Doonesbury Say What?

"The National Institute for Literacy estimates that 47% of adults (more than 200,000 individuals) in the City of Detroit are functionally illiterate, referring to the inability of an individual to use reading, speaking, writing, and computational skills in everyday life situations. We also know that of the 200,000... approximately half have a high school diploma or GED..."
— from a recent report

*sigh* Why am I not surprised. So we should cut funding to education!

FBI wants warrantless GPS tracking, it's going to the SCOTUS

Kathy Thomas knew she was under surveillance. The animal rights and environmental activist had been trailed daily by cops over several months, and had even been stopped on occasion by police and FBI agents.

But when the surveillance seemed to halt suddenly in mid-2005 after she confronted one of the agents, she thought it was all over. Months went by without a peep from the FBI surveillance teams that had been tracking her in undercover vehicles and helicopters. That’s when it occurred to her to check her car.

Basically, the FBI is arguing that this is no different than someone who happens to observe you driving to locations X, Y, and Z. Except this is a precise plot of your activities throughout an extended period of time: what church you go to, where your mistress lives, what AA chapter you meet at, etc. So the FBI doesn't want to have to ask for a warrant in order to plant one of these things on your car. Neither does the White House. They're asking SCOTUS to uphold their interpretation and not require warrants for such things as a lower court ruled that a warrant must be obtained before planting such a device.

It boils down to it being a manpower saver for the FBI, plant one of these things and log what it reports. They don't have to tie up multiple agents to follow a suspect.

http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2011/05/gps/

A tear-down of a GPS tracker: http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2011/05/gps-gallery/?pid=89&viewall=true

Video: the dissection of a GPS tracker: http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2011/05/gps-video/

How to check your car for a GPS tracker: http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2011/05/check-your-car-for-a-gps-tracker/

http://yro.slashdot.org/story/11/05/09/1415258/Battle-Brews-Over-FBIs-Warrantless-GPS-Tracking


Someone noted in a Wired comment that there is a car insurance company that offers a discount if you have a tracker installed. They wondered if there would come a time when your rates would go up if you didn't have one. And then the data sharing would begin.