Related: Globe and the G8
Meeting adjourned!
"G-8 leaders can’t agree on fate of Syrian leader; Russia rebuffs Western efforts to exclude Assad" by Shawn Pogatchnik and Cassandra Vinograd | Associated Press, June 19, 2013
ENNISKILLEN, Northern Ireland — President Obama, President Vladimir Putin of Russia, and other G-8 leaders attempted to speak with one voice Tuesday on seeking a negotiated Syrian peace settlement — yet couldn’t agree....
I'm sorry I'm doing such a shit job here these days, dear readers, but I must confess to you I'm really sick of the Globe and struggling to put anything up. I'm tired of the same old illusion and imagery of agenda-pushing propaganda day after day. I'm tired of the distortions, deceptions, diversions, distractions, obfuscations, and all the rest. It's just not giving me what I want anymore.
Even if it is something I feel is important it is presented in such an inside-out, upside-down (with a spice of elitist insults and values internalized by bitter reporters under the guise of journalistic style) fashion that it's not even worth reading anymore.
Their declaration at the end of the two-day Group of Eight summit sought to narrow the chasm between Russia and Western leaders on starting peace talks in Geneva....
G-8 leaders also published sweeping goals for tightening the tax rules on globe-trotting corporations that long have exploited loopholes to shift profits into foreign shelters that charge little tax or none. But that initiative, aimed at forcing the Googles and Apples of the world to pay higher taxes, contained only aspirations, not binding commitments.
Well, I $ugge$t you can $ee who calls the shots in this world.
The political pawns never beg and say please when they slap a tax increase or austerity on you, dear reader.
The declaration on Syria said....
Reflecting the profound divisions that remain....
Putin — speaking at the same time as British host Prime Minister David Cameron at a different location in a gesture that some diplomats construed as rude — rejected Cameron’s views as unproven.
I really could not care any less about elite sensitivities regarding diplomatic protocol and etiquette. I think Putin has been sending a pretty strong message about intervention in Syria, and my war-promoting media over here has always managed to muck it up.
And referring to last month’s butchery of an off-duty British soldier in London by alleged ax- and knife-wielding Muslim extremists, Putin warned Cameron that the weapons sent to Syria might end up being used to kill people in Europe.
They are arming them with a lot more than axes and knives!
Related: British Butcher Produces Belly Laugh
Actually, I quit laughing at that obvious hoax a while ago.
‘‘There are many such criminals in the ranks of the [Syrian] opposition, such as those who committed the brutal murder in London. Do the Europeans want to provide such people with weapons? . . . We are calling on all our partners to thoroughly think it over again before taking this very dangerous step,’’ Putin said.
Kind of sweet to see Putin turning that staged event into an argument against arming "Al-CIA-Duh" in Syria.
That's the problem right now: The EUSraeli empire is like a poker player, all threats and bluffs. Putin is like a chess player, and before you even see it coming -- checkmate.
Reflecting growing unease at the behavior of Muslim extremists in the ranks of Syria’s splintered opposition forces, the G-8 declaration said participants in any peace talks must agree to expel Al Qaeda-linked fighters from the country.
Well, that scuttles piece talks since AmeriKa and it's rich Arab allies are arming "Al-CIA-Duh." And who benefits?
The declaration condemned human rights abuses committed by government forces and rebels alike, and called on both sides to permit access by UN-led chemical weapons experts to investigate claims of chemical weapons use....
And if you go on the blogs you will find that the chem weapons use was done by the insurgents (notice they are never called that?). The Syrian government hasn't used them, and has no need to. The fact that we are getting the same propaganda that was spewed forth regarding Iraq ten years ago shows you how much contempt our leaders and their propagandists have for us.
White House official, speaking to reporters as Obama flew to Berlin, said the administration was pleased with the outcome.
It is called putting a positive spin on things.
‘‘This in no way minimizes the difficulties ahead,’’ said White House deputy national security adviser Ben Rhodes. ‘‘But given the various ways the G-8 could have gone, we believe that on the key issues of political transition, humanitarian support, and chemical weapons investigation, it’s very helpful to have this type of signal sent by these eight countries.’’
Who is Ben Rhodes again?
Earlier, G-8 leaders announced goals to combat tax avoidance by multinational companies. In a joint statement, they said tax authorities should share information ‘‘to fight the scourge of tax evasion’’ and make it harder for firms to ‘‘shift their profits across borders to avoid taxes.’’
Britain heralded the agreement as a good first step toward creating a new environment of corporate transparency. A key principle in the plan would require multinationals to declare how much tax they pay in each country....
Yeah, begging them to disclose is a great first step, yeap.
Related:
Google Gets Around British Taxes
An Apple For Lunch
Almost time for it.
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Speaking of spying outfits:
"Surveillance thwarted terror acts, NSA chief says; Stock exchange was target of plot, House panel told" by Charlie Savage | New York Times, June 19, 2013
WASHINGTON — General Keith B. Alexander, the head of the National Security Agency, said Tuesday that American surveillance had helped prevent “potential terrorist events over 50 times since 9/11,” including at least 10 “homeland-based threats.” But he said that a vast majority must remain secret to avoid disclosing sources and methods.
Scooping up communications records and sifting them through super computers has to be kept secret, huh?
“These programs are immensely valuable for protecting our nation and securing the security of our allies,” Alexander said at a rare public oversight hearing by the House Intelligence Committee.
In addition, the deputy director of the FBI, Sean Joyce, listed two newly disclosed cases that have now been declassified in an effort to respond to the leaking of classified information about surveillance by Edward J. Snowden, a former NSA contractor.
Joyce described a plot to blow up the New York Stock Exchange by a Kansas City man, whom the agency was able to identify because he was in contact with “an extremist” in Yemen who was under surveillance.
PFFFFFT!
Joyce also talked about a San Diego man who planned to send financial support to a terrorist group in Somalia, and who was identified because the NSA flagged his phone number as suspicious through its database of all domestic phone call logs, which was brought to light by Snowden’s disclosures.
Yeah, I thought that last part was important.
“As Americans, we value our privacy and our civil liberties,” Alexander said. “As Americans, we also value our security and our safety. In the 12 years since the attacks on Sept. 11, we have lived in relative safety and security as a nation. That security is a direct result of the intelligence community’s quiet efforts to better connect the dots and learn from the mistakes that permitted those attacks to occur in 9/11.”
Here connect these:
9/11.... it wasn't Muslims.... the missing links all lead to.... Israel.
Related:
'Tell your boss I owe him another friggin' beer:' Hot mic catches NSA boss praising FBI chiefs for supportive testimony on surveillance programs
Found that in the Mail, not the Globe!
The nonadversarial tone of the oversight hearing was captured by its title: How Disclosed NSA Programs Protect Americans, and Why Disclosure Aids Our Adversaries. Both the top Republican and the top Democrat on the committee, Representatives Mike Rogers of Michigan and C.A. Dutch Ruppersburger of Maryland, offered a robust defense of the surveillance programs revealed by Snowden and expressed anger over the leaks, and all five witnesses were executive branch officials who supported the surveillance activities.
Translation: this "hearing" was NOTHING MORE than PUBLIC RELATIONS DAMAGE CONTROL -- like all their hearings!
In an apparent reference to Snowden, for example, Rogers criticized his actions as “selectively leaking incomplete information” that “paints an inaccurate picture and fosters distrust in our government.” He added, “It is at times like these where our enemies within become almost as damaging as our enemies on the outside.”
Oh, like the IRAQ WAR LIES that were SPEWED FORTH by this government and its mouthpiece media!!
And speaking of enemies within, what about those Israeli spying connections to 9/11?
There was no way to independently verify the claims made by the officials during the hearing.
I don't believe them anyway, so....
The director of national intelligence, James R. Clapper Jr., testified at a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing in March that the NSA did not collect records on hundreds of millions of Americans.
Since the revelation of the phone log database, he has explained that his testimony was the “least untruthful” statement he could make about a classified program.
Hey, at least he told the least harmful lie, huh?
The testimony Tuesday focused on two programs....
Yeah, never you mind the fact that ALL COMMUNICATIONS RECORDS from the ENTIRE PLANET are being SCOOPED UP and STORED for SIFTING by SUPERCOMPUTER for at least seven years now and likely more than a decade! ! Just focus on these two programs.
In a rare note of skepticism, Representative Adam B. Schiff, a California Democrat, pressed Alexander about why the FBI could not use subpoenas to get the necessary domestic phone logs surrounding a suspicious number without the government’s obtaining logs of everyone’s calls.
You mean, like they should have?
Alexander said he was open to discussion, but added, “The concern is speed in a crisis.”
?????
Because of endless, 24-7 concern about a crisis all communications records must be swept up?
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And interestingly enough, NOTHING on the OTHER SCANDALS! No IRS-gate, no AP-gate, no Benghazi-gate.
See: Government Snow Job?
Yeah, I think it is based on the above sentence, the amount of ma$$ media attention behind it, the continuing minimization of it, and the fact that the program will continue as before despite the outrage.
Who benefits?
Related:
"New York Times columnist Tom Friedman and former Times executive editor Bill Keller are both saying that the massive NSA spying program on all Americans’ communications is a needed thing because if they don’t do it, then maybe there could be another major terrorist strike on the US, and democracy would be erased in the US....
What more do I need to type?
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If you want a real update on what is going on in the world, go here, readers. I don't agree with everything he says, but it's a lot closer to the truth than what I'm reading in the Boston Globe.
