I commented on the British porn filter and claimed that it will be about censorship. Meanwhile in Russia, a similar law with only the intention to keep the children safe, was used to silence reporters according to techdirt and now swearing will be made illegal online, because we all know that that is something one just does not come across in the "real world" (TM). Of course the UK is totally different: one can still opt out!
One British ISP isn't all that happy with the active choice idea and will offer either uncensored Internet, and support on how to enable filters on the PCs of children for the parents, or the advises to move to North Korea if one tires to choose a censored version.
Perhaps there is still hope after all.
Tuesday, July 30, 2013
German Journalism and Google News
Thursday, the new "Leistungsschutzrecht", a law which was supposed to help the struggling news media, by making it illegal for news aggregators and search engines to quote snipplets from news articles. The idea behind it was to generate revenue through licensing fees for the publishers. Most media outlets engaged in a propaganda campaign honest reporting on their own behalf. (Heck, that made me so angry that I started this blog)
The effort which was led by Springer, the publisher of the Bild Zeitung, the biggest tabloid in Europe, ended in absolute and utter disaster this week. The service was changed into an opt-in scheme, and Google asked the publishers if they want to partake. According to Sueddeutsche, the ten biggest German news sites now all allow Google News to use snipplets. Of course, the unconditional surrender includes all Springer papers.Well, that is not entirely true, several publishers are claiming that they might opt-out in the future and seem to believe that this will lead to the following:
1. Opt-in
2. Opt-out
3. ??????
4. Profit
Interesting plan, but I am not fully convinced, yet. Perhaps they believe that if they build a collecting society on publishing rights, like the GEMA, which does the same for artists, Google will somehow agree to pay them. Since, GEMA is also in a fight with google over money, which has not let to anything other than many YouTube music videos not being accessible from Germany, this does not seem all that likely.
This law will still do significant damage to many services and thereby it will cement Google's monopoly. Rivva, a small, one person news aggregation project, for example, is having problems to get some publishers to opt-in. So, without doing anything wrong, its service is now by design worse than google's.
Also, the media seems somewhat surprised that after engaging in a shameful campaign on their own behalf, supported by easily disprovable "facts", they now are seen by the Germans as pretty corrupt. Well, more corrupt than before that is. My guess is that this just might have had something to do with getting in bed with the government and together with the coalition making up a fantasy universe where robots.txt does not exist, and google forces them to be listed. Some people might actually believe that so called "favors" were involved like "nicer" reporting on policy, which makes the media in general seem more corrupt.
On Thursday the Leistungsschutzrecht will become law. It has only downsides; nobody gained or will gain anything from it in Germany. Only Google can be quite happy that their monopoly was most likely strengthened. The German publishers who are not in a healthy state have done nothing more than damage their own reputation, and the German government has created regulation that clearly hinders competition and favors an American company. Good Job.
The effort which was led by Springer, the publisher of the Bild Zeitung, the biggest tabloid in Europe, ended in absolute and utter disaster this week. The service was changed into an opt-in scheme, and Google asked the publishers if they want to partake. According to Sueddeutsche, the ten biggest German news sites now all allow Google News to use snipplets. Of course, the unconditional surrender includes all Springer papers.Well, that is not entirely true, several publishers are claiming that they might opt-out in the future and seem to believe that this will lead to the following:
1. Opt-in
2. Opt-out
3. ??????
4. Profit
Interesting plan, but I am not fully convinced, yet. Perhaps they believe that if they build a collecting society on publishing rights, like the GEMA, which does the same for artists, Google will somehow agree to pay them. Since, GEMA is also in a fight with google over money, which has not let to anything other than many YouTube music videos not being accessible from Germany, this does not seem all that likely.
This law will still do significant damage to many services and thereby it will cement Google's monopoly. Rivva, a small, one person news aggregation project, for example, is having problems to get some publishers to opt-in. So, without doing anything wrong, its service is now by design worse than google's.
Also, the media seems somewhat surprised that after engaging in a shameful campaign on their own behalf, supported by easily disprovable "facts", they now are seen by the Germans as pretty corrupt. Well, more corrupt than before that is. My guess is that this just might have had something to do with getting in bed with the government and together with the coalition making up a fantasy universe where robots.txt does not exist, and google forces them to be listed. Some people might actually believe that so called "favors" were involved like "nicer" reporting on policy, which makes the media in general seem more corrupt.
On Thursday the Leistungsschutzrecht will become law. It has only downsides; nobody gained or will gain anything from it in Germany. Only Google can be quite happy that their monopoly was most likely strengthened. The German publishers who are not in a healthy state have done nothing more than damage their own reputation, and the German government has created regulation that clearly hinders competition and favors an American company. Good Job.
Sunday, July 28, 2013
"Great" Britain's March into Dystopia
Mr. Cameron wants to protect the children from the horror that is porn, or so he claims. Of course, everybody with half a brain knows that the filter system -from which one can opt out at least for a while - is directed at much more than just porn.
The German media seems quite puzzled that the British seem to accept that their freedom is being reduced. For example FAZ thinks that one cannot score many political points by "supporting open access" to porn, which leads to "little resistance", and sees GB in the "good company" of Iran and Saudi-Arabia.
Still, some might be surprised that it is a coalition that includes self proclaimed Liberal-Democrats pushing for a nanny-state clearly imposing conservative values on everybody, who does not opt-out (while that is still possible). Sadly, liberalism today is about inflicting economic pain on the weak (students in GB), while accepting ever increasing state power. Hayek must be spinning in his grave. The nanny-state is not just interested in protecting children, their parents, most people in relationships, all women and lazy male singles from porn, though. Other filtered contend will probably include, according to Wired:
Thecensorship tools child protection system will of course be implemented in part by a Chinese company, for China is a great success story when it comes to finding the delicate balance between civil liberties and security.
To anybody that likes movies, Britain's march into a censorship and surveillance state should be expected. There seem to be two types of movies coming from the island:
But fear not, further "reforms" to the NHS will eventually prevent the "Road to Serfdom" that is general health care, while total surveillance and censorship will keep the citizens safe fromextremist content like free speech and esoteric material like Islam and atheism (for everybody knows that it is just another pagan religion). porn and terrorists.
The German media seems quite puzzled that the British seem to accept that their freedom is being reduced. For example FAZ thinks that one cannot score many political points by "supporting open access" to porn, which leads to "little resistance", and sees GB in the "good company" of Iran and Saudi-Arabia.
Still, some might be surprised that it is a coalition that includes self proclaimed Liberal-Democrats pushing for a nanny-state clearly imposing conservative values on everybody, who does not opt-out (while that is still possible). Sadly, liberalism today is about inflicting economic pain on the weak (students in GB), while accepting ever increasing state power. Hayek must be spinning in his grave. The nanny-state is not just interested in protecting children, their parents, most people in relationships, all women and lazy male singles from porn, though. Other filtered contend will probably include, according to Wired:
- violent material
- esoteric material
- suicide and eating disorder related websites
- extremist content
- and of course material showing how to circumvent blocking (and total surveillance since both is achieved the same way)
The
To anybody that likes movies, Britain's march into a censorship and surveillance state should be expected. There seem to be two types of movies coming from the island:
- violent comedy in the form of Snatch, and Lock, Stock and two Smoking Barrels among others
- dystopian movies about fighting against a totalitarian state in England. The best known examples are V for Vendetta, Children of Men and of course the cinematic adaption of 1984 (haven't seen that one)
But fear not, further "reforms" to the NHS will eventually prevent the "Road to Serfdom" that is general health care, while total surveillance and censorship will keep the citizens safe from
Saturday, July 27, 2013
On Cyprus
Cyprus mail has a good comment on the situation in Cyprus and the way forward for the (half) island. It is nothing new though. The situation will through the rescue continue to deteriorate without any hope for a better future, and the troika keeps making up fantasy forecasts to show that it will always be the next year where we will see that the plan is working, or in the case of Cyprus next year will see a much slower decline of GDP than this year.
The solution that is suggested is also nothing new: Cyprus should leave the euro. The banking system lies in shambles, anyway, therefore there the country is already experiencing most of the downsides of a exit without the upsides. That being of course, that the island could become more competitive much faster and easier if it does not deleverage within the euro zone.
There are several things that need mentioning though. First up, I am quite sick of people who invoke Einstein when they want to call others idiots. Also, the Cypriot politicians aren't even the ones that have tried the same plan over and over again. Why not just call the troika incompetent fools. They are (the ECB is at least trying to actually make this union work, it just has to also fight an enemy within). Of course, every time somebody does call them out, they will point at Ireland, in the hope that nobody has realizes, that the other divided European island isn't recovering either.
Second: Cyprus should have left the euro before the "rescue", since the plans are specifically designed to cause high damage in the beginning. Of course that would have been difficult to sell to the population, it would have been better to act than to react. Also, it will get significantly harder for government to leave once the unemployment rate has reached Greek levels. Still, to make the sitiation even more messed up: without significant hair cuts in both Greece and Cyprus, the countries have no other way than to leave the euro eventually, which will cause further damage. It was an all round horrible idea to accept the package. The advise is late, possibly too late.
Third: the island should not bet on improvements to tourism just because a new currency is introduced and devalues. Germans not having to exchange money is actually making Cyprus more competitive compared to other countries. A falling currency will keep tourists away. It seems unlikely that a bet on tourism will pay off.
Still I agree that the Cypriot government has to think about exiting. If they do they should do it within this year and more importantly via a referendum. The people should be shown both scenarios. Both will cause significant harm to the economy but only one provides a chance to recover.
The solution that is suggested is also nothing new: Cyprus should leave the euro. The banking system lies in shambles, anyway, therefore there the country is already experiencing most of the downsides of a exit without the upsides. That being of course, that the island could become more competitive much faster and easier if it does not deleverage within the euro zone.
There are several things that need mentioning though. First up, I am quite sick of people who invoke Einstein when they want to call others idiots. Also, the Cypriot politicians aren't even the ones that have tried the same plan over and over again. Why not just call the troika incompetent fools. They are (the ECB is at least trying to actually make this union work, it just has to also fight an enemy within). Of course, every time somebody does call them out, they will point at Ireland, in the hope that nobody has realizes, that the other divided European island isn't recovering either.
Second: Cyprus should have left the euro before the "rescue", since the plans are specifically designed to cause high damage in the beginning. Of course that would have been difficult to sell to the population, it would have been better to act than to react. Also, it will get significantly harder for government to leave once the unemployment rate has reached Greek levels. Still, to make the sitiation even more messed up: without significant hair cuts in both Greece and Cyprus, the countries have no other way than to leave the euro eventually, which will cause further damage. It was an all round horrible idea to accept the package. The advise is late, possibly too late.
Third: the island should not bet on improvements to tourism just because a new currency is introduced and devalues. Germans not having to exchange money is actually making Cyprus more competitive compared to other countries. A falling currency will keep tourists away. It seems unlikely that a bet on tourism will pay off.
Still I agree that the Cypriot government has to think about exiting. If they do they should do it within this year and more importantly via a referendum. The people should be shown both scenarios. Both will cause significant harm to the economy but only one provides a chance to recover.
Friday, July 26, 2013
Just When One Believed That We Had Reached The Maximum Incompetence Level...
... suddenly a wild Hans Peter Uhl (CSU expert on being old) appears and tells us (via golem):
Well, awesome that you remember that episode from 30 years ago Mr. Uhl. It just does not have anything to do with Snowden, or the NSA, or Spiegel. We know for a fact that these documents are real because the US government admitted as much. Pentagon spokesman Lt. Col. Damien Pickart on why military access to guardian and other websites is blocked:
That just is not how parliamentary control works. He is not supposed to a cheerleader for the BND. He is also not supposed to answer questions in that role but to ask them.
Still nobody is saying how the NSA accesses the communications meta-data of German citizens. OK, then it wasn't the BND. I don't care, who it wasn't! It is the BND's job to find out how they did it and put an end to the warrantless collection of phone call, IP, and e-mail meta-data. If it is not capable of doing what it is supposed to do aka. counter-intelligence, then we need a structural reform. We need a secret service that is more than just a NSA pet, and begs for US data because it is not able to do either intelligence or counter-intelligence work. The only noteworthy thing the BND has done in recent history was to provide Curveball to the US. That did not play out so well, did it? Ok, back in the 1960ies there may have been a time when the BND was a bit more than an US play thing but these times are long gone. Perhaps Uhl has some stories about those good old times, but more importantly I want a capable intelligence service back.
I have seen the Hitler-diaries in a different magazine. In hindsight that was also something completely different than the truth.
Well, awesome that you remember that episode from 30 years ago Mr. Uhl. It just does not have anything to do with Snowden, or the NSA, or Spiegel. We know for a fact that these documents are real because the US government admitted as much. Pentagon spokesman Lt. Col. Damien Pickart on why military access to guardian and other websites is blocked:
"If that particular website runs an article that our filters determine has classified information... the particular content on that website will remain inaccessible,"Why will these people be most likely re-elected? Even if one does not care about being spied on for no reason with basically no oversight, then one should still feel disgusted by the stuff that comes out of the coalition parties. This person is supposed to control the BND and other intelligence services and has nothing better to do than to say that:
We will answer all questions and in the end the result has to be: the German intelligence service abides by the German privacy laws.
That just is not how parliamentary control works. He is not supposed to a cheerleader for the BND. He is also not supposed to answer questions in that role but to ask them.
Still nobody is saying how the NSA accesses the communications meta-data of German citizens. OK, then it wasn't the BND. I don't care, who it wasn't! It is the BND's job to find out how they did it and put an end to the warrantless collection of phone call, IP, and e-mail meta-data. If it is not capable of doing what it is supposed to do aka. counter-intelligence, then we need a structural reform. We need a secret service that is more than just a NSA pet, and begs for US data because it is not able to do either intelligence or counter-intelligence work. The only noteworthy thing the BND has done in recent history was to provide Curveball to the US. That did not play out so well, did it? Ok, back in the 1960ies there may have been a time when the BND was a bit more than an US play thing but these times are long gone. Perhaps Uhl has some stories about those good old times, but more importantly I want a capable intelligence service back.
Thursday, July 25, 2013
Stagnation - the new Boom
The new IFO index is out and is like most other economic data showing stagnation in Germany. Yes, it rose a tiny bit from 105.9 to 106.2, but that is no improvement that anybody should be proud of since it is well below the level of 2011. and it did not even reach the level of Febuary and March 2013.
The press release's language suggests, otherwise:
Still, the German news media were quick to jump aboard the boom-times-train. FAZ was finding green shoots everywhere, including but not limited to France and Italy. Best sentence:
yeah the first half of the year is over. we are seeing stagnation, after a very weak second half of 2012. Spiegel basically just copy-pastes most of the press release and avoids any own thought. The above is an example for the typical overly optimistic economic reporting in German news. Every positive number is the new green shoot, indicating and end to the euro-crisis. So what in the world is wrong with German and also European news?
Kevin O’Rourke wrote two days ago:
I fully agree, but it is important to add that this wouldn't be possible if the news media employed more people with a functioning memory, or the ability to understand graphs, or the will to actually look at the context of what they are reporting on. The main reason that the politicians can get away with their failed policy is media incompetence.
Additionally, the German reporters for the most part seem to have bought into the neo-liberal believe system of austerity good, state bad, structural reforms good. It is very much simplistic thinking, one might argue that there is actually no thinking at all involved. This believe system makes it very easy to make deadlines for content, and is therefore journalist friendly. Bad numbers? Call for structural reforms. There isn't any need to mention any specifics.Worsening debt to GDP ratios in Europe? Not enough reform pressure: call for more structural reforms. Increasing unemployment in Europe? Call for structural job market reforms. Somebody wants more state investment? Public investment is always short term: call for structural reforms. This is the perfect believe system for any journalist reporting on the economy. No need to think to sound smart.
Since the wishes of the austerity god have been fulfilled one should now be seeing improvements. Stagnation is not what should be happening, and if the situation is still deteriorating in Europe with no growth in sight, then it must be due to notpraying enough structural reforming fast enough. Also, the journalist will look to to any news reaffirming his/her believe that boom times are just around the corner. Green shoots everywhere!
The media is significantly invested into this believe system. Calling for stimulus programs is not an option anymore, since they have written comment after comment after.... in favor of austerity. Abandoning the believe now would mean that their credibility is significantly reduced. This was easier in Germany than elsewhere since here austerity is called saving policy (Sparpolitik).
Also, the media is scared of initiating a self-fulfilling prophecy. You tell your readers that Germany is not the locomotive of everlasting growth, but instead is stagnating, and there are significant downward risks of under-investing industry in the country itself, the risk of Italy needing help that nobody can actually pay for, and China might see significantly lower growth in the coming months, over and over again and you just might cause a change in behavior. The population will reduce their investment and thereby the recession one has been seeing might just be caused by the media itself.
Some might also say that German experts have something to do with the reporting. This might also be true, but the journalist chooses whom to include. So if one is looking for an expert opinion and calls Sinn or Hüther, then the result will of course be a state bad article.
The result of failing to make it clear that the current policy is not delivering the promised results, neither in Europe nor in Germany itself, will get Merkel re-elected. Her coalition is at least partly responsible for the mess we are in in Europe. There might be some more critical reporting until the election, but I think the damage has already been done. Europe's political system is not stable anymore, the debt to GDP ratios and unemployment numbers are significantly worse than before the German government came up with the plan of keeping German inflation low and pushing all of the adjustment, which was needed, onto the program countries thereby forcing them into deep recession. The media is responsible for letting them get away with a policy which is not making us more competitive but is in fact destroying more and more absolutely legitimate industry jobs all over Europe.
The press release's language suggests, otherwise:
The Ifo Business Climate Index for industry and trade in Germany rose for the third time in succession. Assessments of the current business situation are more positive than last month. Although the six-month business outlook weakened slightly, firms remain cautiously optimistic with regard to their future business outlook.That last sentence is not bloomy enough. I liked the language of the German release much more:Conditions in the German economy remain fair.
There are only few clouds on the economic sky.Of course, if one compares this awesome looking skybox with March (106.7) and not April, which due to the early Easter had fewer workdays than normal and should be considered an exception, then one can see that there is still no reason whatsoever to proclaim an end of the stagnation in Germany.
Still, the German news media were quick to jump aboard the boom-times-train. FAZ was finding green shoots everywhere, including but not limited to France and Italy. Best sentence:
Therefore, the indications are solidifying that the phase of weakness in the first half of the year could be over.Well,
Kevin O’Rourke wrote two days ago:
There is an additional cost to the two-quarter rule of thumb in the Irish and Eurozone context: it implies that Ireland is periodically proclaimed to be out of recession. This then allows Eurozone politicians and central bankers to defend the status quo monetary and fiscal policies prolonging the economic crisis in Ireland and elsewhere.
I fully agree, but it is important to add that this wouldn't be possible if the news media employed more people with a functioning memory, or the ability to understand graphs, or the will to actually look at the context of what they are reporting on. The main reason that the politicians can get away with their failed policy is media incompetence.
Additionally, the German reporters for the most part seem to have bought into the neo-liberal believe system of austerity good, state bad, structural reforms good. It is very much simplistic thinking, one might argue that there is actually no thinking at all involved. This believe system makes it very easy to make deadlines for content, and is therefore journalist friendly. Bad numbers? Call for structural reforms. There isn't any need to mention any specifics.Worsening debt to GDP ratios in Europe? Not enough reform pressure: call for more structural reforms. Increasing unemployment in Europe? Call for structural job market reforms. Somebody wants more state investment? Public investment is always short term: call for structural reforms. This is the perfect believe system for any journalist reporting on the economy. No need to think to sound smart.
Since the wishes of the austerity god have been fulfilled one should now be seeing improvements. Stagnation is not what should be happening, and if the situation is still deteriorating in Europe with no growth in sight, then it must be due to not
The media is significantly invested into this believe system. Calling for stimulus programs is not an option anymore, since they have written comment after comment after.... in favor of austerity. Abandoning the believe now would mean that their credibility is significantly reduced. This was easier in Germany than elsewhere since here austerity is called saving policy (Sparpolitik).
Also, the media is scared of initiating a self-fulfilling prophecy. You tell your readers that Germany is not the locomotive of everlasting growth, but instead is stagnating, and there are significant downward risks of under-investing industry in the country itself, the risk of Italy needing help that nobody can actually pay for, and China might see significantly lower growth in the coming months, over and over again and you just might cause a change in behavior. The population will reduce their investment and thereby the recession one has been seeing might just be caused by the media itself.
Some might also say that German experts have something to do with the reporting. This might also be true, but the journalist chooses whom to include. So if one is looking for an expert opinion and calls Sinn or Hüther, then the result will of course be a state bad article.
The result of failing to make it clear that the current policy is not delivering the promised results, neither in Europe nor in Germany itself, will get Merkel re-elected. Her coalition is at least partly responsible for the mess we are in in Europe. There might be some more critical reporting until the election, but I think the damage has already been done. Europe's political system is not stable anymore, the debt to GDP ratios and unemployment numbers are significantly worse than before the German government came up with the plan of keeping German inflation low and pushing all of the adjustment, which was needed, onto the program countries thereby forcing them into deep recession. The media is responsible for letting them get away with a policy which is not making us more competitive but is in fact destroying more and more absolutely legitimate industry jobs all over Europe.
Monday, July 22, 2013
My Game of Thrones Fascination
I am quite sick of all the nonsense coming out of our government on the issues of the economy and PRISM et. al. for example the Spiegel (English article for once) reported about the usage of XKeyscore by both the external and internal German "intelligence" services, who then answered a) gibberish in case of the BND, as they denied something nobody actually said, and b) the Bundesamt for Verfassungsschutz said they only tested it, but did not use the spy software (the internal secret service is called "Constitution protection" in what must be considered an inside joke). A story almost as believable as the tale of the two PRISMs.
Schäuble visited Greece last week and applauded the country specifically for the 30 % reduction in unit labor costs, achieved for the most part through lower wages. The same week he published an op-ed which included the following statement:
when if the South recovers the euro would be strengthened, which would make Germany less competitive, and therefore wages would have to fall again? Thus ensuring that sustainable prosperity is nothing but a never ending race to the bottom and actually means poverty for all? So that's the plan?
All this fiction to hide selling out the German citizens, and to excuse inflicting pain on millions of Europeans is just making me angry, so today nothing more on prosperity through poverty, or ever-lasting test phases for spy-software. On to something completely different: actual fiction.
Yves Smith asked yesterday:
Schäuble visited Greece last week and applauded the country specifically for the 30 % reduction in unit labor costs, achieved for the most part through lower wages. The same week he published an op-ed which included the following statement:
Prosperity for all is achieved through lower wages? And
This is why the adjustment plans for countries that are receiving financial support call for fundamental structural reforms that aim to put them back on track towards long-term growth and thus secure sustainable prosperity for all.
All this fiction to hide selling out the German citizens, and to excuse inflicting pain on millions of Europeans is just making me angry, so today nothing more on prosperity through poverty, or ever-lasting test phases for spy-software. On to something completely different: actual fiction.
Yves Smith asked yesterday:
If you’ve stuck with Game of Thrones despite the pain factor, to what do you attribute the personal and cultural appeal?
Thursday, July 18, 2013
German Media and PRISM
My comments in[..]
Sueddeutsche isn't happy that the German government only reacts to media report,s and did not mention that it had knowledge of a "second" PRISM, "that is possibly not identical to the first PRISM." Spiegel initially seems to buy the second PRISM story and says that it might be a:
[Of course it might also be a
Welt, Bild's less hideous looking sister newspaper, shows its face without make-up on, and speculates about a pill, invented by the KGB, that has already made Snowden tell all his secrets. But, since it also makes him forget about that, we will never ever know. [OK it is only one op-ed writer but if you want to be a reputable newspaper your by far top rated reader comment on one of your pieces shouldn't be "Nonsense, under drugs, as if he had memorized everything, it is on a data medium and not in Snowden's head, you are making s*** up.[..]" ]
FAZ [google translates a word in the headline to liar but it should be rattler] praises the oversight over the NSA by the Senate, allot. FAZ claims that our legislative counterpart is "rattling" because they have no power. [They seem to believe that mentioning oversight more often will change the facts that we are a target and in the eyes of the US constitution have no rights. True, the current process where our G10 commission is basically only informed about specifics if the executive branch wants to, is absolutely unacceptable, but that does not make the US oversight sufficient when it comes to Germans.]
TAZ goes all out on cynicism:
[Sadly google translate turns the article into something about rappers selling porridge and even decides to change Friedrich's last name. I have written about most of the things mentioned (fantasy SUPER basic rights made up by Friedrich e.g.)]
Sueddeutsche isn't happy that the German government only reacts to media report,s and did not mention that it had knowledge of a "second" PRISM, "that is possibly not identical to the first PRISM." Spiegel initially seems to buy the second PRISM story and says that it might be a:
P lanning Tool for Resource Integration, Synchronization and Management.
[Of course it might also be a
Partnership for Research Integrity in Science & Medicineor a
Photo Reconnaissance Intelligence Strike Module]But, since both PRISM's seem to do exactly the same thing are both NSA programs and access the same data bases ,according to Bild, it seems rather unlikely that we are actually talking about two different programs.The Spiegel article then becomes less and less convinced of the two PRISMs story. To go on to say that Minister of the Interior Friedrich is now not sure anymore that the NSA isn't conducting industrial espionage in Germany, but GOOD NEWS not five but seven terrorist attacks have been "prevented" in Germany[ 2+2=7 or something I guess. Well, he probably realized that one cell can commit more than one attack. Therefore he could actually from now on increase the number at will. My guess is 11 is next and 13 the day after.]
Welt, Bild's less hideous looking sister newspaper, shows its face without make-up on, and speculates about a pill, invented by the KGB, that has already made Snowden tell all his secrets. But, since it also makes him forget about that, we will never ever know. [OK it is only one op-ed writer but if you want to be a reputable newspaper your by far top rated reader comment on one of your pieces shouldn't be "Nonsense, under drugs, as if he had memorized everything, it is on a data medium and not in Snowden's head, you are making s*** up.[..]" ]
FAZ [google translates a word in the headline to liar but it should be rattler] praises the oversight over the NSA by the Senate, allot. FAZ claims that our legislative counterpart is "rattling" because they have no power. [They seem to believe that mentioning oversight more often will change the facts that we are a target and in the eyes of the US constitution have no rights. True, the current process where our G10 commission is basically only informed about specifics if the executive branch wants to, is absolutely unacceptable, but that does not make the US oversight sufficient when it comes to Germans.]
TAZ goes all out on cynicism:
The Minister of the Interior informs TAKE CARE OF YOURSELVES YOU MORONS!
[Sadly google translate turns the article into something about rappers selling porridge and even decides to change Friedrich's last name. I have written about most of the things mentioned (fantasy SUPER basic rights made up by Friedrich e.g.)]
Wednesday, July 17, 2013
European Car Registrations
The new passenger car registrations for June did not look as abysmal as last month, EU 27 sales were down 5.6 percent compared to a year earlier. Still this is the fourth June in a row with weaker car sales than the year earlier. For the first half of 2013 this means 6.6 % less sales than in 2012.
Of the major European companies FIAT Group (FIAT, Chrysler, Alfa ...) (down 12.6 % yoy) and PSA(Peugeot and Citroen) (down 10.8 %) were hit the hardest in June. Of the German manufacturers only Daimler improved sales by 1.3 % in Europe.
At first glance the Irish registration numbers are catastrophic. The market collapsed by a mind boggling 73.7 percent. But this seems in large parts to be due to new license plates being introduced in July. So one should expect much better numbers for the beginning of the second half of 2013. In the first six months 20.2 percent less new cars were registered, but some of this is by design, since according to the Irish Times the new plates are an attempt to reduce the "start of the year surge" and spread the car sales more evenly over the whole year.
The overall car sales in The EU are not stabilizing. This should not be expected before the beginning of the next year. With any meaningful growth probably returning not before 2015. Before car sales go up unemployment has to come down and firms need to regain some confidence in their own future. Great Britain is again showing that having your own currency is a major advantage during recessions, since new registrations were up 13.4 percent and 10 percent for the first six months.
Of the major European companies FIAT Group (FIAT, Chrysler, Alfa ...) (down 12.6 % yoy) and PSA(Peugeot and Citroen) (down 10.8 %) were hit the hardest in June. Of the German manufacturers only Daimler improved sales by 1.3 % in Europe.
At first glance the Irish registration numbers are catastrophic. The market collapsed by a mind boggling 73.7 percent. But this seems in large parts to be due to new license plates being introduced in July. So one should expect much better numbers for the beginning of the second half of 2013. In the first six months 20.2 percent less new cars were registered, but some of this is by design, since according to the Irish Times the new plates are an attempt to reduce the "start of the year surge" and spread the car sales more evenly over the whole year.
The overall car sales in The EU are not stabilizing. This should not be expected before the beginning of the next year. With any meaningful growth probably returning not before 2015. Before car sales go up unemployment has to come down and firms need to regain some confidence in their own future. Great Britain is again showing that having your own currency is a major advantage during recessions, since new registrations were up 13.4 percent and 10 percent for the first six months.
All new PRISM
The German government pretended to be surprised that a program called PRISM exists. Well, they lied: Bild, the biggest tabloid in Europe and usually a good soldier for the cause of Merkels party, has published a document sent to Bundeswehr officials amongst others, detailing that:
even though it is used for exactly the same purpose and is obviously a NSA program:
The Minister of the Interior Friedrich called security a "super-fundamental-right" (of course there is nothing like that in our constitution), a right standing above all others, and also advised every citizen to use encryption. I guess that for him it is necessary to be able to " be conscious of complete truthfulness while telling carefully constructed lies, to hold simultaneously two opinions which cancelled out, knowing them to be contradictory and believing in both of them, to use logic against logic[..]."
Merkel will most likely be re-elected in September. This means that Friedrich, the man who told us a about the "FIVE" terrorist attacks that were "prevented" will most likely have the same job for four more years, fully aware of this they don't even seem to try to sound truthful. Their voters don't care, they are old and scared of basically everything new. So he knows he can get away with telling stuff about the "super-fundamental-right"to watch every citizen at every time security. The Angst of the dying generation will bring us closer to a future where the state knows everything there is to know about everybody, to use against them at a time and in a way they the US gevernment sees fit. It is just depressing to see that there isn't even any effort put into telling plausible lies, anymore.
All COMINT nominations submitted outside of PRISM must be resubmitted into PRISM IOT extend the nominations past 15 SEPT 11.The document also mentions that this PRISM is used for surveillance of e-mails and telephones. Why, you might ask, do I write the obvious again? Today a spokesperson for Chancellor Merkel claimed that this PRISM is a different PRISM (my translation):
The program that was mentioned today by the Bildzeitung, called PRISM is a NATO/ISAF-program, which is not identical to the PRISM program of the NSA.
even though it is used for exactly the same purpose and is obviously a NSA program:
The director NSA delegated SIGINT Operation Tasking Authority to US Central Command (USCENTCOM) Headquaters (HQ)
So let's get this straight: we are talking about a program which is in direct connection to the NSA, does largely the same as the original PRISM, but is not PRISM. Well, it is PRISM, but a different PRISM. Something.. stuff yadayada. Even I can tell myself lies that I am more likely to believe than this.
The Minister of the Interior Friedrich called security a "super-fundamental-right" (of course there is nothing like that in our constitution), a right standing above all others, and also advised every citizen to use encryption. I guess that for him it is necessary to be able to " be conscious of complete truthfulness while telling carefully constructed lies, to hold simultaneously two opinions which cancelled out, knowing them to be contradictory and believing in both of them, to use logic against logic[..]."
Merkel will most likely be re-elected in September. This means that Friedrich, the man who told us a about the "FIVE" terrorist attacks that were "prevented" will most likely have the same job for four more years, fully aware of this they don't even seem to try to sound truthful. Their voters don't care, they are old and scared of basically everything new. So he knows he can get away with telling stuff about the "super-fundamental-right"
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