Google Report Shows 'Disturbing Growth in Government Surveillance'
Google has released its newest semiannual Transparency Report on Wednesday, which shows a "steady increase in government requests" for user data and marks a "disturbing growth in government surveillance online."
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http://www.opednews.com/Quicklink/Google-Report-Shows-Distu-in-General_News-130126-536.html
Saturday, January 26, 2013
13-01-27 Aaron Swartz, Financial Fraud and the Justice Department
Media finally get close to calling the financial crisis what it is: The largest fraud in the histroy of mankind, patronized by the US DOJ. The People are extorted by the banks through the conduct of judges, the legal profession, and a host of local law enforcement agencies. With it, fundamental rights must be abused by the same agencies - to suppress dissent, or even the dissemination of knowledge. jz
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Aaron Swartz, Financial Fraud and the Justice Department
By Dean Baker (about the author) Permalink (OpEdNews Op Eds 1/25/2013 at 17:34:13
The Justice Department's determination to commit time and resources to prosecuting Swartz presents a striking contrast to its see-no-evil attitude when it comes to financial fraud by Wall Street banks. People should recognize this is not just a rhetorical point. The Justice Department opted to not pursue investigations that could have landed many high-level people at places like Goldman Sachs and Citigroup behind bars.
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13-01-26 Tahrir Square Live Video Stream
Watch live: Tahrir Square Live Video Stream:
Egypt Protest
http://www.ustream.tv/occupiedair
Video streaming by Ustream
13-01-26 Left? Right? I am getting confused...
This is from a "liberal" media outlet - jz
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We're Screwed
Thoughts Following the Inauguration of Septimius Severus
By Fred Reed
Thoughts Following the Inauguration of Septimius Severus
By Fred Reed
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The Constitution no longer being in effect, the gun-controllers may be able to outlaw guns, chiefly because the federal government also wants to do this, though for different reasons. The gun-controllers think that they are going to stop murder, whereas the feds just want a supine and helpless population. Should they succeed in banning firearms, the result will be a very large element of the population actually hating the rest, and hating the government.
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13-01-26 Three reasons why the charges against Bradley Manning should be dropped
THREE REASONS WHY THE CHARGES AGAINST BRADLEY MANNING SHOULD BE DROPPED
by Tim KellyJanuary 22, 2013
A military judge has rejected a request to dismiss all charges against U.S. soldier Bradley Manning, who stands accused of passing secret material to the whistle-blower website WikiLeaks.
Judge Denise Lind said there was no prosecutorial misconduct, ruling out the dropping of all 22 counts against Manning. The judge, however, did acknowledge Manning’s mistreatment at the hands of the U.S. military and granted him a mere 112 days credit off any eventual sentence.
“She confirmed that Bradley was mistreated, and vindicated the massive protest effect that was required to stop the Marines at Quantico from torturing Bradley,” Jeff Peterson of the Bradley Manning Support Network said. “Yet 112 days is not nearly enough to hold the military accountable for their actions.”
Notwithstanding Judge Lind’s rather obtuse ruling, a compelling case can still be made for the dismissal of all charges against Manning.
1. Mistreatment
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During his pretrial detention, Manning was subjected to measures that appear to be right out of the CIA’s “enhanced interrogation” manual. A formal UN investigation denounced the conditions in which Manning was being held as “cruel and inhuman.” And there has even been some protest from within the U.S. government. In March 2011, President Obama’s state department spokesman, retired air force colonel P.J. Crowley, resigned after publicly condemning Manning’s treatment. Crowley told an audience that Manning was being mistreated by the Defense Department; he denounced the treatment as “ridiculous and counterproductive and stupid.”
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When such abuses are exposed, the interests of justice dictate that the accused should be immediately released and the charges dropped.
2. Prejudicial influence
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If you’re in the military… And I have to abide by certain rules of classified information. If I were to release material I weren’t allowed to, I’d be breaking the law.We’re a nation of laws! We don’t individually make our own decisions about how the laws operate.… He broke the law.
The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Martin Dempsey, has echoed his commander in chief, saying in response to a question about Manning, “We’re a nation of laws. He did violate the law.”
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3. A whistle-blower, not a spy
While Manning may indeed be guilty of violating his confidentiality agreement with the U.S. government, his motives were that of a whistle-blower, not a spy or a traitor. Manning claimed to have dumped the documents onto WikiLeaks’ lap to expose “almost criminal political back dealings.” As Manning wrote in an online chat with the hacker who eventually exposed him,
If you had free reign over classified networks … and you saw incredible things, awful things … things that belonged in the public domain, and not on some server stored in a dark room in Washington DC … what would you do?God knows what happens now. Hopefully worldwide discussion, debates, and reforms … I want people to see the truth … because without information, you cannot make informed decisions as a public.
That’s a classic whistle-blower.
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That the U.S. government is apparently getting away with punishing Bradley Manning without due process — and ignoring his rights as a U.S. citizen — underscores the corruption and moral decay of America’s political and legal system.
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13-01-26 Hello world!
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