The FBI is using a data-mining system that closely resembles DARPA’s Total Information Awareness program. The purpose of the data-mining system is to uncover terror sleeper cells in the US. The data collected by the system includes travel records, including hotel and airline records.

The FBI has plans to expand the program to help solve cyber-crime investigations.

Ultimately the program is predictive. It can help solve crimes before they help by piecing together data from a vast host of sources and contains more than 1.5 billion government and private-sector records.

The US Congress is considering a bill that would make the Federal Reserve subject to Congressional audits.

A bill, entitled the Federal Reserve Transparency Act, would give Congress’ Government Accountability Office (GAO) the ability to audit the Fed’s decisions on monetary policy and its dealings with foreign central banks and foreign governments. Until now the Fed’s decisions with these three subjects exempted from audit by the US legal code.

A government official in Switzerland is demanding that Google turn off its street view map service citing privacy issues. One cause of concern was that numerous vehicle license plates and human faces were not blurred in the street view maps. The official is asking that Google shut down the service until it conforms to Swiss law.

Google’s street-view map displays detailed street-level images of cities worldwide. Currently over 100 cities have been mapped using the street view service worldwide.

Greece’s Data Protection Authority already barred Google from photographing its streets to be included in the service.

Nortel was once the object of hatred for causing the savings of many Canadians to plummet following an accounting scandal and the drop of stock prices. Now the company is a surprising object of nostalgia in protests against its sale to foreign investors.

Many Canadians are asking their government to review the estimated $1.13 billion sale of Nortel’s wireless infrastructure business to Ericsson.

Two months after the massive protests in Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was sworn into a second term as president. There were scattered protests in the streets, where Basij militia and armed police patrolled to hush opposition. However, the “million strong” protest, organized by the opposition, failed to materialize. Even within the government there was open protest, with most of the Parliament’s reform faction boycotting the Ahmadinejad’s speech.

If deemed legal, an Iowa school system may purchase cell phone jamming equipment. Earlier this month, the school system passed a motion to allocate 5000 dollars to purchase technology to block cell phone signals at school.

The school would require that the cell phone jamming equipment would need to be capable of turning off easily and instantly should there be an emergency.

In 2005, a Federal Communications Commission law banned sale and use of transmitters that block cellular or personal communications signals.

In a very blunt memo, a US advisor, Col. Timothy R. Reese, in Iraq stated that even though there are numerous deficiencies in Iraqi forces, they are now capable of protecting the Iraqi government, and it is now time for US soldiers to return home.

Forces on the ground have grown concerned that in recent events Iraqi leadership have made forceful moves to regain authority. Senior officials have restated that cooperation between Iraqi forces and the US have increased and are in good standing.

Col. Timothy R. Reese in his memo had outlined numerous concerns regarding military weakness, corruption, bad management, and a lack of resistance to Shiite political influence. Yet, the commander stated that extending US presence in Iraqi may do little to help this situation. Worst yet, extending the stay in Iraqi may cause the fire of resentment by Iraqi populations to burn hotter.

Pakistan’s military once used Google Earth to plan air assaults on targets. The lack of precision offered by off-the-shelf consumer satellite technology may have lead to undesired damage or fatalities.

Recently Pakistan’s Airforce has improved its targeting capabilities for guided missles, which will greatly contribute to its fight against the Taliban in the Swat Valley and also reduce the probability for collateral damage. The Pakistan Airforce has moved away from scorched-earth artillery and air tactics that had been used last year against insurgents in the the Bajaur tribal agency. The Pakistan air force is now using spy planes and other surveillance aircraft along with laser guided bombs to improve accuracy.

One of the main reasons for Pakistan’s move to improve their targeting technologies was prevent the alienation of the population within regions of conflict should civilian deaths be incurred.

For the fourth consecutive month, home pricing are showing improvements according to Standard & Poor’s. Home prices improved in 13 of the 20 cities measured in the study Standard & Poor’s Case-Shiller Home Price Index. Of the cities that showed a drop in prices, Las Vegas was the worst with a Las Vegas with 2.6 percent decline. Cleveland Ohio showed the largest increase in housing prices, followed by Dallas Texas.

Stand Down*, an annual three-day tent city, helps veterans whose lives have seen hardship and are part of the Department of Veterans Affairs’ efforts to provide services to homeless veterans.

In recent days, Stand Down events have seen record numbers as veterans struggle to find gainful employment within the environment of this economic slowdown. The San Diego event brought in 950 veterans compared to the 830 from last year (also a record). Younger veterans from the Iraq and Afghanistan wars are now also beginning to appear in the events. The younger veterans, many who bare traumatic brain injuries or psychological stresses, may have fallen through the safety nets faster than expected.

Some of the services offered within the Stand Down events often include: hot food, haircuts, massages, dental care, legal aid, referrals to drug programs and federal benefits. Some of the veterans also seek out these events to temporarily escape the harsh life on the city streets.

*Stand Downs are collaborative events, coordinated between local Veterans Affairs, other government agencies, and community agencies who serve the homeless. The first Stand Down was organized in San Diego in 1988 by a group of veterans.