futurejournalismproject:

Last week’s news was that the Justice Department seized two months of Associated Press phone records.

This week’s begins with a report that the DOJ surveilled Fox News’ chief Washington correspondent James Rosen, tracking his visits to the State Department in an apparent attempt to link a 2009 leak of classified information about North Korea to government adviser Stephen Jin-Woo Kim

Via the Washington Post:

When the Justice Department began investigating possible leaks of classified information about North Korea in 2009, investigators did more than obtain telephone records of a working journalist suspected of receiving the secret material.

They used security badge access records to track the reporter’s comings and goings from the State Department, according to a newly obtained court affidavit. They traced the timing of his calls with a State Department security adviser suspected of sharing the classified report. They obtained a search warrant for the reporter’s personal e-mails.

The case of Stephen Jin-Woo Kim, the government adviser, and James Rosen, the chief Washington correspondent for Fox News, bears striking similarities to a sweeping leaks investigation disclosed last week in which federal investigators obtained records over two months of more than 20 telephone lines assigned to the Associated Press…

…Court documents in the Kim case reveal how deeply investigators explored the private communications of a working journalist — and raise the question of how often journalists have been investigated as closely as Rosen was in 2010. The case also raises new concerns among critics of government secrecy about the possible stifling effect of these investigations on a critical element of press freedom: the exchange of information between reporters and their sources.

Washington Post, A rare peek into a Justice Department leak probe.

The Court, by a seven-to-two vote, rejected the federal government’s argument that anytime a non-citizen is found guilty of distributing marijuana, regardless of the facts, that individual should be automatically sent to his or her homeland.  If a state crime of marijuana distribution does not closely match the federal crime of distribution, in a direct comparison of what each covers, it is not an “aggravated felony”– the basis for deportation without a chance of relief, the Court declared in Moncrieffe v. Holder (11-702).

brooklynmutt:

@JoeKeohane

climateadaptation:

Flooding. The Grand River, downtown Michigan. Note the bridge.

letsbuildahome-fr:

You know a flood is bad when a Duck paddles past your window…

…belonging to Anderson Eye Care at the Riverfront Plaza Building in downtown Grand Rapids, Mich., as The Grand River reaches an all time high of 21.85 feet, a full 2.2 feet above the record set in 1985. Previous water levels can be seen marked on the wall.

Picture: AP Photo/The Grand Rapids Press, Cory Morse

pachanka:

It’s time to get pissed. The U.S. law that would turn Google, Facebook, and Twitter into legally immune government spies just passed the House.

We expected CISPA to pass; that’s why this spring, we’re going to organize the largest online privacy protest in history to make sure CISPA is gone for good.

And, in response to (Republican) Rep. Mike Rogers’ accusation that CISPA opponents are just “14 year-old tweeter[s] in the basement”, we thought we’d also challenge Rep. Rogers to get on live national television and debate a 14 year-old in a basement on CISPA. The search for the 14 year-old begins. Are you or do you know a 14 year-old who could totally school a congressman on this issue?

This bill affects everyone — not just U.S. citizens. Anyone with a Facebook account could now have their data shipped directly to the U.S. government. That’s why Internet users overwhelmingly oppose this bill. Over 1.5 million people signed petitions against it. But Congress didn’t listen.

Does this remind you of something? Yep, this is the exact position we were in with SOPA last year. Then the Internet rose up and we made history with the SOPA strike.

Join the largest online privacy protest in history to make sure CISPA goes the same route as SOPA and doesn’t become the law that breaks the 4th Amendment. Are you in?

CISPA threatens our most basic rights. Privacy is important not just for our security but for our rights to freedom of expression. The giant tech companies that stood with Internet users against SOPA are not going to help us this time (but some of the large sites like Mozilla, Imgur, and Reddit are all against CISPA and we love them).

Only a massive grassroots outcry will stop this bill. We’re starting to build the tools. But we need your help.

Can you share the flyer below on social media? And tell everyone you know to sign up to join the protest?

• Facebook Share
• Share on Google
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• Share on Twitter

Read the text of the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act here and here.

buzzfeed:

Eerie Images Of Boston On Lockdown

Stay safe, Boston.

brooklynmutt:

The Washington Post, one of the last holdouts against the trend of charging readers for online access to newspaper articles, is likely to reverse that decision in 2013, according to people familiar with the matter.

The GOP is in trouble, and they realize it. Enter pollsters; you know, those who best determine how to sway the “new America.” After skimming through the first twenty pages all that I’m left with is the slimy feeling of manipulation.

A few gems (with commentary):

• If we want ethnic minority voters to support Republicans, we have to engage them and show our sincerity. (But not actually be sincere, just, you know, “show” is in our talking points.)
• Establish swearing-in citizenship teams to introduce new citizens after naturalization ceremonies to the Republican Party.(Get em early!)
• When developing our Party’s message, women need to be part
  of this process to represent some of the unique concerns that female voters may have. (Wow.)
• The Republican Party committees need to understand that women need to be asked to run. Women are less likely to run for office on their own, and we should be encouraging and championing their desire to seek elective office. (Oh, thank you kind sir. Thank you for giving me this wonderful blessing. Wow. My very own district. Better than diamonds!)
• Young voters need to be attracted to the Republican Party by both the message and the candidate. Obama was seen as “cool” in 2008, and his popularity spread like wildfire among young voters. (Hmm…cool.)
• For the GOP to appeal to younger voters, we do not have to agree on every issue, but we do need to make sure young people do not see the Party as totally intolerant of alternative points of view. Already, there is a generational difference within the conservative movement about issues involving the treatment and the rights of gays — and for many younger voters, these issues are a gateway into whether the Party is a place they want to be. (We don’t need to advocate equal rights - we just need to appear tolerant of the discussion.)

Anyone else remember when journalism had a completely neutral code?

Yea, me either.

The most troubling thing about this storm is that we’re calling it the Snowquester - legitimately.