What happened to the humanitarians who wanted to save Libyans with bombs & drones ?
▻https://firstlook.org/theintercept/2014/11/11/happened-humanitarians-wanted-save-libyans-bombs-drones #Libya
What happened to the humanitarians who wanted to save Libyans with bombs & drones ?
▻https://firstlook.org/theintercept/2014/11/11/happened-humanitarians-wanted-save-libyans-bombs-drones #Libya
Symantec Discovers ’Regin’ Spy Code Lurking on Computer Networks
▻http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/11/24/symantec-discovers-spy-code-lurking-on-computer-networks
The security company indicated that a powerful program that could only have been created by a “nation state” has been finding its way into computer systems for six years.
“In the world of malware threats, only a few rare examples can truly be considered groundbreaking and almost peerless,” Symantec wrote. “What we have seen in Regin is just such a class of malware.”
Second reference (cited in the Guardian article):
Secret Malware in European Union Attack Linked to U.S. and British Intelligence
▻https://firstlook.org/theintercept/2014/11/24/secret-regin-malware-belgacom-nsa-gchq
Researchers Uncover Government Spy Tool Used to Hack Telecoms and Belgian Cryptographer
▻http://www.wired.com/2014/11/mysteries-of-the-malware-regin
Dubbed “Regin” by Microsoft
But perhaps the most significant aspect of Regin is its ability to target GSM base stations of cellular networks. The malicious arsenal includes a payload that Kaspersky says was used in 2008 to steal the usernames and passwords of system administrators of a telecom somewhere in the Middle East.
Regin: Nation-state ownage of GSM networks
(contains detailed explanations)
▻http://securelist.com/blog/research/67741/regin-nation-state-ownage-of-gsm-networks
Sur Seenthis:
►http://seenthis.net/messages/315454
Glenn Greenwald : il y a des gens sincèrement enthousiastes pour la candidature d’Hillary Clinton (Wall Street, le lobby israélien, les va-t-en-guerre et les néoconservateurs old-school) : Cynics, Step Aside : There is Genuine Excitement Over a Hillary Clinton Candidacy
▻https://firstlook.org/theintercept/2014/11/14/despite-cynicism-genuine-excitement-hillary-clinton-candidacy
It’s easy to strike a pose of cynicism when contemplating Hillary Clinton’s inevitable (and terribly imminent) presidential campaign. As a drearily soulless, principle-free, power-hungry veteran of DC’s game of thrones, she’s about as banal of an American politician as it gets. One of the few unique aspects to her, perhaps the only one, is how the genuinely inspiring gender milestone of her election will (following the Obama model) be exploited to obscure her primary role as guardian of the status quo.
An Innocent Man, Tortured by the U.S., Asks the U.N.: Where’s the Accountability? - The Intercept
▻https://firstlook.org/theintercept/2014/11/11/innocent-man-tortured-u-s-asks-wheres-accountability
(...)
I understand that international human rights laws like the Convention Against #Torture were created so that the people who commit torture are punished. Isn’t that how we can end torture in the world? So why has no U.S. official been held responsible for brutal practices and torture at Guantanamo or other U.S. prisons?
How voter suppression helped produce the lowest turnout in decades
►https://firstlook.org/theintercept/2014/11/07/voter-suppression
#USA #midterms #democracy
How Voter Suppression Helped Produce the Lowest Turnout in Decades
►https://firstlook.org/theintercept/2014/11/07/voter-suppression
On Tuesday, older, white voters — who traditionally support Republicans — went to the polls in droves, while turnout among traditionally Democratic groups — the young, the minoritized, and women — was down. Indeed, overall turnout declined to an estimated 36.6% of eligible voters, the lowest rate of participation since the 1940s, despite the $3 billion spent by candidates, political parties, and super PACs.
Yes, President Barack Obama’s poor performance and approval rating undoubtedly played a role in the lower turnout. But the evidence is piling up that systematic voter suppression, including voter ID laws and dubious vote-fraud prevention software, played a significant part in keeping people from casting ballots, as well.
Take the situation in Texas, where Democrat Wendy Davis lost badly to Republican Greg Abbott in the gubernatorial race. More important than her expected defeat is that the Lone Star State had the lowest voter turnout in the country at 33%, down from 38% four years earlier. It’s difficult to determine to what precise extent Texas’s new voter ID law is to blame for the poor turnout, but “there are somewhere between 600,000 and 1.4 million registered voters in Texas without state ID,” according to Kathleen Unger, whose nonprofit, VoteRiders, works to get people the documents they need to vote.
Des pays arabes s’allieraient face aux islamistes | Métro
▻http://journalmetro.com/monde/587695/des-pays-arabes-sallieraient-face-aux-islamistes
LE CAIRE, Égypte – L’Égypte, l’Arabie saoudite, les Émirats arabes unis et le Koweït envisagent de former une nouvelle alliance militaire pour affronter les militants islamistes, selon ce qu’a appris l’Associated Press.
Cette alliance comprendrait la création d’une force commune pour intervenir à travers le Moyen-Orient.
L’alliance ferait aussi contrepoids à son éternelle rivale, la puissante Iran contrôlée par les Chiites. Un dirigeant militaire égyptien a précisé que la nouvelle force pourrait notamment intervenir en Libye, où des militants islamistes se sont emparés de plusieurs villes, et au Yémen, où des rebelles chiites possiblement associés à l’Iran ont pris le contrôle de la capitale.
The Middle East’s Unholy Alliance - The Intercept
▻https://firstlook.org/theintercept/2014/11/04/middle-easts-counterrevolutionary-alliance
In addition to appropriating America’s post-9/11 rhetoric of anti-terrorism to justify their own foreign policies, these countries also happen to be following a very straightforward pattern of reactionary behavior in the face of popular upheaval. This motley alliance of monarchies and military dictatorships is in many ways replicating the same repressive actions taken by European states in the 19th century when they were confronted with populist movements seeking to upend the existing order. And just as then, the results are likely be both destructive and, ultimately, futile.
Hackers Could Decide Who Controls Congress Thanks to Alaska’s Terrible Internet Ballots
▻https://firstlook.org/theintercept/2014/11/03/alaska-election-nightmare
That sounds great, but even the state acknowledges in an online disclaimer that things could go awry, warning that “when returning the ballot through the secure online voting solution, your are voluntarily waving [sic] your right to a secret ballot and are assuming the risk that a faulty transmission may occur.”
That disclaimer is a pre-emptive admission of failure, says Bruce McConnell, who served until 2013 as the top cybersecurity officer for DHS. “They admit that they are not taking responsibility for the validity of the system,” McConnell told The Intercept. “They’re saying, ‘Your vote may be counted correctly, incorrectly, or may not be counted at all, and we are not taking any responsibility for that.’ That kind of disclaimer would be unacceptable if you saw it on the wall of a polling place.”