Transcript: Jacob Appelbaum - Berlin Logan CIJ Symposium re: Journalism, the 'Big Tent' & The Guardian

TRANSCRIPT [for quotation purposes, confirm audio] Jacob Appelbaum Berlin Logan CIJ Symposium  Re: Journalism, the  'Big Tent' & The Guardian VIDEO - dur: 19:59 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KJValv4YQcY&feature=youtu.be John Goetz Moderator So, before we go to the discussion, I would like to introduce — before we have one last speaker — Jake Appelbaum is surprisingly enough perhaps to some people, is now working on a PhD. in math at a university in the Netherlands, in Eindhoven. Jacob Appelbaum was perhaps the first employee of the Tor Project, he was an early member of WikiLeaks, and in terms of journalism, he— it's very interesting when we think about what was the big story in Germany of 2013, we tend to think right away: oh it was the Edward Snowden revelations. But the real huge story in Germany and that kind of riveted the world was the story that appeared in Der Spiegel, and it was about the mobile phone of Angela Merkel being listened to by the NSA. That actually was not a story that came from Edward Snowden, it was a story that came from Jake Appelbaum. [applause] Jacob Appelbaum Ummm, Hi ... So, first of all: it's really an honour to be here. It's really fantastic to see so many colleagues in the audience that I've worked with, as well. And to some of you, I'm sorry for some of the things that I'll say next, but not so sorry that I won't say them. So, as a technologist in particular, I find myself often in a tech ghetto, and so I kind of expect that everyone here will expect me to talk about technology, but instead I want to talk about— I want to talk about the biggest threat to investigative journalists, and that is: other investigative journalists. [audience titter] 2:00 And if that sounds a little bit ridiculous, I'd like to tell you a story, and the story's pretty simple. Most of my stories are personal anecdotes that I've experienced in the last three to ten years working as a journalist independently, publishing on the internet, but also publishing with Der Spiegel, working with ProPublica or other agencies in different capacities. And, so, I come from a background of working with WikiLeaks to these organisations, and currently WikiLeaks is — I don't know, the sixth or seven year of being investigated by the US government for espionage and terrorism. So there's an important context there: which is, when we talk about journalism, there is a 'big tent' and that 'big tent', when you're inside of it, you have the political support — or, if you will, the privilege. Most of the white male journalists in the room will of course know what I'm talking about when I speak of privilege, and this is a part of that privilege. And, so, what I would say, in particular, is that I'd like to address a few realities about that. So, one of them is literacy — which is to say that most of the people that are in this room, which I would say I have worked with, they understand to some extent, technology — but you've heard it here a little bit already, where people talk about the 'tech guys' and they bring up the 'tech guys', and there's an interesting thing there which is— actually, there's an issue of literacy. We don't need to talk about 'tech activism,' just the same as we don't need to talk about, for example, 'grammar activism' or 'fact check activism'. This is a fundamental core component of modern journalism — being able to use a computer, understanding operational security — and what happens is that when people don't understand that, instead of having a little bit of humility (of which I have plenty, I'm sure you can see), they will absolutely do everything that they possibly can in order to discredit and to disqualify other journalists. And you actually see this happening all the time:  that is to say, if you know how to use a computer, you're instantly a 'nerd' and the 'nerd' is instantly out. And this is done under the mask of so-called 'objectivity'. 3:52 And to that I say: you are rarely, if ever, fucking objective. Your politics are in everything that you write. And, so the question is, where are the disclosures, where is the data? So, when I speak of 'literacy' here, I don't only mean, of course, about fact-checking, or about understanding how systems work, but also literacy in understanding what is and is not political. So, for example, when we consider that capitalism itself pits us against each other, are we questioning that? Do we consider that the competitive models in journalism actually cause us to push people outside of the tents? Isn't it the case that when we negotiate about our contracts?  Isn't it the case when we think about money, that that, in fact, is at the core, causing us to betray each other and to, in fact, betray the public? I think the answer to that is:  yes. And I think that the answer to that, for me personally, means that I have, almost every single time I have worked on stories, I have taken I would say very small amounts of money. I have tried not to make my primary living from working as an independent journalist because, in fact, I find that it compromises me. It means that I'm tied to one editorial room, I am tied to one political viewpoint, and usually those viewpoints are hidden away. They're hidden away where it's supposedly objective. But I tell you what, The Guardian — absolutely the shittiest publication in the English language — is shitty for not what they publish, but shitty for what they refuse to publish and pretend that it is a non-political discussion and decision. And, so, I want to tell you a little bit about why they're shitty and give you some sourcing, which you can then, if you'd like, investigate. I've not talked about most of these things in public, but I think it's important that after all of these great journalists have built up a tree of journalism, that we can put some fuel on the tree and then light the motherfucker on fire. [laughter / applause] So, first, I guess I should start by saying it's not just The Guardian. I have experienced this a lot. 5:53 Some of you have written things in papers, for example, were you call me, or Julian Assange, or Sarah Harrison, 'internet activists'. To you that have done that, I think that you do not understand potentially what you do and, in that case, I have some forgiveness for you. But for those of you that do, I understand that you think me your political enemy and I take that up quite seriously, and I will win. 6:17 So, with that in mind, I don't call you a 'grammar activist'. But I would say that it is important that if we have 'disclosure activists' in the audience, I think it's important to consider, for example, that when we have bylines together in papers and later you call me an 'internet activist', it's important to remember you should probably have disclosed in your article where you called me an 'internet activist' that, actually, we were co-authors on, for example, the equivalent of the German Pulitzer Prize, or something similar to that. 6:49 To call me a 'political activist' is to consciously put me outside of the political tent of privilege and to say: go ahead, instead of being under journalism law, you're under terrorism law. [applause] 7:06 And, of course, it's important to name names, so thank you to the sponsor: [ Appelbaum speaks German.  Says something like: ] Der SPIEGEL hat keine Angst vor der Wahrheit [Der Spiegel has no fear of the truth] 7:13 I think it's important to say, Michael Sontheimer(?), that for me, when you call me an 'activist', it breaks my heart because we have worked together. But, more importantly, it breaks my heart because you put me under threat of going to prison for the rest of my fucking life. [enthusiastic applause] 7:37 One of my favourite journalists in Germany, his name is Tilo Jung. He's a wonderful journalist. He has a very funny comedy show and he says: "Alle Journalisten sind Aktivisten für die Wahrheit." All journalists are activists for the truth. And, so, let us address this concept of activism, and it works like this: 'activism' is used as a pejorative term in order to suggest the participation in a democratic society is somehow outside of the normal behaviour. Fuck that. That is wrong. [applause] 8:11 The purpose of journalism is not only to be engaged, but to engage others in that process. That is the purpose. It is to spread the truth. It is to bring facts. It is to put forward information. 8:24 So, let us speak now of the crimes of The Guardian, who are by far much worse than anyone else in this realm, in my experience. First, what we'll start with is David Leigh and Alan Rusbridger. Why will we start with them? 8:34 Well, first with David Leigh, because he is an incompetent, illiterate, absolutely despicable human being, with how he has treated Julian Assange. He has lied about facts about Julian Assange, suggesting, for example, that Julian suggested that informants 'deserved it', when in fact no such thing was said, as John [Goetz ?] being at that lunch can attest to that. He has, for example, released encrypted files, not understanding the difference between encryption and authentication, and done so in a way that actually published information that previously had even been withheld by WikiLeaks, and then blaming WikiLeaks for that. This is an absolutely atrocious problem, but what is worse than that, is that when confronted with it, he continued to take his ignorance with him all the way out the door at The Guardian, instead of correcting his mistake and owning his mistake. 9:24 And for that, I really hope that we never forget that. We should never forget David Leigh's legacy is to have published things, and to have done so because he did not even understand what they were doing, and then to put Julian Assange under a bus so that that bus could run him over instead. So, let us call that what it is: it is a political act of betrayal of Julian Assange. [applause] In the early days of the Snowden affair, I worked with Glen Greenwald and with Laura Poitras, and with many others — many in this room. 9:58 Two of the great journalists that I worked with, Marcel Rosenbach and Holgar Stark (?), have really honoured me. They've helped me to have a visa in Germany, to be safe here, and I really respect that very much. And they understood what it meant to work with me, and in the past having worked with WikiLeaks; they were extremely good about this. They were in constant communication. They absolutely told us what they understood [and] they knew. They treated us as equals. They were so respectful to us that it is in some ways beyond the pale. An important— [applause] Wait a second. And I want to thank them them for that, because that is, with the exception of John Goetz and very few other people, they are the exception of doing that. 10:38 They treated us as equals. They did not try to treat us as sources, or try to manipulate us, they actually cared very much about getting out the truth. The understood the political impacts, they understood the 'big tent', they understood the 'umbrella', and for that, I really think they deserve a round of applause. 10:53 So thank you Marcel and Holgar (I know that you're here). [applause] Now, let's contrast that, for example, with The Guardian. 11:06 I requested a letter from The Guardian to say that I was working on classified documents. Now, Glenn Greenwald had passed me a number of documents for working with him. Specifically, technical-related documents which he wanted me to help elucidate what they did and what kind of crimes the NSA was committing, and The Guardian actually refused — directly refused — to give me a letter, knowing that I was in possession of classified documents. 11:28 They directly refused to put myself and other people directly under that political tent. They simply didn't want to do it. And, so, since I am not under contractual obligation and have no loyalty to people that want to put me outside the tent, I'd like to tell you a funny story about them. [audience laughter] And it goes like this: when The Guardian was raided, they did not call myself, or Laura Poitras here in Germany to tell us that the GCHQ, and other political powers and police powers in the UK, had in fact come to destroy source material. They did not tell us. We had to find out in public. They left us to hang in public. They did not treat us as equals. They did not protect us. They did not care. And the continued with this, every step of the way. And while writing technical stories, they directly consulted with the White House and with the GCHQ and other government officials, in order to do, essentially, line by line redaction of things that were for the most part not even worth redacting. They weren't worth even compromising yourself. It reminds me of the Winston Churchill story about whether or not someone would sleep with him for a million dollars and, of course, when a person says 'no' to one dollar but 'yes' to a million, we know what kind of person that person is, and the same is true for The Guardian. They were willing to compromise and to give editorial control to the state. What are they then? They are stenographers. And the way, for example, they talk about Laura Poitras, who has no knowledge of me giving this talk right now. I would just like to underscore that by reading a small thing. I apologise for reading from a screen, but it's just too good just to not say it. "A team of reporters and editors here at the Guardian won the Pulitzer prize for their meticulous, months-long work bringing Snowden to scale. Yet Snowden’s first confidant was a film-maker, Laura Poitras, who documented her initial contact and subsequent collaboration with Snowden in Citizenfour, the third in a trilogy of feature documentaries on war and the security state. It is the weakest film of the three, despite its Oscar ..." [The Guardian] [audience laughter] Now, I don't need to go on to tell you what's going on there. 13:35 Why do we tolerate this shit from these people? What arrogant British cunts. It's unbelievable. Absolutely. [applause] Now, in addition to not telling us about the raids, let's talk about another reality. David Miranda, working with The Guardian, working with Glenn Greenwald. Who do you suppose paid David Miranda's legal bills, knowing that fact? Anyone from The Guardian care to comment? Right. So, in the beginning, it was potentially going to be The Guardian, but later when Glenn left, it wasn't The Guardian anymore. They left them to hang. Again and again. 14:18 So think of this in this case — this case in which serious journalistic freedoms are at risk, where serious people are in extreme danger under terrorism laws, and they are simply left out in the cold. And why is that? 14:32 Because in capitalism — when competing, when we aren't actually cooperating together — we find in that political space, the ability to get rid of our competition, literally with terrorism laws. Is that really what we want? I think what we want is a collaborative framework, where we actually work well together. Now, I know that what I've done here does not work for much more than retiring, but that's OK. And I'll leave you with another story. I suppose two stories. One is Luke Harding. Luke Harding wrote a book about Snowden in a very exploitative, extremely negative way, and knows next to nothing about anything in the story. But an important detail is he came here to Berlin to try to pump me for information, to ask me questions about Hawaii, to ask me questions about other details. Now, one of the things that he told me was that all of his computers were compromised to the point that his mouse was moving on his screen without him doing that, and he dumbly asks — and I'm not even sure if it was possible that he could really believe that he didn't know the answer to this. He said: "Do you suppose my computer is compromised when someone is editing the text and it removes critical parts of my story?" [audience laughter] You might want to see a doctor about that, Luke. [audience laughter] And, finally, the most insulting aspect, I would say, about The Guardian, is what they did to Julian Assange upon him being in the Ecuadorian Embassy. And I can't underscore this enough. There are plenty of problems with Julian. I can barely handle Australians. They're very difficult people culturally. [audience laughter] And then there's Julian. [more audience laughter] But The Guardian, in all seriousness, sent him a basket with soap and socks — while leaving us to hang, literally, where we could face life in prison or the death penalty for the things that we have published, where alleged sources of ours are in prison, or under threat, or needing political asylum. That is not a serious thing to do. These are very serious topics indeed. So, I think that it is important for us to consider also, if you were to watch the film Mediastan, you will see the edges of publication in the Western world and you will see the collaboration of the New York Times editor, where they have phone calls with the CIA. This is a political decision. This is not an objectivity fact. This is a political negotiation. Under threat. Under coercion. And then it is a lie to the public and to other journalists to say that that is a non-political thing, that there's no issue. And if the question is the law, about sources and methods and about names, well sure, let us say then, we would love to publish their names, we would love to publish the sources and methods. But we can't, because it is illegal for us to do that. But we should, because that would help us to hold power to account. And, so, we should work, actually, to change those laws. To better inform people in our democracies. To ensure that it is actually possible to hold CIA agents, who commit war crimes, for their crimes to account. It is absolutely a necessity to do that, and we must as a free press to do that. And when we do not, we are collaborationists who are responsible for being a part of those crimes. And so it is David Leigh, it is Luke Harding, it is other people along these lines, like Alan Rusbridger, who collaborate with them. For example, The Guardian holds ProPublica in a gag. You may not know this, but ProPublica has access to the Snowden archive, but they are not allowed to publish things unless The Guardian will allow them, and The Guardian has decided that they will not allow things from the Snowden archive to be published. Things about Afghanistan or Iraq, crimes — serious war crimes — are documented in there. Crimes where civilians are killed, things that are absolutely political, and we will never see them because of the collaborationists at The Guardian, who absolutely kowtow to the British political class and the hereditary power structures in the UK, and we should not tolerate that and we should pressure them. [applause] Now that I've committed journalistic career suicide, I'd also just like to encourage you to encrypt your communications. [laughter / applause] Also, I think it's important to fight sexism in journalism quite seriously and I hope we replace most of the editors in journalistic rooms around the world with women, who have better sense and are stronger and will stand up to these fucking fascists. [applause] -- end audio -- ---------------------- ---------------------- Snowden Data According to reports, the documentation taken by Snowden is now in the hands of three parties: First Look Media – the news organisation set up by Poitras and Greenwald, and financed by Pierre Omidyar, the founder of eBay; the Guardian and the Washington Post.  24 Oct 2014 http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/11185627/Edward-Snowden-the-true-story-behind-his-NSA-leaks.html  _____________________________________________________________ Sunday, Apr 8, 2012 08:37 PM AEST U.S. filmmaker repeatedly detained at border Laura Poitras makes award-winning controversial films, and is targeted by the U.S. government as a result Glenn Greenwald http://www.salon.com/2012/04/08/u_s_filmmaker_repeatedly_detained_at_border/ COMMENT Despite the 1960s campus radical-inspired views that are alien and jarring to me, it was an interesting talk Appelbaum gave.  And funny.  I think.  In a pouty, cross sort of way.  Except the bit about that guy's computer being compromised. The audience found it funny, but I didn't get what was funny about that. Hard to know what to make of this guy. On the other hand, I don't know how to read anyone here.  Everybody sounds really suspicious to me: Who does an NSA leak without having an advance exit plan and winds up accidentally in Moscow without a passport?  Who goes to Germany to escape American harassment when Germany's an occupied state that hasn't been sovereign since WWII -- and an oppressive state that covers up mass rapes (Cologne); deploys agents to infiltrate political parties (or the ones described as 'right-wing'); deploys former East German Stasi to watch and censor so-called 'social media', which it polices in collaboration with CIA-book's Zuckerberg; Germany, which raids the homes of social media commenters; when Germany's not imprisoning old women, old men, lawyers who defend old men, or renditioning German expatiates from Canada and Britain? The lady film-maker also sounds very unusual to me, from what little I know.  And what's the deal with the Snowden adulation, or am I just particularly ungrateful?  As in an Oliver Stone film?  C'mon?  Hollywood attention reminds of the incongruous Hollywood sparkle bouncing off William Hague's skull, not so long ago. Listening to Appelbaum give The Guardian a serve was entertaining. In terms of the gag on Snowden material, it would appear that parties other than The Guardian also have possession of the Snowden NSA data, and presumably The Guardian doesn't have veto over that.  Whoever has the data [Poitras, Greenwald, Intercept, Washington Post] isn't publishing, they're not making an archive available to the public, and they're not even saying how much data they've received, which seems rather excessively secretive and controlling.  So what were all those enthusiastic accolades for?  Or am I ungrateful once again? EDIT:  there's an archive of the 400 released documents of an 'estimated' 50,000 at this site: The Snowden Surveillance Archive https://snowdenarchive.cjfe.org/ collection of approx. 400 documents of estimated 50,000 documents to journalists:     -- Laura Poitras - US documentary film-maker     -- Glenn Greenwald - US lawyer-journalist     -- Ewan MacAskill - UK journalist (The Guardian) Archive built to enable citizen & researcher to access documents re US National Security Agency (NSA) & Five Eyes partner countries (UK, Canada, Australia, NZ) Archive built by: George Raine Master of Information program University of Toronto assisted by:  Jillian Harkness then current student of program various project partners & supporters listed https://snowdenarchive.cjfe.org/ *unclear to me how an 'estimate' of documents can be made if nobody is saying what was released Snowden turned over the data, in a round-about way, to the corporate press ... despite a history of corporate press propaganda, state and establishment service, and CIA / intelligence collaboration. That being the nature of the beast, there's not much logic in  expecting the corporate press to behave as anything other than:   the corporate press.  And there's not much sense in crying foul that press snakes slither on their bellies.   Or is there? Well, I guess it's always good to know the ugly truth.  Had I not listened to this, I'd have had no idea just how appalling the today's moralising and Putin-bashing press is, and I wouldn't have known about the concept of political protection for journalists as a collective. Denying Appelbaum a letter in relation to the classified material he was working on is pretty low, and sending Assange the socks package is warped, when you think about the enormity of the risk to Assange and the pressure on Assange (who has now been arbitrarily detained for over five and a half years).  And not paying the legal fees of Miranda sounds dishonourable to me. Appelbaum's right.  They sound like a pack of c*nts. But I think maybe he ought to reconsider adulation of women: Katharine Graham Washington Post Phil Graham was somebody you could get help from." Graham has been identified by some investigators as the main contact in Project Mockingbird, the CIA program to infiltrate domestic American media. In her autobiography, Katharine Graham described how her husband worked overtime at the Post during the Bay of Pigs operation to protect the reputations of his friends from Yale who had organized the ill-fated venture. After Graham committed suicide, and his widow Katharine assumed the role of publisher, she continued her husband's policies of supporting the efforts of the intelligence community in advancing the foreign policy and economic agenda of the nation's ruling elites. In a retrospective column written after her own death, FAIR analyst Norman Solomon wrote, "Her newspaper mainly functioned as a helpmate to the war-makers in the White House, State Department and Pentagon." It accomplished this function (and continues to do so) using all the classic propaganda techniques of evasion, confusion, misdirection, targeted emphasis, disinformation, secrecy, omission of important facts, and selective leaks. Graham herself rationalized this policy in a speech she gave at CIA headquarters in 1988.  "We live in a dirty and dangerous world," she said. "There are some things the general public does not need to know and shouldn't. I believe democracy flourishes when the government can take legitimate steps to keep its secrets and when the press can decide whether to print what it knows." http://www.wanttoknow.info/secrecygraham Coincidentally, there's also an amusing story of Janet Cooke, the Washington Post ... and the Pulitzer Prize: EXTRACTS The Case of Janet Cooke When "Jimmy's World," the story of an eight-year-old heroin addict, appeared on the front page of the Washington Post last… Naomi Munson / Aug. 1, 1981 When “Jimmy’s World,” the story of an eight-year-old heroin addict, appeared on the front page of the Washington Post last September, it created quite a stir in the city. According to Janet Cooke, the young black woman who reported the story, “Jimmy” (a pseudonym) had been on heroin since the age of five ... The local government reacted to this grisly tale by launching an intensive search for the child. When schools, social-welfare services, and police all failed to unearth any trace of him, the authorities requested that the Post reveal Jimmy’s whereabouts. The Post refused. There was, first of all, Miss Cooke’s personal safety to consider: it seems that Ron had threatened to come after her with a knife at the first sign of police interest in him. So terrifying was this prospect that Miss Cooke had felt constrained to keep the true identity of her sources secret even from her immediate superiors. Then, of course, the Post recognized a First Amendment issue when it saw one. Where soldiers and statesmen had failed in their efforts to abridge the constitutional guarantees of freedom of the press, was a mere child to be permitted to open a breach in the wall? When the mayor and police chief threatened to subpoena Miss Cooke’s notes, Post staffers professed themselves ready to face jail sooner than capitulate to the pressure. ..  three weeks after the story was published, Miss Cooke was unable to produce her star witness for Coleman, and offered the flimsy excuse that the family had suddenly moved to Baltimore, Coleman’s faith was shaken. But not shaken enough, apparently, to make Coleman think twice before recommending “Jimmy’s World” for a Pulitzer prize nomination—and for four other awards as well—more than a month after the family’s disappearing act. ... ... Criticism from outside the Post served only to send Woodward into what he described as his “Watergate mode: protect the source and back the reporter.” In fact, questions raised by the mayor and police chief hardened Woodward’s resolve to see Miss Cooke’s story nominated for the Pulitzer. When the vote came, it was unanimous (with one abstention); the Pulitzer prize for feature writing was awarded to “Jimmy’s World.” The Post management was jubilant. Nobody counted on Janet Cooke—who had, it soon turned out, been less than entirely honest about her past when seeking work at the Washington Post. Not content with her own achievements in life, she had embroidered her résumé, claiming a B.A. (magna cum laude) from Vassar, an M.A. from the University of Toledo, and fluency in several languages. When the time came to provide a curriculum vitae for the Pulitzer committee, to be published if she won, she added a year at the Sorbonne and a couple of more languages for good measure. ...  Post announced it had discovered that the story was a “hoax” and requested that the Pulitzer be withdrawn. The prize was handed over to the runner-up; Janet Cooke resigned, with apologies “to my newspaper, my profession, the Pulitzer board, and all seekers of the truth”; and the Washington Post went about the business of trying to salvage some of its credibility. https://www.commentarymagazine.com/articles/the-case-of-janet-cooke/

Invasion & Hijacking of Europe

RT News SOURCE https://www.rt.com/news/339233-idomeni-greece-police-train-migrants/ Refugees use train carriage to smash police barricade on Greece-Macedonia border (VIDEO) Published time: 11 Apr, 2016 16:43 Edited time: 11 Apr, 2016 23:49 As tensions at the Greek-Macedonian border continue to mount, a group of refugees has hijacked a train carriage at Idomeni station and attempted to use it to break through the police barricade. Several hundred refugees pushed the wagon towards the border with their bare hands, having filled the carriage with rocks intended to be used as weapons against the police. They were stopped by the Greek police, who eventually managed to persuade the crowd to move the train carriage to its original position. Members of the group told RT’s Ruptly video agency that the seizing of the wagon was retaliation for brutal behavior by police guarding the border. "Yesterday they oppressed us, hit us with tear gas, rubber bullets, five caliber. They detained 10 of our friends, took them, beat them up, they even broke some bones," a young man, who covered his face with a bandana, said. Thousands of refugees on their way to Germany and other Northern European states set up an improvised camp in Idomeni after the Macedonian authorities decided to close the border with Greece. Earlier in the day, Macedonian President Gjorge Ivanov responded to Greece's accusations of Macedonian police using excessive force against refugees who attempted to break through the border. He said that the Balkan route was shut down by an EU decision and urged Athens to respect it. "[Macedonian] authorities have taken necessary measures – not taken by Greece – to prevent migrants from infiltrating into [our] territory en masse. I called upon the EU to help Greece evacuate the Idomeni camp where migrants try to make their way into our territory utilizing the corridor [Balkan route] closed under Brussels' decision," he told Greek TV channel Mega. He also said that the Greek police shared no information on the rising tension in Idomeni. "Instead of delivering demarches, Greece's foreign ministry could update us on everything relating to the so-called volunteers in Idomeni who are behind all of the distributing leaflets in Arabic and preparing illegal border crossings into our territory." SOURCE https://www.rt.com/news/339233-idomeni-greece-police-train-migrants/ ---------------------- ---------------------- COMMENT Oh, FFS, Greece. Quit using this as a political weapon against Macedonia:  man up, grow some balls, and get with the program.  It's a US-led capitalist engineered invasion of Europe. Jesus, these invaders need to be immediately placed in lock-up and immediately thereafter be shipped to right back to where they came from -- or straight to Obama and George Soros, which is probably one and the same. What kind of morons allow an invasion of their nations? Get out of the capitalist-serving nation destroying European Union ... ASAP.  Invest is a strong sovereign state, supported by a strong national military and strong, uncompromising police-force ... along with electrified border fencing, land mines, helicopter and electronic surveillance, heavily armed guards, and anything else it takes to maintain border security.   Hell, go for nukes.

Brazil - Has CIA Struck Again?

BRICS five major emerging national economies developing or newly industrialised countries large, fast-growing economies significant influence on regional and global affairs represent over 3 billion people, or 42% of the world population GDP of US$16.039 trillion, equivalent to abt 20% of the gross world product estimated US$4 trillion in combined foreign reserves [wikipedia] RT News source https://www.rt.com/news/339268-brazil-rousseff-impeachment-protests/ Rousseff supporters confront MPs after Brazil congressional committee ‘recommends’ impeachment Published time: 12 Apr, 2016 05:01 Edited time: 12 Apr, 2016 05:38 A Brazilian Special Parliamentary Committee has voted to recommend the impeachment of President Dilma Rousseff in a move that was slammed as an attempted coup by her supporters. They rejected accusations of alleged budget manipulation during her re-election campaign. The 65-member congressional committee voted 38 to 27 to recommend her impeachment, paving the way for the possible dismissal of the Brazilian president. The lower house of Brazil's Congress is now expected to vote April 17 on whether to impeach Rousseff. At least 342 of the 513 members of the body need to vote for impeachment for the measure to move to the Senate. If half the Senate votes for impeachment, Rousseff would be temporarily suspended from office pending a Senate trial. If the impeachment charges stand ground, the 69-year-old who took up the presidential seat in 2011, will be the first to be impeached since 1992. More than two decades ago Fernando Collor de Mello resigned right before a Senate conviction prompted by corruption charges. After receiving the news of the commission’s vote, Rousseff was “perplexed and saddened” by the result, presidential chief of staff Jaques Wagner announced. Rousseff is suspected of having broken fiscal laws by shifting government funds ahead of her re-election campaign in 2014, which allegedly allowed her to boost public spending to drive her votes. Rousseff denies the accusations, claiming that she didn’t do anything that was not common practice in all prior administrations. Furthermore, she argues that she has not been accused of a crime which could serve as basis for any impeachment. Monday’s vote took place amid ongoing protests from both supporters and opponents of President Rousseff. Supporters of the president were quick to confront congressional committee members after the vote. Shouting “putschists”, “fascists” and “no pasaran” (they shall not pass) at the congressmen, they prevented the MPs from leaving the building. Security forces even built an 80-meter-long metal barricade in front of the congressional building to keep supporters and opponents of the government apart. Brazilian security forces also deployed thousands of troops in the capital city of Brasilia. As Brazilian society remains split over idea of Rousseff’s impeachment, local newspaper Folha de S. Paulo leaked an audio recording of Vice President Michel Temer rehearsing and address to the Brazilian people if the impeachment process were to move forward. In the leaked speech, Temer speaking as the new president says that Brazil needs a “government of national salvation” to save the country from recession as he called for unity in the political system. Reacting to the recording, Temer said the 13-minute audio message was recorded for a friend, but was distributed through WhatsApp to other party members “by accident.” source https://www.rt.com/news/339268-brazil-rousseff-impeachment-protests/ EXTRACT The Empire President: Jeremy Scahill on Obama's "Neocon" Doctrine of Military Force in U.N. Speech September 25, 2013 In an address to the United Nations General Assembly, President Obama openly embraced an aggressive military doctrine backed by previous administrations on using armed force beyond the international norm of self-defense. Obama told the world that the United States is prepared to use its military to defend what he called "our core interests" in the Middle East: U.S. access to oil. "[Obama] basically came out and said the U.S. is an imperialist nation and we’re going to do whatever we need to do to conquer areas [and] take resources from people around the world," says independent journalist Jeremy Scahill. "It’s a really naked declaration of imperialism ... When we look back at Obama’s legacy, this is going to have been a very significant period in U.S. history where the ideals of very radical right-wing forces were solidified. President Obama has been a forceful, fierce defender of empire." TRANSCRIPT This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form. NERMEEN SHAIKH: I want to turn back to President Obama’s address at the U.N. General Assembly. During the speech, Obama told the world the U.S. is prepared to use its military to defend what he called, quote, "our core interests" in the Middle East—that is, U.S. access to oil. PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: The United States of America is prepared to use all elements of our power, including military force, to secure our core interests in the region. We will confront external aggression against our allies and partners, as we did in the Gulf War. We will ensure the free flow of energy from the region to the world. NERMEEN SHAIKH: That was President Obama speaking yesterday at the U.N. General Assembly. Jeremy, your response to what Obama said in his speech? JEREMY SCAHILL: I mean, during this section of the speech, my jaw sort of hit the floor. I mean, he just—he basically came out and said the United States is an imperialist nation, and we’re going to do whatever we need to to conquer areas to take resources from people around the world. I mean, it was a really naked sort of declaration of imperialism—and I don’t use that word lightly, but it really is. I mean, he pushed back against the Russians when he came out and said, "I believe America is an exceptional nation." He then, you know, defended the Gulf War and basically said that the motivation behind it was about oil, and said we’re going to continue to take such actions in pursuit of securing natural resources for ourselves and our allies. I mean, this was a pretty incredible and bold declaration that he was making, especially given what he—the way that he’s tried to portray himself around the world. On the other hand, you know, he—I mean, remember what happened right before Obama took the stage, is that the president of Brazil got up, and she herself was a former political prisoner who, you know, was abused and targeted in a different lifetime, and she gets up and just blasts the United States over the NSA spy program around the world. AMY GOODMAN: We have President Dilma Rousseff in her address to the U.N. General Assembly.     PRESIDENT DILMA ROUSSEFF: We are a democratic country, surrounded by democratic, peaceful countries that respect international law. We have been living in peace with our neighbors for more than 140 years. Like so many other Latin Americans, I myself fought on a firsthand basis against arbitrary behavior and censorship, and I could therefore not possibly fail to uncompromisingly defend individuals’ rights to privacy and my country’s sovereignty. AMY GOODMAN: That’s the Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff openly criticizing U.S. spying on her government, the news that just broke from the Ed Snowden releases that was released with Globo newspaper in Brazil by Glenn Greenwald, who is a U.S. journalist who lives in Brazil. And, Jeremy, you’re headed down there for the opening of your film, Dirty Wars, this week. JEREMY SCAHILL: Right, and, you know, I was there when this story was breaking. It is a major, major scandal in Brazil. I mean, it was such a major scandal that President—the president cancelled her state dinner with President Obama. This wasn’t just like sitting in the Oval Office or something. This is a thing where they create a huge menu, and they invite all these people, and it was meant to sort of secure this relationship of these two huge Western Hemisphere powers. I mean, Brazil is a rising power in the Western Hemisphere, and this was to be a very important moment in the history of relations between the U.S. and Brazil. And for the Brazilians to cancel it just shows you the severity of this scandal. I mean, all around the world right now, in the aftermath of the WikiLeaks cables being revealed, now you have the Edward Snowden documents, people around the world have access to documentation that in some cases is bolstering what people already thought was going on, but in other cases is revealing the extent of dirty tricks that the United States is playing on other nations around the world, and not to mention its own citizens." SOURCE http://www.democracynow.org/2013/9/25/the_empire_president_jeremy_scahill_on Dilma Rousseff President, Brazil -- economist -- Workers' Party (Brazil) -- centre-left -- one of the largest left-wing movements in Latin America -- party identified as 'socialist' -- 1988: -- party advocated repudiation of Brazil's external debt -- party advocated nationalisation of banks & mineral wealth -- party advocated land reform     https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Workers'_Party_%28Brazil%29 -------/\/\/ Dilma Rousseff -- socialist during youth -- after 1964 Brazilian coup d'état 1964 Brazilian coup d'état -- coup = US supported overthrow of democratically elected -- Prsident Joao Goulart ('Jango') by military -- Brazilian Labour Party --  Cabo Anselmo - agent provocateur (Sailors' Revolt / navy) -- Lincoln Gordon (Abraham Lincoln Gordon) -- US ambassador Brazil (1961-1966) -- academic and govt/diplomatic career -- Kennedy's leading expert on Latin American economics -- 1960:  helped develop 'Alliance for Progress' aid program -- to prevent Latin America turning to revolution & socialism for economic progress -- grants and credits provided by the USA to Brazil -- development loans and military aid   -- Lincoln Gordon (Abraham Lincoln Gordon) -- played major role for the support of opposition versus President João Goulart -- 1964 Lincoln Gordon cable:      -- urged support of:     -- Humberto de Alencar Castelo Branco     -- with a “clandestine delivery of arms"     -- with shipments of gas and oil     -- with possibility of CIA ops     *Noam Chomsky has been critical of coup     -- US destroyed Brazilian democracy     -- by supporting military coup 1964     -- support for coup initiated by Kennedy but carried to conclusion by Johnson     -- US installed first really major national security state, Nazi-like state, in Latin America     -- with high-technology torture     -- Lincoln Gordon called it 'totally democratic'     -- there was an economic increase in GNP miracle     -- there was also INCREASED SUFFERING for much of population     https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lincoln_Gordon NOTE:     -- actual operational files of CIA remain classified     -- preventing historians from examining CIA's direct involvement in coup     https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1964_Brazilian_coup_d'%C3%A9tat ---------------------- ---------------------- COMMENT Exciting development in Latin America. Dilma Rousseff and her political party sound good to me.  But they also sound like a classic American capitalist 'enemy'.   Uh-oh.  Look out for the American oligarchy and its CIA machinery. Note that Brazil is one of the BRICS countries:  thus a challenger to the US-led trade-financial and power hegemony, threatening the capitalist US-led bloc's domination and plans of one world government (capitalist profits, control etc) expansion and imposition on the rest of the world. Bet the CIA has been up to dirty tricks again. Check out what they've already done to Brazil! I've only just quickly skimmed this, the 1964 Brazil coup is in keeping with what little I know of the standard American capitalist order pattern of subverting democracy in Latin America (and elsewhere) and installing oppressive US corporate friendly, US-backed, regimes.

Panama Papers, George Soros, Web of European Entities, US Projection of Influence & History of CIA Propaganda in Europe

SPUTNIK http://sputniknews.com/world/20160407/1037656138/occrp-icij-panama-mariani.html USAID, Soros Funding Explains Lack of US Banks, Citizens in Panama Leaks World 19:46 07.04.2016 French lawmaker Thierry Mariani said that the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), is explicit in receiving Soros’ Open Society Foundations (OSF) and USAID funding and it explains why in fact so-called Panama Papers leak has absolutely nothing about US banks or German, American citizens involved in schemes. MOSCOW (Sputnik), Svetlana Alexandrova – US Agency for International Development (USAID) and billionaire investor George Soros funding explains the absence of US banks and citizens implicated in the Panama Papers leak for running offshore schemes, French lawmaker Thierry Mariani told Sputnik on Thursday. Germany’s Suddeutsche Zeitung published materials on Sunday it claimed to come from the Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca, exposing a number of world leaders and their circles’ alleged involvement in tax haven schemes. One of the newspaper’s project partners, the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), is explicit in receiving Soros’ Open Society Foundations (OSF) and USAID funding. "It explains why in fact so-called Panama Papers leak has absolutely nothing about US banks or German, American citizens involved in schemes," Mariani said. The WikiLeaks editorial team drew attention to OCCRP’s funding on Wednesday, saying the Eastern Europe and Central Asia-oriented organization waged a smear campaign against Russian President Vladimir Putin. 'Panama Papers’ report has revealed no new information. We should be mindful of the information on who supports and directly funds the Panama Papers’ report. On the lower portion of the OCCRP’s website it is said that Reporting Project is made possible by a Soros-funded organization and USAID," Mariani echoed WikiLeaks' reminder. Mossack Fonseca earlier responded to media reports by refusing to validate the information contained in the leaks and accused reporters of gaining unauthorized access to its proprietary documents. It warned that using unlawfully-obtained data was a crime that it would not hesitate to punish by legal means. http://sputniknews.com/world/20160407/1037656138/occrp-icij-panama-mariani.html BellingCrap https://www.journalism.co.uk/news/new-bellingcat-project-to-investigate-cross-border-corruption/s2/a562610/ New Bellingcat project to investigate cross-border corruption Collaboration between Bellingcat, Hacks/Hackers London and the Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) will share information on the latest open-source investigative tools and techniques Posted: 29 September 2014 By: Abigail Edge Open-source investigations site Bellingcat today launched a new project to investigate global networks of crime and corruption. The London Project Investigathon is a collaboration between Bellingcat, Hacks/Hackers London and the Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP). It will bring together journalists, investigators and researchers to share knowledge on the latest open-source tools and techniques required to carry out investigations, by organising regular events to work on live projects. "Because these are transferable skills, we can set them up doing projects that we're giving them but they'll learn stuff that they can use in their own projects," said Eliot Higgins, founder of Bellingcat and the Brown Moses blog on munitions used in the Syrian conflict. Also involved in the Investigathon are journalists from the Financial Times, members of the Bureau of Investigative Journalism, and Bellingcat contributors Peter Jukes, Chris Brace and Oz Katerji. Their first project will be centred around money laundering and, more specifically, money from Eastern Europe which is suspected of being laundered in the UK property market. Higgins said the project is an "extension" of Google Investigathon, held in July to showcase the OCCRP's Investigative Dashboard. Participants will learn to use tools including the OCCRP's Investigative Dashboard, which scrapes data from business registries around the world and makes it searchable to assist those working on cross-border investigations. ... Bellingcat, which launched in July, regularly shares tips, tools and how-to guides on verifying stories and videos using open-source information alongside its own investigations. Two recent projects include locating an Islamic State training camp in Mosul, Iraq and identifying the Buk missile launcher alleged to have shot down flight MH17 in eastern Ukraine. In a similar fashion, the London Project Investigathon's work, tools and techniques will be written up on Bellingcat "so other people can go and do it themselves and learn from us", said Higgins. ... https://www.journalism.co.uk/news/new-bellingcat-project-to-investigate-cross-border-corruption/s2/a562610/ -------/\/\/ Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) f. 2006 Washington based -- website is reportingproject.net -- founded by: -- Drew Sullivan:  was editor of  Centre for Investigative Reporting (CIN) -- & Paul Radu:  worked with Romanian centre -- paired with regional colleagues re energy traders in region -- project won:  Global Shining Light Award   -- awarded by:  Global Investigative Journalism Network -- OCCRP begun with grant from:  United Nations Democracy Fund -- parent org. is the Journalism Development Network, Maryland-based non-profit org.  /  - formed:  08/21/2007 * OCCRP is partially financed by György Soros * OCCRP is partially fianced by USAid OCCRP consortium of investigative centres, media & journalists operating Eastern Europe, Caucasus, Central Asia, Central America early practitioner of collaborative, cross-border investigative journalism by non-profit journalism orgs -- partners with:     -- Arab reporters for Investigative Journalism (ARIJ) - Jordan     -- Connectas - Colombia     -- InsightCrime -- Colombia     -- International Center for Journalists (ICFJ) - Washington     -- African Network of Centers for Investigative Reporting - South Africa   -- worked with hundreds of news orgs incl.     -- The Guardian     -- Financial Times     -- Le Soir     -- BBC     -- Time Magazine     -- Al Jazeera     -- plus other major media    * is a Kyiv Post partner -------/\/\/ Paul Radu Paul Cristian Radu investigative journalist based in Bucharest, Romania -- director:  Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) -- co-founder:  Romanian Centre for Investigative Journalism -- teaches (Balkans org) -- 2008 - 'Central European Initiative jury' -- 2009 - 48 Hours / sex slavery Central European Initiative (CEI) -- forum of regional cooperation -- formed Budapest 1989 -- HQ Italy since 1996 -- CEI aims at achieving cohesion in areas of mutual interest -- AND ASSISTING NON-EU MEMBER STATES consolidating economic and social development     -- previously mainly  policy dialogue     -- now 'economic growth' & 'human development' pillars of 'cooperation'     -- focus on 'capacity building' https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_European_Initiative Central European Initiative "regional forum created with the aim to foster the integration of former Soviet ‘satellites’ in the European and Western European co-operation frameworks" http://www.internationaldemocracywatch.org/index.php/central-european-initiative Central European Initiative projects of CEI funded by:  CEI Cooperation Fund to which all Member States contribute The CEI Fund was established in 1992 when Italy signed an agreement with the EBRD “to assist the Bank’s countries of operations in central and eastern Europe in their economic and social transformation process”. The fund, towards which Italy has made a total contribution of €38.5 million since its establishment, is managed by the Office for the CEI Fund at the EBRD and provides grant-type technical cooperation (TC) assistance for specific components of the Bank’s projects. Since its inception, the fund has provided more than €23 million for funding TC projects. The fund has also contributed a total of €3.3 million to the Know-How Exchange Programme (KEP) and to cooperation activities assignments, both of which are specific CEI programmes. Technical cooperation projects Technical cooperation projects constitute the largest part of the activity funded by the CEI Fund at the EBRD. CEI technical cooperation is traditionally offered in the form of grant- type assistance. Operations include support for feasibility and pre-feasibility studies, project implementation, management training, capacity building and pre-loan audits. These activities target a number of priority areas including agribusiness, business and finance, energy, institutional development, municipal infrastructure and services, small and medium-sized enterprise support and transport. ... April 2014 Total investments made by the EBRD linked to CEI grants €2.9 billion Funding provided for TC projects €23 million Italian contribution €38.5 million Member states 18 http://www.ebrd.com/downloads/research/factsheets/cei.pdf EBRD - European Bank for Reconstruction & Development established Jan. 1993, funded by the Italians CEI permanent working group on minorities & a contact committee. Participation in CEI & working groups seen as way of bringing east European states closer to EU. CEI aims to coordinate Western assistance to post-communist countries in central & eastern Europe.  That is the purpose of the project secretariat in the EBRD. CEI provides institutional framework for multilateral dialogue & cooperation & conssensus-bulding. CEI described as an important 'political coordination club' in Europe. CEI kicked off the 'Europe of the Regions' concept in terms of an EU which is styled as a 'Committtee of Regions' Buzzwords:     -- evolving European architecture     -- European institutions     -- European integration     -- European unification   source:  The International Politics of East Central Europe By Adrian G. V. Hyde-Price The Central European Initiative began life in November 1989, when Italy, Austria, Hungary and Yugoslavia got together to form a body called Quadragonal Co-operation. It was described then as a "platform for mutual political, economic, scientific and cultural co-operation". One of the CEI's main tasks at present is helping the ten non-members of the EU learn from the seven EU members, or in the CEI's jargon "facilitating and co-financing the transfer of know-how on 'fresh' transition and negotiation experience."    http://www.radio.cz/en/section/curraffrs/pm-paroubek-to-attend-cei-meeting-in-piestany Paul Radu Paul Cristian Radu stepped down as member of RCIJ  -  2013 RCIJ established 2001 in Romania -- RCIJ:  a founding member of OCCRP in 2006 -- chairman:  Stefan Candea   -- executive committee:                  Sorin Ozon             Catalin Prisacariu             Adrian Mogos             Petru Zoltan             + 2 future appointments             Vlad Ursulean -- reported for Kamikaze weekly & Romania Liberia -- working on transnational investigation re shale gas extraction's impact on locals -- journalist to spend 3 months:  -- New England Center for Investigative Reporting (NECIR) - Boston University -- it appears that journalist is:  Vlad Ursulean, as NECIR dirctor (Joe Bergantino) excited re opportunity to work with 'talented young journalist like Vlad Ursulean" & looks forward to jointly producing an in-depth investigative report on crucial issue for both Europe & the US." 12-WEEK RESIDENCY FUNDED BY A GRANT FROM OPEN SOCIETY FOUNDATIONS -- Ursulean to receive training & editorial supervision & guidance -- goal:  produce transnational investigative report & return to Romania with skills needed to boost reporting @ RCIJ The following reporter also Boston residency: Emilia Diaz-Struck from Venezuela who is reporting for Connectas Since 2011:  "RCIJ established a collaborative Media Innovation Lab for Eastern Europe, the Sponge" source https://www.crji.org/press.php archive http://archive.is/ADPKp -------/\/\/ Paul Cristian Radu -- former head of investigative dept of Evenimentul Zilei (daily paper Bucharest) -- at 2008:  worked independently - Romanian Centre of Investigative Journalism -- founded with x2 other journalists -- Jun-Dec. 2001:  Alfred Friendly fellow, team at San Antanio Express-News -- 2002:  Milena Jesenska Press fellow:  Institute of Human Sciences, Vienna, Austria http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Paul_Cristian_Radu Alfred Friendly Foundation American nonprofit foundation that awards Alfred Friendly Press Fellowships created in 1984 by Alfred Friendly, a Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter / former managing editor Washington Post https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_Friendly_Foundation ---------------------- ---------------------- Alfred Friendly Ben Bradlee The following year he joined the staff of the Office of U.S. Information and Educational Exchange, the embassy's special propaganda arm. As Deborah Davis has pointed out: "Bradlee's work for USIE, which is now the USIA, was in something called the Regional Publication Center, or the Regional Service Center. It produced films, magazines, research, speeches, and news items for use by the embassies, the Marshall Plan offices, and the CIA throughout Europe. It controlled Voice of America. The Paris Center was controlled from Washington by a man named Edward Ware Barrett, an assistant secretary of state for public affairs and a seventeen-year veteran of Newsweek." (19) It was claimed by Christopher Reed that "During this period, according to a US justice department memo, Bradlee promulgated CIA-directed European propaganda urging the controversial execution of the convicted American spies Ethel and Julius Rosenberg." (20) While at the USIE, Bradlee worked with E. Howard Hunt and Alfred Friendly.  ... In July 1965 Katharine Graham appointed Bradlee as assistant managing editor of the Washington Post under Alfred Friendly, his former colleague at Office of U.S. Information and Educational Exchange. ... Alfred Friendly -- American journalist, editor & writer:  Washington Post -- 1930s:  cover war mobilisation efforts and anti-war strikes -- WWII Air Force, rank of Major / retiring 1945 -- involved in cryptography & intel ops in military -- second in command  at Bletchley Park, highest ranking US officer there -- remained European press aide to W. Averell Harriman, supervisor Marshall Plan -- returned to Washington Post: -- assistant managing editor 1952 -- managing editor 1955 -- associate editor & foreign correspondent London 1966 -- heads to Middle East - Six Day War 1967 (Israel vs Arabs -- retired from Washington Post 1971 -- wrote books after retirement -- on death:  Alfred Friendly foundation established -- administers:  ALFRED FRIENDLY PRESS PARTNERS https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_Friendly The CIA and the Media How Americas Most Powerful News Media Worked Hand in Glove with the Central Intelligence Agency and Why the Church Committee Covered It Up Carl Bernstein http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article28610.htm More on CIA - Europe LINK | Post ---------------------- ---------------------- COMMENT Found the above really interesting. I've read that Carl Bernstein article before, but I don't remember much anything ... so I might have to read that again (later).  It's so crap having a poor memory. Anyway, I thought all these US crossovers, US patronage, the Soros webs of influence, what amounts to American indoctrination and to projection of American influence across Europe is an interesting, many-headed beast. I'm convinced that the 'Panama Papers' 'leak' slash release is an American PsyOps. USAID's position is sort of explained here in this diagram:

Doing Nothing

Doing the rounds of YouTube hair loss videos, in case my hair doesn't stop coming out. Found the cutest baby ever on this one: https://youtu.be/6e2bUfgzTkM?t=567 Think I need to stock up on vitamins and maybe force myself to spend time outside in sunlight.  Don't know if it will help, but it can't hurt. I'm trying to think back what might have triggered the hair shedding, but I'm not really sure.  I can't even really remember when it first began. But I can sort of identify with the people in the YouTube videos who have felt relief shaving off their hair and no longer finding hair in their food and everywhere else. After years of torturing my hair, I've grown to accept it and kind of like it where it is:  on my head. Had to stop looking at the alopecia videos as they were beginning to freak me out. Then I got sidetracked with videos of someone else's life, including their trip to some Hello Kitty exhibit.  Can't believe I watched that. It's amazing how much time I can spend on here doing nothing.

The Kitchen

The Kitchen German Potato Salad (version #1) [CLICK IMAGE TO ENLARGE] ---------------------- ---------------------- COMMENT Very nice. I was slack and I didn't let the sauce cook down much, but it was still good.  Used this recipe as a guide:  here. Used a bit of dry mint in mine.  Tastes fine. *Potatoes overdone.  But I prefer overdone to underdone.  :)