TTIP:EU-US Trade Negotiations - "EU beware of the wolf in sheep's clothing” - Why the Rush? - by Stephan Richter

Long before the term “transatlantic” became fashionable on the global stage, from 1984 onward I started and chaired the TransAtlantic Futures Forum, a Washington-based discussion forum that convened well over 150 times.

And yet, it is precisely my more than three decades’ worth of living and working experience in the U.S. capital that tells me that Europe should resist the rush-cum-charm-offensive currently laid on by the Obama Administration.

Against ever longer odds, it still wants to get a deal over the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) done over the next few months.

As a European, I have the distinct feeling that I have seen this movie before. Remember the disastrous Iraq invasion which supposedly could not wait for another day?

The German and the French governments at the time were very smart and courageous to counsel against the headlong rush into what everybody now recognizes has indeed turned out to be a mega-calamity.

Therefore, a good rule of thumb is this: Whenever the U.S. government is keen to rush the political calendar, be extra careful.

What about the argument raised by TTIP advocates that the world economy is very brittle – and urgently needs a boost? And that such a boost can be delivered via the TTIP?

That certainly sounds very compelling – until you look at the actual numbers. The presumed benefits resulting from a deal, measured in terms of their contribution to U.S., European or global GDP, are much smaller than often advertised.

Moreover, the impression the public is deliberately left with is that the deal would produce economic growth of the stated GDP range each year upon taking effect.

In reality, the projected growth impact would materialize, like a trickle, only over time, and even then probably not for at least another decade.

This is no real surprise. After more than six decades of ever more intense cooperation, the transatlantic trade and investment relationship is already very deep. Any further progress, by definition, must be quite marginal.

As the current legal troubles of two of today’s foremost U.S. corporate icons underscore, U.S. corporations have very little appreciation of the customs of the European market and of European societies.

All these titans of American business actually care about is to take the money they can milk out of European consumers – and run.

Forget all the silly recitations about chickens etc. with which TTIP’s faithful boosters try to belittle European citizens’ very legitimate concerns. The ruthless and callously selfish stance of Apple, Google, Facebook and Amazon speak clear enough a language.

In the United States, the privacy rights of citizens, despite all the advertising and grand speechifying on that subject matter, count for very little.

The opposite is the case in Europe, largely due to the twin experiences of Nazism and Communism. Privacy matters a great deal there.

When Mark Zuckerberg wants it to be known that he truly, deeply cares about human relationships, you know you are in deep trouble. Let’s not forget that he founded Facebook because he couldn’t get a date.

These are not companies that care about Europe. What they care about is to carry a big stick – and swing it against anybody who dares to stand in their way.

That is hardly an enticement for any clear-headed European to make common cause with a corporatist democracy à la the United States where corporations, due to the inner workings of the campaign finance system, have the upper hand on all political matters.

Simply put, it is not credible for Europeans to sign a far-reaching transatlantic trade deal until these corporate issues are ironed out.

At this stage, and with the quite sad and disappointing track record the dominant U.S. corporations of our time have built up in Europe, it is a matter of confidence building, not of trusting.

Getting that confidence rebuilt will take a lot of effort – and hence time.

In short, Europeans would be well-advised to take certain actions when true goodwill has been established and when the evidence is in, but not before.

Read more: TTIP: Why the Rush? - The Globali

Focus on the future: America’s Worst Laid Plans – by Michael Brenner

The United States has been pursuing an audacious project to fashion a global system according to its specifications and under its tutelage since the Cold War’s end.

For a quarter of a century, the paramount goal of all its foreign relations has been the fostering of a system whose architectural design features the following:

–a neo-liberal economic order wherein markets dictate economic outcomes and the influence of public authorities to regulate them is weakened;

–this entails a progressive financializing of the world economy which concentrates the levers of greatest power in a few Western institutions – private, national and supranational;

–if inequality of wealth and power is the outcome, so be it;

–security provided by an American-led concert that will have predominant influence in every region;

–a readiness to use coercion to remove any regime that directly challenges this envisaged order;

–the maintenance of a large, multi-functional American military force to ensure that the means to deal with any contingency as could arise;

–all cemented by the unquestioned conviction that this enterprise conforms to a teleology whose truth and direction were confirmed by the West’s total victory in the Cold War.

Therefore, it is inherently a virtuous project whose realization will benefit all mankind. Virtue is understood in both tangible and ethical terms.

American ‘Destiny’

The motto: There is a tide running in the affairs of man; so, now is the time for America to steer the current and fulfill its destiny.

The project has registered some remarkable successes (at least by its own definitions). The Washington sponsored Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and its counterpart`, the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTPI), ensconce a privileged position for corporate interests that supersedes that of governments in binding international law.

The towering financial conglomerates have emerged from the great financial panic and Great Recession, which they caused, not only unscathed but bigger, stronger and with a stranglehold over macro-economic policy across most of the globe.

The United States, the progenitor of neo-liberalism and its operational guide, has seen its democracy converted into a plutocracy in all but name. The more things change, the more they must be made to seem the same.

These tenets of neo-liberalism have been codified into an orthodoxy whose dogma permeates the intellectual fiber of academia, the media and the corridors of state power. Challengers are ruthlessly put down – as witness the crucifying of Greece’s first Syriza government. Political leaders who deviate find themselves the object of international campaigns to oust them, e.g., Honduras, Venezuela, Bolivia, Paraguay, Brazil, Argentina, Iran and Russia.

As an indirect consequence of the project’s successes, political resistance now comes not from the Left but rather from a recrudescent nationalist Right as is occurring in Europe – the rebellion in both the East and the West against the European Union’s brave new world of technocracy of, by and for the corporate elites.

Trumpism represents the analogous phenomenon decked out in stars-and-stripes garb. This exacerbates the tensions generated internally by the guided globalization project. Within the decision centers of Washington power, that could either provide new impetus to the external dimension of establishing a global order under American aegis – or handicap it.

Whichever proves to be the case, the turn toward authoritarianism and xenophobia within the liberal democracies shows how ill-conceived and ineptly executed the design for a new world order is. For it has overreached at home and abroad.

Read the full report: : America’s Worst Laid Plans – Consortiumnews

EU Rule of Law Crises: Europe’s Rule-of-Law "obstructed by Hungary and Poland "- by Guy Verhofstadt

Rule of Law - one of the basic princiles of Democracy

From the rubble of two world wars, European countries came together to launch what would become the world’s largest experiment in unification and cooperative, shared sovereignty. But, despite its impressive achievements over the decades, the European project now risks disintegration.

An unresolved financial crisis, a refugee crisis, a deteriorating security environment, and a stalled integration process have created throughout Europe a toxic, unstable political environment in which populism and nationalism thrive. Perhaps the clearest manifestation of this is the erosion of the rule of law in the European Union.

Two EU members in particular, Hungary and Poland, are now jeopardizing hard-won European democratic norms – and thus undermining the very purpose of European integration.

In Hungary, liberal-democratic values have come under systematic attack from Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s government. Since his return to the premiership in 2010, Orbán has committed Hungary to an authoritarian nationalist path, and he has exploited the refugee crisis to cement a “siege mentality” that helps him sustain popular support.

In the process, fundamental rights have been ignored, media freed refugees have been demonized, and Orbán is doing everything in his power to weaken the EU. Attempts by EU institutions to convince Orbán to change course have only emboldened him to commit further outrages against democratic norms.

Meanwhile, a democratic crisis has emerged in Poland as well, starting last October, when the Law and Justice (PiS), a Euroskeptic party that also opposes immigration, secured an outright parliamentary majority by promising to implement populist economic policies and “put Poland first.” Yet, since the election, PiS has launched a series of attacks on the Polish constitution itself.

Government legislation aimed at reforming Poland’s Constitutional Court has been condemned by the Court itself and the European democracy watchdog, the Venice Commission. The government has effectively precluded the Court from ruling on the constitutionality of legislation. This weakens a key pillar of the democratic rule of law – and thus is highly problematic for Poland and Europe alike.

Hungary and Poland are the leading edge of a far-right agenda that has taken hold throughout Europe, pursued by parties that are exploiting the political vacuum created by the EU’s failure to address the financial and refugee crises. So how can the tables be turned?

In democratic countries, it is vital that democracy’s enemies be fought with democratic means. It is vital that the outside world impress on the Hungarian and Polish people themselves that in a globalized world, nationalism offers only false security and economic irrelevance. Both countries, at the heart of Europe, have profited enormously in every sense from EU membership; they must not throw away their opportunity to make further progress.

Hungarians and Poles rejected international isolation in 1989. After the fall of the Iron Curtain, both countries became staunch NATO allies even before they joined the EU. The geopolitical and security arguments for European unity are overwhelming, and there can be no united Europe without Hungary and Poland.

But all of us, and in particular the peoples of Hungary and Poland, must remember that NATO, like the EU, was founded on the fundamental principles of democracy, individual liberty, and the rule of law. A government that flouts those principles jeopardizes the coherence and solidarity of the alliance. It is therefore vital that the United States and other NATO allies speak out now and insist that functioning democratic checks and balances are safeguarded. It would be unimaginable for NATO heads of state to go ahead with their planned leadership summit in Warsaw in June if Poland remains in its constitutional crisis, with the government disregarding the rule of law and the opinion of a respected international body.

Hungarians and Poles must be reminded that Russian President Vladimir Putin is actively attempting to divide and weaken the EU and NATO. If Europe is to face down aggression from the Kremlin, it is essential that Poland and Hungary adhere to these groups’ fundamental values and principles.

But it is also necessary that the EU itself develop a more comprehensive mechanism for safeguarding the rule of law within the Union. The EU has mechanisms to regulate economic policies, safeguard the environment, and police the Single Market. But Europe has always been much more than an economic project; it is also a union of values, which no member can be allowed to repudiate without consequence.

Governments are created and fall apart, and politicians come and go; but democratic institutions should be spared from political interference. The sad reality is that, were they to apply for EU membership today, neither Hungary nor Poland would be admitted. Their people should weigh carefully what that means. 

Their current leaders claim to be defending national interests. But is it really in their countries’ interest to be sidelined by the US, NATO, and the rest of Europe?

Note EU-Digest: Guy Verhofstadt, a former Belgian prime minister, is President of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Group (ALDE) in the European Parliament. 

NATO's Planned June Leadership in June should be cancelled if Hungary and Poland  both continue to obstruct  the fundamental principles of democracy, individual liberty, and the rule of law on which not only the EU was founded but also the NATO. 

EU-Digest

EU warns in weak statement of "dangerous consequences" of Saudi cleric execution

Is the EU a toothless tiger?

The European Union's foreign policy chief warned today, Saturday January 2, that Saudi Arabia's execution of a prominent Shi'ite Muslim cleric risked "dangerous consequences" by further inflaming sectarian tensions in the region.




The kingdom executed cleric Nimr al-Nimr on Saturday alongside dozens of al Qaeda members, signalling that it would not tolerate attacks, whether by Sunni jihadists or from its Shi'ite minority.




EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini, reiterating the bloc's opposition to the death penalty and mass executions in particular, said Nimr's case raised serious concerns over freedom of expression and the respect of basic civil and political rights in Saudi Arabia.




"This case has also the potential of inflaming further the sectarian tensions that already bring so much damage to the entire region, with dangerous consequences," she said, urging Saudi authorities to promote reconciliation between different communities in the country.




Note EU-Digest: A very weak statement by the EU in reaction to Saudi Arabia's barbaric behavior in total disrespect of basic human rights laws.




The weak statement condemning Saudi Arabia by the EU foreign policy chief of the EU was obviously inspired by the fear of economic reprisals by Saudi Arabia (oil deliveries and EU weapons industry sales boycott) and of course, not to anger their "big boss" the US, who are backing the totally unreliable, so-called, "Islamic Nations Military alliance", under the leadership of the Saudi's, which supposedly will combat ISIS, but in reality have quite a different political objective.




It is high time the EU reviews its overall global foreign policy objectives and for the short term specifically takes a critical look at the Middle East policies, which to say the least, have been a total disaster so far.




Read more: EU warns of "dangerous consequences" of Saudi cleric execution | Daily Mail Online

EU unveils draft laws to end secret sweet tax deals

Tax Evasion

The European Union plans to oblige member countries to share details of tax agreements made with big companies and end the practice of sweet deals made in secret.

The EU’s executive commission unveiled yesterday draft laws that would require countries “to automatically exchange information on their tax rulings” every three months.

EU countries rarely share information about their tax decisions and are often unaware of rulings made by their partners, which creates a gap that some multinationals exploit.

The EU’s top economic and finance chief, Pierre Moscovici, said: “It’s high time to re-establish a tax balance and for companies to pay what they owe.”

The move comes after the so-called LuxLeaks allegations about sweet deals for multinationals with offices in Luxembourg. In February, the EU set up a special committee to look into national tax rules following the revelations.

The commission, which polices EU laws and drafts new legislation, also opened tax investigations last year into Apple in Ireland, Starbucks in the Netherlands and Amazon in Luxemburg. It is also looking into tax provisions in Belgium.

The commission believes that many multinational corporations are taking advantage by shifting profits between countries and that this deprives EU governments of tax revenues.

Tax rulings are the confirmation or assurance that authorities give to taxpayers on how their taxes will be calculated.

The new legislation would force national tax authorities to send a short report about all cross-border tax rulings they have issued.

Read more: EU unveils draft laws to end secret sweet tax deals | Shanghai Daily

EU: Jyrki Katainen says reform is as vital as economic stimulus

Greece dominates the headlines when it comes to the European economy. But the story is bigger than that. It is also about growth and getting people back into work. Maithreyi Seetharaman from Euronews caught up with Jyrki Katainen, the Vice President of the European Commission, in charge of Growth, Employment, Competition and Investment.

Maithreyi Seetharaman: “How flexible is Europe actually in terms of policies? And is Greece a prime example of that question?”

Jyrki Katainen: “There are only a few countries who can afford to stimulate their economies. But the best stimulus which all Member States can do now is to carry out reforms. To really change or reform the country in a way that makes it more flexible, when it comes to the labour market or when talking about how easy their business environment is. So flexibility and stimulus mean they have to be ready to reform our societies, and many governments are doing this.”

Maithreyi Seetharaman: “Would you say that Greece is not? Or would you say that maybe Europe is very slow to react, and the Eurogroup meetings, the Troika meetings end up going nowhere?”

Jyrki Katainen says reform is as vital as economic stimulus | euronews, interview

Greece rejects austerity in tense meeting with eurozone’s bailout chief

The new leftwing Greek government and the man overseeing its bailout operation – the eurozone’s finance chief Jeroen Dijsselbloem – met for the first time in Athens on Friday, and it was a difficult encounter.
Having paid his respects to Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, Dijsselbloem entered the lion’s den – the Finance Ministry to confront his nemesis.

There, during a one hour meeting, the Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis told the Eurogroup President in no uncertain terms the country is done cooperating with its bailout lenders, the so-called troika of the International Monetary Fund, the European Commission and the European Central Bank.

Afterwards at a tense news conference Dijsselbloem tried reasoning: He said: “It is of the utmost importance that Greece remains on a path of recovery. This requires commitments to reform process and to fiscal sustainability. Taking unilateral steps or ignoring previous arrangements is not the way forward.”

Varoufakis was having none of that. He accused the troika of trying “to implement an anti-European programme,” adding “We see no purpose in cooperating with this tripartite committee that the European Parliament has criticised as being built on a rotten structure.”

Varoufakis said he had assured Dijsselbloem that Athens planned to implement reforms to make the economy more competitive and have balanced budgets but that it would not accept a “self-fed crisis” of deflation and non-viable debt.

The news conference ended with an awkward handshake, after which Dijsselbloem headed back to Brussels, not looking at all happy and with apparently no idea what the Greeks will do next to find money to cover around 10 billion euros in debt repayments this summer.

In Athens euronews correspondent Symela Touchtidou concluded: “Since 2010 Greece has received dozens of visits from the troika, as the Greek bailout programme was implemented. Now the new finance minister has firmly declared that those visits belong to the past.”

Read more: Greece rejects austerity in tense meeting with eurozone’s bailout chief | euronews, economy

Ukraine crisis: Nato plans (not approved by France, Germany, Spain and Italy) east European bases to counter Russia - by Ian Traynor

NAT)O says it is to deploy its forces at new bases in eastern Europe for the first time, in response to the Ukraine crisis and in an attempt to deter Vladimir Putin from causing trouble in the former Soviet Baltic republics, according to its secretary general.

Anders Fogh Rasmussen said the organisztions's summit in Cardiff next week would overcome divisions within the alliance and agree to new deployments on Russia's borders – a move certain to trigger a strong reaction from Moscow.

He also outlined moves to boost Ukraine's security, "modernise" its armed forces and help the country counter the threat from Russia.

Rasmussen said: "We will adopt what we call a readiness action plan with the aim to be able to act swiftly in this completely new security environment in Europe. We have something already called the Nato response force, whose purpose is to be able to be deployed rapidly if needed. Now it's our intention to develop what I would call a spearhead within that response force at very, very high readiness.

"In order to be able to provide such rapid reinforcements you also need some reception facilities in host nations. So it will involve the pre-positioning of supplies, of equipment, preparation of infrastructure, bases, headquarters. The bottom line is you will in the future see a more visible Nato presence in the east."
Poland and the three Baltic states have been alarmed at the perceived threat from Russia and have been clamouring for a stronger Nato presence in the region. They have criticised what they see as tokenism in the alliance's response so far.

But the issue of permanent Nato bases in east Europe is divisive. The French, Italians and Spanish are opposed while the Americans and British are supportive of the eastern European demands. The Germans, said a Nato official, were sitting on the fence, wary of provoking Russia.

Note EU-Digest: This kind of rhetoric and sabre rattling will only increase the problems as it will be seen as provocative by Russia. The only solution seems to be a negotiated settlement which clearly defines the borders of Russia and EU-Member States and protects all ethnic minorities.

Read more: Ukraine crisis: Nato plans east European bases to counter Russia | World news | The Guardian

The meaning of May 1 - International Labour Day

Beltane, Floralia: Spring Fertility Festivals, International Labour Day, the United States of America, the USSR, Australia and Rosa Luxemburg: the soup that created International Labour Day, reminding us of the struggle for workers' rights for which thousands of activists struggled for centuries. Today, they are under threat.

We trace a brief outline of the history of International Labour Day from the Pagan fertility festival - Beltane - to the Roman festival Floralia, to the fight for an 8-hour working day in the United States of America at the end of the 19th century - where International Labour Day has its roots, to the internationalization of the movement. Curiously, the USA is one of the few countries which does not have a public holiday on May 1.

We trace a brief outline of the history of International Labour Day from the Pagan fertility festival - Beltane - to the Roman festival Floralia, to the fight for an 8-hour working day in the United States of America at the end of the 19th century - where International Labour Day has its roots, to the internationalization of the movement. Curiously, the USA is one of the few countries which does not have a public holiday on May 1.

For all the arguments about free speech and the need to compete, we should take a close look at a political system in which most Americans don't have a voice in the process and where, even worse, the outcomes are biased toward certain segments of the nation who can pay to play. This is one issue where the left and right, as well as the slim center, can find agreement.

Read the meaning of May 1 - International Labour Day - English pravda.ru

NSA created 'European bazaar' to spy on EU citizens, Snowden tells European Parliament - by Loek Essers

"Don't worry EU we are your friend"

The U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) has turned the European Union into a tapping “bazaar” in order to spy on as many EU citizens as possible, NSA leaker Edward Snowden said.

The NSA has been working with national security agencies in EU member states to get access to as much data of EU citizens as possible, Snowden said in a testimony sent to Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) published Friday March 7.

The European Parliament had invited Snowden to provide testimony for an inquiry into the electronic mass surveillance of EU citizens. That surveillance, often instigated by the NSA but carried out with help of EU member states, is quite extensive, he wrote.

The NSA has been pressuring EU member states to change their laws to enable mass surveillance, according to Snowden. This is done through NSA’s Foreign Affairs Division (FAD), he said, adding that lawyers from the NSA and GCHQ work very hard “to search for loopholes in laws and constitutional protections that they can use to justify indiscriminate, dragnet surveillance operations that were at best unwittingly authorized by lawmakers,” he said.

The deals between the NSA and foreign partners are set up in such a way as to provide the NSA with a means of monitoring a partner’s citizens without informing the partner, and to provide the partner with a means of plausible deniability, he said.

“The result is a European bazaar, where an EU member state like Denmark may give the NSA access to a tapping center on the (unenforceable) condition that NSA doesn’t search it for Danes, and Germany may give the NSA access to another on the condition that it doesn't search for Germans. Yet the two tapping sites may be two points on the same cable, so the NSA simply captures the communications of the German citizens as they transit Denmark, and the Danish citizens as they transit Germany, all the while considering it entirely in accordance with their agreements,” Snowden said.

Snowden, who said that he’s still seeking asylum in the EU, also provided solutions to solve the mass surveillance problem.

It is easy to make mass surveillance more expensive through changes in technical standards, he said. “Pervasive, end-to-end encryption can quickly make indiscriminate surveillance impossible on a cost effective basis,” he said, adding that the result is that governments are likely to fall back to traditional, targeted surveillance founded upon an individualized suspicion.

The European Parliament is set to vote on a draft resolution on Wednesday March 12 that seeks to keep data protection out of EU-U.S. trade talks. The MEPs want the EU to suspend two deals with the U.S., one on exchanging banking data and the other on the Safe Harbor privacy principles for U.S. firms holding European data, as, they say, the fight against terrorism can never justify secret and illegal mass surveillance.

The MEPs will also vote on a proposal for stronger safeguards for data transfers to non-EU countries.

Wednesday’s vote could result in the updating of 19-year-old data-protection laws. Under MEPs’ amendments, companies breaking the rules would face fines of up to €100 million (about $139 million), or up to 5 percent of their annual worldwide turnover, whichever is greater, according to the Parliament

Read more: NSA created 'European bazaar' to spy on EU citizens, Snowden tells European Parliament | PCWorld

Ukraine Dispute: EU, Russia Cancel Planned Dinner, Cut Summit Short - by Juergen Baetz

European Union leaders and Russian President Vladimir Putin have canceled a joint dinner and cut a long-planned summit short in the wake of their confrontation over Ukraine's future.

The summit was initially meant to start with the dinner and last until the following afternoon, but now the meeting with Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso and others in Brussels on Jan. 28 will only last about 2 ½ hours, the EU said Thursday.

The format has been changed "in light of the recent developments," and participants will have an "in-depth reflection" about the EU-Russia relationship rather than a discussion about specific issues, Commission spokeswoman Maja Kocijancic said.

Russia in November lured Ukraine with financial incentives, including a $15-billion bailout loan, to snub the 28-nation bloc and seek closer cooperation with Moscow instead. The Ukrainian leadership's last-minute decision to side with Russia sparked weeks-long anti-government protests in Kiev and elsewhere in the country. The protests drew hundreds of thousands in the early weeks, and drew more than 20,000 into the streets on Sunday.

EU leaders have also been upset by Russia's efforts to lure other eastern European neighbors like Armenia back into its political and economic orbit and by what they say is the use of trade policies to discriminate against the EU's easternmost members along Russia's borders.

Russia remains a very important player on many international matters, such as Syria and Iran. And Russia and the European Union have very close economic ties and at times shared political interests, so neither side apparently wanted to cancel the summit — which will be the 31st and shortest such meeting since the late 1990s.

Read more: EU, Russia Cancel Planned Dinner, Cut Summit Short - ABC News

NSA Spying: Edward Snowden did us all a favour, it's time to curb the snooping - by Brian Stewart,

For some of us, the great shock of the past year was the revelation that whistleblowers like Edward Snowden were not, after all, wildly exaggerating the dangers of intelligence agencies run amok.

Even those who encouraged Snowden's revelations seem stunned by how far the state's assault on privacy has gone.

And the great challenge for Western democracies this year — assuming they are up for it — will be to wrestle back oversight control over a too-secretive world that most of us barely comprehend.
Getting the spy genie back into so many bottles, however, won't be easy.

Jacob Appelbaum, an independent security expert and Snowden confidante, told technology experts in Hamburg last week that the U.S. National Security Agency's high-tech spying gear is "even worse than your worst nightmares."

He says new exposes will show the NSA can turn iPhones into eavesdropping "bugs" and has unlimited ability to break into our computers.

True or not, that deep pessimism is echoed by British security analyst and former MI5 whistleblower Annie Machon. She sees a nightmare reality in which all governments have let secret agencies spy on virtually anyone they want and on each other without limits.

"Indeed, not only have we learned that we are all under constant electronic surveillance, but these politicians are targeted, too," she wrote in a recent column for RT publication. "We are all now targets."

Read more: Edward Snowden did us all a favour, it's time to curb the snooping - World - CBC News

The Netherlands: Sharia proponent Haitham al-Haddad Upcoming Visit To Almere Causing Major Controversy

Haitham al-Haddadi coming to the Netherlands

The City Council of Almere has been embroiled in a controversy as to a speaking engagement of Haitham al-Haddad in Almere. Cleric Haitham al-Haddad  is a controversial Sharia proponent from England. 

He comes to Almere on Februari 7 at the invitation of the Organization of Muslim Youth Almere.

Show van Dijk member of the PVV ( Freedom Party)  political fraction in the Almere City Council said that  the Muslim Clerc Haitham al-Haddad should not be allowed to speak in Almere. He noted that Haitham al-Haddad in the past has made some very radical statements about non-muslims which are unacceptable in a secular and multi-cultural society like the Netherlands. Also the SP (Socialist Party) representative in the Almere City Coincil said they were against Haitham al-Haddad presentation in Almere.

 

The VVD (Conservative), Liveable Almere ( Right-Wing) and Green (Liberal) political fractions in the City Council stated that based on Dutch laws guaranteeing the right to freedom of expression, Haitham al-Haddad should be allowed to  give his talk on Sharia Law, as long as the content of his talk does not violate Dutch laws and the politicians suggested that the format of the presentation not be one of a formal lecture, but rather an open discussion..

It might be good to note that all aspects of a Muslim's life are governed by Sharia. Sharia law comes from a combination of sources including the Quran (the Muslim holy book), the Hadith (sayings and conduct of the prophet Muhammad) and fatwas (the rulings of Islamic scholars).

In Europe so-called Islamic "peace judges" or arbiters are settling criminal cases, not just in Germany but in many other European countries as well. Muslim immigrants generally prefer their own judges and do not trust secular Western legal systems. Thus, Islamic shadow justice systems are making inroads into Western societies. 

"Under Sharia law to settle disputes can be innocent, but it can also undermine Western ideas of fairness," Der Spiegel reports. 

Journalist Joachim Wagner, author of a new German study on parallel justice, says that the world of the Islamic shadow justice system is "very foreign, and for a German lawyer completely incomprehensible. It follows its own rules. The Islamic arbitrators aren't interested in evidence when they deliver a judgment, and unlike in German criminal law, the question of who is at fault doesn't play much of a role." The arbitrators "talk with the perpetrator's family who are generally the ones who have called the arbitrator, and with the victim's family," Wagner says. "They ask: Why did this happen? How bad is the damage? How serious is the injury? But for them, a solution of the conflict, a compromise, is the most important thing." 

  

Reportedly, at least 85 Sharia courts now operate in the UK, dispensing rulings that are often illegal, per British jurisprudence.

Muslim states which embrace Sharia Law are able to enforce public morality and as a result have greatly reduced women’s mobility and their participation in the public sphere.

In 2008, a Dutch-Turkish woman was raped by her nephew. But the Dutch-Turkish Imam Bahauddin (Bahaeddin) Budak advised her not to inform her relatives about it. If she would go pulic about the crime and sue her nephew in court, her life might be in danger. 

He also advised her to forgive the perpetrator. Such crimes are very common among Turkish, Moroccan, Pakistani, Iraqi and Iranian immigrants in Europe many of whom still regard women as sex objects. There is also a strong tendency to cover up crimes such as rape. Women who dare to talk about it in public, or who report such crimes to the police, very often face serious repercussions, since the so-called "honor of the family" is at stake. 

In too many cases, these defenseless victims are subsequently even killed by family members. Budak was also a Muslim religious teacher at the "Inholland university of applied sciences" in Amsterdam. Inholland's director Cor de Raadt had Budak temporarily suspended, but a lot of Dutch Muslims complained about De Raadt's decision and showed solidarity with Imam Budak. 

A Dutch professor in Theology at Amsterdam University noted: "Sharia Law is an archaic law which should not even be qualified as a law. It does not belong in any shape or form in Europe, or for that matter in any other self respecting Democratic society". 

 Almere-Digest 

NSA turns "Get Smart" TV comedy into a reality show - Catalog Reveals NSA Has Back Doors for Numerous Devices - by Jacob Appelbaum, Judith Horchert and Christian Stöcker

Get Smart Comedy Show

When it comes to modern firewalls for corporate computer networks, the world's second largest network equipment manufacturer doesn't skimp on praising its own work. According to Juniper Networks' online PR copy, the company's products are "ideal" for protecting large companies and computing centers from unwanted access from outside. They claim the performance of the company's special computers is "unmatched" and their firewalls are the "best-in-class." Despite these assurances, though, there is one attacker none of these products can fend off -- the United States' National Security Agency.

Specialists at the intelligence organization succeeded years ago in penetrating the company's digital firewalls.

A document viewed by SPIEGEL resembling a product catalog reveals that an NSA division called ANT has burrowed its way into nearly all the security architecture made by the major players in the industry -- including American global market leader Cisco and its Chinese competitor Huawei, but also producers of mass-market goods, such as US computer-maker Dell.

These NSA agents, who specialize in secret back doors, are able to keep an eye on all levels of our digital lives -- from computing centers to individual computers, and from laptops to mobile phones. For nearly every lock, ANT seems to have a key in its toolbox. And no matter what walls companies erect, the NSA's specialists seem already to have gotten past them.

This, at least, is the impression gained from flipping through the 50-page document. The list reads like a mail-order catalog, one from which other NSA employees can order technologies from the ANT division for tapping their targets' data. The catalog even lists the prices for these electronic break-in tools, with costs ranging from free to $250,000.

In the case of Juniper, the name of this particular digital lock pick is "FEEDTROUGH." This malware burrows into Juniper firewalls and makes it possible to smuggle other NSA programs into mainframe computers. Thanks to FEEDTROUGH, these implants can, by design, even survive "across reboots and software upgrades." In this way, US government spies can secure themselves a permanent presence in computer networks. The catalog states that FEEDTROUGH "has been deployed on many target platforms."

The ANT division doesn't just manufacture surveillance hardware. It also develops software for special tasks. The ANT developers have a clear preference for planting their malicious code in so-called BIOS, software located on a computer's motherboard that is the first thing to load when a computer is turned on.

Another program attacks the firmware in hard drives manufactured by Western Digital, Seagate, Maxtor and Samsung, all of which, with the exception of the latter, are American companies. Here, too, it appears the US intelligence agency is compromising the technology and products of American companies.

Other ANT programs target Internet routers meant for professional use or hardware firewalls intended to protect company networks from online attacks. Many digital attack weapons are "remotely installable" -- in other words, over the Internet. Others require a direct attack on an end-user device -- an "interdiction," as it is known in NSA jargon -- in order to install malware or bugging equipment.

Note EU-Digest : NSA turns "Get Smart" TV comedy into a reality show. Get Smart is an American comedy television series that satirizes the secret agent genre. Created by Mel Brooks with Buck Henry,^[1] the show stars Don Adams (as Maxwell Smart, Agent 86), Barbara Feldon (as Agent 99), and Edward Platt (as Chief). Henry said they created the show by request of Daniel Melnick, who was a partner, along with Leonard Stern and David Susskind, of the show's production company, Talent Associates, to capitalize on "the two biggest things in the entertainment world today"—James Bond and Inspector Clouseau.^[2] Brooks said: "It's an insane combination of James Bond and Mel Brooks comedy."

Read more: Catalog Reveals NSA Has Back Doors for Numerous Devices - SPIEGEL ONLINE

Europe & Growth Pact: A Child Of The Economy, An Orphan Of Politics

As we move towards the future, the situation is bleak. The decisions made at successive European summits do not seem likely to address the structural defects of the Eurozone. The disappointment with the Europe of today is that it deals with a constitutional problem as if it were merely an economic one. The fiction of the sustainability of Europe, a child of the economy, but an orphan of politics, continues to undermine European integration.

It is certainly true that the proposed banking union shows real progress. But only part of the union’s supervision has been defined, and it comes into force in 2014. Its other elements – the resolution of banking crises and deposit insurance – remain under national jurisdiction, and their European future is even more uncertain. There must be real solidarity, something which Europe lacks most of all.

We have the Growth Pact and the Treaty on Stability, Coordination, and Governance. To which future are they leading us?

As it was signed, the Growth Pact – investment projects financed primarily by existing structural funds and the European Investment Bank’s increased capital (10 billion Euros) – is not likely to transform activity in the Eurozone. We are talking about 120 billion Euros; even this is mobilising funds which have not yet been used, to enable the EIB to lend 60 billion Euros by leveraging its capital increase.

Whether or not a start has been made is a mystery. This is why the European recovery seems more symbolic than real, a remake of the addition (fiercely negotiated in 1997) of the words “and growth” to the Stability Pact. Because, at the moment, EU regulations and conditions for assistance to countries considered fragile have plunged these countries into depression and have delayed Eurozone recovery. Have we really helped Greece, given that its GDP is currently more than 20% lower than it was on the 1st January 2008?

It is difficult not to view the Growth Pact as the soothing balm applied to smooth the roughness of the “fiscal compact.” Therefore, we have a treaty which establishes the fiscal solitude of each of the Eurozone member states through a promise of greater solidarity if they show themselves to be capable of solving their own problems. It forces, or rather, it requires states to self-impose sanctions or risk facing penalties, to have fiscal rules that are found in no other democracy in the world. In fact, it aggravates the European democratic deficit, making member states even more federal, and, at the same time, even more the orphans of a federation.

Since the end of World War II, economists have been debating the question of whether to emphasise rules or discretion in economic policy. In the forties, Milton Friedman had already advocated adopting monetary rules and suggested enshrining balanced fiscal rules in the constitution. But it was the “revolution” of rational expectations and the neo-classical school which established in a “definitive” way the superiority of rules over choice. Much attention was given to this conclusion, which inspired monetary policy management in many countries. But no country gave up its fiscal sovereignty, or indeed its monetary sovereignty, since in all countries (except in Europe) central banks are accountable to national parliaments. The neo-classical school’s demonstration would only apply to a world without imbalance, where economic policy resembled Don Quixote’s fight.

But how was Europe, probably without knowing it, able to endorse such a doctrine?

The reason is that adopting this doctrine binds governments’ hands so strongly it prevents them from acting, even in circumstances like today where inaction is irresponsible. Social suffering worsens, unemployment soars, recession threatens the Eurozone and depression takes hold in many countries. Can we then do nothing to fight against these ills and against budget deficit reduction as the sole macroeconomic policy?

Read more: Europe & Growth Pact: A Child Of The Economy, An Orphan Of Politics

Google in the Netherlands: Privacy changes BREAK data law, says Netherlands - by Kelly Fiveash

broke data protection law in the Netherlands when the ad giant tweaked its privacy policy in March 2012, says the country's privacy watchdog.
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The Dutch Data Protection Authority said on Thursday that Google had breached the country's rules because it had failed to adequately inform all its users in advance about the changes it was making to its service.

"Google spins an invisible web of our personal data, without our consent. And that is forbidden by law", said Dutch DPA chairman Jacob Kohnstamm.

The regulator said it had invited the company to a hearing. It will only decide on any enforcement action after discussions have taken place with Google.

The DPA said that, during its seven-month probe, the watchdog determined that Google burrowed deeply into the personal data of Dutch netizens by knitting together services across the web for the purposes of targeted advertising.

"Some of these data are of a sensitive nature, such as payment information, location data and information on surfing behaviour across multiple websites. Data about search queries, location data and videos watched can be combined, while the different services serve entirely different purposes from the point of view of users," it said.

The watchdog concluded that Google had not sought the consent of users before cutting and shutting its privacy policies together in order to combine personal data across its massive online empire.

Read more: Google in Dutch: Privacy changes BREAK data law, says Netherlands • The Register

Egypt: EU-Digest Poll Shows Not Much Hope Military Will Go Back To The Barracks

The latest EU-Digest poll on the military takeover in Egypt and return to democracy showed  that most people polled find there is very little chance this will happen (see insert for results of poll). 

In the meantime US Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel told reporters in Brussels on Wednesday. “It’s been very clear, the Egyptian interim government, we believe, is moving in the right direction,”  he said, with the “road map toward inclusive, free democracy, rights for all people, assuring that all individuals, all citizens of Egypt have the same rights.”

The Egyption Military Junta also hired a US PR company  Glover Park Group to do the heavy lifting for them when it comes to lobbying in the US.

EU-USA: The Trust Factor - this month the EU-Digest poll will focus on the effect of EU protests, if any, as to the US NSA spying revelations on European citizens, European political leaders, the European diplomatic missions, and European Business Corporations.

EU-Digest

EU Weighs ESM Role in Bridge Financing to Manage Failing Banks - by Rebecca Christie

European Union finance ministers should decide if the euro area’s firewall fund could provide bridge financing for handling failing banks, according to a document prepared for finance ministers’ meetings in Luxembourg. 

The European Stability Mechanism could offer guarantees or a loan to cover upfront costs of stabilizing a failing bank, according to the Oct. 10 paper, prepared by Lithuania, which holds the EU’s rotating presidency, and obtained by Bloomberg News. Any costs would be recouped over time from the banking sector. Depending on how talks proceed, the ESM’s treaties might need to be changed, according to the document.

Ministers should first consider whether they want to make permanent or temporary bridge financing available to nations or an EU-level fund that would be built up over time, according to the document. The EU should then consider whether the ESM could provide funding directly to bank resolution funds, and if so how to design a special purpose vehicle or other mechanism.

While designing a system to handle failing banks inside the euro zone, where the European Central Bank will take over bank supervision next year, EU ministers also should consider whether to make “fully comparable” support mechanisms for nations outside the currency bloc.

“If so, should possibilities/conditions be explored to extend euro-area support mechanisms to non-euro area SSM/SRM participants provided they contribute in due proportion to the financing of these arrangements?” the document states. It says talks continue on a European Commission proposal to add a bank recapitalization tool to the EU’s balance-of-payments fund, which has been used previously to provide aid to Latvia, Hungary and Romania.

Read more: EU Weighs ESM Role in Bridge Financing to Manage Failing Banks - Businessweek

USA - The Beat Goes On: Court renews NSA telephone surveillance program

The secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court renewed the government's authority Friday to continue the collection of millions of Americans' telephone records, one of the classified counter-terrorism programs disclosed by former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden.

In an unusual public statement, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence acknowledged that the court renewed the authority that was set to expire Friday.

"In light of the significant and continuing public interest in the …collection program, the DNI has decided to declassify and disclose publicly that the government filed an application with the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court seeking renewal of the authority to collect telephony metadata in bulk, and that the court renewed that authority,'' the statement said.

Earlier this week, Democrat and Republican lawmakers expressed deep concerns about the scope of the surveillance program and suggested that Congress may not renew legislative authority for it when it comes up for review in nearly two years.

"This is unsustainable, outrageous and must be stopped immediately,'' Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich., told Justice and intelligence officials at a Judiciary Committee hearing Wednesday.

Read more: Court renews NSA telephone surveillance program

The Workforce: More women in the boardroom? Europe considers forcing the issue. - by Isabelle de Pommereau

 Christine Lagarde  of the IMF  used to find them "offensive." Now the first female director of the International Monetary Fund sees gender quotas as a necessary, albeit temporary, tool to help women reach top jobs.

“At the end of the day, people will have to be convinced that [women] bring something to the table,” the former French finance minister told the Dublin-based Irish European Movement, an independent, not-for-profit group aimed at enhancing the connection between Ireland and Europe, in March.
Half a century after the European Union’s Treaty of Rome sowed the seeds for gender equality in Europe, Ms. Lagarde’s push for mandatory corporate board quotas for women – which proponents hope will trickle down and improve gender equality throughout workplaces – is gaining momentum, and dividing governments, across the continent.

Last fall, European Union Justice Commissioner Viviane Reding pushed through a proposal for gender quotas for the board of corporations across Europe. Men, she said, continue to dominate top jobs, although women are better educated and the economy needs them. But with German Chancellor Angela Merkel vetoing the idea, whether the 27-member EU Council, the European Union’s legislative body, turns the idea into law this fall remains to be seen.

Law or no law, Reding's initiative has brought the issue of gender equality to the fore of political consciousness in Europe, helping shake old fashioned views of gender roles in Europe’s most conservative societies, including powerhouse Germany. Algimanta Pabedinskienė, the  Lithuanian minister of social security and labor, said the issue would top the agenda of the Lithuanian EU presidency, which started July 1.

Read more: More women in the boardroom? Europe considers forcing the issue. - CSMonitor.com