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Author: Mandy Nagy

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Mandy Nagy

Mandy Nagy (aka "Liberty Chick") was an investigative writer and researcher. She primarily covered the institutional left, protest movements, hacking and cybercrime, and technology. After suffering a serious stroke in September 2014, Mandy no longer was able to work at Legal Insurrection, but she's always on our minds and in our hearts. For more information, see here.

Posted by Mandy Nagy on February 20, 2014 10 Comments

A Ukrainian skier has dropped out of the Sochi Winter Olympics as an act of solidarity with protesters in Ukraine, amid escalated violence in Kiev this week. From the Associated Press via ABC News: A Ukrainian skier has withdrawn from the Olympics in response to the deaths...

Posted by Mandy Nagy on February 19, 2014 18 Comments
President of Ukraine Viktor Yanukovych said late Wednesday in a statement on his website that he and opposition leaders had agreed to a truce and will start negotiations in an effort to try and stabilize the situation in the country amid recent unrest. From NBC News:
The president of Ukraine and the leader of the anti-government movement have agreed to a “truce” and “negotiations” aimed at bringing an end to the violence that has torn the country apart. In a statement on his official website, President Viktor Yanukovych said his government and the opposition have agreed to “negotiations aimed at cessation of bloodshed and stabilization of the situation in the country for the sake of civil peace.” Opposition leader Vitali Klitschko said in a statement on his website that both sides reached an agreement on the negotiations and that the next round of talks will be held tomorrow (Thursday). The website quoted Klitschko as saying, "We have received assurances from Yanukovych that there would be no assault on Maidan (Independence Square). Literally, it means a truce. Today a key goal is to stop the bloodshed that authorities have provoked and unleashed. Now we will see how Yanukovych will stick to his word after promised sanctions from the West." The announcements — the first significant sign of progress since the anti-government protests began nearly three months ago — came just one day after brutal clashes between demonstrators and police left at least 26 people dead and nearly 250 injured.
Earlier Wednesday, President Obama had weighed in on the situation in Ukraine, urging for an end to the violence and warning all sides that “there will be consequences if people step over the line.”

Posted by Mandy Nagy on February 18, 2014 4 Comments
Violence again erupted in Ukraine on Tuesday. From the NY Times:
Mayhem gripped the center of the Ukrainian capital on Tuesday evening as riot police officers tried to drive two armored personnel carriers through stone-reinforced barriers in Independence Square, the focal point of more than two months of protests against President Viktor F. Yanukovych.

Pelted by rocks and fireworks, the vehicles became stuck in the massive barricades outside the Khreschatyk Hotel and burst into flames, apparently trapping the security officers inside, prompting desperate rescue efforts from their colleagues.

In the course of wild day of parries and thrusts by the protesters and the police, the authorities in Kiev reported nine people killed, including two police officers. It was the bloodiest day of violence since President Yanukovych spurned a trade deal with Europe in November and set of protests that began peacefully but have since involved occasional spasms of deadly violence.

Live feeds and other video footage show clashes between protesters and police forces and footage of the scenes on the ground.

Posted by Mandy Nagy on February 18, 2014 9 Comments
The Director of National Intelligence indicated Monday that the federal government probably should have been more transparent in the first place about its collection of phone records. In an interview with the Daily Beast’s Eli Lake, James Clapper reflected on how the program may have been received differently had general information about it been shared with the public from the outset. From the Daily Beast, Spy Chief: We Should’ve Told You We Track Your Calls:
In an exclusive interview with The Daily Beast, Clapper said the problems facing the U.S. intelligence community over its collection of phone records could have been avoided. “I probably shouldn’t say this, but I will. Had we been transparent about this from the outset right after 9/11—which is the genesis of the 215 program—and said both to the American people and to their elected representatives, we need to cover this gap, we need to make sure this never happens to us again, so here is what we are going to set up, here is how it’s going to work, and why we have to do it, and here are the safeguards… We wouldn’t have had the problem we had,” Clapper said. “What did us in here, what worked against us was this shocking revelation,” he said, referring to the first disclosures from Snowden. If the program had been publicly introduced in the wake of the 9/11 attacks, most Americans would probably have supported it. “I don’t think it would be of any greater concern to most Americans than fingerprints. Well people kind of accept that because they know about it. But had we been transparent about it and say here’s one more thing we have to do as citizens for the common good, just like we have to go to airports two hours early and take our shoes off, all the other things we do for the common good, this is one more thing.”
It's difficult to know whether or not the American public would have accepted the program as another security necessity.  But I'd agree that a more extensive public debate about the general nature of the program probably would have been more productive at the outset.

Posted by Mandy Nagy on February 16, 2014 1 Comment
Business news outlet Forbes confirmed late Friday afternoon that it had been the target of a digital attack, one that appears to have been conducted by the Syrian Electronic Army. The hackers reportedly gained access to the outlet’s publishing platform administration panel and defaced several pages on the Forbes website, and added an article under the headline, “Hacked by the Syrian Electronic Army.”  The SEA temporarily hijacked several Twitter accounts associated with the outlet as well, according to Softpedia. The SEA also claims to have published a database containing over a million records of Forbes users, though the news outlet did not confirm that the data had been posted online, according to recode.net. A statement from Forbes on its Facebook page did meanwhile warn users to change their current passwords, and indicated that the outlet has notified law enforcement of the incident.
Security message: Forbes.com was targeted in a digital attack and our publishing platform was compromised. Users' email addresses may have been exposed. The passwords were encrypted, but as a precaution, we strongly encourage Forbes readers and contributors to change their passwords on our system, and encourage them to change them on other websites if they use the same password elsewhere. We have notified law enforcement. We take this matter very seriously and apologize to the members of our community for this breach.
The hacking group posted a handful of tweets from its SEA Twitter account regarding the incident.

Posted by Mandy Nagy on February 07, 2014 26 Comments

When asked to give a good reason (other than Corvettes) why he shouldn't run for President, Vice President Joe Biden told CNN "New Day's" Kate Bolduan in an interview, "I can't." “There may be reasons I don't run, but there's no obvious reason, for me, why...

Posted by Mandy Nagy on February 06, 2014 13 Comments

James Carville has found a new home at FOX News. From FOX News: Veteran Democratic strategist James Carville has been hired as a Fox News contributor. The former Bill Clinton adviser will join the network to provide political commentary. Bill Shine, executive vice president of programming, announced the...

Posted by Mandy Nagy on February 06, 2014 7 Comments

An early morning report from Reuters on Thursday indicated that Ukraine’s parliament has agreed to try and work on a joint bill on constitutional amendments. The parties in Ukraine's deadlocked parliament agreed on Thursday to try to draft a joint bill on constitutional amendments that could...

Posted by Mandy Nagy on February 05, 2014 25 Comments
Former American Idol star Clay Aiken has officially announced his bid for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives in the second district of North Carolina. The seat is currently held by Republican Rep. Renee Ellmers.  (Some may remember the videotaped message that Ellmers made in 2010 for readers of Legal Insurrection). In a video posted at his campaign website, Aiken talks about his background outside of just American Idol.  He recounts his personal story of childhood affected by domestic violence, and discusses his time teaching special education students, then going on to work with groups like UNICEF. Aiken claims he realized that people will need to work together to solve our problems. "I'm a Democrat," Aiken said on the video.  "But it was when I was appointed by President Bush to serve on a special presidential commission to address the educational challenges of children with special needs. That was when I first realized that our problems won't be solved by only one party or the other. But instead, it's going to require all of us." And then, Aiken promptly took aim at Ellmers.

Posted by Mandy Nagy on February 05, 2014 20 Comments
Some patients in California are finding out that once they’ve managed to sign up for a health insurance plan through the state exchange, it still may be difficult to determine whether or not a doctor actually accepts their insurance plan. From the LA Times:
After overcoming website glitches and long waits to get Obamacare, some patients are now running into frustrating new roadblocks at the doctor's office. A month into the most sweeping changes to healthcare in half a century, people are having trouble finding doctors at all, getting faulty information on which ones are covered and receiving little help from insurers swamped by new business. Experts have warned for months that the logjam was inevitable. But the extent of the problems is taking by surprise many patients — and even doctors — as frustrations mount. Aliso Viejo resident Danielle Nelson said Anthem Blue Cross promised half a dozen times that her oncologists would be covered under her new policy. She was diagnosed last year with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and discovered a suspicious lump near her jaw in early January. But when she went to her oncologist's office, she promptly encountered a bright orange sign saying that Covered California plans are not accepted. "I'm a complete fan of the Affordable Care Act, but now I can't sleep at night," Nelson said. "I can't imagine this is how President Obama wanted it to happen."
Nelson received a temporary extension from her new insurer through March 31 after numerous complaints to the company and public officials, but says she will look into other policies before the close of open enrollment, according to the LA Times.

Posted by Mandy Nagy on February 03, 2014 3 Comments
After an announcement just last week that he'd be taking an indefinite sick leave, the President of Ukraine returned on Monday, as the political crisis continues there. From Reuters:
Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich returned to work on Monday after four days of sick leave, issuing a warning about rising "radicalism" after more than two months of unrest on the streets but giving no word on a new prime minister. Yanukovich, caught in a tug of war between Russia and the West, is seeking a way out of a sometimes violent confrontation with protesters who have occupied city streets and public buildings following his decision in November to spurn a trade deal with the EU and accept financial aid from Moscow. As he returned to work, looking in fair health, a day before a new session of parliament, the political opposition took heart from fresh expressions of support from Western governments and pressed for more concessions to end protests. However, the European Union, whose foreign policy chief is due in Kiev late on Tuesday, played down suggestions it was working with the United States on a large-scale aid package aimed at nursing the economy through a political transition.
It remains an uncertain situation upon Yanukovich's return.

Posted by Mandy Nagy on February 02, 2014 8 Comments
I can't remember a year when I've seen so many Super Bowl ads released online in advance of the big day. You've likely seen many of them by now - the car commercials, the Doritos ads, and we've of course seen the Cheerios and SodaStream ads in the midst of other stories. Some of the ads will air before the kickoff, some during, and there are many floating around that won't necessarily air during the game but are getting plenty of attention.  I thought for a change of pace I'd grab a few of the more heartwarming or inspiring ads for a post today, with links to some more complete lists at the end. The first, from Budweiser, is probably my favorite.  It also comes with this short documentary on how the ad came to be, and the campaign utilizes a hashtag - #salute.  Budweiser says, "It's also a thank you to all of our veterans and active duty troops."  As for the ad itself, its title sets it up for you: Budweiser Super Bowl XLVIII Commercial -- "A Hero's Welcome"

Posted by Mandy Nagy on February 01, 2014 10 Comments

Last summer, we posted about the Guardian’s revelation that authorities with the UK Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) weeks earlier had entered the outlet’s building and overseen the destruction of hard drives containing documents leaked by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden. In a new video released Friday...

Posted by Mandy Nagy on January 31, 2014 5 Comments
The press office of Viktor Yanukovych announced Thursday that the President of Ukraine would take a sick leave for an indefinite period of time, prompting uncertainty amid continuing tensions in Ukraine. From the Wall Street Journal:
Ukraine's president and his opponents accused one another of sabotaging efforts to end the political crisis Thursday, as an unexpected presidential sick leave further damped hopes for compromise. President Viktor Yanukovych's absence was quickly denounced by his opponents as a case of executive malingering in a country where politicians have in the past delayed one another in parliament by throwing eggs, padlocking the doors and body-blocking the rostrum. The Ukrainian president's office issued a statement saying Mr. Yanukovych, 63, is taking time off from work because of a fever and respiratory illness. The statement did not indicate when he would return to work.
Prime Minister Mykola Azarov and his government resigned on Tuesday, in an attempt to appease protesters.  Parliament also voted to repeal or modify many of the anti-protest laws that had been passed in mid-January and sparked escalating violence. But Yanukovych must sign the repeal from Parliament and it is not known whether or not that would occur while he is on sick leave, according to the Associated Press. Just after the announcement of his sick leave, the president of Ukraine defended his handling of the ongoing crisis there. From CNN:

Posted by Mandy Nagy on January 29, 2014 0 Comments

For those of you who actively research news stories and other information online, you’ll find Twitter’s latest search enhancements to be a useful development. The social media platform tweeted this afternoon that it is adding filters to its search functionality that provide the ability to sort...

Posted by Mandy Nagy on January 28, 2014 7 Comments
The prime minister of Ukraine resigned on Tuesday in an attempt to help ease tensions after two months of protests and recent violent clashes there. From CNN:
Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych accepted the resignation of Prime Minister Mykola Azarov and his government Tuesday, amid a political crisis fired by violent protests on the country's streets. Azarov and his Cabinet will continue in their roles until a new government is formed, a notice on the presidential website said. Yanukovych's announcement comes only hours after Azarov submitted his resignation and as the national parliament meets in a special session aimed at ending the crisis.
With the resignation of the prime minister also means the resignation of his entire cabinet, in accordance with the Ukrainian Constitution, reported UPI.

Posted by Mandy Nagy on January 27, 2014 8 Comments

On Friday, January 24th, the federal court system's public website became unavailable for several hours, as did access to the PACER system, uscourts.gov, and many other federal court websites across the country.  The outage impeded the ability of attorneys and litigants to file or retrieve...

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