In a disgusting display of mental illness watch this video of the entire U.S. House of Representatives applauding the Capitol Police gunning down an unarmed woman.
Puppet Masters
© The Guardian
NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden, an analyst with a U.S. defence contractor, is seen in this still image taken from video during an interview by The Guardian in his hotel room in Hong Kong June 6, 2013. Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro offered asylum to former U.S. intelligence contractor Edward Snowden on July 5, 2013 in defiance of Washington, which is demanding his arrest for divulging details of secret U.S. spy programs.
NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden, an analyst with a U.S. defence contractor, is seen in this still image taken from video during an interview by The Guardian in his hotel room in Hong Kong June 6, 2013. Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro offered asylum to former U.S. intelligence contractor Edward Snowden on July 5, 2013 in defiance of Washington, which is demanding his arrest for divulging details of secret U.S. spy programs.
But who exactly is Edward Snowden?
This is a question that not very many people have asked. Much of what has been revealed by Snowden only confirms what many have been saying about the NSA for well over a decade. The only difference is that prior to the Snowden leaks, people who talked about the extent of the NSA's surveillance programs were dismissed as conspiracy theorists. Now it is an accepted fact that the NSA spies on and collects data on almost anything you could possibly imagine.
Despite this, there is something very fishy about the Snowden narrative when you take into consideration his alleged background with the U.S. Army, the CIA and other government institutions. Not to mention the comical events that transpired after he fled the country to Hong Kong and later Russia. He just has the look and feel of a character invented by media hype and propaganda. Although we'll never know his true intentions, it is highly probable that these leaks were allowed on-purpose so the U.S. government could indirectly reveal to the world the full extent of the NSA's capabilities. This possibility is worth considering since a press conference announcing these activities would not be a workable course of action. With dissent on the rise and independent voices in the alternative media doing severe damage to the credibility of the U.S. government, these leaks may have been sanctioned as a way to discourage free speech and growing dissent against American imperialism.
© Reuters / David Mercado
Ecuador's President Rafael Correa
Ecuador's President Rafael Correa
Referring to US President Barack Obama's statement that "America is exceptional" because it stands up not only for its own "narrow self interest, but for the interests of all," Correa said: "Does not this remind you of the Nazis' rhetoric before and during World War II? They considered themselves the chosen race, the superior race, etc. Such words and ideas pose extreme danger," President Correa said on RT Spanish' Entrevista program.
As for cases of espionage in Latin America and the subsequent criticism from regional leaders, Obama said the US will try to respect the sovereignty of those countries "in cases where it will be possible."
At the recent UN General Assembly, Brazil launched a blistering attack on US espionage, saying it "is a breach of international law."
President Correa said the US will keep violating other countries' sovereignty, but this will eventually change.
"What Plato wrote in his [Socratic] dialogues more than 2,000 years ago is true. Justice is nothing other than the advantage of the stronger. They are strong, that's why they will continue lying, violating other states' sovereignty, and breaching international law. But one day this unjust world will have to change," Correa said.
When asked about whether the UN headquarters should be moved out of the US, Correa replied "definitely yes." But, he pointed out that there are other things that carry more importance. For example, the headquarters of the American Convention on Human Rights is located in Washington, yet "the US did not ratify the Pact of San Jose, that is, the American Convention on Human Rights...but the headquarters of the organization is in the US and they finance their activities," Correa said. "This is outrageous and an example of a relationship the US established with developing countries in the form of subordination."
© AFP Photo / Rafa Rivas
Michael Froman, a US trade representative working within an agency of the same name (USTR), phoned European Union Trade Commissioner Karel Del Gucht Friday to inform the Belgian politician that US officials would not be taking a scheduled trip to Brussels next week to discuss future plans.
Washington and the EU were expected to meet for the second time on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, according to Reuters. The agreement will become the world's largest free-trade deal if it is signed when the shutdown is lifted.
Over 800,000 US government workers are temporarily out of work after negotiations over the federal budget ground to a halt in Washington earlier this week. More employees are likely to be placed on unpaid leave as the conflict drags on. Major government contractors, including Lockheed Martin, have begun announcing their own furloughs as the impact reverberates.
"USTR will work with the [European] Commission to craft an alternative plan that can begin once the US government shutdown ends," the USTR said in a statement.
© Unknown
On Friday, heavy clashes took place between militants from the al-Qaeda-linked Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and those of the so-called Free Syrian Army (FSA) in the town of Azaz, The Associated Press reported.
Members of the al-Qaeda-linked group also fought against Kurds around the town of Ras al-Ain, said a Kurdish activist, Bassam al-Ahmed.
According to opposition sources, 14 al-Qaeda-linked militants and four Kurdish gunmen were killed in the clashes.
An FSA member, who identified himself as Abu Raed, also said a soldier from the Northern Storm brigade, which is part of the foreign-backed group, was killed in Azaz.
Syria has been gripped by deadly unrest since 2011. According to reports, the Western powers and their regional allies -- especially Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey -- are supporting the militants operating inside Syria.
In a recent statement, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees said the number of Syrian refugees, who have fled the 30-month-long conflict, reached two million.
The UN refugee agency also said some 4.2 million people have also been displaced inside Syria since the beginning of the conflict in the Arab country.
© AP/Evan Vucci
U.S. Representative Alan Grayson
U.S. Representative Alan Grayson
In a Tuesday interview, Rep. Alan Grayson charged that Republican House members have been literally intoxicated while casting votes on the continuing resolutions that set the stage for today's government shutdown. Noting "a number of public reports that you can smell alcohol on their breath as they're voting gleefully to shut down the government and create chaos," Grayson said that he had personally witnessed GOP colleagues smelling like alcohol. "Many of them seem loaded," said Grayson. The Florida congressman declined to name names, saying, "it's the usual suspects," but that he didn't "really feel like getting that personal with people."
A spokesperson for Speaker John Boehner did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Politico reporter Ginger Gibson tweeted Saturday that she could "smell the booze wafting from members as they walk off the floor."
Grayson said he thinks on-the-job alcohol consumption by GOP House members has "been a problem all year long."
"It's a fact we all have to live with," Grayson told Salon, "and it's making them violent and abusive towards America."
Grayson also blamed today's shutdown on Republicans' "anarchist ideology" and "blind hatred of government," saying they've become "the Captain Ahabs of 21st century American politics. Grayson had particularly harsh words for Speaker Boehner, who he said refused to allow a vote on a "clean CR" to avert a shutdown because "he enjoys his golf games with the president, and he doesn't want to lose that perk, and so he's desperate to maintain his relevance, and that means maintaining his position at all costs - even the kind of costs we're seeing now for the country." Grayson predicted that the shutdown, given its impact on veterans benefit applications, National Institutes of Health research, and Federal Drug Administration drug approvals, would lead "over time" to deaths.
The congressman said it seems President Obama "has learned from experience" about how to deal with the GOP, "and that's what needed to happen." But he panned the president's decision to bring JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon, whose company is reportedly in negotiations on a legal settlement of up to $11 billion, to the White House Wednesday. "I think it would be more constructive to invite in the pope, or perhaps Putin," said Grayson.
A source told the Wall Street Journal that Dimon and other bank executives would be discussing their debt ceiling concerns.
"It's true in general that Wall Street dictates our economic policy," said Grayson, "but in this case neither Jamie Dimon nor anybody else from Wall Street seems to have been able to get the Republicans to understand the obvious resulting difficulties that would come from the largest debtor in the entire world suddenly defaulting on its debt." He told Salon that "many Republicans in the House still regard the United States defaulting on its debt as a good thing, despite the fact that they've had one presentation after another in their own caucus from Wall Street bigwigs explaining the utter chaos" that would result.
Grayson argued that while "reasonable people can disagree" about the merits of the Affordable Care Act's individual mandate, Republicans are using it "as an excuse to attack the ACA as a whole."
"When you talk to them privately," Grayson told Salon, "what you find is that if they could repeal Medicare they would. If they could repeal Medicaid they would," along with the requirement that emergency rooms treat patients who can't pay for care.
"They are literally offended by the idea that people would get the care they need to stay healthy or alive even though they can't afford it," charged Grayson. "They regard it as some kind of crime against nature."
A secret history
Government and military secrets can range from terrifying to amusing to downright absurd, but most are nothing short of intriguing. From a secret U.S. Air Force project to build a supersonic flying saucer to a now-famous World War II-era research program that produced the first atomic bombs, here are seven declassified military or CIA secrets.
Project 1794
In late 2012, the U.S. Air Force declassified a trove of documents, including records of a secret program to build a flying saucer-type aircraft designed to shoot down Soviet bombers.
The ambitious program, called Project 1794, was initiated in the 1950s, and a team of engineers was tasked with building a disc-shape vehicle capable of traveling at supersonic speeds at high altitudes.
The declassified documents reveal plans for the plane to reach a top speed of Mach 4 (four times the speed of sound), and reach an altitude of 100,000 feet (30,480 meters). The project's estimated cost was more than $3 million, which in today's dollars would be more than $26 million.
Project 1794 was canceled in December 1961 after tests suggested the flying saucer design was aerodynamically unstable and would likely be uncontrollable at high speeds (let alone supersonic speeds).
Government and military secrets can range from terrifying to amusing to downright absurd, but most are nothing short of intriguing. From a secret U.S. Air Force project to build a supersonic flying saucer to a now-famous World War II-era research program that produced the first atomic bombs, here are seven declassified military or CIA secrets.
© Wikimedia Commons
VZ-9 Avrocar.
VZ-9 Avrocar.
In late 2012, the U.S. Air Force declassified a trove of documents, including records of a secret program to build a flying saucer-type aircraft designed to shoot down Soviet bombers.
The ambitious program, called Project 1794, was initiated in the 1950s, and a team of engineers was tasked with building a disc-shape vehicle capable of traveling at supersonic speeds at high altitudes.
The declassified documents reveal plans for the plane to reach a top speed of Mach 4 (four times the speed of sound), and reach an altitude of 100,000 feet (30,480 meters). The project's estimated cost was more than $3 million, which in today's dollars would be more than $26 million.
Project 1794 was canceled in December 1961 after tests suggested the flying saucer design was aerodynamically unstable and would likely be uncontrollable at high speeds (let alone supersonic speeds).
Sources told ABC News that Connecticut police had twice in 2012 been called by Miriam Carey's boyfriend, who reported the woman was delusional, acting irrationally and putting her infant daughter in danger.
Carey, 34, a dental hygienist from Stamford, Conn., was killed by police Thursday after trying to ram a White House gate and leading cops on a chase down Pennsylvania Avenue with her 1-year-old daughter in the car. The toddler was uninjured and placed in police custody.
According to sources Carey believed she was the "prophet of Stamford" and was capable of communicating with Obama.
Comment: Carey's claim is eerily similar to the complaint made by Aaron Alexis, the Washington Navy Yard shooter, to police that government agents were beaming voices into his head.
More than a dozen shots rang out on two sides of Capitol Hill in midafternoon, sending legislators, staffers and tourists running for cover. Police cars and officers converged on a female driver, whom authorities later said was killed. A 1-year-old child was rescued from the car, a black Infiniti, and taken to a hospital.
The incident took place in a city already frayed over the government shutdown and a shooting rampage two weeks ago at the Washington Navy Yard that left 13 people dead.
The incident began about 2:12 p.m. at the White House, where President Obama was working inside. Police said the driver of the car tried to breach the barricades at an outer checkpoint on the mansion's northeastern side. The sedan with Connecticut license plates struck a Secret Service agent as it sped away, police said.
Senior congressional Republicans and Democrats are conceding it makes little policy or political sense to put much more effort into finding votes for a continuing resolution lasting only a few weeks, when the even more consequential debt ceiling must be confronted almost immediately after.
GOP conservatives still believe they can win concessions from President Barack Obama - on both entitlement curbs and curtailing Obamacare - as part of a double-barrel bargain on both spending and borrowing. The president forcefully rebutted that expectation this morning.
Comment: For additional perspective, we include here the text of Protocol 12 from the Protocols of the
Elders of ZionPsychopaths which deals with the media: