Monday 1 July 2013

The European Union Times

NSA can obtain 1 billion cell phone calls a day, store them and listen

Posted: 30 Jun 2013 03:58 PM PDT

The NSA has a “brand new” technology that enables one billion cell phone calls a day to be redirected into its data hoards and stored, according to the Guardian’s Glenn Greenwald, who said that a new leak of Snowden’s documents was ‘coming soon.’
Calling it part of a “globalized system to destroy all privacy,” and the enduring creation of a climate of fear, Greenwald outlined the capabilities of the NSA to store every single call while having “the capability to listen to them at any time,” while speaking via Skype to the Socialism Conference in Chicago, on Friday.
Greenwald was the first journalist to leak Snowden’s documents, having travelled to Hong Kong to review them prior to exposure.
“What we’re really talking about here is a globalized system that prevents any form of electronic communication from taking place without its being stored and monitored by the National Security Agency,” he said.
While he underlined that the NSA are not necessarily listening in on the full billion calls, he pointed out their capability to do so and the lack of accountability with “virtually no safeguards” which the NSA were being held to.
The Guardian journalist made hints that he was sitting on further details of the NSA’s billion-call backlog, which he’d keep under wraps until the documents full publication, which he said was “coming soon.”
He additionally suggested future exposures to come from Snowden, while lauding the sheer risk the whistleblower took in revealing the NSA’s covert surveillance program.
“More a recluse than a fame whore”
Greenwald spoke highly of Snowden throughout, saying that the he apparently lacked remorse, regret and fear, while not seeking notoriety of any form.
“He’s a person who has zero privilege, zero power, zero position and zero prestige, and yet by himself he has literally changed the world,” Greenwald said of Snowden, using him as an example of the powers individuals still have.
“Courage is contagious,” he said, commenting on the demonization of whistleblowers, and saying it was necessary as Snowden could potentially set an example – something that Snowden himself aimed to do, as he had been looking for a leader to fix the problems inherent in the US system, but found nobody.
“There is more to life than material comfort or career stability…he thought about himself by the actions he took in pursuit of those beliefs,” said Greenwald.
He outlined his meeting with the NSA whistleblower, who he said contacted him anonymously via email suggesting Greenwald might be ‘interested’ in looking over the documents – a suggestion labeled by Greenwald to be “the world’s largest understatement of the decade.”
After Snowden sent Greenwald an “appetizer,” of the documents he had on hand, Greenwald recalled being dizzy with “ecstasy and elation.”

“Climate of Fear”
It was Snowden’s exposure of the documents while operating in a highly surveilled environment that Greenwald was particularly complimentary about, citing an intensifying “climate of fear” being pushed on people who may be hazardous to the government.
“One of the things that has been most disturbing over the past three to four years has been this climate of fear that has emerged in exactly the circles that are supposed to challenge the government…the real investigative journalists who are at these outlets who do real reporting are petrified of the US government now. Their sources are beyond petrified,” he commented.
He called Friday’s scandal over the US army’s blocking of the Guardian website a prize of “a significant level above” a Pulitzer of a Peabody, pointing out the seeming contradiction that soldiers fighting for the country were considered mature and responsible enough to put their lives on the line, but clearly weren’t ‘mature’ enough to be exposed to the same information that the rest of the world was accessing.
“If you talk to anybody in journalism or in the government, they are petrified of even moving. It has been impossible to get anyone inside the government to call us back,” said Greenwald, throwing some thought on the possible reasoning behind people contacting the press regarding the actions of government.
“If you look at who really hates Bradley Manning or who has expressed the most contempt about Wikileaks or who has led the chorus in demonizing Edward Snowden, it is those very people in the media who pretend to want transparency because transparency against political power is exactly what they don’t want,” he opined.
Greenwald finished by pointing out the increasing reluctance for people in government to even communicate with journalists, while highlighting the usage of the mass surveillance program to keep an eye on both dissident groups and Muslim communities.
“There’s a climate of fear in exactly those factions that are most intended to put a check on those in power and that has been by design,” Greenwald stated, saying that Snowden was a prime example that people could stand up to the government, and that there was no need to be afraid of publishing “whatever it is we think should be published in the public good.”
Source

Thousands of protesters gather at Istanbul’s Taksim Square

Posted: 30 Jun 2013 03:49 PM PDT

Demonstrators gathered at Taksim Square in protest against the government of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on June 13, 2013.

Thousands of demonstrators have gathered at Istanbul’s iconic Taksim Square for fresh protest against the government of Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
The demonstration was held on Saturday despite the massive crackdown on anti-government protesters over the past weeks.
Demonstrations erupted on May 31 after police broke up a sit-in at Istanbul’s Taksim Square in protest against a proposal to demolish Gezi Park.
The violence turned into nationwide demonstrations against the ruling Justice and Development Party, with police using water cannons, tear gas and rubber bullets against demonstrators.
Erdogan, whose government is the main target of protests, has described the demonstrators as foreign-backed extremists and terrorists.
Earlier on Saturday, Turkish artists, journalists and authors placed full-page advertisements in several newspapers, calling on Erdogan to stop using divisive language.
“We are concerned. The ‘you vs. us’ rhetoric is sharpening the polarization of society,” the advertisement said, adding, “There is an air of frustration and hatred around.”
On Friday, police also used tear gas and water cannons to disperse hundreds of protesters in the Dikmen residential district of the capital, Ankara.
Four protesters were reportedly arrested during the demonstration.
On Thursday, Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Bekir Bozdag said the authorities were investigating people who allegedly insulted government officials or provoked violence during the anti-government protests on social media.
On June 24, Erdogan praised the “legendary heroism” of police forces in quelling anti-government protests.
“Our police have responded to attacks, provocations without violating the law … and have written a saga of heroism,” he said.
This came as Ankara has been widely criticized by human rights groups and its Western allies for using excessive force against protesters.
Source

Secret FBI files reveal Michael Jackson abused 24 kids

Posted: 30 Jun 2013 03:39 PM PDT

Michael Jackson paid $35 million in hush money to at least two dozen young boys he sexually abused over 15 years, it has been alleged.
Sunday People has published explosive ‘secret FBI files’ suggesting the King of Pop groomed and molested children from at least 1989, despite his insistence he was just spending time with them.
The damning files claim the deceased popstar was a ‘pedophile’ who watched porn while assaulting a boy, molested a famous child star, fondled a child’s genitals in his private cinema and groped another child whose mother wasn’t ‘bothered’ by it.
The FBI did not return Mail Online’s calls today.
Jackson family lawyers have to date insisted the star has only paid off the family of Jordan Chandler, 13, who he abused in 1993.
However a sleuth hired by Anthony Pellicano – a celebrity private eye Jackson allegedly hired to make the pedophilia claims go away – has claimed Jackson was a ‘serial child predator’ who paid out scores of children he allegedly abused at his Neverland Ranch.
Sunday People says it has evidence to back the investigators claims.
When Anthony Pellicano was investigated in 2002 for bugging Hollywood stars, the FBI seized his files, including many about Jackson.
These included case files CADCE MJ-02463 and CR 01046 which Sunday People claims it has access to.
The files were allegedly not passed on to prosecutors in Jackson’s controversial 2005 molestation trial.
The shocking revelations come after Jacko’s daughter, 15-year-old Paris, recently tried to kill herself by slashing her wrists.

Michael Jackson’s daughter, Paris

In further scandal, his family is also trying to sue gig promoter AEG Live who they claim hired Dr Conrad Murray who prescribed Jackson his last fatal drug dose.
AEG Live denies hiring Murray, who is currently serving a four-year jail term for involuntary manslaughter.
The investigator, who spoke to Sunday People on the condition of anonymity, said he decided to finally come forward after Jackson’s former child friend Wade Robson revealed he was abused by Jackson.

Australian-born Robson, a dancer and choreographer, recently launched a major lawsuit against the Jackson estate, saying he was regularly molested at Neverland in the 1990s.
Sunday People claims it has seen files confirming Robson’s claims.
While Pellicano is now in jail for racketeering and wire-tapping, his investigator told Sunday People he was hired to help dig the dirt on Jackson and make potential problems disappear.
He claims Jackson was obsessed with child porn and preyed on the sons of friends.
The investigator said he kept copies of FBI documents naming 17 boys – including five child actors and two dancers – Jacko targeted for abuse.
These included a European boy and the sons of a screenwriter.
The sleuth said at least three boys were paid to stay silent, with the family of a famous film actor given about $596,300 not to talk to the media.
He said a Neverland maid was allegedly paid $2 million after accusing her boss of molesting her son, while another woman who knew her son was being assaulted ‘turned a blind eye to it because if it didn’t bother him, it didn’t bother her’.
The files on the alleged victims were reportedly compiled when lawyers drew up a list of ‘potential threats’ to Jackson’s image in the early 1990s, when he was on a world tour.
But after the father of Jordan Chandler publicly claimed his son had been abused, other similar accusations began flooding the media.
Chandler was paid a hefty sum to stay out of the limelight.
‘His [Jackson’s] actress friend Elizabeth Taylor encouraged him to hire Pellicano because she had used him to stop dirt on her drug problems being released in the media,’ the investigator, who spent two years on the case, alleged.
‘Pellicano had links to key figures in the US media and made them dance to his tune.
‘With the help of people like Pellicano, the world and his fans never heard what took place at Neverland over 15 years.’
While Jackson was found not guilty of abusing a 13-year-old boy in 2005, the private eye insists the boxes of evidence he helped to collect showed ‘Jackson was a serial child predator’.
The investigator said he didn’t come forward to upset Jackson’s children, but to finally make public that authorities have shocking information on the dead star that has never been released.
However long-time Jackson lawyer and friend Brian Oxman said he thought only Chandler had been paid off, but admitted the ‘gift list on Michael’s income tax returns was astounding’.
Source

EU demands clarification on US spying, warns of severe impact on relations

Posted: 30 Jun 2013 03:11 PM PDT

The European Parliament has asked for “full clarification” about the latest disclosure that the U.S. has spied on European Union offices both in the U.S. and in Europe, warning EU-U.S. relations would be severely affected.
“I am deeply worried and shocked about the allegations of U.S. authorities spying on EU offices,” said the President of the European Parliament Martin Schulz in a statement on Sunday.
“If the allegations prove to be true, it would be an extremely serious matter which will have a severe impact on EU-U.S. relations. On behalf of the European Parliament, I demand full clarification and require further information speedily from the U.S. authorities with regard to these allegations,” he added.
EU commissioner for justice, Viviane Reding, also said that free-trade discussions between the EU and the U.S. should be stopped until U.S. officials provide full explanations about the reports.
On Saturday, a German weekly magazine, Der Spiegel, reported that the U.S. National Security Agency has spied on EU offices in Washington, D.C., New York, and the heart of Europe, Brussels.
The German magazine said the revelations were based upon a September 2010 “top secret” NSA document obtained by American whistleblower Edward Snowden.
Der Spiegel also revealed on Sunday that the U.S. spy agency taps 500 million phone calls, emails, and text messages in Germany in a typical month.
Germany’s justice minister has called for an immediate explanation from Washington, saying the U.S. spying was reminiscent of “the methods used by enemies during the Cold War”.
Other documents disclosed by Snowden also blew the lid on two other NSA spying programs, one for gathering U.S. phone records and another, called PRISM, for tracking the use of U.S.-based web servers by American citizens and other nationals.
Washington has charged Snowden, who is currently in the transit zone of a Moscow airport, with espionage.
According to former Texas Congressman Ron Paul, espionage means giving “classified information to the enemy” and since Snowden “shared information with the American people,” the U.S. government views U.S. citizens “as the enemy”.
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Protests turn violent in Egypt, 7 dead and 600 injured

Posted: 30 Jun 2013 12:09 PM PDT

Opponents of President Mohammed Morsi have attempted to storm the headquarters of the Muslim Brotherhood in Cairo, the organization’s spokesman has said. Seven people have been killed and over 600 injured on Sunday as millions took to the streets.
Violence had been widely anticipated ahead of Sunday’s multi-million-strong countrywide protests against the president on the anniversary of his inauguration, demanding his resignation.
Gehad El-Haddad, the spokesman for the Brotherhood, which nominated Morsi as its candidate ahead of last year’s elections, said several dozen protesters shot at the windows with shotguns, and threw Molotov cocktails and rocks at the building, which had been fortified in recent weeks.
El-Haddad said the attackers were successfully repelled.
All seven dead were shot in Nile Valley towns south of the capital, one in Beni Suef and three in Assiut.
Millions took to the streets on Sunday to demand the resignation of President Mohammed Morsi on the first anniversary of his inauguration. “It is the biggest protest in Egypt’s history,” a military source told AFP on condition of anonymity.
Regional offices of the Muslim Brotherhood, and its political affiliate, the Freedom and Justice Party, have come under a barrage of attacks over the past week. At least seven people – including an American bystander – have been killed during the torchings, with an estimated 600 suffering injuries.
Police, who have persistently feuded with Morsi, and have mostly ignored his instructions in recent weeks (news reports showed some police officers joining anti-government demonstrations on Sunday) said they had no intention of safeguarding Brotherhood buildings, due to “a lack of manpower.”
A man has been killed, and two dozen people injured in a scuffle between anti-Morsi and pro-Morsi supporters in the Nile city of Beni Suef, according to security sources.
Earlier on Sunday, anti-Morsi activists ransacked the local Muslim Brotherhood office, and tried to break into a school, claiming the Islamist movement used it to store weapons.
The Health Ministry has said that 228 people were wounded in clashes across the country on Sunday.
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