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FBI director claims NSA spying could have prevented 9/11

“The FBI has shrugged off growing congressional anxiety over its surveillance of US citizens, claiming such programs could have foiled the 9-11 terrorist attacks and would prevent ‘another Boston’. In a frequently heated debate over balancing privacy and security, Mueller went further than other government officials in claiming that the collection of data on all American phone calls had become an essential part of counter-terrorism efforts and would make the US ‘exceptionally vulnerable’ if watered down. He also rejected calls from technology companies such as Google to disclose the scale of the programs, saying even this information could help terrorists.” Continue reading →

U.S. warns of cyber attacks on medical devices

“US authorities on Thursday warned makers of medical devices and hospital networks to step up efforts to guard against potential cyber attacks. The US Food and Drug Administration said implanted devices, which could include pacemakers or defibrillators, could be connected to networks that are vulnerable to hackers. An FDA warning notice was sent to medical device manufacturers, hospitals, medical device user facilities, health care technical staff and biomedical engineers. It said the agency has recently ‘become aware of cybersecurity vulnerabilities and incidents that could directly impact medical devices or hospital network operations.'” Continue reading →

Bill Bonner: What the Papers Aren’t Reporting About the NSA Scandal

“Booz Allen earned $1.3 billion pretending to protect approximately nobody from a mostly non-existent threat. What it was actually doing was helping the feds snoop on the law-abiding people who pay the bills. The company shareholders get rich. Its executives get rich. Ex-public servants walk through the revolving door into the company’s plush offices… and they get rich too. What’s not to like? And who’s going to oppose more anti-terrorism spending? But wait, there’s more!” Continue reading →

U.S. to leave ‘training’ military forces in Jordan

“The United States will keep F-16 fighter jets and Patriot anti-missile weapons in Jordan after a joint military exercise ends this month, a US defense official said Thursday. The US administration also planned to keep a unit of US Marines on amphibious ships off the coast after consultations with Jordanian leaders, the official told AFP on condition of anonymity. ‘It was decided the assets would remain in place,’ said the official. The 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit taking part in the drill consists of about 2,400 troops, which arrived in a group of three amphibious ships, including the USS Kearsarge. Continue reading →

U.S. to provide ‘direct military support’ to Syrian rebels

“President Barack Obama has authorized sending U.S. weapons to Syrian rebels for the first time, a U.S. official said on Thursday after the White House said it has proof the Syrian government had used chemical weapons against opposition forces fighting to overthrow President Bashar al-Assad. The White House said Washington would provide ‘direct military support’ to the opposition but did not specify whether it would include lethal aid. But the U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the package would include weapons. Syrian rebel and political opposition leaders immediately called for anti-aircraft and other sophisticated weaponry.” Continue reading →

With Scandals Raging At Home, Obama Discovers Chemical Weapons Use in Syria

“In a time of choking scandal, a light at the end of the tunnel has appeared for the Obama regime: his old friend war! The entirety of the US corporate media is breathlessly — and, predictably, in lockstep — amplifying the Obama administration’s sudden amazingly convenient discovery that the Syrian government has used chemical weapons after all! Just a few weeks ago the US Intelligence Community did not believe claims that the Syrian government used chemicals. Now, with no formal investigation at all and no word on the chain of evidence or its source, we are told with absolute certainty that the Assad government has used the weapons.” Continue reading →

America’s private prison system is a national disgrace

“Since 1980, the US prison population has grown by 790%. We have the largest prison population of any nation in the history of the world. One in three African-American men will go to jail at some point in his life. Imprisoning that many people, most of them for non-violent offenses, doesn’t come cheap, especially when you’re paying private contractors. The United States now spends $50bn on our corrections system every year. Much of that money goes to private contractors, who are doing quite well living off of American corporate welfare – at the expense of the American taxpayer, whose dollars are funding this mass incarceration project.” Continue reading →

Florida man’s attorney claims NSA phone records will prove client’s innocence

“An attorney for a Florida man accused of robbing armored bank cars in 2010 filed a motion this week demanding that the government turn over phone location records theoretically stored in the National Security Agency’s (NSA) massive archives, which he believes could exonerate his client on at least one of the charges against him. In the trial of Terrance Brown, this is a twist not even his attorneys could have seen coming, all predicated upon NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden’s explosive revelations.” Continue reading →