Network Archives

Senators skip classified briefing on NSA snooping to catch flights home

"Many senators elected to leave Washington early Thursday afternoon instead of attending a briefing with James Clapper, the Director of National Intelligence, Keith Alexander, the head of the National Security Agency (NSA), and other officials. Many lawmakers were eager to take advantage of the short day and head back to their home states for Father’s Day weekend. Only 47 of 100 senators attended the 2:30 briefing, leaving dozens of chairs in the secure meeting room empty as Clapper, Alexander and other senior officials told lawmakers about classified programs to monitor millions of telephone calls and broad swaths of Internet activity." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSenators skip classified briefing on NSA snooping to catch flights home

Obama doesn’t believe secret NSA surveillance violated privacy rights: chief of staff

"While he defended the surveillance, McDonough said 'the existence of these programs obviously have unnerved many people.' He said Obama 'welcomes a public debate on this question because he does say and he will say in the days ahead that we have to find the right balance, and we will not keep ourselves on a perpetual war footing.' Revelations of the NSA’s broad monitoring of phone and Internet data has drawn criticism that the Obama administration has extended, or even expanded, the security apparatus the George W. Bush administration built after the September 11, 2001, attacks." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingObama doesn’t believe secret NSA surveillance violated privacy rights: chief of staff

A Computerized, Desktop Metal Fabricator for $1,400?

"So, you don’t want plastic guns made on a 3-D printer? You want a metal gun. You don’t care about metal detectors at an airport. You are concerned about gun registration. It looks as though your answer is almost here. Possibly by the end of summer, you will be able to buy a computer-driven desktop metal fabricator. So will a lot of people. Within five years, this technology will be everywhere. This is the wave of the future. We are going back to what we had in 1790: cottage industries. Only the cottages will be factories. This is decentralization on a scale we can barely imagine. Sales taxes? Gone. Tariffs? Gone. Registration? Gone. Buy a blueprint, download it, and DIY." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingA Computerized, Desktop Metal Fabricator for $1,400?

Effort to block NDAA indefinite detention fails in U.S. House

"Indefinite detention remains in effect, but this week an effort was made to fix the problem with the Smith-Gibson amendment to the 2014 NDAA act. This bi-partisan amendment, sponsored by Republican Chris Gibson of New York and Democrat Adam Smith of Washington, would have guaranteed any detainee a trial and prohibited the transfer of anyone arrested in the United States to military custody. As happened with the substantially similar Smith-Amash amendment last year, this effort failed by a close 226 to 200 vote on the floor of the House." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingEffort to block NDAA indefinite detention fails in U.S. House

Report: Obama Spends $180K Per Day Undermining State Medical Marijuana Laws

"In 2011 and 2012, the DEA spent four percent of its budget on the medical marijuana crackdown. Having conducted at least 270 paramilitary-style raids during the past four years, Obama's DEA spent approximately $8 million to carry them out. However, the amount of taxpayer dollars spent on raids was dwarfed by the amount spent on investigative efforts preceding raids, indictments, and lawsuits, which has totaled more than $200 million. Over the past two years alone, the DOJ has effectively shuttered more than 500 dispensaries by sending letters to landlords, threatening criminal prosecution and seizure of their property." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingReport: Obama Spends $180K Per Day Undermining State Medical Marijuana Laws

Marijuana: Will It Ever Be Legal? States Lead the Charge as Opinion Shifts

"Colorado and Washington entered an uncharted territory when state leaders decided to take what has been an underground system since marijuana was declared illegal 75 years ago and turn it into a regulated and taxed commercial enterprise. No other places in the world have such liberal marijuana laws. Alcohol prohibition was a federal policy implemented by the individual states, similar to today’s situation with marijuana. When New York decided not to enforce alcohol prohibition anymore, it set the tone for what was to come as other states followed suit. Eventually the federal government decided that it was not going to commit the resources needed to enforce the law." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingMarijuana: Will It Ever Be Legal? States Lead the Charge as Opinion Shifts

Jordan wargames: Patriot batteries, F-16s and 4,500 US troops near Syrian border

"Multinational military exercise 'Eager Lion' has been launched in Jordan amid condemnation from neighboring Syria and its ally Russia. The US brings Patriot missile batteries to the Syrian border, which could remain deployed afterwards. The exercises will last for 12 days, bringing together about 8,000 personnel from 19 countries, mostly Arabic, but also including the US and Europe. The maneuvers will also involve some 3,000 Jordanian and 500 British troops. The US military revealed it may indefinitely leave behind the Patriot batteries and F-16s deployed in Jordan due to the threat of the violence in Syria crossing into Jordanian territory." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingJordan wargames: Patriot batteries, F-16s and 4,500 US troops near Syrian border

Iran to send 4,000 troops to aid President Assad forces in Syria

"America has plunged into the great Sunni-Shia conflict of the Islamic Middle East, entering a struggle that now dwarfs the Arab revolutions which overthrew dictatorships across the region. For the first time, all of America’s ‘friends’ in the region are Sunni Muslims and all of its enemies are Shiites. Breaking all President Barack Obama’s rules of disengagement, the US is now fully engaged on the side of armed groups which include the most extreme Sunni Islamist movements in the Middle East. A military decision has been taken in Iran to send a first contingent of 4,000 Iranian Revolutionary Guards to Syria to support President Bashar al-Assad’s forces." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingIran to send 4,000 troops to aid President Assad forces in Syria

CIA preparing to deliver Syrian rebels weapons through Turkey and Jordan

"The CIA is preparing to deliver arms to rebel groups in Syria through clandestine bases in Turkey and Jordan that were expanded over the past year in an effort to establish reliable supply routes into the country for nonlethal material, U.S. officials said. The bases are expected to begin conveying limited shipments of weapons and ammunition within weeks, officials said, serving as critical nodes for an escalation of U.S. involvement in a civil war. Syria experts cautioned that the opposition to Assad remains a chaotic mix of secular and Islamist elements, highlighting the risk that some American-provided munitions may be diverted from their intended recipients." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingCIA preparing to deliver Syrian rebels weapons through Turkey and Jordan

Agorism’s Tech Triumvirate

"Both Bitcoin and Bitmessage rely on Internet access to function, and despite valiant efforts by supporters to create ad-hoc networks for protesters, it's still often within the State's power to prevent reliable access to many. The third emerging technology relevant here is Meshnet. Meshnet is a free and open-source project that aims to provide robust network access in the face of deliberate attempts by 'authorities' to restrict Internet access and censor online speech. Meshnet works by dynamically creating networks of wireless routers. Each router becomes a node in the network, relaying connectivity to other routers in its physical vicinity." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingAgorism’s Tech Triumvirate