Those who have ears to hear, let them hear (Mark 4:9).

Typically, “semantic” is contractor-ese for “deeply bogus shit dreamed up by Marketing,” and the multibillion sale from the black budget is closed by contractors from Shirlington Limo, but with enough budget, smart, conscience-free people, and concern…  Read more 

[The story of Bush’s odd bike ride near NSA headquarters is at the end. As Josh points out, “the intensity of the covering up doesn’t match the alleged secret.” However, if Bush was personally involved in handling any of the warrantless surveillance data, that would definitely account for the intensity. Foily? Who but the foiliest, back even after 9/11, could have imagined this story would even be happening?]

The Times, today:

A 2004 dispute over the National Security Agency’s secret surveillance program that led top Justice Department officials to threaten resignation involved computer searches through massive electronic databases, according to current and former officials briefed on the program.

It is not known precisely why searching the databases, or data mining, raised such a furious legal debate. But such databases contain records of the phone calls and e-mail messages of millions of Americans, and their examination by the government would raise privacy issues.

Well, well. As we wrote over a year ago, after combining careful examination of how Republicans parse their statements with network engineering knowledge available through open sources:

Long story short: (1) Internet surveillance is Bush’s goal, not voice calls; (2) the Republican “wiretap” talking point is a diversion, to voice, away from from Internet surveillance; (3) Bush’s domestic surveillance system would pose no engineering challenges whatever to NSA. No rocket science—or tinfoil hats—required.

Can we please stop talking about “wiretaps” now? It’s not your voice communications Bush wants. It’s your mail.

I don’t have time tonight, alas, to summarize all our work on warrantless surveillance (go read).

So I’ll summarize some key points as I see them. Don your foil:  Read more