http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/jun/23/nsa-intelligence-industrial-complex-abuse

The NSA’s metastasised intelligence-industrial complex is ripe for abuseLet’s be absolutely clear about the news that the NSA collects massive amounts of information on US citizens – from emails, to telephone calls, to videos, under the Prism program and other Fisa court orders: this story has nothing to do with Edward Snowden.

Embedly Powered

http://www.truth-out.org/buzzflash/commentary/item/18045-canada-outlaws-wearing-of-masks-at-unsanctioned-government-protests-punishing-dissent

Canada Outlaws Wearing of Masks at Unsanctioned Government Protests: Punishing DissentThe conservative Canadian government, as of June 19, has made the wearing of a mask during an “unlawful assembly” a crime punishable by up to 10 years in prison. According to the Canadian Broadcasting Company website, the bill’s sponsor in the Canadian parliament claims it is aimed at rioters who cause vandalism or violence (which sometimes is, however, precipitated by police intervention).

Embedly Powered

http://www.politico.com/story/2013/06/ap-sources-93054.html

AP boss: Sources won’t talk anymoreAssociated Press president Gary Pruitt on Wednesday slammed the Department of Justice for acting as “judge, jury and executioner” in the seizure of the news organization’s phone records and he said some of the wire service’s longtime sources have clammed up in fear. Pruitt said the department broke its own rules with the seizure,…

Embedly Powered

http://www.politico.com/story/2013/06/nsa-keith-alexander-cyber-shield-92880.html?hp=r1

NSA’s Keith Alexander seeks cyber shield for companiesEven as he defends controversial government surveillance programs, the head of the National Security Agency is asking Congress for another authority sure to inflame critics – legal immunity for companies that help the feds fight cyberattackers. Gen. Keith Alexander has petitioned Capitol Hill for months to give Internet service providers and…

Embedly Powered

http://rt.com/usa/foreclosure-america-employees-bank-946/

‘We were told to lie’ – Bank of America employees open up about foreclosure practicesEmployees of Bank of America say they were encouraged to lie to customers and were even rewarded for foreclosing on homes, staffers of the financial giant claim in new court documents. Sworn statements from several Bank of America employees contain a number of damning allegations, the latest claims entered as evidence in a multi-state class action lawsuit that challenges the bank’s history with foreclosures.

Embedly Powered

via Rt

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/06/130619195139.htm

Mindfulness can increase wellbeing and reduce stress in school childrenMindfulness — a mental training that develops sustained attention that can change the ways people think, act and feel — could reduce symptoms of stress and depression and promote wellbeing among school children, according to a new study published online by the British Journal of Psychiatry.

Embedly Powered

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2013/06/16/snowden-whistleblower-nsa-officials-roundtable/2428809/%3E

3 NSA veterans speak out on whistle-blower: We told you soThree former NSA whistle-blowers discuss the Edward Snowden case with USA TODAY reporters Susan Page and Peter Eisler. In a roundtable discussion, a trio of former National Security Agency whistle-blowers tell USA TODAY that Edward Snowden succeeded where they failed. NSA whistle-blowers, from left, Thomas Drake, J. Kirk Wiebe and William Binney.

Embedly Powered

http://news.firedoglake.com/2013/06/19/judge-orders-nsa-to-release-dragnet-surveillance-records-for-armed-robbery-case/

Judge Orders NSA To Release Dragnet Surveillance Records For Armed Robbery Case | FDL News DeskIn what could become a precedent-setting legal battle, a Florida judge has ordered that the NSA provide the court with phone records of a man accused of armed robbery. What does this case have to do with national security? Absolutely nothing, but the records exist and could exonerate the man.

Embedly Powered

http://www.salon.com/2013/06/18/bank_of_america_whistleblowers_bombshell_we_were_told_to_lie/

Bank of America whistle-blower’s bombshell: “We were told to lie”Bombshell: Bank of America whistle-blowers detail horrid schemes to fleece borrowers, reward foreclosures (UPDATED) Topics: Bank of America, Foreclosure, Mortgage Crisis, Mortgage Fraud, mortgage, HAMP, Whistleblowers, Editor’s Picks, Loans, JP Morgan Chase, Wall Street, Business News, Politics News Bank of America’s mortgage servicing unit systematically lied to homeowners, fraudulently denied

Embedly Powered

via Salon

http://edition.cnn.com/2013/06/18/opinion/schneier-cyberwar-policy/index.html

Has U.S. started an Internet war?Editor’s note: Bruce Schneier is a security technologist and author of “Liars and Outliers: Enabling the Trust Society Needs to Survive.” (CNN) — Today, the United States is conducting offensive cyberwar actions around the world. More than passively eavesdropping, we’re penetrating and damaging foreign networks for both espionage and to ready them for attack.

Embedly Powered

via Cnn

http://www.wired.com/business/2013/06/meditation-mindfulness-silicon-valley/

In Silicon Valley, Meditation Is No Fad. It Could Make Your CareerRepeated studies have demonstrated that meditation can rewire how the brain responds to stress. Boston University researchers showed that after as little as three and a half hours of meditation training, subjects tend to react less to emotionally charged images. Other research suggests that meditation improves working memory and executive function.

Embedly Powered

via Wired

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/jun/13/aclu-lawsuit-east-mississippi-correctional-facility

America’s private prison system is a national disgraceThe privatization of traditional government functions – and big government payments to private contractors – isn’t limited to international intelligence operations like the National Security Agency. It’s happening with little oversight in dozens of areas once the province of government, from schools to airports to the military.

Embedly Powered

http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/technology/google-challenges-us-gag-order-citing-first-amendment/2013/06/18/96835c72-d832-11e2-a9f2-42ee3912ae0e_story.html

Google challenges U.S. gag order, citing First AmendmentRevelations about the program, called PRISM, have opened fissures between U.S. officials and the involved companies, which have scrambled to reassure their users without violating strict rules against disclosing information that the government has classified as top secret.

Embedly Powered

http://news.cnet.com/8301-17852_3-57589534-71/woz-this-is-not-my-america/

Woz: This is not my AmericaStopped by Latin American tech journalists at an airport, the Apple co-founder says that after the NSA revelations, he questions his own government and wonders whether it’s behaving like a king. (Credit: FayerWayer/YouTube Screenshot by Chris Matyszczyk/CNET) As the passions and justifications swirl around the revelations concerning the NSA, the rest of the world sits and wonders.

Embedly Powered

via Cnet

http://www.npr.org/2013/06/18/191715681/why-the-fisa-court-is-not-what-it-used-to-be%3E

Why The FISA Court Is Not What It Used To BeThe furor over recently exposed government surveillance programs has posed an abundance of political challenges for both President Obama and Congress. Relatively unmentioned in all of this, however, is the role of the courts – specifically, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, known as the FISA court, and how its role has changed since the terrorist attacks of Sept.

Embedly Powered

via Npr

http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/frame_game/2013/06/surveillance_lockbox_why_can_the_nsa_search_your_phone_records_without_a.html

The Lockbox Lie: The NSA Searches Phone Records Without a WarrantYou can also listen to William Saletan read this piece. For the past week and a half, U.S. officials have told us that the National Security Agency’s vast collection of phone “metadata”-which numbers have called which other numbers and when-is kept in a “lockbox.” They’ve implied that the data can’t…

Embedly Powered

via Slate