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Airline Passenger Tries to Board Plane with 8.5-inch Knife Hidden in Enchilada
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…
FBI’s Facial Recognition System Catches Criticism from Civil Liberties Advocates
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…
Border Patrol Demolishing Houses? It’s All About Keeping South Texas Safe
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…
FBI Agents May Be Forced to Testify in Military Court About Alleged Attempt to Turn Defense Lawyer into Informant
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…
One-Year Anniversary of Boston Marathon Bombings Brings Unanswered Questions
Steve Neavling ticklethewire.com One year after twin pressure cooker bombs detonated at the Boston Marathon bombings, many questions remain. Why did federal authorities miss an opportunity to act on a warning from Russia that bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev was becoming radicalized? How much of a role did his younger brother, Dzhokhar, play in attack? Would…
White Supremacist Accused in Shootings at Jewish Site in Kansas City Has No Record of Violence
Steve Neavling ticklethewire.com Frazier Glenn Cross rarely missed an opportunity to espouse his white-supremacist beliefs. But local and federal authorities are having a hard time finding evidence that the 73-year-old Army veteran and retired truck driver with ties to the KKK ever resorted to violence, the Associated Press reports. That was until Sunday, when he…
FBI Tried to Enlist Member of 9/11 Defense Team, Prompting Abrupt Recess in Case
Steve Neavling ticklethewire.com Did the FBI try to turn a defense team security officer into a secret informant? The question, which was raised by defense lawyers at the first 9/11 hearing of the year Monday, was enough to prompt a judge to abruptly recess the case, the Miami Herald reports. Defense lawyers argued that the…
FBI Plans to Have 52 Million Photos in Its Facial Recognition Database by 2015
Steve Neavling ticklethewire.com If all goes as planned, the FBI’s facial recognition database will include 52 million photos by 2015, the Verge reports. That’s an increase of more than three-fold from the 16 million that were in the database in the middle of 2013. Of those, 4.3 million images were for “non-criminal purposes,” according to…