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IMF Head Foresees the End of Banking, Triumph of Cryptocurrency

“In a remarkably frank talk at a Bank of England conference, the Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund has speculated that Bitcoin and cryptocurrency have as much of a future as the Internet itself. It could displace central banks, conventional banking, and challenge the monopoly of national monies. Christine Lagarde–a Paris native who has held her position at the IMF since 2011–says the only substantial problems with existing cryptocurrency are fixable over time.”

Standards Body Rejects NSA Encryption Algorithms, Citing Distrust

“The ISO has decided not to approve two NSA-designed block encryption algorithms: Speck and Simon. It’s because the NSA is not trusted to put security ahead of surveillance.”

Treasury Caught Illegally Spying On Americans’ Financial Records

“The intelligence division at the Treasury Department has repeatedly and systematically violated domestic surveillance laws by snooping on the private financial records of US citizens and companies, according to government sources. Over the past year, at least a dozen employees in another branch of the Treasury Department, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, have warned officials and Congress that US citizens’ and residents’ banking and financial data has been illegally searched and stored. And the breach, some sources said, extended to other intelligence agencies, such as the National Security Agency, whose officers used the Treasury’s intelligence division as an illegal back door to gain access to American citizens’ financial records.”

Getting it Backwards: “The Nullifiers Lost in 1865”

Whenever states take action to resist federal laws, some condescending person is bound to say “This was settled in 1865. The nullifiers lost.” But they’ve got it backwards.

Activism 101 Podcast #19: Let People Help

In this installment of the Activism 101 podcast, I talk about the importance of delegating tasks and responsibilities to other people, and explain how my own unwillingness to let some things go has hindered our work.

Trump to courts: Stop opposing my travel ban, because here’s another one

“If the administration succeeds in wiping the record clean, it will need to defend only Trump’s latest ban, which followed a three-month review of immigration procedures. Keeping the lower court rulings on the books would give opponents more support for claims that the new ban exceeds the president’s authority and discriminates against Muslims. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit had ruled that Trump lacked proof the earlier ban was needed, and the 4th Circuit appeals court said it discriminated based on religion.”

A Bad Supreme Court Term for Originalism?

With the 2017 Supreme Court term underway, it’s time to consider its originalism implications. One might think that originalists would be optimistic with Justice Gorsuch — apparently a strong textualist originalist — joining the Court. But I suspect that, at least on the headline cases, it will be a bad term for originalism, based on…

Governments turn tables by suing public records requesters

“Government bodies are increasingly turning the tables on citizens who seek public records that might be embarrassing or legally sensitive. Instead of granting or denying their requests, a growing number of school districts, municipalities and state agencies have filed lawsuits against people making the requests – taxpayers, government watchdogs and journalists who must then pursue the records in court at their own expense.”