FBI director James Comey is concerned that Apple and Google are making phones that cannot be searched by the government.
Let me join with the Founding Fathers in telling the Director to Bite me! If he wants to know what I’m doing with my phone, he can get a warrant, just like the Constitution provides.
FBI: new Apple, Google phones too secure, could put users ‘beyond the law’ – Yahoo News.
“Homeland Security gave $8 million to Fargo to fight terrorism in Fargo, North Dakota,” Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) told NBC News. “And I say if the terrorists get to Fargo, we might as well give up.”
via Jay Nixon on possibility of controversial Ferguson cop being charged – CBS News.
Vodafone, one of the world’s largest cell phone companies, revealed the scope of government snooping into phone networks in a report that is described as the first of its kind, covering 29 countries in which it directly operates.
The most explosive revelation was that in a small number of countries, authorities require direct access to an operator’s network — bypassing legal niceties like warrants. It did not name the countries.
“In those countries, Vodafone will not receive any form of demand for lawful interception access as the relevant agencies and authorities already have permanent access to customer communications via their own direct link,” the report said.
[adapted from HuffPo]
Many Governments Listen To Phone Calls Anytime They Want: Report.
As someone on Slashdot said, since the NSA intercepts and stores our e-mails forever, why not use it as a backup service? It just lacks the API to restore files, therefore this guy called the NSA to ask for a backup restoration. Guess what? It did not work.
After all, why should we have to pay twice for services already performed with tax dollars?
A report by the Senate Intelligence Committee concludes that the CIA misled the government and the public about aspects of its brutal interrogation program for years — concealing details about the severity of its methods, overstating the significance of plots and prisoners, and taking credit for critical pieces of intelligence that detainees had in fact surrendered before they were subjected to harsh techniques.
“The CIA described [its program] repeatedly both to the Department of Justice and eventually to Congress as getting unique, otherwise unobtainable intelligence that helped disrupt terrorist plots and save thousands of lives,” said one U.S. official briefed on the report. “Was that actually true? The answer is no.”
CIA misled on interrogation program, Senate report says – The Washington Post.
Adapted from Above the Law:
A few months ago, the FBI had quietly admitted that its primary function was no longer law enforcement but rather “national security.” Instead the FBI is putting a huge part of its budget towards “counterterrorism” while its efforts to take down white collar crime is dropping significantly.
This is confirmed by new report from the Justice Department’s Inspector General. It notes that, despite President Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder promising that cracking down on mortgage fraud was a top priority, the FBI has actually put it near the bottom of the list of actual priorities.
The DOJ then pretended that it had been fighting mortgage fraud and put on a whole presentation about its success — based on totally faulty numbers. Numbers that it was pretty sure were faulty — and then took nearly a year to admit that their claims of success were based on bogus stats.
The Repubs, who are the biggest boosters of American exceptionalism, are on the road to permanently destroying America’s preeminent role in world affairs. Secretary of State Kerry says, “I believe that those standing in the way (of a resolution) need to think long and hard about the message that we send to the world when we can’t get our own act together.”
It looks like, if the Repubs don’t get their own way, they’ll fuck it up for everyone. And that’s why we say BITE ME!
The ATF has issued a new rule that multiple sales of high-powered rifles in border states must be reported to the federal government. The rule would reveal which American dealers are most active in the deadly business of shipping arms to murderous Mexican drug dealers.
The gun-nut wing of the House, apparently thinking that the “right to bear arms” somehow means the “right to sell arms to any bloodthirsty foreign thug who comes calling,” crafted a measure to block the new rule and stuck into a budget bill. The Republicans who voted to do that can Bite Me. But the insane Democrats who supported them can double Bite Me.
House blocks Obama rule on border-state rifle sales – Houston Chronicle.
The Republicans are totally bent out of shape that Obama is taking credit for killing Bin Laden. Instead, they indulge in the fantasy that Bush did the job. Well, they can bite me.
[NB: The print edition of the Daily News ran this column with the famous GWB “Mission Accomplished” picture, whereas the online version had the Obama “war room” pic. Much less trenchant.]
Hard to believe . . . 11 Secret Service agents fly to Columbia in advance of Obama’s visit, check into a hotel and order up an exaltation of prostitutes. Then one decides NOT TO PAY. We, here at BiteMe.ME, are models of rectitude and believe that one who does not pay for services rendered can BITE ME.
Anyway, the wronged prostitute went to the police, the police sent a report to the embassy, the embassy reported to Washington, and the agents wound up in a world of hurt.
Ronald Kessler, called by the Daily News ‘one of the leading experts on the Secret Service’ said . . . “Number one, it is against basic ethics to go to a prostitute, [n]umber two, it is incredibly embarrassing to the White House. And number three, [i]t could leave them open to blackmail and a possible assassination attempt.” We’re not experts on the Secret Service, but we would have made Number one, “Pay your bills, asshole.”
One thing still bothers us here at BiteMe Central: How did Pete King, a man obsessed with bringing down President Obama, get this story before we did? Does he have covert sources in the Secret Service or maybe in Columbia?