Homeland Stupidity

Europeans outraged over the US using Patriot Act for worldwide spying

"Researchers from the University of Amsterdam’s Institute for Information Law say that legislation enacted to allegedly protect the security of US citizens has in the process eroded privacy protections on a global scale. As more and more companies and individuals across the world begin relying on cloud computing to store information digitally on remote servers, the Dutch researchers warn that the Patriot Act and the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) allow for those files to be fed into the US intelligence community, disregarding privacy safeguards in place for others around the globe." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingEuropeans outraged over the US using Patriot Act for worldwide spying

Senate bill rewrite lets feds read your e-mail without warrants

"Leahy's rewritten bill would allow more than 22 agencies -- including the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Federal Communications Commission -- to access Americans' e-mail, Google Docs files, Facebook wall posts, and Twitter direct messages without a search warrant. It also would give the FBI and Homeland Security more authority, in some circumstances, to gain full access to Internet accounts without notifying either the owner or a judge. CNET obtained a draft of the proposed amendments from one of the people involved in the negotiations with Leahy." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSenate bill rewrite lets feds read your e-mail without warrants

Maker of Airport Body Scanners Suspected of Falsifying Software Tests

"A company that supplies controversial passenger-screening machines for U.S. airports is under suspicion for possibly manipulating tests on privacy software designed to prevent the machines from producing graphic body images. The TSA sent a letter Nov. 9 to the parent company of Rapiscan, the maker of backscatter machines, requesting information about the testing of the software to determine if there was malfeasance. The company previously had problems with a 'calculation error' in safety tests that showed the machines were emitting radiation levels that were 10 times higher than expected." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingMaker of Airport Body Scanners Suspected of Falsifying Software Tests

Obama’s ‘secret’ cyber security law may allow ‘military deployment within the U.S.’

"The FOIA was filed in response to an article that appeared in The Washington Post this week, claiming that Obama issued a secret directive shortly before the elections that empowers the military to 'vet any operations outside government and defense networks' for cyber security purposes. However, because the exact text of the directive remains a secret, nobody can really say exactly what it does. That was somewhat disconcerting to American Civil Liberties Union legislative counsel Michelle Richardson, who told Raw Story on Wednesday that without the text, 'it’s hard to see what they mean.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingObama’s ‘secret’ cyber security law may allow ‘military deployment within the U.S.’

Marine in tutu allegedly mistakes vet’s wheelchair as costume, assaults him

"A Marine was arrested after he allegedly attacked a paralyzed Army veteran he thought was wearing the uniform and using the wheelchair as a Halloween costume, Ocala.com reported. Dan Priotti, 35, a wheelchair-bound Army veteran, was hit twice in the head at a Gainesville, Fla., restaurant on Halloween while he was ordering food, News4jax.com reported. He said he was approached by another man who began yelling, indicating that he was faking the injury. The suspect was identified by police as Christopher Dabney, a Marine veteran police said took offense at Priotti’s outfit." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingMarine in tutu allegedly mistakes vet’s wheelchair as costume, assaults him

Obama’s Hammer and the Progress of The Daily Bell

"If both the political and economic legs of the US republic's three-legged 'stool' are eroding, that leaves one sturdy leg, the US military. There's no doubt in my mind that as political consensus continues to erode and the US economy continues to grow worse in many ways that the powers-that-be will lean more and more on US civil and military policing to provide 'social glue.' The US, under Obama's next four years, may become increasingly militarized and even more aggressive, if that's possible, from an interventionist standpoint. It is possible in four years time we may not recognize what the US has become." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingObama’s Hammer and the Progress of The Daily Bell

Federal “Compassion” at work: Sandy Victims Imprisoned in FEMA Camps

"Residents of a FEMA refugee center in Oceanport, New Jersey called 'Camp Freedom' complain that their living conditions resemble those of a prison camp. Not only are they been left exposed to the cold and deprived of promised amenities such as washing machines and hot showers, they have also been cut off from nearly all contact with the outside world. They are denied WiFi access, not allowed to use smart phones, and have been forbidden to take pictures of their surroundings. Up to 900 of the 5,200 Staten Island residents who applied for FEMA housing could be warehoused in the Arthur Kill Correctional Facility." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingFederal “Compassion” at work: Sandy Victims Imprisoned in FEMA Camps

Tenn. techie denies being hacker in Romney tax returns case

"A couple of weeks later, the Secret Service, acting on a search warrant, smashed through his front door and spent the next 18 hours pulling laptops, hard drives and all manner of digital storage devices from his Franklin home. Now, almost two months since his home was searched, Brown has not been charged with a crime. Brown said he could not explain why the Secret Service is targeting him, but he noted that in 2009 the same agency came to his house looking for evidence tying him to the alleged theft of thousands of Social Security numbers held by an insurance company. He was never charged." Continue reading →

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Carnegie Mellon University trustee accused of laundering millions for drug cartel

"Marco Antonio Delgado, a prominent Texas attorney and former trustee at Carnegie Mellon University, appeared in an El Paso court on Thursday to face charges that he conspired with a Mexican drug cartel to launder more than $600 million. The Department of Homeland Security did not name the cartel he’s accused of working with, but said that he conspired to launder the money from 2007-2008. His biography on Carnegie Mellon University said that Delgado was on leave and working for incoming Mexican president Enrique Pena Nieto, although Nieto’s aides denied any association." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingCarnegie Mellon University trustee accused of laundering millions for drug cartel