Orwellian

NSA controversy boosts interest in ‘private’ Internet search engines

"While Google’s market share has not seen a noticeable dent, privacy search engines like US-based DuckDuckGo and European-based Ixquick have seen jumps in traffic from users seeking to limit their online tracks. The stored data has become a concern following revelations of a massive surveillance program run by the secretive National Security Agency, with access to data from Google, Yahoo! and other Internet firms. US officials say the information gathered is vital in the fight against global terrorism. The same data and profiles can be used by the search engine to deliver ads and sold to outside marketers as well." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingNSA controversy boosts interest in ‘private’ Internet search engines

GCHQ taps fibre-optic cables for secret access to world’s communications, shares with NSA

"Britain's spy agency GCHQ has secretly gained access to the network of cables which carry the world's phone calls and internet traffic and has started to process vast streams of sensitive personal information which it is sharing with its American partner, the National Security Agency (NSA). The sheer scale of the agency's ambition is reflected in the titles of its two principal components: Mastering the Internet and Global Telecoms Exploitation, aimed at scooping up as much online and telephone traffic as possible. This is all being carried out without any form of public acknowledgement or debate." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingGCHQ taps fibre-optic cables for secret access to world’s communications, shares with NSA

Email from Michael Hastings before crash mentions FBI probe

"In an email sent hours before his death in a single-car L.A. crash, journalist Michael Hastings wrote that his 'close friends and associates' were being interviewed by the FBI and he was going to 'go off the radar for a bit.' According to the email, Hastings wrote he was working on a 'big story' and was going to disappear. He told his colleagues that if the FBI came to interview them, they should have legal counsel present. Hastings was researching a story about a privacy lawsuit brought by Florida socialite Jill Kelley against the Department of Defense and the FBI. The FBI said Hastings was never under investigation by the agency." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingEmail from Michael Hastings before crash mentions FBI probe

The top secret rules that allow NSA to use US data without a warrant

"Top secret documents submitted to the court that oversees surveillance by US intelligence agencies show the judges have signed off on broad orders which allow the NSA to make use of information 'inadvertently' collected from domestic US communications without a warrant. The previously revealed bulk collection of domestic call records takes place under rolling court orders issued on the basis of a legal interpretation of a different authority, section 215 of the Patriot Act. On Thursday, two US congressmen introduced a bill compelling the Obama administration to declassify the secret legal justifications for NSA surveillance." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingThe top secret rules that allow NSA to use US data without a warrant

7-Year-Old Aiyana Stanley’s Home-Invasion Murderer Walks Free, Since He’s A Cop

"Joseph Weekly, who shot 7-year-old Aiyana Stanley-Jones in the head during a home invasion on May 17, 2010, is free after a jury deadlocked. Nobody disputes that Weekly was the killer, or that Aiyana was an entirely innocent victim. Weekly was exonerated by virtue of the fact that his home invasion crew bore the insignia of the criminal syndicate that claims a monopoly on the legitimate use of force within Detroit. The Detroit Police Department’s Special Reaction Team (SRT) staged a midnight raid on the home where Aiyana was sleeping. This was done entirely for the benefit of a camera crew from a cable 'Reality TV' show called 'The First 48.'" Continue reading →

Continue Reading7-Year-Old Aiyana Stanley’s Home-Invasion Murderer Walks Free, Since He’s A Cop

Official: Water quality complaints could be ‘act of terrorism’

"A Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation deputy director warned residents that unfounded complaints about water quality could be considered an 'act of terrorism.' 'We take water quality very seriously. Very, very seriously,' said Sherwin Smith, deputy director of TDEC's Division of Water Resources, according to audio recorded by attendees. 'But you need to make sure that when you make water quality complaints you have a basis, because federally, if there's no water quality issues, that can be considered under Homeland Security an act of terrorism.' Smith went on in the recording to repeat the claim almost verbatim." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingOfficial: Water quality complaints could be ‘act of terrorism’

Snowden And Manning Saw Something, And Said Something

"Most Americans – 76% of them, in fact – have never heard of the DHS’s propaganda, 'See Something, Say Something.' Robert Jensen, DHS principal deputy assistant secretary in the office of public affairs, responded, 'We will continue to expand the campaign in the coming months and years.' Years. Years more of ham-fisted SS-SS. It's enough to send a gal screaming over the border. See something, say something…..isn’t this what Snowden and Manning have done? Should they not be lauded for following this directive? Ah, but mere serfs should never expect consistency from a police-state." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSnowden And Manning Saw Something, And Said Something

Edward Snowden vs. the Sovietization of America

"The Washington know-it-alls have a solution to this dilemma: keep everything secret. So that even the law is itself a secret – or, at least, the government’s interpretation of it is kept under lock and key. Everything else about the mechanics of our emerging police state is also a secret: the internet companies forced to turn over their customers’ private accounts to government snoops are forbidden by law from saying anything about their interactions with Washington. They cannot tell a customer 'The government forced us to turn over your records.' If they choose to fight in court, they cannot publicize their fight. It is a mugging that happens in the dark." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingEdward Snowden vs. the Sovietization of America

Lawyers to challenge U.S. ‘No Fly’ list in federal court in Oregon

"Lawyers for a group of Muslim Americans barred from U.S. air travel will challenge procedures surrounding the secretive 'no fly' list in court on Friday, arguing they are unconstitutional because those on the list have no real way to clear their names. The 13 plaintiffs in the case, who deny any links to terrorism, said they learned of their no-fly status when they were blocked from boarding commercial flights and complain they were denied any effective means of petitioning the government to be removed from the list. As of last year, the list included some 20,000 people." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingLawyers to challenge U.S. ‘No Fly’ list in federal court in Oregon

Depositing a Little Common Sense into the Law

"Did you know that small business owners can be prosecuted for making repeated cash deposits of under $10,000? Randy and Karen Sowers, owners of a successful Maryland creamery, learned that accounting detail the hard way when the federal government seized $62,936 from their company’s bank account and charged them with violating the Bank Secrecy Act. The Sowers did not intend to violate the law. The couple simply found themselves caught in a net of federal prosecution because their everyday business practices and ignorance of obscure banking laws ran afoul of a federal statute." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingDepositing a Little Common Sense into the Law