This is a temporary contact page for comments or tips you may wish to submit; a contact form will be added here in the near future.
In the mean time, you can reach emptywheel by email at emptywheel AT gmail.com.
Please be patient and allow reasonable response time; thanks for your readership and participation at emptywheel.
A comment/tip form is very nice and useful.
Tap, tap, tap. Is this thing on?
Congrats to you both! It’s Friday and what a news dump day it is……..Can’t wait for the next read.
I think I have gained some sense of what children go through when they are told that mommy and Daddy will not be living together anymore. So many questions and the truth seems to be denied to them.
Marcy did you read Jeffrey Rosen’s review of James Stewart’s new book “Tangeled Webs” in the NYT Book Review? He (Rosen) got almost everything wrong about the Libby trial including saying that it was Comey who decided not to charge Libby with violations of the IPA.
Mike Rogers doesn’t think that Congress should exercise oversight of whether the CIA was spying on American citizens. That is, Congress gives the CIA money, what the CIA does with it isn’t Congress’ business.
University of Michigan Professor Juan Cole said he hopes a Freedom of Information Act request will lead to a “paper trail” showing the CIA spied on him after he criticized the war in Iraq online.
http://www.livingstondaily.com/article/20110717/NEWS01/107170313/Prof-Rogers-bucks-responsibility?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|Frontpage
In a letter that Senators Mark Udall (D-Colorado) and Ron Wyden (D-Oregon) will send, the senators ask Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, “Do government agencies have the authority to collect the geolocation information of American citizens for intelligence purposes?”
Both senators are members of the panel overseeing the 16 intelligence agencies. In May, they sounded warnings that the Obama administration was secretly reinterpreting the Patriot Act to allow a broader amount of domestic surveillance than it had publicly disclosed.
They also remind Clapper that the FISA Amendments Act is set to expire at the end of the year. The letter asks Clapper to disclose if the surveillance dragnet it authorizes includes the communications of “law-abiding Americans,” the key objection from civil libertarians to the Act, and if any “significant interpretations of the FISA Amendments Act [are] currently classified.”
That’s the “secret law” fear that vexes Udall and Wyden. And if it applies to the Patriot Act and geolocation collection, it might also apply to more traditional avenues of government surveillance.
http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2011/07/senators-ask-spy-chief-are-you-tracking-us-through-our-iphones/
The Company Behind Cell Phone Tracking In America Is Selling Its Technology To Foreign Governments
TruePosition sells to cell phone carriers, but is “cagey about whether whether the US government uses its products.”
http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2011/07/global-phone-tracking/
http://www.businessinsider.com/liberty-media-trueposition-selling-technology-abroad-2011-7
Interesting that Whistleblowers in the UK keep DYING
News of the World phone-hacking whistleblower found dead
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011/jul/18/news-of-the-world-sean-hoare
http://news.google.com/news/search?aq=f&pz=1&hdlOnly=1&cf=all&ned=us&hl=en&q=whistleblower+found+dead&btnmeta_news_search=Search+News&tbm=nws
and of course we all remember David Kelly and his “suicide”.
David Christopher Kelly (14 May 1944 – 17 July 2003) was a British scientist and expert on biological warfare, employed by the British Ministry of Defence, and formerly a United Nations weapons inspector in Iraq. He came to public attention in July 2003 when an unauthorised discussion he had off the record with a BBC journalist, Andrew Gilligan — about the British government’s dossier on weapons of mass destruction in Iraq — was cited by the journalist and led to a major controversy. Kelly’s name became known to the media as Gilligan’s source, and he was called to appear on 15 July before the parliamentary foreign affairs select committee, which was investigating the issues Gilligan had reported. Kelly was questioned aggressively about his actions. He was found dead two days later.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Kelly_%28weapons_expert%29
remind me to NEVER blow a whistle while in the British Isles Thank You All Very Much !!!!
Glad to see with own site,I used to be active on FDL and now switching to you.
Barry
Glad to see with your own site. Will be posting more in future.
Hey Marcy!
Are we going to get the REPLY feature back or are we going to have to get used to typing “SO-AND-SO@UNNUMBERED:”?
Boxturtle (Whcih reminds me, can we get comment numbering back too?)
Congratulations. I immediately added the site to my yahoo home page.
I have a hard time reading it however because the type is so faint. I have increased the size of the type and played around with formatting. It doesn’t help much.
I wonder if you need to use a heavier font.
Thanks.
Hi
On reading some comments over at Donate I have a suggestion.
I have started using Piryx for all my non profit sites. Used to use PayPal but they do not provide for recurring payments unless one has a specific (costly) account.
Piryx is very simple to set up and VERY responsive to questions. I have no finiancial interest in the company but I can assure you that they are the tops …besides which PayPal has gone to the “the dark side”!
i want free klondikes!
-please.
Anonymous & Lulz Security Statement
Hello thar FBI and international law authorities,
We recently stumbled across the following article with amazement and a certain amount of amusement:
http://www.npr.org/2011/07/20/138555799/fbi-arrests-alleged-anonymous-hackers
The statements made by deputy assistant FBI director Steve Chabinsky in this article clearly seem to be directed at Anonymous and Lulz Security, and we are happy to provide you with a response.
You state:
“We want to send a message that chaos on the Internet is unacceptable, [even if] hackers can be believed to have social causes, it’s entirely unacceptable to break into websites and commit unlawful acts.”
Now let us be clear here, Mr. Chabinsky, while we understand that you and your colleagues may find breaking into websites unacceptable, let us tell you what WE find unacceptable:
* Governments lying to their citizens and inducing fear and terror to keep them in control by dismantling their freedom piece by piece.
* Corporations aiding and conspiring with said governments while taking advantage at the same time by collecting billions of funds for federal contracts we all know they can’t fulfil.
* Lobby conglomerates who only follow their agenda to push the profits higher, while at the same time being deeply involved in governments around the world with the only goal to infiltrate and corrupt them enough so the status quo will never change.
These governments and corporations are our enemy. And we will continue to fight them, with all methods we have at our disposal, and that certainly includes breaking into their websites and exposing their lies.
We are not scared any more. Your threats to arrest us are meaningless to us as you cannot arrest an idea. Any attempt to do so will make your citizens more angry until they will roar in one gigantic choir. It is our mission to help these people and there is nothing – absolutely nothing – you can possibly to do make us stop.
“The Internet has become so important to so many people that we have to ensure that the World Wide Web does not become the Wild Wild West.”
Let me ask you, good sir, when was the Internet not the Wild Wild West? Do you really believe you were in control of it at any point? You were not.
That does not mean that everyone behaves like an outlaw. You see, most people do not behave like bandits if they have no reason to. We become bandits on the Internet because you have forced our hand. The Anonymous bitchslap rings through your ears like hacktivism movements of the 90s. We’re back – and we’re not going anywhere. Expect us.
http://pastebin.com/RA15ix7S
http://technolog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/07/21/7133871-hackers-to-fbi-we-are-not-scared-anymore
Today’s NYT link: John Githongo: When Wealth Breeds Rage The reference point was Africa. One of the key points was that growth and the infrastructure of basic needs creates its own democratic demands and remedying inequality becomes more important than wealth per se.
It’s rather insulting when blogs send all comments into “moderation” purgatory. I tend to ignore writers who feel the need to be that authoritarian.
Marcy,
Thank you for all you do! Your are not only a great American Treasure, you have become on the true wonders of the world. Love reading you in Europe, or wherever in the world I can log on. Keep speaking truth to power!
Maybe an edit feature…
@Steve Byers: We’re working on it; we got a whole lot to assimilate into the new place from the old one, much of which is not necessarily visible. Don’t worry, we will get there.
One thing I’m missing from FDL is the link to the next post that was at the bottom of the comments. That always let me know when a thread was stale and since I’m normally at the end of the comments looking for more it gave me easy access to the next post.
Boxturtle (I also want a pony)
for The Links 8.11.2011
Osama bin Laden was ‘protected by Pakistan in return for Saudi cash’, analyst claims
Osama bin Laden was protected by elements of Pakistan’s security apparatus in return for millions dollars of Saudi cash, according to a controversial new account of the operation to kill the world’s most wanted man.
Raelynn Hillhouse, an American security analyst, claimed that bin Laden’s whereabouts were finally revealed when a Pakistani intelligence officer came forward to claim the longstanding $25m bounty on the al-Qaeda leader’s head.
Her version, based on evidence from sources in what she calls the “intelligence community”, contradicts the official account that bin Laden was tracked down through surveillance of his trusted courier.
Pakistani officials have always denied that bin Laden was sheltered in the country, or that Islamabad had any prior knowledge of the secret mission in which he was killed.
But Dr Hillhouse, who is known for her links to private military contractors that work extensively with the CIA, said that Pakistan gave permission for a covert mission which would then be covered up by a claim that bin Laden had been killed in a drone strike.
“The [Inter-Services Intelligence] officer came forward to claim the substantial reward and to broker US citizenship for his family,” she writes on her intelligence blog, The Spy Who Billed Me.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/al-qaeda/8693547/Osama-bin-Laden-was-protected-by-Pakistan-in-return-for-Saudi-cash-analyst-claims.html
another item for The Links 8.11.2011
Questions Raised by Real Story of How US Found Bin Laden
The real story of how the US found bin Laden raises some key questions, namely:
* Why did the Saudis pay the Pakistanis to keep bin Laden?
* Why did the Pakistani’s cooperate?
* Did the ISI run the safe house itself or did it use a third party?
* How permeable was the safe house?
http://www.thespywhobilledme.com/the_spy_who_billed_me/2011/08/the-real-story-of-how-the-us-found-bin-laden-raises-some-key-questions-namely-why-did-the-saudis-pay-the-pakistanis-to-kee.html
linky linky item for 8.11.2011
An Explosive New 9/11 Charge
In a new documentary, ex-national security aide Richard Clarke suggests the CIA tried to recruit 9/11 hijackers — then covered it up.
Philip Shenon on George Tenet’s denial.
In the interview for the documentary, Clarke offers an incendiary theory that, if true, would rewrite the history of the 9/11 attacks, suggesting that the CIA intentionally withheld information from the White House and FBI in 2000 and 2001 that two Saudi-born terrorists were on U.S. soil – terrorists who went on to become suicide hijackers on 9/11.
Clarke speculates – and readily admits he cannot prove — that the CIA withheld the information because the agency had been trying to recruit the terrorists, while they were living in southern California under their own names, to work as CIA agents inside Al Qaeda. After the recruitment effort went sour, senior CIA officers continued to withhold the information from the White House for fear they would be accused of “malfeasance and misfeasance,” Clarke suggests.
Clarke’s theory addresses a central, enduring mystery about the 9/11 attacks – why the CIA failed for so long to tell the White House and senior officials at the FBI that the agency was aware that two Al Qaeda terrorists had arrived in the United States in January 2000, just days after attending a terrorist summit meeting in Malaysia that the CIA had secretly monitored.
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2011/08/11/september-11th-anniversary-richard-clarke-s-explosive-cia-cover-up-charge.html
worthy of a Link for 8.11.2011
Exxon-Mobil Seeks Legal Immunity For Corporate-Sponsored Torture
Last month, a divided panel of the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit reinstated a lawsuit alleging that that members of the Indonesian military hired by Exxon to guard one of its natural gas facilities committed numerous atrocities under Exxon’s employ:
In addition to extrajudicial killings of some of the plaintiffs-appellants’ husbands as part of a “systematic campaign of extermination of the people of Aceh by [d]efendants’ [Indonesian] security forces,” the plaintiffs-appellants were “beaten, burned, shocked with cattle prods, kicked and subjected to other forms of brutality and cruelty” amounting to torture, as well as forcibly removed and detained for lengthy periods of time.
Needless to say, Exxon is very upset that they might be forced to endure slightly lower profit margins over something as minor as widespread human rights violations, so they’ve now asked the full Court of Appeals to immunize them from this lawsuit. And, sadly, Exxon has a good chance of prevailing despite the existence of a federal law that allows private parties to be sued for many of the most atrocious violations of international law.
The D.C. Circuit is one of the most conservative courts in the nation, and it includes several of America’s most ideological judges. Judge Janice Rogers Brown once compared liberalism to “slavery” and Social Security to a “socialist revolution.” Judge Douglas Ginsburg is an avowed tenther who is most famous for suggesting that the Depression Era vision of the Constitution that struck down everything from the minimum wage to child labor laws is a “Constitution in exile” that should be revived. And Judge Brett Kavanaugh, who dissented from the panel’s decision, believes that Exxon should not be held accountable for atrocities because Exxon is a corporation, and corporations enjoy complete immunity from the international legal norms forbidding such barbaric behavior.
So if Exxon triumphs before this court, the reason will likely have nothing to do with the law and everything to do with the identities of the people trusted to apply it.
http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2011/08/11/293642/exxon-seeks-legal-immunity-for-corporate-sponsored-torture/
Afghanistan Link for 8.11.2011
DOW Identifies USA Military Personnel Killed In Shoot Down of CH-47 Chinook by Afghan Freedom Fighers
Department of War announced today the deaths of 30 military personnel who were supporting Operation In Afghan Forever. They were killed 6 August 2011 in Wardak province, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when their CH-47 Chinook helicopter was shot down by Afghan Freedom Fighers.
The following sailors assigned to an East Coast-based Naval Special Warfare unit were killed:
Lt. Cmdr. (SEAL) Jonas B. Kelsall, 32, of Shreveport, La.,
Special Warfare Operator Master Chief Petty Officer (SEAL) Louis J. Langlais, 44, of Santa Barbara, Calif.,
Special Warfare Operator Senior Chief Petty Officer (SEAL) Thomas A. Ratzlaff, 34, of Green Forest, Ark.,
Explosive Ordnance Disposal Technician Senior Chief Petty Officer (Expeditionary Warfare Specialist/Freefall Parachutist) Kraig M. Vickers 36, of Kokomo, Hawaii,
Special Warfare Operator Chief Petty Officer (SEAL) Brian R. Bill, 31, of Stamford, Conn.,
Special Warfare Operator Chief Petty Officer (SEAL) John W. Faas, 31, of Minneapolis, Minn.,
Special Warfare Operator Chief Petty Officer (SEAL) Kevin A. Houston, 35, of West Hyannisport, Mass.,
Special Warfare Operator Chief Petty Officer (SEAL) Matthew D. Mason, 37, of Kansas City, Mo.,
Special Warfare Operator Chief Petty Officer (SEAL) Stephen M. Mills, 35, of Fort Worth, Texas,
Explosive Ordnance Disposal Technician Chief Petty Officer (Expeditionary Warfare Specialist/Freefall Parachutist/Diver) Nicholas H. Null, 30, of Washington, W.Va.,
Special Warfare Operator Chief Petty Officer (SEAL) Robert J. Reeves, 32, of Shreveport, La.,
Special Warfare Operator Chief Petty Officer (SEAL) Heath M. Robinson, 34, of Detroit, Mich.,
Special Warfare Operator Petty Officer 1st Class (SEAL) Darrik C. Benson, 28, of Angwin, Calif.
Special Warfare Operator Petty Officer 1st Class (SEAL/Parachutist) Christopher G. Campbell, 36, of Jacksonville, N.C.,
Information Systems Technician Petty Officer 1st Class (Expeditionary Warfare Specialist/Freefall Parachutist) Jared W. Day, 28, of Taylorsville, Utah,
Master-at-Arms Petty Officer 1st Class (Expeditionary Warfare Specialist) John Douangdara, 26, of South Sioux City, Neb.,
Cryptologist Technician (Collection) Petty Officer 1st Class (Expeditionary Warfare Specialist) Michael J. Strange, 25, of Philadelphia, Pa.,
Special Warfare Operator Petty Officer 1st Class (SEAL/Enlisted Surface Warfare Specialist) Jon T. Tumilson, 35, of Rockford, Iowa,
Special Warfare Operator Petty Officer 1st Class (SEAL) Aaron C. Vaughn, 30, of Stuart, Fla., and
Special Warfare Operator Petty Officer 1st Class (SEAL) Jason R. Workman, 32, of Blanding, Utah.
The following sailors assigned to a West Coast-based Naval Special Warfare unit were killed:
Special Warfare Operator Petty Officer 1st Class (SEAL) Jesse D. Pittman, 27, of Ukiah, Calif., and
Special Warfare Operator Petty Officer 2nd Class (SEAL) Nicholas P. Spehar, 24, ofSaint Paul, Minn.
The soldiers killed were:
Chief Warrant Officer David R. Carter, 47, of Centennial, Colo. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 135th Aviation Regiment (General Support Aviation Battalion), Aurora, Colo.;
Chief Warrant Officer Bryan J. Nichols, 31, of Hays, Kan. He was assigned to the 7th Battalion, 158th Aviation Regiment (General Support Aviation Battalion), New Century, Kan.;
Sgt. Patrick D. Hamburger, 30, of Lincoln, Neb. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 135th Aviation Regiment (General Support Aviation Battalion), Grand Island, Neb.;
Sgt. Alexander J. Bennett, 24, of Tacoma, Wash. He was assigned to the 7th Battalion, 158th Aviation Regiment (General Support Aviation Battalion), New Century, Kan.; and
Spc. Spencer C. Duncan, 21, of Olathe, Kan. He was assigned to the 7th Battalion, 158th Aviation Regiment (General Support Aviation Battalion), New Century, Kan.
The airmen killed were:
Tech. Sgt. John W. Brown, 33, of Tallahassee, Fla.;
Staff Sgt. Andrew W. Harvell, 26, of Long Beach, Calif.; and
Tech. Sgt. Daniel L. Zerbe, 28, of York, Pa.
All three airmen were assigned to the 24th Special Tactics Squadron, Pope Field, N.C.
Link for above DOW release
http://www.defense.gov/releases/release.aspx?releaseid=14728
The link itself with a description would be plenty without the whole text.
Army corporal from Michigan killed in Afghanistan
32-year-old Joseph VanDreumel was killed late Sunday or early Monday by a roadside bomb.
He is survived by his wife, Sarah, and two children, 10-year-old Angel and 8-year-old Skyler.
VanDreumel joined the Army in 2010 after being laid off from office furniture and accessories maker Herman Miller Inc.
http://www.mlive.com/newsflash/index.ssf/story/army-corporal-from-michigan-killed-in-afghanistan/872ecde23a9349bc8ce3f232e64eda20
List of 2011 Michigan casualties in Afghanistan
http://www.mlive.com/newsflash/index.ssf/story/list-of-2011-michigan-casualties-in-afghanistan/f268d1bf9a7f44ca94679ef07aa0e0fb
Ruling Raises the Bar to Access Long-Term Cell Phone Records
Authorities must establish probable cause and secure a warrant before obtaining information from cell phone providers that can indicate the round-the-clock whereabouts of customers, a federal judge in Brooklyn ruled yesterday.
Fourth Amendment protections against unreasonable searches apply to the so-called cell-site-location records as surely as judges of a previous generation found that they applied to people using pay phones, Eastern District Judge Nicholas G. Garaufis determined yesterday. In fact, he said, cell phones have all but rendered pay phones obsolete as a means of communication and are rarely out of the reach of users.
http://www.law.com/jsp/nylj/PubArticleNY.jsp?id=1202512017760&Ruling_Raises_the_Bar_to_Access_LongTerm_Cell_Phone_Records&slreturn=1&hbxlogin=1
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/08/23/judge-rules-warrant-required-to-obtain-cell-phone-location-data/
Mexican Police Are Now Staging Drug Raids From Inside The USA
The Obama administration has expanded its role in Mexico’s fight against organized crime by allowing the Mexican police to stage cross-border drug raids from inside the United States, according to senior administration and military officials.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/26/world/americas/26drugs.html?_r=3&ref=todayspaper
Whistle Blower Thomas Drake has an Op-Ed in the washington post
Why are we subverting the Constitution in the name of security?
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/why-are-we-subverting-the-constitution-in-the-name-of-security/2011/08/25/gIQANnrheJ_story.html
found this hilarious / dead on
If we’re going to have a story about every occasion that Dick Cheney urged George Bush to bomb some country or other, the Times might as well start paying Charlie Savage overtime, because he’ll be filing every day and twice on Sundays. If we know anything about Bush’s malevolent, misbegotten, rancid bastard of a VP, it’s that calling for freedom bombs was like an uncontrollable tic for that guy.
http://www.balloon-juice.com/2011/08/25/transmit-the-message-to-the-receiver/
Crooks and liars has Colin Powell describing a version of Armitage’s actions after the Plame leak in a response to Cheney’s memoir.
http://videocafe.crooksandliars.com/david/colin-powell-compares-cheneys-book-marketing
Here it is: an infrastructure bank that will fund the dreaded public-private “partnerships” in order to help place our infrastructure into corporate hands.
http://www2.wsls.com/news/2011/sep/01/infrastructure-bank-could-be-part-of-jobs-package-ar-1278122/
I hate to link to an AP story but it was all I could find at this moment.
Mr. Heinz..uh, Senator Kerry discussed some of the details in his bill. He proposes a measly $10 billion in government funds for startup costs. The bank would be owned and run by a board of directors and would not be placed under the authority of any federal agency. Although loans could be given out to state and local government, they could also be given to pubic-private partnerships and just plain outright to corporations. The board of directors would pick which projects to fund based on costs, benefits and projected revenue such as tolls.
If there is any doubt that this is NOT a good idea, the proposal has the approval of the Chamber of Commerce.
I mentioned that I thought Robert Reich called it correctly in my comment on this post:
http://www.emptywheel.net/2011/08/11/apparently-freedom-is-the-new-euphemism-for-government-investment/
And this, I believe, is why Obama neglected to mention the role of government in creating jobs at Johnson Controls. If he admitted that government has the power to create jobs all by itself, then there would be no reason to sell off our country to corporations. With the unemployment rate so high and with new figures coming out today, a climate has now been created in which this proposal might meet with the approval of the desperately unemployed.
The website publicintelligence.net was taken down by its hosting company after unknown complaints by an unknown institution.
A mirror ( as of August 18 ) is available at publicintelligence.info.
The Public Intelligence group has published many official reports of public interest that were kept secret from the public. Among those were reports of US local Intelligence Fusion Centers, documents from NATO and the UN and information about the collaboration of law enforcement and intelligence services with companies like Facebook and Microsoft.
As John Young of Cryptome.org remarks:
Public Intelliigence is a rare gem. Support it. Shutting down such sites one by one is a strategy.
http://www.moonofalabama.org/2011/08/publicintelligencenet-taken-down-over-complain.html
I didn’t know if you had seen this..there are facts, ‘Names’, figures and ‘strange timing’ of events…
p.s. you rock! .. :) xox
http://thesantosrepublic.com/2011/07/exclusive-official-documented-truth-debunking-biased-icc-on-gaddafi/
FYI from http://ex-skf.blogspot.com/ today 9-11-2011.
President Obama’s Special 9-11 Message Only for Yomiuri Shinbun
Oh isn’t it interesting.
[snip]
Yomiuri Shinbun says US President Obama has sent a special message to Yomiuri on the occasion of the 10-year anniversary of September-11.
…
Shoriki was a former high-ranking official in the pre-war Interior Ministry, and he was incarcerated in Sugamo Prison as a Class-A war criminal but later released. In the post World War II days he was an CIA operative with a code name “podam” and “pojacpot-1 “. It is said that both the US and Shoriki were interested in pushing the national television network and the nuclear power in Japan.
Yomiuri remains unabashedly pro-nuke.
Old ties die hard, and the President of the United States sends a 9-11 message only to this particular newspaper.
The National Security Archive at GWU has a document dump. Early OVP/DOD/State maneuverings about Afghanistan.
I like the snowflake from April 2002. Five months into a war, the Secretary of Defense of the United States of America asks his Undersecretary, How come Iran and Russia have plans for Afghanistan and we don’t?
Something on myth-meister Philip Zelikow:
http://www.veteranstoday.com/2011/09/20/142478/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nbak9KOINgo&feature=player_embedded
Hi, I am a fan of Marcie’s and empty wheel. I’m not very smart but I can lift heavy boxes. Strike that. I would appreciate any volunteer opportunity you might configure for me to be able to contribute on the topic of prosecuting for torture. I have some time I could dedicate. If there is anything you can think of, including tedious time consuming slogging through records or files looking for something important… that I might help facilitate… please consider me willing, able and passionate about the topic. – Scott
Project Cencored…….ROCKS
http://www.mediaroots.org/project-censored-speaks-on-media-censorship-911.php
Apologize for the typo above…..I was rocking!
Here’s something important: YouTube: “Psychologists help 9/11 truth deniers”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=mEGgAk1AbA4
I don’t seem to be able to comment on the original article, but….
Charlie Savage has expanded his speech to the Harvard Law School/Brookings conference I wrote about into a $.99 self published kindle eBook:
http://amzn.to/ozErr1
This part of Michigan was once militant. From organized labor to student agitation. Now there’s nothing. Shop after shop goes under. Strip malls abandoned. Legalized loan shark parlors spread. Dollar stores hang on. Parking lots riots of weeds. Roads in serious disrepair. Those with jobs feel lucky to be employed. Everyone else is on their own. A general resignation prevails. Life limps by.
After 12 years in Michigan, I’m finally moving on. Back to the east coast. To DC. One kid’s an adult and living on her own. My son is well into high school. I’m no longer married. The only work I can get here is janitorial. Part time. And I’m done with that world. It bettered me. Humbled me. Made me understand. But it’s over. The Belly of the Beast awaits.
http://dennisperrin.blogspot.com/2011/09/time-never-tells.html
A document obtained by the ACLU shows for the first time how the four largest cellphone companies in the US treat data about their subscribers’ calls, text messages, Web surfing and approximate locations.
The one-page document from the Justice Department’s cybercrime division shows, for instance, that Verizon Wireless keeps, for a year, information about which cell towers subscriber phones connect to. That data that can be used to figure out where the phone has been, down to the level of a neighborhood. AT&T has kept the same data continuously since July 2008.
The sheet is a guide for law enforcement, which can request the information from the carriers through legal channels. The North Carolina section of the American Civil Liberties Union obtained it through a Freedom of Information Act request, the ACLU said. Wired.com reported earlier about the document, which is dated Aug. 2010.
The document was released by the ACLU Wednesday, but has been hiding in plain sight on the website of the Vermont public defender’s office. It can be found there through a Google search, but only if the searcher knows the exact title of the document.
http://news.google.com/news/story?gl=us&pz=1&cf=all&ned=us&hl=en&q=aclu+verizon&ncl=dC9YGCnDPqcnU2MoWfaUvdmG12XDM
The single-page Department of Justice document, “Retention Periods of Major Cellular Service Providers,” is a guide for law enforcement agencies looking to get information — like customer IP addresses, call logs, text messages and web surfing habits – out of US telecom companies, including AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile and Verizon.
The document, marked “Law Enforcement Use Only” and dated August 2010, illustrates there are some significant differences in how long carriers retain your data.
“People who are upset that Facebook is storing all their information should be really concerned that their cell phone is tracking them everywhere they’ve been,” said Catherine Crump, an ACLU staff attorney. “The government has this information because it wants to engage in surveillance.”
http://www.wired.com/images_blogs/threatlevel/2011/09/retentionpolicy.pdf
http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2011/09/cellular-customer-data/
Entergy faces another special investigation over malfunction at Palisades Nuclear Plant
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has sent a special investigation team to Entergy’s Palisades nuclear power plant to examine the circumstances around the plant’s latest unplanned shutdown.
Vermont officials criticize company as dishonest, unwilling to invest in safety
In Vermont, where Entergy is fighting to continue operating its highly-controversial Vermont Yankee power plant, citizens groups and public officials have criticized the company for inadequate maintenance and lying about safety matters.
http://michiganmessenger.com/52811/entergy-faces-another-special-investigation-over-malfunction-at-palisades
Raymond Davis, CIA Contractor, Charged After Fight Over Parking Spot
HIGHLANDS RANCH, Colorado — Colorado authorities say a man accused of shooting and killing two men while working as CIA contractor in Pakistan faces misdemeanor charges after a fight over a shopping center parking spot.
Douglas County Sheriff’s Lt. Glenn Peitzmeier says Raymond Davis has been charged with third degree assault and disorderly conduct.
Peitzmeier says deputies responding to a fight at the Town Center in Highlands Ranch took Davis into custody Saturday morning.
Davis was freed after posting bond.
In February, Davis shot two Pakistani men he said tried to rob him.
Pakistani authorities released him after the US agreed to pay $2.34 Million to end the dispute that had strained ties between the two countries.
http://www.google.com/search?aq=f&hl=en&gl=us&tbm=nws&btnmeta_news_search=1&q=Raymond+Davis
Millions of individuals and communities beaten down by economic mismanagement are finding their soul and voice in Occupy Wall Street, and the movement is open and wise enough to stretch and grow in response. And yesterday, peacefully marching across the Brooklyn Bridge, the mobilization went from a picture of a few ragtag protesters occupying the financial sector to a portrait of humanity being occupied by the most powerful police force in the nation defending the interests of capital.
Even the New York Times coverage reflects the shift in optics.
Millions of Americans are sick and tired of an economic system manipulated by big business to suit their narrow, greedy ends.
Social movements spring from an unpredictable serendipity of leadership and timing.
The Occupy Wall Street protesters have wondrously crystallized and catalyzed the frustrations of a nation. They deserve our gratitude and praise..
Millions of individuals and communities beaten down by economic mismanagement are finding their soul and voice in Occupy Wall Street, and the movement is open and wise enough to stretch and grow in response.
And yesterday, peacefully marching across the Brooklyn Bridge, the mobilization went from a picture of a few ragtag protesters occupying the financial sector to a portrait of humanity being occupied by the most powerful police force in the nation defending the interests of capital.
Even the New York Times coverage reflects the shift in optics.
Millions of Americans are sick and tired of an economic system manipulated by big business to suit their narrow, greedy ends.
Social movements spring from an unpredictable serendipity of leadership and timing.
The Occupy Wall Street protesters have wondrously crystallized and catalyzed the frustrations of a nation. They deserve our gratitude and praise.
http://movementvision.org/rants-polemics/in-praise-of-occupywallstreet-an-apology/
This is Jesse LaGreca reporting from the frontlines of the class war here at Liberty Square where the richest 1% is still winning in a landslide, wishing you peace and love, and reminding you, they only call it class war when working class people fight back.
The corrupt fear us. The honest support us. The heroic join us.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/10/04/1012196/-I-did-it-again-NEW-VIDEO-of-me-crushing-wingnuts-at-OccupyWallStreet?via=blog_643492
We regret to inform you that this Wednesday’s Yes Lab event, organized by Not An Alternative, with UK climate campaign campaigners John Stewart and Dan Glass has been postponed.
A few days ago, Stewart landed in JFK Airport for a month-long US speaking tour, only to be escorted off the plane by 6 police officers, interrogated for six hrs by the FBI, Secret Service, NY police, and Immigration, and put on a plane back to the UK.
The other tour member, environmental activist Dan Glass, was also supposed to come but was stopped by the CIA on the UK side.
These guys are celebrated environmentalists, recognized by The Independent and the Guardian as the most effective and innovative green activists in the UK. They won support from direct action activists and even the Conservatives in Parliament, waging a successful campaign to reduce carbon emissions and stop the expansion of Heathrow airport.
For some reason, however, the usa government isn’t keen on them coming here.
http://notanalternative.com/blog/activists-barred-us-and-occupywallstreet
Nobel peace prize: Bradley Manning tops reader poll
Bradley Manning heads our reader poll on who should win this year’s Nobel peace prize
http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/blog/2011/oct/06/bradley-manning-reader-poll-nobel-peace-prize?CMP=twt_gu
Intelligence and US Foreign Policy: Iraq, 9/11, and Misguided Reform
Paul R. Pillar
http://www.amazon.com/Intelligence-U-S-Foreign-Policy-Misguided/dp/0231157924/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1318035718&sr=1-1
http://www.amazon.com/wiki/Paul_R._Pillar/ref=ntt_at_bio_wiki
White House issues executive order in wake of WikiLeaks reports
White House Pushes to Close Security Gaps
White House Orders New Computer Security Rules
Obama to Issue ‘Wikileaks Order’
White House order to establish new cybersecurity policies
Obama Wants No Repeat of Lady Gaga, WikiLeaks Trick
Obama to issue order on protecting secrets
After WikiLeaks, White House tackles ‘insider threat’
Obama Issues ‘WikiLeaks’ Order To Better Safeguard ‘Classified’ Information
White House Issues Cybersecurity Order To Deter Classified Leaks
http://news.google.com/news/more?pz=1&hdlOnly=1&cf=all&ned=us&topic=n&ncl=dViArxReqeUsThMHetKcoXIGofIVM
the latest revealing story from associated press investigative reporters Chris Hawley and Matt Apuzzo (will they win the Pultizer Prize for this series? will the rest of the establishment amerikan media complex contiue to ignore this story and these revelations?):
NYPD Infiltration Of Colleges Raises Privacy Fears
Investigators have been infiltrating Muslim student groups at schools in the city, monitoring their Internet activity and placing undercover agents in their ranks, police documents obtained by The Associated Press show. Legal experts say the operation may have broken a 19-year-old pact with the colleges and violated US privacy laws, jeopardizing millions of dollars in federal research money and student aid.
http://www.google.com/search?aq=f&hl=en&gl=us&tbm=nws&btnmeta_news_search=1&q=NYPD+infiltration+of+colleges+raises+privacy+fears
Patrick Cockburn: Iran had better watch its step now Obama’s chasing votes
A fumbling Tehran-backed plot to kill the Saudi ambassador was dismissed as bizarre by the rest of the world.
But the White House is taking it very seriously
The plot in which an Iranian-American from Corpus Christi, Texas, notorious locally for his Clouseau-like dimwittedness, tries to hire a Mexican gangster to assassinate the Saudi ambassador in Washington at the behest of the Iranian authorities has been greeted with incredulous hilarity across much of the world.
The allegations need to be taken seriously primarily because they show that the White House, by giving credence to them at the highest level, is seeking confrontation with Iran in the lead-up to next year’s presidential election.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/politics/patrick-cockburn-iran-had-better-watch-its-step-now-obamas-chasing-votes-2371379.html
Department of Justice still wants New York Times reporter’s sources
In a move that could unleash a major First Amendment battle, the Justice Department is asking a federal appeals court to force a New York Times reporter to testify about his confidential sources at the trial of a Central Intelligence Agency officer accused of leaking top-secret information.
In a court filing Wednesday, federal prosecutors formally appealed US District Court Judge Leonie Brinkema’s ruling in July that Times national security reporter James Risen did not have to identify his sources during the trial of ex-CIA officer Jeffrey Sterling. Brinkema ruled that Risen’s testimony was covered by a “reporter’s privilege,” and that the government had not made a sufficient showing that he was essential to proving the case against Sterling.
The executive director of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, Lucy Dalglish, said the appeal was troubling for First Amendment advocates, but not unexpected.
“I’m not surprised at all,” Dalglish said “The Obama administration has made it absolutely clear they detest leakers and they are going to be very aggressive against leakers.”
Since Obama took office, his administration has initiated five prosecutions of alleged leakers under the Espionage Act — a sum roughly equal to the total number of such prosecutions in all prior administrations combined.
Dalglish said she suspects the administration does not care that escalating the fight with Risen may be seen as at odds with the administration’s claims to favor transparency and to protect whistleblowers.
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1011/66424.html
John Wheeler would have been interested in duku if he were not on the same list as Bruce Ivins
Marcie, I so much enjoy your analysis and information. I hope that I can give you something that you may enjoy as much as I enjoy yours. I notice that you do not publish other writers, but you do provide links. I wrote this article 9 months ago. I believe it is very relevant and has many insights. There are quotations and facts that you may not be familiar with. It makes some predictions that did not come true because factors of the Arab Spring and the Wisconsin demonstrations had not happened yet and changed what course of events I had predicted by people who may have thought twice about their plans, but it still is very informative and a very good read. If you are interested in it, I would like to rewrite it by fixing those few errors and adding more information that has come to light about the subject.
Thank you
John Stephen Blyth
http://yearofthefalcon-firstamendment.blogspot.com/2011/01/freedom-of-speech-what-is-it-do-we.html
2011 National Gang Threat Assessment – Emerging Trends
The National Gang Intelligence Center (NGIC) prepared the 2011 National Gang Threat Assessment (NGTA) to examine emerging gang trends and threats posed by criminal gangs to communities throughout the United States.
MICHIGAN
300 Block
Aguitas 16
Avengers MC
Bemis Wealthy Street Boys
Black Gangster Disciple
Black Pistons MC
Brave Heart Ruff Riders
BUG Gang
Campau Cream Team
Cash Ave
Crips
Dallas Neland Alexander
D-Block
Devils Brigade
Devils Disciples MC
Dynasty Gorillas
East Ave
Eastern Worden
Eastside Boys
European Latin Kings
Folks
Forbidden Wheels MC
Gangster Disciples
Good Squad/Full Time Grinders
Grandville Gangsters
Highland’s Finest
Highwaymen
Holland Zeeland
Hustle Boys
Insane Unknowns
Ionia Boys
Jefferson Street Gangsters
Jokers MC
Juggalos
Kalamazoo Boys
Kartel of the Streets
La Kilcka
La Raza
Latin Counts
Latin Kings
Leak Boy Mafia
Madison Ave
Maniac Latin Disciples
Mason Street
Mexican Gangster Soldiers
Mexican Mafia
Mexican Mob
New Age Crip
Ñetas
Newman Lane Posse
Nishnob Mob
North North
New World Order
Oakdale Eastern
Outlaws MC
Pine Street
Polo Boyz
Prospect Paper Chasers
Purple Guns
Quimby Boys
Rebels MC
Rikochet Road Knights
Nation Royal Trinity Soldiers
Sheldon Logan
Spanish Cobras
Suicide Locos
Sur-13’s
Sureños
Taliban Team
Thug Life
Tres Manos Gangsters
Wanted Thug Brotherhood Nation
Vatos Locos
Vice Lords
Wood street
http://www.fbi.gov/stats-services/publications/2011-national-gang-threat-assessment
US northern border checks scaled back
The US Border Patrol has quietly stopped its controversial practice of routinely searching buses, trains and airports for illegal immigrants at transportation hubs along the northern border and in the US interior, preventing agents from using what had long been an effective tool for tracking down people here illegally.
http://www.mlive.com/newsflash/index.ssf/story/apnewsbreak-us-northern-border-checks-scaled-back/84d567e4f93e4f70a3cd57467d2e6c85
a horrible slanted crappy piece of “reporting” from associated propaganda, er, press
inbred dutch boy hoekstra is such a hypocritical douchebag
did we hear him squeak when cheney/bush was bombing the absolute shit out of tens of thousands of innocent Iraqis of all ages and genders so the usa could steal the OIL of the Iraqis ?????
no we did not.
what a complete shitsack.
(and this is not to defend team o in any way whatsoever – just cannot stand hypocrisy in any way shape or form)
Pete Hoekstra questions President Barack Obama’s war on terrorism after 16-year-old dies in attack
http://www.mlive.com/politics/index.ssf/2011/10/pete_hoekstra_questions_presid_1.html
and of course the grand rapids stenographer, OOPS, press, is right there with tape recorder. geebus
Excellent lecture at the University of Basel on the 9/11 debate and the need for a real investigation:
10 Years after the Terror Attacks on 9/11
DRONES and US Internal Security
Drones are changing the dynamics of warfare in very scary ways.
Drones make oppression much easier (and cost-effective).
What’s Next?
It’s a pretty slippery slope from here.
How it gets applied to US internal security when the US/global economy crumps into depression, the US government goes bankrupt, and the current system loses much of its remaining legitimacy are the interesting questions.
http://globalguerrillas.typepad.com/globalguerrillas/2011/11/drones-and-us-internal-security.html
Paul Craig Roberts: “The minute we fell for 9/11 we signed our doom”
http://my.firedoglake.com/public/2011/11/12/paul-craig-roberts-the-minute-we-fell-for-911-we-signed-our-doom/
Marcy,
Wondering if you could make a post about the Supreme Court’s decision to review the HCR case before the next election. WHt is going on here? Is Roberts trying to hand Obama his ass with a major defeat before Nov, or is there something else going on here? I can’t see this as not having a political agenda of some kind, not sure what it is. Thanks (and I love the site.)
‘World fears US as a war-hungry drunk’ – ex-Senator
http://my.firedoglake.com/public/2011/11/23/world-fears-us-as-a-war-hungry-drunk-ex-senator-2/
The Failure to Investigate 9/11 Has Bankrupted America
http://my.firedoglake.com/public/2011/12/03/the-failure-to-investigate-911-has-bankrupted-america/#recommend-33-12686
The 26 year old Michigan man who supposedly rammed an FBI agents vehicle never even came close to even causing a fender bender. Get your facts correct before you even post this information.
@newz4all: CIA dont tell congress too much, thats why CIA works very hard to recruit senators into their ranks
@a shift in optics: old news, wall street owns this country, congress is for sale to the highess bidders
@newz4all: yes,but it only applies if the suspects were born in Mexico, or have some dual citizenship, also it gives right to the DEA to fo the same on mexican soil, a win win situation, lol
@Mark: Alternate link for The Failure to Investigate 9/11 Has Bankrupted America:
http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2011/12/the-failure-to-investigate-911-has-bankrupted-america.html
i really like your blog thanks for all the informative posts.
An important book on education and operant conditioning by Charlotte Thomson Iserbyt, former Senior Policy Advisor in the U.S. Department of Education. The Deliberate Dumbing Down of America http://www.deliberatedumbingdown.com/
WANTED WOMEN
Faith, Lies & the War on Terror: The Lives of Ayaan Hirsi Ali & Aafia Siddiqui
By Deborah Scroggins
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/16/books/wanted-women-faith-lies-the-war-on-terror-review.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deborah_Scroggins
Chris Hedges – Why I’m Suing Barack Obama
Attorneys Carl J. Mayer and Bruce I. Afran filed a complaint Friday in the Southern US District Court in New York City on my behalf as a plaintiff against Barack Obama and Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta to challenge the legality of the Authorization for Use of Military Force as embedded in the latest version of the National Defense Authorization Act, signed by the president December 31, 2011.
The act authorizes the military in Title X, Subtitle D, entitled “Counter-Terrorism,” for the first time in more than 200 years, to carry out domestic policing. With this bill, which will take effect March 3, 2012, the military can indefinitely detain without trial any US citizen deemed to be a terrorist or an accessory to terrorism. And suspects can be shipped by the military to our offshore penal colony in Guantanamo Bay and kept there until “the end of hostilities.” It is a catastrophic blow to civil liberties.
I suspect the real purpose of this bill is to thwart internal, domestic movements that threaten the corporate state.
I suspect it passed because the corporations, seeing the unrest in the streets, knowing that things are about to get much worse, worrying that the Occupy movement will expand, do not trust the police to protect them. They want to be able to call in the Army. And now they can.
http://www.truthdig.com/report/print/why_im_suing_barack_obama_20120116/
http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/why_im_suing_barack_obama_20120116/
Charles Taylor and the Intelligence Community’s Game
The Boston Globe has some great work this morning by Bryan Bender on the strange history of Charles Taylor, the barbaric former president of Liberia whose war-crimes trial concluded last March at The Hague. Taylor was an authentic monster, but, to paraphrase Randy Newman, he was our monster. We created him. We sustained him. We turned a blind eye to his depredations. And the Play-Doh realpolitik of the geniuses in our intelligence community left the world another bloody mess to clean up now that Taylor’s alleged usefulness is done.
The most fascinating thing about Taylor was that he was first busted and incarcerated here in the Commonwealth (God save it!), while on the lam from an embezzlement rap back home. He got tossed into the venerable Plymouth House of Correction, current home of celebrity murderer James (Whitey) Bulger. In 1985, Taylor became the first inmate to escape from Plymouth in a century. More than a few people involved in the case think he had help. Taylor himself testified at his trial that he was pretty much allowed to walk free.
Perhaps even more striking is the fact that the USA intelligence community may have been in the business of orchestrating jailbreaks on American soil, which resulted in untold savagery far away, and nobody seems to think it remarkable in the least.
http://www.esquire.com/blogs/politics/charles-taylor-informant-6640441
Former Liberian dictator Charles Taylor had US spy agency ties
Officials confirm Charles Taylor was valued source of information in early 1980s
http://bostonglobe.com/metro/2012/01/17/mass-escapee-turned-liberian-dictator-had-spy-agency-ties/DGBhSfjxPVrtoo4WT95bBI/story.html
So happy you have returned home to your own site which is where I started in 2004?
We need the legalise you provide. Would the NLG sponsor you?
CIA to pull officer from NYPD after internal probe
By ADAM GOLDMAN and MATT APUZZO | Associated Press
A CIA operative’s unusual assignment inside the New York Police Department is being cut short after an internal investigation that criticized how the agency established its unprecedented collaboration with city police.
In its investigation, the CIA’s inspector general faulted the agency for sending an officer to New York with little oversight after the September 11, 2001 attacks and then leaving him there too long.
The CIA officer cited by the inspector general for operating without sufficient supervision, Lawrence Sanchez, was the architect of spying programs that helped make the NYPD one of the nation’s most aggressive domestic intelligence agencies.
Sanchez left the NYPD in 2010.
Then, last July, the CIA sent one of its most senior clandestine operatives to work out of the NYPD. That’s the officer who now is leaving.
http://news.yahoo.com/cia-pull-officer-nypd-internal-probe-170909971.html;_ylt=AuROPx5VT9j4VEO3EDuftY6s0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTNhczFkNGcyBG1pdAMEcGtnA2QzMDU5MWE5LTFkYjYtM2FhOC04NjdkLWZlYTdiYWU5ZDlkOQRwb3MDNQRzZWMDbG5fQVBfZ2FsBHZlcgM4ZWVkOGYzMC00ODVjLTExZTEtOGRkZi1kNGQ1MGQ4MDBlNWU-;_ylv=3
Hey Marcy – I love your blog and especially the legal analysis stuff. I’m from Illinois and was wondering if you’d seen the story about Lisa Madigan (our AG) filing suit against Standard & Poor. I guess people are getting tired of waiting for the feds to do something.
Legal think tank raises red flag about privacy in cybersecurity legislation
The US Congress must include strong privacy protections in any cybersecurity legislation it adopts, a constitutional watchdog group warned in a report released Friday.
The report from DC-based think tank The Constitution Project argues that any comprehensive cybersecurity program adopted by the federal government must have clear legal safeguards to prevent unrestricted access by government officials to individuals’ private information when searching network communications for harmful material.
Otherwise, the government “runs the risk of establishing a program akin to wiretapping all network users’ communications,” the report warns.
http://www.infosecurity-us.com/view/23526/legal-think-tank-raises-red-flag-about-privacy-in-cybersecurity-legislation/
http://www.constitutionproject.org/
http://news.yahoo.com/us-cybersecurity-efforts-trigger-privacy-concerns-094548804.html;_ylt=ApnEMj.y0l_Y5uv1MRx1KTis0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTNhNTVzMmtuBG1pdAMEcGtnA2YyZDU4NGU1LTc0ZjktM2M0ZC1iZjMwLTllYzJkMWM5NTJmOARwb3MDNwRzZWMDbG5fQVBfZ2FsBHZlcgMwYjBhMGY4MC00OGZkLTExZTEtYWZlYS1jNWQwZWRhNzQwZGU-;_ylv=3
Enemies: A History of the FBI
Ex-President Bush Lied To FBI Director About Warrantless Surveillance
Former President George W. Bush lied to FBI Director Robert Mueller in the Oval Office to protect White House programs that secretly eavesdropped on Americans, according to an upcoming book by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Tim Weiner.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/27/bush-lied-to-fbi-director_n_1237262.html?ref=politics
http://www.amazon.com/Enemies-History-FBI-Tim-Weiner/dp/1400067480
Stellar Wind is the open secret code name for certain information collection activities performed by the United States’ National Security Agency and revealed by Thomas M. Tamm to New York Times reporters James Risen and Eric Lichtblau. The operation was approved by President George W. Bush shortly after the September 11 attacks in 2001.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stellar_wind_%28code_name%29
It’s Time to Police the NYPD
In November, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg described the NYPD as “the seventh biggest army in the world.” Effective oversight of such a potent force is a necessity — not a luxury — for the country’s largest city.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/30/opinion/the-nypd-needs-policing.html
Jury selection begins for trial of Hutaree Militia members
Jury selection is scheduled to begin in the case of members of a Christian militia group accused of plotting attacks on Michigan police officers.
Members of the Hutaree Militia are accused of plotting to murder a police officer and then attack the officer’s funeral procession, in order to kill more law enforcement officers. The attacks were allegedly to inspire an insurrection against the government
That accusation was developed during an undercover investigation of the group.
The Hutaree Militia is a splinter Christian group, which believes the apocalypse is near. The group is also suspicious of the government and the United Nations.
http://www.michiganradio.org/post/jury-selection-begins-tuesday-trial-hutaree-militia-members
wow, I came here to make fun of yet another liberal who thinks he’s a leftist. Not sure where you stand so much left or right, but it seems obvious to me that you stand for truth. You’re blog is a good read. I wish I could make fun of you, I really love doing that, but I can’t.
Keep on keeping on :)
Potential Hutaree juror throws wrench in prosecution, questions undercover police work
Jury selection in the Hutaree militia case ended this morning on a controversial note: The last person added to the final jury pool said he is skeptical about police and paid informants going undercover to spy on people.
He said he believes spying on people is an invasion of privacy.
“You’re basically paying someone to lie and deceive people. I don’t think that’s right,” said the potential juror.
Surprisingly, out of the 74 potential jurors who were questioned this week about their views on undercover work, all but one said they were fine with it.
http://www.freep.com/article/20120210/NEWS01/120210039/Hutaree-jury-pool?odyssey=mod|newswell|text|FRONTPAGE|s
USA Government’s time line in Hutaree case
Assistant US Attorney presented alleged time line for US Magistrate during a detention hearing for eight of the nine alleged Hutaree members. The defendants’ lawyers dismissed the allegations as “double and triple hearsay.”
http://www.freep.com/article/20100404/NEWS06/4040468/Government-s-time-line-Hutaree-case
US House Intelligence Committee chair and former FBI agent Mike Rogers (R-MI): China-based cyber attacks against US companies are getting ‘exponentially’ worse
The growing threat of cyber attacks against the federal government and United States-based companies by China is the country’s greatest national security challenge moving forward, says Congressman Mike Rogers.
“I have never seen in my lifetime a nation state that invests its intelligence and military services in the organized theft of intellectual property like the Chinese have done and are doing,” said Rogers, chair of the House Intelligence Committee.
“It is exponentially worse this year, and will be exponentially worse next year because of their growing capability.”
Rogers suggested the value of intellectual property being stolen every year by Chinese-based cyber theft as high as $1 Trillion. He said China is “actively pursuing” intellectual property on all American, European and Asian allies networks.
http://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2012/02/intelligence_committee_chair_c.html
Aided by Silicon Valley, USA government ferrets out journalists’ confidential sources
Two NYTimes stories over the weekend focused on threats to journalists’ ability to keep their sources confidential. One of those threats is familiar to journalists: the government. The other is relatively new: Silicon Valley. Both hinge on reporters’ increasing reliance on electronic, third-party means of communication.
First, the Times’ Adam Liptak describes how the usa government is increasingly using technological means to ferret out leakers. He writes about the government’s case against former CIA agent John C. Kiriakou, who is accused of leaking classified information to journalists about a captured Al Qaeda operative.
The Times’ Nick Bilton follows up on a story about how the iPhone app Path uploaded users’ address book contacts without their knowledge. The incident shows that smartphones and their apps are weak links when it comes to protecting sources.
Bilton’s post won praise from Dave Winer:
Nick Bilton … was right that information in address books, in some contexts, is a matter of life and death. In some countries in some contexts people do get killed for talking to reporters.
http://www.poynter.org/latest-news/mediawire/162853/aided-by-silicon-valley-u-s-government-ferrets-out-journalists-confidential-sources/
RAF helicopter death revelation leads to secret Iraq detention camp
Death in RAF helicopter and secret prison camp in Iraq desert raises questions about legality of British and US operations
But of greater significance was what the death certificate revealed about the location of the airfield. It showed that the 64 prisoners had not been flown to the prison camp at Umm Qasr at all. They had been taken to an airfield codenamed H1, described on the certificate as the forward operating base of a US special forces unit known as Task Force-20. H1 was an airfield built next to an oil pipeline pumping station.
It was 350 miles north-west of Umm Qasr, in the middle of Iraq’s western desert, a vast and desolate expanse of sand and scree. The nearest settlement was many miles away.
The holding facility at H1 was not inspected by the Red Cross.
Moreover, its existence was not disclosed to Lieutenant Colonel Mercer, the UK’s most senior army lawyer in Iraq at the time. Mercer says he was “extremely surprised” to learn of its existence.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/feb/07/iraq-death-secret-detention-camp
http://www.geographic.org/geographic_names/name.php?uni=10515881&fid=3172&c=iraq
marcy’s old friends at SWIFT back in the newz
Bank Telecommunications Group Moves Closer to Expulsion of Iran
A potentially crippling sanction against Iran moved a step closer on Friday when a telecommunications network vital to the global banking industry said it was prepared to expel Iranian banks.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/18/world/middleeast/swift-network-moves-closer-to-expulsion-of-iran.html
now read this Pepe Escobar column at Asia Times about the pressure usa / europe putting on SWIFT – SCORCHER !!!!!!!!!!
US wants SWIFT war on Iran
The vultures, jackals and hyenas of regime change/war can never be appeased in their sanction lust. The US is now forcing the EU to cut off Iran from Brussels-based SWIFT – the independent telecom mechanism / clearinghouse used by every bank in the world to exchange financial data (Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications). Iran’s Central Bank itself may become a victim.
In a nutshell, SWIFT is the wheel that moves global financial transactions and trade. So if this is not an extended, remixed declaration of hardcore economic war against one country – nothing else is.
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/NB17Ak04.html
Bookmark Pepe!!! always tells it like it is !!!!
are y’all ready able and willing for “routine aerial surveillance of American life” ?
we knew you would be. please assume the position american sheeple. we promise this will not hurt.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/18/technology/drones-with-an-eye-on-the-public-cleared-to-fly.html?pagewanted=all
O admin okays key section of pipeline, making ultimate Keystone decision obvious
Foes of a 1661-mile pipeline who thought their opposition had bought some time as a consequence of the White House’s temporary rejection of the project got a wake-up message today. Just five weeks after the Obama administration was hailed for saying “no” to the Keystone XL pipeline’s route through the sand hills of Nebraska, it has green-lighted a $2.3 billion section elsewhere, making clear its ultimate intent.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/02/27/1068805/-Obama-administration-okays-key-section-of-pipeline-making-ultimate-Keystone-decision-obvious?via=blog_1
once this pipeline is in place, it will be vigorously patrolled by ARMED drones – financed by transcanada/big oil and operated by usg/paramilitaries – all to stop usa citizens from the blowing it up on a daily basis.
as previously noted here at emptywheel, the silence is being noticed elsewhere.
New York Post, Daily News Defend NYPD’s Surveillance Of Muslims As New York Times Remains Silent
While New Jersey newspapers and others in the tri-state area have condemned the NYPD’s surveillance tactics – such as the Buffalo News, NYU’s Washington Square News, and Newsday – one major paper has noticeably stayed out of the fray: The New York Times.
Inside the Times, there’s been some puzzlement over why the paper’s Metro desk hasn’t aggressively followed up on the NYPD surveillance story since August and why its editorial page — known for taking strong stands in support of civil liberties issues and against police overreach — has been silent since the AP’s series began. Times columnist Michael Powell is one exception. He wrote Tuesday about Muslim-Americans in Newark now “in the throes of a rather un-American fear of speaking.”
It’s unclear if the Times will weigh in any time soon. When contacted, Times editorial page editor Andy Rosenthal responded that “as a matter of policy, we don’t publicly discuss editorial deliberations or topics that we may or may not be considering.”
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/28/nypd-muslim-ny-post-daily-news-new-york-times_n_1307455.html?ref=media
NSA whistle-blower: Obama “worse than Bush”
Thomas Drake on life inside the National Security Agency and the price of truth telling
Would you still blow the whistle if you knew what you know now?
Yes. There are a few things I would have done differently, though. I would not have spoken to the FBI. I knew that in speaking with them that something could be used against me. I was read my Miranda rights, but I waived them to cooperate, but to report crimes: misdemeanors, illegalities, management malfeasance, program fraud, waste and abuse. I would have immediately had an attorney, but that’s in hindsight.
Another regret: I would have gone public before indictment. Remember, once they indict you’re already in a severely negative place. But the last place I would have shared any information with is WikiLeaks, and yet it is a viable internationally based alternative for getting the truth out. This is partly why [Bradley] Manning is in the hot water because he’s not going through, allegedly, an American citizen; he’s going somewhere else. And it’s not the enemy, let’s get that straight right off the bat, but he’s going to an organization that’s non-US-based, non-US citizen.
http://www.salon.com/2012/03/07/nsa_whistle_blower_obama_worse_than_bush/singleton/
New York City Subpoenas Twitter For Occupy Wall Street Protester Data
US activists who thought Twitter was a secure way to communicate during demonstrations may have another thing coming. The New York District Attorney’s Office has begun sending subpoenas to Twitter seeking data on protesters arrested during the Occupy Wall Street protests last year.
Last week, activist Jeffrey Rae received one such email, which included a copy of a subpoena from the DA requesting data from his Twitter account. The letter demands that Twitter hand over a list of data, including all public tweets from Rae’s account between September 15 and October 31, 2011.
Other information sought includes his name, address, records of session times, the length of those sessions, the types of devices used by Rae to access Twitter and any IP addresses from which he connected.
Rae said he plans on challenging the subpoena in court.
This is not the first time Twitter has been asked to hand over data on Occupy Wall Street protestors. In February, activist Malcom Harris got a similar notice from Twitter’e legal department via email. Like Rae, Harris had his lawyer file a motion to challenge the subpoena.
“The biggest danger that comes from this subpoena isn’t that it’ll help convict me – I don’t think a judge will have any trouble understanding what happened on the bridge – but that it will produce a chilling effect and discourage people from using Twitter while protesting” Harris wrote. “It’s a win-win for prosecutors: Either they use Twitter archives to build cases against demonstrators, or they scare us away from using the platform.”
Like other unrest throughout the world in the last few years, the anti-Wall Street demonstrations were both documented and partially fueled by social media tools. Just as in other parts of the world, Twitter in particular played an instrumental role in helping activists stay in touch and document what happened on the ground.
Authorities realize this and are hoping to pry some more information out of companies like Twitter. Since the subpoenas in these cases are not legally sealed, Twitter is free to notify its users of the requests, which it has a policy of doing.
http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/new-york-subpoena-twitter-occupy-wallstreet.php
Occupy Miami Apartment Building Raided By Police; Members Reportedly Questioned About Weapons Based On A “Tip”
A photo taken by one member who was detained shows he was taken to MPD’s Special Investigations Unit, which houses the Narcotics Unit, the Intelligence and Terrorism Unit, and the Joint Interdiction Unit. Miami Police have not yet responded to requests for comment, and the FBI would not confirm one eyewitness report that FBI agents were also present.
“It is not uncommon for the FBI to assist local law enforcement,” FBI Special Agent Michael Leverock told HuffPost.
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=316626155066548&set=a.217824944946670.57554.216848385044326&type=1&theater
“They had military assault rifles and tactical shotguns. Fully lethal,” reported Occupy on their Facebook site, before posting video showing residents of the “Fort Peace” building sitting or kneeling in the property’s courtyard while officers with assault rifles kept order.
http://www.facebook.com/OccupyMiami
“This is some of the scarier footage I have ever seen,” wrote author Naomi Wolf on her Facebook page. “What were they doing telling you to KNEEL and put your hands on your heads?”
http://www.facebook.com/naomi.wolf.author/posts/391386887558120
Occupy Miami’s Overtown Safehouse Raided by Dozens of Miami Police With Assault Rifles
“They were asking me questions like, ‘Are you a Muslim?’ and ‘Do you love this country?’” Mahmoud says. “I said hell no, I don’t love this country, and it’s because of shit like this.
“They are calling us terrorists, but what I saw today was demons pointing guns at us,” he adds. “They terrified us.”
http://blogs.miaminewtimes.com/riptide/2012/03/occupy_miamis_overtown_safehou.php
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/14/occupy-miami-apartment-building-raided_n_1344483.html
The repression and revised imposition of September 11th and the attendant “war on terror” on the public mind have important implications not only for the integrity of public discourse, but also for the collective sanity of western culture and civilization. As crafted by dominant news media 9/11 has become the cracked lens through which we view and conceive of our own history, identity, and purpose. Each act of subverting or evading factual accounts of actually existing events manifests itself as a small fissure in the broader edifice of truth and rationality. So does it also contribute to furthering the designs of broader forces seeking to build a once seemingly pretend brave new world.
Article by James Tracy
See item this morning on new anti-Iranian hate crime in San Diego – Body of brutally beaten woman to be flown to Iraq
Also more Green on Blue killings in Afghanistan
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/26/green-on-blue-afghanistan_n_1379259.html
The anti-Muslim killing in El Cajon – or is it a ruse? A few commenters to the story seem to think the El Cajon police have been misled by a fake note.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-iraqi-woman-20120326,0,190790.story
http://www.kplctv.com/story/17248478/woman-brutally-murdered-in-possible-hate-crime
Poles discuss the secret CIA prison
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/E/EU_POLAND_CIA_PRISON?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2012-03-31-13-45-27
Nolo Stated: “For the record, I personally think it would likely be a seven figure sum, if granted at all (and it presents the possibility that some pro-gun benefactor(s) — like the Koch brothers, swoop in and post his bond).
No, I expect he’ll be in custody from now until trial.”
My question: Now what do you think???
Turbo Tax Timmeh’s quote of the day:
“You can’t legislate away stupidity”
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/25/timothy-geithner-wheels-justice-turning-now_n_1454235.html
Maverick to answer your question you asked in http://www.emptywheel.net/2012/04/16/dea-busts-tor-operated-farmers-market-drug-market-place/#comment-345824
The answer is yes, quite well.
He was a total computer illiterate that had people fooled into thinking he knew what he was doing, when in reality he was just trusting Hush Forms.
If he had listened to advice from friends and myself, he’d be a free man now.
I don’t know if this is common, and it is probably not a big enough issue for bmaz to take a bite, but it does seem to me wrong:
http://valawyersweekly.com/2012/05/10/chesterfield-hits-drunken-drivers-with-a-second-whack/
Here is the first paragraph:
“Some wayward motorists are getting hit with a double whammy after conviction in traffic court. Local governments, including Chesterfield County, are taking the offenders into civil court to demand reimbursement for the cost of an officer stopping them and writing the ticket.”
Two recent stories with big future consequences:
1. Maria Otero, U.S. undersecretary for civilian security, declares that water issues are national security issues. Think Israel and other dry or desert countries, especially many Arab countries; but also the American west and the Colorado River running dry before it gets to Mexico. This means dams are national security issues (dams on the Tigris and Euphrates, dams on any river that divides 2 countries or runs from one country to another.) See
http://www.upi.com/Business_News/Energy-Resources/2012/05/11/Water-competition-challenges-US-security/UPI-32591336744080/
Quote: “Competition for water resources worldwide are becoming a threat to the national security interests of the United States, an official said.”
2. The US Navy has created a new command, the Coastal Riverine Force. See:
http://www.dvidshub.net/news/88407/necc-announces-formation-coastal-riverine-force
Quote: “CORIVFOR will provide port and harbor security, offshore protection for maritime infrastructure and Military Sealift Command ships operating in coastal waterways. When necessary elements of this force will provide offensive combat capabilities.”