UP-FRONT MUST-READ NATIONAL SECURITY NUGGET!!
Obama Order Sped Up Wave of Cyberattacks Against Iran (David Sanger) from the New York Times
"From his first months in office, President Obama secretly ordered increasingly sophisticated attacks on the computer systems that run Iran’s main nuclear enrichment facilities, significantly expanding America’s first sustained use of cyberweapons, according to participants in the program. ... “The intent was that the failures should make them feel they were stupid, which is what happened,” the participant in the attacks said. When a few centrifuges failed, the Iranians would close down whole “stands” that linked 164 machines, looking for signs of sabotage in all of them. “They overreacted,” one official said. “We soon discovered they fired people.”"
WHO CALLED IT!?! Now -- did the Iranians fire people ... or did they fire AT people? I suspect the latter. Because even as all this is going on, Israel was (supposedly) targeting their nuclear scientists for assassination. The people who worked at Natanz must have been freaking out!
Egypt’s Army Issues Ultimatum to Morsi: Leader Given 2 Days to Satisfy Protesters or Face Takeover from the New York Times
"In a statement read on state television on Monday, the head of the Egyptian military, General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, said the mass demonstrations over the weekend reflected an “unprecedented” expression of popular anger."
Squeal Like a Pig (James Traub) from Foreign Policy Magazine
"Why Putin actually loves tweaking the United States over Edward Snowden, and why China’s too smart to bother."
The Taming of the Spook (William Saletan) from Slate
"A secret history of the NSA surveillance program shows it’s gotten better, not worse."
Ecuador: We Helped Snowden by Mistake from the Guardian [of the UK]
"Ecuador is not considering Edward Snowden's asylum request and never intended to facilitate his flight from Hong Kong, president Rafael Correa said as the whistleblower made a personal plea to Quito for his case to be heard."
You have to wonder what nutcracker Obama has around Ecuador's ... never mind.
Hong Kong to Snowden: You're Not Coming Back from USA Today
"With U.S. officials continuing to snipe at Hong Kong for not arresting former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden, and with his next stop still far from certain, one place he won't be returning to is Hong Kong. The city has now declared it won't let him back in."
This tells you that, internationally, the heat is on BIG TIME to bring Snowden's little junket to an end! Chinese officials did not need to say this. Why did they? Answer: it's to make the Cubas and the Venezuelas of this world think long and hard before they throw out the red carpet for this numbskull.
Edward Snowden Asking 15 countries for Asylum, Russian Official says from the Los Angeles Times
"Edward Snowden, the former National Security Agency contractor who leaked U.S. security secrets and is now a fugitive, met Monday morning with Russian diplomatic officials and handed them an appeal to 15 countries for political asylum, ... Said a Russian official: "It was a desperate measure on his part after Ecuador disavowed his political protection credentials.""
Report: Snowden Has Asked For Asylum In Russia from the Associated Press
"Russia's President Vladimir Putin says Snowden will have to stop leaking U.S. secrets if he wants to get asylum in Russia, but adds that Snowden has no plan to quit doing so."
Ah, the travails of staking your civil liberties flag on a hill that is pretty inhospitable to civil liberties. This is the catch-22 for countries like China, Russia and Cuba, etc. It's all well and good for an American to leak US secrets all over the place -- but God help the Russian, Chinese or Cuban analyst who tried to do the same thing. That person would be dead. dead. dead. And these countries are, shall we say, reluctant to celebrate and/or encourage this kind of behavior.
5 Things Running Through the Minds of Whistleblowers Like Edward Snowden (Peter Van Buren) from Mother Jones Magazine
"A State Department whistleblower describes the thought process behind Snowden's decision."
The U.S. Just Became a Global Leader in Fighting Climate Change from the National Journal
"Other industrial nations expect all talk and no action from Washington. But Obama’s climate plan has them finally taking notice."
Thanks for Nothing, College! (Tim Donovan) from Salon
"The studies extolling college's virtues are outdated and misguided. Here's what's really happening to Millennials."
'You're Going to Die Tonight Motherf***er' George Zimmerman Told Police in Interview that Trayvon Reached for his Gun and Threatened to Kill Him from the Daily Mail [of the UK]
"He allegedly told Zimmerman before trying to reach for his gun: 'You're going to die tonight motherf***er.'"
Yeah ... right. What neo-confederate comic book did Zimmerman get this dialog from? This kid with no history of violence is going to kill a healthy adult man who is bigger than he is -- and he's going to do it with his bare hands!? Moreover, if Martin said this, is there any indication of it on the 911 call from the neighbor? Answer: no.
Poll: Clinton Tops Bush, Rubio Among Hispanic Voters for 2016 from The Hill
"The survey, by Latino Decisions, also revealed Republican candidates continue to significantly trail among Hispanic voters, with even champions of immigration reform like Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush significantly behind top Democrats."
How the Supreme Court Just Killed Off the GOP from the AmericaBlog
"First and most important, every voter who gets the door slammed in their face by a corrupt Republican voter suppression law is a vote the GOP has lost for life. All the Democrats need do to claim those votes is to stand up for the disenfranchised voters. ... The second effect is that the more desperate the Republican party gets for votes, the more the GOP is going to get even nastier and more racist."
Sarah Palin Threatens To Blow Up The GOP Over Amnesty In The Name Of Ronald Reagan from National Memo
"Sarah Palin, however, typifies the GOP’s problem, the addict on the run. She’s an unelectable mix of politician and pundit with nothing to lose except people’s attention. She, Paul and Cruz speak for the soul of the GOP base that hates government spending because it goes to “them.”"
Sarah Palin Open to Notion of Leaving GOP, Forming Her Own Party. One with Blackjack, and ... (Hunter) from Daily Kos
"Suddenly, being lazy is a virtue, and being a stubborn, ignorant crank is the patriotic ideal? There have been people who have been stubborn, ignorant cranks all their lives and have been waiting that whole time for a party to acknowledge their contribution to American freedomz..."
What Paula Deen Could Teach John Roberts: One week, Two Visions of Southern Progress (Chuck Thompson) from the New Republic
"It turns out that despite plenty of evidence to the contrary, breathless predictions of a “new” racially tolerant South have been deceiving the national media for more than a century."
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