The Freedom Watch

CIA finally admits it masterminded Iran’s 1953 coup

"On the 60th anniversary of the 1953 military coup in Iran that overthrew the government of radical nationalist Mohammad Mossadegh, the US has declassified documents detailing how the CIA’s secret operation brought the country’s Shah back to power. Monday’s publication under the US Freedom of Information Act came as something of a surprise, since most of the materials and records of the 1953 coup were believed to have been destroyed by the CIA, the Archive said. The CIA said at time that its 'safes were too full.'" Continue reading →

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Court: Britain can look at Greenwald partner’s seized electronic documents

"British authorities can sift through electronic documents seized from journalist Glenn Greenwald’s Brazilian partner, in the interests of 'national security', a court ruled on Thursday. The 'highly sensitive' material could risk lives, said UK police. Two judges gave authorities until Aug. 30 to analyze 'thousands' of documents, according to a police lawyer. 'he home office and police now have seven days to prove that there is a genuine threat to national security, rather than make mere assertions as they have done today,' stated lawyer Gwendolen Morgan after the ruling was passed." Continue reading →

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Only One Big Telecom CEO Refused To Cave To The NSA; Jailed For Years

"Former Qwest CEO Joseph Nacchio is currently serving a six-year sentence after being convicted of insider trading in April 2007 for selling $52 million of stock in the spring of 2001 as the telecommunications carrier appeared to be deteriorating. During the trial his defense team argued that Nacchio, 63, believed Qwest was about to win secret government contracts that would keep it in the black. Nacchio alleged that the government stopped offering the company lucrative contracts after Qwest refused to cooperate with a National Security Agency surveillance program in February 2001." Continue reading →

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Lavabit: The Latest Dead Canary in the Privacy Coal Mine

"Private data stored with a company which is US-based and/or has servers based in the US does not have strong legal or privacy protection. The US government can force that company to turn over its customer data while also preventing it from talking about it. Are you still entrusting your private data to a US-based company or a company with servers based in the US? If you are but you value your privacy, you need to move your data elsewhere. Otherwise, that company might be compelled to violate your privacy and give up your data to the US government. And they may never be able to tell you about it." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingLavabit: The Latest Dead Canary in the Privacy Coal Mine

Redditors Raise More Than 32 Bitcoins (over $4,000) for Homeless Shelter

"In May of this year, the Pensacola City Council passed a 'camping ban' ordinance despite significant opposition. The ordinance bans camping on city-owned and residential property and prohibits sleeping, bathing and shaving in public restrooms. The ordinance effectively make it a crime to be homeless. In his post, Greg called Bitcoiners to action by sharing his experience and offering to match donations made to Sean’s Outpost. Hundreds of donations came in (and were matched) with several donations over $100. The largest single donation came from Redditor 'shakethatbass' who donated a whopping 15 bitcoins – worth over $1,700." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingRedditors Raise More Than 32 Bitcoins (over $4,000) for Homeless Shelter

The Problem With Altcoins

"Because it was started earlier and has had a greater opportunity to grow and attract users, Bitcoin has a market larger by a wide margin than all the markets of all the altcoins put together, and this makes it vastly more useful as a currency. To defeat Bitcoin, an altcoin would require not just superior technology, but such vastly superior technology as to be an advance over Bitcoin comparable to the advance Bitcoin represents over fiat currency." Continue reading →

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Additional $2.1M Seized from Mt. Gox Accounts – Now Over $5M Total

"The executed seizure warrant for Mt. Gox’s account with Dwolla was published, showing $2.9 million was seized by the US government. According to documents obtained today by TGB’s research staff from the records of the District Court of Maryland, more than $2.1 million was also seized from two of Mt. Gox’ Wells Fargo accounts – totaling to more than $5 million seized from Mt. Gox accounts by the US government. One of the accounts at Wells Fargo was registered to Mutum Sigillum LLC, the same entity associated with the Dwolla account. The second Wells Fargo account seized was in the name of Mark Karpeles himself." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingAdditional $2.1M Seized from Mt. Gox Accounts – Now Over $5M Total

Bitcoin’s Washington problem

"On paper, the popular virtual currency Bitcoin is the type of entity that traditionally would hire a powerful K Street lobbying firm to protect its interests in Washington, especially in the cutthroat world of financial regulations. But Bitcoin doesn’t exist on paper. With no public founder or organization behind it, Bitcoin isn’t in a strong position to defend itself from government scrutiny or lobby Congress on critical issues including privacy. As a fully decentralized network, the closest thing Bitcoin has to formal representatives are exchanges that facilitate the buying and selling of Bitcoins against other currency, and trade associations that represent them." Continue reading →

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DEA Bans Security Companies, Armored Cars From Serving Pot Dispensaries

"Less than two weeks after Attorney General Eric Holderannounced plans for sweeping drug sentencing reform to help fix a 'broken system,' the Drug Enforcement Administration has ordered security and armored vehicle companies to quit serving state-legal cannabis providers, according to industry sources. Armored vehicles allow California's legal medical marijuana dispensaries a secure way to transport large amounts of cash. The services are critical, since federal authorities pressured banks and credit card companies to stop servicing the pot industry in 2011." Continue reading →

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10 Shocking Examples of Police Killing Innocent People in the “War on Drugs”

"In a democratic republic, the 'innocent until proven guilty' concept is supposed to be sacrosanct. Jurors, police officers, judges and prosecuting attorneys—at least in theory—are required to err on the side of caution, and if a guilty person occasionally goes free, so be it. But with the war on drugs, the concept of innocent until proven guilty has fallen by the wayside on countless occasions. The war on drugs is not only fought aggressively, it is fought carelessly and haphazardly, and a long list of innocent victims have been killed or maimed in the process. Below are 10 innocent victims who became collateral damage and lost their lives in the war on drugs." Continue reading →

Continue Reading10 Shocking Examples of Police Killing Innocent People in the “War on Drugs”