Improved surveillance, take down of opposition websites for "€œillegal content€" and paid pro-government commentators are among the increasingly sophisticated tools used by authorities to restrict internet freedom, a new report claims. The 2013 Freedom on the Net report, compiled by non-profit Freedom House, says that 34 out of the 60 countries it surveyed suffered a falloff in internet freedom [...]

The objective of the United States National Security Agency is to eliminate privacy around the world, the American writer who helped expose the NSA'€™s far-reaching surveillance powers said on Tuesday. Glenn Greenwald of the UK’s Guardian answered questions about the ongoing NSA leaks and his source, the now notorious former intelligence contractor Edward Snowden, [...]

America is waking up to the danger which Israel poses to her continued existence as a world superpower, writes Mark Glenn. The good news however is that America is waking up to the danger which Israel poses to her continued existence as a world superpower and it is highly unlikely that the US, at the political, military and intelligence levels, would be willing to cooperate with the same depth and [...]

The prison industry is more lucrative than you think. “Global Tel* Link. You have a collect call from: ‘Tim.’ An inmate in Shelby County Correctional Facility…. If you wish to accept and pay for this call, dial zero now.” I don’t know how many times I heard the same robotic voice speak these words since last fall. [...]

California Gov. Jerry Brown just signed Senate Bill 566 which legalized industrial hemp… sort of. With all of the attention focused on the legalization of cannabis’ psychoactive variety we call marijuana, it’s no surprise much of the public is unaware of the developments regarding cannabis’ non-drug variety we call industrial hemp. [...]

Woman said to have tried to ram White House gate, care chase and shooting ensued—one officer said to be wounded. Shots rang out near the U.S. Capitol this afternoon, and a "shelter in place" was in effect during what was at first described as an "active shooter situation." [...]

Agriculture giant Monsanto has announced acquisition of the Climate Corporation, a climate data research company, expecting that its info will help farmers maximize crop yields with fewer resources. The $930 million cash purchase is set to give the company an upper hand in the quickly expanding field of scientific weather data, something that would put vast amounts of climate information at farmer [...]

California Governor Jerry Brown has signed a law barring state cooperation with any attempt by the federal government to indefinitely detain people. The legislation targets the 2012 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). Brown signed into law AB351, which goes beyond any other state in rejecting federal indefinite detention power, according to the Tenth Amendment Center. [...]

Despite a string of ‘unbelievable’ hurdles, a diving operation to lift the biggest-yet discovered fragment of the famous Russian meteorite stuck in a mud lakebed has entered the final phase. RT is scheduled to show live the recovery of the 50cm by 90cm space rock weighing an estimated 600kg, which plunged into the depths of Lake Chebarkul in February. [...]

The US Supreme Court has agreed to hear a case on whether a conviction for domestic violence precludes Americans from obtaining a firearms license. The Obama administration has argued that ending the prohibition would invalidate bans in much of the US. The Justices announced Tuesday they would hear eight cases of the more than 2,000 appeals that accumulated over the summer. [...]

Abby Martin remarks on the latest NSA revelation, showing how the agency compiles charts on not only you, but your connections to friends, and friends of friends. Miko Peled, Israel peace activist and grandson of one of Israel’s founding fathers, talks about his book ‘The General’s Son’, which dispels the myths and misconceptions about the Jewish State and the true nature of the Israeli oc [...]

Peter Schiff on Fox Business (8/13/2013) Listen to The Peter Schiff Show Live Weekdays 10am to noon ET on http://www.SchiffRadio.com A record number of Americans are giving up their U.S. citizenship. The Wall Street Journal reports that 1,130 Americans renounced their citizenship in the second quarter of 2013, more than did so in all of 2012. A growing number of wealthy Americans in Asia—and o [...]

Defense Dept. doesn't slow down spending for surveillance. The U.S. Department of Defense awarded 94 contracts worth over $5 billion, including purchases for spy satellites, body armor and drones, on Sept. 30, the day before the government shutdown and at the end of the federal fiscal year. [...]

US Vice President Joe Biden said they would have to invent Israel if it did not already exist. Biden made the remark during a speech at a pro-Israel lobbying organization called J Street in Washington D.C. He also pointed out several times to President Barack Obama’s commitment to Israel. There’s a moral connection between the US and Israel, Biden said, but there also are clear national [...]

President Obama plans to take a 5% salary cut in support of federal workers who are going to be furloughed, officials said Wednesday. The president follows the lead of Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, giving up some salary because of forced federal furloughs. [...]

The United States is home to 442 billionaires like Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg. It conjures images of movie star mansions, Beverly Hills, and Manhattan's 5th Avenue. But the truth is, 1 in 6 Americans are "food insecure," which is how politicians describe people who don't have enough food to survive. In many states, including Texas, Florida, Mississippi and Alabama, hunger affects over 19% of [...]

In an address from the White House Rose Garden Tuesday afternoon, President Barack Obama blamed Republican lawmakers for triggering the first government shutdown in nearly two decades. Obama spoke roughly 12 hours after a longstanding budget stalemate on Capitol Hill caused a midnight shutdown, impacting a number of government agencies and initiatives across the board. [...]

Former Qwest CEO Joseph Nacchio, who spent over four years in prison for insider trading, now says his conviction was based on his company'€™s refusal to cooperate with NSA requests to spy on its customers. Nacchio says he feels “vindicated” by ongoing revelations provided by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden that the NSA does, in fact, access massive amounts of metadata and communique in [...]

Senator suggests temporary solution to counter political stalemate. Amid endless bleating, blame and finger pointing from both Democrats and Republicans regarding the government shutdown, Kentucky Senator Rand Paul stepped up this morning and offered a solution to open up the government again and reinvigorate negotiations over funding. [...]

Glenn Greenwald: About the Snowden disclosures, the Oregon Democrat told the NSA chief: 'the truth always manages to come out' The Senate Intelligence Committee yesterday held a hearing, ostensibly to investigate various issues raised about the NSA's activities. What the hearing primarily achieved instead was to underscore what a farce the notion of Congressional oversight over the NSA is. In [...]

A shutdown would cut off essential services for millions more Americans, while a default on U.S. debt could devastate the global economy. Since the Republicans took over the House of Representatives in 2011, they have repeatedly attempted to use the prospect of a government shutdown or a debt default as leverage. [...]

Glenn Greenwald: The implications of the prior week's reporting of NSA stories continue to grow I'm currently working on what I believe are several significant new NSA stories, to be published imminently here, as well as one very consequential story about NSA spying in Brazil that will first be broadcast Sunday night on the Brazilian television program Fantastico (because the report has worldwide [...]