secrecy

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We Need to Stop Keeping DV Shelters Under Wraps
We Need to Stop
Keeping DV Shelters
Under Wraps
OPINION

We Need to Stop Keeping DV Shelters Under Wraps

Writing for 'NYT,' Rachel Louise Snyder says open shelters can be just as safe, offer other benefits

(Newser) - Shelters that domestic violence victims flee to have historically been shrouded in secrecy, ostensibly to keep victims safe from their abusers. But Rachel Louise Snyder rethinks this hush-hush approach, noting that it not only keeps abusers and the general public in the dark about the shelters—it can also keep...

Speculation Ramps Up on Melania Trump's Health Status

All went well in Melania Trump's procedure, but WH is staying mum on how and where she is

(Newser) - The president has said she's doing well, and the first lady herself tweeted on Wednesday she was "feeling great," but other than that, Melania Trump's health status after her kidney surgery on Monday has been kept "under wraps," per the New York Times . Specifically,...

This May Be the Most Secretive State in the Nation

'Kansas City Star' explores the state's unusually tight-lipped bureaucracy

(Newser) - Kansas doesn't just try to manage the flow of information to the public about government doings, it throttles it. After a months-long investigation, the Kansas City Star concludes that Kansas "runs one of the most secretive state governments in the nation." The newspaper finds that this lack...

Supreme Court Makes Exception on Juror Secrecy

Ruling says deliberations can be disclosed if racial bias helped lead to conviction

(Newser) - Calling racial and ethnic bias "antithetical" to the way a US jury is supposed to work, the Supreme Court took exception Monday to the usual rule that jury deliberations be kept secret, the New York Times reports. The court's 5-3 ruling mandates that state and federal laws meant...

Pence Goes to Court to Protect Emails

Some legal experts are calling attempt to shield email a 'dangerous precedent'

(Newser) - In November 2014, when President Obama announced his plan to remedy American's "broken immigration system"—including deferring deportation for illegal immigrants who had been in the US for a certain amount of time or who had children born in this country—not everyone was happy about it....

33K Pages of Clinton Files Are Still Hidden —Why?

Withholding period ended in January 2013

(Newser) - It's been more than a year since the legal justification for secrecy expired on a collection of roughly 33,000 pages of documents from the Clinton presidency. But the files in question—which are held at the Clinton Presidential Library and are reportedly related in part to scandals such...

Blame Libya Abduction on White House Leaks
Blame Libya Abduction
on White House Leaks
OPINION

Blame Libya Abduction on White House Leaks

Obama administration at fault for prime minister's ordeal, Marc Thiessen argues

(Newser) - Libyan Prime Minister Ali Zeidan was kidnapped briefly today in retaliation for consenting to the commando raid that captured Abu Anas al-Libi. How did they know he'd done this? "Simple: The Obama administration told them," writes Marc Thiessen at the Washington Post . Under fire from Congress and...

Why You Should Be Outraged That Area 51 Is Real

Government is now controlling what's real, and we're OK with that: Joseph Lapin

(Newser) - Last month, the CIA acknowledged it : Area 51 is real, and it was used to test spy planes. But the news seems largely to have washed over Americans without any pushback, and that's a shame, writes Joseph Lapin at Salon . Not only did the government keep another secret from...

New York: Sorry, Our Video Parodying Secrecy Is Secret

Andrew Cuomo denies Freedom of Information Act request

(Newser) - Isn't government secrecy funny? Andrew Cuomo thought so, so the New York governor—who campaigned on a promise of transparency—shot a video with his aides last year poking fun at the reputation for secrecy he's earned since. It was played during the Albany press corps' gala last...

Manning Is a Product of Our Warped Idea of Secrecy

Denver Nicks: Moynihan warned of something like this years ago

(Newser) - Trying to figure out whether Bradley Manning is a traitor or a hero is the least important aspect of his trial , writes Manning biographer Denver Nicks in Time . What's important is understanding that Manning is just the guy who did what someone in "the age of big data...

Catholic Church Keeps a Secret 2nd Set of Records

But sex-abuse inquiry is exposing those files

(Newser) - For centuries, the Catholic Church has had two sets of books—one for routine matters, the other containing records of controversial matters ranging from clandestine weddings performed by priests to clergy alcohol abuse. That second set of records, the first mention of which appeared in the 1700s, has been kept...

Navy SEALs Punished for Working on Video Game

At least 7 members acted as consultants for 'Medal of Honor: Warfighter'

(Newser) - Seven members of SEAL Team Six—one of whom took part in the Osama bin Laden raid—are in trouble because of a video game. The elite troops were paid consultants on Electronic Arts' "Medal of Honor: Warfighter," whose missions include a raid on Somali pirates; the game...

China Begins Once-a-Decade Leadership Change

Conference addresses corruption, slowed economic growth

(Newser) - China's Tiananmen Square has been emptied of its usual activists and crowds, red flowers and flags blanket the capital, and 1.4 million volunteers are on-hand to provide security as the country's leadership today begins a shift that occurs just once per decade, the BBC reports. President Hu...

Price of Keeping US Secrets: $11B

...Or at least, that's the price that's not classified

(Newser) - It's not cheap keeping the vast number of secrets the US government does. These days, Uncle Sam spends a whopping $11 billion guarding classified info, twice what it spent a decade ago, the New York Times reports—and that's just the secrets it will tell us about. The...

Tim Cook: Apple Will 'Double Down' on Secrecy

CEO hopes to bring some manufacturing to US

(Newser) - If you thought Apple was secretive under Steve Jobs, brace yourself: Tim Cook says his company is going to "double down" on its strategy of keeping mum. "I feel strongly that being secretive on the product side of our business is so important," the CEO said at...

Japan Kept Worst-Case Nuclear Fears Under Wraps

Fukushima report warned that all of Tokyo might need to be evacuated

(Newser) - Japanese officials were told that last year's nuclear disaster could have required the evacuation of tens of millions—but they didn't mention it, worried that the information might cause a panic. A 15-page report, given to the prime minister two weeks after the earthquake, was obtained by the...

Homeland Security Hiding Its Emails: Insiders

Employees concerned over lengthy vetting process for internal records

(Newser) - Homeland Security insiders spent months complaining that top Obama appointees were improperly delaying the release of potentially embarrassing files sought under the Freedom of Information Act. In a raft of uncensored emails obtained by the AP , insiders called the vetting process “meddling," "crazy" and "bananas!”...

'State Secrets' Privilege Hits Supreme Court

Critics say government abuses privilege aimed at national security

(Newser) - The Supreme Court this week will, for the first time in decades, hear a case questioning aspects of the government’s oft-used “state secrets” privilege, USA Today reports. The federal government has used the argument frequently since 9/11, such as in cases of warrantless surveillance and prisoner interrogation; it...

Obama Moves to Declassify US Secrets

More than 400M pages could be declassified after prez order

(Newser) - More than 400 million pages of Cold War-era documents could be declassified as the federal government responds to President Obama's order to rethink the way it protects the nation's secrets. Among the changes Obama announced yesterday is a requirement that every record be released eventually and that federal agencies review...

Obama Raises Bar on What Passes for State Secrets

AG must personally approve all requests to keep programs veiled

(Newser) - The Obama administration will announce much more stringent rules on state secrets today, two Justice Department officials tell the Washington Post, in what amounts to a major shift from Bush-era practice. To keep a program secret, an organization—including intelligence agencies and the military—will have to convince the attorney...

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