Via Bruce Schneier | Definitely strange bedfellows: A United Nations agency is quietly drafting technical standards, proposed by the Chinese government, to define methods of tracing the original source of Internet communications and potentially curbing the ability of users to remain anonymous.The U.S. National Security Agency is also participating in the "IP Traceback" drafting group, named Q6/17, which is meeting next week in Geneva to work on the traceback proposal. Members ...

By Stephen Lendman - RINF | Danny Schechter is a media activist, critic, independent filmmaker, TV producer as well as an author of 10 books and lecturer on media issues. Some call him "The News Dissector," and that's the name of his popular blog on media issues. He's also co-founder of Media Channel.org. It covers the "political, cultural and social impacts of the media," and provides information unavailable in the ...

Media Workers Against the War | Last month the press reported how friendly fire in a bungled assault killed a British soldier in Helmand last year. They all neglected to remind their readers, however, how they first reported the operation – as a noble tale of heroism and comradeship.   In January 2007 the British papers went wild over a “...

By Tariq Ali | The decision to make public a presidential order of last July authorizing American strikes inside Pakistan without seeking the approval of the Pakistani government ends a long debate within, and on the periphery of, the Bush administration. Senator Barack Obama, aware of this ongoing debate during his own long battle with Hillary Clinton, tried to outflank her by supporting a policy of U.S. strikes ...

By PAM MARTENS | The vetting of Sarah Palin for the McCain campaign by an Iran-Contra alumnus brought an epiphany. (See “The Man Who Vetted Palin,” CounterPunch, September 8, 2008.)  The American people’s inability to control this crime spree we call the Bush administration is not because we’re lazy, narcissistic or willfully blind to human rights violations, as much of the world now views us.   It’s because we’ve ...

TAXI drivers have welcomed proposals to improve passenger and driver safety, including tougher driver testing and compulsory installation of CCTV. Changes to the licensing of cabs operating in Gravesham were recommended for approval at a Gravesham Borough Council Cabinet meeting on Monday with a final decision expected in January next year. If the initiative is approved, Gravesham will be the first borough in the country to introduce compulsory CCTV into its taxis. The ...

Lew Rockwell | Among the many cock-and-bull stories set afoot by the Bush administration during the lead-up to its attack on Iraq was the one about the now-infamous drones of death. Later, it became sufficiently clear that this alleged threat had no more substance than the others the administration and the lapdog mainstream media had served up to a credulous public. Although the ludicrously primitive Iraqi drones had no capacity whatsoever to harm the American public, the lethality ...

By Sam Smith - Progressive Review | Since there is so much bad financial news these days, we thought this might cheer you up. The drug business is doing extremely well, thanks in large part to years of de facto subsidy by the perversely misnamed "war on drugs." A recent CNN report said the Coast Guard had seized $4.7 billion worth of cocaine last year. That's only the amount the Coast ...

Visit the Conference Web Site http://war-crimes.info  A conference on plans to bring high-level American war criminals to justice will be streamed live from Andover, Mass., September 13-14. The conference has attracted eminent national and international legal authorities who will speak about the legal grounds for seeking prosecution of top administration officials, including George Bush, who appear to be guilty of war crimes. The URL address to view the conference live or to ...

London Progressive Journal | The American education company Kaplan has announced plans to open a profit seeking university in the UK. Although only a small beginning, this opens the way to a profit-driven higher education system. The first move was the government’s, who recently relaxed laws on who can award degrees. They are in effect trying to open up the concept of a degree ...

By David Swanson | Remarks on September 14, 2008, at Justice Robert Jackson Conference on Planning for the Prosecution of High Level American War Criminals, Andover, Massachusetts. I want to thank Dean Lawrence Velvel and also Sherwood Ross and Jeff Demers for putting this event together. These remarks are posted at the top of AfterDowningStreet.org in a version that has links to materials and action pages that I reference. So you ...

In a landmark election season hailed as historic for the inclusion of an African American and a woman as official party candidates, scarce discussion has arisen over the future of the Supreme Court. Undoubtedly, a crucial consequence of this election is a potentially radical alteration of the ideological identity of the Court. One which will possess the power to drastically alter the legal framework of this nation in regards ...

WSWS | The US government takeover of the mortgage finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac has dealt a shattering blow to the ideology of market capitalism, which has been used for decades to justify a relentless assault on the working class and a vast transfer of wealth to the American ruling elite. The endless invocations of the virtues of private enterprise, individual entrepreneurship and self-reliance, used to demonize socialism and ...

Asia Times | The United States government has imposed new sanctions on Iran, this time targeting its shipping industry, by blacklisting the main shipping line and 18 subsidiaries, accusing the maritime carrier of being engaged in contraband nuclear material, a charge vehemently denied by Iran. While the economic impact of the measures against Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines (IRISL) will be minimal in light of the near absence of any ...

The Progressive | America must move from the errant, retributive justice of 9/11 to a healing, restorative process of truth and reconciliation. Before the Congress adjourns, I will bring forth a new proposal for the establishment of a National Commission on Truth and Reconciliation, which will have the power to compel testimony and gather official documents to reveal to the American people not only the underlying deception which has divided us, ...