EXTRA EXTRA READ ALL ABOUT IT GENERAL NEWS THREAD ANYTHING GOES!

Jack@European_Parts said:

The reason people bought a Tesla, Prius or TDI, was largely due to the statement that they are clean and environmentally friendly.

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iichel said:

you mean trains?

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Exactly! Nothing to with whether they really are. It's people believing what they want.

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vreihen said:

This almost sounds like the story line from episode #7 of The Orville.....

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APNewsBreak: US suspects cellphone spying devices in DC

By FRANK BAJAK
Apr. 03, 2018
AP Top News

For the first time, the U.S. government has publicly acknowledged the existence in Washington of what appear to be rogue devices that foreign spies and criminals could be using to track individual cellphones and intercept calls and messages.

The use of what are known as cellphone-site simulators by foreign powers has long been a concern, but American intelligence and law enforcement agencies — which use such eavesdropping equipment themselves — have been silent on the issue until now.

In a March 26 letter to Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden, the Department of Homeland Security acknowledged that last year it identified suspected unauthorized cell-site simulators in the nation's capital. The agency said it had not determined the type of devices in use or who might have been operating them. Nor did it say how many it detected or where.

The agency's response, obtained by The Associated Press from Wyden's office, suggests little has been done about such equipment, known popularly as Stingrays after a brand common among U.S. police departments. The Federal Communications Commission, which regulates the nation's airwaves, formed a task force on the subject four years ago, but it never produced a report and no longer meets regularly.

The devices work by tricking mobile devices into locking onto them instead of legitimate cell towers, revealing the exact location of a particular cellphone. More sophisticated versions can eavesdrop on calls by forcing phones to step down to older, unencrypted 2G wireless technology. Some attempt to plant malware.

They can cost anywhere from $1,000 to about $200,000. They are commonly the size of a briefcase; some are as small as a cellphone. They can be placed in a car next to a government building. The most powerful can be deployed in low-flying aircraft.

Thousands of members of the military, the NSA, the CIA, the FBI and the rest of the national-security apparatus live and work in the Washington area. The surveillance-savvy among them encrypt their phone and data communications and employ electronic countermeasures. But unsuspecting citizens could fall prey.

Wyden, a Democrat, wrote DHS in November requesting information about unauthorized use of the cell-site simulators.

The reply from DHS official Christopher Krebs noted that DHS had observed "anomalous activity" consistent with Stingrays in the Washington area. A DHS official who spoke on condition of anonymity because the letter has not been publicly released added that the devices were detected in a 90-day trial that began in January 2017 with equipment from a Las Vegas-based DHS contractor, ESD America .

Krebs, the top official in the department's National Protection and Programs Directorate, noted in the letter that DHS lacks the equipment and funding to detect Stingrays even though their use by foreign governments "may threaten U.S. national and economic security." The department did report its findings to "federal partners" Krebs did not name. That presumably includes the FBI.

Wyden said in a statement Tuesday that "leaving security to the phone companies has proven to be disastrous." He added that the FCC has refused to hold the industry accountable "despite repeated warnings and clear evidence that our phone networks are being exploited by foreign governments and hackers."
The CEO of ESD America, Les Goldsmith, said his company has a relationship with DHS but would not comment further.

Legislators have been raising alarms about the use of Stingrays in the capital since at least 2014, when Goldsmith and other security-company researchers conducted public sweeps that located suspected unauthorized devices near the White House, the Supreme Court, the Commerce Department and the Pentagon, among other locations.

The executive branch, however, has shied away from even discussing the subject.

Aaron Turner, president of the mobile security consultancy Integricell, was among the experts who conducted the 2014 sweeps, in part to try to drum up business. Little has changed since, he said.

Like other major world capitals, he said, Washington is awash in unauthorized interception devices. Foreign embassies have free rein because they are on sovereign soil.

Every embassy "worth their salt" has a cell tower simulator installed, Turner said. They use them "to track interesting people that come toward their embassies." The Russians' equipment is so powerful it can track targets a mile away, he said.

Shutting down rogue Stingrays is an expensive proposition that would require wireless network upgrades the industry has been loath to pay for, security experts say. It could also lead to conflict with U.S. intelligence and law enforcement.

In addition to federal agencies, police departments use them in at least 25 states and the District of Columbia, according to the American Civil Liberties Union.

Wyden said in a statement Tuesday that "leaving security to the phone companies has proven to be disastrous." He added that the FCC has refused to hold the industry accountable "despite repeated warnings and clear evidence that our phone networks are being exploited by foreign governments and hackers."

After the 2014 news reports about Stingrays in Washington, Rep. Alan Grayson, D-Fla, wrote the FCC in alarm. In a reply, then-FCC chairman Tom Wheeler said the agency had created a task force to combat illicit and unauthorized use of the devices. In that letter, the FCC did not say it had identified such use itself, but cited media reports of the security sweeps.

That task force appears to have accomplished little. A former adviser to Wheeler, Gigi Sohn, said there was no political will to tackle the issue against opposition from the intelligence community and local police forces that were using the devices "willy-nilly."

"To the extent that there is a major problem here, it's largely due to the FCC not doing its job," said Laura Moy of the Center on Privacy and Technology at Georgetown University. The agency, she said, should be requiring wireless carriers to protect their networks from such security threats and "ensuring that anyone transmitting over licensed spectrum actually has a license to do it."

FCC spokesman Neil Grace, however, said the agency's only role is "certifying" such devices to ensure they don't interfere with other wireless communications, much the way it does with phones and Wi-Fi routers.

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UPDATE: Washington Detective Given 5 Day Suspension for Drawing Gun on Biker

Tim Huber
RideApart
April 16, 2018

UPDATE: After initially covering the story, Detective Richard Rowe of the Woodinville Police Department has been hit with a punishment of a whopping five-day suspension. King County Sheriff Mitzi Johanknecht said in a written statement that she reduced Rowe's punishment from the recommended 10 day suspension to a five-day suspension because of mitigating factors, including stress that Rowe and his family went through due to media attention.

This seems so wrong on so many levels. The fact Rowe was hounded by media seems justified as he did a really shitty and dangerous thing. The fact he's keeping his job is objectively ridiculous. Hopefully Alex Randall sues. Original story continues below.

In recent years there has been a disturbing trend of cops—often off duty—unnecessarily drawing guns on motorcyclists. While many of these incidents are prompted by riders piloting their machines recklessly, the dangerous and disproportionate measure is deeply concerning for obvious reasons. A quick Youtube search reveals how frequently these situations occur (like this one, or this one, or this one where the cop actually shoots the biker because "muscle memory"). The consequences for the cops’ actions have varied case to case—but they're typically just a slap on the wrist—but later today we will learn the fate of a King County, Washington, detective who drew his weapon on a motorcyclist while off duty back in August of 2017.

On August 16, 2017, Alex Randall was out for a spin when a routine Wednesday afternoon ride took a dramatic and harrowing turn. Randall was pushing his bike a bit too hard, or at least off-duty Woodinville Police Department Detective Richard Rowe thought so. This prompted Rowe to draw his gun and confront Randall while waiting at a stoplight. Randall appears to notice the off-duty, plain clothed detective (who looks like a regular ass person and not a cop) in his mirror as the cop approaches him, though he still sounds legitimately startled when confronted with staring down the barrel of a gun.

“How ya’ doing?” says the detective as he walks up, with a handgun fixed on the rider who exclaims “Oh shit!” in response to the firearm pointed at him. The mere fact Rowe opened with a friendly greeting suggests there was absolutely no need to draw his weapon. After a brief back and forth, the cop demands the biker take out his ID while keeping him in the sights of his gun the entire time, even while holding his ID. The clip was all caught on Randall’s hemet cam and quickly went viral. Rowe defended his actions, explaining that he saw Randall look in the rear-view mirror, lean back, and then drop his hands to his waist area, which Rowe supposedly took as an indicator that Randall had seen him and had a weapon—though the footage clearly shows Rowe’s gun drawn as he approaches.

"His use of firearms, his judgment, and his emotion with how he conducted this stop, just seemed to say, hey, put him behind a desk or something. Just don't have him interacting with the public,” said Randall during one of his many news appearances following the incident. “In the investigation, realizing he's lied in very significant ways, that's a terminable offense. I don't want someone with that level of integrity on my streets policing people. Because that will get people hurt. That will get people killed."

After the incident, Randall took to his youtube channel, Squid Tips, recording a trio of 20-30 minute videos (here's the latest one) in which he discusses the ordeal and its subsequent legal proceedings. When Randall was asked if he thought Rowe would keep his job, he responded saying, “I’m sure he will and it's absolutely terrifying. If they do anything less than fire him, this is not going to be the end of it, I'm going to pursue a civil suit because that's not right."

After the footage was released, Rowe was placed on administrative leave. Former King County Sheriff John Urquhart said he didn’t want Rowe out working on the streets until the investigation concluded, adding he found the video to be upsetting and that the deputy’s use of force likely violates department policy. Detective Rowe is a 19 year veteran of the Woodinville Police Department which works with the King County Sheriff’s Office. Today, King County Sheriff Mitzi Johanknecht is scheduled to announce a decision on the investigation into the incident.

We’ll be sure to update you on the outcome of the case.

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Jack@European_Parts said:

See you later internal combustion engine?

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Jack@European_Parts said:

Really cool........

http://www.msn.com/en-us/video/wond...and-the-footage-is-wild/vi-AAw7sgp?ocid=ientp

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