Friday, February 29, 2008

The Definition of Hypocrite

It's Jack Kingston. Oh, and his opponent has noticed too.

Wednesday, February 27, 2008

Canadian Soliders: No Facebook!

From Reuters:
Canadian military chiefs have told soldiers not to post personal information on social networking sites such as Facebook because it could prompt attacks by groups such as Al Qaeda, the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. said on Tuesday.

Wikileaks Gets More Help

The ACLU, EFF, Public Citizen, and California First Amendment Coalition and others are all seeking to intervene in the case.

Saturday, February 23, 2008

McCain's Mendacity

Or maybe it's just misremembering.

Friday, February 22, 2008

GOP Phone Jammer Acquitted

Former Republican Party official James Tobin has been acquitted of charges related to phone jamming during the 2002 election. U.S. District Judge Steven McAuliffe ruled that Tobin's actions did not fit the specific law he had been charged with violating. The judge says that the case will now return to an appeals court for further review.

Thursday, February 21, 2008

Straight Talk Express

When Senator McCain said this today, regarding the recent NYT article on his relationship with a telecom lobbyist, who did you think he was talking about?
And the former chairman of the FCC at the time in 2000 said that was more than an appropriate role for me to play as chairman of the oversight committee.
If you said William Kennard, who was the FCC chairman in year 2000, you are not alone. But according to McCain, you are incorrect. You see, he was talking about Reed Hundt, who served as FCC chair until 1997 and thus was a former FCC chairman in the year 2000.

Straight talk indeed.

Wednesday, February 20, 2008

Deputy Reassigned After Taser Incident

Deputy Anthony Lenzi of the Queen Anne's County Sheriff's Department in Maryland has been reassigned after using a Taser on a high school student, even though he had been ordered to holster his weapon by a senior officer.

Hello Kitty Assault Rifle

Jim's Gun Supply of Baraboo, Wisconsin is selling Hello Kitty themed guns. Police are not amused.
Sgt. Manny Mendoza of the San Bernadino County Sheriff's Department in Barstow, CA warned that "now we're at the point where anything that looks like a gun, no matter what color, is considered a firearm, and we will act accordingly to defend ourselves and the public."

HUD Chief Builds Shrine to Himself

Alphonso Jackson, Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, has built a shrine to himself at HUD headquarters in Washington D.C. This is the same man who once bragged that he once canceled a contract because the contractor didn't support President Bush, and is currently under investigation for such favoritism.
Tour groups need not even go through the inviting metal detectors to admire 20 large, color photographs of the secretary, each about 2 feet by 3 feet. No fewer than five of them feature Jackson with President Bush-- in the Rose Garden, in the Oval Office, chatting together, coming down the steps at the Capitol.

via ThinkProgress and Atrios

Tuesday, February 19, 2008

SCOTUS Rejects ACLU Case

The U.S. Supreme Court has turned down an appeal from the American Civil Liberties Union regarding warrantless wiretaps by the Bush administration. Since the list of who is being spied upon is secret, there's no way for anybody to prove they are a target of the warrantless wiretaps, and thus show they've been harmed.
ACLU officials described the situation as a "Catch-22" because the government says the identities of people whose communications have been intercepted is secret. But only people who know they have been wiretapped can sue over the program.

Monday, February 18, 2008

FBI Inadvertently Spying

The New York Times is reporting the FBI got access to an entire network's email accounts, instead of just the one which was approved by a "secret intelligence court". It was only after noticing a "surge" in activity did they notice the mistake and contact the ISP.

The incident came to light after an EFF FOIA request uncovered a document showing the "apparent miscommunication" resulted in the FBI receiving more than it asked for.

The NYT story goes on the note that this is just one of dozens, perhaps hundreds, of violations of federal wiretap law. An anonymous intelligence official says the incidents are "common".
Past violations by the government have also included continuing a wiretap for days or weeks beyond what was authorized by a court, or seeking records beyond what were authorized. The 2006 case appears to be a particularly egregious example of what intelligence officials refer to as "overproduction" — in which a telecommunications provider gives the government more data than it was ordered to provide.

via democracy now and zeropaid

Friday, February 15, 2008

"A head of state should have a head"

Pootie Poot doesn't like Monica Lewinski's ex-boyfriend's wife.

Thursday, February 14, 2008

Telecom Immunity Vote Imminent

The EFF is calling for urgent action.

Wednesday, February 13, 2008

Utah Sen: Let's Hide Police Misconduct

Utah State Senator Chris Buttars has proposed bill SB260, which would withhold police misconduct reports from the public. It seems he believes misconduct reports discredit the police officers' testimony.

Friday, February 08, 2008

Omaha Cops In COINTELPRO Deception

Michael Richardson reports that in the 1970's several Omaha police officers gave "false testimony under oath" during the murder trial of two men who had been targets of COINTELPRO. The two men, Ed Poindexter and Mondo we Langa, remain behind bars.
A then-secret COINTELPRO memo tells the story of withheld evidence--a recording of the emergency call that lured Larry Minard to his death--and implicates Assistant Chief of Police Glenn Gates in knowingly withholding evidence that would destroy the credibility of Peak, the state's murderous star witness. Assistant Chief Gates, according to the FBI, sought to keep the recording away from the defense attorneys. The jury never got to hear the tape with its lethal message.

Friday, February 01, 2008

Over 1,000,000 Iraqi Deaths

From Opinion Research Business:
Further survey work undertaken by ORB, in association with its research partner IIACSS, confirms our earlier estimate that over 1,000,000 Iraqi citizens have died as a result of the conflict which started in 2003.

Following responses to ORB’s earlier work, which was based on survey work undertaken in primarily urban locations, we have conducted almost 600 additional interviews in rural communities. By and large the results are in line with the ‘urban results’ and we now estimate that the death toll between March 2003 and August 2007 is likely to have been of the order of 1,033,000. If one takes into account the margin of error associated with survey data of this nature then the estimated range is between 946,000 and 1,120,000.

Shell Oil Sets Profit Record

From the Daily Mail:
Shell smashed all-time British company profit records today, posting 2007 earnings of $27.5billion (£13.9billion), and immediately ran into a storm with union leaders, who are demanding the Government hits the oil giant with a windfall tax.

Bush Opens 3M Alaskan Acres to Logging

From the Guardian:
The US government has announced plans to open more than 3m acres (about 5,000 square miles) of Alaskan wilderness to logging, mining and road building, angering environmental campaigners who say it will devastate the region. Supporters say the plan for the Tongass National Forest, a refuge for grizzly and black bears, wolves, eagles and wild salmon, will revive the state's timber industry.