20120329
aangirfan: TANIA HEAD - SPOOKY 9 11 FAKE; TOULOUSE MERAH FAKE
FBI explanation of missing Oklahoma City bombing tapes not credible, judge says | Deseret News ((tags; OKC, FBI))
SALT LAKE CITY — A federal judge on Wednesday continued to question the FBI's explanation for not producing videotapes associated with the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing that a Salt Lake lawyer has sought for nearly six years. "It's quite astounding that documents as important as these went missing and the FBI says, 'Well, they're gone,'" U.S. District Judge Clark Waddoups said during a motion hearing. At issue is whether the FBI adequately responded to Jesse Trentadue's Freedom of Information Act request for footage of Timothy McVeigh parking a truckload of explosives at the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building on April 19, 1995. Specifically, the Salt Lake attorney is after a building surveillance tape and dashcam video from the Oklahoma state trooper who stopped McVeigh 90 minutes after the explosion that killed 168 people...
http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865552630/FBI-explanation-of-missing-Oklah...
http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865552630/FBI-explanation-of-missing-Oklah...
Insider trading 9/11 ... the facts laid bare
Is there any truth in the allegations that informed circles made substantial profits in the financial markets in connection to the terror attacks of September 11, 2001, on the United States?
Arguably, the best place to start is by examining put options, which occurred around Tuesday, September 11, 2001, to an abnormal extent, and at the beginning via software that played a key role: the Prosecutor's Management Information System, abbreviated as PROMIS. [i]
PROMIS is a software program that seems to be fitted with almost "magical" abilities. Furthermore, it is the subject of a decades-long dispute between its inventor, Bill Hamilton, and various people/institutions associated with intelligence agencies, military and security consultancy firms. [1] .. http://atimes.com/atimes/Global_Economy/NC21Dj05.html
Arguably, the best place to start is by examining put options, which occurred around Tuesday, September 11, 2001, to an abnormal extent, and at the beginning via software that played a key role: the Prosecutor's Management Information System, abbreviated as PROMIS. [i]
PROMIS is a software program that seems to be fitted with almost "magical" abilities. Furthermore, it is the subject of a decades-long dispute between its inventor, Bill Hamilton, and various people/institutions associated with intelligence agencies, military and security consultancy firms. [1] .. http://atimes.com/atimes/Global_Economy/NC21Dj05.html
Japanese camera can scan 36 million faces per second | Mail Online
A new camera technology from Hitachi Hokusai Electric can scan days of camera footage instantly, and find any face which has EVER walked past it.Its makers boast that it can scan 36 million faces per second. The technology raises the spectre of governments - or other organisations - being able to 'find' anyone instantly simply using a passport photo or a Facebook profile... 
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2119386/Could-governments-recognise-ANYONE-instantly-CCTV-Japanese-camera-scan-36-million-faces-second.html
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2119386/Could-governments-recognise-ANYONE-instantly-CCTV-Japanese-camera-scan-36-million-faces-second.html
TSA Manager Arrested for Running Prostitution Ring
SILVER SPRING, Md. - A manager at the Transportation Security Administration has lost his job after being arrested on prostitution-related charges. According to court documents, the agency had received a complaint of "very similar" activities back in 2009. Bryant Jermaine Livingston, 39, was arrested while on the job as a supervisor of TSA agents at Dulles International Airport. The Manassas, Virginia resident, said by phone he is innocent of the charges, but declined to discuss the details of the case... http://www.myfoxdc.com/dpp/news/local/tsa-manager-arrested-for-running-prosti...
TSA officers charged with trashing South Beach hotel room, shooting gun - MiamiHerald.com
Miami Beach police say two Transportation Security Administration officers partied a little too hard Tuesday night, trashed their South Beach hotel room and then picked up a semi-automatic handgun and shot six rounds out the window. One bullet pierced a $1,500 hurricane impact resistant window at a nearby Barneys New York, penetrated a wall and tore into some jeans in the closed store’s stockroom, according to store manager Adelchi Mancusi. No one was injured... http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/03/28/2718902/tsa-employees-charged-with-tras...
Schneier on Security: Harms of Post-9/11 Airline Security
"As I posted previously, I have been debating former TSA Administrator Kip Hawley on the Economistwebsite. I didn't bother reposting my opening statement and rebuttal, because -- even though I thought I did a really good job with them -- they were largely things I've said before. In my closing statement, I talked about specific harms post-9/11 airport security has caused. This is mostly new, so here it is, British spelling and punctuation and all. In my previous two statements, I made two basic arguments about post-9/11 airport security. One, we are not doing the right things: the focus on airports at the expense of the broader threat is not making us safer. And two, the things we are doing are wrong: the specific security measures put in place since 9/11 do not work. Kip Hawley doesn’t argue with the specifics of my criticisms, but instead provides anecdotes and asks us to trust that airport security—and the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) in particular—knows what it’s doing..." http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2012/03/harms_of_post-9.html
20120325
FBI Turns Back On 2,750 Of The 3,000 GPS Devices It Turned Off For Lack Of A Warrant | Techdirt ))
In January, we wrote about the Supreme Court's somewhat surprising ruling on GPS monitoring by law enforcement, in which it suggested (but didn't fully say) that putting a GPS device on a car might need a warrant -- a pretty easy process that the FBI just didn't want to go through. Following this, we noted a report saying that the FBI scrambled to turn off 3,000 such devicesthat had been placed without a warrant.
However, in an NPR report about just how unhappy the FBI is about all of this, it notes that the FBI actually scrambled to file for warrants on most of those 3,000 devices, such that only 250 were permanently shut off. And yet it's still complaining about this whole "getting a warrant" thing. As Tim Lee notes, FBI director Robert Mueller is basically complaining to Congress that it'sjust so hard... http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20120323/03114118220/fbi-turns-back-2750-300...
However, in an NPR report about just how unhappy the FBI is about all of this, it notes that the FBI actually scrambled to file for warrants on most of those 3,000 devices, such that only 250 were permanently shut off. And yet it's still complaining about this whole "getting a warrant" thing. As Tim Lee notes, FBI director Robert Mueller is basically complaining to Congress that it'sjust so hard... http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20120323/03114118220/fbi-turns-back-2750-300...
The Pirate Bay to Fly 'Server Drones' to Avoid Law Enforcement - US News and World Report
The world’s largest and most resilient BitTorrent site plans to redefine “cloud computing” with a plan to move at least some of its servers onto unmanned drones miles above Sweden.
In a Sunday blog post, The Pirate Bay announced new "Low Orbit Server Stations" that will house the site's servers and files on unmanned, GPS-controlled, aircraft drones... http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2012/03/19/the-pirate-bay-to-fly-server-d...
In a Sunday blog post, The Pirate Bay announced new "Low Orbit Server Stations" that will house the site's servers and files on unmanned, GPS-controlled, aircraft drones... http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2012/03/19/the-pirate-bay-to-fly-server-d...
20120323
20120322
Switzerland Network Testing Tool | Electronic Frontier Foundation
Is your ISP interfering with your BitTorrent connections? Cutting off your VOIP calls? Undermining the principles of network neutrality? In order to answer those questions, concerned Internet users need tools to test their Internet connections and gather evidence about ISP interference practices. After all, if it weren't for the testing efforts of Rob Topolski, the Associated Press, and EFF, Comcast would still be stone-walling about their now-infamous BitTorrent blocking efforts.
Developed by the Electronic Frontier Foundation, Switzerland is an open source software tool for testing the integrity of data communications over networks, ISPs and firewalls. It will spot IP packets which are forged or modified between clients, inform you, and give you copies of the modified packets.
via eff.org
20120321
Facebook Is a CIA/NSA Information Gathering Tool - YouTube
via youtube.com
This is old but unfortunately still relevant.
President Obama signs Executive Order allowing for control over all US resources | Examiner.com
The Obama administration appears to be preparing for a long drawn out war in the Middle East, or at the very least, an expected crisis that will require the need to override Constitutional authority and claim dominion over all resources in the United States under the guise of national defense. With the rise in Disaster Preparedness growing for both individuals and states leading up to yesterday's Executive Order, the mood of the nation points strongly towards some event or disaster that will require massive preparations on a national as well as local scale.
via examiner.com
NSA Chief Denies, Denies, Denies Wired's Domestic Spying Story | Wired.com
NSA chief General Keith Alexander faced tough — and funny — questions from Congress Tuesday stemming from Wired’s story on the NSA’s capabalities and warrantless wiretapping program.
Congressman Hank Johnson, a Georgia Democrat, asked Alexander whether the NSA could, at the direction of Dick Cheney, identify people who sent e-mails making fun of his inability to hunt in order to waterboard them.
Alexander said “No,” adding that the “NSA does not have the ability to do that in the United States.” Elaborating, Alexander added: “We don’t have the technical insights in the United States. In other words, you have to have [...] some way of doing that either by going to a service provider with a warrant or you have to be collecting in that area. We’re not authorized to do that, nor do we have the equipment in the United States to collect that kind of information.”
via wired.com
20120320
20120318
American ISPs to launch massive copyright spying scheme on July 12 | The Raw Story
If you download potentially copyrighted software, videos or music, your Internet service provider (ISP) has been watching, and they’re coming for you.
Specifically, they’re coming for you on Thursday, July 12.
That’s the date when the nation’s largest ISPs will all voluntarily implement a new anti-piracy plan that will engage network operators in the largest digital spying scheme in history, and see some users’ bandwidth completely cut off until they sign an agreement saying they will not download copyrighted materials.
via rawstory.com
Conflict in Syria is a Civil War - YouTube
via youtube.com
"Lawrence Wilkerson: Those pushing US intervention in Syria are not humanitarian; want a "back door" to Iran"
20120315
The NSA Is Building the Country's Biggest Spy Center (Watch What You Say) | Wired.com
The spring air in the small, sand-dusted town has a soft haze to it, and clumps of green-gray sagebrush rustle in the breeze. Bluffdale sits in a bowl-shaped valley in the shadow of Utah’s Wasatch Range to the east and the Oquirrh Mountains to the west. It’s the heart of Mormon country, where religious pioneers first arrived more than 160 years ago. They came to escape the rest of the world, to understand the mysterious words sent down from their god as revealed on buried golden plates, and to practice what has become known as “the principle,” marriage to multiple wives.
Today Bluffdale is home to one of the nation’s largest sects of polygamists, the Apostolic United Brethren, with upwards of 9,000 members. The brethren’s complex includes a chapel, a school, a sports field, and an archive. Membership has doubled since 1978—and the number of plural marriages has tripled—so the sect has recently been looking for ways to purchase more land and expand throughout the town.
via wired.com
When swimming in data, the wise man builds a boat.
Drones in U.S. Need to Fly Within Privacy Rules: View - Bloomberg
Consider the Qube. It’s 3 feet long, weighs about 5 pounds and can be assembled in a jiffy. It’s equipped with thermal and high-resolution cameras. It can fly all by itself, for 40 minutes at a time, hovering noiselessly at up to 500 feet. And it films all it sees.
The Qube, made by AeroVironment Inc. (AVAV), is one model in a growing fleet of drones -- or, technically, unmanned aerial vehicles -- now plying the skies above the U.S., piloted remotely by National Guard units and Customs and Border Protection agents, for just two examples. These machines have proved invaluable in war zones, and their expanding use domestically holds great promise.
But surveillance drones also create daunting privacy concerns. The Federal Aviation Administration now requires government and research organizations to apply for authorization before they can operate such aircraft. A bill signed Feb. 14, however, charges the FAA with speeding up the approval process for new operators and with fully integrating drones into American airspace by Sept. 30, 2015.
via bloomberg.com
20120313
DOJ Asks Court To Keep Secret Any Partnership Between Google, NSA - The BLT: The Blog of Legal Times
The Justice Department is defending the government's refusal to discuss—or even acknowledge the existence of—any cooperative research and development agreement between Google and the National Security Agency.
The Washington based advocacy group Electronic Privacy Information Center sued in federal district court here to obtain documents about any such agreement between the Internet search giant and the security agency.
The NSA responded to the suit with a so-called “Glomar” response in which the agency said it could neither confirm nor deny whether any responsive records exist. U.S. District Judge Richard Leon in Washington sided with the government last July.
20120312
20120311
Law firm dumps 9/11 clients - NYPOST.com
The law firm that reaped more than $200 million in fees and expenses in the city’s court settlement with 10,000 Ground Zero workers now says it won’t represent those filing compensation claims under the federal Zadroga Act because rules forbid them to further bill the same clients, The Post has learned.
“By preventing us to be paid for our overhead and services, it essentially precludes us from representing the interests of our litigation clients” in the new Victim Compensation Fund, says a letter from Worby Groner Edelman & Napoli Bern.
John Feal, an advocate for 9/11 responders, called it “disturbing and appalling” that the firm had repeatedly led clients to believe it would represent them.
via nypost.com
New York The NYPD Tapes Confirmed - Village Voice
In 2010, The Village Voice produced a five-part series, the "NYPD Tapes," about a cop who secretly taped his fellow New York Police Department officers.For more than two years, Adrian Schoolcraft secretly recorded every roll call at the 81st Precinct in Brooklyn and captured his superiors urging police officers to do two things in order to manipulate the "stats" that the department is under pressure to produce: Officers were told to arrest people who were doing little more than standing on the street, but they were also encouraged to disregard actual victims of serious crimes who wanted to file reports.
Arresting bystanders made it look like the department was efficient, while artificially reducing the amount of serious crime made the commander look good.
via villagevoice.com
FBI may have known in advance of Stratfor hack - msnbc.com
Did the FBI know in advance of the Stratfor hack, but let it happen in order to gather evidence?
Soon after the news broke yesterday (March 6) about the arrest and cooperation of turncoat Anonymous and Lulzsec hacker Hector Xavier Monsegur, known online as "Sabu," the Justice Department released chatroom transcripts that imply the FBI knew in advance of the devastating attack in December upon the Austin, Texas geopolitical analysis firm Strategic Forecasting, Inc.
Approximately 860,000 email addresses and accompanying encrypted passwords, 68,000 credit-card numbers and 50,000 telephone numbers belonging to subscribers of Stratfor's email newsletter were posted online within a few days of the attack.
via msnbc.msn.com
Dr. Webster Tarpley: KONY 2012 Exposed - PT 1 of 3 - YouTube
via youtube.com
As great as my disdain is for Alex Jones, Tarpley makes some interesting points. He may be a shill, but he's an informed shill.
Afghan Air Force Probed in Drug Running - WSJ.com
KABUL—The U.S. is investigating allegations that some officials in the Afghan Air Force, which was established largely with American funds, have been using aircraft to ferry narcotics and illegal weapons around the country, American officials told The Wall Street Journal.
Two probes of the Afghan Air Force, or AAF, are under way—one led by the U.S. military coalition and another by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, officials said.
"The nature of the allegations is fairly dramatic and indicated that [AAF officials] were transporting drugs on aircraft and transported weapons not owned by the government of Afghanistan for the use of private groups," said U.S. Army Lt. Gen. Daniel Bolger, commander of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization Training Mission-Afghanistan, the command that is establishing and financing Afghan security forces, including the AAF.
via online.wsj.com
De ja vu.
20120310
20120309
Holder expected to explain rationale for targeting U.S. citizens abroad - The Washington Post
Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. on Monday plans to provide the most detailed account to date of the Obama administration’s legal rationale for killing U.S. citizens abroad, as it did in last year’s airstrike against an alleged al-Qaeda operative in Yemen, officials said.
The rationale Holder plans to offer resembles, in its broad strokes, those previously offered by lower-ranking officials. But his speech Monday will mark a new and higher-profile phase of the administration’s campaign to justify lethal action in those rare instances in which U.S. citizens, such as New Mexico-born Anwar al-Awlaki, join terrorist causes devoted to harming their homeland.
Civil libertarians and other critics have been demanding a more thorough and public accounting of the administration’s logic since the killing of Awlaki in September. Administration officials have relied on a classified opinion, written by the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel, that provides a legal framework for the unusual action, but they have refused repeated requests to release it despite intense internal debate on the subject.
20120306
20120303
Ex-Senators Graham and Kerrey See Possible Saudi 9/11 Link - NYTimes.com
WASHINGTON — For more than a decade, questions have lingered about the possible role of the Saudi government in the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, even as the royal kingdom has made itself a crucial counterterrorism partner in the eyes of American diplomats.
Now, in sworn statements that seem likely to reignite the debate, two former senators who were privy to top secret information on the Saudis’ activities say they believe that the Saudi government might have played a direct role in the terrorist attacks.
“I am convinced that there was a direct line between at least some of the terrorists who carried out the September 11th attacks and the government of Saudi Arabia,” former Senator Bob Graham, Democrat of Florida, said in an affidavit filed as part of a lawsuit brought against the Saudi government and dozens of institutions in the country by families of Sept. 11 victims and others. Mr. Graham led a joint 2002 Congressional inquiry into the attacks.
via nytimes.com
Drug money saved banks in global crisis, claims UN advisor | The Observer
Drugs money worth billions of dollars kept the financial system afloat at the height of the global crisis, the United Nations' drugs and crime tsar has told the Observer.
Antonio Maria Costa, head of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, said he has seen evidence that the proceeds of organised crime were "the only liquid investment capital" available to some banks on the brink of collapse last year. He said that a majority of the $352bn (£216bn) of drugs profits was absorbed into the economic system as a result.
This will raise questions about crime's influence on the economic system at times of crisis. It will also prompt further examination of the banking sector as world leaders, including Barack Obama and Gordon Brown, call for new International Monetary Fund regulations. Speaking from his office in Vienna, Costa said evidence that illegal money was being absorbed into the financial system was first drawn to his attention by intelligence agencies and prosecutors around 18 months ago. "In many instances, the money from drugs was the only liquid investment capital. In the second half of 2008, liquidity was the banking system's main problem and hence liquid capital became an important factor," he said.
via guardian.co.uk
AntiSec dumps Monsanto data on the Web | Security - CNET News
(Credit: Screenshot by CNET)
Anonymous continued its ongoing attack on agricultural biotech giant Monsanto today by publishing an outdated database of the company's material. This is the newest in a barrage of strikes from hackers aligned with Anonymous who operate under the "AntiSec" banner.
In a statement posted with the database on a Pastebin site, the hacktivist group wrote it was aware that exposing the database would not do much harm to Monsanto but warned it would continue to target the company for what it sees as wrong.
via news.cnet.com
Menwith Hill eavesdropping base undergoes massive expansion | The Guardian
The radar domes of RAF Menwith Hill in North Yorkshire. Photograph: Christopher Furlong/Getty ImagesAmerica's largest eavesdropping centre in Britain, Menwith Hill in North Yorkshire, is being expanded in a multimillion-pound programme as it becomes increasingly vital to US intelligence and military operations, according to a study of the controversial base released on Thursday.
The base, which plays a key role in the global network of the National Security Agency (NSA), GCHQ's American partner, now includes 33 radomes – commonly called "golf balls" after the white sheeting protecting the satellite receiving and transmission stations – and is undergoing a big construction programme.
via guardian.co.uk
NYPD intelligence chief wanted sources in every mosque within 250 miles | guardian.co.uk
The most senior intelligence chief in the New York police department wanted a source in every mosque "within a 250-mile radius" of the city, according to the latest in a series of revelations about NYPD-led surveillance of Muslims across north-eastern America.
The latest disclosures, by the Associated Press, reveal the ambitions of an effort led by David Cohen, a former CIA officer who went on to become the NYPD's deputy commissioner for intelligence.
"Take a big net, throw it out, catch as many fish as you can and see what we get," one investigator, quoted by the AP, recalled Cohen saying.
via guardian.co.uk
Chinese hackers took over NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab, Inspector General reveals | Fox News
Chinese hackers gained control over NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in November, which could have allowed them delete sensitive files, add user accounts to mission-critical systems, upload hacking tools, and more -- all at a central repository of U.S. space technology, according to a report released Wednesday afternoon by the Office of the Inspector General.
That report revealed scant details of an ongoing investigation into the incident against the Pasadena, Calif., lab, noting only that cyberattacks against the JPL involved Chinese-based Internet Protocol (IP) addresses.
Paul K. Martin, NASA's inspector general, put his conclusions bluntly.
"The attackers had full functional control over these networks," he wrote.
via foxnews.com
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