We’ve lived so long under the spell of hierarchy—from god-kings to feudal lords to party bosses—that only recently have we awakened to see not only that “regular” citizens have the capacity for self-governance, but that without their engagement our huge global crises cannot be addressed. The changes needed for human society simply to survive, let alone thrive, are so profound that the only way we will move toward them is if we ourselves, regular citizens, feel meaningful ownership of solutions through direct engagement. Our problems are too big, interrelated, and pervasive to yield to directives from on high.
—Frances Moore Lappé, excerpt from Time for Progressives to Grow Up

Tuesday, January 13, 2015

European Ministers Call For Increased Digital Surveillance After Paris Terror Attacks

Click here to access article by Natasha Lomas from TechCrunch. 
And so it begins again; the customary fingerpointing at the Internet as a platform for fueling extremist hatred in the wake of the latest terrorist outrages in Europe — accompanied, in certain corners of the political arena, by calls for greater powers of digital surveillance to preemptively thwart acts of terror.
The call in Europe by the Empire's official leaders for more surveillance and the criminalizing of provocative speech makes perfect sense if one regards the killings at the offices of Charlie Hebdo as a secret service operation by Empire operatives to accomplish these measures and others such as stirring up more hatred toward Muslims and support more military adventures in the Middle East.

See also this article from TeleSur entitled "UK Spy Bill Could Ban Instant Messaging Encryption".