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warrenswil

warrenswil's Journal
warrenswil's Journal
October 31, 2013

SPYING ON EVERYONE: Google, Yahoo data caught in dragnet

In a major development in the government spying scandal, it was revealed Wednesday that not just chancellors and prime ministers are targeted by the NSA.
The Washington Post reported that massive data streams are diverted off-shore from Google and Yahoo into government data warehouses.
We analyzed the reports today in
Now it’s personal for almost every internet user
Hundreds of millions of people use one or both of the online giants for email. Even if you don’t, email you receive from or send to a Google or Yahoo address could end up in the government’s files.
Are we ready to say, Enough is Enough?
The details can be found in The Washington Post blockbuster
NSA infiltrates links to Yahoo, Google data centers worldwide, Snowden documents say.
As the spying scandal unravels, it comes closer to home for each and every user of the internet, no matter where one is located on the map.
There can be no doubt that online privacy is vanishing, if it has not already disappeared.
Getting the genii back in the bottle now is going to be well neigh impossible. But it is time to make a start; the only ones who have the power to do so are in the US Congress, but you would be forgiven if you doubt its ability to get anything at all done.


October 30, 2013

DIVIDE & CONQUER: Immigration reform could further split GOP

THE PUSH BY President Obama for comprehensive immigration reform got a boost on Tuesday when a large group descended on the Capitol to lobby Republicans on the issue.
Viewed in tactical terms, this could be seen as a stroke of genius by the president and his Democratic allies.
The GOP is riven with internal divisions on immigration. It’s well documented by the Pew Research Center, and has been widely reported.
We analyzed it this morning in
Coalition of conservatives, liberals pushes for action
Just as it splintered over the government shutdown, the Republican Party could suffer another humiliating defeat as its warring factions splinter on immigration proposals under consideration.
On Tuesday a huge group descended on the Capitol to advance the president’s agenda.
We learn the details in The New York Times online story
G.O.P. Urged to Act on Immigration by Coalition of Its Allies
Ashley Parker reports:
“On Tuesday, the group of more than 600 leaders from roughly 40 states descended on the Capitol for meetings with nearly 150 Republican lawmakers.”
The issue was brought front and center by the president in remarks Oct. 24 in the East Room at The White House.
“This is not just an idea whose time has come; this is an idea whose time has been around for years now,” Obama said. “And this is the moment when we should be able to finally get the job done.”
But in the process of moving forward, there is likely to be serious strain within the GOP. It could quite easily be a re-run of the acrimonious internecine warfare that erupted in the aftermath of the government shutdown.


October 28, 2013

Spy scandal spirals into full-blown diplomatic crisis

As media in the U.S. largely ignored it, the scandal over government spying on allies in Europe spiraled over the weekend in unexpected directions.
We addressed it this morning in
Question of cover-up arises in European media
Allegations surfaced in German media that President Obama knew of the monitoring of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s phone.
At first the administration refused to comment, according to The Guardian in the U.K., then it changed its mind and denied the president was informed.
The story seems to be taking a familiar route: what did the president know and when did he know it?
That narrative arc has often – since Watergate in the 1970s – concealed an attempt to distance the president from wrongdoing by underlings. Could it be happening again?
To appreicate the level of outrage in Europe versus the quiescence in America, one needs to know that privacy rights are far more advanced on the Continent.
We reported on it last week in
EU far ahead in protecting private data
The headline in Deutsche Welle on Sunday afternoon was all one needed to pick up on the cover-up thread.
Media reports suggest Obama knew NSA spied on Merkel

“There are new questions over how much President Obama knew about US spying on Angela Merkel. A newspaper report says that the US leader has been aware of NSA eavesdropping on the German chancellor since 2010,” said the top story on its web site Sunday.
Privacy rights are far more entrenched in the EU than in America, that is for certain. But Americans seem complacent about our government spying on others; only when the lens is turned on ourselves do we seem to be bothered.
It’s delusional to believe there is a difference.
The NSA has the tools at its disposal to use on U.S. citizens and non-citizens alike. How can it be justified to use them on foreigners while “trusting” the government not to spy on us?
We would be wise to take a cue from our democratic friends and allies across the pond and bring pressure to bear on our own representatives to end the spying abroad and at home.


October 25, 2013

US foreign policy in shambles as blunders multiply

Secretary Of State John Kerry spent most of the week putting out fires around the globe, and even President Obama fielded two phone calls from irate allies.
The signs are everywhere that America’s foreign policy is in disarray. Allies are anxious; enemies are gleeful.
We analyzed the situation this morning in
Decline of American influence in the world speeds up
Not only are Germany and France angry about American spying, but Israel and Saudi Arabia are anxious about events in the Middle East, and the presidents of Brazil and Mexico had their communications intercepted.
Now, Norway is refusing to help dispose of Syria’s checmical weapons.
It all points to a surprising acceleration in the decline of U.S. influence everywhere, most particularly in the volatile Middle East.
Increasingly, the U.S. is seen as weak and getting weaker. It didn’t begin with the Obama administration, but it has not been getting any better, either.


October 24, 2013

SYRIA CRISIS: As violence spirals, solution seems elusive

As the violence in Syria continues to spiral out of control, attempts to begin a process to end it are stumbling.
But the complexity cannot be an excuse to not try.
The effects of the daily slaughter of innocents are multiplying in unexpected ways. Saudi Arabia, supporting the rebels, is distraught over US inaction. Iran, a bulwark of the regime of President Bashar Al-Assad, is trying (on a separate track) to improve relations with the west.
We analyze the situation today in:
Complexity defies attempts to start peace process, but can’t be an excuse not to try
The latest push for a second Geneva conference to kick-start peace talks seems to be running into obstacles just days after it was announced.
We see this in the Telegraph newspaper in the UK in
Syria: West attempts to salvage Geneva peace conference
Reporting Tuesday from Istanbul, Ruth Sherlock writes:

“Britain and the West attempted to salvage a plan for peace talks on Syria next month, making overtures to the disenchanted opposition in an attempt to bring them to the negotiating table.”

Refugees are flooding into Lebanon and Jordan, straining those tiny territories. Many are fleeing to Europe.
And the Obama administration is riven by division over what to do, seeing no good options.
But sitting on the sidelines while the Middle East implodes is not an option. The US is the only country with the resources and means to play a leading role in solving this seemingly intractable problem.
Unequivocally, it must do so.

October 23, 2013

Privacy under attack at home and abroad

The revelations about the extent of US government spying on individuals and officials throughout the world keep coming.
The latest embarrassment came Monday in the French newspaper Le Monde, where Glenn Greeenwald revealed massive monitoring of French citizens and government officials.
This prompted a phone call by President Obama to the president of France.
We analyzed it today in:
SPYING SCANDAL: Revelations in France add to US woes
Meanwhile, the European Union is moving aggressively to curtail intrusions into personal privacy.
The New York Times reported this on Tuesday in
Rules Shielding Online Data From N.S.A. and Other Prying Eyes Advance in Europe.
James Kanter wrote:

“A panel of European Union lawmakers on Monday night backed a measure that could require American companies like Google and Yahoo to seek clearance from European officials before complying with United States warrants seeking private data,”

The European Union is way ahead of America in recognizing the right to privacy – and doing something about protecting it.
Concerned Americans should take a cue from our European allies and begin to seriously discuss effective measures to put a cap on how, when and why the government can intercept the communications we hitherto thought were private.
October 22, 2013

OBAMACARE: Doomsayer’s prognostications are premature

There are undeniably problems with the rollout part of the Affordable Care Act reforms.
Indeed one part of the system is struggling: the federal insurance exchange web site is groaning under the weight of its popularity.
But there is time to fix it, and officials are working ’round the clock to do so.
We analyzed the progress this morning in:
New healthcare system flawed but can be fixed
It may be embarrassing to the president, but it is nowhere near the ‘disaster’ so many are claiming.
Politico reported details of the technical fixes in
Tech ‘surge’ to repair Obamacare websites
Here’s the money quote:

“The Obama administration Sunday said it’s called on “the best and brightest” tech experts from both government and the private sector to help fix the troubled website at the root of the Obamacare enrollment problems.”

In a delicious irony the GOP’s ridiculous government shutdown and attempt to overturn the law (which failed) had obscured the problems from public view.
We noted this in
Shutdown, debt-ceiling crises obscure really serious problems.
The president gave a different perspective on Monday. His most important point:
“For the vast majority of Americans… you don’t need to sign up for coverage through a website at all,” Obama said. “You've already got coverage. What the Affordable Care Act does for you is to provide you with new benefits and protections that have been in place for some time. You may not know it, but you're already benefiting from these provisions in the law.”

That’s what the Tea Party does not want anyone to know. They would rather focus on the so-called “disaster.”
In fact, the problems are a sign of Obamacare’s success, not its failure. The demand for health insurance has been so great it overwhelmed the system.
There can be no better evidence that the program – even if flawed – is vitally needed by the American people. They are voting with their keyboards.
October 21, 2013

CIVIL WAR: Battle erupts for soul of Republican Party

The news over the weekend for those who want to see the U.S. government actually function, was nothing short of stunning.
Headline after headline told of an outbreak of internecine warfare within the Republican Party – which brought the government to its knees for the first two weeks of October.
“Civil war” was the term most commonly used.
We analyzed it in detail today in
GOP’s internal struggle is good news for 2014
There can be no doubt a struggle has erupted for the heart and soul of the Republican Party.
For those who are NOT conservatives, this is the best possible outcome.
It may mean the Democrats romp to victory in the mid-term elections in 2014, and continue to occupy the White house in 2016.
We first reported on this possibility Oct. 3 in
Showdown over shutdown could split the Republican Party
It reached a crescendo in The New York Times on Sunday with the front page story
Fiscal Crisis Sounds the Charge in G.O.P.’s ‘Civil War.’
The Money quote:

“It’s civil war in the G.O.P.,” said Richard Viguerie, a veteran conservative warrior who helped invent the political direct mail business.”

A Republican civil war can only be good for the country. While they are preoccupied with their internal struggle, the electorate can watch from the sidelines and vote for the Democrats in 2014.

October 19, 2013

World enjoys fossil fuel boom, but should it?

New technology has made previously unrecoverable deposits within reach.
Gosh, I just learned there may even be some oil under my house!
The oil oligarchs are clapping their hands in glee.
But those concerned with climate change are wringing theirs in desperation.
Should all this oil – and gas – be taken out of the ground and burned? It could spell the end of life as we know it on earth.
We analyzed this today in
California awash in oil, but carbon emissions will devastate planet
The IPCC has warned us that man-made climate change is proceeding faster than ever anticipated.
We need to wake up and listen.

October 17, 2013

GOP insanity does lasting harm to reputation of the US

A last-minute cave-in by the Republicans has, temporarily, delayed a disaster, but not before serious and lasting harm has been done to the United States.
Perception is reality.
In the eyes of the world – and some Americans – the US is looking increasingly like an ungovernable banana republic. We detail this today in:
GOP insanity does lasting harm to the “full faith and credit of the United States. It may never recover.
The economic damage this is causing is palpable; the geo-political effects yet to become evident.
But the signs were everywhere in world media over the past few days. They were notably absent from the American press – largely focused on Washington – with some noteworthy exceptions.
We predicted the political outcome in
GIGANTIC MISCALCUlLTION: GOP will cave on impasse
but even before that weighed in on the global phenomenon of American decline in
As US influence wanes in Middle East, new threat emerges
Indeed, the decline of America is well under way, but far to few in the US seem to know – or care.
The clearest evidence so far came Tuesday in The Guardian in the UK.
In an astute Comment is Free posting about how Americans need to discover how the world sees them
Timothy Garton Ash writes:
“It's not just in the arena of soft power that perceptions are also realities. As George Soros keeps pointing out, that's true of financial markets.
“Huge damage has already been done. Politically, in the eyes of the world, the full faith and credit’ of the US has been further eroded.”
Congress may have punted the crisis for three months, but it’s too little and too late prevent the damage the Republicans have already cause.
In the (K)now

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Name: warren swil
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Hometown: california
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