Sen Nancy Pelosi looks like a fool when student asks about NSA spying she voted for

By: Kapiones FreedomChannel

Read more:
Sen Nancy Pelosi looks like a fool when student asks about NSA spying she voted for - Video

Following widespread speculation that the move was imminent, German Federal Prosecutor Harald Range on Wednesday announced he is launching a formal investigation into allegations that the NSA spied on Chancellor Angela Merkel's mobile telephone communications.

SPIEGEL had reported on Monday that the federal prosecutor was close to opening formal proceedings. On Wednesday, Range informed the Legal Committee of the Bundestag, Germany's federal parliament, of the pending investigation.

The move marks the next significant chapter in the spying scandal surrounding America's signals intelligence authority, the National Security Agency. It is also the first formal act taken by a German government agency in response to the revelations made public by NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden. The probe could further exacerbate trans-Atlantic relations that have been deeply burdened by the scandal.

The Federal Prosecutor's Office in Karlsruhe opened two "monitoring processes" last year to review the allegations. The first focused on the mass spying of Germans' data by the NSA and the second targeted allegations -- first reported by SPIEGEL in October -- that Merkel's mobile phone had been tapped.

Sources close to the federal prosecutor told SPIEGEL that Range has concluded that there are insufficient reasons for opening an official investigation into the mass spying, although the office still has the option of initiating proceedings at a later date.

Massive Criticism

Chancellor Merkel is said to still be furious about the tapping of her phone and she complained directly to US President Barack Obama. That complaint helped convince prosecutors that the allegations of spying on her phone are credible. In addition, following a visit with Keith Alexander -- who was NSA chief at the time -- in Washington, Elmar Brok, a German member of the European Parliament with Merkel's conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU), said that when he asked if the chancellor's mobile phone was being spied on, Alexander responded, "Not anymore." Merkel also appears in the NSA's Nimrod database, which contains the names of important NSA targets. SPIEGEL itself provided a copy of the entry to the German government in October.

Range has been the subject of massive criticism in recent weeks because the Sddeutsche Zeitung and public broadcasters NDR and WDR reported that he would not launch a formal investigation into the NSA scandal. Range did, however, face massive internal resistance to the initiation of proceedings after suggesting early on that he would likely pursue an investigation.

Range's own staff experts on espionage expressed skepticism about taking on the case because they didn't believe in prospects for success in any proceedings against the NSA for its mass surveillance practices. They argued internally that the US would not cooperate with a request for mutual legal assistance and that the effort would prove futile. Besides, there are open questions about who would even be the focus of the investigation? Obama? Or would it be Snowden himself, who told Germany's Stern magazine last week that he had been "personally involved with information stemming from Germany." Evidence had been stronger for pursuing allegations of spying against Merkel.

But German Justice Minister Heiko Mass of the center-left Social Democratic Party (SPD) said no pressure had been exerted on Range. "From the very beginning, I placed great importance on the federal prosecutor, as the head of the investigative authority, making this decision on his own -- properly and according to law," Mass told German public broadcaster Deutschlandfunk on Wednesday morning. The minister added he was certain Range would do that.

Read the rest here:
Germany Expected To Open Investigation into NSA Spying on ...

CINDY COHN AND NADIA KAYYALI

DEBUNKED: How often are the NSA's defenders going to repeat the same talking points?

Over the past year, as the Snowden revelations have rolled out, the US Government and its apologists have developed a set of talking points about mass spying that the public has now heard over and over again. From the President, to Hilary Clinton to Representative Mike Rogers, Senator Dianne Feinstein and many others, the arguments are often eerily similar.

But as we approach the one year anniversary, it's time to call out the key claims that have been thoroughly debunked and insist that the NSA apologists retire them.

So if you hear any one of these in the future, you can tell yourself straight up: "this person isn't credible," and look elsewhere for current information about the NSA spying. And if these are still in your talking points (you know who you are) it's time to retire them if you want to remain credible. And next time, the talking points should stand the test of time.

1. The NSA has Stopped 54 Terrorist Attacks with Mass Spying

The discredited claim: NSA defenders have thrown out many claims about how NSA surveillance has protected us from terrorists, including repeatedly declaring that it has thwarted 54 plots. Representative Mike Rogers says it often. Only weeks after the first Snowden leak, US President Barack Obama claimed: "We know of at least 50 threats that have been averted" because of the NSA's spy powers. Former NSA Director General Keith Alexander also repeatedly claimed that those programs thwarted 54 different attacks.

Others, including former Vice President Dick Cheney have claimed that had the bulk spying programs in place, the government could have stopped the 9/11 bombings, specifically noting that the government needed the program to locate Khalid al Mihdhar, a hijacker who was living in San Diego.

Why it's not credible:These claims have been thoroughly debunked. First, the claim that the information stopped 54 terrorist plots fell completely apart. In dramatic Congressional testimony, Senator Leahy forced a formal retraction from NSA Director Alexander in October, 2013:

"Would you agree that the 54 cases that keep getting cited by the administration were not all plots, and of the 54, only 13 had some nexus to the US?" Leahy said at the hearing. "Would you agree with that, yes or no?"

Read more here:
Five dumbest defences for NSA spying

CINDY COHN AND NADIA KAYYALI

DEBUNKED: How often are the NSA's defenders going to repeat the same talking points?

Over the past year, as the Snowden revelations have rolled out, the US Government and its apologists have developed a set of talking points about mass spying that the public has now heard over and over again. From the President, to Hilary Clinton to Representative Mike Rogers, Senator Dianne Feinstein and many others, the arguments are often eerily similar.

But as we approach the one year anniversary, it's time to call out the key claims that have been thoroughly debunked and insist that the NSA apologists retire them.

So if you hear any one of these in the future, you can tell yourself straight up: "this person isn't credible," and look elsewhere for current information about the NSA spying. And if these are still in your talking points (you know who you are) it's time to retire them if you want to remain credible. And next time, the talking points should stand the test of time.

1. The NSA has Stopped 54 Terrorist Attacks with Mass Spying

The discredited claim: NSA defenders have thrown out many claims about how NSA surveillance has protected us from terrorists, including repeatedly declaring that it has thwarted 54 plots. Representative Mike Rogers says it often. Only weeks after the first Snowden leak, US President Barack Obama claimed: "We know of at least 50 threats that have been averted" because of the NSA's spy powers. Former NSA Director General Keith Alexander also repeatedly claimed that those programs thwarted 54 different attacks.

Others, including former Vice President Dick Cheney have claimed that had the bulk spying programs in place, the government could have stopped the 9/11 bombings, specifically noting that the government needed the program to locate Khalid al Mihdhar, a hijacker who was living in San Diego.

Why it's not credible:These claims have been thoroughly debunked. First, the claim that the information stopped 54 terrorist plots fell completely apart. In dramatic Congressional testimony, Senator Leahy forced a formal retraction from NSA Director Alexander in October, 2013:

"Would you agree that the 54 cases that keep getting cited by the administration were not all plots, and of the 54, only 13 had some nexus to the US?" Leahy said at the hearing. "Would you agree with that, yes or no?"

See the article here:
Five dumbest ways defences for NSA spying

The chief executive officers of Microsoft Corp. (MSFT), Google Inc. (GOOG) and other technology companies are asking the U.S. Senate to muzzle the National Security Agency.

The request comes two weeks after the House of Representatives passed a bill to end the most controversial aspects of domestic spy programs while stopping short of the technology industrys demands for greater restrictions on the bulk collection of Internet data. The Senate intelligence committee is meeting today to discuss the House legislation.

The CEOs letter comes on the one-year anniversary of the publication of documents leaked by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden exposing the range of government surveillance tactics. The public backlash has prompted Congress and President Barack Obama to consider new parameters for spy programs.

Its been a year since the first headlines alleging the extent of government surveillance on the Internet, CEOs from the coalition of companies wrote in an open letter to senators that was to be published today in the New York Times and Washington Post. It is time for action.

When Big Data Meets Big Surveillance

The CEOs included Microsofts Satya Nadella, Facebook Inc. (FB)s Mark Zuckerberg and Apple Inc. (AAPL)s Tim Cook.

None of the executives who signed the letter are scheduled to appear at todays Senate hearing. Witnesses on the agenda include Deputy U.S. Attorney General James Cole, NSA Deputy Director Richard Ledgett and FBI Deputy Director Mark Giuliano.

The House bill that passed on May 22 would end one of the programs under which the NSA collects and stores as much as five years of phone records on Americans. The technology companies said that bill is flawed because it might allow the government to collect e-mail and other Internet data in bulk. The companies, which created the Reform Government Surveillance coalition, are asking the Senate to fix the flaw.

As the Senate takes up this important legislation, we urge you to ensure that U.S. surveillance efforts are clearly restricted by law, proportionate to the risks, transparent, and subject to independent oversight, the CEOs wrote.

Legislation must also allow companies to provide even greater detail about the number and type of government requests they receive for customer information, the executives wrote. The letter doesnt list additional changes sought.

Read more here:
Zuckerberg, Nadella Ask Senate to Restrain NSA Spying