Elections in Ukraine are nearing and the violence is escalating dramatically. We’ll bring you up to date on the latest developments, and the recent surprise move by the Russians.

Plus a bill to reign in the NSA gains traction, how the NSA scares the Bejeezus out of tech CEOs, some good news, and much more!

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— Show Notes —

NSA is Crazy

Exclusive: Emails reveal close Google relationship with NSA | Al Jazeera America

Al Jazeera has obtained two sets of email communications dating from a year before Snowden became a household name that suggest not all cooperation was under pressure.

On the morning of June 28, 2012, an email from Alexander invited Schmidt to attend a four-hour-long “classified threat briefing” on Aug. 8 at a “secure facility in proximity to the San Jose, CA airport.”

Alexander, Schmidt and other industry executives met earlier in the month, according to the email. But Alexander wanted another meeting with Schmidt and “a small group of CEOs” later that summer because the government needed Silicon Valley’s help.

“About six months ago, we began focusing on the security of mobility devices,” Alexander wrote. “A group (primarily Google, Apple and Microsoft) recently came to agreement on a set of core security principles. When we reach this point in our projects we schedule a classified briefing for the CEOs of key companies to provide them a brief on the specific threats we believe can be mitigated and to seek their commitment for their organization to move ahead … Google’s participation in refinement, engineering and deployment of the solutions will be essential.”

The classified briefing cited by Alexander was part of a secretive government initiative known as the Enduring Security Framework (ESF)

Cyber Briefings ‘Scare The Bejeezus’ Out Of CEOs : NPR

“We scare the bejeezus out of them,” says one U.S. government participant.

“We can turn your computer into a brick,” U.S. officials told the startled executives, according to a participant in the meeting.

The warning came during a discussion of emerging cyberthreats at a secret session hosted by the office of the Director of National Intelligence and the departments of Defense and Homeland Security, along with Gen. Keith Alexander, head of the U.S. military’s Cyber Command.

USA Freedom Act unanimously clears House Judiciary Committee

The USA Freedom Act, designed to prevent the US government from collecting US phone data in bulk, passed the House Judiciary Committee by a 32 to zero bi-partisan vote, making it the first surveillance reform bill to proceed out of committee and to the House floor.

The bill’s architect, Republican James Sensenbrenner of Wisconsin, who also wrote the 2001 Patriot Act, said the bill “makes it crystal clear that Congress does not support bulk collection.”

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Ukraine

Putin ‘backs 25 May elections’ Says They Decide Nothing if not everyone is involved

Russia’s President Vladimir Putin says Ukraine’s presidential election on 25 May is a step “in the right direction”.

But he said the vote would decide nothing unless the rights of “all citizens” were protected.

Mr Putin also said that Russia had pulled back its troops from the border, as tension remains high.

Putin Announces Pullback from Ukraine Border – NYTimes.com

“We were told constantly about concerns over our troops near the Ukrainian border,” Mr. Putin said. “We have pulled them back. Today they are not at the Ukrainian border but in places of regular exercises, at training grounds.”

NATO officials said that they saw no immediate sign that Russian forces had pulled back, news services reported from NATO’s headquarters in Brussels. A White House spokesman, Josh Earnest, told reporters traveling with President Obama aboard Air Force One that while the United States would welcome a Russian military pullback from the Ukraine border region, “there has been no evidence that such a withdrawal has taken place.”

Weed Wackers:

Systematic review: Efficacy and safety of medical marijuana in selected neurologic disorders

Objective: To determine the efficacy of medical marijuana in several neurologic conditions.

Methods: We performed a systematic review of medical marijuana (1948–November 2013) to address treatment of symptoms of multiple sclerosis
(MS), epilepsy, and movement disorders. We graded the studies according to the American Academy of Neurology classification
scheme for therapeutic articles.

Results: Thirty-four studies met inclusion criteria; 8 were rated as Class I.

Conclusions: The following were studied in patients with MS: (1) Spasticity: oral cannabis extract (OCE) is effective, and nabiximols
and tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) are probably effective, for reducing patient-centered measures; it is possible both OCE and

• THC are effective for reducing both patient-centered and objective measures at 1 year. (2) Central pain or painful spasms
  (including spasticity-related pain, excluding neuropathic pain): OCE is effective; THC and nabiximols are probably effective.

• The risks and benefits of medical marijuana should be weighed carefully.

• Risk of serious adverse psychopathologic effects was nearly 1%.

• Comparative effectiveness of medical marijuana vs other therapies is unknown
  for these indications.

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