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XKeyscore: Instrument of Mass Surveillance
by Stephen Lendman
Evidence mounts. America crossed the line. It operates lawlessly. It reflects police state ruthlessness. Big Brother's real. It's not fiction. It watches everyone.
It's about control, espionage and intimidation. It targets fundamental freedoms. It has nothing to do with national security. America's only threats are ones it invents. It does so for political advantage.
On July 31, London's Guardian headlined "XKeyscore: NSA tool collects 'nearly everything a user does on the Internet.
It "gives 'widest reading' collection of online data. NSA analysts require no prior authorizations for searches." They sweep up "emails, social media and browsing history."
Russia Grants Snowden One-Year Asylum
by Stephen Lendman
On June 23, he arrived in Moscow. He applied for asylum. He's been stuck in Sheremetyevo Airport transit zone limbo.
Putin was clear and unequivocal. He won't extradite him. No treaty obligation exists. Official requests don't matter.
Snowden's initial ordeal ended. A greater one awaits. He's able to travel freely.
On August 1, Itar Tass headlined "Edward Snowden gets asylum and leaves Sheremetyevo transit zone," saying: He's "formerly in Russia's territory." "Earlier, a source close to the matter reported this information explaining that the customs officers received the required papers from Federal Migration Service giving Snowden the right to stay in Russia."
Hatred, Division, & Perpetual Wars: When Will We Ever Learn?
By Larry Pinkney
“…the two parties have combined against us to nullify our power by a ‘gentlemen’s agreement’ of non-recognition, no matter how we vote…May God write us down as asses if ever again we are found putting our trust in either the Republican or the Democratic parties.”
–W.E.B. Du Bois
“Perhaps people will stop repeating the human-made catastrophes of the past when we cease being ahistorical and truly learn from history’s lessons.”
–Larry Pinkney, The Boston Globe, April 27, 2006
The great potential of the indomitable human condition is its ability to grasp and learn from past mistakes and failures. Why then, do so many continue to repeat the catastrophes of the distant and not so distant past? Are we simply hapless idiots – or have we allowed ourselves to be the perpetual pawns of an invariable elite few amongst us – who distort and control the past and contemporary narrative of everyday ordinary people’s history to suit their own ends?
Obama's Grand Bargain 2.0
by Stephen Lendman
Obama's job creation plan targets social justice. It's old wine in new bottles. It prioritizes corporate tax cuts.
It scorns fairness. It ducks reality. It's same old, same old. It doesn't work. It never did. It's not designed to. It won't now.
Don't expect media scoundrels to explain. They're in lockstep with what helps business. They're comfortable with rich elites benefitting at the expense of most others. In collusion with Republicans, Obama proposed more trickle down. He claims what never worked before will this time.
U.S. Treasury backed Syrian Support Group Exposed
Michael Collins
In reviewing the highly unique path to U.S. Treasury Department approval obtained by Syrian Support Group, keep in mind that none of this could have happened with out approval from the very top of the Department of State and the White House.
How low will the Western powers stoop in the assault on the people and nation of Syria? You may be surprised. Here are three nightmares from the conflict. (Image: Neil Turner)
The United States, United Kingdom, France, Turkey, and the Gulf oligarchies sponsored a rebellion in Syria that chose cities as the primary battleground. Syrian rebels entered the cities, took over without invitation by the residents, and battled the police and other representatives of the Syrian government. Nobody expected the government to simply surrender the cities to the rebels. This often-overlooked fact explains the scale of death and destruction in Syria.
The above listed cast of characters supported or looked the other way as foreign fighters from Al Qaeda in Iraq took on a major combat role. The group, known as Al-Nusra, is credited as the best combat force fighting the Syrian government. The group slaughters civilians and captured soldiers. A favorite targets for violence and kidnapping are the minorities of Syrian Christians and Kurds.
The latest news of the effort to depose a government that never attacked the United States and posed no imminent threat has more to do with hypocrisy than death and destruction. Craven, rapacious greed flowers in the context of a full tilt violence.
U.S. sanctioned Syrian rebel fundraisers "obsessed" with oil over revolution
Questions Arise as to Coroner's Cover up in Sudden Death
by Janet Phelan
Six months after Charles Castle suddenly and inexplicably died, the San Bernardino County Coroner has still not come up with a stated cause of death. And according to a Deputy in that office, a critical report is “missing” from Charlie Castle's file.
I had spoken with Charlie Castle on the evening of January 15 at around 8 pm. He was frustrated with how long he had been deprived of his freedom and specifically dismayed at the fact that his long awaited trial on his mental health detention had been delayed just the week before.
“They can't hold you much longer,” I told him. “The accumulated evidence of fraud in your case is overwhelming, Charlie.” I then made a bold promise to him. “You will be free soon.”
Two hours later, Charlie Castle was pronounced dead.
Profile of a Rigged Peace Process
by Stephen Lendman
Count the ways. Tzipi Livni is Israel's chief negotiator. She's hardline. She supports occupation harshness. She deplores Palestinian sovereignty.
She's a wolf in sheep's clothing. She's an unindicted war criminal. She favors Pax Israeliana. She does so in the worst sense. She doesn't negotiate. She demands.
Isaac Molho's attending. He's Netanyahu's personal envoy. He represents his hardline views. They're one way. They spurn Palestinian rights.
Molho's a senior E.S. Shimron, I. Molho, Persky & Co. partner. He practices corporate law, company liquidations and rehabilitation, telecommunications, entertainment law, and intellectual property.
Bradley Manning: Victimized by Police State Injustice
by Stephen Lendman
Manning's conviction is chilling. It reflects police state viciousness. Imagine being criminalized for doing the right thing. Imagine being called a traitor for acting responsibly.
Manning's no spy. He's no criminal. He deserves praise, not prosecution. America honors its worst. It persecutes its best. It's unsafe to live in.
We're all vulnerable like Manning. Constitutional rights don't matter. They're quaint and out-of-date. America's a police state. Diktat power rules. Congress and federal courts are complicit. Media scoundrels march in lockstep. No one's safe anywhere. Manning was pronounced guilty by accusation. He never had a chance. He faces longterm hard time. He'll languish in America's gulag.
Egypt Under Empire, Part 3: From Nasser to Mubarak
By: Andrew Gavin Marshall
Egyptians Prepare In Tahrir Square For The First Anniverary Of The Revolution
Between 1952 and 2011, Egypt was ruled by three military dictators: Nasser, Sadat, and Mubarak. Nasser placated labour unrest and imposed many social programs that benefited the population. Sadat subsequently began to break down the ‘social contract’ with Egyptian society, and when Mubarak came to power in 1981, the following three decades witnessed the imposition of a neoliberal order, complete with crony-capitalists, corrupted bureaucracies and a repressive police force. Three decades of increased poverty, polarized wealth and power, and increased labour unrest all laid the groundwork for the 2011 popular uprising.
As Nasser came to power in Egypt in 1952, he successfully crushed labour militancy in the country, and even executed two labour leaders as a symbol of the new regime’s lack of tolerance for radical labour actions. Nasser engaged in a power struggle for a brief period, before assuming complete power in 1954, at which point independent political organizations were banned and he “ushered in a populist-corporatist pact between labour and the state,” in which “the state controls the bulk of the economic, political, and social domains, leaving little space for society to develop itself and for interest groups to surface, compete, and act autonomously.”[1]
Egyptian Revolution Derailed, Contained
By Nicola Nasser*
A fourth wave of the Egyptian revolution seems inevitable, until the revolution changes the regime or the regime emerges victorious, pending another revolution.
The January 25 revolution in Egypt, which removed the former president Hosni Mubarak from power in 2011 and, in its second wave, overwhelmed the first anniversary of his elected successor Mohammad Morsi on June 30, 2013 with millions over millions of anti - Muslim Brotherhood protesters until the military intervened to remove him in turn three days later, is now entering its third stage without yet being completed, fulfilled or finished.
In a statement issued on July 27, 2013, US Secretary of State John Kerry grasped the fact that the Egyptian revolution has not yet run its course; “Its final verdict is not yet decided,” he said, “but it will be forever impacted by what happens right now.” He described the situation prevailing “now” as a “pivotal moment for Egypt.”
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