February 1, 2004
1. Biometrics to catch terrorists....or money
launderers, or child support evaders, or......
2. Those dangerous birdwatchers - read this if you need a chuckle
3. And we thought the TIA program went away when Poindexter resigned
4. One thing we know for certain, Saddam Hussein was a dangerous man....
5. Low hopes for the independent inquiry into the "intelligence failures around
WMDs"
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1. Experts on biometrics say they are just about
useless in catching terrorists, and are not accurate enough to do a "one to
many" match. It will, however, be a good way to get id info on us average
Americans.
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1074899415787&call_pageid=968332188854&col=968350060724
<http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1074899415787&call_pageid=968332188854&col=968350060724>
2. Apparently a couple of birdwatchers got picked
up by the border patrol during the annual Christmas bird count up in Buffalo.
This essay outlines the similarities between birdwatchers and our protectors of
homeland security - tongue in cheek, of course. Makes me think about some
possibilities for street theater....
http://www.counterpunch.org/davis01242004
3. A pilot program is underway (called MATRIX) that
gathers LOTS of info about folks and compiles it in privately-operated data
base. A number of states are participating apparently without their residents
knowing about it. We could be one of them!
http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,590039368,00.html
4. Bush wants to know the facts about the
intelligence used in the run-up to war, but doesn't want an investigation.
Similar to his position on 9-11, one can only wonder why....
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20040130/D80D92U80.html
5. Note the part about leapfrogging over the
"failed" intelligence and focusing on how to "fix" the problem. If that is the
case, accountability for pre-war failures etc will not be part of their charge
from the teflon administration.
http://www.thestatesman.net/page.news.php?clid=8&theme=&usrsess=1&id=34749>