Law and Disorder, Teen Killers; Guns, Taser; Toll on Traffic; Accidents; Fake Rape, Mother-of-the-Year Contenders; NSA Spying, Surveillance State

Law and Disorder

• 'Stand Your Ground' law, 'Bush Doctrine' used to defend double homicide—So you can pre-emptively kill those whom you think want to kill you?
• Sheriff: Fugitive seen in Jonesboro last week bragging about killing—"Judge L.T. Simes released Millbrooks [whom the judge himself sentenced to 22 years in prison] on Aug. 12 and ordered to return on Aug. 22 to start his sentence. But he did not return and the court has issued a one million dollar bench warrant for him."
• Rival campers who opened fire turn out to be sheriff's deputies—"Feuding L.A. County deputies, both off duty at Prado Regional Park, apparently didn't know they were colleagues."
• Shon Hopwood and Kopf's terrible sentencing instincts—Interesting insight in rehabilitation
• Family says they were kicked out of Universal Studios because dad was wearing a police shirt—"The only people we allow in our parks with shirts or other clothing that might identify them as police officers are working law enforcement personnel. This is for everyone's safety and to avoid confusion by our guests."
• Robert Miles awarded disputed $5 million lottery ticket—Two brothers stole it from him seven years ago.
• Inmates end California prison hunger strike—"Inmates halt a two-month protest after a promise of legislative hearings on solitary confinement."

Teen Killers

• Teenager who murdered baby in stroller sentenced to life with no parole—"De'Marquise Elkins spared the death penalty as he was 17 when he shot 13-month-old Antonio Santiago." The DA said, "He aimed that gun right between that baby's eyes and shot that baby. I don't know of a more inhumane act or wantonly vile act ... than to aim a gun at a sleeping baby in a stroller and take that baby's life."
• Melbourne baseballer Christopher Lane shot to death by 16-year-old "who wanted to kill somebody"—They say they were "bored." They'll be tried as adults.
• WWII vet, beaten by teens outside Eagles Lodge, dies—"Authorities say the two young African American men, between 16 and 19 years old, approached Delbert Belton in his car at random Wednesday night outside an Eagles Lodge as he was waiting for a friend."
• 16-year-old charged in Clearwater slaying was angry after argument with parents—He "was upset, and he just decided that he was going to kill the first person he saw."
• One teen dead, 3 injured in Texas school stabbing
• Isabella Guzman, Aurora 18-Year-Old, Allegedly Stabbed Mother 79 Times

Guns

• Colorado Senate President John Morse, state Sen. Angela Giron ousted"—Guess Bloomie's money didn't help.
• Iowa Issues Gun Permits To The Blind, Allowing Them To Carry In Public—Colbert approves.
• Chicago abolishes gun registry in place since 1968
• Two Men Parade Around Wisconsin Farmers Market Carrying AR-15 Rifles

Taser

• Ontario woman, 80, fractures hip after being struck with police taser
• Grand Jury Recommends Sheriff's Department Rethink Taser Training; Department Responds
• Are Tasers too deadly to be called 'non-lethal'?

Toll on Traffic

• Police chief fired over gaming traffic tickets—"Corporal Tim Brasuell claims that, in a recording he took on his cell phone, Chief Don McKinnon encouraged questionable behavior in order to pull people over and issue traffic tickets."
• St. Petersburg lawmaker files bill to ban red light cameras—Jeff Brandes says, "This program was originally sold as being about safety. I have come to believe that it's now about revenue."
• Akron police alert residents of speeding ticket scam—"The scam involves the fake company asking people to pay unpaid speed camera tickets via credit card, according to police."
• Florida man accused of 'walking on wrong side of the road'—"[I]n court, the officer testified he was not sure what side of the road Wingate was on, prompting the judge to dismiss the case."
• Speed demon sets record for the fastest single lap around Manhattan—"A driver set an illegal land speed record for a single lap around the borough — cutting and weaving through the 26.5-mile route in a hair-raising 24 minutes."
• Prairie Village police ticket 26 bicyclists for disobeying stop sign—Always gonna be idiots like these ruining things for others.
• Study: Many alcohol-related ER visits involve Budweiser—Number #1 beer in America?

Accidents

• SF city vehicle fatally hits woman in park grass
• Rim fire started by a hunter's illegal fire, Forest Service says
• K-9 Officer laid to rest after dying from being left in hot car

Fake Rape

• False rape claim woman Cathy Richardson jailed
• Angela England jailed over Conwy false rape allegation
• Woman to serve 2 months for perjury in innocence case—Her lawyer wanted no jail time for perjury because "If you put her in jail the message you send to other people who have done this... if you come forward we're going to lock you up."
• Homeless Man Convicted Of Rape In 2002 Has Conviction Set Aside—"[T]he woman who accused Chatman of rape will not be brought up on perjury charges because the statute of limitations had expired." It was alleged she "cried rape simply to make money off of damages."
• Harsh sentence for false rape claim—18 months vs. what the guy would have received if he were convicted for her lies is harsh?
• India: False rape charge lands woman in prison for 4 years
• Nine men cleared of sex offences after Twitter evidence—"Nine men accused of a range of sexual offences against a teenage girl have walked free from court after the cases against them were dropped."
• Erfundene Vergewaltigung: Heidi K. muss mehr als fünf Jahre ins Gefängnis—German teacher sentenced to more than 5 years for false rape claims.

Mother-of-the-Year Contenders

• Amanda Hein: Mum 'killed baby and hid body in bar's toilet'
• Mother Charged With Fatally Stabbing Son In Ice Cream Fight
• Mom charged with burning son's tongue, forcing him to stand in ant bed
• Mother's Obituary Shocks Nevada Residents—"Marianne Theresa Johnson-Reddick born Jan 4, 1935 and died alone on Aug. 30, 2013. She is survived by her 6 of 8 children whom she spent her lifetime torturing in every way possible."
• Pregnant women selling used, positive pregnancy tests online—"The buyers of the used devices — which sell on Craigslist for anywhere between $20 and $40 — include women who want revenge on ex-boyfriends or want to play a practical joke, and even teachers looking to school students about teen pregnancy."

NSA Spying

• NSA chief Clapper praises Snowden: Data spying debate 'probably needed to happen'
• The FISA court will release more opinions because of Snowden—"Call it the Edward Snowden effect: Citing the former NSA contractor, a federal judge has ordered the government to declassify more reports from the secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court."
• Schneier: New NSA Leak Shows MITM Attacks Against Major Internet Services
• Obama's NSA surveillance review panel did not discuss changes, attendees say—"Pair say meeting was dominated by tech firms' interests and session did not broach the topic of changes to data collection."
• Canada played central role in NSA attempt to crack secure web data

Surveillance State

• American seeks refuge in Canada claiming persecution because of hacker connections—"Matthew Paul DeHart, 29, says the child-porn charges are a sham, and that the real reason the U.S. government is after him is to retrieve sensitive national security documents he was privy to." Also, it's very possible that hackers can read and write on targets' machines.
• Feds Stalked Airline Passenger Lists to Catch Manning's Friend, Documents Show
• FBI Admits It Controlled Tor Servers Behind Mass Malware Attack—"It wasn’t ever seriously in doubt, but the FBI yesterday acknowledged that it secretly took control of Freedom Hosting last July, days before the servers of the largest provider of ultra-anonymous hosting were found to be serving custom malware designed to identify visitors."
• E-ZPasses Get Read All Over New York (Not Just At Toll Booths)
• How the feds asked Microsoft to backdoor BitLocker, their full-disk encryption tool

Amerika; Republicans, Crazed and Confused, Corruption, IRS Scandal, Voter Suppression, Immigration and Racism; Bradley Manning, NSA Spying, Surveillance and Privacy

Amerika

• 8 Reasons Young Americans Don't Fight Back: How the US Crushed Youth Resistance
• The American Dream rewards few, enslaves millions—"My ideology tells me to tear it all down. Yet, like everyone else, I'm sucked into a system that offers a mirage of self-improvement."
• Why Can't Democracy Trump Inequality?—"In the 1980s, campaign contributions from the top 0.01% roughly equaled the contributions from all of organized labor. In 2012, the top 0.01% outspent labor by more than a 4:1 margin."
• 'Oligarchic tendencies': Study finds only the wealthy get represented in the Senate
• Are Innocent Citizens at Risk of Police Seizure of Their Cash, Cars and Homes?
• The Ideology Behind Michael Grunwald's Repugnant Assange Tweet
• Video: Ex CIA agent explains how to delete the elite!

Republicans

• Lamar Alexander Receives Letter From Tea Party Urging Him To Retire
• 13 Maine Republicans Are Done With The GOP, Decide To Leave Party
• Polk County GOP co-chairman resigns citing 'disappointment' with Republican Party

Crazed and Confused

• Republicans' big problem with crazy—"The GOP establishment pandered to Tea Party extremism to win the 2010 midterm elections. Now, it's reaping the whirlwind."
• Rep. Clyburn likens American media to Nazi propagandists—Projection, much?
• Oregon's GOP Chair Wants to Sprinkle Nuclear Waste From Airplanes—"[Art Robinson] wants to sprinkle radioactive waste from airplanes to build up our resistance to degenerative illnesses." One of his many crackpot ideas.
• Tennessee Republican tells girl her father has to be deported as tea party crowd cheer
• A Third Of Louisiana Republicans Blame Obama For Hurricane Katrina Response Under Bush—'Heckuva job Brownie' takes on a surreal new meaning.
• Conservatives Angry At 'Elysium' for Showing World Their Ideology Would Create
• Wingnut Texas Congressional Candidate Tries This 'Reddit' Thing, Gets Laughed Off Internet

Corruption

• Judge: Special prosecutor will review Perry veto—" A Texas judge... plans to have a special prosecutor review allegations that Gov. Rick Perry abused the powers of his office and broke the law over a veto that cut funding for state public corruption investigators."
• Police: Texas Lt. Gov. Dewhurst Asked to Get Relative Out of Jail—Video advertisement alert. Turn off your speakers before clicking.
• North Carolina: Hefty raises at DHHS raise question of qualifications
• Wisconsin: Move to ghost job and back gives Capitol Police chief big raises
• Virginia's first lady held stock in company in probes: report

IRS Scandal

• IRS assailed from all sides for lack of transparency—"Allies and critics alike frustrated by the IRS' lack of transparency in Tea Party affair."
• New evidence IRS also targeted liberals, Democrats say
• Top Democrat files suit against IRS over tax-exemption rules
• IRS faces lawsuit for failing to enforce church electioneering ban
• Darrell Issa, This Generation's Joe McCarthy—His position protects him from his lies.

Voter Suppression

• Our Failure to Stop You from Voting Means We Weren't Trying to Stop You from Voting—"The latest Republican argument on voter suppression laws, and why it's wrong."
• We didn't intend for conservatives to interpret "motor voter" as a requirement
• North Carolina: Boos, Chants Fill Heated Watauga County Board of Elections Meeting Monday, ASU Voting Site Eliminated
• Nine Term North Carolina Senator Resigns To Fight New Voter Suppression Law
• VoteRiders.com: Voter ID Clinics

Immigration and Racism

• Bob Goodlatte: No Path To Citizenship For DREAMers—"In a bad sign for reform, the Republican chairman of the House's immigration policy committee told a conservative radio host Monday that he opposes a path to citizenship even for young documented people brought to the United States as children,…"
• Immigration Reformers, Wake the F' Up!—"[S]top pretending that this bill is going to pass and get about the business of explaining to voters who is stopping it from passing or in fact stopping it from even getting a vote."
• Texas Sen. Ted Cruz Will Renounce His Canadian Citizenship
• LePage: I Never Said That Obama Hates White People
• Maher: Only white conservatives think racism is over in the U.S.

Bradley Manning

• History Will Pardon Bradley Manning, Even If Obama Doesn't—"In fifty years, people will look on the Manning case as another blot on a dark era for the United States and the values that it claims to hold dear."
• Pentagon Papers leaker says Manning a 'casualty'—How does Manning's 35-year sentence compare with those meted on real spies and actual bad guys?
• Viewpoint: Overzealous Prosecution of Bradley Manning Backfired—"In the end, the final casualty may be America's reputation as a bastion of freedom."
• Michael Moore: What Bradley Manning's Sentence Will Tell Us About Our Military Justice System
• Pfc. Manning: 'I want to live as a woman'

NSA Spying

• EFF Victory Results in Release of Secret Court Opinion Finding NSA Surveillance Unconstitutional
• The FISA Court Knew the NSA Lied Repeatedly About Its Spying, Approved Its Searches Anyway
• NSA gathered thousands of Americans' e-mails before court struck down program
• Dan Rather: NSA 'is demolishing the trust in the government'
• What You Need to Know on New Details of NSA Spying WSJ
• NSA surveillance story cuts into Obama's popularity with young voters
• So the innocent have nothing to fear? After David Miranda we now know where this leads—"The destructive power of state snooping is on display for all to see. The press must not yield to this intimidation."
• The New Yorker's Jeffrey Toobin Compares Glenn Greenwald's Partner to a 'Drug Mule'

Surveillance and Privacy

• Unjustified Detention of David Miranda Points to the Growing Problem of Suspicionless Border Surveillance
• Facial scanning is making gains in surveillance—They've spent $5.1 million on BOSS. And just imagine if the feds cross-reference with all the tagged photos on Facebook. NYT
• 'RIP privacy': New Zealand govt passes NSA-style snooping bill

Whistleblowers, Journalism and Free Speech, The Guardian, Miranda, NSA Spying

Whistleblowers

• Bradley Manning sentenced to 35 years in prison
• The Torturer, the Spy, and the Journalist: How the U.S. Jailed the Waterboarding Whistleblower
• Death Of Award-Winning Journalist Michael Hastings Ruled An Accident—Insert Dr. Evil air quotes.
• The price Gina Gray paid for whistleblowing—She was fired exposing the financial mismanagement at Arlington Cemetery.
• UK: Whistleblower offers to talk to police spy inquiry if legal threat dropped—"Peter Francis says police 'holding a legal mallet over me', after calls for him to co-operate with investigation into spying claims."

Journalism and Freedom of Speech

• Rachel Maddow on the harrassment of Poitras and Miranda
• WikiLeaks: Govts attacks on media 'signalling rise of fascism in UK, US'
• Fox Reporter Loses Round In Fight Over James Holmes Story—Shield law in jeopardy.
• The Economist in prison: About that missing issue—The Missouri Department of Corrections censored the 29th June issue because it "1. constitutes a threat to the security or discipline of the institution; 2. may facilitate or encourage criminal activity; or, 3. may interfere with the rehabilitation of an offender."
• Mississippi Police on the Hunt for Criminal Parodist—"Mississippi lawmaker demands an online satirist be prosecuted for 'illegal impersonation' after making fun of him, even though the spoof was clearly labeled "parody." Police comply, are now 'investigating the possibility of criminal charges.'"
• Al Jazeera America sues after being dropped by AT&T—Corporations censorship of the media they can't buy or control?
• Which Shall It Be, Freedom of Speech or Not?

The Guardian

• PM 'told Heywood to warn Guardian'—"Cabinet Secretary Sir Jeremy Heywood was directed by the Prime Minister to contact the Guardian about the classified material handed over by Edward Snowden, it has been reported."
• Rusbridger: destroying hard drives allowed us to continue NSA coverage—"Guardian editor-in-chief says he agreed to 'slightly pointless' task because newspaper has digital copies outside Britain."
• U.K. Ordered Guardian to Destroy Snowden Files Because Its Servers Weren't Secure—"It's the kind of justification that only a government agency could make."
• NSA files: UK and US at odds over destruction of Guardian hard drives—"White House says it would be 'difficult to imagine' US authorities adopting GCHQ tactics."
• Smashing of Guardian hard drives over Snowden story 'sinister', says Amnesty—"Rights campaigners say pressure on Guardian to destroy drives containing material from whistleblower poses threat to freedom."

Miranda

• US Official Admits That UK Detention Of Glenn Greenwald's Partner Was 'To Send A Message'
• Glenn Greenwald and Partner Speak Out: 'Journalism is Not a Crime and It's Not Terrorism'—Mirands says that during his 9-hour detention, "They didn't ask me anything about terrorism, not one question."
• David Miranda feels 'invaded' after password disclosure
• Partner of Snowden reporter Greenwald begins legal action over UK detention
• David Miranda detention prompts outcry over 'gross misuse' of terror laws—"Journalists, human rights lawyers and civil liberties campaigners condemn Miranda's nine-hour detention at Heathrow."
• Miranda had 'highly sensitive stolen information', Home Office suggests—"Home Office claims nine-hour detention of Guardian journalist's partner was justified to protect public from threat of terrorism."
• David Miranda's detention had no basis in law, says former lord chancellor—"Lord Falconer, who helped introduce Terrorism Act 2000, criticises home secretary's backing of police action at Heathrow." Which Theresa May rejects.
• David Miranda Heathrow detention: No 10 'kept abreast of operation'—"Those who oppose this sort of action need to think about what they are condoning." So, if you're against the police state and being illegally spied on, you're a terrorist.

NSA Spying

• NSA releases rule violations to journalists that are almost entirely blacked out—How much was blacked out? See for yourself.
• US doesn't know what Snowden took, sources say—"Officials, including NSA Director Keith Alexander, have assured the public that the government knows the scope of the damage, but two separate sources briefed on the matter told NBC News that the NSA has been unable to determine how many documents he took and what they are." More untruths being brought to light.
• NSA surveillance said to be broader than initially believed—"The National Security Agency's (NSA) reach covers about 75 percent of all U.S. Internet traffic through a slew of partnerships with some of the largest telecom companies in the country, according to a Wall Street Journal report released late Tuesday."
• Rep. Morgan Griffith: If Latest Leaks On NSA Had Come Out Earlier, NSA-Defunding Amendment Would Have Passed
• Opinion: The NSA: 'The Abyss From Which There Is No Return'
• Guy Who Wrote Legal Memos Defending US Torture Defends NSA Because It Takes Too Long To Obey The Constitution
• NSA fallout: Groklaw.net shuts down

World News; Whistleblowers; NSA Spying; Economy, Politics; Koch, Public-Private Partnerships; Immigration, Vote Machinations, Racism

World News

• Egypt on edge after at least 278 killed in bloodiest day since revolution—Up to 525 dead now.
• Doctors Without Borders pulls out of Somalia: militants, leaders tolerate attacks on NGOs
• The Colombian Government Is Killing Its Peasant Farmers for Their Land
• Israel: Students offered grants if they tweet pro-Israeli propaganda
• Animation legend Hayao Miyazaki under attack in Japan for anti-war film

Whistleblowers

• Manning Apologizes for Leaks: 'My Actions Hurt People' NYT
• Obama's 'Misleading' Comment on Whistleblower Protections
• Journalist Michael Hastings reportedly working on story about CIA chief before death

NSA Spying

• If Obama wanted an 'open debate' on NSA spying, why thwart one for so long?—"The president asks us to trust him on government surveillance, yet his administration constantly denigrates critics as unpatriotic."
• EFF: A Guide to the Deceptions, Misinformation, and Word Games Officials Use to Mislead the Public About NSA Surveillance
• Intelligence committee urged to explain if they withheld crucial NSA document—"Critics demand answers from chairman Mike Rogers after claims that committee failed to share document before key vote."
• Barry Ritholtz's Cheat-Sheet On Spying
• Yes, Gmail users have an expectation of privacy—"Sending email to Gmail users means you expect Google's servers will process it."

Economy

• Poll: Most Americans Oblivious About Our Falling Deficit
• Rise in TSP loans, withdrawals accompanies furloughs—"Federal employees have been taking out loans and financial hardship withdrawals from their retirement savings accounts at an increasing rate in recent months, new data from the 401(k)-style Thrift Savings Plan data show."
• Americans Giving Up Passports Jump Sixfold as Tougher Rules Loom

Politics

• The historic unpopularity of Congress — in one chart
• The Pariah Shortage—"Graydon Carter writes of our failure to appoint new 'pariahs' due to the subprime-mortgage crisis and Iraq war blunders"
• Walker forced to back off from arresting observers of Solidarity Sing Along
• Three Republicans Who Opposed Sandy Relief Now Demand Disaster Aid For Arizona
• Corporate Lobbying Group ALEC Put Falsified Signatures On A Letter To A Senator, Group Finds
• Is there an Ultra-Conservative Conspiracy to keep Americans dumb and ignorant?
• GOP congressman invites controversial Obama-mask rodeo clown to perform in Texas

Koch

• 'Citizen Koch' Rescued By Small Donors As Documentary Outraises Funds Pulled By PBS
• Video: Koch Brothers Exposed
• New Jersey Republicans Nominate Koch Brothers Operative For Senate

Public-Private Partnerships

• Gov. Cuomo got $100,000 from developer, then signed law giving it big tax breaks
• Jeff Zucker's 15-year-old son leaves Cory Booker's Internet startup over 'conflict' of interest—"Andrew Zucker resigned from advisory board after it was revealed Booker got stock options from startup, which receives investment funds from wealthy Silicon Valley tycoons, such as Google's Eric Schmit."
• Thank you, Tallahassee, for making us pay so much for nothing—"Thanks for passing a law forcing Duke Energy customers to pay up to $1.5 billion in higher rates for a long proposed nuclear power plant in Levy County that will not be built."

Immigration

• Rubio: Pass Immigration Reform or Obama the Tyrant Will Do Even Worse
• Wisconsin DOT official likens illegal immigrants to Satan, then quickly fired
• Meet the Immigration Reformers in Steve King's Iowa—"America's most anti-immigrant congressman is an outlier—even in Iowa's most conservative county."

Vote Machinations

• 92-Year-Old Black Woman Sues Just Hours After North Carolina Gov. Signs Voter ID Law
• North Carolina's Attack on Voting Rights
• Hillary Clinton Calls Voter Fraud a 'Phantom Epidemic'
• Jack Villamaino, Former GOP Candidate, Gets 4 Months In Jail For Felony Voter Fraud
• After Shelby, Voting-Law Changes Come One Town at a Time—"Just over a month after the Supreme Court overturned a key provision of the Voting Rights Act, seven states — five of which were covered under the law — are moving ahead with voting changes that could affect the 2014 Congressional election."
• Texas Brags To Court That It Drew District Lines To 'Increase The Republican Party's Electoral Prospects'
• Rick Santorum Illegally Directed $1 Million Contribution To Super PAC: FEC Complaint

Racism

• Rand Paul: 'I Don't Think There Is Any Particular Evidence' Of Black Voters Being Prevented From Voting
• African-American Republican confronts Priebus: Party treats blacks 'like we don't exist'
• Study shows Jim Crow-era segregation persists in Texas schools

Surveillance and Privacy, War on Terror, Wikileaks, Police State; Innocence vs. Injustice, Recording, Bitches Behaving Badly; Fake Rapes, False Assaults; Hoaxes, Scams, Dupes

Surveillance and Privacy

• Lavabit, email service Snowden reportedly used, abruptly shuts down—"I wish that I could legally share with you the events that led to my decision. I cannot. I feel you deserve to know what's going on--the first amendment is supposed to guarantee me the freedom to speak out in situations like this. Unfortunately, Congress has passed laws that say otherwise. As things currently stand, I cannot share my experiences over the last six weeks, even though I have twice made the appropriate requests." He was "forced to make a difficult decision: to become complicit in crimes against the American people or walk away...."
• Silent Circle Preemptively Shuts Down Encrypted Email Service To Prevent NSA Spying
• Email service used by Snowden shuts itself down, warns against using US-based companies—Edward Snowden: 'Google, Facebook, Microsoft, Yahoo, Apple, and the rest of our internet titans must ask themselves why they aren't fighting for our interests the same way.'
• Obama, tech executives met to discuss surveillance: report—"President Barack Obama quietly met with the CEOs of Apple Inc, AT&T Inc as well as other technology and privacy representatives on Thursday to discuss government surveillance, according to a media report."
• What It Means to Be An NSA "Target": New Information Shows Why We Need Immediate FISA Amendments Act Reform
• NSA to cut system administrators by 90 percent to limit data access
• MAD's "War on Privacy" Cover—Yes, me worry.

War on Terror

• Ted Koppel: America's Chronic Overreaction to Terrorism—"The country's capacity for self-inflicted damage must have astounded even Osama bin Laden." WSJ
• Caustic Light on White House's Reaction to a Terrorist Threat—"The decision to shut some American diplomatic posts in the Middle East has prompted gloating among jihadists and criticism by some officials who say the Obama administration overreacted." NYT
• Unhappy With U.S. Foreign Policy? Pentagon Says You Might Be A 'High Threat'
• DHS Eliminates 197 Million People’s 4th Amendment Rights In "Constitution Free Zones"
• Justice Department Files First Criminal Charges In Benghazi Attack

Wikileaks

• Manning sentencing: judge rejects claim leaks had 'chilling effect'—"Judge rules that State Department testimony is admissible only if the effect came directly after leaks were published."
• Department Of Justice Confirms Wikileaks Investigation
• We need crack investigative journalists in the Senate: Julian Assange—"WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has vowed to continue his work on the whistleblowing website if he is elected to the Senate."

Police State

• N.H. City Wants a "Tank" to Use Against Occupiers and Libertarians—"Concord police listed the nonviolent groups as domestic terror threats in a federal grant application."
• SWAT-Team Nation: The Militarization of the U.S. Police—"It's remarkable that using military weapons and tactics on domestic soil has become a routine means of pursuing nonviolent suspects and low-level investigations, particularly in the war on drugs."
• T.S.A. Now Has Power to Patrol Music Festivals?—More mission creep.

Innocence vs. Injustice

• FBI Found Scientific Errors in 27 Death Penalty Convictions
• Mo. judge fires 34-year court employee for providing document that helped free innocent man
• Finally, Thousands of Old Rape-Evidence Kits Are to Be Tested in Texas

Recording

• Texas state troopers caught on camera probing women's privates aren't isolated incidents: lawyers—"Multiple highway patrol officers in Texas have been captured by dash cams doing 'unconstitutional' cavity searches on women's genitals during traffic stops. Lawyers and civil rights advocates say the 'mind-boggling' searches are all too common."
• Indianapolis "Officer of the Year" Caught on Camera Lying About Arrest
• Police restrain and hit woman—"Surveillance video has surfaced showing police hitting a woman in Davenport, Iowa. CNN affiliate WQAD reports."
• Tourists Beware: Walker's Cops May Come After You—"[P]eople videotaping and photographing the arrests – some of them credentialed journalists - were told that the very act of recording those events made them participants and therefore subject to arrest themselves."
• Witnesses say driver appeared to aim for beachgoers—"Witnesses described a scene of terror and mayhem and said the driver appeared to be aiming for people when a car plowed into a weekend crowd of pedestrians on the boardwalk at Venice Beach in Los Angeles."
• Prosecutors drop felony assault charge against Bison linebacker—Witnesses' stories debunked by video.
• Sex video clears men accused of rape—It showed "her laughing and carrying on with the two alleged rapists – hence, the lack of charges against them and the lodging of the misdemeanor false-report accusation."

Bitches Behaving Badly

• Meet The Horrible Florida Woman Who Filmed Herself Berating Dunkin' Donuts Workers—Follow up: Taylor Chapman is Not Employed Here Anymore
• 'Do you know who my dad is? He's rich': What drunk BMW crash girl said after wrecking three homes in her convertible
• Unruly woman kicked, scratched deputies on CLT-bound plane
• Bystanders cheer as women attack, beat DC drag performer
• Sheriff's investigators believe Julia Merfeld wanted to kill her husband—Hitman to be hired turned out to be an undercover cop.
• Street performer assaulted outside Summerfest—"'I was playing Minnie the Moocher, classic Blues Brothers song. A lady with a child in her hand came up to me, smacked me in my face and said 'don’t play that.' Struve says three African American women confronted her and shouted that a white girl could not play the song."
• South Korean 'Honeypot Gang' Targets Married Men—"Police in Chungcheong Province have discovered a criminal gang running a 'honeypot' operation, enticing married men to have sex with a member of the gang and then blackmailing them."

Fake Rapes

• Twenty-five years after accusing an innocent man of rape, Tawana Brawley is finally paying for her lies.—Guess, the party's over.
• Soldier tells how false rape claims ruined his life
• Mentally Ill Woman Gets Jail Time, Probation For Filing A False Rape Report At UC Santa Cruz
• Michigan Woman Faked Rape And Cancer
• Woman behind bars for false rape claim
• Woman allegedly lies about kidnapping, rape
• Maine: Jury convicts Rockland woman of making false rape repor
• Woman is finally jailed after FIVE false rape allegations against her ex-boyfriends in eight years

False Assaults

• Celebrated Cardinals cheerleader arrested after alleged assault caught on video
• Va woman pleads guilty to false sex assault report
• Kayla Brooke Earl Faked Own Attack To Get Ex-Boyfriend's Attention: Cops
• Woman in UK jailed for lying to police that taxi driver had sexually assaulted her in his cab
• Leeds woman jailed for false sex attack claim which cost £57,900

Hoaxes

• Protesters out undercover officer, accuses her of infiltrating group
• What Katie didn't do—"Over a period of two and a half years, she was the subject of intense 'interest' which she alleges was harassment by a group of rogue officers based in the High Wycombe area – where her police officer ex-boyfriend, Alex Ash, who was disciplined for making inappropriate contact with her, just happened to be based."
• Cops Plead Guilty to Helping Plant Drugs on Woman Sexually Harassed by Judge
• DUI case dropped against lawyer who claimed he was set up, mid-trial, by opposing counsel
• Maine man tried to stage kidnapping and rescue of teenage girl, according to affidavit

Scams

• How 12 Men Morphed Identities and Still Voted, Bought Guns, and Got Married
• Fake cop arrested after pulling over real cops in unmarked car for speeding
• Woman denies marathon fund larceny—"A New York woman accused of scamming almost half a million dollars from the Boston Marathon bombing victims fund has pleaded not guilty to larceny."
• Mommy Blogger Lied About Pink Headband Bullying, 'Baker Acted'
• Lee Tyers put pubic hair in Middlesbrough restaurant curry

Dupes

• Video: Sensing Bullshit
• 'Psychic' who reported mass grave north of Houston must pay $7 million
• After Spending $11,000, Woman Sues Psychic For Not Lifting Curse On Her Love Life

Aaron Swartz; Stifling Reviews, Astroturfing, Social Engineering, Rotten Apples; Net Neutrality, Trouble with Telcos, Cable Wars, Mobile Phones; NSA Spying

Aaron Swartz

• Aaron Swartz's Father Blasts MIT Report, Says School Wasn't Neutral
• Taren Stinebrickner-Kauffman: MIT report is a whitewash. My statement in response.
• The four lamest excuses in MIT's report on Aaron Swartz
• Prominent Security Researchers, Academics, and Lawyers Demand Congress Reform the CFAA and Support Aaron's Law
• Bradley Manning case stretches credibility of US computer fraud law—"The sentence facing the soldier who passed material to WikiLeaks shows that the US Computer Fraud and Abuse Act is in dire need of reform."

Stifling Reviews

• Popehat Signal: Vengeful AIDS Denialist Sues Critic In Texas
• Dentist who used copyright to silence her patients is on the run
• DMCA Abuse Will Cause Censored Product Review to Go Viral—"According to Den, Rotolight didn't appreciate the fact that the review wasn't as glowing as they might have liked."

Astroturfing

• How Online Reviews Are Being Manipulated By Manufacturers
• Mpact Magic Issues Warning About Solicited and Fake Reviews
• Online reviews full of fakes—"As online reviews flood Internet, it’s tough for consumers to sort out which ones are phony."
• Edmunds.com sues company for fake reviews of car dealerships
• Fake Nautical Restaurant On Tripadvisor Gets Glowing Reviews

Social Engineering

• 'Click farms': how some businesses manipulate social media - Channel 4 Dispatches video trailer
• Fake Twitter accounts generate big bucks for underground economy
• Fake Social Media Accounts Deployed in Fight Over Dallas Building Blinding Piano's Nasher
• Hackers create fake Facebook likes for cash
• Hackers hijacking Twitter, Facebook and Google+ accounts with Chrome and Firefox add-ons

Rotten Apples

• Chinese scalpers booking up all Genius Bar appointments & selling online
• Woman buys two iPhones for $1,300, gets only apples (really)
• Apple fixing bug that allows fake charging stations to hack iPhones

Net Neutrality

• Now That It's in the Broadband Game, Google Flip-Flops on Network Neutrality
• Why YouTube buffers: The secret deals that make—and break—online video—"When ISPs and video providers fight over money, Internet users suffer."
• EU to abandon net neutrality on Internet speed

Trouble with Telcos

• Telco Astroturfing Tries To Bring Down Reviews Of Susan Crawford's Book
• Don't Blame Big Cable. It's Local Governments That Choke Broadband Competition.
• Comcast Starts Tinkering With 5 GB Usage Caps

Cable Wars

• Time Warner Can Blame ESPN for Much of That Cord Cutting
• Time Warner Cable Jacking Up Modem Fees
• Time Warner Cable drops CBS in New York, Los Angeles

Mobile Phones

• AT&T's Next phone upgrade plans are a huge ripoff
• Why are US cell carriers suddenly pushing you to upgrade faster? For the money
• Good Luck Leaving Your Wireless Phone Plan—"Only about 1% of contract customers switch from top wireless carriers; 'It kind of feels like a trap.'" WSJ
• Finland Tops Mobile Phone Throwing Charts
• xkcd: Annoying Ringtone Champion

NSA Spying

• The sneaky switch that set the stage for the NSA's call records program—"The wording of Section 215 of the Patriot Act was modified at the last minute in 2005."
• Members of Congress denied access to basic information about NSA—"Documents provided by two House members demonstrate how they are blocked from exercising any oversight over domestic surveillance."
• Other Agencies Clamor for Data N.S.A. Compiles—"The National Security Agency's dominant role as the nation's spy warehouse has prompted turf fights with other federal agencies that want to use its surveillance tools for their own investigations." NYT
• Activists stage second national day of protest against NSA's domestic spying—"Campaigners say mood has shifted in their favour since 4 July demonstrations against government surveillance."
• Snowden slip: Grand jury probe firm that vetted NSA leaker
• Terror threat opens new front in NSA debate—Claimed to be "directly responsible for uncovering a potential terrorist attack."
• Stop Bashing the NSA

Edward Snowden, Bradley Manning, Michael Hastings, Journalism, War on Terror, Iraq'd, Gitmo, Drones, Military Money, TSA

Edward Snowden

• Fugitive Snowden slips out of Moscow airport for 'secure' base—He's been granted a one-year asylum.
• Edward Snowden's father says FBI asked him to fly to Moscow—"Lon Snowden says his son will be 'treated horribly' if he returns to US and in his place he would stay in Russia." Guantánamo's lovely this time of year.
• Senators lash out at NSA for excessive secrecy
• NSA Director Defends Surveillance Activities During Tense Black Hat Keynote—Claims that there has been 'zero abuses' of data, but is that another lie?
• The NSA's Massive Call Record Surveillance Program Barely Accomplishes Anything
• The Government Lied About Being Able To Read Your Email Without A Warrant

Bradley Manning

• Bradley Manning acquitted of aiding the enemy—"But he was convicted on lesser charges." Salon
• ACLU: Manning Verdict Intended To Intimidate Those Who Would Reveal 'Valuable Information'
• Bradley Manning Faced Harsher Prosecution Merely Because His Leaks Involved a Computer
• Bradley Manning: my view from inside the Fort Meade courtroom—"The media loves to argue whether Manning is a hero or a traitor, but that is beside the point. This is about truth."
• Loner Sought a Refuge, and Ended Up in War—'Feeling outcast in Iraq, Bradley Manning, then a 22-year-old Army private, turned to the Internet for solace. Prosecutors called what came next one of the greatest betrayals in United States history." NYT
• Manning sentencing: Wikileaks 'strained' US-Afghan ties
• Bradley Manning leak did not result in deaths by enemy forces, court hears—"Counter-intelligence officer who investigated WikiLeaks impact undermines argument that Manning leak put lives at risk."
• US judge rules that Espionage Act does not require proof of any harm done

Michael Hastings

• FBI sued for keeping secret their file on journalist Michael Hastings
• Michael Hastings death: New video of crash emerges
• Michael Hastings: my friend and his enemies—"Hastings was fearless and shook things up – especially with his McChrystal expose. The haters in the media couldn't forgive him."

Journalism

• Glenn Greenwald to Jeffrey Toobin: You're "calling for the end of investigative journalism"
• Protecting journalist sources: Lessons in communicating securely
• Blast from the Past: Lap Dogs of the Press—"During the run-up to the Iraq War, the nation's leading print and broadcast media could have saved lives if they questioned the Administration's pronouncements. Instead, they were an echo chamber for the White House."

War on Terror

• Pentagon: Who We're At War With Is Classified
• Kissinger: 'Terrorists are really people that reject the international system'
• Italy: Bid to hold CIA chief rejected by Panama
• US disappointed in Yemen journalist's release—"The United States expressed disappointment Wednesday in the release of a Yemeni journalist who rights groups say was detained because of his reporting on al-Qaida and alleged U.S. complicity in attacks in Yemen." How disappointed are they now that he's been gotten a presidential pardon.
• Dutch court blocks extradition to US of Dutch-Pakistani terror suspect—"Dutch judges blocked the extradition Tuesday of a terror suspect to the United States, saying he was tortured in Pakistan after his 2010 arrest and it is unclear whether American authorities had any involvement."
• Canada: Controversial anti-terror bill passes, allowing preventative arrests, secret hearings
• U.N. raps Chile for using anti-terrorism laws in indigenous protests—"Chilean President Sebastian Pinera is under fire for allowing the country's counterterrorism legislation to be used against indigenous protesters fighting for ancestral land rights."

Iraq'd

• Britain's Former Top Spy Threatens To Expose The 'Dodgy Dossier' Used To Push Iraq War
• Al Qaeda militants flee Iraq jail in violent mass break-out
• 'I risked my life, for what?': Iraq War veterans chilled by country's slide into civil war
• Depleted uranium used by US forces blamed for birth defects and cancer in Iraq
• Bush Presidential Library Misleads Visitors On WMDs In Iraq

Gitmo

• It Don't Gitmo Better Than This: Inside the Dark Heart of Guantánamo Bay
• 5 senators at Guantanamo hearing easily outnumbered by protesters
• Pentagon: Guantanamo tab $5.2 billion and counting

Drones

• Judge Challenges White House Claims on Authority in Drone Killings NYT
• Leaked report shows high civilian death toll from CIA drone strikes—"The report describes 147 civilian deaths, much higher than the U.S. administration has admitted to." Salon
• FBI admits to flying drones over US without warrants
• US approves drones for civilian use
• Fake Signs On Bay Area Highways Say Drones Looking For Speeders—"The metal signs say, 'Speed enforced by drones.' They also show a drone firing a weapon."

Military Money

• US auditor finds taxpayer money flowing to Taliban, Al Qaeda - but Army refuses to act—"Warnings from the US government's internal auditor that an ongoing $20 billion Afghanistan reconstruction program is lining the pockets of the Taliban and Al Qaeda have been ignored."
• KBR must face lawsuit over alleged kickbacks from military contracts: court
• Iowa soldier-mayor blows whistle on war fraud—"George Toubekis helped prevent $20 million in fuel theft in Afghanistan."
• In Iraq, the Bomb-Detecting Device That Didn't Work, Except to Make Money
• Blast from the Past: How Bank of England 'helped Nazis sell gold stolen from Czechs'—"Official account of what many believe was British central bank's most shameful episode revealed more than 70 years after event."

TSA

• Lawsuit settled over man's strip at Richmond airport—"Whether it is construed as different, unusual or bizarre, non-disruptive expressive protest — which is what Aaron Tobey engaged in — is at the core of protected First Amendment speech. Frankly, the nation would be better served if all government officials were required to undertake a training course on what it means to respect the constitutional rights of the citizenry."
• TSA Is Making Airport Valets Search Your Trunk—"And legal experts say the searches may violate your Fourth Amendment rights."
• Misconduct accusations against TSA officers rise 27 percent in two years—All part of getting citizens to capitulate theirs rights and dignity under the guise of figthing terror.

Apollo 11 anniversary, The Universe, Star Trek, Aliens, Time Travel; Surveillance and Privacy, Whistleblowers

Apollo 11 anniversary

• Amazon's Jeff Bezos confirms: We got an Apollo 11 rocket engine!
• World's first mission to the Moon's south pole announced
• House panel approves cutting NASA spending by $1.1 billion

The Universe

• The universe as you've never seen it before: Photographer creates incredible pictures of what it would look like if planets were closer
• The beauty of space photography
• Sun Primer: Why NASA Scientists Observe the Sun in Different Wavelengths
• Mars Had Oxygen-Rich Atmosphere 4 Billion Years Ago, Shows New Study
• Hubble telescope spots azure blue planet where it rains glass
• Voyager 1 Discovers Bizarre and Baffling Region at Edge of Solar System
• Milky Way's black hole pulling in gas cloud
• Astronomers Identify 514 of the Most Powerful Objects in the Universe, Have No Clue What 65 of Them Are
• Sabre rocket engine could open up access to space as never before—"A £60m pledge from the UK government puts Reaction Engines' Sabre rocket on course to change space exploration for ever."
• International team strengthens Big Bang Theory

Star Trek

• 'Star Trek' tricorder becomes the real McCoy—There's quite a bit of interest in it.
• Classic 'Star Trek' control panel gets modern facelift
• New moons of Pluto named Kerberos and Styx but popular choice Vulcan snubbed
• 38 Things We Learned from the 'Star Trek II' Commentary—"The more takes Meyer made Shatner do, the better his acting became."
• Nuclear plant spoofs 'Star Trek'

Aliens

• Canada's Former Defence Minister Claims that Aliens Are Real
• Self-replicating alien space probes could already be in our solar system, say mathematicians
• Mulder and Scully at San Diego Comic-Con: the 13 best X-Files episodes ever

Time Travel

• Blast from the Past: Why Sex With Creatures from the Future Is a Bad Idea—"When time travel finally becomes possible, we might want to think twice about getting it on. According to a new study on tiny shrimp (Artemia franciscana), sex with partners from a different time could kill you."
• Great Scott! Iranian scientist Ali Razeghi claims to have invented 'time machine' that can predict the future with 98% accuracy
• What time machine? Iranian news agency quietly deletes a report that Iran had built one.
• Time Travel in Movies
• Penny Arcade: Chronotheft

Surveillance and Privacy

• NSA Phone Snooping Cannot Be Challenged in Court, Feds Say—"The Obama administration for the first time responded to a Spygate lawsuit, telling a federal judge the wholesale vacuuming up of all phone-call metadata in the United States is in the 'public interest,' does not breach the constitutional rights of Americans and cannot be challenged in a court of law."
• Snowden be damned: Government renews US call record order—"On Friday, the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) released a statement saying that its authorization to compel telephone companies to share metadata has been renewed by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC)."
• Why Spy on Everybody? Because "You Need the Haystack To Find the Needle," Says NSA Chief
• Security experts Bruce Schneier and Mikko Hypponen on the NSA, PRISM and why we should be worried
• Transparency Fail—"'Most transparent administration in history' releases most redacted document in history." The ACLU was looking into whether text messages are also being turned over to the government.

Whistleblowers

• Court Tells Reporter to Testify in Case of Leaked C.I.A. Data—"A federal appeals court ruled that James Risen, an author and a reporter for The New York Times, must testify against a former government official charged with giving him classified information." Goodbye freedom of the press. NYT
• Ex-CIA chief: What Edward Snowden did—Calls Greenwald a "co-conspirator."
• Journalist warns of 'explosive' news from cache Snowden leaked
• Whistleblowing Is the New Civil Disobedience: Why Edward Snowden Matters
• The US state vs whistleblowers - why Snowden is not alone
• Op-Ed: The US Whistleblower Act—"We are witnessing what one might call the unwritten US Whistleblower Act in action. It is not an Act meant to protect whistleblowers but the opposite, involving aggressive moves meant to force Russia to hand over whistleblower Snowden for prosecution."
• Manning trial: US government fails to chill whistleblowers with harsh punishments

Bradley Manning; Surveillance and Privacy; Feds; War on Terror; Ibragim Todashev; Gitmo; Police State; Torture; Money in the Military

Bradley Manning

• Bradley Manning trial 'dangerous' for civil liberties – experts
• Journalists file suit against Manning trial secrecy—"Plaintiffs including Glenn Greenwald and Julian Assange demand press, public access to trial and documents." Salon
• Crowdfunded Stenographer Denied Press Pass To Cover Transcriptless Bradley Manning Trial
• Assange Statement on the First Day of Manning Trial
• Hacker Who Turned Bradley In Takes Witness Stand
• Friend of Bradley Manning Drops Lawsuit Against Feds Over Seized Laptop—"The plaintiff, David Maurice House, says that the government has agreed to delete its copy of the data taken from his machine, and to hand over any notes agents made about the contents of his hard drive. 'They're giving us exactly what we wanted,' says House."
• David Westin: Leaks Help Protect National Security

Surveillance and Privacy

• NSA collecting phone records of millions of Verizon customers daily—"Top secret court order requiring Verizon to hand over all call data shows scale of domestic surveillance under Obama."
• Massachusetts student facing terrorism charges for Facebook post—"Cameron D'Ambrosio held for more than a month in jail without bail after referencing Boston bombing in social media post."
• Judge: Child porn suspect doesn't need to decrypt files—"Earlier court order requiring a Wisconsin suspect in underage porn case to decrypt his hard drives for the FBI by the end of the day Tuesday -- or face contempt of court -- has been lifted."
• Iowa City to ban red-light cameras, drones, and license plate readers too—"Red-light camera hatred in Hawkeye State morphed into three-in-one privacy bill."
• Internet Surveillance and Free Speech: the United Nations Makes the Connection

Feds

• Judge orders Google to comply with FBI's secret NSL demands—"A federal judge tells the company to comply with the FBI's warrantless National Security Letter requests for user details, despite ongoing concerns about their constitutionality."
• Secret Court Document Finds Spy Techniques Unconstitutional, Justice Department Fights To Keep It Hidden
• Feds say they can search your laptop at the border but won't say why—"Creating a 'suspicion-based' policy would be 'operationally harmful,' DHS says."
• The FBI Wants To Charge Companies $25k A Day For Not Helping Them Spy On You
• Schneier: The Problems with CALEA-II—"The FBI wants a new law that will make it easier to wiretap the Internet."

War on Terror

• New terror stance worries Republicans
• U.S. Admits for First Time Drones Killed 4 Americans—"The acknowledgment that Anwar al-Awlaki, a radical Muslim cleric, and three others were killed in Yemen and Pakistan came one day before President Obama was to deliver a major speech on national security." NYT
• Obama faces opportunity on Gitmo and drone strikes
• 'You have given al Qaeda a golden ticket'
• Lawyer: Soldier to plead guilty in killing of 16 Afghan villagers
• Are the dark days returning to Iraq?
• Court rules bin Laden death photos can stay secret

Ibragim Todashev

• Man killed during Boston Marathon bombing probe admits role in triple homicide
• Officials: Man who knew Boston bombing suspect was unarmed when shot
• The FBI Changes Its Story (Again) on the Ibragim Todashev Shooting

Gitmo

• 'Don't interact, don't talk, they are not humans' - Gitmo guard's basic orders
• Guantanamo guard converts to Islam, demands release of detainees
• House bill would block funds for closing Gitmo—"GOP-authored bill would de facto keep open detention center by blocking means to move detainees." Salon

Police State

• Umbrella mistaken for assault rifle
• LAPD confronts Call of Duty 'Ghost' statue in tense standoff
• Britain's Eton College asks teenage candidates to justify shooting protesters

Torture

• WikiLeaks Cables Reveals Bush, Obama Pressured Germany, Spain Not To Probe Torture
• Imprisoned CIA Torture Whistleblower John Kiriakou Pens "Letter from Loretto"
• Torture Victim's Body Is Found Near U.S. Base, Afghans Say—"Afghan investigators said the man was seen in a videotape being tortured at the hands of an Afghan-American translator for an American special forces unit." NYT

Money in the Military

• White House promises veto of GOP spending plan—"The White House stepped in Monday with a veto threat against a House GOP plan to advance a round of 2014 spending bills that would ease sequester-imposed cuts on the Pentagon while forcing even deeper cuts on non-defense programs."
• Pentagon Has No Idea What 108,000 Contractors Are Doing
• Anthrax drug brings $334 million to Pentagon advisor's biotech firm—"Biowarfare consultant Richard J. Danzig urged the government to stockpile a type of anthrax remedy. But he had a stake in one such drug's success."