Thirteen Things the Government is Trying to Keep Secret from You
by Bill Quigley                                        Thomas
Paine said eternal vigilance is the price of liberty.         3
Illusory "Investigations" of the NSA Spying Unable to Succeed
by Mark Jaycox    The PCLOB: Powerless to Obtain Documents  The
PCLOB was created after a recommendation from the 9/11
Commission to ensure civil liberties and privacy were included
in the government's surveillance and spying policies and
practices.  But it languished. From 2008 until May of this year,
the board was without a Chair and unable to hire staff or
perform any work. It was only after the June revelations that
the President asked the board to begin an investigation into the
unconstituional NSA spying. Yet even with the full board
constituted, it is unable to fulfill its mission as it has no
choice but to base its analysis on a steady diet of carefully
crafted statements from the intelligence community.  As we
explained, the board must rely on the go