Brick TeeVee's Privacy Special!

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Privacy Special There is just so much going on after the revelations Eric Snowden gave to The Guardian and Washington Post! We'll try to keep up! At The Guardian writers Glenn Greenwald, Ewen MacAskill, Laura Poitras, Spencer Ackerman and Dominic Rushe explain How Microsoft handed the NSA access to encrypted messages Microsoft has collaborated closely with US intelligence services to allow users' communications to be intercepted, including helping the National Security Agency to circumvent the company's own encryption, according to top-secret documents obtained by the Guardian. The files provided by Edward Snowden illustrate the scale of co-operation between Silicon Valley and the intelligence agencies over the last three years. They also shed new light on the workings of the top-secret Prism program, which was disclosed by the Guardian and the Washington Post last month. The documents show that:

• Microsoft helped the NSA to circumvent its encryption to address concerns that the agency would be unable to intercept web chats on the new Outlook.com portal;
  
• The agency already had pre-encryption stage access to email on Outlook.com, including Hotmail;
  
• The company worked with the FBI this year to allow the NSA easier access via Prism to its cloud storage service SkyDrive, which now has more than 250 million users worldwide;
  
• Microsoft also worked with the FBI's Data Intercept Unit to "understand" potential issues with a feature in Outlook.com that allows users to create email aliases;
  
• In July last year, nine months after Microsoft bought Skype, the NSA boasted that a new capability had tripled the amount of Skype video calls being collected through Prism;
  
• Material collected through Prism is routinely shared with the FBI and CIA, with one NSA document describing the program as a "team sport".

....... In a statement, Microsoft said: "When we upgrade or update products we aren't absolved from the need to comply with existing or future lawful demands." The company reiterated its argument that it provides customer data "only in response to government demands and we only ever comply with orders for requests about specific accounts or identifiers". ..... But internal NSA newsletters, marked top secret, suggest the co-operation between the intelligence community and the companies is deep and ongoing. The latest documents come from the NSA's Special Source Operations (SSO) division, described by Snowden as the "crown jewel" of the agency. It is responsible for all programs aimed at US communications systems through corporate partnerships such as Prism. The files show that the NSA became concerned about the interception of encrypted chats on Microsoft's Outlook.com portal from the moment the company began testing the service in July last year. ..... Much more! In a related matter Edward Snowden accuses US of illegal, aggressive campaign by Alec Luhn and Miriam Elder in Moscow, Paul Lewis in Washington for The Guardian The American whistleblower Edward Snowden has accused the US of waging a campaign of "historically disproportionate aggression" against him during an extraordinary meeting with human rights activists and Russian officials at the Moscow airport where he has been trapped since 23 June. In his first appearance since disclosing his identity in the Guardian last month, Snowden insisted he had no regrets and had made a "moral decision" to leak dozens of secret documents outlining US surveillance programmes. He also announced that he would apply for political asylum from the Kremlin and appealed to those present for help in leaving the airport. The US has lobbied governments around the world to refuse entry to Snowden and has invalidated his US passport. ....... "The government and intelligence services of the United States of America have attempted to make an example of me, a warning to all others who might speak out as I have," Snowden said. "I have been made stateless and hounded for my act of political expression." ...... Snowden said he would request asylum in Russia until he was permitted to travel to Latin America. Venezuela has offered him political asylum but he remains unable to travel there without travel documents. Snowden praised Venezuela, as well as Russia, Bolivia, Nicaragua and Ecuador for "being the first to stand against human rights violations carried out by the powerful rather than the powerless" and for "refusing to compromise their principles in the face of intimidation". ..... MORE! Here's the link to video: Snowden announces he will seek asylum in Russia - audio and here is the Transcript of Edward Joseph Snowden statement, given at 5pm Moscow time on Friday 12th July 2013. (Transcript corrected to delivery) At RT.com Evo Morales to RT: Plane-grounding debacle will never be forgotten in South America Bolivian President Evo Morales has threatened “measures” against European countries in response to the grounding of his plane in Vienna last week, demanding they reveal the source of false information that Edward Snowden was on board. “We are expecting European countries that forced me to land to explain what made them think I was transporting the fugitive US citizen. Where did this information come from, and why are they breaking international laws? If we in South America are not given that explanation, we will have to take measures,” the socialist politician said during an interview with RT in La Paz. South American states will hold an emergency summit next Friday to discuss the unprecedented diplomatic incident. ....... “The Europeans and Americans think that we are living in the era of empires and colonies. They are wrong. We are free people. They think that by intervening in our affairs, staging coups, installing neoliberals or military dictatorships they can suck out our resources. But this is in the past, they can no longer do this.” Morales also expressed outrage with US economic pressure on those countries that have preliminarily agreed to consider Snowden’s application for asylum. After Ecuador stated it may welcome the fugitive, US said it would revoke preferential trade agreements with the country. “They think that by blackmailing us they think we will change our policies, but we will not,” said the president, who believes the US considers him an enemy because he is “a Native American and an anti-imperialist”. ........ CLAPPER CLAPTRAP: Here's one we didn't get to last week by Glenn Greenwald via AlterNet.org Glenn Greenwald: Top Officials Are Lying to Our Faces About Government Spying ....... it has been undeniably clear that James Clapper, the Director of National Intelligence, outright lied to the US Senate - specifically to the Intelligence Committee, the body charged with oversight over surveillance programs - when he said "no, sir" in response to this question from Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden: "Does the NSA collect any type of data at all on millions or hundreds of millions of Americans?" That Clapper fundamentally misled Congress is beyond dispute. The DNI himself has now been forced by our stories to admit that his statement was, in his words, "clearly erroneous" and to apologize. But he did this only once our front-page revelations forced him to do so: in other words, what he's sorry about is that he got caught lying to the Senate. And as Salon's David Sirota adeptly documented on Friday, Clapper is still spouting falsehoods as he apologizes and attempts to explain why he did it. How is this not a huge scandal? Intentionally deceiving Congress is a felony, punishable by up to 5 years in prison for each offense. ...... Beyond its criminality, lying to Congress destroys the pretense of oversight. Obviously, members of Congress cannot exercise any actual oversight over programs which are being concealed by deceitful national security officials. ..... Much more! Glenn Greenwald also reported last weekend The NSA's mass and indiscriminate spying on Brazilians I've written an article on NSA surveillance for the front page of the Sunday edition of O Globo, the large Brazilian newspaper based in Rio de Janeiro. The article is headlined (translated) "US spied on millions of emails and calls of Brazilians", and I co-wrote it with Globo reporters Roberto Kaz and Jose Casado. The rough translation of the article into English is here. The main page of Globo's website lists related NSA stories: here. ......... But contrary to what some want to suggest, the privacy rights of Americans aren't the only ones that matter. That the US government - in complete secrecy - is constructing a ubiquitous spying apparatus aimed not only at its own citizens, but all of the world's citizens, has profound consequences. It erodes, if not eliminates, the ability to use the internet with any remnant of privacy or personal security. It vests the US government with boundless power over those to whom it has no accountability. It permits allies of the US - including aggressively oppressive ones - to benefit from indiscriminate spying on their citizens' communications. It radically alters the balance of power between the US and ordinary citizens of the world. And it sends an unmistakable signal to the world that while the US very minimally values the privacy rights of Americans, it assigns zero value to the privacy of everyone else on the planet. This development - the construction of a worldwide, ubiquitous electronic surveillance apparatus - is self-evidently newsworthy, extreme, and dangerous. It deserves transparency. People around the world have no idea that all of their telephonic and internet communications are being collected, stored and analyzed by a distant government. But that's exactly what is happening, in secrecy and with virtually no accountability. And it is inexorably growing, all in the dark. At the very least, it merits public understanding and debate. That is now possible thanks solely to these disclosures......... Also at Alternet.org David Harris-Gershon explains Why Obama’s ‘Insider Threat’ – Ordering Federal Workers to Profile Colleagues & Report Suspicious Behaviors – Won’t Work President Obama’s Insider Threat Program, instituted in 2011 as a response to Bradley Manning, essentially orders all federal employees to behaviorally profile their colleagues and report any ‘suspicious’ actions. While much attention has been paid to the program’s Orwellian nature – employees who fail to report ‘suspicious’ activities of co-workers can face criminal charges – little attention has been paid to the actual techniques that underlie the program itself. Security investigations can be launched against a federal workers if colleagues identify and report actions that seem to be less than normal. And what actions are these? McClatchy explains: ........... The Obama administration has turned millions of federal workers into mandated, behavioral profiling specialists, ordering them to report colleagues whose actions raise supposed red flags. But like the NSA’s broad and absurd list of words that trigger one to be on a watch list, Insider Threat’s list of psychological and behavioral actions federal employees are to look out for will do nothing but net more innocent citizens. Security can no longer be a justification for these programs. Not just because they violate our rights as Americans. But also because they will not work. At the Electronic Freedom Foundation Maira Sutton explains TAFTA, the US-EU's Trojan Trade Agreement: Talks (and Leaks) Begin The first round of talks in what the U.S. and EU trade representatives intend to be the largest bilateral trade agreement ever have begun. The governments call it TTIP, the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP). Everyone else calls it TAFTA, the Trans-Atlantic Free Trade Agreement. Whatever the name, it will regulate all U.S. and EU trade, or around 30 percent of world trade in goods. And according to the first leaks of negotiation documents, it threatens to be yet another trojan horse for copyright and internet issues....... VIDEO! Watch Laurie Wallach Director, Public Citizen's Global Trade Watch on The Big Picture with Thom Hartmann TAFTA & TPP...Corporate Power Tools of the 1% Special agent for the F.B.I. from 1981 to 2004 Coleen Rowley penned this op-ed at the NYT Questions for the F.B.I. Nominee ..... Mr. Comey apparently did eventually sign off on most of the worst of the Bush administration’s legal abuses and questionable interpretations of federal and international law. He ultimately approved the C.I.A.’s list of “enhanced interrogation” techniques, including waterboarding, which experts on international law consider a form of torture. He defended holding an American citizen, Jose Padilla, without charges for more than three years as an “enemy combatant,” and subjecting him to interrogation without counsel to obtain information from him. (Mr. Padilla was ultimately convicted of terrorism charges in civilian court.) Mr. Mueller and Mr. Comey famously thwarted efforts by two Bush officials, Alberto R. Gonzales and Andrew H. Card Jr., to pressure a hospitalized Attorney General John Ashcroft to sign off on Mr. Bush’s warrantless monitoring order after the Justice Department found it illegal. But within days, Mr. Mueller and Mr. Comey, having threatened to resign, spoke with Mr. Bush. Whatever assurances the president may have given them are not (and may never be) known — but we know that the surveillance program continued, perhaps with modification, and certainly without further public dissent from Mr. Mueller and Mr. Comey. I suggest that the senators ask Mr. Comey these questions: ..... 4. Why, in April 2005, did you approve 13 harsh interrogation tactics, including waterboarding and up to 180 hours of sleep deprivation, for use on suspects by officers of the C.I.A.? ...... 9. Are the N.S.A.’s data-gathering efforts, disclosed in recent weeks, an outgrowth of Mr. Bush’s earlier warrantless surveillance program, to which you objected? Do they relate to the “Total Information Awareness” scheme proposed by John M. Poindexter, a retired admiral and former aide to Ronald Reagan, that was terminated after it was made public in 2002? MORE! Check out this interview with Rowley on Democracy Now! from Wednesday where James Comey says flatly, "I think sometimes folks also don’t understand what the FISA court is. They hear "secret court." Sometimes they hear "rubber stamp." In my experience, which is long, with the FISA court, folks don’t realize that it’s a group of independent federal judges who sit and operate under a statutory regime to review requests by the government to use certain authorities to gather information, and it is anything but a rubber stamp" and Rowley counters, "I will go back to that hospital room standoff, because I think there’s a piece that the public does not understand about James Comey’s famous hospital standoff. He was not objecting to the massive data collection as much as he was just objecting to the legal footing of what had—what was probably John Yoo’s theory of unbridled executive power and the ability to override the FISA statute, to override Congress. It looks like there was a period of time before the FISA court got this blanket authority under the FISA Amendments Act to give—to rubber-stamp orders for—blanket orders for everyone’s telephone and email data." And concludes, "You know what’s really sad here is that it looks like the next FBI director will be someone who signed off on illegal torture, can’t really explain why. But yet it’s sadder still that amongst the pool out there that they consider to be appropriate candidates for FBI director, Comey actually might be one of the better ones. I mean, this is a very sad state of affairs right now." Listen to this very good interview with Scott Horton 7/12/13 Coleen Rowley. Joshua Holland at AlterNet.org has this Shocker: Only 1% of So Called Terrorists Nabbed by the FBI Were Real And Guess Who appoints the FISA judges? Ezra Klein at Bloomberg writes Chief Justice Roberts Is Awesome Power Behind FISA Court .... The 11 FISA judges, chosen from throughout the federal bench for seven-year terms, are all appointed by the chief justice. In fact, every FISA judge currently serving was appointed by Chief Justice John Roberts, who will continue making such appointments until he retires or dies. FISA judges don’t need confirmation -- by Congress or anyone else. No other part of U.S. law works this way. The chief justice can’t choose the judges who rule on health law, or preside over labor cases, or decide software patents. But when it comes to surveillance, the composition of the bench is entirely in his hands and so, as a result, is the extent to which the National Security Agency and the Federal Bureau of Investigation can spy on citizens. “It really is up to these FISA judges to decide what the law means and what the NSA and FBI gets to do,” said Julian Sanchez, a privacy scholar at the Cato Institute. “So Roberts is single handedly choosing the people who get to decide how much surveillance we’re subject to.” ...... Roberts’s nominations to the FISA court are almost exclusively Republican. One of his first appointees, for instance, was Federal District Judge Roger Vinson of Florida, who not only struck down the Affordable Care Act’s individual mandate, but struck down the rest of the law, too. (The Supreme Court disagreed.) Vinson’s term expired in May, but the partisan tilt on the court continues: Only one of the 11 members is a Democrat. ...... A Reuters investigation found that from 2001 to 2012, FISA judges approved 20,909 surveillance and property search warrants while rejecting only 10. Almost 1,000 of the approved requests required modification, and 26 were withdrawn by the government before a ruling. That’s a startling win rate for the government. Perhaps the federal government is simply very judicious in invoking its surveillance authority. But it’s also possible that empowering the chief justice -- especially one with an expansive view of state police powers -- to appoint every FISA judge has led to a tilted court. That’s probable even if the chief justice has been conscientious in his selections. ....... YIKES!! Privacy Group Asks Supreme Court to Halt NSA Phone Spying The Electronic Privacy Information Center asked the Supreme Court today to halt the National Security Agency’s spy program that collects phone records on millions of people. EPIC, a non-profit based in Washington, D.C., argues in its petition that there is no alternative court to review a secret court’s order — disclosed by the Guardian last month — requiring Verizon to forward all calling metadata to the National Security Agency. See Scott Horton Wednesday for an interview with EFF's Trevor Timm about this and the Freedom of the Press Foundatio and Trevor Timm's blog post Reform the FISA Court: Privacy Law Should Never Be Radically Reinterpreted in Secret Since the Guardian and Washington Post started publishing secret NSA documents a month ago, the press has finally started digging into the operations of ultra-secretive Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) court, which is partly responsible for the veneer of legality painted onto the NSA’s domestic surveillance programs. The new reports are quite disturbing to anyone who cares about the Fourth Amendment, and they only underscore the need for major reform..... Plus see this item ACLU Sues Obama Administration Over NSA 'Dragnet' Surveillance Revealed in Historic Leaks. Here are a few books we're adding to the BTV Library

• Altered Genes Twisted Truth: How the Venture to
  Genetically Engineer Our Food Has Subverted Science, Corrupted Government and Systematically Deceived the Public by STEVEN M. DRUKER.
  
• Deep Green Resistance - Strategy to Save the Planet by Aric McBay, Lierre Keith, and Derrick Jensen.

At Salon Radley Balko discusses Militarized police overreach: “Oh, God, I thought they were going to shoot me next” Local law enforcement's often using SWAT teams to do regular police work. The results are frightening -- and deadly. Excerpted from “Rise of the Warrior Cop: The Militarization of America’s Police Forces” by Radley Balko. Reprinted with permission from PublicAffairs Books. Good item! Also check out this documentary Genetic Roulette: The Gamble Never-Before-Seen-Evidence points to genetically engineered foods as a major contributor to rising disease rates in the US population, especially among children. Gastrointestinal disorders, allergies, inflammatory diseases, and infertility are just some of the problems implicated in humans, pets, livestock, and lab animals that eat genetically modified soybeans and corn. Monsanto’s strong arm tactics, the FDA’s fraudulent policies, and how the USDA ignores a growing health emergency are also laid bare. This sometimes shocking film may change your diet, help you protect your family, and accelerate the consumer tipping point against genetically modified organisms (GMOs). Don’t miss this film! And watch this documentary too Surviving Progress Surviving Progress presents the story of human advancement as awe-inspiring and double-edged. It reveals the grave risk of running the 21st century’s software — our know-how — on the ancient hardware of our primate brain which hasn’t been upgraded in 50,000 years. With rich imagery and immersive soundtrack, filmmakers Mathieu Roy and Harold Crooks launch us on journey to contemplate our evolution from cave-dwellers to space explorers. Ronald Wright, whose best-seller, “A Short History Of Progress” inspired this film, reveals how civilizations are repeatedly destroyed by “progress traps” — alluring technologies serve immediate needs, but ransom the future. At RT America NSA controls global internet traffic via private fiber-optic cables Deals brokered between federal agents and foreign corporations have allowed the United States government to easily intercept and interpret a vast swath of communication data sent around the world, new documents reveal. In a National Security Agency slideshow obtained by The Washington Post and attributed to NSA leaker Edward Snowden, the US government encouraged analysts to tap into an array of underwater, fiber-optic cables that serve as conduits for around 99 percent of the world’s internet and phone traffic. The report, published by the Post’s Craig Timberg and Ellen Nakashima, explains how NSA slides leaked by Snowden reveal yet another surveillance program undertaken as an alleged counter terrorism measure but at the cost of putting the privacy of millions, if not billions, of people at risk. According to that report, the US government sent a team of attorneys from a number of alphabet soup agencies — including the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Departments of Defense, Justice and Homeland Security — to oversee post-9/11 efforts that would ensure most intelligence sent throughout the world could be collected by American agents. “Among their jobs, documents show, was ensuring that surveillance requests got fulfilled quickly and confidentially,” the journalists wrote. That much, the Post alleges, was accomplished by maintaining “an internal corporate cell of American citizens with government clearances” within the ranks of the foreign companies that control the fiber-optic cables carrying most telecommunications data around the world. One of those entities was Asia’s Global Crossing, and the US moved quickly to infiltrate its roster of employees shortly after 9/11. The post writes that the “Network Security Agreement” signed between Global Crossing and the US in 2003 was one of the first major contractors giving the US the power to tap into these major telecom pipes, and in the decade since countless others have been authorized. In that instance and others, federal attorneys cooperating under the name “Team Telecom” compelled foreign owners of these cables to comply with American requests for information. In the case of the Global Crossing contract, the US had the firm sign off on a deal that assured American intelligence agents could call up the company and be at a US-based “Network Operations Center” in only 30 minutes to monitor and collect data. And while laws exist in order to allegedly provide safeguards to protect the privacy of Americans, the Post says that doesn’t stop American agencies from being able to collect that data nonetheless....... Read the entire piece at the Washington Post Agreements with private companies protect U.S. access to cables’ data for surveillance. ..... The publicly available agreements offer a window into efforts by U.S. officials to safeguard their ability to conduct surveillance through the fiber-optic networks that carry a huge majority of the world’s voice and Internet traffic. ..... The full extent of the National Security Agency’s access to fiber-optic cables remains classified. WOW! In the July Harper's Index they report

• Projected cost of the transatlantic fiber-optic cable being laid on the ocean floor this year : $300,000,000
• Estimated number of seconds by which it will reduce the time to make a trade between New York and London : 0.0049

Peter Ludlow at The Nation writes about The Strange Case of Barrett Brown which everyone should read in total. Here's a small snippie: .....Today, Brown is in prison and ProjectPM is under increased scrutiny by the DOJ, even as its work has ground to a halt. In March, the DOJ served the domain hosting service CloudFlare with a subpoena for all records on the ProjectPM website, and in particular asked for the IP addresses of everyone who had accessed and contributed to ProjectPM, describing it as a “forum” through which Brown and others would “engage in, encourage, or facilitate the commission of criminal conduct online.” The message was clear: Anyone else who looks into this matter does so at their grave peril. Some journalists are now understandably afraid to go near the Stratfor files. The broader implications of this go beyond Brown; one might think that what we are looking at is Cointelpro 2.0—an outsourced surveillance state—but in fact it’s worse. One can’t help but infer that the US Department of Justice has become just another security contractor, working alongside the HBGarys and Stratfors on behalf of corporate bidders, with no sense at all for the justness of their actions; they are working to protect corporations and private security contractors and give them license to engage in disinformation campaigns against ordinary citizens and their advocacy groups. The mere fact that the FBI’s senior cybersecurity advisor has recently moved to Hunton and Williams shows just how incestuous this relationship has become....... See DN! Thursday for an interview with Ludlow Jailed Journalist Barrett Brown Faces 105 Years For Reporting on Hacked Private Intelligence Firms and support FreeBarrettBrown.org! At Fire Dog Lake DSWright finds Chevron Granted Sweeping Subpoena Of Critics’ Internet Data A federal judge has granted Chevron a broad and sweeping subpoena for data related to the $18.2 billion judgment against Chevron in Ecuador. The subpoena is trying to gain information on journalists and activists who may have been critical of Chevron. ...... The sweeping subpoena was one of three issued to Google, Yahoo! and Microsoft, demanding IP usage records and identity information for the holders of more than 100 email accounts, including environmental activists, journalists and attorneys. Chevron’s subpoena sought personal information about every account holder and the IP addresses associated with every login to each account over a nine-year period. ...... This case, along with the NSA’s vacuuming up of everyone’s private information, demonstrates that there needs to be some sort of cultural awakening to both the value of data and the rights people already have (let alone should have) in protecting it. From BTV's intrepid jen "Here we go again. . . If you click over to Think Progress, beware of the giant photo of the zombie-eyed grannie killer. Gawd that man is scary looking. If eyes are the window to the soul, that man doesn't have one." GOP May Hold Debt Ceiling Hostage To Enact Paul Ryan’s Budget House Republicans will hold the national debt ceiling increase hostage until President Obama agrees to mandatory spending cuts to Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid, the National Journal reports, and will seek to use the leverage of default to force Democrats to enact the policies in Rep. Paul Ryan’s (R-WI) budget...... — the GOP has shifted from demanding dollar-for-dollar immediate spending cuts and is now focusing on drafting a range of options to significantly restructure mandatory benefit programs. The idea is to throw in the “kitchen sink” and allow Obama to pick and choose the cuts. “If what makes it easier to find the deal is to go in and pick and choose among a dozen different programs and just grab a little bit from all 12 — instead of a lot from one them — then that works just fine,” Rep. Rob Woodall (R-GA), who heads the Republican Study Committee’s budget and spending task force, told the Journal:

..... For a medium-sized increase in the debt-limit, Republicans want Obama to agree to cut spending in the SNAP food stamp program, block-grant Medicaid, or tinker with chained CPI. For a smaller increase, there is talk of means-testing Social Security, for example, or ending certain agricultural subsidies. While the menu includes plenty of variables, the underlying strategic goal is to reduce mandatory spending — whatever the scope of the deal. Even at the smallest end of the spectrum — another months-long extension of debt-limit — there is talk of pushing back the eligibility age for Social Security by an equal number of months.

...... The Treasury Department has not yet said when the nation will hit its debt ceiling and has repeatedly moved back the deadline as a result of “lower spending levels and higher tax revenues.” Great! We're pretty sure Mr. Bipartisanshippy will go right along and throw millions under the bus as just another part of the failed Austerity regime. Of course the GOPhers know who butters their bread. For instance look at their takeover of North Carolina. Lee Fang at The Nation explains how Lobbyists Lavish North Carolina's Far-Right Politicians With Beer, Expensive Parties Outside in the muggy afternoon sun, “Moral Monday” activists today are holding their tenth demonstration on the grassy Halifax Mall lawn behind the state legislative building in North Carolina. A broad coalition of activists have staged the demos, which often result in arrests for engaging in civil disobedience, to protest a tidal wave of right-wing legislation, including new restrictions on voting, corporate tax cuts funded in part by tax hikes on the poor, the decision to block the Medicaid expansion, a so-called “Ag-Gag” bill blocking reporting on industrial farming, an expansion in loosely regulated fracking, and beyond. Indoors, at ritzy venues like the penthouse Cardinal Club of the Wells Fargo skyscraper overlooking the state capital, corporate lobbyists have thrown an elaborate set of parties for Governor Pat McCrory and state legislative leaders. The success of big business-friendly legislation this session is largely the result of McCrory’s victory in November, replacing Democrat Bev Perdue, who had been a check on the Republican-held legislature. Now, Republican leaders face few barriers in enacting their agenda, which in many cases reflects the interests of large companies with business in the state. A review of 2013 state lobbying disclosures by The Nation reveals that lobbyists have not only been generous with campaign contributions. They are also cultivating influence the old fashion way, through expensive meals and parties:

• The American Petroleum Institute ......
  
• The North Carolina Association of Electric Cooperatives .....
  
• The NC Agribusiness Council ......
  
• The North Carolina Biosciences Organization ......
  
• The Association of Executives of North Carolina .....
  
• The North Carolina Retail Merchants Association ......
  
• The N.C. Beer and Wine Wholesalers Association ......

“Corporations in North Carolina continue to exercise all sorts of influence on our lawmakers,” says Chris Fitzsimon, founder of the NC Policy Watch, a progressive watchdog group in the state. North Carolina has seen a huge influx of so-called soft money in recent campaigns—unlimited contributions that are in some cases funneled through opaque advocacy organizations. But Fitzsimon says there are other avenues for special interests to dump money into the state, “particularly through parties and entertainment.” See The Nation’s Ari Berman on why North Carolina is the new Wisconsin for more details on this. And also read Allison Kilkenny's Sixty-Four Arrested at 'Moral Monday' Abortion Access Protest in North Carolina PLUS Thank and Support Moral Mondays at Nation ACTION. TX REGRESSIVES WAR ON WOMEN: Despite the Regressives' constant blather about "smaller government" across the nation they actively want to use The State to invade women's privacy including transvaginal ultrasounds before an abortion. VIDEO! The Young Turks discuss 'If My Vagina Was a Gun' "Hundreds of women and men have testified at the Texas Capitol both for and against SB 1, which would restrict most abortions after 20 weeks and close all but five abortion clinics in the state. But only one woman performed an epic poem, entitled "If My Vagina Was a Gun."* SB 1 is a restrictive abortion bill in Texas, which many have spoken for and against. When it was Katie Helm's turn, she knew what to do with her brilliant protest poem, "If My Vagina Was a Gun," noting the hypocrisy of Texas conservatives. Cenk Uygur and Ana Kasparian discuss. Also see Sarah Slamen, Texas Woman, Dragged Out Of Senate Amid Fiery Testimony Against Abortion Bill Here's the bit of Slamen's testimony that apparently upset state Sen. Jane Nelson (R), who was overseeing the proceedings: "Thank you for being you, Texas legislature. You have radicalized hundreds of thousands of us, and no matter what you do for the next 22 days, women and their allies are coming for you," Slamen said. "Let’s start down the line. Senator Campbell, you’re an ophthalmologist. So I won’t be making you the expert on reproductive health. We can give you all the children with chlamydia and herpes in their eyes, since we don’t have Sex Ed in this state." Nelson slammed her gavel and accused Slamen of being disrespectful. Slamen shot back, "Excuse me, this is my government, ma'am. I will judge you." As the state troopers began to drag her out of the room, Slamen left with some parting words. "This is a farce. The Texas legislature is a bunch of liars who hate women," she said. Then read Shannon Moore My Guns Are Less Regulated Than My Uterus for proof! Then Aviva Shen at THINKPROGRESS explains why Insurers Refuse To Cover Kansas Schools Where Teachers Carry Guns Because It’s Too Risky In the wake of the Newtown massacre, several states passed laws to allow school officials to carry firearms on campus, arguing that more guns would keep students safe. Insurance companies apparently disagree now that these laws are beginning to take effect. In Kansas, where the law kicked in July 1, major insurers have deemed the new policy too risky and are refusing to cover schools that arm their employees. Des Moines-based EMC Insurance, which covers 85 to 90 percent of Kansas school districts, has a longstanding policy of denying coverage to schools that arm employees, and they seem unlikely to change it to accommodate Kansas’ new law. Two smaller insurance firms that cover the remaining 10 percent of Kansas schools are also adopting the same policy. Insurers say the risk of giving guns to anyone but law enforcement in a building full of children would make a school’s coverage much more expensive. “We’ve been writing school business for almost 40 years, and one of the underwriting guidelines we follow for schools is that any on-site armed security should be provided by uniformed, qualified law enforcement officers,” EMC executive Mick Lovell told USA Today. ...... The Rude Pundit proclaims Next Week: Rude Women Will Kick Your Ass Over Abortion Rights: The Rude Pundit will be on vacation next week because if he doesn't get his brain off the crack of politics for a while, he's gonna stab the next person with an anti-Obamacare bumper sticker. But never fear, for there will be writers taking over, a bunch of righteously pissed-off women, and they will kick your ass. As state after state lines up to be total assholes about women's rights and women's health clinics, this here blog is gonna feature women who live or just left those places that have decided that the government owns all uteruses. You're gonna hear from women who are involved in boots-on-the-ground activism, as well as women who have never blogged or marched, but want to tell their stories: of what Planned Parenthood has done for them, about what they want for themselves or their daughters. The schedule will go like this:

• Monday will be an all-Texas day.
  
• Tuesday will feature the middle of the country, with writers from Oklahoma, Kansas, and Wisconsin.
  
• On Wednesday, we'll head to Ohio, where former Fox "news" goon John Kasich has driven the state incredibly rightward.
  
• On Thursday, we're going south, with North Carolina and Mississippi writers.
  
• Friday finishes the week with Virginia and Alabama (and a touch more Texas).

The full list of names will be up later today. The response the Rude Pundit received to his call for women writers was both sad and amazing. The fact that over four dozen women wanted to write to the world bespeaks an awful backlash against women, again, in this nation. But the fact that so many refuse to stay silent, as we see every day in the protests at capitals around the nation, is incredible. To everyone who wrote in, a sincere hat tip of gratitude. Next week is gonna be awesome around here. If you know any women you should tell them about The Rude Pundit's Kick-Ass Women this week! Please check out all our regulars Brad-n-Desi, Bob, PBC, Scott, Max-n-Stacy, Sam, Bobby-n-Pap, updates from Bradley Manning Support Network and great must-watch features at Democracy NOW! Plus the toe-the-line corporpress Beltway Bubala roundup for yer viewing pleasure (or not)! Don't forget to tune in This Week on Ring of Fire on Free Speech TV! every Sunday at NOON!
We're here because you're there.
Click on ANYTHING and be INSTANTLY SMARTER!
BRICK TEEVEE ALERTS!_©

Democracy Now's Iraq interactive timeline

Headlines Monday, July 8, 2013

• Sharif Abdel Kouddous Sharif Abdel Kouddous: Egypt Descends Into "Spiral of Violence and Retribution" After Morsi’s Ouster
  
• Michael Wahid Hanna, Shadi Hamid & Sharif Abdel Kouddous After Morsi’s Ouster, Egypt’s Path to National Unity Threatened by Worsening Violence, Divisions
  
• Glenn Greenwald Glenn Greenwald: "Rogue" Actions of U.S. in Snowden Row Yield Latin American Offers of Asylum
  

Headlines Tuesday, July 9, 2013

• Edward Snowden Edward Snowden on Why He Stood Up to the NSA: Mass Spying "Not Something I’m Willing to Live Under"
  
• Glenn Greenwald Glenn Greenwald: Snowden Encouraged by Global Outrage over NSA Spying, Support for His Plight
  
• Ricardo Patiño, Ecuador’s foreign minister Exclusive: Ecuador’s Foreign Minister on Snowden, Assange & Latin American Resistance to U.S. Spying
  

Headlines Wednesday, July 10, 2013

• Sharif Abdel Kouddous With Deadly Crackdown, Is Egypt’s Military Repeating Same Mistakes of Post-Mubarak Transition?
  
• Coleen Rowley, a special agent for the FBI from 1981 to 2004 Senate Set to Confirm New FBI Head Who OK’d Waterboarding, Defends Mass Spying, Indefinite Detention
  
• Col. Morris Davis, retired Air Force colonel Testifying for Bradley Manning’s Defense, Ex-Guantánamo Prosecutor Says Leaks Caused No Harm to U.S.
  

Headlines Thursday, July 11, 2013

• U.S. House Rep. Luis Gutiérrez Rep. Luis Gutiérrez: House GOP Obstruction Won’t Stop Momentum of Immigration Reform
  
• Peter Ludlow, professor of philosophy at Northwestern University Jailed Journalist Barrett Brown Faces 105 Years For Reporting on Hacked Private Intelligence Firms
  

Headlines Friday, July 12, 2013

• Shane Bauer, award-winning investigative journalist A Hunger Strike Against Solitary Confinement: Shane Bauer on Inhuman Prisons from California to Iran
  
• Josh Fox, director of Gasland Part II Josh Fox on Gasland Part 2, the Fracking-Earthquake Link & the Natural Gas Industry’s Use of PSYOPs
  
• Janet Colm, president, CEO and founder of Planned Parenthood of Central North Carolina From North Carolina to Texas: Grassroots Movement Grows To Resist Anti-Abortion Bills
  
• Rev. Dr. William Barber, president of the North Carolina NAACP Moral Mondays: 700 Arrested in North Carolina Civil Disobedience Campaign Against GOP Lawmakers
  

GRITtv @ www.grittv.org with Laura Flanders
»»» FEATURED SHOW A Brooklyn Story: The Park Slope Food Co-op For the month of July, GRITtv will be spotlighting cooperatives in all their myriad forms. This week, it's food! The Park Slope Food Co-op in New York. more.....

BRICK TEEVEE SPORT!_©
»»» SUNDAY BASEBALL on TBS Rangers @ Tigers 1:05 pm et
»»» MONDAY NIGHT BASEBALL on ESPN Home Run Derby & Legends Softball Game from Citi Park! Featuring former Mets Dwight Gooden, Darryl Strawberry & Mike Piazza!! 8 pm et
»»» MID-SUMMER CLASSIC on FOX It's the 84th MLB All-Star Game! Coverage begins at 7:30 pm et

BRICK TEEVEE ACTION!_©
The 1st Amendment is Our Permit Our permit to occupy is The First Amendment. Quickly sign the following statement which will be delivered to mayors, police chiefs and major media across the country:

Our permit to occupy public squares and parks is in The First Amendment, which affirms "the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances." When people across the Middle East occupied public squares, leaders in Washington mostly cheered those protesters and warned Middle Eastern governments not to use force to clear them. Those other societies don’t have a First Amendment. Yet Washington affirmed the universal right to assembly and protest. We do have a First Amendment. The force being used to clear nonviolent protesters from public squares in our country is unacceptable. It must stop.

StrikeDebt.org & RollingJubilee.org! A bailout of the people by the people Rolling Jubilee is a Strike Debt project that buys debt for pennies on the dollar, but instead of collecting it, abolishes it. Together we can liberate debtors at random through a campaign of mutual support, good will, and collective refusal. Debt resistance is just the beginning. Join us as we imagine and create a new world based on the common good, not Wall Street profits. ADDENDUM: Naked Capitalism reports Top Tax Expert Confirms Our Doubts About Occupy Wall Street’s Debt Buying/Forgiveness Scheme

STOP the ACHE NEW WEBSITE! AcheAct.org and Appalachian Community HEALTH EMERGENCY Advocating for government action and protection of the public from the health crisis in mountain top removal communities. The A.C.H.E. Act Is Re-Introduced In The 113th Congress!

Washington, DC – Today a group of U.S. House of Representatives lawmakers introduced the Appalachian Community Health Emergency Act (ACHE Act, H.R. 526) to protect Appalachian families and communities from the nation’s most extreme form of coal mining, mountaintop removal. The Appalachian Community Health Emergency Act’s leading sponsors are Rep. John Yarmuth (D-KY) and Rep. Louise Slaughter (D-NY), joined by original cosponsors Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), Rep. John Conyers (D-MI), Rep. Rush Holt (D-NJ), Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-AZ), Rep. John Sarbanes (D-MD), Rep. Jim Moran (D-VA), Rep. Donna Edwards (D-MD), Rep. Judy Chu (D-CA), Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN), Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY), Rep. Jared Huffman (D-CA), Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA), Rep. Michael Honda (D-CA), Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-OR), Rep. Matt Cartwright (D-PA), Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), Rep. Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-CA), Rep. Chellie Pingree (D-ME), Rep. Janice Schakowksy (D-IL), Rep. Jim McDermott (D-WA), Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), and Rep. Jared Polis (DCO).

Community-Wealth.org community-wealth.org a project of the Democracy Collaborative at the University of Maryland Community-Wealth.org brings together, for the first time, information about the broad range of community wealth building activity. Featuring Overview: The Cleveland Model—How the Evergreen Cooperatives are Building Community Wealth Something important is happening in Cleveland. The Democracy Collaborative—the host of C-W.org—in partnership with the Cleveland Foundation, the Ohio Employee Ownership Center, Shorebank Enterprise Cleveland, the City of Cleveland, and the city's major hospitals and universities—is helping to implement a new model of large-scale worker-owned and community-benefiting businesses. The Evergreen Cooperative Initiative is beginning to build serious momentum in one of the cities most dramatically impacted by the nation's decaying economy. Increasingly, this model is being referred to nationally as The Cleveland Model. Initial planning is now underway to assist other cities in Ohio and nationwide to replicate and adapt this innovative approach to economic development, green job creation, and neighborhood stabilization. Find more many resources at Community-Wealth.org!

NET NEUTRALITY! SaveTheInternet.com Declaration of Internet Freedom Tired of fighting bad bills like SOPA, PIPA and CISPA? Want to stand up against those who are trying to control what we do and say online? It's time for something different. A group of more than 1,500 organizations, academics, startup founders and tech innovators has come together to produce a Declaration of Internet Freedom, a set of five principles that put forward a positive vision of the open Internet. Our goal: Get millions of Internet users to sign on to this Declaration. Build political power for Internet users to make sure that we get a seat at the table whenever, and wherever, the future of the Internet is being decided. It's time to stop playing defense and start going on the offensive. The open Internet is central to people’s freedom to communicate, share, advocate and innovate in the 21st century. But powerful interests want to censor free speech, block the sharing of information, hinder innovation and control how Internet users get online. And all too often, people in power are making political decisions behind closed doors about how the Internet should operate — and they're doing this without the involvement of actual Internet users. The result: policies that could close down the open Internet and destroy our freedom to connect. It’s time for us to reclaim the Internet for its users. Take action now and sign the Declaration of Internet Freedom. ACTION! Meet the New CISPA. Same as the Old CISPA. Last year, thanks to a public outcry, the effort to pass overreaching cybersecurity legislation stalled in the Senate. Now supporters have reintroduced the House version of that legislation — the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA). The “new” version is in fact identical to the original CISPA — and poses the same threat to our digital civil liberties. If CISPA becomes law, it will be a major blow to our online privacy. But more than that, CISPA’s passage would have a chilling effect on our freedom to connect online. We won’t feel as free to state unpopular opinions, or to speak truth to power, if we know that Big Brother could get a feed of everything we say and do. This is not what the free and open Internet is about. We must tell Congress: Vote NO on CISPA and bury this bill for good.

NEW!!! Stop Media Consolidation! Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski is trying to change the agency’s ownership rules to pave the way for Murdoch to get exactly what he wants. Worse, Genachowski and Murdoch are keeping this all very hush-hush, hoping you won't notice.3 These changes wouldn’t just benefit Murdoch. If the FCC proposal passes, one company could own the major daily newspaper, two TV stations and up to eight radio stations in your town. And that one company could be your Internet provider, too. What is the FCC thinking?!? We can still stop the agency from taking this perilous step — but we have less than a month to do it. By taking action, you’re joining a movement of millions who are working to stop big media from getting even bigger. Please take action today. Click HERE to view our infographic and send a message to the FCC! More info at Another FCC Cave-In: Julius Genachowski’s Media Consolidation Christmas Gift to Murdoch at StopTheCap.com! And Sign Senator Bernie Sanders petition to the FCC Protect Media Diversity: Stop Media Consolidation!

CAMPAIGN FOR AMERICA'S FUTURE American Majority Rejects Washington Austerity Consensus – And We Demand Media Coverage by Roger Hickey, President, Campaign for America's Future: No more silent majority. The Campaign for America’s Future is joining with the Center for Economic and Policy Research (whose Co-Director, Dean Baker blogs regularly about economic bias in the media) and with FAIR (Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting) to monitor the media’s coverage and representation of the American Majority views as they go into covering the big deficit fight. But we want to enlist YOU too. Send us accounts of unbalanced coverage in the national media and in your local newspapers and television. Call up reporters, editors, assignment people and tell them when they are under-representing the views of the American Majority. We should have at least half the experts, pundits, quotes and real people represented in their coverage. In a debate as important as the one we are going into, we can’t allow the media to ignore the American Majority. Much more at www.ourfuture.org MOVE TO AMEND! www.movetoamend.org SIGN HERE NOW! And check out more actions on the Move to Amend Calendar for more! Also visit Rep Alan Grayson's site www.savedemocracy.net GET INVOLVED! And Alan Grayson is BACK in the 113th Congress! Help out at CongressmanWithGuts.com

REPRESENT.US IT’S TIME TO GET MONEY OUT OF POLITICS SO THE GOVERNMENT CAN REPRESENT US. Represent.Us is a fresh campaign to pass the American Anti-Corruption Act: a law that would overhaul campaign finance, impose strict lobbying and conflict of interest laws, and end secret political money. We are mobilizing millions of Americans — conservatives and progressives, young and old, every issue group fighting K Street, online and offline — to join this campaign. Represent.Us is not just building a movement to pass the Act. The campaign will use hard-hitting accountability tactics to unseat politicians who fail to endorse the Act. If passed, the Act will completely reshape American politics and policy-making and give people a voice. See this Guest Blog at Greenpeace by Executive Director Josh Silver The $6 Billion Auction: Finally, A Plan to Get Money Out of Politics for more information!

SUPPORT THE TROOPS WHO REFUSE TO FIGHT See CourageToResist.org and Bradley Manning Support Network UPDATE! From the Bradley Manning Support Network Add your name! NY Times ad to declare: We are Bradley Manning On Thursday, July 25, the Bradley Manning Support Network intents to publish a full-page ad in The New York Times. The ad will feature a bold "WE ARE BRADLEY MANNING," with a field of names in the background--hopefully, yours included. We have about one week to raise the $52,000. By donating $100 to the ad, you will ensure your name is included!...... AND Update 7/12/13: Amnesty International: US must drop “aiding the enemy” charge PLUS Update 7/13/13: More events organized for July 27 worldwide call to action, Raging Grannies perform

DONATE YOUR OLD CELL PHONES TO T.J. MARTELL FOUNDATION Help save lives. Donate your old & used iPhone, Blackberries, Droid and other phones to help the T.J. Martell Foundations fund life-saving cancer & AIDS research. For more information, go to www.tjmartellfoundation.org CELLULAR PHONE TASK FORCE EDUCATION, ADVOCACY, SUPPORT at CellPhoneTaskForce.org The Cellular Phone Task Force is dedicated to halting the expansion of wireless technology because it cannot be made safe. We provide: education to the public concerning electromagnetic pollution (electrosmog); advocacy for an electromagnetically cleaner environment; support for individuals disabled by radiation from wireless technology and other sources.

B R I C K T E E V E E

The essential guide for watching government propaganda!
THEY report. YOU throw bricks.©
Get your Foam Bricks at ThrowThings.com HERE!
IRAQ: 4,486 US Military Dead as of April 21, 2012
AFGHANISTAN: 2,249 US Military Dead as of July 11, 2013
The Obameter: Tracking Obama's Campaign Promises
MOCKINGBIRD: The Subversion Of The Free Press By The CIA
Who Owns The Media? The 6 Monolithic Corporations That Control Almost Everything We Watch, Hear And Read

• This Week (ABC) Host George Stephanopoulos
  • former New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer on his decision to re-enter political life as he joins the race for New York City comptroller.
  • POLITICS ROUNDTABLE: Rep. Karen Bass, D-Calif.; Rep. Tom Cole, R-Okla.; Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah; and Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn.
  • ROUNDTABLE: Wall Street Journal editorial page editor Paul Gigot; Politico senior political reporter Maggie Haberman; New York Times Magazine chief national correspondent Mark Leibovich; and television and radio host Tavis Smiley.
  • Sunday Spotlight: ABC News’ Bob Woodruff is there as Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani girl shot last year for attending school, addresses a U.N. youth assembly on her 16th birthday to call for education access for all children.
  

  
  

• Face The Nation (CBS) Host Bob Schiefer
  • Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
  • Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart, R-Fla
  • Reps. Pete King, R-N.Y.
  • Mike Kelly, R-Pa.
  • Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill.
  

  
  

• 60 Minutes (CBS) Summer Reruns
  • Angel of Death - Serial killer nurse Charles Cullen confessed to as many as 40 murders, but some believe he killed many, many more patients over a 16-year career. The serial killer speaks to Steve Kroft in a two-part report. Graham Messick is the producer.
  • The Race to Save the Tortoise - Turtles and Tortoises have been roaming the planet for 200 million years, but now many of them are endangered by poachers who can sell some animals for as much as $60,000. Lesley Stahl reports from Madagascar. Andrew Metz is the producer.
  

  
  

• Meet the Press (NBC) Host David Gregory
  • Microsoft, NBC News Dissolve MSNBC.com Joint Venture NBC is buying Microsoft's 50 percent interest in the MSNBC website for an undisclosed amount. MSNBC.com will be rebranded as NBCNews.com, and readers who logged into MSNBC.com late Sunday were automatically redirected to NBCNews.com. Microsoft is preparing to launch its own news service this fall. Although he declined to provide many details about the operation general manager of MSN.com Bob Visse said the news staff will be about the same size as the roughly 100 people who created original content for the MSNBC.com. "There is no question that we are going to have more flexibility to make our own decisions," said Vivian Schiller, NBC News' chief digital officer. "This is really an amicable breakup. We think competition will make us better." Okay then.
  • Exclusive! Senate: Majority Leader Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV) & Minority Leader Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY)
  • Rep. Tom Cotton (R-AR).
  • ROUNDTABLE: Rich Lowry; Former Democratic Governor of New Mexico Bill Richardson; President of the Center for American Progress Neera Tanden; and Republican Strategist as well as former senior strategist to the McCain-Palin campaign Steve Schmidt.
  

  
  

• State of the Union With Candy Crowley (CNN) At 9 AM ET, Candy talks to the power players: politicians, business leaders and international newsmakers who will make Monday morning's headlines. At NOON ET, Candy wraps it all up with fresh interviews and the best of the earlier hours.
  • Governor Rick Perry (R-TX)
  • Governor Pat Quinn (D-IL)
  • Congressman Raul Grijalva and Congressman Chaka Fattah, members of the Congressional Black Caucus and Congressional Hispanic Caucus
  • Verdict in the George Zimmerman trial with NAACP President Ben Jealous
  

  
  

• HEAD ON RADIO with Bob Kincaid
  
  Headon Radio with Bob Kincaid 6 PM Eastern, 3 PM Pacific, 2300 GMT. Duration: 3 hrs. To be part of Conversation Radio on Head-on Radio, call toll-free (877) 443-2366, or use our Liberal community line at 304-658-3333. Email bob [at] headonradio [dot] com during the show!
  • FRONT PORCH FRIDAY!!!!! Pull up a chair and a cold one! Listen NOW HERE - Friday, July 12th, 2013 (mp3)! Keep Bob on the air HERE ya hear? Amen to the White Rose Society! Bob's show archives at the White Rose HERE! Donate to Head On HERE! And join Coal River Mountain Watch at www.crmw.net!
  

  
  

• YOUR GREEN NEWS REPORT With Brad Friedman & Desi Doyen!
  
  The Green News Report with Brad Friedman & Desi Doyen: 6 minutes of green news, politics, analysis & snarky comment! BOOKMARK greennews.bradblog.com NOW!
  • 'Green News Report' - July 11, 2013 IN TODAY'S RADIO REPORT: Greenpeace activists scale Shell Tower to protest Arctic drilling; US, China agree to cut emissions; Air pollution more deadly than thought; CNBC fails viewers...again; PLUS: Hell freezes over: Fox News reports on climate change?!?! ... All that and more in today's Green News Report!
  • IN 'GREEN NEWS EXTRA' (see link): Monsanto's GMO seeds lead to rise in insecticide use; Hansen: Fossil fuel addiction could trigger runaway global warming; Fukushima chief engineer dies of cancer; Exxon blames manufacturer for AR tar sands pipeline spill; BP appeals oil spill settlement; Climate activists can learn from LGBT marriage success; FP: Canada now a 'rogue petrostate'; Power plants linked to 78% drop in fish stocks ... PLUS: Funny: Can a Sharknado really happen? ... and much, MUCH more! ...
  • 'Green News Report' 7/9/13 Canadian oil train disaster; Record rains bury Toronto; U.S. State Dept. doesn't know Keystone XL route?!; GOP softening on EPA nom?; PLUS: Dutch solution to air pollution ...
  • BRADBLOG UPDATE! VIDEO! Hauled Off By TX Cops For Expressing Her Opinion at the State Legislature Texas woman testifies against Republicans' radical anti-abortion bill, is taken away in handcuffs as thanks...
  • THE BRADCAST! KPFK 'BradCast': FBI Whistleblower Rowley on Comey & Snowden 24-year FBI Special Agent and TIME's 2002 Person of the Year warns that FBI nominee Comey approved the worst of Bush policies, lauds NSA whistleblower Snowden...
  

  
  

• The Peter B. Collins Show PODCAST!
  
  Listen at PeterBCollins.com!
  The Peter B. Collins Show covers American news and politics from the Left Coast. Veteran talk radio personality Peter B. Collins, based in San Francisco, delivers fresh interviews, commentary and analysis on a range of important topics, with views and voices you don’t often find in the corporate media.
  • Holiday Break and Website Changes
  
  To my valued listeners: We are making some changes to the website and our terms, effective in January. We will continue to offer free podcasts–my new daily news and commentary. Our in-depth interviews will be available for $1 per episode, or to subscribers who pay $5 per month or more. Loyal listeners who simply can’t afford it should send an email to peter@peterbcollins.com, as we will be offering a limited number of scholarships to our friends who are hurting during these tough times. More information will be posted as we complete the revisions. I’m grateful to each of you for listening and supporting this work, and hope that the new model will enable us to keep it going well into the future. All the best, -pbc
  • Peter B Collins, Truthout | Op-Ed An Insider's View of the Progressive Talk Radio Devolution
  • PBC News & Comment July 9, 2013 PBC News & Comment: Senate Hearings Open for Comey FBI Nomination Obama’s nomination of Republican James Comey for 10-year FBI Director term is one of worst nominations of second term…
  • PBC News & Comment July 11, 2013 PBC News & Comment: Corporate Media Go Light on Manning Trial, Heavy on Zimmerman Trial Yesterday, the defense rested in both Manning court-martial and Zimmerman murder trial; which is more important to you?
  • PBC News & Comment July 12, 2013 PBC News & Comment: Snowden Seeks Temporary Asylum in Russia Snowden is a man without a country, and a passport; he agrees to Putin restrictions for staying in Russia, temporarily…..
  • PBC Standard Podcast July 11, 2013 Investigative Reporter Jason Leopold with the Latest on Guantanamo Hunger Strike and Court Rulings; Activist Cynthia Papermaster is on Hunger Strike in Solidarity with Gitmo and California Prisoners
  • PBC Standard Podcast July 12, 2013 Bradley Manning’s Defense: Reporter Kevin Gozstola Recaps the Latest from Fort Meade
  

  
  

• Ring of Fire Radio
  
  Find us at http://ringoffireradio.com and http://goleft.tv/ hosted by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Mike Papantonio and Sam Seder
  Ring of Fire Radio - GoLeft TV - Robert F. Kennedy, Mike Papantonio, Sam Seder - Politics, Commentary, and News.
  This Weekend on Ring of Fire Radio! Saturdays at 3 o’clock Eastern, rebroadcasts Sunday nights at 7 pm Eastern.
  • Author and historian Juan Cole will give us the latest on the civil unrest taking place in Egypt.
  • Author Jane McAlevey will discuss what needs to be done to create a strong labor movement in America.
  • Jonathan Rapping, the founder of Gideon’s Promise, will be here to talk about the need for public defenders, and why they are becoming so scarce.
  • And Roger Hickey from The Campaign for America’s Future will tell us why we need to abandon the discredited theory of austerity and push for real job growth.
  • NEW! This Week on Ring of Fire on Free Speech TV! Sundays at NOON!
  »» Farron Cousins fills in for Mike Papantonio this week.
  »» Coming up on today’s show, best-selling author Cliff Schecter will be here to talk about the scandals that Republicans tried to push against the president that backfired enormously.
  »» Corporate America is making a killing, literally, by peddling dangerous products to American consumers – attorneys Howard Nations and Peter Burg will bring you the details.
  »» Corporations are increasing their efforts to buy university scientists, and we’ll find out from investigative journalist Darwin BondGraham what this means for academic research.
  »» And the dirty energy industry is ramping up their efforts to prevent clean, renewable energy from becoming a reality – author Antonia Juhasz will tell us all about that.
  • VIDEO! THE HISTORY OF CORPORATE CORRUPTION & FRAUD with Robert Kennedy Jr & Mike Papantonio “Call us if you have a personal story about Fraud on Taxpayers or False Claims for Payment made by Corportations at 1-866-389-FIRE (3473) or contact us by email at info@ringoffireradio.com if you have evidence of fraud that robbed taxpayer dollars. If our government is paying too much due to fraud by a corporation, Ring of Fire wants to do a story on it.”
  • VIDEO! Papantonio: The Global Middle Class Revolt (VIDEO) The following interview originally aired on the July 7th, 2013 episode of Ring of Fire on Free Speech TV. All across the globe, corporations are taking advantage of the working class, but in many countries, workers are starting to fight back against corporate greed. Ring of Fire host Mike Papantonio talks about the global revolt of the middle class with investigative journalist Rick Outzen.
  • VIDEO! Papantonio: The Extinction of The Middle Class (VIDEO) The following interview originally aired on the July 7th, 2013 episode of Ring of Fire on Free Speech TV. America’s middle class has been squeezed by corporations to the point that they are disappearing. Wages have been slashed, benefits are gone, and healthcare costs are skyrocketing. Ring of Fire host Mike Papantonio talks about the extinction of the American middle class with attorneys Joe Cotchett and Dave Teselle.
  • Ring of Fire’s Weekly Rewind July 13, 2013 featuring the top stories from Ring of Fire from the past week.
  • Join our blog at www.ringoffireradio.com. You can now SUBSCRIBE TO OUR PODCAST by clicking on the "Podcast" tab at the top of the Ring of Fire blog. Please help support progressive radio by signing up! Ring of Fire Radio Ring of Fire, hosted by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Mike Papantonio and Sam Seder: Saturdays at 3 o’clock Eastern, rebroadcasts 7-10 et Sunday evenings on Chicago's Progressive Talk WCPT AM & FM and 4 pm et on Sirius/XM 167 featuring The PAP Attack! "We’ll bring you the stories that the mainstream media didn’t feel like reporting this week."

  
  

• Majority Report with Sam Seder Streaming LIVE weekdays 12 NOON et @ Majority.fm!
  
  • MONDAY 7/8/13 Steve Horn: Exxon Destroys Communities & The Natural Gas Scam
  • TUESDAY 7/9/13 FISA Court Creates Secret Law,The Establishment Hits Spitzer & More
  • WEDNESDAY 7/10/13 Sam Stein: Sequester Pushes Head Start Families To The Precipice
  • THURSDAY 7/11/13 Sarah Slamen: The Testimony TX Lawmakers Wouldn't Let Her Give & Dan Cantor: Working Families Party
  • FRIDAY 7/12/13 Casual Friday: Cliff Schecter & Film Guy Matthew Weiss
  • MORE Podcast Interviews at majorityfm.libsyn.com!
  

  
  

• KEISER REPORT Podcasts and more @ MaxKeiser.com!
  
  "HI Y'ALL! Tell the people! Tell the people!"
  WHO IS MAX KEISER? Max Keiser is a financial expert, Prediction Markets analyst, inventor and filmmaker. He is the creator of the Hollywood Stock Exchange (HSX) the first Prediction Market. Max Keiser co-hosts "The Truth About Markets" on ResonanceFM 104.4 in London. He also produces and presents documentary films covering markets and finance for Al Jazeera’s "People & Power" series. Max Keiser started his career on Wall Street in 1983. He is the creator of KarmaBanque a site that enables activists to challenge corporate power.
  • VISIT PirateMyFilm.com!!! Crowd Funding for Pirates!
  • MaxKeiserTV on YouTube! MaxKeiserTV
  • KEISER REPORT ON FACEBOOK STACY SUMMARY: For once and for all, here are our real Facebook pages, the other ones are fake. But if you feel like chatting to the fake ones, by all means, go ahead.
  »» Max Keiser
  »» Keiser Report
  »» Stacey Herbert
  • The Federal Reserve 100th Anniversary Road Show Spectacular! by alexschaefer - Paint Provocateur Alex Schaefer wants to say “Happy Birthday, Federal Reserve!’ You made it to 100 years of conducting the nation’s monetary policy! Since mainstream media didn’t send a card, a painter, a protestor, a filmmaker, a freedom fighter and a mad crew are going on a road trip across the USA to visit all twelve of your branches to help you celebrate! Come rain or monkey shines, they are on a mission to throw the birthday party nightmares are made of. A party to highlight the historic END of the original 100 year charter the Federal Reserve Bank has with the U.S. Government December 23rd, 2013! CLICK HERE FOR THE CROWDFUNDING CAMPAIGN & HELP GET THE SHOW ON THE ROAD! Lots of great donation perks, all original works of art by Alex Schaefer and Cain Motter! This is a great way to collect some art AND help fund this amazing journey and film. It’s a win-win situation! Let’s some history and shake things up around here!
  • Is Barrett Brown a political prisoner of the information revolution? by Stacy Herbert - Stacy Summary: Opinion piece in the Guardian today. Your thoughts? READ Barrett Brown, political prisoner of the information revolution
  • Assange: How cryptography is a key weapon in the fight against empire states by maxkeiser - READ What began as a means of retaining individual freedom can now be used by smaller states to fend off the ambitions of larger ones
  • GOLD Data & Infographic!! Comparing COMEX and the Shanghai Gold Exchange by Stacy Herbert - Stacy Summary: The Real Asset Company has this great report out about the Shanghai Gold Exchange. I’d read it asap, especially if you’re considering selling your gold!! We’ll be interviewing Jan Skoyles for Tuesday’s episode of the Keiser Report, so if you have questions for her, post them below.
  • KEISER REPORT [KR468] Keiser Report: Fight on salary men, fight on! We discuss the salary men foot soldiers in the financial war who refuse to surrender hope for an increase in allowance and the financial cannon fodder, like small businesses in Italy, who are sent to the front lines to be destroyed by the generals’ bad debts and the deflation caused by ever expanding quantitative easing type policies. In the second half, Max talks to Ian Williams of Charteris Treasury about the precious metals bull market and the beginning of the bear market in bonds and what this means for the banks that hold these bonds.
  • KEISER REPORT [KR469] Keiser Report: Facing New Peasant Revolt We discuss the puffery behind politics and finance that has spawned a generation unable to see or understand the world around them, a world in which the chief economist of a major bank is warning we are on the eve of a new Peasants’ Revolt. In the second half, Max talks to Professor Yanis Varoufakis about the latest in the Greek bailout saga, the collapsing German export market and what the future holds for Italy.
  • KEISER REPORT [KR470] Keiser Report: Real Estate Auschwitz of Our Day We discuss the Anonymous Analytics take on Corrections Corporation of America (CCA), a ‘real estate investment trust’ which happens to incarcerate huge swathes of the population in these real estate holdings, i.e., a gulag. Anonymous, however, reckons that, as states reverse harsh drug laws, CCA could be a good company to sell. In the second half, Max talks to Reggie Middleton of BoomBustBlog.com about Google Glass, Irish banks and the psychology of populations accepting financial fraud from the elite.
  • THE TRUTH ABOUT MARKETS [TaM-1284] The Truth About the Lockbox of Thought Stacy Summary: The Truth About Markets for 06 July 2013. We talk about the bond market, the surveillance state and more. Download show HERE (mp3)
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• The Scott Horton Radio Show
  
  Scott Horton is host of Antiwar Radio on Pacifica 90.7 FM KPFK in Los Angeles and KUCR 88.3 in Riverside, and the Scott Horton Show on No Agenda Radio. (You can listen live Monday through Friday, excluding Thursday, from 12-2 PM Eastern HERE.) Plenty of archives too!
  • Scott Horton Radio Show 7/12/13 Marcy Wheeler: Blogger Marcy Wheeler discusses the semantic arguments on whether the NSA’s PRISM program allows direct access to tech companies’ private customer data (per Glenn Greenwald and Edward Snowden); the value of government spying for blackmailing people to work as informants; and why nobody should rely on Microsoft for encrypted communications.
  • Scott Horton Radio Show 7/12/13 Coleen Rowley: FBI whistleblower Coleen Rowley discusses the Chechen connection between “20th hijacker” Zacarias Moussaoui and the Boston bombers; how 9/11 could have been prevented if government agency heads were just doing their jobs; and the many reasons why James Comey should be in prison instead of being nominated for FBI director.
  • Scott Horton Radio Show 7/12/13 Gareth Porter: Historian and journalist Gareth Porter discusses FBI director nominee James Comey’s political decision to prosecute Iranian-backed Hezbollah instead of Al Qaeda for the 1996 Khobar Towers attack; how bureaucratic self-interest trumps national security priorities; President Clinton’s decision to let Martin Indyk hijack US foreign policy for Israel’s benefit; and Alberto Nisman’s charge that Iran was linked to the contrived 2007 JFK Airport bombing plot.
  • SCOTT HORTON July 5, 2012: Scott says goodbye to Antiwar.com. Scott Horton is the former host of Antiwar Radio. Visit his blog Stress. Due to budget cuts Scott lost his gig at AntiWarRadio.com! Whoa! See ScottHortonShow.com for archives! Send emails to Scott at scotthorton.org to help Scott keep his podcast going!
  • Older interviews at Antiwar Radio!
  

  
  

• fauxnews
  • Rep Steve King (R-IA)
  • Rep Steve Israel (D-NY)
  • Rep. Michael McCaul Chairman of the House’s Homeland Security Committee (R-TX)
  

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