(Still) Declassified. "In January 2009, I had an idea; photograph people in their homes that have placed a wide variety of personal advertisements. Although I imagined most people wouldn’t want to give up their anonymity, I rightly imagined some would be willing to. " [more inside]
posted by availablelight on Jul 2, 2009 - 52 comments

Torture Memos Released

As we explained in the Section 2340A Memorandum, "pain and suffering" as used in Section 2340 is best understood as a single concept, not distinct concepts of "pain" as distinguished from "suffering"... The waterboard, which inflicts no pain or actual harm whatsoever, does not, in our view inflict "severe pain or suffering". Even if one were to parse the statute more finely to treat "suffering" as a distinct concept, the waterboard could not be said to inflict severe sufering. The waterboard is simply a controlled acute episode, lacking the connotation of a protracted period of time generally given to suffering.

Ambinder breaks it down, Greenwald rants.
posted by empath on Apr 16, 2009 - 170 comments

What's the Big Secret? Four surveillance experts try to figure out what the NSA's superclassified wiretapping program really is (hint: it may have something to do with the filters). They don't seem to realize that this kind of reckless public discussion means some Americans are going to die. [Via Threat Level.]
posted by homunculus on Aug 30, 2007 - 47 comments

Tweakers with nuclear weapons technology Exactly what the world needs in these uncertain times.
posted by empath on Oct 25, 2006 - 25 comments

Opacity no match for technology! A CS grad student comes up with a technique for restoring words that have been blacked out in classified documents.
posted by nomis on May 13, 2004 - 12 comments

Memo to soldiers: Do not read the Taguba report on the Fox News website, it is classified. I didn't know the Pentagon had a sense of humor.
posted by caddis on May 11, 2004 - 23 comments

Curiculum Vitae : Former marijuana smuggler.
From an advertisement in Toronto's Financial Post.

During this time I also co-owned and participated in the executive level management of 120 people worldwide in a successful pot smuggling venture..."

Warning: jpeg, 121kb
posted by skwm on Mar 9, 2001 - 16 comments

Classified documents posted, greeted with big yawn. What I find interesting is... If these documents are so uninteresting, why were they classified? It kind of bolsters my opinion that most secrecy in government is not unlike Calvin in his treehouse with the sign that says "No Grils". It's all an exercise in in-group, out-group dynamics, and has little, if anything, to do with National Security. Which means this is a big deal after all, if you think about it...
posted by aurelian on Jul 24, 2000 - 0 comments