Translate

Friday, May 11, 2018

Has the US government intercepted your phone calls and/or text messages?


Freedom is fragile and getting more so.

Dr Ron Paul
One of the few positive things in the ill-named USA FREEDOM Act, enacted in 2015
 after the Snowden revelations on NSA domestic spying, is that it required the Director of National Intelligence to regularly report on its domestic surveillance activities. On Friday, the latest report was released on just how much our own government is spying on us. The news is not good at all if you value freedom over tyranny.

According to the annual report, named the Statistical Transparency Report Regarding Use of National Security Authorities, the US government intercepted and stored information from more than a half-billion of our telephone calls and text messages in 2017. That is a 300 percent increase from 2016. All of these intercepts were “legal” under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), which is ironic because FISA was enacted to curtail the Nixon-era abuse of surveillance on American citizens.

Has the US government intercepted your phone calls and/or text messages? You don’t know, which is why the surveillance state is so evil. Instead of assuming your privacy is protected by the US Constitution, you must assume that the US government is listening in to your communications. The difference between these is the difference between freedom and tyranny. The ultimate triumph of totalitarian states was not to punish citizens for opposing its tyranny, but to successfully cause them to censor themselves before even expressing “subversive” thoughts.

We cannot celebrate our freedom or call ourselves an exceptional nation as long as we are under control of the kind of surveillance that would have turned the East German Stasi green with envy. We know the East German secret police relied on millions of informants, eager to ingratiate themselves with their totalitarian rulers by reporting on their friends, neighbors, even relatives. It was a messy system but it served the purpose of preventing any “unwelcome” political views from taking hold. No one was allowed to criticize the policies of the government without facing reprisals........
Posted by MariaS at 21:37 0 comments
Labels: , , ,

Trump cartoons






Posted by MariaS at 21:35 0 comments
Labels: , , , , ,

Dissecting the Stalin-obsessed


All revolutions are unlike each other. 

Diana Johnstone  at ConsortiumNews
Trotskyist Delusions: Obsessed with Stalin, They See Betrayed Revolutions Everywhere

I first encountered Trotskyists in Minnesota half a century ago during the movement against the Vietnam War. I appreciated their skill in organizing anti-war demonstrations and their courage in daring to call themselves “communists” in the United States of America – a profession of faith that did not groom them for the successful careers enjoyed by their intellectual counterparts in France. So I started my political activism with sympathy toward the movement. In those days it was in clear opposition to U.S. imperialism, but that has changed.

The first thing one learns about Trotskyism is that it is split into rival tendencies. Some remain consistent critics of imperialist war, notably those who write for the World Socialist Web Site (WSWS).

Others, however, have translated the Trotskyist slogan of “permanent revolution” (turning a bourgeois revolution into a working class one) into the hope that every minority uprising in the world must be a sign of the long awaited world revolution – especially those that catch the approving eye of mainstream media. More often than deploring U.S. intervention, they join in reproaching Washington for not intervening sooner on behalf of the alleged revolution.

A recent article in the International Socialist Review (issue #108, March 1, 2018) entitled “Revolution and counterrevolution in Syria” indicates so thoroughly how Trotskyism can go wrong that it is worthy of a critique. Since the author, Tony McKenna, writes well and with evident conviction, this is a strong not a weak example of the Trotskyist mindset.

McKenna starts out with a passionate denunciation of the regime of Bashar al Assad, which, he says, responded to a group of children who simply wrote some graffiti on a wall by “beating them, burning them, pulling their fingernails out.” The source of this grisly information is not given. There could be no eye witnesses to such sadism, and the very extremism sounds very much like war propaganda – Germans carving up Belgian babies in the First World War........
Posted by MariaS at 21:17 0 comments
Labels: , , ,

Some of my tweets May 4 - 10





















































































Posted by MariaS at 21:10 0 comments
Labels: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Monday, May 7, 2018

The New York Times, ever so very, very timidly, ventures to ask about American role in Yemen's ...



ongoing disastrous war on the poorest of the poor  in the Middle East.

Knowing how the West's MSM is controlled by 6 corporations within which 6 corporations there are 232 media executives all coordinating with each on how much and which flavor to feed the masses - this move by the New York Times seems quite strange, to say the least. 

Notice how the individual journalist(s) are reluctant to put their name(s) to the article and the item is attributed to the "Editorial Board"  - that's because any averse opinion aimed at warmongers in America or aimed at Israel or aimed at Trump's new buddies the headchoppers of Saudi Arabia, would mean loss of livelihood if not death. 


By The Editorial Board
Why Are American Troops in the Yemen War?

The Pentagon and the Trump administration apparently have misled Americans about growing military involvement in a war in Yemen that we should have nothing to do with.

In the latest expansion of America’s secret wars, about a dozen Army commandos have been on Saudi Arabia’s border with Yemen since late last year, according to an exclusive report by The Times. The commandos are helping to locate and destroy missiles and launch sites used by indigenous Houthi rebels in Yemen to attack Saudi cities.

This involvement puts the lie to Pentagon statements that American military aid to the Saudi-led campaign in Yemen is limited to aircraft refueling, logistics and intelligence, and is not related to combat.

When senators at a hearing in March demanded to know whether American troops were at risk of entering hostilities with the Houthis, Gen. Joseph Votel, head of the Central Command, assured them, “We’re not parties to this conflict.”

In at least 14 countries, American troops are fighting extremist groups that are professed enemies of the United States or are connected, sometimes quite tenuously, to such militants. The Houthis pose no such threat to the United States. But they are backed by Iran, so the commandos’ deployment increases the risk that the United States could come into direct conflict with that country, a target of increasing ire from the administration, the Saudis and Israelis.

Such significant military decisions require public debate to force presidents and their generals to justify their decisions and be held accountable for the consequences. But checks and balances have eroded since Sept. 11, 2001, as ordinary Americans became indifferent to the country’s endless wars against terrorists and Congress largely abdicated its constitutional role to share responsibility with the president for sending troops into battle....
Posted by MariaS at 16:22 0 comments
Labels: , , , , , ,

Sunday, May 6, 2018

A Boy Named Sameeh from Yemen


.. if you are a human being, what happened to him because Saudi Arabia bombs Yemeni civilians, should bring tears to yours eyes. 










Posted by MariaS at 15:01 0 comments
Labels: , , , , ,

Friday, May 4, 2018

Along with the Palestinians, Black Lives too don't matter in Israel


And,  the USA follows the Israeli government's footprint. 

David Sheen at Truthdig
Black Lives Don't Matter in Israel

Getting caught with marijuana by authorities in country where it is illegal is never a pleasant experience. Even if members of your family back home are able to pull strings and secure your early release, it’s no fun to be behind bars for any length of time, to lose your freedom even temporarily.

But at least one Israeli citizen caught with weed in the Egyptian Sinai Peninsula knows well how easy he got off. Though he was released from jail after just a few days and allowed to return home, his seriously injured cellmate, also from Tel Aviv, was left to languish for a lot longer.

The reason for the disparity in their treatment: Elyasaf is a Jew and a citizen of Israel, who had a stamp in his passport attesting to the fact that he had entered Egypt legally. Ablel, on the other hand, is an Eritrean refugee, who was forced from Israel into Egypt against his will and then tortured by human traffickers.

“Now, you hear this story, and you don’t believe it,” Elyasaf said. “It sounds unbelievable. And really, if I wasn’t there, if I didn’t meet the young man and hear it from him myself, with him there in the Egyptian jail, lying next to me, and I see that it’s true, I wouldn’t believe that something like this is possible. What kind of country do we live in? A man is kidnapped in the middle of the day from downtown Tel Aviv!”.



Ablel Tsegay serving food in his south Tel Aviv restaurant, Dolphin. (Ablel Tsegay / Facebook)

Getting caught with marijuana by authorities in country where it is illegal is never a pleasant experience. Even if members of your family back home are able to pull strings and secure your early release, it’s no fun to be behind bars for any length of time, to lose your freedom even temporarily.

But at least one Israeli citizen caught with weed in the Egyptian Sinai Peninsula knows well how easy he got off. Though he was released from jail after just a few days and allowed to return home, his seriously injured cellmate, also from Tel Aviv, was left to languish for a lot longer.

The reason for the disparity in their treatment: Elyasaf is a Jew and a citizen of Israel, who had a stamp in his passport attesting to the fact that he had entered Egypt legally. Ablel, on the other hand, is an Eritrean refugee, who was forced from Israel into Egypt against his will and then tortured by human traffickers.

“Now, you hear this story, and you don’t believe it,” Elyasaf said. “It sounds unbelievable. And really, if I wasn’t there, if I didn’t meet the young man and hear it from him myself, with him there in the Egyptian jail, lying next to me, and I see that it’s true, I wouldn’t believe that something like this is possible. What kind of country do we live in? A man is kidnapped in the middle of the day from downtown Tel Aviv!”
Advertisement

Egyptian border guards caught Elyasaf, a 30-year-old graphic designer, with weed as he was heading home after a few days of vacation at a Red Sea resort. When they locked him up in a Taba prison, he was shocked to learn that a fellow Tel Avivan who spoke perfect Hebrew was stuck in the cell with him.

There, Elyasaf became the first person to hear Ablel’s scandalous story.

After Benjamin Netanyahu’s government built a high-tech fence on the Egyptian border in 2013, the influx of African refugees to Israel ended abruptly. So criminal gangs that had made millions in the preceding years from trafficking and torturing for ransom those refugees now needed an alternate source of income. Bedouin brigands figured that refugees who had managed to make it into Israel could be brazenly kidnapped off the streets of Tel Aviv—and then smuggled back into Egypt.....
Posted by MariaS at 12:56 0 comments
Labels: , , ,

Thursday, May 3, 2018

Some of my tweets from April 22 - May 3




























































































Posted by MariaS at 19:51 0 comments
Labels: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Turkey for the month of April 2018


Erdogan is pure evil. 

Turkish Lira Tumbles To Record Low After Erdogan Promise To "Rescue Investors From High Rates"

The Turkish Lira accelerated its recent demise today - breaking below two critical thresholds - as President Erdogan rebuffed investor calls for higher rates to tamp down excess growth (inflation), commenting that they "are speaking out of jealousy."...

Turkey demands return of plundered ancient artefacts

At least 150,000 treasures kept in leading museums such as the Louvre in Paris and London's Victoria and Albert Museum....

Erdogan rebuffs Moscow’s call to hand Afrin to Syrian government

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday rejected a call by Moscow to hand control of Afrin province to the Syrian government, saying Ankara would withdraw its forces when it felt the time was right.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said at an April 9 news conference that Moscow expects Turkey to relinquish Afrin to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad after having driven out the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) in March. He asserted that Erdogan had “never said that Turkey wants to occupy Afrin.”

“We always proceed from the fact that the easiest way to normalize the situation in Afrin, now that Turkish representatives say that the main goals they set there have been achieved, would be to return the territory under the control of the Syrian government,” Lavrov said.

Erdogan: Close to 4,200 terrorists neutralized during Afrin op

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Saturday that nearly 4,200 terrorists had been neutralized since the launch of Operation Olive Branch in northwestern Syria's Afrin.

Turkish authorities often use the word "neutralized" in their statements to imply that the terrorists in question either surrendered or were killed or captured.....

Serious shortcomings’ seen in Turkey’s bid to join European Union

Turkey says the EU report is 'unable to be objective and balanced'
The EU on Tuesday put a damper on Turkey's efforts to join the bloc, saying Ankara's recent spats with European states were "not conducive to good neighbourly relations".

In its latest report on Turkey's long-stalled bid to become a member of the union, the European Commission said "serious shortcomings" on democracy and the rule of law remained.

The Turkish foreign ministry hit back at the report, saying the Commission showed "that it was once again unwilling to understand the difficulties of the period we are passing through" and was "far from understanding the realities of Turkey"....

Turkey’s state of emergency extended for seventh time 

The Turkish Parliament on April 18 extended the ongoing state of emergency for the seventh time for another three months, meaning the upcoming early elections on June 24 will be held under the emergency rule despite widespread disapproval from opposition parties.

Turkey Will Repatriate All Gold From The US In Attempt To Ditch The Dollar 

After Venezuela, Germany, Austria and the Netherlands prudently repatriated a substantial portion (if not all) of their physical gold held at the NY Fed or other western central banks in recent years, this morning Turkey also announced that it has decided to repatriate all its gold stored in the US Federal Reserve and deliver it to the Istanbul Stock Exchange, according to reports in Turkey's Yeni Safak. It won't be the first time Turkey has asked the NY Fed to ship the country's gold back: in recent years, Turkey repatriated 220 tons of gold from abroad, of which 28.7 tons was brought back from the US last year....

Turkey finds 3,000 Gulenists in military, two years after coup attempt

Defence minister said all would be sacked, as parliament approves extending state of emergency in Turkey for another three months
Turkish authorities have identified 3,000 people within the armed forces believed to be linked to the cleric Ankara blames for a 2016 failed coup, Defence Minister Nurettin Canikli said, adding they would be dismissed in the coming days....




Bosnia rejects Turkish extradition request against alleged 'Gulenists'

Bosnian court turns down Turkey request for extradition of national allegedly linked to schools run by US-based cleric Fethullah Gulen...

Enforced disappearences in Turkey

Time to act on enforced disappearances in Turkey

In blatant violation of national laws and an open defiance to its commitments under the international human rights laws, Turkish government under the oppressive regime of president Recep Tayyip Erdogan has started again resorting to enforced disappearances and some unlawful abductions, a practice that is reminiscent of dark periods pf 1990s....

Turkey's university faculties unite against being divided

Hundreds of protesters took to the streets in Istanbul and Ankara last week, demonstrating against the government's proposal to split off faculties from many of Turkey's universities to form "new" schools. The government says the move is a pragmatic way to deal with growth, but many opponents believe the plan is motivated simply by greed and politics, rather than what's best for students.
Posted by MariaS at 17:25 0 comments
Labels:
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)