Government shutdown: What is Drunk Dial Congress and how does it work? You’ll get to talk to someone in Congress, even when drunk (Video)

So what exactly is DrunkDialCongress.org and how does it work? If you are angry enough at the government shutdown and went for a drink, going to drunkdialcongress.org might just be the thing to do.

You put in your phone number on DrunkDialCongress.org and “an inebriated voice from a 1-800 number will call you back and ask, ‘Is this government shutdown making you want to drink?’ before transferring to Capitol Hill.” Once you are transferred to some random Representative or maybe an intern, you do have the chance to talk to a real person and to sound off about the government shutdown.

Government shutdown: What is a furlough and 8 more major questions you might have about furloughs

During a government shutdown, federal employees are placed in a temporary nonduty, nonpay status which is called a furlough.

Below are 8 more major questions and answers about furloughs provided by the United States Office of Personnel Management handbook.

Glenn Greenwald's partner, David Miranda, detained for 9 hours in the UK: 'It's a total abuse of power' (Video, interview with David Miranda and Glenn Greenwald in Brazil)

David Miranda, the partner of Guardian journalist Glenn Greenwald, says he was questioned about his entire life after being detained for nine hours under anti-terror laws at London's Heathrow airport. Greenwald, who met David Miranda at Rio de Janeiro's international airport, said as a journalist he would not be silenced by this police action against his partner and vowed to publish many more spying documents. Brazil's foreign minister says the detention was "unjustified."

The detention of David Miranda at Heathrow is continuing to generate a fierce debate, in the UK and around the world, about how terrorist legislation is being used as an excuse to violate the rights of individuals.

Area 51: CIA confirms secretive site before Edward Snowden does? But what about aliens? (Video)

It seems a bit odd that at the same time that Edward Snowden is revealing government secrets, the CIA is actually joining Edward Snowden and is also revealing a secret – Area 51 does exist.

Daniel Chong: 25-year-old UCSD student gets $4.1 million for being forgotten in DEA cell for 4 1/2 days (Video)

Daniel Chong, the University of San Diego student who was forgotten in April of 2012 by the DEA for 4 1/2 days in a windowless 5-by-10-foot cell, reached a settlement with the U.S. government for $4.1 million according to Daniel Chong’s attorneys (Julia Yoo and Eugene Iredale) on Tuesday, July 30, 2013.

After his lawyers get their share of the 4.1 million, Daniel Chong plans to buy a house for his family and as he says in the video, “the rest of it I’m going to protect from myself. I am going to lock it all away. … I’m going for the retirement.”

Since his ordeal, Daniel Chong has changed his major at UCSD from engineering to economics. Besides pursuing his career, he plans to take care of his mother.

FBI raid rescues 105 children ages 13 to 17 from prostitution in 76 cities in 3-day sweep (Video)

In a three-day sweep of 76 cities, the FBI rescued 105 children ages 13 to 17 from prostitution and sexual exploitation. A total of 150 pimps were arrested. Many of the sexually exploited teenagers were being recruited right out of the foster-care system according to John Ryan who is the chief executive of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. The nonprofit organization assisted the FBI with the weekend sting.

According to a Los Angeles Times report on July 29, 2013, John Ryan said that “we are finding a very disturbing trend. They leave foster care and they literally fall off the radar. That’s something that needs to be addressed.”

During the FBI raid, Federal agents went undercover out onto streets and into hotels and casinos in 76 cities nationwide and used social media platforms as part of their investigating method in "Operation Cross Country VII, a three-day enforcement action to address commercial child sex trafficking throughout the United States."

In San Diego, the FBI raid resulted in the rescue of five teens and the arrest of six pimps. In San Francisco, the FBI raid resulted in the rescue of 12 teens and the arrest of 17 pimps.

Since 2003, FBI’s Innocence Lost initiative has identified and rescued more than 2,700 sexually exploited children. 

Thousands of small, civilian drones are coming into use in the United States: Can someone just shoot them down?

Congress gave the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), a United States government agency, until 2015 to safely integrate drones, or also called unmanned aircrafts, into the skies over the United States.

“FAA officials have estimated that once regulations are in place, thousands of drones will be in use across the country for a wide variety of purposes, from helping farmers figure out which crops need watering to tracking sea lions in remote rocky outcroppings to aiding search and rescue missions.”

The July 19, 2013, Associated Press report has some people who are concerned about their privacy asking whether those drones can just be shot down.

One small town in Colorado, Deer Trail (with about 600 residents), is working on a proposed ordinance when it comes to drones. A drone hunting permit would cost $25 and the town would give a reward of $100 for anyone who “presents a valid hunting license and identifiable pieces of a drone that has been shot down.”

"I don't want to live in a surveillance society. I don't feel like being in a virtual prison," says 48-year-old Phillip Steel who is the author of the drone-hunting proposal. "This is a pre-emptive strike."

As a pre-emptive counterstrike to anyone thinking about shooting down a drone, the FAA reminds people that while the land in the United States might be owned by people, the sky is owned by the United States government and that the FAA regulates the nation's airspace, including the airspace over cities and towns.

“People who fire guns at drones are endangering the public and property and could be prosecuted or fined, the Federal Aviation Administration warned Friday [July 19, 2013].”

(Click on picture to enlarge)

Related article:

Drone strikes 4 Americans: ‘U.S. citizens are on the so-called kill lists’

Obama's full speech and video on Trayvon Martin on Friday July 19, 2013

President Obama discussed the George Zimmerman acquittal in the killing of teenager Trayvon Martin during a surprise appearance at the White House briefing on Friday.

REPORTERS: Whoa!

Q: Hello.

PRESIDENT OBAMA: That’s so -- that’s so disappointing, man. Jay, is this kind of -- the kind of respect that you get? (Laughter.)

Q: Wake up!

Q: What brings you out here, Mr. --

PRESIDENT OBAMA: You know, on -- on -- on television it usually looks like you’re addressing a full room.

Q: (Laughs.) It’s just a mirage.

Edward Snowden timeline and July 16 update: Snowden applies for temporary asylum in Russia

Tuesday, July 16, 2013: Edward Snowden -- who has been at Moscow's Sheremetyevo International Airport for the past three weeks -- applies for temporary asylum in Russia since the US has revoked his passport and he cannot go anywhere.

Monday, July 15, 2013: Snowden's lawyer Anatoly Kucherena, who is Kremlin-friendly, met with Snowden for four hours and helped him complete his temporary asylum paperwork.  If Russia’s federal migration service (FMS) approves Snowden’s temporary asylum request, Snowden could leave the airport and live in Russia; possibly also travel to other countries.

Sunday, June 23, 2013: Snowden traveled to Moscow on the commercial Aeroflot flight SU213 from Hong Kong accompanied by Sarah Harrison of WikiLeaks after Hong Kong considered extraditing Snowden to the United States. Snowden had hoped to continue his travel to South America but was not able to do so without a passport.

June 14, 2013: U.S. federal prosecutors charged Snowden with espionage and theft of government property.

Post June 6, 2013: Edward Snowden becomes known as the ex-CIA and ex-NSA-contracted systems analyst who leaked secret NSA details.

June 6, 2013: Journalist Glenn Greenwald, documentary filmmaker Laura Poitras, and Washington Post reporter Barton Gellman met with Snowden in Hong Kong and began publishing information provided by Edward Snowden without initially revealing his identity.

May 20, 2013: Snowden, who was a computer technician for U.S. defense contractor Booz Allen Hamilton, leaves his residence and his job at the United States National Security Agency (NSA) in Hawaii and flies to Hong Kong.

So what are those revelations that got Snowden stranded in Russia?

• The NSA operates a complex web of spying programs which allow it to intercept internet and telephone conversations from over a billion users from dozens of countries around the world.

• Specific revelations have been made about China, the European Union, Latin America, Iran and Pakistan, and Australia and New Zealand.

• Many of the spying programs overlap and interrelate among one another and are often done with the assistance of US entities such as the DOJ and the FBI and are sanctioned by US laws such as the FISA Amendments Act.

• Many of NSA's programs are directly aided by national and foreign intelligence services, Britain's GCHQ and Australia's DSD, as well as by large private telecommunications and internet corporations, such as Verizon, Telstra, Google and Facebook. Microsoft and Silicon Valley are also participants.  

Some of these programs are:

PRISM – Cooperation between the NSA and internet companies, whereby the latter allow the former access (whether direct or indirect is disputed) to their servers.

Boundless Informant – the computer program that physically performs the data collection.

X-Keyscore – a program run out of Australia and New Zealand, which specifically targets foreign-language emails.

Dropmire – a program that specifically targets foreign embassies and diplomats

Fairview – a programme that targets mobile phone usage (particularly text messages) in foreign countries.

Upstream and Tempora – collecting data from fiber-optic cables and internet backbones.

MAINWAY (call records), Main Core (financial records) – storing the collected data

Stellar Wind – mining the collected data

ECHELON – intercepts commercial satellite trunk communications by all of the Five Eyes signatories

Turbulence – includes cyber-warfare capabilities, such as targeting enemies with malware

Insider Threat Program – policy requiring federal employees to report "high-risk persons or behaviors" from among co-workers, as well as to punish those who fail to report such colleagues.

As Edward Snowden is spending his days at Moscow's Sheremetyevo International Airport, he has the support of WikiLeaks and human rights activists. Edward Snowden allegedly has further and more devastating information than the ones already leaked. Much of that information has been put into the hands of people who, should something happen to Edward Snowden, might find its way into the press.

Historically, Edward Snowden’s saga is really no surprise. Following World War II, paranoia and fear have ruled many countries and spying by any means necessary deems to be fit for any country that wants to compete. Remembering that the internet originally was a military venture makes it no surprise that it has become a major means for governments to collect information. There is nothing private about the internet.

While historically there is nothing surprising about the Edward Snowden saga, Edward Snowden himself is a puzzle.

Edward Snowden, who was born on June 21, 1983, hasn’t completed anything (high school, college, a Special Forces recruit in the United States Army) and yet he is an ex-CIA and ex-NSA-contracted systems analyst with access to most sensitive information?

How effective can all of those secret international and national surveillance programs be if they cannot detect its own “traitor” or people that are capable of planning the Boston Marathon bombings?

Something does not add up.

CNN provides a clickable map on the Edward Snowden saga. Click on picture to enlarge.

Why Trayvon Martin protests should worry the nation: Is Trayvon Martin being used?

Seeing some of the pictures of Trayvon Martin displayed during the Trayvon Martin protests happening across the nation are extremely worrisome. Trayvon Martin shown draped in the American flag, his hands being black and white, and the face of innocence appears to be an idolized picture of a troubled 17-year-old that has very little to do with reality.

Apparently, protesters who have never personally met Trayvon Martin can use the death of the 17-year-old for whatever means necessary.

There are, however, people who have met Trayvon Martin. Based on the fact that they were not presented in court as character witnesses for Trayvon Martin and against George Zimmerman shows that Trayvon Martin was not the “idolized” young man that is being displayed during protests today.

While everyone has the right to protest, it might be helpful to take a closer look at what one is protesting for. Is the protest for Trayvon Martin, for civil rights, or for one’s own interest?

What kind of message are the children and young teens of the nation getting by these protests? Troubled kids end up as idols when they get killed?  

An inside look at Trayvon Martin and beyond the George Zimmerman trial

Stefan Molyneux from Freedomain Radio has some interesting insights not only into Trayvon Martin but also some of the thought-provoking aspects of the George Zimmerman trial that go beyond the courtroom. Stefan’s analysis of raising children in the United States is interesting and worth listening to.

Stefan Molyneux’s second video is interesting to watch because he replies to some of the comments under the above video. His emphasis on evidence versus emotionally-charged comments in regard to the Trayvon Martin case reflects so much of what is happening during the violent and non-violent protests after the George Zimmerman “not guilty” verdict. 

Colorado secede update: The birth of 51st state ‘North Colorado’ continues

The Colorado secede idea might have sounded too unrealistic just a month ago but three more counties in northeastern Colorado and two in Kansas now want to join the Colorado secession movement to form the 51st state of "North Colorado."

County officials in 10 of Colorado's 64 counties are talking about founding “North Colorado” and are asking for formal recognition as a state. Besides feeling that they are not being heard in Washington, Republican conservative farmers and ranchers in the northeastern Colorado counties are fed up with providing Colorado’s urban liberal “city slickers” with money and not getting any valuable representation in return. An estimated 80 percent of the oil and gas revenue in Colorado comes from the group of counties that are pondering secession.

“Representatives from the 10 counties held a meeting on Monday in the town of Akron in Washington County to begin mapping the boundaries for the new state they say will represent the interests of rural Colorado,” reports CBS Denver this week.

In order to continue with the Colorado secession and to form the new 51st state “North Colorado,” approval is needed from not only voters but the Colorado General Assembly and U.S. Congress. Colorado secession organizers are hoping to put the idea to voters as early as November.