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Report: NSA Mimics Google to Monitor “Target” Web Users

“This revelation adds to the growing list of ways that the NSA is believed to snoop on ostensibly private online conversations. In what appears to be a slide taken from an NSA presentation that also contains some GCHQ slides, the agency describes ‘how the attack was done’ on ‘target’ Google users. NSA employees log into an internet router—most likely one used by an internet service provider or a backbone network. (It’s not clear whether this was done with the permission or knowledge of the router’s owner.) Once logged in, the NSA redirects the ‘target traffic’ to an ‘MITM,’ a site that acts as a stealthy intermediary, harvesting communications before forwarding them to their intended destination.” Continue reading →

Health Care Law’s Achilles Heel? A Growing Legal Morass

There are a number of well-kept secrets about the health care law, but I think the increasing legal morass has become the most important. “Morass” is a negative word: A growing number of citizens, businesses, and the state of Oklahoma have turned to the court system to seek relief. This means Americans are – or […]

NSA chief Clapper: Data spying debate ‘probably needed to happen’

“‘As loathe as I am to give any credit for what’s happened here, which is egregious…’ said National Intelligence Director James Clapper, ‘I think it’s clear that some of the conversations that this has generated, some of the debate… actually probably needed to happen.’ Clapper, speaking at a conference in Washington, said the public discussion examining the balance between spying powers and privacy rights ‘perhaps’ should have taken place earlier. ‘So if there’s a good side to this, maybe that’s it,’ he said of the Snowden media leaks. His comments were the first time a senior US intelligence figure had portrayed the leaks as sparking a useful debate.” Continue reading →

Senator on journalists who publish leaks: ‘Historically, spies have been shot’

“In a contentious Senate panel hearing about what protections should be available to journalists who receive government secrets, Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions (R) said that ‘historically, spies have been shot for revealing information,’ and that the thinking on a shield law for journalists should proceed forth from that point. Earlier this year, journalists and editors working for the Associated Press found out that the Department of Justice had tapped and recorded their phone calls for more than two months. The Justice Department also used warrants to obtain the emails of reporter James Rosen. In each case, the government maintained that it was attempting to police its internal workings for leakers.” Continue reading →

“Privacy” Held Hostage By “Security” – Public Unimpressed

“Since Sept. 11, our government has acted as if security and privacy were an either/or proposition. In other words, an increase in one causes a decrease in the other. Like a seesaw, if one side goes up, the other side must go down. As federal security consultant Ed Giorgio stated several years ago in a widely quoted New Yorker article, ‘Privacy and security are a zero-sum game.’ Apparently, in order to be more ‘secure,’ we must accept less ‘privacy.’ That includes allowing increased warrantless surveillance and scrutiny by the government. So is the government’s argument sound?” Continue reading →

Win for Chicago gun owners: City Council rewrites gun laws

“The National Rifle Association is claiming victory today after the Chicago City Council tentatively approved a rewrite of the city’s onerous gun laws that were passed in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in the McDonald v. Chicago case (2010), which effectively overturned Chi-Town’s ban on handguns. While the full City Council will officially vote on the changes on Wednesday, it’s believed that they’ll stick because of the state’s recently passed concealed carry law, a ‘shall-issue’ statue that allows law-abiding citizens to carry concealed firearms in public provided they pass a background check, pay a $150 fee and take a 16-hour firearms training course.” Continue reading →

New Jersey Suddenly Begins Enforcing Air Rifle Ban

“In New Jersey, it is illegal to own an air rifle if it in any way reduces noise. That would make it a weapon with a silencer. Such weapons are illegal in New Jersey. The police did not bother with this in the past, but now they do. The idea that criminals are going to threaten victims with air rifles equipped with silencers is bizarre. But in the world of bureaucracy, North’s law of bureaucracy reigns supreme: ‘In any bureaucracy, some bureaucrat will eventually enforce the letter of the law to the point of absurdity.’ I don’t know how gun owners are supposed to comply. Must they sell their guns to New Yorkers? How are they to transport their guns across the state’s border?” Continue reading →

Jordan lawmaker fires Kalashnikov assault rifle at colleague

“A Jordanian MP was arrested after firing a Kalashnikov assault rifle in parliament at a colleague on Tuesday, without causing injuries, judicial and parliamentary sources said. The source said the shooting came after an argument broke out in parliament on Sunday between Damissi and another member, Yahia al-Saud. Video footage emerged showing Damissi removing his shoes and Saud his belt during the dispute, which flared due to differences over parliamentary procedure, before they were separated. In July 2012, a live television debate on domestic issues between two deputies also degenerated into fisticuffs before one of them pulled out a gun and was overpowered.” Continue reading →