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 [...]

The US National Security Agency has been exploiting US citizens' personal information drawn from its large collection of metadata to create complex graphs of social connections for foreign intelligence purposes, the latest Snowden leaks have revealed. Documents obtained by the New York Times from the former NSA contractor Edward Snowden say that the practice has been going on since November 2010, [...]

The UN Security Council has unanimously adopted a resolution outlining the details of taking under international control and ultimately destroying Syria’s chemical arsenal. "Today's historic resolution is the first hopeful news on Syria in a long time," UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told the council immediately after the vote. [...]

The longstanding notion of US exceptionalism has deep roots in the American psyche, but as the world experiences a “tectonic shift in global geopolitics” the very idea of Washington’s superiority is being challenged, analyst Eric Draitser told RT. Earlier this week, President Barack Obama reaffirmed Washington's desire to engage in the affairs of other states, particularly in the Mi [...]

If you're a visual learner like myself, then you know maps, charts and infographics can really help bring data and information to life. Maps can make a point resonate with readers and this collection aims to do just that. Hopefully some of these maps will surprise you and you’ll learn something new. [...]

This is exactly what's happening in America and the world! Unemployment, etc! We should be ashamed of letting them do this to us that has been going on since the early 1900s. We Americans need to wake up now, before it is too late! >>>Click Here for Larger Video Player<<< /* */ [...]

The totally-not-delusional Larry Klayman has finally set a date for his proposed uprising to remove President Obama from office: November 19. The Judicial Watch founder writes today that protesters protesters will “descend on Washington, D.C., en masse, and demand that he leave town and resign from office if he does not want to face prison time” for pushing “his Muslim, socialist, anti-Semit [...]

It's time for the American people to wake up! We as a people have seen enough. It's time to act! >>>Click Here for Larger Video Player<<< /* */ How Do You Kill 11 Million People? The Greatest Speech Ever Made It's high time to wake up! [...]

Pulitzer Prize winner explains how to fix journalism, saying press should 'fire 90% of editors and promote ones you can't control'. Seymour Hersh has got some extreme ideas on how to fix journalism – close down the news bureaus of NBC and ABC, sack 90% of editors in publishing and get back to the fundamental job of journalists which, he says, is to be an outsider. [...]