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.
Villager
I think 8% of the shares were issued to staff, 38% are still hled by the Govt (which I suspect will be sold in small tranches to institutional shareholders over the coming years so as not to rock the share price and of the remainder they are split 36% to institutional investors and 18% to private investors (all of whom have been limited to £750 of shares per head).
This issue and the recent sale of a tranche of Lloyds demonstrate that this Tory govt (despite the LibDems) has dropped the property owning democracy of the Thatcher days and is more than comfortable with business being owned and controlled by a small elite of hedge funds, private equity and investment managers – perhaps one of the differences in outlook between Eton and Kesteven Grammar.
Thank you both, Habby and Resident Dissident and thank you RD for your latter observation. And Habby understand your AC/DC sentiment — good to have your humour on board, which i believe is an important component of live, including when lived seriously.
live=life
http://mondoweiss.net/2013/10/doesnt-anything-operation.html
Elie Wiesel’s statements about Israel’s 2008-09 attack on Gaza don’t add up.
On September 29, Wiesel appeared alongside Sheldon Adelson, Rwandan President Paul Kagame and Shmuley Boteach to talk genocide and about how the “strong” can protect the “weak” in the context of the chemical weapons attack in Syria in August. “Israel is part of our lives. It is truly part of mine,” Wiesel said on stage.
At the conclusion of the bizarre event, Max Blumenthal and I asked the world’s most famous Holocaust survivor an obvious, though unasked, question: who would protect the people of Gaza from Israel?
His first answer (minute 6:20 in the video above) was that “all human beings should be protected everywhere.” When I pressed him about the 300 children killed in Gaza during Operation Cast Lead and whether he supported the assault, his response was: “I don’t know anything about it.” Blumenthal and I each tried one more time, and Wiesel again said he didn’t know anything about Cast Lead.
================================
Unreal…
Habba
Welcome back by the way.
I think my reading of Cable is that although intellectually he is a liberal and a Keynesian – he is just not a strong man or a shrewd operator so he is consistently outmanoevred. Perhaps some of this can be attributed to having worked with a major oil company for many years where selling your sould to the devil is pretty much par for the course – those who have worked within banks and oil companies will actually know that they are full of such people (which is no surprise since they aim to recuit the most intelligent graduates), the more consistent who refuse to compromise their principles just don’t fit in as well and don’t progress.
Politically, I think Cable’s role is now pretty much limited to be a human shield for Clegg from about 75% of that party’s members.
RD: yep.
Mein Name ist Hase, ich weiß von nicht. Ich habe nur Befehle befolgt.
@ Ben,
Five Years a Zionist Lackey, Fifteen Minutes an American President.
Ben
I would agree that Wiesel is being weasel worded about Israel’s involvement in Cast Lead – but don’t we also see the mirror image in those who fail to condemn the the attrocities committed by Hamas, Hezbollah, Al Quaeda, the Taliban etc.? I’m sorry I cannot put these things on a weighing scale – an attrocity is an attrocity whoever is the perpetrator – and without universal condemnation you just get into a rather pointless game of one side trying to claim justifcation for the unjustifiable.
The Elders of Zion have something on Obummer, Daniel…something big wrt Libya or somesuch.
He really is being pinched by CIA/Mossad extortionists. He’s not a good contortionist. Certainly not as talented as Abe Lincoln.
BTW if anyone gets involved in name calling etc. on my last post – don’t bother that is where I stand and it will take more than silly names to shift me.
Bad company for such a discussion RD. Only Boteach seems to be an honest broker.
We know about Adelson, and the Tutsi has a shadowy past wrt the Rwandan massacres.
I will rely on you to point out Gazan spitballs bouncing off Israeli tanks. Wiesel is the purported humanitarian who self-righteously pursues WWII nazis while preening the students who seem to have learned much from facism.
Ben
I disagree about Obama – one difference between him and his predecessors is that he conducts most of his diplomacy below the surface and without their grandstanding – given the ferocity of the competing forces on both sides of the many arguments in World affairs think things could have been a awful lot worse – and my guess is that they are considerably better than you would have predicted 5 years ago especially if Obama had lost. Stand back and look at things with a little perspective.
Resident Dissident: does ‘disingenuous’ count as name calling? I have to point out that, although as a person, like you, I condemn – nay revolt – against atrocities of any description, especially atrocious ones, only one of the perpetrators you have listed is officially an ally of my elected government: the rest are, or are when they suit, officially ‘enemies’. So I think your post is quite useful in pointing up the horror of collusion, in fact.
!00% wrong on Obama, RD. He loves trial balloons, and leaks he approves. He’s on TeeVee every day with pablum and the same talking points. But he does love him some compromise. He even telegraphs his bottom-line to opponents before a negotiation. I want to sell him a used car. Now THAT would be a negotiation.
Technicolour
I don’t see how being an ally stops anyone from condemning the bad behaviour of your allies – these messages are often best coming from Allies and friends rather than implacable opponents. I am more than happy to be critical of my own and other western democracies when the need arises – it doesn’t mean that I should doubt their rights to existence. If that is your definition of collusion so be it – but I would be very careful about who you are colluding with yourself.
Ben
Nearly all of us have a have a shadowy past with regard to the Rwandan massacres – I didn’t notice much pushing and shouting anywhere for the UN or anyone to do much about what was building up beforehand.
miaouw, look what the cat dragged in and how the masochistic masses are boun d over the royal Mail barrel, what an act of piracy on the British people.
2/3 of Rotal Mail sold off to institutional investors as an early C word present from Osborne to his loaded friends. Cafe Nero is expanding, hurray, another non taxpayer to the ranks of multinational suckers putting three fingers up to thse coffee shops who pay full wack.
With all that caffeing you would think this will end in a bloddy drugs/tax war, Independents versus TNC scroungers associated….
Obama and Blair should face the same destiny.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/royal-mail/10373868/Hedge-fund-investing-in-Royal-Mail-employs-George-Osbornes-friend.html
“I didn’t notice much pushing and shouting anywhere for the UN or anyone to do much about what was building up beforehand.”
No profit there. No compelling national interest. Plenty of blame for those who stood by, but participation in the slaughter goes beyond. How about Sheldon Adelson? Is he unfairly painted?
@ Ben,
Here’s another clown of the Obambi & Bailey Ring-a-ding-dong Circus: Killjoy was here: Netanyahu at the UN.
Whatever happened to AIPAC’s 250 member A-team [lobbyists] that was going to push for war on Syria?
And just when you think things couldn’t get any weirder….
Ben
So what you have forecast 5 years ago before Obama was elected? I am more interested in the tangible results of Obama’s negotiations rather than the play acting beforehand – if you want a President who sticks to a position through thick and thin then you must have loved Reagan and Bush – personally I prefer those who can show a bit of doubt from time to time and who know how to bend with the wind.
Resident Dissident: thanks, I don’t collude. The Israeli government is orchestrating the atrocities; not the Israeli people. If the country were represented by, say, Yuri Avnery, or many equal others (and Likud ten years ago were getting a pathetic, Blair-ite 26 percent of the vote), we would be seeing an entirely different and markedly less heart-rending state of affairs.
However, while my elected representatives have no say on the policies of Al Quaida/the Taliban (except when their US allies fund them and perhaps not even then) they might be expected to influence the actions of an ally; hence the pressure brought by many people here, I think. Myself I think real pressure for change will come from the largely decent people inside Israel itself which is why I thoroughly object to a mindset which seeks to conflate ‘Jewish’ with ‘Israeli goverment’ and which would repel most Jewish people as a result.
” personally I prefer those who can show a bit of doubt from time to time and who know how to bend with the wind.”
Oh, yes he does bend. I just prefer someone who’s not double-jointed and blown over by a breeze.
I agree he’s better than Bush or Romney, but I never bought into their bullshit and so they fulfilled my worst hopes, while Obama dashes my hope-vote every day to my disappointment.
Daniel; poor Bibi. I have to live in the US-the new 24/7 ethnocentric focus on local politics (Shutdown) and listen to every news show’s latest update on a stalemate (Why doesn’t Obama negotiate……why oh why, oh why.) Nothing else ever punches through that formidable crust, and there is plenty going on, like Fukushima.
NB RD: “I don’t see how being an ally stops anyone from condemning the bad behaviour of your allies”
– Cast Lead. Not ‘bad behaviour’; terror.
Daniel; Heh. The circle is unbroken. Israelis/Bandar US/Al Queda. Strange bedfellows.
Really, RD. Who IS an ally? What’s the definition? I suggest there is no such thing, except maybe “The enemy of my enemy is my friend”
Ben: briefly think that an ally is someone to whom one’s government provides (variously) financial support, weapons, political support and PR (in the Security Council, UN et al). By that logic, Israel is a UK/US ally; Palestine is not.
Tech;
“ally (v.)
late 13c., “to join in marriage,” from Old French alier “combine, unite,” from a differentiated stem of aliier (from Latin alligare “bind to;” see alloy). Meaning “to form an alliance, join, associate” is late 14c. Related: allied; allying.
‘marriage’, ‘bind-to’ ;sounds a little more intimate and committed than the fair-weather friends who have cobbled a mutually beneficial arrangement on a temporary basis.
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-10-08/nsas-utah-spy-supercenter-crippled-power-surges
The Shut-down isn’t all bad…
Professor James Petras is not the first person to call Barack Obama, “a Zionist lackey”.
Dr. Gideon Polya, Australian lecturer and writer, on September 29, 2012 while commenting on president Barack Obama’s speech at the UN General Assembly, also called Barack Obama “Zionist Lackey”.
America’s leading foreign policy expert and Obama’s former national security advisor, Zbigniew Brzezinski, in a speech at an event organized by the National American Iranian Council (NAIC) and the Arms Control Association in Washington on November 26, 2012, claimed that US administration is lead by the nose by pro-Israel Jewish groups like a stupid mule.
http://rehmat1.com/2013/10/12/james-petras-obama-is-a-zionist-lackey/