Following the recent revelations about global surveillance and Prism by leaker Edward Snowden, the mainstream media is finally seriously investigating the intimate and unhealthy links between tech firms and the US government. This New York Times story… reveals some of those connections and why none of us should trust the privacy pledges given by Facebook, Google…
Showing all posts tagged United States
We all should be Bradley Manning
A bold new campaign to support the incredibly important whistle-blowing of Bradley Manning:
Definition of insanity; dumping billions of $ in Afghanistan
The West lost the war in Afghanistan years ago; now it’s just about saving face and thinking through the best way to spin disaster into a win. Better hire more PR hacks for the job. The Afghan people are an afterthought. The Washington Post on just one example of madness: Facing a tight… withdrawal… deadline and tough…
Remembering the late, great Michael Hastings, friend and fine journalist
Yesterday the world was greeted with the tragic news that 33 year old, US investigative journalist Michael Hastings died in a car crash in LA. Apart from being a fearless reporter, he was also a friend. I’m still in shock. We weren’t overly close but met years ago at a writer’s festival in Brisbane and…
Why it’s dangerous to privatise America’s intelligence services
The post 9/11 world has seen an explosion in private companies making a killing in both assisting and exaggerating the “threat” of terrorism. I examine this deeply in my upcoming book, Profits of Doom. Here’s a great piece by a beacon on this issue, journalist Tim Shorrock, writing in the New York Times: And if…
ABC Radio’s The World Today on Edward Snowden and Prism
I was interviewed today for ABC Radio’s The World Today program: ELEANOR HALL: In the Federal Parliament today, The Greens will attempt to get an explanation from the Government about Australia’s involvement in the US PRISM surveillance system. America’s National Security Agency confirmed last week that it is running a clandestine internet surveillance program which…
Why Prism is important; we’re watching the watchers
My following article appears in today’s Guardian Australia: Politicians and journalists ignore public opinion at their peril. Less than two weeks after the explosive revelations by former National Security Agency (NSA) contractor Edward Snowden on the creation of a privatised,… American surveillance apparatus, a TIME poll finds a majority of… Americans support the leak, and… Snowden receives a…
Al Jazeera’s The Listening Post on Ed Snowden and intelligence leaking
The importance of leaking to ensure transparency in a democracy is something we should never forget. The great Al Jazeera media program The Listening Post this week tackles Edward Snowden, Bradley Manning and Wikileaks. They asked me to comment on the ways in which the Snowden story unfolded in the press. My clip is at…
Why nobody should take US seriously over Israel/Palestine part 65443
Watch this performance by a hack at the State Department this week and why Washington has no interest in holding Israel to account for its daily violations of human rights in Palestine: