The state of Yugoslavia stood in the way of the strategic plan of the USA

by Michael Smith (Veshengro)

The aim of the US government, through the CIA and proxy-warriors of the CIA, was to eliminate the state of Yugoslavia as a geopolitical power factor, as a regional power. Yugoslavia, as it stood, as a large state, did not fit in with the desires of the United States and thus it had to be broken up. It stood in the way of the strategic plan of the USA the way it was.

The state Yugoslavia, as it was, stood in the way of this strategic plan of the USA for it was a country had some weight and some prestige and also had one of the largest and strongest armies of Europe. Thus it had to be eliminated as a homogeneous nation, although made up of many nations, and broken up. That was the aim of CIA dark operations. Those even included the arming of certain groups – mostly the Muslim fighters, such as in Bosnia, many of which were actually foreign operators from other Muslim countries, including Pakistan and Bangladesh.

Another of the CIA's clandestine operators tasks was the surveillance, and if necessary elimination, of a supposed Serb terror group whose aim it was to sabotage the plans for Bosnian independence. The problem here was that the group "Surpreme Serbia", as it was called, never existed.

While it is true that the Serb side has committed atrocities the Bosniaki side probably even more and was far better in ethnic cleansing, as were the Kosovar Albanians. In that case a British commander stated on record: “We have come out in the defense of the wrong group”.

In the case of Kosovo, as well as, to some extent, in Bosnia Herzegovina, a main aim of ethnic cleansing was targeted at the Romani (Gypsy) population, a fact very often ignored. In Kosovo the Roma mahalas were systematically attacked and the people forced out, after which the homes were either taken over by Kosovar Albanians or destroyed.

Other operatives that were “at location”, from British military personnel, especially officers, liaison officers, as well as intelligence officers, talk of the same US shenanigans, as well as security personnel for the convoys. The weapons that were supplied by the Saudis – for the Muslim mercenaries – paid for with CIA funds, and several former CIA officers in that region report of the same. And those Islamist mercenaries were directly paid from CIA black funds.

Black ops, as they are often called, of the CIA went basically from one region of Yugoslavia to another, after mission accomplished in one, in order to destabilize the country and cause it to fall apart by “encouraging” those regions targeted to strive for independence.

As far as Kosovo is concerned the troubles are far from over with it, basically, being the largest US military base in the Balkans and the actions of the regime in Kosovo, against Serbs (and Rom) being sanctioned, for lack of a better word, by the US military administration.

In the same way that Yugoslavia, as a state, stood in the way of the geopolitical interest of the USA so it was with Libya, with Iraq and is also the case with Syria. Whenever a country stands in the way of the global strategic interests of the USA destabilizing is being applied and if that does not work civil war is being created. And when that does not work, as in the case of Russia, weird and wonderful incidents are being produced by America and its “allies”.

© 2018

Solar power installations suck away the light of the sun

by Michael Smith (Veshengro)

The council of the US town of woodland rejected the installation of a small solar array along of Highway 258 by reasoning that those photo-voltaic installations suck away the light of the sun but not only that.

Had it been in Texas I might have understood it better considering that one of the Lone Star State's lawmakers things along the same light as regards to solar and when it comes to wind turbines then, according to him, we have to be really careful as those stop the wind from blowing in the end – as wind is a limited resource – and eventually will stop the Earth from spinning.

But back to Woodland, NC.

Woodland is a sleepy little town nestled in the open spaces of North Carolina. It has 388 inhabitants and between the white farmhouses the Highway 258 snakes along. Along this highway, at the verges, the 21st century was meant to arrive in the form of a solar array. For the inhabitants of the little town a nightmare.

The company – Strata Solar Company – applied to be permitted to install a solar farm along Highway 258 but after protest were raised by the community against those plans the council of Woodland refused to grant permission.

In a town hall meeting residents could voice their objections before council made its decision and enables us a view into this strange way of thinking by many and not just in that community in the USA.

Solar farms as plant killers

A spokesperson for the citizenship called Bobby Mann stated the fear that solar panels would suck up all the energy of the sun. His wife Jane told the audience that she had seen areas where around solar arrays all plants had died because they no longer could get enough sunlight. A former teacher who used to teach science expounded her theory that plants could not longer photosynthesize because there would not be enough sun.

Furthermore, she said, the clusters of cancers in the area could be not coincidence. No one could tell that solar panels were not causing cancer. They did, she stated.

Others claimed that properties near solar arrays would become worthless and would turn the place into a ghost town as everyone would be moving away.

Strata Solar Company tried to counter those arguments and stated – rightly so – that solar panels are only using the light that reaches them and that, on no account, are they cancer causing. But to no avail. The council voted three to one against granting permission for this small solar farm.

Unfortunately the attitude of many lawmakers in the US government is about the same. They too believe that solar panel make the sun go dark and that wind turbines suck all the wind and might even stop the Earth from spinning. No, I am not joking.

© 2018

US trade war with EU

by Michael Smith (Veshengro)

The recently announced punitive tariffs by the US President Donald Trump on imports of steel and other goods and products is primarily aimed, no doubt, at countries of the European Union, including Great Britain. Also the, though prior to Trump's watch, issues with Volkswagen and other German automobile manufacturers was the beginning of such a trade war considering that, aside from Japanese cars German ones are the most sold ones in the country.

What the POTUS does not seem to realize, and that is the very problem with Donald Trump in that he does not seem to realize much of what the real political world is like, is that a trade war has also other protagonists and also that the world stock markets might not like this idea. He seems to forget that running a country is different to running a company. Not that he has been very successful with many of them either.

Unlike his assertion that trade wars are good they are the opposite and the US may be shooting itself in the foot with such actions. It is quite easy for European and other countries to boycott American products in retaliation.

The best answer to the US' trade war against, primarily, the EU should be to get back together with the Russian Federation and literally give the US the middle finger, for the EU sanctions against Russia were, more or less, imposed on the EU by America. There are two sides who can play a game such as this.

Yes, the US has military stationed in EU countries but even Donald Trump would not be that stupid to use them should the EU retaliate in the trade ware department. Just saying.

© 2018

Alexei Navalny & the Anti-Corruption Movement in Russia

by Michael Smith (Veshengro)

If we remember that the Maidan “demonstrations”, which led to the problems, which is still expressing it mildly, in the Ukraine also started claiming to be an anti-corruption movement. Where it led to we have all seen.

Also what is being attempted in the Russian Federation has the same aim, namely to destabilize Russia and create there also one of those “colored” revolution, just like in the Ukraine and other places.

The players behind the scenes are definitely the same, and Navalny is nothing but a puppet in their hands. We can almost guarantee that one major player behind the scenes, and the main source of funds for Navalny and his “movement”, is the very same who has been behind the Ukraine issue and those color revolutions in many other countries. It certainly does not require a degree in intelligence work to figure that one out.

Thus regime change in the Russian Federation is the name of the game in which Navalny and his movement are a pawn, in the same was as regime change was the plan in the Ukraine and still is in other countries. The US even are being used, whether they know it or not, in this operation run by this particular person and his organizations. On the other hand it could be the US using that person and his organizations. You pays your money and you takes your choice.

© 2017

You could soon go to jail for wearing body armor

by Michael Smith (Veshengro)

You could soon go to jail for protecting yourself from bullets: Congress proposes a ban on body armor which will make it illegal to own and use full ballistic armor.

A new piece of legislation was introduced in the House of Representatives, H. R. 378, labeled the Responsible Body Armor Possession Act, which if enacted would deprive law abiding citizens of another means of self defense.

The legislation, forwarded by Rep. Mike Honda, would ban citizens from ownership of enhanced body armor, defined as “body armor, including a helmet or shield, the ballistic resistance of which meets or exceeds the ballistic performance of Type III armor, determined using National Institute of Justice Standard-0101.06” in the bill. Level III and higher body armor can defeat most common rifle ammunition.

The body armor in question has a sole purpose of protecting the wearer from potential serious injury or death from being shot.

If passed, this bill would usurp people's ability to own a truly defensive form of protection, with penalties for possession/ownership ranging from fines to jail time or both.

In his press release, Rep. Honda states: “This bill allows law enforcement to respond to active shooting situations more effectively. The bill prohibits the purchase, sale, or possession of military-grade body armor by anyone except certain authorized users, such as first-responders and law enforcement.”

Perhaps if Honda put as much effort into disarming the overly militarized police, as attempting to take away law abiding citizens ability to defend themselves from would-be shooters, people wouldn't have the impetus to wear body armor.

The armor is purely defensive in nature, and people should always have the ability and right to defend themselves against attack.

The right to self-defense is the right from which all other rights are derived. As John Locke stated, self-defense is the first law of nature. Each person owns his or her own life and no other person has a right to take that life, or hinder the preservation thereof.

The Supreme Court has held that the police have no duty to protect citizens , so that responsibility now falls squarely on the shoulders of individuals themselves. Only problem is that when people wish to do it the law says that they can't, and especially not from the government and their agents.

To take away people's ability to access defensive armor, after telling them that they are on their own and are owed no protection by law enforcement, almost seems like a cruel joke.

Why should a law-abiding citizens, that takes steps to defend themselves passively, be criminalized? Interestingly, government employees and personnel who work for the various government agencies, departments, or “political subdivisions” are exempted in the bill.

Additionally, the bill states that citizens who own body armor prior to the bill taking effect, would, in essence be grandfathered in and be treated the same as government personnel.

Where is the sense in government banning something that provides people protection from harm?

The logic of this bill is so askew that it wouldn't be surprising if perhaps next they will try and pass a bill that outlaws hiding behind things while being shot at.

In a continuation of that logic, law enforcement could use the PR line: “If you haven't done anything wrong, why would you need to hide behind anything?”

But we have to ponder what this is really all about and that is namely that the government is afraid of the people, as it rightly should be, and that the people with arms and body armor could present them with a problem in their endeavors to enslave everyone.

If this has not, as yet, gotten into your head, dearest reader, then it is about time it did. And this is but another step on the road to further restrictions as to personal self-defense and the ability to defend yourself against a tyrannical government. The lunatics are running the asylum and have no intention of giving it up.

© 2015

Green America Applauds President Obama’s Rejection of Keystone XL Pipeline

Washington, DC (November 2015) – After years of deliberation, President Obama demonstrated his support for an economy that supports human and environmental health, and that helps position the U.S. for clean energy leadership, by rejecting the Keystone XL Pipeline today.

The proposed pipeline would carry nearly 800,000 barrels of tar sands oil per day across 1,200 miles from western Canada through the U.S. to an export facility in Texas.

This decision comes after President Obama vetoed a congressional bill earlier this year that aimed to bypass executive branch decision-making on the pipeline’s future and fast-track approval to construct the pipeline. The President has maintained that his final decision would be based on the State Department’s assessment of the Keystone XL Pipeline and the impacts such a project would have on the environment, the economy, climate change, and American lives.

“Rejecting the Keystone XL Pipeline and moving toward a clean energy economy, including key steps identified in the President’s new Clean Power Plan, represent a win for our economy, farms, businesses, the environment, public health, and our long-term energy security,” said Fran Teplitz, Green America’s Executive Co-Director for Business, Investing & Policy. “This decision is an important step in transitioning our nation away from fossil fuels and towards the clean energy economy our nation needs.”

“In addition to rejecting the Keystone XL Pipeline, we urge President Obama to reject the increasing number of natural gas pipelines proposed and being built across the country. Those pipelines are also dangerous, serve to maintain our reliance on fossil fuels, and leak methane – the most potent climate change gas,” added Todd Larsen, Green America’s Executive Co-Director for Consumer and Corporate Engagement. "As the United States heads into the Paris Conference on the Parties, we need to show the world that we are shifting away from fossil fuels."

Green America, with 200,000 individual members and 3,000 business members, has been a vocal opponent of the Keystone XL Pipeline project. TransCanada, the company seeking to build the pipeline, first applied for a permit in 2008. The reasons Green America as well as Nobel laureates, environmentalists, sustainable businesses, ranchers, farmers, physicians, indigenous communities, and many others opposed the pipeline include:

* The pipeline will exacerbate the climate crisis. The dirty tar sands oil production process alone generates three times as much global warming pollution as conventional crude oil generates.

* Tar sands extraction and transport will result in leaks and spills that harm human health, especially in indigenous communities and those along the pipeline route.

* Tar sands extraction and transport will pollute and harm the environment including water, land, forests, air, and wildlife.

* According to the State Department, only 35 permanent jobs will result from the project.

* The pipeline will not increase US energy security -- the oil is intended for export.

* The Keystone XL pipeline takes our nation in the wrong direction in terms of energy and economic policy.

* We need to move immediately toward mass investment in clean energy and energy efficiency to secure our energy needs, decrease greenhouse gas emissions, and create millions of good domestic jobs.

Green America commends President Obama’s decision to halt the Keystone XL pipeline, urges a cessation of new natural gas pipelines, and calls on the President to continue to exert the leadership required to move our nation towards a clean energy future.

N.B. This is an unedited press release for your information only. The publication of this does not constitute an endorsement by the GREEN (LIVING) REVIEW or its Editor(s) of the organization(s) that have released this statement.

Aspen is third U.S. city to reach 100% renewable energy

Aspen is one of three U.S. cities to run on 100 percent renewable energy, according to members of the city’s environmental and project departments.

The shift to energy that is generated from natural resources — including wind power, solar power and geothermal heat — follows a “decade-plus” city goal, said city Utilities and Environmental Initiatives Director David Hornbacher.

“It was a very forward-thinking goal and truly remarkable achievement,” Hornbacher said. “This means we are powered by the forces of nature, predominately water and wind with a touch of solar and landfill gas.”

The first two U.S. cities to reach the goal were Burlington, Vermont, followed by Greensburg, Kansas.

Aspen’s transition to 100 percent renewable occurred Thursday after the city signed a contract with wholesale electric energy provider Municipal Energy Agency of Nebraska, in order “to achieve this final leg of our goal,” Hornbacher said.

Read more here.

Acknowledge Almighty God or go to jail

Atheists can be jailed in Kentucky for not acknowledging God

by Michael Smith (Veshengro)

In the US State of Kentucky you can be jailed, under a State Homeland Security law, for 12 months for refusing to acknowledge “Almighty God”.

The Kentucky law states: "The safety and security of the Commonwealth cannot be achieved apart from reliance upon Almighty God as set forth in the public speeches and proclamations of American Presidents".

The law was sponsored by Tom Riner, a Baptist minister and Democratic representative, and according to The New York Times Riner is reported to say: “The church-state divide is not a line I see. What I do see is an attempt to separate America from its history of perceiving itself as a nation under God”.

Since the law first came onto the Kentucky statute in 2006 it has been challenged by American Atheists, overturned, and then reinstalled upon appeal. Now the American Atheists are once again hoping to overturn the law by submitting a petition to the U.S. Supreme Court in a bid to overturn this Kentucky homeland security law.

They have issued a press release that reads: "Acknowledge Almighty God” or Go Directly to Jail. Everyday in Kentucky, due to a 2008 homeland security law, atheists and agnostics are potentially forced to assert that the public safety of their state is dependent on 'Almighty God' or face criminal charges, including up to 12 months in jail."

Speaking of Riner, State Senator Kathy W. Stein said: “Tom is as pious as he is persistent. He's also prone to legislative stunts that are embarrassing and expensive for this state”.

The state has ran up huge amounts in legal fees after losing several cases to the American Civil Liberties Union. Maybe for the state it is time to tell this Baptist minister on which station to get off and not get onto the train again.

Riner also does not understand the Constitution, it would appear, which makes for a separation of state and church and the “under God” was inserted into the Pledge not until well after World War Two.

The United States has religious freedom, guaranteed by its Constitution and as a representative Riner would do well to understand that otherwise he has no right to be a representative, and everyone, theoretically, according to the Constitution of the United States, has the right to believe or not to believe, and the US was not founded as a “nation under God”. Far from it.

But then again the so-called Christians like Mr Riner do not understand that and also not what Jesus was all about and do not follow His teaching in the slightest way.

Riner's like will be very quick to condemn Muslim theocracies but are trying themselves to turn the United States into just that. Hypocrites the lot of them and a plague unto their houses.

© 2013

Congress has now passed laws that nullify the First Amendment

by Michael Smith (Veshengro)

The US Congress, according to the way it was put recently in mainstream media reports, has now passed laws that, basically, nullify the First Amendment to the US Constitution and thus, itself, has become unconstitutional.

Freedom of the Press and Freedom of Speech and also Freedom of Peaceable Assembly have all been curtailed or are being restricted with a variety of laws and caveats.

The once bastion of liberties of the individual, the United States of America, has become a repressive state where the Constitution is being trodden underfoot by the law enfarcement agencies, other agencies, and especially Congress and the President.

Not that things are any or much different in Britain where the current Prime Minister David Cameron said in 2011 that that “Free speech is an outdated concept and should be eradicated whenever the government deems necessary for however long the government deems necessary”. And the Right to Peaceable Assembly is equally coming under threat with many protests now deemed “terrorist activities”.

Activists and journalists are being threatened and arrested and filming any police action is, in the UK, now a felony. And the same goes for still photography and can be extended to journalists also.

The right of members of the media to report freely is being curtailed at every opportunity and the mainstream media have become often nothing more than the mouthpiece of the government and this includes especially in recent months, and it began already in the last couple of years, the BBC. The only newspaper that still defies the government, or so it would seem, is The (Manchester) Guardian.

The public, however, remains apathetic towards this as the people seem to have absolutely no understanding of what is going on and believe every word coming out of the government's spin doctor service.

The anti-terror laws enacted in the UK in the first decade of the 21st century are not being used against terrorist but are being used to instill terror into the hearts of the public and those reporting on the goings-on. Instead of combating terrorism they have become terror laws terrorizing all who wish to make the shenanigans public.

The police in the US and Britain have become, it would appear, a law unto themselves such as in the case of the arrest of the partner of the Guardian journalist at the heart of the Snowden affair who was held for nine hours in the transit area of Heathrow airport by officers of the Metropolitan Police under those (anti)terror laws. His electronic devices were seized and he was threatened with jail if he refused to cooperate.

Under the British terror laws noncooperation with the police can lead to immediate arrest as it is a felony. In that case you do not have the right to remain silent nor the right of legal representation. Tell me again that that are not NKVD methods. And things are not much better in America either but still the two countries want to bring democrazy tot he world. They must really be deluded.

© 2013

Greenpeace response to the Obama climate plan

Commenting on President Obama’s new climate plan, which was announced the other day in a speech in Washington, Greenpeace UK executive director John Sauven said: “The President is embracing policies that will excite people around the world, and if the full potential of this plan is realised then we could look back at this speech as a landmark moment. At the very least it sends a huge signal. For years, since the failure of the Copenhagen summit and the onset of the financial crisis, politicians have ignored this issue. Now the world’s most powerful man is saying, “We’re going to talk about climate change again.”

“This speech could be the dawn of a new era in which the White House finally stands up to the fossil fuel giants. We’ll know soon enough, when negotiators next meet at the UN climate talks in Warsaw. If this speech is to mean anything, if Obama is serious about challenging the dominance of the oil, gas and coal lobby, then the US diplomats who go to Poland will be the first to push for real action instead of holding the world back.”

Obama plan can be read here: http://thehill.com/images/stories/news/2013/06_june/25/obama-climate-plan.pdf

Source: Greenpeace UK

Obama to sign U.N. Firearms Treaty the Senate rejected

by Michael Smith (Veshengro)

President Barack Obama will soon sign an international arms trade treaty that has been previously rejected by the United States Senate.

The United Nations Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) establishes regulations for international arms sales. Categories of firearms listed in the treaty includes tanks, artillery, and small arms such as handguns. The U.N. General Assembly passed the treaty on April 2nd with a vote of 153-4, with the United States voting in favor. Obama intends to sign the treaty on June 3rd.

On March 23rd, Senator James Inhofe (R-Okla.) introduced an amendment to prevent the U.S. from entering into the treaty. It passed by a vote of 53 to 46.

Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) introduced another amendment to ensure “that the United States will not negotiate or support treaties that violate Americans’ Second Amendment rights under the Constitution of the United States.” This amendment passed in the Senate by a voice vote.

Signatories of the treaty are encouraged to keep records on the recipients of imported arms and to introduce domestic legislation to support the treaty’s requirements, according to the National Rifle Association Institute for Legislative Action.

Due to the Senate’s response to the treaty, Obama’s signature will be symbolic at best. According to Article II, Section 2, Clause 2 of the U.S. Constitution, the President “shall have Power, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, to make Treaties, provided two thirds of the Senators present concur.”

There was a time when I was prepared to give Obama the benefit of the doubt and saw a lot of anti-Obama rhetoric as an attack on his color and background but, I have to say, actions speak louder than words and it is now more than obvious what he is.

In fact, if President Obama signs this UN treaty, which the Senate has refused to endorse he is in total violation of the US Constitution and thus, in theory and practice, becomes “an enemy of the Constitution” and traitor.

© 2013

We don't spy on Americans, just anti-government Americans

by Michael Smith (Veshengro)

We don't spy on Americans, just anti-government Americans, stated the Director of the Fusion Center, Richard Davis, in support of the CCTV cameras, drones and other spying operations of the US government on home soil.

It would appear that Mr. Davis either lives in a fantasy world or, and that is more like it, he believes that the people are stupid and believe everything that they are being told.

Those cameras and other surveillance measures, in the same way as in Britain, in Germany, and elsewhere, are watching everyone and they do not make a distinction between good guy and bad guy.

But, as the authorities have said in Britain, and also in Germany when the Federal Trojan was being introduced to spy on people's PCs from within their PCs, you don't have to worry about anything if you have nothing to hide and are not breaking the law.

This surveillance state has nothing to do, despite what we are being told, as we can see from the statement by Mr. Davis, with fighting crime but everything to do with powers-that-be fearful of its citizenry because the government no longer serves the people, as it should do, but only itself and the powers-that-be.

It is all about people control, in the way envisioned by George Orwell in his novel “1984” only much more sophisticated and much subtler than in that book. In fact the powers-that-be have, in many cases, got the people to demand the CCTV surveillance and other other measures that they, the powers-that-be wanted, under the guise of that it is protecting the people and especially that it is protecting the children.

The mantra with regards of protecting the children is being used time and again and has been used. Restricting access to Internet sites, filtering content and all that was also “to protect the children”. However, it is not the governments' job to do that but that of the parents.

Other excuse was the “war on terror”. Sorry, but who is the real terrorist, namely our very governments, who insist, such as does the USA, to use killer drones to attack the wrong target and kill children in Afghanistan and Pakistan and who support rogues states such as the Zionist entity in Palestine.

CCTV cameras neither deter nor prevent nor help solve crimes, a fact admitted even by senior police officers in public, and neither do they do any thing to lessen any possible terrorist attacks.

The US Supreme Court has rules that it is no longer the job of the police to protect the citizens but that it their job, and only job, is to enforce the law.

All the surveillance methods that are being employed, from “simple” CCTV to monitoring telephone, Internet and the rest, are aimed at doing but one thing and that is to control the people and to enable the authorities to act against those that think along lines that run counter to what the powers-that-be want people to think.

They spy on all of us, not just on the criminals and terrorists and when Mr. Davis says that they are only spying on anti-government Americans he is saying that they are after everyone who does not agree with the policies of the government and who wish to live differently.

Whatever happened to the land of the brave and the home of the free. The free definitely are no longer free as they are not allowed to be free. And they call it a democracy, not that the United States were ever meant to be one; they were, in fact, meant to be a Constitutional Republic.

But leaving that factor aside we are all facing this same threat from our very governments, namely to have our liberties and our privacy infringed upon further and further until such a time, no doubt, that Orwell's “1984” looks more like a child's comic than reality for reality will be far worse and the Gestapo and the Stasi will look like schoolboys in comparison.

The worst part of it is going to be, however, that the majority of the people will have given their consent to this by clamoring for more and more security, not being prepared to do their own bit in that department.

The people have abdicate their own power and responsibility to others who have assumed control and claim that because they were elected to office they have the right to implement all those restrictive measures and more. They see being elected to office meaning that they have the right and authority to make decisions on behalf of the people and tell them what to do as they see the people as nothing more than naughty children. This is not representative government, that is dictatorship and a dictator can be a single man or a parliament. It makes no difference to the outcome.

We will never be free (again) until we make the changes necessary to change the system. We do not need a new government, we need a new system; one without a government.

© 2013

U.S. authorities read our e-mails

by Michael Smith (Veshengro)

Switzerland, February 2013: A resident of the French-speaking area of Switzerland was denied entry to the Unit ed States after a somewhat bad joke in an e-mail. He now fears that he is t he victim of "big ears" America.

The findings of the European Parliament on this in a report, even though Switzerland is not part of the EU, are unequivocal and state that this is “a serious threat" to the "rights of citizens”.

An amendment that allows U.S. authorities to monitor, in addition to communications like e-mail and telephone, all data stored in the U.S. by non-Americans.

Concerned are all synchronization services online as iCloud, Dropbox or Google Drive, and messaging services. In addition to this, it would appear, all email services that are based on US servers, such as Yahoo Mail, Google Mail, etc.

This Swiss citizen believes, probably rightfully, that he has become a victim of this “mass surveillance” enacted “without warrant” against American citizens and others.

About to go on holiday to the USA, he exchanged emails containing jokes around words such as “airplane”, “bomb” and “explode”.

While his application for a residence permit without visa (ESTA) was accepted, it was rescinded when he tried to board and he was banned from entering the United States.

Though we have no evidence of this it is more than likely that he will also find himself now on a list of people banned (for life) from entering the USA and it could even extend to flying (on any US airline).

It would not surprise me if this extends further than just the cloud services and email accounts mentioned in that the Echelon system, used by the CIA via places such as Menwith Hill (an RAF base in the UK that is wholly US military and CIA) and GCHQ, the British intelligence service monitoring station based near Cheltenham, Glos.

The Echelon system is designed to pick out key words such as the ones that have been in those emails and is used to monitor all traffic such as emails, etc., as well as voice communications.

This is about as stupid as the guy who was arrested on a plane about to depart an airport and banned from flying for saying “Hi Jack” upon recognizing a friend of his by the name of “Jack”.

The US is overstepping the line, once again, believing itself, it would appear, to be the ruler of the world and also its policeman.

About time the rest of the world told those folks there in Washington, D.C. A few home truths, namely that they may run the USA but that other countries and people are sovereign and not under their jurisdiction.

© 2013

The USA: Now also the Internet policeman?

by Michael Smith (Veshengro)

Not content with its self-appointed role as world cop the United States now have decided it also must police and have total control of the Internet, with full power of decision as to what is allowed and what is not.

This is rather interesting if we consider that if and when Iran, or China or any other any other country block access to certain sites, especially American propaganda ones, the US is the first to call “foul” or “illegal censorship”. It appears there are two standards and two set of rules; one for the USA and one for everyone else.

While, according to the USA, it is foul and illegal censorship when sites, especially American sites, are being blocked by China, Russia, Iran, it is not, it would seem, when it is done by or on behest of the American government and its backers.

A variety of supposed justifications are put about as also in the latter half of January 2012 when Megaupload, a major file sharing and -hosting platform, was shut down but the US authorities and four people were arrested in conjunction with this in New Zealand on order of the FBI.

The SOPA proposals are not even law as yet and still the US takes it upon itself to close down websites or orders, and I stress orders, other countries to shut them down.

America is getting too big, way too big, for its little boots. A serious counterbalance is needed. Someone, some country, who is prepared to put the US in its place but there is no one left out there.

The USSR, which was the counterbalance, faulty as it was, is history: Others just simply do not exist with the possible exception of China.

When President Obama came to power it was hoped by many that the excesses and abuses of the Bush era were at an end. Alas, it was all but rhetoric and business continues as usual.

The SOPA proposals began under Bush, if I am not mistaken, and Obama and those that actually pull the strings behind the scenes – yes, all any US President is is a puppet – want this power and even more in order to totally control the Internet.

The Powers-That-Be do not like the freedoms of the Internet (and of digital publishing) and the fact that it gives ordinary people a voice as citizen journalists and -reporters, as Bloggers. The fear the Blogger like nothing else.

The Internet allows – in its current state – people to publish and distribute their own books without the control of publishing houses and the censors and that too goes very much against the grain of The Powers-That-Be.

To The Powers-That-Be the Internet, and the freedom that it gives people, is an anathema and while they may – as a cover – have a go at the likes of China with regards to restrictions imposed there on Internet usages, etc., the restrictions that they have in mind to impose on the Internet per se are even more draconian than those restrictive countries employ.

They know that the Internet can be a tool used against them and hence they will try to find a way, under guises and excuses, curb the Net and its freedoms, if we are not careful.

The most dangerous government is not one that is (openly) hostile against its people and its neighbors but one that seems to be benign and friendly. It is those where we let our guard down at our peril for they are capable of lulling us to sleep.

The Powers-That-Be, which control the US, and probably, by proxy, also the UK and the EU, are not benign and the Internet, and the capacity that it gives to the people, gives them the jitters. And while, as said, they may rant and rave when during demonstrations and actions such as in the “Arab Spring” the Internet was cut in places such as Egypt, Libya, etc., they intend to do the very same if protests happen on their patch.

America, however, is the one that wants to call the shots and that absolutely everywhere, as one can see by the actions against Megaupload (and the attempt to silence WikiLeaks). One can but wonder as to what was really being distributed by Megaupload. Was it a movie about something sensitive or what?

The US government has ordered YouTube before to pull videos and user accounts with regards to footage from demonstrations such as the Occupy Movement ones and the related brutal police actions against peaceful protesters, and others. So, I guess we may as well wonder...

We need to have a counterbalance again and in the lieu of the USSR is will have to be “We The People”.

© 2012

It is not radical Islam that worries the US – it is independence

by Michael Smith (Veshengro)

It is not radical Islam that worries the US – it is independence that worries them and not just independence of states where the religion is Islam; it is independence per se.

Why was there a problem in the 1980s in Central America when the Nicaraguans had thrown off the yoke of the Samosa dictatorship and had brought the Sandinistas under Daniel Ortega into power? It was because America was losing its influence and United Fruit and such like their backyard.

The claim, however, was that the Western world was in need of being rescued from a Soviet-inspired communist takeover and they went even thus far as to claim that the Sandinistas were supplying the El Salvadorian rebels with arms via a land route. There was just a slight problem with that claim; there were just a few miles – more that just a few miles to be honest – of Honduras between thus making the land transport a little problematic. But that did not stop the company from continuing with this claim.

And, because in El Salvador the people were getting rather close to overthrowing the dictator in that country and, once again, the interests of American companies were under threat the, apparently, biggest threat had to be removed and was gunned down just outside the Cathedral of El Salvador by company assassins. The victim was none other that the saintly Archbishop Arnulfo Romero.

Independence is a real threat to the interests of the United States all over the place, real independence, and I am sure Britain also would come under pressure should the people here ever decide that they no longer would want the government to maintain the special master/poodle relationship between the USA and the UK, with the UK being the poodle.

Several times already in history and not even that long ago American pressure was put on the British government to go along with this or that and if not then sanctions might be considered and Britain nicely obliged and obeyed, just like a well-trained and well-behaved poodle.

Independence is the greatest of worries in the eyes of the powers-that-be; independence of the people especially, as well as of nations, and we are talking here of an independence from America and its influence and its controlling power.

That just cannot be allowed to happen, as far as the powers-that-be are concerned. Everyone must dance according to Washington's tune or, obviously, face the consequences of being regarded the opposite of a friend.

God defend me from my friends; from my enemies I can defend myself.

© 2011