--from George Orwell's 1984
No transparency means no accountability!
Whenever power is exercised without accountability ,
it is suceptible to abuse!
When power is shrouded in secrecy ,people will seek to tear away the curtain that conceals the Truth!
-a refreshing contrast to the doctored pablum and outright lies that often comes out of the mouths of politicians.
-a rare and honest glimpse into the "behind the scenes" operation of power.(so this is what they mean by "diplomacy"!!)
Wikileaks has given us a peek of the machinations(that take place in the backrooms of power) and raw ideation(unpackaged for public consumption) of those in positions of power
Governments and corporations wield their power behind a cloak of secrecy and deceit.
They have been denuded, uncloaked, rendered transparent..
Their cloak of secrecy has been rent asunder ,and they stand exposed in all their nakedness--embarrassed,humiliated,shamed--for all to see.
These documents provide an inside/unfiltered look into the exercise and abuse of power.
Interesting how the political establishment/elite wch routinely tramples our right to privacy
becomes outraged when their own right to privacy/concealment is violated.
Any disclosure/exposure that erodes or threatens the legitimacy of their authority and their privileged position of entitlement.
How they huff and puff (and incite to assassination!)about the leaked information ..always invoking the cliched "threat to national security" argument,when it is really their own concealment that they are concerned about (and protecting their own positions of power)!
These Wikileaked documents appear to contain little that could endanger the security of any country.
If our watered-down mainstream media refuses to shine a light on the dark side of the political process,
then we ought to applaud those who are willing to risk their lives and their liberty to do so!
To those who stand with the people (who are tired of being lied to by the political establishment)
Julian Assange is a folk hero whose place in the mythology of the digital age is assured.
"In a time of deceit,telling the Truth is a revolutionary act" --George Orwell
"In a free society, we are supposed to know the truth.
In a society where truth becomes treason, we are in big trouble. " -- Rep. Ron Paul
"The very word "secrecy" is repugnant to a free and open society" --JFK
Lies engender cynicism and distrust.
Transparency and disclosure increase public confidence in the integrity of gov't.
Conversely, secrecy ,deception ,and corruption contribute to public distrust of gov't.,and a decline in respect for politicians.
We expect our leaders (those elected to public office for the purpose of serving the people) to exhibit honesty , authenticity, and high moral standards.
When leaders fail to respond to the people's demand for greater openness and integrity in government, those who have placed their trust in them, understandably feel betrayed and angry!
When the people lose their respect for the political process and the institution of government
they will defy the authority of the government and will mobilize and take their rage to the streets.
see: protecting info in a transparent world (does the digital age mean the end of privacy)
see "the ethics of information access and management"
see "the interception and aguisition of confidential information--a new kind of guerilla warfare"
see "the ethics of information access and management"
see "the interception and aguisition of confidential information--a new kind of guerilla warfare"
Welcome to the information age --even Big Brother has no place to hide!
ReplyDeletecyberwarfare: the nature of war in the digital age
ReplyDeleteNot all the best brains in the world are owned by the government!
Big Brother may run ,
but he can't hide!
LONDON, Feb 27 2012(Reuters)
ReplyDelete- The anti-secrecy group WikiLeaks began publishing on Monday more than five million emails from a U.S.-based global security analysis company that has been likened to a shadow CIA.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/27/wikileaks-stratfor-emails-published_n_1303238.html
This is the verdict:
ReplyDeleteLight has come into the world,but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil.
Everyone who does evil hates the light,and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed.
But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light,so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.
--John 3:19-21
Julian Assange balcony speech from the Ecuador Embassy:
ReplyDelete"As Wikileaks stands under threat, so does the freedom of expression and the health of all our societies. We must use this moment to articulate the choice that is before the government of the United States of America.
“The United States must dissolve its FBI investigation, the United States must vow that it will not seek to prosecute our staff or our supporters. The United States must pledge before the world that it will not pursue journalists for shining a light upon the secret crimes of the powerful.”
Assange said the U.S. was facing a momentous choice: “Will it return to and reaffirm the revolutionary values it was founded on, or will it lurch across the precipice, dragging us all into a dangerous and oppressive world in which journalists fall silent under the fear of prosecution and citizens must whisper in the dark?”
http://www.thenation.com/article/161376/government-case-against-whistleblower-thomas-drake-collapses),
ReplyDeleteFormer senior executive of the NSA, Thomas Drake
discussed his decision to blow the whistle on the agency's Trailblazer Project and illegal spying operations, which led to his being charged under the Espionage Act. He explained that the Trailblazer Project was designed by the NSA to respond to the massive amount of new data being generated by the advent of the digital age.
According to Drake, Trailblazer was launched in the Spring of 2000 and, following 9/11, generated billions of dollars for NSA contractors because it was seen as the "flagship program" for harnessing intelligence information, despite having numerous faults. Chillingly, he observed that corporate interests, which worked with the NSA, viewed 9/11 as "gift," since they could reap massive profits from the War on Terror.
Drake revealed that his concerns with the NSA's conduct began when the agency rejected his proposal for an alternative spying program, known as "ThinThread," which was designed to safeguard the privacy of US citizens. Following that, his colleagues began to question why they were being tasked with spying on Americans using a "super top secret" program called "Stellar Wind."
Drake's attempts to determine the legality of the program were thwarted by the NSA and he was subsequently told that the spying had been approved "by the White House" and to stop asking questions about it. In light of these unconstitutional actions, Drake served as a witness to Congressional and DoD investigations into NSA malfeasance, which led to his responsibilities with the agency being dramatically curtailed.Following a revelatory New York Times article on NSA spying, the agency launched a massive investigation into finding the sources behind the story. Since Drake was privy to the secrets revealed in the article, he became a suspect and the target of intense surveillance "on a scale that I would never want any American to experience." Faced with no other outlet to hold the government accountable, Drake decided to contact the media with his story. This decision resulted in the government indicting him for ten crimes, including the felonious mishandling of classified documents. "I had become an enemy of the state," he declared, noting that the government planned to make an example of him to stop future whistleblowers. Ultimately, the case against Drake "collapsed under the weight of truth," when the government dropped all 10 counts and he accepted a plea deal for a "very minor misdemeanor."
reporter David Seaman
ReplyDeletehttp://www
.youtube.com/davidseamanonline
discusses the breaking news about whistleblower Edward Snowden, and the ramification of his disclosures regarding NSA surveillance of American citizens via the Internet and telephone. Glenn Greenwald, the journalist who first received the leaked information, has said that Snowden has given him thousands of documents, many of which are significant stories. "So, it's quite possible that by early next week, you and I could be living in a different kind of world," Seaman remarked, adding that he believes we're seeing a massive abuse of power, and the disassembling of 4th Amendment rights. Seaman suspects that we have not learned the full extent of the NSA surveillance of American phone calls-- and that in spite of what we've been told, they may actually have transcripts of all conversations. We do know they have logs of all calls over the past seven years, including the numbers you've called, the numbers that have called you, the length of the calls, and the location data, he said. Snowden called this an "existential threat to democracy," and while Pres. Obama and various Senators have defended the surveillance, other Senators have expressed concern. Seaman is particularly galled by Pres. Obama presenting himself to voters as a constitutional law scholar, and now backing these actions. Seaman suggested that the ultimate goal of such surveillance is to prevent or stifle civil unrest.
Big Brother is listening:
ReplyDeleteAndrew Snowden's interview with Guardian : http://m.guardian.co.uk/world/video/2013/jun/09/nsa-whistleblower-edward-snowden-interview-video
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/report-nsa-contract-worker-newspapers-source-us-government-190518725.html?.tsrc=yahoo
US telecommunications surveillance program code named "Prism"
Andrew Snowden takes on the most powerful intelligence agency in the world. Good on you, Andrew! You're a hero and atrue public servant! For years the gov't. has denied the existence of this program. No one had the courage to talk about it.
" Patriot Act" gave NSA authority to monitor all communications for "security"
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/blogs/pulseofcanada/internal-government-spying-necessary-stop-terrorism-invasion
Canada's version is under the Ministry of Defence
ReplyDeleteCanada's most elite spy service is the CSE...Commnication Security Establishment.
Where as CSIS is more like the CIA, CSE is like NSA
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communications_Security_Establishment
Bradley Manning says his motive in leaking info to Wikileaks
ReplyDeletewas to expose wrongdoing in the US military and diplomatic service.
How dare he suggest that the US military is capable of
"wrongdoing" !!
Jesse Ventura on government lieing:
ReplyDelete"The thing that has me most disturbed," he continued, "is that eversince 9-11, our government is running under the position that the Constitution and Bill of Rights have been suspended, and that is not true, because we are not under martial law." Ventura shared what actions he would undertake if he was the President, and these included legalizing marijuana, replacing income tax with a sales tax, and giving pardons to Bradley Manning and Edward Snowden (whom he considers a hero for exposing government lying).
Electronic surveillance without warrants:
ReplyDeleteCommander-in-chief's wartime authority allows bypassing the constitution and violating the 4th amendment.
Legality of NSA domestic surveillance program justified in terms of "war measures" ,"national security" ,and "counter terrorism"
Those who leaked information about the NSA domestic surveillance program were indicted for "treason" (leaking classified information)
PBS.org/Frontline documentary
New York Times story in 2005 exposed/leaked the NSA program
NSA surveillance programs operate with an annual budget of. ....
Edward Snowdon who had high level clearance within the NSA realized the public was unaware of the extent and scope of the NSA surveillance program and decided to expose it. #Orwellian nightmare
****************
W5: The Strange World of Julian Assange
If you wage war against secrecy you will come up against the US surveillance industry
Keeping governments and corporations honest
http://www.cbc.ca/fifth/m/site/
Julian Assange thrown to the wolves as Ecuador revoke s his asylum status:
Deletehttps://www.npr.org/2019/04/11/712128612/julian-assange-arrested-in-london
"In a time of deceit telling the truth is a revolutionary act."
ReplyDelete--George Orwell