“His head, preserved in a jar, is held by the School of Medicine at the University of Buenos Aires, and is brought out for meetings of infectious disease specialists.”

Cit.

This is why state secrets is bullshit, and why “trust me” is never a legitimate policy for law enforcement.

The government contested a former Stanford University student’s assertion that she was wrongly placed on a no-fly list for seven years in court despite knowing an FBI official put her on the list by mistake because he checked the “wrong boxes” on a form, a federal judge wrote today.

We only know this today because Ibrahim sued, which was only possible because she was able to get pro bono legal aid, because despite knowing it was bullshit the feds fought her every step of the way.

Heads. Should. Roll.

No, seriously:

In Hoffman’s domestic or sex life there is no undiscovered riddle – the man was a drug addict and, thanks to our drug laws, his death inevitable.

…by throttling traffic bound for Amazon’s infrastructure-for-hire service.

This is what we get without network neutrality.

Now that net neutrality is (temporarily we hope; call your reps) dead, AT&T is working to screw us.

He’s now calling reporters accomplices to the Snowden leaks for, you know, doing their jobs.

TechDirt has more.

I mean, seriously, don’t you kinda want to reward behavior like this?

It’s only AFTER his revelations that the court nominally in charge of secret eavesdropping even bothered to examine the legality of the program.

This is happening ONLY because Snowden shined a light on this. Sunlight is the ultimate disinfectant, and our “intelligence” services are operating in a sunlight-free zone.

That poor bastard raped (note: I mean literally, not figuratively) by cops and medical personnel in New Mexico has already won a $1.6 million settlement from the city, with claims against the hospital and doctors still pending. He may get get a real jury trial on the outstanding claims, which is likely to make this a very, very expensive episode for a variety of entities in Hidalgo County, New Mexico.

But the only thing that’ll really, truly reign in this kind of bullshit is for serious and personal consequences to accrue to the people who actually made the choice to abuse this guy: the cops. Unfortunately, that’s all too rare, so the taxpayers will foot the bill.

Again.

…so they got Bruce Schneier to brief them about the NSA instead.

That’s extraordinary.

The DC Court of Appeals has struck down the 2010 FCC order that established network neutrality on the specious and laughable grounds that consumers have a choice in their provider.

Before this ruling, these monopoly common-carriers were obliged to treat all paid traffic equally. In particular, they weren’t allowed to privilege their own traffic over others. This was partly to preserve the commons that is the internet, but also because the quasi-monopolies enjoyed by the telcos were built on the back of public investment, so expecting them to play nicely was a reasonable expectation.

Look now to see the Verizons and AT&Ts of the world aggressively fuck us all even more than they already do. AT&T may degrade traffic it sees as carrying information that competes with its own providers (like, say, YouTube). Look for them to try to charge competitors like Google more to allow us, the paying customers, to reach them.

If this isn’t overturned at the SCOTUS level, the Internet as we have enjoyed it — a huge engine of wealth-creation and connectivity — will be destroyed.

FBI drops “law enforcement” as its primary mission.

[Consumerist])(http://consumerist.com/2013/12/23/how-employers-use-charity-to-make-barely-legal-political-contributions/):

In other words, if a Walmart employee gives to Walmart’s political action group, Walmart will donate money to Walmart’s charity for Walmart employees who don’t make enough money by working at Walmart to pay their bills.

The billionaire founder of Home Depot has some advice for the Pope, which is just goddamn hilarious.

Utility companies — who make a living by being a protected monopoly — are working very hard to impose fees on folks who install solar panels, i.e. who manage to escape their yoke.

Pope Francis enjoys an 88 percent approval rating among American Catholics.

Apparently, the FBI doesn’t know the difference between a MAC Address (which is the unique code assigned to a network interface, like your wifi adapter) and an Apple Macintosh (which is a type of computer).

You might not, either, but you’re not in charge of investigating computer-related crime.

Turns out, the pioneering security vendor has been in bed with the NSA for years.

This is incredibly shameful. I thank God for Edward Snowden, because otherwise this would’ve never come to light.

Actually, turns out? Nope. There is no evidence that they’ve stopped even one attack despite running roughshod over the Bill of Rights for years.

Fuck. Them.

Something Called “The Object” Stops World’s Largest Tunneling Machine.

They’d like to reform the First Amendment, to, you know, make sure stories about them are reported accurately.

End these fuckers and start over.

Step 1: Harrass, intimidate, and interrogate journalists at the border.

Step 2: Deny it ever happened, and lie in FOIA requests.

Fortunately, it appears that “Step 3” in this situation is “get the fuck sued out of you.”

In September, the NYPD decided it would be a good idea to confront and ultimately shoot at an unarmed mentally ill homeless man in Times Square, which (as you may know) tends to be a crowded place.

The cops managed to miss their mark entirely, but DID succeed in hitting two innocent bystanders.

Obviously, someone must pay for this sort of completely fucking retarded behavior, and someone will: The DA has indicted the mentally ill man for assault, claiming therein that he “recklessly engaged in conduct which created a grave risk of death.”

Basically, they’re charging an unarmed man for a shooting rampage. Nice one, NYPD.

Apparently, the FBI can watch you via your webcam without triggering the “active” light, which is a power I’m absolutely CERTAIN will NEVER be misused EVEN A LITTLE BIT:

The FBI has been able to covertly activate a computer’s camera — without triggering the light that lets users know it is recording — for several years, and has used that technique mainly in terrorism cases or the most serious criminal investigations, said Marcus Thomas, former assistant director of the FBI’s Operational Technology Division in Quantico, now on the advisory board of Subsentio, a firm that helps telecommunications carriers comply with federal wiretap statutes.

Get a post-it. Or, better yet, order some EFF stickers. Make sure YOUR devices are really and truly YOURS; given the absurd degree of surveillance the Snowden leaks have exposed, it’s the only prudent course of action.

Now they’re lobbying for changes to energy regulations that will allow power companies to charge people who generate their own power, e.g. via solar.

In some areas, the power company must actually PAY homeowners who contribute a net positive amount of power to the grid with solar cells. Obviously, this isn’t popular with power companies, who seem to think that their monopoly position is ordained by God and that therefore everyone should pay them forever.

Fuck. That.

This story is in pretty wide distribution now, but it’s worth a moment of your time anyway.

Police operate this way because, to a first approximation, the individual officers never suffer any real consequences for grotesque abuses of their power and responsibility. This absolutely has to change. People trusted with power — and the lethal means to enforce their wishes — must be held to a much higher standard than private citizens.

Without such consequences, stories like this one and this one will become increasingly commonplace. It is already true that, when interacting with police, you are safest is you assume they are power-mad and dangerous, and behave accordingly.

Letter from Chinese forced-labor camp found hidden in Halloween decorations.

Because Clay Shirky is one smart dude, and completely nails it.

Josh Marshall runs down the latest on George Zimmerman, and points out what can no longer be denied: that he is a small, frightened man with a penchant for violence and a tendency to wave guns around.

It is verging on impossible at this point to maintain, with a straight face, that he did not stalk, attack, and murder Trayvon Martin. His pattern of behavior makes his claim of self defense even more laughable than it was before.

Yay, Florida!

You’re a giant and fantastically profitable department store, and you feel the need to sponsor a food drive.

For your own employees.

Look, if you’re making money hand over fist and employees can’t afford to buy food, and you’re asking your community to donate food so they can eat, you are the vilest sort of jackass.

Some major tech companies (Google, MSFT, etc) are suing the US government, claiming a First Amendment right to disclose the number of currently-secret information requests they get from the NSA under the FISA law.

The DOJ has filed a response, but is refusing to allow opposing counsel to read parts of it.

No, really. TechDirt:

[T]he DOJ is simply refusing to let the tech companies see its own argument. In response, the companies have filed a pretty direct and somewhat angry motion, asking the FISA court to either let them see the arguments, or to strike the redacted portions from the DOJ’s motion. Basically, the DOJ is saying that it can make legal arguments that only the court can see, but which the tech companies suing it cannot see. That goes against every basic concept of due process.

We cannot allow secret laws, secret courts, or secret arguments. All are anathema to liberty and democracy.

Just go read.

Gawker: “Woman Wears Hamburger as Sandal After Sex in Waffle House Parking Lot.”

As you do.

A New Mexico traffic stop somehow concluded with a forced colonoscopy in a search for phantom drugs that were not there.

1. Eckert’s abdominal area was x-rayed; no narcotics were found.

2. Doctors then performed an exam of Eckert’s anus with their fingers; no narcotics were found.

3. Doctors performed a second exam of Eckert’s anus with their fingers; no narcotics were found.

4. Doctors penetrated Eckert’s anus to insert an enema. Eckert was forced to defecate in front of doctors and police officers. Eckert watched as doctors searched his stool. No narcotics were found.

5. Doctors penetrated Eckert’s anus to insert an enema a second time. Eckert was forced to defecate in front of doctors and police officers. Eckert watched as doctors searched his stool. No narcotics were found.

6. Doctors penetrated Eckert’s anus to insert an enema a third time. Eckert was forced to defecate in front of doctors and police officers. Eckert watched as doctors searched his stool. No narcotics were found.

7. Doctors then x-rayed Eckert again; no narcotics were found.

8. Doctors prepared Eckert for surgery, sedated him, and then performed a colonoscopy where a scope with a camera was inserted into Eckert’s anus, rectum, colon, and large intestines. No narcotics were found.

The doctors should lose their licenses; the police involved should be fired, forever barred from law enforcement or security work, and be held personally and criminally liable.

Instead, while I’m sure Eckert will end up with a giant settlement from the county and state, I’m equally sure we’ll see the policemen involved given commendations or promotions, or quietly allowed to take employment elsewhere with no personal or professional repercussions at all.

H/T: Ol’ Rob.

Hope you enjoyed it. If the telcos get their way, the Internet as we know it will be over, and with it the greatest catalyst for entrepreneurship ever created.

You should read this story, even if you don’t know what I’m talking about.

So, imagine you’re engaged. Imagine it’s your responsibility to book the ceremony. Imagine it’s the day of the ceremony. Imagine you forgot to schedule it at the courthouse.

Oops!

Do you:

a) Flee! or

b) Confess your lackluster performance to your no-doubt long-suffering fiance, and take your lumps? or

c) Call in a (fake) bomb threat to the registration office, assuming your forgetfulness will get erased by the ensuing chaos?

Our hero, sadly, took (c), only to discover that the hoax was easily divined to be exactly that, and that his wedding was in no way imperiled — except for the fact that he’d neglected to schedule it. He’ll get a year in the clink for his trouble.

Shockingly, though, apparently he’s NOT lost the affections of the fiance in question, which suggests she has some of the same problems with judgement that plague our ersatz bomb-thrower.

Just fucking watch.

Turns out, the near-Earth object J002E3 is actually the third stage of the Saturn V used in Apollo 12.

Don’t miss the animation.

There’s also a pretty great Metafilter thread, if you’re so inclined.

Ole Miss students, including approximately 20 football players, disrupt theater department play.

The play was The Laramie Project. The disruption was homophobic in nature.

Gawker has pictures of the giant hornets that have killed 41 people in China since July.

Turns out, the overreaching Federal goons were demanding the keys to the kingdom — ie, a means to decrypt all the email, not just Snowden’s.

My favorite bit in this story is that, when Lavabit finally turned over the SSL key, they did it on paper.

Kozmo is coming back.

From TechDirt:

Once again: the director of the intelligence community flat out lied to Congress about it, admitted it, and there have been no consequences at all. What that teaches Clapper and others is that they can continue to lie, and, in fact, that they are effectively encouraged to lie, because there’s no downside risk in doing so.

Here’s a better question: Why is Clapper not in jail?

No, I am not exaggerating.

Read this and tell me if you come to any other conclusion.

Everyone they detained was an American citizen, coming back to the US after attending a wedding of a cousin. They were treated terribly, put in a cold room with no food or drinks, and no information on what was going on. CBP demanded they hand over their electronics, and made it clear they might not get them back. The thing is, this isn’t a unique situation. As the report notes, there’s almost no oversight over CBP actions, allowing them to act with impunity. In the report, the story is told of a 4-year-old girl, an American citizen, who was detained for 14 hours, in a cold room, without being allowed to speak to her parents and given no food beyond a cookie. And then she was deported. Even though she was a US citizen. She was allowed to come back weeks later, but now has symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder.

Abdurrahman’s own story is perhaps not that crazy, but is still ridiculous. She tried to find out information during the detainment, but was repeatedly told “it’s not your right to know.” She wasn’t even allowed to know the names of the CBP agents who detained them. When she asked, agents turned their backs to her so she couldn’t see their name tags. Multiple attempts at getting Homeland Security or CBP to respond to questions failed.

These people are TSA agents with the power to arbitrarily confiscate your belongings — with or without suspicion — and have effectively no accountability to anyone, least of all US citizens they mistreat. These goons should be personally liable for damages.

Remember how the border goons insist that they can confiscate and search your electronics whenever you enter the US, even without suspicion?

Yeah, turns out the Feds are actively exploiting this loophole. They watched airline manifests until someone they wanted to search, but had no legal reason to detain or search, was coming back from overseas — and then used this border bullshit to sift through his shit.

TPM: “Pope Francis Criticizes ‘Obsessed’ Church Focus On Abortion, Gay marriage, Contraception“

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis is warning that the Catholic Church’s moral edifice might “fall like a house of cards” if it doesn’t balance its divisive rules about abortion, gays and contraception with the greater need to make the church a merciful, more welcoming place for all.

In a word: whoa.

Via Schneier, we find this bit:

We have learned that in pursuit of its bureaucratic mission to obtain signals intelligence in a pervasively networked world, the NSA has mounted a systematic campaign against the foundations of American power: constitutional checks and balances, technological leadership, and market entrepreneurship. The NSA scandal is no longer about privacy, or a particular violation of constitutional or legislative obligations. The American body politic is suffering a severe case of auto-immune disease: our defense system is attacking other critical systems of our body.

Full essay here.

Word is that Ray Dolby has died at the age of 80.

My assumption is that he passed away quietly, and surrounded by friends and family.

George Zimmerman has been detained by police after an incident wherein he threatened his estranged wife with a handgun.