NSA Spying: Some German officials now use disposable phones over eavesdropping fears

The so-called "burner" phones have been used not only in countries such as Russia and China, which continue to be at loggerheads with the West over a number of issues, including the Ukraine conflict - but also during visits to close allies such as the Britain and the United States, "Der Spiegel" news magazine reported on Saturday.

The magazine said politicians had been advised by Germany's Federal Office for Information Security to use disposable phones and only download essential data on it.

"There are clear signals that people are getting more sensible," the report quoted one security source as saying.

For years, security agencies have warned their leaders of the dangers of mobile phones and eavesdropping. During their visits abroad, officials run a particularly high risk when leaving phones unattended in order to hold secret talks as this opens a window of opportunity for spy agencies to manipulate the phones or even upload surveillance programs.

Following a year of revelations that the US National Security Agency had allegedly been listening on phones belonging to German Chancellor Angela Merkel and other key German politicians, these fears have become a reality for Germany. A WikiLeaks report published last week suggested that NSA spying had gone on for much longer than previously thought.

Despite the advice from Germany's security authorities the "burners" have not been introduced universally across the cabinet. Both Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Economics Minister Sigmar Gabriel reportedly went on their recent respective trips to Cuba and China with their normal phones.

 Read more: German officials use disposable phones over eavesdropping fears | News | DW.COM | 18.07.2015

Preventive Healthcare: Pro-business lobbying giant US Chamber of Commerce waging global lobbying campaign against anti-smoking laws

CVS Health Corporation (CVS) made big news recently when it cancelled its membership in the U.S.
Chamber of Commerce, the pro-corporate,Washington lobbying giant that was recently revealed to have been waging a global lobbying campaign against anti-smoking laws.

Given its stated commitment to health promotion, CVS did the right thing. But six major health care companies, four of which sit on the Chamber's board – and all of which have anti-smoking programs – haven't done anything. It's time to hold them accountable.

These companies should not be allowed to profit from the US Chamber's corporate lobbying and then stick their heads in the sand when it's caught working directly against public health and safety.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren and a group of fellow Democratic senators have just sent a letter to all 108 companies on the Chamber's board, demanding that they state their positions on the Chamber's pro-smoking lobbying.

But six major health care companies who are Chamber members – Aetna, Cigna, Anthem, the Health Care Service Corporation, the Steward Health Care System of Boston, and the Indiana University Health system – also have a responsibility. All of them support anti-smoking programs, but the Chamber’s efforts undercut that mission.

Today, tobacco use remains the leading cause of preventable deaths in the U.S. and around the world. Cigarette smoking accounts for almost half a million deaths a year in the U.S. alone. Smoking causes cancer, heart disease, stroke, lung diseases, diabetes, emphysema, and chronic bronchitis.³

Tell these health care companies: Drop your affiliation with the pro-smoking U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Click here to sign the petition.

EU-Digest

Greek parliament approves tough reforms demanded by Brussels with large majority

Greece’s parliament has approved tough new austerity reforms by a large majority.

The result was 229 votes to 64 in the 300 seat chamber. There were 6 abstentions and one absentee.

The passing of the bill was set as a condition by Brussels for an 86 billion euro bailout over the next three years.

The vote came after Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, who had been facing a revolt by his own Syriza party, made an emotional speech to get them on board.

Even though he had declared his dislike for the terms agreed with Greece’s creditors he said he had done his best for the country
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In the end one-in-four Syriza party members did not back the bill.

Read more: Greek parliament approves tough reforms demanded by Brussels | euronews, world news

NSA Spying on EU: Report: Evidence of 2011 US cyberattack on EU defense giant EADS in Germany

"Bild am Sonntag" said on today Sunday July 12 that it inspected a "confidential letter" provided by Germany's foreign intelligence services - the BND - to the domestic intelligence agency - the Verfassungsschutz - outlining a "suspected" attack on European arms manufacturer European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company (EADS) from American soil.

"From a foreign intelligence service, the BND received information about a suspected data tap at EADS Germany," the letter is reported to have said.

The German news outlet claimed that it was the first shred of evidence of a 2011 cyberattack on the French-German manufacturer, headquartered in Munich, since the onset of collaboration between the US National Security Agency (NSA) and the BND.

"Bild am Sonntag" reported that on November 2, 2011, hackers planted a spy program on the computers of EADS, during which 5,116 "connections" were said to have been found between the company's computers and the US-based "aggressors."

Germany's Protection of the Constitution committee informed EADS - now known as the Airbus Group - that their networks may have been compromised by the apparent attack, which had been initially traced to a server in Los Angeles.

Read more: Report: Evidence of 2011 US cyberattack on defense giant EADS in Germany | News | DW.COM | 12.07.2015

Greece: Eurozone sets Greece tough terms as euro exit looms

Eurozone leaders set Greece brutal take-it-or-leave-it conditions for a desperately needed bailout deal at a summit on Sunday as an exit from the single currency loomed ever larger.

Hawkish Germany pushed for a Greek "time out" from the euro if leftist Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras fails to agree terms for a three-year rescue plan worth up to 86 billion euros ($96 billion).

Athens faces demands to push through new reform laws next week to win a third bailout since 2010, with the government in a tight corner as the cash-starved country's banks look set to run dry in days. 

"There will be no agreement at any price," Merkel said as she arrived for the summit of 19 eurozone leaders, complaining of a loss of trust in Athens and warning of "tough negotiations" ahead.

Read nore: Eurozone sets Greece tough terms as euro exit looms - Yahoo News

America is ready for socialism! Massive majorities back Bernie Sanders on the issues — and disdain Donald Trump - by Paul Rosenberg

Donald Trump is throwing the GOP primary into chaos by channeling the GOP’s id, spinning out wild fantasies of the Mexican government deliberately sending a flood of rapists and murderers across the border.

But Bernie Sanders is disrupting Hillary Clinton’s coronation on the Democratic side by channeling the party’s soul, with a specifically issue-based focus.

In a way, both men are vividly illustrating a basic asymmetry that runs through American politics—between left and right, liberal and conservative, Democrat and Republican—which was first comprehensively described by public opinion researchers Lloyd Free and Hadley Cantril in their landmark 1967 book, “The Political Beliefs of Americans: A Study of Public Opinion,” and which political scientist Matt Grossman discussed in a recent Salon interview. Free and Cantril found that half the population was ideologically conservative, in the sense of preferring a smaller, more limited government, while about two-thirds was operationally liberal, in the sense of wanting to spend more on specifically identified government programs.

Subsequent research has intensified this division. Conservatives win by making broad, sweeping appeals, which can often have little relationship with the facts (Iraq’s WMDs, “voter fraud,” global warming denialism, etc.). Liberals win by focusing on how to fix specific problems. Thus “government spending” in general is seen as a negative, but spending on most specific programs is strongly supported. The pattern is clear: The more practical the question, the more liberal the answers. That’s just how U.S. politics works.

Trump takes the conservative side of this formula to an extreme, making broad, ludicrous false claims in his narcissistically self-confident manner. What’s grabbing headlines now are his false claims about illegal immigrant crime, but he remains completely detached from reality regarding Obama’s citizenship as well—an act of broad stigmatization that also typifies conservative thought. When NBC’s Katy Tur brought up his birtherism, Trump treated her with disdain: “Well, I don’t know. According to you it’s not true.” When she responded straightforwardly, “He released his birth certificate,” Trump doubled down on the disdain, “You know, if you believe that, that’s fine. I don’t care. It’s an old subject.”

Bernie Sanders is the exact opposite of Trump. As a proud self-described democratic socialist, he willingly makes himself a target for the kind of demonization that Trump hands out like candy, and he responds to attacks—actual and potential—by doubling down on policy specifics, where he correctly feels he’s on very firm ground. In a recent interview with John Nichols in the Nation, Sanders sketched out his response to such attacks, which are now routinely leveled indiscriminately.

Mitch McConnell, the Republican leader in the Senate, often criticizes President Obama, incorrectly, for trying to push “European-style socialism,” and McConnell says the American people don’t want it.

First of all, of course, Obama is not trying to push European-style socialism. Second of all, I happen to believe that, if the American people understood the significant accomplishments that have taken place under social-democratic governments, democratic-socialist governments, labor governments throughout Europe, they would be shocked to know about those accomplishments. One of the goals of this campaign is to advance that understanding….

How many Americans know that in virtually every European country, when you have a baby, you get guaranteed time off and, depending on the country, significant financial benefits as well. Do the American people know that? I doubt it.

Do the American people even know that we’re the only major Western industrialized country that doesn’t guarantee healthcare for all? Most people don’t know that. Do the American people know that in many countries throughout Europe, public colleges and universities are either tuition-free or very inexpensive?

Read more: America is ready for socialism! Massive majorities back Bernie Sanders on the issues — and disdain Donald Trump - Salon.com

Europe's Future Is Federal - by Jean Tirole

Numerous Europeans view Europe as a one-way street: they appreciate its advantages but are little inclined to accept common rules. An increasing number throughout the Union are handing their vote to populist parties – Front National, Syriza, Podemos – that surf on this Eurosceptic wave and rise up against “foreign”- imported constraints.

Embroiled with the Greek crisis, European policymakers will soon have to step back and reflect on the broader issue of the Eurozone’s future. Before envisaging an exit or, on the contrary, more sustained integration, it’s right to reflect upon the consequences of each option.

Oversimplifying, there are three strategies for the Eurozone: a minimalist approach that would see a return to national currencies, while keeping Europe perhaps as a free trade area and retaining a few institutions that have made a real difference such as common competition laws; the current approach based on the Maastricht Treaty of 1992 and its fiscal compact update in 2012; and, finally, the more ambitious version of federalism. My own clear preference is for the federalist version but I’m not at all convinced that Europeans are ready to make it work successfully.

Note EU-Digest:  Federalism is probably the only way to go if Europe does not want to become subservient to the presently ruling superpowers, China, the US, and even Russia. Populism and nationalism is not the way to go, as it has always turned sour in Europe's history. True federalism would certainly require finding another historic shining political star like Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, who has the ability to get the EU reorganized, and all the EU member states moving in the same direction. Let's hope we get blessed soon in finding that "needle in the political haystack" to rescue the EU out of the iron grip of the Wall Steet dominated financial community.

Read more: Europe's Future Is Federal » Social Europe