Wikileaks Was Just a Preview: We’re Headed for an Even Bigger Showdown Over Secrets | Matt Taibbi

…Still, it seems like an insane amount of pressure to apply, given the other types of crimes (of, say, the HSBC variety) where stiff sentences haven’t even been threatened, much less imposed…..

But in all of these cases, the government pursued maximum punishments and generally took zero-tolerance approaches to plea negotiations. These prosecutions reflected an obvious institutional terror of letting the public see the sausage-factory locked behind the closed doors not only of the state, but of banks and universities and other such institutional pillars of society. As Gibney pointed out in his movie, this is a Wizard of Oz moment, where we are being warned not to look behind the curtain….

via Matt Taibbi | Rolling Stone.

The Grey Man Directive | Survival Think Tank

The grey man directive, some say, cannot be learned.  Some insist that being a grey man is just something you are–or you’re not.  In this article and companion video, we take you inside the mind of a grey man, a man that understands the importance of blending in, careful to exist in the fringes between the pendulum swings of social paradigms.  In most urban survival situations we will likely face at home, being grey is your best course of action to avoid kinetic confrontation.  There is no complete manual on how to be grey; no written instruction to guide you.  It’s instinctual, environmental, and situational dependent.

via Survival Think Tank: The Grey Man Directive.

The Growth of Homeland Security’s Domestic Intelligence Enterprise | Public Intelligence

The Department of Homeland Security’s production of domestic intelligence has increased substantially over the last few years according to a brochure of “intelligence products” published last month by Cryptome. The 2012 DHS Intelligence Enterprise Product Line Brochure is “a standardized catalogue of intelligence reports and products that represent the full breadth” of the agency’s analytical capabilities. It provides descriptions of each type of product created by the DHS Intelligence Enterprise as well as the classification level and instructions on how DHS “customers” can obtain the products.

Why you need an offshore email account | SovereignMan.com

Below I provide a links to a few offshore email providers whose servers are located overseas. With a properly configured account, you can switch to an offshore provider and still keep your existing email address:

• Neobox- http://www.neomailbox.com (Netherlands)
• e-mail.ph- http://www.e-mail.ph (Philippines)
• HongKong Mail- http://www.mymailhk.com (Hong Kong)
• mBox- http://www.mbox.com.sg (Singapore)
• Green- http://www.mails.ch (Switzerland)
• Swiss Mail- http://www.swissmail.org (Switzerland)

Remember, using these providers decreases the likelihood of your email account being confiscated or deactivated by your home government– offshore email hosting does not guarantee privacy or security unless you use encryption schemes …”  via Why you need an offshore email account

Survival Guide for Citizens in a Revolution | Anonymous

Came across this 15  page pamphlet reportedly released by Anonymous … worth a read but geared to folks caught or participating in a violent protest, riot, meltdown, British soccer match and the like.  Go here and scroll about halfway down the page:  Survival Guide for Citizens in a Revolution.

9 Reasons Wired Readers Should Wear Tinfoil Hats | Wired.com

There’s plenty of reason to be concerned Big Brother is watching.  We’re paranoid not because we have grandiose notions of our self-importance, but because the facts speak for themselves.

Here’s our short list of nine reasons that Wired readers ought to wear tinfoil hats, or at least, fight for their rights and consider ways to protect themselves with encryption and defensive digital technologies.

go here: 9 Reasons Wired Readers Should Wear Tinfoil Hats | Threat Level | Wired.com.

Americans Are Now Living In A Society That Rivals Orwells 1984 | Militant Libertarian

The question is, will Americans ever reclaim their sense of dignity and freedom or – like the Party members in Orwell’s Oceania – will they learn to love their servitude?  via Militant Libertarian » Americans Are Now Living In A Society That Rivals Orwells 1984.

How To Erase Your Digital Footprint | Maximum PC

Now that you’ve taken the red pill and realized the realities of living a life connected to the Internet, how can you better protect yourself in the future? There are several basic tools available for the privacy-conscious; most of them free…

If you would like to keep Facebook in check and minimize its invasion into your online life, check out Disconnect, a browser extension available for Firefox, Chrome, and Safari. The purpose of this extension is to “help people understand and control the data they share online.” Disconnect will disable third-party tracking, depersonalize searches, identify and block information requests from websites, and allows the user to easily unblock these requests if so chosen..

The service Google Alerts will actually send regular email updates every time your name is queried. Both of these simple steps can help you monitor the information other people are looking at pertaining to you and where they are accessing it from. Now that you have this handy guide to walk you through how to purge that data, channel your inner-Jason Bourne every so often and control your data like the secret agent you always wanted to be! Be sure to check out a related article by online privacy expert Dan Tynan for more information.

To help further minimize your digital footprint, privacy advocate Moxie Marlinspike created a service called GoogleSharing, which allows users to search through Google without being tracked. The technology scrambles search requests that are sent to Google, making it impossible to tell where or from whom the request is coming from…

Even with these precautions there is no absolute way to make your information available only to you. Once something is done online, expect it to be there forever. Don’t bother thinking you can hide anything online because there is nowhere to hide.

The best strategy for reducing your footprint is to remember to step back every once in awhile, and not rely on the Internet to service every facet of your life. Every picture doesn’t need to be geo-tagged; every new social media site does not have to be joined permanently. Every detail of your personal life does not have to be put on display for others to see. Just like you take steps to protect your physical information, remember to take steps to monitor and protect your digital information as well.via Maximum PC | How To Erase Your Digital Footprint – Page 2.

[Also, click here for ‘Privacy Tools’]