Tag: abuses of power

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

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

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

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

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

Former Moscow-linked Church claims religious persecution as security raids heat up

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

(CNN) — The vertically shot video published last November shows no weapons, battlefield atrocities or even soldiers. But the sound of a patriotic Russian song reverberating through a church on Kyiv’s famous Lavra monastery grounds seemed to open a new front in Ukraine’s war with Russia.

Former Moscow-linked Church claims religious persecution as security raids heat up

Related:

“Do not ban the UOC” petition appears on the Cabinet of Ministers’ website

Afroman Turns Security Footage Of Bullshit Raid Of His Home Into Viral Rap Video Hit

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

from the every-so-often,-the-police-fuck-themselves dept
Tue, Jan 10th 2023 03:32pm – Tim Cushing

Rap artist Afroman’s biggest hit is “Because I Got High,” a track that details how his best intentions were undone by his weed intake. So, one might reasonably suspect marijuana might be found at his residence. But there’s very little that’s reasonable about what happened to Afroman four months ago.

Afroman Turns Security Footage Of Bullshit Raid Of His Home Into Viral Rap Video Hit

I think the cop would have preferred donuts!

U.S. hatchet woman, EU threaten Georgia over their operative Saakashvili

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

Further delays only increase the questions and concerns regarding his well-being – Kelly Degnan on Saakashvili’s process postponement

The US Ambassador to Georgia recently commented on the postponement of Mikheil Saakashvili’s court hearing.

U.S. hatchet woman, EU threaten Georgia over their operative Saakashvili

Related:

STATEMENT OF THE PROSECUTION SERVICE OF GEORGIA

Read More »

Sweden Expands Espionage Law, Endangering Freedom of Journalists and Whistleblowers

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

Sweden’s parliament adopted a major espionage law expansion that will permit the country’s police to investigate journalists, publishers, and whistleblowers if they reveal secret information that “may damage Sweden’s relationship with another state or an international organization.”

Sweden Expands Espionage Law, Endangering Freedom of Journalists and Whistleblowers

[3-8-22] Trump Calls Out ‘Fake News’ Over Reports He Did Nothing for Ukraine

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

Trump Calls Out ‘Fake News’ Over Reports He Did Nothing for Ukraine

“The fake news media refuses to report that I was the one who, very early and strongly, gave the anti-tank busters (Javelins) to Ukraine, while Obama/Biden was giving blankets, to great and open complaints,” Trump said in a statement Tuesday.

“Then [President Joe] Biden came in, and canceled the remaining military equipment that was packed, loaded, and ready to be shipped. Now the fake news media is trying to say that Trump gave Ukraine nothing, and it was Biden who is their great friend and gave them weaponry. The dishonesty is so unbelievable. All I can do is report it!”

…

“When Trump was elected, the first thing they did was send in the Javelin,” U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for European and NATO Policy Jim Townsend said at the time. “It wasn’t exactly high-end, but we were very happy, and they built on a very firm foundation.”

Related:

Trump Says Russia-Ukraine Tensions ‘Would Never Have Happened’ Under His Presidency:

The Russian Embassy in Washington said if the U.S. was “truly committed to diplomatic efforts to resolve the internal Ukrainian conflict” it would “abandon plans to supply new batches of weapons for the Armed Forces of Ukraine.”

On the claim that Obama didn’t send military weapons to Ukraine (supposedly he just didn’t send Javelins)

U.S. officials were concerned that providing the Javelins to Ukraine would escalate their conflict with Russia. Key allies, including Germany, were not keen on sending weapons into the conflict zone, said Michael Kofman, an expert on Russia and senior research scientist at the CNA Corporation.

…

The 2016 National Defense Authorization Act, which became law in November 2015, called for “lethal assistance such as anti-armor weapon systems, mortars, crew-served weapons and ammunition, grenade launchers and ammunition, and small arms and ammunition.”