Land Of The Flea

Twitter report: U.S. leads the world in demands for user information

"Governments submitted a total of 1,157 requests for information about Twitter accounts, with 78 percent of those queries coming from the United States, according to a transparency report issued by the globally popular one-to-many test messaging service. Twitter reported that it gave US authorities what they sought in 67 percent of the cases. Twitter said the requests typically were made in connection with criminal investigations and lamented that it was barred by law from revealing anything about information demanded through US national security letters." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingTwitter report: U.S. leads the world in demands for user information

Little restraint in military giveaways to police

"An Associated Press investigation of the Defense Department program, originally aimed at helping local law enforcement fight terrorism and drug trafficking, found that a disproportionate share of the $4.2 billion worth of property distributed since 1990 has been obtained by police departments and sheriff's offices in rural areas with few officers and little crime. The national giveaway program operates with scant oversight, and the surplus military gear often sits in storage, the AP found." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingLittle restraint in military giveaways to police

Guilty of Aiding the American People

"The 'aiding the enemy' accusation presumed that Manning’s distribution of classified material assisted al Qaeda. Actually, the information helps Americans by exposing U.S. war criminality. War criminality ranks among the most important types of government wrongdoing warranting transparency. We cannot debate foreign policy without knowing about its indecencies. What U.S. forces do abroad can endanger Americans at home. Some see the leaks, not the crimes, as the true scandal, but the Muslim and Arab world already know of these atrocities. The American people need to understand what U.S. occupations are like." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingGuilty of Aiding the American People

After the whistle: Revealers of government secrets share how their lives have changed

"The former high-ranking National Security Agency analyst now sells iPhones. The top intelligence officer at the CIA lives in a motor home outside Yellowstone National Park and spends his days fly-fishing for trout. The FBI translator fled Washington for the West Coast. This is what life looks like for some after revealing government secrets. Blowing the whistle on wrongdoing, according to those who did it. Jeopardizing national security, according to the government. A look at the lives of a handful of those who did just that shows that they often wind up far from the stable government jobs they held. They can even wind up in the aisles of a craft store." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingAfter the whistle: Revealers of government secrets share how their lives have changed

For Congress, ‘it’s classified’ is new equivalent of ‘none of your business’

"The Senate Select Committee on Intelligence reportedly gave its approval last week to an Obama administration plan to provide weapons to moderate rebels in Syria, but how individual members of the committee stood on the subject remains unknown. There was no public debate and no public vote when one of the most contentious topics in American foreign policy was decided. Members of both the Senate intelligence committee or its equivalent in the House were difficult to pin down on their view of providing arms to the rebels. The senators and representatives said they couldn’t give an opinion, or at least a detailed one, because the matter was classified." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingFor Congress, ‘it’s classified’ is new equivalent of ‘none of your business’

Cops Can Track Cellphones Without Warrants, Federal Appeals Court Rules

"A divided federal appeals court ruled today that the government does not need a probable-cause warrant to access mobile-phone subscribers’ cell-site information, a decision reversing lower court decisions that said the location data was protected by the Fourth Amendment. The 2-1 decision by the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is the third federal appeals court to decide the privacy issue. All the while, two federal appellate courts have now taken the government’s position that court warrants are not required for the location data. And a third federal appellate court said judges had the option to demand warrants." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingCops Can Track Cellphones Without Warrants, Federal Appeals Court Rules

Ride-sharing companies like Uber may lose ‘bandit cab’ stigma in California

"The draft rules to govern companies that already operate under such names as Lyft, SideCar and Uber, allowing passengers to electronically hail rides through smartphone applications, were unveiled by the state Public Utilities Commission (PUC). Among the proposed regulations are requirements for ride-share operators to obtain a license with the PUC to do business in California, to submit their drivers to criminal background checks and to carry liability insurance of at least $1 million per incident. Taxi drivers registered their disapproval by staging a noisy demonstration against the ride-sharing services on Tuesday, circling San Francisco City Hall in their cabs." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingRide-sharing companies like Uber may lose ‘bandit cab’ stigma in California

Who Really Started the Korean War?

"We were fighting on behalf of Syngman Rhee, the US-educated-and-sponsored dictator of South Korea, whose vibrancy was demonstrated by the large-scale slaughter of his leftist political opponents. For 22 years, Rhee’s word was law, and many thousands of his political opponents were murdered: tens of thousands were jailed or driven into exile. Whatever measure of liberality has reigned on the Korean peninsula was in spite of Washington’s military presence. When the country finally rebelled against Rhee, and threw him out in the so-called April Revolution of 1960, he was ferried to safety in a CIA helicopter as crowds converged on the presidential palace." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingWho Really Started the Korean War?

Secret DARPA Mind Control Project Revealed: Leaked Document

"What if the government could change people's moral beliefs or stop political dissent through remote control of people's brains? Sounds like science fiction, right? Well, a leaked document reveals that the US government, through DARPA research, is very close to accomplishing this. Activist Post was recently contacted by an anonymous whistleblower who worked on a secret ongoing mind-control project for DARPA. The aim of the program is to remotely disrupt political dissent and extremism by employing 'Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation' (TMS) in tandem with sophisticated propaganda based on this technology." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSecret DARPA Mind Control Project Revealed: Leaked Document

Indiana education commissioner made sure GOP donor’s charter school got top marks

"The new grading system had initially given Christel House a 'C' grade, because of the school’s poor test scores in algebra. 'This will be a HUGE problem for us,' Bennett wrote in a Sept. 12, 2012 email. At the urging of Bennett, the grading system was quickly altered so that Christel House ended up with an 'A' grade. Bennett told the Associated Press that he wasn’t trying to tilt the system in favor of Christel House because of DeHaan’s contributions. He said Christel House was a top-performing school and its 'C' grade indicated the grading system was flawed. Bennett is currently serving as Florida’s education commissioner." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingIndiana education commissioner made sure GOP donor’s charter school got top marks