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Retired U.S. Marine Gen. James Cartwright under investigation for alleged Stuxnet leak

“A former high-ranking US military officer is being probed for allegedly leaking details about a US cyberattack on Iran, a US media report said. Citing unnamed legal sources, NBC News said retired Marine Gen. James Cartwright has been told he is under investigation for allegedly disclosing details about the Stuxnet attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities. Cartwright, 63, is the former vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The four-star general retired from the military in August 2011. Stuxnet, tailored specifically to target Iran’s uranium enrichment operation, struck Iran in 2010 and reportedly dealt a serious blow to its disputed nuclear program.” Continue reading →

NYPD collaborated with CIA on surveillance after 9/11

“Campaigners for greater accountability at New York’s powerful police force have seized on a report that details for the first time the extent of the collaboration between the CIA and the NYPD in the years after 9/11. The formerly-classified inspector general’s report also raises new questions over whether the spy agency’s partnership with the nation’s largest police department amounted to unofficial cover for CIA officers to operate in the US in ways that could otherwise be deemed unlawful. The 12-page document contains the December 2011 findings of an investigation into the CIA’s training and support of the NYPD that included embedding four officers in the department.” Continue reading →

Former East German secret police captain says NSA spying ‘a dream come true’

“A former agent of the Stasi, the much-feared East German communist secret police, has said that the recently revealed NSA spying program would have been his agency’s ‘dream come true’ because it has collected ‘so much information, on so many people.’ Wolfgang Schmidt, 78, said in an interview that it is ‘the height of naivete’ to think that the information will never be used against U.S. citizens. As a lieutenant colonel in the Stasi, he said that technology limited the secret police’s ability to satisfy its voracious appetite for information. Their listening devices, he said, could only spy on 40 telephone lines at once. Targets had to be prioritized.” Continue reading →

Twitter CEO defends ‘principled’ data gathering policy

“Twitter is holding to a ‘principled’ policy on national security data requests and will ‘push back’ in some cases to protect the privacy of its users, its chief executive said Wednesday. Dick Costolo, appearing at a forum at the Brookings Institution in Washington, declined to comment on whether Twitter had specific requests under the vast data-gathering program called PRISM made public this month. But he noted that Twitter has gone to court in certain cases to fight ‘gag’ orders and to allow users to be in informed of how their own data is used.” Continue reading →

Envoy says U.S. loses trust in Hong Kong after Snowden

“The top U.S. diplomat in Hong Kong warned on Thursday of a ‘big struggle’ ahead to repair Washington’s trust in the semi-autonomous Chinese territory. Speaking publicly for the first time since Snowden flew from Hong Kong to Moscow on Sunday despite a U.S. request to hold him to face charges of espionage, Consul General Stephen Young told Reuters that Washington’s confidence was ‘shaken’. Young did not specify how any deterioration in ties would play out but added: ‘I’ll say specifically in law enforcement co-operation – where we have a whole series of agreements, and protocols and practices – our confidence has been shaken.'” Continue reading →

How to Survive When Prices Double Every Day and a Half

“At a 2011 Casey Research Summit, I met and heard the firsthand accounts of three gentlemen from Zimbabwe, Argentina, and Yugoslavia, who had survived hyperinflation in their home countries. Although these may sound like exotic locales with foreign problems, their terrifying histories have a lesson to teach us. Hyperinflation is like fire. We all install smoke alarms, keep fire extinguishers handy, and buy insurance to protect our homes, but most of us will never fall victim to an unplanned fire. However, when a fire does ignite, it can be catastrophic – which is why prudent people simply plan ahead.” Continue reading →

Innovation in legal highs leaves governments in the dust

“An explosion of hundreds of new ‘legal highs’ in recent years has left governments around the world in the dust as lawmakers struggle to keep prohibition laws updated as more and more never-before-seen drugs flood the black market. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) said Wednesday that more than 251 new psychoactive substances were available on the black market by mid-2012, a growth of more than 50 percent over 2009. The number of new psychoactive substances available on the black market today exceeds the number of controlled psychoactive substances currently prohibited by governments around the world.” Continue reading →

Bill Bonner: Why the Sell-Off in Gold is Good News

“Gold is giving us another good opportunity to buy a life vest before the boat sinks. No market goes up without a correction. Speculators typically get ahead of themselves. They need to be slapped around a bit… tested… and tempered. Like a steel blade, they need to be hammered before they are ready for the final battle. In the last major bull market in gold the gold price rose from $40 to over $800 an ounce. This was one of the greatest bull markets of all time. But it wasn’t without its challenges. The price of gold moved up fast. It needed to be knocked down at least once before it finally reached its top. Gold fell by 47% before rising eight times to its peak in 1980.” Continue reading →