Yearly Archives: 2013

ACLU Coordinating Ed Snowden’s Defense

"While much in the press is focusing on the supposed squabble between Ed Snowden, his father and his father's lawyer, Glenn Greenwald points out the actual important news hidden as a random aside in some of the news reports: the ACLU is now coordinating Ed Snowden's legal defense in the US. The full WSJ article is behind a paywall, but it states: 'The elder Mr. Snowden participated in the chat from the Washington, D.C., office of his attorney, Bruce Fein, and was connected to his son with the help of Ben Wizner, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union, who is involved in coordinating Mr. Snowden's legal defense in the U.S.'" Continue reading →

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ACLU Coordinating Ed Snowden’s Defense

"While much in the press is focusing on the supposed squabble between Ed Snowden, his father and his father's lawyer, Glenn Greenwald points out the actual important news hidden as a random aside in some of the news reports: the ACLU is now coordinating Ed Snowden's legal defense in the US. The full WSJ article is behind a paywall, but it states: 'The elder Mr. Snowden participated in the chat from the Washington, D.C., office of his attorney, Bruce Fein, and was connected to his son with the help of Ben Wizner, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union, who is involved in coordinating Mr. Snowden's legal defense in the U.S.'" Continue reading →

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Snowden downloaded NSA secrets while working for Dell, sources say

"Former intelligence contractor Edward Snowden began downloading documents describing the U.S. government's electronic spying programs while he was working for Dell Inc in April 2012, almost a year earlier than previously reported, according to U.S. officials and other sources familiar with the matter. David Frink, a spokesman for Round Rock, Texas-based Dell, declined to comment on any aspect of Snowden's employment with the company, saying Dell's 'customer' - presumably the NSA - had asked Dell not to talk publicly about him." Continue reading →

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Snowden downloaded NSA secrets while working for Dell, sources say

"Former intelligence contractor Edward Snowden began downloading documents describing the U.S. government's electronic spying programs while he was working for Dell Inc in April 2012, almost a year earlier than previously reported, according to U.S. officials and other sources familiar with the matter. David Frink, a spokesman for Round Rock, Texas-based Dell, declined to comment on any aspect of Snowden's employment with the company, saying Dell's 'customer' - presumably the NSA - had asked Dell not to talk publicly about him." Continue reading →

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John Kerry, Organization Man

"Lots of people have lots of complaints about the Internet, and some of those complaints are based in fact. One that I hadn’t heard before, until US Secretary of State John Kerry brought it up, is that the Internet makes it 'much harder to govern, much harder to organize people, much harder to find the common interest …' Kerry’s lamentation isn’t the first such, nor will it be the last: The American and global political classes recognize fast, cheap communication between their subjects as the death knell for their own tenuous grip on power. The bloated, bureaucratic, hierarchal, snail-paced organizations on which states rely are no match." Continue reading →

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John Kerry, Organization Man

"Lots of people have lots of complaints about the Internet, and some of those complaints are based in fact. One that I hadn’t heard before, until US Secretary of State John Kerry brought it up, is that the Internet makes it 'much harder to govern, much harder to organize people, much harder to find the common interest …' Kerry’s lamentation isn’t the first such, nor will it be the last: The American and global political classes recognize fast, cheap communication between their subjects as the death knell for their own tenuous grip on power. The bloated, bureaucratic, hierarchal, snail-paced organizations on which states rely are no match." Continue reading →

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Egyptian military vows lethal response ahead of nationwide ‘March of Anger’

"Egyptian authorities cited the need to protect state property and ensure people’s security as the reason for authorizing the use of lethal force against protesters. Earlier, US President Barack Obama canceled joint military exercises with Egypt in a sign of displeasure with the Cairo government’s crackdown. However, he made no moves to end or suspend annual US military aid of $1.3 billion to the country. According to the latest figures from the Egyptian Health Ministry, at least 638 people were killed and 3,994 injured after authorities destroyed pro-Morsi protest camps on Wednesday. At least 43 of those killed were security personnel." Continue reading →

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Iranian Electoral Candidate Disqualified for Being Too Attractive

"27-year-old Nina Siahkali Moradi received 10,000 votes during the city's most recent election, placing her 14th out of the 163 candidates, which landed her the title of 'alternate member of council.' However when one of those ranked above her was elected as mayor, Moradi was instead disqualified. A senior office in Qazvin has been quoted as saying, 'We don't want a catwalk model on the council.' Moradi, a graduate student in architecture ran what many consider a successfully forward-leaning and high-profile election campaign, leading many to cite her disqualification as another blatant example of Iran's sexist policy." Continue reading →

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Iraq Kurds reach out to Baghdad to fight surging al Qaeda

"The Shi'ite-led Iraqi government and Kurdish authorities are now looking at examples like the Shirqat attack and considering the once unthinkable - launching joint security operations and sharing intelligence - to combat the common enemy of al Qaeda. Such cooperation has been extremely rare since U.S. troops left at the end of 2011, while the central government and the autonomous Iraqi Kurdistan region in the north have been locked in an increasingly hostile dispute over land and oil. That the two sides are publicly contemplating working together underlines how worried they are about the insurgency and the threat of Iraq slipping back into all-out sectarian war." Continue reading →

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Study Rejects Cell Phone Driving Danger Claims

"A study published in the August edition American Economic Journal rejects the commonly held view that the proliferation of cell phone use among the driving public has made travel more dangerous. Politicians have seized on the perception and outlawed driving while talking on a handheld cell phone in eleven states. The researchers began by posing a difficult question for politicians: Why has cell phone use skyrocketed at the same time that traffic accidents and fatalities are at an all-time low? The study found that fatal accident rates did not see either a short-term or a long-term drop in the states that adopted cell phone driving bans." Continue reading →

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