Daily Archives: May 6, 2017

The Hubble Telescope’s Successor Will Aid in the Search For Extraterrestrial Life – Big Think

Posted: May 6, 2017 at 3:21 am

First deployed in 1990, The Hubble space telescope was the first of its kind. Unencumbered by light pollution and our planets atmosphere, it has in its tenure achieved an impressive list of discoveries. Among them, its helped us better understand dark matter and dark energy, discover proto-planets and super-massive black holes, helped us fine-tune our estimate for the age of the universe13.75 billion years old, and much more. Despite its remarkable record, its getting old and is in need of retirement. So, whats going to replace it?

An even more remarkable piece of equipment, The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST or Webb). This is the most sophisticated telescopes ever created. It has a 21 ft. (6.5 meter) gold-coated, primary mirror array, six times larger in area than Hubbles. The mirror is made from 18 separate segments.

These segments are made of an ultralight substance known as beryllium. They unfold and adjust as needed and take in seven times more light than Hubbles mirror. This is an infrared telescope, meaning it picks up infrared radiation, in addition to the visible light on the electromagnetic spectrum. This makes it so powerful, it can even see through cosmic dust.

One of the gold covered segments of the mirror array. NASA.

The telescope carries other instruments including cameras and spectrometers which can detect incredibly faint signals. Another impressive feature is called the NIRSpec, which uses programmable micro-shutters that can observe up to 100 objects at once.

John Mather is an astrophysicist and the senior project scientist for Webb. He said, "We've done two decades of innovation and hard work, and this is the result we're opening up a whole new territory of astronomy." This is such a sensitive instrument, it would be able to detect an object the size of a bumble bee, as far away as the moon is from Earth, according to Mather.

Hubbles replacement is set to launch in October of next year from French Guiana. Webb will be nestled atop an Ariane 5 rocket, a heavy launcher primarily used by the European Space Agency (ESA). This mission has been a collaborative effort among NASA, the ESA, the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), Northrop Grumman, and the Space Telescope Science Institute.

Model of the James Webb Space Telescope. NASA.

Webb was first called the "Next Generation Space Telescope" (NGST). But a push was made to name it after James E. Webb, the second administrator of NASA, who ran the agency between 1961 and 1968. He oversaw the Apollo missions to the moon and many argue that although not a trained scientist himself, he did much for the advancement of science and space exploration. In this sense, the NGST embodies the legacy of the man.

Cutting edge space-ready technology is never cheap. The price tag for Webb all told is $8.8 billion. And just like anything breaking new ground, it comes with significant risk, which is why it's currently undergoing a battery of testing. While the Hubble was placed in low Earth orbit, the Webb is going to be positioned about a million miles (1.5 million km) away. So if something goes wrong, itll be difficult to get up there and fix it. Once placed, itll be a nail-biting six months before its even operational.

In its five-and-a-half to ten year mission, Webb will help us look back on the earliest moments of the universe, when galaxies were still in their infant stages. It'll beam back data using a high-frequency radio transmitter. Since space is so big, light can only travel so far, even at its incredible velocity. We measure distant bodies therefore in light years, or how many years it takes light to travel from there to Earth.

The 30 Doradus Nebula. A vast region found by Hubble where thousands of stars are born. Getty Images.

That means looking deeply into space is also looking back in time. For instance, it takes eight minutes for light from the sun to reach Earth. A better example, the nearest star system, Proxima Centauri, which is over four light-years away, appears to us on Earth as it was a little over four years ago. If a cataclysmic event occurred, we wouldn't see it until four years later.

In this way, Webb will allow us to see how planets, stars, and galaxies were created, and how the universe has changed over time. It will also aid in the search for exoplanets, as well as give us a closer look at newly discovered ones, for signs of water, an atmosphere, vegetation, and even intelligent life, such as any visible technology or signs of pollution. Recently, weve discovered thousands of exoplanets, including many small, Earth-like ones. So there are lots of good candidates that could potentially harbor life.

To learn more about the Webb and how it differs from the Hubble, click here:

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The Hubble Telescope's Successor Will Aid in the Search For Extraterrestrial Life - Big Think

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Russia Is a Threat To NATO’s World Order In the West, Top U.S. … – Newsweek

Posted: at 3:21 am

Russiaposes an existential threat to the West's military and political influence around the world, prompting NATO to assume a more militant mission, according to the head of the U.S. military in Europe.

In his testimony to lawmakers Wednesday, Army Gen. Curtis M. Scaparrotti, who serves as both chief of U.S. European CommandandNATOs Supreme Allied Commander Europe,told the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Military Construction, Veterans Affairs and RelatedAgencies that Moscow was responsible for frustrating Western security goals in Europe during one of the tensest periods in the region since the Cold War. Both NATO and Russia have lined up troops and armaments along their mutual bordersand have accused the other of provoking a potential conflict. Scaparrotti told legislators that Moscow's campaign to expand its own interests as a global player was damaging to the West's regional dominance.

Related:Russia denies secret nuclear bomb threat to U.S. involving 'mole' missiles

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"In the East, a resurgent Russia had turned from partner to protagonist as it seeks to undermine the Western-led international order and reassert itself as a global power, Scaparrottisaid, according to the Department of Defense.

People watch Russian military vehicles driving along Tverskaya street before the rehearsal for the Victory Day parade in central Moscow, Russia, May 3, 2017. Both Russia and Western military alliance NATO accuse one another of igniting an international arms race across Europe's borders. Sergei Karpukhin/Reuters

The general cited Russia's involvement in conflicts in Ukraine and Georgia, as well as a deteriorating security situation in areas of Europe, North Africa and the Middle East due to conflict and jihadist activity, as contributing to NATO's shift in focus from "security cooperation and engagement to deterrence and defense." Last year, the 28-member Western military alliance, to which the U.S. is by far the largest contributor, established four major battle groups in Estonia,Latvia, Lithuania and Poland. NATO has since deployed extensive resources to these countries as well as an extensive missile defense shield that the U.S. argues is necessary for countering perceived Russian aggressions, but Moscow contends is a ploy to contain the nation's military capabilities.

"We are adjusting our plans, our posture, our readiness to remain relevant to combat the threats we face," Scaparrotti said. "In short, we are returning to our historic role as a warfighting command."

NATO was established in 1949 as a Cold War-era military alliance against the former Soviet Union and its allies, which later formed the rival Warsaw Pact. While the two global factions never fought in a direct conflict, their members engaged in multiple proxy wars beginning with the Korean War in the decades prior to the dissolution of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s. NATO expandedits membership to a number of former Soviet satellite states and became directly involved in the Bosnian War after the breakup of socialist Yugoslavia. After supporting U.S.-led interventions in Iraq and Afghanistan and later assisting rebels in toppling Libyan leader Muammar el-Qaddafi in 2011, the multinational military pact has attempted to take on Moscow's military ambitions in Europe.

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A Greater NATO Role in Syria – International Policy Digest (press release) (blog)

Posted: at 3:21 am

Since the onset of civil war in Syria, the United Statess only military action has been airstrikes and very limited special operations missions targeting ISIL. On April 6, that changed.

For the first time since the conflict broke out, the U.S. took direct military action against the Assad regime following a brutal sarin attack in Khan Sheikoun that killed more than 80 people and has been attributed to Damascus. The Syrian government and Russia, its most powerful backer, denies Assads responsibility.

Washingtons choice to bomb the Syrian government base from which the sarin attack was allegedly conducted is a significant departure from the Obama era policy of avoiding direct confrontation with Damascus. A week after the U.S. airstrikes were conducted, Secretary of State Tillerson remarked that Assads rule is coming to an end before flying to Moscow to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Assads most powerful ally.

Six years into the civil war, massive violence persists despite Russias intervention and some gains against ISIL in Iraq and Syria. Considering the strong U.S. reaction to Assads latest chemical weapon attack on innocent civilians, heavier action in the region is on the horizon.

Considering this, NATO should do more to help bring the Syrian war, which has already resulted in hundreds of thousands of civilian deaths, to an end. NATO can have a much greater impact than U.S. unilateral missile launches against Assad, and NATO should not only stand with United States but also take action. Specifically, NATO should create a no-fly zone on the Turkish-Syrian border and put boots on the ground.

Responsibility to Protect

A NATO intervention in Syria would have precedent. In 1999, NATO intervened in Kosovo to prevent ethnic cleansing of Albanian Kosovars at the hands of dictator Slobodan Milosevic. Without Western intervention, some experts speculate that Kosovars would have been eliminated from Serbia. Nonetheless, the atrocities of the Balkan Wars most notably the Srebrenica massacre were not halted in time to save thousands of lives. The international communitys failure to respond in the Balkans in part sparked the creation of a new paradigm: Responsibility to Protect (R2P).

It was with this principle in mind that the U.S. and NATO intervened in Libya in 2011 due to fears of a massacre of innocent civilians in Benghazi at the hands of dictator Muammar al-Qaddafi. The death toll could have been catastrophic as Qaddafi vowed to cleanse the rats of Libya house by house.

But R2P has hardly been uniformly followed. In 2013, when the United Nations confirmed that Syrian dictator Bashar Al-Assad had used chemical weapons against his own people, the international community ignored a previously announced red line. In 2012, President of the United States Barack Obama announced that the use of chemical weapons would not be tolerated, and yet tolerance was the exact policy pursued by the alliance toward Assad after he killing his own innocent citizens. Syria agreed to dismantle their chemical weapon stockpile by mid-2014 through an agreement with the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC). However, the April 4 attack in Khan Sheikoun proved what the rest of the world didnt want to believe: these deadly weapons remain in Assads arsenal.

Aside from the Assad regime, ISIL now controls swaths of land in Syria, where it is brutally killing civilians as well as opposing militants through barbaric practices. This terrorist group has also claimed responsibility for attacks in the U.S., Brussels, Paris, Turkey, Iraq, and elsewhere in the region. As an alliance, however, NATO has yet to make any significant effort aside from Global Coalition to Counter ISIL action in Syria.

Inaction is just encouraging more and more refugees to flee to Europe. (Ben White/CAFOD)

Today, over 470,000 Syrians have died due to the conflict. More than one in ten Syrians have been wounded or killed. Additionally, there are over 4.8 million registered Syrian refugees and over 6.6 million internally displaced persons in Syria. Aleppo stands as just one symbol of the Syrian civil war: a once vibrant city left in ruins, reduced to concrete and steel falling on those city residents who remain. The catastrophic loss and degradation of life in that city reflects the countrywide devastation. Considering these astounding statistics and atrocities, it is shocking that NATO invoked R2P in Libya yet remains complacent on Syria.

By not making a decision of whether or not to take action in Syria, the U.S. and its NATO allies opened the door to a Russian intervention on behalf of the Assad regime. Russias backing of Assad would have been much harder to realize had NATO taken action sooner. With this lack of response, countries like Russia are better able to pick the winners and losers of this conflict. Furthermore, Russias aircraft have primarily bombed anti-Assad forces, striking ISIL only when it suits Moscows public messaging campaign or when ISIL threatens Assads forces. NATO should take further action in the region in order to ensure a resolution that favors its interests. As of now, NATO has no say in the outcome of the Syrian civil war.

After the Cold War, NATO took on a variety of new roles; one was as a protector of human rights across the globe. This was exemplified during interventions in Bosnia, Kosovo, Libya, and Mali. The R2P principle, endorsed by all members of the United Nations at the World Summit in 2005, was taken particularly seriously by the transatlantic alliance.

It is time for NATO to take it seriously again. In Iraq, an ISIL suicide bomber walked into the middle of a childrens neighborhood soccer game and blew himself up, killing 41 people. ISIL draws its strength from its hold in Syria, while wreaking havoc on other parts of the world. When children are no longer safe to play soccer and thousands of innocents are slaughtered, it is time for NATO to invoke R2P in Syria. If NATO fails to intervene in the conflict, then its post-Cold War mission of humanitarianism will have been a sham.

No-Fly Zone

NATO member Turkey has called for NATO or other Western partners to create a no-fly zone on Turkeys southern border with Syria that stretches over 500 miles.

Criticisms of a no-fly zone note the risks given Russias deployments in Syria. However, as a former Obama administration official at the State Department argues, Russia would likely adhere to a no-fly zone. After Turkey shot down a Russian jet that had violated its airspace in November 2015, the lack of hard military response from Russia indicated that it greatly feared larger NATO involvement in the region.

Turkey would greatly benefit from the creation of a no-fly zone on its border. With nearly 3 million Syrian refugees in Turkey, the government has previously pleaded to the international community to create such an area. The most recent stream of fleeing refugees has come from Russias bombing of Aleppo. Assads bombing campaigns prior to Russias assistance were intermittent. Assad was not able to bomb at night or in bad weather. When Russia entered the conflict, a 24/7 bombing campaign took place, making it impossible for civilians to live in the areas being attacked by Assads forces. The number of refugees fleeing to Turkey and surrounding areas soared. Making this area safe for refugees would decrease the number of civilians migrating out of Syria.

Furthermore, the U.S. and Turkey currently clash over the formers support of the Peoples Protection Units (YPG), the Kurdish fighting force in Syria, as well as the presence of self-exiled Muslim cleric Fethullah Glen in Pennsylvania. The YPG is the sister organization of the PKK in Turkey, named a terrorist organization by the United States and the EU. Currently, the PKK has resumed fighting with Turkish authorities with the goal of creating a Kurdish autonomous region in Turkey. By arming the YPG, the United States is backhandedly supporting the PKK, angering Turkey. Additionally, the Turkish government blames Glen for orchestrating the attempted coup detat in summer 2016; he currently lives in Pennsylvania. The U.S. government is reluctant to extradite Glen needing time to conduct a fair process within the rule of law. By creating a no-fly zone, the U.S. would garner better will with Turkey at a time of considerable tension.

Lastly, Turkey has seen action on its border. Mortar fire from within Syria has landed in Turkey, killing and injuring Turkish citizens. The Assad regime, an enemy of Turkey, could be purposefully harming Turkey to engulf Ankara in the war. ISIL has also brought fighting to the Turkish border and beyond; it claimed responsibility for a New Years terror attack in Istanbul that killed 39 people. Beyond the Assad regime, the likelihood that the violence in Syria will spill into Turkey is becoming more likely with each passing day as varying insurgency groups fight for control over territory. Given that Turkey is a member of NATO, the alliance should not allow for the possibility of instability to reach Turkey; otherwise, Turkey could eventually evoke Article 5 and force NATO assistance.

Controversy with the YPG

NATO members currently involved in the Syrian conflict have chosen to back insurgency groups in Syria and Iraq. The U.St. has worked closely with the YPG and the Peshmerga, the Kurdish fighters of Iraq, in order to fight ISIL. The U.S. created a train-and-equip program for the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF); however, this group is mostly made up of the YPG, meaning that a byproduct of supporting the YPGs fight against ISIL could also mean supporting the creation of an independent Kurdistan.

NATO faced a similar challenge years ago in Kosovo. NATOs support for the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) legitimized the organization and encouraged its terrorist tactics. It also proved that the West could not support a fighting force claiming independence without also subsequently supporting that independent state. Furthermore, the Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have criticized the YPG for arbitrary arrests, abuse in detention, due process violations, unsolved disappearances and killings, and the use of children in YPG security forces. The YPG denied basic rights and gave unfair trials to members of the Kurdish Democratic Party of Syria (KDPS), the Yekiti Party, and the Azadi Party in Syria. Western support of the YPG could later create more trouble in the region, and the YPG has not shown itself to be anything other than a strong fighting force against ISIL. In fact, some speculate that the YPG has coordinated with the Assad regime. As YPG forces moved into an area, the Assad militia knowingly retreated, indicating that the YPGs goals in Syria diverge from those of NATO. It would not be wise for NATO to support such an organization to such a great extent.

Although NATO could easily continue its support for the Peshmerga in Iraq through train-and-equip to fight ISIL, it would have to take a new and innovative approach to Syria considering it needs to fight both ISIL and Assad. Although a no-fly zone may allay Turkeys objections to aiding the YPG, it may also be in the U.S.s best interest to no longer support a Kurdish insurgency group. Although wildly unpopular, NATO forces on the ground in Syria may be the only way to fight ISIL, retain positive relations with partners in the region, and not enable a possible terrorist organization.

Counter ISIL coalition airstrikes are not enough to bring an end to the Syrian crisis. NATO should launch a true humanitarian effort in the region to bring about stability. It can start by creating a no-fly zone on the Syrian-Turkish border. NATO can also put boots on the ground to fight against ISIL and Assad. Finally, Europe and NATO can take a more humanitarian approach to the refugee crisis, whether by taking in more refugees or providing more material support to countries like Turkey, Jordan, and Lebanon, which already host large Syrian refugee populations.

This is a bold strategy, and there are many hurdles in carrying out these plans, as Assad is supported financially and militarily by Russia and Iran. It would not be met without opposition from some key NATO members. However, action in Syria is vital for global security. The U.S. has now for the first time stood up to the Assad regime and taken considerable unilateral action. Perhaps now, more than ever before, there is the political will to take action These mandates have not yet been met, but considering the horrific scenes unfolding day after day in Syria, it is time for the international community to meet these requirements, and soon.

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NSA mass gathering phone logs; getting called out by Congress – WPEC

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NSA mass gathering phone logs; getting called out by Congress. (WPEC)

Busted!

The National Security Agency is being called out by Congress, and it's because the NSA is still monitoring phone habits with jaw dropping frequency; around 151 million calls last year, and even after Capitol Hill told the agency to stop it.

CBS12 News is investigating, consulting with a former CIA analyst about the controversy, and asking why is it still happening.

She says because tracking threats from ISIS and lone wolves involves casting a wide net.

Putting one person under surveillance can then lead to a dozen more. But many Americans are understandably frustrated.

"Somebody like myself or yourself, I think we should be off the radar," said Doc Brown.

Brown is in liqueur sales. He says he gets about 100 phone calls a day. He's frustrated to think the government is spying on his calls. Marketing his rum is honest work.

"I don't think it is right," Brown said.

Lisa Ruth, is now a consultant, but she worked for the CIA for 16 years. She says intelligence agents follow paths to leads, and those paths can split off in many directions.

"It's very easy to think about the privacy side of this," she said. "What we're not thinking about is the terrorist side of this, and it's not as clean as saying one guy, 'We're just gonna look at one guy,' because if he is calling 27 people, you want to look at those 27 people."

After the Edward Snowden scandal, Congress ordered intelligence agencies to get warrants for phone monitoring. Those warrants need to be issued by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance court.

But the Director of National Intelligence has just come out with an annual report and only 42 such warrants were granted.

So how do you go from 42 to 151 million records?

The NSA Is dealing with that question.

These are not bugged calls but information about how often a number is being called and how long calls are lasting.

We wondered if Florida residents are more tolerant of this because of events like the Fort Lauderdale airport shooting and the Orlando nightclub shooting.

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NSA Collected 151 Million Phone Records in 2016 – The Merkle

Posted: at 3:21 am

By the look of things, the NSA will not give up its habits of collecting data about consumers anytime soon. Although a new law has gone into effect in 2015 the Freedom Act it has done very little to thwart NSAs mass surveillance techniques. In fact, the agency recorded 151 million phone calls in 2016 alone. The bigger question is what they plan to do with all of this data.

No one in the United States should consider themselves safe from mass surveillance by the NSA right now. The new report issued by the Office of the Director of national intelligence confirms as much. Despite the USA Freedom Act of 2015 going into effect a while ago, the agency still collects phone records and calls without batting an eye. That is quite a problematic development, as it is a clear invasion of consumer privacy.

The numbers for 2016 are quite worrisome, to say the least. Considering how only 42 terrorist suspects have been identified by the NSA in 2016, they collected over 150 million phone records. The ration of found suspects to the amount of phone calls collected is unjustifiably low. This goes to show the NSA is still performing its mass surveillance even though the USA Freedom Act of 2015 was designed and approved to put an end to these actions. So far, that law has had no immediate impact.

Moreover, this goes to show the NSA does not play by everyones rulebook either. Court orders were issued for surveillance of these terrorist suspects alone. Every other phone record not related to these individuals is unlawful evidence collected by the government agency, which seemingly continues to act without oversight. If even US laws cant stop the agency from doing as they please, it is doubtful anyone else on the planet will be able to have more success in this regard.

The news comes at a critical time in US history, as Congress is planning to reauthorize Section 702 of the Foreign intelligence Surveillance Amendments Act. To be more specific, this section controls the warrantless surveillance program. While this law should expire at the end of 2017, that may not be the case in a few months.

This particular section lets agencies collect information on US citizens as long as the target of such an investigation is a foreigner in communication with someone in the states. Having this law reinstated for another few years will only allow the NSA to conduct even more surveillance. Speaking of which, the agency claims a large portion of their 2016 contain duplicates, although privacy advocates do not pay much attention to that claim.

It is intriguing to note how the NSA claims they halted the warrantless collection of Americans emails late last week. However, it appears they still kept tabs on phone records, which makes them one of the largest surveillance entities in the entire world. It is evident something needs to change sooner or later, yet it is doubtful that will be the case in the long run.

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NSA Collected 151 Million Phone Records in 2016 - The Merkle

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NSA collected 151 million phone records in 2016, despite surveillance law changes – The Verge

Posted: at 3:21 am

In 2016, the National Security Agency collected more than 151 million records about Americans phone calls, despite Congress passing a law the previous year the USA Freedom Act intended to curb bulk surveillance. These records are comprised of metadata about calls (which includes time, duration, and the numbers of both recipient and caller) and their collection was revealed in an annual transparency report, published on Tuesday by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.

The report is the first assessment the public has seen of the impact of the USA Freedom Act, and shows the difficulty the NSA has reining in surveillance while continuing to collect useful intelligence. This Freedom Act was passed in 2015 after the Snowden revelations, and limits the NSA to collecting call metadata about individuals suspected of having ties to terrorism. The report shows that in 2016 the NSA received warrants to collect such information on only 46 terrorism suspects.

According to Reuters, officials from the NSA defended the report by saying that the figure of 151 million records was tiny compared to the scope of US surveillance pre-Snowden. (At that time the agency could scoop up billions of records per day, said one 2014 study.) The figure of 151 million is also misleading, said the NSA, as it counts multiple calls made to or from the same phone number. This, said the agency, explains the discrepancy between the small number of warrants and the huge number of records. However, the NSA did not provide a breakdown of the exact number of individuals caught up in the surveillance program, and many privacy advocates will be angered by the huge number of records still being collected.

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NSA collected 151 million phone records in 2016, despite surveillance law changes - The Verge

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NSA’s New Transparency Report Contains Just Enough Info To Be Dangerous, Not Nearly Enough To Be Truly … – Techdirt

Posted: at 3:21 am

Before we dive into the latest IC transparency report [PDF] from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, let's take a moment to recognize the small miracle that it even exists. If NSA contractor Ed Snowden hadn't decided to color outside the official whistleblowing lines, we'd still be expected to put our complete trust in the government with zero evidentiary support.

That being said, the transparency report is still several steps removed from actual transparency, but it will have to do for now. What can we learn from it, even with many of the numbers being seemingly meaningless thanks to purposefully-missing context? Several things, actually. Marcy Wheeler has torn apart the report across four posts, each dealing with the report's fuzzy numbers (or, in the case of the CIA's contribution, a lack thereof).

One of the first misleading numbers in the report is the supposed single search of the NSA's 702 collections by the FBI for non-terrorism-related purposes. According to the report, this happened exactly once. But that's actually not true. The FBI makes far more frequent use of NSA data for non-terrorism investigations. It just does it in a way that won't show up in the IC's transparency report. Parallel construction is the FBI's friend.

FBIs querying system can be set such that, even if someone has access to 702 data, they can run a query that will flag a hit in 702 data but wont actually show the data underlying that positive return. This provides one way for 702-cleared people to learn that such information is in such a collection and if they want the data without having to report it may be able to obtain it another way. It is distinctly possible that once NSA shares EO 12333 data directly with FBI, for example, the same data will be redundantly available from that in such a way that would not need to be reported to FISC.

So, there's that bit of obfuscation right off the top. And the FBI isn't the only agency using an ostensibly foreign-facing collection to obtain information about US persons. The CIA -- an ostensibly foreign-facing agency -- does this as well. The FBI doesn't count its dips into the NSA haystacks. Neither does the CIA. The report shows 30,000 searches of unminimized US persons' data occurred last year. That number doesn't include the FBI's searches (because the FBI doesn't report its searches) and is quite possibly much, much higher than what's reported. This is only a good faith estimate by the IC, using software, rather than any form of reporting from the CIA.

NSA will rely on an algorithm and/or a business rule to identify queries of communications metadata derived from the FAA 702 [redacted] and telephony collection that start with a United States person identifier. Neither method will identify those queries that start with a United States person identifier with 100 percent accuracy.

As Wheeler points out, it could be 30,000 or 3 million or 3 billion searches. No one knows. By the time the CIA's required to count its US persons searches, it will likely perform most of its searches under Executive Order 12333 authorities, rather than the more closely-watched Section 702.

Finally, there's a really big number contained in the report. It looks amazingly high, but might be indicative of not much surveillance activity at all, at least not in the entire scheme of things. According to the report, the NSA was able to scoop up 151 million "call detail records (CDRs)" using only 42 selectors.

Read in the (lack of) context in the report, this would look like pure bullshit. There's no way 42 terrorism suspects (and their 3,150 one-hop "friends") are making 130 calls a day. (Or, if they're only talking to each other, 65 calls a day.)

As Wheeler points out, call records are not just records about phone calls. They also pick up records on text messages.

If these were phone calls between just two people, then if our terrorist buddies only spoke to each other, each would be responsible for 24,000 calls a year, or 65 a day, which is certainly doable, but would mean our terrorist suspects and their friends all spent a lot of time calling each other.

The number becomes less surprising when you remember that even with traditional telephony call records can capture calls and texts. All of a sudden 65 becomes a lot more doable, and a lot more likely to have lots of perfectly duplicative records as terrorists and their buddies spend afternoons texting back and forth with each other.

With this, 151 million records looks less like full-blown exploitation of this surveillance authority and something possibly more targeted than the NSA's used to. Then again, it could mean the NSA is sweeping up 65 innocent Americans every day of the year with its CDR demands. There's simply no way to tell.

But CDRs include all "call events," which include a whole lot of related metadata having nothing to do with voice calls.

A CDR is defined as session identifying information (including an originating or terminating telephone number, an International Mobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI) number, or an International Mobile Station Equipment Identity (IMEI) number), a telephone calling card number, or the time or duration of a call.

Further trimming down this seemingly large number are two other aspects of the collection. Records obtained previously by the agency are included in this count, as well as junk metadata related to past selectors that may not be returning any current records.

That means our 3,192 targets and friends might only have had 48 calls or texts a day, without any duplication.

Which is a completely believable number of calls and texts between surveillance targets. The breathtaking 151 million records is suddenly a more manageable number that actually *gasp* looks as though the NSA is engaging in truly targeted collection.

But before we get carried away with the NSA's new "maybe collect a little less than it all" approach to surveillance, we need to remember this only covers a very small part of the NSA's collection activities.

[W]e need to understand the 65 additional texts or anything else available only in the US from a large number of electronic communications service providers that might be deemed a session identifier a day from 42 terrorists and their 3150 buddies [is] on top of the vast store of EO 12333 records that form the primary basis here.

Because (particularly as the rest of the report shows continually expanding metadata analysis and collection) this is literally just the tip of an enormous iceberg, 151 million edge cases to a vast sea of data.

That's what we're really dealing with here, unprecedented transparency or no: there is a vast surveillance apparatus operating in near-complete darkness, authorized by a presidential executive order and subject to almost zero oversight. Whatever concessions the NSA makes in relation to Section 702 in the upcoming months, its biggest collections will remain untouched. Unless something changes dramatically, the potential for constitutional violations and agency abuse remains unchanged. And, unless something changes dramatically, it will remain unseen.

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NSA's New Transparency Report Contains Just Enough Info To Be Dangerous, Not Nearly Enough To Be Truly ... - Techdirt

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Report: Obama Sought NSA Intel on ‘Thousands of Americans’, Including Trump Campaign During 2016 Election – Breitbart News

Posted: at 3:21 am

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During his final year in office, President Obamas team significantly expanded efforts to search National Security Agency intercepts for information about Americans, distributing thousands of intelligence reports across government with the unredacted names of U.S. residents during the midst of a divisive 2016 presidential election, reported Circa on Thursday. The data, made available this week by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, provides the clearest evidence to date of how information accidentally collected by the NSA overseasabout Americans was subsequently searched and disseminated after President Obama loosened privacy protections to make such sharing easier in 2011 in the name of national security. A court affirmed his order.

The NSA is currently prohibited from spying directly on U.S. citizens. However, it is reported thatIn all, government officials conducted 30,355 searches in 2016 seeking information about Americans in NSA intercept metadata, which include telephone numbers and email addresses.

The activity increased by 27.5 percent over the prior year, according to the report, and more than triple the 9,500 such searches that occurred in 2013, the first year such data was kept.

The government in 2016 also scoured the actual contents of NSA intercepted calls and emails for 5,288 Americans, an increase of 13 percent over the prior year and a massive spike from the 198 names searched in 2013, Circa claimed. The searches ultimately resulted in 3,134 NSA intelligence reports with unredacted U.S. names being distributed across government in 2016, and another 3,354 reports in 2015. About half the time, U.S. identities were unredacted in the original reports while the other half were unmasked after the fact by special request of Obama administration officials.

Included in this list of names were campaign and transition associates of President Trump, as well as members of Congress, according toCirca, who allegedly spoke with a U.S. official.

There is no doubt that there was a spike in the requests to search for Americans in the NSA database, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. Its simply easier for people to make requests. And while we have safeguards, there is always concern and vigilance about possible political or prurient motives that go beyond national security concerns.

Neema Singh Guliani, who acts as the ACLUs legislative counsel, also claimed in a comment that the information being increasingly mined about Americans has nothing to do with terrorism.

I think it is alarming. There seems to be a universal trendtoward more surveillance and more surveillance that impacts Americans privacy without obtaining a warrant, said the ACLUs legislative counsel, Neema Singh Guliani. This data confirms that there is a lack of acknowledgment that information is being specifically and increasingly mined about Americans for investigations that have little or nothing to do with international terrorism.

Caveated in the report, however, is that this data excludes the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), who are likely to have even more information on the subject.

The data kept by ODNI is missing some information from one of the largest consumers of NSA intelligence, the FBI, Circa noted. And officials acknowledge the numbers are likely much higher when the FBIs activity isadded.

This week, it was reported that the NSA ignored a law change and continued to collect phone records from U.S. citizens, while in April, it was revealed that the agency had eavesdropped on citizens using a blimp over Maryland.

Charlie Nash is a reporterforBreitbart Tech. You can follow himon Twitter@MrNashingtonorlike his page at Facebook.

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Report: Obama Sought NSA Intel on 'Thousands of Americans', Including Trump Campaign During 2016 Election - Breitbart News

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Comey, NSA chief brief House panel amid Russia probe – The Hill

Posted: at 3:21 am

House Intelligence Committee members emerged tight-lipped from a closed-door briefing with FBI Director James Comey and National Security Agency head Adm. Michael Rogers on Thursday.

Rep. Mike Conaway (R-Texas), who is leading the committees investigation into Russian interference in the election, appeared briefly alongside the committee's ranking member, Adam SchiffAdam SchiffSchiff: Yates testimony could come within 'weeks' Overnight Cyber: FBI, NSA chiefs brief House Intel behind closed doors | DHS warns Congress on phone security Comey, NSA chief brief House panel amid Russia probe MORE (D-Calif.) at the close of the meeting to characterize the meeting as valuable but said little else.

Conaway took over the probe early last month following the recusal of committee Chairman Devin Nunes (R-Calif.), whose relationship with Schiff had deteriorated to the level of the pair holding dueling press conferences regarding Nuness handling of the investigation.

In a joint statement issued after the hearing Thursday, Conaway and Schiff indicated that an open hearing with several high-ranking Obama officials including former acting Attorney General Sally Yates is still in the cards.

We are currently sending out invitations for witnesses to testify and requests for pertinent documents, and look forward to the next steps of this investigation, including witness interviews and an open hearing with Sally Yates, [former Director of National Intelligence] James Clapper, and [former CIA Director] John Brennan, the statement read.

Much of the acrimony on the committee had centered on an appearance by Yates, which had been scheduled for March but was canceled at the last minute by Nunes when he helmed the Russia investigation.

Republicans claimed that the committee needed to interview Comey and Rogers in a closed setting first, a move that Democrats argued was intended to shield the White House.

Reports have indicated that Yates was likely to offer testimony that would contradict that of Trump administration officials.

The week before Yates had been scheduled to testify, Comey confirmed the existence of the FBIs investigation into ties between members of President Trumps campaign and Russia in the panels first open hearing.

Yates is now set to testify before a Senate Judiciary subcommittee on Monday. The House committee has been in talks with the Senate committee to determine whether she will appear before both panels.

Other lawmakers exiting Thursdays two-and-a-half-hour briefing which was interrupted briefly so lawmakers could vote on the GOP healthcare bill were largely silent, deferring to the chair and ranking member.

In a public appearance before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Comey on Wednesday said that he was "mildly nauseous" at the idea that his handling of the probe into Hillary ClintonHillary Rodham ClintonFormer Clinton aides warn of Russian influence after Macron leak Dems kick off unity commission Why Sanders would have defeated Trump in 2016 MORE's private email server may have impacted the outcome of the 2016 election, but maintained that he would make the same choices again given the chance.

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Amendment V – United States American History

Posted: at 3:20 am

No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.

The final phrases of the Fifth Amendment established the limitations on the principle of eminent domain. In the 20th century, the Fifth Amendment became most noted for its prohibition of forced self-incriminating testimony, and "I plead the Fifth" became a catchphrase for the amendment.

This application of the amendment is, however, uncontroversial and has not figured prominently in Supreme Court decisions. Much less clear is the meaning of the due process provision. A century ago, it was often argued that the Fifth Amendment prohibition against depriving an individual of liberty meant that the right to enter into contracts, which represents a liberty, is infringed when government regulations fix such things as minimum wages. This interpretation of due process has generally fallen out of favor.

Ratified in 1791

See Table of Amendments.

V ... v artiguist source, uruguay | educational institution flags (australia) | v (tv) | valparaso region (chile) | venda (south african homeland) | va'ad qiryat haim municipality of haifa (israel) | va'ad qiryat shmu'el municipality of haifa ... http://fotw.vexillum.com/flags/keywordv.html

What Does the Sixth Amendment Mean? To Whom Does it Apply?, Gideon v. Wainwright, Landmark Supreme Court Cases He thought that amendment was one of the most important amendments. Others disagreed with him, arguing that because many state constitutions had their own Bills of Rights, it would not be necessary to protect citizens from abuse at the hands of ... http://www.landmarkcases.org/gideon/sixth.html

ARTICLE V State, 99 Nev. 149, at 150, 659 P.2d 878 (1983), State v. Eighth Judicial Dist. Court, 100 Nev. 90, at 104, 677 P.2d 1044 (1984), dissenting opinion, Kelch v. Director, Dept of Prisons, 10 F.3d 684, at 686 (9th Cir. 1993), Wicker v. State, 111 Nev. http://www.nevada-history.org/article_5.html

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Amendment V - United States American History

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