war

The most important video you wish you’d never watched

If you ever wondered why you should support Bradley Manning, or why Wikileaks exists, or why Darker Net publishes what it does, or why there are so many wars in this world of ours – this documentary provides some of the answers. It’s all here: George Orwell, Aldous Huxley, Bradley Manning, Noam Chomsky, Marshall McLuhan, Wikileaks…

In brief, the documentary connects the messages of Huxley´s Brave New World with the politics of modern US-warfare. It stresses the role of information overload through technical devices and the similarity between real war (“Collateral Murder”) and video games like “Call of Duty”. To blur the offline with the online reality is a precondition for rationalising a war on terror in Western democracies. The documentary includes interviews or quotes or references to the people quoted above and many more. This is a must see (and should be added to every school curricular). Note: thanks to Birgitta Jonsdottir for recommending this video.

Do not despair… while the above documentary paints a bleak picture, below is another that provides hope.

Posted from the darker net via Android.

Blackwater clones ghosting in Afghan/Syria/Libya forward ops

Blackwater, the discredited private US security company that was operational in Iraq, has gone through two name changes and organised a spin-off company to secure clandestine programmes in Afghanistan, Libya as well as Syria. As part if it’s attempt to improve its image, Blackwater changed its name to Xe, then later to Academi (above photo taken from its website). It currently has a forward operations base in Afghanistan, boasts personnel present at the Gadaffi killing and, via its spin-off company, is assisting the Syrian resistance. See below for more..

1. SCG: the Blackwater spin-off

In March, James F. Smith, a former director of Blackwater and now Chief Executive of SCG International, a private security firm with experience in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Libya, set up a covert op in Syria. SCG were also involved in training the Libyan resistance and their contacts were one of the first to confirm the killing of Gadaffi to Stratfor. See here for more on the Stratfor connection with SCG and it’s ops in Syria and Libya, as well as links to Stratfor emails, published by Wikileaks.

2. Transition: from Blackwater to Academi

Blackwater Security Consulting was formed in 2002 and was assigned to protect CIA headquarters in Iraq and another base that was responsible for hunting Bin Laden. Blackwater received US$1 billion in U.S. government contracts. Blackwater’s main training facility is in northeastern North Carolina. It also has a facility at Mount Carroll, Illinois, called the Impact Training Center.

In February 2009, Blackwater announced it would change its name to Xe Services LLC. Prince resigned as CEO in March 2009 but remained on as chairman of the board. Joseph Yorio was named as the new president and CEO, replacing Gary Jackson as president. Danielle Esposito was named the new chief operating officer and executive vice president. In late 2010, Prince moved to Abu Dhabi, where he started another security services company, Reflex Responses. In 2011, former NSA head and CIA executive, Bobby Ray Inman, became the head of Xe’s board of directors. An interactive map of Xe business connections is shown here (acknowledgement to Public Intelligence).

In December 2011, Xe changed its name to Academi.

3. The new Blackwater (Academi)

Academi was founded by Erik Prince, a former Navy SEAL. Cofer Black was the vice-chairman from 2006 through 2008 and was formerly the director of the CIA’s Counterterrorist Center (CTC) at the time of the September 11 attacks in 2001. Before joining Academi, Black was chair of Total Intelligence Solutions, Inc., as well as vice-chair of Blackwater. Robert Richer was vice-president of intelligence at Academi until January 2007, when he formed Total Intelligence Solutions. He was formerly the head of the CIA’s Near East Division.

The current HQ of Academi is in Arlington, VA. It also has a 7,000-acre training facility in Moyock, NC, training facilities in Salem, CT, and San Diego, CA. The forward operating base in Afghanistan is a 10-acre facility that provides a 24/7 manned operations center, fueling stations, vehicle maintenance facility, lodging (apartments), office space with conference room and a fortified armory.

Specifically, Academi specialises in: training and support for domestic and international clients; personnel and facility security services; mission support and staff augmentation; risk management and security services consulting; stability support, crisis response and forward base operations; training for civilians, law enforcement and military personnel. Academi serves U.S. Government departments and agencies, law enforcement organizations, allied government and corporate and individual customers worldwide.

4. Blackwater milestones

On March 31, 2004, Iraqi insurgents in Fallujah ambushed two SUVs, killing four armed Blackwater contractors inside. Local residents hung the charred bodies above a bridge across the Euphrates. In response, U.S. Marines attacked the city in Operation Vigilant Resolve, which became the first Battle of Fallujah. In the Autumn of 2007 a US congressional report found that Blackwater intentionally “delayed and impeded” investigations into the contractors’ deaths. The report also acknowledged that members of the now-defunct Iraqi Civil Defense Corps “led the team into the ambush, facilitated blocking positions to prevent the team’s escape.”

On February 16, 2005, four Blackwater guards escorting a U.S. State Department convoy in Iraq fired 70 rounds into a car. The guards stated that they felt threatened when the driver ignored orders to stop as he approached the convoy. The fate of the car’s driver was unknown because the convoy did not stop after the shooting. An investigation by the State Department’s Diplomatic Security Service concluded that the shooting was not justified and that the Blackwater employees provided false statements to investigators. The false statements claimed that one of the Blackwater vehicles had been hit by insurgent gunfire, but the investigation found that one of the Blackwater guards had fired into his own vehicle by accident. John Frese, the U.S. embassy in Iraq’s top security official, declined to punish Blackwater or the security guards because he believed any disciplinary actions would lower the morale of the Blackwater contractors.

On Christmas Eve 2006, a security guard of the Iraqi vice-president, Adel Abdul Mahdi, was shot and killed while on duty outside the Iraqi prime minister’s compound. The Iraqi government has accused Andrew J. Moonen, a Blackwater employee at the time, of murdering him while drunk. Moonen was subsequently fired by Blackwater for “violating alcohol and firearm policy”, and travelled from Iraq to the United States days after the incident. United States Attorneys are currently investigating. The United States State Department and Blackwater USA had attempted to keep his identity secret for security reasons.

On September 16, 2007, Blackwater were involved in an incident in Nisoor Square, Baghdad. Seventeen Iraqi civilian fatalities and twenty injuries occurred when a Blackwater Personal Security Detail (PSD) was clearing the way for a convoy of US State Department vehicles transporting diplomats to a meeting in western Baghdad with officials of the United States Agency for International Development. See classified cable for details and the political fallout (published by Wikileaks).

In June 2009, an amended lawsuit was filed in US District Court in Alexandria, Virginia, alleging that Blackwater employees shot and killed three members of an Iraqi family, including a nine-year-old boy, who were traveling from Baghdad airport to Baghdad on July 1, 2007. The suit also alleged that Blackwater employees used three company aircraft to kidnap Iraqi citizens from Iraq and further accused the company of engaging in weapons smuggling, money laundering, tax evasion, child prostitution, illegal drug use and destruction of evidence. The child prostitution charge referred to young Iraqi girls allegedly being brought to the Blackwater compound in Baghdad’s fortified Green Zone, identified in the lawsuit as the “Blackwater Man Camp,” to provide oral sex to contractors for $1. If the court rules against Xe on the racketeering account, it could dissolve the company. The Justice Department was originally not expected to bring criminal charges against any employees of the corporation; however, in December 2008, the Justice Department announced they were charging five Blackwater employees. On December 31, 2009 Judge Ricardo Urbina threw out the criminal case against the five guards under indictment. In announcing the dismissal, Urbina said that the prosecutors violated the guards’ Fifth Amendment rights by using the statements they gave to the State Department as evidence. Urbina said that the guards would have lost their jobs had they not given the statements, thus making the statements inadmissible. The Iraqi government has asked the US Justice Department to appeal the decision, and also plans to sue the five guards accused of killing civilians.

In August, 2012, Blackwater agreed to pay $7.5 million in fines to the US government after being charged with 17 counts of arms smuggling and other violations of US law, including possessing automatic weapons without registration, lying to federal firearms regulators about weapons provided to the king of Jordan, passing secret plans for armored personnel carriers to Sweden and Denmark, and illegally shipping body armor overseas.

A complete list of Blackwater/Xe front companies, prior to the change to Academi, can be found here.

See also video of Blackwater killings.

Posted from the darker net via Android.

Cubic Corporation: more evidence of TrapWire link; their darker side exposed

Cubic Corporation denies via a press release (and a comment posted on the Darker Net site) that it owns TrapWire, but there is another layer to this that exposes how this denial does not completely add up – details below. Also, Cubic, which runs your transportation smart card – and it has just put in a new bid for the Melbourne Myki card contract – has its darker side and we provide four examples. First, about that denial…

A. Cubic Corporation and TrapWire: a case of musical chairs?

When Cubic Corporation acquired Abraxas Corporation, there were some interesting changes made – see Merger document here. The document refers to Ntrepid, which was assigned to the shareholders of Abraxas Corporation as part of the merger. And then there is Abraxas Dauntless, which was acquired by Cubic, also as part of the merger (in that it is a subsidiary of Abraxas Corporation). Basically the document outlines how Cubic Corporation was keen to distance itself from some of these companies. However, if one looks at the senior staff at Abraxas Dauntless, Ntrepid and Trapwire (now run by Abraxas Applications) an interesting picture emerges.

Annual reports filed only six months back showed that the directors for these three companies are as follows:
Abraxas Dauntless’: Michael Martinka (President), Margaret A. Lee (Secretary), Richard H. Helms (Chief Executive Officer) and Wesley Husted (Chief Financial Officer).
Ntrepid: Richard H. Helms (Director), Wesley R Husted (CFO), Margaret A. Lee (Secretary), Michael Martinka (President).
Trapwire Inc: Jack Reis (President), R. Daniel Botsch (Vice President), Margaret A. Lee (Secretary), Wesley R. Husted (Chief Financial Officer) and Richard H. Helms (Chief Executive Officer).

The lesson: ownership can also be about knowledge-sharing and collaboration and that is what is obvious here, whatever sleight of hand took place at the time of acquisition.

Note 1: All stories about Cubic Corporation and/or TrapWire have been removed from Australian newspapers. Is this an example of jumping before you’re pushed, lazy journalism (corporate connections are not only about acquisitions) or Government putting the frighteners on the newspaper proprietors who like their counterparts in the USA of late, can be a timid lot when it comes to criticising Government.
Note 2: It is rumoured that activists are intending to turn the tables on Cubic Corporation and register for millions of Anonymizer nyms (emails) to block the nyms system up – the equivalent of a DDoS.

B. The darker side of Cubic.

Here are four examples of military systems developed by Cubic Corporation, with some going back as far as 2004. (There are more examples – too many to list here).

1. Recently DARPA (part of the Pentagon) awarded Cubic Corporation $6 million to develop a “laser-emitting targeting computer” for American military snipers. It’s called ‘One Shot XG’ (see photo above) “that will allow the sniper to make kill shots “under crosswind conditions, at the maximum effective range of current and future weapons.”
2. In 2004, Cubic Corporation were granted a $6.5 million subcontract from General Dynamics Amphibious Systems to develop and produce a Driver Simulator and a Turret Simulator for the Marine Corps new Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle (EFV).
3. Cubic Corporation were also awarded another $6 million contract from Raytheon/Lockheed Martin Javelin Joint Venture to produce tactical trainers for RLM’s shoulder launched, “fire-and-forget” anti-tank missile.
4. Cubic are also building the Surveillance Target Attack Radar System (STARS), an air/ground data link system for the US military.
5. Two days ago Cubic Corporation put out a press release denying any link with TrapWire, which we now know is questionable (if we go by their directors listings). Well here’s another Cubic Corp press release (from May 2010):

ORLANDO, Florida – May 17, 2010 – Cubic’s Simulation Systems Division, a defense systems unit of Cubic Corporation (NYSE: CUB), has been awarded a contract valued at approximately $4.8 million to supply 27 of its COMBATREDI systems to the Florida Army National Guard, along with four 180-degree Warrior Skills Trainers (WST), a vehicle trainer that works with COMBATREDI. The award represents Cubic’s first sale of the new COMBATREDI system, which immerses users in a highly realistic 360-degree “virtual reality” environment. COMBATREDI is a new approach for Cubic, its first completely tetherless, user-worn virtual training system. It features a high-definition helmet-mounted OLED video display that delivers game-quality graphics with a 60-by-45-degree field of view, and an integrated 3D stereo headset for sound effects. Trainees are able to move through a 360-degree virtual environment, including entering buildings, as if it were real. The user carries a realistic wireless “surrogate” rifle that performs like a real one, requiring things like magazine changes and selecting the correct firing mode to operate correctly. Cubic introduced the new system to potential military users late last year. “Cubic is pleased that it hasn’t taken long for the groundbreaking characteristics of COMBATREDI to be recognized by the user community,” said Tony Padgett, Immersive Product Line Manager for Cubic Simulation Systems in Orlando. “COMBATREDI fully immerses trainees into the virtual environment. This is a whole new way to train the dismounted soldier.” Padgett said COMBATREDI allows individual soldiers to be trained almost anywhere, incorporating virtually limitless scenarios without the need for dedicated facilities. The WST system also being delivered to the Florida Army National Guard projects realistic high-fidelity scenes on large screens using the Virtual Battle Space 2 (VBS2) engine. This system is in use in multiple U.S. Army locations.

So, next time you use a transport system with your Cubic-managed smart card, whether in London, San Francisco, Sydney or Hong Kong, you may be inadvertently contributing to a war effort that uses Cubic Corporation developed military systems. Have a nice day.

Note: for more on One Shot XG, see http://nextbigfuture.com/2012/08/darpa-one-shot-xg-sniper-system-should.html

Breaking: Trapwire surveillance linked to Anonymizer and transport smart cards

Anonymizer, the company that brings you free anonymous email facilities, called nyms, as well as similar secure services used by activists all over the world, is owned by Ntrepid but some of it’s staff expertise moved to Abraxas Corporation (when purchased by Cubic Corporation). Abraxas used to own TrapWire, the global surveillance system. This could be lifted straight out of a political conspiracy movie – but it isn’t. Furthermore, Cubic Corporation runs transport smart cards around the world, including USA, Australia and London (Oyster card).

The above info has actually been available for some time, but it is only thanks to the information about Trapwire and Abraxas, hacked from Stratfor files by Anonymous and published by Wikileaks, that the full picture is starting to emerge.

1. Anonymizer

Re. Anonymizer, this was acquired by Abraxas Corporation in 2008. Two years later, Cubic acquired Abraxas for $124 million in cash. Cubic internal communications explain that the RFI for Cubic’s ‘persona software’ was actually written for Anonymizer. Quote from Richard “Hollis” Helms (former CIA and then founder of Abraxas): “I am also pleased to announce that Lance Cottrell, the Founder and Chief Technology Officer of Anonymizer, will become our Chief Scientist and continue to pursue his advocacy of privacy for people around the world. Bill Unrue, Anonymizer’s CEO, will assume the position of President of Anonymizer which will operate as a wholly owned subsidiary of Abraxas Corporation. Bill will continue to pursue Anonymizer’s goals to provide proprietary technologies and complementary capabilities that offer unique, multi-layered identity protection that enhances the traditional network perimeter defenses of consumers, corporations and government agencies.”

2. Transportation smart cards

A. Australia:
In 2010 Cubic Corporation signed a $370 million contract with the NSW Government to provide Sydney’s electronic ticketing system for public transport. It was also awarded a $65 million contract to provide services to NSW’s CityRail. It also runs the Brisbane “go card” system. It operates in Australia as Cubic Transportation with offices in Sydney, Brisbane and Perth. In 2008 it also opened a defence subsidiary based in Queensland, Cubic Defence Australia, run by Mark Horn.

B. UK
Cubic designed, developed and installed the Oyster Card system for London’s Underground and buses.

C. Other
In 1972, Cubic acquired the first Automatic Fare Collection (AFC) system for Chicago’s Illinois Central Gulf Railroad. By the late 1970s, Cubic had installed AFC systems for the Hong Kong Mass Transit Railway Corporation and the Eastern Suburbs Railway in Sydney. Soon came the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) system in San Francisco, the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority and the Pennsylvania Port Authority Transit Company AFC system.

Cubic Corporations offices:
WASHINGTON, D.C. Crystal Gateway One, Suite 1102 1235 Jefferson Davis Hwy. Arlington, VA 22202 703-415-1600 703-415-1608 Fax
ORLANDO, FL 12000 Research Parkway Suite 408 Orlando, FL 32826 407-273-5500 407-275-0200 Fax
SHALIMAR, FL 60 Second St., Suite 105 Shalimar, FL 32579 850-609-1600 850-609-0100 Fax
LONDON Derwent House Kendal Avenue Park Royal London W3 OXA UK

Cubic Corporation Board of Directors:
Walter J. Zable: Chairman; Walter C. Zable: Vice- Chairman; Robert D. Weaver: Director; Robert S. Sullivan: Director; Richard Atkinson: Director; Raymond E. Peet: Director; Robert T. Monagan: Director; Raymond L. DeKozan: Director; Gerald R. Dinkel: Vice-Presiden;t Mark A. Harrison: Vice-President; Daniel A. Jacobsen: Vice-President; Kenneth Kopf: Vice-President; Bernard A. Kulchin: Vice-President; John A. Minteer: Vice-President; John D. Thomas: Vice-President; Richard A. Johnson: Corporate Executive; William L. Hoese: Secretary; William W. Boyle: Chief Financial Officer.

Cubic Corporation IP addresses (via Anonymous):

208.86.144.37 ca.trapwire.net
208.86.144.37 access.trapwire.net
208.86.144.37 demo.trapwire.net
208.86.145.176 cert.trapwire.net
208.86.144.37 lv.trapwire.net
208.86.144.40 smtp.trapwire.net
208.86.144.37 training.trapwire.net
208.86.144.37 west.trapwire.net
208.86.144.37 http://www.trapwire.net

See also:
http://wiki.echelon2.org/wiki/Cubic_Corporation
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2187602/U-S-Government-secretly-spying-using-civilian-security-cameras-say-Wikileaks.html?ito=feeds-newsxml
http://darkernet.wordpress.com/2012/08/11/abraxas-and-trapwire-the-technology-and-personnel-revealed/
http://www.theage.com.au/technology/technology-news/revealed-trapwire-spy-cams-ticket-to-australia-20120813-2448z.html

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Wikileaks fightback: if you ever had doubts – watch this unredacted version…

On July 6, 2010, Private Bradley Manning, a 22 year old intelligence analyst with the United States Army in Baghdad, was charged with disclosing a video. Subsequently, the whistleblower behind the Pentagon Papers, Daniel Ellsberg, called Mr. Manning a ‘hero’. The Apache crew and those behind the cover up depicted in the video have still to be charged. The video, shot from an Apache helicopter gun-sight, clearly shows the unprovoked slaying of a wounded Reuters employee and his rescuers. Two young children involved in the rescue were also seriously wounded and later died from their injuries. The publishing house, WikiLeaks, released both the original 38 minutes video and a 10 minute redacted version, which is the one most people have seen as the full version is far too gruesome.

Above is the full 37 minute, unredacted version, showing the murder of journalists and children. Remember this. It’s what war is all about. Brutal. An absence of all humanity, of any conscience.

See also details of new US legislation that will make it more difficult for war crimes and similar disclosures to be leaked.

Also, most people have heard of the War logs, of Cablegate, of the Spyfiles and of Syria Files, but Wikileaks has revealed much, much more. See below…

Some of the lesser known stories Wikileaks have broken…

A. War, killings, torture and detention

Changes in Guantanamo Bay SOP manual (2003-2004) – Guantanamo Bay’s main operations manuals.
Of Orwell, Wikipedia and Guantanamo Bay – In where we track down and expose Guantanamo Bay’s propaganda team.
Fallujah jail challenges US – Classified U.S. report into appalling prison conditions in Fallujah. U.S lost Fallujah’s info war – Classified U.S. intelligence report on the battle of Fallujah.
Iraq US Military Equipment in Iraq (2007) – Entire unit by unit equipment list of the U.S army in Iraq.
Dili investigator called to Canberra as evidence of execution mounts – the Feb 2008 killing of East Timor rebel leader Reinado
Como entrenar a escuadrones de la muerte y aplastar revoluciones de El Salvador.
Iraq – The U.S. Special Forces manual on how to prop up unpopular government with paramilitaries.

B. Government, trade and corporate transparency:

Change you can download: a billion in secret Congressional reports – Publication of more than 6500 Congressional Research Reports, worth more than a billion dollars of US tax-funded research, long sought after by NGOs, academics and researchers.
ACTA trade agreement negotiation lacks transparency – The secret ACTA trade agreement draft, followed by dozens of other publications, presenting the initial leak for the whole ACTA debate happening today.
Toll Collect Vertraege, 2002 – Publication of around 10.000 pages of a secret contract between the German federal government and the Toll Collect consortium, a private operator group for heavy vehicle tolling system.
Leaked documents suggest European CAP reform just a whitewash – European farm reform exposed.
Stasi still in charge of Stasi files – Suppressed 2007 investigation into infiltration of former Stasi into the Stasi files commission.
IGES Schlussbericht Private Krankenversicherung, 25 Jan 2010 – Hidden report on the economics of the German private health insurance system and its rentability.

C. Suppression of free speech and a free press:

The Independent: Toxic Shame: Thousands injured in African city, 17 Sep 2009 – Publication of an article originally published in UK newspaper The Independent, but censored from the Independent’s website. WikiLeaks has saved dozens of articles, radio and tv recordings from disappearing after having been censored from BBC, Guardian, and other major news organisations archives.
Secret gag on UK Times preventing publication of Minton report into toxic waste dumping, 16 Sep 2009 – Publication of variations of a so-called super-injunction, one of many gag-orders published by WikiLeaks to expose successful attempts to suppress the free press via repressive legal attacks.
Media suppression order over Turks and Caicos Islands Commission of Inquiry corruption report, 20 Jul 2009 – Exposure of a press gagging order from the Turks and Caicos Islands, related to WikiLeaks exposure of the Commission of Inquiry corruption report.
Bermuda’s Premier Brown and the BCC bankdraft – Brown went to the Privy council London to censor the press in Bermuda.
How German intelligence infiltrated Focus magazine – Illegal spying on German journalists.

D. Diplomacy, spying and (counter-) intelligence:

U.S. Intelligence planned to destroy WikiLeaks, 18 Mar 2008 – Classified (SECRET/NOFORN) 32 page U.S. counterintelligence investigation into WikiLeaks. Has been in the worldwide news.
CIA report into shoring up Afghan war support in Western Europe, 11 Mar 2010 – This classified CIA analysis from March, outlines possible PR-strategies to shore up public support in Germany and France for a continued war in Afghanistan. Received international news coverage in print, radio and TV.
U.S. Embassy profiles on Icelandic PM, Foreign Minister, Ambassador – Publication of personal profiles for briefing documents for U.S. officials visiting Iceland. While lowly classified are interesting for subtle tone and internal facts.
Cross-border clashes from Iraq O.K. – Classified documents reveal destabalizing U.S. military rules
Tehran Warns US Forces against Chasing Suspects into Iran – Iran warns the United States over classified document on WikiLeaks.
Inside Somalia and the Union of Islamic Courts – Vital strategy documents in the Somali war and a play for Chinese support.

E. Ecology, climate, nature and sciences:

Draft Copenhagen climate change agreement, 8 Dec 2009 – Confidential draft “circle of commitment” (rich-country) Copenhagen climate change agreement
Draft Copenhagen Accord Dec 18, 2009 – Three page draft Copehagen “accord”, from around Friday 7pm, Dec 18, 2009; includes pen-markings Climatic Research Unit emails, data, models, 1996-2009 – Over 60MB of emails, documents, code and models from the Climatic Research Unit at the University of East Anglia, written between 1996 and 2009 that lead to a worldwide debate.
The Monju nuclear reactor leak - Three suppressed videos from Japan’s fast breeder reactor Monju revealing the true extent of the 1995 sodium coolant disaster.

F. Corruption, finance, taxes, trading:

The looting of Kenya under President Moi – $3,000,000,000 presidential corruption exposed; swung the Dec 2007 Kenyan election, long document, be patient.
Gusmao’s $15m rice deal alarms UN – Rice deal corruption in East Timor.
How election violence was financed – the embargoed Kenyan Human Rights Commission report into the Jan 2008 killings of over 1,300 Kenyans.
Financial collapse: Confidential exposure analysis of 205 companies each owing above EUR45M to Icelandic bank Kaupthing, 26 Sep 2008. Publication of a confidential report that has lead to hundreds of newspaper articles worldwide.
Barclays Bank gags Guardian over leaked memos detailing offshore tax scam, 16 Mar 2009. Publication of censored documents revealing a number of elaborate international tax avoidance schemes by the SCM (Structured Capital Markets) division of Barclays Bank.
Julius Baer: Grand Larceny via Grand Cayman – How the largest private Swiss bank avoids paying tax to the Swiss government.
Der Fall Moonstone Trust – Cayman Islands Swiss bank trust exposed.
Over 40 billion euro in 28167 claims made against the Kaupthing Bank, 23 Jan 2010 – List of Kaupthing claimants after Icelandic banking crash.
Northern Rock vs. WikiLeaks – Northern Rock Bank UK failed legal injunctions over the ¡Ì24,000,000,000 collapse.
Whistleblower exposes insider trading program at JP Morgan – Legal insider trading in three easy steps, brought to you by JP Morgan and the SEC.

G. Censorship technology and internet filtering:

Eutelsat suppresses independent Chinese-language TV station NTDTV to satisfy Beijing. French sat provider Eutelsat covertly removed an anti-communist TV channel to satisfy Beijing Internet Censorship in Thailand – The secret internet censorship lists of Thailand’s military junta.

H. Cults and other religious organizations:

Church of Scientology’s ’Operating Thetan’ documents leaked online – Scientology’s secret, and highly litigated bibles.
Censored Legion de Cristo and Regnum Cristi document collection – Censored internal documents from the Catholic sect Legion de Cristo (Legion of Christ).
US Department of Labor investigation into Landmark Education, 2006 – 2006 investigative report by the U.S. Department of Labor on Landmark Education.

I. Abuse, violence, violation:

Report on Shriners raises question of wrongdoing – corruption exposed at 22 U.S. and Canadian children’s hospitals.
Claims of molestation resurface for US judo official.
Texas Catholic hospitals did not follow Catholic ethics, report claims – Catholic hospitals violated catholic ethics.

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French surveillance company supplied Assad regime: technologies revealed

In Video: Mass Surveillance from TBIJ on Vimeo

French police are investigating a surveillance equipment company, Qosmos, which has been accused by the League of Human Rights and the International Federation of Human Rights (FIDH) of complicity in torture by supplying Syria with intelligence technology used to spy on and track its citizens. Documents published last year on Wikileaks are to be used in the investigation. The company continued to supply equipment up to January 2012 but stopped when the European Union banned the export of telecoms monitoring equipment for use by the Syrian regime. However, the equipment will have been used by the Syrian regime prior to and since that point in time.

Investors of Qosmos include Alven Capital, DFJ Esprit, Fonds Stratégique d’Investissement (FSI), and the GfK Group. Qosmos is based in Paris and has offices in the UK, the US and Singapore.

It’s partners include Breaking Point Systems, Cavium, Freescale, GE Intelligent Platforms, Hewlett Packard, IBM, Napatech, Netlogic, Netronome, Radisys, Red Hat and Tilera.

A Darker Net ‘Supersearch’ on Wikileaks Spyfiles identified two Qosmos products of interest:

· Video showing how Finspy tracks mobile phone users (including Blackberry)
· FinIntrusion Kit: enables monitoring of blogs, social networking accounts, webmail, etc

In addition, to download a Qosmos document on how a Government or security agency can identify and monitor targets with virtual (fake) identities and their use of proxy emails etc, click here.

Clearly Qosmos’ anti-DDOS products failed to protect the Syrian Government from a hacking attack from Anonymous and that resulted in the ‘Syria Files’, published by Wikileaks.

Useful links:

A summary of products from Qosmos – click here.
A list of companies, globally, selling surveillance equipment – click here.

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Could a Wikileaks ‘grand jury’ of international jurists prosecute the USA for war crimes?

Two days ago we floated several ideas on how the Wikileaks legal team, now with the addition of Sr.Baltasar Garzon, the renowned jurist, might go on the offensive, particularly against the Swedish Prosecution Service. In addition – almost as a throwaway – we suggested Sr. Garzon may want to look at unfinished business (see link below)… In 2009, Sr. Garzon proceeded to indict six US administration officials for war-related crimes but was forced to abandon the proceedings when far-right groups in Spain took out a prosecution against him for bringing up the matter of Franco’s ‘disappeared’ in a separate case (and there is evidence that the USA played a hand in encouraging the prosecution of Garzon). Also, while the USA is one of only three states that did not ratify the Rome Treaty (which explains how it has managed so far to avoid war crimes’ trials at the International Criminal Court) this pre-emptive action apparently does not protect previous office holders – e.g. former president, George W Bush – and if there is a loophole here then Sr. Garzon is most eminently qualified to know of it.

There is another, possibly audacious, idea that might be considered in this regard – namely, that Wikileaks could play the US at its own game and convene, via the offices of Sr. Garzon, a ‘grand jury’ of distinguished jurists from around the world to indict US officials, past and present, for their failure to prosecute those Americans accused of war-related crimes in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere or of carrying out or instigating acts of torture. In doing this, these jurists would send out a powerful signal to the world – namely, that no country, including the USA, can escape justice.

In contrast to the ‘star chamber’ version in the USA, a Wikileaks-sponsored ‘grand jury’ would be completely open in its dealings and reports. As such, it would act as a counter to the farcical and secretive ‘show trial’ proceedings currently underway in America against Bradley Manning, as well as the proceedings examining possible charges of espionage against Julian Assange, the editor-in-chief of Wikileaks. Also, a prosecution of war-related crimes committed by the USA would inevitably reference the very material Bradley Manning is accused of passing on to Wikileaks (see video above) and thus would impact dramatically upon Manning’s trial (for he can hardly be convicted if US officials, in turn, are convicted).

But in the highly unlikely event that President Obama acts like a true recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize and admits America’s mistakes, changes it’s practices, releases Bradley Manning (with due compensation awarded for the suffering he experienced, as reported by the United Nations special rapporteur on torture) and disbands its Wikileaks Grand Jury in Virginia, then a very different story might unfold.

Links

On Garzon’s pursuit of the Bush Administration re. torture allegations- click here.
To see what constitutes a war crime, click here.
To see an excellent summary of the war crimes committed by the US and of the various attempts to prosecute, click here.
To see an interview with Francis Boyle, Professor of Law at the University of llinois School of Law and who was a part of the prosecution team that tried former US President George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld and their legal advisors in absentia, click here.
To see Wikileaks revelations re. pressure put on governments not to proceed with prosecutions for war crimes against the USA – click here.

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Syria: Aleppo being bombed… report from a Syrian resistance fighter…

Aleppo, Syria’s largest city, is being bombed now. Rebels claim to hold sectors of the city, which explains why the government dispatched more Syrian troops there this week, supported by helicopter gunships and fighter planes. After a day of fighting the rebels remain in control of their neighborhoods.19,000 people have been killed since the uprising began in March 2011.

See also report from The Independent and a good analysis of the region.

Letter:

I am Mazen ******, a Syrian anarchist. I want to inform you about the difficult humanitarian situation in my country, Syria, due to the brutal oppression of the regime against the revolting masses. A group of young Syrian anarchists and anti–authoritarians from Aleppo, contacted me asking for urgent help. Their community is in urgent need for everything: medical drugs, tents, children’s milk, etc; almost everything. We hope that you can help them to alleviate the sufferings of Syrians in these difficult days.

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