Ray McGovern and the Sam Adams party have presented the Sam Adams award to Edward Snowden. I am delighted. This from Ray’s account of the event:
In brief remarks from his visitors, Snowden was reassured — first and foremost — that he need no longer be worried that nothing significant would happen as a result of his decision to risk his future by revealing documentary proof that the U.S. government was playing fast and loose with the Constitutional rights of Americans.
Even amid the government shutdown, Establishment Washington and the normally docile “mainstream media” have not been able to deflect attention from the intrusive eavesdropping that makes a mockery of the Fourth Amendment. Even Congress is showing signs of awaking from its torpor.
In the somnolent Senate, a few hardy souls have gone so far as to express displeasure at having been lied to by Director of National Intelligence James Clapper and NSA Director Keith Alexander — Clapper having formally apologized for telling the Senate Intelligence Committee eavesdropping-related things that were, in his words, “clearly erroneous” and Alexander having told now-discredited whoppers about the effectiveness of NSA’s intrusive and unconstitutional methods in combating terrorism.
Coleen Rowley, the first winner of the Sam Adams Award (2002), cited some little-known history to remind Snowden that he is in good company as a whistleblower — and not only because of previous Sam Adams honorees. She noted that in 1773, Benjamin Franklin leaked confidential information by releasing letters written by then-Lt. Governor of Massachusetts Thomas Hutchinson to Thomas Whatley, an assistant to the British Prime Minister.
The letters suggested that it was impossible for the colonists to enjoy the same rights as subjects living in England and that “an abridgement of what are called English liberties” might be necessary. The content of the letters was so damaging to the British government that Benjamin Franklin was dismissed as colonial Postmaster General and had to endure an hour-long censure from British Solicitor General Alexander Wedderburn.
There has been a determined attempt by government to justify the need to intercept everybody’s communications, all the time. We have, yet again, had MI5 claim there are many thousand violent Islamic terrorists running around the UK, (yet somehow not managing to kill anybody). The cry of “paedophiles” is raised, as always. I can imagine them suggesting the entire population be shot dead, and justifying it as making sure they get the paedophiles. The tabloids would go with that.
There still had not been a single credible claim by the mainstream media that any named individual has died, despite that contingency being trotted out all the time as the reason Snowden and Manning should not have revealed state crimes and abuse of power. I am hopeful that, with the internet still largely free to the dissemination of information, out next massive whistleblower is only weeks away.
@ Macky
“”So why should someone bother to post to tell us that 3 of the 8 AJs are Jewish? Where is the value-added?”
Does the expression “possible conflict of interest” mean anything to you Einstein ?
Why do you think that it was normal policy for Governments not be appoint Jews as Ambassadors to Israel, a policy only very recently broken.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ah yes, “possible conflict of interest”….I thought that that was perhaps why “Oddie” posted his comment pointing out that 3 of the 8 Associate Justices of the Supreme Court were Jewish.
Which I why I asking him very politely to point to any rulings of the Supreme Court he thought might have been influenced or swayed by the fact that 3 of the Assistant Justices were Jewish.
Unfortunately, Oddie has yet to come back to us on this question.
I wonder why.
Clark,
I couldn’t resist. One of them is now my Android phone wallpaper. I’ll buy you a pint if we ever meet as long as you promise not to sue me 🙂
Really good.
“Which I why I asking him very politely to point to any rulings of the Supreme Court he thought might have been influenced or swayed by the fact that 3 of the Assistant Justices were Jewish”
People of power or influence have many ways to exercise this factor, not solely limited to their obvious day to day roles.
As a youngster I once applied to join the Civil Service, just as a humble office clark, and I remember the forms I had to fill, and being puzzled as to why I was being asked to provide life details of all my grandparents !
Wise input above, Clark. Great pics — thanks for sharing. You seem to be having a good time, money or not. Have fun!
Why Bad Movies Keep Coming Out and What to Do About It
The Politics of Bad Cinema
by JOHN PILGER
October 18-20, 2013
[..]
The hype of public relations – Edward Bernays’ euphemism for propaganda – is now regarded as truth. The medium has become the message. Prime Minister David Cameron, himself a former PR huckster for a media asset-stripper, saw the hyped The Fifth Estate, and declared: “Benedict Cumberbatch – brilliant, fantastic piece of acting. The twitchiness and everything of Julian Assange is brilliantly portrayed.” Neither he nor Cumberbatch, nor the makers of this fiction have ever met Assange. Based on a dodgy, axe-grinding book, the DreamWorks juggernaut is a perfidious, unethical exploitation of a man fighting for his freedom, if not his life.
Not surprisingly, Cameron’s government is slashing at the budget of the British Film Institute, keeper of the world’s greatest film archive and one of this country’s most liberating institutions. Like the National Health Service, it would not be established today. If you yearn to avoid Hollywood’s “babbling brook of bullshit” (to borrow from Richard Lewis in Curb Your Enthusiasm), join the BFI. As a longtime member and supporter, I am often found in one of its acoustically-excellent cinemas, seeing films, past and present, classics and unknowns, that are reminders of how pleasurable an hour or two in front of celluloid can be. For more than 30 years, my own films have had their premieres here.
[..]
http://www.counterpunch.org/2013/10/18/the-politics-of-bad-cinema/
I didn’t take the photo’s. I spotted the strange convergent lines in the sky, and alerted Fred’s friend, the “girl with a futon (whatever that is)”. She took the photo’s, identified them as anti-crepuscular rays via the Caithness Photography Forum on Facebook, and confirmed it via Wikipedia. Later I uploaded the pictures to my web-space. Ah, the power of community – meaningless to some, unfortunately. Imagine if God turned up with a bill for all the natural resources we make use of…
Hello Fedup, best wishes to you.
“As a youngster I once applied to join the Civil Service, just as a humble office clark (sic)….”
I cant’t (sic) think of any reason as to why you cant’t (sic) have peen puzzled. But i can guess what the outcome was 😉
Everything that happens, happens for the better. Though you can’t always know in advance why.
______________
All in all not much of an answer.
Hello Villager. I didn’t intentionally omit you from my greeting; our comments crossed.
Hello Habba (and others0:
“”Hello, Goodbye” The Beatles [Thank you Rouge for your thoughtful link earlier]
You say yes, I say no
You say stop and I say go go go, oh no [on topic]
You say goodbye and I say hello
Hello hello
I don’t know why you say goodbye, I say hello
Hello hello
I don’t know why you say goodbye, I say hello
I say high, you say low
You say why and I say I don’t know, oh no
You say goodbye and I say hello
(Hello goodbye hello goodbye) Hello hello
(Hello goodbye) I don’t know why you say goodbye, I say hello
(Hello goodbye hello goodbye) Hello hello
(Hello goodbye) I don’t know why you say goodbye
(Hello goodbye) I say hello/goodbye
Why why why why why why do you say goodbye goodbye, oh no?
You say goodbye and I say hello
Hello hello
I don’t know why you say goodbye, I say hello
Hello hello
I don’t know why you say goodbye, I say hello
You say yes (I say yes) I say no (But I may mean no)
You say stop (I can stay) and I say go go go (Till it’s time to go), oh
Oh no
You say goodbye and I say hello
Hello hello
I don’t know why you say goodbye, I say hello
Hello hello
I don’t know why you say goodbye, I say hello
Hello hello
I don’t know why you say goodbye, I say hello hello
Hela heba helloa
Hela heba helloa, cha cha cha
Hela heba helloa, wooo
Hela heba helloa, hela
Hela heba helloa, cha cha cha
Hela heba helloa, wooo
Hela heba helloa, cha cah cah [fade out]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zkH3PdDZZuA
Don’t you just love their costumes? Especially George Harrison’s hat!? Life is beautiful!!!
_____________
Goodbye Passerby, Hello Fedup 😉 [never be shy to talk to each other or strangers!]
All good wishes Clark. May the Universe take care of you (as it always has) and pay you back in double for your admiration of Nature and living true to yourself!
Runner 77. 618pm
Thanks for your response.
”Should we just accept political (and environmental?) destruction (and the termites responsible . . . ) as part of the Grand Scheme……?
…I suspect that this is a failure of courage as well as a failure of empathy.”
Absolutely not!
I’m sorry, I wasn’t very clear there. (2 44pm)
My reference to Andy Goldsworthy and his disintegrating artworks was intended very specifically as an analogy of the ephemeral threads that we weave here. Valuable for sure but in no need of protection or preservation.
I post here because I feel outraged that real flesh and blood people like the Palestinian farmer whose olive groves have just been bulldozed or whose son has just been shot have no voice in our media and it’s our acquiescence or surrender to hopelessness that is being sought by those who try to channel and control the narrative.
That’s why every suggestion that we change the subject away from this key issue should be met with more reminders of the pathology growing in Occupied Palestine.
By refusing to be obediently quiet we can add to the momentum that’s building around the globe for a just and lasting settlement for all who are genuinely at home in in Palestine.
Maybe I’m contradicting myself in my welcome for diversity in our posts but I really don’t see any need for an “either or” approach.
Fedup, I’m doing very well, thank you, thanks to the generosity of various wonderful people. The camera was hand-held, the photo’s taken just before sunset when the sky was nice and bright.
More on the power of community. Have you paid your share, Anon? Don’t go using your router or the Internet if you haven’t; after all, you’re not a feckless scrounger, are you?
http://www.linuxfoundation.org/news-media/announcements/2008/10/linux-foundation-publishes-study-estimating-value-linux
If you know the A9 it’s a pain in the arse, A Node. If you don’t, it can be lethal. The safest bit is Drumochter, funnily enough, when the roads aren’t God’s spilled slush puppy.
There’s a group called Fuck Buttons. “Olympians” will lift the spirits.
Peace and love?
Sometimes.
Yo! Sofia Kibo Noh, I hope you are doing well, good to see you back. I read about your adventures and your hunting trip and I nearly pissed myself laughing at the Shudafucop taking you hunting to catch the kupi stag!
As ever you have made a really good point, the more reminders of the pathology growing in Occupied Palestine. Sadly this is the case also in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Somali, …… with a common thread linking these countries. Fact that the fucking poison of the zionistan has for so long ran through the media as an accepted and tolerated mode of conduct, people of the world no longer can see the wood for the trees.
Each and every child growing up with fear, hunger, disease, and knowing only death, destruction only broken by transient moments of respite in which the bullets are no loner flying and the shrieks of the wounded or the smell of shit and blood no longer fill the air.
To expect a moratorium on debating the ziofuckwits murderous conduct is yet another attempt to make acceptable the unacceptable, and pass the intolerable as tolerable.
Mike,
While Solar Cycle 24 might be weak we are still at solar max and the Sun’s output is accordingly still well above typical solar minimum.. No reason to expect a cold winter based on the sun. And so far we’ve had a mild start to Autumn. Many years I’ve been scraping ice of the car windscreen before now. There might (or might not) be a Maunder Minimum on the way but it isn’t here yet.
Can anyone keep a straight face and tell me these images show the actions of people who are truly at home in Palestine.
http://www.examiner.com/slideshow/attacks-and-destruction-of-homes-villages-and-resources-is-on-the-increase-against-the-local-arab-population-hebron-and-the-west-bank#slide=27
…
Clark.
Thanks for your ray photos. Beautiful.
Clark glad to hear you are doing well, and the notion of Linux, I love the fucking OS to bits! It is so good, to see the scroungers the likes of you are contributing a lot more value than the oh so b/floated fucking corporates. The fact that we are led to believe in “philanthropy” of a bunch of banksters who will sell their grandma for a profit, to help we the people to solve our problems, at a price of course, is the very essence of the principles of the ; yeah toxic sludge is fucking good for you.
PS well done the steady hands holding the camera, really nice photos, and the composition is ace. BTW I have copied them and intend to abuse the copyleft and pass it on to some of the lads, who appreciate the magnificence of our little pebble trundling along in the middle of nowhere.
Greetings, Clark;
Zardoz,as AlcAnon indicated, might be a little much for our Lowland/Highland Scots, so I’ve chosen my single syllable. It was time anyway.
God help you. One single thread without your comment-generator blathering about ‘ziofuckwits’ would kill you. Sure it would. It’s a sneaky plan of mine to make the intolerable tolerable. Of course it is. I was paid a bonus to suggest it, doncha know.
says Clark
but the shouters aren’t listening …
It would break their little hearts not to be able to waltz in here every day and add another 205 “ziofuckwits” to the conversation.
So maybe I’ll do a Komodo and leave them to it.
I can’t find CheebaCow’s blocking script and it’s not worth my while wading through the muck anymore.
Ben,
I said what? Actually I had 100% forgotten about Zardoz until you mentioned it. 5.6 on IMDB isn’t too bad. I might download it from the 46 bittorrent seeds in an estimated 19 mins 41 secs and watch it again if it wasn’t illegal!
Oh no Dreoilin, well said, but leaving, please not so fast. You really don’t need to read that comment-generator stuff. Scroll down — its easy enough. If i can do it, so can you.
Instead of the MSM, we have the MFM, excuse the lisp, but you know who they are.
Sofia@14h44
“Like a trail of dog poos in the street we can skip around them, or occasionally, point one out and enjoy its uncanny resemblance to Grandma. Or whatever.”
You’re not talking about Mary who’s always playing rock ‘n troll, are you? I-mean-the-skip-around-all-the-stuff-she-chucks-on-the-board-stuff, of course.
I’ll stick with the rock’n roll bit: Its got a back beat you can’t blues it!!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tqmOefaMjvI
Bloody trolls though, never played in/for Palestine.
AA; Zardoz is an excellent film for thinkers. ‘WizardofOZ’ should give you the impetus for the broad theme. Don’t watch the abbreviated version.
My favorite line is when Zed is asked about the goal of Revolution….
REVENGE !
“If you know the A9 it’s a pain in the arse, A Node. If you don’t, it can be lethal. The safest bit is Drumochter, funnily enough, when the roads aren’t God’s spilled slush puppy.”
It’s not the A9, it’s the drivers down there that are arseholes. Once you pass the Ord there’s a different pace of life and the A9 becomes a mighty fine road.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0rpisHOTRbU
Well Fraser has come back into the building, moaning about “comment-generator” well some us can afford one, so eat your hearts out ziofucwits!
Sneaky plan? Nah, not a chance can be seen a mile off, despite the flower pot camouflage and the phony credentials being thrown around every other minute; trust me I am with you, not with these ziofuckwits I wade into support every time they are coming unstuck. Interesting that the voice over is needed for us to know what the characters are up to, sort of the silent movie fashion, but there again, those were the heady days so why break with traditions?
This is the umpteenth time the threats to leave have been tabled, only to be rescinded, after all the mission objective is to be supporting the ziofuckwits whilst keeping up the appearances.
fuck is this blog? fedup in the pay of the zionazzzzziszzzzz soooooooo over the top he’s a cartoon character with no self awareness if he is really genuine someone get him help serious.
Belated Happy Birthday to you, Craig!
With a little Near East spin added to keep the boyz happy:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qS4-JXB2yUU
Btw, those of you who chose to have a go at Craig after Jon’s absence, i say, you simply cannot know the ‘stuff of life’ he may be dealing with.
Tale it easy Craig. And all courage to you to live your life, as you do, true to yourself. May you always be immersed in love. And may some of it rub off on some of those revolutionaries who dwell on the pate of conflict and hate.
Aw man, a Zardoz fan! Ben, I salute you. If you say you like “A Boy and his dog”, “The Nines” and “Repo Man” I’ll be a happy man! What the hell, chuck in “The Ninth Configuration” as well, let’s go the whole hog.
I also like baking and listening.
So hit the spot then, the back up is peeling away and the world of shit is getting shittier, so the ziofuckwit farrago is kicked up. Failing all else, best to start kicking up. Where are the rest of the ziofuckwits then?
Mike; Also a big Orson Welles acolyte. Seen the Chimes of Midnight? It’s one of his best. I love the line taken from “Tucker, the man and his Car’ wherein the bureaucrat has an unintended epiphany;
You can’t have Falstaff, and have him thin…”