background preloader

Optic Nerve: millions of Yahoo webcam images intercepted by GCHQ

Optic Nerve: millions of Yahoo webcam images intercepted by GCHQ
Britain's surveillance agency GCHQ, with aid from the US National Security Agency, intercepted and stored the webcam images of millions of internet users not suspected of wrongdoing, secret documents reveal. GCHQ files dating between 2008 and 2010 explicitly state that a surveillance program codenamed Optic Nerve collected still images of Yahoo webcam chats in bulk and saved them to agency databases, regardless of whether individual users were an intelligence target or not. In one six-month period in 2008 alone, the agency collected webcam imagery – including substantial quantities of sexually explicit communications – from more than 1.8 million Yahoo user accounts globally. Yahoo reacted furiously to the webcam interception when approached by the Guardian. Optic Nerve, the documents provided by NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden show, began as a prototype in 2008 and was still active in 2012, according to an internal GCHQ wiki page accessed that year. Related:  Alternative News & Radio

The Five Factors Needed to Enslave a Nation Dave Hodges February 26, 2014 The Common Sense Show “America, the most free nation on earth? Terrorists hates us because of our freedom”? Really? I am not going to lie to you America, our country and its values, its economy and the forces that control our country are not what the average American want to see. The Media Six corporations control 98% of the media. There is, however, a steadily growing group of Americans who have taken off their blinders and who are slowly but surely waking up to the growing tyranny which is dominating our country. Amazingly, only two percent of the media broadcasts the message of freedom. If the super elite controls 98% of the media outlets, they control the narrative. Even if the mainstream media absorbs the alternative media, we are still free to interact with like-minded people, at least for the time being. Social Factors I used to be considered a social liberal. Yet, at the end of the day, nobody can control how we raise our children. Economics The Military

Dozens of new laws take effect in Washington state OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) - Kimberly Aleman was brought to the United States from Mexico by her parents when she was 3 years old. Now in her second quarter at Yakima Valley Community College, she is allowed to apply for a state need grant for the first time, under a law that takes effect Thursday. The law, officially called the "Real Hope Act" but also known as the Washington Dream Act, expands state financial aid for college students in the country without legal status. "So many students have been here all their lives," Aleman said. After Aleman graduated high school in 2013, she took a quarter off and worked at McDonald's to save money. The 19-year-old aspiring lawyer who recently started working for OneAmerica - an immigrant advocacy group which lobbied at the Capitol earlier this year in support of the new law- said that she's already submitted paperwork for the grant this year. As of this week, more than 1,500 students have applied for the upcoming school year.

count down to zerotime.com » Mark of the beast tech exposed remote control living organisms become a reality and chips which can read your mind Imagine a world where one person’s brain could be used to control the hand movements of another through electrode stimulation… Imagine machines that could be triggered and told what to do just by one man’s thought… Scientists are on their way to making this happen. A new report published in Nature Communications shows how US scientists are making progress in the remote control of living organisms. Their demonstrations on monkeys have been described as “a key step forward” in controlling living organisms from a remote brain. The progress is not as advanced and creepy as it sounds. Instead, these Harvard scientists believe that this progress could help paralyzed people regain control of their own body. For those with spinal cord damage and movement paralysis, this is great news. The scientists at the Harvard Medical School installed a chip, capable of monitoring the activity of up to 100 neurons, in the awake, or “master,” monkey’s brain. Sources for this article include: Learn more:

President Obama signs bill into law, then explains why he will ignore it anyway Senator Ted Cruz put forth a bill that would stop Hamid Abutalebi, Iran’s new ambassador to the United Nations, from taking the post at UN headquarters in New York. Abutalebi, who was chosen by Iranian President Hassan Rouhani (how is that great man of peace working out?), was one of the terrorists that held 52 Americans hostage for 444 days after the student takeover of the US Embassy in Tehran in 1979. Just a note, that crisis was only ended on the threshold of Ronald Reagan taking office. Under Carter, the terrorists had nothing to fear. Getting back to the story at hand, the bill unanimously passed both houses of the legislature and was signed into law by President Obama. "Acts of espionage and terrorism against the United States and our allies are unquestionably problems of the utmost gravity, and I share the Congress’s concern that individuals who have engaged in such activity may use the cover of diplomacy to gain access to our Nation," Obama said in his signing statement.

Home Legal aid cuts will drive out the best lawyers, supreme court president warns | Law Plans to cut £220m more from the legal aid budget are regrettable, will "drive out the best lawyers", and may not produce significant savings, the UK's most senior judge has warned. In his most explicit challenge yet to government reforms, Lord Neuberger, president of the supreme court, implied that access to justice for all – particularly "the poor, the vulnerable [and] the disadvantaged" – is being put at risk. Lawyers can be split into two branches of the profession, not barristers and solicitors, the 65-year-old judge suggested, but "lawyers who serve rich individuals and companies, and lawyers who serve ordinary citizens". The first group are doing fine but "the latter are under intense pressure from legal aid cuts and, in some areas, from an overmanned profession". The consultation, Transforming Legal Aid, closed on 4 June. Neuberger said he was giving two more specific warnings about cuts in legal aid.

The AntiMedia.Org Very pleased to announce that Libertas Bella News has acquired The Anti-Media (TAM), which came about after reading this from their editor-in-chief: Drawn to activism after discovering the Ron Paul revolution, we (TAM) came of age in the post-9/11 era and we felt we had good reason to push back against the ever-encroaching political system that has heavily indebted us and increasingly infringed upon on our rights whilst expanding its reach and power….Our goal: Awaken people from their passive subservience to big government and corporatism. And this on their Patreon page: We’re guessing they don’t like the fact that we (TAM) highlight and expose corruption wherever we see it, be it in the government or from corporations. TAM is a brand deeply aligned with our own values and worldview: One which runs counter to the sycophantic state power narratives of traditional media outlets.

Reid: Filibuster Rule Change Coming 'Later this Month' Senate majority leader Harry Reid reiterated on Tuesday his plan to reform the rules of the Senate to weaken the filibuster and strengthen the majority party's power to move legislative debate forward. The Huffington Post reports: "Once we complete that vital legislation, the Senate will take action to make this institution that we all love, the United States Senate, work more effectively," Reid said, calling for an end to the uncompromising legislative style that has driven hundreds of filibusters in recent years."We'll consider changes in the Senate rules," Reid said, although he also warned it may not happen immediately. Among Reid's proposals, which originated with Senate liberals like Jeff Merkley of Oregon and Tom Udall of New Mexico, are requiring senators who object to closing debate on a bill to engage in a "talking filibuster" (that is, to actually speak on the floor of the Senate) and limiting when senators can filibuster.

Homepage Lawmakers suspect money laundering issues at Wal-Mart By Sarah N. Lynch Two U.S. House Democrats investigating bribery allegations in Wal-Mart’s Mexico affiliate said on Tuesday they have obtained new internal records that may point to evidence of tax evasion and money laundering. Reps. Elijah Cummings and Henry Waxman, who are the ranking members, respectively, of the House Oversight and House Energy committees, disclosed the latest details of their probe in an August 14 letter to the company. “We have obtained internal company documents, including internal audit reports, from other sources suggesting that Wal-Mart may have had compliance issues relating not only to bribery, but also to ‘questionable financial behavior’ including tax evasion and money laundering in Mexico,” the lawmakers wrote in their letter to Wal-Mart Chief Executive Michael Duke. A company spokesman had no immediate comment. The company has said it is cooperating with the U.S.

Related: