Why Should We Believe the Fine Rhetoric in Obama's Inauguration Address?
During Barack Obama's second inaugural address yesterday, many on the left were actually mentioning tears of joy, especially when it came to this passage quoted by AP via Yahoo:
"We must make the hard choices to reduce the cost of health care…
Did the MIT Police Stake Out Aaron Swartz' Home on January 6, 2011?
One of the details I've been puzzled by in the Aaron Swartz story is how MIT Police Captain Albert Pierce happened to locate Aaron on January 6, 2011. After all, Aaron was filmed in the circuit closet at 12:32 PM, but left by 12:34. He went…
This Term's Inauguration Day Order: Nominate Drone Assassination Czar CIA Director
Four years ago, the first act President Obama took after swearing to protect and defend the Constitution was to order the closure of Gitmo.
Rather than closing Gitmo, Obama's Administration greatly expanded our prison in Bagram, and gutted…
Seneca Falls, Selma, and Stonewall
I'll have more to say later today about the President who declared a decade of wars are ending on the same day as he let off another drone in Yemen.
But I do think he gave a kickass speech. These two paragraphs, I'm sure, will be talked about…
UN Notes That Ending Torture Requires Accountability. Too Bad They Are Talking About Afghanistan.
Back in October of 2011, I wrote about a report prepared by the UN (pdf) in which it was found that torture is widespread in detention facilities administered by Afghanistan. The primary point of my post was that the US, and especially JSOC,…
Leaked Details of MIT Investigation
The NYT reports details that must come from MIT's investigation--though the spokesperson insists it's a review--of its involvement in Aaron Swartz' arrest and conviction.
There are a few I find of particular interest.
First, MIT claims…
John Brennan's Rules: John Brennan Doesn't Have to Play by the Rules
While I'm happy about the news that John Brennan, the Moral Rectitude Drone Assassination Czar, managed to finish his Drone Rules before he left to become CIA Director, I laughed my ass off when I read this.
U.S. officials said the effort to…
Championship Sunday NFL Trash Talk
While Divisional Playoff Weekend is the best weekend of football, Championship Sunday is the best day. Saddle up buckaroos, it is here! Before we get to the games, a word about Notre Dame and Manti Te'o. They are both lying through their teeth,…
Our Government's UnPATRIOTic Investigation of Aaron Swartz
As I noted back in December 2010, as soon as Eric Holder declared WikiLeaks' purported crime to be Espionage, it opened up a whole slew of investigative methods associated with the PATRIOT Act. It allowed the government to use National Security…
The Fishing Expedition into WikiLeaks
If, as WikiLeaks claims, Aaron Swartz:
Assisted WikiLeaks
Communicated with Julian Assange in 2010 and 2011
May have contributed material to WikiLeaks
Then it strongly indicates the US government used the grand jury investigation…
The Six Week Delay in the Swartz Investigation
I want to explain something about this post.
As I noted, the same day that Aaron Swartz resubmitted his FOIA on Bradley Manning's treatment, the Secret Service got a warrant to search most of the hardware captured on the day he was arrested…
Was Aaron Swartz' Effort to FOIA Bradley Manning's Treatment Why DOJ Treated Him So Harshly?
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As I mentioned earlier, John Cornyn asked Eric Holder whether Aaron Swartz was prosecuted because of his FOIAs.
Second, was the prosecution of Mr. Swartz in any way retaliation for his exercise of his rights…
John Cornyn Asks Eric Holder if Aaron Swartz Prosecuted because of FOIA Requests
John Cornyn just sent a letter to Eric Holder asking a series of questions about the Aaron Swartz prosecution. (h/t Julian Sanchez) Many of them are utterly appropriate coming from a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee: why Carmen Ortiz…
Iran Claims Capture of CIA Agents
Iran's Mehr News English website (but not, at the time of this writing, its Fars News website or the PressTV site) carries a sloppy and poorly translated story in which Iran claims to have captured a number of CIA agents. Such claims from Iran…
Yet Another Edition of "You Were Warned"
Dear unnamed power company/ies: Thank you for providing me an opportunity to post one of my favorite videos.
AGAIN.
You were warned about the possibility of security threats to your systems. Repeatedly--the video above is just one…
The PACER Investigation DOJ Revealed in 2009 But Did Not Reveal in 2011
In 2009, Aaron Swartz requested his FBI file. It showed the surveillance the FBI did in response to his liberation of 20% of federal court files. He posted excerpts from that file on October 5, 2009 (note: I don't believe he ever posted all…
What to Do about Computer Crime Laws
In a long piece published in AlterNet on Tuesday, I noted that Aaron Swartz' treatment was not all that unusual.
In some ways, what was happening to Swartz was not all that unusual. George Washington University Law Professor Orin Kerr -- a…
The December 2010 Black Hole in the Network Interface Closet
As I've suggested, I'm very interested in pinpointing when and how the Federal government first got involved in the investigation of the JSTOR downloading and what role MIT had in the Feds getting involved. While Swartz' lawyers put together…
Albright Follows Warrick Into Full Neocon Mode, Presents Iran Sanction Manifesto
On January 7, I noted that the Washington Post's Joby Warrick had allowed the neocon think tank Foundation for the Defense of Democracies to frame his discussion of the newest round of sanctions set to take effect against Iran. It now is clear…
How the FBI Deals with a Suicidal Entrapment Target
Over the last few days, we learned that even after Aaron Swartz' prosecutors learned he was a suicide risk, they barreled ahead with their pursuit of a stiff sentence for downloading stuff he could get for free.
Meanwhile, in Portland, Mohamed…