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 [...]

Libertarian duo set to shake foundation of White House contest. Former Governor Jesse Ventura and radio personality Howard Stern are set Wednesday on Stern’s radio show to discuss the serious possibility of a 2016 presidential run. Talking on and off air to Alex Jones, Ventura made it clear this is very serious and not a stunt... [...]

Many right-wing Christians vilify the poor, in direct contradiction to the teachings of Jesus. Why the hypocrisy? In an age where your average Republican politician is thumping the Bible with one hand and trying to strip food from the mouths of the poor with the other, it’s become a sad cliché to point out how little the most outspoken Christians have in common [...]

Contrasting reactions in India and Brazil to revelations by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden about the US government'€™s intrusive surveillance of communications in the two countries are a study in varying diplomatic style, substance and context. Recent confirmation from journalists working with Snowden that India was a prime victim caught in the crosshairs of the NSA’s megalithic data-swe [...]

On July 2, the United States put pressure on several European countries to prevent a plane carrying Bolivian President Evo Morales from landing to refuel at any of their airports. The excuse for this unprecedented denial of landing rights was the unfounded claim that Morales was hiding American whistleblower Edward Snowden on board his presidential jet. [...]

Russia Direct presents the third in its series of monthly roundups from U.S.-based think tanks focused on Russia and Eurasia. In August, the leading U.S.-based think tanks focused on Russia turned their attention to several key issues that could impact the future of U.S.-Russian relations: Russia’s China pivot, the Snowden Affair, new international security concerns in the Asia-Pacific and the c [...]

Why Obama has to go bigger, much bigger, in making a deal with Iran -- or be prepared for a messy failure. Be still, my heart. First Iranian President Hasan Rouhani embarks on a very charming charm offensive. Perhaps a breakthrough is at hand. But then he decides to forgo a handshake with President Barack Obama and skips lunch. [...]

In an interview with Channel One and the Associated Press, the Russian president talks about Syria, Obama, Snowden and the LGBT community. Before the G20 Summit, in an interview with Channel One and the Associated Press, Russian President Vladimir Putin talked about his attitude toward the conflict in Syria and the former CIA officer Edward Snowden. [...]

The budget theater on Capitol Hill just gets more and more complex, intriguing, and -- perhaps above all -- embarrassing. First there was tragedy in August 2011, when Congress passed a budget act that created an undemocratic process, stripping policymakers of responsibility for reductions in both defense and discretionary spending. [...]

American investigative journalists Jeremy Scahill and Glenn Greenwald say they have teamed up to prepare a report on the National Security Agency's role in what one of them described as the "US assassination program." “The connections between war and surveillance are clear. I don't want to give too much away but Glenn and I are working on a project right now that has at its center how the Nation [...]

For the first time in more than 30 years the President of the United States has spoken with Iran's leadership. Barack Obama announced he believes the two sides can reach a deal regarding the future of the Islamic Republic's nuclear program. From the White House Friday afternoon, Obama said he just got off the phone with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and discussed “our ongoing efforts to reach [...]