Winning Hearts & Minds

Hong Kong protesters back Edward Snowden, denounce allegations of U.S. spying

"A few hundred rights advocates and political activists marched through Hong Kong on Saturday to demand protection for Edward Snowden, who leaked revelations of U.S. electronic surveillance and is now believed to be holed up in the former British colony. 'Arrest Obama, free Snowden,' protesters shouted outside the slate grey building as police looked on. Many waved banners that said: 'Betray Snowden, betray freedom', 'Big brother is watching you' and 'Obama is checking your email'. The city reverted to Chinese rule in 1997 but enjoys far more liberal laws on dissent and freedom of expression." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingHong Kong protesters back Edward Snowden, denounce allegations of U.S. spying

Police sued after charging girl with making up rape claim about serial rapist

"A woman has sued several police and city officials after she was accused of lying about being raped. Marc Patrick O’Leary was later sentenced to more than 300 years in prison in 2011. In 2008, when the woman was 18, she reported that O’Leary had tied her up and assaulted her. Police found physical evidence that supported her story, and doctors documented abrasions on her wrists and vagina. However, the detectives accused her of fabricating the incident and charged her with filing a false police report. Three years later, O’Leary was arrested and federal agents uncovered hundreds of photos of his victims, including the woman." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingPolice sued after charging girl with making up rape claim about serial rapist

Supreme Court revokes right to protest on court grounds

"Just two days after a judge struck down a decades-old law banning protests on Supreme Court grounds, the nation’s highest court has in effect restored it with a new rule governing conduct on its premises. The ban, first passed by Congress in 1949, was struck down Tuesday with extreme prejudice by Obama-appointed Judge Beryl A. Howell, who called it 'repugnant' and a clear violation of the First Amendment. According to The Associated Press, a rule the court issued Thursday bans 'picketing, speech-making, marching or vigils' on the Supreme Court’s plaza, while explicitly making way for 'casual use' by visitors." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSupreme Court revokes right to protest on court grounds

Thousands march through Moscow against Putin

"Several thousand people marched through Moscow on Wednesday to support detained or jailed anti-Kremlin protesters, a day after President Vladimir Putin accused Washington of supporting a protest movement against him. Some 7,000 to 10,000 people participated in the march, according to AFP correspondents, while police put the turnout at 5,000 people. The march, timed to coincide with the Day of Russia, a national holiday, comes after Putin on Tuesday evening accused Washington of supporting the opposition against him." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingThousands march through Moscow against Putin

Vladimir Putin defends the U.S. on spying programs, drones and Occupy Wall Street

"Russian President Vladimir Putin called the massive U.S. surveillance programs, revealed last week by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden, 'generally practicable' and 'the way a civilized society should go about fighting terrorism.' His comments seemed to defend programs that have been deeply controversial in the United States and much of Europe, offering an endorsement that the Obama administration is probably not thrilled to receive. He said of the New York city police response to Occupy Wall Street, in a comment sympathetic toward controversial U.S. programs, 'That’s the way it’s done in the U.S., and that’s the way it’s done in Russia.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingVladimir Putin defends the U.S. on spying programs, drones and Occupy Wall Street

Congress resumes attacks on emigrants: the Ex-PATRIOT Act is back

"It would seem that Chuck Schumer, the Democratic Senator from the State of New York, has learned a few tricks from Carl Levin about gaming the U.S. legislative process. Now, instead of trying to get his bill to pass on its own merits, he’s snuck it into an existing bill with a greater chance of passing — just as FATCA died in committee before being snuck into the HEART Act. Other countries both developing and developed — ranging from the Philippines to Denmark to South Korea — have easy-to-obtain diaspora visas for their former citizens. The United States, on the other hand, is once again proposing exile for its own former citizens." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingCongress resumes attacks on emigrants: the Ex-PATRIOT Act is back

Police take over food delivery run, bust recipient for marijuana

"Norman Police Officer David Stevenson was contacted by a female delivery driver in reference to a medical emergency she was having. She was at the intersection of West Lindsey Street and Crown Point Avenue, close to where her she was dropping off her next delivery. Prior to being transported to the hospital, she requested that the food she was about to deliver be delivered by Officer Stevenson, the affidavit said. When Wolf opened the door to his home, Stevenson said he observed a strong odor of marijuana coming from inside, saw a glass jar containing marijuana and a smoking pipe lying on the living room coffee table." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingPolice take over food delivery run, bust recipient for marijuana

EU warns Obama of ‘grave consequences’ facing Europeans from NSA intel scandal

"Viviane Reding, the EU’s Justice Commissioner, wrote a letter on Monday to US Attorney General Eric Holder demanding 'swift and concrete' answers about the spy scheme when they meet in Dublin on Friday. 'Programmes such as PRISM and the laws on the basis of which such programmes are authorised could have grave adverse consequences for the fundamental rights of EU citizens,' she wrote. Her questions to Holder include whether EU citizens were targeted by the US programmes, whether Europeans would be able find out whether their data has been accessed, and whether they would be treated similarly to US nationals in such cases." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingEU warns Obama of ‘grave consequences’ facing Europeans from NSA intel scandal

The Torture State’s Latest Victory

"The Supreme Court has quietly dismissed a lawsuit filed by a U.S. Navy veteran named Donald Vance who was illegally imprisoned and tortured by the government he served. In 2004, during the U.S. occupation of Iraq, Donald Vance went to that country to work as a security contractor. He soon discovered that the company employing him was deeply corrupt and selling weapons to radical Islamist militias. Vance contacted the FBI and began feeding it information about what he found. This prompted military officials to arrest Vance and confine him in an Iraqi dungeon, where he was tortured." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingThe Torture State’s Latest Victory

James Bamford: Connecting the Dots on PRISM, Phone Surveillance, and the NSA’s Massive Spy Center

"Physically, the NSA has always been well protected by miles of high fences and electrified wire, thousands of cameras, and gun-toting guards. But that was to protect the agency from those on the outside trying to get in to steal secrets. Now it is confronting a new challenge: those on the inside going out and giving the secrets away. While the agency has had its share of spies, employees who have sold top-secret documents to foreign governments for cash, until the last few years it has never had to deal with whistleblowers passing top-secret information and documents to the press because their conscience demanded it." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingJames Bamford: Connecting the Dots on PRISM, Phone Surveillance, and the NSA’s Massive Spy Center