It's not just metadata : Why your subpoenaed phone records are just a piece of a much more sinister puzzle.

Much has been said already about the recent news that Verizon, as well as other providers, have been subpoenaed to provide phone records and other "metadata" about their users. The Obama administration would like you to believe that this is simply benign information, and does not compromise your privacy. "So what if they know who or when I called somebody, they don't know what I said". Well, that's where you may be wrong.

In light of recent revelations about the NSA's "PRISM" data mining system, it's becoming clear that there is a bit of judicial sleight of hand at play here.

Here's the thing. Metadata is indeed pretty benign as far as overall privacy is concerned. It does not contain any actual content. However the government uses this information to build network maps of who knows who, who contacts who, and so forth.

However, without the actual content of these conversations, texts, or emails, it's still only but so useful. This is where PRISM comes in handy along side data capturing techniques created by the NSA. PRISM appears to be a method of data mining. Preliminary research seems to suggest it is a product of the same name created by a company by the name of Palantir. Palantir is a leading provider of data mining and analysis software for the CIA and other three letter acronym agencies within the US Government.

What data mining software like this does, is it gathers information and data from disparate sources, and finds the links between them, forming a whole picture. You then have at your fingertips records of who a person called, when, and the actual content of that call as well all conveniently bundled and packaged for analysis by officials.

Metadata is being gathered under judicial oversight. This provides a level of plausible deniability for the government. "Look, it's only metadata! Your privacy is not at risk!". However, what they are not telling you is that previous whistleblowers have already outed the fact that the NSA has been tapping into internet data pipes and siphoning off traffic for many years now, the first known instance being as far back as 2006.

In fact the NSA is getting so good at monitoring all internet and phone traffic, they are building a huge datacenter in Utah that will set the record for the most amount of data storage capacity in the entire world.

Collecting the raw data provides content, metadata provides context. If you are listening into a stream of a phone call made at 6:01PM on a particular Tuesday, you are hearing a conversation between two unidentifiable persons. However, if you have the record of every phone call made at 6:01PM on a particular Tuesday, you now have the context of that conversation ( who's calling who ) and the content ( the actual recorded conversation ). As mentioned previously, the government is able to waive a court document in our faces claiming judicial oversight, while collecting basically everything without that same oversight.

So now we are starting to see the whole picture. The government is clearly showing the intent to monitor, index, catalog, and track the movement of pretty much every communication through the digital infrastructure, and then some. We haven't even delved into what other sources can be linked with data mining applications, such as financial records and emails.

However, this much is clear. The government is watching everything. And they are using clever judicial loopholes in order to spy on every American citizen, while avoiding and dodging every attempt at oversight. And now you know, that the argument of "it's just metadata" does not hold water. It unfortunately goes much, much deeper.

If Adam Kokesh is a government plant, then they need to fire their marketing agency.

Recently, famed internet rabble rouser Adam Kokesh was arrested by US Park Police at a pro-marijuana legalization rally in Philadelphia, along side Philly area weed activist/comedian N.A. Poe. Within minutes, the internet was abuzz in conspiracy theories about the arrest, as well as about Kokesh himself. The most popular of the theories, still gaining traction even after his unconditional release from federal lockup, is that Kokesh is in fact not a hard-core libertarian gun-rights and marijuana legalization activist, but is in fact a paid government "plant".

It would appear that this rumor is being fueled by two major pieces of so called "evidence", the first being his plans to stage an armed open-carry gun rights march into the heart of Washington D.C. on July 4th. 

Proponents of this theory claim this is a setup plot by the "powers that be" to cause all out carnage and destruction, in order to further the push to ban all guns and assault rifles. Apparently the government's master plan is to use a shootout as proof that gun owners are unbalanced, and will impose outright martial law and go door to door confiscating all guns. 

The other "gotcha"  that seems to "prove" this theory is that on Kokesh's Facebook page he lists his occupation as a "Revolution Czar" at Obama For America, the president's campaigning organization. Apparently this obvious attempt at a joke is being interpreted by people who have never bothered to watch any of Kokesh's numerous videos, and has no grasp on his sense of  humor.

The problem with all of this, is that it assumes that the spooky men behind the curtain have absolutely no idea what they are doing, and are completely bumbling idiots on par with Barney Fife.

Lets start with the obvious, shall we? If someone is a deep cover disinformation agent operating on behest of the United States government via whichever three lettered acronym agency you wish, wouldn't listing your occupation as such on your public facebook profile, with over 5,000 friends and viewable  by anyone with an internet connection, be the most absolutely idiotic thing you could ever do? Did whoever train Kokesh suddenly forget the first part of the manual, possibly on loan from the CIA, that says "Hey, no matter what you do, don't ever tell people who you really work for, cool?". Are we to believe that the same government which trains agents in how to carry out secret assassinations, infiltrate governments, and topple entire regimes, would just conveniently skip reviewing the public facebook page of a high profile "agent"? I mean, I realize that in a lot of ways our government is pretty damn incompetent sometimes, "Bay Of Pigs" seems to come to mind, but come on. Really?

So how about this armed march? It seems the working theory is that "they" are planning on either somebody in the crowd to "shoot first", or the government security forces will fire the first shot, but either way it will devolve into a bloody mess with lots of dead bodies. 

There seems to be a little problem with this, and it's a little plucky organization called the National Rifle Association. The NRA is perhaps one of the strongest lobbies in the history of our nation. And the fact is, they have completely distanced themselves from this march. In fact, most mainstream gun owners have. The general consensus is that this is an absolutely bad idea. And with that in mind, if there was an incident, you would have every single gun rights organization in the country distancing themselves from the events of that day.

If there is anything large lobbying groups are good at, it is spinning the narrative in their favor. The NRA has 2.2 million likes on their facebook page. Kokesh has about 50,000. This hypothetical "blood bath" would be viewed as just what it is, a tragic yet isolated incident of violence by a small group of "troublemakers".

So far, it looks like the marketing experts who are pulling the puppet strings of Kokesh are striking out. Unfortunately for them, it gets worse.

The "Smokedown Prohibition" event of May 18th was the 5th of it's kind. On previous occasions, the police came, watched a bunch of pot heads smoke up, and then watched as they all went home. This time, the situation was different. 

On the day of the event, barriers were setup around the demonstration area, and signs quoting the federal statute were taped up everywhere. Also noticeable was an increased police presence. In fact, some say the police presence was unprecedented.

Kokesh and Poe were both arrested on charges of resisting arrest, and assault on a US Park Services officer. However, there is video from multiple angles illustrating that this simply was not the case. It is also apparent from the video, that this was a targeted arrest of two high profile advocates of marijuana legalization. Based on courtroom testimony during Kokesh's and Poe's federal detention hearing, it is also made clear that the authorities were well aware of Kokesh, and what he had planned on July 4th. All signs point to this being an orchestrated take down

The problem is this. The arrest of Kokesh and Poe illustrated a very poignant fact. By targeting Kokesh & Poe, the government is showing that it is willing to meet peaceful, non-violent protesters with violence. A bunch of weed smokers in a park is not a threat to anyone. But an organized confrontation and trumped up charges sends a clear message to everyone. And it speaks volumes about how our government treats dissent.

These arrests also have had another unintended consequence. Millions of people have seen the videos. Millions have been able to infer that our government is running on an empty tank when it comes to marijuana policy. The legalization effort has potentially just increased in support exponentially.

However, let me channel my inner Billy Mays and say: "But wait, there's more!". Out of those millions of new eyes on this subject, it is conceivable that a percentage of them may be motivated to pick up the flag and start championing their own causes. Sometimes all it takes is a great injustice to stir people into action. By arresting Poe and Kokesh, the government has possibly created another thousand Poe & Kokesh's. These arrests have only served to increase their public profiles. And as history has taught us over and over, high profile leaders help create more high profile leaders.

So really, if you look at all of this from a higher level and side step the paranoid conspiracy theories, this seems not so much like a grand conspiracy, but a grand screw up. And as history also teaches us, if there's one thing the government actually is good at, it's screwing up.

As "Hanlons Razor" states, "Never ascribe to malice that which is adequately explained by incompetence". The simple fact is that Kokesh is probably not a government plant. He's simply a man with strong convictions, and controversial opinions. And by trying to silence him, our out of control government has only helped to further his cause. No tin foil hat needed...

You're Missing the Forest for the Conspiratrees

You have to give conspiracy theorists some credit. I mean, these folks usually spend countless hours pouring over pictures, reading articles, tracking down information, drawing links  and making all sorts of connections. They obsess over it, sometimes for years at a time. It becomes almost like a religion of sorts. God bless anyone who has that kind of dedication. I mean hell, I hardly have the attention span to finish most novels I crack open.

It's a shame that it's almost entirely a gigantic waste of time and resources. Now wait a minute before you get all angry and fire off a snarky reply, or click that big "x" in your browser window. I'm not here to debate the validity of any specific conspiracy theory. I'm just saying that in most cases, those involved with them are misdirecting their energies and missing the "real" conspiracy that may be in play. Or better yet, they are wasting time on entirely out there facets of a situation when a real, bonafide conspiracy is actually taking place. Let me take you down the rabbit hole with a recent example.

On April 15th, 2013, the US experienced the largest terrorist attack on our home turf since 9/11. The bombing of the Boston Marathon was a terrible and tragic event. And in record time, conspiracy theorists were all over it. Countless man hours have been spent looking at photos, analyzing frames of video, and finding connections and "holes" in the official story. Internet detectives have created an "intelligence network" that could rival our own national law enforcement apparatus.

Theories have popped up about everything. The list includes:

• Theories that the operation was a "false flag" perpetrated by our own government.
• Theories that the victims involved were "crisis actors", and amputees with fake injuries were used.
• Theories that the perpetrators were other people entirely instead of the two brothers currently implicated.
• Theories that bombs never actually went off, and all videos have been faked entirely.

The list goes on and on, and only gets crazier the more you go. Meanwhile, the real, verifiable conspiracy is taking place while internet detectives continue to zoom in on pixels from grainy digital photos.

Every minute spent chasing tails on inconsequential petty details and minutia, is a minute wasted on asking hard questions. Questions like:

• Why aren't we trying to fight back the calls from politicians to  use this as an excuse to further the use of public surveillance, facial recognition, increased losses of privacy, and the use drones on our soil?
• What effect has our actions in foreign countries had on creating "blowback", and what other risks are we subject to thanks to years of horrible foreign policy?
• Why does the FBI have a consistent history of having a hand in almost every failed terror plot since 9/11?
• Why was Boston shut down, and forced to endure without question a complete lockdown during the hunt for a single suspect?
• What did the intelligence community know about the older Tsarnaev brother, and when did they know it?

Since 9/11, billions upon billions of dollars have been spent on increased intelligence capabilities, law enforcement resources, and not to mention the start of two wars in separate countries. We've also increased by orders of magnitude the use of drones in countries we aren't even at war with. Our civil liberties and rights to privacy have been almost all  but eroded. But yet here we are 12 years later, left bleeding and shaken up by two kids from Chechnya.

I applaud anyone who is willing to stand up and ask questions. I just have to question the manner in which you do it, as well as the subject of those questions. There seems to be an awful amount of youthful energy out there, but it seems to be woefully misdirected. As somebody well past the teenage angst phase of life,  and the blunder years of my 20's, I understand what it is like to get caught up in chasing "the man". But you've got the wrong man in your sights.

Use that fire in your belly, and that never ending skepticism, and direct it towards the very real, and very hard questions that not many people are asking. Because at the end of the day, what good is it going to do if you prove that we don't have the "real" bomber? The fact still remains that we are left with a government on a seemingly unstoppable power binge. Whether or not our government perpetrated these acts ( which I entirely doubt happened, but whatever ), you still have a government that is grabbing at your very basic freedoms on a daily basis, and committing unspeakable acts with your tax dollars.

Focus on the end game, not the current play. All that time wasted could be better spent raising awareness, joining a protest, passing out flyers, lobbying officials, writing op-ed pieces, and questioning the very real and very much verifiable events that are taking place every day under our watch.

Or, you can just go back to YouTube and keep trying to find the "real" bomber. The choice is yours.

New Rules for Radicals, In The Digital Age

It's no longer a secret that we now live in an unfortunate age wherein anyone who speaks up is now considered suspect. Googling "fbi peace activists" will give you hundreds of hits on articles about the federal government infiltrating and monitoring even the most benign of social movements. Entire books have been written about the subject, and I could go on and on about it. But it's now to be considered a fact of life. If you are an activist, you are also a suspect.

It's also a fact that we now live in a digital age. Everybody is connected via social media, and other digital means. But unfortunately, we now have to assume that even what we once considered "private" conversations are no longer private. And we also have to consider that the same rules that apply to the physical world, apply to the digital world as well.

The National Security Agency's Utah data center is theorized to be able to process and store 5 zettabytes worth of data. That is a measurement of data most people are not even able to comprehend. But in the most crudest of terms, it's a metric fuckton of data. It's conceivable that every bit of digital communication that crosses through US data channels ( and probably foreign as well ) can be processed, stored, and analyzed for later use.

With the US Government's poor track record on civil liberties and privacy, nobody in their right mind expects this capability to not be abused. But like I said, I can go on and on about this subject, and I will later. But for now, this is about how to try to combat blatant violations of personal privacy.

Over the years I have had a passive interest in computer security and privacy. I am by no means an "expert" on the subject, though I am a professional in other information technology fields of research. However, I feel this gives me a good opportunity to share what I feel to be the new rules for operating in the digital age.

So what does that mean to you, the freedom loving peace activist? It means you have a new set of rules to play by. Of course I have to personally interject and state that above all else, the first rule of your existence should be to always operate within the framework of the law.

I do not condone anyone using what I'm about to recommend in the commission of a crime, or to plot acts of crime or violence. In fact, if you are a bottle throwing anarchist, just stop reading right now. You're on your own with that one. But for those who want to pursue peaceful paths, but still be able to watch your back, keep reading.

The first rule of fight club, is you do not talk about fight club

This first rule is the most simplest, and most obvious. Basically do not share anything online you wouldn't want to come back to bite you. There are countless stories of people losing jobs, being convicted of crimes, and having their lives ruined because they thought they were just sharing some stupid statuses on Facebook. Your private friends only Facebook wall, or off the record twitter account, is still indexed, and still capable of being subpoenaed. If you wouldn't shout it out via a bullhorn on a busy corner during rush hour, just don't post it to begin with.

Don't ever have sensitive conversations over Skype, in fact don't ever have conversations over anything

The technology blog ARS Technica has recently reported that even encrypted Skype conversations are being monitored by Microsoft. What was once thought as a private channel of communication is now shown to be completely vulnerable to being monitored by the very same people who provide those channels. Unfortunately there are very few "safe" channels of private communications anymore. Noted author and journalist Jeremy Scahill  recently revealed in a talk at the Philadelphia Free Library that confidential informants are resorting to "old school" communications methods, since what they once thought were secure and encrypted channels are capable of being cracked by our government's digital countermeasures. If notable battle hardened authors are running scared, you should be too.

You are never browsing anonymously

A lot of people rely on the "anonymous" browsing capabilities of Firefox, Chrome, and other web browsers. But the simple fact is that you are still capable of being tracked. If you are using your home internet connection, browsing anonymously on your own computer is futile. Your ISP is still tracking and logging every connection you make, and a simple national security letter will allow federal agents to monitor everything you do, without you even knowing about it.

Better yet, if you think going to your local coffee shop and using somebody else's wifi is going to help, you should reconsider that as well. Chances are whatever router you are going through logs your computer's MAC address, which is basically a digital fingerprint of your network card. If you've ever registered your computer or software with Microsoft or Apple, chances are your MAC address is now linked with your name and other personal info.

Now, we are delving into the paranoid levels of security here, but I'm just using this to illustrate my point, there are still technically ways you can be linked to your computer.

Your macbook is cute, but it will bite you in the ass

Contrary to popular belief, your Mac is not immune to viruses and trojans. And Windows users can just forget about ever being immune to them either.

It's been reported that the FBI has actively requested the ability to infiltrate suspects computers with trojan horse programs which can monitor pretty much anything you do on your computer, including turning on that handy web cam and microphone built into your laptop. In fact, it's probably safe to assume given their track record that they have already done this without on the record approval of a judge. Much like your cell phone, you should assume your computer is watching you.

Use the force. The 256bit AES-Twofish-Serpent force

So how can you secure files locally on your computer you may not want others to have access to? Fortunately there is a free Open Source program called TrueCrypt. This program will allow you to create a secure file on your hard drive, which can then be mounted like another drive and assigned a drive letter ( in windows ) or folder ( in mac ). Of course, it's still open for debate if the government has capability to break these encryption routines, but the fact is they are pretty damn secure, and will at least protect your data in the event your computer is compromised or stolen by private parties or criminals.

If they come a-knockin', they are cleaning house

Unfortunately, some people are still never going to be immune to a good old no-knock warrant. Granted, you shouldn't engage in activities that will earn you one, but obviously the case can be made that if you are a vocal enough activist and associate with the "wrong" people, chances are you may get a visit. And if you get visited, expect every digital medium you own to be taken in for analysis. This includes flash drives, DVD's, external hard drives, digital cameras, memory cards, etc. In my younger days of dealing with people involved in computer security, I have seen this happen countless times. Your digital goods will be taken from you, and it may be months or years before you ever get them back. So your best bet is to not consider anything you store offline "secure".

Network, network, network, but keep those new "friends" in a cage.

As mentioned, social networking can be your best friend. But if you are a rabid social net-worker  you may wind up adding people to your friends list you still may not know or trust very well. Fortunately Facebook has a good way of combating this. Many people don't even know you can add people to your "Restricted" list, so that if they are on your friends list, they still will only ever see posts you flag as "Public". This is a great way to add people, and still be able to share "private" things with your real friends and family. Google+ also has this capability built in with their "Circles" feature, but realistically if you are the type of person using Google+, you've known about this since day one.

To wrap it up...

After reading all this, you may come to the conclusion that I live a life of utter paranoia. Fortunately, that is not the case. The first step to being safe, is just to be aware. A lot of these rules I don't really follow half the time, since I consider myself an open book anyway. But then again, my profile is not that high either. For those of us who lead marches, organize groups, and may unjustly be considered "suspect", you probably want to follow these guidelines a little more closely. Who knows, it could save your butt some day.

Stay safe, and aware. And keep pushing for what you believe in. And so long as you have the truth ( as well as the law) on your side, you'll probably be ok, or so we can hope.

What is the best way to advocate for marijuana legalization? Stop smoking it...

I am acutely aware that by the very title of this post, I have already lost about half the intended audience. But bare with me, and hopefully you will see my point.

Let me start off by saying that I am absolutely, with every thread of my being, an advocate for the legalization of marijuana. Legalization of all forms: medical, and recreational.

But on the other hand, I also no longer partake. Why? Quite simply because I value my freedom more. Unfortunately the laws in many states are still incredibly harsh and detrimental to our freedoms. In the state of Pennsylvania where I live, possession of even a small amount of marijuana can result in fines, jail or community service, and revocation of your license for up to a year. Not to mention potential disqualification from student loans, potential future employment, and a nice big mark on your criminal record.

Imagine being a 9-5 office worker in a professional position, and not being able to drive to work. Try explaining that to your CEO. Imagine being someone who wishes to work in a job that may require a security clearance, drug test, or background check. You are pretty much out of luck.

However, it goes deeper than this. And this is where we will get to the meat of my position.

Imagine a world where you are a vocal, almost radical, advocate of marijuana legalization. You go to rallies. You write letters, make meetings with elected officials, and just overall get all up in the face of the establishment.

Now imagine getting pulled over by the police, on orders from the powers that be who wish to shut you up, and having your car searched and they find nothing. Zero. Not a shred of evidence. Imagine them coming to your house with a search warrant, for some made of excuse of "an anonymous tip", and them leaving with not a single plant, pipe, or rolling paper.

Can you think of how utterly frustrating this would be to the establishment? An establishment who also have a long documented history of trying to shut up trouble makers.

You would be the "Teflon Don" of marijuana advocates. Now multiply this group by dozens, hundreds, or thousands. Bunches of people, pushing for legalization, and not able to be pinned with anything.

No longer could you be written off in the press or smeared as a petty criminal. You aren't a criminal. You are now a concerned, law abiding citizen, who wants to see unjust laws overturned.

And you will be their worst nightmare.

The revolution will be televised, and you're the broadcaster...

As time goes on one thing is becoming increasingly clear about our government and the actions of our police forces: they do not like to be watched.

A simple Google search will bring up many results of officers and officials from the government assaulting law-abiding citizens who are in the midst of filming police actions. And while many of these encounters make it out into the public view, there are just as many accounts of police confiscating and then deleting photos and video, resulting in many encounters that never see the light of day.

If you or I deleted footage taken from the scene of the crime, we would be charged with destruction of evidence. If police do it, it seems to be considering standard operating procedure.

In addition to authorities not wishing to be filmed while in the middle of conducting their business, it is also becoming clear that they sure do love to film us.

Recently the City of Philadelphia announced a new mobile support vehicle which has a full range of surveillance mechanisms built into it. As mentioned in the linked article, "The cameras can remotely pan, tilt, zoom. They have night vision infrared so that we're able to use them on a 24/7 basis."

Of course the kinder, gentler reason for needing the vehicle is for "security" at public events. But no doubt you will soon be seeing these vehicles at protests and rallies where normal average Americans are practicing their freedoms of speech and free association.

Increasingly disturbing is the fact that not only are authorities starting to monitor every move we make in a public setting, they are now deploying facial recognition technology to identify, catalog, and label us. If you show up for instance to a marijuana anti-prohibition rally, there is a good chance you will now be logged in a database and identified.

Recently the FBI chose to publicly disclose for the first time by way of CBS's "60 Minutes" news program, the largest facial recognition database in the world. And if you think this is going to be just in the hands of the FBI, you are deluding yourself. The Department of Homeland Security is increasingly interested in getting their own hands on the same technology. Coupling this news with the fact the DHS was spying on the Occupy Wall Street protests on a daily basis, the implications of all this is terrifying.

It is now becoming clear. The government's official position seems to be "do not watch us, but we will be watching you".

So what do we do? How do we combat an increasing apparatus that squashes free speech, catalogs peacful protesters, and likes to hide their actions? We shine even more light on them.

With the advent of smart phones and digital recording devices that are affordable by almost anyone, we should be on the front lines filming everything. Those with smartphones who attend protests should utilize services like Ustream or Qik.

Organizations should come together and develop other technologies to record photos and video that can't be deleted, and are encrypted or immediately disseminated online or to others nearby. Photos and video of violent police actions at peaceful protests or public gatherings should immediately make their way to Facebook and Twitter, so the real story of what happens gets out, not the watered down news bites spokespeople feed to the media.

There is a wealth of technology out there to help protect us. We should not live in fear of our government, and the threat of unjust police brutality. In fact we should expose it immediately for all to see. Peaceful protesters are not criminals. And it is about time they stop being treated as such.

I'm not a writer. Am I?

Surely it can't be true. I'm not a writer. I'm a wolf in sheep's clothing. Writers don't drop out of community college, twice. Writers don't have four year long cases of writers block. Writers don't accumulate years upon years worth of work, only to throw it all out because they think it sucks. Do they?

Writers actually have, you know, talent. They read voraciously. They share their work with others. They live interesting and fascinating lives. They surround themselves with intellectuals and hold deep philosophical conversations. They have proper grammar.

I can't be a writer. I've abused and neglected the craft for far too long to even dare to label myself as such. I'm just a wordist. At least, for now.