FBI taps cell phone mic as eavesdropping tool
The FBI appears to have begun using a novel form of electronic surveillance in criminal investigations: remotely activating a mobile phone’s microphone and using it to eavesdrop on nearby conversations.
Oh, and it gets worse.
You need to know one simple truth: you have no privacy with regard to your electronic communications.
According to a CNET report, the FBI has used an innovative means of electronic surveillance in criminal investigations. It remotely activates a mobile phone’s microphone and uses it to eavesdrop on a nearby conversation. The technique is known as a “roving bug” and was approved for use by top DoJ officials in a New York organized crime case.
(via whateveryousaykyle)
Source: alternet.org
NSA wants to continue intercepting 1.7 billion messages daily
Few Americans know how, when and why government agents monitor their phone calls and email accounts, and that might not change anytime soon. On Thursday, discussions began in Washington about renewing the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.
Since last amended in 2008, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, or FISA, has received very little publicity. The reason by-and-large is that even the elected lawmakers chosen to represent the American people aren’t kept privy on the government’s use of some problematic provisions within the bill. Under certain FISA act amendments (FAAs), the US National Security Agency is allowed to listen in on any correspondence that exits America that is meant for ears abroad, either by phone, email or other. And although US President Barack Obama said he’d abolish some of those dangerous laws while campaigning in 2008, Congress is currently in the midst of considering renewing FISA for another few years.
If this week’s arguments against FISA prove to be futile, the federal government will once more be authorized a blanketing approval to investigate anyone they want, without a warrant. The Senate Intelligence Committee voted 13-2 last week to allow for Congress to hear arguments for a five-year extension. A sticking point among many opponents of the act, though, is that even lawmakers aren’t allowed insider access to the agency’s program.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation, a DC-based watchdog group that advocates for Internet freedoms, reported live from Thursday morning’s FISA amendment arguments from Capitol Hill. According to the foundation, testimonies from congressmen and private sector opponents of FISA alike were introduced during the hearing and might help lawmakers reconsider the powers they current bestow in the NSA.
“Why can’t we know how many people are affected by FISA amendment act in the US? This kind of vagueness creates suspicions,” the EFF quotes Rep. John Conyers (D-Michigan). Even before Thursday’s hearing, however, Rep. Conyers has adamantly opposed a FISA renewal.
Source: thepeoplesrecord
Source: braindr0ppings
The highly secretive Bilderberg Group will be meeting in Chantilly, Va in three days. Most likely the will discuss secretly the method of the collapse of the Euro, what countries need bombing, and martial law in the U.S. and Europe.
As this meeting is secret and not only CEO’s and representatives of the Queen of England and the Rothschilds, but some of our politicians will be there too, making it completely illegal via the Logan Act.
Thousands are expected to attend in protest and media coverage is growing tremendously compared to the media blackout over the last fifty years.
Source: antinwo
progressivefriends: Police in Frankfurt, Germany take off their badges & helmets to join protesters on an anti-capitalist march and defend them against military ordered to use force to disperse the demonstration.
(via politicalsyeah)
Source: progressivefriends
9TH CIRCUIT TAKES PLUSH MAUI VACATION…
What happens in Maui may stay in Maui, but one still has to get there and back, while salaries also have to be taken into account. That was pointed out in a previous report on the Ninth Circuit’s 2011 conference by another news outlet. In 2011, they claimed, “a minimum of $700,000 will be spent on salaries of the 267 judges in attendance, which range from $164,000 to $223,500” for last year’s event. They also reported that each judge was eligible for a $391 per day stipend for hotel and food costs, that could total $417,600 over last year’s four day Ninth Circuit conference.
Source: tw3news
99% v 1%: the data behind the Occupy movement
As poverty and inequality reach record levels, how much richer have the rich got? This animation explains what the key data says about the state of America today
Source: mainstreamrevolution
The video on how the middle class, not the rich, create jobs that TED Talks didn’t want you to see.
(via pxltypops)
Source: thinkprogress.org
A $14,800 Kickstarter campaign splashed downtown Washington D.C. with these posters. The ads are funded by EpicStep & the Bradley Manning Support Network, whose representatives said:
“The military has done its best to limit public exposure to Bradley Manning’s case by holding the trial at Ft. Meade, a relatively difficult location for the public to attend, and they have not released transcripts of the pretrial hearing, thereby limiting media exposure and making it difficult for laymen to follow the proceedings. Let’s bring the case back to Washington! … These ads will force government workers to remember WikiLeaks and Bradley Manning, remind them that the public is behind Bradley, and explain that what Bradley is accused of doing is a public good.”
(via thepeoplesrecord)
Source: uberbreak.com
Source: liberalsarecool
I am 67 and at first I thought that students were exaggerating … no more, a special law is not the solution! Last night my wife and I went to join the kids in the streets. A policeman treated my wife like an old hag, so I approached him to say what I think and he pepper sprayed me. It was a Black Bloc who came to help me and put liquid in my eyes that eased my pain.Before I was afraid of young masked Black Bloc … Not anymore. Now I’m scared of young masked SPVM.”
And
“At our last assembly, someone proposed to disrupt the Grand Prix. The proposal was rejected because it was considered too radical for the time being …
I bet that this proposal will come back on the table and will be adopted in force at the next Assembly. I who voted against it then will vote for it now.
Source: alwaysabittoofar
Source: facebook.com
