Category Archives: Uncategorized

New spy revelations: UK spied on allies – World – NZ Herald News

(Boris and Natasha – Spy vs Spy Tsk, tsk. Rupert spying on Parliament – Ahh… better than a summertime spy novel or movie…)

British intelligence agencies intercepted the communications of foreign politicians in London for the 2009 G20 summit, the Guardian reports.

The details were revealed in documents uncovered by NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden.

The Guardian reports that some delegates were tricked into using fake internet cafes so spy agencies could read their emails.

The newspaper is also reporting that former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev was also spied on by UK-based US agents at the same G20 summit.

The details of the intercept are laid out in a National Security Agency briefing which was shared with high-ranking officials from New Zealand, Britain, Australia and Canada.

Britain is about to begin hosting the G8 summit later today.

via New spy revelations: UK spied on allies – World – NZ Herald News.

The Embargo or the Never Ending Story / Rebeca Monzo

Through the Eye of the Needle

In recent days many of us have been having friendly conversations and discussions about the famous embargo. Some are in favor of lifting it, others for keeping it in place.

What seems to have been forgotten by everyone, or almost everyone, is the actual reason for its existence. Faulty memories and the many decades of its enforcement have sometimes caused us to forget why it was originally imposed by the U.S. government.

Very often we cite the embargo as the reason for all our troubles. I do not see it this way. The real cause of our problems lies with ourselves. It is always easier to blame one thing or another, even though we have had five decades to create mechanisms to counteract its effects, yet have not done so.

What most people do not realize, because the media never mentions it, is that at the time this measure was imposed as…

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Egyptian Aak: Week 24. How Can Tamarod Succeed?

Nervana

 Main headlines

 Monday

Tuesday

 Wednesday

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Beirut loosing its few green square meters for a parking

Trees more important than parking spaces!

Leelouz Café

Living in Beirut makes you live crazy things, among others wars, rockets, bombings, freaking street fights…and on top of this we have to witness very bad decision taken by municipalities; the removal of the FEW city parks to build a PARKING! I have never heard anything more stupid in my life.

How can concrete be more important than trees, oxygen and common space?

In Denmark, people are obliged to use their bicycles and public transportation, owning a car is a luxury, forget parking in the city, it costs a fortune. Parks are protected, taken care of, worshiped. They offer common space where the citizen from all levels interact, sunbathe, relaxes, walks, runs, gives speeches, create theater venues for kids, not mentioning the loveliest playground one can imagine (where ergonomic meets fun!).

So let’s get back to Beirut.

We have 3-4 public parks. They are not of high standard, they do…

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Show of force in Istanbul | Europe | DW.DE | 16.06.2013

Turkish police have been using tear gas and water cannons to clear protesters from the center of Istanbul ahead of Prime Minister Erdogan’s visit on Sunday. The move has done nothing to quell people’s outrage.

In a full-scale operation on Saturday night (15.06.2013), Turkish riot police in Istanbul moved in to clear both Taksim Square and adjacent Gezi Park, where thousands of demonstrators had been camping out for more than two weeks.

Just hours earlier Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan had given a speech to a crowd of tens of thousands of flag-waving supporters in the capital, Ankara, in which he warned the demonstrators that they had to be gone by Sunday. “Taksim Square must be evacuated, or if it isn’t, the security forces of this country know how to evacuate it,” he said.

via Show of force in Istanbul | Europe | DW.DE | 16.06.2013.

Istanbul Biennial Protests Foreshadowed Battle for Gezi Park

ArtLeaks

via Ben Davis & Sara Roffino (ArtInfo)

 

The world is watching Turkey’s wave of protests, currently in the news as police storm Taksim Square. The country-wide popular movement began over the development of a park, but has come to channel much larger issues about free speech, the costs of the country’s breakneck development, and the alliance of the government with corporate interests. Many Turkish artists have participated enthusiastically — and, indeed, recent protests in the Turkish art world foreshadowed the turmoil currently roiling the country.

The official opening of the 13th Istanbul Biennial is still three months away, but preliminary programming and performances have been spurring protests for over a month already. Sponsored by Koç Holding — the largest conglomerate in Turkey with businesses in construction and energy among other industries — the biennial has become a target of the same discontent over urbanization and financial inequality that has brought…

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High Statistical Indices / Rebeca Monzo

Spin exists everywhere – folks like Rebeca help sort things out

Through the Eye of the Needle

Talking with some Colombian teachers were sightseeing in “my world,” they mentioned to me the magnificent statistical indices that we had in education and health. I, of course, I clarified that these figures were released by the government, unchallenged by any counterpart within the country, which allowed it to present them as unquestionable.

I explained to them, from my own experience when working in central agencies, how these figures were manipulated and made to respond to politics and not to reality. That despite having honest data issued by the various ministries, they were adjusted according to the guidelines from “above”, a euphemism by which they call the “high command” that is the maximum leader.

With regards to education, I informed them about some fairly common crimes  perpetrated by students and teachers from different schools, such as fraud, extortion, selling tests and even drug possession and distribution, as well someone related by…

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Wendi Deng to divorce Rupert Murdoch after he drops from #98 to #105 on rich list

Makes sense – grin

Pride's Purge

(satire?)

Wendi Deng has filed for divorce from Rupert Murdoch saying their marriage has “irretrievably broken down” after it was revealed the News Corp boss had dropped from #98 to #105 on the Forbes Rich List, her spokesman says.

For his part, Mr Murdoch, 82 – who met his Chinese-born third wife in 1997 at a cocktail party in Hong Kong – said he would not be contesting the divorce after he was shocked to discover that Ms Deng had gained 14 years in age since they were married in 1999.

A spokesperson for News Corp said an aggravating factor was the discovery by Mr Murdoch that unbeknown to him, Ms Deng had been secretly married to an arsehole for the last decade and a half.

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Related articles by Tom Pride:

Rebekah Brooks Received £10.8m in Smokes and Snout from News International

RSPCA – Prime Ministers are for Life, Not…

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