Land Of The Flea

Glenn Greenwald: Major opinion shifts, in the US and Congress, on NSA surveillance and privacy

"Pew finds that 'a majority of Americans – 56% – say that federal courts fail to provide adequate limits on data the government is collecting as part of its anti-terrorism efforts.' And 'an even larger percentage (70%) believes that the government uses this data for purposes other than investigating terrorism.' Moreover, '63% think the government is also gathering information about the content of communications.' That demonstrates a decisive rejection of the US government's three primary defenses of its secret programs. Overall, 47% say their greater concern about government anti-terrorism policies is that they have gone too far." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingGlenn Greenwald: Major opinion shifts, in the US and Congress, on NSA surveillance and privacy

Ron Paul: A House Divided Over NSA Spying on Americans

"Taken together, the NSA's Maryland headquarters and its newly built enormous data center in Utah will be seven times larger than the Pentagon! Over the last week we have seen two significant prison-breaks, one in Iraq, where some 500 al-Qaeda members broke out of the infamous Abu Ghraib prison, which the US built, and another 1,000 escaped in a huge break in Benghazi, Libya – the city where the US Ambassador was killed by the rebels that the US government helped put in power. Did the US intelligence community, focused on listening to our phone calls, not see this real threat coming?" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingRon Paul: A House Divided Over NSA Spying on Americans

Glenn Greenwald: Low-level NSA analysts can spy on Americans

"The NSA keeps trillions of telephone calls and emails in their databases which they can access anytime, he said. 'And what these programs are, are very simple screens, like the ones that supermarket clerks or shipping and receiving clerks use, where all an analyst has to do is enter an email address or an IP address, and it does two things. It searches that database and lets them listen to the calls or read the emails of everything that the NSA has stored, or look at the browsing histories or Google search terms that you’ve entered, and it also alerts them to any further activity that people connected to that email address or that IP address do in the future.'” Continue reading →

Continue ReadingGlenn Greenwald: Low-level NSA analysts can spy on Americans

Enforcement of immigration laws could be making human trafficking tougher to detect

"The threat of arrest and deportation is a common tool traffickers use to control their victims, experts say. Even those immigrants who arrive on a legitimate work-related visa have become trafficking victims. These visas usually bind the worker to an employer, who can hold that requirement over their head and even become their trafficker. 'If employment ends, then so does visa status,' says Avaloy Lanning, a senior director at Safe Horizon, a New York-based victim's services agency. 'The trafficker uses that against them, [saying], if you run then you're going to be illegal, then immigration is going to pick you up, arrest you and deport you.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingEnforcement of immigration laws could be making human trafficking tougher to detect

Reforms of Domestic Government Surveillance

"Proposals to reform the court have included publishing declassified summaries of all its rulings and the creation of a public advocate to argue against the government’s filings with the court and to appeal FISA court rulings (now only the government can appeal). These proposals to increase the court’s transparency would be an improvement on the current Orwellian situation, but a better solution would be to get rid of the Orwellian situation. There is no place in a constitutional republic for a secret, parallel system of justice with lower standards. Thus, both the FISA Court and the Section 215 of the PATRIOT Act (actually the entire PATRIOT Act) need to be neutered." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingReforms of Domestic Government Surveillance

New Beer Lawsuit Could Spell Trouble For Keystone XL Pipeline

"In a statement issued on July 2, Larry Bell, President of Bell’s Brewery, explained: 'As Michigan’s oldest and largest brewery, Bell’s has a longstanding commitment to quality. While Bell’s uses water from the municipal water system to brew our beer, the pristine cleanliness of the water and air around our brewery and neighbors is of the utmost importance to us.' Evidently Bell’s concerns were not addressed, because last week the company filed a lawsuit against Enbridge and CCP, the developer of the site where the pollution facility is being located, at Comstock Commerce Park." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingNew Beer Lawsuit Could Spell Trouble For Keystone XL Pipeline

America’s public finances: The Unsteady States of America

"Detroit’s population has fallen by 60% since 1950. The murder rate is 11 times the national average. The previous mayor is in prison. Shrubs, weeds and raccoons have reclaimed empty neighbourhoods. The debts racked up when Detroit was big and rich are unpayable now that it is smaller and poor. Though some of its woes are unique, a crucial one is not. Many other state and city governments across America have made impossible-to-keep promises to do with pensions and health care. Detroit shows what can happen when leaders put off reforming the public sector for too long." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingAmerica’s public finances: The Unsteady States of America

Chicago Firearms Confiscation Begins

"There’s a good reason that law abiding gun owners don’t want their names on a national gun registry — namely, registration leads to confiscation. Gun control advocates immediately spout that “no one wants to take your guns” and other assorted platitudes. In Illinois, gun owners are required to get a Firearms Owners ID card, or FOID. Cook County police officers have become increasingly worried that when someone’s FOID card is revoked, their guns aren’t instantly confiscated. So they’re doing exactly what gun control advocates have said that registration would never result in — door to door confiscation." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingChicago Firearms Confiscation Begins

Activist Adam Kokesh ordered held without bond in D.C.

"A D.C. Superior Court judge has ordered a veteran and activist accused of openly carrying a shotgun in D.C.'s Freedom Plaza held without bond. During a preliminary hearing Monday, an attorney representing Adam Kokesh argued that the stunt -- filmed and posted on YouTube -- was nothing more than political theater. The judge disagreed, ordering that Kokesh be held until his next court appearance. 'I consider your client to be a very dangerous man,' the judge said. 'This is not a political statement.' Kokesh had been arrested and charged with drug-related offenses in Fairfax County, Va., earlier in July. He is expected back in a D.C. courtroom Aug. 13." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingActivist Adam Kokesh ordered held without bond in D.C.

Judge fires 34-year court employee for providing document that helped free innocent man

"A longtime judge's assistant in Jackson County says she was fired for providing a public document that helped a wrongfully convicted inmate win his freedom. But court officials say 70-year-old Sharon Snyder was sent packing four weeks ago because she violated court rules against inappropriately providing advice and discussing court matters with outsiders. Snyder says she gave Robert Nelson's sister a copy of a motion last year from a different case in which a defendant successfully requested DNA testing. Nelson was freed June 12 after DNA tests ruled him out as one of the rapists in the 1983 attack." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingJudge fires 34-year court employee for providing document that helped free innocent man