News Items

Meet the Black Budget: The NSA’s Surveillance Business Model

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A simply blockbuster new piece of information was just released tonight from the Washington Post, that reveals another gigantic piece of the puzzle, this time the financial one. While we already knew telecom companies were taking money for surveillance, the amounts seemed modest. That’s because that was only the part they revealed to the public. This newly released information shows a massive budget, hundreds of millions of dollars, which are being used to “grease the surveillance wheels.” The NSA seems to pay very well.

This shouldn’t come as a total surprise, atter all, Snowden wasn’t living in a teepee in the middle of Death Valley. No, he seemed to have a very comfortable life in Hawaii, and that’s how they get you. That’s why so few people talk. Who would want to shake the trees and bring down the system that is rewarding you so handsomely. Most people wouldn’t, and they don’t.

That’s precisely what makes Edward Snowden’s act so courageous. We only needed one. He knew that and realized that if not him, then who? Could he afford to wait around and assume someone else will do the job? He decided he couldn’t and for that we are forever indebted. Now from the Washington Post:

The National Security Agency is paying hundreds of millions of dollars a year to U.S. companies for clandestine access to their communications networks, filtering vast traffic flows for foreign targets in a process that also sweeps in large volumes of American telephone calls, e-mails and instant messages.

The bulk of the spending, detailed in a multi-volume intelligence budget obtained by The Washington Post, goes to participants in a Corporate Partner Access Project for major U.S. telecommunications providers. The documents open an important window into surveillance operations on U.S. territory that have been the subject of debate since they were revealed by The Post and Britain’s Guardian newspaper in June.

New details of the corporate-partner project, which falls under the NSA’s Special Source Operations, confirm that the agency taps into “high volume circuit and packet-switched networks,” according to the spending blueprint for fiscal 2013. The program was expected to cost $278 million in the current fiscal year, down nearly one-third from its peak of $394 million in 2011.

Although the companies are required to comply with lawful surveillance orders, privacy advocates say the multimillion-dollar payments could create a profit motive to offer more than the required assistance.

“It turns surveillance into a revenue stream, and that’s not the way it’s supposed to work,” said Marc Rotenberg, executive director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center, a Washington-based research and advocacy group. “The fact that the government is paying money to telephone companies to turn over information that they are compelled to turn over is very troubling.”

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Tor Usage Doubles Globally in the Wake of Snowden Revelations

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I recently mentioned Tor in my article highlighting The Silk Road, the online illegal substances marketplace that you must run Tor to access and where the only currency accepted is Bitcoin. As we have seen with statistics showing tremendous growth in alternative search engines, technology users worldwide have indeed adjusted their habits in the wake of Edward Snowden’s NSA revelations. We now learn from the Daily Dot that:

Edward Snowden’s revelations about National Security Agency data monitoring sent Internet users scrambling for ways to regain their privacy.

Since Snowden came forward with details about the NSA’s PRISM program in June, the number of global Tor users has doubled. Tor is a open source network by which users obscure their online activity by navigating a network of computer relays. In the U.S., the number of users has grown by more than 75 percent.

Tor1

Tor2

Graphs via metrics.torproject.org

Maybe that’s why Americans, far and away, lead the rates of average daily usage. Americans account for 17.54 percent of daily Tor traffic—the only nation to account for more than 10 percent.

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Nothing Better to Do – The NSA Goes After Parody T-Shirts

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Throughout history, one of the ways in which the human spirit has overcome or dealt with the brutish forces of authoritarian regimes has been through the use of humor. As such, it is no surprise that clever Americans from sea to shining sea have figured out ways to mock the NSA while also making a dollar or two. One of these folks is Dan McCall, founder of politically themed T-shirt company Liberty Maniacs. Several days after the spy scandal erupted, Dan created a shirt that read NSA: The only part of the government that actually listens. See below:

NSA-Listens-Shirtmock

Pretty hilarious right? Well, the NSA didn’t find it particularly funny and, in fact, according to the Daily Dot this is what happened:

“Within an hour or two,” as McCall told the Daily Dot, Zazzle emailed him to say the shirt had been removed from the Zazzle site. (Zazzle didn’t respond to the Daily Dot’s request for comment, nor did the NSA.

Zazzle’s first email, which McCall forwarded to the Daily Dot, said in part:

Unfortunately, it appears that your product, The NSA, contains content that is in conflict with one or more of our acceptable content guidelines.

We will be removing this product from the Zazzle Marketplace shortly. …

Result: Not Approved

Policy Notes: Design contains an image or text that may infringe on intellectual property rights. We have been contacted by the intellectual property right holder and we will be removing your product from Zazzle’s Marketplace due to infringement claims.

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Across America, Young Teachers are So Broke They are Taking 2nd Jobs…As Prostitutes

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I suppose they should’ve just bought stocks. Welcome to the recovery. From CBS in Detroit: So, what are some Detroit women doing to offset their struggles in the classroom? Well, they’re becoming “sugar babies” of course —  seeking financial assistance from wealthy men online. In the Detroit School District alone, 201 teachers are moonlighting as … Read more

Watch Neocon Bill O’Reilly Get Schooled by Two Actual Military Men During His Show

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There aren’t many figures in U.S. media who have done more harm to the nation as a result of their incorrect, imbecilic and irrational platitudes than Fox News neocon fixture Bill O’Reilly. In case you forgot, Mr. O’Reilly was one of the most vocal supporters of the Iraq war, and was adamant in his conviction … Read more

Video of the Day: Team America F*ck Yeah!

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In case you haven’t seen this in a while, or ever, it seems an appropriate thing to share on the verge of good ol’ red, white and blue preparing to start World War III for no reason. So grab a bud, open that box of McDonald’s chicken wings, turn on that HD plasma and prepare … Read more

Flashback to May: UN Official Claimed Rebels May Have Used Chemical Weapons

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The Syria story just keeps getting weirder and weirder. So who knew that back in May, 2013 Carla Del Ponte, a member of the UN Independent Commission of Inquiry on Syria, stated that she believed the rebels had been engaged in chemical weapons attacks. Specifically, she told Swiss-Italian television:

I have seen, there are strong, concrete suspicions but not yet incontrovertible proof of the use of sarin gas, from the way the victims were treated…This was used on the part of the opposition, the rebels, not by the government authorities.

Interesting indeed. So earlier this year there emerged evidence that the rebels used chemicals weapons, but for some reason I don’t recall President Obama yelling about red lines and cruise missile strikes back then. Do you? No, of course not, because it doesn’t fit into the U.S. agenda, which is regime change in Syria.

So let’s look at this from all angles. First, let’s assume the rebels did use chemical weapons earlier this year. If that is that case, and then Assad used them months later, we have absolutely no reason to become involved as both sides are guilty. We should do nothing, at least nothing militarily.

Second, lets assume the rebels did not use chemical weapons earlier this year. Why would Assad use them knowing the U.S. would then get involved (which is clearly our desire), particularly since he is not in a desperate situation at the moment by any means. It makes no sense. If we take a step back and examine this logically, the most logical conclusion is that someone who wanted the U.S. to get involved used the weapons. That could be a lot of different parties, least likely of which is Assad.

Finally, why would we believe the current claims any more than the prior claims, especially since there appears to be no evidence that Assad was behind the latest attacks? The truth is we really can’t know what happened, which is precisely why we should stay out.

From the UK Telegraph (May, 2013):

I have seen, there are strong, concrete suspicions but not yet incontrovertible proof of the use of sarin gas, from the way the victims were treated,”

A United Nations inquiry into human rights abuses in Syria has found evidence that rebel forces may have used chemical weapons, its lead investigator has revealed.

Carla Del Ponte, a member of the UN Independent Commission of Inquiry on Syria, said that testimony gathered from casualties and medical staff indicated that the nerve agent sarin was used by rebel fighters.

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New Survey: Federal Reserve Employees are “Demoralized,” “Distrustful” and “Afraid to Speak Out”

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“We’re supposed to oversee a sprawling and complicated financial system and huge banks — all the while making sure we don’t implement policy that hurts the economy — and we can’t even properly manage ourselves,” said one Fed official who helps develop regulatory policy. “How can we be trusted to supervise the system when the Fed can barely supervise its own staff?”

– From the Huffington Post article: Federal Reserve Employees Afraid To Speak Put Financial System At Risk

My readers know that not only do I not trust the Federal Reserve, but I think it is one of the most dangerous and immoral institutions operating in America today. It’s not about particular individuals that I think need to be replaced (although Larry Summers will be an absolute nightmare), it is that I do not think any institution should ever have the power to credit unlimited currency and credit and distribute it at will to whoever they want with very little oversight. While I don’t write about the Fed as much as I used to, I suggest you go back and reread my 2011 article:  Why Fiat Money is Immoral.

The Huffington Post article highlighted here is full of disturbing survey results, which without question demonstrate that the most powerful institution in the U.S. is completely dysfunctional. There are some other hidden nuggets in there as well. Such as this:

The Fed refused to make public a broader set of survey results that would allow for a comparison between the policy unit and other sections inside the banking supervision and regulation division.

Stier, whose group doesn’t have access to the Fed’s survey results because the law that calls for government employee surveys doesn’t apply to the Fed, said he was disappointed in the survey results. He praised the Fed for conducting the survey. “You can’t manage what you don’t measure,” he said.

Wait a minute. Why does the law the applies to government employee surveys not apply to the Fed? It is because the Federal Reserve is not a government agency but rather a private bank? You’d think the Huff Post would’ve dug into that bizarre angle a little deeper. Kind of important.

Or what about this:

Several top regulators at the Fed’s headquarters in Washington who helped combat the financial crisis have since left, many for lucrative positions either at leading banks or at consultancies that work for banks. Current regulators fear experienced staffers will continue to leave the Fed for the financial services industry, depriving the regulator of key experience as it finalizes several post-crisis measures and sets about gauging banks’ compliance with new rules.

Hey guys, thanks for all the bailouts, now come work for us. Shameless, disgusting, unacceptable.

More from the Huffington Post:

WASHINGTON — Regulators overseeing the nation’s largest financial institutions are distrustful of their bosses, afraid to speak out, and feeling isolated, according to a confidential survey this year of Federal Reserve employees.

The findings from the April survey of roughly 400 employees, presented to Fed staff during multiple meetings in June and July and obtained by The Huffington Post, show a workforce that is demoralized, and an institution where teamwork is nonexistent, innovation and creativity are discouraged and employees feel underutilized.

An overwhelming majority of Fed regulators are proud to work at the central bank and believe in its mission of supervising the financial system and ensuring stability. They also trust and have good relationships with their immediate supervisors. But most say that top leaders are failing the organization, in part by not communicating honestly, and that employees are in the wrong jobs, or are poorly managed.

About a third of workers surveyed in the policy unit agreed that it was “safe to speak up and constructively challenge things around here,” documents show.

“That tells me you don’t have the culture of debate and engagement that you need so that questions are asked,” said Angelides.

About a third of workers surveyed in the policy unit agreed that it was “safe to speak up and constructively challenge things around here,” documents show.

“That tells me you don’t have the culture of debate and engagement that you need so that questions are asked,” said Angelides.

Just about half, or 51 percent, of policy employees agreed with the statement: “I trust the senior leaders of this organization.” Fifty-six percent of the entire banking supervision and regulation division felt the same way.

Less than half of workers in the Fed policy unit agreed that the unit’s senior leaders “act in alignment with our organization’s core values or guiding principles.” Fewer than 40 percent said they are encouraged to be creative and innovative.

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Here’s What Candidate Obama Said About Military Intervention in 2007

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Q. In what circumstances, if any, would the president have constitutional authority to bomb Iran without seeking a use-of-force authorization from Congress? (Specifically, what about the strategic bombing of suspected nuclear sites — a situation that does not involve stopping an IMMINENT threat?) Obama:  The President does not have power under the Constitution to unilaterally authorize … Read more

How a $1 Bag of Salt Water Becomes a $546 Bill at Hospitals

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Much like every other aspect of the U.S. ponzi economy, the healthcare system is one gigantic centralized oligopolistic racket. The New York Times has done some excellent coverage on this topic as of late, most recently in an article I highlighted earlier this month about how Americans are now finding themselves forced to travel overseas for surgery.

That article demonstrated how the medical industry is simply one huge convoluted racket, in which contracts are secret and no one has any clue about anything except for a small group of players involved. In fact, it reminds me of an incredible article from 1982 that explains how diamonds are actually basically worthless, and that the whole market is a gigantic con. You take something that is essentially free, and then charge a fortune for it through middleman markups.

And don’t think Obamacare is going to help you either, we all know it was written by lobbyists and special interests, just like every other piece of legislation from crony Congress. From the New York Times:

It is one of the most common components of emergency medicine: an intravenous bag of sterile saltwater.

Luckily for anyone who has ever needed an IV bag to replenish lost fluids or to receive medication, it is also one of the least expensive. The average manufacturer’s price, according to government data, has fluctuated in recent years from 44 cents to $1.

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