Cheney Says He Can Declassify Info { but not hunting accidents!}

~~~ However it seems Dick Cheney is not empowered to
publicly report when he shoots someone.
So at least there is some check on his power.~~ TP
-----------------------

Cheney Says He Can Declassify Info WASHINGTON, Feb. 16, 2006 "(AP) == "Vice President Dick Cheney says he has the power to declassify government secrets, raising the possibility that he authorized his former chief of staff to pass along sensitive prewar data on Iraq to reporters"

AT&T Sued Over NSA Eavesdropping

~~ A new twist in the NSA wiretap mess.

Did Ma Bell do it with Big Brother ?!?!

~~~TP

------------------------------

AT&T Sued Over NSA Eavesdropping
Wired News::
By Ryan Singel
04:03 AM Jan, 31, 2006

The Electronic Frontier Foundation filed a class-action lawsuit against AT&T Tuesday, accusing the telecom company of violating federal laws by collaborating with the government's secret, warrantless wiretapping of American citizens' phone and internet usage.

The suit, (.pdf) filed by the civil liberties group in federal court in San Francisco, alleges AT&T secretly gave the NSA access to two massive databases that included both the contents of its subscribers' communications and detailed transaction records, such as numbers dialed and internet addresses visited.

'Our goal is to go after the people who are making the government's illegal surveillance possible,' says EFF attorney Kevin Bankston. 'They could not do what they are doing without the help of companies like AT&T. We want to make it clear to AT&T that it is not in their legal or economic interests to violate the law whenever the president asks them to.'"

"Could Your VoIP Phone Be Tapped?"

~~ America has to decide just exactly how "Big" we want our "Big Brother " to be. As reported in New York Times , polls show a 50 -50 split , or so on Americans support of the Bush Wiretaps. ~~ TP
--------------------------------------------------


PCWorld.com - Could Your VoIP Phone Be Tapped?: "

Dennis O'Reilly, PC World

Friday, January 27, 2006

BURLINGAME, CALIFORNIA -- "Several privacy and civil-liberties organizations are mounting a legal challenge to prevent VoIP and other Internet-based communications from being subject to taps from law-enforcement agencies."

Bush Lets U.S. Spy on Callers Without Courts - New York Times

~~~ The NY Times has an extensive article today on the Bush team again forgetting that a Democracy is a place where the Government does not spy on its citizens with out first getting a Court order. This is major news , but unless Congress raises a stink and starts hearings , it will pass under the radar of most voters.

I have to keep saying to myself -

-- "Just three more years,, Just three more years".

Anybody will be better than the Bushies in 2008. 

{ Assuming that Team Bush does not find 

some way to cancel the 2008 American elections.] ~~~ TP
-----------------------------------------

Bush Lets U.S. Spy on Callers Without Courts
By JAMES RISEN and ERIC LICHTBLAU

"WASHINGTON, Dec. 15 - Months after the Sept. 11 attacks, President Bush secretly authorized the National Security Agency to eavesdrop on Americans and others inside the United States to search for evidence of terrorist activity without the court-approved warrants ordinarily required for domestic spying, according to government officials"

" Hackers fuel Peru-Chile rivalry" BBC NEWS | Americas |

~~~ Now this is really Technopolitical. Maybe cross-border Political-Hacking could replace military wars. But probably not. ~~ TP
-----------

BBC NEWS | Americas | Hackers fuel Peru-Chile rivalry: "The historic rivalry between Peru and Chile has spilled into cyberspace with hackers from both countries striking at government websites."

"US warns of fake net domain data" / BBC NEWS | Technology |

BBC NEWS | Technology | US warns of fake net domain data: "More than 5% of the net's most popular domains have been registered using 'patently false' data, research shows."

-------------------------------------------

~~~ But the USA also went to war in Iraq using " 'patently false' data."
So I guess that evens it all out, huh ?
{While I do not directly put my real name and etc, here at technopolitical.com ,
a few clicks around my profile will lead you to my ID if you really care to know. ] ~~~ TP

CNN.com - Technology pushing political films to forefront - Nov 23, 2005

~~~ Interesting , but how many people watch political films ? Especially films that they are not already pre-disposed to agree with.

Come to think of it , is anybody reading this ? Why am I writing ? ~~
~~ TP
-------------------------

CNN.com - Technology pushing political films to forefront - Nov 23, 2005: "Through the use of digital technology and Internet distribution it is now easier than ever for filmmakers to push their points of view. Movies can be made quickly and cheaply, then burned onto DVDs and disseminated worldwide on the Web.
'You couldn't do these films with the old technology,' says Greenwald. 'It's tremendously exciting for the way it continues to democratize the process, from making the films to distributing them.'"

Journalist, Cover Thyself - New York Times

~~ Journalist writing about journalist.
Movies about making movies.
Even comic stips about writing comic strips. I think I will start a blog about blogging.

But seriously , a little self-examination is always good, but the main point of journalists today is all too often the medium itself -- to which I plead guilty !!

[OK, so you have caught me in a

cynically self-effacing mood today.]

~~` TP
-----------------------------------------

Journalist, Cover Thyself - New York Times: "In the last few years, with the rise of blogs and a rich supply of scandals at news organizations, including The New York Times, the media have come under intense scrutiny. And many news outlets have turned a critical eye on themselves - a tricky matter rife with conflict that raises the question of whether anyone can report fully and fairly on his or her own employer, particularly for public consumption."

InformationWeek > Microsoft Internet Explorer > FEMA Aid Site Blocks Access To Firefox, Macs, Linux Users > September 7, 2005

~~ F. E. M. A.
A Division of
the United States of Mircosoft, Inc.~
~
TP
---------------

"FEMA Aid Site Blocks Access To Firefox,
Macs, Linux Users"
Sept. 7, 2005

By Gregg Keizer
TechWeb News

"Users looking to file claims online for government help must be running Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.0 or later with JavaScript enabled."

"That blocks everyone running Linux, Apple Macintosh computers, and Windows users running alternate browsers such as Firefox or Opera."

By MAUREEN DOWD: "United States of Shame"

~~~ The first

line of this piece is a Grand

Slam sentence ~` TP

=======================

September 3, 2005
United States of Shame
By MAUREEN DOWD

"Stuff happens.
And when you combine limited government with incompetent government,
lethal stuff happens."

In Manhattan, Poor Make 2¢ for Each Dollar to the Rich - New York Times

In Manhattan, Poor Make 2¢ for Each Dollar to the Rich - New York Times

"U.S. Sells the Most Weapons to Others" : Congressional Research Service: http://www.crs.gov

~~ Oh what a surprise.

I never would have guesed this one.

I would have guessed Texas.

{ Well Texas used to be a country.}
~` tp
--------------

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/30/AR2005083001353.html
"U.S. Sells the Most Weapons to Others"

"Developing countries are the weapons' primary buyers. And the U.S. has been the most active seller for the past eight years, resulting mainly from agreements made in the aftermath of the first Gulf War.

The U.S. was responsible for more than 42 percent of the deliveries to developing nations in 2004.

Russia, which ranks second, sells mostly to China and India, as well as a number of smaller, poorer countries.

The CRS study, which is done each year, was written by national defense specialist Richard Grimmett.

___

On the Net:

Congressional Research Service: http://www.crs.gov
===================

Data Mining Found to Flunk Privacy Rules -

Data Mining Found to Flunk Privacy Rules - Yahoo! News: "WASHINGTON - None of five federal agencies using electronic data mining to track terrorists, catch criminals or prevent fraud complied with all rules for gathering citizen information."

" As a result, they cannot ensure that individual privacy rights are appropriately protected, congressional investigators said Monday."

FBI and State claimed they were exempt from the assessments required by the E-Government Act of 2002, the FBI because it was a national security system and State because its data dealt with federal employees, not the public.

=========

~~~ I find this above hard to believe.

I mean the Government--

-- our Government , of the People , by the People , for the People --

would NEVER make a mistake like this,

over and over and over again !!

This has to just another one of those vailed liberal media

attacks on the Bush administration

that my hero ,

Rush "I only do pharmaceutical drugs" Limbaugh,

keeps telling me about !! ~~

~ ` ` ~ tp
=

Congratulations, It's a Theocracy! By David Sarno

~~` Cute headline this morning at Slate.com .

~~ TP

------------------------

Congratulations, It's a Theocracy! By David Sarno: "today's papers A summary of what's in the major U.S. newspapers.

Congratulations, It's a Theocracy!
By David Sarno
Posted Saturday, Aug. 27, 2005, at 4:50 AM PT "

Jealous Lover Program Creator Is Indicted - Yahoo! News

~~ GOOD !!!
{ If he is really guilty,
and also feels sorry for what he has done. }~

~ or maybe ~

BAD !!
{ If the prosecutors are just
goofing up here, and actually
meant to indict
some one else with the same exact name,
or something like that.}
=======
=======

Jealous Lover Program Creator Is Indicted - Yahoo! News:

"SAN DIEGO - AP Wire @ Yahoo !

The creator and several buyers of a computer

program designed to allow jealous lovers to

snoop on their sweethearts' online activities

have been indicted for allegedly violating

federal computer privacy laws."

---------------------------------------

http://www.webpronews.com/ "It Seemed Like A Good Idea At The Time…" You might want to make sure it doesn't violate any federal laws before ubiquitously marketing it. LoverSpy's creator Carlos Enrique Perez-Melara, 25, learned that one the hard way, now facing up to 175 years in jail.

http://www.webpronews.com/news/ebusinessnews/wpn-45-20050829ItSeemedLikeAGoodIdeaAtTheTime.html

Google Anything, so Long as It's Not Google - New York Times

~~ You know Google is getting a little weird lately.
Well, absolute power does corrupt absolutely ~` TP

----------------------------

Google Anything, so Long as It's Not Google - New York Times: "August 28, 2005
Google Anything, so Long as It's Not Google
By RANDALL STROSS

IF you were Google's C.E.O., wouldn't you Google yourself? At least once? Would you be surprised to discover that your recent stock sales, net worth, hobbies and contributions to various political candidates are online and easily reached with a click or two?

That your home address pops up so readily - O.K., that may have come as a surprise - shows that a person can no longer designate which piece of personal information becomes public and which remains private.

So why, if you're Eric E. Schmidt, the chairman and chief executive of Google, a soft-spoken person without a history of intemperate action, do you furiously strike at the poor messenger who delivers the news that your company's search service works very well indeed?

Last month, Elinor Mills, a writer for CNET News, a technology news Web site, set out to explore the power of search engines to penetrate the personal realm: she gave herself 30 minutes to see how much she could unearth about Mr. Schmidt by using his company's own service. The resulting article, published online at CNET's News.com under the sedate headline 'Google Balances Privacy, Reach,' was anything but sensationalist. It mentioned the types of information about Mr."

BBC NEWS | Americas | Colombia lawmakers 'use cocaine'

~~ I am Shocked !
Just Shocked to hear this!
I order this country closed at once ! ~~
~~ TP

"Colombia lawmakers 'use cocaine'"
BBC NEWS | Americas | Colombia lawmakers 'use cocaine'

Some of Colombia's elected politicians have used cocaine within Congress itself, the vice-president of the country's Senate has alleged.

The drug is also being sold there, Senator Edgar Artunduaga said.

"I know names of people who distribute cocaine here in Congress," he said, revealing the results of an investigation ordered by his office.

"There are important officials who distribute, and senators and representatives who consume," he said.

Appeals Court OKs Jerry Falwell Web Site - Yahoo! News

~~` Strike up one for Cyber Speech Rights. ~~ TP

"Appeals Court OKs Jerry Falwell [counter] Web Site" -

"'After even a quick glance at the content of the website ... no one seeking Reverend Falwell's guidance would be misled by the domain name
http://www.fallwell.com
into believing that Reverend Falwell authorized the content of that website,'

Judge Diana Gribbon Motz

wrote, noting that the site criticized Falwell,
his positions and his interpretations of the Bible."

BBC NEWS | Technology | Poor print exposing pin numbers

~~~~ Technology breeds problems for technology to solve . ~~~ TP

BBC NEWS | Technology | Poor print exposing pin numbers: "Poor print exposing pin numbers
By Mark Ward
Technology Correspondent, BBC News website

The pin numbers of millions of consumers are being put at risk by shoddy printing, warn security experts.

Bright lights and easy to use software helped University of Cambridge researchers defeat tamper-proofing on letters telling people their new pin.

The researchers fear the security lapses could put consumers at risk as the UK adopts chip and pin technology.
=============

BBC NEWS | Europe | Canada sends navy to Arctic north

~~~~ Canada vs. Denmark !!! On the brink of war !?!?!
This is real?!?!

The arms dealers must be salivating.

Polar Warfare Specialists send in your resumes. { All three of you ! }

You'd almost think the Onion was the source here .

I go with the side that will keep the Arctic North pristine.

Though no one is sure who that will be yet. ~~ TP

"Canada sends navy to Arctic north"
By Lee Carter
BBC News, Toronto

Canada is sending its navy back to the far northern Arctic port of Churchill after a 30-year absence.

The visit by two warships to the area is the latest move to challenge rival claims in the Arctic triggered by the threat of melting ice.

The move follows a spat between Canada and Denmark, over an uninhabited rock called Hans Island in the eastern Arctic region.

A visit there by Canada's defence minister last month angered the Danes.

Now two Canadian warships, the Shawinigan and the Glace Bay, are on a mission to display what Canada calls its territorial sovereignty over parts of the Arctic it believes are within its borders.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4175446.stm