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Bill Binney resigned from the NSA in October 2001, after 30 years with the agency where he was viewed as one of their best analysts: he quit because he believed that Bush-appointed leaders in the Agency had chosen to respond to the challenge of electronic communications by building out illegal, indiscriminate mass-surveillance programs that left the country vulnerable to terrorists while diverting billions to private contractors with political connections.

After his resignation, Binney and his fellow whistleblowers faced retaliation from the NSA, as the agency prevented him from getting work as a private intelligence contractor and eventually staged a guns-drawn dawn raid on his home.

Binney has been a sharp, articulate, deeply knowledgeable critic of mass electronic surveillance ever since, refusing to be intimidated by the NSA despite the risks to himself.

In "A Good American," a new documentary that goes into widespread release today, director Freidrich Moser tells Binney's story from his early days as an intelligence analyst during the Vietnam War to his service as a codebreaker during the Cold War to his visionary program for conducting electronic surveillance with an emphasis on privacy and the rule of law. Binney and his fellow whistleblowers tell the story of how General Michael Hayden, then head of the NSA, sidelined their proposals in favor of a multibillion-dollar boondoggle called Trailblazer, which collapsed without ever shipping -- and how Hayden and his team refused to allow NSA analysts to work in the wake of the 9/11 attacks, literally locking them out of the building while they plotted ways to shift the blame for intelligence failures and use the attacks to build private, well-funded permanent civil service empires.

Oliver Stone called it a "prequel to Snowden," and that's true in more ways than one. Snowden cited the persecution of Binney as part of his rationale for taking his concerns to the press, rather than NSA channels.

Moser's documentary is riveting, enraging, and beautifully crafted, and it tells an important story. You can watch it today.

A Good American

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A Good American: a documentary about Bill Binney, an NSA ... - Boing Boing

Globalnews.ca

Former NSA/CIA director: Trump's travel ban an 'abomination' Globalnews.ca The former head of the NSA and CIA says an executive order on immigration signed by President Donald Trump last week is an abomination, and it won't make America or its allies any safer. Gen. Michael Hayden, in Ottawa on Thursday for a conference at ...

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Former NSA/CIA director: Trump's travel ban an 'abomination' - Globalnews.ca

An illustration from a government document. DIA/Public Domain

A versionof this storyoriginally appearedonMuckrock.comandGlomar Disclosure.

Last week, we looked at the early days of the CIAs foray into extrasensory espionage. Today well be following up with the veterans of the NSAs psychic wars, which they foresaw being waged well into the 90s and beyond.

The NSA document, dated from early 1981, calls for a number of steps to be taken, including identifying the potential for mind control.

Once the individuals had been identified, the Agency wanted to create cadres of talented synergized gifted people for special problem solving tests. However, the NSA was afraid that these people could be hard to control Consciousless [sic] or morbid people of talent must be strictly screened out of active programs because of the danger of severe mental illness and unscrupulous violation of security.

Beyond personnel available to the NSA, the Agency wanted to build a database of psychics around the world.

Additional NSA documents, produced by the government later in the year after MKULTRA had been shut down and all mind control programs had been disavowed, show the governments continued interest in researching mind control techniques, no matter how esoteric they seemed.

A number of predictions were made about the development of psychic warfare, including that subconscious mind control through telepathy would be possible by 1990. The report concluded grimly that there is no known countermeasure to prevent such applications.

At least one prediction came true - CREST documents show psychic trials still being performed as late as 1992.

The rest of the NSAs guidelines can be read here.

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When the NSA Thought Mind Control Would Be an Actual Military Concern - Atlas Obscura

U.S. Sen. Chris Van Hollen and the former director of the NSA talked Wednesday in Linthicum about the importance of the government working with the private sector to improve the country's cyber security.

The discussion was hosted by Fort Meade Alliance, a non-profit that supports Fort Meade and its government agencies, such as the NSA. Figures in both the private and public sector attended the event. Alliance President Steve Tiller served as the moderator.

"When you start a fight, you want to know what the outcome will be," said retied Gen. Keith Alexander, who served as the NSA director from 2005-2014. "And when I look at our nation, we're not ready to defend ourselves in cyberspace. We have the best offensive team in the world, but we have the worst defense. We have the most infrastructure and the most risk."

Alexander served as the first commander of U.S. Cyber Command and is now CEO of IronNet Cybersecurity, a company that helps businesses with cyber security.

Van Hollen, a Democrat who was elected last fall to replace longtime U.S. Sen. Barbara Mikulski, said there are ways the federal government can encourage companies to share information in order to avoid hacks. It will most likely require congressional action, he said.

"Obviously we want to fight the poisonous stuff that ISIS puts out there, and how we do it most effectively is going to require a lot of thought," Van Hollen said. "I do believe that we just need to raise awareness that the threat is real from the bad guys. I stand ready to do my part with you to find out the best ways to incentivize these actions. We know we're being attack everyday."

Alexander suggested that the government create tax incentives for companies to create more regimented cyber security programs. If companies do this and share information, then the government could provide a form of liability protection, he said.

"We got to help people understand that we need to share cyber information, which is not personally identifiable," Alexander said. "We need to be an advocate and to explain."

An important part of working together, Alexander said, is making sure the public understands what the agency does. The NSA does "more to protect civil liberties than any other agency," he said.

The public needs to understand that the NSA isn't hacking their phone calls, Alexander added. The information they gather "saves lives," he said.

"I think at times we do sensationalize instead of inform," Alexander said. "Here's the question and this will come to head with the (Trump) administration: How do we get protection of our country, security of our nation and security and privacy of our civil liberties? We can and should do both."

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Van Hollen, former NSA director discuss government, private sector collaboration - CapitalGazette.com

CHANDIGARH: As Jat leaders prepare their teams to seal the borders of Delhi, the Haryana government on Tuesday authorized the district magistrates (deputy commissioners) to invoke the National Security Act (NSA) in their areas.

According to provisions of NSA, the police can house arrest any person for 90 days. According to orders issued on Wednesday, the government has also equipped 381 officers in nine districts while designating them as special duty magistrates.

A maximum of 107 special duty magistrates have been appointed in Rohtak district while 77 officials have been designated in Jind, said additional chief secretary (home) Ram Niwas.

In an order issued on Tuesday, the government has empowered the officers to take their call on notifying NSA in their area.

NSA empowers the police to apprehend anyone posing threat to the law and order and that too without registering a case against him or her. The person can be detained for 90 days.

A senior officer in the intelligence wing of Haryana Police confirmed that the powers had been delegated after taking reports from the ground. The government has also authorized to ban websites and social networking sites alleged to be involving circulation of socially provocative material.

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Government authorizes DMs to invoke NSA - Times of India