Ed Felton's clear evisceration of the government's claims about the necessity of the NSA meta-data program is an example of the reason I like the judicial process - it enables a discussion of issues in a forum where there isn't as much room for bullshit as there is in the legislature.

SUPPLEMENTAL DECLARATION OF PROFESSOR EDWARD W. FELTEN (PDF)

After a recent visit to Berlin, I picked up a copy of Stasiland by Anna Funder as a way of understanding the places I had just visited, and because understanding the Stasi may be a guide to thinking about the possible scenarios that could unfold over time as a result of domestic telecommunications surveillance in the United States. Funder travels through East Germany and interviews people who were part of the Stasi or who were victims of the GDR regime.

There were a few key themes that emerge from the book that are worth considering.

Partisans are dangerous. One of the people Funder interviews is the a former propagandist for the GDR regime, who still clung to his views about communism after the fall of the wall. His rationalizations were immediately familiar to me. I see them every day in Facebook memes and political oped pieces in newspapers.

The partisan starts with his conclusion, and weaves together a narrative by emphasizing facts that support the desired conclusion and ignoring or minimizing facts that complicate it. The worst part about partisans is that they are rarely self-aware of the abuse they are doing to the truth in weaving those narratives. They have a total emotional commitment to the conclusion they want to reach and they see the facts as just supporting structures that reenforce their position.

Its very easy for a person like this to see opposing points of view as epitomizing evil - literally a threat to everything that is good and decent. This is what happened in the GDR. Communist partisans were put in power by the Russians. They truly believed a warped version of reality - that people with other points of view were dangerous and evil. Those points of view were not suppressed directly - the GDR had multiple political parties and elections - they were subverted covertly. Networks of powerful people worked together to create bad consequences for those who stepped out of line or who held the wrong views. People were denied career opportunities or were more likely to find themselves in prison if they weren't of the right mind.

Some of this happens in America today. Partisans who own businesses hire likeminded employees. Various voter suppression efforts are engaged in - pamphlets giving the wrong election day are distributed in neighborhoods with particular political persuasions, the allocation of voting machines to different communities and the drawing of electoral districts biases results in favor of particular interests.

One difference is that in the GDR the state security establishment was responsible for pursuing this domestically through the use of surveillance and lots of funding was provided in order to enable it. In America we have many different kinds of partisans and control of the government is mixed between them and shifts back and forth. This prevents a significant effort by one faction to use the security apparatus of the state of maintain their power. However, it... [ Read More (0.4k in body) ]

Stasiland: Stories from Behind the Berlin Wall: Anna Funder

Members of Congress do not trust that the House Intelligence Committee is providing the necessary oversight.

I've requested classified information, and further meetings with NSA officials. The House Intelligence Committee has refused to provide either. Supporters of the NSA's vast ubiquitous domestic spying operation assure the public that members of Congress can be briefed on these activities whenever they want. Senator Saxby Chambliss says all a member of Congress needs to do is ask for information, and he'll get it. Well I did ask, and the House Intelligence Committee said "no", repeatedly. And virtually every other member not on the Intelligence Committee gets the same treatment.

Congressional oversight of the NSA is a joke. I should know, I'm in Congress | Alan Grayson | Comment is free | theguardian.com

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Nine Inch Nails - Disappointed (HD) - YouTube

Benjamin Wittes, Steven Vladeck, and Orin Kerr debate NSA surveillance and the Snowden leaks at an event hosted by the George Washington University chapter of the Federalist Society.

This podcast is essential listening if you're interested in the legality of the NSA meta-data program. More comments to follow...

The Lawfare Podcast : Episode #43: A Debate on NSA Surveillance

Lessig:

For remember, there was only one clear victor in this latest governance collapse: the war chests of the radicals who brought this government to its knees. We lost $24 billion. They raised millions.

THIS!

Why Money Is the Root of All That’s Wrong With Washington - The Daily Beast

In the six-page opinion, which was signed on Oct. 11, Judge Mary A. McLaughlin said she was personally approving for the first time the extension of the call log metadata program, which must be approved every 90 days.

Mary McLaughlin's decision briefly addresses both the definition of "relevance" and whether the program violates the Fourth Amendment, but she doesn't address the First Amendment, Freedom of Association concerns.

N.S.A. Plan to Log Calls Is Renewed by Court - NYTimes.com

Former vice president Dick Cheney asked his doctors to disable the wireless feature of his implanted heart defibrillator device because he feared that terrorists might try to assassinate him by hacking the device.

Dick Cheney feared assassination by cardio device hack, had docs turn defibrillator's wireless off - Boing Boing

The data available from Lancope’s malware research suggests that 85% to 95% of malware samples use TCP port 80 to communicate with their command and control servers. The alternate ports chosen by the remaining samples are worth investigating to determine if there are patterns of port selection behavior that can be useful for detection. In order to learn more about that subject we took a look at the command and control behaviors of a collection of nearly two million unique botnet malware samples that were active between 2010 and 2012. These samples reached out to nearly 150,000 different command and control servers on over 100,000 different TCP and UDP ports. This data set is complex and heterogeneous, and thus it is difficult to analyze. However, when the data is represented visually, patterns emerge that lead to interesting insights.

Visual Investigations of Botnet Command and Control Behavior

This is whats really going on, as succinctly as possible:

“Obamacare continues to be our No. 1 fundraising tool,” said Andrea Bozek, communications director for the NRCC. “We have broken records in our online fundraising and engagement in the last few weeks. Thirteen months is a long time in American politics, and it’s going to seem even longer for House Democrats who will be spending that time defending Obamacare’s broken promises.”

Basically, a lot of money is pouring in to Republicans from constituents who are hearing Obamacare and are seeing a fight against Obama, who is the epitome of evil. The NRCC is pulling on the slot machine arm and money keeps pouring out. They will keep pulling on the slot machine all the way till the deadline, because money will keep pouring out, and there is no reason to stop collecting it.

They figure in 13 months no one will remember this Government shutdown. If there is some sort of permanent economic consequence, people might remember that in 13 months, so its likely that they have the presence of mind to give in right before the last moment so that doesn't happen. But there is no way that they are going to do so beforehand because the controversy is causing gold to literally rain from the sky, and they don't have to give any of these donations back once they capitulate.

Republicans will continue to attempt to associate any Healthcare related problem or annoyance with Obama and the Democrats. Any hiccup or issue at all with the implementation of this system will be responded to with the refrain: "Oh, if only it wasn't for Obamacare!" This is simply because it is strategic to do so. People are more likely to notice minor things that are annoying to them whereas they aren't keeping track of who does and does not have access to healthcare unless they are a member of the minority of people who does not have access now.

This will continue unless one of two things happens:

1. People remember these shenanigans at the polls, and the consequences cost the Republicans in a way that is more important than the funds they are raising.

2. Obamacare gets implemented, people become accustomed to it, they decide its no big deal and stop giving the Republicans money whenever they bitch about it. (See Medicare.)

Whats really going on with the Government Shutdown