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July 2008
- Oval Office Handover Opens Critical Security Gap
  
  newser | New York Times | Jul 16, 08 8:28 AM CDT
  
  January's transition in Oval Office occupants opens up a national security gap for America's enemies to exploit, Jamie Gorelick and Slade Gorton write in the New York Times . The handover from Clinton to Bush was deeply flawed, the 9/11 Commission members note, with "no effective dialog" between the two. To avoid a repeat, the current nominees should get much more information that they're not being given. More »
- Could Stun Bracelets Replace Boarding Passes?
  
  newser | Washington Times | Jul 8, 08 1:44 PM CDT
  
  A bracelet that would track airline passengers and shock them if they get out of hand might be under consideration by the Department of Homeland Security, the Washington Times reports. The Electronic ID Bracelet could someday replace boarding passes. We "are interested in … the immobilizing security bracelet, and look forward to receiving a written proposal," an official wrote to its maker. More »
- US Spies Getting Own Version of Second Life
  
  newser | Wired | Jul 3, 08 7:41 PM CDT
  
  Call it 007 2.0, if you will. The US military is planning a Second Life -style virtual world just for spies, complete with a “time machine” feature. But some are skeptical. "They can't do plain old forensics right and they're going to develop a mechanism that rolls the clock backwards and forwards based on multiple inputs?" grouses one unnamed critic in Wired. More »
June 2008
- CIA Gave Pentagon Torture Tips
  
  newser | Washington Post | Jun 18, 08 8:06 AM CDT
  
  The CIA gave the Pentagon advice about the legality of harsh interrogation techniques to be used on detainees at Guantanamo Bay and elsewhere, the Washington Post reports. Documents shown to a Senate committee yesterday reveal that the agency had a bigger role than first thought. Torture is "subject to perception,"a CIA lawyer told officials at a 2002 meeting. "If the detainee dies, you're doing it wrong." More »
- Ex-Pentagon Lawyers Face Grilling in Torture Probe
  
  newser | New York Times | Jun 17, 08 5:33 AM CDT
  
  Pentagon lawyers had more input than was initially thought into the harsh interrogation techniques used on Guantanamo Bay prisoners, sources close to a Senate investigation have told the New York Times . Documents from 2002 reveal that officials in the Department of Defense, then run by Donald Rumsfeld, researched techniques like waterboarding months before they were used on detainees. More »
- Big Brother Sees Washington
  
  newser | Los Angeles Times | Jun 16, 08 1:55 PM CDT
  
  If you plan to go outdoors in Washington, DC, comb your hair first, because someone's probably going to see you. The capital is ramping up a video surveillance system that puts most others in the entire world to shame, the LA Times reports. Unsurprisingly, the 5,625-camera network has captured the attention of privacy and civil-liberties advocates, and they're not happy. More »
- FBI Swamped With Checking on Immigrants
  
  newser | Los Angeles Times | Jun 10, 08 11:36 AM CDT
  
  The FBI’s system of background checks has forced many legal immigrants to wait years before getting into the US or gaining citizenship, the Justice Department finds. The program, deluged by more names and wider checks after 9/11, has struggled with old technology, poor training, and swamped supervisors, the Los Angeles Times reports. And criminals could be cruising through the system. More »
May 2008
- Iraq Profitable Business for Bush's Ex-Spies
  
  newser | Salon | May 29, 08 1:20 PM CDT
  
  Richard Armitage rarely saw eye-to-eye with the Bush administration on the Iraq war, but these days he may be more sanguine. That’s because Armitage has profited handsomely from his own national security consulting firm, as well stakes in a dozen private defense and intelligence companies that do business with the CIA, NSA, and others. Across Washington, top spies and officials are jumping to private sector gigs, writes Tim Shorrock in his new book Spies for Hire. More »
- US Imports its Drug-Sniffing Dogs for $4,500 Each
  
  newser | USA Today | May 23, 08 1:00 PM CDT
  
  The US government purchases hundreds of untrained bomb- and drug-sniffing dogs from Europe every year for as much as $4,535 each, quadruple the price of American dogs, a new federal report says. Domestic breeders and spending watchdogs are angered by the government's penchant for expensive foreign purebreds. "What kind of dogs are these—gold-plated?" asked a member of Citizens Against Government Waste. More »
- FBI Stalled in Addressing Prisoner Abuse
  
  newser | Washington Post | May 20, 08 1:56 PM CDT
  
  FBI agents dragged their feet in reporting torture inflicted on prisoners by Defense contractors and CIA employees, an an internal FBI report shows, but agents themselves generally did not participate in torture. FBI brass, however, was scolded for not providing more guidance or “pressing harder” to curb other agencies’ actions, the Washington Post reports. More »
- Domestic Spying Shuts Down US Foundation
  
  newser | Salon | May 19, 08 5:30 PM CDT
  
  The Al-Haramain foundation was wiretapped, raided, closed down, and had its accounts frozen 4 years ago for allegedly funding terrorists. The Ashland, Ore. group's leaders landed in legal and financial jeopardy, but to this day have not seen the evidence against them. Salon dissects the case as an example of Washington's Kafkaesque domestic spying program. More »
- New Taser Tech Would Electrify Cops' Shields
  
  newser | Wired | May 14, 08 6:44 AM CDT
  
  Rioters might finally have met their match: Taser International is rolling out a “peel and stick” film to electrify cops' shields—so they won’t even have to fire the gun-shaped original to render troublemakers immobile, Wired reports. The product was unveiled at a showcase that also includes shock-inducing bullets and “area denial” zappers. One blogger, er, welcomes “the day of the electric cop.” More »
- Rebel's Files Show Chávez Aided FARC
  
  newser | Wall Street Journal | May 9, 08 8:09 AM CDT
  
  A cache of computer files found on a dead Colombian guerrilla leader's laptops implicates Hugo Chávez in arms deals with the FARC rebels. The Wall Street Journal reports that Colombian and American intelligence agencies, which came into possession of about 100 files, have no doubt of their authenticity. Both FARC and the Venezuelan president claim that they are counterfeit. More »
- Judge Orders CIA to Release 'Torture' Memo
  
  newser | Reuters | May 9, 08 6:30 AM CDT
  
  A federal judge has ordered the CIA to release a 2002 memo believed to outline interrogation methods that may amount to torture. The ACLU, which brought the suit sparking the order, claims that the memo details harsh interrogation techniques, including waterboarding, and calls it "one of the most important torture documents still being withheld by the Bush administration." The judge will decide whether to make the memo public on Monday, reports Reuters. More »
- Facing Suit, FBI Drops Secret Order
  
  newser | Washington Post | May 8, 08 8:56 AM CDT
  
  Facing a lawsuit, the FBI has withdrawn a secret order demanding that an Internet library turn over a user's records—only the third time the bureau has backed down from such a demand, known as a "national security letter." The San Francisco-based Internet Archive, which stores old versions of websites, challenged the order on the grounds that the Patriot Act provision that protects libraries from similar requests should apply online as well. More »
- Is Monroe Sex Tape a Hoax?
  
  newser | NBC | May 2, 08 3:05 AM CDT
  
  FBI officials say their records show no evidence that the agency ever had a Marilyn Monroe sex tape, casting doubt on a memorabilia dealer’s claim that he just sold one, NBC News reports. The dealer says it belonged to the FBI in the 1960s, but he has produced no clear evidence of it and won't name the buyer. Several FBI analysts pored over agency records—notoriously meticulous under Hoover—and found nothing to confirm it. More »
April 2008
- UK Intelligence 'Sent Citizens to Be Tortured'
  
  newser | Guardian (UK) | Apr 29, 08 3:40 AM CDT
  
  British intelligence officers have been accused of sending citizens to a Pakistani agency to be tortured, reports the Guardian. MI5 officials requested Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence Agency to arrest British terror suspects in the country, where they were subjected to beatings, whippings, sleep deprivation and fingernail extraction, according to lawyers for the victims. More »
- Trade Show Offers Top Gear to China Cops
  
  newser | New York Times | Apr 27, 08 9:00 AM CDT
  
  A police trade show packed with Western goods is thriving in Beijing despite worldwide outrage against China, the New York Times reports. DuPont and Motorola are among big-name companies selling items like bulletproof Kevlar and wireless systems for cops. Washington, which forbids the sale of police technology to China, was shocked to hear about items on the show floor. More »
- Engineer, 84, Busted in Israeli Spy Case
  
  newser | Reuters | Apr 23, 08 4:50 AM CDT
  
  An 84-year-old engineer has been arrested in New Jersey on charges he passed military secrets to Israel in the '80s, Reuters reports. Ben-Ami Kadish, who holds both US and Israeli citizenship, is accused of giving classified information—including details on fighter jets, missiles, and nuclear weapons—to an Israeli consul when he worked at an Army weapons center in New Jersey. More »
- LAX Readies 'Strip Search' Scans
  
  newser | Los Angeles Times | Apr 18, 08 9:59 AM CDT
  
  New technology will allow screeners at Los Angeles International Airport to scan passengers with a device that effectively looks beneath their clothes, the LA Times reports. The “whole body imaging” machines are drawing mixed reviews—a TSA spokesman praised the "brand-new security tool," but an ACLU rep compared a scan to a “high-tech strip-search.” More »