TRANSCRIPT - ASIO, CIA & MI6 de facto coup d'état - Whitlam Government, Australia

"US diplomatic cables published last year by WikiLeaks disclose the names of leading figures in both main parties, including a future prime minister and foreign minister, as Washington’s informants during the Whitlam years. Whitlam knew the risk he was taking. The day after his election, he ordered that his staff should not be “vetted or harassed” by the Australian security organisation, ASIO – then, as now, tied to Anglo-American intelligence." JOHN PILGER Investigative Journalist Source |  here Australian Association for Cultural Freedom Member:  John Kerr, Australia's Governor-General “an elite, invitation-only group … exposed in Congress as being founded, funded and generally run by the CIA” [ Jonathan Kwitny - WSJ ] Theodore Shackley notorious head of CIA’s East Asia division Shackley:  1972 CIA coup vs Salvador Allende in Chile TELEX message, deeming Gough Whitlam 'security risk' to Australia “Our man Kerr” - ie CIA Man BRIEFS  - Defence Signals Directorate, Australia’s NSA about ...  “security crisis” ... Invoking archaic vice-regal “reserve powers” Kerr sacked the democratically elected prime minister SOURCE John Pilger Investigation | coup against Whitlam Book:  A Secret Country (Vintage) Documentary film:  Other People’s Wars VIEW ON  http://www.johnpilger.com/ TRANSCRIPT [for quotation purposes, confirm audio] ASIO, CIA & MI6 de facto coup d'état Whitlam Government Australia VIDEO Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0kxVVWfRPiA Duration: 9:59 NARRATOR The coup against Gough Whitlam's Labour government in Australia 1972 (sic) exposes a wide variety of dirty tricks used by intelligence agencies to undermine democracy. GOUGH WHITLAM We will not yield to blackmail. We will not be panicked. We will not turn over the government of this country to vested interests, pressure groups and newspaper proprietors, whose tactics would destroy the standards and traditions of parliamentary government. SCREEN TEXT "The CIA's aim in Australia was to get rid of a government they did not like and that was not co-operative ... It's a Chile, but in a much more sophisticated and subtle form." - Victor Marchetti, ex-CIA officer NARRATOR In Australia 1972, a Labor government was elected for the first time in 23 years. It would be brought down in a de facto coup d'état, conducted by the CIA in liaison with Britain's MI6 and, most shockingly, Australia's own intelligence services. Since assuming power in Australia, Whitlam's labour government had enacted series of reforms. These included: raises in wages, pensions, and unemployment benefits, free national healthcare, equal pay for women, the abolishment of tuition fees, new services for Aboriginal peoples, and the replacement of 'God Save the Queen' with Australia's own national anthem. Most disturbing to Washington, however, was the withdrawal of Australian troops from Vietnam, the support of Palestinian rights, and the proposal of an Indian Ocean zone of peace. Worst of all, Whitlam hinted that he might shut down a number of American military bases, including Pine Gap. When CIA Director William Colby petitioned his counterpart at MI6, Sir Maurice Oldfield, for help, he stressed that Australia was traditionally Britain’s domain and that if Pine Gap were closed, the alliance would be blinded strategically. Unbeknownst to Australia's new Prime Minister, the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) had not only been working closely with the CIA, they had been illegally passing on dossiers, concerning every member of the Labor Party, as well as union leaders, peace activists, and other Australian citizens. A slush fund was set up to provide money to both opposition parties, via the Nugan Hand Bank, a CIA front company. [Cut to footage of Malcolm Fraser, Liberal Party] This was followed up by a promise to the main opposition Liberal Party of unlimited funds. CBS NEWS CLIP - SEPT 22, 1982 ANNOUNCER [American Accent] In recent years, there have been charges from time to time that the CIA has involved itself in illegal activities. Some of the most bizarre to date involve a bank in Australia known as 'Nugan Hand,' and tonight Gary Shepherd has a report. [2:57] GARY SHEPHERD [American Accent] When the Nugan Hand Bank of Sydney, Australia, collapsed in 1980, it appeared at first glance to be just another bank failure. Cut to EXHUMATION at cemetery Burial marker reads: In Loving Memory of FRANCIS JOHN NUGAN But after Australian authorities began taking a closer look, they discovered a tangled web of intrigue, with all the elements of a best-selling spy novel: a mysterious death, the body later dug up from its grave, illegal currency transactions, big time drug operations and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). NEIL EVANS FORMER BANK EXECUTIVE [Australian accent] We were to become the paymasters of the CIA around the world. In other words, we were putting ourselves in a position to disburse funds for the CIA to whoever they were directed. ANNOUNCER Former bank executive Neil Evans, given immunity from prosecution agreed to talk about the Nugan Hand operation on Australian television. From his account and others, the Bank had its genesis during the Vietnam War. Four of the original stockholders were Americans who listed their addresses as: Air America, Army Post Office (APO), San Francisco, [Ca.]. Air America was the CIA airline in Indochina, hauling men and supplies on clandestine missions and, according to former CIA agents, even drugs out of the so-called Golden Triangle where the borders of Burma, Laos, and Thailand, converge. Nugan Hand sent Neil Evans to the Thai city of Chang Mai, the commercial centre of the drug trade. He claims the CIA made millions and used the money to advance its secret projects. NEIL EVANS FEB 1981 The idea was that the money would be deposited by the Nugan Hand Bank by the CIA through various channels and, also, that the Nugan Hand Bank would be the repository for funds coming in from various CIA enterprises, namely, drugs in Thailand --marijuana in particular -- and that the Nugan Hand Bank would then be responsible for re-routing that money to an account in America with the New York Bank. ANNOUNCER Nugan Hand was not your ordinary bank: there were secret numbered accounts and hardly any of its top people were bankers. Many were American civilians and former high-ranking military officers with ties to US intelligence. When they found the body of Australian businessman, Frank Nugan, the Bank's chairman (shot to death a few months before the Bank went under), they discovered in his pocket, the business card of this man: William Colby, former Director of the CIA. Nugan's partner was Michael Hand, an American Green Beret, who served two tours in Vietnam. One of them for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). He disappeared a short while after the bank collapsed and is now believed to be dead. Australian newspapers reported a connection between Nugan Hand and the US Navy's super-secret intelligence unit, known as Taskforce 157. Among it's top agents, CIA man, Edwin Wilson (now under indictment for selling arms and explosives to Libyan dictator, Muammar Gaddafi), and a man named Patry Loomis has also been implicated. He was the apparent CIA-Nugan Hand go-between. It was Lumis who helped Wilson recruit a team of Green Berets to train terrorists in Libya. GARY SHEPHERD CBS News, Los Angeles The Nugan Hand affair has caused an uproar in Australia, where authorities are trying to find out what involvement the bank might have had in the 1975 downfall of the labour party government. Meanwhile, investigators on three continents are attempting to trace $50-million missing from the accounts of depositors, including many Americans. Here in this country, the CIA denies any involvement with drug operations in Indochina, the Nugan Hand Bank itself, or the deaths of the two men who ran it. Gary Shepherd, CBS News, Los Angeles. NARRATOR In addition to the slush fund, the CIA created a series of forged documents implicating high ranking members of the Labor Party in a succession of scandals. No hard evidence was ever produced to substantiate the allegations, but a complicit Australian media, spear-headed by a young Rupert Murdoch, fanned the flames of discontent. AUSTRALIAN INTERVIEWER/REPORTER Do you think the newspaper would have any political orientation like The Sun and its predecessor, The Daily Herald? RUPERT MURDOCH Receding hairline prominent T-shaped furrow on forehead - furrow commencing between the eyes prominent dark eyebrows weak jawline jowls narrow upper lip oversized lower lip left-hand side hair part RUPERT MURDOCH [Shaking head] No, no fixed orientation, in the sense that it would be allied to any party. Certainly not. It would be quite independent. NARRATOR One of the most damaging of the forgeries was a report indicating that Labor ministers had received kick-backs during the so-called 'loans affair.' In 1981, a CIA contract agent, named Joseph Flynn, admitted that he had forged these documents at the behest at Michael Hand, co-founder of the CIA's Nugan Hand Bank. As the contrived scandals escalated, a state of emergency was declared. Invoking the authority of the British crown, Attorney-General John Kerr dismissed Whitlam as Prime Minister [Silent Footage of Whitlam] [Cut to American Actor] Soundtrack 'God Save the Queen', Sex Pistols: God Save the Queen The fascist regime It made you a moron Potential H-Bomb God Save the Queen She ain't no human being There is no future And England's screamin' ... SCREEN TEXT One American intelligence officer, Christopher Boyce, became so outraged at the CIA's actions in Australia that he began passing on secret documents to the Soviets. [Cut to Christopher Boyce at hearing] SCREEN TEXT In 2006, the BBC aired a documentary entitled "The Plot Against Harold Wilson". It revealed that a similar campaign of dirty tricks was used against the British Labour government of Harold Wilson. [Soundtrack 'God Save the Queen', Sex Pistols] SCREEN TEXT The campaign was carried out by the CIA in liaison with Britain's MI5 and the South African security service, BOSS. [Soundtrack 'God Save the Queen, Sex Pistols] Cut to: 'Welcome to News International'   [Vertical Venetian signage opens exposing ...] The Sun We Love It News of the World Big On Sundays SCREEN TEXT Though Wilson was a moderate, he was the object of a relentless smear campaign in the British press in which he was painted as a soviet agent. [Soundtrack 'God Save the Queen', Sex Pistols] SCREEN TEXT At one point, a coup was contemplated. Lord Mountbatten, the last Viceroy of India and a member of the Royal Family, was to head up the new government. Daily Mirror press baron Lord Cecil King planned "an emergency government" that would include leading conservative politicians and prominent businessmen. [Soundtrack 'God Save the Queen', Sex Pistols] SCREEN TEXT Suffering from early onset Alzheimer's, Wilson resigned in 1976. Margaret Thatcher was elected three years later. The British-American coup that ended Australian independence John Pilger EXTRACT In 1975 prime minister Gough Whitlam, who has died this week, dared to try to assert his country’s autonomy. The CIA and MI6 made sure he paid the price Across the media and political establishment in Australia, a silence has descended on the memory of the great, reforming prime minister Gough Whitlam. His achievements are recognised, if grudgingly, his mistakes noted in false sorrow. But a critical reason for his extraordinary political demise will, they hope, be buried with him. Australia briefly became an independent state during the Whitlam years, 1972-75. An American commentator wrote that no country had “reversed its posture in international affairs so totally without going through a domestic revolution”. Whitlam ended his nation’s colonial servility. He abolished royal patronage, moved Australia towards the Non-Aligned Movement, supported “zones of peace” and opposed nuclear weapons testing. Although not regarded as on the left of the Labor party, Whitlam was a maverick social democrat of principle, pride and propriety. He believed that a foreign power should not control his country’s resources and dictate its economic and foreign policies. He proposed to “buy back the farm”. In drafting the first Aboriginal lands rights legislation, his government raised the ghost of the greatest land grab in human history, Britain’s colonisation of Australia, and the question of who owned the island-continent’s vast natural wealth. [ ...] MORE AT SOURCE http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/oct/23/gough-whitlam-1975-coup-ended-australian-independence ꕤ

Assange - June 2013 - Video & Lateline Transcript

Video Source https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dyNdtXBMhHM  SOURCE http://www.abc.net.au/lateline/content/2013/s3778712.htm Assange Lateline Transcript Australian Broadcasting Corporation Broadcast: 10/06/2013 Reporter: Emma Alberici EXTRACTS ONLY Transcript [ ... ] Julian Assange, welcome to Lateline. JULIAN ASSANGE, WIKILEAKS FOUNDER: Thank you. EMMA ALBERICI: We'll get to your political ambitions shortly. Let's begin though with Bradley Manning and the charge that he aided the enemy. When you published the documents he gave you, didn't it occur to you that you might be compromising American and allied military operations in the release of that information about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan? JULIAN ASSANGE: Well, there's been a lot of speculation and rumours about that by the yellow press. But the fact is not even the Pentagon alleges that a single person came to harm as a result of any of our publications anywhere in the world, and in fact, no other government agency does either. It is not a matter in this case. That's one of the disturbing aspects about the Bradley Manning case, is that they have forbidden the defence to table any evidence whatsoever that no-one came to harm and the prosecution is not going to table any evidence - because there isn't any - that anyone did come to harm. EMMA ALBERICI: We've learnt that a Navy SEAL found WikiLeaks documents at the Pakistan compound where Osama bin Laden was killed. Presumably you knew it was possible, even probable, that those documents would be read by al-Qaeda, sensitive documents you were releasing. JULIAN ASSANGE: Well I am sure al-Qaeda reads the New York Times. He mentioned that he read Bob Woodward books. He probably has People, maybe even Who Magazine, possibly even Dr Seuss laying around his compound. So what? There's no allegation that al-Qaeda was in any way aided by the publications that we published. Despite the fact, despite the fact that Bradley Manning has been charged with aiding the enemy, a capital offence, the judge in this case has said that the prosecution does not need to show that al-Qaeda was aided in any way whatsoever and the prosecution doesn't allege that al-Qaeda was. All they intend to show is that al-Qaeda had our publications just like everyone else in the world. EMMA ALBERICI: How can you be 100 per cent certain that information you've released hasn't contributed to at the very least an atmosphere of mistrust between the US and others? JULIAN ASSANGE: Well, look, the United States' behaviour is what has led to an atmosphere of distrust. People should not trust the United States military industrial complex. Of course they shouldn't. We've seen abuse after abuse. In fact [WikiLeaks] revealed that the United States military, the Pentagon has been involved in the killing, directly or indirectly, according to its own records, of 129,000 people. Now that wasn't simply in aggregate in Iraq or in aggregate in Afghanistan. That was the individual death records and their locations and what military units were involved in those two countries. That's what we documented. EMMA ALBERICI: So it doesn't matter to you if you did contribute to a sense of acrimony between the US and other countries? JULIAN ASSANGE: It does matter; in fact it's very important that the level of trust is proportionate to the level of behaviour. So it's been an extremely important thing that - for example, that Australians do not trust speculative military adventures in Central Asia. Of course it is. EMMA ALBERICI: One of the key charges levelled against you is that you released that massive volume of material with scant regard for the consequences. Certainly Julia Gillard has said that there was no moral purpose to what you were doing. JULIAN ASSANGE: Well, you know, the Senate has twice demanded that Julia Gillard apologise for her statements. Twice they have passed that resolution. Julia Gillard's libellous statements are made outside of Parliament. She's only saved by the statute of limitations. Have resulted in a banking blockade against an Australian publisher. They've also resulted in the Bank of America refusing to send a payment to WikiLeaks, the Australian political organisation. Julia Gillard has a lot to be responsible for in terms of her libellous comments. If we go to our publications - well not even NATO in Kabul, as it said to CNN, could find a single person in need of protection. So this is all yellow press hype. The Government doesn't allege it. NATO has even looked into the speculative component and says that there's nothing. EMMA ALBERICI: You've been in the Ecuadorian embassy for a year now. How much longer do you expect to be there? JULIAN ASSANGE: Well it's an interesting question. The situation is very interesting. But, you know, I'm quite optimistic. The support for WikiLeaks as an organisation increases. [...] And I think the lies and fictions of Bob Carr, for example, are now well and truly over. Even his office is now speaking about the grand jury in the United States. We've seen in the Bradley Manning trial this week, the intent and focus of the United States Government to go after [WikiLeaks]. And they're aware that this organisation and people like it and our values are forming a new body politic and people like Edward Snowden are part of that phenomena. EMMA ALBERICI: We will discuss Edward Snowden, but before that I wanted to ask you how much contact you're having with the Australian High Commission there in London. JULIAN ASSANGE: Yeah, so that's actually - it's remarkable to look at the statements made by the Foreign Minister, but other Australians who have been in difficult situations will tell you it's all exactly the same. So, I have not met anyone from any consulate, any Australian Government official since 2010, since I was in prison. In the time that I've been in this embassy here - we laugh about it, that once a month, there will be a tick-the-box call to the consul here saying, "Well, how's Mr Assange?" And, well, my response is, "Well, what's your offer?" The last time that they offered some medical assistance to the Ecuadorian Government - the only concrete offer that they ever put on the table - the Ecuadorian consul went to meet with the Australian consul, completely utterly wasted his time. The result of that was, "Well, here you are, here's a list of doctors in London." A list of doctors that the Australian Government is going to pay for? "No." Nothing, nothing at all. Just a list of doctors that I should never, ever go to, apparently. Because, in fact, all that the so-called consular support is doing here is it's simply collecting political intelligence for Bob Carr. There's an Australian member - there's a DFAT member sitting in on the Bradley Manning case. There has been for about six months, secretly sitting there, recording notes. Are those notes passed on to our legal team? Absolutely not. They produce briefing notes for Bob Carr so he can set up his press lines. So actually, so-called consular support for me and for many other Australians in similar situations, what it's actually about is collecting political intelligence for the minister to set up their press lines, so it's really a type of corruption where money that should be spent on actual consular support is simply spent on producing press releases for the Foreign Minister to make it look like he gives a damn about Australians. As we know, he doesn't give a damn about Australians at all. Since the 1970s he's been in bed with the US. Even as a union leader he was having multiple meetings with the US embassy. EMMA ALBERICI: I know you say that the last real contact you had was 2010. What advice have they given you about your predicament? JULIAN ASSANGE: They have given no advice, nothing at all. No advice, no information, nothing whatsoever. Not me, not to my lawyers, nothing. You see these absurd claims by Bob Carr saying that there's been, I don't know, 87 consular contacts. They include just calling, just this tick-a-box call procedure. No information whatsoever. We asked, "Can the Australian consul give me a passport?," for example. "No." The absurd response is, "Well just come down to the Australian consulate." It's a joke. I mean, they insult the Ecuadorians with this sort of behaviour. They insult me. They insult all of Australia with this sort of behaviour. EMMA ALBERICI: And is that the basis for your pitch for election to the Australian Senate? JULIAN ASSANGE: [...] You know, we went toe-to-toe with the Pentagon, we've gone toe-to-toe with many other corrupt states. Canberra is a corrupt little mini-state. We all know that. There's a corruption of purpose. We elect people, we send them to Canberra to represent Australians, to represent Australians to the bureaucracy, to hold the bureaucracy to account, to represent Australian interests overseas. And yet we have people like Bob Carr and Julia Gillard representing mining industries, representing Macquarie Bank, representing their long-lost American pals. That is not acceptable. EMMA ALBERICI: Well how do you expect to represent the people of Victoria when you're locked up in the Ecuadorian embassy in London and you're wanted in Sweden on sexual assault allegations? JULIAN ASSANGE: Well, you mention these in an inflammatory way. People should go to Justice4Assange.com and they can read all about your so-called allegations where even the women concerned say they had absolutely no intention to file any such formal allegations. This is a matter that has been taken by the Swedish state. That is admitted in the Supreme Court here on paper, it's admitted in the High Court here. This is matter taken by the Swedish state. So people should have a look at Justice4Assange.com. They can also look at the excellent Four Corners investigation into that entire episode.  EXTRACTS ONLY SOURCE http://www.abc.net.au/lateline/content/2013/s3778712.htm Julian Assange Australian Journalist FAQ & Support https://justice4assange.com/ COMMENT The above is only extracts that I find interesting.  The entire transcript is available at the link provided. It's hard to say who's more despicable of the Australian political parties. Going by the video on ASIO, CIA, MI6 and Nugan Hand Bank, quietly fraternising with the Americans is standard in Australian politics.  One imagines the practice also continues with Australian intelligence, who appear to be the unelected government of the country (judging by the 1970s unseating of the democratically elected Whitlam government).  Frankly, I wouldn't be surprised if Australia is still run by the CIA ... which would explain a lot when it comes to the zero assistance Assange has had.  Let's face it, it's not likely the CIA deposed of an Australian Prime Minister in the 1970s, and just quietly went home afterwards. So, what does that say about Australia's nationhood, freedom, and democracy?  For those that haven't seen the video | here or below: ASIO, CIA & MI6 de facto coup d'état Whitlam Government Australia Source:   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0kxVVWfRPiA   ꕤ

Suppressive Police State - USA

SOURCE http://www.austinchronicle.com/news/2015-09-04/apd-tracks-social-media/ APD Tracks Social Media Local social media monitoring software company met with shady digital spying group By John Anderson, Fri., Sept. 4, 2015 Snaptrends software can assign a geographical digital boundary which allows the user "to see conversation clusters and activity heat maps" within the defined area, according to Snap Trends' Matthew Hammer. As the world increasingly becomes glued to social media, it comes as little surprise that law enforcement would join in. But what some Facebook users or Twitter followers may not be aware of is how local law enforcement is using software to monitor their posts and tweets. Founded in 2012 as a private company and located just off Capital of Texas High­way, Snap Trends develops software that aggregates public information collected from social media. The company's website claims their software "builds a clear view of social conversations when and where they occur, the influencers driving them, and why." A Feb. 13 letter from Snap Trends Director of Sales Ken Ross to APD Sgt. Jeff Greenwalt, discovered in a Chron­icle open records request to APD and DPS, asserts that Snap Trends "developed its software intelligence system to serve public safety organization [sic] and national intelligence agencies in the United States." Ross further explained the "system uses advance [sic] algorithms and processes to procure this high density social data footprint." Other documents reveal that both APD and DPS have current subscriptions to Snaptrends software, spending $6,370 and $24,200 respectively in the past year. APD Public Information Specialist Jenni­fer Herber informed the Chronicle that APD began using Snaptrends software on March 1, 2013. DPS began using it one month later, according to DPS Public Information Officer Tom Vinger. DPS currently has 13 employees licensed to use the software, while APD has 25 officers with access. Emails obtained from APD demonstrate the Snaptrends software "makes it easy to share profiles, groups and persons-of-interests" and "can even integrate custom Facebook accounts." But its main feature is using geolocation to narrow a search using a "Poly Tool" which, according to a Snap Trends email, allows law enforcement "to gather pertinent information from social media platforms over specific areas without drawing in irrelevant content from unwanted areas .... This allows you to monitor precise locations such as parade routes, major highways or areas where protests are occurring." When asked if APD purchased the software for such events, Herber explained: "Real­-time analysis of open sources such as social media has been used to predict crimes and to help law enforcement respond more quickly as needed including, for example, stopping active shooters, tracking gang activity, and anticipating public protests that could escalate into violence." Additionally, she said the mission of the Austin Regional Intelligence Center (ARIC), where the software is used, "is to maximize the region's ability to detect, prevent, apprehend, and respond to criminal/terrorist activity." Other documents show Snap Trends partnered with a private company called Esri, which develops mapping software called ArcGIS and has also been used by APD in the past. According to internal emails obtained via open records request, APD Senior Crime Analyst Tess Sherman used the Esri software to monitor Occupy Austin's first demonstration at City Hall in October 2011. Sherman pointed out the mapping function "would be neat-o to try. Although it may just end up as a bunch of dots downtown since a lot of it is real-time comments from the scene." Despite receiving tech support from the company, APD Police Planner Nora Evans replied to Sherman, "I don't know a lot about Twitter so maybe you can figure it out." But Snap Trends' emails indicate the company offered to provide tech support for its own software to at least 16 APD employees. What were the police looking for? In one email, Snap Trends Account Manager Mark Klasson sent APD a document titled "Keywords." Assist­ant City Attorney Cary Grace has asked the Texas Attorney General's office to exempt that document and others from public disclosure. As of press time, the AG's office has not made a decision regarding the exemption. Expanded surveillance remains a possibility, and a hack in July of the Italian surveillance software company Hacking Team gave hints of what could be on the horizon. The hack shed light on some of the darker sides of digital spying, including conversations between Hacking Team and Snap Trends that revolved around a potential partnership. Instead of monitoring public information, Hacking Team's Remote Control Sys­tem software infects remote computers and mobile phones, allowing control over them. Reporters Without Borders has called Hacking Team "digital mercenaries" and "corporate enemies of the Internet." According to the hacked emails, available on the Wikileaks website, in March, Snap Trends CEO Eric Klasson met in Dubai for the "first exploratory meeting" with members of Hacking Team. Emails show the Dubai meeting was also attended by Snap Trends' partner Chenega, which resells Snap Trends' software internationally. After the meeting, Hacking Team's Philippe Vinci summarized: "The combination of each parties [sic] capabilities, Massive Social Media monitoring and Tactical Targets' Device interception, could bring a lot of value to customers and prospective customers of each party." Replying to that email, Klasson wrote, "I agree that a joint effort to sort this is something the market will respond to favorably (and quickly)." The three companies kept up their contact through at least early June, including a meeting in Prague, but the emails lack specific details about the collaboration. Asked by the Chronicle to describe Snap Trends' relationship with Hacking Team, however, Snap­ Trends Marketing Director Matthew Ham­mer wrote via email that "Snap Trends knows of the Hacking Team, but has no relationship with them, and we don't plan on doing any business with them in the future." Open records requests did not yield documents indicating that APD or DPS have purchased Hacking Team's software; nor is there is any evidence that Snaptrends software currently operates as malware. A LexisNexis 2014 "Social Media Use in Law Enforcement" report (available on the Snap Trends' website) which surveyed "federal, state and local law enforcement professionals" found that 81% "actively use social media as a tool in investigations," and 78% of current users plan "to use it even more in the coming year." Snap Trends' Hammer claims "hundreds" of U.S. law enforcement departments or agencies have bought their software. But raising questions about the effectiveness and accountability of this type of monitoring, the LexisNexis study also concluded that "52% of agencies still don't have a formal process for using social media for investigations." SOURCE http://www.austinchronicle.com/news/2015-09-04/apd-tracks-social-media/ ---------------------- ꕤ ---------------------- COMMENT APD = Austin Police Dept DPS = Dept of Public Safety (I'm guessing) Check out the policing techniques at work in totalitarian, surveillance & militarised police-state, USA:  straight out of the Czarist-Russia style suppression tools manual -- with a modern, digital technology, mapping & harnessing social media data, twist. The power to grossly violate the civil liberties of ordinary Americans is at the disposal of Texas police (and has been exercised since 2013).  But it is not limited to Texas:  many other US law enforcement agencies have adopted these same practices.  It's primarily for maintenance of plutocratic power, although law enforcement representatives will, of course, argue otherwise ... while they make application, seeking to hide their violations of freedom and democracy. Note, particularly, the intention to keep this secret police monitoring from public knowledge. So much for what is supposed to be accountability and democratic government transparency -- which is intended to also extend to government agencies, such as the police.  Abuses of civil liberties such as this go a long way towards explaining why resistant activists, hacktivists, whistleblowers, and whistleblower journalists and publishers, such as WikiLeaks, are so vital. I Imagine that this information would be relevant to protesters, activists, unionists, political groups, students, and all and any other persons exercising rightful political freedoms, in what is supposed to be democratic society. PS In case you think this is limited to USA and doesn't apply to you, think again ... and maybe do some Freedom of Information applications.  lol ꕤ

VIDEO - The Who | Magic Bus

The Who | Magic Bus  Live at Leeds 1970 SOURCE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fay1uk7wpnQ&feature=youtu.be ꕤ

The Associated Press ('AP') Sues FBI | FBI Spoofing AP News Story & Hacking Targets

Reporters Committee, AP sue for records about FBI's impersonation of journalists Press Release | August 27, 2015 The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press and The Associated Press are asking the U.S. district court in Washington, D.C. to require the Justice Department and the FBI to comply with the Freedom of Information Act and release records regarding the FBI's practice of impersonating members of the news media. The lawsuit argues that AP and the Reporters Committee “are statutorily entitled to disclosure of these records, which they seek so that they may inform the public about the nature and extent of the FBI’s impersonation of journalists and news organizations. Defendants have improperly withheld the records requested by Plaintiffs in violation of the law and in opposition to the public’s strong interest in obtaining information regarding a law enforcement practice that undermines both the credibility and independence of the news media.” The lawsuit stems from an FBI operation in 2007, during which agents created and published a fake AP news story in order to trick a criminal suspect into downloading surveillance software onto his computer, software that enabled the Bureau to track the suspect's location. When the FBI’s impersonation of the AP came to light in October of 2014, the Reporters Committee and 25 news organizations immediately sent a letter to the attorney general and FBI director calling it "unacceptable." AP also wrote to the attorney general protesting the FBI’s use of a fabricated AP news story "in the strongest possible terms." Reporters from AP and attorneys from the Reporters Committee submitted detailed FOIA requests to the FBI seeking information about this and any other program in which agents posed as journalists or in which false news articles were used to deliver tracking or other surveillance software. None of the requested records have been released. "We cannot overstate how damaging it is for federal agents to pose as journalists," said Reporters Committee Litigation Director Katie Townsend. “This practice undermines the credibility of the independent news media, and should not be tolerated. Yet while the public clearly has a strong, compelling interest in knowing more about the FBI’s use of this tactic, the FBI seems determined to withhold that information. We have been left with no choice but to look to the court for relief." [...] SOURCE http://www.rcfp.org/reporters-committee-ap-sue-records-about-fbis-impersonation-journalists ---------------------- ꕤ ---------------------- COMMENT I don't know how much credibility what they call the 'independent' news media actually has, given its corporate ownership and establishment agenda bias, as well as its documented historical readiness to serve the government and corporate interests. However, that the FBI is misrepresenting itself as news organisations is nonetheless a problem. That information sought via FOI requests is being denied, indicates what a sham 'democracy' is in America, and demonstrates how totalitarian the American authorities really are - despite the propaganda about exporting democracy to 'save the world'. ꕤ

Europe Immigration - Censorship

"Horror Movie"   |   VIDEO CENSORED VIDEO Title: "African & Middle Eastern refugees are ripping Europe apart, is this the end of the EU" VIDEO Link: SOURCE  |  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wZLyc67biZw Video depicts impact of African & Middle Eastern immigration in Europe. Video showed a swarming tide of African, and possibly also Middle Eastern immigrants, making what appears illegal border crossings over enormous barriers, climbing over trucks, swarming streets, running amok, tents, fights, large numbers of aggressive, single African men. Video showed take upon take of destruction and extreme violence. Video showed Muslim anti UK police protests and other protests. Video showed a Jewish man (possibly an Israeli politician), seated in an office, stating that immigration in large numbers from various world countries would spell the end of Israel, as Jewish state.  Or, as I believe he put it in Hebrew, it would mean:  'shalom Yisrael.'   Video showed Barbara Lerner Spectre [1], of Sweden, discussing an end to Europe's monoculturalism: "I think there is a resurgence of anti-Semitism because at this point in time Europe has not yet learned how to be multicultural. And I think we are going to be part of the throes of that transformation, which must take place. Europe is not going to be the monolithic societies they once were in the last century. Jews are going to be at the centre of that. It’s a huge transformation for Europe to make. They are now going into a multicultural mode and Jews will be resented because of our leading role. But without that leading role and without that transformation, Europe will not survive." [quote source | here ] Narrator of video discussed the negative impact of sustained immigration in Britain. The narrator referred to demographics, and what one may refer to as 'white flight' from British towns. Initial blog post in relation to video | here UPDATE Also appearing in the censored video GREGOR GYSI Lawyer Member of Bundestag - The Left / Die Linke A portion of following footage was incorporated into the censored video the subject of this post.  Title: German politician Gregor Gysi calls native Germans "Nazis" and their extinction "fortunate" Source https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=riQh4Qpvxm4 OTHER GYSI & PALESTINE | ISRAEL Source https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQUpUGCfT3s Why I Was Censored from Talking About Israel In Germany Lefty Germans, blinded by collective guilt, have become intolerant and close minded. By Max Blumenthal / AlterNet December 1, 2014 http://www.alternet.org/world/why-i-was-censored-talking-about-israel-germany Why I confronted Gregor Gysi http://mondoweiss.net/2014/11/confronted-gregor-gysi Video: German politician hides in toilet from truth about Israel https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/ali-abunimah/video-german-politician-hides-toilet-truth-about-israel Other Paideia – The European Institute for Jewish Studies in Sweden Paideia was created in 2000 through grants from the Swedish government and the Marianne and Marcus Wallenberg Foundation as a non-denominational academic and applied institute ... educating for active minority citizenship. Paideia’s mission is to actively promote the renewal and flourishing of European Jewish cultural and intellectual life in the wake of the Holocaust and the trauma of communism, to support cultural diversity and to disseminate humanistic values. We do this by offering the most intensive educational program in Jewish studies available in Europe, and direct ourselves towards future leaders of Jewish life and intercultural work. Being a truly pan-European Institute, we have so far graduated fellows from 32 different European countries, and 40 countries in total. [...]  Our graduates work in a number of different areas all over Europe: academia, communities, interfaith, education, journalism, the arts and more. After ten years of activity, Paideia  ...  coordinates the One Sweden Network for an inclusive Swedish society, runs programs ... Source https://archive.is/6jDqa One Sweden   One Sweden wants to counteract polarization of society by strengthening trust between people in Sweden. We believe this is essential to prevent the anti-democratic and intolerant groups are strengthening their bases, regardless of where and among whom they arise. To focus on success, both economically and socially, we believe is an effective way to meet the challenges and the development of inhibitory phenomena as racism and extremism and to take advantage of Sweden's resources and allow all citizens to contribute to development.   We want to consolidate and create a network between forces that are already actively involved in the change process. One Sweden should be a catalyst for action. We will jointly and severally to work to reach the open, democratic and successful society we want to see, and inspire those who share One Sweden vision to start new projects and new initiatives into action. In this way we strengthen the overall impact of our interventions. Source https://archive.is/nGCBp ꕤ

Horror Movie - CENSORED

"African & Middle Eastern refugees are ripping Europe apart, is this the end of the EU" SOURCE  |  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wZLyc67biZw ---------------------- ꕤ ---------------------- Got onto YouTube to see if I could find current footage of the European migrant crisis drama. Came across this video.  Absolutely blood chilling to watch. I'm not kidding.  I find this frightening. Never mind the European Union, what of Europe itself? I'm pretty sure this isn't current footage. I recall seeing something about an Italian immigrant rampage a while back, and I think some of that footage is in this. I don't know why the Jewish people are in the video.  If they want a Jewish state, so be it.  If I were Jewish, I'd join them. Israel is beginning to seem like the only sane place on the planet. I gather from what's on the internet, that the woman interviewed -- Barbara Lerner Spectre -- is probably depicted in this video footage because of her stance on 'multiculturalism'. There's a lot of material on the internet that's hostile towards this one woman. People need to get a grip. It's ridiculous focusing on this woman's attitudes or beliefs. It's not as if this one woman's stance on anything is responsible for the disastrous policies of European politicians. In fact, Jewish people are said to be increasingly moving out of Europe due to anti-Semitism: Founder of French anti-Semitism watchdog to move to Israel http://www.timesofisrael.com/founder-of-french-anti-semitism-watchdog-to-move-to-israel/ EXTRACTS - various Sammy Ghozlan, founder of France’s National Bureau for Vigilance Against Anti-Semitism, announced he would immigrate to Israel, calling it “a message.” Ghozlan, a former police commissioner whose organization is one of France’s leading watchdog groups on anti-Semitism, announced his departure on Monday – shortly after the annual roundup of the Jewish Agency showed that 2014 was the first year ever that the biggest number of immigrants to Israel came from France. France’s growing anti-Semitism problem is believed to be driving the influx of over 7,000 newcomers to Israel from France last year, more than double the figure for 2013. Ghozlan has warned that while most of the hundreds of violent attacks recorded in 2014 were the work of Muslims, the French far-right also is adding to the problem with incitement and attempts to limit freedom of worship. http://www.timesofisrael.com/founder-of-french-anti-semitism-watchdog-to-move-to-israel/ Checking out a little more material on Barbara Spectre,  I found a reference to the below article. Asylum seekers sent to Sweden in previous weeks Published:     01.07.14, 13:33 The Interior Ministry reported Tuesday that dozens of Eritrean asylum seekers were flown to Sweden in the last few weeks. This is the first time the asylum seekers went to Sweden. Minister Gideon Sa'ar arranged the transfer with the Swedish government and the UN's refugee agency. Each asylum seeker received a $3,500 grant. (Omri Efraim) http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L- Well, it looks as if Israel's taking advantage of Sweden's open borders philosophy, in order to ensure that it is able to maintain a Jewish state.  Fair enough. An excellent arrangement, at a bargain basement price.  For Israel.  But what of Sweden?  Which isn't Israel's responsibility, by the way. It's not Israel's fault Sweden has an open borders policy. What am I missing here ... apart from a 'save the world', liberal leftie, Marxist revolutionary, hippie, or activist gene? I see disaster.  I am horrified.  I feel like I'm watching an apocalypse. I'm more afraid of what I've seen in this video, than I am of any imminent 'death cult' attack.   But nobody else is seeing what I'm seeing?  How can that be possible? ꕤ