More government spying

The Obama administration has stepped up the NSA’s warrantless surveillance program on U.S. soil to search for signs of hacking.

There once was a story that went something like this: A guy wanted to know how many submarines the Navy had, so he called the Navy and was told that the information was classified. So he called the Soviet embassy and they gave him the number.

The point of the story was that our enemies already knew the answer and the only point of keeping it a secret was to prevent American citizens from finding out.

So now Edward Snowden, the former NSA contractor, has revealed that the Obama administration has expanded a secret National Security Agency program of warrantless surveillance of Americans’ international Internet traffic, searching for evidence of malicious computer hacking.

The Chinese, no doubt, already knew all about the NSA’s surveillance of our Internet traffic, so the only possible reason that Obama didn’t reveal it to us was that he wanted to avoid the possibility that we wouldn’t approve it. And for that, he can Bite Me.

I really don’t want the Chinese hacking into my computer — or my bank’s — but I also don’t want the gummint rifling through my Internet traffic. I know I can’t have it both ways and there will have to be compromises but I’d like to be part of the debate and not just have the Executive Branch decide what’s best for me.

Source: New Snowden Documents Reveal Secret Memos Expanding Spying

Another side of the FIFA story

“These scum have stolen the people’s sport,” Andrew Jennings said. “So, yes, it’s nice to see the fear on their faces.”

In s story titled “How a curmudgeonly old reporter exposed the FIFA scandal that toppled Sepp Blatter,” the Washington Post credits reporter Andrew Jennings with breaking the FIFA story and causing the eventual arrest of the FIFA leadership.

Here at the BiteCastle, we’ve learned — unlike Oprah — to be skeptical of such media narratives. Nevertheless, the old curmudgeon does give good sound bite:

This journalism business is easy, you know. You just find some disgraceful, disgustingly corrupt people and you work on it! You have to. That’s what we do. The rest of the media gets far too cozy with them.

According to the Post, “He [Jenkins] said that most sports reporters wouldn’t touch these subjects for fear of losing access to top officials and athletes.”

That caught our eye. News articles frequently cite anonymous sources. Like “Sources at the Pentagon say . . .” Sometimes that could be an actual surreptitious source, afraid of being named. But mostly, it’s just a way for the government to to feed a story to a reporter without having to take responsibility for the consequences. Why do reporters play along? Because they’re afraid of losing access if they don’t.

When Jennings started investigating FIFA, he knew he would only get denials from top management. So he sought out the middle managers instead. His method of alerting them to his interest was simple. He went to a FIFA press conference and publicly asked FIFA President Sepp Blatter, “Have you ever taken a bribe?”

Six weeks later, he had his Deep Throat.

Source: How a curmudgeonly old reporter exposed the FIFA scandal that toppled Sepp Blatter – The Washington Post

Thanks to the Supreme Court, you can stalk your ex-wife online!

In the recent ELONIS v. UNITED STATES decision, the Supremes have decided that it’s ok to threaten people as long as you don’t actually kill them. This is great news for Internet trolls, creeps, and psychos everywhere. But somehow I doubt that it will help you if you threaten the President or, for that matter, Supreme Court justices.

Source: What You Need To Know About The Supreme Court’s Ruling In Favor Of A Terrible Internet Troll | ThinkProgress