07.13.14

Links 13/7/2014: KDE Activity Surge

Posted in News Roundup at 9:02 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz

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Pro-Microsoft Spin in Microsoft-Funded News Networks

Posted in Deception, Free/Libre Software, Microsoft at 8:47 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz

Satya Ballmer
Satya Ballmer

Summary: The rogue media (misinformation) campaign of Microsoft benefits from networks which have been paid by Microsoft over the years

TECHRIGHTS has been disturbed to find some of the corporate media actively participating in Microsoft PR campaigns such as 'Scroogled', paralleling a campaign to portray Microsoft as a privacy and Open Source champion. We have already named some of the networks which routinely do this, such as CNET (part of CBS), whose chief editor Charles Cooper seems to have become a Microsoft mouthpiece by proxy (see another recently-covered example from him).

Other Microsoft-paid networks whitewash Microsoft and play along with the perception management which comes with the alleged change of leadership (Microsoft’s real leaders are behind the scenes and they have hardly changed; neither has the strategy). These “useful idiots” of Microsoft — people who are willingly being bamboozled by the PR campaign — continue to cause great damage that pundits can only try to counter. The Nadella PR is just about as lame as the NSA’s PR, e.g. dressing up the new NSA chief in whites (white knight?) — not blacks — as some kind of a branding strategy which dissociates him from Keith Alexander et al. (men in dark suits),

“…some of the Microsoft-linked media is trying to indoctrinate the public and make as many people as possible love or respect Microsoft.”The PR offensive sometimes makes in into decent sites like Phoronix, which gets it wrong on occasions (see the comments on [1], an article which was published only days ago). Last week an article titled “Open-Source Software: Bad For Non-Profit Organizations?” [article now removed for being an entrapment/marketing] got published by Michael Larabel, only to be slammed in the site forums, where subscribers expressed disappointment. Larabel got bamboozled by a proprietary software pusher who argued that FOSS is bad for charities. As Larabel put it: “For non-profit organizations, open-source/free software might not actually be the best solution according to a director at a non-profit software solution provider.”

This is the type of lie we hear from Microsoft when it imposes proprietary spyware on all sorts of NGOs, which it would later extort for licensing fees, limiting their capacity for activism and spying on them (we covered this in past years and gave numerous examples).

In summary, some of the Microsoft-linked media is trying to indoctrinate the public and make as many people as possible love or respect Microsoft. It’s a shame that some of the spin leaks into Linux-friendly sites (Google hostility, software licence FUD, ‘death’ of GNU/Linux), so we probably need to highlight the existence of the misinformation campaigns. █

Related/contextual items from the news:

  1. Manjaro Linux Developers Experience A Mass Exodus [Updated]

    It seems all of the Manjaro Linux developers might have parted way with the distribution’s development except for the project leader.

Cronyism at Play: European Hostility Towards Free/Libre Software Despite Espionage and Moles

Posted in Europe, Free/Libre Software at 8:08 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz

Summary: Europe continues to be held hostage with back doors, lock-in, and massive payments to foreign powers, despite evidence that these powers are destructive and hostile

EUROPE has an odd relationship with foreign powers in north America or with corporations that are based there and subsidise the politicians. Rather than seek autonomy, there seems to be a collusion which, among some things, leads to back doors in computer systems in France, Britain, and Ireland (to name just a few examples from western Europe). These back doors are controlled by and made accessible to the United States. This is an absurd situation which we wrote about several times in past years. There is no real sovereignty, not in the digital sense anyway. Only Free software with local companies to maintain and support it can ever guarantee self determination, which is why Europe should really have moved to Free software (entirely) a long time ago.

According to this article, the proprietary software lobby is trying to pressure Cabinet Office to get off its current course, which includes promotion of standards such as ODF. Cabinet Office has been the target of lobbying, usually behind the scenes. Here is Maude’s response to this lobby:

Cabinet Office minister Francis Maude has hit back at claims that Cabinet Office policy was responsible for recent IT problems at the Department of Energy & Climate Change (DECC) and Department for Business, Innovation & Skills (BIS).

Now watch what Maxwell says: “Government CTO Liam Maxwell agreed that poor procurement practices were at the root of the problems in BIS and DECC.

“Speaking to ComputerworldUK, Maxwell said: “The procurement was not done properly.”

Misplaced accusations are being used to discredit Cabinet Office, insinuating bad conduct. Shame tactics are turning technical considerations into politics.

Dr. Moody, who is still waiting for Cabinet Office to obey his FOIA request about the lobbying, argued the other day that the EU has an “Anti-Open Source Approach to Procurement”. This might actually go further up (higher level). The FSFE says that “The European Commission has recently renewed its commitment to a proprietary desktop and secret file formats. The Commission is refusing to get serious about breaking free from vendor lock-in, and is ignoring all available alternatives. In doing so, the EU’s civil service fails to practice what it preaches.”

Or as Moody put it:

In recent posts, I’ve looked at the increasing use of open source software by governments in countries as diverse as China, Russia, India and Germany. Here I want to contrast those moves with the continuing failure of the European Commission to embrace free software – with huge costs for European citizens as a result, to say nothing of lost sovereignty.

Now that Germany finds moles inside its government departments [1-47] (some sources say there might be a dozen) it is probably time for Europe to actually foster an industry based around Free software. China is close to banning Apple (not just Microsoft) products [48-62] and is now blocking parts of Facebook [63] as part of its extensive censorship policy [64], citing national security-related reasons. █

Related/contextual items from the news:

  1. US agent arrest reveals gap between Obama and secret service

    The arrest of at least one American agent infiltrated the secret services in Germany, one of the closest allies of the United States, hinders the relationship between the two countries and reveals ignorance, by President Barack Obama, the actions of their own spies.

  2. CIA Officer Expelled From Germany Is Not The First
  3. U.S. Out of Germany
  4. Alleged CIA Spy in German May Have Worked for Russia All Along
  5. The Moscow Times: Alleged CIA spy in German may have worked for Russia all along
  6. Germany kicks out top US spy over espionage claims
  7. Obama and the CIA—who runs Washington?
  8. Opinion: Wake up, Washington
  9. ‘The Americans have humiliated us again’

    Germany’s expulsion of the CIA station chief in Berlin in a spy row with the United States has found widespread support in the country.

  10. Germany Calls For ‘Honest Foundation’ In Relations With U.S.
  11. NSA Spying on Germany
  12. Op-Ed: U.S. German spy scandal — less obvious problems for NSA
  13. What’s a Little Espionage Among ‘Friends’?
  14. Germany Confronts US On Spying, Demands Answers
  15. Obama Fails to Reach Out to Merkel Over CIA Expulsion
  16. US committed ‘grave political error’ with spying
  17. When the CIA keeps the president in the dark

    When President Obama spoke to German Chancellor Angela Merkel about Ukraine last week, there could have been an awkward moment prompted by the arrest the day before of a double agent allegedly working secretly for the CIA within German intelligence. At least there likely would have been, had Obama known about the arrest or the undercover spy to begin with.

  18. Germany’s Merkel reiterates U.S. spying unacceptable

    German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Saturday that Germany and the U.S. had different ideas on intelligence and that Germany will be “persistent” in delivering the message that U.S. espionage against a close ally is unacceptable. Her comments, in an interview with public broadcaster ZDF to be aired Sunday, came two days after Germany told the CIA station chief in Berlin to leave the country amid a German investigation of two government employees suspected of spying for the U.S.

  19. We are not in Cold War any more, says Merkel as spy row grows
  20. US double standards exposed in Berlin spy row

    A few years before he died in 2006, the former East German spy chief Markus Wolf, known as “the man without a face”, told me about the qualities he looked for in the agents his spies recruited in the West. Status was a poor indicator of effectiveness, he said, and secretaries and doormen were among the most valuable recruits. Political ideology was the best reason for passing secrets to another country but money and vengeance were good motivators too.

  21. Germany may have to tolerate NSA spying, says key Merkel aide
  22. John Kerry Lands in Vienna to Iron Out ‘Deep Differences’ in Iran Nuclear Talks

    On the sidelines of the talks, Kerry will also meet his German counterpart Frank-Walter Steinmeier to discuss recent spying allegations.

    Berlin has recently asked the CIA station chief to leave the country over snooping charges.

  23. Kerry arrives in Vienna for Iran nuclear talks
  24. Germany checking for more CIA moles in its intelligence agency
  25. More than a dozen US spies infiltrate German ministries, says Bild

    The US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has recruited more than a dozen spies in several German government ministries, according to the Bild am Sonntag tabloid paper.

  26. Expulsion of top spy a ‘wake-up call’ for US
  27. German spies clamor for counter-espionage funding

    The discovery of US spies in Germany’s intelligence service and Defense Ministry has sparked outrage. Now German spies are calling for a boost in funds and staff directed toward counterintelligence.

  28. Merkel angrily blasts U.S. over new spying allegations

    Angela Merkel made her feelings toward Washington clear in an interview on German broadcaster ZDF today, reports Reuters.

    “We are not living in the Cold War anymore,” Merkel said. “We should concentrate on what is essential.”

    Germany’s government told Berlin’s CIA station chief to leave the country on Thursday, in the wake of new allegations of U.S. spying in the country. Of two suspected spies discovered by German officials, one reportedly worked for German foreign intelligence, while the other operated within the country’s defense ministry.

  29. Expulsion of US spy chief was inevitable
  30. Germany says expulsion of US spy chief was inevitable
  31. German spy agency searches for more moles after US breach

    BND president orders analysis of agency’s communications for irregularities, and foreign minister to meet John Kerry

  32. Serving two spymasters
  33. Germany plans to overhaul partnership with US
  34. Germany eyes overhauled US partnership in talks on spy row
  35. NSA Spying On Germany – OpEd
  36. What’s A Little Espionage Among ‘Friends’? – OpEd

    Germany, after all, has a powerful economy — one that, driven as it is by a strong manufacturing sector and a solid trade surplus, including with the US, in many ways is much stronger than the US economy. Germany has no need to worry about any risk of US trade sanctions, the way most countries do that consider trying to stand up to the US. Nor does Germany need to rely on the US military for protection. The country faces no threat from any direction. (As anti-war activist David Swanson puts it in his column US out of Germany, “Protection from Russia? If the Russian government weren’t demonstrating a level of restraint that dwarfs even that of the Brazilian soccer team’s defense there would be full-scale war in Ukraine right now. Russia is no more threatening Germany than Iran is preparing to nuke Washington or the U.N. is confiscating guns in Montana.”)

  37. Germany tells top U.S. spy official to leave the country
  38. Germany: Expulsion of U.S. spy was necessary
  39. Germany should offer political asylum to Snowden
  40. Spy scandal jeopardizes negotiations on free trade area between EU and US

    The spy scandal that has burst out in Germany jeopardizes negotiations on creating a free trade area between the EU and the USA, Minister of Justice and Consumer Protection of Germany Heiko Maas believes.

  41. German FM, press applaud expulsion of CIA chief
  42. German Chancellor Expels CIA Station Chief

    In an unprecedented move between allies, German Chancellor Angela Merkel has ordered the CIA station chief in Berlin to leave the country or be forced out, reports the Washington Post.

  43. Germany calls on US to stop spying after expulsion order

    German politicians on Friday called on the United States to stop all spying activities against Germany and to work together to revive bilateral ties on the basis of honesty.

    This latest German plea follows Thursday’s expulsion of the U.S. intelligence chief in Berlin.

  44. Germany Said to Review ‘No-Spy’ Buying Rules Amid U.S. Row
  45. Report: Germany turned down US spy deal
  46. Suspected German spy was in contact with friend at State Dept – US officials
  47. German suspect was in contact with State Dept not US spies: officials

    German defense official under investigation for alleged spying was in contact with a US State Department officer rather than American intelligence agencies, raising questions about whether any espionage occurred, US officials familiar with the case told Reuters yesterday.

  48. China Calls iPhone National Security Threat
  49. China Calls iPhone A National Security Risk
  50. Chinese TV says iPhones are a threat to national security
  51. Chinese state media calls iPhone a security threat
  52. China calls the iPhone and iOS 7 threats to national security
  53. Apple’s iPhone poses national security threat, China says
  54. Chinese state-run media say Apple’s iPhone is a threat to federal security because it can track and time-stamp the locations of its users
  55. iPhone’s location tracking is a security threat, says China state media>
  56. China Says iPhone Location Tracker Could Expose State Secrets
  57. Apple iPhone Labeled “National Security Concern” in China>
  58. Apple’s iPhone branded a ‘national security concern’
  59. China Labels iPhone a Security Threat
  60. Chinese state broadcaster flags iPhone as security threat
  61. Chinese Media Terms Apple’s Location Tracking as Security Threat

    Mainstream Chinese Media has termed Apple’s iPhone as a national security threat. The state owned CCTV has reported that the location tracking feature in iPhone could collect data about location of the users.

  62. Now Chinese state TV says iPhones are a threat to national security
  63. Instagram becomes latest victim of Chinese censorship

    After blocking Google and its services in China in June, China’s internet censors blocked the popular networking app Line and Yahoo’s photo-sharing platform Flickr on July 1, the day of massive democracy demonstrations in Hong Kong on the 17th anniversary of the territory’s return to China. Instagram, the online photo and video sharing platform owned by Facebook, has now undergone a similar fate, reports Duowei, an outlet run by overseas Chinese.

  64. Are Hong Kong’s pan-democrats censoring opposing views by public figures while they blast censorship themselves?

Wirelessly-Controlled Contraceptives and Other Villainous Bill Gates Initiatives

Posted in Bill Gates at 7:31 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz

Euthanasia propaganda
Nazi Euthanasia Propaganda Poster, German government, about 1938.

Summary: Remote controls for people’s reproductive systems are now in the making and Bill Gates is a prominent investor in the technology

NSA, which enjoys Bill Gates’ support (and Microsoft’s) is taking over vast numbers of networks, which were made insecure by design (rigged peer review process, moles inside standards bodies, bribes to companies etc.) and we therefore must assume that any in-body implants which are wirelessly controlled are hugely dangerous. This is a point that Karen Sandler has been stressing for years, speaking in public about it, pressuring companies, informing doctors, and so on. Just see how worried Dick Cheney has become about his pacemakers (there are many articles about it). Many people want this man dead.

Bill Gates has made it no secret that he pursues depopulation. He spoke about it publicly, albeit not using the terminology of eugenics, even if the ideology isinherently similar. A lot of the corporate media wishes to characterise any discussion about depopulation as “conspiracy theory”, even though some very affluent people (usually billionaires with clout in the corporate media) routinely speak of such ‘humane’ aspirations, where selections for depopulation are financially-motivated (the criteria are not for common people to decide on).

“Questions over wireless-controlled contraceptives” is a new article that Martin told us about in IRC. “The BBC is carrying information on a type of contraception (funded in part by Bill Gates) that takes the form of a microchip, inserted under the skin,” the source said. Days beforehand we saw this opinion piece from The Mukt, a Free software-leaning site. Using hypothetical analogies it says:

In an alternate world of Quentin Tarantino Adolf Hitler systematically and peacefully eradicated Jews by giving them a ‘smart capsule’ disguised as birth control pill. The capsule was developed by German doctors which can release certain hormones and drugs remotely. They were regularly releasing contraceptive hormone in the blood stream lasting for 20 years. Which peacefully and effectively sterilize the entire segment without any suspect.

The article ends with this: “If you think if was just fiction, then I have bad news. Bill Gates’ Gates Foundation seems to be obsessed with control over food production and human production. According to reports the foundation is funding a new way to inject drugs into human body which can be controlled remotely.

“The Verge reports, “The Gates Foundation project looks to develop a pill that would automatically release a contraceptive hormone into the bloodstream, lasting for 16 years or until it’s disabled by a wireless signal. The project is planning to start preclinical testing in 2015 and reach the market in 2018, but there are still many questions to be answered, including security issues.”

“The technology being developed by the Gates Foundation can be a nightmare for human society and the wettest dream of suppressive government.”

This is not the first time that Gates gets involved in such controversial schemes, which not only anger contraception opponents but also people who know what a ruthless thug Gates is. He seeks control, not goodwill. His track record on this has been very consistent. █

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