Occupy Banksters & Crony Capitalism & GREED

Who Buys the Spies? The Hidden Corporate Cash Behind America's Out-of-Control National Surveillance State
TRNN News | Thomas Ferguson | 10/23/13

In early June 2013, Glen Greenwald, then of the Guardian, with an assist from journalists at The Washington Post, electrified the world with stories drawn from documents and testimony from Edward Snowden, an employee of Booz Allen Hamilton working under contract with the National Security Agency, who had fled the country. They broke the news that the U.S. government had been collecting vast amounts of information on not only foreigners, but also American citizens. And the U.S. had been doing this for years with the cooperation of virtually all the leading firms in telecommunications, software, and high tech electronics, including Google, Apple, Microsoft, Verizon, and Facebook. Sometimes the government even defrays their costs. ... Read more

No Morsel Too Minuscule for All-Consuming N.S.A.
NYTimes | Scott Shane | 11/02/13

... From thousands of classified documents, the National Security Agency emerges as an electronic omnivore of staggering capabilities, eavesdropping and hacking its way around the world to strip governments and other targets of their secrets, all the while enforcing the utmost secrecy about its own operations. It spies routinely on friends as well as foes, as has become obvious in recent weeks; the agency's official mission list includes using its surveillance powers to achieve "diplomatic advantage" over such allies as France and Germany and "economic advantage" over Japan and Brazil, among other countries. ... Read more

The Battle of the NSA Surveillance Bills
MotherJones | Dana Liebelson | 11/01/13

Privacy experts say that the FISA Improvements Act, which passed 11-4, codifies current surveillance practices instead of fixing the law to protect the privacy and civil liberties of Americans: "This was an opportunity for Congress to really recalibrate the statute, and it's very disappointing that they've used this opportunity to cement domestic spying programs instead," says Michelle Richardson, legislative counsel for the ACLU. ...

... Also worrisome to privacy experts is the fact that the bill expands the NSA's powers, by allowing the agency to track cellphone's of non-Americans believed to be located abroad for 72 hours after they enter the United States. The bill additionally levies a penalty of up to 10 years in prison on anyone who accesses NSA information without authorization, like Snowden did. ... Read more

5 Infuriating Quotes from Politicians About the NSA
Care2.com | Kevin Mathews | 11/02/13

	Representative Mike Rogers, Republican from Michigan "If the French citizens knew exactly what that was about, they would be applauding and popping champagne corks. It's a good thing."
	General Keith Alexander, head of the NSA "I think it's wrong that newspaper reporters have all these documents… and are selling them and giving them out… We ought to come up with a way of stopping it. I don't know how to do that. That's more of the courts and policymakers, but, from my perspective, it's wrong to allow this to go on."
	Senator Lindsey Graham, Republican from South Carolina "I'm glad that the NSA is trying to find out what the terrorists are up to overseas and in our country. I'm glad that activity is going on, but it is limited to tracking people who are suspected to be terrorists and who they may be talking to… Yes, I am sure that that's what they're doing."
	Representative Peter King, Republican from New York "The president should stop apologizing, stop being defensive. The reality is the NSA has saved thousand of lives -- not just in the United States, but also in France and Germany and throughout Europe."
	Senator Dianne Feinstein, Democrat from California "I am not a high-tech techie, but I have been told that is not possible." When Edward Snowden reported that he had the ability to wiretap anyone, Feinstein claimed that it couldn't be done. Feinstein provided Congressional oversight for the NSA, but didn't actually understand how any of it works. In essence, her role was to merely ask if the NSA was behaving and then relay what she was told. Talk about oversight

5 Ways Super-Rich Are Betraying America
AlterNet | Paul Buchheit | 11/03/13

As they accumulate more and more wealth, the very rich have less need for society. At the same time, they've convinced themselves that they made it on their own, and that contributing to societal needs is unfair to them. There is ample evidence that this small group of takers is giving up on the country that made it possible for them to build huge fortunes. ...

... Bernard Marcus, co-founder of Home Depot and member of the Forbes 400, had this to say about any American who might object to all the greed: "Who gives a crap about some imbecile?" ...

Be Very Afraid: The American Economy Is Cannibalizing Itself, and We the People Are Going to Pay a Huge Price
AlterNet | Robert Reich | 11/03/13

... The larger reality is that most Americans are still living in the Great Recession. Median household income continues to drop. In last week's Washington Post-ABC poll, 75 percent rated the state of the economy as "negative" or "poor."   So why is Washington whacking safety nets and services that a large portion of Americans need, when we still very much need them? ...

... It's not just that the top 10 percent have jobs and their wages are rising. The top 10 percent also owns 80 percent of the stock market. And the stock market is up a whopping 24 percent this year. ...

... Big corporations can also borrow at rock-bottom rates these days in order to buy back even more of their stock -- courtesy of the Fed's $85 billion a month bond-buying program. (Ichan also wants Apple to borrow $150 billion at 3 percent interest, in order to buy back more stock and further enrich himself.) ... Read more

Ender's Game (trailer) [2:07]

Democracy Now! U.S. and World News Headlines for Monday, November 04 [13:46]

DN | Inside the "Electronic Omnivore": NSA Spying on U.N., Climate Summit, Text Messaging Worldwide (11/04/13) [7:32]

*UNMANNED: America's Drone Wars by Robert Greenwald (full) (10/28/13) [1:03:55]

*Dirty Wars by Jeremy Scahill

The Untold History Of The United States Episode 01 [58:00]

Beating The Bomb [1:12:22]

Nuclear Bombs expoded
A Time-Lapse Map of Every Nuclear Explosion Since 1945 (hint 2053) - by Isao Hashimoto [14:25]

TYT | God's Punishment For Abortion Is Global Warming?! (11/01/13) [8:54]

TYT | Hillary Clinton Gets BIG Paycheck From... (11/01/13) [7:26]

TYT | Atheists Insulted On Fox News Religion Panel (11/01/13) [4:14]

TYT | LAX Shooting Updates: TSA Workers Targeted, Anti-Government Note Found (11/01/13) [8:46]

TYT | What A Sexist Libertarian Thinks Of Women's Health Insurance (11/01/13) [7:06]

TYT | Christians vs. Atheists: Who's More Likely To Divorce? (11/01/13) [7:26]

TYT | Judge Upholds Ruthless Abortion Law - Federal Fight Looming? (11/01/13) [4:54]

TYT | Republican Senators Use Fake Scandal To Block Fed Chair Nominee (10/31/13) [7:54]

TYT | McCain Fires Back At Congressman Gohmert (10/30/13) [4:41]

TYT | Obama Said You Could Keep Your Insurance Plan But... (10/30/13) [9:21]

TYT | Oliver Stone Interview With Cenk Uygur (10/30/13) [23:30]

Thom Hartmann | Dear Senator Durbin: Social Security is Solvent! (10/23/13) [9:34]

Thom Hartmann | Congressman Peter DeFazio: Why Not a Flat Tax for Social Security? (10/23/13) [9:02]

Thom Hartmann | The Bengazi Hoax (10/23/13) [9:21]

Thom Hartmann | How the Koch Brothers Fleeced America (10/22/13) [7:10]

Thom Hartmann | Latest on Fukushima... (10/18/13) [8:30]

Thom Hartmann | Does Studying Economics Make you Greedy? (10/22/13) [8:30]

Thom Hartmann | There Are Some Things Government Can Do Better (10/22/13) [3:48]