Germany, Britain, Canada, Australia - Suppression of Multiple Freedoms, Including Intellectual Freedom

ꕤ Horst Mahler former German lawyer + activist b. Silesia 1936 2009 - at 73yrs old sentenced to 11 years ie, for old man:  amounts to DEATH SENTENCE Political Prisoner: German judge pronounced Horst Mahler: "not able to be re-educated" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horst_Mahler Horst Mahler -- 2000, joined National Democratic Party of Germany -- (Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands, NPD) -- 2001 German govt began process attempting to ban NPD -- Mahler acted as attorney for party -- govt uses of Volksverhetzung (incitement) accusations v. party -- petitions court to seize Mahler's computer assets -- Mahler successfully defeated effort -- Mahler later left party (2003) Horst Mahler -- charges re 9-11 statements -  Volksverhetzung (incitement)  -- for claiming 9-11 "concocted conspiracy" & not al-Qaeda -- 2004 'Holocaust denial' under  Volksverhetzung (incitement) -- this is in connection to his role in VRBHV -- Society for the Rehabilitation of Those Persecuted -- for Refutation of the Holocaust (VRBHV) -- 2006, passport revoked to prevent Teheran conference -- 2007, Volksverhetzung (incitement) -- re Vanity Fair interview with Michel Friedman (CDU) -- Friedman, former VP of the 'Central Council of Jews' in Germany -- Friedman brought charges against Mahler alleging:     1 -- Hitler salute; &     2 -- shout of "Heil Hitler, Herr Friedman!" -- Mahler told Friedman that:  "the systematic extermination of Jews in Auschwitz is a lie" -- 2006:  9-mth sentence -- 2007:  6-mth sentence without parole for Hitler salute -- when reporting to prison for a 9-mth term THE PREVIOUS YEAR -- 2009, Feb:  6-YEARS prison, no reduction or bail -- 2009, Mar:  5-YEARS ADDITIONAL prison 'holocaust denial' & 'banalisation' -- thus, a total of 11-YEARS prison to a 73 year old -- effectively, DEATH SENTENCE Horst Mahler -- was defended by Sylvia Stolz -- Stolz repeatedly convicted & imprisoned Sylvia Stolz lawyer political prisoner: repeatedly imprisoned by Germany / Merkel for thought crime Feb 2015: imprisoned for 20 months by a court in Munich for a speech she delivered in 2012 Stolz  3.5 years imprisonment  + prof. exclusion (5 yrs) --> for defending client in court https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sylvia_Stolz Stolz *referred to as Mahler's wife on other site. *not sure if this is correct or not. Article re British Bishop Richard Williamson ... mentions Germans Bishop Williamson wins appeal against conviction in Germany Posted on February 23, 2012 "... Indeed in March 2009 the German lawyer Horst Mahler received the maximum five year prison sentence for such offences, as did the German-Canadian artist and publisher Ernst Zündel in 2007 after being expelled from Canada under an unconstitutional “national security certificate”.  German lawyer Sylvia Stoltz was sentenced to three and a half years in prison in 2008, and banned from practising her profession." A criminal investigation of Bishop Williamson was launched by the German authorities within weeks of the broadcast, and in October 2009 he was fined €12,000 under the German system of “order of punishment”, which initially involves no trial but is sometimes accepted by defendants in straightforward cases, such as traffic offences and the like. The Bishop’s initial lawyer Matthias Lossmann had been appointed via the SSPX, and pursued a defeatist strategy which led to his client being convicted following a trial in Regensburg in April 2010, though the fine was reduced to €10,000. A first appeal was heard in July 2011, again in Regensburg, by which time Bishop Williamson had taken on new lawyers – first Wolfram Nahrath, and later Prof. Edgar Weiler, who represented him at the appeal hearing which I attended. The outcome of this appeal was to reduce the fine again to €6,500, but the legal arguments introduced by Prof. Weiler have now resulted in the complete throwing out of the charges. A reading of the documents suggests that Prof. Weiler was successful in challenging the very basis of the charges – namely the essential question of at what point Bishop Williamson had committed an offence.  Was it illegal simply to make these statements in Germany, even behind closed doors, to the Swedish journalist?  Surely this was not a “publication”. Were the prosecutors arguing that Bishop Williamson had intended the comments to be broadcast in Germany, bearing in mind that he was speaking to a Swedish journalist for a Swedish programme?  Or that he had not done enough to prevent that publication?  If so, in what sense?  The broadcast clearly shows Bishop Williamson warning the journalist that such comments are illegal in Germany and that they should not be published there. The higher court has now agreed that the prosecutors’ charges against Bishop Williamson failed to make these matters clear, and that his conviction should therefore be thrown out. [ ... ] ... dangerous ambiguity of a German legal system which operates by very different standards of free expression from many of its European partners. Dr Fredrick Toben with Lady Michele Renouf following the defeat of a European Arrest Warrant in the London courts, allowing Dr Toben to return to Australia a free man rather than be extradited to Germany. Such contradictions led of course to the historic victory in the London courts in 2008, when a European Arrest Warrant against the Australian academic Dr Fredrick Toben, drawn up by German prosecutors was similarly thrown out for reflecting the very vagueness of the law it is based upon, which fails to define terms such as “holocaust” or its unique alleged mass murder weapon.  On that occasion too, the German authorities and their partners in the Crown Prosecution Service insisted that they would appeal and continue to seek Dr Toben’s extradition, but they quickly abandoned their flimsy case. CONTINUES http://jailingopinions.com/blog/?p=22 SMH Holocaust denier Frederick Toben backs George Brandis' plans for discrimination law May 13, 2014 Holocaust denier Frederick Toben has strongly backed the Abbott government's plans to water down race hate laws, describing them as a welcome challenge to "Jewish supremacism" in Australia. In an explosive submission to Attorney-General George Brandis' review of the Racial Discrimination Act, obtained by Fairfax Media, Mr Toben congratulated the government for its attempt to rectify what he describes as a "flawed law, which only benefits Jewish-Zionist-Israeli interests". His comments drew immediate anger in the Jewish community, which has warned that the government's plans for Section 18C of the act will open the door to "vilification on a massive scale". Mr Toben said Senator Brandis – who famously defended people's "right to be a bigot" – had incorrectly claimed the need for reform of the Racial Discrimination Act was about free speech and the conviction of News Corp columnist Andrew Bolt under 18C. "The essence of what the RDA Section 18C is all about and why it needs to be repealed is that the so-called 'Bolt law' is in effect a 'Holocaust' protection law," Mr Toben wrote. "The 'Bolt law' case was used in an attempt to hide this Holocaust matter and to make it a free expression issue. The trap set for the multiculturalists in Australia by Jewish interests, who designed Section 18C, is that the sole aim of this section has always been to legally protect ... the Holocaust-Shoah narrative." Senator Brandis distanced the government from Mr Toben's support on Tuesday, describing him as a "nutter".  "I've never read anything that Mr Toben has said but I'm aware of his views from press reports and views I've heard attributed to Mr Toben are absolute rubbish," he said. "I don't agree with Mr Toben but I do agree with President Barack Obama who said last week in relation to the Donald Sterling case: 'when people, when ignorant folks want to advertise their ignorance, you don't have to do anything, you just let them talk'." The Executive Council of Australian Jewry, the Australia-Israel and Jewish Affairs Council, and the Zionist Federation condemned Mr Toben but said it was the government's proposal that would allow him to freely peddle his views. Mr Toben, a German-born Australian, was found to be in breach of discrimination laws in 2003. He went to jail in 2009 for defying Federal Court orders to remove material from his website that claimed there were no gas chambers at Auschwitz, and describing the murder of millions of Jews during World War II as the "Holocaust myth''. Executive Council of Australian Jewry executive director Peter Wertheim said: "I am sure the government will derive no joy at all from Fredrick Toben's endorsement of its proposals to water down section 18C and 18D of the Racial Discrimination Act. "Toben has spent a large part of his life vainly attempting to rehabilitate the disgraced record of Nazi Germany. If the government's proposed changes to the law are enacted, racist rants of this kind will be given a free pass on the basis that they are part of a public discussion. "Worse still, overtly racist discourse will be given the accolade of freedom of expression. It's time for the government to abandon its ideologically-driven attempt to emasculate laws that have worked well for nearly 20 years." Tsvi Fleischer of the Australia-Israel and Jewish Affairs Council said the changes proposed by the government were a licence to vilify on a massive scale. "Toben's submission is more evidence of that," he said. "If the changes go through according to the government's model for comment, we do fear that people like Toben will be able to say whatever he wants – which is usually how evil the Jews are all the time." Labor senator Lisa Singh said: "Mr Toben is wrong in almost everything he says, except in his claim that the Abbott government's changes would give him licence to continue his racist tirades. "George Brandis has offended the vast majority of communities and organisations across Australia with his proposals to license racism. The only people still supporting him unequivocally are extremists like Holocaust denier Frederick Toben." SOURCE http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/holocaust-denier-frederick-toben-backs-george-brandis-plans-for-discrimination-law-20140513-zrbnx.html One man's 'race hate laws' are another man's political (and potentially ethno-political) suppression laws. ---------------------- ꕤ ---------------------- Sylvia Stolz lawyer politically persecuted political prisoner https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sylvia_Stolz https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NCuwbbNQcZI ---------------------- ꕤ ---------------------- COMMENT Those that think Germany is some pinnacle of 'European values' and the embodiment of 'justice', 'freedom',  Western 'democracy' and Superhero goodness-and-light, might want to take a look at some of this material. Germany is a totalitarian state and Germans are political prisoners not only for challenging official political and historical narratives, but also for seeking to defend themselves in court (which is next to impossible, if you listen to what Syliva Stolz has to say on the matter in the video above). Germany is a totalitarian state of the worst order:  a state that is forcibly 're-educating' citizens, & denying, suppressing, extinguishing various freedoms, defences and academic facts etc.  I'm not sure what that is, but I think Mahler and various others targeted by the German state are (or have in the past been) political prisoners and/or targets of political persecution. This is a bigger revelation to me than the Snowden leaks confirming that we are under the intrusive gaze and supervision of a coterie of Western totalitarian powers conducting mass-surveillance upon multiple unsuspecting entire nations across the world (including their own). This is absolute proof that the 'freedoms' we are given to believe we have in Western democracies are a lie. Why would anyone dream that whistleblowers or defenders of any civil freedoms whatsoever belong in brave new fascist Germany? And who knew that there's Canadian-German and British-German collusion to prosecute people for apparently speaking their minds?  Wow. And it doesn't end there.  Apparently, Australia was also instrumental in suppression of thought/opinion of a German-Australian academic, Dr Fredrick Toben (given the Federal authorities website take-down order) -- an academic the Australian Attorney-General, George Brandis, has labelled a 'nutter', in what is most likely a desperate attempt to distance himself from the said academic's approval.  Nice one.  lol I don't know anything about Toben, but all these academics around the world cannot be 'nuts'. Recall from earlier reading of related material that there's also been a New Zealand academic that's fallen prey to what I guess is suppression of dissenting opinion or thought -- but in an academic setting (and in empirical terms, I guess), which is probably far worse than suppressing the voices of the great unwashed (academia requires integrity and grounding in reality, and academia is a thought-leader, a thought shaper, a voice of reason,  and an authority 'defining' that which is -- but that vital voice of reason is silenced by the state). Below are some notes I did back when I first came across this New Zealand academic.  I've left out the parts that might be considered controversial (yeah, I know, what a chicken ... lol).  Anyone that's interested can link and read the article.  Note:   page 2 is not linked.  It's a two-instalments deal, & the source has not correctly linked the second instalment.  The article's written by an academic, Thomas Fudge, who resigned in protest at Canterbury University's refusal to publish an article defending NZ academic, Joel Hayward.  Thomas Fudge sounds like a really cool and decent guy.  History's his field so he'd also have some amazing things to share. Thomas Fudge's article in defence of Joel Hayward is one of the most mind-blowing things I've ever read. ------- PS -- It's a sad day when you have to rely on the Liberal party to defend vital freedoms, while the pathetic waste of space that is the Labour party lobbies to rob you of freedom. What passes as the 'left' of politics disgusts me.  And all this time I fancied myself a 'socialist'.  ---------------------- ꕤ ---------------------- Summary Holocaust, history and free speech 11:04 AM Thursday Jul 24, 2003 by Thomas Fudge, History Lecturer Canterbury University history lecturer THOMAS FUDGE has resigned in protest at the university's refusal to publish this article defending a young academic against the charge of holocaust denial. It appears in two instalments, today and tomorrow. [note:  page 2 of article/letter, link broken.  No.  It's a two-instalments deal.  Not linked.] http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=3514153 Article also available at:   https://archive.is/e8Q2A  ---------------------- ꕤ ---------------------- In Summary Subject:  MA Thesis Joel Hayward 1993 Hayward awarded master of arts degree first class honours in history University of Canterbury thesis on the historiography of the Holocaust later wrote a PhD thesis 1996  -  appointed to a lectureship at Massey University late 1999 -- MA thesis publicly denounced -- New Zealand Jewish Council: -- alleged thesis historical revisionism constituting Holocaust denial -- Hayward -- repeatedly apologised -- agreed to the extraordinary step of including an appendix to thesis -- modifying his findings, co-operated with subsequent investigation -- university appointed an independent working party to investigate -- claims against the thesis -- committee consisted of: -- retired High Court judge Sir Ian Barker -- Professor Ann Trotter -- Professor Stuart MacIntyre -- lengthy report concluded that the thesis was seriously flawed -- & Hayward should not have essayed a judgement in such a controversial area -- report did not recommend withdrawal of the thesis by the university -- & did not agree with the allegations -- that Hayward's argument was racist or motivated by malice -- opinion:  thesis did not deserve high marks received widely publicised in media -- no fewer than 6 serving or retired members of history dept -- persisted in own judgement that thesis was a first-class effort -- notwithstanding finality of report & qualified exoneration of Howard -- during 2000, 2001, and 2002 Hayward received hundreds -- of pieces of hate mail -- abusive phone calls, threats against himself, his wife & small children -- harassment at Massey University -- & continued negative media attention -- livelihood affected: -- attempts to publish, unsuccessful -- efforts to find employment, unsuccessful -- issue is beyond concern over allegedly flawed (but unpublished) research -- is this issue re academic values & freedom? -- is this issue of academic freedom and intellectual fashions? -- Hayward's detractors claim that he is wrong in terms of both -- censure attempts several years prior to 1999, before thesis written -- due to this, Hayward embargoed thesis for 3 years as soon as it was examined -- on 3-yr expiration, Hayward notified university library -- to make thesis available to researchers -- library replied it had restricted thesis, so it could only be consulted w/ -- Hayward's permission until 1999 -- almost immediate allegations published re holocaust denial -- was outrage over thesis a device for attacking Hayward? -- one critic stated academic freedom could exist without academic responsibility -- LEGAL OPINION: -- interpretation re Hayward thesis -- permitted very limited right to academic freedom -- those for academic freedom argue: -- universities should be great storehouses of wisdom & learning -- & students should be able to learn & choose -- Academic freedom implies -- no taboo subjects, no off-limits topics -- official statements re NZ academic libraries -- that no materials & authors should be restricted or removed due -- to doctrinal disapproval or pressure -- senior academics, however, steer students from controversial subjects Holocaust -- IRRESPECTIVE of intellectual considerations -- those wishing to question received notions re holocaust in NZ -- are controlled by accepted 'truth standards' -- danger lies in ambiguity of 'truth standards' Howard rejected well-established 'facts' -- re holocaust -- thesis examined writings of those who questioned holocaust industry -- a significant number have done so over last 30 years -- Is it not the duty of universities & researchers to question -- conventional understandings? MA Thesis 'The Fate of Jews in German Hands:  An Historical Enquiry into the Development & Significance of Holocaust Revisionism -- Joel Hayward -- investigation of holocaust histriography -- esp. branch regarded as 'revisionist' -- concluded some of the revisionist literature unworthy of -- in-depth scholarly consideration -- other material found to be significant & noteworthy -- Hayward arrived at 3 principal conclusions based on historiography -- & weight of historical evidence: DISCUSSION OF EVIDENCE FACTORS AVAILABLE AT SOURCE -- working party investigating Hayward thesis -- FOUND HIM NOT GUILTY of:  racism, anti-Semitism or falsifying data SOURCE http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=3514153 --------------------------------------------------------------- LINK TO THESIS http://ipac.canterbury.ac.nz/ipac20/ipac.jsp?index=BIB&term=373451 Thesis not available online - must request a copy. --------------------------------------------------------------- ꕤ

Video - Good Morning Syria

ꕤ Video SOURCE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-XtdsYtgtC8 صباح الخير سوريا Good Morning Syria ---------------------- ꕤ ---------------------- Get right into this song ... even though I don't understand. All I understand is 'Suriya' ꕤ

Video - US State Dept Are Go

ꕤ US State Dept Are Go Political Comment | Take on US State Dept ꕤ 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. source |  @WikiLeaks US State Department Spokesman John Kirby " ... gets testy when RT’s Gayane Chichakyan asks if Iraq has a legitimate concern over “the situation where the US invites forces to Iraq and the US is leading this coalition … but when something goes wrong, the US says it’s none of our business -- like, what's happening?" ---------------------- ꕤ ---------------------- COMMENT This is my non-PC take on the state of affairs at the US State Dept.  ...  lol Really enjoyed doing that. Only problem is, what takes seconds to think about takes forever (plus some PC crashes) to implement electronically.  Think I might be low on RAM or something.  Old PC.   And downloading takes forever.  I'm faster than the computer.  I'm ready to post.  Computer's still doing its thing, downloading adjusted GIF etc.   It's making me crazy-errrrrrrr.  lol The guy holding up the newspaper is Julian Assange of WikiLeaks and the guy asking 'What?' is Associated Press (AP) reporter, Matt Lee.  Now that it's done, it's not as hilarious as it first seemed.  lol [Could do with more tweaking, but I don't have patience for more right now.  ... lol] ꕤ

Video - Assange - Security or Surveillance: Privacy vs Anti-Terror Security in Digital Age - RT10

ꕤ Security or Surveillance: Privacy vs anti-terror security in digital age (#RT10 Panel Discussion) Published 10 Dec 2015 RT News https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k3rFNQ8ytnE&feature=youtu.be ---------------------- ꕤ ---------------------- Security or Surveillance: Privacy vs anti-terror security in digital age (#RT10 Panel Discussion  /  Celebrating RT's 10-Year Anniversary) Moderator, Raymond Snoddy introduces: Philip Giraldi -- former CIA counter-terrorism specialist -- former military intelligence officer -- served 19 years abroad:  Turkey, Italy, Germany, Spain -- CIA chief of base, Barcelona Olympics, 1992 -- one of first Americans to enter Afghanistan, 2001 -- Exec. Dir. Council for National Interests (CNI) -- CNI - WA-based - to promote US foreign policy in Middle East -- based on 'American values & interests' Ray McGovern -- former US army intelligence officer -- joined Analysis Division of CIA & served -- from Kennedy Admin to G.W. Bush Admin. -- chief of CIA's Soviet foreign policy branch, 1970s -- chaired national intelligence estimates -- prepared Presidential daily briefing -- for Reagan senior national security advisers -- 2003 - co-est. Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity (VIPS) -- to expose: intelligence fraud to justify 2003 US invasion of Iraq -- protested CIA involvement in torture activities -- publicly questioned Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld -- re misleading American public in run-up to war (Invasion of Iraq, 2003) Gregory R. Copley -- Australian-born -- President of Strategic International Studies Association, WA-DC -- serves as adviser on strategic studies to a number of govts & leaders [40 years] -- authored / co-authored 32 books on strategic & geopolitical issues, -- history, energy, aviation & defence, incl:     -- 'Un-Civilization: Urban Geopolitics in a Time of Chaos (2013)'     -- 'The Art of Victory (2006)'     [ Yikes!  see:   http://www.brusselsjournal.com/node/5132  ] ---------------------- ꕤ ---------------------- Issue: Security or Surveillance Can right to privacy & effective anti-terror security co-exist in the digital age? ---------------------- ꕤ ---------------------- Julian Assange -- arguably one of the most influential people in world -- on bringing forward these specific issues Moderator -- seeks Assange thoughts on right of privacy -- how that is defined around world -- anti-terror security definition -- what the relationship of these two factors are to each other -- and the relationship to this new digital world in which we live Assange:  mass-surveillance is here to stay & privacy is gone for normal population (not for experts, incl. terrorists (who are experts))  underlying costs of surveillance - rapidly decreasing Five-Eyes (FVEY) - surveillance pervasive ---------------------- ꕤ ---------------------- COMMENT About to watch --  or listen to -- this ... (depending on whether I also plan to get around to doing anything practical as I listen ... like maybe the dishes or some grooming or something practical (for a change) ... lol) ꕤ

Israel Supports al-Qaeda in Syria, al-Nusra Front Terrorist-Listed Group

ꕤ Article SOURCE http://www.almasdarnews.com/article/israeli-commandos-rescuew-al-nusra-terrorists/ al-Masdar (The Source) - Israeli / Arab Project Media Israeli commandos rescue Al-Nusra terrorists in the Golan Heights By Paul Antonopoulos on December 10, 2015 Israeli Commandos Rescue Al-Nusra Terrorists The Al-Nusra Front, Syria’s Al-Qaeda branch, who are the dominant opposition force along the Syria-Israel border have confirmed its collaboration with Israel. Although non-mainstream have been reporting on this collaboration for at least three years, on Tuesday, the Daily Mail exposed a video of Israeli commandos entering Syrian territory to rescue several wounded Al-Nusra militants and retreating to aid the terrorists within Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. The Al-Nusra Front are a designated terrorist groups by the United States, the United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Russia among many  others. The report revealed that Israel have saved the lives of at least 2000 militants at the cost of $13 million. Although Israel have limited their involvement in the Syrian war to airstrikes against Syrian government and Hezbollah positions, this new action shows direct cooperation with them and Islamist forces. Press TV claim that the Syrian army has repeatedly seized huge quantities of Israeli-made weapons and advanced military equipment from the foreign-backed militants inside Syria. Israel insists that the dangerous operations are humanitarian efforts, and that it hopes to “win hearts and minds” in Syria. “My dream is that one day, the Red Cross will say, thanks guys, we’ll take it from here, you go back to your unit and take care of injured Israelis,” said Lt. Col. Itzik Malka, commander of the medical branch of the Golani Brigade. “I am proud of what we are doing here, but it is a great burden. For every Syrian in hospital, there is one less bed for an Israeli. One day we will have to make a choice between an Israeli life and a Syrian one. When that happens it will be hard, but I have to say my first duty will be to Israelis,” he said. In speaking with the Daily Mail, Islamist fighters had interesting things to say about Israel. 20-year-old Mohammed, whose leg had been all but destroyed by fire from a Russian-made ‘Dushka’ heavy machine gun, agreed. “Thanks to Israel for letting me in. The butcher Assad is my enemy. Israel is not my enemy. The one who treats you is not your enemy.” 23 year old Ahmed who was recovering from a gunshot wound to the groin said: “I will not fight against Israel in the future. Israel looks after wounded people better than the Arabs. The Arabs are dogs. Before I came here, I wouldn’t have said this. But there are many people who got injured and came to Israel for treatment, and they told me about it. I feel safe here in Israel. But when I am well again, I will go back and fight.” SOURCE http://www.almasdarnews.com/article/israeli-commandos-rescuew-al-nusra-terrorists/ ---------------------- ꕤ ---------------------- Shimrit Meir -- editor of Al-Masdar (The Source) website "Meir, a 35-year-old resident of Tel Aviv and former Arab affairs correspondent for Israel Army Radio, heads a web-based journalism initiative that targets the large audience of Arabic speakers. The goal is to bring reporting and voices from Israel into the Arab world without censorship and to become a source of credible, ..." "Al-Masdar is part of the Israel Project, a pro-Israel public diplomacy organization founded in the United States at the height of the second intifada." "... enables such direct appeals to the Arab public in its own language and the marketing of original content produced by a team of Jewish and Arab Israelis from a bureau on Rothschild Boulevard, in the heart of Tel Aviv. In an interview with Al-Monitor, Meir spoke about the project and the vision of promoting a shift in Arab public opinion about Israel." http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2014/11/shimrit-meir-interview-al-masdar-e-journal-jews-arabs-israel.html# Summary al-Nusra Front -- is al-Qaeda in Syria branch -- is supported, armed and patched up by Israel -- despite terrorist group listing by West, Russia, Turkey, & Saudi -- Israel investment heavy:  $13-million spent patching up terrorists -- Israel bombs Syrian govt (& Hezbollah) positions -- Syria govt & Hezbollah are fighting the Islamists / terrorists -- Israel supplies weapons & advanced military equipment -- Israel passes off its 3-year support as 'humanitarian' COMMENT Guessing the media reporting this (al-Masdar News) is probably the equivalent of Europe's RFE/RL 'Radio CIA' ... only this is probably 'Radio Massad', and that they're reporting on Israel's al-Qaeda link because the information has become mainstream (after 3 years of mainstream media ignoring reports of alternative media).  Turkey and Israel aren't exactly good neighbours.  lol I don't have a handle on these strange alliances ... yet.   NOTE:  there is oil resources confirmed in Israeli occupied Syrian Golan Heights & mining rights have been granted to Israeli company (Western shareholders include Murdoch, Rothschild & others). ꕤ

Modern Art As CIA Weapon

ꕤ Article SOURCE http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/modern-art-was-cia-weapon-1578808.html The Independent Modern art was CIA 'weapon' By Frances Stonor Saunders  |  Saturday 15 June 2013 Revealed: how the spy agency used unwitting artists such as Pollock and de Kooning in a cultural Cold War For decades in art circles it was either a rumour or a joke, but now it is confirmed as a fact. The Central Intelligence Agency used American modern art - including the works of such artists as Jackson Pollock, Robert Motherwell, Willem de Kooning and Mark Rothko - as a weapon in the Cold War. In the manner of a Renaissance prince - except that it acted secretly - the CIA fostered and promoted American Abstract Expressionist painting around the world for more than 20 years. The connection is improbable. This was a period, in the 1950s and 1960s, when the great majority of Americans disliked or even despised modern art - President Truman summed up the popular view when he said: "If that's art, then I'm a Hottentot." As for the artists themselves, many were ex-communists barely acceptable in the America of the McCarthyite era, and certainly not the sort of people normally likely to receive US government backing. Why did the CIA support them? Because in the propaganda war with the Soviet Union, this new artistic movement could be held up as proof of the creativity, the intellectual freedom, and the cultural power of the US. Russian art, strapped into the communist ideological straitjacket, could not compete. The existence of this policy, rumoured and disputed for many years, has now been confirmed for the first time by former CIA officials. Unknown to the artists, the new American art was secretly promoted under a policy known as the "long leash" - arrangements similar in some ways to the indirect CIA backing of the journal Encounter, edited by Stephen Spender. The decision to include culture and art in the US Cold War arsenal was taken as soon as the CIA was founded in 1947. Dismayed at the appeal communism still had for many intellectuals and artists in the West, the new agency set up a division, the Propaganda Assets Inventory, which at its peak could influence more than 800 newspapers, magazines and public information organisations. They joked that it was like a Wurlitzer jukebox: when the CIA pushed a button it could hear whatever tune it wanted playing across the world. The next key step came in 1950, when the International Organisations Division (IOD) was set up under Tom Braden. It was this office which subsidised the animated version of George Orwell's Animal Farm, which sponsored American jazz artists, opera recitals, the Boston Symphony Orchestra's international touring programme. Its agents were placed in the film industry, in publishing houses, even as travel writers for the celebrated Fodor guides. And, we now know, it promoted America's anarchic avant-garde movement, Abstract Expressionism. Initially, more open attempts were made to support the new American art. In 1947 the State Department organised and paid for a touring international exhibition entitled "Advancing American Art", with the aim of rebutting Soviet suggestions that America was a cultural desert. But the show caused outrage at home, prompting Truman to make his Hottentot remark and one bitter congressman to declare: "I am just a dumb American who pays taxes for this kind of trash." The tour had to be cancelled. The US government now faced a dilemma. This philistinism, combined with Joseph McCarthy's hysterical denunciations of all that was avant-garde or unorthodox, was deeply embarrassing. It discredited the idea that America was a sophisticated, culturally rich democracy. It also prevented the US government from consolidating the shift in cultural supremacy from Paris to New York since the 1930s. To resolve this dilemma, the CIA was brought in. The connection is not quite as odd as it might appear. At this time the new agency, staffed mainly by Yale and Harvard graduates, many of whom collected art and wrote novels in their spare time, was a haven of liberalism when compared with a political world dominated by McCarthy or with J Edgar Hoover's FBI. If any official institution was in a position to celebrate the collection of Leninists, Trotskyites and heavy drinkers that made up the New York School, it was the CIA. Until now there has been no first-hand evidence to prove that this connection was made, but for the first time a former case officer, Donald Jameson, has broken the silence. Yes, he says, the agency saw Abstract Expressionism as an opportunity, and yes, it ran with it. "Regarding Abstract Expressionism, I'd love to be able to say that the CIA invented it just to see what happens in New York and downtown SoHo tomorrow!" he joked. "But I think that what we did really was to recognise the difference. It was recognised that Abstract Expressionism was the kind of art that made Socialist Realism look even more stylised and more rigid and confined than it was. And that relationship was exploited in some of the exhibitions. "In a way our understanding was helped because Moscow in those days was very vicious in its denunciation of any kind of non-conformity to its own very rigid patterns. And so one could quite adequately and accurately reason that anything they criticised that much and that heavy-handedly was worth support one way or another." To pursue its underground interest in America's lefty avant-garde, the CIA had to be sure its patronage could not be discovered. "Matters of this sort could only have been done at two or three removes," Mr Jameson explained, "so that there wouldn't be any question of having to clear Jackson Pollock, for example, or do anything that would involve these people in the organisation. And it couldn't have been any closer, because most of them were people who had very little respect for the government, in particular, and certainly none for the CIA. If you had to use people who considered themselves one way or another to be closer to Moscow than to Washington, well, so much the better perhaps." This was the "long leash". The centrepiece of the CIA campaign became the Congress for Cultural Freedom, a vast jamboree of intellectuals, writers, historians, poets, and artists which was set up with CIA funds in 1950 and run by a CIA agent. It was the beach-head from which culture could be defended against the attacks of Moscow and its "fellow travellers" in the West. At its height, it had offices in 35 countries and published more than two dozen magazines, including Encounter. The Congress for Cultural Freedom also gave the CIA the ideal front to promote its covert interest in Abstract Expressionism. It would be the official sponsor of touring exhibitions; its magazines would provide useful platforms for critics favourable to the new American painting; and no one, the artists included, would be any the wiser. This organisation put together several exhibitions of Abstract Expressionism during the 1950s. One of the most significant, "The New American Painting", visited every big European city in 1958-59. Other influential shows included "Modern Art in the United States" (1955) and "Masterpieces of the Twentieth Century" (1952). Because Abstract Expressionism was expensive to move around and exhibit, millionaires and museums were called into play. Pre-eminent among these was Nelson Rockefeller, whose mother had co-founded the Museum of Modern Art in New York. As president of what he called "Mummy's museum", Rockefeller was one of the biggest backers of Abstract Expressionism (which he called "free enterprise painting"). His museum was contracted to the Congress for Cultural Freedom to organise and curate most of its important art shows. The museum was also linked to the CIA by several other bridges. William Paley, the president of CBS broadcasting and a founding father of the CIA, sat on the members' board of the museum's International Programme. John Hay Whitney, who had served in the agency's wartime predecessor, the OSS, was its chairman. And Tom Braden, first chief of the CIA's International Organisations Division, was executive secretary of the museum in 1949. Now in his eighties, Mr Braden lives in Woodbridge, Virginia, in a house packed with Abstract Expressionist works and guarded by enormous Alsatians. He explained the purpose of the IOD. "We wanted to unite all the people who were writers, who were musicians, who were artists, to demonstrate that the West and the United States was devoted to freedom of expression and to intellectual achievement, without any rigid barriers as to what you must write, and what you must say, and what you must do, and what you must paint, which was what was going on in the Soviet Union. I think it was the most important division that the agency had, and I think that it played an enormous role in the Cold War." He confirmed that his division had acted secretly because of the public hostility to the avant-garde: "It was very difficult to get Congress to go along with some of the things we wanted to do - send art abroad, send symphonies abroad, publish magazines abroad. That's one of the reasons it had to be done covertly. It had to be a secret. In order to encourage openness we had to be secret." If this meant playing pope to this century's Michelangelos, well, all the better: "It takes a pope or somebody with a lot of money to recognise art and to support it," Mr Braden said. "And after many centuries people say, 'Oh look! the Sistine Chapel, the most beautiful creation on Earth!' It's a problem that civilisation has faced ever since the first artist and the first millionaire or pope who supported him. And yet if it hadn't been for the multi-millionaires or the popes, we wouldn't have had the art." Would Abstract Expressionism have been the dominant art movement of the post-war years without this patronage? The answer is probably yes. Equally, it would be wrong to suggest that when you look at an Abstract Expressionist painting you are being duped by the CIA.  [comment:  lol ... I can no longer look at any 'art' crap without thinking CIA is behind it.] But look where this art ended up: in the marble halls of banks, in airports, in city halls, boardrooms and great galleries. For the Cold Warriors who promoted them, these paintings were a logo, a signature for their culture and system which they wanted to display everywhere that counted. They succeeded. * The full story of the CIA and modern art is told in 'Hidden Hands' on Channel 4 next Sunday at 8pm. The first programme in the series is screened tonight. Frances Stonor Saunders is writing a book on the cultural Cold War. Covert Operation In 1958 the touring exhibition "The New American Painting", including works by Pollock, de Kooning, Motherwell and others, was on show in Paris. The Tate Gallery was keen to have it next, but could not afford to bring it over. Late in the day, an American millionaire and art lover, Julius Fleischmann, stepped in with the cash and the show was brought to London. The money that Fleischmann provided, however, was not his but the CIA's. It came through a body called the Farfield Foundation, of which Fleischmann was president, but far from being a millionaire's charitable arm, the foundation was a secret conduit for CIA funds. So, unknown to the Tate, the public or the artists, the exhibition was transferred to London at American taxpayers' expense to serve subtle Cold War propaganda purposes. A former CIA man, Tom Braden, described how such conduits as the Farfield Foundation were set up. "We would go to somebody in New York who was a well-known rich person and we would say, 'We want to set up a foundation.' We would tell him what we were trying to do and pledge him to secrecy, and he would say, 'Of course I'll do it,' and then you would publish a letterhead and his name would be on it and there would be a foundation. It was really a pretty simple device." Julius Fleischmann was well placed for such a role. He sat on the board of the International Programme of the Museum of Modern Art in New York - as did several powerful figures close to the CIA. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/modern-art-was-cia-weapon-1578808.html Mainstream Media - Concentrated Big-6 Corporate Control - Lies & Indoctrination Post | here ---------------------- ꕤ ---------------------- COMMENT As if the CIA has given up controlling the media and the intelligentsia. It probably explains all those shill journalists supporting American foreign policy & their ludicrous propaganda. [Massive headache from keeping weird hours (again) ... might have to come back to comment further on this post.  Interesting stuff.] ꕤ

Mainstream Media - Concentrated - Big-6 Corporate Control - Lies & Indoctrination

ꕤ Article SOURCE Activist Post | here Activist Post Investigative Journalist For CBS News Exposes How Mainstream Media Brainwashes The Public November 30, 2015 By Amanda Froelich If you’re aware that only a handful of corporations (6, to be exact) control over 90% of the media, you’re one of the few. What this means is that everything you hear on the radio, read in the news, and see on television (including the ‘news’), is controlled by one of these six corporations: General Electric (GE), News Corp, Disney, Viacom, Time Warner, and CBS. This startling truth has become more commonly accepted in recent years, especially since Operation Mockingbird, a CIA-based initiative to control mainstream media, was exposed. Popular avenues of information are now bombarded with clever marketing tactics telling the public what to think and what to buy, how to look, and where to spend hard-earned dollars. Such is evident once you wake up and note the blatant lies continuing to spam the TV screen and newspaper headlines – especially concerning the topics of health, food, war (“terrorism”), poverty, and more. Sadly, people aren’t even aware of how brainwashed they’ve become. That’s where Sharyl Attkisson comes in. For her eye-opening TEDx talk (below), the veteran investigative journalist (and former CBS News investigative reporter) reveals how “astroturf,” or fake grassroots movements, funded by political, corporate, or other special interests very effectively manipulate and distort media messages. It’s time the populace wake up and question everything with integrity. SOURCE Activist Post | here Operation Mockingbird secret campaign by the United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to influence media https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Mockingbird Newly Declassified Govt Docs Reveal Operation Mockingbird is Alive and Well By Jay Syrmopoulos on October 2, 2015 An agency of the U.S. government was exposed trying to control the public narrative over WikiLeaks in 2011 by influencing media outlets coverage, as revealed in the latest batch of Hillary Clinton emails released by the State Department. The emails from Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs at the time, Philip J. Crowley, expose the U.S. State Department “planting” a number of “questions and concerns” with CBS News for a 60 minutes piece on WikiLeaks, featuring Julian Assange. ARTICLE CONTINUED AT SOURCE http://thefreethoughtproject.com/feds-exposed-planting-talking-points-questions-60-minutes-episode-wikileaks/ Modern Art As CIA Weapon Operation Mockingbird Post | here ---------------------- ꕤ ---------------------- COMMENT Maybe that's why I don't watch TV or listen to radio.  lol ꕤ