insanegoodreviews.com

February 2010 Newsletter

“The Constitution is not an instrument for the government to restrain
the people, it is an instrument for the people to restrain the
government.”
– Patrick Henry

We are exceedingly proud to announce that this February 2010
newsletter issue marks our 16th anniversary publishing PT Buzz.
To the best of our knowledge we are the oldest privacy provider
on the internet!

Thank you for your continued support over these many years!

PT Shamrock – February 2010

In this issue:

* Labour is dreaming up 33 new crimes a month
* Scary Stuff – Poll: Most Americans would trim liberties to be safer
* Breaking News! Italy to Require Anyone Who Uploads Video to the
Internet to Obtain Government Authorization
* Good News – European court pulls plugs on terror stop and search
* Did you know? Italians take the ‘p’ to fight back against Big Brother
* Bad News – China Expanding Censorship to Text Messages
* Food for thought – US wants “obedient servants of the state,” Ron Paul
* Meet Mikey, 8: U.S. Has Him on Watch List
* The District of Criminals – FBI broke law in phone searches
* Government in the Bedroom and Everywhere Else
* Police State – 800,000 Americans Busted Annually For Pot
* Red Hot Product!
* Advisory – UK border database on target and budget, says Home Office
* ACLU challenges US laptop border searches
* Dumbing Down – Police rake in GBP 400 million from middle-class fines
* Dumb facts – Insane air board’s new role: Tire Nazis
* Dumb criminal acts – DVLA makes GBP44m flogging drivers’ details
* Dumbing Down Award of the month – This months award goes to…
* Oz/Nzed Corner
* Bug Bites: – Taser’s new weapon: mobile phone monitoring
* More Bugs – Google Turns on Gmail Encryption to Protect Wi-Fi Users
* States get more time to comply with Real ID
* ID card scheme for foreigner’s extended
* Shamrock’s Missive
* Quotes
* Tid Bits – FBI seeks public’s help via Times Square billboard
* More Tid Bits – An Orwellian world for Big Brother
* Even More Tid Bits – Stop and search for children who were
’sledging downhill’
* Bits and Bobs – Heathrow staff given body language training to spot
suspected terrorists
* Letters To The Editor
* Quote of the month!
* PT Shamrock’s Exclusive Member’s Site!

*** Labour is dreaming up 33 new crimes a month… including barring
you from swimming into the Titanic
– Mail Online

Labour has created 4,300 new crimes since taking power – including a
ban on swimming in the wreck of the Titanic and on the sale of game
birds shot on a Sunday.

Gordon Brown has been the worst offender in this unprecedented
‘legislative splurge’, with his Government creating new offences at
the rate of 33 a month.

Under Tony Blair, Labour invented 27 new ways of criminalising the
public every month.

The ‘crimes’ range from swimming in the hull of the Titanic without
the permission of a Cabinet Minister to ‘disturbing a pack of eggs’
when instructed not to by an authorised officer.

In total, between 1997 and 2009, 4,289 new criminal offences were
created – approximately one for every day ministers have been in
office. It is twice the rate at which new crimes were created under
the last Tory administration.

They include offences – such as carrying out a nuclear explosion -
which could easily be covered by existing laws.

Others are simply bewildering, such as the ban on the sale of game
birds shot on a Sunday-or Christmas Day.

This stems from the fact it is illegal, for ancient religious reasons,
to shoot the birds on a Sunday – so the Government felt the need to
also make it illegal to sell birds shot on a Sunday, to reinforce the
point.

Liberal Democrat home office spokesman Chris Huhne, who uncovered the
figures, will attack the Government’s law-making frenzy in a speech
tonight.

He will say: ‘Over the past 12 years, this Labour Government has been
suffering from the most acute and prolonged bout of legislative
diarrhoea.

‘We have had 69 Home Affairs Bills in 12 years, an average of almost
six per year. This is a staggering-volume to have added to the
statute books in such a short time, and this is just the two
departments of the Home Office and the Justice Department.

‘The “bill teams” in departments are possibly among the most
productive parts of the public sector. Unfortunately, the product is
in too many cases virtually worthless.’

Many of the new laws are backed by powers to enter people’s home
without a warrant to check they are not being breached.

Mr Huhne wrote to Justice Secretary Jack Straw urging him to repeal
some of the laws.

But, in reference to the crime of ‘disturbing a pack of eggs’, Mr
Straw said: ‘Egg marketing inspectors must be able to ensure that eggs
suspected of being marketed in contravention of EU regulations are not
tampered with.’

He added: ‘I am sorry that you regard these offences as unnecessary.
In their different ways they are important pieces of legislation.’

Editors note: How may laws has the united States [correct spelling]
written into law that is criminalising the public every month?
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Scary Stuff

Poll: Most Americans would trim liberties to be safer
– McClatchy Newspapers

After a recent attempted terrorist attack set off a debate about
full-body X-rays at airports, a new McClatchy-Ipsos poll finds that
Americans lean more toward giving up some of their liberty in exchange
for more safety.

The survey found 51 percent of Americans agreeing that “it is
necessary to give up some civil liberties in order to make the country
safe from terrorism.”

At the same time, 36 percent agreed that “some of the government’s
proposals will go too far in restricting the public’s civil
liberties.”

The rest were undecided or said their opinions would depend on
circumstances.

As has happened often since the 2001 terrorist attacks, the renewed
debate over security is hinging on the balance between personal
liberty and safety. The suspect’s success in boarding a Detroit-bound
plane allegedly carrying explosives is setting off calls for full body
scans, which some find an invasion of privacy, and for new
restrictions on passengers once they’re in flight.

To stop terrorists, Americans look first to better governmental
coordination and use of intelligence, the poll found, with 81 percent
calling that effective and only 11 percent calling it ineffective.

Body scans or full body searches at airports ranked second, named by
74 percent as an effective way to stop terrorism. Nineteen percent
called those measures ineffective.

Further restrictions on carry-on baggage ranked third, called
effective by 57 percent, ineffective by 34 percent.

New in-flight restrictions such as banning the use of laptops and
electronic equipment or restricting people to their seats ranked last,
called effective by 50 percent and ineffective by 42 percent.

A solid majority of Americans still feel safe flying, but the number
has dropped.

The survey found 75 percent saying they feel safe, down from 86
percent in 2007, and 24 percent saying they don’t feel safe in the
air, up from 13 percent in 2007.

Even with the Christmas Day bombing attempt and all the news coverage
of it and its aftermath, terrorism remains very low on the national
priority list. Just 4 percent called it the country’s most important
problem.

The economy and jobs remained the top issue on people’s minds by far,
named as the top problem by 48 percent of Americans polled.

Other domestic issues were cited by 31 percent, topped by 9 percent
who said that health care was the biggest problem.

Fourteen percent cited some aspect of war or foreign policy, including
the 4 percent who named terrorism.

The poll found that 52 percent approved of the way President Barack
Obama is doing his job, and 45 percent disapproved.

METHODOLOGY:

These are some of the findings of a poll conducted from last Thursday
through Monday. For the survey, Ipsos interviewed a nationally
representative, randomly selected sample of 1,336 people 18 and older
across the United States. With a sample of this size, the results are
considered accurate within 2.68 percentage points, 19 times out of 20,
of what they would’ve been had the entire adult population in the U.S.
been polled. All sample surveys and polls may be subject to other
sources of error, including coverage and measurement error. These
data were weighted to ensure that the sample’s composition reflects
that of the U.S. population according to census figures. Respondents
had the option to be interviewed in English or Spanish.
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*** Breaking News!

Italy to Require Anyone Who Uploads Video to the Internet to Obtain
Government Authorization
– cryptogon.com

New rules to be introduced by government decree will require people
who upload videos onto the Internet to obtain authorization from the
Communications Ministry similar to that required by television
broadcasters, drastically reducing freedom to communicate over the
Web, opposition lawmakers have warned.

The decree is ostensibly an enactment of a European Union (EU)
directive on product placement and is due to go into effect at the end
of January after being subjected to a nonbinding appraisal by
parliament.

On Thursday opposition lawmakers held a press conference in parliament
to denounce the new rules, which require government authorization for
the uploading of videos, give individuals who claim to have been
defamed a right of reply and prevent the replay of copyright material
as a threat to freedom of expression.

“The decree subjects the transmission of images on the Web to rules
typical of television and requires prior ministerial authorization,
with an incredible limitation on the way the Internet currently
functions,” opposition Democratic Party lawmaker Paolo Gentiloni told
the press conference.

Article 4 of the decree specifies that the dissemination over the
Internet “of moving pictures, whether or not accompanied by sound,”
requires ministerial authorization. Critics say it will therefore
apply to the Web sites of newspapers, to IPTV and to mobile TV,
obliging them to take on the same status as television broadcasters.

“Italy joins the club of the censors, together with China, Iran and
North Korea,” said Gentiloni’s party colleague Vincenzo Vita.
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Good News

European court pulls plugs on terror stop and search
– The Register

The European Court of Human Rights has ruled that the UK police’s use
of stop and search powers granted under terrorism legislation is
illegal.

The case was brought by two people who were stopped and searched under
the Terrorism Act of 2000 while on their way to an arms fair.

The law grants police the power to search anyone regardless of
suspicion. A senior police officer can grant the power for a defined
area; this must then be confirmed by the secretary of state within 48
hours.

Since the law was passed in February 2001 there has been a rolling
programme of applications and authorisations for the whole of the
Metropolitan Police area all of the time.

The court objected on several grounds. It found the searches
interfered with the right to a private life and that, unlike airline
passengers, people had in no way consented to be searched. It found a
lack of basic safeguards in use of the powers – no minister has ever
objected or sought to change the terms of such an order.

The court was not impressed with the independent reviewer who has
complained since May 2006 that the law is being over-used.

Finally the court objected to the lack of any controls on the
individual police officers – they only have to say they had a hunch
rather than show reasonable grounds for a search.

In summary the Court found the powers “were neither sufficiently
circumscribed nor subject to adequate legal safeguards against abuse”.

The court also found from statistics that black and Asian people “were
disproportionately affected by the powers”.

Between 2004 and 2008 total searches recorded went up from 33,177 to
117,278.

Kevin Gillan, a 32-year old student and Pennie Quinton, a 38-year old
reporter and photographer, were on their way to a demonstration at an
arms fair being held in Docklands when they were stopped.

The two applicants share Euro 33,850 in costs and expenses.

The verdict is another blow for the Home Office which has had its
wrists slapped over the DNA database, prisoners’ rights to privacy in
recent months.

Policing and Security Minister David Hanson MP said: “Stop and search
under section 44 of the Terrorism Act 2000 is an important tool in a
package of measures in the ongoing fight against terrorism.

“I am disappointed with the ECHR ruling in this case as we won all
other challenges in the UK courts, including at the House of Lords.
We are considering the judgment and will seek to appeal.”
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*** Did you know?

Italians take the ‘p’ to fight back against Big Brother
– John Ozimek

Italians are fighting back against the surveillance society with a
grass roots project designed to publicise the location of CCTV cameras
and to “out” those that have been set up contrary to Italian Law.

The “Anopticon” project, which was launched earlier this year, is a
deliberate parody of the “panopticon”, an ideal prison first put
forward by Jeremy Bentham in 1791. Its inhabitants were forced to
conform to social standards, as even the slightest action they take is
watched by “all-seeing” guards.

If the “panopticon” is an environment in which everything is seen, an
“anopticon” would be one in which private activity remains private and
free from surveillance.

The initial “Anopticon project” was started with a website launched by
a Venice-based group, who used online mapping as a means to pinpoint
publicly where all known CCTV sites in Venice are situated. Since
then, it has spread out to other cities, including Padova, Foggia,
Urbnino and Solero.

It is also supported by a (small) group on Facebook.

Although the project began with the simple aim of revealing where
cameras were located, it has already concluded that a high proportion
of CCTVs are not lawful, in that they fail to provide the “information
notice” required by Legislative Decree 196/2003 (the Italian
equivalent of the Data Protection Directive).

In addition to surveying camera location and legality, the project has
therefore expanded recently, with a call for Italian supporters to
“out” those cameras that do not comply with existing law.

This has led to a new campaign – “Denounce illegal CCTVs”, which will
actively seek to identify every surveillance device that does not
respect Italian data protection law (including the need for an
“information notice”). Details of these devices will then be passed
to the Italian Data Protection Authority.

The Anopticon project appears to be an implementation of a similar
initiative proposed for the UK on the mySociety projects blog. This
is a space where individuals can put forward ideas that would aid in
the maintenance of an open society.

Back in 2003, the project proposer justified such a system as a means
to “watch the watchers”, allowing the public to be instantly aware of
where they are being watched and by whom. They write:

“By inviting members of the public armed with GPS (or able to use
online mapping services to retrieve coordinates) we can map out CCTV
locations within the UK and track who owns them by their Data
Protection Act signs. Members of the public can input information
about the people in control of CCTV systems to build up a picture of
the organisations who are monitoring the public. The entries can be
checked by a rating and peer review system.”

According to mySociety director, Tom Steinberg, this proposal never
went any further.

Bootnote The Anopticon mentioned in this story should not be confused
with the fictional anopticon device created by Isaac Asimov for his
short story ‘Anniversary’, and hinted at in his earlier story
‘Marooned Off Vesta’.

The device in the story was so named as it focused light using force
fields rather than lenses, allowing a small object the size of a pair
of field glasses to function as both a microscope and a telescope.
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Bad News

China Expanding Censorship to Text Messages
– Fox News

China’s already repressive regime is moving to increase censorship,
adding text messages to the list of filtered communications.

China’s already repressive regime is moving to increase censorship,
ordering carriers in the world’s largest cell phone market to filter
the billions of messages sent in the country every day.

According to the state news agency Xinhua, if the government
identifies one of 13 different types of vulgar content — including
sexual content, inappropriate pictures and provocative headlines –
cell phone companies like China Mobile and China Unicorn will disable
a user’s text-messaging services.

Preventing the spread of pornography is a common thread in China’s
censorship, explains Abbe E. Foreman, a professor with the computer
and information science department at Temple University’s College of
Science and Tech.

“They’ve been doing this type of censorship for some time,” she said,
adding that “5,000 people in China were arrested on pornography
charges last year. I’m guessing they found them all through some sort
of censorship program.”

But many believe the government is looking for more than pornography.
Kan Kaili, a professor of telecommunications at Beijing University of
Posts and Telecommunication, told The New York Times that the new
measures appeared broader, more intrusive and more punitive than
previous limitations.

“They are doing wide-ranging checks, checking anything and everything,
even if it is between a husband and wife,” he told the newspaper. “I
don’t think people will be very happy about this.”

It’s unclear whether the lockdown on text messages is a new
regulation, or merely the expansion of a current system that
automatically monitors messages and suspends a user’s account if it
detects illegal content. The Wall Street Journal tried to clear up
the confusion, noting that Xinhua’s latest report said text messaging
services would be suspended only for users who’ve had multiple
complaints filed against them for sending pornographic mass-text
messages.

China certainly has the technical ability to carry out such filtering,
even on the scale of billions of text message per day, says Sal
Stolfo, professor of computer science at Columbia University. With
access to the network provider’s infrastructure, he says, it’s
relatively easy to inspect messages as they flow by.

“They’re undoubtedly doing keyword searches,” Stolfo said, “and
somebody obviously has to choose which keywords those are. But it’s
technically very easy to do, and scalable to billions of messages a
day.”

Foreman said she worries that the nature of this type of censorship
makes the program easily and quickly transformable. While the
government may be searching for pornographic content today, keywords
are readily changed to allow the government to ferret out dissent
tomorrow.

“Once you open that door, and you’re looking at e-mails and text
message, what’s to stop someone from changing the keyword from ’sex’
to ‘bomb’ or ‘government’?” she asked. “They can use any keyword
they want.”

The crackdown on text messaging is just the latest attack on privacy
in China, and whether the government actually implements the filters
is almost irrelevant. “Just knowing it’s possible reminds people
who’s in control, and it will have a chilling effect. People will
probably avoid certain language just knowing about this,” says Stolfo.
“It’s an intrusion of government forces into the private lives of
citizens, and it’s shameful.”

China may be limiting texting in light of its widening spat with
Google, which recently announced that it would refuse to comply with
Chinese demands for censorship. Google says it is willing to leave
the Chinese market entirely rather than comply.

“The challenge that the government has is to keep control. Google, an
American company, is publicly challenging them. Do they have much
choice? They can whimper and walk away or they can fight back,”
explains Stolfo.

Following Google’s announcement of plans to withdraw, other companies
were quick to take positions with regard to China. Microsoft notably
announced that its search engine Bing, would remain in the country and
would continue to comply with censorship demands.

“Microsoft will continue to engage in the Chinese market, offering
Bing and other Microsoft software and services to Chinese customers,”
a Microsoft spokesman told FoxNews.com.

Stolfo said that was horrifying news.

“Google’s strategy is don’t be evil, and Microsoft came out and said,
we’re still evil. ”
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Food for thought

US wants “obedient servants of the state”, Ron Paul
– Russia Today

“The greatest threat to a government is people who think for
themselves,” believes US Congressman Ron Paul.

“If you condition people to everyday, all day, depend on the
government to do their thinking for them, they will become more
obedient.”

Paul said the billions of dollars spent by the American government on
intelligence could not prevent the recent terror attempt in US skies.

“I think the responsibility has fallen on the $75 billion bureaucracy
that has 16 agencies that cannot co-ordinate their work,” he said.
“Airlines should be responsible for who gets on their planes,” he
added.

According to the congressman, all the efforts of the US government to
introduce new technical systems for airport passenger control, such as
body scanners, are “just to make us obedient servants of the state, to
teach us that they are in charge of us and to tell us what to do, that
we are robots and are supposed to obey them.”

“It’s not that individuals are perfect, it’s just that governments are
always imperfect, they always make mistakes and when they do, they
are very painful and they hurt each and every one of us.”

Paul said that America has made an amazing shift away from traditional
values while even former communist regimes are moving in the direction
of a free market.

“[The economy] should be micromanaged by the people, by the consumer.
In the free market the consumer is king,” Paul said. “But in the US,
as in most countries in the world today, it is being micromanaged by
the central government and central banks.”

Speaking about the earthquake in Haiti, Paul said, “just handing out
money to Haiti is not going to solve their problems.”

According to the outspoken politician, the best thing the US could do
for Haiti in the long term would be to introduce the country to sound
economic policies so that they would not suffer from poverty.

Commenting on the situation in Yemen, Paul said that the US is
“looking for another war” and that it is a “disastrous continuation of
the foreign policy of George Bush.”
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Horror Stories

Meet Mikey, 8: U.S. Has Him on Watch List
– New York Times

The Transportation Security Administration, under scrutiny after last
month’s bombing attempt, has on its Web site a “mythbuster” that tries
to reassure the public.

Myth: The No-Fly list includes an 8-year-old boy.

Buster: No 8-year-old is on a T.S.A. watch list.

“Meet Mikey Hicks,” said Najlah Feanny Hicks, introducing her
8-year-old son, a New Jersey Cub Scout and frequent traveler who has
seldom boarded a plane without a hassle because he shares the name of
a suspicious person. “It’s not a myth.”

Michael Winston Hicks’s mother initially sensed trouble when he was a
baby and she could not get a seat for him on their flight to Florida
at an airport kiosk; airline officials explained that his name “was on
the list,” she recalled.

The first time he was patted down, at Newark Liberty International
Airport, Mikey was 2. He cried.

After years of long delays and waits for supervisors at every airport
ticket counter, this year’s vacation to the Bahamas badly shook up the
family. Mikey was frisked on the way there, then more aggressively on
the way home.

“Up your arms, down your arms, up your crotch, someone is patting
your 8-year-old down like he’s a criminal,” Mrs. Hicks recounted. “A
terrorist can blow his underwear up and they don’t catch him. But my
8-year-old can’t walk through security without being frisked.”

It is true that Mikey is not on the federal government’s “no-fly”
list, which includes about 2,500 people, less than 10 percent of them
from the United States. But his name appears to be among some 13,500
on the larger “selectee” list, which sets off a high level of security
screening.

At some point, someone named Michael Hicks made the Department of
Homeland Security suspicious, and little Mikey is still paying the
price. (His father, also named Michael Hicks, was stopped for the
first time on the Bahamas trip.)

Both lists are maintained by the Terrorist Screening Center, which
includes the Federal Bureau of Investigation. They are given to the
Transportation Security Administration, which in turn sends them to
the airlines.

A spokesman for the T.S.A., James Fotenos, said that as a rule, “there
are no children on the no-fly or selectee lists,” but would not
comment on Mikey’s situation specifically.

For every person on the lists, hundreds of others may get caught up
simply because they share the same name; a quick scan through a
national phone directory unearthed 1,600 Michael Hickses. Over the
past three years, 81,793 frustrated travelers have formally asked that
they be struck from the watch list through the Department of Homeland
Security; more than 25,000 of their cases are still pending. Others
have taken more drastic measures.

Mario Labbe, a frequent-flying Canadian record-company executive,
started having problems at airports shortly after Sept. 11, 2001,
with lengthy delays at checkpoints and mysterious questions about
Japan. By 2005, he stopped flying to the United States from Canada,
instead meeting American clients in France. Then a forced rerouting
to Miami in 2008 led to six hours of questions.

“What’s the name of your mother? Your father? When were you last in
Japan?” Mr. Labb recalled being asked. “Always the same questions
in different order. And sometimes, it’s quite aggressive, not funny
at all.”

Fed up, in the summer of 2008, he changed his name to Francois Mario
Labbe. The problem vanished.

Several Web sites, including the T.S.A.’s own blog, are rife with
tales of misidentification and strategies for solving them. Some
travelers purposely misspell their own names when buying tickets,
apparently enough to fool the system. Even the late Senator Edward M.
Kennedy once found himself on a list.

“We can’t just throw a bunch of names on these lists and call it
security,” said Representative William J. Pascrell Jr., a New Jersey
Democrat. “If we can’t get an 8-year-old off the list, the whole list
becomes suspect.”

Mr. Fotenos, the T.S.A. spokesman, promised improvements in a few
months, as the agency’s Secure Flight Program takes full effect.
Under the new system, airlines will collect every passenger’s birth
date and gender, along with their names. The T.S.A. will cross-check
all that with the watch lists. Previously, the airlines cross-checked
the lists themselves, using only the names.

Certainly, Mikey’s date of birth, less than a month before 9/11,
should prevent him from being mistaken as a terrorist.

A third grader at a parochial school in Clifton, N.J., Mikey recites
the drill like the world-weary traveler he is. Leave early for the
airport, always with his passport. Try to get a boarding pass at the
counter. This will send up a flag. The ticket agent, peering down at
tiny bespectacled Mikey, will apologize or roll her eyes, and call for
a supervisor. The supervisor, after a phone call, or more likely, a
series of phone calls, will ultimately finagle him onto the plane.
But the Hickses are typically the last to select seats and the last to
board, which means they sometimes can’t sit together.

Mrs. Hicks, a photojournalist who herself got Secret Service clearance
to travel aboard Air Force II with then-Vice President Al Gore,
anticipated additional chaos following the attempted underwear
bombing. Before leaving for the Bahamas on Jan. 2, she reached out
to Congressman Pascrell’s office, which then enlisted a T.S.A. agent
to meet the family at the airport. Even this did not prevent Mikey
from an extra pat-down.

On the way home last Friday, Mikey’s boarding pass showed four giant
red S’s at the airport in Nassau. “Oh, random screening,” Mrs. Hicks
said. Mikey asked his mother not to worry and said he would use his
tae kwon do, he has a junior black belt, if needed. Mrs. Hicks said
she wanted to take pictures of her son being frisked but was told it
was against the rules.

Mikey, who would rather talk about BMX bikes and his athletic trophies
than airport security, remains perplexed about the “list” and the
hurdles he must clear. “Why do they think a kid is a terrorist?”
Mikey asked his mother at one point during the interview.

Mrs. Hicks said the family was amused by the mistake at first. But
that amusement quickly turned to annoyance and anger. It should not
take seven years to correct the problem, Mrs. Hicks said. She applied
for redress in December when she first heard about the Department of
Homeland Security’s program.

“I understand the need for security,” she added. “But this is
ridiculous. It’s quite clear that he is 8 years old, and while he may
have terroristic tendencies at home, he does not have those on a
plane.”
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*** The District of Criminals

FBI broke law in phone searches
– Reuters

The FBI collected more than 2,000 records on U.S. telephone calls by
invoking terrorism emergencies that did not exist or by persuading
phone companies to provide them, The Washington Post reported on
Tuesday.

FBI officials issued approvals afterward to justify their actions in
collecting the phone records between 2002 and 2006, the newspaper
said.

“This practice ceased in 2006 and never involved obtaining the content
of telephone conversations. Additionally, steps have been taken to
ensure similar situations do not occur in the future,” FBI spokesman
Michael Kortan told Reuters.

FBI officials issued approvals afterward to justify their actions in
collecting the phone records between 2002 and 2006, the newspaper
said.

The Post said it had obtained emails that showed how counterterrorism
officials did not follow procedures aimed at protecting civil
liberties.

FBI officials confirmed a Justice Department inspector general’s
report due this month is expected to conclude the FBI frequently
violated the law with its emergency requests, the newspaper said.

FBI general counsel Valerie Caproni, in an interview with the Post,
said the FBI technically violated the Electronic Communications
Privacy Act.

“We should have stopped those requests from being made that way,” she
told the Post.

Caproni said FBI Director Robert Mueller did not know about the
problems until the inspector general’s investigation, which began in
mid-2006.

“No FBI employee used informal methods to obtain telephone records for
reasons other than a legitimate investigative interest,” Kortan told
Reuters.
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*** Government in the Bedroom and Everywhere Else
– William Anderson

Left-liberals, when discussing abortion on demand, often declare: “We
don’t want government in the bedroom.” While I am not arguing about
abortion rights, I will point out how the left really wants government
in our homes.

After we moved to Cumberland, Maryland, in 2001, a woman from the
state tax assessor’s office soon walked into our house. There was no
asking permission, nothing. She strolled in as though she owned the
place, and I suspect she understood her powers over our family and our
possessions.

Indeed, on that day we did have government in our bedrooms, and
everywhere else. That was not an aberration, and the huge reach that
government has over our lives and homes hardly is limited to tax
assessment. The majority of us, each time we visit a bathroom, can
appreciate the long reach of the state whenever we flush a toilet.
Jeff Tucker tells why:

This act [the Energy Policy Act of 1992], passed during an
environmentalist hysteria, mandated that all toilets sold in the
United States use no more than 1.6 gallons of water per flush. This
was a devastating setback in the progress of civilization. The
conventional toilet in the US ranges from 3.5 gallons to 5 gallons.
The new law was enforced with fines and imprisonment.

Tucker points out that in the past, toilets with more water tended to
flush better, and one did not need to constantly use a plunger, or
worse. These toilets, he noted:

were great cultural and civilizational achievements. In a state of
nature, the problem of human waste and what to do about it is
persistent. Do the wrong thing and you spread disease and misery.

Indoor plumbing since the time of the ancient world has been a sign of
prosperity and human well-being. Indoor toilets that flow into a
sewer have been around since 1500 B.C., but every new settlement of
people in a new area presents the problem anew. In rural America,
indoor toilets weren’t common until the 1930s. That today everyone
assumes them to be part of life is a testament to the creative power
of economic progress.

Unfortunately, government policies have made our bathrooms more
unsanitary. However, why stop there? Let’s go back to the bedroom.

As governments and political, education, and media elites continue to
spread “global warming” panic, one of the things we are hearing from
these elites is that governments need to adopt “population controls.”
For example, Canada’s Financial Post recently had a column by Diane
Francis that demanded a China-style “one child” policy for the world,
in the name of “sustainability,” of course.

I don’t have to give a lesson in the “birds and the bees” to tell
readers how children are created, so it is no stretch to say that
Francis (who has two children, by the way) is calling for, well,
government in the bedroom. So much for “pro-choice” policies.

But why stop at bathrooms and bedrooms? Government sees fit to
rummage through your children’s toy boxes and tell you that many of
the toys are “unsafe” and must be destroyed or recalled. (For that
matter, one can surmise that the toy boxes themselves most likely are
“hazards” in one way or another, according to the government’s
Consumer Product Safety Commission.)

Then there is the kitchen. The same government that keeps your
toilets stopped up, demands the authority to snuggle up with your and
your spouse under the covers, and tells your children what are and are
not “acceptable” toys, also tells you how to cook and keep your
kitchens “safe.” (These safety sites don’t tell you how government
policies make food prices higher, forcing you to use more resources
than economically necessary. Nor do they tell of the symbiotic
relationship between government food regulators and the food
industry.)

So, there you have it. The same people who claim they don’t want
“government in the bedroom” demand that government be in your bedroom,
kitchen, bathroom and elsewhere. Gee, think of what might be going on
if they claimed to want government in your bedroom.
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*** Police State

800,000 Americans Busted Annually For Pot
– Sherwood Ross

Seven million Americans have been arrested since 1995 on marijuana
charges and 41,000 of them are rotting in federal and State
prisons but the public is starting to rebel against “the preposterous
war on pot,” two political scientists say. Thousands of other pot
users and sellers are confined in local jails as well.

“People convicted of possessing even one ounce of marijuana can face a
mandatory minimum sentence of a year in jail, and having even one
plant in your yard is a federal felony,” progressive organizer Jim
Hightower and co-author Phillip Frazer point out in the November issue
of “The Hightower Lowdown.”

Police arrest someone in America every 36 seconds on marijuana
charges, with a record 872,000 arrests made in 2007, “more than for
all violent crimes combined,” Hightower and Frazer point out. They
note that 89 per cent of all marijuana arrests “are for simple
possession of the weed, not for producing or selling it.”

They argue the drug war “is doing far more harm than marijuana itself
ever will,” because (1) it diverts hundreds of thousands of police
agents from serious crimes “to the pursuit of harmless tokers”; (2) it
costs taxpayers at minimum $10 billion a year to catch, prosecute, and
incarcerate marijuana users and sellers; (3) it enables government to
snatch the cars, money, computers and other properties of people
caught up in drug raids even if they have had no charges filed against
them; and (4) it allows “police agents at all levels to trample our
Bill of Rights in their eagerness to nab pot consumers.”

The drug war has also unleashed a torrent of racism in the form of
unjust sentencing, which confines crack-cocaine users who are mostly
black to prison for longer terms than powder snorters, who are mostly
white.

Hightower and Frazer say authorities have perverted the infamous
“Patriot Act” of 2001 for use in non-terrorism cases, allowing
“sneak-and-peak” search warrants to be used in drug war probes,
including pursuit of marijuana users. The Act’s provisions were
supposed to be applied only for suspected terrorist acts. Only three
of the Justice Department’s 763 requests for “sneak-and-peak” last
year were used for terrorism searches, they report in Lowdown.

By outlawing drugs, Hightower and Frazer contend, Congress has
created “a vast, murderous narco-state within Mexico” to satisfy U.S.
consumer demand for the drugs. And Plan Colombia, the multi-billion
operation started by Bill (”I didn’t inhale”) Clinton in 2000 to
eradicate cocoa production there, has failed, judging by the 15 per
cent increase in coca production.

For all the legislation against it, pot is more plentiful than ever
and 10 per cent of Americans told surveyors they have enjoyed using it
in the previous year while four in ten say they used it at some point
in their lives. Plus, a 2005 survey found 85 per cent of high school
seniors claimed pot was “easy to get”, easier than alcohol, which is a
regulated drug, Hightower Lowdown points out.

The publication quotes a University of Michigan student who told them,
“If the government trusts society to use alcohol responsibly, it is
idiotic to assume citizens are somehow incapable of responsible use of
cannabis.”

A Gallup opinion poll in 2005 found that 51 per cent of Americans
stating alcohol is more dangerous than marijuana and 52 per cent
saying it should be legalized, taxed, and regulated.

State and local governments, Hightower and Frazer report, “have begun
walking step by step away from the weed war.” Since 1996, 13 states
from Rhode Island to Alaska have passed laws to allow growing and
distribution of doctor-prescribed marijuana for medical purposes.
What’s more, pot possession is no longer criminalized in a dozen
states: Alaska, California, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota,
Mississippi, Nebraska, Nevada, North Carolina, Ohio, and Oregon.

The drive now is for outright legalization of pot, the authors say.
This would enable officials to take the exorbitant profit and violence
out of illicit black-market weed by legalizing it and turning it into
a revenue-producer that would rake in tax dollars.

Instead, the Office of National Drug Control Policy says, Americans
spend $9 billion a year buying pot from Mexico; $10 billion on pot
from Canada, and $39 billion on home-grown pot, now America’s
Numero Uno cash crop “topping the value of corn and wheat combined.”
By one estimate, legalization would produce annual tax revenues of
$6.2 billion. In Portugal, which legalized all drugs in 2001, hard drug
use has showed a stunning decline while the numbers of people getting
detox aid has soared, Time magazine reported last April 26th. By
contrast, USA has the highest rates of drug use in the world.

As Rep. Barney Frank has said, “I now think it’s time for the
politicians to catch up to the public. The notion that you lock
people up for smoking marijuana is pretty silly.”

There is, however, a downside to the legalization of pot: some of
the individuals in the legal system who depend on the arrests of
pot smokers might have to find worthwhile jobs instead. Look at
all the paychecks that get cut: The cops make their collars. The
bail bondsmen get their rake off. The prosecutors make their cases.
The social workers write up their interviews. The clerks push their
papers. The lawyers collect their fees. The judges render their
verdicts. The prison guards make their rounds. The vendors sell
their baloney sandwiches. The construction firms build their
additions. And the shrinks nod their heads.

One last thought: cigarettes kill 440,000 Americans every year and
sicken millions but no one reportedly ever has been killed by smoking
a joint. If the growers and peddlers of pot belong in jail, where do
the manufacturers of brand name cigarettes and cigars belong? In two
years’ time they kill more Americans than all the Blue and Grays who
died (620,000) in the Civil War. Indeed, in the next two years, 440
times as many Americans will be killed by smoking cigarettes than all
U.S. troops killed in six years of fighting in Iraq. While this
writer opposes the use of all drugs, and does not indulge himself,
it’s easy to see the prosecution of pot smokers and growers for
victimless crimes is, as Hightower Lowdown reports, “preposterous.”
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*** Advisory

UK border database on target and budget, says Home Office
– Chris Williams

Half of all journeys in and out of the UK are now being centrally
recorded and analysed by the GBP1.2bn e-Borders scheme, the government
estimates.

The Home Office yesterday said the system is currently gathering data
on between 45 and 50 per cent of people crossing the border.

e-Borders aims to count every person in and out of the country by
March 2014. By the end of this year travel operators will report 95
per cent of journeys to e-Borders’ Manchester hub, Immigration
Minister Phil Woolas said.

The remaining five per cent of the 100 million annual border
crossings, comprising private aircraft and small boats, will be
covered by March 2014, he added.

So far e-Borders has suffered a delay to the opening of the Manchester
centre, caused by problems training “match analysts”, who will issue
alerts to border guards when the system matches passengers’ details to
crime, terrorism and immigration watchlists.

The Home Office said the delay had no impact on the overall scheme
however, because another analysis centre was already operational.

Woolas also claimed that e-Borders is currently on target to be
completed on budget, which runs until 2017.

Last year Woolas dismissed claims by Eurostar and ferry operators that
the way the system requires data on passengers from continental Europe
before they travel was illegal. Passengers who refuse to give details
before their journey would still be allowed to enter the UK, he said.
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*** ACLU challenges US laptop border searches
– John Leyden

Privacy campaigners are continuing a legal challenge against random
laptop border searches by US customs amid concerns there may be a
racial bias in those delayed and inconvenienced by stop and search
powers introduced as part of the war on terror.

The ACLU also argues that searches of mobile phones by US border
agents in the absence of any reason to be suspicious also pose a
unwarranted invasion of privacy while delivering few tangible
benefits.

Customs and Border Protection agents searched over 1,500 electronic
devices at the US border over a period of nine months between October
2008 and June 2009, according to documents obtained by the ACLU as
part of a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit and published on
Thursday.

The documents also show that customs (CBP) agents forwarded electronic
files found on travelers’ devices to other agencies almost 300 times.

Some of the travelers inconvenienced by these searches complained that
they ceaselessly accused of wrongdoing or otherwise embarrassed or
inconvenienced by the searches, which agents are not obliged to
justify under tightened regulations in force since July 2008. The
policy was started by the Bush administration and continued by the
Obama government.

THE ACLU is concerned that travelers have been left unable to carry
medical records, financial information, and photos when they travel
without the possibility of government inspection for no good reason.

“The CBP’s ability to take and view the personal files of anyone
passing through U.S. borders without any suspicion not only presents
an inconvenience to travelers, but also fails to protect sensitive
personal information that is commonly stored in laptops and cell
phones,” said Catherine Crump, staff attorney with the ACLU First
Amendment Working Group. “Fundamental constitutional problems with
this policy exist, and must be addressed.”

“The government has a legitimate interest in searching electronic
devices where there is individualized suspicion of wrongdoing, but
CBP’s policy allows officials to exercise their power arbitrarily,”
she added.

The ACLU is concerned there may be an element of racial profiling in
those selected for data searches. CBP promised to issue a civil
liberties assessment of the policy within six months but failed to
make that deadline and is yet to issue a report.
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Dumbing Down

Police rake in GBP 400 million from middle-class fines
– London Telegraph

Fines for minor middle class crimes such as speeding, dropping litter
and putting bins out on the wrong day are netting the police and town
halls more than GBP 400 million a year, new figures suggest.

The use of increasingly sophisticated surveillance techniques is
helping the authorities snare more and more people but critics claim
it is at the expense of catching real criminals.

Parking offences have helped rake in more than GBP 330 million, while
speeding fines have topped GBP 100 million and on the spot fines for
minor offences such as overfilling a dustbin has pulled in almost GBP
12 million.

Matthew Elliot of the Taxpayers’ Alliance said: “Police priorities are
increasingly being warped by revenue raising and box ticking which is
diverting their time away from catching real criminals to targeting
the hard working middle classes.
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Dumb facts

Insane air board’s new role: Tire Nazis
– Chris Reed, San Diego Union Tribune

I read the proposed rules and I think the concerns of the California
New Car Dealers Association are spot-on:

CARB is proposing to require every repair dealer to check the
inflation of every tire during repair to improve mpg for all vehicles
which, in theory, is meritorious.

However (the) regs. CARB’s pushing through (released this week and
subject to a 15 day comment period), provides that the only times
that consumers may decline a check and inflate service they can never
decline the service if it’s offered for free is when they are charged
for services AND if they can PROVE (with DOCUMENTATION!) that they’ve
had their tires checked and inflated in the last 30 days, or if they
WILL do so within the next week. It is unclear, but possible, that
CARB could take enforcement action against the consumer if they don’t
follow through with their promise?!

Note that even the Department of Consumer Affairs opposed the last
draft of these rules letter attached (and I’m guessing these
amendments won’t remove their opposition). CARB’s not messing around
with these either the potential penalty for violating the regulation
is at least up to $1,000 per violation and six months imprisonment.
The enforcement section referred to by CARB states that a violation of
the regulation shall be “deemed to result in an emission of air
contaminants,” potentially leading to even harsher penalties.

Full article at

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*** Dumb criminal acts

DVLA makes GBP44m flogging drivers’ details
The great government data giveaway, if you’ve got the cash…
– John Oates

The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency has sold more than 18 million
names and addresses of drivers since it started the trade five years
ago.

Most of the names go to clamping companies and other private parking
firms, although the DVLA was keen to stress to us today that it does
not make a profit from the trade. It also said the information does
not only go to dodgy clamping firms.

Figures from the Daily Mail reveal the government agency has made
GBP43.9m by selling the data culled from 18 million entries.

The DVLA charges GBP2.50 per address, and the most common request is
from private parking companies pursuing people for payments.

There was a large row last year after engine oil firm Castrol did a
deal to use number plate recognition technology coupled with data
mined from the DVLA database to show personalised posters
to drivers.

Castrol hoped to roll out the billboards more widely, but after four
days there were so many complaints that the scheme was abandoned.
The DVLA said at the time it would investigate and that its data should
not be used for marketing purposes.

The DVLA said it only releases information to someone like the police,
who have a statutory right to it, or to someone who has reasonable
cause to request it such as someone who has suffered material loss or
injury. The statement added that unauthorised parking on private land
was a big problem, and without DVLA data landowners would have a tough
time “enforcing their rights”.

The DVLA also made clear it does not profit from the sales – GBP2.50
simply covers the cost of processing requests.

Shamrock’s comment: So much for government privacy!
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Dumbing Down Award of the month

This months award goes to…

A judge in Texas USA.

“Bryan High students who skip school will soon be tracked 24 hours a
day, seven days a week,” reports KBTX.

“It’s called the Attendance Improvement Management Program or AIM, and
it has been used across Texas and the United States.”

Students who skip class are now forced to attend “truancy court” and
be lectured by a judge before being mandated to carry a GPS tracking
device.

“Students on the program are tracked with a hand-held GPS device
between the time they leave for school in the morning and the time
they check in for curfew at night.”

Watch the clip at

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Oz/Nzed corner:

Airline Group Protests Airport Body Scanners, Australian Says
– Bloomberg

The Asia-Pacific airline industry group is protesting the introduction
of full-body scanners at airports, saying it treats all passengers as
potential terrorists, the Australian newspaper reported.

The Association of Asia Pacific Airlines said there is insufficient
evidence about the effectiveness of the scanners and automatic
explosive detection systems to justify their use, the newspaper said.

More …

Australia Restores Some Sanity to Airport Screening
– Bruce Schneier

Welcome news:

Carry-on baggage rules will be relaxed under a shake-up of aviation
security announced by the Federal Government today. The changes will
see passengers again allowed to carry some sharp implements, such as
nail files and clippers, umbrellas, crochet and knitting needles on
board aircraft from July next year.

Metal cutlery will return to return to cabin meals and airport
restaurants following Government recognition that security
arrangements must be targeted at ‘real risks’.

I’m sure these rules won’t apply to flights to the U.S., where
security arrangements must still be targeted at movie-plot threats.

***NZed***

NZ’s cyber spies win new powers
– Sunday Star Times

New cyber-monitoring measures have been quietly introduced giving
police and Security Intelligence Service officers the power to
monitor all aspects of someone’s online life.

The measures are the largest expansion of police and SIS surveillance
capabilities for decades, and mean that all mobile calls and texts,
email, internet surfing and online shopping, chatting and social
networking can be monitored anywhere in New Zealand.

In preparation, technicians have been installing specialist spying
devices and software inside all telephone exchanges, internet
companies and even fibre-optic data networks between cities and towns,
providing police and spy agencies with the capability to monitor
almost all communications.

Police and SIS must still obtain an interception warrant naming a
person or place they want to monitor but, compared to the phone taps
of the past, a single warrant now covers phone, email and all internet
activity.

It can even monitor a person’s location by detecting their mobile
phone; all of this occurring almost instantaneously.

Police say in the year to June 2009, there were 68 interception
warrant applications granted and 157 people prosecuted as a result of
those interceptions.

Police association vice-president Stuart Mills said the new
capabilities are required because criminals were using new
technologies to communicate, and that people who weren’t committing
criminal offences had little to fear.

However, civil liberties council spokesman Michael Bott said the new
surveillance capabilities are part of a step-by-step erosion of civil
rights in New Zealand.

Police Minister Judith Collins responded to questions from the Sunday
Star-Times about the new surveillance capabilities, saying: “I support
the rule of law.” In last year’s budget she approved extra police
funds to subsidise companies wiring surveillance devices into their
telecommunications networks.

The measures are the consequence of a law, the 2004 Telecommunications
(Interception Capability) Act, which gave internet and network
companies until last year to install devices allowing automated access
to internet and cellphone data.

Telecom, Vodafone and TelstraClear had earlier 2005 deadlines, and new
cellphone provider 2degrees installed the interception equipment
before launching last year.

Official papers obtained by the Star-Times show that, despite
government claims that it was done for domestic reasons, the new New
Zealand spying capabilities are part of a push by United States
agencies to have standardised surveillance capabilities available for
their use from governments worldwide.

Ad Feedback While US civil liberties groups unsuccessfully fought
these surveillance capabilities being used on US citizens, the FBI was
lobbying other governments to adopt them. FBI Director Robert Mueller
III told a senate committee in March last year that the FBI needs
“global reach” to fight cyber-crime and terrorism and that co-
operation with “law enforcement partners” gives it “the means to
leverage the collective resources of many countries”.

Auckland lawyer Tim McBride, author of the forthcoming New Zealand
Civil Rights Handbook, says our politicians had let down New
Zealanders when they yielded to the foreign pressure and imported US-
style surveillance into New Zealand.

He said “monitoring email, internet chatting and Facebook is like the
police and SIS planting bugs in every cafe and park. It would
probably help solve a few crimes, but the cost is just too great”.

The 2004 New Zealand law, which mirrors laws overseas, requires the
content of any communication plus “call associated data”, such as
times, phone numbers, IP addresses and mobile phone locations, to be
able to be copied and sent to the police, SIS or Government
Communications Security Bureau (GCSB) at the time of transmission or
“as close as practicable” to that time.

In practice, a specialist said, this means someone’s email can be “at
the agency within one or two minutes of it actually being on the
wires”.

When the police and SIS were pushing for the interception capability
law they argued repeatedly that it would not “change or extend in any
way the existing powers”.

But civil libertarians say that the invisibility of electronic
surveillance reduces the opportunity to challenge it.

A technician familiar with the developments said the previous
surveillance technology dated from the early 1980s when the Telecom
phone system went digital. Police bugged individual phones and could
request suspects’ call logs.

More recently police had taken a warrant to telcos and gone away with
printed emails, but did it rarely as there were problems using the
evidence in court.

“This is the first big jump from there,” said the technician.

“They’ve never had the powers to force ISPs to build in spying
capabilities before now. I imagine law enforcement is very excited
about this.”
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Bug Bites:

Taser’s new weapon: mobile phone monitoring
– AFP

Stun gun maker Taser wants to help parents, not with jolts of
electricity but with a tool which allows parents to effectively take
over a child’s mobile phone and manage its use.

“Basically we’re taking old fashioned parenting and bringing it into
the mobile world,” Taser chairman and co-founder Tom Smith said at the
Consumer Electronics Show here, where the Arizona company unveiled the
new product.

“Because when you give your child his mobile phone you don’t know who
they’re talking to, what they’re sending or texting, all of those
things,” Smith told AFP.

The phone application, called “Mobile Protector,” allows a parent to
screen a child’s incoming and outgoing calls and messages, block
particular numbers and even listen in on a conversation.
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More Bugs

Google Turns on Gmail Encryption to Protect Wi-Fi Users
– Ryan Singel

Google is now encrypting all Gmail traffic from its servers to its
users in a bid to foil sniffers who sit in cafes, eavesdropping in on
traffic passing by, the company announced recently.

The change comes just a day after the company announced it might pull
its offices from China after discovering concerted attempts to break
into Gmail accounts of human rights activists. The switch to
always-on HTTPS adds more security, but does not help prevent the kind
of attacks Google announced Tuesday.

All Gmail users will now default to using HTTPS, the secure, encrypted
method for communicating with a remote server, for their entire e-mail
sessions, not just for log-in. Session-long HTTPS has been an
official option for Gmail users since 2008 (and unofficial for much
longer), but Google says it hesitated turning it on for all since the
encryption does slow down the service.

“Over the last few months, we’ve been researching the security/latency
tradeoff and decided that turning https on for everyone was the right
thing to do,” Gmail Engineering Director Sam Schillace wrote in the
Gmail blog.

This option often wasn’t necessary when people used fixed and trusted
connections, such as their home or office DSL or cable lines. But as
Wi-Fi connections, especially public ones, became more popular,
hackers began using simple sniffing software to snoop on people’s
online activities with the goal of stealing passwords.

Still, the switch doesn’t encrypt e-mail, it simply encrypts the
communications in transit between Google’s servers and a user’s
computer, the same as when you use your bank’s website. E-mails sent
to other people are transmitted in the clear as they have always been.
True encrypted e-mail can only be read by the sender and receiver,
regardless of how they move across the internet.

For those whose schools or workplaces routinely monitor employee or
student internet usage, the change also shields their e-mails from the
IT department.

A coalition of privacy and security experts called on Google publicly
to make the change last June, saying that Google was putting millions
of people at risk by not using encryption as the default for their
cloud computing services.

Users who find the service slows them down or determine that it’s
overkill for their needs can turn the HTTPS off in their account
settings.

Rival free e-mail from Yahoo and Microsoft do not use HTTPS throughout
their sessions, nor do social networking sites or other so-called
cloud-computing services.

Instead, most of those services use the secure HTTPS protocol only for
logging in, and fall back to unencrypted browsing thereafter. Failing
to use HTTPS full-time increases one’s vulnerability to a host of
nasty hack attacks when using an open or badly secured network,
particularly a public Wi-Fi spot.
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*** States get more time to comply with Real ID
– Washington Post

The Obama administration will abandon a Dec. 31 deadline for states
to tighten security requirements for driver’s licenses, Homeland
Security Secretary Janet Napolitano announced Friday.

Delaying the requirement, which faces opposition from governors and
Senate Republicans over how it should be implemented, jeopardizes an
immigration and security measure adopted after the Sept. 11, 2001,
terrorist attacks. But it also removes concerns that tens of
thousands of holiday travelers could have been subjected to heightened
airport security checks if they lacked the new licenses.

Under a controversial 2005 domestic security program passed by
Congress and known as Real ID, states were required to issue more
secure licenses by the end of 2009. Those would be the only licenses
accepted by federal officials for such purposes as boarding commercial
aircraft. Instead, states now have until May 11, 2011, to comply with
Real ID, Napolitano said.

“In order to ensure that the millions of Americans traveling this
holiday season are not disrupted, DHS is extending the Dec. 31 REAL
ID material compliance deadline,” Napolitano said in a written
statement.

States have balked at what governors called an unfunded, $4 billion
federal mandate by Congress, and what civil liberties groups
criticized as a de facto national ID.

After opponents fought the Bush administration to a standstill, Obama
security officials and governors jointly asked Congress last spring to
replace Real ID with a new program called Pass ID, which would cost
half as much, be less stringent and come with federal grants.

That plan would give states five years to include in their IDs a
digital photograph and machine-readable features such as a bar code.
It would also require states to verify applicants’ identities and
legal status by checking federal immigration, Social Security and
State Department databases and original birth certificate records.

It would add stronger privacy controls than contained in the Real ID
program and drop a demand for new databases.

Supporters hoped the year-end deadline would push Congress to approve
Pass ID. But opponents refused to yield, with some Republicans
accusing the administration of gutting the earlier plan and
backsliding on security. Privacy groups continue to fight what they
have called a “Real ID-lite.”

“Any attempt to implement PASS ID will harm national security,” Reps.
Lamar Smith (R-Tex.), Peter T. King (R-N.Y.), Darrell Issa (R-Calif.)
and F. James Sensenbrenner Jr. (R-Wis.) wrote in a Dec. 14 letter to
several colleagues.

“Key senators have called DHS’s bluff, and the agency has once again
blinked,” American Civil Liberties Union officials wrote in a blog
recently, noting that under Bush, DHS extended a previous deadline of
May 2008 in the face of similar opposition.

Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) said that until
heath-care legislation is passed, he could not spare the time to
overcome procedural blocks that several Senate Republicans had
anonymously placed on the ID measure. With Congress set to leave soon
for its winter break, Napolitano and governors retreated, leaving the
future of the changes in doubt.

On Thursday, Republican Gov. Jim Douglas of Vermont, chairman of the
National Governors Association, and Democratic Gov. Joe Manchin III
of West Virginia, vice chairman, asked Napolitano to waive the
deadline. DHS said 46 states are not in compliance with the
requirements, and 13 have passed laws refusing to participate. “Our
citizens should not be punished for the failings of Real ID and the
inability of Congress to act,” the governors wrote.

Roger Dow, head of the U.S. Travel Association, an industry trade
group, said its members were pleased that the government did not allow
the battle to tie up “the way the economy moves or how Americans
travel,” by potentially forcing residents of the 46 states to go
through added airport screening.

Napolitano urged Congress “to address systemic problems with the REAL
ID Act to advance our security interests over the long term.” She
said her agency was “committed to moving forward to implement this key
9/11 Commission recommendation.”

The commission recommended tougher federal standards for driver’s
licenses and birth certificates. Eighteen of the 19 Sept. 11
hijackers obtained state IDs, some of them fraudulently, easing their
movements inside the country.

Lobbyists said that some GOP lawmakers may be delaying action on the
ID security measure because they oppose the Obama administration’s
upcoming push for an immigration overhaul, and want to combine the
issues. Analysts said that combining the two measures could
complicate prospects for both. That was the case in 2007, the last
time the Senate tried and failed to approve an immigration overhaul.
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*** ID card scheme for foreigner’s extended
- John Oates

The government’s much loved ID card scheme was extended yesterday -
from now on Tier 2 foreign nationals will have to apply for a card if
they wish to extend their stay in the UK.

Tier 2 includes skilled workers, ministers of religion, sportsmen and
women, representatives of overseas businesses and dependants. Forcing
three quarters of the Premier League down to the Post Office should do
wonders for the popularity of the cards. People in Tier 2 were to be
included in the scheme from April but this has been brought forward.

The Home Office, or rather the UK Border Agency, is working with 17
post offices to collect the biometric data needed. Migrants can pay
GBP8 at 17 post offices, or continue to register their details for
free at some UK Border Agency and Passport Service offices.

The Post Office has piloted the scheme since November and said the
technology is working well and 1,432 people have already enrolled.

Post offices taking part are: Aberdeen, Beckenham, Beeston, Bracknell,
Cambridge, Durham, Kingstanding, Battersea, Camden High Street, Earl’s
Court, Old Street, Middleton, Oxford, Redditch, Romsey, South Shields
and Stamford.

Since November 2008, when cards were required for foreign students and
people with marriage visas over 130,000 cards have been issued. The
inclusion of skilled workers will add a further 40,000 people a year
to the scheme.

The scheme is also being trialled for British citizens in Manchester,
Liverpool and Blackburn.

Guy Herbert, general secretary of lobby group No2ID told ZDNet the
government already had plenty of information on the identity of Tier 2
immigrants and the scheme was superfluous and wasteful.

The Conservative party have promised to abolish the scheme should they
win this year’s election.
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Shamrock’s Missive:

My how times change. I recall as a wee lad when for the first time
I received a toy made in Japan. My father, at that time a recent
veteran of the Second World War in the pacific, was aghast; “Made in
Japan! Don’t buy anything made in Japan they aren’t made very well!”

Needless to say my father’s personal experience during the Second
World War didn’t endear him with anything to do with Japan. I wonder
what my father would have thought had he lived long enough to see Japan
rise up to become the world’s second mightiest economy. Sorry, I
mean the world’s third mightiest economy!

China’s economy is set to become the second mightiest in the world.
See “China to knock off Japan as world’s second largest economy”
http://www.vancouversun.com/business/China+knock+Japan+world+second+largest+economy/2468943/story.html

Although China appears to be the first country to recover from the
current recession/depression that the rest of the world remains in,
our leprechaun sees huge bubbles developing in China that should
cause considerable consternation for all.

Least we forget, it was America’s real estate and banking bubbles
bursting that brought on the world recession/depression we’ve all
been experiencing!

In spite of China’s huge financial strides and progress, China’s has a
less than desirable track record towards its dissidents and critics.
Think Tiananmen square during the summer of 1989.

Apparently Yahoo and Google have helped China’s Big Brother to
achieve that record!
See “Google Faces Lawsuit From Chinese Dissident.”

In spite of Google’s so-called “don’t be evil” policy, I find Google most
hypocritical. I recently read “The Google Story” by David A. Vise
and Mark Malseed [available at Amazon.com for around three pounds
sterling, i.e. USD5.]

Impressive as Vise and Malseed makes Google appear, the authors
failed to mention some interesting and lesser known facts:
Google’s connection with the CIA and its venture capital firm extends
to sharing at least one key member of personnel. In 2004, the
Director of Technology Assessment at In-Q-Tel, Rob Painter, moved
from his old job directly serving the CIA to become ‘Senior Federal Manager’
at Google.

As Robert Steele, a former CIA case officer has put it: Google is
“in bed with” the CIA. See
http://www.marketoracle.co.uk/Article16486.html

Hypocrisy knows no bounds!

So the moral of this missive is: Be very careful what you “Google”
these days. Big Brother is watching you not only in China, but in
America and elsewhere as well.

Our question for you is, what are you going to do about it?

See you next issue

Shamrock

“The people never give up their liberties but under some delusion.”
– Edmund Burke, 1784
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Quotes

“Freedom is the freedom to say 2 + 2 equals 4!”
– Winston Smith, in George Orwell’s classic, 1984
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Memorable Quotes

“Honest differences are often a healthy sign of progress.”
– Mahatma Gandhi
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Thought provoking quotes:

“When you have robbed a man of everything, he is no longer in your
power. He is free again.”
– Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
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*** Tid Bits

FBI seeks public’s help via Times Square billboard
– A

Tawan Hines has his name in lights on Broadway. Instead of bringing
him fame, it could get him arrested.

The drug-trafficking suspect is among the first fugitives to have
their names and mug shots on a digital billboard in the heart of Times
Square. The FBI unveiled the equivalent of giant, flashing wanted
posters there for the first time Friday, hoping to generate tips from
tourists and others who flood the “crossroads of the world” each day.

“We hope we’ll get a few calls about him,” Belle Chen, head of the
criminal division of the FBI’s New York office, said as Hines’ face
filled the screen.

Clear Channel Outdoors offered the space to the FBI following a pilot
program in Philadelphia that led to two arrests. The billboard sits
above the entrance to the W Hotel, surrounded by lower-tech billboards
advertising Broadway musicals.

Under the agreement with Clear Channel, the FBI has access to 430
other digital billboards in 33 cities. It can use them to publicize
fugitives and missing children it believes might still might be in the
area, and to make public safety announcements.

Hines evaded an FBI raid in Westchester County in November that
resulted in dozens of arrests.

Another fugitive shown on the billboard Friday was chosen because
she’s suspected of kidnapping her daughter and hiding out Europe.
Agents hope a European tourist might recognize her.

Tim Tompkins, the president of the Times Square Alliance, which works
to promote the area as a destination for commerce and tourism, sees
another benefit.

“As far as I’m concerned, this makes Times Square even safer,”
Tompkins said. “No bad guy is going to want to hang out in a place
where there’s a 100-foot image of him for all the world to see.”
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*** More Tid Bits

An Orwellian world for Big Brother
– Online Journal

The Council of Europe document ‘Internet Governance and critical
Internet resources’ states (p.7) that ” . . . the Internet of
Things refers to the seamless connection of devices, sensors, objects,
rooms, machines, vehicles, etc, through fixed and wireless networks.
Connected sensors, devices and tags can interact with the environment
and send the information to other objects through machine-to-machine
communication . . . The Semantic Web promotes this synergy: even
agents that where not expressly designed to work together can transfer
data among themselves when the data come with semantics.”

Pachube (pronounced Patch-bay) is a platform that helps individuals
and organisations connect to and build the ‘internet of things’ and
enable buildings, interactive environments, networked energy meters,
virtual worlds and sensor devices to “talk” and “respond” to each
other. Pachube, according to the founder, Usman Haque, is a vision
inspired by Dutch architect Constant Nieuwenhuys and his 1956 proposal
for a visionary society, New Babylon.

Around the world, a near invisible network of RFID wireless tags is
being put on almost every type of consumer item. Wireless tags and
sensors are being produced in their billions and are capable of being
connected to the Internet in an instant. Yet this network is being
built with little public knowledge or consent.

Full story at

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*** Even More Tid Bits

Stop and search for children who were ’sledging downhill’
– UK Daily Mail

It seemed an obvious fun thing to do when their school was closed for
the day because of the weather. But when Jacob Mogre, 12, and his
friend Charlie Stakim, 11, took their sledge to a snow-covered hill
they had not reckoned with the long arm of the law.

For just as they were about to begin a long slide down the slope, they
were beckoned by two police community support officers.

The boys were asked why they were not in school and then quizzed about
damage to a nearby fence.

They politely told the officers they knew nothing about the fence, but
instead of simply being allowed to carry on playing they were given an
official ’stop and search’ form which they had to sign themselves.

‘Sledging downhill’ was given as the ‘grounds for intervention’ on
Monday.
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*** Bits n bobs

Heathrow staff given body language training to spot suspected
terrorists
– London Telegraph

Security staff at Heathrow are being trained in “behavioural
profiling” of passengers to spot suspected terrorists.

A specialist unit of airport staff are being taught how to recognise
the body language of potential suicide bombers.

Police patrolling at transport hubs already look for suspicious
behaviour, however the new scheme, called a Behavioural Analysis
Screening System, aims specifically at learning about the traits of
would-be bombers.

The specifics of the training are secret but it will be based on an
Israeli model, which attempts to identify a suspicious individual
walking in a crowd of hundreds by looking for nervous behaviour, such
as avoiding eye-contact, or having the appearance of being drugged.
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*** Letters to the Editor:

Keep them postcards and letters coming’ folks, ’cause we
done mailed the rosebushes!

Dear Shamrock:

Regarding Dr. Charles Freeman’s interview, January and Mid
January 2010 issues:

This is always such useful and interesting information. Thanks for
keeping me on your list! One day, years from now (hopefully no more
than 10) I hope to have saved up a nice nest egg from my law firm and
other business work, which is currently going well, and to be able to
navigate international travel and opportunities legally, profitably,
and charitably to others. I know your great information will serve me
well.

Best H

Dear H,

Many thanks for the kind words.

Shamrock:

Dear Shamrock:

Ref. Charles Freeman interview; Great interview and thanks for the info. Take care.

C. C.

Dear Shamrock

Hello and happy new year!

Thank you for the wonderful stuff you make available to members.

May I just ask about the latest installment for The Internationalist:
part II, Chapter VIII as it opens up to Chapter VII?

Sincerely appreciate you.

FW

Dear FW;

Thanks for the kind words and for letting us know about the incorrect
link. It’s been fixed so do enjoy.

Shamrock

Dear Shamrock:

Lovely interview with Charles Freeman. It was very informative to say
the least.

P. H.
London

Dear Shamrock:

Thank you for the information about PGP (Pretty Good Privacy) in the
AppData folder, Mid December 2009 issue. I was shocked at the revealing
information “concealed” on my laptop.

Thanks again.

L.K.
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Quote of the month!

“You have zero privacy anyway, get over it.”
– Chief executive officer of Sun Microsystems Scott McNealy to
reporters and analysts
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*** “PT Shamrock’s Exclusive Member’s Site!”

Each month we offer exclusive information, free privacy programs,
access to our newsletter archives and other insider information
for members only.

Our member’s site is accessed by user name and password only. This
is available to our newsletter subscribers ONLY!

Each month the password will change and you will have to e-mail us
from your subscribers e-mail address to request the NEW password in
order to gain access.

As a subscriber to our newsletter you automatically qualify for this
exclusive service. Just send an e-mail to
and place “Members” in the
subject heading. We will forward to you full details for signing up and
gaining access to our Members Site, reserved for you.

Enjoy.
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Dear Friend:

If you like our newsletter please tell your friends and associates
about us. They can subscribe *FREE* by sending an e-mail to:
.

Our pledge!

We never spam our subscribers, never rent or give our
subscribers list to anyone, and unlike other newsletters do
not accept paid advertisements; And of course, our PT Buzz
Newsletter is absolutely free, just packed full of interesting
privacy news and information with a tad of humor thrown in for
good measure.

We’re probably the oldest privacy newsletter on the Internet!

Thank you for your patronage and help in spreading the word.

Shamrock

“The right to privacy is a part of our basic freedoms. Privacy is
fundamental to close family ties, competitive free enterprise, the
ownership of property, and the exchange of ideas.”

PT Shamrock – issue one; 1994
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Don’t forget to check out our Special Offers at

See you next issue!

“Mehr sein, als scheinen” (German Proverb)
Be more, seem less!

PT Shamrock
- – - – - – - – - – NOTICE – - – - – - – - – -
In compliance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this material is
distributed free without profit or payment for non-profit
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