On Wednesday, US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that it would begin screening the social media activity of immigrants for “antisemitism” as part of the Trump administration’s broad crackdown on pro-Palestine speech.
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Tag: Fourth Amendment
Banning Chinese Cars Is Dangerous And Self-Defeating
Banning Chinese Cars Is Dangerous And Self-Defeating
Significantly, the administration is justifying the rule on national security grounds. As Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said, “Cars today have cameras, microphones, GPS tracking, and other technologies connected to the internet. It doesn’t take much imagination to understand how a foreign adversary with access to this information could pose a serious risk to both our national security and the privacy of U.S. citizens.”
Meanwhile:
Mozilla: Modern Cars Are A Privacy Shitshow
All 25 car brands we researched earned our *Privacy Not Included warning label — making cars the official worst category of products for privacy that we have ever reviewed.
Did the FBI Just Get Caught Lying to Congress About the Efficacy of “Backdoor Searches”?
As Congress debated Section 702 – the authority within the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act that allows U.S. intelligence agencies to surveil foreign threats located abroad – the FBI solemnly informed lawmakers that the use of Section 702 is essential to allowing the bureau to catch domestic terror plots. In fact, the FBI claimed Section 702 was used to derail a “potentially imminent terrorist attack” against critical U.S. infrastructure.
Did the FBI Just Get Caught Lying to Congress About the Efficacy of “Backdoor Searches”?
Fifth Circuit Is Going To Take Another Swing At Its Extremely Messy Library Book Removal Decision
I supposed the court had no choice, but I’m always a little wary when the Fifth Circuit decides to take another look at some litigation, especially when it involves certain amendments like the First. Or the Fourth.
Fifth Circuit Is Going To Take Another Swing At Its Extremely Messy Library Book Removal Decision
China vs. the US: shipbuilding, subsidies, and the Jones Act
Hypocrisy thrives where double standards prevail.
Earlier, I stupidly tweeted out an article about the Jones Act and shipbuilding and Colin Grabow, from the Cato Institute, liked it (he was quoted in the article). I looked him up and decided to listen to this video on the shipbuilding competition between China and the US, where he and a lawyer for United Steelworkers were on the panel. China is eating their lunch, and it’s the ruling elites’ own fault, yet they scapegoat China for it. The double standards over China’s “unfair economic practices” AKA the subsidizing of their shipbuilding industry irritates me (liars irritate me even more). States give subsidies, grants, and tax breaks to corporations, all the time. Fincantieri Marinette Marine is just one example, but Wisconsin had done the same for Foxconn. Foxconn received tax breaks and $3B in subsidies, which was “the largest ever subsidy provided by a state to a foreign company”, despite not living up to their promises.
Colin Grabow wants to end the Jones Act. I’ve made at least three video clips regarding the Jones Act, two with Sal Mercogliano from What’s Going On With Shipping and one from the government-funded CSIS (I’ve posted them, below). Spoiler alert: Sal says that the problem isn’t the Jones Act. Meanwhile, both CSIS and the Cato Institute (part of the Atlas Network) blame the Jones Act. Deregulation is a wet dream of big corporations (which fund both the Cato Institute and CSIS).
Read More »House Votes To Extend Warrantless Spying Powers
Well, That’s Everyone: Senator Wyden Letter Confirms The NSA Is Buying US Persons’ Data From Data Brokers
Buying domestic data from data brokers is just something the government does all the time. Bypassing restraints enacted by the Supreme Court, federal agencies (along with local law enforcement agencies) are hoovering up whatever domestic data they can from private companies all too happy to be part of the problem.
Well, That’s Everyone: Senator Wyden Letter Confirms The NSA Is Buying US Persons’ Data From Data Brokers
Ron Wyden Wants To Know Why The DEA Still Has On-Demand Access To Trillions Of Phone Records
For decades, the government has used the Third Party Doctrine to obtain massive amounts of phone records without a warrant.
Even prior to the creation of the Third Party Doctrine by the Supreme Court in 1979, government agencies were obtaining phone records using pen register requests that provided them with info on numbers called and the length of the calls. This method, however, required the government to supply some information of its own: specifically, a targeted source phone number phone companies could use to search for call metadata.
Ron Wyden Wants To Know Why The DEA Still Has On-Demand Access To Trillions Of Phone Records
FBI Director Admits Agency Rarely Has Probable Cause When It Performs Backdoor Searches Of NSA Collections
After years of continuous, unrepentant abuse of surveillance powers, the FBI is facing the real possibility of seeing Section 702 curtailed, if not scuttled entirely.
FBI Director Admits Agency Rarely Has Probable Cause When It Performs Backdoor Searches Of NSA Collections
[2010] Texas secretly gave newborns’ blood to federal DNA database
A shocking new report in the Texas Tribune reveals that state health officials illegally turned over 800 infant blood samples to a federal DNA database to be used not for medical research but forensic crime fighting.
Texas secretly gave newborns’ blood to federal DNA database
H/T: Steve Lehto
Previously:
Ms. Cat’s Chronicles 
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