US Foreign Policy in a NUTshell
This partial screen capture from the "World" section of today's New York Times really needs no further explanation of the incompetence of US diplomats and military strategists:
There simply are no words to adequately describe the insanity…
Use the Cantor Shellacking to Reverse Course on USA Freedumber
Eric Cantor, who famously held up earthquake relief to his own district on Paygo rules, got his ass handed to him last night by Tea Party candidate Dave Brat.
And while my impression is Cantor lost because of that kind of disdain for his…
Breaking Point: Media Finally Reporting on Violence Tied to Right Wing Extremism
In April of Barack Obama's first year in office, right wing America had a collective meltdown when the Department of Homeland Security dared to write a report (pdf) on right wing extremism and the domestic terrorists that could be tied to the…
Why Doesn't FISCR Have a Public Docket?
In the government's arguments justifying the constitutionality of Section 702 the government has made fairly breathtaking claims that there is a foreign intelligence to the Constitution's warrant requirement.
Which has gotten me wondering…
NY Times, Reuters Whitewash US Drone Strike Killing of Mehsud From Taliban Reasons for Karachi Airport Attack
Karachi's Airport has resumed operations today, but a deadly late night attack shut it down for many hours overnight. It appears that ten militants entered the airport Sunday night, most likely uniformed as airport security personnel, and killed…
Verizon Counsel Speaks Out Against "Outsourcing" Intelligence
One of the concerns I've raised about HR 3361 -- AKA USA Freedumber -- regards who will do some of the data analysis that the NSA "data integrity analysts" currently do before the contact-chaining stage. As I've noted, the most privacy protective…
Mark Warner Lays Out How USA Freedumber Will Put the NSA in Your Smartphone
I noted this yesterday in a quick post, but I wanted to post the video and my transcription of Mark Warner's efforts to lay out some of the privacy problems with HR 3361, which I call USA Freedumber.
Warner, who made his fortune as a…
If George Bush Can Close NSA's Back Door Loophole, Why Can't Barack Obama?
As per usual, there was a tidbit of news in Ron Wyden's questions at yesterday's hearing on the USA Freedumber.
He revealed that the back door loophole was closed during the Bush Administration.
Let me start by talking about the fact that…
Dianne Feinstein: I Believe Specific Selection Term Is Confusing
In the Senate Intelligence Committee hearing on HR 3361 -- which I call the USA Freedumber Act because it makes the dragnet worse in several ways -- Dianne Feinstein used her opening statement to talk about the role of "specific selection…
Government Appears to Be Trying to Hide 3 Other OLC Memos in the Awlaki Memo
The Government is trying to quasi appeal the 2nd Circuit's order to turn over information on the Awlaki killing (in part, it appears, to claim the CIA was not involved in the killing after all!). It appears to be hiding a number of references…
DOJ's Idea of an Appropriate Passive-Aggressive Response to Accusations They Destroyed Evidence: Destroy More Evidence
On Friday May 30, as I reported, EFF filed a motion accusing the government of destroying evidence it was obligated to keep in EFF's NSA lawsuits.
Later that day, EFF Legal Director Cindy Cohn emailed her contact at DOJ, Marcia (Marcy) Berman,…
Mark Warner Confirms USA Freedumber Expands Surveillance
The Senate Intelligence Committee is in the middle of its Snowden Day hearing on the USA Freedumber Act. I'll have more to say about it later (spoiler alert: the hearing has proven that the overseers don't understand the program they're currently…
Dunford Declares Taliban's Political Space "Significantly Reduced" on Day of Their Biggest Propaganda Win
I often note how the US military, throughout its nearly 13 year quagmire in Afghanistan, continues to spout "we're winning" messages when it is clear that the entire effort has been an utter failure from the start. Juxtaposing a story in today's…
Richard Posner Prepares to Overrule the Intent of Congress, and Other FISA in Court Stories
While the focus on NSA related issues will be on Washington DC today, with activist events, a debate at Brookings, and a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing, yesterday it was in several courtrooms.
In Chicago DC, Richard Posner reportedly…
Those Cable Landings Chelsea Manning Didn't Leak
Yesterday, The Register published what it claims is the story that led GCHQ to destroy the Guardian's hard drives: the location of a key GCHQ base in the Middle East and its relationships with British Telecom and Vodaphone.
While the BT/Vodaphone…
Why Are the US Marshals at the Center of All These Pen Registers?
The US Marshal Service shows up prominently in two Pen Register stories from yesterday.
First, as part of a great story from WSJ's Jen Valentino-Devries mapping out how many federal criminal electronic records requests never get unsealed...
In…
Predictably, Saxby Chambliss Makes a Bid for USA Freedumbest
I've written several times about how HR 3361 -- what others call USA Freedom Act and I dubbed the USA Freedumber Act when it was gutted in the House -- is worse than the status quo in a number of ways.
But I'm also aware that the Senate could…
What Role Will Released Taliban Detainees Have in Afghanistan's Future?
A provincial governor and one of the more moderate co-founders of the Taliban, a top military commander (who was betrayed by our war criminal Rashid Dostum, and against whom credible war crimes complaints have been raised), another provincial…
As Snowden Leak Anniversary Approaches, Intelligence Community Prepares to Declare Victory
As June 5 approaches -- and with it the one year anniversary of the first reporting on Edward Snowden's leaks -- the privacy community is calling supporters to redouble efforts to improve the NSA "reform bill," which I call the USA Freedumber…
Targeting Terrorists Based on Their (?!?) Sorority Membership
As part of my continuing obsession with the way NSA tracks identities, I wanted to take a close look at one slide released by the NYT with its facial recognition story the other day. It tracks all the kinds of data the NSA and its Five Eyes…