America's ten most overpaid CEOs

From Mother Jones: Oxy; Oracle; Johnson & Johnson; Cisco; Wells Fargo; L-3 Communications; Adobe; US Steel; and Gannett. Read the rest of this post...

70% of Tea Party supporters oppose Medicare cuts

I remember when Bush won the Supreme Court decision following the 2000 elections. Cheney, I believe, was quoted as saying something to the effect of "we will govern as if we have a mandate," even though they knew they didn't have one. It's what Republicans do. Lots of mandate smoke and mirrors. And this time, even the Teabaggers don't support the GOP budget plans. Read the rest of this post...

Radioactive iodine found in Japanese breast milk

The Telegraph:

The radiation contamination came to light after tests were conducted on breast milk samples taken from nine women living northeast or east of Tokyo.

Four of these women were found to be contaminated, with the highest reading of 36.3 becquerels of radioactive iodine per kg detected in the milk of the mother of an eight-month-old baby in Kashiwa, Chiba prefecture.

Read the rest of this post...

MI State Police: We have nothing to hide, that is why we have been stonewalling ACLU for 3 years

To paraphrase an argument often use by cops, why not comply with the ACLU's FOIA request if you have nothing to hide?

As Gaius wrote earlier, there are reports that the Michigan State Police are downloading the entire cell phone contents, included deleted records (such as text messages and emails), of people stopped for simply traffic violations. The ACLU, three years ago, filed a FOIA request to determine exactly what the Michigan State Police were up to. The State Police stonewalled, for three years. Now because the news has gone national, suddenly they're talking, and sent Gaius a statement, published below. But they still haven't complied with the ACLU's FOIA request, which would prove whether the Police are violating people's privacy or not.

First the ACLU's charge:

In August 2008, the ACLU of Michigan filed its first FOIA request to acquire records, reports and logs of actual use.

Documents provided in response confirmed the existence of these devices, but MSP claimed that the cost of retrieving and assembling the documents that disclose how five of the devices are being used is $544,680. The ACLU was then asked to pay a $272,340 deposit before the organization could receive a single document.

In order to reduce the cost, the ACLU of Michigan narrowed the scope of its request. However, each time the ACLU submitted more narrow requests, MSP claimed that no documents exist for that time period and then it refused to reveal when the devices were used so a proper request could be made.

“We should not have to go on expensive fishing expeditions in order to discover whether police are violating the rights of residents they have resolved to protect and serve,” said Fancher.

According to CelleBrite, the manufacturer of at least some of the devices acquired by MSP, the product can extract a wide variety of data from cellphones including contacts, text messages, deleted text messages, call history, pictures, audio and video recordings, phone details including the phone number and complete memory file dumps on some handsets.

Next, the State Police's response, with my commentary interspersed:

Recent news coverage prompted by a press release issued by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has brought speculation and caused inaccurate information to be reported about data extraction devices (DEDs) owned by the Michigan State Police (MSP).

To be clear, there have not been any allegations of wrongdoing by the MSP in the use of DEDs.

That's because the police won't disclose the data showing whether or not they're up to any wrongdoing.

The MSP only uses the DEDs if a search warrant is obtained or if the person possessing the mobile device gives consent.

I was on the receiving end of an officer's quest for "consent" when I was in high school and a cop wanted to search my car, for no reason, when I was about to drive home with some friends from a ski resort. He kept saying things like, "so you'll have no problem if I take a look inside your car, right?" Fortunately, I'd just had a civics class and knew my rights, and told the cop he did not have my permission to search the car. He prodded repeatedly, and was pretty ticked. It's difficult to say "no" under those circumstances, and the police know it.

The department*s internal directive is that the DEDs only be used by MSP specialty teams on criminal cases, such as crimes against children.

Oh, so that's the definition of a criminal case now, "crimes against children." Nice way to tug the heartstrings and convince people to agree to this invasion of privacy - it's for the children, you know.

The DEDs are not being used to extract citizens' personal information during routine traffic stops.

If that means the DEDs are not being used, at all, during routine traffic stops, that's good. Now release the necessary data to the ACLU and prove it.

The MSP does not possess DEDs that can extract data without the officer actually possessing the owner's mobile device. The DEDs utilized by the MSP cannot obtain information from mobile devices without the mobile device owner knowing.

That's nice. So when ARE they being used?

Data extraction devices are commercially available and are routinely utilized by mobile communication device vendors nationwide to transmit data from one device to another when customers upgrade their mobile devices.

Guns are commercially available too, it doesn't mean they aren't dangerous and we don't control their use.

These DEDs have been adapted for law enforcement use due to the ever-increasing use of mobile communication devices by criminals to further their criminal activity and have become a powerful investigative tool used to obtain critical information from criminals.

I'm sure they're quite helpful. As would a permanent wiretape on every home in America - Soviet style - that the cops could listen in to whenever they want. Utility is not a defense.

Since 2008, the MSP has worked with the ACLU to narrow the focus, and thus reducing the cost, of its initial Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request.

Lie.

To date, the MSP has fulfilled at least one ACLU FOIA request on this issue and has several far-lower cost requests awaiting payment to begin processing. The MSP provides information in accordance with the Freedom of Information Act. As with any request, there may be a processing fee to search for, retrieve, review, examine, and separate exempt material, if any.

That's a bunch of bull. Why would the ACLU claim that the police are asking for far too much money if it weren't true? Turn over the data.

The implication by the ACLU that the MSP uses these devices "quietly to bypass Fourth Amendment protections against unreasonable searches" is untrue, and this divisive tactic unjustly harms police and community relations.

I think relations were pretty much ruined when you guys started using these devices and then some brainiac in the department thought it would be smart to stonewall the ACLU - the freaking ACLU, people - for three years.

And if the Michigan State Police is worried about unjustly harming the police and community relations, they can just release the damn data and stop trying to charge a king's ransom for it. Read the rest of this post...

GOP Senator Ensign to resign

Per Roll Call. And adultery is the least of his problems. His replacement would be appointed by the governor, who is, sadly, a Republican. Read the rest of this post...

Sen. Franken calls for investigation of Apple iPhone spying

CNN:

Democratic Sen. Al Franken, Minnesota, fired off a letter [pdf] to Apple CEO Steve Jobs late Wednesday demanding to know why the company's iPhones and iPads are reportedly compiling secret data tracking customers' whereabouts when they use or carry their devices.

A self-described hacker and a former Apple employee say they recently discovered secret lines of code in Apple's latest operating system known as IOS-4 and, in an article released Wednesday, say it contains data showing consumers' whereabouts every time they use or even just carry a web enabled iPhone or iPad. ... The Minnesota Democrat wants to know why Apple is collecting the data, how it is generated, why it's not encrypted, and why Apple customers, "were never affirmatively informed of the collection and retention of their location data."

Franken also asks Jobs to explain who this information has been disclosed to, including Apple.

This is a big deal, and quite possibly the tip of the iceberg. As John said originally, this has Homeland Security written all over it.

Our original coverage is here; click for the background and more information on the app that lets you see this hidden file. Our follow-up is here, on how this hidden iPhone data appears to be accessed by Michigan police during traffic stops.

Stay tuned.

GP Read the rest of this post...

Joe Barton defends polluters right to pollute

Joe "I apologize BP" Barton is not a doctor, but he plays one in Congress. More from ThinkProgress. Read the rest of this post...

The Koch Brothers sent political mailers to 50,000 employees just before the 2010 elections

Sometimes it feels like every day, the grip is tightening. The Koch Brothers, those Randian freedom lovers, are now hard-selling their 50,000 employees into voting "correctly" (my formulation). A new article at The Nation:

On the eve of the November midterm elections, Koch Industries sent an urgent letter to most of its 50,000 employees advising them on whom to vote for and warning them about the dire consequences to their families, their jobs and their country should they choose to vote otherwise.

The Nation obtained the Koch Industries election packet for Washington State—which included a cover letter from its president and COO, David Robertson; a list of Koch-endorsed state and federal candidates; and an issue of the company newsletter, Discovery, full of alarmist right-wing propaganda.

Legal experts interviewed for this story called the blatant corporate politicking highly unusual, although no longer skirting the edge of legality, thanks to last year’s Citizens United Supreme Court decision, which granted free speech rights to corporations.

“Before Citizens United, federal election law allowed a company like Koch Industries to talk to officers and shareholders about whom to vote for, but not to talk with employees about whom to vote for,” explains Paul M. Secunda, associate professor of law at Marquette University. But according to Secunda, who recently wrote in The Yale Law Journal Online about the effects of Citizens United on political coercion in the workplace, the decision knocked down those regulations. “Now, companies like Koch Industries are free to send out newsletters persuading their employees how to vote. They can even intimidate their employees into voting for their candidates.” Secunda adds, “It’s a very troubling situation.”

Intimidation indeed; consider the possibilities.

You can see a PDF of the election packet here, courtesy of The Nation. It starts, "Dave Robertson, President and CEO, Dear co-worker". Right. ("It's you'n'me, bro, we're in this together. You from way down there; and me from way up here. Oops, rub harder; looks like you missed a spot.")

Expect more of this, as boundaries get pushed and pushed again. Sometimes I think we're making good on the visions of hack 1950s sci-fi authors, who thought distopia was corporations taking over the world, a kind of Outland vision of what lies ahead. And sometimes I don't think I'm wrong.

GP Read the rest of this post...

Wisconsin: JoAnne Kloppenburg wants a recount/special investigator for Prosser electoral "victory"

JoAnne Kloppenburg, challenger for the state Supreme Court, has requested a state-wide recount and also asked for a special independent investigator to look into the actions of Waukesha County and its (Republican, Prosser-associated) county clerk Kathy Nickolaus. Way to step up to the plate.

For background, see here and here. The first Maddow segment below also contains a good introduction to this story, for those who arrived late.

The Journal Sentinel (h/t commenter MG1 via email; my emphasis):

Assistant Attorney General JoAnne Kloppenburg asked Wednesday for a statewide recount - the first in 22 years - to check the results in the April 5 state Supreme Court race she lost to Justice David Prosser.

That recount will start next week, at taxpayers' expense, the state Government Accountability Board said. ... The election initially appeared much closer, with Kloppenburg up by 204 votes, before Waukesha County Clerk Kathy Nickolaus announced her initial, unofficial tally failed to include the 14,315 votes from the City of Brookfield.

Kloppenburg also called on the board to appoint a special investigator to probe Nickolaus' "actions and words."

Kloppenburg also claims that after the election, Prosser "had a one-on-one meeting with Republican Gov. Scott Walker on the day after the election - an explosive charge in an officially nonpartisan race". Right. And the day after that meeting, the Walker administration "asked the Supreme Court to quickly get involved in a Dane County case that has blocked implementation of Walker's controversial plan to sharply limit collective bargaining" — his Kill the Unions bill.

Prosser denies that the meeting took place. Proof that he lied could be bad, but on a party-line vote in a 4-3 Court, censure would be unlikely. (Read the Journal Sentinel article for more on that alleged meeting.)

Here is a good report from Rachel Maddow. In it you can see parts of the Kloppenburg press conference:



I like her phrasing — investigate the "words and actions" of the Waukesha County clerk. She's going somewhere with that; Kloppenburg seems to have discovered her inner prosecutor. Good — after all, she's a career prosecutor who knows how to do this stuff.

GP Read the rest of this post...

Update on the Big Brother iPhone–spying story; Michigan may have been snooping into mobile phones since 2008

Earlier John wrote about the recent discovery of a secret file on your iPhone, and any computer it syncs to, that records your second-by-second location and stores it forever in an unprotected file on your computer that anyone can access (who knows how).

That post is here, and the information is explosive. As John wrote then, "this has Homeland Security written all over it."

Now there's more. Police in Michigan have been, apparently illegally, snooping through the mobile phones of anyone they wish at traffic stops. (Yes, traffic stops.) They have a high-tech snooping device that can download everything in 1.5 minutes, including hidden files. The device can also reportedly defeat password-protection.

Here's the story from theNewspaper.com, a journal that covers "motoring issues around the world from a political perspective". They are not the only source, however (my emphasis below).

The Michigan State Police have a high-tech mobile forensics device that can be used to extract information from cell phones belonging to motorists stopped for minor traffic violations. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Michigan last Wednesday demanded that state officials stop stonewalling freedom of information requests for information on the program.

ACLU learned that the police had acquired the cell phone scanning devices and in August 2008 filed an official request for records on the program, including logs of how the devices were used. The state police responded by saying they would provide the information only in return for a payment of $544,680. The ACLU found the charge outrageous. ...

A US Department of Justice test of the CelleBrite UFED used by Michigan police found the device could grab all of the photos and video off of an iPhone within one-and-a-half minutes. The device works with 3000 different phone models and can even defeat password protections.

"Complete extraction of existing, hidden, and deleted phone data, including call history, text messages, contacts, images, and geotags," a CelleBrite brochure explains regarding the device's capabilities. "The Physical Analyzer allows visualization of both existing and deleted locations on Google Earth. In addition, location information from GPS devices and image geotags can be mapped on Google Maps."

Note the date — this has been happening since at least 2008. In the linked AppleInsider story from John's original post, we find this:

The researchers have concluded that Apple's collection of the data is "intentional," and contacted the company's product security team in an effort to find out the company's reasoning. They did not receive a response.

John noted the AT&T; link to the NSA. This does indeed have "Homeland Security" written all over it, but only if "Homeland Security" means every local cop in every backwater county who knows about this.

As I said, theNewspaper.com is not the only source for this story. MSNBC has this on the device itself. And here's the Detroit Free Press on the ACLU side of the story.

Stay tuned. Apple Inc., that cool friendly company with the carefully controlled, next-gen, "we're so you" image, may be fronting for the Big Brother of your worst nightmares. They're a real Jekyll-and-Hyde — except that Jekyll is an ad campaign, and Hyde is the one who always answers the door.

GP

PS Note from John: AT&T; may very well be involved in this as well. It would be interesting to see if Verizon iPhones are storing the same information, and whether other types of phones are collecting the same information. Read the rest of this post...

US to send $25 million of non-lethal equipment to Libya

And here I thought we had a budget crisis. But when mission creep kicks in, the budget always gets thrown out the window.

The US plans to send $25m worth of non-lethal equipment to the rebel opposition in eastern Libya, in a move likely to further entangle the west in the two-month-old civil war.

The proposal to send surplus Pentagon equipment, including vehicles, medical supplies, protective vests, binoculars and radios, follows Italy's decision to join Britain and France in sending military advisers to the Libyan opposition and a French pledge to intensify air strikes.

The Libyan government has warned that such moves will further prolong the conflict and "encourage the other side to be more defiant".

Meanwhile, France and Italy are sending ground troops to assist the anti-Gaddafi forces. Read the rest of this post...

Paul Ryan booed by constituents when he defends tax cuts for the rich

Paul Ryan and his Teabagging ideas are not popular across the country, including among his own voters. Read the rest of this post...

Your iPhone is keeping a secret record of your whereabouts, and it is on your computer

Holy crap. This is for real. I just ran the software and found the secret file on my laptop, detailing where I've been over the past year, including lots of details of where I visited in Vegas last year during the Netroots Nation conference, where I've been to in DC, and Chicago. It even shows you, over time, where I've been. Watch the video below I made of the data using the software I link to above. It show where I've traveled, and when I traveled, and how much. It gets a lot more detailed, in terms of location, I'm showing you the general view.

And it's actually much worse than the video shows.  The guys who uncovered this, and who made it possible for you to see your own data, have washed the data slightly - it's FAR more detailed than my video shows below:

To make it less useful for snoops, the spatial and temporal accuracy of the data has been artificially reduced. You can only animate week-by-week even though the data is timed to the second, and if you zoom in you’ll see the points are constrained to a grid, so your exact location is not revealed. The underlying database has no such constraints, unfortunately.

A detailed record, second by second, of everywhere you have been over the past year.  And anyone with an iPhone knows that the damn phone knows where you are within a few feet.  It seems they're only using cell tower data, rather than GPS data, but still, that data is pretty accurate if you're in a big city.

Interestingly, the data does not include my iPhone usage in Europe, where I use an old iPhone with a French sim card.  Possibly they need American towers, or AT&T, to track me (also, this is likely illegal in Europe).  This is pretty despicable.  UPDATE: Another reader ran the software on his phone and it DID in fact track his location in Europe.  Interesting question as to whether this was even legal.

Here's more from the folks who discovered it - this has Homeland Security written all over it.

Peter Warden and Alasdair Allan revealed their findings on Wednesday, in which they discovered that both the iPhone and 3G iPad are "regularly recording the position" of the device and saving them in a hidden file. The data is restored through iTunes with backups, and even across device migrations.

The researchers have concluded that Apple's collection of the data is "intentional," and contacted the company's product security team in an effort to find out the company's reasoning. They did not receive a response.

"What makes this issue worse is that the file is unencrypted and unprotected, and it's on any machine you've synched with your iOS device," Allan wrote. "It can also be easily accessed on the device itself if it falls into the wrong hands. Anybody with access to this file knows where you've been over the last year, since iOS 4 was released."

And don't forget, AT&T;, which had a monopoly on the iPhone just until a few months ago, is reportedly in cahoots with the NSA:

AT&T; provided National Security Agency eavesdroppers with full access to its customers' phone calls, and shunted its customers' internet traffic to data-mining equipment installed in a secret room in its San Francisco switching center, according to a former AT&T; worker cooperating in the Electronic Frontier Foundation's lawsuit against the company.

Mark Klein, a retired AT&T; communications technician, submitted an affidavit in support of the EFF's lawsuit this week. That class action lawsuit, filed in federal court in San Francisco last January, alleges that AT&T; violated federal and state laws by surreptitiously allowing the government to monitor phone and internet communications of AT&T; customers without warrants.

Read the rest of this post...