War on Terror, Iraq'd, Militants, Israel and Palestine; Drones, VA, PTSD, Soldiers; NSA Spying, Surveillance and Privacy, Police State, Wifi

War on Terror

• Media seeks Guantanamo force-feeding videos—"[T]he Defense Department has classified the videos as 'secret' national security information." Politico
• U.S. Court Rules Constitutional Rights Don't Apply for Americans Overseas
• Federal judge rules U.S. no-fly list violates Constitution—Blatantly anti-liberty.
• Al-Jazeera journalists jailed for seven years in Egypt—"Peter Greste, Mohamed Fahmy and Baher Mohamed of Al-Jazeera English sentenced on terrorism-related charges."
• Pair wrapped bacon around door handles of Edinburgh mosque
• Hannity Goes After Muslim Student Who Asked Question At Benghazi Panel
• Blackwater trial defence raises possibility of witness coaching—"Lawyers for ex-Blackwater guards accused of killing 14 in Baghdad in 2007 say prosecution witnesses 'orchestrated' stories."
• TSA Agent Arrested For Dealing Cocaine

Iraq'd

• Reporter Who Was Wrong About Iraq: Stop Criticizing Those Who Were Wrong About Iraq—Never forget the cunt-astic coverage of war whoring Judith Miller.
• Megyn Kelly Takes On Another Iraq War Architect
• NYT Journalist Stands Behind Her John Bolton Reporting Amid GOP Outrage
• Thank God For Dick Cheney (Really)—"The more the former vice president talks, the better Obama seems."
• Cheney doesn't want to talk about 'what happened 11 or 12 years ago'
• Iraq dredges up painful memories for GOP—"Amid the renewed chaos in the country, key figures from George W. Bush's administration have reemerged in the public spotlight, bringing fresh attention to past mistakes the GOP would rather forget."
• This Leading GOP Congressional Candidate Insists We Found Saddam's WMD Program—"Former Army officer Steve Russell claims his friend discovered Iraq's nuclear weapons program—but says the war had nothing to do with WMDs anyway."
• US fired depleted uranium at civilian areas in 2003 Iraq war, report finds—"Dutch peace group Pax says findings show US was in breach of official advice meant to prevent suffering in conflicts."

Militants

• Judge Raouf Abdul Rahman who ordered Saddam Hussein's death in 2006 reportedly killed by jihadists
• MI6 Fears 300 Islamist Fighters Back In UK—"An ex-intelligence chief tells Sky News that security services face a "nightmare" tracking militants who return to Britain."
• Jihad in Syria lures Somalis from Minnesota
• Obama Warns Threat From Iraq Militants Could Grow
• Why the Iraqi army can't defeat ISIS
• Hezbollah: Gulf states will regret funding ISIS

Israel and Palestine

• The Christian family refusing to give up its Bethlehem hill farm—And doing it peacefully.
• Presbyterians Vote to Divest Holdings to Pressure Israel—"The church voted at its general convention to divest from three companies that it says supply Israel with equipment used in the occupation of Palestinian territory." NYT
• Palestinian boy, 7, dies of injuries from Israeli air strike: medics
• Israel continues crackdown in Palestine in search for settlers—"Israeli troops arrested 30 more Palestinians in the West Bank Wednesday night as they ramped up a massive search for three young settlers believed to have been kidnapped."
• Israeli Troops Kill Palestinian Teenager Protesting Arrests in the West Bank NYT
• Attack from Syria kills Israeli teen; Israeli military kills two Palestinians
• HRW: Israel orders removal of security camera that showed Nakba killings
• Palestinian village wins UNESCO listing against Israel barrier plan—"A Palestinian village joined UNESCO's world heritage sites list on Friday after an emergency nomination meant to try to block Israel from building a barrier across its ancient farmland."

Drones

• Court releases DOJ memo justifying drone strike on US citizen
• "Civilian casualties" authorized under secret US drone-strike memo—"US justifies killings as acts of war despite civilian deaths, global precedent."
• When drones fall from the sky—"More than 400 large U.S. military drones have crashed in major accidents around the world since 2001, showing the potential dangers of throwing open U.S. skies to drone traffic, according to a year-long Washington Post investigation." WaPo
• US officials move to ban drones from national parks
• African firm is selling pepper-spray bullet firing drones

VA

• VA deaths covered up to make statistics look better, whistle-blower says
• Every Senior V.A. Executive Was Rated 'Fully Successful' or Better Over 4 Years NYT
• GOP Sen. Ron Johnson: It costs too much to fund the VA—Support the troops, and then don't.
• VA looks into the fatal shooting by police of KC veteran Issac Sims
• Marine vet says VA classified him as dead

PTSD

• Government's PTSD treatment for veterans lacking, report finds LA Times
• Arizona judge rules pot can be used for PTSD
• British Army turns to Oculus Rift to take the sting out of battlefield trauma

Soldiers

• Airman on his way to report for duty gets stranded in Price, community comes to his rescue
• Marine who took grenade blast for comrade receives Medal of Honor
• Baxter's back! Family agrees to return deployed soldier's beloved dog after girlfriend sold him on Craigslist... even though their children were attached to him—The parents did the right thing.
• Vet says he was asked to leave Walgreens because of service dog
• Baton Rouge Hotel Reprimanded for Refusing Service Dog—"The front desk worker told the family she was aware of laws protecting access for service dogs, but the owner insists."
• Local sailor ordered to be in court, despite being out to sea—"Hindes' Navy commanders point to the 'Servicemembers Civil Relief Act.' [...] But circuit court judge Margaret Noe in Michigan denied that protection for Hindes." Grounds for mistrial?

NSA Spying

• Reps. Goodlatte And Ruppersberger Admit That NSA Is Warrantlessly Spying On Americans' Communications
• The NSA's mass surveillance program for phone call metadata is still going
• New leaks show Germany's collusion with NSA—"Several new Snowden-leaked documents show how closely Germany's intelligence agencies work with the NSA. But did the German government deliberately soften laws protecting privacy to make life easier for them?"
• Looks like someone's profiting from Snowden—European defense firms—"Chill is just beginning for US cloud companies as governments seek local help."
• Microsoft: NSA security fallout 'getting worse' ... 'not blowing over'
• 'That is total bullsh*t!': Glenn Greenwald and Iraq War vet square off on Snowden leaks

Surveillance and Privacy

• Ralph Fiennes hits out at internet surveillance and loss of press freedom—"Actor says lack of web privacy is 'frightening' and Russian media has had its 'spine snapped' over reporting on anti-gay measures."
• Seizing data for 2.5 years amounts to "general warrant," court says—"Decision limits government powers to search seized computer data carte blanche."
• Poorly anonymized logs reveal NYC cab drivers' detailed whereabouts—"Botched attempt to scrub data reveals driver details for 173 million taxi trips."
• Delaware Attorney General Throws Subpoeana At Reddit Over Comment On Photo Of Two People Having Sex Behind A Dumpster—Over consensual sex.
• New sensors will scoop up 'big data' on Chicago

Police State

• The Surveillance/Police State: Assisting the Dismantling of Inalienable Rights
• US police departments are increasingly militarised, finds report
• Illinois buys cell-tracking gear complete with NDAs, no-bid process—"Homeland Security grant funded secret buy of stingrays for state police."
• Google, Microsoft Commit to 'Kill Switch' Phone Tech—Worked well for Apple, but the question remains, will this 'feature' be turned against us?
• Researchers Find and Decode the Spy Tools Governments Use to Hijack Phones—Whoops, too late.

Wifi

• Appeals Court Says Using Open WiFi May Be A Crime
• "Free" Wi-Fi from Xfinity and AT&T also frees you to be hacked
• The EFF wants to improve your privacy by making your Wi-Fi public

War on Terror, Iraq'd, Middle East, Bergdahl; DTA: Vice City, Shootings, Guns; Police State, Warrantless Tracking, Militarization, M.I.C.; Your Rights Online, Journalism and Transparency; NSA Spying, Surveillance and Privacy

War on Terror

• "Extremely Troubling" Documents Show How Obama Administration Embraced Foreign Detention of Terror Suspects—"Changes made to a key FBI interrogation manual highlight the bureau's increasing focus on questioning suspects—including Americans—in overseas prisons."
• UK: Fully secret terror trial blocked by Court of Appeal
• Cover-Up in Guantanamo: Torturing to Death, Hiding and Fabricating Evidence, and Calling it Suicide
• American exceptionalism and American innocence: The misleading history and messages of the 9/11 Memorial Museum—"The 9/11 Memorial gets grief profoundly. But the museum cynically exploits tragedy, confuses history with ideology." Salon
• TSA 'Abusively and Arbitrarily' Using Security Designation to Hide Information
• 7 years later, Blackwater guards go on trial—For killing 14 Iraqi civilians.

Iraq'd

• Arms Windfall for Insurgents as Iraq City Falls—"Weapons provided by the United States to help Iraqi forces battle militants are now in the hands of the militants." NYT
• ISIS just stole $425 million, Iraqi governor says, and became the 'world's richest terrorist group' WaPo
• Extremists in Iraq now control the country's rivers
• Iraq, Sunnis, and Shiites: The U.S. should never have withdrawn its troops in 2011
• The Fall of Mosul and the False Promises of Modern History—"Ironically, by invading, occupying, weakening and looting Iraq, Bush and Cheney brought al-Qaeda into the country and so weakened it as to allow it actually to take and hold territory in our own time."
• Iran Deploys Quds Forces To Support Iraqi Troops, Helps Retake Most Of Tikrit
• Iraq conflict: Sistani issues Shia call to arms
• Russia on Iraq: 'We told you so' WaPo
• On Iraq, let's ignore those who got it all wrong WaPo
• Jihadist Gains in Iraq Blindside American Spies—"First Crimea, now Iraq. Why does America's $50 billion intelligence community keep getting taken by surprise?" FP

Middle East

• Nato forces kill five US troops in Afghanistan—"Five American soldiers have been killed accidentally by their own side in southern Afghanistan, US military sources have confirmed."
• U.S. arms could create Syria 'warlords', rebel commander says
• Taliban gunmen attack Karachi airport academy in second assault

Bergdahl

• FBI: Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl's parents have received threats
• Bergdahl describes harsh treatment, solitary confinement: U.S. officials
• U.S. deaths in Afghanistan may have only tenuous link to Bergdahl
• Juan Williams Slams GOP Who 'Flip-Flopped' On Bergdahl In 'Most Craven Way'
• Maddow Calls Out Republicans Who Left Bergdahl Briefing Early
• The Right Didn't Mind When Bush Paid a Ransom to Terrorists
• Benghazi, Bowe Bergdahl, and manufactured brouhaha Boston Globe
• Stephen Colbert skewers 'Bergdghazi,' elbows Fox News WaPo

DTA: Vice City

• Police Ambushed in Las Vegas; 5 Dead
• Report: Vegas Shooters Planned To Take Over Courthouse, Execute Officials
• How much does right-wing rhetoric contribute to right-wing terrorism? WaPo
• Why not call the Las Vegas attack an act of domestic terrorism?—"'Terrorism' is an overused word that tends to obscure more than it reveals. But the reluctance to use it to describe the Las Vegas attackers is troubling."
• Home-Grown, Right-Wing Terrorism: The Hate the GOP Refuses to See—"As the Las Vegas shootings show, right-wing extremism is real and on the rise. But for Republicans, better to focus on the Muslims."
• If the Las Vegas Killers Were Muslims, We'd Call Them Terrorists—"But should we?"
• Facebook Posts Reveal Vegas Shooter Thought Bundy Ranch Was 'Start Of Revolution'
• Hatriot Politics Created the Las Vegas Killers—"Jerad and Amanda Miller, the Wingnuts whose killing spree left two policemen, a civilian, and themselves dead, were inspired by fright-wing radio hosts and militia movement groups."
• Inside the Unraveling of Las Vegas Shooting Spree Suspect Jerad Miller—"In comments on the conspiracy-peddling website Infowars, he revealed the deeply personal roots of his hatred of government."
• Did the Las Vegas Shooting Suspects Obtain Their Guns on Facebook?

Shootings

• Guns after Elliot Rodger: Businesses like Chipotle and Sonic are our best hope for gun control
• Sun News Network will not use New Brunswick killer's name—"We will not help give this killer his blaze of glory."
• Jim Rubens says armed civilians drastically reduce casualties during mass shootings—Politifact says: False.
• Obama: 'We Should Be Ashamed' Of Failure To Address Gun Violence
• When did mass shootings become so frighteningly mundane in America?
• Jon Stewart Rips The Public's Apathy Over Gun Violence

Guns

• Fearing Rising Backlash, NRA Urges Gun Activists to Stand Down—"Carrying assault rifles into restaurants backfired—and now the gun lobby is firing at its own for acting 'downright weird.'" Update: That didn't last long, but the group stopped bringing guns to Target.
• More Guns Equal More Deaths, Study Finds
• Neighbor, 61, pulls gun on father teaching girl to ride bike
• Alabama Gun Rights Supporter Brings Loaded Pistol To Polls
• Suicide Is Leading Cause Of Gun Deaths, But Largely Absent In Debate On Gun Violence

Police State

• Pentagon preparing for mass civil breakdown—"Social science is being militarised to develop 'operational tools' to target peaceful activists and protest movements."
• How the FBI Tried to Block Martin Luther King's Commencement Speech—"The untold story of a government plot, a maverick college president, and the most important figure of the civil rights era."
• "Guantánamo North" – NDAA Indefinite Detention Coming Soon to a Town Near You?

Warrantless Tracking

• In major privacy ruling, court says police need warrant to track phone users' location
• Is Chicago using cell tracking devices? One man tries to find out—"Lawyer: Chicago police 'has a history of doing some questionable surveillance.'"
• Local cops in 15 US states confirmed to use cell tracking devices—"Stingray use is widespread: Baltimore, Chicago, and even Anchorage have them."
• U.S. pushing local cops to stay mum on cellular surveillance

Militarization

• Police officer safety or surplus zeal: Military equipment spurs debate
• War Gear Flows to Police Departments—"Former tools of combat — M-16 rifles, grenade launchers, silencers and more — are ending up in the armories of local police departments, often with little public notice." NYT
• Indiana Sheriff Justifies Military Surplus Purchases By Saying America 'Has Become A War Zone'
• 500 American Communities Are Now Armed With Military Tanks and Military Vehicles, and Have Reportedly Lied on Their Applications to Get Them for Free
• The Battlefield War Games Series Embraces Police Militarization
• London mayor offers to be blasted by water cannon—"London Mayor Boris Johnson offered on Wednesday to be sprayed by water cannon to demonstrate that they are safe, after buying the riot control equipment for the capital despite having no permission to use it."

M.I.C.

• 25 Year Old Fraudulent Pentagon Contracting Program Exposed—"Some of the biggest names in the defense and aerospace industry were allowed to circumvent federal law that required small business contracting goals be achieved."
• Buying single-engine F-35s for Canada a 'serious mistake': report—"Michael Byers's One Dead Pilot report urges government to look at 2-engine options to replace CF-18s."
• Why are countries still using the fake bomb detectors sold by a convicted British conman?—"Pakistani security personnel still guard Karachi's Jinnah airport using versions of Jim McCormick's phoney bomb detector. They are not alone in having a seemingly unshakeable belief in the ADE 651."

Your Rights Online

• Canada: Cyberbullying law would let police 'remotely hack into computers, mobile devices, or cars'
• Facebook Under Fire for Temporarily Blocking Pages in Pakistan—"Citing pressure from the Pakistani government, Facebook said it blocked left-wing political pages and a popular rock band, Laal, whose members spoke out against Taliban." NYT
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• Man arrested for parodying mayor on Twitter files civil rights lawsuit—"Police raid follows mayor being upset over the portrayal of him as drug abuser."
• Canada: Top court rules search warrant needed to access Internet information
• Google will flag search results erased due to "right to be forgotten"—"Wikipedia founder: 'Suppression of knowledge' is a 'terrible danger.'"

Journalism and Transparency

• Why It Shouldn't Be Criminal to Report Government Secrets—"Prosecuting journalists imposes huge costs, yields scant benefits, and is mostly pointless in an era when anyone can reach a mass audience."
• Sheriff calls Homeland Security on man requesting public records
• ACLU: Secrecy is a Cancer on Our Democracy
• Why we're suing the CIA—"After 10,000 requests, MuckRock launches its first lawsuit."
• Clever piece of code exposes hidden changes to Supreme Court opinions

NSA Spying

• Al Gore: Snowden Revealed Crimes 'Way More Serious' Than Any He Committed—"Former vice president says NSA overreach poses 'a threat to democracy.'"
• Former NSA chief calls Snowden 'he who will not be named'
• Inside Edward Snowden's Life as a Robot
• Darrell Issa: James Clapper lied to Congress about NSA and should be fired WaPo
• Former NSA director backs House bill to rein in spy agency
• NSA: Our systems are so complex we can't stop them from deleting data wanted for lawsuit WaPo
• ACLU: Too Big To Comply? NSA Says It's Too Large, Complex to Comply With Court Order
• If The NSA's System Is Too Big To Comply With Court Orders, Court Should Require It To Change Its System
• Eric Cantor's loss is bad news for the NSA—"The Tea Party candidate who just toppled the House Majority Leader is a skeptic of NSA spying."

Surveillance and Privacy

• FBI embracing facial recognition to "find bad guys"—"Director wavered when asked if database would store drivers' license photos."
• Microsoft fights U.S. search warrant for customer e-mails held in overseas server
• Web giants encrypt their services—but leaks remain—"Ars surveys SSL use at major cloud providers and finds some holes."
• To defeat encryption, feds deploy the subpoena—"Drop boxes, secured or not, are all the post-Snowden rage and ripe for subpoenas."
• Post-Snowden China looks to 'hack-proof' quantum communications—"The holy grail of data encryption should, in theory, be safe from prying eyes." SCMP

Normandy Landings 70th Anniversary; War on Terror, Domestic Threats, Bergdahl, Guantánamo, Iraq, Israel and Palestine; Veterans; Snowden, NSA Spying, Surveillance and Privacy, Civil Liberties, Journalism and Press Freedom, Police State, Civil Forfeiture

Normandy Landings 70th Anniversary

• D-Day 70th anniversary: World leaders gather for ceremony
• Normandy D-Day landing sites: Then & Now
• 93-year-old WWII vet to parachute into Normandy —again
• Pensioner who hid medals and absconded from care home found at D-Day celebrations in France—"The 89-year old was reported missing from his Hove care home but actually sneaked onboard a coach for a final reunion with his D-Day comrades across the Channel."

War on Terror

• Chiquita Is Blocking a 9/11 Victims' Bill—"For years, the conglomerate paid off Colombian militias. So it's no wonder the company is now furiously lobbying to stop a bill that would make it easier to sue terror financiers."
• CIA drone strikes: embarrassment for US as Pakistan court orders murder investigation—"Campaigners say court decision could open floodgates to more criminal cases against controversial strikes and call for international arrest warrant against American spy."
• US confirms Syria suicide bomber was American
• CBS' Lara Logan problem: Why is disgraced reporter returning to "60 Minutes"?—"Months after Logan's discredited Benghazi report shamed the network, CBS gives her another shot." Salon
• Zakaria: What next for Afghanistan?
• Former NSA Director: 'An attack is going to come'

Domestic Threats

• Holder announces task force on 'homegrown' terrorists
• Boston: Man charged with obstructing bombing probe
• Right-wing Extremism in the United States
• America, Worry About Your Own 'Terrorists'

Bergdahl

• Bowe Bergdahl, American Soldier, Freed by Taliban in Prisoner Trade NYT
• What do we know about Bowe Bergdahl's disappearance?
• Republicans Frantically Scrub Their Praise Of Bowe Bergdahl
• Oliver North Of All People Blasts Obama For Financing Terrorist Orgs In Bergdahl Swap
• GOP Congressman Criticizes Own Party Over Bowe Bergdahl Response
• McChrystal on Bergdahl: 'We don't leave Americans behind. That's unequivocal'
• Brooks: President Obama Was Right—"National solidarity is essential to the health of the country. And President Obama’s prisoner swap for Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl nurtured that sentiment." NYT

Guantánamo

• What Excuse Remains for Obama's Failure to Close GITMO?
• Official: US Moving Ahead With Guantanamo Closure
• U.S. expects more Guantanamo transfers despite Bergdahl controversy
• Guantánamo inmate makes new force-feeding complaint after judge's ruling

Iraq

• Iraq war costs U.S. more than $2 trillion: study
• Full account of Tony Blair's exchanges with George Bush on Iraq war to be kept secret—"Gists of Tony Blair's conversations with George Bush to be published while former US President's views will remain secret, Chilcot Inquiry told."
• Deadly fighting breaks out in Iraq's Mosul

Israel and Palestine

• Israel 'deeply disappointed' with US—"The Israeli ambassador to the United States late Monday slammed the Obama administration for its willingness to work with the new Palestinian unity government formed earlier that day."
• India, China and Turkey endorse Palestinian unity government—"All three powers call on international community to support Fatah-Hamas unity government, breaking ranks from Israel."
• Angered by Palestinian unity gov't, Israel to build more settler homes
• Israeli doctors refuse to force-feed Palestinian prisoners, despite govt pressure

Veterans

• Republicans refuse to fund the VA
• Veterans Group Targets Mitch McConnell, Richard Burr In New Ad Campaign
• Senators reach bipartisan deal on VA health care —Still up for a vote.

Snowden

• Edward Snowden, a year on: reformers frustrated as NSA preserves its power—"A year ago, Edward Snowden exposed the NSA's widespread surveillance practices. Privacy advocates demanded a change in the law – but today, the agency's powers remain largely intact."
• Four ways Edward Snowden changed the world – and why the fight's not over
• Snowden showed us just how big the panopticon really was. Now it's up to us
• You Can Fight the NSA—"Edward Snowden wants Internet users to make surveillance too expensive for the government."
• Most Americans Think Snowden Did the Right Thing, Poll Says
• NSA chief Michael Rogers: Edward Snowden 'probably not' a foreign spy—"New NSA director plays down speculation that 'our gentleman in Moscow' was working for a foreign intelligence agency."
• 'New York Times' Editor: Losing Snowden Scoop 'Really Painful'—That's what they get for submerging an NSA story before the 2004 elections that literally could have changed history.
• The media genius of Edward Snowden—Greenwald shows the mainstream media's vilification in action.

NSA Spying

• On 6/5, 65 Things We Know About NSA Surveillance That We Didn't Know a Year Ago
• The NSA knew our secrets. One year later, we know theirs.
• Germany investigates alleged NSA Merkel phone tap WaPo
• Another federal judge rules on legality of NSA surveillance WaPo
• No worries: NSA chief says facial recognition program is totally legal—"'We do not do this in some unilateral basis against US citizens,' NSA chief says."
• Mathematicians Urge Colleagues To Refuse To Work For The NSA
• There's A Huge New Snowden Leak -- And No One Knows Where It Came From—"On Tuesday, news site The Register published a story containing explosive 'above top secret' information about Britain's surveillance programs including details of a "clandestine British base tapping undersea cables in the Middle East."
• DOJ Admits It's Still Destroying Evidence In NSA Case; Judge Orders Them (Again) To Stop; DOJ Flips Out

Surveillance and Privacy

• New Whistleblower Organization Launched on Anniversary of Snowden Revelations—"Former whistleblowers Radack, Wiebe, Coleman-Adebayo and Ellsberg speak out at the launch of ExposeFacts.org, a US-based independent media organization that encourages whistleblowers to expose government and corporate malfeasance."
• Guardian launches SecureDrop system for whistleblowers to share files—"SecureDrop platform allows sources to submit documents and data while avoiding most common forms of online tracking."
• NSA-Proof Server Protonet Smashes Crowdfunding Record by Raising $1m in 89 Minutes
• Polish NGO to Obama: Mass Surveillance Is Not Freedom
• Vodafone reveals existence of secret wires that allow state surveillance—"Wires allow agencies to listen to or record live conversations, in what privacy campaigners are calling a 'nightmare scenario.'"
• German intelligence agency confesses to spy stations—"Federal Intelligence Service attaches its logo to sites after amateur investigators post locations online."

Civil Liberties

• Secret terror trial is threat to open justice, human rights campaigners warn—"Trial of two men charged with terrorism offences could be heard entirely behind closed doors for first time in modern UK history."
• Life sentences for serious cyberattacks are proposed in Queen's speech—"Any cyberattackers who cause 'loss of life, serious injury or damage to national security' could face full sentence."
• Federal agency seeks to widen surveillance beyond Idle No More to any demonstrators in Canada
• Deutsche Telekom, Hungarian government collude to silence independent media
• Nine 'terrorists' sentenced to death in China—"The 29 cases were processed according to new rules calling on state prosecutors to complete terror-related investigations within 24 hours, the report said."
• Thai police: We'll 'get you' for junta criticism—"Thai police warned online critics of the military junta Friday that they will "come get you" for posting political views that could incite divisiveness, the latest reminder about surveillance of social media in post-coup Thailand." WaPo

Journalism and Press Freedom

• Supreme Court rejects effort to compel FoxNews.com reporter to reveal sources
• Supreme Court Rejects Appeal From Times Reporter Over Refusal to Identify Source—"The order gave no reasons for the decision but effectively sided with the government in a case involving James Risen of The New York Times, who has said he has no intention of complying with the subpoena." NYT
• The House Passes a Journalism Shield Law and Nobody Notices

Police State

• ACLU: Judge Releases Information about Police Use of Stingray Cell Phone Trackers
• LAPD adds drones to arsenal, says they'll be used sparingly
• Widespread US Police Surveillance Is Happening In Total Secrecy
• U.S. Marshals Seize Local Cops' Cell Phone Tracking Files in Extraordinary Attempt to Keep Information From Public

Civil Forfeiture

• Former Brooklyn DA Accused of Misusing Over One Million Dollars in Asset Forfeiture—"Former Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes may now face felony larceny charges. In 85 percent of cases pursued by the NYPD, the owners are never charged with a crime."
• Cops In Texas Seize Millions By "Policing for Profit"
• Charges dismissed, but $200K still in custody—"The strange journey of the $200 grand in the silver attaché case began when drug investigators raided a Minneapolis tobacco shop."
• The cash smelled like pot, so the feds kept it

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, Benghazi, Drones; Police State, No Place to Hide, NSA and GCHQ Spying, Tech Sector, Encryption, Privacy; Your Rights Online; Net Neutrality; Free Speech and Transparency

War on Terror

• ICC to examine claims that British troops carried out war crimes in Iraq—"Court to conduct preliminary examination of around 60 alleged cases of unlawful killing and claims of mistreatment."
• Judge Orders U.S. to Stop Force-Feeding Syrian Held at Guantánamo NYT
• Released Pakistani Prisoner Named Taliban Military Commander

Benghazi

• Cohen: The GOP's Benghazi hangup is baffling—"What do Republicans think another congressional hearing will prove?" WaPo
• How Much Money Can Republicans Raise Off Benghazi? Ask Darrell Issa
• Republicans Are Already Ignoring The Benghazi Special Committee They've Been Begging For

Drones

• Show Us the Drone Memos—"We must see the legal case for executing a United States citizen without a trial." NYT
• The ultra-lethal drones of the future
• Pakistan Wants Drones, and It Doesn't Need America's Permission to Get Them
• "The Stuff I Saw Really Began to Disturb Me": How the U.S. Drone War Pushed Snowden to Leak NSA Docs

Police State

• License plate readers spark privacy, public safety debate
• Erie County Sheriff to legislature: My surveillance powers are none of your business
• Six Reasons to Be Afraid of the Private Sector/Government Security State

No Place to Hide

• The Man Who Knows Too Much—"Glenn Greenwald is the gatekeeper of Edward Snowden's NSA secrets. And he's about to drop the biggest bomb yet."
• NSA may be putting Israeli security interests above U.S., new document reveals—"Journalist Glenn Greenwald's new book, 'No Place to Hide,' includes materials on intelligence relations with Israel."
• NSA Gave Canada Money For Surveillance Program
• Glenn Greenwald reveals 7 new NSA crimes against graphic design

NSA and GCHQ Spying

• Data Pirates of the Caribbean: The NSA Is Recording Every Cell Phone Call in the Bahamas
• New York Times under fire for spiking NSA leaks story in 2004—"White House told paper's editors it would be 'dangerous' to run the story."
• Greenwald: NYT's new editor 'subservient to national security state'
• U.S. revealed secret legal basis for NSA program to Sprint, documents show—"New documents, interviews indicate intelligence community shared details to ward off court challenge." WaPo
• DOJ Still Trying To Hide The Fact It Flat Out Lied To The Supreme Court About Domestic Surveillance
• Everyone should know just how much the government lied to defend the NSA—"A web of deception has finally been untangled: the Justice Department got the US supreme court to dismiss a case that could have curtailed the NSA's dragnet. Why?"
• Nosey Smurf, Gumfish and Foggybottom: The snooping tools that may have got GCHQ in hot water
• British Spies Face Legal Action Over Secret Hacking Programs
• Washington spends £200m creating intelligence hub in Britain
• The official US position on the NSA is still unlimited eavesdropping power—"One year after Snowden, the government is defending – in not-so-plain sight – the 'paramount' power to spy on every call and email between you and your friends abroad."

Tech Sector

• Obama's NSA spying reforms fail to satisfy cyber experts
• Photos of an NSA "upgrade" factory show Cisco router getting implant—"Servers, routers get 'beacons' implanted at secret locations by NSA's TAO team." That's gonna sting.
• 80 Tech Companies Cooperating with NSA, Claims Wikileaks
• Top tech titans get thumbs-up in EFF transparency report—"The advocacy group says Apple, Facebook, Google, and others have done a lot to protect users' privacy."
• Snowden Forced Silicon Valley to Value Privacy and Transparency
• Internet Engineering Task Force Considers Making Surveillance Mitigation A Standard Part Of Its Specifications

Encryption

• Edward Snowden's Other Motive for Leaking—"He wasn't just trying to spark democratic debate on surveillance. He also hoped his revelations would prompt programmers to build better encryption."
• Encrypted or not, Skype communications prove "vital" to NSA surveillance—"Newly published memo leaked by Edward Snowden details the value of Skype data."
• Microsoft: NSA and GCHQ are capable of monitoring 'secure' browsing using Tor
• Startup pitches snoop-proof (even NSA-proof) email
• More People Are Encrypting Their Web Traffic In The Wake Of NSA Spying Revelations

Privacy

• EU court backs 'right to be forgotten': Google must amend results on request—Wikipedia's Jimmy Wales is astonished by the decision that has far-reaching implications.
• Anti-cyberbullying bill could harm privacy rights, Amanda Todd's mother warns—"Parents shouldn't have to 'sacrifice'their children's privacy rights to make them safe from 'cyberbullying, 'sextortion' and revenge pornography.'"
• Shutterfly congratulates people without babies on their new arrivals in email.—"Shutterfly's error is just the latest reminder of how closely companies and advertisers are tracking everything about our personal lives."
• Lawsuit alleges unauthorized publication of personal genetics data—"Proposed class-action suit says Family Tree violated Alaska Genetic Privacy Act."
• Never Forgetting a Face—"Joseph Atick, a pioneer of facial-recognition systems, is now cautioning against their unfettered use. Never, he says, should they undermine anyone’s choice to remain anonymous." NYT

Your Rights Online

• Government gags Twitter and Yahoo over grand jury subpoena, court blocks companies from fighting back
• US Government Begins Rollout Of Its 'Driver's License For The Internet'
• Police ask blogger to remove tweet about Ukip—"Concerns raised about stifling of political debate after police visit man following complaint from Ukip councillor over policy tweet."
• How a Power-Mad Illinois Mayor Launched a Police Crusade Against a Parody Twitter Account—Jim Adirs' petty and likely illegal retaliation backfires as the ACLU steps in to represent Jon Daniel.
• UK Government Willing To Block EU Net Neutrality Deal—"The British government wants to keep its ability to block internet content."
• President Rouhani Stresses Iranian Citizens' Right to Freely Access Internet

Net Neutrality

• 5 Freedoms You'll Lose Without Net Neutrality
• Did Regulators Break the Internet or Did They Save It? Yes. NYT
• The FCC Thinks We're All Idiots
• Can AOL save the internet?—"Despite Google having the biggest tech lobby in Washington aside from the big internet service providers, AOL — the company best known for giving the world dial-up internet in the '90s and being one of the country's largest ISPs — has outspent Google on net neutrality issues."

Free Speech and Transparency

• Man facing charges for hanging American flag upside down, spray painting it
• IU survey: U.S. journalists say they are less satisfied and have less autonomy
• Will the UK Government Ever Release These Secret Files to the Public?

War on Terror, Torture, FBI, Police State; NSA Spying, Surveillance and Privacy; Whistleblowers; Big Data, Tech Tracking; Your Rights Online, Free Speech

War on Terror

• House Democrat Renews Push To End Controversial 9/11 Rules Of War On Terror—"A top Democrat on the House intelligence committee is spearheading a renewed effort to end the administration's controversial, 9/11-era counterterrorism rules of war."
• Obama ordered to divulge legal basis for killing Americans with drones—"Appeals court will have the veil of secrecy lifted in targeted killing program."
• Judge slaps State Department over Blackwater—"A federal judge is calling for an investigation of the State Department over years of delays in prosecuting Blackwater security guards in the shootings of dozens of Iraqi citizens in 2007."
• New York police end Muslim surveillance program—"A special New York Police Department unit that sparked controversy by tracking the daily lives of Muslims in an effort to detect terror threats has been disbanded, police officials said Tuesday."
• US Has A 'Secret Exception' To Reasonable Suspicion For Putting People On The No Fly List
• Was the police response to the Boston bombing really appropriate?—"It's time we had a frank discussion about how the government reacted after the Boston Marathon bombing." WaPo
• Obama signs into law 'terrorist' UN envoy visa ban
• TSA Gives Full-Body Pat-Downs to 2-YO Boy, Older Sister

Torture

• On CIA abuses, denial does Americans no favors
• ACLU: Don't Let the Torturer Play Censor
• Spanish judge defies pressure to scrap Guantanamo torture case against Bush

FBI

• Guantánamo hearings halted amid accusations of FBI spying on legal team—"Allegations surfaced Monday that the FBI turned a member of a 9/11 defendant's defence team into a secret informant."
• Covert Inquiry by F.B.I. Rattles 9/11 Tribunals—"The F.B.I.'s inquiry became the focus of the pretrial hearings at Guantánamo this week, after the contractor who was visited by the F.B.I. disclosed it to the defense team." NYT
• The FBI Is Trying to Recruit Muslims As Snitches by Putting Them On No-Fly Lists
• Facing gun charges, Ayyub Abdul-Alim accuses Springfield police, FBI of planting weapon
• FBI Abruptly Walks Out On Senate Briefing After Being Asked How 'Insider Threat' Program Avoids Whistleblowers
• FBI Keeps Secret How Massive Facial Recognition Database Will Work—It will contain 52 million images by 2015.

Police State

• Eyes Over Compton: How Police Spied on a Whole City—"A sergeant in the L.A. County Sheriff's Department compared the experiment to Big Brother, even though he went ahead with it willingly. Is your city next?"
• LA Sheriff's Dept. On New Surveillance Program: We Knew The Public Wouldn't Like It, So We Kept It A Secret
• State of Surveillance: Police, Privacy and Technology
• Police Want your Home Video Surveillance Footage
• Austrlalia: Civil liberties fears at boom in police surveillance operations

NSA Spying

• Snowden reporting lands Guardian and Post Pulitzers—"The publications were recognized for revealing 'widespread secret surveillance.'"
• Greenwald: Rep. King's Condemnation A 'Badge Of Honor'
• The Most Bizarre Response To The Pulitzers Yet, From The Guy Who Authorized CIA Torture
• Journalists who broke NSA story in Guardian dedicate award to Snowden—"Glenn Greenwald, Laura Poitras and Ewen MacAskill accept George Polk award as Barton Gellman of the Washington Post is also honoured."
• Snowden revelations 'good for society'—"By two to one, British people say it was good, not bad, for society that newspapers reported the materials given to them by Edward Snowden."
• Edward Snowden installed as Glasgow University rector
• Snowden op-ed explains reasons for calling out Putin on live TV—"The whistleblower again speaks up to spark debate on state surveillance."
• Clapper bans US intelligence employees from 'unauthorised' media contact
• How the NSA shot itself in the foot by denying prior knowledge of Heartbleed vulnerability
• Snowden email service Lavabit loses contempt appeal

Surveillance and Privacy

• Banksy Is Believed To Be Behind Eavesdropping Mural Near British Spy HQ
• UK Spies Considered Using Kinect, Microsoft 'Concerned'
• Reference Note on Russian Communications Surveillance

Whistleblowers

• U.S. Army Rejects Clemency for WikiLeaks Source Manning
• Bureau of Prisons Throws CIA Torture Whistleblower John Kiriakou's Children Out of Visitors Room
• Julian Assange book to recount clash with Google chief Eric Schmidt

Big Data

• Canadians' mental-health info routinely shared with FBI, U.S. customs—"Privacy commissioner Ann Cavoukian found attempted suicide calls uploaded to international database."
• HMRC to sell taxpayers' financial data—"Firms could buy 'anonymised' financial details under scheme described by senior Tory MP as 'borderline insane.'"
• Dutch Student Sells All of His Personal Data for 350 Euros

Tech Tracking

• It's Time to Encrypt the Entire Internet
• Is Your VPN / Proxy Working? Check Your Torrent IP-Address
• Protests Continue Against Dropbox After Appointment of Condoleezza Rice to Board NYT
• Google updates TOS to clarify email scanning process—"New paragraph in the Web giant's terms of service is intended to more clearly explain the manner in which software automatically scans and analyzes the content of emails."
• When the restaurant you Googled Googles you back—"It's not the thought that counts; unexpected in-person customization feels icky."
• "Brightest Flashlight" Android app disclosed location of 50 million people, but FTC imposes no fine

Your Rights Online

• China launches campaign to purge Internet of porn, rumors and, critics say, dissent WaPo
• Mexico Marches Against New Internet Censorship Laws—¿Qué está pasando en México?
• Russian social network founder says he has been fired—"The founder of Russia's most popular social network site says he has been fired and that allies of President Putin have taken over his site."
• Two anonymous Twitter accounts blocked in Turkey—"Accounts linked to the spread of government corruption allegations appeared blocked less than a week after the social network agreed to shutter some accounts." In related news, Turkey denies saying it would leave the internet.
• Secret Plan to Advance Global Internet Censorship. ISPs to Act as "Internet Police"—"To be Implemented under TPP Auspices."

Free Speech

• The Aereo Case Isn't About the Future of TV. It's About the Future of Speech.
• Andrew Coyne: Free speech withers when we abandon judgment, proportion, open-mindedness and tolerance
• xkcd: Free Speech