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Costly Amber Alert System Doesn’t Do Much For Missing Children, But Do Create A “Crime Control Theater”, Climate Of Fear, And Pump Up Public Anxiety
July 20th, 2008
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS - The disappearance of Brooke Bennett on June 25 seemed exactly the sort of case that the Amber Alert system was created for. The 12-year-old went missing from a convenience store in Randolph, Vt., and the next day state police issued an Amber Alert, Vermont’s first. Local police and sheriffs’ departments were put on notice. Television and radio cut into programming with emergency broadcast bulletins saying a young girl had vanished. News shows were told to ask viewers to call in with any sightings. Residents who had signed up for wireless Amber Alerts received warnings on their cellphones. And anyone playing the Vermont state lottery found, in the middle of the ticket, a reminder that a brown-haired, blue-eyed girl named Brooke was missing.
Read More11 Term Congressman And Civil Rights Leader John Lewis Still Appears On TSA’s “No-Fly” List
July 18th, 2008
WASHINGTON, DC - Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.) has had to go through security searches and provide multiple forms of identification at airport checkpoints for years because his name appears on federal no-fly lists.
Lewis, a leader in the civil rights movement before becoming an 11-term congressman, sent a letter to House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) this week asking him to address the issue.
In addition to suffering travel delays, Lewis has his staff alert his airline before every flight, Lewis wrote.
“I am on this list; I have been trying to get off for years,” he wrote. “And it seems there is not any way for me to get off. I have done nothing wrong and have complied with every request. If I encounter these problems as a Member of Congress showing my congressional identification, drivers’ license, and a clearance letter from [Transportation Security Administration], you can only imagine what the average American suffers.”
Homeland Insecurity Secretary Michael Chertoff Claims That European Terrorists Are Entering The U.S. And There Is Little We Can Do About It
July 18th, 2008
WASHINGTON, DC - European terrorists are trying to enter the United States with European Union passports, and there is no guarantee officials will catch them every time, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said Thursday.
Chertoff’s comments on Capitol Hill comes as the country is entering a potentially vulnerable period with the presidential nominating conventions coming up next month; the presidential election in November; and the transition to a new administration in January - all of which may be attractive targets for terrorists.
In his last scheduled appearance before the House Homeland Security Committee, Chertoff said that the more time and space al-Qaida and its allies have to recruit, train, experiment and plan, the more problems the U.S. and Europe will face down the road.
Read MoreThe War On Terror: Federal Tax Dollars Wasted By U.S. Air Force Designing Luxury “Comfort Capsules” For Senior Officers - At Least 4 Generals Involved In Picking Colors, Carpet, And Chairs - $68K Spend Changing Color Of Leather And Seat Belts
July 18th, 2008
WASHINGTON, DC - For three years, the Air Force’s top leadership sought to spend counterterrorism money on “comfort capsules” on military planes that ferry senior officers and civilian leaders, with at least four top generals involved in selecting the color of the capsules’ carpet and leather chairs, according to internal e-mails and budget documents.
Production of the first capsule — two sealed rooms that can fit into the fuselage of a large military aircraft — and four mobile pallets containing swiveling leather chairs with footrests has begun.
Air Force officials say the government needs the new capsules to ensure that leaders can talk, work and rest comfortably in the air. But the top brass’s preoccupation with luxury in wartime has alienated lower-ranking Air Force officers, congressional staff and a nonprofit group that calls the program a waste of money.
Read MoreFormer U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft Defends Torture
July 17th, 2008
WASHINGTON, DC - The controversial interrogation technique of waterboarding has served a “valuable” purpose and does not constitute torture, former Attorney General John Ashcroft told a House committee Thursday.
Testifying on the Bush administration’s interrogation rules before the House Judiciary Committee, Ashcroft defended the technique while answering a question from Rep. Howard Coble, R-North Carolina.
“Waterboarding, as we all know, is a controversial issue. Do you think it served a beneficial purpose?” the congressman asked.
“The reports that I have heard, and I have no reason to disbelieve them, indicate that they were very valuable,” Ashcroft said, adding that CIA Director George Tenet indicated the “value of the information received from the use of enhanced interrogation techniques — I don’t know whether he was saying waterboarding or not, but assume that he was for a moment — the value of that information exceeded the value of information that was received from all other sources.”
Read MoreWashington DC Police To Seize Guns Amid Legal Owner’s Registration Efforts
July 17th, 2008
WASHINGTON, DC - D.C. police will start the gun registration process at 7 a.m. tomorrow, when it opens an office at police headquarters at 300 Indiana Ave. NW.
It is the start of the 180-day amnesty period in which residents may register handguns they have had illegally, or guns from other states.
An officer from the gun unit will meet the applicant at the door and take temporary possession of the gun to ensure safety at headquarters.
Officers will tag the gun and run ballistics tests before returning it to the owner. Paperwork indicating that registration is in process will be provided.
About 14 days later, after an FBI background check, the gun will be officially registered.
CNN Investigative Reporter Drew Griffin Placed On TSA’s Error-Filled Terror Watch List After Criticizing The TSA - Our Tax Dollars At Work
July 17th, 2008
WASHINGTON, DC - The post-9/11 airline watch list that is supposed to keep terrorists off of airplanes has swelled to more than 1 million names, including at least one investigative reporter who had been critical of the Transportation Security Agency, which maintains the watch list.
CNN’s Drew Griffin reported on the bloating of the watch list, which an ACLU count pegged at 1,001,308 names Wednesday afternoon. Griffin’s is one of those names, he says.
“Coincidentally, this all began in May, shortly after I began a series of investigative reports critical of the TSA. Eleven flights now since May 19. On different airlines, my name pops up forcing me to go to the counter, show my identification, sometimes the agent has to make a call before I get my ticket,” Griffin reported. “What does the TSA say? Nothing, at least nothing on camera. Over the phone a public affairs worker told me again I’m not on the watch list, and don’t even think that someone in the TSA or anyone else is trying to get even.”
Read MoreFederal Judge May Block First Kangaroo Court Trial At Bush’s Guantanamo Bay Torture Prison
July 17th, 2008
WASHINGTON, DC - A federal judge is considering whether to block the first Guantanamo Bay war crimes trial from beginning next week. If he does, it could throw another kink into the Bush administration’s legal strategy in the war on terrorism.
Salim Hamdan, a former driver for Osama bin Laden, is scheduled to go on trial Monday as the first defendant in a special military commission system set up to prosecute detainees at the Navy base in Cuba. Other detainees, including alleged Sept. 11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, are awaiting trials of their own.
But a Supreme Court ruling last month jeopardized those plans. The court ruled that detainees must be allowed to challenge their detention in civilian courts, a right that the Bush administration said for years did not exist.
Read MorePreviously “Secret” Video Of Vicitm In Bush’s Guantanamo Bay Torture Prison Released
July 15th, 2008
TORONTO, CANADA - Lawyers for a Canadian prisoner at Guantanamo Bay released excerpts of videotaped interrogations Tuesday, providing a first-ever glimpse into the secretive world of questioning enemy combatants at the isolated U.S. prison in Cuba.
The 10 minutes of video - selected by Omar Khadr’s Canadian lawyers from more than seven hours of footage recorded by a camera hidden in a vent - shows a 16-year-old Khadr weeping, his face buried in his hands, during the 2003 interrogation that took place over four days.
The video, created by U.S. government agents and originally marked as secret, provides insight into the effects of prolonged interrogation and detention on the Guantanamo prisoner.
A Canadian Security Intelligence Services agent in the video grills Khadr about events leading up to his capture as an enemy combatant when he was 15. Khadr, a Canadian citizen, is accused of throwing a grenade that killed a U.S. soldier during a 2002 firefight in Afghanistan. He was arrested after he was found in the rubble of a bombed-out compound - badly wounded and near death.
Read MoreFormer Assistant U.S. Attorney General Jim Robinson Turns Up On Homeland Security Department’s Error Filled U.S. Terror Watchlist
July 14th, 2008
WASHINGTON, DC - The Justice Department’s former top criminal prosecutor says the government’s terror watch list likely has caused thousands of innocent Americans to be questioned, searched or otherwise hassled.
Former Assistant Attorney General Jim Robinson would know: he’s one of them.
Robinson joined another mistaken-identity American and the American Civil Liberties Union on Monday to urge eliminating the list that’s supposed to identify suspected terrorists.
“It’s a pain in the neck, and significantly interferes with my travel arrangements,” said Robinson, the head of the Justice Department’s criminal division during the Clinton administration. He believes his name matches that of someone who was put on the list in early 2005, and is routinely delayed while flying — despite having his own government top-secret security clearances renewed last year.
“I suppose if I were convinced that America is a safer place because I get hassled at the airport, I might put up with it,” Robinson said. “But I doubt it.”
Read MoreHigh Gas Prices Means Fewer Cops, Less Public Transit, And More Potholes
July 14th, 2008
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - In what seems to be a perverse reaction to high gas prices, some cities are cutting back on public transit - at a time when their citizens need it most.
Due to skyrocketing fuel costs local governments are being forced to trim all sorts of services - not only busses - but police departments and road repair crews too.
The Montana Highway Patrol, after failing to find enough police recruits, is using $300,000 that had been set aside for more officers to pay the gas bill instead.
Sheriff’s departments in Maryland and Florida have also reportedly cut patrol routes or officers.
“They’re not going to fill positions because they don’t have the dough,” said Ronald Reucker, president of the International Association of Chiefs of Police. “It’ll mean more speeding, more drunk drivers, and more fatal crashes.”
Read MoreWashington DC Chief Judge Issues Blanket Warrants For Arrest Of People Missing Jury Duty - Even Those Who Were Out Of Town
July 14th, 2008
WASHINGTON, DC - For the first six months of the year, Laurette M. Piculin lives with her elderly parents in Rockland County, N.Y. While she’s gone from her house in Northwest Washington, a friend gathers her mail and sends it along.
Piculin’s friend might have missed a key piece of mail last year: a second notice requiring her to appear for jury duty. That omission put the 51-year-old retired federal mediator at risk of arrest.
Hoping to send a message about the importance of jury service, the chief judge at D.C. Superior Court recently issued warrants calling for the arrests of 92 District residents who failed to show up. Twelve people have been arrested or turned themselves in this month for contempt of court, and marshals are canvassing the area for more. Those taken into custody had to pay $25 bonds and were given dates to report back to court for a final chance to explain themselves and get back on the calendar for jury service. The penalty for contempt of court could be as high as seven days in jail and a $300 fine.
Read MoreTSA Launches Investigation After It Was Disclosed That Only 1% Of Flights Are Protected By Air Marshals
July 14th, 2008
WASHINGTON, DC - Federal officers charged with keeping terrorists off planes are now searching their own ranks for staff who told CNN that few flights were protected by air marshals.
The Transportation Security Administration rejected as a “myth” CNN’s report that less than 1 percent of the nation’s daily flights carry armed federal air marshals. Now the agency is conducting an investigation into who talked to CNN and who encouraged other agents to do the same.
A spokesman for the TSA confirmed the investigation.
Spokesman Christopher White said a TSA investigator is looking into the “possible unauthorized release of sensitive and classified information to the news media by covered parties.”
“As part of this ongoing investigation, several individuals, both current and former employees, have been contacted as is typical in any investigation,” he said in an e-mail to CNN.
Read MoreOver One Million Suspected And Known “Terrorists” Appear On So-Called DHS Terror Watch List - Including Senator Ted Kennedy
July 14th, 2008
WASHINGTON, DC - A watch list of suspected and known terrorists, compiled by the US authorities, has ballooned and contains more than one million names, the American Civil Liberties Union said Monday.
The ACLU said it derived that figure from a Justice Department report on the FBI’s Terrorist Screening Center, which consolidates terrorist watch list information.
The Center “had over 700,000 names in its database as of April 2007 and that the list was growing by an average of over 20,000 records per month,” according to a report by the Justice Department Inspector General, the rights group said.
“By those numbers, the list now has over one million names on it,” the ACLU said in a statement.
Among those on the watch list are deceased people, such as former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein who was hanged in 2005, decorated war veterans, and US Senator Ted Kennedy, the ACLU said.
Read MoreSecret Nearly Invisible Dots From Color Laser Printers Target Users
July 13th, 2008
WASHINGTON, DC — The affordability and growing popularity of color laser printers is raising concerns among civil liberties advocates that your privacy may not be worth the paper you’re printing on.
More manufacturers are outfitting greater numbers of laser printers with technology that leaves microscopic yellow dots on each printed page to identify the printer’s serial number — and ultimately, you, says the San Francisco-based Electronic Frontier Foundation, one of the leading watchdogs of electronic privacy.
The technology has been around for years, but the declining price of laser printers and the increasing number of models with this feature is causing renewed concerns.
The dots, invisible to the naked eye, can be seen using a blue LED light and are used by authorities such as the Secret Service to investigate counterfeit bills made with laser printers, says Lorelei Pagano, director of the Central Bank Counterfeit Deterrence Group.
Read MoreCriminal President’s Federal Warrantless Wiretap Law Is Much Worse Than Anyone Imagined
July 11th, 2008
WASHINGTON, DC - If the sweeping surveillance law signed by President Bush on Thursday — giving the U.S. government nearly unchecked authority to eavesdrop on the phone calls and e-mails of innocent Americans — is allowed to stand, we will have eroded one of the most important bulwarks to a free press and an open society.
The new FISA Amendments Act nearly eviscerates oversight of government surveillance. It allows the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court to review only general procedures for spying rather than individual warrants. The court will not be told specifics about who will be wiretapped, which means the law provides woefully inadequate safeguards to protect innocent people whose communications are caught up in the government’s dragnet surveillance program.
The law, passed under the guise of national security, ostensibly targets people outside the country. There is no question, however, that it will ensnare many communications between Americans and those overseas. Those communications can be stored indefinitely and disseminated, not just to the U.S. government but to other governments.
Read More$10 Million Lawsuit Charges Metro Washington DC Airport Police Officer Michael Urbina And Others With Brutally Beating Innocent Woman Executive, Filing Bogus Charges
July 10th, 2008
WASHINGTON, DC - A New York woman has filed a $10 million lawsuit stemming from her arrest at Washington’s Reagan International Airport last year, an arrest she says was unwarranted and abusive.
Police say 31-year-old Robin Kassner was obstructing justice.
Security cameras captured the incident and the video has now been made public.
Surveillance video from inside Reagan National Airport shows Robin Kassner standing with a TSA agent who sorts through her bag.
Moments later, a Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority police officer steps in and pulls Kassner to the ground.
Robin Kassner says “I was thrown across the room, into a metal chair and into a lady, and I was on the floor and realized I was being beat up.”
Kassner says police officer Michael Urbina then used excessive force in handcuffing her.
Read MorePoverty Pimp And Attention Whore Jessie Jackson Wants To Cut Off Barack Obama’s Nuts
July 9th, 2008
WASHINGTON, DC - U.S. civil rights leader Jesse Jackson complained on Tuesday that Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama can seem to be “talking down to black people” at times and should broaden his message.
But Jackson apologized for a disparaging remark about Obama at the weekend while he was speaking into an open microphone that he thought had been turned off and which CNN said was too crude to broadcast.
Jackson, talking to CNN on Wednesday, said Obama has given what amounts to “lectures” at African-American churches.
“I said it can come off as speaking down to black people. The moral message must be a much broader message. What we need really is racial justice and urban policy and jobs and health care. There is a range of issues on the menu,” said Jackson, who was an acolyte of the slain civil rights leader, Martin Luther King Jr.
Read MoreDepartment Of Homeland Security Official Sees Applications For “Safety Bracelet” That Would Double As An Airline Boarding Pass And Torture/Stun Device
July 7th, 2008
WASHINGTON, DC - Just when you thought you’ve heard it all…
A senior government official with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has expressed great interest in a so-called safety bracelet that would serve as a stun device, similar to that of a police Taser. According to this promotional video found at the Lamperd Less Lethal website, the bracelet would be worn by all airline passengers.
This bracelet would:
• take the place of an airline boarding pass
• contain personal information about the traveler
• be able to monitor the whereabouts of each passenger and his/her luggage
• shock the wearer on command, completely immobilizing him/her for several minutes
The Electronic ID Bracelet, as it’s referred to as, would be worn by every traveler “until they disembark the flight at their destination.” Yes, you read that correctly. Every airline passenger would be tracked by a government-funded GPS, containing personal, private and confidential information, and that it would shock the customer worse than an electronic dog collar if he/she got out of line?
Read MoreWashington DC Police Officer Kelvin Barksdale Arrested, Jailed, Suspended, Charged With Attempted Rape, Abduction, And Firearms Charge After Trying To Kidnap Woman At Gunpoint
July 5th, 2008
WASHINGTON, DC — A D.C. police officer remains in jail on charges of attempted rape, abduction and unlawful use of a firearm in Prince William County last month.
Officer Kelvin Barksdale, 44, was held without bond and has been placed on leave from the Metropolitan Police Department. His next hearing is Aug. 21.
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Dumfries Police Department officials said that June 23 they stopped the suspect trying to abduct a woman at gunpoint at the intersection of Williamstown and Old Triangle. Appeared Here
US Takes Over Iraq And With Little Or No Border Security It Turns Into A Key Route In Global Drug Trade (Does This Sound Familiar?)
July 5th, 2008
BAGHDAD, IRAQ - War-torn Iraq is emerging as a key conduit in the global drugs trade as criminal gangs exploit its porous border with Iran to channel their illicit goods to the Middle East, Africa and Europe.
The Iraqi authorities say that since the 2003 US-led invasion the trade in illegal opiates, cannabis and synthetic pharmaceuticals has risen steadily, and that many drugs originating in Afghanistan enter Iraq via Iran.
Statistics are hard to come by in devastated Iraq, but the Baghdad government says a rising number of traffickers are being caught at border crossings with Iran, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.
“A large numbers of smugglers are being arrested,” interior ministry spokesman Major General Abdul Karim Khalaf told AFP, adding that many were being detained in the southern Iraqi provinces of Basra and Maysan.
Read MoreBush’s Guantanamo Bay Torture Prison And Kangaroo Court May Close
July 2nd, 2008
WASHINGTON, DC - President Bush will soon decide whether to close Guantanamo Bay as a prison for al-Qaeda suspects, sources tell ABC News. High-level discussions among top advisers have escalated in the past week, with the most senior administration officials in continuous talks about the future of the prison camp at Guantanamo Bay–and how it will be dramatically changed and/or closed in the wake of the Supreme Court’s ruling that gave detainees there access to federal courts.
Sources have confirmed that President Bush is expected to be briefed on these pressing GTMO issues–and may reach a decision on the future of the naval base as a prison for al Qaeda suspects–before he leaves for the G8 on Saturday. An announcement, however, is not expected before he leaves the country.
High-level administration officials say the Court’s decision dramatically changes the legal landscape–and raises questions about whether the government has solid evidence to present to federal judges to justify ongoing detentions.
Read MoreEFF And ACLU Sue U.S. Government For Records On Government Tracking Of Cellular Phones
July 2nd, 2008
WASHINGTON, DC - Two civil liberties groups filed a lawsuit against the U.S. government yesterday, seeking records related to the government’s use of cellphones as tracking devices.
The American Civil Liberties Union and the Electronic Frontier Foundation sued the government in federal court in Washington under the Freedom of Information Act. Last November, the ACLU had filed a FOIA request with the Justice Department for documents, memos and guides regarding the policies for tracking people through the use of their cellphones.
The groups also want to know how many times the government sought location information without first establishing probable cause that a crime was taking place.
Justice Department spokesman Dean Boyd declined to comment on the suit. But with respect to cell-tracking data in general, he said, “It is important to remember that the courts determine whether or not cell-site data or more precise cell location data can be turned over to law enforcement in a particular case.”
Read MoreAmericans Are Ranked As The Worlds Top Drug Users - After Its Federal Government Pissed Away Hundreds Of Billions Of Tax Dollars On The So-Called “War On Drugs”
July 1st, 2008
WASHINGTON, DC - Americans are the world’s top consumers of cannabis and cocaine despite punitive US drug laws, according to an international study published in the online scientific magazine PLoS Medicine.
The study, released Monday, revealed that 16.2 percent of Americans had tried cocaine at least once, and 42.4 percent had used marijuana.
In second-place New Zealand, just 4.3 percent of study participants had used cocaine, and 41.9 percent marijuana.
The research was conducted at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, based on World Health Organization data from 54,068 people in 17 countries.
Rates of participation differed from country to country, and researchers noted uncertainty over how honestly people report their own drug use.
“Nevertheless, the findings present comprehensive data on the patterns of drug use from national samples representing all regions of the world,” a PLoS statement said.
Read MoreFederal Appeals Court Judges Reviewing Evidence From Bush’s Guantanamo Bay Torture Prison’s Kangaroo Court Compare His Administration’s Legal Theories To A Hapless, Dimwitted Character In 19th Century Nonsense “The Hunting Of The Snark” Poem
June 30th, 2008
WASHINGTON, DC - A federal appeals court reviewing evidence at Guantanamo Bay compared a Bush administration legal argument to one made by a hapless, dimwitted character in a 19th century nonsense poem by Lewis Carroll.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit cited the 1876 poem, “The Hunting of the Snark,” in ruling that the military improperly labeled a Chinese Muslim as an enemy combatant. The ruling was issued last week but an unclassified version of the opinion was released only Monday.
It was the first time a court has reviewed the military’s decision-making and considered whether a detainee should be held. The ruling provides guidance to federal district judges, who are about to begin reviewing dozens of such cases now that the Supreme Court says detainees can challenge their detention in federal court.
Read MoreABC: How The FBI Totally Botched The Anthrax Case - Former Agent Explains - $5.8 Million Awarded To Innocent Suspect
June 30th, 2008
WASHINGTON, DC - The anthrax investigation, almost from the beginning, was hampered by top-heavy leadership from high ranking, but inexperienced FBI officials, which led to a close-minded focus on just one suspect and amateurish investigative techniques that robbed agents in the field the ability operate successfully.
I saw it firsthand as one of the FBI agents assigned to the anthrax case and directly involved in the investigation of Dr. Steven Hatfill. While I cannot comment on the guilt or innocence of Hatfill, I think I have a sense of some of the things that went wrong inside the FBI and what lessons can be learned from this embarrassing case.
Last Friday, the U.S. Department of Justice agreed to pay $5,825,000 to Hatfill, whom former Attorney General John Ashcroft once described as “a person of interest” in the investigation into the anthrax murders of seven people in 2001.
Read MoreRegardless Of What Cops, Fear Mongers, And Lawmakers Want You To Believe, Most Firearm Deaths In U.S. Are Suicides
June 30th, 2008
ATLANTA, GEORGIA - The Supreme Court’s landmark ruling on gun ownership last week focused on citizens’ ability to defend themselves from intruders in their homes. But research shows that surprisingly often, gun owners use the weapons on themselves.
The Supreme Court’s landmark ruling on gun ownership last week focused on citizens’ ability to defend themselves.
The Supreme Court’s landmark ruling on gun ownership last week focused on citizens’ ability to defend themselves.
Suicides accounted for 55 percent of the nation’s nearly 31,000 firearm deaths in 2005, the most recent year for which statistics are available from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
There was nothing unique about that year — gun-related suicides have outnumbered firearm homicides and accidents for 20 of the last 25 years. In 2005, homicides accounted for 40 percent of gun deaths. Accidents accounted for 3 percent. The remaining 2 percent included legal killings, such as when police do the shooting, and cases that involve undetermined intent.
Read MoreIraqi Men Sue U.S. Military War Criminal Contractors After Being Tortured In Abu Ghraib Prison - Beaten, Electrocuted, And Subjected To False Executions
June 30th, 2008
ISTANBUL - Four Iraqi men are suing U.S. military contractors who they say tortured them while they were detained in Abu Ghraib prison, according to lawsuits being filed at U.S. federal courts on Monday.
The lawsuits allege the contractors committed violations of U.S. law, including torture, war crimes and civil conspiracy.
The scandal over the treatment of detainees at Abu Ghraib unleashed a wave of global condemnation against the United States when images of abused prisoners surfaced in 2004.
The four plaintiffs, all later released without charge, described their experiences to Reuters on Monday at an Istanbul hotel, where they periodically meet their U.S. legal team. They gave accounts of beatings, electric shocks and mock executions.
The lawsuits named CACI International Inc, CACI Premier Technology, L-3 Services Inc and three individual contractors.
The first suit was filed on Monday in Seattle, Washington, and the others were being filed in Maryland, Ohio and Michigan, where the contractors reside.
Read MoreFBI Loses Funding For Massive Privacy Invading Database Of U.S. Citizens After Refusing Congressional Oversight
June 29th, 2008
WASHINGTON, DC - On Thursday, the US House Science and Technology Committee voted to deny the FBI $11 million to continue work on a massive database of government records on virtually all American citizens. The vote came after the FBI refused to tell Congress about its plans.
The database project, called the National Security Analysis Center (NSAC), was conceived after 9/11 to correlate hundreds of millions of electronic records created or collected by various government agencies at all levels. The idea was to use all that data to somehow predict who might be a potential so-called ” terrorist” — without a hint of probable cause to indicate any specific individual was linked to any radical or extremist group or ideology.
It is the sort of plan that the former East German STASI, the secret police thought to have employed up to one in three East Germans as government informants, would have wet its pants to have implemented. Terms that come to mind are “Panopticon” and “Orwellian.”
Read MoreU.S. Law Enforcement Authorities Helped Facilitate Ransom Payment For Relative Of U.S. Congressmen In Third World Mexico
June 28th, 2008
WASHINGTON, DC - U.S. law enforcement authorities helped facilitate a $32,000 ransom payment in Mexico for a relative of a U.S. congressman who was kidnapped last week by gunmen in Ciudad Juarez, a border city with rampant drug smuggling, gunfights and corruption.
Erika Posselt, a Mexican national described only as “a relative of the wife” of Rep. Silvestre Reyes, Texas Democrat and powerful chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, was abducted June 19 from an auto glass store she owns in Juarez.
Held for three days, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents - at Mr. Reyes’ request - helped arrange her safe return.
Saying they would kill Mrs. Posselt if a $500,000 ransom wasn’t paid, the kidnappers negotiated with Mrs. Posselt’s brother in Juarez and agreed to release her for $32,000 - in U.S. and Mexican currency. According to a confidential ICE memo, Mrs. Posselt was heard yelling in the background on one phone call between her brother and her captors.
Read More9/11 Hysteria Expands: U.S. Isn’t Satisfied With Violating The Privacy Of U.S. Citizens, Reaches Across The Atlantic To Violate The Privacy Of European Residents
June 28th, 2008
WASHINGTON, DC - The United States and the European Union are nearing completion of an agreement that would allow law enforcement and security agencies to obtain private information - including credit card transactions, travel histories and Internet browsing habits - about people on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean.
Seeking to improve information-sharing to fight crime and terrorism, government officials have been meeting since February 2007 to reach a pact. Europe generally has more-stringent laws restricting how governments and businesses can collect and transfer personal data, which have led to high-profile disputes over American demands for such information.
Negotiators have largely agreed on draft language for 12 major issues that are central to a “binding international agreement” making clear that it is lawful for European governments and companies to transfer personal information to the United States, and vice-versa, according to an internal report obtained by The New York Times.
Read MoreU.S. Government Forks Over Big Bucks After Bogus Anthrax Attack Allegations Against Scientist, Still Doesn’t Have A Clue Who Killed 5 And Sickened 17 Others
June 27th, 2008
WASHINGTON, DC - A former Army scientist who was named a “person of interest” in the deadly 2001 anthrax attacks has reached a multimillion-dollar settlement with the Justice Department.
Steven Hatfill sued former Attorney General John Ashcroft and the department in 2003, claiming that his privacy was violated when his name was leaked to the media in connection with an investigation into the biological attacks in the eastern United States.
Five people were killed and 17 became seriously ill in the attacks.
Hatfill, a former Army bioweapons researcher, has steadfastly denied involvement in the attacks and was never charged in the investigation.
In a statement released Friday afternoon, department officials said Steven Hatfill will receive a one-time payment of $2.825 million and a $150,000 annuity.
Read MoreFortis Bank Predicts Meltdown Of U.S. Financial Markets In Coming Weeks
June 27th, 2008
BRUSSEL/AMSTERDAM, NETHERLANDS - Fortis expects a complete collapse of the US financial markets within a few days to weeks. That explains, according to Fortis, the series of interventions of last Thursday to retrieve € 8 billion. “We have been saved just in time. The situation in the US is much worse than we thought”, says Fortis chairman Maurice Lippens. Fortis expects bankruptcies amongst 6000 American banks which have a small coverage currently. But also Citigroup, General Motors, there is starting a complete meltdown in the US”
(Dutch) Fortis rekent binnen enkele dagen tot weken op het volledig instorten van de Amerikaanse financiële markten. Dat verklaart volgens de bankverzekeraar de serie ingrepen van donderdag om zich met €8 miljard te versterken. „We zijn op het nippertje gereed. Het gaat in de Verenigde Staten veel slechter dan gedacht”, zegt Fortis-chairman Maurice Lippens, die volhoudt dat topman Votron aanblijft. Fortis verwacht faillissementen onder 6000 Amerikaanse banken die nu weinig dekking hebben. „Maar ook Citigroup, General Motors, er begint een complete meltdown in de VS.” Appeared Here
Barclays Capital Warns Of Coming Financial Disaster As US Federal Reserve Credibility Falls To Less Than Zero
June 27th, 2008
WASHINGTON, DC - Barclays Capital has advised clients to batten down the hatches for a worldwide financial storm, warning that the US Federal Reserve has allowed the inflation genie out of the bottle and let its credibility fall “below zero.”
“We’re in a nasty environment,” said Tim Bond, the bank’s chief equity strategist. “There is an inflation shock under way. This is going to be very negative for financial assets. We are going into tortoise mood and are retreating into our shell. Investors will do well if they can preserve their wealth.”
Barclays Capital said in its closely-watched Global Outlook that US headline inflation would hit 5.5pc by August and the Fed will have to raise interest rates six times by the end of next year to prevent a wage-spiral. If it hesitates, the bond markets will take matters into their own hands. “This is the first test for central banks in 30 years and they have fluffed it. They have zero credibility, and the Fed is negative if that’s possible. It has lost all credibility,” said Mr Bond.
Read MoreSecond Amendment Survives: U.S. Supreme Court Affirms Right To Own Guns For Personal Use - Strikes Down Illegal Washington DC Gun Control Law
June 26th, 2008
WASHINGTON, DC - The U.S. Supreme Court ruled on Thursday, for the first time in the nation’s history, that individual Americans have the right to own guns for personal use, and struck down a strict gun control law in the nation’s capital.
The landmark 5-4 ruling marked the first time in nearly 70 years that the high court has addressed whether the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution protects an individual right to keep and bear arms, rather than a right tied to service in a state militia.
Obvious: TSA Screener Positions Are A “Dead End Job” - So Says Their Boss Kip Hawley
June 25th, 2008
WASHINGTON, DC - Low morale among the nation’s airport screeners may be compromising security and forcing screeners to quit their jobs, a controversial government report said Tuesday.
The 29-page report by Homeland Security Department Inspector General Richard Skinner is the latest to chronicle personnel problems among the nation’s 48,000 airport screeners. The workforce has some of the highest turnover and injury rates in the federal government.
Unlike past workplace reports, this one says security could suffer as a result.
“Given their frustration, employees may be distracted and less focused on their security and screening responsibilities,” Skinner’s report says.
Transportation Security Administration chief Kip Hawley ripped Tuesday’s report, saying it relies on disgruntled screeners at a few airports. “This results in flawed conclusions,” Hawley wrote in a sharp, point-by-point rebuttal.
Read MoreFBI Kept File On Pulitzer Columnist Who Said FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover Didn’t Exist And Was A Phantom Named After The Vacuum Cleaner
June 25th, 2008
WASHINGTON, DC - Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist Art Buchwald poked fun at the powerful during his storied career - but one frequent target, longtime FBI director J. Edgar Hoover, wasn’t laughing.
Hoover, who ran the federal law enforcement agency for nearly a half century, ordered agents to keep close tabs on the humorist - even having one G-man report on a Buchwald interview in Playboy, the columnist’s FBI file reveals.
Buchwald’s columns - including one in which he suggested Hoover didn’t exist and was a phantom named after the vacuum cleaner company - apparently rankled the FBI boss. Hoover repeatedly referred to Buchwald as a “sick comic,” according to the file, amassed over nearly two decades.
The 239-page file was obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, which allows such documents to become public after the subject dies. Buchwald, whose Washington Post-based column was syndicated for decades, died in January 2007. Appeared Here
U.S. Supreme Court Sides With Child Rapists - No Executions For Those Who Deserve It The Most - Our Tax Dollars At Work
June 25th, 2008
WASHINGTON, DC — The Supreme Court has struck down a Louisiana law that allows the execution of people convicted of a raping a child.
[BCN: Despite the fact that child molesters and rapists must be killed or otherwise permanently segregated from society the do-nothing justices on the Supreme Court will go any distance to see that it doesn't happen.]
In a 5-4 vote, the court says the law allowing the death penalty to be imposed in cases of child rape violates the Constitution’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment.
Elsewhere:
Court rejects death penalty for raping children
WASHINGTON, DC - The Supreme Court on Wednesday struck down a law that allows the execution of people convicted of a raping a child.
Read MoreU.S. Customs Agents Seize Reporter’s Laptop Computer At Dulles International Airport
June 25th, 2008
WASHINGTON, DC - Returning from a brief vacation to Germany in February, Bill Hogan was selected for additional screening by customs officials at Dulles International Airport outside Washington, D.C. Agents searched Hogan’s luggage and then popped an unexpected question: Was he carrying any digital media cards or drives in his pockets? “Then they told me that they were impounding my laptop,” says Hogan, a freelance investigative reporter whose recent stories have ranged from the origins of the Iraq war to the impact of money in presidential politics.
Shaken by the encounter, Hogan says he left the airport and examined his bags, finding that the agents had also removed and inspected the memory card from his digital camera. “It was fortunate that I didn’t use that machine for work or I would have had to call up all my sources and tell them that the government had just seized their information,” he said. When customs offered to return the machine nearly two weeks later, Hogan told them to ship it to his lawyer.
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