Deciding it needed to smuggle spy gear into North Korea to monitor its nuclear weapons program, the Pentagon launched a secret operation using the services of a Christian charity. Given that the charity operated in more than 30 countries, the Pentagon felt the operation could be replicated elsewhere around the world, according to a former military official. Rep. Jan Schakowsky said using "people who genuinely do humanitarian work, to turn their efforts into intel collection is unacceptable."   read more

The IRS is the latest federal agency known to use electronic cellphone surveillance equipment. “It’s used by dozens, perhaps hundreds, of local law enforcement, used by the usual suspects at the federal level, and if the IRS is using it, it shows just how far these devices have spread,” said ACLU's Nate Wessler. The U.S. government has essentially placed a net of secrecy over their use and the FBI requires police to sign non-disclosure agreements when being equipped with the devices.   read more

That the law prohibits data gathering, including photos, on public lands makes it even more insidious. “This is like trespass on steroids, Brueckner said. "These laws, they don’t merely prohibit data collection. What they criminalize is data collection for the purpose of submitting the information to the state and federal government, and that’s what’s so bizarre and over the top about these laws. They specifically target activity that is unarguably legitimate.”   read more

“Every two days, there is a reportable leak or explosion at a U.S. chemical plant,” said McFate. “But the chemical industry keeps telling us companies can regulate themselves and no new oversight is needed.” The investigation found that only 42% of active facilities manufacturing chemicals were inspected in the last three to five years, of which 25% had serious violations. Also, the EPA required testing of only 250 of the 84,000 chemicals registered for commercial use in the U.S. today.   read more

The Saudi Air Force has caused thousands of civilian casualties in Yemen with its use of cluster bombs that kill indiscriminately. At home, the Saudi government still beheads criminals. But the important thing to the U.S. government and contractor Lockheed Martin is that the kingdom’s check clears. In return, Saudi Arabia will get up to four littoral combat ships similar to those going into service with the U.S. Navy. “We stand ready to support that sale,” said Lockheed CEO Marillyn Hewson.   read more

University of Washington's Center for Human Rights reported to police that its office was broken into and that a computer and hard drive were stolen. The equipment contained sensitive information about the center’s recent lawsuit against the CIA for withholding documents pertaining to an American-supported El Salvador army officer suspected of human-rights violations during that country’s civil war in the 1980s. The break-in coincided with a campus visit by CIA Director John Brennan.   read more

“The U.S. government has held back the medical community’s ability to conduct the type of research that the scientific community considers the experimental gold standard in guiding medical practice,” Hudak and Wallack wrote. “Of all the controlled substances that the federal government regulates, cannabis is treated in a unique manner in ways that specifically impede research. Statutory, regulatory, bureaucratic, and cultural barriers have paralyzed science and threatened...research freedom.”   read more

The Social Security Administration is still trying to reduce its worst-ever backlog of claims, which hit 1 million cases in 2015. The number of pending cases is the largest in SSA’s history. The backlog is the product of several factors: The number of requests for hearings has increased, the federal judges who hear appeals have become less productive, there are fewer attorneys on staff who could decide cases without going through the lengthy hearing process and fewer judges overall.   read more

Rep. Duncan said the agency, which has received $9 billion over the past 10 years, is “ineffective” and “irrelevant.” The program has "4,000 bored cops fly around the country first class, committing more crimes than they stop,” he said. They take three or four domestic trips a day, or quick turnarounds on international flights. Many say they are sleep-deprived and must use medication when they’re finally off duty. At least 10 have committed suicide since 2002.   read more

Switching to a high deductible was intended to make people smarter shoppers for their healthcare. “Instead, both healthy and sick patients simply used way less health care,” reported Vox. “This raises a scary possibility: Perhaps higher deductibles don't lead to smarter shoppers but rather, in the long run, sicker patients,” she added. The study also found that it was the sickest of those insured who were least likely to go to the doctor.   read more

Laura Pitter of Human Rights Watch, who has investigated torture, said the CIA was being “entirely disingenuous” in claiming it waterboarded only three people. “First, more than three people were waterboarded,” she said. “But second, the CIA used water to torture detainees in a variety of ways that cannot escape classification as torture. ...They induced near suffocation using water. And whether you call it ‘waterboarding’ or ‘water dousing,’ that’s torture – plain and simple.”   read more

During one year, U.S. drone strikes killed more than 200 people—but only 35 of them were the intended targets. “These eye-opening disclosures make a mockery of U.S. government claims that its lethal force operations are based on reliable intelligence and limited to lawful targets,” said ACLU. “The government often claims successes that are really tragic losses." Said the whistleblower: "Assigning...death sentences without notice, on a worldwide battlefield...was, from the [beginning], wrong.”   read more

Onaga’s action is being fought by Japan’s central government, but a revocation would likely come with a political cost to the prime minister. Already, many of Abe’s national security actions have triggered widespread opposition. Okinawans have been eager to get U.S. forces off their island. Two notorious rapes committed by U.S. personnel, one a gang-rape of a 12-year-old girl in 1995, have caused considerable antipathy toward Americans,   read more

In New Orleans, 98% of populated land would be below sea level. “So it’s really just a question of building suitable defenses or eventually abandoning the city,” said study author Benjamin Straus. Miami is just one of many cities in Florida at risk, with at least 40% of the people who face having to move because of climate change. The 1.5 million people at risk in New York City and the 100,000 in Philadelphia might not be displaced if carbon emissions are drastically cut.   read more

The federal government is spending billions on advertising with little oversight on where the money is going. A CRS report shows at least $4.4 billion was spent on contracts for advertising services during FY 2009 to 2013. The government hasn’t adopted a definition of what constitutes advertising, nor are agencies required to report such expenditures to one specific place for accountability purposes. “As a result, agencies can pretty much spend what they want,” wrote Lisa Rein at the Post.   read more

The former terror suspects said they were subjected to mock drowning, painful bodily contortions, sleep and dietary deprivation, and being forced into coffin boxes. Salim tried to kill himself after being tortured, while Ben Soud was kept naked for more than a month and waterboarded. “This case is about ensuring that the people behind the torture program are held accountable so history doesn’t repeat itself,” said ACLU attorney Steven Watt.   read more