Monthly Archives: August 2013

What It Means to Be An NSA “Target”: We Need Immediate FISA Amendments Act Reform

"In plain English: the NSA believes it not only can (1) intercept the communications of the target, but also (2) intercept communications about a target, even if the target isn’t a party to the communication. The most likely way to assess if a communication is “about” a target is to conduct a content analysis of communications, probably based on specific search terms or selectors. And that, folks, is what we call a content dragnet. Because the target remains a non-US person, the most robust protection for Americans’ communications under the FISA Amendments Act flies out the window." Continue reading →

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IRS agent: Tax agency is still targeting Tea Party groups

"Testimony released Thursday by House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp reveals that an agent involved in reviewing tax exempt applications from conservative groups told a committee investigator that the agency is still targeting Tea Party groups, three months after the IRS scandal erupted. In closed door testimony before the House Ways & Means Committee, the unidentified IRS agent said requests for special tax status from Tea Party groups is being forced into a special 'secondary screening' because the agency has yet to come up with new guidance on how to judge the tax status of the groups." Continue reading →

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SWAT-Team Nation: The Militarization of the U.S. Police

"Inside, gallerygoers were looking at art and dancing to a d.j.; outside, on the patio, several young women were goofily belting out the lyrics to 'Hakuna Matata,' from 'The Lion King'. Only then did masked figures with guns storm the crowd, shouting, 'Get on the fucking ground! Get down, get down!' Some forty Detroit police officers dressed in commando gear ordered the gallery attendees to line up on their knees, then took their car keys and confiscated their vehicles, largely on the grounds that the gallery lacked the proper permits for dancing and drinking. More than forty cars were seized, and owners paid around a thousand dollars each to get them back." Continue reading →

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Why Have Police In America Turned Into Such Ruthless Thugs?

"What in the world does NASA need a SWAT team for? The police culture in America has fundamentally changed. In the old days, most police officers were extremely helpful and would give you directions or help you get your cat out of a tree. But if you stop and ask a police officer for help today, you will be lucky if all you get is some dirty language. These days, police all over the nation are actually being trained to bark orders at you and to respond to the least bit of resistance with overwhelming force. The results of this kind of training can often be extremely tragic. And with each passing year, it just gets even worse." Continue reading →

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Teen Killed by Taser, Cops Laugh & High-Five Each Other (Israel Hernandez) – Exclusive Interviews

"We Are Change headed to Miami Beach -- the site where Israel Hernandez was killed after being tased by Miami Beach Police. Exclusive interviews were conducted with Israel's best friends, who were with him the night he was caught drawing a small amount of graffiti on an abandoned building that was already covered in street art. According to his best friends/eye witnesses, after Israel was tased and apparently dead, the cops were laughing and 'high-five-ing' each other." Continue reading →

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Phoenix Police Helicopter responds to a photographer asserting rights

"The PPD officer who initiated the contact tried to disarm me right off the bat. (I was open carrying my 1911 in a holster on my right hip). He was unsuccessful as I stood my ground and stated that I do not consent in seizures. Now I know I could have just kept my mouth shut and not played along with their game and not answered any of their questions, but I guess I have to admit it was kind of fun, as you can tell from some of my answers to the PPD questions. Nothing dramatic ever really happened but I must say they sure did have one hell of a show of force with 15+ officers and an Air unit." Continue reading →

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N.S.A. Said to Search Content of Messages to and From U.S.

"The N.S.A. is not just intercepting the communications of Americans who are in direct contact with foreigners targeted overseas. It is also casting a far wider net for people who cite information linked to those foreigners, like a little used e-mail address, according to a senior intelligence official. While it has long been known that the agency conducts extensive computer searches of data it vacuums up overseas, that it is systematically searching — without warrants — through the contents of Americans’ communications that cross the border reveals more about the scale of its secret operations." Continue reading →

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BRICS emerging economies to expand co-operation on internet & security

"Edward's Snowden's revelations about US cybersnooping appear to be pushing its rivals closer together as China and other major emerging economies agree to expand co-operation on internet security. The consensus to emerge from a meeting of senior security officials from Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa shows a broad desire to carve out their own turf in cyberspace and reduce reliance on American technology. The bloc is already collaborating on the BRICS cable, a US$1.5 billion marine fibre optic cable linking the BRICS countries and the US with 21 countries in Africa. It is due to begin service in mid-2015." Continue reading →

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Rulership’s Last Stand: Is the Government Out to Eat You?

"It used to be that the ruler claimed a special relationship with God or that he was a superior type of being. In modern times, a larger number of people were brought into rulership, making the broad population feel that they were also part of it. Through it all, however, humans could easily be broken down into those who are skimmed from, and those who are skimmed to. So, if you live on the skim, your goal is for people to go along with your orders willingly. At the same time, if you are the prey, the entire system is set to make you believe 'It is right for other people to order me around.'" Continue reading →

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I Didn’t See that Coming! + Special Invitation

“If we move in mass, be it ever so circuitously, we shall attain our object; but if we break into squads, everyone pursuing the path he thinks most direct, we become an easy conquest to those who can now barely hold us in check.” Thomas Jefferson letter to William Duane — 1811   I Didn’t …

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