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Segami
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Segami's Journal
November 13, 2013
Bush & Palin, between them, timeshare the same single brain cell......she borrowed it for this interview....
Palin was asked by Jake Tapper about advice should would have for any woman running for president, “She can expect that sexism, but you overcome it. You ignore it. You thicken your skin, you march forward with your agenda, your priorities, what you think is right. Hillary Clinton was mistreated when it came to appearances, when it came to wardrobe – petty, superficial things that the men don’t ever seem to hear much about, but a woman candidate will.”
Tapper brought up the comments Chris Christie hears about his weight, and Palin replied, “That’s because it’s been extreme. So it’s hard for some people not to comment on it.”......
(oops)
Palin has made it obvious that she doesn’t like Chris Christie, but she came so close to almost giving a coherent answer to a question. What she said about the sexism that female candidates face in the media is true. Hillary Clinton was absolutely unfairly treated in 2008. Elizabeth Warren got some of the same treatment when she ran for Senate in 2012.
-..Sarah Palin’s jab at Christie was childish. Her point was that Chris Christie is some sort of extreme freak. While I disagree with Christie politically, his struggles with his weight, and his desire to live a healthier life for himself and his family are well documented.
cont'
http://www.politicususa.com/2013/11/12/sarah-palin-embrasses-attacking-chris-christie-fat.html
Sarah Palin EMBARRASSES HERSELF By Attacking Chris Christie For Being Fat
While being interviewed by CNN, Sarah Palin’s intellectual choo-choo derailed, as she skipped from discussing sexism to Chris Christie’s extreme weight.
Bush & Palin, between them, timeshare the same single brain cell......she borrowed it for this interview....
Palin was asked by Jake Tapper about advice should would have for any woman running for president, “She can expect that sexism, but you overcome it. You ignore it. You thicken your skin, you march forward with your agenda, your priorities, what you think is right. Hillary Clinton was mistreated when it came to appearances, when it came to wardrobe – petty, superficial things that the men don’t ever seem to hear much about, but a woman candidate will.”
Tapper brought up the comments Chris Christie hears about his weight, and Palin replied, “That’s because it’s been extreme. So it’s hard for some people not to comment on it.”......
(oops)
Palin has made it obvious that she doesn’t like Chris Christie, but she came so close to almost giving a coherent answer to a question. What she said about the sexism that female candidates face in the media is true. Hillary Clinton was absolutely unfairly treated in 2008. Elizabeth Warren got some of the same treatment when she ran for Senate in 2012.
-..Sarah Palin’s jab at Christie was childish. Her point was that Chris Christie is some sort of extreme freak. While I disagree with Christie politically, his struggles with his weight, and his desire to live a healthier life for himself and his family are well documented.
cont'
http://www.politicususa.com/2013/11/12/sarah-palin-embrasses-attacking-chris-christie-fat.html
November 9, 2013
Philippines Typhoon Haiyan: Mounting Casualties In Wake Of Year's Strongest Storm
MANILA, Philippines -- MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Rescuers in the central Philippines counted at least 100 people dead and many more injured Saturday, a day after one of the most powerful typhoons on record ripped through the region, wiping away buildings and leveling seaside homes with massive storm surges. With communications and roads still cut off, Capt. John Andrews, deputy director general of the Civil Aviation Authority, said he had received "reliable information" by radio from his staff that more than 100 bodies were lying in the streets of the city of Tacloban on hardest-hit Leyte Island. It was one of six islands that Typhoon Haiyan slammed into Friday. Regional military commander Lt. Gen. Roy Deveraturda said that the casualty figure "probably will increase," after viewing aerial photographs of the widespread devastation caused by the typhoon, which was heading toward Vietnam after moving away from the Philippines.
Cabinet Secretary Rene Almendras, a senior aide to President Benigno Aquino III, said that the number of casualties could not be immediately determined, but that the figure was probably in the range given by Andrews. Government troops were helping recover bodies, he said. Civil aviation authorities in Tacloban, a city of 200,000 located about 580 kilometers (360 miles) southeast of Manila, reported that the seaside airport terminal was "ruined" by storm surges, Andrews said. U.S. Marine Col. Mike Wylie, who surveyed the damage in Tacloban prior to possible American assistance, said that the damage to the runway was significant. Military planes were still able to land with relief aid. "The storm surge came in fairly high and there is significant structural damage and trees blown over," said Wylie, who is a member of the U.S.-Philippines Military Assistance Group based in Manila.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said in a statement that America "stands ready to help." Joseph de la Cruz, who was attending a meeting in Tacloban when the typhoon struck and hitched a ride on a military plane back to Manila, said he had counted at least 15 bodies. "A lot of the dead were scattered," he said, adding that he walked for about eight hours to reach the Tacloban airport. Weather officials said Haiyan had sustained winds of 235 kph (147 mph) with gusts of 275 kph (170 mph) when it made landfall. By those measurements, Haiyan would be comparable to a strong Category 4 hurricane in the U.S., nearly in the top category, a 5. Hurricanes, cyclones and typhoons are the same thing. They are just called different names in different parts of the world. Fresh reports emerged Saturday from the devastated areas.
cont'
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/11/09/philippines-typhoon-haiyan-casualties_n_4245578.html
Philippine Red Cross: More Than 1,000 FEARED DEAD In Super Typhoon Haiyan
MANILA, Nov 9 (Reuters) - The Philippine Red Cross estimated that more than 1,000 people were killed in the coastal city of Tacloban and at least 200 in hard-hit Samar province when one of the strongest typhoons ever to make landfall slammed into the country. Gwendolyn Pang, secretary general of the Philippine Red Cross, said the numbers came from preliminary reports by Red Cross teams in Tacloban and Samar, among the most devastated areas hit by Typhoon Haiyan on Friday. "An estimated more than 1,000 bodies were seen floating in Tacloban as reported by our Red Cross teams," she told Reuters. "In Samar, about 200 deaths. Validation is ongoing." She said she expected a more exact number to emerge after a more precise counting of bodies on the ground in those regions.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/11/09/philippine-red-cross-haiyan_n_4245894.html
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/11/09/philippine-red-cross-haiyan_n_4245894.html
Philippines Typhoon Haiyan: Mounting Casualties In Wake Of Year's Strongest Storm
MANILA, Philippines -- MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Rescuers in the central Philippines counted at least 100 people dead and many more injured Saturday, a day after one of the most powerful typhoons on record ripped through the region, wiping away buildings and leveling seaside homes with massive storm surges. With communications and roads still cut off, Capt. John Andrews, deputy director general of the Civil Aviation Authority, said he had received "reliable information" by radio from his staff that more than 100 bodies were lying in the streets of the city of Tacloban on hardest-hit Leyte Island. It was one of six islands that Typhoon Haiyan slammed into Friday. Regional military commander Lt. Gen. Roy Deveraturda said that the casualty figure "probably will increase," after viewing aerial photographs of the widespread devastation caused by the typhoon, which was heading toward Vietnam after moving away from the Philippines.
Cabinet Secretary Rene Almendras, a senior aide to President Benigno Aquino III, said that the number of casualties could not be immediately determined, but that the figure was probably in the range given by Andrews. Government troops were helping recover bodies, he said. Civil aviation authorities in Tacloban, a city of 200,000 located about 580 kilometers (360 miles) southeast of Manila, reported that the seaside airport terminal was "ruined" by storm surges, Andrews said. U.S. Marine Col. Mike Wylie, who surveyed the damage in Tacloban prior to possible American assistance, said that the damage to the runway was significant. Military planes were still able to land with relief aid. "The storm surge came in fairly high and there is significant structural damage and trees blown over," said Wylie, who is a member of the U.S.-Philippines Military Assistance Group based in Manila.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said in a statement that America "stands ready to help." Joseph de la Cruz, who was attending a meeting in Tacloban when the typhoon struck and hitched a ride on a military plane back to Manila, said he had counted at least 15 bodies. "A lot of the dead were scattered," he said, adding that he walked for about eight hours to reach the Tacloban airport. Weather officials said Haiyan had sustained winds of 235 kph (147 mph) with gusts of 275 kph (170 mph) when it made landfall. By those measurements, Haiyan would be comparable to a strong Category 4 hurricane in the U.S., nearly in the top category, a 5. Hurricanes, cyclones and typhoons are the same thing. They are just called different names in different parts of the world. Fresh reports emerged Saturday from the devastated areas.
cont'
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/11/09/philippines-typhoon-haiyan-casualties_n_4245578.html
November 8, 2013
Be careful Tweety.......you aren't too far away from a dipping sauce......................
MSNBC host Chris Matthews got a rise out of the crowd Thursday at Thinkfest, an event sponsored by Philadelphia Magazine, by suggesting New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie's (R) wife gets "crushed" under the weight of her husband.
"Two days after election day, Chris Christie has crushed his opponent. Is he going to be the Republican nominee--" Philadelphia Magazine's Tom McGrath said while speaking with Matthews on stage.
Former Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney ultimately dropped Christie from his list of potential vice presidential nominees because Christie failed to provide documentation on his medical history, according to Mark Halperin and John Heilemann's new book "Double Down." Romney also made fun of Christie's weight, according to the book.
Christie was also the subject of a TIME cover this week that placed an image of the governor in profile under the headline "The Elephant In The Room."
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/chris-matthews-mocks-christie-s-weight-audio
Chris Matthews Implies in Joke That Chris Christie May 'CRUSH' His Wife in Bed
Be careful Tweety.......you aren't too far away from a dipping sauce......................
MSNBC host Chris Matthews got a rise out of the crowd Thursday at Thinkfest, an event sponsored by Philadelphia Magazine, by suggesting New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie's (R) wife gets "crushed" under the weight of her husband.
"Two days after election day, Chris Christie has crushed his opponent. Is he going to be the Republican nominee--" Philadelphia Magazine's Tom McGrath said while speaking with Matthews on stage.
"The one I feel for is his wife," Matthews interjected to laughter from the crowd.
"Why's that?" McGrath asked.
"Did you just say 'crush?' I mean, use your imagination," Matthews said.
"Why's that?" McGrath asked.
"Did you just say 'crush?' I mean, use your imagination," Matthews said.
Former Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney ultimately dropped Christie from his list of potential vice presidential nominees because Christie failed to provide documentation on his medical history, according to Mark Halperin and John Heilemann's new book "Double Down." Romney also made fun of Christie's weight, according to the book.
Christie was also the subject of a TIME cover this week that placed an image of the governor in profile under the headline "The Elephant In The Room."
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/chris-matthews-mocks-christie-s-weight-audio
November 8, 2013
"...There are many possible roads to victory, but the surest path to defeat is to not even try..."
Twenty-five environmental leaders recently signed on to an open letter to President Obama urging him to avoid any "deal-making" with the Canadian government and to reject a presidential permit for Keystone XL's proposed northern leg. As the letter remarked: "Building Keystone XL will expand production in the tar sands, and that reality is not compatible with serious efforts to battle climate change." I share my colleagues' objection to any deals between the United States and Canada over Keystone's prospective northern leg, but what the open letter posted by 350.org ignored is the well-reported fact that the 485-mile southern leg of Keystone XL already is being built. Did the president engage in deal-making to facilitate this?
Regardless of what the president decides about the northern leg permit in 2014, Keystone XL's southern leg - which is now 95 percent built - is ready to begin pumping more than half a million barrels of climate-destroying tar sands daily from landlocked Alberta to Gulf Coast port refineries by as early as the end of this year. This "reality is not compatible with serious efforts to battle climate change." Last spring, Obama made a special trip to Cushing, Oklahoma, to hold a press conference directing his administration to "cut through the red tape, break through the bureaucratic hurdles, and make this project a priority, to go ahead and get it done." He said this about Keystone XL's southern leg only months after announcing he was postponing, until after the election, a decision on Keystone XL's northern leg.
This is classic bait-and-switch. By breaking Keystone XL into northern and southern legs, he was able to give his environmental base something it wanted (a "victory" to crow about), while giving TransCanada something it needed (access to port refineries). When Obama released his climate action plan in June, he said, "The question now is whether we will have the courage to act before it's too late. ... I refuse to condemn your generation and future generations to a planet that's beyond fixing." He cannot now stand idly by while Keystone XL's southern leg is completed and expect anyone to believe what he said. If the Obama administration could conjure up a way to fast-track construction of the Keystone pipeline, it should be able to conjure up a way to stop it.
cont'
http://www.truth-out.org/opinion/item/19842-obama-must-be-called-out-not-coddled-on-keystone-xl-bait-and-switch
Obama Must Be CALLED OUT, NOT CODDLED, On Keystone XL Bait-and-Switch
Now - not after the tar sands spigot is turned on - is the time to support the efforts of courageous Texas landowners who could stop Keystone XL's administration-approved southern leg in its tracks.
"...There are many possible roads to victory, but the surest path to defeat is to not even try..."
Twenty-five environmental leaders recently signed on to an open letter to President Obama urging him to avoid any "deal-making" with the Canadian government and to reject a presidential permit for Keystone XL's proposed northern leg. As the letter remarked: "Building Keystone XL will expand production in the tar sands, and that reality is not compatible with serious efforts to battle climate change." I share my colleagues' objection to any deals between the United States and Canada over Keystone's prospective northern leg, but what the open letter posted by 350.org ignored is the well-reported fact that the 485-mile southern leg of Keystone XL already is being built. Did the president engage in deal-making to facilitate this?
Regardless of what the president decides about the northern leg permit in 2014, Keystone XL's southern leg - which is now 95 percent built - is ready to begin pumping more than half a million barrels of climate-destroying tar sands daily from landlocked Alberta to Gulf Coast port refineries by as early as the end of this year. This "reality is not compatible with serious efforts to battle climate change." Last spring, Obama made a special trip to Cushing, Oklahoma, to hold a press conference directing his administration to "cut through the red tape, break through the bureaucratic hurdles, and make this project a priority, to go ahead and get it done." He said this about Keystone XL's southern leg only months after announcing he was postponing, until after the election, a decision on Keystone XL's northern leg.
This is classic bait-and-switch. By breaking Keystone XL into northern and southern legs, he was able to give his environmental base something it wanted (a "victory" to crow about), while giving TransCanada something it needed (access to port refineries). When Obama released his climate action plan in June, he said, "The question now is whether we will have the courage to act before it's too late. ... I refuse to condemn your generation and future generations to a planet that's beyond fixing." He cannot now stand idly by while Keystone XL's southern leg is completed and expect anyone to believe what he said. If the Obama administration could conjure up a way to fast-track construction of the Keystone pipeline, it should be able to conjure up a way to stop it.
cont'
http://www.truth-out.org/opinion/item/19842-obama-must-be-called-out-not-coddled-on-keystone-xl-bait-and-switch
November 8, 2013
There needs to be covictions & substantial jail time for the actions of these criminals......anything less would be sending a message of ' business-as-usual ' for the privileged few.........simple as that!....
The head of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York said Thursday that some of America’s largest financial institutions appear to lack respect for the law, a potentially explosive charge against an industry already roiling from numerous government investigations into alleged wrongdoing. William Dudley, one of the nation’s top banking regulators whose organization helps oversee Wall Street banks including JPMorgan Chase and Citigroup, made the comment during a speech focused on the problems posed by banks perceived to be “too big to fail,” and possible solutions to correct them.
But in an abrupt turn, Dudley suggested that regulators may be stymied by "cultural" issues that have negatively affected the nation's biggest banks. “Collectively, these enhancements to our current regime may not solve another important problem evident within some large financial institutions -- the apparent lack of respect for law, regulation and the public trust," he said. “There is evidence of deep-seated cultural and ethical failures at many large financial institutions,” he continued. “Whether this is due to size and complexity, bad incentives, or some other issues is difficult to judge, but it is another critical problem that needs to be addressed.”
Dudley's comments come as the world’s biggest banks collectively face tens of billions of dollars in potential fines and government-driven settlements arising from alleged lawbreaking in markets ranging from home mortgages to interest rates and currencies. Authorities in North America, Europe and Asia have been probing more than a dozen large institutions for allegedly attempting to manipulate benchmark interest rates, the most popular of which is known as Libor, that affect hundreds of trillions of dollars in loans and securities. So far, Barclays, UBS, Rabobank and Royal Bank of Scotland collectively have agreed to pay nearly $4 billion to settle with government authorities. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the giant U.S.-backed mortgage financiers, also have sued many of these banks to recover alleged losses.
In addition, regulators around the world are investigating whether some big banks attempted to rig the foreign exchange market, where currency prices are set and more than $5 trillion is exchanged daily. Goldman Sachs on Thursday became the latest bank to disclose that it was under investigation, joining Barclays, UBS, Deutsche Bank, Citigroup and JPMorgan, among others. JPMorgan is also among a group of banks facing U.S. demands for restitution and penalties for allegedly misleading investors when selling them home loans that had been bundled into securities. The bank recently agreed to pay the Federal Housing Finance Agency, which regulates Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, about $4 billion to settle claims it sold the mortgage financiers faulty home loan securities. A group of government agencies led by the Department of Justice has been negotiating with the bank to settle related claims that would call for billions more in cash and aid for distressed homeowners.
cont'
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/11/07/william-dudley-big-banks_n_4235834.html
New York Fed Chief Levels EXPLOSIVE CHARGE Against BIG BANKS
William C. Dudley, president and chief executive officer of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, chats before an interview in New York, U.S., on Tuesday, May 21, 2013. (Scott Eells/Bloomberg) | Getty
There needs to be covictions & substantial jail time for the actions of these criminals......anything less would be sending a message of ' business-as-usual ' for the privileged few.........simple as that!....
The head of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York said Thursday that some of America’s largest financial institutions appear to lack respect for the law, a potentially explosive charge against an industry already roiling from numerous government investigations into alleged wrongdoing. William Dudley, one of the nation’s top banking regulators whose organization helps oversee Wall Street banks including JPMorgan Chase and Citigroup, made the comment during a speech focused on the problems posed by banks perceived to be “too big to fail,” and possible solutions to correct them.
But in an abrupt turn, Dudley suggested that regulators may be stymied by "cultural" issues that have negatively affected the nation's biggest banks. “Collectively, these enhancements to our current regime may not solve another important problem evident within some large financial institutions -- the apparent lack of respect for law, regulation and the public trust," he said. “There is evidence of deep-seated cultural and ethical failures at many large financial institutions,” he continued. “Whether this is due to size and complexity, bad incentives, or some other issues is difficult to judge, but it is another critical problem that needs to be addressed.”
Dudley's comments come as the world’s biggest banks collectively face tens of billions of dollars in potential fines and government-driven settlements arising from alleged lawbreaking in markets ranging from home mortgages to interest rates and currencies. Authorities in North America, Europe and Asia have been probing more than a dozen large institutions for allegedly attempting to manipulate benchmark interest rates, the most popular of which is known as Libor, that affect hundreds of trillions of dollars in loans and securities. So far, Barclays, UBS, Rabobank and Royal Bank of Scotland collectively have agreed to pay nearly $4 billion to settle with government authorities. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the giant U.S.-backed mortgage financiers, also have sued many of these banks to recover alleged losses.
In addition, regulators around the world are investigating whether some big banks attempted to rig the foreign exchange market, where currency prices are set and more than $5 trillion is exchanged daily. Goldman Sachs on Thursday became the latest bank to disclose that it was under investigation, joining Barclays, UBS, Deutsche Bank, Citigroup and JPMorgan, among others. JPMorgan is also among a group of banks facing U.S. demands for restitution and penalties for allegedly misleading investors when selling them home loans that had been bundled into securities. The bank recently agreed to pay the Federal Housing Finance Agency, which regulates Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, about $4 billion to settle claims it sold the mortgage financiers faulty home loan securities. A group of government agencies led by the Department of Justice has been negotiating with the bank to settle related claims that would call for billions more in cash and aid for distressed homeowners.
cont'
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/11/07/william-dudley-big-banks_n_4235834.html
November 7, 2013
From Climate Central's Andrew Freedman:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/11/07/super-typhoon-haiyan-philippines_n_4235250.html
SUPER TYPHOON HAIYAN Could Be One Of The STRONGEST Storms In WORLD HISTORY
From Climate Central's Andrew Freedman:
Super Typhoon Haiyan — which is one of the strongest storms in world history based on maximum windspeed — is about to plow through the Central Philippines, producing a potentially deadly storm surge and dumping heavy rainfall that could cause widespread flooding. The densely populated city of Manila, home to 12 million, is in the storm’s path, although it is predicted to escape the worst of the winds and storm surge. As of Thursday afternoon Eastern time, Haiyan, known in the Philippines as Super Typhoon Yolanda, had estimated maximum sustained winds of 195 mph with gusts above 220 mph, which puts the storm in extraordinarily rare territory. Since 1969, only three storms have had sustained winds close to this magnitude — Hurricane Camille in 1969, Super Typhoon Tip in 1979, and Hurricane Allen in 1980. No storm in the Atlantic has ever been stronger than Haiyan, accoring to The Weather Channel.
Haiyan is capable of causing catastrophic damage in the central Philippines and its outer bands are already starting to affect the island nation.The U.S. Navy’s Joint Typhoon Warning Center forecasts that Haiyan will cross the Central Philippines as a Category 4 or 5 Super Typhoon, and then re-emerge over open water, before making landfall in Vietnam as a Category 3 typhoon on November 10. Ryan Maue, a meteorologist at WeatherBELL Analytics, said that Haiyan appears to be the strongest storm since Super Typhoon Tip in 1979. Maue said the storm has avoided the typical hiccups that other intense storms encounter, such as eyewall replacement cycles, during which a storm's inner core undergoes a reorganization. Such cycles can cause a Category 5 storm to weaken to a Category 3 or 4 storm, before re-strengthening. Instead of doing this, though, Haiyan has remained at peak strength for more than 24 hours, which is unusual, and even strengthened on Monday morning.
After hitting the Leyte province, the Philippines’ Department of Science and Technology expects the storm to traverse the central Philippines from Biliran to Busuanga before passing into the West Philippine Sea. The Department is warning coastal residents to expect storm surges “which may reach up to 7-meter (23 feet) wave height,” along with flooding and mudslides. The storm poses an especially grave danger to the capital of Leyte, the city of Tacloban, which has about 220,000 people and lies along or just to the north of the storm's path where the most intense winds and storm surge will come ashore.
http://www.climatecentral.org/news/dangerous-super-typhoon-haiyan-assaults-philippines-16712
cont'
Haiyan is capable of causing catastrophic damage in the central Philippines and its outer bands are already starting to affect the island nation.The U.S. Navy’s Joint Typhoon Warning Center forecasts that Haiyan will cross the Central Philippines as a Category 4 or 5 Super Typhoon, and then re-emerge over open water, before making landfall in Vietnam as a Category 3 typhoon on November 10. Ryan Maue, a meteorologist at WeatherBELL Analytics, said that Haiyan appears to be the strongest storm since Super Typhoon Tip in 1979. Maue said the storm has avoided the typical hiccups that other intense storms encounter, such as eyewall replacement cycles, during which a storm's inner core undergoes a reorganization. Such cycles can cause a Category 5 storm to weaken to a Category 3 or 4 storm, before re-strengthening. Instead of doing this, though, Haiyan has remained at peak strength for more than 24 hours, which is unusual, and even strengthened on Monday morning.
After hitting the Leyte province, the Philippines’ Department of Science and Technology expects the storm to traverse the central Philippines from Biliran to Busuanga before passing into the West Philippine Sea. The Department is warning coastal residents to expect storm surges “which may reach up to 7-meter (23 feet) wave height,” along with flooding and mudslides. The storm poses an especially grave danger to the capital of Leyte, the city of Tacloban, which has about 220,000 people and lies along or just to the north of the storm's path where the most intense winds and storm surge will come ashore.
http://www.climatecentral.org/news/dangerous-super-typhoon-haiyan-assaults-philippines-16712
cont'
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/11/07/super-typhoon-haiyan-philippines_n_4235250.html
November 7, 2013
Lets all move to Russia.......
Internet privacy relies heavily on the ability of tech companies to hide user content—such as your emails and bank information—behind a secure wall. But the Department of Justice is waging an unprecedented battle in court to win the power to seize the keys of US companies whenever the US government wants. Edward Snowden has shown that the government is already doing a great job at getting companies to hand over information, breaking down weak doors, and scooping up unlocked material. But if the Justice Department succeeds in this case, it will be far easier for it to do so, and—poof!—there will no longer be any guarantee of Internet privacy.
The case started this summer, when Lavabit—an alternative email provider that promised highly secure email—was handed a subpoena by the Department of Justice. The subpoena required that Lavabit supply the billing and subscriber information for one of its users, widely believed to be Edward Snowden. Lavabit supplied this information. Then, the government asked to install a device on Lavabit's servers that would allow it to monitor all of the metadata (time and email addresses) of the individual's account. But Lavabit encrypted all of this information, and the only way for the government to view it was to use Lavabit's private keys to break the encryption. Those keys weren't set up to access an individual account. Instead, they broke the encryption of 400,000 Lavabit email users and would allow the government to rifle through all of that content.
Lavabit offered to record the individual's information that the government requested and hand it over on a regular basis, for a fee of at least $2000—but it refused to give up its keys. As Ladar Levison, Lavabit's 32-year-old founder, told Mother Jones in August, "What I'm against, at least on a philosophical level...is the bulk collection of information, or the violation of the privacy of an entire user base just to conduct the investigation into a handful of individuals."
The government obtained a warrant demanding that Lavabit give up the keys anyway. When the company refused (at one point, Levison turned over the keys in 11 pages of 4-point type that no one could read) it was held in contempt of court and slapped with a $5,000-a-day fine. The government prosecutor in that closed-door hearing argued that "there’s no agents looking through the 400,000 other bits of information, customers, whatever... No one looks at that, no one stores it, no one has access to it.” The judge presiding over the case said that sounded "reasonable." Lavabit handed over the keys right before shutting down the entire company. On October 10, it filed its appeal of the contempt charge in the US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, in a case that civil liberties groups say is the first of its kind (A Justice Department spokesman says it does not comment on pending litigation. The department is scheduled to file a brief in response to Lavabit by November 12.)
cont'
http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2013/11/department-justice-privacy-internet-lavabit-encryption-keys
Forget The Backdoor: The Government Now WANTS KEYS To The Internet
Lets all move to Russia.......
Internet privacy relies heavily on the ability of tech companies to hide user content—such as your emails and bank information—behind a secure wall. But the Department of Justice is waging an unprecedented battle in court to win the power to seize the keys of US companies whenever the US government wants. Edward Snowden has shown that the government is already doing a great job at getting companies to hand over information, breaking down weak doors, and scooping up unlocked material. But if the Justice Department succeeds in this case, it will be far easier for it to do so, and—poof!—there will no longer be any guarantee of Internet privacy.
The case started this summer, when Lavabit—an alternative email provider that promised highly secure email—was handed a subpoena by the Department of Justice. The subpoena required that Lavabit supply the billing and subscriber information for one of its users, widely believed to be Edward Snowden. Lavabit supplied this information. Then, the government asked to install a device on Lavabit's servers that would allow it to monitor all of the metadata (time and email addresses) of the individual's account. But Lavabit encrypted all of this information, and the only way for the government to view it was to use Lavabit's private keys to break the encryption. Those keys weren't set up to access an individual account. Instead, they broke the encryption of 400,000 Lavabit email users and would allow the government to rifle through all of that content.
Lavabit offered to record the individual's information that the government requested and hand it over on a regular basis, for a fee of at least $2000—but it refused to give up its keys. As Ladar Levison, Lavabit's 32-year-old founder, told Mother Jones in August, "What I'm against, at least on a philosophical level...is the bulk collection of information, or the violation of the privacy of an entire user base just to conduct the investigation into a handful of individuals."
The government obtained a warrant demanding that Lavabit give up the keys anyway. When the company refused (at one point, Levison turned over the keys in 11 pages of 4-point type that no one could read) it was held in contempt of court and slapped with a $5,000-a-day fine. The government prosecutor in that closed-door hearing argued that "there’s no agents looking through the 400,000 other bits of information, customers, whatever... No one looks at that, no one stores it, no one has access to it.” The judge presiding over the case said that sounded "reasonable." Lavabit handed over the keys right before shutting down the entire company. On October 10, it filed its appeal of the contempt charge in the US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, in a case that civil liberties groups say is the first of its kind (A Justice Department spokesman says it does not comment on pending litigation. The department is scheduled to file a brief in response to Lavabit by November 12.)
cont'
http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2013/11/department-justice-privacy-internet-lavabit-encryption-keys
November 7, 2013
The way to protect American's privacy rights, Obama administration officials are now arguing, is through the bulk collection of their phone data into a massive database. Therefore, they argue, Congress must reject bipartisan efforts in new legislation to end the mass collection and storage of data and support Sen. Dianne Feinstein's bulk collection protection bill. Because it's for our own good and for our privacy protection. Yep, they actually argue that.
Yes, people, the only way to make sure that your metadata doesn't make it into your divorce proceedings is to let the NSA squirrel it away. But there's just a few problems with that argument. For example, other levels of law enforcement are required to get a warrant in order to obtain and use that data. It's only the NSA that gets to troll around in the information about spouses or significant others to find out who they're talking to without a warrant, without getting permission from any legal authority to do it. Of course, Congress could also write into the legislation protections for the data, restricting access to it to national security. So, in a word, bullshit.
There's also this, a point made by Marcy Wheeler in a fantastic profile of her work in Newsweek: "The next terrorist attack will come from a group that stays offline, she said, 'and we’re going to be hit bad by it because we have this hubris about the degree to which all people live online.'" While the NSA is collecting masses of information on all of us just because it can, the real terrorists are organizing off-line, off the phone, beyond the reach of the NSA's collection ability.
cont
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/11/05/1253337/-Administration-lawyers-We-have-to-spy-on-you-to-protect-your-nbsp-privacy
Administration Lawyers: We HAVE To SPY On YOU To Protect YOUR PRIVACY
"..Just trust them. It's for your own good.."
The way to protect American's privacy rights, Obama administration officials are now arguing, is through the bulk collection of their phone data into a massive database. Therefore, they argue, Congress must reject bipartisan efforts in new legislation to end the mass collection and storage of data and support Sen. Dianne Feinstein's bulk collection protection bill. Because it's for our own good and for our privacy protection. Yep, they actually argue that.
The NSA has previously argued that it was allowed by section 215 of the Patriot Act to store millions of phone records of Americans in order to find potential terrorists and their connections inside the United States. A court found that NSA could hold onto the data on the grounds that it was relevant to terrorism inquiries. In theory, storing the data with the companies, instead of at the NSA, would allow the telcos to serve as a kind of privacy watchdog. They'd be in a position to examine the government's requests for information about their customers and possibly to object to them in court.
But the intelligence lawyers warned that Americans' would be subject to even greater privacy incursions if their personal information were stripped from NSA's control.
Patrick Kelley, the acting general counsel of the FBI, said the phone company data could be made available to "other levels of law enforcement enforcement from local, state and federal who want it for whatever law enforcement purposes they're authorized to obtain it." He also raised a frightening prospect: "Civil litigation could also seek to obtain it for such things as relatively mundane as divorce actions," he said. "Who's calling who with your spouse ... So if the data is kept only by the companies than I think the privacy considerations certainly warrants scrutiny."
http://thecable.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2013/11/04/top_obama_lawyers_reforming_the_nsa_could_hurt_americans_privacy_rights?wp_login_redirect=0
But the intelligence lawyers warned that Americans' would be subject to even greater privacy incursions if their personal information were stripped from NSA's control.
Patrick Kelley, the acting general counsel of the FBI, said the phone company data could be made available to "other levels of law enforcement enforcement from local, state and federal who want it for whatever law enforcement purposes they're authorized to obtain it." He also raised a frightening prospect: "Civil litigation could also seek to obtain it for such things as relatively mundane as divorce actions," he said. "Who's calling who with your spouse ... So if the data is kept only by the companies than I think the privacy considerations certainly warrants scrutiny."
http://thecable.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2013/11/04/top_obama_lawyers_reforming_the_nsa_could_hurt_americans_privacy_rights?wp_login_redirect=0
Yes, people, the only way to make sure that your metadata doesn't make it into your divorce proceedings is to let the NSA squirrel it away. But there's just a few problems with that argument. For example, other levels of law enforcement are required to get a warrant in order to obtain and use that data. It's only the NSA that gets to troll around in the information about spouses or significant others to find out who they're talking to without a warrant, without getting permission from any legal authority to do it. Of course, Congress could also write into the legislation protections for the data, restricting access to it to national security. So, in a word, bullshit.
There's also this, a point made by Marcy Wheeler in a fantastic profile of her work in Newsweek: "The next terrorist attack will come from a group that stays offline, she said, 'and we’re going to be hit bad by it because we have this hubris about the degree to which all people live online.'" While the NSA is collecting masses of information on all of us just because it can, the real terrorists are organizing off-line, off the phone, beyond the reach of the NSA's collection ability.
cont
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/11/05/1253337/-Administration-lawyers-We-have-to-spy-on-you-to-protect-your-nbsp-privacy
November 6, 2013
On Wednesday, two American companies with a track record of offering encrypted private communications are set to join forces in an unprecedented bid to counter dragnet Internet spying. Some of the world’s top cryptographers are behind the secure communications provider Silent Circle, and they’ve teamed up with the founder of Lavabit, the email provider used by Edward Snowden, which recently shut down in a bid to resist surveillance. They’re calling it the “Dark Mail Alliance.” For months, the team has been quietly working on rebuilding email as we know it—and they claim to have had a breakthrough.
The newly developed technology has been designed to look just like ordinary email, with an interface that includes all the usual folders—inbox, sent mail, and drafts. But where it differs is that it will automatically deploy peer-to-peer encryption, so that users of the Dark Mail technology will be able to communicate securely. The encryption, based on a Silent Circle instant messaging protocol called SCIMP, will apply to both content and metadata of the message and attachments. And the secret keys generated to encrypt the communications will be ephemeral, meaning they are deleted after each exchange of messages.
For the NSA and similar surveillance agencies across the world, it will sound like a nightmare. The technology will thwart attempts to sift emails directly from Internet cables as part of so-called “upstream” collection programs and limit the ability to collect messages directly from Internet companies through court orders. Covertly monitoring encrypted Dark Mail emails would likely have to be done by deploying Trojan spyware on a targeted individual's computer. If every email provider in the world adopted this technology for all their users, it would render dragnet interception of email messages and email metadata virtually impossible.
Existing forms of email encryption, like PGP, can be used to encrypt the content of an email. But PGP cannot encrypt the “subject” header or metadata like the “to” and “from” fields, and the average user can find it too complicated to use. Dark Mail promises to address both of these issues in the form of an easy-to-use iOS app and an Android app. There will also be desktop versions for Mac and Windows users. People using the technology will still be able to send emails to friends or colleagues using Gmail and Hotmail—but when sending messages to non-Dark Mail users, a warning will be displayed, making it clear that the communication could be intercepted. Silent Circle and Lavabit don’t plan to offer the technology exclusively. On the contrary, the source code of the software will be made public for anyone to scrutinize and audit, and the team is hoping that other email providers will be willing to join the Dark Mail Alliance. The more companies that do, the more secure email will become.
“Our vision is three or four years from now that this will become email 3.0—the way the majority of Internet users email,” says Mike Janke, Silent Circle’s CEO. The 45-year-old, a former Navy SEAL sniper, acknowledges that the launch of the service is going to be “politically hot.” Major companies like Google and Microsoft may be unwilling to adopt it because of how controversial it could be, with governments potentially furious that the technology could thwart their attempts to monitor communications and track criminals. But surveillance has become “completely out of hand,” Janke says, and he believes it’s time to readdress the balance between security and privacy.
cont'
http://www.slate.com/blogs/future_tense/2013/10/30/dark_mail_alliance_lavabit_silent_circle_team_up_to_create_surveillance.html
Meet The “DARK MAIL ALLIANCE” Planning to Keep the NSA Out of Your Inbox
"..Email might be on the verge of a radical makeover. And the NSA is not going to like it..."
On Wednesday, two American companies with a track record of offering encrypted private communications are set to join forces in an unprecedented bid to counter dragnet Internet spying. Some of the world’s top cryptographers are behind the secure communications provider Silent Circle, and they’ve teamed up with the founder of Lavabit, the email provider used by Edward Snowden, which recently shut down in a bid to resist surveillance. They’re calling it the “Dark Mail Alliance.” For months, the team has been quietly working on rebuilding email as we know it—and they claim to have had a breakthrough.
The newly developed technology has been designed to look just like ordinary email, with an interface that includes all the usual folders—inbox, sent mail, and drafts. But where it differs is that it will automatically deploy peer-to-peer encryption, so that users of the Dark Mail technology will be able to communicate securely. The encryption, based on a Silent Circle instant messaging protocol called SCIMP, will apply to both content and metadata of the message and attachments. And the secret keys generated to encrypt the communications will be ephemeral, meaning they are deleted after each exchange of messages.
For the NSA and similar surveillance agencies across the world, it will sound like a nightmare. The technology will thwart attempts to sift emails directly from Internet cables as part of so-called “upstream” collection programs and limit the ability to collect messages directly from Internet companies through court orders. Covertly monitoring encrypted Dark Mail emails would likely have to be done by deploying Trojan spyware on a targeted individual's computer. If every email provider in the world adopted this technology for all their users, it would render dragnet interception of email messages and email metadata virtually impossible.
Existing forms of email encryption, like PGP, can be used to encrypt the content of an email. But PGP cannot encrypt the “subject” header or metadata like the “to” and “from” fields, and the average user can find it too complicated to use. Dark Mail promises to address both of these issues in the form of an easy-to-use iOS app and an Android app. There will also be desktop versions for Mac and Windows users. People using the technology will still be able to send emails to friends or colleagues using Gmail and Hotmail—but when sending messages to non-Dark Mail users, a warning will be displayed, making it clear that the communication could be intercepted. Silent Circle and Lavabit don’t plan to offer the technology exclusively. On the contrary, the source code of the software will be made public for anyone to scrutinize and audit, and the team is hoping that other email providers will be willing to join the Dark Mail Alliance. The more companies that do, the more secure email will become.
“Our vision is three or four years from now that this will become email 3.0—the way the majority of Internet users email,” says Mike Janke, Silent Circle’s CEO. The 45-year-old, a former Navy SEAL sniper, acknowledges that the launch of the service is going to be “politically hot.” Major companies like Google and Microsoft may be unwilling to adopt it because of how controversial it could be, with governments potentially furious that the technology could thwart their attempts to monitor communications and track criminals. But surveillance has become “completely out of hand,” Janke says, and he believes it’s time to readdress the balance between security and privacy.
cont'
http://www.slate.com/blogs/future_tense/2013/10/30/dark_mail_alliance_lavabit_silent_circle_team_up_to_create_surveillance.html
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