Showing posts with label russia. Show all posts

Sunday, January 12

Dissenting Heretic's Person of the Year, 2013: EDWARD SNOWDEN

Edward Snowden

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Further information: Global surveillance disclosure and Aftermath of the global surveillance disclosure

Edward Joseph Snowden (born June 21, 1983) is an American computer specialist, a former Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) employee, and former National Security Agency (NSA) contractor who disclosed classified NSA documents to several media outlets, initiating the NSA leaks, which reveal operational details of a global surveillance apparatus run by the NSA, its Five Eyes partners, and numerous commercial and international partners.^[3]

Snowden's release of classified material was called the most significant leak in US history by Pentagon Papers leaker Daniel Ellsberg. Aseries of exposés beginning June 5, 2013 revealed Internet surveillance programs such as PRISM, XKeyscore and Tempora, as well as the interception of US and European telephone metadata. The reports were based on documents Snowden leaked to The Guardian andThe Washington Post while employed by NSA contractor Booz Allen Hamilton. By November 2013, The Guardian had published one percent of the documents, with "the worst yet to come".

A subject of controversy, Snowden has been variously called a hero,^[4]^[5]^[6] a whistleblower,^[7]^[8]^[9]^[10] a dissident,^[11] a traitor,^[12]^[13] and a patriot.^[14]^[15] According to Snowden, his "sole motive" for leaking the documents was "to inform the public as to that which is done in their name and that which is done against them."^[16] The disclosures have fueled debates over mass surveillance, government secrecy, and the balance between national security and information privacy.^[17] Seven months after the NSA revelations began, Snowden declared his mission accomplished, citing the international debate sparked by his leaks. A federal judge in December 2013 ruled that the government had "almost certainly" violated the US Constitution by collecting metadata on nearly every phone call within or to the United States. Ten days later, a different federal judge ruled the surveillance program was legal, raising the likelihood that the constitutionality of the program would ultimately be decided by the Supreme Court.^[18]

Snowden's passport was revoked by US officials during a layover in Moscow whilst en route to the Republic of Ecuador on June 23, 2013. He remained in a Moscow airport transit zone until the Russian government granted him a one-year temporary asylum on August 1. He is considered a fugitive by American authorities who have charged him with espionage and theft of government property.^[19]^[20] Numerous media outlets and politicians issued calls for leniency in the form of amnesty, clemency or pardon in the beginning of 2014, while others called for him to be imprisoned or hanged.^[21]^[22] He lives in an undisclosed location in Russia and continues to seek permanent asylum.

Saturday, November 23

Free DOCUMENTARIES: 97% Owned, Locally Abundant, Girl Killers, Right to Remain Silent, Unpublished NYT Video, Inside the KGB, Wall Street Code, Bitcoin, Feral Children, Robot Revolution, Bumfights.

View documentaries on our website http://www.dustcircle.com

97% Owned

97% Owned looks at the economic and financial systems from a UK-perspective and explains the inner-workings of the banks and how money is made.

97% Owned from Queuepolitely on Vimeo.

Locally Abundant

Along with interviews of the farmers themselves, this film includes segments by David Suzuki, and information on ‘factory farms’ and why the use of synthetic additives like fertilizers are hurting the people consuming the food.

Video Not Working?

Girl Killers

Nearly thirty percent of Indians live in poverty and for women this economic position brings a life of animosity. The parents of the bride must give a dowry which often renders them bankrupt. As a result female infanticide is a common and established practice. The girls that are not killed are practically enslaved, forced to break stones or sell their bodies to support their existence. But now the women are defending themselves by forming associations which offer help in education, savings and loan arrangements.

The Right to Remain Silent
The film covers the mass arrests of nearly 2000 peaceful protesters during the cop 15 in copenhagen (environmental meeting), whilst following effected activists and discussing the wider ramifications of the growing trend around the world of criminalizing protests.

The Video The New York Times Didn’t Want You To See

(Max) Blumenthal explained how The New York Times commissioned the 11-minute video, but after the paper’s editors saw it, refused to publish it.

Inside the KGB: Terror of the Soviet Union

The Committee for State Security, more commonly known by its transliteration “KGB” was the main security agency for the Soviet Union from 1954 until its collapse in 1991. The committee was a direct successor of such preceding agencies as Cheka, NKGB, and MGB. It was the chief government agency of “union-republican jurisdiction”, acting as internal security, intelligence, and secret police. Similar agencies were instated in each of the republics of the Soviet Union aside from the Russian SFSR and consisted of many ministries, state committees and state commissions.

The Wall Street Code

From the makers of the much-praised Quants: the Alchemists of Wall Street and Money & Speed: Inside the Black Box. Now the long-awaited final episode of a trilogy in search of the winners and losers of the tech revolution on Wall Street. Could mankind lose control of this increasingly complex system?

Bitcoin: Bankers’ Worst Fear

A short documentary on the effects of the newish but controversial currency known as Bitcoin. Bitcoin is a distributed peer-to-peer digital currency that functions without the intermediation of any central authority. The concept was introduced in a 2008 paper by a pseudonymous developer known only as “Satoshi Nakamoto”.

Wild Child: The Story Of Feral Children

Interesting documentary which examines the myth and reality behind some of the most famous cases of feral children, who have been discovered around the World. There’s some fascinating footage of kids who have allegedly been brought up by all sorts of animals, and we also hear about some of our traditional stories relating to children who have grown up primarily in the company of other living creatures. This film attempts to make us think about our place in the animal kingdom – What exactly does it mean to be a human being? Is nature or nurture more important for our conditioning? – but it also exposes the reality that many of the children who have been found to be growing up in the ‘wild’, have often run away from an abusive situation at home.

Robot Revolution: Will Machines Surpass Humans

The NHK documentary, “Robot Revolution : Will Machines surpass humans” features Honda ASIMO, Hubo, Big Dog from Boston Dynamics, Baxter from Rethink Robotics, Nextage and other humanoid robots. Since the Fukishima nuclear disaster, development of humanoid robotics and the artificial intelligence used in them has accelerated dramatically.

Bumfights: A video too far

In 2002, six American teenagers released one of the most shocking and degrading videos ever made. Set in the skidrows of Las Vegas and San Diego, the film featured homeless people and addicts fighting each other and performing extreme stunts. Acts they were paid to perform by those who were filming them. It scandalised America, but despite a horrified public reaction, the video sales were phenomenal.

Monday, June 3

@dustcircle - HEADLINES: Drones May Violate International Law, The Monsanto Revolution, Amnesty Int'l Let Bradley Manning Down, America's Education System Coming, Revolution, Preventive Warriors, Russia Warns Obama About Monsanto, Case for the New Radical, more.

Join our mailing list, and watch free video documentaries: http://www.dustcircle.com

Drones may violate international law

http://machineslikeus.com/news/drones-may-violate-international-law

The Monsanto Revolution
http://www.opednews.com/articles/The-Monsanto-Revolution-by-Timothy-Gatto-130528-623.html

How Amnesty has let down Bradley Manning
http://electronicintifada.net/blogs/david/how-amnesty-has-let-down-bradley-manning

Signs of the Coming Revolution in America's Education System
http://www.alternet.org/signs-coming-revolution-americas-education-system

US Governmental Authorities Fail to Investigate Themselves Even As They Prosecute Leakers
http://www.opednews.com/articles/US-Governmental-Authoritie-by-Dennie-Williams-130528-155.html

Preventive Warriors: American Military Dominance for the Rest of Time?http://therealnews.com/t2/component/hwdvideoshare/viewvideo/76269

Obama Doesn’t ‘Have Much Patience’ For Climate Change Deniers
http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entry/obama-doesnt-have-much-patience-for-climate-change

Russia Warns Obama: Monsanto
http://topinfopost.com/2013/05/28/russia-warns-obama-monsanto

Get Apocalyptic - The Case for the New Radical
http://www.alternet.org/activism/get-apocalyptic-case-new-radical

The Religion of Self Improvement Grinds On Despite Hard Times for Grads
http://www.religiondispatches.org/archive/culture/7116/the_religion_of_self_improvement_grinds_on_despite_hard_times_for_grads__

President Obama Uses a Sledgehammer Against Dissent
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2013/05/31

We’re Being Watched: How Corporations and Law Enforcement Are Spying on Environmentalists
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2013/05/29-3

The war on terror and the fate of US democracy
http://wsws.org/en/articles/2013/05/28/pers-m28.html

Monsanto gives up fight for GM plants in Europe
http://www.dw.de/monsanto-gives-up-fight-for-gm-plants-in-europe/a-16851701

The 'We Steal Secrets' Documentary on WikiLeaks Is Incredibly Biased
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2013/05/30-10

Religious Islam vs. Political Islam
http://freethoughtblogs.com/crommunist/2013/05/29/religious-islam-vs-political-islam/

Julian Assange's human rights are being violated
http://www.opednews.com/Quicklink/Julian-Assange-s-human-rig-in-General_News-130529-593.html

Chomsky/Pilger demand US Govt be prosecuted for war crimes
http://darkernet.in/chomskypilger-demand-us-govt-be-prosecuted-for-war-crimes-2/

How Popular Resistance Can Defeat Corporate Power
http://www.alternet.org/activism/how-protest-corporate-power

Study Shows That Walmart Is Costing You Billions Of Dollars Per Year In Government Subsidies
http://www.addictinginfo.org/2013/06/01/study-shows-that-walmart-is-costing-you-billions-per-year-in-government-subsidies/

Privatization Is America’s Path To Poverty & Indentured Servitude http://www.addictinginfo.org/2013/06/02/privatization-is-americas-path-to-poverty-indentured-servitude-video/

Sunday, May 12

@dustcirclenews - 9 Free DOCUMENTARIES: Top Terrorist State is USA, Seven Sisters' Secret, Cracking the Placebo Code, Free to Learn, Okupacion, Liquid Bomb Plot, Art of Deception, Orthodox Corruption, Who Killed America's Biggest Gadget?

The Video-related content I send out will have a link to the website so you can view the videos, instead of seeing just a list: http://www.dustcircle.com

USA: Top Terrorist State
Renowned American academic Noam Chomsky says the United States would be recognized as a leading terrorist state if international law is applied. This documentary conducts an in-depth interview with Noam Chomsky in which the double standards of the Western states with regard to the issue of nuclear weapons are dealt with in detail.

The Secret of the Seven Sisters
Documentary series that reveals how a secret pact formed a cartel that controls the world’s oil. Throughout the region’s modern history, since the discovery of oil, the Seven Sisters have sought to control the balance of power.

Placebo: Cracking the Code

The placebo effect is a pervasive, albeit misunderstood, phenomenon in medicine. In the UK, over 60% of doctors surveyed said they had prescribed placebos in regular clinical practice. In a recent Times Magazine article, 96% of US physicians surveyed stated that they believe that placebo treatments have real therapeutic effects.

Free to Learn: A Radical Experiment in Education

Like many of today’s radical and democratic schools, The Free School expects children to decide for themselves how to spend their days. The Free School, however, is unique in that it transcends obstacles that prevent similar schools from reaching a economically and racially diverse range of students and operates in the heart of a city.

Okupacion

Squatted social centers are proliferating all across Europe. Ordinary people are occupying empty buildings in urban areas, turning them into free, open and public space.

LIQUID BOMB PLOT

Travelling between the upper ranks of Washington, the dusty streets of Pakistan and the inner cities of Britain, this fast-paced documentary brings together the work of the UK police, MI5, the CIA, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Pakistani officials and others in their efforts to stop the bombers.

THE ART OF DECEPTION

The Art of Deception explains the way the media has become a puppet for certain people. The US government used Kony 2012, or the invisible children, as a puppet to invade Uganda after they discovered huge amounts of untapped oil. This is explained in great detail in the documentary.

Orthodox Corruption
For years under communism the institution had been suppressed, its priests harassed by the authorities, its churches closed or given over to communal secular pursuits, its devotees scorned for their ‘superstitious’ adherence to doctrines that the state and the party regarded with deep suspicion.

WHO KILLED AMERICA’S BIGGEST GADGET?

The hunt for the Higgs boson, god particle or goddamn particle, the one that gives things mass, came closer to an end. Physicists at CERN’s Large Hadron Collider in Europe, the world’s largest particle accelerator, found evidence of the particle and its energy field. But the LHC didn’t do it alone.

Sunday, March 31

@dustcirclenews - HEADLINES: Food Stamps Record, United Police States of America, Monsanto Protection Act, Guantanamo Hunger Strikers Denied Water, Anti-Gay Movement Humiliated, Depositors Confiscation Scheme, Corporations Unpatriotic, Global Warming Speeding Up, Afghans Terrorized by US Drones, Trickle-Down Consumption, Walmart's Death Grip, more.

It has come to my attention that some of the VIDEO digests don't show some of the videos in the mailings. These are accessible on the website. The Video-related content I send out will have a link to the website so you can view the videos, instead of seeing just a list: http://www.dustcircle.com

Record Number of Americans Using Food Stamps: US food stamp use swells to a record 47.8 millionhttp://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article34453.htm

Survey: 48% of US Christians Believe Jesus Is Coming Back in Next 40 Years
http://www.alternet.org/survey-48-us-christians-believe-jesus-coming-back-next-40-years

You Have the Right to Remain Silent: The United Police States of America
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article34443.htm

Obama Signature On Monsanto Protection Act Ignites Massive Activism
http://intellihub.com/2013/03/29/obama-signature-on-monsanto-protection-act-ignites-massive-activism/

Obama Signs 'Monsanto Protection Act' Written by Monsanto-sponsored Senator
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article34445.htm

Guantanamo Guards Denying Water to Hunger Strikers to Thwart Protest, say Lawyers
http://intellihub.com/2013/03/29/guantanamo-guards-denying-water-to-hunger-strikers-to-thwart-protest-say-lawyers/

Why the Anti-Gay Movement Got Humiliated in the Supreme Court
http://www.alternet.org/civil-liberties/why-anti-gay-movement-got-humiliated-supreme-court

Think Your Money is Safe? Think Again: The Confiscation Scheme Planned for US and UK Depositors
http://www.alternet.org/economy/think-your-money-safe-think-again-confiscation-scheme-planned-us-and-uk-depositors

How Big Corporations Are Unpatriotic
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2013/03/28-11

New Research Shows Global Warming Speeding Up
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2013/03/28-1

Rare Reporting Reveals Afghan Civilians Terrorized by US Drones
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2013/03/28-2

Little-known surveillance tool raises concerns by judges, privacy activists
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/little-known-surveillance-tool-raises-concerns-by-judges-privacy-activists/2013/03/27/8b60e906-9712-11e2-97cd-3d8c1afe4f0f_story.html#

‘Trickle-down consumption’ has created the United States of Inequality
http://www.allvoices.com/contributed-news/14303851-trickledown-consumption-has-created-the-united-states-of-inequality

Overturning DOMA could afford federal benefits for same-sex couples

http://www.fiercegovernment.com/story/overturning-doma-could-afford-federal-benefits-same-sex-couples/2013-03-28?utm_medium=nl&utm_source=internal

Walmart's Death Grip on Groceries Is Making Life Worse for Millions of People
http://www.alternet.org/food/walmarts-death-grip-groceries-making-life-worse-millions-people-hard-times-usa

Corporations Are Robbing Us Of Our Right to a Fair Trial

http://www.alternet.org/civil-liberties/corporations-are-robbing-us-our-right-fair-trial

Importance of Church/State Separation to Religious Groups in America
http://atheism.about.com/od/Church-State-Survey-Polls/a/Importance-Church-State-Separation-Religious-Groups.htm?nl=1

What Is the "Monsanto Protection Act," and How Did It Sneak Into Law?
http://www.alternet.org/what-monsanto-protection-act-and-how-did-it-sneak-law

New Study Projects Iraq and Afghanistan War Costs Will Total up to $6 Trillion
http://www.alternet.org/new-study-projects-iraq-and-afghanistan-war-costs-will-total-6-trillion

How Brazil, Russia, India and China Are Standing Up to the American Empire
http://www.alternet.org/world/alternative-power-structure-american-empire-keeps-growing-stronger

Israel is an Apartheid State
http://www.opednews.com/articles/Israel-is-an-Apartheid-Sta-by-willy-scanlon-130330-437.html

Get serious about closing Guantanamohttp://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article34451.htm

Israeli Idiocracy
http://www.opednews.com/articles/Israeli-Idiocracy-by-Uri-Avnery-130329-130.html

Domestic Drones And Their Unique Dangers
http://www.opednews.com/articles/Domestic-Drones-And-Their-by-Glenn-Greenwald-130329-584.html

Israel Assassination of Rachel Corrie: @BBC Admits Failings in Reporting
http://occupiedpalestine.wordpress.com/2013/03/31/israel-assassination-of-rachel-corrie-bbc-admits-failings-in-reporting/

Global Warming Forecasts Proven Accuratehttp://www.countercurrents.org/cc300313B.htm

Monday, March 11

11.Mar.2013 - DOCUMENTARIES, Part 2: Facade of the American Dream, Professional Prisoners, 7 Ancient World Wonders, War on Nature, Special Forces Diver's Training, Human Cloning, 10 Mafia Commandments, Fat Head.

The Facade of the American Dream

The documentary depicts how the US removed Africans from their country of origin, worked them to death as slaves and today, in schools, is brainwashing them to make believe they are inferior in many aspects. A cross section of people discuss the fraud of the American dream and how systemic racism keeps millions of people down while offering others hope and opportunity.

Professional Prisoners

It isn't easy to live a normal life after you have been in prison. It is difficult to find a job and sometimes the prisoners haven´t got families or friends to rely on in this difficult time. Prisons in Russia try to help their prisoners by giving them the chance to work while being imprisoned. They can learn something completely new and sometimes hidden talents are revealed.

The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World
Built by the ancient people in a time before Christ, the Seven Wonders exemplify remarkable architecture and massive structures that is world-renowned. All of them were massive construction projects that took years if not decades to build. Of the original seven in the list, only the Great Pyramid of Giza is standing as of this day. The others have fallen, taking with them the secrets of their history and construction.

Culture in Decline: War on Nature
War. We love it, right. Blowing stuff up, watching people suffer and die… it’s exciting. Violence, domination, retribution and other attributes of this competitive “warring” fascination clearly dominates our media with films, television and other expressions constantly glorifying and reinforcing this gesture of conflict. In fact, it has been found that by the time an average kid reaches the age of fourteen, in the west, he or she has visually witnessed over 8000 depicted acts of murder. So given all this it might make you wonder, does art imitate life, or does life imitate art. Likewise isn’t it interesting how most of the people in America sleep quite well at night while their military forces routinely invade, slaughter and steal from other nations at will, as of course all global empires have done historically. This time the global civilian death toll is well over one million in the past decade alone, many of them women and children, and yet the same American culture shutters in horror and confusion when some dude stumbles into an American school yard and randomly wipes out a couple dozen or so kids.

Surviving the Special Forces Diver’s Training
The six week diving course, attended by 53 of the best divers in the military, is done in Florida. Day 1 begins with a test of swimming across half a football field in a single breath. Safety instructors are also in the water to check the vitals and health of each swimmer. The next activity is ‘drown-proofing’ and this aims to test the confidence of each candidate in water. They are required to swim across a pool and do some other tasks while their hands and feet are tied. Signs of panic can cause them to fail the test and the course all together.

Human Cloning and its Evolution
Science has no limits for some scientists. Over the past ten years, Dr. Panayiotis Zavos and his team have experimented on injecting the DNA of an individual to a women’s egg to generate a replica. His quest for human cloning brings him to dangerous and far flung places in the world.

The 10 Commandments of the Mafia

The first commandment talks about who can or who can’t belong to the group. You have to be invited to the Mafia and anyone with a close relationship to the police cannot be one. Interestingly, you also have to be of Sicilian heritage to be a member. Even Al Capone was barred from being a member because of this. Find out the rest of the commandments by watching the documentary below.

Fat Head

While most people saw the documentary Super Size Me as an expose of the fast food industry, comedian and former health writer Tom Naughton saw it as a dare: He’d show that you could lose weight on a diet of burgers and fries.

Monday, December 24

24.Dec.2012 - Wikileaks will Release a Million Files, Rand Paul Slams NDAA Bill, US Senate Approves $211 Million for Israel, Obama's Massacre of Children, 5 White House Petitions You Should Know About, Israel Disrespects International Law, Torture Chronicle, Coming Drone Attack on America, UN + EU Condemns Israeli Settlements, Science and Religion,

No matter how (or if) you all spend the holidays, just be safe and happy.
- Steve, Editor.

WikiLeaks Will Release a Million Files

'Abomination': Rand Paul slams NDAA as bill passes US Senate

The Libertarian Republican voiced his concerns to a conference committee following the decision to give the present version of National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) the go-ahead. Paul cited the committee’s decision to scrap an amendment that would have prohibited the indefinite detention of US citizens suspected of terrorist activities.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article33414.htm

US Senate approves $211 million for Israel in new $633 billion war bill

The Senate overwhelmingly backed a $633 billion defense bill for next year that would tighten penalties on Iran to thwart its nuclear ambitions and bulk up security at diplomatic missions worldwide after the deadly Sept. 11 raid in Libya. The vote Friday was 81-14 for the sweeping policy measure that covers the cost of ships, aircraft, weapons and military personnel. The White House has threatened a veto, but it remains unclear whether President Barack Obama will reject the solidly bipartisan legislation.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article33416.htm

The massacre of children Obama prefers you not know about

13 Resolutions to Improve the World's Food Supply in 2013

s we start 2013, many people will be thinking about plans and promises to improve their diet and health. But we think a broader collection of farmers, policymakers, and eaters need new, bigger resolutions for fixing the food system - real changes with long-term impacts in fields, boardrooms, and on plates all over the world. Here are13 resolutions that the world can't afford to break with nearly 1 billion people still hungry and more than 1 billion others suffering from the effects of being overweight and obese. We have the tools - let's use them in 2013!http://readersupportednews.org/opinion2/448-farm-and-food-policy/15175-13-resolutions-to-improve-the-worlds-food-supply-in-2013

Five White House Petitions You Should Know About

Crowds of people watch as the Space Shuttle Endeavour is transported through the streets of Los Angeles on Oct. 12, 2012. (Robyn Beck/AFP/GettyImages)

Since the White House launched the “We the People” petition website in September 2011, it has been steadily growing in terms of submissions and users. In its first year, a total of 50,348 petitions were created, attracting over 3.4 million signatures.

http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/united-states/five-white-house-petitions-you-should-know-about-327521.html

Israel does not respect Intl. law: Poll
According to the survey, which was conducted on 12,844 people on December 10-22, 62 percent of the participants said Israel refuses to open its nuclear facilities to international inspectors because it does not have the habit of respecting international law.
http://rebel-institute.org/politics/mideast/302803-israel-does-not-respect-intl-law-poll

Israel suffers growing Int’l isolation
The Iranian diplomat emphasized that the overwhelming majority vote of most countries against the Israeli regime conveyed a serious message to the few states, which support Tel Aviv, that “they must revise [their] Middle Eastern policies, particularly on the Palestinian issue.”
http://rebel-institute.org/politics/mideast/129-iran/299438-israel-suffers-growing-int-l-isolation

Americans cut back on holiday spending

Two recent Reuter’s polls showed that shoppers are cutting back on buying for the holidays and one reason is the “fiscal cliff,” which will hit on January 1 if no deal is reached between the Democrats and Republicans.
http://rebel-institute.org/politics/americas/126-united-states/303118-americans-cut-back-on-holiday-spending

The Torture Chronicle
If there is one word missing from the United States government’s post-9/11 lexicon it is “accountability.” While perfectly legal though illicit sexual encounters apparently continue to rise to the level of high crimes and misdemeanors, leading to resignations, no one has been punished for malfeasance, torture, secret prisons, or extraordinary renditions. Indeed, the Obama administration stated in 2009 that it would not punish CIA torturers because it prefers to “look forward and not back,” a decision not to prosecute that was recently confirmed by Attorney General Eric Holder in two cases involving the deaths of detainees after particularly brutal Agency interrogations. What the White House decision almost certainly means is that the president would prefer to avoid a tussle with the Republicans in congress over national security that would inevitably reveal a great deal of dirty laundry belonging to both parties.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article33410.htm

"Americans Kill People": Michael Moore

Gun Violence, Massacres, and "Other Developed Countries"

One evening in the spring of 1993 I took a bus across San Francisco, leaving the troubled, largely impoverished neighborhood of the Western Addition, populated mostly by the descendants of African slaves, in which I lived (representing, I suppose, the artistic hippie beginnings of the gentrification process which has since pushed most of San Francisco's Black population across the bay). My closest friend at the time was someone I met because we were housemates in a big apartment. He was a tall man with a long, thick red mane and beaming eyes named Eric Mark. A brilliant engineer with a promising career as such who quit his job and became a cab driver in the interest of experiencing life more fully. Eric and I, along with one friend and two of his acquaintances, were headed to the Mission District, another troubled, impoverished neighborhood, this one populated mostly by the refugees from the wars in Guatemala and El Salvador, generally known as "immigrants."

http://www.opednews.com/articles/Gun-Violence-Massacres-a-by-David-Rovics-121222-11.html

The coming drone attack on America

In February of this year, Congress passed the FAA Reauthorization Act, with its provision to deploy fleets of drones domestically. Jennifer Lynch, an attorney at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, notes that this followed a major lobbying effort, "a huge push by [...] the defense sector" to promote the use of drones in American skies: 30,000 of them are expected to be in use by 2020, some as small as hummingbirds -- meaning that you won't necessarily see them, tracking your meeting with your fellow-activists, with your accountant or your congressman, or filming your cruising the bars or your assignation with your lover, as its video-gathering whirs.

http://www.opednews.com/articles/The-coming-drone-attack-on-by-Naomi-Wolf-121222-249.html

The Right's Second Amendment Lies

Right-wing resistance to meaningful gun control is driven, in part, by a false notion that America's Founders adopted the Second Amendment because they wanted an armed population that could battle the U.S. government. The opposite is the truth, but many Americans seem to have embraced this absurd, anti-historical narrative.

http://www.opednews.com/articles/The-Right-s-Second-Amendme-by-Robert-Parry-121221-827.html

UN, EU, Russia Condemn Israeli Settlements

All members of the U.N. Security Council, with the lone exception of the United States, have publicly condemned Israel's recent settlement expansion activities and called for them to end. In a rare move, 14 of the council's 15 members read public statements of their views instead of seeking formal action by the council, since that likely would have been opposed by the United States.

http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/news/2012/12/mil-121219-voa05.htm?_m=3n%2e002a%2e685%2eud0ao0493g%2emf7

You can’t have police state and armed population

Obama Preempts NRA News Conference With Video on Gun Control

Hugh Laurie and Stephen Fry on Science and Religion

"We have the answers... but they're being censored"

The state of medical science today - If you want to be healthy, invest the time here

Tuesday, November 27

27.Nov.2012 - Supreme Court Rejects Attempt to Block Recording of Police Officers, PLUS: American Excess, We Need War Photography, Women Human Rights Defenders, Israel Airstrikes Cost $300 Million, Why Israel Didn't Win, Greatest Threat to Democracy, and much more.

New Twitter Account! http://www.twitter.com/dustcirclenews

Don't forget to go to dustcircle.com and VOTE for which book we'll be giving away in December. There's also a Donation button, if you're inclined to give toward this site. Also, have you written a book? We'd like to read and review it.

First Amendment Win!
Supreme Court Rejects Attempt to Block Recording of Police Officers

ACLU of Illinois: "... individuals and organizations must be able to freely gather and record information about the conduct of government and their agents – especially the police."

http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2012/11/26-4

American excess in perspective
Thanksgiving Thursday is then immediately followed by Black Friday - the busiest shopping day of the year. Many retailers even opened their doors on Thursday night this year, instead of waiting for Friday. While their turkey dinners were still digesting, hordes of shoppers descended on their local Walmart, Target, and Best Buy stores and elbowed their way to the best deals on large-screen TVs and other treasures. It is American consumerism at its most obscene. And it has become almost like a sporting event. No qualms about it. It's the American way.
http://www.opednews.com/articles/American-excess-in-perspec-by-Mary-Shaw-121125-424.html

Evacuate Guantanamo -- It Belongs to Cuba
For more than 100 years, the United States has illegitimately occupied Cuban soil. "They turned one of Cuba's most precious natural resources, Guantanamo Bay, into a curse on the lips of the world."
http://www.opednews.com/articles/Evacuate-Guantanamo--It-by-Glen-Ford-121124-252.html

Why We Need War Photography Now More Than Ever
Unfortunately, in an age of dehumanized battle where automated drones strike from above, we may be losing the genre of war photography itself, just when we need it more than ever.
http://bigthink.com/Picture-This/why-we-need-war-photography-now-more-than-ever

How we made the world hear Gaza, as citizen journalists

Bearing witness to the mainstream reporting of last week’s events was a cruel slap across in the face whose effect shall always remain. I was and still am very sickened by the amount misrepresentation we received.

http://electronicintifada.net/blogs/rana-baker/how-we-made-world-hear-gaza-citizen-journalists

Women human rights defenders: activism's front-line
There is growing recognition by the international community that women human rights defenders are best placed to respond to violence against women and a crucial force for peace; but the international protection framework needs to be made more accessible to those in need, says Jennifer Allsopp.
http://www.opendemocracy.net/5050/jennifer-allsopp/women-human-rights-defenders-activisms-front-line

Israel airstrikes to cost Gaza over $300 million

The report covered damages to the agricultural, health and social sectors. The occupied territory’s agrarian segment suffered $120 million in damage. The eight-day halt to economic activities resulted in $40 million lost. The rest of the sum comes from destroyed buildings and infrastructure that was impaired by Israeli airstrikes, Xinhua reported

http://occupiedpalestine.wordpress.com/2012/11/25/leveling-gaza-israel-airstrikes-to-cost-gaza-over-300-million-report-photos/

Why Israel Didn’t Win
The ceasefire agreed by Israel and Hamas in Cairo after eight days of fighting is merely a pause in the Israel-Palestine conflict. It promises to ease movement at all border crossings with the Gaza Strip, but will not lift the blockade. It requires Israel to end its assault on the Strip, and Palestinian militants to stop firing rockets at southern Israel, but it leaves Gaza as miserable as ever: according to a recent UN report, the Strip will be ‘uninhabitable’ by 2020. And this is to speak only of Gaza.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article33138.htm

Pillar of Impotence
In the past week, the people of Gaza have been subject to some serious Israeli attacks. Some Hamas leaders and militants have been murdered and many more Palestinians - innocent civilians, babies, kids women and elders – have lost their live. Yet, Gaza is celebrating with the Hamas leadership never more popular.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article33141.htm

Greatest Threat to Democracy
American journalist, essayist, magazine editor, satirist, and critic of American life and culture, H.L. Mencken wrote "Democracy is a pathetic belief in the collective wisdom of individual ignorance."
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article33142.htm

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov (file photo)

Russia urges united action against Israeli aggression
Moscow has called on the Arab League and the Middle East Quartet comprising Russia, the European Union (EU), UN, and US, to work together to end frequent Israeli aggressions against the Palestinians.
http://presstv.com/detail/2012/11/23/274150/russia-urges-united-action-against-israel/

Iran: Syria key to resistance against Israel and US
Iran, together with Russia, has been a major supporter of Mr Al Assad as he battles to retain power in the face of a 20-month uprising seeking to topple his regime.

http://www.thenational.ae/news/world/middle-east/iran-syria-key-to-resistance-against-israel-and-us

Student Suspended for Refusing to Wear Tracker

Student body ID cards with RFID-embedded chips. (image: Northside Independent School District)

Texas high school student is being suspended for refusing to wear a student ID card implanted with a radio-frequency identification chip. Northside Independent School District in San Antonio began issuing the RFID-chip-laden student-body cards when the semester began in the fall. The ID badge has a bar code associated with a student's Social Security number, and the RFID chip monitors pupils' movements on campus, from when they arrive until when they leave.
http://readersupportednews.org/news-section2/340-187/14702-student-suspended-for-refusing-to-wear-tracker

Supreme Court To Look At Who Is A 'Supervisor' In Harassment Cases
The U.S. Supreme Court this week takes up the question of who qualifies as a supervisor when the issue is harassment in the workplace. The court's answer to that question could significantly restrict employer liability in racial and sexual harassment cases, or, in the view of some business organizations, it could result in frivolous litigation.
http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2012/11/26/165883697/supreme-court-to-look-at-who-is-a-supervisor-in-harassment-cases?ft=3&f=1001&sc=nl&cc=nh-20121126

A government for the Puerto Rican people?
In elections on November 6, Alejandro García Padilla, of the Popular Democratic Party (PPD), defeated conservative incumbent Gov. Luis Fortuño, of the New Progressive Party (PNP), by about 13,000 votes. At the same time, in a nonbinding referendum, 61 percent of voters indicated that they would like Puerto Rico to become a U.S. state. Paradoxically, it seemed that Puerto Ricans chose to toss out their pro-statehood governor while opting for "statehood" on the political status referendum. But as with much in the November elections, there was more to the results than met the eye. García Padilla campaigned for a "government for the people." But he is really committed, as was Fortuño, to a "government for the same old rich people."
http://socialistworker.org/2012/11/26/government-for-puerto-rico

Gaza's right to resist Israeli terror
Sherry Wolf, press officer for the Russell Tribunal on Palestine hearings in New York City, argues for a critical component of support for the right to self-determination.
http://socialistworker.org/2012/11/20/gazas-right-to-resist

The Economic Consequences of the Gaza Blockade
Using the West Bank as a counterfactual, I find that being removed from world markets reduced welfare by 17%-28% on average. Moreover, households with larger pre-blockade expenditure levels experienced disproportionally larger welfare losses. These effects are substantially larger than the predictions of standard trade models.
http://www.slate.com/blogs/moneybox/2012/11/26/gaza_blockade_consequences_17_28_percent_welfare_reduction_on_average.html

Activist Groups Boycott Cyber Monday
In preparation for Cyber Monday, the Day of Virtual Shopping that takes place on the first Monday after Thanksgiving, online retailers are pulling out all the stops. Free shipping deals! Exclusive online promotions! A set of Ginsu knives with every purchase! (OK, maybe no knives, but you get the idea).

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/business/2012/11/activist-groups-boycott-cyber-monday

Journalists demand UN probe into why Israel targeted them in Gaza

As people anxiously wait to see if the ceasefire between Israel andHamas will hold, local and international human rights groups are calling for investigations into Israeli human rights abuses committed during its eight-day assault on the Gaza Strip, including flagrant attacks on journalists.

http://electronicintifada.net/content/journalists-demand-un-probe-why-israel-targeted-them-gaza/11936

Stand Still for the Apocalypse

Humans must immediately implement a series of radical measures to halt carbon emissions or prepare for the collapse of entire ecosystems and the displacement, suffering and death of hundreds of millions of the globe’s inhabitants, according to a report commissioned by the World Bank.

http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/stand_still_for_the_apocalypse_20121126/

Headscarfs and homosexuals (feminist ideals in xenophobic politics)

When the protest against a lecture by the controversial Islamist Bilal Philips risked being hijacked by Danish populist forces, it was a vivid reminder of what happens in practice, despite declarations by right-wing populist leaders.
http://www.opendemocracy.net/anders-rasmussen/headscarfs-and-homosexuals-feminist-ideals-in-xenophobic-politics

White House Report: Fiscal Cliff Could Cut Consumer Spending By $200 Billion

On Cyber Monday, the White House released a report detailing the effect of ending middle class tax cuts by going over the fiscal cliff on consumer spending. The report, from the National Economic Council and the Council of Economic Advisers, finds that consumer spending could drop by close to $200 billion in 2013 from tax hikes alone.

http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entry/white-house-report-fiscal-cliff-could-cut-consumer

The voices of Gaza's children

Children in Gaza describe living under Israeli siege and attacks as worse than being in prison.
http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2012/11/20121123202350356106.html

Obama Legalizes The Illegal, Targets Innocents
Wikileaks founder Julian Assange was bitterly right when he said US president Barack Obama “seems to be a nice man, and that is precisely the problem” and aptly described him as a “wolf in sheep’s clothing."
http://www.countercurrents.org/salami271112.htm

Obama Administration Pushes Ahead With Drone Killings
According to a report published Sunday on the front page of the New York Times, the Obama administration is pushing ahead with plans to establish a more systematic and regular program of using unmanned drones to kill people selected by the White House for death.
http://www.countercurrents.org/martin271112.htm

The Maximal Zionist Project Is To Have A Minimal Palestine: Gregory Harms
American journalist and scholar Gregory Harms believes that the recent 8-day Israeli war on the Gaza Strip might have been waged to distract public attention from the internal socioeconomic crises and problems the Israeli regime faces, especially ahead of the January 2013 legislative elections. He believes that launching airstrikes on Gaza may serve to give Benjamin Netanyahu and the Likud party a secure vote in the upcoming elections.
http://www.countercurrents.org/ziabari271112.htm

Obama 'Drone-Warfare Rulebook' Condemned by Human Rights Groups

A US drone flies over Edwards Air Force Base. (photo: Keystone/Zuma/Rex Features)

resident Barack Obama's administration is in the process of drawing up a formal rulebook that will set out the circumstances in which targeted assassination by unmanned drones is justified, according to reports.

http://readersupportednews.org/news-section2/318-66/14731-obama-drone-warfare-rulebook-condemned-by-human-rights-groups

The Palestinians’ Only Option
In the final countdown to the UN General Assembly vote on recognition of Palestine as a non-member state, the PLO has indicated that it’s expecting “a pleasant surprise”, it being the number of European countries which will not do Zionism’s bidding on this occasion and will vote for the resolution. Victory for the Palestinians in this forum can be taken for granted, and it will help to further isolate the Israel of Netanyahu as a pariah state, but… It won’t be, can’t be, a substitute for a viable strategy to secure justice for the Palestinians.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article33157.htm

Kristol’s Thanksgiving Meditation Makes Central Role of Israel in Neo-Conservatism Clear
For those, particularly in the timid or intimidated U.S. foreign-policy elite, who still pretend or somehow make themselves believe that Israel is not absolutely central to the neo-conservative worldview, I commend this week’s Thanksgiving editorial by Bill Kristol, scion of one of the movement’s two founding families, in The Weekly Standard, entitled “The West Fights Back”.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article33149.htm

Where’s Our Humanity For Gaza?
Between February 2009 — just after the Operation Cast Lead onslaught — and August 2012, Israeli attacks in Gaza, averaging six per week. They came by aircraft, helicopter gunships, drones, and tanks throughout Gaza; the confiscation of, or damage to, fishing boats and the detention and arrest of fishermen; attacks on industrial, farm, and food production facilities; and military ground incursions.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article33151.htm

Is This Presidential Memorandum Aimed At Israel-firsters Or U.S. Whistleblowers?

MEMORANDUM FOR THE HEADS OF EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENTS AND AGENCIES

SUBJECT: National Insider Threat Policy and Minimum Standards for Executive Branch Insider Threat Programs

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article33148.htm

Black Friday: American Wage Slaves Fight Over Chinese Slave Goods
You can tell the health of the tree by the quality of its fruits. America, as is evidenced by this week’s annual materialistic ritual known as‘Black Friday’, has produced this particularly rotten fruit, consistently. It’s getting way too predictable for our liking.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article33152.htm