EU social network spy system brief, INDECT Work Package 4, 2009

This file, marked “confidential”, describes development of an EU-funded intelligence gathering system (“INDECT work package 4″) designed to comb webblogs, chat sites, newsreports, and social-networking sites to in order to build up automatic dossiers on individuals, organizations and their relationships. “The aim of work package 4 (WP4) is the development of key technologies that facilitate [...]

Slower Gains after No Child Left Behind

It’s official: Your bullying boss really is an idiot

Got a bullying boss? Take solace in new research showing that leaders who feel incompetent really do lash out at others to temper their own inferiority. “Power holders feel they need to be superior and competent. When they don’t feel they can show that legitimately, they’ll show it by taking people down a notch or [...]

Special Interests See ‘Classified’ Copyright Treaty; You Can’t

Want to know the Language of the ever-transforming proposed Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement? It’s classified. And, according to the Obama administration, it carries national security implications. According to leaked documents on WikiLeaks, the proposed treaty would require ISPs to terminate repeat copyright scofflaws, criminalize peer-to-peer file sharing, subject iPods to border searches and even interfere with [...]

Telephone Company Is Arm of Government, Feds Admit in Spy Suit

The Department of Justice has finally admitted it in court papers: The  nation’s telecom companies are an arm of the government — at least when it comes to secret spying. Fortunately, a judge says that relationship isn’t enough to quash a rights group’s open records request for communications between the nation’s telecoms and the feds. [...]

Recruited by MI5: the name’s Mussolini. Benito Mussolini

History remembers Benito Mussolini as a founder member of the original Axis of Evil, the Italian dictator who ruled his country with fear and forged a disastrous alliance with Nazi Germany. But a previously unknown area of Il Duce’s CV has come to light: his brief career as a British agent. Archived documents have revealed [...]

Air Force Fires Nuke Commander, Finally

It took a failed nuclear inspection, two missile trucks crashing, and junior officers literally dozing off with launch codes. But finally, the Air Force has canned Col. Christopher Ayres, the leader of the bumbling 91st Missile Wing at Minot Air Force Base, N.D. During the Cold War, Strategic Air Command (SAC) had a reputation for [...]

California County Hoarding Map Data Ordered to Pay $500,000

A California county’s three-year battle to prevent a nonprofit group from obtaining public mapping data has ended disastrously for the county after it was ordered by a court to pay the group $500,000 in legal costs. Last February, Santa Clara County, the heart of California’s Silicon Valley, was ordered to hand over the public records [...]

Former Colombian president blasts U.S. anti-drug strategy

Former Colombian President Cesar Gaviria on Tuesday strongly criticized the United States’ approach to fighting drugs. “Just putting all consumers in jail, as the U.S. does, is not a solution,” he told CNN’s Christiane Amanpour. “You have to reduce consumption.” In a wide ranging interview, Gaviria said the United States now has more people in [...]

Trial underway in Robin Sage shooting lawsuit

GREENSBORO, N.C. — A former soldier said Wednesday he believed that the deputy who initiated a fateful traffic stop in 2002 was part of an Army role-playing exercise — a belief broken only when the officer fired two fatal shots at a Special Forces colleague. In testimony that ranged from tearful to forceful, Stephen Phelps [...]

Student Refuses to Say Pledge

“When I heard from the principal, I was not happy,” said Jay Phillips. Jay and Laura Phillips were shocked to hear their 10-year-old talked back to a teacher at West Fork Middle School Thursday – but were less surprised when they found out why. “Don’t push him – four days of hassle, hassle, hassle and [...]

Governor again vetoes open government bills

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed two bills this week that were designed to bring greater transparency and accountability to California’s public colleges. This is the latest in a string of actions Schwarzenegger has taken against increased transparency since assuming the governor’s office in 2003. The first, S.B. 218, overwhelmingly passed the legislature and would have expanded California’s public records [...]

CIA documents on Agent Posada Carriles released

The Washington, DC-based investigative nonprofit National Security Archive released several documents on Oct. 6 written by the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in 1965 and 1966 about its Cuban-born longtime “asset” Luis Posada Carriles, who currently lives in Miami under indictment after entering the US illegally in 2005. The Archive’s Peter Kornbluh obtained the documents [...]

National Security Virtual Fence, Real Disaster

The project was supposed to be stone-simple: “basically cameras on a pole,” in the words of one congressman. Boeing would tweak some off-the-shelf surveillance gear to create a so-called “virtual fence” along the U.S.-Mexican border. The whole thing would be done by early 2009. Well, that date has come and gone for SBINet, the cameras-on-a-pole [...]

National Commission on Children and Disasters Interim Report

National Commission on Children and Disasters Interim Report: October 14, 2009 This document is the final interim report by the National Commission on Children and Disasters regarding steps that the country needs to take to protect children in the event of disasters in the United States. This report includes comments made by emergency management practitioners [...]

Counterinsurgency Operations, and Other Stuff

Counterinsurgency refers to “comprehensive civilian and military efforts taken to simultaneously defeat and contain insurgency and address its core grievances,” a new publication from the Joint Chiefs of Staff explains. See Joint Publication 3-24 on “Counterinsurgency Operations” (pdf), 249 pages, October 5, 2009.  (JP 3-24 is not to be confused with the celebrated December 2006 [...]

Public Access to DTRA Documents Restored

The Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) recently deleted the publications web page for its Advanced Systems and Concepts Office, inhibiting broad public access to many of the agency’s arms control and proliferation-related studies.  But most of the affected DTRA publications have been recovered and reposted in a new DTRA archive on the Federation of American [...]

Surgeons mark 25th anniversary of ‘Baby Fae’

LOMA LINDA–This month marks the 25-year anniversary of the first cross-species heart transplant in history. Dr. Leonard L. Bailey and a team of doctors at Loma Linda University Medical Center transplanted the heart of a baboon into an infant, born with a lethal heart disease and known to the world as “Baby Fae”. She only [...]

Police stop more than 1 million people on street

(AP) George Lucas, left, and Courtney Bennett, stand near Lenox Avenue and 142nd Street in Harlem, New… Full Imag Source NEW YORK (AP) – A teenager trying to get into his apartment after school is confronted by police. A man leaving his workplace chooses a different route back home to avoid officers who roam a [...]

Perpetual war is here — and Americans are getting used to it

A new poll shows a substantial majority of Americans have resigned themselves to the reality of our nation’s perpetual foreign wars. They don’t like it, but they see it happening and know there is nothing they can do about it. The poll, conducted by Clarus Research Group, showed that 68 percent of us agree with [...]

Army considers middle-school JROTC program

WICHITA, Kan. — The U.S. Army wants middle school students. The Wichita school district in south-central Kansas is one of a few nationwide offering middle school programs based on the Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps curriculum. Top Army officials are studying its programs to see if they could be a model for others nationwide. The [...]

Waco Siege “Enforcer” To Rule Over Global Police Force

Paul Joseph Watson Prison Planet.com Monday, October 12, 2009 United Nations and Interpol officials will meet today to discuss the formation of a “global police force” that would enjoy access to a worldwide database of DNA, biometric and fingerprint records. The effort will be spearheaded by a man known as “The Enforcer” who helped federal [...]

New DoD Website Fosters Secret Science

Updated below The Pentagon’s Defense Technical Information Center (DTIC) last month announced the creation of a new password-protected portal where authorized users may gain access to restricted scientific and engineering publications. “DTIC Online Access Controlled… provides a gateway to Department of Defense unclassified, controlled science and technology (S&T) and research and engineering (R&E) information,” according [...]

DoD Suppressed Critique of Military Research

“Important aspects of the Department Of Defense basic research programs are ‘broken’,” according to an assessment performed by the JASON Defense Advisory Group earlier this year, and “throwing more money at the problems will not fix them.” But that rather significant conclusion was deliberately suppressed by Pentagon officials who withheld it from public disclosure when [...]

UK has ‘worst quality of life’ in Europe

Despite having the highest incomes, people in Britain have the worst quality of life in Europe, a study shows. According to the uSwitch.com European Quality of Life Index, Britons have longer working hours, lower holiday entitlement and a higher cost of living than their counterparts in other European countries, placing them at the bottom of [...]

Spain jails Argentine ‘death’ pilot

An Argentine pilot for Dutch airline Transavia arrested on suspicion of running “death flights” is to remain in a Spanish prison, following a court ruling. Spain’s National Court made the decision on Tuesday to keep former Argentine Navy Lt. Julio Alberto Poch locked, while Madrid mulls whether to extradite him to his home country. Poch [...]

Irish National Liberation Army ends militancy

The ‘Irish National Liberation Army‘ (INLA) group, responsible for more than 100 killings, including the murder of a Tory MP, has renounced its armed struggle. “The Irish Republican Socialist Movement has been informed by the INLA that following a process of serious debate… it has concluded that the armed struggle is over,” Martin McMonagle from [...]

Canada’s bishop faces child porn charges

Canada’s Roman Catholic Church is suffering from scandal caused by the sexual abuse of children by priests and a Nova Scotia bishop. Sexual harassment of children by Catholic priests inf Nova Scotia has reportedly been occurring since 1950. It is believed that a total of 39 children have fallen victim to such abuse. Bishop Raymond [...]

Colombia says ‘no’ to US bases

Amid reports of a deal reached for the establishment of US military bases in Colombia, the country’s foreign minister says there is no need for more American personnel. In an effort to reassure other South American countries, Foreign Minister Jaime Bermudez told the BBC that Colombia seeks only “information, technology, intelligence” in the form of [...]

CIA Opens Climate Change and National Security Center

The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) recently announced the creation of The Center on Climate Change and National Security. This new unit, comprised of specialists from the CIA Directorates of Intelligence and Science and Technology, is aimed at supporting American policymakers on issues related to the national security implications of climate change as they “negotiate, implement, [...]

Hugo Chavez Rocks Moscow

[Youtube="http://www.youtube.com/v/HRxMWVdeNr0"]

Court rejects Stalin grandson’s libel lawsuit

A Moscow court has ruled against Joseph Stalin‘s grandson Yevgeny Dzhugashvili in a defamation lawsuit against the Novaya Gazeta newspaper. The relative of the Soviet dictator wanted 10 million rubles (around $330,000) in compensation. The reason for the claim was an article in a special edition of Novaya Gazeta dedicated to the Katyn massacre – [...]

Muslims To Make Majority of Earth’s Population in Near Future

Every fourth human being living on earth is a Muslim, a report from the department of religion of the US-based Pew Research Center said. There are 1 billion 570 million Muslims living in the world today, the research said. Brian Grim, a senior researcher at the think-tank said that the number was more than he [...]

Investigation halts transfer of student records to military

SAN DIEGO — The San Diego Unified School District has halted its annual transfer of student records to the military amid allegations that administrators pre-marked parental consent forms that give recruiters permission to contact families. District officials launched an investigation into the matter Wednesday and began sifting through thousands of high school enrollment documents. De’Onte [...]

LAPD officers charged with perjury

Three Los Angeles Police Department officers were charged with perjury and conspiracy Tuesday for allegedly lying under oath in a drug-possession case that was dismissed last year when a videotape sharply contradicted their testimony. The felony charges mark the most serious allegations of police perjury in Los Angeles since the Los Angeles Police Department’s Rampart [...]

State Department Faces Criticism on New Merida Initiative Report

The Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars recently made available an unclassified U.S. State Department report on Mexico’s human rights as related to the Merida Initiative. The report comes as a response to section 1406 of the Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2008 (P.L. 110-252), and section 7045 of the Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related [...]

Westen: Nobel committee creates Peace Derivatives market

Psychologist Drew Westen has inside sources on the Nobel Peace Prize committee: Nobel Committee Admits Getting into Derivatives Trading in Giving Peace Prize to Obama What led to the unusual decision to bet on futures rather than follow the century-old precedent of selecting someone who has actually accomplished something? By Drew Westen A spokesman from [...]

Russian Mercs: We’ll Out-Blackwater Blackwater

ITACG Intelligence Guide for First Responders

ITACG Intelligence Guide for First Responders The Interagency Threat Assessment and Coordination Group (ITACG) has provided this intelligence guide for first responders which is available here or on the Information Sharing Environment website. “This Interagency Threat Assessment and Coordination Group (ITACG) Intelligence Guide for First Responders is designed to assist state, local, tribal law enforcement, [...]

Nuclear Plants Cautiously Phase Out Dial-Up Modems

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is asking the operators of America’s 66 nuclear power plants to voluntarily upgrade the on-site monitoring systems that report plant conditions to the government. That upgrade to the 16-year-old Emergency Response Data System? Replacing telephone dial-up modems with VPN appliances. “Licensees currently use analog modulator/demodulators (modems) to establish point-to-point data connections,” [...]

Jail selling ad space on video visitation monitors

The Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office Corrections Division started showing advertisements on their video visitation screens. Officials with the jail say they may be the first in the country to implement the idea. The new advertisement program offers great potential for attorneys and other services of interest for inmates and visitors. A few months ago, the [...]

Death prompts ban on Taser use from cars

The Pensacola Police Department has banned the firing of Taser guns by officers from moving vehicles following the death of a 17-year-old. The teenager died this month after a patrol officer fired the stun gun from his cruiser. The teen then fell from his bike and the officer hit him with his cruiser, according to [...]

Kudos: Texas sheriff declines to adopt Tasers

Editor: Please contact Sheriff Dee Anderson’s office through email or phone and give him some kudos! FORT WORTH, Texas — The sheriff of Tarrant County is bucking the trend of issuing Tasers to his deputies even as Texas’ largest metropolitan law enforcement agencies continue to adopt the use of the weapon. Sheriff Dee Anderson says [...]

Congress dismisses building additional Mexico fence

The US Congress has rejected to erect another 300 miles of tall fencing on the Mexico border, as Washington struggles to stop smugglers and illegal immigrants from entering the US soil. Congress scrapped an appropriation bill by the Department of Homeland Security that envisaged equipping another 300 miles of US-Mexico border with fencing. Lawmakers said [...]

Saved from First Time Ignition Interlock Requirements in DUI cases

San Diego Dui Offenders will be spared the requirement of installing Ignotion Interlock Devices in their cars if they are convicted of a first offense. Governor Swartzenegger signed a bill requiring first time offenders in Sacramento, Alameda, Tuare and Los Angeles counties to install ignition interlock devices. What is so strange about this bill is [...]

Because marijuana is illegal…

Sometimes, dangerous people with guns sell marijuana to people who use it, sometimes in places where there are other people who don’t want marijuana to be sold in front of them. Then, sometimes people use those guns to flex their control when they feel threatened. Source

It’s a Fork, It’s a Spoon, It’s a … Weapon?

NEWARK, Del. — Finding character witnesses when you are 6 years old is not easy. But there was Zachary Christie last week at a school disciplinary committee hearing with his karate instructor and his mother’s fiancé by his side to vouch for him. Zachary’s offense? Taking a camping utensil that can serve as a knife, [...]

Tortured law: The video

Cop Caught on Camera Beating Special Education Student

[Youtube="http://www.youtube.com/v/dGoF3h9iQ5Y"]

Thanks to Marie Claire, Pot Discussed Rationally on Today Show

[Youtube="http://www.youtube.com/v/1YK6jK2fUns"]