tagged w/ corrupt government
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Good article re: Assange/Manning and the contrived reality surrounding both of them. Please follow the link. It is a quick read.Good article re: Assange/Manning and the contrived reality surrounding both of them.... more
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On the second anniversary of a terrible decision, every proposed solution has a downside.
The movement to overturn the Supreme Court’s controversial Citizens United ruling and confront the doctrine of “corporate personhood” stands at a perilous crossroads.
Across the country, two distinct strategies are converging on Congress. More than a million people have signed online petitions. State legislators, city and township governments, Democratic Party groups and unions have sponsored and passed measures in 23 states demanding that Congress pass a constitutional amendment to reassert and elevate the political speech of individual citizens and roll back the growing legal privileges of corporations.
The two approaches can be seen in the protest signs and sound bites proclaiming, “Money is Not Speech” and “Overturn Corporate Personhood.” But these slogans are not calling for the same remedy, especially when transformed into legal language in 10 proposals that have been introduced in the current Congress.
The first would address campaign finance setbacks in a 35-year line of Supreme Court rulings, including the Citizens United ruling in 2010, which deregulated campaign spending by corporations and unions. The second would go further and seek to revoke the status of corporations as persons under the Constitution, rolling back more than a century of Supreme Court rulings.
These two approaches expose an emerging split among progressives with deeper problems that go beyond the steep if not improbable political climb required to adopt any constitutional amendment: passage by two-thirds of Congress followed by ratification by three-quarters of state legislatures.
With a few exceptions, the growing movement to overturn Citizens United and revoke corporate personhood is not being taken seriously beyond America’s liberal communities. The guardians of American capitalism—the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and Republican National Committee—do not even feel a need to attack it, unlike recent barbs aimed at the National Popular Vote campaign to reform the Electoral College.
Corporate America’s assessment that this activity is not yet a serious threat to their power is also shared by another key sector of the progressive spectrum. Many of the country’s top liberal constitutional scholars have been silent, as this bandwagon has gathered momentum. They sympathize with its goals but think its champions are not only overpromising to grassroots supporters but have not thought out what they want Congress to do. Nor do they think the frontline voices have done a good job explaining what is at stake beyond hurling bumper sticker slogans. In other words, they reach the same conclusion as America’s corporate titans: this clamor is not yet poised to upend the law behind America’s political system.
“I am really excited about the fact that there is so much public interest in this stuff and on the right side—the visceral sense that the Supreme Court has got it wrong,” said Dan Tokaji, co-editor of Election Law Journal and an Ohio State University professor of law. “But at the same time I’m uncomfortable with the bumper sticker-like critiques. It’s not like there’s a magic bullet. Every solution has a downside. It’s a matter of weighing costs and benefits. And that is especially true in campaign finance reform.”
“I do think the body of law from Buckley through Citizens United to Bennett needs readjustment, and I helped Rep. Donna Edwards draft one potential constitutional amendment,” said Harvard Law School’s Laurence Tribe, one of the country’s leading constitutional scholars and a man liberals lobbied President Clinton to appoint to the Supreme Court. “But most of the constitutional amendments floating around seem to be seriously misguided; they would do both too much and too little.”
Such skepticism is not what amendment proponents, particularly those favoring the most sweeping ideas, believe or want to hear. They say there is a danger in doing too little; that a populist campaign is needed and working; and that an amendment reserving constitutional rights only for natural persons is on par with the post-Civil War amendments ending slavery and protecting former slaves as citizens.
“We are doing movement building in order to win a constitutional amendment within a decade,” said David Cobb, the 2004 Green Party presidential candidate and board member of the Move To Amend coalition, which has led much of grassroots organizing. “We have a meta-perspective about what is going on, but we also have a sense of movement history; in recognizing what it takes to actually get a lot of people in motion demanding systemic change. Our call is no more radical or will be no more difficult than the abolitionist movement, the women’s suffrage movement, trade union movement or the Civil Rights movement.”
But liberal skeptics also include groups that have been helping local governments adopt laws subordinating corporate rights to community and individual rights in a range of environmental fights. These ordinances are below-the-radar equivalents to the recent Montana Supreme Court decision that upheld its century-old ban on corporate electoral spending. They all make a “compelling” claim, the highest standard in constitutional law, to affirm democratic rights.
“They’re good people and their heart is in the right place, but they’re not being helpful—as a matter of fact, they are doing damage,” said Ben Price, project director of the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund (CELDF), which has helped 130 municipalities in a half-dozen east-central states–—including the city of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania–local anti-corporate ordinances in environmental fights. “They won’t bring the outcomes that are needed.”
“We don’t think that is the right strategic move at this time because it will be overturned,” Cobb said, when asked why his coalition’s members do not pursue CELDF-style changes in law, citing his own experience in Humboldt County, California, where a county ordinance was reversed in federal court. “And why will it be overturned; because corporations have constitutional rights, according to the federal district courts and U.S. Supreme Court. The ultimate win has to result in a constitutional amendment.”
This debate—to go narrow or to go big; to focus in Washington or in the states; or what is the relationship between divergent strategies—has not been heard on the airwaves as Americans see the big-spending excesses in the first 2012 presidential contests and as many liberal public interest groups focus on the anniversary of the Citizens United ruling. But it is a vast middle ground that is not esoteric or fruitless.
It is not difficult to understand the substance of the law or the choices before Congress. Do people want to see candidates like Newt Gingrich knocked from the lead in Iowa with millions of dollars in largely negative TV ads from super PACs, which Gingrich decried until a billionaire friend gave $5 million to a pro-Newt super PAC before the upcoming South Carolina primary? Do they want to see public financing as a way that non-wealthy candidates can run for federal office? Do they want to see corporations banned from spending money on ballot measures in states like California? Do they want to see limits imposed on all political donations and expenditures to prevent corruption? Do they want to see all money—above the smallest donations—flowing in and out of campaigns and electioneering reported in a timely way?
Continue reading @ Link..
BY STEVEN ROSENFELDOn the second anniversary of a terrible decision, every proposed solution has a... more
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Is anyone listening to this? How insane can this Congress get?
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"I was watching this tonight and found this video worth sharing!!! Seems, that now we know why they do Nothing for the people these days, and that means Both of the Corrupt Parties of our Fine United States!!!"
http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=7388130n&tag=contentBody;storyMediaBox
"I have no Clue why the video would not play so please check the link... " =)"I was watching this tonight and found this video worth sharing!!! Seems, that... more
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KB723
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added this
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3 months ago
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a magnet for fraud. Between 2005 and 2011, the US Department of Education opened 53 investigations into charter school fraud, resulting in 21 indictments and 17 convictions. Twenty-seven investigations are pending. Let’s just say the following schools didn’t make it into Waiting for “Superman”:a magnet for fraud. Between 2005 and 2011, the US Department of Education opened 53... more
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Troubling long-term trends have gotten even worse as schools, government, and families cut back and student loans skyrocket.
This week’s credit check: Average student debt can spiral up to $100,000 with interest and late payments. Room and board charges at colleges have doubled in actual dollars since 1982.Troubling long-term trends have gotten even worse as schools, government, and families... more
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http://www.39online.com/newsfix/kiah-newsfix-tips-in-tijuana,0,7281693.story
www.youtube.com/watch?v=IzAY1QVqzc4
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Video: Mexican cops suspended for forcing woman to strip
15 officers caught on video forcing young female detainee to strip for freedom
Associated Press
TIJUANA, Mexico — The Mexican border city of Tijuana is suspending 15 local police officers seen on a video forcing a young female detainee to perform a lap dance, purportedly in exchange for not arresting or charging her.
Mayor Carlos Bustamante says the officers are being suspended for immoral behavior and loss of confidence.
The officers had allegedly detained the woman and her boyfriend for drug possession.
They can be seen laughing, joking and touching the woman in a video apparently filmed at a police station and made public by the newspaper El Mexicano.
The officers seen on the tape are in uniform and include three women.
City officials said Tuesday they are still deciding whether to fire or charge them.http://www.39online.com/newsfix/kiah-newsfix-tips-in-tijuana,0,7281693.story... more
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This is secret War going on in the media. With CIA Trickery and Deception the main tools used to intentionally hide the truth. By armies of psy-ops teams skilled in the science of manipulating public opinion are targeting and attacking Anonymous, Wikileaks and Bradley Manning... This is an operation to twist public perception by use of sociological warfare techniques (psy-ops) with disseminating untruths and disinformation to manipulate the public.... All Standard procedures and Techniques that have been used by CIA psy-ops in "Operation Mockingbird" in the media for many years ~ All without the public even catching on...
Recently the foundations of that corruption and their ~ business as usual has been shaken to its core... Finally their Status quo of on going manipulation of public opinion and day to day operations came into question by Wikileaks exposing US Diplomatic Cables.
Currently...The government is in damage control... still watching and preparing for what could come next. Since then, they have observing two CIA allies ( & dictators); Tunisia and Egypt's both face overwhelming public mass outrage as both of the governments Failed. Now, this same Tsunami Wave that Wikileaks started has hit in the USA ... Starting in Madison Wisconsin...and already spreading across the nation.
Why so much attention? To stop any more unraveling of the exposure to the public of even more damaging corruption acts... They should be scared! They know what they are hiding... Because Wikileaks exposed the truth....By pulling back the Curtain on the systematic disinformation campaign waged against the American public. What we see today...Like..."The Great OZ" when he goes into damage control saying... "pay no attention to that man behind the curtain over there!!!" The only thing we haven't seen "yet" is... The Flying Monkeys! Their cover has been blown... The corruption and hypocrisy exposed and noted... with a caveat of.... more to come.
It is more than just having confidence in We Are Anonymous.... It is knowing the core of what tricks... are to come as they fight their long practiced psy-ops attacks to confuse the public and to discredit and hide the truth. IT IS A DIRTY GAME THEY PLAY!
If the public really knew the depth of what really is going on... things would be much different for everyone on the planet... The Truth is "TOP PRIORITY" in any democracy... Without the truth we have Fascism. In a democracy we can't have the Government using sociological warfare techniques against out public as they do today!
=== WARNING: (PSY-OPS) DISINFORMATION CAMPAIGN STARTS BELOW ===
BY OLD BRUTUS, ON MARCH 6TH, 2011
Washington, D.C.–Anonymous Internet users discovered Thursday that the United States Government plays a major role in the day-to-day operations of the most popular Internet news source used by internet activists, or “hacktivists.”
Anonnews.org claims to serve decentralized hacker group Anonymous as its central source of information, including targets and Anonymous press releases, which anyone can submit.
A number of Internet users frequenting both the chronicle.SU and anonnews.org websites discovered that the website selectively runs articles that only fall in line with the agenda of the U.S. Government, and brought this to the attention of chronicle.SU senior executives.
[Editor's note: Due to the close-hitting nature of this piece,
subjective articles such as "we," "us" and "I" will be foundin the following paragraphs.]
As perhaps only a handful of our readers know, anonnews.org, whose slogan is Everything Anonymous, actively deletes any and all content submissions originating from chronicle.SU. We have fought this for a long time, out of fairness to Anonymous and outside objectors, but we too have come to realize anonnews.org is either owned by, or in collusion with, various government agencies.
This clampdown on information is akin to what many of us learn in college courses, or from history itself, to expect from oppressive regimes, and compares in no small way to the aggressive reaction from the USG when news hit of daily-leaking diplomatic cables.
It is worth noting that anonnews.org no longer accepts press releases relating to Wikileaks.
Anonymous purports to expose and crush oppressive regimes, and even went on the record with Al Jazeera Saturday morning to take credit for the unprecedented attacks on websites owned by Mastercard, PayPal, Amazon, and outside governments. Anonymous’ spokesperson, which could literally be anyone in the world, compared their actions with those of protesters in the streets of Tunisia, Libya and Egypt.
VIEW THE FULL PSY-OPS DISINFORMATION ON THE LINK BELOW:
http://www.chronicle.su/news/anonnews-org-run-by-united-states-government/
~This is secret War going on in the media. With CIA Trickery and Deception the main... more
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Spy bloggers not ‘friending’ U.S. targets, Centcom says
By Jeff Stein
The U.S. Central Command says its new “Persona” social media "infiltration" software is designed to cozy up to extremist bloggers overseas, not law-abiding Americans chatting on Facebook or similar sites.
Earlier this month, the Web buzzed with a report that the software was designed to “manage ‘fake people’ on social media sites and create the illusion of consensus on controversial issues,” implying that the Defense Department was targeting critics of the war in Afghanistan and other conflicts.
Further compounding a sinister view of the software was the discovery of e-mails from the head of a company implicated in “dirty tricks” against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and a pro-labor organization, which discussed how such technology could be used.
"There are a variety of social media tricks we can use to add a level of realness to all fictitious personas...” wrote Aaron Barr, the chief executive officer of HBGary Federal, a Colorado Springs company whose hacked e-mails revealed plans to attack critics of Bank of America and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
Barr resigned Feb. 28 “to allow the company to move on after an embarrassing data breach,” according to the technology Web site ThreatPost.
Centom's June 22, 2010, contract, offered through the U.S. Air Force’s Air Mobility Command, specified that “Individual applications will enable an operator to exercise a number of different online persons from the same workstation and without fear of being discovered by sophisticated adversaries…while hiding the existence of the operation…and provid(ing) excellent cover and powerful deniability.”
“Individuals can perform static impersonations, which allow them to look like the same person over time,” the contract added. It “also allows organizations that frequent same site/service often to easily switch IP addresses to look like ordinary users as opposed to one organization.”
The fake Internet personas, the contract specified, “must be able to appear to originate in nearly any part of the world and can interact through conventional online services and social media platforms.”
Centcom spokesman Cmdr. Bill Speaks acknowledged in an interview last week that the Air Force had a contract for the Persona Management Software, but denied it would be deployed against domestic online protesters.
“The contract, and the Persona management technology itself, supports classified blogging activities on foreign-language Web sites to enable CENTCOM to counter violent extremist and enemy propaganda outside the U.S.,” Speaks told SpyTalk. “The contract would more accurately be described as supporting U.S. Central Command, rather than the Air Force -- the Wing here at MacDill provides contracting support for us -- efforts.”
Speaks said the software would "absolutely" not be used against law-abiding Americans.
Former CIA director and retired Air Force Gen. Michael V. Hayden called the technology cutting-edge but “developmental.”
“Operationally developmental, technologically developmental and legally developmental,” he told Washington Times reporter Shawn Waterman.
But in testimony last June, then-Centcom commander Gen. David Petraeus suggested the use of such technology was well underway.
“Operation Earnest Voice (OEV) is the critical program of record that resources our efforts to synchronize our Information Operations activities, to counter extremist ideology and propaganda, and to ensure that credible voices in the region are heard,” Petraeus told the Senate Armed Services Committee.
“OEV provides Centcom with direct communication capabilities to reach regional audiences through traditional media as well as via Web sites and regional public affairs blogging,” Petraeus said.
The FBI has also used fictitious identities for years to infiltrate jihadist Web sites.
Sometimes touted as "America’s first online operative in the War on Terror," the FBI's Shannen L. Rossmiller, a former Montana municipal judge, is said to have "created 30 fictitious male Islamist undercover identities...for purposes of communicating and tracking the enemy [in] Arabic language Internet forums."
"Since 9/11, Judge Rossmiller has delivered more than 200 cases of actionable intelligence and stings -- including two of the largest convictions in the War on Terror," her Web site claims.
GO TO STORY:
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/spy-talk/2011/03/spy_bloggers_not_friending_us.htmlSpy bloggers not ‘friending’ U.S. targets, Centcom says
By Jeff Stein... more
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BRAVO! BRAVO! ~ The Public Could Really Use A Super Hero Right About Now!
Gerard Ange'// 02-27-2011
The online activist group "Anonymous," which in the past has used coordinated denial of service attacks ~ to temporary disable websites belonging to foes ranging from The Church of Scientology to late last year; MasterCard, Visa and Paypal after their attacks on WikiLeaks. More Recently, (in the last two months) Anonymous has set their sties higher, and had a very active rolls in Targeting three Fascist Regimes and assisting the citizens of Tunisia and Egypt in ousting their Brutal Dictators.
And even more recently (within the last few weeks) averting bold attacks by a military DOD defense contractor "HBGary Federal" exposing multiple plots by Bank of America and plots by "THe US Chamber of Commerce" to Finance HBGary to target and attack activists who support Labor Unions and "The US Labor Movement" thus exposing a plan in progress to conduct Cyber Warfare against US Citizens by HBGary Federal.
Anonymous has yet again.... taken on a persona of a "Public Super Hero" Defending the public interest like "Batman" or, Superman! Anonymous in a Bold move to "Support the Labor Movement and all Middle Class Americans " has turned their skills and talents against the billionaires who funded Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker;...none other than... David and Charles Koch. In the last few hours targeted their conservative group "Americans for Prosperity", making the group's website intermittently unavailable tonight.
The Attack followed the typically press release, that states:
"Dear Citizens of the United States of America,
It has come to our attention that the brothers, David and Charles Koch--the billionaire owners of Koch Industries--have long attempted to usurp American Democracy. Their actions to undermine the legitimate political process in Wisconsin are the final straw. Starting today we fight back.
...Anonymous cannot ignore the plight of the citizen-workers of Wisconsin, or the opportunity to fight for the people in America's broken political system. For these reasons, we feel that the Koch brothers threaten the United States democratic system and, by extension, all freedom-loving individuals everywhere. As such, we have no choice but to spread the word of the Koch brothers' political manipulation, their single-minded intent and the insidious truth of their actions in Wisconsin, for all to witness.
...Anonymous hears the voice of the downtrodden American people, whose rights and liberties are being systematically removed one by one, even when their own government refuses to listen or worse - is complicit in these attacks. We are actively seeking vulnerabilities, but in the mean time we are calling for all supporters of true Democracy, and Freedom of The People, to boycott all Koch Industries' paper products. We welcome unions across the globe to join us in this boycott to show that you will not allow big business to dictate your freedom."
The DDOS attack appears to have made Americans for Prosperity's website intermittently unavailable, but it will likely serve as a shot across the bow among conservatives groups that have funded Governor Scott Walker's and the on going Attacks on Labor across this country.
Go to Another Recent Story:
http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0211/Anonymous_takes_down_Americans_for_Prosperity_website.html?showallBRAVO! BRAVO! ~ The Public Could Really Use A Super Hero Right About Now!... more
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Last time we checked in with PayPal, it, along with MasterCard, Visa and others had blocked its services with regards to donations to WikiLeaks foundation.
Today it is being reported that PayPal has taken further action against another WikiLeaks-related fund, in freezing the account of the Courage To Resist foundation which, in conjunction with the Bradley Manning Support Network, gives donations to the Bradley Manning legal defense fund. The imprisoned Manning is allegedly the source of the US Embassy cables leaked by WikiLeaks.
In a phone call earlier today, PayPal representative Anuj Nayar told me that this action is not WikiLeaks related and that PayPal has only temporarily restricted the fund, “This has nothing to do with WikiLeaks.”
Courage To Resist and PayPal are still in talks, and according to Nayar the former is infringing against PayPal’s policy on 501 3c non-profits, which hold that a non-profit needs to have a bank account associated with their PayPal account. “For the vast majority of none profits this is not an issue,” says Najar.
Nayar also takes up CTR’s claim that PayPal would not un-restrict the account unless CTR authorized PayPal to withdraw funds from the checking account by default, “We can’t do that without the authorization of an account holder, so a) We can’t do it b) We don’t do it c) Even if we did the bank would resist the charge.”
So why make this a WikiLeaks issue? “That’s a question for them,” he says.
The company’s official statement, below:
“Today’s temporary limitation of the Courage to Resist organization’s PayPal account is due to PayPal regulations requiring non profits to associate a bank account to their PayPal account. It is nothing to do with Wikileaks. Back in December 2010, we permanently restricted the account used by WikiLeaks due to a violation of the PayPal Acceptable Use Policy, which states that our payment service cannot be used for any activities that encourage, promote, facilitate or instruct others to engage in illegal activity. We’ve notified the account holder of this action. This is not the case with Courage to Resist”
GO TO STORY:
http://techcrunch.com/2011/02/24/paypal-on-cutting-off-courage-to-resist-this-has-nothing-to-do-with-wikileaks/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Techcrunch+%28TechCrunch%29Last time we checked in with PayPal, it, along with MasterCard, Visa and others had... more
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By Gerard Ange'
THE SCAM OF AUSTERITY:
As we look around us today... we see a war zone. A war against the Middle Class ! A covert war that has been going on for years! A war with a battle plan. A plan to finance politicians like (Governor Scott Walker of Wisconsin ) to take over our Government and with an agenda to give the final death blow against Labor and the Middle Class.
WHAT WE SEE IS... A war to steal the money out of the hands and pockets of hard working families'. A war that takes food from children's mouths. A war that sucks the heat from our furnaces on the coldest winter's days.
THIS IS OUR REALITY.... THIS IS WHAT IS GOING... HERE & NOW!
I ASK THEN... Where is all that money going? Money doesn't disappear nor does it dematerialize. it had to go somewhere.
It went into the huge bank vaults of the bankers and, The 2% of the population who intentionally sucked all the money from our country and created all the job loss and the home foreclosures in the first place.
The same bankers and, the 2% of the population who were bailed-out by the US Tax Payers with over $700 Billion dollars.., from hard working people.
These same 2% and same Wall Street Bankers who took our Bail-Out money and didn't re-invest it in the people to create jobs as they had promised. But, they kept the money and continued to foreclose against families and then rewarded themselves with lavish million dollar bonuses as "job well done".
~ Proving again that: "TRICKLE DOWN ECONOMICS" was a Scam.!
These Bankers and, the 2% who now sit comfortably on piles money, now have all the time in the world to wait... Wait and watch as the citizens, families and workers squirm in pain and misery fighting poverty just for the basics in life... as they continue to lose their homes and jobs.
> IT IS TIME WE ALL ~ FOLLOW THE MONEY!
What we are seeing is a process leading this country down the same economic path as Turkey, Mexico, Greece. "A country with NO middle class!" A country with only the VERY RICH and The VERY POOR. What we are witnessing is the Resurgence Economic Principals dating back to the "PRE-INDUSTRIAL ERA"!
~ HENERY FORD CREATED THE MIDDLE CLASS IN AMERICA ~
Henry Ford in 1914 Set an Example for all of us to follow. Breaking with the long on-going "Industrial Era" Mentality ... When He Broke the Greedy On-Going Practice of Rich Industrialists: of paying their workers (a pittance!) ~ as little as possible...
Henry Ford made a bold deliberate move to "think outside the box" ! To pay twice the going labor rate to his workers. With an Idea so that this workers could then afford to buy his automobiles... His workers bought automobiles and more... houses and refrigerators and life got better for everyone... It was then...The Middle Class was born.
**Henry Ford's one bold act changed the world forever... And today has proven one very important economic principal for all us to follow into the future.
BUT TODAY:
We see that there is a plan in the works to turn back the clock! To reverted back again to those old failed economic principals of the Industrial Age ~ Once again paying people as little as possible... (a pittance!) While "The New Industrialists" once again horde huge profits on the backs of poor exploited labor. These are greedy people, this slash and burn industrial age thinking is destructive to the global economy as it is to our families our neighbors and to the fabric of our society.
** The Future is before us: **
But before we can move forward... We must learn from the past.
We must act,,, to plant the seeds of the future and stimulate growth to grow a strong "global economy" an economy that gives "all workers" a fair "World Wage" And basic global worker's rights. Rights, that regulate and protect the global work force. We need to level the playing field world-wide for long-term global growth and stability. To put and end to the Greedy Destructive Short-Term Profits and Exploitation of Labor that is destroying the world around us.
THE LESSON LEARNED:
Henry Ford's proved by example that in order for a populous to contribute to the economy they must be paid a fair living wage. It is in everyones best interest! A fair " Wage" globally expands the market place for all goods stimulates all commerce allows all people to be better their lives and contribute to a healthy economy and future for all of us everywhere.
~In a Democracy it is important that we.. FLOAT ALL BOATS ~
More about Henry Ford & Trickle UP Economics
http://www.newamerica.net/node/8628By Gerard Ange'
THE SCAM OF AUSTERITY:
As we look around us today... we see a... more
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Wednesday, 16. February 2011
by Sibel Edmonds
To Those Who Second-Guess Our Police State Status: Shame on You!
I just received the following news and I am way too upset to write a coherent piece on this. Ray McGovern is a good friend of mine. We live less than 10 miles apart. Together we have participated in many events and protests. He is one of the most informed, articulate, gentle, peace-loving and peace-seeking human beings I’ve ever known…For me, this hits too close to home: My father was similarly brutalized by dictator regimes, and that was only the beginning, before it escalated to being tortured and having his toenails pulled out by the state police. Why? He was a doctor, a surgeon with an inquiring mind, and he spoke out whenever he could against dictatorships and for liberties. Participating in peaceful demonstrations, encouraging others to rise up for their rights, and reading authors such as Steinbeck (the American author black-listed there as ‘communist and anarchist’) landed him on the list of to-be-punished and pacified…
Right now, at this point, all I have to say to those who second-guess our nation’s police state status is this: “Shame on you!” As for my irate minority friends over here at Boiling Frogs, please help disseminate this news, because the scum bag media won’t;’ thank you.
At Clinton Speech: Veteran Bloodied, Bruised & Arrested for Standing Silently
As Secretary of State Hillary Clinton gave her speech at George Washington University yesterday, condemning governments that arrest protestors and do not allow free expression, 71-year-old Ray McGovern was grabbed from the audience in plain view of her by police and an unidentified official in plain clothes, brutalized and left bleeding in jail. She never paused speaking. When Secretary Clinton began her speech, Mr. McGovern remained standing silently in the audience and turned his back. Mr. McGovern, a veteran Army officer who also worked as a C.I.A. analyst for 27 years, was wearing a Veterans for Peace t-shirt.
Blind-sided by security officers who pounced upon him, Mr. McGovern remarked, as he was hauled out the door, “So this is America?” As you see, Mr. McGovern is covered with bruises, lacerations and contusions inflicted in the assault.
Mr. McGovern is being represented by the Partnership for Civil Justice Fund (PCJF). “It is the ultimate definition of lip service that Secretary of State Clinton would be trumpeting the U.S. government’s supposed concerns for free speech rights and this man would be simultaneously brutalized and arrested for engaging in a peaceful act of dissent at her speech,” stated attorney Mara Verheyden-Hilliard of the PCJF.
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GO TO STORY:
http://www.boilingfrogspost.com/2011/02/16/breaking-news-ray-mcgovern-brutalized-left-bleeding-by-hillary-clinton-police-“so-this-is-america”/Wednesday, 16. February 2011
by Sibel Edmonds
To Those Who Second-Guess Our Police... more
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"It is easer for a Camel to go through the eye of a needle, that it is for a Rich Man to enter the Kingdom of Heaven." Or, maybe you just need to buy a bigger needle?
It's official: as Egypt was burning, Mubarak was stealing the gold. When we reported, presumably jokingly, two weeks ago that the Egyptian Central Bank may have been plundered, it turns out we were pretty much accurate once again. For all those wondering why Mubarak was refusing to hand over power for the past two weeks as hundreds of people were dying, we now have the answer - it was all just to make sure he transferred his assets, especially gold, to safe regimes (in the process paying tens of millions in commissions to that most noble of jobs - the banker class). The Telegraph reports: "A US official told The Sunday Telegraph: "Hosni Mubarak used the 18 days it took for protesters to topple him to shift his vast wealth into untraceable accounts overseas, Western intelligence sources have said...There's no doubt that there will have been some frantic financial activity behind the scenes. They can lose the homes and some of the bank accounts, but they will have wanted to get the gold bars and other investments to safe quarters. The Mubaraks are understood to have wanted to shift assets to Gulf states where they have considerable investments already – and, crucially, friendly relations. The United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia have frequently been mentioned as likely final destinations for Mr Mubarak and possibly his family."As usual, we remind readers that according to the World Gold Council, Egypt had 75.6 tonnes of gold at the end of 2010. Should this number not be reduced following Mubarak's plundering, we will know just how pervasive Tungsten is in the world central banking cartel.
-------------------- //~// ----------------------
From Telegraph: ---
The former Egyptian president is accused of amassing a fortune of more than £3 billion - although some suggest it could be as much as £40 billion - during his 30 years in power. It is claimed his wealth was tied up in foreign banks, investments, bullion and properties in London, New York, Paris and Beverly Hills.
In the knowledge his downfall was imminent, Mr Mubarak is understood to have attempted to place his assets out of reach of potential investigators.
On Friday night Swiss authorities announced they were freezing any assets Mubarak and his family may hold in the country's banks while pressure was growing for the UK to do the same. Mr Mubarak has strong connections to London and it is thought many millions of pounds are stashed in the UK.
But a senior Western intelligence source claimed that Mubarak had begun moving his fortune in recent weeks.
"We're aware of some urgent conversations within the Mubarak family about how to save these assets," said the source, "And we think their financial advisers have moved some of the money around. If he had real money in Zurich, it may be gone by now."
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Perhaps Goldman Sachs can take a proactive PR step and disclose to the population that the flow trade-frontrunning hedge fund had nothing to do with facilitating the transfer of Mubarak's billions in stolen wealth from point A to point B. And perhaps all other banks can follow suit. Either that, or we can all just wait for Mubarak's sworn deposition when he is put on trial for crimes against the Egyptian people some time in 1-2 months. Doing text searches for "Goldman" in those thousand page PDFs will be breeze...
GO TO STORY:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/egypt/8320912/Egypt-Hosni-Mubarak-used-last-18-days-in-power-to-secure-his-fortune.html
Story By: Philip Sherwell, in New York, Robert Mendick, and Nick Meo in Cairo
Shadowy Cabal: Tyler Durden
Illustration & Art Work: Gérard Angé"It is easer for a Camel to go through the eye of a needle, that it is for a... more
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By: Gérard Angé / February 6, 2011
On February 5th 2011, eight thousand people in a show of solidarity, set a time and a date to meet in San Francisco California. To form a common bond of support for the valiant citizens fighting for human rights in Egypt. The Crossing of an historic and epic threshold in human history where technology and human spirit were joined together forming a bond to create a new future...
A Future based on equality and human rights... Replacing the Corrupt Fascist Oppressive Government and secret police that had terrorized their citizens for over thirty years.
In resent months break-through technologies were developed that created new applications that have forever changed the playing field of what Corrupt Business and Government had perceived for many years as just... business as usual.
One key component in this puzzle was "Wikileaks". Wikileaks started by playing a key role in exposing cracks in the walls of secrecy. Exposing the truths and lies that were hidden from public site. Wikileaks today, continues that business model into the future exposing even more lies and more corruption to the public.
A Tsunami of truth is sweeping around the globe.... Starting in Tunisia and sweeping across into Egypt revealing a pattern of systemic corruption that firmly inter-connects with many governments... But, after the last few weeks the world will never be the same. As, the true strength people of Tunisia and, now the people of Egypt all standing Firm against a Corrupt and Oppressive Governments and, for human rights.
As the world continues to watch.... the old ways of the past are ... falling victim to the technology of the future.
Our Main Stream Broadcast & Print Media Today.... continues to try to divide all of us, and to manipulate our view-points and attitudes with Spin... All designed in hiding the real facts with the established and accepted status quo.
But, as we can see.... that plan failed to continue to work in Egypt and, Tunisia.... As peoples sources of information expanded with access to the internet ~ Information became harder to control.
"Wikileaks Cables" awoke a sleeping giant... exposing names dates places & "Hard solid facts".
Facts of open corruption linked directly to their government and leaders.... What happened next Is nothing less than historic!... These citizens used the magic of "Social Media" quickly sharing that information~ and spreading it like a Wild-Fire... within seconds connected hundreds of people... to thousands... and then to tens of Thousands.... and then to Millions... This ability to connect everyone together changed history. NOW.....we can look at this "historic movement".... that changed everything!
The Old Embedded Corrupt Government Regimes of the past... are now lay fully exposed. And, corruption was everywhere. We can clearly see today the Fascist Egyptian Regime inter-connected with the CIA, the US government and the Zionists Government in Israel . Showing clearly that the Secret Police thugs are being funded by every US tax payer... And now, because of this exposure, "The USA, Israel as well as the Fascist Mubarak Regime in EGYPT" are all in major damage control. More worried about the state of their damaged infrastructure and exposed operations... Than about their own citizens well being. As the current deaths of civilians rise to over 300 deaths recorded by the hands of the "Mubarak's Secret Police Thugs" ~ in the last few weeks alone.
What is happening in Egypt today.... Is much larger than just... Egypt Alone...
The people of Egypt who are right now in the trenches fighting and dyeing for freedom and Democracy in Egypt... Are in fact, Standing out there for ~ EVERY ONE OF US... Who also believe in Freedom & Democracy and Human Rights....
We are all connected.....
Because..... EGYPT's Corruption... is also Our Own Corruption....
Their voice is a voice for "Human Rights" and their Voice "Against Corruption". IS ALSO... Our Voice... As we stand side by side in Solidarity with our Brothers and Sisters in their fight for freedom.
Martin Luther King said: "
The hottest place in hell is reserved for those who remain neutral in times of great moral conflict.
Go To Story:
http://current.com/news/92959412_mubarak-thugs-force-anderson-cooper-into-hiding.htm#92961647By: Gérard Angé / February 6, 2011
On February 5th 2011, eight... more
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I tricked my employer so I could attend the protests in Egypt. I am not a traitor. I don't need anything from anyone.
I am not a hero. I was only used the keyboard, the real heroes are the ones on the ground. Those I can't name. This is the season where people use the word traitor against each other. I wasn't abused, I was jailed, kidnapped. I met some really intellectual people in jail, they actually thought that we were traitors, working for others. If I was a traitor I would have stayed by the swimming pool in my house in the UAE. What are called the "facebook youth" went out in their tens of thousands on January 25th, talk to them. This is the era where people who have good intentions are considered traitors.
My wife was going to divorce me because I didn't spend time with her, and now they call me a traitor. I spent all my time on the computer working for my country. I wasn't optimistic on the 25th but now I can't believe it. Thanks to everyone who tried to get me out of jail. It's Haram (sinful, not right) for my father to lose his sight in one eye and now is at risk of losing it in the other. I kept thinking "are people thinking of me?" I was wondering if my family knew where I was, my wife, dad, mother.
I am proud of what I did. This is not the time to settle scores. Although I have people I want to settle scores with myself. This is not the time to split the pie & enforce ideologies. The secret to the success of the facebook page was use of surveys.
I met with the Minister of Interior today. He was sat like any other citizen. He spoke to me like an equal. I respected that. The youth on the streets made Dr Hossam Badrawi (General Secretary of NDP) drive me to my house today. They transfered me to state security, it's a kidnapping. On Thursday night, at 1am I was with a friend, a colleague from work. I was taking a taxi, suddenly four people surrounded the car, I yelled "Help me, Help me" I was blindfolded then taken away. I will say this as it is: nothing justifies kidnapping, you can arrest me by the law, I am not a drug dealer or terrorist.
Inside I met people who loved Egypt (State Security people) but their methods & mine are not the same. I pay these guys salaries from my taxes, I have the right to ask the ministers where my money is going, this is our country. I believe that if things get better those (good state security people he met) will serve Egypt well. Don't stand in our way, we are going to serve Egypt. I saw a film director get slapped, they told him "You will die here" Why?
Now they want to have an agreement with me when they are in a position of weakness. I am not a hero, I am a normal person. What happened to me was a crime but I still thank those who tried to got me out, I am an educated person, I have a family. Badrawi told me we took all the bad people out from the NDP. I told him I don't want to see the logo of the NDP ever again. The NDP is got this country to where it is. You can create a new party. It looks like I might be kidnapped again after this.
There were 300 fake registrations on my facebook page, all negative comments, about how we were allegedly being paid. I was the admin of the page but others paid for it. We are dreamers (says it in English). There was no Muslim Brotherhood presence in organising these protests, it was all spontaneous, voluntary. Even when the Muslim Brotherhood decided to take part it was their choice to do so. This belongs to Egyptian youth.
Please everyone, enough rumours. Enough.
I told the Interior Minister - I was upset - I told him I will go in the car with Hossam Badrawi but without an NDP logo. I told them we don't want any NDP logo on the streets. I cried when I heard that there are people who died, officers and protesters, this is my country.
I was chatting with Ahmad Maher of 6th of April Youth Movement about the Jan 25 protests but he didn't know who I was. My wife is an American, I can apply for US citizenship but I didn't, not even the lottery. Many people want to leave though. We have to restore dignity to all Egyptians. We have to end corruption. No more theft. Egyptians are good people. We are a beautiful people. Please everybody, this is not a time to settle scores, this is a time to build our country.
I can't claim I know what happened when I was inside. I didn't know anything until one day before I left. The interrogators wanted to know if outsiders were involved. I convinced them this was a purely Egyptian movement. The treatment was very good, they knew I was a good Egyptian. I was blindfolded for 12 days, I didn't see their faces. They wanted details, information. "Are the people who planned this outsiders?" We didn't do anything wrong, this was an appeal.
I wrote an appeal to the president Egypt on Jan 25. I told the Minister of Interior we have two problems 1- We don't talk to each other, this must be solved, 2- There is no trust. I told the Interior Minister if I stripped naked & told people that I was beaten even without marks they would believe me. The Egyptian State TV channels didn't portray the truth, that is why people watch the private channels now.
There were several men in the room with me & the Minister of Interior. I asked him if I can speak about this he said as u wish. Everyone asked me "How did you do this?" The Interior Minister told me he was only a minister for 8 days. I was told that people died, one day before I was released.
( They are showing pictures of young people who died during the protests. Wael breaks down crying. Screenshot:
Wael @Ghonim's last words: I want to tell families who lost their sons this is not our fault. This is the fault of those clinging to power.
Many thanks to @SultanAlQassemi, a columnist for The National, based in the UAE, and prolific reporter on the #jan25 movement in #egypt
GO TO STORY: http://www.tweetdeck.com/twitter/exiledsurfer/~Ab8xxI tricked my employer so I could attend the protests in Egypt. I am not a traitor. I... more
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This video is from Al Jazeera, broadcast Feb. 4, 2011
Tunisian members of an online group of hacktivists known as "Anonymous" received attention Friday when Al Jazeera English profiled their efforts to attack Egyptian government Web sites.
"Anonymous" first attacked Tunisian government websites after the country blocked access to secrets outlet WikiLeaks. The group had also targeted PayPal, MasterCard, Visa and other businesses that appeared to have an anti-WikiLeaks agenda.
"We did initially take an interest in Tunisia because of WikiLeaks," a member told Al Jazeera. "But as more Tunisians have joined they care more about the general internet censorship there, so that's what it has become."
At least eight Tunisian government Web sites were brought down as part of the attacks.
After the successful revolution in Tunisia, members of the organization turned their attentions to Egypt, which had restricted access to social media websites Twitter and Facebook. The "Anonymous" Facebook page "Operation Egypt" issued a dire warning to the Egyptian government.
"To the Egyptian Govt : Anonymous challenges all those who are involved in censorship," the group wrote. "Anonymous wants you to offer free access to uncensored media in your entire country. When you ignore this message, not only will we attack your govt websites, we will also make sure that the international media see the horrid reality you impose on your people!"
A graphic on the Facebook page gave instructions for participating in distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks.
One Tunisian member of "Anonymous," who called himself Anon.M, told Al Jazeera that he was tasked with breaking into Egyptian government Web sites.
"I take down security barriers of Web sites so that people can enter and occupy the site and post their message to the Egyptian government," he said. "So they know this Web site is ours now, and they can't block freedom of expression."
The New York Times reported Wednesday that about 500 members of the group worked together to successfully paralyze the Egyptian government's sites.
Last week, the FBI announced mass raids in connection with "Anonymous" activities. In a similar effort in Britain, arrests were made and equipment was seized.
"These arrests aren't going to have any effect," Gregg Housh, a member of the group, told the Times.
The official "Anonymous" communications Twitter account declared their next target to be Italy.
GO TO STORY:
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/02/tunisian-members-anonymous-target-egyptian-government/This video is from Al Jazeera, broadcast Feb. 4, 2011
Tunisian members of an online... more
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Anonymous Swarms on Security Firm That Poked the Hive
By Richard Adhikari
TechNewsWorld
02/07/11 2:52 PM PT
A security company has felt the wrath of Anonymous after its CEO told a newspaper he had discovered personal information about individuals he believes are high-ranking members of the hacktivist group. In retaliation, the group disabled the company's website, published thousands of its internal emails and posted an online rebuke to the executive's claims.
So, what Is HBGary Federal?
HBGary Federal was the U.S. government cybersecurity services arm of HBGary. It was spun off in December of 2009.
HBGary CEO and Founder Greg Hoglund hired cybersecurity experts Aaron Barr and Ted Vera as the spin-off's CEO and COO, respectively. Both are former employees of Northrop Grumman (NYSE: NOC).
Barr, whose interview triggered the retaliation from Anonymous, reportedly served as the director of technology for the cybersecurity and signal intelligence business unit in Northrop Grumman's Intelligence Systems Division.
HBGary Federal's targeted customers included the U.S. Department of Defense, the U.S. intelligence community and other government agencies.
Breaking Into HBGary Federal
Anonymous apparently hacked into HBGary Federal by first hacking a tech support server, then compromising an insecure Web server to get at the company's emails, Hoglund told the Financial Times.
Finding and getting into a relatively insecure server in order to penetrate the enterprise network is a pretty standard hacking technique. Shouldn't a company that specializes in security perhaps have all its servers secured?
"If you're in the security business you probably need to make sure your own stuff is secure," Enderle said. "But often it's a case of the cobbler's children not having new shoes -- a company puts out new technology but that technology isn't necessarily applied to its own operations."
That's because the workings of many security companies' operations and in-house IT are kept separate, Enderle elaborated.
"The general security posture across the industry is very low right now," Cenzic's Khera said. "Most companies, for example, are testing only a fraction of their Web applications for security."
However, it might not be feasible to harden all a company's systems, even if that company specializes in security, suggested Randy Abrams, director of technical education at ESET.
"Even security companies have budgets and resource limitations," Abrams told TechNewsWorld. "Security is all about managing risk and, in weighing how secure the least important servers need to be, public relations should be part of the risk assessment for a security company."
nonymous, an amorphous group of cyberactivists, has set its sights on HBGary Federal, a company claiming to provide security expertise to the United States' federal government.
The group took down HBGary Federal's websites and posted a message denouncing the company online .
Anonymous' attack followed statements by Aaron Barr, HBGary Federal's CEO, that the company had collected information on the group's main leaders.
Anonymous has previously attacked the websites of governments and firms that opposed or took action against WikiLeaks for publishing more than 250,000 U.S. government cables on the Internet.
HBGary Federal did not respond to requests for comment by press time.
HBGary's Misstep
During an interview the Financial Times published last week, Barr claimed to have put together information about various high-ranking members of Anonymous through various means, including Facebook profiles.
Barr did this to demonstrate the security risks to organizations from social media and networking, he claimed.
In the interview, he also identified the nicknames and locations of a few individuals he believed to be top members of Anonymous.
Giving an interview to the Financial Times was probably a mistake, Rob Enderle, principal analyst at the Enderle Group, told TechNewsWorld.
"One thing you quickly learn as a security company is that you don't go out and bait people," Enderle said. "You don't go out and seek news coverage or it will backfire on you," he added.
"That's the risk you take any time you challenge hackers," Mandeep Khera, chief marketing officer at Cenzic, told TechNewsWorld. "They'll always find a way to get in."
Anonymous' Reaction
In addition to hijacking HBGary Federal's domain, Anonymous posted a message on the company's website.
The message also included an excerpt from what it claims is one of Barr's emails in which he essentially said his actions were about publicizing HBGary Federal's expertise.
Anonymous' message states the information Barr discovered is publicly available on its IRC networks, and it implies that Barr meant to sell his research to the FBI. The message claims Anonymous has in fact already sent the information to the FBI itself.
The cyberactivist group also posted 66,000 of HBGary Federal's corporate emails onto the Web.
Members of the group are being targeted by various governments. The British authorities have reportedly arrested five people they claim are members of Anonymous, and the U.S. authorities are claimed to have carried out 40 court-authorized searches in connection with their investigation into Anonymous.
GO TO STORY:
http://www.technewsworld.com/story/71808.htmlAnonymous Swarms on Security Firm That Poked the Hive
By Richard Adhikari... more
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A hacker group behind online attacks on companies that withdrew services to WikiLeaks has busted through the defences of a computer security firm working with federal agents to expose their identities.
Hackers operating under the banner 'Anonymous' took credit for breaking into the website of HBGary Federal, stealing tens of thousands of email messages and temporarily routing traffic to a page with a vitriolic message.
"You've tried to bite the Anonymous hand," a copy of the message online stated.
"You angered the hive and now you are being stung."
Efforts to visit HBGary's website on Monday (US time) were met with an automated post saying the page was "under construction".
The plundered email accounts included that of HBGary chief executive Aaron Barr, whose separate Twitter account was also reportedly compromised by someone who tweeted personal information about him and rude messages.
Stolen email messages were made available online at a popular peer-to-peer, file-sharing website, Chester Wisniewski of the Sophos computer security firm said in an online post regarding the hack.
The HBGary hack was more sophisticated than the distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks last year on the Amazon, Visa and MasterCard websites in apparent retaliation for their decisions to stop working with WikiLeaks.
WikiLeaks had triggered political ire in Washington for its publication of thousands of classified US diplomatic cables and military reports from Iraq and Afghanistan.
"Unlike the DDoS attacks for which Anonymous has made headlines in recent months, this incident involved true hacking skills," Mr Wisniewski said.
In a typical DDoS attack, a large number of computers are commanded to simultaneously visit a website, overwhelming its servers, slowing service or knocking it offline completely.
HBGary had been working to expose the culprits behind the DDoS attacks and was poised to sell identifying information about members of Anonymous to the FBI, according to Mr Wisniewski.
Last month, British police arrested five people and the FBI launched raids across the United States as part of a probe into cyberattacks by Anonymous.
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GO TO STORY:
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2011/02/08/3132952.htm?utm_source=@FreeAssangeNow&utm_medium=TwitterA hacker group behind online attacks on companies that withdrew services to WikiLeaks... more
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