By Laura MacInnis
GENEVA (Reuters) - A United Nations forum on Thursday passed a resolution condemning 'defamation of religion' as a human rights violation, despite wide concerns that it could be used to justify curbs on free speech in Muslim countries.
The U.N. Human Rights Council adopted the non-binding text, proposed by Pakistan on behalf of Islamic states, with a vote of 23 states in favor and 11 against, with 13 abstentions.
Western governments and a broad alliance of activist groups have voiced dismay about the religious defamation text, which adds to recent efforts to broaden the concept of human rights to protect communities of believers rather than individuals.
Pakistan, speaking for the 56-nation Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), said a 'delicate balance' had to be struck between freedom of expression and respect for religions.
The resolution said Muslim minorities had faced intolerance, discrimination and acts of violence since the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States, including laws and administrative procedures that stigmatize religious followers.
'Defamation of religious is a serious affront to human dignity leading to a restriction on the freedom of their adherents and incitement to religious violence,' the adopted text read, adding that 'Islam is frequently and wrongly associated with human rights violations and terrorism.'
It called on states to ensure that religious places, sites, shrines and symbols are protected, to reinforce laws 'to deny impunity' for those exhibiting intolerance of ethnic and religious minorities, and 'to take all possible measures to promote tolerance and respect for all religions and beliefs.'
ISLAMOPHOBIA, CHRISTIANOPHOBIA, ANTI-SEMITISM
The 47-member Human Rights Council has drawn criticism for reflecting mainly the interests of Islamic and African countries, which when voting together can control its agenda.
Addressing the body, Germany said on behalf of the European Union that while instances of Islamophobia, Christianophobia, anti-Semitism and other forms of religious discrimination should be taken seriously, it was 'problematic to reconcile the notion of defamation (of religion) with the concept of discrimination.'
'The European Union does not see the concept of defamation of religion as a valid one in a human rights discourse,' it said. 'The European Union believes that a broader, more balanced and thoroughly rights-based text would be best suited to address the issues underlying this draft resolution.'
India and Canada also took to the floor of the Geneva-based Council to raise objections to the OIC text. Both said the text looked too narrowly at the discrimination issue.
'It is individuals who have rights, not religions,' Ottawa's representative told the body. 'Canada believes that to extend (the notion of) defamation beyond its proper scope would jeopardize the fundamental right to freedom of expression, which includes freedom of expression on religious subjects.'
A separate, EU-sponsored resolution about religious discrimination is due to be discussed by the Council on Friday.
Earlier this week, 180 secular, religious and media groups from around the world urged diplomats to reject the resolution which they said 'may be used in certain countries to silence and intimidate human rights activists, religious dissenters and other independent voices' and ultimately restrict freedoms.
Condemnation of defamation of religion had been included in a draft declaration being prepared for an April U.N. conference on racism, known as "Durban II," but was removed earlier this month after Western countries said it was unacceptable. U.N. body adopts resolution on religious defamation | International | Reuters:
3/26/09
Natrona County School District finger scanning raises concerns
"Secondary students in the Natrona County School District won't need cash, plastic or passwords to pay for breakfast or lunch.
Instead, they'll be using something they'll be sure to bring with them every day: their index finger.
Beginning April 1, all of the district's junior high and high school cafeterias will start using a NUTRIKIDS POS (point-of-sale) system that uses biometric finger scans for identification.
Parents of students at Natrona County and Kelly Walsh high schools, Casper Classical Academy, Centennial Junior High, CY Junior High, Dean Morgan Junior High and Frontier Middle School were notified of the new program in a letter dated March 12.
The opportunity to opt out of the program ended March 18. The district began finger scans on March 23.
The hardware, software and training for the computerized identification and payment system cost the district approximately $150,000. NUTRIKIDS, which has been used in the district for 14 years to track the free and reduced lunch program, was chosen through a competitive bidding process to update nine-year-old software that no longer had tech support.
Along with speeding up food service, the updated software will be used to continue to track the district's compliance with the federal food programs, according to Mike Pyska, the district's food service manager.
The switch to biometrics for meal identification is not about 'the district trying to be big brother and store people's fingerprints,' Pyska said. Finger tips are scanned, but the prints aren't saved.
Here's how it works. The user presses his finger against a small reader surface that is attached to a computer. The computer software picks three small portions, such as common ridges or arcs from the fingerprint.
The ridges and arcs are turned into 'data points,' which then are turned into logorithms. The unique numerical identifier for each student -- not the actual fingerprint -- is stored in a database. There shouldn't be any concern that the district is fingerprinting children, Pyska said.
By next school year, parents also will be able to use NUTRIKIDS to pay into their student's accounts online. They'll also be able to look at what their children are eating.
One school district in Illinois uses the system as a tool against obesity by sending e-mails to parents listing their children's lunch choices.
The switch to biometrics is happening only in the district's secondary schools, primarily to stop 'kids from getting into other kids' lunch money' and to speed up the lunch lines, Pyska said.
A day before the opt-out day, the food service manager had received six or eight calls of concern. He was unsure of how many parents had gone directly to their children's cafeteria to protest.
Similar programs have created controversy
Identification using biometrics from fingerprints, voice, odor and even sweat is a $1 billion industry in North America. Elementary and high schools in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, West Virginia and about half the states in the Northeast and South use finger scans to pay for lunch.
Some school districts in St. Louis started using the NUTRIKIDS system in January.
Regardless of the common uses of the identification system, privacy concerns and fears of identity theft come along with using the process in schools. An Illinois mother rallied enough parental opposition to the technology that the state enacted a law requiring schools to get parental consent before taking a scan of children's fingerprints.
An Arizona Senate committee recently passed a bill against using biometrics in schools. Iowa and Michigan prohibit the practice, although Iowa is reconsidering the ban in light of additional information.
School districts in Boulder, Colo., Irvine, Calif. and Boston, Mass., rejected the program after initial consideration raised parental concerns.
According to Linda Burt, executive director of the Wyoming Chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, there have been legitimate and serious privacy concerns expressed by security experts that stolen codes could be misused in new forms of biometric identity theft.
'It seems like something that is unnecessary,' she said. 'You can call it a fingerprint or anything else. It's still an individual identifier.'
A parent of both a junior high and a high school student questioned the school's ability to do something that he believes is prohibited by Wyoming law. Wyoming law does prohibit fingerprinting children and storing their prints, even by law enforcement, unless the child has been arrested for a felony.
'They've got better options than starting a database of the kids,' said the parent, who asked to remain unnamed. 'They can't guarantee it won't be used. The database will have more than enough to do a fingerprint analysis.'
At least part of the concern with the NCSD's biometrics program that began scanning fingers on March 23 may have been caused by the parental notification process.
Pyska defended the short notice method of a letter that was sent to homes during spring break, giving parents only a few days to decide whether to opt out of the system.
'The longer you give people, they wait until the last minute anyway,' so the district decided to see what feedback was received in a short period of time, he said.
Several parents who called the Casper Journal are angry about the lack of notice and explanation for a switch from pass cards and PIN numbers to biometrics. 'They never gave parents a choice,' one parent said. 'They need to back pedal quickly to say it won't happen until a permission slip is on file.'"The Casper Journal :: Casper's Community Newspaper:
3/25/09
Home Office defends proposal to track social networking movements
"Privacy campaigners expressed alarm today over government plans to monitor all conversations on social networking sites in an attempt to crackdown on terror.
A Home Office spokesman said that the internet eavesdropping plan, which would be set out in the next few weeks, would cover any social network that allows people to chat to one another, including Facebook, MySpace, Bebo and Twitter as well as internet calls on Skype.
He said the proposal would update existing plans to store information about every telephone call, email, and internet visit made by anyone in the UK on a central database.
'We have no way of knowing whether Osama bin Laden is chatting to Abu Hamza on Facebook. Or terrorists could be having a four-way chat on Skype,' he said.
He said the government was not interested in the contents of the communication: 'What we want to monitor is that so-and-so is logged on to that site and spoke to so-and-so. It's the who, when and where, not the content.'
But he conceded that in 'high-profile cases' the police would want to examine the contents of social network chatter. 'The security service would want the ability to capture information that could lead to conviction,' he said.
Under the new proposals, the sites that host social networks could be required to hold data about who users correspond with for up to a year.
Privacy campaigners criticised the plan, saying it would be another unwieldy, costly and unnecessary failure.
Shami Chakrabarti, director of human rights group Liberty, said: 'The widescale use of social networking websites highlights the enormity of government ambitions for a centralised communications database for the surveillance of the entire population … Technological development is used as an excuse for centralised snooping of a kind that ought never to be acceptable in the oldest unbroken democracy on earth.'
Michael Parker, spokesman for campaign group NO2ID, said the government was enforcing data sharing and the pillaging of private information. 'Their plans for the intercept modernisation programme were completely unworkable to begin with and are becoming more so with every addition they suggest. The idea of tracking calls, texts and emails made by people in the country is unspeakably offensive.'
The plans were first revealed by the Home Office minister, Vernon Coaker, last week at a Commons committee hearing on a draft EU directive that does not cover social networking.
He said the government's intercept modernisation programme proposals may be extended to include 'the retention of data on Facebook, Bebo, MySpace and all other similar sites'.
He added: 'The government are looking at what we should do about the intercept modernisation programme because there are certain aspects of communications which are not covered by the [EU] directive.'
Coaker acknowledged that the plan would raise fresh concerns about the right to privacy.
'I accept that this is an extremely difficult area. The interface between retaining data, private security and all such issues of privacy is extremely important,' he said.
The Home Office spokesman said a consultation paper, to be published shortly before or after Easter, would explore the practicality of the plan.
In a statement the Home Office added: 'The government has no interest in the content of people's social network sites and this is not going to be part of our upcoming consultation. We have been clear the communications revolution has been rapid in this country and the way in which we collect communications data needs to change so that law enforcement agencies can maintain their ability to tackle terrorism and gather evidence.
'To ensure that we keep up with technological advances we intend to consult widely on proposals shortly. We have been very clear that there are no plans for a database containing the content of emails, texts, conversations or social networking sites.'
On Monday the Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust published a report claiming that a quarter of all the largest public-sector database projects, including the identity cards register, were fundamentally flawed and clearly breach European data protection and rights laws. Claiming to be the most comprehensive map so far of Britain's 'database state', the report says that 11 of the 46 biggest schemes, including the national DNA database and the Contactpoint index of all children in England, should be given a 'red light' and immediately scrapped or redesigned."... Home Office defends proposal to track social networking movements | Technology | guardian.co.uk:
3/14/09
Sex claims against US Catholic Church rise
"The number of new claims of sexual abuse made against US Roman Catholic priests rose by 16% to more than 800 last year, a Church report says.
It says the Church paid $436m (£313m) in 2008 for abuse cases. Most of the money was used to compensate victims.
The study covered almost 200 dioceses and religious orders across the US.
It found that more than one in five victims were under the age of 10 when they were abused.
Although the number of claims made against the Church rose in 2008, the total cost dropped by 29% compared to the previous year.
The Associated Press news agency said 2007 was an unusually high year, when the Archdiocese of Los Angeles began paying a $660m settlement to about 500 people.
The annual review tracks progress made in implementing the Charter for the Protection of Children, adopted by US bishops following a scandal in Boston in 2002.
Cardinal Francis George of Chicago said the Church was 'on the right path' in its quest to better protect 'all children in society'" BBC NEWS | Americas | Sex claims against US Church rise
Biometric technology for real-time video surveillance ID
Biometric technology for real-time video surveillance ID: "Face recognition - Vilnius, Lithuania-based Neurotechnology has unveiled VeriLook Surveillance SDK, a new biometric technology for real-time face identification using video surveillance cameras.
According to the company, the software development kit enables detection of faces in motion and then matches them against an internal database, such as a watch-list of crime suspects or a list of authorized personnel.
The company contrasts its latest offering with its VeriLook 3.2 and other facial recognition systems that require users to actively look into a camera. VeriLook Surveillance, the company says, can be used in 'passive user' situations at airports, retail stores and other locations where people may not be looking directly into the camera. It can also be used for easy time-and-attendance control because it can automatically count or recognize individuals as they pass through entry points.
Once a face is detected, it is tracked in all successive frames of video until it disappears from camera view. Face appearance, tracking and disappearance events are reported to the system."
Palm Beach County schools hope scanners speed up lunch
PalDelray Beach - Cristian Medina moves his tray topped with a chicken sandwich, potato wedges, apple, and chocolate milk through the cafeteria line at S.D. Spady Elementary School. At the register, the second-grader places his right pointer finger on a pad.
The device shines a green light — automatically deducting money from his meal account — and he heads to a table with his classmates.
"It's freaky how it can read your finger," Cristian, 8, said Thursday.
Grown-ups call it biometric identification. In January, Spady became the first Palm Beach County school to use the technology, familiar to tourists who pass through the gates at Walt Disney World and other major Florida theme parks.
Now school district administrators want to pay $191,174 to put biometric keypads in every school cafeteria, to provide a speedier service line and prevent students from misusing accounts. The School Board will vote April 8 on a contract with School-Link Technologies of Santa Monica, Calif.
"We have to have a more efficient way," said district food service Director Steve Bonino. "We're feeding more kids than we have ever fed."
Nearly 81,100 students have received free or reduced-price meals this year, the most ever, he said.
Local school cafeterias have been using numerical keypads and swipe-card readers instead of cash for many years. Biometric devices are proven to get students through the line faster, said Allison Monbleau, food service general manager.
Under the proposed deal, the district would buy 511 devices at $449 each, while receiving discounts for the bulk purchase and trading in hundreds of keypads it will no longer need.
In 2007, Seminole County Public Schools near Orlando became the first district in Florida to try the biometric devices after receiving state approval. The units work by scanning points on a finger and converting them into a unique mathematical code.
"There's no way a fingerprint can be generated from it," said Dan Andrews, food services director. "It's just a form of positive ID."
After the success of a pilot program at three Seminole County schools, the district added two more schools this year.
"The system virtually pays for itself," Andrews said, adding that Seminole uses a different vendor, Educational Biometric Technology of Minnesota.
Lunch sales rose 17 percent at a high school using the devices, because students enjoyed being able to zip through the checkout line. Also, misuse of student meal accounts was eliminated.
"Kids don't like to stand in lines," Andrews said.
The district found that a group of 30 students gets through the lunch line 90 seconds to 2 minutes faster using the finger- touch device.
Parents are given the opportunity to opt out from their children using the biometric system, but most do not. Officials there assure families that there can be no security or privacy breaches.
At Spady Elementary, just a few parents forbid their children from registering their finger images, said Principal Martha O'Hare.
The school is continuing to use its old swipe-card system as it phases in the biometric devices. The scanner has been a welcome addition, although it has some trouble reading the smaller fingers of pre-kindergarten students, O'Hare said.
Natasha Seifts, 7, pays it the highest compliment.
"It's cool," the second-grader said during lunch Thursday.
Marc Freeman can be reached at mjfreeman@SunSentinel.com or 561-243-6642. -- South Florida Sun-Sentinel.com
3/8/09
The Groundwork Has Already Been Laid for Martial Law
By John W. Whitehead
3/4/2009
"During his two terms in office, George W. Bush stepped outside the boundaries of the Constitution and assembled an amazing toolbox of powers that greatly increased the authority of the Executive branch and the reach of the federal government.
Bush expanded presidential power to, among other things, allow government agents to secretly open the private mail of American citizens; authorize government agents to secretly, and illegally, listen in on the phone calls of American citizens and read our e-mails; assume control of the federal government following a 'catastrophic event'; and declare martial law.
Thus, the groundwork was laid for an imperial presidency and a potentially totalitarian government--a state of affairs that has not ended with Barack Obama's ascension to the Oval Office, despite hopes to the contrary that President Obama would fully restore the balance between government and its citizens to a pre-Bush status quo. As Charlie Savage reports in the New York Times, 'Signs suggest that the administration's changes may turn out to be less sweeping than many had hoped or feared--prompting growing worry among civil liberties groups and a sense of vindication among supporters of Bush-era policies.'
The fact is that the problem is bigger than Obama or any individual who occupies the White House. Indeed, once the government assumes expansive powers and crosses certain constitutional lines, it's almost impossible to pull back.
Just consider some of the lines that have already been crossed.
The local police have, in many regards, already evolved into de facto extensions of the military. Dressed like Darth Vader look-alikes, the police have opted for the SWAT-team dress formally adopted by the federal agencies. Congressional legislation allows the U.S. military, by way of the Pentagon, to train civilian police. The Pentagon has also provided local police with military equipment such as M-16 rifles, bayonets, boats, vehicles, surveillance equipment, chemical suits and flak jackets, among other items. Thus, they are armed to the teeth.
We already have a federal police force comprised of Secret Service agents who are authorized to 'carry firearms; make arrests without a warrant for any offense against the United States committed in their presence.' A recent incident demonstrates the increased and immediate involvement of federal agents in local matters with the assistance of local police. Chip Harrison, a construction worker in Oklahoma, was pulled over by local police because of an anti-Obama sign proclaiming 'Abort Obama, not the unborn' in his pickup truck window. The sign was confiscated by local police, and Harrison was informed that the sign could be considered a threat to the president. The local police contacted the Secret Service, who, within a matter of hours, came to Harrison's home and investigated the matter. So much for the freedom of expression.
According to the Army Times, we now have at least 20,000 U.S. military troops deployed within our borders to 'help with civil unrest and crowd control or to deal with potentially horrific scenarios such as massive poisoning and chaos in response to a chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear or high-yield explosive, or CBRNE, attack.' I am not alone in believing that we are just one incident--be it a terrorist attack, a major financial blowout or a widespread natural disaster--away from martial law being declared in this country. And once that happens, the Constitution and Bill of Rights will be suspended and what government officials believe and do, no matter how arbitrary, will become law.
Our methods of communication are already being monitored--and, in some instances, shut down, abetted by the telecommunications giants, which act as extensions of the government. Thus, not only does the government have the ability to open and read our mail, it can also listen in on our phone calls and jam our cell phone calls. As the Washington Post reports, federal authorities already have the ability to jam cell phones and other wireless devices. Unbeknownst to the nearly two million people who attended the Obama Inauguration festivities, federal authorities jammed cell phone signals at specific locations. Such disruptions simply appear to be a dropped call or lost signal. Of course, such jamming could be conducted on a more extensive basis nationwide. This would prevent citizens from being able to communicate with one another or make appeals to their government representatives. Although jamming is technically illegal for state and local agencies, Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) plans to introduce legislation to allow local police to 'selectively' jam cell phones.
We already live in a surveillance state. There was a time when people could flee when the government got out of control. Now, with our every movement monitored by cameras on sidewalks, streets, ATMs, and in shops, offices, schools and parks, there truly is nowhere to hide. Moreover, equipped with high-powered satellites and massive databases, the government can track us using our cell phones, cars, credit cards, driver's licenses and passports.
For those who have been paying attention, such as former war correspondent Chris Hedges in his Truthdig article, 'Bad News From America's Top Spy,' it's clear that the groundwork for a seamless transition into martial law under a totalitarian state of government has been laid. And local law enforcement, which has already been serving as a de facto military force, will be the key to maintaining martial law under a police state. Given the interconnectedness of our federal, state and local agencies, you can be sure that all of this will happen quickly.
All that is needed is another threat to national security--a so-called 'catastrophic event.' Under the Bush administration, the danger was terrorism. Under the Obama administration, the economy is being posed as the greatest threat to national security.
This danger was made clear in a U.S. Army War College report issued last fall. As Hedges reports, 'The military must be prepared, the document warned, for a 'violent, strategic dislocation inside the United States,' which could be provoked by 'unforeseen economic collapse,' 'purposeful domestic resistance,' 'pervasive public health emergencies' or 'loss of functioning political and legal order.' The 'widespread civil violence,' the document said, 'would force the defense establishment to reorient priorities in extremis to defend basic domestic order and human security.''
What does all this mean for you and me, the average citizen? When and if martial law is declared, freedom, as we have known it, will be obsolete. And don't expect much in the way of warning or help from the corporate media. As the war in Iraq showed, they are all too willing to be co-opted by the military for the sake of access and ratings. And there will be many Americans who won't know what's happening. They'll be too busy watching the latest entertainment spectacle and trying to guess the next American Idol.
Thankfully, we have not yet reached the point of no hope. But it must be acknowledged that the average American simply does not have the ability to withstand a totalitarian government.
Right now, all we can do is sound the alarm. Become educated. Form local citizens groups in your community. Educate your neighbors on their rights and inform them about the grave possibilities we face in the event of a government-declared emergency. Keep in almost near-constant contact with your representatives in Congress and voice your discontent. Most of all, stay informed and exercise your right to redress your grievances with the government while you still can.
As abolitionist Wendell Phillips once proclaimed:
Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty--power is ever stealing from the many to the few.... The hand entrusted with power becomes ... the necessary enemy of the people. Only by continual oversight can the democrat in office be prevented from hardening into a despot." The Rutherford Institute - Commentary:
3/4/2009
"During his two terms in office, George W. Bush stepped outside the boundaries of the Constitution and assembled an amazing toolbox of powers that greatly increased the authority of the Executive branch and the reach of the federal government.
Bush expanded presidential power to, among other things, allow government agents to secretly open the private mail of American citizens; authorize government agents to secretly, and illegally, listen in on the phone calls of American citizens and read our e-mails; assume control of the federal government following a 'catastrophic event'; and declare martial law.
Thus, the groundwork was laid for an imperial presidency and a potentially totalitarian government--a state of affairs that has not ended with Barack Obama's ascension to the Oval Office, despite hopes to the contrary that President Obama would fully restore the balance between government and its citizens to a pre-Bush status quo. As Charlie Savage reports in the New York Times, 'Signs suggest that the administration's changes may turn out to be less sweeping than many had hoped or feared--prompting growing worry among civil liberties groups and a sense of vindication among supporters of Bush-era policies.'
The fact is that the problem is bigger than Obama or any individual who occupies the White House. Indeed, once the government assumes expansive powers and crosses certain constitutional lines, it's almost impossible to pull back.
Just consider some of the lines that have already been crossed.
The local police have, in many regards, already evolved into de facto extensions of the military. Dressed like Darth Vader look-alikes, the police have opted for the SWAT-team dress formally adopted by the federal agencies. Congressional legislation allows the U.S. military, by way of the Pentagon, to train civilian police. The Pentagon has also provided local police with military equipment such as M-16 rifles, bayonets, boats, vehicles, surveillance equipment, chemical suits and flak jackets, among other items. Thus, they are armed to the teeth.
We already have a federal police force comprised of Secret Service agents who are authorized to 'carry firearms; make arrests without a warrant for any offense against the United States committed in their presence.' A recent incident demonstrates the increased and immediate involvement of federal agents in local matters with the assistance of local police. Chip Harrison, a construction worker in Oklahoma, was pulled over by local police because of an anti-Obama sign proclaiming 'Abort Obama, not the unborn' in his pickup truck window. The sign was confiscated by local police, and Harrison was informed that the sign could be considered a threat to the president. The local police contacted the Secret Service, who, within a matter of hours, came to Harrison's home and investigated the matter. So much for the freedom of expression.
According to the Army Times, we now have at least 20,000 U.S. military troops deployed within our borders to 'help with civil unrest and crowd control or to deal with potentially horrific scenarios such as massive poisoning and chaos in response to a chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear or high-yield explosive, or CBRNE, attack.' I am not alone in believing that we are just one incident--be it a terrorist attack, a major financial blowout or a widespread natural disaster--away from martial law being declared in this country. And once that happens, the Constitution and Bill of Rights will be suspended and what government officials believe and do, no matter how arbitrary, will become law.
Our methods of communication are already being monitored--and, in some instances, shut down, abetted by the telecommunications giants, which act as extensions of the government. Thus, not only does the government have the ability to open and read our mail, it can also listen in on our phone calls and jam our cell phone calls. As the Washington Post reports, federal authorities already have the ability to jam cell phones and other wireless devices. Unbeknownst to the nearly two million people who attended the Obama Inauguration festivities, federal authorities jammed cell phone signals at specific locations. Such disruptions simply appear to be a dropped call or lost signal. Of course, such jamming could be conducted on a more extensive basis nationwide. This would prevent citizens from being able to communicate with one another or make appeals to their government representatives. Although jamming is technically illegal for state and local agencies, Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) plans to introduce legislation to allow local police to 'selectively' jam cell phones.
We already live in a surveillance state. There was a time when people could flee when the government got out of control. Now, with our every movement monitored by cameras on sidewalks, streets, ATMs, and in shops, offices, schools and parks, there truly is nowhere to hide. Moreover, equipped with high-powered satellites and massive databases, the government can track us using our cell phones, cars, credit cards, driver's licenses and passports.
For those who have been paying attention, such as former war correspondent Chris Hedges in his Truthdig article, 'Bad News From America's Top Spy,' it's clear that the groundwork for a seamless transition into martial law under a totalitarian state of government has been laid. And local law enforcement, which has already been serving as a de facto military force, will be the key to maintaining martial law under a police state. Given the interconnectedness of our federal, state and local agencies, you can be sure that all of this will happen quickly.
All that is needed is another threat to national security--a so-called 'catastrophic event.' Under the Bush administration, the danger was terrorism. Under the Obama administration, the economy is being posed as the greatest threat to national security.
This danger was made clear in a U.S. Army War College report issued last fall. As Hedges reports, 'The military must be prepared, the document warned, for a 'violent, strategic dislocation inside the United States,' which could be provoked by 'unforeseen economic collapse,' 'purposeful domestic resistance,' 'pervasive public health emergencies' or 'loss of functioning political and legal order.' The 'widespread civil violence,' the document said, 'would force the defense establishment to reorient priorities in extremis to defend basic domestic order and human security.''
What does all this mean for you and me, the average citizen? When and if martial law is declared, freedom, as we have known it, will be obsolete. And don't expect much in the way of warning or help from the corporate media. As the war in Iraq showed, they are all too willing to be co-opted by the military for the sake of access and ratings. And there will be many Americans who won't know what's happening. They'll be too busy watching the latest entertainment spectacle and trying to guess the next American Idol.
Thankfully, we have not yet reached the point of no hope. But it must be acknowledged that the average American simply does not have the ability to withstand a totalitarian government.
Right now, all we can do is sound the alarm. Become educated. Form local citizens groups in your community. Educate your neighbors on their rights and inform them about the grave possibilities we face in the event of a government-declared emergency. Keep in almost near-constant contact with your representatives in Congress and voice your discontent. Most of all, stay informed and exercise your right to redress your grievances with the government while you still can.
As abolitionist Wendell Phillips once proclaimed:
Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty--power is ever stealing from the many to the few.... The hand entrusted with power becomes ... the necessary enemy of the people. Only by continual oversight can the democrat in office be prevented from hardening into a despot." The Rutherford Institute - Commentary:
Why are we fingerprinting children?
Schools claim it cuts costs and time – but the civil liberties implications are vast
"As voters express concern about surveillance technology, is it becoming second nature to the Facebook generation – used to publishing intimate details of their private lives on the worldwide web – who, in later life, may be less vociferous in their opposition to such schemes?
An increasing number of today's schoolchildren are forgoing the humiliating daily name call of registration, and are instead having to 'fingerswipe' in and out of class, or to give it its proper name: biometric registration. According to campaign group LeaveThemKidsAlone, schools have fingerprinted more than two million children this way, sometimes even without their parents' consent. A statement on its website claims: 'It's part of an enormous softening-up exercise, targeting society's most impressionable, so they'll accept cradle-to-grave state snooping and control.'
Hard-pressed schools and local councils with tight budgets are being enticed by a new generation of software that promises to cut administration costs and time. In the last 18 months, several Guardian readers have written into the paper expressing concern at this new technology being trialled on their children. Everything from 'cashless catering schemes' to 'kiddyprints' instead of library cards is being introduced by stealth into the nation's schools, it is claimed.
The software companies that are jostling for a stake in this lucrative market, such as VeriCool and CRB solutions, boast several testimonials on their websites, arguing that this technology not only minimises lunchtime queues and paperwork, but also tackles more serious problems such as truancy and bullying (a cashless system negates the need to be biffed for your lunch money). They even claim that their systems promote healthy eating, as pupils accrue points for eschewing sugary snacks.
Furthermore, CRB solutions is quick to reassure pupils and staff that 'this wasn't the same sort of fingerprinting that the police did … in fact, parts of the 'fingerprint' are converted (using a mathematical algorithm) into digital data which can then be used for future recognition.'
However, the police and security services do use coded algorithms when taking the fingerprints of a suspect, as well as taking inky fingerprints that are kept on paper file. And it is this data that they use to match fingerprints at the scene of a major crime. The implications are vast – the nation's schools aren't exactly the safest place for the storage of this sensitive data – and anyone with access to the system and a mobile SIM card can download the information from a computer, increasing the chances of identity theft. Unless the computer system is professionally purged, before this data has a chance to be leaked, it can remain in cyberspace for eternity to be retained for all sorts of dubious purposes.
It's odd that this drive towards fingerprinting children coincides with the government's keenness to expand the national DNA database – we already have one of the largest in the world – with more than four million people on file, including nearly 1.1 million children.
Odd too that VeriCool is reported to be part of Anteon, an American company that is responsible for the training of interrogators at Guantánamo and Abu Gharib.
It seems that in the blink of an eyelid (or iris scan), our children are losing the civil liberties and freedoms we are fighting so hard to preserve" Yvonne Singh: Why are we fingerprinting children? | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk:
"As voters express concern about surveillance technology, is it becoming second nature to the Facebook generation – used to publishing intimate details of their private lives on the worldwide web – who, in later life, may be less vociferous in their opposition to such schemes?
An increasing number of today's schoolchildren are forgoing the humiliating daily name call of registration, and are instead having to 'fingerswipe' in and out of class, or to give it its proper name: biometric registration. According to campaign group LeaveThemKidsAlone, schools have fingerprinted more than two million children this way, sometimes even without their parents' consent. A statement on its website claims: 'It's part of an enormous softening-up exercise, targeting society's most impressionable, so they'll accept cradle-to-grave state snooping and control.'
Hard-pressed schools and local councils with tight budgets are being enticed by a new generation of software that promises to cut administration costs and time. In the last 18 months, several Guardian readers have written into the paper expressing concern at this new technology being trialled on their children. Everything from 'cashless catering schemes' to 'kiddyprints' instead of library cards is being introduced by stealth into the nation's schools, it is claimed.
The software companies that are jostling for a stake in this lucrative market, such as VeriCool and CRB solutions, boast several testimonials on their websites, arguing that this technology not only minimises lunchtime queues and paperwork, but also tackles more serious problems such as truancy and bullying (a cashless system negates the need to be biffed for your lunch money). They even claim that their systems promote healthy eating, as pupils accrue points for eschewing sugary snacks.
Furthermore, CRB solutions is quick to reassure pupils and staff that 'this wasn't the same sort of fingerprinting that the police did … in fact, parts of the 'fingerprint' are converted (using a mathematical algorithm) into digital data which can then be used for future recognition.'
However, the police and security services do use coded algorithms when taking the fingerprints of a suspect, as well as taking inky fingerprints that are kept on paper file. And it is this data that they use to match fingerprints at the scene of a major crime. The implications are vast – the nation's schools aren't exactly the safest place for the storage of this sensitive data – and anyone with access to the system and a mobile SIM card can download the information from a computer, increasing the chances of identity theft. Unless the computer system is professionally purged, before this data has a chance to be leaked, it can remain in cyberspace for eternity to be retained for all sorts of dubious purposes.
It's odd that this drive towards fingerprinting children coincides with the government's keenness to expand the national DNA database – we already have one of the largest in the world – with more than four million people on file, including nearly 1.1 million children.
Odd too that VeriCool is reported to be part of Anteon, an American company that is responsible for the training of interrogators at Guantánamo and Abu Gharib.
It seems that in the blink of an eyelid (or iris scan), our children are losing the civil liberties and freedoms we are fighting so hard to preserve" Yvonne Singh: Why are we fingerprinting children? | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk:
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