Showing posts with label freedom. Show all posts
Showing posts with label freedom. Show all posts

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Military Recruiters Sharing Information About Your Kids Without Permission

The Department of Defense is maintaining a "Joint Advertising and Market Research Studies" Recruiting Database of over 30 million Americans between 16 and 25 years old. Huge exemptions to federal privacy laws leave it wide open for the DOD to disclose your kid's personal information without your permission! Go to the EPIC website for more information on the DOD Recruiting Database. If that's not enough, recruiters are at your child's school and recruiting your children without your permission. You have to opt out to keep them from actively recruiting your child. At my high school we had a recruiting station in one corner of the library with lots of pamphlets and brochures and once in a while a member of one of distinguished members of our Armed Services would be available to talk to any kid who was interested. I have absolutely no problem with that, What I do have a problem with is situations like the one described on MotherJones.Com. Where a young man was aggressively targeted by recruiters possessing information that he did not give them. I support all of our men and women in our Armed Forces and believe that military experience can be invaluable to many young people, but whatever happened to the old fashioned way of recruiting where interested kids sought out the recruiter? 2 of my own children have or are considering military service but I will be damned if I want some specially trained headhunter armed with insider information strong arming any of my kids into service. Remember, ours is a volunteer military.

Links
http://privacy.org/archives/003140.html

http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2009/09/few-good-kids
http://epic.org/privacy/student/doddatabase.html

Wednesday, August 5, 2009

Use Cash for Clunkers Website and Your Computer Belongs to the Government

The Cash for Clunkers program may seem enticing but as the old saying goes, "here is no free lunch". If you try to log in to the Cash for Clunkers website you have to agree to the privacy policy, which of course no-one ever reads... After agreeing to the privacy policy a warning box pops up telling you that your computer will become property of the government and anything stored on your computer can be retrieved and shared, even with foreign entities.

Check out the video below to see how the government is tricking people into letting them irrevocable access EVERYTHING on their personal computers.


Whitehouse Wants You to Report Anyone Who Speaks Out Against Healthcare Reform

It's true. The government is requesting assistance from the public in quashing dissension from those evil right wing extremists (ie, anyone who disagrees)! Seriously. Check out this excerpt from the Whitehouse blog:

There is a lot of disinformation about health insurance reform out there, spanning from control of personal finances to end of life care. These rumors often travel just below the surface via chain emails or through casual conversation. Since we can’t keep track of all of them here at the White House, we’re asking for your help. If you get an email or see something on the web about health insurance reform that seems fishy, send it to flag@whitehouse.gov.
And just in case public response forces the removal of the statement from the Whitehouse blog here is a screenshot for posterity.

Scary isn't it? Check out this link at RedState regarding the legality of this. White House Actions Might Be Unlawful

Saturday, July 18, 2009

Chips Embeded in Official IDs Are a Huge Privacy Risk

For anyone who doesn't know, which is most of us, an RFID Chip is a tiny chip that can be embedded in virtually anything, from products in the grocery store to your bus pass and even people. You've probably seen the credit card commercial with the marathon runner that zips into a convenience store and pays for his purchase by merely holding his credit card close to the machine instead of sliding it through the machine the old fashioned way. Really convenient right? Well it's convenient for identity thieves too.

When this technology first came and out it wasn't wide spread an identity thief needed to get pretty close to the target to scan the chip and retrieve the information on it. This is no longer the case. As the technology has grown more prolific so have the profits in creating the gadgets that scan for it. As an example consider the experiment published in an article on the Fox News Website "Chips in Official IDs Raise Privacy Fears" in which a gentleman named Chris Paget cruised around Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco, California scanning for the private information held on RFID tags of the crowds using a Matrics antenna and a Motorola reader that he bought on eBay for less than $250. In an hour he had 'skimmed' the private data from the new electronic U.S. passport cards of several individuals from as far away as 20 feet. Mr. Paget filmed his experiment and posted it to the Internet.



While the implementation of embedded RFID tags in government documents is not widespread yet there is a push from government officials to see it done quickly. Officials are touting safety and convenience of having you information easily accessible. Either they haven't bothered to think of the consequences or they just don't care because being able to track everything that you do fits there agenda. Thanks to the Real ID Act: h.r.00418 which was passed in 2005 without ANY debate, states must start issuing State IDs with and embedded RFID tag by 2017. The Real ID Act was pushed through by adding an amendment to a completely UNRELATED must pass bill to authorize funds for the Iraq war. This seems to be a common tactic in getting a controversial bill to pass that otherwise would not. In my humble opinion this practice is completely immoral and should be illegal, but I suppose that is the subject of another rant.

The Pass ID Act: S.1261 has recently been introduced before lawmakers which supposedly would repeal part of the Real ID Act as well as amend title II of the Homeland Security Act of 2002. However this bill does not protect citizens from identity theft or government abuses, in fact it may be a sneak attack to reinforce the Real ID Act. The Real ID Act needs to be repealed completely or by 2017 we will all be walking around with a tracking beacon in our pockets broadcasting our entire lives to anyone with the inclination to snoop, which includes alot of people and organizations. Just think of how much of your online activity is tracked by the government, retail websites, search engines, and marketing firms. Imagine how valuable a record of your real world travels, purchases, interests, and even health problems would be. To top off all this paranoia, it appears that two of the major backers of The Pass ID Act and previously the Real ID Act, the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators and the International Civil Aviation Organization, are INTERNATIONAL as in not USA organizations!

...and now for another paranoia inducing video

There may be other 'related' videos in the player above that may seem extremely paranoid. These videos are included by YouTube and do not necessarily reflect the views of this writer.

Eventually we will have one card (or pendant, wristband, or implant) that will contain all of our information and may even be used as currency. There are already pilot programs that allow users of already existing Real ID Cards to use them in lieu of their credit card. Now at the risk of sounding like a paranoid, end of the world, religious nut...
  • Revelation 13:16 And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:
  • Revelation 13:17 And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
We all need to act RIGHT NOW to repeal the Real ID Act and put the brakes on The Pass Act before it is too late. Contact the Committee on Homeland Security members and tell them respectfully how you feel about your rights being crushed. Warn your friends and family about the risks to their freedom. Share this blog and others on this topic on the all the social networking and bookmarking sites. We must get the word out or everyone will just go happily about their day never knowing what they are lost while they were watching Lost or Dancing With the Stars. There will be a time when it is too late to turn back.

Aside from the above legislation we will never be completely free of RFID tags. RFID tags have many legitimate uses from inventory control to identifying lost pets. As mentioned above 'smart' passports and Real IDs are already in use. You will still need to take action to protect yourself from the common thief regardless of how you feel about the Real ID Act. There are several relatively inexpensive products on the market now that will shield your card/passport from being scanned such as the RFID Blocking Leather Passport Case and the Travelon RFID Blocking Billfold. Shoplifters have been blocking RFID for some time by using shopping bags lined with aluminum foil (don't get any ideas!). Here is an interesting artilcle on How to kill your RFID chip, of course when it comes to your passport you may not want to permanently destroy the chip rendering your passport void. Remember; tampering with a US passport is a federal offense. Of course any of the tags you find in items that you purchase are yours to do with as you wish.

For a partial list of companies that place RFID tags in their products check out Liz Michaels' website.

Monday, April 20, 2009

Obama Administration Blames USA for 90 Percent of Guns Seized in Mexico

For once the News Media has stood up to Washington and called them on at least one of the exaggerations they are using to further their anti gun agenda! Hooray for Fox News!

I would like you to note that this story was aired on April 2, 2009 yet President Obama continues to propagate the lie. Check out this link, again by Fox News
Obama Repeats '90 Percent' Stat for U.S. Guns Recovered in Mexico - First 100 Days of Presidency - Politics FOXNews.com
According to Fox News the actual number of guns that could be attributed as coming from the US into Mexico in 2007 and 2008 is 5,114 and that's out of the 29,000 guns seized. That's only 17.6 percent! I think even a first grader could tell you that 5000 in two years is NOT equal to 2,000 guns a day as Secretary of State Hilary Clinton states.
I guess Obama and others like him, including Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and US Senator Dianne Feinstein, figure that if they say it loud enough and often enough the American public will believe it and allow the 2nd Amendment to fade quietly into the night. Luckily, at least in this case, there are many who are questioning these statements, and for once it's not just the NRA. Just Google "90 percent guns Mexico" and you will see how many are standing up against this.

A huge problem with the media is that they are so eager to rush ahead with any information they get as soon as they get it in an effort to scoop the other guy that they often report erroneous information and rumors. Unfortunately the public in general trusts that the media has done their homework, and we believe the first reports we hear, which are also picked up by the other news agencies as soon as they are reported, and further disseminated until within one or two days everyone believes those first reports. More often than not if the truth comes out at all, it comes out later, with barely a whisper, usually after the event has ceased being 'news worthy'. If the story is cold enough the truth may never see the light of day. Take the Colombine School shooting 10 years ago. Up until this very day I like many other people believed that the two kids responsible were members of the 'Trench Coat Mafia' and were the victims of bullies. It turns out that this is not the case. This is just one example of disinformation that was rushed to print or broadcast in the heat of the moment, however when the dust settled and truth was discovered either it was under reported or the previous reports were already so entrenched into the public's minds that the truth just didn't sink in. Check out this article, Debunking the myths of Columbine, 10 years later.
Read Columbine, by Dave Cullen

Thursday, January 29, 2009

The British Want Their Guns Back - Don't Let This Happen to U.S.

Through complacency and a desire for security the British allowed their government to confiscate their guns. Now they want them back! The politicians in the United States know they have an uphill battle if they want to take our guns outright (kuz ev'ry one know us Americans luvs our guns) so we will lose our freedom in baby steps. No they won't come beat down our door and snatch up your guns (yet), but in small almost unnoticeable (and unreported by the media) ways we are losing our Constitutional RIGHT to bear arms.

These little restrictions come along with almost no fuss because we are complacent and it's almost always in the name of security or safety.
Like:
Register yourself and you weapon so the government knows you are a safe and responsible law abiding citizen (and so they know who has the guns when it's time to collect).
Or:
Lock your guns up in a safe so your kids can't get to them (neither can you) and require gun locks so even if you can get to your gun by the time you load it you're dead. Hasn't anyone ever heard of educating your children. Yes there's accidents but people fall off ladders and no one wants those locked away. And, Yes gun owners must behave responsibly and take measures to keep guns out of the wrong hands, but the government should not be telling us what to do in our own homes, period. How would such a law be enforced? Would law enforcement have the right to inspect your home for 'legal gun storage'? Can you see where this is going?

There will not be a sudden outright ban of all guns, Americans wouldn't settle for that. No first the will place more and more limits on who can own guns, what guns you can have (umm Brady Bill anyone), how much ammunition you may keep, how you store you firearms, require you to have a license. They will make it increasingly difficult to own a gun thereby decreasing the number of LEGAL gun owners until there are to few to stand up and fight (figuratively speaking of course). Don't wait until it's too late. Take notice of the laws YOUR elected officials are trying to pass and don't buy into the "it's for your safety" bull crap. Be knowledgeable and be ACTIVE in protecting your freedom. Without the right to bear arms their will be no freedom of religion, no freedom of speech, no right to assembly or any other freedoms that we as Americans enjoy. It's not so much what your government is that you need to protect yourself from but what your children's government could become. Watch the video above, and see where we could be in a few years if we allow it.

The Day We Fight Back