New Case Reveals Routine Abuse of Government Surveillance PowersThe Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) is arguing that a New York federal court should stand by its decision to require probable cause to believe a crime has been or is about to be committed before letting the government secretly track people using their cell phones.
"This is the first case considering when the government can track the movements of your cell phone, and the answer couldn't be more important," said EFF Staff Attorney Kevin Bankston. "Allowing the government to tur... (more)
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10 more spots getting camerasTen more accident-prone Chicago intersections have been chosen for a Big Brother experiment that has already raked in $13.9 million: digital cameras to snare motorists running red lights.
Once again, the new intersections were chosen after a review of accident statistics. They have a history of "right-angle" crashes most commonly linked to red-light running.
The new locations are Ashland and Cortland; 63rd and State; Diversey and California; State and Roosevelt; 99t... (more)
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Blair in secret Saudi mission: Expulsions link to £40bn arms dealTony Blair and John Reid, the defence secretary, have been holding secret talks with Saudi Arabia in pursuit of a huge arms deal worth up to £40bn, according to diplomatic sources.
Mr Blair went to Riyadh on July 2, en route to Singapore, where Britain was bidding for the 2012 Olympics. Three weeks later, Mr Reid made a two-day visit, when he sought to persuade Prince Sultan, the crown prince, to re-equip his air force with the Typhoon, the European fighter plane of which th... (more)
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Saudi Prince Buys Large Share of Fox News (IsraelNN.com) Saudi Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal has purchased 5.46 percent of the Fox corporation, according to Gulf Daily News, raising concern that the conservative Fox News may soften its anti-terror stance due to the views of the new shareholder.
Al-Waleed, the nephew of the late Saudi King Fahd, was in the news when he visited the World Trade Center's remains just after the September 11th attacks and offered then-New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani a $10 million check for relie... (more)
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Sibel Edmonds v. Department of Justice: A Patriot Silenced, Fighting to Keep America Safe WASHINGTON -- The American Civil Liberties Union is urging the U.S. Supreme Court to review a lower court's dismissal of the case of Sibel Edmonds, a former FBI translator who was fired in retaliation for reporting security breaches and possible espionage within the Bureau. Lower courts dismissed the case when former Attorney General John Ashcroft invoked the rarely used "state secrets" privilege.
Sibel Edmonds, a Turkish-American woman, was hired as a translator by the FBI shortl... (more)
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Iraq: Whistleblowers Describe Routine, Severe AbuseWASHINGTON, Sep 23 (IPS) - As a military jury in Texas considers the fate of Lynndie England, the low-ranking reservist pictured in the notorious photos of the abuse of Iraqi detainees at Abu Ghraib prison in late 2003, two sergeants and a captain in one of the U.S. Army's most decorated combat units have come forward with accounts of routine, systematic and often severe beatings committed against detainees at a base near Fallujah from 2003 through 2004.
According to their testimo... (more)
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American fury over Greenspan leak: French claim Fed chairman admits US has lost control of budgetBitter disagreements over global economic policy broke out into the open yesterday as the French Finance Minister claimed that Alan Greenspan had admitted America had "lost control" of its budget while China warned the US to drop demands for radical economic policy changes.
In an extraordinary revelation after a meeting between Thierry Breton and Mr Greenspan, M. Breton told reporters: "'We have lost control,' that was his [Mr Greenspan's] expression.
"The US has lo... (more)
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Only 6 out of 101 speeding police drivers prosecutedTHERE were 101 police who fell foul of their own speed cameras in 12 months - but only six were prosecuted.
The rest were able to convince their commanders that they had a valid reason for breaking the limit, according to a response under the Freedom of Information Act by North Wales Police.
This is the force whose chief constable is controversial Richard Brunstrom, so-called "king of the cameras" and the Acpo spokesman on road policing. The same response says that ... (more)
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Brown serving as consultant to FEMAWASHINGTON (CNN) -- A congressional panel on Tuesday is expected to scrutinize the decision to keep ousted Federal Emergency Management Agency chief Michael Brown on the federal payroll.
Brown told congressional investigators Monday that he is being paid as a consultant to help FEMA assess what went wrong in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, according to a senior official familiar with the meeting.
Brown also said he wished he had pushed more forcefully -- and ear... (more)
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Bush eyes bigger military role in disastersWASHINGTON (CNN) -- President Bush said he wants to make it easier for the military to take charge after a disaster like Hurricane Katrina, but the White House acknowledged Monday the proposal raises "a lot of issues" that need resolution.
Critics argue that putting active-duty troops on American streets would violate a long-standing tradition that keeps the military out of domestic law enforcement.
But Bush said he wanted to improve the federal response to a "catas... (more)
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Haroon Aswat…FBI agent threatens former USDA federal agent, now staff reporter for The New Criminologist.Haroon Aswat – the man British Police believe was behind the London bombings – was working for MI6, it has been confirmed by leading U.S. and French intelligence asset/agents.
Now an FBI agent in Seattle – name removed for security reasons, but can be published at the drop of a hat – has demanded that former USDA federal agent, Dr Janette Parker, stop talking to the British media about how the FBI obstructed their own top terrorism investigator, John O&rsqu... (more)
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FAMILY DEMANDS THE TRUTH: New inquiry may expose events that led to Pat Tillman’s deathThe battle between a grieving family and the U.S. military justice system is on display in thousands of pages of documents strewn across Mary Tillman’s dining room table in suburban San Jose.
As she pores through testimony from three previous Army investigations into the killing of her son, former football star Pat Tillman, by his fellow Army Rangers last year in Afghanistan, she hopes that a new inquiry launched in August by the Pentagon’s inspector general finally wi... (more)
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Tobacco firms' subtle tactics lure smokers to their brand: Philip Morris and other cigarette giants take to subliminal style messages after cigarette advertising is bannedPicture the scene: You walk into a chic bar where the clientele is young and the drinks reassuringly expensive; you note the stylish combinations of red and white furniture, the impressive attention to detail that goes into everything from the cushions to the ashtrays. Suddenly, inexplicably, you urgently want to smoke a Marlboro cigarette.
It sounds the stuff of bad science fiction, but Philip Morris, the manufacturer of Marlboro, is such a believer in 'experiential' marketing - ... (more)
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Fingerprint id scheme in schoolPupils' fingerprints will be used to register and measure attendance at a primary school in Wiltshire.
The school, which prefers not to be identified until parents have been consulted, will use technology already piloted in Singapore.
The head teacher said it would aid self-registration and cut teachers' administrative workloads.
Youngsters will use check-in stations each morning, where the technology will identify and verify who they are.
... (more)
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Euro email storage scheme 'illegal', warns officialThe European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS) has said that he is not yet convinced by the arguments put forward in favour of a European directive on data retention, and has set out strict conditions any such law would have to meet if it's to be considered acceptable by his office.
EDPS Peter Hustinx published his commentary on the proposed directive today.
If ratified the directive would demand all Internet data - typically email traffic - be held for six months a... (more)
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Guantánamo inmate says US told him to spy on al-JazeeraThe US military told an al-Jazeera cameraman being held at Guantánamo Bay that he would be released as long as he agreed to spy on journalists at the Arabic news channel, according to documents seen by the Guardian.
The journalist has been in the prison without charge for three-and-a-half years after being accused by the US of being a terrorist, allegations he denies. He claims that he has been interrogated more than 100 times but not asked about alleged terrorist offences.... (more)
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Many Contracts for Storm Work Raise QuestionsWASHINGTON, Sept. 25 - Topping the federal government's list of costs related to Hurricane Katrina is the $568 million in contracts for debris removal landed by a Florida company with ties to Mississippi's Republican governor. Near the bottom is an $89.95 bill for a pair of brown steel-toe shoes bought by an Environmental Protection Agency worker in Baton Rouge, La.
The first detailed tally of commitments from federal agencies since Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast four weeks ... (more)
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Now it's legal immigrants blasting Bush 'sucker' plan: Mired in red tape, they play by the rules at their perilAs the Bush administration gears up to make another run at getting its most recent incarnation of immigration reform through a reluctant Congress, critics point to the fact that even in its new and improved form, there is no reason to expect much change in the way many migrants come into the country.
But this time around the plan also is being panned from an oft unheard-from sector of the population: Foreigners who have braved the maze of immigration laws, being forced to endure m... (more)
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Police Arrest Man in Airport Bomb ScareA man was arrested by police yesterday after he ran through a security post at Manchester Airport and got within 60 metres of an aircraft.
The man, who is being held under the Mental Health Act, abandoned his car outside the airport's perimeter fence and ran 200 metres passed security officers towards the plane. He was wrestled to the ground by police and stunned with a Taser gun. The briefcase he was carrying was kicked away and later blown up in a controlled explosion, which con... (more)
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Russia in a Hurry to Sell Weapons to Iran — PaperRussia is intensifying efforts to sell weapons to Iran while such sales remain legal amid mounting pressure on the Islamic state over its controversial nuclear program, the daily Kommersant said on Monday.
Moscow “has stepped up military-technological cooperation with Tehran,” the business daily said, citing an unidentified source.
It said top officials within Russia’s military-industrial complex decided to concentrate on arms sales to Tehran for t... (more)
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So what were two undercover British soldiers up to in Basra?An Iraqi judge yesterday issued arrest warrants for two British soldiers, presumed to be SAS men, whose detention by Iraqi police and subsequent rescue by British forces in Basra last week has thrown an unprecedented spotlight on Britain's role in Iraq.
Early yesterday a flurry of rockets was fired at buildings occupied by British troops, but police said the only injuries were suffered by an Iraqi family in a house hit by one missile. Tensions aroused by last week's clashes remain... (more)
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