Monthly Archives: July 2013

NSA director Keith Alexander insists mass surveillance programs respect privacy

"Alexander, who is usually shy of publicity, attempted to win over the 7,000-strong gathering of industry professionals in Las Vegas as part of a charm offensive to contain the damage and deter Washington from curbing the programmes. Security guards confiscated eggs – presumably intended to be thrown – minutes before the NSA chief spoke. A few hecklers interrupted, accusing him of 'lying', 'bullshitting' and not reading the constitution. 'I have read it. So should you,' he shot back, earning laughs and applause. He praised the audience and invited them to help improve NSA. The performance won over the hackers, who applauded warmly at the end." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingNSA director Keith Alexander insists mass surveillance programs respect privacy

Committing War Crimes is a Duty; Reporting Them is a Felony

"Prior to his trial, Manning was held for nine months in an especially severe form of solitary confinement that involved forced nudity, sleep deprivation, and persistent abuse. His treatment, which constituted torture, won him a reduction off 112 days from the prison sentence he will receive for the supposed offense of exposing officially sanctioned crimes. If Manning had been a war criminal, rather than an honorable soldier who exposed war crimes, his pre-trial confinement would have led to dismissal of the charges against him – or his sentence being overturned." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingCommitting War Crimes is a Duty; Reporting Them is a Felony

Twitter report: U.S. leads the world in demands for user information

"Governments submitted a total of 1,157 requests for information about Twitter accounts, with 78 percent of those queries coming from the United States, according to a transparency report issued by the globally popular one-to-many test messaging service. Twitter reported that it gave US authorities what they sought in 67 percent of the cases. Twitter said the requests typically were made in connection with criminal investigations and lamented that it was barred by law from revealing anything about information demanded through US national security letters." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingTwitter report: U.S. leads the world in demands for user information

Little restraint in military giveaways to police

"An Associated Press investigation of the Defense Department program, originally aimed at helping local law enforcement fight terrorism and drug trafficking, found that a disproportionate share of the $4.2 billion worth of property distributed since 1990 has been obtained by police departments and sheriff's offices in rural areas with few officers and little crime. The national giveaway program operates with scant oversight, and the surplus military gear often sits in storage, the AP found." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingLittle restraint in military giveaways to police

US Wants Its Police in Canada and Exempt from Canadian Law

"The United States wants its police officers to be exempt from Canadian law if they agree to take part in a highly touted cross-border policing initiative, an internal RCMP memo says. … The debate over whose laws would apply to U.S. officers working in Canada raises important questions of sovereignty and police accountability, says the briefing note prepared for RCMP Commissioner Bob Paulson. Does this have implications for anyone who winds up in trouble/penalties over tax issues? Is Canada a sovereign country or the 51st State?" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingUS Wants Its Police in Canada and Exempt from Canadian Law

Guilty of Aiding the American People

"The 'aiding the enemy' accusation presumed that Manning’s distribution of classified material assisted al Qaeda. Actually, the information helps Americans by exposing U.S. war criminality. War criminality ranks among the most important types of government wrongdoing warranting transparency. We cannot debate foreign policy without knowing about its indecencies. What U.S. forces do abroad can endanger Americans at home. Some see the leaks, not the crimes, as the true scandal, but the Muslim and Arab world already know of these atrocities. The American people need to understand what U.S. occupations are like." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingGuilty of Aiding the American People

After the whistle: Revealers of government secrets share how their lives have changed

"The former high-ranking National Security Agency analyst now sells iPhones. The top intelligence officer at the CIA lives in a motor home outside Yellowstone National Park and spends his days fly-fishing for trout. The FBI translator fled Washington for the West Coast. This is what life looks like for some after revealing government secrets. Blowing the whistle on wrongdoing, according to those who did it. Jeopardizing national security, according to the government. A look at the lives of a handful of those who did just that shows that they often wind up far from the stable government jobs they held. They can even wind up in the aisles of a craft store." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingAfter the whistle: Revealers of government secrets share how their lives have changed

For Congress, ‘it’s classified’ is new equivalent of ‘none of your business’

"The Senate Select Committee on Intelligence reportedly gave its approval last week to an Obama administration plan to provide weapons to moderate rebels in Syria, but how individual members of the committee stood on the subject remains unknown. There was no public debate and no public vote when one of the most contentious topics in American foreign policy was decided. Members of both the Senate intelligence committee or its equivalent in the House were difficult to pin down on their view of providing arms to the rebels. The senators and representatives said they couldn’t give an opinion, or at least a detailed one, because the matter was classified." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingFor Congress, ‘it’s classified’ is new equivalent of ‘none of your business’

Cops Can Track Cellphones Without Warrants, Federal Appeals Court Rules

"A divided federal appeals court ruled today that the government does not need a probable-cause warrant to access mobile-phone subscribers’ cell-site information, a decision reversing lower court decisions that said the location data was protected by the Fourth Amendment. The 2-1 decision by the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is the third federal appeals court to decide the privacy issue. All the while, two federal appellate courts have now taken the government’s position that court warrants are not required for the location data. And a third federal appellate court said judges had the option to demand warrants." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingCops Can Track Cellphones Without Warrants, Federal Appeals Court Rules

Bitcoin Is Not Quantum-Safe, And How We Can Fix It When Needed

"Given what is currently public knowledge, quantum computers are still far away; the most powerful quantum computer to date managed to use Shor’s algorithm to factor the number 21. However, we always need to have a plan of what we can do if Edward Snowden decides to leak out that the NSA has fully functional quantum computers hiding in a secret data center. We probably cannot handle such a sudden event, but we certainly can handle cases where we get even a month of advance warning. From there, we lick our wounds, pick up our losses and move on to enjoy some of the more wonderful things that quantum computing has to offer." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingBitcoin Is Not Quantum-Safe, And How We Can Fix It When Needed