Citizens for Legitimate Government: 27 November 2013

Singapore and S. Korea help the US and Australia tap undersea cables - Snowden leaks 24 Nov 2013 Singapore and South Korea are playing key roles helping the United States and Australia tap undersea telecommunications links across Asia, according to top secret documents leaked by former US intelligence contractor Edward Snowden. New details have also been revealed about the involvement of Australia and New Zealand in the interception of global satellite communications. A top secret United States National Security Agency map shows that the US and its "Five Eyes" intelligence partners tap high speed fibre optic cables at 20 locations worldwide. The interception operation involves cooperation with local governments and telecommunications companies or else through "covert, clandestine" operations.

Spies worry over 'doomsday' cache stashed by ex-NSA contractor Snowden 25 Nov 2013 British and U.S. intelligence officials say they are worried about a "doomsday" cache of highly classified, heavily encrypted material they believe former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden has stored on a data cloud. The cache contains documents generated by the NSA and other agencies and includes names of U.S. and allied intelligence personnel, seven current and former U.S. officials and other sources briefed on the matter said. The data is protected with sophisticated encryption, and multiple passwords are needed to open it, said two of the sources, who like the others spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss intelligence matters.

Report: NSA director offered resignation 25 Nov 2013 The National Security Agency's director, Gen. Keith Alexander, offered to resign from his post shortly after Edward Snowden began leaking classified government documents, according to The Wall Street Journal. According to the report, the Obama administration rejected his offer. Snowden, a former NSA contractor, began disclosing documents detailing the agency’s surveillance programs in June.

China lashes out at US for interfering in territorial dispute with Japan 27 Nov 2013 Beijing has warned Washington not to "meddle" in the territorial dispute between China and Japan. Though the US has many thousands of troops stationed in Japan, China, an emerging naval power, is challenging for control of the surrounding seas. After Washington expressed its discontent over Chinese plans to put the East China Sea under the control of its air forces, Beijing demanded explanations from the American ambassador and advised the US to "correct its mistakes immediately."

US flies B-52s over disputed islands East China Sea in defiance of Chinese air defence rules - officials 26 Nov 2013 The US has flown B-52 military aircraft over disputed islands in the East China Sea in defiance of new Chinese air defence rules, officials say. China set up its air defence identification zone on Saturday. A US colonel quoted by Reuters said the planes had followed "normal procedures, which include not filing flight plans, not radioing ahead".

Penny Lane: Guantanamo's other secret CIA facility 26 Nov 2013 A few hundred yards from the administrative offices of the Guantánamo Bay prison, hidden behind a ridge covered in thick scrub and cactus, sits a closely held secret. A dirt road winds its way to a clearing where eight small cottages sit in two rows of four... In the early years after 9/11, these cottages were part of a covert CIA program. Its secrecy has outlasted black prisons, waterboarding and rendition. In these buildings, CIA officers [allegedly] turned terrorists into double agents and sent them home.

Attacks leave over 30 people dead across Iraq 25 Nov 2013 Over 30 people have been killed in several attacks across Iraq as the country is grappling with a prolonged rise in violence. At least 15 people were killed in a bombing at a local market in the Sadriyah neighbourhood of the Iraqi capital Baghdad on Monday. Over 35 people were also wounded in the attack as people gathered at restaurants and cafes and did the shopping.

CBS: Lara Logan, producer ordered to take leave 26 Nov 2013 CBS ordered 'correspondent' Lara Logan and her producer to take a leave of absence Tuesday following a critical internal review of their handling of the show's October story on the Benghazi raid, based on a report on a supposed witness whose story can't be verified. The review, by CBS News executive Al Ortiz and obtained by The Associated Press, said the "60 Minutes" team should have done a better job vetting the story that featured a security contractor mercenary who said he was at the U.S. mission in Libya the night it was attacked last year. Questions were quickly raised about whether the man was lying. [He was.] The report also said Logan should not have done the story in the first place after making a speech in Chicago a year ago claiming that it was a lie that America's military had tamed 'al-Qaida.'

Sandy Hook report sheds no light on motive --The report concluded Lanza acted alone. 25 Nov 2013 It's unclear when the Connecticut State Police's full report on the shooting -- several thousand pages long and containing more than 700 files included in its investigation -- will be released. The state's attorney said authorities are in the process of redacting sensitive information and are expecting to complete that process before the first anniversary of the shooting. But the decision to withhold the full report from the public has stirred renewed criticism of the secrecy surrounding the investigation. Typically, the full evidence is released, not just a summary. Sedensky has fought against the release of 911 tapes from the morning of the shooting.

Newtown 911 Calls Remain Sealed as Judge Reviews Them 25 Nov 2013 Before deciding whether the 911 calls from the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting will be released or remain sealed, Judge Elliot Prescott will listen to them and they will remain sealed until he does. During the last hearing, Prescott said he first had to determine whether he could review the tapes, which are sealed. A Connecticut prosecutor has asked a court to block the release of 911 recordings as he appeals an order from the state's Freedom of Information Commission and today's decision comes as part of that case.

Lockdown ends at Yale's Connecticut campus, no gunman found 25 Nov 2013 Yale University lifted a lockdown on Monday after a police search of its campus in New Haven, Connecticut, found no evidence of a gunman, despite an anonymous caller's claim that his roommate had headed to the Ivy League school to shoot people. "This is so far an unconfirmed report," said David Hartman, spokesman for the New Haven Police Department. "We have not identified a suspect in this case." The department received an emergency call at 9:30 a.m. from a man on a pay phone near Yale University who stated that his roommate was en route to the campus "with the intention of shooting people," Hartman told reporters.

N.Y. Troopers Use SUVs to Spot Texting Drivers --State police now have 32 tall, unmarked SUVs to better peer down at drivers who are texting. 25 Nov 2013 New York has given state police 32 tall, unmarked SUVs to better peer down at drivers' hands, part of one of the nation's most aggressive attacks on texting while driving that also includes steeper penalties and dozens of highway "Texting Zones," where motorists can pull over to use their devices... In New York's recent push, 91 existing rest areas and turnoffs on the state Thruway and other highways have been rebranded "Texting Zones," some advertised with blue signs declaring "It can wait. Text stop 5 miles."

Herring Wins Virginia Attorney General's Race: Board of Elections 25 Nov 2013 The Virginia Board of Elections certified State Sen. Mark Herring (D-Loudon) as the winner of the Virginia attorney general's race on Monday. Herring defeated state Sen. Mark Obenshain (R-Harrisonburg) in the election, the closest statewide race in Virginia history. Herring had a 165-vote lead out of over 2.2 million votes cast. A victory by Herring would give Democrats the top-three statewide offices in Virginia.

Supreme Court to review contraceptive coverage mandate 26 Nov 2013 The Supreme Court agreed Tuesday to consider a new challenge to President Obama's Affordable Care Act and decide whether employers with religious objections may refuse to provide their workers with mandated insurance coverage of contraceptives. The cases accepted by the court offer complex questions about religious freedom and equality for female workers along with an issue the court has not yet confronted: whether a secular, for-profit corporation is protected by the Constitution or federal statute from complying with a law because of its owners religious beliefs. The justices [sic] accepted two cases that produced opposition results in lower courts.

House Approves Reckless Fracking Bill 20 Nov 2013 By a vote of 235-187, the U.S. House of Representatives today approved its latest giveaway to the oil and gas industry: A bill to boost 'fracking,' the dirty process of drilling that has contaminated water supplies from Pennsylvania to New Mexico and is making families near drilling sites sick from air pollution. The bill, H.R. 2728, sponsored by Rep. Flores (R-TX), would roll back the federal government's ability to protect federal lands and the communities that rely on them from fracking, deferring to a patchwork of state rules and guidelines no matter how weak or inadequate they may be. The bill would also delay EPA's congressionally mandated study on fracking's impacts on groundwater, keeping important data about water contamination from families living near fracking sites.

Gay couple to get Illinois marriage license early 25 Nov 2013 A federal court ruling means a same-sex Chicago couple will be allowed to marry before the state's gay marriage law takes effect. U.S. District Judge Thomas Durkin on Monday ordered the Cook County clerk to issue an expedited marriage license to Vernita Gray and Patricia Ewert. Gray is terminally ill. County Clerk David Orr said he'll comply with the order.

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