Freedom of Speech

The 'Real ID' Act

Sensenbrenner Introduces Terrorist Travel Legislation
WASHINGTON -- House Judiciary Committee Chairman F. James Sensenbrenner, Jr. (R-Wis.) introduced legislation Wednesday, the Real ID Act, containing terrorist travel provisions that were dropped from legislation enacted last month that addresses the work of the 9/11 Commission. Chairman Sensenbrenner stated, "The goal of the Real ID Act is straightforward: it seeks to prevent another 9/11-type attack by disrupting terrorist travel. First, this legislation does not try to set state policy for who may or may not drive a car, but it does address the use of a driver's license as a form of identification to a federal official."

The Hijackers Used 'Foreign Passports'

U.S. Edges Closer to National ID Card
The Sept 11 hijackers did use driver's licenses as part of their scheme to move about the country. They clearly took advantage of the ease of movement that is a hallmark of life in America. They did not however, have 63 driver's licenses among them. Immigrant advocates have thankfully nixed that myth in recent months. The hijackers had 13 licenses among them, many legally obtained. Seven of the 19 hijackers did have driver's licenses they fraudulently obtained. They took advantage of some lax standards in Virginia that have since been rectified. But the hijackers didn't need the driver's licenses to board the planes. They had foreign passports for that purpose.

Japan to Issue Fingerprint ID Cards

Tokyo, Japan -- The Japanese Justice Ministry has agreed to introduce cards with fingerprint data as part of an immigration control system to identify travelers. Ministry officials said the cards will make re-entry faster and easier for Japanese citizens at international airports, Yomiuri Shimbun reported Saturday.

3 Million Illegal Aliens Enter the U.S. Each Year

The cost of using one scheme or another to cause illegal aliens to return to their country of origin depends directly on how aggressively we push on the illegal population. Today, we spend billions and accomplish nothing. We now have, perhaps, as many as three million illegals entering each year, and on average, we deport less than 41,000 annually. That is how we got to the newly reported 20 million illegals, a growth that occurred over the last 16 years on the watch of George H. W. Bush, William J. Clinton, and George W. Bush.

Bush renews support for immigration plan

WASHINGTON -- President Bush revived his call to loosen restrictions on immigrant workers Wednesday as a key House Republican moved in the opposite direction after losing a showdown with the White House in December. In a news conference, Bush renewed his support for an immigrant guest-worker program to link up "a willing worker and a willing employer. "The system right now spawns coyotes and smugglers and, you know, people willing to break the law to get people in our country," Bush said.

Radio devices will help U.S. track visitors crossing border

A radio-frequency device will be attached to the travel documents of foreign visitors entering five U.S. entry points this summer in what American officials say is a continuing effort to keep terrorists and criminals out. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced this week that they plan to test a radio-frequency ID device at the Pacific Highway and Peach Arch border crossings south of Vancouver by July 31. The testing will also be carried out at Nogales East and Nogales West in Arizona and Alexandria Bay in New York. If the trials are successful, the technology could be applied to other entry points.

States to test ID chips on foreign visitors

The United States is eyeing a controversial tracking technology to aid tightened immigration controls at border crossings to Mexico and Canada. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security plans to begin issuing special identification devices to foreign visitors arriving by foot and by car by July 31, according to a Tuesday announcement from the agency. The devices will contain microchips storing a unique identification code that's linked via government computers to document holders' names, countries of origin, dates of entry and exit, and biometric data.

Masons bring child ID program to School

MOHAWK -- The Herkimer Masonic Lodge is helping students at Fisher Elementary School take steps to provide for their safety should they ever turn up missing or lost. The lodge on Monday began a three-day Child Identification Program at the school, seeking to reach all students in prekindergarten through third grade. With their parents' permission, each student is being fingerprinted in one of the classrooms, while students are also being videotaped in order to provide a record of their appearance, height, the sound of their voice, and mannerisms. Carol Longwell, a teacher at Fisher, is helping out with the project by interviewing the students for the videotaping sessions.

Fallujah Residents Face Choice: Retina Scan and Take ID Card....Or Die

A caller to the Alex Jones show played a segment from Tom Brokaw's last broadcast on NBC which featured a report from Iraq clearly stating that residents of Fallujah (civilians, NOT insurgents) would be forced to give fingerprints, retina scan and take an ID card or be killed.

With high-cost `smart cards,' military targets tighter security

About 4 million "smart cards" that run on software from a Silicon Valley company have been issued to every member of the U.S. armed forces and civilian workers in the Defense Department to use as high-tech ID cards. The cards are part of a costly and ambitious government-wide drive _ mandated by President Bush in the wake of the Sept. 11 terror attacks _ to use the latest technology for a unified identification system that tightens the security of federal facilities and computer systems. The cards can be used to gain entrance to a high-security building or to use government computers to send encrypted e-mail.

IDs Required at the Checkout

Consumers who write checks for purchases at a Hecht's department store are asked for two forms of identification: usually a driver's license and a major credit card. "It is entirely for customer protection," said Diane Daly, spokesperson for Hecht's corporate office. "It's a way of verifying you to make sure a fraudulent act is not going on."

Bush Promotes Computerized Medical Records

WASHINGTON -- President Bush is using the first trip of his new term to highlight what he hopes will be the wave of the future in medicine — computerized records to reduce cost and errors. Doctors have all manner of new technology to diagnose illness, but they are still likely to write patient records and prescriptions by hand.

Glasto festival visitors to have ID cards

Visitors at this year's Glastonbury festival will be provided with ID cards in order to foil touts. Those who buy tickets for the event will be presented with the cards featuring a photograph of the owner and an electronic chip to prevent the tickets being stolen or sold-on by touts. Organiser Michael Eavis told the BBC: "There is only one place in the world where you will be able to get tickets."

Trial Opens Over Raid on Elian Gonzalez

MIAMI -- A trial opened in a $3 million-plus lawsuit by 13 people who say they were injured or traumatized when federal agents seized a screaming Elian Gonzalez from his Miami relatives' home. The opening witness was neighbor Maria Riera, who testified that she clutched her chest and thought she was dying when an agent doused her with tear gas during the April 22, 2000, raid to reunite the 6-year-old boy with his father in Cuba. The 13 neighbors and protesters are seeking up to $250,000 each, claiming that agents used excessive force during the armed raid.

Wrestling Coach Ordered To Stop Prayers

ACLU threatens his district with lawsuit
A coach won't be leading his Ypsilanti team in prayer anymore. The Lincoln High School wrestling coach was ordered to cut the prayers Wednesday after the school district received a letter from the American Civil Liberties Union advising the district to stop the prayers or face a lawsuit. The wrestling coach was leading a prayer after practices or before meets. Participation wasn't mandatory, but the whole team participated. The coach, Daren Schaller, could not be reached for comment Wednesday. Parents and students didn't object to the prayers. But a story in the local paper brought it to the ACLU's attention. It took Lincoln Consolidated Schools just one day to end the prayers.

FBI Fights for Limited Document Searches

WASHINGTON -- The FBI is fighting in court to limit how hard it has to search for government documents requested by the public under the Freedom of Information Act, one of the main laws for ensuring openness in government. If the bureau prevails, people could have a diminished chance of getting documents from the nation's most famous law enforcement agency, open records experts said.

FBI Has Files on Millions of Americans

FBI Keeping Records on Pre-9/11 Travelers
WASHINGTON -- If you're among the millions of Americans who took airline flights in the months before the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the FBI probably knows about it — and possibly where you stayed, whom you traveled with, what credit card you used and even whether you ordered a kosher meal. The bureau is keeping 257.5 million records on people who flew on commercial airlines from June through September 2001 in its permanent investigative database, according to information obtained by a privacy group and made available to The Associated Press.

Should Christians Bother To Take Action To Improve Public Schools?

We live in an age that is marked by massive ignorance of how to apply the biblical principles in which we believe to our daily circumstances and situations. We say that we should be “salt and light,” yet for the most part, churches aren’t providing explicit instructions on how we are supposed to go about it. Public (or more accurately, government) education is a perfect example of the confusion that exists among Christians. Many sincere Christians are teaching in government schools and they, along with many sincere Christian parents, are working very hard at trying to improve the schools. By every imaginable Christian standard, public schools are failing. But this is the point. They aren’t Christian and don’t want to be. Indeed, by their standard, they are succeeding! Government education, by its very definition, is ungodly. Therefore no matter how many improvements are proposed the schools will still be ungodly. The only solution to better education is Christian schooling (whether done in the home or in a day school).

Is Your Church Teaching Pagan Earth Worship In Sunday School?

Many parents have sought to protect their children from the behavior-modification programs that have taken the place of academic education in public schools. To escape the assault of Outcome-Based Education (OBE), multi-culturalism, and workforce training programs, parents in ever-increasing numbers are placing their children in private schools or are home-schooling.

Reaping the Whirlwind: The Dawn of "Monkey Morality"

Belief in evolution is not a harmless enterprise. Pro-active evolutionary propagandists claim that the debate over origins is purely about science: They have the science, and creationists don't; it's that simple. But it's not. There are specific ethical implications that follow from believing and applying the major tenets of the evolutionary religion to life.

Judge Rejects Georgia School Board challenging theory of evolution

ATLANTA -- A US judge on Thursday ordered a Georgia school district to remove stickers challenging the theory of evolution from its textbooks on the grounds that they violated the US Constitution. In a ruling issued in Atlanta, US District Judge Clarence Cooper said Cobb County's school board had violated the constitutional ban on the separation of church and state when it put the disclaimers on biology books in 2002.

DMV rejects 'JOHN316' license plate

A resident of Vermont who had his request for a custom "JOHN316" license plate rejected filed a federal lawsuit against Department of Motor Vehicles officials yesterday. Alliance Defense Fund, a legal group representing Shawn W. Byrne, says the state agency's action violates the Constitution.

Standing Up For The Philadelphia 4

Last week's column addressed the plight of Christians facing serious criminal charges for their part in a demonstration that took place during an outdoor homosexual pride event in Philadelphia. This week, I feel compelled to revisit the subject. One reason I am chewing this cabbage twice, as it were, is to insure the details of the situation are conveyed correctly. Another is to stress the serious nature of the prosecution taking place in the City of Brotherly Love.

Parent Upset Over Mass. School's Pink Triangle Program

A Massachusetts mother is expressing outrage over what she calls "the promotion of the homosexual agenda" in her local school system. Last July, the Department of Education in her state allowed a rainbow-colored homosexual pride flag to continue flying at John Glenn Middle School in Bedford; and now pink "Safe Zone" decals have been appearing on classroom doors at the school.

Superintendents call him bond issues' 'kiss of death'

A northwest Iowa man is earning a reputation - and a living - as the newest threat to Midwest educators trying to raise money for new schools. Paul Dorr, an activist and home-school parent from Ocheyedan, sells his services to taxpayers who want to derail school bond issues. School superintendents are furious. Tax watchdogs are ecstatic.

Caution Urged Over Portrayal of Wicca in Popular Teen Magazine

The February edition of Seventeen magazine has a feature in its religion section about a girl who abandoned Christianity to practice Wicca. A Christian doctor is warning of the subtle appeal of the so-called "religion." In the article, entitled "My Religion Isn't Evil," the girl describes how she became disillusioned after her parents started attending an evangelical Christian church that, according to the article, "railed against homosexuals and taught ... that people of different religions were damned." Doubting such teachings -- and wondering why her parents would want to ascribe to them -- "Jessica" sought fulfillment in Wicca. As noted in the article, Wiccans "worship male and female deities, empower themselves through magic, and celebrate nature's cycles."

Fingerprinting the World

Ridge Seeks Fingerprints on Passports
WASHINGTON -- Americans' fingerprints should be added to their passports, outgoing Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge said Wednesday, hoping to include the United States in a growing global security standard but risking a privacy fight at home. Ridge said passports could ideally include biometric finger scans — for all 10 fingers — to help customs officials quickly and accurately identify U.S. travelers. He offered no details on how the plan might deal with privacy concerns or guard against international identity theft.

Analysis: Ridge wants your fingerprints

Washington -- The call by outgoing Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge for U.S. passports to bear digital scans of all of the holder's fingerprints highlights one of his successor's looming challenges: applying order to the threatening proliferation of biometric identity verification systems across the world.

Federal Camera In Your Wallet

WASHINGTON -- On both sides of the Atlantic, the barriers against government identification papers in free societies are breaking down. The need for security and the thirst for information about us appear to be prevailing. Britain is close to its first national identification card since World War II, and the U.S. Congress has ordered the first minimum national standards for state driver's licenses -- possibly the first step toward creating a national ID card.

National ID Cards Will Erode Liberty

You can thank President Bush and the Republican leadership for implementing a national ID card with biometric identifiers that make us less free and not one bit safer. In a recent speech at the libertarian based CATO Institute, congressman Bob Barr explained why national ID cards are not good public policy. He stated there has never been a study indicating national ID cards are legitimate or effective at stopping acts of terrorism. Countries such as Israel, Spain and Russia have national ID cards with biometric identifiers and each of them has had recent acts of terrorism.

Security Drives Fight Over Licenses

New York's Motor Vehicles Department is preparing to suspend the licenses of as many as 300,000 drivers caught up in an anti-fraud initiative, and it's a moment of truth in the debate over whether undocumented immigrants should be allowed to drive. Among those drivers are an untold number of undocumented immigrants who used improper Social Security numbers to get licenses. One side in the debate says the safest thing is to let drivers be licensed, insured and identified, regardless of immigration status.

One Evil of Government IDs

Government IDs and Identity Theft
Congress has a moral responsibility to address this problem because it was Congress that transformed the Social Security number into a national identifier. Thanks to Congress, today no American can get a job, open a bank account, get a professional license, or even get a driver's license without presenting his Social Security number. So widespread has the use of the Social Security number become that a member of my staff had to produce a Social Security number in order to get a fishing license!

Conservative Threat to America

While some people might believe that those on the Left wing of the political spectrum pose the bigger threat to the freedom and well-being of the American people, nothing could be further from the truth. Today, the much bigger threat (Read here and here) comes instead from the Right wing or conservative side of the political spectrum, for it is the conservatives who are either indifferent to – or squarely in favor of – military rule, torture, and suspension of habeas corpus and civil liberties for suspected terrorists. And those things constitute a much more ominous threat to our freedom and well-being than anything leftists endorse.

States Face New Driver's License Rules

AUGUSTA -- When Maine adopted its current design for a driver's license a few years ago, it was considered state-of-the-art, but not anymore. Provisions in the new federal intelligence agencies overhaul bill signed into law last month will require states to dramatically improve the security features throughout the licensing process. "We spent a lot of time on that design, and it was not inexpensive to implement," said former Secretary of State Dan Gwadosky. "This is an issue facing states across the country, not just Maine."

Get a Ticket, Give a Fingerprint

GREEN BAY -- A new police policy to fingerprint traffic and ordinance violators is expected to prevent about a half-dozen people a year from being wrongly jailed, an official said Friday. Green Bay officers are carrying portable ink pads to take one print from the index finger of those cited for traffic or ordinance violations and put the print on a copy of the ticket. The new policy, which took effect Dec. 30, is described as voluntary.

Cops Stop Fingerprinting Traffic Violators

Chief blames news media for
publicizing 'Big Brother' issue
With public fears of a police state being created in Green Bay, Wis., law enforcement authorities are dropping a new policy where officers collected fingerprints from traffic violators. "The news media blew it out of proportion," Police Chief Craig Van Schyndle told the Green Bay Press Gazette. He says his department received numerous phone calls and e-mails from people opposed to the voluntary practice aimed at lowering the number of identity-theft crimes.

Law Aims to Protect IDs of Undercover Air Marshals

MILWAUKEE -- A sweeping new intelligence law could help plug security holes at airports nationwide. But the final results will depend on how the federal bureaucracy responds to the law's provisions, and on whether Congress puts up the cash to carry out its directives. The National Intelligence Reform Act, signed into law last month by President Bush, includes several provisions intended to help protect the identities of undercover air marshals and to improve the way that checked baggage is screened for explosives. Air marshals are supposed to work in secret so they can surprise hijackers.

U.S. Army Tests WhereNet System

WhereNet, a Santa Clara, Calif.-based company that uses RFID in its real-time location systems for asset tracking and inventory management in large industrial environments, has announced a one-year pilot program with the Tobyhanna Army Depot in Tobyhanna, Pa. The depot is part of the U.S. Army Communications-Electronics Command and is a full-service repair, overhaul and fabrication facility of the U.S. Army's surveillance and radar systems, which include a range of devices from handheld radios to large satellite communications systems.

Deja View Announces New Weapons For War Against Terrorism

BRICK, N.J. -- Deja View, Inc., the first company to introduce a wearable digital mini-camcorder with unique "after-the-fact" recording technology for the consumer market, today announced two new counter-terrorism products to help in homeland security efforts. The system consists of Deja View's Camwear 100, the first wearable camcorder with the company's "after-the-fact" technology; a tablet PC with pen stylus, specialized detail-formed software based upon the popular Formulizer software package and can support biometrics such as fingerprint and retina scan integration.

European country contracts with SuperCom for biometric & contactless visa system

New York, NY, and Ra’anana, Israel, -- SuperCom, Ltd., a leading provider of smart card and electronic identification (e-ID) solutions, today announced that it has signed an agreement with a European government to deploy a cutting-edge biometric visa issuance system in its embassies throughout the world. The project’s first stage, valued at approximately $500,000, has begun and involves installations in several of the government’s embassies.

EPA Warns of Teflon Chemical Health Risks

WASHINGTON - The Environmental Protection Agency said Wednesday that people nationwide could face "a potential risk of developmental and other adverse effects" from exposure to low levels of a chemical used in making the nonstick substance Teflon.

Court Lifts Stay, Orders Bible Display Removed

An employee of Star of Hope mission, which owns the Bible and the monument where it is displayed in front of the Harris County Civil Courts Building, 301 Fannin, took a book from a display about 3:30 p.m. It will be stored at the agency's men's center on Ruiz. The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals denied Harris County's request to allow the Bible to remain while the county appeals last summer's order by federal district judge Sim Lake in Houston requiring that the Bible be removed.

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"For earthly princes lay aside their power when they rise up against God, and are unworthy to be reckoned among the number of mankind. We ought, rather, to spit upon their heads than to obey them." --John Calvin (Commentary on Daniel, Lecture XXX Daniel 6:22)

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Atheist sues to ban hand on Bible

The California lawyer who tried to have the phrase "under God" removed from the Pledge of Allegiance now wants to legally prevent President Bush from placing his hand on a Bible while being sworn in at his inauguration. Michael Newdow, an atheist doctor and lawyer from Sacramento, has filed a complaint and a motion for preliminary injunction in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, seeking to remove prayer and all "Christian religious acts" from the Jan. 20 inauguration.

Gov’t Asks To Dismiss Lawsuit to Bar Prayer at Inauguration

WASHINGTON -- The government is asking a federal court to dismiss a lawsuit by an atheist who wants to bar the saying of a prayer at President Bush’s inauguration, calling the practice widely accepted and more than 200 years old, according to a court filing released Monday. Michael Newdow, best known for trying to remove “under God” from the Pledge of Allegiance, filed suit last month in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. He said the use of a prayer is unconstitutional.

Atheists Organize in Fear of Bush White House and Republican Congress

Bracing for what's to come from a Republican-controlled White House and Congress, people who don't believe in God are joining forces as never before to make sure their rights don't get trampled in what they perceive as a stampede of religious zeal. Riding a post-election spike in new memberships, groups of humanists, agnostics and other non-theists are raising funds to put their first-ever lobbyists on Capitol Hill. To shape an agenda, leaders from as many as 20 non-theistic groups will convene Jan. 15-16 for their largest summit since Ronald Reagan took the Oval Office with help from the Moral Majority in 1981. ("The wicked flee when no man pursueth." Proverbs 28: 1)

City Council's Atheist-Invocation Sparks Controversy

CAPE CORAL -- Cape Coral City Council did not begin with a prayer as it usually does. Instead, self-described atheist Thomas Clark started the meeting with a secular invocation. Even though Clark's invocation was less about 30 seconds long, it has been the subject of a long-running controversy. "As you conduct this meeting may you show respect for all the citizens of Cape Coral, for your fellow council members and do what is right for our community," said Clark.

Homosexuals planned Christian harassment

Homosexual "OutFest" organizers in Philadelphia announced plans in advance of their October 2004 street festival to block Christians from access to the publicly sponsored event where 11 members of Repent America were arrested, five being charged with a series of misdemeanors and felonies that could put them in jail for 47 years. According to an article in the Philadelphia Gay News days before the street festival, homosexual organizers were planning to block Christians from access to the event. Chuck Volz, senior adviser to Philly Pride Presents, told the publication the Pink Angels security force would carry large signs alongside the Christians to surround them and block their access to OutFest participants.

Philadelphia Accused of 'Abuse of Power'

The attorney for the Christians known as "the Philadelphia 4" who were arrested for protesting at a homosexual event last year defended his clients on Fox News' "The O'Reilly Factor" last night, saying city officials are guilty of "abuse of power." Brian Fahling, senior trial attorney at the American Family Association's Center for Law & Policy, appeared on the program to talk about the case. Also appearing was Charles Volz, a legal adviser to the homosexual "OutFest" event.

New Social Security Card?

Legislation calls for a new Security Card
with photograph and biometric info on it
Immigration Fix or Civil Rights Hit?
A bipartisan effort brewing in Congress calls for new, high-tech Social Security cards designed to purge undocumented workers from payrolls, but critics say it's nothing but a veiled and ominous effort to create a national identification system. Under the proposal, all job applicants — U.S. citizens and legal immigrants — would have to present a high-tech card that would either be run through a government-provided scanner or be called in for verification. Costs include $100 million to set up the program, plus $40 million over four years for enforcement technology.

Dreier Calls for New Social Security Cards

WASHINGTON -- U.S. Social Security cards won't be worth the paper they're printed on if California Rep. David Dreier has his way. He is sponsoring a bill that would replace the old paper card with one that is more like a credit card. The card would basically have a photo embedded on it, and it would have an algorithm strip on the back that would outlines someone's status in this country — whether he or she is an American citizen, living here on a visa or work permit or any other status, Dreier, a Republican, said.

Tougher laws eyed for alien workers

A senior House Republican called for an improved Social Security card to prevent illegal immigrants from gaining jobs and for quintupling the penalty for those who employ them, marking the first major shot in the immigration debate expected to take place in this Congress. Under the new bill sponsored by Rep. David Dreier, California Republican and the chairman of the House Rules Committee, anyone applying for a job would have to get a new Social Security card with their photograph and biometric information on it. Employers would be required to verify a job applicant's legal status. Employers who violate the law would be fined $50,000 per instance, five times the current penalty, and the bill calls for hiring 10,000 new Homeland Security Department investigators to enforce the law.

Feds Ratchet Up Airport Security

Provisions aim to upgrade screening
of baggage, protect air marshals' IDs
A sweeping new intelligence law could help plug security holes at Mitchell International Airport and other airports nationwide. But the final results will depend on how the federal bureaucracy responds to the law's provisions, and on whether Congress puts up the cash to carry out its directives. The National Intelligence Reform Act, signed into law last month by President Bush, includes several provisions intended to help protect the identities of undercover air marshals and to improve the way that checked baggage is screened for explosives. Air marshals are supposed to work in secret so they can surprise hijackers.

Feds Developing Worker ID Data Standards

The Homeland Security Department over the next few months will look to expand the latest phase of its Transportation Worker Identification Credential prototype program to include about 200,000 workers from maritime, rail, aviation, and ground modes of transportation at 34 sites in three regions across the country. The program is swinging into full gear as members of the Bush administration work by late February to create a standard for secure and reliable forms of identification the federal government can issue to its employees and contractors.

Has Congress Created 'Federal Police Power'?

WASHINGTON -- Every American is just a few steps away from committing a crime. That point is raised in new publications that seek to cast a critical eye on lawmakers for their aggressive approach to going after supposed wrongdoing. "I think we should be alarmed on a number of different levels," said Bob Barr, a former Republican member of Congress from Georgia who also used to be a U.S district attorney. "We’re changing the very nature of society — the over-criminalization of society."

Town Receives $12,800 Homeland Security Grant

SHIRLEY -- The town of Shirley has received a $12,800 grant from the Office of Homeland Security to purchase equipment to assist local safety officials in protecting Shirley's citizens and safety officers. The grant provides assistance to states and local jurisdictions to prevent, plan for and respond to acts of terrorism.

License-Plate Scanners Lead to Recovery of Stolen Vehicles

An experimental license-plate scanning system allowed state troopers to capture 23 criminal suspects and recover 24 stolen vehicles during a recent four-month test on the Ohio Turnpike, the Ohio Highway Patrol announced yesterday. But whether the system has a future on the turnpike and other state highways remains to be decided, a patrol spokesman said. For the test, Automatic Plate Recognition scanners were mounted at the turnpike's entrance plazas near the Pennsylvania and Indiana borders and in two state patrol cruisers. The devices scanned all license plates and compared the results with lists of vehicles "wanted" because they were reported stolen, the license plates were reported stolen, or authorities had arrest warrants for the registered owners. Positive matches were followed up by troopers confirming the plate on the vehicle before pulling it over.

Schools Plan to Expand Video Camera Surveillance

BALTIMORE -- School systems throughout metropolitan Baltimore are embracing the latest in surveillance technology, adding digital cameras that can zoom-in, detect motion and even see in the dark. Anne Arundel, Carroll, and Howard counties have plans to expand use of digital video cameras. Baltimore city and county rely more on traditional camera systems, though they are experimenting with digital technology.

Police Look Into Strip Search At School

LA MARQUE -- Police are investigating the strip search of 10 students at Mainland Preparatory Academy. On Friday, the award-winning charter school experienced some fallout as word of the search become public. At least two parents, whose children were not a part of the search, withdrew their children from school. “My child isn’t even allowed to wear sleeveless shirts because of our religion,” Kathleen Seals of Hitchcock said as she pulled out of the school’s parking lot Friday. A few minutes earlier, she said, she had pulled her daughter, who was in first grade, out of school. “I’m going to home school.”

Microsoft Preps Patches for 'Critical' Flaws

Microsoft Corp.'s first monthly patch day for 2005 will include security fixes for three vulnerabilities in Windows products, the software giant said Thursday. As part of its advance notice mechanism, Microsoft said the maximum severity rating for the three updates is "critical." The security updates may require a restart. It is not known whether all three flaws are "critical," and Microsoft is withholding details until the patches are released. The next batch of patches is due Tuesday, Jan. 11.

Security Madness

Single Government ID Moves Closer to Reality
WASHINGTON -- Federal officials are developing government-wide identification card standards for federal employees and contractors to prevent terrorists, criminals and other unauthorized people from getting into government buildings and computer systems. The effort, known as the Personal Identity Verification Project, stems from a homeland security-related presidential directive and is being managed by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), a Commerce Department agency.

Push For Security Drives License Changes

WASHINGTON -- Walk into one of New Jersey's 45 motor vehicle offices to get a driver's license, and you're instantly under surveillance by closed-circuit TV and an undercover officer. Even before you get in line, a state worker checks your passport, birth certificate or other required documents. When you get your license, you'll notice a bar code on the back that police officers can read with electronic scanners to verify your identity -- one of 22 security features built into the card. And forget about renewing your license by mail: Everyone now must show up.

Alabama driver licenses will have more security

Alabama driver licenses, beginning in March, will have more security as a result of the 9/11 attacks and new federal identification standards. The intelligence reform law signed by President Bush requires that the U.S. Department of Transportation and Homeland Security work with states to establish minimum identification standards for driver licenses, birth certificates and other forms of state-issued identification.

Facial Scanning Targets ID Theft

New computer technology has helped state motor vehicle officials detect hundreds of people trying to obtain phony driver's licenses in the past year. Colorado is among a handful of states utilizing facial- recognition technology, or biometrics, to combat identity theft, with the system catching as many as five people a week trying to get a license in someone else's name. About a year ago, Colorado stopped issuing licenses on the spot, allowing clerks and the computer system to screen for people who are trying to steal someone else's identity. Now, when a person comes in for a driver's license, the clerk views the driver's previous photo and takes a fingerprint to make sure it is the same person. If the license is legitimate, the driver gets it in about a week.

Fingerprinting the World

Fingerprint ID system for
foreign visitors to United States
It has been three years since the terrorist attacks on New York City and the Pentagon, but the federal government is little closer to a working system to check the fingerprints of foreign visitors at the borders. This is a potentially disastrous failing. After Sept. 11, 2001, the Bush administration promised a unified U.S. fingerprint database would be set up so that a visitor's identity could be matched to lists of terrorists and criminals. But three years later, nothing. Inspector General Glenn A. Fine of the Justice Department blamed agency infighting for stalling progress.

Radio-Tagged Biometric Passport: Passport To Nowhere

If you want to stop terrorists from getting at you, your first thought might be to step up surveillance at ports of entry; your second might be to exploit the modern world's technology advantage over the likes of Al Qaeda. The problem is, the proper technology is rarely chosen at first thought. Undue haste led the U.S. government and the 27 countries in its visa-waiver pool to start a program two years ago to embed radio-tagged ICs in passports. These chips will encode the physical characteristics of the bearer, starting with the face. The U.S. initiative, included in the Enhanced Border Security and Visa Entry Reform Act of 2002, gained overwhelming support in the U.S. Congress and among the other 27 countries.

Identix' ABIS Facial Recognition Data-Mining Platform Selected to Power National ID Program for Middle Eastern Country

MINNETONKA, Minn. -- Identix Incorporated, the world's leading multi-biometrics technology company, announced today that it has been selected by an unnamed country in the Middle East to supply and integrate Identix' ABIS(TM) biometric data-mining platform and search engines into the Country's National Identification program. The powerful data-mining capabilities of ABIS will also be used to enhance the Country's National security and criminal justice objectives by searching against existing databases of facial images for individuals on various wanted, watch and terrorist lists.

Fallujah - a US Prison Camp?

The authoritarian utopia planned for Fallujah
A comparison to the Warsaw Ghetto is tempting, but is perhaps a bit too extreme. We can only hope and assume that the residents of Fallujah, under their new American police state, will enjoy sustenance and somewhat adequate medical care. I think that the more appropriate analogy may be to a massive 300,000-strong Miami-sized prison camp. The American occupation authorities in Iraq are creating a massive city-sized prison camp for Fallujah.

The Ministry of Truth on the loose in Iraq

According to the Boston Globe, the Americans plan to make Fallujah into a "model city". The residents who fled the largely-razed community are to be returned to their homes via so-called "citizen processing centers", where their identities would be added to a database through the taking of fingerprints and DNA samples, and the scanning of their retinas. The returning Fallujah residents would also be given ID lapel badges that show their name and home address, and these will have to be worn at all times.

Anti-Christian America

"Your papers, please" has long been shorthand for the intrusion of the state into private affairs, as historically was most notoriously exemplified by the National Socialists of Germany from 1933 to 1944. Now, in the name of "fighting terrorism," the Republican Congress has, in one fell swoop, managed to eradicate some of the last vestiges of constitutional federalism and exceed the wildest dreams of the most ambitious totalitarian.