Some Noteworthy Items

Hello all -

With so much going on, it's sometimes hard to know what to focus a post on.  However, here are some article of interest I can pass on.

Trevor Timm has an excellent column in The Guardian on Homeland Security and civil liberties violations.  If you haven't been concerned about such things, I feel you should be!

At The Intercept, there's a very new article detailing the letter sent to Pres. Obama by a number of civil liberties and privacy groups, some members of Congress, and some former government officials. The letter expresses concerns over the Executive Order 12333 which has been used to justify mass surveillance with little or no oversight.  The amount of secrecy surrounding this and the lack of accountability and oversight pose real threats to our democratic ideals.

The courts are now continuing to look at issues of mass surveillance.  I'm not hopeful, knowing this is probably headed to the Supreme Court, but these issues need to be examined, debated, and resolved (hopefully) publicly.

Bruce Schneier has a blog post worth reading on a cell phone "kill switch" law just passed in CA  - be sure to read the discussion in the comments as well.  I think the possible abuses in regard to stifling dissent and furthering other types of surveillance are quite troubling.

So "heads up" people - be aware and engaged in these and other crucial issues.

P. S.   I know there are some page views - would LOVE to get some comments as it can get lonely in here.  Anyone out there?