Month: August 2013

Civil Disobedience, Edward J. Snowden, and the Constitution

Henry David Thoreau wrote with profound restraint in Civil Disobedience: “If the injustice is part of the necessary friction of the machine of government, let it go, let it go: perchance it will wear smooth- certainly the machine will wear out. If the injustice has a spring, or a pulley, or a rope, or a crank, exclusively for itself, then perhaps you may consider whether the remedy will not be worse than the evil; but if it is of such a nature that it requires you to be the agent of injustice to another, then, I say, break the law. Let your life be a counter-friction to stop the machine.”

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Sparrow Killing And the Chinese Famine

Sara Starkey comments on a short piece from The Guardian which relates how sparrow killing in the UK was still going on up until the 1930’s, and shares info on how the Chinese tried to eradicate these ‘pests’ suffering the consequences for tampering with the balance of nature. Her remarks on the grey squirrel, demonised after a killing campaign against the red squirrel, are very pertinent, highlighting how easily people unthinkingly absorb the propaganda against whatever species has fallen out of our favour.

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Mass Execution of Syrian Soldiers

Khan Al Assal was over run by insurgents just before the UN was due to investigate a chemical weapons incident there. Soldiers who surrendered were massacred by Jabhat al Nusra, but showed bravery in death.

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Empire Project in Syria Reaches New Low – Syrian Support Group

How low will the Western powers stoop in the assault on the people and nation of Syria? You may be surprised. Here are three nightmares from the conflict.
The United States, United Kingdom, France, Turkey, and the Gulf oligarchies sponsored a rebellion in Syria that chose cities as the primary battleground. Syrian rebels entered the cities, took over without invitation by the residents, and battled the police and other representatives of the Syrian government. Nobody expected the government to simply surrender the cities to the rebels. This often-overlooked fact explains the scale of death and destruction in Syria.

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Edward Snowden Granted Asylum

Interview on Russia Today with BSNews Co-Editor Mike Raddie

Discussing the example Edward Snowden has set and the implications for future whistleblowers as well as the fallout from the NSA scandal in the EU and the way the telecoms companies, the backbone of the public internet, have gone above and beyond, effectively serving the interests of the intelligence community rather than their customers.

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Is Edward J. Snowden Aboard This Plane?

On July 9, the Organisation of American States held a special session to discuss the shocking behaviour of the European states that had refused to allow the government plane carrying Bolivian President Evo Morales to enter their airspace

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Mercenaries and Private Security Companies on Contract with the UN

Like the corsairs of the middle ages, except these privateers are trained at tax payer expense. Another public subsidy for the private sector.
Former Chairperson of the UN Working Group on the use of mercenaries, José L. Gómez del Prado, explains how private military and security companies have created an association to counter the regulations called for by his working group.

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Snowden Granted 1-year Asylum in Russia, Leaves Airport

The whistleblower has been granted temporary political asylum in Russia, Snowden’s legal representative Anatoly Kucherena said, with his words later confirmed by Russia’s Federal Migration service.

“I have just handed over to him papers from the Russian Immigration Service. They are what he needs to leave the transit zone,” he added.

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