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Monday December 30, 2013
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*Inside TAO: Documents Reveal Top NSA Hacking Unit
Der Spiegel | Staff | 12/30/13

The NSA's TAO hacking unit is considered to be the intelligence agency's top secret weapon. It maintains its own covert network, infiltrates computers around the world and even intercepts shipping deliveries to plant back doors in electronics ordered by those it is targeting.

In 2005, the agency took over a former Sony computer chip plant in the western part of the city. A brisk pace of construction commenced inside this enormous compound. The acquisition of the former chip factory at Sony Place was part of a massive expansion the agency began after the events of Sept. 11, 2001.

One of the two main buildings at the former plant has since housed a sophisticated NSA unit, one that has benefited the most from this expansion and has grown the fastest in recent years -- the Office of Tailored Access Operations, or TAO. This is the NSA's top operative unit -- something like a squad of plumbers that can be called in when normal access to a target is blocked.

According to internal NSA documents viewed by SPIEGEL, these on-call digital plumbers are involved in many sensitive operations conducted by American intelligence agencies. TAO's area of operations ranges from counterterrorism to cyber attacks to traditional espionage. The documents reveal just how diversified the tools at TAO's disposal have become -- and also how it exploits the technical weaknesses of the IT industry, from Microsoft to Cisco and Huawei, to carry out its discreet and efficient attacks. ... Read more

*NSA's Secret Toolbox: Unit Offers Spy Gadgets for Every Need
Der Spiegel | Staff | 12/30/13

The NSA has a secret unit that produces special equipment ranging from spyware for computers and cell phones to listening posts and USB sticks that work as bugging devices. Here are some excerpts from the intelligence agency's own catalog.

When agents with the NSA's Tailored Access Operations (TAO) division want to infiltrate a network or a computer, they turn to their technical experts. This particular unit of the United States intelligence service is known internally as ANT. The acronym presumably stands for Advanced Network Technology, because that's what the division produces -- tools for penetrating network equipment and monitoring mobile phones and computers. ANT's products help TAO agents infiltrate networks and divert or even modify data wherever the NSA's usual methods won't suffice. You can read more about the TAO division, its strengths and tricks in a SPIEGEL feature that was published in English on Sunday. ... Read more

*REVISIT | Who's Pulling the Strings?
Bill Moyers | staff | 10/11/13

A lot of press coverage has focused on the relatively small group of lawmakers, many of them tea party endorsed backbenchers, who pushed their leadership into shutting down the government in a desperate last-gasp effort to kill off Obamacare.

But how does that work? Why can a cabal of hard-right legislators tell their party's leadership what to do? Why doesn't the rest of the Republican caucus stop them? The answer is that in the wake of the Supreme Court's Citizens United decision a well-funded network of conservative groups has arisen that has the ability to make the lives of Republicans who seek compromise very, very difficult.

Legislators are hesitant to cross these enforcers, fearing primary challengers from the right, or grassroots tea party activists flooding their offices with angry calls. Here's a look at some of the key players behind the scenes (above) and some of the key lawmakers in front of the cameras (below). Roll over the heads to learn more about each player. Read more

*REVISIT | Is Your State Legislator a Member of ALEC?
Bill Moyers | Theresa Riley | 10/28/13

Many of the laws that affect us most directly -- from taxes to marriage equality to voter ID -- are made at the state level. The idea that change begins with the states is one of the founding principles of the American Legislative Exchange Council, or ALEC. In state houses around the country, hundreds of ALEC "model laws" are proposed or enacted that would, among other things, dilute collective bargaining rights, make it harder for some Americans to vote and limit corporate liability for harm caused to consumers. ... Read more
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Is Your State Legislator an ALEC Member?

*REVISIT | The Day That TV News Died
Bill Moyers | Chris Hedges | 03/25/13

I am not sure exactly when the death of television news took place. The descent was gradual -- a slide into the tawdry, the trivial and the inane, into the charade on cable news channels such as Fox and MSNBC in which hosts hold up corporate political puppets to laud or ridicule, and treat celebrity foibles as legitimate news. But if I had to pick a date when commercial television decided amassing corporate money and providing entertainment were its central mission, when it consciously chose to become a carnival act, it would probably be Feb. 25, 2003, when MSNBC took Phil Donahue off the air because of his opposition to the calls for war in Iraq. ... Read more



DemocracyNow Daily News
Democracy Now! U.S. and World News Headlines for Monday, December 30 [13:04]
*DN | NSA, Orwellian or a Blunt Tool?: Conflicting Rulings on NSA Spying Set Up Likely Supreme Court Showdown (12/30/13) [12:30], Part 2 [27:24]
The German publication Der Spiegel has revealed new details about a secretive hacking unit inside the National Security Agency called the Office of Tailored Access Operations, or TAO. The unit was created in 1997 to hack into global communications traffic. Hackers inside the TAO have developed a way to break into computers running Microsoft Windows by gaining passive access to machines when users report program crashes to Microsoft. In addition, with help from the CIA and FBI, the NSA has the ability to intercept computers and other electronic accessories purchased online in order to secretly insert spyware and components that can provide backdoor access for the intelligence agencies. American Civil Liberties Union Deputy Legal Director Jameel Jaffer and journalist Glenn Greenwald join us to discuss the latest revelations, along with the future of Edward Snowden, who has recently offered to assist U.S. targets Germany and Brazil with their respective probes into NSA spying.
DN | Jobless Benefits Cut For 1.3 Million, Despite Highest Long-term Unemployment Since World War II (12/30/13) [6:14]
CBS Face-the-Nation | Whistleblower | NSA
*CBS Face the Nation | Whistleblower Edward Snowden defies labels (12/29/13) [47:44]
Former government contractor Edward Snowden, who has divulged significant information on the operations of the National Security Administration, continues to inspire anger from top government officials and admiration from advocates of transparency who say he has sparked necessary changes. And with two judges recently reaching conflicting conclusions on the legality of the NSA methods he revealed back in May, that debate is unlikely to end anytime soon.
Bill Moyers
*Bill Moyers | Thomas Cahill on the People's Pope (12/27/13) [17:27]
In just a few months, Pope Francis has proven to be one of the most outspoken pontiffs in recent history, especially when it comes to poverty and income inequality. In a message to be sent to world leaders marking the Roman Catholic Church's World Day of Peace on January 1, he criticized the "widening gap between those who have more and those who must be content with the crumbs."
60 Minutes
60 Minutes | Going to Extremes, "Birdmen" who soar off cliffs in wingsuits (12/29/13) [43:18]
"Birdmen" who soar off cliffs in wingsuits; filmmakers who use "spy-cams" to show wildlife up close; and, researchers who get in the water with man-eating Nile crocodiles. They're all on "60 Minutes Presents: Going to Extremes,"
Fukushima
Fukushima Daiichi - Nuclear GE Power Plant Whistleblower (12/28/13) [9:19]
War Plan Red: America's Planned War on Britain
*War Plan Red: America's Planned War on Britain [45:03]
War Plan Red, an American strategy to make war on Great Britain. It was conceived in the late 1920s and developed throughout the next decade, including the idea to build air bases capable of bombing cities in the British dominion of Canada, where the US top brass intended the conflict to take place. The plan was officially withdrawn in 1939, with the outbreak of the Second World War, although it was not declassified until 1974.
Movie Making
GRAVITY Extended Trailer (2013) [5:38]
'Gravity' Behind-the-Scenes Featurette Takes Audiences From Script to Screen (12/23/13) [5:47]
Discover Politics in Your State
Discover Politics in Your State
Prof. Antony Sutton & Prof. Carroll Quigley

*Financial Crisis | Economist | Bank | Central Banks | World Bank & BIS | Quants & HST
Financial Crisis
Meltdown (all 4 parts) (04/04/12) [2:49:15]
Simon Johnson | The Wall Street Takeover and the Next Financial Meltdown (05/05/11) [1:29:11]
Economist
BBC | Masters Of Money - Part 1 - John Keynes (2012) [59:06]
BBC | Masters Of Money - Part 2 - Friedrich Hayek (2012) [58:23]
BBC | Masters Of Money - Part 3 - Karl Marx (2012) [58:49]
Banks
Four Horseman of the Banking Cartel. They rule the World. (2013) [51:05]
BBC | The Fall of Lehman Brothers () [59:05]
BBC | The Love Of Money Episode 1/3 The Bank That Bust The World () [59:30]
BBC | The Love Of Money Episode 3/3 Back From The Brink () [59:27]
BBC | RBS - Inside The Bank That Ran Out Of Money () [58:58]
Central Banks - BIS
The International Banking Cartel [1:05:03]
Federal Reserve Bank and International Bankers Exposed [47:22]
Eight Families: Big Oil & Their Bankers (article)
Joan Veon | When Central Banks Rule the World [1:20:00]
Is the One-World Government Coming? - Joan Veon (06/20/11) [50:07]
Lots of Joan Veon's articles (good)
John Perkins - Economic Hit Man
John Perkins - Hit Men, Jackals, and the Truth about Global Corruption 2008 [43:07]
John Perkins "Confessions of an Economic Hitman"Extended Interview 2008 [1:08:38]
John Perkins - The Secret History of the American Empire 2008 [1:24:23]
World Bank
Stone | Karen Hudes Arrested at the World Bank for Whistleblowing (08/30/13) [4:22]
Project Camelot | Interview With Karen Hudes - World Bank Whistleblower (08/30/13) [1:56:21]
Karen Hudes: World Bank Whistleblower makes Startling Confession (10/17/13) [23:44]

John Pilger | IMF & World Bank are weapons of war () [21:21]
Quants | Code | HST
Quants: The Alchemists of Wall Street () [47:50]
The Wall Street Code () [50:30]
Masters of the Universe | Elites
Professor Antony Sutton
Antony Sutton | Socialism - A Tool of the Capitalist Elite [44:21]
Antony Sutton | Wall Street, Nazis & the Bolshevik Revolution [40:00]
Antony Sutton | The Best Enemies Money Can Buy [53:03]
Antony Sutton | The Jesuit Order of Skull and Bones [31:58]
Wall Street and the Bolshevik Revolution (book)
Wall Street and the Rise of Hitler by Antony C. Sutton (book)
Wall Street and the Bolshevik Revolution by Antony C. Sutton (book)
Professor Carroll Quigley
Carroll Quigley on Tragedy And Hope [59:01]
Carroll Quigley | Western Civilization, Part 1 [48:41], Part 2 [51:01], Part 3 [59:01], Part 4 [53:11], Part 5, Part 6 Part 7
Other
The Deal 2005 [1:47:45]

Nuclear Industry

National Security

Other Videos and Documentaries
Capitalist Imperialism
Noam Chomsky, American Imperialism [1:51:53]
War Plan Red: America's Planned War on Britain [45:03]
War Plan Red, an American strategy to make war on Great Britain. It was conceived in the late 1920s and developed throughout the next decade, including the idea to build air bases capable of bombing cities in the British dominion of Canada, where the US top brass intended the conflict to take place. The plan was officially withdrawn in 1939, with the outbreak of the Second World War, although it was not declassified until 1974.
Communist Imperialism
CIA Propaganda | Communist Imperialism_CIA Documentary on the History of Communism (1961) [34:28]
CIA Propaganda | The Bloody History of China - CIA Cold War Documentary on a Communist [1:17:54]
Mao Zedong and China's Cultural Revolution [45:44]
Mao's Great Famine: great leap foward, history of china [52:26]
"Karl Marx Was Right" [1:43:27]
Hiroshima
HC | Hiroshima [49:42]
Sikh - Operation Blue Star 1984
BBC | Sikh: Operation Blue Star 1984 [59:16]

12.30.2013. 14:13



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Lindsey Graham Mashups
Lindsey Graham

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) said the quiet part aloud on why he’s still so close to former President Donald Trump: because we can use him for our goals. "President Trump has gotten people who wouldn't give me or Romney or anybody else the time of day. They believe he is on their side," the senator told the America First Agenda Summit crowd on Tuesday in Washington, D.C.

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Environment & Climate Change
Environment

The term "climate change" is often used to refer specifically to anthropogenic climate change (also known as global warming). Anthropogenic climate change is caused by human activity, as opposed to changes in climate that may have resulted as part of Earth's natural processes.

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AI - Artificial Intelligence | Machine Learning | Deep Learning
AI - Artificial Intelligence

AIArtificial intelligence (AI) is intelligence demonstrated by machines, as opposed to the natural intelligence displayed by animals including humans. AI research has been defined as the field of study of intelligent agents, which refers to any system that perceives its environment and takes actions that maximize its chance of achieving its goals.

The term "artificial intelligence" had previously been used to describe machines that mimic and display "human" cognitive skills that are associated with the human mind, such as "learning" and "problem-solving". This definition has since been rejected by major AI researchers who now describe AI in terms of rationality and acting rationally, which does not limit how intelligence can be articulated.
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Quantum mechanics | AI - Artificial Intelligence
Quantum mechanics

Quantum mechanics is a fundamental theory in physics that provides a description of the physical properties of nature at the scale of atoms and subatomic particles.  It is the foundation of all quantum physics including quantum chemistry, quantum field theory, quantum technology, and quantum information science.
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Economy, Wall Street and Banksters

Wall Street and Banksters

Wall Street is an eight-block-long street running roughly northwest to southeast from Broadway to South Street, at the East River, in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. Over time, the term has become a metonym for the financial markets of the United States as a whole, the American financial services industry (even if financial firms are not physically located there), or New York-based financial interests.

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Intelligence Agencies/Deep State?

Intelligence Agencies/Deep State?

An intelligence agency is a government agency responsible for the collection, analysis, and exploitation of information in support of law enforcement, national security, military, and foreign policy objectives. Means of information gathering are both overt and covert and may include espionage, communication interception, cryptanalysis,.

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Daniel Ellsberg | Pentagon Papers
Daniel Ellsberg

Daniel Ellsberg and Paul Jay explore Ellsberg's latest book, The Doomsday Machine: Confessions of a Nuclear War Planner. In the introduction to the book, Ellsberg writes: "No policies in human history have more deserved to be recognized as immoral or insane. The story of how this calamitous predicament came about and how and why it has persisted over a half a century is a chronicle of human madness".

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Nukes
Nukes

Nuclear weapons have come a long way and come in all types of different sizes. Some are relatively small while others are enormous, so big they boggle the mind at what they can be capable of, i.e. the Soviet 'Tsar Bomba' is/was 3,000 times greater than the Hiroshima bomb.

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Rana Foroohar and Fall of American Business
Rana Foroohar

Ms. Foroohar says financialization delivers stagnant wages, inequality and economic crisis; the Financial Times columnist and author of "Makers and Takers" says the financial sector represents only 7 percent of the U.S. economy, but takes around 25 percent of all corporate profit while creating only 4 percent of all jobs.

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The Untold History of the United States by Oliver Stone & Petere Kuznick

The Untold History of the United States by Oliver Stone & Petere Kuznick | 2014 | 10 Episodes

Oliver Stone and American University historian Peter J. Kuznick began working on the project in 2008. Stone, Kuznick and British screenwriter Matt Graham cowrote the script. It covers "the reasons behind the Cold War with the Soviet Union, U.S. President Harry Truman's decision to drop the atomic bomb on Japan, and changes in America's global role since the fall of Communism." Stone is the director and narrator of all ten episodes.

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Kuznick Interviews

Kuznick Interviews

Historian Peter Kuznick says Eisenhower called for decreased militarization, then Dulles reversed the policy; the Soviets tried to end the cold war after the death of Stalin; crazy schemes involving nuclear weapons and the Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba put the world of the eve of destruction - with host Paul Jay

The Untold History of the United States by Kuznick, Peter.mobi | Book | 6.99 MB

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China Valley of Tunnels

China Valley of Tunnels

A report written by a Georgetown University team led by Phillip Karber conducted a three-year study to map out China’s complex tunnel system, which stretches 5,000 km (3,000 miles). The report determined that the stated Chinese nuclear arsenal is understated and as many as 3,000 nuclear warheads may be stored in the underground tunnel network.

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911
911

On September 11, 2001, 19 terrorists attacked the Unites States. They hijacked four airplanes in mid-flight. The terrorists flew two of the planes into two skyscrapers at the World Trade Center in New York City. The impact caused the buildings to catch fire and collapse. Another plane destroyed part of the Pentagon (the U.S. military headquarters) in Arlington, Virginia. The fourth plane crashed in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. Officials believe that the terrorists on that plane intended to destroy either the White House or the U.S. Capitol. Passengers on the plane fought the terrorists and prevented them from reaching their goal. In all, nearly 3,000 people were killed in the 9/11 attacks.

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The Vietnam War

The Vietnam War

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Trump's Mashups
Trump's Mashups

Donald Trump talks a lot, but what is he actually saying? VICE News' "Trump Talk" mashup series tries to answer that. And, we're happy to say, it was just nominated for two Webby Awards. Now you can watch all the nominated videos.

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Trump's Sexcapades
Trump's Sexcapades.

Jessica Leeds (1980s)
Kristin Anderson (1990s)
E. Jean Carroll (1995 or 1996)
Lisa Boyne (1996)
Cathy Heller (1997)
Temple Taggart McDowell (1997)
Karena Virginia (1998)
Mindy McGillivray (2003)
Jennifer Murphy (2005)
Rachel Crooks (2005)
Natasha Stoynoff (2005)
Juliet Huddy (2005 or 2006)
Jessica Drake (2006)
Ninni Laaksonen (2006)
Cassandra Searles (2013)
Allegations of pageant dressing room visits(1997)
Mariah Billado,
Victoria Hughes,
and three other Miss Teen USA contestants
Bridget Sullivan (2000)
Tasha Dixon (2001)
Unnamed contestants (2001)
Samantha Holvey (2006)

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Trump's Speeches | Rallys |Interviews
Trump's Speeches | Rallys

Donald Trump talks a lot, but what is he actually saying? Watch Trump at some of his rallys and see what you think.

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