The ruling class and the governments are waging a war against truth itself. Governments are demanding control over citizens and their communications. Governments don’t hesitate to persecute and imprison people who tell the truth about what’s going on, defending citizens’ rights. There is reason to worry.
Chelsea Manning gave the West the true picture about what’s happening in the wars waged in our name. She gave us the truth about the political and diplomatical double-crossing that happens when powerholders believe that the people aren’t watching. This was punished with 35 years in prison.
WikiLeaks distributed this knowledge to the world. The U.S. Adminsitration reacted with fury against the truth coming out. American politicians have threatened the Editor-in-Chief of WikiLeaks, Julian Assange, with the death penalty – and it is unclear what would happen if the United States would manage to sink its claws into him.
When the United States lacked legal options to punish WikiLeaks, the administration convinced its friends in Big Business to cut its payment channels. The credit card companies, banks, financial institutions, and PayPal became a weapon for Power, when Power wanted to proceed beyond the Law.
Edward Snowden, the whistleblower on the United States NSA, is one of the planet’s most hunted individuals – for telling the truth about the global mass surveillance under construction by (among others) the NSA, the GCHQ, and the Swedish equivalent, the FRA. He has been branded a traitor for telling the people at large what the ruling political and bureaucratic class is actually doing.
And now we’re being told that European politicians, diplomats, and reporters are at risk of prosecution in the United States if they’re digging too deeply into Snowden’s revelations. If they learn too much about what’s actually going on. If they seek the truth.
In Sweden, the ruling Alliance majority and the Social Democrats are providing a practically hyper-active defense of the Swedish FRA and its spying activity. This is in spite of the revelation that the FRA’s activities lack a democratic mandate and seem to stand on a very unclear legal ground. Myself, I’m still a suspect for crimes against national security, after having published documents on my blog in 2008 revealing that the FRA is conducting activities whose purpose and benefit are very murky.
The European Court of Justice has found that the Data Retention Directive in the EU (storing data about every citizen’s every phonecall, text, email, net connections, and mobile positioning data) is illegal and that it violates human rights. The two largest parties in Sweden are communicating as one that they intend to ignore this ruling, desiring to continue the Swedish mass surveillance of ordinary honest people.
At the same time, we know that the NSA mass surveillance and the FRA’s automated mass wiretapping hasn’t led to one single terrorist being sentenced in court. We know that data retention has given very meager results, if any at all.
The governments are waging a war against truth. Governments are demanding control over citizens and their communications. Governments don’t hesitate to persecute and imprison people who tell the story of what’s happening, defending the fundamental civil rights.
There is reason to worry.
And there’s an opportunity to vote against this madness, right now in the European Elections.
In Germany, before ruled unconstitutional, the mass data retention was there for a few month.
After it was discontinued, the rate of successfully solved cases rised a little bit. The difderence was just statistical fluctuation, but it shows that the data retention does not help.
Oh, and the data retention was for “terrorism and very big crimes” it was said. Those 2 were less then 1% of the cases where the data was used in reality. So the judges, that should be safeguards, did say a 99% wrong “yes, you can!”.
These 3 facts are all you need to know about data retention.
Thats the Dictatorship of Capitalism !
No, it’s just abuse of power. Dictatorship is something totally different.
And I must say that socialist/communist dictatorship have historically proven to be much worse than capitalist ditto.
“historically proven…”
Well… That could be because history is written by the winners.
Both yes and no. I wouldn’t exactly say that people in, say, Cuba are worse off now than before Cuba went communistic.
And I’d rather live in a country with a benevolent dictator that genuinely care about the people, than a country run by democraticly elected heartless beauaucrats. Unfortunately, when that dictator dies or gets overthrown by a military coup, then you are stuck deep in the shit – as opposed to the democratic society where you atleast have the option to vote the heartless out of office.
There is no doubt dictatorships can work.. Sometimes dictatorship is even neccessary to ensure survival. In most other cases though, democracy is the better system.
The Romans appointed a dictator for a year, and then he had to leave. That could be a solution in case of emergency.
(Caesar changed the rule)
“And I’d rather live in a country with a benevolent dictator that genuinely care about the people, than a country run by democraticly elected heartless beauaucrats.”
The one who establishes an empire is a gifted genius, beloved of the gods.
Their son or daughter is a spoiled pampered imbecile. Their offspring in turn usually a monster.
The textbook scenario would be Julius Caesar–> Augustus–>Tiberius–>Caligula–>Claudius–>Nero.
As you said, the incompetent bureaucrats you can vote out of power in a democracy. That alone is enough to put up with all the assorted demerits of democracy itself.
@frank87
Caesar’s work-around was actually cleverer – he simply ensured he held all the offices of state at the same time once his dictatorship ended, whereas before no-one had done that. Being permanent Imperator, along with being both the chief Magistrate and the Patrician Tribune, and several other key roles meant that all the checks and balances didn’t apply. It was actually a very long time before the Emperors dropped the legal fiction that they were simply all the government officials of the Roman Republic.
But Russia spies on their own citizens and foreigners too – even more aggressively than NSA.
They just gave Snowden asylum to piss off the Americans.
Look what they’re doing in Ukraine.
Spies more aggressively than NSA? Then they must have more advanced technology than NSA…
So you’re basically saying that Russian technology is superior to American?
I’m saying that Russia is a mafia state that’s ruled by thugs.
FSB can do absolutely anything and they’ll not be punished.
There’s no rule of law in Russia – what Putin says is the law.
You don’t really need superior technology to wiretap everyone.
ISPs already have it installed – and FSB has access to it all.
So Snowden just jumped from the frying pan into the fire.
Do you know what Putin did to the Russian Snowden – Alexander Litvinenko?
He murdered him with radioactive polonium.
And he has killed many journalists and people who oppose him.
Snowden is not in a safe place at all – Putin can easily “disappear” him once he’s outlived his usefulness.
But is anything you say actually true? There is a lot of propaganda going on and you my friend are sure victim of it.
Are you really so stupid and think Putin says things like: “Kill this jurnalist, I don’t like this arcticle”. “Kill this guy, but you need to do it with radioactive polonium.”
My country suffered for 50 years under Russian occupation.
I know very well what they’re capable of.
Unlike you all I also speak Russian and can read Russian news sources/blogs/ etc – I don’t have to rely on western media.
Nothing has changed after USSR collapse – they’re still the same backwards, aggressive and ruthless warmongers.
I hate that country with passion for what they did to my people and they still do not regret their actions – on the contrary – they fucking CELEBRATE them.
Litvinenko disclosed that FSB blew up apartment blocks and framed chechens for that – and Putin used that as a reason to invade Chechnya and commit horrific war crimes there.
Later he was murdered with polonium – that’s not really something you can buy at a local hardware store – Russians thought that no one will detect that, but they were dead wrong.
So Snowden is in a deep shit and probably under constant 24/7 FSB surveillance.
And you think in USA Snowden would be a free man? He would get a life sentence for treason. Maybe you don’t remember, but only Russia gave asylum to Snowden, other countries are scared of USA. But I do agree with you, that Snowden is under surveliance, if not by FSB, then certainly by CIA/NSA.
I understand you frustration with history and Soviet occupation (not Russia), and don’t blame Russians (I mean cizitens of Russia) for this, because they probably suffered more than your country (camps, NKVD, starvation). Do you think you can control few millions of people for 50 years, if there were no cooperation with local people?
Communism was not fun. Blame it on communism, nacism and USA – don’t forget Yalta. And possibly your politics were also guilty for doing wrong decision that time.
The easiest thing in life is to blame others – indoctrination and propaganda is in full control in every country from school system on to…
Airplane never crashes just because one single failure, it is always series of event that result in final catastrophe.
I also agree that Russia is aggressive, but is USA not? It takes two to tango.
I just had an impression that some people think that Russia is some kind of safe haven for whistleblowers.
It’s not – Russia is keeping Snowden only because it currently benefits them.
As I said – their regime just murder their whistleblowers – Litvinenko and Politkovskaya both disclosed info about apartment bombings – both are now dead.
Of course I think that Snowden did the right thing when he leaked those papers – because we have the right to known.
And I’m totally against mass surveillance.
But don’t praise Russia – they’re not guardians of human rights.
Zirgs:
Yes, so if ISPs already have it installed… What makes you think they don’t use it here in “the west” to harass dissidents such as anti-copyright-activist?
Sure I’m not very afraid of being killed by polonium. But it’s obvious that there’s a lot of money in harassing pirates in “the west”.
There may never have been physical punishment but surveillance followed by social and mental harassment of the dissidents… That’s the only thing you need, because if you can fuck with someone to lower their self esteem enough so they don’t dare speak their mind anymore, then you’ve won.
So really the methods of mental harrassment and social marginalization is just as evil. It’s just easier to hide behind smoke and mirrors.
“Do you know what Putin did to the Russian Snowden – Alexander Litvinenko?
He murdered him with radioactive polonium.
And he has killed many journalists and people who oppose him.”
Putin not being an idiot but rather a man whose previous job meant extreme competence at manipulating western media most likely doesn’t murder over political dissidence. Why would he, when he knows full well simply appearing magnaminous and a fan of free speech nets him more political capital to screw the west with??
Putin doesn’t screw individuals. He screws countries.
Don’t mistake what may be the most ruthless and competent dictator this generation may be unlucky enough to see for some tinpot banana republic caricature.
Snowden will never outlive his “usefulness” to Putin simply because as long as he is in the media. Russia can ensure the US is more concerned polishing their tarnished image than keeping an eye out for what Russia is doing in order to establish control over the arctic oil or the old “traditional” satellite states.
OK SDM – who else has access to radioactive polonium?
That’s not really something ordinary people can get their hands on.
Research that case – it really stinks.
“OK SDM – who else has access to radioactive polonium?
That’s not really something ordinary people can get their hands on.”
Any number of heavy industries, research laboratories, general chemcal manufacture plants and, of course, the aerospace industry.
As well as the military.
Polonium is certainly deadly as is ANY alpha emitter. However, it’s usefulness as a toxin ends there. As far as discovery goes, it’s about as subtle as a sledge hammer. Any geiger counter will detect it’s presence easily enough.
It has seen quite frequent use in many areas of industry over the years but is currently being replaced by far less dangerous beta emitters.
The big question to be asked here is why any intelligence agency would employ as means of assassination an agent which, beyond being terminal, is also slow enough to allow the victim to be vocally active for an extended period of time?
Does Putin also employ as assassination tools razor-edged hats, cybernetic jaw implants and industrial lasers?
You want to find out who decided to kill Litvinenko, a longtime crusader against Russian organized crime, and do it in a way straight from a Bond Villain’s book?
I’t’s funny, really. Any number of italian and Colombian prosecutors have been murdered in high profile after a long career of going after Cartels and the Mafia. Sometimes after implicating their superiors.
And yet, one needs look no further than the organizations they’ve been pursuing to find any number of suspects quite close at hand.
Why would Putin voluntarily shoot himself in the foot by ordering the assassination of someone already hip-deep on the Russian Mafias hit list?
Zirgs: Why that much focus on polonium? Don’t you understand that surveillance coupled with defamation is effective enough in most cases to ruin someone’s reputation so their political career is over?
NSA strategy of outing taliban leaders porn habits already been outed. What makes you think they would never do the same with political activists in “the west”?
That’s true. But I’m afrais the west is slowly becomming like Russia.
The captains of industry and public figures are collecting more and more priveleges, so they will be above the law. Just like the USSR-aparatshik.
“But Russia spies on their own citizens and foreigners too – even more aggressively than NSA.”
Translated: “I may beat my wife once a day with my fist but my neighbor uses a cane. Why are you complaining about me?
Your argument is called “moral relativism” and ends with exculpating Abu Ghraib since at least the US isn’t on par with the Sovjet Union or the Third Reich as far as atrocities go.
I’ve never said that what NSA does is right.
I’m saying that Russian secret services are much much worse.
Apologies.
However, I’m sure you can see the problem when “the liberal west” begins using methods and justifications quite similar to those used by the remnants and descendants of the soviet bloc.
That Russia gave Snowden asylum is understandable – especially if he is the real deal, which available evidence certainly suggests.
That doesn’t exonerate russia or the FSB. What it does is that it provides Putin an excuse to stand up, point casually and say “Hey, I do nothing that you guys don’t”. He’s won this propaganda war. The same way he did when he invaded Georgia looking for “chechnyan terrorists” a week after the US walked into Iraq.
The same way he gutted Russian civil rights right after the US signed Patriot Act 1 and 2 to great outcry.
I trust Putin to be a villain and act as such, with a nod towards the prosperity and strength of his own country.
I trust WESTERN leaders NOT to establish precedence excuses for Putin which enable him to say “Hey, I’m merely following you guys”. I almost miss the cold war where US politicians at least had to SOUND as if they were any different…
I agree – USA has lost their moral high ground.
Unfortunately – Eastern Europeans do not really have a choice.
Either we’re part of US dominated NATO or under Russian occupation.
So as usual – we have to pick the lesser evil.
I’d really like a united EU military force and disbanded or at least heavily reformed NATO.
Unfortunately that is not going to happen any time soon.
“I agree – USA has lost their moral high ground.
Unfortunately – Eastern Europeans do not really have a choice.
Either we’re part of US dominated NATO or under Russian occupation.”
That’s not a choice. Here in Sweden a vocal minority has been griping about how we ought to be part of NATO – especially after the revelations that we’ve been the US silent espeionage partner since the 60’s and “neutrality policy” be damned.
However…For both Finns and Swedes the situation has always been as such – not being part of NATO meant a risk of russian occupation when Russia set off to controlling the norwegian oil fields.
BEING part of NATO meant Russias first move would be to bomb our nations into dust since the first logical use NATO would have for us would be as a convenient place to establish missile bases.
I suspect the same holds true for eastern europe. Even more so. If Russia decides to move, it will do so knowing full well it will be in conflict with NATO. Being at the border and being a NATO military base at the time means the “collateral damage” will be the citizenry turning to ash beneath a potent H-bomb.
If Russia goes too far, there will be a third world war. At which point NATO membership is the last thing you’ll want.
I dont know what information you have about the Ukraine, but I wanted to tell everyone who doesn’t know: The Ukraine is Invaded by the USA (UK is behind as always), apart from looting the Ukraine itself their aim is to start the World War III, and that will require attacking Russia. Russia did not militarily attack anyone, including the Ukraine, where the majority of the population is Russian. So Ukraine is a victim of the Globalists (British Empire, Rotchchilds and alike) playing their Geo-political games in the path to the New World Order and complete Domination. They invested 5 billion Dollars in creating chaos in Ukraine, financing Pure Fascism, and now they are backing up this Fascist Regime that is doing “ethnic cleansing” in the East of Ukraine, and the other cities in Ukraine. This is a big Tragedy, Nazism and Fascism that Western media is Not Showing because it is not in their interests. They (Worlds Elites) have a Thick Plan to reduce the Worlds population to less than a billion, and they will use the military Power of the USA to try to achieve their goal, as well as sponsoring/creating Radicals and Fascists all over the World.
In some respects Europe already stands up to America, for example, we have strong restrictions on GM products that the US would like to foist upon us.
More however needs to be done. We need to avoid American products –
No Florida (or Israeli) Orange Juice.
Use Airbus not Boeing
Don’t holiday in the USA (South America is much more interesting)
Campaign to have US bases closed in Europe
> Campaign to have US bases closed in Europe
Not going to happen.
We – Eastern Europeans, are scared shitless of a potential Russian invasion.
That’s why we requested increased US military presence in the region which was immediately granted.
yes, it has but what is being done to stop it? who is taking any notice of the ‘unruling class’? exactly! no one! and we know why, because all the positions are filled by those in that group, and they are able to completely ignore the fears and even the accusations of the unruling class! and the war that has been started by the entertainment industries has now taken another turn for the worse when students trying to enter the USA to study were not only refused entry but were shipped off home! people have said how stupid my fears are of the internet being run completely by those industries. it has been the ultimate aim all along! when it is going to pay £750million to set up a scheme of letters to citizens who download ‘illegally’ in the UK, plus £750million per year, per ISP to monitor what is done rather than spend a fraction of that amount to simply give customers what they have pleaded for for years, it’s obvious it has nothing to do with monetary losses, like they keep claiming. add in then that governments are doing everything possible to aid those industries what they want, there has to be something big in it for them too. we are in the shit, guys and the net is going to go down the pan as soon as the control is handed over!!
Bullshit SDM – Ukraine and Georgia are not part of NATO and look what those barbarians did to them.
Look how they annexed Crimea, Abkhazia and South Ossetia.
And now they’re trying to dismantle the rest of Ukraine.
NATO is the only thing that protects Baltics from Crimea’s fate.
Russians did not need H-bombs there.
They just walked straight in and annexed Crimea without firing a shot.
I’m no fan of American government and their foreign policy, but the alternative – Russian barbarians is much much much worse.
That’s why I’m siding with the Americans in this case.
Moral relativism, in other words. Choosing the lesser of two evils.
It’s not a good choice to face in the first place, but i maintain that push comes to shove between the US and Russia, the first total victims will be the NATO allies right on the front.
Membership in NATO only means you become a puppet state to side A rather than side B. Either will eat your independence.
Misguided and badly flawed as it is, one of the baits the EU dangled in front of their member states was european independence – successfully, since every NATO member has had to pay for their membership in spades.
Moral relativism, in other words.
——————
Yes, exactly – I don’t like it, but I’m not living near New Zealand or Iceland.
I’m right next to Russia.
And Russia has only two kinds of neighbours – slaves or enemies.
Russia is an aggressive and barbaric empire.
Putin wants to occupy the former soviet union again – that’s plainly obvious.
We would be victims either way.
In 1940 the Baltics were neutral – Stalin did not give a shit about their neutrality and occupied them all.
Without NATO membership he could easily do in Latvia what he did in Crimea.
No one would help them and Latvian army would surrender after a couple of days.
Not anymore, because attack on any of the NATO members means attack on all members.
The stakes are much higher in this case.
Of course Putin can still invade Latvia, but then there will be only two outcomes – disintegration of NATO or WW3.
And why are you ignoring Ukraine – they were neutral – and Putin did not give a shit about their neutrality and invaded them anyway.
“And why are you ignoring Ukraine – they were neutral – and Putin did not give a shit about their neutrality and invaded them anyway.”
Up until the point where the Ukraine decided to negotiate certain trade treaties with the EU Putin didn’t give a hoot.
See, the Ukraine is still sitting on the biggest gas pipeline going from Russia to the west. That makes them a strategic threat capable of cutting Russian gas sales responsible for significant portions of the Russian BNP by simply turning a tap.
Russia was willing to put up with this all the way up to the point where it became obvious the Ukraine was about to walk into the enemy’s camp bearing flowers.
If your nation contains a strategic asset capable of paralyzing big parts of your neighbor’s economy the fastest way of guaranteeing hostilities is to threaten them.
The Ukraine tried bear-baiting – sending a lone chihuaha to nip at the ballsack of the russian grizzly. If they hadn’t, Russian troops would have been happy to maintain the ukraine as a buffer state, the same way they’d done before.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russia%E2%80%93Ukraine_gas_disputes
You keep describing the Russians as clumsy barbarians. That’s selling them far short. They aren’t run by some insignificant ossified ideologist. They’re run by a former KGB spymaster.
Invading Crimea is not a serious assault. It’s a threat aimed at the rest of the Ukraine, saying in no uncertain terms. “Hands off our gas pipe. We mean this”.
This move is costing Putin far more than it provides in the form of national ascendancy, to say nothing of demolishing the carefully built up reputation he had for being “reasonable”.
However…villain or no, given the Russia-Ukraine gas disputes and this latest move, I’m not sure any nation could have abstained from a show of force. Don’t pull a gun on your neighbor unless you are prepared to use it. He’ll have to react.
That, and when the Ukrainians are owing Russia 3,5 billion USD for siphoning gas from that pipe without paying, it’s pretty clear that sooner or later, Russia must react on that alone.
You keep mistaking Putin for Kruschchev.
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