Phone Warrants Warranted, NSA Spying, Surveillance State, Your Privacy; Bad Cops, Authoritah, Cuffed, Killed, K9; Ticket, Speed, Crash, Morgan, Road Rage; Fatigue

Phone Warrants Warranted

• Supreme Court Says Phones Can't Be Searched Without a Warrant—A stunning 9-0 decision. NYT
• The most important sentence in the Supreme Court's cell phone privacy ruling
• What to do if police try to search your phone without a warrant

NSA Spying

• SCOTUS cellphone ruling resonates in NSA fight—"Chief Justice John Roberts's 28-page paean to digital privacy was like music to the ears of critics of the NSA's metadata program, which sweeps up details on billions of calls and searches them for possible links to terrorist plots." Politico
• Snarky Lawmaker Reminds Former NSA Chief That Selling State Secrets Is Illegal
• Over NSA worries, Germany ends government contract with Verizon—"Rare meaningful response after US revealed its spying on German chancellor."
• Denmark's ties with the NSA are deeper than previously thought
• NSA-proof messaging app Wickr gains £17m in funding
• Blimp flies over NSA's Utah Data Center to protest 'illegal mass surveillance program'

Surveillance State

• Surveillance: It's Worse Than You Think
• U.S. Says It Spied on 89,000 Targets Last Year, But the Number Is Deceptive
• New Data Shows FBI Issued More Than 19k National Security Letters in 2013
• Theresa May: There is no surveillance state—Bwahahahaha!
• Researchers uncover government digital surveillance tool—"A program used by governments around the world to access and monitor a person's digital footprint across mobile networks and the internet has been uncovered by two sets of researchers who have broken down how it works."

Your Privacy

• The Senate's New Cybersecurity Bill Threatens Net Neutrality
• Massachusetts high court orders suspect to decrypt his computers
• PRISM, Local Edition: NY DA Employs 381 Secret Orders to Gather Complete Digital Dossiers from Facebook
• Why the Supreme Court May Finally Protect Your Privacy in the Cloud
• Why Apple really cares about your privacy

Bad Cops

• Massachusetts SWAT teams claim they're private corporations, immune from open records laws—"Unusual law enforcement counsels that operate the SWAT teams say they aren't public entities." WaPo
• Major murder case collapses in new 'police corruption' scandal—"Scotland Yard is facing serious questions after the prosecution of a man charged with murder quietly collapsed following an investigation into alleged police corruption."
• White Detroit Police Lieutenant Files Discrimination Complaint Against Department—"A lieutenant in charge of the Detroit Police Department's drug unit says he was the victim of racial discrimination and subjected to a hostile work environment for reporting wrongdoing."
• Cleveland grand jury indicts six officers in deadly 2012 chase
• Denver police chief orders review of alcohol abuse reports in ranks
• Miami, Okla. officer indicted by a Grand Jury for her part in alleged scheme to protect the arresting officers
• SC sheriff latest to be charged in past 4 years—"... making him the eighth sheriff in the state to face criminal charges or investigations...."
• Police officer accused of recording men in bathroom, soliciting oral sex online
• Police Officer Fired For Secretly Filming Chief Having Sex In Ambulance

Authoritah

• Sheriff's deputy sought crazed vengeance after his car is egged by teens, charging documents show
• Mass. state trooper treats man like criminal for failing to show "respect"
• Roanoke Rapids police cleared in use of stun gun on autistic teen
• How Poor Young Black Men Run from the Police

Cuffed

• Officer tried to save handcuffed Clive man who drowned—"How a life jacket came off of a Clive man who was handcuffed when he went off a police boat and drowned will be a key part of the Missouri Highway Patrol's investigation into the incident, officials said."
• Durham police says teen shot self, family accuses officials of withholding facts
• Video released of local bodybuilder, Daniel Saenz, shot by El Paso police officer—Grand jury refuses to indict [Salon].
• Utah Democrat Fights Back After Police Smash Spinal Cord Stimulator: Running for State Rep. on Anti-Police State Platform

Killed

• Albuquerque ordered to pay $6m over man's wrongful killing by police—"Ruling says officers were not acting in self-defence when they shot dead a man with schizophrenia in his backyard in 2011."
• Video shows Albuquerque police killing homeless man
• 1 of 2 victims found in suitcases was from Minn.—"According to WTMJ, the [murder] suspect is a former West Allis police officer."
• City of Oxnard Agrees to Multimillion Dollar Settlement—"Oxnard paying record $6.7 million for police shooting death of innocent man."
• Dallas to pay $900000 to family of unarmed man killed by police
• Family of WWII vet killed by beanbag gun files suit—95-year-old man came out with a knife.
• Witness: Man fatally shot by Jersey City police asked 'Why did you shoot me?'—"You shouldn't have been wrestling with us."
• Prisoner: I cleaned up skin of inmate scalded in shower; human-rights groups call for federal intervention

K9

• Owners have questions after police shoot dog in home—"'I thought my dog would still be there, I may have wanted to bury my dog in my backyard. Who told you to take my dog away?' [Hope Lane] asked. The blood had also been cleaned up by police."
• Investigation underway into why officer shot dog in its own yard
• Police: Dog's throat cut; Officer charged with animal cruelty
• 2nd officer suspended in slitting of dog's throat
• Salt Lake man wants police officer who killed his dog fired
• Australia: ACT police officer removed from frontline duties after capsicum-spraying dog

Ticket

• Chief judge of Broward issues statement: Trust us—"Broward residents can trust the justice system — despite the spectacle of three sitting judges facing criminal charges for allegedly driving while under the influence, the county's chief administrative judge said Monday."
• Parma resident ticketed for sign warning of drunken driving checkpoint
• Chicago: Quinn signs bill banning police ticket quotas
• Florida Supreme Court: Early red-light cameras were illegal
• Man gets traffic ticket for running stop sign when video shows he clearly stopped—According to the police chief, "the law says you stop at the stop sign, you move forward, stop again, until you can see that the intersection is clear and then you go." What?
• Robin Hooder sentenced to jail in connection with city parking dispute
• Man sues L.A., saying his parking ticket violates the 8th amendment
• Open data saves New York City drivers from parking tickets—"Here's a great example of how making government data open can directly benefit you."

Speed

• Speed Kills Your Pocketbook
• Sometimes Faster is Better
• Blast from the Past: Montana: No Speed Limit Safety Paradox

Crash

• Staggering toll: Car crashes cost $871 billion a year
• Emma Czornobaj guilty in 2 highway deaths after stopping for ducks
• Husband, Wife Killed After Colliding in Head-On Crash
• We Should Denounce Drowsy Driving
• Texts worse than drink-driving
• 4 in 10 Teens Admit Texting While Driving
• Volkswagen - Eyes on the road

Morgan

• Truck Driver Charged With Causing Crash That Injured Tracy Morgan
• Tracy Morgan crash: Truck driver hadn't slept for 24 hours, documents say
• Tracy Morgan's rep: Leg amputation rumors are false
• Comedian Tracy Morgan moved to rehab center as condition improves
• Walmart says it will take 'full responsibility' if their truck caused fatal crash

Road Rage

• Man with 150 arrests gets 5 years for fatal hit-and-run
• Man Killed Trying to Stop Daughter from Drunk Driving—She's gonna have to live with that for the rest of her life.
• Motorcyclist who filmed, uploaded police flight video to serve hard time—"Defendant Ali's GPS anklet from unrelated offense clocked him in at 115 mph."
• Driver, 60, caught 'using cell phone jammer to keep motorists around him off the phone'
• Motorcyclist Clocked At 150+ MPH On I-75 Speaks Out
• Car fleeing from police goes through park, nearly hits children—Fourteen-year-old was driving.
• Teens' attempted car theft foiled by stick shift
• Teenager's £13,000 car stolen and taken for 15-minute joyride... but thief drove so well it helped bring down his insurance costs

Fatigue

• Just Days Before Tracy Morgan Accident, Senate Moved To Weaken Trucker Fatigue Rules
• Air traffic controllers still work compressed 'rattler' schedules—Also: Your Safety Depends on Air Traffic Controllers Who Are Still Working Crazy Shifts
• Worker fatigue cause of health care mistakes, study finds

World Drug Day, DEA, Habersham, Bad Cops, Militarization, Legalization and Decriminalization, Medical Marijuana, Colorado, Prison, Death Penalty, Innocence, Trial and Error, Law and Disorder, Fuzz-y, Recording

World Drug Day

• Branson: The War on Drugs Has Failed, So Let's Shut it Down
• States Undo Food Stamp Felon Bans—"Two states are taking small steps away from a little-known aspect of the war on drugs."
• Reduced sentences urged for non-violent drug offenders
• City of Chicago Files Lawsuit Blaming Painkiller Marketing for Prescription Drug Epidemic
• Having authoritarian parents increases risk of drug use in adolescents, European study finds
• New drug called Snapchat hospitalising users—"Australian police have issued a warning about a new drug called Snapchat, branded with the Snapchat logo and based on bath salts."
• Mexican Drug Cartel May Have Penetrated Rural Ohio Town, Police Say

DEA

• Is DEA Dazed & Confused Over Industrial Hemp?—"The Department of Agriculture needs hemp seeds for critical research. Why is the DEA trying to stop them?"
• Mass. Doctors Say DEA Pressuring Them To Resign From Medical Marijuana Companies—"Several Massachusetts doctors associated with prospective medical marijuana dispensaries are reportedly facing intense pressure from the federal government to cut ties with those companies."
• DEA obstructs research into medical marijuana: report—"Study says agency should not be in charge of scheduling drugs or giving access to drugs for medical research."

Habersham

• Raid that injured toddler based on info from informant
• Investigation into botched Habersham County drug raid growing
• D.A.: "I did not tell Habersham county sheriff there was nothing to investigate" in flashbang baby case
• A SWAT team blew a hole in my 2-year-old son Salon

Bad Cops

• Jury awards more than $2 million to family of pastor killed by narcotics task force WaPo
• Family sues over drug raid of wrong house: San Bruno residents claim multiple violations for June incident
• Man angry after police break into and damage his truck over dubious marijuana suspicion
• These pot searches by police don't pass the smell test
• Seattle police seize more than 2K illegally grown pot plants—"Detectives, however, didn't arrest anyone and said they were only interested in bringing the operation numbers down to the legal limits."
• Police Department Sued For Allegedly Seizing Pot Plants—"A group of medical marijuana patients on the Big Island of Hawaii are suing to get back pot plants that were allegedly seized wrongfully by police."
• Thousands of Rapists Are Not Behind Bars Because Cops Focus on Marijuana Users

Militarization

• Report: SWAT Teams Armed With Military Equipment Spend Most of Their Time Waging the Drug War
• Here's The Crazy Cache Of Military Weapons Arizona's Cops Have At Their Fingertips
• Scenes from militarized America: Brookline, Mass., and the Michigan State Police WaPo
• Report Points To 'Dangerous Militarization' Of U.S. Law Enforcement
• The Police States of America: Five stories that prove we've lost the battle against police

Legalization and Decriminalization

• Yes, We Cannabis—"Has the legalization of marijuana in America become inevitable?"
• Cops Like Me Say Legalize All Drugs. Here's Why.—"Who exactly is prohibition supposed to be helping? After many years of enforcing drug laws as a police officer, my experience with an addicted family member changed my attitude for good."
• Attorney says marijuana wrongly classified as dangerous drug, federal prosecution unfair—Separately, the FDA is looking into this.
• "Evergreen" reveals the weird lessons of Washington's weed battle—"After Colorado and Washington, we're on the way toward national legalization. But will liberals get left behind?" Salon
• Delaware Might Be The Next State To Legalize Marijuana
• Texas GOP Won't Pass the Marijuana
• Philadelphia City Council Votes to Decriminalize Marijuana—It's a veto-proof vote, not that it will matter to the police.
• Jamaica to decriminalize personal marijuana possession
• Anti-marijuana candidate loses in Uruguay primary
• Pope condemns efforts to legalize marijuana—Booooo.

Medical Marijuana

• Florida governor signs law allowing limited medical marijuana use
• Sheldon Adelson Bankrolls Anti-Medical Marijuana Push—"Mogul gives $2.5M to Florida referendum opponents."
• Families celebrate new Iowa marijuana law—Gov. Terry Branstad signed Senate File 2360, legalizing medical marijuana.
• New York Is About to Legalize Medical Marijuana (But With No Smoking Allowed)
• Uruguay set to allow doctors to prescribe cannabis

Colorado

• Despite dire predictions, Denver crime falls over 10 percent in wake of pot legalization
• No Colorado marijuana stores found selling to minors in police checks
• Colorado's poster boy for 'stoned driving' was drunk off his gourd—"Earlier media reports played up Keith Kilbey's pot use, made no mention of alcohol." WaPo
• After 5 Months of Sales, Colorado Sees the Downside of a Legal High NYT
• Hershey's sues Colorado pot candy company

Prison

• Unsealed records allege brutality, corruption in Denver Jail & witness intimidation by police
• Los Angeles: Ex-Deputy Says He Was Trained To Beat Up Inmates Then Cover It Up
• Jurors hear of deputies' attempt to coerce FBI agent—'She told the lies, she testified before a federal grand jury, in an attempt to find out the details of the FBI's civil rights investigation into county jails."
• Judge's Decision to Hear Inmates' Case Threatens Practice of Solitary Confinement NYT
• Censored and 'Obscene' in Solitary—"After a huge hunger strike to protest the state prison system's inhuman conditions, California is threatening to ban any written material deemed 'oppositional to authority and society.'"
• Deaf inmate sues Oregon prison system for not providing sign-language interpreters—Instead, the Department of Corrections "required Mr. VanValkenburg to train inmates to act as interpreters for him, who were unqualified and failed to keep Mr. VanValkenburg's information confidential."
• Texas inmates sue over lack of air conditioning
• Georgia Police Left Two Teenagers In A Holding Cell With No Lights Or Food For An Entire Weekend
• Prisoners freed after cops struggle with new records software—"Officers didn't get enough training on the new system, which went live June 1, according to Dallas's police chief."
• Modern-Day Slavery in America's Prison Workforce—"Why can't we embrace the idea that prisoners have labor rights?"
• Even America's most liberal states imprison more people than nearly any other country in the world
• This Is How Much More States Spend On Prisoners Than On Students

Death Penalty

• Is It Legal to Try Executing Someone Twice?—"The Ohio Supreme Court will decide whether Romell Broom should be put to death—again."
• Texas execution appeal on drug secrecy grounds rejected by US supreme court—"Robert James Campbell's attorneys had demanded Texas officials disclose the source of drugs intended to execute him."
• Autopsy Shows Just How Royally Oklahoma Screwed Up Clayton Lockett's Execution—"Preliminary findings suggest the inmate's executioners had no clue what they were doing."

Innocence

• Man who served 26 years in prison in arson case is suing Ionia police, prosecutor—"The lawsuit says the defendants conspired to create a false case ...."
• 5 Exonerated in Central Park Jogger Case Will Settle Suit for $40 Million—"The five men whose convictions in the brutal 1989 beating and rape of a female jogger in Central Park were later overturned [Salon] have agreed to a settlement of about $40 million from New York City." NYT
• Man cleared in '89 NYC killing plans $162M claim—' A man recently exonerated in a 1989 New York City killing that happened while he was visiting Disney World filed papers Tuesday outlining plans to seek $162 million from the city, one of his lawyers said." WSJ
• For a Respected Prosecutor, An Unpardonable Failure—"Evidence of a convicted murderer's possible innocence sat buried in a case file for more than two decades. Now, a prosecutor in Brooklyn will have to answer for the mistake."
• Proposed Michigan law: Pay exonerated prisoners
• When Innocent People Go To Prison, States Pay

Trial and Error

• Chemical Reaction—"[T]he high court ruled—in a unanimous exercise of comic power—that the federal government should never have been using an international chemical weapons treaty to prosecute a jealous wife in the first place."
• Marshall: The Law Is An Ass—On SCOTUSBlog's press credentials denial.
• Ex-U.S. attorney takes stand: 'I don't owe anyone $100 billion'—"Former U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald is no stranger to the inside of a federal courtroom, but on Tuesday he found himself in an unusual position: on the witness stand testifying at a bizarre trial of a sovereign citizen follower who allegedly had tried to place a bogus $100 billion lien on his residence."
• More Time Sought for Robber Who Was Homesick for Prison
• Man Killed Hours After Jury Accidently Acquits Him—"Unable to reach a verdict, Pearson's jury mistakenly signed a not-guilty form Wednesday — despite the judge later learning jurors had actually deadlocked. After his release, Pearson, 37, went to a relative's house and within hours he was killed in a fight."
• Cleveland man collapses, dies outside courtroom after judge issues sentence
• Man curses judge and gets 364 days in jail for contempt

Law and Disorder

• Thief Forgets To Log Off Facebook After Burglarizing Home
• Woman dials 999 over ice cream sprinkles row
• Man calls for help during home invasion, gets voicemail
• 3 men escape from Canadian jail using helicopter—The Transporter unavailable for comment. Wow...
• Police Say Woman Was Strangled In Her Bathtub Soon After Posting On Facebook Picture Of A Large Amount Of Money
• Va. man dies in hole dug in sand on Outer Banks beach
• Man dies in wood chipper accident

Fuzz-y

• Woman shoots at would-be home intruders—They were allegedly impersonating the police.
• Florida man charged with impersonating cop after pulling over real detective
• Police drop case of protester arrested for impersonating a police officer while wearing a pig mask

Recording

• Putting cameras on police officers is an idea whose time has come WaPo
• Can Cop-Worn Cameras Restore Faith In New Orleans Police?
• Blast from the Past: As More Police Wear Cameras, Policy Questions Arise
• Jail video police swore 'did not exist' released in brutality complaint—"Gaps in video raise new questions about case of disabled man alleging mistreatment."
• Woman charged with wiretapping for filming cops wins $57,000 payout—"Settlement follows appeals court declaring 'First Amendment' right to record."
• New York Photojournalist Wins $200,000 Settlement from Incident Caught on this Video
• Drones in L.A.: South Bay man flies aircraft to monitor police
• Pittsburgh Investigating Officer's Violent Exchange At Gay Pride Event
• Facebook Video Shows Cops Grab Man's Camera, Assault Him and his 58-Year-Old Mother
• Woman Attacks Man for Flying Camera Drone over Public Beach in Connecticut—And gets caught lying about the attack but charges may be dropped.
• Video: Toddler Tries To Stop Attack On Mother—Was the fight over a guy?

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, Darth Cheney, Heritage Flounder-ation, M.I.C., Guns; NSA Spying, Surveillance and Privacy, Police State, Your Rights Online, Free Speech, Whistleblowing, Facebook, Tech Tracking, Haxx0red

War on Terror

• How the 'War on Terror' Became a War on the Constitution—"Since 9/11, power-hungry political leaders have eviscerated the First Amendment—and we've allowed them to do it."
• A federal judge will review US 'secret court' rulings to see if they were improperly kept under wraps
• Appeals court reverses decision in Chicago terrorism case—"An appeals court has overruled a groundbreaking decision by a Chicago judge to let lawyers for an alleged terrorist see classified surveillance evidence."
• CIA hatched plan to make demon toy to counter Osama bin Laden's influence WaPo
• 'Extremely disturbing' force-feeding tapes cited in Gitmo abuse case
• UK: Student Stabbed To Death On Essex Footpath 'Targeted For Muslim Dress'
• Man says apartment complex called his US flag a 'threat to Muslim community'
• The Colbert Report: Arrest of Benghazi Terror Mastermind

Iraq'd

• No More Mr. Naïve Guy—"On the future of Iraq, President Obama is a cold-blooded realist."
• Eric Alterman Warns: Pundits and Partisans Are Up to Old Tricks in Iraq
• He blew it on Iraq, but makes sense now: Peter Beinart's thoughtful lessons—"If there's one Iraq war hawk worth listening to today, it's this one who's truly grappled with his mistake." Salon
• Karl Rove Unintentionally Predicted the Current Chaos in Iraq
• Petraeus: U.S. Must Not Become the Shia Militia's Air Force
• Iraq crisis: Britain and US must not meddle in Iraq, warns Saudi Arabia—"Saudi Arabia will oppose any US and British or regional intervention in Iraq against the jihadist Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham, the country's ambassador to London tells the Telegraph."
• 1,000,000 Iraqis have fled their homes as ISIS continues armed siege
• The War Nerd: Here's everything you need to know about "too extreme for Al Qaeda" I.S.I.S.
• The Fall of Iraq - What You Aren't Being Told
• Blast from the Past: Dahr Jamail on what happened in Fallujah in 2004: U.S. War Crimes in Iraq

Darth Cheney

• Maybe listening to Dick Cheney on Iraq isn't a good idea WaPo
• Blow: The Gall of Dick Cheney NYT
• Dionne: Dick Cheney, did you really want to go there? WaPo
• The Ed Show: Dick Cheney is still wrong on Iraq
• Watch: Fox's Megyn Kelly tells Dick Cheney, history 'has proven you got it wrong'
• Dick Cheney Should be Rotting in The Hague, Not Writing Editorials
• Interview with Dick Cheney (1994)

Heritage Flounder-tion

• WaPo's Dana Milbank Bombarded For Column On Benghazi Panel That Turned Ugly—Milbank fires back.
• The right's hateful freak show: Dana Milbank vs. Heritage Foundation's abuse Salon
• Why We Shouldn't Be Surprised By Heritage Foundation Event's Islamophobia
  

M.I.C.

• Congress prepares to renew $40bn bill terrorism insurance law—"The Terrorism Risk Insurance Act has never covered a single company from terrorism costs and has earned $40bn in revenue for insurance companies. But Congress is too afraid to end it."
• South Dakota has Raked in $100 Million in Homeland Security Grants Despite No Known Terrorist Threats… Ever
• $40-billion missile defense system proves unreliable
• Golden Hammer: Pentagon sank $3 million in boats that never made it to Afghanistan
• House votes again to prevent retirement of A-10—"The U.S. House today overwhelmingly adopted an amendment to the 2015 defense appropriation bill that would prohibit the Pentagon from spending any money to retire the A-10 Thunderbolt II close-air support jet, a mainstay of Davis-Monthan Air Force Base."

Guns

• Supreme Court rules that 'straw' purchases of guns are illegal
• BLM Shooting Suspect Is Anti-Government Conspiracy Theorist With Pending Gun Charge
• Open-Carry Activists Return to Target With Assault Rifles—"The retailer is in the crosshairs of an escalating fight over Texas gun laws."
• Video Captures MI Police Struggling To Respect Gun-Toting Ranter's Open Carry Rights
• Deadly Brawl Tests "Make My Day" Self-Defense Laws
• Florida dad killed by neighbor's stray bullet as family welcomes home newborn
• Man accidentally shoots himself in penis

NSA Spying

• House votes 293-123 to cut funding for NSA spying on Americans—"The amendment would also stop 'backdoors' from being built into tech products."
• Inspired by Edward Snowden, Lawmakers Want Missouri to Stand Against NSA Surveillance
• More Snowden Effect: Grayson amendment protects security standards from NSA
• New Ruling Shows the NSA Can't Legally Justify Its Phone Spying Anymore
• Citing "Intense Public Interest and Concern" Over Mass Surveillance, Judge Orders DOJ to Turn Over Secret Legal Opinions for Court to Review
• Court Overturns Sharing Of FISA Surveillance With Defense Lawyers
• How Secret Partners Expand NSA's Surveillance Dragnet
• U.S. officials scrambled to nab Snowden, hoping he would take a wrong step. He didn't. WaPo
• Petition with 150,000 signatures calls on France to grant Snowden asylum
• New Snowden Revelations on NSA Spying in Germany—"An analysis of secret documents leaked by Edward Snowden demonstrates that the NSA is more active in Germany than anywhere else in Europe -- and that data collected here may have helped kill suspected terrorists. "
• Interview with Ex-Stasi Agent: 'The Scope of NSA Surveillance Surprised Me'
• EU states let NSA tap data cables, Danish media say
• NSA helps foreign governments conduct mass surveillance at home
• NSA Can Neither Confirm Nor Deny It Uses The Phrases It Used On A Leaked Slide

Surveillance and Privacy

• Mike Rogers Says Google Is Unpatriotic For Not Wanting NSA To Spy On Its Users
• Apple, Cisco, AT&T join Microsoft in fight against global search warrant
• Canada: Supreme Court Delivers Huge Victory for Internet Privacy & Blows Away Gov't Plans for Reform
• Hackers reverse-engineer NSA's leaked bugging devices—"Using documents leaked by Edward Snowden, hackers have built bugs that can be attached to computers to steal information in a host of intrusive ways."
• LinkedIn must face privacy lawsuit over contact reminder emails, says judge—"A federal judge said on Thursday that LinkedIn must face a lawsuit by customers who claimed it violated their privacy by accessing their external email accounts, downloading their contacts' email addresses and soliciting business from those contacts."
• Following TrueCrypt's bombshell advisory, developer says fork is "impossible"—"TrueCrypt developer withholds permission, suggests 'starting from scratch.'" Something is very fishy—or canary-ish—about this.
• eBay pulls sales of Chinese 'spyware phones'

Police State

• Judge allows US Marshals' seizure of stingray records, dimisses lawsuit—"What began as request for info on cell tracking records turns into surreal tale."
• Cops hid use of phone tracking tech in court documents at feds' request—"ACLU uncovers e-mails regarding Stingray devices borrowed from US Marshals Service."
• Stingray Documents Show Law Enforcement Using 'Terrorism' To Obtain Equipment To Fight Regular Crime
• Legal experts: Cops lying about cell tracking "is a stupid thing to do"—"Deception in legal filings could lead to bad consequences for police, attorneys."
• State Legislators Discussing Laws That Will Put Law Enforcement Surveillance Cameras Inside Private Businesses
• When the Pentagon Wants to Predict Unrest, It's Time to Be Unpredictable
• How an FBI Informant Helped Orchestrate the Hack of an FBI Contractor
• Removal of border agency's internal affairs chief raises alarms—"James F. Tomsheck's removal was designed to sooth critics who say the agency has been too soft on misconduct, abuse and corruption. But his supporters say he is a scapegoat for a broken and byzantine hierarchy."
• UK: Green party peer put on database of 'extremists' after police surveillance—"Political movements of Jenny Jones and Green party councillor Ian Driver were recorded, though neither have a criminal record."

Your Rights Online

• Facebook and the First Amendment: Supreme Court to Consider Online Threats
• The senate is still trying to jam through its hugely controversial cybersecurity bill
• Social media mass surveillance is permitted by law, says top UK official—"Charles Farr's statement marks first time government has commented on how it exploits the UK's legal framework to operate mass interception."
• Google will be forced to make a company disappear—"Inspired by the 'right to be forgotten,' a Canadian court has ordered Google to delete links to a company."
• How to Anonymize Everything You Do Online

Free Speech

• Appeals court throws out $340,000 online libel ruling—"CDA Section 230 prevents 'the speech-chilling threat of the heckler's veto.'"
• How your inbox looks after becoming Internet Enemy #1—"The mayor of Peoria, Illinois, meets anonymous online commenters."
• US Secret Service wants software to "detect sarcasm" on social media

Whistleblowing

• Julian Assange Asks The US To Drop Wikileaks Investigation—"Julian Assange has asked the US Attorney General Eric Holder to respect the principles of free speech and dissolve the Grand Jury investigation into Wikileaks, or resign."
• G20 whistleblower protection laws lacking—"The majority of whistleblower protection laws in G20 countries fail to meet best international standards despite a public pledge to shield whistleblowers from retaliation, a new report has found."
• US Circuit Court Questions Whether Whistleblower Protections Apply Abroad—"A circuit court on Monday probed whether whistleblower protections apply abroad during oral arguments of a case where a former staffer is suing Siemens AG over alleged retaliation." WSJ
• Polish authorities search premises of weekly that revealed tape scandal —"Polish authorities searched the premises of Wprost, the news magazine that published tapes of officials' conversations that have embarrassed to the government, the prosecutor's spokeswoman said on Wednesday."
• Passport Office orders inquiry over photographs leaked to Guardian—"MPs and unions say inquiry is heavy-handed and a waste of money after photographs show stacks of passport applications."

Facebook

• Facebook Is Now Using Your Browsing History to Target Advertising—Also: Facebook Lets Users Opt Out of Targeted Ads
• Facebook will track users outside of the site, says 'people want more targeted advertising'—Riiiight.
• Creepy Facebook personality test could be dream for advertisers, nightmare for privacy WaPo

Tech Tracking

• Why online tracking is getting creepier—"Online marketers are increasingly trying to track users offline as well."
• Ars tests Internet surveillance—by spying on an NPR reporter—Also: Listen to the results of our Internet spy project
• Resistance Is Futile: Apple And Google Are Going To Track Your Location No Matter What
• Android no longer reveals app permission changes in automatic updates
• iOS 8 strikes an unexpected blow against location tracking
• How Nest Is Already Using All That Data From Its Army of Smoke Alarms

Haxx0red

• AT&T Waits a Month to Notify Customers of Data Breach—"Hackers breached AT&T Mobility and stole social security numbers and call records. AT&T won't say why it waited a month to notify affected customers, and that's a major concern, according to CIO.com blogger Bill Snyder."
• Nokia paid millions of euros in ransom—"MTV News Investigative Team reveals that Nokia became a target of extortion and ended up paying several millions of euros in ransom. The case is unsolved."
• Domino's Pizza blackmailed over mass data leak
• Hacker infects Synology storage devices, makes off with $620,000 in Dogecoin
• Teens Hack Into ATM Just to Let Everyone Know They Can—White-hats.

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