By the EFF
According to investigative journalists Glenn Greenwald and Jeremy Scahill—writing today in their shiny new online publication, the Intercept—the NSA locates targets for drone strikes by using metadata and tracking the coordinates of cards and cellphones. The article goes on to note that using these sources instead of intelligence gathered from humans on the ground makes it more likely that these strikes will kill innocent people.
Scahill and Greenwald based their report on documents released by Edward Snowden, as well as former Air Force drone operator Brandon Bryant, who’s now a critic of drone strikes, and another former drone operator employed by the military’s Joint Special Operations Command, who says he worked with the NSA. According to the Intercept piece, some targets are aware they are being tracked and will switch cell phones or SIM cards to confuse their targeters. Others, less savvy, have cluelessly given their phones to family members, which leads to a Hellfire missile hitting someone, though not necessarily a terrorist.
The rest, and Monday’s Bad Cop Blotter items here
The drug war rhetoric is improving in 2014. Let’s see if actual policy ever catches up.
In a New Yorker profile published this month, President Obama admitted that marijuana was not that bad and the enforcement of anti-weed laws was skewed against minorities. Similarly, on Thursday Texas Governor Rick Perry voiced his support for decriminalizing marijuana and letting states craft drug laws free of federal intervention. On January 16, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said he had changed his mind and that medical marijuana was a fine thing after all. New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, who was trying to drown his state’s medical marijuana program in the bathtub not three months ago, spent part of his inaugural address delivered on January 21promising to end the war on drugs. New York Senator Chuck Schumer just said on MSNBC that states should be allowed to “experiment” with legalization. What the hell is happening? How did the war on drugs go from a fringe issue five or six years ago to this current race to out-chill your political competitors when it comes to weed policy? It’s hard to know for sure, but it seems like Americans as a whole have decided that marijuana should be legal (or at least partially legal), while our leaders’ views have lagged behind. Now we’ve reached a tipping point where it’s safe for elected officials to embrace an end to prohibition—politicians’ minds aren’t changing, but poll numbers are.
The rest of the crankiness, along with bad cops of the week, over here
- Chris Christie, Harry Reid, and Obama — all of whom have drug war blood on their hands by nature of their office — suddenly noticed it might not be so good this week. Like Obama on gay marriage, the president getting it right on this extremely important issue is good. You get points.But you shouldn’t get points for bravery. To paraphrase John Stossel, these folks see the legalization parade happening, and they want to jump out in front and pretend they’re leading. They’re not.
- Since it’s finally not political suicide to mention marijuana isn’t so bad, but the drug war might just be, and since we might get federal legalization in the next few years, we should all begin harping on the vitally important fact that thousands of people in prison over drug charges do not deserve to be there.
- Last week’s Kelly Thomas protests included this confrontation between a protester and a reporter. In short, assault on reporter is actually protester blocks cameras, reporter shoves protester,protester shoves back harder. None of this should be assault if you’re not a giant wuss.
- A livestreamer was also arrested at the protest.
- Reminder that a paramedic testified that he was told to treat minor scratches on Fullerton cops, even though Kelly Thomas was bloody and unconscious.
- Atlantic Cities’ Mike Riggs on the science of facial recognition. Don’t be terrified yet, be terrified in a few years.
- Buzzfeed’s Rosie Gray on “How Dennnis Rodman Got to North Korea”
- Reason TV’s Jim Epstein (writing in the Daily Beast): “Inside the Port Authority, the Corrupt Powerhouse Behind Christie’s Bridgegate Scandal”
- Guy wearing Google Glass in movie theater is detained by Homeland Security for suspected piracy. He wasn’t filming, but even if he was, the involvement of DHS is disturbing.
- DA says cops shooting at random trucks containing people who look nothing like Chris Dorner is “reasonable.”
- Disturbingly beautiful photos of atomic tests.
- I know above-ground nuclear testing was messed up (killed John Wayne!) but if you lived in Vegas and knew a mushroom cloud was going to happen, hell yes, I’d throw a party, too.
- Alex Wellerstein at the Nuclear Secrecy blog on using mushroom clouds out of context as art. Spoiler alert: he’s kind of uncomfortable about that.
- Dead woman was not secretly Lorraine Allison, the only first class child to die on the Titanic. I spent years on a Titanic message board and I somehow totally missed this hoax. BTW, the Titanic wasn’t secretly switched with the Olympic in some sort of insurance ruse either. And Anastasia definitely died with the rest of her family.
- The Atlantic on how The Twilight Zone is really about fear.
- And on people who thought the Beatles were rubbish. (It wasn’t just William F. Buckley Jr.)
And today’s video:
Hurray for the Alan Lomax archives.
As my esteemed older brother noted below, moderately famous actor and political wannabe Kal Penn — who should have stuck with being boring on House — recently tweeted his support of the New York City Police Department’s now-unconstitutional stop and frisk policy that disproportionately affects minorities. (People responding to Penn’s tweet seemed incredulous, at least. One suggested that Penn forgot the #snark hashtag. Penn responded with a slur against “activist judges” so clearly that’s a thing for Democrats to be mad about now.)
Joe forgot another important reason to loathe Penn — besides his inability to realize that brown people who aren’t famous actor friends of Obama may be getting the short end of the authority stick — his bullshit on the drug war. A man made famous for being the Cheech for a new generation also acted the sniveling weasel apologist for Obama the drug war war hypocrite.
As Mike Riggs wrote at Reason.com last September:
Actor Kal Penn and President Barack Obama were both raked over the coals yesterday for their collaboration on a campaign video teasing Penn’s upcoming appearance at the Democratic National Convention. In that video, Penn reprised his role as Kumar from the Harold and Kumar movies, and takes a phone call from Obama while stoned, watching cartoons, and eating junkfood. The subtle implication is that marijuana users are easily swayed, lazy idiots.
Reason, the Marijuana Policy Project, LEAP, and several others criticized Penn and Obama for the video, as Obama has utterly failed to live up to his promise to deprioritze federal prosections of medical marijuana.
In an interview with Chris Moody of Yahoo! News, Penn said
“I think that the president’s been pretty consistent with that. He’s not in favor of legalization, we should be open about something like that. But what the president has done is take a really smart look at the Department of Justice and said, given the fact that the federal government has limited resources, we should be allocating them toward violent criminals and not towards non-violent criminals. We can see that not just in things like marijuana but in things like immigration reform where he’s going after and deporting violent criminals and making sure that if you’re a Dream Act eligible student that you know that you can apply for your deferred status. Wherever the federal government has an appropriate role, I think the president’s been very consistent in that. That’s something that I think folks should know.”
Penn should have stuck to the world of fiction, because his political views lie entirely in that realm as well.
At this point, it’s pretty clear that Jezebel exists to make Gawker look thoughtful, radical, and passionate. Gawker slants tediously leftist, as do all of its writers (to my knowledge). But Hamilton Nolan, Max Read, and a few others have written quality, serious pieces on cops, the drug war, and war — many of which contain nothing in them that would alienate a libertarian.
Now, compare and contrast a few Gawker posts with this latest Jezebel piece on the president, entitled “Check Out Obama’s Adorable Prom Pic.” It begins: “After last week’s hellish scandal week, President Barack Obama could use a little PR break.”
What’s this? Photos of a young Barry at his prom have unearthed and Michelle was not his date? Is that infidelity? Does this mean impeachment? IS HE WEARING MARIJUANA AROUND HIS NECK? Nope, this photo is just sweet and innocent.
Oh Mr. President, look how happy you were at such a simple time when the greatest concern that could possibly bother you was the size of your fro, the breasts on your date and the awkwardness of the slow dance.
One of Barry’s high school friends, Kelli Allman (second to the left) just shared this gem from senior prom with Time, and it’s beyond adorable. It features Barry’s BFF, Greg Orme (the other dude in the photo) and Barry’s date that night, Megan Hughes. Apparently the double date duo sipped on some champagne before prom, did a Socialist ritual at prom (I kid, I kid) and attended an after-party like any other high school kids.
Allman also shared a photo of her yearbook, which has an even sweeter note from the future President. If you want to get the full experience, just let your eyes wonder at this picture. But if Barry’s handwriting is too handsome for you to handle, here’s what he says:
It continues, but I don’t care to.
Jesus Christ, editors; swoon over Ryan Gosling, or Joseph Gordon-Levitt, or any of the other currently-dreamy men who have made no choices that lead to the deaths of Pakistani children. This continuing obsession with the attractiveness of the president is completely appalling. It’s worse than the lowest type of gossip site, it’s worse than completely ignoring politics or serious issues, in the manner of Cosmopolitan. Yes, Jezebel is actually more embarrassing for women than Cosmo. It’s official. As a lady writer, I declare it so. Better to not talk about politics than to degrade good, old fashioned fawning in this manner. Teen idols don’t deserve to be grouped in with Barack Obama. The Jonas Brothers do not have predator drones. David Cassidy didn’t spy on the AP. Leif Garrett didn’t permit the DOJ to shut down medical marijuana clinics.
Jezebel is free to hire only leftist writers. They don’t even need to think about how all women are being portrayed when they write for a women’s blog — that’s too much to ask of anyone. They’re a subset of a subset, a moderate-left-blog for women’s interests. But it’s still troubling when there are multiple blogs on one platform, and it’s the women’s one with the most empty-headed, brood-hen bullshit. Just stop writing about politics entirely if you side-step their deadly seriousness.
And if you really support the president, explain why. Don’t write snotty posts with dog-whistles to the most inane, right-wing strawmen critiques so you can all have a hearty laugh about how wacky are those Republicans. Be honest and say the drug war, the wars, the spying is all worth it to you. Politics is awful, but Obama has the power of life and death, or freedom and imprisonment, over millions of people. That is fucking serious, do not write about it as if you were a 12-year-old.
With such posts — and such timing! — you’re embarrassing the rest of the women, and the rest of the teen idols. Obama might have been a nice guy in private life, but he lost the privilege of being a morally neutral figure the moment he was elected, and he sure as hell lost the ability to be a sex symbol.
The undercover cop doesn’t even show his badge to rapper Xstrav, he just demands the Arizona tea, so he can make sure it’s non-alcoholic. The real reason Xstrav gets cuffed, I’d say, is he was guilty of “contempt of cop” and “failure to be sufficiently cowed.”
- Gawker has more on the case, including links to a second video that confirms the incident is not a hoax or a weird tea promo. It seems Xstrav’s charges are Misdemeanor Second Degree Trespass and Misdemeanor Resisting Public Officer.
- Long Mother Jones piece on the effects of deinstitutionalization. There a few nods to Szasz-style civil liberties concerns, but not many. Worth reading, though.
- Interview with a photographer who sneaks into abandoned mental institutions. My camera finger itches.
- The Weaver family door as historical artifact. It must be very strange indeed to be Elisheba Weaver.
- VICE piece on the 20 years since Waco gathering at Mt. Carmel.
- This National Review Online piece doesn’t say much new about Alex Jones, but it is said well. Basically, the man is a wacky preacher and should probably be treated as such.
- This 2011 Rolling Stone piece on Alex Jones is very good, and delves deeper into how the weirdness came to be.
- When you start reading about Alex Jones, you start Googling “Alex Jones prediction 9/11” and “Pentagon surveillance video” and then it’s three hours later and you’re so tired you have a headache.
- Talking Points Memo reports that the man who recklessly shot at the White House in 2011 so at least in part because of Obama’s stance on marijuana laws. I have no comment that won’t get me placed on a list somewhere.
- Rand Paul toasts Henry David Thoreau , thereby making it must harder for me to stay angry at the curly-mopped Senator.
- The age of reason lead to the Holocaust, apparently.
- Artist recreates tragedies and news moments with children — many of them work (Jonestown, 9/11), some of them really do not (JonBenet Ramsey is very disturbing, and doesn’t seem logical thematically anyway).
- Day 4 of the Citizen Hearing on Disclosure in DC — that’s UFO talk, don’t ya know.
- Old Crow Medicine Show on Conan!
Horrible hawk Sen. Lindsey Graham says that “we” have killed 4700 people with drone strikes. - Said Obama on February 4: “weapons of war have no place on our streets.” Said the internet…
- Neither Obama nor Jeffrey Tucker said this, but it is still beautiful.
- This year in Students for Liberty booing awful Stossel guest: Ann Coulter! She believes that libertarians care about the drug war in order to “suck up to… liberals.” See the next bullet point for important liberals mostly don’t give a shit news!
- Okay, but before that there is important beard news.
- I don’t really suggest that all white people run around calling other people people their “nigga,” but I still dislike the tone of this Jezebel blog. Lena Dunham had no obligation to respond to this this “thing,” but she did it in a classy fashion. Probably don’t call everyone “nigga,” but also, blog about something else. Say, how about the drug war, progressives who seem to care a lot about race?. Except not that, because then there are so many awkward moments what with the fawning over Obama thing that Jezebel just can’t stop doing.
- Yes, this is infowars, but it’s a mostly-credible follow-up to Mike Riggs’ Reason blog on horrifying police practice targets.
- Cato’s new map of defensive gun use incidents
- Go whine about it on “The Facebook.” [H/T: Bruce Majors]
- Not everyone was down with prohibition, you’ll be shocked to learn.
- “Cows in Pants”
- My cousins and I already invented Choose Your Own Glorious Adventure To Celebrate the Party, Comrade. That was, however, 2008, in Montana, and only in our imaginations. Jesse Walker notes that someone else has had a similar idea
- Rookie mag, I adore you, and I adore the idea of a “too painful to listen to anymore” song playlist. But, people, one of those songs is “Butterfly” by Crazytown. “Butterfly.” Look, I kind of enjoy like six Taylor Swift songs. Whatever floats your boat or breaks your heart, but holy shit, “Butterfly” by Crazytown. I need a moment to stop laughing.
- I am going to see La Plebe tonight in San Francisco. This is what it looked like when I saw them open for Jello Biafra in San Francisco in 2010.
Time continues to be strangely awesome: “Forget Drones. The Real Problem Is “War Without Boundaries”- Last week’s cover story on the rise of domestic drones was fantastic — nervous, but not tin foil hat, good, well-rounded reporting. (I already put “Drone Home” in a Citing, though. Copiers.)
- Ideally there will be a big-deal media outlet writing a fearful report on domestic drones every week. The day this kind of story stops might be the day we’re all in real trouble.
- This cruise ship horror story is so fucking… Dateline. I am not linking to anything on it, just complaining. Even trashy old Drudge is at least currently all about meteor hysteria
- Chris Dorner shot himself, so it doesn’t matter if we burned that cabin down, say police hopefully.
- If this happened 300 years ago, I would definitely be placating, pleading to, or changing my deity of choice.
- More cool video and photos of the Russian meteor.
- This is happening right now, and I am doing this. Alas.
- Please run for Senate, Justin Amash. And then become better on gay rights and abortion freedom.
- I haven’t watched this yet, but it’s Wendy McElroy interviewed by Nick Gillespie. Ergo, yes please, awesome.
- Moments from “the good war.”
- Neil Gaiman wins the twitters. (H/T: Friend Julia)
- Cosmo to focus less on pleasing yer man, also to come out in new non-existence editions, because give me a fucking break, I’ll believe it when I see it.
- Jezebel is either trolling me or is slouching towards self-awareness.
- I knew public school kids, the problem with them was not their “worldliness” but I identify to some extent with this formerly homeschooled blogger’s description of being afraid of people her age, yet comfortable with adults.
- Antiwar.com is searching for dollars, so why not give them some?
