Newswires: NATO Summits
Updated daily: Articles from external newswires filtered to include the keywords: NATO, Afghanistan...
Hooking Up The Big Brother Machine... And Fighting It
Here's a movie pitch: One lone telecommunications technician, going about his ordinary daily work in San Francisco, begins to realize things aren't quite what they seem. There's a "secret room" downstairs, and ordinary employees aren't allowed to enter it. Coworkers — almost casually! — remark that a government spy agency is involved, that similar facilities are being built across the country, that some of them are stamped with the government's ominous eye-and-pyramid "Total Information Awareness" logo. Soon, the plot thickens. Mundane technical procedures produce startling revelations. He stumbles on a document that suggests the room contains a supercomputer designed to data-mine phone calls and Internet traffic. And, indeed, he soon realizes that the room is sucking up copies of electronic communications from millions of random Americans. All this in the early 2000s, when "the political atmosphere in the country after 9/11 had a witchhunt feel to it, and even modest criticism of the administration was getting painted as disloyalty or worse." What happens to our hero when he finally decides to go public? Even though I'd heard Mark Klein's story before, I'd never considered just how frightening and surreal his experience must have been. His new memoir reads like something out of a kafka-esque sci-fi spy thriller — except that it all really happened right here in the USA, just a few years ago. For instance, when Klein shares his evidence with an eager reporter for the Los Angeles Times, at first he's told the story will be ground-breaking and "a big front-page spread." Yet, the story languishes for weeks. Klein writes: On Feb 11 (2006), I got a call from Joe Menn, the Los Angeles Times reporter, who told me that their "top guy" was going to have a meeting with the Director of National Intelligence John Negroponte himself about this story over the weekend. I nearly fell down in shock — they were actually negotiating with the government on whether to publish!... More importantly, this meant Negroponte knew about my documents — and me. Indeed, as ABC's Nightline revealed much later, both Negroponte and National Security Agency Director Michael Hayden pressured the LA Times to kill the story. And when Klein told his story to CBS's 60 Minutes, they too eventually killed the story without explanation. In the end, of course, Klein's evidence became the backbone of EFF's lawsuit against AT&T for their complicity in illegal government spying. Originally ignored by Senators and newspapers alike, his evidence was ultimately so damning that it could only be defeated by an unprecedented "telco immunity" law pushed by the Bush White House and passed by the US Congress amidst a massive public controversy. EFF then relied on Klein's evidence for a case against the government, which has been met with fierce resistance by the Obama Administration. Klein's journey, from quiet cubicle technician to personal enemy of the White House and Pentagon, is amazing, moving and eerie. His story, "Wiring Up The Big Brother Machine... And Fighting It," is on sale now. more >>
Book on Israel and apartheid will be launched in Dublin next week
Irish book launch of Ben White’s, Israeli Apartheid: A Beginner’s Guide (published by Pluto Press, London) A book titled Israeli Apartheid: A Beginner’s Guide, written by Ben White and published by Pluto Press will be launched in Trinity College, Dublin, on Thursday 25th March, at 6.45pm. The event, hosted by the Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign (IPSC), will take place in the Robert Emmet Theatre, Arts Block, in TCD. The author will speak on his book and all are welcome to attend. Israeli Apartheid: A Beginner's Guide distils the work of academics and experts into a highly readable text. This is a key book to read if you want to understand the roots of the conflict and how apartheid applies to the situation in Palestine. In an evening chaired by Senator David Norris, author Ben White will discuss his book, the mechanics of Israeli Apartheid and its impact on the daily lives of Palestinians. NOTE FOR JOURNALISTS: Journalists are especially welcome at this event and interviews with the author can be arranged in advance by contacting Dr Fintan Lane (IPSC Media Officer) at 087 1258325. more >>
UK new car sales and the recession
I just finished reading a book called Anatomy of the Bear where the point was made that rising new car sales are a leading indicator for the end of recession. No wonder then that many OECD governments introduced incentive schemes to boost new car sales following the dive off the cliff that accompanied the credit crunch (Figure 1). Cash for clunkers in the USA was called the Scrappage Scheme in the UK. No prizes for spotting when the credit crunch recession began in the UK. But what will happen now that the scheme is due to end shortly? read more more >>
NATO'S Fire Sale - One Dead Afghan Child, $2,000
On January 11, 2010, we sent out a media alert titled, ‘Were Afghan children executed by US-led forces? And why aren't the media interested?’ http://www.medialens.org/alerts/10/100111_were_afghan_children.php The alert concerned credible reports that American-led troops had dragged Afghan children from their beds and shot them during a night raid in Kunar province in eastern Afghanistan on December 27 last year. Ten people were killed, including eight schoolboys from one family. We noted that the alleged atrocity had been almost wholly ignored by the corporate media, including the BBC. more >>
Stop the Afghan war — protest Obama
Helen Patterson & Rupen Savoulian, Green Left Weekly 13 March 2010 -- An article posted at RAWA.org on March 10 by Marc W. Herold said that on February 27, the US/NATO forces occupying Afghanistan “killed three people, including two children, in Alasai district of Kapisa province”. “Mohammad Ashraf, a tribal elder of Kotki area of Alasai district, [said] French soldiers ... in an area far from Waldikhel village of Kotki area laid an ambush. read more more >>
Documentary: "Nahr al-Bared: Checkpoints and more"
Nahr al-Bared refugee camp has still not recovered from the devastating war in 2007 during which it was destroyed. The Lebanese army has been keeping a tight grip on the camp and the 20,000 displaced Palestinians who have returned so far. This 30-minute film documents various consequences of the siege on Nahr al-Bared. Merchants and artisans explain their specific problems and a UN agency for Palestine refugees (UNRWA) project manager, a project coordinator of the Palestinian-Arab Women League, the president of Nahr al-Bared's Merchants' Committee and a researcher provide their views and thoughts on the issue. more >>
European Union found guilty at first session of Russell Tribunal
Written by: Ewa Jasiewicz, a freelance journalist, union organizer and coordinator for the Free Gaza Movement. She was one of the witness for the Russell Tribunal on Palestine. Frank Barat is coordinator of the Russell Tribunal on Palestine. The first session of the Russell Tribunal on Palestine (RTP) was heard in Barcelona, Spain earlier this month. The RTP is a peoples' legal initiative designed to systematically try key actors responsible for the perpetuation of human rights violations in Palestine.In the frame this time was the European Union (EU). Two days and 21 expert witness testimonies later, the RTP found individual states and the EU as a whole guilty of persistent violations and misconduct with regards to international and internal EU law. http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article11135.shtml more >>
Who’s stealing Afghan cultural treasures?
RT.com: Afghanistan’s unique location has made it home to the world's most complex civilizations that left a rich cultural heritage. But the war-torn country has now fallen victim to looters, stealing the nation’s artifacts. Ever since Afghanistan was invaded by Alexander the Great, nearly 2,500 years ago, the country has seen one foreign army after another. In recent times – the British, the Soviets – and now the Americans ... more >>
Another U.S. Atrocity in Afghanistan
By DAVE LINDORFF - March 15, 2010 Another night-time raid on a housing compound in Afghanistan. Another bunch of innocent Afghans killed. Another round of lies by the US-led forces of the so-called International Security Assistance Force (ISAF). Only this time, among the dead are two pregnant mothers and a teenage girl. read more more >>
Freedom from our social prisons requires a Rights Revolution
The British people amy find the following submission sent to the UN Human Rights Committee which is presently reviewing New Zealand's Human Rights record. It shows what happens when States follow a discriminatory agenda condoned by the UN and the global elites. more >>
US-NATO "strategic concept": Global warfare
On March 12, North Atlantic Treaty Organization Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen arrived in Warsaw to participate in the NATO’s New Strategic Concept – Global, Transatlantic and Regional Challenges and Tasks Ahead conference. His address reiterated the now standard demand that NATO combine Article 5 so-called collective defense for its members – in Poland’s case that can only be a reference to Russia – with expeditionary deployments outside NATO’s self-defined area of responsibility as exemplified by recent wars and other armed missions in the Balkans, Afghanistan, the Gulf of Aden and the Horn of Africa, the Mediterranean Sea and the Darfur region of Sudan. more >>
Defense Department Official Established Network of Private Contractors in Afghanistan and Pakistan to Help Track and Kill Suspected Militants
Via: New York Times: Under the cover of a benign government information-gathering program, a Defense Department official set up a network of private contractors in Afghanistan and Pakistan to help track and kill suspected militants, according to military officials and businessmen in Afghanistan and the United States. The official, Michael D. Furlong, hired contractors from [...] more >>
Soldiers back from Afghanistan march in Newark
what should we do, support or protest? more >>
Joe Glenton Day of Action 27 March
"Stop the War has called a protest on Saturday 27 March at the prison where Lance Corporal Joe Glenton is being held after being court martialled and sentenced to nine months imprisonment for refusing to fight in Afghanistan." more >>
Afghanistan: NATO-Lüge aufgedeckt
GIs erschiessen fünf Menschen: Schwangere Frauen, Mütter und 2 Regierungsbeamte ... Blutiges Ende einer Feier in Afghanistan: Bewaffnete US-Amerikaner stürmten in dem Ort Khataba in der ostafghanischen Provinz Paktia ein Haus und erschossen fünf Menschen: Zwei schwangere Frauen, Mütter von zusammen 15 Kindern, eine Achtzehnjährige und zwei Regierungsbeamte, die sich unter den Gästen befanden. Das geschah am 12. Februar. Etwa 25 Menschen hatten sich an diesem Abend versammelt, um die Namensgebung eines neugeborenen Jungen zu feiern. Obwohl zahlreiche Überlebende die Vorgänge in allen Einzelheiten schilderten, verbreitete die NATO zunächst routinemäßig ein von Lügen strotzendes Kommunique. »Mehrere Aufständische verwickelten die gemeinsame – aus US-Amerikanern und Afghanen bestehende – Einsatzgruppe in ein Feuergefecht und wurden getötet«, hieß es damals in einer Presseerklärung der Besatzer. more >>
Survivors of family killed in Afghanistan raid threaten suicide attacks
The Times: A family whose members were killed in a botched night raid in eastern Afghanistan have rejected “blood money” from the Government and vowed to carry out suicide attacks unless the perpetrators are brought to justice. Two pregnant women, a teenage girl, a policeman and his brother were shot dead on February 12 by unidentified gunmen. Eight men were arrested in the raid on the village of Khataba in Paktia province. They have all been released. more >>
Nato ‘covered up’ botched night raid in Afghanistan that killed five
The Times: A night raid carried out by US and Afghan gunmen led to the deaths of two pregnant women, a teenage girl and two local officials in an atrocity which Nato then tried to cover up, survivors have told The Times. In a statement after the raid titled “Joint force operating in Gardez makes gruesome discovery”, Nato claimed that the force had found the women’s bodies “tied up, gagged and killed” in a room. more >>
Afghanistan’s Kandahar hit by suicide bombers, 30 dead
BBC News: At least 30 people have been killed and 46 wounded in four suicide bombings in the southern Afghan city of Kandahar, hospital officials say. The first blast happened at about 2000 (1530 GMT). Officials said the biggest attack was aimed at the city's main prison. The Taliban said they carried out the bombings as a "message" to Nato. more >>
WaPo: Unemployment rate for young veterans hits 21.1 percent
The unemployment rate last year for young veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars hit 21.1 percent, the Labor Department said Friday, reflecting a tough obstacle that combat veterans face as they make the transition home from war. more >>
Afghan police recruits abusing drugs, US report finds
BBC News: Drug abuse is rife in the Afghan police force with up to four out of 10 recruits testing positive for illegal drugs in some areas, a US report says. The report for the US Congress said the illegal drugs trade "undermines virtually every aspect" of efforts to secure Afghanistan. Afghanistan produces 90% of the world's opium and the drugs trade is a key source of funding for the insurgency. more >>
The Election - What's The Point?
Now that politics have focused down on the election, I find myself thoroughly demotivated. There is a substantial percentage of the population who wish to see a very early withdrawal from the occupation of Afghanistan, who want genuinely firm measures against the casino banking economy, who are very sceptical about the direction the European Union has gone, and who do not want to waste many scores of billions of dollars on a nuclear submarine system which can wipe out half the world's population instantaneously and the rest shortly thereafter. Yet the great "leader's debate" will be between three people who all follow the same pro-bank bailout, pro-Afghan war, pro-EU and pro-Trident consensus. The political differences between them are insignificant - they are engaged in a Mr Smarm contest. They are not even good at that - Brown is an aggressive churl, Cameron is comfortable only working alongside his team of fellow toffs, Nick Clegg seeks to avoid offending the establishment consensus at all costs. Only in Wales and Scotland do any significant number of people have a hope of electing anybody who stands outside the cosy Westmnister consensus on key issues. To work, democracy must present the electorate with real choices. Our democracy does not work. more >>
Luca Tornatore, Copenhagen Detainee, Petition Online
Luca Tornatore, Copenhagen Detainee, Petition Online Please sign the petition: http://www.petitiononline.com/freeall/petition.html Luca Tornatore isn’t only our friend. He is a scientific researcher at the Department of Physics at the University of Trieste. He is a scientist, one who combines passion and a desire to change the world to his scientific skills. These are the ingredients that pushed him to go to Copenhagen together with hundreds of Italian environmentalists. Luca is in Copenhagen to demand climatic justice, to participate in the Climate Forum and to network with others who believe that the environmental emergency must be faced beginning from a democratization of decision-making and not through delegating the question to those who started the problem in the first place or to those who are worsening it. read more more >>
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Reclaim the Future 5: A vast day/night party event in a liberated, occupied space in London, 5 September 2009
from email, updated 6 September 2009: "Reclaim the Future 5 is a vast all-day all-night information and party event in a liberated, self-managed occupied venue somewhere in London on Saturday 5 September 2009.
* At least two rooms of live bands 9pm-4am
* DJs 4am-7am
* Cabaret * Workshops and stalls all afternoon - info on the arms trade, the G20, prisoner & detainee support, squatting, samba, permaculture, climate change, bike repair, and more... more
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