https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kIoaOqVzr_s&ab_channel=ThomHartmannProgram
Thursday, September 3, 2020
Broadway Star Erich Bergen sings to save the USPS
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJacYHfhFD8&ab_channel=RepresentUs
Kerala Rises Against Political Murder of Communist Youth Activists
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o5tdML9rQaA&ab_channel=PeoplesDispatch
HUGE INTELLIGENCE AGENCY SCANDAL ROCKS DENMARK
By Ron Ridenour, Covert Action Magazine.
September 2, 2020
https://popularresistance.org/huge-intelligence-agency-scandal-rocks-denmark/
Four leading Defense Intelligence Service personnel were suspended on Monday, August 24, pending an independent investigation into serious charges of illegalities—amounting to what Danish daily Politiken is calling the greatest “life scandal in its history.”
Lars Findsen, the current director of Forsvarets Efterretningstjeneste (FE), the Danish Defense Intelligence agency, and his predecessor, Thomas Ahrenkiel, plus two other current intelligence officers, are temporarily suspended. Ahrenkiel, former FE chief from 2010 to 2015, is awaiting his new post as Denmark’s new ambassador to Germany.
FE is the equivalent to the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency. While the FE jurisdiction also covers military intelligence, they must not spy on Danish people—only foreigners and those in other countries. The Police Intelligence Service (PET) surveils Danes, as the FBI surveils people within the U.S. Director Findsen came to the FE from PET where he had been its head. Two decades ago, PET’s illegal spying on the political leftwing was exposed.
The information on long-standing illegalities in the Defense Intelligence Service, which the Danish Intelligence Oversight Committee (TET) presented on Monday, includes:
Withholding “key and crucial information to government authorities” and the oversight committee between 2014 and today;
Illegal activities even before 2014;
Telling “lies” to policymakers;
Illegal surveillance on Danish citizens, including a member of the oversight committee. (Some of this illegal spying had been shared with unnamed sources [perhaps the U.S.?]);
Unauthorized activities have been shelved and;
The FE failed to follow up on indications of espionage within areas of the Ministry of Defense.
TET was created in 2014 with five civilian members, experts in the rule of law, chief judges and professors. It has eight employees and a budget of only $1.3 million. TET told the media February 24 that, in November 2019, it received from unnamed whistleblowers four thick ring binders of classified material showing FE illegalities. When TET delivered its report to the government recently, it asked Parliament to create a whistleblower scheme for the FE.
A leak from the Danish Intelligence Oversight Committee material shows that The Defense Intelligence Service has illegally shared communication of Danes with U.S.’s National Security Agency (NSA), where Edward Snowden had worked.
In an editorial on August 25, Politiken called the material “historically dramatic and [a] highly politically explosive analysis of [the] FE … quite worrisome for the rule of law.”
The Minister of Defense, Social Democrat Trine Bramsen, refused to be interviewed. She said simply, “I look at the matter with the utmost seriousness. It is absolutely vital that we can have confidence that our intelligence services are acting within their powers.” She added that these serious charges will be investigated by an independent committee.
Suspended chief Findsen stated that the charges were unwarranted.
Leading Denmark Radio (state-sponsored TV-Radio medium) judiciary reporter Trine Marie Ilsøee said, “We cannot expect that most of the possible illegalities committed will be made public.” She added that Denmark’s intelligence services are connected to and dependent upon foreign powers. Denmark could be compromised if secrets were revealed. “After all, intelligence services operate in secrecy.”
Politiken’s editors, however, demanded that, once an independent investigation is completed, it be presented to parliament so it can determine if the FE has kept policymakers informed. They also proposed that TET be granted powers to interrogate FE’s employees, and ascertain if they comply with the law, which until now has not been possible.
Several media criticized the FE for assuming that it is beyond “democratic control.” Only once, however, in all the media surveyed by this writer in a 24-hour period, has the United States of America been mentioned as its cohort and model.[i] Nevertheless, it is known that FE and PET are closely connected to the CIA, military intelligence services, and the FBI. In fact, many Danish intelligence officers receive training from U.S. intelligence agencies.
Americans consequently should be alarmed by this recent scandal, which exemplifies the growth of illegal surveillance operations in countries that had previously been considered model western democracies. The U.S. government has legitimized the new cold war against China and Russia on the basis of the latter countries’ authoritarianism, but as can be seen in this Danish case, illegal surveillance operations proliferate in allied nations.
Ironically, on the same day, the Justice Minister announced an additional $50 million for the police force, in order to bring 300 policemen closer to “neighborhood watch.” They will have posts in 20 cities for 15 hours a day to enhance a sense of safety for citizens.
August 24 was a most unusually dark day for Danish democracy within Defense-War-Intelligence institutions. Denmark’s former top general, General Major H.C. Mathiesen, was sentenced to three months in prison by a national court for nepotism, assisting his lover in her military career. He had been found guilty by a lower court, in May, and sentenced to two months in jail. He appealed and the higher court stiffened the sentence for his abuse of power over a three-year period. He will now lose the salary he collected while on suspension for nearly two years, as well as his King’s Cross. This affair is unprecedented in Denmark’s history—a general going to prison. In that sense, the declining democratic system has been fortified by the courts.
Nevertheless, more dirt has recently emerged, which military leaders ignored, regarding “sloppy and wasteful” use of tax money by the Property Management unit of the Ministry of Defense. Internal dissatisfaction about leaders’ arrogant attitude has perhaps caused some insiders to reveal these other crimes.
Some juridical experts have criticized both FE and PET leaders for allowing increased power to go to their heads ever since they began receiving extra and greater resources, manpower and authorities following the terror attacks in the U.S. on September 11, 2001. It is common knowledge that all Danish governments look to the U.S. for direction on how to run their foreign policy and thereby, their military and intelligence institutions. Their counterparts in the U.S. have more power, abuse that power, and ignore democratic procedures; so it must be alright to do the same in Denmark.
What has not yet changed in Denmark is public acknowledgment of this lack of concern for Denmark’s sovereignty.
The last serious case of illegalities connected to the government and its intelligence services took place in 2004. Major Frank Grevil was an analyst at the Defense Intelligence Service. It had concluded that there was no solid evidence that the Iraqi government of Saddam Hussein possessed weapons of mass destruction. This information was forwarded to then Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen, who lied to the public, stating he was “absolutely certain” Iraq had such weapons.
Grevil could not let this lie pass. On February 22, 2004, he anonymously leaked classified Iraq assessments to the press, and he resigned his service. Authorities found out that he had been the whistleblower, and arrested him. U.S. whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg came to Denmark to help his defense. The courts, nevertheless, found Grevil guilty of revealing state secrets and sentenced him to four months in prison, which he served. He was shunned by intelligence colleagues.
Meanwhile, PM Rasmussen convinced Parliament to declare war on Iraq, the only nation to do so. It was the first time Denmark had declared war since 1864, then against Germany. Danes killed Iraqis and eight Danes were killed in that war, all because of a lie.
Rasmussen and Foreign Minister Per Stig Moeller were in the Parliament building when anti-war activists Lars Grenaa and Rune Eltard Soerensen splashed ecological paint on them. The youths were jailed for four months (serving 70 days in isolation), fined $40,000 plus court and damage costs of ca. $200,000. Danish youth applauded them for their civil disobedience, and they were hailed by millions at European peace rallies. All political parties in Parliament, including two self-styled socialist parties, and the small Communist party, condemned the activists for using “violence.”
https://popularresistance.org/huge-intelligence-agency-scandal-rocks-denmark/
Four leading Defense Intelligence Service personnel were suspended on Monday, August 24, pending an independent investigation into serious charges of illegalities—amounting to what Danish daily Politiken is calling the greatest “life scandal in its history.”
Lars Findsen, the current director of Forsvarets Efterretningstjeneste (FE), the Danish Defense Intelligence agency, and his predecessor, Thomas Ahrenkiel, plus two other current intelligence officers, are temporarily suspended. Ahrenkiel, former FE chief from 2010 to 2015, is awaiting his new post as Denmark’s new ambassador to Germany.
FE is the equivalent to the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency. While the FE jurisdiction also covers military intelligence, they must not spy on Danish people—only foreigners and those in other countries. The Police Intelligence Service (PET) surveils Danes, as the FBI surveils people within the U.S. Director Findsen came to the FE from PET where he had been its head. Two decades ago, PET’s illegal spying on the political leftwing was exposed.
The information on long-standing illegalities in the Defense Intelligence Service, which the Danish Intelligence Oversight Committee (TET) presented on Monday, includes:
Withholding “key and crucial information to government authorities” and the oversight committee between 2014 and today;
Illegal activities even before 2014;
Telling “lies” to policymakers;
Illegal surveillance on Danish citizens, including a member of the oversight committee. (Some of this illegal spying had been shared with unnamed sources [perhaps the U.S.?]);
Unauthorized activities have been shelved and;
The FE failed to follow up on indications of espionage within areas of the Ministry of Defense.
TET was created in 2014 with five civilian members, experts in the rule of law, chief judges and professors. It has eight employees and a budget of only $1.3 million. TET told the media February 24 that, in November 2019, it received from unnamed whistleblowers four thick ring binders of classified material showing FE illegalities. When TET delivered its report to the government recently, it asked Parliament to create a whistleblower scheme for the FE.
A leak from the Danish Intelligence Oversight Committee material shows that The Defense Intelligence Service has illegally shared communication of Danes with U.S.’s National Security Agency (NSA), where Edward Snowden had worked.
In an editorial on August 25, Politiken called the material “historically dramatic and [a] highly politically explosive analysis of [the] FE … quite worrisome for the rule of law.”
The Minister of Defense, Social Democrat Trine Bramsen, refused to be interviewed. She said simply, “I look at the matter with the utmost seriousness. It is absolutely vital that we can have confidence that our intelligence services are acting within their powers.” She added that these serious charges will be investigated by an independent committee.
Suspended chief Findsen stated that the charges were unwarranted.
Leading Denmark Radio (state-sponsored TV-Radio medium) judiciary reporter Trine Marie Ilsøee said, “We cannot expect that most of the possible illegalities committed will be made public.” She added that Denmark’s intelligence services are connected to and dependent upon foreign powers. Denmark could be compromised if secrets were revealed. “After all, intelligence services operate in secrecy.”
Politiken’s editors, however, demanded that, once an independent investigation is completed, it be presented to parliament so it can determine if the FE has kept policymakers informed. They also proposed that TET be granted powers to interrogate FE’s employees, and ascertain if they comply with the law, which until now has not been possible.
Several media criticized the FE for assuming that it is beyond “democratic control.” Only once, however, in all the media surveyed by this writer in a 24-hour period, has the United States of America been mentioned as its cohort and model.[i] Nevertheless, it is known that FE and PET are closely connected to the CIA, military intelligence services, and the FBI. In fact, many Danish intelligence officers receive training from U.S. intelligence agencies.
Americans consequently should be alarmed by this recent scandal, which exemplifies the growth of illegal surveillance operations in countries that had previously been considered model western democracies. The U.S. government has legitimized the new cold war against China and Russia on the basis of the latter countries’ authoritarianism, but as can be seen in this Danish case, illegal surveillance operations proliferate in allied nations.
Ironically, on the same day, the Justice Minister announced an additional $50 million for the police force, in order to bring 300 policemen closer to “neighborhood watch.” They will have posts in 20 cities for 15 hours a day to enhance a sense of safety for citizens.
August 24 was a most unusually dark day for Danish democracy within Defense-War-Intelligence institutions. Denmark’s former top general, General Major H.C. Mathiesen, was sentenced to three months in prison by a national court for nepotism, assisting his lover in her military career. He had been found guilty by a lower court, in May, and sentenced to two months in jail. He appealed and the higher court stiffened the sentence for his abuse of power over a three-year period. He will now lose the salary he collected while on suspension for nearly two years, as well as his King’s Cross. This affair is unprecedented in Denmark’s history—a general going to prison. In that sense, the declining democratic system has been fortified by the courts.
Nevertheless, more dirt has recently emerged, which military leaders ignored, regarding “sloppy and wasteful” use of tax money by the Property Management unit of the Ministry of Defense. Internal dissatisfaction about leaders’ arrogant attitude has perhaps caused some insiders to reveal these other crimes.
Some juridical experts have criticized both FE and PET leaders for allowing increased power to go to their heads ever since they began receiving extra and greater resources, manpower and authorities following the terror attacks in the U.S. on September 11, 2001. It is common knowledge that all Danish governments look to the U.S. for direction on how to run their foreign policy and thereby, their military and intelligence institutions. Their counterparts in the U.S. have more power, abuse that power, and ignore democratic procedures; so it must be alright to do the same in Denmark.
What has not yet changed in Denmark is public acknowledgment of this lack of concern for Denmark’s sovereignty.
The last serious case of illegalities connected to the government and its intelligence services took place in 2004. Major Frank Grevil was an analyst at the Defense Intelligence Service. It had concluded that there was no solid evidence that the Iraqi government of Saddam Hussein possessed weapons of mass destruction. This information was forwarded to then Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen, who lied to the public, stating he was “absolutely certain” Iraq had such weapons.
Grevil could not let this lie pass. On February 22, 2004, he anonymously leaked classified Iraq assessments to the press, and he resigned his service. Authorities found out that he had been the whistleblower, and arrested him. U.S. whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg came to Denmark to help his defense. The courts, nevertheless, found Grevil guilty of revealing state secrets and sentenced him to four months in prison, which he served. He was shunned by intelligence colleagues.
Meanwhile, PM Rasmussen convinced Parliament to declare war on Iraq, the only nation to do so. It was the first time Denmark had declared war since 1864, then against Germany. Danes killed Iraqis and eight Danes were killed in that war, all because of a lie.
Rasmussen and Foreign Minister Per Stig Moeller were in the Parliament building when anti-war activists Lars Grenaa and Rune Eltard Soerensen splashed ecological paint on them. The youths were jailed for four months (serving 70 days in isolation), fined $40,000 plus court and damage costs of ca. $200,000. Danish youth applauded them for their civil disobedience, and they were hailed by millions at European peace rallies. All political parties in Parliament, including two self-styled socialist parties, and the small Communist party, condemned the activists for using “violence.”
US police violence: New video of black man dying of asphyxiation released
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qpf3SakR0HM
JAPAN’S SLOW ROT AND SUBSERVIENCE TO THE US WILL LIKELY CONTINUE
By Andre Vltchek, RT.
September 2, 2020
https://popularresistance.org/japans-slow-rot-subservience-to-the-us-will-likely-continue/
https://popularresistance.org/japans-slow-rot-subservience-to-the-us-will-likely-continue/
Do Not Judge Shinzo Abe’s Japan By Those Shiny New Structures Of The Tokyo Osaka Maglev Project That Will Be Soon Connecting The Industrial Heartland Of Nagoya With The Capital City.
Japan’s longest-serving prime minister is stepping down, and the nation appears to be in shock. But people are stunned simply because the protocol was broken (even if unwell, ill, a Japanese leader is not supposed to abandon his post, abruptly), not because they are fearing or expecting great political, economic, or social upheavals. Japan is a country of continuity, and, during the last decades, of gradual and very slow decline.
Shamed By China, Controlled By The United States
Here, no one is expecting a revolution or collapse of the system to take place. Japan is the most stable and most predictable country on earth. It is a staunch Western ally, without its own foreign policy and very little of its own opinion about the world. Several decades ago, the country used to rebel – against capitalism and the Western rule – but the administrations of Koizumi and Abe broke the spine of rebellions, gently, by wrapping up the nation into a comfortable duvet, guaranteeing a mildly sclerotic but still cozy existence for the majority.
Shinzo Abe understands Japan. It is his country, and he is its native son. He also understands the establishment and how to deal with the United States. He is more pro-market than Trump, he despises North Korea more than the West does, and he is ‘politely’ but determinately antagonizing China.
China has been his huge ‘psychological problem’. It is because, in the past, Japan’s collaboration with Washington ‘used to pay off’, at least in terms of the quality of life. Japan used to be the second-largest economy in the world, and its standard of living used to be much higher than in most Western countries.
Then the Chinese economy bypassed that of Japan. And soon after, Japanese travelers to the People’s Republic of China began returning with ‘frightening tales’: Chinese cities and the countryside were blooming. Chinese trains were suddenly running faster than shinkansen, Chinese museums and opera houses were more lavish than those in Japan, and the public spaces and social projects were dwarfing those in the increasingly capitalist Japan. Poverty levels in China are rapidly declining, while in Japan they are on a slow rise.
This was not supposed to be like that, Japanese people were exclaiming! Anti-Chinese sentiments erupted, and Shinzo Abe did nothing to stop them. On the contrary.
Instead of reforming and investing in the people, the two mightiest capitalist countries on earth – the United States under Trump and Japan under Abe – turned against China with unimaginable force and spite.
But under Abe, Japan began falling behind its other ancient rival, South Korea, too. And its arch-enemy, the country which Japan helped to destroy after WWII, North Korea (DPRK), is still there, undefeated and strong.
Self-Censoring Truths About Japan
Instead of reimagining Japan, Shinzo Abe began censoring the past of the country, as well as its already submissive media.
My good friend, David McNeill, an Irish professor at the prestigious Sofia University in Tokyo, who also worked for the NHK, Japan’s national broadcaster, once explained to me:
“There is so much self-censorship in Japanese media, now. And the government is issuing ‘guidelines’, so called ‘Orange Book’, for instance: how to treat anything that is ‘contagious’… or anything related to history. There are instructions to writers and translators. For instance: never use words like Nanking Massacre, except when you quote foreign experts. Or Yasukuni Shrine – never use the word ‘controversial’ in connection to it.’ We cannot write about ‘sexual slaves’ from WWII.”
It is a well-known fact that Japanese mass media outlets do not take a position on any major world events related to Russia, China or Iran, until Western publications or networks such as the BBC or CNN provide ‘guidance’. I used to work for one of the major Japanese newspapers, when covering ‘sensitive’ international topics we had to seek permission to publish from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Mr. Taira Takemoto, a civil engineer based in Osaka wrote for this report:
“Frankly speaking, Abe has spent lots of effort selling Japan to the US, with President Obama or President Trump. There are many pending issues that need to be sorted out from the 1960 US-Japan Security Treaty to the issue of numerous US bases to trade to an increasing hostility of Japan and the US toward China, as much as DPRK. In the international arena, I do think he has subjugated Japan to the hands of the West, in particular the US.”
Optimism Is Hard To Come By
Yet, forget about Tokyo for a while. To understand today’s Japan, visit its central part, urban and rural, and you will understand how deep the rot under Abe was. Outside cities like Suzuka or Yokkaichi in Mie Prefecture, rice fields and bamboo forests are dotted with rotting carcasses of cars. Many houses are in disrepair. The bus lines are abandoned. Main roads are lined up with unhealthy fast food joints, not unlike those in the US suburbia. Many public playgrounds for children are unmaintained or gone.
A once-glorious cultural life has been decaying, even before the Covid-19 pandemic. Huge cultural centers, once the pride of the country, are mostly empty, with tall grass growing between the buildings.
Blue tents of homeless people are pitched in almost all public parks of Tokyo, Nagoya, Osaka, and other major cities.
Ms. Mikiko Aoki, a social worker, living in Nagoya, has mixed feelings about Shinzo Abe:
“The news of [the] PM’s resignation surprised us all as we did not see it coming. I guess we had gotten used to him.
I think he has presided over some important domestic works from the recovery of the big earthquake in 2011 to the preparation of the hosting of the postponed Tokyo Olympics. But the social situations in Japan are no better than before. In fact, I think they are worse, with the aging population and less investment of the state on public services and support to families in need. I don’t think there will be any different with a new prime minister. After all, he will come from the same party! Nothing changes.”
Geoffrey Gunn, a leading Australian historian and Professor Emeritus at Nagasaki University, is concerned about Japan’s increasingly aggressive role in the region:
“All changed when the Abe government nationalized the Senkaku/Diaoyu [Islands]. The status quo changed because now Japan declares that there is actually no dispute over these so-called disputed islands. Therefore, the Tokyo government has angered China. China is indignant with this change of the status quo.”
What Is Next Should Be Much More Important Now Than Who Comes Next
Unfortunately, in Japan, there is no expectation or hope for the essential political changes. Political clans divided the territory, surprises are very unlikely. Japan’s Communist Party has many members, but it is always weak when it comes to elections.
Japan will continue to decline, but extremely slowly, one could even say ‘elegantly’. The standard of living is still extremely high. The aging population will continue enjoying generous pensions and benefits but younger generations have been tightening their belts. The era of lifetime employment is over. Part-time jobs with no security are the only future for millions of young graduates.
Confrontations with China, the Koreas, and to some extent Russia will continue for years to come, or at least for as long as the United States will be igniting them.
Yoshihide Suga, 71 years old and often described as a ‘lieutenant’ of Mr. Abe, is expected to ‘join the race’ for the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) nomination. Were he to ‘win’, not much would change, except that he may be less cautious regarding Covid-19. Japan’s hermetically closed borders could open, and foreign tourists and business travelers could be welcomed, a scenario not unlike that in some European countries. Little more would change.
During our conversation, David McNeill passed an unflattering verdict on Abe’s era:
“Abe will probably be seen as a political caretaker rather than the conservative radical he set out to be. The fact that he failed to rewrite the hated constitution means he will probably see the last seven and a half years as a failure.”
And Suga? David replied without hesitation:
“On this, I agree with Koichi Nakano who wrote for the New York Times: ‘Suga will attempt to continue Abe politics without Abe, like John Major after Thatcher.’”
As for me, being locked out of Japan, one of my homes, for the entire six months, is a tragedy.
Prime ministers come and go. Occupation armies will, one day, disappear as well. Rotting car carcasses will fully decompose. But the depth of Japan, as well as its beauty, will never vanish. Frustrated Japanophiles are bitching about the country, but stay.
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