When The S*** Hits the Fan

Higher Power: How Ancient #Church Spires Help Rural Areas Get Broadband #Internet

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(ANTIMEDIA) United Kingdom — Ancient churches will play their part in bringing superfast broadband to rural Britain following the Church of England’s pledge this week to use 10,000 churches as communication towers. The medieval spires and towers will aid the rollout of superfast internet provision in some of the U.K’s most remote locations. The church’s move comes amid criticism that the government is masking the true extent of poor connectivity.

In rural and remote areas, the costs of installing infrastructure are significantly higher than in urban and suburban areas, often outweighing potential revenues for providers. The Church of England already provides a far-reaching broadband service through its company, WiSpire, using 47 churches across Norfolk as relay towers. Each one provides wireless coverage within a 4km radius.

Communities still struggling with slow speeds are set to benefit from the new set of guidelines being drawn up by the Church of England, which pledged an additional 10,000 churches for use. Last November, the prime minister pledged to provide fast broadband to all homes and businesses, giving the public a legal right to broadband speeds of at least 10mbps by 2020. But the Church of England’s offer is intended to plug the gap as the government struggles to implement the United Service Obligation, which aimed to put access to broadband on a similar footing as other basic services like water and electricity.

The original plan to connect 95% of the population with superfast speeds by the end of 2017 is reportedly on track, but getting the final 5% online (about a million properties) is proving challenging and potentially expensive — so much so that in a recent consultation, published in March, the government backtracked on its original commitment.

Therefore, the solution appears to lie in the steeples of thousands of parish churches,

many of which are ideally located in remote locations. Paul Miner of the Campaign to Protect Rural England said rural areas continue to suffer from poor coverage and slow speeds. Claiming there have been a number of cases where masts have unnecessarily harmed landscapes, he explained that adding new infrastructure to existing buildings, such as churches or farm buildings, is preferable — providing there is no damage to the heritage value.

Steve Maine, chief executive of WiSpire, questions the government’s 5% figure and claims the true extent of poor broadband in Britain is being kept under wraps. “Is five percent the right number? No. The amount of people without a good broadband connection is a lot higher than 10 percent,” Maine told Newsweek.

Adding that many premises are inaccurately counted and included in the 95% figure as being supported by existing fiber networks when they are not, he added:

“In a world where you can’t even get your grants as a farmer unless you apply for them online, there will be more and more areas of life where good broadband connectivity is absolutely vital — even when applying for welfare benefits. The scale of the problem is a lot bigger than the government is prepared to admit to.”

This article (Higher Power: How Ancient Church Spires Help Rural Areas Get Broadband Internet) is free and open source. You have permission to republish this article under a Creative Commons license with attribution to Michaela Whitton and theAntiMedia.org. Anti-Media Radio airs weeknights at 11pm Eastern/8pm Pacific. If you spot a typo, email edits@theantimedia.org.

 

From theantimedia.org Team

#Iceland’s Biggest Political Party Is Now The “ #PirateParty” — and It’s Amazing

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(ANTIMEDIA) Iceland’s anti-establishment Pirate Party continues to lead nationwide polls as the most popular choice for the next elections. The party — whose policies include internet freedom, drug decriminalisation, and open democracy — has consistently led the polls for the last year and, as a result, has secured more funding than any of its rivals.

The 2008 financial crisis hit Iceland hard. The following year, the krona was devalued by around 50%, unemployment doubled, and capital controls were introduce. Miraculously, the country rose from the ashes to become one of Europe’s top performers in terms of growth. More recently, the political establishment has been in turmoil since three government ministers were implicated in the global Panama Papers scandal.

Despite their struggle, or perhaps because of it, the list of reasons to admire Icelanders keeps on growing. Whether it’s the sentencing of senior bankers — or the mass outrage at the offshore leak, which propelled 10% of the population to the streets and ousted the Prime Minister — the radical refusal of Icelanders to bow down and accept establishment corruption is admirable.

Because of this, the surge in popularity of the once-fringe Pirate Party comes as little surprise — recent polls suggest almost half the nation supports them. In Iceland, financial support for political parties is allocated based on how well they have done in polls.

Although the party doesn’t have formal leadership, chair of the parliamentary group and spokesperson, Birgitta Jonsdottir, said they did not expect the funding. Claiming their campaign was, so far, funded at a flea market, she said that was enough and that all the party needs is to be able to pay the salaries of its employees.

“We did not expect this. We don’t care. Democracy doesn’t revolve around getting loads of money from the government,” she added.

This article (Iceland’s Biggest Political Party Is Now The “Pirate Party” — and It’s Amazing) is free and open source. You have permission to republish this article under a Creative Commons license with attribution to Michaela Whitton and theAntiMedia.org. Anti-Media Radio airs weeknights at 11pm Eastern/8pm Pacific. If you spot a typo, email edits@theantimedia.org.

 

From theantimedia.org Team

Here’s Why You Shouldn’t Use #Facebook’s #Reactions Buttons

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(ANTIMEDIA) Belgian police are warning users not to use the Facebook Reactions feature to respond to posts if they want to protect their privacy. In February, the series of six emoticons, allowing users to express a range of emotions from anger to love, were added to the original thumbs-up option. They came in response to calls for a ‘Dislike’ button.

However, the new expressions are another big ‘like’ for Facebook and a ‘dislike’ for its users — according to Belgian police who claim the site is using them as a way to collect information on people to target advertising toward them. In a statement released on their official website on Wednesday, the Belgian force warned people to avoid using the series of emoticons if they want to preserve their privacy.

The statement on the police website reads, “The icons help not only express your feelings, they also help Facebook assess the effectiveness of the ads on your profile.” It adds, “One more reason not to click if you want to protect your privacy.”

The statement warns that users are simply a ‘product’ to Facebook, claiming their reactions to posts are helping the social networking giant build up a profile of them. As a result of the profiling, the site will target ads it thinks users will be more receptive to based on how they are reacting to specific posts at the time.

“By limiting the number of icons to six, Facebook is counting on you to express your thoughts more easily so that the algorithms that run in the background are more effective,” the police said. “By mouse clicks you can let them know what makes you happy.”

RELATED: Why Facebook Really Wants You to Use Its New Reaction Buttons

In short, the moment Facebook gauges that the user is in a good mood, it will cash in on that by showing them an ad.

It’s no secret Facebook’s growth is fuelled by advertising. In 2015, the company received 96.5% of its revenue from ads, which generated a staggering $17.08 billion in revenue. Just days after former Facebook employees accused the platform of censoring stories while pushing others, few will be surprised to learn the marketing champion has seized another opportunity to do what it does best — collect more information on its users.

This article (Here’s Why You Shouldn’t Use Facebook’s Reactions Buttons) is free and open source. You have permission to republish this article under a Creative Commons license with attribution to Michaela Whitton and theAntiMedia.org. Anti-Media Radio airs weeknights at 11pm Eastern/8pm Pacific. Image credit: Droid Stuff. If you spot a typo, email edits@theantimedia.org

From theantimedia.org Team

The Horrible Reason Why These #US Workers Had to Literally Wear #Diapers on the Job

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(ANTIMEDIA) A new report revealing another dirty side to America’s rapidly growing poultry industry claims workers are being denied bathroom breaks and are forced to soil themselves to keep up with production. Lifting the veil on the billion dollar industry while pointing to the human cost of cheap chicken, the new report has revealed thousands of poultry workers are being routinely denied their basic needs — forcing some to wear diapers.

The grim discovery was made by Oxfam America during research conducted for their latest report, “No Relief.” Based on three years of interviews, the investigation is part of the global organisation’s continuing campaign to advocate for improved conditions for U.S. poultry workers. Launched in 2015 with the comprehensive report, “Lives on the Line,” the campaign exposed the main challenges facing the 250,000 poultry workers in the U.S. They include poor compensation, high injury and illness rates, and a climate of fear.

Despite all that, workers said the thing that offends their dignity the most is the lack of adequate bathroom breaks and the suffering that entails — especially for women. “Workers struggle to cope with this denial of a basic human need. They urinate and defecate while standing on the line; they wear diapers to work; they restrict intake of liquids and fluids to dangerous degrees,” the report reads.

It names Tyson Foods Inc., Perdue Farms Inc., Pilgrim’s Pride Corp., and Sanderson Farms Inc., who together control around 60% of America’s poultry market. Dozens of interviews with current and former workers, worker advocates, attorneys, medical experts and analysts revealed that behind the scenes of an industry with record profits, life inside the processing plants is dark and dangerous.

Supervisors, who are under pressure to maintain the speed of the processing line, reportedly mocked workers’ needs and ignored their requests. Others were threatened with punishment or termination. Out of hundreds of interviews, only a handful of workers said their bathroom needs were respected.

In addition to being forced to endure pain and discomfort while worrying about job security, workers are in danger of serious health problems. One doctor explained the dangers of “holding it”:

“The longer you hold your urine, the bladder can become a breeding ground for bacteria to grow. This bacteria can lead to infections, which can spread to kidneys and cause greater damage to the body.”

After concluding the denial of regular access to the bathroom is a clear violation of U.S. workplace safety law and could also violate U.S. anti-discrimination laws, the report goes on to make a number of recommendations as to how firms can improve working conditions and respect workers’ rights. Following its release, Oxfam America took to social media to call on poultry companies to change their policies, using the hashtag #GiveThemABreak

This article (The Horrible Reason Why These US Workers Had to Literally Wear Diapers on the Job) is free and open source. You have permission to republish this article under a Creative Commons license with attribution to Michaela Whitton and theAntiMedia.org. Anti-Media Radio airs weeknights at 11pm Eastern/8pm Pacific. If you spot a typo, email edits@theantimedia.org.

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From theantimedia.org Team

#UK Government Urged To Answer for Policy of Targeted #Killing

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(ANTIMEDIA) When is it acceptable for a state to take a life outside of armed conflict? Is assassinating someone in order to protect other lives justified? If so, who gets to decide what constitutes a threat? In order to clarify the answers, a parliamentary committee in the U.K. has called into question the government’s interpretation of the law when it comes to the targeted killings of suspected terrorists outside the scope of armed conflict.

A new report by the Joint Committee on Human Rights (JCHR) has called for more accountability from the British government when it uses such force. However, campaigners claim the new recommendations risk legitimising extrajudicial killing. Although the inquiry was triggered by the RAF drone strike that targeted and killed 21-year-old Reyaad Khan in Syria last August, the JCHR focused on the wider legal issues surrounding the U.K’s targeted killing policy. They concluded the legal basis for the policy requires urgent clarification.

The U.K. government currently considers the use of drone attacks outside of armed conflict justified, as long as it complies with international law governing the use of force on the territory and the Law of War. However, the report highlighted a number of areas where the government’s legal basis for its own policy remains unclear, urging it to provide more clarity.

It also recommended the government establish its understanding of key concepts, such as what constitutes an “imminent threat” under international law. In addition, it stated the government must make clear its legal basis for contributing to the use of lethal force by other countries abroad, such as the U.S. Jennifer Gibson, a lawyer from Reprieve, called the report a wake-up call. She warned the U.K. risks “following the US down the slippery slope of kill lists and targeted killings.”

Chris Cole from Drone Wars U.K. also issued a word of caution. “We must be careful not to fall into the trap of putting in place policies and procedures that normalise and legitimise extrajudicial killing,” he said. “The UK must not follow the US down the path of adding suspects to a ‘kill list’ in order that they will be assassinated at the first opportunity in an ever-expanding, global battlefield.”

Claiming part of the problem is that the issue is being examined in legal terms, Cole pointed to additional serious ethical and security issues raised by the increased use of drone technology. Acknowledging the growing recognition that drones are lowering the threshold for the use of lethal force, he added:

“The constant presentation of targeted drone strikes as ‘precise’ and ‘pinpoint accurate’ has serious implications for the public’s understanding and debate of these issues.

“Due to the nature of today’s military interventions, few people in the UK have first-hand accounts of the impact on the ground, creating in the minds of many the idea that such strikes are clean, safe and even bloodless.”

Although Cole acknowledged the report is an important step in opening up the debate, he said there is a need for more serious debate on whether targeted killing should be happening at all.

This article (UK Government Urged To Answer for Policy of Targeted Killing) is free and open source. You have permission to republish this article under a Creative Commons license with attribution to Michaela Whitton and theAntiMedia.org. Anti-Media Radio airs weeknights at 11pm Eastern/8pm Pacific. If you spot a typo, email edits@theantimedia.org.

 

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From theantimedia.org Team

#Banker Gets Record #Prison Sentence

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(ANTIMEDIA) United Kingdom — A senior investment banker has been slapped with the U.K.’s longest-ever prison sentence for insider trading. On Wednesday, Martyn Dodgson was convicted of conspiring to deal secretly in company shares. He was sentenced to four-and-a-half years at London’s Southwark Crown Court for what was described as “highly sophisticated” offenses. His accomplice and friend, Andrew Hind, received three-and-a-half years in the case, which involved five defendants — three of whom were acquitted.

Insider dealing uses confidential information to trade on the stock market, and the economic offence carries a maximum seven-year sentence in the U.K., though the longest sentence handed out to date had previously been four years. The judge said the two men’s offences amounted to “persistent, prolonged, deliberate and dishonest behaviour,” and it is estimated the duo netted £7.4 million from their activities.

During the period covered by the indictment, Dodgson was employed by Morgan Stanley, Lehman Brothers, and Deutsche Bank. After sourcing inside information within the investment banks — either through transactions he worked on himself or by gleaning what colleagues were working on — he then passed the information to Hind, who acted as middleman and traded in shares for both men’s benefit.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) accused the senior investment banker and chartered accountant of using elaborate strategies to keep their activities under wraps. These included unregistered mobile phones, encoded and encrypted records, safety deposit boxes, and cash payments.

The sentences drew a line under “Operation Tabernula,” an investigation by the FCA that began in 2007. Described as the FCA’s largest and most complex insider dealing investigation, it is said to have cost £14 million; officials called it demanding and time-consuming.

Dodgson is one of the most senior figures ever to be charged with insider dealing in the U.K. Although the banker’s sentence is higher than any imposed to date, some might consider it pitiful considering the two men stole more than £7 million.

This article (Banker Gets Record Prison Sentence) is free and open source. You have permission to republish this article under a Creative Commons license with attribution to Michaela Whitton and theAntiMedia.org. Anti-Media Radio airs weeknights at 11pm Eastern/8pm Pacific. If you spot a typo, email edits@theantimedia.org.

 

From theantimedia.org Team

Are You Feeling #Depressed? #Facebook May Be to Blame

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(ANTIMEDIA) Few would deny the profound changes social networking has made to society and interpersonal relationships — for better or worse. By now, most people with a Facebook account know how overwhelming the platform can be, and even sarcastic memes have insinuated that people’s lives may not be quite as wonderful as they make them out to be on the social networking site.

As social media has become an increasingly important part of human interaction, research into the phenomenon has continued to develop, and much of it is uncovering a consistent theme. Time and time again, studies have shown heavy use of Facebook and other social networking sites might be responsible for more than just provoking minor irritation — and can be a contributing factor in more serious mental health issues.

The most recent study by the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine published in the Depression and Anxiety journal last month found the more time young adults spend on social media, the more likely they are to be depressed. To examine the effects of social media on the moods of users, 1,787 adults between 19 and 32 were given questionnaires relating to their use of the 11 most popular platforms: Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Google Plus, Instagram, Snapchat, Reddit, Tumblr, Pinterest, Vine, and LinkedIn.

On average, the study participants used social media for a total of 61 minutes per day and visited a number of social media accounts 30 times per week. Alarmingly, over a quarter of them were classified as having “high indicators” of depression. Significant associations were noted between their social media use and depression, whether it was measured in terms of total time spent or frequency of visits.

Those who most frequently checked social media throughout the week were 2.7 times more likely to be depressed than peers who spent less time using the platforms. Additionally, those who spent the most time on social media during the day had 1.7 times the risk of depression than those who spent less time.

Researcher Lui yi Lin, B.A., said it may be that people who are already depressed turn to social media to fill a void, but also acknowledged exposure to social media may cause depression, which could then fuel more use.

Facebook — dystopian not utopian

Lin’s analysis builds on the findings of a 2014 study by the University of Houston that specifically focused on Facebook and uncovered why heavy use can lead to depressive symptoms. The study entitled, “Seeing Everyone Else’s Highlight Reels: How Facebook Usage is Linked to Depression,” concluded excessive social comparison to peers negatively impacts the psychological health of users.

Facebook has over 1.65 billion monthly active users worldwide, and 1.09 billion users log on daily. In the U.S. alone, users devote a staggering 19% of their internet browsing to Facebook-related activities. After logging in to the site, they are bombarded with a barrage of information, including status updates, strong opinions, harrowing news, pictures of other people’s romances, babies, or travels.

“Prior research has tied Facebook use to positive effects such as fulfillment of ego needs, greater subjective well-being, and higher relationship quality for those in a romantic relationship. However, for some individuals the results of such cyber exchanges may be more dystopian than utopian,” the study reads.

Comparisons

The University of Houston used a 14-day diary method to examine the extent to which spending time on Facebook encouraged individuals to compare their lives to the lives of others. Individuals were questioned on their usage and how likely they were to make social comparisons. Interestingly, the link between the amount of time spent on Facebook and depressive symptoms was mediated by what researchers referred to as “upwards, nondirectional (neutral) and downwards social comparisons.”

The upwards comparisons, like looking up to someone perceived as more popular or attractive, tended to make people feel worse. In contrast, downward comparisons, like comparing oneself to someone with lower grades, for example, made people feel better about themselves.

Chicken or egg?

Consequently, it seems it is a chicken and egg argument as to whether exposure to social media causes depression or if depression fuels usage. Regardless of what came first, the link between social media usage and depressive symptoms is being proven time and time again, and there are a number of factors that create the connection.

The studies find that along with comparisons — which elicit feelings of envy and the distorted belief that others lead happier, more successful lives — engaging in activities of little meaning on social media may give users a feeling of “time wasted,” which can therefore negatively influence mood. Additionally, as the University of Pittsburgh researchers noted, excessive social media use can fuel “internet addiction and spending more time on social networking sites increases the risk of exposure to cyber-bullying or other similar negative interactions — which can also cause feelings of depression.”

This article (Are You Feeling Depressed? Facebook May Be to Blame) is free and open source. You have permission to republish this article under a Creative Commons license with attribution to Michaela Whitton and theAntiMedia.org. Anti-Media Radio airs weeknights at 11pm Eastern/8pm Pacific. If you spot a typo, email edits@theantimedia.org.

 

From theantimedia.org Team

The Government Just Declared #War on #Vaping

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(ANTIMEDIA) As people have taken up vaping in droves, it was only a matter of time before the joy police pulled up and slapped rules on the electronic substitute. This week, the Food and Drug Administration did exactly that when it announced U.S. tobacco regulations will be extended to e-cigarettes.

The latest era of prohibition, aimed at the fast-growing vaping industry, not only signifies the end for thousands of small business, but is a slap in the face to e-cig users who are trying to reduce their risk of harm. Unsurprisingly, Thursday’s ruling has led to vaping advocates accusing the FDA of gifting the market to Big Tobacco.

The FDA states the historic rule helps implement the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act of 2009, which is intended to allow the agency to improve public health and protect future generations. Until now, the act gave the FDA the power to regulate the industry, but e-cigs and other tobacco related products were left out.

The new ruling now gives the agency jurisdiction over all tobacco products in the US — including the $3 billion e-cigarette industry, which wasn’t previously under its control.

In April 2014, when the first proposal to extend authority over the products was launched, it attracted over 100,000 comments, and the FDA was forced to include lengthy responses in the final rule. Consequently, the 499-page rule has been broadened to include hookah and pipe tobacco, as well as premium and small cigars (among other products); it also banned the sale of e-cigs to individuals under 18.

In a press statement, Health and Human Services secretary Sylvia Burwell said, “We have more to do to help protect Americans from the dangers of tobacco and nicotine, especially our youth.” She said that while cigarette smoking among those under 18 has fallen, the use of other nicotine products has taken a drastic leap.

The Vape Debate

No matter where you turn, the vape debate is conflicting. With hundreds of brands and thousands of flavours, the smoke-free, tobacco-free substitute is either hailed as a successful harm reduction tool or a looming public health threat. As with anything, the importance of establishing who is behind any research, statements, and articles can never be underestimated — but it’s safe to assume that the electronic devices are less damaging to smokers than conventional cigarettes.

“Some harm from sustained exposure to low levels of toxins over many years may yet emerge, but the magnitude of these risks relative to those of sustained tobacco smoking is likely to be small,” the Royal College of Physicians wrote.

The only thing for sure so far is that evidence is limited regarding the long-term effects of e-cigs. At the same time, it remains to be seen whether they help people to give up smoking altogether, or how they will affect the use of other tobacco products.

While anti-tobacco groups have welcomed the FDA ruling as a step forward, e-cig advocates warn it could lead to the end of small businesses. Within two years, companies must submit premarket tobacco application papers with the FDA at a whopping estimated cost of $1 million or more for each flavour, nicotine strength, and device. Once applications are submitted, there is no guarantee they will get the green light.

Unsurprisingly, the crackdown means the increasingly popular market is likely to undergo significant changes that will include price hikes, reduced choice, more research, and the potential of an emerging black market as prohibition drives vaping underground.

This article (The Government Just Declared War on Vaping) is free and open source. You have permission to republish this article under a Creative Commons license with attribution to Michaela Whitton and theAntiMedia.org. Anti-Media Radio airs weeknights at 11pm Eastern/8pm Pacific. Image credit: micadew. If you spot a typo, email edits@theantimedia.org.

 

From theantimedia.org Team

#Leaked Documents Could Spell End of the Road for #TTIP

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Michaela Whitton

May 5, 2016

(ANTIMEDIA) Amid mass speculation that a shock leak of documents could spell the end of the road for the toxic Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP/TTP), even European leaders have begun distancing themselves from the much-hated deal. Angela Merkel has voiced strong opposition to the state of the negotiations, given that only a minority of Germans agree the E.U. should negotiate trade agreements on Germany’s behalf. At the same time, French president Francois Hollande has stated France will reject the partnership at this stage because the country is opposed to “unregulated” free trade.

According to campaign group, War on Want, the European Commission slapped a 30-year ban on public access to the negotiation texts back in 2013 — knowing they would not survive the outcry once the public glimpsed the extent of the deal. The group noted that in the past, campaigners called for a ‘Dracula strategy’ against the highly secretive trade agreement, knowing it would die when dragged into the light.

Seemingly, that is exactly what is happening. Responding to the leak earlier this week, Executive Director of War on Want, John Hilary wrote: “Today the door has been flung open and the first rays of sunlight shone on TTIP. The EU negotiators will never be able to crawl back into the shadows again.”

The huge leak of TTIP documents orchestrated by Greenpeace Netherlands spans 13 of the 17 chapters of the proposals. Greenpeace trade expert Jergen Knirsch told a Berlin news conference that the talks were made public to ignite a debate. Claiming the leak shows negotiations should be halted, Knirsch added, “The best thing the E.U. Commission can do is to say ‘Sorry, we’ve made a mistake’.”

Launched by Barack Obama in 2013, the first round of secret negotiations between the European Commission and U.S. officials took place in the same year. The most recent negotiations were held last week and it was reiterated that both sides hoped to reach a deal in the second half of the year.

In the past, officials have acknowledged the purpose of the treaty is not to stimulate trade by removing tariffs between the E.U. and the U.S., but to remove regulatory ‘barriers’ restricting the potential profits to be made by transnational corporations on both sides of the Atlantic. Some of these ‘barriers’ are in fact, standards and environmental regulations including labour rights, food safety rules — including restrictions on GMOs — as well as regulations on the use of toxic chemicals, digital privacy laws, and banking safeguards.

As War on Want has said, the stakes could not be higher.

Subjects covered in the leaked 248 pages include E.U. food safety standards and include details of more specific threats, such as the United States’ plan to end Europe’s ban on genetically modified foods. The documents also reveal that U.S. corporations will be granted unprecedented powers over any public health or safety regulations introduced in the future.

More chillingly,  if European governments do bring in laws to raise standards, TTIP grants U.S. investors the right to sue for loss of profits in corporate court systems — which will be unavailable to domestic firms or governments.

Essentially, companies can sue governments but governments cannot sue companies.

The texts also uncover how the European Commission is paving the way to open up the economy to competition from giant U.S. corporations. Official statistics suggest at least a million jobs will be lost as a direct result of TTIP — and you can double that if the full deal goes through.

“Yet we can now see that EU negotiators are preparing to trade away whole sectors of our economies in TTIP, with no care for the human consequences,” Hilary wrote.

Adamant that the contempt shown by TTIP negotiators to Europeans is a potent reminder of the democratic deficit at the heart of E.U. institutions — particularly for those of in the thick of the E.U referendum — Hilary added:

“Today’s leak of the TTIP text leaves the leaders of the European Union with a choice. Either they abandon the TTIP negotiations immediately or they risk seeing the entire European project come crashing down about their ears. They have until 23 June to decide.”

This article (Leaked Documents Could Spell End of the Road for TTIP) is free and open source. You have permission to republish this article under a Creative Commons license with attribution to Michaela Whitton and theAntiMedia.org. Anti-Media Radio airs weeknights at 11pm Eastern/8pm Pacific. If you spot a typo, email edits@theantimedia.org.

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“Far-Right” Leader Found Guilty of Inciting Racial Hatred on #Facebook in #Germany

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Editor:  Germany has no first Amendment protecting free speech so it is unsurprising that unpopular speech will be punished in Germany.  

(ANTIMEDIA) Dresden, Germany — The founder of German anti-Islam movement, Pegida, has been hit with a €9,600 ($11,000) fine for inciting racial hatred. Lutz Bachmann narrowly escaped jail but was ordered to pay the sum after he made a Facebook post branding refugees “cattle,” “scum,” and “trash.” A Dresden court ruled Bachmann’s posts constituted racial incitement and stoked hatred against refugees on a public forum.

Bachmann’s comments were posted in September, a couple of months before the first Pegida march in Dresden. The movement leader later stepped down after a picture of himself as Hitler with the caption, “He’s Back” went viral. In response to the photo, which he claimed was taken at the hairdresser’s for the publication of the satirical audiobook, He’s Back, he said, “You need to be able to joke about yourself now and then.”

Far-right group, Pegida, which stands for “Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamisation of the West,” has been organising regular protests against the German government’s refugee policy since 2014. At one point, their rallies drew thousands in cities across Europe, but numbers have since dwindled and tend to be outnumbered by counter-protesters. In January, Bachmann, a 43-year-old trained chef, posted a picture of himself wearing a t-shirt saying “Rapefugees not welcome” — the slogan used at Pegida’s January protest in Cologne.

Without a doubt, the global migration crisis has fuelled a surge in support for far-right groups across the continent. That said, xenophobia, anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, and racist rhetoric is no longer confined to white supremacist thugs on the march — and far-right parties have gained ground in local elections. From Greece to Austria and France to Switzerland, the far-right has sneaked into the mainstream in jackets and ties.

At the same time, members of the far-right bloc within the European parliament formed a coalition last year called the Europe of Nations and Freedom (ENF). Under the leadership of France’s National Front and the Dutch PVV party, the party’s interests are sovereignty, democracy, freedom, and ending mass immigration.

In Germany, the terrifying swing to the extreme right has so far prompted 1,000 attacks on accommodation for asylum seekers. The country has also been accused of having a ‘Donald Trump moment’ after the chairwoman of the Alternative for Germany party (AfP) called for the use of firearms to stem the influx of immigrants.

Considering the current climate, it’s little surprise this fertile ground is propagating hate groups like Pegida. Although the German group claims it is not a racist organisation, many see support for the movement as a dangerous blast from the country’s troubled past. Even the country’s chancellor, Angela Merkel, has condemned it as xenophobic and racist, urging people not to join as members have “coldness, prejudice and hatred in their hearts.”

This article (Far-Right Leader Found Guilty of Inciting Racial Hatred on Facebook) is free and open source. You have permission to republish this article under a Creative Commons license with attribution to Michaela Whitton and theAntiMedia.org. Anti-Media Radio airs weeknights at 11pm Eastern/8pm Pacific. If you spot a typo, email edits@theantimedia.org.

 

From theantimedia.org Team

How #Facebook, #Instagram, Google, and Twitter Use Censorship to Kill Free Speech

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Michaela Whitton
May 3, 2016

(ANTIMEDIA) United Kingdom — Social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter play an increasingly important role in our lives, but a brand new study into online censorship has revealed a number of developing trends regarding how social media platforms are attempting to regulate their users’ speech.

While most readers have likely been lucky enough to evade Facebook jail, others might have friends who have been kicked off the social networking site for designated periods of time for ‘violating community standards.’ Some may even have had their Facebook accounts closed permanently due to the site’s  ‘real names’ policy. Others have likely have had posts flagged or removed for containing nudity or other allegedly offensive content.

“UNFRIENDING CENSORSHIP: Insights from four months of crowdsourced data on social media censorship” is a brand new report that draws on data gathered from users of six social networking sites between November 2015 and March 2016. The inaugural study by Onlinecensorship.org — a collaborative effort between the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and Visualizing Impact — asked users to submit reports when their content was reported or their accounts were removed from Flickr, Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Instagram, and YouTube.

“Account suspensions, the most stringent form of moderation, were the most frequent type of content takedown in our dataset,” the report notes.

After analysing the collected data across geography, platform, content type and issue areas, the analysis revealed a number of trends in social media censorship. Here are some highlights of the information gathered from 161 submissions across 26 countries, with content in 11 languages:

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– Facebook was the most frequently reported platform, with account suspensions the most reported content type.

– Nudity and false identity were the most frequent reasons given for the removal of  content on Facebook.

– Of 119 reports received from Facebook users, 13% had been asked to prove their identity to Facebook under its name policy.

– Instagram users tended to report “inappropriate content” as the reason their content was taken down.

– Twitter takedowns tended to be linked to targeted abuse, harassment, or fraud/spam.

– Nearly half of copyright-related takedown submissions came from YouTube.

– 53% of users did not appeal the takedown of their content, 50% said they didn’t know how, and 41.9% said they didn’t expect a response. In four cases content was restored, but in 50 cases the user didn’t receive a response.

– There were widespread reports that flagging is being used for censorship, and 61.6% of users believed that this was the cause for the removal of their content.

“The content was the Wikipedia photo of human anatomy showing a man and a woman in full frontal nudity. It is against Facebook’s guidelines about nudity,” reads one case study.

Although measures were used to help verify reports — and users were given the opportunity to send screenshots to support their claims — onlinecensorship.org did not work with the social media companies to obtain their data. Consequently, the study does not claim to be representative of all content takedowns or user experiences.

EFF explained the importance of tracking how social media companies are regulating the speech of their users:

“As self-ordained content moderators, these companies face thorny issues; deciding what constitutes hate speech, harassment, and terrorism is challenging, particularly across many different cultures, languages, and social circumstances.”

EFF added that while the U.S.-based companies don’t believe their policies constitute censorship, the purpose of onlinecensorship.org is to challenge this assertion by examining how their policies (and their enforcement) may be having a chilling effect on freedom of speech.

After examining how the policies of social media platforms are being enforced — and how this affects the lives of users — the report goes on to make a set of recommendations for how the social media sites can improve the experiences of users and boost their commitment to free expression.

READ NEXT: Wikileaks Drops Hillary Email Bomb That Could End Her Campaign but FB Censored It

Those who wish to report content blocking and online censorship can do so here.

This article (How Facebook, Instagram, Google, and Twitter Use Censorship to Kill Free Speech) is free and open source. You have permission to republish this article under a Creative Commons license with attribution to Michaela Whitton and theAntiMedia.org. Anti-Media Radio airs weeknights at 11pm Eastern/8pm Pacific. Image credit: Tyler Menezes. If you spot a typo, email edits@theantimedia.org.

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From theantimedia.org Team

#Google Now Has Access To Millions of Patient’s #Medical Records

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Michaela Whitton
May 3, 2016

(ANTIMEDIA) United Kingdom — A controversial deal between tech giant Google and the National Health Service (NHS) will allow artificial intelligence units access to 1.6 million confidential medical records. Since 2014, Google has partnered with several scientists in an attempt to understand human health, but a new report reveals the data gathering goes far beyond what was originally anticipated.

According to documents obtained by the New Scientist, the data sharing agreement between Google-owned artificial intelligence company DeepMind and the Royal Free NHS Trust gives access to the sensitive healthcare data of millions of NHS patients. The chilling and wide-reaching deal allows DeepMind access to the medical records of the 1.6 million people passing annually through the three London hospitals owned by the Trust — Barnet, Chase Farm, and the Royal Free.

The Google-owned A.I. firm announced in February it was working with the NHS to build an app called Streams — intended to help hospitals monitor patients with kidney disease. However, the new information has revealed that the extent of the data being shared goes much further and includes logs of day-to-day hospital activity, records of the location and status of patients, and even logs of who visits them and when.

Results of pathology and radiology tests are also shared, as is information from critical care and accident and emergency departments. In addition, DeepMind’s access to the centralised records of all NHS hospital treatments in the U.K. means the tech company can access historical data from the last five years, all while receiving a continuous stream of new data.

At the same time, DeepMind is developing a platform called Patient Rescue, which uses hospital data streams to build tools to carry out analysis and support diagnostic decisions. The New Scientist explained how it works:

“Comparing a new patient’s information with millions of other cases, Patient Rescue might be able to predict that they are in the early stages of a disease that has not yet become symptomatic, for example. Doctors could then run tests to see if the prediction is correct.”

While the Royal Free has not yet responded to the question of what — if any — opt-out mechanisms are available to patients, the New Scientist suggests this is unlikely to be a straightforward process. Despite the agreement stating Google cannot use the data in any other part of the company’s business, many will be seriously wary of the access the online tech giant now has to the confidential data of millions of people.

As the New Scientist wrote:

“Data mining is the name of the game in the burgeoning field of machine learning and artificial intelligence, and there’s no company in the world better at that than Google.”

This article (Google Now Has Access To Millions of Patient’s Medical Records) is free and open source. You have permission to republish this article under a Creative Commons license with attribution to Michaela Whitton and theAntiMedia.org. Anti-Media Radio airs weeknights at 11pm Eastern/8pm Pacific. If you spot a typo, email edits@theantimedia.org.

 

From theantimedia.org Team

Activist Faces #Extradition and 99-Year Sentence on #Hacking Charges

by

Michaela Whitton
April 28th, 2016

(ANTIMEDIA) United Kingdom — A British activist is fighting extradition to the U.S. after allegedly taking part in a hacktivist protest against the U.S. government. Accused of hacking into government websites — including those of the U.S Army, FBI, NASA and the privately-run Federal Reserve Bank — computer scientist Lauri Love now has three U.S. extradition requests with his name on them. Lawyers have warned he could face 99 years in jail.

First arrested in 2013 for alleged offences under the U.K.’s Computer Misuse Act, Love’s equipment was also seized. Britain’s National Crime Agency attempted to force him to hand over his encryption keys, but he refused to cooperate and was released on bail.

He was arrested again last year at the request of the U.S. government, which issued a number of indictments and corresponding extradition warrants. The FBI and Department of Justice accused Love of hacking into websites including the U.S. Army, NASA, the Federal Reserve and the Environmental Protection Agency. Operation Last Resort (#OpLastResort) was a series of online protests in 2013, which Anonymous hacktivists claimed responsibility for. The cyber attack followed the persecution and untimely death of Aaron Swartz and prompted the federal websites to demand legal reform.

Data protection expert Kevin Cahill has described Love’s case as unbelievably ironic, pointing out that the very same people seeking to extradite the political activist have been convicted of hacking in the U.K. “The United States government was convicted on October 6th of the criminal offence of interception of emails in the United Kingdom,” he told  RT’s Harry Fear.

What’s also ironic is that while Big Brother keeps a beady eye on all of us, the very same governments that classify hackers as criminals are secretly exploiting their expertise, according to documents provided by whistleblower Edward Snowden.

Just weeks away from his June hearing, Love remains on extradition bail and is required to sign on at a police station twice a week. Claiming he wants the court deciding his fate to be a British one, he says he has been informed the British authorities have no intention of charging him. “The U.S. government has attempted to fight a war against information transparency and hacktivism in general, and I’ve become swept up in that,”  said the 31-year-old activist, who has been described as one of the U.K’s most expert cyber-security scientists.

“I believe that if I am extradited to the U.S., my life is effectively over,” he added.

Love has Asperger’s Syndrome, as did British hacker Gary Mckinnon, who escaped U.S. extradition after a ten-year battle. Central to Mckinnon’s eventual win was the risk that his vulnerable health would decline during U.S. incarceration. Naomi Colvin, of the Courage Foundation, said Love’s case will be a vital test of whether the U.K.’s outdated extradition laws have changed since the Mckinnon case.

Tor Ekeland, Love’s lawyer, called the case a draconian and heavy-handed prosecution. Insisting the U.K. authorities are very much acting on behalf of the U.S., he said he fails to see what the major harm is. He added that while the U.S. has a particular “puritanical zeal”  in its punishment of hackers compared with other countries, it doesn’t do much to deter the real bad actors, which are usually nation states and criminal gangs.

“I don’t think I’ve committed any crimes,” Love said, before adding, “Whether I have done anything illegal is something that gets determined in court.”

The computer scientist’s extradition hearing is at the end of June, with a decision expected in July. You can read more about the case and show him support here.

This article (Activist Faces Extradition and 99-Year Sentence on Hacking Charges) is free and open source. You have permission to republish this article under a Creative Commons license with attribution to Michaela Whitton and theAntiMedia.org. Anti-Media Radio airs weeknights at 11pm Eastern/8pm Pacific. If you spot a typo, email edits@theantimedia.org.

 

From theantimedia.org Team

Did #Bernie #Sanders Just Go Full Establishment? #feelthebern

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Michaela Whitton
April 27th, 2016

(ANTIMEDIA) Comments made by Bernie Sanders this week may just have blindsided and disillusioned swathes of his support base. Some of those with higher expectations of the ‘peacenik’ candidate breathed a collective sigh of disappointment after he endorsed Obama’s extrajudicial drone assassination program.

At the same time, the Democratic candidate backed the recent deployment of 250 U.S. troops to further death and destruction in Syria. During the town hall meeting at Philadelphia’s National Constitution centre, he told MSNBC’s Chris Hayes that the people of the United States have a right to defend themselves. The warmongering endorsement, which could have easily slid under the radar, was slotted into a much wider discussion that included vote-winners like Planned Parenthood, violence against women, marijuana, and gun control.

Despite acknowledging he would do everything to avoid perpetual war in the Middle East, when asked if he would he keep the government’s secret “kill list” if he were to become President, the “progressive” candidate was unhesitant: “Look. Terrorism is a very serious issue. There are people out there who want to kill Americans, who want to attack this country, and I think we have a lot of right to defend ourselves,” he said.

Asked if he thinks the current method in which the White House decides which suspected terrorists are added to the ‘kill list’ is constitutional and legal, he added:

“In general I do, yes.”

While some Bernie supporters came to the slow and painful realisation that there are no saviours, others took to Twitter and accused him of being a quasi-socialist warmonger and brutal imperialist. It appears that soon, the only ones ‘feeling the Bern’ will be the families killed by the drone programme that he fully supports.

This article (Did Bernie Sanders Just Go Full Establishment?) is free and open source. You have permission to republish this article under a Creative Commons license with attribution to Michaela Whitton and theAntiMedia.org. Anti-Media Radio airs weeknights at 11pm Eastern/8pm Pacific. If you spot a typo, email edits@theantimedia.org.

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From theantimedia.org Team

#Women Being Prescribed Surgical Implants to Combat #Alcohol Issues

by

Michaela Whitton
April 19, 2016

(ANTIMEDIA) United Kingdom — Women who have become a little too fond of their night caps are being treated with implants to help them curb their drinking. According to Irish media, women between the ages of 30 and 50 have replaced afternoon chats over tea and cake with a glass of wine — and they are increasingly seeking help for addiction. Naltrexone, the implant prescribed, is traditionally associated with heroin users, but the opiate-blocker also reduces the pleasures and highs associated with alcohol consumption.

At first glance, the report in the Irish Independent reads somewhat sexist. It warns against the wine drinking culture of “ladies who lunch” and “middle-class women” who have become accustomed to a bottle of wine every night to shake off the day. Doctors claim the increased consumption is partly caused by the feminist revolution and “newly defined gender roles” that place pressure and expectations on women.

Archaic as their logic sounds, the concerns about the troublesome culture shift are echoed by hepatologists at Cork University hospital. Dr. Orla Crosbie said in the last decade there has been a huge increase in the number of women in need of treatment for alcohol-related liver disease. In her own practice, almost 40% of the patients being treated for cirrhosis of the liver are female.

Naltrexone implants are inserted under women’s skin during a fifteen-minute procedure. Prescribed to both alcohol- and opiate-dependent patients, they help combat cravings and assist in reducing or controlling the patient’s substance misuse. Lasting for three months and costing a whopping €1,150, the implant requires patients to abstain from their drug of choice during treatment. However, the implant is not a cure-all, and as with anything, the individual must be motivated to change. Proof of this is evidenced in rumours of desperate users contemplating the extreme measure of cutting out their own implants.

Since One Step — an Irish clinic for addiction treatment — began the programme 18 months ago, hundreds of patients have attended the part-time rehab programme, which allows them to access treatment and still attend work. Many are receiving counselling in conjunction with the implant.

Describing the troublesome new trend in alcohol use, Dr. Crosbie said it certainly isn’t something Ireland would have seen ten or twenty years ago. She said it is tragic to see so many young females with very significant health issues due to alcohol, and added that some are dying and leaving behind young children.

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“We do need to change our attitude towards alcohol to try and reverse the situation, and have a healthier relationship with alcohol in Ireland,” she said.

This article (Women Being Prescribed Surgical Implants to Combat Alcohol Issues) is free and open source. You have permission to republish this article under a Creative Commons license with attribution to Michaela Whitton and theAntiMedia.org. Anti-Media Radio airs weeknights at 11pm Eastern/8pm Pacific. Image credit: Multimotyl. If you spot a typo, email edits@theantimedia.org.

 

From theantimedia.org Team

#Spy Agency Apologizes for Chemical #Castration and Horrific Treatment of #LGBT People #turing

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Michaela Whitton
April 19th, 2016

(ANTIMEDIA) United Kingdom — Britain’s secret intelligence agency has apologized for the “horrifying” treatment of one of its most famous members, as well as for the organisation’s historic prejudice against homosexuality. Speaking at a conference organised by LGBT rights charity, Stonewall, Robert Hannigan — director of Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) — paid tribute to former staff member Alan Turing, who was dismissed by the espionage service over his sexuality in the 1960s. Hannigan went on to apologise to all those unfairly dismissed as a result of the archaic policies, which included a ban on LGBT people joining the agency until the 1990s.

Described as a visionary and a brilliant mathematician, codebreaker Alan Turing’s skills are said to have shortened World War Two by two or more years, yet he was hounded from the secret service because of his sexuality. Known as the father of the modern computer, Turing led the well-known Bletchley Park codebreakers who cracked the encryption devices used by the Nazis.

When his home was burgled in 1952, the resulting police investigation uncovered that Turing was in a relationship with a young man. Homosexuality was still illegal in Britain, and he was ousted from his job following a conviction for indecency. Given the choice between prison and being treated with an experimental hormone to “fix” his sexual orientation — essentially chemical castration — he chose the latter. The treatment rendered him impotent and, in 1954, he took his own life by eating an apple laced with cyanide.

Hannigan said he attended the Stonewall conference to champion the right of people to be themselves. Apologising for the treatment of Alan Turing and many others discriminated against by the intelligence agency, he added:

“The fact that it was common practice for decades reflected the intolerance of the times and the pressures of the cold war, but it does not make it any less wrong and we should apologise for it.

“Their suffering was our loss and it was the nation’s loss too because we cannot know what Ian and others who were dismissed would have gone on to do and achieve. We did not learn our lesson from Turing.”

This article (British Spy Agency Apologizes for Chemical Castration and Horrific Treatment of LGBT People) is free and open source. You have permission to republish this article under a Creative Commons license with attribution to Michaela Whitton and theAntiMedia.org. Anti-Media Radio airs weeknights at 11pm Eastern/8pm Pacific. If you spot a typo, email edits@theantimedia.org.

 

From theantimedia.org Team

Hiding money in #London

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Michaela Whitton
April 14th, 2016

(ANTIMEDIA) United Kingdom — The City of London has long been known as a tax bolt-hole, facilitating money laundering, welcoming dirty money, and turning a blind eye to the investment of dodgy foreign capital. Long before the Panama Papers leak and its resulting embarrassment, stampedes to buy property in the British capital eliminated locals from the market. Last year’s reports highlighting the purchase of over £100bn worth of London property by foreign investors through shady offshore firms were met with little more than sighs and apathy.

In contrast, the leaked documents linked to Panamanian law firm, Mossack Fonseca, have propelled ministers to the podium in a race to prove who will crack down on tax dodging the hardest — a bit like a small child who has been caught with a hand in its mother’s purse.

Leading a debate on tax avoidance and evasion, Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell said London is seen as the tax haven at the centre of the worldwide system, designed to help the super-rich avoid paying taxes. Urging ministers to go further than the allocated £10 million for a taskforce to investigate the leak, McDonell has called for an independent public inquiry into the Panama Papers.

Claiming shady operations like Mossack Fonseca are being aided by “supposedly reputable” accountancy companies in London, the Shadow Chancellor named four major London firms, accusing them of aiding and abetting the systemic abuse of the tax system — some on an industrial scale. In addition, he named two banks, RBS and HSBC, claiming they have been “particularly proficient” in directing funds through Mossack Fonseca shell companies.

“We should be clear about this: the City of London is now being viewed by many as a tax haven in the middle of a dense network of havens created for the super rich to avoid the taxes the rest of us must pay,” he added.

As the capital braces for another massive anti-austerity protest this week, which will also call for the resignation of David Cameron, Britain has been reprimanded by UNICEF for lagging behind poorer nations in reducing inequality. Meanwhile, the public scandal emerging from the Panama Leaks is due to continue for some time. In the world’s dirty money laundry, however, few will hold their breath waiting for the U.K. government to prove it is serious about tackling tax evasion.

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This article (While You Pay Taxes, the Rich Hide Their Money In This City To Avoid Paying Theirs) is free and open source. You have permission to republish this article under a Creative Commons license with attribution to Michaela Whitton and theAntiMedia.org. Anti-Media Radio airs weeknights at 11pm Eastern/8pm Pacific. If you spot a typo, email edits@theantimedia.org.

 

From theantimedia.org Team

#WikiLeaks Spokesperson Says #PanamaPapers Should Be Made Available to Public

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Michaela Whitton
April 6, 2016

(ANTIMEDIA) United Kingdom — A spokesperson for WikiLeaks has called for the Panama Papers to be published in full in order to ensure the public is fully informed of the revelations. In a snippet of an interview set to air on RT’s “Going Underground” Wednesday, the Icelandic investigative journalist-turned-Wikileaks representative criticized the media’s current coverage. “When they are saying this is responsible journalism, I totally disagree with the overall tone of that,” he said.

Kristin Hrafnsson, who became a spokesperson for WikiLeaks after Julian Assange became engulfed in legal battles, also told RT’S Afshin Rattansi:

“I do have a sympathy towards stalled releases, we certainly did that in WikiLeaks in 2010 and 2011 with the Diplomatic Cables and we were actually highly criticised for holding back the documents. But in the end the entire cache was put online in a searchable database.”

Saying this is what he wants to see with the Panama Papers, he said the leaked data should be available to the general public — not just the group of journalists directly working on reporting on the revelations. He added that while he understands there may be a slight delay in the release of the information — in order to maximise impact — ultimately, the public should have full access to it. “That’s the new way, it’s the way that WikiLeaks operates and it is highly appreciated by the general public.” Hrafnsson insisted.

In an attempt to combat what appears to be a mainstream news monopoly on the biggest data leak in history, by Tuesday evening WikiLeaks had made 149 of the of 11.5 million Panama Papers available to the public by sharing them via DocumentCloud.

In a Twitter poll, WikiLeaks asked people if the Panama Papers should be made public and searchable. Of the 85,000 who responded, 95% said they should be.

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This article (WikiLeaks Spokesperson says Panama Papers should be Made Available to Public) is free and open source. You have permission to republish this article under a Creative Commons license with attribution to Michaela Whitton and theAntiMedia.org. Anti-Media Radio airs weeknights at 11pm Eastern/8pm Pacific. If you spot a typo, email edits@theantimedia.org.

 

From theantimedia.org Team

#PanamaPapers: #British Elite Linked to #Corruption, yet Media Only Focuses on Putin

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Michaela Whitton
April 04, 2016

(ANTIMEDIA) United Kingdom — Believed to be the largest leak of secret documents in history, the Panama Papers are the latest revelations exposing global corruption. The worldwide investigation supposedly exposes the secretive offshore industry the world’s elites use to hide assets and swerve rules. Based on a library of more than 11 million leaked files, it claims to have exposed a host of characters using offshore companies to facilitate bribery, arms deals, tax evasion, financial fraud, and drug trafficking.

Few will be surprised that the global rich and famous hide their money offshore, regardless of their country of origin. While the Panama Papers are set to identify a cast of characters, from the stars of pitch and screen to political establishments, it’s worth pointing out that the 2.6 terabytes of data hail from just one law firm in one tax haven. They are the tip of the iceberg in spotlighting the shadowy corners where elites stash their cash.

Though much of the public reveres whistleblowers, as author and human rights activist Craig Murray points out, this particular leaker has made the mistake of turning to the Western corporate media to publicise the results. The crucial part of this story, according to Murray, is who is managing the leaked information: the “International Consortium of Investigative Journalists.” He explains they are funded and organised by the U.S.A’s Center for Public Integrity, which includes sponsors such as the Ford Foundation, Carnegie Endowment, Rockefeller Family Fund, W. K., the Kellogg Foundation, and the Open Society Foundation,  which is owned by George Soros.

All roads lead to Putin

Considering those guarding the information, it is unsurprising that here in the U.K., corporate press coverage has shown an overarching focus on official enemies like Putin and Assad. With the media dominated by glaring close-ups of Putin and misleading headlines, it seems the British public are only privy to information about official establishment foes while the misdemeanours of tax dodgers are practically ignored. From what Murray says, the identities of those behind managing the leak could also explain the deafening silence on the hundreds of Israeli companies and shareholders implicated.

With the enemies of the West paraded by British news outlets, by mid-morning only the Mirror and the Metro had given brief mention to the fact that David Cameron’s father and a host of senior Tory figures had reportedly used tax havens for the rich and powerful. David Cameron’s late father, Ian, is allegedly named as a client of Mossack Fonseca, the firm at the centre of the scandal. Using it it to protect his investment fund from U.K. taxes, he is said to have built up a significant legacy, part of which was inherited by the Prime Minister. The irony is not lost on many, especially in view of Cameron’s previous pledges to clamp down on tax dodgers and havens. He has described them as “morally wrong.”

Few will hold their breath for any of the rich and powerful named in the files to be held to account for the details released the latest data splurge. Undoubtedly, it will soon become clear whether there will be any real consequences of a leak of this size, particularly when most of the information will remain private. While tumbleweeds blow through the corporate media on the fact that the Tories were up to their necks in global corruption, Twitter users didn’t hold back.

This article (Panama Papers: British Elite Linked to Corruption, yet Media Only Focuses on Putin) is free and open source. You have permission to republish this article under a Creative Commons license with attribution to Michaela Whitton and theAntiMedia.org. Anti-Media Radio airs weeknights at 11pm Eastern/8pm Pacific. If you spot a typo, email edits@theantimedia.org.

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From theantimedia.org Team

What Life is Really Like Under ISIS Rule

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Michaela Whitton
March 30, 2016

(ANTIMEDIA) United Kingdom —  A group of activists, bloggers, and filmmakers are raising their voices against the propaganda machine of the Islamic State (ISIS) by sharing personal stories of those who have experienced the group’s terror first hand.

The self-declared caliphate’s recruitment strategy promises a fantastic life under their control to those wanting to serve what they consider to be a noble cause. To counter the fictitious and sensationalist propaganda, the Open Your Eyes movement exposes the reality of life under the Islamic State with the aim of showing potential new recruits they are actually joining a death cult — and that what they are being told is lies.

Reiterating that ISIS is not the voice of 1.6 billion Muslims — that it is warping the teachings of Islam and perverting the religion they love — the Open Your Eyes movement was launched by British Muslims. Exposing the utter barbarity of the terror group in the hope of reaching those considering making the journey of no return, it lifts the veil on the brutal reality of life under ISIS control. The movement claims ISIS is prolonging the suffering of Muslims throughout the world and says new recruits are little more than pawns on the chessboard of global power games.

Thanks to those who risked torture and death to recount their suffering, Open Your Eyes is able to share the reality of life in Mosul, Iraq, as well as the stories of Syrian journalists who have escaped torture while attempting to crush Islamic State propaganda.

“Death is better than this”

Women in Mosul have had to adapt to ancient ways of life since ISIS took control. In secret interviews with the women, they described life before the takeover, when they had electricity, they could bake and cook, and their basic needs were met. Now forced to use wood for cooking, and without food or work, they have been forced back in time. There is no electricity or drinking water, and public services have stopped. Covert filming reveals streets strewn with garbage, flies and disease. The women have said even the drinking water smells bad, and that when children drink it, they get get stomach aches and diarrhoea and have to be taken to hospital. They said ISIS has imposed their beliefs on them and complain they are forced to wear face veils (abaya). They said the terror group are often violent towards them and beat them:

“I hope that if ISIS go — god willing — we will go back to our normal life, wear normal clothes, go out and visit our relatives and get out of this prison they have put us in,” one of the women said.

“What kind of life it this?” Another added. “Death is better than this.”

“They took us back to the stone age”

A student in ISIS-controlled Mosul, Iraq’s second largest city, said many universities have become places of residence for members of the terror group and their families. Anyone wanting to leave the city must first appear in the Shar’ia court, where someone must act as a guarantor for them to leave. If they don’t return, the guarantor is arrested. Islamic State policies have resulted in textbooks being destroyed, the cancellation of courses, and university departments being shut down.

“They stole the future of most students,” the student said, recalling how he was made to let his hair and beard grow long. He was forced to wear loose clothes and jeans, and bright colours were forbidden. He claimed he can no longer go out with his friends. Smoking is forbidden, and if caught, offenders are whipped and their fingers broken.

“We reject the policies of Daesh because they are nothing but violence and backwardness. The only thing they do is kill people, they took us back to the stone age away from humanity,” said the student.

“Founded on blood”

Renowned for treating journalists particularly harshly, ISIS leaders do not want the truth about those espousing different views to come out. Ahmad, a Syrian journalist, escaped after 50 days of being captured and tortured. Kept blindfolded and tied to a chair while suffering beatings and electric shocks to his genitals, he believed he would never get out and worried for the future of his young son. He said if he could have ended his life, he would have, saying he thought about suicide a great deal during his captivity. In prison, was surprised to see that a former friend was the main torturer. After 50 days, an uprising between various factions and ISIS saw some of his captors killed. Ahmed and the other prisoners were able to break down the doors and escape.

“Daesh are going to disappear in Syria,” Ahmed said, “because nations need laws and solid foundations to thrive, but ISIS was founded on blood.”

Another journalist from Aleppo, Milad Shehabi was writing an article on the Syrian regime’s airstrikes when a group of men dressed head-to-toe in black came to the door and kidnapped him. With seven guns aimed at him, he was warned that if he moved, he would be shot. Kept blindfolded by ISIS for 45 days before being freed by the Free Syrian Army, he said the only thing he could hear in captivity were the sounds of torture and air raids. “We wished they would drop bombs on us to escape the reality we were facing,” he said.

“When we talk about ISIS you have to understand that it doesn’t represent Islam in any way,” he added. “It has perverted the image of Islam globally.”

This article (What Life is Really Like Under ISIS Rule) is free and open source. You have permission to republish this article under a Creative Commons license with attribution to Michaela Whitton and theAntiMedia.org. Anti-Media Radio airs weeknights at 11pm Eastern/8pm Pacific. If you spot a typo, email edits@theantimedia.org.

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From theantimedia.org Team

Police Forced to Apologize after Blood-Thirsty Officer Accidentally Records Himself

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Michaela Whitton
March 30, 2016

(ANTIMEDIA) United Kingdom —The Metropolitan Police have finally apologized and paid out damages for the false arrest and assault of a 20-year-old man at the 2010 student demonstrations — over five years after his tooth was knocked out by a police officer.

As an evidence gatherer, PC Andrew Ott was supposed to look for troublemakers during the student protests in central London. What he didn’t realize in his excessive enthusiasm for the task was that his police radio was on record, capturing every word of his violent boasting.

“I wanna kill these f****** little lot here,” Ott said. “Mate, if that fence goes I’m gonna f****** batter them.”

The accidental recording continued: “Guys, if you happen to move forward and he’s still there, stamp all over his little f****** head,” he said of one protester.

As he bragged that he was more covert than other cops because he wasn’t wearing a jacket, Ott’s menacing threats escalated: “So I’ll go stick in play now and I’ll f****** let some people have it as well.”

William Horner, a student situated near Westminster Abbey, eventually caught the fired-up copper’s attention — and became the target of his aggression. Shortly after Ott hollered to other officers to stop the man, camera footage captured William Horner on the ground, seconds after his front tooth was knocked out by Ott’s riot shield.

Horner had jumped a fence to get away from the increasingly chaotic demonstration in an attempt to get home. Another officer explained to Ott that the man had done nothing to warrant the violence. Rather than being remorseful, the PC continued his tirade: “I f****** knocked his tooth out the c***.”

Not content with hunting down an innocent person, the aggressive cop then grappled with how to frame him. “Well he’s going to have to have done something at the moment because I just put his tooth out,” he said.

Ott was eventually convicted of Actual Bodily Harm (ABH) and sentenced to eight months in prison. This week, the Metropolitan police apologized for the incident and paid an undisclosed sum in damages to William Horner, who said, “I am of course pleased with the apology and damages but if it wasn’t for the accidental recording by PC Ott I could instead be living with a criminal record now.”

It’s unclear why it took the Met nearly six years to apologize. What is clear is that Horner isn’t the first person to be hospitalized by the British police, and he surely won’t be the last. While there is a least a glimmer of accountability for police misconduct in the U.K., this is not an isolated incident; it simply shows PC Andrew Ott was unlucky to be caught.

This article (Police Forced to Apologize after Blood-Thirsty Officer Accidentally Records Himself) is free and open source. You have permission to republish this article under a Creative Commons license with attribution to Michaela Whitton and theAntiMedia.org. Anti-Media Radio airs weeknights at 11pm Eastern/8pm Pacific. If you spot a typo, email edits@theantimedia.org.

From theantimedia.org Team

New Eye-Opening Documentary Completely Exposes #Barbaric #Saudi Regime

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Michaela Whitton
March 24, 2016

(ANTIMEDIA) United Kingdom — A British television crew recently filmed an undercover documentary in Saudi Arabia in an attempt to penetrate the world’s most secretive and murderous regime. Working with a team of undercover Saudi cameramen, the one hour eye-opener, Exposure: Saudi Arabia Uncovered, was broadcast by ITV on March 22. It reveals the hidden side of the regime, which buys billions of pounds worth of British arms, accepts training from British security forces, sells oil back to the U.K., and enjoys nothing less than red carpet treatment from the British royal family.

After setting up a fake company, the crew flew into Riyadh posing as businessmen, wielding carefully concealed hidden cameras. For cover, they said they were in the country to attend a business conference on cyber-security. What they discovered was a state that beheads — and even crucifies — its citizens; where women lack basic human rights and its children are indoctrinated. Patrolled by religious police, citizens are tortured, imprisoned, and sentenced to death for writing blogs and questioning authority. It sounds like the Islamic State, but it’s not — it’s the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. And it is fully propped up by Europe and the United States.

The mind-boggling documentary reveals how Saudi Arabia’s money and Wahhabi ideology has helped drive terrorism around the world. Shining a light on Britain’s shoulder-rubbing with the ruling royals, the production has pushed the U.K. government to admit they have provided more than 300 Saudi police officers with training since 2012.

“A necessary evil”

In January 2015, the Union Jack flew at half-mast at Westminster as a mark of respect for the death of Saudi ruler, King Abdullah. During the same month, young Saudi blogger Raif Badawi received 50 lashes in public. Convicted of insulting Islam after blogging about his government and religion, quoting Albert Camus, he wrote:

“The only way to deal with an unfree world is to become so absolutely free that your very existence is an act of rebellion.”

Comments like this earned the father of three 1,000 total lashes and ten years in prison.

“We don’t approve of what Saudi Arabia does, we don’t like what they do, but they are a necessary evil in combating other regimes,” former Head of International Terrorism, Colonel Richard Kemp, told ITV.

“And of course, ultimately they have a lot of oil,” he added.

Undercover cameraman Yasser is from an underground network of Saudi activists. He risked life and limb to provide a window into the brutal and secretive country where the King is all powerful, journalists cannot operate without a minder, and dissent is a cardinal sin. In the country, which is home of some of Islam’s holiest sites, the Saudi state oil company is worth £7 trillion. The royal family is worth billions. In contrast, an estimated quarter of the population lives in poverty, and numerous women were filmed begging and being beaten in the streets.

It is estimated that only one in five Saudi women of working age are employed. They are banned from driving and struggle to perform simple tasks, such as going to the doctor without a male guardian. But some are fighting back, and prominent human rights activist Loujain Hathloul has become the face of the Saudi women’s rights movement.

Moments after uploading videos of herself driving — as part of a campaign to change the ban against it — the activist was arrested for trying to enter Saudi Arabia from the United Arab Emirates while behind the wheel. Imprisoned for 73 days without trial, she remains banned from traveling. Terrorism charges also were filed against her. Facing persistent death threats towards her and her family, for some she is a hero. For others, she is a hate figure.

The Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice

The religious police, officially known as the Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, patrol streets and shopping malls enforcing strict Islamic laws. Yasser films himself and his friend as they are violently stopped from playing a lute outside. Playing music in public is forbidden, and their instrument and hidden camera are smashed. In other instances, religious police force women to cover themselves and drive people out of cafes to pray.

This strict form of Sunni Islam is known as Wahhabism, and it is the religion on which Saudi Arabia was founded. It is thought that the majority of Saudis support the state ideology, and the activists film a preacher spreading hatred of other religions and the Shia minority. Children are shown being indoctrinated by school textbooks, made in Saudi Arabia and exported to the world.

“No country is the perfect ally, perfect partner, without any reservations whatsoever. Welcome to the real world, welcome to the premier league,” said former CIA Director, General David Petraeus.

Director of the Institute for Gulf Affairs, Ali al-Ahmed, said the Saudi education system was created as a security measure to protect the ruling family and mislead millions of students into hatred of other religions and cultures. Some say the state has made progress in removing some of the worst examples of hatred from its textbooks, but the books can still be found in mosques and schools around the world.

Al-Ahmed added, “It’s no wonder that thousands of Saudis joined ISIS and other terror groups because they were trained in Saudi schools.”

“Chop Chop Square”

In 2015, Saudi Arabia executed 157 people. Traditional punishments are employed, and executions are often carried out in public by one sword blow to the neck. Headless bodies are sometimes displayed publicly, and the documentary shows harrowing footage of a Burmese woman screaming for mercy as she is beheaded in the street.

Yasser says many Saudis are angry but cannot speak out due to fear of imprisonment, adding that the regime relies on secrecy; criticism of the government is considered an act of terror. The film crew visits one of Saudi Arabia’s most notorious landmarks, known as Chop Chop Square. It is the scene of many of the regime’s public executions and has drains in the ground for blood.

Since 9/11, Saudi Arabia has attempted to show the world they are tackling terrorism. The regime has clamped down on private donations to extremists from inside the Kingdom and carried out airstrikes against ISIS. They deny they are supporting the terror group, but many feel it is the underlying Wahhabi Salafi ideology that is the wider problem.

Former Director of Political Islam of the CIA, Emile Nakleh told ITV:

“The ideology of ISIS is not much different from the ideology that Wahabi Salafi Islam in Saudi adheres to. Unless the Saudis deal with this issue, we are going to constantly fight yesterday’s wars. Even if we defeat ISIS there will be another terrorist organisation, perhaps with a different name, as long as they have this ideology.”

Unwilling to tolerate dissent and fiercely opposed to sharing power, Saudi Arabia executed 47 people in January of this year — its largest mass execution since 1980. Some were convicted terrorists, but others were political activists. Footage smuggled out by activists has revealed that the executions sparked the largest public protests since the Arab Spring.

Since the mass executions, Yasser has stopped filming undercover. He claims it is just too risky continue, which, of course, is exactly what these public displays of punishment are all about. Although activists are being forced underground, the spread of mobile phones and cameras means it is becoming impossible for the regime to control what the world sees.

While in the country pretending to be traders, the filmmakers’ website was hacked, leading them to believe their cover was blown. As a result, they promptly left the country.

The documentary ends with a statement from the Saudi authorities condemning the covert filming by ITV:

“The kingdom of Saudi Arabia utterly rejects the partisan nature and sensationalist tone of this documentary which sets out to portray the country in a negative and unbalanced light. The Kingdom’s legal system is based on the due process of Islamic Sharia Law. The Kingdom is at the forefront of international efforts to combat terrorism and will pursue anyone who supports and funds terrorist activities. To suggest otherwise is a slur. In keeping with its biased agenda, ITV chose to undertake covert filming when they could have applied for and received a journalistic visa, like many of their counterparts.”

The full documentary, Exposure: Saudi Arabia Uncovered, can be viewed here.

This article (New Eye-Opening Documentary Completely Exposes Barbaric Saudi Regime) is free and open source. You have permission to republish this article under a Creative Commons license with attribution to Michaela Whitton and theAntiMedia.org. Anti-Media Radio airs weeknights at 11pm Eastern/8pm Pacific. If you spot a typo, email edits@theantimedia.org.

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From theantimedia.org Team

#Wikileaks Drops #Hillary Email Bomb That Could End Her Campaign but FB Censored It

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Michaela Whitton
March 20, 2016

(ANTIMEDIA) United Kingdom — On Wednesday, a major archive containing over 30,000 of Hillary Clinton’s emails were released. Though the State Department began releasing the emails in May last year — after a Freedom of Information Act request — it is the first time the messages have been made easily available in a searchable format, courtesy of WikiLeaks. Before the launch, the FBI was investigating the Democratic candidate’s use of a private server during her tenure as Secretary of State. The archive contains over 7,000 emails written by Clinton herself.

The scary, albeit fascinating exposé on who’s in bed with whom in the halls of global power has expanded to include Facebook, according to WikiLeaks. The organization has accused the social networking site of censorship, saying Facebook is blocking users’ access to the latest Clinton dispatch.

wikileaks-hillary

As a result of the outing, Twitter users are calling Clinton wicked, a thug, and a hypocrite. The released emails uncovered that the presidential frontrunner was instrumental in spreading chaos and extremism in Libya. They also revealed that she pushed for oil privatization in Mexico and forwarded emails claiming a Sunni-Shiite war would be good for Israel and the West.

wikileaks-hillary-2

For those who are fascinated but don’t have the time or inclination to sift through more than 30,000 documents, here is a snapshot of what Clinton’s emails revealed:

This article (Facebook, WikiLeaks and Clinton’s Warmongering Emails) is free and open source. You have permission to republish this article under a Creative Commons license with attribution to Michaela Whitton and theAntiMedia.org. Anti-Media Radio airs weeknights at 11pm Eastern/8pm Pacific. If you spot a typo, email edits@theantimedia.org.

From theantimedia.org Team

Rape Prevention With the Push of A Button

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Michaela Whitton
March 18, 2016

(ANTIMEDIA)  A groundbreaking device was launched this week to make sure everyone can access help in an emergency, regardless of where they are. A team of engineers and developers have created Revolar — a tiny, wearable device that sends immediate alerts to contacts if the user feels threatened or unsafe.

Hoping to address the culture of fear women and other vulnerable groups face on a daily basis — Revolar means to fly again in Spanish. The gadget is the brainchild of CEO Jacqueline Ros, whose teenage sister was a victim of sexual assault. In the aftermath of the rape, Ros found herself wishing her younger sibling had been able to push a button to ask for help, so she set about creating one.

Using the tragedy to try to ensure the same doesn’t happen to others, Ros and her team launched a successful Kickstarter campaign. In addition, the developers took part in the Techstars Boulder 2015 accelerator program, made the Top 25 for Sir Richard Branson’s Extreme Tech Challenge, and more recently, closed a $3 million financing deal with The Foundry Group. After Ros raised a whopping $3.5 million, the wearable device, designed to clip onto your clothing or keychain, began shipping on March 15. It is due to be on the shelves in shops in April.

Marketed as the “world’s smartest personal safety device,” the slimline, 2-inch long gadget enables users to send differentiated alerts by the simple press of a button. Two presses sends a yellow warning alert while three times signals a red alert. Built-in GPS means contacts immediately receive a text revealing the user’s exact location.

For those who feel they need an extra layer of protection, Revolar can be ordered at revolar.com. A video showing the device in action can be found here.

This article (Rape Prevention With the Push of A Button) is free and open source. You have permission to republish this article under a Creative Commons license with attribution to Michaela Whitton and theAntiMedia.org. Anti-Media Radio airs weeknights at 11pm Eastern/8pm Pacific. If you spot a typo, email edits@theantimedia.org.

From theantimedia.org Team

This Stun Gun Looks Like an iPhone, Delivers 3 Million Volts of Electricity

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Michaela Whitton
March 14, 2016

(ANTIMEDIA) United Kingdom — When members of the public became concerned that stun guns disguised as iPhones were readily available online to be imported into the U.K, they contacted national advocacy service Whistleblower.co.uk. The group contacted the Sunday Mirror, which launched an investigation into the devices that look and feel like iPhones, yet are capable of delivering over 3 million volts of electricity.

Available online in a variety of disguises, such as phones, torches, and key fobs, the stun guns can be bought and delivered for free in a few days with a couple of clicks. With the look and feel of a cell phone, the high-voltage weapons can be bought for as little as £13.00 ($22) and feature two electrodes at one end for zapping victims.

Claiming the availability of the stun guns could “fuel gang warfare on the streets,” the Sunday Mirror report uses predictably sensationalist language throughout. What it fails to mention is that the majority of buyers are purchasing the items for self defense. Just one sentence devoted to what a tragic indictment it is on today’s society that people are forced to carry high voltage devices on their key fobs — in defence against violent aggressors — wouldn’t have gone amiss but, after all, this was the Mirror.

What it does point to is how easy it is to get hold of the stun guns for malicious purposes, highlights the fact that they are classed as firearms in Britain, and that possession is illegal. While the site selling them is based in the U.S., possession in the U.K. can carry a prison sentence of up to ten years.

The investigation claims to have uncovered a series of prosecutions throughout the U.K. involving criminals importing the stun guns, referring to them throughout as “deadly weapons.” While intended to be non-lethal, there have been many deaths reported following police use of tasers in Britain, prompting Amnesty International to express concern that stun guns are “potentially lethal” weapons.

It says hundreds of the devices are slipping under the radar of the U.K. authorities only to be found in the possession of the likes of Nathan Matthews — the demented killer of Becky Watts — who was found with two stun guns disguised as torches. It also points to a naive holiday maker who was jailed for five years last month — after buying a stun gun designed as an iPhone as a present for a relative and bringing it into to Britain — unaware it was classified as an illegal firearm.

Meanwhile, a quick scan of the reviews for the iStun model from buyers in the U.S. reveal that not only does the device work, but that they are more than happy with their purchase.

“Used it on a drunk parking lot bully who was intimidating my wife, I got out and asked him to lay off, he said hey old man, who is gonna stop me,? you? he grabbed my coat and pushed my back, that is the line for me I stuck it in his rib cage and bully went down like a sack of potatoes he was still making threats as I zapped him again, called the cops and they took him away for threatening an elderly person.”

“This little diddy provides you with confidence to go dark places at night, hangout with shady people, or just yell offensive remarks at random strangers.
When confronted, just say you will ‘give them your iPhone’ as an apology. Then you give em the ol’ 3,800,000 volts and continue on your way.”

Alongside the pros, there are always the cons:

“It looks like an iPhone! My mom called me after I had this bad boy for about 2 days. Naturally I answered the phone. I woke up 2.5 hours later on the ground crying to the smell of burnt hair. Turns out I answered my stun gun! That was an iMistake I only made once. The only long term damage done was to my pride. Good news is, I know it works well.”

Stun GunStun Gun

This article (This Stun Gun Looks Like an iPhone, Delivers 3 Million Volts of Electricity) is free and open source. You have permission to republish this article under a Creative Commons license with attribution to Michaela Whitton and theAntiMedia.org. Anti-Media Radio airs weeknights at 11pm Eastern/8pm Pacific. If you spot a typo, email edits@theantimedia.org.

From theantimedia.org Team