Tuesday, February 25, 2014
THE CONSPIRACY THEORY IS TRUE: AGENTS INFILTRATE WEBSITES INTENDING TO "MANIPULATE, DECEIVE, AND DESTROY REPUTATIONS"
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 02/24/2014
In the annals of internet conspiracy theories,
none is more pervasive than the one speculating paid government plants
infiltrate websites, social network sites, and comment sections with an
intent to sow discord, troll, and generally manipulate, deceive and
destroy reputations. Guess what: it was all true.
And this time we have a pretty slideshow of formerly confidential data prepared by the UK NSA equivalent, the GCHQ, to confirm it, and Edward Snowden to thank for disclosing it. The messenger in this case is Glenn Greenwald, who has released the data in an article in his new website, firstlook.org, which he summarizes as follows: "by publishing these stories one by one, our NBC reporting highlighted some of the key, discrete revelations: the monitoring of YouTube and Blogger, the targeting of Anonymous with the very same DDoS attacks they accuse “hacktivists” of using, the use of “honey traps” (luring people into compromising situations using sex) and destructive viruses. But, here, I want to focus and elaborate on the overarching point revealed by all of these documents: namely, that these agencies are attempting to control, infiltrate, manipulate, and warp online discourse, and in doing so, are compromising the integrity of the internet itself." Call it Stasi for "Generation Internet."
Greenwald's latest revelation focuses on GCHQ’s previously secret unit, the JTRIG (Joint Threat Research Intelligence Group).
Among the core self-identified purposes of JTRIG are two tactics: (1) to inject all sorts of false material onto the internet in order to destroy the reputation of its targets; and (2) to use social sciences and other techniques to manipulate online discourse and activism to generate outcomes it considers desirable. To see how extremist these programs are, just consider the tactics they boast of using to achieve those ends: “false flag operations” (posting material to the internet and falsely attributing it to someone else), fake victim blog posts (pretending to be a victim of the individual whose reputation they want to destroy), and posting “negative information” on various forums. Here is one illustrative list of tactics from the latest GCHQ document we’re publishing today:
Other tactics aimed at individuals are listed here, under the revealing title “discredit a target”:
Then there are the tactics used to destroy companies the agency targets:
Critically, the “targets” for this deceit and reputation-destruction extend far beyond the customary roster of normal spycraft: hostile nations and their leaders, military agencies, and intelligence services. In fact, the discussion of many of these techniques occurs in the context of using them in lieu of “traditional law enforcement” against people suspected (but not charged or convicted) of ordinary crimes or, more broadly still, “hacktivism”, meaning those who use online protest activity for political ends.
The title page of one of these documents reflects the agency’s own awareness that it is “pushing the boundaries” by using “cyber offensive” techniques against people who have nothing to do with terrorism or national security threats, and indeed, centrally involves law enforcement agents who investigate ordinary crimes:
Greenwald's punchline is disturbing, and is sure to make paradnoid conspiracy theorists crawl even deeper into their holes for one simple reason: all of their worst fears were true all along.
Under the title “Online Covert Action”, the document details a variety of means to engage in “influence and info ops” as well as “disruption and computer net attack”, while dissecting how human being can be manipulated using “leaders”, “trust, “obedience” and “compliance”:
The documents lay out theories of how humans interact with one another, particularly online, and then attempt to identify ways to influence the outcomes – or “game” it:
Greenwald's conclusion is spot on:
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-02-24/conspiracy-theory-true-agents-infiltrate-websites-intending-manipulate-deceive-and-d
And this time we have a pretty slideshow of formerly confidential data prepared by the UK NSA equivalent, the GCHQ, to confirm it, and Edward Snowden to thank for disclosing it. The messenger in this case is Glenn Greenwald, who has released the data in an article in his new website, firstlook.org, which he summarizes as follows: "by publishing these stories one by one, our NBC reporting highlighted some of the key, discrete revelations: the monitoring of YouTube and Blogger, the targeting of Anonymous with the very same DDoS attacks they accuse “hacktivists” of using, the use of “honey traps” (luring people into compromising situations using sex) and destructive viruses. But, here, I want to focus and elaborate on the overarching point revealed by all of these documents: namely, that these agencies are attempting to control, infiltrate, manipulate, and warp online discourse, and in doing so, are compromising the integrity of the internet itself." Call it Stasi for "Generation Internet."
Greenwald's latest revelation focuses on GCHQ’s previously secret unit, the JTRIG (Joint Threat Research Intelligence Group).
Among the core self-identified purposes of JTRIG are two tactics: (1) to inject all sorts of false material onto the internet in order to destroy the reputation of its targets; and (2) to use social sciences and other techniques to manipulate online discourse and activism to generate outcomes it considers desirable. To see how extremist these programs are, just consider the tactics they boast of using to achieve those ends: “false flag operations” (posting material to the internet and falsely attributing it to someone else), fake victim blog posts (pretending to be a victim of the individual whose reputation they want to destroy), and posting “negative information” on various forums. Here is one illustrative list of tactics from the latest GCHQ document we’re publishing today:
Other tactics aimed at individuals are listed here, under the revealing title “discredit a target”:
Then there are the tactics used to destroy companies the agency targets:
Critically, the “targets” for this deceit and reputation-destruction extend far beyond the customary roster of normal spycraft: hostile nations and their leaders, military agencies, and intelligence services. In fact, the discussion of many of these techniques occurs in the context of using them in lieu of “traditional law enforcement” against people suspected (but not charged or convicted) of ordinary crimes or, more broadly still, “hacktivism”, meaning those who use online protest activity for political ends.
The title page of one of these documents reflects the agency’s own awareness that it is “pushing the boundaries” by using “cyber offensive” techniques against people who have nothing to do with terrorism or national security threats, and indeed, centrally involves law enforcement agents who investigate ordinary crimes:
Greenwald's punchline is disturbing, and is sure to make paradnoid conspiracy theorists crawl even deeper into their holes for one simple reason: all of their worst fears were true all along.
At this point Greenwald takes a detour into a well-known topic: Cass Sunstein. Who is Cass Sunstein? Recall: "Obama Picks Cass Sunstein (America’s Goebbels?) To Serve On NSA Oversight Panel."No matter your views on Anonymous, “hacktivists” or garden-variety criminals, it is not difficult to see how dangerous it is to have secret government agencies being able to target any individuals they want – who have never been charged with, let alone convicted of, any crimes – with these sorts of online, deception-based tactics of reputation destruction and disruption.
The broader point is that, far beyond hacktivists, these surveillance agencies have vested themselves with the power to deliberately ruin people’s reputations and disrupt their online political activity even though they’ve been charged with no crimes, and even though their actions have no conceivable connection to terrorism or even national security threats. As Anonymous expert Gabriella Coleman of McGill University told me, “targeting Anonymous and hacktivists amounts to targeting citizens for expressing their political beliefs, resulting in the stifling of legitimate dissent.” Pointing to this study she published, Professor Coleman vehemently contested the assertion that “there is anything terrorist/violent in their actions.”
But while until now there was speculation that Sunstein's policies had been implemented, there was no proof. That is no longer the case:Government plans to monitor and influence internet communications, and covertly infiltrate online communities in order to sow dissension and disseminate false information, have long been the source of speculation. Harvard Law Professor Cass Sunstein, a close Obama adviser and the White House’s former head of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, wrote a controversial paper in 2008 proposing that the US government employ teams of covert agents and pseudo-”independent” advocates to “cognitively infiltrate” online groups and websites, as well as other activist groups.
Sunstein also proposed sending covert agents into “chat rooms, online social networks, or even real-space groups” which spread what he views as false and damaging “conspiracy theories” about the government. Ironically, the very same Sunstein was recently named by Obama to serve as a member of the NSA review panel created by the White House, one that – while disputing key NSA claims – proceeded to propose many cosmetic reforms to the agency’s powers (most of which were ignored by the President who appointed them).
What is perhaps most disturbing is the level of detail these modern day Stasi agents engage in, paradoxically proposing social subversion without realizing they themselves would be susceptible to just that. And all it would take is one whistleblower with a conscience:... these GCHQ documents are the first to prove that a major western government is using some of the most controversial techniques to disseminate deception online and harm the reputations of targets. Under the tactics they use, the state is deliberately spreading lies on the internet about whichever individuals it targets, including the use of what GCHQ itself calls “false flag operations” and emails to people’s families and friends. Who would possibly trust a government to exercise these powers at all, let alone do so in secret, with virtually no oversight, and outside of any cognizable legal framework?
Under the title “Online Covert Action”, the document details a variety of means to engage in “influence and info ops” as well as “disruption and computer net attack”, while dissecting how human being can be manipulated using “leaders”, “trust, “obedience” and “compliance”:
The documents lay out theories of how humans interact with one another, particularly online, and then attempt to identify ways to influence the outcomes – or “game” it:
Greenwald's conclusion is spot on:
So the next time you run into someone in a chat room or a message board who sounds just a little too much like a paid government subversive... it may not be just the paranoia speaking. For the full details "why not", read the formerly confidential slideshow below.These agencies’ refusal to “comment on intelligence matters” – meaning: talk at all about anything and everything they do – is precisely why whistleblowing is so urgent, the journalism that supports it so clearly in the public interest, and the increasingly unhinged attacks by these agencies so easy to understand. Claims that government agencies are infiltrating online communities and engaging in “false flag operations” to discredit targets are often dismissed as conspiracy theories, but these documents leave no doubt they are doing precisely that.
Whatever else is true, no government should be able to engage in these tactics: what justification is there for having government agencies target people – who have been charged with no crime – for reputation-destruction, infiltrate online political communities, and develop techniques for manipulating online discourse? But to allow those actions with no public knowledge or accountability is particularly unjustifiable.
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-02-24/conspiracy-theory-true-agents-infiltrate-websites-intending-manipulate-deceive-and-d
Sunday, February 23, 2014
KIEFFEN'S STORY: A BOY KILLED, INEPT POLICE AND STILL NO ANSWERS
Rory Callinan
April 21, 2012
Kieffen Raggett's body was found in a waterhole at Borroloola. Plate-sized rocks were found in his pockets.
A year after the coroner damned police for their incompetence, the 2007 death appears no nearer being solved.
WHEN the body of an Aboriginal boy, Kieffen Raggett, was found in a shallow waterhole near a remote Northern Territory town, police immediately declared his death an accident.
It didn't matter that the eight-year-old's trousers were found stuffed with dinner-plate sized rocks which had kept his body concealed for two days in the thigh-deep billabong. Or that suspicious relatives found the tracks of Kieffen and an adult leading to the waterhole.
And he had two lacerations to the top and back of his head as though someone had struck him from behind, not to mention the fact he was notoriously ''shy of water''.
The case was written off as just another file for the coroner - a file which police then took three years to complete.
Last year, the Territory's Coroner, Greg Cavanagh, exposed these and other blunders by officers investigating Kieffen's 2007 death at Borroloola, a fishing town 954 kilometres south-east of Darwin.
His findings revealed how police had ''irrationally'' focused on trying to substantiate the death as accidental despite the inexplicable presence of the rocks in the boy's trousers.
Kieffen Raggett's body was found in a waterhole at Borroloola. Plate-sized rocks were found in his pockets. WHEN the body of an Aboriginal boy, Kieffen Raggett, was found in a shallow waterhole near a remote Northern Territory town, police immediately declared his death an accident.
It didn't matter that the eight-year-old's trousers were found stuffed with dinner-plate sized rocks which had kept his body concealed for two days in the thigh-deep billabong. Or that suspicious relatives found the tracks of Kieffen and an adult leading to the waterhole.
And he had two lacerations to the top and back of his head as though someone had struck him from behind, not to mention the fact he was notoriously ''shy of water''.
The case was written off as just another file for the coroner - a file which police then took three years to complete.
Last year, the Territory's Coroner, Greg Cavanagh, exposed these and other blunders by officers investigating Kieffen's 2007 death at Borroloola, a fishing town 954 kilometres south-east of Darwin.
His findings revealed how police had ''irrationally'' focused on trying to substantiate the death as accidental despite the inexplicable presence of the rocks in the boy's trousers.
No proper searches had been made around the scene. There had
been inadequate briefings to senior officers, evidence destroyed and
ignored and police failure to provide reports to the coroner in a
timely period. DNA evidence from Kieffen's body was destroyed in the
meantime.
When Mr Cavanagh aired his findings in March last year, Northern Territory Police issued a apology to Kieffen's family.
''The community is entitled to expect better from their police force and on this occasion they didn't receive what they should have got,'' major crime division's Superintendent Kristopher Evans said.
And Mr Cavanagh referred his findings to the Commissioner of Police with a view that a crime ''may have been committed''. But just over a year later there is still little sign of any justice for Kieffen and his family.
The Herald has learnt that since police apologised, several of the boy's close relatives say they have not had any contact with officers and are not being given any insight into the progress of the investigation.
No taskforce has been established and the NT police have refused to say how many detectives are working the case.
A suspect singled out in the coroner's report has not been charged and locals doubt that he is the best fit for the crime.
Meanwhile, the Herald has been told of an alleged paedophile still roaming Borroloola despite allegations about an unrelated child sex attack made against him months earlier.
''It's like they have shoved it onto the bottom shelf again,'' says an emotional Cliff Taylor, who is married to Kieffen's aunt Adrianne Raggett and was the boy's guardian.
Mr Taylor, a respected local health clinic worker who with his wife is caring for 10 children, almost broke down when he recounted how he had been told nothing about the investigation.
''We can't get any peace until they have caught the person,'' he said from his home in Borroloola. ''My kids are everything to me. If they wake up and have a smile on their face then I'm happy. This has affected me and it's affected them and it's affected my wife.''
Mr Cavanagh's report identified several locals as being under suspicion but one in particular was highlighted.
The coroner suppressed the man's name in the findings, saying this individual was, at the time of the inquest, facing unrelated child sex charges.
Mr Cavanagh said this man had been connected to the case in 2009. He said this had occurred after the man's DNA had been found to be a match to DNA found on a XXXX beer can located at the waterhole.
The Herald understands the suspect claims he discarded the beer can when he helped in the search for Kieffen. The man also admitted he had owned a red shirt similar in style to one found near the waterhole but that he lost it some time before. The suspect has since been jailed for the unrelated sexual assaults.
One of the man's relatives said last week he has an alibi for the day of Kieffen's death. The relative said the individual was stuck in a remote community on the day of Kieffen's death and there were witnesses who could back this up. However these witnesses have since died.
The Herald has also obtained a copy of the sentencing remarks for the man's conviction on the unrelated sex assault charges.
The remarks show he confessed to an unrelated sex assault but then said that he himself had been sexually abused by a paedophile.
A community source told the Herald that this other suspected paedophile remains in the community and is also the subject of other unrelated allegations of sex abuse dating back years.
Asked about this situation NT police this week told the Herald that a person had been arrested in July last year in connection with ''historical child sex abuse''. But a police spokeswoman said she was unable to say if and when the individual was likely to face court.
With regard to the Kieffen case, the spokeswoman would only say that the investigation was ongoing. She said that for operational reasons police were unable to say who was being interviewed.
The spokeswoman also said the officer in charge of Kieffen's case had been in regular contact with the family.
However earlier this month Kieffen's biological mother, Valerie O'Keefe, said she had not spoken once to the officer in charge of the case since the inquest in March last year.
''I would like to know what's going on,'' she said from Tennant Creek, where she was contactable by mobile phone.
Meanwhile, Mr Taylor said last week Kieffen's family were contemplating legal action against the police. He said he had had little contact with the police and when they had contacted the family it had been either on Kieffen's birthday or on the anniversary of his death, which had made things worse.
''It's so hard because he was such a lovely kid,'' he said.
The family may be waiting a long time for any results.
On Thursday, NT police were again criticised over a 2010 investigation into an unrelated murder of a teacher who had his throat cut at Katherine.
Mr Cavanagh found police failed to have the right unit investigate the crime, did not get a blood splatter analysis done, failed to undertake up to 20 follow-up tasks and did not appoint a crime scene manager.
http://m.smh.com.au/national/kieffens-story-a-boy-killed-inept-police-and-still-no-answers-20120420-1xccf.html
When Mr Cavanagh aired his findings in March last year, Northern Territory Police issued a apology to Kieffen's family.
''The community is entitled to expect better from their police force and on this occasion they didn't receive what they should have got,'' major crime division's Superintendent Kristopher Evans said.
And Mr Cavanagh referred his findings to the Commissioner of Police with a view that a crime ''may have been committed''. But just over a year later there is still little sign of any justice for Kieffen and his family.
The Herald has learnt that since police apologised, several of the boy's close relatives say they have not had any contact with officers and are not being given any insight into the progress of the investigation.
No taskforce has been established and the NT police have refused to say how many detectives are working the case.
A suspect singled out in the coroner's report has not been charged and locals doubt that he is the best fit for the crime.
Meanwhile, the Herald has been told of an alleged paedophile still roaming Borroloola despite allegations about an unrelated child sex attack made against him months earlier.
''It's like they have shoved it onto the bottom shelf again,'' says an emotional Cliff Taylor, who is married to Kieffen's aunt Adrianne Raggett and was the boy's guardian.
Mr Taylor, a respected local health clinic worker who with his wife is caring for 10 children, almost broke down when he recounted how he had been told nothing about the investigation.
''We can't get any peace until they have caught the person,'' he said from his home in Borroloola. ''My kids are everything to me. If they wake up and have a smile on their face then I'm happy. This has affected me and it's affected them and it's affected my wife.''
Mr Cavanagh's report identified several locals as being under suspicion but one in particular was highlighted.
The coroner suppressed the man's name in the findings, saying this individual was, at the time of the inquest, facing unrelated child sex charges.
Mr Cavanagh said this man had been connected to the case in 2009. He said this had occurred after the man's DNA had been found to be a match to DNA found on a XXXX beer can located at the waterhole.
The Herald understands the suspect claims he discarded the beer can when he helped in the search for Kieffen. The man also admitted he had owned a red shirt similar in style to one found near the waterhole but that he lost it some time before. The suspect has since been jailed for the unrelated sexual assaults.
One of the man's relatives said last week he has an alibi for the day of Kieffen's death. The relative said the individual was stuck in a remote community on the day of Kieffen's death and there were witnesses who could back this up. However these witnesses have since died.
The Herald has also obtained a copy of the sentencing remarks for the man's conviction on the unrelated sex assault charges.
The remarks show he confessed to an unrelated sex assault but then said that he himself had been sexually abused by a paedophile.
A community source told the Herald that this other suspected paedophile remains in the community and is also the subject of other unrelated allegations of sex abuse dating back years.
Asked about this situation NT police this week told the Herald that a person had been arrested in July last year in connection with ''historical child sex abuse''. But a police spokeswoman said she was unable to say if and when the individual was likely to face court.
With regard to the Kieffen case, the spokeswoman would only say that the investigation was ongoing. She said that for operational reasons police were unable to say who was being interviewed.
The spokeswoman also said the officer in charge of Kieffen's case had been in regular contact with the family.
However earlier this month Kieffen's biological mother, Valerie O'Keefe, said she had not spoken once to the officer in charge of the case since the inquest in March last year.
''I would like to know what's going on,'' she said from Tennant Creek, where she was contactable by mobile phone.
Meanwhile, Mr Taylor said last week Kieffen's family were contemplating legal action against the police. He said he had had little contact with the police and when they had contacted the family it had been either on Kieffen's birthday or on the anniversary of his death, which had made things worse.
''It's so hard because he was such a lovely kid,'' he said.
The family may be waiting a long time for any results.
On Thursday, NT police were again criticised over a 2010 investigation into an unrelated murder of a teacher who had his throat cut at Katherine.
Mr Cavanagh found police failed to have the right unit investigate the crime, did not get a blood splatter analysis done, failed to undertake up to 20 follow-up tasks and did not appoint a crime scene manager.
http://m.smh.com.au/national/kieffens-story-a-boy-killed-inept-police-and-still-no-answers-20120420-1xccf.html
Friday, February 21, 2014
THE MEDIEVAL, UNACCOUNTABLE CORPORATION OF LONDON IS RIPE FOR PROTEST
Working beyond the authority of parliament, the Corporation of London undermines all attempts to curb the excesses of finance
Illustration by Daniel Pudles
It's the dark heart of Britain, the place where democracy goes
to die, immensely powerful, equally unaccountable. But I doubt that one
in 10 British people has any idea of what the Corporation of the City of
London is and how it works. This could be about to change. Alongside
the Church of England, the Corporation is seeking to evict the protesters camped outside St Paul's cathedral. The protesters, in turn, have demanded that it submit to national oversight and control.
What is this thing? Ostensibly it's the equivalent of a local council, responsible for a small area of London known as the Square Mile. But, as its website boasts, "among local authorities the City of London is unique". You bet it is. There are 25 electoral wards in the Square Mile. In four of them, the 9,000 people who live within its boundaries are permitted to vote. In the remaining 21, the votes are controlled by corporations, mostly banks and other financial companies. The bigger the business, the bigger the vote: a company with 10 workers gets two votes, the biggest employers, 79. It's not the workers who decide how the votes are cast, but the bosses, who "appoint" the voters. Plutocracy, pure and simple.
There are four layers of elected representatives in the Corporation: common councilmen, aldermen, sheriffs and the Lord Mayor. To qualify for any of these offices, you must be a freeman of the City of London. To become a freeman you must be approved by the aldermen. You're most likely to qualify if you belong to one of the City livery companies: medieval guilds such as the worshipful company of costermongers, cutpurses and safecrackers. To become a sheriff, you must be elected from among the aldermen by the Livery. How do you join a livery company? Don't even ask.
To become Lord Mayor you must first have served as an alderman and sheriff, and you "must command the support of, and have the endorsement of, the Court of Aldermen and the Livery". You should also be stinking rich, as the Lord Mayor is expected to make a "contribution from his/her private resources towards the costs of the mayoral year." This is, in other words, an official old boys' network. Think of all that Tory huffing and puffing about democratic failings within the trade unions. Then think of their resounding silence about democracy within the City of London.
The current Lord Mayor, Michael Bear, came to prominence within the City as chief executive of the Spitalfields development group, which oversaw a controversial business venture in which the Corporation had a major stake, even though the project lies outside the boundaries of its authority. This illustrates another of the Corporation's unique features. It possesses a vast pool of cash, which it can spend as it wishes, without democratic oversight. As well as expanding its enormous property portfolio, it uses this money to lobby on behalf of the banks.
The Lord Mayor's role, the Corporation's website tells us, is to "open doors at the highest levels" for business, in the course of which he "expounds the values of liberalisation". Liberalisation is what bankers call deregulation: the process that caused the financial crash. The Corporation boasts that it "handle[s] issues in Parliament of specific interest to the City", such as banking reform and financial services regulation. It also conducts "extensive partnership work with think tanks … vigorously promoting the views and needs of financial services." But this isn't the half of it.
As Nicholas Shaxson explains in his fascinating book Treasure Islands, the Corporation exists outside many of the laws and democratic controls which govern the rest of the United Kingdom. The City of London is the only part of Britain over which parliament has no authority. In one respect at least the Corporation acts as the superior body: it imposes on the House of Commons a figure called the remembrancer: an official lobbyist who sits behind the Speaker's chair and ensures that, whatever our elected representatives might think, the City's rights and privileges are protected. The mayor of London's mandate stops at the boundaries of the Square Mile. There are, as if in a novel by China Miéville, two cities, one of which must unsee the other.
Several governments have tried to democratise the City of London but all, threatened by its financial might, have failed. As Clement Attlee lamented, "over and over again we have seen that there is in this country another power than that which has its seat at Westminster." The City has exploited this remarkable position to establish itself as a kind of offshore state, a secrecy jurisdiction which controls the network of tax havens housed in the UK's crown dependencies and overseas territories. This autonomous state within our borders is in a position to launder the ill-gotten cash of oligarchs, kleptocrats, gangsters and drug barons. As the French investigating magistrate Eva Joly remarked, it "has never transmitted even the smallest piece of usable evidence to a foreign magistrate". It deprives the United Kingdom and other nations of their rightful tax receipts.
It has also made the effective regulation of global finance almost impossible. Shaxson shows how the absence of proper regulation in London allowed American banks to evade the rules set by their own government. AIG's wild trading might have taken place in the US, but the unit responsible was regulated in the City. Lehman Brothers couldn't get legal approval for its off-balance sheet transactions in Wall Street, so it used a London law firm instead. No wonder priests are resigning over the plans to evict the campers. The Church of England is not just working with Mammon; it's colluding with Babylon.
If you've ever dithered over the question of whether the UK needs a written constitution, dither no longer. Imagine the clauses required to preserve the status of the Corporation. "The City of London will remain outside the authority of parliament. Domestic and foreign banks will be permitted to vote as if they were human beings, and their votes will outnumber those cast by real people. Its elected officials will be chosen from people deemed acceptable by a group of medieval guilds …".
The Corporation's privileges could not withstand such public scrutiny. This, perhaps, is one of the reasons why a written constitution in the United Kingdom remains a distant dream. Its power also helps to explain why regulation of the banks is scarcely better than it was before the crash, why there are no effective curbs on executive pay and bonuses and why successive governments fail to act against the UK's dependent tax havens.
But now at last we begin to see it. It happens that the Lord Mayor's Show, in which the Corporation flaunts its ancient wealth and power, takes place on 12 November. If ever there were a pageant that cries out for peaceful protest and dissent, here it is. Expect fireworks – and not just those laid on by the Lord Mayor.
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2011/oct/31/corporation-london-city-medieval
What is this thing? Ostensibly it's the equivalent of a local council, responsible for a small area of London known as the Square Mile. But, as its website boasts, "among local authorities the City of London is unique". You bet it is. There are 25 electoral wards in the Square Mile. In four of them, the 9,000 people who live within its boundaries are permitted to vote. In the remaining 21, the votes are controlled by corporations, mostly banks and other financial companies. The bigger the business, the bigger the vote: a company with 10 workers gets two votes, the biggest employers, 79. It's not the workers who decide how the votes are cast, but the bosses, who "appoint" the voters. Plutocracy, pure and simple.
There are four layers of elected representatives in the Corporation: common councilmen, aldermen, sheriffs and the Lord Mayor. To qualify for any of these offices, you must be a freeman of the City of London. To become a freeman you must be approved by the aldermen. You're most likely to qualify if you belong to one of the City livery companies: medieval guilds such as the worshipful company of costermongers, cutpurses and safecrackers. To become a sheriff, you must be elected from among the aldermen by the Livery. How do you join a livery company? Don't even ask.
To become Lord Mayor you must first have served as an alderman and sheriff, and you "must command the support of, and have the endorsement of, the Court of Aldermen and the Livery". You should also be stinking rich, as the Lord Mayor is expected to make a "contribution from his/her private resources towards the costs of the mayoral year." This is, in other words, an official old boys' network. Think of all that Tory huffing and puffing about democratic failings within the trade unions. Then think of their resounding silence about democracy within the City of London.
The current Lord Mayor, Michael Bear, came to prominence within the City as chief executive of the Spitalfields development group, which oversaw a controversial business venture in which the Corporation had a major stake, even though the project lies outside the boundaries of its authority. This illustrates another of the Corporation's unique features. It possesses a vast pool of cash, which it can spend as it wishes, without democratic oversight. As well as expanding its enormous property portfolio, it uses this money to lobby on behalf of the banks.
The Lord Mayor's role, the Corporation's website tells us, is to "open doors at the highest levels" for business, in the course of which he "expounds the values of liberalisation". Liberalisation is what bankers call deregulation: the process that caused the financial crash. The Corporation boasts that it "handle[s] issues in Parliament of specific interest to the City", such as banking reform and financial services regulation. It also conducts "extensive partnership work with think tanks … vigorously promoting the views and needs of financial services." But this isn't the half of it.
As Nicholas Shaxson explains in his fascinating book Treasure Islands, the Corporation exists outside many of the laws and democratic controls which govern the rest of the United Kingdom. The City of London is the only part of Britain over which parliament has no authority. In one respect at least the Corporation acts as the superior body: it imposes on the House of Commons a figure called the remembrancer: an official lobbyist who sits behind the Speaker's chair and ensures that, whatever our elected representatives might think, the City's rights and privileges are protected. The mayor of London's mandate stops at the boundaries of the Square Mile. There are, as if in a novel by China Miéville, two cities, one of which must unsee the other.
Several governments have tried to democratise the City of London but all, threatened by its financial might, have failed. As Clement Attlee lamented, "over and over again we have seen that there is in this country another power than that which has its seat at Westminster." The City has exploited this remarkable position to establish itself as a kind of offshore state, a secrecy jurisdiction which controls the network of tax havens housed in the UK's crown dependencies and overseas territories. This autonomous state within our borders is in a position to launder the ill-gotten cash of oligarchs, kleptocrats, gangsters and drug barons. As the French investigating magistrate Eva Joly remarked, it "has never transmitted even the smallest piece of usable evidence to a foreign magistrate". It deprives the United Kingdom and other nations of their rightful tax receipts.
It has also made the effective regulation of global finance almost impossible. Shaxson shows how the absence of proper regulation in London allowed American banks to evade the rules set by their own government. AIG's wild trading might have taken place in the US, but the unit responsible was regulated in the City. Lehman Brothers couldn't get legal approval for its off-balance sheet transactions in Wall Street, so it used a London law firm instead. No wonder priests are resigning over the plans to evict the campers. The Church of England is not just working with Mammon; it's colluding with Babylon.
If you've ever dithered over the question of whether the UK needs a written constitution, dither no longer. Imagine the clauses required to preserve the status of the Corporation. "The City of London will remain outside the authority of parliament. Domestic and foreign banks will be permitted to vote as if they were human beings, and their votes will outnumber those cast by real people. Its elected officials will be chosen from people deemed acceptable by a group of medieval guilds …".
The Corporation's privileges could not withstand such public scrutiny. This, perhaps, is one of the reasons why a written constitution in the United Kingdom remains a distant dream. Its power also helps to explain why regulation of the banks is scarcely better than it was before the crash, why there are no effective curbs on executive pay and bonuses and why successive governments fail to act against the UK's dependent tax havens.
But now at last we begin to see it. It happens that the Lord Mayor's Show, in which the Corporation flaunts its ancient wealth and power, takes place on 12 November. If ever there were a pageant that cries out for peaceful protest and dissent, here it is. Expect fireworks – and not just those laid on by the Lord Mayor.
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2011/oct/31/corporation-london-city-medieval
Thursday, February 20, 2014
OBAMA CONDEMNS UKRAINE VIOLENCE, THREATENS ‘CONSEQUENCES’ IF CLASHES ESCALATES
Published time: February 19, 2014
President Barack Obama said the US “condemns in the
strongest terms the violence” in Ukraine, adding that the Ukrainian
government must uphold the rights of peaceful protesters. Obama said
there would be consequences should “people step over the line.”
“We expect the Ukrainian government to show restraint, to not resort to violence in dealing with peaceful protesters,” Obama said Wednesday from Mexico ahead of a summit with other North American leaders. “We’ve also said that we expect peaceful protesters to remain peaceful.”
As Tuesday’s riots and clashes between protesters and police in Kiev continued into Wednesday, the European Union announced that a rare meeting of its 28 member countries would occur on Thursday to address what is to be done about the ongoing violence, AP reported.
“We’ll be monitoring very carefully the situation, recognizing that, along with our European partners and the international community, there will be consequences if people step over the line,” Obama said.
At least 26 people, including 10 police officers, have been killed and some 800 injured since the start of violent riots in Kiev on Tuesday. The most recent, deadliest wave of violence in Ukraine started with an attempt by radical protesters to storm the building of the Ukrainian parliament (Verkhovna Rada), which prompted fierce clashes with police. Several buildings in central Kiev – including the office of the Party of Regions – were stormed, looted, and set on fire.
At least 426 people have sought medical help following the clashes in Kiev, the city’s health department said. There are currently 277 people being treated in hospitals for injuries, including gunshot wounds and burns.
Despite the fierce battles on Independence Square (Maidan) and the possibility of further violence in coming days, Obama said the US and its partners would watch vigilantly to make “sure the Ukrainian military does not step to what should be a set of issues that can be resolved by civilians.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin and German Chancellor Angela
Merkel have “agreed to continue to do everything so that
there is no escalation of violence” in Ukraine, Merkel said,
as quoted by Reuters. The German Chancellor spoke with the
Russian president over the phone.
“I informed him that French, German and Polish foreign ministers planned to go to Kiev tomorrow [Thursday]. We decided to keep very close contact with Russia,” Merkel said on the sidelines of a meeting with French President Francois Hollande in Paris.
A statement from the Russian Presidential Executive Office said that Putin emphasized in the call that Western powers must be even-handed in their condemnation of any violent acts coming from Kiev and beyond.
“Vladimir Putin also underlined that it is important for Western countries to give up their accusatory attitude towards Ukraine’s incumbent leadership and stressed the importance of strongly condemning the opposition forces liable for organizing unlawful extremist and terrorist activities,” the statement said.
US Secretary of State John Kerry said that the violence on both sides is alarming.
"We are talking about the possibility of sanctions or other steps in order to create the atmosphere for compromise," he said from Paris, where he was meeting with French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius and others.
Kerry echoed Obama in saying that the Ukrainian people deserve to determine their own future.
"Our desire is for President [Viktor] Yanukovich to bring people together, dialogue with the opposition and find [a way] to compromise and put the broad interests of the people of Ukraine out front," he said, according to AP.
Fabius said he and his German and Polish counterparts would meet with Ukrainian leadership ahead of Thursday’s EU meeting. Sanctions against Ukraine could include banning leading officials from traveling to EU countries or freezing any assets the leaders have in the EU states.
British Prime Minister David Cameron said that violence from all sides of the Ukrainian conflict is “completely unacceptable,” at the same time urging Yanukovich to call off government forces.
“I am deeply concerned by the scenes we are witnessing in Ukraine. The violence on all sides is completely unacceptable and President Yanukovich has a particular responsibility to pull back government forces and de-escalate the situation,” Cameron said in a statement.
Yanukovich fired Ukraine’s Armed Forces leader, Lieutenant-General Vladimir Zamana, on Wednesday. The Ukrainian president also named Admiral Yury Ilyin the new Army chief, ITAR-TASS reported.
Meanwhile, NATO’s top military commander also called for discretion among Ukrainian government officials, requesting "responsible leaders avoid the use of military force against the people of Ukraine."
"I am calling upon the new military leadership in Ukraine to open a dialogue with us to bring this situation to a peaceful resolution," tweeted US Air Force General Philip Breedlove, NATO's Supreme Allied Commander Europe.
http://rt.com/news/obama-condemns-ukraine-violence-799/
“We expect the Ukrainian government to show restraint, to not resort to violence in dealing with peaceful protesters,” Obama said Wednesday from Mexico ahead of a summit with other North American leaders. “We’ve also said that we expect peaceful protesters to remain peaceful.”
As Tuesday’s riots and clashes between protesters and police in Kiev continued into Wednesday, the European Union announced that a rare meeting of its 28 member countries would occur on Thursday to address what is to be done about the ongoing violence, AP reported.
“We’ll be monitoring very carefully the situation, recognizing that, along with our European partners and the international community, there will be consequences if people step over the line,” Obama said.
At least 26 people, including 10 police officers, have been killed and some 800 injured since the start of violent riots in Kiev on Tuesday. The most recent, deadliest wave of violence in Ukraine started with an attempt by radical protesters to storm the building of the Ukrainian parliament (Verkhovna Rada), which prompted fierce clashes with police. Several buildings in central Kiev – including the office of the Party of Regions – were stormed, looted, and set on fire.
At least 426 people have sought medical help following the clashes in Kiev, the city’s health department said. There are currently 277 people being treated in hospitals for injuries, including gunshot wounds and burns.
Despite the fierce battles on Independence Square (Maidan) and the possibility of further violence in coming days, Obama said the US and its partners would watch vigilantly to make “sure the Ukrainian military does not step to what should be a set of issues that can be resolved by civilians.”
“I informed him that French, German and Polish foreign ministers planned to go to Kiev tomorrow [Thursday]. We decided to keep very close contact with Russia,” Merkel said on the sidelines of a meeting with French President Francois Hollande in Paris.
A statement from the Russian Presidential Executive Office said that Putin emphasized in the call that Western powers must be even-handed in their condemnation of any violent acts coming from Kiev and beyond.
“Vladimir Putin also underlined that it is important for Western countries to give up their accusatory attitude towards Ukraine’s incumbent leadership and stressed the importance of strongly condemning the opposition forces liable for organizing unlawful extremist and terrorist activities,” the statement said.
US Secretary of State John Kerry said that the violence on both sides is alarming.
"We are talking about the possibility of sanctions or other steps in order to create the atmosphere for compromise," he said from Paris, where he was meeting with French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius and others.
Kerry echoed Obama in saying that the Ukrainian people deserve to determine their own future.
"Our desire is for President [Viktor] Yanukovich to bring people together, dialogue with the opposition and find [a way] to compromise and put the broad interests of the people of Ukraine out front," he said, according to AP.
Fabius said he and his German and Polish counterparts would meet with Ukrainian leadership ahead of Thursday’s EU meeting. Sanctions against Ukraine could include banning leading officials from traveling to EU countries or freezing any assets the leaders have in the EU states.
British Prime Minister David Cameron said that violence from all sides of the Ukrainian conflict is “completely unacceptable,” at the same time urging Yanukovich to call off government forces.
“I am deeply concerned by the scenes we are witnessing in Ukraine. The violence on all sides is completely unacceptable and President Yanukovich has a particular responsibility to pull back government forces and de-escalate the situation,” Cameron said in a statement.
Yanukovich fired Ukraine’s Armed Forces leader, Lieutenant-General Vladimir Zamana, on Wednesday. The Ukrainian president also named Admiral Yury Ilyin the new Army chief, ITAR-TASS reported.
Meanwhile, NATO’s top military commander also called for discretion among Ukrainian government officials, requesting "responsible leaders avoid the use of military force against the people of Ukraine."
"I am calling upon the new military leadership in Ukraine to open a dialogue with us to bring this situation to a peaceful resolution," tweeted US Air Force General Philip Breedlove, NATO's Supreme Allied Commander Europe.
http://rt.com/news/obama-condemns-ukraine-violence-799/
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