July 18, 2013

NSA Daze Public Announcement: BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU POST ON-LINE ANYWHERE!!

IF you don't want storm troopers at your door at 7am, that is.

NSA "Joke": US Military Intervene over Facebook Event
By Judith Horchert * Der Spiegel

As a joke, a German man recently invited some friends for a walk around a top secret NSA facility. But the Facebook invitation soon had German federal police knocking at his door. They had been alerted by the American authorities.

Normally, Daniel Bangert's Facebook posts tend to be of the serious variety. The 28-year-old includes news items and other bits of interest he encounters throughout the day. "I rarely post funny pictures," he says.

As a joke, a German man recently invited some friends for a walk around a top secret NSA facility. But the Facebook invitation soon had German federal police knocking at his door. They had been alerted by the American authorities.

Normally, Daniel Bangert's Facebook posts tend to be of the serious variety. The 28-year-old includes news items and other bits of interest he encounters throughout the day. "I rarely post funny pictures," he says.

He described the outing as though it were a nature walk. He wrote on Facebook that its purpose was to undertake "joint research into the threatened habitat of NSA spies." He added: "If we are really lucky, we might actually see a real NSA spy with our own eyes." He suggested that those interested in coming should bring along their cameras and "flowers of all kinds to improve the appearance of the NSA spies' habitat."

Perhaps not surprisingly, not many of his friends showed much interest in the venture. But the authorities did. Just four days after he posted the invitation, his mobile phone rang at 7:17 a.m. It was the police calling to talk about his Facebook post.

'I Couldn't Believe It'

Bangert's doorbell rang at almost the exact same time. The police on the telephone told him to talk with the officers outside of his door. Bangert quickly put on a T-shirt -- which had a picture of NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden on it along with the words "Team Edward" -- and answered the door. His neighbor was outside too so as not to miss the fun.

http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/us-military-and-german-police-respond-to-facebook-post-about-nsa-walk-a-911451.html


PS: I already know that in THIS case the police came like they should, during the day

July 18, 2013

Car Crash that Killed Rolling Stone Reporter Michael Hastings Still Being Investigated

The story that Hastings was working on involved disgraced General Petraeus' mistress, which is one of the reasons Hastings' untimely "accident" stinks to high Heaven. Petraeus has an unfortunate habit of leaving dead bodies of potential whistleblowers and/or "leakers" in his wake: See Col Ted Westhusing's "suicide" in Iraq.
http://www.thenation.com/blog/36661/general-petraeuss-link-troubling-suicide-iraq-ted-westhusing-story#axzz2ZPsR6jW1

~~~~~~~~ * ~~~~~~~~~ * ~~~~~~~~ * ~~~~~~~~ * ~~~~~~~~~ * ~~~~~~~~ *

Car Crash that Killed Rolling Stone Reporter Michael Hastings Still Being Investigated
Rumors that Hastings' body was cremated against his family's wishes only fueling conspiracy theories.
July 17, 2013 * AlterNet * By Steven Rosenfeld


Los Angeles County law enforcement officials have not yet closed their investigation into the high-speed car crash and ensuing inferno that killed Rolling Stone journalist Michael Hastings in the early morning hours of June 18 th in the city’s Hancock Park neighborhood.

Hastings was killed when his Mercedes crashed into a tree and exploded, sparking theories that the reporter, who was said to be working on a major exposé of the CIA, could have been assassinated. In 2010, his Rolling Stone profile of Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal, then the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, contained critical remarks about the White House and prompted the general’s reassignment.

“The latest is there is no foul play suspected—that’s all you would get from us,” a Los Angeles Police Department press officer said Wednesday. “According to our traffic investigators, there’s no foul play. That’s all speculation.”

A handful of news organizations have unearthed video of Hastings car speeding through a red light moments before the crash, as well as live footage of the crash scene before the L.A. Fire Department and Police Department arrived on the scene. That crash scene footage contains eyewitness accounts describing how the car was seen spinning out of control and bursting into a fully engulfed fire upon impact.

There has been speculation that a bomb was planted near the gas tank, as well as suggestions that perhaps the Mercedes’ on-board computer controls were hacked—causing the rapid acceleration and crash despite whatever Hastings might have been doing behind the wheel to counter that. There are also reports that Hastings’ body was cremated by the L.A. Coroner’s office against his surviving family’s wishes, implying that physiological evidence was purposely destroyed.

On Wednesday, Los Angeles Department of Coroner Captain John Kades said that his office has not closed its investigation because it is awaiting the results of a range of autopsy tests—which will take another four to six weeks to complete. Hastings’ body was delivered at his family’s request to a funeral home, he said, where it was subsequently cremated. This procedure for transferring remains was routine, he said.

http://www.alternet.org/news-amp-politics/michael-hastings-car-crash-death-still-being-investigated

July 17, 2013

Big Changes in the wind: "avalanche of legal challenges to NSA" snooping practices

Slew of court challenges threaten NSA's relationship with tech firms
Unlikely coalition takes NSA – and the telecoms firms who own much of the web's infrastructure – to court over bulk surveillance.
Spencer Ackerman * guardian.co.uk * Wednesday 17 July 2013 08.37 EDT

An avalanche of legal challenges to the National Security Agency threaten to upend one of the most delicate balances the surveillance agency labors to strike: its critical relationship with telecommunications and internet companies.

An unlikely coalition of advocacy groups are taking the NSA to court, claiming the bulk surveillance it conducts on Americans phone records and their online habits is unconstitutional. One of them is aiming beyond the NSA itself, and at the companies the NSA partners with for much of that data.

The NSA's relationship with those companies is critical, since much of the telecommunications infrastructure of the United States is owned and operated by private firms. While the lawsuits face significant obstacles, they stand a chance of splitting the financial and legal interests of the telecoms firms and and Internet Service Providers from those of the NSA – something that could restrict the surveillance efforts more than any legislation Congress is likely to pass.

"Without the companies' participation," said former NSA codebreaker William Binney, "it would reduce the collection capability of the NSA significantly."

The lawsuits, which take several different paths to blocking the bulk surveillance, are proliferating quickly.

One filed on Tuesday in a California federal court united a coalition of 19 gun owners, human-rights groups, Muslim organizations, environmentalists and marijuana legalization advocates seeking a "preliminary and permanent injunction" against NSA surveillance. Their claims about the surveillance violating their speech and privacy rights echoed another suit filed last month in a New York federal court by the ACLU challenging the programs' constitutionality.

Similarly, a suit first filed in California five years ago was resurrected last week after a judge ruled that revelations about bulk surveillance published by the Guardian and the Washington Post and confirmed by the government prevent the Justice Department from quashing the suit as a state secret. The Electronic Privacy Information Center petitioned the supreme court last week to "vacate an unlawful order" by the secretive Fisa court for mass phone records from Americans.

MORE HERE> http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jul/17/nsa-court-challenges-tech-firms

July 17, 2013

The Strange Case of Barrett Brown: Journalist/hacktivist facing 105 yrs. in JAIL for doing his job

You've probably heard of Julian Assange, Bradley Manning, Michael Hastings & Edward Snowden, but you probably haven't heard yet about Barrett Brown? I hadn't either, not until 15 minutes ago, I stumbled across this, in a Democracy Now report, which aired about a week ago. Brown apparently had (or claimed to have) some connection to Anonymous, and was an accomplished journalist and hacker-for-justice with ties to TM



Jailed Journalist Barrett Brown Faces 105 Years For Reporting on Hacked Private Intelligence Firms
~*~*~*~ Democracy Now ~*~*~*~

http://www.democracynow.org/2013/7/11/jailed_journalist_barrett_brown_faces_105

July 16, 2013

FOX anchor inadvertently Implies Michael Hastings could have been "assassinated"

But probably NOT by Al Queda. Evil bastards.

K&R is you agree this needs to be investigated by Congress.

Fox News warns Al-Qaeda could ‘hack your car & crash it’
By David Edwards
Tuesday, July 16, 2013 14:57 EDT

Fox News on Tuesday advised viewers to revert to vehicles from the 1960s or even a “horse and buggy” because Al-Qaeda terrorists could take over the computer in their car and make it crash.

In a segment titled “Al Qaeda Behind the Wheel: How Terrorists Could Crash Your Car,” cyberterrorism analyst Morgan Wright said that it was a “fact” that “you can take control of a car” through systems like General Motor’s OnStar.

“My concern is when they not only just hack the car, they hack the systems that control these cars or have access to them,” Wright noted. “A lot of people say that’s far fetched, but one of my examples, you know, on Sept. 10th, 2001, we thought it was far fetched to fly four airplanes into a building, never thought it could happen. So, never say never.”

Complete report & Video of broadcast here:
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/07/16/fox-news-warns-al-qaeda-could-hack-your-car-crash-it/

Reportedly Richard Clark thinks this may be what happened as well, as descriibed in this HuffPo article on June 24th.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/24/michael-hastings-car-hacked_n_3492339.html

July 15, 2013

Ouch! Please file under: "Ugly Things One Is 'Required' To Do As POTUS" ...

Obama toasts Bush: 'We are surely a kinder and gentler nation because of you'
By Michael O'Brien, Political Reporter, NBC News

In a rare and warm appearance, former President George H.W. Bush returned to the White House on Monday. The 89-year-old was there to hand out the 5,000th award from his "Points of Light" Foundation, but the celebration also recognized the 41st president’s legacy of charity and altruism.

In brief remarks, Bush, who suffered from a protracted hospital stay late last year and was confined to a wheelchair, thanked Obama for his hospitality: "It's like coming home for Barbara and me."

President Barack Obama credited the 89-year-old Bush with sparking a "national movement" to advance volunteerism and community service as the 41st president of the United States, joined Obama onstage.

"You've described for us those thousand points of light -- all the people and organizations spread out all across the country who are like stars brightening the lives of those around them," Obama said at the White House. "But given the humility that's defined your life, I suspect it's harder for you to see something that's clear to everybody else around you, and that's how bright a light you shine."
"On behalf of all of us, let me just say that we are surely a kinder and gentler nation because of you, and we can't thank you enough," Obama added.
http://nbcpolitics.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/07/15/19487988-obama-toasts-bush-we-are-surely-a-kinder-and-gentler-nation-because-of-you

July 15, 2013

Peter Van Buren: "Snowden is one of us"

State Dept. Whistleblower Peter Van Buren: Edward Snowden is One Of Us
By: Peter Van Buren Friday July 12, 2013 3:26 pm

Edward Snowden today made clear both his own bona fides as a whistleblower, and the hypocrisy of the United States in its manhunt for him.

Whistleblower? Snowden’s remarks reinforce the basic tenet of whistleblowing, that is an act of conscience. He made clear what he gave up– home, family, perhaps even his liberty and life– and what we gained, learning what a government which claims to be “of the people” is doing to the people.

Snowden still loves America, if not its government and its intelligence services. He reinforced that idea that one courageous act of conscience might make a difference in a nation gone astray.

Hypocrisy? Of the countries that offered to help Edward Snowden, the U.S. itself has accepted 3,103 of their own asylees, 1,222 from Russia and 1,762 from Venezuela.

The U.S. took those people in without a hint of regard for anyone’s opposition. This is in fact how the asylum system, codified by various UN treaties the U.S. has signed, should work.

The concept of asylum reaches back to the original democracy, Greece, and it is shameful that the United States today, in only this one case, refuses to recognize it as a fundamental right of a free people.

Our Founders, who pledged their own lives, fortunes and sacred honor to such ideals, would weep.

Irony? During the Cold War, the Soviet Union was notorious for refusing to grant dissidents passports, while the U.S. regularly waived such requirements when they escaped to the West.

Indeed, it was only about a year ago that the U.S. gave Chinese dissident Chen Guang Cheng refuge in our own embassy in Beijing before allowing him to enter the United States.

Snowden also touched on the most fundamental of points: that the America he is defending is not limited to physical safety, but extends deeper, to the freedoms from unwarranted search and seizure that define America.

Source: http://dissenter.firedoglake.com/2013/07/12/state-dept-whistleblower-peter-van-buren-edward-snowden-is-one-of-us/

July 13, 2013

Don't you mean, "prosecute him for exposing US Gov't lies to American public"?

AKA blowing the whistle on "Mr. Transparency" <-- while on campaign trail, running for POTUS.

July 7, 2013

Blowback from the White House's Vindictive War on Whistleblowers

Blowback from the White House's Vindictive War on Whistleblowers
Edward Snowden is explicit: seeing whistleblowers like me punitively treated only motivates citizens of conscience more
Saturday, July 6, 2013 * The Guardian * by Shamai Leibowitz

In 2009, I was working as a contract linguist for the FBI when I discovered that the FBI was committing what I believed to be illegal acts. After I revealed these to a blogger, the Department of Justice came after me with a vengeance.

When the FBI confronted me, I admitted what I had done. I tried to negotiate for a reasonable resolution of my case. The documents I disclosed were never explicitly published anywhere, but that didn't matter: the DOJ was adamant that I be charged under the Espionage Act and spend time in jail. Even though I leaked the material because I thought the FBI was doing something illegal, and the American people had a right to know, I faced the threat of dozens of years in prison. I did what was best for my family, and signed a plea agreeing to a 20-month sentence.

Considering Edward Snowden's revelations, what I witnessed pales in comparison. But reading about the secretive NSA programs collecting the private data of millions of Americans did not surprise me. As Snowden explained, he watched for years as the military-industrial-intelligence complex turned our country into a massive surveillance state, and observed a "continuing litany of lies" from senior officials to Congress. Eventually, he decided to speak out, because he could not in good conscience remain silent.

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2013/07/06-1

July 7, 2013

Article V Convention To Amend Constitution Pushed By Several States

Article V Convention To Amend Constitution Pushed By Several States
HuffPo produced this video back in March of this year, calling for a new Constitutional
Convention as a way to push back against Citizen's United.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/25/article-v-convention_n_2951027.html

If a new Constitutional Convention was a good progressive thing to do regarding
Citizen's United, back in March; then I think the Snowden/NSA dust-up is ALL THE
MORE reason to be concerned that our Liberty is being eclipsed by the Koch Bros.,
the NSA, et. al. very rapidly and pretty much completely.