SummerSnow
SummerSnow's JournalSo let me get this straight....
The SCOTUS is giving "THIS" Congress the decision to see which states need election/voter monitoring?????? This is not your daddy's SCOTUS anymore. This Congress will never pick the states that use voter suppression.
I saw the movie "The Purge"...
do you ever think something like that could happen here in the US?
I had my share of bad landlords
I had one who left a loaded rifle in the house on move in day and my children found it. They said mom there's a big gun in our room.So I went in and there it was up against the wall.Good thing they were afraid to touch it
US: Edward Snowden May Be A Chinese Spy – Former CIA Officer
According to former CIA officer, Snowden may be a Chinese spy. US intelligence officials “are seriously looking at this as a potential Chinese cover action”, Bob Baer told, referring to the recent Snowden’s leaks, VoR reports.
Meanwhile, Snowden’s application for asylum in Hong Kong may be a witty step, experts say, since the system of asylum screening process has not been implemented there yet.
“Hong Kong is controlled by Chinese intelligence,” Baer told CNN Sunday evening. “It’s not an independent part of China at all. I’ve talked to a bunch of people in Washington today, in official positions, and they are looking at this as a potential Chinese espionage case.”
Some have pointed that Snowden’s disclosures coincided with the visit to the US of Xi Jinping, the Chinese president, who was chided by Obama for China’s cyber-attacks in the US.
It also turned out that Snowden attempted to publish his documents in The Washington Post, but after the media outlet had refused to rush the publication, they lost contact with Snowden.
Speaking about any chances of China to extradite Snowden, Baer claimed, that the USA “will never get him in China”.
The United States are now trying to find an espionage law in Hong Kong similar to the one in the US to extradite Edward Snowden.
Meanwhile Edward Snowden, a 29-year-old intelligence contractor from Booz Allen, is seeking asylum after apparently leaving a hotel in Hong Kong, where he leaked top secret documents on the National Security Agency (NSA) to the media.
Experts say the process could last very long because of a March 2013 ruling by Hong Kong’s court of final appeal which says that Hong Kong, which previously depended on rulings by the United Nations refugee authorities, must establish its own asylum screening process.
Since no system has yet been implemented, an application from Snowden would face lengthy delays, buying him time to consider his next move while probably blocking any attempt to deport him.
Meanwhile, Russian authorities have promised to join the ranks of those willing to consider giving Snowden political asylum, if he files a formal request, Kommersant newspaper reports citing a Kremlin spokesman on Tuesday.
“If we receive such a request, we will consider it,” Dmitry Peskov was quoted.
http://inserbia.info/news/2013/06/us-edward-snowden-may-be-a-chinese-spy-former-cia-officer/
Rubio on NSA leak
Rubio on NSA leak: "There's a reason things are classified"
20 hours ago, CBSTV Videos
Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., told reporters following a briefing on NSA surveillance reach that if the media's reports were more "fully accurate or paint a complete picture of how these programs work or the safeguards that are built into them," Americans might feel "a little more comfortable" with the way the data-mining procedures work.
http://screen.yahoo.com/rubio-nsa-leak-theres-reason-001708321-cbs.html
*scared little boy*
What Country Monitors Communications the Most: U.S., U.K., Canada, or Australia?
Law enforcement demands for subscriber information spiked in the United States last year, while at the same time wiretapping requests declined. The numbers suggest the nature of surveillance could be changing. But how do statistics from other countries compare?
In the United Kingdom, the latest figures on communications surveillance were published last week. They showed that in 2011, 494,078 requests for communications data were made by authorities. Communications data include IP addresses, the date and time a communication was sent, and location information—but not the actual content of a call, text, or email. Still high at about 1,300 per day (and almost one per minute), the 494,078 requests in fact represented a decline of 11 percent from the previous year. In direct contrast, perhaps due to the security effort around the upcoming London Olympics, the United Kingdom witnessed a steep rise in warrants authorizing the interception of communications content. 2,911 interception requests were granted—a 73 percent increase on 2010’s reported 1,682.
The United States also can also obtain information via FISA requests, which increased by 10 per cent in 2011. Passed by Congress in 1978, FISA is designed to govern "foreign intelligence surveillance" of persons in the United States. It allows federal authorities to conduct a range of surveillance methods in order to protect against terrorism, espionage or foreign spies. The law is currently the subject of a legal challenge launched by human rights and civil liberties groups, soon to be considered by the Supreme Court. The ACLU, representing plaintiffs in the case, argues FISA has granted the National Security Agency "unchecked power to monitor Americans’ international phone calls and emails."
In the United States, federal and state courts approved 2,732 intercepts, or “wiretaps,” in 2011 as part of criminal investigations—a decline of 14 percent from 2010. It appears, then, that though the United Kingdom has a population that is about one-fifth the size of the United States’, it intercepted a far higher percentage of its citizens’ communications (see chart). Additionally, earlier this month it emerged U.S. cell carriers received a massive 1.3 million demands for subscriber information last year from law enforcement agencies. The nearest U.K. equivalent of this figure—the 494,078 communications data requests—is significantly lower, though still proportionally high in comparison.
Other countries recorded an overall fall in surveillance measures. In Australia, there were 3,488 interceptions authorized in 2010-11, a small decline of 3 percent from the previous year. Communications data requests in the country also went down over the same period: there were 243,631 in 2010-11, a drop of 14 percent. However, on an estimated per-100,000 basis, Australia’s recorded surveillance rates remain the highest of the countries profiled here, as the chart shows.
In Canada, there were just 635 interceptions authorized, a 28 percent reduction from 2010. As for the communications data figure, there isn’t any authoritative number available, as no official record is kept. According to Ontario-based academic Michael Geist, Canada suffers from “a huge information disclosure issue with no reporting and no oversight.” The Royal Canadian Mounted Police made more than 28,000 requests for customer names and addresses in 2010, Geist says.
The surveillance statistics compared across nations seem to vary wildly. Though there is at least one discernable pattern: the collective drop in officially recorded wiretaps in the United States, Canada, and Australia, which could be attributed to several factors.
It’s possible that fewer wiretaps of communications are being conducted in these countries because more people are turning to online-based VOIP chat technologies difficult to eavesdrop on—such as Skype and Jitsi. This is part of the ongoing argument being advanced by the FBI to justify new Internet surveillance powers. But it’s also possible that as traditional wiretapping is becoming slowly obsolete, it is being replaced by more covert, unaccounted forms of surveillance. Favored methods may include social media monitoring or, as National Security Agency whistle-blowers in the United States have alleged, dragnet interception systems that function outside the law.
Note: Each per-100,000 figure is based on individual interception authorizations and communications data requests as recorded in official reports. They should be considered rough estimates, as a single interception request may sometimes include dozens of individual targets. The same applies to communications data requests. In some cases several communications data requests can be generated to get information on the same person. The reverse can also be the case, with a single communications data order garnering information on hundreds, even thousands, of individuals—such as a request for a cell phone “tower dump” showing location data of all people in a single area.
It is also the case that the interception figure for the United States could be much higher. While official numbers have the figure at 12,498 wiretaps over past five years for federal and state courts, plus 9,097 surveillance orders issued under FISA, in response to a congressional inquiry earlier this month, Sprint alone reported that it had received 52,029 court orders for wiretap requests in the same period.
www.slate.com/.../wiretapping
John Boehner calls Edward Snowden a ‘traitor’
House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) on Tuesday called NSA leaker Edward Snowden a “traitor” and said his actions are a “giant violation of the law.”
“He’s a traitor,” Boehner said on “Good Morning America.” “The president outlined last week that these are important national security programs to help keep Americans safe and give us tools to help fight the terrorist threat we face. The disclosure of this information puts Americans at risk.”
Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2013/06/nsa-leak-edward-snowden-john-boehner-92562.html#ixzz2VuYV8JLk
Boehner said Congress was fully briefed on the programs and that lawyers were always present to “protect the privacy of Americans.”
Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2013/06/nsa-leak-edward-snowden-john-boehner-92562.html#ixzz2VuYablhM
“There is heavy oversight of this program, by the House Intelligence Committee on a bipartisan basis and the Senate Intelligence Committee,” Boehner said. “And that’s why I feel comfortable that we can operate this program and protect the privacy rights of our citizens.”
“When you look at these programs, there are clear safeguards.There are no Americans that are going to be snooped on in anyway unless they’re in contact with some terrorist around the world,” he said.
Last week Boehner declined to detail to reporters if he knew about the NSA program monitoring, saying it’s President Barack Obama’s responsibility to “explain to the American people why the administration considers this a critical tool in protecting our nation from the threats of a terrorist attack.”
Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2013/06/nsa-leak-edward-snowden-john-boehner-92562.html#ixzz2VuYhIZH4
Newtown, Conn., schools placed on lockdown following telephone threat to Hawley Elementary
Source: NYDailyNews.com / U.S
The FBI and the Newtown police are investigating the 'implied threat' made to received Monday afternoon at Hawley Elementary School.
Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/newtown-schools-lockdown-phone-threat-article-1.1368429#ixzz2VqjnLWQS
Schools in Newtown, Conn., were placed on lockdown Monday afternoon, after a threatening phone call was made to Hawley Elementary.
After receiving the phone threat, all of the district's schools were placed on what officials described as a "modified lockdown" that lasted less than an hour and effected more than 5,500 students.
Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/newtown-schools-lockdown-phone-threat-article-1.1368429#ixzz2VqjsO2tX
"At 2:05 p.m. this afternoon, a phone call was received at Hawley School containing an implied threat to the Hawley staff and students. In addition to the on-site security, other representatives of the Newtown Police Department and Chief Michael Kehoe arrived at Hawley. They requested that Superintendent John Reed put the school system in modified lockdown," the superintendent's office said in an email sent to parents.
Students at the schools were released approximately 35 minutes late because of the lockdown.
Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/newtown-schools-lockdown-phone-threat-article-1.1368429#ixzz2Vqjzndax
The FBI has joined the Newtown Police Department in an investigation of the phone threat, which school officials declined to characterize, though Reed's office said it did not involve a bomb threat.
“A phone call was received at the Hawley School containing an implied threat to the Hawley School,” Reed told WTIC. “In addition to the police man who was present when the call came in, other members of the Newtown Police Department and the Chief Michael Kehoe arrived within 5 minutes.”
Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/newtown-schools-lockdown-phone-threat-article-1.1368429#ixzz2Vqk3veZG
Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/newtown-schools-lockdown-phone-threat-article-1.1368429?localLinksEnabled=false
Glenn Beck Calls Michelle Obama A 'Monster,' 'Lady Macbeth' After Heckler Confrontation
A controversial conservative talk show host openly criticized first lady Michelle Obama during his radio program Thursday.
Glenn Beck, founder of The Blaze, broached the subject during an aside about Obama's recent confrontation with lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) activist Ellen Sturtz.
"She snaps," Beck said. "She walks away from the microphone, pretty much to confront the person, you know just like, 'bring it on.' And she says, you can barely hear her, you either talk and I leave, or I talk."
While this is a fairly accurate description of the exchange between Sturtz and Obama, the thing that really stuck with Beck was the way Obama was able to transition quickly back to the podium.
"She just went right back into the speech," Beck said. "So this woman's a monster. She is Lady Macbeth. She is a frightening woman."
A post referencing Beck's discussion also referred to Obama's "arrogance" as "shocking."
Throughout the years, Beck has made it clear he is not a fan of the first lady.
In July of 2010, Beck went on Fox program "The O'Reilly Factor" and poked fun at the outfit Obama wore during a tour of an oil spill in Florida. Beck compared the outfit to the much derided 17th century French monarch Marie Antoinette.
"Who pulls this dress out of the closet and is like, 'you know, I think I'm going to do a tour of the oil spill?'" Beck asked host Bill O'Reilly.
A few months later, in September of 2010, Beck derided Obama's campaign against obesity during a conservative political rally in Chicago.
"Get away from my french fries, Mrs. Obama," Beck said. "First politician that comes up to me with a carrot stick, I've got a place for it. And it's not in my tummy."
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http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/07/glenn-beck-michelle-obama-monster_n_3403913.html?ir=Media
He STILL doesnt get it.......
Mitt Romney: Hurricane Sandy 'Didn't Come At The Right Time'
Former Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney said Hurricane Sandy -- a major storm that pummeled the East Coast in October 2012, just before Election Day -- "didn't come at the right time."
"I can tell you the hurricane didn't come at the right time," Romney told Fox News' Neil Cavuto on Friday.
Sandy caused 159 deaths and between $50 and $100 billion in damage. After the storm hit, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie (R) and President Barack Obama formed an infamous bipartisan bond, with the two working on recovery efforts and touring the storm's wreckage together in the days just before the election.
According to Romney's wife Ann, the couple have no hard feelings toward Christie for working with Obama so close to the election.
"Chris is a great guy, and it's all good," Romney said on "CBS This Morning" in May. "We have no bitterness toward anyone."
The former GOP hopeful made similar comments about Hurricane Sandy earlier this week in an interview with CNN.
"I wish the hurricane hadn’t have happened when it did, because it gave the President a chance to be presidential, and to be out showing sympathy for folks," Romney said. "That’s one of the advantages of incumbency.”
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/07/mitt-romney-hurricane-sandy_n_3404889.html
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So let me get this straight....If Sandy had occurred AFTER the election killing 156 people, injuring hundreds of others and causing massive damage it would have been okay cause he MIGHT have been President????
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Member since: Mon Nov 26, 2012, 09:08 PMNumber of posts: 12,608