Psychologists Shielded U.S. Torture Program, Report Finds - NYTimes.com

http://mobile.nytimes.com/2015/07/11/us/psychologists-shielded-us-torture-program-report-finds.html?emc=edit_na_20150710&nlid=58887930&ref=cta&_r=0&referrer=

Psychologists Shielded U.S. Torture Program, Report Finds

WASHINGTON — The Central Intelligence Agency's health professionals repeatedly criticized the agency's post-Sept. 11 interrogation program, but their protests were rebuffed by prominent outside psychologists who lent credibility to the program, according to a sweeping new report.

The 542-page report, which examines the involvement of the nation's psychologists and their largest professional organization, the American Psychological Association, with the harsh interrogation programs of the Bush era, raises repeated questions about the collaboration between psychologists and officials at both the C.I.A. and the Pentagon.

The report, completed this month, concludes that some of the association's top officials, including its ethics director, sought to curry favor with Pentagon officials by seeking to keep the association's ethics policies in line with the interrogation policies of the Defense Department, while several prominent outside psychologists took actions that aided the C.I.A.'s interrogation program and helped protect it from growing dissent inside the agency.

The association's ethics office, the report found, "prioritized the protection of psychologists — even those who might have engaged in unethical behavior — above the protection of the public."

Elyssa D. Durant, Ed.M.

Research &  Policy Analyst

  

Hacking Team Email Jokes About Killing ACLU's Chris Soghoian

https://firstlook.org/theintercept/2015/07/09/hacking-team-employee-jokes-assassinating-aclu-technologist-christopher-soghoian/

HACKING TEAM EMPLOYEE JOKES ABOUT ASSASSINATING ACLU TECHNOLOGIST

One thing that's clear from reading through the trove of over one million emails from Italian surveillance firm Hacking Team is that its employees despise activists, many of whom have been criticizing them for years about their disregard for human rights.

Christopher Soghoian, the ACLU's Principal Technologist and an outspoken advocate for privacy and free speech, noticed Thursday that Hacking Team employee Daniele Milan joked about gathering enough Bitcoins to pay for his assassination. His email was dated April 16.

Translated to English, this says:

I'm very tempted to respond, but we would only unleash hell. I think it's self evident what a inbecile Soghoian is. If I could gather up enough Bitcoin I would use a service from the DarkNet and eliminate him. An asshole of this caliber doesn't deserve to continue to consume oxygen.

[Update: An Italian reader writes that the third sentence is more accurately translated: "If I gather up enough Bitcoin I will…"]

The same day that email was sent, Hacking Team had tweeted an article opposing Bitcoin, blaming the crypto-currency for helping pedophiles hide from the authorities, saying, "This has to be stopped".

Soghoian (picture above) shot back, asking if Ethiopia was using its Hacking Team malware to go after child porn or journalists.

Hacking Team sells malware to governments around the world, including Ethiopia, which uses that malware to hack journalists that it disagrees with.

Soghoian says he feels "pretty good" about the assassination joke. "I've been sad all day since I learned about Caspar," referring to prominent privacy advocate Casper Bowden who died today.

"This cheered me up. If they are making jokes like this, it means I am doing the right thing."

Previous coverage of Hacking Team from The Intercept:

• Secret Manuals Show the Spyware Sold to Despots and Cops Worldwide (Oct. 30, 2014)
• Hacking Team Responds in Defense of Its Spyware (Nov. 3, 2014)
• Leaked Documents Show FBI, DEA and U.S. Army Buying Italian Spyware (July 6, 2015)
• Why Did the Firm That Sold Spyware to the UAE Win a Special Export License From State Department?  (July 7, 2015)
• A Detailed Look at Hacking Team's Emails About Its Repressive Clients (July 7, 2015)
• Adviser to Cyber Program at NYU's UAE Campus Linked to Spy Tech Used to Repress Activists (July 8, 2015)
• Hacking Team Emails Expose Proposed Death Squad Deal, Secret U.K. Sales Push and Much More (July 8, 2015)

Photo: Chris Soghoian (dubfire.net)

^ed 

Sent via iPhone

Twitter Help Center | My account has been compromised

https://support.twitter.com/articles/31796

My account has been compromised

If your account has been compromised but you're still able to log in, this page will help you secure your account and stop unwanted behaviors. If you can't log in to your account, please see this troubleshooting article.

Has my account been compromised?

Have you:

• Noticed unexpected Tweets by your account
• Seen unintended direct messages (DMs) sent from your account
• Observed other account behaviors you didn't make or approve (like following, unfollowing, or blocking)
• Received a notification from us stating that your account may be compromised
• Received a notification from us stating that your account information has changed, and you didn't change it
• Noticed your password is no longer working and you are being prompted to reset it

If you've answered yes to any of the above, please take the following steps:

1. Change your password

Please change your password immediately from the Password tab in settings or click on request a password reset from the logged out page. Please select a strong password you haven't used before. If you can't log in to your account, please see this troubleshooting page.

Note: Changing an account's password does not automatically log the account out of Twitter for iOS or Twitter for Android applications. In order to log the account out of these apps, sign in online and visit Apps in your settings. From there you can revoke access for the application, and the next time the app is launched, a prompt will request that the new password be entered.

2. Make sure your email address is secure

Make sure that the email address tied to your account is secure and that you are the only one with access to it. You can change your email address from the Account settings tab. Visit our email account tips page for more information.

3. Revoke connections to third-party applications

While logged in, visit Apps in your settings. Revoke access for any third-party application that you don't recognize.

4. Update your password in your trusted third-party applications

If a trusted external application uses your Twitter password, be sure to update your password in that application. Otherwise, you may be temporarily locked out of your account due to failed login attempts.

Your account should now be secure, and you shouldn't see the unexpected account behaviors moving forward. If you're still experiencing issues, please file a Support request for assistance.

Protect your account with simple precautions!

If your account has been compromised, take these additional precautions:

• Delete any unwanted Tweets that were posted while your account was compromised.
• Scan your computers for viruses and malware, especially if unauthorized account behaviors continue to be posted after you've changed the password.
• Install security patches for your operating system and applications.
• Always use a strong, new password you don't use elsewhere and would be difficult to guess.
• Consider using login verification. Instead of relying on just a password, login verification introduces a second check to make sure that you and only you can access your Twitter account.
• Visit our Safe Tweeting help page for more information on avoiding hacks and phishing.

How do accounts become compromised? (Did somebody hack me?)

Accounts may become compromised if you've entrusted your username and password to a malicious third-party application or website, if your Twitter account is vulnerable due to a weak password, if viruses or malware on your computer are collecting passwords, or if you're on a compromised network.

Unexpected updates don't always mean that your account was hacked. Occasionally, a third-party application can have a bug that causes unexpected behavior. If you see strange behavior, changing your password and/or revoking connections will stop it, as the application will no longer have access to your account.

It's best to take action as soon as possible if updates are appearing in your account that you did not post or approve. You can find more information about account security on the Safe Tweeting help page.

^ed 

Sent via iPhone

Unwritten: The Outsider

Unwritten: The Outsider

Beaten down with a pillow case,

Having no time to please my case

I have fallen much too far, always watching my dwindling star. 

Trying to create a reason why, always trying to maintain my high. 

In the end it always fails, and like the times before sadness prevails. 

I'm always looked down on by family and friends, can someone pinch me when this sadness ends? 

~Client Journal, Juvenile Justice, DCS

Rant d'Jour; Equal Opportunity vs Equity in the Ivy League

Rant d'jour: Affirmative Action, Equity and Equality at *Harvard University. 

In reality, Harvard only accepts the best students with the highest scores. 

If they are so damn good at educating our youth, let them take those who can benefit the most from such an education. 

The truth is, if Harvard only accepts the best students, their job (presumably, to turn out highest achievers; the creme de la creme; the best of the best) is *that* much easier. 

Think  how easy their job is given their baseline population. 

This makes no sense! 

If Harvard is so damn good at teaching people, let them take the worst and make them the best. 

Give the Academic Elite a real challenge. 

Are they up 

for it? 

Are you? 

Elyssa D. Durant, Ed.M.

Research and Policy Analyst 

Footnotes: *I used Harvard synbolically to represent elite Ivy League colleges and Univeristities. 

Could jusr as easily subsitute Vandervilt University, Columbia, Cornell, Brown etc.