Media bias on the national state local levels
Dare Inquire Representatives Truth
MEDIA BIAS ON THE NATIONAL, STATE, AND LOCAL LEVELS
IT'S ALL ABOUT HOW THEY COVER THE NEWS
For instance, Project Megiddo, a report by the government of the United States agency, CIA, on citizens who form alliances of all sorts, warned the police community of possible Y2K "people problems."
Did the news media cover this news? No.
The only news at that time pre-January 1, 2000 was the possibility that computers would be affected by a computer "bug."
How many bugs were placed in the homes, businesses, meeting rooms of unsuspecting citizens by the woeful CIA? We'll never know.
PROJECT MEGIDDO
Monday, February 28, 2000
Mainstream Echelon epiphanyby Geoff Metcalf
In April of 1998 I wrote here "Privacy has become an
anachronism." I warned of "a massive system designed to
intercept all your e-mail, fax traffic and more." I was writing
about Echelon, the illegitimate offspring of a UKUSA treaty
signed by the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia
and New Zealand. Its purpose was, and is, to have a vast global
intelligence monster, which allegedly shares common goals. The
system is so "efficient" that reportedly National Security
Agency folk from Fort Meade can work from Menwith Hill in
England to intercept local communications without either nation
having to burden themselves with the formality of seeking
approval or disclosing the operation.
Back in early 1998 WorldNetDaily was in its infancy. More people
listened to my daily radio talk show than had ever heard of
WorldNetDaily. WorldNetDaily was more than a dream but less
than a fully formed embryo. When we exposed Echelon it was
viewed skeptically and cynically as "more right wing conspiracy
stuff." Well guess what? The allegedly venerable CBS "60
Minutes" has placed their imprimatur on chilling reality. Steve
Kroft scored an interview with a once-upon-a-time-spook, Mike
Frost. Frost confirms, "Everywhere in the world, every day,
people's phone calls, e-mails and faxes are monitored by
Echelon, a secret government surveillance network." Where did
we hear that before?
It may have been easy for the masters of the game to rationalize
and justify the presumed necessity of the Echelon snooping as
long as they were merely trying to combat international
terrorism. Data interdiction and resource management sound
"official" and ... cool. However, when the realities of the
warts and blemishes are seen without the masking of cheesecloth
and soft focus, "Katie bar the door!"
Kathryn Graham, owner of the Washington Post, in November of
1988 reportedly told a group of CIA recruits, "There are some
things the general public does not need to know ... and
shouldn't. I believe democracy flourishes when the government
can take legitimate steps to keep it secret, and when the press
can decide whether to print what it knows." Implied, but not
stated in Madam Graham's statement is the "when" factor. If
muckrakers and gadflies and the European press could, and did,
report about Echelon, why is "60 Minutes" only just now"breaking" the story?
Electronic warfare countermeasures may be sold as necessary
evils in eavesdropping on drug lords, rogue nation-states and
terrorists of assorted stripes. However, there are problems
with letting a genie out of the bottle. Not the least of which
are control, mitigation and security.
Historically governments can, and do, get away with doing bad
stuff because they treat the masses like mushrooms (keep them
in the dark and feed them fertilizer). However, now Matt Drudge
and Steve Kroft have confirmed what has been rumored for years:
"Echelon Bombshell: NSA Accused of Spying on U.S. Politicians"Yessiree Bob!
According to Margaret Newsham (who reportedly worked at
England's notorious Menwith Hill, which is allegedly the
largest National Security Agency spy data funnel), "American
politicians have been eavesdropped on." Who says you can't end
a sentence with a preposition? Margaret says she was shocked
and amazed to hear the creaky, drawling articulations of the
very senior southern Senator Strom Thurmond on her surveillance
tape. Remember that political hack that was excoriated for
having taped a cellular phone conversation of Newt Gingrich?
That was a small yellow hole in a snow bank compared to this.
The European Parliament has had its panties in a bunch for years
over what is or isn't happening under the covert mantel of
Echelon. In fact, they are now accusing us (as in the U.S.) of
commercial/industrial espionage. The U.S. State Department has
assumed a Sergeant Schultz position of "We knownoooooooooothing!"
* They still don't even acknowledge the existence of the project
despite over two years of reporting and commentary on thesubject.
* Yeah, and there is no Area 51, and* There was no "controlling authority," and
* "It depends on the definition of what 'is' is ..."
* Vince Foster really did kill himself in Marcy Park, and
* Lee Harvey Oswald was the lone assassin,
* Mad Albright wasn't really upset with having been confused for
a cleaning lady, and* The check is in the mail.
The chairman of the House Intelligence committee, Rep. Porter
Goss reminds me of the kid who says "I didn't do it ... and if
I did, I'm sorry, and I won't do it again ... not that I ever
did. ..." The House Intelligence Committee is supposed to have
oversight of the NSA. They do begrudgingly admit, "the U.S. has
the capability to pick up any phone call." Goss claims they
have methods to prevent abuse of data and that although they
cannot "stop dust in the ether," he asserts, "I can make sure
... the capability is not abused." Kinda like the Privacy Act
prevents FBI files from being abused by political oppositionresearch wonks.
In 1998 I said, "The real threat to the republic has, and will,
come from international treaties." Echelon is arguably more of
a threat than NAFTA, GATT's WTO, and gifting the communist Red
Chinese with supercomputers.
The NSA runs Echelon with four Anglo cousins standing on the
other corners of this pentagon communications net. However, in
order to discover what the presumed dark side is conspiring, it
is first "necessary" to suck up all electronic communications
data before any triage. That means all data. Allegedly there
are filters that are supposed to analyze "key words." However,
some cyberwags are intentionally crafting key word-riddled
transmissions intended to get sucked into the Echelon analysis labyrinth.
You can see some examples submitted by my radio listeners to an
Echelon Writing contest at my website.
Meanwhile, here is my favorite. Forest wrote,
My mother finally airmailed that bomb to my brother, the
Senator. She said that it is like an automatic weapon against
those bugs in the basement and will kill them all within three
or four days. Anything that flies will get "bombed," she said,
which will probably leave little bodies all over the basement.
I know the bureaucrats are against using these silent chemical
attacks, even on bugs, but the position of the stupid Justice
Department bureaucrats in the Federal Government is way out of
line on this matter. We still have some liberty in this
country, and I am sure the Constitution will allow us to kill
all of those creepy critters we can.
One-time spy Mike Frost was uncomfortable speaking with Kroft.
"My concern is no accountability and nothing, no safety net in
place for the innocent people who fall through the cracks." By
way of example of those innocent people, Frost tells of a woman
whose name and telephone number went into the Echelon database
as a possible terrorist. Why? Because she told a friend on the
phone that her son had "bombed" in a school play.
The privacy the founding fathers so cherished is becoming a
footnote in history (that is, in those classes where pre-20th
century history is even taught). Many are aware of the
unbridled abuse of the alleged single-purpose Social Security
number. We have legislators who have sworn a sacred oath to
preserve and protect the Constitution against all enemies
foreign and domestic -- who have in fact become domestic enemies.
It is illegal for the United States to spy on its citizens ...
kinda. The laws have been circumvented by a mutual pact among
five nations. Under the terms of UKUSA agreement, Britain spies
on Americans and America spies on British citizens, and then
the two conspirators trade data. A classic technical finesse.
It is legal, but the intent to evade the spirit of the law is
inescapable. This system is called Echelon, and has been
kicking around in some form longer than I have.
The London Telegraph reported in December of 1997 that the Civil
liberties Committee of the European Parliament had officially
confirmed the existence and purpose of Echelon. "A global
electronic spy network that can eavesdrop on every telephone,
e-mail and telex communication around the world will be
officially acknowledged for the first time in a European
Commission report. ..." The report noted, "Within Europe all
e-mail, telephone and fax communications are routinely
intercepted by the United States National Security Agency,
transferring all target information from the European mainland
via the strategic hub of London, then by satellite to Fort
Meade in Maryland via the crucial hub at Menwith Hill, in the
North York moors in the UK.
"The ECHELON system forms part of the UKUSA system but unlike
many of the electronic spy systems developed during the Cold
War, ECHELON is designed primarily for non-military targets:
governments, organizations and businesses in virtually everycountry."
Technology's ability to collect and analyze data has made
privacy a quaint, albeit interesting, dinosaur.
Long ago and far away, Adolf Hitler was talking to Hermann
Rauschning and said, "The people about us are unaware of what
is really happening to them: They gaze fascinated at one or two
familiar superficialities, such as possession and income and
rank and other outworn conceptions. As long as these are kept
intact, they are quite satisfied. But in the meantime they have
entered a new relation: a powerful social force has caught them
up. They themselves are changed. What are ownership and income
to that? Why need we trouble to socialize banks and factories?
We socialize human beings."
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