From the Trenches World Report
Enforce our Bill of Rights
Pennsylvania – Allegheny Valley, Fox Chapel Area and Riverview school districts briefly locked down some or all of their buildings this morning after a report that someone made threats against the districts.
But O’Hara Township Police said the incident was a “huge misunderstanding” and no threats against any schools were made. Continue reading “We’ve gone F***ing insane! Schools consider crutches dangerous weapons”
Michael Hayden, a former director of the National Security Agency, defended the government’s use of targeted killings on Thursday.
“Yes, we do targeted killings, and I certainly hope they make full use of the capacities of the National Security Agency when we do that,” Hayden said at a Washington Post panel discussion on cybersecurity. Continue reading “Ex-NSA chief: ‘I certainly hope’ agency involved in targeted killings”
Former National Security Agency Director Michael Hayden joked Thursday about putting Edward Snowden on a kill list.
Hayden noted that Snowden has been nominated for a European human rights award.
“I must admit, in my darker moments over the past several months, I’d also thought of nominating Mr. Snowden, but it was for a different list,” Hayden said during a panel discussion on cybersecurity hosted by The Washington Post. Continue reading “Ex-NSA chief jokes about putting Edward Snowden on kill list”
Motorists accused of failing to pay any government fee, no matter how insignificant, could find their cars held for ransom until the alleged debt is paid under legislation introduced last month in the Michigan state legislature. State Senator John Proos (R-St. Joseph) introduced a bill that would empower local jurisdictions to attach immobilizing boots to cars if an official says its registered owner has an overdue library book or an unpaid parking ticket. Continue reading “Michigan Legislation Would Boot Cars With Overdue Library Books”
The Supreme Court said it will take up whether an anonymous 911 call reporting a reckless driver justified a search that led to a pot bust.
In 2008, a California Highway Patrol dispatcher received a tip from a driver who had been run off the road by a silver pickup on Highway 1 near Ft. Bragg. Officers found the truck, followed for several miles and observed no erratic driving. Continue reading “Supreme Court to decide if police can search your car after receiving an anonymous 911 call”
A female student at Canyon High School in Anaheim Hills was ordered to change out of her t-shirt because it promoted the NRA.
According to CBS Los Angeles, Haley Bullwinkle said she was sent to the principal’s office in September “for violating the school’s dress code that forbids offensive, violent, or divisive clothing.” Continue reading “Female Student Ordered to Change out of ‘Offensive’ NRA T-Shirt”
Mary Ellen Callahan was the Chief Privacy Officer (and the Chief Freedom of Information Act Officer) at the Department of Homeland Security from 2009 until 2012 (though, don’t tell DHS, since they still have a page on their website about her claiming she still has that role — even though she left over a year ago). You have to imagine that being the Chief Privacy Officer within DHS (or any part of the federal government, really) is a pretty thankless job, and it appears that was absolutely the case when Callahan was there. Last night, she was given an award by the IAPP, the International Association of Privacy Professionals — and used it as an opportunity to reveal the work environment in her old job. From the sound of those in attendance, she gave quite a speech, unloading on the lack of respect for privacy in both the Department of Homeland Security and the wider intelligence community. Continue reading “Former DHS Chief Privacy Officer Recounts How She Was Regularly Called A ‘Terrorist’ By The Intelligence Community”
The Department of Homeland Security wants a federal judge to throw out the remainder of a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit that has forced them to turn over information about hundreds of surveillance drone flights over U.S. soil.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), a digital civil liberties group, sued the agency late last year for information on, among other things, the policies that the department and its component Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) had in place for domestic surveillance by unmanned aircraft. This question was answered in a Powerpoint presentation titled “CBP’s Use of Unmanned Aircraft Systems in the Nation’s Border Security.” Continue reading “DHS wants 500+ domestic drone flights kept secret”
The Washington Times – by Shaun Waterman
The Obama administration’s credibility on intelligence suffered another blow Wednesday as the chief of the National Security Agency admitted that officials put out numbers that vastly overstated the counterterrorism successes of the government’s warrantless bulk collection of all Americans’ phone records.
Pressed by the Democratic chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee at an oversight hearing, Gen. Keith B. Alexander admitted that the number of terrorist plots foiled by the NSA’s huge database of every phone call made in or to America was only one or perhaps two — far smaller than the 54 originally claimed by the administration. Continue reading “NSA chief’s admission of misleading numbers adds to Obama administration blunders”
Huffington Post – by Matt Sledge
The government is arguing in the terrorism case that serves as the National Security Agency’s primary public justification for its bulk collection of telephone records that criminal defendants have no constitutional right to challenge the agency’s sweeping surveillance program.
In a filing made Sept. 30, U.S. Attorney Laura Duffy of the Southern District of California contends that only the telephone companies have a Fourth Amendment interest in their call records — and therefore that Basaaly Moalin cannot challenge his conviction for providing material support to the Somali terrorist group al-Shabaab. Continue reading “NSA Phone Records Collection Can’t Be Challenged By The Callers, Government Argues”
Courthouse News Service – by JACK BOUBOUSHIAN
(CN) – A man cannot pursue his challenge to the Illinois Eavesdropping Act because the Illinois Attorney General has promised not to prosecute anyone under the statute, a federal judge ruled.
Louis Frobe, of Lake Villa, Illinois, says he suffers from insomnia, and often spends the night hours by going outdoors to watch nocturnal animals. Continue reading “Man stopped over 40 times by police can’t challenge the Illinois Eavesdropping Act his lawsuit is denied”
Phoenix, AZ- It was, as Sal DiCiccio tells it, the end of the world as we know it.
The Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) dedicates every day to making sure Texas roadways are safe for all travelers. To that end, as part of a multi-agency law enforcement initiative, we have established temporary traffic regulatory checkpoints in the Rio Grande Valley designed to promote compliance with the laws governing driver license, insurance and vehicle safety regulations. Continue reading “Public Safety director claims illegal checkpoints are a response to “various criminal activities and unsafe driving behaviors””
The Department of Justice (DoJ) will be providing $45 million in a fund to hire police officers to be assigned to public schools nationwide.
A $125 million grant program is expected to add to the 937 law enforcement officers position in public safety resources in 236 cities across the nation. Continue reading “The DOJ is handing out over $125 million in grants to put police officers in schools across the country”
The use of biological markers like fingerprints, faces and irises to identify people is rapidly moving from science fiction to reality. Apple’s latest iPhone, which went on sale this week, can be unlocked with a fingerprint. Users of Android smartphones can unlock their devices with a glance. And the Department of Homeland Security is developing facial recognition technology that would allow it to pinpoint criminals and suspects in large crowds of people with closed-circuit cameras. Continue reading “Biometric technology has become so commonplace schools and hospitals are using it”
OSCEOLA COUNTY, Fla. — An Osceola County mother is outraged after she said her 8-year-old son was kicked out of class for playing cops with his friends at Harmony Community School and using his finger to simulate a handgun.
Jordan Bennett was suspended from school for the day, but his mother, Bonnie, said she’s now worried her son be labeled as violent with a suspension on his record. Continue reading “School suspends child for using finger as pretend gun while playing with friends”
Courthouse News Service – by RYAN ABBOTT
ALEXANDRIA, Va. (CN) – CACI agents committed war crimes, torturing and humiliating detainees, as part of a defense contract to provide linguistic services, dozens of Iraqi citizens and their families claim in Federal Court.
The surviving Iraqi detainees and representatives from the estates of the dead sued CACI Premier Technology and CACI International under the Alien Tort Claims Act and the Torture Victim Protection Act. Continue reading “Iraqis Accuse CACI of War Crimes and Torture”
Army Times – by Antonieta Rico
Fort Hood service members who refuse to show identification to law enforcement officers can face action under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, according to a policy issued by the 1st Cavalry Division commander Sept. 5.
Texas state law requires people to identify themselves to police only if they are legally arrested. But the Fort Hood policy requires soldiers to show their ID to law enforcement whenever they are asked to do so by authorities. Continue reading “Fort Hood soldiers can face UCMJ if they won’t show ID to cops”
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The Hill – by Brendan Sasso
The Newspaper
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Brietbart – by AWR Hawkins
Tech Dirt – by Mike Masnick
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