“Everything is changing. People are taking the comedians seriously and the politicians as a joke.” Who said it?
Nota Bene #33
Got hot links if you want ‘em! Jonathan Martin of Politico writes: “Liberal media has traditionally been upstream media, generating information and putting it into circulation. Conservative media is downstream, it’s the second bite at the apple.” Has a way been finally found to explain the FISA bill to the public? Glenn Greenwald of Salon […]
Privacy as you know it is dead–but you can bring it back
By Martin Bosworth I have little to say about the Kabuki theater that is Elliot Spitzer’s fall from grace, so aptly summed up is the situation by my man Motherwell over here. But it does tie in to a larger point–if a former Attorney General and current Governor of one of the most powerful states […]
Verizon to the government: “Our customer information…let us show you it.”
In response to an inquiry launched by House Democrats as to the role the major telecoms played in abetting the NSA surveillance program, Verizon came out yesterday and admitted that it had turned over customer data to federal authorities 720 times between 2005 and 2007–or once a day, every day, for the last two years: […]
Telecoms want immunity from prosecution for illegal spying–and Bush and the Democrats may just get it for them
By Martin Bosworth The Sept. 20 Newsweek had an illuminating look at the secret lobbying campaign being waged by the major telecom companies to retroactively block lawsuits against them for their participation in the NSA/Bush regime illegal wiretapping program: The campaign—which involves some of Washington’s most prominent lobbying and law firms—has taken on new urgency […]
Six minutes to midnight in the surveillance society…
By Martin Bosworth As our own Sunfell excellently explained recently, our society is rapidly becoming one where your data shadow can chase you wherever you go. Where privacy is an illusion, where every thought, word, deed, and action you take can be catalogued and used to call you a terrorist sympathizer, deny you employment, shatter […]
Justice Department on net neutrality: “Trust us”
By Martin Bosworth Yesterday the Justice Department filed comments with the Federal Communications Commission opposing the principle of “net neutrality” and urging the FCC not to sanction regulations to protect it. In a report and press statement that sound like they were written by executives from AT&T and Verizon, the DOJ regurgitates telecom talking points […]
ACLU: Reid and Pelosi “rolled over” on FISA; “The Constitution is too important for that”
By Martin Bosworth This afternoon I participated in a conference call with members of the American Civil Liberties Union and several prominent bloggers, discussing the ACLU’s strategy for pushing the Democrats to take stronger action on the warrantless surveillance program they recently rolled over and helped legalize. The ACLU, as you might imagine, is fighting […]
ACLU obtains more info on Iraq prison abuse “cover-up”
The American Civil Liberties Union has issued a press release in which it says it has obtained new details of a possible cover-up of prisoner abuse in Iraq. Documents “suggest that senior military officials failed to act promptly on reports of abuse of prisoners held by U.S. Forces in Iraq,” the release states, adding that […]






