BarackObamadotcom - 10 Questions: Warrantless Wiretaps

Government likely to open criminal probe into NSA leaks: officials

Source: Reuters

By Mark Hosenball

WASHINGTON | Fri Jun 7, 2013 8:37pm EDT

(Reuters) - President Barack Obama's administration is likely to open a criminal investigation into the leaking of highly classified documents that revealed the secret surveillance of Americans' telephone and email traffic, U.S. officials said on Friday.

The law enforcement and security officials, who were not authorized to speak publicly, said the agencies that normally conduct such investigations, including the FBI and Justice Department, were expecting a probe into the leaks to a British and an American newspaper.

Such investigations typically begin after an agency that believes its secrets have been leaked without authorization files a complaint with the Justice Department. It was unclear on Friday whether a complaint had been submitted by the publicity-shy National Security Agency, which was most directly involved in the collection of trillions of telephone and email communications.

However, one U.S. official with knowledge of the situation said that given the extent and sensitivity of the recent leaks, federal law may compel officials to open an investigation. A criminal probe would represent another turn in the Obama administration's battle against national security leaks. This effort has been under scrutiny lately because of a Justice Department investigation that has involved searches of the phone records of Associated Press journalists and a Fox News reporter.


Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/06/08/us-usa-security-leaks-idUSBRE95700K20130608

Brazil writes off $900mn African debt

May 26, 2013, 5:40 pm


[font color=gray]Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff was
one of the opening speakers at the forum
{Xinhua Images}[/font]

Brazil has announced plans to cancel $900 million worth of debt in 12 African countries. This was announced on the sidelines of African Union celebrations to mark 50 years of the continental bloc.

Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff was one of the opening speakers at the forum. “The idea of having Africa as a special relationship for Brazil is strategic for Brazil’s foreign policy,” presidential spokesman Thomas Traumann told reporters.

Brazil has cooperation programmes with dozens of African nations focusing on agriculture, health, bio-fuels, oil and gas, environment, trade and education. This is the third Africa trip in a year for the Brazilian president – Rousseff attended the BRICS Summit in Durban in March earlier this year.

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blind

''The Speed Sisters'' – The First All-Female Palestinian Racing Team

MAGAZINE.COM
by RSS on May 29, 2013



Sure, Fast and Furious 6 may have set the record for Universal Pictures’ biggest opener ever (!!!), but it’s a different, Vin Diesel-less, racing movie that we’ve got our sights set on. Yesterday the folks over at GOOD posted a piece by filmmaker Amber Fares about her upcoming documentary Speed Sisters. Fares writes:
[font color=gray]

Brought together by a common desire to live life on their own terms, several determined Palestinian women have taken on the street car speed test circuit of the West Bank—competing against each other for the title of fastest woman, for bragging rights for their home city, and to prove that women can compete head on with men in Palestine and beyond.

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Judging from the trailer, it appears as if this is not simply another “life under occupation” story – rather, Israel seems to take a (*ahem*) back seat as Speed Sisters focuses instead on the racers, and the challenges they face within the (male-dominated) Palestinian racing community. Take a look:

[center]http://vimeo.com/44583720[/center]

If you want to learn more about the Speed Sisters, head over to GOOD to read the rest of Fares article, and check out the Speed Sisters film website.

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- Now this is more like it. Make laps, not war!

Kicking Habit: Wash. State Police Dogs Must Unlearn How To Smell Pot

TPM | MANUEL VALDES | May 31, 2013, 5:22 PM


BREMERTON, Wash. (AP) — When Dusty, a 19-month-old black Labrador, walked past a pipe full of marijuana during a recent police search of a house, he was doing exactly what his handler hoped.

The newest drug-sniffing dog on the police force in Bremerton, near Seattle, is one of a few police dogs in Washington state that are not trained to point out pot during searches. Other police departments are considering or in the midst of re-training their dogs to ignore pot as well, part of the new reality in a state where voters last fall legalized marijuana use.

“We wanted to train our dog on what was truly illegal substances, that would be heroin, methamphetamine and cocaine,” said Dusty’s handler, Officer Duke Roessel, who added that Dusty nabbed five pounds of meth during that recent search.

Police departments in Bremerton, Bellevue and Seattle, as well as the Washington State Patrol, have either put the dogs through pot desensitization training or plan not to train them for marijuana detection.

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