|
|
|
Our on-line
newsletter bulletin now going on our sixth year!
Offering our clients and readers news items and headlines
often not covered by the mainstream media, articles of interest
regarding banking, economics, real estate, taxes, living or investing
abroad, plus much more. Finally, our very popular readers write
in section, with answers to some of the questions many of our readers
have - that no one else wants to answer truthfully, except us!
Want to See our Other Back Issues from 2002 - 2005?........Click Here
|
|
|
|
Visit The Main Newsletter Section & Read Past Issues On-Line:
Dominican Republic Real Estate, Residency Filing, Banking and Interest Rates.
Panama Residency and Retirement. Naturalization and Dual Citizenship - Expatriate Issues.
Economics commentary, inflation, housing, stock markets and investing -
Plus a Whole Lot More !
.
|
Our December 15, 2006 Newsletter Edition
|
.
|
IN THE NEWS:
.
.
EXEC SAYS HMOs ARE DRIVING HOSPITALS INTO BANKRUPTCY
Friday - December 1, 2006
.
NEW YORK (AP) -- Anyone who's had a medical claim rejected by
their health insurance company will be interested in the testimony of a
hospital president today before a state assembly health
committee. David Rosen says Health Maintenance Organizations are
the key reason why health care in New York is declining, saying HMOs
are raking up billion dollar profits by collecting premiums, while
hospitals who provide care lost two billion dollars in the last eight
years. Rosen - who is president of the Medi-Sys Health Network
and a three hospital-group in Queens - says the money is in the health
care pipeline. It's been paid by people to insurance companies. However
when people make a claim, the insurance companies respond with the plan
pays zero on claims they are supposed to pay.
.
http://1010wins.com/
.
.
MARCAL FILES FOR CHAPTER 11 PROTECTION
By Greg Saitz - December 1, 2006 - Star-Ledger Staff
.
Nearly 75 years after his grandfather founded Marcal Paper Mills,
Nicholas Marcalus took a step yesterday that could lead to the end of
the family business. Faced with a cash crisis spurred by rising
energy costs, the country's eighth-largest tissue manufacturer filed
for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in Newark. The company,
which makes toilet paper, napkins, paper towels and tissues, ran into
problems several weeks ago, when it defaulted on two secured loans
totaling $117.7 million, according to court papers.
.
http://www.nj.com/business/ledger/
.
.
PUERTO RICO WIRELESS PROVIDER FILES FOR BANKRUPTCY WITH PLANS TO SELL ASSETS - By Dawn McCarthy - Saturday, December 2, 2006
.
WILMINGTON, USA (Bloomberg): NewComm Wireless Services Inc., a closely
held provider of cellular-phone services in Puerto Rico, has filed for
bankruptcy protection with a plan to sell its assets to PRWireless Inc.
for about $103.2 million. NewComm said in court documents that it
lost subscribers because it couldn't finance network upgrades. The
company, a joint venture of ClearComm LP and Telefonica Larga Distancia
de Puerto Rico Inc., plans to try to make the improvements early next
year if the sale isn't completed.
.
http://www.caribbeannetnews.com/
.
.
LEVEE BOARD ASKS TO FILE BANKRUPTCY
By Jan Moller - Friday, December 01, 2006
.
BATON ROUGE -- With an estimated $23 million legal judgment to pay and
its official demise pending, the Orleans Levee Board on Thursday asked
the State Bond Commission for permission to declare bankruptcy.
An attorney for the Levee Board said Chapter 9 bankruptcy might be the
best way to protect the board's assets from possible seizure in the
wake of an October ruling from a federal judge in favor of corporations
and families that own land inside the Bohemia Spillway in Plaquemines
Parish. It's the only viable alternative we know of to deal with
the fact that the assets of the Levee Board can be seized any day,
Jarrell Godfrey told the Bond Commission.
.
http://www.nola.com/news/
.
.
LOCAL BANKRUPTCY FILINGS SURPASS YEAR AGO FIGURES
December 2, 2006
.
For the first time this year, northwest Ohio bankruptcy filings
surpassed in a month the number filed at the same time last year.
There were 352 petitions, mostly from individuals and couples, last
month, up from 45 a year ago for the 21 counties covered by the U.S.
Bankruptcy Court in Toledo. Through November, there were 3,498 filings
for the year, down from 16,801 a year ago.
.
http://toledoblade.com/
.
.
KING OF BANKRUPTCY PREDICTS RISE IN DEFAULTS
By Elena Moya - Nov. 29, 2006
.
LONDON, Nov 29 (Reuters) - Billionaire turnaround specialist Wilbur L.
Ross predicted that bankruptcies in Europe and the United States would
increase sharply next year because of soaring corporate debt
levels. Ross, dubbed the King of Bankruptcy by Fortune magazine
in 1998, said at a conference in London on Wednesday that defaults
would rise to about 7 percent of all companies by the end of next year
-- one of the most bearish predictions in the industry -- from about 1
percent now. The number of defaults will rise even in the absence
of an economic downturn or interest rate increases, said the chairman
of WL Ross & Co. LLC in a videoconference from his office in New
York. There will be some tragedies.
.
http://today.reuters.com/news/
.
EDITORS NOTES:
The common denominator here is the term bankruptcy. Aside from
what is going on in the consumer and private industry sector, we gave
you some news stories recently in other newsletters regarding local
state and municipal governments that are in effect bankrupt as
well. For example, we highlighted the city of San Diego, which is
having trouble paying pensions to its retired civil service workers,
such as policemen. I do not wish to paint a gloom and doom
scenario, but the truth is that all these trends and statistics should
be looked at very, very seriously. In addition, one has to ask
how these events and trends will affect the value of your investments,
interest rates, taxes and an entire list of other issues that can
affect your own bottom line going forward. I will say one
thing. If there ever was a recession proof business, I think a
company making toilet paper fits that mold. When a toilet paper
company goes bankrupt, that is saying something about the true health
(or lack thereof) of the economy. Marcal is (was) not the largest
consumer paper products company in the US, but it is no small fry
either (the 8th largest in fact). Senior management says that oil
and gas prices have pushed them over the brink, which of course relates
to a letter one of our readers sent in from the last newsletter.
Meaning, dependency on foreign oil and gas is a dangerous and
precarious game, which can have economic fallout in ways you may not
even realize. Couple that with the fact that the Chinese now
effectively control the US government debt markets as Americas largest
creditor and you soon realize how much of the US economy is out of
domestic US control, and subject to the whims of foreigners. On
this theme, it is also very telling to note that the Japanese have
STOPPED buying US dollars in 2004 and have stayed away ever since
(although they still own quite a bit of US government debt, they are
NOT adding to their holdings). Maybe that is because the only
available action remaining in the hands of US politicians and the US
central bank (Federal Reserve) is to print money and devalue the money
supply and the Japanese know it. Of course the economic news and
sound bites emanating from politicians and economy gurus tells a
different story. Believe whom ever you wish, but the information
is out there regardless. Also remember that history often
repeats. Former US President Roosevelt moved to severely devalue
the US Dollar during the so-called Great Depression in order to balance
the books (of course he stole, ahem - or I should rather say
confiscated, the private gold holdings of US citizens before the
devaluation). Of course that was a different time in terms of who
owned all the US debt and companies during that time period were not
closing up shop and exporting jobs off to China, but I digress.
Is the US Federal Reserve attempting an old trick, not realizing that
many of the economic fundamentals are quite different today? Are
we experiencing Déjà Vu all over again, albeit with
possibly different consequences BECAUSE the economic ownership mix
being very different
today?
.
.
BANKRUPTCY REFORMS PASSED BY MSPs
.
New laws that aim to tackle Scotland's growing debt problem have been
backed by MSPs at Holyrood. The Bankruptcy and Diligence Bill,
passed by 64 votes to 50, aims to provide a better balance between the
rights of debtors and creditors. Opposition MSPs had initially
expressed anger at a new power, which could allow a family home to be
sold to meet debts. The Scottish Executive said the power would
be used sparingly but promised to hold a review. However, Shelter
Scotland said MSPs had missed an opportunity to avoid people becoming
homeless for a debt of £3,000. The debt threshold for which
a debtor's home or land could be repossessed was originally set at
£1,500.
.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/6196708.stm
.
.
COMPROMISE ON BANKRUPTCY LAWS IS BLASTED
Edinburgh Evening News - November 30, 2006
.
A last minute compromise over new bankruptcy laws was dismissed today
by anti-poverty campaigners who said it still meant people could lose
their homes for debts of just £3000. MSPs were voting today
on the final stages of the Bankruptcy and Diligence Bill, which will
allow creditors to use land attachment orders against people with
unsecured debts, such as credit card bills, of over £3000. Then,
if the debt is not repaid within six months, the debtor's home and land
can be sold.
.
http://edinburghnews.scotsman.com/
.
EDITORS NOTES:
Since 1997, personal consumer bankruptcies have increased by more than
30 percent in Scotland. Of course, to add insult to injury,
someone can throw you out of your home if you owe 3000 pounds in credit
card or other kinds of personal debt (about US$6,000 give or
take). Why is the Scottish Parliament all of a sudden talking
about bankruptcy laws and why are personal bankruptcies on the rise in
the UK as well? Are we seeing something indicative of a global
recession (dare we say Depression?) that extends far beyond the borders
of the US?
.
.
THE DOLLAR DAM IS BRAKING
By: Richard Benson, SFGroup - December 1, 2006
.
Treasury Secretary, Henry M. Paulson, is rushing off to China next
month and will lead a delegation to Beijing for the inaugural meeting
of the U.S. - China Strategic Economic Dialogue. He'll be
taking high-ranking Administration officials with him, including
Federal Reserve Chairman, Ben S. Bernanke. Because Hank and Ben
are responsible for stabilizing the financial markets and need to work
together to try and stabilize the dollar, their activities in China
will undoubtedly be closely watched worldwide. Hank and Ben are
also part of the Working Group in a team, which includes the heads of
the SEC and the Commodity Futures Trading Association, commonly
referred to on Wall Street as the Plunge Protection Team (PPI).
This Team has the entire United States Treasury at their disposal and
this trip to China could undermine faith in the Administration's
ability to fix the massive Trade Deficit problem in an orderly
manner. Preventing another 1987 Black Monday is on the Agenda,
but the investing public will never be told that it
is.
.
The China trip means that the ticking time bomb at the bottom of the
dollar dam needs to be defused before it blows up, and the value of the
dollar is swept away. Both the Republican Administration and the
Democratic Congress want China, and the rest of Asia, to end their
policies of manipulating their currencies down, by building up massive
foreign exchange holdings. The new Congress is tuned into the
fact that China has tariffs of 25 percent on imports such as autos, and
is very tired of seeing American labor slaughtered. (In
2007 GM, Ford and Chrysler - as well as auto parts suppliers such as
Delphi - are buying 100,000 workers out of their jobs or just letting
them go.) To make trade fair again, Congress is willing to
take the action of imposing tariffs if China and Asia do not
revalue. In turn, China may threaten to dump their dollars,
unless the Fed keeps interest rates high. If China starts selling
dollars, the dam will break.
.
Not only does the U.S. owe a net $3 trillion to foreigners, we now pay
more in interest overseas than we collect from abroad. Foreigners
hold $13 trillion in dollar assets that are at immediate and painful
risk to any dollar weakness. Indeed, that volume of liquid assets
is just about equal to the total GDP. A 30 percent drop in the
dollar, could cost foreign investors an easy $3 trillion in lost
purchasing power, not to mention the loss to U.S. citizens who own over
$46 trillion in dollar net worth assets. Our leaders must find a
way to lower the U.S. Trade Deficit, or risk the dollar losing its
unique position as the World's Reserve Currency. This fact alone
warrants the trip to China. America's currency problem is a very
sad day for the Republic. It used to be that the Federal
Reserve policy was set simply with domestic economic policy in
mind. In years past, we could virtually ignore the dollar in
setting monetary policy because it was totally secure in its role as
the World Reserve Currency. But today, because of our
country's profligate fiscal and over-easy monetary policies, the dollar
has been undermined so much so that, sadly, it may be no more secure as
a store of value than the citizens of Baghdad are, walking the
streets.
.
http://news.goldseek.com/SFG/1165008154.php
.
EDITORS NOTES:
So, Treasury Secretary, Henry M. Paulson and US Federal Reserve
Chairman Ben Bernanke are now known as the PLUNGE PROTECTION team among
Wall Street insiders. Does this mean that Helicopter Ben has changed
job functions and is now a plumber? Maybe they will start calling
the duo Super Mario Brothers and come up with a new Nintendo game just
in time for Christmas? Regardless of the cute, or even not so
cute, names you come up with - it is certainly very telling is that
these high ranking US officials have to go off on a backside kissing
tour to a foreign country that only a few years ago was considered to
be a third world communist basket case. What will our heroes
do? Will they introduce interest rate and other economic policies
to make our Chinese financiers happy, allowing the domestic US middle
class to suffer in the process? Will they do everything they can
to promote a stable currency and policies to make sure the US middle
class do not get wiped out? I guess we will have to wait and see
what new game levels the programmers come up with in terms of our new
Super Mario adventures. Too bad this is all real life and not
just a meaningless form of home entertainment for the kids.
Personally speaking, I never even owned a video game, so I will be
content to watch from the sidelines. How about you?
.
.
EVEN SCORE FOR U.S. WORKERS, PRODUCTS
By William P. Condo - November 30, 2006
.
While Kathryn Friedman's Speaking Out essay on economic globalization
(Building walls to free trade would hurt upstate economy, Oct. 30)
advises that western New York would suffer from protectionist trade
policies, she does not discuss the realities that our federal
government must address to create a level playing field -- and it is
our federal government that negotiates trade policy, not local
corporations or business groups.
.
While trade has been an important economic activity since before the
Phoenicians sailed the Mediterranean, free trade policy in the 21st
century is yet to be achieved. With tariffs imposed by governments on
various products, artificially controlled currencies and
government-subsidized economic sectors, free trade today is a myth, and
the United States has allowed itself to become a disadvantaged
competitor. Most economists agree that the U.S. foreign trade
deficit is unsustainable. The prestigious Economic Policy Institute
reported that trade imbalances in manufacturing have accounted for 59
percent of the decline in U.S. manufacturing since 1998, and that about
935,000 jobs were lost because of rising manufacturing imports in
2000-03. New York State lost 87,037 manufacturing jobs during this
period. China, Malaysia and Taiwan account for 30 percent of the
U.S. trade deficit; Japan and China play the increasing role of banker
for our huge federal debt. The bottom line for many U.S.
companies improves by moving operations to low-wage countries, but what
is the real cost to our national well-being?
.
Out-of-work Americans struggle to find lower-paying jobs, and our
public and private social services network takes on a growing
responsibility to provide for those who cannot financially
survive. Foreign workers employed by U.S. companies overseas do
not pay into our Social Security and Medicare systems, thus subtracting
payroll revenue from the future solvency of these programs. And
our intellectual advantage in creating products is rapidly being
outsourced to educated and highly capable employees in other countries.
Consider that Delphi Corp. is investing heavily in research and
technology in India and growing by 20 percent yearly there while it
works through bankruptcy in the United States. One could conclude
that the United States is unprepared to compete effectively in a global
marketplace, and there is little to suggest that our trade and
employment patterns will substantially improve.
.
http://www.democratandchronicle.com/
.
EDITORS NOTES:
Now that we have dragged issues about economic freedom through the
proverbial mud, let us also examine others kinds of freedoms, or
perhaps better said, our civil liberties (what is remaining of them).
.
.
USA TO GROUND ALL TRAVELLERS UNTIL CLEARED:
Security as a blanket presumption of guilt - By Thomas C Greene
Monday 6th November 2006
.
No one will be permitted to board an aircraft or a marine vessel
leaving or bound for the United States until cleared by the US
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Bureau of Customs and Border
Protection (CBP), under proposed regulations. Under current regs,
the US requires airlines to transmit their manifests no later than
fifteen minutes after a plane is in the air, wheels up. This, according
to DHS, allows known terrorists to board, then hijack or blow up,
commercial planes during the deadly window of opportunity provided
between boarding time and when the aircraft is finally diverted or shot
down by fighter planes scrambled to escort it. However, if the
manifests were to be transmitted before the planes leave the gate, DHS
would have time to ensure that high-risk passengers are prevented from
boarding in the first place, with a subsequent reduction in the number
of commercial aircraft needing to be blown out of the skies by their
military escorts. Other benefits would include fewer diverted flights,
with fewer holidays spoiled and business appointments postponed. Which
all sounds quite reasonable.
.
For DHS, it's a public relations dream come true. No longer will their
crummy databases with their prolific false positives create entire
planeloads of hateful citizens at each go. Now, only one poor bugger in
a turban at a time is going to be inconvenienced for no good reason.
When handled individually before boarding, selectees can easily be
detained, intimidated, humiliated, cavity-searched, and then released
as soon as DHS realizes its error, without other passengers, and most
importantly, the press, taking notice. Using its Advance
Passenger Information System (APIS), DHS has the ability to screen an
entire manifest within one hour, or to screen individuals within
fifteen minutes of boarding. Airlines will be given a choice between
transmitting an entire manifest under the one-hour rule, or
transmitting the required biographical information on each passenger in
real time under an optional fifteen-minute rule. Under both
options, the carrier will not permit the boarding of a passenger unless
the passenger has been cleared by CBP, the Department explains.
From a security point of view, the new APIS regulation is just another
useless counter terrorist rain dance. But from a civil-liberties point
of view, there are some curious implications. DHS is essentially
admitting, without embarrassment, that it is the arbiter of who can
travel. This has been the case for some time, since APIS compliance
became an obsession in the wake of 9/11. DHS has been diverting flights
at will, and removing (usually innocent) undesirables. What's new here
is merely the language: All passengers must be cleared in advance by
the Department. In a practical sense, this has been going on for
years, only it's been buried under steaming piles of counter terrorist
rhetoric. DHS is finally admitting the plain truth: every one of us is
on a no-fly list. We are all unfit to travel, until some government
clerk verifies that our names don't match his sloppy list of suspected
evildoers. Even US citizens cannot enter or leave the USA until they
are approved - until they've passed the database test. The North
Korean government has the same basic arrangement, only they don't try
to hide it. It's about time Uncle Sam came clean about his own travel
approval process. And now, finally, he has
.
http://www.theregister.com/2006/11/06/grounded_until_further_notice/
.
EDITORS NOTES:
Will permission soon be required to leave the US? A new program
initiated by the US Transportation Security Administration has come to
our attention and it is called Secure Flight. Of course, this is
not completely new and an extension of the previous no fly list
initiatives, such as the CAPPS system, which was scrapped due to errors
and problems of various sorts. All the hype says it is meant to
make US air (and other kinds of) travel safer and easier (quicker to
pass through long security lines). However, my mind wanders as to
what really is the true long-term agenda at hand, if you are willing to
take a skeptical eye towards such things. Meaning, supposedly all
these initiatives are meant to keep the bad guys away. Fine, I
understand that and agree with programs and policies to protect
innocent citizens. But would it not make more sense to prevent
the bad guys from entering in the first place? Why is it that
further civil liberties of domestic citizens are eroded in the name of
security, yet problems with illegal and other kinds of immigration
abound, including the wide open issue of ports and container shipping,
not to mention the still on-going problems and debate about porous
borders in general?
.
We are told that US jobs have gone away due to outsourcing YET at the
same time private industry is pressuring the US government to issue
even MORE work visas to foreigners (not less) with the argument there
are not enough educated US citizens for certain jobs. Which is
it? The jobs have gone, or there are so many jobs and not enough
qualified US citizens to fill them? Then we have the case of a
recent 700-Mile border fence initiative, which may or may be funded and
built as the political reality differs from the hype (which is often
more so the case than not). In other words, I bait the question -
is it really the case they want to keep the foreign bad guys out or is
it possible the idea is to keep US citizens (and their money) from
leaving down the proverbial short-term road?
.
I know quite well that this sounds like a wild-eyed conspiracy theory,
and maybe it is, but I propose the idea of it just the same, for the
sake of questioning the actual intent or practical application.
Perhaps it is the case of reading too much into things and reading too
much in general. But, there are a few things that concern
me. For example, on the TSA website they themselves say: A
passenger may be deemed ineligible to fly, if his or her name is
similar to one found on a watch list. So how it is determined
that one gets to be added on to this watch list? Well, the news
article from the Mercury News says that in order to get one of these
Clear Pass things: The Transportation Security Administration needs to
complete background checks, which include checking terrorist-related
databases, criminal databases for outstanding warrants and other
databases to confirm citizenship (applicants will be informed if they
are approved or denied, with no explanation).
.
The term OTHER databases is
what makes me curious and concerned at the same time. Since
having an outstanding warrant makes you ineligible to travel (or
supposedly so if that is one of the criteria), does this mean someone
with some unpaid parking tickets are refused the ability to take public
transportation, such as an airplane or train? How does one
determine the severity of a warrant for one thing versus a warrant for
another? They claim one of the checks involves reviewing a
database to confirm citizenship ALONG with a database to see if you are
listed as a bad guy. So, if it is true that all the bad guys are
presumably radical foreigners, why check for US citizenship? If
the border patrol or immigration authorities have done their job, in
theory there should not be undocumented foreign citizens running around
in the first place - no? And what other criteria or databases are
collected and screened? If you are branded a trouble-maker
because you were arrested for protesting (hopefully peaceably and you
did not destroy any property in the process) eminent domain policies in
your home town last year or whatever else for that matter, does that
mean you are on some no travel government database list? What
about tax disputes? How difficult is it really to extend the
reasons why someone might be prohibited from traveling, or better said,
leaving?
.
I have said many times that technology has indeed changed the way we
live and do business, and often enough for the better. We can
communicate faster and cheaper than ever before. We can conduct
business around the world from our living room, send and obtain
documents and even do our banking half way around the world as
well. But technology does have its dark side. If some
government really wanted to further increase control over its citizens,
and restrict personal or individual liberty in the process - how
difficult would that be today considering all the various tools and
programs currently available? In a so-called free society and
democracy, striking the balance between security and civil liberty is
very difficult indeed. However, great care must be made to insure
one is not tipped in the extreme against the other. In any event,
I offer you the following news items and information to consider.
You decide where all this might be going. As for me, if you
bother to study the last few thousand years of human history as it
pertains to political leaders and governments, the track record so far
is not in favor of more freedom for the average citizen - if of course
government ever had the opportunity to tip the scales as it were.
Technology certainly can be a scale tipper and you should keep in mind
the following:
.
In 2005 Congress ordered the Government Accountability Office to
investigate the Transportation Security Administration's airline
passenger screening programs. The GAO found significant problems with
handling of personal information and violations of privacy laws. The
GAO turned its findings over to the Privacy Office, which then did its
own investigation. The Privacy Office claims to have continued its work
with the TSA to resolve these issues. However, the report did not
resolve EPIC's concerns about TSA redress procedures -- namely that
citizens do not have the right to litigate to ensure their records are
correct or even to view their records.
.
Source: http://privacynotes.com/privacy_blog/
.
.
HERE IS WHAT THE TSA SAYS THEMSELVES:
.
The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is developing a
passenger pre-screening program called Secure Flight. Secure Flight
involves the submission of a limited amount of passenger information by
an aircraft operator to TSA whenever a reservation is made for a flight
in which the origin and destination are domestic airports. It is
important to note that the information collected by the aircraft
operators and submitted to TSA will be used solely for the purpose of
comparing a subset of the passenger reservation data to watch lists. No
other use of the information is authorized. A passenger may be
selected for additional screening at the airport, or may be deemed
ineligible to fly, if his or her name is similar to one found on a
watch list. Secure Flight strives to facilitate the air travel of
legitimate passengers by reducing the number of individuals who are
misidentified. TSA will also provide a redress opportunity for
travelers who are misidentified.
.
http://www.tsa.gov/what_we_do/layers/secureflight/editorial_1716.shtm
.
.
HOW TO SIGN UP FOR YOUR CLEAR CARD
Mercury News - December 4, 2006
.
Here's what it takes to get a Clear registered traveler card: a credit
card, about 20 minutes and a willingness to surrender some personal
information. Applying for a card can be done from home
(www.flyclear.com) or at Mineta San Jose International Airport Terminal
C, near the food court, where laptops are available. Travelers need two
forms of government-issued ID, one of which must prove U.S. citizenship
or permanent foreign residency; a driver's license and passport are
preferred. Kiosks are also set up at Terminal A, but there are no
computers for the initial sign-up process. Although we had no
problems applying for a card -- it took less than 30 minutes on a
weekday morning at Terminal C -- some travelers have encountered a few
glitches. Tom Sharp, a hospital consultant from Fremont, said machines
froze in Terminal A when he tried to sign up in September. Steve Brill,
chief executive of Verified Identity Pass, said he was aware of only a
few isolated problems getting an online connection at the
airport. Customer service agents are available to assist
applicants and to take their biometric images and photograph. A Clear
spokeswoman said it takes two to four weeks for the Transportation
Security Administration to complete background checks, which include
checking terrorist-related databases, criminal databases for
outstanding warrants and other databases to confirm citizenship
(applicants will be informed if they are approved or denied, with no
explanation).
.
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/living/16159753.htm
.
EDITORS NOTES:
With no explanation. That indeed should be a phrase of
concern. The article below says that such lists are compiled
based on recommendations and information received from federal
agencies, including law enforcement and intelligence. What does
recommendations mean? Who exactly recommends and why or
how? Does this mean that someone who does not have any criminal
record or is not necessarily a known bad guy can be recommended NOT to
travel? If you purchase a copy of the Koran on-line from say
Amazon, or send in a donation to the ACLU does that mean you might be
recommended in some way or form? I know, it sounds petty, trivial
and maybe even a bit full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.
On the other hand, how difficult would it be really for any politician
or government employee to cross the line? Have they not done so
already is many, many cases? They say that power corrupts and
absolute power corrupts absolutely. What are the safeguards to
liberty when government claims the divine right to restrict travel,
plus flows of money and personal commerce, and other kinds of liberties
associated with a free society in the name of protection - knowing full
well that absolute guaranteed protection is a myth at
best?
.
.
PI IN THE SKY: MATH COULD HELP PROTECT AGAINST TERRORISM
By James Gilden, Special to The Los Angeles Times - November 19, 2006
.
THERE may be a new weapon for helping guard the nation's airplanes
against terrorism -- and this one doesn't come loaded with bullets or
employ Space Age technology. It is mathematics. Or specifically, the
mathematics involved in the field of operations research.
Operations research is a little-known but valuable tool for such things
as scheduling airline flight crews, planning National Football League
seasons and even designing waiting lines at Walt Disney World. And in a
report released on Monday, it was used to assess the effectiveness of
the nation's security screening of airline passengers. Using a
mathematical model, Susan E. Martonosi, an assistant professor of
mathematics at Harvey Mudd College in Claremont, and Arnold Barnett, a
professor of management science at MIT, sought to explore the
effectiveness of the no-fly lists in preventing terrorism. The
conclusions they reached were less remarkable perhaps than the way they
evaluated the program.
.
They found that improving the screening required of all passengers at
security checkpoints would do more to enhance security than further
refinements to the pre-screening of passengers by no-fly lists. The
Transportation Security Administration has run afoul of privacy groups
and Congress in its attempts to update the no-fly list, which before
Sept. 11 was called CAPPS for Computer Assisted Passenger Profiling
System. The old system flagged six of the 19 hijackers on Sept. 11, for
secondary screening, but that additional checking did not prevent them
from boarding their flights. After an attempt at a CAPPS II was
scrapped in 2004, the TSA is moving forward with a newly named
passenger profiling system it calls Secure Flight. We are getting
very close to completion, said TSA spokeswoman Jennifer
Peppin-Marty. Privacy and security are being built into the
foundation of the program. Currently, the airlines are charged
with making sure that passengers are not on the watch list. It is
compiled based on recommendations and information received from federal
agencies, including law enforcement and intelligence. When Secure
Flight is implemented, that responsibility will transfer to the TSA.
.
http://www.latimes.com/travel/
.
EDITORS NOTES:
The last line of the above article states: When Secure Flight is
implemented, that responsibility will transfer to the TSA. Keep
in mind that the TSA is a division of the Department of Homeland
Security. Want to know how secure those computers with all those
databases containing all of your personal information really are?
Remember, we are talking about the supposedly all-powerful, all secure
and resource rich government here and not some poor guy with a personal
computer running some over the counter anti-virus program. See
below.
.
.
THE VIRUS THAT ATE DHS
Thursday, November 02, 2006 - FreeMarketNews.com
.
A Morocco-born computer virus that crashed the Department of Homeland
Security's US-VISIT border screening system last year first passed
though the backbone network of the Immigrations and Customs Enforcement
bureau, according to newly released documents on the incident.
The documents were released by court order, following a yearlong battle
by Wired News to obtain the pages under the Freedom of Information Act.
They provide the first official acknowledgement that DHS erred by
deliberately leaving more than 1,300 sensitive US-VISIT workstations
vulnerable to attack, even as it mounted an all-out effort to patch
routine desktop computers against the virulent Zotob worm.
.
http://www.freemarketnews.com/WorldNews.asp?nid=25209
.
.
PROTECTING NATIONAL SECURITY AND BRITNEY'S HOOHAH
Dr. Emilio Bombay, December 4, 2006 - Star Telegram
.
How does it make you feel knowing that a bunch of unqualified loonies
who can't even figure out how to practice what they preach are in
charge of this nation's security? And that they have absolutely no
regard for your personal privacy? I know, I know, we should be used to
that after the past six years. Now I don't know if you paid
attention to any of the real news from last week -- or if you even
care. I know you're much more interested in who's winning on America's
Next Top Model or that Britney Spears has apparently lost her last
remaining brain cell and is flashing her hoohah all over the tabloids.
By the way, Britney, please put that thing away. It's giving us
nightmares. Furthermore, a 2005 GAO report says that DHS has not
fully addressed any of the (key) responsibilities related to
cybersecurity and national security, nor has it developed national
cyber threat and vulnerability assessments or government/industry
contingency recovery plans. Why am I not surprised? Was the
August crash some sort of nefarious, far-reaching terrorist plot?
Hardly. It was a teenager in Morocco who decided it would be cool to
find a way to exploit the Windows vulnerability, which he did in less
than a week. I know we'll all sleep better tonight.
.
Now, the other nutty thing that's going on over at DHS has actually
been around for a while but we're just finding out about it. For the
past four years, Homeland Security has used a sophisticated data-mining
system to quietly assess the risk posed by almost everyone entering or
leaving the U.S. by air, sea or land. The Automated Targeting System
scores travelers based on such things as point of origin, how tickets
were paid for, motor-vehicle records, past one-way travel, seating
preferences and even what meals were ordered. In retrospect, I suppose
it was a bad idea for me to order the pita, hummus and cucumber
sandwich on that last one-way flight I took. The program was
quietly revealed in the Federal Register, that voluminous tome of
federal rules and regulations published daily, and the few people that
actually tripped over it looking for the lingerie ads thought it only
pertained to cargo. Not only could you conceivably be bumped from
your flight home for Christmas and be asked to have a friendly little
chat in the security office if you fit the profile -- justified or not,
it doesn't matter -- the ATS data can be shared with state, local and
foreign governments as guidance in hiring decisions and in issuing
security clearances, licenses or contracts. The data may also be shared
with courts, Congress and private contractors, according to the
Register.
.
If you really don't care about this, and don't see the problem with it,
then consider that you are not allowed to see your own risk assessment
or challenge it, and that it's going to be on file for the next 40
years. Or that it means the government is delving into private
databases to dig up dirt on you, whether it's warranted or not, in
utter disregard for your privacy. Himmler would have loved a program
like that. If you still don't care about this, and you think it's
a necessary step for protecting the country, start asking yourself how
much more of your privacy are you will to give up and how many more
personal freedoms will be stolen away from you and never
returned? After all, DHS hasn't proven itself to be to the most
reliable or competent agency around, as the above examples profusely
illustrate, but I suppose the ham-handed, uninformed, arrogant manner
in which it does business is typical of any government bureaucracy. The
only problem with that is that we've been led to think DHS is making
things safer, so we let ourselves think about other more pressing
things, like Britney's hoohah. I'm beginning to think the boys at
DHS don't really know what they're doing. Or worse, maybe they do.
.
http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/16161695.htm
.
EDITORS NOTES:
Imagine that. A teenaged computer geek in Morocco crashed the
Homeland Security Computers back in August of 2006. To add insult
to injury, he was not even trying to specifically target any particular
government agency or office, it just ended up that way. Imagine
the damage that someone could do if they really tried, on purpose that
is. Oh, and before I forget, happy holidays and travel
safe. I feel better knowing that big brother is watching.
The problem is, whom he is watching and why does still concern me
though.
|
|
|
