 Safety... At What Cost?  "They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety." - Benjamin Franklin |
| Safety... At What Cost? "They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety." - Benjamin Franklin |
This section last updated
Wednesday, 14-Dec-2005 02:59:50 EST.
Executive Order
13228
Signed October 8, 2001, it established the
Office of Homeland Security and the Homeland Security Council.
Homeland
Security Flow Chart
Courtesy of the New York Times, view the game
plan for government reorganization under the newly-created Office of Homeland
Security.
Thank
You, Franklin Delano Bush!
What happens when you take George W. Bush's
November 8th speech and insert it into a truth translator?
Congress Mulls
Stiff Crypto Laws
"The encryption wars have begun. For nearly
a decade, privacy mavens have been worrying that a terrorist attack could
prompt Congress to ban communications-scrambling products that frustrate
both police wiretaps and U.S. intelligence agencies. Tuesday's catastrophe,
which shed more blood on American soil than any event since the Civil War,
appears to have started that process."
USA Act Stampedes
Through, Has Lasting Effects
Our congressmen have been hard at work on
legislation that will permit police to conduct secret searches at your
home or business, expand the power of the FBI's carnivore spying system,
and pretty much end "warrant" requirements and court orders for any type
of surveillance. Where is gridlock when you need it?
FBI Plans
to Broaden Web Wiretapping
Federal Bureau of Investigation officials want
to expand their ability to tap into Internet traffic, even beyond the bounds
permitted by controversial new legislation. The FBI has plans to change the
architecture of the Internet and route traffic through central servers so
that it would be able to monitor e-mail more easily.
Bush Contemplates
National I.D. Card for All Citizens
"A highly controversial option has emerged
for use in fighting terrorism in the United States: A national ID card which
would be issued to every citizen. A proposal for the creation of a national
ID card was presented to President Bush in recent days, top government sources
tell the DRUDGE REPORT."
States Devising
Plan for National Identification Cards
State motor vehicle authorities are working
on a plan to create a national identification system for individuals that
would link all driver databases and employ high-tech cards with a fingerprint,
computer chip or other unique identifier.
Driver's Licenses
Could Serve as National IDs
While lawmakers debate the wisdom of requiring
Americans to carry national identification documents, some states are already
taking steps to use the driver's license for that very purpose. Critics point
out that sophisticated terrorists will just forge their documents.
State Officials
See Chance for Increased Secrecy
In the worn-out name of battling terrorism,
state lawmakers and government officials across the country want to give
themselves the power to do some of their governmental work without the public
knowing about it. This marks a reversal in the trend of the past three
decades.
Airlines Push
for Federal ID Cards for Air Travelers
The nation's airlines say they want the federal
government to issue identification cards for air travelers. The cards would
be "voluntary" for U.S. citizens, but mandatory for aliens living and traveling
in the United States.
Oracle Boss Urges
I.D. Cards, Offers Free Software
"'We need a national ID card with our photograph
and thumbprint digitized and embedded in the ID card,' Ellison said in an
interview Friday night on the evening news of KPIX-TV in San
Francisco.'"
Panel to Call for
National ID Cards
A volunteer panel of current and former law
enforcement officials in New York offered 50 ideas for improving security
and fighting "terrorism." Among these, the panel recommended the requirement
for national identification cards, which would contain a computer chip with
digital fingerprints, photographs and retinal scans. Panel members acknowledged
that the cost of implementing the long list of suggestions would be "enormous,"
and some of the ideas would be controversial.
I.D. Cards on the
Way, Britain Takes Lead
"Mr Blair and Mr Blunkett are expected to reject
the compulsory 'on demand' card because of connotations with Nazi Germany,
where lack of proper identity cards could result in instant arrest."
Congress
Reopens Debate On National ID Card
Lawmakers who have traditionally favored requiring
Americans to carry ID cards see an opportunity to push through their agenda
in the wake of the terrorist attacks. They're opposed by legislators
(controlled opposition?) who say that such documents threaten liberty
and can't prevent terrorism.
Digital Angel
Rollout Announced
"Applied Digital Solutions, Inc. announced
today that its wholly owned subsidiary, Digital Angel Corporation, has selected
Monday, November 26 as its official launch date for Digital Angel, the first-ever
combination of advanced biosensor technology and Web-enabled wireless
telecommunications linked to Global Positioning."
No Thumbprint,
No Rental Car!
Dollar Rent A Car is currently making customers
give a thumbprint before they give them the keys, another example of biometrics
being used for ID purposes.
Privacy Trade-Offs
Reassessed
Objections to surveillance technology face
new test after attack.
FBI Developing
Virus For Snooping?
"A new tool reportedly being developed by law
enforcement agencies to remotely install surveillance programs on a suspect's
computer is little more than 3-year-old hacking technology.... On Tuesday,
MSNBC reported that the FBI was working on a computer 'virus'.... [T]he technique
doesn't use a virus, but a Trojan horse, a program that acts without the
person's knowledge."
Anti-Terror
Law Puts Business Privacy At Risk
The "anti-terrorism" USA Patriot Act broadly
expanded law enforcement surveillance powers, making it easier for the government
to demand information from companies for much less cause than in the past.
This triggers countless privacy issues for companies, their employees and
their customers.
War May
Trump Civil Liberties
"Just ... days ago, the notion of police
'profiling' groups by race or ethnicity was considered wrong. But now, to
many enraged and frustrated Americans, it's not such a dirty word..."
Poll: Americans
Unconcerned By Loss of Liberty
According to a survey by The Washington Post
and ABC News, most Americans express little concern that measures taken to
combat terrorism may violate the rights of U.S. citizens or others caught
up in the ongoing probes.
From the United
States of America to the National Security States of
America
"In the rush for political expediency, the
first two things that are always sacrificed are the hard-won rights and liberties
of the people and any notion of fiscal accountability by their
government."
Happy New
Year! It's 1984
"Americans are about to lose many of their
most cherished liberties in a frenzy of paranoid legislation. The government
proposes to tap our phones, read our email and seize our credit card records
without court order. It seeks authority to detain and deport immigrants without
cause or trial. It proposes to use foreign agents to spy on American citizens.
To save freedom, the warmongers intend to destroy it."
The 'Patriot
Act'
In the name of patriotism and freedom, your
liberties are being curtailed. Read the Orwellian legislation and ask yourself
who's the real enemy?
Model State Emergency
Health Powers Act
"Emergency health threats, including those
caused by bioterrorism and epidemics, require the exercise of extraordinary
government functions…"
FBI Proposes
Torture
U.S. investigators are reportedly considering
resorting to harsher interrogation techniques after facing a wall of silence
from suspected terrorists. While any evidence extracted by such means is
inadmissible in court, and investigators could face prosecution, experts
predict that "truth serum" might pass legal muster.
Debate Grows
Over Using Torture
Growing numbers of pundits are openly discussing
allowing U.S. law enforcement to use torture against suspects. That has critics
worrying that perhaps a barrier to the mistreatment of the accused is in
danger of falling.
Torture
By Proxy
"To the French, Kenneth Starr is known as the
"Ayatollah sexuelle," but after his recent comments in The Washington Post
suggesting that we should cast aside traditional civil liberties in the fight
against terrorism, just plain "Ayatollah" seems more fitting."
Internment
Camps Favored By One-Third of New Yorkers
A new poll reveals that one-third of New Yorkers
favor establishing internment camps for "individuals who authorities identify
as being sympathetic to terrorist causes.
New York
City Now A Police State
With security precautions and civil liberty
restrictions at an all-time high, even one New York City law-enforcement
official admitted, "this is a police state now."
Smallpox
Countermeasures Could Quarantine Entire Cities
Public health officials want to shut down roads
and airports, herd people into sports stadiums and, if needed, quarantine
entire cities in the event of a smallpox attack.
Bush May Order
Smallpox Jabs For All
"All Americans could be forced to have smallpox
jabs under plans being considered by President Bush, despite fears that such
a programme would kill hundreds. Underlining White House fears about America's
vulnerability to a new wave of bioterrorism, Mr. Bush said that he was discussing
with Tommy Thompson, the Health Secretary, whether to order mandatory
vaccinations."
Executive
Power Grab?
Two constitutional law attorneys warn that
in the wake of the terrorist attack, President Bush and his staff are
accumulating power that threatens civil liberties. In 1999, attorneys William
J. Olson and Alan Woll produced a study for the Cato Institute on executive
power.
White House
Push on Security Steps Bypasses Congress
Officials and legal analysts say that the Bush
administration has moved swiftly to expand its national security authority
and law enforcement powers in ways that are intended to bypass Congress and
the courts. Critics worry over the constitutional implications of the
moves.
President
Accumulates 'Breathtaking' Power
The Sept. 11 "terrorist attacks" and the "war
in Afghanistan" have dramatically accelerated a push by the Bush administration
to strengthen presidential powers.
Attorney General
Accumulates Power
Since Sept. 11, John Ashcroft has emerged as
perhaps the most powerful attorney general of modern times. He has moved
swiftly — and sometimes unilaterally — to expand the government's
already enormous powers in the areas of surveillance and detention.
Accused Terrorists
to Face Military Courts
President Bush signed an order that would allow
the government to try accused terrorists in front of a special military
commission instead of in civilian court. Officials insist that precedents
dating to the Civil War and World War II permit such a move.
Bush: I'll
Decide!
In the November 26 issue of Newsweek, aides
to President George W. Bush state that after he signed an order allowing
the use of military tribunals in "terrorist" cases, Bush said that he alone
should decide who faces such military courts.
Secretive Court
Gets New Powers
When federal officials want to tap a suspect's
phone, or secretly send investigators to ransack a suspect's home, they come
to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court for nearly automatic approval.
Now Congress has given that court controversial new power.
U.S. Admits
to Having Tested Bio-Warfare on U.S. Cities
In Senate subcommittee hearings in 1977, the
U.S. Army revealed that the Army had staged a mock biological attack on San
Francisco, secretly spraying the city with Serratia and other agents they
said they thought were harmless. The stated goal: "to see what might happen
in a real germ-warfare attack." At least one fatality resulted.
Civil War
Era Law Used to Hold Suspects
Prosecutors seeking to hold people they claim
are involved in terrorist plots are turning to a very old weapon: the Civil
War era law on sedition. The statute gives the government broad power against
people who plan but don't carry out acts against the United States.
Feds
Monitoring Suspects' Calls to Lawyers
Breaking from the long-standing principle of
lawyer-client privacy, the Justice Department is monitoring phone calls and
mail between some terrorist suspects and their defense lawyers. "This proposal
is a terrifying nightmare for innocent people who are under suspicion by
the attorney general," said Laura W. Murphy of the ACLU.
U.S. to Keep
Number of Detainees Secret
The Justice Department announced that it will
no longer issue a running tally of the number of people detained in the
investigation of the September 11 attacks. The move comes as civil liberties
groups pressure the government to release information on detainees and allow
them access to legal counsel.
Congress Debates
Domestic Use of Military
A handful of senators and some in the Bush
administration are calling for changes in a U.S. law that bars the military
from domestic law enforcement.
War Prompts Debate
on Domestic Use of Military
"America is at war, and because it's generally
thought that some enemies are within our borders, it makes sense to many
to send the Army after them in the interest of homeland security. ... But
with few exceptions, letting the military loose for domestic law enforcement
has been a criminal act for more than a century."
UK: Naughty
Children to be Registered as Potential Criminals
"The police are to set up a secret database
of children as young as three who they fear might grow up to become criminals.
... The controversial initiative is to be pioneered in 11 London boroughs
from March and then expanded nationally. Any child who is thought to be at
risk of committing a crime by the police, schools or social services, will
be put on the database."
Nebraska Freemasons Promote Biometrics for
Children
From our
Shadow Government section.
Grand Lodge Ancient Free and Accepted Masons of Nebraska are openly advocating
biometric identifiers for children, in the name of safety. Biometrics are
the forerunner to the implantable microchip, which will ultimately store
such information. Is it a coincidence that the program is called "CHIP"?
"Interested in sponsoring a Masonic CHIP event?"