New Surveillance Technology Can Track Everyone in an Area for Several Hours at a Time

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Photo Credit: David McNew/Getty ImagesShooter and victim were just a pair of pixels, dark specks on a gray streetscape. Hair color, bullet wounds, even the weapon were not visible in the series of pictures taken from an airplane flying two miles above.

But what the images revealed — to a degree impossible just a few years ago — was location, mapped over time. Second by second, they showed a gang assembling, blocking off access points, sending the shooter to meet his target and taking flight after the body hit the pavement. When the report reached police, it included a picture of the blue stucco building into which the killer ultimately retreated, at last beyond the view of the powerful camera overhead.

“I’ve witnessed 34 of these,” said Ross McNutt, the genial president of Persistent Surveillance Systems, which collected the images of the killing in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, from a specially outfitted Cessna. “It’s like opening up a murder mystery in the middle, and you need to figure out what happened before and after.”

As Americans have grown increasingly comfortable with traditional surveillance cameras, a new, far more powerful generation is being quietly deployed that can track every vehicle and person across an area the size of a small city, for several hours at a time. Although these cameras can’t read license plates or see faces, they provide such a wealth of data that police, businesses and even private individuals can use them to help identify people and track their movements.

Already, the cameras have been flown above major public events such as the Ohio political rally where Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) named Sarah Palin as his running mate in 2008, McNutt said. They’ve been flown above Baltimore; Philadelphia; Compton, Calif.; and Dayton in demonstrations for police. They’ve also been used for traffic impact studies, for security at NASCAR races and at the request of a Mexican politician, who commissioned the flights over Ciudad Juárez.

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Olympic Threat: US Warns Airlines About Toothpaste Tube Bomb

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Photo Credit: Wong Maye-E/AP PhotoThe Department of Homeland Security has issued a warning to U.S. and some foreign airlines traveling to Russia for the Olympic Games to be on the lookout for toothpaste containers, which some intelligence indicates may actually hold ingredients that could be used to construct a bomb aboard a plane, a senior U.S. official told ABC News.

The official did not provide further details about the warning or the intelligence that prompted it, but an official with the Department of Homeland Security, while declining to discuss the specific warning, said the department “regularly shares relevant information with domestic and international partners, including those associated with international events such as the Sochi Olympics.”

“While we are not aware of a specific threat to the homeland at this time, this routine communication is an important part of our commitment to making sure we meet that priority,” the official said. “As always, our security apparatus includes a number of measures, both seen and unseen, and DHS will continue to adjust security measures to fit an ever evolving threat environment.”

A federal law enforcement source said the information is largely intended for foreign carriers and the generic threat is not directed at the U.S. homeland. The Russian government has been informed, the source said.

Still, Rep. Peter King, Chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee’s Sub-Committee on Counterterrorism and Intelligence, said he has been briefed on the threat and said it should be taken seriously by American travelers, the airlines and officials at the Olympic Games.

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Study: Fatal Car Crashes Involving Marijuana Have Tripled – Now 1-in-9

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Photo Credit: Getty ImagesAccording to a recent study, fatal car crashes involving pot use have tripled in the U.S.

“Currently, one of nine drivers involved in fatal crashes would test positive for marijuana,” Dr. Guohua Li, director of the Center for Injury Epidemiology and Prevention at Columbia, and co-author of the study told HealthDay News.

Researchers from Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health gathered data from six states – California, Hawaii, Illinois, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and West Virginia – that perform toxicology tests on drivers involved in fatal car accidents. This data included over 23,500 drivers that died within one hour of a crash between 1999 and 2010.

Li reported in the study that alcohol contributed to about 40 percent of traffic fatalities throughout the decade.

The researchers found that drugs played an increasing role in fatal traffic accidents. Drugged driving accounted for more than 28 percent of traffic deaths in 2010, which is 16 percent more than it was in 1999.
The researchers also found that marijuana was the main drug involved in the increase. It contributed to 12 percent of fatal crashes, compared to only 4 percent in 1999.

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Calls Mount to End Ban On Oil Exports as US Production Booms

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Photo Credit: Fox News When the Arab oil embargo of 1973 shocked the U.S. into long gas lines and rationing, Congress approved what was a no-brainer at the time — a ban on exporting crude oil produced at home.

But today, with domestic oil production booming, some are questioning whether that ban should stay in place. The new concern is that the U.S. has more oil than its refineries can handle.

“This ban threatens record-breaking U.S. oil production and American jobs by creating inefficiencies, gluts and distortions,” Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, recently testified at a congressional hearing.

Murkowski has sent a letter to the White House asking President Obama to lift the ban on oil exports, even as the U.S. still imports 40 percent of its oil.

Supporters of lifting the export ban argue that oil is a world commodity — and more of it on the global market will drive everyone’s gas prices down and create jobs in the U.S.

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‘American Idol’ Singer Clay Aiken to Run for Congress in North Carolina

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Photo Credit: REUTERS/LUCY NICHOLSON/FILESFormer “American Idol” singer Clay Aiken said on Wednesday he will run for U.S. Congress as a Democrat in his home state of North Carolina, where he once worked as a special education teacher.

Aiken, 35, is likely to face a tough battle in his efforts to unseat Representative Renee Ellmers, a Tea Party Republican favorite, in the state’s conservative 2nd congressional district.

The entertainer tried to position himself as a political outsider who wants to change Washington by giving a voice to people in need.

“I’m not a politician,” he said in a video on his campaign website. “I don’t ever want to be one.”

Aiken described past challenges he had faced after his mother left his abusive father and worked hard to provide what little she could for his family.

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Long Forgotten Pot Bust, Bureacratic Screwup Prompt Agents to Seize California Man’s Guns

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Photo Credit: COURTESY OF MIKE MERRITTMichael Merritt had all but forgotten about the pot bust way back in 1970 when state agents came knocking on the door of his Bakersfield, Calif. home.

The agents, from the state’s Department of Justice, started peppering the 61-year-old avid hunter with questions about the guns he owns. Then they told him to hand them over.

“I didn’t know why they were here,” Merritt told FoxNews.com of the Nov. 5 incident. “Then it hit me in a flash. They were here to take my guns and I didn’t know why.”

Merritt was a convicted felon, according to their records, and therefore not eligible to own the pistols, hunting rifles and various collectibles he had legally purchased and registered. But the idea he was a felon was news to him, Merritt said.

“I kept asking them what the felony was for,” he said. “They just showed me a printout with some code and told me they weren’t sure what it was for.”

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Begich, Other Red State Dem Senators Up for Re-election Stand By Their Man

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Photo Credit: APEvery vulnerable Senate Democrat up for re-election in 2014 voted with President Barack Obama at least 90 percent of the time in 2013, according to CQ Roll Call’s latest vote studies, released Monday.

Arkansas Democrat Mark Pryor broke with the president most often, opposing him in 10 percent of all 2013 votes where the administration stated a preferred outcome. Sens. Mark Begich, D-Alaska, Mary Landrieu, D-La. and Kay Hagan, D-N.C., voted for Obama’s position 97, 97, and 96 percent of the time, respectively. Of those four, only Begich serves with a Republican who has bucked the GOP to back Obama with any frequency. (See our Jan. 21 story.)

Support for Obama’s initiatives from incumbent Democrats who are favored but not safe was just as high if not higher than from vulnerable members: Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire and Mark Warner of Virginia supported the president in 99 and 97 percent of votes.

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ObamaCare Could Lead to Loss of Nearly 2.3 Million US Jobs, Report Says

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Photo Credit: Fox NewsThe long-term effect of ObamaCare on the U.S. economy was rewritten Tuesday with the Congressional Budget Office issuing a revised projection that nearly 2.5 million workers could opt out of full-time jobs over the next 10 years — allowing employers to wipe 2.3 million full-time jobs off the books.

Budget experts say that because ObamaCare offers an insurance alternative to employer provided coverage, many Americans who hold full-time jobs may decide to work part-time — or not at all — and get their coverage from the exchanges.

Following the release of the report, House Speaker John Boehner said the report showed how “the middle class is getting squeezed in this economy.”

The report drew immediate reaction from GOP lawmakers, including House Speaker John Boehner who said the report indicates ObamaCare is only making it harder for middle-class Americans to survive in the bad economy.

Others, like Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wisc., weighed in.

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Top Intelligence Chiefs Warn Syria Could Become Base for Attacks Against US

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Photo Credit: Fox NewsFor the second time in a week, the nation’s top intelligence chiefs Tuesday issued a scathing assessment of the global threats facing the United States, warning that Syria is becoming a base from which extremist, Al Qaeda-linked groups could attack the U.S.

“We are concerned about the use of Syrian territory by the Al Qaeda organization to recruit individuals and develop the capability to be able not just to carry out attacks inside of Syria, but also to use Syria as a launching pad,” said CIA Director John Brennan at a hearing before the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.

“There are camps inside of both Iraq and Syria that are used by Al Qaeda to develop capabilities that are applicable, both in the theater, as well as beyond.”

Director of National Intelligence James Clapper put the threat assessment in stark terms: “Looking back over my more than half a century in intelligence, I have not experienced a time when we’ve been beset by more crises and threats around the globe,” he said.

Clapper and Brennan were joined at the hearing by the head of the FBI, James Comey, Defense Intelligence Chief Gen. Mike Flynn and Matt Olson, who heads the National Counterterrorism Center.

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Boehner Told Democrats of Conservative Congressman: ‘What An A–hole!’

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Photo Credit: APHouse Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), the most powerful Republican in Congress, called his GOP colleague Rep. Steve King of Iowa an “a–hole” while speaking with two Democratic members on the House floor, according to Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-Texas).

Castro described what happened in a story he wrote for the February issue of Texas Monthly magazine.

Back in July 2013, Rep. King, a conservative popular with the Tea Party, commented on illegal immigrants in an interview with Newsmax, saying that not all young illegals are valedictorians but that many smuggle drugs into America.

“[T]hey weren’t all brought in by their parents,” he said. “For every one who’s a valedictorian, there’s another hundred out there that they weigh 130 pounds and they’ve got calves the size of cantaloupes because they’re hauling 75 pounds of marijuana across the desert.”

King was criticized for that remark by many Democrats, and Speaker Boehner said, “I want to be clear, there’s no place in this debate for hateful or ignorant comments from elected officials. Earlier this week, Representative Steve King made comments that were, I think, deeply offensive and wrong. What he said does not reflect the values of the American people or the Republican Party. We all need to do our work in a constructive, open, and respectful way. As I’ve said many times, we can disagree without being disagreeable.”

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