It was long-suspected that the Pentagon was behaving badly during the Bush years, spying on American citizens, operating beyond its jurisdiction, etc. Now we have a much better idea of just how badly the Pentagon was behaving now that they’ve released 800 pages of previously classified documents. The Inspector General has analyzed the documents and cited the illegal activities contained in the damning documents.

The Pentagon investigated everything from Planned Parenthood to Alaskans for Peace and Justice, which should give Sarah Palin a little cause for concern.  I’ll stick with the words of Benjamin Franklin, “They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.“

This is just the tip of the iceberg, as more documents are expected soon:

The reports, submitted to the Intelligence Oversight Board (IOB) by various Department of Defense components, cover the period from 2001 through 2008. The IOB’s role within the Executive Office of the President is to ensure that each component of the intelligence community works within the Constitution and all applicable laws. As such, the Inspector General of each intelligence agency is required to submit periodic reports to the IOB, which in turn is required to forward to the Attorney General any report identifying an intelligence activity that violates the law. Intelligence oversight reporting is rarely disclosed to the public.

This new release, from various Defense components including the Army and the Joint Chiefs of Staff, comes in four parts, see here. Much of the reported improper activity consisted of intelligence gathering on so-called “U.S. Persons,” including citizens, permanent residents and U.S.-based organizations. Although Defense agencies are generally prohibited from collecting such information (except as part of foreign intelligence or counter-intelligence activity), it is apparent from the unredacted reports released to EFF that some DoD components have had chronic difficulty complying with that prohibition.

Some specific items of interest include:

Part 1

• Pg 98: A report that the Joint Forces Command, working with the FBI, improperly collected and disseminated intelligence on Planned Parenthood and a white supremacist group called the National Alliance, as part of preparations for the 2002 Olympics.
• Pg 122-137″ A NORAD intelligence briefing improperly included intelligence on an anti-war group called Alaskans for Peace and Justice in 2005.
• Pg 257-258: A 2006 report that NORAD had procedural problems relating to collecting information on U.S. Persons.

Part 3

• Pg 53-54: A report from 2003 of a closed investigation into prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib and other sites in Iraq.
• Pg 60: A report from 2006 of improper intelligence (in the TALON program) on an anti-recruiting group.
• Pg 112: A report from 2007 of an Army Reserve officer routinely collecting data on U.S. Persons exercising their free speech rights.

Part 4

• Pg 19: A 2008 report that Army Signals Intelligence in Louisiana intercepted civilian cell phone conversations.
• Pg 65: A 2008 report that Army Cyber Counterintelligence officers attended the Black Hat hacker conference without disclosing their Army affiliation and without prior authorization to do so.
• Pg 173: A report that the Air Force Office of Special Investigations (AFOSI) set up a “honey pot” computer system to identify foreign threats in May 2006. In October 2007, AFOSI realized that the honey pot system might have been in violation of a sealed Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) order that required a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) warrant for such activity. AFOSI was not privy to the FISC order and only knew of it from public media reporting. The operation was suspended. Amazingly, when the Air Force asked the Justice Department to see the FISC order at issue, DOJ’s National Security Division denied the Air Force’s request.

According to the release schedule ordered by a federal judge last December, we expect to receive additional IOB reports from the CIA, National Security Agency, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and the Department of Defense later this month. We will post the documents to our website as we receive them.

Source

In an amazing display of honor and integrity possibly extinct amongst American businesses, Toyota Motor Corp. CEO and President Akio Toyoda declined to accept an award from the Japanese Government for the Prius model’s energy efficiency. The Prius was one of 3 products selected this year to receive the Grand Prize for Energy Efficiency and Ecological Quality from Japan’s Trade Minister.

Referring to the recent voluntary recall of 437,000 Prius for possible brake problems, Toyota spokesman Paul Nolasco said, “We declined to accept the award because we thought it was not appropriate.” Toyota made the decision to recall the Prius amongst the recent recall of a total of 8.5 million other Toyota autos after receiving only 200 complaints total in both the U.S. and Japan of the hybrid experiencing a braking delay in very specific cold weather conditions over very bumpy roads.

Read More

Yesterday TMZ made big news by publishing a photo that supposedly depicted John F. Kennedy lounging on a yacht while four naked girls frolicked around, much like you see in your dreams, assuming your dreams are black and white and grainy. The story spread like wild fire and I was oh-so-close to posting something about the image, but it just didn’t feel right. Something was off. Now comes word that my hunch was correct, but the same sites that ran the story yesterday will almost assuredly post no correction today.

Hours after the popular celebrity news Web site published a photo that it said “appears to show John F. Kennedy on a boat filled with naked women,” one of its corporate siblings, The Smoking Gun, revealed that TMZ had been duped.

The photo that TMZ called exclusive was, it turned out, featured in a Playboy magazine photo spread in 1967, four years after Mr. Kennedy was assassinated. The Smoking Gun called it a “colossal screw-up” by TMZ.

TMZ is owned by Warner Brothers, and The Smoking Gun is owned by Turner. Both are units of Time Warner.

TMZ acknowledged in a subsequent article on Monday afternoon that the photo was “a fake.”

Source

Here’s the Cliff-Notes version of every major event that happened over the past 10 years, as devised by Newsweek magazine.