nypd wants to jam cell phones during terror attackfrom 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
darpa chief staying on, for now
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
fema starts pr campaign with new channel on youtube
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.
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