SAY NO TO NATIONAL I.D. CARDS!

[AlanM]

So it doesn't save us from terrorists until 2008?

They wanted to let the terrorists get in before they closed the gate. 

[Lloyd Danforth]

(Russell Kanning submitted this in a different area and I added it here.)

TOKYO: Protesters tore up government notices assigning them ID numbers at Japan's Public Management Ministry in downtown Tokyo Monday, the latest civil disobedience against the new nationwide resident registry system.


Outfitted in prison stripes and cow costumes, the demonstrators denounced the "Juki Net" residents network set up last Monday, implying that it treats them like convicts or cattle. It links all citizens' personal data on a national computer network.


The protesters decried it as a 'Big Brother' system.


"We don't want to be administered by numbers or have our information monitored!" read one banner. Some of the protesters had bar codes painted on their faces.


By assigning each of Japan's 126 million citizens an 11-digit ID number - much like the U.S. social security system - the government says it will be able to streamline administrative procedures.


The system is supposed to make it easier and faster for officials anywhere in the country to verify anyone's basic personal information. Officials say once the system is fully operational, residents will be able to obtain everything from passports to pensions from any local government office.


"The information will not be used indiscriminately by the government. It is to be used solely for verifying residence-related information," Public Management Ministry spokesman Tatsuro Yoshiyama said.


So far, the network can only be used to issue proof-of-residence documents - needed to open a bank account or apply for a driver's license. Eventually, the system will cover more than 260 administrative procedures.


But not everyone agrees that convenience should be the deciding factor. Many have expressed worries about possible leaks and abuses of personal data.


"This system only makes things easier for bureaucrats, not for private citizens," said Keiko Fukuda, a 40-year old piano teacher from Tokyo. "Besides, you only have to go a couple times a year to the city office. I just don't think it's necessary."

[Russell Kanning]

 

[Kat Kanning]

Getting a driver's license to get harder

By Charisse Jones, USA TODAY 1 hour, 39 minutes ago

The cost of obtaining a driver's license could double, and renewing a license by mail would end by 2008, according to state officials responsible for enforcing a federal law aimed at thwarting terrorists and discouraging illegal immigration.


The Real ID Act, approved by Congress in May and scheduled to take effect in May 2008, requires people seeking a license to prove that they are in the USA legally.

State officials from California to Maine fear that they don't have the technology, staff or money to meet the new law's requirements.

"Many are reacting negatively to it," Matt Sundeen of the National Conference of State Legislatures says of state lawmakers. "Real ID ... will have significant fiscal implications for the states."

The USA has about 240 million licensed drivers, and roughly 12 million have state-issued identification cards, says Jarret Egan, a spokesman for the Department of
Homeland Security.

Real ID sets federal rules for obtaining and renewing licenses and state identification cards. Residents of states that don't comply with the law will not be able to use their licenses for official federal purposes such as boarding a plane or entering a federal courthouse.

"It's disappointing to hear from some (states) that it's inconvenient or too difficult to implement," says Jeff Lungren, spokesman for the
House Judiciary Committee, whose chairman, Rep. F. James Sensenbrenner (news, bio, voting record), R-Wis., sponsored the law.

"The 9/11 hijackers used multiple driver's licenses and birth certificates ... to live openly in the United States while they planned their deadly attacks. Real ID is an effort to prevent that from ever occurring again. We gave (states) three years. This is a priority, and it needs to be treated as such," he says.

After Sept. 11, many states began giving greater scrutiny to applicants for licenses and identification cards.

Only 10 states don't require proof that an applicant is legally in the USA in order to drive, Sundeen says. States typically require new drivers to produce proof of age and one or two other forms of ID, usually including a photo.

Under Real ID, applicants would have to show proof of a
Social Security number or why they don't have one, plus documents bearing their name, address and birth date.

The law's requirements for verifying such documents and features to make counterfeiting licenses more difficult will force states to make changes.

"Even though some states believe that they already comply with the Real ID act, in actuality none of them do," says Jonathan Frenkel, a director in the law enforcement division of the Department of Homeland Security.

State officials are asking, for example, how they will verify records of people whose birthplaces no longer exist, like East Germany; how states, required to share information through a database, can prevent identity theft; and how much the new rules will cost.

"What do you do with people on the Gulf Coast, where so many records were lost?" asks Maine Secretary of State Matthew Dunlap, who says 85% of his state's vital records are scattered among libraries, museums and town offices.

"We have no argument with the intent of Real ID. Our concern is what (it) is going to force us to do. ... Is it really going to do what it's intended to do, improving national security and preventing identity theft?"

Congress has appropriated $40 million to the states to comply with the act.

Kentucky and New Hampshire have received $3 million each for pilot projects. State officials have estimated that annual costs could reach tens of millions of dollars.

Among states' concerns:

? The workforce at California motor vehicle offices would increase by 500 employees, or roughly 10%, says State Sen. Michael Machado, a Democrat representing the Central Valley. The $26 fee to renew a license could more than double, and the state's 23 million drivers who renew by mail or the Internet no longer will be able to do so, he says.

? In Maine, where driver's license fees have been used to fix bridges and build roads, "we'd go from being a revenue generator to a drain on our state highway fund," Dunlap says.

? New Jersey began upgrading procedures in 2003, including verifying Social Security numbers with the
Social Security Administration.

"In a lot of respects, we're well placed," says David Weinstein, spokesman for the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission. "But like most of the other states, we're concerned we're not going to get direction in enough time to meet the (effective) date."

[AlanM]

This is such a joke. The idea that terrorists are all foreigners is a false and misleading idea. Violent acts are also perpetrated by citizens of US. Duh.
Just another foot grinding us into the ground with promises of security that can't be realized.

[BaRbArIaN]

You don't understand, they are into gradualism.  They sell the new paradigm that IDs are good for security, (mostly for foreigners so don't worry about it), then when things develop more, they "discover" that we would be more secure if the new rules apply to everyone and are mandatory.  Everyone goes along agreeing that if some restrictions were good, more would be better.

[AlanM]

Oh I understand very well. Step by step, into the abyss of totalitarianism. Freedom is but a puff of smoke. So long as the masses have their TVs, cell phones and fancy cars, they will allow the "authorities" to do anything to them.

[KBCraig]

The article focuses on the objections to RealID as difficult and expensive to implement. Not a word about objections because it's not the feds' perogative, nor about privacy.

It says that NH has received $3 million for implementation, but not a word about the House rejecting it.

Oh, well. It's USA Today. McNews, for McSheeple. That's all we can expect.

Kevin

[cathleeninnh]

NHCASPIAN wants to hold a protest in Concord to bring attention to this issue. We want to contact as many groups as possible to create a coalition and increase our turnout.

The initial possible contacts suggested:

ACLU
ENDTIME
INDY MEDIA
BUREAUCRASH
ANSWER
NH PEACE ACTION

I am requesting help getting contact information and suggestions on additional orgs to contact.
How do we get hold of these and similar orgs?

Cathleen

[Fluff and Stuff]

Don't forget the LP, GP, and DP.

[Dave Ridley]

Sent this to my Senator

Dear Senator Eaton:

Well I was about to write you about one thing, but I think I will write you about two!

First, having appreciated and thanked you for your stance against cigarette tax hikes, I hope you will also make another stand for which I may thank you.  I hope you will vote against HB1177, the "smoke ban."  Ninety-five times out of a hundred, when the other states do something one way and we do it our way...we're right & they're wrong    Let's leave such bans to Mass. and Maryland where they belong.

Second:  I hope you were as moved as I was by the lopsided vote in the House favoring Rep. Kurk's HB1582.  This bill to opt NH out of Real ID is a beacon of light reaching out to a nation reeling under Federal privacy intrusions.  More practically it will save our state workers *and* taxpayers a lot of pain and expense.   I hope you will vote *for* 1582!

Basically you could say I'm hoping you'll say no to the smoke ban and yes to the Real ID ban.

[1984IsNow]

I am requesting help getting contact information and suggestions on additional orgs to contact.
How do we get hold of these and similar orgs?

I may be able to get the ACLU to do a bit, I've become quite good friends with the new hampshire ACLU director Claire Ebel durring an ongoing issue of my own.  I'll definitely contact her