June 13, 2013

Toxic waste spill in northern Alberta biggest of recent disasters in North America

Occupy Wall Street ?@OccupyWallSt

Toxic waste spill in northern Alberta biggest of recent disasters in North America: "Across a broad expanse of... http://fb.me/XFmyfDaq


http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/apache-pipeline-leaks-60000-barrels-of-salty-water-in-northwest-alberta/article12494371/

The substance is the inky black colour of oil, and the treetops are brown. Across a broad expanse of northern Alberta muskeg, the landscape is dead. It has been poisoned by a huge spill of 9.5 million litres of toxic waste from an oil and gas operation in northern Alberta, the third major leak in a region whose residents are now questioning whether enough is being done to maintain aging energy infrastructure.

The spill was first spotted on June 1. But not until Wednesday did Houston-based Apache Corp. release estimates of its size, which exceeds all of the major recent spills in North America. It comes amid heightened sensitivity about pipeline safety, as the industry faces broad public opposition to plans for a series of major new oil export pipelines to the U.S., British Columbia and eastern Canada.

In northern Alberta, not far from the town of Zama City, the leak of so-called “produced water” has affected some 42 hectares, the size of 52 CFL fields, in an area less than 100 kilometres south of the Northwest Territories border.

“Every plant and tree died” in the area touched by the spill, said James Ahnassay, chief of the Dene Tha First Nation, whose members run traplines in an area that has seen oil and gas development since the 1950s.

(More at the link.)

June 13, 2013

TransCanada Caught Training Police to Treat Nonviolent Keystone XL Protesters as Terrorists

Cross-posted from Occupy Underground.

http://ecowatch.com/2013/transcanada-caught-training-police-nonviolent-keystone-xl-protesters-terrorists/

In the midst of recent national controversy surrounding government surveillance of the public, a recent Freedom of Information Act request to the Nebraska State Patrol has exposed evidence that TransCanada provided training to federal agents and local Nebraska police to suppress nonviolent activists protesting the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline by arresting them on “anti-terrorism statutes.” The presentation slides, obtained by grassroots landowner advocacy group Bold Nebraska, target Tar Sands Blockade activists by name.

“This is clear evidence of the collusion between TransCanada and the federal government assisting local police to unlawfully monitor and harass political protestors,” said Lauren Regan, legal coordinator for Tar Sands Blockade and executive director of the Civil Liberties Defense Center. “These documents expose the truth that the government is giving the nod to unlawful corporate spying. By slinging false allegations against peaceful activists in this presentation, TransCanada puts them at risk of unwarranted prosecution.”

Although TransCanada’s presentation to authorities contains information about property destruction, sabotage and booby traps, police in Texas and Oklahoma have never alleged, accused or charged Tar Sands Blockade activists of any such behaviors. Since August 2012, Tar Sands Blockade has carried out dozens of successful nonviolent direct actions to physically halt construction of the Keystone XL pipeline in Texas and Oklahoma. All of these acts, as well as every pipeline protest in Nebraska, have maintained strict commitments to nonviolence.

“Try as TransCanada might to slander Tar Sands Blockade and our growing grassroots movement, we know who the real criminals are,” said Ron Seifert, a spokesperson with Tar Sands Blockade who was pictured in the slideshow. “The real criminals are those profiting from this deadly tar sands pipeline by endangering families living along the route and pumping illegal levels of air toxins into fence-line communities.”

(More at the link.)

June 13, 2013

TransCanada Caught Training Police to Treat Nonviolent Keystone XL Protesters as Terrorists

http://ecowatch.com/2013/transcanada-caught-training-police-nonviolent-keystone-xl-protesters-terrorists/

In the midst of recent national controversy surrounding government surveillance of the public, a recent Freedom of Information Act request to the Nebraska State Patrol has exposed evidence that TransCanada provided training to federal agents and local Nebraska police to suppress nonviolent activists protesting the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline by arresting them on “anti-terrorism statutes.” The presentation slides, obtained by grassroots landowner advocacy group Bold Nebraska, target Tar Sands Blockade activists by name.

“This is clear evidence of the collusion between TransCanada and the federal government assisting local police to unlawfully monitor and harass political protestors,” said Lauren Regan, legal coordinator for Tar Sands Blockade and executive director of the Civil Liberties Defense Center. “These documents expose the truth that the government is giving the nod to unlawful corporate spying. By slinging false allegations against peaceful activists in this presentation, TransCanada puts them at risk of unwarranted prosecution.”

Although TransCanada’s presentation to authorities contains information about property destruction, sabotage and booby traps, police in Texas and Oklahoma have never alleged, accused or charged Tar Sands Blockade activists of any such behaviors. Since August 2012, Tar Sands Blockade has carried out dozens of successful nonviolent direct actions to physically halt construction of the Keystone XL pipeline in Texas and Oklahoma. All of these acts, as well as every pipeline protest in Nebraska, have maintained strict commitments to nonviolence.

“Try as TransCanada might to slander Tar Sands Blockade and our growing grassroots movement, we know who the real criminals are,” said Ron Seifert, a spokesperson with Tar Sands Blockade who was pictured in the slideshow. “The real criminals are those profiting from this deadly tar sands pipeline by endangering families living along the route and pumping illegal levels of air toxins into fence-line communities.”

(More at the link.)

June 12, 2013

The Sierra Club is suing the State Department for hiding docs linking its KeystoneXL review to oil

Occupy Wall Street ?@OccupyWallStNYC

The @SierraClub is suing the State Department for hiding docs linking its #KeystoneXL review to oil industry:
http://ow.ly/lY63r #NoKXL


http://thehill.com/blogs/e2-wire/e2-wire/304725-sierra-club-sues-state-dept-over-keystone-xl-review

A March report in Mother Jones said the consulting firm, Environmental Resources Management, had previously done work for Keystone builder TransCanada Corp. and the American Petroleum Institute (API).

That information was scrubbed from staff biographies at the consultancy when State released the firm’s conflict of interest filings when the agency unveiled the draft environmental report, Mother Jones reported.

The Sierra Club said the group’s attempt to acquire that documentation from State through a Freedom of Information Act request was denied, which led to the Monday lawsuit in the U.S. District Court in the Northern District of California.

The State Department is in the process of finalizing its environmental review of Keystone. Following that, it will issue a determination of national interest, which will help decide whether TransCanada is awarded a cross-border permit to finish the project.

(More at the link.)

June 11, 2013

For those wondering about NSA capacity to store metadata:

First proposed store of zettabyte capacity

On April 12, 2013, Fox News published a story indicating that the new NSA Data Center south of Salt Lake City, UT, will be able to contain up to 5 zettabytes of data, "according to some reports".[8]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zettabyte

June 11, 2013

Video: Nestle CEO says water should be privatized and sold for profit, is not a human right.

I'm sure this has made the rounds here in the past; it is the first time I've seen video:

From 2 minutes to 3:40, he clearly indicates that water should be privatized and marketed to the population of the world.

In the first two minutes, he discusses how Nestle are the largest foodstuff corporation in the world, the 27th largest corporation overall. He uses the word foodstuff to also describe water. He also argues for the use of GMOs.

I don't even want to see the rest.

June 11, 2013

No warrants are required for domestic wiretapping. NSA doing warrantless wiretapping since 2002

Bush administration warrantless domestic wiretapping program
Main article: NSA warrantless surveillance controversy

The Act came into public prominence in December 2005 following publication by the New York Times of an article[5] that described a program of warrantless domestic wiretapping ordered by the Bush administration and carried out by the National Security Agency since 2002; a subsequent Bloomberg article[6] suggested that this may have already begun by June 2000.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_Intelligence_Surveillance_Act#Bush_administration_warrantless_domestic_wiretapping_program


Am I missing something here? Oh yeah, there's those NSA guise again...

June 11, 2013

ALERT: Taksim Square Turkey under attack by riot police

The PM is one of those who has only one solution: more bad actions. A violent attack upon Gezi is highly likely.

Edit: Plenty of police present, some use of tear gas, police are removing banners from the building, protesters are sitting in/down. No riot police attack.

Edit: Attacks are on-going for hours and hours.

StopMotionsolo ?@StopMotionsolo

Okay, @timcast appears to be live. From #Turkey. Seems to be the only one up at the moment.
http://www.vice.com/read/tim-pool-live-streaming-from-istanbul …



Global Revolution ?@GlobalRevLive

Vlad has spotted the Riot Police traveling up a parallel road along side #GeziParki LIVE~>... http://fb.me/2irmvFb3z


Global Revolution @GlobalRevLive

LOTS of police outside #Taksim #Istanbul #Turkey Watch Live
http://bit.ly/Y8rcgQ
http://bit.ly/rsrZaQ


Sky Adams ?@Cross_X_Bones

Police mobilizing in #Taksim now you can watch on http://www.dha.com.tr/canli-yayin/



OccupyPtown ?@RisePDX 3m

Someone please tweet @globalrevlive that glass is in the square and under gas attack #ows (live at http://ustre.am/ObDh )



Jenna Capulcu Pope ?@BatmanWI

Multiple water canon trucks, cops have already used tear gas. Telling people they can't enter Gezi Park.
#occupygezi pic.twitter.com/9dvzvmOtRo


Global Revolution ?@GlobalRevLive

POLICE ATTACK #TAKSIM SQUARE, HAPPENING NOW #Turkey http://www.livestream.com/revoltistanbul
http://artibir.tv/canli-yayin
http://www.dha.com.tr/canli-yayin/
#DirenGeziParki


Global Revolution ?@GlobalRevLive

#Breaking #News People sitting down in front of riot police at #Taksim Square #Istanbul #Turkey Park is being raided. #DirenGeziParki

June 11, 2013

ALERT: Taksim Square under riot police attack (the 12th as well)

Edit: Plenty of police present, some use of tear gas, police are removing banners from the building, protesters are sitting in/down. No riot police attack.

Edit: Enormous round of tear gas into square as Reuters livestream goes offline. Police have attacked protesters, now control Taksim Square. Word of protesters wearing police gasmasks and vests throwing molotov cocktails (not stopped by hundreds of police nearby), called by many online as provocateurs used by the PM to gain sympathy and to demonize the protesters. Livestreamers having difficulty staying on the air.

https://twitter.com/StopMotionsolo/status/344338118951960576/photo/1/large

https://twitter.com/C0d3Fr0sty/status/344335052563443712/photo/1

StopMotionsolo ?@StopMotionsolo 3m

Okay, @timcast appears to be live. From #Turkey. Seems to be the only one up at the moment. http://www.vice.com/read/tim-pool-live-streaming-from-istanbul …

---



Global Revolution ?@GlobalRevLive

LOTS of police outside #Taksim #Istanbul #Turkey Watch Live
http://bit.ly/Y8rcgQ
http://bit.ly/rsrZaQ


Global Revolution ?@GlobalRevLive

Vlad has spotted the Riot Police traveling up a parallel road along side #GeziParki LIVE~>... http://fb.me/2irmvFb3z


Sky Adams ?@Cross_X_Bones

Police mobilizing in #Taksim now you can watch on http://www.dha.com.tr/canli-yayin/



OccupyPtown ?@RisePDX 3m

Someone please tweet @globalrevlive that glass is in the square and under gas attack #ows (live at http://ustre.am/ObDh )



Jenna Capulcu Pope ?@BatmanWI

Multiple water canon trucks, cops have already used tear gas. Telling people they can't enter Gezi Park.
#occupygezi pic.twitter.com/9dvzvmOtRo


Global Revolution ?@GlobalRevLive

POLICE ATTACK #TAKSIM SQUARE, HAPPENING NOW #Turkey http://www.livestream.com/revoltistanbul
http://artibir.tv/canli-yayin
http://www.dha.com.tr/canli-yayin/
#DirenGeziParki


AJELive ?@AJELive

Breaking: #Turkey's riot police have entered #Taksim Square. More details soon at http://aje.me/home


Occupy Chicago ?@OccupyChicago

MT @KitOConnell: LARGE force of riot police near #OccupyGezi on this stream. Eyes on Taksim! #Solidarity!
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/glassbeadian …
? #OCAM #YAL

June 10, 2013

A few examples of why the terror-industrial complex is out of control.

Dissent or Terror: New Report Details How Counter Terrorism Apparatus Was Used to Monitor Occupy Movement Nationwide

The report, a distillation of thousands of pages of records obtained from counter terrorism/law enforcement agencies, details how state/regional "fusion center" personnel monitored the Occupy Wall Street movement over the course of 2011 and 2012. Personnel engaged in this activity at fusion centers include employees of municipal, county and federal counter terrorism/homeland security entities. Such entities include local police departments, the FBI and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (including U.S. DHS components such as the Transportation Security Administration).

The report also examines how fusion centers and other counter terrorism entities that have emerged since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 have worked to benefit numerous corporations engaged in public-private intelligence sharing partnerships.

While the report examines many instances of fusion center monitoring of Occupy Wall Street activists nationwide, the bulk of the report details how counter terrorism personnel engaged in the Arizona Counter Terrorism Information Center (ACTIC, commonly known as the "Arizona fusion center&quot monitored and otherwise surveilled citizens active in Occupy Phoenix, and how this surveillance benefited a number of corporations and banks that were subjects of Occupy Phoenix protest activity.

While small glimpses into the governmental monitoring of the Occupy Wall Street movement have emerged in the past, there has not been any reporting -- until now -- that details the breadth and depth of the degree to which the nation's post-September 11, 2001 counter terrorism apparatus has been applied to politically engaged citizens exercising their Constitutionally-protected First Amendment rights.

More (including a summary of findings) at: http://www.prwatch.org/news/2013/05/12115/dissent-or-terror-new-report-details-how-counter-terrorism-apparatus-was-used-mon

The complete report at: http://dbapress.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Dissent-or-Terror-FINAL.pdf

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1. The profit motive.

The 2006 Citigroup "Plutonomy Symposium" memo states that technological revolution is one of the drivers of plutonomy, of the very rich becoming ever-richer. We've already seen Halliburton awarded no-bid contracts by former employees then in government, and using the opportunity to charge taxpayers $45 per case of cola delivered to troops, and $100 per bag of laundry done. A nation-wide "homeland security" tech revolution, including drones and TSA scanners, are working to help further engorge the profit parasites.


Meet the Contractors Turning America's Police Into a Paramilitary Force

"The national security state has an annual budget of around $1 trillion. Of that huge pile of money, large amounts go to private companies the federal government awards contracts to. Some, like Lockheed Martin or Boeing, are household names, but many of the contractors fly just under the public's radar. What follows are three companies you should know about (because some of them can learn a lot about you with their spy technologies)."

http://www.alternet.org/meet-contractors-turning-americas-police-paramilitary-force?paging=off


2. That the profit motive helping drive the very rich to ever further heights, becomes self-reinforcing through government and lobbyists working to vote into law bills which simultaneously limit our freedoms and provide wild profiteering for the very rich.


Anonymous: Night Raid Equipment-Maker Lobbied for NDAA, Singles Out Sen. Rob Portman.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/12/19/1046972/-Anonymous-Night-Raid-Equipment-Maker-Lobbied-for-NDAA-Singles-Out-Sen-Rob-Portman#

"Anonymous singles out Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH) for receiving a particularly large sum from companies and PACs lobbying for the NDAA. From the RT report:

'Robert J. Portman...we are truly disturbed by the ludicrous $272,853 he received from special interest groups supporting the NDAA bill that authorizes the indefinite detention of U.S. citizens on U.S. soil.

Even in Washington terms, over a quarter million is a ridiculous amount of money from special interest groups supporting an issue to any single legislator. Congressmen have been bought for far less, with around $50,000 considered a serious ante at anyone's table, and much less merely keeping you in the game.'

snip

Among the supporters of NDAA are California-based manufacturer Surefire, L.L.C., who won a $23 million contract from the Department of Defense three months ago."


The leaked Citigroup memo, "The Plutonomy Symposium: Rising Tides Lifting Yachts."

http://www.box.com/shared/9if6v2hr9h


Halliburton bills taxpayers $45 per case of soda, $100 per bag of laundry

http://www.halliburtonwatch.org/news/whistleblower_hearings_denied.html


Scattered analysis of the Plutonomy memo from which this post is drawn:

http://occupyobservations.blogspot.com/2013/02/the-leaked-2006-citigroup-plutonomy-memo.html

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Pic of the Moment: Welcome to the Surveillance State

www.democraticunderground.com/1017124153

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The trillions spent upon homeland security have not addressed the real terrorists, not at all:

&feature=player_embedded

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That they are even daring to say the Constitution should be put away...how the hell can this actually be considered without complete rejection and disgust?