Anonymous hacks police website, releases personal information FULL INFO DROP HERE Hackers affiliated with the group Anonymous obtained personal information for more than 150 police officers from an old website of the West Virginia Chiefs of Police Association and posted the data online. The FBI is investigating, said William Roper, the association’s president and the police chief of Ranson, W.Va., said. “It’s a shame that folks have to do this,” Roper said Wednesday. He said the hackers obtained the home addresses, home phone numbers and cellphone numbers of current and retired police chiefs from a website that has not been used in two years. The association has a new website but some information was still stored on the old one. “I don’t think they gained anything with this,” said Roper, who was among the officers whose information was posted by the hackers. “They just obtained information that’s already easy to get.” “My number’s in the book. My cellphone is a department cellphone so it’s readily easy to get” he said. A group called CabinCr3W posted the information and included a link to it in a Twitter post on Sunday. In an online message by CabinCr3w addressed to “citizens of West Virginia,” the hacking group says it has been monitoring cases of police brutality. “We are here to remind you that we the taxpayers pay your exorbitant salaries, and those salaries of your officers,” the message says. “Your job is to protect and serve, not brutalize the very people that pay your wages. Muzzle your dogs of war, or we will expose more of your sensative (sic) information.” The state Office of Technology notified the association on Monday that the website had been compromised after it was alerted by the Multi-State Information & Analysis Center, which detected suspicious activity, said Kyle Schafer, the state’s chief technology officer. “Our folks took that call and went out and took a look, saw the information and knew that wasn’t right,” he said. Roper said he notified the association’s members and other law enforcement agencies. He has not received any reports of officers receiving harassing or crank phone calls since the information was posted. Roper believes the hackers have too much time on their hands. If they are arrested, “we’ll give them things to do to occupy themselves, incarceration if possible,” he said. The Charleston Gazette (http://bit.ly/zLZxrB) first reported the hacking. Clarksburg, W.Va., Police Chief Marshall Goff and Charleston, W.Va., Police Chief Brent Webster were among those whose information was posted online. Both said Wednesday that they have been contacted by the FBI about the incident. “Like any of the public out there, we are at times victims also,” Goff said. Goff said he does not believe the hacker group accomplished anything because his information is already publicly accessible. “My number is published in the book because I feel that as an official figure I need to be accessible to the public,” he said. Webster said he was not overly concerned because he did not provide much information on the website. “But I don’t like it,” he said. CabinCr3w’s Twitter page is laced with references to the hacking collective Anonymous. Last week, Anonymous hit the web with a slew of hacks, including releasing a recording of a conference call between the FBI and Scotland Yard in which law enforcers discussed how to stop the hacking group. Anonymous also claimed credit for defacing the Boston Police Department’s website. And in Salt Lake City, officials said the personal information of confidential informants and tipsters had been compromised. Roper said his association’s old website will be taken down after the investigation is completed. The group’s board of directors will discuss whether the current website needs additional security measures. http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/hackers-target-wva-police-chief-groups-website-obtain-and-post-officers-personal-info/2012/02/08/gIQAIgdgyQ_story.html
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Anonymous hacks police website, releases personal information

FULL INFO DROP HERE

Hackers affiliated with the group Anonymous obtained personal information for more than 150 police officers from an old website of the West Virginia Chiefs of Police Association and posted the data online.

The FBI is investigating, said William Roper, the association’s president and the police chief of Ranson, W.Va., said.

“It’s a shame that folks have to do this,” Roper said Wednesday.

He said the hackers obtained the home addresses, home phone numbers and cellphone numbers of current and retired police chiefs from a website that has not been used in two years. The association has a new website but some information was still stored on the old one.

“I don’t think they gained anything with this,” said Roper, who was among the officers whose information was posted by the hackers. “They just obtained information that’s already easy to get.”

“My number’s in the book. My cellphone is a department cellphone so it’s readily easy to get” he said.

A group called CabinCr3W posted the information and included a link to it in a Twitter post on Sunday.

In an online message by CabinCr3w addressed to “citizens of West Virginia,” the hacking group says it has been monitoring cases of police brutality.

“We are here to remind you that we the taxpayers pay your exorbitant salaries, and those salaries of your officers,” the message says. “Your job is to protect and serve, not brutalize the very people that pay your wages. Muzzle your dogs of war, or we will expose more of your sensative (sic) information.”

The state Office of Technology notified the association on Monday that the website had been compromised after it was alerted by the Multi-State Information & Analysis Center, which detected suspicious activity, said Kyle Schafer, the state’s chief technology officer.

“Our folks took that call and went out and took a look, saw the information and knew that wasn’t right,” he said.

Roper said he notified the association’s members and other law enforcement agencies. He has not received any reports of officers receiving harassing or crank phone calls since the information was posted.

Roper believes the hackers have too much time on their hands. If they are arrested, “we’ll give them things to do to occupy themselves, incarceration if possible,” he said.

The Charleston Gazette (http://bit.ly/zLZxrB) first reported the hacking.

Clarksburg, W.Va., Police Chief Marshall Goff and Charleston, W.Va., Police Chief Brent Webster were among those whose information was posted online. Both said Wednesday that they have been contacted by the FBI about the incident.

“Like any of the public out there, we are at times victims also,” Goff said.

Goff said he does not believe the hacker group accomplished anything because his information is already publicly accessible.

“My number is published in the book because I feel that as an official figure I need to be accessible to the public,” he said.

Webster said he was not overly concerned because he did not provide much information on the website.

“But I don’t like it,” he said.

CabinCr3w’s Twitter page is laced with references to the hacking collective Anonymous.

Last week, Anonymous hit the web with a slew of hacks, including releasing a recording of a conference call between the FBI and Scotland Yard in which law enforcers discussed how to stop the hacking group.

Anonymous also claimed credit for defacing the Boston Police Department’s website. And in Salt Lake City, officials said the personal information of confidential informants and tipsters had been compromised.

Roper said his association’s old website will be taken down after the investigation is completed. The group’s board of directors will discuss whether the current website needs additional security measures.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/hackers-target-wva-police-chief-groups-website-obtain-and-post-officers-personal-info/2012/02/08/gIQAIgdgyQ_story.html

(via shuashbuckler-deactivated201211)

Source: socialrupture

32 Signs That The Entire World Is Being Transformed Into A Futuristic Big Brother Prison Grid - #NWO - #Realness - #WakeUp

Do you want your children and grandchildren to live in a futuristic “big brother” control grid where everything they do is watched, recorded, tracked and tightly controlled?  Well, that is exactly where things are headed.  We witnessed some really bad totalitarian regimes during the 20th century, but what is coming is going to be far more restrictive than any of the despots of the past ever dreamed was possible.  Today, nearly every government on earth is tightening their grip on their citizens.  Paranoia has become standard operating procedure all over the planet and nobody is to be trusted.  Global politicians will give speeches about liberty and freedom even as they undermine them at every turn.  There are very, very few nations on the planet where liberty and freedom are increasing.  Instead, almost everywhere you turn the “control grid” is getting tighter.  Governments don’t want us gathering together and interacting with one another.  Instead, they want us to work our tails off to support the system, they want us enslaved financially and constantly drowning in debt, and they want us addicted to television and other forms of entertainment.  They want us as numb and docile as possible.  Meanwhile, all over the globe they continue to construct a futuristic “big brother” control grid that will ensure that they will always be able to control us.

Sadly, this is not the plot to some post-apocalyptic science fiction movie.

This is really happening.

When you read the list below, each of the 32 signs may not seem to be all that significant individually.  However, when they are all taken together, they paint a truly frightening picture….

#1 The days of the free and open Internet are slowly coming to an end.  Many nations around the world have implemented strict Internet censorship and many other nations are moving in that direction.  With each passing year the level of freedom on the Internet diminishes.

Regulation of the Internet has even become a primary topic of discussion at G-8 meetings.  According to The New York Times, French President Nicolas Sarkozy is leading the charge for a more “civilized Internet”….

Leaders of the Group of 8 industrialized countries are set to issue a provocative call for stronger Internet regulation, a cause championed by the host of the meeting, President Nicolas Sarkozy of France, but fiercely opposed by some Internet companies and free-speech groups.

Why are free speech groups strongly opposing what Sarkozy is trying to do?

It is because western governments want to kill liberty and freedom on the Internet just like China is doing.  The Internet has been a great tool for waking people up and distributing information, and the control freaks that want to run all of our lives do not like that one bit.

#2 Internet censorship in China, the largest nation on earth, is absolutely brutal. The Chinese government blocks any websites that talk about such topics as the Dalai Lama, the 1989 crackdown on Tiananmen Square protesters and Falun Gong.

Even web searches for the English word “freedom” are blocked.

#3 Starting next year, all new cellphones will be required to contain a chip that will allow the president to broadcast “emergency alerts” to the cellphones whenever the president wants.  Cellphone users will not be allowed to opt out of the presidential messages.

The following is how a CBS news report describes the new system….

A new national alert system is set to begin in New York City that will alert the public to emergencies via cell phones.

It’s called the Personal Localized Alert Network or PLAN. Presidential and local emergency messages as well as Amber Alerts would appear on cell phones equipped with special chips and software.

#4 The U.K. has more surveillance cameras per citizen than anywhere else in the world. In fact, according to one estimate, there are 4.8 million video cameras constantly watching every move citizens make.

#5 A “certified TSA official” was brought in to oversee student searches at the Santa Fe High School prom last weekend.

Will this kind of thing soon be happening at every high school in America?

#6 The U.S. Department of Agriculture is spending huge amounts of money to install surveillance cameras in the cafeterias of public schools so that government control freaks can closely monitor what our children are eating.

The following is how a recent article posted on Infowars.com describes this new program….

Billed as part of an effort to reduce obesity and improve eating habits, small cameras are programmed to take snapshots of lunch trays before and after each student eats. Each child is uniquely identifiable via a barcode attached to the tray. The amount of calories and nutrients that each child has consumed is then calculated via a database containing 7,500 different varieties of food.

#7 The EU is spending hundreds of millions of euros on propaganda campaigns in an attempt to convince the citizens of Europe that the EU is good for them.

#8 Today, FBI surveillance teams regularly employ warrantless GPS tracking to monitor the movements of peaceful activists - even if they are not suspected of ever committing a crime.  The Obama administration is fighting in court to keep this practice legal.

#9 According to FBI Director Robert Mueller, “homegrown terrorists” represent as big a threat to American national security as al-Qaeda does.

#10 Federal VIPR teams are establishing a series of “internal checkpoints” all across the United States.  The following is how a recent article by Paul Joseph Watson described these VIPR team activities….

The TSA has announced its intention to expand the VIPR program to include roadside inspections of commercial vehicles, setting up a network of internal checkpoints and rolling out security procedures already active in airports, bus terminals and subway stations to roads and highways across the United States.

By the way, who in the world decided that it would be a good idea to call them “VIPR teams”?

What is next?  Are we going to find out that the TSA has hired Cobra Commander and Destro as consultants?

#11 Thousands of “dysfunctional” families in the U.K. are being subjected to intensive 24-hour surveillance to make sure that their children attend school, go to bed on time and eat proper meals.

#12 U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer says that Amtrak should have a “no ride list” similar to the “no fly list” used at U.S. airports.

Before you can get on an airplane today, your name is checked to make sure that it is not on any international watch lists.

So what do you have to do to get on an international watch list?

Nobody really knows.

What is next?

A “no breathe list”?

#13 U.K. authorities are now admitting that every phone call, text message, email and website visit made by private citizens will be stored for one year and will be available for monitoring by government agencies.

#14 The amount of cell phone surveillance that goes on is absolutely staggering.  For example, one German politician named Malte Spitz recently went to court to force Deutsche Telekom to reveal how often his cell phone was being tracked.  What he found out was absolutely amazing.  It turns out that in just one 6 month period, Deutsche Telekom recorded the longitude and latitude coordinates of his cell phone 35,000 times.

#15 DARPA has now developed new video surveillance technology that many are warning will bring about the end of public anonymity.  The following is how the ExtremeTech blog is describing this new technology….

To be in public is to be on camera, but most video footage is discarded, as only so much can be sorted and analyzed — until now. DARPA has created a technology that can index and analyze video in real-time, marking the end of anonymity in public places.

#16 In the U.K., it is now illegal to photograph the police for any reason whatsoever.

#17 Police in the U.K. have purchased software that will enable them to easily follow the “digital footprints” of virtually anyone.  The following is how one recent news report in the U.K. described this new software….

The Metropolitan Police has bought Geotime, a security programme used by the U.S. military which tracks suspects’ movements and communications and displays them on a three-dimensional graphic.

The software aggregates information gathered from social networking sites, GPS devices like the iPhone, mobile phones, financial transactions and IP network logs to build a detailed picture of an individual’s movements.

#18 In Tacoma, Washington a seventh grade student was recently questioned by the Secret Service about a message that he posted on his Facebook page.

Be very careful about what you put up on Facebook or Twitter.  The entire world can see it.

#19 According to the ACLU, state police in Michigan are using “extraction devices” to download data from the cellphones of motorists that they pull over.  This is taking place even if those pulled over are not accused of doing anything wrong.

The following is how an article on CNET News describes the capabilities of these “extraction devices”….

The devices, sold by a company called Cellebrite, can download text messages, photos, video, and even GPS data from most brands of cell phones. The handheld machines have various interfaces to work with different models and can even bypass security passwords and access some information.

#20 Last year, one shocking poll found that 51 percent of Americans agree with this statement: “It is necessary to give up some civil liberties in order to make the country safe from terrorism.”

#21 The MPAA and RIAA have submitted their master plan for enforcing copyright rights to the new Office of Intellectual Property Enforcement and it includes installing spyware on everyone’s computers that would detect and delete any infringing materials.

#22 The U.K.’s new Internet law includes a “three strikes” rule that allows your entire family to be cut off from the Internet if anyone who lives in your house is accused of copyright infringement - without proof or evidence or trial.

#23 Would you like to have your face scanned and your ID recorded every time you attend a public event?  Don’t laugh.  The San Francisco Entertainment Commission is actually proposing a new rule which “would require all venues with an occupancy of over 100 people to record the faces of all patrons and employees and scan their ID’s for storage in a database which they must hand over to law enforcement on request.”

#24 Today, the U.S. government and governments all over the industrialized world have become so obsessed with reducing carbon emissions that now they even tell us what kinds of light bulbs we are allowed to buy.

#25 The Obama administration is developing a universal “Internet ID” program that would watch, track, monitor and potentially control your activity on the Internet. These “trusted identities” are being touted as a way to increase safety and security on the Internet and as a way to eliminate the need for dozens of different usernames and passwords.

#26 As I have written about previously, the “Internet kill switch” is rapidly becoming one of the favorite new tools of tyrannical governments all over the globe….

Once upon a time, the Internet was a bastion of liberty and freedom, but now nation after nation is cracking down on it. In fact, legislation has been introduced once again in Congress that would give the president of the United States an “Internet kill switch” that he would be able to use in the event of war or emergency. Of course there would be a whole lot of wiggle room in determining what actually constitutes a true “emergency”. The members of Congress that are pushing this “Internet kill switch” bill want the U.S. to become more like China in this regard.

#27 A shocking document released by Wikileaks proves that high level U.S. government officials have been pushing for North American integration.  According to the document, some of the goals of this integration would be to turn North America into an economic zone similar to the EU, to have one common currency for the entire continent and to have one common “security perimeter” for the entire continent.

Let us hope that a plan like this never comes to pass.

#28 One of the most liberty-killing pieces of legislation in recent years was the Patriot Act.  Unfortunately, the vast majority of Republicans and the vast majority of Democrats will never vote against the renewal of the Patriot Act because they don’t want to look “soft” on terrorism.

About the only U.S. Senator to stand up against the Patriot Act is Rand Paul.  He is doing all he can to fight a one man battle against the Patriot Act but Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is doing his best to extend the Patriot Act without any debate taking place.

Top Democrats are attempting to claim that even debating the renewal of Patriot Act provisions would “endanger” national security.

Of course most Republicans are not going to stand in the way because they absolutely love the Patriot Act.

If you still believe that the Patriot Act is a good idea, you should watch this video, and you should read this recent article.

#29 If you display the wrong political message on your car, you may find law enforcement officials cracking down on you.

A 73-year-old Virginia resident was recently kicked out of a national park for displaying a sticker promoting “Ron Paul’s Campaign for Liberty” on his car.

The following is an excerpt from a recent Rutherford Institute report about this incident….

The Rutherford Institute has come to the defense of a 73-year-old Virginia resident who was allegedly ordered by a park ranger to remove his car from a national military park in South Carolina because of political messages attached to his vehicle. Jack Faw, whose ancestors fought in the historic battle memorialized at Kings Mountain National Military Park, contacted The Rutherford Institute after being told by a park ranger that the decal promoting a political organization associated with Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX), which was displayed on the back window of Faw’s car, was not allowed in the park.

#30 Brutal crowd control techniques are not just for major events anymore. Recently, riot police in Illinois used tear gas, LRAD sound weapons and crowd suppression tactics against a bunch of college students that were just blowing off some steam at a year-end block party at Western Illinois University.

#31 The U.S. government is gathering more information on all of us than ever before.  According to a recent article in the Baltimore Sun, every six hours the volume of information that the NSA gathers is equivalent to the entire Library of Congress.

Nobody is anonymous anymore.  The truth is that the U.S. government, governments across the globe and major international corporations have more information about you than you probably ever dared to imagine.

#32 If you think things are bad now, just wait until you see what global authorities have planned for the future.

Are you ready to live in a “Planned-opolis”?  Are you ready to use a “calorie card” and to have what you eat determined by a “global food council”?

The following video was originally produced by the Forum for the Future, a major NGO funded by big corporations such as Time Warner and Royal Dutch Shell.  In this video, the Forum for the Future presents their chilling version of the future….


If you don’t want to live in a “Planned-opolis” where everything you do is constantly watched, tracked and controlled by a horde of bureaucrats then you better say something now.

The entire globe is moving in the direction of totalitarianism.  Our world is literally becoming a prison grid.  Of course those in power say that we need more regulation and more control “for the good of humanity”, but that has never worked out too well in the past, now has it?

If you don’t like the direction this world is headed then now is the time to stand up and let your voice be heard.  If you wait until they are ripping the last shreds of liberty and freedom away from you it will be too late.

UK police to track suspects via social networks

Britain’s Metropolitan Police Force has bought software designed to track suspects’ activity, logging their movements and tracking who they’re talking to by collating information from social networking sites, mobile phones, GPS and other sources.

GeoTime, developed by US company Oculus, tracks targets by collecting information about their social networking activity, mobile phone use and collating it together with data on financial transactions and IP address logs. Users can visualise the snooping data by using a timeline and animated display, which maps the suspect’s relationships in the form of a 3D network.

GeoTime

The Met has confirmed it has purchased the software, which is already in use by the US military, but declined to rule out using it to investigate public order offences, the UK’s Guardian newspaper reported today.

Alex Hanff, the campaigns manager of Privacy International, told The Guardian: “Once millions and millions of pieces of microdata are aggregated, you end up with this very high-resolution picture of somebody, and this is effectively what they are doing here.”

Lawyers and human rights campaigners have expressed concern that the software could be used to monitor innocent parties such as protesters, in breach of data protection laws.

Hugh Tomlinson QC, a barrister specialising in privacy issues, says that public bodies such as the police must be able to justify the lawfulness of their data collection.

“Storing data because it’s potentially interesting or potentially useful is not good enough. There has got to be some specific justification,” Tomlinson said.

The Met is the only UK police force to so far declare its intention to use GeoTime, but the software is also being trialled by the Ministry of Defence.

[EDIT: Don’t You Dare Think That The USA Is Any Different!]

How the U.S. Government Forged a Surveillance Society - #NWO

On September 12, 2001, President George W. Bush invited members of Congress and the media for a meeting in the cabinet room of the White House. The mood was understandably anxious, somber: The World Trade Center lay in rubble, the Pentagon had a hole gouged into it and shock and awe had settled over the United States. One of the most extraordinary periods of American history – what would come to be known as the “Post 9-11 Era” – was beginning.

The president gravely laid out the situation and the steps his administration would take to secure the homeland, but during the course of the meeting he also made this significant declaration: “We will not allow this enemy to win the war by changing our way of life or restricting our freedoms.”

Those were heroic words of principle and patriotism in a traumatic time, but history would show that government’s reaction to the terrorist threat was the exact opposite than the protection of freedoms. Instead, government rushed in with a massive plan to create a surveillance society, intending to watch and document every action by the American people as a means of ultimate security.

First, Congress passed the Patriot Act, giving law enforcement powers to circumvent many Constitutional guarantees to personal privacy and home security. Then Congress created the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The department immediately became an army of more than 170,000 employees by combining twenty two existing federal agencies, including the

Border Patrol, Coast Guard, Secret Service, FEMA, Immigration and Naturalization Service, Customs Service, Animal and Plant Health Inspection, Federal Protective Service, FBI’s Computer Incident Response Center and several more lesser agencies of the same type. In the middle of this rush for security, Congress created the Transportation Security Agency (TSA). Also born in this Post 9/11 era were state fusion centers with the intention of combining federal, state and local law enforcement agencies into instant response teams, intending to eliminate bureaucratic overlap and red tape, in case of another terrorist attack or Hurricane Katrina-type disasters.

Finally, Congress passed the REAL ID Act, promoted as an attempt to standardize the process and format for creation of all state drivers’ licenses to achieve increased security. Proponents argued that, under REAL ID, we will know that anyone carrying a drivers’ license is legal in this country and therefore not a threat.

What most Americans do not know is that the blue print for REAL ID did not originate in the United States, but in the backrooms of a United Nations organization called the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). That organization is tasked with the goal of creating a once-size fits all international identification system using massive data banks that contain individual biometric information on nearly everyone in the world. Biometrics is defined as measurement of the body. One might correctly think of fingerprinting, iris scans and facial recognition as biometrics.

In compliance to this goal, REAL ID mandates a certain picture quality for all drivers’ licenses. Those photos are to comply with the ICAO’s Document 9303 biometric format. Your photo taken by a local DMV is run through special software which measures and analyzes the unique identifiable characteristics of your face. The process results in a unique numeric code which identifies a person according to facial measurements. In other words, under REAL ID, using the adopted standard of the ICAO, your face is reduced to a number code, a number which is read by a computer and be tracked by surveillance cameras worldwide.

Why would the United States agree to implement such a system? What happened to the promise that we would not let the terrorists change our way of life? How did the United States move from a free society, bent on preserving our freedoms in a dangerous terrorist-driven world to one of total surveillance over the actions of every citizen? What was the unseen hand that led to such decisions?

The international focus on drivers’ licenses through REAL ID came as a result of plans for international biometric passports. Passports, of course, are a control device of travelers both coming and going through US borders. Discussion regarding the use of E-Passports started soon after 9/11. It was not until the Enhanced Border Security and Visa Entry Reform Act of 2002 that our federal government put in place the framework for the issuance of E-Passports. E-Passports utilize both biometric technology and RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) technology.

Focusing on passports, however, was about to create an international problem for the US government that would force it to accelerate and expand its surveillance plans, leading to a global surveillance system beyond what most in Congress intended.

Using the excuse that the US government wanted to learn as much about Al- Qaeda as possible, the US began to dictate to foreign governments that they also needed to implement E-Passports. Without them, said the US, their citizens would not be able to enter the US. In addition, the US wanted those nations to provide all information they had on Al-Qaeda members.

Meanwhile, the United Nations set up a committee named simply “Al-Qaeda.” Again, the stated goal was for all nations to cooperate in an Al-Qaeda clearing house of information. Each government was to provide the names of the members of Al-Qaeda that the respective governments were aware of.

What became obvious to many in our government was, if we expected information about citizens of other countries our government was also going to have to “ante up” and provide information about our citizens to the other nations. This is when things started to get out of control. Global information sharing was seen as a necessity. All “chips” were on the table. For the system to work the personal and sensitive information, including the biometrics of all citizens in all countries, had to be made available to intelligence and law enforcement people around the world.

Other nations resented the United States telling them that they must supply information about their citizens if the US wasn’t willing to do the same. The US was forced to comply with its own dictates. And so the drive was on for the creation of an international surveillance system. REAL ID, while not recommended by the 9/11 Commission, became the center piece for the drive to document each and every American and placed their biometric records in international data bases.

The Real ID Act of 2005 was signed into law in May, 2005. The rulemaking process took roughly 2 1/2 years to be completed. During that 2 1/2 years over six hundred groups and organizations came out against the law for a variety of reasons. These groups covered a broad political spectrum from the far right to the far left. Religious organizations representing all major religions spoke out against the Real ID Act.

Among the reasons for such overwhelming opposition is that Real ID is an unfunded federal mandate; the federal government intervening in the issuance of state driver’s licenses; the unfettered power Real ID provides the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security; a variety of privacy concerns; First Amendment religious concerns of which many were by Christian evangelical ministries; the state driver’s license would become a de facto national identification card; and the requirement that each driver’s license applicant would provide biometric samples.

In order for a state to be in compliance with the law, each state has 18 “benchmarks” they must complete or satisfy the Department of Homeland Security that the state is working towards completing the individual benchmarks. Opposition has been strong as 25 states, either as a result of law or resolution, opposed the Real ID Act. Because of the opposition, the Real ID Act implementation date has been postponed twice. However, proponents are determined to force implementation anyway and DHS demands that states comply by May, 2011.

If enforced, Americans will find what the saying “under government’s thumb” really means. Biometric documents will be required for nearly every action Americans take. A digital/electronic footprint will be the only way to access bank accounts; accessing transportation (at any level); purchase of goods and services; obtaining employment; and so forth. Every one of these actions will be stored in databanks and transferred to international databanks for storage.

Along with REAL ID, more legislation is pending in Congress to create even more control, all sold as just another way to keep us secure. One piece calls for a “National Worker’s Identification Card” and Senator Lieberman wants a new biometric social security card. If these proposals are passed into law and Real ID or anything else similar is in place it will be “game over”. Employers and retailers will have to have biometric readers and RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) scanners.

In addition, American law enforcement is being changed and with it, America’s unique justice system is being changed too. Once law enforcements mission was to catch criminals after a crime was committed. And even those captured were protected as“innocent until proven guilty.” That Constitutionally-protected rights made American justice unlike any other in the world. It has been one of the cornerstones of American freedom and security over freedoms and the less-certain future they offer.

We must remember that the stated goal for the total surveillance system has been that the world would be as one, carrying the same documents to assure everyone is equal, everyone is known, and everyone is legitimate. Under the system, say the proponents, security can be guaranteed.

So now the surveillance system is nearly fully in place. What are the results? Are we safer? The fact is, with all of the biometric data bases being established, RFID chips, Closed Circuit TVs, Automatic License Plate Readers, National Security Letters, State Fusion Centers, the Patriot Act, and the establishment of the behemoth Department of Homeland Security, we are not any safer than we were on the day before 9/11.

Why? First, while the government increases surveillance over every individual in he name of protection from terrorists, our borders remain wide open. Anyone wanting to do harm to the United States is able to simply walk into the country and be aided by an entire network providing shelter, money, weapons, and access to American programs for money, schools and jobs. They can illegally purchase counterfeit birth certificates and social security cards and obtain state drivers’ licenses in any state. Only three states have the ability to authenticates birth certificates.

Programs like E-Verify, sold as a way to guarantee that only legal residents get jobs, actually aid those entering illegally. It makes the Social Security Number the most valuable commodity in the nation – a valuable prize. That makes it profitable for underground criminal networks to obtain and produce them. Terrorists networks have the means and the money to lead that effort. In addition, a study commissioned by DHS and performed by Westat reported that E-Verify is wrong more than it is right when dealing with a person in our country illegally is vetted out. In these situations E-Verify is wrong 54% of the time and right only 46% of the time.

And there is one more fact that renders the entire surveillance effort worthless in the fight against terrorism. Back to those E-Passports and the US demand for other nations to comply. The whole

Under REAL ID and the growing surveillance society, however, law enforcements mission is emerging to be one of “crime prevention” before it occurs. The only way such a policy could work is for government to be able to observe our every action, including monitoring phone calls, opening mail, monitor our financial transactions, monitor who we associate with and monitor our travel. The government has programs to achieve each and every one of these things. DHS and National Security Agency (NSA) have both engaged in domestic spying. The Defense Department had a program called “Total Information Awareness” (TIA) that was designed to combine and access all of the video cameras now in place in nearly every store, shopping mall and parking lot to monitor every move we make. Now on the back burner, TIA could be reactivated at any time. All that is missing is the final requirement that all Americans must carry in their pockets the document tying them into the system – the REAL ID drivers’ license.

Once fully implemented, REAL ID means a “one-size fits all” policy, leading to the end of Constitutionally- protected First and Fourth Amendment rights. Proponents believe “safety” trumps “freedom” and any cost. With full implementation of REAL ID, government will finally have the laws, technologies and the ability governments throughout history have always sought to exercise total control over the people. Yet many Americans still refuse to be alarmed, seeking safety program depends on honest, reliable governments producing honest, reliable, secure documents on their own citizens. They don’t.

Many Moslem countries in the Middle East consider the US to be their enemy.Pakistan’s government, for one, while pretending to be our ally, is full of government workers who are either friends or members of Al- Qaeda. They have helped hide Al-Qaeda leaders since the inception of the war on terrorism. It is a known fact by US intelligence agents. Any effort made by the US to coordinate strategy with such governments fails because plans are immediately shared with the enemy by such government workers. The internal politics of these countries put the governments in an untenable position. If the leaders of these countries are perceived to be working with U.S. intelligence officials there is blowback against them for working with the “Infidels” of the United States. As a result, information from these nations, to this day, is at best questionable and unreliable.

To rely on such countries to provide honest documentation for citizens by way of passports or other identification is pure folly. It is easy for government employees to provide Al- Qaeda operatives all the “legitimate” documentation they need to travel freely inside the surveillance bubble that has been established to supposedly catch them.

Any honest observer or government leader dealing with the situation on a daily basis has to know the truth – that REAL ID and its fellow programs are not about protecting us in the war on terror. So what is the real purpose? What are we really doing?

The fact is Real ID is designed to enroll every citizen into a single global system of identification and financial control. Doubt that – then consider these words of Robert Mocny speaking for DHS when he said, “information sharing is appropriate around the world,” and DHS plans to create a “Global Security Envelope of internationally shared biometric data that would permanently link individuals with biometric ID, personal information held by governments and corporations.”

Meanwhile, Julian Ashborn speaking as the Chairman of the International Biometric Agency said, “What information do governments share? With whom is my data shared and why?” All of these questions need to be addressed by an agency with global powers”

These officials are telling openly telling us what they plan – global governance. Americans are just not listening. The truth is we are not safe. And such a system will never make us safe. But what we have done in the name of safety is to create an international surveillance system that destroys the unique American system of liberty and justice, “harmonizing” us into the same totalitarian system that controls so much of the rest of the world.

It can be stopped now- before it is fully implemented.

But once REAL ID is enforced in every state through compliant drivers’ licenses, it will be too late. Every American who cherishes their Constitutionally- guaranteed rights have until May of this year to demand that their state governments stand strong and continue to oppose compliance with this international straight jacket. Our protests postponed it for several years. We must do it again.

Call now or understand that, once in place, there will be no way for this generation to pass freedom to the next. REAL ID is that great a threat.

© 2011 Tom DeWeese - All Rights Reserved

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