MADA: Over 80% of Palestinian Journalists Self-Censor
nsnbc international
Oct 17, 2014
IMEMC : The Palestinian Center for Development and Media Freedoms (MADA) released a report, on Thursday, estimating that over 80 percent of Palestinian journalists were engaged in self-censorship.
The group released a report of its findings following two studies, along with a meeting on self-censorship and its impact on freedom of expression and media in Palestine, according to Ma’an News Agency.
Mousa Rimawi, general director of MADA, said that self-censorship is the most “serious and dangerous kind of censorship” journalists face, noting that the practice began during the Israeli occupation prior to the establishment of the Palestinian Authority.
Mr. Rimawi said that direct censorship by Israeli authorities during the First Intifada, in the late eighties, led to self-censorship among Palestinian journalists as media outlets used different methods of skirting Israeli restrictions on media output.
Self-censorship continued after the creation of the PA, Rimawi said, and has escalated “concretely and dangerously” since the 2007 split between Hamas and Fateh.
Ma’an further reports that, during a meeting entitled “Self-censorship: Is there a way to get rid of it?”, dozens of journalists and media students were presented with the results of two studies by MADA which revealed that some 80 percent of journalists surveyed practiced self-censorship on some or all of the material which they had written or produced.
Over 68 percent of journalists claim that their work, or their colleagues’ work, had been banned from being published, at one time or another, by their employer.
They also explained that the practice of self-censorship was related not only to official institutions, but also to fears that society and publishers are not willing to discuss taboo subjects.
MADA released a statement, in December of 2013, which documented “worrying violations” against media freedoms in the occupied West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
The report noted several arbitrary arrests of journalists by PA forces in the West Bank, as well as Hamas security forces in Gaza.
PODCAST — Red Ice Radio – Jon Rappoport – CDC Fraud: Vaccine Autism Link & Ebola
Red Ice Radio
Sept 26, 2014
Jon Rappoport is an investigative journalist, author and publisher of the website nomorefakenews.com. He has worked as an investigative reporter for 30 years, writing articles on politics, medicine, and health. Jon has delivered lectures and seminars on global politics, health, logic, and creative power to audiences around the world. He returns to give a complete run down on the recent CDC scandal. On August 25, 2014 the CDC published a press release defending its 2004 study on autism. Two days later CDC whistleblower publicly admits he and his co-authors cooked that study and committed fraud. The CDC was referring to the 2004 study whistleblower William Thompson co-authored, the study he admitted was fraudulent, the study he and his co-authors slanted to bury the connection between the MMR vaccine and autism. Jon discusses the complexities behind this huge cover-up. Actor, Rob Schneider also said he has a copy of “the original CDC report that was later suppressed and fraudulently changed.” Later, Jon talks about the striking similarity between the Thompson and Snowden stories. In this extended interview, we’ll continue discussing the vaccine as well as the length the CDC and government will go to obscure damage they’ve created. We’ll move on to talk about the Ebola epidemic. We’ll hear how the CDC is getting their numbers on cases and how it is being diagnosed. The CDC claims that there will be “1 million Ebola cases by January.” As Ebola victims fly into Western nations, Jon discusses what possible scenarios are being planned in the near future in Western nations.
3D printer for creating untraceable AR-15 rifles hits market
Published time: October 03, 2014 03:21
Defense Distributed has offered a pre-sale of its new milling machine which allows buyers to print and assemble a steel AR-15 rifle in the comfort of their own home. The weapon is completely untraceable.
Ghost Gunner is the company’s new computer-numerically-controlled (CNC) milling machine. Unlike its so-called Liberator gun, which is a plastic gun design to be created via a 3D printer, the Ghost Gunner is the PC-connected hardware for manufacturing the lower receiver of the popular AR-15 rifle.
The receiver is the control part of a firearm which houses the operating parts and serves as the frame of the gun. Without it, the weapon is inoperable. It is also where the manufacturer places the serial number, which is required by law.
The US does allow for creating a firearm from parts or kits, according to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), which states: “[An] unlicensed individual may make a ‘firearm’ as defined in the GCA for his own personal use, but not for sale or distribution.”
As a way to get around that law, manufacturers can make a semi-finished lower receiver that “isn’t technically a gun, but gets as close to the line as possible,” Ars Technica reported. The metal piece is usually 80 percent finished, and can be purchased from a variety of companies. The Ghost Gunner machine will finish the lower receiver, and then customers can purchase the rest of the AR-15 parts online, without being subjected to waiting periods or background checks.
The company’s co-founder, Cody Wilson, is a self-described anarchist. He told Wired that he wants to make the process of avoiding government weapons regulations easier and more accessible than ever before.
“Typically this has been the realm of gunsmiths, not the casual user. This is where digital manufacturing, the maker movement, changes things,” he said. “We developed something that’s very cheap, that makes traditional gunsmithing affordable. You can do it at home.”
VIDEO — Ted L Gunderson Ex FBI Whistleblower Poisoned? – Dr.Ed Lucidi
AirCrap.org
Sept 29, 2014
Uploaded on Dec 3, 2011
Former head of FBI Los Angeles, Memphis, Dallas, poisoned with Arsenic says Dr Ed Lucidi who saw the body and treated Mr Gunderson who suffered bladder cancer and died as a result of its spread. Reportedly Mr Gunderson had a very large FBI dossier being a whistleblower against the agency and left out of moral considerations. He spoke to many around the country about his first hand information..
9 Epic Failures of Regulating Cryptography
Activist Post
Sept 27, 2014
Electronic Frontier Foundation
They can promise strong encryption. They just need to figure out how they can provide us plain text. – FBI General Counsel Valerie Caproni, September 27, 2010
[W]e’re in favor of strong encryption, robust encryption. The country needs it, industry needs it. We just want to make sure we have a trap door and key under some judge’s authority where we can get there if somebody is planning a crime. – FBI Director Louis Freeh, May 11, 1995
Beware: Facebook’s “Soft Censorship”
September 5, 2014 (Tony Cartalucci – LocalOrg) – The Land Destroyer Report maintained a Facebook page under the name Anthony Cartalucci. Since 2009 it was used to express my personal thoughts regarding the news of the day, as well as share relevant links with followers. Today, Facebook, without warning or opportunity to appeal, decided that the Facebook account must be changed over to a “page.” By doing so, all those following my account no longer would receive updates, because of Facebook’s “news feed” filters.
The premise behind news feed filters is that people have too many “friends” and are following too many accounts, so they can’t possibly manage all the content themselves. Therefore, Facebook will do it for them. We already know about the Facebook “experiment” where they intentionally manipulated the news feed of hundreds of thousands of Facebook users without their consent.
A report published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (PNAS) titled, “Experimental evidence of massive-scale emotional contagion through social networks,” stated in its abstract that:
We show, via a massive (N = 689,003) experiment on Facebook, that emotional states can be transferred to others via emotional contagion, leading people to experience the same emotions without their awareness. We provide experimental evidence that emotional contagion occurs without direct interaction between people (exposure to a friend expressing an emotion is sufficient), and in the complete absence of nonverbal cues.Not only are the findings troubling – illustrating that Facebook possesses the ability to influence the emotions of its users unwittingly through careful manipulation of their news feeds – but the invasive, unethical methods by which Facebook conducted the experiment are troubling as well.
Clearly manipulating users’ news feeds possesses powerful propaganda and mass-manipulative influence – surely influence those with the resources would be willing to pay for. And that is exactly what Facebook has arranged for with their new “reach” system. Facebook’s own explanation is as follows:
Rather than showing people all possible content, News Feed is designed to show each person on Facebook the content that’s most relevant to them. Of the 1,500+ stories a person might see whenever they log onto Facebook, News Feed displays approximately 300. To choose which stories to show, News Feed ranks each possible story (from more to less important) by looking at thousands of factors relative to each person.
Those involuntarily forced to switch from standard accounts over to “pages” will notice the “boost” feature below each post. This is where you are required to pay Facebook money to ensure people who voluntarily followed you to receive content from you, actually receive it. Obviously, this confers a major advantage to well-funded start-ups, established media outlets, and large, corporate-driven propaganda machines. For the independent or freelance journalist, analyst, or activist, Facebook has gone from an open platform to a cage of soft censorship.
“Conspiracy Theory”: Foundations of a Weaponized Term
by James F. Tracy
Global Research
Jan 22, 2013
“Conspiracy theory” is a term that at once strikes fear and anxiety in the hearts of most every public figure, particularly journalists and academics. Since the 1960s the label has become a disciplinary device that has been overwhelmingly effective in defining certain events off limits to inquiry or debate. Especially in the United States raising legitimate questions about dubious official narratives destined to inform public opinion (and thereby public policy) is a major thought crime that must be cauterized from the public psyche at all costs.
Conspiracy theory’s acutely negative connotations may be traced to liberal historian Richard Hofstadter’s well-known fusillades against the “New Right.” Yet it was the Central Intelligence Agency that likely played the greatest role in effectively “weaponizing” the term. In the groundswell of public skepticism toward the Warren Commission’s findings on the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, the CIA sent a detailed directive to all of its bureaus. Titled “Countering Criticism of the Warren Commission Report,” the dispatch played a definitive role in making the “conspiracy theory” term a weapon to be wielded against almost any individual or group calling the government’s increasingly clandestine programs and activities into question.
This important memorandum and its broad implications for American politics and public discourse are detailed in a forthcoming book by Florida State University political scientist Lance de-Haven-Smith, Conspiracy Theory in America. Dr. de-Haven-Smith devised the state crimes against democracy concept to interpret and explain potential government complicity in events such as the Gulf of Tonkin incident, the major political assassinations of the 1960s, and 9/11.
“CIA Document 1035-960” was released in response to a 1976 FOIA request by the New York Times. The directive is especially significant because it outlines the CIA’s concern regarding “the whole reputation of the American government” vis-à-vis the Warren Commission Report. The agency was especially interested in maintaining its own image and role as it “contributed information to the [Warren] investigation.”
The memorandum lays out a detailed series of actions and techniques for “countering and discrediting the claims of the conspiracy theorists, so as to inhibit the circulation of such claims in other countries.” For example, approaching “friendly elite contacts (especially politicians and editors)” to remind them of the Warren Commission’s integrity and soundness should be prioritized. “[T]he charges of the critics are without serious foundation,” the document reads, and “further speculative discussion only plays in to the hands of the [Communist] opposition.”
The agency also directed its members “[t]o employ propaganda assets to [negate] and refute the attacks of the critics. Book reviews and feature articles are particularly appropriate for this purpose.”
PN 