Steve Neavling
ticklethwire.com

U.S. authorities are using mental health records of Canadians to deny them entry into the U.S., the Digital Journal reports.

Canadian police departments have been uploading the information to a database used by the FBI and Border Patrol.

Ann Cavoukian, Ontario’s privacy commissioner, said police are uploading information such as attempted suicides.

In one case, a Canadian woman was denied access to the U.S. because of her mental health records.

It’s unclear how depression is a national security risk.

Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com

This wasn’t your ordinary enchilada.

In addition to the ordinary ingredients of this Mexican staple, a homemade enchilada contained an 8.5-inch kitchen knife.

The New York Daily News reports that TSA agents discovered the alarming blade covered in a deep red sauce in a passenger’s carry-on luggage.

“The woman said she had made the enchilada over the weekend and she really didn’t know how the knife got into the bag,” TSA spokeswoman Nico Melendez said.

The passenger was questioned and then allowed to continue traveling.

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From ivs-biometrics.com

Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com

The FBI’s plan to soon launch its facial recognition system has worried civil liberties advocates because the bureau won’t say whether it has any limits on its use.

The Huffington Post reports that the FBI plans to soon use 52 million photos in its biometric database, but where those photos came from and the accuracy of the facial recognition searches are unknown.

“There should be congressional oversight of this, and there should be rules,” said Jennifer Lynch, an Electronic Frontier Foundation staff attorney.
For example, Lynch asked, “How do you get your picture out of the database once it’s in there? And how do you even find out that it’s in there?”

The database, called the Next Generation Identification, is going to be shared with state and local agencies to help in investigations, the FBI said earlier.

The FBI said the database is a critical tool to preventing terrorism.

Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com

The Border Patrol might not be in the business of demolishing homes, but it is in the business of protecting Americans from smugglers and illegal immigrants.

So the federal agency is teaming up the South Texas City of Laredo and the Texas National Guard to help raze abandoned buildings and homes that are used as havens for criminals, the Star-Telegram reports.

Before Border Patrol’s help, the project, dubbed Operation Crackdown, has already demolished 1,350 structures, many of them described as drug houses or hiding places for migrant smugglers.

“We can join forces so we can do something about these substandard properties that we come across during our regular patrols,” said Greg Salinas, a Border Patrol agent and agency spokesman. He added that the buildings were used as stash houses for illegal immigrants or narcotics. “They will just use it as a temporary holding place where they can come across, hide and leave, or jump into a vehicle.”

Property owners who don’t consent could have their properties condemned because of the dilapidated condition.

Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com

The FBI is under fire for its alleged handling of defense lawyers for the accused 9/11 terrorists, and the agents may be forced to testify about it in military war court at Guantanamo Bay, the Washington Free Beacon reports.

The news comes after court proceedings abruptly ended on Monday after defense lawyers said that at least two FBI special agents had tried to make a member of the defense an informant last week.

If true, it’s an egregious violation of the justice system and attorney-client privilege.

The defense team for the suspected organizers of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks said the FBI may have jeopardized the case.

It was the first court proceeding at Guantanamo since December.