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Here is that name again, Tatyana Lokshina, Human Rights Watch representative. Another invitee, Olga Kostina, reported that the U.S. ambassador to Russia called on Lokshina to deliver a message to Snowden.
NSA leak fallout: LIVE UPDATES
17:02 GMT: Washington denies that US diplomats asked Human Rights Watch to deliver a message to Snowden.
“We simply explained our position on Snowden to a representative of Human Rights Watch,” a source at the US Department of State told Interfax.
15:21 GMT: Prior to the Friday meeting, the American Embassy in Moscow called some of the meeting’s participants, asking them to deliver the US position to Snowden, Public Chamber member Olga Kostina told journalists. Washington considers Snowden to be a law violator rather than a rights advocate, she said.
Human Rights Watch representative Tatyana Lokshina said she was also contacted via telephone on behalf of the US Ambassador to Moscow.
Yesterday, before, during and after the Snowden meeting, John Schindler (@20committee on Twitter, ex-NSA who has been smearing Snowden and Greenwald nonstop since day one and has become prominent in Snowden discussions on Twitter) was sending out messages at a manic pace. When he heard that Olga Kostina was going to be at the meeting, he started sending out messages telling people to look into her connections with the FSB (successor to KGB), and continues to insinuate that Snowden is working with Russian intelligence. Snowden claims that he has given nothing to the Russians or Chinese.
Some other charming tweets by @20committee:
Also from the RT liveblog:
RT Liveblog
03:49 GMT: In accordance with Russia’s stipulation for granting Snowden temporary asylum, the NSA whistleblower has indicated he is willing to stop leaking documents that would 'damage the US.' Glenn Greenwald, the journalist who has been in contact with Snowden and was the first to publish the disclosures, has said he still has yet to publish all of the information the former NSA contractor turned over.
“There are many, many more domestic stories coming, and big ones, and soon,” Greenwald wrote in an email to Politico on Friday. “I’d deal with that hypothetical only in the extremely unlikely event that it ever happened, but I can’t foresee anything that would or could stop me from further reporting on the NSA documents I have.”
A really interesting situation... Someone noticed that, in a Pete Sousa White House photo, John Brennan is holding a binder containing the CIA response to the Senate's torture report, in early May and they submitted an FOIA based on that photo. Emptywheel tells the story.
What will John Brennan do, Suspend his operations?
As you recall, SSCI’s torture report was completed last December. CIA was initially supposed to respond to SSCI about the report by February 15, but that got held up, in part, because of Brennan’s confirmation, during which he appeared to avoid reading the report to avoid saying anything about it before being confirmed. [...] On May 7, CIA was still compiling its “defiant” response to the report; National Security Council Spokesperson Caitlin Hayden told me the White House was still reviewing the document. Also on May 7, a collection of human rights organizations called on the White House to appoint someone to oversee the release of the report.
[...]
But here’s the thing: that meeting was May 10. It was almost 7 weeks later before Brennan would present that report (again with leaks about how inaccurate millions of CIA cables are) — in the company of Joe Biden — to Dianne Feinstein and Saxby Chambliss -
Can't make this shit up... on Slashdot, this is in the "from the knew-linked-in-had-to-be-good-for-something dept". Sone intelligence community people have been putting classified program code names in their resumes, which are searchable and viewable by the public. Plus, John Brennan leaks like a sieve, at times causing major problems (and blaming someone else). And yet, Bradley Manning is on trial and Snowden hunted down, both for revealing classified iinfo, and others charged with the Espionage Act.
Discovering NSA Code Names Via LinkedIn
"The Washington Post revealed some of the code names for various NSA surveillance programs, including NUCLEON, MARINA and MAINWAY. Chris Soghoian has pointed out that a quick LinkedIn search for profiles with codenames like MARINA and NUCLEON happens to turn up profiles like this one which appear to reveal more codenames: [...] Apparently, NSA employees don't realize that information they post online can be revealed."
Congressman Proposes Wall Street Sales Tax
Holt is referring to the recent and sizable expansion of High Frequency Trading or flash trading. HFT is done by high-end computers that trade financial securities in fractions of a second to gain advantage. The value created for the owners of the machines is considerable, the value created for society is non-existent.
Jay Carney: Russia shouldn't provide Snowden with 'propaganda platform'
VA SPENT $2 MILLION ON FACEBOOK ADS
The Veterans Affairs Department has spent about $2 million on Facebook advertising to lure new followers and maintain ties with existing followers on the social media site, a government official who asked not to be named told Nextgov.
A substantial portion of VA’s Facebook ad spending has gone to the page for Make the Connection, a division of the Veterans Health Administration focused on reaching out to veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder and related conditions and to their families, said Brandon Friedman, who was VA’s online communications director until August 2012.
[...]
The vast majority of VA Facebook ad spending occurred after the agency learned of a change to Facebook’s algorithm that resulted in posts from organizations that didn’t buy ads appearing in fewer of their followers’ newsfeeds, he said.
Josh Fox on Gasland Part 2, the Fracking-Earthquake Link & the Natural Gas Industry's Use of Psyops
Brazil's Major Unions Join Movement for First Time, Strike in 150 Cities
Egyptians divided over appointment of new prime minister
Action
PETITION WRITTEN BY DANIEL ELLSBERG, THE WHISTLEBLOWER BEHIND THE PENTAGON PAPERS
We need a new Church Committee that is fully empowered to investigate the abuses of the NSA and make public its findings, and that is charged with recommending new laws to ensure the U.S. government does not violate our constitutional rights.
Stop Watching Us.
The revelations about the National Security Agency's surveillance apparatus, if true, represent a stunning abuse of our basic rights. We demand the U.S. Congress reveal the full extent of the NSA's spying programs.
Massive Spying Program Exposed
Demand Answers Now (EFF petition)
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