The Intercept has a great story this morning with confidential documents revealing the official TSA warning signs. My favorite terrorist giveaway is “excessive complaints about the screening process.” Ya, that was the first trick my Al Qaeda buddies told me about how to finesse airport security prior to wreaking havoc aboard a flight. I […]
Tag Archives | privacy
Obama’s Latest Hokum on Violent Extremism: Arar Retorts
In his speech this week to his anti-extremism conclave in Washington, President Obama declared that “former extremists have the opportunity to speak out, speak the truth about terrorist groups, and oftentimes they can be powerful messengers in debunking these terrorist ideologies.” But what about former victims of government extremism speaking out? Maher Arar is a […]
Wash. Times: Obama Fighting Extremism with Extremism
Washington Times, October 14, 2014 Obama Fighting extremism with extremism By James Bovard Obama points to war on terrorism to justify oppressive practices at home and abroad In his speech last month to the United Nations, President Obama summoned foreign leaders to join his “campaign against extremism.” While his clarion call was spurred by beheadings […]
How Many NSA Lies Will Be Necessary to Restore Trust in Govt.?
How many more lies about surveillance will Obama need to tell to restore trust in government? I was disappointed in Obama’s speech because I thought he might waive sovereign immunity & let Americans sue the government for NSA crimes. On the bright side, I don’t need to spend the afternoon looking for a lawyer […]
Obama’s Vacuum Cleaner for Your Health Data
Here’s a piece I wrote in 2009 on one of Obama’s first assaults on privacy. A few of the piece’s punchier lines: *Privacy is very lucrative for the Beltway boys: they reap millions when they betray it. *We now know that psychologists were brought to the prison at Guantánamo to exploit detainees’ weaknesses for interrogation […]
Obama Muffes Title of Born-Again Privacy Champion
Reuters reports that the Obama folks will soon permit far more exploitation of the financial data the feds have vacuumed up: – The Obama administration is drawing up plans to give all U.S. spy agencies full access to a massive database that contains financial data on American citizens and others who bank in the country, […]