Sunday, 25 August 2013

The European Union Times

Ron Paul: Snowden, Manning ‘should be treated as heroes’

Posted: 23 Aug 2013 09:06 AM PDT

Libertarian Texas congressman Ron Paul spoke to Larry King on a new episode of Politicking, advocating an end to the surveillance programs exposed over recent months and calling for former Army Private Bradley Manning’s immediate release from prison.
Paul, who conducted an “Ask Me Anything” session Thursday on the social news site Reddit, is perhaps best known as the perennial presidential hopeful who has advocated for a deregulated free market economy and drastic cuts in US foreign aid. He recently launched the Ron Paul Channel, an online news network that will air three 30-minute shows each week.
Paul has made headlines over the past 24 hours for asserting that Manning – who, as an intelligence analyst in Iraq, leaked 700,000 diplomatic cables, combat video, and battlefield reports in 2010 – should be freed immediately instead of serving the 35 year sentence handed down by a military court Wednesday.
Manning, in a statement made public 24 hours after the sentence, announced that he identifies as a woman and would prefer to be referred to as ‘Chelsea.’ The 25-year-old has returned to Fort Leavenworth prison in Kansas, where military officials say they will not adhere to his gender identity request.
“Most military personnel who are caught committing war crimes never receive any penalties,” Paul said in the Reddit question-and-answer session. “I think he should be released now, [and] that he has done us a great service by letting the people know the truth.”
Speaking to Larry King, he compared Manning and Edward Snowden – the former National Security Agency contractor who revealed widespread domestic and foreign surveillance programs – to Daniel Ellsberg, who disclosed that the US government had systematically lied about the true cause of the Vietnam War.
“I think highly of them. I think of them like Daniel Ellsberg, who they tried to put away for a long time and they tried The New York Times for releasing the truth of how the Vietnam War started and how we were lied into that war,” he said. “The people now telling us the truth about what happened in Iraq and Afghanistan should be seen more as heroes. A guy like Snowden knows exactly what he was up to and he knows the danger of it. I sincerely believe, although I’ve never met him, that he believed he was doing a service to the people by doing this. We shouldn’t be calling people like this traitors.”
Julian Assange, the founder of the anti-secrecy group WikiLeaks who has supported Paul’s position of opening the conversation up for a more beneficial political dialogue, was also discussed in the interview.
“I want as much government transparency as possible and think WikiLeaks has worked very hard to make sure no one has been hurt, and there’s no evidence anyone has, but if our government is doing something wrong and they’re hiding it from us I think there is a moral obligation of those who know it and can reveal that to us to let us know,” Paul told King.
Paul admitted that national lawmakers’ private disputes have always been of little relevance when the true matter at hand should be how to govern the nation and how to best administer affairs overseas.
“I’ve never been too interested in politics in spite of the fact that I spent so many years there,” he said. “I don’t pay a lot of attention to it. I’m more interested, as I always have been, in monetary policy, foreign policy, and I don’t think we get very far with the partisan bickering.”
Especially egregious has been the number of politicians who claim to have major philosophical differences while agreeing on topics that apply to the public interest, he said. That problem was never more evident than when Republican Justin Amash proposed legislation that would have defunded the surveillance apparatus Snowden recently revealed.
“I don’t see it as one party versus the other. I see both parties as very closely aligned and the independent-minded people being separate from them,” Paul continued. “If you look at that Amash vote, having to do with the NSA and whether or not we should rein them in a little bit, leadership on both sides were very much in favor of spying. Yet there was a large number of people responding to Republicans and Democrats in opposition to this…I think some of us just see things differently.”
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Soft drinks accelerate behavioral problems in children

Posted: 23 Aug 2013 08:53 AM PDT

New research has indicated that soft drink consumption is associated with aggression, attention problems, and behavioral abnormalities in young children.
The study was conducted by a team of researchers from Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health, University of Vermont, and Harvard School of Public Health.
The team assessed nearly 3000 children at about 5 years old and monitored their soft drink consumption as well as behavioral manifestations.
The children were selected from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study, a prospective birth cohort that follows mother-child pairs from 20 large cities in the United States.
The children’s soft drink consumption and behaviour were regularly reported by their mothers through some checklists.
The report unveiled that children who drank 4 or more soft drinks (particularly more sugar-sweetened sodas) per day were more than twice as likely to damage others’ belongings, get into fights, and physically attack people.
They also had increased attention problems and withdrawal behavior compared with those who did not consume soft drinks.
“We found that the child’s aggressive behavior score increased with every increase in soft drinks servings per day,” said Shakira Suglia, ScD, from Columbia University.
Meanwhile, the findings mirror similar trends among adolescents according to a study published in 2011.
The study found that teens who drank more than five cans of soft drinks every week were significantly more likely to have carried a weapon and acted violently toward peers and family members.
Though the researchers did not identify the exact contribution of soft drinks to behavioral problems, they say “limiting or eliminating a child’s soft drink consumption may combat behavioral problems.”
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Interior Minister: ‘Islam destroys democracy in France’

Posted: 23 Aug 2013 08:29 AM PDT

France’s Interior Minister Manuel Valls said that there was a need to review the country’s migration policy in relation to Africans and questioned the compatibility of Islam and democracy. France has long been assimilating immigrants, but in recent years the situation has changed, and the locals are now the ones that are asked to adjust.
At a government meeting dedicated to the major challenges faced by France in 2025, Valls said that the “demographic pressure” from Africa forces France to revise its immigration policies. The Minister proposed to revise the law on family reunification that allows legal migrants in France to legally bring their spouses and minor children after 18 months in the country. Valls also added that over the years it would be good to prove that “Islam is compatible with democracy,” Le Parisien quoted the Minister. Valls’ several colleagues on condition of anonymity told the newspaper that the minister introduced “a real political problem.”
The Minister’s dissatisfaction is understandable, as France is constantly shaken by Muslim protests caused by the introduction of stringent restrictions on wearing burqas. The last large-scale event was held in July in Trapp commune, a suburb of Paris. Muslims burned dozens of cars and attacked a police station. The reason for the protest was a detention by a police officer of a Muslim woman who, contrary to the existing legislative ban, appeared in a public place wearing burqa. The woman’s husband, who tried to beat up a police officer, was arrested by the police.
Minister Valls is very popular in France and is a fierce supporter of the fight against the Islamization of the country. Early this year, speaking in Brussels at an international conference on extremism, he said that measures had to be taken to prevent the spread of “global jihad.” Valls, in particular, noted that he considered it necessary to deal with Muslims who identify themselves as Salafis. He said that they were trying to infiltrate various organizations, schools, communities, and brainwashing entire families. Valls warned that France would be deporting all imams and all foreign preachers who criticize the French values and conduct propaganda against the French.
Many politicians supported the Minister after the meeting. The ex-Prime Minister and head of the opposition party “Union for a Popular Movement” (UMP) Jean-Francois Cope said that he had been talking about this for years, and was very offended that the officials refused to see the truth. He added that the government was there not only for admitting that the problem existed but for ensuring that it gets solved. Such solidarity is not surprising, as Sarkozy’s right-wing government has also proposed tough measures to limit immigration, such as DNA tests for candidates for entry into France and an exam in French on “knowing the values of the French Republic.”
Minister of Labor Michel Sapin told France Info that immigration should be controlled, and that its limits have obviously been long exhausted. He added that in 2012, according to official statistics, 191,452 residence permits were issued in France, of which 86,572 was family immigration. Vice president of the National Front Louis Alliot said that Valls was free to talk about it because he knew that he was popular, but his determination was only in words, and there were no results from banging his fist on the table.
Indeed, despite the rare unanimity behind the scenes, the French government decided not to take any adequate measures to restrict immigration from Africa. Why? Perhaps because of pan-European tolerance, namely the policy of multiculturalism, criticized by many politicians including Merkel and Sarkozy, but no one wants to admit the mistake on the legislative level. Then other tenets of tolerance, for example, tolerance towards homosexuality, may be subject to criticism. The right to family reunification is recognized in Europe and has been part of French law since 1974, so it is unlikely that France will abandon it.
In this sense, the position of Marisol Touraine, Minister of Health who distanced herself from the Minister of the Interior was much more quoted in France. She told France 2 TV channel that she thought that the French had to remember that they were under the framework of the Republic, and this framework should be provided by the Republic.
As to the doubts regarding the compatibility of Islam and democracy, Valls simply repeated the words of French President Francois Hollande said during the visit of the latter to Tunisia. Hollande said that Islam and democracy were incompatible, meaning the experience of democratization of Tunisia after the “Arab Spring.” However, it is obvious that such reference is unjustified.
We are talking about different things – Islam and Democracy in the Arab countries and France. If we assume that democracy is an ideological tool for the alignment of the political system to serve the public, the latter in France believes that Islam is an intolerant religion incompatible with the values of the French society. This was stated by approximately 70 percent of the French, according to a survey conducted early this year by Le Mond.
The number of citizens concerned with the growing number of Muslims in the country is increasing. According to the survey, over the year the number of French people who believe that Islam was developing too rapidly in their country has increased from 71 to 76 percent. According to statistics released by the portal abna.ir, in the future Islam will be virtually the dominant religion in France. The country is actively building mosques, and some Catholic churches are being closed and converted into mosques.
However, France and Europe have a Christian, not a Muslim tradition, and if the politicians cannot gain the courage to reconsider the policy of “tolerance”, the country will face a social explosion. Meanwhile, there are forces among the ranks of Muslims ready to adapt.
The founder of the Association of Muslims of France and Chairman of the Coordination Council against racism and Islamophobia Abdelaziz Chaambi believes that it is necessary to come to an interpretation of Islam that would be adapted to the realities and conditions of the French, but would not call into question the dogmas and beliefs. “For example, in Lyon, we would rely on a fatwa that allowed Islam to adapt to everyday life in France, so that a Muslim could sit at the same table with those who drink alcohol or smoke marijuana, but would be able to distance from them,” he said.
A philosopher Abdennour Bidar went even further and called for radical “self-criticism”. Unfortunately, he wrote, Islamic culture was not capable of self-criticism. This culture has a paranoid belief that any revision of the dogma is sacrilege, be it Quran, the Prophet, Ramadan, halal, etc. Even the most educated and cultured individuals willing to engage in a dialogue on all other issues get extremely defensive at the slightest attempt to revise them.
France has been assimilating immigrants for a long time, but in recent years there has been a change when under the influence of the European Union the countries were asked to adapt to foreigners. As a result, in the suburbs of big cities Wahhabi communities were formed, funded by Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries. They are in open confrontation with the state and do not recognize the French secular model.
The situation is exacerbated not only in France. In June, London authorities were forced to take buildings associated with Islam under heavy guard. A Scotland Yard official said that the city was experiencing right-wing terror. After the murder of a soldier Lee Rigby by Muslim immigrants, the number of violent crimes motivated by racial or religious hatred in England has increased several times.
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Pentagon considering strikes on Syria: Officials

Posted: 23 Aug 2013 06:48 AM PDT

An F-16 Fighting Falcon from the 421st Fighter Squadron

In response to recent allegations of chemical attacks in Syria, the Pentagon has begun refining its military options for possible strikes in the Middle Eastern country, US officials said.
Officers at the Pentagon said they were updating target lists for potential airstrikes on a number of government and military installations in Syria, should President Barack Obama give the green-light to a military assault, officials said Thursday, according to the Wall Street Journal.
The military options being revised at the Pentagon range from possible strikes on Syrian military “delivery capabilities and systems” to command-and-control facilities and artillery batteries, officials said.
US officials, however, said the purpose of the military options would not be “regime change” but to “punish” President Bashar al-Assad if there was conclusive evidence that his government was behind the alleged chemical attacks.
Syria’s foreign-backed opposition claimed on Wednesday that around 1,300 people were killed in a government chemical attack on militant strongholds in the Damascus suburbs of Ain Tarma, Zamalka and Jobar.
Washington has said that it does not have all the facts to determine the veracity of that claim.
US State Department spokeswoman Jennifer Psaki said on Thursday that President Obama had directed the US intelligence community to gather information about the alleged use of chemical weapons in Syria.
“At this time, right now, we are unable to conclusively determine CW (chemical weapons) use,” Psaki said. “We are doing everything possible in our power to nail down the facts.”
Other administration officials used a stronger language when talking to the media about the incident.
“There are strong indications there was a chemical weapons attack-clearly by the government,” an unnamed senior administration official was quoted as saying by the Wall Street Journal. “But we do need to do our due diligence and get all the facts and determine what steps need to be taken.”
The Syrian government and the army categorically denied any role in the alleged chemical attack.
In March, dozens of people were killed in a chemical attack in the northern province of Aleppo. A Russian-led inquiry said militants were behind the deadly attack.
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New Zealand has direct access to US surveillance

Posted: 23 Aug 2013 06:06 AM PDT

New Zealand’s police and intelligence services have direct access to US surveillance systems such as PRISM, to monitor email and capture various data traffic, according to police affidavits in connection with the raid on Kim Dotcom’s mansion.
The news that the Organised and Financial Crime Agency New Zealand (OFCANZ) requested assistance from the Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB) was revealed by blogger Keith Ng on his On Point blog.
He discovered that the police provided the GCSB – the government’s signals intelligence unit – with a list of indicators for scanning emails and other information traffic generated by Kim Dotcom and his colleagues and co-founders at Megaupload.
New Zealand and Australia use a ‘selector’ categorization system akin to the NSA’s XKEYSCORE, revealed recently by whistleblower Edward Snowden in his set of PRISM revelations about unsanctioned US spying on people across the globe.
PRISM is an all-reaching computer surveillance system run by the US government and the NSA.
Some of these selectors have been redacted in the documents, but others remain – such as Kim Dotcom’s email addresses and the names of proxy servers he uses to access various accounts and servers.
Last year, Dotcom’s mansion was raided by the police for alleged rights and piracy-related breaches, all based on indictments filed in the US.
There is clear indication of the surveillance system monitoring live traffic. The reports reveal communications interspersed with terms such as ‘CONFIDENTIAL’ or ‘NEW ZEALAND EYES ONLY’, or even ‘SECRET…REL TO NZL, AUS, CAN, GBR, USA,” which speaks for itself.
However, while this is certainly a new revelation, it may not be surprising to many. The NSA sometime shares information with NZ, as part of the Five Eyes intelligence-sharing alliance, which also includes the UK, Australia and Canada.
Moreover, New Zealand passed a new bill in August, which radically expands the powers of its spying agency. The legislation was passed 61 votes to 59 in a move that was slammed by the opposition as a death knell for privacy rights in New Zealand.
The new amendment bill gives the GCSB powers to support the New Zealand police, Defense Force and the Security Intelligence Service.
Polls have shown that three quarters of the Kiwi population are opposed to the law. And Kim Dotcom promptly gave his reaction on Twitter with the words “RIP Privacy”.
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