Showing posts with label Censorship. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Censorship. Show all posts

Friday, April 13, 2012

Internet Revolution is Inevitable, but could it spill into Real World?

Recent Success of Activists could Trigger Martial Law in America.


Not long ago, our leaders witnessed several North African governments get overthrown, watching on live TV as Muammar Gaddafi was dethroned, publicly humiliated and executed.

Don’t think this didn’t strike fear into the hearts of leaders around the globe. Because what happened in Libya could happen anywhere. Even in the US of A.

Although the politicians of western nations like those of the United States and Europe claim a sense of security not known by kings and dictators of third world countries, even leaders seemingly untouchable know that anything can happen should the situation arise. They will not soon forget the execution of Gaddafi any more that they will forget the French Revolution, for though it was long ago, the guillotine will never be forgotten.

The US, the UK and the rest of Europe has had mounting public discontent, and has seen their share of violent unrest in recent years, but it was the victories of activists against several censorship bills in the US that was of most concern for our politicians in America.

Even though Washington first tried to say that the censorship bills were proposed in the name of National Security and anti-terrorism, later adding anti-piracy, to allegedly protect Hollywood and the music industry from copyright violations, but it is in reality to curb public discontent aroused by the alternative media and independent Bloggers, the assembling of activists and the staging of protests through social media that the government wants to censor the Internet.

The victories of activists inspired and lead in part by the hacker group Anonymous, together with protests in conjunction with the Occupy Movement and the support from several major websites that caused SOPA, PIPA even the NDAA to be suspended indefinitely caused anxiety in Washington that hasn’t been felt since the race riots of the 60’s.

Though one of the key factors of the success in squashing SOPA and PIPA was a joint letter to Congress from leading technology companies including Google, Yahoo, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and EBay expressing concern over the censorship bills that without a doubt had much influence over our lawmakers decision, it was without a doubt the outcry of the millions of online protesters and Occupy members that scared our government into shelving these bills.

America had witnessed the beginnings of a rebellion over proposed legislation that would have changed the Internet for ever. Though the uprising achieved a stunning success, giving activists new confidence and hope when fighting other measures in the future, this is a fight that will never be over.

This public defeat has left politicians scrambling to construct a defensive to assure that this won’t ever happen again. Already Obama has signed the new Executive Order into law, which is little more than another version of the NDAA that our well meaning activist thought they were on the verge of defeating. Already new censorship bills are being introduced into Congress for approval, including the new CISPA (Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act) which is reported to be far worse than SOPA or PIPA.

If passed through Congress, CISPA would allow the government access to personal correspondence of any person of their choosing. The title of this controversial act is H.R. 3523. The wording is very vague and broad, but it is clear that the act could allow Congress to circumvent existing exemptions to online privacy laws, and allow the monitoring and censorship of any user of the internet. CISPA would allow Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to “funnel private communications and related information back to the government without adequate privacy protections and controls and would also allow the government to stop online communications which they deem disruptive.

The US government know who these "troublemakers are" already. Trust me, they keep close tabs on anybody and everybody who could be a threat to them in any way, shape or form. It is ironic how the same instruments that have enabled activists to fight unjust legislation has also become the primary weapon against them. Yes, the Internet, particularly social media, has become the principal source of intelligence for the CIA, FBI, Homeland Security and every other law enforcement agency in America. I recently investigated these invasions of our privacy, publishing several articles about my findings, including, US Homeland Security Monitoring Facebook, Twitter and other Sites for Signs of Discontent, Is the FBI Monitoring Your Social Networks? and Facebook is CIA's Primary Intelligence Source.

People share virtually every bit of information about themselves with Facebook. From sexual orientation, age, race, religious and political affiliation, even daily updates about their whereabouts, people are sharing literally everything. No wonder the US Department of Homeland Security alone paid contractors $11.3 million dollars to monitor Facebook, Twitter and other social networks, blogs, alternative news media and many other sites for signs of discontent, they need not look any further!

Even though this is all OSINT, better known as open-source intelligence, it is publicly available information for anyone to enjoy. However, considering your 'personal info' could be misinterpreted and saved by a government database like the DHS database of secret watchlists, it may not all be quite as enjoyable as one might first think. 

Surveillance and Censorship are the Governments Weapons 
Though the average Internet user could care less about CISPA, OSINT or how proposed legislation is steamrolled through Congress, once it becomes a battle of old vs. new, of business as usual vs. life online, of lobbyists vs. hacktivists of oppression vs. freedom  and of control vs. personal privacy and sanctity of the home, mainstream America will join the fight.

If properly warned and motivated, under the right leadership, in their fight for Internet freedom, online hacktivists as well as Occupy activists will trample any politcian or CEO seeming to stand in the way, no matter if it be Republicans, Democrats, mainstream media or industries. It is exactly this that our government officials and lobbyists fear, but it is more and more seemingly an inevitable Internet revolution that has already been set in motion.

It will be an ongoing, never-ending battle to keep the Internet free of government censorship. Not only the US government, but governments across the globe will continue to attempt to control the Web, as can be seen by International censorship efforts like ACTA (Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement) and TPP (Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement).

Just don’t let them fool you into thinking that any of this is to stop terrorism or online piracy. Know that their censorship attempts are of self interest; to stop anti-government groups, rallies, protests, blogs and writings. It’s to stop rebellion and revolution like what our government saw happen in Egypt and Libya. They don’t want to end up like Gaddafi. Nobody wants to end like that!

Our governments will stop at nothing to stop this from happening, even if it would come down to the declaration of Martial Law, mass arrests and FEMA prison camps. Oh yes, should our government end up on the losing end of the Internet censorship battle, they will resort to harsher methods in order to maintain control, even if this would mean rounding up activist leaders and other “troublemakers” and placing them under arrest, detaining them indefinitely, where they could no longer stir up anti-government sentiment. If it means mass arrests of violent protestors, the US has the resources to lock up as many as they deem necessary. Thousands. Tens of thousands. Even hundreds of thousands if need be! Just look back at how many Japanese and German immigrants we herded into "detainment centers" during WWII.

The prison camps are already in place throughout the United States, ready to be filled at a moment’s notice. You may have already  heard rumors of the FEMA Prison Camps, so conveniently kept out of mainstream media. They are everywhere, hidden in plain sight, disguised as shipping terminals, train yards or closed military bases surrounded by razor. Dozens of web sites have showcased the FEMA camps with photos, videos and reports by independent investigators.

Though I have a conspiracy blog, I am a skeptic by nature, so when I first heard rumors of FEMA Prison Camps, they seemed extremely ridiculous and paranoid to me. However, I found it my duty as an American patriot, as well as an investigative journalist and conspiracy Blogger to investigate the rumors. If you are as skeptical as I was when I first heard of this, that something like this is possible in America, stay tuned as I will be publishing my report, Could there really be Concentration Camps in America? A Search for alleged FEMA Prisons, soon.

Periodically, the US government conducts multi-agency readiness exercises to prepare for “emergency situations such as major strikes and unlawful assemblies. Real-life examples of these exercises include Rex-82 Proud Saber (where Rex-82 stands for Readiness Exercise, 1982), and Rex-84 Night Train. These exercises show how our government would impose martial law, arrest large numbers of people, and mass relocate civilians. These are not rumors, but real-life, US government run exercises!

 
The bottom line is, even if the FEMA camps were elaborately staged hoaxes, even if much of what I am writing here is paranoia talking, you and I both know that the US government is overstepping their bounds, seizing control of our lives down the smallest detail. You know as well as I do, that America has become a police state by the strictest sense of the definition. You can read about it in the news, you can see the signs in your daily life and you can feel it in the air; America is no longer the Land of the Free.

To add insult to injury, just when you thought our government couldn’t ruin the First Amendment any further, Congress approves a bill that outlaws protests!

The House voted 388-to-3 in favor of H.R. 347, a bill which is being dubbed the Federal Restricted Buildings and Grounds Improvement Act. The bill officially makes it illegal to trespass on the grounds of the White House and/or engage in political protest anywhere in the country.

Yes, you read right, the new law will allow the government to bring charges to protesters, demonstrators and activists at political events and other outings across America. It enables prosecutors to charge anyone who enters a building without permission or with the intent to disrupt a government function in any building or grounds “restricted in conjunction with an event designated as a special event of national significance."

Have they gone too far? For our government to have this kind of power when it is considered necessary, means they also have it when they say it's necessary, and when you and I might not be in favor of it.

I will admit, there are times when government power is a good thing. A lot of us were glad that the National Guard came in to help quell the L.A. riots for example. Of course, government officials in cahoots with mainstream media have done their best to keep this information out of the mainstream. And of course, there have been many attempts to discredit and disprove the above allegations that did get out and were noticed by Americans, with both government officials and everybody else involved denying anything and everything even resembling the evidence I have uncovered.

However, regardless of my being blacklisted, I will be digging deeper, determined to get to the bottom of all this, I will report my findings here on Conspiracy Watch ASAP. I am also working on an article right now which investigates the mysterious deaths of several government whistelblowers, including the suspicious murder of Milton William Cooper, the former US Navy intelligence officer who publicly warned America about an important terrorist attack that would later be blamed on Osama Bin Laden, who was killed by the FBI at his home while serving a routine warrant.

Together with the Patriot Act, NDAA and the ever more empowering Executive Orders, our President could make life extremely hard on us. Anyone displaying any kind of up anti-government sentiment, like myself, could easily be made to look like an enemy of the state, arrested and sent to any one of these FEMA camps without notice or due process, in the name of protecting the existing social and political order.

With the NDAA and the Executive Order, Obama can suspend federal, state and local law enforcement, effectively using the US military as his own personal police force.

And at the drop of a hat we could be like Nazi Germany, in America.

All it would take would be the President's Executive Order.

Written By: Tom Retterbush


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Saturday, December 4, 2010

Wikileaks Reactions from the US and around the World

Our Nation is Divided!

I was going to write an article about Wikileaks, but as I sat down to start writing I came across so may headlines from major news media to amateur bloggers from every corner of the earth, that I decided it would be literal overkill.

However, reading the enormous variety of reactions to the debacle, I found that the reactions to the leak to be as interesting as the contents of the released documents. There is no mistake; our nation is divided! 

The backlash of Wikileaks will change our country, even the world! Regardless of the contents of the documents, the reactions of our politicians and leaders will have us re-thinking and examining our views, priorities and policies. Our 1st Amendment, Freedom of the Press, and with that our personal freedoms are in danger of sanctions and limitations.

For this reason, I have decided to present to you some of these different views surrounding the implications and fallout of the biggest intelligence blunter of our time.

Without further ado, I bestow on to you the headlines and summaries representing these reactions from around the world:

Pro Wikileaks

Wikileaks are patriotic - The Examiner
http://www.examiner.com/independent-in-boston/wikileaks-are-patriotic

Wikileaks are true heroes - The Well Timed Period
http://thewelltimedperiod.blogspot.com/2010/11/pfc-bradley-manning-and-wikileaks-are.html

Wikileaks are the most important truthsayers of our time - Comment Factory
http://www.thecommentfactory.com/wikileaks-are-the-most-important-truthsayers-of-our-time-3451

Wikileaks are fucking heroes. - Godlike Productions, Forum
http://www.godlikeproductions.com/forum1/message1273876/pg1

The papers are doing their job — reporting the news. - Raw Story
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2010/11/gop-rep-wikileaks-deemed-foreign-terrorist-organization

Wikileaks are the only outlets for the truth when it comes to what really was going on in these illegal wars. Without these individuals, the american people would have continued on in utter ignorance of what was going on in iraq and afghanistan. Scarborough made a comment that these leaks are going to make other countries not want to talk or deal with the u. S, and not have their conversation end up in the new york times. Maybe if they were not involved in illegal activity or trying to topple legitimate governments, then they would have nothing to worry about. It has always been my point of view, that if you are scared to share what it is you are talking about or doing in our name, than what you are doing cannot possibly be in my, or the american peoples best interest. Fresh food that lasts from efoods direct. - Infowars
http://www.infowars.com/is-wikileaks-really-the-enemy

Wikileaks are free agents acting on a desire to crack official secrecy and broaden the horizons of public awareness. - CS Monitor

http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Europe/2010/1129/WikiLeaks-Russians-smell-anti-Obama-conspiracy

Wikileaks are probably the greatest heroes the world has at the moment. - MSNBC Newsvine
http://msnbc.newsvine.com/_question/2010/11/28/5540508-do-you-support-the-release-of-secret-us-diplomatic-correspondence-by-wikileaks



Anti Wikileaks

Wikileaks are being manipulated by interested parties that want to either complicate our relationship with other governments or want to undermine some governments, because some of these items that are being emphasized and have surfaced are very pointed. And i wonder whether, in fact, there aren't some operations internationally, intelligence services, that are feeding stuff to wikileaks, because it is a unique opportunity to embarrass us, to embarrass our position, but also to undermine our relations with particular governments. - PBS
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/government_programs/july-dec10/weakileaks2_11-29.html

Wikileaks are unsafe - CBS News, Face the Nation
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/08/01/ftn/main6734189.shtml

Wikileaks are a bunch of terrorists... - Canada Free Press
http://canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/30547

Wikileaks are terrorists - we need to take them out. - Ron Paul, Forum
http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthread.php?t=270676

Wikileaks are “really bad guys” oversimplifies a complex matter. While they aren't bad guys, the road to hell was paved with good intentions, and i'm afraid they've paved the road to hell for us diplomatic efforts. In the inevitable war between transparency and state secrets, neither should be automatically subordinate to the other without sober consideration for the consequences. - politicususa.com
http://www.politicususa.com/en/julian-assange-wikileaks-bad

Wikileaks are publishing very sensitive documents that will impact our national security. In other words, a black eye to go with our president's fat lip. The question is: "how did wikileaks come by these confidential documents?" tomorrow, unless we see the wholesale purging of our intelligence community from the topmost officials to the bottom of the organizational chart, we'll know this document dump is being accomplished in collusion with the obama administration. Therefore, we are witnessing treason. Let's see what tomorrow brings. - Politico
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1110/45644.html

Wikileaks are dangerous and gosh knows what is going to happen. As if we didn't already have enough on our plates. - Erictric
http://erictric.com/2010/11/28/wikileaks-website-goes-down-again-secret-documents-soon-to-be-released

Wikileaks are a us/israeli propaganda sham - David Icke, Forum
http://www.davidicke.com/forum/showthread.php?p=1059468036

The larger point one might draw from this episode is that democracies like ours have a vital need for secrecy in the conduct of foreign affairs and war. And Wikileaks, which appears to be beyond the reach of our laws, is engaging in an assault on democratic governance. Our best hope of avoiding future such episodes is to do a better job of protecting secrets. Part of this involves tighter security and harsher penalties for those who leak vital secrets. Another no less important part is tackling our government's penchant for overclassification and mis-classification, which breeds disrespect for legitimate secrecy and creates a climate in which even leaks of highly sensitive information are taken as a norm. - National Review, Gabriel Schoenfeld
http://corner.nationalreview.com/post/?q=MGUxMjE1ODVkZjljZmQxNjNjMWFhM2ZhMGQ5MjE0NmQ

Objective

Wikileaks are not likely to reshape the region's political maneuverings. But they have further agitated the ill will between. And arab capitals over iran's nuclear enrichment program and its influence on militant groups in. The release of the cables has narrowed diplomatic wiggle room. Saudi king abdullah, quoted as urging the u. To attack iran, is likely to find it tough convincing tehran that he supports regional harmony. The leaks also reveal that arab countries have a deeper reliance on washington than they care to acknowledge to their largely anti-american populations. - LA Times
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-wikileaks-arabs-iran-20101201,0,6095996.story


Ladies and gentlemen, WikiLeaks did not "leak" anything. I don't know who leaked it, but since there's no mention of Obama and his administration, the regime, in any of these tens of thousands of documents, I'd have to say somebody in the regime leaked 'em. But WikiLeaks did not leak 'em. They just published 'em. WikiLeaks is just a sponge, a useful idiot sitting there over in the UK and some disgruntled military guy in Afghanistan somehow has access to all of this and hands it over... Assange looks like a waif who should star in Peter Pan. - Rush Limbaugh
http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/home/daily/site_072610/content/01125108.guest.html

The truth is that we don't really know what Wikileaks is, or what the organization's ethics are, or why they've become such a stunningly good conduit of classified information. In the new asymmetrical journalism, it's not clear who is on what side or what the rules of engagement actually are. But the reason Wikileaks may have just changed the media is that we found out that it doesn't really matter. Their data is good, and that's what counts. - Atlantic, Alexis Madrigal
http://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2010/07/wikileaks-may-have-just-changed-the-media-too/60377

Wikileaks are another sign that the 21st century is becoming an age in which secrets are going the way of phone books, floppy disks, and music stores. For centuries, from families to corporations, reporters, military chiefs, financial executives, lawyers, and government officials, information withheld from the public was a source of power. Changing behaviors, from innocently posting publicly visible updates on relationship status, pictures, and activities on. , to what the state department calls the irresponsible actions of assange's wikileaks, are leading to an era in which keeping secrets may soon become obsolete. Toward a taxonomy of secrets. ,” considering the primary motivations for keeping secrets and their perceived real and illusory values. The report segments secrets into categories such as those kept to prevent embarrassment, exercise control, meet external regulation and legal requirements, maintain social cohesion, and promote tradition and momentum. - Fatherhood Channel
http://fatherhoodchannel.com/2010/11/28/wikileaks-facebook-world-without-secrets-971

Wishy Washy

Wikileaks are traitors or engaging in sedition and should be punished for their release of these docs. What assange has done this past year in releasing raw intel and unvarnished truth , in quantity , straight from the sources within the halls of government and the military , is nothing short of revolutionary in charting history and exposing both war and geopolitical diplomacy for what it is. Previously ( with the exception of the pentagon papers ) this was a process that took the long slow excruciating course of " history " , and too often resulted in that history being doctored or disinformed. With wikileaks, we do not have to wait the customary 50 years to find out what was going on in the cloistered halls of the war rooms, board rooms, inner circles and oval offices. And we get the raw intel , not the refined or otherwise " sanitized" version. That the us government is running damage control with various other governments in advance of the leaks, and the fact julian assange is being ( likely ) framed on trumped up rape charges , is evidence enough to me that the governments fear the truth and fear being held accountable or even dragged into the bright sunshine so soon. Further, the trumped up claim by the us government that the latest wikileaks release puts people in harm's way is only so much bluster. The government cannot be serious about making those claims when it has so much blood on its hands, the loss of thousands of combat casualties in the senseless war in iraq, and tens of thousands of civilians and collateral damage that need never have occurred at all ---for what ? yes, maybe a few new folks are now in the crosshairs, but what about the thousands already lost and the thousands maybe saved the brutality ?. Personally , i don;t think there will be many if any damning accounts in the new release. It may turn out to be a tempest in a crock pot. Regardless, it gives and succinct view into the mechanisms of war and diplomacy. That alone makes the wikileaks worthwhile. Who can possibly be against the truth ? is that not what the us seeks to instill in our foreign involvements?---democracy based on an informed and enlightened populace ??. - MSNBC, Open Channel
http://openchannel.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2010/11/28/5539555-watching-the-wikileaks-release-of-diplomatic-messages

Conclusion

Julian Assange has been labeled one of the most dangerous men on earth by many people, while others call him a hero. Whether his Wikileaks will further government, policy and intelligence transparency or cause the death of soldiers, spies and diplomats remains to be seen. But what is apparent, is the wide range of reactions to the leaks, ranging from outrage to hero worship. No matter how you look at it, it is clear that we are a nation divided amongst ourselves.

I would very much like your reactions in the form of comments. Tell me what you think. Should Wikileaks be shut down? Should Julian Assange be chared with treason? 


Written By: Tom Retterbush

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