The forcing down of the Bolivian President’s jet was a clear breach of the Vienna Convention by Spain and Portugal, which closed their airspace to this Head of State while on a diplomatic mission. It has never been thought necessary to write down in a Treaty that Heads of State enjoy diplomatic immunity while engaged in diplomacy, as their representatives only enjoy diplomatic immunity as cyphers for their Head of State. But it is a hitherto unchallenged precept of customary international law, indeed arguably the oldest provision of international law.
To the US and its allies, international law is no longer of any consequence. I can see no evidence that anyone in an official position has even noted the illegality of repeated Israeli air and missile strikes against Syria. Snowden, Manning and Assange all exposed illegality on a massive scale, and no action whatsoever has been taken against any of the criminals they exposed. Instead they are being hounded out of all meaningful life and ability to function in society.
I have repeatedly posted, and have been saying in public speeches for ten years, that under the UK/US intelligence sharing agreements the NSA spies on UK citizens and GCHQ spies on US citizens and they swap the information. As they use a shared technological infrastructure, the division is simply a fiction to get round the law in each country restricting those agencies from spying on their own citizens.
I have also frequently remarked how extraordinary it is that the media keep this “secret”, which they have all known for years.
The Guardian published the truth on 29 June:
| This article has been taken down pending an investigation. | |
The strange script which appears there happens when I try to copy and paste from this site which preserved the article before the Guardian censored all the material about the UK/US intelligence sharing agreement from it.
As you can see from the newssniffer site linked above, for many hours there was just a notice stating that the article was “taken down pending investigation”, and then it was replaced on the same URL by the Guardian with a different story which does not mention the whistleblower Wayne Madsen or the intelligence sharing agreements!!
I can give, and I would give on oath, an eye witness guarantee that from my direct personal experience of twenty years as a British diplomat the deleted information from Wayne Madsen was true.
That should have been “regretfully” and not “regrettably”, of course.
@ Fred
I shall deliver good advice to you whenever I feel you need it, and this is one such occasion. Come on, lighten up, you know it makes sense!
Thanks v much, Anon. All information gratefully received!
I’ve just been reading this
http://www.zdnet.com/six-ways-to-protect-yourself-from-the-nsa-and-other-eavesdroppers-7000016860/
and at the end he says
“If we really want to protect our privacy on the net what we need is more than better technology, we need fundamental changes in our laws and how we enforce the privacy laws we do have. Then, and only then, will we have a fighting chance of keeping our privacy on the Internet.”
which is self-evident. But doesn’t give me much hope.
The boy had asked for payment for the glass of tea he had served to his killers. Hence he was shot dead, but reporting this as it is, then would clarify the position of the “rebels” and their ruthless exploits, be it; demanding a cup of tea wit menaces, or robbing the contents of the households that their occupants have fled the area due to the said “rebels” activities (indiscriminate bombing, and shooting), or going out on a jolly shooting, rocketing and bombing the crap out of Syrian infrastructures, and people.
The same report contained the tale of a car-jacker getting fifty lashes of electricity cable for jacking some poor bastards ride. However shooting the boy in the head for an every day expression, then is passed as “blasphemy”.
The daily two minutes hate ritual towards all things Islam and Muslims in line with the established practice of blaming the Muslim victims for their demise, as the precedence set and as practised for the past seventy years, in zionistan. The cold blooded murder of a fourteen years old boy whom had asked for payment for the glass of tea he had served, is portrayed as his execution for his disrespect to the prophet, blasphemy.
Ergo the message is pounded home yet again, here is the proof; Muslims are fanatical killers, as it is established! Further the free loading murderous hooligans who are getting supplied with arms and munition by the West and portrayed as “rebels” fighting for democracy in Syria are absolved from their crimes of robbing a cup of tea from a tea boy and killing the tea boy too.
Truly a fucked up state of affairs, that is further perpetuated by the bbc, and the other medjia, all in the way of “informing” the populace, and letting them know how their tax funds are being spent to make the world a “safer” place.
“I shall deliver good advice to you whenever I feel you need it, and this is one such occasion. Come on, lighten up, you know it makes sense!”
“Don’t tell me what to do” is already one syllable words, hard to make it any simpler for a moron to understand.
Now go fuck yourself pathetic failed troll.
Bloody hell, Fedup (and Passerby) could you cut down on the verbiage? I don’t know who you think you’re lecturing, but the vast majority of people here are pretty well-informed and don’t need your lengthy essays.
Just for the sake of clarification;
Sahria could mean:
Law, code, legislation, dispensation, fundamental principle, general rule, canons of good behaviour, and yes religious law.
Although it is a bold step to take, but here we go;
All laws across the planet are normally founded in the general rules and fundamental principles that are accepted and prevalent within the societies that the said laws are to be legislated for. Further the accepted norms, general rules and fundamental principles are based on or derived from religious codes, and ethics.
Thus Sharia somehow is not unlike the current codes of; ethics, conduct, and morality, as well as the body of the laws we have and enjoy in this country. The racists have not yet fully realised the length of time the English have been living under Sharia, for a long time now. I say potato they say “al batates”, what is in a name? Evidently far too much, ask the poor women folk whom are mourning the murder of their men folk in the arc of blood, death, fire, and instability.
I’m sure that everyone who matters in the security business knows where Snowden is and he is being closely watched.
He is not going to sneak out of Russia “under the radar”.
The forced landing of Bolivia’s presidential jet was a show of strength in my view, by USA agencies which would have known that Snowden was not on board and was a warning to any nation not to step out of line; especially if they want economic/security ties with North America.
The Latin American countries that are inclined to offer Snowden asylum are all fragile democracies and economies under constant subversion by the USA and its proxies; a safe haven today but maybe not tomorrow for Snowden, Assange or anyone else.
This boils down to power politics and one man’s life is worth jack-shit when it comes to the “national interest”.
There is no morality, humanity or ethics in realpolitik.
You are back on the sleuthing, again Charlie no Chan: Fedup, Passerby! (we have had this dance before). The “vast majority”, evidently now you are talking for the nation too, and complaining about the “the verbiage”.
A- Who is the “vast majority” you have in mind? Those who keep commenting here , or those who read and never comment?
B- Do you have a problem with space, trees chopped, or electricity used to create “the verbiage” and sustain it?
C- So far as “who you think you’re lecturing” is concerned, certainly not you, after all you know everything, so it was not intended for you.
d- What nerve did I hit, for you to start your assault and playing the banshee?
E- Other than a continual sleuthing to find who is who (fuck me this is really the important issue after all in among the anonymous pseudonyms finding that the colonel did it, with a candlestick is a heck of job). Or lecturing Flaming June on how she should publish her comments, what is it exactly that you fucking contribute?
PS So far as the “Sock puppet-ting” goes, that is to be abhorred on the same thread, ie, someone keeps posting the same shite nuder differing names on the same thread. However to start laying fucking rules down as to who should have what fucking name, seems to be an uncalled for intrusion into the personal domain of others don’t you think?
PPS there seems to be a drive to discount differing individuals and classifying these as a single person, that is all the rage among some of those commenting on this blog, I have been taken for some “steel fuckwit”, and then some “other tosser”, and “so forth”, seems to be an OCD affliction with some who comment around here.
You seem to have a point there, count me in with imperfect lot, we are at a disadvantage amidst the body of knowledge that seem to be brain farting away and putting everyone else right. Not forgetting to be “admiring” each other to boot.
Finally, how come you know so much about Sweden?
You are nit-picking Fed-up. Get a grip.
Ben Franklin -Machine Gun Preacher (unleaded version)
3 Jul, 2013 – 8:57 pm
“This is not good news….”
No it is not.
However it does not surprise me. Ban Ki Moon has, in my view been a puppet of the USA for years through blackmail and threats towards him and his family.
The western media portray him as a human rights champion, an international law champion; he is neither.
He is a mere human-being manipulated by and compromised by the security services.
They have the dirt on him.
Dreoilin
Just to add another curiosity. If Google use the highest encryption without exception then which one of the big players uses the lowest? Step forward Microsoft. Seems (based on published independent monitoring) you can sometimes even end up with an “encrypted” connection some teen cracker could break with an antique Sinclair ZX80. Microsoft also never use Diffie-Hellman.
All https connections are not the same.
No mate I am fucking sick of unduly to get fucked around!
Nothing to say other criticising those who actually think, or want to contribute, that is not fucking on, here I have already poked fun at it.
Could I point out to you, Fedup, that I wrote, “Fedup (and Passerby)” to include Passerby in what I said, and that I made no remarks at all to you about sock puppets.
What nerve did I hit, I wonder?
I believe I was reiterating what Jon said to you on the UN thread
“and if you can explain your views more clearly in less words, I think it would be helpful.”
http://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2013/06/work-for-the-un/comment-page-6/#comment-415450
Oh, and Jon addressed it to “Passerby/Fedup” but I don’t recall you objecting at the time. [Correct me if I’m wrong.]
“here I have already poked fun at it.”
You tried.
I’ve left a note on that thread about punctuation and how it clarifies what people write. Especially when they’re quoting from elsewhere.
http://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2013/06/pandering-to-racism/comment-page-5/#comment-416301
Someone
3 Jul, 2013 – 11:05 pm
“What’s a £1 billion fraud worth? A suspended sentence”
Absolutely spot-on:
“A college student with no criminal record was jailed for six months on Thursday for stealing a £3.50 case of bottled water during a night of rioting.”
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/crime/8695988/London-riots-Lidl-water-thief-jailed-for-six-months.html
Thanks again, Anon. I hope to be off Microsoft by Christmas! (or so I’m told)
Hmm after a bit more checking, Microsoft mail servers will use exceptionally secure Diffie-Hellman if absolutely forced to by client. No available browser or addon (as far as I can find with a quick search) will force this but Microsoft will support it if you have one that does…
How the Microsoft servers do this is by supporting Diffie-Hellman as least preferred option. It will then only be selected by a client which refuses anything other than Diffie_Hellman. Interesting. Well to me anyway if nobody else 🙂
Information gathered mainly from https://www.ssllabs.com/ssltest/index.html
Bottom Line: It is possible to make a probably spook-proof highly secure connection to Microsoft servers but not with your standard unmodified browser.
Cryptonym. 7 26pm
“…they and their fellow followers are better, superior, morally or in any number of ways, or more doctrinally correct in their own interpretation of their own ‘big magic book’ than those of of another religion or of no religion…”
Here’s the late great Dave Allen on religion.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y3-Lp0M1r6o
OBarnum and Co. threw perception to the dogs and simply went gangster on Evo Morales.
Simultaneously shoving a really big cream pie in the world’s face.
@N_, Yeah, dignity’s the greatest. Dignity was the cri de coeur of the nascent Arab risings. So happens that the word dignity is in the preamble of both the ICCPR and the CESCR, since dignity, like peace and development, is another way of rolling all rights together into a word.
In all the recent popular uprisings, the rhetoric and substantive demands were shot through with human rights stuff. Is that osmosis from clever propaganda? I tend to think it’s people availing themselves of an ethical framework that gives them a way to talk about state predation. Latin America caught on best, the Mideast pretty well, and the US only dimly, and that partly accounts for what each rising accomplished.
HR’s soiled, yeah, in a sense. As Chomsky sez, when states talk about HR, it’s often casuistic bullshit signifying nothing. On the other hand, when humans start talking about human rights, that’s trouble. The throw-weight of human rights depends on their assimilation into public discourse.
IMO rights fans and fans of class struggle sometimes wind up talking past one another, unnecessarily so. When you mention property rights, you put your finger on an interesting wrinkle in human rights doctrine. The CESCR in Article 1(2) mentions international law in connection with resource rights and then in Article 25 goes on to say nothing may impair the peoples’ resource rights. It subordinates legal property protections to peoples’ [collective] resource rights. It’s another stick to beat the state with. Everybody can get their licks in.
Very thought-provoking, thanks for weighing in.
“The Latin American countries that are inclined to offer Snowden asylum are all fragile democracies and economies under constant subversion by the USA and its proxies..”
They are certainly constantly threatened by US subversion. In Obama’s time Honduras and Paraguay have both been take over by US backed gangsters and the President of Ecuador was nearly assassinated.
On the other hand how robust do you consider democracy in the USA to be?
And does it not strike you that with fifty million people on foodstamps, and millions more ineligible for health care, with unemployment, in real statistics, pushing 23% and a trillion dollars in student loans outstanding, there may be a wee bit of trouble coming down the ‘pike there?
Or do you hew to the notion that Americans are so dumb that they will put up with anything?
Snowden will be fine. He has already done more for his country and his world than most of us dream of doing in long lives. His name will live forever.
It is a sad commentary on, not just the governments, but the peoples of countries which offered Kropotkin, Mazzini, Marx and Bakunin asylum that they now live in hope of earning tips from tyranny and turn in their own countrymen to torture and life imprisonment (without charge or trial) for the privilege of being given american boot leather to lick.
“We have to grasp, as Marx and Adam Smith did, that corporations are not concerned with the common good. They exploit, pollute, impoverish, repress, kill, and lie to make money. They throw poor people out of homes, let the uninsured die, wage useless wars for profit, poison and pollute the ecosystem, slash social assistance programs, gut public education, trash the global economy, plunder the U.S. Treasury and crush all popular movements that seek justice for working men and women. They worship money and power.”
― Chris Hedges, The Death of the Liberal Class
“The corporations that profit from permanent war need us to be afraid. Fear stops us from objecting to government spending on a bloated military. Fear means we will not ask unpleasant questions of those in power. Fear permits the government to operate in secret. Fear means we are willing to give up our rights and liberties for promises of security. The imposition of fear ensures that the corporations that wrecked the country cannot be challenged. Fear keeps us penned in like livestock.”
― Chris Hedges, The Death of the Liberal Class
http://www.paulcraigroberts.org/2013/04/10/a-voice-worth-listening-to/
A quickie:
MasterCard breaks ranks in WikiLeaks blockade
http://wikileaks.org/MasterCard-breaks-ranks-in.html
Dreolin; That’s important. WL needs financial support ASAP.
Stopping a president’s plane is ridiculous – their bad.
But spying on everybody’s communications data? I thought that was common knowledge anyway. Don’t people realize we live in a post-privacy age? Everybody who uses modern forms of communication is leaving large quanities of data about themselves on servers all over the world. No way can this all be protected by privacy laws. That’s how the system works and the benefits are that we have instant and almost free communications and access to vast sources of information. If service providers mine this data to send us pop-up ads for stuff they think we want to buy, or governments mine this data for their own purposes, then that’s the price we pay for using the system.
One thing’s for sure: if the shit ever really does hit the fan and we lose the relative peace that keeps us all so cosy in the western world, I hope it’s The US and The UK that have the upper hand in the cyber war, rather than the Chinese or the Russians. Let alone the narco criminals or the Islamists. I know which tyranny I’d rather live under.
Re Dreoilin, 4 Jul, 1:03 am: “I hope to be off Microsoft by Christmas (or so I’m told)”
Anyone who wants to get off Microsoft can install Ubuntu in practically two shakes of a lamb’s tail. I have been using Ubuntu for five years and currently have it on three machines. All of them I converted simply by downloading the latest 64-bit version and putting it on a USB stick (you have to use a special installer if you are working from Windows, but this is provided). I have had no problems on any of the machines, except for the inital loss of the wireless connection on one of them (but the system identified it automatically for me & directed me how to self-install it).
@DavidH 3:30 am: LOL. Whatever you are being paid is far too much. Sheesh.
“LOL. Whatever you are being paid is far too much. Sheesh.”
So what has Snowden told us except what bears do in the woods?
World politics is getting more like Pro Wrestling all the time.