Language

Reporter's Notebook: Brenda Norrell

University of Arizona co-opted to become spy central, using lasers on migrants

By Brenda Norrell

TUCSON -- In Tucson, a community known for human rights organizations that are setting global standards, the University of Arizona has been co-opted by dollars to become spy central.
The university is very proud of its new millions to spy on people, by way of the Internet, and develop "technologies," including lasers on migrants' arteries.
Under the guise of the war on terror, human rights activists, especially peace activists, have been targeted throughout the United States and the world by unbridled US spy technology and US government lawlessness.

Are the students who promote human rights safe writing on their Internet computers at the university? Many do not feel they are. Are peaceful protesters safe gathering and legally voicing their concerns? Many do not feel they are safe with millions of spy dollars pouring into the university.
The university and Homeland Security are promoting Dr. Hsinchun Chen, in charge of Internet spying worldwide and based at the university. He is on the lookout for "suspicious" behavior.
"Dr. Chen is the founder of the Knowledge Computing Corporation, a university spin-off company and a market leader in law enforcement and intelligence information sharing and data mining," according to a statement to publicize Dr. Chen's efforts.
The latest news is that the university is using lasers on migrants.
Jay Nunamaker, director of UA's Center for Management of Information in the Eller College of Management, said the university is using the laser doppler vibrometer on migrants.
"Nunamaker said the goal is to make the laser beam that is aimed at the suspect's carotid artery invisible and have it be accurate up to 100 yards," according to the Tucson Citizen. The lasers are an experiment to determine truth telling and lies.
Is it safe? Not everyone believes this laser is safe. But apparently the university feels it is OK to experiment on migrants with these lasers.
Homeland Security said, "The Center for Border Security and Immigration, led by the University of Arizona in Tucson and the University of Texas at El Paso, will develop technologies, tools and advanced methods to balance immigration and commerce with effective border security, as well as assess threats and vulnerabilities, improve surveillance and screening, analyze immigration trends, and enhance policy and law enforcement efforts."
The university is receiving $16 million from Homeland Security.
Because of the fear of an economic collapse in the US, university researchers are scrambling after the dollars.

The University of Arizona announced a new center on campus in September, the Center of Excellence, stating that Homeland Security agents would be present at the center. Other Centers of Excellence include the Center for Maritime, Island and Port Security led by the University of Hawaii, the Center for Risk and Economic Analysis of Terrorism Events led by the University of Southern California and the National Center for Foreign Animal and Zoonotic Disease Defense led by Texas A&M.
The University of Arizona, focused on Internet spying, is collaborating with Arizona State University, New Mexico State University, New Mexico Tech, San Diego State University, the University of Texas-Pan American, the University of Minnesota, the University of Washington, West Virginia University, the University of Southern California and the University of Albany.
The assault on human rights at the University of Arizona follows the construction of telescopes on sacred Mount Graham and the university's total disregard for Apache and other Native Americans who have struggled for years to halt the desecration.
Meanwhile, Homeland Security dollars are also funding US intelligence training in Israel, according to Security Solutions International. The security industry around the world, including intelligence, security guards and private prisons, became one of the most profitable industries in the world following 9/11.

The news of the Homeland Security-funded Israeli training follows the news that the same security corporations responsible for building the Apartheid Wall in Palestine, including Israel's Elbit Systems, were subcontracted for security work on the US Apartheid Wall on the US/Mexico border.
The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, of the Organization of American States, named the US Border Wall and Guantanamo as international human rights concerns, in a statement released last week.

The Commission pointed out how the US has targeted Indigenous Peoples and the poor in discriminatory actions in construction of the border wall and urged the closure of Guantanamo detention facility, long known as a place of US torture, secret renditions and other violations of the Geneva Conventions.

More at: http://www.bsnorrell.blogspot.com

About Brenda Norrell

Personal Website
http://www.bsnorrell.blogspot.com/

Biography

Brenda Norrell has been a news reporter in Indian country for 27 years. She is currently based in Tucson and covers Mexico, the U.S. borders and the West, focusing on Indigenous Peoples and human rights. She cohosted the five-month Longest Walk talk radio across America, with American Indians walking for sacred Mother Earth and publishes Censored News.

Add comment

Our Policy on Comment Submissions: Co-publishers of Narco News (which includes The Narcosphere and The Field) may post comments without moderation. All co-publishers comment under their real name, have contributed resources or volunteer labor to this project, have filled out this application and agreed to some simple guidelines about commenting.

Narco News has recently opened its comments section for submissions to moderated comments (that’s this box, here) by everybody else. More than 95 percent of all submitted comments are typically approved, because they are on-topic, coherent, don’t spread false claims or rumors, don’t gratuitously insult other commenters, and don’t engage in commerce, spam or otherwise hijack the thread. Narco News reserves the right to reject any comment for any reason, so, especially if you choose to comment anonymously, the burden is on you to make your comment interesting and relevant. That said, as you can see, hundreds of comments are approved each week here. Good luck in your comment submission!

The content of this field is kept private and will not be shown publicly.
  • Web page addresses and e-mail addresses turn into links automatically.

More information about formatting options

CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.

User login

Reporters' Notebooks