Merry Christmas from the NSA ACLU

They're making a list
They're checking it twice
They're watching almost every electronic device
The NSA is coming to town

This is an open thread, all topics welcome.

The Obamacare deadline has been extended to Christmas Eve.

The jailed Pussy Riot members are free. One expressed her criticism of Putin, calling the amnesty a publicity stunt.

Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, 24, shouted "Russia without Putin" following her release from a Siberian prison, hours after band mate Maria Alyokhina, 25, was freed from jail in the Volga River city of Nizhny Novgorod.

This is an open thread, all topics welcome.

R.I.P. Ken Gordon, former long-time State legislator, Senate majority and minority leader, adjunct law professor and public defender. He really was one of the good guys.

Ken, age 63, was on his way to work out Sunday but drove to the emergency room instead. He collapsed outside his car, and was pronounced dead a few hours later, apparently of a massive heart attack.
His son Ben says:

...[I]t was completely unexpected; his father was extremely fit, ate a healthy diet and worked out daily. "I thought he was going to outlive us all....He was the most fit person I knew. He was so strong."

More on Ken's life and legacy here and here.

While I didn't have any contact with Ken in recent years, I remember him well from his time as a public defender and in private practice, and his early years as a legislator. He was dedicated, caring and principled -- always fighting the good fight. You can read his bio in his own words here. [More...]

There is a fascinating report in today's Washington Post about the U.S. providing Colombia with smart bombs to kill FARC members. The program, which of course includes major NSA surveillance and the CIA and JSOC, began under George W. Bush and has continued under Obama. It is funded by a "multi-billion dollar black budget." ($52 billion to be exact, here's a related report on the numbers.)

The covert program in Colombia provides two essential services to the nation’s battle against the FARC and a smaller insurgent group, the National Liberation Army (ELN): Real-time intelligence that allows Colombian forces to hunt down individual FARC leaders and, beginning in 2006, one particularly effective tool with which to kill them.

That weapon is a $30,000 GPS guidance kit that transforms a less-than-accurate 500-pound gravity bomb into a highly accurate smart bomb. Smart bombs, also called precision-guided munitions or PGMs, are capable of killing an individual in triple-canopy jungle if his exact location can be determined and geo-coordinates are programmed into the bomb’s small computer brain.

It all began as part of the War on Drugs. Similar programs exist in other countries where "violent drug cartels have caused instability." Examples: Mexico and West Africa.

The Office of Legal Counsel signed off on the targeted assassinations/killings. [More...]

The Obama Administration has released new documents to justify its increased NSA warrantless surveillance.

The DNI announcement is here. The released documents are available here.

Arapahoe high school student Claire Davis has died of her shooting injuries. Her family released this statement:

"It is with heavy hearts that we share that a 4:29 p.m. this afternoon, Claire Davis passed away, with her family at her side. Despite the best efforts of our physicians and nursing staff, and Claire's fighting spirit, her injuries were too severe and the most advanced medical treatments could not prevent this tragic loss of life. Claire's death is immensely heartbreaking for our entire community, our staff and our families.

[More...]

The Department of Justice, at the direction of the Judge presiding over the MegaUpload/Kim Dotcom criminal case in Virginia, has published a 191 page report outlining the evidence it claims supports the charges. The DOJ webpage with documents is here.

Kim Dotcom's reaction:

The 191 page report is available here. The Superseding Indictment is here. [More...]

For days following the Araphoe High School shooting, supporters of Claire Davis, who was shot by shooter Karl Pierson and remains in a coma, posted pleas on Twitter for One Direction to let Clair know they supported her. The hashtag was #get1Dtoclaire.

The band complied, privately sending the video message above to her family. It was Claire's boyfriend, Alex Chapman (not the band, as reported here) who uploaded it to You Tube.

The group recorded a 13-second video message and sent it directly to Claire's family, a source close to One Direction told CNN Thursday. While it was not intended to be shared online, her boyfriend apparently uploaded it to YouTube, the source said.

Verizon says it will publish greater details on the records requests made by law enforcement, beginning in early 2014. Here is Verizon's statement.

To the extent permitted by applicable U.S. and foreign laws and regulations, Verizon’s transparency report will identify the total number of law enforcement agency requests received from government authorities in criminal cases.

In addition, the report will break out this data under categories such as subpoenas, court orders and warrants. Verizon will also provide other details about the legal demands it receives, as well as information about requests for information in emergencies.

Apple, Facebook, Google, Microsoft, Twitter and Yahoo already publish transparency reports.

President commuted the sentences of 8 crack cocaine defendants today and granted 11 pardons. Here is the list. Obama issued this statement about the crack commutations:

Three years ago, I signed the bipartisan Fair Sentencing Act, which dramatically narrowed the disparity between penalties for crack and powder cocaine offenses. This law began to right a decades-old injustice, but for thousands of inmates, it came too late. If they had been sentenced under the current law, many of them would have already served their time and paid their debt to society. Instead, because of a disparity in the law that is now recognized as unjust, they remain in prison, separated from their families and their communities, at a cost of millions of taxpayer dollars each year.

Today, I am commuting the prison terms of eight men and women who were sentenced under an unfair system. Each of them has served more than 15 years in prison. In several cases, the sentencing judges expressed frustration that the law at the time did not allow them to issue punishments that more appropriately fit the crime.

[More...]

Under a Amnesty bill passed in Russia this week, the two Pussy Riot members still jailed in Russian prisons, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Maria Alyokhina will be freed.

In September, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova went on a hunger strike, and released this letter describing the inhumane conditions of her confinement. She was later moved to a prison in Siberia.

Also likely to be freed: 30 Greenpeace protesters.

If you shopped at a Target store from Black Friday to around December 15, beware. There's been a massive data breach of customer credit card information (online customers are not affected.)

It's time to stock up on 40 and 60 watt bulbs. They won't be made in the U.S. starting Jan. 1.

I may skip Christmas this year, or at least the shopping. What are your plans?

This is an open thread, all topics welcome.