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Watchlist purgatory

Sunday, March 23, 2008 8:45 PM
I missed a couple of stories this week on the shoddy, ineffective, and inaccurate compilation of federal "terrorism" watch lists, and the consequences of unfettered government surveillance without appropriate oversight. First, this story details two reports
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The clueless Michael Chertoff speaks

Tuesday, January 22, 2008 8:54 PM
In 2004, the Department of Homeland "Security" passed a regulation which would have required anyone entering the US from Canada to provide proof of identity and citizenship: either a passport or a drivers' license plus a birth certificate. Congress enacted
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Bush protects the wrong people, and TSA doesn't protect anybody

Saturday, December 29, 2007 4:03 PM
Two (mostly) unrelated stories caught my eye today; both have to do with protecting the wrong interests. First, President Bush has refused to sign a defense spending bill; his reasons were curious : And then Friday, with no warning, a vacationing Bush
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ORNL data theft and me

Sunday, December 09, 2007 10:49 PM
Earlier this week, it was reported that hackers had compromised a database inside Oak Ridge National Laboratory; this database contained personal data on all visitors to ORNL from 1990 through 2004. The names, dates of birth, Social Security numbers,
Posted by RussMcBee | 2 Comments

Changing definitions

Monday, November 12, 2007 9:48 PM
In 1999, Scott McNealy, the notoriously arrogant and self-absorbed chairman of Sun Microsystems, said , "You have no privacy. Get over it." His profits come first. Your privacy is a remotely distant second. His greed trumps your rights; after all, he
Posted by RussMcBee | 5 Comments

Punching Monet

Sunday, October 07, 2007 9:29 PM
People are stupid : Intruders, apparently drunk, broke into the Orsay Museum in Paris early today and punched a hole in a renowned work by Impressionist painter Claude Monet, Le Pont d'Argenteuil. Here's the wound: In addition to the obvious stupidity
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Idiotic police overreaction, verse 7,319

Monday, August 27, 2007 9:25 PM
Two members of a running club face felony charges in Connecticut after using flour to outline a running path. No, really : Two people who sprinkled flour in a parking lot to mark a trail for their offbeat running club inadvertently caused a bioterrorism
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A brief reprieve from stupid security

Friday, July 20, 2007 11:52 AM
The TSA has finally realized that confiscating lighters is a waste of resources and doesn't improve security: Federal aviation authorities have decided to stop enforcing a two-year-old rule against taking cigarette lighters on airplanes, concluding that
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Lie detectors for air travelers

Thursday, July 05, 2007 11:23 PM
The circus of security theater in this country gets more and more absurd all the time. The Pentagon is soliciting bids on a proposal to screen all travelers in the US using lie-detector technology. This screening is envisioned for use in airports, border
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Huge data theft in Ohio

Saturday, June 16, 2007 11:04 PM
Anybody who works for Ohio or who receives benefits in Ohio is at risk of identity theft : The names and Social Security numbers of all 64,000 Ohio state employees were stolen last weekend from a state agency intern who left a backup data storage device
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Tennessee smacks down REAL ID

Tuesday, June 12, 2007 3:35 PM
Yesterday, the Tennessee state House and Senate voted unanimously to ignore the REAL ID Act . This makes Tennessee the 16th state to do so. If it were implemented, the REAL ID Act would force the states to issue what amounts to a national ID card . The
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Intelligence screw-up of the year

Sunday, June 10, 2007 11:15 AM
An official within the Office of the Director of National Intelligence has accidentally revealed the total US intelligence budget , which has up to now remained a state secret. A Powerpoint presentation was published on the agency's website, and some
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Today's episode of "Security Theater"

Friday, June 08, 2007 12:40 PM
As a consequence of post-9/11 fear mongering, we ended up with a new law that requires Americans traveling to Canada, Mexico, or the Caribbean to present a passport when re-entering the country. Lawmakers insisted that the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative
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Growing opposition to the Real ID Act

Friday, June 01, 2007 10:35 PM
States are refusing to comply with the Real ID Act, two Senate resolutions seek to repeal it, liberal and conservative groups are pronouncing it a failure, and James " Tex " Sensenbrenner is spitting nails in frustration, angry that his totalitarian proclivities
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Stupid programming reveals SSNs of CoverTN applicants

Saturday, May 26, 2007 5:07 PM
From today's News-Sentinel : A computer error at the state's new Cover Tennessee health insurance program caused some applicants' Social Security numbers to become visible to others, officials said Friday. About 279 applicants from mid-February to early
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Real ID Act being reconsidered

Wednesday, May 09, 2007 8:58 PM
Finally. The Senate Judiciary Committee started hearings yesterday examining the implications of the Real ID Act, which would turn state drivers' licenses into de facto national ID cards. If committee chairman Patrick Leahy has his way, this ridiculous
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A Holocaust survivor is labeled a security threat. For dropping acid in 1974.

Wednesday, April 25, 2007 11:11 PM
Unfortunately, this is not hard to believe any more: A Canadian psychotherapist who conducted research with LSD was denied entry to the United States after a border guard Googled his work. The psychotherapist is a Holocaust survivor whose parents miraculously
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Astroglide sticks it to their customers

Tuesday, April 24, 2007 9:38 PM
In another stunningly stupid security lapse, the company that makes the sexual lubricant Astroglide has accidentally exposed the privates of 260,000 people, including their names, addresses, and the products they ordered. This database was accidentally
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Isn't the Cold War over?

Monday, April 23, 2007 6:31 PM
Just who exactly are we arming against with this ridiculous missle shield boondoggle ? It's one thing to waste $10 billion a year quixotically developing a missile-defense system; President Bush clearly announced from the get-go that he was determined
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Insecure USDA database leaks up to 150,000 SSNs

Sunday, April 22, 2007 2:31 PM
Apparently, an online database maintained by the USDA and the Census Bureau accidentally revealed as many as 150,000 Social Security numbers to anyone searching the site. A bored farmer decided to Google herself and stumbled upon 30,000 SSNs in the process.
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