Bloomberg on NYC drone program vs. street cameras: ‘What’s the difference?’

Source  :  The Raw Story

New York City’s Mayor Michael Bloomberg said in an interview on Friday that the city may turn to the use of a drone program for public safety monitoring. According to CBS New York, the mayor believes that the thousands of surveillance cameras already mounted all around the city are not enough, but that a program of unmanned surveillance drones would not be a significant incursion into resident’s privacy.

“What’s the difference whether the drone is up in the air or on a building?” the mayor asked. “I have trouble making the distinction.”

New York Civil Liberties Union spokesperson Donna Lieberman told CBS that it’s “disappointing” that the mayor would think that the more than 2,400 cameras already in use in the city are inadequate enough to merit the addition of an unmanned drone program.

Lieberman accused Bloomberg of evincing “disdain for the legitimate concerns of New Yorkers about their privacy. None of us expects that we’ll go unseen when we’re out on the street, but we also have a right to expect that the government isn’t making a permanent record” of their daily activities.

Under the Radar - 4: More Al-Qaeda/ U.S. links, more drones and a "new" New World Order

Source : Voice of Russia

According to some reports Al-Qaeda is not only working with the United States but assisting in carrying out attacks to blame and frame other entities that the West wants to target. The entire War on Terror is a pretext to invade for resources and advance geopolitical goals. Meanwhile while the U.S. is assassinating people worldwide with drones, they are also expanding their usage with the U.S. All of these events are currently taking place "Under the Radar".

Every week hundreds of important events occur that are important to all of us but which do not get enough media attention, either because they are over-shadowed by other major news or because they do not fit the pre-planned message that many of the world's media are trying to promote, there is a journalistic responsibility to tell the whole story which we always attempt to do. Although we keep our eyes on the world this week's most pressing issues that have been suppressed come from the US.

1. Bulgaria

Last summer’s terrorist bombing of a bus full of tourists was immediately attributed to being carrying out by Hezbollah, however now there is evidence that the attack was actually carried out by Al- Qaeda, an organization with a history of attacks on Israeli civilian targets, and the Hezbollah connection may have been stated under pressure by Israel and the United States.

IPS NEWS

“Bulgarian Interior Minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov’s dramatic announcement Tuesday on the Bulgarian investigation of the July 2012 terror bombing of an Israeli tourist bus was initially reported by Western news media as suggesting clear evidence of Hezbollah’s responsibility for the killings.”

“But more accurate reports on the minister’s statement and the only details he provided reveal that the alleged link between the bomb suspects and Hezbollah was merely an “assumption” rather than a conclusion based on specific evidence.”

2. Germany

According to a report by the website Phantom News a former member of the German Parliament has exposed the West’s Alliance with al-Qaeda. The report is one of hundreds that have appeared in the last few years connecting U.S. Government activities to those Al-Qaeda adding to the almost universally known fact that Al- Qaeda and the U.S. are working hand in hand, just as they did from the start in Afghanistan. This article lays out some of the reasons for supposed “War on Terror” operations worldwide.

Phantom Report

“The Syrian rebels receive money and weapons predominantly from Saudi Arabia and Qatar. Saudi Arabia is mainly supplying Al Qaeda, with the U.S.A. knowing about it. The West is providing political cover for the entire rebellion, including al-Qaeda. It is de facto an ally of al-Qaeda. In Mali against, in Syria for al-Qaeda—it can’t be more cynical.”

“Whenever the western war on terror leads or calls, it’s about completely different things. In Afghanistan, the central geostrategic position in Asia, in Iraq for oil, in conflict with the alleged nuclear addicted “terrorist state” Iran for dominance in the Middle East and Mali to uranium in neighboring Niger.”

3. World

Apparently the New World Order has nothing to do with nation states but everything to do with bankers and money and according to this report the West and all its war and violence are nothing but killing for the sake of killing. Judging from the current economic state of the West, this may be completely and totally true.

“The real new world order has emerged–the world’s downtrodden against the West and its puppet, surrogate colonial governments. These non-state but similarly minded actors will determine the course of future world history. There is now a new world order that the West cannot control, that military force cannot subdue, and that concessions cannot placate. Ancien régimes relied on military power to influence events. The true new world order renders military power effete. All it can now accomplish is kill for killing’s sake. Pure barbarity is what the promise of Western Civilization has been reduced to. What a wonderful world we have made!”

4. China

It may be propaganda being used to advance an agenda or it may be that China is preparing for a military confrontation with Japan over territory that is rightfully China’s but which Japan, desperate for territory, has claimed as its own.

Zero Hedge

“If that is indeed the case, and its story of major troop movements and mobilization of various types of military vehicles and artillery into the Fujian and Zhejian provinces, bordering the East China Sea and closest to the Diaoyu islands, is accurate, then hostilities between China and Japan may be about to take a major turn for the worse.”

5. United States

U.S. drone usage is spreading worldwide but it is also spreading within the United States itself, with everything from mining companies to universities being licensed to operate drones. Will Americans tolerate yet another tool to strip them of their “freedoms”? Most likely, in the name of security, the answer to that question is yes.

Electronic Frontier Foundation

“The Federal Aviation Administration has finally released a new drone authorization list. This list, released in response to EFF’s Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit, includes law enforcement agencies and universities across the country, and— for the first time—an Indian tribal agency. In all, the list includes more than 20 new entities over the FAA’s original list, bringing to 81 the total number of public entities that have applied for FAA drone authorizations through October 2012.”

Niger gives green light to U.S. drone deployment: source

Source : Yahoo!

NIAMEY (Reuters) - Niger has given permission for U.S. surveillance drones to be stationed on its territory to improve intelligence on al Qaeda-linked Islamist fighters in northern Mali and the wider Sahara, a senior government source said.

The U.S. ambassador to Niger, Bisa Williams, made the request at a meeting on Monday with President Mahamadou Issoufou, who immediately accepted it, the source said.

"Niger has given the green light to accepting American surveillance drones on its soil to improve the collection of intelligence on Islamist movements," said the source, who asked not to be identified.

The drones could be stationed in Niger's northern desert region of Agadez, which borders Mali, Algeria and Libya, the source said.

A spokesperson for the United States' African Command (AFRICOM) declined to comment.

The United States already has drones and surveillance aircraft stationed at several points around Africa. Its only permanent military base is in the small country of Djibouti in the Horn of Africa, more than 3,000 miles from Mali.

After her talks with Issoufou, Williams told reporters they had discussed economic and military cooperation and development issues. She also expressed Washington's appreciation for the French-led military mission to expel an alliance of al Qaeda- linked fighters from northern Mali.

French and Malian troops retook control of the ancient trading town of Timbuktu on Monday, as they drove deep into the heart of the desert region the size of Texas seized by Islamist fighters last year.

Washington has provided military transport planes to airlift men and equipment into Mali but said it will not send combat troops.

The head of the U.S. Africa Command, General Carter Ham, visited Niger last month. The poor, landlocked West Africa state has said it wants to have closer security cooperation with Washington.