NSA questions

My questions about NSA relate more specifically about what IS legal and what is not...

What I do know so far is that there are several types of targets:

• foreigners completely outside US, either only in one country, or between 2 countries
• outside US but are US citizens
• inside US but not a US citizen 
• or between US citizen and a foreigner

So those are the basic relationships, though there may be other combinations as well.  Now there are the laws that NSA uses, discussed more here.  A good beginning to what I was trying to understand is explained here and here, explaining briefly 215, 702 and EO 12333 collections.

But my questions still relate to the 60 Minutes piece, specifically regarding the "example" about the "pirates" discussed here, especially from what I see, NSA ONLY cites EO 12333 as their authority.

Executive Order 12333, originally issued 4 December 1981, delineates the NSA/CSS roles and responsibilities.

and here too McClatchy article on EO 12333

Gen. Keith Alexander, the NSA director, has ratified that impression, saying that the majority of NSA data is collected “solely pursuant to the authorities provided by Executive Order 12333.”

So my questions are along these lines:

• What can legally be done under these laws, and others, for US citizens and foreigners??

1. 215
2. 702
3. EO 12333
4. FISC

Does a search on a target, either US or not, go through each of the above laws or only one or 2 laws depending on the type of search, email, phone, etc??

FROM 60 MINUTES "report" on NSA---many criticized everything, but  especially THIS

 

What would a typical legal search look like? or put another way, what should or would this search look like legally, versus what NSA is actually doing??
What should this search look like legally versus what NSA has been doing illegally??

""Strange that NSA contact-chaining tool demo'd for #60Minutes shows multiple EO12333 authorities only, no 215""

see my tweets in response ""why did they only show foreign metadata?? cant they collect content legally?"" and asking @ashk4n for more explaination why this is a bad example of putting americans' minds at ease

I have been reading NSA documents again, and getting SOME answers, but would still like more specific answers...

NSA Business Records (BR)  link here

NSA Business Records Slideshow link here

NSA Office of Deputy General Counsel (Operations) link here



New York Times Op-Ed by Senators Wyden, Udall, Heinrich  link here regarding 702 specifically

Our bill would prohibit the government from conducting warrantless “backdoor searches” of Americans’ communications — including emails, text messages and Internet use — under Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.

Wyden, Udall, Heinrich letter to Solicitor General Verrilli regarding 702 collection link here

In addition to authorizing the collection of communications to and from foreign,overseas targets, the FISA Amendments Act also has been secretly interpreted to authorize the collection of communications that are merely about a targeted overseas foreigner.

This form of collection allows the government -- through the "upstream"' collection under Section 702 -- to collect any communication whose content includes an identifier, such as an email address, associated with an overseas foreigner who may be a foreign intelligence target.

tens of thousands of emails between law-abiding Americans are likely being collected -- even though these Americans are not actually communicating directly with a foreign intelligence or terrorism target. As FAA collection was intended to target persons "reasonably believed to be located outside the United States," and targeting procedures were intended to "prevent the intentional acquisition of any communication as to which the sender and all intended recipients are known at the time of acquisition to be located in the United States," 

NSA 60 minutes

CBS 60 Minutes and the NSA link

Ok so there was a lot WRONG with the piece here, and it was easily criticized by everyone except obvious NSA defenders, but my key question was related to the metadata collection of the "pirates".

Metadata has become one of the most important tools in the NSA’s arsenal. Metadata is the digital information on the number dialed, the time and date, and the frequency of the calls.  We wanted to see how metadata was used at the NSA.  Analyst Stephen Benitez showed us a technique known as “call chaining” used to develop targets for electronic surveillance in a pirate network based in Somalia.

Stephen Benitez: As you see here, I'm only allowed to chain on anything that I've been trained on and that I have access to. Add our known pirate. And we chain him out. 

John Miller: Chain him out, for the audience, means what?

Stephen Benitez: People he's been in contact to for those 18 days.

Stephen Benitez: One that stands out to me first would be this one here. He's communicated with our target 12 times.

Stephen Benitez: Now we’re looking at Target B’s contacts.

John Miller: So he's talking to three or four known pirates?

Stephen Benitez: Correct. These three here. We have direct connection to both Target A and Target B. So we'll look at him, too, we'll chain him out. And you see, he's in communication with lots of known pirates. He might be the missing link that tells us everything.

John Miller: What happens in this space when a number comes up that's in Dallas?

Stephen Benitez: So If it does come up, normally, you'll see it as a protected number-- and if you don't have access to it, you won't be able to look.

If a terrorist is suspected of having contacts inside the United States, the NSA can query a database that contains the metadata of every phone call made in the U.S. going back five years.

THIS is how most of the articles and commentary are described----metadata, collection, surveillance etc, but from what I know about the NSA and Snowden revelations, there are the rules that they follow and what they are legally allowed to collect, link NSA is legally allowed to collect emails from Pakistan for example, so my question when I saw things like this tweet criticizing NSA for showing EO 12333 searches versus 215, I got confused, asking "why are they only collecting foreign metadata?? arent they legally allowed to collect content?? and what laws (215, 702, EO 12333) SHOULD they be using, and what does each law legally allow, besides the "secret law" interpretation that Snowden and others are upset about?

I really would appreciate an answer, for me and everyone else confused by this.

A Guide to NSA Laws

So I wanted to collect sources here about the relevant laws that NSA uses to collect intelligence---what the actual laws say, and the "Secret Laws" interpretations revealed in the Snowden Documents.

The Snowden Documents are available on many sites
The Guardian Snowden Documents
EFF Snowden Documents
ACLU Snowden Documents

ACLU explainer about NSA spying under Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (and Court) FISA/FISC link

Brennan Center for Justice Fact Sheet link

Senator Ron Wyden's section on "Secret Laws" how NSA and FISA secretly reinterprets PATRIOT ACT and FISA link

Senator Wyden at Center for American Progress in July 2013 link here   SPEECH PDF


NSA ONLY cites Executive Order 12333 as their authority link, NOT the Patriot Act, and HERE they define their mission to collect

Collect (including through clandestine means), process, analyze, produce, and disseminate signals intelligence information and data for foreign intelligence and counterintelligence purposes to support national and departmental missions;

What Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) says about EO 12333 and NSA link here

McClatchy article link here

Documents leaked by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden suggest that less than half of the metadata the NSA has collected has been acquired under provisions of the USA Patriot Act and the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, the two laws that have received the most attention for permitting NSA programs.

Gen. Keith Alexander, the NSA director, has ratified that impression, saying that the majority of NSA data is collected “solely pursuant to the authorities provided by Executive Order 12333.”

Read more here: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2013/11/21/209167/most-of-nsas-data-collection-authorized.html#storylink=cpy

Patriot Act section 215 and FAA section 702
ACLU on FAA (FISA Amendments Act 2008) link

Patriot Act Summary by Senator Leahy's office link

Leahy Patriot Act reforms, USA FREEDOM ACT link

Senator Wyden's Letter to fix errors in NSA "Fact Sheet" on 215 and 702 link here

ACLU on 215 (FBI authority, NOT NSA authority) link here

ACLU "Myths" Fact Sheet on 215 link

Reid Report (Joy Reid) blog on 215 and 702 link

PATRIOT ACT section 215

Sec. 215. Access to records and other items under the FISA. Both the House and Senate bills included this provision to remove the "agent of a foreign power" standard for court-ordered access to certain business records under FISA and expands the scope of court orders to include access to other records and tangible items. The authority may be used for an investigation to protect against international terrorism or clandestine intelligence activities or to obtain foreign intelligence information not concerning U.S. persons. An investigation of a United States person may not be based solely on activities protected by the First Amendment. Narrower than original Administration proposal, which would have removed requirements of court order and the "agent of a foreign power" showing.

FISA Amendment Act Section 702 link

SEC. 702. PROCEDURES FOR TARGETING CERTAIN PERSONS OUTSIDE THE UNITED 
              STATES OTHER THAN UNITED STATES PERSONS.

Just Security Blog article on 702 link

Section 702 is the statutory authority for the PRISM program, which involves warrantless collection of communications contents via targeting non-U.S. individuals or entities reasonably believed to be located abroad.

Section 702 authorizes warrantless acquisition of communications—including Americans’ communications—if at least one party to the message is overseas, and the target—that is the person or entity about which the government wants information—is a non-U.S. person.

NSA definitions of acronyms NSA website

INTERCEPT - The acquisition of electromagnetic signals, such as communications, radio or radar, using electronic equipment or other means for the purpose of gathering intelligence information on foreign entities. The material collected itself is sometimes referred to as "intercept."

SIGINT - Signals Intelligence - Information which contains communications intelligence (COMINT), electronics intelligence (ELINT), and foreign instrumentation signals intelligence (FISINT), either individually or in combination, however transmitted.

EO 12333, from The FBI v. The First Amendment by Richard Criley (1990) link A History of the Authors

Page 11 The "Thought Police" are still with us

After the 1976 public exposures of the FBI's flagrant abuses of constitutional rights, changes were made.  Congress broadened the purview of the Freedom of Information Act to include CIA and FBI documents.  Guidelines drafted by Edward H Levi, Attorney General in the Ford Administration, imposed restrictions on FBI investigations in First Amendment areas. William Webster, a federal judge, was appointed FBI Director with a mandate to carefully supervise FBI operations.

Early in the Reagan Administration, however, the President signaled a change in policy. He pardoned the only FBI officials ever tried and convicted of violations of constitutional rights.* In 1981, he issued Executive Order 12333, authorizing the CIA and FBI to engage in secret political spying to combat foreign "terrorism" on US soil.  In 1982, EO 12356 gave almost unlimited discretion to government officials to classify and withhold documents from the public. In 1983 Attorney General William French Smith issued new FBI guidelines, rescinding many of the restrictions imposed by Levi.

* FBI Officials W. Mark Felt and Edward Miller, who had authorized illegal break-ins in the investigation of the Weather Underground, were indicted in 1978 and convicted.  President Reagan issued the pardons without examining the trial records. (Kenneth O'Reily p. 291 "Hoover and the Un-Americans" 1983)


Audio/Video

Podcast Michael Hayden "explains" sections 215 and 702 and why its "no big deal" link
I made some comments about Hayden's podcast here and here

Podcast Barton Gellman responds to Michael Hayden link

Gellman and Hayden together, the "steel cage death match" video

Marcy Wheeler (emptywheel.net) explains NSA surveillance video

NSA Whistleblower Thomas Drake on 3 most important Snowden disclosures video FULL EPISODE, Snowden whistleblower award in Russia

BBC news "overview" of Snowden allegations video

washington post and NSA

some thoughts on Wahington Post, Jeff Bezos and NSA

From Christopher Soghoian (ACLU) tweet here
             Guess which major cloud computing company still hasn't published a transparency report for gov                  surveillance? Amazon.

so Bezos buys Washington Post in August link here with lots of implications----move paper online, make it a private company, expand Amazon empire (although it's Bezos buying paper NOT Amazon).

Snowden gave NSA documents in June to Guardian Glenn Greenwald, NYT Laura Poitras, with others like Bruce Schneier, and Barton Gellman of the Washington Post.

the questions are when did Bezos first plan to buy Washington Post----did he know about PRISM and Amazon cloud and NSA??? and how has NSA coverage been at Washington Post (besides Barton Gellman)???

More NSA

Videos on NSA, FISA, Intelligence Community

NSA surveillance Authority March 28 2006

Pre 9/11 Intel Failures

James Bamford Body of Secrets 2002

James Bamford Shadow Factory

Chatter----Global Eavesdropping

Pentagon Papers 35 years later


NSA Bill Binney Mass Surveillance before Snowden Revelations 
Bill Binney presentation on NSA from November 2012----why Snowden was so important-----NSA abuse was not in  the mainstream like it is now

MIT page here    Youtube

Binney answers some questions in the video-----

how much NSA can collect  20 terabytes a minute

Why General Hayden (audio & blog post) said earlier that ""in a perfect world he would brief the House/Senate intelligence committtees""

Bill Binney explains that the collection was illegal (as we know now) so NSA would only brief the Chair and Co-Chair of each committee---the House and Senate intelligence committees----so brief 4 people instead of 40

what was in the news before Snowden?? General Petraeus and his mistress, and Corporate spying, knowing you're pregnant based on your shopping habits.

Also discussed is European standards---you own your privacy, not how it works in the US

also discussed is the Jones Supreme Court case, discussing police placing a GPS on a car to investigate possible drug sales Jones Case interview On The Media

friday october 18

NSA FISA National Security Letters requests and Patriot Act Section 215 requests from emptywheel
http://t.co/yGKTncBejk

Commander defends Apache pilots in Collateral Murder video, speaks out after ""Fifth Estate"" release
http://t.co/pzOUPk3MPz

Commander says pilots ""were not trigger happy"" but the transcript says otherwise
http://t.co/e0dXYN0Sz0

NSA dissenters (Other Possible Snowdens)
http://t.co/yGFd9xam4z

The 2009 NSA Inspector General report that convinced Snowden to leak
https://t.co/gxQpwdJOmM

sunday october 13

Malala visits Obama in the White House link here

"I thanked President Obama for the United States' work in supporting education in Pakistan and Afghanistan and for Syrian refugees," Yousafzai said in a statement published by the Associated Press. "I also expressed my concerns that drone attacks are fueling terrorism. Innocent victims are killed in these acts, and they lead to resentment among the Pakistani people. If we refocus efforts on education it will make a big impact."

BBC 16 questions (well, statements) for Glenn Greenwald link here


NSA and the Conspiracy to Committ Journalism link here




Business Insider ""Top Republican replaces Obamacare With Obamacare link here

My Blog Post http://libdemtweets.blogspot.com/2013/10/issa-replaces-obamacare-with-obamacare.html

saturday october 12

Edward Snowden's laptops were blank says Ray McGovern
link here

Jack Goldsmith defends NSA ""collecting everything"" link here

Marcy Wheeler (emptywheel) on Jack Goldsmith and the NSA
link here


NPR interview with NSA Whistleblower Thomas Drake, who was with Edward Snowden in Russia this week along Whistleblowers with Ray McGovern, Coleen Rowley and Jesselyn Radack link here

Edward Snowden receives Sam Adams award in Russia visited by group of US Whistleblowers link here

Edward Snowden's leaks are leading to more disclosure and declassification from US Government (I say that was his goal all along) link here

sunday october 6

FREE BARRETT BROWN


JEREMY HAMMOND



NSA and Govt get caught OVER AND OVER lying to American Public on Spying
link here


Does the NSA think you are a terrorist?? link here
(well if you use TOR , then yes they do)


FBI seizes BitCoin, protestors fight back link here


Dont forget about Syria link here


Man sets himself on fire near White House link here



MORE PROOF this is the #GOPShutDown
link here

During the brief exchange, Paul suggested that Republicans would sound more reasonable if they struck a conciliatory tone on government funding than Democrats, who maintain that they won’t alter Obamacare as a condition of reopening the government.

“I think if we keep saying, ‘We wanted to defund it, we fought for that, but now we’re willing to compromise on this,’ Paul said. “I know we don’t want to be here, but we’re going to win this I think.”






Because of #GOPShutDown, Kerry will be in Asia APEC meeting instead of Obama, but its CORPORATIONS that wrote the Trade deal
http://www.exposethetpp.org/

https://www.citizen.org/tradewatch

Saturday oct 5

TOR Browser---Anonymity Online
torproject.org


NSA hates TOR Browser---TOR stands for ""The Onion Router"" a series of connections that creates an anonymous internet
TOR is ""King of High Secure Internet Anonymity""

NSA can see some individual users, but not whole TOR network

""TOR Stinks"" document




Google is encrypting its searches link here

Newsweek Profiles Marcy Wheeler link here

Marcy Wheeler on Scooter Libby Trial link here


www.emptywheel.net
Marcy Wheeler examines MORE NSA LIES at Senate Hearing link here

But the most telling exchange occurred between Amy Klobuchar, Keith Alexander, and James Clapper. (after 1:25) Klobuchar asked why they hadn’t told the Committee of the violations reported in an internal NSA review when they last appeared before the committee. After Alexander tried to filibuster (actually addressing the report in question and noting only ODNI and DOJ get those numbers, not FISC or Congress), Clapper interrupted and pretended she had asked about the LOVEINT incidents just reported to Charles Grassley. Clapper claimed those hadn’t been reported because they were 12333 violations.

In other words, while this may (or may not) be minor, they are real violations of FISA authorities, the stuff that Congress and the Courts are supposed to oversee. And Clapper just blew off the question by saying they don’t have to disclose any violations pertaining to EO 12333 (even though a chunk of these violations weren’t EO 12333 violations).

Which of course demonstrates a further point. The Intelligence Community is basically refusing to discuss any EO 12333 violations and/or programs, even while it also picks up US person information at least incidentally.

And yet they claimed there was adequate oversight over those programs.

General Hayden on Snowden podcast link here
Hayden says NSA spying is legal and overseen by Congress, and dismisses Snowden as ""

Hayden says
Snowdens leak is most significant in history, he exposed the pipes and plumbing. Even compared to REAL SPIES and the death of sources at the hands of previous spies such as Hansen and Ames is not as bad as Snowden's leaking how we do everything

Dismissed Snowden, Glenn Greenwald, as ex-patriots ""Greenwald publishes on the weekends, dribbles them out""

On Snowden and leaks, Hayden compares to levees around Lake Pontchartrain as ""strongest in a century""  and says ""Katrina was still a bad idea"" but LEVEES WERE STRENGTHENED AFTER KATRINA NOT BEFORE!!!!

so Snowden IS KATRINA exposing weaknesses----AND WE NEED TO STRENGTHEN DEFENSES!!!

again Hayden ""welcomes the debate"" but wants it based on ""facts"" THAT ARE SECRET AND LEAKS ARE EVIL and NSA lies to Congress

Hayden Says ""In a ""perfect world"" I would brief House and Senate Intelligence Committees""   (WHAT??!! So How does he say there is OVERSIGHT NOW??!!!!)

Hayden on Snowden---I reject Whistleblower, Snowden ""stole something he didnt own"" flew to serial foreign countries, "I call him defector"" troubled, morally arrogant---he will be isolated, bored, lonely, depressed, many defectors became alcoholics---its not zero chance of getting him back here to stand trial.

Hayden (at 37:24) mentions Executive Order 12333 and FISA as authority over NSA 


Hayden dismisses Snowden, but totally ignores OTHER whistleblowers!!! 

Thomas Drake was an NSA WhistleBlower after 9/11---WELL before Snowden--and had the same concerns about NSA spying and tactics and abuses of privacy

Thomas Drake article about Snowden and NSA

Thomas Drake video about NSA in March 2013 (before Snowden's revelations)


NSA COLLECTS EVERY WORD of domestic communications
http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2013/08/nsa-whistleblowers-nsa-collects-word-for-word-every-domestic-communication.html

Friday oct 4

NSA attacks TOR link here


House is NOT GOP by votes link here

Issa suggests replacing Obamacare with......Obamacare my blog post



So I have other posts about Journalism, terrorism, free speech etc--THIS is NOT protected speech
 http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/b-ch-dead-threat-rep-maloney-protected-speech-judge-article-1.1472034

Death threats against Rep. Carolyn Maloney not protected speech: Judge
‘That stupid c**t needs to stay away from my Second Amendment right...I hate that stupid b**ch...I hope that f**king c**t dies of cancer.... I want that b**ch dead.’ The hate-charged calls of Ronald Buchanan crossed the line, says Manhattan Criminal Court Judge Erika Edwards.

monday sept 30

NSA Corporate Spying Ira Winkler

Spies Among Us AMAZON link here

CSPAN BOOK TV link here
Ira Winkler, former security analyst at the National Security Agency, discloses how companies and individuals can protect themselves from hacking and identity theft. In "Spies Among Us" the author shares his security secrets as well as what he describes as cost-effective countermeasures for all types of attacks.

SPIES AMONG US CSPAN VIDEO HERE

Corporate Espionage AMAZON link here


DefCon 2012   General Alexander wore a T-Shirt-----most news stories just said ""The NSA boss, dressed down in jeans and a t-shirt for the occasion"" link here and every other news story

RACHEL MADDOW EXPLAINS THE T-SHIRT link here
June 10, 2013  We begin tonight with this very cool kid. Her name is CyFi. C-Y-F-I.  CyFi article

CyFi is obviously cooler than I am and probably significantly cooler
than you are as well. No offense. CyFi is the founder of something called
DefCon Kids.

DefCon is an annual convention of sorts for computer hackers, for
people who see themselves as white hat computer hackers. See themselves as
the good guys in the hacking world.

The kids part of DefCon is called DefCon kids. And CyFi is one of the
founding kid hackers of that convention.

In 2011, CyFi figured out a vulnerability in mobile phone apps. She
found a bug called Time Traveler that exists in games that you play on your
cell phone. She says she found the bug when she started to get bored with
the games.

And in figuring out how to change the time configurator in the games,
she found some glaring weak spots in games that supposedly had been tested
for security by all sorts of official corporate types. She found the Time
Traveler bug in a game called "Smurfs Village". She found it in "Pocket
Frogs". She found it in "Zombie Farm". She found it and she fixed it in
"Farm Story".

And she did all of this when she was 10 years old.

When I was 10 years old, I was fighting a daily losing battle with
cursive. But CyFi was debugging cell phone apps.

And at DefCon kids in 2011, they held a contest for other young
hackers to try to do the same kind of work. It was a bug chasing contest
for computer code, essentially. Find it and fix it.

And they named the contest after her. AT&T, the big corporation, gave
the prizes for winning that contest at DefCon kids that year, because AT&T
is apparently one of those companies that`s smart enough to know it`s good
to have hackers try to help you if you have the choice.

You can see here in small letters on this logo there, see it`s CyFi C-
Y-F-I, CyFi zero day contest. That`s her contest.

Last year, her contest logo ended up on this shirt on this guy. This
guy is one of the most powerful people in the country. His name is Keith
B. Alexander.

He`s generally called "General Alexander" because he is a general in
the U.S. Army. People who wear the uniform for a living sometimes don`t
exactly pull it off when all of a sudden they have to appear in public not
in a uniform, so forgive him the tucked in t-shirt. But there he is.

General Alexander is the commander of the U.S. Cyber Command. He is
the director of the National Security Agency which we sometimes forget is a
part of the military.

And last year, as part of his job, running cyber command and running
the NSA, he took off the uniform, put on the jeans and the t-shirt, and
spoke to CyFi`s DefCon kids.

He also talked to the grown-ups, to the white hat, good guy grown-up
hackers of DefCon. That was him in the hacker contest logo t-shirt tucked
into the jeans. Got up on stage at the hacker convention and he talked to
that room full of hackers because he, as head of the NSA, wants to hire
them.

sunday sept 29

 


    45 Lies in Obama's UN Speech    link here


Congress seeks to Limit Free Press and Define Journalism with ""Shield Law"" link here

FFIA (Free Flow of Information Act) would ""protect"" journalists from subpoenas--because who needs them when METADATA works even better??  link here


Bagram---The Other GITMO link here
There are about 60 individuals the U.S. government is holding without charge or trial at Bagram (officially known as the Detention Facility at Parwan).

"The detention system and U.S. narrative surrounding it is intentionally dehumanizing and seeks to erase the humanity and histories and individualities of the victims of such policies," says Belal. "By focusing on the accounts of the families of the detainees, we are challenging the U.S. narrative (which is largely based on classified evidence, hearsay, etc.) of these guys being 'bad men' and terrorists by tracing out their histories, gathering their family histories and compiling accounts of their lives."

The United States transferred control of the Bagram facility to the Afghan government in March 2013, after months of delays cause by tensions between the two countries. Despite handing over control, however, the U.S. has continued to hold around 60 individuals under a stated law of war authority – the same legal rationale that applies to the detainees at Guantanamo. All of the U.S.-held detainees at Bagram are non-Afghans, and about two-thirds of them are Pakistani.


NSA Snowden Job Title was Key to Access to Documents link here

NSA Snowden took documents from internal NSA website link here

Q & A with Senator Ron Wyden about NSA link here



Seymour Hersh ""Bin Laden Story One Big Lie"" link here
"Nothing's been done about that story, it's one big lie, not one word of it is true," he says of the dramatic US Navy Seals raid in 2011.
He isn't even sure if the recent revelations about the depth and breadth of surveillance by the National Security Agency will have a lasting effect. Snowden was significant because he provided documentary evidence – although he is skeptical about whether the revelations will change the US government's policy.

Hersh is on full throttle, a whirlwind of amazing stories of how journalism used to be; how he exposed the My Lai massacre in Vietnam, how he got the Abu Ghraib pictures of American soldiers brutalising Iraqi prisoners, and what he thinks of Edward Snowden.

His story of how he uncovered the My Lai atrocity is one of old-fashioned shoe-leather journalism and doggedness. Back in 1969, he got a tip about a 26-year-old platoon leader, William Calley, who had been charged by the army with alleged mass murder.

Instead of picking up the phone to a press officer, he got into his car and started looking for him in the army camp of Fort Benning in Georgia, where he heard he had been detained. From door to door he searched the vast compound....

For students of journalism his message is put the miles and the hours in. He knew about Abu Ghraib five months before he could write about it, having been tipped off by a senior Iraqi army officer who risked his own life by coming out of Baghdad to Damascus to tell him how prisoners had been writing to their families asking them to come and kill them because they had been "despoiled".

"I went five months looking for a document, because without a document, there's nothing there, it doesn't go anywhere."

"The Bush era, I felt it was much easier to be critical than it is [of] Obama. Much more difficult in the Obama era," he said.

MY COMMENTS ON HERSH
On Seymour Hersh-----I respect him a lot, he is a great reporter----but am waiting for more on this story----He was wrong (as far as I know about Bush attacking Iran ""in the near future"" in 2006---so we will see)



Debt Battle---Where's Paul Ryan??


CR  (Continuing [Budget] Resolution) Fatigue link here
If you thought this week was bad, get used to it. The dysfunction in Congress is likely to make Capitol Hill life miserable for at least the next two months — if it doesn’t consume yet another holiday season.


Blah Blah Blah The Government Shutdown is Coming link here
A government shutdown is only [fill in the blank] days, [fill in the blank] hours and [fill in the blank] minutes away. The countdown clock shows the seconds ticking by. The end is near.

Well, maybe that’s true. Maybe the government is going to shut down. The national parks will close. You won’t be able to renew your passport, making it impossible for you to flee to some enlightened land where the government is still open and operating normally. You’ll have to re-schedule your visit to the Washington Monument. (Actually, it is closed for repairs anyway, so don’t blame the shutdown, if there is one.)

Or maybe all of the coverage is just a wee bit exaggerated and premature. Maybe the government won’t shut down at all.

Pardon my blasé attitude about it all, but I’ve seen this movie before, and unless they changed the ending — and it certainly is possible they did — I’m not getting too excited yet.

No Internet Security Bill likely until 2014

Would Feds Punish the District for Shutdown Showdown? link here

District officials have been warned that bucking requirements to suspend nonessential services if the federal government shuts down could result in arrests or hefty fines, but prospects of federal prosecution or a punishment from Capitol Hill appear slim.

“The reality of how so-called shutdowns work are that, retroactively, we pay every federal employee, including the ones that stay home. So from a practical standpoint in these short-term shutdowns, there is no money being saved by sending people home,” said Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif. “I rather doubt that Congress would take punitive actions against the District of Columbia for keeping their personnel on.”

Decode DC Podcast---Budget Battles and Budget Games

GOP still won't call Obamacare the law link here
Republicans often refer to President Obama’s signature healthcare law either as “ObamaCare” or a healthcare “bill” — subtly implying that it’s not truly permanent.
SYRIA CHEMICAL WEAPONS link here

On Friday, the U.N. said chemical or biological weapons might have been deployed three more times after the Aug. 21 attack.

U.N. officials in Syria say in the next few days, they will investigate incidents reported just days after in Bahhariyeh Aug. 22, in Jobar Aug. 24, and in Ashrafiah Sahnaya Aug. 25. 

Altogether, seven incidents were reported this year where chemical weapons might have been used. The three earlier events happened in March and April. 

Inspectors plan to launch their investigation by Tuesday and hope to have a report completed by late October, the United Nations said. 

GOP plans to let guns on Military Bases after DC Navy Yard Shooting link here

The bill is a response to this month's shooting spree on a Washington, D.C., naval base that left 13 dead.

House Republicans on Thursday introduced legislation that would end the ban on carrying firearms on military bases in response to this month's shooting spree on a Washington, D.C., naval base that left 13 dead, including the shooter.

Rep. Steve Stockman (R-Texas) proposed the Safe Military Bases Act, H.R. 3199, along with six other House Republicans. Stockman said the bill would reverse the Clinton-era gun policy that he said has led to two mass shootings on bases.

"Our disarmed military bases are vulnerable targets for terrorists, as we saw in Fort Hood and the Navy Yard," Stockman said Thursday. "Despite that, soldiers trained to use guns cannot carry on base.

Pensions---How Wall St Robs State Public Workers link here

2011 Debt Ceiling fight leads to S & P Downgrade BECAUASE OF POLITICS link here


NSA---Telco Exec released from jail after 4 years link here
However, it was only later that it started to come out that Nacchio was alone among all of the major telco execs to tell the NSA to get lost when they came calling, demanding the ability to basically tap Qwest's entire network. For years, Nacchio has insisted that the entire lawsuit against him was retaliation for his refusal. When he first made those claims, it sounded far fetched and ridiculous. However, in the intervening years, as more and more details of the NSA's activities have become clear, Nacchio's initial arguments seem a hell of a lot more plausible.





Larry Ellison of Oracle---after 9/11 promoted National ID Cards link here

Saturday sept 28

US DRONES IN AFRICA MAP http://publicintelligence.net/us-drones-in-africa/


NSA Gathers Data on Social Connections of U.S. Citizens link here
Since 2010, the National Security Agency has been exploiting its huge collections of data to create sophisticated graphs of some Americans’ social connections that can identify their associates, their locations at certain times, their traveling companions and other personal information, according to newly disclosed documents and interviews with officials.

The spy agency began allowing the analysis of phone call and e-mail logs in November 2010 to examine Americans’ networks of associations for foreign intelligence purposes after N.S.A. officials lifted restrictions on the practice, according to documents provided by Edward J. Snowden, the former N.S.A. contractor.

The policy shift was intended to help the agency “discover and track” connections between intelligence targets overseas and people in the United States, according to an N.S.A. memorandum from January 2011. The agency was authorized to conduct “large-scale graph analysis on very large sets of communications metadata without having to check foreignness” of every e-mail address, phone number or other identifier, the document said. Because of concerns about infringing on the privacy of American citizens, the computer analysis of such data had previously been permitted only for foreigners.

The agency can augment the communications data with material from public, commercial and other sources, including bank codes, insurance information, Facebook profiles, passenger manifests, voter registration rolls and GPS location information, as well as property records and unspecified tax data, according to the documents.

They do not indicate any restrictions on the use of such “enrichment” data, and several former senior Obama administration officials said the agency drew on it for both Americans and foreigners.

N.S.A. officials declined to say how many Americans have been caught up in the effort, including people involved in no wrongdoing.

The legal underpinning of the policy change, she said, was a 1979 Supreme Court ruling that Americans could have no expectation of privacy about what numbers they had called.

In 2006, months after the wiretapping program was disclosed by The New York Times, the N.S.A.’s acting general counsel wrote a letter to a senior Justice Department official, which was also leaked by Mr. Snowden, formally asking for permission to perform the analysis on American phone and e-mail data. A Justice Department memo to the attorney general noted that the “misuse” of such information “could raise serious concerns,” and said the N.S.A. promised to impose safeguards, including regular audits (HMM EVERY 3 MONTHS BY FISA??), on the metadata program. In 2008, the Bush administration gave its approval.

The concerns in the United States since Mr. Snowden’s revelations have largely focused on the scope of the agency’s collection of the private data of Americans and the potential for abuse. But the new documents provide a rare window into what the N.S.A. actually does with the information it gathers.

A series of agency PowerPoint presentations and memos describe how the N.S.A. has been able to develop software and other tools — one document cited a new generation of programs that “revolutionize” data collection and analysis — to unlock as many secrets about individuals as possible.

MY COMMENT----WHERE IN THE CONSTITUTION DOES IT SAY GOVT CAN MONITOR AMERICANS TO CATCH FOREIGN TERRORISTS??!!! 4TH AMENDMENT PROTECTS AGAINST THAT----ITS LIBERTY OVER SECURITY---WE HAVE TO REMEMBER THAT


Justices Say GPS Tracker Violated Privacy Rights
Jan 2012 link here

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Monday ruled unanimously that the police violated the Constitution when they placed a Global Positioning System tracking device on a suspect’s car and monitored its movements for 28 days.

broad privacy principles to bring the Fourth Amendment’s ban on unreasonable searches into the digital age, when law enforcement officials can gather extensive information without ever entering an individual’s home or vehicle.

But five justices also discussed their discomfort with the government’s use of or access to various modern technologies, including video surveillance in public places, automatic toll collection systems on highways, devices that allow motorists to signal for roadside assistance, location data from cellphone towers and records kept by online merchants. 

“We hold that the government’s installation of a GPS device on a target’s vehicle, and its use of that device to monitor the vehicle’s movements, constitutes a ‘search,’ ” Justice Antonin Scalia wrote for the majority. Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and Justices Anthony M. Kennedy, Clarence Thomas and Sonia Sotomayor joined the majority opinion.

“The use of longer-term GPS monitoring in investigations of most offenses,” Justice Alito wrote, “impinges on expectations of privacy.” Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen G. Breyer and Elena Kagan joined the concurrence.


MY COMMENT----I WONDER WHAT WOULD HAPPEN IF NSA SPYING WENT TO SUPREME COURT----




Metadata great for finding journalists' sources---not at catching terrorists  link here
The National Security Agency says that the telephone metadata it collects on every American is essential for finding terrorists. And that's debatable. But this we know for sure: Metadata is very useful for tracking journalists and discovering their sources.


On Monday, a former FBI agent and bomb technician pleaded guilty to leaking classified information to the Associated Press about a successful CIA operation in Yemen. As it turns out, phone metadata was the key to finding him.

FBI investigators started looking for the source of the story. They interviewed more than 550 officials, but they came up short.
So, in a highly controversial move, investigators secretly obtained a subpoena for phone records of AP reporters and editors. The records, which included the metadata of who had called whom, and how long the call lasted, covered a period in April and May of 2012. That was right around the time that the AP was reporting the Yemen story.

Once investigators looked at that phone metadata, they got their big break in the case.


SPY Q and A with Chris Boyce
A smart young dropout is welcomed into a promising career in the top secret world of U.S. defense contracting, but he’s quickly shocked to discover the deception practiced by America’s intelligence agencies at the highest levels. Disillusioned and outraged, he takes matters into his own hands and begins exfiltrating highly-classified documents right under the nose of his employer.

Today, that might describe NSA leaker Edward Snowden. But back in 1975, it was 22-year-old Christopher Boyce, who joined TRW as a telex operator and found himself handling some of the the government’s most sensitive communications. From inside TRW’s “Black Vault,” Boyce claims he learned the CIA was actively undermining the elected, left-wing government of Australia.

But instead of leaking to the press, as Snowden, and WikiLeaks leaker Chelsea Manning, would do decades later, Boyce became a spy. He embarked on a personal mission to damage the U.S. defense and intelligence complex, supplying classified crypto keys and program information to his friend Andrew Daulton Lee, who in turn traveled to Mexico and sold the information to the KGB.


Boyce and Lee were arrested in 1977 and both convicted of espionage.

The saga was the subject of the book and film The Falcon and the Snowman
I think that if contractors are going to leak info they need to go where they’re going to have asylum, stay there and then leak. And then that way the story becomes what they’re leaking and not the chase.

WIRED: If you were 30 years younger, do you think you would have been more like an Edward Snowden than someone who was going to sell secrets to the Russians?


Boyce: I have a quarter of a century of experience in the federal prison [system]. I almost spent 10 years in solitary confinement, and I just don’t think I could ever do that to myself again. I couldn’t bring the rage of the government down on my head again. Snowden’s a braver man than I would be now. I couldn’t do that again, and I’m sure there are hundreds and hundreds of other NSA contractors who also are thinking, ‘I couldn’t bring the power of the fed government down on me like that.’

So to what degree do you think the ‘problem’ is the public doesn’t have access to enough information about what governments are doing versus the problem being just general apathy?

Boyce: Well, I agree with what my wife Cait said here not so long ago: The average American is more interested in how much cream and sugar he has in his coffee than his civil liberties.

I have to tell you that I’m very pessimistic. I think the surveillance state will get stronger and stronger. I’m not optimistic at all that civil liberties are going to be protected, and I think that’s the direction that we’re headed.



SYRIA chem weapons UN agreement  link here

The UN Security Council has unanimously adopted a binding resolution on ridding Syria of chemical weapons.

At a session in New York, the 15-member body backed the draft document agreed earlier by Russia and the US.
The deal breaks a two-and-a-half year deadlock in the UN over Syria, where fighting between government forces and rebels rages on.

The vote came after the international chemical watchdog agreed on a plan to destroy Syria's stockpile by mid-2014.


Next Citizens United can be worse  link here
What’s at stake in McCutcheon v. Federal Election Commission — for which oral arguments are scheduled on Oct. 8 — is the limit to individual political spending. The federal government sets separate limits for each election cycle on how much an individual can give to candidates, party committees and political action committees. But it also currently limits overall spending to $123,200. It’s that overall limit that the McCutcheon fight is about. Proponents say it prevents corruption; opponents say it limits speech.


“We’re not challenging — and the plaintiff in McCutcheon is not challenging — any of the individual contribution limits,” says Rick Esenberg, a Marquette University Law School professor and president and general counsel of the Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty, which filed a brief opposing the limit. Why, they ask, is it OK to donate $2,600 to 18 campaigns, but not 19? The case was brought by the Republican National Committee and Shaun McCutcheon, an Alabama businessman and conservative activist.

At the federal level only a small group — 646 individuals — bumped up against that aggregate limit during the 2012 election cycle, according to The Center for Responsive Politics’ Open Secrets blog. But spending limits in a handful of states are lower, meaning that if they fall money could come flowing in.

While McCutcheon only affects the federal limit, experts are watching it closely and many on both sides believe the state limits either won’t survive or would become very vulnerable if the federal cap is nullified.


WIKILEAKS 
Microphone was placed in Ecuador Embassy in London before visit to Assange link here



NYPD Whistleblower Adrian Schoolcraft link here



Cory Booker

So I heard that Cory Booker was involved in a ""sex scandal""-----then I found out he was Tweeting a stripper----He tweets everyone---this is not news to me at least

link here

Late last night hundreds of reporters from across the United States tried to find her after she became a celebrity -- literally overnight -- when a series of direct Twitter messages between her and Cory Booker, the mayor of Newark, N.J. and a U.S. Senate candidate were released.

"I think it's pretty well known that the mayor talks with people from all walks of life on Twitter," Booker spokesman Kevin Griffis told Daily Intelligencer. "There have been a couple of stories about that over the years. Really, the most shocking part of this story was learning there is a vegan strip club in Portland."

"Come on," she said. "It was simple flirtation and flattery. The last time we messaged each other was last February. It's not a relationship that people are trying to make it out to be. I've never even spoken to him."

Lee said she did donate $100 to his Senate campaign.

link here        link here     

HBO Newsroom---Operation Genoa (CNN operation Tailwind report) 

Wikipedia Operation Tailwind

CNN retraction document

CNN video report

CNN program transcript

TIME magazine report

Friday september 27

America and Iran Presidents speak!!!! first time since 1979!!!! Obama and Rouhani  link here

Meanwhile Iran pulls strings in Syria link here


How Webcam Spy was caught link here
The sextortionist who snapped nude pictures of Miss Teen USA Cassidy Wolf through her laptop's webcam has been found and arrested, the FBI revealed yesterday. 19-year old Jared James Abrahams, a California computer science student who went by the online handle "cutefuzzypuppy," had as many as 150 "slave" computers under his control during the height of his webcam spying in 2012.

Wolf went to the FBI, and the Bureau's LA cyber squad swung into action. On March 29, the FBI looked at Wolf's laptop and found evidence of both DarkComet and another RAT known as Blackshades, which confirmed how the attacker had taken his photos. But who was he? The IP addresses behind the attacker's e-mails resolved back only to a VPN provider which purposely kept no logs. But the RATs themselves had connected back to the attacker by accessing no-ip.org, a service which allows users to mask source IP addresses, and no-ip.org did keep records. The FBI obtained them.

Pentagon purging Bin Laden Raid Data link here (Conservative website, with links to Benghazi, 2nd Amendment, Hilary, RINOs, etc----see my other blog for posts about Benghazi, 2nd Amendment, GOP and other topics)

Seymour Hersh writes that Obama is worse than Bush, but more complicated, and Bin Laden death was a lie link here (Hersh was also predicting imminent war with Iran under Bush around 2006---he is very good but I dont trust everything)



Iowa Senator Tom Harkin cursed??? I am shocked---I would never expect anything more severe than ""darn"" from him

What do Democrats think on the other side of the Capitol about the possibility that Congress would have to ultimately swallow a one-year delay of the health care law?

“That’s bullshit. That’s not going to happen,” offered Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa. “The exchanges open on Tuesday, and we’re going to go ahead with it.”

“You can’t have nullification of laws by blackmail around here. That’s what they’re trying — they’re trying to nullify a law upheld by the Supreme Court, not through overturning the law, but through blackmail of shutting down the government because they don’t have the votes to overturn the law,” Harkin continued. “Have we come to that in the country? God help us all.”

Niels Lesniewski contributed to this report.

NSA claims no record of interview with Journalist link here

another great Maysoon Zayid article   link here
Mahmoud Abbas has had a very big week. On Tuesday, the Palestinian president met with President Obama and reiterated his commitment to securing a peace deal within the nine months allotted to him by Secretary of State John Kerry. Abbas received a pat on the back and a hearty handshake from POTUS who, in return, reiterated his commitment to turning a blind eye to Israel’s compulsive settlement building. Then on Thursday, Abu Mazen had the unenviable task of following up his famous 2011 UNGA appearance, where he stole the show by declaring Palestinian statehood.

(Father's comments below reminds me of Gilad Shalit's father saying that if he were Palestinian he too would kidnap israeli soldiers) article below 

On September 21, 20-year-old Israeli soldier Tomer Hazan was killed by his co-worker in Qalqilya. Before Israel could collectively punish the encircled city, the culprit’s father came forward to condemn his own son and denounced his offspring's act as criminal. He was quoted in The Times of Israel as saying, “I am telling you this from the bottom of my heart… if the military would today give me an M-16 [assault rifle], I would go and shoot my son in the head.” One day later, an Israeli soldier was killed by a Palestinian sniper in Hebron and all hell broke loose. Clashes at the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem between Israelis and Palestinians reached a crescendo this week, making matters even worse.

The Second Intifada is said to have been sparked by Ariel Sharon and his army entourage's visit to the Al Aqsa compound on September 28, 2000. What set off an uprising 13 years ago is now just your average Friday. I know it confuses people but the Abrahamic religions share a common origin story and therefore often share religious sites like the Patriarchs Tomb in Hebron or Jerusalem's Al Aqsa, also known as the Temple Mount. Those who argue that Al Aqsa is not that important to Islam and that Muslims only cared about it when Israel gained control are not well-read people. It is Islam's third holiest site. The Dome of the Rock protects the rock that Abraham didn’t sacrifice his son on and that Muhammad is believed to have ascended to heaven from. That big gold dome graces posters, postcards, and cablenews backdrops set in Jerusalem—much to the chagrin of the Israeli extremists who insist on storming the compound and shouting about rebuilding the Temple and bringing on Armageddon. These are not folks coming to solemnly worship during the several visiting hours open to non-Muslims. This is incitement.

link here   WE NEED MORE PEOPLE TO UNDERSTAND THE OTHER SIDE!!!
‘He’s no hero. He’s a coward,’ says Abdullah Amar of son Nidal, who killed IDF soldier Tomer Hazan and planned to use the corpse to extort his brother’s release.

Gilad Shalit's father link here MARCH 2012 article
The father of an Israeli soldier held in captivity for more than five years by Hamas has said he would fight Israeli soldiers if he were a Palestinian

Noam Shalit, who announced earlier this year that he would be standing for the opposition Labour party in the next Israeli elections, has provoked outrage among the Israeli right with the comments. His son, Gilad, was released in a prisoner swap in October 2011.

Shalit added that the kidnapping of Israeli soldiers by Hamas militants was comparable to the techniques used by Israeli paramilitary fighters the Haganah against the British, arguing "we also kidnapped British soldiers when we were fighting for our freedom".

I listen to FAIR Media Watch's podcast Counterspin---where CBS' Bob Schieffer is mentioned almost every episode

THIS from Wikipedia entry ---He is considered to be a model for lapdog journalists world-wide, and is well respected among Pentagon officials and public relations experts for his abilities at information control.  (emphasis mine) link here

Climate Change Data from NOAA link here