Maybe Now He'll Revisit His Position on FISA

We can't trust eavesdroppers. Privacy, schmivacy.

CNN: Obama's cell phone records breached

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Records from a cell phone used by President-elect Obama were improperly breached, apparently by employees of the cell phone company, his transition team said Thursday.

Spokesman Robert Gibbs said the team was notified Wednesday by Verizon Wireless that it appears an employee improperly went through billing records for the phone, which Gibbs said Obama no longer uses.

In an internal company e-mail obtained by CNN, Verizon Wireless President and CEO Lowell McAdam disclosed Wednesday that "the personal wireless account of President-elect Barack Obama had been accessed by employees not authorized to do so" in recent months.

BoingBoing: Obama's Cellphone Records Breached by Verizon Employees

Why'd I Waste All That Time in Law School?

Why did I bother studying the Fourth Amendment anyway? It's just about gone. The House just voted 293-129 for a new FISA bill eliminating my Fourth Amendment protections against unreasonable search and seizure from the Constitution. I mean, you can hem and haw around it, but when the President has unlimited power to let major telecoms spy on you & shovel the info to the government, and then Congress ratifies the spying, lets everyone involved off the hook, and gives the President even more power to spy, what else can you call it? Farewell, Fourth Amendment, I knew you well.

Hello, Verizon, enjoy listening in on all my telephone calls and reading my emails, and transmitting them to the government. Who needs the Stasi? We've got the telecoms, who will help Big Brother invade every aspect of our lives.

Maybe I need to buy a printing press, because the Interwebs ain't free any more.

Why did the Democrats cave yet again? (I am so goddamn sick of seeing Democrat and cave in the same sentence. I expect to see it next week when the Senate caves to Preznit Chimpy McSmirk on this very bill.) I saw an interesting theory somewhere on the blogs last night, that this is to protect the Democrats who got clued in to the illegal wiretapping program by the President (Pelosi, Reid, Steny Hoyer), who would have been liable if the telecoms were allowed to stand trial for their crimes. So they're really just protecting their multimillionaire asses. God forbid a member of Congress actually has to follow the law.

I mean, it's just the fucking Constitution, right, "It's just a goddamned piece of paper" as President Fuckwit once said.

So they all took an oath to protect and defend the United States Constitution. So what? They don't want to have to pay for violating their oaths. It's all about their precious Benjamins.

At least my Congressman, the estimable James P. McGovern, voted no.

One would hope that the law school professor who taught Constitutional law who happens to be running for President would stand up and oppose this in the Senate; I'm not holding my breath. One would think that my junior Senator would pull his head out of his ass long enough to do what Senator Kennedy would do if he wasn't in the middle of major cancer treatments, filibuster this abomination. But again, I'm not holding my breath waiting for Kerry to fight. Remember how he was going to fight for every vote in 2004? Right.

I will end with a comment from the firedoglake post announcing the vote:

Revenge is a dish best served cold. Hoyer and Pelosi will get their just desserts in due time. They spit on the graves of those who fought and died for the Constitution including the 4th Amendment. They would sell their country out and the honor and memory of those lying in hallowed and unhallowed ground around the world for a bag of silver.

That's about right. Selling the Constitution for 30 pieces of silver. Shame.

Thank god for sports so I can escape the fury I feel. Euro 2008, here I come.

Verizon, Telcos Go For TKO

That's technical knockout for you non-boxing fans.

Why do I say they're going for the technical knockout? Because today they claimed they didn't turn over any information to the feds. In a carefully worded statement released today, six days after the charges were made in USA Today. They're claiming they didn't do it. They're going with the technicality.

C'mon, I'm a lawyer, I know why it takes six days to put out an official statement. The truth is simple. Yes or no. We did it, or we didn't. Instead, after six days of creative lawyering, we get this (WaPo):

New York-based Verizon said yesterday that it would not confirm or deny any relationship with the NSA, but that "one of the most glaring and repeated falsehoods in the media reporting is the assertion that, in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, Verizon was approached by the NSA and entered into an arrangement to provide the NSA with data from its customers' domestic calls. This is false."

The statement outlined the three major businesses that Verizon ran between Sept. 11, 2001, and the MCI acquisition four months ago: wireline phone, wireless phone and directory publishing. The company "also had its own Internet service provider and long-distance businesses," the statement said. "Contrary to the media reports, Verizon was not asked by NSA to provide, nor did Verizon provide, customer phone records from any of these businesses, or any call data from those records.

"None of these companies -- wireless or wireline -- provided customer records or call data."

Verizon also denied published reports that information about local telephone calls is being tracked. "Phone companies do not even make records of local calls in most cases because the vast majority of customers are not billed per call for local calls," Verizon said. But it did not mention the MCI long-distance business.

Blogtopia (yes! skippy coined that phrase!) has already figured out that they're carefully saying they didn't give the data, because what they really did was give the feds access to the switches. They didn't have to give them the data -- they gave them the keys to the castle, lock, stock and barrel.

emptywheel, dailykos: Domestic Spying: They're Not Getting Data, They're Getting the Switches

Conveniently for the Bush Administration, less than two weeks ago it issued a presidential memorandum, whatever that is, that lets the telcos lie to us to protect the secret spying program.

ThinkProgress: New Presidential Memorandum Permits Intelligence Director To Authorize Telcos To Lie Without Violating Securities Law

So go ahead, believe Verizon's statement. Fool me once, shame on — shame on you. Fool me — you can't get fooled again, as Commander Codpiece once said.

Call Verizon And Ask For A Refund

(800) 870-9999

That's what I just did, and I was shocked that the Verizon flunkie had not received any other calls about this. He didn't even know about the story, and was quite conciliatory after he looked it up. (Bet he has a Verizon account, and therefore an NSA/FBI file, too). I asked for two things:

(1) Immediately suspend any NSA access to my account; and

(2) A refund of my service charges for the last five years.

The arrogant Verizon bastards put me on hold as I navigated from voice mail hell to the rep, and the taped announcement ends with "As always, privacy of your account is your right, and our duty."

Lying bastards.

Verizon Sold Me Out

The dumbass who approved the program and the fathead who ran it.
I feel like Marion Barry. Bitch set me up. To any and all class action lawyers out there reading this blog (and you know who you are) I will be a name plaintiff in any case against Verizon for giving my personal, private information away to the fascists in the Bush Administration. I did not consent to this and it violates my constitutional rights under the 4th and 1st Amendments. Bastards. Pricks. Go Cheney yourself, Verizon. And Commander Codpiece. And from now on, all conversations emanating from this house will start with a seditious prelude. Like "Impeach the Lawbreaking Chimperor", if I am trying to keep it clean. Keep a record of that, assholes.

WaPo: Paper Reports NSA Collecting Phone Records

WASHINGTON -- The government is secretly collecting records of ordinary Americans' phone calls in an effort to build a database of every call made within the country, it was reported Thursday.

AT&T, Verizon and BellSouth telephone companies began turning over records of tens of millions of their customers' phone calls to the National Security Agency program shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, said USA Today, citing anonymous sources it said had direct knowledge of the arrangement.

[]

One big telecommunications company, Qwest, has refused to turn over records to the program, the newspaper said, because of privacy and legal concerns.

Meanwhile, the Justice Department has abruptly ended an inquiry into the warrantless eavesdropping program because the NSA refused to grant its lawyers the necessary security clearance.

The Justice Department's Office of Professional Responsibility, or OPR, sent a fax to Rep. Maurice Hinchey, D-N.Y., on Wednesday saying they were closing their inquiry because without clearance their lawyers cannot examine Justice lawyers' role in the program.

USAToday: NSA Has Massive Database of Americans' Phone Calls
The spy agency, with the help of three major telecom firms, has been collecting data on the domestic calls of millions of Americans since shortly after 9/11.
Sources say the NSA is using the data to analyze calling patterns in an effort to detect terrorist activity.

For the customers of these companies, it means that the government has detailed records of calls they made — across town or across the country — to family members, co-workers, business contacts and others.

A Better Argument for Saving the Free Internet

From Steve Gilliard at The News Blog:

Killing your job, killing your life

A lot of people have been discussing "net neutrality" this week . You can hit this site to get the details.

But like a lot of political wonks, they're talking about bills and lobbying, and it all may make your eyes glaze over.

But it's really simple.

Remember the old AOL? How you were restricted to what they offered, and couldn't reach the internet. And when you could, you were stuck with their browser?

Do you want that back?

No?

Also, there's been a lot of talk about blocking and slowing sites.

Think that's a small deal? Try reaching WebMD and not get it, when your kid is sick. Or being blocked from paying your Time Warner bill on a Verizon DSL line. Or being fired because your company is now paying millions to send interdepartmental e-mail and they have to make cuts.

The Telcos want to not only change the internet, they want to change your life. All of the things you now take for granted, like sending a text message via e-mail, or checking your mail on any computer, or seeing your kids homework assignment from pre-k to college course syllibuses. or that nanny cam or home security you set up.

This is not just about laws and computers, but your life.

Think about how we use the internet for the daily functions of our lives, banking, keeping in touch, dealing with distant workmates, ordering hard to find items.

[]

Everyone is worried about political speech and using Google. and those are real concerns.

But this will change the way you use the net to make your life better. It will limit your choices and the ability to have the life you want, the way you want. It will limit what bank you use, what shows you follow, what make up you use and how you wash your clothes. It may even limit your ability to protect your home from robbers and your child from abuse.

If they can charge for services online, they can limit your ability to live the life you choose. That cam in the Pre-K you check in on your kids with, may cost too much for the school if you have to pay to get live video. You may find the cost of checking on your house with streaming video too much.

When my 10 year old nephew needed ties for school, real ties, not clip-ons, it took me two hours to find some at a reasonable price, but I found them. My sisters couldn't find them in stores, but I found them online. I don't know what would have happened if I didn't have access to the Internet. Within a week, he had ties for every day of school. Is that a big deal? No. But it made a difference.

Their quest for profits isn't just about limiting your speech, although it will have that effect. It will limit your life. All the little things you do, from order silicone bakeware to planning your Vegas vacation, will now be subject to the whims of the people who own the pipes.

When you write to your Congressmember, remind them how easy the Net has made their lives, their personal lives, and how the Telcos want to limit that, based on the spurious idea that they need to make a profit from the Internet. Call it Google envy.

The problem is that the internet is now the main highway for life in the west. It makes real life that much better. We're no longer limited to local shortages and catalog ordering. Small companies can make their livings from customers around the world. And the telcos want to end this in the illusory search for profits.

The telcos want to go back to the past, and ruin your life in the process.

Privacy

No longer exists.

AT&T opened their entire network to the National Security Administration and has been letting the NSA listen in on all its client's phone calls and emails. Luckily I don't have an AT&T account. But has Verizon protected me? No evidence yet against Verizon, but I no longer feel that I have any privacy.


HuffPo: New Case Says AT&T Is Helping the NSA Spy on Americans

A reading of both EFF's original complaint and the public parts of the new filings indicate a shocking allegation: The complaint says that AT&T installed or helped the government install equipment in its main facilities to intercept almost all communications that move through AT&T's circuits.

Spam Daily News: EFF: AT&T forwards all Internet traffic into NSA

"The evidence that we are filing supports our claim that AT&T is diverting Internet traffic into the hands of the NSA wholesale, in violation of federal wiretapping laws and the Fourth Amendment," said EFF Staff Attorney Kevin Bankston.

"More than just threatening individuals' privacy, AT&T's apparent choice to give the government secret, direct access to millions of ordinary Americans' Internet communications is a threat to the Constitution itself. We are asking the Court to put a stop to it now," said Bankston.

CNet News: AT&T whistleblower claims to document illegal NSA surveillance

Evidence provided by a former AT&T technician proves that the telecommunications company secretly and unlawfully opened its networks to government eavesdroppers, the Electronic Frontier Foundation said Thursday.

Dick Cheney is a Virus on the US Operating System

I've spent the day figuring out why my computer kept knocking me off the internet. The wonderful world of viruses. An hour on the phone with Verizon, then installing & running ad-aware seem to have solved the problem.

And Big Time? He's everywhere. Here are the Dick Cheney highlights of the day, from the ridiculous to the far too real.

The Dick Cheney Random Fact Generator, from Rob the Dirty Liberal (love that name). Hilarious. I've added a few, although not the scatological ones. There are no pictures, but language-wise, this is not work-safe. Here's the first one on the list; as of this posting, there are over 200 random facts for your laughing pleasure.

1. One time, Dick Cheney stabbed a delivery boy just for forgetting his egg rolls.

Great Dick Cheney/1984 pic, from Jesus General: Quotations from the Deputy Leader

AP quotes John Murtha (D-Pa.) letting Cheney have it:

Vice President Dick Cheney jumped into the fray Wednesday by assailing Democrats who contend the Bush administration manipulated intelligence on Iraq, calling their criticism "one of the most dishonest and reprehensible charges ever aired in this city."

Murtha, a Marine intelligence officer in Vietnam, angrily shot back at Cheney: "I like guys who've never been there that criticize us who've been there. I like that. I like guys who got five deferments and never been there and send people to war, and then don't like to hear suggestions about what needs to be done."

Ex-CIA chief: Cheney 'VP for torture'

LONDON, England -- Former CIA director Stansfield Turner has labeled Dick Cheney a "vice president for torture."

In an interview with Britain's ITV news Thursday, Turner said the U.S. vice president was damaging America's reputation by overseeing torture policies of possible terrorist suspects, the UK's Press Association reported.

"I'm embarrassed the United States has a vice president for torture," Turner said, according to ITV's Web site. "He condones torture, what else is he?"

Turner said he did not believe U.S. President George W. Bush's statements that the United States does not use torture.

Turner ran the Central Intelligence Agency from 1977 to 1981 under former U.S. President Jimmy Carter.

"We have crossed the line into dangerous territory," PA quoted Turner as saying. "I think it is just reprehensible."

Referring to Cheney, Turner said: "I just don't understand how a man in that position can take such a stance."

Too True

Check out these Faux News headlines from yore:

If Fox News Had Been Around Throughout History

My First Nigerian Spam Email

Returned from vacation to find my first Nigerian spam email! I wonder if my recent change to Verizon DSL service occasioned this new level of spam in my in-box.

Unfortunately for Barrister Belgore, I am not willing to falsely represent myself as the next of kin of his unfortunate client, the deceased Mr. Frederick.

Date: Sun, 7 Aug 2005 10:14:10 +0200 (CEST)


From: Dele Belgore
Fax: 234-1-7590662
Private Email: delebelgore@sooblaw.org
Subject: Next Of Kin To Late Mr. Frederick
Date: August 7th, 2005.

Good Day,

Before I start, I must first apologize for this unsolicited ail to you. I am also aware that this is certainly an unconventional approach to start a relationship, but i believe as time goes on, you will realize the need for my actions. I am Barrister Dele Belgore I知 the Personal Financial Attorney to Mr. Frederick, a national of your country, who used to work with Chevron Nigeria Ltd (CNL).

On the 24 April 2004 21:51 hrs, my client who is Chevron subcontractor including five other people were attacked and killed by the river pirates of the Niger Delta, including one other US oilman, in an attack on workers inspecting abandoned wells in southern Nigeria's strife-torn Niger Delta,. Since then I have made several enquiries to your embassy to locate any of my clients extended relatives, this has also proved unsuccessful. After these several unsuccessful attempts, I decided to trace his relatives over the Internet, to locate any member of his family but of no avail, hence I contacted through the help of my cousin that works in the AMERICAN CHAMBERS OF COMMERCE, planning and industry. (Please visit the homepage for more update.)

(http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_world/view/81685/1/.html)

I have contacted you to assist in repatriating the money that belongs to my client before they get confiscated or declared serviceable by the bank where these huge deposits were lodged. Particularly, the Bank where the deceased had an account valued at about $10.4 million dollars has issued me a notice to provide the next of kin or have the account confiscated within the next 21 official working days. Since I have been unsuccessful in locating the relatives for over 3 years now I seek your consent to present you as the next of kin of the deceased since you are from the same country and bear the same last name, so that the proceeds of this account valued at $10.4 million dollars can be paid to you and then you and me can share the money. 62% to me and 30% to you, while 8% should be for expenses or tax as your government may require, I have the certificate of deposit that can be used to back up any claim we may make.

All I require is your honest cooperation to enable us see this dealt through. I guarantee that this will be executed under a legitimate arrangement that will protect you from any breach of the law. Please get in touch with through my Personal email Address. delebelgore@sooblaw.org

Best Regards,

Barrister Dele Belgore