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Bush junta attempts to destroy evidence of its crimes
(Christopher Lee, Washington Post, April 12, 2006)
The National Archives helped keep secret a multi-year effort by the Air Force, the CIA and other federal agencies to withdraw thousands of historical documents from public access on Archives shelves, even though the records had been declassified. . . . In a 2002 memorandum, obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request and released yesterday by the National Security Archive, a nonprofit research library housed at George Washington University, Archives officials agreed to help pull the materials for possible reclassification and conceal the identities of anyone participating in the effort. The Associated Press reported yesterday that it had requested a copy of the memo three years ago. . . . Thomas S. Blanton, executive director of the National Security Archive, said the memo "shows that the National Archives basically aided and abetted a covert operation that whited out the nation's history by reclassifying previously released documents." . . . Independent historian Matthew M. Aid uncovered the reclassification program last summer when his requests for documents formerly available at the Archives were delayed or denied. In February, the Archives acknowledged that about 9,500 records totaling more than 55,000 pages had been withdrawn and reclassified since 1999. But historians who previously obtained copies of records have said many date to the 1940s and 1950s and pose no conceivable security risk. . . . The program dates to the Clinton administration, when the CIA and other agencies began recalling documents they believed were improperly released under a 1995 executive order requiring declassification of many historical records 25 years old and older. The pace of the removal picked up after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

posted by LoZo 2:19 PM

 

Internet telephones threaten NSA's ability to spy on Americans
(Shane Harris, National Journal, April 10, 2006)
Among the threats facing the National Security Agency are Al Qaeda, the Iraqi insurgency, and eBay. . . . Yes, eBay, the online auction house. Not because its members sell state secrets, but because of a company that eBay purchased last year -- Skype. . . . Skype is an online service that lets people converse through their computers. Its 75 million users place voice calls over the Internet. The calls sound clear. They're free, because phone carriers aren't used. And because of the Internet's diffused architecture and its facility for privacy, Skypesters' identities, their locations, and the substance of their conversations can be undetectable. This is not what the NSA's worldwide eavesdroppers want to hear. . . . For more than four years, without warrants and by order of President Bush, the agency has hunted for terrorists by intercepting communications between people in the United States and people abroad possibly connected to terrorism. . . . "Thirty years ago ... it made sense to speak exclusively about the interception of a targeted communication -- one in which there were usually two known ends and a [phone line] that could be 'tapped,' " Taipale writes in an upcoming essay for the New York University Review of Law and Security. Phone calls travel over a dedicated circuit, in easily traced paths. . . . But Internet communications are broken down into discrete units, called packets, that swirl through the global network along different, sometimes circuitous routes before being reassembled at their destination. If placing a phone call can be likened to mailing someone a letter, sending an e-mail is like cutting that letter into 50 pieces and dividing them among several couriers, and then asking the couriers to reassemble the letter upon delivery. . . . To intercept packets, devices called "sniffers" are placed at various communication nodes to scan traffic as it passes, looking for interesting packets and, hopefully, reassembling them coherently. If the NSA has an e-mail address to target, catching the message is relatively simple -- put a sniffer near the user's Internet service provider. . . . But the NSA's warrantless eavesdropping program also involves looking for suspicious patterns in a sea of communications. The NSA might not know what it's looking for, so it has to examine a lot of data. . . . It's unclear to what extent Internet service providers are cooperating with the NSA. [ALSO SEE:
AT&T Forwards ALL Internet Traffic Into NSA]

[COMMENT by Lorenzo: For about six months now I've been using SunRocket Internet Phone Service and have been very pleased with the service. What I like best is that during my current move to a new apartment I was able to take my number with me and even install their "Gizmo" at a friend's house where I'm living temporarily. I just plugged it into their high speed Net connection, and without any hassle at all my phone was up and working again. In a week, when I move to my new place, all I need to to is take my little Gizmo with me and plug it into my new Internet connection. It's really amazing technology . . . and I get unlimited long distance in the U.S. and Canada and 100 free minutes of international calling for only $15 per month . . . with every imaginable calling feature. . . . BTW, I'm just a happy customer of SunRocket, not one of their salespeople . . . even though it sounds like it :-).]

posted by LoZo 12:19 PM

 

Federal Jury Indicts Mentally Ill Patient For Threatening Bush
(Yvonne Lee, All Headline News, April 7, 2006)
East St. Louis, IL (AHN) - A Palestinian mental health patient has been indicted on two felony counts of "knowingly and willfully" threatening to harm President George W. Bush. . . . The Associated Press reports federal grand jurors indicted Arafat Nijmeh on March 23. But it was only made public this week. . . . He is accused to telling two employees at the Alton Mental Health Center that he wants to castrate Mr. Bush. The next day, he repeated his threats to Secret Service agents contacted by the center. . . . . . . According to the indictment Nijmeh 26, told agents that his threat "is not too harsh, considering what he has done to my country. If not that than maybe something else, you know?" . . . Nijmeh said later that he was joking about the threats. . . . J. Steven Beckett, a University of Illinois law professor, says to the AP that Nijmeh's threats may only be the "delirious rantings of a mental patient." . . . He says, "It's national security gone berserk." . . . He speculated that some details of the case have been kept secret, but added, "My immediate reaction here is, 'Who's nuts?'" . . . Randy Massey, the acting U.S. attorney for southern Illinois, did not immediately return a message seeking comment Friday. . . . Eric Pingolt, head of the Secret Service's Springfield office, says the Secret Service takes all threats seriously and considers the suspect's mental state before deciding the threat's validity. . . . He says, "Everything is judged case by case."

[COMMENT by Lorenzo: If this wasn't so serious it would be really funny, at least in a "Brave New World" kind of way. We are told that 95% of the shipping containers coming into this country are NOT inspected. But Petty Tyrant Bush's homeland security storm troopers use their umpressive resources to save us from a madman making a joke about our Benevolent Dictator. It seems we are quickly moving even beyond mere fascism. . . . "And what rough beast, its hour come round at last, Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?] <

posted by LoZo 7:17 AM