Tag Archives: police state
UN chemical report inconclusive in assigning blame
A United Nations report’s authors did not assign blame for the attack on the outskirts of Damascus, the details it documented included the large size and particular shape of the munitions and the precise direction from which two of them had been fired. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/17/world/europe/syria-united-nations.html?hpw The main point of the report was to establish whether chemical […]
Erdogan shows true globalist colors as US Syria strike fades
On Thursday, Turkish prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, a strong advocate for military intervention in the Syrian war, reacted angrily to the United States’ decision to delay a military strike there — a decision analysts said had left Mr. Erdogan more politically vulnerable at home. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/13/world/middleeast/for-turkeys-leader-syrias-war-worsens-his-problems-at-home.html?ref=world In a speech to a trade group, […]
Court rules Google breaks law with Wi-Fi snooping
A US judge has ruled that Google did break the law when it scooped up unsecured wi-fi data while collecting images for Streetview. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-24047235 Google had hoped to have the case dismissed, arguing that its “mistaken collection” of the data did not break wire-tapping laws. Privacy experts called it a “landmark decision for internet […]
US uses border security measures to illegally seize material
Newly released documents reveal how the government uses border crossings to seize and examine travelers’ electronic devices instead of obtaining a search warrant to gain access to the data. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/10/business/the-border-is-a-back-door-for-us-device-searches.html?ref=world The documents detail what until now has been a largely secretive process that enables the government to create a travel alert for a person, who […]
NSA and GCHQ conspire in spying against their citizens
The US National Security Agency (NSA) is reported have cracked the security codes which protect data on iPhones, Blackberries and Android devices. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-24009342 German news weekly Der Spiegel says documents suggest the NSA and the British GCHQ made joint efforts to gather intelligence. Teams looked at each phone to crack its privacy codes, Der Spiegel […]
NSA and Big Oil spy on national oil company of Brazil
The National Security Agency spied on Petrobras, Brazil’s giant national oil company, according to a report here on Sunday night by the Globo television network, in the latest revelation of the agency’s surveillance methods that have raised tension between Brazil and the United States. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/09/world/americas/nsa-spied-on-brazilian-oil-company-report-says.html?ref=world The company is controlled by Brazil’s government and ranks among […]
US drone strike kills civilians in Afghanistan
Underscoring the continued threat to civilians in Afghanistan, a drone strike in an eastern province killed up to 16 people, Afghan officials said Sunday. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/09/world/asia/two-deadly-attacks-in-afghanistan.html?ref=world&_r=0 The drone strike occurred Saturday afternoon in the Watapur district of Kunar Province. Afghan officials said the drone was targeting four insurgents who were picked up along the road by […]
Within the decade smart cars will fill driverless roads
Germany’s Daimler AG plans to start selling a self-driving car by 2020 as part of its campaign to regain the top spot among premium carmakers. http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2013/09/08/business/08reuters-autoshow-frankfurt-daimler.html?hp&_r=0 “We want to be the first to launch autonomous functions in production vehicles. You can be sure: we will accomplish that in this decade,” Daimler head of development Thomas […]
Some in US Congress still fighting against NSA
After disclosures about the National Security Agency’s stealth campaign to counter Internet privacy protections, a congressman has proposed legislation that would prohibit the agency from installing “back doors” into encryption, the electronic scrambling that protects e-mail, online transactions and other communications. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/07/us/politics/legislation-seeks-to-bar-nsa-tactic-in-encryption.html?ref=us Representative Rush D. Holt, a New Jersey Democrat who is also a physicist, […]
Snowden material unveils NSA pervasiveness and abilities
The National Security Agency has circumvented or cracked much of the encryption, or digital scrambling, that guards global commerce and banking systems, protects sensitive data like trade secrets and medical records, and automatically secures the e-mails, Web searches, Internet chats and phone calls of Americans and others around the world, the documents show. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/06/us/nsa-foils-much-internet-encryption.html?pagewanted=1&_r=0&hp […]
US drone strikes kill six more in Pakistan
At least six people were killed in an American drone strike in Pakistan’s restive northwestern tribal areas early Friday, according to government officials and local news reports. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/07/world/asia/us-drone-strike-kills-6-in-pakistan-fueling-anger.html?hp The identities of those killed were not immediately clear. American drone strikes are deeply unpopular in the country, and opposition to them has become an essential staple […]
Maker of home surveillance cameras reprimanded over privacy
Trendnet home cameras were hacked, causing privacy intrusions for hundreds of people. The company had weaknesses that meant supposedly private video feeds were in fact viewable by anyone online. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-23971118 The company was barred from referring to their cameras as “secure” in marketing material. The move is the first such crackdown by the Federal Trade […]
Chilean judicial body admits complicity in past atrocities
The body representing judges in Chile has made an unprecedented apology for the actions of its members under military rule in the 1970s and 1980s. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-23967816 It a statement, it said that the judiciary at the time had abandoned its role as protector of basic rights. “The time has come to ask for the forgiveness […]
Parks Police arrest another activist without charge in Phili
Iraq war veteran Emily Yates was arrested on Friday after a dispute with police about where she could stand while playing her banjo during a protest against U.S. military action in Syria. Yates asks Federal Parks Police why she could not stand in a shaded area of Independence Mall in Philadelphia. http://youtu.be/yE_efOGFlho After several minutes […]
Assange gets investigation into intelligence theft
The police opened an investigation on Tuesday after Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks, urged them to find out what happened to a suitcase he thinks was stolen from him by intelligence agents as he traveled from Sweden to Germany in 2010. The suitcase contained three laptops with WikiLeaks materials, according to an affidavit that […]
Russia joins chorus doubting chemical weapons evidence
In an interview published on Wednesday, President Vladimir V. Putin said it seemed “completely ridiculous” for the government of President Bashar al-Assad to have used chemical weapons and that there was still not sufficient proof to justify the military strike that President Obama has asked Congress to authorize. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/05/world/europe/putin-says-proof-of-chemical-arms-attack-not-enough-to-justify-us-attack.html?ref=world Mr. Putin, speaking to The […]
Brazil defies US over NSA spying, summons ambassador
Brazil’s government summoned the United States ambassador on Monday to respond to new revelations of American surveillance of President Dilma Rousseff and her top aides, complicating relations between the countries ahead of Ms. Rousseff’s state visit to Washington next month. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/03/world/americas/brazil-angered-over-report-nsa-spied-on-president.html?ref=world “This would be an unacceptable violation to our sovereignty, involving our head of state,” […]
UK High Court OKs seizure of Miranda and Greenwald material
The UK high court extended police powers to analyze encrypted material seized from the partner of one of the newspaper’s journalists this month. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/31/world/europe/britain-cites-grave-risks-in-leaked-data-it-seized.html?src=rechp The decision, which slightly expanded the authority of the police to investigate the digital files, came after a senior national security adviser to Prime Minister David Cameron told the court that […]
FBI increases domestic surveillance while war with Syria looms
The F.B.I. has increased its surveillance inside the United States in response to concerns that a military strike against the government of President Bashar al-Assad could lead to terrorist attacks here or against American allies and interests abroad. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/01/us/fbi-sharpens-scrutiny-of-syrians-in-us-for-signs-of-retaliation.html?ref=us The authorities are particularly concerned because Iran — one of Mr. Assad’s closest allies — […]
18th American drone strike in Pakistan tribal belt this year
A drone suspected of being American killed at least four militants early Saturday in an attack on a compound in the North Waziristan tribal district, near the border with Afghanistan, a Pakistani security official and local residents said. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/01/world/asia/drone-strike-kills-suspected-militants-in-pakistan.html?hp&_r=0 The drone fired missiles at a building and a nearby parked vehicle in a village close […]
Dirty Babylon 