Song Of The Day #194

Our Gospel song this Sunday morning is Face To Face by the great bluegrass singer Claire Lynch. It's on her 12 track CD Whatcha Gonna Do.

Police Tapped Sprint Customer GPS Data 8 Million Times In A Year

Under a new system set up by Sprint, law enforcement agencies have gotten GPS data from the company about its wireless customers 8 million times in about a year, raising a host of questions about consumer privacy, transparency, and oversight of how police obtain location data. What this means -- and what many wireless customers no doubt do not realize -- is that with a few keystrokes, police can determine in real time the location of a cell phone user through automated systems set up by the phone companies. And while a Sprint spokesman told us customers can shield themselves from surveillance by simply switching off the GPS function of their phones, one expert told TPM that the company and other carriers almost certainly have the power to remotely switch the function back on. To be clear, you can think of there being two types of GPS (global positioning system). One is the handy software on your mobile device that tells you where you are and helps give driving directions. But there's also GPS capability in all cell phones sold today, required by a federal regulation so if you dial 911 from an unknown location, authorities can find you. Sprint says the 8 million requests represent "thousands" of individual customers -- it won't say how many exactly -- and that the company follows the law. It's not clear, however, if warrants are always needed, or whether they have been obtained by police for all the cases...read more

Sprint manager: ‘Half’ of all police surveillance includes text messaging

According to a graduate student's research into the spying policies of major U.S. telecommunications companies, at a recent security conference a Sprint surveillance manager told a group of onlookers that half of all police requests include the target's text messages. Half of millions -- including some 8 million automated, web-based requests for GPS location, all in just over a year's time. The revelation was made by Indiana University grad Christopher Soghoian, as part of his PhD dissertation published Dec. 1, 2009. He attributes the stunning number to Paul Taylor, an Electronic Surveillance Manager with Sprint Nextel, who was speaking recently at the Washington, D.C. International Securities Systems conference, otherwise known as ISS World. "He’s talking about the wonderful automated backend Sprint runs for law enforcement, LSite, which allows investigators to rapidly retrieve information directly, without the burden of having to get a human being to respond to every specific request for data," added Julian Sanchez at the Cato Institute...read more

Lawsuit seeks information on federal surveillance of social networking sites

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and the University of California, Berkeley's Samuelson Clinic have filed a lawsuit (PDF document) against six government agencies, seeking information on their use of social networking sites for data collection and surveillance. The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. It invoked the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) in seeking information from the Department of Defense, Department of Homeland Security, Department of Justice, Department of Treasury, Central Intelligence Agency, and Office of the Director of National Intelligence. The eight-page complaint lists several media reports about law enforcement's use of social sites for surveillance purposes. One of the reports includes an Associated Press story about police searching Facebook photos for evidence of underage drinking and watching YouTube videos to identify suspected rioters. Another example cited in the compliant is a story in The New York Times about the FBI searching the house of s social worker because of Twitter messages he sent during the G-20 summit about police movements in the city. For instance, there is no information on how such searches are conducted, or whether they involve specific targets or are broader in scope, Witnov said. "We don't know if they are searching for the top twenty most wanted criminals or are just scanning," such sites he said. Similarly there is no information on whether such searches are being enabled by automated information gathering and data visualization tools. One of the articles talks about the Secret Service immediately spotting the opening of social network account by a fugitive. The fact that it was "immediately spotted" is interesting, Witnov said...read more

Homeland Security or Homeland Enslavement?

By now, most readers are familiar with the story of how a Virginia couple, Michaele and Tareq Salahi, crashed the White House State Dinner last Tuesday evening. President and Mrs. Obama were entertaining Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in the first official State Dinner of the new administration. The Salahis were not on the invited guest list, but were still allowed to walk right into the White House. They even had face-to-face conversations with both President Obama and Vice President Joe Biden. Photographs of the Salahis with the President and Vice President have been published in numerous newspapers and on hundreds of web sites. I wonder if the American people are thinking this episode through? Think of it: in the post-9/11 world, a world that has invented the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), body scanners, retina readers, the Patriot Act, hundreds of laws and regulations restricting the freedoms and liberties of the American people, thousands of cameras photographing our public movements, and satellite spy devices, a couple can walk right into the White House and meet the President and Vice President without being invited! Is there something wrong with this picture, or what?...read more

A New Alliance for Criminal Justice Reform? Don't Count On It.

New York Times Supreme Court reporter Adam Liptak had legal and political opinion websites buzzing last week with a front-page article about non-traditional left-right alliances that may be emerging on criminal justice issues. In particular, Liptak's piece focused on a project started by the conservative Heritage Foundation that aims to combat what the think tank calls overcriminalization, a broad term that includes the federalization of crime, the expansion of state and local criminal codes, and the ramping up of police and prosecutorial power. The time would certainly seem to be ripe for new left-right alliances on criminal justice reform. This week, the Senate Judiciary Committee will consider a new bill from Sen. Jim Webb (D-Va.) that would create a national criminal justice commission to review all aspects of America's police, criminal courts, and prisons. Webb's bill comes on the heels of a sobering set of developments. The U.S. has for some time now accumulated the world's largest prison population, both proportionally and overall. DNA testing continues to clear people wrongly convicted and imprisoned for violent crimes. And the federal criminal code has swelled from the three laws proscribed in the Constitution to, by one estimate, more than 4,000 laws today. Still, the prospect of any sort of lasting alliance seems unlikely, mostly because conservatives, libertarians, and liberals view the legal system in fundamentally different ways...read more

Turner blasts REAL ID Act

Republican gubernatorial hopeful Doug Turner blasted the REAL ID Act which could force New Mexicans to use a passport for domestic travel after the new year if the state is not granted an extension. This is because New Mexico drivers licenses would not reach the standards of the REAL ID Act. Turner, who was the campaign manager for libertarian governor Gary Johnson, wrote in an op-ed sent to media this afternoon, “you don’t have to read the newspaper every day to see that state autonomy in our country is waning.” Turner compared the legislation to Soviet-era policies, writing, “Since our nation’s founding, we have never had special documentation or permission to cross state lines. It was the Soviet bloc nations where you had to have numerous papers, signatures and stamps in order to travel across state borders.” Turner admits however, that “it is a stretch to suggest that we are now living in a Neo-Soviet Union.” Citing costs for passports, $130 after postage and photo fees Turner asks, “Who has this kind of money right now? Who really thinks all this aggravation will even make us one iota safer?” Much of the op-ed isn’t about cost, however, but government intrusion. “Like all of the other government bills we are currently being forced to swallow, the REAL ID legislation trespasses on our personal freedom, privacy, states’ rights and is yet another increase to the cost of living,” Turner wrote...read more

E-mail stirs fears of hijacking 'dry run'

An airline is fending off charges fueled by a widely circulated e-mail that an incident on a flight from Atlanta to Houston, reported by news media as minor, actually bore the marks of a "dry run" by Muslim terrorists. of a purported passenger on AirTran Flight 297 on Nov. 17, bolstered by a separate investigation by Northeast Intelligence Network, contends that about a dozen Muslim men in "full attire" who were spread throughout the jet as it taxied to the runway caused a disturbance prompting pilots to return to the gate and bring law enforcement officers onboard. The airline, at its InsideAirTran website, denied many of the claims made in the e-mail, which purportedly was written by a passenger, Tedd Petruna of Houston, and circulated by a friend, A. Gene Hackemack. Yet questions remain, such as why was the flight crew was changed after a supposedly minor disturbance and why several passengers were so distraught that they refused to continue on to their destination after the men involved were allowed to reboard the airplane...read more

Brussels gives CIA the power to search UK bank records

THE CIA is to be given broad access to the bank records of millions of Britons under a European Union plan to fight terrorism. The Brussels agreement, which will come into force in two months’ time, requires the 27 EU member states to grant requests for banking information made by the United States under its terrorist finance tracking programme. In a little noticed information note released last week, the EU said it had agreed that Europeans would be compelled to release the information to the CIA “as a matter of urgency”. The records will be kept in a US database for five years before being deleted. Critics say the system is “lopsided” because there is no reciprocal arrangement under which the UK authorities can easily access the bank accounts of US citizens in America. They also say the plan to sift through cross-border and domestic EU bank accounts gives US intelligence more scope to consult our bank accounts than is granted to law enforcement agencies in the UK or the rest of Europe...read more

Safeway recalls beef in Arizona, N.M.

In cooperation with Beef Packers, Inc.'s (Cargill) recall of 22,000 pounds of fresh ground beef that may be linked to an outbreak of Salmonella, Safeway Inc. is recalling fresh ground beef products with "Sell By" dates of September 28 through October 11, 2009. The recall affects all stores in Arizona and one store in New Mexico in the city of Gallup. While the recalled product is no longer in stores, Safeway is asking its customers to check all ground beef in their freezers. The recall includes fresh ground beef products sold during the dates listed above at the full-service counter in brown butcher paper and at the self-service area wrapped on black Styrofoam trays. These products include fresh ground beef, fresh ground beef patties, fresh meat balls, fresh meat loaf and fresh bell peppers stuffed with beef and pork. These products should be discarded or returned for a full refund...read more

Obama to join climate summit on its final day

Increasingly optimistic that decisions by China and India will yield a breakthrough in international climate negotiations, President Obama announced Friday that he would take a more active and dramatically timed role at this month's climate summit in Copenhagen. Obama will push back his visit to the conference to its final scheduled day, putting him in a better position to help broker an agreement, the White House announced. The White House also said the United States would pay "its fair share" of a $10-billion-a-year, short-term financing package from wealthy nations to help developing nations adapt to rising temperatures and make the transition to low-emission energy sources. It's unclear what that share would be, but Obama included more than $1 billion for such efforts in his proposed 2010 budget. The moves come in response to recent pledges by China and India to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, White House officials said, and after Obama's consultations this week with the leaders of France, Germany, Britain and Australia...read more

Cringing Over Climategate

"Science and scientific process must inform and guide decisions of my administration on a wide range of issues, including … mitigation of climate change," President Barack Obama declared in a not-so-subtle dig at his predecessor soon after assuming office. "The public must be able to trust the science and scientific process. Public officials should not suppress or alter scientific technological findings." Last week's Climategate scandal is putting Obama's promise to the test. If he wants to pass, there are two things he should do, pronto: (1) Start singing hosannas to whoever broke the scandal instead of acting like nothing has happened; and (2) Ask eco-warriors at the Copenhagen Climate Change Summit next week to declare an immediate cease-fire in their war against global warming pending a complete review of the science...read more

MIT Team Asks: Is Increase in Greenhouse Gas Part of Natural Cycle?

A team of MIT scientists recorded a nearly simultaneous world-wide increase in methane levels -the first increase in ten years. What baffles the team is that this data contradicts theories stating humans are the primary source of increase in greenhouse gas. It takes about one full year for gases generated in the highly industrial northern hemisphere to cycle through and reach the southern hemisphere. Since all worldwide levels rose simultaneously throughout the same year, however, it is probable that this may be part of a natural cycle - and not the direct result of man's contributions...read more

Forest Service Cleared in Esperanza Fire Deaths

A mix of wind-stoked flames and a lapse in awareness -- not misconduct on the fire line -- is to blame for the deaths of five Forest Service firefighters in the 2006 Esperanza Fire, a federal probe has concluded. The findings were released Thursday after months of delays by the U.S. Agriculture Department's Office of Inspector General and are generally in line with previous investigations into the 43,000-acre wildfire, which tore through the hills south of Cabazon and overran the men of Forest Service Engine Crew 57. The three-year investigation centered on the actions of those who fought the blaze and could have led to criminal charges against fire personnel. But ultimately, investigators found no wrongdoing on the part of the Forest Service or Cal Fire. The agencies battled the Esperanza Fire together, but the report found that Cal Fire alone was in command of the fire. The determination that there was no misconduct was well received by some within the firefighting community, which has eagerly awaited the report's release. Investigators determined that the deaths were the result of an ill-advised decision by the crew to make a stand outside an unoccupied house, combined with extreme fire conditions fueled by Santa Ana winds. The report cited "rapid, unexpected fire behavior -- propelled by the sudden emergence of fire-related weather phenomena," as well as the location of the doomed crew...read more

Feds kill 7 wolves

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Wildlife Services, with authorization from the Idaho Department of Fish and Game, took a control action against wolves in the Stanley area last week, shooting seven members of the Basin Butte pack. Todd Grimm, Wildlife Services' Western District supervisor, said the wolves were shot from a helicopter and plane on Nov. 23 and 24. The pack's home range is around Stanley, about 60 miles north of Ketchum. "Since July 2008, these wolves have been implicated in 14 incidents of depredation, all but four taking place on private land," Grimm said. Grimm said that in August the pack killed 36 sheep in two nights, and have also killed seven adult cows and five calves in the past year, most recently killing cows in October and November. "After the Nov. 3 depredation, [Wildlife Services] got together with Fish and Game and decided to significantly reduce the pack," Grimm said...read more

Air Force to expand training airspace in Dakotas

The U.S. Air Force is looking to quadruple the airspace in which it can it can conduct training exercises with its B-1 and B-52 bombers stationed in the Dakotas. The proposal would allow more military pilots to train locally, but some civilian pilots are concerned about the additional air traffic, and some ranchers worry flyovers by low-flying, 146-foot-long aircraft will spook their cattle. The Powder River Training Complex, centered just northwest of where South Dakota, Wyoming and Montana meet, now spans about 6,000 square miles. The space can accommodate only one or two bombers at a time, so some B-1B Lancers from South Dakota's Ellsworth Air Force Base and B-52 Stratofortress bombers from North Dakota's Minot Air Force Base have had to fly as far as Nevada for their combat exercises, said George Stone, Ellsworth's airspace manager. Nelson said he's concerned about a flare hitting one of his natural gas wells or sparking a grass fire, and he worries about how falling debris will affect sheep that are lambing. "Having airplanes thunder over the top of them at 500 feet dropping magnesium flares and chaff is not going to be conducive to a good lamb crop,'' he said...read more

Plan aims to protect tallgrass prairie

A conservation initiative seeks to preserve up to 1 million acres of tallgrass prairie in the Flint Hills — some of the last stands of tallgrass in the nation. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is considering buying voluntary conservation easements in 14 Kansas counties. Participating landowners would have control over day-to-day operations on their land, and be able to pass it on or sell it. The easements would prevent landowners from developing the land for residential or commercial use. The plan, still being developed, also might govern how much or where wind-energy operations could be placed, said Amy Thornburg with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Denver. The purchase, which would have to be approved by the secretary of the Interior, would be funded with proceeds collected by the federal government from offshore oil and gas leases. If the program is approved, Elam said, it would most likely begin in 2011...read more

Judge orders construction of Nevada gold mine halted

The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals on Thursday ordered a temporary halt to construction at Barrick Gold of North America’s Cortez Hills Mine in Lander County, Nev. The ruling is a blow to Barrick, which has nearly completed construction of the Cortez Hills facilities and is developing the open pit with an expectation of production beginning early next year. It’s a victory for environmental organizations and Western Shoshone tribes that filed an appeal after the U.S. District Court in Reno denied their request for an injunction against the project. “We think it’s very significant. How long it stays in place is another question,” said Julie Cavanaugh Bill of the Western Shoshone Defense Project, one of the organizations that filed the lawsuit against the U.S. Bureau of Land Management over its approval of the Cortez Hills project. “We’re very pleased, but we feel bad for the contractors and workers.” Barrick and Bureau of Land Management officials declined comment early Thursday evening. The three-panel appeals court in San Francisco approved the appeal,claiming the BLM violated the National Environmental Policy Act by failing to perform sufficient study of dewatering impacts and potential mercury air emissions for ore transport at the mine...read more

EPA financial requirements could slam explorers and other U.S. small miners

EPA's intention to propose regulations requiring hardrock mining companies to post financial assurance with the agency has got explorers and miners fighting mad. During an environmental panel at the Northwest Mining Association meeting in Reno, National Mining Associate General Counsel Tammy Bridgeford accused the EPA of exaggerating "potential exposures and risk from modern mining operations." The agency's CERCLA Financial Responsibility Initiative for the Hardrock Mining Industry is aimed at improving financial assurance for new and operating hardrock mines and for mine site cleanups. EPA contends it is spending "significant resources on environmental review and permitting of new and operating mines and on mine clean ups." While well-funded mining operations have completed mine reclamation, the EPA claims, "there are many examples where mine operators have failed to make adequate financial provisions for closure costs and this has resulted in the abandonment of sites in unsafe and unacceptable environmental conditions. In these cases, state and federal agencies bear the financial burden of cleaning up the site." The EPA chose hardrock mining as its first priority for developing financial responsibility requirements for Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), more commonly known as Superfund...read more

America's Great Horse Culture in Peril

It's near midnight as a two-tier cattle truck climbs a hill 50 miles from Tulsa, OK, grinding and spitting from its lumbering load. The grueling 1,000 mile trek that began at a horse auction near Waukegon, Illinois is far from over, as the truck's destination is a Texas holding pen earmarked for slaughter-bound horses nearly 355 miles away. If the truck makes it across the state line, it will deliver nearly 50 horses----yearlings, pregnant mares, registered Thoroughbreds, purebred Arabians, wild Mustangs and ponies, Appaloosas, and newly born foals to a Mexican slaughter house. While these equines have individual stories and backgrounds, they share one commonality: They were all purchased at auction by what is known in the industry as "kill buyers" who are fulfilling independent contracts with the slaughter house. As many as 22 horses have already died en route due to kicking injuries, water and food deprivation, and suffocation since departing the auction nearly 72 hours earlier. This scene is not set in the Dust Bowl era. The overweight, fragile truck is not filled with John Steinbeck's endearing "Joad" family seeking a better life . It's a glimpse into the all too real underworld of horse slaughter transport to plants located in Mexico and Canada-----fostering a highly egregious form of animal cruelty that continues unabated in the U.S. despite years of bitter public and political opposition...read more

Gives you some insight on why they are winning.