Suddenly embroiled in too many scandals to even list, and humiliated by a publicly-exposed (because everyone knew about the NSA superspy ambitions before, but with one major difference: it was a conspiracy theory....  now it is a conspiracy fact) surveillance scandal that makes Tricky Dick look like an amateur, earlier today, as expected, Obama came out and publicly declared "I am not a hacker" and mumbled something about "security", "privacy" and "inconvenience." He went on to explain how the government "welcomes the debate" of all three in the aftermath of the public disclosure that every form of electronic communication is intercepted and stored by the US government (now that said interception is no long ... Read more »

Israeli officials are said to be furious the U.S. inadvertently revealed over 1,000 pages of classified Israeli plans - including not just location but details like plumbing and electrical specs - for a U.S.-funded, $25 million, state-of-the art missile baseto house Israel's new Arrow 3 defense system. The leak, published in contractor bidding ... Read more »

FISA court order 'broadest surveillance order ever issued' against private citizens

Outrage and rebuke are flying after explosive news broke late Wednesday that the National Security Agency, claiming authority under the Patriot Act and using a secret court order, has demanded (and been receiving) millions of phone records from Verizon which include all the company's "telephony metadata" for all its US-based customers over a three month period.

The "metadata" being provided to the NSA does not provide individual names for each record, but is a ... Read more »

Guardian Exclusive: Top secret court order requiring Verizon to hand over all call data shows scale of domestic surveillance under Obama

Under the terms of the order, the numbers of both parties on a call are handed over, as is location data and the time and duration of all calls. (Photograph: Matt Rourke/AP)The National Security Agency is currently collecting the telephone records of millions of US cus ... Read more »

It’s not on the air yet but, already, Al Jazeera America is creating a buzz in the world of journalism. Unlike so many news outlets that have been shedding staff the past few years, it’s hiring (and hiring big), bringing on about 800 employees as it prepares to launch an ambitious cable news channel later this year.

As it aims to gain a foothold in the U.S., Al Jazeera America—one of more than 20 channels operated by the Qatar-based Al Jazeera Media Network—faces a lingering perception problem that has hindered previous efforts to penetrate the U.S. market. In the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the networks’ flagship, Al Jazeera Arabic, was widely viewed as a conduit for al Qaeda. And when the parent company created the Al Jazeera English satellite news channel seven years ago, most U.S. cable and satellite operators declined to carry it and most American viewers could access it only online. ... Read more »

From Jeremy Hammond to Bradley Manning and the AP, Obama's 'assault on journalism' is a threat to our democracy

One cyberactivist's federal case wrapped up this week, and another's is set to begin. Although these two young men, Jeremy Hammond and Bradley Manning, are the two who were charged, it is the growing menace of government and corporate secrecy that should be on trial. ... Read more »

by Abby Zimet

JUAN GONZÁLEZ: For the first time, the Obama administration admitted Wednesday it had killed four U.S. citizens in drone strikes overseas. Three of the men were killed in Yemen: the Muslim cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, his 16-year-old son Abdulrahman al-Awlaki and Samir Khan. A fourth man, whose death was not previously reported, Jude Kenan Mohammad, was killed in Pakistan. The FBI had Mohammad listed on its Most Wanted page up until yesterday, even though he was secretly killed by the United States in 2011.

In a letter to Senator Patrick Leahy, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said, of the four U.S. citizens, only Anwar al-Awlaki was specifically targeted. He said the other three citizens were, quote, "not specifically targeted by the United State ... Read more »

The controversies over the IRS and especially the AP phone records appear to have long-lasting effects