Friday, May 15, 2009

It's Bilderberg time again

Bilderberg gets under way, this year’s meeting taking place amid formidable security at the Nafsika Astir Palace Hotel in Vouliagmeni, Greece.

The main focus will be on the global economy and what steps the meeting intends to make next in this wholly orchestrated crisis.

As always, most government representatives are attending this behind-the-scenes meeting illegally under the terms of their respective country’s laws. The presence of representatives of the US government at Bilderberg such as US Treasury Secretary, Timothy Geithner, completely violates the Logan Act which forbids US citizens to convene and negotiate with members of foreign governments without express authorisation from their own government. But what are laws, the Constitution or the Bill of Rights to them - worthless bits of paper!

We have already learned that Obama will come under pressure to get Congress to sign on to the International Criminal Court, which, once ratified, would allow the Court to reign supreme over the US Congress and its Supreme Court. Another step towards globalism.

Meanwhile, Guardian reporter Charlie Skelton has got rather more than the paper or himself bargained for I suspect. In what might well have been a debunking jaunt for Skelton, who is, after all a comedy writer, his probing of Bilderberg has brought him face to face with the lion’s den. Ever since his arrival in Greece, his every move has been tracked and traced and he has got embroiled in many face to face confrontations with the police. Hopefully this escapade might wake up a few geo-politically slumbering minds at the Guardian and foster further investigation in a more serious light. That is until, of course, the dead hand of the censorious state catches up with them. Just how many of their ranks will then dare to put their necks on the line and defy the D-notices?

Another item on this year's agenda, according to Bilderberg investigator Daniel Estulin, will be that “One of their concerns is addressing and neutralizing the anti-Lisbon treaty movement called “Libertas” led by Declan Ganley. One of the Bilderberger planned moves is to use a whispering campaign in the US media suggesting that Ganley is being funded by arms dealers in the US linked to the US military.”

The gradual exposing of Bilderberg after five decades of its existence, is now been challenged in higher circles. A Dutch Member of Parliament, Harry van Bommel, has formally petitioned Prime Minister Jan-Peter Balkenende and his European Affairs Minister Frans Timmermans over their involvement with this secretive assembly of some of western Europe’s most influential people. And it’s thanks to those indefatible crusaders for transparency and justice, Paul Joseph Watson and his blog and articles by Daniel Estulin that have brought Bilderberg to the attention of senior politicians like van Bommel.

Dutch journalist, Jurriaan Maessen, records that van Bommel wrote in his petition that “From the leaked agenda we learn that there will be discussed how to deal with the anti-Lisbon movement ‘Libertas’ through a slander campaign against its leader Declan Ganley. It remains a serious setback for the elite, not just the European elite, that the treaty has still not been ratified”, Van Bommel explains. “They wish for a more powerful European Union, even it is realised through undemocratic games. Considering the regularly attendance of our royal house and ministers, I have asked Prime Minister Balkenende and Minister for European Affairs Timmermans to have the political participants withstand such a slander campaign.”

He than follows up with this list of questions for Balkenende and Timmermans:

1 Are you aware that from May 14 to 17 2009 in Vouliagmeni, Greece, the Bilderberg conference is gathering?

2 Is it correct that Queen Beatrix will attend?

3 Are there members of the cabinet who will participate in the conference? If so, which members?

4 Is there a consensus in the cabinet on the participation of this conference or is this left to individual members? Is there deliberation between the Prime Minister and the queen in regards to participation?

5 Will you make public the items that will be discussed as well as a list of the participants? If not, why not?

6 Is it correct that the Lisbon-treaty will be prominent on the agenda of this Bilderberg-conference?

7 Are you familiar with the report that speaks of the planned discrediting of anti-Lisbon movement ‘Libertas’ with the help of a slander campaign against its leader Declan Ganley? Are you willing to request of Queen Beatrix or political participants from the Netherlands to withstand any such slander campaign?

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

Britain approaches top spot in the Orwellian League

In a study undertaken by CryptoHippie, compiling information from different organizations such as the Electronic Privacy Information Center, Reporters Without Borders, Freedom House, the Ludwig von Mises Institute and The Heritage Foundation, Britain was ranked 5th out of a total of 52 countries in its adoption of police state measures to track and trace its citizens. The US was close behind in 6th place.

“In an Electronic Police State, every surveillance camera recording, every e-mail you send, every Internet site you surf, every post you make, every check you write, every credit card swipe, every cell phone ping… are all criminal evidence, and they are held in searchable databases, for a long, long time,” the report states. “Whoever holds this evidence can make you look very, very bad whenever they care enough to do so. You can be prosecuted whenever they feel like it – the evidence is already in their database,” the report continues. “Perhaps you trust that your ruler will only use his evidence archives to hurt bad people. Will you also trust his successor? Do you also trust all of his subordinates, every government worker and every policeman?”

“If some leader behaves badly, will you really stand up to oppose him or her? Would you still do it if he had all the e-mails you sent when you were depressed? Or if she has records of every porn site you’ve ever surfed? Or if he knows every phone call you’ve ever made? Or if she knows everyone you’ve ever sent money to?” the report asks.

“This system hasn’t yet reached its full shape, but all of the basics are in place and it is not far from complete in some places,”.

The seventeen factors we included in these rankings are:

Daily Documents
Requirement of state-issued identity documents and registration.

Border Issues
Inspections at borders, searching computers, demanding decryption of data.

Financial Tracking
State’s ability to search and record all financial transactions: Checks, credit card use, wires, etc.

Gag Orders
Criminal penalties if you tell someone the state is searching their records.

Anti-Crypto Laws
Outlawing or restricting cryptography.

Constitutional Protection
A lack of constitutional protections for the individual, or the overriding of such protections.

Data Storage Ability
The ability of the state to store the data they gather.

Data Search Ability
The ability to search the data they gather.

ISP Data Retention
States forcing Internet Service Providers to save detailed records of all their customers’ Internet usage

Telephone Data Retention
States forcing telephone companies to record and save records of all their customers’ telephone usage.

Cell Phone Records
States forcing cellular telephone companies to record and save records of all their customers’ usage.

Medical records
States demanding records from all medical service providers and retaining the same.

Enforcement Ability
The state’s ability to use overwhelming force (exemplified by SWAT Teams) to seize anyone they want, whenever they want.

Habeus Corpus
Lack of habeus corpus – the right not to be held in jail without prompt due process. Or, the overriding of such protections.

Police-Intel Barrier
The lack of a barrier between police organizations and intelligence organizations. Or, the overriding of such barriers.

Covert Hacking
State operatives removing – or adding! – digital evidence to/from private computers covertly. Covert hacking can make anyone appear as any kind of criminal desired.

Loose Warrants
Warrants issued without careful examination of police statements and other justifications
by a truly independent judge.

Top of the list comes China - the great example upon which our movers and shakers model their plans for this country, the US and elsewhere - followed by North Korea, Belarus and Russia with Britain and the US next in line. The Philippines was the least engaged in this Orwellian nightmare, while other European countries enjoy lesser state prying.

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Latest from NO2ID


Although the news has been making much of the Home Office’s plans to have high street retailers issue biometric data for those wishing to renew their passports starting with Manchester, the reality is somewhat different. Neither a scheme nor a specification has been arrived at and talks are still in progress between the prospective participants and the government. Retailers would be mad to invest in the equipment while the scheme is still undefined. Yet again, lots of media and Home Office hype over something that few people want. Let’s hope retailers shy away from the whole idea.

Yet the government is determined to press ahead with its plans for a total database state and the interception and retaining of telephone calls, emails and texts is still to go ahead. The Home Office has recently launched proposals for the Intercept Modernisation Programme in which the government wants ISPs and telecommunications companies to store details on all UK phone calls, emails and web activity to allow public authorities to have access to records on demand. Some newspaper reports have suggested that DNA records of the innocent may be destroyed en-masse. Far from it. The innocent will still have their DNA records retained for six years. Dr Helen Wallace, Director of GeneWatch said: "This is a long time for innocent people to wait to have their records wiped, DNA profiles can be used to track an individual or their relatives. Where are the weighty reasons that the European Court demanded to justify retention of this data?" GeneWatch has also noticed that even the doubling of the DNA database in recent years has not created an equivalent increase in the number of crimes detected.

Another false sense of achievement has been thwarted following the mis-reporting of a statement by David Blunkett. Although the mainstream media seemed to report his change of heart while addressing and InfoSec (don’t you just love the Orwellian sound) security conference, what he was actually alluding to was the physical nature of the ID. He was actually rejecting the idea of a separate piece of plastic and suggesting the use of the passport instead, but that wouldn’t take the form of the conventional passport, it would me more along the lines of - yes - a plastic one. Hardly a change of heart!

The Home Office continually tries to obscure the real cost of the whole ID scheme. A recent report shows increased costs of £160 million in just six months on top of the £250 million already spent. But what it conveniently ignores is the cost to businesses and us - the former for the outlay in investing in the biometric recording equipment required in high street shops and the latter in the £30 or so we have to stump up for the privilege of giving away all of our personal details! They also fudge their real identity by re-branding the ‘National Identity Scheme’ the ‘National Identity Service’ as if the government is really trying to help us, not incarcerate us as is the true nature of the game.

Wednesday, May 06, 2009

High Street biometrics

Becoming increasingly embarassed by the mounting costs of implementing the ID card scheme, that pathetically useless Home Secretary, Jacqui Smith - whose only credentials are the ability to mindlessly invoke repressive legislation at the behest of her controlling masters with unremitting efficiency - is to announce today the passing of the responsibilty for the gathering of biometrics from a national network of public enrolment centres to the private sector.

Now chemists, post offices and photographic shops are to undertake the government’s dirty business with Smith lacing her words in such a way as to imply it as a commercially attractive proposition for such high street chains because of the need for anyone wishing to update their passport being forced to visit them in order to get their necessary biometric data recorded. "While private companies will clearly benefit from the increased footfall from offering this service, their customers will benefit from being able to quickly provide their biometrics while they are out doing their shopping," said Smith.

Just how low can they go!

Having put American radio host Michael Savage on the list of those banned from entering the UK which was published by the Home Office yesterday, Smith may get her come-uppance as Savage is considering taking legal action against her for placing him on a no-entry list along with known terrorists, racist groups and ‘violent skinheads’. In Smith’s words - or those of her puppeteer - “someone who has fallen into the category of fomenting hatred, of such extreme views and expressing them in such a way that it is actually likely to cause inter-community tension or even violence if that person were allowed into the country.”

Savage’s claim to notoriety is his fervent advocacy of patriotic traditional values - borders, language and culture. Although I have never listened to his show as it is not even syndicated in this country - which is hardly surprising as our national radio is largely deplorable, controlled by government dictat disallowing any real alternative debate - the banning of free speech, whether or not it might upset certain people, is the mark of political control akin to that of a Soviet Commissar which rather nicely sums up my impression of Mrs Smith.