Saturday, September 29, 2007

FREEDOM WATCH


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NSA TEACHING REPORTERS HOW TO USE ITS SPIN

JOHN GERSTEIN, NY SUN - Frustrated by press leaks about its most
sensitive electronic surveillance work, the secretive National Security
Agency convened an unprecedented series of off-the-record "seminars" in
recent years to teach reporters about the damage caused by such leaks
and to discourage reporting that could interfere with the agency's
mission to spy on America's enemies.

The half-day classes featured high-ranking NSA officials highlighting
objectionable passages in published stories and offering "an innocuous
rewrite" that officials said maintained the "overall thrust" of the
articles but omitted details that could disclose the agency's
techniques, according to course outlines obtained by The New York Sun. .
.

The syllabi make clear that the sessions, which took place at NSA
headquarters in Fort Meade, Md., were conceived of not merely as
familiarization tours, but as part of a campaign to limit the damage
caused by leaks of sensitive intelligence.

http://www.nysun.com/article/63465

MOTORIST WHO FILMED OUT-OF CONTROL COP HARASSED BY OTHER OFFICERS

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THE NEWSPAPER - Saint Louis Police Car 65A young Saint Louis, Missouri
motorist faces trouble with local police upset at the national attention
his September 7 video of an out-of-control officer has drawn to ongoing
problems within area law enforcement agencies. On Sunday, Brett Darrow
filmed a Saint Louis Metropolitan Police Department cruiser staking out
his home.. .

When Darrow walked outside to his 1997 Nissan Maxima, he noticed two
officers sitting in a marked squad car, numbered 65. There is little
question as to why the officers were there. "As I got into the car, he
started to pull up the street and he and his partner just stared me
down," Darrow explained. . .

Members of the police community are on the record regarding their desire
to stake out Darrow's home and harass the twenty-year-old. In late June,
users of St. Louis Cop Talk, an unofficial forum for Saint Louis area
law enforcement, posted Darrow's home address along with messages
containing apparent death threats in retaliation for the young
motorist's taping of a DUI roadblock in November and a traffic ticket in
June. One Cop Talk user repeating the address wrote, "Every copper, City
and County, should etch this little punks name in their memory. Brett
Darrow, [address deleted], city of St. Louis."

This month, however, scandals within the Saint Louis Police Department
which otherwise would have been a local story, gathered national
attention and fueled additional resentment. Some $40,000 in cash turned
up "missing" from the police evidence room on September 17. The city of
St. George was forced to fire Sergeant James Kuehnlein for his threat to
"come up with reasons" to "lock up" Darrow. An investigation into
whether Kuehnlein's actions merit criminal charges is under way. Darrow
met on Monday with a Saint Louis County Police Department detective. "I
quickly learned that this was about finding something I did wrong and
not the officer," Darrow said.

http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/19/1988.asp

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