Money Trailing Scanner Contracts

American travelers are a bit verklempt over the see-more body scanners.

Sorry, folks. The current invasion of privacy rights is nothing new. Only this time around, it's happening to you and your loved ones.

As we found with Senator Orrin Hatch and the TrackerPal ankle bracelet contract--prior to everyone embracing the ability to be tracked through a cell phone GPS or OnStar in the car--a political contract (or at the very least, major lobbying) lies fast at work in our world.

The scanners prove no different.

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If you've seen one of these scanners at an airport, there's a good chance it was made by L-3 Communications, a major contractor with the Department of Homeland Security. L-3 employs three different lobbying firms including Park Strategies, where former Sen. Al D'Amato, R-N.Y., plumps on the company's behalf. Back in 1989, President George H.W. Bush appointed D'Amato to the President's Commission on Aviation Security and Terrorism following the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103. Also on Park's L-3 account is former Appropriations staffer Kraig Siracuse.

The scanner contract, issued four days after the Christmas Day bomb attempt last year, is worth $165 million to L-3.

Rapiscan got the other naked-scanner contract from the TSA, worth $173 million. Rapiscan's lobbyists include Susan Carr, a former senior legislative aide to Rep. David Price, D-N.C., chairman of the Homeland Security Subcommittee. When Defense Daily reported on Price's appropriations bill last winter, the publication noted "Price likes the budget for its emphasis on filling gaps in aviation security, in particular the whole body imaging systems."

An early TSA contractor for full-body scanners was the American Science and Engineering company. AS&E's lobbying team is impressive, including Tom Blank, a former deputy administrator for the TSA. Fellow AS&E lobbyist Chad Wolf was an assistant administrator at TSA and an aide to Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, who sits on the Transportation and Defense subcommittees of Appropriations. Finally, Democratic former Rep. Bud Cramer is also an AS&E lobbyist -- he sat on the Defense and Transportation subcommittees of the Appropriations Committee.

Always follow the money.

Nancy Grace Gets Off $cott Free

After four years, the wrongful death lawsuit against Nancy Grace is over.

The Duckett family agreed to a settlement which requires Grace to pay $200,000 annually to a trust fund set aside for still missing Trenton Duckett, two years of age at the time of his disappearance.

Here's an interesting condition.

Should Trenton remain missing at age thirteen, the trust would be transferred to The Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

Trenton's mother committed suicide after an on-air interview with Grace, who overly pressed the young woman for details about her missing son. The family filed suit against Grace and CNN, claiming both were responsible for the death. Attorneys for the defendants sought dismissal for years, but proved unsuccessful in doing so.

Trenton would be six today.

Grace offers her typical gracelessness here.

GPS: All the Buzz

What do mosquitoes and mosquito control workers share in common?

Apparently both prey on others.

Mosquitoes for obvious reasons. Mosquito control workers for sticking it to taxpayers.

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A citizen's complaint triggered an eight-month investigation in which officials cross-referenced data from previously installed truck GPS trackers with daily employee inspection records, Director Craig Simmons said.

As a result of the investigation, three mosquito control workers also were fired in late June.

"With the fiscal position the county government's in, with pending layoffs, we couldn't fathom why employees would choose to do something like this when we have the ability to track them," Simmons said.

Spray-truck personnel are typically unsupervised about seven hours a day, Simmons said. Each week, they inspect about 8,000 mosquito-prone sites across 86 geographic spray zones along the Space Coast.

The GPS investigation examined on-the-clock activities during a seven-week span from August to September 2009. Disciplinary letters reveal details about the terminated workers' alleged misdeeds during that timeframe:

A technician made 20 unauthorized trips to the Port St. John Public Library and drove home 78 times.When his supervisor told him he did not have permission to visit the library, the worker responded: "That's a lie from the pits of hell! That's a lie. That's a lie. That's a lie. That's a lie!" his notice of dismissal shows.

It didn't take a GPS to foresee this type of tracking merge into the mainstream.

The Gelber-Bondi Race

I've stayed silent much of this election cycle, choosing instead to enjoy the anxiety of many incumbents as unknown candidates picked them off at the primary and stand to do the same during tomorrow's election.

Don't get me wrong. I'm more than slightly horrified over just who may find themselves in positions of political power Wednesday morning, but then, I've had that feeling now for years.

Of particular interest to me is the Florida Attorney General race. Seasoned politician Dan Gelber appears perplexed over his current situation, polling under Pam Bondi, a former prosecutor who (in my opinion) appears quite unprepared for the position.

Gelber has been no friend to certain families in Florida, thanks to a certain lobbyist who has captured his attention with misinformation over the many years Gelber was in the position to effect change. So, part of me enjoys the reality of disgusted voters slapping him in the face.

But then we have Bondi, who failed the character test some time back after hauling a Louisiana family into court as a means to keep the Katrina dog she adopted from returning home to its Louisiana family.

Quite the choice.

If Gelber pulls off this race, I hope he remembers that real people who have committed no crime are effected--often quite harshly--by Florida law.

If Bondi is the state's next AG, at the very least, her predecessor Bill McCollum is out of politics.