Author Archives: Michael Froomkin

NSA Scandal: Anything is Plausible Now

CNET News, NSA disguised itself as Google to spy, say reports. It seems they are talking about a man-in-the-middle attack, based on a fake cryptographic certificate, which isn’t when you think about it so surprising. But when I read the headline, I imagined they’d run around with fake business cards impersonating Google staff.

And then there’s this one: Former Intelligence Analyst: Obama Was Wiretapped By NSA In 2004. I’d have marked this as ‘tinfoil’ a month ago. I still want to as the details seem pretty skimpy. But anything seems possible now.

Posted in Civil Liberties, Cryptography | 1 Comment

Their Lips Are Moving

6 Whopping Government Misstatements About NSA Spying | Threat Level | Wired.com

Posted in Civil Liberties, Cryptography | Comments Off on Their Lips Are Moving

Miami at Night

Here is a photo of Miami at night because it has pretty clouds, and because I needed a test photo to see if I’ve fixed various blog issues.

Miami-at-night

Photo by James Good on Flickr and licensed subject to Creative Commons Attribution, Noncommercial, No Derivative Works license.

Posted in Discourse.net, Miami | 2 Comments

Baguettes of Memory

Ta-Nehisi Coates cold turkeys from Paris and French food:

What I remember about the baguettes in Paris is that they were cheap and I never had a desire to put anything on them. They are a meal onto themselves. And I also suspect they were laced with narcotics.

via How to Become a Foodie.

Was it Oscar Wilde who said “When good Americans die they go to Paris”?

And by the way, I don’t agree with him about Whole Foods baguettes. Now, their (really expensive) cheese, on the other hand …

Posted in Shopping | Comments Off on Baguettes of Memory

Small World

I was impressed to learn that the lawyer defending former Navy lawyer I consider an American hero. Some heroes just don’t quit.

(found via Digby)

Posted in Civil Liberties, Law: Internet Law | 2 Comments

Impeach James R. Clapper

Director of National Intelligence James R. Clapper caught lying again. (Not the first time.)

If we ever want to put an end to the parade of lies the public (and Congress!) have been subjected to on surveillance, the only way to do it is to take some scalps. By undermining the democracy he thinks he is protecting, Mr. Clapper, however patriotic his motives, has made a good claim to be at the head of the line.

Posted in Civil Liberties, Law: Privacy | 2 Comments