MI Rep Opsommer Blasts High Costs of Passports, Senator Schumer for Border Plan

GOPHouse.gov December 2, 2011

State Rep. Paul Opsommer, Chair of the Michigan House Transportation Committee, today criticized Senator Charles Schumer’s recently announced border plan, calling it “more of the same half-baked federal solutions that make the very problems they created even worse.”

Opsommer pointed out that it has been roughly five years since the Government Accountability Office issued a scathing report saying that not only could the federal government not justify the high price of passports, but that they didn’t even have a process in place to make sure passports hadn’t been turned into a profit center.

To add insult to injury, federal passport prices have been increased since that report was released, and Schumer was quoted by WGRZ Channel 2 as saying that the cost of new mobile application centers would not increase prices because “It’ll come out of the fee, you pay for the fee, and there’s enough money in the fees to pay for these things.”

Opsommer said that statement proves that once again they are charging too much.

“If you can start buying and outfitting all these new high tech mobile homes without raising prices because existing fees already cover it, then by definition the fees were too high to begin with,” said Opsommer, R-DeWitt. “If the federal government is determined to use behavioral economics to accomplish their goals, if anything they should be making traditional federal passports less expensive and fully tax deductible.  The federal government needs to stop using behavioral economics to try to manipulate people away from traditional federal passports through high costs and unjustifiable delays in processing.”

Opsommer also disagreed on the reason why NEXUS cards and Enhanced Driver’s Licenses were failing to catch on, and said that the mobile busses would be a waste of time.

“If Schumer wants to use his clout in Washington to help border states such as Michigan, he should be reining in federal bureaucrats who are trying to force citizens to accept long range wireless computer chips in our driver’s licenses,” said Opsommer. “Those RFID chips are different than the ones used in federal passports, and Schumer’s refusal to let states create unobtrusive trusted traveler documents is the real reason why Enhanced Drivers Licenses have been such a dismal failure in New York and Michigan,”

Opsommer also said that creating more RFID only car lanes is just another example of using behavioral economics to manipulate people into courses of action that they otherwise wouldn’t take.

“People don’t like to feel that they are being pushed around, tracked, and controlled,” said Opsommer.  “If Schumer thinks more RFID lanes is the answer, all he has to do is look at how people responded to the new ‘High Occupancy Toll’ lanes in Georgia.  Trying to make people so miserable to wear them down into compliance won’t work in Michigan, and if you look at states or provinces like Arizona and Saskatchewan that have banned these outright I don’t think they’re going to work elsewhere either.”

Opsommer said that despite resolutions passed both in Michigan and with the National Conference of State Legislators that the federal government refuses to attack the real problem at its most basic level.

“We need to be able to come up with a $25 dollar passport, and a passport that only takes a couple of weeks to process.  Instead we’re charging through the roof for them and having the chips manufactured overseas. If Schumer agrees that international trade is as important as I do, we need to address this problem at its core and not to use it opportunistically to try to force people into something.  I don’t care how many big busses he sends to senior citizen centers or places of employment to try to enroll everyone in his system, it’s not going to work.”

Opsommer concluded by calling on Congress to take control of the Enhanced Driver’s License program away from bureaucrats and to hold the federal Department of State and Department of Homeland Security accountable.

“Let’s keep all of this simple,” said Opsommer. “Make this a priority by getting your passport house in order and start lowering prices.”

Apple patenting AI trojan for use in mobile devices [updated]

While many of my pals have I-phones, I have no intention of getting one.  The interface is slick and it has all the features a person could ask for in a mobile device (and more), but the inability to remove the battery sends shivers up my spine.

Steve Jobs proudly displays the latest NSA bugging device

In this patent application, Apple claims it has software that essentially turns a mobile device into a biometric trojan horse, identifying users by their biometric data (heartbeat pattern, accelerometer vibration patterns, voice print, and face recognition), logging keystrokes, saving packet data, etc. all under the thin guise of protecting the device from unauthorized use.

Now let’s not kid ourselves, law enforcement agencies can already install a trojan on most if not all major models of mobile devices via firmware updates, but as usual Apple is thinking different.  This is bigger.  Machine vision, biometric identification, accelerometer analysis, GPS, voice recognition…. all these streams of data amount to much more than a traditional eavesdropping device.

Apple’s patent turns the devices into literal sensory organs for an AI threat assessment system like the NSA Main Core.  Humans would not even begin to be able to integrate all these input data streams, but AI software can.

Not only has Apple devised the ultimate intelligence trojan, they’ve also designed a personalized weapon targeting system.  If a mobile device identifies a human target, A missile or beam weapon strike can be confidently delivered to the target using the device’s biometric identification and GPS locator, confirmed by satellite.

The sheer number of mobile devices and sensory data available, and the abililty to integrate these streams centrally using AI systems creates a biometric surveillance cloud for the ruling oligarchs to have Total Information Awareness* over their subjects, the human cattle.§

As communications device manufacturers and telcos grow, they will inevitably be approached by intelligence agencies with offers they can’t refuse.  Either they cooperate and profit from compromising the security of their platforms, or misfortune may befall them.  It’s the easy way or the hard way.

The big story here is that Apple is going out in the open with it, attempting to profit from the intellectual “property” they’ve developed, most likely at the command of shadow government intelligence agencies.

The brazen nature of filing a patent for an intelligence agency AI trojan is significant.  As we move past the point of no return toward the New World Order, the shadow government devils will come out of the shadows, until ultimately when their drone armies are sufficiently powerful, they will wage a new World War on some manufactured threat in an effort to reduce our numbers and enslave us, in what they believe will be a utopian “re-wilding” of the Earth.

We need to stop deluding ourselves. When they bring this AI extermination grid online it’s going to be like shooting fish in a barrel.    Just do something, whatever you can. At the very least, stop  feeding it.  We still have the power to disable this thing using the free market and whatever is left of our free will.

Don’t take that job for Raytheon or Lockheed Martin.  Don’t sell your research to DARPA.  Don’t enlist in the military. Don’t support the corporations that are building the extermination grid.  Do use your powers for good and not evil.  Do work toward self-sufficiency and strengthen your family and local community.  Do protect your children from brainwashing.

Here’s the patent application:

What is claimed is:

1 . A method for identifying an unauthorized user of an electronic device, [This means the software will be running all the time.] the method comprising: determining that a current user of the electronic device is an unauthorized user; gathering information related to the unauthorized user’s operation of the electronic device in response to determining, wherein the unauthorized user’s operation comprises operations not related to the authentication; and transmitting an alert notification to a responsible party in response to gathering.

2 . The method of claim 1, wherein determining further comprises: determining the identity of the current user; comparing the determined identity to the identity of one or more authorized users of the electronic device; and detecting that the determined identity does not match the identity of at least one of the one or more authorized users.

3 . The method of claim 1, wherein determining further comprises: identifying a particular activity performed by the current user that indicates suspicious behavior. [device will be profiling your behavior]

4 . The method of claim 3, wherein the particular activity comprises one or more of hacking the electronic device, jailbreaking the electronic device, unlocking the electronic device, removing a SIM card from the electronic device, and moving at least a predetermined distance away from a synced device. [like an electronic house arrest tracking device]

5 . The method of claim 1, wherein gathering further comprises gathering one or more of screenshots, keylogs, communications packets served to the electronic device, and information related to a host device coupled to the electronic device.

6 . The method of claim 1, wherein the alert notification comprises a general message indicating that an unauthorized user has been detected.

7 . The method of claim 1, wherein the alert notification comprises at least a portion of the gathered information.

8 . The method of claim 1, further comprising: gathering information related to the identity of the unauthorized user in response to determining; and gathering information related to the location of the electronic device in response to determining.

9 . The method of claim 1, further comprising: restricting at least one function of the electronic device in response to determining.

10 . The method of claim 1, further comprising: transmitting sensitive data from the electronic device to a remote storage; and erasing the sensitive data from the electronic device.

11 . An electronic device operable to detect an unauthorized user of an electronic device, the electronic device comprising: a processor operable to: receive an input from a current user of the electronic device; determine the input is not associated with an authorized user of the electronic device; and record usage information of the electronic device in response to determining; and communications circuitry operable to transmit the usage information to a remote device.

12 . The electronic device of claim 11, further comprising: a microphone operable to record the voice of the current user; and wherein the processor is further operable to: compare the recorded voice with voice prints of authorized user of the electronic device; and determine that the recorded voice does not match the voice print of any authorized user of the electronic device.

13 . The electronic device of claim 11, further comprising: a heartbeat sensor operable to detect the heartbeat of the current user; and wherein the processor is further operable to: compare the detected heartbeat with heart signatures of each authorized user of the electronic device; and determine that detected the heartbeat does not match the heart signature of any authorized user of the electronic device.

14 . The electronic device of claim 11, further comprising: an input device operable to receive an authenticating input for authenticating a user of the electronic device; and wherein the processor is further operable to: determine that a predetermined number of successive incorrect authenticating inputs have been received.

15 . The electronic device of claim 11, further comprising: a camera operable to take a photograph of the vicinity of the electronic device; and positioning circuitry operable to determine current location information of the electronic device; and wherein the processor is further operable to: geotag the photograph by associating the photograph with the current location information.

16 . The electronic device of claim 11, further comprising: an accelerometer operable to record a vibration profile of the electronic device; and a signal processor operable to compare the recorded vibration profile with a library of vibration profiles to determine a current mode of transportation of the electronic device.

17 . A system comprising: an electronic device comprising; an input device operable to receive a password provided by a user; a camera operable to take a photograph of the user; a processor operable to: determine that a predetermined number of incorrect passwords have been successively received; direct the camera to take a photograph of the user; and generate an alert notification in response to the processor determining, wherein the alert notification comprises information related to the identity of the user and the photograph of the user; and communications circuitry operable to transmit the alert notification to a remote device.

18 . The system of claim 17, wherein: the camera is operable to take a plurality of photographs of the surroundings of the electronic device; and wherein the processor is further operable to: analyze each of the plurality of photographs to identify distinguishing landmarks in the photographs; and determine the location of each photograph based on the identified distinguishing landmarks.

19 . The system of claim 17, wherein the alert notification is transmitted via one of text message, facsimile, VoIP application, instant messaging application, on-line profile application, on-line blog application, and a cloud server.

20 . Machine-readable media for identifying unauthorized users of an electronic device, comprising machine-readable instructions recorded thereon for: determining that a current user of the electronic device is an unauthorized user; gathering information related to the unauthorized user’s operation of the electronic device in response to determining, wherein the unauthorized user’s operation comprises operations not related to authentication; and transmitting an alert notification to a responsible party in response to gathering.

21 . The machine-readable media of claim 20, further comprising machine-readable instructions recorded thereon for: determining the identity of the current user; comparing the determined identity to the identity of one or more authorized users of the electronic device; and detecting that the determined identity does not match the identity of at least one of the one or more authorized users.

* Total Information Awareness project was publicly scrapped.  However it would be naiive to assume that intelligence agencies gave up on being “totally aware” of everyone’s private information.

§ Nice job.  I hope you’re happy with yourselves.

See also: Report: Apple testing RFID swipe support in iPhone prototypes

New speed cameras trap motorists from space

Satellites could track motorists from space if trials prove successful Photo: AFP

The cameras, which combine number plate reading technology with a global positioning satellite receiver, are similar to those used in roadworks.

The AA said it believed the new system could cover a network of streets as opposed to a straight line, and was “probably geared up to zones in residential areas.”

The Home Office is testing the cameras at two sites, one in Southwark, London, and the other A374 between Antony and Torpoint in Cornwall.

The `SpeedSpike’ system, which calculates average speed between any two points in the network, has been developed by PIPS Technology Ltd, an American-owned company with a base in Hampshire.

Details of the trials are contained in a House of Commons report. The company said in its evidence that the cameras enabled “number plate capture in all weather conditions, 24 hours a day”. It also referred to the system’s “low cost” and ease of installation.

The system could be used for “main road enforcement for congestion reduction and speed enforcement”, and could help to “eliminate rat-runs” and cut speeds outside schools, it added. It could also reduce the need for speed humps.

The development of speed cameras has raised concerns about expanding state surveillance.

The Home Office said it was unable to comment on the trials because of “commercial confidentiality”.

The AA said it would watch the system “carefully” but it did not believe there was anything sinister. “It is a natural evolution of the technology that is out there,” a spokesman said.

Ex-IBM Employee reveals TV Abandoned Analog Band to Make Room for RFID

Clearing out the high power analog tv emissions will improve signal to noise ratio for RFID emitting in the 700MHz band, and potentially allow passive satellite tracking of these RFID signals.

I’m thinking about getting a stainless steel wallet to protect against having any “enhanced” RFID cards tracked or skimmed remotely. Think Geek also carries anti-skimming passport holders and wallets.  I can’t vouch for the effectiveness of stainless mesh against RFID.

————

(AFP/dprogram.net) According to a former 31-year IBM employee, the highly-publicized, mandatory switch from analog to digital television is mainly being done to free up analog frequencies and make room for scanners used to read implantable RFID microchips and track people and products throughout the world.

So while the American people, especially those in Texas and other busy border states, have been inundated lately with news reports advising them to hurry and get their expensive passports, “enhanced driver’s licenses,” passport cards and other “chipped” or otherwise trackable identification devices that they are being forced to own, this digital television/RFID connection has been hidden, according to Patrick Redmond.

Redmond, a Canadian, held a variety of jobs at IBM before retiring, including working in the company’s Toronto lab from 1992 to 2007, then in sales support. He has given talks, written a book and produced a DVD on the aggressive, growing use of passive, semi-passive and active RFID chips (Radio Frequency Identification Devices) implanted in new clothing, in items such as Gillette Fusion blades, and in countless other products that become one’s personal belongings. These RFID chips, many of which are as small, or smaller, than the tip of a sharp pencil, also are embedded in all new U.S. passports, some medical cards, a growing number of credit and debit cards and so on. More than two billion of them were sold in 2007.

Whether active, semi-passive or passive, these “transponder chips,” as they’re sometimes called, can be accessed or activated with “readers” that can pick up the unique signal given off by each chip and glean information from it on the identity and whereabouts of the product or person, depending on design and circumstances, as Redmond explained in a little-publicized lecture in Canada last year. AFP just obtained a DVD of his talk.

Noted “Spychips” expert, author and radio host Katherine Albrecht told AMERICAN FREE PRESS that while she’s not totally sure whether there is a rock-solid RFID-DTV link, “The purpose of the switch [to digital] was to free up bandwidth. It’s a pretty wide band, so freeing that up creates a huge swath of frequencies.”

As is generally known, the active chips have an internal power source and antenna; these particular chips emit a constant signal. “This allows the tag to send signals back to the reader, so if I have a RFID chip on me and it has a battery, I can just send a signal to a reader wherever it is,” Redmond stated in the recent lecture, given to the Catholic patriot group known as the Pilgrims of Saint Michael, which also is known for advocating social credit, a dramatic monetary reform plan to end the practice of national governments bringing money into existence by borrowing it, with interest, from private central banks. The group’s publication The Michael Journal advocates having national governments create their own money interest-free. It also covers the RFID issue.

“The increased use of RFID chips is going to require the increased use of the UBF [UHF] spectrum,” Redmond said, hitting on his essential point that TV is going digital for a much different reason than the average person assumes, “They are going to stop using the [UHF] and VHF frequencies in 2009. Everything is going to go digital (in the U.S.). Canada is going to do the same thing.”

Explaining the unsettling crux of the matter, he continued: “The reason they are doing this is that the [UHF-VHF] analog frequencies are being used for the chips. They do not want to overload the chips with television signals, so the chips’ signals are going to be taking those [analog] frequencies. They plan to sell the frequencies to private companies and other groups who will use them to monitor the chips.”

Albrecht responded to that quote only by saying that it sounds plausible, since she knows some chips will indeed operate in the UHF-VHF ranges.

“Well over a million pets have been chipped,” Redmond said, adding that all 31,000 police officers in London have in some manner been chipped as well, much to the consternation of some who want that morning donut without being tracked. London also can link a RFID chip in a public transportation pass with the customer’s name. “Where is John Smith? Oh, he is on subway car 32,” Redmond said.

He added that chips for following automobile drivers – while the concept is being fought by several states in the U.S. which do not want nationalized, trackable driver’s licenses (Real ID ) – is apparently a slam dunk in Canada, where license plates have quietly been chipped. Such identification tags can contain work history, education, religion, ethnicity, reproductive history and much more.

Farm animals are increasingly being chipped; furthermore, “Some 800 hospitals in the U.S. are now chipping their patients; you can turn it down, but it’s available,” he said, adding: “Four hospitals in Puerto Rico have put them in the arms of Alzheimer’s patients, and it only costs about $200 per person.”

VeriChip, a major chip maker (the devices sometimes also are called Spychips) describes its product on its website: “About twice the length of a grain of rice, the device is typically implanted above the triceps area of an individual’s right arm. Once scanned at the proper frequency, the VeriChip responds with a unique 16 digit number which could be then linked with information about the user held on a database for identity verification, medical records access and other uses. The insertion procedure is performed under local anesthetic in a physician’s office and once inserted, is invisible to the naked eye. As an implanted device used for identification by a third party, it has generated controversy and debate.”

The circles will keep widening, Redmond predicts. Chipping children “to be able to protect them,” Redmond said, “is being promoted in the media.” After that, he believes it will come to: chip the military, chip welfare cheats, chip criminals, chip workers who are goofing off, chip pensioners – and then chip everyone else under whatever rationale is cited by government and highly-protected corporations that stand to make billions of dollars from this technology. Meanwhile, the concept is marketed by a corporate media that, far from being a watchdog of the surveillance state, is part of it, much like the media give free publicity to human vaccination programs without critical analysis on possible dangers and side effects of the vaccines.

“That’s the first time I have heard of it,” a Federal Communications Commission official claimed, when AFP asked him about the RFID-DTV issue on June 2. Preferring anonymity, he added: “I am not at all aware of that being a cause (of going to DTV).”

“Nigel Gilbert of the Royal Academy of Engineering said that by 2011 you should be able to go on Google and find out where someone is at anytime from chips on clothing, in cars, in cellphones and inside many people themselves,” Redmond also said.

To read Redmond’s full lecture, go to this online link:

Full Lecture – Click Here