Tag Archives: Obama
FIRE FOX CALLS FOR OBAMA TO REVEAL EXTENT ON US CITIZEN SPYING BY NSA
Fire Fox the famous web browser created by Mozilla and independent developers around the world, are calling on congress to force Obama to reveal the depth of the US government spying on it’s own people.
This strikes at the core of what the US stands for.
Angela Merkel of Germany during the G8 also expressed great concern for the “Chicago Gangland” style politics being levied against the American People including the IRS targeting and punishing conservatives for fundraising for conservative politicians.
NSA IS COLLECTING EVERYONE’S DATA, EMAIL, PHONE CONVERSATIONS, BANKING INFORMATION, WEB SEARCHES, GPS POSITIONS ETC.
Edward Snowden: the whistleblower behind the NSA surveillance revelations
The 29-year-old source behind the biggest intelligence leak in the NSA’s history explains his motives, his uncertain future and why he never intended on hiding in the shadows.
The individual responsible for one of the most significant leaks in US political history is Edward Snowden, a 29-year-old former technical assistant for the CIA and current employee of the defence contractor Booz Allen Hamilton. Snowden has been working at the National Security Agency for the last four years as an employee of various outside contractors, including Booz Allen and Dell.
He is deeply worried about being spied on. He lines the door of his hotel room with pillows to prevent eavesdropping. He puts a large red hood over his head and laptop when entering his passwords to prevent any hidden cameras from detecting them.
Though that may sound like paranoia to some, Snowden has good reason for such fears. He worked in the US intelligence world for almost a decade. He knows that the biggest and most secretive surveillance organisation in America, the NSA, along with the most powerful government on the planet, is looking for him.
Over the next three years, he learned just how all-consuming the NSA’s surveillance activities were, claiming “they are intent on making every conversation and every form of behaviour in the world known to them”.
But he believed that the value of the internet, along with basic privacy, is being rapidly destroyed by ubiquitous surveillance. “I don’t see myself as a hero,” he said, “because what I’m doing is self-interested: I don’t want to live in a world where there’s no privacy and therefore no room for intellectual exploration and creativity.”
Once he reached the conclusion that the NSA’s surveillance net would soon be irrevocable, he said it was just a matter of time before he chose to act. “What they’re doing” poses “an existential threat to democracy”, he said.
“The government has granted itself power it is not entitled to. There is no public oversight. The result is people like myself have the latitude to go further than they are allowed to,” he said.
He lay, propped up against pillows, watching CNN’s Wolf Blitzer ask a discussion panel about government intrusion if they had any idea who the leaker was. From 8,000 miles away, the leaker looked on impassively, not even indulging in a wry smile.
VERIZON TURNS OVER BILLIONS OF US PHONE CALL DATA TO OBAMA ADMINISTRATION
The UK Guardian Newspaper published a story yesterday disclosing that US telephone communications giant VERIZON received a top secret court order dated 25th April, to collect the ‘metadata’ of its customers. The court order demands that “an electronic copy of the following tangible things” be made and handed over to the FBI.
The Court Order demanded that Verizon submit “All call detail records” or “telephony metadata” (i) Between the United States and abroad; or (ii) Wholly within the United States, including local telephone calls”.
Metadata is classified as basically everything about the call except the contents of the call itself, including phone numbers of both parties involved, their location and call duration etc.
The Court Order is made under the Patriot Act, 50 USC section 1861 which refers to “business records” and states that the records should be obtained “on an ongoing daily basis thereafter for the duration the order” which lasts for three months from April and will finish on 19th July, 2013.
The Order is deemed to be Top Secret and states: “It is further ordered that no person shall disclose to any other person that the FBI or NSA has sought or obtained tangible things under this order.”
Two US Senators, Ron Wyden and Mark Udall have warned the American people ‘about the scope of the Obama administration’s surveillance activities,’ saying that the public would be ‘stunned’ by the methods of domestic spying. Their letter to Attorney General Eric Holder said “there is now a significant gap between what most Americans think the law allows and what the government secretly claims the law allows.”
Julia Sanchez who is a surveillance expert with the Cato Institute said “vacuuming all metadata up indiscriminately would be an extraordinary repudiation of any pretense of constraint or particularized suspicion,” and yet this is exactly what the order is demanding.
CHEMICAL WEAPONS HAVE BEEN DEPLOYED IN SYRIA
The deadly civil war in Syria has taken a turn for the worse with a chemical weapons attack on a southern suburb of Aleppo. The regime have blamed rebels for the attack which has left 25 dead, and many suffering from breathing problems. Russia has also said that it has seen evidence that rebels were responsible for the attack.
However, rebel forces have said they lack the capabilities to deploy chemical weapons, blaming the regime. Western nations have been skeptical of reports that rebels carried out the attack.
With White House spokesman Jay Carney saying, “We are deeply skeptical of a regime that has lost all credibility and we would also warn the regime against making these kinds of charges as any kind of pretext or cover for its use of chemical weapons.”
President Obama has previously warned the Syrian regime against deploying chemical weapons, saying it was a “red line” that could lead to US intervention.
A Reuters photographer in the area has spoken of smelling chlorine in the air after the attack, saying “I saw mostly women and children. They said that people were suffocating in the streets and the air smelt strongly of chlorine.”
PRESIDENT HAS AUTHORITY TO KILL US CITIZENS ON AMERICAN SOIL SAYS HOLDER
Attorney General, Eric Holder, has said that the President has authority to kill US citizens on American soil using unmanned drones, in “extraordinary circumstances”, like those on 9/11.
President Obama has been critized for his use of “targeted killing” of al-Qaeda suspects overseas. Targeted killing uses unmanned drones to take out individuals who pose a serious threat to US security. The government has used targeted killing to assassinate US citizens in Pakistan and Yemen. Critics argue that targeted killing of al Qaeda suspects has left between 474 and 881 civilians dead, including around 174 children.
Republican Senator Rand Paul has described the latest revelations as “more than frightening”, saying, “It is an affront the constitutional due process rights of all Americans.”
Mr Paul has demanded that the Obama administration clarify it’s position on the subject.
Read More: The Telegraph
PRESIDENT OBAMA’S POLICIES ATTACKED BY LEADING PAEDIATRIC NEUROSURGEON DURING SPEECH AT NATIONAL PRAYER BREAKFAST
Until this week not many had heard of Dr Benjamin Carson. Dr Carson is a world leader in the field of paediatric neurosurgery, he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Honor by President George W Bush in 2008, and in January was invited to speak at the National Prayer Breakfast, in front of the President and Vice President.
Dr Carson’s speech was a warning to America and the President. He drew parallels between the fall of Ancient Rome and modern day America. Explaining that Rome fell because of moral decay and poor fiscal controls, and arguing the same is happening in America today.
Dr Carson championed education, and the need for healthcare reform, attacking Obamacare. He addressed the ballooning US debt, calling for a flat tax rate to be introduced, to stimulate the economy.
It may be unlikely the President will take Dr Carson’s advise, but he is now being named by Republicans as a future Presidential candidate.
2009: WHITE HOUSE — ‘WE CONTROL NEWS MEDIA’
Shocking confession offered by Obama administration to foreign government…four years ago, the White House communications director disclosed that Obama’s presidential campaign focused on “making” media cover certain issues while rarely communicating anything to the press unless it was “controlled.”
Read more:
OBAMA ADMIN. CALLS ON SUPREME COURT TO STRIKE DOWN DEFENSE OF MARRIAGE ACT
The Blaze.com reported that the Obama administration on Friday formally urged the Supreme Court to strike down the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) defining marriage as between a man and a woman.
In a brief filed Friday evening, Solicitor General Donald Verrilli argued that DOMA’s section three, which bars married same-sex couples from filing joint federal tax returns and other federal spousal benefits, is unconstitutional:
Section 3 of DOMA violates the fundamental constitutional guarantee of equal protection. The law denies to tens of thousands of same-sex couples who are legally married under state law an array of important federal benefits that are available to legally married opposite-sex couples. Because this discrimination cannot be justified as substantially furthering any important governmental interest, Section 3 is unconstitutional.
“THE GUN LEGISLATION THEY ARE CLOSE TO PASSING, IS A PATH TO CONFISCATION.”
Ex-Secret Service Agent “There is no gun control, only people control”
The Blaze.com reported that Dan Bongino lost his race for the U.S. Senate last Fall and the former Secret Service agent was finally closing up shop on his campaign offices when his phone started ringing like crazy. Television and radio shows were calling to ask Dan if he was free… free to talk about this brief speech he gave on January 19th at a Guns Across America rally in Annapolis Maryland.
2013: EXPECT A RAFT OF NEW ENVIRONMENTAL REGULATIONS
Obama’s Environmental Regulation
During his first term, President Obama was widely critized for the number of new regulations which were introduced. Critics attacked the President for introducing regulations that were hampering business and costing jobs.
However, the President is set to introduce even more regulation in 2013. A report released by the U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works Minority Committee, has listed many more Enterprise Prevention Agenda regulations to be passed this year. The reported entitled “A Look Ahead to EPA Regulations for 2013: Numerous Obama EPA Rules Placed on Hold Until After the Election Spell Doom For Jobs and Economic Growth” numerates additional restrictions on greenhouse gas emissions, tougher water guidelines and tightening of the ozone standard. The report explains that these measures would push up taxes for businesses and individuals, as well as cost jobs.
Many environmental groups had hoped Obama would have done more in his first term to help green issues, but President Obama’s former climate czar Carol Browner told several green groups not to worry because “President Obama has a big green ‘to-do’ list for 2013 so they’ll get what they want.”
Read More: Forbes
AS FISCAL CLIFF FAST APPROACHES STILL NO DEAL
As the fiscal cliff deadline fast approaches there are still significant differences between law makers on Capitol Hill. It had been hoped that negotiators would have a deal ready to be voted on over the weekend, but this failed to materialize.
Democrats were unhappy about Republican plans to change the way benefits are calculated, leading to a gradual reduction in benefit payments; whereas Republicans were angered that the President’s plans appeared to use increased tax hikes in new spending plans.
“The biggest obstacle we face is that President Obama and Majority Leader Reid continue to insist on new taxes that will be used to fund more new spending, not for meaningful deficit reduction,” said Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions, the ranking Republican on the Senate Budget Committee.
If a deal is not ready to be voted on, the President has told Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid to present a bare bones plan to be voted on. This will see tax increases on families making more than $250,000 and extend unemployment insurance.
Wall Street traders are bracing themselves for volatility in the markets as the uncertainty increases.
Read more: FOXNEWS
OLIVER STONE TO RT: ‘US HAS BECOME AN ORWELLIAN STATE’
Americans are living in an Orwellian state argue Academy Award-winning director Oliver Stone and historian Peter Kuznick, as they sit down with RT to discuss US foreign policy and the Obama administration’s disregard for the rule of law.
“Obama was a great hope for change”
RT: It took both of you almost five years to produce this series. And in it you have a chapter called Obama: Management of a Wounded Empire. You give a harsh critique of the Obama administration. What in your eyes has been the most troubling aspect of his presidency, Oliver?
Oliver Stone: I think under the disguise of sheep’s clothing he has been a wolf. That because of the nightmare of the Bush presidency that preceded him, people forgave him a lot. He was a great hope for change. The color of his skin, the upbringing, the internationalism, the globalism, seemed all evident. And he is an intelligent man. He has taken all the Bush changes he basically put them into the establishment, he has codified them. That is what is sad. So we are going into the second administration that is living outside the law and does not respect the law and foundations of our system and he is a constitutional lawyer, you know. Without the law, it is the law of the jungle. Nuremburg existed for a reason and there was a reason to have trials, there is a reason for due process – ‘habeas corpus’ as they call it in the United States.
OBAMA PLANS NEW GUN CONTROL POLICY TO BE READY BY JANUARY
President Obama hopes to have a set of recommendations ready to address gun law reform by January. The President has gathered together a team comprising of cabinet members as well as outside agencies.
“This is not some Washington commission. This is not something where folks are going to be studying the issue for six months and publishing a report that gets read and then pushed aside,” Obama said. “This is a team that has a very specific task to pull together real reforms right now.”
The team is to be headed up by Vice-President Joe Biden.
The President has already made it clear he is in favor of banning assault rifles.
“A majority of Americans support banning the sale of military-style assault weapons. A majority of Americans support banning the sale of high-capacity ammunition clips. A majority of Americans support laws requiring background checks before all gun purchases so that criminals can’t take advantage of legal loopholes to buy a gun from somebody who won’t take the responsibility of doing a background check at all,” Obama said.
“I urge the new Congress to hold votes on these measures next year in a timely manner. And considering Congress hasn’t confirmed a director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms in six years — the agency that works most closely with state and local law enforcement to keep illegal guns out of the hands of criminals — I’d suggest that they make this a priority early in the year.”
Democratic Senator Diane Feinstein has also said she will re-introduce legislation that expired in 2004, which banned assault weapons. Sen. Feinstein has been a long term campaigner for gun law reform.
Read More at CNN: Obama Proposals to address gun violence due by January