http://www.detnews.com/…

Nobody imagined when Congress created the Department of Homeland Security that the department itself would mount the next attack on American transportation, travel and trade. But the department begins an assault this week that will do billions of dollars in damage if it is not stopped.Starting Thursday, Homeland Security will require U.S. and Canadian citizens to present a government-issued photo ID along with proof of citizenship, such as a birth certificate or naturalization certificate, when they enter the country. Clamping down on border crossings, such as the Ambassador Bridge and Detroit-Windsor tunnel, is motivated by a protective impulse, but its costs outweigh its small security benefits.

This is going to make us no safer and will simply hurt the economy and annoy people. If someone wanted to get into the country they could just walk through someone’s property. If they are dedicated enough to blow themselves up they are dedicated enough to walk through the woods for a few miles. I hope that this backfires. People need to realize that this doesn’t make us safer. Most won’t till it affects them on a daily basis. Second level screenings at the hands of the TSA just hasn’t done the trick.

http://www.cato-at-liberty.org/…

This somewhat cryptic blog post at Wired reflects the delight of Roger Clarke that the Australian national ID card has been dropped by the incoming government. Clarke wrote an article in 1994 that is probably fairly regarded as the foundation of identification theory. I expanded on his thinking in my book, Identity Crisis.

In related news, Montana Senators Max Baucus and Jon Tester put language prohibiting the expenditure of federal funds for development of a national ID card in the omnibus spending bill Congress passed last week. Because the Department of Homeland Security denies that REAL ID is a national ID, this language is probably hortatory during the current administration.

This is great news for the Australians… now if we can get REAL ID thrown out here in the USA. The deadline for implementing it has been pushed back to 2013 and this prohibition of federal funds from being used to develop a national ID card will help. I believe the states will continue to fight this and some would probably put this new law to the test. I fail to see how the REAL ID is not a national ID given that the federal government is dictating how the states are to implement these new IDs. It may be handled by the states but the national government is the one strong arming them to do it.

Lets remember that Ron Paul is strongly against the REAL ID and voted against it.

http://www.chron.com/…

Mayors along the Texas-Mexico border have begun a quiet protest of the federal government’s plans to build a fence along the border: Some are refusing access to their land.

Mayors in Brownsville, Del Rio and El Paso have denied or limited access to some parts of their city property to Department of Homeland Security workers assigned to begin surveys or other preliminary work on the fence Congress has authorized to keep out illegal immigrants. Eagle Pass has denied a request from federal officials to build a portion of the wall within its city limits.

Brownsville Mayor Pat Ahumada said Tuesday that he refused two weeks ago to sign documents granting federal workers permission to begin work if it was to be on city property. Del Rio granted limited access and El Paso allowed workers only on its outskirts, said Monica Weisberg Stewart of the Texas Border Coalition, a group that represents local officials.

“This is exercising our rights. This is our property,” Ahumada said. “We are not going to make it easy for them.”

Woohoo… between this and the states refusing to implement the REAL ID we may have a set of very interesting state rights battles in our future. As with the DC gun case to be heard by the Supreme Court… this could accelerate the trek toward tyranny or start applying the break. Lets hope it’s the latter.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/…

The U.S. government is collecting electronic records on the travel habits of millions of Americans who fly, drive or take cruises abroad, retaining data on the persons with whom they travel or plan to stay, the personal items they carry during their journeys, and even the books that travelers have carried, according to documents obtained by a group of civil liberties advocates and statements by government officials.

The personal travel records are meant to be stored for as long as 15 years, as part of the Department of Homeland Security’s effort to assess the security threat posed by all travelers entering the country.

The DHS database generally includes “passenger name record” (PNR) information, as well as notes taken during secondary screenings of travelers. PNR data — often provided to airlines and other companies when reservations are made — routinely include names, addresses and credit-card information, as well as telephone and e-mail contact details, itineraries, hotel and rental car reservations, and even the type of bed requested in a hotel.

Zakariya Reed, a Toledo firefighter, said in an interview that he has been detained at least seven times at the Michigan border since fall 2006. Twice, he said, he was questioned by border officials about “politically charged” opinion pieces he had published in his local newspaper. The essays were critical of U.S. policy in the Middle East, he said. Once, during a secondary interview, he said, “they had them printed out on the table in front of me.”

This is a few days old but a major story. Can people argue in favor of this? Watching what you read and write? When do they start keeping people from flying because they read something ’suspicious?’ When do they start arresting people up for reading or writing things which criticize government policy?

http://blog.ronpaul2008.com/…

Has this been a hectic and encouraging time! First we got almost 17% in the Texas straw poll, an event set-up to represent the establishment, with very restrictive voting rules. That 17% of the Republican hierarchy would support our views, after a full day of pro-war propaganda, is good news. Then we won the more open Maryland Republican straw poll with 28%. In both cases, as usual, hard-working, well-organized volunteers made all the difference.

The Fox debate was a lot of fun as well. It’s true that a few of the network people are not exactly with us on foreign or domestic policy (though one famous guy whispered to me that he is a libertarian), but the audience—with lots of students from the University of New Hampshire—was definitely fair and balanced, as their enthusiastic reaction showed.

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