Social Media + the CIA

Source: TECH.Blorge

There are proposals for a new super-database which would log every single phone call, SMS text message, and email sent in the UK. The database means that internet service providers and telecoms companies would have to hand over records of every communication sent and received.

Records of phone calls and texts are already kept for up to 12 months in order to comply with European Union anti-terrorism directives. But the new proposals - which are still at the discussion stage between the Home Office and the industries who would be charged with keeping, and then handing over the records - go even further than that.

…Internet use would also be subject to scrutiny, with all emails, websites visited, and VoIP calls stored alongside texts and phone calls. These would all then be stored in what is being described as a super-database for 12 months, which the police, and other authorities could then access via permission from the courts.

UPDATE: The Dark Knight added another $24.5 million on Monday from 4,366 theaters to bring its domestic total to $182.9 million after just four days.

Say what you will about The Dark Knight being over-hyped, but don’t discount 42 Entertainment, the company behind the viral marketing campaign.

As the scavenger hunts, free screenings, poisoned cakes and mystery phone calls come to an end, a bigger picture has been painted bridging the narrative gap between Batman Begins and The Dark Knight.

The B&U spent some time combing through message boards, wikis and old viral stuff we had lying around to form a summary of the relevant plot points that bring us to where we are when The Dark Knight opens.

Warner Bros. Pictures’ The Dark Knight has earned $155.34 (Now $158.4) million to top Spider-Man 3 for best opening weekend at the box office. The weekend estimates show Christopher Nolan’s Batman Begins follow-up more than $4 million ahead of the $151.1 million first weekend for Spider-Man 3 in May of 2007. The Dark Knight has also broken Spider-Man 3 ’s record ($4.7 million) for best debut in IMAX theaters with $6.2 million in 94 locations.

Not enough American students are studying science, engineering and mathematics, a consortium of business organizations warned, posing a threat to the nation’s economic vitality and security.

“U.S. scientific and technological superiority is beginning to atrophy even as other nations are developing their own human capital,” they said.

Among their recommendations the business executives called for increased funding in basic research, reform of immigration policies to attract and retain foreign students, and improvements in public education in the sciences leading to a doubling of bachelor’s degrees in science, technology, engineering and mathematics by 2015.

Washington Times reporter Bill Gertz has been ordered to appear (pdf) in a California court to testify on the “newsworthiness” of his reporting in 2006 on a case involving alleged Chinese espionage.

Mr. Gertz was subpoenaed by the court on April 30 and ordered to reveal who disclosed restricted grand jury information to him. Mr. Gertz’s attorneys argued that grand jury information had not in fact been revealed and that Mr. Gertz had a First Amendment interest in protecting his sources.

“Regardless of whether Mr. Gertz discloses his sources, the Court expects that Mr. Gertz will be prepared to testify regarding the newsworthiness of this case and, more particularly, the reasons why maintaining the confidentiality of his sources is critical to his ability to engage in investigative reporting,” wrote Judge Cormac J. Carney.

Justice Department attorneys have sought to delay the proceedings. The latest developments in the case were first reported by Josh Gerstein in “Advocates Concerned About a Reporter’s Court Appearance,” New York Sun, July 17.

Source: ThreatsWatch

In a recent survey among 122 homeland security professionals (36% of whom has over 10 years experience and 32% had more than 5 years in the field), the top four priorities for the next administration are border security, emergency response, development of medical counter-measures to weapons of mass destruction, and port security.

· More than 83% expected a major disaster in the U.S.
· About 58% said the most probable scenario for a major disaster was a natural disaster, with 22% saying that the cause would be a terrorist attack with a WMD
· 72% expect change if Obama wins; 80% expect no change if McCain wins
· 54% said DHS should be maintained but reorganized; 30% percent said the agency should be unchanged; nearly 15% answered that the DHS should be broken up

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