AFP: New 'shock' report into Irish church sex abuse

"DUBLIN — A shocking new report has identified hundreds of victims of child sex abuse by Irish Catholic priests, officials said Tuesday, two months after a landmark study found 'endemic' mistreatment.

A government-appointed commission of investigation headed by a judge has been probing allegations of abuse by priests in the archdiocese of Dublin -- the country's biggest -- since March 2006.

Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin has warned that the report -- presented to Justice Minister Dermot Ahern on Tuesday -- would 'shock us all.'

It is the first time the state has investigated how the once-powerful Church in mainly Catholic Ireland has run its affairs.

It probed whether the Church reported abuse allegations or attempted to 'obstruct, prevent or interfere with the proper investigation' of complaints.

A spokeswoman for the archdiocese said the Church authorities had identified between 400 and 450 people that allege they were abused by one of 152 Dublin priests since 1940.

'I would like to stress that that is a very conservative estimate and is likely to rise,' she told AFP.

Ahern said he was anxious to make the findings public 'as quickly as possible.'

He added: 'Equally, I am concerned that nothing should be done which would harm the prospects of the perpetrators of these horrific acts of depravity against children being brought to the justice they deserve.'

Ahern is required to apply to the High Court for directions if he considers the report's publication might prejudice any criminal prosecution of clerics.

He is to seek the advice of Attorney General Paul Gallagher.

In May Ireland was rocked by a landmark report that concluded sexual, physical and emotional abuse was 'endemic' in Church-run industrial and reformatory schools, orphanages and other childcare institutions dating back to the 1930s.

Prime Minister Brian Cowen said it contained a 'shattering litany of abuse of children in care in this country over many decades.'

He told parliament the report was the gravest in the history of the country and contained 'such horrific stories that it is difficult to know where to begin in talking about it.'" ...source

RFID-Enabled Phones Could Let Credit Card Companies Track Users

"An Ericsson executive says all new mobile phones sold in 2010 will include an RFID chip that will allow owners to open their car or house door with their phone. A handy feature, no doubt, for some people. But the executive says the chip might also be used by credit card companies to track the location of cardholders to cut down on fraud.

Håkan Djuphammar, vice president of systems architecture for Ericsson, speaking at a conference in Stockholm this week, said credit card companies could make use of mobile user location data and IP mapping to determine if the owner of a card is in the same location where a card transaction is taking place.

“In some countries there’s a lot of fraud with credit cards so therefore it’s in the interest of the credit card issuer to be able to match the position of the phone that belongs to the person who has a credit card,” he reportedly said.

He said the chips could also be used to create real-time traffic maps and updates by determining the speed of a driver passing by mobile phone base stations.

Djuphammar said selling the information of mobile phone users to credit card companies and others would be a “win win” situation for all parties concerned.

“That is a typical ‘win win’ where the operator share their assets/knowledge through a broker, and the GPS company can sell a service to the end user. The end user wins, the GPS service provider wins, the broker provider wins and the operator wins,” he said.

Djuphammar did not mention whether users will be able to turn the chip off or otherwise opt out of the sale of their data." ...Wired.com

"A SIGN of the TIMES" Episcopal Church moves toward blessing gay unions

"LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – The U.S. Episcopal Church gave its clergy the go-ahead on Friday to bless some same-sex unions, such as civil partnerships in states that legally recognize them, setting the stage for further conflict with the wider Anglican world.

The resolution, passed on the final day of the church's triennial national convention, also directs church leaders to develop official rites, or liturgies, for the blessing of same-sex unions -- a move that could see the church eventually change its definition of marriage.

For now, the church's official definition of marriage is a union between a man and a woman. The same-sex rites called for on Friday will be discussed and voted on at the next general church conference in three years.

The 2 million-member Episcopal Church earlier this week approved a resolution opening the doors to ordain gay men and women as clergy.

Both resolutions are sure to further strain U.S. Episcopal Church relations with its conservative parishes and the global Anglican Communion, whose 80 million members belong to congregations that are offshoots of the Church of England.

Church unity has been strained since 2003, when the Episcopal Church consecrated Gene Robinson of New Hampshire as the first bishop in Anglican history known to be in an openly gay relationship.

The ordaining of gay clergy and related issues have already prompted some congregations to leave the Episcopal fold and form a rival North American church that claims 100,000 believers. Anglican churches in regions like Africa have broken ties with their more liberal U.S. brethren.

'We're doing our best to make room for everybody. We have gay and lesbian members, and gay and lesbian clergy, and we are trying to honor the diversity of belief and theology in the church,' Stephen Lane, the bishop of Maine, told Reuters before the resolution's final passage." ...mores:

India to issue all 1.2 billion citizens with biometric ID cards - Times Online

"It is surely the biggest Big Brother project yet conceived. India is to issue each of its 1.2 billion citizens, millions of whom live in remote villages and possess no documentary proof of existence, with cyber-age biometric identity cards.

The Government in Delhi recently created the Unique Identification Authority, a new state department charged with the task of assigning every living Indian an exclusive number. It will also be responsible for gathering and electronically storing their personal details, at a predicted cost of at least £3 billion.

The task will be led by Nandan Nilekani, the outsourcing sage who coined the phrase “the world is flat”, which became a mantra for supporters of globalisation. “It is a humongous, mind-boggling challenge,” he told The Times. “But we have the opportunity to give every Indian citizen, for the first time, a unique identity. We can transform the country.”

If the cards were piled on top of each other they would be 150 times as high as Mount Everest — 1,200 kilometre"

India’s legions of local bureaucrats currently issue at least 20 proofs of identity, including birth certificates, driving licences and ration cards. None is accepted universally and moving from one state to the next can easily render a citizen officially invisible — a disastrous predicament for the millions of poor who rely on state handouts to survive.

It is hoped that the ID scheme will close such bureaucratic black holes while also fighting corruption. It may also be put to more controversial ends, such as the identification of illegal immigrants and tackling terrorism. A computer chip in each card will contain personal data and proof of identity, such as fingerprint or iris scans. Criminal records and credit histories may also be included....more

Minority Report precrime unit coming to a city near you: "Preempting threats with WeCU technology"

"The presentation opens with a question: What if a threat could be detected before it has a chance to complete its mission? A powerful image ensues of live footage rolling backward in slow motion. In the imaginary scenario, a clock turns back and one of the most devastating terrorist attacks of all time never happens. The Twin Towers in New York City go from being impacted by jumbo jets - their shattering glass frames exploding into flames - to a narrative in which they return to their original structural soundness. As the flames disappear and the glass returns to its proper place along the sides of the buildings, a new slide pops up. The setting sun shines on the former skyline of New York. The original supposition is answered by the following words: Actually, it can.

This ability to detect potential threats defines the innovative new technology of WeCU. The Israeli company is a collaboration among leading experts in diverse fields, including Zipora (Zipi) Alster, a behavioral scientist; CEO Ehud Givon, an experienced engineer who worked in security for many years before founding WeCU; Shlomo Breznitz, a psychology professor who specializes in stress response research; and Dr. Boaz Ganor, the founder and executive director of the International Institute for Counterterrorism at the Interdisciplinary Center in Herzliya. For the last six years, the team has been developing a technology that promises to change the future of security." ...more

BusinessWorld Online: A World Without Cash

"IT STARTED as a piece of economic science fiction. The cashless society, a society in which all bills and debits are paid through electronic media, is now more than ever a looming possibility; some say it can be realized as early as the year 2012.

Imagine working in one of the busiest districts of Tokyo. The fight for the last maki during the peak hours of your favorite sushi bar will have had you settling for the next best thing. Yet, the reassuring thought of not having to fall too far behind a long line of hungry customers counting the coins in their purses has somewhat made the extra time you spent waiting for your much coveted sushi all the more worthwhile.

That is the typical lunch break of Toru Nashimito as narrated by an international journal. Mr. Nashimito is a Japanese 40-year-old who, like much of Japan today, finds payment to the last centavo a convenient swipe-of-the-card (or cellphone) away. In but a few seconds, Nashimoto had paid for his $45 lunch tab. No change from the cash register. No waiting for confirmation. No pin code to enter.

A Global Trend

In Japan especially, cashless transactions are fast becoming the norm of everyday life. The Japanese are flashing their smart cards and their mobile phones on virtually all of their purchases, from magazines to fast food to public transport, even vendo machines.

Japan, however, is not alone. Joining the ranks of those countries converting to electronic cash is New Zealand. In fact, a recent report by her Retirement Commission reveals that electronic funds transfer (Eftpos) had already displaced cash as the most common method of payment for such things as groceries, power bills, and mortgages. According to the same study, the number using Eftpos had remained stable at 83%, while those using cash had fallen from 84% in 2005 to 77%, a whopping 6% shy of the now most widely used means of transaction.

The concept has become far from arcane, even to countries with relatively backward technologies such as the Philippines. The smart cards and mobile phones are embedded with unique antennas and integrated circuit chips that allow the devices to receive and emit electronic signals, which in turn, translate to electronic money. This is the same technology employed in Hong Kong’s widely used Octopus card. Launched in 1997, the card is now enjoyed by more than 13 million users.

Europe and the United States are expected to follow suit, albeit not as seamlessly as the transition of their eastern counterparts. Branded as the credit card nation, the U.S. is probably the best example of a country that has done away with cash. In 2005, only 31% and 15% of the public used cash and checks, respectively, while users of credit and debit cards ballooned to 51%. Slowly but surely, Americans are holding onto their cards rather than their currency, and analysts say that eventually e-cash will penetrate the iPod nation, if only for speedier transactions." ...more

"Pope Endorses "World Political Authority"

"Some in the media are calling it just a statement about 'economic justice.' But Pope Benedict XVI's 'Charity in Truth' statement, also known as an encyclical, is a radical document that puts the Roman Catholic Church firmly on the side of an emerging world government.

In explicit and direct language, the Pope calls for a 'true world political authority' to manage the affairs of the world. At the same time, however, the Pope also warns that such an international order could 'produce a dangerous universal power of a tyrannical nature' and must be guarded against somehow.

The New York Times got it right this time, noting the Pope's call for a world political authority amounted to endorsement of a New World Economic Order, a long-time goal of the old Soviet-sponsored international communist movement. Bloomberg.com highlighted the Pope's call for a new world order with 'teeth.'

The Pope's shocking endorsement of a 'World Political Authority,' which has prophetic implications for some Christians who fear that a global dictatorship will take power in the 'last days' of man's reign on earth, comes shortly after the United Nations Conference
on the World Financial and Economic Crisis issued a call for global taxes and more powerful global institutions. U.N. General Assembly President, Miguel D'Escoto, a Communist Catholic Priest, gave a speech at the event calling on the nations of the world to revere 'Mother Earth' but concluded with words from the Pope blessing the conference participants.

The controversial Papal statement comes just before a meeting of the G-8 nations and a scheduled meeting between the Pope and President Obama at the Vatican on July 10.

Sounding like Obama himself, Pope Benedict says this new international order can be accomplished through 'reform of the United Nations Organization, and likewise of economic institutions and international finance, so that the concept of the family of nations can acquire real teeth.'

The 'teeth' may come in adopting the global environmental agenda, which the Pope warmly embraces." ...more

Bill Prohibits Forced Implantation

Bill Prohibits Forced Implantation: "The Pennsylvania House of Representatives on a 195-0 vote has passed legislation to mandate informed consent before an individual is implanted with an identification device. The legislation, H.B. 1175, now moves to the state Senate.

The bill defines an identification device as 'any item, application or product that is passively or actively capable of transmitting personal information, including, but not limited to, devices using radio frequency technology.'

VeriChip Corp., a Delray Beach, Fla.-based vendor of an implantable microchip to provide access to an individual's medical records, supports the bill. 'In general, we are supportive of legislation that prohibits forced implants,' said Scott Silverman, chair of VeriChip, in a statement. 'VeriChip, like any other medical device, should be an election by the patient or his or her physician, loved one or guardian.'

Under the legislation, 'no device shall be implanted or incorporated into the body without the fully informed written consent of the individual. The consent of a guardian, parent or attorney shall not constitute consent. An individual must be at least 18 years of age and of sound mind to undergo implementation of an identification device.'

That language would suggest such devices could not be used to track the whereabouts of persons with dementia.

The bill's provisions would not apply to individuals ordered by a state or federal court to be implanted as part of a sentence or condition for parole or release. It also would exempt military prisoners held at Guantanamo Bay.

The legislation authorizes civil penalties of up to $10,000 and gives victims the right to bring a civil suit.

Text of the bill is available at legis.state.pa.us. Under Find, click on Session Information. Under Bill Information, enter HB 1175. Then select Printer's No. 2239 for the House-passed version.

--Joseph Goedert"

Glenn Beck Agrees US Needs Another Al Qaeda Attack To Protect Us From Immigrants

Glenn Beck nods and agrees with his guest Michael Scheuer that the only way to "save" the US (from illegal immigrants, of course) is for Osama bin Laden to succeed in detonating a major weapon on America.

The Third Leg of the New World Order: The Globalization of Religious Tolerance

By Tony Blair

Faith matters. Even if you are not of religious faith yourself. Over 4 billion people world-wide recognize themselves as religious. They may not attend an organized place of worship. But Faith plays a part in their lives. A recent poll found that religion is important for around 30-35% of people in Europe, 65% of Americans and for about 90% of people in most Muslim-majority countries.

I started the Tony Blair Faith Foundation because I believe the modern world cannot work unless people from different faiths and cultures learn to live in peaceful co-existence with each other. Understanding increases the possibility of peace. Ignorance increases the potential for division.

The reason this is so important today is that globalization is shrinking the space we live in, making us share it, pushing people together in a way that is unique in human history. Some dislike this process. Some, like me, are content and even welcome it. But, for sure, it is a fact.

In this world, if religious faith becomes a counter force to this process, one which pulls people apart, then it becomes reactionary and divisive. So if I define myself as a Christian in opposition to you as a Muslim, then just as we are forced to live together by globalization, so we are forced apart by a view of religious faith that is exclusionary and hostile to those of a different faith to our own.
Apostasy
The Tony Blair Faith Foundation works in a number of ways to prevent this happening. One way is an inter-faith encounter through action, which is why we are supporting the UN anti-malaria campaign, to mobilize the faith communities to become centres of distribution for bed nets and medicines in Africa. We work also for reconciliation where religion is a dimension in political conflict, as in the Middle East. A key part of our work is education. In partnership with Yale University in the United States we now have a 'Faith and Globalization' course which began last year. This is now being extended to four other universities world-wide.

Now we are adding a new dimension: an education program linking up schools across the globe and across the faith divide. Launching officially today is Face to Faith, the new global schools project from my Foundation, designed to encourage young people of different faiths to learn directly with, from and about each other. Through structured video-conferencing, an online community and a course syllabus, Face to Faith gets secondary school students from across the world working together, investigating big global issues; sharing their own opinions, values and beliefs; and exploring the reasons for similar and different views. In this way, Face to Faith encourages young people to recognize the similarities between faiths but also, importantly, to respect and deal with the differences between diverse and often conflicting worldviews, helping to equip them to live in a global society made up of different faiths and beliefs."...more

Tracking Chips are Coming:'RFID in all new mobiles by next summer'

"All new mobiles will be packing a RFID chip by summer 2010 - ultimately opening up the possibility of your phone also becoming the keys to your car or your house.

That's the prediction of Ericsson's VP of systems architecture, Håkan Djuphammar, speaking at the mobile infrastructure company's Business Innovation Forum in Stockholm on Tuesday.

He told delegates: 'A year from now basically every new phone that's sold will have [Near Field Communication]. It's a two-way, bio-directional RFID communication link that makes this device work as a tag or as a reader.'

Djuphammar said devices with RFID chips will have a secure environment on the SIM card where 'trusted identities' or 'secure elements' can be downloaded - enabling the phone to take on other roles, such as the keys for your car or house, or a credit card or concert ticket. He said Ericsson is currently working with a utilities company that has 700 separate unmanned facilities and around 15,000 keys - a logistical nightmare it wants to eliminate via the use of RFID-enabled mobile phones.

'They don't know really where those keys are,' he said. 'So they want to replace all the locks with RFID locks, put RFID-capable phones in the hands of all their personnel and then they can control the access to these sites.'

Using RFID in this way would enable a mobile to be assigned to open a door for a certain period of time only - meaning the company could better manage access to its facilities, while also replacing the hassle of dealing with thousands of physical keys.

'All sorts of things will be enabled by [RFID] - a small piece of technology but with an ecosystem around it that opens up tremendous opportunities for innovation,' he added.

Mobile phones could also soon become instruments of fraud detection. Djuphammar said credit card companies could make use of mobile user location data and IP mapping to ascertain whether a credit card transaction is taking place in the vicinity of the official card holder and thus judge whether that transaction is likely to be genuine or not.

'In some countries there's a lot of fraud with credit cards so therefore it's in the interest of the credit card issuer to be able to match the position of the phone that belongs to the person who has a credit card. If the phone's close to where the credit card is used the fraud risk is low but suddenly if the phone moves away from where the credit card is used they can be alerted to check that particular transaction - it's most likely fraud because now the phone and the credit card are separated,' he explained.

Another example of leveraging location data is to create real-time road traffic maps generated by analysing the speed of mobile phone base station hand-off to ascertain how fast cars are travelling on roads. This data could then be sold to GPS device companies enabling them to provide dynamic travel information to motorists." ...more

Worker ID cards expected to get a new look - Los Angeles Times

"A supporter of the cards, Sen. Charles Schumer, is expected to introduce a worker ID card bill this fall. Immigrants rights advocates see positives to the system, but they have some worries."

By Teresa Watanabe
2:25 PM PDT, June 15, 2009

As the immigration reform debate begins to heat up again, some immigrant advocates expect that one of the biggest and most controversial new elements will be a proposed national worker identification card for all Americans

A 'forgery-proof' worker ID card, secured with biometric data such as fingerprints, is a favored idea of the new chairman of the Senate immigration subcommittee, Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y). Schumer, who will lead the effort to craft the Senate's comprehensive immigration reform legislation, has publicly espoused the card as the best way to ensure that all workers are authorized.



'The ID will make it easy for employers to avoid undocumented workers, which will allow for tough sanctions against employers who break the law, which will lead to no jobs being available for illegal immigrants, which will stop illegal immigration,' Schumer wrote in his 2007 book, 'Positively American.'

'Once Americans are convinced that we will permanently staunch the flow of illegal immigration, they will be more willing to accept constructing a path toward earned citizenship for those who are already here.'

A Schumer aide said last week that the senator would probably present the worker ID card idea at a hearing this summer on employee verification systems. Schumer previously held a hearing on border enforcement and plans to hold three more this summer -- on future immigrant flows, legalization of illegal immigrants and worker verification -- before introducing a comprehensive bill in the fall, the aide said.

The idea of a national worker ID card has been around for decades, but the ascension of Schumer to head the immigration subcommittee has elevated its chances of becoming part of any reform legislation, many immigrant advocates believe. Some predict that debate over a worker ID card would be more heated than one over legalization.

The idea of a worker ID card is embraced by some business and community organizations. But it has touched off fears of civil rights violations and 'Big Brother' intrusion into private lives among many labor activists and groups such as the American Civil Liberties Union. In his book, Schumer proposed requiring every American worker, both citizen and noncitizen, to apply for an identity card.

Some activists also expressed fear that any ID card proposal could divide the immigrant rights community between those opposed to its perceived dangers and those willing to accept it as part of a broad compromise that would legalize many of the nation's estimated 11 million illegal immigrants.

'The bottom line is that this would be really expensive, really invasive, and people will hate it,' said Chris Calabrese, consul for the ACLU's technology and liberty project.

Maria Elena Durazo, who heads the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor AFL-CIO, said she would not want employers to control any worker verification system because they could selectively use it to punish people pushing for labor rights or union organization. She and others also said that worker verification systems of all kinds remain vulnerable to mistakes. Immigration lawyer Peter Schey said it would be nearly impossible to monitor the nation's 26 million employers for compliance with any worker verification system. As a result, he and others argue that the best way to discourage illegal immigration is by strict enforcement of wage and hour laws, and serious penalties on employers who violate them.

For their part, business leaders say they want to be sure that they will not be saddled with high costs or liability for any new verification system.

Some business groups have opposed the idea of making mandatory the now-voluntary system known as E-Verify. The Internet-based system allows employers to check the citizenship status and work eligibility of newly hired employees. But U.S. Chamber of Commerce spokesman Angelo Amador said employers never know whether the passports, driver's licenses or Social Security cards being presented are genuine.

But anyone presenting a worker ID card would be assumed legal, subject to confirmation by swiping into a national database similar to credit cards, he said.

'It sounds like a good idea, because it takes away the burden on employers of being ID experts,' Amador said. 'We do want a system, but we just want to make sure that it's accurate and fast, and that the liability for employers is minimal.'

Brent Wilkes of the League of United Latin American Citizens said one advantage of a worker ID card is that once it is issued, employees can feel confident that they are eligible to apply for any job. Under E-Verify, newly hired employees could lose their jobs if their identities do not check out. Most activists say they are waiting for details before weighing in on worker ID cards. But some say they may ultimately have to compromise.

'At the end of the day, if we're going to achieve legalization of a major share of the undocumented, we realize there will have to be some give and take over worker verification,' said Mike Garcia, president of the Service Employees International Union Local 1877 in Los Angeles. 'We're not against it necessarily if all of the other pieces of immigration reform fall into place.'

teresa.watanabe@latimes.com"

The Noose is Tighting: Canada to seek biometrics on every visitor - UPI.com

Canada to seek biometrics on every visitor - UPI.com: "OTTAWA, June 10 (UPI) -- Canada is moving to collect such biometric data as photos and fingerprints on every visitor from every country by 2013, the incoming spy chief said.

Speaking to the Parliamentary Immigration Committee, Deputy Minister of Citizenship and Immigration Richard Fadden said the program will be phased in between 2011 and 2013, the Globe and Mail reported.

'The intention is to capture everybody,' Fadden said Tuesday. 'The idea is to increase our capacity to know who is in Canada at a particular point of time.'

Fadden is set to become chief of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service June 27.

The technology was tested during a field trial from October 2006 to April 2007 in two undisclosed overseas visa offices and found to be reliable and effective at preventing fraud, the Globe reported.

Documents seen by Sun Media show the plan is to require fingerprints from 15 percent of prospective temporary residents by late 2011, increasing to 50 percent in 2012 and 100 percent by 2013"

DEFENDER PUBLISHING: ENTER THE ERA OF OBAMA

"Should the world continue, historians will undoubtedly record how the messianic fervor surrounding the election of the 44th president of the United States reflected not only widespread disapproval for Bush administration policies, but how, in the aftermath of September 11, 2001 the American psyche was primed to accept expansive alterations in political and financial policy with an overarching scheme for salvation from chaos. Among these historians, a few will undoubtedly also argue that, as National German Socialists did in the years following World War I, Barack Hussein Obama appealed to the increasingly disenfranchised voters among American society by playing on their understandable fears in order to posture himself as the essential agent of change. What most of these historians are not likely to record, however, is the involvement before and after the U.S. presidential election by unseen shapers of the New World Order. If they did, the vast numbers of people would not believe it anyway, the idea that behind the global chaos that gave rise to Obama’s popularity was a secret network, a transnational hand directing the course of civilization. Yet no account of history including recent times is complete or even sincere without at least acknowledging the behind-the-scenes masters who manipulate international policy, banking and finance, securities and exchange, trade, commodities, and energy resources. Numerous works including scholarly ones have connected the dots between this ruling superclass and the integration of policy handed down to governing bodies of nation-states and supra-national organizations.

The Economist Newspaper in April 2008 pointed to research by academic David Rothkopf, whose book, Superclass: The Global Power Elite and the World They Are Making documented how only a few thousand people worldwide actually dictate the majority of policies operating at a global scale. The Economist described this comparatively small number of elites as being “groomed” in “world-spanning institutions… [who] meet at global events such as the World Economic Forum at Davos and the Trilateral Commission or… the Bilderberg meetings or the Bohemian Grove seminars that take place every July in California.” [8] Long time radio host and author of Brotherhood of Darkness, Stanley Monteith says such persons are part of an “Occult Hierarchy” that rules the world and directs the course of human events. “The movement is led by powerful men who reject Christianity, embrace the ‘dark side,’ and are dedicated to the formation of a world government and a world religion,” he writes. “They control the government, the media… many corporations, and both [US] political parties.” [9] Interestingly, Pope Benedict XVI may have referred to the same group when in 2008 he warned United Nations diplomats that multilateral consensus needed to solve global difficulties was “in crises” because answers to the problems were being “subordinated to the decisions of the few.” His predecessor, Pope John Paul II may have acknowledged the same, believing a One World Government beneath the guidance of a ruling superclass was inevitable. Before his death, it was prominent American political scientist Samuel P. Huntington who brought the uber-echelon behind the push for global government up from “conspiracy theory” to academic acceptability when he established that they “have little need for national loyalty, view national boundaries as obstacles that thankfully are vanishing, and see national governments as residues from the past whose only useful function is to facilitate the elite’s global operations.” [10] In other words, according to experts, international affairs, foreign and domestic politics and taxpayer funded investment economics are being largely decided by a privileged cadre of families who are dedicated to a New World Order and One World Government." ,,,more

'Endemic' rape and abuse of Irish children in Catholic care, inquiry finds

"Rape and sexual molestation were 'endemic' in Irish Catholic church-run industrial schools and orphanages, a report revealed today.

The nine-year investigation found that Catholic priests and nuns for decades terrorised thousands of boys and girls in the Irish Republic, while government inspectors failed to stop the chronic beatings, rape and humiliation.

The high court judge Sean Ryan today unveiled the 2,600-page final report of Ireland's commission into child abuse, which drew on testimony from thousands of former inmates and officials from more than 250 church-run institutions. Police were called to the news conference amid angry scenes as victims were prevented from attending.

More than 30,000 children deemed to be petty thieves, truants or from dysfunctional families – a category that often included unmarried mothers – were sent to Ireland's austere network of industrial schools, reformatories, orphanages and hostels from the 1930s until the last facilities shut in the 1990s." ...more

Saudi files for 'killer' tracking chip patent - The Local

Saudi files for 'killer' tracking chip patent - The Local: "A Saudi Arabian inventor has filed for a patent on a potentially lethal science fiction-style human tracking microchip, the German Patent and Trademark Office (DPMA) told The Local on Friday.

But the macabre innovation that enables remote killing will likely be denied copyright protection.

“While the application is still pending further paperwork on his part, the invention will probably be found to violate paragraph two of the German Patent Law – which does not allow inventions that transgress public order or good morals,” spokeswoman Stephanie Krüger told The Local from Munich.

The patent application – entitled “Implantation of electronic chips in the human body for the purposes of determining its geographical location” – was filed on October 30, 2007, but was only published until last week, or 18 months after submission as required by German law, she said.

“In recent times the number of people sought by security forces has increased,” the Jeddah-based inventor wrote in his summary.

The tiny electronic device, dubbed the “Killer Chip” by Swiss daily Tagesanzeiger, would be suited for tracking fugitives from justice, terrorists, illegal immigrants, criminals, political opponents, defectors, domestic help, and Saudi Arabians who don’t return home from pilgrimages.

“I apply for these reasons and for reasons of state security and the security of citizens,” the statement reads.

After subcutaneous implantation, the chip would send out encrypted radio waves that would be tracked by satellites to confirm the person’s identity and whereabouts. An alternate model chip could reportedly release a poison into the carrier if he or she became a security risk.

“Foreigners are allowed to apply for patents in Germany through a native representative, in this case it was a Munich law firm,” Krüger told The Local. “Most people apply for a patent in several countries, and this inventor probably did too.”

But the law firm, DTS Munich, is no longer responsible for the application.

'We resigned from representation of this case last week,' a spokesman said without stating why."

Survey: Support for terror suspect torture differs among the faithful - CNN.com

Survey: Support for terror suspect torture differs among the faithful - CNN.com: "WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The more often Americans go to church, the more likely they are to support the torture of suspected terrorists, according to a new survey.

More than half of people who attend services at least once a week -- 54 percent -- said the use of torture against suspected terrorists is 'often' or 'sometimes' justified. Only 42 percent of people who 'seldom or never' go to services agreed, according to the analysis released Wednesday by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life.

White evangelical Protestants were the religious group most likely to say torture is often or sometimes justified -- more than six in 10 supported it. People unaffiliated with any religious organization were least likely to back it. Only four in 10 of them did.

The analysis is based on a Pew Research Center survey of 742 American adults conducted April 14-21. It did not include analysis of groups other than white evangelicals, white non-Hispanic Catholics, white mainline Protestants and the religiously unaffiliated, because the sample size was too small. See results of the survey »

The president of the National Association of Evangelicals, Leith Anderson, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The survey asked: 'Do you think the use of torture against suspected terrorists in order to gain important information can often be justified, sometimes be justified, rarely be justified, or never be justified?'
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Roughly half of all respondents -- 49 percent -- said it is often or sometimes justified. A quarter said it never is.

The religious group most likely to say torture is never justified was Protestant denominations -- such as Episcopalians, Lutherans and Presbyterians -- categorized as 'mainline' Protestants, in contrast to evangelicals. Just over three in 10 of them said torture is never justified. A quarter of the religiously unaffiliated said the same, compared with two in 10 white non-Hispanic Catholics and one in eight evangelicals."

Religious Defamation is Now a Human Rights Violation

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:

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:

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:

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

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:

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: