A Spork in the Drawer

Lack Of Resources

Same old story:

Long before the mortgage crisis began rocking Main Street and Wall Street, a top FBI official made a chilling, if little-noticed, prediction: The booming mortgage business, fueled by low interest rates and soaring home values, was starting to attract shady operators and billions in losses were possible.

"It has the potential to be an epidemic," Chris Swecker, the FBI official in charge of criminal investigations, told reporters in September 2004. But, he added reassuringly, the FBI was on the case. "We think we can prevent a problem that could have as much impact as the S&L crisis," he said.

[...]

But sources familiar with the FBI budget process, who were not authorized to speak publicly about the growing fraud problem, say that he and other FBI criminal investigators sought additional assistance to take on the mortgage scoundrels.

They ended up with fewer resources, rather than more.

It wouldn't surprise me if this had something to do with protecting friends of BushCheney; regulation hits Republican donors in the pocketbook, don'tcha know. Then again, maybe if the FBI spent less time spying on Joe and Jane Citizen they could devote more resources to catching actual criminals.

Just a thought.

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A Silly People, Small And Afraid

Meet Derby Line, Vermont, a bucolic border town with a difference:

First was the white, painted lettering on the pavement on three little side streets -- "Canada" on one side, "U.S.A." on the other. Then came the white pylons denoting which side of the border was which. After that, signboards were erected on some streets, ordering drivers to turn back and use an officially designated entry point.

And along with the signposts came an influx of American Border Patrol agents, cruising through the town in their green-and-white sport-utility vehicles with sirens, chasing down cars and mopeds that ignored the posted warnings.

You can see where this is going:

For longtime residents accustomed to a simpler life that flowed freely across a largely invisible border, the final shock -- and what made most people really take notice -- was a proposal by the border agents last year to erect fences on the small streets to officially barricade the United States from Canada, and neighbor from neighbor.

"They're stirring up a little hate and discontent with that deal," said Claire Currier, who grew up in this border area and works at Brown's Drug Store, which has operated on the same spot since 1884. "It's like putting up a barrier. We've all intermingled for years."

So what is it that has caused such trouble in Derby Line? All together now:

"9/11 changed everything," said Border Patrol agent Fernando Beltran[.]

And there it is.

"They understand that there's a change, but to them it's a way of life," Beltran said as he cruised through the town streets in an unmarked SUV. "They never considered themselves in danger. There's a sense of security here."

And in all likelihood they, and us, weren't in any real danger. At least, there are hundreds, thousands, of ways to enter the US unnoticed if one is so inclined. Perfect security equals perfect police state. Neither are achievable but the latter seems to be the goal.

The reporter of this article gives the Ministry of Homeland Security a freebie:

But for the border agents, Sept. 11 exposed the vulnerability of America's northern frontier and the ease with which anyone -- a terrorist with a portable nuclear device, for example -- could cross into the United States from Canada using one of the multitude of unguarded back roads or forest paths, or, in a border town such as Derby Line, simply by crossing the street.

Suitcase nukes!

"We can't be wrong once," Beltran added. "If we're wrong once, that could be devastating to the whole country."

All must be subsumed to keep us safe!

Of course:

The new vigilance has led to more arrests of people crossing illegally and interdiction of contraband, mostly drugs. Border agents in this sector said that last year they arrested people from 117 different countries trying to enter the United States illegally. Among the drugs, agents say, they have confiscated large shipments of ecstasy pills being smuggled in, as well as shipments of extra-potent hydroponic marijuana.

No terrorists but the so-called War on (Some) Drugs continues apace. Let's remember that much of the "security" being foisted on us today had nothing to do with terrorism but with the current wave of drugs hysteria that began in the 1980's. Just say no!

But complain not, dear Citizen subject:

"We interact with the public," Lague said, "so they understand we're not doing this stuff because of them; we're doing it to protect them.

It's for your own good.

It always is.

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And On And On And On And...

The Federal Government must protect you whether you like it or not:

A Justice Department plan would loosen restrictions on the Federal Bureau of Investigation to allow agents to open a national security or criminal investigation against someone without any clear basis for suspicion, Democratic lawmakers briefed on the details said Wednesday.

[...]

The senators said the new guidelines would allow the F.B.I. to open an investigation of an American, conduct surveillance, pry into private records and take other investigative steps “without any basis for suspicion.” The plan “might permit an innocent American to be subjected to such intrusive surveillance based in part on race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, or on protected First Amendment activities,” the letter said. It was signed by Russ Feingold of Wisconsin, Richard J. Durbin of Illinois, Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts and Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island. [emphasis added throughout]

But not to worry, AG Michael Mukasey promises that everything will be A-OK:

Mr. Mukasey emphasized that the F.B.I. would still need a “valid purpose” for an investigation, and that it could not be “simply based on somebody’s race, religion, or exercise of First Amendment rights.”

I'm a staunch liberal and firmly believe that the rightwing in this country is weakening the country and making us more vulnerable to internal and external threats. Therefore, when I'm elected president in November - bear with me here - I'll begin surveillance on the likes of Bill Kristol, John Bolton, Dick Cheney, and those associated with Fox News, the Weekly Standard, the National Review, among others.

I, as president, am certain that I have a "valid purpose" for doing so.

bmaz has more.

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Best Forget Those Day Trips...

...to Tijuana or Toronto because you'll now be a suspect:

Officials say the Border Crossing Information system, disclosed last month by the Department of Homeland Security in a Federal Register notice, is part of a broader effort to guard against terrorist threats. It also reflects the growing number of government systems containing personal information on Americans that can be shared for a broad range of law enforcement and intelligence purposes, some of which are exempt from some Privacy Act protections.

[...]

The disclosure of the database is among a series of notices, officials say, to make DHS's data gathering more transparent. Critics say the moves exemplify efforts by the Bush administration in its final months to cement an unprecedented expansion of data gathering for national security and intelligence purposes.

The data could be used beyond determining whether a person may enter the United States. For instance, information may be shared with foreign agencies when relevant to their hiring or contracting decisions.

Here's the money graf:

"This database is, in a sense, worse than a watch list," [Greg Nojeim, senior counsel at the Center for Democracy Technology] said. "At least in the watch-list scenario, there's some reason why the name got on the list. Here, the only thing a person does to come to the attention of DHS is to lawfully cross the border. The theory of this data collection is: Track everyone -- just in case."

The 21st Century United States: Everyone is a suspect.

And don't expect things to change under a new president.

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George And Dick Establish Their Legacy

And it's a police state:

The Justice Department has proposed a new domestic spying measure that would make it easier for state and local police to collect intelligence about Americans, share the sensitive data with federal agencies and retain it for at least 10 years.

[...]

Quietly unveiled late last month, the proposal is part of a flurry of domestic intelligence changes issued and planned by the Bush administration in its waning months. They include a recent executive order that guides the reorganization of federal spy agencies and a pending Justice Department overhaul of FBI procedures for gathering intelligence and investigating terrorism cases within U.S. borders.

Taken together, critics in Congress and elsewhere say, the moves are intended to lock in policies for Bush's successor and to enshrine controversial post-Sept. 11 approaches that some say have fed the greatest expansion of executive authority since the Watergate era.

Presumably, President Obama could reverse this policy change, although I have little confidence that he would do so. Once power is given it's rarely if ever given up voluntarily. And we needn't wonder what President McCain's feelings on this are.

As usual, the White House says something humorous:

White House spokesman Tony Fratto said the administration agrees that it needs to do everything possible to prevent unwarranted encroachments on civil liberties, adding that it succeeds the overwhelming majority of the time.

Sure, Tony, sure.

The rule also would allow criminal intelligence assessments to be shared outside designated channels whenever doing so may avoid danger to life or property -- not only when such danger is "imminent," as is now required, German said.

In other words, information will be shared whenever some bureaucrat feels like it. And, as always, "life" and "property" are synonymous.

Michael German, policy counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union and a 16-year veteran of the FBI understands:

...he pointed to reports in the past six years that undercover New York police officers infiltrated protest groups before the 2004 Republican National Convention; that California state agents eavesdropped on peace, animal rights and labor activists; and that Denver police spied on Amnesty International and others before being discovered.

"If police officers no longer see themselves as engaged in protecting their communities from criminals and instead as domestic intelligence agents working on behalf of the CIA, they will be encouraged to collect more information," German said. "It turns police officers into spies on behalf of the federal government."

A society in which every person is a suspect is, by definition, a police state.

If there's another terrorist attack that results in a major loss of life (or property; we can never forget property) - and likely there will be - you can bet we will be told that if only we had better tools with which to conduct surveillance this wouldn't have happened.

Drip...drip...

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Life In These United States

Political author writes anti-Bush book. Political author finds himself on terrorist watch-list.

Chalk it up to coincidence, eh?

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Open Book

As mentioned last month, the Ministry of Homeland Security has yet another way to invade your life:

Federal agents may take a traveler's laptop computer or other electronic device to an off-site location for an unspecified period of time without any suspicion of wrongdoing, as part of border search policies the Department of Homeland Security recently disclosed.

Also, officials may share copies of the laptop's contents with other agencies and private entities for language translation, data decryption or other reasons, according to the policies, dated July 16 and issued by two DHS agencies, U.S. Customs and Border Protection and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

[...]

The policies cover "any device capable of storing information in digital or analog form," including hard drives, flash drives, cellphones, iPods, pagers, beepers, and video and audio tapes. They also cover "all papers and other written documentation," including books, pamphlets and "written materials commonly referred to as 'pocket trash' or 'pocket litter.' "

Reasonable measures must be taken to protect business information and attorney-client privileged material, the policies say, but there is no specific mention of the handling of personal data such as medical and financial records. [emphases added]

Here's the punchline:

Customs Deputy Commissioner Jayson P. Ahern said the efforts "do not infringe on Americans' privacy."

Orwell spins.

Writes Peter Swire at Think Progress:

In my Senate testimony in June, I highlighted many reasons for concern about suspicionless searches of laptops. The basic response from Homeland Security has been: “We can search everything in your suitcase at the border, so we can search everything in your laptop.” The new policy, though, highlights one intriguing protection at the border — the policy follows existing law and says “sealed letter class mail” can only be opened with probable cause.

In short, Congress has long recognized that searches of intellectual content at the border are intrusive. The government is forbidden from sniffing through your mail at the border without probable cause, and similar protections are due for laptops.

After a few years we'll all be used to this sort of thing and thus will be more receptive to additional invasions of our privacy.

Call it death by degrees.

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We're Better Because We Say So

Fun with hypocrisy:

"During the Olympic Games we will provide sufficient access to the Internet for reporters," Beijing Olympic organising committee spokesman Sun Weide said.

However "sufficient access" falls short of the complete Internet freedoms for foreign reporters that China's communist authorities had promised in the run-up to the Games, which begin on August 8.

This has at least one wingnut US senator upset:

"If you were a human rights advocate, if you're a journalist, you're in room 1251 of a hotel, anything that you use, sending out over the Internet is monitored in real time by the Chinese Public Security bureau," [Sen. Sam] Brownback said. "That's not right. It's not in the Olympic spirit."

Glenn notes:

That's the same Sen. Sam Brownback who voted last year to enact the Protect America Act, which "allow[ed] for massive, untargeted collection of international communications without court order or meaningful oversight by either Congress or the courts. It contain[ed] virtually no protections for the U.S. end of the phone call or email, leaving decisions about the collection, mining and use of Americans' private communications up to this administration." And it's the same Sen. Brownback who also voted for this year's FISA Amendments Act, which empowers the U.S. Government to tap directly into the U.S. telecommunications systems in order to monitor international emails and telephone calls with no individual warrant required.

From Wikipedia:

American exceptionalism (cf. "exceptionalism") refers to the belief that the United States differs qualitatively from other developed nations, because of its national credo, historical evolution, or distinctive political and religious institutions. The difference is often expressed in American circles as some categorical superiority, to which is usually attached some alleged proof, rationalization or explanation that may vary greatly depending on the historical period and the political context.

However, the term can also be used in a negative sense by critics of American policies to refer to a willful nationalistic ignorance of faults committed by the American government.

A photograph of Sen. Brownback should be affixed to that page.

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Exciting New Ways To Keep You Safe!

Via Matt Rothschild, "Terrorism Liaison Officers" are coming to a town near you:

Hundreds of police, firefighters, paramedics and even utility workers have been trained and recently dispatched as "Terrorism Liaison Officers" in Colorado and a handful of other states to hunt for "suspicious activity" — and are reporting their findings into secret government databases.

Fear not, Brave Citizen! There are guidelines as to what constitutes "suspicious activity" so that no Loyal American™ need worry:

"Suspicious activity" is broadly defined in TLO training as behavior that could lead to terrorism: taking photos of no apparent aesthetic value, making measurements or notes, espousing extremist beliefs or conversing in code, according to a draft Department of Justice/Major Cities Chiefs Association document.

What could go wrong?

Well, I'm a photographer. It's what I do. Now what qualifies, say, a utility worker to determine what what sort of photograph is of "no apparent aesthetic value"? For instance, what if I'm taking pictures of standpipes. Even I can see that standpipes are of interest from a security standpoint. Meanwhile, some lineman on the corner notices this and BOOM! I've been reported and entered into a secret government database. (See War on Photography before you accuse me of being paranoid.) And I bet more than a few cops might not be happy with that "Impeach Bush" sign in your yard. (Hell, a "McCain=Bush" sign can get you ticketed these days.)

We know from history that a certain FBI Director hoovered up every little detail about people however insignificant or just plain false. And he didn't have the power to snatch people off of the streets and disappear them.

Let's close with another quote from the Denver Post article cited above:

"We're simply providing information on crime-related issues or suspicious circumstances," said Denver police Lt. Tony Lopez, commander of Denver's intelligence unit and one of 181 individual TLOs deployed across Colorado.

"We don't snoop into private citizens' lives. We aren't living in a communist state."

If you don't have anything to hide then why worry?

Now let's go from that to this:

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.

So perhaps soon if you decide to fly you will be fitted with a stun bracelet. Just like a misbehaving dog or a criminal under house arrest.

One of the hallmarks of a totalitarian society is that everyone - everyone - is Guilty.

And by degrees that's what the Land of the Free™ is becoming.

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Another Reason Not To Fly

The always delightful Ministry of Homeland Security:

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.

And so far it's all legal:

A ruling this year by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals (.pdf) found that DHS does indeed have the authority to search electronic devices without suspicion in the same way that it would inspect a briefcase.

The article notes that corporations have taken to ordering employees to travel with "clean" computers - machines that store no sensitive information such as financial records or products under development. And as for Joe and Jane Average American everything - everything - becomes essentially government property. Photos, e-mails, hell, even love letters. You name it. All of this is necessary because the "DHS contends that travelers' computers can also contain child pornography, intellectual property offenses, or terrorist secrets."

But not only is all of your information copied - who the hell knows what the government does with it - you are deprived of your property for however long the government decides. Those vacation pictures? Too fucking bad. That important corporate financial report? Suck it up.

It's at this point a chorus of "if you don't have anything to hide..." arises.

But then, I have a pre-9/11 mind-set.

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You WILL Obey

Sen. Kit Bond (R-Just Following Orders) this morning:

When the government tells you to do something I think you all recognize that that is something you need to do.

Says it all.

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Liars

Fred Hiatt's Washington Post.

For a necessary corrective see Glenn Greenwald.

And it takes a Republican to encapsulate what happened yesterday:

“I think the White House got a better deal than even they had hoped to get,” said Senator Christopher S. Bond, Republican of Missouri, who led the negotiations.

It's not a question of the Democrats being spineless but of just how spineless they are.

Thanks again, Steny and Jay and Nancy and Harry.

Given the choice between a Republican and someone who acts like a Republican, people will vote for the real Republican all the time.

- President Harry S Truman

Join the fight!

After Dick Gephart betrayed the majority of House Democrats and plotted with Bush, Cheney and some Blue Dogs to thwart the will of the majority and rubber stamp Bush’s decision to attack and occupy Iraq, he was forced out of his role as Democratic Leader. Steny Hoyer deserves the exact same fate.

Oh, and where is the putative leader of the Democrats, Barack Obama? Where's Sen. Hillary Clinton?

.

"Well, when the president does it that means that it is not illegal"

Remind me why I support the Democrats.

Thanks Steny, Jay, Nancy, Harry, and all the Blue Dogs.

His dream finally realized.

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Can We Call It A Police State Now? Redux

Say hello to Main Core:

According to a senior government official who served with high-level security clearances in five administrations, "There exists a database of Americans, who, often for the slightest and most trivial reason, are considered unfriendly, and who, in a time of panic, might be incarcerated. The database can identify and locate perceived 'enemies of the state' almost instantaneously." He and other sources tell Radar that the database is sometimes referred to by the code name Main Core. One knowledgeable source claims that 8 million Americans are now listed in Main Core as potentially suspect. In the event of a national emergency, these people could be subject to everything from heightened surveillance and tracking to direct questioning and possibly even detention. [emphasis added]

Of course, federal law is somewhat vague as to what might constitute a "national emergency." Executive orders issued over the past three decades define it as a "natural disaster, military attack, [or] technological or other emergency," while Department of Defense documents include eventualities like "riots, acts of violence, insurrections, unlawful obstructions or assemblages, [and] disorder prejudicial to public law and order." According to one news report, even "national opposition to U.S. military invasion abroad" could be a trigger.

[...]

Main Core also allegedly draws on four smaller databases that, in turn, cull from federal, state, and local "intelligence" reports; print and broadcast media; financial records; "commercial databases"; and unidentified "private sector entities." Additional information comes from a database known as the Terrorist Identities Datamart Environment, which generates watch lists from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence for use by airlines, law enforcement, and border posts. According to the Washington Post, the Terrorist Identities list has quadrupled in size between 2003 and 2007 to include about 435,000 names. The FBI's Terrorist Screening Center border crossing list, which listed 755,000 persons as of fall 2007, grows by 200,000 names a year. A former NSA officer tells Radar that the Treasury Department's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, using an electronic-funds transfer surveillance program, also contributes data to Main Core, as does a Pentagon program that was created in 2002 to monitor antiwar protesters and environmental activists such as Greenpeace.

Well ain't that a kick in the pants?

[Via Think Progress.]

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Can We Call It A Police State Now?

The FBI is hiring:

What they were looking for, Carroll says, was an informant—someone to show up at “vegan potlucks” throughout the Twin Cities and rub shoulders with RNC protestors, schmoozing his way into their inner circles, then reporting back to the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force, a partnership between multiple federal agencies and state and local law enforcement. The effort’s primary mission, according to the Minneapolis division’s website, is to “investigate terrorist acts carried out by groups or organizations which fall within the definition of terrorist groups as set forth in the current United States Attorney General Guidelines.”

I guess vegans have replaced Quakers as America's homegrown al-Qaeda.

[Via Prof. Myers.]

Be sure to check out the ACLU's new blog.

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A Little Here And A Little There

A nascent police state:

A man walking through Tom Lee Park pauses to snap a photo of the iconic Hernando DeSoto Bridge. Another man shoots pictures of numerous downtown buildings.

Many would assume the men are tourists taking in the city's sights, but law enforcement officials say they could be terrorists staking out possible targets.

It gets better:

"You may think a guy is just shooting pictures, but if you report it to us, we'll send it on to the FBI and they may have four or five other reports of the same thing," said Richard Pillsbury with the Tennessee Fusion Center, a collaboration between the Department of Safety and the Department of Homeland Security.

And now the punchline courtesy of Eric Jackson of the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force:

"We will never do anything to interfere with anyone's First Amendment rights," Jackson said. "But we do ask people to be on the lookout for that individual who comes into the group and talks a little bit radical."

"Talks a little bit radical"? What the hell does that mean? Oh, and apparently Agent Jackson has never heard the legal term "chilling effect."

We've turned into a nation of simpering ninnies. Pathetic.

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Police State Watch

Ministry of Homeland "Security" Michael Chertoff:

QUESTION: Some are raising that the privacy aspects of this thing, you know, sharing of that kind of data, very personal data, among four countries is quite a scary thing.

SECRETARY CHERTOFF: Well, first of all, a fingerprint is hardly personal data because you leave it on glasses and silverware and articles all over the world, they’re like footprints. They’re not particularly private.

DNA is left behind on the glass and silverware as well. And maybe a hair falls from your head. Therefore, they're not particularly private, either.

Oh, right:

The new regulation would mean that the federal government could store DNA samples of people who are not guilty of any crime, said Jesselyn McCurdy, legislative counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union.

"Now innocent people's DNA will be put into this huge CODIS database, and it will be very difficult for them to get it out if they are not charged or convicted of a crime," McCurdy said.

"Land of the free," my ass.

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Good For MTV

The Viacom subsidiary makes some PSA's:

Far-fetched? No.

[Via Scott Horton.]

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You're Not Paranoid

Greenwald:

The amount of data which the Federal Government now collects and stores regarding the behavior of innocent American citizens is truly staggering. It is just literally true that the Government now maintains sweeping digital dossiers on its citizens, including ones who have never been charged with, let alone convicted of, any wrongdoing of any kind. And without much debate or attention of any kind, the amount of monitoring and the scope of the data just keeps growing. Since when was sweeping domestic surveillance and keeping records about innocent Americans ever supposed to be a function of the Federal Government?

[...]

The real problem here, as is true for virtually every one of the political developments that actually matter, is that these issues are almost completely removed from establishment political discourse. This is all justified by the all-purpose Magic Word -- "Terrorists" -- and so very few political figures are able or willing to oppose any of it or articulate the reasons why it's a concern.

Let me add that I don't expect the next president - Democrat or Republican - to give up these powers voluntarily. And let me also add that these powers, these digital dossiers, will be abused and almost certainly have been already.

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I Think I'll Stay Away From London

I don't want to be killed or extraordinarily rendered:

[Found via War on Photography.]

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Fun For Children Of All Ages

This is a two-fer: Instill fear into children and teach them to obey unquestioningly obey authority with the Playmobil Security Check Point!

As Threat Level mentions, the fun is in the customer reviews:

Missing an important item By Alexander E. Paulsen "AlexP" (Jacksonville, Fl United States)

This is great learning too for young brownshirts.
I am waiting for a few accessories though, kids size jackboots and a toy Taser. Think how much fun that will be for your young Martin Bormann types. I envision a low voltage say 5KV instead of 50kv to give a realistic but non-hazardous jolt.
Next we can have a nice Nerf Nightstick and little Heinrich can have great start getting ready for his future job with the TSA, local police force or the new STASI ( Secure Transportation And Safety Inititive)
Be the first on your block.
I also look forward to the upcoming Halliburton Play detention center real simulated barbed wire.

Needed the upgrade pack
By R. Dobson (UK)

At first it looked as though my Playmobil terrorist cell was going have trouble getting through this security system - no naked flames, sharp objects, guns or bombs. Then I bought the Tobacco Lobbyist upgrade pack which allowed cigarette lighters to be carried through so they simply torched the plane instead. Hours of fun for all the family.

I have other ideas!
By Shabazz Friendly "katoshabazz" (Portland, OR)

I think Playmobil is already working on this...an Abu Graib version that allows tykes to sodomize naked prisoners with blunt objects and stack them in human pyramids. Educational-icious!

And my favorite:

The traveler looks French By Sue Generous "reader_in_cahoots" (Seattle, WA)

The French are why we need security checkpoints in the first place.

Heckuva country we live in.

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Truth In Advertising

Another fine job by the Billboard Liberation Front.

[Via Threat Level.]

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Answer: Yes

Froomkin:

Here's a White House "Fact Sheet" on telecom immunity: "Companies should not be held responsible for verifying the government's determination that requested assistance was necessary and lawful -- and such an impossible requirement would hurt our ability to keep the Nation safe."

But isn't that the very definition of a police state: that companies should do whatever the government asks, even if they know it's illegal?

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Oh Yeah...

I suppose I should mention that alleged Democrats Jay Rockefeller (D-WV), Evan Bayh (D-IN), Daniel Inouye (D-HI), Tim Johnson (D-SD), Herb Kohl (D-WI), Mary Landrieu (D-LA), Claire McCaskill (D-MO), Mark Pryor (D-AR), Blanche Lincoln (D-AR), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Ken Salazar (D-CO), Tom Carper (D-DE), Barbara Mikulski (D-MD), Jim Webb (D-VA), Ben Nelson (D-NE), Bill Nelson (D-FL), Kent Conrad (D-ND), and Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) this afternoon stripped us of our rights to benefit Bush, Cheney, and the telecommunications industry.

I hope they spend their thirty pieces of silver wisely.

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Reminder

Today:

Dear michael,

Beginning at 2:30 p.m. EST today, the Senate will resume debate on the pending FISA bill, by proceeding to vote on a series of amendments, most proposed by Democrats, to improve the bill.  Key amendemnts include one jointly sponsored by Sens. Dodd and Feingold to strip the bill of telecom immunity; an amendment from Sen. Feinstein to transfer the telecom cases to the FISA court; an amendment jointly sponsored by Sens. Specter and Whitehouse to substitute the government for the telecoms as defendants; and an amendment from Sen. Feinstein emphasizing that FISA is the "exclusive means" by which the Government can conduct eavesdropping activites.

 

On Thursday, Democratic and Republican leaders reached agreement whereby certain amendments would require only 50 votes to pass, while others would require 60.  It appears that these vote thresholds were set so as to ensure that none of the amendments opposed by the White House could actually pass.  It seems clear that the Senate is well on its way to passing a bill that will provide both telecom immunity and vast new warrantless eavesdropping powers for the President.  Nonetheless, it is still vital to secure as many favorable votes as possible, since that will provide added leverage in trying to pressure the House, which passed a much better bill back in November, to stand firm as it proceeds to negotiate with the Senate over the final bill to be sent to the White House.

 

Marcy Wheeler will be liveblogging the Senate proceedings at http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com.

 

Cheers,

Glenn Greenwald and Jane Hamsher 

.

KO

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Brutal

La Belle Dahlia on on the Democrats and PAA:

The cliche holds that we are always fighting the last war. I disagree. For the last seven years, congressional Democrats have been fighting the next one: the war perennially set to erupt if they don't deliver whatever the president asks of them immediately. Time and again, they've been rendered so terrified by White House threats about imminent terrorist attacks that they have caved on issues ranging from detainee rights to secret surveillance to torture. And every time they've caved, it's under the threat that if they withhold from the president extra powers (ones that he's often already seized in secret), terrorists will mass against us instantaneously, and they will be blamed.

I've no doubt that when the 15-day "snooze" expires Harry and Nancy and the rest of the invertebrates of Congress will give George and Dick everything they want - including immunity for crimes committed by the Telcos.

Future historians are going to look on this period with awe and disgust.

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Oh Sweet Jeebus This Is Funny

In an ironic sort of way:

Telephone companies have cut off FBI wiretaps used to eavesdrop on suspected criminals because of the bureau's repeated failures to pay phone bills on time.

[...]

In at least one case, a wiretap used in a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act investigation "was halted due to untimely payment," the audit found. FISA wiretaps are used in the government's most sensitive and secretive criminal investigations, and allow eavesdropping on suspected terrorists or spies.

So let's see: The telcos went along with illegal wiretaps because it was necessary for national security. But when the government misses a few payments then national security is no longer important.

Just goes to show you what really matters to our corporations. al-Qaeda ought to offer a big contract to AT&T and friends; they'd snap it up in a second.

.

96...97...Do I Hear $100?

Petroleum:

U.S. oil for December delivery rose as high as $96.24 a barrel in electronic trade. By 3:39 a.m. EDT it was up 86 cents at $95.39 a barrel, paring some gains. December Brent crude also hit its record high of $91.63, up $1 on the day.

Oil soared $4.15 or nearly 5 percent on Wednesday, its biggest one-day gain in 10 months, after U.S. data showed an unexpected 3.9 million-barrel drop in crude stocks last week, most of it at the Cushing, Oklahoma, delivery point.

The record high price for a barrel of oil is an inflation-adjusted $101.70 set in April 1980.

Meanwhile, via Chris in Paris, Shell Oil makes like Big Brother:

Ten Shell gas stations in the Windy City are testing biometric systems that let consumers walk up to the pump, scan their fingertips on a device and fill up their vehicles. The systems, also installed at Shell convenience stores, are directly linked to customers' checking or credit-card accounts for payment.

"When we talk to customers, they're always looking for ways to make buying gasoline quicker and easier, and always looking for ways to make their transactions faster and more secure," said Chris Susse, Shell's manager of global refueling innovations. "They don't want to carry more cards, kits and keychains, and they want it to be free."

[...]

Shell said it will not share personal information of Pay By Touch customers with third parties, and it still offers traditional forms of payment for those uncomfortable with the system.

I guarantee that if this idea takes off Shell will eventually "share personal information" with third parties. Somebody will find a way to make money off of it.

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You're Not Paranoid

I'm honestly not surprised by this:

A former Qwest Communications International executive, appealing a conviction for insider trading, has alleged that the government withdrew opportunities for contracts worth hundreds of millions of dollars after Qwest refused to participate in an unidentified National Security Agency program that the company thought might be illegal.

Former chief executive Joseph P. Nacchio, convicted in April of 19 counts of insider trading, said the NSA approached Qwest more than six months before the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, according to court documents unsealed in Denver this week. [Emphasis added.]

[...]

But the filing also claims that Nacchio "refused" to participate in some unidentified program or activity because it was possibly illegal and that the NSA later "expressed disappointment" about Qwest's decision.

"Nacchio said it was a legal issue and that they could not do something that their general counsel told them not to do. . . . Nacchio projected that he might do it if they could find a way to do it legally," the filing said.

Cheney, among others, have for decades desired the presidency to be an authoritarian institution. So how can anyone be surprised that they were attempting to put a surveillance state in place well before there was any excuse to do so?

These are bad people who DO seek to harm our country and our Constitution.

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Your Lords And Masters

Meet the new boss:

If you're displeased with the way a company treats you, you're free to air your feelings in public, right? Not necessarily if you receive high-speed Internet access from AT&T Inc. or Verizon Communications Inc.

Buried deep within both companies' voluminous service contracts is language that says your Net access can be terminated for any behavior that AT&T or Verizon believes might harm its "name or reputation," or even the reputation of its business partners.

[...]

It followsan incident last month in which Verizon Wireless blocked an abortion-rights group from sending text messages over the company's network, deeming the messages too controversial. The company subsequently backtracked from the decision.

Before that, AT&T was caught in August censoring political comments made by Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder during a concert webcast. The company later said it had made a mistake.

But, of course, it's all boilerplate:

AT&T and Verizon say they've never enforced the can't-criticize-us contract terms, which have been in place for years.

Which means they'll never enforce the terms, right?

In Verizon's case, you have to make it all the way through the company's 10,000-word contract to an attached document laying out the "acceptable use policy."

[...]

It's also where the company says customers are similarly crossing the line if they "damage the name or reputation of Verizon, its parent, affiliates and subsidiaries, or any third parties."

Hmmm, I'm on Verizon now so I guess I'd better be safe: I couldn't be happier that I'm a Verizon customer. Verizon's better than a basket full of puppy dogs and kittens!

There. That ought to held them for a while.

Anyway, as usual there's nothing to be done about this. Even though it's become impossible to live a normal life without some corporation or other meddling in it neither the First Amendment nor any other part of the Constitution applies so they have you by the short hairs.

Just lie back and think of England.

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Simple Answers To Simple Questions*

Should Schools Fingerprint Your Kids?

No.

*Concept shamelessly stolen from Dr. Duncan Black.

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You're Not Paranoid

Oh no, this won't be abused:

The Bush administration has approved a plan to expand domestic access to some of the most powerful tools of 21st-century spycraft, giving law enforcement officials and others the ability to view data obtained from satellite and aircraft sensors that can see through cloud cover and even penetrate buildings and underground bunkers.

[...]

They could also have access to much more. A statement issued yesterday by the Department of Homeland Security said that officials envision "more robust access" not only to imagery but also to "the collection, analysis and production skills and capabilities of the intelligence community."

The beneficiaries may include "federal, state, local and tribal elements" involved in emergency preparedness and response or "enforcement of criminal and civil laws." The "tribal" reference was to Native Americans who conduct semiautonomous law enforcement operations on reservations.

Note that these satellites can see inside buildings such as your home.

Hall's group cited an "urgent need" for expanding sharing of remote sensing data to domestic groups other than scientific researchers. "Opportunities to better protect the nation are being missed," the report said.

Ah, there it is. This is being done for our protection! You know what else would protect us? Allowing law enforcement to enter any home at will and search it. And allowing the police to engage in summary execution of anybody thought to have committed a crime. That would certainly reduce crime and thus better protect us.

But fear not:

Oversight of the department's use of the overhead imagery data would come from officials in the Department of Homeland Security and from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and would consist of reviews by agency inspectors general, lawyers and privacy officers. "We can give total assurance" that Americans' civil liberties will be protected, Allen said. "Americans shouldn't have any concerns about it."

See? Michael Chertoff and Michael McConnell will personally make sure that there are no abuses of this terrific new power.

At any rate, as long as you're not doing anything wrong you have nothing to fear. Just ask Maher Arar.

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We'll Have Fun Fun Fun 'Till The TSA Takes Us Away

More airport fun hell:

Specially trained security personnel are watching body language and facial cues of passengers for signs of bad intentions. The watcher could be the attendant who hands you the tray for your laptop or the one standing behind the ticket-checker. Or the one next to the curbside baggage attendant.

They're called Behavior Detection Officers, and they're part of several recent security upgrades, Transportation Security Administrator Kip Hawley told an aviation industry group in Washington last month. He described them as "a wonderful tool to be able to identify and do risk management prior to somebody coming into the airport or approaching the crowded checkpoint."

[...]

Behavior detection officers work in pairs. Typically, one officer sizes up passengers openly while the other seems to be performing a routine security duty. A passenger who arouses suspicion, whether by micro-expressions, social interaction or body language gets subtle but more serious scrutiny.

A behavior specialist may decide to move in to help the suspicious passenger recover belongings that have passed through the baggage X-ray. Or he may ask where the traveler's going. If more alarms go off, officers will "refer" the person to law enforcement officials for further questioning.

[...]

It faces high hurdles, however.

Different cultures express themselves differently. Expressions and body language are easy to misread, and no one's catalogued them all. Ekman notes that each culture has its own specific body language, but that little has been done to study each individually in order to incorporate them in a surveillance program.

It looks like Marcy experienced this first hand:

It worked like this: rather than mark my boarding pass for the "quiz about family's weird nicknaming habits" treatment, they put a big red X on it. A fellow who was clearly either supervising or waiting for some liberal schmo like me then met me after the metal detector and asked to search my bags. Which he did. So thoroughly that he read every single business card in my knapsack. Every single one.

Meanwhile, a female TSA employee made like she was making small talk with me, asking why I was in DC, whether Libby was really guilty, what it was like to cover the trial, and so on. I could tell her job was, at least partly, to see whether my story accorded with the contents the male TSA guy was finding in my bag--but she was also, clearly, giving me some kind of psychological profile.

When I'm forced to interact in public with people I don't know at all it's in my nature to default to vague pleasantries and non-committal answers to questions. This could be interpreted as being evasive (which, in fact, it is though not for nefarious purposes). So what could go wrong?

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Repeat After Him

Michael Bérubé has thoughtfully written a speech and made it available to Congressional Democrats.

I'd pay real money to hear a Congresscritter give this speech.

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Abu The Orwellian

Another story I've been meaning to get to for a while is Abu Gonzales' proposal to create thought police:

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales is pressing the U.S. Congress to enact a sweeping intellectual-property bill that would increase criminal penalties for copyright infringement, including "attempts" to commit piracy.

The Intellectual Property Protection Act of 2007 would bring us the following:

* Criminalize "attempting" to infringe copyright. Federal law currently punishes not-for-profit copyright infringement with between 1 and 10 years in prison, but there has to be actual infringement that takes place. The IPPA would eliminate that requirement. (The Justice Department's summary of the legislation says: "It is a general tenet of the criminal law that those who attempt to commit a crime but do not complete it are as morally culpable as those who succeed in doing so.")

* Create a new crime of life imprisonment for using pirated software. Anyone using counterfeit products who "recklessly causes or attempts to cause death" can be imprisoned for life. During a conference call, Justice Department officials gave the example of a hospital using pirated software instead of paying for it.

* Permit more wiretaps for piracy investigations. Wiretaps would be authorized for investigations of Americans who are "attempting" to infringe copyrights.

* Allow computers to be seized more readily. Specifically, property such as a PC "intended to be used in any manner" to commit a copyright crime would be subject to forfeiture, including civil asset forfeiture. Civil asset forfeiture has become popular among police agencies in drug cases as a way to gain additional revenue, and it is problematic and controversial.

* Increase penalties for violating the Digital Millennium Copyright Act's anticircumvention regulations. Criminal violations are currently punished by jail times of up to 10 years and fines of up to $1 million. The IPPA would add forfeiture penalties.

* Add penalties for "intended" copyright crimes. Certain copyright crimes currently require someone to commit the "distribution, including by electronic means, during any 180-day period of at least 10 copies" valued at more than $2,500. The IPPA would insert a new prohibition: actions that were "intended to consist of" distribution.

* Require Homeland Security to alert the Recording Industry Association of America. That would happen when CDs with "unauthorized fixations of the sounds, or sounds and images, of a live musical performance" are attempted to be imported. Neither the Motion Picture Association of America nor the Business Software Alliance (nor any other copyright holder, such as photographers, playwrights or news organizations, for that matter) would qualify for this kind of special treatment.

So pirating software is a worse crime than rape and even murder. WTF? And the Ministry of Homeland Security is to be put in the service of the entertainment industry.

Just how insane is our country becoming?

John Aravosis:

First off, what this legislation is really about: The Homeland Security department getting carte blanche authorization to fish through your computer and tap your phones with impunity, whenever they want, so long as they argue that they think you might have ever tried to download even a single song via Limewire or some of other music-sharing software, or have ever copied a photo off the Internet, or even watched a single clip from any TV show on YouTube. They're going to use this legislation to hunt for terrorists, and won't need search warrants, etc. That's what this is about.

Now to the specifics.

1. Why change the law to an "attempt" to infringe? Copyright law has been fine until now, why change it?

2. As mentioned above, they can wiretap anyone who may be "attempting" to infringe on copyright. That means if they suspect that you may have saved a copy on your computer of one of my orchid photos they can tap your phones, without a warrant I suspect. They can also tap your phone if they think your teenage daughter may be "attempting" to download a song online. They could also tap the phones of every YouTube user who has ever posted a clip from any TV show. Think about that.

3. They can seize your computer, forever, if you "intend" to copy even one song or one photo from the Internet. Not if you DO copy it. Just if you even just plan on it in your mind. And the religious right has a problem with hate crime laws? At least with hate crime laws you actually have to have committed a violent crime like murder or aggravated assault. And Bush is threatening a veto of that bill. But he has no problem with a bill that throws you in jail for just thinking of maybe downloading music or a photo or posting a copy of a Washington Post article to your blog or putting a clip from the Daily Show or South Park on YouTube (that too would permit Bush to tap your phones).

And finally, if Homeland Security doesn't have enough work to do already, and has the time to set up a hotline to the Record Industry Association every time little Suzie downloads a Christina Aguilera song, well, then we might as well just pack it in and put up a big welcome sign for Osama to hit us again.

(Sorry for the extended copy-and-paste but I think Aravosis gets it exactly right.)

The copyright, trademark, and patent regimes have become seriously out of whack. That's not an especially new development. But if I've learned one thing over the last 6+ years it's too never assume that things can't become more absurd.

As far as copyrights go perhaps it's time to toss all the laws out and return to the original 14 year period. Time-Warner and Disney would squawk but screw 'em. The law as it stands now is double-plus ungood.

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They Know Everything

Glenn Greenwald catches this from ABC:

Some news accounts have suggested that Cho had a history of antidepressant use, but senior federal officials tell ABC News that they can find no record of such medication in the government's files. This does not completely rule out prescription drug use, including samples from a physician, drugs obtained through illegal Internet sources, or a gap in the federal database, but the sources say theirs is a reasonably complete search.

WTF?

Glenn:

Is there any good reason whatsoever why the federal government should be maintaining "files" which contain information about the pharmaceutical products which all Americans are consuming? The noxious idea has taken root in our country -- even before the Bush presidency, though certainly greatly bolstered during it -- that one of the functions of the federal government is to track the private lives of American citizens and maintain dossiers on what we do.

[...]

The federal government data base which contains all of our controlled substance prescriptions, for instance, was mandated by a law -- The National All Schedules Prescription Electronic Reporting Act -- passed in 2005 by the Republican-controlled Congress (though with full bipartisan support) and signed into law by the "conservative" Leader. That law appropriates funds to each state to create and maintain these data bases which are, apparently, accessible to federal agencies, federal law enforcement officials, and almost certainly thousands of other state and federal employees (as well as, most likely, employees of private companies).

I'd certainly like to know the reasoning behind this database. Regardless, the government has no reason whatsoever to be keeping this information. There's a tremendous irony that this is coming from the party of, as Glenn notes, "The Black Helicopters And Janet Reno Are Coming."

But this is how it will happen in this country. We won't wake up one morning and find ourselves in an authoritarian state. It will happen in dribs and drabs. A database here, an ID card there, banning from public spaces because of your beliefs.

Just a little bit for your own good. Then when you're good and used to that, just a little bit more...

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The Problem

LTE:

Fingerprints for security reasons

April 13, 2007

I WRITE in reference to James Carroll's April 9 op-ed, "Fingerprint foreboding," in which he bemoans the larger implications of Taunton public schools' plan to use a fingerprint scan for students at lunch.

My fingerprints have been taken many times, and I have not the least objection. I understand the necessity.

The first time was after I graduated from college with a degree in electrical engineering during World War II. I went to work developing equipment for the Navy, which was classified SECRET (the security stamps used only upper-case characters). I was fingerprinted so that I could be investigated and cleared.

In my career, I went back and forth between the commercial and military fields, so that I needed clearance several times, and was fingerprinted each time.

At another time I applied for a permit for something hazardous and had to be checked by the State Police. I was fingerprinted again.

I do not mind relinquishing some