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369 replies
  1. Skilly says:

    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.

    Reply
  2. Helen says:

    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.

    Reply
  3. newz4all says:

    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

    Reply
  4. newz4all says:

    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/

    Reply
    • Pamela J Meyer says:

      Why is this important information about Clapper not being discussed?

      JAMES R. CLAPPER ACCUSED OF PERJURY for telling a Congressional committee in March 2013, that the NSA does not collect any type of data at all on millions of Americans

      Lies just keep on coming as the plot thickens!

      Read this (in Wikipedia) about the present “Director of National Intelligence” that has refused to stop Hillary from receiving “classified U. S.

      Government documents”.

      Apparently there is no penalty for blatant lies under oath to Congress or any place else if you are in the government!

      Two U.S. representatives accused Clapper of perjury for telling a Congressional committee in March 2013, that the NSA does not collect any type of data at all on millions of Americans. One senator asked for his resignation, and a group of 26 senators complained about Clapper’s responses under questioning. Media observers have described Clapper as having lied under oath, having obstructed justice, and having given false testimony!
      While serving under Bush he had perjured himself, to cover Bush’s lie, by saying that Iraq had “weapons of mass destruction” – which there was “no evidence” of at that time.

      History:

      Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence
      In office
      November 1991 – August 1995

      PresidentGeorge H. W. Bush

      & Bill Clinton

      On June 4, 2010, multiple news agencies reported that United States President Barack Obama was planning to nominate Clapper as the next Director of National Intelligence.[6][15] Despite the report that Clapper was suggested to President Obama by Defense Secretary Robert Gates, both Chairwoman Dianne Feinstein and Vice-Chairman Kit Bond of the United States Senate Select Committee on Intelligence had offered reservations regarding his appointment.
      On June 5, 2010, President Barack Obama nominated Clapper to replace Dennis C. Blair as United States Director of National Intelligence, saying Clapper “possesses a quality that I value in all my advisers: a willingness to tell leaders what we need to know even if it’s not what we want to hear.

      Reply
      • bmaz says:

        Uh, that was covered relentlessly here. And, by the way, Clapper was not sworn, so it was not “perjury” but false statements under 18 USC §1001

        Reply
        • Pamela J Meyer says:

           Not sure where your information came from but it is erroneous. 

          James Clapper Apologizes To Congress For Lying Under Oath About The NSA Spying Scandal (Prism)

          …Also Known As Perjury July 4. 2013

          http://www.judiciaryreport.com/james_clapper_apologizes_to_congress_for_lying_about_prism.htm

          903. False Statements, Concealment—18 U.S.C. § 1001

          An often-raised defense is the claim that because the alleged act or activity has no reasonable relation to the Federal government, no Federal jurisdiction exists. This defense focuses on the language of Section 1001 that requires that the conduct occur “in any matter within the jurisdiction of any department or agency of the United States.” In describing the situations in which the prohibited conduct must occur, the courts have construed the statute broadly and stressed that Section 1001 protects the government “from the perversion which might result from the deceptive practices described.”

          https://www.justice.gov/usam/criminal-resource-manual-903-false-statements-concealment-18-usc-1001

          Reply
          • bmaz says:

            Well, no it is not. My “information” came directly from reviewing the official transcript. There was no swearing. In fact, Chairman Dianne Feinstein rarely if ever required senior intelligence officials to be sworn (a tradition carried on by her successor Burr), and she did not Clapper.

            Go check it. Clapper lied, but he was not under oath. If you don’t believe me, again, read the actual transcript. It is available here. You will find no mention of an oath being administered, because none was. Good luck!

            Reply
  5. lake effect snow says:

    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 !!!!

    Reply
  6. BoxTurtle says:

    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?)

    Reply
  7. sandra says:

    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.

    Reply
  8. nomolos says:

    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”!

    Reply
  9. newz4all says:

    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

    Reply
  10. 4jkb4ia says:

    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.

    Reply
  11. gremlint says:

    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.

    Reply
  12. Steve Byers says:

    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!

    Reply
  13. bmaz says:

    @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.

    Reply
  14. BoxTurtle says:

    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)

    Reply
  15. newz4all says:

    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

    Reply
  16. newz4all says:

    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

    Reply
  17. newz4all says:

    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

    Reply
  18. newz4all says:

    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/

    Reply
  19. newz4all says:

    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.

    Reply
  20. newz4all says:

    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

    Reply
  21. newz4all says:

    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/

    Reply
  22. lakeeffectsnow says:

    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/

    Reply
  23. frang says:

    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.

    Reply
  24. interesting stuff says:

    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

    Reply
  25. rkilowatt says:

    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.

    Reply
  26. Garrett says:

    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?

    Reply
  27. Scott Nodland says:

    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

    Reply
  28. calling it a day says:

    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

    Reply
  29. Please Call Me says:

    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

    Reply
  30. Please Call Me says:

    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/

    Reply
  31. Glow In The Dark says:

    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.

    Reply
  32. newz4all says:

    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

    Reply
  33. a shift in optics says:

    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..

    Reply
  34. a shift in optics says:

    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/

    Reply
  35. Caught In A Riptide says:

    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

    Reply
  36. A Shift In Optics says:

    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

    Reply
  37. Protect us From The Truth says:

    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

    Reply
  38. More Good Work From ap says:

    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

    Reply
  39. newz4all says:

    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

    Reply
  40. newz4all says:

    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

    Reply
  41. blueskybigstar says:

    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

    Reply
  42. newz4all says:

    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

    Reply
  43. newz4all says:

    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

    Reply
  44. lakeeffectsnow says:

    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

    Reply
  45. John Robb says:

    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

    Reply
  46. zot23 says:

    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.)

    Reply
  47. Jerry says:

    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.

    Reply
  48. jeo marimon says:

    @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

    Reply
  49. lakeeffectsnow says:

    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/

    Reply
  50. Wi Fi Vagabond says:

    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

    Reply
  51. Twilight of the Bombs says:

    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

    Reply
  52. Diane Van Ort says:

    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.

    Reply
  53. Twilight of the Bombs says:

    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

    Reply
  54. newz4all says:

    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

    Reply
  55. Beam Me Up Scotty says:

    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

    Reply
  56. Haley says:

    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 :)

    Reply
  57. Posing With An SS Flag In Afghan says:

    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

    Reply
  58. Twilight of the Bombs says:

    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

    Reply
  59. A Shift In Optics says:

    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/

    Reply
  60. Just Following Orders says:

    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

    Reply
  61. newz4all says:

    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 !!!!

    Reply
  62. Send In The Drones says:

    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.

    Reply
  63. A Shift In Optics says:

    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

    Reply
  64. Twilight of the Bombs says:

    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/

    Reply
  65. Dirty Masquerade says:

    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

    Reply
  66. Dirty Masquerade says:

    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

    Reply
  67. Mark says:

    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

    Reply
  68. John says:

    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???

    Reply
  69. tjallen says:

    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.”

    Reply
  70. tjallen says:

    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.”

    Reply
  71. Radar O'Really says:

    A bomb threat forced the evacuation of a National Security Agency facility under construction in Utah on Monday but investigators found nothing suspicious.

    The site for the spy agency is being built at Camp Williams, a military base just south of Salt Lake City.

    FBI declined to say how the threat was received but said it led to an evacuation at the site.

    FBI agents spent several hours at the site after the threat was received but “found nothing suspicious”.

    usa officials have released few details on the purpose of the National Security Agency center.

    http://news.yahoo.com/bomb-threat-forces-evacuation-utah-spy-fbi-says-232808355.html

    Reply
  72. Center Cannot Hold says:

    this must have one HELL of a Bomb !!!!

    wonder what the explosive used was …. and the Bombmaker(s) must be damn good / improving.

    A Yemeni soldier detonated a bomb hidden in his military uniform during a rehearsal for a military parade, killing 96 fellow soldiers and wounding at least 200 on Monday in one of the deadliest attacks in the capital in years.

    http://news.yahoo.com/96-yemeni-soldiers-killed-suicide-bombing-205748831.html

    A suicide bomber in army uniform killed more than 90 soldiers in the heart of the Yemeni capital on Monday and an al Qaeda affiliate threatened more attacks if a usa-backed campaign against militants in the front-line state did not stop.

    The bombing, which wounded more than 200 people, underscored the dangers Yemen faces as it battles Islamist Freedom Fighters entrenched in the south and threatening shipping lanes in the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea.

    http://news.yahoo.com/death-toll-yemen-suicide-bombing-rises-90-132018282.html

    Reply
  73. Teame Zazzu says:

    Wide Area Airborn Surveillance: Opportunities and Challenges – Gerard Medioni

    Play video
    Wide Area Airborn Surveillance: Opportunities and Challenges – Gerard Medioni, University of Southern California A new generation of airborne sensors allows very large images (60M‐1G pixels) to be…
    00:35:27
    Added on 8/15/11

    Air force “INCIDENTAL” espionage argument is disingenuous, farcical at best. These systems use sensors like ARGUS and Persistics software and use automatic object recognition across 36 square miles to tack every moving object. Anywhere with a military base of any kind nearby would fall under this incidental surveillance.

    You need to watch these two videos if you have not done so already. The first video is a description in detail of wide-area-surveillance-systems. This video is the most in-depth look at the technology available. Watch the entire video and you wont be disappointed. The video shows that current capabilities allow for 3d generation of landscapes, tracking of every car, and the ability to automatically discern dead-drop, brush-pass and coordinated movement of vehicles by querying the system (queries take 2 minutes to 7 hrs to process depending on size of the data set) as well as shows WASS in use over the USA. The video makes reference to the “clif data set” which appears to be the only WASS data set that has been declassified for r&d purposes. The system appears designed with the tracking of all vehicles, activity detection, speeding and traffic violations and persistent surveillance goals for the program. The video also explains multi-sensor overlay techniques as well as discusses system limitations. As DHS pushes to utilize the GORGON STARE over the USA, one wonders if this video shows that ARGUS is already here…

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R1FEcy6RV-k&feature=share
    http://www.youtube.com

    The second video is a shor clip showing how argus uses automatic object recognition and tracking using “tracklets” which would be a good video for your blog.

    DARPA Video and Image Retrieval and Analysis Tool (VIRAT)
    http://www.youtube.com

    Thank you for all your efforts from Teame Zazzu

    The discussion of WASS systems needs to address the SOFTWARE capabilities rather then focus on the camera sensor package exclusively. To that end, ARGUS, GORGON STARE, KESTREL etc. all appear to synthesize into the Persistics software and “Pursuer Viewer”. DHS appears to be attempting to integrate WASS and Persistics with systems like “Tentacle” to coordinate handoff of tracked individuals from WASS (exteriors) to tracking individuals inside buildings (interiors), thereby circumventing line-of-sight limitations of UAVs in civilian domestic airspace.

    Analysts working at ground stations will interact with the transmitted airborne video data. For example, Persistics has been integrated into the Air Force Research Laboratory–developed Pursuer viewer to allow analysts to pan, zoom, rewind, query, and overlay maps and other metadata. With this viewer, they can use Persistics to make requests such as, “Give me the frames that recorded this vehicle from one to two o’clock this afternoon,” or “Show me all the vehicles that stop at this location today.” Says Persistics project leader Holger Jones, “With Persistics, analysts can determine the relationships between vehicles, people, buildings, and events.”

    In collaboration with the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), Air Force, Army, and several Department of Defense laboratories, Livermore is incorporating the Persistics pipeline into data-processing ground stations fed with video data from Constant Hawk video cameras onboard both unmanned and manned aircraft. Recent tests of Constant Hawk imagery have validated Persistics’ approach, demonstrating 1,000-times compression of raw video collections while maintaining high fidelity. In comparison, compression of still images can reduce data content tenfold, while standard video compression can achieve at best a 30-times data reduction.

    Persistics, the product of several years’ effort, is an innovative data-processing “pipeline” that takes a radically different approach to addressing the video-data overload challenge. (See the box below.) The technique retains the level of detail necessary for detecting anomalies while at the same time compressing the unchanging “background” and everything in motion by about 1,000 times without losing pertinent information. As such, the approach ameliorates the dearth of communication bandwidth for transporting video without losing image fidelity. Indeed, Persistics technology can produce subpixel resolution for the background and any “movers” (people and vehicles), thereby allowing for additional analyses of suspicious activities. A single pixel can correspond to anywhere from several square meters to less than 1 square meter of real estate.

    The Persistics architecture can support near real-time monitoring for tactical combat missions as well as forensic analysis of past events. Its analysis algorithms permit surveillance systems to “stare” at key people, vehicles, locations, and events for hours and even days at a time while automatically searching with unsurpassed detail for anomalies or preselected targets. The Livermore breakthrough combines optimized hardware featuring the newest generation of graphics chips (typically used for computer gaming) with innovative algorithms. Some algorithms focus on compressing data while others analyze the streaming video content to automatically extract items of interest.

    Reply
  74. Banana Republic says:

    The Fish That Ate the Whale: The Life and Times of America’s Banana King

    When Samuel Zemurray arrived in America in 1891, he was tall, gangly, and penniless. When he died in the grandest house in New Orleans sixty-nine years later, he was among the richest, most powerful men in the world. In between, he worked as a fruit peddler, a banana hauler, a dockside hustler, and a plantation owner. He battled and conquered the United Fruit Company, becoming a symbol of the best and worst of the United States: proof that America is the land of opportunity, but also a classic example of the corporate pirate who treats foreign nations as the backdrop for his adventures. In Latin America, when people shouted “Yankee, go home!” it was men like Zemurray they had in mind.

    Rich Cohen’s brilliant historical profile The Fish That Ate the Whale unveils Zemurray as a hidden kingmaker and capitalist revolutionary, driven by an indomitable will to succeed. Known as El Amigo, the Gringo, or simply Z, the Banana Man lived one of the great untold stories of the last hundred years. Starting with nothing but a cart of freckled bananas, he built a sprawling empire of banana cowboys, mercenary soldiers, Honduran peasants, CIA agents, and American statesmen. From hustling on the docks of New Orleans to overthrowing Central American governments, from feuding with Huey Long to working with the Dulles brothers, Zemurray emerges as an unforgettable figure, connected to the birth of modern American diplomacy, public relations, business, and war — a monumental life that reads like a parable of the American dream.

    http://www.amazon.com/The-Fish-That-Ate-Whale/dp/0374299277/ref=la_B001HD2X0E_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1338777220&sr=1-1

    King of the banana republic

    Samuel Zemurray smuggled weapons, fomented revolution and advised presidents. His real job: The Banana Man

    http://www.salon.com/2012/06/03/king_of_the_banana_republic/singleton/

    Reply
  75. Feeding The Newz Cycle says:

    from national propaganda / pentagon radio (so consider the source)(plus one of the hosts is renee “dramatic pause” montagne)

    Afghans Worry Bagram Could Turn Into Guantanamo

    Three months ago in Afghanistan, US officials yielded to the demands of President Hamid Karzai and promised to turn over control of the prison at Bagram airbase to Afghan control. But as the process gets underway, neither side seems to agree on the details. There are worries the Americans may have created a Guantanamo-style administrative detention regime that is against Afghan law.

    http://www.npr.org/2012/06/04/154268385/afghans-worry-bagram-could-turn-into-guantanamo?ft=1&f=1004

    Reply
  76. David Sirota says:

    A CIA spook spills his secrets

    Henry Crumpton’s new book, “The Art of Intelligence,” gives a rare glimpse into intelligence’s inner workings

    Crumpton recently discussed President Obama’s “kill list”; what went wrong before and after 9/11 in Afghanistan; how America’s national security apparatus targets suspects; and whether it’s fair to worry that the changing definition of warfare is undermining age-old democratic ideals with David Sirota.

    http://www.salon.com/2012/06/04/a_cia_spook_spills_his_secrets/singleton/

    Reply
  77. Jeff Kaye says:

    Jim, this is specially for you. Must read to very end of quote. Probably nothing directly relatable to today, but who knows. It’s from the Church Committee’s first volume, on Foreign and Military Intelligence, pg. 421:

    Cooperation between the intelligence agencies and organizations in foreign countries was not limited to relationships with the intelligence or internal security organizations. Some MKULTRA research was conducted abroad. While this is, in itself, not a questionable practice, it is important that such research abroad not be undertaken to evade American laws. That this was a possibility is suggested by an ARTICHOKE memorandum [6/13/52] in which it is noted that working wit the scientists of a foreign country “might be very advantageous” since that government “permitted certain activities which were not permitted by the United States government (i.e., experiments on anthrax, etc.).”

    Reply
  78. I Wanna Be Sedated says:

    Anarchists attack science

    Armed extremists targeting nuclear and nanotechnology workers

    http://www.nature.com/news/anarchists-attack-science-1.10729

    Anarchists ‘shot nuclear boss Roberto Adinolfi’

    Italian anarchist group has said it carried out an attack on a senior executive of nuclear engineering group Ansaldo Nucleare

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-18036388

    A globe-trotting group of “eco-terrorists” is relentlessly trying to kill prominent scientists all across the world

    And they’re getting good at it.

    http://www.businessinsider.com/eco-anarchist-terrorist-group-tries-to-assassinate-defense-researchers-2012-6

    Reply
  79. Drone Me Drone You says:

    Getting Them Dead

    After reading the article that appeared under the headline “Secret ‘Kill List’ Proves a Test of Obama’s Principles and Will” in the New York Times, I couldn’t talk about much else. I found myself wanting to analyze it, as one might dissect a literary text, to better understand how it produced its effect on the reader: in my case, shock and awe, tempered by consolatory flickers of disbelief. Like literature, the story resists summarization, partly because the Times reporters, Jo Becker and Scott Shane, employ detail, word choice, diction, and tone to direct and influence the reader’s response without, on the surface, appearing to do so — and to make a familiar narrative seem new. – Francine Prose

    http://www.nybooks.com/blogs/nyrblog/2012/jun/06/getting-them-dead/

    Reply
  80. USG Water Carrier says:

    New York Times Washington correspondent David Sanger’s ‘Confront and Conceal: Obama’s Secret Wars and Surprising Use of American Power’: 5 Revelations in Obama’s Wars

    Sanger’s meticulously reported book details the backroom meetings, whispered deals, and secret actions that have shaped American policy in the Middle East. From Stuxnet to the Arab Spring, the five most revealing moments from Obama’s wars.

    1. Leading the Hackers (Cyber War)

    2. Afghanistan’s Pakistan Problem

    3. The Pakistani Nuclear-Bomb Scare

    4. Other Plans to Get Bin Laden

    5. The War on Iran’s Scientists

    http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/06/06/david-sanger-s-confront-and-conceal-5-revelations-in-obama-s-wars.html

    Reply
  81. For Your Information says:

    The Defense Department has stopped issuing weapons to thousands of law enforcement agencies until it is satisfied that state officials can account for all the surplus guns, aircraft, Humvees and armored personnel carriers it has given police under a $2.6 Billion program.

    The program provides police departments and other law enforcement agencies with military equipment ranging from guns and helicopters to computers and air conditioners and even toilet paper. The equipment is cheap or free for law enforcement agencies to acquire, but much of it comes with strict rules that prohibit it from being sold and dictate how it must be tracked.

    While some gear, including guns, has been stolen or otherwise gone missing over the years, the reporting requirements themselves aren’t new and that the review wasn’t prompted by anything specific.

    The surplus program has grown exponentially in recent years, with a record $498 million worth of property distributed in fiscal year 2011. That includes $191 million in aircraft alone and more than 15,000 weapons worth nearly $4.8 million. Military officials said the program has become more popular as law enforcement agencies sustain deep budget cuts.

    news.yahoo.com/pentagon-halts-free-guns-police-orders-audit-172935835.html

    Reply
  82. Did Not Take Long says:

    EPA drones spy on farmers in Nebraska and Iowa

    The Environmental Protection Agency has been accused of violating the privacy of cattle farmers in Nebraska and Iowa by using drones to spy on them.

    Last week, Nebraska’s congressional delegation submitted a joint letter to EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson expressing concerns about the surveillance and questioning its legality.

    The EPA responded that the use of drones is legal and cost-effective.

    So far, seven flights have taken place over Iowa, and nine over Nebraska.

    news.yahoo.com/epa-drones-spy-farmers-nebraska-iowa-150411579.html

    Reply
  83. tjallen says:

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-18483785

    Yemen southern army commander Qatan dies in suicide attack

    General Salem Ali Qatan on 17 June 2012 General Salem Ali Qatan was Yemen’s southern army commander

    The Yemeni army commander leading the fight against militants in the south of the country has been killed in a suicide attack, officials say.

    Gen Salem Ali Qatan was killed in the port city of Aden by a man wearing an explosives belt, reports said.

    Reply
  84. Don't Drone Me Bro says:

    0 Administration’s Drone Death Figures Don’t Add Up

    Last month, a “senior administration official” said the number of civilians killed in drone strikes in Pakistan under President 0 is in the “single digits.” But last year “US officials” said drones in Pakistan killed about 30 civilians in just a yearlong stretch under 0.

    Both claims can’t be true.

    A centerpiece of President 0’s national security strategy, drones strikes in Pakistan are credited by the administration with crippling Al Qaeda but criticized by human rights groups and others for being conducted in secret and killing civilians. The underlying facts are often in dispute and claims about how many people died and who they were vary widely.

    So ProPublica decided to narrow it down to just one issue: have the administration’s own claims been consistent?

    http://www.propublica.org/article/obama-drone-death-figures-dont-add-up

    Reply
  85. please says:

    There appears to be a lot of positions regarding cargo ship that was heading to Syria. Investigate plausible suggestion that its just a media push to further put Russia in bad limelight and stymie their peace process proposal?

    Reply
  86. Group W Bench says:

    usa DEA agent guns down and kills alledged drug trafficker

    http://news.yahoo.com/dea-agent-kills-suspected-trafficker-honduras-173148563.html

    wasn’t it just last week that the amerikans were there just for training and blahblahblah and now one week later they are murdering and gunning down and soon to be firing cowardly drone missiles and raping women and children and utlizing the services of prostitutes. ugly amerikans indeed. but oh so exceptional !!!!

    Reply
  87. newz4all says:

    Pakistan’s Dr Afridi, from CIA asset to solitary cell

    There can be few jail cells in Pakistan as lonely as the one occupied by Shakil Afridi, the doctor who helped the CIA hunt down Osama bin Laden.

    He is kept in solitary confinement to protect him from hundreds of convicted militants eager to avenge their hero’s death. He may not be safe even from the guards – only two trusted officials are allowed to see him.

    Beyond the walls, Afridi is as much a prisoner of Pakistan’s growing resentment of the United States as he is a victim of his own dalliance with high-stakes espionage.

    http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/06/24/us-pakistan-afridi-idUSBRE85N0OY20120624

    Reply
  88. Operation Iraqi Liberation says:

    The Biggest And Most Expensive Embassy In The World Is About To Get A Massive Upgrade

    usa occupation troops have withdrawn from Iraq, but usa Tax Payer money has not

    The usa State Department planning to spend up to $115 Million to upgrade usa Embassy in Baghdad, Iraq, which is already usa’s biggest and most expensive in the world, according to pre-solicitation notices published this month.

    http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/troops-have-withdrawn-from-iraq-but-us-money-hasnt/2012/06/27/gJQA4Q6l7V_story.html

    http://www.businessinsider.com/us-embassy-baghdad-money-2012-6

    Reply
  89. Tweeting Along The Watchtower says:

    Judge Orders Twitter to Release Protester’s Messages

    A criminal court judge in Manhattan has ruled that Twitter must relinquish to prosecutors messages that were sent out by a Brooklyn writer during the Occupy Wall Street protests.

    The writer, Malcolm Harris, was one of about 700 protesters arrested in October while walking on the roadway of the Brooklyn Bridge. He was charged with disorderly conduct, a violation. In January, the Manhattan district attorney’s office subpoenaed all messages that he posted to Twitter, from two days before the Occupy Wall Street protests began in September through the end of 2011.

    Mr. Harris’s lawyer filed a motion to quash the subpoena, saying it had not been delivered properly, was overly broad and was issued for an improper purpose.

    Judge Matthew A. Sciarrino Jr. dismissed the motion in April, writing that Mr. Harris lacked the standing to oppose the subpoena because under Twitter’s policies, he had granted the company the “worldwide, nonexclusive royalty-free” right to distribute his messages, which were all publicly available.

    Twitter itself then sought to squash the subpoena. But on Monday, Judge Sciarrino ordered Twitter to turn over Mr. Harris’s messages. While noting that laws regarding social media are evolving, he held that public speech, regardless of the forum, does not enjoy the protections of private speech.

    “The Constitution gives you the right to post, but as numerous people have learned, there are still consequences for your public posts,” Judge Sciarrino wrote. “What you give to the public belongs to the public. What you keep to yourself belongs only to you.”

    http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/07/02/judge-orders-twitter-to-release-protesters-messages/

    Reply
  90. klynn says:

    FYI:

    USDA (actually EPA as I understand it) might change the ethanol mandate trying to reduce the demand for corn in order to help the food producing sector but USDA has come out and said, in affect, no way are we hurting the green economy (ethanol).

    Thought this would be a good sidebar possibility to your post today on the Farm Bubble.

    Reply
  91. lefty665 says:

    “The elephant in the room was not whether Mitt was involved in investment decisions but Mitt’s retention of control of the firm and therefore his ability to extract a huge economic benefit by delaying his giving “Tup of that control,” said one former associate…Romney’s negotiating position was along these lines: “I created an incredibly valuable firm that’s making all you guys rich. You owe me.’ That’s the negotiation.”

    I commented earlier in the week that Romney’s exit smelled like extortion. Seems that’s what these quotes from Bain execs who were there are politely saying.

    Puts an even finer point on the tax returns. Romney’s income over the decade as payout of his share of all the deals that were in process had to be massive. That money was on top of retirement payout for Bain’s past profitability.

    Opinions varied on how to project profits, and Romney’s share, over the life of the deals. With every day that passed he was collecting his owners share of revenue as it came in. That reduced the future money to argue about and made him a ton of money. The CEO salary was a thumb in the eye, because he could. What it really did was put a very fine point on his leverage.

    Implied, to the effect: “Gee guys, I’m sorry you don’t see my value in the deals the same way I do. Remember buckos, this temple is mine, all mine. If you make me feel you’re ungrateful that I’ve chosen to make you rich, I will be very disappointed. That could make me just quit negotiating, take my share as it comes in, and pull the temple down around us when that’s done. All I have to do is quit signing the SEC docs. Oh, and I’m really busy doing charity work with the Olympics. Signing is a distraction from that, so you have to pay the opportunity cost. That was $100k last year, it’ll be $250k this year, and maybe a million next year if I feel like doing it at all.”

    Other reports are that offshore tax havens were part of Bain from the start.Smells like a lot of money got through those worm holes.

    Upshot may be that a lot of what Romney and the campaign have been saying about his operational role is narrowly not unreasonable. That argument distracts attention from the real issues. Their concerns about questions raised by numbers that would be disclosed in tax returns are absolutely true.

    There is no substitute for tax returns going back to at least 1998, the last year before the retroactive retirement. Remember Deep Throat, “Follow the money”.

    http://www.bostonglobe.com/news/politics/2012/07/20/what-happened-when-mitt-romney-left-bain-capital-romney-kept-reins-bargained-hard-severance/ZWC9cWdfp0Oh6KbatsCy0K/story.html?s_campaign=sm_tw

    Reply
  92. Mike says:

    When reading this site on my blackberry, I some times get a popup asking if I want to send the story to a friend. I am not able to close that popup window, so I can’t use your site.
    This popup has happened on other sites, and on them I am able to scroll to the right, and close the popup window. On your site I am not able to scroll to the right.
    First off, if the client is a blackberry, or other small screen device, do not present that popup. At least find the setting which will allow me to scroll to the right.
    Thanks.

    Reply
  93. lefty665 says:

    http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-08-06/romney-persona-non-grata-in-italy-for-bain-s-deal-skirting-taxes.html

    This deal might be the one that makes sense of several things. Apparently the Italians are still so mad about it that Mittens skipped a stop there.

    Bain made about a Billion dollars from buying and reselling the state telephone directory.
    Bain laundered the profits through Luxembourg to avoid taxes.
    The buy was in late 1997 when Mittens was admittedly (sorry, couldn’t resist) still running things.
    Bain sold in early 2000, reportedly making 28 bucks for each dollar invested.
    Presuming they followed their usual MO, they bled off $10’s of millions more before selling.

    The article opines Mittens made $50-$60 million. That raises questions and facilitates inferences:

    (1) Exactly how much did Mittens make? (what’s $10 million between friends?)
    (2) How much income did Mittens declare in the USA?
    (3) How much did he pay in US taxes? (see B below for tax deferral)

    (A) Valuation of this deal is big enough to drive a 3 year negotiation on terms of separation.
    Mittens wants it all, Bain wants to discount the future value.
    It has to sell to establish actual value so they can settle.
    Mittens sits tight and preserves his standing as sole stockholder, Chair, CEO, etc.
    Extracting a six figure salary for signing documents that let Bain continue making deals rubs their noses in it and adds pressure while he waits them out.

    (B)This could be the mechanism for low (actual cost) valuation of assets going into his 401k.
    The actual sale price, and subsequent returns, could be a material portion of the reported current value.

    (C)Perhaps the “lots of taxes” Mittens says he paid were in places like Luxembourg and not in the USA.

    But nevermind, Joe Libermann says we shouldn’t be paying any attention to all this. Mittens says he doesn’t want to release the returns, so that’s it. Mitt said it, I believe it, that settles it. Move along, nothing to see here.

    Reply
  94. Gimme Shelter says:

    The NYPD’s Domain Awareness System Is Watching You

    The New York City Police Department and Microsoft have partnered up to bring the world a surveillance system straight out of a sci-fi novel. With a name both mundane and a little bit menacing, the Domain Awareness System allows the department to access around 3,000 CCTV cameras around the city and link the feeds with software to cross-check criminal and terrorist databases, take radiation levels, scan license plates, and more — 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, from a lower Manhattan headquarters. And when Microsoft turns around and sells the technology to other cities, New York gets a cut.

    http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2012/08/nypd-domain-awareness-system-microsoft-is-watching-you.html

    Reply
  95. Gimme Shelter says:

    Virus found in Mideast can spy on finance transactions

    A new cyber surveillance virus has been found in the Middle East that can spy on financial transactions, email and social networking activity, according to a leading computer security firm, Kaspersky Lab.

    Dubbed Gauss, the virus may also be capable of attacking critical infrastructure and was built in the same laboratories as Stuxnet, the computer worm widely believed to have been used by the United States and Israel to attack Iran’s nuclear program, Kaspersky Lab said on Thursday.

    The Moscow-based firm said it found Gauss had infected personal computers in Lebanon, Israel and the Palestinian Territories. It declined to speculate on who was behind the virus but said it was related to Stuxnet and two other cyber espionage tools, Flame and Duqu.

    http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/08/09/us-cybersecurity-gauss-idUSBRE8780NJ20120809

    Reply
  96. brian_damage says:

    This story has been languishing for almost a month…

    http://velvelonnationalaffairs.blogspot.com/2012/07/it-appears-that-madoff-scam-was-not.html

    none of the securities that Madoff inducingly told victims he would buy and sell for them — were ever bought or sold. There were, the Trustee and his lawyer have told victims, the courts and the world, no transactions in these securities. Ergo, a Ponzi scheme.

    But apparently there were purchases and sales of these securities — untold and currently unknown billions of dollars of these purchases and sales. On his books, however, Bernie Madoff did not, as he should have, credit the investor-victims with ownership of the billions of dollars in securities he was buying (and selling). Instead, on his books he unlawfully kept ownership for himself. There was a fraud alright, but the fraud was not the Ponzi fraud of failing to buy the very items the crook said he would buy. The fraud, rather, was in failing to credit his investors with the ownership of the securities on Madoff’s books, as should have been done, and instead keeping the securities for Madoff himself.
    ———————

    So why are the transactions being hidden? Clawback limitations and perhaps a giant pile ‘o cash for starters. Cui Bono?

    Reply
  97. Gimme Shelter says:

    WIKILEAKS: Surveillance Cameras Around The Country Are Being Used In A Huge Spy Network

    TRAPWIRE is the name of a program revealed in the latest Wikileaks bonanza

    http://mirror2.wikileaks-press.org/gifiles/releasedate/2012-08-09.html

    Stratfor emails reveal secret, widespread TrapWire surveillance system

    http://rt.com/usa/news/stratfor-trapwire-abraxas-wikileaks-313/

    http://www.businessinsider.com/trapwire-everything-you-need-to-know-2012-8

    http://www.youtube.com/davidseamanonline

    On Monday February 27th, 2012, WikiLeaks began publishing The Global Intelligence Files, over five million e-mails from the Texas headquartered “global intelligence” company Stratfor. The e-mails date between July 2004 and late December 2011. They reveal the inner workings of a company that fronts as an intelligence publisher, but provides confidential intelligence services to large corporations, such as Bhopal’s Dow Chemical Co., Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Raytheon and government agencies, including the US Department of Homeland Security, the US Marines and the US Defence Intelligence Agency. The emails show Stratfor’s web of informers, pay-off structure, payment laundering techniques and psychological methods.

    Reply
  98. Gimme Shelter says:

    After Sinai Attack, usa and Egypt Step Up Talks on Security

    The Pentagon is discussing a variety of options for sharing intelligence with Egypt’s military and police in Sinai. They include intercepts of cellphone or radio conversations of militants suspected of plotting attacks and overhead imagery provided by aircraft — both piloted and drones — or satellites.

    Ansar al-Jihad, a little-known group, also claimed responsibility for two attacks on a gas pipeline that traverses the Sinai Desert to israel. It was not yet clear who carried out last Sunday’s attack, which american officials described as disturbingly sophisticated.

    Egypt, though it receives $1.5 Billion a year in arms and other military assistance from the usa, is deeply averse to direct american involvement in its security and, in public at least, plays down the aid assistance it has received.

    https://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/12/world/middleeast/egypt-and-us-step-up-talks-on-security-assistance.html?pagewanted=all

    Reply
  99. What Is Plan B says:

    At least 18 killed in Yemen attack on intelligence HQ

    Suspected al Qaeda-linked militants killed at least 18 Yemeni soldiers and security guards on Saturday in a car bombing and grenade attack on the intelligence service headquarters in Aden. More bodies were believed buried under the rubble of the building, part of which was leveled in the attack in the southern port city.

    The United States has been pouring aid into Yemen to stem the threat of attacks from al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) and to try to prevent any spillover of violence into neighboring Saudi Arabia, the world’s top oil exporter.

    http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/08/18/us-yemen-attack-idUSBRE87H03I20120818

    well, hell, a ton of money, a bunch of “trainers” (i.e., dirty filthy mercenaries) in-country, countless drone attacks and still AQAP can blow s*** up at will.

    what was Plan B ????

    Reply
  100. Gimme Shelter says:

    Occupy Wall Street protester seeks to block tweets subpoena

    An Occupy Wall Street protester who took part in a mass protest in New York last year is accusing a judge of overstepping his authority by ordering Twitter to hand over the demonstrator’s tweets and account information to prosecutors.

    Malcolm Harris, a Brooklyn-based writer, claims the information sought by prosecutors is akin to surveillance records, because computer logs will show his location when he connected to the site.

    “In this case, anyone reviewing the information and material Twitter has been ordered to turn over will know each time – between September 15 and December 30, 2011 – Harris logged into his Twitter account, where he was when he logged in, how long he remained there and both what he did and who he communicated with while he was logged in,” Harris’ lawyers wrote in a memorandum accompanying the petition.

    Harris’ filing also seeks an order requiring Sciarrino to recognize his standing to challenge the subpoena on free speech grounds and the Fourth Amendment’s protection against warrantless searches.

    http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/08/21/us-usa-occupy-twitter-idUSBRE87K0V420120821

    Reply
  101. Gimme Shelter says:

    Daphne Eviatar: Definitive Questions to be Argued at 9/11 Hearings at Guantanamo Bay Concentration & Torture Camp This Week

    Starting 8.21.2012, almost 11 years after the terrorist attacks of September 11, the US military commissions at Guantanamo Bay will hear the first set of arguments in preparation for the trial of the five alleged plotters.

    Lawyers will argue over whether the US constitution applies at Guantanamo Bay, as it would in a regular US court; whether everything that Khalid Sheik Mohammed and his four alleged co-conspirators say is “presumptively classified” – especially any statements about their capture and treatment by the US government in CIA custody; and whether the government can prevent defense lawyers from sharing even unclassified information with the media.

    It’s no exaggeration to say that this will be a defining moment for the United States.

    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/daphne-eviatar/definitive-questions-to-b_b_1811966.html?utm_hp_ref=world

    Train derailment cuts internet to Guantánamo Bay Concentration & TOrture Camp, delays 9/11 hearing

    A train derailment in Maryland cut internet service between the war court compound here and the Pentagon on Tuesday, forcing a day’s delay of pretrial hearings in the September 11 terror case.

    The source of the outage was a train derailment near Baltimore that killed two teenage girls. All internet links from Guantánamo Bay move through two satellite dishes on the base that beam signals to downlink locations in Maine and Maryland. The train derailment damaged the fiber-optic line in Maryland.

    http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/08/21/2961829/internet-outage-delays-911-hearing.html

    Reply
  102. Gimme Shelter says:

    why does 0 want this “Free” Trans-Pacific Partnership pact so badly??? who/what is he doing the bidding of??? usa chamber of commerce??? with clinton toward end of his 2nd term, cheney especially/bush and now with 0 i see politicians who do everything possible to HARM America and Americans – NOT Help!!!

    Study sees US auto job losses if Japan joins trade pact

    Job losses could be greater if yen depreciates significantly

    http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/08/21/usa-japan-autos-idUSL2E8JLDND20120821

    Reply
  103. DeadLast says:

    There is a very important mortgage case decided by the Washington State Supreme Court last week that says MERS does not have the authority to foreclose on a property in Washington. http://www.courts.wa.gov/opinions/index.cfm?fa=opinions.showOpinion&filename=862061MAJ

    According to TruthOut, this will have major implications across the country. truth-out.org/news/item/11045-real-remedies-for-the-foreclosure-crisis-exist-the-game-changing-implications-of-bain-v-mers

    In addition, the court decided that if MERS does file a foreclosure, it may (decided on a case by case basis) be in violation of the Consumer Protection Act.

    One funny thing, on page 25 of the decision, the court noted that MERS failed to identify any of its principals, but noted that in another case MERS had over 20,000 vice presidents signing documents…

    Reply
  104. Gimme Shelter says:

    Filmmaker Laura Poitras profiles William Binney, a 32-year veteran of the National Security Agency who helped design a top-secret program he says is broadly collecting Americans’ personal data.

    It took me a few days to work up the nerve to phone William Binney. As someone already a “target” of the United States government, I found it difficult not to worry about the chain of unintended consequences I might unleash by calling Mr. Binney, a 32-year veteran of the National Security Agency turned whistle-blower. He picked up. I nervously explained I was a documentary filmmaker and wanted to speak to him. To my surprise he replied: “I’m tired of my government harassing me and violating the Constitution. Yes, I’ll talk to you.”

    Mr. Binney described details about Stellar Wind, the NSA’s top-secret domestic spying program begun after 9/11, which was so controversial that it nearly caused top Justice Department officials to resign in protest, in 2004.

    To those who understand state surveillance as an abstraction, I will try to describe a little about how it has affected me. The United States apparently placed me on a “watch-list” in 2006 after I completed a film about the Iraq war. I have been detained at the border more than 40 times. Once, in 2011, when I was stopped at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York and asserted my First Amendment right not to answer questions about my work, the border agent replied, “If you don’t answer our questions, we’ll find our answers on your electronics.”’ As a filmmaker and journalist entrusted to protect the people who share information with me, it is becoming increasingly difficult for me to work in the United States. Although I take every effort to secure my material, I know the NSA has technical abilities that are nearly impossible to defend against if you are targeted.

    Laura Poitras is a documentary filmmaker who has been nominated for an Academy Award and whose work was exhibited in the 2012 Whitney Biennial. She is working on a trilogy of films about post-9/11 America.

    http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/23/opinion/the-national-security-agencys-domestic-spying-program.html?ref=opinion

    Reply
  105. tjallen says:

    I suppose you’ve seen this one:

    Prosecutor: Ga. murder case uncovers terror plot
    Four Army soldiers based in southeast Georgia killed a former comrade and his girlfriend to protect an anarchist militia group they formed that stockpiled assault weapons and plotted a range of anti-government attacks, prosecutors told a judge Monday.

    more
    http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_SOLDIERS_CHARGED_PLOT?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2012-08-27-17-35-13

    Note that while the article title says terror, they were only charged with gang membership! (and murder). Also note they are described as anarchist group, not right wing or left wing terror.

    Reply
  106. Long Walk Home says:

    Court ruling that NSA spying violated 4th Amendment remains secret
    EFF sues US to uncover details of court decision on phone and e-mail spying

    Last month, a letter to Congress noted that “on at least one occasion” a secretive US court ruled that National Security Agency (NSA) surveillance carried out under a 2008 act of Congress violated the Fourth Amendment’s restriction against unreasonable searches and seizures. But the actual ruling remains secret. Decisions handed down by the US’s Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) are classified “because of the sensitive intelligence matters they concern,” the letter from the Office of the National Intelligence Director to Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) states.

    The explanation wasn’t good enough for the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), which filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for details on the FISC ruling or rulings. Today, the EFF followed that up with a lawsuit against the Department of Justice in US District Court in Washington, DC, saying its July 26 FOIA request has not been processed within the 20-day deadline.

    http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2012/08/court-ruling-that-nsa-spying-violated-4th-amendment-remains-secret/

    NSA Surveillance Violated Constitution, Secret FISA Court Found

    http://www.cato-at-liberty.org/nsa-surveillance-violated-constitution-secret-fisa-court-found/

    Letter acquired by Dangerroom @ wired.com

    http://www.wired.com/images_blogs/dangerroom/2012/07/2012-07-20-OLA-Ltr-to-Senator-Wyden-ref-Declassification-Request.pdf

    The EFF wants the information because of its current lawsuit against the NSA (i.e. Jewel vs. NSA) that alleges the US government operates an illegal mass domestic surveillance program. Three NSA whistleblowers — including William Binney — agreed to provide evidence that the NSA has been running a domestic spying program since 2001.

    The kicker is that there is ample evidence that the NSA has gone above and beyond the powers granted through the 2008 FISA Amendment Act by actively spying on the electronic communications of American citizens within the US and by coercing service providers to feed it any and all information it wants.

    That is what FISC found and what the government does not want to admit.

    http://www.businessinsider.com/nsa-spying-4th-amendment-2012-8

    Reply
  107. Operation Rolling Tunder says:

    The Guatemala News – Exactly how many US soldiers are in Guatemala and what do they do?

    We don’t want US military presence in Guatemala. We have extensively published against the illegal, ineffective and bloody war on drugs since 2008.

    Guatemala’s President General Otto Pérez is not to be trusted; the new government that started on January 2012 is already deeply involved in corruption and crime. And do not forget Otto Pérez and his army friend’s history in military intelligence during the civil war in Guatemala, when they used to work hand in hand with the CIA. It can be assumed they still work together; it is a logical assumption, a marriage of convenience.

    President Obama and the US military industrial complex are not to be trusted either; we haven’t seen a promise yet that they can keep. The scandals of corruption, assassination of civilians, torture, extraordinary rendition, etc. in Iraq, Afghanistan and other countries with US military presence just keep on coming.

    Bottom Line: It is not about the drugs, it is about the money.

    See news coverage about Big International Financial Institutions benefiting from laundering money, US included.

    http://www.guatemala-times.com/opinion/editorial/3248-exactly-how-many-us-soldiers-are-in-guatemala-and-what-do-they-do.html

    Reply
  108. Operation Rolling Thunder says:

    Guatemala-USA Drug Operation Riles Rights Groups

    Human Rights activists in Guatemala said Friday that a joint anti-drug operation between US Marines and the nation’s army threatens to revive memories of rights abuses during Guatemala’s 1960 – 1996 civil war.

    “Rural communities in Guatemala are fearful of the military being used to combat drug traffickers because the same techniques are applied that were used in contra (counterinsurgency) warfare,” said rights advocate Helen Mack, executive director of the Myrna Mack Foundation. “The historical memory is there and Guatemalans are fearful of that.”

    Kelsey Alford-Jones of the Guatemala Human Rights Commission/USA noted that Guatemalan armed forces, which were backed by the USA during the civil war, committed more than 93 percent of the acts of violence.

    more of the horrible nightmare that the usa caused in Guatemala and may well cause again at >>> http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/01/guatemala-us-drug-operation_n_1848731.html

    Reply
  109. Iced Coffee Is Delicious says:

    this is so very very cool. damn shame that the 0 admin has not been doing this type of thing country wide since Day One instead of cowardly drone attacking and killing everyone on the planet and allowing wall street to walk off with the loot scott free. god – a wasted four years on top of the wasted 8 year nightmare that cheney / bush was – how many more wasted years can this country and its citizens afford ????

    EMU partners with Wireless Ypsi to provide free Internet access to 2 low-income housing developments

    Two low-income Ypsilanti housing developments now have free wireless Internet access because of an initiative spearheaded by an Eastern Michigan University program and Wireless Ypsi.

    EMU’s Business Side of Youth program, Digital Inclusion, partnered with Wireless Ypsi to provide Internet access for Hollow Creek and Paradise Manor housing developments.

    much more of the coolness >>>>>
    http://annarbor.com/news/ypsilanti/paradise-manor-hollow-creek/?cmpid=mlive-@mlive-business-a2#.UEUrKSIY6F4

    Reply
  110. May We See Your Papers says:

    Lawyer for Assange detained at Heathrow and told she was on a ‘secret watch list’

    A lawyer acting for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange says she was stopped at Heathrow and told that she was on a secret watch-list and required special clearance before she could board her plane.

    Australian Jennifer Robinson said she was left stunned after being told by an airline crew that she was on an ‘inhibited person list’ that means she must have ‘done something controversial’.

    The incident happened in April but this is the first time Ms Robinson has talked about it to a British newspaper.

    Virgin Atlantic said it could not comment on the case ‘due to data protection’.

    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2197003/Lawyer-Assange-detained-Heathrow-told-secret-watch-list.html

    Reply
  111. The Policeman's Secret Ball says:

    didn’t the Swedes just used to make pornography???

    now they have become the world’s policeman. wth?!?!?

    A co-founder of popular file sharing website The Pirate Bay was arrested in Cambodia at the request of Sweden, where he faces a one-year prison term for violating copyright laws.

    “He is being detained in Cambodia and we are waiting to expel him,” Kirth Chantharith said. Cambodia has no extradition treaty with Sweden but has requested details of Svartholm Warg’s crime in order to process his handover, he said, adding that Cambodia would act as quickly as possible.

    http://news.yahoo.com/cambodia-arrests-pirate-bay-co-founder-034046775–finance.html

    Reply
  112. Marquis de Sade says:

    J. Bradford DeLong: Who Are We Becoming?: Torture Edition
    http://delong.typepad.com/sdj/2012/09/who-are-we-becoming-torture-edition.html

    Torture Without Accountability
    Scott Lemieux: Why hasn’t the Obama administration tried to prosecute any cheney / bush – era torture crimes?
    http://prospect.org/article/torture-without-accountability

    Adam Serwer: Investigation of cheney / bush – era Torture Concludes With No Charges
    http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2012/08/durham-torture-cia-obama-holder

    Reply
  113. Collateral Damage Happens says:

    USA drone strike in Yemen killed 13 civilians, including three women, security officials in the restive Middle Eastern country said.

    “This was one of the very few times when our target was completely missed. It was a mistake, but we hope it will not hurt our anti-terror efforts in the region,” a senior Yemeni Defense Ministry official said.

    “You want us to stay quiet while our wives and brothers are being killed for no reason. This attack is the real terrorism,” said Mansoor al-Maweri, who was near the scene of the strike.

    “I would not be surprised if a hundred tribesmen joined the lines of al Qaeda as a result of the latest drone mistake,” said Nasr Abdullah, an activist in the district of the attack. “This part of Yemen takes revenge very seriously.”

    http://www.cnn.com/2012/09/03/world/meast/yemen-drone-strike/?hpt=hp_t3

    John Brennan and the white house make new friends!! how exciting!!

    Reply
  114. tjallen says:

    9-6-2012 – Additional torture – yes, more. From the AP:

    Human Rights Watch said it has uncovered evidence of a wider use of waterboarding in American interrogations of detainees than has been acknowledged by the United States, in a report today that details further brutal treatment at secret CIA-run prisons under the Bush administration-era U.S. program of detention and rendition of terror suspects.

    http://www2.timesdispatch.com/news/2012/sep/06/human-rights-group-says-has-evidence-wider-us-wate-ar-2182523/

    Reply
  115. One Can Only Hope & Wish says:

    We’re one crucial step closer to seeing Tony Blair at The Hague

    Desmond Tutu has helped us see the true nature of what the former prime minister did to Iraq and increased pressure for a prosecution

    When Desmond Tutu wrote that Tony Blair should be treading the path to The Hague, he de-normalised what Blair has done. Tutu broke the protocol of power – the implicit accord between those who flit from one grand meeting to another – and named his crime. I expect that Blair will never recover from it.

    The offence is known by two names in international law: the crime of aggression and a crime against peace. It is defined by the Nuremberg principles as the “planning, preparation, initiation or waging of a war of aggression”. This means a war fought for a purpose other than self-defence: in other words outwith articles 33 and 51 of the UN Charter.

    http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/sep/03/tony-blair-the-hague-iraq-war

    Reply
  116. Hypocrisy Much says:

    The United States of America has refused to extradite a former president of Bolivia to the South American country to stand trial over political violence and corruption.

    http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/09/07/bolivia-usa-idUSL2E8K7CYG20120907

    Bolivian President Evo Morales denounces USA for refusing to extradite former leader

    http://news.yahoo.com/bolivia-denounces-us-extradition-denial-175926786.html?_esi=1

    USA Moves to Grant Former Mexican President Immunity in Suit

    A former Mexican president who is now a scholar at Yale University should be immune from a civil lawsuit brought against him in the United States in connection with a 1997 massacre during his term, the State Department said Friday.

    http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/09/world/americas/us-moves-to-grant-former-mexican-president-immunity-in-suit.html

    Reply
  117. Didn't Take Long says:

    shouldn’t Pete Hoekstra be jumping up and down about this???

    and yes, we are filing this under “Told You Murdering War On Drugs Bastards So”

    usa Suspends Its Antidrug Radar-Sharing With Honduras

    Seeking better controls for its militarized approach to combating drugs in Central America, the usa has suspended all sharing of radar intelligence with Honduras after the Honduran Air Force shot down two planes that might have been carrying drugs in July. <<< we do not recall reading / hearing about this in / from ANY usa corporate media outlet.

    The attacks were not previously disclosed by american officials. The officials said that american agents had not investigated the crash sites and did not know who or what had been aboard. <<< !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! no f***ing clue whatsoever and NO followup investigation ?!?!?! WTH !?!?!?! maybe the planes were carrying usa Missionaries just like before when usa proxy killers blew their plane out of the sky !!!! holy wah !!!!

    Insisting that no Americans were involved, the officials said the Honduran Air Force’s actions violated a bilateral agreement, which prohibits attacks on civilian aircraft. After the downings occurred, the American ambassador “expressed grave concern” and requested a full accounting. <<< wonder if the pun was intended – "grave" as the occupants of the shot down planes were sent to their graves ….

    The usa would continue to keep its radar intelligence to itself until Honduras put in place “remedial measures” that would prevent similar episodes. <<< here's a better idea – how about getting the HELL OUT OF HONDURAS AND QUIT MURDERING PEOPLE!??!?!?

    It is unclear what those measures might be. Nor is it clear whether the suspension represents a larger break with a policy of more direct involvement in Honduras, where the american military has recently built a number of bases for drug interdiction. Since then, american agents and the Honduran authorities have seized several tons of cocaine but have also been involved in controversial shootings (i.e., cold blooded killings and murders). <<< a lot of MURK in this graph. and as always, the nyt can be counted on to carry bucketloads of water for whatever the usg has done or is doing. watchdog 4th estate not so much. and have there been any reports of these BASES (plural) that the usa has built in Honduras ????

    http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/08/world/americas/us-suspends-antidrug-radar-sharing-with-honduras-after-planes-are-downed.html

    Reply
  118. As The Holy Day Approaches says:

    associated propaganda helpfully reminds us all of 911911911911911911OMGTERRORISTS with the following Q&A !!!

    The usa is for a second time attempting to prosecute five prisoners [of war] held at the US Naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, for planning and aiding the September 11 attacks, charging them with war crimes in a special tribunal for wartime offenses known as a Kangaroo Court military commission.

    http://news.yahoo.com/questions-answers-9-11-war-crimes-trial-162146648.html?_esi=1

    Reply
  119. Standing At The Gates of Hell says:

    Commence Operation Cover-Up & Whitewash!!!

    A usa-based non-governmental organization criticized Honduras’ official investigation of a fatal shooting during a drug interdiction operation after its conclusions contradicted reports of witnesses and the group’s own investigation into what happened.

    The probe’s findings said that two victims were not pregnant and that none of the four people killed were hit by gunfire from a law-enforcement helicopter involved in the May drug raid in the Mosquitia region. Local people and some rights activists have claimed the victims were shot by police, two were pregnant and all were innocent civilians traveling a river at night. Police said the people killed were in a boat that fired on the helicopter.

    “The Honduran authorities’ claims simply are not credible, when confronted with forensic evidence and so much eyewitness testimony to the contrary,” Dan Beeton, spokesman for the Washington-based Center for Economic Policy and Research in Washington.

    Authorities in the usa and Honduras have refused to release videos of either the May 11 shooting incident or the autopsies of the victims, video that could resolve disputes over details.

    http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jb34qBPXpha-OCI7swT1o38o3Nyw?docId=3d106a8e927f4efbaea1031df2413fc4

    Reply
  120. I Hear You Knocking says:

    Twitter Told to Produce Protestor’s Posts or Face Fine

    Twitter Inc. has to turn over information about an Occupy Wall Street protester’s posts or face a fine, a judge ruled, giving the company three days to show it isn’t in contempt of court.

    Twitter’s case will determine whether it faces the burden of responding to subpoenas for its users, the San Francisco – based company has said. The outcome is significant throughout the US as law enforcement becomes more aggressive in seeking information about what people do and say on the Internet, the American Civil Liberties Union said in a May 31 court filing.

    http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-09-11/twitter-told-to-produce-protestor-s-posts-or-face-fine.html

    Reply
  121. Long Walk Home says:

    knew that the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs and the US Air Force had this problem but did not realize that the cancer had spread throughout the “elite” units of the usa military – ugh. bet it is just The Crusades all over again for these kind of people. bleah.

    Glen Doherty, Security Officer Killed In Libya Attack, Fought Religious Proselytizing In USA Military

    Doherty was an “extremely active” member of the advisory board of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF), an advocacy group that fights inappropriate religious proselytizing inside the armed forces, said founder Mikey Weinstein, a retired Air Force lawyer.

    “He confirmed for me how deeply entrenched fundamentalist Christianity is in the DoD Spec Ops [Department of Defense Special Operations] world of the SEALs, Green Berets, Delta Force, Army Rangers, USAF … and DoD security contractors like the former Blackwater,” Weinstein said. Doherty “helped me on many MRFF client cases behind the scenes to facilitate assistance to armed forces members abused horribly by fundamentalist Christian proselytizing.”

    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/13/glen-doherty-libya-attack_n_1880566.html?utm_hp_ref=world

    Reply
  122. But Al Gore Is Fat says:

    Many politically unstable areas of South Asia are “water-stressed,” meaning the areas are facing water scarcity due to poor infrastructure or simply lacking enough water to meet demand.

    The potential impacts of climate change on water scarcity could further inflame political tensions, finds a new report, “Himalayan Glaciers: Climate Change, Water Resources, and Water Security,” released by the National Research Council (NRC). Funding was provided by the Central Intelligence Agency.

    The report examines how changes to Himalayan glaciers could affect the area’s river systems, water supplies and population. The region’s glaciers cross eight countries and are the source of drinking water, irrigation and hydroelectric power for roughly 1.5 billion people.

    http://www.livescience.com/23119-climate-change-himalayas-water-scarcity.html

    Reply
  123. All Along The Watchtower says:

    readers of this blog have seen a rise in Lawlessness on Wall Street ever since the Clinton administration rolled back fundamental regulations (Glass Steagall) that up until the late 1990’s kept the swine on Wall Street semi in check. Unfortunately Clinton and Rubin with the influence of Phil Gramm screwed over the country and the world and now we are where are today – watching Ben Bernanke crank up the printing presses for about the sixth or seventh time (how high does he want the stock market to go???).

    maybe lost in the attack and protests this past week was some interesting financial / wall street related news.

    here are some reports:

    NYSE fine may further erode investors’ trust in stock markets
    The New York Stock Exchange agreed to pay $5 million to settle charges that it made stock quotes available to select customers before the general public.
    http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-0915-nyse-fine-20120914,0,687370.story

    NYSE Data Violations Extend US Exchanges’ Reputation Woes
    http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-09-15/nyse-data-violations-extend-u-s-exchanges-reputation-woes.html

    New York Stock Exchange Settles Case Over Early Data Access
    http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2012/09/14/n-y-s-e-settles-regulatory-action-on-trading-data/

    US banks subject of money-laundering probe
    http://news.yahoo.com/report-us-banks-subject-money-laundering-probe-184354641–finance.html?_esi=1

    Money-Laundering Inquiry Is Said to Aim at US Banks
    https://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/15/business/money-laundering-inquiry-said-to-target-us-banks.html?pagewanted=all

    but the vast corporate american media complex – for the life of itself – just cannot figure out or understand what this Occupy thing is all about and what those gd smelly unwashed peace loving justice seeking hippies want gd it !!!!

    Occupy movement turns 1 year old, its effect still hard to define
    Since Occupy Wall Street sparked a nationwide movement, no broad tangible result has emerged.
    http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-occupy-anniversary-20120915,0,4126620.story

    Occupy Wall Street marks its first anniversary on Monday, and, in a bid to rejuvenate a movement that has failed to sustain momentum after sparking a national conversation about economic inequality last fall, activists plan once again to descend on New York’s financial district.

    The group, which popularized the phrase “We are the 99 percent,” will attempt to surround the New York Stock Exchange and disrupt morning rush hour in the financial district.

    http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/09/15/us-usa-occupy-idUSBRE88E07220120915

    a few things that caught our eye as we marched All Along The Watchtower …

    Reply
  124. All Along The Watchtower says:

    as court issues and privacy issues are regularly and rightly discussed on this blog, this item might be of interest to readers:

    Twitter turns over Occupy tweets to court: Why this matters

    Twitter succumbed to pressure from a New York criminal court to turn over deleted tweets of an Occupy Wall Street protester. This is why you should care.

    Whether you plan to start protesting things or otherwise bring the attention of police, prosecutors, and courts into your life, Twitter’s involvement in the case against Harris should concern anyone who looks to the US Constitution as the law of the land. At stake are the rights afforded by the Fourth Amendment’s protection against “unreasonable searches and seizures,” and the First Amendment protection of free speech, both of which are being tested by this case — a case that, on its surface, only concerns a misdemeanor crime punishable by a $250 fine or 15 days in jail.

    much much more at >>>>

    http://www.digitaltrends.com/social-media/twitter-turns-over-tweets-to-court/

    Reply
  125. Astounded says:

    ALERT THE MEDIA!! STOP THE PRESSES!!
    somebody looked backward and took responsibility!!!

    UC to pay settlement in Davis pepper spray case

    UC leaders agree to pay settlement to 21 UC Davis students and alumni who sued over campus officers’ use of pepper spray during a November 2011 protest.

    The University of California will pay damages to the UC Davis students and alumni who were pepper sprayed by campus police during an otherwise peaceful protest 10 months ago.

    Jonathan Stein, the UC student regent, said the settlement was warranted. “We did an injustice to our students that day at Davis, and some amount of recompense is appropriate. More importantly, it’s time for us as an institution to publicly acknowledge that’s not the way we should treat our students; we were wrong, and we are moving forward,” he said.

    http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-uc-pepper-spray-20120914,0,1752264.story?track=rss

    Reply
  126. What A ***ing Shocker says:

    As DFHs Predicted, DHS “Fusion” Centers Huge Taxpayer Boondoggle, Violate Americans’ Privacy Eight Ways to Sunday

    James Risen @ nyt

    One of the nation’s biggest domestic counterterrorism programs has failed to provide virtually any useful intelligence

    The centers “forwarded intelligence of uneven quality — oftentimes shoddy, rarely timely, sometimes endangering citizens’ civil liberties and Privacy Act protections, occasionally taken from already published public sources, and more often than not unrelated to terrorism.”

    http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/03/us/inquiry-cites-flaws-in-regional-counterterrorism-offices.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

    Reply
  127. Under The Radar says:

    Wave Buh-Bye to the Environment of the State of Michigan!!

    Consumers Power Guy appointed Michigan Great Lakes office chief

    Patty Birkholz has “resigned” [i.e., told she was out] as director of Michigan’s Office of the Great Lakes, and Governor Rick Snyder appointed Jon Allan to succeed her.

    Allan directs environmental policy and intergovernmental affairs for Consumers Energy Co. The governor’s office says he’ll serve in the state post as an “executive on loan” for at least a year.

    http://www.mlive.com/news/index.ssf/2012/10/jon_allan_appointed_michigan_g.html

    Reply
  128. Papers Please says:

    what country is this – East Germany? USSR? Red Communist China? any of the former Soviet Bloc countries??? holy moley the usa is turning into a fascist police state faster than you can say “Papers Please”.

    USA Department of Justice to defend warrantless cell phone tracking

    Prosecutors say Americans have “no privacy interest” in location records revealing minute-to-minute movements of their mobile devices, even when they’re not in use.

    The Obama administration will tell federal judges in New Orleans that warrantless tracking of the location of Americans’ mobile devices is perfectly legal.

    Federal prosecutors are planning to argue that they should be able to obtain stored records revealing the minute-by-minute movements of mobile users over a 60-day period without having to ask a judge to approve a warrant first.

    The case highlights how valuable location data is for police, especially when it’s tied to devices that millions of people carry with them almost all the time. Records kept by wireless carriers can hint at or reveal medical treatments, political associations, religious convictions, and even whether someone is cheating on his or her spouse.

    http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-57524109-38/justice-dept-to-defend-warrantless-cell-phone-tracking/

    Reply
  129. Born On Third Base Waving A Silver Spoon says:

    Amway heir replacing dad’s Lake Michigan cottage with $3.6 million home

    Amway heir David Van Andel is constructing a $3.6 million home on one of the most prominent building sites in West Michigan: a parcel overlooking Lake Michigan, the Big Red lighthouse and the Holland Channel.

    http://www.mlive.com/business/west-michigan/index.ssf/2012/10/amway_heir_replacing_dads_lake.html

    But Wait!!! All is not well in Tulip Town!!!

    Media request for info on Amway heir home prompts Park Township to limit access to building files

    Whether you are in the development business or a potential renter, you can no longer see the files that Park Township keeps on each building in the community, a top township official said.

    This is because the lakeshore township north of Holland has stopped allowing people to access information contained in its building files.

    The policy came to light when an MLive reporter asked to see the file for the home that Amway heir David Van Andel is building along the Holland Channel’s south side, overlooking Lake Michigan, the Big Red lighthouse and Holland State Park.

    http://www.mlive.com/business/west-michigan/index.ssf/2012/10/mlive_request_for_info_on_amwa.html

    Reply
  130. Looks Interesting says:

    SUBVERSIVES
    The FBI’s War on Student Radicals, and Reagan’s Rise to Power

    By Seth Rosenfeld
    Reviewed by Matt Taibbi

    America never got over the ’60s. The deep social divisions that emerged during that decade remain, for the most part, the divisions that define modern American politics. The battle lines are still so painfully visible that 50 years after the beginning of the Vietnam War and the Free Speech Movement at the University of California, Berkeley, the presidential race this year will come down to a contest between a former community organizer pilloried for supposed ties to ’60s radicals and a former Stanford student who protested against campus antiwar demonstrations.

    Moreover, the current culture war being played out between watchers of Fox News and readers of The Huffington Post is really the same old ’60s argument, pitting social conservatives’ unshakable faith in American exceptionalism against the progressive insistence that there’s something dark and violent at the core of American hegemony. These two sides have painstakingly constructed competing versions of recent American history, leaving us without even a common set of historical facts to debate.

    http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/07/books/review/subversives-by-seth-rosenfeld.html?ref=bookreviews&_r=0&pagewanted=all

    http://www.amazon.com/Subversives-Student-Radicals-Reagans-Power/dp/0374257000/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1349574004&sr=1-1&keywords=Seth+Rosenfeld

    Reply
  131. greengiant says:

    7 British troops arrested in regards to suspected murder.
    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-19918398
    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2216471/Support-grows-seven-Royal-Marines-arrested-Afghanistan-execution-Taliban-prisoner-police-video-laptop.html?openGraphAuthor=%2Fhome%2Fsearch.html%3Fs%3D%26authornamef%3DIan%2BDrury

    What strikes me is that “rules of engagement” that are being used now, first in contrast to 2003 where the US was treated to video footage of “tap” shots to the head on anyone appearing “dead” or fatally wounded which was standard operating procedure and trained, and secondly how the Taliban are allegedly adapting and throwing down weapons.

    Reply
  132. Marilyn Welch says:

    Regarding the Benghazi rescue and the ABC story November 1, 2012 entitled:
    “New Detailed Account of Benghazi Attack Notes CIA’s Quick Response”

    An account in the French paper Le Figaro was published September 16, 2012. It is similar except the security personnel who flew in from Tripoli were are called ” Marines.” The Figaro account was republished in English by France24. You can see for yourself that apart from some details the accounts are alike.

    Le Figaro story in French

    http://www.lefigaro.fr/international/2012/09/16/01003-20120916ARTFIG00216-benghazile-recit-de-l-assaut-antiamericain.php

    France24 story in English

    http://www.france24.com/en/20120917-libya-mystery-surrounds-benghazi-attack-consulate-usa-ambassador-stevens

    The ABC story is not NEW information since this has been out since September 15th. It may be new to the US media. The question is why does it take the US media so long to get the story. The French press interviewed people in Benghazi right after the attack on the consulate and got the story out 4 days later. Is the US media not welcome in Benghazi or prevented in some way by the State Dept. from going there?

    This leaves the US media in the position of waiting for the government to give them the story or waiting for the Congressional investigation to bring it out.

    Marilyn Welch

    Reply
  133. Marilyn Welch says:

    Your preview did not allow corrections and your “click to edit” didn’t work so I would like to edit this sentence here:

    “You can see for yourself that apart from some details the accounts are alike.”

    to

    You can see for yourself that apart from some minor details the ABC account and the French24 account are alike.

    MW

    Reply
  134. greengiant says:

    The Israeli military tweets: Initial reports indicate that the Iron Dome has intercepted a number of (Gaza) rockets above a major Israeli city.

    Possibly Beer Sheeba.

    Reply
  135. Just As Predicted says:

    Seattle police plan for helicopter drones hits severe turbulence

    A recent push for unmanned police aircraft in several cities is being driven largely by grants from the usa Department of Homeland Security, including more than $80,000 the city of Seattle used to buy a pair of drone helicopters in 2010.

    But getting aerial drones off the ground has run into stiff opposition from civil libertarians and others who say the use of stealth airborne cameras by domestic law enforcement raises questions about privacy rights and the limits of police search powers.

    The aircraft would never carry weapons, but the use of drones for even mundane tasks raises ire among some because of the association of pilotless crafts with covert usa missile strikes in places such as Pakistan and Yemen.

    In Seattle last month, a community meeting where police officials presented plans to deploy their two remote-controlled helicopters erupted into yelling and angry chants of "No drones!"

    In Oakland, California, this month, an Alameda County sheriff's application for a federal grant to buy an aerial drone to help monitor unruly crowds and locate illegal marijuana farms drew opposition at a Board of Supervisors meeting.

    "I do not want flying spy robots looking into my private property with infrared cameras," Oakland resident Mary Madden said. "It's an invasion of my privacy."

    http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/11/27/us-usa-drones-seattle-idUSBRE8AQ10R20121127

    Reply
  136. tjallen says:

    DIYDRONES – Do It Yourself Drones
    http://www.diydrones.com/

    This is where scientists are getting their drones for animal surveillance, land-use, enviro mapping and more. For about $2000 you get planes and low-cost software to run them. Do a plot on google maps and the drone follows the course, takes the pics and returns home.

    Example of usage here: http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/extinction-countdown/2012/09/27/drones-help-conserve-sumatran-orangutans-wildlife/

    For good or bad, it’s so easy anyone can do it.

    Reply
  137. Gimme Shelter says:

    Black boxes in cars raise privacy concerns

    Privacy complaints have gone unheeded so far. The traffic safety administration says it doesn’t have the authority to impose limits on how the information can be used and other privacy protections. About a dozen states have some law regarding data recorders, but the rest do not.

    “Right now we’re in an environment where there are no rules, there are no limits, there are no consequences and there is no transparency,” said Lillie Coney, associate director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center, a privacy advocacy group. “Most people who are operating a motor vehicle have no idea this technology is integrated into their vehicle.”

    Part of the concern is that the increasing computerization of cars and the growing communications to and from vehicles like GPS navigation and General Motors’ OnStar system could lead to unintended uses of recorder data.

    “Basically your car is a computer now, so it can record all kinds of information,” said Gloria Bergquist, vice president of the Alliance of Automotive Manufacturers. “It’s a lot of the same issues you have about your computer or your smartphone and whether Google or someone else has access to the data.”

    http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gqlxsj66vf-ZQsAhOM8HlILMUQZA?docId=0670fc5a34034005b0727561a57e6028

    Reply
  138. greengiant says:

    US supreme court to take California Gay Marriage court ruling case. Usurpation of states’ and peoples’ rights in 1,2,3,4 …5 votes.

    Reply
  139. Name withheld says:

    This comment is for the “FBI: show your work” post:

    > Virtually every seized power justified over the last decade in the name of “terrorism” has been applied to a wide range of domestic dissent

    It doesn’t even have to be political dissent, and it’s amazing what appearances folks (maybe bots) can gin up by creative use of a comments section; I’ve had someone following me around, adding ones spiced with of-interest-to-feds (or for unsavory googlebombing by association?) keywords, even though my #1 interest is science. (But tied for #2 is privacy, so maybe that counts as political.) It’s hard to feel free – or even safe – as a citizen when this happens anytime you speak out.

    Reply
  140. Please Drive Thru says:

    How to Halt the Terrorist Money Train

    by Robert Mazur, a former federal agent, is the author of “The Infiltrator,” a memoir of his undercover life as a money launderer.

    The only way to stop the flow of dirty money is to get tough on the bankers who help mask and transfer it around the world. Banks themselves don’t launder money, after all; people do.

    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/03/opinion/how-bankers-help-drug-traffickers-and-terrorists.html?partner=rssnyt&emc=rss&_r=0

    Reply
  141. Taxi To Dark Side says:

    Senate panel to examine CIA contacts with “Zero Dark Thirty” filmmakers

    After the Senate Intelligence Committee’s chairwoman expressed outrage over scenes that imply “enhanced interrogations” of CIA detainees produced a breakthrough in the hunt for Osama bin Laden, the panel has begun a review of contacts between the makers of the film “Zero Dark Thirty” and CIA officials.

    In the latest controversy surrounding the film, Reuters has learned that the committee will examine records charting contacts between intelligence officials and the film’s director Kathryn Bigelow and screenwriter Mark Boal.

    Investigators will examine whether the spy agency gave the filmmakers “inappropriate” access to secret material, said a person familiar with the matter. They will also probe whether CIA personnel are responsible for the portrayal of harsh interrogation practices, and in particular the suggestion that they were effective, the person said.

    http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/01/03/us-usa-ciafilm-idUSBRE90200420130103

    Reply
  142. Michael says:

    Marcy, I would like to thank you for your efforts to bring out the truth about Brennan. The more we pair up the truth with the lies as they are made to the public, the greater the impact and possibility people will stand up in unison against what Obama is really about. You are fantastic.

    Regards,
    Michael McKee

    Reply
  143. ClockworkJillian says:

    The sentencing disparity between JPMC and Karen Gasparian is simple to explain: one is a corporate entity (even though it is directed by individuals such as Jamie Dimon), and the other is an individual.

    The chief issue here is that we continue to afford corporations the rights of individuals when it is convenient to them, and fail to assign them similar responsibilities when not. We cannot imprison a corporation; but we can impose fines that are appropriate for such a large institution, and would be inappropriate for an individual.

    Similarly, many states hold the right to end the life of persons determined to have committed a crime of sufficient vileness. We cannot end the life of corporations; however, we can dissolve their charters and effectively end their ability to do business in this country.

    The sooner we start treating corporations as just that – organizations useful to the public good, no more and no less – the sooner we can start mandating appropriate and just corrective action for when they fail in their duty.

    Reply
  144. anonymous says:

    I can tell you why Robert Morris got a slap on the wrist under the 86 act while Aaron had the full treatment thrown at him

    I was at Carnegie Mellon at the time in question & Morris and people with his skill sets were rare. Rarer still were people in the FBI, the DOJ etc, not to mention anyone trying to legislate to deter / prevent ‘computer crime’ or punish ‘computer criminals’ who know what the hell it was they were trying to legislate much less how the Internet as it existed then worked in theory much less in actual practice and where you could potentially find & exploit weaknesses…that kind of knowledge was so very rare.

    In those days universities who caught hackers would do something in the way of a slap on the wrist to punish them then quietly hire them to help find & plug holes in their systems. This happened to 2 friends of mine at CMU who figured out a novel way to grab token rings and didn’t hustle it fast enough to those running Andrew/AFS to let them know about the hole. They were threatened with expulsion & possible federal prosecution but in the end they were required to take a couple of ethics courses then quietly hired by the school for work-study positions but were finding & plugging holes. They both graduated with CS/EE degrees and one of them is now a prof at a decent university teaching future generations of geeks.

    Morris’s worm took down the most robust of systems at the time and you have no idea just how expensive computer resources were back then (students in CS, comp engineering & electrical engineering were thought to be studly if they had a whole meg of storage space on the system) 6000 machines infected was too big a breach to be ignored and frankly the universities were freaked out about their potential culpability under the federal laws so Morris got a trial but a pretty light sentence (though it scared every geek at CMU shitless back then…how naive we were, how simple things were back then)

    Anyway since the lifting of the National Science Foundation’s Acceptable Use Policy (i.e. no widespread commerce on the internet while it was in place until 94/95) and now that everyone and his or her pets does business online, the government simply can’t not enforce the laws (which have become harsh arbitrary & capricious since then because special interest groups throw a lot of money around at government & elected officials to get laws that favor themselves and screw everyone else etc) and get awfully difficult if prosecutions aren’t persecutions.

    What’s sad is that no one who knew this convinced Aaron of this before he for whatever reasons took his own life.

    Anyway I note with interest that Frontline takes it to Lanny Breuer in the Frontline that aired tonight 1/22/13 on “The Untouchables” or a documentary on why the big banksters who pushed liar loans on the world and made themselves obscenely rich and yet not a single one of these gazillionaires is being prosecuted for fraud while there are civil attorneys going after these same scammers for piles of money (the evidence they have can and should be used in criminal investigations and trials of these sociopathic assholes) Watch Breuer squirm over on pbs.org & then look at his background on Wikipedia

    Guarantee you when Breuer leaves ‘public service’ so long as he toes the line on not landing all over megalomaniacal bankers while in the government he will have a sweet job with them (or their cronies) with a sweet paycheck. He’s part of the DC revolving door crowd as well as has done defense work for lovely people like the gang at Enron.

    Sick, isn’t it. But that’s what has happened to our society.

    Follow the money my friends.

    Reply
  145. Catherine Fitzpatrick says:

    Empty Wheel, when you write this:

    http://www.emptywheel.net/2013/01/16/the-december-2010-black-hole-in-the-network-interface-closet/ (see your comment no. 62)

    “Look, part of the Manning investigation pertained to who helped Manning scrape lots of data w/encryption to avoid notice. He got a software tool to help him do that in Jan-Feb 2010 in Cambridge. According to Adrian Lamo, he had already told the Feds who that was by August. In Cambridge at that time (though I have no idea if he was at the parties earlier) was someone who had ALREADY scraped massive amounts of data without being identified. So it’d be unlikely that he would totally escape their interest.”

    “And presumably, one way to learn more about that would be to learn how Swartz uploaded the PACER documents to Amazon. That’s another thing he was FOIAing–what kind of info the govt got from Amazon in that investigation. And that’s something the GJ in this case was investigating too.

    I’m fairly sure they used the GJ to investigate if he had ties to WikiLeaks, and that’s what his lawyer was trying to learn about in his discovery motions.”

    …. it seems to me that you are basically positing a theory that Swartz helped Manning with the hack for WikiLeaks. You’re not just setting up a critique of government overreach — you’re laying the path by which a plausible case could really be made that Swartz and other MIT hackers helped Manning and WikiLeaks.

    You don’t seem to want to come out and say that, nor does Saul Tannenbaum, who also makes a series of very informed and interesting comments.

    But that is the net effect of what you are getting at. Either you are positing that Swartz could have been that person to provide Manning with that “scraper tool”, or someone else in the circle could have, or you are implying, due to Swartz’s previous existing connection to Amazon servers with his large downloads in the PACER caper, that he could have helped somehow there. You’re laying out a theory of the case that has the feds “overreaching” and bringing in the Secret Service and the forensic experts because *they need to confirm Manning’s story*.

    You think they don’t get to do that; and maybe you think Manning should go free. But those are ideological questions separate from whether the government thinks they have a case or not — and it looks as if they do, both against Swartz for the JSTOR hack, and against *somebody* for helping Manning.

    I’m going to assume that Manning will allocute and confess and be sentenced to a lesser term as a result and that time in solitary will be booked against the sentence. And that his confession may well involve explaining the connections to Assange, Jacob Appelbaum, Danny Clark, Aaron Swartz and others.

    And the government may not have a case against any of those people, despite their aggressive probing, because maybe it’s just not enough, or maybe files got erased.

    But you do seem to be going there. And what are we to make of the mention of Aaron Swartz’s former partner in the court documents about the grand jury’s investigation?

    I’ve laid this all out on my own blog where I’ve been studying this case from a far more critical view than you, because I don’t support the copyleftist movement and don’t think these goals should be achieved through coercion and unlawfulness in this fashion, even if they are merited, which I’m not persuaded they are.

    http://3dblogger.typepad.com/wired_state/2013/02/did-aaron-swartz-help-bradley-manning-hack-for-wikileaks.html

    I don’t think the prosecutors should be savaged; I think if anyone is to blame, it is Lessig for leaving his protege literally to hang after he “crossed a line” that Lessig himself wouldn’t cross, but coyly incited.

    Heather Brooke seems to implicate Danny Clark in her interview with Swartz cited in her book which she republished on her blog after his death.

    http://heatherbrooke.org/2013/a-few-thoughts-on-the-death-of-hacktivist-aaron-swartz/

    Look, I understand your concern about overreach and injustices in this and related cases even if I don’t share your leftist politics. I’m a liberal who believes in all human rights for all, and I find hackers like Assange and Manning aren’t demonstratively whistleblowing on valid human rights concerns such as to justify the damage to WikiLeaks sources and the liberal, democratically elected government of the US. They aren’t persuasive; I knew and had concern about the killing of journalists in Iraq long before “Collateral Damage”, but Appelbaum lied outright when he claimed to me that US soldiers deliberately wounded children — even on Assange’s heavily framed and distorted rendering of this video, you can tell that they didn’t know who was in the van.

    I also don’t appreciate Swartz taking away *choice* online for whether to have “information wants to be free” or information wants to be in a walled garden or behind a pay wall to get costs covered and ensure people’s livelihoods. I’m quite sure you see it differently, but then you don’t seem to realize: in your intense effort to try to illustrate how the government is making all kinds of “wrongful” cases against Swartz, you’re actually laying out a theory of the case that has him and his fellow MIT hacker buddies helping Manning deliberately, out of ideology — which was wrong.

    Reply
  146. PCIResearch says:

    Saw you on Youtube, ‘Inside Story U.S. 2012 – Ignoring America’s Poor … G.R. in the background. Were you referring to G.R. and West Michigan on your blog as an ‘urban hellhole?’ … “Marcy, Mr. EW and their dog — McCaffrey the MilleniaLab — live in a loft in a lovely urban hellhole.. I would like to know more about what you mean and what you may be referring to. That is all.

    Reply
  147. For The Turnstiles says:

    The Obama Administration and a federal judge in San Francisco appear to be headed for a showdown over the controversial state secrets privilege in a case about the U.S. government’s ‘no-fly’ list for air travel.

    US District Judge William Alsup is also bucking the federal government’s longstanding assertion that only the executive branch can authorize access to classified information.

    The disputes arose in a lawsuit Malaysian citizen and former Stanford student Rahinah Ibrahim filed seven years ago after she was denied travel and briefly detained at the San Francisco airport in 2005, apparently due to being on the no-fly list.

    In an order issued earlier this month and made public Friday, Alsup instructed lawyers for the government to “show cause” why at least nine documents it labeled as classified should not be turned over to Ibrahim’s lawyers. Alsup said he’d examined the documents and concluded that portions of some of them and the entirety of others could be shown to Ibrahim’s attorneys without implicating national security.

    “After a careful review of the classified materials by the Court, this order concludes that a few documents could potentially be produced with little or no modifications to them,” Alsup wrote in an April 2 order (posted here). “This order independently determines that in addition to correspondence between the parties, the two internal training documents are eligible for production to plaintiff’s counsel without implicating national security.”

    If the judge persists in his ruling, it would be highly unusual since most judges are loath to override the executive branch’s conclusions that certain information needs to be classified on national security grounds. It has happened on a few occasions, but such decisions are very rare.

    http://www.politico.com/blogs/under-the-radar/2013/04/state-secrets-showdown-looms-162193.html

    Reply
  148. For The Turnstiles says:

    The money helping CISPA through Congress

    New co-sponsors of bill have 37 times more cash from interests supporting CISPA than from interests opposing

    As noted yesterday, while a cadre of privacy advocates, civil libertarians and Anonymous affiliates are pushing against the passage of the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA) through Congress, major tech players and lobbying money is on the side of the legislation’s supporters. I wrote on Monday that attempts to pull off a mass online blackout against CISPA fell short of a similar, successful online protest in 2012 against SOPA: “The key difference is that while tech giants including Wikipedia, Reddit and Google took part in SOPA protests, such major tech players are actually onboard with CISPA.”

    And there’s more. As TechDirt highlighted Monday, a huge amount of special interest funding ($84 million, to be precise) may have helped over double the number of Democrat representatives willing to vote for CISPA this time round, having rejected this bill’s first iteration last year. Via TechDirt:

    Last year’s CISPA vote only managed to secure 40 Democrat supporters. This time around, the number leapt to 92.

    A new coalition of special interests, which include America’s two largest cellular service providers AT&T and Verizon Wireless – jointly owned by Verizon and Vodafone Group – as well as two of the nation’s largest software firms Microsoft and Intel, came together to create a similar data grab bill (Microsoft has since renounced its support). Security firms like Symantec Corp. also backed the bill.

    Pushing the bill through was $84M USD in funding from special interest backers.$84 million is change-of-heart money, although one imagines those contributing checked and double-checked their “sponsored” representatives to make sure they were all on the same page. As DailyTech points out, nearly $86 million went into the SOPA push and most of that turned out to be wasted money.

    Last Monday, two hundred IBM executives visited the White House to make a last minute push for CISPA. Whatever they said or did must have been very persuasive. By the end of the day, 36 new sponsors had signed on to the bill, up from a very lonely two previous to IBM’s visit. Unsurprisingly, financial motivation was involved, according to numbers gathered by Maplight.

    New co-sponsors have received 38 times as much money ($7,626,081) from interests supporting CISPA than from interests opposing ($200,362).

    Members of the House in total have received 16 times as much money ($67,665,694) from interests supporting CISPA than from interests opposing ($4,164,596).

    http://www.salon.com/2013/04/23/the_money_helping_cispa_through_congress/

    Reply
  149. Awaiting Moderation says:

    The Nation‘s Jeremy Scahill Gives HUGE Shout Out & Much Credit to Bradley Manning & Wikileaks:

    Democracy Now’s Amy Goodman asked The Nation’s Jeremy Scahill about the “extensive footnotes” in his book where he cites documents released by WikiLeaks. She asked him to address their significance in his ability to cover America’s dirty wars, covert wars, Joint Special Operations Command, etc.

    He answered:

    Impossible to quantify how significant WikiLeaks has been to our understanding of overt and covert US actions. When I was preparing initially to go to Somalia, we went through and researched on the WikiLeaks cables and found various warlords identified in the cables as being on the US payroll or that the US was working with. And, then we went and tracked down and found them. You see that in our film. Two of those warlords are people we discovered through the WikiLeaks cables.

    Also, on the Somalia cables that were released, there is a recognition that the US was using these warlords to hunt down people and that it had caused great problems within the State Department. You had internal debates going on where the CIA and the special operations forces were doing things that State Department diplomats didn’t want them to be doing and that were counter to what the intelligence available at the time indicated the threats were and the level of the threat.

    But, just in terms of our understanding of how the covert apparatus works, WikiLeaks was indispensable and I think we’re going to look back decades from now and see, because of the release of those documents, there was a huge shift in how we understand some of the more hidden aspects of US policy.

    http://dissenter.firedoglake.com/2013/04/24/bradley-manning-sent-jeremy-scahill-scoop-on-blackwaters-erik-prince-going-to-united-arab-emirates/

    http://www.democracynow.org/2013/4/24/the_world_is_a_battlefield_jeremy

    http://www.democracynow.org/special/jeremy_scahill_and_dirty_wars_on

    Reply
  150. The Opium Wars says:

    USA gives big, secret push to Internet surveillance

    Justice Department agreed to issue “2511 letters” immunizing AT&T and other companies participating in a cybersecurity program from criminal prosecution under the Wiretap Act, according to new documents obtained by the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC).

    Senior Obama administration officials have secretly authorized the interception of communications carried on portions of networks operated by AT&T and other Internet service providers, a practice that might otherwise be illegal under federal wiretapping laws.

    The secret legal authorization from the Justice Department originally applied to a cybersecurity pilot project in which the military monitored defense contractors’ Internet links. Since then, however, the program has been expanded by President Obama to cover all critical infrastructure sectors including energy, healthcare, and finance starting June 12.

    “The Justice Department is helping private companies evade federal wiretap laws,” said Marc Rotenberg, executive director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC), which obtained over 1,000 pages of internal government documents and provided them to CNET this week. “Alarm bells should be going off.”

    Those documents show the National Security Agency and the Defense Department were deeply involved in pressing for the secret legal authorization, with NSA director Keith Alexander participating in some of the discussions personally. Despite initial reservations, including from industry participants, Justice Department attorneys eventually signed off on the project.

    The Justice Department agreed to grant legal immunity to the participating network providers in the form of what participants in the confidential discussions refer to as “2511 letters,” a reference to the Wiretap Act codified at 18 USC 2511 in the federal statute books.

    http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-57581161-38/u.s-gives-big-secret-push-to-internet-surveillance/

    https://epic.org/

    Reply
  151. The Opium Wars says:

    Senate committee advances bill to prevent warrantless email searches

    Bipartisan group seeks update to Electronic Communications Privacy Act over concerns of misuse by law enforcement

    Democratic senator Patrick Leahy, co-sponsor of the bill, said: “I think Americans are very concerned about unwanted intrusions into our private lives in cyberspace. There’s no question if someone wants to go into your house and go through your files and draws you are going to need a search warrant. But if you have those same files in the cloud you ought to have the same sense of privacy.”

    Leahy said ECPA had been “misused and abused” by law-enforcement officials. “There seems to be a feeling in this country, more and more, that because we face threats, as this nation has from the time of its founding, that we somehow give up our rights to privacy. Americans believe in their privacy,” he said.

    http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/apr/25/senate-committee-ecpa-email-search

    Reply
  152. Gimme Shelter says:

    Judge Rejects FBI Attempt to Use Spyware to Infiltrate Unknown Suspect’s Computer

    On Monday, a judge denied an FBI request to install a spy Trojan on a computer in an unknown location in order to track down a suspected fraudster. The order rejecting the request revealed that the FBI wanted to use the surveillance tool to covertly infiltrate the computer and take photographs of its user through the webcam. The plan also included recording Internet activity, user location, email contents, chat messaging logs, photographs, documents, and passwords.

    Houston magistrate Judge Stephen Smith said that he could not approve the “extremely intrusive” tactic because the FBI did not know the location or identity of the suspect and could not guarantee the spy software would not end up targeting innocents.

    Perhaps what is most interesting is the level of detail the memorandum discloses about the surveillance technology at the FBI’s disposal. Back in 2007, the bureau was revealed to be using a spyware that could infect computers and gather IP addresses, the last visited website address, and a range of other metadata. But the spy Trojan disclosed in the Houston documents is far more advanced, capable of copying content and turning a person’s webcam effectively into a surveillance camera.

    http://www.slate.com/blogs/future_tense/2013/04/25/texas_judge_denies_fbi_request_to_use_trojan_to_infiltrate_unknown_suspect.html

    Reply
  153. Lake Effect Snow says:

    recognition of a topic that both EW and Rayne have covered.

    Grand River flood: ‘Couldn’t ask for a better demonstration,’ environmental advocate says

    In the wake of the recent Grand River flood, West Michigan Environmental Action Council (WMEAC) staffers shared thoughts on what the historic event might mean for the future in West Michigan.

    “This has been a living learning opportunity for the community, and we couldn’t ask for a better demonstration when we talk about the future we’re looking at,” said Rachel Hood, WMEAC executive director.

    “It shows that weather- and climate-related events have a triple-bottom-line effect. For the 2013 flood, that’s a sad story to tell for a lot of people, a lot of businesses.”

    When Grand Rapids Michigan Mayor George Heartwell last year received a climate protection award from the US Conference of Mayors, he split the $25,000 prize between WMEAC and Friends of Grand Rapids Parks. WMEAC is using the money to draft a climate resiliency plan that will address impacts of climate change on life in West Michigan.

    The non-profit is interviewing experts in transportation, food systems, public utilities and other areas to get a sense of what might need to be done to prepare for a future that might bring more intense and more volatile weather patterns. The region last year experienced an unseasonably warm March, for example, and extreme heat in July, and now this spring endured flooding.

    “Resiliency is planning for both of those scenarios,” said Aaron Ferguson, a consultant working on the plan. “There’s a good chance we’re going to start seeing these swings from one year to the next.”

    The resiliency plan will address ways to mitigate the effects of climate change, through low-impact development practices and green infrastructure, for example, and also ways to adapt. In short, the plan will consider what can be done to prepare West Michigan for more frequent spells of volatile weather and, perhaps, for the next big flood, said Nick Occhipinti, WMEAC’s director of policy and community activism.

    “What can we do to be ready for that and what can we do to make a more resilient community?” he said. “In hindsight, the data will show that this (2013 flood) will be part of the trend” of weather volatility into the future.

    http://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2013/04/grand_river_flood_couldnt_ask.html#incart_river

    Reply
  154. Sail On Sailor Sail On says:

    Japanese Movement Against TPP Growing

    http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2013/05/dimon-looks-to-keep-reins.html

    TransPacific Partnership Will Undermine Democracy, Empower Transnational Corporations

    http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/15353-transpacific-partnership-will-undermine-democracy-empower-transnational-corporations

    Trans-Pacific Partnership: Background and Resources

    The TPP, or Trans Pacific Partnership, is a trade pact currently being negotiated by the United States and 10 other countries across the Pacitic. Because the TPP is intended as a “docking agreement,” other Pacific Rim countries can join over time. It is similar to the North American Free Trade Agreement, or NAFTA, only the scale of the TPP could make its impacts much more severe. Governments want to conclude the this trade pact by October 2013

    Key elements include:

    While this is called a “trade” treaty, only a few chapters actually deal with trade; most of the chapters deal with other issues (see below), which, taken together, could affect nearly every aspect of our lives.

    Also, this agreement is being negotiated in almost total secrecy: While members of the public and Congress do not have access to draft texts and proposals, more than 600 corporate representatives do have access to key texts.

    Finally, once complete and ratified, other nations will be able to join it. For that reason, it may be the biggest — and last — “trade” agreement ever to be negotiated.

    http://nyc.sierraclub.org/tpp-resources/

    Reply
  155. tjallen says:

    How can people just accept this, whenever law enforcement wants to capture someone dangerous, they can now lock down a small city or county. This is what a police state is, even if they are just doing it for “public safety”. Shelter-in-place is being abused, or is soon to be abused, if this trend continues.

    http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/sheriffs-officials-rural-n-california-man-shot-wife-and-2-girls-4-and-8-is-still-on-loose/2013/05/08/58136992-b847-11e2-b568-6917f6ac6d9d_singlePage.html

    Quoting from the story:

    “Who knows whether or not he would retaliate against officers,” Kent said. “With the information we’re receiving, it ups the ante. It’s almost like warfare.”

    The search is focused around the community of Petrolia, which is close to where Miller’s truck was found on Wednesday. Schools in the area were closed, and the roughly 300 residents were being advised to shelter in place, keep their doors locked, and if they do have to leave for an emergency, to leave a contact number tacked to their front doors.

    Petrolia is about 200 miles west of the site of the slayings in Shingletown, in Shasta County and 260 miles north of San Francisco. It is in a remote, undeveloped area of redwoods and towering mountains referred to as the “Lost Coast.”

    “We’re all locked down here. We’re supposed to call 911 if we see anything suspicious,” said local resident Phil Franklin.

    Reply
  156. Leaker says:

    good newz for all who secrets that they want to reveal to the world and minimize the chance that you may get caught / tortured !!!!

    This morning, The New Yorker launched Strongbox, an online place where people can send documents and messages to the magazine, and we, in turn, can offer them a reasonable amount of anonymity. It was put together by Aaron Swartz, who died in January, and Kevin Poulsen. Kevin explains some of the background in his own post, including Swartz’s role and his survivors’ feelings about the project. (They approve, something that was important for us here to know.) The underlying code, given the name DeadDrop, will be open-source, and we are very glad to be the first to bring it out into the world, fully implemented.

    http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/closeread/2013/05/introducing-strongbox-anonymous-document-sharing-tool.html

    Reply
  157. newz4all says:

    UNDERREPORTED: South Korean FTA Has Already Resulted in 10% Decline in Exports, 37% Trade Deficit Increase

    Under the 0 Administration, the usa has entered into “free” trade agreements (FTAs) with South Korea, Colombia, and Panama. As to why these agreements were necessary, 0 promised “greater usa access to the South Korean auto market, significantly increased labor rights and worker protections in Colombia, and enhanced tax transparency and labor rights in Panama.”

    Now, as the 0 administration secretely orchestrates the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP), an FTA with broad, harmful, and global ramifications, critics are pointing to the underreported failures of our existing FTAs as a warning sign.

    A year into the South Korean FTA, usa goods exports to the Asian ally have declined by 10%, a decrease of $4.2 Billion. The agriculture and the auto industries have been hardest hit with exports dropping sharply. Wasn’t the auto market the big sell on this thing?

    Overall, the usa trade deficit with South Korea has grown by 37% since the FTA was put into motion.

    http://wepartypatriots.com/wp/2013/05/10/underreported-korean-fta-has-already-resulted-in-10-decline-in-exports-37-trade-deficit-boost/

    Reply
  158. newz4all says:

    Journeyman Pictures’ short documentary “Naked Citizens” is an absolutely terrifying and amazing must-see glimpse of the modern security state, and the ways in which it automatically ascribes guilt to people based on algorithmic inferences, and, having done so, conducts such far-reaching surveillance into its victims’ lives that the lack of anything incriminating is treated of proof of being a criminal mastermind:

    “I woke up to pounding on my door”, says Andrej Holm, a sociologist from the Humboldt University. In what felt like a scene from a movie, he was taken from his Berlin home by armed men after a systematic monitoring of his academic research deemed him the probable leader of a militant group. After 30 days in solitary confinement, he was released without charges. Across Western Europe and the USA, surveillance of civilians has become a major business. With one camera for every 14 people in London and drones being used by police to track individuals, the threat of living in a Big Brother state is becoming a reality. At an annual conference of hackers, keynote speaker Jacob Appelbaum asserts, “to be free of suspicion is the most important right to be truly free”. But with most people having a limited understanding of this world of cyber surveillance and how to protect ourselves, are our basic freedoms already being lost?

    http://boingboing.net/2013/05/27/kafka-meet-orwell-peek-behin.html

    Reply
  159. newz4all says:

    Q. Who does own the future? What’s up for grabs that will affect our future livelihoods?

    A. The answer is indeed up for grabs. If we keep on doing things as we are, the answer is clear: The future will be narrowly owned by the people who run the biggest, best connected computers, which will usually be found in giant, remote cloud computing farms.

    The answer I am promoting instead is that the future should be owned broadly by everyone who contributes data to the cloud, as robots and other machines animated by cloud software start to drive our vehicles, care for us when we’re sick, mine our natural resources, create the physical objects we use, and so on, as the 21st century progresses.

    Right now, most people are only gaining informal benefits from advances in technology, like free internet services, while those who own the biggest computers are concentrating formal benefits to an unsustainable degree.

    http://www.amazon.com/Who-Owns-the-Future-ebook/dp/B008J2AEY8/ref=la_B001JRXQEU_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1369782799&sr=1-1

    FDL Book Salon Welcomes Jaron Lanier, Who Owns The Future?

    http://fdlbooksalon.com/2013/05/25/fdl-book-salon-welcomes-jaron-lanier/

    Reply
  160. newz4all says:

    Jeremy Scahill: Dirty Wars Institutionalized Despite Obama Promises

    In his new book, the New York Times-bestselling Dirty Wars, investigative reporter Jeremy Scahill takes us on a tour through the United States’ descent into neverending war, showing us the decisions that were made that led us to this place, where, as multiple sources tell him, “the world is a battlefield.”

    Expanding on the work he began in Blackwater: The Rise of the World’s Most Powerful Mercenary Army, Scahill traces the rise of the Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC), the super-secret special ops force that became central first to Bush’s and now to Obama’s strategy for combating terrorism. Night raids, cruise missiles, and yes, drones, figure in this story, but it’s also a story of how we got here – where just last week, the president admitted for the first time in public to killing United States citizens, including 16-year-old Abdulrahman al-Awlaki.

    In addition to the book, Scahill collaborated with filmmaker Rick Rowley to create a film, also called Dirty Wars, which hits theaters June 7. The names are the same, but the projects are very different – while the book is a 600-page tome filled with impeccable research and years of history, the film is a trip along with Scahill as he discovers JSOC, trails them from a remote part of Afghanistan to Yemen and Somalia, and deals along the way with the emotional fallout from chasing heartbreaking, horrifying stories around the world. A stunning visual achievement, the film brings to life the characters we meet in the pages of the book, from anonymous sources to the family members of those killed by US weapons.

    Scahill took some time to talk with Truth Out about the book, the film and the strands that make up American “national security” policy.

    We talked about drones, about journalism, about the ways anti-communist policy merged into anti-terrorist policy, and much more.

    http://truth-out.org/news/item/16627-scahill-expanded-executive-cia-and-pentagon-powers-institutionalize-dirty-wars-despite-obama-promises

    Reply
  161. Nolo Contendre says:

    Jim Comey to lead Obama’s FBI!

    Karma is a glorious wheel, for certain!

    Namaste, one and all!

    See NYT tonight. . .

    Reply
  162. lefty665 says:

    Hey Rayne, Been thinking about several of your bits and pieces, especially your comment on smartphone/tablet integration/ports.

    Add to that the requirement on droid devices for a gmail account to load apps, the device access apps demand, and the screen getting pulled back on what PRISM is, is about, and how.

    Is it reasonable to infer anything but that the devices/os were designed from the ground up with multiple paths of compromise and NSA baked in? Blinding flash of the obvious (BFO), otherwise known as DUH! We’ve been had on this whole generation of devices from the start, and in several ways (wouldn’t want no steenkin’ single point failures).

    Tick tock, as you noted, sometimes Int can be so pervasive that it becomes a ticking you know what for Sec. AKA bit by yer own dawg.

    Mussolini was a piker, all he did was make the trains run on time. By taking the private out of privacy General Keith has made billions for private sector data sales too. Bait a trap with money and it’ll catch the capitalists every time. Saw an FDR quote on Fascism somewhere recently, should have saved it.

    Reply
  163. sunwukong says:

    Reference the “Prism” slide disclosure. Neither the WaPo or Guardian have published any of the slides in .ppt format. Until we see the full set in raw (.ppt) format we are all just speculating on what is going on. The .ppt slides may have more clues and leaks in the notes pages and in the history / change tracking features of Micro$oft products.

    Reply
  164. earlofhuntingdon says:

    I hope after the prism scandal that you will be changing from a gee-male address to something more discreet. You will have seen the recommendations at prismhyphenbreak.org. No doubt, there are others, such as gmx, hushmail. Many thanks for all your work. Enjoy Northern CA. Erin go bragh.

    Reply
  165. kgb999 says:

    Just wanted to make a note on the PRSIM program and didn’t want to take a thread off-topic. I’ve missed chunks of the analysis here, but perceive that there is a misconception about the nature of the program – or at least the sub-set of the NSA programs that is most specifically referred to as PRISM.

    First, it seems like the power-point presentation we’re primarily going from is top-branded with a “PRISM” logo. But within this branded slide-show, a whole bunch of sub-programs are described – of which one is called “PRISM”. The PRISM program appears to do a very specific thing within the framework of capabilities being described. This slide, released by the Guardian highlights the point. So, I’m talking about this program within the branded slide-show … leaving aside “Upstream” and the rest; other than to note that the slide indicates them as separate and distinct software interfaces and that *both* should be used.

    As far as the specific program is concerned, it really looks like this is pretty much a set of glorified form letters. The user fills in the checkboxes for what they want and push “go” … and the system handles producing and sending all the “paper” to all the relevant folks in all the relevant ISPs (with the added bonus of creating/linking a return sftp directory for the data when it comes in).

    The implications are that the system was quite likely designed to streamline standard FISA warrants as well as one-end-foreign FAA-based letters. In other words, if a FISA warrant was issued to get information from company after they had joined the program, PRISM was almost certainly used to request and process the data.

    This is obviously somewhat an over-simplification. Not sure it’s relevant or helpful … just thought I’d toss it out to mull.

    Reply
  166. Newz 4 All says:

    At a rapid pace, and mostly hidden from the public, police agencies throughout California have been collecting millions of records on drivers and feeding them to intelligence fusion centers operated by local, state and federal law enforcement.

    With heightened concern over secret intelligence operations at the National Security Agency, the localized effort to track drivers highlights the extent to which the government has committed to collecting large amounts of data on people who have done nothing wrong.

    “Do we really want to maintain a database that tracks personal movements of law-abiding citizens in perpetuity? That’s the fundamental question here,” said Joe Simitian, a former California state senator (D-Palo Alto), now a Santa Clara County supervisor. “Larger and larger amounts of data collected over longer periods of time provide a very detailed look at the personal movements of private citizens.”

    http://cironline.org/reports/license-plate-readers-let-police-collect-millions-records-drivers-4883

    Reply
  167. C says:

    Washington Post story on Alexander.

    The WaPo has a new story up about Keith Alexander. There is a lot to say about this biopic but I found it particularly interesting that they included this statment:

    The unprecedented data collection plan, dubbed Real Time Regional Gateway, would play a role in breaking up Iraqi insurgent networks and significantly reducing the monthly death toll from improvised explosive devices by late 2008.

    To my knowledge the claim that the NSA has reduced IEDs has never been made in the other talking points and it isn’t supported here. Marcy have you found any examples of that?

    Reply
  168. robert massey says:

    ALL “COMMENTS, TIPS” FROM #119 THRU #275 ARE BLACKED OUT. ONLY THE TITLE/DATE-LINES AND EMBEDDED LINKS ARE LEGIBLE.
    YOU CAN READ THEM BY DOING A CTL-A TO SELECT FOR COPY/PASTE, BUT THIS SHOULD BE REPAIRED.
    This comment-box was white until I hit “preview” to examine what I’d just typed in, and then it too was blacked out, so I’m posting this from a new window, without having done the preview.

    Reply
  169. robert massey says:

    @robert massey: PLEASE REMOVE THIS COMMENT. The problem doesn’t occur in IE7, just Firefox 22.0, and is caused by one hit of “control/plus” to increase text size. “control/minus” returns display to normal. Don’t know why it happens only when you’ve scrolled down to #120.
    …(apparently there’s a registry entry that “control/plus” had been set in a previous session)

    Reply
  170. robert massey says:

    …a new (minor) problem: the left hand blank margin of about 3 spaces has disappeared from all your stories. This is OK for the main text since there is an extra indentation there, but the comments segment is flush against the border, impairing the legibility there; e.g. the letters “I” and “l” up against the border are invisible. This is not a local problem. A saved copy of the recent “Ooga Booga” story displays OK, but the online “Ooga Booga” has this problem. If you can’t restore the original margin you should apply the same indentation of the article text to the comments text.

    Reply
  171. Bob Heaney says:

    The massive HSBC, a bank originally founded on the opium trade to China, in July 2013 (see WSJ) paid $1.9 Billion to Justice Dept. to avoid criminal charges, about their actions for the last 15 years, which included money laundering for drug cartels, and terrorist money laundering and fund transfers. The NSA had to have known about all this years ago , but did nothing. I think that Edward Snowden’s disclosures open a new channel to explore a lot of activity the Government was complicit with, about all world terrorist funding.

    Reply
  172. tjallen says:

    Here is another huge government + AT&T program invading our privacy – phone records back to 1987 are made available to drug police, program running since 2007. Since the program has NEVER been named in court records or police records, this involves years of pretext stops and pretext arrests that are papered over. My opinion – %$*%#*@!!!!!

    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/02/us/drug-agents-use-vast-phone-trove-eclipsing-nsas.html?smid=fb-share&_r=0

    Reply
  173. Mark says:

    September 11, 2001

    EyeOpener: What always happens in any normal investigation…didn’t happen with 9/11
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=ef-SK_nN8Ko

    Recent Poll: More Americans Believe World Trade Center 7 Was Demolished On 9/11 than Believe the Government’s Explanation
    http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2013/09/poll-more-americans-believe-world-trade-center-7-was-demolished-on-911-than-believe-the-governments-explanation.html

    ReThink911
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNR6Kbg5jJ8

    Reply
  174. C says:

    Marcy, I had a question about the challenge policy that I initially posted on another article but I’ll ask here. In the docs is there any indication what the challenge policy that the FISA court is referring to is? Or is there any indication of how it might take place? Policies allowing for challenges in some other domains (e.g. drug seizure laws) have proven to be pure bureucratic roadblocks that are put in place for a patina of transparency. I’m curious if that is the case here.

    Thank you for covering this!

    http://www.emptywheel.net/2013/09/17/also-the-nail-polish-remover-lobby-didnt-challenge-section-215-orders/#comment-627978

    Reply
  175. Nigel says:

    The ‘National Suspicious Activity Reporting Initiative’…
    http://www.npr.org/2013/09/19/223721407/aclu-posts-suspicious-activity-reports-online

    “What we see here with these reports is that they are being based on people’s political speech in some cases,” German says. “And people’s other First Amendment activity, like photography, and often based on their religion.”

    German says this violates a federal regulation that prevents police from sharing derogatory information about people if that information falls short of a reasonable suspicion of a crime. He says this program “dumbs down” the very concept of reasonable suspicion…

    Reply
  176. greengiant says:

    Ex FBI bomb technician working as contractor sent up for May 2, 2012 undiebomber II revelations and child pornography?

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-24215871

    Was this the only leak they turned DC upside down for?
    AP was asked to withhold story on May 2, was this leak the basis for the story and they were ready to print the same day?
    http://www.emptywheel.net/2013/05/14/i-wonder-what-fahd-al-quso-thought-of-the-aps-undiebomb-2-0-story/

    Reply
  177. Nigel says:

    Interesting insight from former cabinet minister (and jailbird) into UK governmental ‘oversight’ of surveillance:
    http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2013/oct/06/cabinet-gchq-surveillance-spying-huhne

    As a cabinet minister and member of the national security council (NSC), Huhne said he would have expected to be told about these operations, particularly as they were relevant to proposed legislation.

    “The cabinet was told nothing about GCHQ’s Tempora or its US counterpart, the NSA’s Prism, nor about their extraordinary capability to hoover up and store personal emails, voice contact, social networking activity and even internet searches.

    “I was also on the national security council, attended by ministers and the heads of the Secret [Intelligence Service, MI6] and Security Service [MI5], GCHQ and the military. If anyone should have been briefed on Prism and Tempora, it should have been the NSC.

    “I do not know whether the prime minister or the foreign secretary (who has oversight of GCHQ) were briefed, but the NSC was not. This lack of information, and therefore accountability, is a warning that the supervision of our intelligence services needs as much updating as their bugging techniques.”

    Reply
  178. C says:

    Court orders have been unsealed in the Levison case and he is now conducting interviews: http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/elements/2013/10/how-lavabit-edward-snowden-email-service-melted-down.html

    One of the most interesting points made in the interview is that Levison was willing to comply with the government’s initial tap order for a single unnamed account. However the FBI demanded that he turn over complete access to his system. That was the sticking point. As the article notes they had a choice between narrow surveillance or broad dragnet and they chose dragnet.

    Reply
  179. Nigel says:

    Those whose privacy might be affected by government snooping have no legal standing to complain, apparently.

    http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2013/10/scotus-nsa-phone-metadata/

    The President Barack Obama administration is urging the Supreme Court to reject a challenge to the National Security Agency’s once-secret telephone metadata spying program.
    The filing — the first government briefing on the topic to reach the Supreme Court — was in response to the Electronic Privacy Information Center’s petition asking the justices to halt the program that was disclosed by NSA leaker Edward Snowden.
    Among other defenses, the administration said Friday that only the phone companies can challenge the secret orders from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court to hand over metadata of every call made to and from the United States.
    Congress established that only specified parties — the government or the recipient of an order — may seek review in this Court of a FISC decision under Section 1861,” the administration wrote. The Patriot Act, which authorizes the phone snooping, “impliedly precludes a third party” (.pdf) from making a challenge, the government added.

    Reply
  180. Nigel says:

    Right wing conservative peer expresses deep disquiet at UK snooping (whole article worth a read):
    http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2013/oct/14/conservative-peer-spying-gchq-surveillance

    Britain’s spy agencies may be operating outside the law in the mass internet surveillance programmes uncovered by the US whistleblower Edward Snowden, according to Lord Blencathra, the former Conservative Home Office minister who led a formal inquiry into the data communications bill.

    The Tory peer – David Maclean when he was an MP – said he felt “deeply, deeply uneasy” about programmes that allow the security services to examine the internet activities of British citizens without the consent of parliament…

    Blencathra said Snowden had revealed information that people “have a right to know about”.

    “A lot of people went into overdrive saying Snowden’s a ghastly traitor, he’s endangered national security. That may be true. But he’s revealed things government were doing which the governments maybe ought not have been doing or we had a right to know about. Snowden is the first leaker I have ever felt sympathy for or felt had a potential justice behind what he was doing.”

    Blencathra dismissed the view of Sir David Omand, the former head of GCHQ, who said the leaks were the most “catastrophic loss to British intelligence ever”.

    He said this claim was “utter rubbish”…

    Reply
  181. Nigel says:

    Another service follows Lavabit:

    http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/10/22/cryptoseal_shutters_consumer_vpn_service/
    “Our system does not support recording any of the information commonly requested in a pen register order, and it would be technically infeasible for us to add this in a prompt manner. The consequence, being forced to turn over cryptographic keys to our entire system on the strength of a pen register order, is unreasonable in our opinion, and likely unconstitutional, but until this matter is settled, we are unable to proceed with our service…”
    …Paid subscribers are offered a one-year subscription to a non-US VPN service, (or) a refund of their balance.

    Reply
  182. C says:

    One more then I’ll pause for a while:

    Apropos of your earlier posts about the FBI’s treatment of Ibragim Todashev and Tatiana Gruzdeva there is an ongoing lawsuit alleging that they have used the No Fly List as a form of blackmail to control informants. If true this would lend credence to the idea that her grant of a work permit followed by an abrupt deportation was based upon attempts to buy her silence or cooperation. Perhaps they were letting her stay but then changed their minds once she refused to testify in support of their claims.

    http://www.allgov.com/news/controversies/fbi-accused-of-using-no-fly-list-to-recruit-informants-131008?news=851333

    Reply
  183. Richard says:

    Here is my tip.

    As a journalist, I’m sure you know many tricks and techniques to help you research your topics, particularly, when using a search engine such as Google.

    Anyway, just in case you’re not aware of it, I recently discovered an amazing, very powerful ‘free’ tool that was developed by one of the leading online security consultancies; Bishop Fox. It’s a tool that helps you to drill down a lot deeper into search engines and find all sorts of useful information, including information that the owner may not be aware is available online. Oops! Ha.

    I imagine this tool could prove to be very helpful for someone like you in your line of work.

    SearchDiggity download page: http://www.bishopfox.com/resources/tools/google-hacking-diggity/attack-tools/

    enjoy.

    Reply
  184. Michael Daugherty says:

    Marcy,

    I just recently discovered your writing through Dave Gonigam’s article on The Daily Reckoning. I have to say I’m a big fan and agree with the points made in your “After General Alexander, Obama Should Split the NSA…” post on The Guardian. Putting all of our private information in the hands of the government doesn’t help fix problems, it causes them. Your views are right up my ally and I’ll definitely be sharing through my social media and website.

    Thanks,

    Mike

    Reply
  185. David Margolin says:

    Breaking in Germany

    Secret Service arrests Estonian hacker in German Airport March 2008, on his way from Estonia to Bali, without an international warrant and without informing the German police until afterwards.

    http://international.sueddeutsche.de/post/67352724412/foreign-customs-u-s-supersedes-authority-at-german

    Personally, I have no sympathy for thieves like this, and I believe he got a light sentence.

    German television is scheduled to break the story on Nov. 28th, but

    From this story from Der Spiegel:

    Germans Rejected: US Unlikely to Offer ‘No-Spy’ Agreement

    http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/us-declines-no-spy-pact-with-germany-but-might-reveal-snowden-secrets-a-933006.html

    “One thing the German intelligence agency directors were offered while in the US was to be supplied with higher-quality information. The NSA has apparently figured out most of the data that Edward Snowden, the former NSA contractor turned whistleblower, was able to copy before departing for Hong Kong in May. What’s more, NSA Director Alexander has announced plans to put together a “Germany package” containing the material that Snowden is likely to release in the coming weeks. ”

    There is also a story circulating that Snowden is actually already working together with Der Spiegel in order to scoop the tv show.

    Of course, German officials know about their cooperation with the Secret Service, but at least now they will be prepared for the publicity.

    Reply
  186. Forrest Gumpp (@ForrestGumppXVI) says:

    A possible sequel exists to Louise Mensch’s attempted grammar-policing of you the other day. Shortly after that entertaining take-down, I experienced a browser freeze, upon recovery from which I found that I had been simultaneously locked out from both my @ForrestGumpp Twitter account and the Gmail email account with which that account was associated for registration purposes.

    I have since reincarnated my Twitter identity as @ForrestGumppXVI in Australia, from where I tweet.

    I now find that I am unable to have a tweet with a US addressee appear on such addressee’s @ mentions timeline. This post, to an Australian blog on which I am a regular guest poster, describes more fully an attempt to tweet to @emptywheel:

    http://noplaceforsheep.com/2013/10/30/stranded-in-the-shit-field/#comment-79282

    I have no idea whether such selective suppression of tweets is news to you or not, but there it is for what its worth. I endorse what an early commenter to the Malaprops and Cows thread said as to your evident scoring of points to have attracted such ad hominem dialogue.

    Keep up the good work. I, of course, follow you on Twitter.

    Reply
  187. lefty665 says:

    Inglis is gone as Deputy Director at NSA and replaced by Frances J. Fleisch as acting Deputy this month. Might be interesting to see where Inglis went and what anyone knows about Fleisch. She has apparently been at the Agency since 1980.

    NSA site link – click at your discretion http://www.nsa.gov/about/leadership/bio_fleisch.shtml

    http://www.zoominfo.com/p/Frances-Fleisch/1586766222

    She is asserting state secrets – so much for transparancy.
    http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/us-reasserts-need-to-keep-domestic-surveillance-secret/2013/12/21/9d2b4538-6a7e-11e3-a0b9-249bbb34602c_story.html

    Reply
  188. lefty665 says:

    Nice post on Clapper (aka The Clap), state secrets and Fleisch.

    Curious that she’s Acting DDIR. Since the Agency was founded the DDIR has been a career civilian while the military directors came and went. That provided a counterweight to an aggressive, ignorant or dumb appointment as DIRNSA. It also provided continuity and knowledge of the business and operations of the Agency to keep it running on a day to day basis.

    Alexander broke that mold when he brought in Inglis. Inglis had a military career and was Alexander’s overreaching, Constitution raping soulmate/toady.

    The step back to a career civilian (think Binney, Drake etc) is a step in the right direction. Does the acting part mean that O is going to let the next DIRNSA pick his/her Deputy and thus create another cult of personality? It could also mean that with more than 30 years service she’s ready to retire, not take on a huge new long term role.

    I did not see it in the panel’s recommendations, but restoring the independent, profoundly civilian, career Deputy Director is a fundamental and critical part of regaining institutional sanity.

    Reply
  189. derrick harper says:

    This is exactly what Greg Hales Craig Bergstrom Steven Robert Busch and their family’s have done to me In 2004. Mormon Microchipping Why are Bob Lonsberry and Glenn Beck, both MORMON ELDERS, silent about this stuff They are silenced by their LDS church while they oversee reports of discreet NSF research It is true that Mormons are some of the first to experiment on unknowing and unwilling peopleThey implant human beings without the person knowing.So they can control them and follow them anywhere. Their brain functions can be remotely monitored by supercomputers and even altered through the changing of frequencies,they are using unknowing people as Guinea pigs in secret experiments.Today microchips operate by means of low-frequency radio waves that target the unknowing victim. With the help of satellites,the implanted person can be tracked anywhere on the globe. Such a technique was among a number tested in theIraq war according to Dr. Carl Sanders, who invented the intelligence-manned interface (IMI) biotic, (Earlier during the Vietnam War,soldiers were given the Rambo chip, designed to increase adrenaline flow into the bloodstream.)The 20-billion-bit per second supercomputers at the U.S .National Security Agency (NSA) could now see and hear what soldiers experience in the battlefield with a remote monitoring system (RMS). “When a micromillimeter microchip (the diameter of a strand of hair is 50 micromillimeters) is introduced into optical nerve of the eye, it draws neuro-impulses from the brain that embody the experiences, smells, sights, and voice of the implanted person. Once transferred and stored in a computer, these neuro-impulses can be projected back to the person’s brain via the microchip to be re experienced. Using a RMS,a land-based computer operator can send electromagnetic messages (encoded as signals) to the nervous system, affecting the target’s performance. With RMS, healthy persons can be induced to see hallucinations and to hear voices in their heads. Every thought, reaction,hearing, and visual observation causes a certain neurological potential, spikes, and patterns in the brain and its electromagnetic fields, which can now be decoded into thoughts, pictures, and voices. Electromagnetic stimulation can therefore change a person’s brainwaves and affect muscular activity, causing painful muscular cramps experienced as torture.these people and their families follow me around all day and film me all day while they try to control me with the micro stimulaters they put in my body in 2004 either through something i ate or some how got them in my body when I was passed out all i know is there driving me crazy and have made my life a living nightmare here,s a list tag and vehical description of lhe people stalking and filming me while they try to control me with the stuff they introduced to my body w/o my consent please make these people stop their hurting me badl

    Reply
  190. Stepan Khomyn says:

    This is about your article on Ukraine.Have you lived for a while in Ukraine?I hope,you can point at this country on the map with no hesitation.This is nice of you to test the waters on the international level (sounds so globally enticing!) with some deep analysis. Unfortunately,simple compilation of the Google’d dirt from the Web’s back waters,while lacking basic knowledge of the topic,cannot be lifted to the deep analysis level.Yours laughable “analyst” tile doesn’t necessarily mean that you are capable to analyze about anything that is coming your way.The only open question that I still have:you have done this out of genuine lack of knowledge or you were compensated to do so?

    Reply
  191. lefty665 says:

    Hi EW, Thought I remembered that the USPS was getting close to 100% meta information off their mail processing equipment (considering what else NSA’s collecting it would be a shock if they weren’t getting snail mail too).
    .
    This USPS IG pdf on mail covers thinks that there were “only” 49,000 in fy 2013. http://cryptome.org/2014/06/usps-mail-spy-2014.pdf Different programs, separate orders, or…? Interesting redaction too.
    .
    Thanks for all you do. Lefty

    Reply
  192. seedeevee says:

    regarding bmaz and http://www.emptywheel.net/2014/06/22/1st-amendment-and-other-concerns-on-appeal-of-redskins-decision/

    “seedeevee on June 24, 2014 at 4:45 pm In reply to bmaz1

    Josh Marshall is an avowed racist and his explanations on “race” should be seen through the eyes of his cognitive dissonance. ”

    “bmaz1 on June 25, 2014 at 2:07 am In reply to seedeevee

    My cite was to his analysis of why it is time for it to go, and his statement that it should. I agree completely with that. If you don’t, that’s fine, but don’t include me in on any specious allegations of racism.”

    ” Josh Marshall – July 6, 2014, 6:46 PM EDT

    I believe the Palestinians deserve a state. But as a Jew and a Zionist I’ve long believed that you don’t have to care about justice or fairness or anything else for the Palestinians or care anything about the Palestinians at all to support the creation of a Palestinian state. It is obviously in Israel’s interest. To be clear, I’m not at all indifferent to the Palestinian people and their aspirations for a state and the dignity of self-determination. Quite the opposite. My point is simply to say that if your thing is the fate of Israel and the Jewish people, self-interest is – or should be – entirely adequate to come to this conclusion.”

    So, smartguy bmaz, what “specious” about calling Josh Marshall a racist? You are just a fucking bullshit lawyer sometimes.

    Reply
  193. Radio Hot Pepper says:

    Looks like you have nothing to say about the murder and debauchery going on in Gaza and the Palestinian areas. That is really a shame because if you are not condemning it then you are condoning it.

    Reply
  194. Bitter Angry Drunk says:

    Would it be possible for you to post a brief glossary of commonly used acronyms? I read this blog daily (OK, skim) but even I am occasionally baffled by some of the abbreviations — the most recent being CISA in the post about Alexander….

    Reply
  195. Lefty665 says:

    Jim, If you have not seen it, here’s a pretty good article on what we don’t know about how Ebola is transmitted.
    http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-ebola-questions-20141007-story.html#page=1
    .
    While infections via aerosols and unsymptomatic people is unusual, there is no hard evidence it cannot and does not happen, especially in confined spaces (airplane cabins?).
    .
    The blanket CDC assertions are clearly unfounded. They represent public panic control. Temperature taking at airports is a public display that authorities are “doing something”. It is, at best, marginally effective.
    .
    Quibbles with the LA Times article are the assertion that the 1989 outbreak in monkeys in Reston was Ebola, and that it did not infect humans. My recollection from reading the “Hot Zone” and related articles is that the final determination was that it was a closely related but separate virus ultimately named something like Restontv. It was also clear that it spread via aerosols in the monkey lab, and in separate rooms via HVAC. Humans in the building tested positive, but with few symptoms. That the infected people did not die horrible deaths was prima facie evidence it was not Ebola. The conclusion was that we had dodged the bullet that time. We are now in the throes of the next time.

    Reply
  196. lefty665 says:

    Hi Jim, Here’s a bad sign for our response to Ebola:.
    .
    “Klain emerged from the Al Gore 2000 and John F. Kerry 2004 presidential campaigns with a reputation as one of the Democrats’ most able strategists.” http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/obama-appoints-lawyer-to-handle-ebola-response/2014/10/17/17534e04-561b-11e4-809b-8cc0a295c773_story.html?hpid=z1
    .
    If he has as much success with Ebola as with Gore and Kerry we’re in deep you know what.

    Reply
  197. greengiant says:

    Well with US local, county and state law enforcement jumping on using fake cell phone tower technology to track and intercept data and foreign governments admitting to doing the same the other day it was revealed there was an extensive cell phone tower or “base station” “man in the middle” operation running in Oslo Norway whose cost was in the millions.
    Some coverage in Sweden dn.se and in Norway.
    The aftenposten is a more recent article
    http://www.aftenposten.no/nyheter/iriks/Sikkerhetsmyndighetene-sjekker-om-spionsignalene-er-borte-7825939.html
    http://www.dn.se/nyheter/varlden/hemlig-spionutrustning-i-oslo-kan-komma-fran-frammande-makt/
    http://www.dn.se/nyheter/varlden/teorin-foretag-har-blivit-avlyssnade/

    Reply
  198. tjallen says:

    Here is a topic for Rayne and the Sony Pictures hack – several items have surfaced about US Government involvement in creating the film “The Interview”. There is a long history of USG support of films, books, and other media directed towards political ends, and now some evidence has emerged that this film could be another in a long line of propaganda pieces supported by our tax dollars.

    There is a Daily Beast story which ties Bruce Bennett, a North Korean expert at the RAND Corporation, and Ambassador Robert King, U.S. envoy for N. Korea, as film consultants:
    http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/12/17/exclusive-sony-emails-allege-u-s-govt-official-ok-d-controversial-ending-to-the-interview.html

    And a Reuters article ties in Assistant U.S. Secretary of State Daniel Russel:
    http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/12/17/sony-cybersecurity-northkorea-idUSL3N0U150S20141217

    Well, no real smoking gun yet, but I’m still looking and am on alert for more. N. Korea first regarded the film as an act of war, and Bennett did say things which seemed to suggest the US would like to encourage a N. Korean uprising to throw off their dictator.

    So blowback (Unintended consequences of USG propaganda)?

    Reply
  199. th222 says:

    In a story about the difficulty of hiring millennials, NSA Executive Director Corin Stone is quoted describing working at the NSA: “It’s exciting and it’s fun and it is, in other cases, illegal — really cool stuff”

    NSA wants millennial talent without millennial perks
    Amber Corrin, Senior Staff Writer 10:44 a.m. EDT September 10, 2015
    http://www.c4isrnet.com/story/military-tech/mobile/2015/09/10/nsa-recruiting-millennial-talent/71998044/

    The nut graf:

    “I think we’re all having the same problem. It’s not just a government or industry problem — it’s a holistic problem in keeping people excited and satisfied in this world,” Corin Stone, NSA executive director, said Sept. 9 at the Intelligence and National Security Summit in Washington. “There are obvious downsides we hear all the time, like you can’t bring a cell phone in the building. We’re trying to get creative about how we emphasize the mission, what we have that others don’t have … we can work on things here that you can’t work on anywhere else. It’s exciting and it’s fun and it is, in other cases, illegal — really cool stuff.”

    Reply
  200. JAMES FATCHETT, CIA says:

    BONNIE DUMANIS OUR FIRST JEWISH LESBIAN PROSECUTOR FROM AMHERST..A FORMER DRUG COURT JUDGE…21 USC 863 (C)…CLAIMS DID NOT KNOW IT EXISTED NOR REQUISITE OF AUDIT OF FUNDS NOR MEDICAL MONITORING OF SUBJECTS, CHAD’S OR RACHEL’S LAW (RACHEL HOFFMAN), GATEWAY DRUG THEORY, RECEIVED LOG CABIN REPUBLICAN AWARD THEN 867 WITH HIV FROM NEEDLE EXCHANGE FIASCO AS WELL 100 STORES REQUISITIONING 21 USC 863 SURPLUS PROPERTY. TITLE 41 EQ..RUN IS SURPLUS DRUG PARAPHERNALIA AVAILABLE FOR TRANSFER AS SURPLUS PROPERTY…INVOKED FEDERAL LAW…CANNOT PARSE BONNIE…JF CIA…OH DAWN AND SAMSHA MORTALITY INDICES…AND PARTNERED WITH NINE TIMES 1964 RICO, CALPERS, CALSTRS AND SEIU….CIPA ALSO….BONG IS A KEY WORD..MISPRISION IS A FELONY BONNIE. JF CIA

    Reply
  201. Anon says:

    both he and Ms Daly for breaching security at Shannon Airport in July 2014. The pair used a rope to scale the fence in order to inspect US aircraft using the airport to refuel.

    Reply
  202. Lefty665 says:

    Hi bmaz, McCloughan’s the real deal. He’s almost single handedly beaten back the alligators and started to drain the swamp in D.C. It’s been amazing to watch. It’ll be interesting to see what he does this year. This is a decent article: https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/redskins/one-year-in-scot-mccloughan-has-already-transformed-the-redskins/2016/01/12/e8a565a8-b977-11e5-829c-26ffb874a18d_story.html If you have the leisure to look at the Wash Post’s sports page, Jerry Brewer writes beautiful stuff. They got him from Seattle last year.

    Reply
  203. lefty665 says:

    Hey Rayne, Here’s another link on Zika It goes back to an article in the journal “Cell Host & Microbe” here .
    .
    Looks like currently there’s no DNA match found between Zika in mosquitoes and people. Doesn’t mean Zika’s not a bad actor or that a match won’t be found, just that we ain’t there yet. Also observations that Zika is a quick mutator as a reason why that since identified in 1947 it hasn’t been causing severe problems until the last couple of years.
    .
    Still puts the NIH/CDC releases in the “raise the profile and get people socialized to dealing with Zika” category rather than confirmed science. That’s probably a good thing. Waiting until after the fact on a fast mutating virus with multiple and perhaps evolving methods of transmission gives Zika a big head start. What if the common vector turns out to be something other than mosquitoes after we get everybody all jacked up?

    Reply
  204. lefty665 says:

    Rayne, Here’s the money quote from NIAID head Dr. Anthony Fauci. It’s all about the money. They need it for Zika, and so far CDC has been robbing other accounts to pay for it.
    .
    That’s why the soft science, “consistent with”, etc before the hard lab results come in. It is a PR offensive in support of an appropriations request for money they really need. Ginning up “ZIKA IS COMING” hysteria comes under the heading of raising the profile and socializing the issue.
    .
    Wonder what funding the dorks in Congress will want to cut to offset money for Zika, Ebola?
    .
    Fauci on Face the Nation: He said the CDC is working on multiple fronts to combat the virus, including working to develop a vaccine, controlling mosquito populations and working with state and local health authorities. Those efforts would be aided greatly by more funding from Congress, he said.

    “That’s the reason why we asked for it, because, right now, we’re using money from other accounts to do that,” he said. “And that is going to be just a stopgap measure. We are going to have to get the money to be able to do the full job that we planned to do.”

    Reply
  205. lefty665 says:

    Hi Rayne “Zika should soon run its course in Latin America. Within the next couple of years, the epidemic that has battered the region since 2015 will largely be over, researchers estimate online July 14 in Science”. Science News August 6, page 16.
    .
    What do you think about the dingbats in the house attaching reduction in regs on pesticides in the “Zika” legislation?

    Reply
  206. perris says:

    https://www.quora.com/Can-it-finally-be-said-that-George-W-Bush-didnt-lie-about-WMDs-in-Iraq

    Can it finally be said that George W. Bush didn’t lie about WMD’s in Iraq?

    Carne William Ross, Former British diplomat; Exec director of Independent Diplomat; writer
    Written Jan 14

    Astonishing question.  But just to set the record straight (again).  I was the UK’s WMD and Iraq specialist for the UK mission to the UN from 1998-2002.  I was steeped in the intelligence on WMD.  I read a thick folder of intelligence reports every day.  I was the diplomat primarily responsible for setting up the UN weapons inspection body, UNMOVIC.  I took part in every UK-US bilateral meeting on Iraq during this period, and was part of the small team of officials who reviewed so called JIC (Joint Intelligence Committee) summaries of all available intelligence about Iraq’s WMD before they were submitted to the UK cabinet.  I have now testified to the two official inquiries in the UK into the war, the so-called Butler and Chilcot Inquiries.  I resigned from the British diplomatic service after giving evidence (then secret) to the Butler Inquiry.  If you want the details, please read my testimonies.  You can find them on my website here:
    Iraq: the story of my testimony

    But if you don’t want the detail let me state it in a sentence.  The UK and US believed that Iraq may have had some residual stocks of WMD (in particular BW or CW, but not nuclear) but at no point from 1998-2002, during the years I worked on the issue, did we believe that there was anything like sufficient to constitute a threat to Iraq’s neighbors, let alone to the UK or US.  The claim, repeated ad nauseam to this day, that Bush and Blair were “misled” by intelligence that there was a threat is not true.

    Reply
  207. Diviz says:

    I just tried to register, but the login form said that currently registration is not allowed. Is that a long standing policy for a reason, or am I just hitting up against a WordPress website update kind of situation?

    Reply
    • Rayne says:

      Hi there and welcome to emptywheel. We use a different approach to commenting which doesn’t use the WP Login at the top of the homepage. Go to the post on which you wish to comment, fill in your desired username, email address, and website URL, simply begin commenting. But do use the same login information for each subsequent comment. Thanks and welcome again.

      Reply
  208. Marinela Selseth says:

    To post comments to an article (post), do I need to register, and/or login?

    If so, how can I register?

    I get:

    User registration is currently not allowed.

    Reply
  209. Danzbe says:

    Having the same issue as Marinela but with no success opening the reply link in a new browser tab (or a different browser altogether for that matter). Feel like I’m missing something obvious but can’t figure it out for the life of me.

    Reply

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