This is taken from the audio book.

White House officials are rejecting calls by top Congressional leaders for details about the ongoing drone assassination programs around the world, insisting that calls for oversight “don’t hold water.” - A number of Congressmen and former administration and military officials are complaining that the program is being conduct with virtually no oversight and that the killings have a huge impact on foreign affairs. The Obama Administration has killed thousands of “suspects,” mostly in Pakistan, since taking over in 2009. The program, conducted by both the CIA and the Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) is only occasionally even publicly acknowledged by officials, and details related to massive civilian casualties are never publicly commented on.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled today the federal government can be sued for the National Security Agency's warrantless "dragnet" of Americans' telephone conversations and e-mails. - But in a separate opinion, another three-judge panel of the San Francisco-based court upheld the 2008 law that gave telecommunications companies immunity for aiding the NSA in its hunt for terrorists. A USA TODAY investigation revealed in May 2006 that the NSA had been secretly collecting call records of tens of millions of Americans, using data provided by AT&T, Verizon and BellSouth. Operating out of a secret room in an AT&T office in San Francisco, the NSA compiled what was described as "the largest database ever assembled in the world."

Jason Ditz: Courts: Wiretap Victims Can Sue US, But Not Companies

(WARNING: The video depicts bloody and barbaric attrocities committed by Israel that are extremely shocking)

'The Palestinian problem has been with us for far too long. We must, therefore, approach the problem with a greater sense of urgency and commitment. Let us hope that the series of conferences on the Palestinian problem would bring us closer to a workable solution. We are here not because we are allied to the Palestinian people because of race or religion, but because we believe in justice for all humanity, and the Palestinian people are as much a part of that world community as we are. We owe it to the Palestinian people to restore to them their rights and dignity - Tun Dr Mahathir bin Mohamad, Chairman of Perdana Global Peace Organisation.

This video was presented during the Perdana Global Peace Organisation International Conference on Gaza 2010: Breaking the Siege- In the Spirit of Rachel Corrie and Mavi Marmara on 11th July 2010 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. (Video here)

Iraq war veteran Scott Olsen, who was severely injured by US police during a recent anti-Wall Street demonstration, says the government is terrorizing people to rob them of their right to protest.

“First and foremost, they're not respecting our right to assemble, to protest and to redress our government for grievances…By the tactics they're using, they are in fact terrorizing some of us from going out at all,” Olsen said in an interview with MSNBC. “It's sad that the Occupations have started out as politics and economics, and now it's turned into something more based on the rights, the freedoms that we are all told when we were growing up as Americans,” Olsen added.

Russia Today: Silence of the tweets: Occupy Boston in cop court case

Police forces in the US state of Colorado have dismantled the Occupy Denver encampment, evicting anti-corporatism protesters from the site. - Early Tuesday, Denver police used bulldozers to bring down tents and structures on Broadway near the Civic Center Park after some 50 protesters refused to move their tents. Police in riot gear clashed with protesters and journalists using batons, making at least four arrests. Over the past few weeks, police have broken up Occupy encampments in cities and towns across the US, harshly attacking and arresting dozens of protesters.

PressTV: San Antonio police arrest 5 'Occupy' protestors
PressTV: Police clear Occupy Denver - VIDEO

Peter Phillips of Project Censored speaks at the Grand Lake Theater for the 9/11 anniversary film festival on September 8, 2011.

Days after a state memorial for late leader Kim Jong Il, North Korea has warned "foolish politicians" that there will be no policy change. Now Pyongyang has thrown even more weight behind its "Dear Leader's" successor. - In a move to further consolidate North Korea's dictatorship, Pyongyang announced Saturday it had bestowed yet another title on new leader Kim Jong Un: supreme commander of the military. Kim Jong Un, son of deceased leader Kim Jong Il, should be the "only center of unity, cohesion and leadership" of the Workers' Party, North Korean state media said, adding that the country should uphold Kim Jong Il's military-first politics. The decision was reached at an unannounced Friday meeting of the powerful Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party, one day after Kim Jong Il's memorial ended. Kim Jong Un had already been declared the country's "supreme leader" on Thursday, as the nation concluded 13 days of mourning for his father.

BusinessInsider: Kim Jong-Un Just Issued His First Threat Of War Against South Korea
AFP: North Korea declares Kim Jong-Un military chief

The Stuxnet virus that last year damaged Iran's nuclear program was likely one of at least five cyber weapons developed on a single platform whose roots trace back to 2007, according to new research from Russian computer security firm Kaspersky Lab. - Security experts widely believe that the United States and Israel were behind Stuxnet, though the two nations have officially declined to comment on the matter. A Pentagon spokesman on Wednesday declined comment on Kaspersky's research, which did not address who was behind Stuxnet. Stuxnet has already been linked to another virus, the Duqu data-stealing trojan, but Kaspersky's research suggests the cyber weapons program that targeted Iran may be far more sophisticated than previously known. Kaspersky's director of global research & analysis, Costin Raiu, told Reuters on Wednesday that his team has gathered evidence that shows the same platform that was used to build Stuxnet and Duqu was also used to create at least three other pieces of malware.

The Daylight Robbery of Libyan Resources - While the unconcealed hypocrisy that led to the emergence of a new Libya fades from the public consciousness, the governments of the West are beginning to reap the profits of their investments. Under a mandate to protect civilians, these allied forces armed radical factions of Islamist fighters and showered white phosphorus tipped ordnanceonto densely populated residential areas. While sponsoring politicians equated the Libyan rebels to heroic advocates of western democracy fighting for freedom, these men committed racially motivated beheadings and executions of migrant workers from sub-Saharan Africa and filled mass graves with the corpses of their fellow countrymen, Gaddafi loyalists.

Secret documents have revealed that the British government clandestinely supplied the former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein's regime with military equipment during his eight-year-long imposed war on Iran. - Although the British government had repeatedly denied allegations that the UK assisted Saddam Hussein in his eight-year imposed war on Iran insisting Britain was officially neutral, revealed files show that former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher provided the Iraqi regime with 78 different types of military equipment. The revelations are a severe blow to the British establishment and take the lid off its hypocritical nature, as the UK was a signatory to the UN Security Council resolution 479 adopted on 28 September 1980.

USC's Professor Kevin Knight is part of an international team that finally cracked the "Copiale Cipher," a strange, 105-page message handwritten in abstract symbols and Latin letters revealing the rituals and political leanings of a 18th-century secret society in Germany. Knight, a computer scientist at the USC Information Sciences Institute, is now targeting other famous unsolved codes, such as the last section of "Kryptos," an encrypted message carved into a granite sculpture on the grounds of the CIA headquarters.

Ultra-Orthodox Jewish groups in Israel would like to see gender separation in public, and some have stooped to harassing women to get their way. With thousands of Israelis protesting against the growing influence of the super-religious, the rift in Israeli society is getting deeper.

The drill, unprecedented in size, will include the establishment of US command posts in Israel and IDF command posts at EUCOM headquarters in Germany - Israel is moving forward with plans to hold the largest-ever missile defense exercise in its history this spring amid [alleged] Iranian efforts to obtain nuclear weapons. Last week, Lt.-Gen. Frank Gorenc, commander of the US’s Third Air Force based in Germany, visited Israel to finalize plans for the upcoming drill, expected to see the deployment of several thousand American soldiers in Israel.

Jason Ditz: Joint Chief to Reassure Israel on Threatening Iran

As tensions between Iran and the West over Tehran’s threats to block a crucial oil supply route increase, there is much speculation whether the situation will evolve into a full-scale military conflict. But could it be just a game of chicken?

The US has positioned two warships in the area where the Iranian navy has been carrying out military drills. Iran’s navy chief earlier claimed that closing the Strait of Hormuz would be an easy job for the Iranian forces. In response the US said that interference with the transit or passage of vessels through the route would not be tolerated. Investigative writer Edwin Black told RT that full military conflict would cripple the oil-dependent US – as well as the rest of the world.

The Telegraph: WAR DRUMS: Iran films US aircraft carrier near Strait of Hormuz...
Stephen Lendman: Spoiling for Another Fight?
Stephen Lendman: Escalating Anti-Iranian Tensions
Peter Symonds: US/Britain prepare for war against Iran

U.S. Drones mistook civilians for rebels at the border between Turkey and Iraq. The subsequent attack, which may have taken place inside Iraqi territory left 35 Turkish Kurds dead and wounded 15 more who were apparently smuggling fuel. Meanwhile, at least five Iraqis were killed and 18 more were wounded.

Jason Ditz: Turkish Warplanes Kill 35 Civilians in Northern Iraq

Israeli chief of staff Benny Gantz has said that a new war on Gaza was inevitable “sooner or later” and that his army was preparing for it. - Gantz, in a statement on the army’s website on Wednesday, said that the new war would be totally different from the last one three years ago. He said that infantry forces would be more trained on night combat and would use explosives to blast their way through gates and passages.

AWIP: Israel preparing for another Gaza war

Israeli Occupation Forces demolish agricultural faci-
lities in Ethna village, west of Hebron.

The 27th of December marks the third anniversary of the commencement of Operation Cast Lead, Israel’s 27 December 2008 – 18 January 2009 offensive on the Gaza Strip. PCHR believes that Israeli forces committed serious violations of IHL and IHRL over the course of the offensive. Violations entailing individual criminal responsibility include – but are not limited to – the crimes of willful killing, the extensive destruction of civilian property, the direct targeting of civilians and civilian objects, the use of human shields, and the launching of indiscriminate attacks.

It is evident that these crimes demand judicial redress. If the law is to be respected – if it is to prove capable of protecting civilian populations – it must be enforced; victims’ rights to the equal protection of the law and effective judicial remedy must be upheld. Those responsible for committing such crimes must be investigated, tried and prosecuted in accordance with international standards.

In light of the clear and unequivocal failure of domestic justice systems, it is clear that recourse must be had to mechanisms of international criminal justice. PCHR call upon the UN Security Council, acting under Chapter VII of the UN Charter, to refer the situation in Israel and Palestine to the International Criminal Court. PCHR also reminds States, as High Contracting Parties to the Geneva Conventions, of their pressing legal obligation, to search for and prosecute all those suspected of committing war crimes, regardless of their nationality.

The Israeli occupation forces killed 180 Palestinians in 2011 including 21 children and arrested 3300, a report by the Palestine liberation organization (PLO) said on Wednesday. - It said that the Israeli occupation authority (IOA) endorsed in the same year the construction of 26837 new settlement units in the occupied Palestinian land including 1774 in occupied Jerusalem and its environs. The IOA confiscated 15525 dunums of Palestinian land, razed 495 homes, and destroyed 18764 trees, the report, carrying the name of people under occupation, said. It pointed to the Jewish settlers’ attacks in the same year, noting that they escalated attacks in December and launched a series of “terrorist” assaults on mosques and violated the sanctity of a Christian Orthodox church on the Jordan River.

Stephen Lendman: Israel v. Palestine in 2012

In case you missed it, Google is now a credentialed provider of Trusted Identities for the federal government. This means that the NSTIC, or National Strategy for Trusted Identities in Cyberspace, framework now has federally recognized and certified identity providers. - But who are these providers exactly, what is the NSTIC and how does this affect the users in matters of privacy, anonymity or even SEO? Below is a video that helps easily explains what it means to be working with the #NSTIC and how these issues are addressed, or not addressed by the NSTIC Framework.

US police have arrested several Occupy Wall Street protesters in the state of Iowa and charged them with trespassing, Press TV reports. - Police made the arrests on Wednesday when anti-corporate demonstrators were protesting at the campaign headquarters of the Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney in the Iowa's capital city Des Moines. Occupy activists vowed to expand their demonstrations as Republican presidential hopefuls attend the Iowa caucus, a meeting in which the party's candidates speak in the race to win the party's presidential nomination. A number of "Occupy the Caucus" protesters also gathered in the lobby of a Wells Fargo bank branch in Des Moines. Iowa police detained nine protesters who entered the bank. The protesters say the bank has not disclosed its donations to Republican presidential candidates. In Oakland California, police have dismantled yet another occupy camp and arrested another person on charges of trespassing. Meanwhile, anti-Wall Street protesters in Washington D.C. have filed for a city permit to occupy Congress on January 17.

Members of the Obama Administration are confirming tonight that the National Security Council has been instructed to begin seeking options for US intervention in Syria, including what they call the “unlikely” option of setting up a no-fly zone. - The process is being led by NSC Director Steve Simon, and is said to involve top members of the State, Defense and Treasury Departments. The focus is on ways to “aid” the Syrian opposition. Unspoken in all of this, of course, is exactly which segments of the Syrian opposition the administration are looking to aid, though it seems likely that the administration will use the time-honored tactic of principally aiding groups in favor of a large, long-term US presence in the nation.

Wayne Madsen: World War III Has Begun – It`s the First Asymmetric War Long Awaited by Pentagon Think Tanks

"At one major investment bank for which I worked, we used psychometric testing to recruit social psychopaths because their characteristics exactly suited them to senior corporate finance roles."

Over the years I've met my fair share of monsters – rogue individuals, for the most part. But as regulation in the UK and the US has loosened its restraints, the monsters have proliferated. In a paper recently published in the Journal of Business Ethics entitled "The Corporate Psychopaths: Theory of the Global Financial Crisis", Clive R Boddy identifies these people as psychopaths. "They are," he says, "simply the 1 per cent of people who have no conscience or empathy." And he argues: "Psychopaths, rising to key senior positions within modern financial corporations, where they are able to influence the moral climate of the whole organisation and yield considerable power, have largely caused the [banking] crisis'. And Mr Boddy is not alone. In Jon Ronson's widely acclaimed book The Psychopath Test, Professor Robert Hare told the author: "I should have spent some time inside the Stock Exchange as well. Serial killer psychopaths ruin families. Corporate and political and religious psychopaths ruin economies. They ruin societies."

Israel has threatened to launch another all-out war on the Gaza Strip, saying attacking the Palestinian territory is not a matter of choice, but a "war of necessity" for Tel Aviv.

Marking the third anniversary of Israel's deadly attack on Gaza, the chief of staff of the Israeli military, Lt. General Benny Gantz, said on Tuesday that Tel Aviv will ''sooner or later'' need to launch a large-scale operation against Hamas, the democratically-elected ruler of Gaza because Tel Aviv is losing its grip on the coastal strip. Gantz said Operation Cast Lead, which Israel launched against Gaza on December 27, 2008 and lasted for three week, had a deterrent effect on Israeli security, in which cracks were starting to show over time, forcing Israel to launch another war. Gantz also said that Tel Aviv is looking for the right time to launch a military offensive against the Gaza Strip and that the new war ''must be initiated by Israel and must be swift and painful".

Haaretz: IDF confirms preparations for extensive future Gaza military action
AWIP: THE CHANUKAH MASSACRE OF GAZA ~~ THREE YEARS LATER
Stephen Lendman: Gaza: Remembering Cast Lead