Land of the free . . .

ACCORDING TO ZERO HEDGE'S George Washington, "Americans Have Less Access to Justice than Botswanans … And Are More Abused By Police than Kazakhstanis", America is now Amerika with State Security.

Shine the lights of freedom . . .

 — Know Thy Enemy —

THE TRAPWIRE surveillance system has connected state and federal law enforcement agencies with a vast intelligence infrastructure, that is scary to contemplate.

RT is a Russian site that proclaims itself  to be operated by Autonomous Nonprofit Organization “TV-Novosti”, and it has a page worthy of attention, as it seems that somebody from Anonymous has figured out a cheap and easy way to de-fang TrapWire. As well, the RT page has links to other aspects of the TrapWire danger. And thanks to YouTube, we can see how to go about it. Maybe Tilleys will bring out anti-TrapWire hats, but until then, you'll have to brush up on your soldering skills.

It slices and dices . . .

SLAP CHOP THIS AIN'T. It's a piece of malware called "Flame". And what a piece it is: compared to Stuxnet, the malware that gutted the digital controllers for Iranian uranium centrifuges, a smallest-you-can-make-it 500Kb, Flame is Godzilla-size, a whopping 20Mb. According to the article in WIRED, "Meet ‘Flame’, The Massive Spy Malware Infiltrating Iranian Computers", Flame is like a Cuisinart, with function modules for slicing, dicing.

Vince, baby
doin' his Slap Chop shtick.

A scary amount of creative thought went into building this nasty. While it's "large", it's a high-speed web-world/intranet/LAN/Bluetooth world, so a 20 Mb download can slip through quite easily to a targeted computer. Unlike just about every other piece of malware found to date, Flame has some discretion in just which machines will get a dose in their DOS, so to speak.

Among Flame’s many modules is one that turns on the internal microphone of an infected machine to secretly record conversations that occur either over Skype or in the computer’s near vicinity; a module that turns Bluetooth-enabled computers into a Bluetooth beacon, which scans for other Bluetooth-enabled devices in the vicinity to siphon names and phone numbers from their contacts folder; and a module that grabs and stores frequent screenshots of activity on the machine, such as instant-messaging and email communications, and sends them via a covert SSL channel to the attackers’ command-and-control servers.
The malware also has a sniffer component that can scan all of the traffic on an infected machine’s local network and collect usernames and password hashes that are transmitted across the network. The attackers appear to use this component to hijack administrative accounts and gain high-level privileges to other machines and parts of the network.

Good to know that's all
they're looking for.

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (aka I-Need-A-Dinner-Jacket) and the mullahs of Qom must be feeling a little transparent, these days, but chances are they're starting to feel a little better, Iran’s Computer Emergency Response Team just announced that it had developed a detector to uncover what it calls the “Flamer” malware on infected machines and delivered it to select organizations at the beginning of May. Problem is, Flame has been probably burning for over two years; it's not on a lot of computers — they hope. Malware's like murder: the perfect ones you never know about.


Now, why the hell should you care? Well, suppose Vickie's people decided that Canada needed a "Maple Flame" for domestic consumption? Remember, while they may be rude and crude, Vickie and the gang brought us Robo-calls and other digital folderol, and it seems they have a knack for creating enemies lists, and Flame is used in a targeted fashion. Forewarned is five-armed; even paranoids have enemies.

Societies and corruption . . .

CORRUPTION IS ETERNAL — and it comes in many different guises. According to Fred Reed's article, "The Receding Tide: Becoming Uzbekistan", 


Several things characterize countries of the Third Word, whatever precisely "Third World" means. 

The first is corruption. America is rotten with it, but American corruption is distinct from corruption in, say, Guatemala or Thailand, being less visible and better organized.

Several major differences exist between the usual corruption in the Third World and that in America. In most of the Third World, corruption exists from top to bottom. Everyone and everything is for sale. Bribery amounts to an economic system, like capitalism or socialism. By contrast, in the United States, graft flourishes mostly at the level of government and commerce.

• • •

Second, unaccountable and often intrusive police not subject to control by the public. In America formal police departments rapidly grow more militarized, jack-booted, swatted-out, and their powers grow. A law-abiding citizen should never be afraid of the police, and a misbehaving cop should worry intensely when said law-abiding citizen records his badge number with intent to call the chief. Those days are over. Today the cops can bully, threaten, and harass, and there is precious little you can do about it. The proliferating laws against filming the police can have only one purpose, to prevent exposure of misbehavior. 

Check out the rest of the article. Makes me wonder what kind of deals Stevie and the Weasels have made with the Tar Sands Tyrants.

The lay of the land . . .

THE ORGANS OF STATE SECURITY: Stalin would only wish the KGB could've had the kind of reach that today's American security systems provide. SURVEILLANCE IN 'THE HOMELAND' is a site that's a partnership between TRUTHOUT and ACLU Massachusetts. They are very concerned citizens.

Ten years after the devastating attacks on New York and Washington, the fundamental promises of American democracy are hanging by a thin thread. Promoted by a culture of war and fear, the US government has steadily chipped away at those legal protections that enabled 'we the people' to rule ourselves. "Ten Years Later: Surveillance in the Homeland" charts the course of this shift, exposing the rapid advent of a technologically advanced surveillance state in the shadows of the Twin Towers.

• • • •

"In addition to massive surveillance, assassinations and dirty tricks "by any means necessary" included the creation of National Security Agency (NSA) "watch lists" of Americans ranging "from members of radical political groups, to celebrities, to ordinary citizens involved in protests against their government," with names submitted by the FBI, Secret Service, military, CIA, and Defense Intelligence Agency.

The secret lists, which included people whose activities "may result in civil disturbances or otherwise subvert the national security of the US," were used by the NSA to extract information of "intelligence value" from its stream of intercepted communications."

Tailgunner Joe, a cool dude.

What really pisses me off is that this is a resurgence of the bigoted lunacy of 'Tailgunner Joe' McCarthy's paranoia of sixty years ago. The message hysterically presented by the American Right hasn't changed much, except that Commies have been replaced by Muslims and Mexicans: the M&M's of cynicism and bigotry in current American politics.

Barney & Gomer Coming to Your Neighbourhood Soon . . . .

As soon as harperco "improves" their citizen's arrest legislation, we can all live like we were in Mayberry, North Carolina.



Yee haw . . . .

G20 Ten Most Wanted and their control group

At yesterday's presser, the Toronto Police media guy announced their "G20 Most Wanted Individuals" list :

"They are individuals who are not suspects - they are people who are wanted for criminal offences and the only difficulty that the investigative team has is at this point we don't know who they are so we're seeking the assistance of the public to identify them to us ."

He further advised they have "over 14,000 still images of individuals and over 500 videos", which they will be sharing with the Canadian Banking Association to run through their facial recognition software. Keep those citizen CDs and vids coming, he said.

So after ignoring the rioters for an hour and a half on June 26th in favour of taking their pictures, and then rounding up, photographing, and IDing over a thousand hapless random citizens the following day, you will now use the banks' software tools to look for a match between the two groups.
Got it.
Well at least we know the point of the Sunday bucket detainments now - they're to be the control group.

G20 : The first rule of Fight Club is ...

"For the past few weeks, the Canadian Civil Liberties Association said, it has been in talks with police to clarify the rules in and around the security zone: What are the rights of citizens, what search powers are police entitled to, and what should protestors be told before they go out to protest. They were told of a number of requirements, rules and laws that could be invoked.

But the Public Works Protection Act never came up, they said. Not once. Not even when the CCLA sent the police a version of the “Know Your Rights” brochure to review before handing it out to protestors as they geared up for the summit.
“They replied to us, but nowhere was this legislation even mentioned,” said Abby Deshman, a project manager with the CCLA "

~Toronto Star

Be Careful What You Ask For . . . .

It appears members of the GLBT community in Texas will be enjoying a bit of schadenfreude in the near future.

You're gonna love this one, gang, via McClatchy today:

Texas' gay marriage ban may have banned all marriages
Dave Montgomery | Fort Worth Star-Telegram | November 18, 2009

AUSTIN — Texans: Are you really married?

Maybe not.

Barbara Ann Radnofsky, a Houston lawyer and Democratic candidate for attorney general, says that a 22-word clause in a 2005 constitutional amendment designed to ban gay marriages erroneously endangers the legal status of all marriages in the state.

The amendment, approved by the Legislature and overwhelmingly ratified by voters, declares that "marriage in this state shall consist only of the union of one man and one woman." But the troublemaking phrase, as Radnofsky sees it, is Subsection B, which declares:

"This state or a political subdivision of this state may not create or recognize any legal status identical or similar to marriage."

Architects of the amendment included the clause to ban same-sex civil unions and domestic partnerships. But Radnofsky, who was a member of the powerhouse Vinson & Elkins law firm in Houston for 27 years until retiring in 2006, says the wording of Subsection B effectively "eliminates marriage in Texas," including common-law marriages.

She calls it a "massive mistake" and blames the current attorney general, Republican Greg Abbott, for allowing the language to become part of the Texas Constitution. Radnofsky called on Abbott to acknowledge the wording as an error and consider an apology. She also said that another constitutional amendment may be necessary to reverse the problem.

_______________


Radnofsky, the Democratic nominee in the Senate race against Kay Bailey Hutchison in 2006, said she voted against the amendment but didn’t realize the legal implications until she began poring over the Texas Constitution to prepare for the attorney general’s race. She said she holds Abbott and his office responsible for not catching an "error of massive proportions."

"Whoever vetted the language in B must have been asleep at the wheel," she said.

Was I right?

Do you love it?

Thought you would . . . .

(Cross-posted from Moved to Vancouver)

Why cops don't belong in schools

My only question about this incident is why it took so long to happen.

Teens question authority. It is what they do, its practically hardwired into the DNA. Putting an authority figure in their way for no good reason is just asking for trouble. If that authority figure is a coach or a teacher or a vice principal, even one with a chip on their shoulder, they are at least used to dealing with kids. A police officer may not be as experienced in dealing with kids. And one that decides to arrest a teenager for making "bacon" jokes or being a smart ass, is not someone who should be working in a school.

Who is the cop supposed to be protecting the students from? And who is protecting the students from the cops?

The More Things Change . . . .

Since there is not a whole lot of current television programming that is worth the time to watch, recently I've been checking out DVDs from the local Vancouver Public Library. Yes, one of those "Socialist" organizations - Horrors!

At any rate, this week I've been re-viewing Series #1 of "The West Wing" from 1999. Now that was television - not the crap that passes today. The following audio clip is from an episode entitled "Take Out the Trash Day" in which C.J. Craig - the White House press secretary - is talking to parents of a young gay man who died from a hate crimes attack. C.J. is attempting to enlist the parent's support and presence at President Bartlett's signing of hate crimes legislation.




Ten years later not a whole lot has changed . . . .

(Cross-posted from Moved to Vancouver)

Forty Years Later . . . .

For the good times . . . .

(Cross-posted from Moved to Vancouver)

Indefinite detention

In the late great dystopian tv show Max Headroom, whenever a crime was committed, suspects were arrested, profiled, and then the most likely perp was sentenced via a big spinning wheel of "consequences" on the tv game show that had replaced the courts.

Canadian content : Hey, David Emerson, how's your "one security perimeter" Project North America coming along?

Genetic Surveillance for All

SLATE has a rather disturbing article by Jeffrey Rosen. What if the FBI put the family of everyone who has ever been convicted or arrested into a giant DNA database? Worth the read, because our own taser terrorists will probably want a ring-side seat.

Year End Cleanup . . . .

Some end of the year cleanup is in order, and how fitting it is to feature the bush administration.

From Bob Herbert of the New York Times we get:

Add Up the Damage
By BOB HERBERT - December 30, 2008

Does anyone know where George W. Bush is?

You don’t hear much from him anymore. The last image most of us remember is of the president ducking a pair of size 10s that were hurled at him in Baghdad.

We’re still at war in Iraq and Afghanistan. Israel is thrashing the Palestinians in Gaza. And the U.S. economy is about as vibrant as the 0-16 Detroit Lions.

But hardly a peep have we heard from George, the 43rd.

When Mr. Bush officially takes his leave in three weeks (in reality, he checked out long ago), most Americans will be content to sigh good riddance. I disagree. I don’t think he should be allowed to slip quietly out of town. There should be a great hue and cry — a loud, collective angry howl, demonstrations with signs and bullhorns and fiery speeches — over the damage he’s done to this country.

This is the man who gave us the war in Iraq and Guantánamo and torture and rendition; who turned the Clinton economy and the budget surplus into fool’s gold; who dithered while New Orleans drowned; who trampled our civil liberties at home and ruined our reputation abroad; who let Dick Cheney run hog wild and thought Brownie was doing a heckuva job.

_______________


The catalog of his transgressions against the nation’s interests — sins of commission and omission — would keep Mr. Bush in a confessional for the rest of his life. Don’t hold your breath. He’s hardly the contrite sort.

He told ABC’s Charlie Gibson: “I don’t spend a lot of time really worrying about short-term history. I guess I don’t worry about long-term history, either, since I’m not going to be around to read it.”

The president chuckled, thinking — as he did when he made his jokes about the missing weapons of mass destruction — that there was something funny going on.

Paul Krugman, winner of the Nobel prize in economics, also of the New York Times now weighs in:

Looking for a word
December 31, 2008

Unusually, I’m having a vocabulary problem. There has to be some word for the kind of person who considers his mild discomfort the equivalent of torture, crippling injury, or death for other people. But I can’t think of it.

What brings this to mind is this from Alberto Gonzales:

"I consider myself a casualty, one of the many casualties of the war on terror."

This reminded me of Laura Bush’s remark on carnage in Iraq:

"And believe me, no one suffers more than their president and I do when we watch this."

Remember this. And remember, too, that for long years these people were considered heroic patriots, defenders of the nation.

And now it is time for them to go away . . . .

(Cross-posted from Moved to Vancouver)

Lest We Forget . . . .

MSEH, another same-sex emigrant to Canada from the US has posted an excellent reminder of our history to be chronicled in film next month.

Go.

Remember.

Never forget . . . .

(Cross-posted from Moved to Vancouver)

A Crack in the Law ? ? ? ?

The Toronto Star supplies this:

Drop law on sagging pants, judge rules

TheStar.com - World - September 18, 2008

RIVIERA BEACH, Fla.–A judge has decided a town law banning sagging pants is unconstitutional after a teen spent a night in jail accused of exposing too much underwear.

Julius Hart, 17, was charged last week after an officer said he spotted the teenager riding his bicycle with 10 to 12.5 centimetres ( 4-5 inches) of blue-and-black boxer shorts revealed.

_______________


"The first time I saw this particular fashion, I disliked it," Hart's public defender, Carol Bickerstaff, told the judge. "And then I realized I'm getting old."

Will wonders never cease?

There are actually a few rational people in Florida after all.

Go figure . . . .

(Cross-posted from Moved to Vancouver)

Border BS . . . .

This Homeland Security crap just keeps gettin' better 'n better.

Per Reuters:

U.S. tracking citizens' border crossings
Wed Aug 20, 2008 1:05am EDT

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. government has been using its border checkpoints to collect information on citizens that will be stored for 15 years, raising concern among privacy advocates, the Washington Post reported on Wednesday.

Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officials said the collection is part of a broader effort to guard against terrorist threats, the report said, citing a Federal Register notice the agency issued last month.

_______________















But it states that information may be shared with federal, state and local governments to test "new technology and systems designed to enhance border security or identify other violations of law," the Post reported.

A DHS spokesman was not immediately available for comment on the report.

Information on international air passengers has long been collected this way but Customs and Border Protection only this year began to log the arrivals of all U.S. citizens across land borders, the Post said.

Privacy advocates raised concerns about the expanded collection of personal data and said safeguards are needed to ensure the system is not abused.

"People expect to be checked when they enter the country and for the government to determine if they're admissible or not," Greg Nojeim of the Center for Democracy and Technology told the Post.

"What they don't expect is for the government to keep a record for 15 years of their comings into the country."

Huh.

15 years.

Sounds about right, doesn't it?

I'm thinkin' a boycott of the US border is in order, folks.

"Heckuva job, Mikey . . . . "


(Cross-posted from Moved to Vancouver)

Bastards ! ! ! !

Why is this not at all surprising based on previous US actions?

Per Reuters this evening:

U.S. rejects outside probe of Canadian sent to Syria
Wed Jul 23, 2008 6:18pm EDT - By James Vicini

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey said on Wednesday he had rejected a request from lawmakers that an outside special counsel investigate the case of a Canadian taken off a plane in New York and sent to Syria, where he says he was tortured.

Mukasey said under questioning at a House of Representatives Judiciary Committee hearing that he did not believe that a special counsel was warranted "at this time."

Maher Arar, a Syrian-born software engineer, was taken into custody by U.S. officials during a 2002 stopover in New York while on his way home to Canada and then deported to Syria because of suspected links to al Qaeda.

Arar says he was imprisoned in Syria for a year and tortured. His case has become a sore spot in U.S.-Canada relations.

_______________


Rep. William Delahunt, a Democrat from Massachusetts, cited testimony last month that U.S. officials may have sent Arar to Syria, rather than Canada, because they knew of the likelihood of torture.

"If that doesn't trigger need for a special prosecutor, I can't imagine what would," he said.

Mukasey said U.S. officials received assurances from Syria that Arar would not be tortured. "Sending him to Canada could have posed a threat to our country," Mukasey said, adding that sending him to Syria was "safer."

'TENDENCY TO COVER UP ITS CRIMES'

Maria LaHood, an attorney for the Center for Constitutional Rights in New York, which represents Arar in the United States, replied, "Sending Maher to Syria instead of home to Canada was certainly not safer for him, and did nothing to make the United States safer."


She said, "The tendency of the Department of Justice to cover up its crimes is exactly why an outside prosecutor is needed."

The title of this post says it all . . . .

(Cross-posted from Moved to Vancouver)

Privatizing Torture . . . .

What great news!

bushco wants to continue hiring private contractors to interrogate suspected terrorists!

Perfect.

Capital idea!

Per Reuters today:

White House threatens spy bill veto over interrogation
Wed Jul 16, 2008 - By Randall Mikkelsen

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House threatened to veto legislation on Wednesday that would bar CIA contractors from interrogating suspected terrorists, in the latest debate over treatment of detainees in the U.S.-declared war on terrorism.

The White House issued the threat in a notice to Congress as the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives began considering a broad measure to authorize funding of U.S. intelligence activities for the 2009 fiscal year.

_______________

The bill contains many provisions "that conflict with the conduct of intelligence activities," the White House budget office told Congress. "If (the bill) were presented to the president, the president's senior advisors would recommend that he veto the bill."

The contractor provision was the first objection listed by the White House.

CIA Director Michael Hayden has acknowledged that outside contractors were used to conduct some interrogations in the agency's detention program for suspected terrorists, which has been widely condemned for harsh techniques that critics say amount to torture.

He told Congress in February he believed contractors helped conduct "waterboarding," the fiercely condemned simulated drowning technique that he acknowledged using on three al Qaeda suspects.

_______________


But the White House said prohibiting contract interrogators could deprive the program of necessary questioning skills and expertise.

"Such a provision would unduly limit the United States' ability to obtain intelligence needed to protect Americans from attack," it said.

Well, this news should make harperco ecstatic!

After all, now Omar Khadr can be questioned by the likes of Halliburton, KBR and Blackwater USA.

How great is that ? ? ? ?