“Nobody in the government is talking. It’s a case of national security.” “Of course. The national security of spying on U.S. citizens.” - Kenneth Eade

NATIONAL SECURITY       

National Security Strategy of the United States of America 

The catastrophic threat to national security: Exploding debt OPINION

When governments turn spyware on citizens

A new report shows that a military contractor has likely sold spyware to repressive regimes. But the study's authors and other experts differ on how to stop the problem. The big picture: That study, released Tuesday by the University of Toronto's Citizen Lab, found that 36 surveillance networks used commercial militarized spyware made by the Israeli NSO Group. Many countries operated more than one network, and six of the suspected countries — including Bahrain, Kazakhstan and Saudi Arabia — had histories of using spyware to target dissidents, journalists and other civil targets. Some uses veered toward the petty: One cluster of infections hit supporters of a soft drink tax in Mexico. NSO is far from the only spyware maker that sells its tools to countries that might be repressive. It happens often enough that companies follow the same script. “They say, ‘We only sell to law enforcement. We’re self-regulating,'" says Bill Marczak, the author of the Citizen Lab report. "But if this wasn’t being used to target civil society, it would never cross our desks.” We can't get rid of the industry altogether. Lots of countries use commercial spyware for legitimate purposes. The study's list includes the U.S. and Canada, and the new U.S. strategy for military cybersecurityreleased earlier this week calls for more use of "off-the-shelf" hacking tools. Citizen Lab's solution: regulation. “The best step to keep the tools in line would be a process of export controls with humanitarian restrictions rather than just defense and national security ones,” says Marczak. Yes, but: The security industry is still stinging from the last time a powerful group of countries tried to do just that. The nations of the Wassenaar Arrangement, an arms export pact that includes the U.S., EU and others, tried to use that agreement to slow the spread of commercial malware to repressive regimes in 2013. The move was ultimately a disaster. Poor definitions in the agreement inadvertently applied limits not just to spying tools, but to research into spying tools, security testing software and other products that might need to replicate something bad to accomplish something good. Researchers — and Congress — rebelled. Katie Moussouris, a cybersecurity expert brought in by the State Department to renegotiate the Wassenaar Arrangement, says, "We’ve already seen for 20 years that export controls on software have been hard to do with surgical precision." Moussouris, the CEO of Luta Security, says better alternatives might include sanctions against misbehaving countries or intervention under the military's new cyber strategy. There are no easy fixes. "Stopping humanitarian abuses is something I think we as human beings typically support," says Moussouris. But there isn't any consensus on how to do that, safely, given the lessons learned the last time nations tried. [Axios Codebook, September 20, 2018]

GAMES, SPORTS & HOBBIES       

A Brief History of Women’s Figure Skating 

The Unbreakable Spirit of American Paralympians is Embodied in These Artifacts

These Portraits Capture the Agony and Ecstasy of What It Means to Be an Olympian

ENERGY

New materials are powering the battery revolution

With Deepwater Wind’s takeover, there’ll be less competition for offshore projects in Mass.

Whitefish Energy gets US contracts after Puerto Rico ouster

There’s a New Job in the Solar Industry

ELECTIONS

Democrats fear Trump ‘October Surprise’ document dump 

KOCHS ENGAGE — Three different groups in the Koch network released new ad campaigns in three races in recent days. In the Tennessee Senate race, Americans for Prosperity Action released two new digital ads attacking former Democratic Gov. Phil Bredesen on health care. In the Nevada gubernatorial race, Freedom Partners Action Fund released a digital ad attacking Democrat Steve Sisolak arguing he practices "crony politics at its worst." In the Montana Senate race, Concerned Veterans for America Action released a digital ad attacking Sen. Jon Tester, accusing him of insufficiently supporting veterans. [POLITICO's Morning Score, September 28, 2018]

CYBERSECURITY

Document: National Cyber Strategy 

Lawmaker: US Senate, staff targeted by state-backed hackers

MUCH ADO ABOUT LITTLE — The Trump administration touted the National Cyber Strategy it released Thursday as proof of its commitment to protecting U.S. government networks and critical infrastructure from cyber threats, but the document offered little new information about how President Donald Trump plans to improve U.S. cybersecurity, even as intelligence officials continue to warn that the Russian government is meddling in the midterms.

The report focuses on four key "pillars" of activity, including protecting government networks and critical infrastructure, developing a cyber workforce and deterring malicious cyber activity by foreign adversaries. But it mostly describes work that is already underway, from election security partnerships with state and local officials to modernizing cybercrime laws. In the document, the administration says it will continue expanding DHS oversight of federal civilian networks and share more threat data with telecoms.

One of the few concrete new actions described in the report is the creation of a Cyber Deterrence Initiative, through which the U.S. will build coalitions and "develop tailored strategies" for jointly attributing cyberattacks and imposing costs on their perpetrators. The U.S. and the UK partnered for the first joint attribution in history in December 2017, when they blamed North Korea for the WannaCry malware. That action prompted bipartisan praise, including from some former Obama administration officials who said it represented the logical next step in cyber deterrence.

The administration will also increasingly launch offensive cyber operations to disrupt adversaries' attacks, according to national security adviser John Bolton. "We're going to do a lot of things offensively, and I think our adversaries need to know that," he told reporters. He confirmed that Trump had rescinded an Obama-era directive restricting how the military could launch cyberattacks. "Our hands are not tied, as they were in the Obama administration," Bolton said. "Since President Trump took office, he has acted decisively to strengthen the American response to the challenges presented by cyberspace."

— WHAT THEY'RE SAYING: Republicans welcomed the new strategy, while Democrats were more divided. "Taking a more offensive approach to cyber-attacks will allow us to swiftly and preemptively address an imminent attack," said Sen. Mike Rounds, chairman of the cyber subpanel of the Armed Services Committee. Republican Sen. James Lankford, not always an ally of Trump, also praised the strategy.

Michael Daniel, the former cyber czar under President Barack Obama, said it builds on work of Obama and President George W. Bush and is "what a national strategy should look like on an issue that is truly nonpartisan." Daniel, now president and CEO of the Cyber Threat Alliance, also said the strategy "strikes a good balance between defensive actions and seeking to impose consequences on malicious actors." Top Senate Intelligence Democrat Mark Warner said the new strategy "outlines a number of important and well-established cyber priorities" but "must now move beyond vague policy proposals and into concrete action towards achieving those goals."

Democratic Rep. Jim Langevin was less impressed with what he largely considered a retread of previous administrations' work. While he said he was intrigued by the deterrence initiative, Langevin urged caution on more offensive operations. "As the country with the most innovative economy in the world, we must also acknowledge the abiding interest of the United States in encouraging stability in this domain," said Langevin, co-founder of the Congressional Cybersecurity Caucus. "It is incontrovertible that we must respond to malicious activity violating well-established norms of responsible behavior, but that response must be whole-of-government and need not always include a cyber component." [POLITICO's Morning Cybersecurity, September 21, 2018]

Udder Madness: One Artist’s Adventure with 4,000 Cows 

Starting at the Source: Lewis Hine and Labor

Wooded bliss: the beauty of trees – in pictures

Found: 100-Million-Year Old Arachnid with a Tail 

With Archaeoacoustics, Researchers Listen for Clues to the Prehistoric Past

Dinosaur and Ancient Mammal Stomping Ground Found in NASA Parking Lot

TRUMP - RUSSIA PROBE

Manafort's Guilty Plea Shows the Slow But Steady Progress of the Russia Investigation

More Americans favor Mueller handling of probe, poll shows

COMEY SUGGESTS MUELLER PROBE IS ‘IN THE FOURTH QUARTER’

FOR YOUR RADAR -- "Former top White House official revises statement to special counsel about Flynn's calls with Russian ambassador," by WaPo's Shane Harris and Devlin Barrett: "A former top White House official has revised her statement to investigators about a key event in the probe of Russian interference in the 2016 election, after her initial claim was contradicted by the guilty plea of former national security adviser Michael Flynn, according to people familiar with the matter. K.T. McFarland, who briefly served as Flynn's deputy, has now said that he may have been referring to sanctions when they spoke in late December 2016 after Flynn's calls with Russia's ambassador to the United States, these people said.

"When FBI agents first visited her at her Long Island home in the summer of 2017, McFarland denied ever talking to Flynn about any discussion of sanctions between him and the ambassador, Sergey Kislyak, in December 2016 during the presidential transition. ... Not long after Flynn's plea, McFarland was questioned by investigators again about her conversations with Flynn, and she walked back her previous denial that sanctions were discussed, saying a general statement Flynn had made to her that things were going to be okay could have been a reference to sanctions, these people said." WaPo [POLITICO Playbook, September 23, 2018]

MIKE POMPEO  

        Secretary of State          

Pompeo restarts North Korea talks, sets 2021 deadline 

Questions on Pompeo’s certainty about secure midterms

Pompeo, Kim Jong Un set Sunday meeting in North Korea

POLITICS

How the Koch brothers built the most powerful rightwing group you've never heard of 

The Metaphysics of Defeating Trump

Did ‘elites’ get the 2016 US election wrong?

U.S. tears up obscure Iran treaty, escalating stand-off 

On Iran, White House Criticism Grows, but U.S. Military Posture Recedes

US seeks to keep North Korea sanctions; Russia, China object

The Trump admin's secret anti-China plans

The Trump administration is planning to launch a major, "administration-wide," broadside against China, according to two sources briefed on the sensitive internal discussions. These sources, who weren't authorized to discuss the plans with the media, told me the effort is expected to launch in the next few weeks. The details: The broadside against China — which is planned to be both rhetorical and substantive — will be "administration-wide," including the White House (led by senior officials on the National Security Council), Treasury, Commerce and Defense. "We're not just going to let Russia be the bogeyman," one White House official told me. "It's Russia and China." The White House plans to unveil new information about China's hostile actions against America's public and private sectors, and to act on it. Administration officials will call out China for its "malign activity" in cyberattacks, election interference and industrial warfare (e.g., intellectual property theft), an administration source told me. The administration has marshaled tons of data to support its charges against China. "We are going to show how the Chinese have infiltrated the U.S. and what we are doing to counter it," the source said. Behind the scenes: "The push is coming from the national security apparatus," the source added. "Cyber theft has been appearing more often in the PDBs [President's Daily Brief]." The unknowns: Neither administration official explained why the administration is pursuing this now. China has been an aggressor on trade and cyber issues for years, and the Trump administration has started a trade war with the country. At the same time, Trump has maintained cheery rhetoric toward President Xi Jinping in hopes of cooperating on some issues. The extent to which Trump will lead this rhetorical push isn’t clear. But he's green lit it, according to a source familiar with the planning. There's a good chance Trump will keep saying positive things about Xi to protect their relationship, delegating the hottest rhetoric to China hawks like Peter Navarro. [Axios Sneak Peek, September 23, 2018]

ACTIVISTS

Today we’re proud to announce the launch of The Project for Accountability -- to be coordinated by CIA whistleblower Jeffrey Sterling.

After prosecution that BBC News called “trial by metadata,” Jeffrey spent more than two and a half years in a federal prison. In recent months, he transitioned to a “halfway house” and then to home confinement, which ended early this summer.

Now, Jeffrey says, “I would like to address the need for accountability of power.” He adds: “I spent a few years working in and for what many may rightfully consider an unaccountable power in this country, the Central Intelligence Agency.”

At the RootsAction Education Fund, we’re thrilled that Jeffrey will serve as the coordinator of The Project for Accountability. You can help the project get off to a strong start if you make a tax-deductible donation in support of this exciting new venture.

The RootsAction Education Fund is sponsoring this project for the same reason that we’ve actively supported Jeffrey Sterling for the last several years, while he withstood the vengeful weight of the “national security” state.

Jeffrey infuriated powerful CIA officials when he sued the agency for racial discrimination, and later when he went through channels to tell Senate Intelligence Committee staffers about a botched and dangerous covert operation by the CIA.

The CIA unleashed its unaccountable power against Jeffrey. “When I tried to hold that power accountable for its discriminatory employment practices,” he recalls, “I encountered another element of unfettered and unaccountable governmental power -- the ability to claim ‘national security’ in order to quash any calls of accountability.

“In my case, it was not only the CIA which used the national security panacea to fight off accountability. It was bolstered by a presidential administration which was all too willing to come to the aid and defense of the CIA to hide its discrimination, and also the courts which too readily bow to the whims of government impropriety in the name of national security.”

This morning, The Project for Accountability began with $0. Please help it grow now by clicking here to make a tax-deductible contribution. Half of every dollar you donate will go directly to Jeffrey as he works to rebuild his life, while the other half will go to sustaining his project.

If you don’t already know about Jeffrey’s long ordeal of harassment, legal threats and persecution by the CIA hierarchy and the Justice Department, please take a look at the Background information we link to at the bottom of this email.

We plan to keep you informed about Jeffrey’s future radio and TV interviews, speaking tours and articles. But for all of that to happen, we need to get The Project for Accountability underway. A tax-deductible donation of whatever you can afford would be greatly appreciated.

Jeffrey understands full well that telling the American people and the entire world about what happened to him can help strengthen a wide range of whistleblowers -- past, present and future.

“There was no accountability in my instance of fighting for my rights; the CIA and federal government was only accountable to itself and no one else. The danger of such unaccountability became sorely evident as the CIA continued its vendetta against me, a man who had the audacity to sue it for discrimination, as it mounted a campaign to prosecute me for allegedly leaking classified information.”

Jeffrey continues: “I will state again as I did during my trial via a ‘not guilty’ plea, that I at no time divulged classified information, to anyone. Despite a lack of evidence (in fact the Department of Justice during the trial seemed to go out of its way to demonstrate how as a CIA employee, I routinely followed the rules) I was indicted, arrested, put on trial, found guilty and imprisoned. During this horrible ordeal, the CIA was not held accountable for its actions, the Department of Justice was eager to have a show trial, the 4th Circuit was all too accommodating, and ultimately the press was also willing to just go along with the powers that be.”

Jeffrey sums up this way: “The only fact proven during the trial was that I was a black man and had the nerve to sue the CIA for discrimination. Being the only person investigated out of myriad individuals with motive and opportunity, it was an easy investigation and prosecution.”

The questions that Jeffrey Sterling raises transcend his individual experiences, going to key issues of civil liberties and democracy: “Who was the CIA accountable to in denying me my right as a citizen of this country to be free of discrimination at the workplace? Who was the Department of Justice accountable to as it provided the mechanism to persecute me? Who was the 4th Circuit accountable to as it conferred in denying the civil rights it claims to protect and uphold, yet allowed that denial to give unfettered opportunity to the CIA, Department of Justice and the federal government to make an example of me and send me to prison? Who was the press accountable to as it demonstrated more concern for one of its own over an innocent victim?”

The ordeal in a courtroom was followed by the ordeal in a federal prison: “As if those aspects of accountability were not enough for one to experience, I became aware of and exposed to another, less public unfettered governmental power seeming accountable to none, the Bureau of Prisons.

“My point is that power must be accountable. When I speak of accountability, I am not meaning a system by which government can merely state unproven claims of dangers to national security to quash being called into account for its actions. Power cannot be accountable only to itself; a system accountable only to itself is accountable to nothing. The accountability I feel is sorely lacking is accountability to the overall purpose and essence of a democratic government -- the people.

“It is the people who establish and form government; when that government is no longer answerable to the people through bureaucratic complexities, institutional acquiescence and judicial deferment, rights of citizenry become meaningless ripples of annoyance in an ever-growing power sea of government. With power being accountable, what usually starts off as a ripple can became a tempest of change and true representation. But if government is not held accountable, those ripples merely fade away to nothingness, swallowed up by a sea of unfettered power.”

Please do what you can to support Jeffrey’s new work as coordinator of The Project for Accountability.

Thank you!



Please share on Facebook and Twitter.

--- The RootsAction Education Fund team [September 19, 2018]

Background:
>>  BBC News: "Jeffrey Sterling's Trial by Metadata"
>>  John Kiriakou: “CIA Whistleblower Jeffrey Sterling Placed in Solitary Confinement”
>>  ExposeFacts: Special Coverage of the Jeffrey Sterling Trial
>>  Marcy Wheeler, ExposeFacts: "Sterling Verdict Another Measure of Declining Government Credibility on Secrets"
>>  Norman Solomon, The Nation: "CIA Officer Jeffrey Sterling Sentenced to Prison: The Latest Blow in the Government's War on Journalism"
>>  Reporters Without Borders: "Jeffrey Sterling Latest Victim of the U.S.' War on Whistleblowers"
>>  AFP: "Pardon Sought for Ex-CIA Officer in Leak Case"
>>  Documentary film: "The Invisible Man: CIA Whistleblower Jeffrey Sterling"

Wicked River: The Mississippi When It Last Ran Wild 

The Last Days of Innocence: America at War, 1917-1918

The Mars Room FICTION

The First Shot (Lieutenant Kane - Dedicated to Death Series Book 1) FICTION

GUATEMALA

Separated by Trump, All a Little Girl Remembers About America: ‘They Took My Dad and Locked Him Up’

U.S. Campaign Against Migration Goes Unheard, or Unheeded, in Guatemala

Laser Scans Reveal 60,000 Hidden Maya Structures in Guatemala

VATICAN

'I want this day to heal me': For thousands, the canonization of Oscar Romero was deeply personal

Wuerl resigns, ending influential tenure in wake of abuse report

Murder at the Vatican

EUROPE

Europe Hopes Oil Demand From China, India and Turkey Will Keep Iran in Nuclear Deal 

EU audit finds Thai poultry controls worse than before

How the EU killed off Chequers and twisted the knife on Theresa May

KENYA

'When he came back in the room he was crying, telling me he was sorry'

Scores arrested over invasion of 900-acre ADC land in Kilifi

Tycoon in Mike Sonko bribery case allowed to travel to UK

Wildlife Trade Researcher Esmond Bradley Martin Found Murdered in Kenya

NOTE: I have no official connection to any organization from which information is shared.. Occasionally, I post informational material and/or an opportunity to donate or join as  a "community service" announcement.  These again are shared for their varying perspectives.

Any commercial or business interest information shared is purely informational, not an endorsement.  I have no connection with any such commercial or business interest.

Any books listed are random or topic-related to something else in the post.  Think of these as a "library bookshelf" to browse.  They are shared for informational or entertainment value only, not as being recommended.