Subject: Sins of Omission - ("Citizenfour") is a fine documentary. Too bad the director glossed over some important details...

slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/war_stories/2014/10/citizenfour_review

Snowden's claim as a whistleblower, exposing the National Security Agency's violations of civil liberties, rests on some of the documents that he leaked...However, many other documents—which he downloaded at the NSA facility in Hawaii and turned over to Poitras and the Guardian's Glenn Greenwald in Hong Kong...also detail NSA intercepts of email and cellphone conversations by Taliban fighters in Pakistan; assessments of CIA assets in several foreign countries; and surveillance of cellphone calls "worldwide" that (in the Post's words) allows the NSA "to look for unknown associates of known intelligence targets by tracking people whose movements intersect."

...Whatever you think about foreign intelligence operations, the NSA's core mission is to intercept communications of foreign governments and agents. If Snowden and company wanted to take down an intelligence agency, they should say so. But that has nothing to do with whistleblowing or constitutional rights.

At one very interesting point in the film, Snowden tells Poitras and Greenwald, "Some of these documents are legitimately classified," and their release "could do great harm" to intelligence sources and methods. He adds, "I trust you'll be responsible" in handling them...
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Subject: Senators push for ‘Internet of Things’ hearing

thehill.com

Given the rapid pace of change, some have worried that government oversight is getting left behind.

...The possible hack of a home appliance or stolen data from a car's GPS system, for instance, have inspired new fears about people's digital safety. Additionally, some consumer advocates have said that people need to be better informed about how their data is being used, and whether their behavior is being used to help advertisers.

In addition to those issues, the rise of connected devices poses new challenges for managing the nation's airwaves, because much of the technology relies on wirelessly connecting to the Internet. With concerns rising about a spectrum "crunch," federal officials could be under more pressure to make sure the system is properly managed.

Last year, the Federal Trade Commission held a conference on the consumer privacy and security impacts of the connected devices. Congress, however, has yet to wade in...

(photo -n- link) questline.com

Subject: Charter School Power Broker Turns Public Education Into Private Profits

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propublica.org

Baker Mitchell is a politically connected North Carolina businessman who celebrates the power of the free market. Every year, millions of public education dollars flow through Mitchell's chain of four nonprofit charter schools to for-profit companies he controls...

In late February, the North Carolina chapter of the Americans for Prosperity Foundation — a group co-founded by the libertarian billionaire Koch brothers — embarked on what it billed as a statewide tour of charter schools, a cornerstone of the group's education agenda. The first — and it turns out, only — stop was Douglass Academy (35 students)...The school's founder, a politically active North Carolina businessman named Baker Mitchell, shares the Kochs' free-market ideals.  His model for success embraces decreased government regulation, increased privatization and, if all goes well, healthy corporate profits...Over six years, Mitchell's two companies have taken in close to $20 million in fees and rent — some of the schools' biggest expenses. That's from audited financial statements for just two schools. Mitchell has recently opened two more.