Mainstream News

Snowden, in exchanges with Post reporter, made clear he knew risks

"'We managed to survive greater threats in our history . . . than a few disorganized terrorist groups and rogue states without resorting to these sorts of programs. It is not that I do not value intelligence, but that I oppose . . . omniscient, automatic, mass surveillance. . . . That seems to me a greater threat to the institutions of free society than missed intelligence reports, and unworthy of the costs. Analysts (and government in general) aren’t bad guys, and they don’t want to think of themselves as such,' he replied. But he said they labored under a false premise that 'if a surveillance program produces information of value, it legitimizes it.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSnowden, in exchanges with Post reporter, made clear he knew risks

Rep. Peter King calls for NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden to be extradited from Hong Kong

"Peter King, the chairman of the House homeland security subcommittee, called for Snowden’s extradition from Hong Kong. Snowden flew there 10 days ago to disclose top-secret documents and to give interviews to the Guardian. 'If Edward Snowden did in fact leak the NSA data as he claims, the United States government must prosecute him to the fullest extent of the law and begin extradition proceedings at the earliest date,' King, a New York Republican, said in a written statement. 'The United States must make it clear that no country should be granting this individual asylum. This is a matter of extraordinary consequence to American intelligence.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingRep. Peter King calls for NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden to be extradited from Hong Kong

China Backs US Startup Coinbase And US Falls Behind In Virtual Currencies

"Seven months ago, Fred Ehrsam pitched his bitcoin-based startup Coinbase to more than a dozen Silicon Valley investors. Ehrsam got more than a few blank stares. He spent most of his time explaining the concept of peer-to-peer currency, which is emerging as the world’s default platform for digital money, than he did describing his plans for the company itself. So, he and his co-founders turned to the Chinese, specifically, to IDG Ventures. To the Beijing-based venture capitalists, the PayPal-like service for buying, selling and accepting bitcoins was a perfect fit." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingChina Backs US Startup Coinbase And US Falls Behind In Virtual Currencies

Former Drone Operator Says He’s Haunted By His Part In More Than 1,600 Deaths

"A former Air Force drone operator who says he participated in missions that killed more than 1,600 people remembers watching one of the first victims bleed to death. Brandon Bryant says he was sitting in a chair at a Nevada Air Force base operating the camera when his team fired two missiles from their drone at three men walking down a road halfway around the world in Afghanistan. The missiles hit all three targets, and Bryant says he could see the aftermath on his computer screen – including thermal images of a growing puddle of hot blood." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingFormer Drone Operator Says He’s Haunted By His Part In More Than 1,600 Deaths

Cops Use YOUR Children As Props For Homeland Security “School Shooter Drills”

"Hundreds of emergency responders, students and school officials in Eatonville participated in an active shooter drill coordinated by Pierce County Emergency Management and hosted by the Eatonville School District that took over two schools and several blocks in the Mount Rainier foothills community. Sixth-grader Brooklyn Welch, 12, was the first victim in one of two simulated shooting scenarios. She waited on the floor of the school’s front office for about 40 minutes with a fake gunshot wound to the shoulder, before being carried out by a SWAT team officer in full gear." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingCops Use YOUR Children As Props For Homeland Security “School Shooter Drills”

French government minister urges public e-cigarette ban

"French Health Minister Marisol Touraine has called for electronic cigarettes to be banned from public places and their sale to be restricted to over-16s only. In an interview with French radio station France Info on Friday morning, Touraine urged that electronic cigarettes be treated in the same way as normal cigarettes. 'We want the same laws that apply to normal cigarettes to apply to electronic cigarettes,' she said, adding that advertisements for e-cigarettes should also be banned. The pen-sized instruments have grown increasingly popular among the smoking community, especially young bar-goers. 'I want us to rally against smoking,' she said." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingFrench government minister urges public e-cigarette ban

Bank of America blocks $25,000 transfer to Julian Assange’s political party

"Bank of America, one of a number of major financial institutions including Visa, American Express, Mastercard and Western Union that since December 2010 have refused to transfer funds to WikiLeaks, blocked the transfer to the new WikiLeaks Party of a $25,000 prize awarded to Assange by the Japanese musician, artist and philanthropist Yoko Ono. The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade acknowledged to the Senate estimates hearing that WikiLeaks, and by implication Assange, continued to be under investigation by the US Justice Department." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingBank of America blocks $25,000 transfer to Julian Assange’s political party

U.S. Collects Vast Data Trove, Including Credit Card Transactions

"The National Security Agency's monitoring of Americans includes customer records from the three major phone networks as well as emails and Web searches, and the agency also has cataloged credit-card transactions, said people familiar with the agency's activities.The Obama administration says its review of complete phone records of U.S. citizens is a 'necessary tool' in protecting the nation from terror threats. The NSA's efforts have become institutionalized under laws passed in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. Most members of Congress defended them Thursday as a way to root out terrorism, but civil-liberties groups decried the program." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingU.S. Collects Vast Data Trove, Including Credit Card Transactions

Microsoft joins FBI in ‘major assault’ on one of world’s largest cyber crime rings

"Microsoft Corp and the FBI, aided by authorities in more than 80 countries, have launched a major assault on one of the world’s biggest cyber crime rings, believed to have stolen more than $500 million from bank accounts over the past 18 months. Microsoft said its Digital Crimes Unit on Wednesday successfully took down at least 1,000 of an estimated 1,400 malicious computer networks known as the Citadel Botnets. Citadel infected as many as 5 million PCs around the world and, according to Microsoft, was used to steal from dozens of financial institutions. The criminals remain at large and the authorities do not know the identities of any ringleaders." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingMicrosoft joins FBI in ‘major assault’ on one of world’s largest cyber crime rings

US government invokes special privilege to stop scrutiny of data mining

"The Obama administration is invoking an obscure legal privilege to avoid judicial scrutiny of its secret collection of the communications of potentially millions of Americans. Civil liberties lawyers trying to hold the administration to account through the courts for its surveillance of phone calls and emails of American citizens have been repeatedly stymied by the government's recourse to the 'military and state secrets privilege'. The precedent, rarely used but devastating in its legal impact, allows the government to claim that it cannot be submitted to judicial oversight because to do so it would have to compromise national security." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingUS government invokes special privilege to stop scrutiny of data mining