“The Internet Police” Shines a Light on the Online Surveillance State

"When Ars Technica editor Nate Anderson sat down to write The Internet Police, Edward Snowden hadn’t yet decided to add some excitement to the National Security Agency’s summer by leaking a trove of surveillance secrets to The Guardian. As a result, Anderson’s book doesn’t mention Snowden’s escapade, which will likely become the security-and-paranoia story of the year, if not the decade. However, The Internet Police is a handy guide to the slow and unstoppable rise of the online security state, as well as the libertarian and criminal elements that have done their level best to counter that surveillance." Continue reading

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U.S. says it did not sanction holding Glenn Greenwald’s partner at Heathrow

"The White House spokesman confirmed that Britain alerted the US authorities after Miranda’s name appeared on a passenger manifest of a flight from Berlin to Heathrow on Sunday morning. 'I think that is an accurate interpretation of what a heads up is,' Earnest said. He would not rule out whether the US authorities had been passed any information from Miranda’s electronic equipment seized at Heathrow, which included his phone, laptop, memory sticks, DVDs and games consoles. 'I’m not in a position to do that right now,' Earnest replied." Continue reading

Continue ReadingU.S. says it did not sanction holding Glenn Greenwald’s partner at Heathrow

UK: Greenwald’s partner had ‘highly sensitive stolen information that would help terrorism’

"The government has embarked on an aggressive offensive to justify the detention of David Miranda by suggesting that the partner of the Guardian journalist Glenn Greenwald possessed 'highly sensitive stolen information that would help terrorism'. Amid calls from across the political spectrum for a fuller explanation, the Home Office made clear that his nine-hour detention was fully justified on the grounds that he was carrying leaked documents. The statement by the Home Office, including a challenge to critics to think about condoning the leaking of sensitive documents, marks a significant change in tone by the government." Continue reading

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Jeffrey Tucker: An Empire in Panic

"Snowden had only behaved as a patriot should, but he then found himself on the run from the law, trying to find safe haven somewhere in the world where the U.S. did not have control. The safe haven he found was the old Cold War enemy of Russia — a deeply embarrassing reality for those of us who cheered the U.S. victory in the Cold War. But that was just the beginning. The national security state is out there right now trying to settle all family business, Godfather style, taking down anyone and everyone who might have assisted him in his deeds. It’s all part of the great drama called 'the empire strikes back.'" Continue reading

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The NSA: ‘The Abyss from Which There Is No Return’

"By sifting through the detritus of your once-private life, the government will come to its own conclusions about who you are, where you fit in, and how best to deal with you should the need arise. Indeed, we are all becoming data collected in government files. Surveillance of all citizens, even the innocent sort, gradually poisons the soul of a nation. Surveillance limits personal options—denies freedom of choice—and increases the powers of those who are in a position to enjoy the fruits of this activity. Frankly, we are long past the point where we should be merely alarmed. These are no longer experiments on our freedoms. These are acts of aggression." Continue reading

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San Francisco bans helmet cams after firefighters captured running over victim

"The Associated Press reported on Monday that video from Battalion Chief Mark Johnson’s helmet camera shows a fire truck running over 16-year-old Ye Meng Yuan, who was lying on the ground following the crash. The discovery of the footage led Chief Joanne Hayes-White to expand a 2009 order banning cameras on department grounds to include helmet cameras, citing concerns over firefighters’ safety. 'Why would anybody not want to know the truth?' attorney Anthony Tarricone. told the AP. 'What’s wrong with knowing what happened? What’s wrong with keeping people honest? That’s what the helmet cam did, in effect, in this case.'" Continue reading

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CIA admits to helping overthrow Iran’s democratically elected leader in 1953

"The CIA has publicly admitted for the first time that it was behind the notorious 1953 coup against Iran’s democratically elected prime minister Mohammad Mosaddeq, in documents that also show how the British government tried to block the release of information about its own involvement in his overthrow. Malcolm Byrne, deputy director of the national security archive, has called on the US intelligence authorities to release the remaining records and documents. 'There is no longer good reason to keep secrets about such a critical episode in our recent past. The basic facts are widely known to every school child in Iran,' he said." Continue reading

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Guardian Editor: Intelligence Agents Destroyed Hard Drives After Snowden Story

"In a particularly revealing moment, Rusbridger said he was contacted by an agent of the GCHQ, who said 'You've had your fun. Now we want the stuff back,' referring to the classified material provided to the paper by Snowden. Rusbridger said he asked the official if the British government intended to shut down the paper. The official said that in the absence of the handover or destruction of classified material, that was indeed the intention. And so one of the more bizarre moments in the Guardian's long history occurred – with two GCHQ security experts overseeing the destruction of hard drives in the Guardian's basement." Continue reading

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The Phony Trade-off Between Privacy and Security

"What Barack Obama, Mike Rogers, Peter King, and their ilk mean when they tell us that 'we' need to find the right balance between security and privacy is that they will dictate to us what the alleged balance will be. We will have no real say in the matter, and they can be counted on to find the balance on the 'security' side of the spectrum as suits their interests. Of course, our rulers can’t really set things to the security side of the spectrum because the game is rigged. When we give up privacy — or, rather, when our rulers take it — we don’t get security in return; we get a more intrusive state, which means we get more insecurity." Continue reading

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Vote Harder: The Barack Obama Story

"He opposed the Iraq war, promised to shut down Gitmo and denounced warrantless domestic wiretapping by the NSA. But we see this 'progressive' superstar, who all but promised to usher in a 21st century Church Committee, presiding over the massive expansion of illegal drone warfare around the world and the largest expansion of the surveillance state in history. We see this man, who promised the 'most transparent administration in history,' pursuing vindictive reprisals — on a scale rivaling Woodrow Wilson or Richard Nixon — against whistleblowers who expose the surveillance state’s terrifying scope." Continue reading

Continue ReadingVote Harder: The Barack Obama Story