Confirmed: CIA, NSA, IRS collected and shared Americans’ personal informationReuters / Handout On a mission to detect untrustworthy employees, nearly 30 government agencies collected and shared the personal information of thousands of Americans, many of whom had no ties to the federal government. A list of 4,904 people was created by US officials investigating two men for allegedly teaching people how to pass polygraph tests.

Over 3,200 US prisoners serving life sentences for non-violent offenses including shoplifting – reportReuters / Robert Galbraith Over 3,200 people in the United States are serving life sentences without parole for non-violent and often petty offenses – and taxpayers are paying billions to keep them locked up, according to a new report.

Spying Breaks Telemarketing Rules | Public KnowledgeIt’s like getting Al Capone for tax evasion. The CIA and AT&T figured out how to get around legal restrictions on giving the CIA access to domestic phone call information, but in doing so they violated a Federal Communications Commission (FCC) rule that protects you against telemarketing.

Hospital bills man for rectal search he was forced to undergo by policeReuters / John Gress / Files A minor traffic stop went nightmarishly wrong for a New Mexico man who was detained by police and forced to undergo a series of anal probes and other medical examinations against his will.

Billboard advocating jury nullification concerns local prosecutorsSince the billboard went up this month, District prosecutors have been worried that the message could sway their cases. In the past week alone, they have asked judges in three ­cases to ensure that jurors had neither seen nor been influenced by the billboard.

Judge defeats challenge to ‘medical gag order’ on health risks from frackingPennsylvania authorities have denied a doctor the right to challenge a so-called “medical gag rule” that prevents him and other physicians from warning the public about the health dangers associated with fracking.

Morales to file crimes against humanity charges at ICC against USIt may be finally getting to the point where the world has had enough of a certain country dictating to it, bombing it and attempting to shape it in its own morally bankrupt and ignorant image.

‘Homeland Stupidity’ creator sues NSA, DHSImage from cafepress.com A designer from Minnesota is suing the National Security Agency and the Department of Homeland Security for attempting to take down his parody products. Earlier this year, 38-year-old Dan McCall, owner of the website LibertyManiacs.com, was selling T-shirts and other items featuring parodied logos of both the NSA and DHS on the online merchandising platform Zazzle.

Federal Prosecutors, in a Policy Shift, Cite Warrantless Wiretaps as EvidenceWASHINGTON – The Justice Department for the first time has notified a criminal defendant that evidence being used against him came from a warrantless wiretap, a move that is expected to set up a Supreme Court test of whether such eavesdropping is constitutional.

Avast, me hearties! Antigua to legally pirate US copyrighted worksA long, long time ago in a blog far, far away, I discussed the interesting story of how Antigua was economically damaged by the United States’ clamp down on Internet gambling in the early ’00s (see the original posting below). Yep … Antigua and Barbuda is that little dot.

Crackdown on Lavabit violated Constitution, ACLU and EFF claimOpponents of the United States government’s use of subpoenas to compromise an encrypted email service call the court’s actions unreasonable and unnecessary, and say the result of the catastrophic security event is a chilling effect felt around the world.