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Purveyor's JournalGlenn Greenwald Slams Rep. Peter King: He Supported Terrorism For Decades
Guardian columnist Glenn Greenwald on Wednesday night ripped into Rep. Peter King (R-NY) and pointed out the congressman’s support of the Irish Republican Army (IRA).
Greenwald told CNN’s Anderson Cooper that it was “staggering” to see King call for him to face criminal charges for reporting on secret information about the National Security Agency’s surveillance program.
“It’s bad enough to call for that, it is extraordinarily menacing that he did so based on a complete falsehood, the idea that I ever threatened to [disclose CIA agents],” he said.
Greenwald said he had no idea why King was making the false accusation.
“The last thing I would try to do is read what goes on internally in the swamp of Peter King’s brain,” he remarked. “What I do know is that he has a history of all kinds of radical and extremist statements. He himself was a supporter of terrorism for several decades when it was done by the IRA.”
- See more at: http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/06/12/glenn-greenwald-slams-rep-peter-king-he-supported-terrorism-for-decades/#sthash.F8KCkAmJ.dpuf
Obama Urges Massachusetts Democrats to Turn Out for Markey’s Senate Bid
BOSTON — With less than two weeks before Massachusetts voters go to the polls to elect a new senator, President Obama campaigned here on Wednesday to try to stir up enthusiasm for Representative Edward J. Markey.
“I need Ed Markey in the United States Senate,” Mr. Obama declared to a cheering crowd of a few thousand people at Roxbury Community College. He said Mr. Markey would “carry on the legacy of John Kerry and Ted Kennedy” and “be my partner.” The special election is to fill the seat of Mr. Kerry, who stepped down this year to become Mr. Obama’s secretary of state.
Mr. Markey, a Democrat, is leading his Republican opponent, Gabriel Gomez, in the polls by about seven percentage points, within the margin of sampling error of the two latest polls. While that may seem a lot for Mr. Gomez to make up in a short time, it also seems surprisingly small for Mr. Markey, given the state’s overwhelming history of sending Democrats to Washington.
Internal Democratic polls suggest that Mr. Markey’s lead is actually wider — as much as 10 or 12 points, one insider said. But the Markey campaign is happy to leave the impression that the race is closer to prod donors to open their wallets and keep enthusiasm from flagging.
Sarah Benzing, the Markey campaign manager, sent out her latest fund-raising plea on Wednesday and referred to a poll that showed the race neck and neck. In appealing for $100,000 by midnight, she wrote, “As long as we keep up our grass-roots power, we will come out ahead.”
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http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/13/us/politics/obama-urges-massachusetts-democrats-to-turn-out-for-markeys-senate-bid.html?_r=0
Senator Cites Contradiction In Intelligence Director's Answer On Data Mining Of Americans
By LARA JAKES
AP National Security Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) — One of the staunchest critics of government surveillance programs said Tuesday that the national intelligence director did not give him a straight answer last March when he asked whether the National Security Agency collects any data on millions of Americans.
Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., called for hearings to discuss two recently revealed NSA programs that collect billions of telephone numbers and Internet usage daily. He was also among a group of senators who introduced legislation Tuesday to force the government to declassify opinions of a secret court that authorizes the surveillance.
But other key members of Congress, including House Speaker John Boehner and Senate Intelligence Committee chairman Dianne Feinstein, say the programs were valuable tools in counterterror and that the former NSA contractor who leaked them is a traitor. President Barack Obama has vigorously defended the program, saying Americans must balance privacy and security to protect the country from terrorists.
Wyden, however, complained that Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, during a Senate Intelligence hearing in March about threats the U.S. faces from around the world, was less than forthcoming.
"The American people have the right to expect straight answers from the intelligence leadership to the questions asked by their representatives," Wyden said in a statement.
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http://www.masslive.com/politics/index.ssf/2013/06/sen_ron_wyden_cites_contradict.html
Putin On NSA Leak: Government Surveillance Shouldn’t Break Law, Would Consider Granting Asylum
Data surveillance is an acceptable measure if done within the law, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin told RT while visiting the channel in the capital.
“Such methods are in demand. But you can’t just listen to the phone call in Russia; you need a special order from court. This is how this should be done in civilized society while tackling terrorism with the use of any technical means. If it is in the framework of the law, then it’s ok. If not it is unacceptable,” Putin said answering the question of RT’s Editor-in-Chief Margarita Simonyan. Commenting on Obama’s statement that “You can’t have 100 per cent security and 100 per cent privacy,” Putin disagreed, saying it is possible if done within the law.
Russia said it could consider the possibility of granting political asylum to 29-year-old Edward Snowden, if such request is made. The ex-CIA worker disclosed the existence of PRISM, the National Security Agency’s (NSA) massive data-mining surveillance program, to The Guardian.
“If we receive such a request, we will consider it,” President Vladimir Putin's press secretary Dmitry Peskov said.
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http://rt.com/news/putin-rt-visit-broadcasting-center-530/
Russia's Putin Says Iran Nuclear Push Is Peaceful
(Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday he has no doubt that Iran is adhering to international commitments on nuclear non-proliferation but regional and international concerns about Tehran's nuclear programme could not be ignored.
Putin, whose country is among six world powers seeking to ensure that Iran does not seek to develop nuclear weapons, also said Iranian threats to Israel's existence were unacceptable.
His remarks appeared aimed to strike a balance between the interests of Iran, on the one hand, and on the other, Israel and global powers seeking to ensure Tehran does not acquire nuclear weapons.
"I have no doubt that Iran is adhering to the rules in this area. Because there is no proof of the opposite," Putin, whose country is one of six leading those diplomatic efforts, told Russian state-run English-language channel RT.
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http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/06/11/nuclear-iran-russia-idUSL5N0EN3GN20130611
'Pardon Edward Snowden' Petition Seeks White House Response
By Deborah Zabarenko
WASHINGTON | Mon Jun 10, 2013 8:01pm EDT
(Reuters) - A petition to pardon Edward Snowden, who has acknowledged leaking secret documents from the U.S. National Security Agency, had attracted more than 30,000 electronic signatures by Monday evening, one day after it was posted on the White House website.
"Edward Snowden is a national hero and should be immediately issued a full, free and absolute pardon for any crimes he has committed or may have committed related to blowing the whistle on secret NSA surveillance programs," read the petition created by "P.M." of Rochester, New York, on Sunday.
Snowden, an outside contractor for the NSA, announced in a video on Sunday from Hong Kong that he was the source of leaks about the ultra-secret agency's surveillance programs. By Monday, he had dropped out of sight and was expected to be at the center of an extradition battle to face U.S. legal charges.
The NSA has requested a criminal probe into the leaks and, on Sunday, the U.S. Justice Department said it was in the initial stages of a criminal investigation.
If the petition gains 100,000 signatures by July 9, the White House will review it, forward it to policy experts and issue an official response as part of the Obama administration's "We the People" effort to engage Americans in government.
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http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/06/11/us-usa-security-petition-idUSBRE95910820130611
Hero or Traitor, Snowden Driven By Fear Of Government Intrusion
By John Shiffman and Daniel Trotta
June 10 | Mon Jun 10, 2013 10:59pm EDT
(Reuters) - A high school dropout who became a whiz at information technology, Edward Snowden was the son of parents who divorced in 2001, the year he turned 18.
Twelve years later, he would catapult to worldwide fame as one of the most significant leakers of U.S. secrets in history and Americans were debating whether he was a patriotic defender of civil liberties or the most unprincipled of traitors.
Snowden stepped from the shadows and admitted that he had exposed the U.S. government's top-secret surveillance programs to Britain's Guardian newspaper and the Washington Post after working in Hawaii for a company under contract to the National Security Agency.
Snowden, 29, saw his role more clearly, saying the U.S. government's powers of surveillance have grown so immense and intrusive that he felt compelled to denounce them, even at great personal cost. He could have remained anonymous but said his message would resonate more powerfully if he revealed his identity.
"The public needs to decide whether these programs and policies are right or wrong," Snowden told the Guardian in the 12-minute video introducing him to the world on Sunday.
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http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/06/11/usa-security-snowden-idUSL2N0EM1GI20130611
U.S. Senate Passes Farm Bill; Food Stamp Fight Looms In House
Source: REUTERS
Tue Jun 11, 2013 4:33am IST
By Charles Abbott
(Reuters) - The Democratic-run U.S. Senate passed a $500 billion, five-year farm bill on Monday that expands a taxpayer-subsidized crop insurance program and rejects sweeping cuts in food stamps for the poor being pursued in the House of Representatives.
--CLIP
It was the second time in a year that the Senate has sent a five-year farm bill to the Republican-led House, which let the bill die at the end of 2012.
Analysts say food stamp cuts remain the legislation's make-or-break issue, given otherwise broad similarities between the two versions.
While the Senate would trim food stamps by $4 billion over a decade, the bill awaiting debate in the House calls for a $20 billion cut, the largest in a generation. Some 2 million people, or 4 percent of enrollment, would lose benefits.
Read more: http://in.reuters.com/article/2013/06/10/usa-agriculture-farm-bill-idINL2N0EM24020130610
Edward Snowden Gone From Hong Kong Hotel, Whereabouts Unknown
By Barbara Demick
June 10, 2013, 10:25 a.m. PST
BEIJING -- Edward Snowden, the 29-year-old contractor identified as the source of leaks about the U.S. electronic surveillance program, apparently checked out of his Hong Kong hotel at midday Monday, his destination and whereabouts unknown.
"We know he was here until today," said Cosmo Beatson, a Hong Kong-based refugee activist who heads an organization called Vision First.
Beatson said Monday night it is possible that Snowden boarded a plane from Hong Kong -- since there is no warrant for his arrest -- or was smuggled onto one of the many illegal speedboats smuggling people and goods between mainland Chinese and Hong Kong. “He’s very mobile.”
Britain's Guardian newspaper videotaped an interview with Snowden at the Hong Kong hotel, and posted it on Sunday. Since then, Snowden may have discovered that Hong Kong’s unique geopolitics made it a poor choice for seeking asylum.
Unlike China, the semiautonomous territory of Hong Kong has an extradition treaty with the United States that has been in place since January 1998. Although the treaty gives Beijing the right to veto an extradition on national security grounds, experts do not expect the Chinese government will want to confront Washington on Snowden’s behalf.
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http://www.latimes.com/news/world/worldnow/la-fg-wn-snowden-gone-hong-kong-hotel-20130610,0,6912122.story
DOE Official Got Summer Jobs For 3 Of His Children
WASHINGTON (AP) — An internal investigation has found that a senior Energy Department official was actively involved in securing summer jobs for his three college-aged children.
The official's actions appear to violate federal rules that bar officials from securing government jobs for relatives. A report by the Energy Department's inspector general does not name the official, but says he is a senior staff member in the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. The report says the department is considering "appropriate corrective action" but offers no specifics.
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http://bigstory.ap.org/article/doe-official-got-summer-jobs-3-his-children
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