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Justice Department officials released new guidelines Friday that empower FBI agents to use intrusive techniques to gather intelligence within the United States, alarming civil liberties groups and Democratic lawmakers who worry that they invite privacy violations and other abuses. The new road map allows investigators to recruit informants, employ physical surveillance and conduct interviews in which agents disguise their identities in an effort to assess national security threats. FBI agents could pursue each of those steps without any single fact indicating a person has ties to a terrorist organization.

Taxes could get sky-high with aerial technology By RICHARD DEGENER Staff Writer, 609-463-6711 Published: Monday, September 29, 2008 Images like this from a new high-tech aerial photography system can reveal an illegal porch from 5,000 feet and give tax assessors a way to grow revenue. A new high-tech aerial photography system that can spot an illegal porch from 5,000 feet is being marketed to tax assessors as a way to grow revenue. Pictometry International Corp. says it offers tax assessors 12 different views of every square foot of building or land in a jurisdiction that buys their system. They call...

Britons should be subjected to random carbon spotchecks and intensive surveillance of their diets, transport and waste disposal habits, says the Government's architecture and design quango in a new report today. The word "monitoring" occurs 19 times in the 32-page publication by the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment (CABE). If the proposals in the report What Makes An Eco Town?are implemented few aspects of life will go unrecorded. CABE says the strict monitoring is needed to ensure the carbon footprint of the eco-town dwellers remains at one-third of the British average, which is the requirement for what's called...

OBAMA 'TRUTH QUADS': Campaign asks Missouri law enforcement to target anyone who lies or runs misleading TV ads...

Cutting class just got harder but schools are safer thanks to computer chips that help track students, Japanese officials say. Some schools here this month began trial runs in which students carry chips that have tiny antennae and can be traced by radio, with some of the kids attaching the tags to their backpacks. The chips send signals to receivers at school gates. A computer in the system shows when a student enters or leaves. School officials say rising concerns about student safety prompted the idea.

A Florida man named Scott Weires has canceled the order for his long-awaited Nissan GT-R. Why? It's not that he was disappointed in the car's performance credentials, far from it. The problem is that the GT-R is equipped with a 'black box', similar in theory to the kind found on airplanes to help determine what went wrong in case of an accident or breakdown. By the end of 2012, car buyers won't have a choice as to whether their new car is equipped with a 'black box,' or Electronic Data Recorder -- they will be federally mandated to carry one....

Bars and restaurants around Wrigley Field that ignore the city’s call to voluntarily cut off liquor sales after the seventh inning could face a dire alternative: Area residents could vote them dry, Mayor Daley warned Tuesday. One day after bar owners reacted angrily to the city’s proposal, Daley defended it as "common sense." He argued that Cubs fans who’ve been drinking up until the seventh-inning stretch of potential title-clinching games need, what he called, "some smoothing time" before the celebration begins in earnest. » Click to enlarge image Fans celebrate after the Cubs won the Central Division title. Mayor Daley...

September 23, 2008 Exclusive: How Many Subprime Mortgages Were Awarded to Illegal Aliens? This short news report [see my comment below] might have been a bit longer if it had been written a couple of weeks later than it was. This story is dated September 5th and deals with one of the key issues about immigration that virtually no one is willing to talk about - especially politicians and others who subscribe to the open borders philosophy and to the idea of providing the millions of illegal aliens who are in our country with a Guest Worker Amnesty Program and...

Nearly one in 10 Hispanics in the U.S. reported that in the last year police or other authorities have stopped them and asked them about their immigration status, the Pew Hispanic Center said in a report released Thursday. The finding comes amid the biggest crackdown in decades against illegal immigration – one especially evident in Texas, the No. 2 destination for such migrants. Municipal police in several suburbs of Dallas, including Irving and Carrollton, have stepped up cooperation with federal immigration authorities. Nationally, deportations or removals of Mexicans, Salvadorans and Guatemalans from the interior of the United States have doubled...

WASHINGTON — Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson says the government is crafting a plan to rescue banks from bad debts that are at the heart of Wall Street's worst financial crisis in decades. Paulson said late Thursday the plan will need congressional approval. He and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke briefed lawmakers on the options they are considering.

Drivers could have their speed controlled by satellite to stop them from breaking the limit following a Government trial of new technology. Cars fitted with the system would have their speed automatically monitored by satellites, which would also be programmed with the speed limits for different roads. A motorist who tried to accelerate beyond the speed limit would find the system stopping the car from going any faster or issuing a warning instructing them to slow down. The Department for Transport is set to back the system known as Intelligent Speed Adaptation. It follows lengthy trials conducted in Leeds in...

I Don't Believe in Imaginary Property writes "Rep. Loretta Sanchez (D-CA) has introduced a bill that would add accountability to the DHS searches conducted upon the laptops of those crossing the border. Specifically, it would require the issue of receipts to those who had their property confiscated so that it could later be returned, would limit how long the DHS can keep laptops, would require them to keep the laptop's information secure, and would create a way to complain about abuse. Finally, the DHS would be required to keep track of how many searches were done and report the details...

bl968 writes "The Newspaper is reporting that the leading private traffic enforcement camera vendors are seeking to establish a national vehicle tracking system in the United States using existing red-light and speed enforcement cameras. The system would utilize Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) to track vehicles passing surveillance cameras operated by these companies. If there are cameras positioned correctly the company will enable images and video to be taken of the driver and passengers. The nice thing in their view is that absolutely no warrants are needed. To gain public acceptance, the surveillance program is being initially sold as an...

It used to be much harder to keep track of visitors who came into and out of B.M. Williams Primary School. People were asked to sign their names into a visitors' book in the office, but the signatures often were hard to read, said Principal Craig Mills. Sometimes there would be a last name, but only a first initial. And what if someone gave a fake name? No more. Now, every visitor who walks into B.M. Williams must produce identification for a machine that will record the information, compare it with the national sex-offender registry, then record how long the...

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The state is warning parents delinquent on child support payments that they risk losing drivers licenses, professional licenses and hunting and fishing licenses if they don't pay. A news release from the Department of Human Services Tuesday says letters are being delivered to parents across the state behind at least $500 and haven't made a payment in more than 90 days. More than 7,000 licenses were revoked last year for failure to pay, and there are more than 20,000 licenses currently at risk. Professional licenses that could be revoked include those of registered nurses, real estate agents,...

Private companies in the US are hoping to use red light cameras and speed cameras as the basis for a nationwide surveillance network similar to one that will be active next year in the UK. Redflex and American Traffic Solutions (ATS), the top two photo enforcement providers in the US, are quietly shopping new motorist tracking options to prospective state and local government clients.... The technology would be integrated with the Australian company's existing red light camera and speed camera systems. It allows officials to keep full video records of passing motorists and their passengers, limited only by available hard...

Declan McCullagh has a somewhat scary report about how the UN's International Telecommunication Union has been quietly working away on a proposal for new core internet technology that would allow a "traceback mechanism" to effectively get rid of anonymity, and allow those with access to identify who provided any particular piece of content. Not surprisingly, the proposal for such a technology was first suggested by a Chinese official, who has long tried to control the use of the internet in that country. The leaked documents related to this effort even indicate that one potential reason for such a mechanism would...

Baggy pants ban 'unconstitutional' From correspondents in Miami September 17, 2008 03:40am Article from: Reuters A FLORIDA judge has deemed unconstitutional a law banning baggy pants that show off the wearer's underwear. A 17-year-old spent a night in jail last week after police arrested him for wearing low pants in Riviera Beach, Florida. The law banning so-called "saggy pants'' was approved by city voters in March after supporters of the bill collected nearly 5,000 signatures to put the measure on the ballot. The teen would have received a $US150 ($188) fine or community service, but he spent the night in...

PETAH TIKVA, Israel (Reuters) - An Israeli city is using DNA analysis of dog droppings to reward and punish pet owners. Under a six-month trial programme launched this week, the city of Petah Tikva, a suburb of Tel Aviv, is asking dog owners to take their animal to a municipal veterinarian, who then swabs its mouth and collects DNA. Twelve-year-old German shepherd dog 'Gina' carries the leash of two-year-old Kitty during a walk with their owner in Hamburg in this file photo from February 11, 2008. The city will use the DNA database it is building to match faeces to...

RIVIERA BEACH — A judge says Riviera Beach's "saggy pants" law is unconstitutional in the case of a 17-year-old who spent a night in jail for having his underwear showing. And a public defender said her office wants to get the law tossed altogether. Saggy pants File photo In Riviera Beach, a first offense carries a $150 fine or a requirement of community service. Julius Hart was charged Wednesday when an officer spotted him riding his bicycle in the 2800 block of Lakeshore Drive with 4 to 5 inches of blue and black boxer shorts sticking out of his black...

There is a frightening penchant in today’s gradually feminizing America for people to abandon their God given ability to think and reason. True authority – the kind that summons respect, reverence and even a touch of fear – is being pushed aside, condemned as antiquated patriarchal nonsense, for more “progressive” methods of trying to maintain order. Thus, authority itself is emasculated, common sense is effectively castrated and unintended consequences create new difficulties where there should be none. In New York City, for example, students are not permitted to carry their cell phones into school with them (except in very specific...

Prosecutors can’t use secret videotapes of a Watertown minister having sex with his comatose wife while she was in a nursing home, the 4th District Court of Appeals ruled Thursday. Advertisement The man faces eight felonies — four counts of second-degree sexual assault of an unconscious person and four counts of third-degree sexual assault — as well as a misdemeanor. The case raises a number of issues, including a nursing home’s obligation to protect the health and safety of a patient, an individual’s right to privacy and questions of marital sexual abuse. According to the appellate decision and other court...

MUMBAI, India: The new technology is, to its critics, Orwellian. Others view it as a silver bullet against terrorism that could render waterboarding and other harsh interrogation methods obsolete. Some scientists predict the end of lying as we know it. Now, well before any consensus on the technology's readiness, India has become the first country to convict someone of a crime relying on evidence from this controversial machine: a brain scanner that produces images of the human mind in action and is said to reveal signs that a suspect remembers details of the crime in question. For years, scientists have...

This is the first of two stories adapted from "Angler: The Cheney Vice Presidency," to be published Tuesday by Penguin Press. EXCERPT: "The United States was at war with al-Qaeda, intelligence-gathering is inherent in war, and the Constitution appoints the president commander in chief. But they had not been asked to give their own written assessments of the legality of domestic espionage. They based their answer in part on the attorney general's certification of the "form and legality" of the president's orders. Yet neither man had been allowed to see the program's codeword-classified legal analyses [5], which were prepared by...

THE ACLU AND YOU Here we go again. Ever on the alert to oppose any measures that would help insure America’s safety, the Anti Citizens’ Lives Union, aka, the American Civil License Union, aka, the ACLU is on the warpath again. Reuters reports that the FBI has drafted new regulations regarding suspicious individuals who may be plotting terrorist attacks within the United States. “Justice Department and FBI officials told a news briefing the changes would allow agents in some terrorism cases to use informants, do physical surveillance and conduct interviews without identifying themselves or their true purpose.” (http://www.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUSN1247176820080912?sp=true) Since this...

<p>Police who videotaped a man having sex with his comatose wife in her nursing home room violated his constitutional rights, an appeals court ruled Thursday.</p> <p>David W. Johnson, 59, had an expectation to privacy when he visited his wife, a stroke victim, at Divine Savior Nursing Home in Portage, the District 4 Court of Appeals ruled. Therefore, police violated his constitutional rights against unreasonable searches when they installed a hidden video camera in the room, the court said.</p>

WASHINGTON — The Justice Department made public on Friday a plan to expand the tools the Federal Bureau of Investigation can use to investigate suspicions of terrorism inside the United States, even without any direct evidence of wrongdoing.......

A United Nations agency is quietly drafting technical standards, proposed by the Chinese government, to define methods of tracing the original source of Internet communications and potentially curbing the ability of users to remain anonymous. The U.S. National Security Agency is also participating in the "IP Traceback" drafting group, named Q6/17, which is meeting next week in Geneva to work on the traceback proposal. Members of Q6/17 have declined to release key documents, and meetings are closed to the public.

A federal judge this week dismissed a lawsuit challenging a state law that allows cities to impound cars for up to 30 days when people are caught driving without a license. U.S. District Court Judge S. James Otero said in his ruling Monday that taking a vehicle temporarily is within the spirit of the law and is necessary to protect the health and safety of "Californians from the harm of unlicensed drivers." "The concern for the public interest here requires prompt action," Otero wrote. Immigrant rights activists have criticized strict enforcement of the law because they say it unfairly targets...

It's been 17 years since the federal government banned the use of lead shot in shells used to hunt waterfowl. Back in 1991 the number of ducks and geese turning up dead from lead poisoning was on the increase, not so much as a result of being hit by lead pellets but as a result of ingesting pellets as they bottom fed in ponds and marshes. Swans and other non-game bottom feeders were also impacted. Hunters initially complained about the poor performance of non-toxic steel shot compared to lead, but it wasn't long before a number of non-toxic alternatives to...

For much of the latter part of summer, police officers in Helena, Arkansas, shouldered military-style M-16 rifles equipped with laser sights and patrolled the streets of this little community of 15,000. White signs on large blue barrels were placed in a 10-block area, warning that it was under 24-hour curfew. "Everybody is subject to being stopped and questioned," said Mayor James Valley. "Our officers will ride in unmarked vehicles, pull surprises on people and check everybody out to see who they are." A crime spree prompted a similar lockdown in Hartford, Connecticut. After a chain of shootings that left one...

The Richland County, South Carolina Sheriff's Department (that's them above) just obtained an armored personnel carrier, complete with a belt-fed, .50-cal turreted machine gun. Sheriff Leon Lott has charmingly named the vehicle "The Peacemaker," and insists that using a caliber of ammunition that even the U.S. military is reluctant to use against human targets (it's generally reserved for use against armored vehicles) will "save lives."

HOLLISTON - If you're young and ride a bicycle through town without a helmet, you may end up walking back home. Police here are looking for scofflaws and will snatch the pedals from your feet if you've been warned numerous times but still forgo headgear.Holliston police, frustrated in trying to drive home the point that riding without a helmet is dangerous and illegal, are hoping the tactic will finally get the attention of young riders."We're not looking to take bikes away from the kids who forget their helmets," School Resource Officer David Gatchell said yesterday. "This isn't something where we're...

Park wardens have been ordered to stop and interrogate anyone who is not accompanied by children. The visitors who are quizzed have to explain their presence and risk being thrown out or reported to police if their answers are not satisfactory. The policy has been introduced at Telford Town Park in Shropshire. The council which manages the 420-acre area says it is a 'commonsense approach' aimed at safeguarding children. But park users accused it of 'authoritarian madness' and said the ruling risked panicking parents about the dangers faced from potential paedophiles. The policy came to light after two environmental campaigners...

The audience was overwhelmingly in favor of checkpoints, although protesters did fill the lawn outside the Library. The grant was accepted on a 6-1 vote, with Councilwoman Cristina Carrizosa opposed. Kudos to the mayor for rising to the occasion. Just when she's getting the hang of leadership, she's leaving. Carrizosa, for her part, said before the vote that she's fine with checkpoints but doesn't think Pomona's are being done appropriately. Carrizosa, who earlier this year compared Pomona officers to the Gestapo, also insisted she has always been a friend of the Police Department. At that comment, Chief Joe Romero, who...

Some of you may recall that a year ago I called attention to the absurdity and gender bias behind Virginia's anti-father Putative Father Registry. I wrote: Virginia’s controversial new Putative Father Registry law asks any man who has had heterosexual non-marital sex in Virginia to register with the State. Supporters say the law will help connect fathers with their children before the children are put up for adoption. Critics see it as another example of the erosion of citizens’ privacy. Both sides miss the real point of the Registry--to remove a father's right to prevent his child's mother from giving...

LONDON: The escalation in Britain's growing surveillance state has created outrage over the way councils are using powers originally designed to combat terrorism and organised crime to spy on residents. British children as young as eight have been recruited by councils to serve as environmental volunteers and report petty offences such as littering by their neighbours. It also emerged last month that around 1,400 security guards, car park attendants and town hall staff have been given police-style powers including the right to issue on-the-spot fines for littering, cycling on the pavement and other offences, the Telegraph reported. Matthew Sinclair, of...

Councils are using anti-terrorism laws to spy on residents and tackle barking dogs and noisy children. An investigation by The Sunday Telegraph found that three quarters of local authorities have used the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA) 2000 over the past year. The Act gives councils the right to place residents and businesses under surveillance, trace telephone and email accounts and even send staff on undercover missions. The findings alarmed civil liberties campaigners. Shami Chakrabarti, the director of Liberty, said: "Councils do a grave disservice to professional policing by using serious surveillance against litterbugs instead of terrorists."

Councils are using anti-terrorism laws to spy on residents and tackle barking dogs and noisy children. -snip- The Act gives councils the right to place residents and businesses under surveillance, trace telephone and email accounts and even send staff on undercover missions. -snip- The RIPA was introduced to help fight terrorism and crime. But a series of extensions, first authorised by David Blunkett in 2003, mean that Britain's 474 councils can use the law to tackle minor misdemeanours. Councils are using the Act to tackle dog fouling, the unauthorised sale of pizzas and the abuse of the blue badge scheme...

If someone asks to borrow your cell phone, or you leave it unattended, beware! Unless you actually watch them use it, they may be secretly grabbing every piece of your information on the device, even deleted messages. If you leave your phone sitting on your desk, or in the center console of your car while the valet parks it, then you and everyone in your contacts list may be at risk, to say nothing of confidential e-mails, spread sheets, or other information. And of course, if you do not want your spouse to see who you are chatting with on...

The youngsters are among almost 5,000 residents who in some cases are being offered £500 rewards if they provide evidence of minor infractions. One in six councils contacted by the Telegraph said they had signed up teams of "environment volunteers" who are being encouraged to photograph or video neighbours guilty of dog fouling, littering or "bin crimes". The "covert human intelligence sources", as some local authorities describe them, are also being asked to pass on the names of neighbours they believe to be responsible, or take down their number-plates. Ealing Council in West London said: "There are hundreds of Junior...

China's Internet awash with state spies By Wu Zhong, China Editor HONG KONG - An innovative Internet-based "profession" of state-outsourced web commentators is flourishing under the guidance of the Chinese government, according to the latest edition of the Far Eastern Economic Review (FEER). As the article, titled "China's Guerrilla War for the Web", reports: They have been called the "Fifty Cent Party", the "Red Vests" and the "Red Vanguard". But China's growing armies of web commentators - instigated, trained and financed by Communist Party organizations - have just one mission: to safeguard the interests of the party by infiltrating and...

WASILLA -- Back in 1996, when she first became mayor, Sarah Palin asked the city librarian if she would be all right with censoring library books should she be asked to do so. According to news coverage at the time, the librarian said she would definitely not be all right with it. A few months later, the librarian, Mary Ellen Emmons, got a letter from Palin telling her she was going to be fired. The censorship issue was not mentioned as a reason for the firing. The letter just said the new mayor felt Emmons didn’t fully support her and...

Oklahoma police investigating the shooting deaths of two girls have told area residents with guns to bring them in for a test to determine whether they were used in the attack, sparking concern among those who own guns for hunting and self-defense. According to reports in the Tulsa World the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation sent letters to members of the community who were registered as owning .40-caliber handguns suggesting they voluntarily bring in their gun or guns for a test. The individuals who were "invited" to bring their guns in but didn't now will be included in the ongoing...

Children to get lessons in playing Bureaucratic crazy councils are to issue school children with instructions of how to play in the playground. As millions of children go back to school, councils are been given a list of 10 traditional playground games for teachers to suggest they play at breaks and lunchtime. It is hoped the list, which includes Hopscotch, British Bulldog and Tag, will help combat child obesity and remind teachers and parents the importance of children being physically active. The Local Government Association, which issued the list and represents more than 400 councils in England and Wales says...

Councils are recruiting residents to report anyone who drops litter, fails to recycle their rubbish properly, or who allows their dog to foul the streets. Advertisements looking for people to sign up for the unpaid "environmental volunteer" jobs have been posted across the country in recent months. Critics said the scheme is encouraging a Big Brother society where friends and neighbours will be encouraged to "snoop" on one another. The recruitment drive follows news that the Home Office is granting police powers to council staff and private security guards, allowing then to hand out fines for low-scale offences and ask...

'Environmental volunteers' will be encouraged to spy on their neighbours Councils are recruiting residents to report anyone who drops litter, fails to recycle their rubbish properly, or who allows their dog to foul the streets. By Lucy Cockcroft Last Updated: 8:24AM BST 30 Aug 2008 'Environmental volunteers' are being recruited to spy on neighbours to combat issues involving recycling and waste Photo: Getty Images Advertisements looking for people to sign up for the unpaid "environmental volunteer" jobs have been posted across the country in recent months. Critics said the scheme is encouraging a Big Brother society where friends and neighbours...

Councils are recruiting 'citizen snoopers' to report litter louts, dog foulers and even people who fail to sort out their rubbish properly. The 'environment volunteers' will also be responsible for encouraging neighbours to cut down on waste. The move comes as local authorities dish out £100 fines to householders who leave out too much rubbish or fail to follow recycling rules. Spy on your neighbours: Councils are recruiting spotters to report litter louts, dog foulers and bad recyclers It will fuel fears that Britain is lurching towards a Big Brother society, following the revelation this week that the Home Office...

"SHANGHAI (Reuters) - Shanghai police will post photos and videos of jaywalkers in newspapers and on TV in a bid to shame them out of breaking traffic rules, local media reported on Thursday. Offending pedestrians, moped riders and cyclists would be snapped at selected intersections and their images put in regular columns and on special television programs set up by police, the Shanghai Daily said. " "The scheme had come under fire from lawyers who said public humiliation was too steep a punishment for jaywalking and warned of defamation lawsuits against police."

A council publishing 'Wanted' photographs of alleged litterbugs insisted today that it has a legal right to identify suspects - even if they are eventually cleared. As town halls face a growing revolt over new powers to issue on-the-spot fines and access people's personal data, one authority has already handed cameras to litter teams who patrol the streets for anyone dropping so much as a matchstick. The crackdown has been launched by Colchester Borough Council, which claims it has been checked and approved by their lawyers and the police. Its team of six 'street care officers' will now photograph everyone...