NSA: The "Half-Bacon Agency"
My mom's in town, so I'll be doing light posting over the next several days.
But I did want to emphasize the rather startling news that came out of yesterday's House Judiciary Committee on the NSA spying programs.
NSA Director John Inglis…
The 3 Hop Scotch of Civil Liberties and Privacy
I was in court, so I didn't see it, but apparently there was a little hearing over at House Judiciary Committee this morning on "Oversight of the Administration's Use of FISA Authorities". There was an august roll of Administration authorities…
What Does the Government Consider "Protected" First Amendment Activities?
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The other day, AP's Matt Lee called out State Department spokesperson Jen Psaki's suggestion that Edward Snowden is not entitled to free speech.
QUESTION: Okay. Then I just don’t understand. I think this…
Failing Our Hoodies
Some of you may have been at Netroots Nation this summer, along with Team Emptywheel. I couldn’t go this year.
I stayed home because my teen son needs more parental guidance right now.
My once-sunny 15-and-a-half year-old who carried…
Univision's Follow-Up Question
Univision's Adriana Vargas just interviewed President Obama. After three questions about the immigration bill, she asked whether Obama would consider Ray Kelly to run Department of Homeland Security.
Obama, of course, was effusive about the…
The 8-FISA Judge 11-Docket Spying Authorization to Identify Less than $10,000 to Al-Shabaab
In a hearing last month, FBI Deputy Director Sean Joyce described a case in which the phone metadata database helped catch terrorists. (after 1:07)
Lastly, the FBI had opened an investigation shortly after 9/11. We did not have enough information,…
Carl Levin's Double Standard for Banksters and Spooks
Carl Levin is one of the few people in DC who has tried to hold banks accountable -- in his case, via investigations conducted at the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. Never mind that DOJ has serially taken his investigations and, seemingly,…
Whatever Should We Do About These New Biotechnology Capabilities?
My high school days were filled with intrigue and controversy at the national level. On the political front, the Watergate scandal was playing out, with Nixon resigning in the summer between my junior and senior years. Another drama was…
"People in the Gulf" Talking on Skype
The NatSec twittersphere is abuzz about the fact that the CIA indirectly warned Hezbollah that some al Qaeda operatives were preparing an attack on a location in southern Lebanon.
I'm actually less interested that we felt the need to warn…
Hiding the 215 Index from Defendants, Too
Adam Liptak reviews one of the issues I laid out in this post and the ACLU first laid out here. The government is reneging on multiple promises made over the course of the Amnesty v. Clapper case -- including to SCOTUS itself -- to make sure…
On "Bullshit by Omission"
Apparently, Walter Katz -- who tweets as "lawscribe / Wieland" -- believes he succeeded in "calling me out" on "bullshit by omission" with this post on Saturday.
After he pointed me to it in apparent good faith on Saturday, I pointed out…
GOP Not Anxious to End John Roberts' Unilateral Reign Appointing FISA Judges
FWIW, Roger "Broccoli" Vinson aside, John Roberts has been appointing some solidly conservative, but nevertheless not lockstep Republicans to the FISA Court in recent years. But especially given the degree to which the FISC is now playing what…
Shaker Aamer: "Guards Using Ramadan to Massage Numbers" on Gitmo Hunger Strike
When this Charlie Savage story came out yesterday in the New York Times, my spidey senses went all tingly. Something just didn't feel right:
An American military spokesman said Sunday that 15 detainees at the military prison at Guantánamo…
Wherein Alexander the Great Conquers the World
"Collect it all," an anonymous source describes General Keith Alexander's approach to data, in a bizarre WaPo profile this morning.
The article includes several anonymous condemnations of Alexander the Great's approach.
"But even his…
Was Inspire a British-Made Product?
Amid a longer story about one-time Brits stripped of their citizenship and handled according to the Administration Disposition Matrix, Ian Cobain fills out the story of Minh Quang Pham (whose identity in the UK is protected under a legal gag…
Why "Members of the News Media" Should Welcome a Shield for the Act of Journalism
As I noted in this piece, the new policies DOJ rolled out in the wake of the AP and James Rosen revelations applies explicitly to "members of the news media," not journalists per se. The definition might permit the exclusion of bloggers and…
What will John Brennan do, Suspend his operations?
These with a thousand small deliberations
Protract the profit of their chilled delirium,
Excite the membrane, when the sense has cooled,
With pungent sauces, multiply variety
In a wilderness of mirrors. What will the spider do,
Suspend…
In Bid to Placate Legacy Media, DOJ Moves Closer to Instituting Official Press
The First Amendment was written, in part, to eliminate the kind of official press that parrots only the King's sanctioned views. But with its revised "News Media Policies," DOJ gets us closer to having just that, an official press.
That's…
Chuck Schumer Must Want All American Brown Youth Stop and Frisked
I thought Chuck Todd was speculating in that beltway fashion when he said he had heard people suggest Ray Kelly should replace Janet Napolitano as Department of Homeland Security Secretary.
But apparently, Chuck Schumer actually thinks it's…
Edward Snowden Invokes Nuremberg in Defending His Actions
Here's his speech:
Hello. My name is Ed Snowden. A little over one month ago, I had family, a home in paradise, and I lived in great comfort. I also had the capability without any warrant to search for, seize, and read your communications.…