coming up on r t so new year but twenty thirteen will go down as a very bad year for violence in iraq a look at what's happening inside the country after u.s. troops left and we'll look at which country is thought of as the greatest threat to world peace. plus n.s.a. leaks and possible military strikes in syria in two thousand and thirteen were just some of the topics that the obama administration stumbled through the year argy takes a look back at the year that was in the beleaguered white house. and raising the minimum wage the measure was approved last year by several states but only two days into the new year one former congressman says raising it actually hurts more than it helps the lower class is that really the case and find out later in today's show .

it's thursday january second five pm in washington d.c. i'm sam sax and you're watching our team and we begin with breaking news about the n.s.a. the spy agency hope the leaks would stop in two thousand and fourteen they hope today the washington post is reporting on n.s.a. efforts to build a supercomputer or what they refer to as a crypt a logically useful quantum computer capable of breaking any sort of encryption on the internet documents provided by edward snowden reveal that the project is part of a nearly eighty million dollar research program called penetrating hard targets civilian computer labs have long been working in the field of quantum computing a cutting edge science requiring a large shielded rooms known as farraday cages to create supercomputers that have far more capabilities than classical computers we all use today despite the amount

of money and attention devoted to their quantum computer projects it appears the n.s.a. is no further along in research that then top civilian labs but experts believe a fully functional quantum computer could be built within ten years with code breaking capabilities that could render all forms of online and corruption unreliable. that would have significant impacts on the security of banking medical and financial transactions all across the web well beyond two major newspapers around the world began the new year by taking a stand for edward snowden first the guardian's editorial board on wednesday made a case for a pardon of edward snowden arguing mr snowden through journalists in the absence of meaningful reliable democratic oversight have given people enough knowledge about the nature of modern intelligence gathering to allow an informed debate then on the other side of the atlantic on the same day on new years the new york times also praised snowden calling him

a whistleblower and saying when someone reveals that government officials have routinely and deliberately broken the law that person should not face life in prison at the hands of the same government president obama should tell his aides to begin finding a way to end mr snowden's vilification and give him an incentive to return home. the new york times went on to bullet point several of the n.s.a. violations as revealed by edward snowden including the hacking of data links that google and yahoo the efforts to undermine encrypt and proof that the director of national intelligence james clapper lied to congress last march when he said the n.s.a. was not collecting data on americans. and now to iraq which is just coming off its deadliest year since two thousand and eight fourteen to the united nations mission to baghdad seven thousand eight hundred eight hundred civilians were killed in sectarian violence this year alone in iraq add in iraqi security forces deaths and the toll rises to more than eighty eight hundred of the war in that country

officially ended in two thousand and eleven the violence continues and peace is hard to find you rock is the lasting legacy of u.s. intervention in the middle east which might explain the results of a new global poll conducted over sixty five countries around the world at the end of two thousand and thirteen that poll done by the worldwide independent network and gallup asked people which country do you think is the greatest threat to peace in the world today and far away the not so distinguished honors went to the united states with twenty four percent saying america has the greatest threat to peace of their nuclear armed nations rounded out the top three with pakistan in second at eight percent and china in third at six percent some of the strongest anti us sentiments came from russia and china were roughly fifty percent of respondents in each country pointed the u.s. as the greatest threat to peace even residents of allied nations like mexico brazil spain and germany as well as residents of islamic nations like algeria and

indonesia all pick the u.s. as the top threat to peace other nations like lebanon iraq and tunisia picked israel as the greatest threat to peace meanwhile those living in poland and georgia found russia to be the greatest threat to peace. now despite the overwhelmingly negative attitudes the world has toward u.s. policies that threaten peace the poll also asked the global community which country they would prefer to live in and the united states top that list as well by nine points so there's that consolation for americans but what should we take away from these numbers and as iraq continues its descent into violence is it time for the united states to rethink its role as the world's policeman earlier i spoke with retired brigadier general david reste he's the vice president in the potomac institute for policy studies strategy and policy planning division and i first asked him if he believed that the violence in iraq resulted from the u.s.

as two thousand and three invasion and occupation followed. sam i don't think it's a there's a direct correlation between our occupation and what's happening today i believe more than anything else it's the way the situation in iraq was left and then the power brokers inside iraq settling disputes or grasping for those elements which will give them control in the future within that country which is a very rich country relative towards natural resources and i think that's what a lot of the fights about at this point in time when you say how we left i remember in the two thousand and eight election mccain john mccain caught a lot of flak because he said you know i'd stay there fifty years one hundred years as long as as long as it takes are you saying that the u.s. left iraq too soon. i don't think we left too soon because obviously the way our nation conducts wars and engaged is based on the political will and our countries just wasn't behind it at that point in time but i believe from at least how i

engaged in anbar province and i was there for about a year and a half through the middle two thousand. i believe we could have set them up for a little bit better of economic success which would have ensured a lot more of the security that that was that was needed at that time and by not setting up those economic deals and those structures you can put all the policemen or all the military you want the world when that oversight of that thought and when the parents aren't there anymore iraqi forces or u.s. forces things are going to happen and unfortunately when people squabble for that for those financial assets it's going to get brutal what happens now what's to be done in that country we can't leave you the u.s. population isn't willing to put more to send more troops back to iraq at this point obviously the president and congress are going to be on board with that so does the u.s. have any sort of role in creating peace in that country at this point. that's

a great question sam if i the answer to that one i wouldn't be sitting here but i would offer i think we continue to need to stress those things that the united states stands for those things which are right and that will manifest itself across time when you gave your intro you spoke about that a lot of people don't like the united states but they'd still like to live here and you mentioned that that was a consolation almost like a consolation prize you might view it like that but the people of the world i still think i still believe and a lot of people still still think this that the united states is that country that's the beacon we need to continue to act like a beacon don't waver from those those policies those issues and eventually things will work out but but consistency in foreign policy and things like that they take time and effort and unfortunately innocent people are being caught in the middle right now in a very tumultuous middle east with the arab spring and all that comes with that

well on that poll you just mentioned you brought up that disconnect of the u.s. being far and away the leader in this poll as as the greatest threat to violence and yet a plurality of people around the world still want to live there how do you explain that disconnect and does it suggest that that the world still wants the united states there they just want the united states to live up to the ideals that the united states says it is trying to live up to rather than exporting violence across the world yes and i think you just hit the nail on the head no unfortunately in a couple of the countries that you mention that have the highest anti u.s. opinion there's a lack of a freedom of press which is one of the things when people look at the united states they very much strive for that dichotomy in those two buz speaks exactly. one of them one of the troubling things no one who's can who's doing anything bad likes the police around and i shy away from that term police. action because i

don't think the united states is trying to be the world's policeman but that's how the perception is changing in altering that perception where we where we manifest our good qualities with them without being too heavy handed there is an art to that there's not a science engaging with every country is going to be a little bit different and we have to be exceptionally careful in the way our government and gauges throughout the globe or we will run into opinion polls that that you cited and those who don't have the freedom of the press won't get the good side of what the united states offers or is trying to do and retired u.s. marine brigadier general david released he's also the vice president strategy and planning at the potomac institute for policy studies thank you and that eleven on a massive explosion today killed at least five people and injured more than sixty other people the blast occurred in the busy commercial district in the capital city of beirut and officials believe a car bomb was responsible according to our arabic lebanese security forces have

secretly dismantled several car bombs in the area recently yet have been unable to prevent a series of explosions in recent months in the city less than a week ago another explosion in downtown beirut killed four people putting a former government minister and injured more than fifty. officials believe the wave of recent bombings is due to increased security and violence spilling over from neighboring syria is long and bloody civil war. and as we transition into the new year there's at least one person who is grateful for the end of two thousand and thirteen our season here david looks at president obama's troubled year and some of the stumbling blocks he faced. in the last few days billions of people around the world have been raising their glasses and saying tears to the start of twenty fourteen but perhaps no one is excited to kiss twenty thirteen goodbye more than president barack obama in fact it's something he addressed in his end of the year press conference after being asked if he thought it was the worst year of his presidency. now been in office five years close to five years.

was running for president for two years before that and for those of you who've covered me during that time we have had ups and we have that had downs and. if i look at this past year there are areas where there are obviously been some frustrations where i wished congress had moved more aggressively the law the president is frustrated with congress many americans are equally frustrated with obama over his policies last year let's take a quick look at the issues that will define president obama's twenty thirteen year in office starting within a tour yes an essay in june of two thousand and thirteen former government contractor edward snowden blew the lid off of the national security agency's secret surveillance program and the revelations show the n.s.a.'s reach had extended to major companies world leaders and american citizens and his first public comments about the leaks this is what obama had to say by sifting through this so-called

mehta data they may identify. but tensional leads with respect to folks who might engage in terrorist. this does not apply to u.s. citizens and it does not apply to people living in the united states the president's defense of these programs even as they've come under fire in the court system and within the white house's own review panel have alienated privacy and civil liberties advocates so let's move on to the syrian disaster for the past two years a crisis in syria has worsened but most americans could agree on one thing that a u.s. led war in syria would not be the answer and fact according to a reuters it's this poll from august of two thousand and thirteen only nine percent of respondents were in favor of intervening militarily in the country but despite the overwhelming public opinion president obama remained steadfast in his september

speech to americans that is targeted strike be the next course of action ultimately a diplomatic solution was announced however some analysts have said that obama's drumming up of support for military intervention chipped away big at his liberal base and that takes us to what was supposed to be president obama's most significant legislative accomplishment health care now although the health care dot gov website was nearly impossible to use when it launched what was perhaps more detrimental as the president backtracking on one of his most prominent claims no matter what you've heard if you like your doctor or health care plan you can keep it if you like your doctor you can keep your doctor if you like your private health insurance plan you. for years president obama had been promising millions of americans that they could keep their health insurance if they wanted to but as we finally learned in two thousand and thirteen that's not in the actually the case

for president obama forgot to mention of that only grandfathered health plans would be able to meet all of the law's new coverage requirements he's made some temporary reparations to fix the bugs but health care remains a thorn in his side now these are just three of the many lows obama saw last year which help explain why the president ended his fifth year in office with the worst public approval ratings of his presidency if you just take a look at this whole through aggregate you'll see his approval dropped from about fifty three percent in january last year to forty two percent in december and those are the numbers that close out obama's twenty third team so even though two thousand and fourteen signifies a new year it may not necessarily fit in a fine a clean slate for the oval office in washington and the david our team moving on first and fourth amendment rights need not apply on united states borders just before new year's a federal judge in new york ruled that the government's controversial searches of

individuals laptops cell phones and other devices at the border do not violate in the individual's rights to privacy and free speech a lawsuit was brought by the american civil liberties union and other organizations after a university student on a train from montreal to new york in two thousand and ten has a laptop seized by customs and border protection officers for eleven days you argued such searches were part of a broader pattern of aggressive government surveillance however u.s. district judge edward korman dismissed secondly they argue that such searches are very rare ten in a million chance he said and that if people don't want to be searched they shouldn't travel with electronic devices he said while it is true that laptops may make overseas work more convenient the precautions plaintiffs may choose to take to mitigate the alleged harm associated with the remote possibility of a border search or simply among the many inconveniences associated with international travel. this is the fourth court to rule on the issue two other

federal appeals courts up held the searches while one court ruled that such searches should require reasonable suspicion. workers around the country are ringing in a new year with a new raise workers this year will see a bigger paycheck in thirteen states with new york new jersey connecticut and rhode island raising the statement in wage several other states including arizona colorado and florida are increasing the cost of living wage for workers california will be increasing its state minimum wage to nine dollars half way through the year and washington d.c. and parts of maryland will also see minimum wage increases in two thousand and fourteen now twenty one states require employers to pay workers above the federal minimum wage which is still seven twenty five an hour president obama and democrats are hoping to increase the federal minimum wage sometime this year to nine or ten dollars an hour but they're facing a lot of opposition from the right in opposition is perhaps the best in capsulated

in a recent op ed by former congressman ron paul who argued raising the minimum wage increases the price of labor thus decreasing the demand for labor so an increase in minimum wage will lead to hiring freezes and layoffs unskilled and inexperienced workers are the ones most often deprived of employment opportunities by increases in the minimum wage i spoke earlier with brian doherty senior editor at reason to learn more about this perspective and i first asked him why raising the minimum wage isn't a good idea. well i mean there's no way to quantify it but we do know that this people think and earn the minimum wage tend to be the lowest skilled among us and in many cases being youngest among us today is worth remembering that more than half of the people earning the minimum wage in america people between the ages of sixteen and twenty four generally are workers a minimum wage that's not really right when there are people trying to earn an

entire family income so you look at the people who are most affected by. these are people who need most of all to get a hold in the job market one of the best ways to increase your ability to earn more money in any job market having had your door and if we lock out which we inevitably will no employer is going to hire an employee who loses money value your employer in the end up being less than whatever the minimum wage is you're not going to get hired and this can have a really bad effect. and again it is worth remembering we're not talking about family. we're talking. and the data does show that states that already have a higher minimum wage than the federal law and i are teen unemployment and that's where the real act well i'm really wondering though if these laws in this of supply and demand necessarily apply to the labor market like ron paul was suggesting and like you're suggesting there have been several studies done on this issue in

virtually every single want to show no increase in unemployment when the minimum wages increase to two thousand study compared fast food employment in neighboring new jersey and pennsylvania after new jersey raise their minimum wage employment was affected another study in two thousand and ten from u.n.c. university of california u. mass looked at every single pair of neighboring counties in the u.s. with different minimum wages and found no discernible impact on unemployment so why doesn't the science seem to back up these spoken warnings about raising the minimum wage first of all the car you're talking about now is mostly based on all of them sort of if you actually look at the payroll data. but there is there reason and science that we come up with regularity and laws than anything regarding economics there are so many things that go into affecting any given choice and make that there is no way. that look at just one thing to actually know what the cause of a million things that could affect what makes a restaurant or any other restaurant choose to make any given hiring the engine so

we actually look for laws and regular that go beyond just looking at what. science is all about and it is economics in its entirety becomes utterly meaningless chaos if we do not understand that other things being equal if you charge more for something people are going to demand a lower quantity basically an economist who is trying to look at the world and claim that not a lot of demand is not basically saying that economics is a science is worthless and we have plenty of the know in almost every other fast of the world that when the price of something is increased. you should look at these supposedly which are always being done for a political. one place in the world where you know the laws of economics fall apart and you should look at that really the economist in two thousand and twelve it's not exactly a bastion of liberal thought said the evidence is mounting that moderate minimum

wage wages can do more good than harm and i'm wondering if we're neglecting the stimulative effect of an increase in minimum wage low wage workers basically spend all of their income many if they had more income through a minimum wage increase they would spend that too and spending generates economic activity the economic policy institute estimates that a minimum wage increase of ten dollars would create thirty two billion dollars in new economic activity and of course that's all done without adding a single dime to the deficit which i'm sure reason hates so why isn't this a good idea because it doesn't cost the lowest skill. the youngest workers yeah absolutely if you raise the minimum wage they from seven to ten you're going to attract some people generally not the lowest skilled people who might go i don't feel like working burgers for seven dollars you know white kid needs a job during summer vacation for college maybe i'm willing to do it for absolutely nothing to crack the market that way but you're still harming the lowest wage workers and if you if all you're looking at is the notion that we want to help some

we want the people who are already out to have more money for them to spend their math all you care about go ahead but if you care at all about getting people at the bottom of the job ladder working on if you care at all about not encouraging companies automate in ways that are going to cut low wage labor for example or down the line in ways that. are not going to show then go ahead again it's extremely silly to claim that the law that the entire base with economic suddenly stopped working in this one area where it's politically convenient for want to put money left in place we're running out of time only one more question here aside from the economic share the reality is that there are millions of americans who are working full time jobs and making minimum wage that they can't get by on and they're having to rely on federal benefits to to make ends meet what should we be doing about those these people in the short term in the immediate term to address this rather serious problem with our economy. we need jobs we need more people to have more

jobs and the way you get economic growth it's not government management not the government ordering people around the allow businesses to grow it's allow them to hire who they want at the price they want to hire if not but job of any given business to hire minimum wage workers to make a federal policy about what amount of money people think anyone should. there's a lot of thinking i mean my answer your question is we shouldn't be doing anything about it except allowing the force of the economic growth to work and delicately that my no wait wait wait for the free market to work right into already senior editor at reason thanks for coming on to americans have faith in their lawmakers to address the many problems the country is facing a new poll suggests you know the associated press and o.r.c. center for public affairs research finds that fifty five percent of americans believe the government is doing a poor job representing the views of most americans and just one out of twenty americans are willing to say that the american system of democracy works well and

needs no changes just one out of twenty americans and despite the mistrust lawmakers at least on the state and local level are still at work passing laws and there are quite a few interesting new laws set to take effect in two thousand and fourteen artie's making lopez break some down. well happy twenty fourteen everyone january first brings with it not only a new year but also new laws that come into effect the moment the ball dropped in times square some forty thousand new local state and federal laws kicked in across the country here's a look at some of the interesting ones that we found now in delaware residents can no longer possess sell or distribute shark fins inside state lines shark has become an increasingly popular phenomenon globally in recent years and is used in eastern medicine as well as to make shark fin soup estimates suggest that up to seventy three million sharks are killed annually for their fins and fears are that the shark population is in danger as a result and speaking of eating in oregon

a new law on the books now allows mothers to take their placentas home after giving birth it's a growing trend for new mothers to eat their placentas for the nutrients and sign usually in pill form some cultures call for mothers to bury it in the ground to protect the newborn baby's soul and some people like to make art out of it like a man to england who creates a mobile prints for portland area families illinois is the center of a new slew of laws that just might raise some eyebrows both illinois and oregon have banned teens under eighteen from going to tanning salons so looks like they will have to get their winter glow from the sun's reflection on the snow also in illinois drones are not prohibited from monitoring hunters and fishermen this lie is in direct response to the people for the ethical treatment of animals a new initiative called air angels which encourages drone hobbyists to search by sky for illegal hunters p.s. even sells the drones for that explicit purpose the website says that the drones

are for those who are fourteen and older and can be used for other things like catching people who are drinking while in possession of a firearm and last but not least the final installation of a two thousand and seven law signed by president bush means lights out for manufacturers lou. only the federal law stops companies from producing the two most popular bould in the country the forty watt and the sixty watt bulbs in place of those incandescent lights will be the more expensive how engine volves compact fluorescent bulbs l.e.d. lights and high efficiency in kendah sense the goal here is to reduce energy consumption in the us and to save money those are just a few of the interesting laws that we found do you know of any others well right on our you tube page and share some of your favorites in washington meghan well as are taking in finally tonight the second day of the year just so happens to also be the busiest day of the year for online dating sign ups perhaps trying to fulfill the

new year's resolution to just not be lonely in two thousand and fourteen troops of people flock to the net after the ball drops to find a partner in fact this time last year on january second two thousand and thirteen match dot com saw a ninety four percent increase in their daily sign ups and just in time for the online dating surge zoosk has a study that can help you find the right match women think twice about taking your profile picture outside zoosk says indoor pics will get you sixty percent more attention but for guys it's the opposite they get one thousand percent more attention if their pictures are taken outside of a gentleman make sure that you're outside picture is not a selfie selfies get you eight percent fewer messages and get this you might think posing with a furry little dog makes you more appealing it doesn't both men and women see their popularity decrease by fifty three percent and if they pose with animals ultimately the way to get the most attention online zoosk fines is to just post

a full body pic of yourself which will boost your messages by an average of more than two hundred percent. and that does it for now for more of the stories we covered go to youtube dot com slash r.t. america check out our website site r t v dot com slash usa and you can follow me on twitter at sam sachs we'll see you right back here at eight pm.

the. last time was a new alert animation scripts scare me a little bit. there is breaking news tonight and they are continuing to follow the breaking news a new. alexander's family cry tears and so why a brave thing. that had been read or cared for a wall around. is a story made for a movie is playing out in real life.