AdamSmith

Seriously.

NSA FISA Snowden Leaks: Why Oversight Of The NSA Falls Short By Pema Levy on August 16 2013 10:31 AM International Business Times For over two months, the Obama administration has assured the public that between stringent rules imposed on the intelligence community and each branch of government monitoring its activity, the government’s surveillance programs do not infringe on Americans’ privacy. Former U.S. National Intelligence Director John Negroponte at the National Security Agency office at Fort Meade, Md. REUTERS But a staggering report from the Washington Post Thursday night has raised significant privacy concerns by revealing that the National Security Agency often violates the rules. Perhaps more importantly, the report raises serious questions about whether oversight by Congress and the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC), which administration officials have promised repeatedly is “rigorous,” is really effective. For the first time, those in charge of supervising the spy agency now admit their oversight is limited. An audit from May 2012 detailing thousands of infractions by the NSA, leaked to the Post by former intelligence contractor Edward Snowden, was never shared with the Senate Intelligence Committee, which oversees the government’s surveillance operations. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., the committee’s chairman and a staunch supporter of the NSA programs revealed by Snowden, told the Post that her committee “can and should do more to independently verify that NSA’s operations are appropriate," and that "reports of compliance incidents are accurate.” The key question here is whether the ability to independently verify the NSA’s activities is a crucial component to meaningful oversight. And the answer seems to be that it is. In a particularly stunning comment, the head judge on the FISC, the secret court which oversees surveillance operations, told the Post that the court’s oversight is limited by having to rely on the NSA’s own accounting of what goes on at the agency. “The FISC is forced to rely upon the accuracy of the information that is provided to the Court,” Judge Reggie B. Walton said in a statement to the Post, responding to the audit report the paper obtained. “The FISC does not have the capacity to investigate issues of noncompliance, and in that respect the FISC is in the same position as any other court when it comes to enforcing [government] compliance with its orders.” The admissions by both Feinstein and Walton indicate that oversight of the NSA is not as surefire as President Obama and administration officials have promised. “I've taken steps to make sure [the NSA’s programs] have strong oversight by all three branches of government and clear safeguards to prevent abuse and protect the rights of the American people,” Obama said a week ago. In July, a former NSA analyst and whistle-blower, J. Kirk Wiebe, told International Business Times that any congressional or judicial supervision of the NSA was a “joke” without outside monitoring of the NSA’s activities. “We must grant access to NSA’s processes, the sensitive ones, the actual touching of data and information, that must be viewable by the FISA court, or some court, and by Congress, the two intelligence committees,” said Wiebe, whose own whistle-blowing attempts, along with those of his colleagues Thomas Drake and William Binney, were detailed in the New Yorker in 2011. Wiebe, who left the agency in 2001, described the NSA as excessively hostile to congressional oversight. But his comments go to the heart of where, according to Feinstein and Walton's own statements, oversight falls short. “What we have today is, ‘Shake hands, I’ll trust you,’” Wiebe said last month. “Years ago, I argued NSA ought to be sharing more with a select group in Congress. What’s it afraid of unless you’re doing something wrong?” http://www.ibtimes.com/nsa-fisa-snowden-leaks-why-oversight-nsa-falls-short-1388509

Ai yi yi. Have they not heard of adoption? I know, I know, the kids would not then be of the Master Race. Sorry, the Volk. Ach.

In response Snowden issued this statement rebutting those remarks: It has come to my attention that news organizations seeking information regarding my current situation have, due to the difficulty in contacting me directly, been misled by individuals associated with my father into printing false claims about my situation. I would like to correct the record: I've been fortunate to have legal advice from an international team of some of the finest lawyers in the world, and to work with journalists whose integrity and courage are beyond question. There is no conflict amongst myself and any of the individuals or organizations with whom I have been involved. Neither my father, his lawyer Bruce Fein, nor his wife Mattie Fein represent me in any way. None of them have been or are involved in my current situation, and this will not change in the future. I ask journalists to understand that they do not possess any special knowledge regarding my situation or future plans, and not to exploit the tragic vacuum of my father's emotional compromise for the sake of tabloid news. Thank you. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/08/15/edward-snowden-media-misled_n_3764560.html

Could it be that, as they say, the newspapers have to find something to fill up the space between advertisements? Of course the question of why we read it remains.

Michelle's comment on it... ...vs. his predecessor...

Bradley Manning is a trans hero – I fear for him in prisonIn my brief time in jail I found a way to express my femaleness, but Manning has a lifetime ahead of him locked in a cage Paris Lees theguardian.com, Saturday 17 August 2013 07.30 EDT Bradley Manning felt the pressure to meet other people's expectations. That’s why he entered the army, to 'man up', says Paris Lees. Photograph: Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images Bradley Manning faces 90 years in prison and will probably die behind bars – and that's not the worst of it. He's been successfully brainwashed judging by his recent apology and appeal for leniency. I don't blame him. He must feel powerless, on so many levels. When MailOnline.com published pictures of Manning "in drag" earlier this week, it revealed publicly what the transgender community has known for some time: Manning is one of us. I personally regard him as a hero, but this isn't an attempt to claim him, politically. There wouldn't be much to gain by it. Even GLAAD and Human Rights Campaign have deserted him, sadly. Whether you see him as brave or treacherous, though, he faces unfair hardship as a gender non-conforming prisoner. I should know, I used to be one. When I was 16, to my shame, I took part in a robbery. I was terrified of going to borstal, as anyone might be, but with the added fear of what happened to people like me there. Like Manning, I hadn't yet transitioned, but I had always known who I was and that, eventually, I would have to do something about it. I also knew that, because I'd committed a crime, my transition would have to wait. I was locked up for eight months. Inside, I grew my hair long and shaved my legs. I sneaked chalk out from my weekly art classes and ground it into dust so that when the doors were locked at night and I was alone in my cell, I could make my cheeks pink and lips red, and my eyes green. I must have looked like Grotbags, but there you go. It was torture not expressing my femaleness and I certainly wouldn't have coped with 90 years of it. Blogger Zinnia Jones, who spent hours chatting to Manning online before he was exposed as a Wikileaks collaborator, describes giving evidence at his trial: "I've talked about Manning as male, because there's been nothing but silence and denial on this front from his family and his attorneys, and I simply don't know how else to refer to him. But I do know what happens when you take one of us and lock us away for most of our early 20s, unable to access treatments like those he was seeking. It horrifies me." She laments the fact that "he's locked in a cage and I'm not, that I got to transition and he didn't". Sadly this is what happens when trans people are arrested mid-transition. Take Senthooran Kanagasingham, who was Nina when she pushed someone under a train. I don't excuse the crime, nor do I applaud those who advised Nina to suppress her identity ahead of the trial. Trans people understand very well the constant pressure to keep everyone else happy by meeting their expectations. Manning felt that pressure. That's why he entered the army, to "man up". Again and again we see people like him, who feel female inside, racing to appear male on the outside: joining the gym, joining themselves in heterosexual matrimony, fathering children. It's hard to say if this ever works because how do we count the number of those living this way and suffering in silence? They make their beds and lie in them, invisible. Until they have nervous breakdowns. Or commit suicide. Or, somehow, manage to finally express their true identities against the odds they've helped stack against themselves. Orange is the New Black, the new Netflix series set in a New York federal prison, explores what happens when a transgender character, Sophia, is denied hormone therapy – but even this has been criticised as painting too rosy a picture. Indeed, critics say Sophia is lucky to even be in women's prison. For his book Normal Life, Dean Spade, who founded the Sylvia Rivera Law Project, met many trans people who faced employment discrimination and were forced into illegal jobs like sex work: "This meant constant exposure to the criminal punishment system, where they were inevitably locked into gender-segregated facilities that placed them according to birth gender and exposed them to further violence". In short, the law treats trans people the way wider society treats trans people – as problems. Manning struggled with gender identity issues in the US army. Now he must face prison. Private Manning – from one sister to another – I wish you the best of luck. You're going to need it. http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/aug/17/bradley-manning-trans-hero-prison