ProPublica – by Julia Angwin

The Heartbleed computer security bug is many things: a catastrophic tech failure, an open invitation to criminal hackers and yet another reason to upgrade our passwords on dozens of websites. But more than anything else, Heartbleed reveals our neglect of Internet security.

The United States spends more than $50 billion a year on spying and intelligence, while the folks who build important defense software — in this case a program called OpenSSL that ensures that your connection to a website is encrypted — are four core programmers, only one of whom calls it a full-time job.   Continue reading “The U.S. Government: Paying to Undermine Internet Security, Not to Fix It”

Tech Dirt – by Mike Masnick

A few years ago, we wrote about the bizarre and quixotic effort by Florida businessman Christopher Comins to find any possible way to sue University of Florida student and blogger Matthew Frederick VanVoorhis for his blog post concerning a widely publicized event in which Comins shot two dogs in a field (video link). The story made lots of news at the time, but Comins didn’t go after any of the major media — instead targeting VanVoorhis for a defamation suit. The original blog post is “novelistic” but it’s difficult to see how it’s defamatory. Either way, Comins’ case was shot down on fairly specific procedural grounds: namely that Florida defamation law requires specific notice be given to media properties at least 5 days before a lawsuit is launched. Specifically, the law says:   Continue reading “Court Declares That, Yes, Bloggers Are Media”

CBS Philly

BRIDGETON, N.J., (CBS) – For a lot of people the dog is a member of the family, and in one South Jersey town, the dog may also be a member of the jury.

IV is certainly no fan of our camera and likely is even a less fan of jury duty.

But at first glance of this jury summons, it appears IV Griner is due in court.   Continue reading “NJ Family’s Dog Summoned For Jury Duty?”

Activist Post – by Devon Douglas-Bowers

Currently being debated by the Senate, but rarely discussed on mainstream television, is the Shield Law. While on the surface it may seem to be rather innocuous, some of the language in it and its implications are quite problematic for journalists.

A Shield Law is a law which “provides statutory protection for the ‘reporters’ privilege’— legal rules which protect journalists against the government requiring them to reveal confidential sources or other information.”[1] Generally, this is a positive occurrence as journalists are much more able to conduct their work and bring information to public light if they do not need to worry about having to reveal their sources. While Shield Laws have occurred in the past, they have only been on the state level. This currently proposed Shield Law is the first one to reach the federal level and the main goal is to protect journalists from having to reveal confidential sources in federal cases.[2]    Continue reading “‘Shield’ing the People From Independent Journalism”

StoryLeak – by Mikael Thalen

The Department of Homeland Security is partnering with a Washington state school district to recruit future employees through a new high school curriculum.

An employment application posted by Evergreen Public Schools this weekend requests a certified “Homeland Security Instructor” to steer young students into a career with the agency.   Continue reading “Wash. State High School Sets Up ‘Homeland Security Class’”

The Daily Caller – by Robby Soave

Police officers in Alexandria, Virginia, frequently take pictures of the license plates of random vehicles all over the city — meaning that people’s addresses, work locations and daily routines are well known to the authorities who collect such information and store it for stretches of time.

The disturbing discovery was made by Katie Watson, an investigative reporter with Watchdog.org’s Virginia bureau. Watson submitted a public records request with the Alexandria Police Department for all information the police had about her. Watson already knew that the police used automatic license plate recognition software to collect information. What she didn’t know was how pervasive the surveillance was.   Continue reading “Virginia cops constantly photograph random people’s license plates”

NJ.com – by Tom Haydon/The Star-Ledger

NEW BRUNSWICK — On a hot July day in 2011, Sgt. Samuel Woody, a 12-year veteran of the Plainfield Police Department assigned to the patrol division, arrested a 27-year-old city woman on charges of theft and burglary.

After she was booked at police headquarters, she was released on a summons to appear in court.   Continue reading “Former Plainfield officer sentenced for six years for sex assault, official misconduct”

MassPrivateI

Creating a nation of spies, Ohio DHS officials are asking smartphone users to “See Something, Send Something” with the release of an app to forward reports and photos of suspicious activity.  

The “A Safer Ohio” app for both Apple and Android devices is being released shortly before the one-year anniversary of the Boston Marathon bombings.     Continue reading “DHS’s newest citizen spying app: ‘See Something, Send Something’”

AlterNet – by Michael Donley, Carmilla Manzanet

At the height of the foreclosure crisis in 2011, when there were five times more vacant homes than homeless people in the United States, activists began pursuing a very simple solution: moving homeless people into people-less homes. We were one such family. In February 2013, after we lost our Section 8 housing voucher and were evicted from our subsidized apartment, we moved with our two teenage children into a vacant home in the Rogers Park neighborhood on Chicago’s North Side. That’s where we collided head-on with the investment giant Blackstone Group’s massive operation to purchase foreclosed homes.   Continue reading “How Financial Giant Blackstone Got the Cops to Kick Us Out of Our Home”

AlterNet – by Aaron Cantú

On a recent Friday afternoon, with budget negotiations winding down, Arizona state representative John Kavanagh was racing against the clock. His position as House Appropriations Chairman afforded him the opportunity to stuff whatever minor extra provisions he wanted into the budget before it went to a vote the following Monday, and he only had a few hours left to do it.   Continue reading “Inside the Private Prison Industry’s Alarming Spread Across America”

Tech Dirt – by Mike Masnick

During a recent House Judiciary Committee hearing concerning oversight, Rep. Zoe Lofgren decided to quiz Attorney General Eric Holder about the federal government’s surveillance efforts, starting off with a rather simple question. She notes that the bulk phone record collection program is considered to be legal by its supporters, based on Section 215 of the Patriot Act, which allows for the collection of “business records.” So, she wonders, is there any legal distinction between phone records and, say, internet searches or emails? In other words, does the DOJ believe that it would be perfectly legal for the US government to scoop up all your search records and emails without a warrant? Holder clearly does not want to answer the question, and first tries to answer a different question, concerning the bulk phone records program, and how the administration is supposedly committed to ending it. But eventually he’s forced to admit that there’s no legal distinction:   Continue reading “Eric Holder Admits That, If It Wanted, NSA Could Collect Internet Searches & Emails Just Like Phone Metadata”

AP Albuquerque Police ShootingsUSA Today – by Doug Stanglin

The U.S. Justice Department charged Thursday that an investigation of the Albuquerque police force found that the department “engages in a pattern or practice of use of excessive force, including deadly force.”

The allegations were contained in a letter from Jocelyn Samuels, acting assistant attorney general for the Civil Rights Division, to Albuquerque Mayor Richard Berry and Police Chief Gorden Eden.   Continue reading “Justice: Albuquerque police use ‘excessive force’”

Could BLM leaseholds for fracking operations be the reason for recent Bundy Ranch standoff?Intellihub – by John Vibes

BUNKERVILLE, NEVADA (INTELLIHUB) — Earlier today, we reported on the intense standoff that is taking place at Bundy Ranch, where a rancher’s land has been surrounded by federal agents who are seeking to forcibly remove his livestock from disputed land.

The dispute has been initiated by a bureaucracy called The U.S. Bureau of Land Management, or BLM .  Since 1993, the federal agency has been attempting to annex areas of land that have been occupied by the same family of ranchers for many generations.  The land was occupied by this family well before the creation of the agency in 1946.   Continue reading “Could BLM leaseholds for fracking operations be the reason for recent Bundy Ranch standoff?”

Huffington Post -by JEFF BARNARD

GRANTS PASS, Ore. (AP) — Hauling a truckload of logs to a Southern Oregon mill last fall, Chris Hill noticed a sheriff’s deputy behind him and flashed his lights to warn a UPS driver coming the other way.

The deputy pulled over Hill on U.S. Highway 140 in White City and handed him a $260 ticket for improperly using his headlights, saying another deputy had seen the flashing lights from behind the UPS truck and alerted him to stop the log truck because of the signaling.   Continue reading “Flashing Headlights As Speed Trap Warning Is Protected Free Speech, Oregon Judge Rules”

The Daily Iowan – by MATTHEW BYRD

Sometimes the news is just so drearily awful that you have to sit back and almost appreciate the pure comedy induced by it.

Take this item from Washington, Iowa, where the local police have recently acquired an MRAP vehicle (short for Mine Resistance Ambush Protected) through a Defense Department program that donates excess vehicles originally produced for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan to local police departments across the United States, including other Iowa towns such as Mason City and Storm Lake.   Continue reading “The new Washington war machine”

CBS Miami – by Lauren Pastrana

CUTLER BAY(CBS4) — A veteran Miami-Dade Police officer has been relieved of pay after detectives say he was driving drunk last Saturday night when his white GMC truck hit a shopping cart with two children inside it.

“It’s crazy,” said the victims’ father Manny Garcia of Cutler Bay. “They are supposed to be protecting us, not hurting us.”   Continue reading “Off-Duty Cop Who Hit Grocery Cart With Kids Inside Charged With DUI”

Getty Images, Getty Images/Danita DelimontThe Daily Caller – by Eric Owens

On Monday, when Jefferson County Open School in suburban Denver was evacuated and a hazmat team showed up because of a contamination scare, The Daily Caller was worried.

Turns out, “approximately six” habanero peppers caused the entire kerfuffle, reports Denver ABC affiliate KMGH.

The half dozen habanero peppers were scattered in shreds among the wood chips on the preK-12 school’s playground.   Continue reading “‘Approximately six’ habanero peppers cause HAZMAT scare at Denver school”