Obama Promises Reform of NSA Spying, But the Devil Will Be in the Details

EFF - ...President Obama held a press conference to address the growing public concern over the National Security Agency’s surveillance practices. We are glad to see that the Administration has been forced to address the matter publicly as a result of the sustained public pressure from concerned voters as well as the ongoing press coverage of this issue. Obama acknowledged that Americans were uncomfortable with the surveillance that has been leaked to the media (and noted that he would be as well, if he weren’t in the government).  He made four commitments to transparency and reform during the press conference, and also published a whitepaper describing the legal interpretation of the PATRIOT Act that is used to attempt to justify bulk surveillance.

While we’re glad Obama is responding to the public’s concerns, we take Obama’s promises today with a healthy dose of skepticism. He may be paying lip service to accountability and transparency, but the devil will be in the details when it comes to whether his proposals will be effective.

Other promises aside, President Obama did not commit to reducing the surveillance of Americans’ communications or the communications of individuals abroad who are not suspected of any crime.

Obama’s 4 Commitments – And What’s Missing

Obama made 4 specific commitments around NSA surveillance. Here’s an overview of what he did – and did not – promise to do.

1. Obama will work with Congress to "pursue appropriate reforms to Section 215 of the Patriot Act." This is the subsection of law used to justify the bulk collection of telephone records. Several bills have been introduced this Congress that attempt to tighten up this law, and we’re glad to see Obama will be supportive of such efforts. However, Obama pointedly did not address Sec. 702, the other statute that the government has cited as supporting its broader surveillance, including the content of communications.  And as we’ve explained, to return Americans to the rule of law and privacy and free speech rights that they deserve, we’ll need changes well beyond Section 215 of the PATRIOT Act. And even as to 215, Obama failed to explain what "appropriate reforms" might look like. Read what EFF thinks should be in NSA reform legislation.   More

Obama Expected To Launch Massive Study Of The Human Brain

PopSci - President Obama is planning an exhaustive study of the human brain that could help researchers gain insight into everything from Alzheimer’s to mental illness to artificial intelligence, the New York Times reports:

The Obama administration is planning a decade-long scientific effort to examine the workings of the human brain and build a comprehensive map of its activity, seeking to do for the brain what the Human Genome Project did for genetics.

 

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Cybersecurity: Yet Another Executive Order From Obama Looms

Candice Lanier - The President is considering executive-branch action on U.S. cybersecurity, in response to  Congress failing to pass cybersecurity legislation. “If the Congress is not going to act on something like this, then the president wants to make sure that we’re doing everything possible,” John Brennan, Obama’s counterterrorism adviser, said at a Council on Foreign Relations event.

According to Stewart Baker, a former assistant secretary for policy at the Department of Homeland Security, Obama could accomplish many objectives of the Lieberman-Collins bill with an executive order or other directive.  Matthew Eggers,senior director of national security at the Chamber of Commerce, however, disagrees and said that “an executive order would be counterproductive and would cut short the proper legislative process, which needs to continue.”

“An executive order makes clear the administration’s intent to put a mandatory program into place to regulate businesses,” Eggers added.

Additionally, Rep. Edward Markey (D-MA) has called on Obama to issue an executive order to try to protect the nation’s electrical grid from cyberattacks.  “I’m calling on President Obama to do by Executive Order what Congressional Republicans refuse to do through legislation: protect our nation from the 21st century cyber-armies preparing to wage war on our banking, health care, and defense systems by knocking out America’s electricity grid,”  Markey said.

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Obama vs. Steve Jobs - The contrast between an economic taker and a giver

FrontPageMag.Com - The philosophies and accomplishments of two famous Americans are strikingly different. One has taken from us; the other has given to us.

Barack Obama​ is the symbol of socialistic incompetence run amok. He has stolen our security. The late Steve Jobs​ of entrepreneurial fame gave us the promise of innovation and a brighter life.

Obama rejected the American characteristic of exceptionalism. Jobs epitomized American exceptionalism at its most productive. Obama is driven by bureaucratic planning and narcissism. Jobs was driven by individual initiative, personal responsibility, and consumer needs to achieve national prosperity.

The National Review’s deputy managing editor Kevin Williamson took it one step further, contrasting the Apple founder’s innovation with the ennui of the “Occupy Wall Street” movement:
N]ever has the divide between the iPhoneworld and the politics world been so clear: I saw a bunch of people very well-served by their computers and telephones (very often Apple products) but undeniably shortchanged by our government-run cartel education system. And the tragedy for them — and for us — is that they will spend their energy trying to expand the sphere of the ineffective, hidebound, rent-seeking, unproductive political world, giving the… politicians…an even stronger whip hand over the Steve Jobses and Henry Fords—and we will be the poorer for it.

The Obama failures keep piling up. There are too many to count, probably because some have yet to come to light. But the overhaul of the country’s health care system probably leads the pack. ObamaCare has added to the $14 trillion dollar debt and the job-stagnant economy. The stock market yo-yo, bankers’ reluctance to lend and businesses’ fear of hiring can be attributed to Democrat policy uncertainties, along with the entanglement of regulations.

Just a smattering of Obama’s other failures include: faith in his attorney general, who may well be responsible for the so-called “Fast and Furious” gun running scandal; the president’s empty hope of changing the energy environment and creating jobs with costly “green” projects; Obama’s trusted advisers, from Rev. Wright, to Bill Ayers​, to Van Jones to Valerie Jarrett, to George Soros​, identifies the radical anti-Americanism that has guided his decisions.            

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Obama Announces $70M Robotics Initiative

PCMag.Com - At least we know that Skynet still has a bit more work ahead of it before the walking, shooting cyborgs from James Cameron's Terminator 2 become reality. And you can thank President Obama for that.

"You might not know this, but one of my responsibilities as commander-in-chief is to keep an eye on robots," said Obama in a speech at Carnegie Mellon University's National Robotics Engineering Center Friday. "And I'm pleased to report that the robots you manufacture here seem peaceful. At least for now."

Let's hope that stays true, as Obama also announced that the U.S. is launching brand-new $70 million initiative "to accelerate the development and use of robots in the United States that work beside, or cooperatively with, people." Dubbed the National Robotics Initiative, the plan is backed by a smattering of important governmental acronym-agencies, including the National Science Foundation (NSF), the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), and the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

The end goals of the program are a little nebulous so far, as it's unclear whether the ultimate purpose of the initiative is to try and integrate robotics into consumer lifestyles or accelerate the use of robots in industrial lines of work. The initiative will partly research just how robots and humans can work together in innovative and symbiotic ways –perhaps even how they could become friends?     More