Bulletin N° 571

 

Subject: ON THE POLITICAL NUANCES OF 'COLLABORATION' AND 'RESISTANCE' IN 21st CENTURY CLASS STRUGGLES.

13 June 2013
Grenoble, France

Dear Colleagues and Friends of CEIMSA,

Fascism has been described as capitalism with the gloves off. If this is true, it suggests a fairly clear picture of the sorts of things that are in store for us. The violent threats against Bradley Manning (age 22 when he broke the silence), Julian Assange (age 42 today), Edward Snowden (age 29) --not to mention many other young citizens following their conscience by reporting to the press illegal and immoral acts that they have seen committed by official representatives of public and private institutions-- all reflect the ontological insecurities felt by illegitimate dependent power hierarchies, when their only strategem for survival is the constant reproduction of FEAR. (Please see CEIMSA Bulletin #399 for a description of how to test the functions of such hiararchies.)

It was Franklin Roosevelt who expressed the sentiments of anti-fascism in the United States in the midst of the Great Depression, in 1933, on the eve of the Fascist siezure of power in Germany : "We have nothing to fear but fear itself !", he told the American people.

After many decades of compromises with agressive monopoly capitalist policies, always against public interest, we have arrived at a point where compromise seems no longer possible. The proverbial fig leaf has been lifted, and "political capitalism" stands naked before us, exposing all its economic, military and ideological force. A grim social Darwinism weighs heavily on the public mind, as many can only hope that they will not be among the first victims to take a direct hit, and they continue subsidizing the 900 US military bases around the world, as well as repeatedly bailing out the plutocrats who are "too big to fail," while mindlessly repeating the dominant ideology to themsleves and to one another.

 

The 7 items below should serve as a wake-up call for those of us who have not yet fallen into a state of torpor and deep denial.

Item A., from The Real News Network, is a video of UK Guardian reporter, Glenn Greenwald interviewing the now famous NSA whistle blower, Edward Snowden on why he broke the silence.

Item B., from Professor Edward S. Herman, is a political cartoon on the Obama-Bush connection (by remote control).

Item C., from Democracy Now !, is an interview with cybersecurity expert Susan Landau, explaining why the NSA collection of metadata is more intrusive than eavesdropping.

Item D. is a debate between the Pulitzer Prize winning reporter Chris Hedges and Chicago law professor Geoffrey Stone: "Is Edward Snowden a Hero or a Traitor?"

Item E., from CODEPINK, is an invitation to sign a petition requesting US Senator Diane Feinstein to speak out against the NSA PRISM Program and in defense of Edward Snowden.

Item F., from Ricken Patel of Avaaz.org, is a series of important articles on the Snowden exposure of government wrong-doing and a also a petion to dropp all charges against him.

Item G., from Carolyn Rusti Eisenberg at Historians against the War, is an urgent request to contact Congress to vote against the 2014 budget for the National Defense Authorization Act, which would further deplete social services in the United States.

 

Sincerely,
Francis Feeley
Professor of American Studies
University of Grenoble-3
Director of Research
University of Paris-Nanterre
Center for the Advanced Study of American Institutions and Social Movements
The University of California-San Diego
http://dimension.ucsd.edu/CEIMSA-IN-EXILE/  

 

A.

from The Real New Network :
date: June 9, 2013
Subject: Edward Snowden speaks.

 

NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden:
'I don't want to live in a society that does these sort of things'

[Guardian's Glenn Greenwald talks to Edward Snowden, the source behind the NSA files about his motives for the biggest intelligence leak in a generation - June 9, 2013]

http://therealnews.com/t2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=74&jumival=10293

 

B.

from Edward S. Herman ::
date: June 10, 2013
Subject: Remote Control politics.

George W's New Toy

Cartoon by Terry Wise -

http://editorialcartoonists.com/cartoons/WolveM/2013/WolveM20130610A_low.jpg

C.

from Democracy Now ! :
date: June 12, 2013
Subject:

 

D.

from Democracy Now ! :
date: June 12, 2013
Subject:

E.

from CODEPINK :
date: June 11, 2013
Subject: Who controls the NSA?

Dear Francis ,



Edward Snowden
   

 

It's no longer a secret: our civil liberties and right to privacy are under attack. The National Security Agency is spying on your phone, Facebook, and they're reading your emails. We know this now because a 29 year-old man named Edward Snowden risked his future by leaking NSA documents that blew the lid off our government's secret spy programs.

Now, Senator Feinstein (D-CA), who has known the extent of these programs for years, has the audacity to accuse Snowden of treason. As American citizens we need to stand up and say enough is enough. We deserve government transparency and personal privacy. Extreme secrecy is breeding whistleblowing.
Join us to tell Senator Feinstein: Truthtelling is NOT treason! 

In solidarity with whistleblowers,
Alli, Candice, Dooler, Emily, Gianna, Hannah, Jodie, Maggie, Medea, Nancy, Natalie, Noor, Rooj, Sam, and Tighe
P.S.- If you're in the DC area on Thursday, join CODEPINK and allies to protest spying by the FBI and NSA and to support Edward Snowden and all whistleblowers. RSVP here!

F.

from  Ricken Patel - Avaaz.org [avaaz@avaaz.org]:
date: June 13, 2013
Subject: Petition in support of Edward Snowden.
https://secure.avaaz.org/en/stop_prism_global/?aVsDaab

Hi all,




This 29-year-old just gave up his whole life to blow the whistle on the US’s insane PRISM program -- which has hacked all our emails, Skype messages and Facebook posts for years. If millions of us act urgently and get behind him, we can help press the US to crack down on PRISM, not Edward. Let’s stand with him before it's too late:

Sign the petition

This 29 year-old analyst just gave up his whole life -- his girlfriend, his job, and his home -- to blow the whistle on the US government's shocking PRISM program -- which has been reading and recording our emails, Skype messages, Facebook posts and phone calls for years.

When Bradley Manning passed this kind of data to Wikileaks, the US threw him naked into solitary confinement in conditions that the UN called "cruel, inhumane and degrading".

The authorities and press are deciding right now how to handle this scandal. If millions of us stand with Edward in the next 48 hours, it will send a powerful statement that he should be treated like the brave whistleblower that he is, and it should be PRISM, and not Edward, that the US cracks down on:

https://secure.avaaz.org/en/stop_prism_global/?bVsDaab&v=25833

PRISM is profoundly disturbing: it gives the US government unlimited access to all of our personal email and social media accounts on Google, Youtube, Facebook, Skype, Hotmail, Yahoo! and much more. They're recording billions of our messages every month and the CIA can now or in the future use the information to prosecute, persecute, or blackmail us, our friends or our families!

Edward was horrified by this unprecedented violation of individual privacy. So he copied large amounts of files, sent them to the Guardian newspaper for publication and escaped to Hong Kong. His bravery not only exposed PRISM, but has started a domino effect around the world, shining a light on secret spy programs in Canada, the UK and Australia in just days! Now he's trapped in Hong Kong, waiting to be arrested. A global outcry could save him from extradition to the US, and encourage other countries to grant him asylum.

We can't let the US do to Edward what they did to Bradley Manning. Let's urgently stand with him, and against PRISM:

https://secure.avaaz.org/en/stop_prism_global/?bVsDaab&v=25833

Sometimes the things our governments do are simply breathtaking. When heroic individuals like Edward have risked their own freedoms to bring scandals of this scale into light, the Avaaz community has come together to demand fair treatment -- and won. When half a million of us joined with other organizations and activists calling on the US government to stop its cruel treatment of Bradley Manning, he was relocated to a medium-security prison and taken out of solitary confinement. If we act quickly, we might do better for Edward, and help him win the fight he's bravely taken on, for all our sakes.

With hope and determination,

Ricken, Emma, Oli, Mia, Allison, Ari, Dalia, Laura and the whole Avaaz team

PS - Many Avaaz campaigns are started by members of our community! Start yours now and win on any issue - local, national or global: http://www.avaaz.org/en/petition/start_a_petition/?bgMYedb&v=25795


MORE INFORMATION:

Edward Snowden: the whistleblower behind the NSA surveillance revelations (The Guardian)
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jun/09/edward-snowden-nsa-whistleblower-surveillance

Edward Snowden Contact Glenn Greenwald Should Be 'Disappeared', Security Officials 'Overheard Saying' (Huffington Post)
http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2013/06/10/nsa-leaker-and-journalist-should-be-disappeared-overheard_n_3414346.html?utm_hp_ref=canada&ir=Canada

NSA PRISM program taps in to user data of Apple, Google and others (The Guardian)
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jun/06/us-tech-giants-nsa-data

Prism scandal: Government program secretly probes Internet servers (Chicago Tribune)
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-nsa-prism-scandal-20130607,0,301166.story

PRISM by the Numbers: A Guide to the Government’s Secret Internet Data-Mining Program (TIME)
http://newsfeed.time.com/2013/06/06/prism-by-the-numbers-a-guide-to-the-governments-secret-internet-data-mining-program/

Anger swells after NSA phone records court order revelations (The Guardian)
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jun/06/obama-administration-nsa-verizon-records

Data-collection program got green light from MacKay in 2011 (Globe and Mail)
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/data-collection-program-got-green-light-from-mackay-in-2011/article12444909/

Greens unveil plan to require warrant to access phone and internet records (The Guardian)
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jun/11/greens-warrant-phone-internet-records


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G.

from Historians against the War :
date: June 13, 2013
Subject: The National Defense Authorization Act: not just another vote.

www.historiansagainstwar.org/‎

Please Forward Widely and Quickly

The House of Representative is poised to vote on HR 1960, FY 2014 National Defense Authorization Act, containing another $638 billion for the Pentagon (including $85.8 billion for the "winding down" war in Afghanistan). Isn't this just the same bad bill, Historians Against the War opposes every year? No its much worse!

Here's why: by busting through the sequester limits on the military, the House leadership aims to double the cuts on domestic discretionary spending. Across the country states and cities are already struggling with painful reductions in unemployment benefits, meals for the elderly, public housing, job training and Head Start. This bill compounds the damage.

Can we count on President Obama to veto this legislation, as he just warned? Not if past experience is any guide.

Elected Representatives need to hear from us today !
Call Capitol Switchboard: 202-224-3121

Let them know that you are opposed to spending $638 billion for unnecessary wars and weapons systems. Tell them to support Lee/ McGovern amendment to accelerate US withdrawal from Afghanistan

Most Important: Urge your member of Congress to vote "No" on the 2014 Defense Authorization bill (HR 1960) and to restore the domestic cuts, which are damaging our communities.

Carolyn Rusti Eisenberg
for HAW Steering Committee
PS Let us know if you made the call

Carolyn.Eisenberg@hofstra.edu