Articles by The Guardian
We found 933 results.
In the Lucky Country of Australia Apartheid Is Alive and Kicking
John Pilger – The Guardian,
11 Nov 2013
The richest land on Earth writes Aboriginal people out of history and pushes them to the margins. Like South Africa 30 years ago.
→ read full articleTo Support the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions Movement Is Not Anti-Semitic: [TMS Advisor Taken to Court]
Antony Loewenstein – The Guardian,
11 Nov 2013
To speak in favour of the BDS movement is not antisemitic – and yet The Australian newspaper has been quick to draw a parallel between the two. Shurat HaDin – Israel Law Center, an Israel-based organization, is currently taking [TMS Advisor and TRANSCEND Member] Prof. Jake Lynch, head of Sydney University’s Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies, to the Australian federal court.
→ read full articleGCHQ and European Spy Agencies Worked Together on Mass Surveillance
Julian Borger – The Guardian,
4 Nov 2013
The German, French, Spanish and Swedish intelligence services have all developed methods of mass surveillance of internet and phone traffic over the past five years in close partnership with Britain’s GCHQ eavesdropping agency.
→ read full articleOn Leaving the Guardian
Glenn Greenwald – The Guardian,
4 Nov 2013
As many of you know, I’m leaving the Guardian in order to work with Pierre Omidyar, Laura Poitras, Jeremy Scahill and soon-to-be-identified others on building a new media organization. We do not yet have an exact launch date for the new outlet, but rest assured: I’m not going to disappear for months or anything like that. The new site will be up and running reasonably soon.
→ read full articleDavid Cameron Makes Veiled Threat to Media over NSA and GCHQ Leaks
Nicholas Watt – The Guardian,
4 Nov 2013
David Cameron has called on the Guardian and other newspapers to show “social responsibility” in the reporting of the leaked NSA files to avoid high court injunctions or the use of D notices to prevent the publication of information that could damage national security.
→ read full articleMan Buys $27 of Bitcoin, Forgets about Them, Finds They’re Now Worth $886k
Samuel Gibbs – The Guardian,
4 Nov 2013
Bought in 2009, currency’s rise in value saw small investment turn into enough to buy an apartment in a wealthy area of Oslo.
→ read full articleReports That NSA Taps into Google and Yahoo Data Hubs Infuriate Tech Giants
Dominic Rushe, Spencer Ackerman and James Ball – The Guardian,
4 Nov 2013
Google and Yahoo, two of the world’s biggest tech companies, reacted angrily to a report on Wednesday [30 Oct 2013] that the National Security Agency has secretly intercepted the main communication links that carry their users’ data around the world.
→ read full articleHow Economic Growth Has Become Anti-Life
Vandana Shiva – The Guardian,
4 Nov 2013
An obsession with growth has eclipsed our concern for sustainability, justice and human dignity. But people are not disposable – the value of life lies outside economic development.
→ read full articleCIA Made Doctors Torture Suspected Terrorists after 9/11, Taskforce Finds
Sarah Boseley- The Guardian,
4 Nov 2013
Doctors and psychologists working for the US military violated the ethical codes of their profession under instruction from the defence department and the CIA to become involved in the torture and degrading treatment of suspected terrorists, an investigation has concluded.
→ read full articleReport Calls for Female Genital Mutilation to Be Treated as Child Abuse
Conal Urquhart – The Guardian,
4 Nov 2013
Coalition of health professionals recommends aggressive steps to eradicate the practice in the UK.
→ read full articleSpain Summons US Ambassador over Claim NSA Tracked 60m Calls a Month
Paul Hamilos – The Guardian,
28 Oct 2013
28 Oct 2013 – The Spanish prime minister, Mariano Rajoy, has summoned the US ambassador to explain the latest revelations by Edward Snowden, which suggest the National Security Agency tracked more than 60m phone calls in Spain in the space of a month.
→ read full articleThe US Should Pay Its UNESCO Dues
Nigel Cameron – The Guardian,
28 Oct 2013
The US refuses to pay up because of Palestinian membership in Unesco. It’s a horribly misguided approach.
→ read full articleUS CEOs Break Pay Record as Top 10 Earners Take Home At Least $100m Each
Dominic Rushe – The Guardian,
28 Oct 2013
For the first time ever, the 10 highest-paid chief executives in the US received more than $100m in compensation last year, and two took home billion-dollar paychecks, according to a leading annual survey of executive pay.
→ read full articleGermany Summons US Ambassador Over Claim NSA Bugged Merkel’s Phone
Philip Oltermann – The Guardian,
28 Oct 2013
24 Oct 2013 – Allegations that US spying has reached highest level of government met with outrage and disappointment in Germany. Foreign minister Guido Westerwelle has called the US ambassador to a personal meeting to discuss allegations that US secret services bugged Angela Merkel’s mobile phone.
→ read full articleIran Gives Russia Copy of US ScanEagle Drone as Proof of Mass Production
Saeed Kamali Dehghan – The Guardian,
28 Oct 2013
Iran has given Russia a copy of a US spy drone as proof that its elite forces have reverse-engineered and mass produced the American unmanned aerial vehicle they claim to have captured a year ago.
→ read full articleNo More Foreign Wars? Yet America Is Fighting in Yemen’s Civil War
Ryan Goodman – The Guardian,
28 Oct 2013
On Syria, Obama went to Congress over military action. But in Yemen, the US has joined a counter-insurgency without a word.
→ read full articleElon Musk: Oil Campaign against Electric Cars Is Like Big Tobacco Lobbying
Adam Vaughan – The Guardian,
28 Oct 2013
Tesla chief executive likens attacks on electric cars to campaigns of misinformation by big tobacco and climate skeptics.
→ read full articleUS Defends Drone Strikes as ‘Necessary and Just’ in Face of UN Criticism
Ed Pilkington and Ryan Devereaux – The Guardian,
28 Oct 2013
The US government has defended its use of drone strikes in Pakistan, Yemen and other countries in front of the UN, telling that in President Obama’s view the deployment of unmanned aerial attacks against al-Qaida targets was “necessary, legal and just”.
→ read full articleUS Politics’ True Bipartisan Consensus: Capitalism Is Untouchable
Richard Wolff – The Guardian,
28 Oct 2013
Democrats like moderate Keynesianism. Republicans favour free markets unfettered. The crisis-ridden system is never challenged. The economic aim of both major US political parties is, in the end, the same: to protect and reinforce the capitalist system.
→ read full articleNSA Monitored Calls of 35 World Leaders after US Official Handed Over Contacts
James Ball – The Guardian,
28 Oct 2013
The National Security Agency monitored the phone conversations of 35 world leaders after being given the numbers by an official in another US government department, according to a classified document provided by whistleblower Edward Snowden.
→ read full articleAs Europe Erupts over US Spying, NSA Chief Says Government Must Stop Media
Glenn Greenwald – The Guardian,
28 Oct 2013
With General Alexander calling for NSA reporting to be halted, US and UK credibility as guardians of press freedom is crushed. As was true for Brazil previously, reports about surveillance aimed at leaders are receiving most of the media attention, but what really originally drove the story there were revelations that the NSA is bulk-spying on millions and millions of innocent citizens in all of those nations.
→ read full articleSnowden Leaks: France Summons US Envoy over NSA Surveillance Claims
Sam Jones and Angelique Chrisafis – The Guardian,
21 Oct 2013
On Monday [21 Oct 2013], Le Monde published details from the NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden suggesting that the US agency had been intercepting phone calls on what it terms “a massive scale”. The French government has summoned the US ambassador in Paris, demanding an explanation.
→ read full articleFrance Cements Fracking Ban
The Guardian – TRANSCEND Media Service,
21 Oct 2013
France’s constitutional court has upheld a ban on hydraulic fracturing, ruling that the law against the energy exploration technique known as “fracking” is a valid means of protecting the environment.
→ read full articleNew York Times Says UK Tried to Get It to Hand Over Snowden Documents
Ed Pilkington – The Guardian,
21 Oct 2013
The editor of the New York Times, Jill Abramson, has confirmed that senior British officials attempted to persuade her to hand over secret documents leaked by the former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden.
→ read full articlePierre Omidyar Commits $250m to New Media Venture with Glenn Greenwald
Dominic Rushe – The Guardian,
21 Oct 2013
Decision to set up news organisation fuelled by ‘concern about press freedoms in the US and around the world’. Pierre Omidyar, the founder of eBay, has revealed more details of the media organization he is creating with journalist Glenn Greenwald.
→ read full articleThe Perfect Epitaph for Establishment Journalism
Glenn Greenwald – The Guardian,
21 Oct 2013
If the government tells me I shouldn’t publish something, who am I as a journalist to disobey? Put that on the tombstone of western establishment journalism. It perfectly encapsulates the death spiral of large journalistic outlets.
→ read full articlePlummeting Morale at Fukushima Daiichi as Nuclear Cleanup Takes Its Toll
Justin McCurry – The Guardian,
21 Oct 2013
Staff on the frontline of operation plagued by health problems and fearful about the future, insiders say.
→ read full articleHow the World Health Organisation Covered Up Iraq’s Nuclear Nightmare
Nafeez Ahmed – The Guardian,
21 Oct 2013
13 Oct 2013 – Last month, the World Health Organisation (WHO) published a long awaited document summarising the findings of an in-depth investigation into the prevalence of congenital birth defects (CBD) in Iraq, which many experts believe is linked to the use of depleted uranium (DU) munitions by Allied forces. According to the ‘summary report’.
→ read full articleAttacking Tor: How the NSA Targets Users’ Online Anonymity
Bruce Schneier – The Guardian,
14 Oct 2013
The online anonymity network Tor is a high-priority target for the National Security Agency. The work of attacking Tor is done by the NSA’s application vulnerabilities branch, which is part of the systems intelligence directorate, or SID.
→ read full articleMass Spying: How the US Stamps Its Supremacy on the Pacific Region
Antony Loewenstein – The Guardian,
14 Oct 2013
The US is keen to convince its Pacific friends to fear a spy-friendly Beijing. The irony? Washington’s spying network is far more widespread than anything coming from the Chinese. What if China was beating the US at its own super-power game in the Pacific and we didn’t even notice?
→ read full articleSkype under Investigation in Luxembourg over Link to NSA
Ryan Gallagher – The Guardian,
14 Oct 2013
The Microsoft-owned internet chat company could potentially face criminal and administrative sanctions, including a ban on passing users’ communications covertly to the US signals intelliigence agency.
→ read full articleChelsea Manning Rejects ‘Pacifist’ Label in First Statement since Sentencing
Ed Pilkington – The Guardian,
14 Oct 2013
Exclusive: In first public remarks since guilty verdict, WikiLeaks source expresses intense upset at public presentation of her.
→ read full articleGuardian’s NSA Revelations: Spies to Go under Spotlight
Patrick Wintour, Rowena Mason and Dan Roberts – The Guardian,
14 Oct 2013
British deputy prime minister Nick Clegg is to start conversations in government about how to update the legal oversight of the UK’s security services in the light of disclosures by the Guardian that powerful new technologies appear to have outstripped the current system of legislative and political oversight.
→ read full articleRussia to Monitor ‘All Communications’ at Winter Olympics in Sochi
Shaun Walker – The Guardian,
7 Oct 2013
Athletes and spectators attending the Winter Olympics in Sochi in February [2014] will face some of the most invasive and systematic spying and surveillance in the history of the Games, documents shared with the Guardian show.
→ read full articleStephen Hawking’s Big Ideas… Made Simple – Animation
The Guardian – TRANSCEND Media Service,
7 Oct 2013
Pretty interesting science. Hawking said that ‘the universe does not need god because its laws are self-created and self-perpetuating,” and that “the universe came from nothing.” Do you believe that? Or do you believe in intelligent design? The point being, they are both beliefs: in a theory vs in scriptures.
→ read full articleIrish Schoolchildren to Learn about Atheism
Henry McDonald – The Guardian,
7 Oct 2013
In a historic move that will cheer Richard Dawkins, lessons about atheism are to be taught in Ireland’s primary schools for the first time. The lessons on atheism, agnosticism and humanism for up to 16,000 primary-school pupils in Ireland will be drawn up by Atheist Ireland and multi-denominational school provider Educate Together.
→ read full articleOcean Acidification Due to Carbon Emissions Is at Highest for 300m Years
Fiona Harvey – The Guardian,
7 Oct 2013
The oceans are more acidic now than they have been for at least 300m years, due to carbon dioxide emissions from burning fossil fuels, and a mass extinction of key species may already be almost inevitable as a result, leading marine scientists warned on Thursday [3 Oct 2013].
→ read full articleThe Snowden Files: Why the British Public Should Be Worried about GCHQ
John Lanchester – The Guardian,
7 Oct 2013
When the Guardian offered John Lanchester access to the GCHQ files, the journalist and novelist was initially unconvinced. But what the papers told him was alarming: that Britain is sliding towards an entirely new kind of surveillance society.
→ read full articleSeymour Hersh on Obama, NSA and the ‘Pathetic’ American Media
Lisa O'Carroll – The Guardian,
30 Sep 2013
Seymour Hersh has got some extreme ideas on how to fix journalism – close down the news bureaus of NBC and ABC, sack 90% of editors in publishing and get back to the fundamental job of journalists, to be an outsider. It doesn’t take much to fire up Hersh, the investigative journalist who has been the nemesis of US presidents since the 1960s and who was once described by the Republican party as “the closest thing American journalism has to a terrorist”.
→ read full articleSyria: The Strategy Has Backfired
Alastair Crooke – The Guardian,
30 Sep 2013
What a curious turn of events: from the very brink of a military intervention in Syria that might have precipitated a wider regional conflagration, we have moved to one of those rare “points of inflection” over Iran which seems fecund with potential possibilities, including a solution in Syria.
→ read full articleRecovery Hype: American Capitalism’s Weapon of Mass Distraction
Richard Wolff - The Guardian,
30 Sep 2013
You don’t have to be a Marxist to see how the 1% tries to fool us that we too are sharing in their renewed wealth. But it helps. From President Obama on down, defenders of the status quo insist that the US economy has “recovered” or “is recovering”. Some actually see the world that way.
→ read full articleBrazilian President: US Surveillance a ‘Breach of International Law’
Julian Borger – The Guardian,
30 Sep 2013
Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff’s scathing speech to UN general assembly is the most serious diplomatic fallout over revelations of US spying. She launched a blistering attack on US espionage accusing the NSA of violating international law by its indiscriminate collection of personal information of Brazilian citizens and economic espionage targeted on the country’s strategic industries.
→ read full articleNSA Surveillance Goes Beyond Orwell’s Imagination – Alan Rusbridger
Dominic Rushe – The Guardian,
30 Sep 2013
Guardian editor says depth of NSA surveillance programs greatly exceed anything the 1984 author could have imagined.
→ read full articleWhy Has Geoengineering Been Legitimised by the IPCC?
Jack Stilgoe – The Guardian,
30 Sep 2013
27 Sep 2013 – The big surprise comes in the final paragraph of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report, with a mention of geoengineering. In the scientific world, a final paragraph is often the place to put caveats and suggestions for further research. In the political world, a final paragraph is a coda, a big finish, the place for a triumphant, standing-ovation-inducing summary. The IPCC tries to straddle both worlds.
→ read full articleFasted Training: Should You Eat Before Exercise?
The Guardian Running Blog – TRANSCEND Media Service,
30 Sep 2013
Traditional research states that runners need carbohydrate to train effectively, but new studies show the benefits of fasted training. A nutritionist explains the ‘train low, compete high’ concept.
→ read full articleNSA Stories around the World
Glenn Greenwald – The Guardian,
30 Sep 2013
23 Sep 2013 – Revelations continue to produce outcomes on multiple levels in numerous countries around the world.
→ read full articleThe Best Countries in the World for Vegetarians
The Guardian – TRANSCEND Media Service,
30 Sep 2013
Glasgow has been heralded as the best city in the world for vegans, but where are the best nations for travellers on a meat-free diet?
→ read full articleAt 16, Ganesh Got a Job in Qatar – Two Months Later He Was Dead
Pete Pattisson in Kathmandu and Doha – The Guardian,
30 Sep 2013
Nepalese workers go to Qatar to find a way out of poverty. Instead, many are trapped into 12-hour days and nights in overcrowded, filthy camps. Some never make it home alive.
→ read full articleLondon Whale Scandal to Cost JP Morgan $920m in Penalties
Dominic Rushe – The Guardian,
23 Sep 2013
JP Morgan has agreed to pay about $920m in penalties to US and UK regulators over the “unsafe and unsound practices” that led to its $6.2bn losses last year. It admitted wrongdoing as part of the settlement, an unusual step for a finance firm in the crosshairs of multiple legal actions.
→ read full articleThe US: World’s Policeman or Schoolyard Bully?
Bill Maher – The Guardian,
23 Sep 2013
Bombing seems to be our answer for everything. Since 1945, when Jesus granted America air superiority, we’ve bombed Korea, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Lebanon, Grenada, Panama, Iraq, Serbia, Somalia, Bosnia, the Sudan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Libya and Yemen.
→ read full articleMajor US Security Company Warns Over NSA Link to Encryption Formula
Charles Arthur and agencies – The Guardian,
23 Sep 2013
A major American computer security company has told thousands of customers to stop using an encryption system that relies on a mathematical formula developed by the National Security Agency.
→ read full articleWhy Anders Breivik Is Welcome at Our University
Ole Petter Ottersen – The Guardian,
16 Sep 2013
Anders Breivik’s application to the University of Oslo for admission to the political science study programme created interest worldwide. Breivik did not qualify for the full programme, but will be able study specific topics. Here the university’s rector explains the decision to grant him access to the course.
→ read full articleObama’s Syria Plans in Disarray after Britain Rejects Use of Force
Paul Lewis and Spencer Ackerman – The Guardian,
2 Sep 2013
Barack Obama’s plans for air strikes against Syria were thrown into disarray on Thursday [29 Aug 2013] night after the British parliament unexpectedly rejected a motion designed to pave the way to authorising the UK’s participation in military action.
→ read full articleMicrosoft and Google to Sue over US Surveillance Requests
Rory Carroll – The Guardian,
2 Sep 2013
Microsoft and Google are to sue the US government to win the right to reveal more information about official requests for user data. The lawsuit was announced on Friday [30 Aug 2013], escalating a legal battle over the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (Fisa), the mechanism used by the National Security Agency (NSA) and other US government agencies to gather data about foreign internet users.
→ read full articleMediaGuardian Lists Digital Consumer as Most Powerful Industry Figure
Jason Deans – The Guardian,
2 Sep 2013
The digital consumer – listed as “you” – tops MediaGuardian’s annual ranking of the UK’s 100 most powerful industry figures this year, reflecting the extent to which mobile and social media are transforming an industry traditionally dominated by moguls, editors and celebrities.
→ read full articleJust Say No to Nuclear Power – From Fukushima to Vermont
Amy Goodman – The Guardian,
2 Sep 2013
Fukushima showed us the intolerable costs of nuclear power. The citizens of Vermont show us the benefits of shutting it down.
→ read full articleObama, Congress and Syria
Glenn Greenwald – The Guardian,
2 Sep 2013
The president is celebrated for seeking a vote on his latest war even as his aides make clear it has no binding effect.
→ read full articleAn Attack on Syria Will Only Spread the War and Killing
Seumas Milne – The Guardian,
2 Sep 2013
All the signs are they’re going to do it again. The attack on Syria now being planned by the US and its allies will be the ninth direct western military intervention in an Arab or Muslim country in 15 years. Depending how you cut the cake, the looming bombardment follows onslaughts on Sudan, Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya and Mali, as well as a string of murderous drone assaults on Yemen, Somalia and Pakistan.
→ read full articleNSA Paid Millions to Cover Prism Compliance Costs for Tech Companies
Ewen MacAskill in New York – The Guardian,
26 Aug 2013
• Top-secret files show first evidence of financial relationship
• Prism companies include Google and Yahoo, says NSA
• Costs were incurred after 2011 Fisa court ruling
David Miranda, Schedule 7 and the Danger That All Reporters Now Face
Alan Rusbridger - The Guardian,
26 Aug 2013
As the events in a Heathrow transit lounge – and the Guardian offices – have shown, the threat to journalism is real and growing. A transit lounge in Heathrow is a dangerous place to be.
→ read full articleAlan Rusbridger: “I would rather destroy the copied files than hand them back to the NSA and GCHQ”
The Guardian – TRANSCEND Media Service,
26 Aug 2013
Alan Rusbridger, editor of The Guardian, talks about the UK and international law, the future of journalism, and the David Miranda affair.
→ read full articleGlenn Greenwald: Detaining My Partner Was a Failed Attempt at Intimidation
Glenn Greenwald – The Guardian,
19 Aug 2013
The detention of my partner David Miranda “under Schedule 7 of the Terrorism Act of 2000″ by UK authorities will have the opposite effect of the one intended. Even the Mafia had ethical rules against targeting the family members of people they felt threatened by. The Guardian’s lawyer was able to speak with David and told me that he was in very good spirits and quite defiant, and he asked the lawyer to convey that defiance to me. I already share it, as I’m certain US and UK authorities will soon see.
→ read full articleNew York Banking Regulator Targets Bitcoin and Other Virtual Currencies
Reuters – The Guardian,
19 Aug 2013
New York’s top banking regulator is considering issuing regulatory guidelines for Bitcoin and other virtual currencies, according to a memo posted on its website on Monday [12 Aug 2013]. Last year, the FBI reported that Bitcoin was being used by criminals to move money around the world.
→ read full articleGoogle: Don’t Expect Privacy When Sending to Gmail
Dominic Rushe – The Guardian,
19 Aug 2013
Critics call revelation ‘a stunning admission’ as Google makes claim in court filing in attempt to head off class action lawsuit.
→ read full articleThe NSA Is Turning the Internet into a Total Surveillance System
Alexander Abdo and Patrick Toomey – The Guardian,
12 Aug 2013
11 Aug 2013 – Now we know all Americans’ international email is searched and saved, we can see how far the ‘collect it all’ mission has gone. Another burst of sunlight permeated the National Security Agency’s black box of domestic surveillance last week.
→ read full articleExcitement, but Anxiety too, as Uruguay Sets Liberal Path with New Cannabis Law
Uki Goni – The Guardian,
12 Aug 2013
Uruguay’s liberal President Jose Mujica put political weight behind drug law reform, and money from George Soros’s Open Society Foundation is helping push through congress. Other Latin American countries, such as Colombia and Bolivia, emboldened by Uruguay’s move and frustrated over their failure to beat illegal cartels in the region, will be looking carefully at how the reform fares.
→ read full articleEmail Service Used by Snowden [Lavabit] Shuts Itself Down, Warns against Using US-Based Companies
Glenn Greenwald – The Guardian,
12 Aug 2013
A Texas-based encrypted email service recently revealed to be used by Edward Snowden – Lavabit – announced yesterday [8Aug 2013] it was shutting itself down to avoid complying with unjust secret US court orders to provide government access to its users’ content. Edward Snowden: ‘Google, Facebook, Microsoft, Yahoo, Apple, and the rest of our internet titans must ask themselves why they aren’t fighting for our interests the same way’.
→ read full articleRichard Dawkins’ Tweets on Islam Are As Rational As the Rants of an Extremist Muslim Cleric
Nesrine Malik – The Guardian,
12 Aug 2013
My Eid was interrupted by Richard Dawkins tweeting about how few Nobel prizes Muslims have won. His logic rings a bell …
→ read full articleGoogle Chrome Security Flaw Offers Unrestricted Password Access
Charles Arthur – The Guardian,
12 Aug 2013
Plain text logon details for email, social networks and company systems stored in browser’s Settings panel. One security manager said: “The fact you can view the passwords means they are stored in reversible form which means that the dark coders out there will be writing a Trojan to steal that password store as we speak.”
→ read full articlePlease Read Joseph Heller’s Catch-22 on Your Vacation, Mr. President
Amy Goodman – The Guardian,
12 Aug 2013
Senator Obama’s objection to ‘a dumb war’ won him nomination. As commander-in-chief, he has reneged on opposing militarism.
→ read full articleObama’s Abuse of the Espionage Act Is Modern-Day McCarthyism
John Kiriakou – The Guardian,
12 Aug 2013
Shame on this president for persecuting whistleblowers with a legal relic, while administration officials leak with impunity. In early 2012, I was arrested and charged with three counts of espionage and one count of violating the Intelligence Identities Protection Act. (I was only the second person in US history to be charged with violating the IIPA, a law that was written to be used against rogues like Philip Agee.)
→ read full articleManning, Snowden and Assange Were the Ones Who Took Risks to Expose Crime
Amy Goodman – The Guardian,
5 Aug 2013
But those who planned the wars, those who committed war crimes, those who conduct illegal spying, for now, walk free.
→ read full articleJP Morgan to Pay $410m in Penalties for Manipulating Electricity Prices
Associated Press in Washington – The Guardian,
5 Aug 2013
JP Morgan has agreed to the penalty, although the company disputes the violations. The penalty includes $285m for the federal government, and $125m for ratepayers. The agency recently levied a $453m penalty on Barclays, Britain’s second-largest bank, for manipulating electricity prices in California and other western states. Barclays is disputing the allegations.
→ read full articleUruguay Votes to Create World’s First National Legal Marijuana Market
Associated Press in Montevideo - The Guardian,
5 Aug 2013
1 Aug 2013 – Legislators in the ruling coalition said putting the government at the centre of a legal marijuana industry is worth trying because the global war on drugs had been a costly and bloody failure, and displacing illegal dealers through licensed marijuana sales could save money and lives.
→ read full articleXkeyscore: NSA Tool Collects ‘Nearly Everything a User Does On the Internet’
Glenn Greenwald – The Guardian,
5 Aug 2013
• XKeyscore gives ‘widest-reaching’ collection of online data
• NSA analysts require no prior authorization for searches
• Sweeps up emails, social media activity and browsing history
• NSA’s XKeyscore program – read one of the presentations
Syria’s Exodus: A Refugee Crisis for the World
Martin Chulov and Mark Rice-Oxley – The Guardian,
29 Jul 2013
“When we look at the prospects, one that we all have to face is that this conflict is creating a large risk of sectarian cleansing. This is how Srebrenica happened, how Rwanda happened, by gradually building up this enormous wave that leads to catastrophic consequences. This is the [crisis] that makes me lose sleep.”
→ read full articleAmerica’s Real Subversives: FBI Spying Then, NSA Surveillance Now
Amy Goodman – The Guardian,
29 Jul 2013
As the 50th anniversary of the 1963 March on Washington approaches, commemorating that historic gathering where Martin Luther King Jr gave his famous “I have a dream” speech, it is important to recall the extent to which King was targeted by the government’s domestic spying apparatus.
→ read full articleThe Six Types of Atheist
Andrew Brown – The Guardian,
22 Jul 2013
A new study in the US seeks to break down atheists into distinct categories. Which one do you fall into?
→ read full articleNSA Warned to Rein in Surveillance as Agency Reveals Even Greater Scope
Spencer Ackerman – The Guardian,
22 Jul 2013
NSA officials testify to angry House panel that agency can perform ‘three-hop queries’ through Americans’ data and records.
→ read full articleThe Crux of the NSA Story in One Phrase: ‘Collect It All’
Glenn Greenwald – The Guardian,
22 Jul 2013
The actual story that matters is not hard to see: the NSA is attempting to collect, monitor and store all forms of human communication.
→ read full articleGoldman Sachs Profits Double in Second Quarter
Dominic Rushe – The Guardian,
22 Jul 2013
Goldman Sachs doubled its profits in the second quarter as the bank benefited from gains in fixed income, currency and commodity trading revenue. The Wall Street giant set out its latest quarterly earnings Tuesday [16 Jul 2013] morning announcing net income of $1.93bn, compared with $962m a year earlier. Net revenue, including net interest income, rose 30% to $8.61bn from $6.6bn last year.
→ read full articleThe NSA/GCHQ Metadata Reassurances Are Breathtakingly Cynical
John Naughton – The Guardian,
15 Jul 2013
Over the past two weeks, I have lost count of the number of officials and government ministers who, when challenged about internet surveillance by GCHQ and the NSA, try to reassure their citizens by saying that the spooks are “only” collecting metadata, not “content”. Only two conclusions are possible from this: either the relevant spokespersons are unbelievably dumb or they are displaying a breathtaking contempt for their citizenry.
→ read full articleRapper Yasiin Bey (Aka Mos Def) Force Fed under Standard Guantánamo Bay Procedure
The Guardian – TRANSCEND Media Service,
15 Jul 2013
In this four-minute film made by Human Rights organisation Reprieve and Bafta award-winning director Asif Kapadia, US actor and rapper Yasiin Bey (formerly known as Mos Def), experiences the procedure. Warning: Some Viewers May Find These Images Distressing – Guantánamo inmates are submitted to this horrible procedure TWICE DAILY.
→ read full articleHow Microsoft Handed the NSA Access to Encrypted Messages
Glenn Greenwald, Ewen MacAskill, Laura Poitras, Spencer Ackerman and Dominic Rushe – The Guardian,
15 Jul 2013
• Secret files show scale of Silicon Valley co-operation on Prism
• Outlook.com encryption unlocked even before official launch
• Skype worked to enable Prism collection of video calls
• Company says it is legally compelled to comply
The Snowden Video Sequel and Brazil Fallout
Glenn Greenwald – The Guardian,
15 Jul 2013
In the first video we published, Snowden indicated that his primary motive was to shine light on the ubiquitous global surveillance apparatus being secretly constructed by the US and its allies in order to prompt a meaningful worldwide debate. It’s hard to contest that substantial progress has been made in fulfilling this objective.
→ read full articleHow Cryptography Is a Key Weapon in the Fight against Empire States
Julian Assange – The Guardian,
15 Jul 2013
Strong cryptography is a vital tool in fighting state oppression. That is the message in my book, Cypherpunks. But the movement for the universal availability of strong cryptography must be made to do more than this. Our future does not lie in the liberty of individuals alone. The cypherpunks have yet to do their greatest work. Join us.
→ read full articleEgypt, Brazil, Turkey: Without Politics, Protest Is at the Mercy of the Elites
Seumas Milne – The Guardian,
8 Jul 2013
From Egypt to Brazil, street action is driving change, but organisation is essential if it’s not to be hijacked or disarmed.
→ read full articleWhales Flee from Military Sonar Leading to Mass Strandings, Research Shows
Damian Carrington – The Guardian,
8 Jul 2013
Whales flee from the loud military sonar used by navies to hunt submarines, new research has proven for the first time. The studies provide a missing link in the puzzle that has connected naval exercises around the world to unusual mass strandings of whales and dolphins.
→ read full articleJames Clapper, EU Play-Acting, and Political Priorities
Glenn Greenwald – The Guardian,
8 Jul 2013
3 Jul 2013 – The NSA revelations continue to expose far more than just the ongoing operations of that sprawling and unaccountable spying agency. Let’s examine what we have learned this week about the US political and media class and then certain EU leaders.
→ read full articleWhen States Monitored Their Citizens We Used to Call Them Authoritarian. Now We Think This Is What Keeps Us Safe
Suzanne Moore – The Guardian,
8 Jul 2013
The internet is being snooped on and CCTV is everywhere. How did we come to accept that this is just the way things are?
→ read full articleThe NSA’s Mass and Indiscriminate Spying on Brazilians
Glenn Greenwald – The Guardian,
8 Jul 2013
As it does in many non-adversarial countries, the surveillance agency is bulk collecting the communications of millions of citizens of Brazil.
→ read full articleBradley Manning Should Win the Nobel Peace Prize
Mairead Corrigan-Maguire – The Guardian,
1 Jul 2013
As a peace prize winner myself, I am nominating Manning for this honor for his work to help end the Iraq War and other conflicts. I hope American leaders will embrace the U.S. constitution, and base their national and foreign policies on ethical values, human rights and international law.
→ read full articlePentagon Bracing For Public Dissent over Climate and Energy Shocks
Nafeez Ahmed – The Guardian,
24 Jun 2013
Top secret US National Security Agency (NSA) documents disclosed by the Guardian have shocked the world with revelations of a comprehensive US-based surveillance system with direct access to Facebook, Apple, Google, Microsoft and other tech giants. New Zealand court records suggest that data harvested by the NSA’s Prism system has been fed into the Five Eyes intelligence alliance whose members also include the UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
→ read full articleThe Whistleblowers Are the New Generation of American Patriots
Gary Younge – The Guardian,
24 Jun 2013
The violation of civil liberties in the name of security has had a profound impact on those who came of age after 9/11.
→ read full articleSteve Wozniak: ‘I felt about Edward Snowden the way I felt about Daniel Ellsberg’
Tania Branigan – The Guardian,
24 Jun 2013
Apple co-founder says he admires Edward Snowden as much as Pentagon Papers leaker Daniel Ellsberg. He said he had been brought up to believe that “communist Russia was so bad because they followed their people, they snooped on them, they arrested them, they put them in secret prisons, they disappeared them. We are getting more and more like that.”
→ read full articleRewilding Made Simple – An Animated Guide
The Guardian – TRANSCEND Media Service,
24 Jun 2013
Could the destruction of the natural world be reversed? Could our bare hills once more support a rich and thriving ecosystem, containing wolves, lynx, moose, bison, wolverines and boar? Does our wildlife still bear the marks of the great beasts that once roamed here? George Monbiot narrates an animation on the enchanting subject of rewilding.
→ read full articleGuantánamo Force-Feeding Does Not Trouble Prison Doctors
Associated Press – The Guardian,
24 Jun 2013
Calls for the doctors who force-feed hunger-striking prisoners at Guantánamo Bay to refuse to perform the practice on ethical grounds have got nowhere, a spokesman for the prison said on Thursday [20 June 2013]. No doctors, nurses or corpsman had balked at feeding the prisoners or even voiced a concern about the military’s policy of using what’s known as enteral feeding to prevent any of the hunger strikers starving to death, said Navy Captain Robert Durand.
→ read full articleEdward Snowden: Saving Us from the United Stasi of America
Daniel Ellsberg – The Guardian,
17 Jun 2013
Snowden’s whistleblowing gives us a chance to roll back what is tantamount to an ‘executive coup’ against the US constitution.
→ read full articleEdward Snowden: The Whistleblower behind the NSA Surveillance Revelations
Glenn Greenwald, Ewen MacAskill and Laura Poitras in Hong Kong – The Guardian,
17 Jun 2013
The 29-year-old source behind the biggest intelligence leak in the NSA’s history explains his motives, his uncertain future and why he never intended on hiding in the shadows.
→ read full articleGuantánamo Doctors Must Refuse to Force-Feed Hunger Strikers – Physicians
Paul Harris in New York – The Guardian,
17 Jun 2013
“Military physicians should refuse to participate in any act that unambiguously violates medical ethics,” wrote Dr George Annas, Dr Sondra Crosby and Dr Leonard Glantz, in a three-page article outlining an ethical case against force-feeding of the detainees. All three are senior medical professors at Boston University.
→ read full article