Homeland Stupidity

Where Is He Now?

"The American government, with all of its supposed intelligence-gathering capacities - the revelations of which are at the core of the case against Snowden - cannot locate this man's presence. 'All the king's horses, and all the king's men' - even with access to all communications of all Americans - can no more find him than could they anticipate the collapse of the Soviet Union or the attacks of 9/11. The entire affair - along with the actions of Bradley Manning, Julian Assange, and other whistleblowers - helps answer the pessimists who ask 'but what can one person do?'" Continue reading →

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Here’s What It Looks Like When Two Hacker FBI Informants Try To Inform On Each Other

"The chat log represents a conversation between two FBI informants, both of whom seem to be trying to lure the other into providing evidence they can turn over to their law enforcement handlers–or even into a meeting that could lead to the other’s arrest. Sabu, also known as Hector Xavier Monsegur, had agreed to work as an FBI mole within LulzSec months before his conversation with Thordarson. Thordarson, for his part, tells me he thought he was helping to deliver a 'notorious hacker' to the FBI, and didn’t know he was speaking to a fellow stool pigeon. Monsegur doesn’t show any signs of knowing either." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingHere’s What It Looks Like When Two Hacker FBI Informants Try To Inform On Each Other

Bitcoin Exchange Makes Apparent Move to Play by U.S. Money-Laundering Rules

"FinCen in March started applying traditional money-laundering rules to 'virtual currencies' amid growing concern that new forms of digital cash are being used for illicit activities. Those rules mandate that exchanges register with FinCen, follow stricter bookkeeping requirements and report transactions of more than $10,000. About a month after the edict, the Department of Homeland Security seized an account tied to Mt. Gox, alleging the company and a subsidiary were conducting transactions 'as part of an unlicensed money service business.' According to FinCen's website, the agency received Mt. Gox's registration on Thursday." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingBitcoin Exchange Makes Apparent Move to Play by U.S. Money-Laundering Rules

Homeland Security Is A Racket Twice Over

"Since the government has created the problem of terrorism while fraudulently denying that it has, and then in building up the DHS has fraudulently offered a non-solution to solve the problem of its own making, the DHS is a racket twice over. Actually, since the DHS's activities actively invade everyone's rights, it is a racket thrice over. None of us would have any expectation of systematic terrorism against Americans in America if there were not a U.S. empire that systematically intrudes in lands where it doesn't belong. Retaliations from these places take time, sometimes decades. The U.S. is breeding new terrorists all the time and in more and more places." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingHomeland Security Is A Racket Twice Over

Joint Chiefs: Army reviewing rules of engagement over cyber threat

"Dempsey said that since his appointment as head of the Joint Chiefs in 2011 'intrusions into our critical infrastructure have increased 17-fold.' Some 4,000 cyber-security experts would join the ranks over the next four years, while some $23 billion would be spent on tackling the threat. Dempsey said Cybercom was now organized in three divisions. One team was in charge of countering enemy attacks, another was tasked with offering regional support while a third was responsible for protecting some 15,000 US military computer networks. In addition, the military now had a manual which allowed it to cooperate with Homeland Security and the FBI." Continue reading →

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NYPD collaborated with CIA on surveillance after 9/11

"Campaigners for greater accountability at New York’s powerful police force have seized on a report that details for the first time the extent of the collaboration between the CIA and the NYPD in the years after 9/11. The formerly-classified inspector general’s report also raises new questions over whether the spy agency’s partnership with the nation’s largest police department amounted to unofficial cover for CIA officers to operate in the US in ways that could otherwise be deemed unlawful. The 12-page document contains the December 2011 findings of an investigation into the CIA’s training and support of the NYPD that included embedding four officers in the department." Continue reading →

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Twitter CEO defends ‘principled’ data gathering policy

"Twitter is holding to a 'principled' policy on national security data requests and will 'push back' in some cases to protect the privacy of its users, its chief executive said Wednesday. Dick Costolo, appearing at a forum at the Brookings Institution in Washington, declined to comment on whether Twitter had specific requests under the vast data-gathering program called PRISM made public this month. But he noted that Twitter has gone to court in certain cases to fight 'gag' orders and to allow users to be in informed of how their own data is used." Continue reading →

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Texas teen charged with making terroristic threat after online joke

"'LOL' stands for 'laughing out loud,' and 'jk' means 'just kidding,' but police didn’t think it was funny. Neither did a woman from Canada who saw the posting. Justin’s dad says the woman did a Google search and found his son’s old address was near an elementary school and she called police. Justin Carter was arrested the next month and has been jailed since March 27. He’s charged with making a terroristic threat and is facing eight years in prison, according to his dad. 'These people are serious. They really want my son to go away to jail for a sarcastic comment that he made,' added Carter." Continue reading →

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In WikiLeaks Probe, Feds Used a Secret Search Warrant to Get Volunteer’s Gmail

"The Justice Department used a secret search warrant to obtain the entire contents of a Gmail account used by a former WikiLeaks volunteer in Iceland, according to court records released to the volunteer this week. The warrant ordered Google to turn over 'the contents of all e-mails associated with the account, including stored or preserved copies of e-mails sent to and from the account, draft e-mails, deleted e-mails [...] the source and destination addresses associated with each e-mail, the date and time at which each e-mail was sent, and the size and length of each e-mail.' The warrant also ordered Google not to disclose the search to anyone." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingIn WikiLeaks Probe, Feds Used a Secret Search Warrant to Get Volunteer’s Gmail

Glenn Greenwald: The personal side of taking on the NSA

"So that's the big discovery: a corporate interest in adult videos (something the LLC shared with almost every hotel chain), fabricated emails, and some back taxes and other debt. I'm 46 years old and, like most people, have lived a complicated and varied adult life. I didn't manage my life from the age of 18 onward with the intention of being a Family Values US senator. If journalists really believe that, in response to the reporting I'm doing, these distractions about my past and personal life are a productive way to spend their time, then so be it. None of that will detain me even for an instant in continuing to report on what the NSA is doing in the dark." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingGlenn Greenwald: The personal side of taking on the NSA