War in Context

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• How Obama is becoming an insider threat to democracy
• The NSA’s metastasised intelligence-industrial complex is ripe for abuse
• Is America in a death spiral?
• Global protest grows as citizens lose faith in politics and the state
• Latest Brazil protests bring 250,000 on to streets
• Egypt opposition reaches out to Mubarak supporters ahead of mass protests
• New wave of foreigners in Syrian fight
• Organic mathematics
• Music: Bebel Gilberto — ‘Simplesmente’
• Hong Kong authorities reject U.S. request for Snowden’s arrest as he departs for Moscow
• Snowden spy row grows as U.S. is accused of hacking China
• MI5 feared GCHQ went ‘too far’ over phone and internet monitoring
• GCHQ monitoring described as a ‘catastrophe’ by German politicians

How Obama is becoming an insider threat to democracy Posted: 23 Jun 2013 10:35 AM PDT It seems like we’re getting snowed in by Snowden — if you’ll forgive the pun. On Thursday, McClatchy published an investigative report, “Obama’s crackdown views leaks as aiding enemies of U.S..” By now, the term, “Insider Threat Program,” should be getting just as much attention in the mainstream media and the blogosphere as anything to [...]

The NSA’s metastasised intelligence-industrial complex is ripe for abuse Posted: 23 Jun 2013 10:30 AM PDT Valerie Plame Wilson and Joe Wilson write: Let’s be absolutely clear about the news that the NSA collects massive amounts of information on US citizens – from emails, to telephone calls, to videos, under the Prism program and other Fisa court orders: this story has nothing to do with Edward Snowden. As interesting as his [...]

Is America in a death spiral? Posted: 23 Jun 2013 10:25 AM PDT Global warming may have caused irreversible damage to the environment; cigarette smoking can cause irreversible damage to the lungs; lead poisoning can cause irreversible damage to a child’s brain; and Edward Snowden’s intelligence leaks have caused irreversible damage to America — at least that’s what NSA director General Keith Alexander claimed today. Irreversible damage? The [...]

Global protest grows as citizens lose faith in politics and the state Posted: 23 Jun 2013 10:20 AM PDT Peter Beaumont writes: The demonstrations in Brazil began after a small rise in bus fares triggered mass protests. Within days this had become a nationwide movement whose concerns had spread far beyond fares: more than a million people were on the streets shouting about everything from corruption to the cost of living to the amount [...]

Latest Brazil protests bring 250,000 on to streets Posted: 23 Jun 2013 10:15 AM PDT The Associated Press reports: More than 250,000 anti-government protesters have again taken to the streets in several Brazilian cities and engaged police in isolated intense conflicts. Demonstrators vowed to stay in the streets until concrete steps are taken to reform the political system. Across Brazil protesters gathered to denounce legislation known as PEC 37 that [...]

Egypt opposition reaches out to Mubarak supporters ahead of mass protests Posted: 23 Jun 2013 10:10 AM PDT The Associated Press reports: Egypt’s largest opposition bloc on Saturday reached out to former members of the deposed president’s party, ahead of mass protests on June 30 demanding the ouster of his successor. The opposition’s move came a day after some 100,000 supporters of current President Mohammed Morsi, an Islamist and the country’s first elected [...]

New wave of foreigners in Syrian fight Posted: 23 Jun 2013 10:05 AM PDT The Washington Post reports: He was young and bright, with an education from Egypt’s premier school of Islamic studies and lucrative job offers in the Gulf. But Bilal Farag chose a different path, friends say, one that led him to die on a distant Syrian battlefield while fighting Shiite Muslims he regarded as infidels. “Everybody [...]

Organic mathematics Posted: 23 Jun 2013 10:02 AM PDT BBC News reports: Plants have a built-in capacity to do maths, which helps them regulate food reserves at night, research suggests. UK scientists say they were “amazed” to find an example of such a sophisticated arithmetic calculation in biology. Mathematical models show that the amount of starch consumed overnight is calculated by division in a [...]

Music: Bebel Gilberto — ‘Simplesmente’ Posted: 23 Jun 2013 10:00 AM PDT

Hong Kong authorities reject U.S. request for Snowden’s arrest as he departs for Moscow Posted: 23 Jun 2013 06:55 AM PDT Reuters reports: A former U.S. security contractor charged by Washington with espionage was allowed to leave Hong Kong on Sunday, his final destination not confirmed, because a U.S. request to have him arrested did not comply with the law, the Hong Kong government said. Edward Snowden, who worked for the National Security Agency, had been [...]

Snowden spy row grows as U.S. is accused of hacking China Posted: 22 Jun 2013 06:50 PM PDT The Guardian reports: Within hours of news breaking that the US had filed charges against Snowden, the South China Morning Post reported that the whistleblower had handed over a series of documents to the paper detailing how the US had targeted Chinese phone companies as part of a widespread attempt to get its hands on [...]

MI5 feared GCHQ went ‘too far’ over phone and internet monitoring Posted: 22 Jun 2013 06:49 PM PDT The Observer reports: Senior figures inside British intelligence have been alarmed by GCHQ’s secret decision to tap into transatlantic cables in order to engage in the bulk interception of phone calls and internet traffic. According to one source who has been directly involved in GCHQ operations, concerns were expressed when the project was being discussed [...]

GCHQ monitoring described as a ‘catastrophe’ by German politicians Posted: 22 Jun 2013 06:49 PM PDT The Guardian reports: Britain’s European partners have described reports of Britain’s surveillance of international electronic communications as a catastrophe and will seek urgent clarification from London. Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger, the German justice minister said the report in the Guardian read like the plot of a film. “If these accusations are correct, this would be a catastrophe,” [...]