The News Thread

[Irish]

At least it's being properly investigated, so

Major Strasser has been shot! Round up the usual suspects!

[Robby P]

To be fair there does seem to be genuine, bipartisan support in Congress for placing serious constraints upon the surveillance state. There is reason for optimism even as more lurid details of the NSA's past dealings continue to come to light. This is probably the only area of national security where the Obama administration does not have unconditional support on both sides of the aisle.

[Spun Lepton]

CNN.com is STILL front-paging that damn Anderson/DiMaggio thing. It's OVER!! Aren't there more pressing events in the world?

Such a joke.

[MadMan]

The Taupo volcano, I guess you're referring to? A volcano that last erupted 2500 years ago isn't really high on my list of anxieties. Got perceived social slights to worry about.

Fair enough. Iowa rests on fault lines with the possibility of earthquakes and I don't worry about that either, I guess.

And they're right next-door to Mordor. Don't forget Mordor.

Man that's gotta bring down property values.

I bet those NSA bastards spy on their neighbors when they go home from work. Their wives probably tell them "Honey stop installing cameras on the lawn. The Johnsons are not terrorists, and they were not responsible for spray painting the dog blue."

[B-side]

To be fair there does seem to be genuine, bipartisan support in Congress for placing serious constraints upon the surveillance state. There is reason for optimism even as more lurid details of the NSA's past dealings continue to come to light. This is probably the only area of national security where the Obama administration does not have unconditional support on both sides of the aisle.

Exactly. This isn't an issue with unanimous or near-unanimous support or indifference in congress. The international pressure alone would put them uncomfortably in the spotlight and possibly jeopardize the upcoming free trade agreement that would be the largest in the world, granted Europe stuck to its guns.

[Dukefrukem]

CNN.com is STILL front-paging that damn Anderson/DiMaggio thing. It's OVER!! Aren't there more pressing events in the world?

Such a joke.

If you dont like CNN why do you keep going there?

[B-side]

Adviser to Egyptian president says the military is fighting terrorism

Disgusting.

[chrisnu]

The US has officially backed the Egyptian military assault

Disgusting.

Um, where is this in the article posted?

The official in question is an adviser of the Egpytian president, not the American president.

[number8]

Yeah, I don't get it, either.

[number8]

This is what it looks like just before the Muslim Brotherhood jumps you

[B-side]

Whoops. My bad. I edited my post.

[shaun]

Lavabit owner "may" face charges over shutting his service down and not complying with their request for broad-based surveillance of his customers.

http://investigations.nbcnews.com/_n...eillance-order

Levison stressed that he has complied with "upwards of two dozen court orders" for information in the past that were targeted at "specific users" and that "I never had a problem with that." But without disclosing details, he suggested that the order he received more recently was markedly different, requiring him to cooperate in broadly based surveillance that would scoop up information about all the users of his service. He likened the demands to a requirement to install a tap on his telephone. Those demands apparently began about the time that Snowden surfaced as one of his customers, apparently triggering a secret legal battle between Levison and federal prosecutors.

[Grouchy]

You guys spent years telling Barty he's crazy for claiming the US are a "police state".

He's such a gentleman that he's not even here to say "I told you".

[B-side]

When the US actually becomes a police state, I'll be sure to join him.

[Qrazy]

The quest stands upon the edge of a knife.

[MadMan]

You guys spent years telling Barty he's crazy for claiming the US are a "police state".

He's such a gentleman that he's not even here to say "I told you".

Well's he's a better man than most of us in that regard. In that case though I don't think you want to be the person to say "I told you so." Sometimes being wrong is better than being right.

[Robby P]

Lavabit owner "may" face charges over shutting his service down and not complying with their request for broad-based surveillance of his customers.

http://investigations.nbcnews.com/_n...eillance-order

My guess is that the FISC court filed a mandatory injunction against Lavabit who then responded to said order by shutting down all operations and is now facing contempt charges for obstructing a criminal investigation. It's one thing to shut down your business because you don't want to help the NSA spy on people but it's another thing to shut down your business in response to a court order mandating that you turn over specific evidence related to an ongoing investigation. This is all speculation, of course, because - hey - secret courts sure are fun.

[B-side]

My guess is that the FISC court filed a mandatory injunction against Lavabit who then responded to said order by shutting down all operations and is now facing contempt charges for obstructing a criminal investigation. It's one thing to shut down your business because you don't want to help the NSA spy on people but it's another thing to shut down your business in response to a court order mandating that you turn over specific evidence related to an ongoing investigation. This is all speculation, of course, because - hey - secret courts sure are fun.

That does not fit the pre-determined "government is nothing but cartoonish villains conspiring to steal your money and freedoms" narrative. You'll need to retract this well-reasoned theory and toe the party line, lest you be lumped in with the "sheep".

[shaun]

He's complied with dozens of targeted requests without an issue. This was not one of them.

While we're handhaving away the evils of too much governmental power though, Glenn Greenwald associate David Miranda was detained at Heathrow and interrogated for 9 hours under schedule 7 of the UK's terror laws.

Miranda was held for nine hours under schedule 7 of the UK's terror laws, which give enormous discretion to stop, search and question people who have no connection with "terror", as ordinarily understood. Suspects have no right to legal representation and may have their property confiscated for up to seven days. Under this measure – uniquely crafted for ports and airport transit areas – there are none of the checks and balances that apply once someone is in Britain proper. There is no need to arrest or charge anyone and there is no protection for journalists or their material.

Mr. Miranda was in Berlin to deliver documents related to Mr. Greenwald’s investigation into government surveillance to Ms. Poitras, Mr. Greenwald said. Ms. Poitras, in turn, gave Mr. Miranda different documents to pass to Mr. Greenwald. Those documents, which were stored on encrypted thumb drives, were confiscated by airport security, Mr. Greenwald said. All of the documents came from the trove of materials provided to the two journalists by Mr. Snowden. The British authorities seized all of his electronic media — including video games, DVDs and data storage devices — and did not return them, Mr. Greenwald said.

He was on his way back from Berlin, where he was ferrying materials between Greenwald and Laura Poitras, the US film-maker who has also been working on stories related to the NSA files released by US whistle-blower Edward Snowden.

But hey it's technically legal so there's probably nothing nefarious going on here either.

[B-side]

It is pretty weird that a country with super close ties to another one would help it in its pursuit of a criminal. Agree with the label or not, and I don't think most of us do, Snowden's leaking was a criminal offense, and Greenwald and co. in helping disseminate classified information are walking a very fine line. It's easy to make the case that these sorts of secretive measures shouldn't exist in the first place (and you'd be naive to think so), but it must be understood that none of these government agents are doing anything illegal. Fight the law, not the caricature of evil.

[Robby P]

Sort of ironic that his name is Miranda.

[Spun Lepton]

Teens killed man "just because."
http://www.cnn.com/2013/08/20/justic...html?hpt=hp_t1

These sociopaths should be tried as adults.

[shaun]

@carwinb
Pfc. Bradley Manning sentenced to 35 yrs (w 1294 days credit) . Reduced E-1. Forfeit of all pay & allowances. Dishonorably discharged.

[Robby P]

To be fair he'll probably only serve about 1/3 of that stretch. He should be out by his mid thirties. Although he really should have gotten more time served to his credit due to the fact that the US Army basically tortured him and the US government deprived him of due process for an unreasonable amount of time.

[MadMan]

Teens killed man "just because."
http://www.cnn.com/2013/08/20/justic...html?hpt=hp_t1

These sociopaths should be tried as adults.

I agree.

Manning will hopefully be out before his sentence is up. As crappy as that 35 year stretch is I'm just glad he didn't get more. Damn government.