By now you will have read that self-described 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four other alleged plotters will shortly have their day in court. Well, in a sort of a court, the kind where the rules have been made up on the fly (by Congress, no less!) and where convictions are all but guaranteed.
It is a frightening scenario. Nine heavily armed men conduct military-style training in preparation for a terrorist attack involving the bombing of a funeral for the police officer they had killed three days earlier.
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From YouTube: "Nick Mottern, journalist and director of KnowDrones.com, displays a replica of a "Reaper" drone and has sidewalk conversations about drone warfare outside New York's Museum of Modern Art."
A number of prominent activists and writers are suing the US government, alleging that the National Defense Authorization Act of 2012 is unconstitutional because it grants the feds the authority to lock up anyone without charge or trial and throw away the key. Sounds about right.
The trial began on March 29 in the Southern District of New York, with Judge Forrest presiding. Some alarming insights were revealed in the court room that day.
Demonstrators outside the NSA's Menwith Hill spy base in the rural UK. Credit: Phil Champion
As the ACLU made clear this week via its records dump on police mobile phone tracking nationwide, law enforcement has a keen interest in spying on us by way of our cellular phones. And it's no wonder: as this NTI Law Enforcement Systems and Services cellular phone investigations manual says,
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Icelandic parliamentarian Birgitta Jónsdóttir and Free Bradley Manning activist Mike Gogulski discuss data retention and the dangers digital information gathering presents to democracies.
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UPDATE: No wonder the TSA didn't want Schneier's testimony on the record. It's damning.
Hey, did you hear the one about the $300,000 drone belonging to the Sheriff’s Office of Montgomery County, Texas crashing into the Bearcat armored vehicle belonging to the Sheriff’s SWAT team?
This is no joke. It actually happened early in March turning a test flight photo op at an airfield near Houston.