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XKeyscore: NSA Tool Collects ‘Nearly Everything A User Does On The Internet’

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– XKeyscore: NSA tool collects ‘nearly everything a user does on the internet’ (Guardian, July 31, 2013):

• XKeyscore gives ‘widest-reaching’ collection of online data
• NSA analysts require no prior authorization for searches
• Sweeps up emails, social media activity and browsing history
• NSA’s XKeyscore program – read one of the presentations

A top secret National Security Agency program allows analysts to search with no prior authorization through vast databases containing emails, online chats and the browsing histories of millions of individuals, according to documents provided by whistleblower Edward Snowden.

The NSA boasts in training materials that the program, called XKeyscore, is its “widest-reaching” system for developing intelligence from the internet.

The latest revelations will add to the intense public and congressional debate around the extent of NSA surveillance programs. They come as senior intelligence officials testify to the Senate judiciary committee on Wednesday, releasing classified documents in response to the Guardian’s earlier stories on bulk collection of phone records and Fisa surveillance court oversight.

The files shed light on one of Snowden’s most controversial statements, made in his first video interview published by the Guardian on June 10.

“I, sitting at my desk,” said Snowden, could “wiretap anyone, from you or your accountant, to a federal judge or even the president, if I had a personal email”.

US officials vehemently denied this specific claim. Mike Rogers, the Republican chairman of the House intelligence committee, said of Snowden’s assertion: “He’s lying. It’s impossible for him to do what he was saying he could do.”

But training materials for XKeyscore detail how analysts can use it and other systems to mine enormous agency databases by filling in a simple on-screen form giving only a broad justification for the search. The request is not reviewed by a court or any NSA personnel before it is processed.

Read moreXKeyscore: NSA Tool Collects ‘Nearly Everything A User Does On The Internet’

Soy Lecithin: Why You Need To Avoid It

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Related info:

– Soy Products Linked To Cancer: 4 Convincing Reasons To Cut Soy From Your Diet Today

– Soy: It’s Bad For You And It’s Everywhere, Even in Vitamins! (Video)

– Shocking Photos Reveal Severe Damage Caused By GM Soy And Corn. GMO Feed Turns Pig Stomachs To Mush!

– Soy Milk Is Bad For You

– Soy Lecithin: How It Negatively Affects Your Health And Why You Need To Avoid It (Waking Times, July 30, 2013):

Soy Lecithin has been lingering around our food supply for over a century. It is an ingredient in literally hundreds of proceesed foods, and also sold as an over the counter health food supplement. Scientists claim it benefits our cardiovascular health, metabolism, memory, cognitive function, liver function, and even physical and athletic perfomance. However, most people don’t realize what soy lecithin actually is, and why the dangers of ingesting this additive far exceed its benefits.

Lecithin is an emulsifying substance that is found in the cells of all living organisms. The French scientist Maurice Gobley discovered lecithin in 1805 and named it “lekithos” after the Greek word for “egg yolk.” Until it was recovered from the waste products of soybean processing in the 1930s, eggs were the primary source of commercial lecithin. Today lecithin is the generic name given to a whole class of fat-and-water soluble compounds called phospholipids. Levels of phospholipids in soybean oils range from 1.48 to 3.08 percent, which is considerably higher than the 0.5 percent typically found in vegetable oils, but far less than the 30 percent found in egg yolks.

Read moreSoy Lecithin: Why You Need To Avoid It

George Soros Goes Long Herbalife, Makes It “Top 3” Position

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– George Soros Goes Long Herbalife, Makes It “Top 3” Position (ZeroHedge, July 31, 2013):

It just keeps going form bad to worse for William Ackman. The so-called retail expert tried to diffuse the situation today by announcing a massive $2 billion position in Airgas, only for Herbalife to go right back front and center, following news moments ago from CNBC that none other than George Soros has taken a long stake in Herbalife, and not just any stake but a “top 3” position. We haven’t done the math but the float out there must be getting dangerously low for Ackman: low enough to where the Volkswagen scenario we predicted in early January (just as we predicted the imminent epic short squeeze) may finally come in play as there is not enough float to cover Ackman’s short, and certainly not when the longs decide to pull all the borrow. If and when the Ackman margin calls hit, we hope that Soros will accept shares of Airgas as deliverable.

In the meantime, the stock is up 173% since December, or when we said to go long following Whitney Tilson’s “short.”

Read moreGeorge Soros Goes Long Herbalife, Makes It “Top 3” Position

Student Forgotten In California Jail Cell By The DEA For 5 Days Without Food Or Water

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– Student Forgotten in California Jail Cell by the DEA for 5 Days Without Food or Water (Liberty Blitzkrieg, Aug 1, 2013):

Crazy story here from late April that I hadn’t heard about before. Daniel Chong will receive a $4.1 million settlement as compensation for being forgotten about in a holding cell for 5 days without food or water. In fact, his situation became so desperate that he was forced to drink his own urine in order to survive.

While a cash payout should be part of any sort of justice for Daniel, I wonder if any of the individuals responsible for this will be held accountable? That to me is the key point. Just as bankers simply pay a fine for egregious crimes that represent only a small part of their profit from the activity (but almost never face criminal charges), so too it seems the police and government bureaucrats almost never face serious repercussions for any their actions, no matter how heinous or unconstitutional.

From the Daily Mail:

The college student forgotten in a holding cell for five days without food or water, took a $4.1 million settlement from the Justice Department his lawyer announced Tuesday.

Read moreStudent Forgotten In California Jail Cell By The DEA For 5 Days Without Food Or Water

Siberia Heat: Did The Arctic Region Break A Heat Record?

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– Siberia Heat: Did The Arctic Region Break A Heat Record? (Huffington Post, July 26, 2013):

Did the Arctic region break a heat record?

According to English-language outlet The Siberian Times, temperatures of 32 degrees Celsius, or 89.6 degrees Fahrenheit, were recorded in the Siberian city of Norilsk on July 21. The average temperature in July in the region is 13.6 C, or 56.48 F.

Read moreSiberia Heat: Did The Arctic Region Break A Heat Record?

Glenn Greenwald: NSA Congressional Hearing Canceled Due To Obama

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– Greenwald: NSA hearing canceled (Politics, July 30, 2013):

This week’s informal congressional hearing on the National Security Agency’s surveillance program has been canceled, according to The Guardian’s Glenn Greenwald, who was expected to testify via satellite.

Democratic congressman Alan Grayson and a bipartisan group of congressman were expected to hear from Greenwald and other critics of the NSA’s surveillance practices on Wednesday, according to a Guardian report from last week. The meeting was not meant to be a formal committee hearing, but would take place on the Hill before a dozen members of Congress from both parties.

But Greenwald now tells POLITICO that the hearing has been canceled due to Obama’s decision to meet with House Democrats.

“Obama developed a sudden and newfound interest in House Democrats and scheduled a meeting with them for that same time,” he wrote in an email, adding that the committee was trying to re-schedule the meeting to take place before congress goes on recess.

Representatives from both the American Civil Liberties Union and the conservative Cato Institute were expected to testify, Grayson told The Guardian.

Former Assistant Secretary Of Housing Catherine Austin Fitts: Old System Struggling And Dying – The Big Question is How Violent Will Things Get? (Video)

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“By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.”
– Benjamin Franklin

– Old System Struggling and Dying-Catherine Austin Fitts (USAWatchdog, July 31, 2013):

Money manager Catherine Austin Fitts says, “You are seeing a tug of war between the new system that’s coming up and the old system that’s struggling and dying.” Fitts explains it by saying, “Let’s pretend we have a company called USA, and we create a new company called Breakaway Civilization.  We move all of our assets out of USA and put them in Breakaway Civilization.  We leave union obligations and pension funds . . . in the old USA economy.” Fitts warns, “I think bail-ins are coming . . . the big question is not will we be able to get out insured deposits.  I think the big question is how violent will things get?” Fitts biggest worry is not financial collapse.  Fitts contends, “I don’t think the people who run the U.S. military or run the United States government are going to say we’re happy to collapse rather than go to war.  They are going to go to war.  They’re going to shake somebody down.” Fitts goes on to add, “I think gold is the greatest form of insurance you can have during this transition period.” Join Greg Hunter as he goes One-on-One with Catherine Austin Fitts of Solari.com.

U.S. Military Awarded Contracts To Taliban And Al-Qaeda In Afghanistan

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– The U.S. Military Has Awarded Contracts to Al-Qaeda in Afghanistan (Liberty Blitzkrieg, July 31, 2013):

I suppose it just wasn’t enough that our allies, “the rebels” in Syria, have significant Al-Qaeda elements to them. No, we are the USA! USA! Best country ever. Defender of human rights. City on a hill. We must do far more than that. So we did.

This story below from Bloomberg, highlights a 236-page report by the U.S. Army Suspension and Debarment Office, which shows that military contracts have been granted to the Taliban and Al-Qaeda in Afghanistan. Yep, this is exactly what happens when an empire gets too big, too corrupt, and ends up in the hands of a bunch of sociopaths.

From Bloomberg:

Supporters of the Taliban and al-Qaeda in Afghanistan have been getting U.S. military contracts, and American officials are citing “due process rights” as a reason not to cancel the agreements, according to an independent agency monitoring spending.

“I am deeply troubled that the U.S. military can pursue, attack, and even kill terrorists and their supporters, but that some in the U.S. government believe we cannot prevent these same people from receiving a government contract,” Sopko said.

Read moreU.S. Military Awarded Contracts To Taliban And Al-Qaeda In Afghanistan

Google Engineer Dr. Joseph Bonneau Wins Award From The NSA And Then Slams It

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Hmmh.

– Google Engineer Wins Award from the NSA and then Slams it (Liberty Blitzkrieg, July 29, 2013):

“In accepting the award I don’t condone the NSA’s surveillance. Simply put, I don’t think a free society is compatible with an organisation like the NSA in its current form.”
– Dr. Joseph Bonneau

In case you weren’t aware, Dr. Joseph Bonneau, a google engineer, received an award for the Best Scientific Cybersecurity Paper of 2012 from the National Security Agency’s first annual “Science of Security Competition” on July 19th. He experienced such mixed emotions upon its receipt that he felt the need to express them publicly in a blog post. We should all be thankful he had the courage to do so.

Read moreGoogle Engineer Dr. Joseph Bonneau Wins Award From The NSA And Then Slams It

RT, July 2013: Fukushima Radiation Levels As High As 2011

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And nobody seems to notice, nobody seems to care.

– Fukushima radiation levels as high as 2011 (RT, July 27, 2013):

Water samples taken at an underground passage below the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant contain alarming levels of radiation which are comparable to those taken immediately after the catastrophe.

According to a Saturday statement by Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), the tested water contains 2.35 billion becquerels of cesium per liter, and the radioactive water is now seeping into the sea. The findings were also evident from samples taken within a 50-meter radius around the plant.

Read moreRT, July 2013: Fukushima Radiation Levels As High As 2011

Fukushima: Nuclear Experts Blast TEPCO Over Toxic Leaks

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Foreign nuclear experts on Friday blasted the operator of Fukushima plant, with one saying its lack of transparency over toxic water leaks showed “you don’t know what you’re doing”.

– Nuke experts blast Fukushima operator over toxic leaks (Phys.org, July 26, 2013):

Foreign nuclear experts on Friday blasted the operator of Japan’s crippled Fukushima nuclear plant, with one saying its lack of transparency over toxic water leaks showed “you don’t know what you’re doing”. 

The blunt criticism comes after a litany of problems at the reactor site, which was swamped by a quake-sparked tsunami two years ago. The disaster sent reactors into meltdown and forced the evacuation of tens of thousands of residents in the worst atomic accident in a generation.

Read moreFukushima: Nuclear Experts Blast TEPCO Over Toxic Leaks

Kyodo News, July 2013: Fukushima Trench Water Crisis Returns

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– Fukushima Trench Water Crisis Returns (Japan Times/Kyodo News, July 27, 2013):

Tokyo Electric Power Co. said Saturday that the trench problem at the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant has cropped up again and is sending highly radioactive water into the sea.

The water in the underground passage, which runs under the turbine building of reactor 2, contains 2.35 billion becquerels of cesium per liter, roughly the same as that measured right after the crisis began in spring 2011.

The latest sample, taken Friday from a trench, contained 750 million becquerels of cesium-134, 1.6 billion becquerels of cesium-137 and 750 million becquerels of other radioactive substances, the utility said.

A sample from April 2011 contained 1.8 billion becquerels of both cesium-134 and cesium-137 per liter. Cesium has a half-life of about 30 years.

Read moreKyodo News, July 2013: Fukushima Trench Water Crisis Returns

Japan Times, July 2013: Time To Take Over Daiichi?

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And they are asking this NOW after almost 2½ years into the worst (nuclear) disaster ever?

– Time to take over Daiichi? (Japan Times, July 26, 2013):

It’s been almost 2½ years since the disaster at Fukushima No. 1 (Fukushima Daiichi) nuclear plant commenced, but the precarious condition of the nuclear plant remains a constant fixture in the news.

A sentence that has been reappearing in stories in recent months has been some variation of “the incident has brought the Fukushima plant’s vulnerable state into sharp relief” (New York Times, July 18).

The problem is that “the incident” being referred to could be one of many: a rat causing a power outage, radioactive water leaking from storage tanks, steam being emitted from one of the reactors or, most recently, confirmation by Tokyo Electric Power Co. that contaminated water is escaping into the ocean.

Read moreJapan Times, July 2013: Time To Take Over Daiichi?

But Where Does Vegan Timothy Bradley Get His Protein To Beat Boxing Champ Manny Pacquiao?

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But where does Timothy Bradley get his protein?

Captain Obvious: “From food!”

And where do ‘weak’ animals like gorillas, elephants and horses get their protein?

He doesn’t look too protein deficient, doesn’t he?


THE ONLY fighter to beat Pacquiao in 7 years literally has no bone to pick with his vegan diet. AFP

– Bradley’s vegan diet not new among athletes (Inquirer Business, June 15, 2012):

As surprising as Timothy Bradley’s split-decision win over Filipino boxing champ Manny Pacquiao is, the former’s vegan diet (devoid of any animal protein—pork, beef, chicken and dairy) during training isn’t really new in the athletic world.

Nine-time Olympic gold medal winner and vegan Carl Lewis, who was voted “Sportsman of the Century” by the International Olympic Committee and named “Olympian of the Century” by the American Sports magazine Sports Illustrated, was quoted in chef Jannequin Bennett’s book “Very Vegetarian” that his best year of track competition was the first year he was on a vegan diet. “Moreover, by continuing to eat a vegan diet, my weight is under control, I like the way I look,” he said in the book’s introduction.

Read moreBut Where Does Vegan Timothy Bradley Get His Protein To Beat Boxing Champ Manny Pacquiao?

Bank Of England Helped Reichsbank Sell Its Nazi Gold

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– Bank Of England Helped Reichsbank Sell Its Nazi Gold (ZeroHedge, July 30, 2013):

We previously showed hard evidence of the Bank of England’s complicit hiding of the truth about the quality of Bundesbank gold stored in the Fed’s vaults. A few weeks later in a “completely unrelated” action, the Bundesbank dramatically shifted its recent stance, and demanded that its gold be repatriated into its own vaults (and we now know the impact that has had on the paper-physical paper markets). However, in yet another one of the ‘darkest episodes in central banking history’ the FT reports, the Bank of England facilitated the sale of gold that was looted by the Nazis after their invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1938. Of course, judging today’s central bankers by this ethical (and potentially criminal) behavior of over 70 years ago is unfair but it is notable that the pattern of whatever-it-takes and at-all-costs decisions, coupled with pervasive opacity and stark unaccountability, appear to have been formed a long time ago.

…

95-Year Old Man Tasered To Death By Police In Illinois Nursing Home

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– 95-Year Old Man Tasered to Death by Police in Illinois Nursing Home (Liberty Blitzkrieg, July 29, 2013):

It appears that the militarized police force running rampant on the streets of America just can’t handle the threats of a 95-year old man in a nursing home armed with a cane. Although it appears the officers are attempting to justify their violent and aggressive behavior by claiming he was wielding a “12 inch knife,” I would’ve thought the police are supposed to know how to deal with such situations, particularly when their assailant is basically a centenarian. This seems to be societal blowback from the Rise of the Warrior Cop, a subject I highlighted recently.

Now from UPI:

PARK FOREST, Ill., July 28 (UPI) – A 95-year-old Illinois man who allegedly confronted police officers with a knife and cane died after they shot him with a stun gun and bean bag rounds.

Read more95-Year Old Man Tasered To Death By Police In Illinois Nursing Home

44 Facts About The Death Of The Middle Class That Every American Should Know

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– 44 Facts About The Death Of The Middle Class That Every American Should Know (Economic Collapse, July 30, 2013):

What is America going to look like when the middle class is dead?  Once upon a time, the United States has the largest and most vibrant middle class in the history of the world.  When I was growing up, it seemed like almost everyone was “middle class” and it was very rare to hear of someone that was out of work.  Of course life wasn’t perfect, but most families owned a home, most families had more than one vehicle, and most families could afford nice vacations and save for retirement at the same time.  Sadly, things have dramatically changed in America since that time.  There just aren’t as many “middle class jobs” as there used to be.  In fact, just six years ago there were about six million more full-time jobs in our economy than there are right now.  Those jobs are being replaced by part-time jobs and temp jobs.  The number one employer in America today is Wal-Mart and the number two employer in America today is a temp agency (Kelly Services).  But you can’t support a family on those kinds of jobs.  We live at a time when incomes are going down but the cost of living just keeps going up.  As a result, the middle class in America is being absolutely shredded and the ranks of the poor are steadily growing.

The following are 44 facts about the death of the middle class that every American should know…

Read more44 Facts About The Death Of The Middle Class That Every American Should Know

Bradley Manning Not Guilty Of Aiding The Enemy, … FACES Up TO 136 YEARS IN JAIL On Other Charges

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H/t reader M.G.:

“On a related story, Bradley Manning. US media isn’t even mentioning the outcome of the kangaroo court. The 24/7 cable TV news that isn’t is covering tabloid, and financials, no real news. OH, and Obama is making another of his speeches…….sickening.

The Guardian is also covering the story, it will take a full month before all the charges are added up for final sentencing………it is a total outrage. Americans are not even told any longer, and many are too stupid to research online.”


US Army Private First Class Bradley Manning leaves a military court facility after hearing his verdict in the trial at Fort Meade, Maryland on July 30, 2013

– Manning not guilty of aiding the enemy, faces 130+ yrs in jail on other charges (RT, July 30, 2013):

A US military judge has found Army private Bradley Manning “not guilty” of aiding the enemy. However, he was found guilty of 20 remaining charges, meaning that he still faces the possibility of up to 136 years behind bars. Sentencing begins tomorrow.

Sitting in the military courtroom at Fort Meade, Md., Colonel Denise Lind delivered her verdict shortly after 1 p.m. EDT on Tuesday. Manning had chosen to put all his faith in the judge, rather than a panel of his peers – a risky gamble that initially seemed to pay off for the 25-year-old Army intelligence analyst – the charge could have carried a life sentence without parole.

Read moreBradley Manning Not Guilty Of Aiding The Enemy, … FACES Up TO 136 YEARS IN JAIL On Other Charges