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RAIN 804 Weekly Update: Government (16)



The Irish Echo 7/24/02
Newly discovered files shed light on 'orphans'
July 24-30, 2002
By Andrew Bushe
DUBLIN -- About 10,000 government files that will reveal for the first time details about the lost childhood of people who were taken into care by the state have been unearthed by the Department of Health.
They disclose information about children who were hired out as servants in people's homes or who were sent to work with farmers, businesses, small industries and fisherman. They also contain previously unknown lists of names with ages and details about when they were placed in institutions.
http://www.irishecho.com/news/article.cfm?id=11309


Cape Cod Times 7/28/02
Bill would end restriction on certain birth records
State legislation would make public the data for children born to single
mothers - as is done in every other state.
http://www.capecodonline.com/cctimes/birthrecords28.htm


The Pioneer 7/28/02
Plan would link law enforcement by computer
By: Brad Swenson, Staff Writer July 28, 2002
The story's familiar - an upstanding citizen with a family in one town suddenly is found to be a wanted man in another town.
That can even happen locally, as a Bemidji resident may blend into the community even
though wanted for a serious crime in Hennepin County.
That's because the state's law enforcement agencies and courts can't "talk" to each
other and share records.
"We spend $2 billion a year in law enforcement administration and in the administration
of justice, and it doesn't work," says Tom Kooy, deputy director of CriMNet, the state
project that hopes to link all the state's law enforcement by computer.
http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=4877335&BRD=2164&PAG=461&dept_id=401088&rfi=6



Los Angeles Times 7/28/02
War on Terror Highlights FBI's Computer Woes
By ERIC LICHTBLAU and CHARLES PILLER
WASHINGTON -- First of two parts.
In the frantic days after the terrorists struck, FBI agents scrambled to box up investigative files at their New York office a few blocks from the World Trade Center
and haul them to safety. In the FBI's paper-driven culture, many of the documents had never even been downloaded into the bureau's aging computer system.
In Tampa, Fla., meanwhile, agents were scurrying to send photos of the 19 hijackers by overnight mail to 56 FBI offices around the country so agents could chase down possible conspirators. Frustrated agents had been unable to e-mail the photos because the FBI's computer system wasn't designed to handle such a basic task.
http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/front/la-adna-computer28jul28.story


Los Angeles Times 7/29/02
FBI Plans to Fight Terror With High-Tech Arsenal
By CHARLES PILLER and ERIC LICHTBLAU, Times Staff Writers
Since Sept. 11, the FBI has budgeted tens of millions of dollars to turn its massive collection of computerized case files, memos, tips and phone intercepts from an investigative black hole into a mother lode of predictive intelligence.
If the effort succeeds, by Sept. 11, 2004, it will have replaced today's system—so
antiquated and cumbersome that many top FBI executives have never learned to use  it—with a high-tech brain that instantly culls years of records and eventually will simultaneously check databanks in other government agencies, public  records and the Internet.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-tech29jul29.story?

The Macomb Daily 7/29/02
Eastpointe officials found innocent of FOI violation
http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=4884955&BRD=988&PAG=461&dept_id=141265&rfi=6


Chicago Sun-Times 7/29/02
IRS reveals smoking gun
July 29, 2002
BY ROBERT NOVAK SUN-TIMES COLUMNIST
The mystery surrounding Internal Revenue Service tax audits against critics of
President Bill Clinton during his administration has been cracked. A smoking gun has
just been released by the IRS. The unmistakable evidence is that the supposedly
nonpolitical tax agency responds to complaints by prominent politicians.
The IRS, perhaps unknowingly, incriminated itself July 8 with a 1,500-page document
dump answering to four years of freedom of information requests by the watchdog
organization Judicial Watch. The material shows that the IRS audit of Judicial Watch
was preceded by written complaints from the White House and prominent Democratic
members of Congress. Furthermore, existence of supposedly secret audits was
unsealed thanks to a Justice Department tax litigator who is, implausibly, active in local Democratic politics.
http://www.suntimes.com/output/novak/cst-edt-novak29.html


CNN 7/29/02
Maryland parents push to open juvenile records
http://www.cnn.com/2002/LAW/07/29/maryland.record.check/index.html


The Dawn 7/29/02
ISPs directed to help govt track e-mails of suspects
By Arshad Sharif
ISLAMABAD, July 28: The government is working on a security project to eavesdrop on computer communications by suspected criminals and allow its use for prosecution in court of law.
http://www.dawn.com/2002/07/29/top12.htm


The News-Gazette 7/29/02
UI project aids state agency
By GREG KLINE
CLICK TO SEE PHOTO
When Michelle Kessler pitched converting Illinois Department of Children and Family
Services guidelines and other information used by department personnel into a digital reference library a few years ago, she stacked up the paper versions.
Point made.
“In the paper form, it's literally a giant stack of manuals,” said Karen Fletcher, chief Web developer for Prairienet, the community computing network for East Central Illinois. “It's almost unusable.”
http://www.newsgazette.com/story.cfm?Number=12041


InfoWorld 7/30/02
Court orders ICANN to open books
By Scarlet Pruitt
A CALIFORNIA SUPERIOR court ruled Monday that the Internet Corporation of
Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) must hand over corporate documents
requested by one of its board members, marking the latest chapter in an
ongoing legal scuffle between the much maligned Internet regulatory body and
ICANN North American Elected Director Karl Auerbach.
http://www.infoworld.com/articles/hn/xml/02/07/30/020730hnicann.xml?0730tuam


The Guardian 7/30/02
Parliament gets new online
Matthew Tempest, political correspondent
Westminster had a secret makeover today - with the discreet launch of a revamped parliamentary website.
The glossy new site - launched without fanfare - contains a refined search engine, live webcasting of the Commons, Lords, Westminster Hall and select committees, as well as better navigation and the chance to participate in the scrutiny of bills under debate.
http://politics.guardian.co.uk/openup/story/0,11872,765625,00.html


AP 8/1/02
Interior Official Tells of Ouster
Wed Jul 31, 5:25 AM ET
By ROBERT GEHRKE, Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) - An Interior Department official says he was forced to resign because he challenged department assertions that it is repairing a historically mismanaged trust fund for American Indians.
Special Trustee Thomas Slonaker, whose position was created by Congress to provide independent oversight for overhaul of the fund, submitted his resignation to Interior Secretary Gale Norton on Tuesday.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20020731/ap_on_go_ot/indian_money_4


Lexington Herald-Leader 7/31/02
Kentucky's gas, oil records go online
By JIM JORDAN
Lexington Herald-Leader
It took 20 years and $250,000, but 106 filing cabinets with 530 drawers of records are now headed to storage at the Kentucky Geological Survey.
But they aren't headed to obscurity.
The more than 1 million pieces of paper collected during the last eight decades of oil and gas exploration in Kentucky can now be seen on the Internet by anyone with a computer.
http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/mld/ledgerenquirer/news/nation/3771903.htm


Scripps Howard News Service 8/2/02
The feds do it, too
By DEROY MURDOCK, Scripps Howard News Service
NEW YORK — The corporate integrity  legislation President Bush signed July 30 boosts the consequences for concealing commercial crimes.
"The penalties for obstructing justice and shredding documents are greatly increased," Bush said. Convicts will face 10 to 20 years in jail for altering or destroying financial records sought in federal investigations. As well they should.
http://www.naplesnews.com/02/08/perspective/d807173a.htm



AP 8/3/02
INS Acknowledges Document Backlog
Sat Aug 3, 9:54 AM ET
By CHRISTOPHER NEWTON, Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) - More than 2 million documents filed by foreigners, from change of address forms to requests for benefits, have been piling up for years and only now are being reviewed by the government, senior U.S. officials said Friday.
Immigrant advocates say that raises the possibility some foreigners deported after
Sept. 11 were in compliance with laws they were expelled for breaking. INS officials say that has not occurred.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20020803/ap_on_go_ot/ins_backlog_5




Peter A. Kurilecz CRM, CA
pakurilecz@aol.com
Richmond, Va

Peter A. Kurilecz CRM, CA
pakurilecz@aol.com
Richmond, Va