July 13, 2013

Atty. Gen. Eric Holder to Tighten Rules on Seizing Reporters' Data

Source: Los Angeles Times

Atty. Gen. Eric Holder to tighten rules on seizing reporters' data

Atty. Gen. Eric Holder proposes new restrictions on government seizure of journalists' phone and email records in leak investigations.

By David G. Savage
July 12, 2013, 6:27 p.m.

WASHINGTON — Atty. Gen. Eric H. Holder Jr. promised tough new restrictions Friday on the seizure of journalists' phone records and emails, backing off from the Obama administration's aggressive use of secret court orders to obtain news media records as part of investigations into leaks of government secrets.

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Pressure on the administration to change its policies mounted after Edward Snowden, a former National Security Agency contractor, disclosed information about the government's widespread gathering of telephone and email records for use in counter-terrorism investigations.

Holder presented the proposed policy changes to Obama on Friday. Under the new rules, prosecutors in nearly all cases would be required to give news organizations advance notice before seeking records of contacts between reporters and their sources. That would give a news organization time to challenge the demand for records in court.

Moreover, the department would be forbidden from using search warrants to obtain records from reporters except in cases in which the reporter is the target of a criminal investigation not involving news gathering. That rule abandoned the practice used in the Fox News case of branding a journalist as a possible co-conspirator in the crime of espionage.

Read more: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-holder-press-20130713,0,6615814.story

July 13, 2013

Insurance Company Gets Fucked Over By Another Cancer Patient

http://www.theonion.com/articles/insurance-company-gets-fucked-over-by-another-canc,33101

Insurance Company Gets Fucked Over By Another Cancer Patient

NEWS • Health • Healthcare • News • Business • ISSUE 49•28 • Jul 12, 2013

CHICAGO—Frustrated executives from the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association announced Friday that they are getting “completely fucked over” by Allentown, PA resident Matthew Greison, a 57-year-old man suffering from an advanced form of Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

Stressing that this is not the first issue they have had with such patients, company sources expressed their outrage to reporters over Greison's “totally unfair” comprehensive health care benefits and claimed the skyrocketing costs of his cancer treatment have gotten out of hand.

“We got the first bill and just couldn’t believe how expensive it was,” said Blue Cross Blue Shield CEO Scott Serota, adding that at first, he thought the invoice was a mistake. “Every visit to the oncologist ran about $140, not to mention the thousands of dollars for every MRI and CT scan, and then the chemotherapy and cancer drugs were more than $10,000 per month. And he paid for maybe—maybe—5 percent of it. The rest was dumped on us.”

“It’s absolute fucking bullshit,” Serota continued. “I can’t believe they’re just allowed to get away with that.”

According to reports, Blue Cross Blue Shield’s expenses have only gotten more unreasonable since Greison was first diagnosed with the life-threatening disease this past March. After an initially successful chemotherapy treatment, the health insurance company was reportedly informed that the cancer was no longer in remission and was forced to pay over $125,000 for a further two weeks of inpatient care in a hospital.

Sources confirmed that such headaches for insurance companies are unfortunately incredibly common when dealing with any cancer patient.

“These assholes are just bleeding us dry here,” said Serota. “We try to talk to them about it, to beg them to just sympathize with our situation, but they just kept bringing up bullshit excuses about deductibles and coinsurance payments and citing all these stupid small-print details about coverage eligibility. All they try to do is get out of paying for anything.”

“Trust me, dealing with these people is a total nightmare,” Serota added.

MORE[p]

July 12, 2013

State Dept. Whistleblower Peter Van Buren Op/Ed in Support of Edward Snowden

http://dissenter.firedoglake.com/2013/07/12/state-dept-whistleblower-peter-van-buren-edward-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.

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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.

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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.

July 12, 2013

@AP: BREAKING: Jury in Zimmerman murder trial has a question for judge; they want an index of all ev

@AP: BREAKING: Jury in Zimmerman murder trial has a question for judge; they want an index of all evidence. -MM

m.twitter.com/AP

July 12, 2013

S. American States to Recall Ambassadors From Europe over Bolivian Plane Incident

Source: Russia Today

S. American states to recall ambassadors from Europe over Bolivian plane incident

Published time: July 12, 2013 19:55

South American countries belonging to the Mercosur trade bloc have decided to withdraw their ambassadors for consultations from European countries involved in the grounding of the Bolivian president’s plane, said Uruguayan foreign minister Luis Almagro.

Read more: http://rt.com/news/mercosur-countries-ambassadors-europe-030

July 12, 2013

Breaking: Jurors Start Deliberations in George Zimmerman Case

Source: Associated Press

@AP: BREAKING: Jurors leave courtroom to start deliberations in George Zimmerman murder trial.

JURORS START DELIBERATING GEORGE ZIMMERMAN CASE

By MIKE SCHNEIDER and KYLE HIGHTOWER
— Jul. 12 2:44 PM EDT

SANFORD, Fla. (AP) — A jury began deliberating George Zimmerman's fate Friday after hearing dueling portraits of the neighborhood watch captain: a wannabe cop who took the law into his own hands or a well-meaning volunteer who shot Trayvon Martin because he feared for his life.

Before the jury got the case, Zimmerman's lawyers put a concrete slab and two life-size cardboard cutouts in front of the jury box in one last attempt to convince the panel Zimmerman shot the unarmed 17-year-old Martin in self-defense.

Attorney Mark O'Mara used the slab to make the point that it could be used as a weapon. He showed cutouts of Zimmerman and Martin to demonstrate that the teenager was considerably taller and he displayed a computer-animated depiction of the fight based on Zimmerman's account.

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In a rebuttal, prosecutor John Guy accused Zimmerman of telling "so many lies." He said Martin's last emotion was one of fear as Zimmerman followed him in a neighborhood of townhomes on a rainy night Feb. 26, 2012.


Read more: http://bigstory.ap.org/article/final-arguments-wrap-zimmerman-trial

July 12, 2013

Breaking: Alleged NSA Leaker Edward Snowden to Meet Human Rights Groups at Moscow Airport Today

Source: Reuters

@BreakingNews: Alleged NSA leaker Edward Snowden will meet human rights groups at Moscow Airport today, airport official says - @Reuters

Fugitive Snowden to meet with human rights groups: official

Fri Jul 12, 2013 3:01am EDT

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Former U.S. intelligence contractor Edward Snowden will meet human rights groups on Friday at Moscow's Sheremteyevo Airport, where the fugitive contractor has been in the passenger transit area since he flew from Hong Kong.

"I can confirm that such a meeting will take place," said an airport spokeswoman, adding that it would take place in the second half of the day.


Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSBRE96B07320130712

July 11, 2013

Irish Lawmakers Vote 127-31 to Legalize Abortion in Life-Saving Cases

Source: Associated Press

IRISH LAWMAKERS VOTE 127-31 TO LEGALIZE ABORTION FOR LIFE-SAVING CASES, INCLUDING SUICIDE RISK

Jul. 11 7:29 PM EDT


DUBLIN (AP) — Irish lawmakers vote 127-31 to legalize abortion for life-saving cases, including suicide risk.


Read more: http://bigstory.ap.org/article/irish-lawmakers-vote-127-31-legalize-abortion-life-saving-cases-including-suicide-risk

July 9, 2013

AP Raw Video: Massive Fireball After Train Crash in Quebec

Amateur video shows a massive fire after oil tanker cars derailed and exploded in a small Quebec town. (July 9)

July 8, 2013

Top Court Asked to Stop NSA Surveillance

Source: CNN

updated 5:12 PM EDT 07.08.13

Top court asked to stop NSA surveillance

By Bill Mears, CNN Supreme Court Producer

Washington (CNN) - The U.S. Supreme Court is being asked to stop the National Security Agency's surveillance of domestic telephone communications data.

In an emergency appeal filed Monday, a privacy rights group claimed a secret federal court improperly authorized the government to collect the electronic records, and said only the justices could resolve the statutory issues at stake.

The Electronic Privacy Information Center filed its petition directly with the high court, bypassing the usual step of going to the lower federal courts first.

Such a move makes it much harder for the justices to intervene now, but the privacy group argues "exceptional ramifications" demand judicial review now.

Read more: http://www.cnn.com/2013/07/08/politics/nsa-supreme-court/index.html