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Two amazing interviews today.
Last night I had two amazing guests on my radio show-- Senator Bernie Sanders and former CIA analyst for three presidents, Raymond McGovern.
By Rob Kall
CIA Veteran Ray McGovern on Ed Snowden, NSA and Lying Spying Liars 
what has Ed Snowden revealed that we did not know before. How has he changed things? Who has lied and deserves to be fired. What about the act of war NSA engaged in, and would Obama even know if NSA started a war, based on how things are going?
By Rob Kall
Senator Bernie Sanders 
A progressive PAC, NSA, Public Banking, Students, Economics and more.
These two men are progressive heroes. I think you'll want to hear what they have to say.
And consider becoming an sponsor/advertiser on the radio show. Cost-- just $80, and that gets you mention on the show and a link on the podcast page.
If you love what we do at Opednews, please support us with a donation.
thanks,
rob kall
  Daily Headlines
How the founding fathers of America would look upon Edward Snowden. As a hero or not? A question that although is tricky, is also vitally important in discussions about America's future.
what has Ed Snowden revealed that we did not know before. How has he changed things? Who has lied and deserves to be fired. What about the act of war NSA engaged in, and would Obama even know if NSA started a war, based on how things are going?
By the time Obama accepted his Nobel Peace Prize 11 months into his presidency, he'd already ordered more drone strikes than George W. Bush had in his entire presidency. By the end of 2012, he'd ordered six times as many strikes in Pakistan as Bush had. Missiles from drones might be exploding in Pakistan and Afghanistan and Yemen, but the fallout will impact us here at home for years to come.
D.C. lawmakers gave final approval Wednesday to a bill requiring some large retailers to pay their employees a 50 percent premium over the city's minimum wage, a day after Wal-Mart warned that the law would jeopardize its plans in the city. The retail giant had linked the future of at least three planned stores in the District to the proposal. But its ultimatum did not change any legislators' minds. The 8 to 5 roll call matched the outcome of an earlier vote on the matter, taken before Wal-Mart's warning.
NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden, in an interview on Saturday and then again Tuesday afternoon, vehemently denied media claims that he gave classified information to the governments of China or Russia. He also denied assertions that one or both governments had succeeded in "draining the contents of his laptops." "I never gave any information to either government, and they never took anything from my laptops," he said.
If more mothers focused on building strength in their daughters vs. femininity, this world would be a better place. Strength trumps softness, always. I also believe if more mothers raised their daughters to know they could always come home, no matter what, women would take more risk and be more courageous.Charm fades, if women build a foundation of strength within themselves, they can always rebuild their life if they need to.
A few years ago you were hearing about "peak oil" and how we're about to reach it or already have. Then you hear about how the US has suddenly been heading headlong into that exalted state of Energy Independence, all on the sinuous shoulders of shale that have been residing quietly, previously undisturbed, beneath us all this time. We are getting much more than we bargained for.
Many U.S. historians have soft spots for Thomas Jefferson, despite his gross hypocrisy on slavery, and for the Confederates and their supposed gallantry in their fight to preserve slavery. But apologizing for historical racists only invites more racism.
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There were signs that President Barack Obama might rein in the mass militarization of America's police forces after he won the White House. Policing is primarily a local issue, overseen by local authorities.
The nation's entire energy system is vulnerable to increasingly severe and costly weather events driven by climate change, according to a report from the Department of Energy to be published on Thursday. Every corner of the country's energy infrastructure -- oil wells, hydroelectric dams, nuclear power plants -- will be stressed in coming years by more intense storms, rising seas, higher temperatures and more frequent droughts.
Non-white majority Mankind, mostly descendants of the planet"s earliest humans educated in the arts and sciences, long plundered by savage descendants of ferocious Vikings and other primitive Germanic tribes, will soon force America, and the white Colonial Powers it leads, to pay compensation for wrongful death, injury, stolen property and natural resources as condemned by Jeremiah Wright in sermon. Video
Spitzer is contemplating what must be done to rebuild our economy so that it truly competes internationally and, most important, generates wealth--not what must be done to rescue the high-fliers who have crashed and who seem to hold our credit lines and economy hostage. It's a perspective not heard within the mainstream too often these days. His views could have been influential when the first Wall Street bailout was pulled together in September--had he been part of the public discourse at the time and had he not been such a bad boy in the Mayflower Hotel.
By Steve Bhaerman
The Signs of the Upwising Are Everywhere! People Are Waking Up, Left and Right Now that the whistle-blowers have gotten things started, the corporate state and its media apparatus are doing an excellent job of exposing themselves. The "irony curtain" -- the invisible wall of impropaganda that separates we the people from the truth -- is showing serious frays, as more and more otherwise mainstream citizens are catching glimpses of the emperor's bare buttocks...
Mandela fostered crony relationships with wealthy whites from the corporate world, including those who had profited from apartheid. He saw this as part of "reconciliation." Perhaps he and his beloved ANC had been in struggle and exile for so long they were willing to accept and collude with the forces that had been the people's enemy.
James Comey former deputy att'y general in Bush II administration has been nominated by Pres. Obama to become FBI director. Before the Senate Judiciary Committee he was asked why he signed the memo allowing waterboarding, sleep deprivation & other enhanced interrogation techniques in 2005 when now he says he was against them. So why sign the memo approving torture if you so opposed it? He said, I'm not sure I did it right.
For decades the U.S. government has ladled billions upon billions in military assistance to countries that either don't need it or use it to suppress popular uprisings. But all that money has bought very little in terms of genuine influence with the recipients.
By Charles Orloski
"And here's to you Mrs. Benson...," Article is my rendition of "The Graduate" & Dustin Hoffman's finale, pounding on Church doors.
By Nozomi Hayase
NSA Spying; An Open Air Prism We are now in an open air prism; a high tech prison where every move is monitored and creativity is smothered. Within this watchful eye, insidious control extends indiscriminately to everyone. When national security and heightened terror alerts becomes the new norm, we are not aware of how far our civil liberties are being eroded. Yet, with voices of conscience shining light on this deception and unconstitutional abuse of powe
The corporate media's long relationship with the spook world may help explain why it doesn't like Snowden
Progressive Review's 'Undernews' blogsite shines light on some historical connections between the media and the intelligence community.
By Aubrey Rose
Georgia Shockingly Plans To Execute Man With Intellectual Disability: U.S. Supreme Court Last Hope to Stop It In Atkins v. Virginia in 2002, the U.S. Supreme Court declared that it is unconstitutional to execute individuals with "mental retardation.' In 2013 the State of Georgia is openly defying this ruling. The State plans to put a man with an intellectually disability to death on Monday, July 15.
With McConnell's rise into the GOP leadership, his continuous search for tactical advantage with limited regard for policy consequences has overrun Washington. McConnell has more than doubled the previous high-water mark for the number of filibusters deployed to block legislation, infamously declaring that his "top political priority" was to make President Barack Obama a one-term president. This obstruction has had serious consequences, as the Great Recession grinds on and large-scale problems like climate change march inexorably forward. Congress has failed to address the nation's most pressing challenges, and America has come to look more and more like McConnell's Kentucky.
In a recent meeting with a group of "clerics and senior ayatollahs" Rowhani has said, that "People are expecting change" and added that under the current conditions there should be no "distance and disassociation between clerics and the public" because, in his words, "whether one likes it or not, whatever is done by officials will be seen as actions by the clergy."
Despite the round-the-clock picket by London police, Patino stated that his country had no intention of trying to whisk away the WikiLeaks founder through subterfuge. Assange stated that he would likely not leave the west London embassy even if Sweden were to drop its extradition orders against him, convinced that the US would instead transport him stateside to face espionage charges.
Beginning a third week holed up in a Moscow airport's transit zone, Edward Snowden finds himself far enough away to evade U.S. authorities, but also too far from any of the sympathetic nations willing to shelter him. Nations have full, exclusive jurisdiction over their airspace, so any plane carrying Snowden could be forced to land if it flies over the territory of a country that's willing to help American authorities capture the fugitive intelligence contractor. Snowden faces felony charges in the United States for leaking classified documents that detailed the National Security Agency's extensive surveillance apparatus.
Perhaps my most passionate--and chilling--article, I wrote this piece in a white heat after reflecting on Josh Fox's must-see documentary, "Gasland 2." My conclusion is that the modern fossil-fuel industry is by its inner logic fascist, and its being greedily embraced by our fascist-leaning government makes it likely the leading edge of "jackboot in your face" U.S. fascism. And of dissenters being "Othered" as ecoterrorists.
The international community has long criticized Israel for the "discrimination" its Palestinian citizens face and for the "oppression" of Palestinians under occupation. This terminology needs overhauling too, say the human rights lawyers. A system that treats one ethnic group as less human than another already has a legal name: it is called apartheid.
By Tom Engelhardt
Todd Miller, Surveillance Surge on the Border I mean, come on. You knew it had to happen, didn't you? In a 2010 Department of Homeland Security report, wrested from the bowels of the secrecy/surveillance state (thanks to a Freedom of Information Act request by the Electronic Frontier Foundation), the Customs and Border Protection agency suggests arming their small fleet of surveillance drones.
The always-hideous Westboro Baptist Church is at it again, this time protesting the funerals of the 19 fallen Arizona firefighters who lost their lives in the recent wildfires. It seems God was mad at these brave heroes because of gay marriage, or something.
A scheme to put a "harmless" gas into 21 NY Subway stations to simulate a terror attack does nothing to make New Yorkers safer, and may just provide ideas to terrorist. What are the NYPD and Homeland Security thinking, asks TCBH! journalist Dave Lindorff
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Why is it that Republicans who do want our governing institutions and processes to remain strong don't stand up to the fanatics? What happened to Hatch and McCain, or to Lamar Alexander, Susan Collins, and Lindsay Graham? Are they so frightened of losing to a fanatic in the next primary that they've been silenced into submission?
Texas House Passes Sweeping Draconian Abortion Restrictions, including a ban after 20 weeks of pregnancy and tougher standards for clinics that perform the procedure.
Russian President Putin addressed the leaders participating in the G8 meeting, saying: "In Syria all of you are standing on the side of the forces that for the last 10 years you have claimed to be fighting against under the rubric of 'terror.' Now today you are with them, helping them to take power across the region."
Who's eligible?; Is your employer coverage is inadequate?; What if what you have to pay for employer coverage is out of your price range?; what are the penalties if I fail to purchase insurance?; Will some people find it cheaper to take the penalty then buy insurance? The jargon: Deductible, Copayment, Coinsurance Tradeoffs: Risk versus coverage; Premiums versus coinsurance, copays, and deductibles The essential benefits
The full implementation of Obamacare calls for old-fashioned consumer reporting. Many features of the Affordable Care Act are already in place, but now comes its central pillar: the requirement for most Americans to carry health insurance, starting January 1, or face tax penalties. Readers will be forever grateful if journalists help them find their way through the confusion of the liftoff.
One factor that distinguishes the South from the rest of the country is the extent to which its form of Christianity influences everything. Now an author is proposing that we and they would be better off is they seceded. Many in the South would agree.
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McDonald's couldn't thrive in Bolivia--the first Latin America country to essentially kick the fast-food-giant out by keeping them in the red. Opposition to McDonald's in Bolivia didn't have to be super organized; they didn't have to protest or use petitions. Instead, they simply made healthy choices and the company couldn't drum up enough business as a result.
Underscoring their priorities for the next U.S. budget talks, Republican lawmakers detailed additional cuts to domestic programs on Tuesday to boost funding to defense and security agencies. The proposed reductions, released by the House of Representatives Appropriations Committee, would reduce fiscal 2014 funding for the White House, the District of Columbia, the Internal Revenue Service and other financial services-related agencies by $3 billion. Many of the accounts already are squeezed by the "sequester" automatic spending cuts.
The defense rested its case on Wednesday in the court martial of U.S. Army Private First Class Bradley Manning, accused of passing secrets to the pro-transparency website Wikileaks. Manning, 25, who is charged with leaking more than 700,000 classified files, combat videos and State Department cables to WikiLeaks, told Judge Colonel Denise Lind that he did not want to testify on his own behalf. "The defense rests, your honor," Manning's lawyer David Coombs told the court after three days of defense testimony.
The Investigative Reporting Workshop of the American University School of Communication releases the results of an investigation into little-known efforts by the Koch Brothers to limit governmental progress on climate change.
W. Edward Deming, the American, credited most often for the Japanese economic miracle after WWII, taught that the process of meeting consumers' needs was a system. He emphasized that system was end-to-end and therefore included the manufacturer's various suppliers, the manufacturer, labor, and the customers. Innovation is an integral part of manufacturing, as such, it rarely gets outsourced, like a non-core process, e.g. payroll processing. In addition, even if innovators could peddle their innovation, it's unrealistic to believe that they could entice manufacturer without disclosing too much proprietary information about the innovation to the manufacturer. Mr. Gomory is spot-on in his article: On Manufacturing and Innovation, regarding the inter-connectivity on Innovation and manufacturing.
Alexander Konovolov, President of the Institute for Strategic Assessment (Russia), commenting on Edward Snowden in The Moscow News: "No one really knows what he was motivated by. It wasn't money. It wasn't Communist ideals, which don't matter anymore ... He's part of a new information society, and for many of these people, there is a conflict between the responsibilities they've undertaken before the state, and the responsibilities which they themselves feel they have before humanity. We will increasingly be seeing people like this here in Russia." That, Konovalov said, is not something the Kremlin would be looking forward to.'
Electronic components built from single molecules using chemical synthesis could pave the way for smaller, faster, and more green and sustainable electronic devices.
Ready for Hillary, the super PAC aimed at getting Hillary Clinton to run for president in 2016, has hired a consulting firm run by top aides to President Obama's 2012 reelection campaign. The super PAC will announce Wednesday that it has signed up 270 Strategies, the new consulting firm run by Obama's battleground states director, Mitch Stewart, and his national field director, Jeremy Bird. Stewart and Bird were seen as instrumental in helping Obama craft his much-lauded ground game and rebuild his grassroots base of support, which was so strong in 2008.
The U.S. military has erected a 64,000-square-foot headquarters building on the dusty moonscape of southwestern Afghanistan that comes with all the tools to wage a modern war. A vast operations center with tiered seating. A briefing theater. Spacious offices. Fancy chairs. Powerful air conditioning. Everything, that is, except troops. The building was completed this year at a cost of $34 million. But as the military draws down, it will sit empty.
The world's largest retailer delivered an ultimatum to District lawmakers Tuesday, telling them less than 24 hours before a decisive vote that at least three planned Wal-Marts will not open in the city if a super-minimum-wage proposal becomes law. The D.C. Council bill would require retailers with corporate sales of $1 billion or more and operating in spaces 75,000 square feet or larger to pay their employees no less than $12.50 an hour. The city's minimum wage is $8.25.
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