Ray McGovern and the Sam Adams party have presented the Sam Adams award to Edward Snowden. I am delighted. This from Ray’s account of the event:
In brief remarks from his visitors, Snowden was reassured — first and foremost — that he need no longer be worried that nothing significant would happen as a result of his decision to risk his future by revealing documentary proof that the U.S. government was playing fast and loose with the Constitutional rights of Americans.
Even amid the government shutdown, Establishment Washington and the normally docile “mainstream media” have not been able to deflect attention from the intrusive eavesdropping that makes a mockery of the Fourth Amendment. Even Congress is showing signs of awaking from its torpor.
In the somnolent Senate, a few hardy souls have gone so far as to express displeasure at having been lied to by Director of National Intelligence James Clapper and NSA Director Keith Alexander — Clapper having formally apologized for telling the Senate Intelligence Committee eavesdropping-related things that were, in his words, “clearly erroneous” and Alexander having told now-discredited whoppers about the effectiveness of NSA’s intrusive and unconstitutional methods in combating terrorism.
Coleen Rowley, the first winner of the Sam Adams Award (2002), cited some little-known history to remind Snowden that he is in good company as a whistleblower — and not only because of previous Sam Adams honorees. She noted that in 1773, Benjamin Franklin leaked confidential information by releasing letters written by then-Lt. Governor of Massachusetts Thomas Hutchinson to Thomas Whatley, an assistant to the British Prime Minister.
The letters suggested that it was impossible for the colonists to enjoy the same rights as subjects living in England and that “an abridgement of what are called English liberties” might be necessary. The content of the letters was so damaging to the British government that Benjamin Franklin was dismissed as colonial Postmaster General and had to endure an hour-long censure from British Solicitor General Alexander Wedderburn.
There has been a determined attempt by government to justify the need to intercept everybody’s communications, all the time. We have, yet again, had MI5 claim there are many thousand violent Islamic terrorists running around the UK, (yet somehow not managing to kill anybody). The cry of “paedophiles” is raised, as always. I can imagine them suggesting the entire population be shot dead, and justifying it as making sure they get the paedophiles. The tabloids would go with that.
There still had not been a single credible claim by the mainstream media that any named individual has died, despite that contingency being trotted out all the time as the reason Snowden and Manning should not have revealed state crimes and abuse of power. I am hopeful that, with the internet still largely free to the dissemination of information, out next massive whistleblower is only weeks away.
And see:
http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-10-10/u-dot-s-dot-shale-oil-boom-may-not-last-as-fracking-wells-lack-staying-power
If this were to happen in the UK I am absolutely certain that many here would label the UK Government as fascist, particularly given that Theresa May has already been labelled as a fascist for much less and those supporting the monarchy have been called fascisti. The nationalists riot – the State detains 1200 immigrants. Will those concerned now unequivocally apply the fascist/racist label to Putin and his regime?
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/10/14/us-russia-migrants-idUSBRE99D0A320131014
“Will those concerned now unequivocally apply the fascist/racist label to Putin and his regime?”
Nah, shouldn’t think so. No more than you’d apply the racist label to the Likud party. Anything else bothering you?
Thanks Komodo. I noticed that. Huff Post is OK. It’s readership is growing. When it becomes a threat its politics will suddenly change. Then you’ll know who’s money has got behind it. Can you believe The Sun started off as a ‘socialist’ broadsheet as I remember it when I was serving my apprenticeship?
“I also get tired of the anti-Semitic stuff too”
Do please point it out, as Jon the laid-back Mod sudenly becomes the over-paranoid zealous censor of anything that could be misconstrued as real racism towards Jews/Israelis, (not too hot on any other racism though).
Would you consider calling Israeli Government policy as “cruel and inhuman” anti-Semitic ?
http://rt.com/news/israel-unicef-treatment-children-199/
Then again UNICEF is part of that notoriously anti-Semitic organisation called the UN, just like every other organisation, body, country, person etc who ever criticizes Israel !
Of course not. But you refer directly to the Government. I feel that others aren’t quite so careful with their words. Not only that but it just grates after a while, especially when the comment has nothing to do with the article or any of the previous comments.
Interesting piece:
Pew Findings on Israel Show Criticism Has Entered Jewish Mainstream
Establishment Fades Because It Sticks to Knee-Jerk Support
“For many years now, the lament of the organized Jewish community has been that it is not retaining the younger generations. Yet Pew’s results seem to show that one reason big institutions are losing their grip is precisely because a small group of older privileged Jews are trying to dictate the range of beliefs acceptable in the Jewish community.
According to Pew, 48% of Jewish Americans don’t think Israel is making a sincere attempt to make peace. A quarter of all Jews ages 18-29 believe the U.S. is too supportive of Israel, while only 5% of those over 50 think the same.”
http://forward.com/articles/185578/pew-findings-on-israel-show-criticism-has-entered/?p=all#ixzz2hn6rtNOK
Perhaps this is on-topic enough for you James2468 or whoever you are? Maybe you don’t want to receive any script other than that handed down by the corporate media. Knowledge is power btw and what is the topic here after 350+ comments on many subjects.
Spying, surveillance, whistleblowers…..
Parliamentary vote on GCHQ activities demanded
Conservative peer Lord Blencathra demands vote on GCHQ activities.
Oct 15, 2013
Conservative peer Lord Blencathra says MPs should be given a vote on Britain’s eavesdropping agency Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) activities.
Blencathra said he is “deeply, deeply uneasy” about the spying programmes by intelligent agencies that allow examining global internet activities, including those of British citizens.
The former Conservative Home Office minister condemned the GCHQ’s recent activities, saying that monitoring internet traffics without the parliament consent is unacceptable.
He also noted that the public should be informed if their communications are “lifted” and shared with the US National Security Agency (NSA).
Blencathra’s comments come after another peer Lord MacDonald has criticized MI5 for resisting the calls for more transparency and scrutiny on the GCHQ’s surveillance capabilities.
MI5’s new chief Andrew Parker said earlier that exposing how the GCHQ intercept voice and internet communications is a “gift” to terrorists, which could cause “enormous damage” to Britain’s so-called war against terrorism.
Lord MacDonald, however, attacked Parker for using “foolish self-serving rhetoric” and demanded an urgent review of the laws governing the agencies including GCHQ, MI5 and MI6.
Earlier in June, classified documents leaked by US whistleblower Edward Snowden revealed the GCHQ was secretly accessing the network of cables, which carry the world’s phone calls and internet traffic and has been sharing the data with its American counterpart the NSA.
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2013/10/15/329500/tory-peer-demands-vote-on-gchq-activity/
The Perfect Epitaph for Establishment Journalism
‘If MI5 warns that this is not in the public interest who am I to disbelieve them?’, says the former editor of The Independent
by Glenn Greenwald
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2013/10/14-2October 15, 2013
John Goss
MSM comment – there is a lot more if you could bother to learn to sue a search engine after learning to use an atlas.
http://uk.reuters.com/article/2013/10/11/tesoro-spill-northdakota-idUKL1N0I11QO20131011
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2013/10/10/business/10reuters-tesoro-spill-northdakota.html?_r=0&adxnnl=1&ref=oilspills&adxnnlx=1381839036-DdG5LRqlu7VL2grgyiijqA
Komodo
More than happy to apply the racist and more specifically the Anti-arabist label to Likud.
‘Spying, surveillance, whistleblowers…..’
Are you surprised that the first two go on? Are you surprised that there are then whistleblowers?
I just feel that these discussions lack focus. They just waffle on about new world order type conspiracy stuff that is difficult to engage with…
Google is great for accumulating news stories. I kind of feel there are other places to aggregate information (eg, twitter)
It has all got a bit bitchy and self-interested. I used to enjoy reading opinions and debate rather than regurgitated stuff that people have found online elsewhere.
Death by Daily Mail sources….
And if you can remember your pin number, perhaps you could extend the courtesy of remembering my username. It’s only 4 digits….
The situation regarding nationality for the Israelis is actually quite funny. Do the Israelis realize they are a laughing stock? I once said that Israel was not a state as it has no boundaries and knows no law(s) but was derided here by the trolls.
‘‘I am Israeli’ 15 October 2013
15 October 2013
Israel will not recognize an Israeli nationality while it seeks to maintain Jewishness at all costs.
Israel is almost certainly the only country that deceives the global community every time one of its citizens crosses an international border. It does so because the passports it issues contain a fiction.
When a border official opens an Israeli passport for inspection, he or she sees the passport holder’s nationality stated as “Israeli.” And yet inside Israel, no state official, government agency or court recognizes the existence of an “Israeli” national. This month the highest court in the land, Israel’s Supreme Court, explicitly affirmed that it could not uphold an Israeli nationality.
Instead, the judges ruled, citizenship and nationality in Israel should be considered entirely separate categories, as they have been since Israel’s founding in 1948. All Israelis have Israeli citizenship, but none enjoys Israeli nationality.
/..
http://www.jonathan-cook.net/2013-10-15/i-am-israeli/
A link to Mary’s Greenwald article that works and probably contains a more balanced debate in the comments.
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/oct/14/independent-epitaph-establishment-journalism
The overall tone of that post Mary is anti-Semitic. Sweeping generalisations about how ‘Israelis’ might feel or see themselves. I think you need to be more precise with your language. If I replace the word ‘Israeli’ with ‘Jew’ in your posts that deal with the topic (which are disproportionately many) then your posts really do come off as anti-Semitic.
If you lived in Palestine, I might let it slide but I’m going to hazard a guess that you don’t…
And please don’t label people as ‘trolls’ on this site. If people are prepared to engage intellectually with you here then they are by default not a troll. They are people with opinions that differ from yours. Don’t forget that their life experiences might equal or (heaven forbid) exceed your own and their point of view is as valid as your (very obsessive) one…
Never been to North Dakota. It must have been the ‘sea of oil’ that threw me. But where is the BBC report? That’s what I pay a licence to see. Do you, I’m the lizard Habbakuk (is it now?) agree with fracking?
I’m sceptical on fracking – there is a future energy gap that will need to be closed by something – fossil fuels damage the environment and conservation/alternative sources may not be enough and then nuclear has its problems. I’m also not sure that shrinking the size of the world economy will be the answer either – given that my guess is that it would be the poor that would have to do the shrinking especially outside the western democracies. There is also the question as to what is politically achievable. No easy answers, quick fixes or slogans to show the way forward I’m afraid – so I would be very cautious about ever saying no to one particular energy source.
The overall tone of that post Mary is anti-Semitic. Sweeping generalisations about how ‘Israelis’ might feel or see themselves. I think you need to be more precise with your language. If I replace the word ‘Israeli’ with ‘Jew’ in your posts that deal with the topic (which are disproportionately many) then your posts really do come off as anti-Semitic.
LOL. And if I replace the word “James8379” with “hasbara troll”, your posts really do come off as authentic. When Mary or anyone else writes “Israeli” they mean Israeli. I guess the solution to the admitted problem – that Israel sucks – is for it to stop being an apartheid state and stealing land. Hasn’t been tried before. Might work.
Kempe 15 Oct, 2013 – 9:17 am
Good point. Indeed I recall an instance when the Israeli media reported that a rocket had been fired from Gaza towards an Israeli town. However, in the face of many witness statements, the Israeli government later corrected this and apologised that actually the missile originated from a military base on the Israeli side of the border. No further explanation was offered.
I can’t find a link to this incident from 2/3 years ago … can anybody help?
Jon please note my new handle replacing I’m the Lizard…and before that Anon – the handle will remain once Habba is restored.
I’m sure it was meant as a diss but I’m not the other bloke, I’m me.
And I’m not a Jew, or a Muslim 🙂
Habbakuk at 2.00 pm. One of the most sensible answers I’ve heard from you, without a hint of irony or personal insult. Thank you. While I think everyone should be against fracking at least your scepticism is backed up by logic. There is a need for energy if we are all to stay warm and be able to use our computers. More investment in alternative technology is my answer. Nuclear power as Fukushima and Chernobyl, and all the near misses have shown is unsafe.
But I’m still looking for where the BBC reported the ‘sea of oil’ in North Dakota.
Komodo
More than happy to apply the racist and more specifically the Anti-arabist label to Likud.
What? A point of agreement? I’d better leave.
Still, Putin and his administration do not IMO qualify as racist or fascist. I tend not to use the latter term, incidentally – it’s a kind of catch-all for things the kneejerk Left don’t like, or in their terms, ‘hate’. They’re very slippery representatives of the upper criminal classes, and their policies are principally pragmatic and brutally expedient. Which doesn’t distinguish them much – again IMO – from our lot. And our lot are nearer.
Me too
“And please don’t label people as ‘trolls’ on this site. If people are prepared to engage intellectually with you here then they are by default not a troll. They are people with opinions that differ from yours.”
Seconded, and thirded. It is, and has been, embarrassing to read the shrieks of outrage every time someone says something which which a few people disagree. I might disagree with it myself, but why on earth anyone would resort to cries of ‘troll’ or ‘shill’ and feel that this has made their point and made it well baffles me.
For The Return Of Habba, thanks. No need to address that to me though – it’s the whole readership you need to convince of being puppet-free! All good with me though. I think I should make you a placard 🙂
John Goss
You cannot expect all of the MSM to report exactly the same things otherwise they would all be pretty much the same. The BBC probably felt that other matters in the US were of more interest to their readers at the present. I would be more concerned if when they look at fracking in any detail in the future they do mention what happened in ND when considering the evidence on the safety of fracking – that said I’m note sure that one fracking accident makes the case that fracking is more dangerous than other sources of energy.
Komodo
I too believe that the term fascist should be used with more care than it is done so here which is part of my point – that said I do believe that having seen it a first hand there is a deeply ingrained racism within many Russians and Putin is more than happy to appeal to it.