The South Africa World Cup: Invictus in Reverse
By Dave Zirin [mostlywater.org] Johannesburg – You see it the moment you walk off the plane: a mammoth soccer ball hanging from the ceiling of Johannesburg International Airport festooned with yellow banners that read, "2010 Let’s Go! WORLD CUP!" If you swivel your head, you see that every sponsor has joined the party – Coca […]
Frontex, Acpo and the policing of Fortress Europe
[indymedia.org.uk] On 23rd March 2010, No Borders activists disrupted a high-profile conference about ‚policing the borders‘ that brought together Frontex, the UK Border Agency and senior police officers from various UK police forces [press release | video]. In their shock and dismay, some of the highly esteemed delegates left behind their welcome packs as they […]
Police practice for G20 summit by simulating hostage taking
Protecting visitors to the downtown summit will involve collaboration between public and private security [theglobeandmail.com] Weekend workaholics attempting to reach their downtown office towers Sunday got the first hint of the disruption that will be caused by this summer’s G20 summit in Toronto, as tactical officers took over part of the underground PATH system for […]
London 2012: one big party or one big prison?
By Mike Wells Security precautions for London 2012 include the construction of a 17.5 km, 5,000volt electric fence, topped with 900 daylight and night vision surveillance cameras spaced at 50 metre intervals. On first sight of the fence you could be forgiven for thinking you had slipped through a wormhole in the space-time continuum to […]
Report on Passenger Name Record Agreement between the EU and the US and transfer of data to Department of Homeland Security (DHS)
COUNCIL OF HE EUROPEAN UNION Brussels, 15 April 2010 Subject: Report on the joint review of the implementation of the Agreement between the European Union and the United States of America on the processing and ransfer of Passenger Name Record (PNR) data by air carriers to the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Delegations […]
UP homes in on UAV, others watch demo
The Uttar Pradesh Police are is the process of acquiring an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). A committee headed by DGP Karamvir Singh has short-listed two companies, Mumbai-based Ideaforge and Bangalore- based Honeywell Technology Solutions Lab, for the deal. [indianexpress.com] On Wednesday, Honeywell presented a demonstration of its UAV, named T-MAV, in Chhattisgarh before officials from […]
Hooligans on notice: SA cops know who you are
Soccer hooligans beware: The South Africa police — all 41,000 of them — know who you are and will be looking for you during this summer’s World Cup games. [marketwatch.com] What’s more, they’re ready for you, thanks to months of training and exercises in crowd control like the one held Thursday, according to the press […]
Berlin: Let the European Security-Architecture crumble!
Diesen Aufruf in deutsch Europe is not your friend. The European Union is often underestimated – the radical left is no exception. This despite the fact that far-reaching decisions are made on the EU political level, decisions that should drive anybody with an even remotely critical mindset onto the barricades. The inhumane War on ‘illegal’ […]
Homeland Security Seeks Bio-Agent Sniffing Cell Phones *
By Katie Drummond Your cell phone can already tell you where to find the nearest Starbucks or the most convenient subway station. But it might soon be smart enough to alert you to a toxic bio-threat during your morning commute or coffee break, thanks to a new plan from the Department of Homeland Security. [wired.com] […]
Increased Spending in C4ISR Offsets Budget Cuts in RDT&E, Stabilizing the DoD Budget
The U.S. defense budget has remained stable, despite the cuts in research, development, testing, and evaluation (RDT&E) programs for immature technologies that do not have direct relevance to the existing ground forces operations. While sectors such as space-based assets have had to make do with reduced funds, other areas including medical services, armored ground vehicles, […]
Beyond Orwell: The Electronic Police State, 2010
by Tom Burghardt A truism perhaps, but before resorting to brute force and open repression to halt the "barbarians at the gates," that would be us, the masters of declining empires (and the chattering classes who polish their boots) regale us with tales of "democracy on the march," "hope" and other banalities before the mailed […]
U.S. Military Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) Market to Generate $62 Billion Revenue over 2010-2015
The U.S. military UAV market is projected to grow at a CAGR of 10% between 2010 and 2015. The report of Market Research Media finds that the U.S. military UAV market will generate $62 billion revenues over the period 2010 – 2015. [24-7pressrelease.com] The U.S. military Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) market has witnessed a meteoric […]
ITALY-FRANCE: 20 ACCORDS, FROM MEDITERRANEAN TO NUCLEAR POWER
Twenty accords in five key sectors have been signed during the Italy-France summit which came to an end in Paris with a resolve to strengthen cooperation between the two countries. The accords span issues such as the Union for the Mediterranean, immigration policy, nuclear power and defence, transport and culture. [ansamed.info] THE MEDITERRANEAN: The text […]
Airline passenger conversations to be monitored under EU project
Airline passengers could have their conversations and movements monitored under a European Union project aimed at tackling terrorism. [telegraph.co.uk] Brussels is funding research at Reading University aimed at detecting suspicious behaviour on board aircraft. It uses a combination of cameras, microphones, explosives detectors and a sophisticated computer system which would give a pilot early warning […]
Cyber wars
Ron Deibert, Rafal Rohozinski While the role of technology in the political struggle in Iran and elsewhere should not be overstated, it should not be underestimated either. The "next generation" controls with which authorities aim to manage the Internet mark a shift from heavy-handed filtering to sophisticated multi-pronged methods. Ron Deibert and Rafal Rohozinski on […]
Riot police put through their paces by fake protesters (video)
Gareth Wilson ABOUT 80 chanting “protesters” gathered outside Port Elizabeth’s soccer stadium yesterday afternoon as crowd control police were put through their paces before the World Cup. [weekendpost.co.za] More than 700 crowd control police were put through a mock riot scenario involving petrol bombs, smoke grenades and water cannon with groups of “protesters” given free […]
Burn Capitalism Now
Dear comrades On the occasion of the European Summit, celebrated in the Spanish State due to the rotating presidency of the EU, an anticapitalist and antiauthoritarian group has decided not to remain silent in view of the provocations the power in charge of the world crisis has implemented. We are ready to denounce the hypocrisy […]
India sets sights on killer drones
By Siddharth Srivastava NEW DELHI – Aside from the much discussed acquisition of big conventional weapons by India, a silent accretion has been the fleet of reconnaissance and "killer" unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), specifically aimed at neutralizing threats from Pakistan, and possibly China in future. [atimes.com] Official sources have told Asia Times Online that if […]
UAV trials begin in Dantewada next week
The government has decided to expedite the induction of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), hoping these will help paramilitary forces take on the Maoists, make the war theatre transparent and reduce casualties. [indianexpress.com] Trials of Israeli UAVs will be conducted by paramilitary forces in Dantewada on April 14 and these will be inducted into the theatre […]
Australia: Unmanned aircraft could soon patrol borders
ARI SHARP UNMANNED aircraft may be detecting the weather, monitoring crops and patrolling Australia’s borders in the next decade. [theage.com.au] The government communications authority has begun considering ways to allocate the spectrum space needed to communicate with the equipment to avoid interference with defence force communications. The issue of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) emerged in […]