Network Archives

GCHQ taps fibre-optic cables for secret access to world’s communications, shares with NSA

"Britain's spy agency GCHQ has secretly gained access to the network of cables which carry the world's phone calls and internet traffic and has started to process vast streams of sensitive personal information which it is sharing with its American partner, the National Security Agency (NSA). The sheer scale of the agency's ambition is reflected in the titles of its two principal components: Mastering the Internet and Global Telecoms Exploitation, aimed at scooping up as much online and telephone traffic as possible. This is all being carried out without any form of public acknowledgement or debate." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingGCHQ taps fibre-optic cables for secret access to world’s communications, shares with NSA

Email from Michael Hastings before crash mentions FBI probe

"In an email sent hours before his death in a single-car L.A. crash, journalist Michael Hastings wrote that his 'close friends and associates' were being interviewed by the FBI and he was going to 'go off the radar for a bit.' According to the email, Hastings wrote he was working on a 'big story' and was going to disappear. He told his colleagues that if the FBI came to interview them, they should have legal counsel present. Hastings was researching a story about a privacy lawsuit brought by Florida socialite Jill Kelley against the Department of Defense and the FBI. The FBI said Hastings was never under investigation by the agency." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingEmail from Michael Hastings before crash mentions FBI probe

IRS cracks down on family land gifts not declared at tax time [2011]

"The Internal Revenue Service is looking at land-transfer records state-by-state for evidence of people neglecting to report within-family real-estate gifts. This year, large family land gifts were popular because of a new tax rule that established $5 million as the amount someone can give in a lifetime before having to pay a gift tax. However, any property worth more than $13,000, gifted to one person, is still supposed to be reported to the IRS. To be precise, Form 709 reports U.S. gifts and generation-skipping transfer taxes." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingIRS cracks down on family land gifts not declared at tax time [2011]

“You’re Sick, Fatso. I’m Billing Your Insurance Company.”

"Physicians are not paid by health insurance companies to treat people with behavior 'problems.' They get paid only to treat diseases. So, understanding where their bread is buttered, and by whom, the American Medical Association has now identified obesity as a disease. The Los Angeles Times had spotted the economic nature of the re-definition. You know what an incurable disease is, don’t you? A permanent stream of income. The patient does not die, so he keeps coming back for 'treatment.' Treatment means billable procedures. Think of this as lowering the bar. People who are over a BMI of 30 are now called fat." Continue reading →

Continue Reading“You’re Sick, Fatso. I’m Billing Your Insurance Company.”

Survey Finds that 41 Percent of Small Business Owners Have Frozen Hiring Because of Obamacare

"Forty-one percent of the businesses surveyed have frozen hiring because of the health-care law known as Obamacare. And almost one-fifth—19 percent— answered 'yes' when asked if they had 'reduced the number of employees you have in your business as a specific result of the Affordable Care Act.' The poll was taken by 603 owners whose businesses have under $20 million in annual sales. Another 38 percent of the small business owners said they 'have pulled back on their plans to grow their business' because of Obamacare. More than half—55 percent—said they expected Obamacare to result in higher health care costs." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSurvey Finds that 41 Percent of Small Business Owners Have Frozen Hiring Because of Obamacare

The top secret rules that allow NSA to use US data without a warrant

"Top secret documents submitted to the court that oversees surveillance by US intelligence agencies show the judges have signed off on broad orders which allow the NSA to make use of information 'inadvertently' collected from domestic US communications without a warrant. The previously revealed bulk collection of domestic call records takes place under rolling court orders issued on the basis of a legal interpretation of a different authority, section 215 of the Patriot Act. On Thursday, two US congressmen introduced a bill compelling the Obama administration to declassify the secret legal justifications for NSA surveillance." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingThe top secret rules that allow NSA to use US data without a warrant

Petition To Pardon Edward Snowden Reaching 100,000 Signatures

"WE PETITION THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION TO: Pardon Edward Snowden. Edward Snowden is a national hero and should be immediately issued a a full, free, and absolute pardon for any crimes he has committed or may have committed related to blowing the whistle on secret NSA surveillance programs." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingPetition To Pardon Edward Snowden Reaching 100,000 Signatures

US steps up efforts to break Guantánamo hunger strike

"Shaker Aamer claims that the US authorities are systematically making the regime more hardline to try to defuse the strike, which now involves almost two-thirds of the detainees. Techniques include making cells 'freezing cold' to accentuate the discomfort of those on hunger strike and the introduction of 'metal-tipped' feeding tubes, which Aamer said were forced into inmates' stomachs twice a day and caused detainees to vomit over themselves. The momentum behind efforts to release Aamer – who has spent more than 11 years without trial inside the camp – mounted sharply last week with David Cameron raising the issue directly with Barack Obama." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingUS steps up efforts to break Guantánamo hunger strike

Military Police Officers Sit, Join Protesters In Brazil

"A dramatic video that has gone viral since being posted Tuesday shows a small group of military police officers joining a protest in Sao Paulo. In the video, a large crowd of mostly young activists erupts into applause when the six military officers, clad in light blue uniforms and helmets, decide to sit on the ground with them. The protests in Brazil began on June 13 when a small group of mostly students demonstrated against an increase in the fare of public transportation. Since then, the protests have ballooned to include other grievances, including corruption and the high cost of hosting the World Cup in 2014." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingMilitary Police Officers Sit, Join Protesters In Brazil

What Cop T-Shirts Tell Us About Police Culture

"The Village Voice reports that the quote was also printed on t-shirts worn by NYPD's infamous Street Crimes Unit, which was disbanded after shooting unarmed immigrant Amadou Diallo 41 times in 1999 as Diallo reached for his wallet. The Voice also reports that at least two NYPD police commissioners have used the phrase 'hunter of men' to describe police work -- Bernard Kerik and Howard Safir. There have been a number of other incidents over the years in which cops have donned t-shirts that reflect a mentality someone less lofty than 'protect and serve.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingWhat Cop T-Shirts Tell Us About Police Culture