Democracy vs. Technology

To discuss post-democracy or a 2.0 democracy, we will first have to realize the degree of technological sophistication of today's societies. We cannot compete with AI algorithms, data-mining networks, or DarkNet, using old-fashioned ideological and political tools: manifestos and political parties, parliaments, governments and presidents.

The following shows how deep states connect to dark technology.

The Military Origins of Facebook

By Whitney Webb
Unlimited Hangout

Facebook’s growing role in the ever-expanding surveillance and “pre-crime” apparatus of the national security state demands new scrutiny of the company’s origins and its products as they relate to a former, controversial DARPA-run surveillance program that was essentially analogous to what is currently the world’s largest social network.

(...)

Facebook, a Front

Because of the coincidence that Facebook launched the same day that LifeLog was shut down, there has been recent speculation that Zuckerberg began and launched the project with Moskovitz, Saverin, and others through some sort of behind-the-scenes coordination with DARPA or another organ of the national-security state. While there is no direct evidence for this precise claim, the early involvement of Parker and Thiel in the project, particularly given the timing of Thiel’s other activities, reveals that the national-security state was involved in Facebook’s rise. It is debatable whether Facebook was intended from its inception to be a LifeLog analogue or if it happened to be the social media project that fit the bill after its launch. The latter seems more likely, especially considering that Thiel also invested in another early social media platform, Friendster. 

An important point linking Facebook and LifeLog is the subsequent identification of Facebook with LifeLog by the latter’s DARPA architect himself. In 2015, Gage told VICE that “Facebook is the real face of pseudo-LifeLog at this point.” He tellingly added, “We have ended up providing the same kind of detailed personal information to advertisers and data brokers and without arousing the kind of opposition that LifeLog provoked.” 

Users of Facebook and other large social media platforms have so far been content to allow these platforms to sell their private data so long as they publicly operate as private enterprises. The backlash only really emerged when such activities were publicly tied to the US government, and especially the US military, even though Facebook and other tech giants routinely share their users’ data with the national-security state. In practice, there is little difference between the public and private entities.

Edward Snowden, the NSA whistleblower, notably warned in 2019 that Facebook is just as untrustworthy as US intelligence, stating that “Facebook’s internal purpose, whether they state it publicly or not, is to compile perfect records of private lives to the maximum extent of their capability and then exploit that for their own corporate enrichment. And damn the consequences.”

Snowden also stated in the same interview that “the more Google knows about you, the more Facebook knows about you, the more they are able . . . to create permanent records of private lives, the more influence and power they have over us.” This underscores how both Facebook and intelligence-linked Google have accomplished much of what LifeLog had aimed to do, but on a much larger scale than what DARPA had originally envisioned.

The reality is that most of the large Silicon Valley companies of today have been closely linked to the US national-security state establishment since their inception. Notable examples aside from Facebook and Palantir include Google and Oracle. Today these companies are more openly collaborating with the military-intelligence agencies that guided their development and/or provided early funding, as they are used to provide the data needed to fuel the newly announced war on domestic terror and its accompanying algorithms. 

It is hardly a coincidence that someone like Peter Thiel, who built Palantir with the CIA and helped ensure Facebook’s rise, is also heavily involved in Big Data AI-driven “predictive policing” approaches to surveillance and law enforcement, both through Palantir and through his other investments. TIA, LifeLog, and related government and private programs and institutions launched after 9/11, were always intended to be used against the American public in a war against dissent. This was noted by their critics in 2003-4 and by those who have examined the origins of the “homeland security” pivot in the US and its connection to past CIA “counterterror” programs in Vietnam and Latin America. 

Ultimately, the illusion of Facebook and related companies as being independent of the US national-security state has prevented recognition of the reality of social media platforms and their long-intended, yet covert uses, which we are beginning to see move into the open following the events of January 6. Now, with billions of people conditioned to use Facebook and social media as part of their daily lives, the question becomes: If that illusion were to be irrevocably shattered today, would it make a difference to Facebook’s users? Or has the populace become so conditioned to surrendering their private data in exchange for dopamine-fueled social-validation loops that it no longer matters who ends up holding that data?

Read more

Low Intensity Operation MH370

Colagem de gráficos da BBC e CIA

Ex primeiro ministro da Malásia, Najib Razak, acusa CIA e Boeing de esconderem a sorte do voo MH370

Como o Facebook bloqueou a tentativa de ligar o post de Najib Razak à rede social, e antes que desapareça, aqui vai a postagem completa.

BOEING TECHNOLOGY – WHAT GOES UP MUST COME DOWN
May18th Written by chedet

1. What goes up must come down. Airplanes can go up and stay up for long periods of time. But even they must come down eventually. They can land safely or they may crash. But airplanes don’t just disappear. Certainly not these days with all the powerful communication systems, radio and satellite tracking and filmless cameras which operate almost indefinitely and possess huge storage capacities.

2. I wrote about the disabling of MH370’s communication system as well as the signals for GPS. The system must have been disabled or else the ground station could have called the plane. The GPS too must have been disabled or else the flight of MH370 would have been tracked by satellites which normally provide data on all commercial flights, inclusive of data on location, kind of aircraft, flight number, departure airport and destination. But the data seems unavailable. The plane just disappeared seemingly from all screens.

3. MH370 is a Boeing 777 aircraft. It was built and equipped by Boeing. All the communications and GPS equipment must have been installed by Boeing. If they failed or have been disabled Boeing must know how it can be done. Surely Boeing would ensure that they cannot be easily disabled as they are vital to the safety and operation of the plane.

4. A search on the Internet reveals that Boeing in 2006 received a US patent for a system that, once activated, removes all control from pilots to automatically return a commercial airliner to a pre-determined landing location.

5. The Flightglobal.com article by John Croft, datelined Washington DC (1st December, 2006) further mentioned “The ‘uninterruptible’ autopilot would be activated – either by pilot, by on board sensors, or even remotely by radio or satellite links by government agencies like the Central Intelligence Agency, if terrorists attempt to gain control of the flight deck”.

6. Clearly Boeing and certain agencies have the capacity to take over “uninterruptible control” of commercial airliners of which MH370 B777 is one.

7. Can it not be that the pilot of MH370 lost control of their aircraft after someone directly or remotely activated the equipment for seizure of control of the aircraft.

8. It is a waste of time and money to look for debris or oil slick or to listen for “pings” from the black box. This is most likely not an ordinary crash after fuel was exhausted. The plane is somewhere, maybe without MAS markings.

9. Boeing should explain about this so-called anti-terrorism auto-land system. I cannot imagine the pilots made a soft-landing in rough seas and then quietly drown with the aircraft.

10. Someone is hiding something. It is not fair that MAS and Malaysia should take the blame.

11. For some reason the media will not print anything that involves Boeing or the CIA. I hope my readers will read this.

IMPRENSA

Former Prime Minister Of Malaysia Accuses CIA Of Covering Up MH-370 Disappearance
Tyler Durden on 05/19/2014 18:19 -0400. Zero Hedge

It has been over two months since Malaysian flight MH-370 disappeared and still not a single credible trace of its final resting place has been found.

In the ongoing din over the confusion surrounding the recovery effort which has led nowhere, even the current Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak recently described the current rescue effort driven by satellite data of the suggested "location" of purported MH370 debris in the Indian Ocean as 'bizarre' and 'hard to believe'. Further, he told CNN when discussing the satellite data which is the basis for the current search in the Indian Ocean that 'To be honest, I found it hard to believe.... It's a bizarre scenario which none of us could have contemplated so that's why when I met the team...of foremost experts in aviation industry I asked them again and again "are you sure?"

Missing Malaysia plane: What we know
1 May 2014 Last updated at 15:19 GMT | BBC

Mystery continues to surround the fate of Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, which disappeared en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing on 8 March.

Malaysian authorities, assisted by international aviation and satellite experts, are now battling to piece together the plane's final hours in the hope that they can find its wreckage and explain what happened to its 239 passengers and crew. Some preliminary details were released on 1 May in a short report.

Portugal 61

Os pequenos também contam

US hails Lisbon Guantanamo offer

13-12-2008 (BBC) A senior US official has described as a "significant step" Portugal's offer of asylum for some inmates from the US detention centre at Guantanamo Bay.

“Passo decisivo”, diz a administração Bush
Oferta de Portugal sobre Guantánamo destacada na imprensa estrangeira

12-12-2008 (Público) A disponibilidade de Portugal para acolher detidos de Guantánamo é hoje notícia em todo o mundo, com “The New York Times” e “The Washington Post” a destacarem o passo decisivo que representa para o encerramento do campo.

“Numa iniciativa diplomática decisiva que provavelmente vai ajudar a administração Obama a encerrar o campo de detenção de Guantánamo, Portugal disse esta semana que está disposto a receber alguns detidos e instou outros países europeus a aceitar os detidos que permanecem no campo”, escreve o “New York Times” na sua edição de hoje.

A Irlanda provou que um pequeno país pode bloquear a União Europeia e conduzir os burocratas de Bruxelas às mais caricatas acrobacias. Portugal acaba de provar que um pequeno país, sobretudo se tiver inteligência táctica e a visão estratégica no sítio, pode desbloquear um impasse e provocar uma discussão importante no seio da União Europeia. Luís Amado, um dos ministros mais capazes e sérios de um governo decepcionante, acaba de dar um contributo notável, e sobretudo seguro, para o novo relacionamento estratégico entre a Europa e os Estados Unidos.

Ao contrário dos traidores inconscientes, que depois de caírem nos bolsos de Madrid, têm vindo a dar criminosamente espaço e oportunidade à estratégia mini-imperial dos leões sem dentes da Zarzuela e da Moncloa, o actual ministro dos negócios estrangeiros português foi capaz, até agora, não só de reparar os estragos causados por Durão Barroso (pela forma quase canina como colaborou com George W. Bush, Blair e Aznar), mas também aproveitar todas as oportunidades para reafirmar o posicionamento estratégico de Portugal no reforço dos comandos atlânticos da aliança euro-americana.

O mundo caminha para um reajustamento tectónico sem precedentes —provavelmente o mais importante dos últimos 600 anos (1415-2015).

Não vejo como se poderá evitar um novo Tratado de Tordesilhas, entre o Ocidente e o Oriente, protagonizado desta vez, de um lado, pela Euro-América, e do outro pela Ásia.

A África será uma vez mais repartida entre duas esferas de influência global, e a Rússia e o Médio Oriente continuarão a ser presas em disputa. A primeira, poderá pender um dia, finalmente, para o Ocidente (pois não vejo os Ortodoxos converterem-se ao sincretismo Mao-Confucionista.) Quando ao conflito artificial entre judeus e árabes, deixará de ser relevante no dia em que o petróleo secar, ou seja, lá para meados deste século.

A aproximação acelerada entre a China, a Coreia do Sul e o Japão (1), a que temos assistido nos últimos anos, meses e dias, é o melhor indicador dos movimentos subterrâneos da geopolítica mundial. Outro indicador, que acaba de se manifestar em toda a sua gravidade, é a proliferação da primeira grande crise global do endividamento (Ann Pettifor, Debtonation). Estas duas forças tectónicos provocarão inevitavelmente o regresso a uma lógica de trade and power e de vantagens comparativas (David Ricardo) na economia mundial, com a respectiva separação de águas e territórios. Ora bem, é precisamente neste contexto que Portugal, sobretudo na perspectiva da sua imensidão marítima territorial (ZEE alargada) e simultânea integração soberana na União Europeia, voltará a ter um papel decisivo a desempenhar na sua já longa e acidentada história. Num certo sentido, pode dizer-se que é a nossa grande janela de oportunidade após a integração plena na União Europeia e o fim do ciclo das ajudas comunitárias.

É por isso que tenho vindo a seguir com fundada expectativa a acção diplomática de Luís Amado e exorto os meus leitores a prestar-lhe a devida atenção.

A reacção de Manuela Ferreira Leite à iniciativa portuguesa de receber entre nós os seis inocentados terroristas que ilegais voos da CIA, tacitamente autorizados por vários governos europeus (Suécia, Espanha, Portugal, Itália, etc.), conduziram para a prisão militar de Guantánamo, foi mais um tiro no pé, dos muitos que esta inexperiente política tem dado desde que, em desespero de causa, a guindaram à posição de líder da cada vez mais improvável alternativa ao actual poder "socialista".

E é também por isso que desde o primeiro momento chamei a atenção de todos para a completa irresponsabilidade da turma de patetas parlamentares que alimentou, com o seu sonambulismo partidário e as suas generalizadas ausências, o incidente açoriano em volta dos poderes presidenciais de dissolução dos órgãos regionais eleitos. As regiões autónomas precisam porventura de mais autonomia e de mais responsabilidade, e nisso apoio-as sem reservas, como apoio sem reservas mais poder e mais responsabilidade para os restantes poderes locais. Mas nas questões que possam suscitar dúvidas de soberania, ou de intromissão dos poderes subsidiários em questões de soberania, a minha intransigência é absoluta e radical! Não podemos tolerar que uma manada de deputados, só porque os elegemos sem saber como, atentem pela idiotia contra o futuro de Portugal. Caro Mário Soares, a sua intempestiva defesa dos deputados sonâmbulos, em nome da democracia, foi certamente um acto falhado, mas nem por isso menos revelador e lamentável. A democracia não é um fim em si, e muito menos um disfarce para a estupidez, o cabotinismos e a corrupção de uns poucos, mas a melhor ferramenta que conhecemos para atingir a liberdade, a igualdade e a fraternidade.


NOTAS

1. 13/12/2008 - 12h32 (Folha Online)
   Japão, China e Coréia do Sul criam frente asiática contra crise econômica
   

OAM 492 13-12-2008 15:45

Venezuela

Hugo Chávez, vítima de provocação da CNN? CIA envolvida em novo golpe?

¿QUIÉN LO MATÓ? ("Operação Tenaz")

A edição em Espanhol da CNN transmitiu no dia 27-11 uma imagem de Hugo Chávez com a seguinte legenda: "¿Quién lo Mató?". A imagem e a legenda estiveram no ar durante 7 segundos. Mais tarde, a CNN desculpou-se face ao que considerou ter sido um infeliz incidente técnico. Segundo a CNN, a legenda dizia respeito a uma notícia publicada depois, no alinhamento das notícias, sobre a misteriosa morte de um desportista. O certo é que Chávez não gostou e pondera processar a CNN por incitamento subliminar ao magnicídio do presidente eleito da Venezuela. Depois do "¿Por qué no te callas?", proferido pelo bourbónico rei de Espanha, a gaffe de um dos principais órgãos de propaganda do governo Bush, dá para pensar que o homem tem mesmo inimigos de peso!

Entretanto, coisa mais séria, para não dizer grave, o canal governamental Venezolana de Televisión, divulgou parte de um Memorandum secreto, datado de 20 de Novembro último, obtido pelos serviços de contra-espionagem venezuelanos, dando conta de um plano da CIA para destabilizar o regime de Chávez antes do referendo constitucional de 2 de Dezembro próximo. Este suposto plano será brevemente divulgado na íntegra, para conhecimento público e verificação da sua autenticidade.

O Memorandum, muito preocupante pelos seus declarados objectivos, chega a mencionar a "execução de acções militares de apoio a mobilizações da oposição e ocupações propagandisticas"! Imagine-se que algum país montava semelhante operação contra os EUA, ou contra o Reino Unido, ou contra a França, ou mesmo contra a Espanha, como seria visto? Que lhe aconteceria? Como reagiriam os média, i.e., os meios de propaganda oficiais? Ouviram alguma referência a este assunto na imprensa portuguesa ou espanhola? Pois não!

O chamado Ocidente empobrece dia a dia, mas não perde os maus hábitos imperiais. Se não se emendar, vai acabar por aprender da pior maneira. Isto é pagando o petróleo e o gás natural muito caros!

CIA Operation "Pliers" Uncovered in Venezuela

Last night CNN en Español aired the above image, which captions at the bottom "Who Killed him?" by "accident". The image of President Chavez with the caption about killing him below, which some could say subliminally incites to assassination, was a "production error" mistakenly made in the CNN en Español newsroom. The news anchor had been narrarating a story about the situation between Colombia and Venezuela and then switched to a story about an unsolved homicide but - oops - someone forgot to change the screen image and President Chavez was left with the killing statement below. Today they apologized and admitted it was a rather "unfortunate" and "regrettable" mistake. Yes, it was.

On a scarier note, an internal CIA memorandum has been obtained by Venezuelan counterintelligence from the US Embassy in Caracas that reveals a very sinister - almost fantastical, were it not true - plan to destabilize Venezuela during the coming days. The plan, titled "OPERATION PLIERS" was authored by CIA Officer Michael Middleton Steere and was addressed to CIA Director General Michael Hayden in Washington. Steere is stationed at the US Embassy in Caracas under the guise of a Regional Affairs Officer. The internal memorandum, dated November 20, 2007, references the "Advances of the Final Stage of Operation Pliers", and confirms that the operation is coordinated by the team of Human Intelligence (HUMINT) in Venezuela. The memo summarizes the different scenarios that the CIA has been working on in Venezuela for the upcoming referendum vote on December 2nd. The Electoral Scenario, as it's phrased, confirms that the voting tendencies will not change substantially before Sunday, December 2nd, and that the SI (YES) vote in favor of the constitutional reform has an advantage of about 10-13 points over the NO vote. The CIA estimates abstention around 60% and states in the memo that this voting tendency is irreversible before the elections. -- in Global Research.

"La Abogada y escritora Venezolana-Estadounidense Eva Golinger, denunció en el programa La Hojilla que conduce Mario Silva, el nuevo intervencionismo del imperio gringo en Venezuela, mediante ONGs financiadas con miles de dólares procedentes de la CIA, NED, USAI entre otras, penetrando en esta ocasión a organizaciones comunitarias en el interior del país, especialmente en los Estados Sucre, Aragua, Mérida y Tachira."

Venezuela, Operación Tenaza: Informe confidencial de la CIA devela plan de saboteo al referéndum del 2 de diciembre

27/11/07. A continuación presentamos el informe completo de la operación que tiene la Agencia Central de Inteligencia (CIA) en nuestro país dirigido a evitar la Victoria del SÍ en el Referendum de la Reforma Constitucional del próximo 2 de Diciembre. -- Aporrea.org

Este informe confidencial, fue leído parcialmente en la edición del programa La Hojilla en TV por Venezolana de Televisión del día 26 de Noviembre. -- in Aporrea.org.

OAM 284, 29-11-2007, 23:27