The Centers for Disease Control has been quietly rolling out a nationwide program called the Immunization Information Systems (IIS), registering your vaccine information into a database. [1] This effort has been run in parallel with state vaccine registry implementations. What is the intention of such programs? My colleague Leslie Manookian, writer and director of the movie The Greater Good, wrote in a recent article, the “CDC has openly stated that vaccine registries are a tool to identify areas of ‘undervaccination’ so that they can be ‘addressed’ and brought into ‘compliance.’” [2] I would also add to Leslie’s statement that since the government purchases a large bulk of the vaccines (for example, the Vaccines for Children program), it is in their financial interest to make sure vaccines are consumed regularly. If you exempt your child from being vaccinated, your refusal is also being tracked and put into the database. If you want to know why this is a big deal, read on.

Anger is mounting in Latin America over the US intelligence gathering disclosed by controversial American whistleblower, Edward Snowden. - Colombia, the closest US military ally in Latin America, expressed concern on Wednesday about reports that it was the target of US electronic surveillance, saying it would demand an explanation from Washington. In a statement, the Colombian Foreign Ministry rejected "acts of espionage that violate people's right to privacy and international conventions on telecommunications." Snowden disclosed classified information about Washington’s electronic surveillance programs on a global scale last month. The former National Security Agency (NSA) contractor disclosed that the agency's so-called PRISM Internet surveillance program gathered phone logs and Internet data on a massive scale. The NSA can present secret court orders to Internet firms like Google and Facebook to gain access to emails, online chats, pictures, files and videos uploaded by foreign users.

Bill Van Auken: NSA casts massive surveillance net over Latin America - According to the documents reported in the Rio de Janeiro-based daily O Globo, the most intensive surveillance has been conducted against both US allies—including Brazil, Colombia and Mexico—and against Venezuela, whose bourgeois nationalist regime has in the past come into conflict with US aims in the region. Also subjected to the NSA surveillance net have been Argentina, Ecuador, Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, Paraguay, Chile, Peru and El Salvador, according to the O Globo report.

BBC: US allies Mexico, Chile and Brazil seek spying answers

■ Russia’s inquiry into the use of chemical weapons on Syrian territory was carried out in full accordance with international standards, unlike a similar evaluation by Western countries, says Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. ■ On Tuesday, Russia submitted to the UN its analysis of the samples taken at the Syrian town where chemical weapons were used. Evidence studied by Russian scientists indicates that a projectile carrying the deadly nerve agent sarin was most likely fired at Khan al-Assal, west of Aleppo, by rebels, rather than government forces. ■ Russia “guarantees” the quality of the analysis, which fully complies with the requirements set by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), Sergey Lavrov told a media conference on Wednesday, following talks with his Belarusian counterpart. ■ In response to US doubts regarding the results of the analysis, Lavrov underlined that the samples of the chemical weapons had been taken at the very place where they were used and were delivered by Russian experts rather than passed through third-party hands.

PressTV: US senator calls for military strikes on Syria

Ahmed Samir Assem's last video of army sniper that shot him dead

■ Digital Journal: Egyptian photojournalist captures the moment of his own death - An Egyptian photojournalist caught his own death on camera. The video shows grainy footage of an Egyptian soldier taking aim, and then shooting him dead.
■ The shocking footage was captured by Ahmed Samir Assem, a 26-year-old photojournalist, on Monday, as he took photos outside the Republican Guard building in Cairo. While grainy and unclear, it is still possible to watch the Egyptian soldier firing his gun, and then finally aiming and shooting at Assem, just as the footage ends.
■ Some believe that the Republican Guard building in Cairo is where ousted president Mohamed Morsi is being held, which is why Assem was on the scene. However, he ended up being one of at least 51 people killed when security forces opened fire on a large crowd grouped outside the building, apparently some of whom were knelt for prayers. Assem was a freelance photographer, working for Egypt's Al-Horia Wa Al-Adala newspaper.

Despite having fewer resources and a fraction of the customers that broadband giants like Verizon and AT&T boast, one small internet service provider has resisted pressure from the NSA and refused to turn over customer data without a warrant. - Xmission, an independent company based out of one office in Salt Lake City, Utah, has spent nearly two decades protecting its customers’ privacy as the National Security Agency, Department of Justice, and prosecutors have ramped up pressure on internet service providers (ISPs). Owner Pete Ashdown told RT that every data collection request stops at his desk, since he is the sole proprietor of Xmission. At a larger company, a panel of stockholders would bow to government pressure, he added. “It’s pretty basic for me. Most of their requests are not constitutional. They’re not proper warrants so I turn them back,” he said.

Daily Mail: Little known search engine that refuses to store data on users doubles web traffic amid NSA tapping scandal - Web-users who want to protect their privacy have been switching to a small unheard of search engine in the wake of the 'Prism' revelations. DuckDuckGo, the little known U.S. company, sets itself aside from its giant competitors such as Google and Yahoo, by not sharing any of its clients' data with searched websites. This means no targeted advertising and no skewed search results. Aside from the reduced ads, this unbiased and private approach to using the internet is appealing to users angered at the news that U.S. and UK governments (the National Security Agency (NSA) in the U.S. and GCHQ in the UK), have direct access to the servers of big search engine companies, allowing them to 'watch' users.

Alleged Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev pleaded not guilty Wednesday afternoon to 30 charges relating to his supposed involvement in April’s deadly terrorist attack that claimed four lives. Tsarnaev, 19, entered his plea during his first public appearance in court Wednesday. More than half of the charges lobbed against him potentially imply the death penalty. WCVB News in Boston reported that Tsarnaev entered the court at 3:30 p.m. Wednesday dressed in an orange prison suit. David Frank of the Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly reported that the defendant had his left hand in a cast but otherwise appeared healthy.

Government’s Interpretation of Spying Turns 200 Years of American Law On Its Head. - Senators Wyden and Udall – both on the Senate Intelligence Committee, with full access to information on the spying program – have said that for at least 2 years that the government was using a “secret interpretation” of the Patriot Act which would shock Americans, because it provides a breathtakingly wide program of spying. And see this. Wyden and Udall said that they couldn’t reveal to the public – or even other members of Congress who lack top security clearance – what the secret interpretation is … and that most Congress members were totally ignorant about it.

Peter Casey: Making Tyranny ‘Legal’ - Since the Guardian’s publication of the "telephone metadata" order, courtesy of Edward Snowden, the law professoriate et al. have been speculating about a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court’s "secret" opinion that would explain the seemingly inexplicable – how the National Security Agency legally can obtain in real time a record of every single telephone call made to, from and within the United States of America? Days after the June 5 story, the American Civil Liberties Union filed a motion asking the Foreign Intelligence Security Act (FISA) court to unseal the secret "legal interpretations" underlying the order. The ACLU argued that publication of the court’s interpretation of Section 215 of the PATRIOT Act, the "business records" statute cited by the order for its authority, "would benefit the public interest immensely" and permit it "to more fully understand the order’s meaning and to contribute to the ongoing debate." So far, the secret opinion has remained Secret.

Angela Merkel wandelt beim Umgang mit den Stasi-Akten auf den Spuren von Altkanzler Helmut Kohl, der sich gegen die Herausgabe von Aufzeichnungen des Geheimdienstes zur Wehr gesetzt hatte. Merkel verweigerte den Autoren des WDR-Films "Im Auge der Macht – die Bilder der Stasi" die Freigabe eines Fotos von ihr aus den frühen achtziger Jahren. In den Akten über den Regimekritiker Robert Havemann und dessen Frau Katja waren die Rechercheure auf ein Passfoto der jungen Merkel gestoßen. Das Bild fand sich in einer Foto-Sammlung von Personen, die bei der Annäherung an das Havemann-Grundstück in Grünheide bei Berlin erfasst worden waren. Die Filmemacher baten Merkel um Freigabe des Bildes. Ihr Büro jedoch teilte mit, Merkel wolle aus "Gründen des Schutzes ihrer Privatsphäre", aber auch im Hinblick auf die "Gleichbehandlung bei vergleichbaren Anfragen" kein Einverständnis zur Verwendung des Fotos geben. Daher stellte die Birthler-Behörde das Bild nur gerastert zur Verfügung. Zu DDR-Zeiten hatte sich Merkel am Ost-Berliner Zentralinstitut für Physikalische Chemie zeitweilig das Büro mit einem Sohn Havemanns geteilt. Die Thesen des Regimekritikers über einen "Dritten Weg" zwischen Kommunismus und Kapitalismus lehnte sie nach eigenen Angaben stets ab: "Von seinen Visionen war ich nie begeistert", sagte sie ihrem Biografen Gerd Langguth.

Peter Schwarz:
NSA, European intelligence agencies work closely together
The infrastructure of a police state emerges in Europe
Russia Today: Merkel justifies NSA eavesdropping surveillance
"Merkel Rejects NSA Comparison With Communist East German Stasi" She would know. "Frau Bankster"

If you would get to know that Israel launched a secret plan to develop nuclear weapons under the strict protection of the United States, shouldn’t you wonder why Washington then pressures countries like Iran that has continuously worked to demonstrate the peaceful nature of its nuclear energy program? What if you learn Tel Aviv got the uranium from Argentina which has moved towards a new stance in relations with Tehran?

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Tony Blair has hired a former Israeli army intelligence officer to work in his private office, despite his role as Middle East peace envoy. - Lianne Pollak, who has led intelligence teams in the Israel Defence Forces, was recruited as a private consultant between October 2012 and April this year. The 30-year-old was previously a policy adviser to Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, working with security agencies and senior officials. Mr Blair has been involved in sensitive negotiations between the Israeli government and Palestinian Authority. The former prime minister is the unpaid envoy to the Middle East for the Quartet – the group that represents the US, Russia, the United Nations and Europe. His role includes encouraging development in Gaza and the West Bank and helping to forge a settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, having been appointed when he left Downing Street in June 2007. The disclosure of Miss Pollak’s appointment follows calls for the former prime minister to be more transparent about his complex business network.

■ The deputy attorney general under George W. Bush, James Comey, provided an unqualified endorsement of massive and illegal National Security Agency (NSA) spying operations in an appearance Tuesday before the Senate Judiciary Committee. ■ Comey, nominated by President Obama to succeed outgoing Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director Robert Mueller, testified at his confirmation hearing before a friendly bipartisan panel that likewise evinced support for the unconstitutional spying and avoided any serious questioning of his role in sanctioning torture and illegal surveillance under Bush. ■ In stating his support for the NSA spying, Comey repeated the official lies about congressional and judicial oversight and a carefully targeted surveillance effort. ■ Obama’s nomination of Comey and the bipartisan support for his confirmation underscore the seamless transition from the Bush administration and its anti-democratic policies to the Obama administration, which has continued and expanded the police state measures begun under Bush.

Israeli press reported today that 12% of Israelis paid a bribe in the past year, and political parties and religious organizations are perceived as Israel's most corrupt public institutions, according to the Global Corruption Barometer 2013 published today by Transparency International. 12% of the respondents said that they paid a bribe in the past year. Almost one in ten Israelis (9%) who came in contact with government real estate services said that they paid a bribe. In ‘the only democracy in the Middle East’, 89% of the population believe that personal connections or the use of power are essential for promoting their interests vis-à-vis the authorities. This is the highest percentage of all the countries covered by the Global Corruption Barometer; the global average is 63%. Considering Israel being The Jewish State, we are entitled to assume that the above statistics tells us something about Jewish culture and politics. It certainly helps us to grasp the Jewish Lobby’s operational mode. Money makes the world go round and AIPAC, CFI and CRIF know it too well.