CLibertyC

A Constitution-Free Zone Where Officials Can Grab Your Computer And Copy Your Hard Drive

"Did you know that the U.S. government considers the U.S. border to be a 'constitution-free zone'? Did you know that customs officials can take your computer away from you, keep it for 30 days or more, and make a copy of everything that is on your hard drive? Sadly, this is actually true. According to the government, when you choose to cross the U.S. border you temporarily give up your constitutional rights. They can look at anything on your computer that they want to, and if they find anything that violates any law, they can use it against you in court. You may think twice about taking your computer out of the country after you read the rest of this article." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingA Constitution-Free Zone Where Officials Can Grab Your Computer And Copy Your Hard Drive

Glenn Greenwald Rebuttal To Washington Post’s Walter Pincus

"That you decided to write an entire column grounded solely in baseless innuendo is between you and your editors. But your assertion of several factually false claims about me, Laura Poitras, and others is not. [...] Our NSA stories have been published and discussed in countless countries around the world, where they have sparked shock, indignation and demands for investigation. So revealingly, it is only American journalists who have decided to focus their intrepid journalistic attention not on the extremist and legally dubious surveillance behavior of the US government and serial deceit by its top officials, but on those who revealed all of that to the world." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingGlenn Greenwald Rebuttal To Washington Post’s Walter Pincus

Russian lawmaker: Snowden agrees to Venezuela offer of asylum

"NSA leaker Edward Snowden has accepted Venezuela's offer of asylum, a key Russian lawmaker tweeted Tuesday. Alexei Pushkov, the chairman of Russian Duma's international affairs panel, tweeted that Snowden had accepted the offer from Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. 'Predictably, Snowden has agreed to Maduro’s offer of political asylum,' Pushkov tweeted in Russian, according to Russia Today. 'Apparently, this option appeared most reliable to Snowden.' Pushkov later tweeted that his information came from a Russian newcast. State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki warned Monday of consequences after Maduro made his offer." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingRussian lawmaker: Snowden agrees to Venezuela offer of asylum

Former Federal Judge On Obama Suspending the Law

"President Obama's decision last week to suspend the employer mandate of the Affordable Care Act may be welcome relief to businesses affected by this provision, but it raises grave concerns about his understanding of the role of the executive in our system of government. Article II, Section 3, of the Constitution states that the president 'shall take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed.' This is a duty, not a discretionary power. While the president does have substantial discretion about how to enforce a law, he has no discretion about whether to do so. This matter—the limits of executive power—has deep historical roots." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingFormer Federal Judge On Obama Suspending the Law

No Military Coups for America? What About November 1963?

"Let’s just keep living our little myths and deferring to the wisdom and authority of our beloved Cold War national-security state, which suspends our freedom and privacy in order to keep us 'safe' from the threats of terrorism that it itself produces. Let’s just keep believing that it’s only foreigners, not Americans, who make 'mistakes' in elections — mistakes that unfortunately sometimes have to be rectified with coups and assassinations. While our national-security state believes in helping foreign counterparts protect their nations from bad rulers through coups and assassinations, let’s just keep telling ourselves that it would never do the same here at home." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingNo Military Coups for America? What About November 1963?

Kim Dotcom: All Megaupload servers ‘wiped out without warning in data massacre’

"Kim Dotcom has accused the US government and Leaseweb, one of the hosting providers of former file-sharing site Megaupload, of deleting millions of personal files 'without warning.' The information stored on the dormant servers – 'petabytes of pictures, backups, personal & business property' – was what Dotcom called evidence in the case US authorities launched against him in January 2012. Dotcom is wanted in the US on criminal charges for facilitating copyright fraud on a massive scale. 'This is the largest data massacre in the history of the Internet,' Dotcom wrote on Twitter." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingKim Dotcom: All Megaupload servers ‘wiped out without warning in data massacre’

Germany defends ‘strictly legal’ cooperation with NSA

"Angela Merkel's government said on Monday that its cooperation with American intelligence was fully regulated by strict legal guidelines after a magazine reported that the U.S. National Security Agency was in close cahoots with German spies. Germany's opposition demanded that her government explain how much it knew about U.S. surveillance tactics ahead of talks with Washington about the NSA. Der Spiegel's report that the NSA works with Germany and other Western states on a 'no questions asked'-basis undermines the chancellor's indignant talk of 'Cold War' tactics revealed by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingGermany defends ‘strictly legal’ cooperation with NSA

U.S. considering speeding up Afghanistan pullout

"The United States is seriously considering speeding up the withdrawal of its forces from Afghanistan because of frustration with President Hamid Karzai, the New York Times reported. Obama’s relationship with Karzai has been deteriorating and suffered a big and new blow last month with an effort by the United States to open peace talks with the Taliban in Qatar. Karzai opposed the talks, and halted negotiations with the Americans on a long-term security deal needed to keep US forces in Afghanistan after 2014, the Times said." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingU.S. considering speeding up Afghanistan pullout

Pentagon puts 650,000 workers on unpaid leave due to cuts

"Heavy US government spending cuts took a sharp swing as the Pentagon began putting about 650,000 civilian workers on unpaid leave. The Department of Defense’s civilian employees face furloughs of up to 11 days through the end of the fiscal year on September 30. The pay pinch was expected to have the most immediate impact in areas with a large military presence, such as greater Washington DC, California and Texas. The International Monetary Fund last month assailed the sharp spending cuts as 'excessively rapid and ill-designed.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingPentagon puts 650,000 workers on unpaid leave due to cuts