment & educational' organisation 2005 - Takes over Tajikistan running and funding of evicted FREEDOM HOUSE NGO IHS - ensconced in Tajikistan & controlled by Charles Koch New NGO - FREEDOM - founded to continue to meddle in local 'human rights community'[2] INSTITUTE FOR HUMAN STUDIES keen to fund >Tajik think tank to facilitate journalists and academics looking at domestic problems & solutions >Tajik think tank focused on 'economic & legal rights' and intellectual debate[2] FREEDOM HOUSE[2] Not charity, feeding starving third-world children or educating them Founded by Eleanor Roosevelt. Part of Franklin Delano Roosevelt domestic propaganda initiative. WWII propaganda to enthuse Americans to fight Nazis. Evolved into semi-covert ops arm of CIA / State Dept. Staff run by intelligence personnel. Funded almost exclusively by US federal govt. Mission:  "to challenge regimes hostile to US interests and values". By way of trojan:  "promoting the cause of political and economic freedom outside the US" FREEDOM HOUSE[2] Provided covert support to: >Afghanistan mujahadeen (jihadists)  >Contras in Nicaragua (various rebel groups, contra revolution / counter-revolutionaries) >Highly in Cube, aiming to subvert Castro govt. Cuba UN Rep:  "[FREEDOM HOUSE]  ... a machinery of subversion, closer to an intelligence service than an NGO."  >Brief coup - President Hugo Chavez 2002 >Main focus (Bush years):  Russia & former Soviet Union. FREEDOM HOUSE - FORMER SOVIET UNION - 2000-04[2] Three Musketeers of regime change & US corporate colonisation: Freedom House Open Society Institute (Soros) National Endowment for Democracy manipulated political opposition movements that brought down remnants of Soviet-era leadership in: >Serbia >Georgia >Ukraine Reformers, hand-picked by US business interests, were installed.[2] [Hey, this is very much what is happening before our eyes in Ukraine and also what appears to have also gone down to some extent in Romania, by the look of the politics, the players, the reforms and the European Union / Western interests overreach in Romania, right down to a Eurocentric reformer politician recently arguing that Romania's head of intelligence ought to be approved by NATO, before his appointment. Monica Macovei  Romania - argues appointment of Romania security head without NATO consultation unacceptable. "I understand that our NATO partners have not been consulted on this appointment and I consider this unacceptable ..." Romania parliament to vote on new intel head: Eduard Hellvig for Romanian Intelligence Service (SRI)  http://www.ziare.com/monica-macovei/stiri-monica-macovei/macovei-propunerea-lui-hellvig-la-sefia-sri-fara-consultarea-nato-inacceptabila-1350600  ] American NGO Musketeers' MO: Installing US corporate interests hand-picked reformers. Funding & establishment of political groups, NGOs & media organisations that chorus freemarket ideas & promote Western-friendly politicians. Training of activists and organisers. Broadcasting of catchy slogans & logos. By tapping into: (a) genuine desire for reform; (b) naive trust in West; channelling votes to politicians who took "marching orders directly from the IMF".[2] FREEDOM HOUSE 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. Helped elect[2]: > Georgia - Mikheil Saakashvili,  groomed by State Dept to play role of Washington stooge > Ukraine - Viktor Yushchenko  Ukraine Central Bank (UCB) head [ * Yushchenko = married to State Dept. spook & former Reagan admin. member [2]] ................................................................ Mrs. Yushchenko by Peter Robinson    December 6, 2004 12:16 PM “Do you know who Yushchenko’s wife is?” John Podhoretz just asked in an email. “Turns out he’s married to Kathy Chumachenko, who worked in public liaison when we were at the White House!” Kathy Chumachenko, now Kathy Yushchenko, was one of the most completely delightful people in the Reagan White House, a Reaganite’s Reaganite. From Reagan staffer to first lady of Ukraine. How the Gipper would have loved it. http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/91560/mrs-yushchenko-peter-robinson ................................................................ Viktor Yushchenko Former President of Ukraine Third President of Ukraine from 2005 to 2010 Career in Ukrainian politics Head National Bank Ukraine 1999 to 2001 =  Prime Minister Dismissal as PM 2004 Ukrainian presidential election =  repeat (two-round / runoff) election (vs PM Viktor Yanukovych) Ukrainian Supreme Court called for the runoff election to be repeated allegations of widespread electoral fraud in favour of Viktor Yanukovych in original vote Public protests over alleged electoral fraud played major role in presidential election & led to:  Ukraine's Orange Revolution.[1] Assassination attempt in late 2004 during election campaign Yushchenko ingested hazardous amounts of TCDD (a contaminant in Agent Orange) = suffered disfigurement as a result of the poisoning -  slowly recovering. SLOGANS Yushchenko went into opposition to President Leonid Kuchma Founded the Our Ukraine bloc 2002 parliamentary election = Ukraine's most popular political force (on just short of 25% votes) "Yushchenko had slightly modernized his political platform, adding social partnership and other liberal slogans to older ideas of European integration, including Ukraine's joining NATO and fighting corruption. Supporters of Yushchenko were organized in the "Syla Narodu" ("Power to the People") electoral coalition, which he and his political allies led, with the Our Ukraine coalition as the main constituent force." [1] [Going by Levine's article, that sure looks like something CIA NGOs would have arranged in Ukraine, right down to the 'liberal slogans'.] INSTITUTE FOR HUMANE STUDIES[2] 'Home' of Kochite Reaganites (eg Nick Gillespie, Radley Balko) est. over 40 years primo liberatarian org & homebase for Friedrich Von Hayek, economist / libertarian thought proponent (and presumably devotee of bad news neo-classical economics - see Four Horsemen doco) Libertarian = anti-state intervention Kochs / Cato Institute >seen to be 'staunch anti-interventionists' (even by Glenn Greenwald)[2] INSTITUTE FOR HUMANE STUDIES[2] + Koch libertarian orgs (eg CATO INSTITUTE) may have history of smuggling banned libertarian literature into Soviet Union However:  FREEDOM HOUSE stands apart Not merely spreading ideas; it is about: "taking over for a CIA arm designed for foreign intervention and regime change."[2] Tajikistan involvement = "Just the fact that they were on the scene, buddying up with war-crazed neocons, CIA goons and State Department bureaucrats famed for their covert regime change ops tells us all we need to know: the anti-interventionist/anti-empire position of libertarianism is just another Koch con meant to give libertarians credibility, and bowl over gullible lefties and progressives into supporting the Kochs’ brutal 19th century economic policies." [2] COMMENT The key information contained in Yasha Levine article (which I really enjoyed), has been summarised above.  Best to read the article, in case my understanding's off.  And it's an enjoyable read.  Must be so nice being clever. Tinkered a bit with the notes by putting in some info from Wikipedia, as I did quickie look-ups. The thing about 'three musketeers' wasn't in the article; it's my way of trying to remember the NGOs. Hoping this note taking will help my recall, but I've got a memory like a sieve.  By next week, I'll probably forget most of what I've learned.  As those discussing Wikipedia on Reddit may attest, Wikipedia should be known as as 'Sneakipedia'  because of the preposterous spin and editing of entries by PR types and various people with political agendas doing the edits. Relied on some information regarding the Libyan army the other day, accepting without question what was before me: Libyan National Army  = newly assembled  by National Transitional Council (transit. govt)  fm rebel forces that defeated Gaddafi 2011  #Libya Somebody corrected me by pointing out that it wasn't a LNA win rebel win; Libya was bombed by the US and NATO. And so it was.  But the entry I was looking on the LNA itself, described it as 'forces aligned' to the Transitional National Council 'win' (the entry for which indicates a 'rebel forces' overthrow), which I just regurgitated without thinking (even though I vaguely know about Western intervention). I'm bashing this out quickly, so I'm not going to take the time to check whether the entry maintains it was an rebel win (despite intervention) or take the time to read about the intervention itself.  Intervention looks very one sided:  NATO forces are MASSIVE versus Libya.  Does that seem fair?  And look what it's produced; it's 2015 and Libya is still in chaos. Putin was right. Couldn't help myself.  Checked the Libyan National Army entry (quickly) to see what it said.  Was at first horrified, thinking I'd misunderstood the entry and had presented something that wasn't in the entry.  As I scanned further down, it looks like LNA has been credited with the Gaddafi defeat, so I didn't make I didn't make it up: The Libyan National Army was founded in 2011 by the National Transitional Council, after forces aligned to it defeated the previous Libyan Army and overthrew Muammar Gaddafi's regime.   ... Transitional National Council,[3] was the de facto government of Libya for a period during and after the Libyan Civil War, in which rebel forces overthrew the regime of Muammar Gaddafi.  No time to check the rest of the entries properly.  For all I know, I'm at fault because I'm just jumping on the first information I see.  But 'rebel forces which overthrew the regime of Muammar Gaddafi' is arguable, I suppose, if you consider the role of NATO. Somebody recently suggested I check out 'cultural Marxism'.  So I did.  During my travels, I found the entries on Reddit pointing out the bias etc, regarding Wikipedia entries.  Thought it was interesting reading in relation to the Sneakipedia failings as well as cultural Marxism, which I think I'm opposed to because I'm not huge on being told what to think.  But I've got a bit more reading to do on that before I know what the deal is; that's just my initial impression. Someone suggested a counter Wikipedia, I think.  A counter internet would also be good.  The internet as we know it doesn't accommodate truth.  It's censored like crazy.  Not too big on that. Also not big on the prospect of Google being the 'Ministry of Truth' of the internet.  Proposal to index searches based on the 'accuracy' of information rather than popularity of hits.  That is just WRONG and totalitarian. We should all bail and start using other platforms, avoiding Google like the plague. Google Gives New Meaning to “Orwellian” – Becomes Ministry of Truth http://www.globalresearch.ca/google-gives-new-meaning-to-orwellian-becomes-ministry-of-truth/5434333 [Excuse any typos.  In a mad rush.  Too tired to stay up and edit.]

Totalitarian Britain, CIA Lawsuit, Sacred Cows & Incongruous Libertarian Package

UK Police State Unbelievable harassment of politically active university students by the police state in Britain: Monitoring of protest groups “raw, unvarnished intimidation and activist-busting."  http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/feb/25/police-covert-recruit-activists-spies-cambridge?CMP=share_btn_tw ......................................................... VIDEO UK Police try to recruit activist to spy on Cambridge students & political groups https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_hGQETyhXk ......................................................... CIA IS SUED CIA sued by “non-official cover” operative  “Madhouse: A Forbidden Novel of the CIA"  http://triblive.com/usworld/nation/7805012-74/cia-lawsuit-officer ......................................................... SACRED COWS & INCONGRUOUS LIB PACKAGE Snowden praised for fighting government surveillance… by group that LOVES corporate surveillance By Mark Ames  On February 20, 2015 Last Friday, NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden Skyped into a Washington DC Marriott Hotel conference hall to proudly accept “The Students For Liberty Alumnus of the Year Award.”  http://pando.com/2015/02/20/strange-bedfellows/ The Gist NSA whistleblower, Snowden, accepts Students for Libery award. Peter Thiel, founder of one of NSA’s biggest contractors, Palantir Technologies Gets Students For Liberty award  "Snowden’s nemesis, former NSA chief Keith Alexander, praised Palantir’s usefulness to the spy agency"  Greenwald has characterized Pando’s criticism of him as CIA plot hatched by Thiel  Thiel Founders Fund $300k in Pando previously Students for Liberty is anything but that: awarded “Event of the Year” to anti-Marxist 'libs' at Honduras’ National University Hey, Students of Liberty: Leftists & journalists in Honduras terrorized since 2009 US-backed coup!!!!!!  Snowden  “If the government will not be stewards of our rights, we can encode our rights into our system.”   Source:  http://pando.com/2015/02/20/strange-bedfellows/ Students For Liberty  gets most of its money from Koch brothers worked closely with US govt big corporate sponsors Students For Liberty’s Board Advisors incl Prince von Liechtenstein offshore banking tax haven of global billionaires / Switzerland too transparent Students For Liberty f. 2008 Alexander McCobin (emp @ Cato Institution, neé “The Charles Koch Foundation”) 💥 Koch Alarm 💥 Students for Liberty Ron Paul + Andrew Napolitano, Cato Institution / FoxNews truther Ron Paul presidential campaign 2012 Thiel funded /Snowden & Greenwald support Sen. Rand Paul Presidential campaign 2016 funded by Thiel’s co-founder at Palantir: Joe Lonsdale (Rand Paul’s finance team) 2011 Palantir sponsored Electronic Frontier Foundation’s Pioneer Awards winners incl: >Glenn Greenwald >Laura Poitras >Tor Project >EFF co-founder Mitch Kapor >EFF Fellow Cory Doctorow Palantir & Peter Thiel   bravely fighting type of govt surveillance ably assisted by … Palantir & Peter Thiel   [LOL ... Pando] ......................................................... COMMENT Above are some of the things that caught my attention. The police attack on what is supposed to be a democratic right in Britain is disgraceful and, really, quite frightening and totalitarian, if you stop to think about what's going on.  And this is just the tip of an iceberg in Britain. More press on the CIA lawsuit would be good: The officer filed the lawsuit in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia under a pseudonym, Mack L. Charles. The CIA declined to comment but did not dispute the plaintiff's former association with the agency. [1] CIA stands accused of illegally barring publishing of a novel (which isn't a first, as I recall). Finally, there's the hilarious Pando article (I love those guys).  No idea if they're really the 'bad' guys, if they're just funny bastards poking at some sacred cows, or if there is indeed something very odd about the convergence of these incongruous relationships. Trying to keep an open mind, but Koch, Thiel (NSA praise), Students for Liberty and the rest of it is a package way hard to swallow. Koch is 'cook' in German, by the way. Hmmmm ...

The Democracy Lie

The Democracy Lie The 'democracy' holy grail isn't all that it's hyped up to be. If you have government that is controlled by the wealthy, by corporations and by foreign interests, and is elected by a largely uninformed, apathetic and politically unorganised public, from a small pool of politicians who are all much the same as one another, what you've got is 'democracy' in name only. Take the legislation that was pushed through by the Australian government: #Auspol - very sad day for press freedom - http://alliance.org.au/meaa-condemns-passage-of-national-security-laws … / criminalizes legitimate reporting of matters in public interest. It penalises whistle-blowers, it gags the press, it further blocks transparency and accountability and therefore undermines any notion of 'democracy'.  And it infringes on civil rights. Meanwhile, the general public's probably more concerned about the release of the new Apple phone than they are about the laws that are passed. But even if large numbers of people were as outraged as they ought to be, as individuals versus government or the system, they're helpless until the next limited-choice corporate and US puppet government election.  That being the case, the public is completely at the mercy of the ruling classes on an ongoing basis, irrespective of the pretence of democratic representation and democratic government. 'Democracy' is the same deal the world over: #Obama #WallStreet #USA - attack on democracy - corruption of elections http://tinyurl.com/nxxbl5u  / $7 million bankroll / #NGO The Denial Machine principles in Greenpeace material can be applied WIDELY when it comes to political lobbying >> http://tinyurl.com/68lngwa [The above link was the initial link I looked at but the following notes are based on information from elsewhere on the Greenpeace site] #Politics - 'think tanks' + NGOs = 'echo chambers' strategy / co-ordinated propaganda attacks >> such groups are the CHORUS .. singing on behalf of agenda of benefactors >> business groups, women's groups, education groups, seniors groups, religious groups -- WHO funds them & WHY Here's a couple of interesting links that demonstrates how much corporate political control there is in the US (but it's applicable to anywhere that pretends to be a democracy): http://www.greenpeace.org/usa/en/campaigns/global-warming-and-energy/polluterwatch/koch-industries/case-study-the-koch-funded-c/ http://greenpeaceblogs.org/2012/04/02/koch-brothers-exposed-fueling-climate-denial-and-privatizing-democracy/ Driving me crazy not being able to find the link where I got the 'think tanks', 'echo chambers' and 'chorus' information from. Whoever used that terminology to describe lobbying organisations and those they influence has done a great job in conveying what they are in simple, descriptive and easy to remember terms.  ------------------------------------------ Postscript Moments after posting the above, I've had my point of view affirmed on social media: Whistle-blowers Activists & Citizens Alliance (WACA)  https://twitter.com/akaWACA Anti-war Protest at:  Swan Island, Australia "Members of SAS known as the assassins in Aust military - stripped naked, hooded & beat up peace activists for entering military base #auspol" "Welcome 2 #TeamAustralia where military assassins from SAS torture peaceful protestors. Imagine what they do in Iraq https://www.facebook.com/pages/Whistleblowers-Activists-and-Citizens-Alliance/166696300034817 … "Seriously get ur head around this. Aust Military just hooded and beat up christian peace activists on Swan Island for daring to protest war" "WTF!! Absolute DISGRACE. that doesnt border on torture that IS torture. if they do that to our own wtf do they do to others " "SAS officers handcuffed, dragged activists on the ground when didn’t respond to Q's stating “If you move we will kick you in the face”" "SAS officers placed Hessian bags over activists heads & asked “do you want to go for a swim” before being dragging them naked across ground" "SAS officers cut activists clothing off with knives. Hessian bags were placed over their heads and told “welcome to the bag motherfucker"" The above is some of the feed from the WACA account.   What's happening is unbelievable.  No representative of the government (which in turn is supposed to  represent the *people*) should have the right -- or inclination -- to do that. What does that tell you about 'democracy'?  Clearly, it's a farce. Further Info: #BREAKING >> Australian peace activists detained and assaulted by SAS on Swan Island >> http://tinyurl.com/m7f2kf9  >> #Auspol Further Info - Democracy Under Attack - Australia  #Auspol - building blocks of our democratic system under attack - #ASIO given law enforcement powers - https://archive.today/FHEiQ