Novartis and Proteus Biomedical are not the only companies hoping to implant microchips into patients so that their pill-popping habits can be monitored. VeriChip of Delray Beach, Fl., has an even bolder idea: an implanted chip that links to an online database containing all your medical records, credit history and your social security ID.

As this presentation to investors makes clear, the chip and its database could form the basis of a new national identity database lined to Social Security and NationalCreditReport.com. The VeriMed Health Link homepage describes the chip:

… a tiny, passive microchip (the nation’s first and only microchip cleared for patient identification by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration) and a secure, private online database that links you to your personal health record. Your Health Link is always with you and cannot be lost or stolen.

That database can be accessed by doctors and nurses:

About the size of a grain of rice, the microchip is inserted just under the skin and contains only a unique, 16-digit identifier. The microchip itself does not contain any other data other than this unique electronic ID, nor does it contain any Global Positioning System (GPS) tracking capabilities. And unlike conventional forms of identification, the Health Link cannot be lost, stolen, misplaced, or counterfeited. It is safe, secure, reversible, and always with you.

But VeriChip’s ambitions don’t end there, as this diagram indicates:

(Click to enlarge.)

Yes, it shows your Health Link chip linked to Google, Microsoft, employers and insurers. The company also sees the VeriMed Health Link linked to your “identity security services,” through a separate VeriChip product, PositiveID. This slide show states:

PositiveID puts people in control of their personal health records and financial information, bridging the gap between secure medical records and identity security

PositiveID dovetails with Health Link:

Cross marketing opportunities: cross-sell the NationalCreditReport.com customer base the Health Link personal health record and vice-versa

Differentiates PositiveID as the only personal health record that offers identity theft protection

It’s a future in which your doctor tags you like a dog with a microchip that allows anyone with the right privileges to look at your medical records, credit history, social security number (see slide 6), and anything else that stems from that.

Suddenly, storing medical records on paper in locked cabinets inside a single doctor’s office starts to look like something we may not want to rush to give up.

Image: The VeriMed Health Link chip from VeriChip’s web page.

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In fact, REAL ID is dead and the deadline is fake. More than a dozen states have statutorily barred themselves from complying, and in a rule published Monday the Department of Homeland Security extended the deadline again. This is the same thing it did last May and could easily do indefinitely.

The republic survives, and will survive quite nicely without this or any national ID law.

In essence, refusal to renew or file an extension is refusal to comply with the Real ID Act. We don’t expect any consequences to States because the Act is unenforceable and declared “D.O.A.” DHS Secretary Napolitano.

PAPER ZOMBIES

The administrative drift towards bureaucratic compliance drones on towards States like a paper zombie. That is the nature of federal government paperwork. When an early alarm sounds, you hit the snooze button. State action is case specific, of course. However, if I were to follow my gut …not a single state government is in any hurry to shell out cash for a repealing identity program. So what do you do with the machinations of a deadline? The same thing most people do with their computerized updates; select the “NOT NOW” button and go on about your business by supporting the effort to comprehensively repeal the Real ID Act.

IF YOU ARE CONCERNED ABOUT YOUR STATE BUDGET FOR COMPLIANCE… The best you can do is check in with your local governor’s office. An extension is a procrastinatory note; it’s not a budget or widgets sold. Real ID is considered dead. One course of action for pragmatic States is to roll over and do nothing. A State government who wants to play paper wall ball with DHS; you will fill out some sheets of paper that kick the can down the road. This creates another deadline until the federal government has decided what to do about the tarbaby a.k.a. the Real ID Act.

IN CONCLUSION
There are two paths with the same result.

You’re state will do nothing or fill out an extension, which is something that really amounts to nothing but another deadline. By December 31, 2009 some states will be in “compliance” by filing extension paper and at least 24 states will have something signed by their governor substantiating they are not going along with Real ID regulatory conditions. Real ID will still be dead at that time.

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Last week, the governor of Arizona signed H.B. 2426, which bars the state from implementing the “enhanced” drivers license (EDL) program.

If the federal REAL ID revival bill (PASS ID) becomes law, it will give congressional approval to EDLs, which up to now have been simply a creation of the federal security and state driver licensing bureaucracies.

ENHANCED DRIVERS LICENSES AS “SNAKE OIL”

As governor of Arizona, the current Secretary of Homeland Security signed a memorandum of understanding with the DHS to implement EDLs, and she backs PASS ID even though she signed an anti-REAL ID bill as governor. As I said before, Secretary Napolitano seems to be taking the national ID tar baby in a loving embrace.

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Eevn the few positive features of  the PASS-ID bill came under attack.  Senator Collins of Maine wanted to know whether the bill would allow the sort of airport “security” measures that are used in Israel (notorious for ethnic profiling), and specifically whether the PASS-ID provision that, ““no person shall be denied boarding a commercial aircraft solely on the basis of failure to present a driver’s license or identification card issued pursuant to this subtitle,” would still allow denail of boarding, regardless of ID, solely on the basis of “behavioural profiling”.  And the National Retail Association wants to make sure that the PASS-ID prohibition on non-governmental scanning or use of machine-readable (bar-code, mag stripe, or RFID) data on government-issued ID cards would still allow stores to skim this data in order to profile patterns of “suspicious” merchandise returns.  Would anyone object, they want to know, to an exception to this provision that would allow scanning and tracking of machine-readable ID data to detect or prevent “fraud or other illegal activity”?

Yes, we would object to such an open-ended exception.  More importantly, we object to any mandatory national ID.  So do tens of millions of Americans, regardless of whether Congress does’t want our views to be part of the debate.

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What Pentagon theorists describe as a “Revolution in Military Affairs” (RMA) leverages information technology to facilitate (so they allege) command decision-making processes and mission effectiveness, i.e. the waging of aggressive wars of conquest.

It is assumed that U.S. technological preeminence, referred to euphemistically by Airforce Magazine as “compressing the kill chain,” will assure American military hegemony well into the 21st century. Indeed a 2001 study, Understanding Information Age Warfare, brought together analysts from a host of Pentagon agencies as well as defense contractors Boeing, Booz Allen Hamilton and the MITRE Corporation and consultants from ThoughtLink, Toffler Associates and the RAND Corporation who proposed to do just.

As a result of this and other Pentagon-sponsored research, military operations from Afghanistan to Iraq and beyond aim for “defined effects” through “kinetic” and “non-kinetic” means: leadership decapitation through preemptive strikes combined with psychological operations designed to pacify (terrorize) insurgent populations. This deadly combination of high- and low tech tactics is the dark heart of the Pentagon’s Unconventional Warfare doctrine.

In this respect, “network-centric warfare” advocates believe U.S. forces can now dominate entire societies through ubiquitous surveillance, an always-on “situational awareness” maintained by cutting edge sensor arrays as well as by devastating aerial attacks by armed drones, warplanes and Special Forces robosoldiers.

Meanwhile on the home front, urbanized RMA in the form of ubiquitous CCTV systems deployed on city streets, driftnet electronic surveillance of private communications and radio-frequency identification (RFID) chips embedded in commodities are all aspects of a control system within securitized societies such as ours.

As Antifascist Calling has written on more than one occasion, contemporary U.S. military operations are conceived as a branch of capitalist management theory, one that shares more than a passing resemblance to the organization of corporate entities such as Wal-Mart.

Similar to RMA, commodity flows are mediated by an ubiquitous surveillance of products–and consumers–electronically. Indeed, Pentagon theorists conceive of “postmodern” warfare as just another manageable network enterprise.

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by Henry Lamb, Feb. 18, 2009

Hidden well behind the spectacular pomp and historic circumstance of inauguration week, the wheels of government continued the relentless grind, oblivious only to the party in power at the moment. From deep within the bureaucracy, the USDA moved closer to taking control over every livestock animal and the land on which they roam. With a callousness hardened by expanded majorities, Congress moved closer to taking control over another two million acres of land and the resources it contains.

To accommodate a request of the National Institute of Animal Agriculture, a trade association of agri-business and livestock associations, the USDA set out in 2002 to create an electronic tracking system for every cow, horse, chicken, turkey, goat, sheep, pig — 29 species in all — that could pinpoint the location of every animal in the country, and, within 48 hours, trace its every movement since birth. This massive project would bring the United States into compliance with the requirements of a little-known sub-agency of the World Trade Organization. Compliance with these requirements may open export profitable markets coveted by the members of the National Institute of Animal Agriculture.

Initially, the USDA announced that the program would be implemented in three phases: premises identification; animal identification; and reporting of animal movement within 24 hours. The entire program was supposed to be fully implemented and operational by 2009.

Ranchers, farmers, and animal owners raised such a fuss that the USDA was forced to back off its implementation plan and announce instead, that the National Animal Identification System would be a voluntary program. Animal owners were appreciative, but skeptical.

While claiming that the program was voluntary, the USDA paid millions of dollars to trade associations and state departments of agriculture to coerce animal owners into signing up for the NAIS. Idaho signed up more than 15,000 animal owners without their knowledge. Several states required animal owners to have a NAIS identification number as a condition for participating in the state fair. This is what the USDA called a “voluntary” program.

Still claiming that the program is voluntary, and while the nation’s attention is focused on the inauguration, the USDA published a proposed rule that will essentially transform the voluntary program into a mandatory program. While claiming the program is voluntary, the new rule would require animal owners who receive certain vaccination services for their animals to be signed up into the NAIS. The rule says that the NAIS is voluntary, unless you want your animals vaccinated. Of course, vaccination (OCV) is necessary for almost all marketing and interstate shipment of livestock.

Animal owners have spoken loud and clear: they do not want the NAIS. The USDA couldn’t care less what the animal owners want. The USDA — government — is forcing its will upon the people it is supposed to serve.

Congress is no better; in fact, it’s worse. During the last Congress, more than 150 bills were introduced to take land out of productive use in the name of wilderness, heritage areas, scenic rivers, and the like. Some of this land contains badly need resources; some of this land is privately owned. Nevertheless, to avoid a battle on each of these bills, the last Congress bundled them into an “omnibus” bill that contained all 150 bills. Even with the cover of the financial collapse during the last days of the 2008, congressional leaders were afraid to risk an open vote on the omnibus land bill.

But the new Congress, with its expanded majority in both houses, waited until the last moment before the inauguration overwhelmed Washington to vote on the omnibus land-grab bill (S22). Only 21 Republican Senators voted against it. All Democrats and 19 Republicans voted for it.

Aside from the wisdom (or lack thereof) of taking two-million more acres, including privately owned property, out of productive use, is the issue of deceit displayed by Congressional leaders who chose not to allow debate on the merits of each bill. Instead, by bundling more than 150 bills into the single omnibus bill, pork could not be identified and deleted, nor could the strings to special interest groups be exposed.

The euphoria of this historic inauguration settled over millions of people who heard the new President promise post-partisan accountability and transparency in a government truly at work for the people.

Before the crowds have departed from the National Mall, the porta-potties been removed, and the jumbo-trons disassembled, the USDA will still be pushing the NAIS down the throat of animal owners, and Congress will be finding new ways to hide pork and pamper special interest groups in legislation that few representatives have even read.

Government can never be better than the people who govern. Government is not parades and parties and spectacular pomp. Government is the entire set of restrictions imposed by the people who govern — upon the people who don’t.

© Henry LambNote: Henry Lamb is the Chairman of Sovereignty International, and founder of the Environmental Conservation Organization (ECO)

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February 10, 2009 By: Freedom Fighter

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FBI’s Analytical Lexicon Lowers the Bar

Do you “pal around with terrorists”? Are you a “radical” or express views that the government considers “extremist”?

On October 28, the whistleblowing website Cryptome published the FBI Directorate of Intelligence: Counterterrorism Division’s Counterterrorism Analytical Lexicon. This eye-opening “Unclassified/For Official Use Only” (U/FOUO) document purports “to standardize terms used in the FBI analytical products dealing with counterterrorism.”

But what it does instead, in keeping with the FBI’s insatiable appetite for “actionable intelligence product,” is create new categories of individuals who might fall under the purview of state “counterterrorism” investigations.

Right up front the Bureau informs us that the definitions used in the lexicon, “do not supercede those in the Department of Justice National Foreign Intelligence Program Manual (NFIPM), the Attorney General Guidelines, the National Implementation Plan for the War on Terror, or any US government statute.”

That covers a lot and ground and can hide much in the way of government mischief, particularly when new guidelines issued by U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey permit broad, intrusive investigations by FBI snoops. As the Washington Post reported in early October,

The new road map allows investigators to recruit informants, employ physical surveillance and conduct interviews in which agents disguise their identities in an effort to assess national security threats. FBI agents could pursue each of those steps without any single fact indicating a person has ties to a terrorist organization. (Carrie Johnson, “Guidelines Expand FBI’s Surveillance Powers,” The Washington Post, Saturday, October 4, 2008; A03)

The new guidelines reduce standards for beginning “assessments” (precursors to investigations), conducting surveillance and gathering evidence, meaning the threshold to beginning investigations across the board will be lowered. More troubling still, the guidelines allow a person’s race or ethnic background to be used as a factor in opening an investigation, a move the ACLU believes may institute racial profiling as a matter of policy. (”ACLU Condemns New FBI Guidelines,” Press Release, October 3, 2008)

US-Radicalized: A “US-radicalized” individual’s primary social influence has been the cultural values and beliefs of the United States and whose radicalization and indoctrination began or occurred primarily in the United States.

Ideologue or propagandist: An “ideologue” or “propagandist” establishes, promotes, or disseminates justifications for violent extremism, often through manipulation of primary text materials such as religious texts or historical accounts that establish grievances. He or she may not have strong links to any terrorist organization or be integrated into an organization’s command structure. Unless he or she directly advocates specific acts of violence, much of such an individual’s activity might be constitutionally protected. (Federal Bureau of Investigation, Counterterrorism Analytical Lexicon,” Washington, D.C., no date, pp. 4-5)

Network: A “network” is any group of two or more individuals that is tied together by communication or common associations. A network is distinguished from a cell in that a network does not work together toward a discrete common objective, although all the members might ideologically support a common goal. Any individual’s associations can typically be described in terms of multiple networks. (FBI, op. cit., p.

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1. USA Patriot Act – A 342 page document presented to Congress one day before voting on it that allows the government access to your bank and email accounts, as well as your medical and phone records with no court order. They can also search your home anytime without a warrant.
2. USA Patriot Act II – This one allows secret government arrests, the legal authority to seize your American citizenship, and the extraction of your DNA if you are deemed a potential terrorist.
3. Military Commissions Act of 2006 – Ends habeas corpus, the right to an attorney, and the right to court review of one’s detention and arrest. Without this most basic right, all other rights are gone too since anyone can be detained indefinitely. Now anyone may be arrested and incarcerated and nobody would know.
4. NSPD 51 – A directive signed by George W. Bush on May 9, 2007, that allows the President to declare martial law, effectively transforming the U.S. into a dictatorship with no checks and balances from the Legislative or Judicial Branches. Parts of this directive are considered classified and members of Congress have been denied the right to review it.
5. Protect America Act of 2007 – Allows unprecedented domestic wiretapping and surveillance activities with a reduction in FISA court oversight. Probable cause is not needed.
6. John Warner Defense Authorization Act – Signed by George W. Bush on October 17, 2007, this act allows the President to declare a public emergency and station troops anywhere in America without the consent of the governor or local authorities to “suppress public disorder.
7. Homegrown Terrorism and Radicalization Act – Passed overwhelmingly by Congress on October 23, 2007, is now awaiting a Senate vote. This act will beget a new crackdown on dissent and the Constitutional rights of American citizens. The definitions of “terrorism” and “extremism” are so vague that they could be used to generalize against any group that is working against the policies of the Administration. In this bill, “violent radicalization” criminalizes thought and ideology while “homegrown terrorism” is defined as “the planed use of force to coerce the government.” The term, “force” could encompass political activities such as protests, marches, or any other form of non-violent resistance.

So when you add in:

1. Halliburton Confirms Camps Constructed
2. Halliburton’s Immigrant Detention Centers
3. Homeland Security Contracts for Vast New Detention Camps
4. Halliburton Confirms Concentration Camps Already Constructed
5. KBR awarded Homeland Security contract worth up to $385M
6. This from Halliburton’s own website

It starts to get a little scary.”

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By: Devvy
September 18, 2008

© 2008 – NewsWithViews.com

The clock is ticking on the shadow government’s tracking of your every move with the so-called National ID. For those who might not be familiar with this Nazi style snooping and forced production of “Show your papers,” Rep. Sam E. Rohrer, has very thoroughly and succinctly explained it in this column. It is a must read for all Americans (perhaps this weekend) to fully understand they may soon be forced to accept the loss of their rights or lose their job:

“A few weeks ago we introduced Lowell Rogers to you. He’s a tugboat engineer. His employer is about to be brought under a security/identity scheme — a Real ID card of sorts for maritime employees. It’s called the Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC). Apparently, since the Department of Homeland Security can’t get Real ID implemented, due to the largest state rebellion since the Civil War, they’ve decided to pick us off — one occupation at a time.”[1]

Congressman Ron Paul explains the real issue here:

“National ID cards are not proper in a free society,” Paul stated. “This is America, not Soviet Russia. The federal government should never be allowed to demand papers from American citizens, and it certainly has no constitutional authority to do so.”[2]

Voluntary v mandatory

“Supporters claim it is not a national ID because it is voluntary. However, any state that opts out will automatically make non-persons out of its citizens. The citizens of that state will be unable to have any dealings with the federal government because their ID will not be accepted. They will not be able to fly or to take a train. In essence, in the eyes of the federal government they will cease to exist. It is absurd to call this voluntary.”[3]

The State of Arizona has signed into law: NO National ID:

“Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano signed a bill today that prohibits the implementation of the REAL ID in Arizona. SB2677 received a Final vote of approval in the House last week by an overwhelming margin of 51 to 1. Napolitano’s signature was uncertain until today when she signed the bill into law.

“The bill prohibits implementation of the REAL ID Act of 2005, which was passed by Congress as part of a supplemental spending bill for tsunami relief and the War on Terror. The bill did not receive a hearing in either the House or the Senate, and the public was largely unaware of it until it had already been signed into law.

“Everyone thinks that the REAL ID is just about protecting us against terrorism,” said co-sponsor Senator Karen Johnson (R-18). “But it really represents a cash cow for technology companies as well as the birth of the National ID card, complete with all the biometric information that technology can handle – face recognition, fingerprints, etc.”[4]

This mess was given to us by a Republican controlled Congress (with a few exceptions like Ron Paul) and signed off by George Bush. A few Democrats made an effort to repeal it, but Pelosi was too busy making sure the House cafeteria got organic food. You have to love her priorities. The House of Nitwits is killing this country.

Clearly, the National ID is voluntary to the states. However, the Bush Administration has used blackmail to force the states to go along with this draconian plan: Either your citizens give up their rights or they will not be able to fly on commercial airplanes, travel on AMTRAK or enter a federal building. Nevada has such a convoluted schedule for issuance date and forms of ID to get this ID, look to a big, fat mess to deal with if you live in that state.[5]

Millions of Americans throughout the 50 states do NOT want this National ID rammed down their throats and have fought their state legislatures hard; most of the states have caved into the blackmail. The ones who have caved, those state reps and senators who couldn’t find the guts to stand up to a tyrannical government, should be thrown out of office in November if they’re up for reelection. If your state has passed legislation and signed by your governor to reject the National ID, be sure to call their office, tell them thank you let them know you’re behind them. These elected officials need to know the people stand with them.

So what happens next? Let’s look at the State of Arizona. John America works for Gibraltar Insurance who says he must fly to Chicago from Phoenix for business. However, Mr. America won’t be allowed to board an airplane because his state has exercised their RIGHT to say no to Chertoff, his Department of Fatherland Security and retain their sovereignty. Mr. America fully supports the rejection of this National ID, but no National ID, can’t get on the plane. Now what does Mr. America do? Let’s say Arizona State Rep. Russell Pearce has to fly to Washington, DC, on official business for the State, or even Gov. Napolitano who signed the legislation saying no. Will these elected officials of the State of Arizona be barred from getting on an airplane?

This is the conundrum of enforcement staring the Bush Administration and the next one right in the face. The Feds have already had to back up and if the states remain strong and defiant, we will win:

“But the way this turned out is so odd it’s worth repeating. States including New Hampshire, Maine, South Carolina, Oklahoma, Washington, and Montana have enacted laws saying “hell no we’ll never comply with Real ID.” And Homeland Security officials carefully ignored those public votes of condemnation, instead pretending that those states really intend to acquiesce by the next major deadline of December 31, 2009. (See our special report on Real ID from earlier this year.)” [6]

I submit to you there has to be a showdown and the states MUST prevail. I see no other way for this to be resolved. The states who have rejected this scheme to retain their rights and the rights of their citizens must fight. This is clearly a Tenth Amendment issue and has squat to do with the war on terrorism. With states who caved to the pressure or agree with this “show your papers” identification system and those states who have said no through a state law, what you will have is chaos next year. Mrs. America from Portland can fly to see her grand kids in Florida because she was forced to surrender her rights by their legislature, while Mr. America in Phoenix has his rights protected by his state, but can’t get on a plane to do business in Chicago.

I’ve said it before: These cards are kid’s play to compromise and forge. The next step will be forced finger printing and then the bio chips. Here in Texas, not only will they begin issuing these IDs, but the fee for a former Texas DL will jump from $24 to $100 or more and: “People will be further identified through the use of biometrics, from fingerprints to retinal scans.” [7]

A few more comments about the financial meltdown because it’s moving fast and fluid:

“About $2.8 trillion of market value was erased from global stocks this week as Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. filed for bankruptcy, Bank of America Corp. purchased Merrill Lynch & Co. for $50 billion, and the U.S. government took control of American International Group Inc. in an $85 billion takeover to prevent the biggest financial collapse ever. Russian Banks. Russia halted stock trading for a second day and poured $44 billion into its three biggest banks in a bid to halt the worst financial crisis in a decade.” [1]

The underlying debt is still there even though the average American really has no idea what all this means, yet. Yesterday gold jumped dramatically

“Gold surged the most in nine years as investors sought the safety of precious metals on concern that the credit crisis will deepen, leading more financial institutions to fail. [2]

While the incompetent Nancy Pelosi sputters the Democrats had nothing to do with this current crisis, [3] she left out

“The current mortgage crisis came about in large part because of Clinton-era government pressure on lenders to make risky loans in order to “make home ownership more affordable for lower-income Americans and those with a poor credit history,” the DC Examiner notes today. “Those steps encouraged riskier mortgage lending by minimizing the role of credit histories in lending decisions, loosening required debt-to-equity ratios to allow borrowers to make small or even no down payments at all, and encouraging lenders the use of floating or adjustable interest-rate mortgages, including those with low ‘teasers.’

“The liberal Village Voice previously chronicled how Clinton Administration housing secretary Andrew Cuomo helped spawn the mortgage crisis through his pressure on lenders to promote affordable housing and diversity. “Andrew Cuomo, the youngest Housing and Urban Development secretary in history, made a series of decisions between 1997 and 2001 that gave birth to the country’s current crisis. He took actions that—in combination with many other factors—helped plunge Fannie and Freddie into the subprime markets without putting in place the means to monitor their increasingly risky investments.

“He turned the Federal Housing Administration mortgage program into a sweetheart lender with sky-high loan ceilings and no money down, and he legalized what a federal judge has branded ‘kickbacks’ to brokers that have fueled the sale of overpriced and unsupportable loans. Three to four million families are now facing foreclosure, and Cuomo is one of the reasons why.” (See Wayne Barrett, “Andrew Cuomo and Fannie and Freddie: How the Youngest Housing and Urban Development Secretary in History Gave Birth to the Mortgage Crisis,” Village Voice, August 5, 2008).” [4]

There can be no financial stability as long as we have a debauched currency and a corrupted monetary system:

“To be sure, when Americans are told that “justice” and “the rule of law” require them to forfeit their accumulated savings and economic security to the very institutions and individuals who enticed them out on the financial limb that the Establishment then sawed off, justifiably violent animosities towards the powers that be will arise among some citizens. For most victimized Americans, though, politicians, bankers, high finance, big business, and the intelligentsiia will finger scapegoats on whom wrongly to pin the blame for the crisis and its aftermath. This will generate increased confusion, recriminations, conflicts, and social chaos; and further divide, disarm, and ultimately defeat the forces that, if united, might effectively oppose the Establishment.

“In addition, rather than disseminating demands for sound money and honest banking in order to deal with the crisis, the controlled media will orchestrate calls for massive increases in the supply of fiat currency and credit, ostensibly in order to enable common people to pay their debts. Of course, this will necessitate the maintenance of fractional-reserve central banking to emit the new currency, as well as the creation of more, more, and even more debt to serve as “security” for these emissions–thereby perpetuating the cause of the crisis and ensuring that further crises will break out later on. In this way, credulous Americans will be duped into chaining themselves to new debts in order to pay off their old ones, rendering permanent their financial indentured servitude to the Establishment. March 21, 2005 [5]

I’ve spent most of the week helping my elderly parents and other members of my family with their banking situations, CDs and pension concerns. My email box has been drowning with desperate messages from people who are just now beginning to realize the enormity of what we’re seeing. People are also very concerned, actually feeling panic, over pension funds, 401(k)s – are they really safe? Despite the absolute stupidity out of Steve Doocy’s mouth on FAUX News Network, September 17, 2008, when he stated, “This financial crisis should be over by the end of the week,” ‘this’ isn’t going to be ‘over’ for years with the worst yet to come.

While I’m not an investment counselor nor do I sell gold or any other precious metal, you can discuss your situation with Eric at El Dorado Gold and find out your options. Gold is still the only real, safe money. As I have written so many times, the middle class is sliding into poverty and no amount of sound bites from McCain or the absurd Obama “plan” on the economy (more regulations and “universal homeowner tax breaks”) is going to stop this tragedy underway. I wish it were going to be different, but we’ve passed the point of no return. Arrogance and greed – twin monsters – has come back to bite the banking and lending industry and the American people will be the victims. When Ben Bernanke admits, “We’ve lost control,” We cannot stabilize the dollar. We cannot control commodity prices,”[5] it’s time to face the reality of this situation and act to protect yourself, your family and your future.

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Congress appears clearly to have intended to — and did — establish the exclusive means for foreign intelligence activities to be conducted. Whatever power the executive may otherwise have had in this regard, FISA limits the power of the executive branch to conduct such activities and it limits the executive branch’s authority to assert the state secrets privilege in response to challenges to the legality of its foreign intelligence surveillance activities.

In other words, when Bush contravened the FISA law by authoring warrantless wiretaps through the National Security Agency, he broke the law. Turley said last night that this is an “inconvenient fact” for many in Congress to admit:

Nobody wants to have a confrontation over the fact that the President committed a felony – not one, but at least 30 times. That’s a very inconvenient fact right now in Washington.

Bush has acknowledged that he reauthorized his illegal wiretapping program “more than 30 times since the September the 11th attacks.”

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Please go to kucinich.us now and sign the petition, which calls for impeachment. This is the one petition that will make a difference because I will be delivering it personally to your member of congress. Please circulate word of this petition far and wide, to all your friends and family. This is the one opportunity that we have right now to actually change events in this country.

Two hundred and thirty-two years ago, our nation was conceived in liberty. We have once again reached a moment of truth, one that Lincoln recognized at Gettysburg as to whether “this nation or any nation so conceived or so dedicated can long endure”.

Through the ashes of war, Lincoln prayed that “this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom…and that government of the people, by the people, and for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”

This Fourth of July, 2008, we face a different kind of war; one which is trying our souls.. a war based on lies. But with the power of truth and the power of the people we can achieve a new birth of freedom, standing up for what is good in America, insisting on the rule of law, demanding adherence to the Constitution, and supporting the impeachment of a President who lied to take us into a war against Iraq.

Be the answer to Lincoln’s Prayer. Please pledge your support now to restoring the rule of law in America. As we once again celebrate our Independence, let us celebrate freedom from fear and pledge that this government of the people will survive in this land that we love.

Please go to kucinich.us now. This is your chance to make a difference; truly celebrate our Independence. Thank you.

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“Everyone thinks that the REAL ID is just about protecting us against terrorism,” said co-sponsor Senator Karen Johnson (R-18). “But it really represents a cash cow for technology companies as well as the birth of the National ID card, complete with all the biometric information that technology can handle – face recognition, fingerprints, etc.”
“Corporations which specialize in selling identity cards stand to gain millions of dollars in profits if the Real ID Act is implemented,” said Johnson, “so, of course, they’re eager for everyone to be required to carry a National ID card everywhere they go.” Two of those corporations are Digimarc ID Systems and L-1 – the Number 1 and Number 2 companies for the manufacture of state driver’s licenses and identity cards. L-1 is considered the main driver behind the REAL ID and last year had nearly $100 million in federal contracts involving identity cards. Digimarc spent $350,000 in the first six months of 2007 lobbying Congress on the Real ID Act. Apparently the two companies are soon to be merged, resulting in a powerhouse corporation, pushing the “identification-as-security” concept to the maximum in order to increase company profits as they add more and more biometric features to state driver’s licenses.

“It’s misguided to think that identification equals security,” says Johnson. “Identification is just identification – it doesn’t prove intent and it doesn’t stop terrorists. Indeed, terrorists will forge documents – as they always have – to obtain the identification they want to commit crimes. Making U.S. citizens carry identity papers to board a plane or enter a government building stinks,” says Johnson. “It’s odious, onerous, and a violation of our civil liberties.”

“I refuse to be tagged and numbered,” said Johnson. “Requiring people to carry papers takes away their freedom. There are other, better ways to stop terrorism and to protect us against criminals. The federal government needs to butt out and let the states handle driver licensing. It’s not the business of the Dept. of Homeland Security to tell us how to run our state.”

Real ID – SB2677

1. Proponents always claim that the sole purpose of the Real ID is to prevent another 9/11-type attack by disrupting terrorists travel. That is bogus. If the government really wanted to prevent such an attack, they would secure our borders, which would (1) cost less than implementing Real ID, (2) would be more effective at keeping terrorists out, and (3) would be less intrusive and less inconvenient for American citizens. Until the borders are secure, all the rosy pleas for the Real ID are just so much hogwash.

2. The Real ID will cost the states billions of dollars. The Dept. of Transportation estimates that in Arizona alone, it will cost $40 to $70 million to implement just in the first year, and $15 to $20 million in subsequent years. But they really don’t have a clue – they don’t know what the regulations are going to be yet. They are just estimating. It will depend on what the Rules say when they are finally issued.

They already do some things that will be part of the requirements. For example, they already check citizenship, or whether or not someone is legally authorized to be in the country. So that would not be an additional expense. But even factoring in that some things required by REAL ID are already being handled, the $40 to $70 million is over and above what we already do!!!

3. The Real ID is an invasion of privacy. Why should so much personal information be compiled on one place for so many people to have access to?
- medical history
- social security number
- insurance information

4. The Real ID increases the risk of Identity Theft. Identity theft is a major problem in Arizona already. Throwing everyone’s personal information – including social security numbers, birth dates, medical information, driver’s license and auto licensing information, etc. – into one massive data base just makes it easier for identity thieves to harvest identities for fraudulent purposes. The Real ID requires all Arizona driver’s license information to be compiled with all the information for the other 49 states and the District of Columbia into one massive database that will be accessible by thousands of clerks and government employees throughout the country. This is a horrendous idea – an invitation to identity theft on a massive scale.

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Yet earlier this week, a measure creating a federal fingerprint registry totally unrelated to national security passed a U.S. Senate committee almost without notice. The legislation would require thousands of individuals working even tangentially in the mortgage and real estate industries — and not suspected of anything — to send their prints to the feds. The database and fingerprint mandates were tucked into housing and foreclosure assistance bills that on Tuesday passed the Senate Banking Committee by a vote of 19-2.

The measure the committee passed states that “an indvidual may not engage in the business of a loan originator without first … obtaining a unique identifier.” To obtain this “identifier,” an individual is requiredto “furnish” to the newly created Nationwide Mortgage Licensing System and Registry “information concerning the applicant’s identity, including fingerprints for submission” to the FBI and other government agencies.

The fingerprint provisions are contained in a “manager’s amendment” that was hammered out by committee Chairman Chris Dodd, D-Conn, and Ranking Member Richard Shelby, R-Ala., on Monday and attached the next day to a broader housing bailout bill that had been scheduled for a comittee vote. That bill, the “Federal Housing Finance Regulatory Reform Act of 2008,” expands the lending authority of the Federal Housing Administration and the government-sponsored enterprises Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to refinance the mortgages of troubled borrowers and banks.

The amendment adopted the fingerprint provisions in a section called the “S.A.F.E. Mortgage Licensing Act.” The fingerprints will be part of what the amendment calls “a comprehensive licensing and supervisory database.”

And the database would cover a broad swath of individuals involved with mortgage lending. The amendment defines “loan originator” as anyone who “takes a residential loan application; and offers or negotiates terms of a residential mortgage loan for compensation or gain.” It states that even real estate brokers would be covered if they receive any compensation from lenders or mortgage brokers. Since many jobs in both real estate and mortgage lending are part-time and seasonal, even some of the most minor players in the mortgage market may have to submit their prints.

Justifications listed in the bill for this database include “increased accountability and tracking of loan originators,” “enhance[d] consumer protection,” and “facilitat[ing] responsible behavior in the subprime mortgage market.”

I conducted a wide Internet search and found fingerprint provisions in some state bills, but I don’t know if any, or how many passed. But in my search, I could find no arguments explaining how, specifically, collecting the fingerprints of loan originators would better serve borrowers getting mortgages. I called the Senate Banking Committee asking this question, but my call has not been returned yet. (I will update OpenMarket readers when and if it is.)

I imagine that, yes, a fingerprint registry might stop an ex-con from handling loans, but I doubt it will make even a dent in the lending problems the bill aims to stop. And I would venture to guess that the vast majority of the problem mortages were handled by employees with no criminal record. Rather, this seem like another thoughtless idea that lets politicians brag that they are “getting tough” about a particular problem.

But this fingerprint database, in addition to the privacy violations, might create a host of new problems of mortgage fraud. Identity theft involving fingerprints is becoming a major concern among data security experts. Security consultant Bruce Schneier has argued that hackers can steal electronic images of fingerprints directly from the databases they are stored in. And there is virtually nothing in this bill about security procedures that would apply to this database.

It amazes me. We have wrenching debates about privacy and freedom vs. national security when it comes to proposed anti-terrorist programs. But then a smililar scheme is done in response to an economic problem, and it almost escapes without notice. A similar thing has happened with anti-money laundering requirements that mandate that banks effectively spy on their customers for possible violations of everything from drug laws to the tax code.

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