Defense Secretary Ash Carter declares the US is shifting strategy in Syria & will be sending in troops. We break down the scope of this “shift” & what’s motivating it. A few worthy notes from Hillary’s Benghazi hearing sneak through, we’ve grabbed them & why every hashtag matters, according to the FBI.

Plus a simple explanation of why CISPA is a surveillance bill & our largest drone update ever!

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Show Notes:

— Episode Links:

• Did Times Underplay Drone Program Leak? – The New York Times
• Russian Ships Near Data Cables Are Too Close for U.S. Comfort – The New York Times
• CIA director says hack of his email epitomizes cyber threat – Yahoo News
• Ashton Carter: U.S. to Begin ‘Direct Action on the Ground’ in Iraq, Syria – NBC News
• Senate passes CISA, strikes down four pro-privacy amendments — RT USA
• US military to officially add ground forces in Syria : unfilter
• BBC Protects U.K.’s Close Ally Saudi Arabia With Incredibly Dishonest and Biased Editing
• New U.S. Combat Mission in Iraq Is Not New – Bloomberg View
• Fact-checking Sean Hannity’s claim on the U.S. accepting 250,000 refugees | PunditFact
• Inside the Ring: Russian military flights over Iraq questioned – Washington Times

The post Boots for Syria | Unfilter 164 first appeared on Jupiter Broadcasting.

Obama calls on FCC to make ‘strongest possible rules’ to protect net neutrality, but the realities of this move might not be appealing. We’ll look at Net Neutrality from all sides & explain what Title II means.

Plus a high level US Diplomat is accused of Spying, a new study claims extended Cannabis uses causes brain damage, an ISIS update & much more.

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News

Hillary Donor Under Investigation in Counterintelligence Probe

A former high-ranking diplomat and Clinton ally at the center of an FBI counterintelligence probe was a registered foreign agent for the Pakistani government up until just days before she was appointed to run the U.S. State Department’s Pakistan aid team.

The Washington Post reported last week that the State Department’s aid coordinator for Pakistan, Robin Raphel, is the subject of a counterintelligence investigation and has had her security clearance revoked.

The FBI has not specified the nature of the probe, although the Post indicated that it could be espionage-related. She was reportedly placed on administrative leave last month, and the State Department said she is no longer employed by the agency.

Raphel previously served as an assistant secretary of state under President Bill Clinton and rejoined the State Department in August 2009 to focus on Pakistan and Afghanistan aid issues. She is also close to Hillary Clinton and contributed $2,000 to her presidential campaign in 2007.

• FBI Investigation Of Robin Raphel – Business Insider

Robin Raphel, the ‘obstacle’ in India-U.S. ties – The Hindu

In 1995, U.S. diplomat Robin Raphel was the toast of the State department. President Bill Clinton appointed her the first Assistant Secretary of State for South Asia (the post later included Central Asia), and she was known to be close to him and Hillary Clinton, as she knew the U.S. President from his time at Oxford.

“Eventually, we have been vindicated by this investigation,” said an official who preferred not to be named, speaking about the just-announced U.S. federal probe against Ms. Raphel, “We repeatedly told the U.S. that Ms. Raphel’s position was anti-India, but it was also not in the U.S.’s interests.” As a diplomat Ms. Raphel was responsible for two other controversial policies: that of suggesting support for the Taliban takeover in Afghanistan in 1996, as a means of securing the U.S. company Unocal consortium’s pipeline plan in the region, as well as advocating dropping parts of the U.S.’s Pressler amendment that put strict oversight over aid to Pakistan. After she retired, Ms. Raphel joined consultancy group Cassidy & Associates and landed a massive $1.2 million contract from the Pakistan government under President Musharraf, to “improve Pakistan’s image” in the U.S. in 2007.

• Pakistan lobbyist Robin Raphel under lens for alleged spying – The Times of India

In Ukraine, Shelling and Convoys of Armed Trucks Threaten Cease-Fire – NYTimes.com

An October report revealed that cluster munitions, which blanket a target area with bomblets filled with deadly shrapnel, have been used by government troops and possibly pro-Russian rebels against civilian population centers during the fighting in eastern Ukraine. Evidence strongly indicates that Ukrainian troops stationed about 30 kilometers, or 19 miles, southwest of the city launched attacks on Donetsk earlier this month, including an attack that killed a Swiss employee of the International Red Cross.

A shaky cease-fire in eastern Ukraine looked ever more tenuous on Sunday as European monitors confirmed reports of unmarked military vehicles driving through rebel-held territory while Donetsk, the region’s biggest city, endured a nightlong artillery battle.

The monitoring group, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, said that long columns of unmarked military vehicles, some towing howitzers, were spotted over the weekend. The monitors did not speculate as to the origins of the trucks or the people inside them, but Ukrainian officials said the statements bolstered their claims that Russia was again arming and training separatists.

The O.S.C.E. reported that its observers had driven on Saturday past a column of more than 40 trucks on a highway outside Donetsk. The trucks were covered with tarpaulins and “without markings or number plates — each towing a 122 mm howitzer and containing personnel in dark green uniforms without insignia,” the O.S.C.E. statement said.

On Sunday, after what journalists in Donetsk described as the heaviest night of artillery shelling in and around the city in at least a month, the O.S.C.E. observers saw two more unmarked military columns. The observers noted 17 trucks in each column, some equipped with Grad ground-to-ground rocket launchers and others towing more howitzers.

Net Neutrality

Obama calls on FCC to make ‘strongest possible rules’ to protect net neutrality | Technology | The Guardian

President says ‘open internet is essential to way of life’ and comes out against so-called ‘fast lanes’ for higher-paying web users.

Dear Senator Ted Cruz, I’m going to explain to you how Net Neutrality ACTUALLY works – The Oatmeal

Net neutrality, Obama, FCC, Title II … Your ESSENTIAL guide to WTF is happening • The Register

• Put simply, because rules that were created by the FCC in 2010 in order to deal with the modern reality of the internet — the so-called Open Internet Order — were struck down [PDF] by the US courts following a challenge by Verizon.

That left a potentially huge gap that people are worried that cable companies will exploit. Without new rules, it is possible — in fact, likely — that your cable provider, who is most cases is also your internet provider, will find ways to profit from the video, audio and text sent through its wires to subscribers.

• The very fact that Verizon then went to the trouble of suing the FCC to get the existing rules that prevented it from discriminating on the basis of content overturned is, ironically, what is spurring people on to push the old 1934 law of “common carriers” onto the cable companies, so that they are legally prevented from touching the data and so from imposing a cable business model on the internet.

• The cable companies make the valid point that the legislation that they would be pulled under is ancient, outdated and in many respects goes against the general philosophy of less government regulation that help the internet to thrive in the first place.

• Wheeler added: “I am grateful for the input of the President and look forward to continuing to receive input from all stakeholders, including the public, members of Congress of both parties, including the leadership of the Senate and House committees, and my fellow commissioners.
  “Ten years have passed since the Commission started down the road towards enforceable Open Internet rules. We must take the time to get the job done correctly, once and for all, in order to successfully protect consumers and innovators online.”

• The resulting Telecommunications Act of 1996 did not really address how people gained access to the internet, however, or how companies that make that access to the web possible should be viewed.

There was one very small part — literally one paragraph — in the 128-page text that defined a new term, “advanced telecommunications capability”, as “high-speed, switched, broadband telecommunications capability that enables users to originate and receive high-quality voice, data, graphics, and video telecommunications using any technology.”

This is the Section 706 that is held up as the alternative to Title II for how to fit broadband providers into the law.

• Just how out of date is Title II?

• There are 76 sections to Title II, and those wanting to reclassify broadband under it want to retain just six sections. They are:
  • 201: Services and charges — companies have to charge a reasonable sum for the service
  • 202: Discrimination — you can’t discriminate over the service
  • 208: Complaints — people can complain
  • 222: Privacy — people’s privacy has to be respected
  • 254: Universal service — you have to provide the service across the country
  • 255: Disability access — make it possible for people with disabilities to use it

Put together, these six sections are pretty light on regulation, although parts of them are still horribly outdated.

• There is specific reference in 201 to the law not impacting the ability of common carriers to “furnishing reports of positions of ships at sea to newspapers of general circulation.”

• Section 202 reveals the startling sum of “$6,000 for each such offense and $300 for each and every day of the continuance of such offense.” At those rates, AT&T won’t exactly be trembling in its boots. In today’s currency, the legislation should read $100,000 for each offense and $5,000 per day.

• Am I The Only Techie Against Net Neutrality?

AT&T to “pause” 100-city fiber buildout because of net neutrality rules | Ars Technica

AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson said today that his company will “pause” investments in fiber networks until the net neutrality debate is over. The statement came two days after President Obama urged the Federal Communications Commission to reclassify broadband as a utility and impose bans on blocking, throttling, and paid prioritization.

“We can’t go out and invest that kind of money deploying fiber to 100 cities not knowing under what rules those investments will be governed,” Stephenson told investors, according to Reuters. “We think it is prudent to just pause and make sure we have line of sight and understanding as to what those rules would look like.” Stephenson was speaking at a Wells Fargo event.

High Note

Regular marijuana habit changes your brain, study says – CNN.com

Researchers found that compared to nonusers, people who smoked marijuana starting as early as age 14 have less brain volume, or gray matter, in the orbitofrontal cortex. That’s the area in the front of your brain that helps you make decisions.

“The younger the individual started using, the more pronounced the changes,” said Dr. Francesca Filbey, the study’s principal investigator and associate professor at the School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences at the University of Texas at Dallas. “Adolescence is when the brain starts maturing and making itself more adult-like, so any exposure to toxic substances can set the course for how your brain ends up.”

Unfilter Debunk

..a study that looked at a relatively large group of marijuana users …

The study, published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, used MRI scans to look at the brains of 62 non-marijuana users and 48 regular marijuana users, 27 of whom used marijuana but not other drugs.

• 21 of the 48 pot-smokers reported using other drugs aside from weed.

• Puzzlingly High Correlations in fMRI Studies of Emotion, Personality, and Social Cognition

Major contention surrounding studdies that use MRI methods

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studiesofemotion, personality, and social cognition have drawn much attention
in recent years, with high-profile studies frequently reporting extremely high (e.g., >.8) correlations between brain activation
and personality measures. We show that these correlations are higher than should be expected given the (evidently limited)
reliability of both fMRI and personality measures. The high correlations are all the more puzzling because method sections
rarely contain much detail about how the correlations were obtained. We surveyed authors of 55 articles that reported findings
of this kind to determine a few details on how these correlations were computed. More than half acknowledged using a strategy
that computes separate correlations for individual voxels and reports means of only those voxels exceeding chosen thresholds.
We show how this nonindependent analysis inflates correlations while yielding reassuring-looking scattergrams.

New pot shops on the block not always so popular | Business | Seattle News, Weather, Sports, Breaking News | KOMO News

DENVER (AP) – The booming new marijuana industry has an image problem. Not with government officials and the public – but with other businesses.

From crime fears to smell complaints, new marijuana retailers and growers face suspicion and sometimes open antagonism from their commercial neighbors, especially in Denver, which now has 200 marijuana retailers and dozens of pot growing and manufacturing facilities.

The strife went public last week along a once-forlorn stretch of highway south of downtown Denver now sprinkled with marijuana shops.

About two dozen pot shops along this stretch of Broadway, often dubbed “Broadsterdam,” had a marketing idea for the upcoming holiday shopping season. Why not join forces with neighboring antique shops to market the whole area as “The Green Mile”?

The pot shops called a meeting, expecting an enthusiastic response from neighboring businesses that have seen boarded-up storefronts replaced with bustling pot shops with lines out the door. Instead, the suggestion unleashed a torrent of anger from the antique shops.

“We don’t want to work with you,” said James Neisler, owner of Heidelberg Antiques. “Your customers, they’re the long-haired stinky types. They go around touching everything and they don’t buy anything.”

The post Net Neutrality Reality | Unfilter 122 first appeared on Jupiter Broadcasting.

We give a high level overview of the midterm elections in the US & the blood bath the Democrats just suffered. Then after discussing some of the news headlines of the week, we dig further into ISIS oil funding & the steady drumbeat of Lone Wolf fear porn that keeps getting louder.

Plus we go after the media’s coverage of the elections, discuss Obama’s short term challenges & much more!

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— Show Notes —

News

Disciplined nuclear officers tops 16

The Air Force has fired or disciplined at least 16 nuclear missile commanders or senior officers for misconduct and other failings over the past year and a half, reflecting turmoil in arguably the military’s most sensitive mission.

Another who quit of his own accord lamented upon leaving, “We let the American people down on my watch.”

The latest to be dismissed this week: a colonel accused of “cruelty and maltreatment” of a subordinate and a missile squadron commander found to have illegally discriminated against women under his command. In addition to those actions Monday, another senior officer was administratively disciplined but not removed from command.

This string of leadership lapses has beset a force that remains central to American defense strategy but in some respects has been neglected. The force of 450 Minuteman 3 nuclear missiles is primed to unleash nuclear devastation on a moment’s notice.

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel is expected soon to announce the results of an independent review of problems in the nuclear force.

Snowden documents reveal British climate espionage – Copenhagen climate summit targeted | Information

Against the backdrop of UN delegates gathering at the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change meeting this week in Copenhagen, Dagbladet Information today documents systematic intelligence operations against international climate negotiations by the British Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ). Among others, the intelligence service targeted the most recent major UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, the COP15, held in December 2009.

NSA Chief Bet Money on AT&T as It Spied on You – The Daily Beast

The former head of the world’s biggest spy agency didn’t just oversee the collection of billions of AT&T records. He also tried to make money off its customers.

US ends ban on ‘domestic propaganda’ — RT USA

The Smith-Mundt Act has ensured for decades that government-made media intended for foreign audiences doesn’t end up on radio networks broadcast within the US. An amendment tagged onto the National Defense Authorization Act removed that prohibition this year

The longstanding federal law made it illegal for the US Department of State to share domestically the internally-authored news stories sent to American-operated
outlets broadcasting around the globe. All of that changed effective July 2, when the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) was given permission to let US households tune-in to hear the
type of programming that has previously only been allowed in outside nations.

ISIS / ISIL

COLD WAR

• Saudi Arabia’s Oil Politics on Syria

But business concerns may not be the main driver of this Saudi oil policy. Instead, the Saudis may be flexing their muscular dominance of the world’s oil markets to advance geopolitical interests, from helping the energy-dependent military government of Egypt — a Saudi ally — to undermining the adversarial regimes in Syria and Iran as well as Russia, which has emerged as a key ally for those two embattled governments.

While falling oil prices certainly do hurt Saudi Arabia, the Saudis with their vast financial reserves are well-positioned to withstand the economic pain. That is less the case with Russia and Iran, both heavily invested in the defense of Bashar al-Assad’s Syrian regime. In other words, the Saudis may see the precipitous drop in oil prices as a weapon in the broader regional Shiite-Sunni proxy war, with Saudi Arabia leading the Sunni side versus Shiite-ruled Iran.

The depressed oil prices also dovetail with the Obama administration’s geopolitical interests by putting the squeeze on Russia and Iran as the West seeks to consolidate its control over Ukraine and tries to force Iran to capitulate in talks over its nuclear program.

But the Saudi geopolitical calculation to sustain record production above 9.5 million barrels per day is probably most directed at Syria where the Saudis have financed the Sunni-led campaign to overthrow Assad, who largely represents Alawite, Shiite, Christian and other minorities. By toppling Assad and replacing him with a Sunni-dominated government, Saudi Arabia would deal a severe blow to Iran and the region’s Shiites.

Thus, Saudi Arabia is willing to resist pressure from its partners in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries in order to advance what the Saudis see as their broader regional interests. For Riyadh, the self-inflicted economic pain is acceptable as long as it contributes to the broader imperative of inflicting pain on Assad and his backers.

High Note

Where America landed on marijuana

Voters legalize recreational pot in Oregon

Oregon becomes the third U.S. state to legalize recreational pot. With two-thirds of precincts reporting, legal pot lead the race by eight percentage points, 54 to 46.

Polls showed Measure 91 was extremely close heading into Election Day.

Opinions on the measure varied by age. The measure had support from 56 percent of voters under age 35, but only 30 percent support from voters older than 65, polls showed.

“It’s always an uphill battle to win a marijuana legalization initiative in a year like this, when young people are so much less likely to vote, which makes today’s victory all the sweeter,” said Ethan Nadelmann, executive director of the Drug Policy Alliance. “The pace of reform is accelerating, other states are sure to follow, and even Congress is poised to wake from its slumber.”

Under the measure, Oregonians 21 and older will be able to possess and smoke marijuana starting July 1 of 2015.

New highs: Marijuana now legal in Alaska, Oregon, and Washington, DC | The Verge

Voters in Alaska, Oregon, and the District of Columbia voted to legalize marijuana for recreational use Tuesday, following in the footsteps of Colorado and Washington, which legalized the drug in 2012. A ballot measure to legalize marijuana for medical purposes failed in Florida, the Associated Press reports, where voters failed to meet the 60 percent threshold needed to pass a constitutional amendment.

The post Democrat Midterm Disaster | Unfilter 121 first appeared on Jupiter Broadcasting.

The fear machine is spinning at maximum speed scaring the public over Ebola, but to what end? We discuss what all the fearporn could be cover for.

Plus the new narrative being told to us about ISIS and how polls are showing growing support by the US to send boots into Iraq.

Also a discussion around personal privacy tools & the FBI’s recent campaign to label them as national security threats.

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— Show Notes —

News

Edward Snowden’s girlfriend living with him in Moscow, film reveals | US news | theguardian.com

The mystery of the whereabouts of Edward Snowden’s long-time girlfriend is solved in a documentary that premiered in New York on Friday night: she has been living with the national security whistleblower in Russia since July.

The surprise revelation in the documentary, filmed by Laura Poitras, upends the widespread assumption that Snowden had deserted Lindsay Mills and that she, in a fit of pique, fled Hawaii where they had been living to stay with her parents in mainland US.

Citizenfour review – Poitras’ victorious film shows Snowden vindicated | Film | theguardian.com

_Citizenfour__opens in US cinemas on 24 October. _

ISIS Update

Revisionist History 101: Bush Was Right About Iraq WMD! – The Intercept

So WMD were, in fact, found in Iraq. Unfortunately, 'Bush Wasn't Lying' is not an especially catchy slogan … https://t.co/iYaZdrT3l0

— Philip Terzian (@PhilipTerzian) October 15, 2014

The latest attempt came yesterday, when The New York Times published an explosive new story on American soldiers who were wounded while handling corroded munitions extracted from Saddam Hussein’s inactive chemical weapons program. The Iraq Study Group has long documented the existence of these decrepit and corroded weapons stocks in Iraq, something which has precisely nothing to do with the “Weapons of Mass Destruction” claims purveyed by war supporters.

The inconvenient truth is that the U.S. was aware of the existence of such weapons at the Al Muthanna site as far back as 1991. Why? Because Al Muthanna was the site where the UN ordered Saddam Hussein to dispose of his declared chemical munitions in the first place. Those weapons that could not safely be destroyed were sealed and left to decay on their own, which they did. The site was neither “active” nor “clandestine” — it was a declared munitions dump being used to hold the corroded weapons which Western powers themselves had in most cases helped Saddam procure.

NBC/WSJ Poll: Majority Say Ground Troops Needed to Fight ISIS

• More Americans Back U.S. Ground Troops in ISIS Fight – NBC News.com

The newest poll shows that 41 percent of respondents think ground troops and airstrikes are necessary, compared with 35 percent who think the actions should be limited to airstrikes. Fifteen percent of those polled said no military action should be taken.

A month ago, just 34 percent — a seven-point difference — favored both airstrikes and combat troops, and 40 percent wanted just airstrikes.

ISIS Threat Top Concern for Republican Voters — WSJ/NBC Poll – Washington Wire – WSJ

In the survey, 41% of Republicans said acting on the ISIS threat is the most important issue in deciding their midterm vote. Just 18% of Democrats agreed, placing the issue fifth behind economic growth, breaking the partisan gridlock in Washington, health care and social security.

US ends ban on ‘domestic propaganda’ — RT USA

The Smith-Mundt Act has ensured for decades that government-made media intended for foreign audiences doesn’t end up on radio networks broadcast within the US. An amendment tagged onto the National Defense Authorization Act removed that prohibition this year

The longstanding federal law made it illegal for the US Department of State to share domestically the internally-authored news stories sent to American-operated
outlets broadcasting around the globe. All of that changed effective July 2, when the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) was given permission to let US households tune-in to hear the
type of programming that has previously only been allowed in outside nations.

Ebola

Obama holds Ebola meeting as White House defends handling of outbreak | Reuters

U.S. President Barack Obama convened a high-level meeting about the Ebola outbreak on Wednesday after abruptly postponing a political trip in what was a sign of growing concern about the deadly virus.

The White House strongly defended the government’s handling of the Ebola problem after it became clear that a second Texas healthcare worker who tested positive for the virus had traveled aboard a commercial airliner.

• Obama: Ebola ‘SWAT teams’ to respond to infections

High Note

2-alarm fire in Federal Way started in marijuana grow op | Local & Regional | Seattle News, Weather, Sports, Breaking News | KOMO News

He said another tenant – a marijuana grow operation – occupied the basement of the building, and investigators later determined the fire started there. It wasn’t immediately known whether it was a legal medical pot grow or an illegal operation. Tenants tell KOMO News they knew about the grow operation, but were told by the owners it was a legal business. A spokesperson with the State Liquor Control Board says their records show nobody at the Federal Way address is licensed to grow recreational marijuana, however the state does not have records or oversight when it comes to medical marijuana growers.

The post The Ebola of Propaganda | Unfilter 118 first appeared on Jupiter Broadcasting.

Vice President Joe Biden exposes the wests partners roles in the creation of ISIS during a speech, and the White House is in full damage control mode. Plus the boots on the ground narrative is building with pressure to deploy the troops.

And we discuss the excessive violations of law enforcement in just recent weeks, and the desperate attempt to make cannabis soda a deadly killer.

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— Show Notes —

News

Obama staffing up to prepare for the next two years

A model was his recent appointment of retired Gen. John Allen as special envoy for Iraq and Syria. More such top-level hires may be coming in an effort to widen the administration’s bandwidth. ‘We are aware that the next two years will be transformative in the Middle East, the Iran relationship and Asia,’ says a senior White House official.

ABC News ‘World News Tonight with David Muir’ ranks #1 in total viewers, adults 25-54 and adults 18-49 for the first time since 2008

The show “scored an across-the-board win in Total Viewers (8.416 million), Adults 25-54 (2.204 million) and Adults 18-49 (1.528 million), for the week of September 29 … This marked the first time in more than 6 ½ years that ‘World News Tonight’ won the week in all three key demos … Additionally, ‘World News Tonight’ snapped ‘NBC Nightly News’’ 263-week Total Viewer winning streak [back to Sept. ’09].

Dallas Ebola Patient, Thomas Eric Duncan, Dies – NYTimes.com

Thomas Eric Duncan, 42, the patient with the first case of Ebola diagnosed in the United States and the Liberian man at the center of a widening public health scare, died in isolation at a hospital here on Wednesday, hospital authorities said.

Mr. Duncan died at 7:51 a.m. at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital, more than a week after the virus was detected in him on Sept. 30.

ISIS Update

Fighting ISIS: $1.1bn already spent, ‘30 years of war’ to come

The fight against IS may take quite a long time, according former
Pentagon chief Leon Panetta, who said “we’re looking at kind
of a 30-year war” in an interview with USA Today.

“It’s going to take a long time to go after these elements,” he said.

Jeremy Scahill on Obama’s Orwellian War in Iraq: We Created the Very Threat We Claim to be Fighting

To talk more about the crisis in the Middle East, we’re joined by Jeremy Scahill, who first reported from inside Iraq before the 2003 U.S. invasion. He’s co-founder of the TheIntercept.org and author of the book Dirty Wars: The World is a Battlefield. The paperback version of the book has just been published.

US ends ban on ‘domestic propaganda’ — RT USA

The Smith-Mundt Act has ensured for decades that government-made media intended for foreign audiences doesn’t end up on radio networks broadcast within the US. An amendment tagged onto the National Defense Authorization Act removed that prohibition this year

The longstanding federal law made it illegal for the US Department of State to share domestically the internally-authored news stories sent to American-operated
outlets broadcasting around the globe. All of that changed effective July 2, when the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) was given permission to let US households tune-in to hear the
type of programming that has previously only been allowed in outside nations.

Ebola

Here are some things that have killed Americans since the first reported case of US ebola (https://t.co/VTonqHu3Cm) pic.twitter.com/7603NWapqI

— Digg (@digg) October 8, 2014

High Note

Marijuana soda explodes at Bellingham pot shop – AP State – MyNorthwest.com

The post Biden Rats Out Allies | Unfilter 117 first appeared on Jupiter Broadcasting.

Elections in Ukraine are nearing and the violence is escalating dramatically. We’ll bring you up to date on the latest developments, and the recent surprise move by the Russians.

Plus a bill to reign in the NSA gains traction, how the NSA scares the Bejeezus out of tech CEOs, some good news, and much more!

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— Show Notes —

NSA is Crazy

Exclusive: Emails reveal close Google relationship with NSA | Al Jazeera America

Al Jazeera has obtained two sets of email communications dating from a year before Snowden became a household name that suggest not all cooperation was under pressure.

On the morning of June 28, 2012, an email from Alexander invited Schmidt to attend a four-hour-long “classified threat briefing” on Aug. 8 at a “secure facility in proximity to the San Jose, CA airport.”

Alexander, Schmidt and other industry executives met earlier in the month, according to the email. But Alexander wanted another meeting with Schmidt and “a small group of CEOs” later that summer because the government needed Silicon Valley’s help.

“About six months ago, we began focusing on the security of mobility devices,” Alexander wrote. “A group (primarily Google, Apple and Microsoft) recently came to agreement on a set of core security principles. When we reach this point in our projects we schedule a classified briefing for the CEOs of key companies to provide them a brief on the specific threats we believe can be mitigated and to seek their commitment for their organization to move ahead … Google’s participation in refinement, engineering and deployment of the solutions will be essential.”

The classified briefing cited by Alexander was part of a secretive government initiative known as the Enduring Security Framework (ESF)

Cyber Briefings ‘Scare The Bejeezus’ Out Of CEOs : NPR

“We scare the bejeezus out of them,” says one U.S. government participant.

“We can turn your computer into a brick,” U.S. officials told the startled executives, according to a participant in the meeting.

The warning came during a discussion of emerging cyberthreats at a secret session hosted by the office of the Director of National Intelligence and the departments of Defense and Homeland Security, along with Gen. Keith Alexander, head of the U.S. military’s Cyber Command.

USA Freedom Act unanimously clears House Judiciary Committee

The USA Freedom Act, designed to prevent the US government from collecting US phone data in bulk, passed the House Judiciary Committee by a 32 to zero bi-partisan vote, making it the first surveillance reform bill to proceed out of committee and to the House floor.

The bill’s architect, Republican James Sensenbrenner of Wisconsin, who also wrote the 2001 Patriot Act, said the bill “makes it crystal clear that Congress does not support bulk collection.”

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Ukraine

Putin ‘backs 25 May elections’ Says They Decide Nothing if not everyone is involved

Russia’s President Vladimir Putin says Ukraine’s presidential election on 25 May is a step “in the right direction”.

But he said the vote would decide nothing unless the rights of “all citizens” were protected.

Mr Putin also said that Russia had pulled back its troops from the border, as tension remains high.

Putin Announces Pullback from Ukraine Border – NYTimes.com

“We were told constantly about concerns over our troops near the Ukrainian border,” Mr. Putin said. “We have pulled them back. Today they are not at the Ukrainian border but in places of regular exercises, at training grounds.”

NATO officials said that they saw no immediate sign that Russian forces had pulled back, news services reported from NATO’s headquarters in Brussels. A White House spokesman, Josh Earnest, told reporters traveling with President Obama aboard Air Force One that while the United States would welcome a Russian military pullback from the Ukraine border region, “there has been no evidence that such a withdrawal has taken place.”

Weed Wackers:

Systematic review: Efficacy and safety of medical marijuana in selected neurologic disorders

Objective: To determine the efficacy of medical marijuana in several neurologic conditions.

Methods: We performed a systematic review of medical marijuana (1948–November 2013) to address treatment of symptoms of multiple sclerosis
(MS), epilepsy, and movement disorders. We graded the studies according to the American Academy of Neurology classification
scheme for therapeutic articles.

Results: Thirty-four studies met inclusion criteria; 8 were rated as Class I.

Conclusions: The following were studied in patients with MS: (1) Spasticity: oral cannabis extract (OCE) is effective, and nabiximols
and tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) are probably effective, for reducing patient-centered measures; it is possible both OCE and

• THC are effective for reducing both patient-centered and objective measures at 1 year. (2) Central pain or painful spasms
  (including spasticity-related pain, excluding neuropathic pain): OCE is effective; THC and nabiximols are probably effective.

• The risks and benefits of medical marijuana should be weighed carefully.

• Risk of serious adverse psychopathologic effects was nearly 1%.

• Comparative effectiveness of medical marijuana vs other therapies is unknown
  for these indications.

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The post Ukrainian Countdown | Unfilter 96 first appeared on Jupiter Broadcasting.

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel on Monday proposed shrinking the Army to its smallest size in 74 years, closing bases and reshaping forces to confront future threats like cyberwarfare. Old special interests are digging in and fighting back with everything they’ve got. But how deep are the cuts? And is there really any reduction in spending? We’ll dig in.

Plus: The NSA doubles down in Germany, an update on the Ukraine, and much much more.

On this week’s episode of, Unfilter.

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— Show Notes —

NSA is Crazy

• Obama Administration Seeks to Hold NSA Phone Records Longer – WSJ.com

The Obama administration has asked a special court for approval to hold onto National Security Agency phone records for a longer period–an unintended consequence of lawsuits seeking to stop the phone-surveillance program.

The Wall Street Journal reported last week that the Justice Department was considering such a move, which would end up expanding the controversial phone records database by not deleting older call records.

Under the current system, the database is purged of phone records more than five years old. The Justice Department, in a filing made public Wednesday, said it needs to hold onto the older records as evidence in lawsuits brought by the American Civil Liberties Union, Electronic Frontier Foundation, and others.

Under the proposal made to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, the older data would continue to be held, but NSA analysts would not be allowed to search it.

After having stopped spying on Merkel, the NSA is now focusing on German Interior Minister Thomas de Maizière and other confidants (google translate)

• How Covert Agents Infiltrate the Internet to Manipulate, Deceive, and Destroy Reputations – The Intercept

These agencies are attempting to control, infiltrate, manipulate, and warp online discourse, and in doing so, are compromising the integrity of the internet itself.

Among the core self-identified purposes of JTRIG are two tactics: (1) to inject all sorts of false material onto the internet in order to destroy the reputation of its targets; and (2) to use social sciences and other techniques to manipulate online discourse and activism to generate outcomes it considers desirable.

Other tactics aimed at individuals are listed here, under the revealing title “discredit a target”:

Then there are the tactics used to destroy companies the agency targets:

GCHQ describes the purpose of JTRIG in starkly clear terms: “using online techniques to make something happen in the real or cyber world,” including “information ops (influence or disruption).”

• Reddit Censors Big Story About Government Manipulation and Disruption of the Internet Washington’s Blog

The moderators at the giant r/news reddit (with over 2 million subscribed readers) repeatedly killed the Greenwald/Snowden story on government manipulation and disruption of the Internet … widely acknowledged to be one of the most important stories ever leaked by Snowden.

Similarly, the moderators at the even bigger r/worldnews reddit (over 5 million subscribers) repeatedly deleted the story, so that each new post had to start over at zero.

• Brazil, Europe plan undersea cable to skirt U.S. spying

Under current plans, a joint venture between Brazilian telecoms provider Telebras and Spain’s IslaLink Submarine Cables would lay the communications link. Telebras would have a 35 percent stake, IslaLink would have a 45 percent interest and European and Brazilian pension funds could put up the remainder.

• Brazil, EU to circumvent NSA spying with undersea cable – YouTube

Brazil and the European Union are joining forces against the National Security Agency and spying by the United States. Brazil and the EU announced they will build an undersea communications cable to connect the two areas and to reduce the reliance on cables going through the US. The proposed $185 million cable would stretch from Fortaleza, Brazil to Lisbon, Portugal.

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Shrinking the Beast

• Hagel says US military must shrink to face new era – The Washington Post

In a speech at the one-year mark of his tenure as Pentagon chief, Hagel revealed many details of the defense spending plan that will be part of the 2015 budget that President Barack Obama will submit to Congress next week. Hagel described it as the first Pentagon budget to fully reflect the nation’s transition from 13 years of wa

• Defense.gov News Article: Hagel Outlines Budget Reducing Troop Strength, Force Structure

Some of that risk, Hagel said, is associated with a sharp drawdown in the size of the Army, which the proposed budget calls for reducing to as low as 440,000 active duty soldiers from the current size of 520,000, while ensuring the force remains well trained and equipped.

The cuts assume the United States no longer becomes involved in large, prolonged stability operations overseas on the scale of Iraq and Afghanistan. “An Army of this size is larger than required to meet the demands of our defense strategy,” Hagel said. “It is also larger than we can afford to modernize and keep ready.”

• Secretary of Defense Robert Gates in Feb 2011: Defending US defense spending Cuts

“It is my judgment that the Department of Defense needs an appropriation of at least $540 billion for FY2011 for US military to properly carry out its mission, maintain readiness and prepare for the future,” said Gates, who also discussed cuts he’s made to the military budget, on programs no longer needed.
However, what is not widely known is that most of the $78 billion he’s cut would not take place until 2014 and 2015, when there will be a new secretary of defense and possibly a new president.

• Pentagon proposes to shrink US Army to pre-WWII level – YouTube

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel recommended Monday that U.S. troops be reduced levels not seen since prior to World War II. In a news conference at the Pentago.

• Proposed defense budget cuts would ground A–10 fleet – YouTube

The future of the A–10s is up in the air again after Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel outlined Monday massive proposed cuts to the military.

• Cheney Bashes Food Stamps In Pro-Military Rant, Forgetting Military Families Rely On Them

In the first half of fiscal 2013, however, those eligible to shop in military commissaries – which include disabled veterans and others with military identification – cashed in nearly $53 million in food stamps, according to data provided to The Huffington Post by the Defense Commissary Agency. In 2011, more than 5,000 “active duty military” relied on the government aid.

A September report by nonprofit think tank Center on Budget and Policy Priorities estimated that at least 900,000 veterans received Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program assistance, or food stamps, each month.

• President Obama Is Fighting Cuts to the Military, Not Demanding Them

You might disagree with Obama’s priorities, but Cheney’s claim is based entirely on the notion that Hagel and Obama are proposing military cuts. But they aren’t. Hagel proposed a change in force structure that would lead to a smaller Army, but his overall budget proposal is $115 billion more than the current sequester levels demanded by Republicans

• Army Gives Out $500,000 Armored Trucks for Free – YouTube

The U.S. Army is giving away 13,000 armored trucks, worth about $500,000 each. The 20-ton MRAPs, or Mine-Resistant Ambush-Protected trucks, were built specifically to save U.S. soldiers from roadside bombs in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. Now the trucks are patrolling U.S. city streets. U.S. law enforcement agencies have received the lion’s share of this high-powered military surplus. (Source: Bloomberg)

• Obama assessing four alternatives to NSA phone data collection: WSJ | The Verge

One proposal would be to put phone metadata collection under the purview of US telecommunications companies. Under this option, the NSA would inform the companies of when it needs to search their databases for terrorism-related investigations, and the phone companies would return only the results of those searches, rather than data on consumers unrelated to the investigations.

A second proposal would see a different federal agency hold the data — the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), for instance — and a third would place them under the control of a third entity that’s neither a federal agency nor a telecom company.

The final proposal would abolish the data collection program altogether, an option that Obama in January said would require more work “to determine exactly how this system might work.”

• List of countries by military expenditures – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article is a list of countries by military expenditure, the amount spent by a nation on its military in a given year.

• U.S. defense spending compared to other countries | pgpf.org

We currently spend more on defense than the next 10 countries combined. Defense spending accounts for about 20 percent of all federal spending — nearly as much as Social Security, or the combined spending for Medicare and Medicaid.

• Video: The Deep State Hiding in Plain Sight

Mike Lofgren, a former GOP congressional staff member with the powerful House and Senate Budget Committees, joins Bill to talk about what he calls the Deep State, a hybrid of corporate America and the national security state, which is “out of control” and “unconstrained.” In it, Lofgren says, elected and unelected figures collude to protect and serve powerful vested interests.

Ukraine mayhem

• BBC News – Ukraine crisis: Yatsenyuk is PM-designate, Kiev Maidan told

The Maidan council named Arseniy Yatsenyuk to become prime minister. The cabinet – to be voted on by MPs on Thursday – includes leading activists.

The US has offered Ukraine’s struggling economy – which faces default – loan guarantees of up to $1bn (£600m).

Meanwhile, Mr Yanukovych has been put on the international wanted list.

The fugitive president – whose whereabouts are unclear – is accused of being behind last week’s deaths of more than 100 protesters at the hands of riot police in and around the Maidan.

US Secretary of State John Kerry said Washington planned to offer Ukraine the loan guarantees to help stabilise the country’s economy.

Mr Kerry also warned Russia it would be a “grave mistake” to embark on any military intervention in Ukraine.

• Russia flexes military muscle as tensions rise in Ukraine’s Crimea

Russia ordered surprise military exercises on Ukraine’s doorstep Wednesday as tensions in that country’s southern Crimea region simmered, with pro-Russian demonstrators facing off against rival protesters in the city of Simferopol.

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The post Military Budget Bomb | Unfilter 87 first appeared on Jupiter Broadcasting.