Albert N. Stubblebine III is a retired Major General in the United States Army. He was the commanding general of the United States Army Intelligence and Security Command from 1981 to 1984. In this compelling interview, Stubblemine reveals the following information (what he calls dots) about the attacks on the Pentagon and the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001:
Stubblebine initially believed the official story regarding 9/11.
Then, he saw the hole in the Pentagon. He can prove that the Pentagon was not hit by a Boeing 757. DOT.
All of the sensors around the Pentagon were turned off except one. That one sensor captured an image of the object the hit the Pentagon. It looked like a missile. But, after he went public, the imagery was changed to look like a plane. DOT.
The collapse of the twin towers was caused by controlled demolition – not the fuel from the airplane. DOT.
Larry Silverstein, the lease holder of the WTC complex, admitted that that building 7, which was not hit by a plane and had only a small fire, was intentionally “pulled” – which is phraseology used for controlled demolition. DOT.
All of the air defense systems around Washington DC were turned off that day. DOT.
Also on 9/11, there was an exercise designed to mimic an attack on the towers by airplanes. DOT.
When you connect the DOTs, the picture says that what we were told by the media was not the real story.
Stubblebine, visibly upset, describes how he felt when he realized the truth about his government after having a strong belief in his country since early childhood: “My belief system was so strong from age five when I could remember standing on a parade ground at attention with not anybody telling me to do that – at West Point.”

Below are some notes from the interview including a partial transcript. (Be sure to watch all the way to the the end, where you can see the deep hurt on his face when he recalled the moment that he realized that his government, the government that he proudly served for over 30 years, was not what he thought was):

5:15 Stubblebine hears about the 9/11 attacks: “We’re at war.”

6:00 Stubblebine said there must have been intelligence information to know that an attack was coming and we didn’t see the signals. Somebody missed it.

6:35 He initially believed that it was terrorist attack done by other forces: “Not my government.”

7:45 Stubblebine then saw a photo of the Pentagon showing the hole in the Pentagon supposedly made by a Boeing 757. ”Something’s wrong. There is something wrong with this picture…”

8:30 “Well there was something wrong. And, so I analyzed it not just photographically, I did measurements… I checked the plane, the length of the nose, where the wings were… I took measurements of the Pentagon – the depth of the destruction in the Pentagon.”

9:05 “Conclusion: airplane did not make that hole.” 9:10” I went public at the time. I am the highest ranking officer, I believe, that has ever gone public… The official story was not true.”

9:25 “I was very careful to not say what it was because I couldn’t prove it. I was careful to say that it was not the airplane that did that, because I can prove that it was not the airplane.”

9:45 “In the hole, however, was a turbine that looked like a turbine from the missile… I can’t prove that, I don’t know. But there was something there that did not look like the engine from an airplane, but did look like a turbine from a missile.”

10:10 “Later I saw another photograph taken by one of the sensors on the outside of the Pentagon. Now, all of the sensors had been turned off, which is kind of interesting – isn’t it? That day, why would all of the sensors around the Pentagon be turned off? That’s strange. I don’t care what the excuse is. That’s strange. There happened to be one that apparently did not get turned off. And in that picture, coming in, flying into the Pentagon, you see this object, and it obviously hits the Pentagon. When you look at it, it does NOT look like an airplane. Sometime later, after I’d gone public, that imagery was changed. It got a new suit around it that now looked like an airplane. But, when you take the suit off, it looks more like a missile – not like an airplane.”

11:30 “Let me go back to the next very important piece of information. The amount of energy to melt the girders – the steel in the tower – cannot be gotten to a melt point with the fuel that was in the airplane. Not possible! So, any melting did not occur as a result of the hit from the airplane. Point. I call it dot. OK? DOT.”

12:10 “When you look at the tower coming down, what you see at each floor is successive puffs of smoke: puff, puff, puff, puff… all the way down. What are the puffs of smoke coming from? Well, they claim that they are from the collapsing floors… No. No. No. Those puffs of smoke are controlled demolitions. That’s exactly what they are, because that’s exactly how they work. And so, the fact that the airplane hit, it did, it did not cause that collapse of the building. The collapse of the building was caused by controlled demolition.”

13:05 “Fact: Building 7 – Silverberg, I believe is the name of the owner…” (his name is actually Larry Silverstein), “…was on a video and you could see Building 7. And, there was a fire in Building 7, there’s no doubt about that. No airplane hit it. I assume that the fire came from some debris, but I’m not even sure of that. But, in the lower right-hand corner of the building was a fire – not a very big fire. It didn’t appear to be out of control. It certainly was in a small part of the building. But, then he is heard on the video and he says Pull it. Then, the building collapsed. What does pull it mean? Let me tell you. That’s the order for controlled demolition. That is the phraseology that’s used for blowing up something.” CLN

[Editorial note: Stubblebine got mixed up with his facts regarding the Siverstein video, which you can see here. The video is a PBS interview with Silverstein that was shot sometime after 9/11. The footage of Building 7 going down is historical footage, not live during the interview. Nonetheless, Silverstein does say that he gave the order to “pull it.”]

15:00 All of the air defense systems in that part of the country had been turned off that day. All of the air defense systems had been turned off… Why would you turn off all of the air defense systems on that particular day unless you knew that something was going to happen? It’s a dot. It’s information. But, it’s strange that everything got turned off that day. DOT.”

15:50 There was an exercise that was designed for the air defense systems that was an attack on the towers by airplanes. Isn’t that strange that we had an exercise that mimicked what really happened? Strange that we had planned an exercise that was exactly what happened. And, at the same time, the air defense systems were turned off. Don’t you find that strange? I find that really strange? DOT. Just a piece of information.

16:50 “But how does it correlate with everything else? So, you see the dots. You have all of these dots. They’re just bits of information. But, that’s exactly how the intelligence world works. You get a bit of information here. A bit here, and a bit here. And, pretty soon you’ve got a picture. To me, what does the picture say? The picture says that what we heard and were told in the newspapers, the media, was not the real story. There’s enough doubt in the official story where the story is absolutely not consistent with what happened. They paint a different picture than the one that was given to the media.”

17:45 “How easy is it for you to shift your belief system from ‘I totally believe in my government’ to ‘Oh My God! What’s going on?’ That’s exactly where I went in all of this. Because, my belief system was so strong from age five when I could remember standing on a parade ground at attention with not anybody telling me to do that – at West Point. I did it because I wanted to do it – because I believed! And then going to the military academy and serving, defending…

18:30 The real story was, I have a question I guess. The real story to me is: who was the real enemy? Who participated in this? Who planned this attack? Why was it planned? Were the real terrorists the people in Arab clothing? Or, were the real people that planned this the people sitting in the authority in the White House?

Source: http://www.veteranstoday.com/2013/08/08/i-can-prove-that-it-was-not-an-airplane-that-hit-the-pentagon-major-general-albert-n-stubblebine/?utm_source=feedly

A stockpile of military vehicles were recently discovered occupying a secluded commercial property on the outskirts of Las Vegas at the address of 5750 Sky Pointe Dr.

It doesn't seem as if the Humvees and other military-grade vehicles are for sale, even though they are stationed at a former car dealership that has been stripped of its business logo and signs.

It would appear as if the equipment is deliberately being hidden from the public on this secluded property surrounded by barbed-wire fences.

The front of the building, which can be seen while driving north on Interstate 95 while departing from Vegas, or from the upscale Painted Desert Mall on the other side of the freeway, is littered with pedestrian vehicles.

After closer investigation, it was clear that the former United Dodge dealership is some sort of military station, judging from the soldiers on the property all dressed and outfitted in army fatigues. However, there is no clear indication or signage posted certifying that it is a United States military base.

One eighteen-year-old boy named Jonathan who lives in the area proclaimed “The military [has] been there for six months now.” His friends added, “We think it is a secret undercover operation or military base.”

Commenting on the video, Youtube user D Whaley asserted that he was "not surprised by this video at all", it is "happening in all major cities in preparation for martial law".

According to eyewitness reports, US police together with the Transportation Security Agency (TSA) establihsed random checkpoints on the road outside Austin-Bergstrom International Airport early Monday morning. The reports come amid other rather scandalous appearances of TSA all over the US. During the past few months such checkpoints encroaching on Americans' constitutional rights emerged at train stations, sporting events, concerts, and even shopping malls.

Not content with treating people like prisoners in the nation’s airports, the TSA is rapidly expanding its operations with random spot checks. This is in full evidence in Austin, Texas, as people travelling to or from Austin airport were treated to random checks at the hands of agents and drug sniffing dogs.

“The security at airports has increased so the bad guys are now traveling on the trains and buses,” said TSA official George Robinson. Of course, no “bad guys” were actually discovered. In fact nothing was discovered, other than a few disgruntled travellers who did not appreciate the government rifling through their bags.

“These facilities are not necessarily protected as well,” Robinson added, noting “We do impromptu visits at locations throughout the country.”

The random checks are labeled as “voluntary”, purely because if they were anything but, they would be unconstitutional, violating the Fourth Amendment, which protects against unreasonable searches.

In May, the TSA was seeking permission from the Office of Management and Budget to conduct “security assessments” on highways as well as at 140 other public transportation hubs, including bus depots and train stations.

Since then, the TSA has expanded outside of airports, and is now in the process of transforming itself into a security force that will have a presence at virtually every major public venue, from sports events, to political functions, to music concerts.

Last year, the TSA was responsible for over 9,000 checkpoints across the United States, a number set to increase thanks to the agency’s bloated budget and its expansion beyond anything vaguely related to transportation.

Since its inception in the US after 9/11, the TSA has grown in size exponentially. The agency was slammed in a recent congressional report for wasting hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars on security theater.

One such checkpoint involving TSA agents took place last year in Tennessee, where Visible Intermodal Prevention and Response (VIPR) teams checked trucks at five weigh stations and two bus stations in the state, as well as making trucks pass through x-ray scanners. TSA officials also used the checkpoint to try and recruit truck drivers to become citizen snitches under the First Observer Highway Security Program.
Following recent and unannounced training exercises in Florida and Washington state, the US military is conducting a drill in Chicago. The drill comes just after US police together with the Transportation Security Agency (TSA) established largely unconstitutional random checkpointson the road outside Austin-Bergstrom International Airport. Earlier this year, Nashua, NH, residents witnessed armored vehicles patrolling the streets of their usually peaceful town and blogger Pamela Rae Schuffert reported getting numerous phone calls from West Virginia, Florida, and Georgia regarding military transport jets landing in numerous cities across the country. What is America preparing for?

The Windy City’s Office of Emergency Management and Communications (OEMC) told the Chicago Tribune on Tuesday it is providing support for “routine military training exercises,” including flying helicopters in the downtown area of the city at night.

However, it seems that the official statement didn't calm down Chicago citizens as plenty of people took to Twitter about what they saw or heard.

Many were claiming that “it’s been an all-night invasion.”

One woman shared her rage onFacebook: “Blackhawk helicopters flying over my condo in the Loop, and all news stations are covering the royal birth, what’s up?”

In July, a similar army exercise was conducted in Port Angeles, Washington, that turned the small city into a simulated war zone and terrorized residents. Frightened citizens flooded the police with phone calls complaining about low flying Chinook helicopters.

Resident Richard Lord said he was concerned about the military's presence over the city and the lack of notification.

“We're all wondering why we're being treated this way,” Lord said.

Cherie Kidd, mayor of the Olympic Peninsula city about 60 miles west of Seattle, added that "no one had any warning about the helicopters, no one said anything afterward, and today city officials had to spend hours just trying to find out what had happened - who had invaded Port Angeles."


Read more: http://english.ruvr.ru/news/2013_07_30/Dicovery-of-unmarked-military-base-in-Las-Vegas-sparks-concerns-over-martial-law-coming-to-America-5055/

In one of his final missives before his dramatic arrest, Barrett Brown stated "The question we need to ask -- and we need to have the answers, the facts, in front of us when we ask it, if we intend to answer it -- is how much good does an organization do... and how much bad does it do?" Referring to the fact that the FBI had been partly responsible for the dissolution of his family when he was younger, Barrett had also seen the FBI arrest and charge 14 persons with the use of DDoS in their protest against PayPal for blocking donations to WikiLeaks, a tactic which has been likened to a virtual sit-in, but is nevertheless punishable by up to 15 years in prison. He was instrumental in organizing legal defense for those accused.

An astute critic of institutions, Barrett began his career criticizing the church, moved on to the corporate media and political pundits, focused on various companies in the private intelligence contracting industry, and finally took aim at the FBI and the Justice Department. Holding fast to his principles and instincts, his exemplary work always advanced the public interest and the interests of the common people. On a mission to expose corruption and abuse, he acted in the best traditions of the Constitution and muckraking journalism. His writing bleeds with his knowledge of the libertarian and anarchist schools of thought and a revolutionary sentiment. It's no surprise that he now finds himself the target of a political prosecution which has already stolen his freedom for nearly a year and threatens to put him away for life.

In an interview occurring after the March 6, 2012 FBI raid of his and his mother's homes, Barrett referenced the research he had directed at Project PM to investigate the contents of leaked emails -- "I sincerely believe that my activities on that front have contributed to me being raided the other day, and will no doubt contribute to any further action that the FBI decides to take. I would just also note the Justice Department itself, is very much intertwined with this issue, and has been for a while, and in no way can conduct a fair investigation against me, based on what I've revealed, what I've helped to sort of emphasize about them." Indeed, the investigation was anything but fair. The search warrant sought information on entities material to his reporting about the intelligence industry, confirming that he was targeted for his writings exposing the deep state.

Barrett is a member of a new generation of journalists who double as activists, those who recognize that dissent is fully warranted against a media complicit in creating the conditions for war, an executive engaged in assassination, torture, and indefinite detention, a state whose legitimacy crumbles as it displays its non-recognition for international principles of asylum. The enemies of the republic use secrecy and power to destroy liberties, while targeting whole populations with invasive surveillance, propaganda and capabilities like persona management. It's appropriate that a justified form of unconventional, asymmetric informational warfare is being practiced by whistle-blowers and hacktivists, exemplified by organizations such as WikiLeaks and people like Edward Snowden, who liberate information for the public good.

Speaking to NBC News about Anonymous in 2011, Barrett said: "When we break laws, we do it in the service of civil disobedience. We do so ethically."

In his case, the tools of "justice" are secret grand juries who come up with long lists of charges that carry oppressive sentencing regimes. They pressure the defendant to plea to some crime, while investigating associates and pulling in family members. Being the stubborn idealist that he is, Barrett has not bowed to their unfair tactics. He has pleaded not guilty, refused to cooperate and intends to fight in court. His private legal team includes Ahmed Ghappour and Charlie Swift, two highly skilled attorneys who are perhaps best known for their quest for justice at Guantánamo Bay. The prosecution meanwhile would like to present a false context in which Project PM, a legitimate journalistic enterprise, is a criminal organization, and where Barrett, a peaceful activist, is a violent criminal. What explanation exists for charges so ridiculous and trumped-up, other than that they are clearly scared of those with the capacity to expose and defy wrongdoing?

Attacks on the character of such individuals are par for the course. Barrett stands accused of being arrogant and outspoken, he is faulted for an acknowledged history with substances, and so on. There are even those who foolishly doubt his journalistic credentials. In May, writing for the Dallas Observer, Eric Nicholson asked in his headline: "Is Anonymous Hacktivist Barrett Brown a Journalist? His Supporters Say So." and wrote that "his supporters have settled on a different term to describe Brown: journalist." What is someone whose work regularly appeared under a byline at the Guardian, Vanity Fair and here at The Huffington Post, and who was often sought as a commentator on television, if not a journalist? No comment from detractors and critics can dissuade his supporters, nor does it change the fact that he is being wildly, unjustly persecuted.

The problems which lead prosecutors to charge the limits of imagination rather than the facts are systemic in nature, but there are simple ways we can counter them. It is imperative to organize, advocate and raise funds for the legal defense of people like Barrett Brown, and we created Free Barrett Brown for this purpose. In his prime, Barrett masterly orchestrated the resources of the internet and social media in furtherance of a transparency agenda, and took risks and made sacrifices to inform the American taxpayer as to what was being done in their name. I think it's now our duty to do the same for him.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kevin-m-gallagher/barrett-brown-charges_b_3682457.html

A disturbing trend is unfolding where some entity is attempting to frame prominent anti-establishment activists and alternative media organizations with child pornography.

These activists are being sent emails with malicious attachments containing images of child porn in a seeming attempt to discredit them or set them up for arrest.

Two weeks ago Luke Rudkowski of WeAreChange.org was sent an email from a @tormail domain with attachments containing child porn.

Rudkowski communicated more with his attacker who warned "We plan to not just set you up with child porn but every alternative media founder and master on the planet."

Rudkowski's attacker has apparently made good on this threat. Two more prominent liberty activists have now been targeted using the same tactic.

Stewart Rhodes from Oathkeepers and Dan Johnson from People Against the NDAA discuss a recent attempted set-up. As they document with their Internet security tech, this was a more sophisticated attempt to install child porn than the attempt made a short while ago against Luke Rudkowski.

It's a warning to all activists to be extra vigilant as the establishment attempts to discredit, and apparently imprison, those who seek to tell the truth.

Source: http://www.activistpost.com/2013/07/warning-prominent-activists-being.html

John Hawkins, of RightWingNews.com, has plowed through 150 pages of Trayvon’s Twitter account and grabbed twenty tweets from Trayvon that paint him as a misogynistic, weed smoking, thug. Here you go folks. Not quite the sweet little child the lame stream media, Obama and various race-baiters have painted him to be, eh?
* WARNING: Rough language ahead.

RT @ReesyyLaTootieB: Hahaha Hoe u got USED fa yo loose ass p*ssy.! Tighten up.! #Literally

RT @fukunurhoexxx: #youthetype of b*tch that give up your p*ssy for free and think its cool #p*ssyaintfree #fb

RT @TheSoleManSB: We in need of some trees … Wea tha weed man

RT @MisunderstoodC_: Get high to balance out the lows

RT @___xMaxDee: I got game for you young hoes, don’t grow to be a dumm hoe

RT @Bombshelll_: “@La_VidaBella: I’ll beat the pu**sy up up up up up up up up up up up up up up up up up up up up up up up up up”

RT @iTeachSEXOLOGY: d*ck slipping out when you got her in doggy? Either u trying to long stroke wit a short d*ck or she need to arch tha …

RT @Mitchell_Garcia: I’ll slap a girl if she said suck my toes wtf, she must be giving some great dome for some sh*t like that òÕ òÕ òÕ

RT @ThatBitchJenny_: A f*ck n*gga is FOREVER a f*ck n*gga! Fu*ck ‘em!

RT @iAmCartoonFYF: 6 Pound 7 Pound 8 Pound #KUSH

RT @GrandadJFreeman: You know you high AF when you stop at a stop sign and wait for it to turn green U WANNA SEE SUM CASH? WELL LEMME SEE SUM ASS

RT @KissMeEndlessly: puss ass crackas .

RT @TheyHATEShAHeED: Its crazy how i was jus pissed off,snappin…then i smoked..now im happy:) ha

RT @stillblazingtho: If you don’t like #weed. #YoureNotMyType

RT @SheIs_UNdefined: & When Im On That SMOKE, Im Going Super-HAM! Its a new year lets make some changes…… f*ck dat wea da weedman at??

RT @KimmyBtchhh: Some of y’all need a Blunt!

RT @stillblazingtho:

R E T W E E T If you smoke #weed.

RT @PrettyMeStarr: White People’(s) Call Police , Black People’(s) Call There Cousin

Source: http://clashdaily.com/2013/07/obamas-son-20-disgusting-tweets-from-trayvon/#ixzz2ZxkL39Fd

Debate over a proposed open-pit iron ore mine in northern Wisconsin went from heated to outright bizarre last week when masked guards brandishing assault rifles showed up at the site in the remote and scenic wilderness of Penokee Hills.

Local activist Rob Ganson, 56, first came upon three heavily armed guards while leading a small group on a hike to view the mining site. (The drilling site is on private land, but the owner has been given a tax break in exchange for keeping it open to public use.) The guards, said Ganson, carried semi-automatic guns, were dressed in camouflage, and wore masks covering their faces. "As you can imagine, it was quite a shock for five middle-aged people out for a walk," he said. Ganson tried to engage the guards, but was "met with stony-faced silence." He was alarmed but managed to grab a few photos of the men. "I was thinking if the worst scenario happened, at least there would be photos on my camera."

After they determined that the guards worked for Arizona-based Bulletproof Security, Ganson and the other activists posted their photos of the guards online, drawing local and national news coverage of the mine, a proposed four-mile-long, 1,000-feet-deep open pit operation in Ashland and Iron counties. In June, the company began exploratory drilling in the region for taconite, a type of iron ore used in steel.

Last Wednesday, the mining company, Gogebic Taconite—G-Tac for short—a subsidiary of the West Virginia-based Cline Group, pulled the armed guards after finding that the security firm lacked permits to work in the state. A spokesman for the company has said that the Bulletproof guards will be back once they're properly licensed.

One of the activists in the area, however, told Mother Jones on Monday that a new group of armed guards—including one whose shirt bore the insignia for Watchmen of America, a militia group active in at least 21 states—was on patrol last Thursday, the day after Gogebic Taconite pulled the Bulletproof guards.* A spokesman for G-Tac said that the guards are necessary to protect its workers from "eco-terrorists." The company pointed to an incident in June when protesters had a confrontation with workers; one of the protesters allegedly took a worker's camera. But most of the protesters' actions around the mine have been peaceful; local tribes have planted a small garden nearby, and others are leading educational tours on the ecology of the region.

Gov. Scott Walker signed sweeping changes to the state's mining regulations into law in March, thus allowing the mine to move forward. The new law, which creates a separate set of laws for taconite mining, abbreviates the permitting process, reduces the number of opportunities for public comment, and weakens rules on dumping mine waste into wetlands and waterways. It also reallocates mining revenues that previously went to local communities into the state's Economic Development Corporation, a problem-plagued program Walker created in 2011 to spur job growth in the state. G-Tac worked closely with lawmakers to draft the legislation. Proponents of the law argue that it will generate new jobs in the state.

But environmental groups argue that the law sets a bad precedent for environmental regulations more broadly. "Basically almost every environmental protection and public health protection you could think of is eliminated under this bill," Kerry Schumann, executive director of the Wisconsin League of Conservation Voters.

Tribal groups, too, are worried about the impacts on the area, which is surrounded by wetlands, rivers, lakes that drain down into the Bad River and eventually into Lake Superior. The mining waste, they fear, will leach toxic chemicals like sulfuric acid into the groundwater and waterways. "If the mining company is allowed to proceed unfettered, I think what we would have is an atrocity here in the watershed," said Mike Wiggins Jr., chairman of the Bad River Band of the Lake Superior Chippewa Indians. The Bad River reservation lies about six miles north of the proposed mine site.

Pete Rasmussen, vice president of the Penokee Hills Education Project, which has been running a public education against the mine, thinks the heavily armed guards stationed at the site are meant "fully for intimidation"—an effort to scare protesters out of the wilderness around the site. "We have been gathering more and more people who want to come up to the area," Rasmussen said. "Once they see what's at stake, it's hard for them to fathom that they want to blow it all up."

On Tuesday, Mike Freebyrd, CEO of Watchmen of America, told Mother Jones that the new guards are not working for his organization. "The Watchmen of America is not a security company that provides commercial security services and we are not involved in any way in the security operations with respect to GTAC mining operation in Wisconsin, nor do we sanction or approve of any of our members doing so while wearing our patches or logos," said Freebyrd via email. "We sell many promotional materials including T-shirts, stickers, patches, pens, etc. to our public supporters, therefore we have no control if a person wears our logos while conducting activities which are not conducive to our true representation."



Source: http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2013/07/walker-backed-mine-hires-militiamen-intimidate-protesters#13742350442121&action=collapse_widget&id=2674220

The National Security Agency’s massive Utah Data Center, designed for communications storage and processing is already up and running, despite agency claims the center won’t open until September. Opening the facility — the largest of its kind in history — is the key final step that will allow the agency to collect and store massive amounts of data on United States citizens. The NSA has numerous other data centers, but the Utah facility will be the central repository, enabling data collection on an unprecedented scale.

And according to Russ Tice, a former NSA intelligence analyst who still maintains close ties with numerous colleagues at the agency, it’s not just metadata — which has been a key distinction in the administration’s defense of its intelligence gathering programs. The agency, according to Tice, is currently able to collect the full contents of digital communications. That includes the contents of emails, text messages, Skype communications, and phone calls, as well as financial information, health records, legal documents, and travel documents. This comports with statements given this week by a former senior intelligence official, claiming that NSA Director Keith Alexander’s ethos was to “collect it all, tag it, store it … And whatever it is you want, you go searching for it.”

The NSA’s ability to collect and store such vast quantities of information is difficult to grasp. But so is the enormous footprint of the data center in Bluffdale, Utah, 25 miles south of Salt Lake City. The facility, which cost the government $2 billion, covers 1 million square feet, 100,000 of which is purely for computer servers and storage hardware. According to James Bamford’s Wired magazine article published last year, “The Pentagon is attempting to expand its worldwide communications network, known as the Global Information Grid, to handle yottabytes (10^24 bytes) of data. (A yottabyte is a septillion bytes—so large that no one has yet coined a term for the next higher magnitude.)”

One of the key problems that the Utah facility fixes is the sheer amount of electricity needed to run the machines. According to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the facility requires 65 megawatts of electricity a day to run the facility. (By comparison, a single megawatt is enough to power 100 homes.) According to Wired, the facility has its own electrical substation built by Rocky Mountain Power — which, as a side benefit, makes it more difficult to monitor the usage of electricity, which can serve as rough guidance to the center’s computing power and usage. It is also highly energy efficient, built to meet LEED Silver certification.

The Utah Data Center, located on an Army National Guard base, also has its own water treatment facilities (it will use an estimated 1,210 gallons of water per minute, mostly for cooling), chiller plant, vehicle inspection facility, visitor control center, backup generators, and, of course, serious security with its own police force and perimeter security.

“Not all of the computers that are slated to be installed in the facility are there, and many more that are on site are not up and running yet,” Tice explains. “But enough capability exists right now to handle the collection that is needed right now.”

An NSA spokesperson located in Utah denies that the facility is operational, saying, “The exterior has been built, but the IT infrastructure is still being added.”

“The government is doing an awful lot of lying,” Tice says. “They are seeing what Snowden is throwing [out there] and are going back to the last line of defense in order to thwart it.”

Tice, who worked in government intelligence for two decades, became the prototypical NSA communications whistle-blower, leaking information about the NSA’s illegal wiretapping of United States citizens to the New York Times in 2005. He tried to go to the House Intelligence Committee but was told not to by the NSA. In 2006, he publicly testified before Congress.

In 2009, after George W. Bush left office, Tice came forward with more information that the NSA had access to the phone calls and computer communications of tens of thousands of Americans, including journalists; he revealed that it wasn’t just phone taps but credit card information and other financial records.

At that time the scope of the data collection was narrower, explains Tice. “The NSA didn’t have the processing, electricity, or storage capabilities,” he says. “That is Utah. The NSA dealt with its problems and now has the capabilities.”

Snowden’s revelations provided hard evidence supporting what Tice has been saying for years. It also emboldened Tice to come forward with more information based upon his firsthand experience at the NSA as well as information given to him last May by inside sources, including a high-level employee.

“I kept saying [in 2006 and 2009]: It is so much worse, but I can’t explain why right now,” Tice says. “Well, what I’m telling you right now, this is the rest of the story.”

While Tice was still at the NSA, he was able to see the identities of numerous targets of surveillance, which included high-level United States government officials. In the evenings, NSA analysts would be given handwritten notes on yellow legal-pad paper listing contact information for targets, including then-Senate hopeful Barack Obama, Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito, former CIA Director David Petraeus, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Republican Sen. John McCain, and Democratic Sen. Diane Feinstein. Other targets include multiple three-star generals and admirals, lawyers, and members of the Senate and the House, including members of the intelligence committees and the armed services committees.

According to Tice, the NSA’s next practical challenge is to decode data it collects that has been protected by encryption. The computing power available in a fully operational Utah data center could be used to break such encryption. With sizable supercomputing resources and extremely large sets of data, the agency would be able to look for patterns at a staggering rate. The NSA has already made a huge breakthrough in its ability to crack encryption standards used by international governments and domestic citizens, according to Wired’s NSA top official source.

For now, though, collection is the name of the game.

“It is cheaper and more efficient to just collect and keep a torrent of information in the big bank and then go back and look at it later,” says Tice. “They are waiting for the processing capability to catch up and then [they’ll be able to] cull out the information. ”

Tice says others at the NSA want to come forward but fear retaliation and punishment. “The seasoned people are highly upset at what is going on,” Tice says. “We are taught that you don’t spy on Americans. It was against NSA policy, regulations, and a violation of the Constitution.”

Source: http://www.buzzfeed.com/justinesharrock/the-nsas-massive-data-center-is-coming-online-ahead-of-sched

The hacktivist group Anonymous claimed on one of its many Twitter accounts Wednesday that it had hacked into accounts belonging to various members of Congress and their staffers, publishing an online document that shows elected officials are not very careful in how they craft passwords to protect sensitive government emails.

The hack came in response to recent revelations of widespread Internet and phone surveillance conducted by the U.S. government. Anonymous included the hashtags #FISA, referencing the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which allows for the spying, and #PRISM, the name of a secret government surveillance program, in its tweet.

The group removed some of the passwords from its online listing, and "shuffled the order of the remaining ones," it wrote in the document. "We reserve the right to spontaneously decide this restraint was unjustified," the group stated.

As the Atlantic Wire points out, this leaked information shows that members of Congress and staffers are pretty terrible at creating passwords. Passwords listed include state names, favorite sports teams, and even the classic "password" -- probably the worst thing to choose for security.

When asked on Twitter if "pissing off the House" is productive, Anonymous responded that "pissed off is exactly how Congress should be feeling. If it cannot wield the rod, it shall not be spared the rod."

This isn't the first time Anonymous has hacked the U.S. government. Last February, Anonymous claimed that it hacked the Federal Reserve computers to release thousands of bank executives' credentials. Anonymous also claimed that it hacked the U.S. Sentencing Commission's website in January. Many of Anonymous's government hacks in the past few months were said to be in honor of Internet activist Aaron Swartz, who took his own life in January while facing prosecution for allegedly stealing millions of online documents from JSTOR.

Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/18/anonymous-hacked-congress-email-passwords_n_3617039.html

The judge hearing the case against Pfc. Bradley Manning at Fort Meade said she would decide Thursday on his lawyers’ request to dismiss seven of the charges, including allegations that he aided the enemy when he provided hundreds of thousands of classified documents to WikiLeaks. The defense said the prosecution had not provided sufficient evidence that Private Manning had “actual knowledge” that the information would end up with the enemy. Lawyers for the government have said that, based on his training, Private Manning knew that Al Qaeda and other groups could have access to the documents.

Source: http://www.cyberwarzone.com/judge-considers-request-dismiss-7-charges-against-pfc-bradley-manning

When federal agents raided multiple 7-Eleven convenience stores two weeks ago, they exposed one of America’s dirty secrets – slavery is alive and well in modern America. You won’t hear that word however because the financial markets don’t like controversy. And the same individuals who own the media companies also own the corporations profiting from the institution of slavery.

It’s no conspiracy theory, and hasn’t been for some time. There are pockets of slave labor factories sprinkled across the US. Past raids have turned up a number of businesses, corporations and industries utilizing America’s modern day forced laborers. They include garment factories in major US cities, food processors in small towns, and corporate farms throughout the nation’s farm belt. Now, convenience stores can be added to that list.

When federal agents raided 14 different 7-Eleven stores in New York and Virginia two weeks ago, government authorities called the corporation’s secret practice a, “modern day plantation system.” As detailed by Yahoo News, ‘Farrukh Baig, his wife Bushra, and seven others were charged with fraud, identity theft and concealing illegal immigrants to work in their stores.’ Executives from 7-Eleven had no comment for the public other than to say they were cooperating with authorities. But the corporation sent a warning to each of its 5,600 franchises.

“This letter is to remind you of the required I-9 compliance steps and to outline some of the consequences for failure to comply. These requirements are mandatory for all franchisees," the statement read, "Failure to comply will result in serious consequences, including the possible termination of your franchise agreement."

7-Eleven operates 50,000 stores in 16 countries, with more than 10,000 in the US. Roughly half of those are franchises. Attempting to reign in those 5,600 stores, the company’s statement to them went on to explain, "We have a critical need to protect the integrity and reputation of the 7-Eleven Brand, a right to insist upon your compliance with the Franchise Agreement, and to ensure that all franchised stores are being operated in a lawful manner."

As detailed by various news accounts, the “plantation system” 7-Eleven utilized included the exploiting of illegal immigrants from countries such as Pakistan and the Philippines. Immediately after the raids, agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Department of Homeland Security confirmed that this particular operation had been running since 2000 and was thought to have victimized as many as 50 individuals.

While authorities were taking the nine assailants into custody, they confirmed their agencies were executing search warrants at 30 other 7-Elevens across a handful of states including Florida, Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Authorities also gave a description of the living and working conditions the victims were forced to endure.

Agents claim the stores gave the victims fake identities utilizing deceased individuals and their social security numbers, then forced them to work 100 hours per week for little or no pay. Instead, the 7-Elevens made the workers live in store-owned slums, exchanging any pay for just enough food and shelter to keep them alive and working.

None of the accounts describe what methods were used to keep the workers from escaping. But it appears to be as simple as the threat to turn the illegal workers over to US authorities. In past instances involving other corporations, workers were beaten and in some cases chained to walls to prevent their escape. In the case of the 7-Eleven raids, officials confirmed that the investigation was launched due to tips the agencies received from store employees.

Announcing the arrests, US Attorney Loretta Lynch said, “These defendants ruthlessly exploited their immigrant employees, stealing their wages and requiring them to live in unregulated boarding houses, in effect creating a modern-day plantation system.”

Showing that this is anything but an isolated event, ICE officials confirmed that just in the past two years, federal authorities have brought similar charges against more than 500 business owners and managers across the US.

As reported by the Filipino news outlet Global Nation, the 7-Eleven franchise owners arrested face wire fraud, conspiracy, identity theft and alien-harboring charges. They face up to 20 years in prison if convicted of conspiracy. As for the victims, ICE officials announced that they will most likely all be deported back to their countries of origin, mainly the Philippines and Pakistan.

The unglonian branch of 7-11 is Collaborating with the government to investigate franchisees if they are using slave labour as well.

Source: http://www.whiteoutpress.com/articles/q32013/7-eleven-raids-prove-us-slavery-alive-and-well/