British Killer Drones Fly in Irish Sky

by brionOcleirigh - AllVoices Tue Jun 11, 2013 04:31

June 10, 2013 "Information Clearing House - "The Guardian" -- The individual responsible for one of the most significant leaks in US political history is Edward Snowden, a 29-year-old former technical assistant for the CIAand current employee of the defence contractor Booz Allen Hamilton. Snowden has been working at the National Security Agency for the last four years as an employee of various outside contractors, including Booz Allen and Dell.
The Guardian, after several days of interviews, is revealing his identity at his request. From the moment he decided to disclose numerous top-secret documents to the public, he was determined not to opt for the protection of anonymity. "I have no intention of hiding who I am because I know I have done nothing wrong," he said.
Snowden will go down in history as one of America's most consequential whistleblowers, alongside Daniel Ellsberg and Bradley Manning. He is responsible for handing over material from one of the world's most secretive organisations – the NSA.
In a note accompanying the first set of documents he provided, he wrote: "I understand that I will be made to suffer for my actions," but "I will be satisfied if the federation of secret law, unequal pardon and irresistible executive powers that rule the world that I love are revealed even for an instant."
Despite his determination to be publicly unveiled, he repeatedly insisted that he wants to avoid the media spotlight. "I don't want public attention because I don't want the story to be about me. I want it to be about what the US government is doing."
He does not fear the consequences of going public, he said, only that doing so will distract attention from the issues raised by his disclosures. "I know the media likes to personalise political debates, and I know the government will demonise me."
Despite these fears, he remained hopeful his outing will not divert attention from the substance of his disclosures. "I really want the focus to be on these documents and the debate which I hope this will trigger among citizens around the globe about what kind of world we want to live in." He added: "My sole motive is to inform the public as to that which is done in their name and that which is done against them."
He has had "a very comfortable life" that included a salary of roughly $200,000, a girlfriend with whom he shared a home in Hawaii, a stable career, and a family he loves. "I'm willing to sacrifice all of that because I can't in good conscience allow the US government to destroy privacy, internet freedom and basic liberties for people around the world with this massive surveillance machine they're secretly building."
'I am not afraid, because this is the choice I've made'

Three weeks ago, Snowden made final preparations that resulted in last week's series of blockbuster news stories. At the NSA office in Hawaii where he was working, he copied the last set of documents he intended to disclose.
He then advised his NSA supervisor that he needed to be away from work for "a couple of weeks" in order to receive treatment for epilepsy, a condition he learned he suffers from after a series of seizures last year.
As he packed his bags, he told his girlfriend that he had to be away for a few weeks, though he said he was vague about the reason. "That is not an uncommon occurrence for someone who has spent the last decade working in the intelligence world."
On May 20, he boarded a flight to Hong Kong, where he has remained ever since. He chose the city because "they have a spirited commitment to free speech and the right of political dissent", and because he believed that it was one of the few places in the world that both could and would resist the dictates of the US government.
In the three weeks since he arrived, he has been ensconced in a hotel room. "I've left the room maybe a total of three times during my entire stay," he said. It is a plush hotel and, what with eating meals in his room too, he has run up big bills.
He is deeply worried about being spied on. He lines the door of his hotel room with pillows to prevent eavesdropping. He puts a large red hood over his head and laptop when entering his passwords to prevent any hidden cameras from detecting them.
Though that may sound like paranoia to some, Snowden has good reason for such fears. He worked in the US intelligence world for almost a decade. He knows that the biggest and most secretive surveillance organisation in America, the NSA, along with the most powerful government on the planet, is looking for him.
Since the disclosures began to emerge, he has watched television and monitored the internet, hearing all the threats and vows of prosecution emanating from Washington.
And he knows only too well the sophisticated technology available to them and how easy it will be for them to find him. The NSA police and other law enforcement officers have twice visited his home in Hawaii and already contacted his girlfriend, though he believes that may have been prompted by his absence from work, and not because of suspicions of any connection to the leaks.
"All my options are bad," he said. The US could begin extradition proceedings against him, a potentially problematic, lengthy and unpredictable course for Washington. Or the Chinese government might whisk him away for questioning, viewing him as a useful source of information. Or he might end up being grabbed and bundled into a plane bound for US territory.
"Yes, I could be rendered by the CIA. I could have people come after me. Or any of the third-party partners. They work closely with a number of other nations. Or they could pay off the Triads. Any of their agents or assets," he said.
"We have got a CIA station just up the road – the consulate here in Hong Kong – and I am sure they are going to be busy for the next week. And that is a concern I will live with for the rest of my life, however long that happens to be."
Having watched the Obama administration prosecute whistleblowers at a historically unprecedented rate, he fully expects the US government to attempt to use all its weight to punish him. "I am not afraid," he said calmly, "because this is the choice I've made."
He predicts the government will launch an investigation and "say I have broken the Espionage Act and helped our enemies, but that can be used against anyone who points out how massive and invasive the system has become".
The only time he became emotional during the many hours of interviews was when he pondered the impact his choices would have on his family, many of whom work for the US government. "The only thing I fear is the harmful effects on my family, who I won't be able to help any more. That's what keeps me up at night," he said, his eyes welling up with tears.
'You can't wait around for someone else to act'

Snowden did not always believe the US government posed a threat to his political values. He was brought up originally in Elizabeth City, North Carolina. His family moved later to Maryland, near the NSA headquarters in Fort Meade.
By his own admission, he was not a stellar student. In order to get the credits necessary to obtain a high school diploma, he attended a community college in Maryland, studying computing, but never completed the coursework. (He later obtained his GED.)
In 2003, he enlisted in the US army and began a training program to join the Special Forces. Invoking the same principles that he now cites to justify his leaks, he said: "I wanted to fight in the Iraq war because I felt like I had an obligation as a human being to help free people from oppression".
He recounted how his beliefs about the war's purpose were quickly dispelled. "Most of the people training us seemed pumped up about killing Arabs, not helping anyone," he said. After he broke both his legs in a training accident, he was discharged.
After that, he got his first job in an NSA facility, working as a security guard for one of the agency's covert facilities at the University of Maryland. From there, he went to the CIA, where he worked on IT security. His understanding of the internet and his talent for computer programming enabled him to rise fairly quickly for someone who lacked even a high school diploma.
By 2007, the CIA stationed him with diplomatic cover in Geneva, Switzerland. His responsibility for maintaining computer network security meant he had clearance to access a wide array of classified documents.
That access, along with the almost three years he spent around CIA officers, led him to begin seriously questioning the rightness of what he saw.
He described as formative an incident in which he claimed CIA operatives were attempting to recruit a Swiss banker to obtain secret banking information. Snowden said they achieved this by purposely getting the banker drunk and encouraging him to drive home in his car. When the banker was arrested for drunk driving, the undercover agent seeking to befriend him offered to help, and a bond was formed that led to successful recruitment.
"Much of what I saw in Geneva really disillusioned me about how my government functions and what its impact is in the world," he says. "I realised that I was part of something that was doing far more harm than good."
He said it was during his CIA stint in Geneva that he thought for the first time about exposing government secrets. But, at the time, he chose not to for two reasons.
First, he said: "Most of the secrets the CIA has are about people, not machines and systems, so I didn't feel comfortable with disclosures that I thought could endanger anyone". Secondly, the election of Barack Obama in 2008 gave him hope that there would be real reforms, rendering disclosures unnecessary.
He left the CIA in 2009 in order to take his first job working for a private contractor that assigned him to a functioning NSA facility, stationed on a military base in Japan. It was then, he said, that he "watched as Obama advanced the very policies that I thought would be reined in", and as a result, "I got hardened."
The primary lesson from this experience was that "you can't wait around for someone else to act. I had been looking for leaders, but I realised that leadership is about being the first to act."
Over the next three years, he learned just how all-consuming the NSA's surveillance activities were, claiming "they are intent on making every conversation and every form of behaviour in the world known to them".
He described how he once viewed the internet as "the most important invention in all of human history". As an adolescent, he spent days at a time "speaking to people with all sorts of views that I would never have encountered on my own".
But he believed that the value of the internet, along with basic privacy, is being rapidly destroyed by ubiquitous surveillance. "I don't see myself as a hero," he said, "because what I'm doing is self-interested: I don't want to live in a world where there's no privacy and therefore no room for intellectual exploration and creativity."
Once he reached the conclusion that the NSA's surveillance net would soon be irrevocable, he said it was just a matter of time before he chose to act. "What they're doing" poses "an existential threat to democracy", he said.
A matter of principle

As strong as those beliefs are, there still remains the question: why did he do it? Giving up his freedom and a privileged lifestyle? "There are more important things than money. If I were motivated by money, I could have sold these documents to any number of countries and gotten very rich."
For him, it is a matter of principle. "The government has granted itself power it is not entitled to. There is no public oversight. The result is people like myself have the latitude to go further than they are allowed to," he said.
His allegiance to internet freedom is reflected in the stickers on his laptop: "I support Online Rights: Electronic Frontier Foundation," reads one. Another hails the online organisation offering anonymity, the Tor Project.
Asked by reporters to establish his authenticity to ensure he is not some fantasist, he laid bare, without hesitation, his personal details, from his social security number to his CIA ID and his expired diplomatic passport. There is no shiftiness. Ask him about anything in his personal life and he will answer.
He is quiet, smart, easy-going and self-effacing. A master on computers, he seemed happiest when talking about the technical side of surveillance, at a level of detail comprehensible probably only to fellow communication specialists. But he showed intense passion when talking about the value of privacy and how he felt it was being steadily eroded by the behaviour of the intelligence services.
His manner was calm and relaxed but he has been understandably twitchy since he went into hiding, waiting for the knock on the hotel door. A fire alarm goes off. "That has not happened before," he said, betraying anxiety wondering if was real, a test or a CIA ploy to get him out onto the street.
Strewn about the side of his bed are his suitcase, a plate with the remains of room-service breakfast, and a copy of Angler, the biography of former vice-president Dick Cheney.
Ever since last week's news stories began to appear in the Guardian, Snowden has vigilantly watched TV and read the internet to see the effects of his choices. He seemed satisfied that the debate he longed to provoke was finally taking place.
He lay, propped up against pillows, watching CNN's Wolf Blitzer ask a discussion panel about government intrusion if they had any idea who the leaker was. From 8,000 miles away, the leaker looked on impassively, not even indulging in a wry smile.
Snowden said that he admires both Ellsberg and Manning, but argues that there is one important distinction between himself and the army private, whose trial coincidentally began the week Snowden's leaks began to make news.
"I carefully evaluated every single document I disclosed to ensure that each was legitimately in the public interest," he said. "There are all sorts of documents that would have made a big impact that I didn't turn over, because harming people isn't my goal. Transparency is."
He purposely chose, he said, to give the documents to journalists whose judgment he trusted about what should be public and what should remain concealed.
As for his future, he is vague. He hoped the publicity the leaks have generated will offer him some protection, making it "harder for them to get dirty".
He views his best hope as the possibility of asylum, with Iceland – with its reputation of a champion of internet freedom – at the top of his list. He knows that may prove a wish unfulfilled.
But after the intense political controversy he has already created with just the first week's haul of stories, "I feel satisfied that this was all worth it. I have no regrets."
© 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved.

Edward Snowden NSA Whistleblower

Caption: Video Id: 5yB3n9fu-rM Type: Youtube Video
NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden

by W. Finnerty Tue Jun 11, 2013 05:58

=== === ===

1. Snowden was previously a technical officer for the CIA and worked at the National Security Agency (NSA) as an employee of Dell, a private contractor, before being hired by Booz Allen as an infrastructure analyst for the NSA in Hawaii.
According to the Guardian, Snowden told supervisors he was seeking treatment for epilepsy and told his girlfriend he would be away for a few weeks before travelling to Hong Kong along with the government secrets he hoped to release. Snowden told the paper that he decided to come forward with the documents because “I don’t want to live in a world where there’s no privacy and therefore no room for intellectual exploration and creativity.”

2. Snowden voted for a third party in 2008, he told the Guardian, but believed in Obama to put an end to some of the surveillance practices.
Instead, after a review Obama continued the program, according to administration officials, adding in additional layers of review to prevent abuse. Snowden told the Guardian that he “got hardened” after he “watched as Obama advanced the very policies that I thought would be reined in.”

3. Snowden claimed vast powers to both initiate surveillance and shut down the U.S. programs.
“I had full access to the full rosters of everyone working at the NSA, the entire intelligence community, and undercover assets all around the world,” he told the Guardian. In a video posted on the website, Snowden claimed that “any analyst at any time can target anyone … I, sitting at my desk, certainly have the authorities to wiretap anyone — from you or your accountant, to a federal judge, to even the President.”

Additionally he claimed he said he could shut down the entire system in an afternoon if he wanted to. The revelation that Snowden was a contractor with that wide-ranging access to some of the most closely guarded U.S. government programs is sure to provoke a re-examination of the explosion of contractors filling traditional government jobs in defense and intelligence agencies.

4. Snowden told the Post “I’m not going to hide,” but his future is uncertain.
Hong Kong and the U.S. maintain a bilateral extradition treaty, but it includes exceptions for political crimes. It is unclear how the Chinese government, which maintains significant influence in the Special Administrative Region, will react to Snowden’s presence or how it will treat him. He told the Post that he is seeking “asylum from any countries that believe in free speech and oppose the victimization of global privacy.”

=== === ===

All of the above excerpts have come from the following www location:
http://swampland.time.com/2013/06/09/four-things-to-kno...wden/
(Published June 09, 2013)

Related Link:
"Surveillance Leaker Edward Snowden ..."
http://tinyurl.com/pqoxbvb

by W. Finnerty Tue Jun 11, 2013 13:35

"Russia is willing to consider granting political asylum for NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden, who blew the lid on the US PRISM program, Russian media reported. Snowden dropped out of sight Monday after he was last seen checking out of a Hong Kong hotel."

"Iceland MP and privacy rights campaigner Birgitta Jonsdottir has offered Snowden assistance in getting asylum in the Nordic island state."

The above excerpts are all from the following www location:
http://rt.com/news/russia-consider-asylum-snowden-517/
Published time: June 11, 2013 07:10
Edited time: June 11, 2013 09:01

So far, "not a single word" (as far as I know) from RTE about any of this?

Related Link:
"NSA whistleblower Snowden, Russia, Iceland ..."
http://tinyurl.com/qg7sxzy

by psst Tue Jun 11, 2013 19:23

Psst comrade Clarke, that plane has USA markings, if you have to waffle make it semi-realistic.

by fred Tue Jun 11, 2013 20:23

the picture was just illustrative smart ass. the caption clearly said "predator drone"

by brionOcleirigh - AllVoices Wed Jun 12, 2013 08:01

The article is not meant to offend any minority group. I have no control over that and ultimately respect the editors decisions. In the event any one believes I am being sectarian I would point to them to the video at the end of this article and I will say that any group, be they Republican or Loyalist, engaged in the activity of kneecapping or punishment beatings, are fascist, fear based and certainly not freedom fighters, in my humble opinion and i do speak from experience of this matter. It is barbaric and moronic and has nothing to d with liberation. There are much better, love based patient methods, of engaging and resolving this anti-capitalist society, activity. As a balance hopefully to the principal article, I submit the following tongue in cheek one, I blogged today. Hopefully I am not trying to be too much of a smart ass but sure there ya are!

G8 Warn Orange Order Thugs to Stay Away from Belfast and Fermanagh in British Occupied Ireland

Protesters against the G8 in Belfast and Fermanagh have warned violent Orange Order thugs to stay away from their demonstrations. Members of Unite and NIPSA, which represent thousands of public sector workers in British Occupied Ireland, said they will prevent the fascist right-wing Orange order from demonstrating in Belfast and Fermanagh.

"If you are intent on trouble do not come near our demonstration. We won't allow this demonstration to be hijacked," said Gary Mulcahy, a spokesperson and co-ordinator of the G8 Not Welcome campaign. Thousands of people will take to the street in Belfast in protests organised by the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) this Saturday.Thousands more are expected for another rally against the G8 summit in Enniskillen on Monday where the Orange Order is banned.

Protesters will not allow the fascist Nazi Orange Order to get close to the world's eight most powerful leaders on a pre-agreed route with the British paramilitary police, to a perimeter fence erected around the luxury Lough Erne resort.

Civilized protesters only, will be allowed attempt to get anywhere near the world's eight most powerful leaders, by politely snaking their way on a pre-agreed route, through the town towards a perimeter fence erected around the site of the luxury Lough Erne resort.

Sectarian Orange Order brethren particularly religious zealots are angry, that British drones have a ‘Big Brother’ eye-in-the-sky, daily view, doing virtual ‘strip searches’ of their wives and daughters from 1,500′ up, trolling around loyalist skies in east Belfast unregulated, with a very real “on-demand” intrusion into their loyalist lives in British Occupied Ireland by the American type predator drones and MI5 shredding their few remaining loyalist privileges. However they seem to be ignoring the strip searching of the gay community in east Belfast, with Peter Robinson refusing to comment on the issue.

Trade unionists have accused the British Government of scaremongering, in an effort to scare ordinary people away from protesting. Jimmy Kelly, regional secretary of Unite, said an atmosphere of fear was being deliberately stirred up ahead of the G8 conference. "All the build up is designed to put people off with wall-to-wall police, back up and drones and everything you can think of. We are trying to cut through that intimidation climate to say you are entitled to protest, be proud to protest because our aims are just and we are a force for good. If you want to go out with your family and be part of the protest you are concerned that the security is going to go over the top." The gay community, "off the record" are allowed to march "if they are discreet."

Separately the head of the union that represents the British paramilitary police in British Occupied Ireland, has strongly criticized tactics used by his PSNI chiefs dealing with violence around fascist loyalist flag protest. Terry Spence, chairperson of the Police Federation, said that plastic bullets should not be used against loyalist protesters. He said doing so could prevent his officers from being attacked with potentially lethal loyalist missiles. Mr Spence said police officers should not be used as cannon fodder at protests like the G8 conference.

Nearly 150 British paramilitary police were injured in fascist loyalist riots recently, and Spence said rapid deployment of plastic bullets against loyalist protesters could have prevented attacks by right-wing loyalist protesters on the G8 conference.

The British paramilitary police have been strongly criticised by Irish nationalists and others for failing to take action against Loyalist masked paramilitaries who erect UVF flegs in east Belfast. Spence also congratulated the efforts of the Garda in the Irish free state for assisting the British paramilitary police in combating Irish republicans.

Willie Frazer a leading Orange Order fascist, intimated that the G8 protests would be postponed but would go ahead at a future date, perhaps when the next G8 summit is held in Ireland. He also said “I also wish to go on record as welcoming the recognition of Alan Shatter and the Garda Siochana, as to our right to peaceful protest in Dublin and the accommodating measures they were putting in place for us the protesters and concerned citizens of Ulster in our recently postponed protests there.”

The ongoing Orange Order fleg violence has roots in a policy established in the early days of the Troubles in British Occupied Ireland As the Union Jack, flag protests deteriorate into greater violence, the power of groups such as the UVF and UDA in the failing Irish Peace Process, derives from Britain’s top general's policies in British Occupied Ireland, from the start of the Troubles.

Damning evidence, that the higher echelons of Britain's military, advocated a counterinsurgency policy, that encourages the growth of Orange Order, loyalist paramilitary groups, has emerged in documents from the "Northern Ireland Office" released recently.

Ignored by the BBC presstitutes and censored, with the exception of a handful of academics, the papers demonstrate that British generals, effectively champion Orange Order countergangs, drawn from the ranks of the sectarian Orange Order, to fight the IRA, a continuation from the brutal British war crimes, committed against the Mau Mau in Kenya. Dr Huw Bennett of the department of International politics, at the University of Wales, in Aberystwyth, said it is “very likely” the military got its way entirely.

Documentation produced after the IRA’s first ceasefire in 1972 and understood to be still the preferred option, after the British Tories force a cessation of the Peace Process with the re-introduction of internment, is a document from July 9th of that year, on the same day a ceasefire ended in a riot and gun battle in the Lenadoon estate, of west Belfast, the British army’s general officer commander, Gen Harry Tuzo, had a paper dispatched to the Viceroyal William Whitelaw, prepared in anticipation of the of breakdown, outlining British military options, in the next phase of the war on the IRA.

The paper approved by chief of general staff, Field Marshall Michael Carver, reflecting the view of Britain’s military establishment on the best way to conduct war against the IRA. According to Bennett in a paper written on Studies in Conflict Terrorism in 2010, was to flood IRA strongholds, with British soldiers to force the IRA into firefights, which would allow the army not just to kill and intern IRA suspects but conduct massive widespread searches to gather intelligence. Indemnity for the British soldiers involved in this exercise ws given.

Another proposal to Whitelaw, adopted as policy with the growth of Orange order loyalists paramilitaries was that this should be secretly promoted. The actual wording of Tuzo’s policy strongly implies, creating a second front in which the IRA would be forced to fight on, against the fascist Orange Order paramilitaries, such as the UDA, UVF and Wee Willie's flegling groups.

Orange Order Fascism

Caption: Video Id: 5HkvfW9N-cI Type: Youtube Video
Toughest Towns Belfast (Part 2 of 3)

by brionOcleirigh - AllVoices Wed Jun 12, 2013 11:01

Just found this article and at the risk of waffling, I believe it is very relevant to Irish politics and this issue.

"Pakistan’s Prime Minister Declares End to Secret Approval of U.S. Drone Strikes

By Tom Hussain

June 11, 2013 "Information Clearing House - "McClatchy" - ISLAMABAD — In office for less than a week, Pakistan’s new prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, vented his anger Monday at two recent U.S. drone strikes, all but accusing his country’s overbearing military of lying to Pakistanis about its cooperation with the CIA to eliminate terrorism suspects in northwest tribal regions bordering Afghanistan.

"The policy of protesting against drone strikes for public consumption, while working behind the scenes to make them happen, is not on," Sharif said, according to an official statement issued after the first meeting of his Cabinet.

Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz party won a majority of seats in the National Assembly, Pakistan’s equivalent of the House of Representatives, in a general election May 11. His assumption of office last Wednesday was the first time that a full-term democratic administration had handed power to an elected successor.

Whether Sharif can change the balance of power with the military, which has staged four coups since Pakistan’s independence in 1947 and retains a stranglehold over foreign and defense policy, remains to be seen.

Sharif has made it clear that he intends to break the pattern by not appointing ministers to oversee defense and foreign affairs. Instead, he’s assumed direct charge of those areas himself.

But stopping U.S. drone strikes, which he and other Pakistani politicians have characterized as a violation of their country’s sovereignty, seems hardly certain. Two strikes have hit Pakistan since Sharif’s ascent to the prime minister’s post was assured – one on May 30, which killed the deputy chief of the Pakistani Taliban, and the other Friday, which killed seven unidentified suspected militants.

Sharif reacted to Friday’s assault by having the Ministry of Foreign Affairs summon the U.S. charge d’affaires, Richard Hoagland, to register a protest, although it was far milder than his angry critique Monday of domestic policy.

"Drone strikes have a negative impact on the desire of both countries to forge cordial and cooperative relationships, and to ensure peace and stability in the region," Hoagland was told by Tariq Fatemi, Sharif’s adviser on foreign affairs.

There’s little strategic reason, however, for the Pakistani military to want drone strikes to end. They represent the most visible successes against the Pakistani Taliban, known as the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, breaking its chain of command and coherency as an organization. Some 150,000 Pakistani troops, nearly a quarter of the country’s military, are deployed in the seven northwest tribal areas that are home to the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan.

Over the weekend the army wrested control of strategic mountaintop positions in Khyber Agency, where the Pakistani Taliban have successfully resisted military attacks since 2009.

The area is home to the legendary Khyber Pass, one of two land routes the U.S. and its allies use to supply their troops in Afghanistan, but the value of the government offensive is the likely retaking of the Tirah Valley area. That will block a key north-south corridor that the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan have used to escape military operations in one tribal agency by migrating to another area.

'The army has its foot on the throat of the TTP now," said "Okasha," a Pakistan-based al Qaida activist who coordinates with the Afghan and Pakistani Taliban. "We will see the dominoes collapse one after another now./ "

Caption: Video Id: gEB1FSa0Gew Type: Youtube Video
Glenn Greenwald on How NSA Leaker Edward Snowden Helped Expose a "Massive Surveillance Apparatus"

by W. Finnerty Wed Jun 12, 2013 12:54

"It will be up to brave young people like Edward Snowden and Bradley Manning to stop invasive surveillance and government abuse, Michael Ratner, an attorney for Julian Assange and the president of the Center for Constitutional Rights, told RT."

The two excerpts above are from the following www location:
http://rt.com/op-edge/ratner-snowden-nsa-whistleblowers...-554/

Related Link:
"Criminal violations by governments of constitutional law with IMPUNITY, Human Rights Ireland, William Finnerty ..."
http://tinyurl.com/o2ge2u8

=== === ===

" 'Impunity' means the impossibility, de jure or de facto, of bringing the perpetrators of violations to account - whether in criminal, civil, administrative or disciplinary proceedings - since they are not subject to any inquiry that might lead to their being accused, arrested, tried and, if found guilty, sentenced to appropriate penalties, and to making reparations to their victims."

The excerpt immediately above is from a United Nations document -- dated February 8th 2005 -- which is titled:

"Updated Set of principles for the protection and promotion of human rights through action to combat impunity".

The full text of the document in question is available at: http://www.derechos.org/nizkor/impu/principles.html

=== === ===

by W. Finnerty Wed Jun 12, 2013 15:12

=== === ===

"IF MILLIONS OF US, ALL AT THE SAME EXACT TIME, CALL OR EMAIL SOMEONE WITH OUR KEYWORDS-OF-TERROR-FILLED SCRIPT, WE CAN GIVE OUR NATION’S IMPRESSIVE SURVEILLANCE APPARATUS THE KIND OF TEST IT DESERVES.

"They say they don’t read or listen to the contents of our messages. Why not test it out?"

"It'll be fun."

COUNTDOWN TO THE MASS CALL/EMAIL - 7:00PM EST (USA) WEDNESDAY, JUNE 12, 2013

=== === ===

The above text has come from:
http://trollthensa.com/

Related Link:
"Operation Troll the NSA ..."
http://tinyurl.com/ljso3an

by W. Finnerty Fri Jun 14, 2013 08:55

'Today, just over three weeks later, he (Edward Snowden) is the world's most famous spy, whistleblower and fugitive, responsible for the biggest intelligence breach in recent US history. News organisations around the globe have described him as "America's Most Wanted". Members of Congress have denounced him as a "defector" whose actions amount to treason and have demanded he be punished to the fullest extent of the law.'

The above excerpt is from article at:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jun/11/edward-snow...ofile
(Published on Wednesday 12 June 2013)

And, in so far as I am aware, RTE (Republic of Ireland State Broadcaster) continues to remain COMPLETELY silent on the whole matter.

How VERY strange, or so it appears to me at least.

Related Link:
"Edward Snowden, world's most famous spy, whistleblower and fugitive, RTE ..."
http://tinyurl.com/kekvlvn

by W. Finnerty Fri Jun 14, 2013 12:35

I'm very pleased (and relieved) to see that RTE has this morning, and for the first time as far as I know, made a start at reporting the Edward Snowden case.

The following is an excerpt from an RTE report I have just seen for the first time (dated 09:31, Friday, 14 June 2013) a short while ago this morning:

"The British government has issued an alert to airlines around the world, urging them not to allow former CIA employee Edward Snowden to board flights to the UK."

The full RTE report can be viewed at:
http://www.rte.ie/news/2013/0614/456588-edward-snowden/

I am fascinated -- for all the wrong reasons -- by the fact that "The British government" appears to be thinking and acting a manner which suggests it knows nothing, and by implication CARES NOTHING (?) for Article 14 of the 1948 United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which reads as follows:

=== === ===

Article 14.

(1) Everyone has the right to seek and to enjoy in other countries asylum from persecution.

(2) This right may not be invoked in the case of prosecutions genuinely arising from non-political crimes or from acts contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations.

(The text in this section has been copied from the following UN www location: http://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/index.shtml#a14 )

=== === ===

There's to be no such "enjoyment" in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland for Edward Snowden it would seem: even though it appears to be the case that the whistle-blowing activities Edward Snowden has embarked upon in recent weeks seem to be 100% politically motivated (to me at least): and, for the purpose of avoiding full-blooded government "turnkey tyranny" (to use his expression), which now seems -- to a great many people all over the world -- to be getting uncomfortably close.

I'm also fascinated -- again for all the wrong reasons -- by the fact that RTE appear to have no knowledge of Article 14 of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, or, if they do, that they are keeping entirely silent about it (for reasons best known to themselves).

From the PREAMBLE of the UN UDHR:

"Now, Therefore THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY proclaims THIS UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS as a common standard of achievement for all peoples and all nations, to the end that every individual and every organ of society, keeping this Declaration constantly in mind, shall strive by teaching and education to promote respect for these rights and freedoms and by progressive measures, national and international, to secure their universal and effective recognition and observance, both among the peoples of Member States themselves and among the peoples of territories under their jurisdiction."

A public comment from our Minister for Education (Ruairi Quinn TD) regarding the above UN excerpts would seem like a good idea (to me) at this exceptionally tricky and difficult time in the life of Edward Snowden.

Related Link:
"RTE, Miriam O'Callaghan, Gay Byrne, government corruption, crime, cover-ups, impunity, Human Rights Ireland ..."
http://tinyurl.com/lkb4kvl