Poppy Popup: Record Afghan drug production despite $7bn NATO kill-off campaign
As NATO ends its 13-year long mission in Afghanistan, the Taliban is stepping up attacks. Ten local soldiers have been killed in bomb blasts in recent days. Gayane Chichakyan reports now on...
By: RT
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Poppy Popup: Record Afghan drug production despite $7bn NATO kill-off campaign - Video
British Tornadoes final take-off from Afghanistan
British Tornadoes have taken off from Afghanistan for the last time. Tornado jets from 31 Squadron left Kandahar Air Field earlier today. The Squadron #39;s history in Afghanistan dates back...
By: NATO
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ALERT! Russia Declares U.S. and NATO "THREAT OR ADVERSARY"!
Look Inside My Book!: http://book.themoneygps.com ******************************************************************** My Free eBooks: FLUORIDE: http://fluoride.themoneygps.com GMO: http://gmo.th...
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ALERT! Russia Declares U.S. and NATO "THREAT OR ADVERSARY"! - Video
Nato Military Tribute
this is for the man and women that fight for freedom and die for it. i dont own this content this is for fanmade only.
By: thedutchgeneral
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Admiral (ret.) James Stavridis for NATO Week 2014
Admiral (ret.) James Stavridis Address for NATO Week 2014. The Admiral is the former Supreme Allied Commander at NATO and is currently the Dean of The Fletcher School at Tufts University.
By: U.S. Embassy in Armenia
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NATO Slams Kremlin Over Ukraine: Russia accused of transporting weapons to east Ukraine insurgents
The North American Treaty Organization has reiterated its concerned about convoys of trucks taking artillery and supplies into east Ukraine from Russia, and wants to see international borders...
By: UKRAINE TODAY
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#39;The Ukraine Crisis, Russia Resurgent and the West: A NATO Perspective #39; with Michael Rhle
http://www.ies.be/lecture-series/ukraine-crisis-russia-resurgent-and-west-nato-perspective.
By: IES Brussels
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'The Ukraine Crisis, Russia Resurgent and the West: A NATO Perspective' with Michael Rhle - Video
NATO Confirms Russian Army in Donbas: Ukraine prepares to repel ongoing Kremlin invasion
Ukrainian government forces are preparation for a possible new offensive by Kremlin-backed insurgents in eastern regions. Check out our website: http://uatoday.tv Facebook: https://facebook.com/ua...
By: UKRAINE TODAY
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NATO Confirms Russian Army in Donbas: Ukraine prepares to repel ongoing Kremlin invasion - Video
NATO Says Russian Troops Crossed Into Ukraine ... Again
NATO says Russia has sent troops into Ukraine #39;s embattled eastern region. If true, that could threaten the fragile cease-fire. Follow Elizabeth Hagedorn: http://www.twitter.com/elizhagedorn...
By: Newsy World
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NATO Says Russian Troops Crossed Into Ukraine ... Again - Video
NATO Confirms Russian Military in Ukraine: Breedlove says Russia sending troops into Ukraine
US General Philip Breedlove, NATO Supreme Allied Commander Europe, has said Russian troops and tanks have entered Ukraine in recent days, confirming reports by international monitors. Check...
By: UKRAINE TODAY
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NATO Confirms Russian Military in Ukraine: Breedlove says Russia sending troops into Ukraine - Video
MOSCOW NATOs top commander accused Russia of sending troops and weapons into Ukraine on Wednesday, as Ukrainian officials announced that they were bracing for a return to hostilities in the eastern part of the country that already have claimed more than 4,000 lives.
The accusation was the Western military alliances most direct charge against Russia since the start of a tenuous and repeatedly violated cease-fire Sept.5, and it seemed to signal a decisive abandoning of hopes that the agreement would continue to hold.
U.S. Air Force Gen. Philip M. Breedlove told reporters in Bulgaria that NATO had observed Russian tanks, Russian artillery, Russian air defense systems and Russian combat troops enter Ukraine across a completely wide-open border with Russia in the previous two days.
A spokesman for the Russian Defense Ministry, Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov, swiftly dismissed NATOs accusations, saying no facts existed to back them up.
The assertion that Russia is pressing into Ukraine came as Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu announced plans to project Russias military reach even farther, by sending long-range bombers on regular patrol missions along Russias borders and over areas from the Arctic Ocean to the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico.
We have to maintain a military presence in the western part of the Atlantic and the eastern part of the Pacific Ocean, in the waters of the Caribbean and in the Gulf of Mexico, Shoigu said Wednesday.
Breedloves accusation is only the latest alarm NATO and its allies have sounded about Russian military activity along and across the Ukrainian border.
The accusation reinforces claims by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe that convoys of weapons and military systems have been moving west through eastern Ukraine in the past few days.
Ukrainian officials, who accused Russia of sending troops and tanks over the border last Friday, are readying the military for attacks in the disputed east.
On Wednesday, Ukrainian Defense Minister Stepan Poltorak told Ukrainian government officials that the countrys forces are deploying to eastern Ukraine and preparing for winter combat because of an increase in activity that has been noted among separatist militias.
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Sofia, Bulgaria/Moscow NATO's top commander says new columns of Russian troops and tanks have rolled into eastern Ukraine, the claim promptly denied by Moscow.
US Gen. Philip Breedlove said Wednesday that in the last two days "we have seen columns of Russian equipment, primarily Russian tanks, Russian artillery, Russian air defense systems and Russian combat troops entering into Ukraine."
Breedlove, who spoke in Sofia, Bulgaria wouldn't say how many fresh troops and weapons have moved into Ukraine and wouldn't specify how the alliance obtained the information. The Russian Defense Ministry quickly rejected Breedlove's statement as groundless.
The West and Ukraine have continuously accused Moscow of fueling a pro-Russian insurgency in eastern Ukraine with troops and weapons the claims Russia has rejected.
Breedlove said the Russia-Ukraine border "is completely wide-open."
General-Major Igor Konashenkov, a Russian Defense Ministry official, dismissed the comments as anti-Russian "hot air" and said "there was and is no evidence" behind the NATO accusations.
"We have already stopped paying attention to unsubstantiated statements by NATO's Supreme Allied Commander Europe, General Philip Breedlove, on Russian military convoys he 'observed' allegedly invading Ukraine," Konashenkov said.
The West has imposed sanctions on Russia over the crisis in Ukraine, saying Moscow has provided the rebels with arms and reinforced them with troops since they rose up a month Russia annexed the Crimea peninsula from Ukraine in March.
Breedlove said in Bulgaria that NATO had seen "Russian equipment, primarily Russian tanks, Russian artillery, Russian air defense systems and Russian combat troops entering into Ukraine" in recent days.
Fighting has intensified around the rebel stronghold of Donetsk in east Ukraine, putting further pressure on a patchy ceasefire between rivals. Kiev says it is redeploying forces to prepare for a possible new rebel offensive.
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NATO says Russia sent more troops to Ukraine. Russians say NATO full of 'hot air' (+video)
Nov. 13 (Bloomberg) -- With Russia flying bombers to the Gulf of Mexico and Nato saying Russian troops have entered Ukraine, Bloomberg's Ryan Chilcote looks at the state of Russia's military might and what that could mean for the stand off in the region. (Source: Bloomberg)
Two Dutch F-16 fighter jets on a NATO mission intercepted a Russian aircraft in the Baltics after it approached Estonian and Lithuanian airspace.
The F-16s intercepted an Ilyushin transport plane that hadnt announced a flight plan yesterday near the two countries and escorted it out of the area, the Dutch Defense Ministry said on its website. The plane flew in the direction of the Russian Baltic Sea exclave of Kaliningrad, the ministry said.
Increased Russian aerial activity coincides with rising tension pitting Russia against the U.S. and the European Union over Ukraine. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization detected and tracked Russian military aircraft including fighter jets, long-range bombers and tankers over the Baltic region, the North Sea and the Atlantic Ocean for three days in late October.
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Increased activity of Russian military aircraft by the Baltic borders is raising concerns, Lithuanias defense ministry said by e-mail today, adding that interceptions are a standard procedure.
NATO says interceptions rose to 100 since the start of the year, three times the total for 2013. The alliance pledged in September to bolster the defenses of frontline states in eastern Europe in response to what it said was Russian action in Ukraine.
While most interceptions dont involve airspace incursions, Latvias northern neighbor Estonia and non-aligned Finland have reported repeated incidents this year where Russian aircraft violated their airspace. Sweden staged its biggest naval mobilization since the Cold War earlier this month in a week-long hunt for a suspected foreign vessel in the Stockholm archipelago.
Standoff in Ukraine
Russias increased military activity in the Baltic region is aimed at undermining security and testing the preparedness of the country and its NATO allies, Lithuanian Chief of Defense, Major General Jonas Vytautas Zukas, said on Facebook Nov. 11. Russia has a record of increasing the activity of warplanes and ships when Baltic states hold large military exercises, he said.
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NATO Jets Intercept Russian Military Plane Over Baltic States
lets reveal the NSA revelations....
By: mikeroweRules12
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Senate Democrats took the first steps Wednesday to set a final vote on a bill to halt the NSAs phone-snooping program, in a move that signals a developing consensus to try to shut the program down before the end of the year.
Democratic leaders set a first test vote for Friday, which would likely be followed by final passage next week adding yet another major issue to the list of priorities in the short lame-duck session.
Senators will vote on a revamped version of the bill written by SenateJudiciary Committee Chairman Patrick J. Leahy, Vermont Democrat, choosing that option over a more NSA-friendly bill that passed the House earlier this year.
The American people are wondering whether Congress can get anything done, Mr. Leahy said in statement. The answer is yes.
Under the NSA phone program, revealed by former government contractor Edward Snowden, the government collected the numbers, times and durations of phone calls made by Americans. The information was stored for years, so government analysts could use it to try to track down potential terrorist links.
The Obama administration defended the program, saying it had approval of a special secret court and had been run by a small group of members of Congress who oversee intelligence activities. But many other lawmakers felt the program went too far including Rep. F. James Sensenbrenner Jr., author of the 2001 Patriot Act that the government used as legal justification for the program.
There is no excuse not to pass this fundamental piece of legislation during the lame duck, said Mr. Sensenbrenner, Wisconsin Republican.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid moved to schedule the votes. He had resisted for months as an internal fight brewed within his party between Mr. Leahy on the one hand and Sen. Dianne Feinstein, California Democrat and chairwoman of the Senate intelligence committee, who had written a more lenient bill that would have let the NSA continue to collect phone records.
But with Democrats time in control of the Senate about to end, Mr. Reid acted.
Not everyone is on board with Mr. Leahys bill, which bans bulk collection of Americans records and requires the government to be more selective when it seeks data.
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Several technology and digital rights groups have praised a U.S. Senate move toward passing legislation that would rein in the National Security Agencys domestic telephone records collection program.
A procedural vote on the USA Freedom Act could come as early as Tuesday, with a final vote on the bill in the days following. The bill, aimed at ending the NSAs widespread collection of U.S. telephone records, would have to pass both the Senate and the House of Representatives by the end of the year to become law.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Nevada Democrat, filed a motion to move the bill forward late Wednesday.
Among the groups applauding the decision to move forward with the bill were software trade group BSA, tech trade group the Computer and Communications Industry Association, digital rights group the Center for Democracy and Technology and justice advocacy group the Brennan Center for Justice.
The legal reforms in the USA Freedom Act send a clear signal to U.S. citizens and Internet users around the world that Congress is serious about reforming government surveillance practices, and providing the judiciary and the public with tools that allow better oversight over remaining narrowed programs, CCIA President and CEO Ed Black said by email.The USA Freedom Act closes key loopholes on bulk call data collection and offers greater transparency, which is essential for citizens in a free democracy.
Libraries have been fighting against government searches allowed under the antiterrorism Patriot Act for 13 years, said American Library Association President-elect Sari Feldman.
The Senate bill gives Congress the opportunity to prove to the American people that their freedom from broad surveillance by their own government matters more than political posturing, Feldman said in a statement. Its time, way past time, to finally vote on and pass [the] bipartisan, intelligence community-backed USA Freedom Act without weakening its already modest protections for the public.
While the bill has a good chance of passing in the Senate, it may face a tougher test in the House, where several prominent lawmakers have suggested the legislation would hurt the ability of the U.S. government to fight terrorism. House members approved a compromise, watered-down version of the bill in May.
While top officials in President Barack Obamas administration have voiced support for the stronger Senate version of the bill, some lawmakers have suggested the bill would endanger the U.S.
The Senate bill would require the NSA to use specific selection terms to limit its targets in the telephone records collection, and require the government to issue reports on the number of people targeted in surveillance programs.
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Tech, digital rights groups applaud Senate move on NSA reform
The complexityof the National Security Agencys spying programs has made some of its ex-technical experts the most dangerous critics since they are among the few whounderstandthe potential totalitarian risks involved, as ex-NSA analyst William Binney showed in an interview with journalist Lars Schall.
By Lars Schall
William Binney, who spent 36 years in the National Security Agency rising to become the NSAs technical director for intelligence, has emerged as one of the most knowledgeable critics of excesses in the NSAs spying programs, some of which he says managed to both violate the U.S. Constitution and prove inefficient in tracking terrorists.
Binney has been described as one of the best analysts in NSAs history combining expertise in intelligence analysis, traffic analysis, systems analysis, knowledge management and mathematics (including set theory, number theory and probability). He resigned in October 2001 and has since criticized the NSAs massive monitoring programs. After leaving the NSA, he co-founded Entity Mapping, LLC, a private intelligence agency, together with fellow NSA whistleblower J. Kirk Wiebe.
Former National Security Agency official William Binney sitting in the offices of Democracy Now! in New York City. (Photo credit: Jacob Appelbaum)
Lars Schall: You were invited this year as a witness by the NSA commission of the German parliament, the Bundestag. How has it been to speak there and what did you try to get across?
William Binney: I was there for about six hours testifying with a half hour break in the middle. So it was quite intense. There were so many questions. Some of them I didnt have answers for because I didnt have knowledge about it, and I tried to make those clear and tried to give them information about things I knew personally. I didnt want to extrapolate beyond that.
Initially, they were asking questions about my background which was, I guess, setting the stage for the follow on questions, but in the long run they were interested in the relationships with the BND and the NSA. I think part of the break in the middle had to do with something that happened there and that a BND person was implicated in spying on the commission when it was investigating the relationship, and they were also passing that information to NSA, at least that was alleged at that time, I dont know if thats true or not.
Anyway, it was quite lengthy and very thorough, and my whole point was to try to get across to them that what NSA and the intelligence community in the Five Eyes, at least, and probably in some of the other countries (I dont know exactly which ones and Ive made this clear, but I think theyre not doing it alone) is the idea of collecting massive amounts of data is just like the STASI except this time I kind of tried to get across to them that its like the STASI on super steroids.
As Wolfgang Schmidt, the former lieutenant colonel of East German STASI, commented about NSAs surveillance program: For us, this would have been a dream come true. Well, thats the whole point of it, its so invasive, its digital surveillance on a massive scale, and I tried to get that across to them. Because this is basically a fundamental threat to our democracy and every democracy around the world. You know, I call it over here in the United States the greatest threat to our democracy since our Civil War.
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4 5 Decrypting Your Devices Fifth Amendment Privilege 10 51
By: Artadys
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4 5 Decrypting Your Devices Fifth Amendment Privilege 10 51 - Video
Even in a school district with more than its share of charter-school controversies, the answers stood out. Questioned about billing practices, two officials of an embattled Philadelphia charter school cited their Fifth Amendment right to silence - 77 times.
At hearings on whether to revoke the Walter D. Palmer school's charter, the questions ranged from hard-nosed ("Isn't it true that you lied . . . about accurately submitting invoices?") to humdrum ("Do you have a master's degree?").
Daira Hinson, the Palmer school's director of administration, invoked the Fifth Amendment 22 times in the hearings, which ended last week. Richard Troutman, its controller, did so 55 times.
"It is the first time in anybody's knowledge that a witness has pleaded the Fifth in a charter hearing," said district spokesman Fernando Gallard. "It's very surprising that two high-level administrators decided to plead the Fifth when we are asking questions on issues of overpayment. We're talking about $1.5 million over one single fiscal year."
The Inquirer obtained a transcript of the hearings via a Right To Know Law request.
While last month's abrupt closing of the Palmer charter's high school in Frankford caused turmoil for students and staff, the transcript sheds new light on the scope of the school's problems - which also include an ongoing federal investigation. An agent from the U.S. Department of Education's inspector general's office sat in on portions of the hearings.
Another witness in the hearings was school founder Walter D. Palmer, who stressed that citing their Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination did not make school officials "guilty of anything."
On Monday he also defended his school in an Inquirer interview, saying, "They could bring a U-Haul in, and they are not going to find any culpability."
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Palmer school officials cited Fifth Amendment in charter revocation hearing - 77 times
Posted: Wednesday, November 12, 2014 8:56 am | Updated: 12:06 pm, Wed Nov 12, 2014.
Charter school officials pleaded 'Fifth' 77 times Associated Press |
PHILADELPHIA (AP) Officials from an embattled Philadelphia charter school invoked their Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination 77 times at hearings on the future of its charter.
The Philadelphia Inquirer reports Wednesday (http://bit.ly/1xgZtMI ) administrators from the Walter Palmer Leadership Learning Partners Charter School refused to answer questions on topics ranging from qualifications to the accuracy of invoices.
Last week's hearings were part of the Philadelphia school district's fight to revoke Walter Palmer's charter amid academic and financial stability concerns. The school's also the subject of a federal investigation.
A court recently ordered the school to return $1.5 million to the district after finding it enrolled twice the number of students allowed.
Walter Palmer shut down its high school last month in the city's Frankford neighborhood, forcing 280 students to enroll in other institutions.
___
Information from: The Philadelphia Inquirer, http://www.inquirer.com
2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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