The Government Controls The Weather…..By Law

(FEDERALJACK)   Just how much control do you think our government has?  Do you think that they could control the weather?  Think it sounds crazy, think again.  They even have it written into law.  Oh, I almost forgot, you had better report it to the Secretary of Commerce though if anyone outside the government wants to do it or you may get in trouble.  Check out the link below to Cornell law.  Make sure you read the definitions page.

[link to www.law.cornell.edu]

Definitions:

(1) The term “Secretary” means the Secretary of Commerce.
(2) The term “person” means any individual, corporation, company, association, firm, partnership, society, joint stock company, any State or local government or any agency thereof, or any other organization, whether commercial or nonprofit, who is performing weather modification activities, except where acting solely as an employee, agent, or independent contractor of the Federal Government.
(3) The term “weather modification” means any activity performed with the intention of producing artificial changes in the composition, behavior, or dynamics of the atmosphere.
(4) The term “United States” includes the several States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and any territory or insular possession of the United States.

Pentagon may apply preemptive warfare policy to the Internet

(RAW STORY)   Grappling with matters of law and policy governing the United States military’s cyber-warfare capabilities, Pentagon planners are eying ways of making preemptive strikes across the Internet part of America’s toolbox.

In a piece for Foreign Affairs, the publication of globalist policy group The Council on Foreign Relations, Deputy Secretary of Defense William J. Lynn III paints a picture of dire threat to American infrastructure, disclosing for the first time details of a devastating cyber-attack on U.S. infrastructure.

While not giving many specifics, Lynn described how malicious code on a USB thumb drive managed to spread across the Department of Defense network, establishing a “digital beachhead” that could siphon key data.

“It was a network administrator’s worst fear: a rogue program operating silently, poised to deliver operational plans into the hands of an unknown adversary,” he wrote. “This previously classified incident was the most significant breach of U.S. military computers ever, and it served as an important wake-up call. The Pentagon’s operation to counter the attack, known as Operation Buckshot Yankee, marked a turning point in U.S. cyberdefense strategy.”

However, “Operation Buchshot Yankee,” commenced in 2008 and lasting some 14 months, saw the Department of Defense scramble over what was essentially a very minor security threat that caught their network experts completely by surprise.

The Defense Department quickly issues an outright ban on the use of flash drives. The file which infected Pentagon computers was actually quite common — a derivative of the “SillyFDC” worm, according to Wired, which is listed by anti-virus software developer Symantec as a lowest tier threat. Users who wanted to remove the threat could have simply scanned their drives for the file “Agent.btz,” which was at the source of the Pentagon’s dilemma.

Naturally, the operation to eradicate the worm was kept secret, requiring a much larger effort on part of a smaller group.

Wired continued:

The havoc caused by agent.btz has little to do with the worm’s complexity or maliciousness — and everything to do with the military’s inability to cope with even a minor threat. “Exactly how much information was grabbed, whether it got out, and who got it — that was all unclear,” says an officer who participated in the operation. “The scary part was how fast it spread, and how hard it was to respond.”

U.S. Strategic Command, which is supposed to play a key role in military network defense, couldn’t get simple answers about the number of infected computers — or the number of computers, period.

“We got into Buckshot Yankee and I asked simple questions like how many computers do we have on the network in various flavors, what’s their configuration, and I couldn’t get an answer in over a month,” U.S. Strategic Command chief Gen. Kevin Chilton told a conference last May.

All of which, Lynn wrote in Foreign Affairs, led to the creation of the U.S. Cyber Command and the beginning of rules governing the military’s conduct of online warfare.

The Washington Post, in a Saturday report on the development of rules to govern cyber-warfare, added:

“We have to have offensive capabilities, to, in real time, shut down somebody trying to attack us,” Gen. Keith Alexander, the head of the Pentagon’s new Cyber Command, told an audience in Tampa this month.

[...]

Military officials have declared that cyberspace is the fifth domain – along with land, air, sea and space – and is crucial to battlefield success.

“We need to be able to protect our networks,” Lynn said in a May interview. “And we need to be able to retain our freedom of movement on the worldwide networks.”

That line of thinking has led Pentagon planners to weigh weather or not the United States can legally reach across the Internet to attack “adversary information systems,” according to Defense Dept. documents examined by the Post. The capabilities being sought would allow U.S. cyber-warriors to “deceive, deny, disrupt, degrade and destroy” information and computers around the globe.

While it is legal for the Pentagon to block malicious software on the edges of its networks, preemptive strikes on systems thought to be in the employ of those who would harm America or its interests are still a gray area and could be subject to international escalation, should the U.S. take an overtly offensive stance.

“We are having a big debate about what constitutes the use of force or an armed attack in cyberspace,” said Herbert S. Lin, a cyber expert who spoke to the Post. “We need to know where those lines are so that we don’t cross them ourselves when we conduct offensive actions in cyberspace against other nations.”

The U.S. Cyber Command, comprised of 1,000 hackers and spies, will assume command on Oct. 1, led by NSA director General Keith Alexander. The group’s creation was announced in 2009, with the full support of President Obama.

Civil liberties’ activists have warned against allowing the secretive NSA to take the lead in overseeing cyber security, saying it would place too much power in one agency with the NSA policing the same networks that it exploits to carry out eavesdropping.

In unveiling his plans to create a new White House post to oversee cyber security, Obama promised privacy rights would be carefully safeguarded even as the government moves to step up efforts to protect sensitive civilian and military networks.

There have been reported breaches of the US electricity grid and the F-35 fighter jet program, and Obama mentioned a cyber attack — blamed by some accounts on foreign spy services — on the computer hub for his own 2008 presidential campaign.

Audio of a round-table interview with Deputy Defense Secretary Lynn on U.S. cyber-security is available online [mp3 link].

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2010/0829/pentagon-weighs-applying-preemptive-warfare-tactics-internet/

DARPA unveils program to develop autonomous robots: Four-year program aims for robots to perform complex tasks with minial human intervention.

(DefenseSystems)   Robots have transformed the way the U.S. military fights wars. Ground-based bomb disposal robots in particular have saved many lives by disarming improvised explosive devices. But these machines require a human operator to carry out their tasks, which can be made more difficult due to communications bandwidth issues to remote control units and limited fields of view. Read more

Florida Dengue Fever Outbreak Leads Back to CIA and Army Experiments

(TRUTHOUT)   With little fanfare on July 13, Florida officials released the findings of a Centers for Disease Control (CDC) study conducted recently in the Key West area revealing that about 10 percent, or 1,000 people, of the coastal town’s population are infected with the dengue fever virus.

While the July 13 release made little mention of it, the CDC study was provoked by an earlier 2009 report that a woman in New York State, who had returned from a Florida Keys’ visit, had contracted dengue fever. Within a few weeks of this initial report, two additional cases were discovered in people who had returned from Key West. Over the next three months of 2009, an additional 26 cases were identified, all tied to visits to the town.

Because of these reported cases, the Florida Keys Mosquito Control District conducted greatly increased aerial spraying to control mosquitoes. Following the spraying, a small amount of other cases were reported, including that of a 41-year-old Key West man who found blood in his urine and had severely aching joints. Following these additional reports, the CDC launched its study of antibodies in Key West residents and found that 5 percent of the town’s residents have been exposed to the dengue virus. Said CDC dengue expert, Dr. Christopher J. Gregory, “The best estimate from the survey is that about 5 percent of [residents] was infected in 2009 with dengue.” Gregory also stated, “We have known for a while it is a possible risk, but this outbreak shows it is more than possible: It is something that did happen and could happen again.”

Despite the low-key nature of the Florida release, the Homeland Security Administration immediately issued a “terror alert” concerning the findings and Monroe County, within which Key West is located, also issued its own health advisory warning “effective immediately.”

Said Bob Eadie of the Monroe County Health Department, “Dengue is rare in Florida, but not unknown. It’s just one of several mosquito-borne illnesses monitored by the department and why we continually remind the public to take precautions against bites.” Eadie added, “Many people may be infected and not develop any symptoms. Our department and the CDC will have to do some detective work after interviewing and drawing blood from residents who appear to be perfectly fine but may have the virus.”

Dengue fever is a virus-based disease spread by the bites of mosquitoes. It can be caused by any one of four separate but related viruses carried by infected mosquitoes, most commonly the mosquito Aedes aegypti, found in tropic and subtropic areas. It is commonly found in Southeast Asia, South and Central America, Indonesia and sub-Saharan Africa. Over the past several decades it has been consistently reported that dengue fever has been eradicated in North America. Dengue hemorrhagic fever is a far more severe form of the dengue virus. If untreated, it can be fatal. The chief symptoms of dengue fever are a high fever, severe headache, strong pain behind the eyes, joint, muscle and bone pain, easy bruising, rash and mild bleeding from the nose and gums. There is no cure or vaccine for dengue fever. One can only treat the symptoms in such ways as getting plenty of rest, drink plenty of water, take pain relievers with acetaminophen and promptly consult a skilled physician.

Hidden History of Dengue

It appears highly unlikely that any “detective work” performed by the CDC and Florida health officials will unearth evidence of dengue fever being imported into Florida, but that evidence certainly exists. Prior to the recent Key West findings and still today, the CDC has consistently reported that there have been no outbreaks of dengue fever in Florida since 1934 and none in the continental US since 1946. This report is incorrect.

Unknown to most Americans is that dengue fever has been the intense focus of US Army and CIA biological warfare researchers for over 50 years. Ed Regis notes in his excellent history of Fort Detrick, “The Biology of Doom,” that as early as 1942 leading biochemists at the installation placed dengue fever on a long list for serious consideration as a possible weapon. In the early 1950s, Fort Detrick, in partnership with the CIA, launched a multi-million dollar research program under which dengue fever and several addition exotic diseases were studied for use in offensive biological warfare attacks. Assumably, because the virus is generally not lethal, program planners viewed it primarily as an incapacitant. Reads one CIA Project Artichoke document: “Not all viruses have to be lethal … the objective includes those that act as short-term and long-term incapacitants.” Several CIA documents, as well as the findings of a 1975 Congressional committee, reveal that three sites in Florida, Key West, Panama City and Avon Park, as well as two other locations in central Florida, were used for experiments with mosquito-borne dengue fever and other biological substances.

The experiments in Avon Park, about 170 miles from Miami, were covertly conducted in a low-income African-American neighborhood that contained several newly constructed public housing projects. CIA documents related to its top-secret Project MK/NAOMI clearly indicate that the mosquitoes used in Avon Park were the Aedes aegypti type. Specially equipped aircraft, in one of the larger experiments, released 600,000 mosquitoes over the area. In one of the Avon Park experiments, about 150,000 mosquitoes were dropped in paper bags designed to open upon impact with the ground. Each bag held about 1,000 insects. Besides dengue, some of the mosquitoes were also carrying yellow fever.

Avon Park residents, still living in the area, say the experiments resulted in “at least 6 or 7 deaths.” One elderly resident told Truthout, “Nobody knew about what had gone on here for years, maybe over 20 years, but in looking back it explained why a bunch of healthy people got sick quick and died at the time of those experiments.” Interestingly, at the same time experiments were conducted in Florida, there were at least two cases of dengue fever reported among civilian researchers at Fort Detrick in Maryland.

A 1978 Pentagon publication, entitled “Biological Warfare: Secret Testing & Volunteers,” reveals that the Army’s Chemical Corps and Special Operations and Projects Divisions at Fort Detrick conducted “tests” similar to the Avon Park experiments in Key West, but the bulk of the documentation concerning this highly classified and covert work is still held by the Pentagon as “secret.” One former Fort Detrick researcher says the Army “performed a number of experiments in the area of the Keys,” but that “not all concerned dengue virus.”

In 1959, Fort Detrick launched its largest mosquito experiment called Operation Bellwether, consisting of over 50 field experiments. Some of these experiments, designed to ascertain the “rate of biting” and “mosquito aggressiveness,” were conducted in partnership with scientists with the Rockefeller Institute in New York, where scientists bred their own strain of mosquitoes. Some of the Bellwether experiments were conducted in Florida, as well as in other states, including Georgia, Maryland, Utah and Arizona.

The 1978 Pentagon publication, along with two other Chemical Corps reports, reveal the identities of a number of the companies and institutions that assisted the Army in its offensive biological warfare experiments: Armour Research Foundation (1951-1954); the Battelle Memorial Institute (1952-1965); Ben Venue Labs, Inc. (1953-1954); University of Florida (1953-1956); Florida State University (1951-1953); and the Lovell Chemical Company (1951-1955).

In the spring and summer of 1981, Cuba experienced a severe hemorrhagic dengue fever epidemic. Between May and October 1981, the island nation had 158 dengue-related deaths with about 75,000 reported infection cases. Prior to this outbreak, Cuba had reported only a very small number of cases in 1944 and 1977. At the height of the epidemic, over 10,000 people per day were found infected and 116,150 were hospitalized. At the same time as the 1981 outbreak, covert biological warfare attacks on Cuba’s residents and crops were believed to have been conducted against the island by CIA contractors and military airplane flyovers. Particularly harmful to the nation was a severe outbreak of swine flu that Fidel Castro attributed to the CIA. American researcher William H. Schaap, an editor of Covert Action magazine, claims the Cuba dengue outbreak was the result of CIA activities. Former Fort Detrick researchers, all of whom refused to have their names used for this article, say they performed “advance work” on the Cuba outbreak and that it was “man made.”

In 1982, the Soviet media reported that the CIA sent operatives into Afghanistan from Pakistan to launch a dengue epidemic. The Soviets claimed the operatives were posing as malaria workers, but, instead, were releasing dengue-infected mosquitoes. The CIA denied the charges. In 1985 and 1986, authorities in Nicaragua accused the CIA of creating a massive outbreak of dengue fever that infected thousands in that country. CIA officials denied any involvement, but Army researchers admitted that intensive work with arthropod vectors for offensive biological warfare objectives had been conducted at Fort Detrick in the early 1980s, having first started in the early 1950s. Fort Detrick researchers reported that huge colonies of mosquitoes infected with not only dengue virus, but also yellow fever, were maintained at the Frederick, Maryland, installation, as well as hordes of flies carrying cholera and anthrax and thousands of ticks filled with Colorado fever and relapsing fever.

A review of declassified Army Chemical Corps documents reveal that the Army may have also been engaged in dengue fever research as early as the late 1940s. Several redacted Camp Detrick and Edgewood Arsenal reports indicate that experiments were conducted on state and federal prisoners who were unwitting exposed to dengue fever, as well as other viruses, some possibly lethal. Freedom of Information requests filed months ago for details on these early experiments remain unanswered.

Dengue Fever and BP Spill Complications

The timing of this outbreak of dengue fever presents two additional problems; the symptoms of dengue fever are very similar to that of exposures to chemicals such as those contained in crude oil and the dispersants currently being used in the contaminated areas of the Gulf of Mexico, potentially making it difficult to diagnose the source of a sufferer’s symptoms. Worse yet, there looms the possibility that Corexit and other toxins present in the Gulf area may weaken the immune system, thus, setting the stage for more severe forms of the disease in people who are, or have previously been, exposed to the virus.

It is still unclear to what degree residents of the Gulf area, at large, have been or will be exposed to such chemicals in the long term, but there is mounting evidence that fishermen, cleanup workers, and others who spend significant time in contact with the Gulf waters are beginning to display symptoms consistent with chemically induced neurotoxicity. If dengue fever also spreads within the Gulf community, affecting a significant number of people, it will be increasingly difficult to differentiate the cause of symptoms in those who develop them; even in persons who test positive for dengue exposure, the additional possibility remains that chemical toxicity is present as well.

The presentation of dengue fever varies considerably from case to case. Numerous medical studies have identified asymptomatic infections, or infections that consist of only mild, flu-like symptoms that would likely not result in the sufferer seeking medical attention.

When more troubling symptoms are present, they vary considerably in severity. According to the CDC, milder cases of dengue fever are identified by a high fever accompanied by at least two of the following symptoms: severe headache; severe eye pain (behind eyes); joint pain; muscle and/or bone pain; rash; a mild bleeding manifestation such as bleeding gums, nose bleeds, or easy bruising; and low white cell count. In more severe cases, dengue can cause severe abdominal pain or persistent vomiting; red blotches or patches on the skin; more severe bleeding of nose or gums; vomiting of blood; black, tarry excrement (indicative of the presence of blood in the stool); drowsiness; irritability; cold or clammy skin; pallor; and difficulty breathing. The American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene has reported cases of dengue fever that resulted in neurological manifestations, as well.

Dengue fever can also cause a much more serious, hemorrhagic form of the disease, the presentation of which the CDC describes as follows:

“[A] fever that lasts from 2 to 7 days, with general signs and symptoms consistent with dengue fever. When the fever declines, warning signs may develop. This marks the beginning of a 24 to 48 hour period when the smallest blood vessels (capillaries) become excessively permeable (“leaky”), allowing the fluid component to escape from the blood vessels into the peritoneum (causing ascites) and pleural cavity (leading to pleural effusions). This may lead to failure of the circulatory system and shock and possibly death without prompt, appropriate treatment. In addition, the patient with DHF has a low platelet count and hemorrhagic manifestations, tendency to bruise easily or have other types of skin hemorrhages, bleeding nose or gums and possibly internal bleeding.”

As if this were not troubling enough, let us compare the above symptom picture to the symptoms associated with exposure to the dispersants Corexit 9500 and Corexit 9527. The exact risks of exposure to these chemicals have yet to be determined; in fact, the manufacturers’ material safety data sheet (MSDS) for Corexit 9500 states: “No toxicity studies have been conducted on this product.” The MSDS further states that one should not come in contact with the product or breathe its vapors and that adequate protective skin protection and breathing apparatuses should be worn when handling or working with the compound. Any hints of safe usage within the MSDS on these chemicals should be viewed from the following perspective: the MSDS data assumes limited exposure (for example, while applying the chemical) and the use of adequate protective gear. These statistics do not apply, therefore, to unprotected people who may be subject to long-term, consistent exposure.

Many toxicologists have raised grave concerns, however, about the risks that these dispersants may pose to residents of the Gulf of Mexico area. Dr. Susan Shaw, a marine toxicologist, talked about her recent experience with shrimpers who had been working in the Gulf waters. In an interview on CNN, she addressed the situation of a shrimper who had thrown his net into water, causing the water to splash onto his unprotected skin. She reported that he developed a “headache that lasted 3 weeks, heart palpitations, muscle spasms, bleeding from the rectum …” and continued, “and that’s what this Corexit does, it ruptures red blood cells, causes internal bleeding and liver and kidney damage. …” She asserts that the combination of oil from the well, combined with Corexit dispersant, increases the toxicity of both substances. In combination, she believes that they are skin permeable and that they aerosolize to produce a breathing hazard as well. The toxins can enter the body through the respiratory tract, but are unlikely to remain localized in the lungs, instead spreading throughout one’s entire body system.

Numerous reports have come in from both residents of the Gulf area and journalists visiting the area that many people who are exposed to the water are beginning to experience health problems. Among the most commonly reported symptoms are burning eyes, skin rashes, lightheadedness, dizziness, difficulty breathing, transient numbness and shooting pains, persistent coughing, sore throats, muscle and bone aches, weakness and severe fatigue. More troubling reports, such as those of the shrimpers mentioned above, have included bleeding from the nose and from the rectum, as well as permanent numbness in extremities and complete loss of the sense of smell. It is generally accepted in the medical literature that, although the initial, acute presentation of toxic exposure is generally the most severe, symptoms may linger indefinitely or even result in permanent damage to the body.

Herein lies the dilemma: If a Gulf resident becomes ill, to what do we attribute his or her symptoms? In addition to the dispersants themselves, Gulf residents are potentially suffering from exposure to benzene and other toxic chemicals that are naturally present in crude oil, as well as several potentially toxic gases being released from the well. In combination with the dispersant, the exact toxicity risk of these chemicals remains unknown.

Add now, to the picture, the risk of having contracted dengue fever and the puzzle becomes more difficult to piece together. The CDC’s 2009 survey contained samples from only 240 households and determined that about 5 percent of the residents had antibodies to the dengue virus, indicating either current infection or a prior exposure. This relatively small sample may not be indicative of the Florida population as a whole and may not be a valid indicator of the overall number of exposed people in the surrounding areas.

The medical literature indicates that dengue virus, like many other viruses, may remain in the body in a latent form; during latency, the virus is unlikely to cause symptoms. A second infection with dengue, however, can lead to a much more severe presentation of the disease and a greater likelihood of it progressing to its hemorrhagic (and potentially fatal) form. Likewise, the literature indicates that a severe assault to the immune system presents a risk of virus reactivation and resultant disease.

Dr. Shaw’s assessment of the dangers of Corexit dispersant, particularly in combination with the other contaminants resulting from the damaged BP oil well, includes the potential for severe damage to the immune system. Such immune system suppression or damage, it seems, could then reactivate dengue fever in residents who carry the latent virus, perhaps even resulting in a more severe form of the disease’s presentation.

Assuming the above quoted assessments of the current situation in Florida are accurate, the presence of the dengue virus in Florida at this time makes for a nightmarish picture. Not only is there a tremendous symptom overlap between dengue virus and toxin exposure, up to and including the potential for a hemorrhagic presentation of both, but there looms on the horizon a new and frightening possibility: The combined presence of this disease and a toxic environment might have the potential to combine, making an already tragic situation incrementally worse.

http://www.truth-out.org/florida-dengue-fever-outbreak-leads-back-cia-and-army-experiments61565

Scientists Use Twitter to Track Nation’s Mood, But Why????

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Korean machine-gun robots start DMZ duty

(CNET)   South Korea’s military has deployed machine-gun-toting robots along the heavily fortified border with North Korea, and a related promo video delivers more shock and awe than Kim Jong-Il singing the blues.

Samsung Techwin and other firms developed the SGR-1 robots, and they have been installed on a trial basis at a post in the central part of the Demilitarized Zone, Yonhap News quoted military officials as saying.

The $200,000 SGR-1s are remote-operated sentry bots that work in tandem with cameras and radar systems. They can detect intruders with heat and motion sensors, and challenge them through audio and video communications. The bots can also fire on targets with 5.5-millimeter machine guns and 40-millimeter automatic grenade launchers.

The officials didn’t say how many bots were set up, but they will be installed throughout the 160-mile DMZ if the trial, which runs through the end of this year, is successful. Tensions along the DMZ are already high following the sinking of the South’s warship Cheonan in March.

“Human soldiers can easily fall asleep or allow for the depreciation of their concentration over time,” Samsung Techwin spokesman Huh Kwang-hak was quoted as saying by Stars and Stripes. “But these robots have automatic surveillance, which doesn’t leave room for anything resembling human laziness. They also won’t have any fear (of) enemy attackers on the front lines.”

Huh said the robots cannot automatically fire on targets, and require human permission to attack, adding, “The SGR-1 can and will prevent wars.”

Indeed, the robot comes off as an almost godlike hero in the high-budget action video below, which is outstanding for its screaming hype and cheesy acting (best line: “What is that monster??”).

Whoever created the vid was clearly channeling Team America. What would Kim Jong-Il think?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NevCAx6zWNU&feature=player_embedded

http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-20010533-1.html?tag=TOCmoreStories.0

Darpa’s Genetically Engineered Blood Starts Pumping

(Wired)   More troops than ever are surviving their battlefield injuries, often overloading the military’s health care system. Massive blood shortages continue to plague military trauma care, and the problem is complicated by the remote, inaccessible locations of today’s warzones. Read more

Your Cell Phone Can Be Used To Put You in a Cell Block

(LAW.COM)   Authorities say they have evidence that Luis Soto was near a bank that was robbed in Berlin, Conn. Was there an eyewitness? No.

Soto was reportedly betrayed by his cell phone. Federal authorities sought reams of records from phone companies. They said the data – which lists which cell towers handled certain calls — revealed that Soto was not only close to the bank, but he was close to other suspects in the robbery.

Should law enforcement agencies be able to obtain this sort of information without a warrant? That’s a question that will soon be debated in a U.S. District Court in Connecticut.

Defense lawyers and advocacy groups like the American Civil Liberties Union and the Electronic Frontier Foundation say the way the government obtained the cell information constitutes an unreasonable search and seizure.

“It really is a search, a modern-day search,” said David McGuire, an attorney with the Connecticut chapter of the ACLU. “It’s not really any different in our perspective than … [police] going in and searching a location without a warrant.”

But while Americans might reasonably expect that the government can’t eavesdrop on conversations without a warrant, law enforcement officials say people have no reasonable expectation that their cell phone’s whereabouts is a private matter.

169 NUMBERS

Luis Soto, of Suffield, and his younger brother Felix Soto, of Manchester, Conn., were charged in a 2008 bank heist at a Webster Bank in Berlin. Luis Soto was also charged in connection with a Windsor bank robbery earlier that month. The brothers reportedly netted about $90,000.

Federal investigators, while probing those and three other bank robberies in that time frame, obtained the cell site location information (CSLI) and phone records of 169 cell phone numbers from nine separate providers.

Among those whose cell phone information was collected was Luis Soto. Assistant Federal Defender Terence S. Ward claims the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Connecticut will try to use that information to prove Soto was in the vicinity of the Berlin bank robbery and that he was in close proximity to other alleged participants in the robbery.

“When all is said and done, the government hopes to use the CSLI to persuade the jury that these recreated movements and communications demonstrate that Soto acted in concert with the others and committed the robbery,” Ward said in court documents.

Ward has filed a motion to suppress his client’s location information obtained through the cell phone records. He argues that the government should have had to go before a judge and show probable cause and obtain a warrant before it was permitted to track the whereabouts of the alleged defendants through their cell phone records.

“The scope of these orders is surprising to say the least, and the time to consider what is mass surveillance and how it interrelates with the Fourth Amendment has arrived,” wrote Ward.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael J. Gustafson, however, argues that no probable cause was needed, that investigators needed to show only that the records they sought were “relevant and material to an ongoing criminal investigation.”

Though many cell phones now have Global Positioning System technology, that was not in play here and so authorities can’t pinpoint the exact location of the suspects who made calls. Instead, they relied on the location of cell towers, which can be anywhere from a half mile to 10 miles apart, depending on whether they’re in urban or rural areas. Figuring out which tower handles a call offers a general location of the caller.

In his case, the phone company “business records showed simply the date and times of calls, the phone numbers involved in the calls, the duration of the calls, and the cell towers used to facilitate the calls,” Gustafson wrote in a reply to Ward’s motion to suppress the records. “Critically, these business records did not reveal the content of the conversations, the participants in the conversations, or the precise location of the phone during conversations.”

Still, McGuire, the ACLU attorney, said the organization was troubled that the government could obtain the records without a finding of probable cause. He said the relevant to an ongoing investigation standard is too weak. “Anything can be relevant” to an investigation, said McGuire. “Relevancy is a broad concept.”

Just before this case, McGuire said the ACLU had already sent a letter to Connecticut Chief U.S. District Court Judge Alvin Thompson to express how “troubled” it was that cell site information was being readily turned over to police and prosecutors without a warrant being issued.

Typically, said McGuire, orders authorizing the gathering of the cell information are sealed and defendants are unable to challenge the ruling because they are unaware it even exists. Because a motion to suppress was filed in the Soto case, the ACLU decided to submit an amicus brief in support of the motion.

McGuire said that since about 90 percent of the U.S. population now has a cell phone, the issue of their whereabouts being tracked through the phones will become “a true threat to people’s privacy.”

In one of the few published opinions broaching this topic, the Western District of Pennsylvania held that the government must obtain a search warrant to access the CSLI information. The decision is under appeal in the 3rd Circuit.

http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1202463302148&rss=newswire

Biometric ATM gives cash via ‘finger vein’ scan

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Think You’re Operating on Free Will? Think Again

(Time)   Studies have found that upon entering an office, people behave more competitively when they see a sharp leather briefcase on the desk, they talk more softly when there is a picture of a library on the wall, and they keep their desk tidier when there is a vague scent of cleaning agent in the air. But none of them are consciously aware of the influence of their environment. Read more

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