Fat Tuesday; War on Terror; Veterans; Gitmo; Military Industrial Complex, Drones; Afghanistan, Benghazi; DHS, FBI; USA "Freedom" Act, Snowden, Greenwald, NSA Spying, Surveillance and Privacy

Fat Tuesday

• Retired military leaders fret kids will be 'too fat to fight'
• Army's new training shooter makes out of shape soldiers look fat—"Virtual Battlespace 3 applies real-world fitness scores to avatars' performance."
• Heavy duty: Army creates fat camps

War on Terror

• A Memorial Inscription's Grim Origins—"Questions have arisen about whether a quotation from a translation of Virgil's 'Aeneid' about two warriors' deaths is appropriate for the National September 11 Memorial Museum." It's taken out of context. NYT
• CIA: No more vaccination campaigns in spy operations WaPo
• Al Qaeda's American Fighters Are Coming Home—And U.S. Intelligence Can't Find Them
• Lawsuit over 'INF1DL' and 'WAR SUX' license plates headed to trial
• The case for abolishing the TSA

Veterans

• Veterans Fire Back at Letter by Senator—"Senator Richard M. Burr's letter that said leaders of veterans groups were defending the status quo at the V.A. drew fierce responses." Says he clearly represents the worst in politics. NYT
• Thank You for Being Expendable—"The scandal over the care of veterans is really an old story." NYT
• Flashback: Republicans Block VA Benefits

Gitmo

• US forced to acknowledge secret tapes of Guantánamo force-feedings
• Guantánamo inmate vomited blood after force-feeding, documents show
• Judge allows forced feeding to resume on Guantanamo detainee
• Mos Def (Yasiin Bey) Unable To Re-Enter America Due To "Immigration Issues"—Retaliation for his force-feeding "simulations"? Update: This rumor has been debunked [Salon].
• Why Guantanamo remains open

Military Industrial Complex

• 'Over My Dead Body': Spies Fight Obama Push to Downsize Terror War
• House Poised to Reject Pentagon's Cost-Cutting Plans—"The House of Representative on Wednesday edged toward passage of an annual defense policy bill that rejects Pentagon plans to retire older weapons systems and slow the rise in military pay as it implements long-term spending cuts ordered by Congress." NYT
• Congress Blocks Navy's Plan to Lay Up 11 Cruisers—"The Navy's plan to lay up 11 cruisers and three amphibious ships as part of a cost-saving, long-term modernization plan has been met with skepticism, concern and caution from members of Congress."
• White House threatens veto of defense bill—"The White House is threatening a veto of the House version of a $601 billion defense bill over election-year moves to spare weapons systems and popular programs in the face of limited budgets."
• US House approves $600 million military aid package for Israel—And "authorizes provisions for Iron Dome, David's Sling and Arrow 3."

Drones

• Secret laws are a threat to American democracy—"Releasing the drone-assassination memo is only the first step."
• Iran Knows the Secrets of America's Stealth Drone—"Tehran tracked, captured, studied, copied RQ-170."
• The Catholic Church Proved the US Government Is Making Up Drone Rules On the Fly
• New Zealand PM John Key Confirms 'Legal' Data-Sharing with U.S.; Justifies U.S. Drone Strikes

Afghanistan

• Obama signals US to keep limited Afghanistan role—"President Barack Obama slipped into Afghanistan for a surprise visit Sunday and made clear that the U.S. will likely maintain a limited role here even after its combat mission ends this year and America's longest war comes to a close."
• Karzai refused to meet Obama at Bagram Air Base, says US official
• White House mistakenly identifies CIA chief in Afghanistan—Oops. WaPo
• Afghanistan Hits Out at U.S. Spying Allegations

Benghazi

• This Is How the Right Milks Benghazi for Cash—"And more proof it's all about Hillary Clinton."
• Allen West Says Rep. Tammy Duckworth, Decorated Veteran, Not 'Loyal' To America
• Issa's latest Benghazi stunt backfires
• John Kerry Trolls The House—Adroit political manuevering.

DHS

• We need to know why DHS is an NSA intelligence "customer", and what that means
• Planned Homeland Security headquarters, long delayed and over budget, now in doubt Salon
• Did GoDaddy and Homeland Security shut down a Mexican protest site?

FBI

• FBI chief: 'Be suspicious' of government power
• Microsoft wins case to block FBI request for customer data—Didn't "win" as much as the FBI withdrew their case, preventing legal precedence over NSLs.
• Pension for FBI shooter of Todashev draws scrutiny in Oakland

USA "Freedom" Act

• The White House Is Trying to Weaken the NSA Reform Bill: Report
• As Feared: House Guts USA Freedom Act, Every Civil Liberties Organization Pulls Their Support
• Changes to Surveillance Bill Stoke Anger—"At the Obama administration's request, House leaders revised a bill that limits the government's bulk collection of phone records, spurring several civil liberties groups to withdraw support for the bill."
• The NSA Reform Bill the House Passed Today Is a Watered-Down Piece of Nonsense
• The NSA Bill That Just Passed Is So Weak, Original Backers Voted Against It

Snowden

• Snowden's First Move Against the NSA Was a Party in Hawaii
• NBC News Trumps ABC's Hillary Clinton Exclusive With Edward Snowden's First American Interview Since NSA Info Dump
• Edward Snowden Seeking Return to US: Der Spiegel
• Snowden: "I Was Trained as a Spy."

Greenwald

• NYT Book Reviewer Wonders If Glenn Greenwald Should Be Locked Up—Greenwald responds to Kinsley and his hacktastic review.
• 'Journalist' Argues In NY Times That Publishing Decisions Should Ultimately Be Made By Government
• The Government Isn't Very Good at Deciding What to Keep Secret—"So why do so many Americans insist that the state, not the press, should call the shots?"
• NYT Public Editor Slams 'Sneering' Review Of Glenn Greenwald's Book
• Sony Acquires Film Rights For Glenn Greenwald's Snowden Book—The first part read like a thiller novel.
• Glenn Greenwald to publish list of U.S. citizens that NSA spied on

NSA Spying

• Privacy under attack: the NSA files revealed new threats to democracy—"Thanks to Edward Snowden, we know the apparatus of repression has been covertly attached to the democratic state. However, our struggle to retain privacy is far from hopeless."
• Pentagon report: scope of intelligence compromised by Snowden 'staggering'—Yeah, about that report.
• California lawmakers make modest attempt to halt NSA data collection—"There's nothing that says states have to cooperate with a federal agency."
• Fine Line Seen in U.S. Spying on Companies—"United States officials say the N.S.A. is free to spy on trade negotiators to help American trade officials, and by extension, American industries and workers they are trying to bolster." NYT
• Marc Andreessen: Tech companies are still fuming over the NSA WaPo
• China Said to Study IBM Servers for Bank Security Risks—"Government agencies, including the People's Bank of China and the Ministry of Finance, are asking banks to remove the IBM servers and replace them with a local brand as part of a trial program...."
• House Committee Puts NSA on Notice Over Encryption Standards—"Amendment would remove requirement that the National Institute of Standards and Technology consult with the NSA on encryption standards."
• Man who lost all those NSA secrets to teach cybersecurity at Harvard
• PBS: United States of Secrets

Surveillance and Privacy

• Secrets, lies and Snowden's email: why I was forced to shut down Lavabit—"For the first time, the founder of an encrypted email startup that was supposed to insure privacy for all reveals how the FBI and the US legal system made sure we don't have the right to much privacy in the first place." Update: More from Levision.
• Everything Is Broken
• Empty promises: ProtonMail—A caveat to using "secure" email services.
• Federal 'Biosurveillance' Plan Seeking Direct Access to Americans' Private Medical Records
• ID theft protector LifeLock deletes user data over concerns that app isn't safe
• LG Will Take The 'Smart' Out Of Your Smart TV If You Don't Agree To Share Your Viewing And Search Data With Third Parties
• Internet 'Do Not Track' system is in shatters
• For Do Not Call violations, Sprint will pay FCC $7.5M in largest ever settlement—FCC: "Protecting consumer privacy is a top enforcement priority."

War on Terror, Oh Canada, Civil Liberties, Police State; Whistleblowers, NSA Spying, Surveillance and Privacy, Tech, Facebook, Law and Disorder

War on Terror

• US the biggest threat to world peace in 2013 – poll
• Are we on the brink of war? Academic sparks debate by drawing comparisons between 1914 past and 2014 present
• A New Memoir by John Rizzo, the C.I.A.'s Lawyer—"Rizzo concludes that Bush has lately invented a memory of himself as someone who was well informed and decisively in favor of waterboarding certain Al Qaeda prisoners, when, as far as Rizzo can tell, Bush seems not to have known at the time what the C.I.A. was doing."
• Ibragim Todashev's Father Writes Open Letter to Obama, Releases Photos Surrounding Son’s Death

Oh Canada

• Canada is headed in the wrong direction, majority says in poll
• What's Driving Chaotic Dismantling of Canada's Science Libraries?—"Scientists reject Harper gov't claims vital material is being saved digitally."
• Jamie McDonald: Cross-Canada runner 'beaten up'—The British fundraiser's bag, "which contained film footage of his journey as well as cash and credit cards, was stolen", and fortunately, was quickly found.

Civil Liberties

• Michigan says children need to be protected from seeing 'WAR SUX' on a license plate—"Resident sued on First Amendment grounds."
• Are the U.S. media as transparent as the U.S. government?
• Losing Aaron—"After his son was arrested for downloading files at MIT, Bob Swartz did everything in his power to save him. He couldn't. Now he wants the institute to own up to its part in Aaron's death."
• The Top 25 Most Censored Stories of 2013

Police State

• The primary NSA issue isn't privacy, it's authority—"At heart, the NSA debate is about what the government is allowed to do with what it knows and who is overseeing it."
• America's Internal Checkpoints—"Refuseniks fight back against feds demanding papers."
• NYPD Cites Mosaic Theory, Favored By FBI And NSA, To Deny Access To Budget Records
• NYPD a 'quasi-military organization,' according to outgoing top-cop Ray Kelly
• Incoming Boston Mayor Opposes AR-15s For Beat Cops
• 'JFK Customs destroyed 11 of my instruments'—According to their "logic", those bamboo flutes were "agricultural products" that would have introduced "exotic plant pathogens" into the US. What's agricultural is the bullshit they're spinning.
• Judge won't let student challenge electronics searches at US border—"French-American says he was regularly searched at border for years." Where does this leave you?
• A Generation Later: What We've Learned about Zero Tolerance in Schools—"[Z]ero tolerance does not make schools more orderly or safe—in fact the opposite may be true."

Whistleblowers

• New York Times: Edward Snowden, Whistle-Blower—"Considering the value of his leaks and the N.S.A. abuses he has exposed, Mr. Snowden should be offered clemency or a plea bargain." And then there are those who want to see him 'hanged'. NYT
• Whistleblower Edward Snowden is tech person of year
• What Snowden really revealed—"Government agencies empowered after 9/11 have been transforming themselves into the real holders of power in the US."
• State Dept. whistleblower has email hacked, deleted—"The personal e-mail account of a State Department whis­tle­­blower was hacked, and four years worth of messages — some detailing alleged wrongdoing at the agency — were deleted, The Post has learned."
• British Ex-Spy Launches Fund to Support Whistleblowers Like Snowden
• Whistleblowing Rippling into New Corners
• Whistleblowers: Information Warriors for the Modern Age

NSA Spying

• Would NSA surveillance have stopped 9/11 plot?—Was Bin Laden determined to strike in US?
• Judge on NSA Case Cites 9/11 Report, But It Doesn't Actually Support His Ruling
• President Obama claims the NSA has never abused its authority. That's false—"The facts that we know so far – from Fisa court documents to LOVEINT – show that the NSA has overstepped its powers."
• Ex-NSA chief calls for Obama to reject recommendations
• Glenn Greenwald Says NSA, GCHQ Dismayed They Don't Have Access To In-Flight Internet Communication
• ACLU sues for details of U.S. surveillance under executive order
• Germany should ban U.S. contracting companies passing data to NSA: report
• Sen. Sanders: Is the NSA Spying on Congress?

Surveillance and Privacy

• Court Backs Shielding of Legal Memo on Phone Records—"The memo allows telephone companies to hand over customers’ calling records to the government without a subpoena or court order, even when there is no emergency, according to a 2010 Justice Department inspector general report. The details of the legal theory, and the circumstances in which it could be invoked, remain unclear." NYT
• The Supreme Court Logic That Could Destroy Privacy in America—"It's dangerous for courts to continue adhering to Smith vs. Maryland, a decision that was made before the advent of big data."
• Julian Assange rails against surveillance on Today programme
• Five Privacy Predictions for 2014

Tech

• NSA claims it thwarted BIOS malware plot that could have destroyed the US economy. Of course, it's nonsense
• NSA Hackers Get the 'Ungettable' With Rich Catalog of Custom Tools
• NSA Uses Windows Error Messages To Spy On People
• NSA seeks to build quantum computer that could crack most types of encryption WaPo
• NSA Engineers Are 'Not As Good' As Valley Engineers, Former NSA Employee Says
• Email is broken - but Dark Mail Alliance is aiming to fix it—"Edward Snowden's email provider is teaming up with secure communications firm Silent Circle to try and fix email for good."
• Apple Says It Has Never Worked With NSA To Create iPhone Backdoors, Is Unaware Of Alleged DROPOUTJEEP Snooping Program

Facebook

• I Decided to Delete All My Facebook Activity—"It was hard."
• Facebook Sued Over Alleged Scanning of Private Messages
• You think Facebook is free? Well, it'll only cost you your private life—"Digital behemoths have perfected surveillance as a business model."
• Facebook wants to know if you trust it. But it's keeping all the answers to itself. WaPo
• Does Facebook Reveal All?
• Facebook 'dead and buried' as teens switch to Snapchat and Whatsapp—"Teens are embarrassed to even be associated with the social network as more and more parents attempt to 'friend' their children."
• 11 Reasons You Should Quit Facebook In 2014

Law and Disorder

• Guilty Verdict in First Ever Cybercrime RICO Trial—"The key question facing the jurors wasn't whether Camez was a crook, which the defense conceded, but whether the website on which he did business amounted to an organized criminal enterprise comparable, as a legal matter, to the Mafia or a Los Angeles street gang."
• Apple won't cooperate with antitrust probe, lawyer charges—"An attorney appointed to monitor Apple's behavior following an e-book antitrust ruling says the company is obstructing his investigation."
• Alleged Snapchat hackers explain how and why they leaked data on 4.6 million accounts

Government Shutdown Day 9, Pulling a Boehner, GOP, Tea Party, Obamacare, Repercussions; World News, Totalitarianism, Iran; Surveillance and Privacy

Government Shutdown Day 9

• Obama says he'd talk on GOP's terms -- if they raise debt ceiling, fund government—"President Barack Obama is ready to talk even on Republicans' terms, he insisted Tuesday, so long as Congress acts first to end the government shutdown and raise the debt ceiling -- even for a short period." He will not respond to threats [NYT].
• Obama: Republicans using 'extortion' on debt limit
• House Approves New 'Supercommittee' To Negotiate Debt-Limit Deal
• Lawmakers trying to reopen government piece by piece WaPo
• Let's Call The Shutdown What It Is: Secession By Another Means
• Democrats should tell Republicans what they really want
• If Dems Give In, Social Security and Medicare Will Be Future Hostages
• IMF warns of 'major' consequences of US debt default
• Poll: Voters prefer hemorrhoids over Congress
• Government Shutdown 2013 illustrated

Pulling a Boehner

• End Game: John Boehner Doesn't Even Have to Cave—"The Speaker can avert disaster with some procedural jiu-jitsu at the eleventh hour."
• John Boehner's endgame Politico
• John Boehner Too Embarrassed to Defend His Own Extortion Demands
• Boehner: 'Didn't come here to default on our debt'—Suuuuure you didn't.
• Boehner: Clean Debt Limit Would Be 'Unconditional Surrender' For GOP

GOP

• Polls: Yes, The GOP Is Losing The Shutdown Fight—Coming across as irrational, irresponsible and unreasonable.
• GOP unity frays, frustration builds Politico
• Suicide of the Right
• Here's A Tally Of Which House Republicans Are Ready To Fund The Government, No Strings Attached—Maybe add one more to the list?
• What Moderate Republicans?
• Olympia Snowe: This is no way to run a country—"What is needed, the former Maine congresswoman says, is a counterweight to the extremism."
• Daily Show Enlists Actual Hostage Negotiator to Get Through to GOP Strategist on Shutdown
• Jon Stewart Tells GOP to Own the Shutdown: 'Don't Fart And Point at the Dog!'

Tea Party

• How the GOP's Kamikaze Club Hijacked John Boehner—"Right-wing groups, tea party back-benchers, and the Koch network plotted and pushed the House speaker to this breaking point—and he hasn't fought back."
• Friedman: U.S. Fringe Festival—"The reason so many mainstream Republican lawmakers want Obama to give something to Cruz & Co. is that they want to get out of this mess, but they're all afraid to stand up to the far-right fringe themselves — with its bullying network of barking talk-show hosts and moneymen." NYT
• 'Safe Seats' And The Media Spin About Radical Republicans
• Ted Cruz Is Convinced His Strategy Will Lead Republicans to 2014 Victory
• Why House Republicans aren't sweating the 2014 election

Obamacare

• Juan Cole: Dear Tea Party: The Gov't Shutdown is Hurting White People, Too—"The reason that the Tea Party doesn't want Obamacare is because they are convinced that it is ultimately a transfer of wealth from the white rich and middle classes to the minorities."
• Medicaid system broken? Report finds McCrory admin downplayed explanations for problems
• GOPers Upset Shutdown Is Eclipsing Coverage Of Glitchy Obamacare Launch
• Obamacare site hits reset button on passwords as contractors scramble—Not surprised.
• The Problem With Jon Stewart's Obamacare Interview

Repercussions

• Government shutdown worst-case scenario realized: Salmonella outbreak Politico
• Senate elders denounce suspension of death benefit for families of fallen
• Billionaire couple donates $10 million to Head Start programs closed by U.S. government shutdown
• Exclusive Gyms For Members Of Congress Deemed 'Essential,' Remain Open During Shutdown
• Right-Wing Truckers Plan To Jam DC's Major Commuter Highway, Arrest Members Of Congress—More crazies are coming out.
• Bill Moyers Essay: On the Sabotage of Democracy

World News

• Weapons inspectors begin destroying Syrian chemical stockpile and machinery
• India: Give voters right to cast negative vote
• David Cameron suggests cutting benefits for under-25s
• Qatar under growing pressure over workers' deaths as Fifa is urged to act—"Victims' groups and UN urge football governing body to halt death toll before 2022 World Cup."
• Venezuela expels top U.S. diplomat, two other embassy officials
• Brazil govt backs natives on land demarcation
• 'Worse Than Gangs': Rio Police Criticized for Favela Crackdowns—"A new security campaign is helping authorities win back control of Rio de Janeiro's favelas ahead of next year's World Cup. Special police units are driving drug gangs out of the slums -- but often only to replace them with their own thuggish rule."

Totalitarianism

• Putin critic sentenced to detention in psychiatric ward
• Internet Troll Operation Uncovered in St. Petersburg
• This is what happens when Tibetan villages refuse to fly the Chinese flag
• China pays 2 million to monitor Internet
• New law to permit Turkish police to detain 'possible' protesters

Iran

• Iran nuclear: Rivals rally as Rouhani returns from UN
• Iran's Khamenei backs Rouhani's New York talks
• Iran's Rouhani calls Holocaust crime against Jewss
• Iranian media splits over diplomatic outreach—"I could not have dreamt that the Iranian news would broadcast the voice of real people who would say, on camera, that our president has conversed with America."
• Israel's Netanyahu heads for the US with a warning to the White House: Don't be fooled by Iran

Surveillance and Privacy

• GCHQ leaks have 'gifted' terrorists ability to attack 'at will', warns spy chief
• Virginia State Police Used License Plate Readers At Political Rallies, Built Huge Database
• Canada spying in Brazil: more to come, Greenwald promises—Oh, Canada.
• Meltdowns at NSA spy data center destroy equipment, delay opening
• How Lavabit Melted Down—"The inside story of how the secure e-mail service used by the N.S.A. whistleblower Edward Snowden went dark, as told by court documents and its owner and operator."

Civil Liberties, Freedom of Speech and Anonymity, Journalism, Transparency; Snowden, Surveillance and NSA Spying; Syria, War on Terror, TSA

Civil Liberties

• The Banality of Systemic Evil—"A recent poll showed that 70 percent of people aged 18 to 34 thought Edward Snowden 'did a good thing.' Has the younger generation lost its moral compass?" NYT
• Amid NSA Scandal, ACLU Report Turns Spotlight Back To FBI's 'Unchecked Abuse Of Authority'
• DOJ: Some Constitutional Rights Can't Be Tested In Courts, Like Our Ability To Kill You With A Drone
• Federal Appeals Court: Border Agents Can't Answer Suspect's Cell Phone And Impersonate Owner
• Cross Border Killings—"What happens when US Border Patrol agents shoot across international lines, killing Mexicans in their own country?" Nothing because US courts asserted "that Mexican citizens do not have the same constitutional protections as US citizens..."

Freedom of Speech and Anonymity

• Anonymous Cop Pens Bizarre Editorial Calling for 'End of Anonymity on the Internet,' Says All Internet Posters Should be Forced to Register with the Government for 'Public Safety'—He says while his boot is stepping on your neck.
• Charles Xue tells Chinese media he spread irresponsible online posts—"Detained Chinese-American venture capitalist says 'freedom of speech cannot override the law.'" Room 101 strikes again.
• Supreme Court Weighs When Online Speech Becomes an Illegal Threat
• Judge Throws Out Officers' Convictions in Killings After Hurricane Katrina—"The judge harshly criticized federal prosecutors for making anonymous comments on the Web site of a New Orleans newspaper before and during the trial." NYT
• Cynics Online—"Ambiguous usernames that provide anonymity have resulted in an increase in freedom of speech and a decrease in liability."

Journalism

• "Free Flow of Information Act" Targets Independent Journalism—"According to the text of an amendment sponsored by Senators Diane Feinstein and Dick Durbin..., only salaried journalists will be given the free press protections guaranteed to all US citizens by the Constitution." How Orwellian can you get? "Free Flow" indeed.
• Why 'be transparent' has replaced 'act independently' as a guiding journalism principle
• The Onion Is The Country's Best Op-Ed Page. Seriously.

Transparency

• Ideas at the House: Panel - The War on Whistleblowers and Their Publishers—"US Journalist and activist Alexa O'Brien and Australian commentator Robert Manne are joined by video conference with Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, Guardian Journalist Glenn Greenwald and Chelsea Manning's Lawyer David Coombs on stage at the Sydney Opera House (moderated by Bernard Keane of Crikey)."
• AP Journalists: The NYPD 'Less Transparent' Than CIA, FBI And NSA When It Comes To FOI Requests
• DoD office can't process FOIAs because fax machine broken, no money for new one

Snowden

• Fugitive Snowden in running for European rights prize
• Former NSA chief: 'Morally arrogant' Snowden will probably become an alcoholic
• The NSA Has No Solution For The Real 'Snowden Problem' And It's Only Going To Get Worse

Surveillance and NSA Spying

• U.S. Telcos Have Never Challenged NSA Demands for Your Metadata
• Newly Released Secret Surveillance Court Ruling Confirms Sweeping Legal Standard For Collecting Phone Data
• FISA Court Pretends Every Member Of Congress Was Told Details Of Bulk Surveillance, Even Though They Weren't
• Senators Decry NSA 'Ineptitude,' Call for End to Dragnet Phone Surveillance
• Verizon exec slams Google, Microsoft, Yahoo for NSA lawsuit grandstanding—Big brother knows best!
• Guardian Story on Israel and N.S.A. Is Not 'Surprising' Enough to Cover—Nothing to see here folks. Move along... seriously, move... along. NYT
• Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff calls off US trip—"Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff has called off a state visit to Washington next month in a row over allegations of US espionage."

Syria

• Forensic Details in U.N. Report Point to Assad's Use of Gas NYT
• Jon Stewart Goes After Sen. Graham, Others For Pushing War In Syria
• Final Tally: Americans Were 12 Times More Interested in Miley Cyrus Than Syria—State of the nation indeed.

War on Terror

• How the 'war on terror' came home—"The story of Aaron Alexis is still obscure. But effects of an over-taxed US military are painfully visible among 2 million veterans."
• The War on Terror is Still Everywhere
• Herat attack: Afghanistan Taliban target US consulate

TSA

• Ex-TSA agent: We steal from travelers all the time
• Keep your shoes, jackets on: TSA to expand pre-screening program
• Been groped by TSA agents? Former DHS official implied privacy advocates are to blame

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

Miranda, Surveillance and Privacy; War on Drugs, Arlington, Crackdown, Stop-And-Frisk, Mandatory Sentencing, Prisons, 420, Legalization

Miranda

• David Miranda: 'They said I would be put in jail if I didn't co-operate'
• David Miranda, schedule 7 and the danger that all reporters now face—"As the events in a Heathrow transit lounge – and the Guardian offices – have shown, the threat to journalism is real and growing."
• Is Glenn Greenwald's journalism now viewed as a 'terrorist' occupation?—"David Miranda's detention shows that being the partner of the man who interviewed the NSA whistleblower is enough to see you treated like a terrorist."
• White House Had Advance Notice on Heathrow Detention—Claims they didn't sanction his detainment. WSJ
• Snowden journalist to publish UK secrets after Britain detains partner

Surveillance and Privacy

• Britain forced Guardian to destroy copy of Snowden material—Different unnamed officals were quoted as saying, "You've had your fun. Now we want the stuff back."; "We can call off the black helicopters"; and "You've had your debate. There's no need to write any more."
• Time for Answers from the NSA—"After a report of 2,776 privacy violations, even NSA defenders are getting fed up."
• N.S.A. Calls Violations of Privacy 'Minuscule' NYT
• Feds target instructors teaching how to beat polygraph tests
• Obama administration asks Supreme Court to allow warrantless cellphone searches—Thanks Obama!
• NZ PM John Key appeared to lose patience with a journalist at a media conference today—Walked on being asked about the spying bill.
  
• UK: Police 'spied on activists for blacklisting agency'—"Whistleblower says he believes he personally collected intelligence that later appeared in files of agency."

War on Drugs

• Poll: 82% Of Americans Believe U.S. Is Losing 'War On Drugs'
• Grand Jury Decides Not to Charge Officer Who Fatally Shot Unarmed Youth in Bronx—Over a bag of marijuana? NYT
• American Drug War: U.S. Prosecution Tactics Frees Colombian Nationals
• In 2011, 1 in 25 Americans was arrested—"The War on Drugs still accounts for startling arrest rates, borne out in FBI stats." Salon
• Father of foster child who died speaks to KVUE—Daughter taken away from pot-smoking parents died in foster care.
• Student left in DEA cell to get $4 million from US—Doesn't look like anyone's getting fired or publicly reprimanded over this.
• Mexican Cartels Are Recruiting US Soldiers As Hitmen, And The Pay Is Good
• More Fast and Furious guns surface at crimes in Mexico

Arlington

• Owner irked after raid on Arlington's 'Garden of Eden'—"They came here under the guise that we were doing a drug trafficking, marijuana-growing operation. They destroyed everything." They being a SWAT Team.
• Arlington Farm Owners Demand Apology From Police After Drug Raid Comes Up Empty
• Texas Police Hit Organic Farm With Massive SWAT Raid

Crackdown

• Feds Throwing Medical Marijuana Patients Into Federal Prison at Unprecedented Rate
• Feds Raid Pot Dispensaries in Washington, Where the Drug is Legal
• California Democratic Party Marijuana Resolution Asks Obama To End Federal Crackdown

Stop-And-Frisk

• New York 'stop and frisk' policy ruled discriminatory—"New York City's police department violated the civil rights of thousands [NYT] through its stop and frisk policy, a US judge has ruled. Judge Shira Scheindlin said police chiefs 'turned a blind eye' to evidence that officers had discriminated by race when making the stops." Unconstitutional.
• Cop Cams Ordered To Help Fix NYC Stop-And-Frisk
• Mayor Bloomberg Loves Cameras Watching Everyone... Except His Cops

Mandatory Sentencing

• Holder To Announce Move Against Mandatory Minimum Sentencing—"Attorney General Eric Holder is calling for major changes to the nation's criminal justice system that would scale back the use of harsh prison sentences for certain drug-related crimes, divert people convicted of low-level offenses to drug treatment and community service programs and expand a prison program to allow for release of some elderly, non-violent offenders."
• Mandatory Drug Sentences Author: 'We May Have Overreacted'—"Former Rep. E. Clay Shaw, Jr., who helped draft the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986, says it's time to reconsider."
• Welcome drug prosecution reform still needs Congress's help

Prisons

• Fareed Zakaria: "If our Politicians can take on the prison lobbies, there is hope for America."
• Supreme Court: California must continue prisoner release
• FCC slashes what prisoners pay for phone calls—" A decade after families of prison inmates asked for action, the Federal Communications Commission agreed to limit how much companies can charge for phone calls made from behind bars."
• Judge to open documents in Idaho prison lawsuit—"Inmates at the Idaho Correctional Center... brought the lawsuit in 2010, contending the [Corrections Corporation of America]-run prison was so violent that prisoners called it 'Gladiator School.'"
• CCA warden says he didn't know about understaffing

420

• Dr. Sanjay Gupta: Why I changed my mind on weed—"I apologize because I didn't look hard enough, until now. I didn't look far enough. I didn't review papers from smaller labs in other countries doing some remarkable research, and I was too dismissive of the loud chorus of legitimate patients whose symptoms improved on cannabis."
• Charlotte's Web
• NJ governor: Ease access to kids' medical pot
• Pro-marijuana ads pulled from NASCAR's Brickyard 400
• Federal Drug Agency Denies Marijuana Is Less Toxic Than Alcohol—Lying liars.

Legalization

• As haze clears, are American opinions on marijuana reaching tipping point?
• Florida: Backer says passion, not politics, motivates medical-marijuana drive
• Quinn to Sign Medical Marijuana Bill—"Illinois will become 20th state in the union to allow for medical marijuana use; New law takes effect Jan. 1."
• New York City Comptroller John Liu calls for legalized pot in NYC—The money earned can be used to fund education.
• Canada: Trudeau says he supports legalizing marijuana
• Legal Weed is Hurting San Francisco's Hippies
• A push in Mexico City to legalize marijuana use
• Uruguay's lower house votes to legalize marijuana—The UN's International Narcotics Control Board is "concerned," but this may be the "tipping point" on the war on drugs.
• Big Marijuana lobby fights legalization efforts
• Pope Francis attacks drug legalisation in Latin America—Just when I was starting to like the guy.

Trashing Miranda's Rights, War on Terror, Amerika, NSA Spying, Police State; Gitmo; War-maments; War Stories

Trashing Miranda's Rights

• Glenn Greenwald's partner detained at Heathrow airport for nine hours—"David Miranda, partner of Guardian interviewer of whistleblower Edward Snowden, questioned under Terrorism Act." Greenwald calls this criminally, insansely stupid abuse of authority a "failed attempt at intimidation."
• Sullivan: Cameron Proves Greenwald Right
• Snowden case: Brazil 'concerned' after UK detention

War on Terror

• CIA refuses to release drone documents—"Despite ruling that agency can't ignore FOIAs on drone program, CIA files brief to keep documents secret." Salon
• Suspected lethal nerve agent discovered at JFK Airport mail facility was just nail polish remover
• US contractor accused of Abu Ghraib human rights violations suing former prisoners
• Why an Iraqi Single Mom Is Suing George W. Bush for War Crimes
• CIA Admits It Was Behind Iran's Coup
• Declassified: Joint Chiefs approved false flag attack on America—They've done it before.
• Japanese WWII Torture Document Eerily Reminiscent Of US Torture Program

Amerika

• Chomsky: The U.S. behaves nothing like a democracy—"The MIT professor lays out how the majority of U.S. policies are opposed to what wide swaths of the public want." Salon
• Noonan: What We Lose if We Give Up Privacy—"The inevitable end of surveillance is self-censorship." WSJ
• Tread on Me: The Case for Freedom From Terrorist Bombings, School Shootings and Exploding Factories—Great how-to on giving up your civil liberties for a false sense of security. Then again, this is the government shill who writes "I can't wait to write a defense of the drone strike that takes out Julian Assange."

NSA Spying

• NSA Agents Told To Withhold Target Information From Those In Charge Of Oversight
• Rep. Amash says he'll push for new vote to curb NSA powers
• Spy Limits Gain Momentum as NSA Violations Spur Congress
• Don't let U.S. government read your e-mail
• There Is No Such Thing As NSA-Proof Email—"Just ask ultrasecure email providers."

Police State

• Welcome to America's Police State—"The IRS, which primarily acts as an audit agency, refuses to answer why its agents need AR-15s for 'standoff capability.'"
• Joe Arpaio Requiring His Deputies To Carry AR-15s At All Times, Fight Crime Even When They're Off Duty
• Former Marine Colonel To Town Council: 'You're Building A Domestic Army; Are You Blind?'
• We need crime prevention, not militarization
• Drawing Down: How To Roll Back Police Militarization In America

Gitmo

• Guantánamo Bay: the US was dead wrong, but no one can admit it—"When John Grisham heard Guantánamo prisoners were requesting his books, he wanted to learn more. What he found out about Nabil Hadjarab – detained for 11 years – horrified him."
• The harsh reality of life inside Guantanamo Bay—"For the hunger strikers, breakfast at Guantanamo begins with a visit from the emergency reaction force: five military police officers in riot gear, trained in the 'forced cell extraction' of prisoners."
• Ex-MI6 officer joins Guantánamo inmate in hunger strike—"Show of solidarity for camp's last UK resident, Shaker Aamer, will express officer's shame at service's 'support for torture.'"
• 9/11 lawyer to challenge secret Guantanamo camp
• US to review cases of indefinite detention at Guantanamo Bay

War-maments

• F'd: How the U.S. and Its Allies Got Stuck with the World's Worst New Warplane—"The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter was meant to improve the U.S. air arsenal but has made it more vulnerable instead."
• The Pentagon Wants To Sell $2.7 Billion In Weapons To A Country On The Verge Of Collapse
• Former NY body armor exec gets 17 years in prison for $185 million stock swindle
• US House Votes To Limit Obama's Ability to Shrink Nuclear Arsenal
• Budget cuts spell end of fire-ravaged nuclear sub—"[Casey James] Fury admitted to setting fire to the USS Miami, a nuclear sub, in May 2012 while it was in dry dock."

War Stories

• WWII Hero: Nancy Wake—The fearless matriarch of resistance
• Bob Fletcher Dies at 101; Helped Japanese-Americans—"Mr. Fletcher was thought of as an unsung hero for his efforts during World War II in California to manage the farms of Japanese families forced to live in internment camps." NYT
• Berthold Beitz, German industrialist who rescued Jews during World War II, dies at 99
• S. Fla Couple Recalls How Schindler's List Saved Their Lives
• USA Vietnam vet reunites with man he saved 45 years later
• Treblinka survivor recalls suffering and resistance
• James Dawes: The Guts of Atrocity—"Legacy Russell talks with the author of Evil Men about conversing with war criminals and the paradoxes of naming 'evil deeds.'"
• A love that stemmed from the Holocaust—"Kindertransport survivors are reunited in London by the Association of Jewish Refugees."