After NSA Court Hearing, Government Must Unseal Documents by December 20

Electronic Frontier Foundation

A federal judge ordered the government to unseal more documents concerning the NSA spying programs by December 20, 2013. The judge issued the ruling in EFF's lawsuit, Jewel v. NSA, which began in 2008 over the NSA spying program initiated by the Bush Administration, which continues to this day.

In light of the declassifications inspired by the June leaks, Judge Jeffrey White ordered the government to unseal any declassified material, like exhibits, declarations, and other ex parte submissions that the government had previously submitted to the court under seal.

In response, the government asked that it only release a new declaration.

The Department of Justice lawyers reasoned that reviewing the material submitted since the case began in 2008 would be a heavy burden. We objected, noting that recently declassified documents have shown that the government had submitted misleading material to the court overseeing the spying, called the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISA Court).

Judge White denied the government's request, noting that the government had the resources to carry out such a review. He also noted that there should be a "fulsome" record for the court, the public, and the plaintiffs to draw from. The judge also set a briefing schedule on the procedural issues that it wanted resolved before turning to the critical question—whether the spying program is legal and constitutional.

We look forward to the government's submissions and will be reporting on them when they are released.

Source: EFF

Genetically Modified Society -- Full Movie

Not ONE word of official account of raid that killed Bin Laden is true, claims award-winning journalist Seymour Hersh

• The Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist says that raid which killed Osama Bin Laden in 2011 is ‘one big lie’
• He says the US media is too 'afraid' to pick on Obama
• Hersh, 76, says the solution is to shut down news networks like NBC and ABC
  
• He also suggested the firing of 90 per cent of mainstream editors

A Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist says that the official account of the raid which killed Osama Bin Laden in 2011 is ‘one big lie’.

Seymour Hersh, 76, said that ‘not one word’ of the Obama administration’s narrative on what happened is true.

In an interview with The Guardian published today, Hersh savages the US media for failing to challenge the White House on a whole host of issues, from NSA spying, to drone attacks, to aggression against Syria.

'Not true': Journalist Seymour Hersh says the raid that killed Osama Bin Laden in 2011 was all a fabrication

Sucking up: Hersh said the American press spends 'so much more time carrying water for Obama than I ever thought they would'

'Lying': Hersh says 'not one word' of the Obama administration's account of the raid that supposedly killed Osama Bin Laden is true. The government has never released pictures of Bin Laden's dead body to the public

The compound: The Pakistan home of the al Qaeda leader was in flames after it was attacked by Navy Seals

He said the Navy Seal raid that supposedly resulted in the death of the Al-Qaeda terror leader, Hersh said, ‘not one word of it is true’.

According to Hersh - who first gained worldwide recognition in 1969 for exposing the My Lai Massacre and its cover-up during the Vietnam War, for which he received the 1970 Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting - the problem is that the US media is allowing the Obama administration to get away with lying.

‘It’s pathetic. They are more than obsequious, they are afraid to pick on this guy [Obama].’

The White House has refused to publicly release images of Bin Laden’s body, fuelling suspicion they are withholding information.

President Barack Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and members of the national security team watch the raid live from the White House's Situation Room on May 1, 2011

Aftermath: Part of a damaged helicopter is seen lying near the compound after US Navy SEAL commandos supposedly killed bin Laden

Destroyed: The grounds of the Bin Laden's compound after the raid

Although the White House said the corpse was immediately ‘buried at sea’ within 24 hours of his death in line with Islamic tradition, it quickly emerged that this was not standard practice.

It has also been suggested that the White House has changed its story multiple times, according to infowars.com.

They initially claimed that pictures from the ‘situation room’ show Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, Hilary Clinton and the rest of the security team watching the raid live, when in fact there was a blackout on the feed.

Neighbours close to the Pakistani compound in Abbottabad also said they had never seen Bin Laden in the area.

'Afraid': Hersh claims the US media is too scared of challenging Obama

'Shut them down': Hersh says the solution is to close ABC and NBC and fire 90 per cent of editors

Hersh said the American press spends ‘so much more time carrying water for Obama than I ever thought they would’.

In his opinion, the solution would be to shut down news networks like NBC and ABC and fire 90 per cent of mainstream editors and replace them with ‘real’ journalists who are not afraid to speak truth to power.

‘The republic’s in trouble, we lie about everything, lying has become the staple,’ he said.

Source: The Daily Mail