Puppet MastersS


Cell Phone

Supreme Court rules that police need a warrant to search cellphones

Lawrence Hurley
Reuters
Wed, 25 Jun 2014 13:02 UTC
Image
© REUTERS/GARY CAMERONA woman uses her mobile phone at the plaza of the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington June 25, 2014.
The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday ruled that police officers usually need a warrant before they can search the cellphone of an arrested suspect, a major decision in favor of privacy rights at a time of increasing concern over government encroachment in digital communications.

In an opinion written by Chief Justice John Roberts, the court said there are some emergency situations in which a warrantless search would be permitted. But the unanimous 9-0 ruling goes against law enforcement agencies including the U.S. Department of Justice, which wanted more latitude to search without having to obtain a warrant.

"We cannot deny that our decision today will have an impact on the ability of law enforcement to combat crime," Roberts wrote, adding that the right to privacy "comes at a cost."

Roberts acknowledged the unique nature of cellphones in contemporary life, noting that "the proverbial visitor from Mars might conclude they were an important feature of human anatomy."
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Cell Phone

Feds instructed police to lie about using Stingray mobile phone equipment

Mike Masnick
Techdirt.com
Fri, 20 Jun 2014 12:03 UTC
Image
© Unknown
We've been covering the increasingly widespread use of Stingray or similar mobile phone tower spoofing equipment by law enforcement. The stories have been getting increasingly bizarre lately, starting with the news that police were claiming that non-disclosure agreements prevented them from getting a warrant to use the technology. And then, there was the recent news that the federal government was regularly stepping in to claim ownership of documents related to the technology (even when it's used by local police) in order to block them from being obtained under Freedom of Information laws. Just this morning, we wrote about some new evidence that police are claiming they need these devices to stop "weapons of mass destruction," though they then just use them to spy on people suspected of everyday crimes instead.

Late last night, the ACLU came out with perhaps the most explosive information so far: a set of internal police emails showing that the US Marshals have been instructing police to lie to courts about the use of such devices. Specifically, rather than revealing the use of the tool, they're told to just tell the court they got the information from a "confidential source." While affidavits may initially note the use of such a device, the police are told to submit a new affidavit after the fact without mentioning the Stingray, and seal the old one, so that it never becomes public. The key parts of the email are highlighted below:
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Snakes in Suits

North Carolina Republican compares homosexuality to pedophilia and bestiality in comments to gay colleague

David Edwards
Raw Story
Wed, 25 Jun 2014 12:54 UTC
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A Republican state representative in North Carolina distributed literature to a gay colleague on Tuesday that compared homosexuality to bestiality and pedophilia.

During a debate over a bill to expand charter schools in North Carolina, Democratic state Rep. Susan Fisher offered an amendment that would have prohibited schools from "discriminating on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity."

Republican Speaker Pro Tem "Skip" Stam - who is second in to command to House Speaker and GOP Senate candidate Thom Tillis - immediately objected to the amendment.

"Sexual orientation is not defined anywhere. I have here 30 different types of sexual orientation here," Stam said, while handing the Sergeant at Arms a stack of papers to distribute to fellow lawmakers.

"I offered to exclude two sexual orientations," he said. "I thought we should exclude pedophilia, masochism and sadism, which are sexual orientations. But the Speaker at the time, ruled it out of order to define the term."
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Eye 2

Virginia GOP lawmakers break into Governor's office in effort to block expanded medical aid for the poor

David Edwards
Raw Story
Wed, 25 Jun 2014 12:29 UTC
Image
© Virginia Republican Party
The Virginia Speaker of the House has recently used a series of gimmicks and unusual tricks - including having Capitol Police enter the governor's unoccupied office, and refusing to recognize line-item vetoes - to push through a budget that blocks expanded health care for the poor.

After being sworn into office earlier this year, Democratic Gov. Terry McAuliffe pledged to fight to use the funds provided by President Barack Obama's health care reform law to expand Medicaid. Virginia Republicans, however, eventually convinced a Democratic state senator to resign, giving them the ability to pass a budget that included two amendments that blocked federal dollars for expanding Medicaid, and required the governor to get express permission from the Legislature before attempting any type of expansion.

According to the Richmond Times-Dispatch, the House had told McAuliffe's administration to be prepared to receive the budget no sooner than the Monday after Father's Day. But the House pushed it through earlier than expected, and House Speaker William J. Howell ordered his clerk to have Capitol Police enter the governor's office to deliver it, even though the executive suite was unoccupied during the holiday.
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Eye 1

Retaliation! Germany scores first: Ends Verizon contract over NSA concerns

Tyler Durden
Zerohedge.com
Thu, 26 Jun 2014 10:22 UTC
nsa spying on Germany
It appears Germany has come out swinging ahead of today's FIFA World Cup match:
  • *GERMANY ENDING VERIZON CONTRACT, CITING NSA: AP
Is this the "boomerang" that Putin warned Obama about?

As AP reports,
The German government is canceling a contract with Verizon over fears the company could be letting U.S. intelligence agencies eavesdrop on official communications.

The Interior Ministry says it will let its current contract for Internet services with the New York-based company expire in 2015.

The announcement comes after reports this week that Verizon and British company Colt provide Internet services to the German parliament and other official entities.

Germany has been at the forefront of international outrage over alleged electronic eavesdropping by the U.S. National Security Agency and Britain's GCHQ, revealed last year by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden.

Ministry spokesman Tobias Plate said Thursday that Germany wants to ensure it has full control over highly sensitive government communications networks. Verizon didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.
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Bad Guys

Coming clean: Turchynov admits Ukraine's intelligence constantly lied about Russian plans


Voice of Russia
Thu, 26 Jun 2014 09:51 UTC
Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Alexander Turchynov
© RIA Novosti/Mikhail MarkivSpeaker of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Alexander Turchynov, who was the interim president after the coup, now admits that Russia was never a threat. It was just false alarming intelligence.

According to speaker of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Alexander Turchynov, representatives of security agencies deliberately whipped up the situation systematically misinforming the country's leadership about Russia's possible military intervention, which had never happened.

"Our intelligence agencies have about ten times a month reported that the time of a military attack on the part of the Russian Federation was defined - usually it was at three or four in the morning. And we sat in combat readiness at the command post... and the rest of the army was preparing for an open war with the Eastern neighbor. But it did not happen," Alexander Turchinov said in an interview with Novoye Vremya, which is to be released tomorrow.

However, according to him, in March, the Ukrainian army was not ready for possible military actions. "The Minister of Defense reported to me that our army numbered ... as many as 5 thousand people. Throughout Ukraine," said Turchinov.

Comment: So we are meant to believe that the acting president after the coup was simply misinformed. The US has a way of blaming the intelligence agencies when the blowback from the lies hits them. It is worth noting that the same false intelligence that Turchynov allegedly received was the same intelligence that was passed on to the US, EU and NATO, who all repeated ad nausea: "The Russians are coming, the Russians are coming."

Will NATO's clown-in-chief, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, or Obama come out and admit that they too were wrong all along? Hardly! That intelligence served the purpose wonderfully, gave NATO reason for existing and advanced the prospect of a new cold war.

Oleksander Turchynov, by the way, used to head the Ukraine's intelligence agency, so the idea that he was 'last to know about it' is utter BS...

Mafia State: Interim Ukrainian president Turchynov destroyed SBU files implicating Yulia Tymoschenko in dirty gas deals with Jewish mob 'boss of bosses' Semion Mogilevich

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Candle

Bulgaria confronts EU technocrats: South Stream doesn't breach EU laws


RT
Thu, 26 Jun 2014 09:44 UTC
South Stream pipeline
© RIA Novosti / Sergey GuneevSouth Stream pipeline
Bulgarian officials say the construction of the Russian-led South Stream gas pipeline does not breach EU legislation. The European Commission is concerned the agreement between Russia and Bulgaria violates EU competition law.

The Bulgarian government stood by its position on the legality of the pipeline in a Wednesday statement, ITAR-TASS reports. The agreement on South Stream construction signed in 2008 did not provide any exclusive rights, concessions, or tendering for the South Stream Bulgaria Company which is the owner of the pipeline, and therefore it does not violate EU law, it said.

"With its position the government presents arguments and motives in support of the decisions the Bulgarian nation has taken and which were the subject of concern at the EU Commission," Reuters quotes the official statement.

Bulgaria will put these arguments at the Brussels summit on Friday, but the decision of the commission whether to accept or reject them may end up in full infringement proceedings and possible fines against Sofia, Reuters says.
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Megaphone

China wants a say and plans investment bank to break World Bank dominance


RT
Thu, 26 Jun 2014 09:34 UTC
Chinese money
© Reuters/Stringer
China is moving forward with a plan to create its own version of the World Bank, which will rival institutions that are under the sway of the US and the West. The bank will start with $100 billion in capital.

The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) will extend China's financial reach and compete not only with the World Bank, but also with the Asian Development Bank, which is heavily dominated by Japan. The $100 billion in capital is double that originally proposed, the Financial Times (FT) reported.

A member of the World Bank, China has less voting power than countries like the US, Japan, and the UK. It is in the 'Category II' voting bloc, giving it less of a voice. In the Asian Development Bank, China only holds a 5.5 percent share, compared to America's 15.7 percent share and Japan's 15.6 share.

At the International Monetary Fund, China pays a 4 percent quota, whereas the US pays nearly 18 percent, and therefore has more influence within the organization and where loans go.

"China feels it can't get anything done in the World Bank or the IMF so it wants to set up its own World Bank that it can control itself," the FT quoted a source close to discussions as saying.

Comment: Another move that will put pressure on the petrodollar.

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Stock Down

75% of Americans say Iraq War was not worth the cost


RT
Tue, 24 Jun 2014 03:25 UTC
Marines in front of Hussein's palace, Iraq
© rt.comU.S. Marines of the 1st LAR based in Camp Pendleton, CA, occupy Saddam Hussein's presidential palace in northern Iraq, Tekrit 2003.
As the insurgency in Iraq threatens the stability of the Shiite-led government there, only 18 percent of Americans think the Iraq War was worth the costs, according to a new poll.

The CBS/New York Times poll asked if the costs of the Iraq invasion, including monetary and loss of American lives, were worth it. A record 75 percent of those surveyed said that it wasn't worth the costs, up from 67 percent in November 2011 (just before the final withdrawal of US troops) and 45 percent in August 2003, five months after the invasion began.

"Our 2003 invasion of Iraq should be a warning that military force sometimes transforms a genuine problem into something worse. The war claimed 4,500 American lives and, according to a mortality study published in a peer-reviewed American journal, 500,000 Iraqi lives," Nicholas Kristoff wrote in a New York Times op-ed. "Linda Bilmes, a Harvard expert in public finance, tells me that her latest estimate is that the total cost to the United States of the Iraq war will be $4 trillion."

The survey released Monday found that 63 percent of Republicans and 79 percent each of independents and Democrats didn't think the war was worth the cost.

Comment: What was that definition of insanity...doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. Ya know, once you put your combat boot in the door...it's like being just a little bit pregnant.

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Hardhat

Cracks in the alliance? Austria weighs EU exceptions to speed up South Stream gas flow from Russia


RT
Mon, 23 Jun 2014 20:19 UTC
South Stream pipeline
© Agence France-PresseGerhard Roiss, CEO of energy group OMV AG
The South Stream gas pipeline project is too important for the EU to be "put on ice", the head of Austrian energy group OMV, Gerhard Roiss, stressed, even speaking of possible European law exceptions for Gazprom in order to speed up negotiations.

In an interview with the WirtschaftsBlatt newspaper, Roiss said that it's unrealistic to suggest that Austria, which receives a third of its gas from Gazprom, and Europe as a whole, would be able to cope without Russian supplies.

"If we can obtain large amounts of gas from a particular region, then we need to give investors the chance to build gas highways," he explained. "Negotiations for South Stream should therefore be accelerated, but not put on ice."

The South Stream project must "undoubtedly" comply with European Law, but "there can be exceptions in some areas," Roiss added.

According to the OMV chief, it's up to Gazprom to negotiate those "exceptions" with the European Union authorities.

Roiss was speaking ahead of Vladimir Putin's visit to Vienna on Tuesday, which would see OMV and Gazprom signing a deal on bringing the South Stream gas pipeline to Austria as was agreed in April.

Comment: Austria seems to be taking a realistic view of its needs as a country, and appears to be positioning itself to make a deal with Russia's Gazprom, regardless of what the EU thinks.

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