Lawmakers Who Upheld NSA Phone Spying Received Double the Defense Industry Cash

Lawmakers Who Upheld NSA Phone Spying Received Double the Defense Industry CashThe numbers tell the story – in votes and dollars. On Wednesday, the House voted 217 to 205 not to rein in the NSA’s phone-spying dragnet. It turns out that those 217 “no” voters received twice as much campaign financing from the defense and intelligence industry as the 205 “yes” voters.

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via Wired

Feds put heat on Web firms for master encryption keys

Feds put heat on Web firms for master encryption keysWhether the FBI and NSA have the legal authority to obtain the master keys that companies use for Web encryption remains an open question, but it hasn’t stopped the U.S. government from trying. (Credit: Declan McCullagh) The U.S. government has attempted to obtain the master encryption keys that Internet companies use to shield millions of users’ private Web communications from eavesdropping.

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via Cnet

Russia Cites Extradition as Sore Point With U.S.

Russia Cites Extradition as Sore Point With U.S.MOSCOW – Russian officials complained on Monday that the United States routinely disregards extradition requests by the Russian government, the latest in a series of public statements that seem aimed at laying the groundwork for granting asylum to Edward J. Snowden, the former intelligence contractor on the run from the American authorities.

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Administration Attacks on Free Press: Succeeding Where Nixon Failed?

Administration Attacks on Free Press: Succeeding Where Nixon Failed?On Friday, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of the Obama administration that New York Times writer and author James Risen must testify in the trial of Jeffrey Sterling, a former CIA agent charged with leaking information on an apparently bungled CIA operation that Risen reports led to an increase in nuclear weapons-building knowledge by Iran.

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Manning trial sets execution precedent for future whistleblowers

Manning trial sets execution precedent for future whistleblowersThe decision to pursue a charge of aiding and abetting the enemy against whistleblower Bradley Manning opens the door to future whistleblowers facing execution, Jeff Paterson, director of Courage to Resist told RT. RT: You were actually at the courtroom today – what are your impressions of the conduct of the trial, and of Manning himself?

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via Rt

A Constitutional Right to Health Care: Many Countries Have It, but Not the U.S.

A constitutional right to health care: Many countries have it, but not the U.S.More than half of the world’s countries have some degree of a guaranteed, specific right to public health and medical care for their citizens written into their national constitutions. The United States is one of 86 countries whose constitutions do not guarantee their citizens any kind of health protection.

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Utah ISP owner describes the NSA ‘black box’ that spied on his customers

Utah ISP owner describes the NSA ‘black box’ that spied on his customersThere’s been more pushback on privacy from the private sector ever since leaked documents revealed the existence of massive NSA spying programs that tap into consumer services. But the owner of XMission, a small ISP in Utah, has been especially adversarial towards the secret FISA court orders which force companies to give data to the government.

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