Bankocracy

9/11 Commission leaders push for changes in US terrorism fight

"Today, Al Qaeda and its affiliates maintain a presence in 'some 16 different theaters of operation – compared with half as many as recently as five years ago,' according to the report. In Syria in particular, the civil war may be providing Al Qaeda 'with a chance to regroup, train, and plan operations, much as the US invasion of Iraq revitalized the network and gave it new relevance,' notes the report. While these Al Qaeda groups have been busy expanding in other parts of the globe, within the confines of the United States, the threat of attacks 'has shifted away from plots directly connected to foreign groups,' in the report’s estimation, 'to plots by individuals who are merely inspired by them.'" Continue reading →

Continue Reading9/11 Commission leaders push for changes in US terrorism fight

Napolitano: Obama’s remedy for embarrassment nothing but tough talk

"Mr. Obama is generally firm in his belief that he needs to vindicate the threat he made last summer when he was trying to outdo Mitt Romney on sounding tough. It was then that Mr. Obama threatened to intervene in the Syrian civil war if chemical weapons were used by the government. Nevertheless, hating the international embarrassment visited upon him when suddenly Mr. Putin seems more reasonable than he does, Mr. Obama conceded to my Fox News colleague Chris Wallace that the Kerry-inspired and Putin-pushed idea seemed worth considering. Then the Syrian government agreed." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingNapolitano: Obama’s remedy for embarrassment nothing but tough talk

Why the US is Really Chasing War With Syria

"Global markets rallied overnight on hopes that a conflict may be avoided if Syria gives up its chemical weapons. If that’s the case, it’s a rally that will fade later in the week. That’s because the ongoing Syrian conflict has nothing to do with chemical weapons. It’s all about regime change, which is all about natural gas and pipelines. But this is not just ‘another’ Middle Eastern conflict. It’s much deeper, subtler, and potentially far more dangerous than preceding conflicts. As we’ll attempt to explain, the situation in Syria is a direct result of the relative decline of US imperial power." Continue reading →

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Donald Trump eyeing ‘building swap’ for FBI headquarters

"Flamboyant New York property developer and reality TV star Donald Trump is casting his eye on what some Washingtonians consider an architectural eyesore in the US capital — FBI headquarters. He told The Washington Post in an interview posted online Wednesday that he might take an opportunity to acquire the Brutalist-style premises on Pennsylvania Avenue in return for erecting a new and bigger home for the storied federal law enforcement agency. Inaugurated in the mid-1970s, the 11-floor J. Edgar Hoover Building houses more than half of the 10,000 employees of the Federal Bureau of Investigation in the greater Washington area." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingDonald Trump eyeing ‘building swap’ for FBI headquarters

(Surveillance) Times have Changed

"It was only a year ago when the UK Home Office repeatedly made statements about how their capability to collect intelligence was degrading, and how new laws such as the Communications Data Bill were necessary to protect citizens. In hindsight, given the revelations about the UK domestic mass surveillance programs, these once desperate cries for more crime- and terrorism-fighting tools now look like nothing more than attempts to illegitimately spy more on all citizens. Quotes from those debates look rather different now." Continue reading →

Continue Reading(Surveillance) Times have Changed

Is This Why Obama is So Desperate for a Nice Little War?

"Why the desperation to focus our attention externally, to monsters abroad in need of slaying? Could it be the mushrooming NSA scandal, that all of a sudden has grown exponentially more serious with today’s Guardian Snowden-leak sourced report that the 'NSA shares raw intelligence including Americans’ data with Israel.' According to Glenn Greenwald, the National Security Agency routinely sends raw intelligence information to Israeli intelligence without first removing information about American citizens. In effect, rather than serving to protect the safety of Americans and national security of the United States the NSA has seemingly become an agent of Israeli intelligence." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingIs This Why Obama is So Desperate for a Nice Little War?

NSA shares raw intelligence including Americans’ data with Israel

"Details of the intelligence-sharing agreement are laid out in a memorandum of understanding between the NSA and its Israeli counterpart that shows the US government handed over intercepted communications likely to contain phone calls and emails of American citizens. The agreement places no legally binding limits on the use of the data by the Israelis. The disclosure that the NSA agreed to provide raw intelligence data to a foreign country contrasts with assurances from the Obama administration that there are rigorous safeguards to protect the privacyof US citizens caught in the dragnet. The deal was reached in principle in March 2009, according to the undated memorandum." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingNSA shares raw intelligence including Americans’ data with Israel

NSA routinely spied on phone records unrelated to terrorism cases

"US intelligence officials declassified documents Tuesday revealing the National Security Agency violated privacy rules for three years when it sifted phone records of Americans with no suspected links to terrorists. The government was forced to disclose the documents by a judge’s order after a Freedom of Information lawsuit. The NSA had been permitted by the court to only search phone numbers that had 'reasonable articulable suspicion' of having links to terrorism. But out of more than 17,000 numbers on a NSA list in 2009, the agency only had reasonable suspicion for about 1,800 of the numbers, two senior intelligence officials told reporters on Tuesday." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingNSA routinely spied on phone records unrelated to terrorism cases

Documents Shed Light on Border Laptop Searches

"Today we are releasing new government documents that provide rare insight into how the government uses its powers at the border to search and seize Americans’ electronic devices. The government’s own records indicate that 4,957 passengers had their electronic devices searched between October 1, 2012 and August 31, 2013, and an additional 4,898 individuals were subject to electronic device searches the previous year. We have no way of knowing how many of those searches may have been carried out not to search for contraband—which is the reason ICE has been granted such broad search powers—but to exploit border search powers to evade the Constitution." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingDocuments Shed Light on Border Laptop Searches

Feds Abused Anti-Terrorism Database To Track Chelsea Manning Supporter

'Keeping our borders secure apparently means allowing federal agents to delve as deeply as they want into electronics that cross the border, even if it's someone who just went to Mexico on vacation. Presumably, David House wasn't a threat to national security when he left for Mexico, but by the time he landed at Chicago's O'Hare Airport, he was. House worked with the Bradley Manning Support Network and this was all the 'evidence' ICE needed to alert DHS agents that House would be returning from Mexico through Chicago -- and the wide-open policy on electronic searches was all the agents needed to seize and search House's phone and laptop." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingFeds Abused Anti-Terrorism Database To Track Chelsea Manning Supporter