It can’t be wrong because everybody does it

It is rapidly becoming conventional wisdom, because of the determined effort to repeat it at every opportunity by supporters of the NSA and the national security state in general, that all these revelations of government spying is no big deal. Didn’t these people’s mothers’ tell them what mothers all over the globe tell their children when they ask to do something because all their friends are doing it: “If they jump over a cliff, are you going to jump too?” [Read more…]

Blowback from the NSA spying

The story about the NSA spying on the leaders of other governments is turning out to have legs and is causing some serious discomfort to the Obama administration. While governments and elites (including elite media) don’t care if the rights and privacy of ordinary people are trampled, they get up in arms if those of the elites are. This is why the story of the wiretapping of these national leaders is getting so much play. The suggestion that president Obama knew about the tapping of German chancellor Angela Merkel’s cell phone and her conversations is causing particularly acute discomfort. [Read more…]

The new media versus the old

The new media venture by Glenn Greenwald has caused the traditional media to sit up and take notice. The combination of Greenwald’s blockbuster scoops on the NSA, his openly expressed contempt for the way that much of traditional media operates, and the deep pockets of the financier underwriting it, has made them realize that the cozy world in which they operate is soon going to be under serious attack. [Read more…]

Talk on “Challenges of Peacemaking in Israel-Palestine”

The organization Cleveland Peace Action is sponsoring the above talk by Dr. Jeff Halper who will speak on “Challenges of Peacemaking in Israel-Palestine” on Wednesday, October 30th, 6:45 p.m. at Bertram Woods Library, Shaker Blvd. at Warrensville Center Rd.

The program is free and open to the public.

I heard Halper talk some years ago at my university and it was good to hear a first-hand account of what is going on with Israel’s steady annexation of Palestinian lands. [Read more…]

Some developments following the Snowden revelations

While the US government has been using the ‘everybody does it’ excuse to downplay the damaging effects of the Snowden revelations, one can only imagine the outrage if it were discovered that (say) the Germans or the Brazilians had been eavesdropping into all president Obama’s communications. It is this asymmetry about the latest revelations of spying that are triggering some actions. [Read more…]