Homeland Security Gets Personal

(CBS)  The Skinny is Keach Hagey's take on the top news of the day and the best of the Internet.

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Racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, religious or philosophical beliefs, trade union membership and data about an individual's health, traveling partners and sexual orientation.

No, it's not an online dating profile. It's the kind of personal data the United States and European Union have just agreed to share with each other about millions of U.S.-bound airline passengers a year, according to today's Washington Post.

Under the agreement, airlines flying from Europe to the United States are required to provide data related to these matters to U.S. authorities if they've got it in their reservation systems.

And the details can get very, ahem, personal. "Even a request for a king-sized bed at a hotel could be noted in the database," the Post reports.

Homeland Security chief Michael Chertoff claims that, if available at the time of 9/11, such information would have "within a matter of moments helped to identify many of the 19 hijackers by linking their methods of payments, phone numbers and seat assignments."

But privacy advocates are howling. Peter Hustinx, the E.U.'s privacy supervisor expressed "grave concern" over whether the rules "will be fully compatible with European fundamental rights," calling the arrangement "without legal precedent."

Ostensibly, the deal allows Washington to retain and use the data only in life-threatening situations, such as in a counterterrorism investigation. But when have pesky obstacles like the legality of collecting and storing private information about innocent people —- or the requirement to tell the truth about it -- ever stopped this administration?

How Long Before He's Gone-Zales?

The front pages of the major papers today reminds us at least of one case in which it apparently didn't. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales is in hotter water than ever, after former FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III yesterday contradicted Gonzales's sworn testimony earlier this week about the National Security Agency's warrantless wiretapping program.

While everyone carries the story, the Washington Post gives most weight to Mueller's testimony, calling it "the first public confirmation from a Bush administration official that the National Security Agency's Terrorist Surveillance Program was at issue in an usual nighttime visit by Gonzales to the hospital bedside of then-Attorney General John D. Ashcroft, who was under sedation and recovering from surgery." The New York Times takes a similar tack.

In contrast, USA Today goes higher with the news that the Senate Judiciary Committee subpoenaed Karl Rove and another presidential aide for testimony about the dismissal of federal prosecutors. The paper seemed to have little patience for such wonky topics, finding "experts with experience in past political wars" to warn of "negative consequences for both parties" if they keep up their bickering.

Implosions! Panic! Full-Blown Carnage! It's Not Baghdad, It's The Dow

The Dow took a two-percent tumble yesterday, kicked down the bar graph by worries over slower economic growth and worsening borrowing conditions. Such events give business reporters a chance to call up their most dour sources for some apolcalyptic quotes. We bring you're a round-up of the gloomiest:

New York Times: "The really good times are over."

Wall Street Journal: "Today there was full-blown carnage."

Washington Post: "Market are imploding."

Los Angeles Times: "For the moment, we have a mini-panic."

USA Today refused to play along. The worst they could do? "The wheels are in motion for some corrective action."

iBounce

But wait! It's not all gloom and doom. The weekend lies ahead, and at least one company bounced back this week. That's right, Apple, which had lost 8 percent of its value on Tuesday amid fears that its iPhone had not sold as well as expected, regained all that loss after it reported strong profits Wednesday, according to the New York Times. It expects to sell a million phones by the end of September.

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[vincan-2009]

I am looking forward to the last of Gone-zales. I'd also love the see Bush and Cheney gone for good of the country.

[feelfree1]

Re: "The Skinny: U.S. Signs Deal With Europe To Share Racial, Religious, Political Traveler Data"

HEIL!!!!!!!!!!