Monthly Archives: June 2013

Surveying the wreckage of torpedoed Swiss-US tax deal

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“Following parliament’s rejection of a deal to solve the United States tax evasion dispute, there are grave doubts in both Switzerland and the US that serious damage to the Swiss financial system can be prevented.  Switzerland’s lead negotiator, Michael Ambühl,  already painted a bleak picture of life without a US agreement during an address back in February.  ‘Whether we like it or not, the US has the ability to destabilize the entire Swiss financial centre by taking measures against Swiss banks,’ he said.  It is believed that the DoJ already has some 14 other Swiss or Swiss-based banks in its legal cross hairs, including Credit Suisse, Pictet and several cantonal banks.”

http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/swiss_news/Surveying_the_wreckage_of_torpedoed_US_tax_deal_.html?cid=36213406

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Who Are These ‘Bankers’ Ecuador Keeps Referencing?

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“Roberto and William Isaias Dassum were the president and vice president of Filanbanco, Ecuador’s largest bank. In the late ’90s, Ecuador descended into a severe banking crisis, so it pumped $1.16 billion into Filanbanco to keep it afloat. That failed and, according to the government of Ecuador, the Dassums fled to Miami after allegedly embezzling millions. Ecuador was asking the U.S. to confiscate about $20 million worth of assets the Dassums allegedly have in Miami. The U.S. court refused Ecuador’s request. What’s more, to allow Ecuador to confiscate property in the U.S. would ‘signify a substantial deviation from U.S. law and policy.'”

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2013/06/28/196604864/who-are-these-bankers-ecuador-keeps-referencing

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International Bank Transfers: Banks’ Ugly Secret and Why Bitcoin Really Matters

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“Working for the largest Bitcoin exchange with customers around the world gives us an insight that few, other than banks, may have on how international wire transfers work. The first misconception that many of us may have was that everyone could create a bank account in whatever currency he/she wanted in the country of their choosing and have control over it.  Unfortunately, a currency does not really exist outside of its country, meaning that if you ever open a USD bank account in a European bank or Japanese one, any USD available in this account would, in fact, be held in the United States and not in your local/federal or national bank vault.”

https://bitcoinfoundation.org/blog/?p=63

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Anti-government protests continue in Istanbul: ‘Government, resign!’

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“Thousands gathered in Istanbul’s Taksim Square on Saturday to protest against the harsh police treatment of demonstrators whose anti-government rallies have rocked the country for nearly a month.  Riot police blocked off the centre of the square, the symbolic heart of the nationwide protest movement, for some two hours as the demonstrators chanted ‘Government, resign!’ but there was no fresh violence.  The crowd also denounced the death of a demonstrator in the country’s Kurdish-dominated southeast on Friday after soldiers opened fire to disperse villagers protesting against the expansion of an army outpost.”

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/06/29/anti-government-protests-continue-in-istanbul/

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Gulf Arab youth get around segregation with smartphone flirting

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“In the United Arab Emirates and all across the conservative Gulf countries, dating is unacceptable among nationals while arranged marriages are the norm. By switching on WhosHere, a smartphone application which is popular in the kingdom, a young man sitting at the men’s section of the cafeteria could contact girls sitting in the families’ section.  Before such applications, men would throw at the girls pieces of paper with their telephone numbers scribbled on them. But the Saudi telecom authority warned in March that it would ban applications like Skype and WhatsApp if providers failed to allow authorities access to censor content, according to an industry source.”

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/06/28/gulf-arab-youth-get-around-segregation-with-smartphone-flirting/

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Lawmakers propose cyber crime reforms inspired by Aaron Swartz

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“Critics of the current law, called the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA), say it is far too vague and led to the overzealous prosecution of Swartz after he accessed an MIT database containing academic research papers, many of which were created with public funding.  Aaron’s Law would also cut back on redundant penalties in the current CFAA that can see some offenders punished twice for the same crime. The bill also seeks to address a flaw in the current law that makes ‘unauthorized access’ of any kind a felony, whereas something as simple as lying about one’s age to Facebook could be considered  unauthorized access.”

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/06/20/lawmakers-propose-cyber-crime-reforms-inspired-by-aaron-swartz/

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Michael Hastings was researching Jill Kelley FBI lawsuit before death

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“During the weeks before he was killed in a car crash in Los Angeles, reporter Michael Hastings was researching a story about a privacy lawsuit brought by Florida socialite Jill Kelley against the Department of Defense and the FBI. Hastings, 33, was scheduled to meet with a representative of Kelley next week in Los Angeles to discuss the case, according to a person close to Kelley. Kelley alleges that military officials and the FBI leaked her name to the media to discredit her after she reported receiving a stream of emails that were traced to Paula Broadwell, a biographer of former CIA director David H. Petraeus, according to a lawsuit filed on June 3.”

http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-pn-michael-hastings-jill-kelly-case-20130620,0,2559316.story

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Senator: Contractor that vetted Snowden is under investigation

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“A company that conducted a 2011 background investigation into Edward Snowden, the source of recent leaks about U.S. secret surveillance programs, is itself under investigation, Senator Claire McCaskill said on Thursday. In her opening statement before a Senate homeland security subcommittee hearing, McCaskill said USIS is currently under investigation by the Office of Personnel Management’s Inspector General based on allegations is systemically failed to adequately conduct investigations under its contract. ‘It is a reminder that background investigations can have real consequences for our national security,’ McCaskill said.”

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/06/20/mccaskill-contractor-that-vetted-snowden-is-under-investigation/

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Fact checking NSA’s 9/11 claim: U.S. already knew identity of Saudi hijacker

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“Those making the argument have ignored a key aspect of historical record.  U.S. intelligence agencies knew the identity of the hijacker in question, Saudi national Khalid al Mihdhar, long before 9/11 and had the ability find him, but they failed to do so.  Mihdhar is at the center of the well-known story of the failure of information sharing between the CIA and FBI and other agencies.  Indeed, the Obama administration’s invocation of the Mihdhar case echoes a nearly identical argument made by the Bush administration eight years ago when it defended the NSA’s warrantless wiretapping program.”

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/06/20/fact-checking-nsas-911-claim-u-s-already-knew-identity-of-saudi-hijacker/

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Bush-Era NSA Whistleblower Makes Most Explosive Allegations Yet About Extent of Gov’t Surveillance

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“Russ Tice, a former intelligence analyst and Bush-era NSA whistleblower, claimed Wednesday that the intelligence community has ordered surveillance on a wide range of groups and individuals, including high-ranking military officials, lawmakers and diplomats. He also made another stunning allegation. He says the NSA had ordered wiretaps on phones connected to then-Senate candidate Barack Obama back in 2004.  FBI whistleblower Sibel Edmonds and Tice agreed that such wide-ranging surveillance of officials could provide the intelligence agencies with unthinkable power to blackmail their opponents.”

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/06/20/bush-era-nsa-whistleblower-makes-most-explosive-allegations-yet-about-true-extent-of-govt-surveillance/

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