Michael Chertoff Makes the Case against Back Doors
One of the more interesting comments at the Aspen Security Forum (one that has, as far as I've seen, gone unreported) came on Friday when Michael Chertoff was asked about whether the government should be able to require back doors. He provided…
Was Chrysler's Vehicle Hacking Risk an SEC Disclosure Reportable Event?
Remember the data breach at JPMorgan Chase, exposing 76 million accounts to "hack-mapping"? Last October, JPMorgan Chase publicly disclosed the intrusion and exposure to investors in an 8-K filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.…
John Carlin Complains that ISIL Is Targeting Same Youth FBI Long Has Been
I'm reviewing some of the videos from the Aspen Security Forum. This one features DOJ Assistant Attorney General for National Security John Carlin and CIA General Counsel Caroline Krass.
I'm including it here so you can review Carlin's…
In Political Press, Hillary Clinton Gets Subjected to the Thomas Drake and Jeffrey Sterling Standard
[First posted at ExposeFacts.org]
The political press is abuzz with news that the State Department (State IG) and Intelligence Community Inspectors General (ICIG) have asked the Department of Justice to review whether the Department’s handling…
OLC Undermines DOJ Inspector General Independence
For over a year, DOJ's Inspector General has been trying to ensure it got ready access to things like grand jury materials (this has been pertinent in the Fast and Furious investigation and how DEA and FBI use the latter's dragnet, among other…
The Bullshit Excuses for Not Retaliating for OPM
A handful of anonymous sources have given Ellen Nakashima some bullshit explanations for why the Administration is not retaliating against China for the OPM hack.
Most laughable is that they're willing to retaliate for "economic" spying but…
DEA's One Minute Confidential Source Vetting Process
I'm still reading this report on DEA's informant program, which shows that DEA operated by its own rules, sometimes resulting in DEA having high level informants that didn't comply with the Attorney General's guidelines, at other times resulting…
Why Apple Should Pay Particular Attention to Wired's New Car Hacking Story
This morning, Wired reports that the hackers who two years ago hacked an Escape and a Prius via physical access have hacked a Jeep Cherokee via remote (mobile phone) access. They accessed the vehicle's Electronic Control Unit and from that were…
Mankiw’s Principles of Economics Part 3: Rational People Think At The Margin
The introduction to this series is here.
Part 1 is here.
Part 2 is here.
Mankiw’s third principle: Rational People Think At The Margin. His definition is:
Rational people systematically and purposefully do the best they can to achieve…
WikiLeaks Reveals Steinmeier Intercepts, 2 Years before Helping Condi Look Unconcerned by Kidnapping Liabilities
In its latest release on the individual intercepts the NSA collected on top German officials, WikiLeaks revealed that Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier had been a priority 2 target in NSA's monitoring of German political affairs.
The…
The Bipartisan Push for Internment Camps
On Friday, Franklin Graham posted this on his Facebook page:
Four innocent Marines (United States Marine Corps) killed and three others wounded in #Chattanooga yesterday including a policeman and another Marine--all by a radical Muslim…
O'Malley's Explanation for White Lives Matter
As you've no doubt heard the Presidential forum at Netroots Nation was interrupted by a Black Lives Matter action, with probably about 50-75 people (mostly, but not entirely, African Americans) who interrupted the discussion between Jose Antonio…
Remember Yemen?
Eid Mubarak. Today Ramadan ends, a big celebration in the Muslim community.
Saudi Arabia chose to celebrate by doing what they've been doing for over a hundred days: bombing Yemen.
Yet the continued plight of Yemenis…
European Neoliberals Crushed the Leftist Party in Greece
Two of the most depressing interviews I have ever seen are the Jacobin interview with Stathis Kouvelakis and the New Statesman interview with Yanis Varoufakis in the wake of the Greek referendum and the capitulation of Prime MInister Alexis…
HUD Digs an Escape Tunnel for Jamie Dimon
The other day I dismissed US disdain for Mexico at its inability to keep Chapo Guzmán jailed. After all, I pointed out, we don't even try to imprison our Transnational Crime Organization bosses.
At the Intercept yesterday, DDay pointed out…
Beware the FISCR Fast-Track
As promised, today ACLU asked the Second Circuit to enjoin the NSA's collection of their phone records under the renewed phone dragnet.
Accordingly, Plaintiffs respectfully ask that the Court now grant the preliminary relief it refrained from…
Iran, P5+1 Reach Historic Final Agreement, Frustrating Opponents Who Push for War
It has been nearly 20 months since the group of P5+1 countries (China, France, Germany, the Russian Federation, the United Kingdom and the United States) and Iran reached an interim agreement limiting Iran's work on nuclear technology. Progress…
Mankiw’s Principles of Economics Part 2: The Cost of Something Is What You Give Up To Get It
The introduction to this series is here.
Part 1 is here.
Mankiw’s second principle is The Cost of Something Is What You Give Up To Get It. Mankiw explains that you have to include opportunity costs in your calculations. His example is…
A Tale of Two Gun Possessions: Dylann Roof and Alexander Ciccolo
I have been wondering whether the FBI has been coy about the ISIS-related arrests they've leaked to the press, in part, because those "terrorist plots" look minor compared to the murder, allegedly by Dylann Roof, of nine people at a black…
Sheldon Whitehouse's Hot and Cold Corporate Cybersecurity Liability
Ben Wittes has a summary of last Wednesday's "Going Dark" hearings. He engages in a really amusing straw man -- comparing a hypothetically perfectly secure Internet with ungoverned Somalia.
Consider the conceptual question first. Would it be…