Perversion and Poetry

PERVERSION & POETRY 1.  US Surveillance of entire foreign populations US spies on multiple, whole populations worldwide ... depriving entire nations of their privacy & freedom. USA spying on Bahamas, Mexico, Kenya, Philippines + one other (likely violent unnamed) >>  Article Data Pirates of the Caribbean: The NSA Is Recording Every Cell Phone Call in the Bahamas https://firstlook.org/theintercept/2014/05/19/data-pirates-caribbean-nsa-recording-every-cell-phone-call-bahamas/ 2.  US Criminal Activities - Gladio B "... Pentagon, CIA and State Department maintained intimate ties to al-Qaeda militants as late as 2001." [ceasefiremagazine.co.uk] "... memoir, Classified Woman: The Sibel Edmonds Story, published last year, charged senior [US] government officials with negligence, corruption and collaboration with al Qaeda in illegal arms smuggling and drugs trafficking in Central Asia." [ceasefiremagazine.co.uk] "In interviews with this author in early March, Edmonds claimed that Ayman al-Zawahiri, current head of al Qaeda and Osama bin Laden’s deputy at the time, had innumerable, regular meetings at the U.S. embassy in Baku, Azerbaijan, with U.S. military and intelligence officials between 1997 and 2001, as part of an operation known as ‘Gladio B’. Al-Zawahiri, she charged, as well as various members of the bin Laden family and other mujahideen, were transported on NATO planes to various parts of Central Asia and the Balkans to participate in Pentagon-backed destabilisation operations." [ceasefiremagazine.co.uk] Source - Article - ceasefiremagazine.co.uk: Special Report | Why was a Sunday Times report on US government ties to al-Qaeda chief spiked? FBI whistle-blower Sibel Edmonds was described as "the most gagged person in the history of the United States" by the American Civil Liberties Union. Was the Sunday Times pressured to drop its investigation into her revelations?  http://ceasefiremagazine.co.uk/whistleblower-al-qaeda-chief-u-s-asset/ 3. Operation Gladio > Secret Stay-behind Fascist Paramilitary - Europe Operation Gladio is the codename for a clandestine NATO "stay-behind" operation in Europe during the Cold War. Its purpose was to continue armed resistance in the event of a Soviet invasion and conquest. Although Gladio specifically refers to the Italian branch of the NATO stay-behind organizations, "Operation Gladio" is used as an informal name for all stay-behind organizations. [Wikipedia]  The role of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in sponsoring Gladio and the extent of its activities during the Cold War era, and its relationship to right-wing terrorist attacks perpetrated in Italy during the "Years of Lead" (late 1960s to early 1980s) and other similar clandestine operations, is the subject of ongoing debate and investigation. Switzerland and Belgium have had parliamentary inquiries into the matter. [Wikipedia] Source:  Wikipedia >>  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Gladio 4. Gary Webb - CIA-backed Contra Drug Ops - Media Corruption ‘The New York Times’ Wants Gary Webb to Stay Dead | The Nation http://www.thenation.com/blog/181940/new-york-times-wants-gary-webb-stay-dead … GARY WEBB >"dead from 2 gunshot wounds to the head, which the coroner's office judged a suicide" >exposed CIA-backed Contra drug ops - #USA #USA >> Contras, CIA, crack cocaine, crimes of state, media power & media corruption >> Power of the Internet >> http://www.whale.to/b/mighty__wurlitzer.html … >>Collusion b/w the press & the powerful: "national news orgs. have had a long .. history of playing footsie with the CIA" WashingtonTimes (.. helped finance ..Contras, hosting fund-raisers & speaking engagements 4 .. leaders while supporting .. cause editorially) 5.  US Whistle-blower Harassment MUST READ: Applebaum, WikiLeaks, Snowden & USA harassment - http://www.exberliner.com/features/people/jacob-appelbaum-on-the-usa-and-nsa/ What they did to Applebaum's mother is disgusting. 6.  Australia - Absence Accountability & Transparency, Extension of Govt (& Govt agency) Powers, Suppression, & Threat to Free Press >>> Brandis ... an easy 'out' not commenting on anything. Not a good look. Busy ducking behind 'inaccurate' paraphrasing. #Auspol >>> Edward Snowden a traitor, Attorney-General George Brandis tells Washington think tank >>> http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/edward-snowden-a-traitor-attorneygeneral-george-brandis-tells-washington-think-tank-20140409-zqsgp.html … >> Snowden had the guts to take on the biggest criminal enterprise in the world: USA. Snowden's a hero. Note:  Centre for Strategic & International Studies (CSIS) - Washington foreign policy 'think tank' is where Brandis made the Snowden pronouncements.  7.  'Democracy' Lobbying Propaganda - Europe "Khodorkovsky for caution in anti-Russian sanctions in Prague Prague - The EU and the USA can influence the situation in Russia, but their use of sanctions should be cautious, Russian oligarch Mikhail Khodorkovsky, who was recently released from prison, said at the opening of the 18th Forum 2000 international conference in Prague today. The EU and the USA can help Russia on its road to democracy, Khodorkovsky said. Rather, the Russian democratic movement needs a cultivated influence of the Western countries, he added. International sanctions can be a precarious instrument, said Khodorkovsky, who now lives in Switzerland from where he supports opposition and democratic changes in Russia. In the summer, the EU imposed sanctions against Russia over its policy in the Ukrainian conflict. The conference, initiated by the late Czechoslovak and Czech president Vaclav Havel (1936-2011), is this year entitled "Democracy and Its Discontents: A Quarter-Century After the Iron Curtain and Tiananmen" to mark 25 years of the communist regime collapse and the massacre on Tiananmen Square in Beijing." http://www.ceskenoviny.cz/zpravy/khodorkovsky-for-caution-in-anti-russian-sanctions-in-prague/1134199 "The EU and the USA can help Russia on its road to democracy, Khodorkovsky said." [ceskenoviny/cz]  "Democracy & Its Discontents: A Quarter-Century After the Iron Curtain & Tiananmen" > Not USA, Kissinger, Contras + Cocaine?  >>Given above was @ Forum 2000 international conference in Prague, this fits in very nicely:   http://www.chomsky.info/letters/19900301.htm On Vaclav Havel Speech Noam Chomsky Excerpted from Alexander Cockburn, The Golden Age Is In Us, Verso, 1995, pp. 149-151 [March 1, 1990] " ... It's also unnecessary to point out to the half a dozen or so sane people who remain that in comparison to the conditions imposed by US tyranny and violence, East Europe under Russian rule was practically a paradise. Furthermore, one can easily understand why an oppressed Third World victim would have little access to any information (or would care little about anything) beyond the narrow struggle for survival against a terrorist superpower and its clients. And the Pravda hack, unlike his US clones, would have faced a harsh response if he told the obvious truths. So by every conceivable standard, the performance of Havel, Congress, the media, and (we may safely predict, without what will soon appear) the Western intellectual community at large are on a moral and intellectual level that is vastly below that of Third World peasants and Stalinist hacks -- not an unusual discovery.  Of course, it could be argued in Havel's defense that this shameful performance was all tongue in cheek, just a way to extort money from the American taxpayer for his (relatively rich) country. I doubt it, however; he doesn't look like that good an actor." [Source:  http://www.chomsky.info/letters/19900301.htm] COMMENT Although I knew there was NSA and FVEY mass surveillance, I must have missed the bit where the NSA conducts surveillance on entire populations of FOREIGN (non-FVEY) nations, as I was of the impression that surveillance was kept it 'in the family'.  Wrong. Surveillance extends to the USA spying on the Bahamas, Mexico, Kenya, Philippines and another country (likely violent if named).  But the odds are it's not limited to these countries. Why on earth would they be conducting surveillance on the population of Kenya?  Which country is the mysterious 'unnamed' country? No idea about the interest in Kenya, but I'm going to go with Pakistan for the unnamed country. Anyway, the enormity of this revelation totally blew me away.   The populations of entire nations are subject to US surveillance and are not only deprived of privacy, but are also, therefore, deprived of liberty. So how is it that this is swept under a rug and that nobody's concerned about a deed that, in my view, amounts to worldwide criminal activity by a major government? Take into consideration the 'Operation Gladio' and US 'Gladio B' activities, and the US government attempts to suppress that information.   Find the information difficult to absorb and might need to revisit the topic some time.  Nonetheless, here we have yet another example of  the US engaged in what amounts to criminal activity.  Judging by earlier disclosures (eg Gary Webb), the US has a long history of involvements in criminal activity, exposure, persecution of whistle-blowers and suppression of press and whistle-blower disclosures. Yet we have Australia's attorney-general, George Brandis, addressing a US 'echo chamber' 'think tank' (Centre for Strategic & International Studies) earlier in the year, pronouncing a whistle-blower, Snowden, a 'traitor', according to the screaming SMH headline. Brandis is the same guy who is aggressively ducking Senator Ludlam's questions in a parliamentary committee (video above), doing democracy a disservice in more ways than one, in my view. Meanwhile, in Europe, we have a stripped Russian oligarch speaking about the holy grail of 'democracy' to be installed in Russia by Europe and USA, broadcast from some US agenda NGO platform, before a rapt audience of Cuban dissidents and assorted other US ass-kissers. I don't have the mental skills, the language skills or the patience to sit here trying to find the words to articulate just how perverse I find all of the above. As I see it, you have a criminal, or rogue, gargantuan, super-government seeking to control the rest of the world by whatever means and without any limits; you have those within its trade and military treaty sphere (which is enormous), not only standing by without question, but also aggressively smearing those that stand up and disclose wrongdoing; there's a long a pattern of those beyond control or influence (or dissidents) and members of the press that dare reveal the truth, being vilified, hunted down, harassed and shut down; there's a corrupt or fearful press, that is either part of the established order, or else otherwise controlled, by authorities; there's a topsy-turvy world where 'good' is 'bad' and 'bad' is 'good'; a thousand sly GO and NGO platforms from which to evangelise about the holy grail of 'democracy', had by none but to be exported to all;  there's the abuse of power and totalitarianism (that's hypocritically decried elsewhere), and this abuse is pervasive and entrenched. Somewhere along the line, there's also denial of the important role whistle-blowers play -- or are supposed to play -- in keeping the crooked straight. And Australian whilstle-blower publisher, Julian Assange, is still held without charge by the Sweden-UK-US trio blocking his political asylum to Ecuador, while his nation stands by unconcerned about this injustice. Noam Chomsky's letter was the only breath of fresh air.  It's beautiful.  Poetry.

Cybersecurity, Techie & Other

CYBERSECURITY, TECHIE & Other 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 … -----------------------------------------------------  CYBERSECURITY #cybersecurity - Dropbox, Google & Open Technology World - lending support 2 Simply Secure 2 devel. easy-use sec. http://goo.gl/09sw4B -----------------------------------------------------  DIGITAL CURRENCY / BITCOIN Have notes & coins have had their day? Kenneth Rogoff, of Harvard University, reckons they have. http://goo.gl/4y6Ewo  / #Bitcoin ? -----------------------------------------------------  WHISTLEBLOWERS http://www.worldbulletin.net/news/144776/switzerland-prepares-to-tighten-screws-on-whistleblowers #Switzerland's parliament proposed bill Monday - weakening protection 4 whistleblowers - http://goo.gl/JcBXM9  Julius Baer / #WikiLeaks / The Swiss law is another bit of gagging legislation going around various govts. What's with that lately? It's 4 cover-ups #Switzerland clamping down on whistleblowers but offers #Snowden asylum. If I were Snowden, I'd politely decline ... LOL -----------------------------------------------------  COMMENT Loads of interesting information here.  The bit about the US 'state within a state' is rather spooky.   Might have to cross-reference that one with the other US info.

USA - JOHN NAPIER TYE & Fourth Amendment Rights - US Surveillance Abroad

By Charlie Savage THE NEW YORK TIMES WASHINGTON — After President Barack Obama delivered a speech in January endorsing changes to surveillance policies, including an end to the National Security Agency's bulk collection of Americans' domestic calling records, John Napier Tye was disillusioned. A State Department official, Tye worked on Internet freedom issues and had top-secret clearance. He knew the Obama administration had also considered a proposal to impose what an internal White House document, obtained by The New York Times, portrayed as "significant changes" to rules for handling Americans' data the NSA collects from fiber-optic networks abroad. But Obama said nothing about that in his speech. So in April, as Tye was leaving the State Department, he filed a whistle-blower complaint arguing that the NSA's practices abroad violated Americans' Fourth Amendment rights. He also met with staff members for the House and Senate intelligence committees. Last month, he went public with those concerns, which have attracted growing attention. When operating abroad, the NSA can gather and use Americans' phone calls, emails, text messages and other communications under different — and sometimes more permissive — rules than when it collects them inside the United States. Much about those rules remains murky. The executive branch establishes them behind closed doors and can change them at will, with no involvement from Congress or the intelligence courts that are charged with protecting Americans' privacy. "It's a problem if one branch of government can collect and store most Americans' communications, and write rules in secret on how to use them — all without oversight from Congress or any court, and without the consent or even the knowledge of the American people," Tye said. "Regardless of the use rules in place today, this system could be abused in the future." Tye, 38, is speaking out as Congress considers amending the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which governs how the NSA operates domestically. The legislation resulted from the uproar over leaks by Edward J. Snowden, a former agency contractor. But the proposed changes would not touch its abilities overseas, which are authorized by Executive Order 12333, a Reagan-era presidential directive. The administration has declassified some rules for handling Americans' messages gathered under the order, but the scope of that collection and some details about how the messages are used remain unclear. "The debate over the last year has barely touched on the executive order," said Jameel Jaffer, an American Civil Liberties Union lawyer. "It's a black box." The Times interviewed nearly a dozen current and former officials about EO 12333 rules for handling communications involving Americans, bringing further details to light. By law, the NSA cannot deliberately intercept an American's messages without court permission. But it can "incidentally" collect such private communications as a consequence of its foreign surveillance. The volume of incidental collection overseas is uncertain. Officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity because of the delicate nature of the topic, said the NSA has never studied the matter and most likely could not come up with a representative sampling. Tye called that "willful blindness." Still, the number of Americans swept up could be sizable. As the NSA collects content in bulk overseas from fiber-optic hubs and satellite transmissions for later analysis, Americans' messages within the mix can be vacuumed up. By contrast, when operating domestically under FISA, the agency may engage only in targeted, not dragnet, collection and storage of content. Congress left the executive branch with a freer hand abroad because it was once rare for Americans' communications to go overseas. But in the Internet era, that is no longer true. Large email companies like Google and Yahoo have built data centers abroad, where they store backups of their users' data. Snowden disclosed that in 2012, the NSA, working with its British counterpart, GCHQ, penetrated links connecting the companies' overseas data centers and collected 181.3 million records in 30 days. CONTINUED @ SOURCE http://www.telegram.com/article/20140813/NEWS/308139532/1052

Fourth Amendment - prohibits unreasonable searches/seizures without court warrant & probable cause.


Good luck to this guy.  At least he's trying to do something.

It's great that there's some kind of starting point protective legal framework in the US.  Most other countries don't have that.

USA - NATIONAL SECURITY AGENCY - Leaker #2

http://goo.gl/l9SCsG


Another NSA leaker.

Snowden was first. This is Leaker #2.

#2 Leaker is allegedly passing information to journalists.

Bloomberg View (link above) reports:

The blogger Cory Doctorow was the first to suggest there's a second NSA leaker. Last month, one of his sources told him that a story on the German site Tagesschau was not based on documents from Snowden's trove. The article dealt with the NSA's spying on the anonymous Tor network, the backbone of the "Dark Web" that intrigues the intelligence services of many countries.  

Hey, Tor gets a mention.

Was going to use Tor the other day when I couldn't access Twitter for some reason ... but I couldn't even get Tor up.  Kinda odd.  Is Tor blacklisted these days?


Anyway, this is a bit of interesting news on the NSA front.  I've not followed the links but anyone who wants more info can.

USA - National Security - Intelligence Agencies - Carte Blanche

CIA spying on its own “internal channels” for whistleblowers Posted on July 28, 2014 McClatchy reports that the Central Intelligence Agency may be “intercepting the communications of officials who handle whistleblower cases.” The Senate Intelligence Committee’s classified 6,000-page report into the CIA’s post-9/11 interrogation programme is still yet to be published and the Committee has already accused the agency of illegally spying on that probe. Now it has emerged that the CIA retaliated against an official who cooperated with the Senate investigation, and Senate members emailed one another to accuse the agency’s inspector general of failing to investigate that retaliation – and the CIA has obtained at least one of those emails. As McClatchy writes, “The email controversy points to holes in the intelligence community’s whistleblower protection systems and raises fresh questions about the extent to which intelligence agencies can elude congressional oversight.” If the Senate cannot investigate the CIA independently and free of retaliation fears, who can? How can intelligence agencies be held accountable if they even intercept communications into their own operations? ... Thomas Drake’s criticisms of US warrantless wiretapping Drake subsequently blew the whistle to the media, and before the government’s case collapsed just days ahead of trial, he was facing an Espionage Act charge that could have imprisoned him for decades. Similarly, Edward Snowden made enquiries within the NSA about the legality and morality of that agency’s mass, unchecked surveillance. He spoke up at least ten separate times — the Office of the Director of National Intelligence has in fact released one of Snowden’s emails. When he was ignored, Snowden was compelled to give documents detailing the NSA’s spying programs to investigative journalists. Insufficient security or insufficient democracy? The Insider Threat programme and the stated attitudes of the very officials responsible for facilitating internal channels draw a picture of a US administration that is deeply hostile, not only to disclosure of government information, but to internal criticism of its activities from those charged to carry them out. Famously, President Obama has overseen the prosecution of more Espionage Act cases than all previous presidents combined. The majority of those cases concern individuals trying to blow the whistle on wrongdoing. Within their number include cases, like that of Thomas Drake, where employees have tried to make their case within the ‘official channels’ ostensibly created to facilitate internal whistleblowing. It is ironic that the United States has responded to disclosures of illegality and abuse, not by subjecting its programmes to democratic input or ensuring that future whistleblowers have better options, but by cracking down on those who speak up and the journalism they enable. The US administration has treated whistleblowers as an issue of insufficient security rather than insufficient democracy. ...EXTRACTS ONLY...full article @... https://couragefound.org/2014/07/cia-spying-on-its-own-internal-channels/

Doesn't sound too good when agencies under the US government appear to be able to do whatever they want.