When Susan Rice Is Right, She's Right!
From the No Kidding Files, courtesy of Jason Leopold, comes this gem from vaunted National Security Advisor Susan Rice:
"Let’s be honest: at times we do business with govts that do not respect the rights we hold most dear"
Well, hello…
Scary Terror Metrics: Do Indicted "Terrorists" Really Measure Back Door Spying?
Given how often fellow Michigander Juan Cole and I demonstrate what a mendacious hack Mike Rogers is...
Mike Rogers voted to give arms to the Syrian rebels. And while he may hope they don’t go to the al-Qaeda affiliates (as happened when…
Khan's Protests Succeed: US Halts Use of Northern Supply Route Through Pakistan
Recall that two weeks ago, John Brennan launched a drone strike in a settled area of Pakistan (rather than the remote tribal areas where most strikes take place) in the very province ruled by drone critic Imran Khan's PTI party. Last week, Khan…
"Bandar is now clearly the tip of the spear"
Back in October, in response to the Saudis taking their toys and going home from the UN, I warned, "I worry they disengaged from the UN because they are considering alternative means of pursuing their interests, means that would be loudly condemned…
Federated Queries and EO 12333 FISC Workaround
Particularly given the evidence NSA started expanding its dragnet collection overseas as soon as the FISA Court discovered it had been breaking the law for years, I've been focusing closely on the relationship between the FISA Court-authorized…
Home Affairs Committee MPs Worry about Minimization Procedures -- of Newspaper, not Spy Service
I just finished watching Guardian editor Alan Rusbridger's testimony before the House of Commons Home Affairs Committee, which the Guardian live-blogged here. My overall impression is that, whatever else has happened to America's former colonial…
Stealing US Person Data Overseas: A Fox Source and Method
Catherine Herridge, one of Fox's national security journalists, is usually fairly credible.
But yesterday, she gave House Intelligence Chair Mike Rogers an opportunity to claim evidence suggested Edward Snowden had help -- without providing…
Express Tribune Office in Karachi Attacked; Second Time in Four Months
After a first attack by gunmen on August 16, the office of the Express Tribune in Karachi was attacked yesterday by men with guns and small improvised explosives made from tennis balls. In response, journalists in the Karachi area are calling…
NSA: We Steal Industry Secrets, But Not for Competitive Advantage
Kudos to Kevin Gosztola, who liberated the propaganda the NSA sent workers home with for Thanksgiving to use with family and friends.
I find 3 of the bullet points particularly interesting (all of which Gosztola also touches on).
NSA:…
China Rivaling British in Crackdown on Critical Journalism
The American press is (rightly) outraged by the news that Chinese officials showed up unannounced to "inspect" Bloomberg's Chinese bureaus.
In what appears to be a conspicuous show of displeasure, Chinese authorities conducted unannounced "inspections"…
January 8, 2007 and NSA's Sloppy Bureaucracy
I'm going to do a post on all the Section 215 documents the Most Transparent Administration Evah™ didn't turn over in its fit of feigned transparency. But first I want to clarify something about timing.
There are 7 documents in the ACLU…
Bob Woodward and Monopoly Journalism
[youtube]QK8nTyS0ehs[/youtube]
There's an absurd debate going on about whether, by hiring Glenn Greenwald and Laura Poitras (who are the only journalists who have a full set of the documents Edward Snowden leaked), Pierre Omidyar has obtained…
"Journalists" Still Parroting DiFi's Fear-Mongering
Excuse me for a little post holiday crabbiness.
But people who write stories like this are really not doing their jobs.
Appearing on CNN’s “State of the Union,” Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-CA said there was “huge malevolence” against…
Big Game Rivalry Weekend Trash Talk
I hope one and all survived and had a glorious Thanksgiving. As you may recall, it did not go so well for us Cheeseheads. Ouch, the Kitties put a licking on. Just goes to prove, if you want to win a football game, it helps to have a quarterback.…
The James Clapper Plan to "Change" NSA by Keeping John Inglis in Charge
Yesterday, Ellen Nakashima reported that James Clapper supports splitting CyberCommand off of NSA. To understand whether this would represent real change or not, consider that they're considering John Inglis -- currently Keith Alexander's Deputy…
The Cayman Islands Agrees to Share Tax Data with the Five Eyes Countries
Apparently, the people at Treasury don't need to take advantage of the Black Friday sales. Instead, they're at work and announcing that the Cayman Islands (and Costa Rica) will share information on US taxpayers with the IRS. The move comes after…
Ron Wyden: Obama Killed Anwar al-Awlaki with Authority Granted to Him
As part of a letter asking the Administration to provide more details on its drone and/or targeting killing program, Senators Wyden, Udall, and Heinrich have judged the killing of Anwar al-Awlaki to be "a legitimate use of the authority granted…
Information Monopoly Defines the Deep State
The last decade witnessed the rise of deep state — an entity not clearly delineated that ultimately controls the military-industrial complex, establishing its own operational policy and practice outside the view of the public in order to maintain…
Thanksgiving: Scarcity among Bounty
Some of you may have already grown tired of my tweets expressing awe that, rather than the 15 pound turkey I had ordered from our farmers, I came home Tuesday with a 21 pounder. They just didn't have any smaller birds this year, it seems.
So…
The NSA versus "Issue-Based Extremists"
The CBC has a Snowden-based story about how the NSA helped Canada's Communications Security Establishment Canada in advance of and during the G20 held in Toronto in 2010. That isn't all that surprising. As the story notes, it's consistent with…