The NSA Spying Scandal is Costing U.S. Tech Giants Billions, and until this week they’ve remained nearly silent, and politely complicent.

Now eight of the largest tech companies joined forces to push back against the Government spying policies.

Meanwhile new leaks continue to be published, the latest detail the infiltration of online gaming communities to conduct massive surveillance of gamers.

Don’t worry everything’s just fine, the mainstream media is reporting the economy is on the fast track to recovery now, and unemployment is down. We’ll discuss the reality of the situation, plus your feedback, and much more.

On this week’s episode of, Unfilter.

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— Show Notes —

Edward Snowden’s Rough Week

• Famous FBI Officer Eric O’Neil Claims Snowden Has Always Been a Russian Spy

Eric Michael O’Neill (born March 3, 1973) is a former American FBI counter-terrorism and counterintelligence operative. He worked and was entitled as an Investigative Specialist with the Special Surveillance Group (SSG) and played a major role in the arrest, conviction, and life imprisonment of FBI agent Robert Hanssen for spying on behalf of the Soviet Union and the Russian Federation.

• ABC brass nixed Barbara Walters’ pick of Edward Snowden as year’s most fascinating person

The ABC News doyenne pushed hard to have NSA leaker*Edward Snowden *at the top of her list of 10 most fascinating people of the year — but in the end was overruled by network brass, a source told Confidenti@l.

In addition to Snowden, the others chosen for the much-anticipated special includeJennifer Lawrence, Miley Cyrus, Kim Kardashian and Kanye West (starring jointly as KimYe), baby Prince George, the cast of “Duck Dynasty,” swimmer Diana Nyad, “Good Morning America” hostRobin Roberts andPope Francis.

• Edward Snowden to give evidence to EU parliament, says MEP

The European parliament is lining up Edward Snowden to give evidence by video link this month, in spite of resistance by British Conservatives, a Green MEP has announced.

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World of Spycraft

• World of Spycraft: NSA and CIA Spied in Online Games

Online games might seem innocuous, a top-secret 2008 NSA document warned, but they had the potential to be a “target-rich communication network” allowing intelligence suspects “a way to hide in plain sight.” Virtual games “are an opportunity!,” another 2008 NSA document declared.

But for all their enthusiasm — so many CIA, FBI and Pentagon spies were hunting around in Second Life, the document noted, that a “deconfliction” group was needed to avoid collisions — the intelligence agencies may have inflated the threat.

The documents do not cite any counterterrorism successes from the effort, and former American intelligence officials, current and former gaming company employees and outside experts said in interviews that they knew of little evidence that terrorist groups viewed the games as havens to communicate and plot operations.

• Sean Smith Uses EVE Chat to Comminication With State Department Was Playing the Night of the Bengazi Attack

During Smith’s 6 years on Eve, he used the game to communicate covert messages with the US State Department. Being the perfect cover, online games like Eve provide a pathway of communication between the US government and overseas operatives on nearly secured channels because of the cryptic messages being passed back and forth.

The friend recalls that Smith was on Eve the night of the attack and conveyed that sirens could be heard in the distance, and suddenly would go offline, then pop back up. In the last communication, Smith said “GUNFIRE”, logged off – and never returned. – See more at: https://www.occupycorporatism.com/state-department-covers-up-ambassador-stevens-death-at-rented-villa-in-benghazi/#sthash.DWzBGG2S.dpuf

• Murdered EVE Online Player Was a CIA Agent, According to the Infinite Wisdom of Glenn Beck

Beck accuse Sean Smith and his colleagues of either working with the CIA or of being CIA agents, and that some of Smith’s final messages to the outside world – which were sent to members of the EVE Online community – were actually coded, and intended for the CIA.

NSA is CRAZY

• NSA uses Google cookies to pinpoint targets for hacking

The agency’s internal presentation slides, provided by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden, show that when companies follow consumers on the Internet to better serve them advertising, the technique opens the door for similar tracking by the government. The slides also suggest that the agency is using these tracking techniques to help identify targets for offensive hacking operations.

According to the documents, the NSA and its British counterpart, GCHQ, are using the small tracking files or “cookies” that advertising networks place on computers to identify people browsing the Internet. The intelligence agencies have found particular use for a part of a Google-specific tracking mechanism known as the “PREF” cookie. These cookies typically don’t contain personal information, such as someone’s name or e-mail address, but they do contain numeric codes that enable Web sites to uniquely identify a person’s browser.

• NSA leaks blamed for Cisco’s falling sales overseas (updated)

“In our Q1 earnings call of November 13th, we stated that product orders in China declined 18% in Q1 FY14, whereas in Q4 FY13, we referenced that our business in China had declined 6%,” a Cisco spokesperson told Ars. “By comparison, China bookings were up 8% in Q3 FY13. So, yes, there is a short-term trend of declining business in China, which we have acknowledged.”

• Bill Clinton condemns NSA’s reported collection of economic data

“We shouldn’t have gathered economic intelligence under the guise of security – not with an ally,” Clinton told O Globo, a newspaper in Rio de Janeiro.

• Tech Giants Issue Call for Limits on Government Surveillance of Users – NYTimes.com

On Monday the companies, led by Google and Microsoft, presented a plan to regulate online spying and urged the United States to lead a worldwide effort to restrict it. They accompanied it with an open letter, in the form of full-page ads in national newspapers, including The New York Times, and a website detailing their concerns.

Apple, Yahoo, Facebook, Twitter, AOL and LinkedIn joined Google and Microsoft in saying that they believed in governments’ right to protect their citizens. But, they said, the spying revelations that began last summer with leaks of National Security Agency materials by Edward J. Snowden showed that “the balance in many countries has tipped too far in favor of the state and away from the rights of the individual.”

War on Unemployment Benefits Heats Up

• Why There’s No Unemployment Insurance in Budget Deal

One reason the unemployment insurance extension wasn’t included in the budget deal: cost. The budget deal includes about $22 billion in deficit reduction over two years. (It cuts $85 billion but allows spending caps to rise by $63 billion.)

Extending unemployment will cost about $25 billion for one year. It would undo the bill’s savings. That doesn’t mean Congress won’t do it. But they couldn’t credibly pair it with their modest budget bill.

• Fact check: Rand Paul, Obama and black unemployment

Sen. Rand Paul says “black unemployment in America is double white unemployment” and “hasn’t budged” under President Obama. Actually, the black unemployment rate is lower now than when Obama took office, and the gap between the races is below the historical average.

• Skewed: Income Inequality in America

CEO vs. Worker inequality

• The Average CEO makes 354 times what the average worker makes[3]
  [year: ratio between worker/CEO earnings]

1982: 42:1
1992: 201:1
2002: 281:1
2012: 354:1

• Here’s why conservatives should worry more about long-term unemployment

• Invisible Child: Dasani’s Homeless Life – The New York Times

• New York City population of 1–19 in 1930: ~2,782,000

• New York City population of 1–19 in 2013: ~2,171,000

• Percent of homeless children in relation to New York Population of 1–19 in 1930: ~.79%

• Percent of homeless children in relation to New York Population of 1–19 in 2013: ~1%

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