The Forgotten OPR Report Exposing the White House Role in Torture
McClatchy reports today that the Senate Intelligence Report will include no details on the White House role in torture.
The Senate Intelligence Committee report also didn’t examine the responsibility of top Bush administration lawyers in…
Jim Comey's Confused Defense of Front Door Back Doors and Storage Intercepts
I said somewhere that those wailing about Apple's new default crypto in its handsets are either lying or are confused about the difference between a phone service and a storage device.
For the moment, I'm going to put FBI Director Jim Comey…
60 Minutes Comey Refutes 60 Minutes Comey
Today, Jim Comey will give what will surely be an aggressively moderated (by Ben Wittes!) talk at Brookings, arguing that Apple should not offer its customers basic privacy tools (congratulations to NYT's Michael Schmidt for beating the rush…
Iran Threatens to Chase Terrorists in Pakistan (Just Like US!)
As I noted in discussing the first reports of the explosion at Parchin, early September saw a larger than usual incident along the Iran-Pakistan border, with a force of over 70 militants and a truck packed with over 1000 pounds of explosives…
Richard Burr Prepares to Capitalize on Refusing to Exercise Intelligence Oversight
In James Risen's new book, he provides new details on what happened to the NSA whistleblowers -- Bill Binney, Kurt Wiebe, Ed Loomis, Thomas Drake -- who tried to stop President Bush's illegal wiretap program, adding to what Jane Mayer wrote…
Texas Hospital Violated Basic Precaution in WHO Ebola Patient Treatment Guidelines
The incompetence of Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas is staggering. In following today's rapidly developing story of a second nurse at the hospital now testing positive for Ebola, this passage in the New York Times stands out, where…
The Timing of CIA's Discovery Its Paramilitary Ops Fail
Mark Mazzetti reports that in 2012 and 2013, CIA did a study that one of its favorite means of covert intervention -- arming rebels -- pretty much doesn't work.
An internal C.I.A. study has found that it rarely works.
The still-classified…
Why the Bargain Reward for Ibrahim al-Asiri?
For 5 years, Ibrahim al-Asiri has been the chief boogeyman in US efforts to scare Americans about terrorism from AQAP (and to justify huge outlays for dumb machines TSA can use). Almost yearly, the CIA leaks to ABC News that Asiri has mastered…
Saddam's WMD: Technology Made In USA, Delivered by Rumsfeld
In a blockbuster story published last night by the New York Times, C.J. Shivers lays out chapter and verse on the despicable way the US military covered up the discovery of chemical weapons in Iraq after the 2003 invasion. Even worse is…
Moussaoui Wants to Testify Against the Saudi Banks
Zacarias Moussaoui sent a letter to the judge presiding over a lawsuit against Jordanian Arab Bank, offering to testify against that bank and several Saudi banks that he says supported 9/11.
I want to testify against financial institutions…
The Fossil Fueled Military Battles Climate Change
"The responsibility of the Department of Defense is the security of our country." Thus begins DOD's 2014 Climate Change Adaption Road Map, released yesterday to much acclaim.
But then two paragraphs later, it refers to climate change as a…
Ebola Transmission: Health Care Worker Practice Most Important Consideration
Not long after we learned that a health care worker treating Thomas Duncan has tested positive for Ebola, I ran across this terse tweet from Mackey Dunn, the pen name of Don Weiss, who is "a medical epidemiologist with the New York City Department…
Jim Comey Lied When He Claimed FBI Needs a Judge to Read Your Email
I believe that Americans should be deeply skeptical of government power. You cannot trust people in power. The founders knew that. That's why they divided power among three branches, to set interest against interest. -- FBI Director Jim Comey
As…
The No Fly List and DOJ's Notice Concessions
Congratulations to the ACLU, which last week got 6 of its 13 No Fly List plaintiffs moved off the No Fly List.
Seven American citizens who were banned by the government from air travel received word yesterday evening that they are cleared…
Is Someone Funding Saudi's Oil Flood?
Iran, Venezuela, Algeria, Nigeria, Russia, Ecuador, Iraq, Angola. Those are the countries the budgets of which will face significant shortfalls if the Saudis succeed in their bid to drive the oil price down below $90/barrel for the year or…
Described Focus of Protest in Kabul Dependent on News Outlet
A protest variously described as featuring "over a hundred", "hundreds" or "over 500" protesters took place in Kabul on Sunday. The object of the protest, however, was very dependent on whose report (or even whose headline) on the protest is…
A Remarkable Date for the Virgin Birth of the Silk Road Investigation
As Wired first reported, there's been an interesting exchange in the Silk Road prosecution. In September, the former FBI Agent who helped to bust accused Silk Road operator Ross Ulbricht, Christopher Tarbell, submitted a declaration explaining…
Formula One and Football Trash Talk
Last week we opened up with discussion of the stunning announcements of Sebastian Vettel and Fernando Alonso to change teams for 2015. That was a titanic sized announcement the likes of arguably never seen before in F1, certainly not with so…
Nobel Prize: The Surveillance Fight Remains Ahead of Us
This morning, the Nobel Prize awarded the Peace Price to Pakistani activist Malala Yousafzai.
In a piece published earlier this morning at Salon, I pointed out that so long as countries like Norway participate in the NSA's dragnet, Edward…
Moral Rectitude? No, John Brennan is a Honey Badger
A tweet yesterday by Arif Rafiq noted that there was a US drone strike in North Waziristan yesterday just a few hours before Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif would visit a spot only 20 miles away. At the New York Times article Rafiq linked:
Prime…