Congressional Rep Who Discovered His Info Was Illegally Searched By The FBI Likely Has No Legal Remedy

from the but-this-is-the-system-Congress-wants…. dept

The FBI has long enjoyed its close relationship with the NSA… or at least the NSA’s collections. Data and communications collected under the NSA’s Section 702 program contain plenty of “incidental” snooping on Americans. That’s because even though it’s a foreign-facing collection, Americans who communicate with people outside of the United States are swept up in the dragnet.

Congressional Rep Who Discovered His Info Was Illegally Searched By The FBI Likely Has No Legal Remedy

Well that’s unfortunate. If only he were part of some kind of body that had the power to change the law.” [1]

Dick Cheney: What I Got Right About The Iraq War

On the 20th anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq, it’s important for us as a nation to reflect on that conflict and its consequences. As the vice president of the United States in 2003, I was one of the architects of the project to go after Saddam Hussein and his weapons of mass destruction. Today, I believe it’s important to offer an honest assessment of my role in the Iraq War. Looking back on it now, I have to say that, wow, I mostly got it right.

Dick Cheney: What I Got Right About The Iraq War

Not funny but true.

The Color of Foreign Influence

There is a distressing and familiar sight in the nation-state of Georgia. Young protestors have taken over a central area and are chanting anti-Russia slogans, often obscene and in English, as they wave Ukraine and EU flags and clash with the police.

The Color of Foreign Influence

Related:

YouTube: 3/10/23 Daniel McAdams on the Uprisings in Georgia

Georgia Protests: US Seeks to Open 2nd Front Against Russia

The World Economic Forum has outed itself as anti-Palestinian

The World Economic Forum has outed itself as anti-Palestinian

A few months later, I received a letter indefinitely suspending my membership. My request for the reasons for my suspension and an appeal has gone completely ignored. So much for the values of “stakeholder capitalism” and “cooperation in a fragmented world” that WEF publicly espouses. More like racism, abuse of power, and lack of transparency. I have learned firsthand that some YGLs are informants leaking private communications directly to the WEF’s leadership. Feels more like an authoritarian regime that spies on its constituency and loathes free speech than a global forum. As for my former YGLs, only a handful of true leaders actually protested my suspension. The silence of the remaining supposed “young global leaders” was deafening, but in retrospect, I realize that their silence is expressive of the exact type of Machiavellian leadership that the WEF seeks to foster.

Related:

WEF—Code of Conduct:

The World Economic Forum adheres to the principles of independence, impartiality, moral integrity and intellectual integrity.

[2021] Can we improve the world by remaining impartial?

What do you do when violent conflict erupts, innocent people get killed, and human rights are being violated? I believe any person with a heart and a moral compass would feel compelled to condemn the aggressors. Not doing so feels wrong on a moral level, and could raise the risk of further escalation. Are we misguided then, as an international institution, to not speak out unequivocally when conflicts emerge, and innocent people suffer? Are we “hiding” behind our impartiality?

[2022] Klaus Schwab and Børge Brende Statement on Ukraine

We therefore deeply condemn the aggression by Russia against Ukraine, the attacks and atrocities.

How Twisted Sister Outclassed Congress

Rock & roll was under attack during the mid-’80s. As the music got more theatrical and provocative and MTV gave it a national platform, America’s youth screamed for more. It was obvious that pop music was experiencing a revolution it hadn’t seen since Elvis swiveled his hips on The Ed Sullivan Show. Enter Dee Snider and his band, Twisted Sister.

How Twisted Sister Outclassed Congress

Related:

1985 PMRC/Senate Hearings: Then and Now

YouTube: Dee Snider’s PMRC Senate Hearing Speech (Full)

YouTube: 1985- John Denver – Congressional PMRC Hearing Full Testimony

YouTube: Frank Zappa at PMRC Senate Hearing on Rock Lyrics

Political Grandstanding, FBI’s Long History Of Surveillance Abuse May Finally Get It Booted Off The Section 702 Block

from the hell,-I’ll-take-politicized-if-that’s-the-best-option dept

Wed, Feb 15th 2023 10:45am – Tim Cushing

The FBI has had access to Section 702 surveillance and it has always abused this access. The data and communications are collected by the NSA under this authority. Once collected, the FBI hooks up to this massive data store and to perform backdoor searches on domestic targets, even though it’s only supposed to received masked/minimized domestic data from the NSA.

Political Grandstanding, FBI’s Long History Of Surveillance Abuse May Finally Get It Booted Off The Section 702 Block

More Mass Surveillance: FOIA Docs Reveal Illegal Snooping On US Residents’ Financial Transactions

If it can conceivably be considered a “third party record,” the government is going to seek warrantless access to it. The Third Party Doctrine — ushered into existence by the Supreme Court in 1979 — says there’s no expectation of privacy in information shared with third parties. That case dealt with phone records. People may prefer the government stay out of their personal conversations, but the Smith v. Maryland ruling said that if people shared this info with phone companies (an involuntary “sharing” since this information was needed to connect calls and bill phone users), the government could obtain this information without a warrant.

More Mass Surveillance: FOIA Docs Reveal Illegal Snooping On US Residents’ Financial Transactions