Archive for the 'Dictatorship' Category
U.S. Providing Syrian Rebels with Training on ‘How to Secure Chemical Weapons’
December 12th, 2012Via: CNN: The United States and some European allies are using defense contractors to train Syrian rebels on how to secure chemical weapons stockpiles in Syria, a senior U.S. official and several senior diplomats told CNN Sunday. The training, which is taking place in Jordan and Turkey, involves how to monitor and secure stockpiles and […]
U.S. Recognizes Syrian Opposition Group
December 12th, 2012The blowback from this one is going to be interesting. Via: ABC: In a diplomatic shift, President Obama said today his administration now formally recognizes the newly-formed, leading coalition of Syrian rebels who are fighting to topple Syria’s embattled President Bashar Assad. “We’ve made a decision that the Syrian Opposition Coalition is now inclusive enough, […]
Egypt’s Army Given Power to Arrest Civilians
December 10th, 2012Via: AFP: President Mohamed Morsi has ordered Egypt’s army from Monday to take on police powers — including the right to arrest civilians — in the run-up to a divisive constitutional referendum that has triggered mass street protests. The decree, published in the government gazette, takes effect on the eve of mass rival protests on […]
Israeli Airstrike on Home ‘Was a Clear Violation of the Laws of War’
December 9th, 2012“International law is that law which the wicked do not obey and the righteous do not enforce.” —Abba Eban, Israeli diplomat and politician Via: Human Rights Watch: An Israeli airstrike that killed 12 civilians – the largest number of civilians killed in a single attack during the Gaza fighting in November – was a clear […]
China: 700 Mountains to be Levelled to Make Way for New Town
December 9th, 2012Via: Telegraph: Chinese developers are planning to flatten 700 mountains to make way for a new town in the north-west of the country. The nation’s most ambitious “mountain moving” project is slated for a patch of desert the outskirts of Lanzhou in the Gansu province and is estimated to cost £2.2bn, according to the Guardian. […]
Newly Released Drone Records Reveal Extensive Military Flights in U.S.
December 8th, 2012Via: Electronic Frontier Foundation: Today EFF posted several thousand pages of new drone license records and a new map that tracks the location of drone flights across the United States. These records, received as a result of EFF’s Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit against the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), come from state and local […]
And Now… ‘Conservation Drones’
December 8th, 2012Via: Mother Jones: First things first: No, the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) is not using drones to vaporize poachers. But thanks to a five million dollar grant awarded by Google on Tuesday, the organization is expanding its use of unmanned aerial vehicles to track and deter criminals who illegally hunt endangered animal species around the […]
‘Clinton Vows to Thwart New Soviet Union’
December 7th, 2012Wow, Clinton vows to thwart new Soviet Union: The US is trying to prevent Russia from recreating a new version of the Soviet Union under the ruse of economic integration, Hillary Clinton warned on Thursday. “There is a move to re-Sovietise the region,” the US secretary of state told a news conference in Dublin hours […]
‘U.S. Ready to Offer Mercenaries $10 Billion for a Drug-War Air Force’
December 5th, 2012Kill the competition. Steal their drugs. Profit. Via: Wired: Unsure how your private security firm makes money as the U.S. war in Afghanistan winds down? One option: Go into the drug trade — more specifically, the lucrative business of fighting narcotics. The State Department needs a business partner to keep its fleet of drug-hunting helicopters […]
ITU Approves Deep Packet Inspection Standard Behind Closed Doors, Ignores Huge Privacy Implications
December 5th, 2012Via: Techdirt: Techdirt has run a number of articles about the ITU’s World Conference on International Telecommunications (WCIT) currently taking place in Dubai. One of the concerns is that decisions taken there may make the Internet less a medium that can be used to enhance personal freedom than a tool for state surveillance and oppression. […]
