theamericanbear:

The New York Times has revealed a top Obama campaign strategist has played a major role in advising corporations lobbying the federal government on polices and regulations. Anita Dunn has emerged as one of President Obama’s top advisers while still running the consulting firm SKDKnickerbocker. SKDK’s client list includes TransCanada, the Canadian company seeking Obama’s approval of the Keystone XL oil pipeline; as well as General Electric, AT&T, Time Warner, and the military contractor Pratt & Whitney. The firm also represents a number of business coalitions, including one seeking to reduce tax rates on around $1 trillion in offshore profits. An SKDK partner was reportedly able to learn of the White House’s opposition to the tax proposal in a private conversation with a top adviser to Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner. Despite working for top corporations lobbying the government, Dunn’s role has escaped scrutiny under ethics rules that subject consultants to less oversight than lobbyists.

Blah blah blah you can believe in.

What you won’t hear out of western media about the 14-year-old activist shot by the Taliban — she’s a socialist and comrade of the IMT

thepeoplesrecord:

Solidarity Report: Survivors of Hiroshima go to Israel to advocate “Nuclear Abolition”

September 10, 2012

A group of survivors from the Hiroshima atomic bomb attack have held a protest in Jerusalem calling for the end of nuclear weapons.

The group visited Jerusalem holy sites on Monday and held signs reading “Nuclear Abolition” in Japanese.

The visit comes amid growing tensions between Israel and Iran over the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program. Israel and much of the West believe Iran is seeking nuclear weapons, a charge that Tehran denies.

In 1945, the United States dropped an atomic bomb on the city of Hiroshima, leading to Japan’s surrender and the end of World War II. The blast destroyed most of the city and killed as many as 140,000 people.

Sixty-nine-year-old Hiroshima survivor Nagayama Iwao says “any use of the atom should be forbidden, even for intimidation.”

Source

mehreenkasana:

arielnietzsche:

Bahrain Documentary Shows the Brutality Supported by the US via Antiwar.com

Yesterday, in our news section, we provided a link to Glenn Greenwald’s article on CNN International’s refusal to air a documentary it commissioned uncovering the brutal crackdown by the US-backed dictatorship in Bahrain. Greenwald linked to the documentary, now available on YouTube, but many people still have not seen it. It does a brilliant job of illustrating the abuses the people have suffered at the hands of the regime.

It’s useful to remind yourself while watching this that Washington wholeheartedly supports this kind of repression. The US has sent more than $60 million in direct aid to Bahrain since 2008, and has another $11 million scheduled for 2013. In recent years, the US has sent Bahrain riot gear, tanks, helicopter gunships, and over a million pounds of ammunition – all of which have been integral to the ruthless crackdown imposed on reform-minded Bahrainis. After international condemnation, the Obama administration was forced to suspend a new $53 million package of military equipment, making it conditional on reform. And when Bahraini opposition groups and a U.N. statement acknowledged that no substantive move towards reform had been made, Obama began secretly pushing through the arms package, circumventing congressional rules and failing to inform the public.

The protests in Bahrain are not just protests against that particular regime; they are de facto protests against this reprehensibly US foreign policy, which bribes dictatorships in order to maintain control of the Middle East. As a 2004 Defense Department report put it, when referring to the Gulf Arab states, “Without the US these regimes could not survive.”

Important.

New blog dedicated solely to reposting news stories. I get people thanking me sometimes for informing them of things they’d otherwise not know about, so I figured I’d go all the way.

RT - No shooting at protest? Police may block mobile devices via Apple

Apple has patented a piece of technology which would allow government and police to block transmission of information, including video and photographs, from any public gathering or venue they deem “sensitive”, and “protected from externalities.”

­In other words, these powers will have control over what can and cannot be documented on wireless devices during any public event.

And while the company says the affected sites are to be mostly cinemas, theaters, concert grounds and similar locations, Apple Inc. also says “covert police or government operations may require complete ‘blackout’ conditions.”

“Additionally,” Apple says,” the wireless transmission of sensitive information to a remote source is one example of a threat to security. This sensitive information could be anything from classified government information to questions or answers to an examination administered in an academic setting.”

The statement led many to believe that authorities and police could now use the patented feature during protests or rallies to block the transmission of video footage and photographs from the scene, including those of police brutality, which at times of major events immediately flood news networks and video websites.

Apple patented the means to transmit an encoded signal to all wireless devices, commanding them to disable recording functions.

Those policies would be activated by GPS, and WiFi or mobile base-stations, which would ring-fence (“geofence”) around a building or a “sensitive area” to prevent phone cameras from taking pictures or recording video.

Apple may implement the technology, but it would not be Apple’s decision to activate the “feature” – it would be down governments, businesses and network owners to set such policies, analyzes ZDNet technology website.

Having invented one of the most sophisticated mobile devices, Apple now appears to be looking for ways to restrict its use.

“As wireless devices such as cellular telephones, pagers, personal media devices and smartphones become ubiquitous, more and more people are carrying these devices in various social and professional settings,” it explains in the patent. “The result is that these wireless devices can often annoy, frustrate, and even threaten people in sensitive venues.”

The company’s listed “sensitive” venues so far include mostly meetings, the presentation of movies, religious ceremonies, weddings, funerals, academic lectures, and test-taking environments.

thepeoplesrecord:

Apple patent could remotely disable protesters’ phone cameras

September 05, 2012

U.S. Patent No. 8,254,902, otherwise known as “Apparatus and methods for enforcement of policies upon a wireless device,” was granted in late-August, and would allow phone policies to be set to “chang[e] one or more functional or operational aspects of a wireless device […] upon the occurrence of a certain event.”

What that means in real-terms is “preventing wireless devices from communicating with other wireless devices (such as in academic settings),” and for, “forcing certain electronic devices to enter “sleep mode” when entering a sensitive area.”

But the patented technology may also be used to restrict protesters’ right to free expression in oppressive regimes around the world — if you haven’t checked recently, there’s plenty of them — by preventing camera images and video being taken at political rallies and events.

Source

Drone Strike Kills 13 Civilians

Local officials in Yemen say that a United States-led drone strike over the weekend there killed 13 civilians.

Members of the Yemeni government tells reporters that an unmanned aerial vehicle operated remotely by the United States military executed more than a dozen civilians, including three women, near the town of Rada in al-Baitha province on Sunday.

“This was one of the very few times when our target was completely missed. It was a mistake, but we hope it will not hurt our anti-terror efforts in the region,” a senior Yemeni Defense Ministry official says to CNN this week on condition of anonymity.

The United States believes that as many as 200 suspected members of the al-Qaeda terrorist organization operate out of Yemen, where the US has been linked to carrying out several air strikes.

On the record, however, the US has not officially acknowledged these missions, only further angering the families of the victims, including those who lost loved ones in this weekend’s assault.

Fielding a question about the criticism his targeted-kill program has generated during this administration, US President Barack Obama said last year, it’s “important for everybody to understand that this thing is kept on a very tight leash.”Despite this claim, though, civilians on the other side of the world see things differently.

Local man Mansoor al-Maweri tells CNN that he was near the scene of the deadly strike when it occurred and attempted to transport the bodies of the deceased to the capital city of Sanna after. When his convoy approached the residence of newly elected President Abdurabu Hadi, though, Maweri says he was turned around.

“You want us to stay quiet while our wives and brothers are being killed for no reason. This attack is the real terrorism,”Maweri says.

“I would not be surprised if a hundred tribesmen joined the lines of al Qaeda as a result of the latest drone mistake,”Nasr Abdullah, a local activist, adds to CNN. “This part of Yemen takes revenge very seriously.”

Even if America fails to acknowledge its role in the drone strikes, opponents of the program have voice their concern before with how it may in fact be reversing the United States’ war on terror.After seeing a surge in recruitment with terrorist organizations after the US upped its drone game abroad last year, Princeton University professor Gregory Johnsen told RT, “When the US starts hitting people who are members of Al-Qaeda in the Iranian Peninsula, then I think the real worry is that it expands this war to the point where so many people will join Al-Qaeda.”

“Drone strikes in Pakistan and the number of civilian casualties that result because of those drone strikes are allowing extremists like the Taliban, Al-Qaeda and other groups present in Pakistan to recruit new members. They are doing it at an accelerating pace,” writer Matthew Alexander added at the time.

In July, the American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit against the CIA to challenge civilian casualties caused by US-led drone strikes. At the center of their claims was last year’s death of Anwar al-Awlaki, a US-born Islamic cleric with suspected terrorist ties. Although never charged with a crime for his rumored association with al-Qaeda, a US drone killed him and two colleagues, including his American-born son, last year.

“[T]he question is whether the government is justified in killing without charging them or trying them for anything,” the ACLU wrote.

Al Jazeera — Hackers claim 12 million Apple IDs from FBI

A hacker group has claimed to have obtained personal data from 12 million Apple iPhone and iPad users by breaching 
a Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) computer, raising concerns about government tracking.

The group called AntiSec, linked to the hacking collective known as Anonymous, posted one million Apple user identifiers on Monday purported to be part of a larger group of 12 million obtained from an FBI laptop.

In the posting, AntiSec said the original file “contained around 12,000,000 devices” and that “we decided a million would be enough to release”.

The group said it “trimmed out other personal data as, full names, cell numbers, addresses, zipcodes, etc”.

The Apple hacking explained

Contacted by AFP news agency, FBI spokeswoman Jenny Shearer said: “We’re not commenting.”

It also raises question over why the FBI had held the details of consumers of Apple products.

Apple also did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

One website set up a database to help users determine if their device was on the hacked list of Apple unique device IDs (UDIDs).

“Quite why the FBI was collecting the UDIDs and personal information of millions of iPhone and iPad users is not yet clear - but it’s obvious that the data (and the computer it was apparently stored on) was not adequately secured,” said Graham Cluley of the British security firm Sophos.

The hacker group said it posted the information to draw attention to Apple’s practices which allow users to be tracked.

“We never liked the concept of UDIDs since the beginning indeed. Really bad decision from Apple,” it said.

‘Very worrying’

Hacker and computer security expert, Jason Moon told Al Jazeera: “I think we should be very concerned”.

He said: “If the intelligence agencies are going to spy on their own citizens and retain this kind of personal information it’s very worrying that hacker can get their hands on”.

“Our enemies can get their hands on it just as easily then…So it’s kind of like doing the spying for our enemy in a sense”, he added.

“If they are going to be this negligent with the way the information is secured keeping it all in one place in the manner that they did, it’s really disturbing.”

The cyber incursion set social networking sites aflutter with technology bloggers questioning consumer privacy.

Peter Kruse, an e-crime specialist with CSIS Security Group in Denmark, confirmed on Twitter that the leak “is real” and that three of his own devices had been included.

He tweeted: “Also notice that they claim to have full name, addresses, phone numbers etc… Big ouch!”

A security expert with Tata Communications, Eric Hemmendinger, said: “The question is not whether it’s accurate, it is why did the feds have the information and why did they not take due care to secure it”.

“If you work in cybersecurity and your machine gets hacked, that’s a pretty embarrassing scenario,” he added.

thepeoplesrecord:

The Chicago Teachers Union has filed its notice of intent to strike - the first in 25 years. 

“CPS seems determined to have a toxic relationship with its employees,” union president Karen Lewis said. “They denied us our 4 percent raises when there was money in the budget to honor our agreement; they attempted to ram a poorly thought out longer school day down our throats; and, on top of that they want us to teach a new curriculum and be ready to be evaluated based on how well our students do on a standardized test. It has been insult after insult after insult. Enough is enough.”

More than 26,000 teachers, clinicians & paraprofessionals may go on strike in the coming days. Along with contract issues, curriculum changes & longer school days without necessary resources, the CTU is fighting for art, music, physical education & world language classes for public school children. 

sempiternal-freedom:

stfusexists:

katrina1234567:

stfusexists:

brooklynmutt:

RNC Attendee Allegedly Threw Nuts At Black CNN Camerawoman, Said ‘This Is How We Feed Animals’

Ladies and gentlemen, the RNC. 

…but she was removed. meaning they don’t condone it. come on, guys.

Listen, I would love to believe that Republicans don’t condone racism. Unfortunately, I wasn’t born yesterday.

Well they also said they don’t condone Todd Akins comments, when obviously they do. 

(Paul Ryan has used the term forcible rape.)

(via bittersweetaubade)

thepeoplesrecord:

7 killed, 24 injured in Chicago shootings in 48 hours
August 27, 2012

At least seven people, including a teenager, have been killed and 24 others wounded in a string of shootings in Chicago in the past two days, police officials say.

Two people were killed in separate shootings across the city on Saturday. Gunmen also shot four people dead on Friday, among them an 18-year-old boy, identified as Aaron Gaithan. 

Police said that a total of 24 people were injured in the attacks, adding that several of the injured are in critical condition. 

In another incident, a young man was found dead with multiple gunshot wounds inside a vehicle in the city’s South Side on Sunday. 

Authorities said most of the attacks happened in the south and west of Chicago, where gun violence is epidemic. 

On Thursday, nineteen people were shot in seven attacks in the city. Thirteen of the victims were shot within a half-hour period.

Chicago officials have been battling a sharp increase in shootings and homicide. The city’s murder rate has increased 29 percent year-over-year as of this month. 

Source

rexcerebri:

Hurricane Isaac 2012: Death Toll In Haiti Rises To 7

08/26/12 12:54 PM ET 

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — Joseph Edgard Celestin of the Haitian government says that the death toll has risen from Tropical Storm Isaac.

The official from Haiti’s Civil Protection Office said Sunday that the number of people who died in the Caribbean nation is now up to seven after an initial report of four.

Celestin had few details about how the people died. But he said one man was swept away as he tried to cross a river in the north of the country.

Impoverished Haiti is prone to flooding and mudslides because the bulk of the country is heavily deforested and rainwater rushes down barren mountainsides.

The center of Tropical Storm Isaac passed Haiti’s southern peninsula early Saturday and caused flooding in the capital and elsewhere but no major damage.

Caribbean radio stations report that the people who were displaced and living under plastic tents due to homelessness from the earthquake in 2010 are having to move again due to flooding.

(via colderthanpenguinpussy)

theamericanbear:

Security-conscious authorities will be using a wide variety of devices and technology to monitor the skies, streets and waterways around Tampa during next week’s Republican National Convention. Cameras, helicopters and law enforcement officers all will be employed to help look for suspicious activity and possible threats.

Add to that mix one more technology: drones.

This will mark the first time unmanned aerial vehicles will patrol the skies over a national convention, according to an engineer with a Naples company that builds and will operate the drones.

The vehicle, called an Aether Aero, is an eight-bladed vertical takeoff platform that will provide intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance to government agencies, according to Curt Winter, an engineer with United Drones.

The 41/2-foot-wide Aether Aero, which resembles a small helicopter, can fly up to 4,000 feet high and, with a specially built battery, can operate up to four hours at a time, Winter said. It is equipped with a 109x optical zoom camera, can lift up to 50 pounds and is so light it can be picked up with two fingers, according to Chris Knott, United Drones’ director of corporate development.

[…] In addition to the unmanned aerial vehicles, United Drones will operate several unmanned ground vehicles, called Wraiths, at the convention. The Wraiths can travel up to 65 mph “and climb just about anything,” said Winter.

The Wraiths, also built by United Drones, have the capability of carrying surveillance cameras and even lethal and non-lethal weapons.

REMAIN IN YOUR FREE SPEECH ZONE AT ALL TIMES.

(via revolutionaryrebel)