CNET learns the FBI is quietly pushing its plan to force surveillance backdoors on social networks, VoIP, and Web e-mail providers, and that the bureau is asking Internet companies not to oppose a law making those backdoors mandatory.

by Declan McCullagh

The FBI is asking Internet companies not to oppose a controversial proposal that would require firms, including Microsoft, Facebook, Yahoo, and Google, to build in backdoors for government surveillance.
In meetings with industry representatives, the White House, and U.S. senators, senior FBI officials argue the dramatic shift in communication from the telephone system to the Internet has made it far more difficult for agents to wiretap Americans suspected of illegal activities, CNET has learned.
The FBI general counsel's office has drafted a proposed law that the bureau claims is the best solution: requiring that social-networking Web sites and providers of VoIP, instant messaging, and Web e-mail alter their code to ensure their products are wiretap-friendly.
"If you create a service, product, or app that allows a user to communicate, you get the privilege of adding that extra coding," an industry representative who has reviewed the FBI's draft legislation told CNET. The requirements apply only if a threshold of a certain number of users is exceeded, according to a second industry representative briefed on it.
The FBI's proposal would amend a 1994 law, called the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act, or CALEA, that currently applies only to telecommunications providers, not Web companies. The Federal Communications Commission extended CALEA in 2004 to apply to broadband networks.

FBI Director Robert Mueller is not asking companies to support the bureau's CALEA expansion, but instead is "asking what can go in it to minimize impacts," one participant in the discussions says. That included a scheduled trip this month to the West Coast -- which was subsequently postponed -- to meet with Internet companies' CEOs and top lawyers.
A further expansion of CALEA is unlikely to be applauded by tech companies, their customers, or privacy groups. Apple (which distributes iChat and FaceTime) is currently lobbying on the topic, according to disclosure documents filed with Congress two weeks ago. Microsoft (which owns Skype and Hotmail) says its lobbyists are following the topic because it's "an area of ongoing interest to us." Google, Yahoo, and Facebook declined to comment.
In February 2011, CNET was the first to report that then-FBI general counsel Valerie Caproni was planning to warn Congress of what the bureau calls its "Going Dark" problem, meaning that its surveillance capabilities may diminish as technology advances. Caproni singled out "Web-based e-mail, social-networking sites, and peer-to-peer communications" as problems that have left the FBI "increasingly unable" to conduct the same kind of wiretapping it could in the past.
In addition to the FBI's legislative proposal, there are indications that the Federal Communications Commission is considering reinterpreting CALEA to demand that products that allow video or voice chat over the Internet -- from Skype to Google Hangouts to Xbox Live -- include surveillance backdoors to help the FBI with its "Going Dark" program. CALEA applies to technologies that are a "substantial replacement" for the telephone system.
"We have noticed a massive uptick in the amount of FCC CALEA inquiries and enforcement proceedings within the last year, most of which are intended to address 'Going Dark' issues," says Christopher Canter, lead compliance counsel at the Marashlian and Donahue law firm, which specializes in CALEA. "This generally means that the FCC is laying the groundwork for regulatory action."
Subsentio, a Colorado-based company that sells CALEA compliance products and worked with the Justice Department when it asked the FCC to extend CALEA seven years ago, says the FBI's draft legislation was prepared with the compliance costs of Internet companies in mind.
In a statement to CNET, Subsentio President Steve Bock said that the measure provides a "safe harbor" for Internet companies as long as the interception techniques are "'good enough' solutions approved by the attorney general."
Another option that would be permitted, Bock said, is if companies "supply the government with proprietary information to decode information" obtained through a wiretap or other type of lawful interception, rather than "provide a complex system for converting the information into an industry standard format."
A representative for the FBI told CNET today that: "(There are) significant challenges posed to the FBI in the accomplishment of our diverse mission. These include those that result from the advent of rapidly changing technology. A growing gap exists between the statutory authority of law enforcement to intercept electronic communications pursuant to court order and our practical ability to intercept those communications. The FBI believes that if this gap continues to grow, there is a very real risk of the government 'going dark,' resulting in an increased risk to national security and public safety."
Next steps
The FBI's legislation, which has been approved by the Department of Justice, is one component of what the bureau has internally called the "National Electronic Surveillance Strategy." Documents obtained by the Electronic Frontier Foundation show that since 2006, Going Dark has been a worry inside the bureau, which employed 107 full-time equivalent people on the project as of 2009, commissioned a RAND study, and sought extensive technical input from the bureau's secretive Operational Technology Division in Quantico, Va. The division boasts of developing the "latest and greatest investigative technologies to catch terrorists and criminals."
But the White House, perhaps less inclined than the bureau to initiate what would likely be a bruising privacy battle, has not sent the FBI's CALEA amendments to Capitol Hill, even though they were expected last year. (A representative for Sen. Patrick Leahy, head of the Judiciary committee and original author of CALEA, said today that "we have not seen any proposals from the administration.")
Mueller said in December that the CALEA amendments will be "coordinated through the interagency process," meaning they would need to receive administration-wide approval.
Stewart Baker, a partner at Steptoe and Johnson who is the former assistant secretary for policy at Homeland Security, said the FBI has "faced difficulty getting its legislative proposals through an administration staffed in large part by people who lived through the CALEA and crypto fights of the Clinton administration, and who are jaundiced about law enforcement regulation of technology -- overly jaundiced, in my view."
On the other hand, as a senator in the 1990s, Vice President Joe Biden introduced a bill at the FBI's behest that echoes the bureau's proposal today. Biden's bill said companies should "ensure that communications systems permit the government to obtain the plain text contents of voice, data, and other communications when appropriately authorized by law." (Biden's legislation spurred the public release of PGP, one of the first easy-to-use encryption utilities.)
The Justice Department did not respond to a request for comment. An FCC representative referred questions to the Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau, which declined to comment.
From the FBI's perspective, expanding CALEA to cover VoIP, Web e-mail, and social networks isn't expanding wiretapping law: If a court order is required today, one will be required tomorrow as well. Rather, it's making sure that a wiretap is guaranteed to produce results.
But that nuanced argument could prove radioactive among an Internet community already skeptical of government efforts in the wake of protests over the Stop Online Piracy Act, or SOPA, in January, and the CISPA data-sharing bill last month. And even if startups or hobbyist projects are exempted if they stay below the user threshold, it's hardly clear how open-source or free software projects such as Linphone, KPhone, and Zfone -- or Nicholas Merrill's proposal for a privacy-protective Internet provider -- will comply.
The FBI's CALEA amendments could be particularly troublesome for Zfone. Phil Zimmermann, the creator of PGP who became a privacy icon two decades ago after being threatened with criminal prosecution, announced Zfone in 2005 as a way to protect the privacy of VoIP users. Zfone scrambles the entire conversation from end to end.
"I worry about the government mandating backdoors into these kinds of communications," says Jennifer Lynch, an attorney at the San Francisco-based Electronic Frontier Foundation, which has obtained documents from the FBI relating to its proposed expansion of CALEA.
As CNET was the first to report in 2003, representatives of the FBI's Electronic Surveillance Technology Section in Chantilly, Va., began quietly lobbying the FCC to force broadband providers to provide more-efficient, standardized surveillance facilities. The FCC approved that requirement a year later, sweeping in Internet phone companies that tie into the existing telecommunications system. It was upheld in 2006 by a federal appeals court.
But the FCC never granted the FBI's request to rewrite CALEA to cover instant messaging and VoIP programs that are not "managed"--meaning peer-to-peer programs like Apple's Facetime, iChat/AIM, Gmail's video chat, and Xbox Live's in-game chat that do not use the public telephone network.
If there is going to be a CALEA rewrite, "industry would like to see any new legislation include some protections against disclosure of any trade secrets or other confidential information that might be shared with law enforcement, so that they are not released, for example, during open court proceedings," says Roszel Thomsen, a partner at Thomsen and Burke who represents technology companies and is a member of an FBI study group. He suggests that such language would make it "somewhat easier" for both industry and the police to respond to new technologies.
But industry groups aren't necessarily going to roll over without a fight. TechAmerica, a trade association that includes representatives of HP, eBay, IBM, Qualcomm, and other tech companies on its board of directors, has been lobbying against a CALEA expansion. Such a law would "represent a sea change in government surveillance law, imposing significant compliance costs on both traditional (think local exchange carriers) and nontraditional (think social media) communications companies," TechAmerica said in e-mail today.
Ross Schulman, public policy and regulatory counsel at the Computer and Communications Industry Association, adds: "New methods of communication should not be subject to a government green light before they can be used."

"Going Dark" timeline

June 2008: FBI Director Robert Mueller and his aides brief Sens. Barbara Mikulski, Richard Shelby, and Ted Stevens on "Going Dark."
June 2008: FBI Assistant Director Kerry Haynes holds "Going Dark" briefing for Senate appropriations subcommittee and offers a "classified version of this briefing" at Quantico.
August 2008: Mueller briefed on Going Dark at strategy meeting.
September 2008: FBI completes a "high-level explanation" of CALEA amendment package.
May 2009: FBI Assistant Director Rich Haley briefs Senate Intelligence committee and Mikulsi staffers on how bureau is "dealing with the 'Going Dark' issue.'" Mikulski plans to bring up "Going Dark" at a closed-door hearing the following week.
May 2009: Haley briefs Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger, currently the top Democrat on House Intelligence, who would later co-author CISPA.
September 2008: FBI staff briefed by RAND, which was commissioned to "look at" Going Dark.
November 2008: FBI Assistant Director Marcus Thomas, who oversees the Quantico-based Operational Technology Division, prepares briefing for President-Elect Obama's transition team.
December 2008: FBI intelligence analyst in Communications Analysis Unit begins analysis of VoIP surveillance.
February 2009: FBI memo to all field offices asks for anecdotal information about cases where "investigations have been negatively impacted" by lack of data retention or Internet interception.
March 2009: Mueller's advisory board meets for a full-day briefing on Going Dark.
April 2009: FBI distributes presentation for White House meeting on Going Dark.
April 2009: FBI warns that the Going Dark project is "yellow," meaning limited progress, because of "new administration personnel not being in place for briefings."
April 2009: FBI general counsel's office reports that the bureau's Data Interception Technology Unit has "compiled a list of FISA dockets... that the FBI has been unable to fully implement." That's a reference to telecom companies that are already covered by the FCC's expansion of CALEA.
May 2009: FBI's internal Wikipedia-knockoff Bureaupedia entry for "National Lawful Intercept Strategy" includes section on "modernize lawful intercept laws."
May 2009: FBI e-mail boasts that the bureau's plan has "gotten attention" from industry, but "we need to strengthen the business case on this."
June 2009: FBI's Office of Congressional Affairs prepares Going Dark briefing for closed-door session of Senate Appropriations subcommittee.
July 2010: FBI e-mail says the "Going Dark Working Group (GDWG) continues to ask for examples from Cvber investigations where investigators have had problems" because of new technologies.
September 2010: FBI staff operations specialist in its Counterterrorism Division sends e-mail on difficulties in "obtaining information from Internet Service Providers and social-networking sites."

TSA Screeners Arrested for Drug Trafficking at LAX

The screeners allegedly took cash to allow shipments of cocaine, methamphetamine and marijuana through X-ray machines.

TSA Screeners Arrested for Drug Trafficking at LAX

The screeners allegedly took cash to allow shipments of cocaine, methamphetamine and marijuana through X-ray machines.

KTLA News

6:45 a.m. EDT, April 26, 2012

LOS ANGELES (KTLA) -- Two former and two current Transportation Security Administration screeners at Los Angeles International Airport have been arrested on federal narcotics trafficking and bribery charges.

The screeners are charged with allegedly taking cash payments to allow large shipments of cocaine, methamphetamine and marijuana to pass through the X-ray machines at TSA security checkpoints.

In addition to the current and former TSA officials, one drug courier is currently in state custody, and another drug courier is expected to surrender tomorrow. Authorities are continuing to search for another alleged drug courier named in a 22-count grand jury indictment that was unsealed this morning.

The indictment outlines five specific incidents in which current and former TSA employees took payments of as much as $2,400 to allow suitcases filled with drugs to pass through X-ray machines while TSA screeners looked the other way.

"Airport screeners act as a vital checkpoint for homeland security, and air travelers should believe in the fundamental integrity of security systems at our nation's airports," said United States Attorney Andre Birotte Jr.

"The allegations in this case describe a significant breakdown of the screening system through the conduct of individuals who placed greed above the nation's security needs."

The indictment names the following individuals:

Naral Richardson, 30, of Los Angeles, who was arrested Wednesday morning. Richardson, who was terminated by TSA in 2010, is accused of orchestrating five incidents in which TSA screeners agreed to waive narcotics through security checkpoints.

John Whitfield, 23, of Los Angeles, who was arrested Tuesday night. Whitfield, a TSA screener who allegedly worked with Richardson to allow nearly four kilograms of methamphetamine to pass through LAX security, is also accused of personally allowing more than 20 kilograms of cocaine to pass through LAX security.

Joy White, 27, of Compton, who was arrested Wednesday morning. White, who was terminated by TSA last year, allegedly was stationed at LAX screening checkpoints when she allowed drugs to pass through, including a shipment of more than 20 kilograms of cocaine.

Capeline McKinney, 25, of Los Angeles, who was arrested Wednesday morning. McKinney is a TSA screener who allegedly allowed more than 20 kilograms of cocaine to pass through her security checkpoint.

Duane Eleby, 28, of Downey, who is expected to surrender to authorities Thursday morning. Eleby allegedly attempted to bring almost five kilograms of cocaine through a security checkpoint, but his narcotics were seized by law enforcement when he went through the wrong security checkpoint.

Terry Cunningham, 28, of Los Angeles, an alleged drug courier, who is currently being sought by authorities.

Stephen Bayliss, 28, of Los Angeles, an alleged drug courier, who is currently is state custody.

All of the defendants who were arrested Tuesday night and Wednesday morning were expected to be arraigned on the indictment Wednesday afternoon in United States District Court in downtown Los Angeles.

If they are convicted of the charges in the indictment, the current and former TSA officials each face stiff mandatory minimum penalties, and each would face a potential sentence of life imprisonment.

"This case underscores the unique nature of 21st century drug smuggling," according to Briane M. Grey, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the DEA in Los Angeles. "Here, the defendants traded on their positions at one the world's most crucial airport security checkpoints, used their special access for criminal ends, and compromised the safety and security of their fellow citizens for their own profit."

An indictment contains allegations that a defendant has committed a crime. Every defendant is presumed to be innocent until and unless proven guilty in court.

"TSA has assured the investigating agencies we will do everything we can to assist in their investigation," said Randy Parsons, TSA Federal Security Director at LAX. "While these arrests are a disappointment, TSA is committed to holding our employees to the highest standards."

Ron Paul Maine Convention 5-4-12

5-5-12 Future President Ron Paul's speech at Nevada GOP convention! Introduction by wife Carol

Houston Bus Riders Say No to TSA

Paul takes 22 Nevada GOP delegates; Romney gets 3

By LAURA MYERS
LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL

SPARKS -- GOP presidential candidate Ron Paul on Sunday nearly swept all of Nevada’s delegates to the national convention as his supporters swamped Mitt Romney backers at the state Republican convention.
Paul won 22 Nevada delegates to three for Romney, according to vote tallies released Sunday as the overtime convention extended into a second day, finally closing just after noon and after nearly 17 hours of floor action.
Another three official delegates not up for election -- the state party chair and the current national GOP committeeman and committeewoman -- are expected to support Romney.
As a result, 22 Paul delegates and six Romney delegates will represent Nevada at the national convention Aug. 27-30 in Tampa, Fla., giving the Texas congressman a stronger voice although he won’t get more votes on the floor.
At the national convention, Romney still will be entitled to receive 20 Nevada delegate votes on the first ballot and Paul is entitled to eight because Romney finished first in the Feb. 4 GOP presidential caucuses in the Silver State. So most of the Paul-aligned delegates must cast a ballot for Romney.
Carl Bunce, the Nevada chairman of the Paul campaign, assured convention-goers Sunday that Paul supporters will follow the rules in Tampa because the congressman’s goal is to defeat President Barack Obama, not divide the GOP.
“I do not want this party to fall apart,” Bunce said in a speech to the convention after delegate results were announced to cries of joy from the Paul crowd. “We are building a stronger party. We need to stay united.”
The Romney campaign quietly accepted the outcome and doesn’t plan to contest the election to the Republican National Committee, according to several GOP sources.
“We just want to make sure that Gov. Romney gets the votes he deserves out of Nevada,” said one campaign official, who suggested Paul backers could help energize Republicans to vote for the eventual GOP nominee against Obama in the fall. "We need as many people coming into the party as we can."
Ahead of the state GOP convention, the RNC threatened not to seat the Nevada delegation if it sent too many Paul supporters to the national meeting. An RNC lawyer said the presidential candidates should select their own delegates.
But the Paul contingent and Nevada GOP didn’t agree with the RNC and said the convention had the right to elect delegates before they’re allocated by the convention secretary to each candidate -- 20 for Romney and eight for Paul.
Over the course of two days, hundreds of vocal Paul supporters dominated the Nevada GOP convention, where more than 1,600 delegates began meeting at 9 a.m. Saturday at John Ascuaga’s Nugget in Sparks.
The Paul folks were more organized, sending text messages to supporters and using signals to direct his delegates on the floor how to vote on every contentious matter.
Both campaigns also sent around delegate lists so their supporters knew who to vote for during the election.
Romney is expected to win the GOP nomination as he continues to win states and pick up delegates on his way to the 1,144 needed to wrap up the win before Tampa.
But Paul, now Romney’s only GOP opponent, has vowed to stay in the race through the national convention. His backers want to elect a majority of delegates in at least five states so he can be nominated from the convention floor.
Some Paul supporters are holding out hope that there might be a brokered convention where the nomination fight goes beyond the first ballot, opening the way for Paul to win.
“We want to maximize our impact,” Bunce said.
The results of the Nevada delegate election showed that Paul’s strength lies in populous Southern Nevada.
Paul won 13 at-large delegates with 730 votes for the Paul slate and 560 votes for the Romney slate, the GOP said.
In Southern Nevada, Paul delegates swept the three congressional districts, winning three delegates each in the 1st, 3rd and 4th Congressional Districts for a total of 12.
Romney only won the 2nd Congressional District, picking up his three delegates from the northern and rural part of the state.
On Saturday, Paul's supporters ousted Romney backers from the Republican National Committee.
The vote came during a day of clashes between the two camps as Paul backers sought to install his people in the party hierarchy and elect as many Nevada delegates as possible to the national convention.
RNC National Committeeman Bob List, a former Nevada governor, lost election to James Smack, the vice chairman of the state GOP and a longtime Paul supporter from Fallon. The vote was 932 for Smack and 623 for List.
RNC National Committeewoman Heidi Smith lost to Diana Orrock, one of Paul's backers. They have been taking control of the Clark County GOP for the past year. Carol Del Carlo of Incline Village also was in the running. Orrock got 902 votes to 429 for Del Carlo and 231 for Smith.
Each state has a female and male RNC representative on the committee, which runs the national Republican Party, a key duty in 2012 when the White House is at stake as well as control of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives.
The new RNC committeeman and committeewoman won't begin serving their four-year terms until after the national GOP convention in August, when they'll be formally installed.
But having Paul supporters at the RNC could expand the Texas congressman's influence beyond the 2012 campaign as he promotes smaller government and more liberties.
Contact reporter Laura Myers at lmyers@reviewjournal .com or 702-387-2919. Follow her on Twitter @lmyerslvrj.

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ITCCS Update: Catholic Church Faces Disruption and Banishment as Irish Cardinal set to resign

Catholic Church Faces Disruption and Banishment as Irish Cardinal set to resign
A Communiqué from ITCCS International

BRUSSELS & DUBLIN - May 4, 2012 - The Roman Catholic Church faces permanent disruption and banishment in at least five countries if it does not comply with ten "non-negotiable measures" by September 15, 2012, according to a global coalition of survivors of church rape and torture.

The list of measures was issued today at a meeting in Dublin, Ireland between Archbishop Dermot Martin and representatives of Anti Catholic Church Activists Worldwide (ACCAW), Magdalene Laundry survivors, and the International Tribunal into Crimes of Church and State -- Ireland (ITCCS).

The measures demanded of the Catholic Church include the defrocking of all child raping priests, the licensing of all other clergy as public servants, the return of the remains of all who died under Church care, the annulment of tax exemptions and other Church privileges, and the return of all of the Church's wealth generated by the exploitation of children.

The full statement outlining these measures is reproduced below, including an attached audio recording of the statement.

Issued on the eve of the impending resignation of the head of the Catholic Church in Ireland, Cardinal Sean Brady, for his protection of child raping priests, the statement was delivered by John Deegan of ACCAW and ITCCS Ireland members Gerry O'Donovan and Dave O'Brien, who confronted Archbishop Martin with the demands.

The Ten Point statement was issued by The International Tribunal into Crimes of Church and State, an umbrella organization of over fifty organizations in the United States, Canada, Ireland, England and Australia.

"Pope Benedict and his Bishops have until midnight on September 15 to start complying with these measures" said ITCCS Secretary Kevin Annett today.

"After that, we will begin actions to halt the normal operation of the Roman Catholic Church around the world, and we will seek indictments against Pope Benedict and other Vatican officials for crimes against humanity and criminal conspiracy."

The ACCAW, ITCCS and other groups have staged high profile occupations of Catholic churches during their regular services, and plan to escalate these actions into "a permanent campaign of non-violent disruption and civil disobedience aimed at the Roman Catholic Church ... until the Church's reign of terror over children is ended."

Issued May 4, 2012 by ITCCS International -- Brussels

Information: genocidetribunal@yahoo.ca or 250-591-4573 (Canada) and cliogarvin@hotmail.com or godonothing@gmail.com (Ireland)

For more information about ITCCS visit www.itccs.org or www.hiddenfromhistory.org.
For more information about crimes committed by the Vatican visit: http://www.vaticancrimes.us

Romney Camp Circulates Fake List of Paul Delegate Nominees at Maine GOP

9/11 FIRST RESPONDERS ARE TERRORISTS?!?! according to big brother, even grandma is a terrorist!

"Ron Paul Supporters Hijacking the Nevada State Convention!!"

Mittens For Your Feet: Summertime Footwear

LPAC 2012 Chantilly, Virginia, from September 13-15

Last year, the first-ever Liberty Political Action Conference(LPAC) drew over 700 grassroots activists to Reno, Nevada, for a weekend of educational speeches, networking, and top-notch political training.

I’m proud to announce that C4L is once again hosting LPAC, and this year, it’s coming to the East Coast!

LPAC 2012 will be held at the Westfields Marriott in Chantilly, Virginia, from September 13-15, and it will bring together exciting personalities and leaders in the liberty movement to discuss sound money, foreign policy, civil liberties, and the constitutional hot button issues facing our country today.

It will play host to freedom activists from across the country and will showcase conservative, libertarian, constitutional, and free market organizations, and businesses.

LPAC 2012 will also feature comprehensive grassroots trainings, book signings, receptions, and private briefings.

A ticket to all three days of the main Conference events costs only $120, but you can click here to take advantage of our special Early Bird rate of only $85.

A three day student pass is available for only $40 to those who can present a valid student ID at check-in.

For those who want to be equipped with the tools and practical knowledge it takes to achieve victory for our ideas on the local, state, and national levels, our special Saturday grassroots political training is available for only $50.

Our training will teach you how to turn your passion into action, hold your legislators accountable, grow support for your efforts, and much more.

If you’re interested in exhibiting at LPAC 2012, please click here.

For more information, including details on reserving your room at the Marriott at the special LPAC rate, visit LPAC.com right away.

Be sure to mark the site in your browser, as more details on speakers and Conference events will be added in the coming weeks.

LPAC 2011 was an exciting weekend that provided liberty activists a chance to relax, recharge, learn more about the issues, and train for future victories.

LPAC 2012 promises to be even bigger and better, so I hope to see you there!

In Liberty,

Matt Hawes
Vice President

P.S. C4L is proud to once again be hosting the Liberty Political Action Conference (LPAC), and this year’s edition is coming to the East Coast.

LPAC 2012 will be held at the Westfields Marriott in Chantilly, Virginia, from September 13-15.

Tickets to all three days of the main Conference events are only $120, but you can click here to take advantage of our $85 Early Bird discount.

For more information on tickets, reserving your room at the special LPAC rate, and exhibiting at the Conference, visit LPAC.com right away.

WND EXCLUSIVE U.S. military developing spychips for soldiers

Government wants 'health' benefits from nanosensors

by Bob Unruh

The U.S. military wants to plant nanosensors in soldiers to monitor health on future battlefields and immediately respond to needs, but a privacy expert warns the step is just one more down the road to computer chips for all.
“It’s never going to happen that the government at gunpoint says, ‘You’re going to have a tracking chip,’” said Katherine Albrecht, who with Liz McIntyre authored “Spychips,” a book that warns of the threat to privacy posed by Radio Frequency Identification.
“It’s always in incremental steps. If you can put a microchip in someone that doesn’t track them … everybody looks and says, ‘Come on,’” she said. “It’ll be interesting seeing where we go.”
According to a report at Mobiledia, the U.S. military’s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency has confirmed plans to create nanosensors to monitor the health of soldiers on battlefields.
The devices also would report data to doctors. But privacy analysts have expressed concern that the implants could be used not just to monitor health but to keep track of and possibly control people.
DARPA describes the technology on which it is working as “a truly disruptive innovation,” which would diagnose, monitor vital states and “even deliver medicine into the bloodstream.”
According to LiveScience.com, “Solving the problem of sickness could have a huge impact on the number of soldiers ready to fight, because far more have historically died due to illness rather than combat.”
The report suggested that for special forces, “the practical realization of implantable nanosensors capable of monitoring multiple indicators of physiological state could be a truly disruptive innovation.”
Already being researched is the concept of nanosensors diagnosing disease.
DARPA expects to launch a second effort focused on treatment later this year.
Albrecht said the move is another step in the trip down the road of having every person implanted with a chip that might very well monitor health but also other areas of life.
Microchipping, she said, already is “par for the course” for pets in many parts of the nation, and that acceptance will make it easier to require it for people.

She said it was expected that captive audiences, such as prisoners and troops, would be the first subjected to the requirement, which would make it easier for the general populace to accept it as well.
“It’s interesting,” she said. “I’m stunned how this younger generation is OK. They don’t see the problem. … ‘Why wouldn’t everyone want to be tracked?’”
But she said Americans will have to decide to say no to incremental advances, or by the time officials finally roll out the idea of chips for all, whether they want them or not, it will be too late to decide.
“The analogy that I draw is [that of a train], and if I’m in California and I do not want to wind up in New City, every stop brings me closer,” she said. “At some point I have to get off the train.”
Albrecht also has helped develop and launch a new project called StartPage, which now is handling some 2 million search requests per day.
The benefit of the page is its privacy. The site explains that every time a person uses a typical search program such as Google, “your search data is recorded.”
“Then they store that information in a giant database,” she explains.
As a result, corporate America and the government have access to “a shocking amount of personal information about you, such as your interests, family circumstances, political leanings, medical conditions and more
Read the whole story: Get “Spychips: How Major Corporations and Government plan to Track your every Move”
WND reported previously that owners of pets have reported cancer in their animals after microchipping. The report documented how a dog developed a highly aggressive cancer right at the point where a chip was embedded.
Albrecht told the story of another dog, a 5-year-old Yorkshire terrier named Scotty that was diagnosed with cancer in Memphis, Tenn. Scotty developed a tumor between his shoulder blades, in the same location where the microchip had been implanted. The tumor the size of a small balloon – described as malignant lymphoma – was removed. Scotty’s microchip was embedded inside the tumor.
Verichip, a major manufacturer of the microchip implants, touts the technology’s capability to identify a lost pet and enable its return home, while dismissing potential health risks.
“Over the last 15 years,” stated the VeriChip website, “millions of dogs and cats have safely received an implantable microchip with limited or no reports of adverse health reactions from this life-saving product, which was recently endorsed by the USDA. These chips are a well-accepted and well-respected means of global identification for pets in the veterinary community.”
WND also reported there were warnings about a radio chip plan that would allow identification of individuals by government agents simply by walking through an assembly.
The proposal, which was supported by Janet Napolitano, the chief of the Department of Homeland Security, would embed radio chips in driver’s licenses, or “enhanced driver’s licenses.”
“Enhanced driver’s licenses give confidence that the person holding the card is the person who is supposed to be holding the card, and it’s less elaborate than REAL ID,” Napolitano said in a Washington Times report.
REAL ID was a plan for a federal identification system standardized across the nation that so alarmed governors many states have adopted formal plans to oppose it. However, a privacy advocate today told WND that the EDLs are many times worse.
WND also previously has reported on such chips when hospitals used them to identify newborns, a company desired to embed immigrants with the electronic devices, a government health event showcased them and when Wal-Mart used microchips to track customers.

WND EXCLUSIVE Preacher: Maddow's slams prompted death threats

1 warning: 'I think I may just have to blow up your ministry'

by Bob Unruh

A Christian preacher whose ministry features hard rock, high school seminars and an occasional letter exchange with Barack Obama is arguing in federal court in Washington that a defamation complaint against MSNBC, NBC and Rachel Maddow should go to trial because of, among other things, the death threats he’s endured because of her “malicious” criticism of him and his work.
“Defendants’ outrageous and maliciously published statements have severely harmed not only plaintiffs’ reputations, but also their financial well-being,” said a motion in opposition to Maddow’s request that the case be dismissed.
The motion was filed by Larry Klayman, an attorney working on behalf of Bradlee Dean and his You Can Run But You Cannot Hide International ministry.
How low can the media go? Meet ‘The Anti-Journalists.’ Not only do they refuse to report the truth – they attack you if you do
The lawsuit, alleging defamation, contends that left-leaning interests were trying to undercut Republican Rep. Michele Bachmann’s presidential campaign by attacking people with whom she associated, including Dean’s ministry. Bachmann’s unsuccessful campaign was focused on a return to traditional values regarding marriage, fiscal policy and government.
The complaint by Dean, a former heavy metal rocker, is based on Maddow’s assertion that Dean advocated the execution of homosexuals.
According to the complaint, the false characterization started with reporter Andy Birkey of the Minnesota Independent.
“Defendant Birkey, on information and belief, took a ‘special interest’ in plaintiffs Dean and (his ministry) YCR because he is a secularist and/or atheist and gay activist with a politically left ideology who despises people of faith, including but not limited to the congresswoman Michele Bachmann, MN, who is running for the presidency of the United States, and is a conservative Christian as well.
“On information and belief, defendant Birkey, the Minnesota Independent, Rachel Maddow, and NBC and MSNBC, in concert with others, have set out to and did willfully and maliciously harm the presidential campaign of congresswoman Michele Bachmann. Not coincidentally, Rachel Maddow is also of a leftist political ideology, who as a committed and also proud lesbian is active in the so called ‘gay rights’ movement. She views plaintiffs and congresswoman Bachmann a threat to ‘gay rights,’” the claim explained.

Bradlee Dean

It continued: “On information and believe … [in defaming] plaintiffs Dean and YCR and holding in a false light plaintiff Dean, all of the defendants, each and every one of them, maliciously set out to and did harm not only the plaintiffs but by extension also the presidential campaign of congresswoman Michele Bachmann.”
In May 2010, Birkey wrote wrote an article titled “GOP-linked punk rock ministry says executing gays is ‘moral’” that tried to link Bachmann to the ministry. Bachmann had praised the ministry previously.
The complaint said it was Maddow who later “outrageously disparaged Bradlee Dean’s physical appearance, his first name and his profession as a heavy metal entertainer and his standing in the community and represented that he and YCR had advocated the execution of gays.”
But when Maddow asked the court to dismiss the complaint on a variety of grounds, Klayman’s opposition explained why it only would be fair to allow the case to continue.
“There are no justifiable bases to contend that plaintiff has not been placed in false light and defamed. What is most horrifying, however, is the effect defendants’ statements had on viewers, leading many viewers to not only discredit Dean but to also threaten Dean’s life. … As a father of four, nothing was more petrifying to Dean that continuously receiving death threats, such as one particular disturbing Internet threat that warned, ‘Now I’m gonna have to kill you! I thought we were gonna cut each others’ hair then have sex, but you stood me up! I am so upset that I think I may just have to blow up your ministry instead!’” the filing explained.
“Making the threats more imminent is that some radical homosexual activists went as far as posting a picture and plaintiffs’ physical address, providing a roadmap to where plaintiffs can be found and harmed,” the filing said.
The response to Maddow’s request to the court said it was in 2010 when Dean discussed homosexuality on the radio program “Sons of Liberty.”
He was seeking to encourage Christians to take a stronger stand against the promotion of homosexuality in schools. Dean specifically rejects, as do Christians in general, the Islamic practice of executing homosexuals, the filing explains.
Maddow, in reproducing his comments on her program later, selected statements to suggest that Dean advocated execution for homosexuals.
“Defendants altered plaintiffs’ previous statements and distorted them in order to defame plaintiffs and place them in a false light,” the filing said. For example, “it is important to note that Maddow only broadcasted five sentences from plaintiffs’ original comment, [made up] of 19 complete sentences. Moreoever, the three phrases defendants strategically chose to broadcast were unrelated and unconnected, each found in different sections of plaintiffs’ comments.”
The brief noted the recent “editing” by NBC of the 911 call in the Trayvon Martin case in Florida to suggest that such events are not unusual at the network.
NBC quote Zimmerman saying, “This guy looks like he’s up to no good. He looks black.”
But NBC had edited out critical parts of the conversation. In reality, Zimmerman said, “This guy looks like he’s up to no good. Or he’s on drugs or something. It’s raining and he’s just walking around, looking about.”
The operator then asked: “OK, and this guy – is he black, white or Hispanic?
Zimmerman said, “He looks black.”
Klayman, the founder of Judicial Watch and now of Freedom Watch, said money is not the issue.
“This case is filed as a matter of principle,” he said. “We need more Bradlee Deans in the world and hateful left wing television commentators must be made to respect not only his mission but the law.”
Dean became a Christian after suffering a hard life as a young boy and has dedicated his life to his ministry’s mission.
Klayman said: “Maddow and MSNBC clearly defamed my client. Maddow went way over the line, particularly in her second broadcast by claiming that Dean and Republicans like then-presidential candidate Michele Bachmann are ‘bloodthirsty’ and want to see more gays and lesbians killed. This was outrageous and harmful and for this, Maddow and MSNBC will be held legally accountable.”
You Can Run But You Cannot Hide International, founded by Dean, has reached more than 500,000 young people across the country with a message of truth and hope. His message focuses on basic constitutional issues. He’s also spoken at churches, festivals, prisons, detention centers and on radio and television programs.
Dean also is drummer for Junkyard Prophet, which has sold more than 40,000 albums in the Minneapolis area alone. Bradlee is endorsed by companies such as Sonor, Buttkickers, Beatnik (including his own signature drum pad), Hornet Drumsticks (including his own signature sticks) and Soultone Cymbals.
His letter exchange with Obama came just months ago when he asked the president to pursue a restoration of traditional morality in the United States, and Obama responded.