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Cold War documents show NSA spied on US senators

NSA
© AFP/File, Paul J. RichardsThe National Security Agency (NSA) is shown on May 31, 2006 in Fort Meade, Maryland.

Washington - The National Security Agency eavesdropped on civil rights icon Martin Luther King and heavyweight boxer Muhammad Ali as well as other leading critics of the Vietnam War in a secret program later deemed "disreputable," declassified documents revealed Wednesday.

The six-year spying program, dubbed "Minaret," had been exposed in the 1970s but the targets of the surveillance had been kept secret until now.

The documents showed the NSA tracked King and his colleague Whitney Young, boxing star Ali, journalists from the New York Times and the Washington Post, and two members of Congress, Senator Frank Church of Idaho and Senator Howard Baker of Tennessee.

The declassified NSA historical account of the episode called the spying "disreputable if not outright illegal."

The documents were published after the government panel overseeing classification ruled in favor of researchers at George Washington University who had long sought the release of the secret papers.

The intensity of anti-war dissent at home led President Lyndon Johnson to ask US intelligence agencies in 1967 to find out if some protests were fueled by foreign powers. The NSA worked with other spy agencies to draw up "watch lists" of anti-war critics to tap their overseas phone calls.

Video

Best of the Web: New unseen footage emerges from the 9/11 attacks

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"Go home! Go home! They're blowing up the buildings!"


A video has appeared on the Internet featuring some never-before-seen footage from the events of September 11th, 2001. The video is a series of mashups seemingly taken from multiple sources. It begins with a distant shot of the towers, while the rest of the 14 minutes documents peoples reactions to the explosions. Conversations from incredulous New Yorkers can be heard discussing the events, many registering disbelief about the tragedy that was taking place. The video was just released today and has yet to undergo strenuous tests to verify its authenticity but it is an intriguing insight into the psychology of the people who were there in New York that day.


Comment: Note how, before the propaganda machine rolled into action, common sense told ordinary New Yorkers that "powerful bombs" had to have taken the Twin Towers down...


HAL9000

Boycotting Rouhani speech a mistake: Israeli minister

President Rouhani
© Unknown
Israel's Finance Minister Yair Lapid has criticized the Israeli delegation for walking out of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani's speech at the UN General Assembly as a mistake.

"Israel shouldn't be portrayed as a serial objector to negotiations, uninterested in peaceful solutions," Lapid said

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the Israeli delegation to the United Nations to boycott Rouhani's address at the UN General Assembly on Tuesday.

Following the Iranian president's landmark speech, Netanyahu issued a statement and described the address as "cynical" and filled with "hypocrisy".

Netanyahu also said Iran wanted to use the talks to buy time for its nuclear program.

In his address to the UN, Rouhani reiterated Tehran's readiness for talks on its nuclear energy program with complete transparency.

"Nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction have no place in Iran's security and defense doctrine, and contradict our fundamental religious and ethical convictions," he said.

Airplane

US-led airstrike kills Chardara shadow governor in Afghanistan

US airstrike in Afghanistan
© Unknown
A US-led airstrike in war-torn Afghanistan's northern province of Kunduz has killed Chardara district's shadow governor, reports say.

According to local reports, the self-proclaimed governor was a senior Taliban official. He was reportedly killed in an attack not coordinated with Afghan officials.

"Maulavi Ahmad Shah, the Taliban's so-called governor for Chardara district and his bodyguard were killed in a NATO airstrike at 12 am (1930 GMT) in Noorzai area," district police chief Ghulam Muhayyuddin said.

The attack is likely to further torpedo US efforts to reach out to the Taliban. Washington's talks with the group have angered the Afghan government.

Afghan officials say that more than 10 militants have been killed and 20 others arrested over the past 24 hours in nine different provinces.

On September 21, the Afghan Interior Ministry said Afghan security forces have killed 11 Taliban militants, including a shadow district governor identified as Muhibullah.

The attack comes months after Taliban militants announced the start of their annual offensive against US-led and Afghan forces.

The United States and its allies invaded Afghanistan as part of Washington's so-called war on terror. The offensive removed the Taliban from power, but insecurity continues to rise in the country.

Megaphone

Brazil's Rousseff blasts U.S. spying as breach of law

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© REUTERS/Shannon StapletonBrazil's President Dilma Rousseff addresses the 68th United Nations General Assembly at U.N. headquarters in New York, September 24, 2013.
Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff used her position as the opening speaker at the U.N. General Assembly to accuse the United States of violating human rights and international law through espionage that included spying on her email.

Rousseff had expressed her displeasure last week by calling off a high-profile state visit to the United States scheduled for October over reports that the U.S. National Security Agency had been spying on Brazil.

In unusually strong language, Rousseff launched a blistering attack on U.S. surveillance, calling it an affront to Brazilian sovereignty and "totally unacceptable."

"Tampering in such a manner in the lives and affairs of other countries is a breach of international law and, as such, it is an affront to the principles that should otherwise govern relations among countries, especially among friendly nations," Rousseff told the annual gathering of world leaders at the United Nations.

Wolf

Michelle Obama has nearly 2 million fake Twitter followers

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Nearly 2 million of First Lady Michelle Obama's Twitter followers are not real.

According to the Twitter analytics application Status People, 37 percent of Michelle Obama's 5,290, 506 Twitter followers - or approximately 1,957,487 followers - are considered fake. Thirty-five percent of her followers are inactive, and 28 percent are considered "good," or real.

Michelle Obama's account is run by Organizing for Action, and sent its last Tweet on March 4. It was a retweet of a message sent by the Twitter account of the First Lady's Let's Move initiative.

Health

One man's ObamaCare nightmare

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Andy and Amy Mangione of Louisville, Ky. and their two boys are just the kind of people who should be helped by ObamaCare. But they recently got a nasty surprise in the mail.

"When I saw the letter when I came home from work," Andy said, describing the large red wording on the envelope from his insurance carrier, "(it said) 'your action required, benefit changes, act now.' Of course I opened it immediately."

It had stunning news. Insurance for the Mangiones and their two boys,which they bought on the individual market, was going to almost triple in 2014 --- from $333 a month to $965.

The insurance carrier made it clear the increase was in order to be compliant with the new health care law.

Brick Wall

Cruz launches filibuster in opposition to Obamacare

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Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) has the backing of the tea party and has received plenty of attention, and even buzz about a presidential run in 2016.
Continuing his vow to keep speaking against the new federal health-care law "until I am no longer able to stand," Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) continued with his marathon speech modeled on old-fashioned filibusters Tuesday evening in hopes of slowing debate over a short-term spending measure.

"I rise today in opposition to Obamacare," Cruz announced as he began his remarks Tuesday afternoon, saying he would be speaking on behalf of millions of Texans and Americans opposed to the new health-care law.

"A great many Texans, a great many Americans feel they do not have a voice, and so I hope to play some very small role in providing the voice," he said.


Dollars

Quantitative easing worked for the Weimar Republic for a little while too

Wheelbarrow of money
© Unknown
There is a reason why every fiat currency in the history of the world has eventually failed. At some point, those issuing fiat currencies always find themselves giving in to the temptation to wildly print more money. Sometimes, the motivation for doing this is good. When an economy is really struggling, those that have been entrusted with the management of that economy can easily fall for the lie that things would be better if people just had "more money". Today, the Federal Reserve finds itself faced with a scenario that is very similar to what the Weimar Republic was facing nearly 100 years ago. Like the Weimar Republic, the U.S. economy is also struggling and like the Weimar Republic, the U.S. government is absolutely drowning in debt. Unfortunately, the Federal Reserve has decided to adopt the same solution that the Weimar Republic chose. The Federal Reserve is recklessly printing money out of thin air, and in the short-term some positive things have come out of it. But quantitative easing worked for the Weimar Republic for a little while too. At first, more money caused economic activity to increase and unemployment was low. But all of that money printing destroyed faith in German currency and in the German financial system and ultimately Germany experienced an economic meltdown that the world is still talking about today. This is the path that the Federal Reserve is taking America down, but most Americans have absolutely no idea what is happening.

Target

Best of the Web: Prolonging Pain: Sanctions on Iran over nukes hurt most vulnerable

Iran's been reaching out to world powers to settle the impasse over its nuclear programme ahead of the nation's upcoming address to the UN General Assembly. The stand-off has dragged on for years, and now the country's new leader Hassan Rouhani pledged to re-start peace talks in return for an easing of painful sanctions. And as RT's Paula Slier reports, the restrictions are hurting the most vulnerable.


Comment: The way in which economic sanctions target the state is through the people... they purposely target the people who - it is hoped - will blame their government and thus pressure them into submission before the High Court of U.S. Imperialism, or rise up and overthrow their leaders, presenting opportunities for the U.S. to insert its choice of leadership.