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It's An Evil And Sinister Conspiracy That Involves Very Rich And Powerful People Who Mastermind Events And Control World Affairs Through Governments And Corporations And Are Plotting Mass Population Reduction And The Emergence Of A Totalitarian World Government!   By Using Occult Secret Societies The ILLUMINATI Will Bring All Of The Nations Of This World Together As One.   We'll Have No Recourse But To Submit And Be Under Their Control Utilizing Their Digital Central Bank Currency Or To Reject This Ill-Fated Digital Identification.   The Goal Is UN Agenda 2030!   This Is The Beginning Of The End!
Pope Attacks Global Economics For Worshipping 'God Of Money'

By Philip Pullella

CAGLIARI, Sardinia (Reuters) - Pope Francis made one of his strongest attacks on the global economic system on Sunday, saying it could no longer be based on a "god called money" and urged the unemployed to fight for work.

Francis, at the start of a day-long trip to the Sardinian capital, Cagliari, put aside his prepared text at a meeting with unemployed workers, including miners in hard hats who told him of their situation, and improvised for nearly 20 minutes.

"I find suffering here ... It weakens you and robs you of hope," he said. "Excuse me if I use strong words, but where there is no work there is no dignity."

He discarded his prepared speech after listening to Francesco Mattana, a 45-year-old married father of three who lost his job with an alternative energy company four years ago.

Mattana, his voice trembling, told the pope that unemployment "oppresses you and wears you out to the depths of your soul".

The crowd of about 20,000 people in a square near the city port chanted what Francis called a prayer for "work, work, work". They cheered each time he spoke of the rights of workers and the personal devastation caused by joblessness.

The pope, who later celebrated Mass for some 300,000 people outside the city's cathedral, told them: "We don't want this globalised economic system which does us so much harm. Men and women have to be at the centre (of an economic system) as God wants, not money."

"The world has become an idolator of this god called money," he said.

Sardinia's coast is famous for its idyllic beaches, exclusive resorts and seaside palatial residences of some of the world's richest people, including former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi and a host of Hollywood actors.

But much of the island, particularly its large cities and the vast agricultural and industrial interior, has been blighted by the economic crisis, with factories closed and mines operating at low capacity.

YOUTH UNEMPLOYMENT, CLOSING MINES

Cagliari has a youth unemployment rate of about 51 percent. The Sulcis area in the southwest of the island is threatened with more unemployment from the looming closures of the Carbosulcis coal mine and an aluminum smelter.

The pope made clear that his assessment was not limited to the local situation.

"It is not a problem of Italy and Europe ... It is the consequence of a world choice, of an economic system that brings about this tragedy, an economic system that has at its centre an idol which is called money," he said to the cheers of the crowd.

While Francis's predecessor Benedict also called for changes to economic systems, he was more likely to use dense intellectual language.

Francis, who as bishop of Buenos Aires sided with unemployed workers in their conflict with government austerity plans, ended his improvised speech with a prayer asking God to "give us work and teach us to fight for work".

Francis said he did not want the crowd to see him as a smiling "cordial manager of the Church who comes here and says to you 'have courage'".

He added: "I don't want this. I want this courage to come from inside me and push me to do everything I can as a pastor and a man."

Francis brought tears to the eyes of some in the crowd when he told his own family's story of emigration from Italy to Argentina and how they lost everything in the Great Depression.

"I was not born yet, but as a child I remember hearing talk of this suffering," he said.

Francis said globalization had brought with it a culture where the weakest in society suffered the most and often, those on the fringes "fall away", including the elderly, who he said were victims of a "hidden euthanasia" caused by neglect of those no longer considered productive.

"To defend this economic culture, a throwaway culture has been installed. We throw away grandparents, and we throw away young people. We have to say no to his throwaway culture. We want a just system that helps everyone," he said.
Pope Francis: It's Time For The Catholic Church To Be More Inclusive

In an interview released Thursday, Pope Francis said the Catholic Church has gotten itself wrapped up in "small things, in small-minded rules", when it comes to the church's hard-line aversion to homosexuality, contraception and abortion. If the church does not change its ways, the Pope says, "the moral edifice of the Church is likely to fall like a house of cards."

"We cannot insist only on issues related to abortion, gay marriage and the use of contraceptive methods," the Pope added. “But when we speak about these issues, we have to talk about them in a context. The teaching of the church, for that matter, is clear and I am a son of the church, but it is not necessary to talk about these issues all the time.”

On the issue of homosexuality, the Pope made it clear that condemnation of those who are gay is not something in which the church should take part.

“In Buenos Aires I used to receive letters from homosexual persons who are ‘socially wounded’ because they tell me that they feel like the church has always condemned them. But the church does not want to do this,” Pope Francis said.

“Religion has the right to express its opinion in the service of the people, but God in creation has set us free: it is not possible to interfere spiritually in the life of a person," he continued. “A person once asked me, in a provocative manner, if I approved of homosexuality,” he continued. “I replied with another question: ‘Tell me: when God looks at a gay person, does he endorse the existence of this person with love, or reject and condemn this person?’ We must always consider the person.”

The Pope also touched on the role of women in the church, hinting that it is time to carve out a true place for females in the Catholic Church.

“The church cannot be herself without the woman and her role,” he said. “The woman is essential for the church. Mary, a woman, is more important than the bishops ... We must therefore investigate further the role of women in the church. We have to work harder to develop a profound theology of the woman. Only by making this step will it be possible to better reflect on their function within the church. The feminine genius is needed wherever we make important decisions.”

The Pope's words in the interview, which was conducted over three meetings in August and published in the Italian Jesuit monthly La Civilta Cattolica, is being applauded by liberal Catholics.

"This pope is rescuing the Church from those who think that condemning gay people and opposing contraception define what it means to be a real Catholic," said John Gehring, Catholic program director for the liberal group Faith in Public Life. "Francis is putting a message of mercy, justice and humility back at the center of the church's mission. It's a remarkable and refreshing change."

But the candid words of the 76 year-old Pope, who said he "has never been a right-winger", will likely not sit well with conservative Catholics. Last week, Bishop Thomas J. Tobin of Providence, Rhode Island said he was upset that Pope Francis had not yet spoken out on the "evils of abortion" as a means to discourage activists who support reproductive choice.

Despite the hard focus many Catholic conservatives have on the social issues of homosexuality, abortion and contraception, Pope Francis, who has invited the needy in to the Vatican for a meal and personally called a rape victim, insists that it is time for the church to put energy towards attacking some of the world's real problems, like hunger and homelessness.

“This church with which we should be thinking is the home of all, not a small chapel that can hold only a small group of selected people," Francis said in the interview. "We must not reduce the bosom of the universal church to a nest protecting our mediocrity.



Full Interview Here
Putin’s Emergency Warning to America

World News

A potential US strike on Syria is fraught with dangerous consequences

Vladimir Putin
September 12, 2013

MOSCOW — RECENT events surrounding Syria have prompted me to speak directly to the American people and their political leaders. It is important to do so at a time of insufficient communication between our societies.

Relations between us have passed through different stages. We stood against each other during the cold war. But we were also allies once, and defeated the Nazis together. The universal international organization — the United Nations — was then established to prevent such devastation from ever happening again.

The United Nations’ founders understood that decisions affecting war and peace should happen only by consensus, and with America’s consent the veto by Security Council permanent members was enshrined in the United Nations Charter. The profound wisdom of this has underpinned the stability of international relations for decades.

No one wants the United Nations to suffer the fate of the League of Nations, which collapsed because it lacked real leverage. This is possible if influential countries bypass the United Nations and take military action without Security Council authorization.

The potential strike by the United States against Syria, despite strong opposition from many countries and major political and religious leaders, including the pope, will result in more innocent victims and escalation, potentially spreading the conflict far beyond Syria’s borders. A strike would increase violence and unleash a new wave of terrorism. It could undermine multilateral efforts to resolve the Iranian nuclear problem and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and further destabilize the Middle East and North Africa. It could throw the entire system of international law and order out of balance.

Syria is not witnessing a battle for democracy, but an armed conflict between government and opposition in a multireligious country. There are few champions of democracy in Syria. But there are more than enough Qaeda fighters and extremists of all stripes battling the government. The United States State Department has designated Al Nusra Front and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, fighting with the opposition, as terrorist organizations. This internal conflict, fueled by foreign weapons supplied to the opposition, is one of the bloodiest in the world.

Mercenaries from Arab countries fighting there, and hundreds of militants from Western countries and even Russia, are an issue of our deep concern. Might they not return to our countries with experience acquired in Syria? After all, after fighting in Libya, extremists moved on to Mali. This threatens us all.

From the outset, Russia has advocated peaceful dialogue enabling Syrians to develop a compromise plan for their own future. We are not protecting the Syrian government, but international law. We need to use the United Nations Security Council and believe that preserving law and order in today’s complex and turbulent world is one of the few ways to keep international relations from sliding into chaos. The law is still the law, and we must follow it whether we like it or not. Under current international law, force is permitted only in self-defense or by the decision of the Security Council. Anything else is unacceptable under the United Nations Charter and would constitute an act of aggression.

No one doubts that poison gas was used in Syria. But there is every reason to believe it was used not by the Syrian Army, but by opposition forces, to provoke intervention by their powerful foreign patrons, who would be siding with the fundamentalists. Reports that militants are preparing another attack — this time against Israel — cannot be ignored.

It is alarming that military intervention in internal conflicts in foreign countries has become commonplace for the United States. Is it in America’s long-term interest? I doubt it. Millions around the world increasingly see America not as a model of democracy but as relying solely on brute force, cobbling coalitions together under the slogan “you’re either with us or against us.”

But force has proved ineffective and pointless. Afghanistan is reeling, and no one can say what will happen after international forces withdraw. Libya is divided into tribes and clans. In Iraq the civil war continues, with dozens killed each day. In the United States, many draw an analogy between Iraq and Syria, and ask why their government would want to repeat recent mistakes.

No matter how targeted the strikes or how sophisticated the weapons, civilian casualties are inevitable, including the elderly and children, whom the strikes are meant to protect.

The world reacts by asking: if you cannot count on international law, then you must find other ways to ensure your security. Thus a growing number of countries seek to acquire weapons of mass destruction. This is logical: if you have the bomb, no one will touch you. We are left with talk of the need to strengthen nonproliferation, when in reality this is being eroded.

We must stop using the language of force and return to the path of civilized diplomatic and political settlement.

A new opportunity to avoid military action has emerged in the past few days. The United States, Russia and all members of the international community must take advantage of the Syrian government’s willingness to place its chemical arsenal under international control for subsequent destruction. Judging by the statements of President Obama, the United States sees this as an alternative to military action.

I welcome the president’s interest in continuing the dialogue with Russia on Syria. We must work together to keep this hope alive, as we agreed to at the Group of 8 meeting in Lough Erne in Northern Ireland in June, and steer the discussion back toward negotiations.

If we can avoid force against Syria, this will improve the atmosphere in international affairs and strengthen mutual trust. It will be our shared success and open the door to cooperation on other critical issues.

My working and personal relationship with President Obama is marked by growing trust. I appreciate this. I carefully studied his address to the nation on Tuesday. And I would rather disagree with a case he made on American exceptionalism, stating that the United States’ policy is “what makes America different. It’s what makes us exceptional.” It is extremely dangerous to encourage people to see themselves as exceptional, whatever the motivation. There are big countries and small countries, rich and poor, those with long democratic traditions and those still finding their way to democracy. Their policies differ, too. We are all different, but when we ask for the Lord’s blessings, we must not forget that God created us equal.

Vladimir V. Putin is the president of Russia.
Pope Francis Embraces Divided Middle East Leaders


Pope Francis embraces divided Middle East leaders and presides over Christian, Jewish and Muslim prayers at Vatican in bid to revive collapsed peace talks






  • Pope Francis welcomed both presidents to Vatican for peace prayers
  • Israeli president Shimon Peres arrived first followed by Mahmoud Abbas
  • Attended a service incorporating Jewish, Christian and Muslim prayers
  • Took place in the Vatican garden - under the shadow of St. Peter's Basilica
  • Vatican officials say there is no political agenda behind the meeting

  • Pope Francis waded into Middle East peace-making this evening by welcoming both the Israeli and Palestinian presidents to the Vatican for an evening of prayers.
    Israeli President Shimon Peres was the first to arrive at the Vatican hotel where Pope Francis lives, followed by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. 
    Francis warmly greeted both and met privately with each one before heading out to the Vatican garden for the service.
    Their meeting came just weeks after the last round of peace negotiations, sponsored by the U.S.,  collapsed.

  • Vatican officials have insisted Pope Francis has no political agenda by inviting the two leaders to pray at his home other than to rekindle a desire for peace among the two parties. 
    However, the meeting could have significance on the ground beyond mere symbolism.
    The meeting will also cement Francis' reputation as a leader unhindered by diplomatic and theological protocol who is willing to go out on a limb for the sake of peace.
      'In the Middle East, symbolic gestures and incremental steps are important,' noted the Rev. Thomas Reese, a veteran Vatican analyst for the National Catholic Reporter. 
      'And who knows what conversations can occur behind closed doors in the Vatican.'
      The unusual prayer summit was a feat of diplomatic and religious protocol, organized in the two weeks since Francis issued the surprise invitation to Peres and Abbas from Manger Square in Bethlehem.

    • It took place in the Vatican gardens in the shadow of St. Peter's Basilica, the most religiously neutral place in the tiny city-state.
      It incorporated Jewish, Christian and Muslim prayers - delivered in Hebrew, English, Arabic and Italian.
      The prayers focused on three themes common to each of the religions: thanking God for creation, seeking forgiveness for past wrongdoing and praying to God to bring peace to the region.
      Francis, Peres and Abbas were expected to deliver brief remarks, shake hands and plant an olive tree together in a sign of peace.
      The spiritual leader of the world's Orthodox Christians was also present to give a united Christian front.

    • Vatican officials have described the prayer evening as something of a 'time-out' in political negotiations, merely designed to rekindle the desire for peace through prayers common to all the main faith traditions in the Holy Land.
      But even Francis' secretary of state, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, has said the power of prayer shouldn't be discounted for its ability to change the reality on the ground.
      'Prayer has a political strength that we maybe don't even realize and should be exploited to the full,' he said at the end of Francis' trip. 
      'Prayer has the ability to transform hearts, and thus to transform history.'
      That said, no concrete results are expected: Peres has no formal role in peace negotiations, holds a largely ceremonial post and leaves office at the end of the month.
      But Nadav Tamir, a political adviser to Peres, said Sunday the Israeli government authorized the trip and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was in 'constant contact' with Peres.

    • Speaking on Israeli Army Radio, Tamir stressed the meeting was not political, even though he said Peres and Abbas were expected to discuss political developments when they meet in private after the prayer.
      Netanyahu had urged the world to shun Abbas' new unity government which took office last week because it is backed by the Islamic militant group Hamas. His pleas have been ignored by the West, with both the U.S. and the European Union saying they will give the unity government a chance.
      Peres' participation thus undermines Netanyahu's attempts to isolate the Palestinians, and instead adds to the growing isolation of Netanyahu's hard-line position. 
      Netanyahu's office has declined repeated requests for comment about the Vatican summit.

    • Nevertheless, Tamir stressed that the meeting had a different aspect to it.
      He said: 'The government of Israel decided not to hold political negotiations, but we aren't talking about political negotiations. 
      'We are talking about a different gesture, a spiritual gesture, an act of public diplomacy.'
      Abbas told Italian daily La Repubblica that Francis' invitation was 'an act of great courage'
      'Nothing should stop us in the search for solutions so that both of our people can live in their own sovereign state,' he was quoted as saying in Sunday's editions.
    • Iranian official warns U.S.-led strike will engulf entire region

      By Hussein Dakroub   The Daily Star

      BEIRUT: A senior Iranian official warned Monday that a U.S.-led military strike on Syria would engulf the entire region and threaten American and Israeli interests.
      The statement by Alaeddin Boroujerdi, the chairman of the Iranian parliamentary committee for national security and foreign policy, was the latest in a series of stern warnings issued by Iranian and Russian officials against a possible Western military strike on Syria to punish the regime over its alleged use of chemical weapons.
      “We think that self-restraint shown so far by U.S. President Barack Obama, this American approach, serves America’s interests on the one hand, and the interests of the Zionist entity’s security on the other, because any political miscalculation in this regard could negatively backfire on the situation in the region as a whole,” Boroujerdi told reporters following talks with Speaker Nabih Berri at the latter’s residence in Ain al-Tineh.
      Boroujerdi spoke in Farsi and his remarks were translated into Arabic by an interpreter.
      The Iranian official arrived in Beirut Monday from Damascus to brief Lebanese officials on the conflict in Syria and discuss its repercussions on Lebanon.
      Boroujerdi, who issued a similar warning a day earlier during a trip to Syria where he met with President Bashar Assad, also said that the U.S. Congress should “bow to the will of the American people and take the right decision to put a brake to the American military approach against Syria.”
      “We think that the American public is sensitive toward and is opposed to any military aggression against Syria given the failed U.S. military experiences in Iraq and Afghanistan,” he said.
      Last week, Obama said he would seek the authorization of Congress for a military strike on Syria over its alleged use of chemical weapons.
      Obama has accused the regime of using poisonous gas on Syrian citizens on several occasions this year including the Aug. 21 attack which U.S. intelligence says killed over 1,400 people in a Damascus suburb.
      Boroujerdi said his talks with Assad focused on three main issues: defense of the resistance and Syria as a major pillar in the resistance axis, Iran’s strong and absolute opposition to any foreign military action against Syria, and its total condemnation of the use of chemical weapons “because this constituted a great danger to world and regional peace.”
      He said that during his visit to Damascus he found daily life was normal, while the morale of Syrian officials, including Assad, was high.
      The Iranian official also met with Prime Minister-designate Tammam Salam and several parliamentarians.
      “We presented a detailed report about the results of our official visit to Syria and the important meetings we had with President Assad, the parliament speaker, the prime minister and the foreign minister,” Boroujerdi told reporters after talks with Salam at the latter’s residence in Mseitbeh.
      Boroujerdi said he had affirmed Iran’s support for Syria, describing Tehran’s key Arab ally as “the principal foundation and the vital pillar in the resistance axis in the region.”
      “We informed Salam of Iran’s firm opposition to any form of foreign military aggression against Syria,” he said.
      Salam and Boroujerdi also discussed bilateral relations and expressed hope that a Lebanese government would be formed.
      “We hope that the obstacles still facing the formation of a new government under Salam are eliminated because this matter serves the interest of the Lebanese,” he said.
      The Iranian official also voiced his country’s support for Lebanon’s stability and national unity.
      “As you know the Islamic Republic of Iran has always affirmed its principled stance in supporting national unity as well as sovereignty, calm and stability in this brotherly country because we think that this matter greatly serves regional security and stability,” he said.
      Boroujerdi will Tuesday meet with President Michel Sleiman, caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati and caretaker Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour.
      Boroujerdi also held a meeting with Lebanon’s foreign affairs parliamentary committee headed by MP Abdel-Latif Zein.
      The talks, attended by lawmakers Nawaf Musawi, Yassine Jaber, Joseph Maalouf and Khodr Habib, touched on the repercussions of the Syrian conflict on Lebanon, particularly in terms of security.
      Last week, the head of Iran’s powerful Revolutionary Guard warned that a U.S. strike would trigger “reactions beyond” Syria and bolster extremism. And Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has said an attack on Syria would be a “disaster” for the entire region.


      NSA Uses Supercomputers To Crack Web Encryption, Files Show

      Michael Winter, USA TODAY September 5, 2013

      Snowden documents reveal spy agency campaign to compromise online privacy for national security.

      U.S. and British intelligence agencies have cracked the encryption designed to provide online privacy and security, documents leaked by former intelligence analyst Edward Snowden show.

      In a clandestine, decade-long effort to defeat digital scrambling, the National Security Agency, along with its British counterpart, the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), have used supercomputers to crack encryption codes through "brute force" and have inserted secret "back doors" into software with the help of technology companies, The Guardian,The New York Times and ProPublica reported Thursday.

      The NSA has also maintained control over international encryption standards.

      As the Times points out, encryption "guards global commerce and banking systems, protects sensitive data like trade secrets and medical records, and automatically secures the e-mails, Web searches, Internet chats and phone calls of Americans and others around the world."

      The American Civil Liberties Union, which has filed a federal suit challenging the government's collection of telephone communications data, immediately called the NSA's efforts to defeat encryption "recklessly shortsighted'' and are making the Internet less secure for all.

      In a statement, the ACLU said the actions will "further erode not only the United States' reputation as a global champion of civil liberties and privacy but the economic competitiveness of its largest companies.''

      "The encryption technologies that the NSA has exploited to enable its secret dragnet surveillance are the same technologies that protect our most sensitive information, including medical records, financial transactions and commercial secrets," said Christopher Soghoian, principal technologist of the ACLU's Speech, Privacy and Technology Project. "Even as the NSA demands more powers to invade our privacy in the name of cybersecurity, it is making the Internet less secure and exposing us to criminal hacking, foreign espionage, and unlawful surveillance.''

      The spy agencies have focused on compromising encryption found in Secure Sockets Layer (SSL), virtual private networks (VPNs) and 4G smartphones and tablets. The NSA spent $255 million this year on the decryption program -- code named Bullrun -- which aims to "covertly influence" software designs and "insert vulnerabilities into commercial encryption systems" that would be known only to the agency.

      The documents leaked by Snowden, who has been granted temporary asylum in Russia, do not name specific companies or encryption technologies, and refer to customers and users as "adversaries."

      The NSA calls its decryption efforts the "price of admission for the U.S. to maintain unrestricted access to and use of cyberspace."

      A 2010 memo describing an NSA briefing to British agents about the secret hacking said, "For the past decade, N.S.A. has led an aggressive, multipronged effort to break widely used Internet encryption technologies. Cryptanalytic capabilities are now coming online. Vast amounts of encrypted Internet data which have up till now been discarded are now exploitable."

      The GCHQ is working to penetrate encrypted traffic on what it called the "big four" service providers — Google, Yahoo, Facebook and Microsoft's Hotmail.

      One document shows that by 2012, the British agency had developed "new access opportunities" into Google's systems.

      Major tech companies did not immediately respond. In the past, they have said they cooperate with government agencies only as prescribed by law.

      The NSA says code-breaking is fundamental to its mission of protecting national security by deciphering communications from terrorists, spies or other U.S. adversaries.

      During the 1990s, the agency fought unsuccessfully to have a secret government portal included in all encryption protocols.

      Experts and critics say that while "back doors" may help intelligence gathering, they weaken the Web's overall security and trust, and could be used against Americans.

      "The risk is that when you build a back door into systems, you're not the only one to exploit it," Matthew Green, a cryptography researcher at Johns Hopkins University, told the Times. "Those back doors could work against U.S. communications, too."

      Bruce Schneier, a security technologist, examined the documents before they were published and authored an analysis for the Guardian. He told USA TODAY that they are the biggest revelations yet from the documents leaked by Snowden and said they show NSA has "subverted" much of the Internet and tech companies that form its backbone.

      "They fundamentally undermine the social contract of the Internet — which is that you get what you think you get and it works,'' Schneier said. "An agency has subverted vast swaths of this to turn the Internet into a surveillance engine. Now the Internet doesn't do what people thought it did.''

      "They've done it through secret agreements with companies, so essentially all the companies you deal with on the Internet have been lying to you. They have basically sucked the trust out of the Internet — the NSA and these companies. It's a public-private partnership to turn the internet into a surveillance engine.''

      The Center for Democracy and Technology, a non-profit group that advocates for a free Internet, called the NSA efforts "a fundamental attack on the way the Internet works.''

      "In an era which businesses as well as the average consumer trust secure networks and technologies for sensitive transactions and private communications online, it's incredibly destructive for the NSA to add flaws to such critical infrastructure," said Joseph Lorenzo Hall, CDT Senior Staff Technologist.

      "The NSA seems to be operating on the fantastically naïve assumption that any vulnerabilities it builds into core Internet technologies can only be exploited by itself and its global partners. The NSA simply should not be building vulnerabilities into the fundamental tools that we all rely upon to protect our private information," Hall added.

      The Times and ProPublica said intelligence officials asked them not to publish the article, arguing that the revelations "might prompt foreign targets to switch to new forms of encryption or communications that would be harder to collect or read."

      After removing "some specific facts," they chose to publish "because of the value of a public debate about government actions that weaken the most powerful tools for protecting the privacy of Americans and others."

      ProPublica published a separate article explaining its decision to publish:
      The story, we believe, is an important one. It shows that the expectations of millions of Internet users regarding the privacy of their electronic communications are mistaken. These expectations guide the practices of private individuals and businesses, most of them innocent of any wrongdoing. The potential for abuse of such extraordinary capabilities for surveillance, including for political purposes, is considerable. The government insists it has put in place checks and balances to limit misuses of this technology. But the question of whether they are effective is far from resolved and is an issue that can only be debated by the people and their elected representatives if the basic facts are revealed.

      The non-profit news organization noted that "American history is replete with examples of the dangers of unchecked power operating in secret," specifically the President Nixon, who "tried to subvert law enforcement, intelligence and other agencies for political purposes, and was more than willing to violate laws in the process."

      "Such a person could come to power again. We need a system that can withstand such challenges. That system requires public knowledge of the power the government possesses. Today's story is a step in that direction," ProPublica wrote.
      Iran will support Syria 'to the end': military chief

      By Yahoo.news

      Iran will support Syria "until the end" in the face of possible US-led military strikes, the chief of Iran's elite Quds Force unit was quoted Thursday by the media as saying.

      Iran is Syria's main regional ally and some analysts believe a wider goal of US President Barack Obama's determination to launch a strike against the Damascus regime is to blunt Tehran's growing regional influence and any consequent threat to Washington ally Israel.

      "The aim of the United States is not to protect human rights ... but to destroy the front of resistance (against Israel)," Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani was quoted as saying.

      "We will support Syria to the end," he added in a speech to the Assembly of Experts, the body that supervises the work of supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

      He did not elaborate on the nature of the support and Iran has constantly denied allegations by Western powers that it has sent military forces to prop up President Bashar al-Assad's embattled regime.

      A year ago, the chief of Iran's Revolutionary Guards, Mohammad Ali Jafari, said that members of the Quds Force foreign operations unit were in Syria but only to provide Assad's government with "counsel and advice".

      Soleimani accused the US of using its claims that Syria's forces had unleashed chemical weapons on civilians last month as a "pretext" to try to topple Assad's regime.

      Iran's Defence Minister Hossein Dehqan, meanwhile, ruled out sending troops or weapons to Syria.

      "The Syrians do not need us to provide them with weapons because they have a defensive anti-aircraft system themselves," he was cited in the local media as saying.

      President Hassan Rowhani said Iran will do "everything to prevent" an attack on the Syrian regime, according to extracts from statements he made before the Assembly of Experts published in the media.

      "Any action against Syria is against the interests of the region but also against the friends of the United States in this region," he said.

      "Such action will help nobody."

      The US, France and other countries accuse Assad's forces of launching chemical weapons attacks on the outskirts of Damascus on August 21, which they say killed hundreds.

      Obama is seeking congressional backing as well as broader international support for punitive strikes on Assad's regime.

      Iran has warned that any military action against Syria risks sparking a broader regional conflagration.
      Pope: Abandon "Futile" Military Syria Solution

      Associated Press   Sep. 05, 2013

      VATICAN CITY -- Pope Francis urged the Group of 20 leaders on Thursday to abandon the "futile pursuit" of a military solution in Syria as the Vatican laid out its case for a negotiated settlement that guarantees rights for all minorities, including Christians.

      In a letter Thursday to the G-20 host, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Francis lamented that "one-sided interests" had prevailed in Syria, preventing a diplomatic end to the conflict and allowing the continued "senseless massacre" of innocents.

      "To the leaders present, to each and every one, I make a heartfelt appeal for them to help find ways to overcome the conflicting positions and to lay aside the futile pursuit of a military solution," Francis wrote as the G-20 meeting got under way in St. Petersburg.

      Francis has ratcheted up his call for peace in Syria amid threatened U.S.-led military strikes following an Aug. 21 chemical weapons attack near Damascus.

      He will host a peace vigil in St. Peter's Square on Saturday, a test of whether his immense popular appeal will translate into popular support for his peace message.

      On Thursday, the Vatican summoned ambassadors accredited to the Holy See to outline its position on Syria, with Archbishop Dominique Mamberti, the Vatican's foreign minister, noting that the Aug. 21 attack had generated "horror and concern" from around the world.

      "Confronted with similar acts one cannot remain silent, and the Holy See hopes that the competent institutions make clear what happened and that those responsible face justice," Mamberti told the 71 ambassadors gathered.

      He didn't refer explicitly to the threat of military strikes to punish the Syrian regime for the attack. But he said the main priority was to stop the violence which he said risked involving other countries and creating "unforeseeable consequences in various parts of the world."

      The Vatican, he said, called for a return to dialogue and for the country to not be split up along ethnic or religious lines.

      Minorities, including Christians, must have their basic rights guaranteed, including their right to profess their religion, he said. And he called for the opposition to distance itself from extremists, isolate them "and openly and clearly oppose terrorism" — a reference to the al-Qaida-affiliated rebels fighting against the government.

      The Assad family's four-decade iron rule over Syria long has rested on support from the country's ethnic and religious minorities, including Christians, Shiite Muslims and Kurds. The Assad family and key regime figures are Alawites, followers of an offshoot of Shiite Islam, while most rebels and their supporters are Sunni Muslims.

      As a result, the Catholic Church has toed a careful line on Syria, staying largely silent at the start of the civil war even after the regime's brutal crackdown on dissent. As the violence raged, the Vatican stepped up its call for dialogue. And amid the U.S. threat of military intervention, Vatican and church officials have warned that a world war could erupt, with Christians in the region bearing the brunt of the fallout.

      On Wednesday, the head of Francis' Jesuit order, the Rev. Adolfo Nicolas, told a Catholic news agency that military action by the U.S. and France would be an "abuse of power."

      "I cannot understand who gave the United States or France the right to act against a country in a way that will certainly increase the suffering of the citizens of that country, who, by the way, have already suffered beyond measure," he was quoted as saying in the interview, the text of which was released by a Vatican-affiliated spokesman.

      This week, Syrian government troops have been battling al-Qaida-linked rebels over Maaloula, a regime-held Christian village in western Syria. Some of its 2,000 residents still speak a version of Aramaic, the ancient language of biblical times believed to have been spoken by Jesus.