The Constant American: FBI Violated Patriot Act Guidelines

The Constant American: FBI Violated Patriot Act Guidelines:

FBI Violated Patriot Act Guidelines

Like that couldn't have been wasn't predicted.

ABC News reports:

The FBI repeatedly failed to follow the strict guidelines of the Patriot Act when its agents took advantage of a new provision allowing the FBI to obtain phone and financial records without a court order, according to a report to be made public Friday by the Justice Department's Inspector General.

The report, in classified and unclassified versions, remains closely held, but Washington officials who have seen it tell ABC News it documents "numerous lapses" and describe it as "scathing" and "not a pretty picture for the FBI."

FBI Director Robert Mueller is scheduled to brief Congress on the report at noon.

The officials say the inspector general found the FBI underreported by at least 20 percent the use of the controversial provision, known as National Security Letters, NSLs, in required disclosures to Congress.

The Patriot Act gave FBI agents the ability to demand telephone, bank, credit card and library records by issuing an administrative letter, bypassing the need to seek a warrant from a federal judge.

Civil liberties groups have long opposed the provision, saying the lack of oversight could lead to the kinds of problems apparently uncovered by the inspector general.

In a report last year, the Justice Department said there were 9,254 NSL requests on 3,501 persons in the calendar year 2005.

Some officials say the actual number is substantially higher.

The inspector general's report reportedly found "systemic" failures in the issuance, tracking and accountability of the controversial NSLs, although a Justice Department official said there was no finding of "willful or criminal misconduct."

FBI officials said they could not comment until the report was made public but said the FBI welcomed the findings because several of the reported problems were unknown to senior management.

"Expect a weekend firestorm," said one Justice Department official.

Bobonit News Blog - Bob's news blog: The earth is shaking...Two Major pacific rim jolts

Bobonit News Blog - Bob's news blog: The earth is shaking...Two Major pacific rim jolts

: "Thursday, March 08, 2007

Thursday, March 08, 2007

The earth is shaking...Two Major pacific rim jolts

The earth is shaking...Two Major pacific rim jolts and a smaller 4.7 5 second jolt near Bridgeport in the Central Sierra's it was felt across the Central Valley into Modesto, Stockton, Tracy and even Fresno!

Looking at world earthquakes in the last day or so hundreds of moderate earthquakes around the pacific rim including Alaska, Indonesia, Japan, Russia and in California a whole bunch of Micro Quakes in the San Francisco Bay area and Mammoth Lakes / Long Valley area.

Central California/Sierra Earthquake
A light earthquake occurred at 7:17:32 PM (PST) on Thursday, March 8, 2007.
The magnitude 4.7 event occurred 22 km (14 miles) NNW of Bridgeport, CA.
The hypocentral depth is 10 km ( 6 miles).

Magnitude	4.7 - regional moment magnitude (Mw)
Time	Thursday, March 8, 2007 at 7:17:32 PM (PST) Friday, March 9, 2007 at 3:17:32 (UTC)
Distance from	Bridgeport, CA - 22 km (14 miles) NNW (328 degrees) Wichman, NV - 37 km (23 miles) WSW (246 degrees) Bodie, CA - 39 km (24 miles) NW (308 degrees) Hawthorne, NV - 66 km (41 miles) W (261 degrees) Sacramento, CA - 184 km (114 miles) E (94 degrees)

Map of 4.7 Richter earthquake near Bridgeport California















Map of 4.7 Richter earthquake near Bridgeport California north of Mammoth Lakes and the long Valley.

Two Major Pacific rim jolts one Offshore Japan - and apparently early reports of a large quake near Valdivostock which could affect as many 450,000 people in Russia

6.1 in Russia near Valdivostock - USGS LINK

Earthquake map Valdivostcok

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/recenteqsww/Maps/10/135_45.gif

Earthquake Details

Magnitude	6.2
Date-Time	Friday, March 9, 2007 at 03:22:42 (UTC) = Coordinated Universal Time Friday, March 9, 2007 at 1:22:42 PM = local time at epicenter Time of Earthquake in other Time Zones
Location	43.218°N, 133.546°E
Depth	436.2 km (271.1 miles)
Region	PRIMORYE, RUSSIA
Distances	65 km (40 miles) NE of Nakhodka, Russia 130 km (80 miles) E of Vladivostok, Russia 990 km (620 miles) NNW of TOKYO, Japan 6525 km (4050 miles) ENE of MOSCOW, Russia
Location Uncertainty	horizontal +/- 5.1 km (3.2 miles); depth +/- 7 km (4.3 miles)
Parameters	Nst=197, Nph=197, Dmin=354 km, Rmss=0.78 sec, Gp= 32°, M-type=moment magnitude (Mw), Version=8
Source	USGS NEIC (WDCS-D)
Event ID	us2007zsai

• This event has been reviewed by a seismologist.

No further reports yet potentially could affect 450,000 people.

Earthquake off the coast of Japan- USGS Link

Magnitude 6.1 - IZU ISLANDS, JAPAN REGION

Magnitude 6.1 - IZU ISLANDS, JAPAN REGION

Earthquake Details

Magnitude	6.1
Date-Time	Thursday, March 8, 2007 at 05:03:32 (UTC) = Coordinated Universal Time Thursday, March 8, 2007 at 2:03:32 PM = local time at epicenter Time of Earthquake in other Time Zones
Location	29.918°N, 140.281°E
Depth	138.6 km (86.1 miles)
Region	IZU ISLANDS, JAPAN REGION
Distances	355 km (220 miles) S of Hachijo-jima, Izu Islands, Japan 370 km (230 miles) NNW of Chichi-shima, Bonin Islands, Japan 580 km (360 miles) N of Iwo-jima, Volcano Islands, Japan 640 km (395 miles) S of TOKYO, Japan
Location Uncertainty	horizontal +/- 6.1 km (3.8 miles); depth +/- 14.7 km (9.1 miles)

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The Editor is predicting a large quake along the Pacific Rim possibly in the United States in the next week or so....Checking lost dog reports in your area?

Technorati tags
Earthquake California Earthquake

Posted by Bob Blogger at 9:34 PM

San Jose Mercury News - Shameful sex slave denial begs for rebuke

San Jose Mercury News - Shameful sex slave denial begs for rebuke: "Shameful sex slave denial begs for rebuke
Mercury News Editorial
Article Launched: 03/07/2007 01:40:34 AM PST

During World War II, Japan enslaved as many as 200,000 women, most of them Korean, and forced them to work as prostitutes in military brothels serving the Japanese troops.

A Japanese Cabinet minister issued a lukewarm apology to the victims in 1993, and a private fund was set up to help the few remaining survivors.

But last week, Japan's conservative prime minister, Shinzo Abe, took it all back. 'There is no evidence to prove there was coercion, nothing to support it,' Abe said.

That is an outrageous lie, echoed by conservative Japanese lawmakers, one of whom likened the brothels to 'college cafeterias.'

Congress needs to send a strong rebuke to Japan's leaders. It should pass a resolution introduced earlier this year by Rep. Mike Honda, D-Campbell, that calls on Japan to unequivocally apologize for its treatment of the women and educate its people about its wartime actions.

During a U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing last month, three survivors testified about the trauma they suffered from the sexual abuse by Japanese soldiers. 'It was as if I were already dead. I cannot remember how many or how long. I lost consciousness,' said Koon Ja Kim, 81.
"

San Jose Mercury News - Google wins key ruling in patent dispute over Earth software

San Jose Mercury News - Google wins key ruling in patent dispute over Earth software: "Google wins key ruling in patent dispute over Earth software
Associated Press
Article Launched: 03/07/2007 04:14:57 PM PST

SAN FRANCISCO - Online search leader Google Inc. has won a key court ruling in a patent dispute over its popular three-dimensional software that provides Internet tours of the Earth.

In a summary judgment issued Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Douglas Woodlock in Massachusetts decided that Google Earth doesn't infringe on a patent issued to Skyline Software Systems Inc. in 2002.

Skyline, a privately held company in Chantilly, Va., had been pursuing a patent infringement claim since 2004 when it first sued Keyhole Inc., whose technology powers Google Earth. Mountain View-based Google bought Keyhole for an undisclosed amount in October 2004.

Keyhole's 3-D technology powers mapping software that ranks among Google's biggest successes outside of its search engine. Google said its Earth software has been downloaded more than 100 million times.

Skyline had been seeking unspecified damages as well as a court order to prevent Google from using the technology allegedly covered by U.S. Patent No. 6,496,189.

'From the beginning, we felt confident that Google Earth's technology does not infringe Skyline's patent,' Google spokesman Ricardo Reyes said Wednesday.

Skyline didn't immed"

BBC NEWS | Health | 'Personal' health websites sought

BBC NEWS | Health | 'Personal' health websites sought:


"'Personal' health websites sought"

People like to read personal testimonies, the study says
People searching online for health advice often reject sites giving high quality information in favour of those with a human touch, a study suggests.

Researchers found people use an initial weeding out process to deal with the minefield of health information of variable quality available.

However, this tends to mean they quickly eliminate most NHS and drug company websites, they said.

The study was funded by the UK's Economic and Social Research Council.


People don't have the patience to scroll through pages in order to find something useful
Professor Pamela Briggs
Northumbria University

The researchers examined the internet search strategies of people who wanted to find specific health information on topics such as high blood pressure, the menopause and hormone replacement therapy (HRT).

They found that many websites were dismissed at quite amazing speeds.

Lead researcher Professor Pamela Briggs, from Northumbria University, said: 'One thing that really put people off was advertising, so people clicked off drug company websites straight away.

'Generally, the medical information on drug company sites is very accurate but people question the authors' motivation and agenda.

'The issue of imparti"