We begin today’s walk on the dark side with the latest in Obama’s drive to push Japan back into the past, via Reuters:
Exclusive: Japan, U.S. discussing offensive military capability for Tokyo – Japan officials
Japan and the United States are exploring the possibility of Tokyo acquiring offensive weapons that would allow Japan to project power far beyond its borders, Japanese officials said, a move that would likely infuriate China.
While Japan’s intensifying rivalry with China dominates the headlines, Tokyo’s focus would be the ability to take out North Korean missile bases, said three Japanese officials involved in the process.
They said Tokyo was holding the informal, previously undisclosed talks with Washington about capabilities that would mark an enhancement of military might for a country that has not fired a shot in anger since its defeat in World War Two.
From BuzzFeed, another blast from the past:
Obama Will Fight ISIS With George W. Bush’s Legal Theories
John Yoo: “Obama has adopted the same view of war powers as the Bush administration.”
By ordering the military into action without explicit congressional authorization, Obama is falling back, at least in part, on the same controversial legal theories of executive power that he once rejected.
Not everyone is surprised by the presidential about-face. John Yoo, a former Bush administration lawyer and one of the primary architects of the “strong executive” theory of presidential power, told BuzzFeed News, “Obama has adopted the same view of war powers as the Bush administration.”
In a preview of his speech on Sunday, Obama told Chuck Todd of NBC’s Meet the Press that he was “confident that I have the authorization that I need to protect the American people.” Obama repeated that same line in meetings with foreign policy pundits on Monday and again in meetings with congressional leaders on Tuesday.
While El País covers blowback:
Spain raises terror threat level due to risk of jihadist attacks
Security forces to step up monitoring at airports, train stations, hospitals and government buildings
Spain’s security agencies are stepping up their monitoring efforts at the country’s airports, train stations, hospitals, government buildings and other key sites in response to the heightened risk of jihadist attacks.
The secretary of state for security, Francisco Martínez, ordered increased security measures as the government raised the level of the terror threat in Spain from low to high.
The latest crimes claimed by the Islamic State group and the progressive deterioration of the situation in Iraq and Syria are evidence of “a direct threat by jihadist terrorism against Western countries, with particular concern for US, French and British interests,” said the Interior Ministry.
The Japan Times covers the justifiable:
Protests, anger, doubt prevail at Ferguson meeting
Elected leaders in the St. Louis suburb where an unarmed black 18-year-old, Michael Brown, was fatally shot by a white police officer hoped to use their first public meeting since his death as a chance to promote community healing. Instead, they were greeted Tuesday night with anger, outrage and warnings of voter retribution at the ballot box.
Proposals to overhaul the municipal courts and create a citizen police review board were greeted warily, if not with outright skepticism.
“You’ve lost your authority to govern this community,” said St. Louis activist John Chasnoff. “You’re going to have to step aside peacefully if this community is going to heal.”
From Salon, revising the unspeakable:
Pennsylvania town will no longer evict domestic violence victims who call the police seeking help
Yes, that was a real thing that was happening in Pennsylvania — and still happens throughout the country
A Pennsylvania ordinance that targeted domestic violence victims for eviction has been repealed.
In addition to striking down the law, the city of Norristown will pay Lakisha Briggs, a domestic violence victim who faced eviction because she called the police to report the abuse, $495,000 to settle a federal lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union.
Under the “nuisance property ordinance,” landlords were encouraged to evict tenants if the police were called to a residence more than three times during a four month period. Women like Briggs who called the police to intervene in domestic violence incidents were, under the ordinance, labeled “disorderly.”
From the McClatchy Washington Bureau, sad and horrendous [see examples at the link]:
Misconduct at Justice Department isn’t always prosecuted
Dozens of Justice Department officials, ranging from FBI special agents and prison wardens to high-level federal prosecutors, have escaped prosecution or firing in recent years despite findings of misconduct by the department’s own internal watchdog.
Most of the names of the investigated officials, even the highest-ranking, remain under wraps. But documents McClatchy obtained under the Freedom of Information Act reveal for the first time a startling array of alleged transgressions uncovered by the department’s inspector general.
From Associated Press. Once it was jewelers, now fashion:
9 arrests in fashion hub money laundering probe
Federal authorities arrested nine people and seized more than $65 million Wednesday in a crackdown on suspected drug money laundering by Mexican cartels in the fashion district of Los Angeles.
About 1,000 law enforcement officers fanned out across the city’s downtown to search dozens of businesses suspected of taking bulk cash for clothing exported to Mexico as a way to launder money obtained from the sale of cocaine, methamphetamine and other drugs in the United States.
The raids came after three separate federal indictments on charges of money laundering and other financial violations. Nine people were arrested, and authorities were searching for four others charged in the alleged schemes, including three in Mexico, federal prosecutors said.
Postmedia News covers spooky revelations:
Accused hospital fraudster Arthur Porter takes aim at former colleague Stephen Harper in new memoir
From his jail cell in Panama, accused hospital fraudster Arthur Porter dishes the dirt on his once-thriving political connections with Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Quebec Premier Philippe Couillard in a new wide-ranging memoir that is bound to incense both Harper and Couillard while providing ammunition to their critics.
Porter, who at one point served as chairman of Canada’s spy watchdog, also provides details on the inner workings of the Security Intelligence Review Committee that is entrusted with the country’s most sensitive surveillance secrets.
Porter, 58, has been languishing in a Panamanian prison since the end of May 2013, fighting extradition to Quebec to face criminal charges alleging he was part of a conspiracy to defraud $22.5 million from the McGill University Health Centre he once headed over the awarding of a superhospital construction contract.
From intelNews, booby-trapped buggery:
Mystery spy device found in Lebanon detonates remotely, kills one
A mysterious spy device found in Lebanon was detonated remotely by what some say was an Israeli drone, killing one man and injuring several others.
According to Lebanon’s Al-Manar TV, the alleged spy device was uncovered last week by a Lebanese military patrol near the village of Adloun in southern Lebanon. Most of the region is firmly controlled by Hezbollah, the Shiite militant group that governs large swathes of the Lebanese territory.
The report was later confirmed by the Lebanese Army, which said that the device had been attached, probably by Israel, to the telecommunications network belonging to Hezbollah.
And from Ars Technica, hardly iDeal:
iPwned: Mining iPhones, iCloud for personal data is terrifyingly simple
High-end tools, simple hacks can still make iPhone data less private than we’d like
Apple executives never mentioned the word “security” during the unveiling of the iPhone 6, iPhone 6+, and Apple Watch yesterday, choosing to focus on the sexier features of the upcoming iOS 8 and its connections to Apple’s iCloud service. But digital safety is certainly on everyone’s mind after the massive iCloud breach that resulted in many celebrity nude photos leaking across the Internet. While the company has promised fixes to both its mobile operating system and cloud storage service in the coming weeks, the perception of Apple’s current security feels iffy at best.
In light of one high profile “hack,” is it fair to primarily blame Apple’s current setup? Is it really that easy to penetrate these defenses?
In the name of security, we did a little testing using family members as guinea pigs. To demonstrate just how much private information on an iPhone can be currently pulled from iCloud and other sources, we enlisted the help of a pair of software tools from Elcomsoft. These tools are essentially professional-level, forensic software used by law enforcement and other organizations to collect data. But to show that an attacker wouldn’t necessarily need that to gain access to phone data, we also used a pair of simpler “hacks,” attacking a family member’s account (again, with permission) by using only an iPhone and iTunes running on a Windows machine.
As things stand right now, a determined attacker will still find plenty of ways to get to iPhone data.
From RT, they’ve got mail [yours]:
5 million ‘compromised’ Google accounts leaked
A database of what appears to be some 5 million login and password pairs for Google accounts has been leaked to a Russian cyber security internet forum. It follows similar leaks of account data for popular Russian web services.
The text file containing the alleged compromised accounts data was published late on Tuesday on the Bitcoin Security board. It lists 4.93 million entries, although the forum administration has since purged passwords from it, leaving only the logins.
The accounts are mostly those of Google users and give access to Gmail mail service, G+ social network and other products of the US-based internet giant. The forum user tvskit, who published the file, claimed that 60 percent of the passwords were valid, with some users confirming that they found their data in the base, reports CNews, a popular Russian IT news website
Defense One makes it clear:
Every Part of the US Government Has Probably Already Been Hacked
Consider the testimony today from some of the nation’s top cybersecurity experts before the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.
High-profile cyber breaches – such as those affecting Target, Home Depot and even celebrities’ private photos – trickle out on a near daily basis. But it’s clear the vulnerabilities aren’t relegated to the commercial sector.
When committee members asked Robert Anderson, the executive assistant director for the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Criminal, Cyber, Response and Services branch, how much of government hasn’t been hacked yet, he offered a stark reply.
Despite demurring that he probably couldn’t answer the question exactly “off the top of his head,” Anderson said any part of government that hasn’t been hacked yet probably has been hacked – and hasn’t realized it yet.
Nextgov covers hacks with an ulterior purpose:
Hackers Attacking Israeli Think Tank Aren’t Interested in State Secrets
The website of a respected Israel-based foreign policy institute — the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs — has been infected with code that is trying to steal bank account information from visitors.
The campaign looks like an “advanced persistent threat-style attack” devised to siphon intelligence from government officials browsing the site, but “the threat is ultimately designed to pilfer banking credentials,” Kaspersky Lab reports.
The cyber strike against the think tank is part of a larger operation. Users who visit are redirected through a chain of seemingly innocuous sites affiliated with the music industry and law firms. Ultimately, users are led to a malicious server located in Russia.
And from PandoDaily, uninformed consent:
Study: 85% of mobile apps fail to disclose how they use consumer data
It sometimes seems like every new product begs the same question: Is using this worth giving up whatever privacy I have left?
So many applications and websites request or require access to address books, location history, contact information, and other data that the idea that we even have any privacy left can seem ridiculous. But the important thing is in the asking — it’s better to give that information over willingly than to have it stolen without our knowledge or consent.
Unfortunately, many application developers haven’t learned this lesson. The Global Privacy Enforcement Network — a group meant to enforce privacy laws across borders — studied 1,200 mobile apps and found that many of them gather data without a consumer’s informed consent.
After the jump, on to Asia, with Chinese censorship, China admonishes, more submarine anxieties and anticipation in Vietnam and Taiwan, claim-staking expansion and anger, a Tainwanese espionage conviction, and growing belief in the inevitably of a Sino/Japanese war. . .
From the Guardian, strategic censorship:
How the Chinese regime uses web censorship to strengthen the state
Far from being an unwieldy instrument, China’s system of censorship is a sharp tool which mines popular opinion to help make decisions
The classic argument has always been that, compared with democracies, totalitarian states have always been less efficient and prone to making much larger mistakes, because in a society where the truth is dangerous, even the rulers find themselves operating in a fog of lies.
The Chinese government may have found a way around this. In a remarkable study published in Science, a group of researchers studied the Chinese censorship regime from the inside by setting up a social media website inside China, buying approved software, and asking the censorship authorities how they should operate it. As it drily reports: “The ‘interviews’ we conducted this way were unusually informative because the job of our sources was in fact to answer the questions posed.”
As well as this site, they also posted in various ways on 100 Chinese social media sites (and the two largest have more than half a billion users each) to see which messages got through.
The result, which confirms earlier results, is that you can say pretty much anything you like on Chinese media, providing that it does not lead to any kind of action. “Chinese people can write the most vitriolic blogposts about even the top Chinese leaders without fear of censorship, but if they write in support of, or [even] in opposition to an ongoing protest – or even about a rally in favour of a popular policy or leader – they will be censored.”
JapanToday raises Down Under doubts:
Concern growing in Australia over plan to buy Japanese submarines
Opposition politicians and industry groups in Australia demanded clarity from the government Tuesday over reports that it could buy a new submarine fleet from Japan rather than build them at home.
Australia needs to replace its fleet of diesel and electric-powered subs, which date from the 1990s. Before the conservative government was elected last year, it said up to 12 new vessels would be constructed in South Australia, potentially with Japanese technology.
But The Australian newspaper on Tuesday reported that Japan is now the frontrunner to not only supply technology but build the subs as the cost in Australia would be too high.
The Los Angeles Times delivers a lecture:
After spat over spy plane, China tells U.S. to stop reconnaissance
A senior Chinese military official in Beijing told President Obama’s visiting national security advisor to end “close-in reconnaissance” less than a month after an armed Chinese fighter jet conducted an aggressive midair intercept of a U.S. Navy aircraft.
According to a report Tuesday by China’s state-run New China News Agency, Chinese official Fan Changlong advised Susan Rice that the U.S. military “should reduce and ultimately stop” its spy missions on China.
The comment, a reflection of an opinion long held by the Chinese government, was made to Rice on the last day of a three-day visit to China to discuss expanding partnership between the two nations.
BBC News conveys justification:
China says South China Sea land reclamation ‘justified’
China says its land reclamation work in the South China Sea is “totally justifiable” as it has “sovereignty” over the area.
Its foreign affairs ministry spokesman Hua Chunying was responding to a BBC report which documented China’s construction work in disputed waters. The Philippines has accused China of illegal building in the area.
China is locked in a dispute with several countries over maritime claims in the South China Sea. The BBC report by Rupert Wingfield-Hayes said China was building new islands on five different reefs.
South China Morning Post allocates:
Japan extends its sea territory by 177,000 sq km in line with UN ruling
Sovereign rights taken over two areas totalling 177,000 sq km in line with UN ruling, opening way to exploitation of fisheries and minerals
Tokyo has acted on a decision by a United Nations commission to approve a 177,000 sq km extension of its sovereignty claims to its continental shelf.
The newly claimed areas are identified as the Shikoku Basin Region and the Southern Oki-Daito Ridge Region. An ordinance adopted by the Japanese cabinet on Tuesday means Tokyo now has sovereign rights over the two areas, including fisheries and the exploitation of natural resources on the sea floor and beneath the seabed.
The ordinance goes into effect on October 1, according to Toru Furubori, deputy director of the Oceans Division of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Tokyo. It came in response to a 2012 UN ruling in Japan’s favour.
Want China Times covers more submarine machinations:
US chief of naval operation discusses sub deal with Taiwan
Admiral Jonathan Greenert, US chief of naval operations, confirmed that he had a conversation with officials of the Republic of China Navy regarding the sale or provision of submarines to Taiwan on Sept. 8 according to Taiwan’s Central News Agency.
This confirmation was made during an event held by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace regarding the US Asia-Pacific rebalancing strategy. Greenert refused to give any details about the meeting with Taiwanese officials however. Former US president George W Bush had previously stated that the US would help Taiwan to acquire eight diesel electric submarines. Little progress was made, however.
For this reason, Taiwan’s Ministry of Defense declared that it will launch a plan to build submarines domestically in the hope that the United States will transfer the necessary technology to Taiwan. Douglas Paal, a former director of the American Institute in Taiwan who currently serves as the vice president of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace said the indigenous submarine plan will encounter political difficulties and technological challenges for Taiwan.
From Want China Times, more submersible anxiety:
Vietnam’s new Kilo-class submarines to affect China ties
Vietnam’s purchase of Kilo-class submarines could have serious political consequences for its relationship with China, Russia and even other Southeast Asian states, the Hong Kong-based Ta Kung Pao reported on Sept. 9.
Vietnam purchased six Kilo-class diesel-electric submarines from Russia in 2009 under a US$2.6 billion contract. After receiving the first two Kilo-class subs in 2013 and 2014, Vietnam is expected to get its third two years from now. Vietnam will also receive 50 3M-14E Klub anti-ship cruise missiles from Russia as well. This has led many commentators to speculate that Vietnam may be gearing up for a potential conflict with China over disputed territories in the South China Sea.
Vasily Kashin from the Moscow-based Center for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies said that China’s 12 Kilo-class submarines are unlikely to compare with their Vietnamese counterparts. The attacking range of the Klub cruise missiles is estimated at 290 kilometers. Despite the fact that both Vietnam and China are communist states with a close economic relationship, the paper said Hanoi has always paid close attention to Chinese expansion in the South China Sea.
Reuters adds context:
China, Vietnam trade accusations over boats in disputed waters
China said on Wednesday that its forces had boarded a Vietnamese trawler last month in disputed waters in the South China Sea and confiscated explosives used for fishing, rejecting accusations from Vietnam that its ships had been attacked.
Ties between the Communist neighbors have soured this year over competing territorial claims in the potentially energy-rich waters which straddle key shipping lanes.
Vietnam said two Chinese rubber dinghies took control of one Vietnamese fishing boat that was fishing near the Paracel islets, confiscating property. Chinese personnel “intruded and destroyed” the boat and beat up fishermen, the Vietnamese Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Tuesday.
South China Morning Post convicts:
Taiwanese spy jailed 18 years for selling secrets to Beijing
Military colonel convicted for being a double agent and pocketing US$250,000 for information
A Taiwanese court on Wednesday sentenced a former intelligence officer to 18 years in prison for spying for Beijing, the latest in a series of espionage scandals in recent years.
Lo Chi-cheng, formally a colonel in the military intelligence bureau, was convicted of selling classified information to the mainland multiple times between 2007 and 2010 in return for about US$250,000, the high court said.
A military tribunal in 2011 had sentenced Lo to life in prison, which he appealed. The high court reduced his sentence on the grounds that he had confessed and shown remorse, a court official said.
For out final item, via South China Morning Post, anticipatory anxiety:
53pc in China, 29pc in Japan expect war between the countries, poll finds
Opinion poll also finds 29pc of Japanese see conflict between the countries ahead and paints picture of widespread mutual popular mistrust
More than half of Chinese people think their country could go to war with Japan in the future, a poll revealed yesterday.
A survey conducted in both nations found that 53.4 per cent of Chinese envisage a future conflict, with more than a fifth of those saying it would happen “within a few years”, while 29 per cent of Japanese foresee military confrontation.
The survey findings came ahead of today’s second anniversary of Japan’s nationalisation of the disputed Diaoyu, or Senkaku, islands in the East China Sea – the focus of bilateral tensions. They also come amid reports that the United States may be engaged in discussions with Japan on how to expand its offensive capabilities. The survey was conducted by Japanese non-governmental organisation Genron and state-run China Daily in July and last month.
