“National security” is something of an oxymoron. The fabric of history shows that liberal societies in which common people have more freedom to innovate, invent, and create without oversight of the state tend to be the most secure societies. Paradoxically, societies that are ruled by a cult of government omnipotence tend to reel from crisis …
Category: surveillance
Jun 01
4th Circuit Court of Appeals: Government May Track Americans by Cell Phones without Warrant
Astounding blow to privacy from the U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Virginia. See here. For years the government has been arguing that any information you give up to a “3rd party” is not “private.” Thus, the government may intercept it without so much as a warrant. Although warrants are necessary for government …
May 03
Canadian citizen working in Nepal arrested by Nepalese authorities after criticizing Nepal’s government
Every government that has ever existed has ultimately come for all property, all money, all freedom, and to kill all who resist. Governments often view criticism as treason or sedition, and claim that dissenting voices are trying to commit terrorism or overthrow the government. Now a Canadian citizen with a work visa to Nepal has …
Apr 14
Minnesota cities claim to be able to search rental apartments without warrant to ensure good housekeeping
Astounding story from the Institute for Justice. Government control freaks in Golden Valley, Minnesota claim they have the right to search any rental apartment in order to ensure the apartment is clean and tidy. Golden Valley and other Minnesota towns seek evidence-free “administrative” warrants to search rental homes. The Institute for Justice is challenging the …
Apr 09
U.S. Senators Push Harder for Bill to Prohibit Private Encryption
It is the dream of every tyrant: to hold all power over others’ property and resources, to know all things about others while entrenching government privacy, and to kill all who resist. Now a group of power-gorged U.S. Senators are pushing (again) for a bill to ban (private-sector) encryption. See here. The king’s keys must …
Apr 05
Analysts now wondering if U.S. government leaked the ‘Panamanian Papers’
Yesterday’s headlines blared with news about leaked documents from a Panamanian law firm which show major world government leaders have been laundering money in secret off-shore bank accounts. In some cases, billions of dollars appear to have been siphoned from impoverished taxpayers around the globe to enrich the secret (tax-free) bank accounts of government officials. …
Mar 11
Government again demands that all must be naked before the state
Every government that ever existed sought the same powers: total control over all resources, all property, all thought and speech– –and the authority to kill all who resist. Now the U.S. government- – -the president and most of the prominent members of the Senate – – are (again) seeking to enact a “law” requiring all …
Mar 02
Bob Barr: the government is actually demanding that Apple invent a way to defeat its devices’ encryption safeguards
Good essay by former congressman and former Libertarian Party candidate for president Bob Barr, regarding the current fight between Apple and the U.S. government: the government is for the first time demanding that a company actually invent a way to defeat the very encryption safeguards it builds into the devices it sells.
Feb 24
Government launches major campaign to promote its surveillance agenda; accuses Apple of using the issue as a marketing strategy
The Justice Department has embarked on a national advertising campaign to drum up public support for forcing the makers of the iPhone to unlock the device used by alleged San Bernardino killers. It seems that FBI agents themselves are to blame for the locked-up iPhone. They bunglingly reset the password while trying to hack into …
Jan 25
Edward Snowden Exposes French “ISIS” Video as Fake
The CIA and other western intelligence agencies have been producing fake “Islamist” videos for years. Edward Snowden recently tweeted that a recent widely-viewed “ISIS” video was actually produced by “SITE,” a CIA front group. See here.