The latest tales from the dark side covers everything from deceptive legislation in Washington to the Games of Zones in Asia, plus lots more sandwiched in between.
First up, from MintPress News, listing the veil at an American concentration camp:
Judge Orders Release Of Guantanamo Force-Feeding Videos
For Guantanamo detainees, their last bargaining chip is the U.S. government’s determination to keep them alive. But their hunger strikes come at a cruel, painful cost: force-feeding.
U.S. District Judge Gladys Kessler has lifted the temporary restraining order which blocked federal officials from force-feeding Mohammed Abu Wa’el Dhiab.
“Thanks to the intransigence of the Department of Defense, Mr. Dhiab may well suffer unnecessary pain from certain enteral feeding practices and forcible cell extractions,” wrote Kessler. “However, the court simply cannot let Mr. Dhiab die.”
Dhiab has indicated that he would submit to being force-fed by tube if it was done at a hospital at Guantanamo Bay, adding that he wished to “be spared the agony of having the feeding tubes inserted and removed for each feeding, and…the pain and discomfort of the restraint chair.”
According to Kessler, the Department of Defense has declined this request.
Al Jazeera America lifts another veil ever so slightly:
The unexpected way Congress is making the drone program more transparent
The confirmation process for Obama nominees has turned up some of the only disclosures about the US drone program
The Senate confirmed David Jeremiah Barron to the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Thursday, but only after Barack Obama’s administration agreed to make public a controversial secret memo about the U.S. targeted killing program it has long sought to keep secret.
The administration’s decision is a revealing look at how nomination hearings have become an effective new weapon in the fight for more transparency in the government’s covert counterterrorism policies.
Though the president nominated the Harvard Law professor in September, several influential senators from both sides of the aisle — including Mark Udall of Colorado and Ron Wyden of Oregon — threatened to block the nomination unless key memos written by Barron while he was acting head of the Office of Legal Counsel in 2009 and 2010 were disclosed.
From The Hill, belated gumption:
Tech companies: FBI ‘gag orders’ violate Constitution
Four tech companies claim that the FBI is ignoring their First Amendment rights by barring them from revealing what types of information they turn over to the government
In court documents unsealed on Friday, Google, Yahoo, Microsoft and Facebook claimed that the national security letter (NSL) orders are a “prohibition on speech [that] violates the First Amendment.”
“The government has sought to participate in public debate over its use of the NSL statute,” the companies wrote in a friend-of-the-court brief. “It should not be permitted to gag those best suited to offer an informed viewpoint in that debate; the parties that have received NSLs.”
The FBI uses the letters to get information from banks, Web companies and others about their customers. Under the terms of the letters, though, companies are prevented from disclosing details about having received the request and handed over information.
Al Jazeera America covers a half-measure:
Anti-spy phone firm gets major funding boost
Silent Circle’s Blackphone received $30 million this week and is slated to ship this summer
The smartphone encryption startup Silent Circle announced a boost in funding Wednesday, grabbing $30 million in investment capital ahead of the June shipping of its signature Blackphone, which the company says can deflect cybersnooping.
The announcement came a day before the House of Representatives on Thursday approved a bill that would end mass spying by the National Security Agency (NSA). It also comes in the wake of charges against more than 100 people announced this week for unleashing a sophisticated malware that has infected half a million computers in more than 100 countries.
Silent Circle’s founder, however, warned that Blackphone still wouldn’t deter the most determined efforts of the National Security Agency to monitor mobile phones.
From China Daily, corporate blowback from NSA spooks:
Cisco weighs in on new Chinese cyber security policy
Cisco Systems Inc said it will take “active measures” to safeguard product safety and reliability after a Chinese government announcement to impose tighter cyber security checks on overseas information technology providers.
The California-based IT firm was the first overseas company to directly respond to a government decision that IT products, services and suppliers related to national security and key public interest should submit to a review program before being put into use.
Cisco is planning to work with the US government and industry contacts to learn more about the new regulation and any implications for IT companies in China, the company said in an e-mail reply to China Daily.
From the Guardian, muzzling the inconvenient press:
Scotusblog loss of Senate press credentials fuels media uproar
Website to mount appeal of press gallery decision on Friday
Legendary reporter Lyle Denniston may be affected
It is widely praised for doing what no other news organisation can. But now Scotusblog may lose what hundreds of other publications take for granted: access to the Senate.
Scotusblog, a website dedicated to coverage of the US supreme court, is preparing to mount an appeal Friday morning to a decision last month by the Senate press gallery not to renew its press credentials. The gallery granted Scotusblog credentials in 2013.
The blog’s reporters appear likely to retain access to the supreme court through temporary arrangements. The court has traditionally honored Senate credentials but is currently reviewing its press procedures.
The London Daily Mail, crusading Pee Tardies:
Three more Tea Party activists arrested over photo taken of Mississippi Senator Thad Cochran’s ailing wife in a nursing home
Mark Mayfield, a Tea Party board member, school teacher Richard Sager and John Mary were arrested Thursday
The activists were hoping to use the picture of Rose Cochran in an ad claiming Thad Cochran is having an affair
Mrs Cochran has been suffering from dementia for 13 years and is in hospice care
The men were hoping to support the campaign of Tea Party challenger Chris McDaniel
International Business Times covers the latest vileness from a household name:
Facebook Microphone Update: Electronic Surveillance Experts React To Smartphone Mic Data Collection
Digital Privacy Experts React To Facebook’s Intentions To Collect Data Through Smartphone Mics
On Thursday, the International Business Times reported that Facebook will use a forthcoming mobile app update to save and collect data captured by your smartphone’s microphones–a development that privacy experts found worrisome.
Though Facebook guaranteed users that “no sound is stored” by the new feature, the social media giant confirmed to the IBTimes that “data is saved, but all data is anonymized and aggregated.”
The social networking company declined to comment on how it planned to use the data once they were gleaned.
A hack attack from TechWeekEurope:
Pro-Russian Hackers Attack Central Election Commission Of Ukraine
CyberBerkut steals a huge archive of emails three days before the elections, sends it to the media agencies
Ukrainian hacker outfit CyberBerkut, which was previously spotted defacing at least 40 local media websites and carrying out a DDoS attack against NATO infrastructure, has struck again.
This time, the group has managed to break into the systems of the Central Election Commission (CEC) of Ukraine – an independent body of the Ukrainian government. The hackers have stolen large archive of emails, as well as the technical documentation of the CEC system administrators.
They refer to the current government of the country as a “junta” – a word which describes the ruling council of a military dictatorship.
After the jump, it’s on to Asia and the last chapter in the Games of Zones, including an Iranian stand-down, Sino-Russian exercises afloat, Japanese remilitarization, and more. . .
From the Associated Press, amelioration:
UN: Iran cuts uranium closest to nuke-arms grade
The U.N. nuclear agency says Iran has neutralized about four-fifths of its stockpile of higher-enriched uranium that could be turned quickly into the core of a nuclear weapon.
The agency says Iran now has less than 40 kilograms (90 pounds) of the material. That’s about a fifth of what it would need to for a weapon.
The U.N’s International Atomic Energy Agency reported the development Friday in a confidential report obtained by The Associated Press.
From Global Times, a significant gesture:
China-Russia navies conduct “anti-piracy” exercises
The Chinese and Russian navies staged exercises on the East China Sea on Friday to simulate anti-piracy operations.
In the “joint escort” drill, naval vessels successfully drove away two “pirate boats” under the command of Russia’s Varyag missile cruiser. The navies also simulated a rescue mission by sending out special forces and taking out “pirates” on a “hijacked ship.”
In a joint aircraft identification exercise, vessels searched for and reported “unidentified aerial targets” while the command coordinated flying J-10 and Su-30 fighters to identify the targets. The navies also jointly conducted air defense and maritime assault drills. They also practised intercepting missiles.
China Daily warns:
US tells DPRK to refrain from provocation
The United States on Thursday urged the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) to refrain from “provocative actions” after it fired two rounds of artillery shells near a patrol ship of the Republic of Korea (ROK).
“We urge North Korea to refrain from provocative actions that aggravate tensions and instead focus on fulfilling its international obligations and commitments,” State Department spokeswoman Jennifer Psaki said at a daily news briefing.
The DPRK allegedly fired several rounds of artillery shells toward waters in ROK Thursday, and two of them fell near a ROK patrol ship sailing around the western maritime border, prompting the ROK side to fire back. No injuries and damage have been on the ROK patrol ship.
South China Morning Post gets disputatious:
South Korea says North is lying about not firing shells in sea clash
North denies firing shells in artillery exchange that has raised tensions at disputed sea border
Seoul accused North Korea yesterday of a “blatant lie” in claiming it had not fired shells near a South Korean warship and said Pyongyang had threatened to bombard its military vessels.
Earlier yesterday, the North’s military had rejected as “sheer fabrication” Seoul’s assertion that it fired two shells in the vicinity of a South Korean navy vessel on patrol near the tense sea border on Thursday.
Seoul’s defence ministry said the shells fell about 150 metres away from the South Korean Navy corvette near the disputed border in the Yellow Sea.
From the Associated Press, another warning from Uncle Sam:
US commander warns about China-Vietnam standoff
The U.S. military commander in the Pacific has warned that the “risk of miscalculation” that could trigger a wider conflict in a tense territorial standoff between China and Vietnam is high and urged both nations to exercise restraint.
Adm. Samuel Locklear said Friday that the Asian neighbors should resolve their territorial conflicts on the basis of international law.
When asked by reporters about the prospects of a closer security ties between Washington and Hanoi, Locklear said the United States has pursued alliances in Asia for a long time and wanted to explore opportunities to enhance ties with Vietnam and other Asian nations.
China Daily gets testy:
Hanoi’s charges ‘irresponsible’
Beijing slammed Hanoi on Thursday for “making irresponsible accusations” against China on the international stage, following Vietnam’s decision a day earlier to consider pursuing legal action over China’s islands in the South China Sea.
The issue is being internationalized and complicated, observers said, as Vietnam may align with the Philippines and follow Manila’s example and file a case at an international court, a development one analyst said indicated a “front” was being formed against China.
During a visit to Manila on Wednesday, Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung said Hanoi was considering various “defense options” against China, including legal action, Reuters reported.
From the Guardian, a gesture reminiscent of another time:
Vietnamese woman dies in self-immolation protest against China
State media says 67-year-old set herself alight in front of former presidential palace in protest against Chinese rig in disputed waters
A Vietnamese woman has died after setting herself on fire in downtown Ho Chi Minh City in protest against China’s deployment of an oil rig in waters claimed by Hanoi, state media reported.
The 67-year-old woman self-immolated in front of the Reunification Palace at about 6am (midnight BST) on Friday, Thanh Nien newspaper reported.
The paper quoted Le Truong Hai Hieu, a top city official, as saying that police had recovered a plastic container thought to contain fuel, a lighter and seven handwritten banners saying among other things: “Demand unity to smash the Chinese invasion plot” and “Support Vietnamese coastguards and fishermen.”
On to Japan and the remilitarization agenda countered via the Mainichi:
Group of lawmakers recommend Article 9 for Nobel Peace Prize
A group of 60 Japanese lawmakers submitted a petition at the Norwegian Embassy in Tokyo on Thursday requesting that the Nobel Committee award the war-renouncing Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution with the Nobel Peace Prize.
The Oslo-based prize committee is said to have accepted the nomination of Article 9 last month as one of 278 candidates for the prize, with the winner set to be announced Oct. 10.
The LDP, headed by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, has compiled a set of proposals for revising the Constitution. The premier aims to change the current government interpretation of Article 9 so Japan can remove its self-imposed ban on exercising the right to collective self-defense.
Article 9 of the Constitution, enacted in 1947, stipulates that Japan forever renounces war and forbids the use of force to settle international disputes.
And for our final item, the Yomiuri Shimbun sets the agenda:
15 examples to be submitted for security discussion
Eight cases of collective self-defense such as protecting U.S. military vessels which carry Japanese nationals are included in 15 examples which the government will submit to a council between the Liberal Democratic Party and New Komeito to discuss the legal framework of Japan’s security, The Yomiuri Shimbun has learned.
The government will submit 15 examples to the council on Tuesday. It will focus on examples that are relevant to “limited approval of collective self-defense.”
