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Tuesday, December 31, 2013

Benghazi and the Sources of Anti-American Violence

http://nationalinterest.org/blog/paul-pillar/the-benghazi-incident-the-sources-anti-american-violence-9634

Benghazi and the Sources of Anti-American Violence

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December 30, 2013

Work Until You're Dead? Don't Plan on Retiring By Mike Whitney

 
Work Until You're Dead?
Don't Plan on Retiring
 
By Mike Whitney
 
A sizable chunk of the adult population is going to punch a clock until they keel-over in the office parking lot and get hauled off in the company dumpster.

Life in the Emerging American Police State: By John W. Whitehead

 
Life in the Emerging American Police State:
 
By John W. Whitehead
 
It's Time for a Second American Revolution.

And The Country Posing The Greatest Threat to Peace as 2013 Ends is ...

And The Country Posing The Greatest Threat to Peace as 2013 Ends is ...
 
By Patrick Goodenough
 
As 2013 ends a global poll finds that the country seen as representing the greatest threat to peace today is ... the United States.

iSpy? Apple Denies Assisting NSA with iPhone "Backdoor"

iSpy? Apple Denies Assisting NSA with iPhone "Backdoor"
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2013/12/31-8

Former NSA Chief: Obama Should Keep Spying, Ignore Panel Recommendations

Former NSA Chief: Obama Should Keep Spying, Ignore Panel Recommendations
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2013/12/31-5

'Symbol of Gitmo's Tragedy': Captives Freed After 12 Years Imprisoned Without Charge

'Symbol of Gitmo's Tragedy': Captives Freed After 12 Years Imprisoned Without Charge
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2013/12/31-4

Ten Trends that will Shape Asia in 2014

http://carnegieendowment.org/2013/12/30/ten-trends-that-will-shape-asia-in-2014/gxc6

Guest post: Your Power or Money Article Sunday, December 29, 2013

Dear Mr. Pearlstein:

Thanks for your 12/19/13, "Power or Money Article" in the Washington Post.  While the anecdotes were interesting, they do not begin to justify your conclusions or explain why you neglected to mention key forces and developments that have led to the situations you decry.

The fact that "Washington" became a money pit to be exploited by the powerful certainly did not start during the Reagan Administration.  It can much more clearly be traced to the late 1960's when adoption of the federal "Unified Budget" concept at the insistence of LBJ made it possible for almost every administration (except Reagan) and Congress since then to pretend that the federal treasury was unlimited.

By combining the Social Security surplus at the time with the rest of the federal budget permitted massive expansion of the role of government and of spending, entitlements, special interest tax breaks, and credit programs while pretending that the US had something close to a "balanced budget."  (As I'm sure you recognize, that fiction has played out now that Social Security is no longer producing a mythical surplus.)

The alleged surpluses permitted members and staff of appropriations and tax writing committees to have a "field day" in giving away tax dollars through subsidies, tax breaks, and ineffective programs while ignoring the fiscal cliff that has finally overtaken us. 

Another factor that contributed mightily to the "contracting out" practice that you claim led to "Washington wealth" was not necessarily the merits of the practice itself (which has both advantages and disadvantages) but instead to the practice encouraged by successive administrations and congress to limit the number of people on the direct federal payroll.  Contracting out permitted hiding the real size of the "federal" workforce.  Another factor leading to contracting out was the perceived need to pay more for certain kinds of talent (usually labeled "scientists and engineers," but in fact much broader) than was possible at the time under the federal Civil Service pay scales (a problem that has been over-corrected).  This occurred under the Manhattan Project and continued under the Atomic Energy Commission and the Department of Defense and then NASA, CIA, etc.

The "contracting out" practice has expanded to all agencies and proceeded to the point where federal agencies do not have the competence to oversee contracting practices in as way that protects the interests of taxpayers and/or prevents massive fraud, waste and abuse.

All of this happened while key players NOT mentioned in your article -- that is, powerful members of Congress and their staffs -- were enjoying their roles in passing out tax breaks and subsidies and collecting power, prestige, perquisites, and, perhaps most important, campaign contributions that kept them in office and enhanced their power -- at the expense of ordinary citizens and taxpayers.

While you mention the great things done by the leader of the Carlyle Group, you failed to mention that partners in hedge funds and private equity firms such as Carlyle, Blackstone and others enjoy a huge tax break in the form of the "carried interest" provision of the tax code that permits them to pay income taxes to the federal government at a 15% rate while "normal" corporations pay 35% and many taxpayers pay more than 15%, some up to 39.6%.  The great charitable contributions they make are made possible in part by shifting their tax burden to ordinary taxpayers. (You might also note the article about GRATs appearing in the same section of the Post as your article.)

I hope that in future articles you will focus more accurately on the people, positions, and policies that lead to the conditions that you don't like, especially members of Congress who are unwilling and/or unable to resist entreaties from lobbyists and using their positions to stay in power.

It is indeed sad that Washington has become such a source of easy wealth for so many individuals and some corporations.  Some very large corporations apparently have concluded that there is more profit with much less risk in "mining" the federal government for tax breaks and subsidies than in pursuing entrepreneurial, innovative, and commercially productive activity in the private sector.  Some observers have claimed that one large, formerly innovative corporation employs more lobbyists in Washington than scientists and engineers in its laboratories!

Meanwhile, associations operating in Washington -- such as the US Chamber of Commerce, National Association of Manufacturers, Business Roundtable, and others -- once ardent defenders of private enterprise now devote much of their activities to the protection and enhancement of tax breaks and subsidies for their members who exploit Washington’s weaknesses.

Happy New Year!

Glenn R. Schleede
Ashburn, VA 
 

The Year's Best Tech for Work and Play

ZDNet takes a look back at very best tech stories and features of 2013. From phones and tablets, wearable technology, security and law, and unearthing the vast scale of U.S. government surveillance. This year has seen it all. http://www.zdnet.com/topic-the-years-best-tech-for-work-and-play/

How the NSA has destroyed trust

Because we know that the NSA has attempted, and in some cases succeeded in making vendors and other third parties complicit in their data collection, it's hard to completely believe vendor denials anymore. It's the vendors who are the biggest victims here.http://www.zdnet.com/how-the-nsa-has-destroyed-trust-7000024619/?s_cid=e539&ttag=e539

Walker's World: The bumpy year ahead

Walker's World: The bumpy year ahead
London (UPI) Dec 30, 2013 - The global economy is confounding the conventional wisdom of the past decade and the coming year will see a remarkable shift. The developed world, written off by so many as tired, divided and with dysfunctional political systems, will grow. The emergent economies, however, from which so much had been expected, are likely to falter. The United States, having added 2 million new jo ... morehttp://www.spacewar.com/reports/Walkers_World_The_bumpy_year_ahead_999.html

We need to talk about TED

 

We need to talk about TED

Science, philosophy and technology run on the model of American Idol – as embodied by TED talks – is a recipe for civilisational disaster
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/dec/30/we-need-to-talk-about-ted

HP Announces Another 5,000 Layoffs, For A Total Of 34,000

http://www.businessinsider.com/hp-lays-off-34000-employees-2013-12

Obama should see peace process through

http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2013/12/obama-cairo-speech-bush-senior-carter-palestine-israel.html?utm_source=&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=8822

Peace, not Pollard, is the issue

http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2013/12/peace-issue-not-pollard.html?utm_source=&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=8822

The Latest from FP 12/31

The Crisis of the Middle Class and American Power By George Friedman

http://www.stratfor.com/weekly/crisis-middle-class-and-american-power?utm_source=freelist-f&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=20131231&utm_term=Gweekly&utm_content=title&utm_source=Stratfor+Subscribers&utm_campaign=2f2bb08249-131231_Gweekly12_30_2013&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_1c43cbbe1e-2f2bb08249-48438601

Key Hillary Backer Says NYT Benghazi Investigation Is ‘Truth’

Key Hillary Backer Says NYT Benghazi Investigation Is ‘Truth’http://thecable.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2013/12/30/key_hillary_backer_says_nyt_benghazi_investigation_is_truth?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+foreignpolicy%2Fthecable+%28The+Cable%29#sthash.nEccwffN.dpbs

How I Came to Reject the Welfare State, Part 1

http://fff.org/explore-freedom/article/how-i-came-to-reject-the-welfare-state-part-1/

Why we call for the closure of the School of the Americas

http://ncronline.org/blogs/ncr-today/why-we-call-closure-school-americas

Russia's Domestic Security Nightmare

http://nationalinterest.org/commentary/russias-domestic-security-9650

The Danger of New Iran Sanctions

http://nationalinterest.org/commentary/the-danger-new-iran-sanctions-9651

2013: The Best Long Tech Reads of the Year

2013: The Best Long Tech Reads of the Year
http://www.technologyreview.com/news/523071/2013-the-best-long-reads-of-the-year/?utm_campaign=newsletters&utm_source=newsletter-daily-all&utm_medium=email&utm_content=20131231

"Six States Chosen to Test Commercial Drones"

"Six States Chosen to Test Commercial Drones" -- The Federal Aviation Administration announced Monday that Alaska, Nevada, New York, North Dakota, Texas and Virginia have been selected to host sites for testing the commercial use of drones.
http://www.truthdig.com/eartotheground/item/six_states_chosen_to_test_commercial_drones_20131230

Robert Scheer on Spies "NSA, Benghazi and the Monsters of Our Own Creation"

Robert Scheer on Spies
"NSA, Benghazi and the Monsters of Our Own Creation" -- "We know everything but learn nothing" would be an honest slogan for the NSA, CIA and lesser-known spy agencies that specialize in leading us so dangerously astray.
http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/nsa_benghazi_and_the_monsters_of_our_own_creation_20131230

Americans on Wrong Side of Income Gap Run Out of Means to Cope

Americans on Wrong Side of Income Gap Run Out of Means to Cope:
By almost two to one - 64 percent to 33 percent - Americans say the U.S. no longer offers everyone an equal chance to get ahead, according to the latest Bloomberg National Poll.

How Detroit went broke: The answers may surprise you

How Detroit went broke: The answers may surprise you :
The numbers, most from records deeply buried in the public library, lay waste to misconceptions about the roots of Detroit's economic crisis.

French 'Millionaire Tax' Cleared:

 
French 'Millionaire Tax' Cleared:
It was originally intended as a 75 percent tax to be paid by high earners on the portion of annual income exceeding €1 million, or roughly $1.37 million, but the council rejected it last year, saying it was unfair. France's top administrative court later said that 66 percent was the legal maximum for individuals.

The NSA has nearly complete backdoor access to Apple's iPhone:

The NSA has nearly complete backdoor access to Apple's iPhone:
The U.S. National Security Agency has the ability to snoop on nearly every communication sent from an Apple iPhone, according to leaked documents shared by security researcher Jacob Appelbaum and German news magazine Der Spiegel.

3 Shocking Ways Inequality Keeps Getting Worse in America By Paul Buchheit

3 Shocking Ways Inequality Keeps Getting Worse in America
 
By Paul Buchheit
 
Anyone reviewing the data is likely to conclude that there must be some mistake.

Glenn Greenwald: The NSA Can "Literally Watch Every Keystroke You Make"

Glenn Greenwald: The NSA Can "Literally Watch Every Keystroke You Make"
 
Video
 
The goal of the NSA really is the elimination of privacy worldwide-not hyperbole, not metaphor, that's literally their goal.

Sunni Monarchs Back YouTube Hate Preachers: By Patrick Cockburn

Sunni Monarchs Back YouTube Hate Preachers:
 
By Patrick Cockburn
 
Anti-Shia propaganda threatens a sectarian civil war which will engulf the entire Muslim world

2013 counted out: Year in statistics

2013 counted out: Year in statistics

FT reporters select the numbers that defined the past 12 months 
http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/2d0f35b0-61ab-11e3-916e-00144feabdc0.html?ftcamp=crm/email/20131231/nbe/Analysis/product&siteedition=intl#slide0

Monday, December 30, 2013

Greenwald: NSA Stories Also Reveal Perilous State of Mainstream Journalism

Greenwald: NSA Stories Also Reveal Perilous State of Mainstream Journalism
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2013/12/30-4

"The NSA Strikes Back"

"The NSA Strikes Back"-- Just when you thought that momentum in the struggle to rein in the NSA was shifting in the direction of civil liberties, along comes another reminder that momentum is fleeting.
http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/the_nsa_strikes_back_20131227

"Overthrow the Speculators" -

Chris Hedges on Public Banking and the Local Revolution
"Overthrow the Speculators" -- There will never be significant economic reform until megabanks are replaced by a network of state- and city-owned public banks. The revolution must be local.
http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/overthrow_the_speculators_20131229/

How Britain exported next-generation surveillance


How Britain exported next-generation surveillance

Thousands of cameras, millions of photographs, terabytes of data. You’re tracked, wherever you go.

https://medium.com/matter/d15b5801b79e

Shopping for Spy Gear: Catalog Advertises NSA Toolbox

http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/catalog-reveals-nsa-has-back-doors-for-numerous-devices-a-940994.html

Why you should never, never, never, NEVER order a computer online, whether from Amazon or anybody else

http://www.correntewire.com/why_you_should_never_never_never_never_order_a_computer_online_whether_from_amazon_or_anybody_else

Help us push back in 2014

CACNP
Greetings from the Center for Arms Control & Non-Proliferation:
Our Center has worked for 33 years to promote nuclear arms control, effective diplomacy to enhance our national security, and an end to the spread of weapons of mass destruction.
For each of those 33 years, we’ve encountered opposition from those who prefer to maintain a nuclear arsenal far larger than we need, spend money on unneeded weapons systems, and employ force rather than diplomacy to address global threats.
That’s why a key part of the Center’s mission is to push back against these advocates and to make the case for an approach to national security that is relevant to the 21st century rather than the Cold War. There's only one day left - will you make a tax-deductible contribution before the end of the year?
Here are three ways we spoke truth to power in 2013:
  • Urging the administration to cut wasteful nuclear weapons spending: The Center leaned on the Pentagon, right up to its #2 official, for refusing to acknowledge the unsustainably high price tag of our excessively large nuclear weapons program and infrastructure.
  • Admonishing hawkish Senators to support diplomacy with Iran: When Members of Congress pushed for tougher punitive sanctions on Iran, the Center responded by explaining that diplomacy, rather than further sanctions, was key to preventing Iran from developing nuclear weapons and avoiding a disastrous war.
  • Telling President Obama it’s time to end the war in Afghanistan: As the Obama administration considered extending our troop presence in Afghanistan for as long as another decade, we pushed back, explaining why it’s time to bring the troops home.
Many thanks for supporting our efforts to inform the debate about more sensible national security policies and programs. We couldn’t do it without your generosity.
Happy holidays,
Lt. Gen. (USA, Ret.) Robert Gard, Jr.
Chairman & Senior Military Fellow
Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation
Facebook

Confronting Reality: The Saudi-Pakistani Nuclear Nexus

Confronting Reality: The Saudi-Pakistani Nuclear Nexus


http://warontherocks.com/2013/12/confronting-reality-the-saudi-pakistani-nuclear-nexus/

Why Is Putin Silent on Pre-Sochi Bombings?

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-12-30/why-is-putin-silent-on-pre-sochi-bombings-.html

Winter Games, Caucasian Misery

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/06/opinion/winter-games-caucasian-misery.html?_r=0

Terror on the Volga

http://carnegie.ru/eurasiaoutlook/?fa=54043&reloadFlag=1

NSA 'hacking unit' infiltrates computers around the world – report

 

NSA 'hacking unit' infiltrates computers around the world – report

• NSA: Tailored Access Operations a 'unique national asset'
• Former NSA chief calls Edward Snowden a 'traitor'
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/dec/29/der-spiegel-nsa-hacking-unit-tao?CMP=ema_565

How to Prevent a War Between China and Japan


How to Prevent a War Between China and Japan
By Kishore Mahbubani
Bloomberg
December 30, 2013

China and Japan, Asia's two most powerful nations, are increasingly jousting in the skies and in the seas near a set of disputed islands. Although their economies remain deeply intertwined, relations between the two governments seem locked in an irreversible, dangerous downward spiral.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe further embittered feelings last week by visiting the controversial Yasukuni shrine, which honors the souls of Japan's war dead, including 14 World War II leaders convicted as Class-A war criminals.

The Mania of Ukraine’s Euromaidan

http://nationalinterest.org/commentary/the-mania-ukraine%E2%80%99s-euromaidan-9636

Benghazi and the Sources of Anti-American Violence

Benghazi and the Sources of Anti-American Violence


http://nationalinterest.org/blog/paul-pillar/the-benghazi-incident-the-sources-anti-american-violence-9634

2014: Is This Latin America's Big Year?

http://nationalinterest.org/blog/the-buzz/2014-latin-americas-big-year-9629

Japan Remains Cautious on North Korea

http://nationalinterest.org/commentary/japan-remains-cautious-north-korea-9619

Top Energy Stories of 2013

http://www.technologyreview.com/news/523051/2013-the-best-energy-stories-of-the-year/?utm_campaign=newsletters&utm_source=newsletter-weekly-energy&utm_medium=email&utm_content=20131230

A Year of Bubble and Bust

http://www.technologyreview.com/news/523061/2013-the-best-business-stories-of-the-year/?utm_campaign=newsletters&utm_source=newsletter-weekly-communications&utm_medium=email&utm_content=20131230

The Year in Communications: NSA Revelations Overshadow Communication Breakthroughs

http://www.technologyreview.com/news/523006/2013-the-year-in-communications/?utm_campaign=newsletters&utm_source=newsletter-weekly-communications&utm_medium=email&utm_content=20131230

US public finance: Day of reckoning

  Chicago is tackling the worst pension crisis in the US. But methods that got it into its bind are still used across America
http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/9782a5ce-6e3c-11e3-ac2a-00144feabdc0.html?ftcamp=crm/email/20131230/nbe/Analysis/product#axzz2oxzE50Ia

The Russian Bear steps in as the American Empire Unravels in the Middle East

http://www.globalresearch.ca/the-russian-bear-steps-in-as-the-american-empire-unravels-in-the-middle-east/5362887

The West has lost control of the world and disaster awaits


We're going to need a great of luck to avoid a nuclear catastrophe - and this can be traced back to the First World War and the death of Frederick III in 1888


http://www.telegraph.co.uk/history/world-war-one/10539494/The-West-has-lost-control-of-the-world-and-disaster-awaits.html

Noam Chomsky, the Salon interview: Governments are power systems, trying to sustain power

Exclusive: The polymath looks back with Salon on this year's NSA revelations and ahead to the earth's destruction


http://www.salon.com/2013/12/29/chomsky_governments_are_power_systems_trying_to_sustain_power/

Noam Chomsky: World ‘racing towards’ environmental catastrophe and nuclear war in 2014

Noam Chomsky: World ‘racing towards’ environmental catastrophe and nuclear war in 2014


http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/12/29/noam-chomsky-world-racing-towards-environmental-catastrophe-and-nuclear-war-in-2014/

Letter to the Editor The NSA and Constitutional rights

The Washington Post

Letter to the Editor

The NSA and Constitutional rights

Published: December 29

Walter Pincus [“In Snowden’s wake, an unprecedented ‘rule’ to consider public opinion on intelligence gathering,” The Fed Page, Dec. 26] reports the dismay of senior intelligence officers at the possibility that public approval may be considered in deciding whether to undertake covert actions.
In my university teaching career, I have often profited from the campus residencies of senior diplomats, intelligence officials and military officers. They taught faculty and students a good deal, and I would like to think that they learned something before they left our idyllic circumstances to return to the harsh world.
Might I suggest that the intelligence officers so worried that public opinion could constrain their activities would profit from studying a historic document they have not, apparently, recalled for some time? It is called the Constitution, and its intellectual and moral origins are quite fascinating. Surely, there is some quiet college that could offer our public servants warm hospitality and rigorous instruction.
Norman Birnbaum, Washington

The west’s policy on Syria has worked to Assad’s advantage

http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/a369a50a-680a-11e3-a905-00144feabdc0.html?ftcamp=crm/email/20131230/nbe/Comment/product#axzz2oxzE50Ia

Apple, Google and Facebook are latter-day Scrooges

Apple, Google and Facebook are latter-day Scrooges


http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/558894bc-68b0-11e3-bb3e-00144feabdc0.html?ftcamp=crm/email/20131230/nbe/Comment/product&siteedition=intl#axzz2oxzE50Ia

Sunday, December 29, 2013

Ministers vote in favor of bill to annex Jordan Valley

http://www.jpost.com/Breaking-News/Ministers-vote-in-favor-of-bill-to-annex-Jordan-Valley-336463

J Is for Jubilee, K for Kleptocrats

http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/j_is_for_jubilee_k_for_kleptocrats_20131228

We Know the NSA Spies on Us—but on Whom Specifically? And Why?

http://www.truthdig.com/eartotheground/item/we_know_the_nsa_spies_on_us_-_but_on_whom_specifically_and_why

Judge Leon's Footnote 65 Exposes the Biggest Lie of the NSA Spy Program

Judge Leon's Footnote 65 Exposes the Biggest Lie of the NSA Spy Program
 
By William A. Cohn
 
Buried deep in his ruling is a powerful nugget of truth which exposes that when the government says "trust us" we shouldn't.

Congress Fakes Fiscal Responsibility By Doug Bandow

http://www.cato.org/publications/commentary/congress-fakes-fiscal-responsibility

Catastrophic Plans The largest, fastest failure in the history of welfare programs

http://www.fee.org/the_freeman/detail/catastrophic-plans#axzz2ogLgAdqC

2013 in Review: The Year the NSA Finally Admitted Its "Collect It All" Strategy

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2013/12/2013-year-nsas-collect-it-all-strategy-was-revealed

Obama's Epic Fib About the NSA Whether the president likes it or not, the debate is on.

http://reason.com/archives/2013/12/24/obamas-epic-fibs-about-the-nsa

Report: Kerry Offered Pollard Release to Israel Officials: Obama Hadn't Approved of Idea

http://news.antiwar.com/2013/12/27/report-kerry-offered-pollard-release-to-israel/

Wars Past, Present and Yet to Come An Anti-war Christmas Carol

http://original.antiwar.com/vlahos/2013/12/23/wars-past-present-and-yet-to-come/

Members of Jewish Student Group Test Permissible Discussion on Israel


 
The New York Times


December 28, 2013

Members of Jewish Student Group Test Permissible Discussion on Israel

By
At Harvard, the Jewish student group Hillel was barred from co-sponsoring a discussion with a Palestinian student group. At Binghamton University, a Hillel student leader was forced to resign his position after showing a film about Palestinians and inviting the filmmaker’s brother to speak. And on many other campuses, Hillel chapters have been instructed to reject collaboration with left-leaning Jewish groups.

Obamacare Enrollment by the Numbers

http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2013/12/27/obamacare-enrollment-by-the-numbers.aspx#.UsAqXBmENDS

Obamacare’s Contraception Battle Heats Up in D.C.

http://wallstcheatsheet.com/stocks/obamacares-contraception-battle-heats-up-in-d-c.html/?a=viewall

Give Now and Save Lives

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The Iran-Pakistan Pipeline Pipe Dream by Robert K. Boggs

http://nationalinterest.org/commentary/the-iran-pakistan-pipeline-pipe-dream-9621

The Welfare Queen

The Welfare Queen

In the 1970s, Ronald Reagan villainized a Chicago woman for bilking the government. Her other sins—including possible kidnappings and murders—were far worse.


http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/history/2013/12/linda_taylor_welfare_queen_ronald_reagan_made_her_a_notorious_american_villain.html#section-2

The Insiders’ Game: The transition from power or money to power and money

http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2013/12/27/496c19d0-6c05-11e3-a523-fe73f0ff6b8d_story.html

Tech giants form AllSeen Alliance to fast track "Internet of Everything"

http://www.gizmag.com/allseen-alliance-internet-of-everything/30091/

IRS could face blame for Obamacare’s unexpected tax bite

http://www.politico.com/story/2013/12/irs-could-face-blame-for-obamacares-unexpected-tax-bite-101574.html

Obamacare Clusterfuck: Our HEARTLESS government is forcing people in states without Medicaid Expansion to apply for Medicaid

http://www.correntewire.com/obamacare_clusterfuck_our_heartless_government_is_forcing_people_in_states_without_medicaid

"New Study Refines View of Sarin Attack in Syria,

An important update by C.J. Chivers on the continuing controversies surrounding the use of sarin gas in Syria, "New Study Refines View of Sarin Attack in Syria," http://nyti.ms/1cxCn8I.

David Kirkpatrick's "A Deadly Mix in Benghazi,"

Today's New York Times features a quite significant story dealing with  the remarkable and precipitous collapse of the CIA's intelligence gathering and analysis capabilities.  The piece is David Kirkpatrick's  "A Deadly Mix in Benghazi," http://www.nytimes.com/projects/2013/benghazi/?hp#/?chapt=1, which seems the most deeply researched account so far of the tragedy at the U.S. consulate and the near-by CIA bunker that claimed four dead and ten injured.

Noam Chomsky: We’re no longer a functioning democracy, we’re really a plutocracy

 

Noam Chomsky: We’re no longer a functioning democracy, we’re really a plutocracy

By Travis Gettys
Friday, December 27, 2013 13:59 EST

Abe’s Yasukuni visit isolates Japan

This note -- which may have appeared so far only in English -- was penned by the scholarly former Japanese ambassador to the Netherlands and grandson of Shigenori Togo, who served as ambassador to both Nazi Germany and the USSR just prior to World War II, as foreign minister at the outset and end of the war, and finally as the wartime Minister for Greater East Asia.  Togo was sentenced to twenty years in prison for war crimes and died in prison in 1950. See http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/Togo+Shigenori

http://www.eastasiaforum.org/2013/12/29/abes-yasukuni-visit-isolates-japan/

Abe’s Yasukuni visit isolates Japan

Author: Kazuhiko Togo, Kyoto Sangyo University
To those who are general supporters of Abe’s economic, political and foreign policy initiatives, including myself, his visit to Yasukuni on 26 December was a bombshell of disappointment and helplessness.

Saturday, December 28, 2013

Judge on NSA Case Cites 9/11 Report, But It Doesn’t Actually Support His Ruling - ProPublica

http://www.propublica.org/article/fact-check-the-nsa-and-sept-11?utm_source=et&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=dailynewsletter

The Week with IPS 12/28

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Rebuilding Lives Skilfully
Ashfaq Yusufzai
Farhat Bibi, 43, was left to fend for her three young sons after her husband was killed in a bomb attack in Pakistan’s Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) three years ago. A few days later, she landed at a camp for people displaced by violence. “The camp proved to be a blessing in disguise,” ... MORE >>

When Home Becomes a Firing Zone
Pierre Klochendler
Jinba is in the crosshair of ‘Firing Zone 918’ - and ‘Firing Zone 918’ is a microcosm of the Israeli occupation. Together with seven other communities, Jinba is slated for demolition to make way for an Israeli training ground. Forced eviction hangs over a thousand Palestinians. Mahmoud Raba’i is ... MORE >>

Arab Spring Breeds More Trade in Exotic Pets
Cam McGrath
At a small pet shop in an upscale Cairo neighbourhood, puppies, kittens and sickly-looking parakeets occupy the cages behind the storefront window. But if you want more exciting and exotic animals – such as crocodiles or lion cubs - just ask behind the counter. Trade in wild animals is banned ... MORE >>

Kashmiri Women Claim Their Rights
Athar Parvaiz
Mehnaz Bano (not her real name), a 37-year-old woman in a hamlet in Indian Kashmir, is living a “satisfied and peaceful” life ever since she secured her daughter’s property rights before her remarriage – though not without a long and tedious struggle following her first husband’s death. When her ... MORE >>

Assisting Rather than Deporting Trafficking Victims in Spain
Inés Benítez
María came to Spain from Paraguay to work as a housekeeper in a hotel. But it was a false job promise, and she ended up in a nightclub, where she was forced to work as a prostitute. One night she told a client the truth. Moved by her story, he started hiring her services day after day until he ... MORE >>

Some Cartoons Aren't Funny
A. D. McKenzie
A woman and her husband are seated at a table. As she talks, he seems to be ignoring her, his head hidden behind a newspaper. “At least Obama is listening to me,” she says. This is just one satirical reference to the ongoing international surveillance scandal, in a book published earlier this ... MORE >>

Russia Plays the Pardon Game
Pavol Stracansky
An amnesty freeing high-profile detainees and convicts and the pardoning of arguably Russia’s most famous political prisoner have failed to move critics of the country’s appalling human rights record. To mark the 20th anniversary of Russia’s constitution, lawmakers this week approved a ... MORE >>



Pakistan to raise drone issue at UN Human Rights Council

Pakistan to raise drone issue at UN Human Rights Council
Islamabad (AFP) Dec 26, 2013 - Pakistan on Thursday said it would raise the issue of US drone strikes inside its territory at the United Nations Human Rights Council. "We will go to the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in Geneva if the drone strikes continue" Tasneem Aslam, the spokeswoman for the ministry of foreign affairs said in a weekly news conference. The UN General Assembly passed a resolution on De ... morehttp://www.spacewar.com/reports/Pakistan_to_raise_drone_issue_at_UN_Human_Rights_Council_999.html

War shrine shows limit in US support to Japan

War shrine shows limit in US support to Japan
Washington (AFP) Dec 26, 2013 - The United States on Thursday criticized Prime Minister Shinzo Abe for a war shrine visit that infuriated Japan's neighbors, in a rare break to usually unstinting US support to its ally. US advocacy of a stronger Japan - including a more active security role by the officially pacifist country - has been a core principle for Washington in a region marked by the rise of China and an increasi ... morehttp://www.spacewar.com/reports/War_shrine_shows_limit_in_US_support_to_Japan_999.html

US sending missiles, drones to Iraq: official


US sending missiles, drones to Iraq: official
Washington (AFP) Dec 26, 2013 - The United States is sending Iraq dozens of missiles and surveillance drones to help combat a recent surge there in Al-Qaeda-backed violence, a State Department official said Thursday. The official confirmed a New York Times report about the weapons shipment. The daily said 75 Hellfire missiles were purchased by Iraq and delivered by Washington last week. The State Department official co ... morehttp://www.spacewar.com/reports/US_sending_missiles_drones_to_Iraq_official_999.html

Russia’s Navy Rising


Dec 28, 2013 02:00 am | Thomas Fedyszyn
Naval analysts for some time have derided the status of the Russian Federation Navy (RFN), falling from its elevated Cold War status as an American near-equal, to an obsolescent non-operational force through the first decade of the 21st century. This less-than-graceful degradation has effectively ceased with a newly invigorated shipbuilding budget, the delivery of a number of warships and, most importantly, the redeployment of this once proud navy into the world’s oceans.
read morehttp://server1.nationalinterest.org/commentary/russias-navy-new-red-storm-rising-9616

NYT: Obamacare Decimates Middle Class

New York Times: Obamacare Decimates Middle Class Alex Jones ...
The New York Times has finally conceded what critics of Obamacare have been claiming–the so-called “Affordable Care Act” devastates the country's ...
www.infowars.com/new-york-times-obamacare-decimates-mid...

Zero rate zone powers US stocks rally

http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/0e112e4c-6edb-11e3-9ac9-00144feabdc0.html?siteedition=intl#axzz2ogVa0AIp

How Worried Should We Be About the Alleged RSA-NSA Scheming? By Matt Blaze

http://www.wired.com/opinion/2013/12/what-we-really-lost-with-the-rsa-nsa-revelations/