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‘Chilling Attack On Free Speech’: Multinational Corporation Sues Gov’t Transparency Watchdog MuckRock
The lights of Seattle at night. January 5, 2012. (Flickr / Quinn Dombrowski)
May 28, 2016
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‘Chilling Attack On Free Speech’: Multinational Corporation Sues Gov’t Transparency Watchdog MuckRock

Posted in Journalism, and MintPress News

A popular website dedicated to government transparency is facing legal threats from a multinational corporation that hopes to block publication of documents related to their electricity meters.

MuckRock helps researchers, journalists, and normal citizens obtain government documents through Freedom of Information Act requests, or their local equivalent under state laws, then publicly shares the results. Earlier this month, the site surpassed one million documents shared.

In April, Phil Mocek, a Seattle-based software engineer, used the site to file an open records request with Seattle City Light, the local power company, seeking information relating to the security of smart power meters the city purchased from Landis+Gyr, a multinational owned by Toshiba.

On Wednesday, Landis+Gyr notified MuckRock that the company was suing in the Superior Court of Washington for King County to block the release of the records.

Read more‘Chilling Attack On Free Speech’: Multinational Corporation Sues Gov’t Transparency Watchdog MuckRock
Come To Guantanamo & See The Iguanas: Snowden Files Offer Glimpse Inside NSA Culture
A captive is escorted by two guards in Guantanamo Bay detention camp on December 2007. (Navy / Petty Officer 1st Class Michael Billings / Wikimedia)
May 25, 2016
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Come To Guantanamo & See The Iguanas: Snowden Files Offer Glimpse Inside NSA Culture

Posted in Journalism, and MintPress News

Water skiing in the morning, supervising the torture of a prisoner of the global war on terror in the afternoon — that’s just a typical day for National Security Agency personnel.

That’s one of the many glimpses of National Security Agency life found in newly released documents from whistleblower Edward Snowden’s leaks, which reveal the NSA’s intimate involvement with Guantanamo Bay interrogations and the Iraq War, as well as the dramatically increased demand for intelligence after 9/11.

On May 16, The Intercept released 166 new documents from the thousands leaked by Snowden, comprising a partial archive of an internal electronic newsletter called SIDtoday.

In an introduction to the release, Peter Maass describes the publication as resembling a “small-town newsletter” for the Signals Intelligence Directorate, one of the most important departments within the NSA. SIDtoday opens a window into the NSA’s internal corporate culture, and because they were written purely for NSA employees, the documents include some surprisingly candid disclosures about employees’ actions around the world from an underground bunker in Belgium to Guantanamo Bay and the Middle East.

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After Iraq War, Monsanto, Cargill & Dow Chemical Took Over Iraqi Agriculture
U.S. Army Soldiers patrol through farm land during a combined mission with Iraqi Army near Yusufiyah, Iraq, April 21, 2007. (Flickr / U.S. Army / Staff Sgt. Martin K. Newton)
May 23, 2016
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After Iraq War, Monsanto, Cargill & Dow Chemical Took Over Iraqi Agriculture

Posted in Journalism, and MintPress News

In the aftermath of the Iraq War, Iraq’s seed and agriculture industry was destroyed by U.S. corporations, with the aid of the U.S. government.

In May 2003, after the war officially ended, U.S. diplomat Paul Bremer became the head of the occupational authority, essentially controlling Iraq’s government. He issued 100 orders that set the strategy for rebuilding efforts, including Order 81, “Patent, Industrial Design, Undisclosed Information, Integrated Circuits and Plant Variety Law.”

Dr. Dahlia Wasfi, a physician and environmental activist, explained the devastating impact of this order in a 2008 speech.

“Before 2003 they had a well functioning, centrally-controlled seed industry that had developed over the years a rich seed variety for almost variation of wheat in the world today,” she said.

Read moreAfter Iraq War, Monsanto, Cargill & Dow Chemical Took Over Iraqi Agriculture
Texas Grand Jury Won’t Indict Cop Who Shot Naked, Unarmed Black Teen
A Black Lives Matter march leaves from Austin City Hall on March 10, 2016. The lead marcher holds a "Justice for David Joseph" sign. (Kit O'Connell)
May 18, 2016
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Texas Grand Jury Won’t Indict Cop Who Shot Naked, Unarmed Black Teen

Posted in Austin, Journalism, and MintPress News

On Tuesday, a grand jury declined to indict a police officer who shot a naked, unarmed black teen early this year.

Geoffrey Freeman, an Austin police officer, who is also black, shot David Joseph on the morning of Feb. 8 after police received calls about a neighborhood disturbance. Police say Joseph charged at Freeman as he exited his vehicle.

“In a matter of seconds, Freeman commanded Joseph to stop, then opened fire twice, hitting Joseph in the chest and leg, authorities have said,” the Austin American Statesman reported.

Read moreTexas Grand Jury Won’t Indict Cop Who Shot Naked, Unarmed Black Teen
How A 100 Year-Old British Colonial Contract Continues To Shape The Middle East
The Mayor of Jerusalem Hussein Effendi el Husseini [al-Husseini] (Ottoman), meeting with Sergts. Sedgwick and Hurcomb of the 2/19th Battalion, London Regiment, under the white flag of surrender, Dec. 9th, 1917. (Wikimedia Commons)
May 17, 2016
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How A 100 Year-Old British Colonial Contract Continues To Shape The Middle East

Posted in Journalism, and MintPress News

Tuesday marked the 100th anniversary of a decision by French and English diplomats to divide the Middle East into competing empires — a decision that continues to influence unrest in the region even today.

The historic Sykes-Picot agreement, named for its authors, diplomats Mark Sykes of Great Britain and François Georges-Picot of France, was secretly signed on May 16, 1916, although the world was not aware of its existence until after the Russian Revolution of 1917.

Signed by the U.K. and France during a meeting at Downing Street in London, with the agreement of the Russian Empire, it was intended to divide the two imperialist nations’ sphere of influence after an anticipated victory against the Ottoman Empire in World War I.

Britain took control of land between the River Jordan and the Mediterranean Sea, including modern-day Jordan, southern Iraq, and the Mediterranean ports of Haifa and Acre. France took parts of Turkey, northern Iraq, Syria and Lebanon, while Russia took Istanbul, Armenia, and the Turkish Straits.

Read moreHow A 100 Year-Old British Colonial Contract Continues To Shape The Middle East
WikiLeaks: Brazil’s Acting President Michel Temer Is US Diplomatic Informant
In this June 13, 2010 photograph, Michel Temer speaks on a microphone while standing alongside Dilma Rousseff. (Wikimedia Commons / Agência Brasil - EBC)
May 13, 2016
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WikiLeaks: Brazil’s Acting President Michel Temer Is US Diplomatic Informant

Posted in Journalism, and MintPress News

Brazil’s new acting president is a known U.S. informant who has provided Washington with insider information about the Brazilian government on multiple occasions.

Michel Temer’s ties to the U.S. government, as revealed by WikiLeaks’ Public Library of U.S. Diplomacy, add to the growing body of evidence that the parliamentary impeachment of Brazil’s democratically-elected president, Dilma Rousseff, was supported by allies in Washington.

Temer, who has served as Brazil’s vice president since 2011, took power Thursday after Brazil’s parliament suspended Rousseff pending the results of impeachment proceedings.

Via Twitter, WikiLeaks highlighted two diplomatic cables from the U.S. Embassy in São Paulo that document Temer’s history of sharing insider information with Washington from his position as the leader of the Brazilian Democratic Movement Party, or PMDB, Brazil’s largest political party.

Read moreWikiLeaks: Brazil’s Acting President Michel Temer Is US Diplomatic Informant