September 2004 - cypherpunks-legacy

Re: Spy imagery agency watching inside U.S.
by Major Variola (ret) 28 Sep '04

28 Sep '04

You don't even need the Hubble-scopes pointed down that the NRO/NIMA/whatever the fuck they're called today has. Check out globexplorer.com; my patio is more than several pixels and a friend of mine saw his Bronco. You could probably make out the glint in JY's eyes. OTOH its really easy to signal our colleages overseas should they have similar resolution, and we have patio umbrellas. At 12:28 PM 9/28/04 -0400, R. A. Hettinga wrote: >Spy imagery agency watching inside U.S. >By Katherine Pfleger Shrader, Associated Press >BETHESDA, Md. - In the name of homeland security, America's spy imagery >agency is keeping a close eye, close to home. It's watching America. Since >the Sept. 11 attacks, about 100 employees of a little-known branch of the >Defense Department called the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency - and >some of the country's most sophisticated aerial imaging equipment - have >focused on observing what's going on in the United States.

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Spy imagery agency watching inside U.S.
by R. A. Hettinga 28 Sep '04

28 Sep '04

<http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/surveillance/2004-09-26-civilian-spying_x…> USA Today Spy imagery agency watching inside U.S. By Katherine Pfleger Shrader, Associated Press BETHESDA, Md. - In the name of homeland security, America's spy imagery agency is keeping a close eye, close to home. It's watching America. Since the Sept. 11 attacks, about 100 employees of a little-known branch of the Defense Department called the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency - and some of the country's most sophisticated aerial imaging equipment - have focused on observing what's going on in the United States. Their work brushes up against the fine line between protecting the public and performing illegal government spying on Americans. Roughly twice a month, the agency is called upon to help with the security of events inside the United States. Even more routinely, it is asked to help prepare imagery and related information to protect against possible attacks on critical sites. For instance, the agency has modified basic maps of the nation's capital to highlight the location of hospitals, linking them to data on the number of beds or the burn unit in each. To secure the Ronald Reagan funeral procession, the agency merged aerial photographs and 3D images, allowing security planners to virtually walk, drive or fly through the Simi Valley, Calif., route. The agency is especially watchful of big events or targets that might attract terrorists - political conventions, for example, or nuclear power plants. Everyone agrees that the domestic mission of the NGA has increased dramatically in the wake of Sept. 11, even though laws and carefully crafted regulations are in place to prevent government surveillance aimed at Americans. The agency is not interested in information on U.S. citizens, stresses Americas office director Bert Beaulieu. "We couldn't care less about individuals and people and companies," he said. But that's not good enough for secrecy expert Steven Aftergood, who oversees a project on government secrecy for the Federation of American Scientists. "What it all boils down to is 'Trust us. Our intentions are good,'" he said. Adds Marc Rotenberg, executive director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center in Washington: "As a general matter, when there are systems of public surveillance, there needs to be public oversight." Geospatial intelligence is the science of combining imagery, such as satellite pictures, to physically depict features or activities happening anywhere on the planet. Outside the United States, it can be a powerful tool for war planners who may use imagery to measure soil wetness to determine if tanks could travel an area. It can help weapons proliferation experts look for ground disturbances that can indicate new underground bunkers. Before Sept. 11, the NGA's domestic work often meant things like lending a hand during natural disasters by supplying pictures of wildfires and floods. But now the agency's new Americas Office has been called on to assemble visual information on more than 130 urban areas, among scores of other assignments, including maps of the national mall, the country's high-voltage transmission lines and disaster exercises. Sometimes, agency officials may cooperate with private groups, such as hotel security offices, to get access to video footage of lobbies and hallways. That footage can then be connected with other types of maps used to secure events - or to take action, if a hostage situation or other catastrophe happens. The level of detail varies widely, depending on the threat and what the FBI or another agency needs. "In most cases, it's not intrusive," said the NGA's associate general counsel, Laura Jennings. "It is information to help secure an event and to have people prepared to respond should there be an attack, or to analyze the area where a threat has been made." According to Executive Order 12333, signed by President Reagan in 1981, members of the U.S. intelligence community can collect, retain and pass along information about U.S. companies or people only in certain cases. Information that is publicly available or collected with the consent of the individual is fair game, as is information acquired by overhead reconnaissance not directed at specific people or companies. The NGA says it has aggressive internal oversight and its employees go through annual training on what is and isn't allowed. "If they deviated from their own rules, how would it be discovered?" asks secrecy expert Aftergood. "I am not satisfied that they have an answer to that question." One oversight committee in Congress noticed after Sept. 11 that an intelligence agency was snapping pictures of the United States, said a congressional aide, speaking on condition of anonymity. A staff member is now monitoring the issue, and the aide said so far problems have not been spotted. But Aftergood notes that while intelligence budgets have increased dramatically in the last five years, congressional oversight budgets have not. Even the agency concedes gray areas do emerge. Generally, for example, intelligence resources can't be used for law enforcement purposes. So the FBI or another agency could use an NGA-produced aerial photograph to solve a domestic crime. But the NGA couldn't take actions to target a specific individual, such as highlight a suspect's home, unless the information was linked directly to a national security issue. Agency officials call that "passive assistance" and say certain legal tests must be met. Law enforcement officials occasionally ask if the agency has information that could provide evidence about a crime - say, for example, whether a white truck was at a location at a certain time, Beaulieu said hypothetically. "Yes, we will do a check," he said. "But I can't remember a single case where we actually even had an image for that day." Jennings concedes that toeing such fine lines can be difficult. "We look, we check, and it just so happens that we haven't had a situation where there is a smoking gun," she said. "We would analyze each one, case by case." "Everybody wants to do the right thing and provide the information that is appropriate without overstepping their authority," she later added. The NGA says it is working to build trust - with the public and with private companies. Before Sept. 11, for instance, chemical plants and other critical sites weren't as cooperative as they are today, out of fear that aerial photographs might be shared with federal environmental regulators. NGA officials say the Homeland Security Department has been careful to protect proprietary information. What if NGA analysts were to see an environmental crime? "I don't think any of my people know enough to know an environmental crime," Beaulieu said. -- ----------------- R. A. Hettinga <mailto: rah(a)ibuc.com> The Internet Bearer Underwriting Corporation <http://www.ibuc.com/> 44 Farquhar Street, Boston, MA 02131 USA "... however it may deserve respect for its usefulness and antiquity, [predicting the end of the world] has not been found agreeable to experience." -- Edward Gibbon, 'Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'

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Their Crisis, Our Leviathan
by R. A. Hettinga 28 Sep '04

28 Sep '04

--- begin forwarded text

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RE: Individual Geopolitical Darwin Awards
by Tyler Durden 28 Sep '04

28 Sep '04

Half-dozen? And virgins are WAY overrated. -TD >From: "Major Variola (ret)" <mv(a)cdc.gov> >To: "cypherpunks(a)al-qaeda.net" <cypherpunks(a)al-qaeda.net> >Subject: Individual Geopolitical Darwin Awards >Date: Mon, 27 Sep 2004 20:33:56 -0700 > >At 10:00 AM 9/27/04 -0400, Tyler Durden wrote: > >Don't forget, the World Trade Center management was on the Intercom >trying > >to tell everyone to "Remain inside the Building...It's safest Inside >the > >Building". > > > >Fuck. Here on Wall Street I'm a dead man. > >If you stay in NYC or DC, you are an individual winner of a geopolitical > >Darwin Award. You can collect along with your half-dozen virgins. _________________________________________________________________ Express yourself instantly with MSN Messenger! Download today - it's FREE! http://messenger.msn.click-url.com/go/onm00200471ave/direct/01/

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RE: John Abizaid needs termination
by Tyler Durden 28 Sep '04

28 Sep '04

"Methinks he's a robot," Isn't that from Philip K Dick's "The Penultimate Truth"? Hum. Any chance there really is no war in Iraq and we're just being cowered into producing items for the ultra-rich living outside of "Bunker USA"? -TD >From: "Major Variola (ret)" <mv(a)cdc.gov> >To: "cypherpunks(a)al-qaeda.net" <cypherpunks(a)al-qaeda.net> >Subject: John Abizaid needs termination >Date: Mon, 27 Sep 2004 20:27:43 -0700 > >Saw "general" Abizaid on the news. He was so obviously >either experiencing pharmaceutically-induced nystagmus or >reading from a teleprompter it wasn't funny. Methinks >he's a robot, or taking too many go-pills. Lets hear >2K dead by the elections. We'll settle for less if they're >in DC. _________________________________________________________________ Express yourself instantly with MSN Messenger! Download today - it's FREE! http://messenger.msn.click-url.com/go/onm00200471ave/direct/01/

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RE: Mystification of Identity: You Say Yusuf, I Say Youssouf...
by John Kelsey 28 Sep '04

28 Sep '04

>From: Tyler Durden <camera_lumina(a)hotmail.com> >Sent: Sep 27, 2004 10:00 AM >To: roy(a)rant-central.com >Cc: cypherpunks(a)al-qaeda.net >Subject: RE: Mystification of Identity: You Say Yusuf, I Say Youssouf... >Many Cypherpunks view the need to take up crypto arms to stem off an >Orwellian, hyper-evil and hyper-competent dictatorship. I'm thinking a more >likely (and no less threatening) scenario is one like "Brazil" (ie, the >movie). Yep. It turns out that broad and scary police powers don't make you any smarter or wiser or more careful, they just make it easier for you to insist on obedience and stifle complaints. Post 9/11, flight attendants and airline employees have more authority to order passengers around and deny people boarding, but they're still the same people they were on 9/10, they're presumably only marginally better at spotting terrorists (at least not obviously Arab-looking terrorists). They just have more power, and fewer consequences when they screw up. ... >-TD --John Kelsey

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John Abizaid needs termination
by Major Variola (ret) 28 Sep '04

28 Sep '04

Saw "general" Abizaid on the news. He was so obviously either experiencing pharmaceutically-induced nystagmus or reading from a teleprompter it wasn't funny. Methinks he's a robot, or taking too many go-pills. Lets hear 2K dead by the elections. We'll settle for less if they're in DC.

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Re: Mystification of Identity: You Say Yusuf, I Say Youssouf...
by Major Variola (ret) 27 Sep '04

27 Sep '04

At 05:53 PM 9/27/04 -0700, Bill Stewart wrote: >and preventing you from flying means you can't carry out your >Clever New Hijacking Plan, such as converting that small guitar >into a set of six piano-wire garrotes or mixing that Organophosphates will still make it onto a plane, have been used in Japan, and might be better used in stationary, more populated and still dense places in the US. Also, no one has really tested whether pilots will suffer 300 passengers to die. But there are groovier places to deploy the human pesticides, jets are so old-school. And then there's the ultimate soft targets, grammar schools. Those who lay with israelis die like israelis. Karma ain't just for breakfast anymore. Birds, roost, home. BTW, I don't think TATP would excite the nitrate-sniffing autodogs.. just light your shoe in the restroom next time for Allah's sake.. Who knew the fall of Rome II would be televised?

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Individual Geopolitical Darwin Awards
by Major Variola (ret) 27 Sep '04

27 Sep '04

At 10:00 AM 9/27/04 -0400, Tyler Durden wrote: >Don't forget, the World Trade Center management was on the Intercom trying >to tell everyone to "Remain inside the Building...It's safest Inside the >Building". > >Fuck. Here on Wall Street I'm a dead man. If you stay in NYC or DC, you are an individual winner of a geopolitical Darwin Award. You can collect along with your half-dozen virgins.

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Mystification of Identity: You Say Yusuf, I Say Youssouf...
by R. A. Hettinga 27 Sep '04

27 Sep '04

Gilmore, et al., are right, as always. If you've been all-but cavity-searched -- okay, virtually cavity-searched, given the state of modern X-Ray airport passenger scanning technology -- and you don't have a weapon, exactly *how* is knowing *who* you are going to affect your ability to hijack an airplane? I see nothing but the continuation of the privatization of air travel from all this nonsense. More NetJet owners, more Marquis Card-carrying business travellers, more investment capital for companies like Eclipse Aviation. Geodesic aviation, anyone? ;-) Cheers, RAH ------- <http://www.time.com/time/nation/printout/0,8816,702062,00.html> TIME.com Print Page: Nation -- Saturday, Sep. 25, 2004 You Say Yusuf, I Say Youssouf... The Cat Stevens incident has its origins in a spelling mistake By SALLY B. DONNELLY The Yusuf Islam incident earlier this week, in which the former Cat Stevens was denied entry into the U.S. when federal officials determined he was on the government's "no-fly" antiterror list, started with a simple spelling error. According to aviation sources with access to the list, there is no Yusuf Islam on the no-fly registry, though there is a "Youssouf Islam." The incorrect name was added to the register this summer, but because Islam's name is spelled "Yusuf" on his British passport, he was allowed to board a plane in London bound for the U.S. The Transportation Safety Administration alleges that Islam has links to terrorist groups, which he has denied, British foreign minister Jack Straw said the TSA action "should never have been taken." The incident points up some of the real problems facing security personnel as they try to enforce the "no-fly" list. One issue is spelling; many foreign names have several different transliterations into English. And the sheer size of the list is daunting; thousands of names have been added in the last couple months, says one government official, bringing the total up to more than 19,000 people to look out for. That makes it difficult for airlines and government agencies to check all passengers. Within the past six months, several people on the no fly list have been mistakenly allowed to fly. Still, the TSA is learning. It recently acknowledged that a Federal Air Marshall, unable to fly for weeks when his name was mistakenly put on the "no-fly" list, was in fact not a threat, and removed his name from the list. -- ----------------- R. A. Hettinga <mailto: rah(a)ibuc.com> The Internet Bearer Underwriting Corporation <http://www.ibuc.com/> 44 Farquhar Street, Boston, MA 02131 USA "... however it may deserve respect for its usefulness and antiquity, [predicting the end of the world] has not been found agreeable to experience." -- Edward Gibbon, 'Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire' --------------------------------------------------------------------- The Cryptography Mailing List Unsubscribe by sending "unsubscribe cryptography" to majordomo(a)metzdowd.com

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