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Document

Glen Greenwald: 'Most shocking' NSA stories yet to come

Jacob Chamberlain
Common Dreams
Tue, 15 Oct 2013 00:00 UTC
Greenwald, Snowden in daily contact to reveal massive trove of revelations

Glenn Greenwald
© AP
When it comes to the "shock" inspired by the recent National Security Agency revelations, the worst is yet to come, said Guardian journalist Glenn Greenwald, who has been working with NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden on the leaks.

"There are a lot more stories," Greenwald told a large crowd at the Global Investigative Journalism Conference currently taking place in Rio de Janeiro. "The archives are so complex and so deep and so shocking, that I think the most shocking and significant stories are the ones we are still working on, and have yet to publish."
greenwald tweet
© Unknown
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Bizarro Earth

This ain't your average survival shelter

Carter Evans
CBS News
Tue, 15 Oct 2013 19:56 UTC
Image
© CBS NewsUnlike those Cold War-era concrete bunkers with just the basics, Ron Hubbard's survival shelters come fully loaded.
There's nothing new about predictions that the end of the world is upon us. But there's plenty new about how some people are preparing for it.

What began as a pipe dream for Ron Hubbard has become big business...underground

"We call this the backyard bunker," Hubbard said as he showed us one of his survival shelters.

These days, the fear market is booming.

"I can't build them fast enough right now," he said. "It's better to have a shelter 10 years early than five minutes late."
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Document

US reporter Glenn Greenwald to publish Snowden leaks on France and Spain


The Raw Story
Thu, 10 Oct 2013 00:00 UTC
Glenn greenwald
© Unknown
Brazil-based US reporter Glenn Greenwald said Wednesday he would publish documents from intelligence leaker Edward Snowden focused on France and Spain.

Greenwald, a Rio-based correspondent for Britain's Guardian newspaper, also said that if Brazil wanted more data on alleged US snooping into its affairs it should offer Snowden asylum.

Snowden, a former US spy agency contractor wanted by Washington, is currently at an unknown location in Russia after Moscow granted him temporary asylum.

Brazil did not respond to a Snowden request for asylum as he sought refuge following his first explosive disclosures detailing the US government's digital dragnet.

Testifying before a Brazilian congressional panel, Greenwald accused Washington and its allies of waging a "war against journalism and the process of transparency."

"I am learning now that the United States is using this surveillance system to punish the journalistic process," said Greenwald, who, without elaborating, added he was working on material relating to France and Spain.

"We are undertaking high-risk journalism. We shall continue doing so until we publish the last document I have," Greenwald told senators investigating allegations that Washington spied on Brasilia.

"I am not holding onto relevant documents nor hiding information. All that I had regarding surveillance against Brazil, and now France - I am working with French and Spanish newspapers - I publish. I don't hold onto it," he said in Portuguese.

Greenwald said governments, including Brazil's, appeared to be grateful for the disclosure of alleged US spying on them "but they are not disposed to protect the person who passes on the data."
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Light Sabers

Texas Rep. Gohmert pushes impeachment: Obama 'getting close to a high crime and misdemeanor'

David Edwards
The Raw Story
Tue, 15 Oct 2013 00:00 UTC
Rep. Louie Gohmert
© Unknown
Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX) on Tuesday amped his recent impeachment rhetoric by claiming that President Barack Obama was "getting close to a high crime and misdemeanor."

Fox News host Alisyn Camerota pointed out to Gohmert that after two weeks of a government shutdown, Republicans were basically guaranteed to lose on their core goal of repealing, defunding or delaying the president's health care reform law.

"A majority in the House should be sign to the Senate that we need to negotiate," Gohmert opined. "We have sent over compromise after compromise after compromise with ourselves. Our own leadership proposed yet another compromise and [Senate Majority Leader] Harry Reid said all of the sudden, he thinks that's a slap at bipartisanship."

"He wouldn't know bipartisanship if it came up and slapped him and said, we're bipartisan," he added. "So, I don't need to hear any crap from Harry Reid about bipartisanship. He doesn't know bipartisanship, nor does the president."

Gohmert also repeated his recent warning that if Republicans force the U.S. to default on its debt by refusing to raise the debt ceiling then it "would be an impeachable offense by the president."
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Dollar

Swiss to vote on 2,800 dollar basic income for every adult

Alice Baghdjian
Reuters
Tue, 15 Oct 2013 17:56 UTC

Switzerland to Vote on $2,800 Minimum Pay for... by GeoBeats
Switzerland will hold a vote on whether to introduce a basic income for all adults, in a further sign of growing public activism over pay inequality since the financial crisis.

A grassroots committee is calling for all adults in Switzerland to receive an unconditional income of 2,500 Swiss francs ($2,800) per month from the state, with the aim of providing a financial safety net for the population.

Organizers submitted more than the 100,000 signatures needed to call a referendum on Friday and tipped a truckload of 8 million five-rappen coins outside the parliament building in Berne, one for each person living in Switzerland.
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USA

Cruz, Palin join protesters at WWII Memorial


USA Today
Mon, 14 Oct 2013 16:28 UTC
Ted Cruz, R-Texas
© Alex Brandon, APTea Party Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, speaks at a rally at the World War II Memorial in Washington on Sunday.
A crowd converged on the World War II Memorial on the National Mall, pushing through barriers Sunday morning to protest the memorial's closing under the government shutdown.

Republican Sen. Mike Lee of Utah and Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas were among those who gathered Sunday morning, along with former Alaska governor Sarah Palin, according to WTOP radio. Cruz said President Obama is using veterans as pawns in the shutdown.

"Tear down these walls," the crowd chanted. Protesters also sang God Bless America and other patriotic songs as they entered the memorial plaza.
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Question

For 2nd time in 2 days, dry ice explosion reported at Los Angeles airport

Diahann Reyes
CNN
Tue, 15 Oct 2013 03:53 UTC
Los Angeles Airport
© APAirport police monitor the entrance of Los Angeles International Airport.

For the second time in two days, dry ice placed in a container exploded at Los Angeles International Airport on Monday night. No injuries were immediately reported.

The explosion took place just before 8:30 p.m. at the Tom Bradley International Terminal, the airport police said.

CNN affiliate KCAL said the blast took place in an employee restroom, inaccessible to non-employees.

"The investigation is in its infancy," said Los Angeles Police Detective Gus Villanueva. He added that there's "no nexus to terrorism at this point." The FBI was called in.

On Sunday, dry ice in a plastic bottle exploded in an employee restroom at the airport, causing a brief shutdown of Terminal 2, the FBI said. No injuries were reported, and Terminal 2 resumed operations after a brief evacuation.

The airport has nine terminals.

Comment: Investigation launched after bottle of dry ice explodes at LAX Terminal 2, no injuries reported

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Brick Wall

Building collapse in Colombia's Medellin kills 2


Press TV
Tue, 15 Oct 2013 03:06 UTC
Building collapse in Colombia
© unknownRescue workers search for survivors after the collapse of a 21-story building in the Colombian city of Medellin on October 12, 2013.
A 21-story building has collapsed in Colombia's second-largest city, leaving at least two people dead with several others feared missing.

The incident occurred in the Colombian city of Medellin on Saturday when construction workers were trying to fix a crack in a load-bearing structure of the building, media reports said.

Rescue workers continued to search for missing people after the apartment building collapsed, leaving two unidentified victims so far.

Among those still missing were a team of construction workers, a security guard and a local resident who ran back into the building at the last minute to retrieve an object.

Emergency officials said they rescued two people after the collapse, though one of the individuals could be paralyzed.

The 54-unit building had been evacuated on Friday due to the appearance of cracks on the complex.

Following the collapse, five other neighboring buildings in the area were evacuated. Another tower is also showing cracks, said Medellin Mayor Claudia Restrepo.

Authorities have launched an inquiry into the cause of the collapse.
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House

Seeking a slice of Downton: London's wealthy goes on country property buying spree as prices rise

Patrick Gower
Bloomberg
Mon, 14 Oct 2013 00:54 UTC
english country house
© Christopher Furlong/Getty ImagesA 'For Sale' sign is seen outside a country house in Tideswell in the Peak District of Derbyshire, U.K.
It took more than a year for Mark Hudson to find his six-bedroom home in the English countryside. Within weeks of moving in, he got a bid that topped the 1.75 million pounds ($2.8 million) the property cost.

"Somebody called offering a significantly higher sum," said Hudson, a 55-year-old manager at a publishing company, who in August swapped his home in Clapham, a London district favored by young bankers and lawyers, for Dorset, the farm-dotted county 125 miles (202 kilometers) southwest of London that was the setting for Thomas Hardy's Tess of the D'Urbervilles. "It looks like we caught it just at the right time," he said.

Country homes are coming back into fashion, after lagging behind urban locations such as London's West End since the 2007 financial crisis when banks cut off mortgages. Prices for manor houses, farmhouses and cottages valued at more than 750,000 pounds climbed at the fastest rate in more than three years in the third quarter, Knight Frank LLP said in a report today, as Prime Minister David Cameron makes reviving the housing market central to his efforts to pull the economy out of recession.

"It's U.K. economic growth and broader housing-market confidence," said Liam Bailey, global head of residential research at the London-based property broker.

The government last week introduced the second phase of its Help to Buy program, which offers mortgage guarantees that allow purchases with down payments as low as 5 percent. The first phase, which began in April, provided interest-free loans for buyers of newly built homes.
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Card - MC

Keeping the party going: U.S. private debt soars

Jeff Cox
CNBC
Sat, 12 Oct 2013 16:02 UTC
credit cards
© Adam Gault / OJO Images / Getty Images
As Washington is struggling with debt and all its political ramifications, American companies and consumers are embracing it, running up record amounts in 2013.

Whether it's corporate loans, all quality levels of bonds or simple consumer credit, the debt party is back on in the U.S., whether it's in the boardroom or the living room.

Amid the financial crisis of 2008, the U.S. went into what economists call a "debt deleveraging cycle" - akin to a credit hangover, where the party has ended and everyone there decides to quit drinking cold turkey.

Somebody has clearly turned the lights back on, though, and corporate and individual buying is soaring.

Consumer credit, for instance, surged past the $3 trillion mark in the second quarter of 2013 and continues on an upward trajectory, according to the most recent numbers from the Federal Reserve.

At $3.04 trillion, the total is up 22 percent over the past three years. Student loans are up a whopping 61 percent.

Total household debt, according to the Fed's flow of funds report, is at $13 trillion, nearly back to its pre-crisis level in 2007 and a shade below government debt of $15 trillion.

"We have not solved (anything) when it comes to the deleveraging myth," said Michael Pento, president of Pento Portfolio Strategies. "We have learned nothing."
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