Watchlist of Terror | Unfilter 109 | Jupiter Broadcasting

The Intercept has published Obama’s secret terrorist tracking system, by the numbers. We dig in. The CIA and the Senate are still fighting over the torture report.

Then we’ll examine the new groundwork for the new Cold War, and the ridiculous reactions Colorado’s neighbor states are having to Cannabis legalization.

Direct Download:

Video | MP3 Audio | OGG Audio | Torrent | YouTube

RSS Feeds:

Become an Unfilter supporter on Patreon:

— Show Notes —

— The Slow Death of Privacy —

Barack Obama’s Secret Terrorist-Tracking System, by the Numbers

Of the 680,000 people caught up in the government’s Terrorist Screening Database—a watchlist of “known or suspected terrorists” that is shared with local law enforcement agencies, private contractors, and foreign governments—more than 40 percent are described by the government as having “no recognized terrorist group affiliation.” That category—280,000 people—dwarfs the number of watchlisted people suspected of ties to al Qaeda, Hamas, and Hezbollah combined.

The documents, obtained from a source in the intelligence community, also reveal that the Obama Administration has presided over an unprecedented expansion of the terrorist screening system. Since taking office, Obama has boosted the number of people on the no fly list more than ten-fold, to an all-time high of 47,000—surpassing the number of people barred from flying under George W. Bush.

“If everything is terrorism, then nothing is terrorism,” says David Gomez, a former senior FBI special agent. The watchlisting system, he adds, is “revving out of control.”

• The second-highest concentration of people designated as “known or suspected terrorists” by the government is in Dearborn, Mich.—a city of 96,000 that has the largest percentage of Arab-American residents in the country.

• The government adds names to its databases, or adds information on existing subjects, at a rate of 900 records each day.

• The CIA uses a previously unknown program, code-named Hydra, to secretly access databases maintained by foreign countries and extract data to add to the watchlists.

State Dept. ‘Torture Talking Points’ Reveal White House PR Machine Ahead of Senate Report

A State Department document obtained by the Associated Press reveals part of the Obama administration’s attempt to ready its public relations response to an upcoming Senate report on the CIA’s torture program.

The document details some of the administration’s prepared talking points to be used once a White House-approved version of the report is released.

Reportedly sent by accident via email to the AP, the State Department memo describes the report as a demonstration of American democracy, rather than as an indictment of the CIA’s torture practices. The document states that “no American is proud” of the CIA’s tactics, but that “the story” of illegal, indefinite torture and imprisonment is part of a larger message, one in which “America’s democratic system worked just as it was designed to work in bringing an end to actions inconsistent with our democratic values.” That story, the document proclaims, is one in which Americans can take pride.

The document contains a few subtle errors in its dates and phrasing. At one point, it claims that the “interrogation methods were debated in our free media, challenged in our independent courts, and, just two years after their introduction, restricted by an act of our Congress sponsored by Senator John McCain and overwhelmingly backed by members of both of our political parties.”

As investigative journalist Marcy Wheeler notes, that “act of Congress” likely refers to the Detainee Treatment Act — but that legislation was passed in 2005, almost four years after the launch of the CIA’s Retention, Detention, and Interrogation (RDI) program, not two. In addition, the RDI program has rarely been “challenged in independent courts,” as both President George W. Bush and President Barack Obama regularly prevented the details of the program from coming to light by invoking the “state secrets privilege,” a rule which allows governments to hold back evidence in a legal case by claiming that disclosing the information might endanger national security.

Report: Israel tapped John Kerry’s phone when he was brokering peace talks

Israeli intelligence intercepted phone calls of US Secretary of State John Kerry while he was trying to broker a peace deal between Israel and the Palestinian Authority earlier this year, German news magazine _Der Spiegel _reported on Sunday.

The report was confirmed by several sources in the intelligence community, according to Der Spiegel.

Both Israel and Russia Shared Kerry’s Intercepted Phone Calls Tikun-Olam Tikun Olam-תיקון עולם

Yesterday’s report, originating in Der Spiegel that Israel intercepted the telecommunications of Secretary of State John Kerry when he was in flight to the Middle East has just become a much bigger story. The reporter noted that there were two countries who eavesdropped on Kerry. But he didn’t say which country it was.

My highly-placed Israeli source tells me that the identity of that country is Russia.

While Kerry’s position on the Israel-Palestine peace talks was Israel’s number one priority, Russia’s number one priority was to learn the U.S. plans and position regarding the Ukrainian separatist movement and Russia’s involvement with it. My source had this to say:

…It’s a “fruitful ongoing joint venture” initiated by Lieberman thanks to his Moscow connections. Israel provides Russia with recordings of intercepted calls Kerry makes flying over the Middle East, and Russia provides Israel with recordings of calls he makes flying over Central Asia, the Far East & the Pacific Ocean.

The source notes this “joint venture” became extremely important for Moscow since last February — because of the Ukrainian crisis.

In this way, the spying collaboration has been fruitful for both sides.

New leaker disclosing US secrets, government concludes

Proof of the newest leak comes from national security documents that formed the basis of a news story published Tuesday by the Intercept, the news site launched by Glenn Greenwald, who also published Snowden’s leaks.

— Thanks for Supporting Unfilter —

Become an Unfilter supporter on Patreon

Thanks to our 314 patrons
3 Slots at the SWAG pledge level have opened.
Supporter perk: Downloadable Pre and Post show. Extra clips, music, hijinks, and off the cuff comments. The ultimate Unfiltered experience. ‘
Supporter perk: Exclusive BitTorrent Sync share of our production and non-production clips, notes, and more since the NSA scandal broke in episode 54. The ultimate Unfiltered experience, just got more ultimate.
Supporter Perk: Past 5 supporters shows, in a dedicated bittorrent sync folder.

— Cold War 2.0 —

Putin Urges Economic Retaliation for Sanctions Over Ukraine Conflict – NYTimes.com

Mr. Putin said that Russia should signal that it finds the economic sanctions offensive, but that it should do so without harming Russian consumers.

“The political tools of economic pressure are unacceptable and run counter to all norms and rules,” he was quoted as saying by Russian news agencies.

Unintended consequences: Sanctions on Russia hurt US dollar dominance — RT USA

The US dollar, the dominant global currency since 1944, may lose some of its luster due to the American-led sanctions against Russia over the turmoil in Ukraine. The greenback has been fading in favor since the global financial crisis in 2008.

The US-led sanctions against Russia may have backfired on the US
because it threatens to “hasten a move away from the dollar
that’s been stirring since the global financial crisis [in
2008],” Rachel Evans at Bloomberg wrote. In an unexpected turn of events, Hong Kong’s
central bank has bought more than $9.5 billion since the start of
July “to prevent its currency from rallying as the sanctions
stoked speculation of an influx of Russian cash,” she noted.

Germany Blocks the Delivery of Military Parts to Russia – NYTimes.com

A spokesman for Chancellor Angela Merkel said that Berlin would be open to expanding the existing European Union sanctions to include already signed deals. “The European Council decided what it decided,” the spokesman, Georg Streiter, told reporters on Monday.

The decision to halt the deal, estimated by the Economics Ministry to be worth 123 million euros, or about $165 million, will also put the German government under increased pressure from the country’s powerful industrial sector, which has warned that economic sanctions against Russia will hamper growth and increase unemployment.

Vladimir Putin signs historic $20bn oil deal with Iran to bypass Western sanctions

Vladimir Putin has agreed a $20bn (£11.8bn) trade deal with Iran that will see
Russia sidestep Western sanctions on its energy sector.

Under the terms of a five-year accord, Russia will help Iran organise oil
sales as well as “cooperate in the oil-gas industry, construction of power
plants, grids, supply of machinery, consumer goods and agriculture
products”, according to a statement by the Energy Ministry in Moscow.

The move is a win-win for both nations after they were hit with Western sanctions aimed at limiting their energy sectors.

Russia, India to ink $40 bn gas deal

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi are expected to announce a massive natural gas deal during their summit later this year, Indian media reports said Monday.

Russian and Indian officials are negotiating a $40 billion gas pipeline project from Russia to India, oil ministry officials told Indian daily Hindustan Times.

Russia will also supply 46 million tonnes of oil to China each year in the next 25 years, according to recent deals signed by President Vladimir Putin and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping.

Even as the US and EU try to isolate Russia on the Ukraine issue, Beijing and other BRICS capitals have been cementing their business ties with Moscow.

— Weed Wackers —

Since marijuana legalization, highway fatalities in Colorado are at near-historic lows – The Washington Post

Since the new Colorado law took effect in January, the “drugged driver” panic has only intensified.I’ve already written about one dubious example, in which the Colorado Highway Patrol and some local and national media perpetuated a story that a driver was high on pot when he slammed into a couple of police cars parked on an interstate exit ramp. While the driver did have some pot in his system, his blood-alcohol level was off the charts and was far more likely the cause of the accident.

As you can see, roadway fatalities this year are down from last year, and down from the 13-year average. Of the seven months so far this year, five months saw a lower fatality figure this year than last.

What’s notable here is that the totals so far in 2014 are closer to the safest composite year since 2002 than to the average year since 2002. I should also add here that these are total fatalities.

Secure Ways to Contact the Show:

Chris Fisher (chrislas) | Keybase
Chase Nunes (chase) | Keybase
Secure Rig Public Key
Bitmessage: BM-2cWRitZG3LdjgV4AjZL4Lk6aiA97VonpAu

Follow the Us:

Call us: 1.425.312.1756