You Are a Suspect

NY TIMES via Drudge ^ | william safire

[DAnconia55]

You Are a Suspect
By WILLIAM SAFIRE

ASHINGTON — If the Homeland Security Act is not amended before passage, here is what will happen to you:
Every purchase you make with a credit card, every magazine subscription you buy and medical prescription you fill, every Web site you visit and e-mail you send or receive, every academic grade your receive, every bank deposit you make, every trip you book and every event you attend — all these transactions and communications will go into what the Defense Department describes as "a virtual, centralized grand database."

[Mark17]

As you read this, ask yourself this question: If America -- the IDEA, not the geograpghical place -- becomes indistinguishable from Cuba, China, North Korea, etc., -- haven't the bad guys accomplished their goal?

I read where one of those gomers said it was not his goal to make us like Cuba, China or North Korea. It was his goal to kill us, but I see your point too.

[Mark Felton]

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"Necessity is the plea of every infringement of human freedom. It is the arguement of tyrants, it is the creed of slaves."
~~William Pitt

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[Dick Bachert]

If the bad guys DO succeed in converting us into a total despotism, our new, improved state apparatus will most likely begin to jail and kill many of the rest of us.

And how delicious would THAT be for the baddies, watching US do their dirtywork for them while they watch from a safe distance?

[iconoclast]

I read the article and all I can say is who cares about privacy anymore? Let them collect all the data they want and if it happens to harm someone or a group of people, tough luck.

What can you tell me about this MetaAlpha? I couldn't tell if his post was sarcastic or not and so I went to his profile for a clue. Found he has been banned.

[iconoclast]

Bush is much more trustworthy than his predecessor, but how do we know we can trust Bush's successors?

Good Lord folks, I can't believe half the pap I read on these threads. Our great dream for a nation was based on principles not personalities. The giant patriot George Wahington tried to underline that. Do you all know ANYTHING about our history?

Do you actually sit around and worry about the "next President" while our liberties crumble around us?

Have any of you noticed that this current regime of enlightened saints apparently has no qualms about shredding the Constitution but still has done nothing about arming pilots or anything serious on the INS debacle?

[iconoclast]

This ain't no joke.

I'm especially not laughin after I read about the Poindexter connection to this.

[AUgrad]

Nothing we're doing looks like we are after the bad guys. It all looks like the government is after the citizens.

Quote of the day. Very insightful.

[iconoclast]

I find it shortsighted to give powers to the government, based on who occupies an office at the moment.

You're way too kind!

[sheltonmac]

"WE ARE AT WAR"

It's strange--and, quite frankly, disturbing--how many "conservatives" believe that those four little words justify any and every action taken by the government. Just close your eyes and chant this phrase ten times while simultaneously patting your head and rubbing your stomach and *POOF!* Everything the government does is suddenly okay. Once you accept that, then you won't be bothered by the fact that no "war" has been declared since 1941.

[fifteendogs]

What war is that?

[antidisestablishment]

While it may not specifically mention credit cards transactions, it authorizes, in very vague terms, just about anything they want. And it does specifically mention the creation of the database and mining technologies outlined in DARPA's Information Awareness Office (IAO) goals.

Disclaimer: I am sorry for the lenght of the following excerpt, but I wanted to get the relevant information in context:

Subtitle A--Directorate for Information Analysis and Infrastructure Protection; Access to Information

SEC. 201. DIRECTORATE FOR INFORMATION ANALYSIS AND INFRASTRUCTURE PROTECTION.

(a) UNDER SECRETARY OF HOMELAND SECURITY FOR INFORMATION ANALYSIS AND INFRASTRUCTURE PROTECTION-

(d) RESPONSIBILITIES OF UNDER SECRETARY- Subject to the direction and control of the Secretary, the responsibilities of the Under Secretary for Information Analysis and Infrastructure Protection shall be as follows:

(1) To access, receive, and analyze law enforcement information, intelligence information, and other information from agencies of the Federal Government, State and local government agencies (including law enforcement agencies), and private sector entities, and to integrate such information in order to--

(A) identify and assess the nature and scope of terrorist threats to the homeland;

(B) detect and identify threats of terrorism against the United States; and

(C) understand such threats in light of actual and potential vulnerabilities of the homeland. ...

(11) To consult with State and local governments and private sector entities to ensure appropriate exchanges of information, including law enforcement-related information, relating to threats of terrorism against the United States.

(12) To ensure that--

(A) any material received pursuant to this Act is protected from unauthorized disclosure and handled and used only for the performance of official duties; and

(B) any intelligence information under this Act is shared, retained, and disseminated consistent with the authority of the Director of Central Intelligence to protect intelligence sources and methods under the National Security Act of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 401 et seq.) and related procedures and, as appropriate, similar authorities of the Attorney General concerning sensitive law enforcement information.

(13) To request additional information from other agencies of the Federal Government, State and local government agencies, and the private sector relating to threats of terrorism in the United States, or relating to other areas of responsibility assigned by the Secretary, including the entry into cooperative agreements through the Secretary to obtain such information.

(14) To establish and utilize, in conjunction with the chief information officer of the Department, a secure communications and information technology infrastructure, including data-mining and other advanced analytical tools, in order to access, receive, and analyze data and information in furtherance of the responsibilities under this section, and to disseminate information acquired and analyzed by the Department, as appropriate.

(15) To ensure, in conjunction with the chief information officer of the Department, that any information databases and analytical tools developed or utilized by the Department--

(A) are compatible with one another and with relevant information databases of other agencies of the Federal Government; and

(B) treat information in such databases in a manner that complies with applicable Federal law on privacy.

In fairness I did include this last paragarph. However, the bill is exempted from the FOIA, so those clauses will have no real effect.

[antidisestablishment]

Conservative no longer means what you and I grew up understanding. The new conservative is one who places party over principle and security over liberty. Sovereignty and responsibility have been purged from their lexicon.

[sheltonmac]

So true. And so sad.

[Neenah]

My question is this...."Why didn't I know about this before now?"

I heard this on WGN this morning, and must say I was taken aback!!

I can't understand why even we on FR scoff at this. Is it true..or is Safire making it up? If it is true, and the Senate is soon to pass it with the majority now....then shouldn't the full extent of this HOMELAND SECURITY be given to the "people" in it's fullness before passage..or...

Do we rubber stamp everything because we are in the majority, and we can do no wrong? Maybe I am barking at something I don't totally understand, but all along, I never thought Homeland Security delt with MY privacy. Sooooooooo...

Is what Safire says true..or is it MEMOREX??????????

[SkyRat]

Check it out yourself. Homepage of the Information Awarness Office

Some example technologies:

Human network analysis and behavior model building engines

Story telling, change detection, and truth maintenance.

[TankerKC]

Might I suggest a new title?

I Don't Like John Poindexter!

Safire starts off talking about the Homeland Security Act (Paragraphs 1, 2 and 3 of the article) then goes off on a rant about Poindexter, Iran Contra, Reagan, and Bush (Paragraphs 4 through 13).

And, yes, I get his point. We should all be concerned.

[antidisestablishment]

For the text of the bill, click here.

To download the pdf, click here.

[DoughtyOne]

Cargo containers still come in unchecked. Trucks still cross the border unchecked. Our borders are non-existant. We are still allowing folks who've been indoctrinated their whole lives to hate everything USA to immigrate here. We still have illegals inside our borders who are captured, then let go like the W., D.C. are sniper was.

Aren't you glad this database will resolve all our problems.

You are public enemy number one. Don't lose sight of that and the whole plan falls into place.

We will rue the day we signed off on all this.

[Gooseberry]

But is our war against Islam, or against the US Constitution?

What is Unconstitutional about this proposal??

We are at war. If we want to wipe out Islam from the face of the globe we have to make some sacrifices.

[dirtboy]

(14) To establish and utilize, in conjunction with the chief information officer of the Department, a secure communications and information technology infrastructure, including data-mining and other advanced analytical tools, in order to access, receive, and analyze data and information in furtherance of the responsibilities under this section, and to disseminate information acquired and analyzed by the Department, as appropriate.

This verbiage talks about how they are going to use data, not the data they will be gathering per se. Data mining? The feds? Cripes, they couldn't even run a simple SQL query on the sniper database to discover a Caprice with a lot of entries.

This will be a data landfill, not a data warehouse.