The Poet's Eye
commentary
by Lightning Rod
the Poets' Eye is skeptical
without being cynical, innocent
without being naive and
critical without being
judgmental
Assume
the Position
for
release 09-09-04
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SECURITY
Oh, ain't it a polite police state!
The prison is the ultimate in civilization.
No focal point for righteous horror
but just outside the gates
we know the guns are waiting for us
oiled and grinning.
Like just outside the borders
we know the bombs are waiting for us.
Because we keep our missiles hidden and
our military behind neatly clipped hedges
our citizens accept the myth of liberty.
I tell you: before the end of this century
they'll have all our pictures on ID cards
and there will be a friendly officer on
every corner to check it for you.
And you'll feel safe as I do in this penitentiary.
– inmate #380000, Huntsville, Texas
The 9/11 commission recommends federal standards for identification documents such as driver's licenses and birth certificates. This amounts to the introduction of a national ID card system. They also advocate "internal checkpoints." Congress will be pressured in this session to pass legislation to implement the recommendations of the 9/11 commission. It looks like a replay of the hasty lawmaking that gave us the Patriot Act. Before you know it, they'll have all our pictures on ID cards.
A national identification card, in whatever form it may take, will allow the federal government to inappropriately monitor the movements and transactions of every American. History shows that governments inevitably use the power to monitor the actions of people in harmful ways. Claims that the government will protect the privacy of Americans when implementing a national identification card ring hollow. --Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas)
Even though
we already have a de facto National ID card in the form of our social
security number, which the government promised us would never be used
as identification, the perils of profiling and surveillance are becoming
more acute with the advent of computer data bases.
Larry Ellison, founder of Oracle is promoting a new National ID Card based
on Oracle software. He is trying to sell the government on the idea of
a biometric card that links with a common data base. Ellison is offering
to donate the software. Of course supporting it will be a multi-million
dollar deal.
So, what is the next step? Here it is. The government has already approved
and is advertising an injectable chip that will be a permanent ID system.
They implant it under your skin.
The VeriChip is a radio frequency identification (RFID) implantable microchip
containing a unique 10-digit identification number that can be "read"
by a handheld scanner or by a subject walking through a portal reader.
The chips are manufactured by Florida's VeriChip Corp., a subsidiary of
Applied Digital Solutions Inc(ADSX).
At this point the Veri-Chip system is being touted as a way to provide
medical information. But this is significantly more sinister than one
of those little bracelets that says "diabetic' or 'allergic to penicillin.'
Thanks to modern computer power, with the wave of a wand, even if you
are unconscious or otherwise unaware that you are being scanned, someone
could know your identification, your medical history, your credit record
and current bank balance, your arrest record, your fingerprints, urinalysis,
blood type, your ancestry, what books you checked out at the library,
your DNA code and with whom you have checked into motels.
Add global satellite positioning (GPS) and they will have us all under
house arrest, knowing every movement we make and every transaction.
"Welcome to McDonalds. May I help you?"
"Yes, I'd like a Happy Meal."
"May I see your National ID?"
"Sure." He passes his hand over the scanner.
"I'm sorry sir. It says here that you have a fine on two movies from Blockbuster. Those would be Peter Pan and...ah, Deep Throat. Until you clear those fines we can't sell you a Happy Meal. Next."
The Poet's Eye fails to see how our security is improved by allowing the government to spy on its own citizens. Control begins with monitoring. When you brand a cow, it signifies that you own the animal.
"The price of eternal vigilance is liberty"...ooops, got
it backwards
"Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty"--Thomas Jefferson.
"There
is one safeguard known generally to the wise,
which is an advantage and security
to all, but especially to democracies
as against despots.
What is it? Distrust."
– Demosthenes
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