Orwellian

Email exchange between Edward Snowden and former GOP Senator Gordon Humphrey

"I only wish more of our lawmakers shared your principles - the actions I've taken would not have been necessary. The media has distorted my actions and intentions to distract from the substance of Constitutional violations and instead focus on personalities. It seems they believe every modern narrative requires a bad guy. Perhaps, in such times, loving one's country means being hated by its government. If history proves that be so, I will not shy from that hatred. I will not hesitate to wear those charges of villainy for the rest of my life as a civic duty, allowing those governing few who dared not do so themselves to use me as an excuse to right these wrongs." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingEmail exchange between Edward Snowden and former GOP Senator Gordon Humphrey

Michael Hastings Cremated, Family Never Requested; Wife Hires Private Investigator

"Hastings' friend and confidant SSgt. Joe Biggs disclosed a macabre twist in the award-winning journalist's death in a suspicious single-car accident. According to SSgt. Biggs, 'Michael Hastings' body was returned to Vermont in an urn.' He further alleged, 'Family members did not want Michael's body cremated.' This revelation provides another wrinkle in the Los Angeles Police Department's (LAPD) handling of a case they labeled 'no foul play' only hours after the writer's death." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingMichael Hastings Cremated, Family Never Requested; Wife Hires Private Investigator

Congressional Picks for DHS Head Include Backers of Mass Surveillance

"Lawmakers on the House Homeland Security Committee are suggesting individuals who have supported programs similar to National Security Agency digital surveillance initiatives. Among the people ranking Democrat Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Tenn., would prefer, according to minority committee aides, is Rep. Loretta Sanchez, D-Calif., a committee member who supported the divisive Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act, known as CISPA. The measure, which the House approved by a 288-127 vote in April, would allow the intelligence community to monitor the metadata of private emails for threat signatures or indicators of malicious software." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingCongressional Picks for DHS Head Include Backers of Mass Surveillance

Millions of U.S. license plates tracked and stored – and it’s not just government agencies

"'License plate readers are the most pervasive method of location tracking that nobody has heard of,' said Catherine Crump, ACLU lawyer and lead author of the report. 'They collect data on millions of Americans, the overwhelming number of whom are entirely innocent of any wrongdoing.' Crump said that the creeping growth of licence plate scanners echoed the debate over the National Security Agency. 'It raises the same question as the NSA controversy: do we want to live in a world where the government makes a record of everything we do – because that’s what’s being created by the growth of databases linked to license plate readers.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingMillions of U.S. license plates tracked and stored – and it’s not just government agencies

Unitarian Church, Gun Groups Join EFF to Sue NSA Over Illegal Surveillance

"'People who hold controversial views – whether it's about gun ownership policies, drug legalization, or immigration – often must express views as a group in order to act and advocate effectively,' said Cohn. 'But fear of individual exposure when participating in political debates over high-stakes issues can dissuade people from taking part. That's why the Supreme Court ruled in 1958 that membership lists of groups have strong First Amendment protection. Telephone records, especially complete records collected over many years, are even more invasive than membership lists, since they show casual or repeated inquiries as well as full membership.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingUnitarian Church, Gun Groups Join EFF to Sue NSA Over Illegal Surveillance

Second Drone Crash In One Week On Highway In Florida, Carrying Self-Destruct Charge

"The latest crash came Wednesday morning around 8:25 when the drone crashed alongside US 98 in the Silver Flag area on the east side of the base. Eye witnesses say the QF 4 drone crashed while taking off, exploded and sent up a large black cloud. Base and local police and safety officials have closed Highway 98 and are anticipating that it will remain closed for up to 24 hours. According to WJHG, the closure is being done because of a small self-destruct charge carried on board the drone. The status of this device is unknown. It is powered by a short-life battery which will be fully depleted in 24 hours." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSecond Drone Crash In One Week On Highway In Florida, Carrying Self-Destruct Charge

The War on Terror Is a War on American Freedom

"Our Democratic law professor president, a self-described progressive, has created a perfect storm. Ten years ago, liberals screamed because the Republican administration took note of what patrons checked out at the library. Today, they seem much more complacent in the face of more intimate forms of mass surveillance. Democrats once talked about prosecuting executive officials for wrongdoing. Today they muse about whether the government should jail journalists like Glenn Greenwald, U.S. columnist for the British newspaper, the Guardian, merely for providing a soapbox for whistleblowers." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingThe War on Terror Is a War on American Freedom

NDAA: It Still Makes a Mockery Of American Values

"While most of the country has been consumed with the George Zimmerman trial and other political distractions pushed on us by the mainstream media, the U.S. government’s consistent and aggressive violations of civil liberties continue with minimal protest. The PRISM surveillance program, the phony 'due process' of the FISA courts, and the militarization of law enforcement are the most pervasive examples, but the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) is perhaps the most authoritarian of them all and makes a mockery of American values." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingNDAA: It Still Makes a Mockery Of American Values

Eric Margolis: Spying Run Amok

"Europe’s politicians are loudly denouncing the US. But Britain, Germany, Italy, Holland, Spain and Belgium signed secret pacts with the US decades ago allowing NSA and CIA to spy on their citizens, and to share intelligence with Washington. The Soviet-run Warsaw Pact had a similar structure: the East bloc’s security agencies became 'little brothers' of KGB. No other nation mounts such an intensive worldwide electronic spying operation. Spying on EU trade negotiators discussing banana quotas has nothing to do with so-called terrorism. The real 'national security' issue involved here is the security of hypocritical politicians and career bureaucrats." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingEric Margolis: Spying Run Amok

Justin Amash amendment to defund the NSA may be circumvented by House leadership

"House Republican leaders are considering limiting amendments to the defense bill out of concern for proposals that Amash and other lawmakers might bring forward. Rules Committee Chairman Pete Sessions (R-Texas) wrote to his colleagues last week that the panel might limit amendments, a departure from the open amendment process that’s been used on the defense bill since Republicans took over in 2011. In addition to amendments on the NSA, there are concerns about amendments tying President Obama’s hands in Syria and Egypt, according to defense sources." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingJustin Amash amendment to defund the NSA may be circumvented by House leadership