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Eye 1

Top-secret documents reveal NSA spied on porn habits of 'radicals' to discredit them

Jodie Gummow
AlterNet
Wed, 27 Nov 2013 21:35 UTC
Image
© Shutterstock.com/Mopic
Six Muslim 'Radicalizers' were targeted

There are new revelations about the National Security Agency spying tactics - this time about how the NSA targeted the personal habits of alleged Muslim 'radicalizers', Huff Post reported.

According to a top-secret document leaked by NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden, the NSA has been gathering records of online sexual activity and evidence of visits to porn sites as part of its plan to discredit the reputation of people the agency deems suspected terrorists.

The document, dated October 3, 2012, identifies six targets, all Muslims, as examples of how personal vulnerabilities can be learned through electronic surveillance and then exploited to harm a target's credibility.

Among the vulnerabilities listed by the NSA that can be exploited are "viewing sexually explicit material online" and "using sexually explicit persuasive language when communicating with inexperienced young girls."

Comment: It's safe to say that the NSA is prepared to use such blackmail on anyone considered 'radical', which is pretty much everyone these days.

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Gear

French Court will not try Hollande's wealthy partner for misuse of public funds


The Connexion
Wed, 27 Nov 2013 00:00 UTC
Judges have thrown out a case that accused the partner of President François Hollande of misusing public funds.

It was brought by the Casino supermarket heir Xavier Kemlin, who claimed that,
because there was no legal link between
Valerie Trierweiler
© Jackolan1
Valerie Trierweiler, Hollande's Partner
Valérie Trierweiler, who is
neither married, nor pacsed with the president, she had no legal right to benefits that come with the position of France's First Lady.

Mr. Kemlin filed his case in April, but was only heard on November 13, by the Doyen des Juges d'Instruction at the Tribunal de Grande Instance in Paris. Yesterday the judge refused to accept the case. "She cannot therefore be considered first lady, let alone housed, fed and looked after by six full time employees," he said.

A Facebook page backing his case received more than 9,000 likes.
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Che Guevara

Regime change underway in Ukraine? Riot breaks out because government breaks off EU association talks


RT
Sun, 01 Dec 2013 16:02 UTC
Image
© Ilya Varlamov
Thousands of demonstrators chanting 'Revolution!' flocked into 'Maidan' square in Kiev on Sunday despite a court-imposed ban on rallies. The protesters reportedly took several government buildings.

Chanting protesters displaced metal barriers that were installed by police on Independence Square, also known as Maidan (Ukrainian for "square"), as more are expected to flock into the capital from the regions. Ukrainian media said that some 700,000 people have gathered, calling for the Ukrainian government and the president to resign over rejecting EU association earlier this week.

The Kiev City State Administration has been vandalized with a sign saying "Revolution Headquarters."

The raging crowd, which split into several columns, also stormed the Mayor's offices, breaking windows and opening the doors from the inside, Itar-Tass reports, citing local media. The protesters set up what they described as the temporary headquarters of the united opposition. The Trade Union building near 'Maidan' square has also been taken by the 'provocateurs' bearing emblems of the opposition parties. Other reports claim that the Ukrainian Cabinet of Ministers building was stormed.
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Lemon

China plan to quit dollar infuriates US: Analyst


Press TV
Sun, 01 Dec 2013 14:26 UTC
China quits dollar
© Unknown
The decision by the Central Bank of China to no longer accumulate foreign exchange reserves in dollar has infuriated the United States, an analyst says.

Finian Cunningham made the remark in a Sunday column for Press TV amid escalation of tensions between US and China over Beijing's enforcement of an Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ).
"The escalation of military tensions between Washington and Beijing in the East China Sea is superficially over China's unilateral declaration of an air defense zone. But the real reason for Washington's ire is the recent Chinese announcement that it is planning to reduce its holdings of the US dollar," he wrote.
Cunningham said China "move to offload some of its 3.5 trillion in US dollar reserves" poses "a mortal threat to the American petrodollar and the entire American economy."
"China - the second biggest economy in the world and a top importer of oil - has or is seeking oil trading arrangements with its major suppliers, including Russia, Saudi Arabia, Iran and Venezuela, which will involve the exchange of national currencies," he wrote, warning that the development threatens "the petrodollar and its global reserve status."
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USA

JFK and 9/11: The Common Threads

Robert Bonomo
TheCactusLand
Fri, 29 Nov 2013 11:08 UTC
JFK and 911_1
© TheCactusLand
Criminals leave signatures. There is consistency in their motives, methods, alibis and techniques. A detective from the Spanish National Police said that investigators knew within minutes of reaching the mangled remains of commuter trains in Madrid where almost 200 commuters were killed that the Basque terrorist group ETA had not carried out the attack- a fact which was concealed by the Spanish government for several days in a vain attempt to save an election. The investigators immediately saw that the signature was wrong; it just didn't smell right.

President Kennedy was murdered on November 22, 1963 and less than two years later American Marines entered South Vietnam beginning the US intervention that would end ten years later with the fall of Saigon and millions dead. Less than two years after the September 11th attacks in New York and Washington, the United States began the Iraq War, which would end eight years later with the withdrawal of the coalition forces, leaving Iraq destabilized and clearly within the sphere of Iranian influence.

Apart from the similar aftermaths, both events have common elements both in their buildup and execution as well their social ramifications.
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Megaphone

Fear not the path of truth

Ross Caputi
Vimeo
Sun, 24 Nov 2013 00:01 UTC
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Bad Guys

CIA's most senior officer in Pakistan 'unmasked' by Imran Khan's party

Jon Boone
Guardian
Wed, 27 Nov 2013 22:33 UTC
Image
© Fareed Khan/AP
Supporters of Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party protest in Karachi against drone strikes at the weekend.
PTI party names man in letter to police demanding he be nominated as one of those responsible for drone strike

The political party led by the former cricket star Imran Khan claims to have blown the cover of the CIA's most senior officer in Pakistan as part of an increasingly high-stakes campaign against US drone strikes.

The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party named a man it claimed was head of the CIA station in Islamabad in a letter to police demanding he be nominated as one of the people responsible for a drone strike on 21 November, which killed five militants including senior commanders of the Haqqani Network.

John Brennan, the CIA director, was also nominated as an "accused person" for murder and "waging war against Pakistan".

The US embassy said it could not comment but was looking into the matter. The CIA spokesman Dean Boyd would not confirm the station chief's name and declined to immediately comment, AP reported.
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Eye 2

NSA surveillance: Europe threatens to freeze US data-sharing arrangements

Ian Traynor
Guardian
Tue, 26 Nov 2013 22:18 UTC
Image
© Frederick Florin/AFP/Getty
European Union justice and rights commissioner Viviane Reding is negotiating with the US on the fallout from the NSA scandal.
After Edward Snowden revelations, EU executive underlines US compliance with European law and 'how things have gone badly'

The EU executive is threatening to freeze crucial data-sharing arrangements with the US because of the Edward Snowden revelations about the mass surveillance of the National Security Agency.

The US will have to adjust their surveillance activities to comply with EU law and enable legal redress in the US courts for Europeans whose rights may have been infringed, said Viviane Reding, the EU's justice and rights commissioner who is negotiating with the US on the fallout from the NSA scandal.

European businesses need to compete on a level playing field with US rivals, Reding told the Guardian.

The EU commissioner said there was little she or Brussels could do about the activities of the NSA's main partner in mass surveillance, Britain's Government Communications Headquarters or GCHQ, since secret services in the EU were the strict remit of national governments. The commission has demanded but failed to obtain detailed information from the British government on how UK surveillance practices are affecting other EU citizens.
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Gold Bar

Incredible minutes from a 1974 Henry Kissinger staff meeting on gold

Michael Krieger
Liberty Blitzkrieg
Sat, 30 Nov 2013 18:40 UTC
Kissinger
© Wikimedia Commons

The following excerpts are from a transcript of a 1974 meeting held by the then Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and his staff. This particular meeting was held on April 25, and focused on an European Commission Proposal to revalue their gold assets.

What follows is an incredible insight into the minds of powerful American leaders scheming to maintain power and show other nations their place. What is most significant is how clearly they understood that demonetizing gold was a critical strategy to maintaining a dominant power position in the world.

So to those who continue to say that "gold doesn't matter" because it hasn't been used as an official asset in the monetary system for decades, I say give me a break. In fact, the reality of gold having been largely demonetized makes it an even greater threat going forward if the U.S. does not have all the gold it claims to, and other nations have more than they admit to.

Thanks to In Gold We Trust for bringing this to my attention. Choice excerpts are provided below, and breaks in the conversation are denoted with an "..." Enjoy.
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Stormtrooper

Woman says her 14-year-old son was tortured, tasered in the face while handcuffed


PolicestateUSA.com
Sat, 30 Nov 2013 15:00 UTC
Cops say boy was Tasered in the face "for his safety."

Image

14-year-old Joey Williams after his encounter with police
TULLYTOWN, PA - A woman turned to Facebook and social media for help in seeking justice for her son whom she says was severely injured during his violent encounter with the police and then isolated from her for three days. She says that her son was "brutally tortured" by Bucks County police officers after being arrested, handcuffed, and shocked in the face by a Taser.

The extensive lacerations, bruising, and black eyes were allegedly the result of the teen being tasered - while handcuffed - and falling once to the pavement. This was done because officers feared for his safety as he was close to traffic.

According to police reports, 14-year-old Joseph "Joey" Williams and his cousin, 19-year-old Jordan Gibson, were arrested after being accused of shoplifting $31.93 worth of merchandise from a local Walmart. Following a car chase involving the police and Gibson's F-150, the vehicle was ultimately trapped in a construction zone and the two unarmed teens were taken into custody.
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