police state int'l: miltech, mad science, danger, training & tasers

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."

'john doe' printer anonymous for now

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.

blackhawk down, in college training exercise: 2 dead

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.”

video: bush: i personally authorized torture of ksm

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.”

http://judiciary.house.gov/hearings/printers/110th/IPres090113.pdf [2.3mb PDF]

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.

more combat = more suicides + a reinstated draft

army suicides rise as time spent in combat increases
from usa today: Josh Barber, former combat soldier, parked outside the Army hospital here one morning last August armed for war... "He went to Fort Lewis to kill himself to prove a point," Kelly Barber says. "'Here I am. I was a soldier. You guys didn't help me.'"... Barber's suicide is part of a larger story — the record number of soldiers, Marines and combat veterans who have killed themselves in recent years, at a time when the Pentagon has stretched deployments for combat troops to meet President Bush's security plans in Iraq. The Marine Corps reported 41 actual or suspected suicides in 2008, a 20% increase over 33 in 2007. In 2007, the Army counted 115 suicides, the most since tracking began in 1980. By October 2008, that record had been surpassed with 117 soldier suicides. Final numbers for 2008 have not been released.

blankley: reinstate draft for pakistan invasion
from raw replay: Tony Blankley joined Fox’s Gretchen Carlson and Steve Doocy to talk about his new book, “American Grit.”

hr393: universal national service act of 2007

from beware of this: To require all persons in the United States between the ages of 18 and 42 to perform national service, either as a member of the uniformed services or in civilian service in furtherance of the national defense and homeland security, to authorize the induction of persons in the uniformed services during wartime to meet end-strength requirements of the uniformed services, to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to make permanent the favorable treatment afforded combat pay under the earned income tax credit, and for other purposes.

from congresspedia: The Universal National Service Act of 2007 (H.R.393) was introduced to the United States House of Representatives on January 10, 2007 by Rep. Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.). It proposed the requirement that all residents in the United States aged between 18 and 42 carry out national service, and be available for conscription during wartime. It would allow no deferments after age 20...

military accepting more ex-cons

from military.com: More recruits with criminal records, including felony convictions, are being allowed to join the U.S. Army and Marine Corps, as the armed services cope with a dwindling pool of volunteers during wartime.

The military routinely grants waivers to take in recruits who have criminal records, medical problems or low aptitude scores that would otherwise disqualify them from service. Most are moral waivers, which include some felonies, misdemeanors, and traffic and drug offenses.

Defense Department statistics show that the number of Army and Marine recruits needing waivers for felonies and serious misdemeanors, including minor drug offenses, has grown since 2003. Some recruits may get more than one waiver.

The Army granted more than double the number of waivers for felonies and misdemeanors in 2006 than in 2003...

"Our armed forces are under incredible strain, and the only way that they can fill their recruiting quotas is by lowering their standards," said Rep. Marty Meehan, a Massachusetts Democrat who has been working to get additional data from the Pentagon. "By lowering standards, we are endangering the rest of our armed forces and sending the wrong message to potential recruits across the country."

gloom & doom in 2007?

from ap/yahoo: Another terrorist attack, a warmer planet, death and destruction from a natural disaster. These are among Americans' grim predictions for the United States in 2007.

Only a minority of people think the U.S. will go to war with Iran or North Korea over those countries' nuclear ambitions. An overwhelming majority of those surveyed think Congress will raise the federal minimum wage. One-third see hope for a cure to cancer.

Six in 10 people think the U.S. will be the victim of a terrorist attack. An identical percentage thinks it likely that a biological or nuclear weapon will be unleashed somewhere else in the world.

Seventy percent of people in the U.S. predict a major natural disaster in the country and an equal percentage expects worsening global warming. Also, 29 percent think it likely that the U.S. will withdraw its troops from Iraq.

Among other predictions for the U.S. in 2007:

_35 percent predict the military draft will be reinstated.

_35 percent predict a cure for cancer will be found.

_25 percent anticipate the second coming of Jesus Christ.

_19 percent think scientists are likely to find evidence of extraterrestrial life.

selective service plans 'readiness' tests for draft

from komo: The Selective Service System is making plans to test its draft machinery in case Congress and President Bush need it, even though the White House says it doesn't want to bring back the draft.

The agency is planning a comprehensive test - not run since 1998 - of its military draft systems, a Selective Service official said. The test itself would not likely occur until 2009.

Scott Campbell, the service's director for operations and chief information officer, cautioned that the "readiness exercise" does not mean the agency is gearing up to resume the draft.

"We're kind of like a fire extinguisher. We sit on a shelf," Campbell told The Associated Press. "Unless the president and Congress get together and say, 'Turn the machine on' ... we're still on the shelf."

Veterans Affairs Secretary Jim Nicholson prompted speculation about the draft Thursday when he told reporters in New York that "society would benefit" if the U.S. were to bring back the draft. Later he issued a statement saying he does not support reinstituting a draft.

The administration has for years forcefully opposed bringing back the draft, and the White House said Thursday that policy has not changed and no proposal to reinstate the draft is being considered.

selective service: ready for a draft

from cnn: Although Congress is unlikely to follow calls from a top Democrat to bring back the military draft, the United States does have a plan, if necessary, aimed at inducting millions of young men for service.

The Selective Service System, an agency independent of the Defense Department, says it's ready to respond quickly to any crisis that would threaten to overwhelm the current all-volunteer military.

"We're the fire department," said spokesman Pat Schuback at the service headquarters in Arlington, Virginia.

"We're prepared to do the mission with whatever time period we're asked to do it in. Our current plan is 193 days and that was based on manpower analysis."

With an active list of more than 15 million names, Schuback said an estimated 93 percent of all men in the United States between 18 and 26 have registered for the Selective Service, as required by law.

Chris Baker, 20, of Decatur, Georgia, said he wouldn't support a draft under any circumstances.

"I don't believe it's right to send people who don't really want to go fight for the country," Baker said. "I probably wouldn't go, but I know that'd I have to go to jail for that. That's probably what I would do -- sit in jail."

But 25-year-old Donnie Deerman of West Blocton, Alabama, said he would feel obligated to participate in a military draft.

"I'd have to do it. My dad did two tours of duty for Vietnam and for this country," Deerman said. "I wouldn't want to leave my kids behind, but I wouldn't argue about it."

While U.S. commanders insist sending more U.S. troops is not the answer in Iraq, they concede they really couldn't maintain a much bigger force than the 150,000 deployed there now because the U.S. military is just too small.

Rep. Charles Rangel of New York, the Democrat who likely will head the powerful House Ways and Means Committee in the next congressional session, said Sunday on CBS's "Face the Nation" he plans to propose a new military draft next year.