TOTAL INFORMATION ANALYSIS

Thursday, December 13, 2007

A release from Arizona state senator, Karen Johnson, Dec. 12, 2007:

"Sen. Karen Johnson statements on enhanced driver’s license

Last Thursday, Gov. Napolitano went to Washington, D.C. and signed an agreement with the U.S. Dept. of Homeland Security to implement an “enhanced driver’s license” in Arizona – that is, a driver’s license that will be a “3-in-one” card – a driver’s license, a passport, and a REAL ID. She made that agreement without knowing what the REAL ID card will consist of – the final regulations on the Real ID have not even been made public yet – and without knowing the cost to the state of Arizona.

Who is the governor to say what we are going to do? She is just one branch of our state government.

The following states have enacted legislation refusing to comply with the REAL ID Act:

Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Maine, Michigan, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Washington.

In the last legislative session, Arizona nearly passed such a bill. (SB 1152, which I sponsored, would have prohibited implementation of the Federal Real ID Act. It passed the Senate 23-5 and included bipartisan support.)

So what is it that so many state legislatures know that our governor doesn’t seem to understand?

Officials, especially on the national level, forget that they do not give orders, they take orders from constituents. The aforementioned states understand this intrusion and the nightmares likely to follow.

I oppose making our driver’s license into an identity card for a number of reasons:



First, the agreement the governor signed hands over to the federal government a great deal of state power and authority. This agreement gives to the Dept. of Homeland Security the power to (1) establish minimum “business standards” for the licenses (whatever that means) (2) establish how the Dept. of Motor vehicles will handle background checks (3) set standards for protecting personally identifiable information (4) determine the criteria for issuing the license and (5) establish the standards for the “facilitative technology” that will be embedded in the license. This is a huge transfer of power from the state to the federal government. I believe in state’s rights, and do not support abdicating our state sovereignty to a bunch of bureaucrats in Washington, D.C.


Second, creating an enhanced driver’s license turns our state Dept. of Motor Vehicles into a federal national security agency. That is a radical change in purpose that the legislature has neither studied nor contemplated.


Third, the technology required by the REAL ID Act could turn driver’s licenses into tracking devices, allowing computers to track people’s whereabouts. Today, with handheld technology available to read RFID chips at a distance, no rational person can assure Americans that their personal data will not be stolen and abused. This isn’t Nazi Germany, and I oppose requiring people to carry tracking devices in their pockets.


Fourth, there is no evidence that requiring people to carry identity cards will thwart terrorism. Terrorists are adept at getting around security and I have no doubt they will easily circumvent any card we can come up with.


Finally, an identity card does nothing to secure our borders. A fence across the border and well-armed guards would provide 90 percent of the protection needed. If the governor is willing to spend millions of dollars on a three-in-one card, then I’d prefer to see those millions spent on border protection.

Right now you could march an Army across our southern border, and no one would know it – and I can guarantee you that those soldiers wouldn’t be carrying an identity card so we could track them!!

These are just a few of the reasons I oppose the three-in-one card. I also have a number of questions for the governor. For example,



The Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI) will not be fully implemented until the summer of 2008. Why would the governor agree to requirements that have not been fully developed, let alone implemented?


The memorandum of agreement (MOA) between the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the governor claim, “a driver’s license can be enhanced to securely denote identity and citizenship.” Just how secure will these new licenses be . . is that guaranteed?


By signing the MOA, the governor has committed Arizona to complying with standards established by DHS. What are those standards and what does the DHS business plan call for? Have the business plan and standards been developed and who gets to participate in their development?


What happens at the termination of the agreement on July 31, 2009? If the agreement ends but the enhanced license is valid for 5 years, will they still be valid if the MOA is not?


If the state opposes the implementation of the REAL ID Act due to a lack of funding, why has the governor agreed to this enhanced driver’s license in a MOA that specifically states “DHS is not intended to provide any funding or financial support for the State for this project”?
(NCSL study determined a cost of over $11 billion dollars for the 50 states to implement the Real ID.)


In the governor’s news release she states the 3-in-1 ID will require legislative approval. Why didn’t she wait to get that approval prior to signing the agreement? Is the agreement still valid if she does not get legislative approval?

Never in the history of our country have we ever required our citizens to carry an “internal passport” in order to move about and live their lives. Introducing identity cards into our culture and our laws is the very essence of tyranny. I will oppose that with every ounce of strength I have.
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Labels: homeland security, police state, real id

Tuesday, December 11, 2007

From Citizens for Legitimate Government:

Chertoff "by coincidence" had security advisor at mall during shooting spree --Memorandum of Agreement Signing and Remarks by Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff and Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano on Enhanced Driver's Licenses 06 Dec 2007 Question: Mr. Secretary, a question on a different subject relating to the Omaha shooting [Westroads Mall] yesterday. I was wondering if you and the department have any concerns about safety at shopping malls... Secretary Chertoff: This past fall, we held regional training seminars in 12 cities across the country to talk about things like IED and vehicle-borne IED prevention, and soft target awareness... We also have our protective security advisors who go and visit various facilities. We actually had one, by coincidence, at the mall in question at the time of the incident, discussing reaction to IEDs and what you can do to prevent or reduce your vulnerability to IEDs. We had, again, given over $45,000 to this particular mall as part of a Buffer Zone Protection Plan, which resulted in allowing them to build entrance bollards, portable barriers, and communication systems.

DHS Advisor was Present at Omaha Mall During Shooting07 Dec 2007 An advisor from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) was present at the Westroads Mall in Omaha, Neb. during the attack by deranged 19-year-old gunman Robert Hawkins on Wednesday, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff revealed at a press conference yesterday. The mall had received $45,000 under a grant from the Buffer Zone Protection Plan to protect against vehicle-borne IEDs by deploying bollards at mall entrances, portable barriers and communications systems. Chertoff did not give the advisor’s name.

Homeland Security Visited Omaha Mall Before Massacre By Kurt Nimmo 08 Dec 2007 "We learned today that shortly before the shooting a Homeland Security employee visited the Westroads Mall to talk with officials about the mall’s security," reports Charles Gibson for ABC News. "Airports and sports arenas have tightened security considerably since 9/11, but malls have been reluctant to do so." [See: Gun Nut Kills Eight After Bush Speech --Shoppers flee mall in terror 06 Dec 2007 A crazed gunman shot eight people dead before killing himself in a crowded shopping mall last night - an hour after President [sic] Bush gave a speech nearby. Though police suspected the gunman was acting alone, a second man wearing camouflage was arrested. Last week a grenade was found hidden behind a plant stand at the same mall.]

Labels: false flag, homeland security, rkba

Monday, October 08, 2007

As the SAIC-scripted TOPOFF4 drill approaches next week, flashback to this item from February...

From Federal Computer Week Feb. 8, 2007:

"As part of an exercise involving a simulated terrorism attack, the Homeland Security Department wants to gauge the extent to which the public would trust information DHS releases electronically.

Like its predecessors, the fourth Top Officials (TopOff) exercise is intended to test the nation's readiness to deal with a large-scale terrorist attacks. This time, the exercise will test the department's public communications strategy.

The idea is to give the public information that is as complete and timely as possible about the events surrounding the attacks and what actions they should take to protect themselves. DHS will provide that information in two formats: a live video feed and a Web site. The live feed will resemble a newscast, according to DHS, featuring interviews with public officials and other experts, while the Web site will function more like a newspaper.

DHS recently released a notice requesting likely sources for a possible yearlong evaluation of the public's understanding of the information the exercise will produce, and its trust in and compliance with the messages included.

The TopOff 4 exercise will be held in Portland, Ore., and Guam and follows a preliminary exercise held in June last year called TopOff 4 Command Post Exercise (TopOff 4 CPX), which involved more than 4,000 people from more than 85 federal, state, local and private industry organizations.

That exercise for the first time also included DHS, the FBI and the Federal Emergency Management Agency to test the coordination capabilities of the various participants. The lessons learned from that event will be carried through into this year’s exercise.
[...]
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Labels: homeland security, propaganda, SAIC, terror drills, tvfakery

Thursday, August 16, 2007

From SOURCE-PUBLICATION-HERE August 15, 2007:

"The U.S.'s top intelligence official has greatly expanded the range of federal and local authorities who can get access to information from the nation's vast network of spy satellites in the U.S.

The decision, made three months ago by Director of National Intelligence Michael McConnell, places for the first time some of the U.S.'s most powerful intelligence-gathering tools at the disposal of domestic security officials. The move was authorized in a May 25 memo sent to Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff asking his department to facilitate access to the spy network on behalf of civilian agencies and law enforcement.

Until now, only a handful of federal civilian agencies, such as the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the U.S. Geological Survey, have had access to the most basic spy-satellite imagery...

According to officials, one of the department's first objectives will be to use the network to enhance border security, determine how best to secure critical infrastructure and help emergency responders after natural disasters. Sometime next year, officials will examine how the satellites can aid federal and local law-enforcement agencies, covering both criminal and civil law. The department is still working on determining how it will engage law enforcement officials and what kind of support it will give them.

Access to the high-tech surveillance tools would, for the first time, allow Homeland Security and law-enforcement officials to see real-time, high-resolution images and data,

[...]Plans to provide DHS with significantly expanded access have been on the drawing board for over two years. The idea was first talked about as a possibility by the Central Intelligence Agency after 9/11 as a way to help better secure the country. "It is an idea whose time has arrived," says Charles Allen, the DHS's chief intelligence officer, who will be in charge of the new program. DHS officials say the program has been granted a budget by Congress and has the approval of the relevant committees in both chambers.[...]

Although the courts have permitted warrantless aerial searches of private property by law-enforcement aircraft, there are no cases involving the use of satellite technology.

In recent years, some military experts have questioned whether domestic use of such satellites would violate the Posse Comitatus Act. The act bars the military from engaging in law-enforcement activity inside the U.S., and the satellites were predominantly built for and owned by the Defense Department.

According to Pentagon officials, the government has in the past been able to supply information from spy satellites to federal law-enforcement agencies, but that was done on a case-by-case basis and only with special permission from the president.

Even the architects of the current move are unclear about the legal boundaries. A 2005 study commissioned by the U.S. intelligence community, which recommended granting access to the spy satellites for Homeland Security, noted: "There is little if any policy, guidance or procedures regarding the collection, exploitation and dissemination of domestic MASINT." MASINT stands for Measurement and Signatures Intelligence, a particular kind of information collected by spy satellites which would for the first time become available to civilian agencies.

According to defense experts, MASINT uses radar, lasers, infrared, electromagnetic data and other technologies to see through cloud cover, forest canopies and even concrete to create images or gather data.

Tracking Weapons

The spy satellites are considered by military experts to be more penetrating than civilian ones: They not only take color, as well as black-and-white photos, but can also use different parts of the light spectrum to track human activities, including, for example, ... heat generated by people in a building.

[...] The full capabilities of these systems are unknown outside the intelligence community, because they are among the most closely held secrets in government...

Without proper oversight, only those inside the National Application Office will know what is being monitored from space.

[...]
Traditional users of the spy-satellite data in the scientific community are concerned that their needs will be marginalized in favor of security concerns. . .
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Labels: homeland security, police state

Thursday, June 07, 2007

Total411.info has learned that two amendments will be debated in the U.S. Senate today which would strike from the "Secure Borders, Economic Opportunity and Immigration Reform Act of 2007" a requirement that Americans have a REAL ID national ID card (or biometric US passport) just to get a job! It's true, the "grand compromise" of "immigration reform" contains an "Electronic Employment Verification System" (EEVS) run by the Homeland Security Department -- a kind of "work / do-not-work" list!

The amendments striking the REAL ID provisions are the "Baucus-Tester Amendment # 1236" [EXCLUSIVE PDF] and the "Baucus-Tester-Obama Amendment" [EXCLUSIVE PDF]. You can call the U.S. Capitol switchboard at 202-224-3121 to find your Senator's office and demand he support these amendments. You should also demand your Senators oppose ANY bill with any kind of EEVS "do not work" system. REAL ID and EEVS are radical anti-American programs and Senators should be told they will be held accountable if they support either.

Labels: homeland security, police state, real id

Monday, May 21, 2007

UPDATE: Apparently, this had made it up on the INterweb over the weekend. The pdf is still exclusive.

Total411.info is the first website to release the full text of the immigration legislation "compromise" reached midnight Friday night by a secret ad hoc committee of US Senators. The Senate is to vote tonight on speeding up debate on the bill without even reading it.

PDF FULL TEXT 326 pages

Note especially Title III which creates the "do not work" list run by the Homeland Security Department. In order to have a job in the US, Americans will need both a biometric REAL ID card, and a Social Security card, which this bill instructs the Homeland Secretary to start turning into a biometric ID card as well. Alternately, Americans may be alowed to work with a US passport (going biometric) and non-Americans may work with special Z-visa "temporary" cards which will only have a photograph.

Call the Congressional switchboard at 202-224-3121 to find your Senators (and Congressman) to tell them to vote against this bill!

Labels: homeland security, immigration, national id, real id

Friday, March 02, 2007

Increased awareness of the dangers of radio-frequency identification chips has forced a retreat by the Department if Homeland Security as they finally issue draft regulations for the REAL ID Act, a law which will complete the transformation of state drivers' licenses into a national ID card.

The new regulations also attempt to preempt a rising tide of rebellion to REAL ID from state governments by pushing back the compliance deadline and opening up the money spigot to reimburse states for some of the costs of the measure.
Some excerpts:

"Under section 205(b) of the Act, DHS may grant an extension of time to meet the requirements of the Act if the State provides adequate justification. DHS recognizes that many States need a final rule in order to guide their implementation efforts. Many States have informed DHS that, absent sufficient time to consider and act upon the final rule, the States will not be in a position to comply with the Act and the final rule. In recognition of this fact, DHS is establishing a mechanism where States can request an expedited extension of the compliance deadline. States may request an extension based on the lack of a final REAL ID rule by filing such a request no later than October 1, 2007. Based on information already received by DHS, and absent extraordinary circumstances, an extension request will be deemed justified for a period lasting until, but not beyond, December 31, 2009.

[...]

Section 202(b)(6) of the Act requires that the driver’s license or identification card include the person’s address of principal residence. Many States have laws that allow addresses to be kept confidential in certain circumstances; for example, where the disclosure of an address may jeopardize the personal safety of such an individual, such as victims of domestic violence, judges, protected witnesses, and law enforcement personnel. Some States provide the standards for address confidentiality through legislation or in their exceptions processing. Most States retain the “real” address in their database, but often protect it so that only authorized personnel have access to the “real” address. In addition, most States do not have the “real” address in the machine readable technology barcode. Rather, the machine readable zone contains only what is on the face of the driver’s license or identification card.

[...]

The proposed regulation would mandate the use of the PDF-417 2D bar code as the common MRT standard and DHS proposes to adopt most of the mandatory data elements described in the 2005 AAMVA Driver’s License/Identification Card Design Specifications, Annex D, as its MRT data elements model. PDF417 is a two dimensional, open source (public domain) barcode that is used to store and transfer large amounts of data inexpensively. PDF stands for “portable data file” in that the barcode acts as an independent database that travels along with the item, document, or card on which it is affixed. The printed barcode symbol consists of several linear (minimum 3, maximum 90) rows, each of which is like a small linear barcode made up of code words that can carry up to 1.1 kilobytes of machine-readable data in a space no larger than a standard bar code. The American National Standards Institute has published a standard for PDF417, and AAMVA has approved the use of PDF417 for driver’s licenses and identification cards. The PDF417 barcode can be read by a standard 2D barcode scanner.

The AAMVA list of data elements includes expiration date, bearer’s name, issue date, date of birth, gender, address, and a unique identification number.21 DHS proposes that States consider storing in the machine-readable zone (MRZ) only the minimum data elements necessary for the purpose for which the REAL IDs will be used. DHS requests comments on what data elements should be included in the machine readable zone and the privacy considerations regarding the selection of such data elements and this technology.

Encryption. Annex D of the AAMVA standard requires that all of the data on the 2D bar code be unencrypted. Although DHS leans toward requiring encryption for the data stored in the 2D bar code on REAL ID driver’s licenses and identification cards, DHS believes that access to this information by law enforcement is essential to the requirements of the Act and invites comment on how to provide this access and the protection of the information at the same time.

Because 2D bar code readers are extremely common, there is a possibility that the data could be captured from the driver’s licenses and identification cards and accessed by third parties by reading the driver’s license or identification card’s 2D bar code. For example, a bar could scan the 2D barcode to verify that the individual presenting the driver’s license or identification card was 21 or over, and at the same time could conceivably obtain the person’s name and address off the barcode and compile a list of names and addresses of its patrons, which it could subsequently sell or use.

[...]
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Labels: homeland security, national id, police state