This technology is being implemented under the cover of combating human trafficking, illegal immigration, and finding missing persons, but Richard Seldon of NetBio, creator of the scanners, clearly states that "DNA information has the potential to become part of the fabric of day-to-day life." In an interview with Katie Drummond who broke this story for The Daily, Seldon envisions additional applications in emergency rooms, food safety tests, and law enforcement.
DNA collection is actually nothing new, as the Pentagon has admitted that it currently has a DNA database with 80,000 suspected foreign terrorists on it, and growing daily. However, this collection apparatus has been secretly in place for Americans as well...
It is important to note that the technology of tracking, tracing, and databasing innocent people right down to their blood is a top-down directive from federal agencies, not a legitimate scientific endeavor. Legitimate science researches ways to increase human potential and freedom, not use it as a system for identification and control. With the rise of nanotechnology as a federal initiative, we should strongly resist the collection of our life force to be used in any way that government-controlled science sees fit.
That's the conversation of the day as video of the incident goes viral on the Web and Americans get another chance to weigh the pros and cons of a device that has become a favorite alternative for police officers confronting weaponless lawbreakers.
The number of Tasers in the hands of police have grown to 375,000 worldwide, and the blowback – from "Don't tase me, bro!" to a reported 300 deaths – has been significant.
dhs proposes US gun laws to fight mexican drug cartel violence from kurt nimmo: Roger Rufe, Homeland Security’s head of operations, wants to further erode the Second Amendment. Rufe told lawmakers more restrictive gun control and law enforcement may be needed in the Southwest United States in response to the drug war in Mexico, according to the Associated Press. Rufe also said protecting border may require “deploying military personnel and equipment to the region if other agencies are overwhelmed.” He did not specify what circumstances would trigger a call for troops. “We would take all resources short of DoD and National Guard troops before we reach that tipping point,” Rufe told lawmakers on a House homeland security subcommittee. “We very much do not want to militarize our border.” Democrats joined the chorus rallying against the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.
police trained that informed americans are domestic terrorists from truthnews: A secret report distributed by the Missouri Information Analysis Center lists Ron Paul supporters, libertarians, people who display bumper stickers, people who own gold, or even people who fly a U.S. flag and equates them with radical race hate groups and terrorists. This is merely the latest example in an alarming trend which confirms that law enforcement across the country is being trained that American citizens are a dangerous enemy.
how to: survive the apocalypse (think diy knives & solar stills) from danger room: Best-selling author Neil Strauss helped Jenna Jameson show us How to Make Love Like a Porn Star. Then he taught us the finer points of attracting mates in The Game: Penetrating the Secret Society of Pickup Artists. Now, Strauss has new knowledge to drop. In his just-published book,Emergency: This Book Will Save Your Life, he schools us on what to do, if everything suddenly goes to hell. Strauss has spent the last several years training to become a full-fledged survivalist - learning how to live off the land with D.I.Y. weapons, homemade solar stills, debris huts, and hot-wired cars. He talks to Danger Room about how he got his new skills. And in an exclusive video, Strauss shows what to do, if you really need a knife - and all you have is a cigarette.
nypd wants to jam cell phones during terror attack from danger room: The New York Police Department wants to be able to shut down cell phones, in case of a terrorist attack. During last month's massacre in Mumbai, terrorist handlers over micromanaged via mobile phone the assaults on the hotels, train stations, and Jewish center that killed more than 170 people. In testimony [44kb PDF] today before the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, New York Police Commissioner Ray Kelly (pictured) said he wanted to take out that "formidable capacity to adjust tactics while attacks are underway." ... For now, Kelly said, the NYPD is taking a whole range of measures to stop another Mumbai-style spree - from working with private businesses to interdicting boats to training recruits in heavy weapons to installing a spycam network across downtown Manhattan. But Charles Allen, the Department of Homeland Security's top intelligence official, confessed to the Senate panel that "response to a similar terrorist attack in a major U.S. urban city would be complicated and difficult."
3rd 'human terrain' researcher dead from danger room: For the third time in eight months, a social scientist with the Army's Human Terrain cultural research program has died. In early November, while on patrol in an Afghan village, Paula Loyd was doused with a flammable liquid, and set on fire. She suffered second- and third-degree burns over 60 percent of her body. Loyd was rushed to a nearby medical center, where she was treated by a burn specialist. Shortly thereafter, Loyd was evacuated to the military's Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany, and then to Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, Texas. But after a two month struggle, she was overcome by her injuries. This is the latest in a series of attacks on Human Terrain personnel. In May, Michael Bhatia, an Oxford-trained political scientist working in eastern Afghanistan, was killed, along with two soldiers, by a roadside explosive. Less than two months later, a bomb detonated inside the Sadr City District Council building in Iraq. Social scientist Nicole Suveges was inside. She and 11 others died instantly.
darpa chief staying on, for now from danger room: Tony Tether, the controversial chief of the Pentagon's premiere research agency, Darpa, will remain in office during the Obama administration. At least, for a little while. "Dr. Tether will be here after Jan. 20, and there's no formal date on which he plans to leave," Darpa spokesman Jan Walker tells Michael Belfiore in an e-mail. Tether, the longest-serving director of the $3 billion-per-year agency, is one of several top Pentagon officials who will stay in place, if only temporarily, after the presidential transition. Defense Secretary Bob Gates is, of course, at the top of the list of holdovers.
army assembles 'mad scientist' conference from danger room: Last August, the U.S. Army held a three-day conference in Portsmouth, Virginia, to look at new developments in military science and hardware. The confab was called the "2008 Mad Scientist Future Technology Seminar." Really. It was. "The objective of the seminar was to investigate proliferating technologies with the potential to empower individuals and groups in the next 10-25 years," according to an unclassified summary of the Mad Scientist gathering [1.3mb DOC], obtained by Danger Room. As you'd expect from such a colorfully-titled gathering, the collected brains predicted a world in which individuals would have easy access to everything from ray guns to nano-bots to bioengineered weapons to arms for creating international chaos online.
pentagon's far-out science podcast from danger room: Stick this in your iPod and smoke it: The U.S. Department of Defense is launching a new radio show audio webcast, "Armed with Science: Research and Applications for the Modern Military." I listened in to the first broadcast - an interview about atomic timekeeping with Geoff Chester of the U.S. Naval Observatory's Master Clock - and it was actually pretty damn interesting. Chester discussed the history of timekeeping - from waterclocks and pendulum clocks to leap seconds - as well as the principles behind the atomic clock, which uses natural oscillation in specific atoms to define a timescale. Chester also talked about the application of timekeeping to military operations. “In our business, timing is literally everything,” Chester said. “An error of three nanoseconds in timing translates to a position error of one meter for a precision-guided weapon.”
reining in the imperial presidency: lessons & recommendations relating to the presidency of george w bush from 9/11 blogger: In a 487-page report out today recapping Bush’s “imperial presidency,” House Judiciary Chairman John Conyers (D-MI) recommends that “the incoming Administration finally begin an independent criminal review of activities of the outgoing Administration.”
virginia teen dies after being tased by police from wsls: State Police are investigating the death of a 17-year-old after Martinsville Police used a stun device on a teenager Thursday night [jan8]... Justin Gregory, 15, says his friend, 17-year-old Derick, died after a Martinsville officer used a taser on him... Police say they were called there for a disorderly conduct after callers say someone was “using the bathroom” in the road. Gregory tells us Derick, “was out in the middle of the road acting stupid.” When the boys went inside, Gregory said only a few minutes went by before police arrived. Police say it was Officer R.L. Wray who responded. When he arrived, he noticed the front door had been forced open and requested assistance. Police say Wray heard loud banging noises coming from the kitchen, which according to Gregory is in the back of the home. When Gregory saw the officer coming, he claims, “I was upstairs, and the cops told me to come down. So I came downstairs, and everything happened,” said Gregory. Gregory says Derick had been drinking, but claims there was no confrontation with police. “Derick walked around from the kitchen, into the living room, and got half-way into the living room, and the cop tased him. He didn’t run at him or nothing,” said Gregory.
aclu website tracks public surveillance from raw story: In response to a recent rise in public surveillance funding by the Department of Homeland Security, ACLU's Technology and Liberty program has launched a Web site to let America know – YouAreBeingWatched.us. The Web site provides news related to public video surveillance, links for more information, ways to take action, a 'horror stories' tab detailing recent misuse of surveillance authority and a flash map of locations in the US where municipal surveillance cameras have been installed. “The new site will provide one-stop shopping for users, including the press, who want to know the big picture and the fine details about the spread of video surveillance systems,” said Caroline Fredrickson, director of the ACLU Washington Legislative Office, in a release... Meanwhile, a timely University of California study [8.9mb PDF] has found that San Francisco's $700,000 'Crime Camera' program has had no impact on violent crime since its 2005 installation. The study also states that robberies dropped significantly within each camera's radius, but notes that this finding is inconclusive.
fema starts pr campaign with new channel on youtube from eyes on the lies: The astronomically corrupt federal agency that has brought us the terrible aftermath of hurricane Katrina has a new card in their sleeve: Propaganda! This federal agency – which two years ago admitted that in time of disaster the agency would openly recruit clergy men to encourage people to submit to the governments agenda – has fired up their own brand spankin’ new YouTube Channel. FEMA says that the goal with this new channel is, “to provide a forum for the public to see how FEMA operates in communities across America, comment on disaster response and recovery, and learn how to prepare homes and communities for all hazards.” Translation: to put up a fight against the hundreds of video’s on YouTube that effectively expose FEMA of being a corrupt agency that completely oversteps the bounds of the Constitution. Without any FEMA video’s on YouTube that paint a pretty picture in the minds of the viewer, FEMA has earned a well deserved bad rap. FEMA has a long road of public relations ahead of them. The top 5 hits when you YouTube “FEMA” all relate to the thousands of plastic coffins that are found along FEMA internment installations and a few videos of FEMA concentration camps. This is a big difference to the videos on FEMA’s channel that portray friendly people who work in the field and appear to be friendly everyday people who are kind and helping after a disaster. However, in a time of a national disaster like 9/11 where FEMA will be used to round up the people of political dissent, these friendly everyday people will be overshadowed by Homeland Security troops who are ordered to round up herds of people who are not drinking the government kool-aid.
norad exercise in dc area on jan14 from free republic: DC area residents should not be alarmed to see and hear military aircraft overhead today [jan14] as NORAD will be conducting a live-fly exercise. Civil Air Patrol aircraft, Air Force F-16s and Coast Guard HH-65 Dolphin helicopters will participate in the exercise which also includes the Federal Aviation Administration, the National Capital Region Command Center, the Joint Air Defense Operations Center and other agencies and military groups. The flights are expected to take place late at night and early in the morning. It is the latest in a series of exercises which have been conducted following the terrorist attacks on September 11th, 2001. In the event of inclement weather, the exercise will be postponed until Thursday.
rangel to reintroduce military draft measure from the hill: Rep. Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.) likely will introduce his controversial legislation to reinstate the draft again this year, but he will wait until after the economic stimulus package is passed. Asked if he plans to introduce the legislation again in 2009, Rangel last week said, “Probably … yes. I don’t want to do anything this early to distract from the issue of the economic stimulus.” Rangel’s military draft bill did create a distraction for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) soon after Democrats won control of Congress after the 2006 election. In the wake of that historic victory, Pelosi said publicly that she did not support the draft and that the Democratic leadership would not back Rangel’s legislation. She also said Rangel’s legislation was not about reinstating the draft but was instead “a way to make a point” about social inequality.
dhs considers searching for blogs with terrorism clues from fcw: The Homeland Security Department might soon start searching the Internet for blogs and message boards that terrorists are using to plan attacks in the United States, USA Today reports. Researchers say terrorists are increasingly using the Internet to plan operations and spread propaganda, according to a DHS statement. The newspaper reports that the department is looking for companies that can help it find relevant information online.
websites could be given 'cinema-style age ratings' from telegraph: In an interview with The Daily Telegraph, Andy Burnham says he believes that new standards of decency need to be applied to the web. He is planning to negotiate with Barack Obama’s incoming American administration to draw up new international rules for English language websites. The Cabinet minister describes the internet as “quite a dangerous place” and says he wants internet-service providers (ISPs) to offer parents “child-safe” web services. Giving film-style ratings to individual websites is one of the options being considered, he confirms. When asked directly whether age ratings could be introduced, Mr Burnham replies: “Yes, that would be an option. This is an area that is really now coming into full focus.”
homeland security forecasts 5yr terror threats from ap: The terrorism threat to the United States over the next five years will be driven by instability in the Middle East and Africa, persistent challenges to border security and increasing Internet savvy, says a new intelligence assessment obtained by The Associated Press. Chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear attacks are considered the most dangerous threats that could be carried out against the U.S. But those threats are also the most unlikely because it is so difficult for al-Qaida and similar groups to acquire the materials needed to carry out such plots, according to the internal Homeland Security Threat Assessment for the years 2008-2013... Officials also predict that domestic terrorists in the forms of radical animal rights and environmental extremists will become more adept with explosives and increase their use of arson attacks.
US needs nuclear explosion to turn the world into dictatorship from pravda: Is the United States going to put dictatorship into effect under the guise of the anti-terrorist struggle? What may trigger another major transformation in 2009? The answer is obvious: another 9/11 in the USA. Terrible and bloody events are in store for the world in the beginning of 2009. Most likely, the world will witness a reality show with a nuclear blast, which will be used as a reason for the US administration to change the world order again and leave the new Great Depression behind. There is every reason to believe that the Russian Federation may suffer as a result of this possible initiative too.
police in the US could soon have 'pain ray' guns from futurestorm: Imagine a world where police have the ability to fire pain ray guns at protesters that instantly cause them excruciating pain as soon as they are activated. Imagine a world where police have the ability to torture from a distance anyone they want at the touch of a button. Does that sound like something out of a science fiction novel? It's not. It is in the final stages of development and could soon be a reality on the streets of America. NewScientist is reporting that the U.S. Department of Justice is developing two portable "non-lethal" weapons that inflict severe pain from a distance using either microwave technology or laser beams.
will the US break up? from george washington: The larger and more complex a system, the more likely it is to break down. Something like a simple pendulum with few moving parts could last many years. But very large, complicated things like the Large Hadron Collider break down much more quickly. America now has some 300 million people, 50 states, and more federal, state and local agencies than anyone can possibly list. It is hard to govern such a large, complex and populous system when anything goes seriously wrong. And a lot is going wrong right now. The U.S. military agrees that the chance of a break down in the system is real.
marines establish presence in san bernardino from kurt nimmo: Branson Hunter, writing for the Big Bear Observation Post blog, reports that the Marine Corps Air and Ground Combat Center (MCAGCC) and the local California Highway Patrol will be working together over the holiday “in a joint effort to reduce accidents and drinking and driving” in San Bernardino County... the USMC will be present on public roads in order to setup a military presence during routine DUI check stops. “They will be working closely over the month to cut down of traffic accidents,” said Cox, “the Military Police will observe DUI check points and watch for their own guys. The intent is to have military presence out there.”
audio update: 'military presence' confirmed from kurt nimmo: On the Alex Jones Show today, Gary Daigneault, News Director at KCDZ-FM based in Joshua Tree, California, said the California Highway Patrol was less than forthcoming with their plan to team up with the military police, a direct violation of the Posse Comitatus Act preventing the military from performing civilian law enforcement duties.
update: army ‘strategic shock’ report says troops may be needed to quell US civil unrest from steve & paul watson:A recent report produced by the U.S. Army War College’s Strategic Institute warns that the United States may experience massive civil unrest in the wake of a series of crises which it has termed “strategic shock.” The report, titled Known Unknowns: Unconventional Strategic Shocks in Defense Strategy Development, also suggests that the military may have to be used to quell domestic disorder. “Widespread civil violence inside the United States would force the defense establishment to reorient priorities in extremis to defend basic domestic order and human security,” the report, authored by [Ret.] Lt. Col. Nathan Freir, reads.
sold as 'non-lethal,' tasers killed 400 since 2001 from raw story: They are marketed as non-lethal weapons that allow police to capture suspects or criminals without causing any permanent harm. Former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani and businessman Bernard Kerik made millions selling the idea to police departments across the country. But Tasers have killed more than 400 people since 2001, according to a new study commissioned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. Police departments across Canada began banning use of Tasers by their officers after the report found that Tasers deliver more power than the manufacturer says is possible. It is unknown if U.S. police departments will follow suit.
parents & law enforcement spar over tasers in schools from wbns: Two mothers have pulled their children out of the South-Western City School District after one of their son's was shocked with a Taser, but authorities defended the use of such weapons, saying they cut down on injuries to officers and citizens, 10TV's Andy Hirsch reported on Monday. The student was shocked during a fight in the cafeteria at Franklin Heights High School. A surveillance camera recorded the brawl, as well as the school's resource officer, deploying his Taser on one of the students. Margie Preston, whose son was shocked, said she was surprised to hear that the Franklin County sheriff's deputy who served as the school's resource officer carried the same weapons as officers who patrol the streets."I thought, 'Oh my God,' if you can't paddle them at school but you can do something like this," Preston said. "I think that's ridiculous." Authorities defended the carrying of such weapons in schools. "Just because it's a school, especially if it's a high school, it's really the same for us as if those two kids were fighting on the street," said Franklin County Sheriff's Lt. Dave Oyer.
amnesty int'l warns against 'potentially lethal' tasers from afp: Amnesty International warned Tuesday against a proliferation of Taser stun guns, saying they were responsible for dozens of deaths in the United States and should only be used in extreme cases. In a report entitled "'Less than lethal?' The use of stun weapons in US law enforcement," the London-based human rights group urged governments to either limit their deployment to life-threatening situations or to suspend their use. Industry claims that so-called "Conducted Energy Devices" are safe and non-lethal do not stand up to scrutiny, it said.
video: incredible footage of mass arrests in st paul from alternet: Newly released footage, which was buried to avoid confiscation, shows riot cops arresting and abusing a giant group of people for nothing.
fema sources confirm coming martial law from wayne madsen: WMR has learned from knowledgeable Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) sources that the Bush administration is putting the final touches on a plan that would see martial law declared in the United States with various scenarios anticipated as triggers. The triggers include a continuing economic collapse with massive social unrest, bank closures resulting in violence against financial institutions, and another fraudulent presidential election that would result in rioting in major cities and campuses around the country.
maryland cops put 53 non-violent activists on terror list from threat level: Maryland State police placed the names of 53 left-leaning political activists into federal and state databases, labeling them as terrorists, the state's police chief admitted Tuesday. Evidence that the state police had been infiltrating anti-war and anti-death penalty groups first came to light in July following a government sunshine lawsuit filed by the ACLU on behalf of a prominent peace activist named Max Obuszewski.
saic awarded $254m contract by the defense intelligence agency from saic: Science Applications International Corporation today announced it has been awarded a contract by the Defense Intelligence Agency to support the National Media Exploitation Center (NMEC). The contract has a six month base period of performance, four one-year options and a total contract value of more than $254 million if all options are exercised. Work will be performed primarily overseas. The NMEC provides strategic document and media exploitation support to the intelligence community, law enforcement and the Department of Defense. Under the contract, SAIC will provide linguist translation and transcription, media and document exploitation and related support services. "We look forward to helping this important customer provide timely, objective, all-source military intelligence to policy makers, war fighters, and force planners to meet current and future challenges," said John P. Hynes Jr., senior vice president and business unit general manager.
report misses point: govt surveillance about control, not terror from kurt nimmo: According to a report released by the National Research Council, automated identification of terrorists through data mining or any other mechanism “is neither feasible as an objective nor desirable as a goal of technology development efforts.” Inevitable false positives, writes Declan McCullagh for CNet News, will result in “ordinary, law-abiding citizens and businesses” being incorrectly flagged as suspects. McCullagh writes that the report “amounts to at least a partial repudiation of the Defense Department’s controversial data-mining program called Total Information Awareness, which was limited by Congress in 2003.” TIA, however, was not put out to pasture by Congress, as the former Clintonite Peter Swire admits. “I believe that Total Information Awareness is continuing under other names,” he told Democracy Now. Reuters obtained a congressional report that revealed nine months after Congress allegedly shut down TIA, the U.S. government continues to comb private records and databases.
‘god forbid’ terror drill at florida high school from baker county press: Baker County High School was the stage for a carefully orchestrated school shooting exercise September 13 — one that officials hope never actually happens. It was designed to test the response from law enforcement, school faculty, the fire department and rescue, should students or others ever open fire during the school day. The mock scenario began when two teenagers, armed with an assault rifle and pistols, emerged from the main office and fired on the school’s student resource officer and students from the courtyard opposite the media center and cafeteria. The response included patrol deputies, a special response team that was called in after one of the gunmen took hostages in the cafeteria, and medical personnel who treated the wounded. “You can talk about it all day long, but being there and doing it is a very different level of preparedness and awareness,” Superintendent Paula Barton said shortly before the drill began. “It’s as close to the real thing without it actually happening, God forbid.” The exercise was managed by Emergency Operations Center Director Adam Faircloth with assistance from a division of URS, Inc. that offers emergency preparedness planning services to communities across the country. It was funded through grants from the US Department of Homeland Security.
fbi warns of potential terror attacks on public buildings from deepbackground: The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) today issued an analytical "note" to U.S. law-enforcement officials cautioning that al-Qaida terrorists have in the past expressed interest in attacking public buildings using a dozen suicide bombers each carrying 20 kilograms of explosives. Authors with the U.S. Office of Intelligence and Analysis added that they have "no credible or specific information that terrorists are planning operations against public buildings in the United States." The DHS analysts--after coordinating with the FBI Threat Analysis Unit--said they were releasing the note because "it is important for local authorities and building owners and operators to be aware of potential attack tactics." According to the note obtained by NBC News, a "recently discovered audio recording of al-Qa‘ida training sessions conducted several years ago provides instruction to potential suicide terrorists on seizing a publicly accessible building and damaging or destroying it with explosive charges."
were arrested rnc protesters 'terrorists'? from wcco: They pretended to throw firebombs at cars and buildings. Met in training camps to talk about guerrilla warfare, kidnapping and bomb-making. Drew up maps detailing possible targets. The eight people arrested ahead of the Republican National Convention say they were just exercising their protest rights. But each faces a felony charge accusing them of advancing terrorism, raising questions about who qualifies as a "terrorist" under state law. Prosecutors say the defendants created fear in an attempt to keep delegates from attending the convention. Civil rights advocates and others say prosecutors are misusing a statute that defines terrorism too broadly. It's no small distinction. The defendants face up to 7 1/2 years in prison if convicted. "Political demonstration that turns rowdy or violent may involve criminal activity, but to call it terrorism is losing all sense of perspective," said Jameel Jaffer, director of the ACLU's national security project in New York. "The government is pushing the envelope."
homeland security's space-based spying goes live from global research: While America's attention has shifted to the economic meltdown and the presidential race between corporate favorites John McCain and Barack Obama, The Wall Street Journalreported Wednesday that the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) National Applications Office (NAO) "will proceed with the first phase of a controversial satellite-surveillance program, even though an independent review found the department hasn't yet ensured the program will comply with privacy laws." As I wrote in June, NAO will coordinate how domestic law enforcement and "disaster relief" agencies such as FEMA use satellite imagery intelligence (IMINT) generated by U.S. spy satellites. Based on available evidence, hard to come by since these programs are classified "above top secret," the technological power of these military assets are truly terrifying.
pepper-sprayed mosque after 'obsession' hits ohio from dailykos: On Friday, September 26, the end of a week in which thousands of copies of Obsession: Radical Islam's War Against the West - the fear-mongering, anti-Muslim documentary being distributed by the millions in swing states via DVDs inserted in major newspapers and through the U.S. mail - were distributed by mail in Ohio, a "chemical irritant" was sprayed through a window of the Islamic Society of Greater Dayton, where 300 people were gathered for a Ramadan prayer service. The room that the chemical was sprayed into was the room where babies and children were being kept while their mothers were engaged in prayers. This, apparently, is what the scare tactic political campaigning of John McCain's supporters has led to - Americans perpetrating a terrorist attack against innocent children on American soil.
US court overturns terror convictions of two yemenis from afp: A US federal appeals court in New York has overturned the convictions of two Yemenis who were tried on charges of supporting Al-Qaeda, officials said Saturday. The second US circuit court of appeals overturned the convictions of Sheik Mohmmed Ali Al Moayad and Mohammed Zayed, who had been sentenced to 75 and 45 years in jail respectively, on Thursday. Following the ruling, the two men - who were arrested in Germany in 2003 and extradited to the United States - were put under the jurisdiction of another judge and could be retried. The appeals court said Al-Moayad, 60, and Zayed, 34, were convicted of financial support for Al-Qaeda and the Palestinian group Hamas based on "highly inflammatory and irrelevant" testimony of third parties who unfairly influenced the jury.
nypd officer kills himself over taser episode from ap: The man was naked, teetering on a building ledge and jabbing at police with an 8-foot-long fluorescent light bulb as a crowd gathered below. Lt. Michael Pigott responded by ordering an officer to fire a stun gun at the man, who froze and plunged headfirst to his death in a scene captured on amateur video and replayed frequently on the Internet. The officer was remorseful and distraught. He apologized and sought the family's forgiveness. Then he went to his unit's headquarters Thursday morning, his 46th birthday, and fatally shot himself just hours before the family laid the victim to rest. "The lieutenant was deeply distraught and extremely remorseful over the death of Iman Morales in Brooklyn last week," Mayor Michael Bloomberg said. "Sadly, his death just compounds the tragedy of the loss of Mr. Morales." The suicide marks another tragic turn in a case that has raised questions about the use of Tasers by the nation's largest police force.
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from activist post: A new level of invasive screening is scheduled for airports this summer: a portable DNA scanner to conduct on-site, real-time genetic testing.
external security cameras coming to 'real time crime center'* 
