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Wave of Protests Around the World Calls for Tougher Stand Against Dictatorship in Belarus (via PR Newswire)

Download image Human rights group staged a protest in London calling for expanding sanctions against the regime of Alexander Lukashenko. (PRNewsFoto/Belarusians in Exile) LONDON, June 18, 2013 /PRNewswire/ – Belarusian activists are staging public protests in different European and US cities over…

see also http://www.belorussians.org/

The Battle for Whiteclay (via Intercontinental Cry)

The State of Nebraska’s refusal to halt alcohol sales to the dry Pine Ridge Indian Reservation from its border town of Whiteclay gets an in-depth look in this award-winning documentary about a century-old problem. Four off-sale beer stores in this 14-person hamlet sell over 11,000 cans of beer a…

Despite What the President Said, There’s Nothing “Transparent” About a Secret Court Issuing Secret Rulings (via EFF)

On Charlie Rose last night, President Obama gave his most detailed defense of the NSA surveillance programs since a FISA court order demanding that Verizon hand over phone records information on all its US customers leaked to the Guardian two weeks ago. In a key portion of the interview, he talked…

Can fragmented Egypt find 15 million who want President Morsi out? (via The Christian Science Monitor)

As night falls over Moqattam, the Cairo neighborhood that houses the headquarters of the ruling Muslim Brotherhood, a small group stands in the sea of traffic, clutching homemade banners bearing a single word: “Rebel.” A steady stream of taxis and microbuses stops to greet them and each driver is…

Europe and Russia Compete in Moldova (via NewsLook)

Video News by NewsLook Stratfor Eurasia Analyst Eugene Chausovsky examines the obstacles to Moldova’s EU integration, the most significant of which is Russia.

Bulgaria’s opposition boycotts parliament as protests rage (via AFP)

Bulgaria’s biggest political party said Tuesday it was boycotting parliamentary sittings amid unrelenting public outrage over the appointment of a media magnate to a top security post. The decision by the conservative opposition GERB party added pressure on the three-week-old ruling coalition, and…

US to talk to Taliban as they open Qatar office (via AFP)

US envoys will launch talks this week with the Taliban, officials announced Tuesday, in a tentative first step towards finding a negotiated escape from the decade-long Afghan war. The chance to start a dialogue came as the Islamist insurgent group opened a political office in the Qatari capital Doha…

by John Amaruso

June 18, 2013

Edward Snowden’s release of classified NSA files on their surveillance program has shined light on the inner working of America’s intelligence organizations and their attempts to monitor and record the activities of American citizens. This dubious circumvention of our 1st and 4th amendment rights has civil liberty groups up in arms, meanwhile lawmakers and politicians are calling for the arrest and trial of this whistleblower. But what Snowden has done is far from criminal- what he has done is brought to light to the sobering reality that America’s government has crossed the line, and how the American government has rationalized this type of behavior in the age of digital communication.

What Mr. Snowden has also done is provide a window into the intelligence community and the overwhelming fear and paranoia that grips our government over its own people. This culture of suspicion has trickled into our national conscious, shaping the world in which we live, and the world that is to come. This dystopic realty has only been made possible by utilizing the aftermath of a tragic event which would have much deeper consequences than anyone could have ever predicted.

It was after September 11th when America’s false sense of security was shattered by a seemingly haphazard plot by a few rogue terrorists in some far off land, under the leadership of a former C.I.A. ally, Osama Bin Laden. The intelligence community’s lack of foresight into such matters proved to be a hard blow to the agencies involved, as well as the strength and perceived security of the U.S. government. In what I will call the ‘fog of terror’, the U.S. government took steps to make sure that such a tragedy would never happen again; more importantly though, they wanted to make sure information as serious and as threatening as the 9/11 attacks would never pass by them unnoticed again.

As the drums of war sounded off and the false justifications for the invasion of Iraq were just reaching the ears of the United Nations, many Americans were far too scared with all the talk of ‘biological war’ and ‘terror threat levels’ rising from orange to red seemingly every other day to even begin to analyze or take in what their government was doing- stripping away liberties for the sake of ‘security’.

In the wake of the Iraq invasion, Americans and the world uncovered the orchestrated lies by the U.S. government, proving that the American government was less looking after the security and protection of its own people, but more looking after the ‘interests’ of the American foreign policy machine- that is, the hegemonic, long term strategic conquering of foreign lands for obscure and often frivolous economic interests which was famously embodied by the Dulles brothers when they ran the C.I.A. in the 20th century.

This policy of secrecy, deception and the dismantling of civil rights didn’t stop there. More and more people were picked up by the TSA, the DOHS, and the DOJ for seemingly inconspicuous things like having a foreign sounding name, or frequenting a place of worship deemed ‘suspicious’.

This holds many more troubles than just a draconian government aspiring to be the fear that Orwell so aptly described in his book ‘1984’- the policy resonated with the American public culturally. Xenophobia and racial discrimination increased dramatically, resulting in crimes committed against people of color and Middle Eastern religions. People began to accuse others of being ‘unamerican’ for simply stating not all Muslims are extremists or that Islam was a religion of peace. Facts became undesirable as an overzealous and wildly patriotic fever took over America. If the statistics didn’t match the talking points, they no longer were relevant- they simply became technicalities that needed some whitewashing to get over, much like the American government has done in various incidents since 9/11; most namely the Iraq war.

This wild disregard for the livelihoods of their fellow Americans led America towards a path of paranoia, belligerence, and downright callous remarks and actions by both the citizenry and the political elite alike. The trickle-down effect- a nation profoundly more ignorant, more violent, and more suspicious than ever.

Remember me?

To top all of this, Edward Snowden’s leak of classified NSA surveillance documents over the weekend has only confirmed the fear of an all intrusive government into the lives of average Americans. Mr. Snowden, a former NSA techie and systems administrator, has revealed that the PRISM operation administered by the NSA has indeed monitored, recorded and collected the phone calls and e-mails of almost every single American with no distinguishable feature with which to base such activities on. 

The extension of the USAPATRIOT Act to sanction the surveillance of hundreds of millions of people without probable cause is a reflection of the current state of affairs in American society. A society which through the advent of the internet and social media, has no real concern about their privacy, or is even confused about their privacy rights. Apps and websites like Instagram and Facebook have normalized the sharing of any and all information, no matter how inconsequential that information may seem.

But what this revelation tells us is that it doesn’t even matter if you willingly share your location, thoughts or conversations with your groups or friends- the NSA and the government at large already have unwarranted access to your daily activities, your patterns, your relationships, your conversations, and worst of all, it is all being collected and piled in a virtual sky high wealth of information, all for the sake of analysis by government officials to determine whether or not you ‘pose a threat’ to ‘national security’.

An uncertain future: Micro Air Vehicle with attached surveillance camera

Despite people like Bradley Manning and Edward Snowden sounding the alarms on such nefarious activities, the American public and its government continue the mislead policies pursued in the aftermath of September 11, 2001, even extending and deepening them to only add onto what Edward Snowden calls the ‘architecture of oppression’.

So it seems as though Hobbies and his ‘Leviathan’ have come to life. An all powerful government which governs over a society driven by its most primal and destructive of passions; fear. But what Hobbes and the U.S. government have failed to realize is that placing our security over our freedoms and liberties puts the security of our nation at threat by its own hands. If we are to allow our government in times of instability and chaos to lock in such detrimental policies like the USAPATRIOT Act, we are going to get exactly what we are trying to fight against- the erosion of our democracy to a force hostile to liberty.

About the Author:

John Amaruso writes from Cortland, New York.  Check out his articles on Democracy Chronicles including “How Success of Election Reforms Will Define America“, “The Future of Democracy in Egypt“, and “An American Democracy in Serious Peril”. He is also working with the Next Gen News Junkies creating comedy news.  Check out the latest broadcasts published at www.ngnjnews.com or at their Facebook page facebook.com/NextGenNewsJunkies

Name: John Amaruso

Position: Foreign Affairs Junkie

About John: From the Middle East, to Europe, to South America, to Africa, to… You get it. John’s got the low down on all things involved in foreign affairs. From democracy, to autocracy, to plutocracy, John can bring it down to earth. Unfortunately, America, much like everything else, doesn’t care much about the world, therefore, don’t care much for him.

Bangladesh’s Grameen Bank may be broken up (via AFP)

Bangladesh’s pioneering microlender faces an uncertain future after a commission proposed the government take over or break up the Nobel-award-winning bank, analysts said Tuesday. The government commission has released a working paper on restructuring Grameen Bank, founded by Nobel Laureate Muhammad…

Here’s what people are protesting about today (via GlobalPost)

Protests are ongoing all over the world. Here’s why. Emily Lodish In Spain it’s a high-speed railway. In Brazil it’s the price of soccer tickets. And the G8 summit always draws a dissenting crowd. Here’s what people are protesting about today: 1) Spain — Protesters gathered outside the launch…

China activist revives concern on US academic freedom (via AFP)

Charges by a top activist that New York University dismissed him due to Chinese influence have added fuel to concerns over Beijing’s educational clout which critics say hurts US academic freedom. Chen Guangcheng, one of China’s most prominent human rights campaigners who dramatically escaped house…

Indonesia president defends fuel hike plan after protests (via AFP)

Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Tuesday defended his government’s plan to hike fuel prices for the first time since 2008, a day after police battled demonstrators outside parliament. Thousands protesting the plan to reduce fuel subsidies fought running battles with police firing tear…

Left Loses Big in AZ’s Citizenship-Verification Supreme Court Case (via Tom O’Halloran)

Something perverse happened after the Supreme Court’s decision today invalidating citizenship-verification requirements in Arizona for registrants who use the federal voter registration form. The Left knows they lost most of the battle, but are still claiming victory. That’s what they do. Election…

Voices of Brazil protestors must be heard: Rousseff (via AFP)

Brazil’s president said Tuesday that the voices of hundreds of thousands of protestors across the country, angered by the cost of hosting sporting events such as the World Cup, must be heard. “These voices need to be heard,” Dilma Rousseff said in an address at the presidential palace. “My government…

“Smoking Gun” Law Found Shows Gov. Christie’s October Special Election Is Illegal (via Inside Out)

New Jersey – The New Jersey Citizen Action and New Jersey Communities United filed a brief showcasing a state law on filling U.S. Senate vacancies that says such elections should be spaced out in a way that saves taxpayer money. The law’s purpose was to “avoid the expenses of special elections…

Supreme Court rebukes Arizona law requiring proof of citizenship for voter registration (via Raw Story )

The Supreme Court ruled on Monday that an Arizona law requiring proof of U.S. citizenship for prospective voters was pre-empted by federal law, landing another blow against state policies derided as targeting immigrants. In a 7-2 ruling (PDF) delivered by Justice Antonin Scalia, the high court decided…

    Apparently, a photo ID is not necessary unless you are exchanging a modem for another one. We were having problems with our Internet this morning and learned that it was due to an outage in our area. We were told technicians were busy working on the problem. During the course of the conversation…

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) reacted to a Monday Supreme Court ruling striking down an Arizona law requiring voters to provide proof of citizenship by declaring that he would add a voter ID requirement to the comprehensive immigration reform bill currently being debated in the Senate. Writing for the court…

EU, US launch talks on vast free trade deal (via AFP)

The European Union and the United States on Monday launched long-awaited formal negotiations to create what would be the world’s biggest ever free trade area. US President Barack Obama said the first round of negotiations on a pact aimed at creating jobs and boosting the fragile global economy would…

WASHINGTON, June 17, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — At today’s G8 Summit in Lough Erne, Northern Ireland, leaders of the European Union and the United States launched negotiations for a sweeping EU-U.S. trade and investment pact. The first round of talks will take place in Washington, D.C., in July…

Malala denounces ‘cowardly’ Pakistan attack (via AFP)

Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani schoolgirl shot by the Taliban for promoting girls’ education, on Monday denounced an attack on a bus carrying female students in Quetta as “cowardly”. At least 25 people were killed on Saturday when militants blew up the bus in the capital of restive Baluchistan province…

N.J. Senate committee approves bill to move gubernatorial election to October (via NJ.com)

TRENTON — Calling Gov. Chris Christie’s decision to hold a special election for U.S. Senate in October “cynical,” Democrats on committees in the state Senate and Assembly today approved measures that would move the November gubernatorial election to October so that state and federal candidates…

Critics of Gov. Chris Christie’s decision to have a special election Oct. 16 to choose a U.S. senator contend that it will create a lot of unnecessary difficulties for voters and county election officials. By opting not to have the event 20 days later, as part of the general election for state and…

China’s Blind Lawyer is Now a Major Democracy Activist

Chinese activist and whistle-blower Chen Guangcheng is accusing New York University of submitting to Chinese pressure in pulling a fellowship position he had held since arriving in the United States last year.  Mr. Chen’s allegation follows a New York Post article last Thursday that claimed China…