-Caveat Lector- [radtimes] # 190 An informally produced compendium of vital irregularities. "We're living in rad times!" ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Send $$ to RadTimes!! --> (See ** at end.) ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Contents: --U.S. Cyber-Chief Warns of Weaknesses --Carnivore and Net censorship will save the children --Darpa mobile project preps 'soldier's radio' --Concealed-Carry States Have Reduced Crime Rates --Supersecret NSA said to be falling behind in tech advances --Summit police to get plastic bullets --Canada Cracks Down On Hell's Angels --Fingerprint May Soon Be Needed to Buy Groceries =================================================================== Wednesday March 21, 2001 U.S. Cyber-Chief Warns of Weaknesses <http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nf/20010321/tc/8348_1.html> By Robyn Weisman, www.NewsFactor.com The new director of the National Infrastructure Protection Center (NIPC) told news sources Tuesday that online terrorism and other types of cybercrime could gravely affect the U.S. economy unless federal agencies and corporations work together more closely than they have in the past. Ronald L. Dick, who was appointed Tuesday to the top post of the multi-agency organization, said that most sections of what he termed the United States' critical infrastructure, including electric power plants, federal offices and vital computer systems, are susceptible to everyone from rogue nations to disgruntled employees. As he introduced his new NIPC colleagues -- many of whom were culled from the CIA and the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) -- Dick said that there are approximately 1,400 open cybercrime investigations and that the number is increasing daily. He also disclosed that, on average, 50 new computer viruses are generated each week, all of which have the potential to cause damage. Information Warfare "Information warfare is obviously something the United States, the National Security Council, the Department of Defense, the CIA, the FBI and our private-sector partners are very concerned with," said NIPC's Leslie G. Wiser Jr., who, like Dick, is an FBI veteran. "We are picking up signs that terrorist organizations are looking at the use of technology" as a means of causing future economic destruction. While agreeing with Wiser, Dick stressed that the most pressing problem facing both the public and private sectors is a dearth of effective safety measures to prevent former employees from assaulting computer networks that are critical to trade. Said Dick: "The biggest threat is the disgruntled employee, who can do tremendous damage." Charles Kolodgy, a research manager at Massachusetts-based IDC, concurred with Dick's assessment. "We need to raise the bar on what are accepted security practices within industry," Kolodgy told NewsFactor Network, adding that sometimes those practices are as simple as warning employees not to open suspicious e-mails. Internal NIPC Dissension Despite the pressing need to protect the national infrastructure, friction between the federal outfits that comprise the NIPC has thus far hobbled the agency's pursuit of that objective. In particular, the relationship between the DOD and the FBI has caused a great deal of dissension. Kolodgy told NewsFactor that much of the discordance between the FBI and the DOD stems from budgetary issues. Since both agencies contribute manpower and resources to the NIPC, differences of opinion have arisen over who picks up what percentage of the tab for the agency and who has the most power. "This friction exists between the DOD and the FBI because of the differences in their respective missions," Kolodgy said. "The DOD's most immediate concern is national security, and they distrust the FBI's agenda. Is it [the formerly-named] Carnivore, or monitoring for criminal activity?" Added Kolodgy: "The DOD is more apt to stay behind the scenes, whereas the FBI, whose primary role is prosecution, tends to be out in the public space." Working Together Dick admitted that cooperation between U.S. agencies must improve in order for the NIPC to succeed. "Any time that you create something new, there are problems getting the right people on board," Dick said. "I want to instill a new sense of ownership and urgency. Added Dick: "The true success in being able to deal with these issues is building partnerships." The decision to hire Rear Admiral James B. Plehal, a DOD operative, as Dick's deputy director appears to be a step in that direction. "All of what we do concerns relationships," Plehal said. "We at DOD need to better demonstrate our commitment." Relationships Can Succeed IDC's Kolodgy believes that though the NIPC "still has a long way to go," the various agencies involved will be able to work out their differences. "These things do work," said Kolodgy, "because outside the cyber-realm there has been tremendous cooperation between the DOD, the FBI and corporations against terrorist threats. The airline industry is a prime example." =================================================================== Carnivore and Net censorship will save the children http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/6/17822.html 23/03/2001 This is the second in a series of stories examining firsthand how pedophiles use the Internet. There is perhaps no group more universally despised than pedophiles, and with good reason, we'll add freely. No sensible person would dispute that children are by nature defenseless relative to adults, both physically and mentally, and therefore entitled to greater civil protections. That said, responsible citizens may well be alarmed by efforts to exaggerate the danger of on-line sexual exploitation and contamination of children as a pretext to justify increased government surveillance and censorship on the Internet. Indeed, an extremely complex struggle over Internet privacy and content restrictions is underway in courts and legislatures around the globe; and make no mistake, child-protective rhetoric echoes loud throughout. Because the United States possesses the most loudly self-proclaimed 'tradition' (many would say 'myth') of individual liberty, along with some of the most Draconian, anti-libertarian initiatives pending in its courts and Congress, it serves handily to illustrate the almost schizophrenic battle between two universal human instincts: our natural tendency to protect children, and our natural tendency to seek privacy and to confront un-edited information and evaluate its significance for ourselves -- along with the cynical ways that governments and 'family-values' advocates are using the former as currency to bribe us into surrendering our rights to the latter. Terrorists, drug lords and....pedos? History will remember the Clinton Administration for Monica, certainly; but it will remember it as well for doing more damage to individual civil liberties than any administration prior to the shocking revelations of the Church Committee back in the mid-1970's. Former US Attorney General Janet Reno's wiretap-happy Department of Justice (DoJ) in particular sought relentlessly to secure ever-broader authority to monitor Internet activity. Reno sought, for example, to circumvent the Privacy Protection Act of 1980 (PPA), which protects publishers and journalists, researchers, authors and academicians, by forbidding the Feds from seizing, or even examining, data meant for publication along with its supporting documentary information such as notes, transcripts and related research materials. "Because computers now commonly contain enormous data storage devices, wrongdoers can use them to store material for publication that the PPA protects while simultaneously storing child pornography, stolen classified documents, or other contraband or evidence of crime," a White House committee chaired by Reno concluded last year in a contemptible report typical of this inclination. "Features of the Internet that make it different from prior technologies may justify the need for changes in laws and procedures that govern the detection and investigation of computer crimes," the Reno committee said chillingly. We know what "changes in laws and procedures" means. It means that the Internet and its presumably vast population of pedos justify streamlining warrant procedures and expanding government intrusion to save the tender sprouts we all, quite rightly, love and wish to protect. Also last year, White House Chief of Staff John Podesta insisted that government surveillance of citizens suspected of 'computer crimes' must be made easier for federal law enforcement agents, whole speaking at the National Press Club in Washington. Blanket trap and trace orders should be permitted without prior court approval during an 'emergency', Podesta cheerfully recommended. Back in mid-1999, Reno was touting a draft proposal for what she called a "Cyberspace Electronic Security Act", expanding a little-used law enabling the Feds to obtain warrants to sneak into private premises and install hidden recording devices. In this case, the black-bag job would be done on a suspect's computer. Assistant Attorney General Jon Jennings' letter to House Speaker Dennis Hastert, entreating him to drum up congressional support for the scheme, was a classic piece of Clinton/Reno child-protective drivel appealing to the need for rapid action in such emergencies as "stopping a terrorist attack or seeking to recover a kidnapped child, [where] time is of the essence and may mean the difference between success and catastrophic failure." One man's terrorist may be another man's patriot; but no one admires a pedo. This is why Reno and her minions never dared open their mouths to advocate her pet Orwellian projects without cynically appealing to the protection of children. Congress loves pedos too In mid-2000, child-protective hysteric and US Representative Robert Franks (Republican, New Jersey) introduced a House bill requiring mandatory prison sentences for 'cyber-molesters' who use the Internet to find underage sexual partners. His bill would hamstring judges by imposing a minimum of five years' incarceration for those found guilty. The proposed legislation would apply to defendants who "establish a relationship with a child over the Internet and then travel across state lines for the purpose of engaging in illegal sex." Not surprisingly, the FBI dutifully reported a 550 per cent increase in "high-tech child molesters" since 1998, which dovetailed beautifully into Franks' self-serving reckoning. "Even when law enforcement is successful in catching these criminals, they are often given lenient sentences," he lamented. "The average sentence for the crime is just 18 months in jail." He fretted that judges have been "ignoring the seriousness of the offence" when a convict is otherwise law-abiding, and concluded that it's necessary for Congress to choose sentences for them. "Those sick criminals who terrorize our children, destroy their innocence and leave them scarred for life deserve to be locked away for a long time," he said. (Well, of course they do; but we remain convinced that judges are in a far better position to determine what's appropriate from the bench than members of Congress are from Capitol Hill. Call us old-fashioned....) Also last year, the Children's Internet Protection Act (CIPA), regrettably, was signed into law. Sponsored by US Senator John McCain (Republican, Arizona) and US Representative Ernest Istook (Republican, Oklahoma), the Act imposes Internet filtering requirements on public schools and libraries which accept money from Uncle Sam. Naughty pictures, inappropriate chatrooms and blue prose are to be rendered inaccessible to tender sprouts, and failure to comply results in the money spigot being shut off. The legitimate fear among perfectly reasonable and law-abiding adults, naturally, is that public libraries will be cowed into filtering all their computer terminals on fears of government retaliation if some brat should get his or her hands on an open one, and thereby restrict adult research opportunities to those appropriate for children. An equally perverse Congressional gift is the Children's Online Protection Act (COPA), which, among other things, makes it a crime to create, distribute or possess any material which 'appears to depict' a child in a sexual context. This language, being so vague that anything the Feds dislike might be outlawed -- morphed pics of kids where no sexual exploitation has occurred but which nevertheless appear sexual, movies such as "Endless Love", "Fast Times at Ridgemont High" and even the recent "Traffic" (in which, ironically, conservative US Senator Orrin Hatch appears as himself in a brief cameo) -- has wisely been shot down by the Third and Ninth US Circuit Courts of Appeals. But the DoJ is pursuing reinstatement of this imbecility before the US Supreme Court this year. Their thin justification is that images whose production involve no actual, real-world harm to children still cause irreparable social ruin by satisfying the unhealthy desires of pedophiles. Thus the innocent interests of the many have got to be sacrificed to frustrate the perverse interests of the few. Sorry, mate, but we know best what you ought to see. The prude bandwagon Public libraries are a hotbed of on-line pedo activity and must therefore be forced to install Internet filtering software on their public computers, pedophile psychotherapist Mary Anne Layden told a Congressional Committee on Children and Families which convened last year to consider measures for protecting children from Internet predators. "What is happening in our public libraries is a national scandal," she said gravely. After a few hours' perusal "pedophiles can...leave the library with toxic messages and become carriers back to their jobs, their homes, onto the streets and into the schoolyard," she claimed. Layden said that permission-giving myths, dear to pedos, such as their twisted notions that children actually enjoy being raped by adults, or that such perverse relations are in fact natural and healthy, are being propagated with unprecedented virulence via the Net. As a result, thirty-eight percent of American girls are sexually molested before they reach age eighteen, she claimed, citing a figure that strikes The Register as grotesquely overstated in spite of our well-known inclination towards pessimism regarding the darker regions of human nature. The American Library Association (ALA), Layden says, is solely responsible for all this savagery. The professional organization belligerently rejects all efforts to censor content at public libraries, and proudly snubs its nose at the idea of Internet filtering. But the ALA has its own reading of the tea leaves. "The use in libraries of software filters which block constitutionally protected speech is inconsistent with the United States Constitution and federal law, and may lead to legal exposure for the library and its governing authorities," the organization warns. Therefore, "the American Library Association affirms that the use of filtering software by libraries to block access to constitutionally protected speech violates the Library Bill of Rights." Layden nevertheless excoriated the organization for its stubborn stance, and for encouraging continual efforts to obstruct prudish ambitions by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). She noted that on its Web site, the ALA even has the audacity to publish links to step-by-step instructions for teens on how to disable filtering software. "Libraries have become the new red-light districts," she cried. Worse, this irresponsible atmosphere of intellectual permissiveness makes it impossible for her to treat her pedo patients effectively, she lamented; but she offered not one shred of factual data establishing a causal relationship between access to library computers and crimes committed in the real world, or any data on the frequency of such outrages. It was pure prude Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt (FUD), but it worked on a Congress terrified to appear soft on pedos whatever the cost in civil liberties might be. The CIPA, as we noted above, made it into law a few months later. Puritanical alarmists sitting on the Child Online Protection Act (COPA) Commission argued before Congress in mid-2000 that the US government should forcibly defend our tender sprouts from on-line filth by imprisoning the purveyors of electronic obscenity. "One well-placed prosecution could send a message to the providers of this material that it's not acceptable," COPA Commissioner and former Gary Hart squeeze turned anti-porn crusader Donna Rice Hughes, whose more than half-decent pair of tits may be evaluated here, recommended. Former 'model' Rice has clearly seen The Light and accepted Jesus Christ as her Personal Savior since her days of soft-core posing and her scandalous overnight liaison with the then married former Colorado Senator, which scuppered his bid for the US presidency in 1987. She has since cast out the demons by writing a book, Kids Online: Protecting Your Children in Cyberspace, which advocates a "more aggressive enforcement of cyber-crime laws," and urges citizens to "remember [that] public opinion drives public policy and law enforcement!" And that it does, sadly. The mainstream press swallows (the bait) "The Web's Dark Secret" Newsweek Magazine emblazoned on its cover last week, along with a picture of a prepubescent child. "The Web has fed a shocking increase in the sexual exploitation of children," the subhead confidently claimed. Open the story and you'll be confronted with this (unsubstantiated) claim: "before the Internet came along, pedophiles were lonely and hunted individuals. Authorities had child pornography under control. Today, networks of child abusers are proliferating worldwide." The Internet accomplished it all, we're urged to believe. "Child pornography was pretty much eradicated in the 1980's. With the advent of the Internet, it exploded," the magazine quotes US Customs Service Cyber Smuggling Center chief Kevin Delli-Colli as saying. We're told of an imminent "wide sweep" against pedos (no numbers, naturally) involving customers of a kiddie porn Web site called Blue Orchid, which has, apparently, been infiltrated in some manner by the Feds. Good on them for nailing a cluster of abusive sickos. But shame on them for exploiting mainstream journos who lack the technical background to evaluate their claims, thereby using them as a mouthpiece to spread their propaganda. The fact is, all that can be proven thus far is that the Internet has led to a greater awareness of pedophilia and child porn, as the diseased bastards who trade in this filth avail themselves of its many obvious conveniences. Surely common sense argues that pedophilia was merely harder to track and assess before the Internet, because doing so relied on inefficient, difficult methods of investigation involving old-fashioned, tiring gumshoe detective work, for which only a limited number of people are actually qualified. Today, any fool can fire up a search engine, and with a modicum of cleverness in forming his queries, come up with heaps of pedophilia. The Internet clearly makes it easier to find this garbage. As to whether more of it is actually in circulation, and whether, consequently, more children are being raped and abused, there simply is no reliable data. But there is rhetoric, and plenty of it, urging us to make a leap of faith that easier access to evidence of pedophilia equates with increased incidence of pedo activity. And the purpose behind this rhetoric, clearly, is to justify both more convenient access by law enforcement to Net surveillance, and censorship of anything the family-values lobby should deem inappropriate. The battle, however complex and nuanced in its details, can ultimately be reduced to a single, fairly simple observation: a large number of influential people are desperately trying to impose values on the Internet and its users. On the other side are those who see it as essentially a research tool, a mechanism for adult communication and not a playground for children, best maintained permanently as value-neutral space. We remain persuaded that what can be lost through an onerous law-enforcement presence and mandatory censorship outweighs any advantages to society in the name of exploited children who we doubt can trace their heartbreaking misfortunes directly to the Net. With this in mind the pedo lobby itself has gone to pains to portray itself as more the victim of a witch hunt than an actual threat, and we will therefore examine the Internet's role in pedo advocacy in our next segment. =================================================================== Darpa mobile project preps 'soldier's radio' http://www.eet.com/story/OEG20010321S0049 By George Leopold EE Times 03/21/01 WASHINGTON The Pentagon's research agency is preparing to demonstrate a "soldier's radio" next year designed to provide mobile communications among individual troops anywhere on the battlefield. The "infrastructure-free" radio network will be based on the Linux operating system and will support multiple StrongARM processors, program officials said. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (Darpa; Arlington, Va.) said it plans to demonstrate the infantry radio concept in the field as early as the summer of 2002. The mobile-radio program, which seeks to provide each soldier with a high-data-rate cell phone, would rely on "extreme frequency agility" and a new networking approach to link infantry units spread out over a wide area. The "soldier's radio" is being developed by a contractor team led by ITT Aerospace and Communications (Fort Wayne, Ind.). ITT is working with MontaVista Software Inc. (Sunnyvale, Calif.) to port embedded Linux to StrongARM processors. Darpa has adopted Linux as part of an open-systems approach to technology development. Much of the impetus for the tactical radio program stems from the explosion of mobile communications in the commercial world. "People always ask why there are no cell phones in the field," said Paul Kolodzy, a program manager in Darpa's Advanced Technology Office. The reason, of course, is that there are no relay towers or basestations on the battlefield. The Darpa mobile-communications program, also know as the "situational awareness system," would use high-capacity, low-power radios linked together by a "self-configuring" network to keep soldiers connected with each other at frequencies ranging from 20 MHz to 2.5 GHz. Kolodzy called the architecture a "mobile, ad-hoc, peer-to-peer network" that uses frequency-hopping technology to avoid communication intercepts and location-finding capability in other words, situational awareness on the battlefield but little power. If deployed, the system could be scaled up to as many as 10,000 network nodes. The reconfigurable network would have to perform geographical routing of mobile communications via network gateways. "How you do the geo-routing is the biggest deal," Kolodzy said. The planned technology demonstration next year would link 70 prototype radios over a network utilizing MontaVista's Hard Hat version of the standard Linux kernel and other open-source components, as well as StrongARM processors, DSPs and FPGAs. All hardware was chosen to reduce power consumption in the field. The first beta version of the soldier's radio is expected to be ready by the end of the year, program officials said. The field tests will help determine whether the radios can avoid enemy jamming, estimate a soldier's position when the global positioning system isn't available and provide a link between soldiers and battlefield sensors. Moreover, developers will determine whether they can keep the network operating in battlefield scenarios ranging from jungles to congested urban areas. Potential users of the soldier's radio include the Army, Marine Corps and U.S. Special Operations Forces, Darpa said. Program officials and contractors are also touting the mobile-communications program as an example of how commercial equipment based on open-source systems can be used to get new systems to the field faster and at lower cost. For example, ITT and MontaVista said they were able to speed technology development by porting Linux to StrongARM processors. =================================================================== Concealed-Carry States Have Reduced Crime Rates <http://www.timesdispatch.com/editorial/MGB3D0TUIKC.html> by A. BARTON HINKLE TIMES-DISPATCH COLUMNIST Mar 20, 2001 Six years ago the state passed a measure making it easier for residents to obtain permits to carry concealed weapons. State Senator Virgil Goode's bill required circuit court judges to issue such permits unless the appli- cant had been convicted of a felony, was a foreign national, or had been involuntarily committed. At the time, critics predicted blood would flow like a river. - "This bill will make our streets infinitely more dangerous. This bill will imperil our police officers. This bill is scary," said Delegate Kenneth Melvin. - "This means the carnage we've seen over the past decade will continue," predicted State Senator Henry Marsh. - The bill would put guns in the hands of "every nutcake in Virginia," warned State Senator Richard Saslaw. - "You pass this bill and you'll let a whole bunch of Rambos feel self-important and wander around back home with concealed weapons," said State Senator Madison Marye. SO WHAT happened? Crime decreased. Violent offenses across the state fell to 316 per 100,000 residents in 1998 - the lowest rate in 10 years - from a peak of 380. In Richmond, the homicide rate declined 42 percent from 1995 (the year after the city set a new record for murder), to the lowest level in 20 years. Overall crime in the state declined 24 percent from 1991, to the lowest level since 1975. None of this should be terribly surprising. Individuals seeking concealed-weapons permits must tender their applications to a judge and submit to criminal-background checks. Somehow, it seems unlikely a fellow planning to rob a bank would subject himself to such scrutiny. Indeed, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms says 93 percent of the pistols used in crimes were obtained illegally. Those seeking permits are law-abiding citizens. Florida, for example, has issued more than 380,000 permits since it relaxed its concealed-weapons law in 1987. Nine years later, only 72 permits had been revoked because of crimes committed by license-holders, and few of those crimes involved pistols. Here in the Commonwealth, the courts have issued 96,506 concealed-weapons permits. Only 274 - less than three hundredths of 1 percent - have been revoked, and of those, 17 have been reinstated. If anything, passage of the concealed-weapons law has made crime less prevalent. University of Chicago economist John Lott has researched the issue and published his findings in More Guns, Less Crime. Even after controlling for factors such as the cyclical decline in crime nationwide, he found that states permitting citizens to carry concealed weapons have reduced murder by 8.5 percent, rape by 5 percent, and severe assault by 7 percent. (A few years ago Orlando, Florida, was suffering a rash of rapes. In response, the police offered women a weapons-training seminar. About 2,500 showed up the first day. Within a short time, rapes fell 80 percent.) Lott explains the decline as a function of deterrence: Criminals prey on the weak and defenseless. Permitting citizens to carry concealed weapons makes the criminal's job far riskier - he never can be sure who might be packing heat. As one felon said after Morton Grove, Illinois, banned pistols: "When a thief breaks into someone's house or property, the first thing to worry about is getting shot by the owner." Lott writes: Convicted American felons reveal in surveys that they are much more worried about armed victims than about running into the police . . . .Felons frequently comment in interviews that they avoid late-night burglaries because "that's the way to get shot." The criminals' fear is well-grounded. Estimates on the use of firearms for self-defense vary wildly, because many incidents go unreported. But even the lowest estimate, by the Department of Justice's National Crime Victimization Survey, reports that guns are used 110,000 times a year for defensive purposes. LOTT'S CRITICS have leveled ad hominem attacks against him. They point out that he received an Olin fellowship, and the Olin Corporation manufactures - among other things - ammunition. Hence (they reason) Lott's work is tainted and, therefore, invalid. The Olin Foundation's president, the late William Simon, refuted the charge in a letter: The John M. Olin Foundation has supported for many years a program in law and economics at the University of Chicago Law School. This program is administered and directed by a committee of faculty members . . . .We at the foundation had no knowledge of who applied for these fellowships, nor did we ever suggest that Mr. Lott should be awarded one of them. We did not commission his study, nor, indeed, did we even know of it until last month, when Mr. Lott presented his findings at a conference sponsored by a Washington think tank. The critics have resorted to personal attacks because they have so little ground on which to challenge Lott's findings. But let's say they are right - let's say even that Lott is a full-time employee of Smith & Wesson. Does that in any way alter the facts in his book? Of course not. The data are what matter, not who presented them. And certain gun-control advocates are willing to admit as much, at least in a dark basement with nobody else around. Among those who have permits to carry concealed firearms are former New York Times publisher Arthur Sulzburger and a bodyguard employed by Rosie O'Donnell - she who has said, "There should be a law - and I know this is extreme - that no one can have a gun in the U.S. If you have a gun, you go to jail." Better to get mugged by reality, it seems, than by a thug in the street. =================================================================== Supersecret NSA said to be falling behind in tech advances http://www.siliconvalley.com/docs/news/tech/050194.htm WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. National Security Agency, which uses satellites and electronic listening posts to gather intelligence globally, is falling behind in technology, causing deep concern in the spy community, the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee said Thursday. Rep. Porter Goss, the Florida Republican who chairs the panel, said the NSA, once a leader in technology, is now lagging behind the fast pace of advances and is unable to cover all necessary targets for gathering information and data. ``NSA is the number one concern in the intelligence community right now in terms of capability,'' Goss told the Defense Writers Group. ``It is true that there are targets that we cannot cover today that we used to be able to enjoy coverage on, because of technology.'' NSA, probably the most secretive of the U.S. intelligence agencies, uses an array of technology to monitor communications around the globe. It had an edge during the Cold War because it had computer power that no one else could match, Goss said. ``NSA is an agency that has served the country brilliantly. It is now out of date.'' However, he added that there were ongoing efforts to turn the agency around and bring it up to speed technologically, including through some ties with the private sector. ``So yes there is a huge effort to create the equivalent of the new 800-pound gorilla,'' he said. The United States also is underinvested in spies with good language capabilities, Goss said, noting that the Central Intelligence Agency reduced its presence in Africa and closed stations there in the early 1990s. ``Africa is a place that needs all the attention it can get,'' he said. ``To have a reduced flow of good accurate information coming out of the continent of Africa over the past 10 years I think has reaped a bitter harvest.'' =================================================================== Summit police to get plastic bullets Martin Patriquin STAFF REPORTER www.thestar.com ``Less lethal'' guns that fire plastic bullets have been added to the RCMP arsenal to deal with protesters at the upcoming Summit of the Americas in Quebec city. But those weapons are powerful enough to crack ribs and cause extreme pain, according to those who have used them. The Anti Riot Weapon Enfield, or Arwen 37, is described as ``the first multi-purpose, multi-shot weapon system to combine lightweight, high accuracy and the ability to fire up to five shots before reloading'' by its Canadian distributor, Police Ordnance Company. The weapon was approved for use by the force last summer, and the RCMP has placed ``a very substantial order'' for the guns several months ago according to Police Ordnance president Brian Kirkey. The force would not divulge exactly how many of the guns were ordered. The RCMP tactical force and its SWAT team will be equipped with the Arwen 37 at the Quebec City Summit in April, said a spokesperson for the Mounties. Although several Canadian police emergency task forces already use the Arwen, it is believed this is the first time the RCMP will be equipped with the weapon. ``The Arwen 37 was approved for our emergency response teams in our continuing effort to resolve confrontational situations with a minimal amount of force,'' RCMP Sergeant Paul Marsh said. ``It is a tool at the disposal of our tactical team and I would imagine they will have them (in Quebec city),'' he added. RCMP tactical squads from across the country, along with other police forces, will converge on Quebec City. The Quebec provincial police force also has bought new Arwens and 2,000 rounds of ammunition in preparation for the summit. The Arwen 37 relies on severe pain to subdue a target. It is classified as a ``less lethal'' weapon that ``has less potential for causing death than conventional police weapons,'' said Marsh. And it gets the job done. ``If it hits someone in a rib, it is meant to crack a rib and put them in a lot of pain,'' said Toronto police Constable Bob Leighton, who helps train the force's Emergency Task Force. Tactical squads are usually required to test such less-lethal weapons - such as Tasers, which deliver electric shocks - on themselves. But Leighton said it would be ``too dangerous'' to do so with the Arwen. `It is meant to cracka rib and put them in a lot of pain' The Arwen 37 fires a round 15 centimetres (six inches) in length and 3.7 cm (1* inches) wide. The plastic slug emerges from the muzzle at 74 metres per second, or about 160 miles per hour. ``It is equivalent to getting hit by a fastball,'' Kirkey said. The Arwen 37 can also fire tear gas and smoke rounds, and has the ability to five rounds in four seconds with what's considered 100 per cent accuracy from 20 metres. The gun can also fire special penetrating ammunition that will go through car windshields, double-pane windows and doors. ``It will hit an adult-size torso at 100 metres with an accuracy appropriate for its size and use,'' Kirkey said. Designed by Royal Ordnance, a division of British Aerospace, in the late 1960s, the weapon was meant to subdue rioters in Northern Ireland without killing them. Officers using them are trained to aim for the torso, though the hit can be disastrous if they miss their mark. A 19-year-old man was critically injured during the 1994 Stanley Cup hockey riots in Vancouver when he was hit in the head by a plastic bullet fired from an Arwen 37. Police Ordnance Company, based in Markham, will be North America's sole producer and manufacturer of the Arwen 37 by the fall. =================================================================== March 29, 2001 Canada Cracks Down On Hell's Angels By PHIL COUVRETTE Associated Press Writer MONTREAL (AP) _ Police raided homes and suspected Hell's Angels hangouts across Quebec on Wednesday, arresting more than 100 suspects in a major crackdown on alleged organized crime by biker gangs. The raids began around dawn and continued though the day. Police in Quebec had taken 118 people into custody by mid-afternoon, said provincial police spokesman Andre Durocher. Two other suspects were arrested as a result of three raids in Ontario and British Columbia, police said. One of the sites raided was the home of Maurice ``Mom'' Boucher, the Hell's Angels leader in Quebec who is in custody awaiting trial on two first-degree murder charges involving the deaths of two prison guards. Warrants issued in connection with the raids leveled 13 more murder charges against Boucher and three charges of attempted murder. Another warrant charged his son, Francois Boucher, with murder in eight of the same deaths. It was unclear whether Francois Boucher was in custody. Durocher said other suspects faced a range of charges. ``We're looking at conspiracy to commit murder, murder, drug trafficking as well as gangsterism charges and infractions related to the proceeds of crime,'' he said. The Quebec raids could have further repercussions for affiliated biker operations in Ontario and Western Canada, said Cpl. Leo Monbourquette of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. ``Given the nature of organized crime, the Hell's Angels have ties elsewhere in Canada,'' Monbourquette claimed. ``So, we think today's operation will affect their operations elsewhere.'' The raids were part of an escalating battle by Canadian police against biker gangs that police say have become networks involved in drug trafficking and other crime. Police say drug-trade turf wars between the Hell's Angels and a rival group, the Rock Machine, are blamed for at least 158 murders, 169 attempted murders and the disappearances of 16 other people. Federal laws that make it illegal to belong to an organized crime gang have been used to convict four Rock Machine members, and 13 members of the Hell's Angels are on trial in a similar case. The Rock Machine recently joined the Texas-based Bandidos, expanding Canada's biker rivalry. Police believe the Hell's Angels have about 80 members in six Quebec chapters and the Bandidos 30 members in two chapters. In addition, less powerful gangs working with the Hell's Angels or Bandidos handle tasks such as collecting money from drug dealers, according to police. Bikers from the puppet gangs become Angels or Bandidos only after several years of earning trust and building drug rings of their own, police say. =================================================================== Fingerprint May Soon Be Needed to Buy Groceries <http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2001/3/30/172528.shtml> by David M. Bresnahan Saturday, March 31, 2001 The day will come when you put your finger on a scanning device to prove who you are before you engage in transactions at retail stores, ATMs, banks and even when you buy groceries. One company making such a device is engaged in a pilot project with the nation's largest grocery chain. Biometric Access Corp. has teamed up with four Kroeger stores in the Houston area to test a point-of-sale finger scanning device for retail transactions. The pilot project has been under way for just over a year and is working well, even though some customers don't like it, according to Kroger spokesman Gary Huddleston. The Kroeger stores are using the device to provide positive identification for payroll check cashing, not for actual sales. Huddleston says customer acceptance is one of the challenges that must be overcome if the device is to be used for all transactions. "Many customers have seen the value of the security in the system. The finger image is positive identification," Huddleston told NewsMax.com in a phone interview. He said a personal identification number was not very secure. Will the finger image scanner become common in all retail stores in the future? "I'm sure it will," said Huddleston. "Customer acceptance is one challenge, and cost is the other challenge. As soon as we overcome those." Use of the finger image for check cashing at the four pilot Kroger stores is optional, but Huddleston said most customers use it once they understand how it works and that they can get their check cashed faster if they submit to the finger image scan. The finger image scanner can easily be used for all point-of-sale transactions, including the use of checks, credit cards, and debit cards, according to Biometric Access Corp. spokesman Hal Jennings. The system is also used for computer security and for clocking workers in and out of work, replacing old-fashioned time cards. The use of finger image scans is hailed by some and highly criticized by others. "My primary objection is to government surveillance of citizens, more so than that of private businesses. However, the trend by retailers and employers to use biometrics to screen customers and employees is alarming," said activist Scott McDonald, who has a Web site (www.networkusa.org/fingerprint.shtml) that fights the use of fingerprints. Conditioning the Public He says the use of finger image scans by retail stores is one way the government can "condition" the public to "accept the same kind of perpetual scrutiny by government using the same technologies." McDonald told NewsMax.com that he was concerned about an increase in the number of government and business partnerships. "It is likely the information generated by private biometric scanning by banks, businesses, and employers will eventually be linked to, or accessible by, government computers," explained McDonald. Biometric Access Corp. has also established a contract with H.E. Butt Grocery Co. in Texas "which will result in a large-scale implementation of the SecureTouch On-Time=99 time and attendance system," Jennings said. More than 700 units will be installed in stores using biometric fingerprint readers to keep track of 50,000 employees as they clock in and out of work. Biometric Access Corp. also sold 6,000 similar readers to the state of New York for the Office of Mental Health to be used to protect highly confidential files. ------------ David M. Bresnahan ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) is an independent journalist. An archive of his work is available at http://InvestigativeJournal.com. =================================================================== "Anarchy doesn't mean out of control. It means out of 'their' control." -Jim Dodge ====================================================== "Communications without intelligence is noise; intelligence without communications is irrelevant." -Gen. Alfred. M. Gray, USMC ====================================================== "It is not a sign of good health to be well adjusted to a sick society." -J. Krishnamurti ====================================================== "The world is my country, all mankind my brethren, and to do good is my religion." -Thomas Paine ====================================================== " . . . it does not require a majority to prevail, but rather an irate, tireless minority keen to set brush fires in people's minds . . . 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