California Governor Vetoes Bill Limiting Drone Surveillance
September 30th, 2014Via: CBS:
Gov. Jerry Brown has vetoed a bill that would have placed strict limits on law enforcement agencies using unmanned aerial drones for surveillance.
The governor’s office announced that the bill was one of more than a dozen pieces of legislation he vetoed Sunday.
AB1327 by Republican Assemblyman Jeff Gorrell of Camarillo would have required government agencies to get warrants before conducting surveillance with drones and would have required that they publicly announce their intent to buy and use them.
Los Angeles County Planning Massive Biometric Database
September 30th, 2014Via: KPCC:
Without notice to the public, Los Angeles County law enforcement officials are preparing to widen what personal information they collect from people they encounter in the field and in jail – by building a massive database of iris scans, fingerprints, mug shots, palm prints and, potentially, voice recordings.
The new database of personal information – dubbed a multimodal biometric identification system – would augment the county’s existing database of fingerprint records and create the largest law enforcement repository outside of the FBI of so-called next-generation biometric identification, according to county sheriff’s department documents.
On Sept. 15, the FBI announced that the Next Generation Identification System was fully operational. Now that the central infrastructure is in place, the next phase is for local jurisdictions across the country to update their own information-gathering systems to the FBI’s standards.
When the system is up and running in L.A., any law enforcement official working in the county, including the Los Angeles Police Department, would collect biometric information on people who are booked into county jails or by using mobile devices in the field.
This would occur even when people are stopped for lesser offenses or pulled over for minor traffic violations, according to documents obtained by The Center for Investigative Reporting through a public records request.
Officials with the sheriff’s department, which operates the countywide system, said the biometric information would be retained indefinitely – regardless of whether the person in question is convicted of the crime for which he or she was arrested.
The system is expected to be fully operational in two or three years, according to the sheriff’s department.
All of this is happening without hearings or public input, yet technology companies already are bidding to build the system, interviews and documents show. Officials would not disclose the expected cost of the project or which companies are bidding but said it would be a multimillion-dollar undertaking.
Research Credit: winstonsmith
Hong Kong Protesters Stockpile Supplies, Prepare for Long Haul
September 30th, 2014Via: Reuters:
Tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters extended a blockade of Hong Kong streets on Tuesday, stockpiling supplies and erecting makeshift barricades ahead of what some fear may be a push by police to clear the roads before Chinese National Day.
Riot police shot pepper spray and tear gas at protesters at the weekend but withdrew on Monday to ease tension as the ranks of demonstrators swelled. Protesters spent the night sleeping or holding vigil unharassed on normally busy roads in the global financial hub.
Cryptogon Reader Sends $36
September 29th, 2014Thank you, RL.
Colorado, CDC Probing 10 Cases of Virus-Related Paralysis in Kids
September 29th, 2014Via: Reuters:
U.S. health officials are investigating at least 10 cases of children in Colorado who developed limb weakness or paralysis after testing positive for a respiratory virus, state health officials said on Monday.
Of the 10, four children tested positive for Enterovirus D68 (EV-D68), a virus that is causing severe respiratory infections in 40 U.S. states and the District of Columbia.
From mid-August to September 26, 2014, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention or state public health laboratories have confirmed a total of 277 people infected with the virus, according to the CDC website.
Dr. Larry Wolk, chief medical officer of the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, said some of the children have been ruled out for Enterovirus D68 infection and others are awaiting test results.
All of those experiencing limb weakness have recently been diagnosed with either some form of enterovirus or rhinovirus, two large classes of common viruses that cause respiratory infections. The common cold, for example, is caused by a rhinovirus.
Unmasking the Five Eyes’ Global Surveillance Practices
September 29th, 2014Via: GIS Watch:
The Five Eyes alliance – comprised of the United States National Security Agency (NSA), the United Kingdom’s Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), Canada’s Communications Security Establishment Canada (CSEC), the Australian Signals Directorate (ASD), and New Zealand’s Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB) – is the continuation of an intelligence partnership formed in the aftermath of the Second World War. The patchwork of secret spying programmes and intelligence-sharing agreements implemented by parties to the Five Eyes arrangement constitutes an integrated global surveillance arrangement that now covers the majority of the world’s communications. Operating in the shadows and misleading the public, the Five Eyes agencies boast in secret how they “have adapted in innovative and creative ways that have led some to describe the current day as ‘the golden age of SIGINT [signals intelligence]’.”
…
The Five Eyes agencies are playing a dirty game. They have found ways to infiltrate all aspects of modern communications networks: forcing companies to hand over their customers’ data under secret orders, and secretly tapping fibre optic cables between the same companies’ data centres anyway; accessing sensitive financial data through SWIFT, the world’s financial messaging system; spending years negotiating an international agreement to regulate access to the data through a democratic and accountable process, and then hacking the networks to get direct access; threatening politicians with trumped-up threats of impending cyber war while conducting intrusion operations that weaken the security of networks globally; and sabotaging encryption standards and standards bodies, thereby undermining the ability of internet users to secure information.
Mississippi Sued Over ‘Hellish’ Conditions in For-Profit Prison
September 29th, 2014Via: CommonDreams:
Denial of food and medical care. Cells and floors soiled with blood, urine, and feces. Excessive force by prison guards. Weeks, months, and years in solitary confinement.
These are the conditions found at a “special needs” for-profit prison, the East Mississippi Correctional Facility, which is tasked by the state’s department of corrections with incarcerating 1,200 people, approximately 1,000 of whom have severe psychiatric disorders, according to a legal motion filed Friday.
…
“Taken as a whole, the conditions in solitary confinement at EMCF are the worst I have witnessed in my 40 years as a forensic psychiatrist investigating jail and prison conditions,” Dr. Terry A. Kupers wrote in a report on the prison’s mental health care system. “These conditions can accurately be described as torture according to international human rights agreements and standards. They press the outer bounds of what most humans can psychologically tolerate.”
Referring to the EMCF as a “cesspool,” the ACLU says Mississippi state officials have for years known of the prison’s horrific conditions for years yet have done nothing to address them.
Vatican Archbishop Accused of Storing Tens of Thousands of Child Porn Files on Computer
September 29th, 2014Via: Inquisitr:
The Vatican is facing a child porn scandal after former archbishop Jozef Wesolowski was accused of storing tens of thousands of illicit videos and photos featuring children.
The 66-year-old Wesolowski was arrested earlier this week at the Vatican, making him the highest-ranking Vatican official to be investigated for child sex abuse. He is charged with sexually abusing minors and possessing child pornography.
Investigators within the Vatican analyzed a computer that Jozef Wesolowski used in his Santo Domingo home, where he served as Holy See envoy from 2008 to 2012.
Investigators found more than 100,000 files showing underage children in sexually explicit situations, Il Corriere della Sera newspaper reported. Close to 160 videos showed teenage boys were forced to perform sexual acts on themselves and adults, the newspaper reported.
It appears that Wesolowski may have tried to destroy some of the evidence. Investigators said that at least 45,000 other photos were deleted.
They are now trying to determine if Jozef Wesolowski may have went beyond just possessing and storing photos and videos. Investigators are looking into whether others may have arranged sexual encounters, and whether Wesolowski may have committed other abuses beyond the Vatican.
Curry Spice May Boost Brain Repair
September 29th, 2014Via: BBC:
A spice commonly found in curries may boost the brain’s ability to heal itself, according to a report in the journal Stem Cell Research and Therapy.
The German study suggests a compound found in turmeric could encourage the growth of nerve cells thought to be part of the brain’s repair kit.
Scientists say this work, based in rats, may pave the way for future drugs for strokes and Alzheimer’s disease.
But they say more trials are needed to see whether this applies to humans.
Research Credit: almaverdad2
Hong Kong: Streets Blocked as Pro-Democracy Protests Spread
September 28th, 2014Via: BBC:
Thousands of people have remained on the streets of Hong Kong for another day of pro-democracy protests, defying tear gas and ignoring appeals to leave.
Overnight, riot police advanced on crowds who ignored official warnings that the demonstrations were illegal.
Protesters are angry at Chinese government plans to vet candidates in Hong Kong’s 2017 elections.
Hong Kong’s chief executive reassured the public that rumours the Chinese army might intervene were untrue.
