One nation under God

Liberty and Justice for All

2007-01-31

The Real Deal on the Real I.D.

Though purported to make us safer from terrorists who may sneak into the United States, The Real I.D. Act (H.R.418) set to go into effect in May 2008, this bill will do very little to make us more secure. Rejected three times by the U. S. Senate, it finally passed under the guise of Immigration Reform and was added to a larger bill containing disaster relief and funding for Iraq.

Real I.D. forces states to follow federal guidelines in setting up its driver's licenses and establishes a machine-readable federal database accessible by all states, the feds — and the Mexican and Canadian governments! When the Real I.D. becomes law, all state driver's licenses must have not only the traditional name, date of birth, and gender — but a digital photograph, a residential address, and "a common machine-readable technology (undoubtedly RFID), with defined minimum data elements." Note that it makes no mention of maximum data elements...

What is wrong with The REAL I.D. Act?

If the Orwellian nature of technological monitoring isn't enough to make you stand up and pay attention and scare the bejeezus out of you, take note, in particular, of Sec. 102:

            (1) IN GENERAL- Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Secretary of Homeland Security shall have the authority to waive, and shall waive, all laws such Secretary, in such Secretary's sole discretion, determines necessary to ensure expeditious construction of the barriers and roads under this section.

           `(2) NO JUDICIAL REVIEW- Notwithstanding any other provision of law (statutory or nonstatutory), no court, administrative agency, or other entity shall have jurisdiction--

                  `(A) to hear any cause or claim arising from any action undertaken, or any decision made, by the Secretary of Homeland Security pursuant to paragraph (1); or

                  `(B) to order compensatory, declaratory, injunctive, equitable, or any other relief for damage alleged to arise from any such action or decision.'

In the custom of the Executive Office's Rule of Man, a government official will once again be exempt from the Rule of Law. That's the real deal on the Real I.D.

Gina Weiss
Real Money

2007-01-12

Our Mission is Surely Accomplished in Iraq

I missed the President's speech the other night but I've caught bits and pieces of commentary which compelled me to click up the text to read for myself. What stands out to me is that the mission, as presented to The People before we ever entered Iraq, had already been accomplished.

Weren't we told that Hussein had WMDs? We quickly found that he didn't, there were none. Weren't we told that Saddam was our enemy and had to be removed from power in order to protect the American people? He was captured long ago, and turned over to the Iraqis. Now executed and buried, our mission is surely accomplished in Iraq?

Ah, but no - there are clearly other objectives to this madness. Though talking frequently of his dislike for second-guessing his military commanders, President Bush is ordering his top brass to take action they had advised against. Now, it's about oil revenues? It's a profitable adventure for someone to fund their ambitions. And certainly NOT for the American taxpayer.

More than 20,000 troops and billions of dollars later, we can only surmise what the real objectives may be. Only then might we discover the true bill of goods we are being sold. I, for one, am not buying it. 

Gina Weiss

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