11 August 2013 — Washington’s Blog
The co-chairs of the 9/11 commission – Thomas Keane and Lee Hamilton – wrote recently:
The NSA’s metadata program was put into place with virtually no public debate, a worrisome precedent made worse by erecting unnecessary barriers to public understanding via denials and misleading statements from senior administration officials.
10 August 2013 — VTJP
News
International Middle East Media Center
Britain Denounces New Israeli Settlement Plan
IMEMC – Britain’s Foreign Office Minister, Alastair Burt, denounced the recent Israeli government decision to construct 1096 units for Jewish settlers in the occupied West Bank, and in occupied East Jerusalem. The Minister said that the focus should be on peace talks. …
10 August 2013 — Information Clearing House
Israel Kills 5 People In Egypt: Officials:
By Associated Press
An Israeli drone strike inside Egypt killed five suspected Islamic militants and destroyed a rocket launcher Friday, two senior Egyptian security officials said.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article35799.htm
11 August 2013 — The Real News Network
John Weeks: “British Press tries to vindicate austerity and budget cuts as “signs of economic recovery.”
20 September 2011 — German Foreign Policy
FRANKFURT/BERLIN
(Own report) – A recently published book, by one of the most influential German newspaper publishers, is pleading for a transition toward “less democracy.” The “voice of the people” and the “emancipatory Zeitgeist, putting everything into question,” has a too “paralyzing influence” on current governance, writes the publishing house in its blurb for the book. The author therefore demands to “correct the system” for “more efficient policy making.” These “corrections” must include the dismantlement of democratic participation. Continue reading
11 August 2013 — Anti-Fascist Calling
Revelations by the Chaos Computer Club (CCC) that German secret state agencies are installing spyware on personal computers capable of transforming a PC’s webcam and microphone into a listening device, sparked outrage across the political spectrum.
It has since emerged that despite legal requirements that police do so only with a warrant and only if surveillance intercepts are used to prevent threats to “life, limb or liberty,” authorities are not complying with strict limits laid down by Germany’s Supreme Court.
11 August 2013 — Corpwatch
The idyllic village of Balcombe, just south of London, is a stronghold of the Conservative party. Just the sort of place that one might imagine cheering on industry plans to drill for natural gas and applaud the tax breaks that the government has offered to industry.
But 82 percent of the village voted firmly against plans by Cuadrilla Resources, headed by Lord John Browne, the former CEO of British Petroleum, to conduct hydraulic fracturing in their community. Over two dozen protestors have been arrested in the last few days for attempting to block company equipment – including Natalie Hynde and Simon Medhurst, a couple who glued themselves together this morning.
