December 8, 2013

Cellphone data spying: It's not just the NSA

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/12/08/cellphone-data-spying-nsa-police/3902809/

Cellphone data spying: It's not just the NSA
John Kelly, USATODAY
6:15 a.m. EST December 8, 2013

The National Security Agency isn't the only government entity secretly collecting data from people's cellphones. Local police are increasingly scooping it up, too.

Armed with new technologies, including mobile devices that tap into cellphone data in real time, dozens of local and state police agencies are capturing information about thousands of cellphone users at a time, whether they are targets of an investigation or not, according to public records obtained by USA TODAY and Gannett newspapers and TV stations.

The records, from more than 125 police agencies in 33 states, reveal:

About one in four law-enforcement agencies have used a tactic known as a "tower dump," which gives police data about the identity, activity and location of any phone that connects to the targeted cellphone towers over a set span of time, usually an hour or two. A typical dump covers multiple towers, and wireless providers, and can net information from thousands of phones.

December 8, 2013

Pentagon sees interest in F-35 from Gulf

http://www.thenews.com.pk/Todays-News-1-218988-Pentagon-sees-interest-in-F-35-from-Gulf



Pentagon sees interest in F-35 from Gulf
Sunday, December 08, 2013
From Print Edition

WASHINGTON: Strong demand from Gulf countries for Lockheed Martin Corp’s F-35 fighter jet has prompted Washington to grapple with the thorny question about releasing the jet to the region sooner than expected, a senior US defence official said.

Washington has already approved sales of the new stealth fighter to a range of allies, including Turkey, South Korea, Japan and Israel, but sales to the Gulf require a deeper review given US policy guidelines that call for Israel to maintain a qualitative military edge in the Middle East. Talk about selling the plane to the United Arab Emirates and other US allies in the Gulf came into the open during the Dubai air show last month, with potential buyers weighing whether to buy existing planes or wait for the US government to release the new radar-evading F-35.Government officials and industry experts have said they do not expect Washington to allow the sale of the F-35 to Gulf countries until around 2020, just short of five years after Israel receives its first F-35 fighters in 2016.

The senior US official said the depth of interest in the new fighter - the Pentagon’s most expensive weapons programmeme - from Gulf countries came as a surprise to some in the US government. “We in the Defence Department now recognize that there is significant interest there,” said the official, who was not authorized to speak publicly. “We knew eventually we were going to have to face that question, but it’s come upon us a little sooner than we thought and we’re going to have to deal with it.”

Decisions about releasing sensitive technologies for sale to foreign countries are made by the State Department in consultation with the Pentagon and other government agencies. “Eventually we’re going to have to make a decision. We have a very structured process in place for doing that. And it takes a little bit of time,” said the official. “But we are going to have to make decisions on a tighter timeline than we thought.”



US government officials and weapons makers have put a bigger focus on foreign arms sales in recent years as a way to offset declines in projected US military spending, and buttress the Obama administration’s drive to build partnerships and help US allies beef up their own military capacities. The United States is particularly concerned about reassuring Gulf nations that Washington remains committed to Middle East security despite differences over Iran and Syria.

December 8, 2013

CDC: Water at Camp Lejeune linked to birth defects

http://hamptonroads.com/2013/12/cdc-water-camp-lejeune-linked-birth-defects

CDC: Water at Camp Lejeune linked to birth defects
By Allen G. Breed and Michael Biesecker
The Associated Press
© December 8, 2013

RALEIGH, N.C.

A long-awaited study by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows a link between tainted tap water at a U.S. Marine Corps base in North Carolina and increased risk of serious birth defects and childhood cancers.

The study released late Thursday by the CDC's Agency for Toxic Substances & Disease Registry is based on a small sample size and cannot prove exposure to the chemicals caused individual illnesses. It surveyed the parents of 12,598 children born at Camp Lejeune between 1968 and 1985, the year most contaminated drinking water wells were closed.

The study looked back in time and was designed to see if there was a link between exposure to certain chemicals and certain health problems that developed later. This type of study is often used to investigate disease outbreaks, when health officials are trying to identify possible reasons for the illnesses.

The study concludes that babies born to mothers who drank the tap water while pregnant were four times more likely than women in similar circumstances who did not consume the water to have such serious birth defects as spina bifida. Babies whose mothers were exposed also had a slightly elevated risk of such childhood cancers as leukemia, according to the results.

December 8, 2013

A glance at why the US is buying Russian copters

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_AFGHANISTAN_US_RUSSIA_COPTER_DEAL_GLANCE?SITE=VANOV&SECTION=BUSINESS&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

A glance at why the US is buying Russian copters
Dec 7, 7:58 AM EST

Some answers to questions about how the United States ended up buying more than $1 billion in new helicopters from the Russian arms export agency that has supplied weapons to Syria's military.

-Why Russia? Defense Department officials have maintained that Afghanistan's national security forces need heavy-duty helicopters capable of moving troops and supplies in rugged conditions, and that Russia's Mi-17 is best suited for the mission. The Afghans have years of experience flying the Russian chopper.

-Why couldn't an American-made helicopter do the job? Turns out one actually could. A top-secret Pentagon study found that the Chinook, a heavy-lift helicopter built by Boeing in Pennsylvania, was the most cost-effective option for the Afghans. Congressional critics of the Mi-17 contract said the Pentagon used the study to prove the necessity of buying Mi-17s and never mentioned the Chinook. The Pentagon declined to speak on the record about the study or provide any details about its conclusions.

-What is Rosoboronexport? That's the Russian arms export agency the U.S. signed a contract with a few years ago for the Mi-17s. Doing business with Rosoboronexport before then was forbidden. The Bush White House had imposed penalties against the agency in 2006 after it determined Rosoboronexport had provided sensitive military technology to Iran and Syria. The Obama administration lifted the sanctions in 2010, one of a number of diplomatic moves aimed at "resetting" relations between the former Cold War adversaries.

December 8, 2013

Admitted child abuser keeps his Navy career

http://hamptonroads.com/2013/12/admitted-child-abuser-keeps-his-navy-career

Admitted child abuser keeps his Navy career
By Bill Sizemore
The Virginian-Pilot
© December 8, 2013

VIRGINIA BEACH

When a Navy officer was accused of sexually molesting two of his children, city social workers investigated and concluded that the allegations were credible. They placed his name on the State Child Abuse and Neglect Registry.

He was forbidden under court order from going within 2 miles of the home, school or workplace of any of his four children until they turn 18.

But when the Navy examined the same allegations, the result was the opposite. The officer was cleared. He has faced no criminal prosecution. To the contrary, he has been promoted and allowed to stay in his $96,000-a-year job unhindered.

Meanwhile, the Navy lieutenant is divorcing his wife, who has been left destitute. The family home in Virginia Beach has been lost to foreclosure. The wife and four children have moved five times in four years, ending up in a cockroach-infested motel room at the Oceanfront, where they live among the homeless and drug addicts.

December 8, 2013

Army to boot convicted sex offenders with new directive

http://kdhnews.com/military/army-to-boot-convicted-sex-offenders-with-new-directive/article_751841d0-5fcb-11e3-a290-001a4bcf6878.html

Army to boot convicted sex offenders with new directive
Posted: Sunday, December 8, 2013 4:30 am
Chris McGuinness | Herald staff writer

The Army is deciding how it will move forward with plans to boot sex offenders from its ranks, amid reports of increased instances of sexual assault.

Army Secretary John McHugh issued a Nov. 7 directive that called for the discharge of all soldiers convicted of a sexual offense.

“This directive establishes new policy to ensure that the decision to retain any soldier convicted of a sex offense is fully informed and in the Army’s best interest,” the directive stated.

According to the directive, separation proceedings for enlisted soldiers will begin even if they were evaluated for retention and allowed to stay after their convictions. Commissioned and warrant officers will not face separation proceedings if they were already evaluated and retained after their convictions.

December 8, 2013

‘Free Trade’ a Serious Threat

http://watchingamerica.com/News/227667/free-trade-a-serious-threat/

‘Free Trade’ a Serious Threat
La Hora, Guatemala
By Centro de Colaboraciones Solidarias (Javier Caño Tamayo)
Translated By Miken Trogdon
5 December 2013
Edited by Gillian Palmer

~snip~

When something has leaked out, only the “great advantages of the treaty” have been mentioned. Increasing the GDP of the European Union by 1 percent, 110 billion Euros in European taxes, and $95 billion for the U.S. — these are macroeconomic calculations that never factor in negative working, social or environmental consequences.

In Latin America during the ‘90s, the U.S. wanted to establish a free trade zone with Central and South America. With the mantra that free trade enriches everything, that multilateral treaty (that was never adopted) consisted of imposing the neoliberal creed and measures of the Washington Consensus — policies for the benefit of the economic and financial elite.

So the U.S. negotiated and signed bilateral treaties with Colombia, Peru and Chile, and the treaty with Mexico and Canada. As the media testify, this last treaty had devastating consequences for the industrial and agricultural sectors in Mexico, provoked an intense and abundant migration to the U.S. and limited the possibilities for development in Mexico. It wasn’t much better for Peru, Colombia and Chile, who have not eliminated historic poverty and have seen their levels of inequality grow.

We have another record: The negotiation of the free trade treaty between the U.S. and 11 Pacific coastal countries, from Japan to New Zealand. WikiLeaks has obtained and published a rough copy of that Transpacific Association Treaty. It doesn’t look good. For starters, it expects Internet service providers to be police and judges that eliminate web content if they believe that it violates copyright laws — plus a type of international court in defense of said laws that will ignore sovereignty and national courts.

December 8, 2013

Paul Brill: ‘Financial Distress Will Force US To Reduce Armed Forces’

http://watchingamerica.com/News/227491/financial-distress-will-force-us-to-reduce-armed-forces/

American support for Europe is no longer automatic.

Paul Brill: ‘Financial Distress Will Force US To Reduce Armed Forces’
Volkskrant, The Netherlands
By Paul Brill
Translated By Nikki Rosenberg
23 November 2013
Edited by Jane Lee

On my way to Brussels for several briefings at the NATO headquarters, I read a noticeable article in the magazine Foreign Affairs about the crucial decisions the Pentagon is facing. In the next 10 years it will need to cut at least $500 billion in spending. That is a five with 11 zeros.

Cindy Williams, head of the Security Studies Program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology,* calculated that the damage this threatens to bring to the general defensibility of the American forces can only stay within bounds if the current excessive royal salaries and especially the medical coverage for the military are decreased.

Whether this will be successful is definitely questionable. Associations of soldiers and veterans shape an influential lobby in Washington. Neither Democrats nor Republicans want to carry the odium for not supporting their men and women in uniform. But even if that resistance can be broken, ground forces and the Marine Corps will have to decrease their personal scale by approximately 15 percent, according to Williams.

They will also have to be careful when producing new weapon systems. The White House and the Pentagon have claimed that East Asia is the strategic pivot, and that necessarily means that the Marine Corps should be strengthened. This is because the unfolding of power in that part of the world mostly has a maritime angle.

December 8, 2013

The Mandela Problem of the AWM Wing of the GOP

http://www.juancole.com/2013/12/mandela-problem-wing.html

The Mandela Problem of the AWM Wing of the GOP
By Juan Cole | Dec. 8, 2013

The US Republican Party has become the party of the angry white man (AWM) in the United States, which is a large part of the reason it has had trouble winning presidential elections. There are more female than male voters, and if you add white females to Asians, Latinos, African-Americans, gays and agnostics, you have a natural majority for the Democrats.

The modern Republican Party was a product of the Nixon strategy to pick up southern whites for the GOP when the Voting Rights Act had swung African-Americans to the Democrats. Apparently in South Carolina and Georgia it is awkward for whites and blacks to go to the same church or meet in the same party convention. In 2008 when the Republicans took a real drubbing at the polls, the deep south was the one place they survived.

In the past year Republican-dominated state legislatures, freed from DOJ oversight by Supreme Court chief justice John Roberts and conservative colleagues, have rushed to pass laws discouraging minorities from voting.

So the funeral today of South African leader Nelson Mandela has presented a conundrum to the AWM wing of the Republican Party. Mandela is universally admired for the role he played in national reconciliation as of the fall of white Apartheid (keeping races Apart) rule in 1994. The GOP has to at least try to be gracious, or it will look mean-spirited. But they can’t help themselves.

December 8, 2013

Solar would be Cheaper: US Pentagon has spent $8 Trillion to Guard Gulf Oil

http://www.juancole.com/2013/12/cheaper-pentagon-trillion.html

Solar would be Cheaper: US Pentagon has spent $8 Trillion to Guard Gulf Oil
By Juan Cole | Dec. 8, 2013

~snip~

It has cost the United States $8 trillion to provide military security in the Gulf since 1976. According to Roger Stern, a Princeton economist, the US has spent as much on Gulf security as it spent on the entire Cold War with the Soviet Union! In recent years through 2010 it has been $400 billion a year, though the US withdrawal from Iraq at the end of 2011 and the gradual withdrawal from Afghanistan this year and next presumably means that the figure is substantially reduced. Still, we have bases in Kuwait, Qatar and elsewhere, and a Naval HQ in Bahrain, none of which is cheap. If it were $200 billion a year, that is a fair chunk of the budget deficit the Republican Party keeps complaining about. And if we could get that $8 trillion back, it would pay down half of the national debt.

Some argue that since the US itself imports relatively little petroleum from the Gulf, we’re crazy to pay for policing it. But this argument seems to me not the right one for several reasons. First, petroleum is more or less a single global market (with a spread of say $10 in different spot markets). If the Gulf couldn’t export petroleum, it would put the price up so much that everyone’s economy would collapse, including that of the US. Second, US policy has been to encourage Germany and Japan not to militarize, in return for an American security umbrella. American geopolitical power benefits from having fewer credible rivals, and that is part of what we are paying for. The US has to police the Gulf if Japan is to stay strong in the face of a rising China, and if Germany is not to be Ukrainized.

The right argument is that we shouldn’t be using petroleum and nor should our allies. The supreme tragedy is that the US has bankrupted itself ensuring military security for the oil-producing nations of the Gulf when oil production is destroying the world. We need a crash program to get the world off petroleum, some 70% of which is used to power automobiles. People should be given incentives to move back to cities so they don’t have to commute. Better public transport is needed. Portland is an example of how a concerted push can change the urban transportation situation quickly. 8% of commuters in Portland now get to work on bicycle, 10 times more than any other American city. Portland adopted a global warming action plan in 1993 and has renewed it, and demonstrates what can be accomplished in only 20 years if a city puts its mind to it. And, we should move as quickly as possible to hybrid plugins or where practical electric vehicles (EVs).

Moreover, we should be pressuring our allies in this direction (Germany doesn’t need any encouragement but Japan and others do). Otherwise we are locking the world into as much as a 9 degrees Fahrenheit increase in average surface temperature over the next century, which could well destabilize our climate. And we are paying through the nose for the privilege! It would be like paying hundreds of billions of dollars a year to ensure that people can get access to meth, which then ruins their health.