Federal Biometric ID Program “Secure Communities” Expands To Its 27th State

February 16, 2012

Activist Post

By Nicholas West

“State and Federal governments are so afraid of the people that they will do anything to keep track on what we’re doing.  How bout instead you leave us alone?  Just a thought.” –KTRN

ICE announced in February, 2011 that it would begin using biometric identification as a key component of an information-sharing nexus with 58 California counties meant to identify aliens who are booked for crimes by local police. However, a Freedom of Information Act request by several justice organizations revealed a program involving extensive Homeland Security coordination to expand the Secure Communities biometrics program to include even law-abiding American citizens.

The progression of Secure Communities has been warp speed, as 27 states have implemented its procedures. Minnesota is the latest to add itself in full compliance with the mandatory federal biometric ID program.

However, a pattern of deception by the federal government from the onset, as well as ignoring the growing criticism, is making it clear that rather than being a specific initiative to deport known criminals, Secure Communities is looking more and more like a sweeping move toward a Big Brother total surveillance grid.

Secure Communities is part of the Next Generation Identification program that has been rolled out to supplant the current fingerprint database known as IAFIS. Full biometrics are added to fingerprint information, including: palm scans, voice imprints, iris scans, facial recognition, and other body signatures that form an identity dossier of every individual. Once established, the dossier can be analyzed and communicated in real time between local law enforcement and federal agencies to theoretically deport “illegal and dangerous immigrants.”

Concerns have been raised by privacy rights advocates and Constitutionalists alike. The biometric dossier is compiled on anyone caught within its web; it then becomes the property of law enforcement agencies even if your biometrics (and DNA) are picked up as latent imprints at a crime scene. This makes everyday movements part of a tracking grid that can be cross-referenced beyond the court of law, potentially leading to false suspicions, interrogations, and arrests.

ICE is already under investigation for misrepresenting its intentions; and the wider role of the FBI, and its push to make mandatory what could have been voluntary, only furthers the suspicion that forcing states to obey federal mandate has intentions that far surpass documenting and deporting illegal and dangerous individuals.

According to Bridget Kessler of the Cardozo Law School Immigration Justice Clinic, one of the organizations that applied through FOIA to review documents outlining the FBI’s role in the implementation of Secure Communities:

Click here for the full report.

Chipotle, Undocumented Workers, And The Trouble With ‘Enforcement-Only’ Immigration

May 13th, 2011

The Huffington Post

By: Dave Jamieson

Miguel Bravo’s year-and-a-half-long stint working at a Chipotle in Washington, D.C., came to an abrupt end on March 9. That day, he says, he and his co-workers learned that their manager had just been let go in the midst of an audit of the burrito chain by U.S. immigration officials. As Bravo tells it, when the workers went to the back of the restaurant to talk with a Chipotle representative, they were replaced with a new crew out front.

Suddenly without a job, Bravo started stretching his dollars, looking for work, and speaking out about what he considered an unfair parting with Chipotle. What the 28-year-old immigrant didn’t do was pack his bags and return to El Salvador. After all, it would have made little economic sense to do so. A worker in El Salvador is lucky to earn a few dollars a day, if he can find work at all. Papers or no, Bravo was staying in America.

Not surprisingly, the American fast-food industry still had a place for him. Within two months, Bravo found another job in Washington with a major restaurant chain that he declined to name. “It’s easier, and there’s less pressure,” he says of the new gig. Though he earns just $8 an hour now — one dollar less than he’d been pulling in at Chipotle, he says — Bravo hopes to continue sending $500 a month back home to the wife and two children who he hasn’t seen since coming to America eight years ago.

Bravo’s decision says a lot about the challenges facing U.S. officials as Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) goes after companies with undocumented workers on its payrolls. The Obama administration has generally adopted an “enforcement-only” policy on immigration, stepping up the auditing of companies while so far declining to push a specific plan for comprehensive immigration reform. (The President’s highly anticipated speech this week on the matter was quickly panned as vague and lacking substance.) As Reuters has been reporting, Chipotle is perhaps the most visible company now in ICE’s crosshairs, with a close look at its books forcing the company to shed hundreds of workers in Minnesota, Virginia, and Washington. According to the Wall Street Journal, the Chipotle probe has widened to Atlanta and Los Angeles as well.

But advocates of comprehensive reform like to point out that few, if any, of the fired Chipotle workers seem to be giving up on the idea of U.S. employment. The workers simply move to other jobs, perhaps elsewhere in the fast food industry, like Bravo, or elsewhere, moving off the books entirely to work for smaller and less conspicuous employers than Chipotle. No number of audits, these advocates point out, can change global economics.

“They’re not going anywhere,” Sarahi Uribe, an organizer with the National Day Laborer Organizing Network, says of the D.C. workers. Uribe was walking outside the Chipotle on March 9 when she saw Bravo’s crew standing outside. Since then, she’s advocated on their behalf.

Rather than leave, several of the workers have grown quite vocal. They are demanding back pay for unused vacation, severance pay, and a public apology from Chipotle. Yet in a statement to The Huffington Post, Chipotle spokesperson Chris Arnold disputed the workers’ version, saying that many of the former Washington employees had provided fraudulent work papers and that “most of them simply walked away from their jobs, others were let go,” when the company addressed the situation. He also said Chipotle had paid “everyone everything they were owed.”

“Some of these workers have worked at Chipotle for six years, and they’ve lived in the District of Columbia for even longer,” says Uribe. “They have U.S. citizen children. Some of them are pregnant. They’re part of this community.”

Politicians often talk about the need to bring undocumented workers “out of the shadows,” but in many ways the Chipotle workers were already halfway out, working “on the front lines, facing the public,” says Audrey Singer, a demographer with the Brookings Institution. Even immigration hardliners would have to agree that’s a better arrangement than having them working under the table, for sub-minimum wages and under dangerous conditions, in the tobacco fields of North Carolina or the tomato fields of Florida. Considering the unlikelihood that the fired Chipotle workers will simply leave, “the question is whether they will be driven further underground,” says Singer.

Click here for the full report from the Huffington Post

The Kevin Trudeau Show: 3-23-11

Today, Kevin explains how you can live an organic lifestyle without spending a ton of money! Plus, find out what he uses as an all natural sweetener and why rebounders are so important to your daily routine!

Self Help:
Eliminate Viruses
Natural Toothpaste
Organic Hair Care System
Filter Your Water
Show Your Support
Get Educated On Natural Cures

Health:
Over-The-Counter Pain Medication Carry Heart Attack Risk
FDA To Limit Pain Reliever Amount In Prescription Drugs

NWO:
Arizona Shooting Victim Arrested After New Threat

Wealth:
The Worrisome Stats Official Inflation Figures Aren’t Showing

Everything Kevin:
Become An Insider!
Support Kevin!
Kevin is on YouTube!
Sign Up For Kevin’s FREE Podcast
Follow Kevin on Twitter
Become A Fan of Kevin on Facebook
Kevin’s Film Club
Kevin’s Book Club

Take Trudeau on the Go! Click here to download this show to your iPod, mp3 player, or PC through iTunes!

Click Below to Watch the Kevin Trudeau Show LIVE!

The Kevin Trudeau Show: 1-18-11

Today, Kevin explains how you can live an organic lifestyle without spending a ton of money! Plus, find out what he uses as an all natural sweetener and why rebounders are so important to your daily routine!

Self Help:
Eliminate Viruses   
Natural Toothpaste   
Organic Hair Care System   
Filter Your Water  
Show Your Support   
Get Educated On Natural Cures   

Health:
Over-The-Counter Pain Medication Carry Heart Attack Risk   
FDA To Limit Pain Reliever Amount In Prescription Drugs      

NWO:
Arizona Shooting Victim Arrested After New Threat     

Wealth:
The Worrisome Stats Official Inflation Figures Aren’t Showing   

Everything Kevin:
Become An Insider!
Kevin is on YouTube!
Sign Up For Kevin’s FREE Podcast
Follow Kevin on Twitter
Become Kevin’s Friend on Facebook
Kevin’s Film Club
Kevin’s Book Club

Take Trudeau on the Go! Click here to download this show to your iPod, mp3 player, or PC through iTunes!

Click Below to Watch the Kevin Trudeau Show LIVE!

Ten Natural Remedies Relieve Teething Pain

December 27th, 2010

Natural News

By: Penny Forham

Baby`s first tooth usually appears around five or six months and the last appears around two and a half years. Teething doesn’t bother some babies; whereas, others become very unsettled, clingy and unable to sleep. If teething is uncomfortable for your baby, here are ten natural ways to relieve teething pain.

1. Teething Necklaces
When worn around baby`s neck the gentle warming of an amber necklace releases succinic acid into the skin. Succinic acid is known to accelerate the healing of wounds, ease muscle pains, reduce inflammation of the throat, ear and stomach, reduce/prevent respiratory disease, decrease colic symptoms, reduce acid reflux, reduce eczema and improve heart, liver, kidney, and intestinal function.

Hazelwood has the medicinal property of neutralizing the body’s acidity, relieving ulcers, acid reflux, heartburn, teething, skin problems (psoriasis, eczema, acne), arthritis, constipation, migraines, and dental cavities. Like amber, it is worn around the neck of the baby and the active ingredient is absorbed into the skin.

2. Vanilla Essence
Vanilla has natural calming properties which can soothe anxiety associated with teething and relieve an upset tummy. The pressure from rubbing the liquid on the gums provides relieving counter pressure.

3. Something to chew on
This one is as wide ranging as your imagination, from natural rubber or wooden teething toys to mum or dad’s finger. Large pieces of refrigerated or frozen vegetables, e.g. carrots, or a cold teaspoon or wooden spoon can also be used.

4. Ice
Another varied solution is to cool and gently anaesthetise the inflamed gums. Choose from rubbing a melting ice cube on the gums, a popsicle made from fruit, mum`s milk or chamomile tea.

5. Pressure
Using a clean finger to press the swollen gums creates counter pressure to the emerging tooth which temporarily relieves discomfort.

6. Homeopathy
Teething times are many mothers` first introduction to homeopathy, which works by stimulating the immune system. Chamomilla is the most commonly prescribed remedy for symptoms such as restlessness and a red cheek. Belladonna may be more appropriate when there is a very flushed face and fever. Pulsatilla is useful when the child is very clingy and weepy. These are the most common treatments but consult a homeopath for the most appropriate remedy.

7. Breastfeed
Breastfeeding and skin to skin contact has been shown to be pain relieving during medical interventions of babies. Many babies instinctively want to nurse more during teething. Nursing also has the added benefit of helping to align baby’s teeth correctly and prevent malocclusion later.

8. Cloves
Cloves are known for their ability to relieve a toothache. Clove oil is very potent and should be diluted before using it on your baby. It can be diluted in a carrier oil such as olive oil and then rubbed on the gum.

9. Flower Remedies
Flower based remedies help manage the emotional states. They can be applied on the tongue, the forehead, or behind the ears. They can also pass in breastmilk so can be taken by a nursing mother.

10. Apply a barrier
The excessive drool caused by teething can cause a red irritating rash around the lips and chin. Lubricate the skin with a mild emollient such as cold-pressed coconut, almond or safflower oil to prevent the skin from getting wet from saliva. Pat any saliva to dry the skin without irritation.

Click here for the full report from Natural News

Ice On Injuries Could Slow Healing

October 26th, 2010

The Telegraph

By: Richard Alleyne

For years, people have been told to freeze torn, bruised or sprained muscles to reduce the swelling.

But now for the first time, researchers have found that it could slow down the healing as it prevents the release of a key repair hormone.

This discovery turns the conventional wisdom that swelling must be controlled in order to encourage healing and prevent pain.

It could also lead to new therapies for acute muscle injuries that lead to inflammation.

The study, published in the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology journal, suggests muscle inflammation after acute injury is essential to repair.

Professor Lan Zhou and colleagues at the Neuroinflammation Research Centre at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio discovered inflamed cells produce a high level of a hormone called insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) which significantly increases the rate of muscle regeneration.

During the study, scientists studied two groups of mice. The first group was genetically altered so they could not form an inflammatory response to injury.

The second group was normal.

All mice were then injected with barium chloride to cause muscle injury.

The first group of mice did not heal, but the bodies of the second group repaired the injury.

When they studied the muscle tissue they saw the healthy mice produced a high level of IGF-1 in their inflamed tissue.

Prof Zhou, said: “We hope that our findings stimulate further research to dissect different roles played by tissue inflammation in clinical settings, so we can utilise the positive effects and control the negative effects of tissue inflammation.”

This discovery could change how much patient monitoring is required when potent anti-inflammatory drugs are prescribed over a long period.

Gerald Weissmann, editor of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology journal, said: “For wounds to heal we need controlled inflammation, not too much, and not too little.

“It’s been known for a long time that excess anti-inflammatory medication, such as cortisone, slows wound healing.

“This study goes a long way to telling us why – insulin-like growth factor and other materials released by inflammatory cells helps wound to heal.”

Click here for the full report from the Telegraph

Illegal Immigrant Killed Nun, Released By Feds

August 4, 2010

The Washington Times

By: Stephen Dinan

The Virginia man suspected in a drunken-driving crash that killed a Catholic nun in Prince William County this weekend is an illegal immigrant and repeat offender who was awaiting deportation and whom federal immigration authorities had released pending further proceedings, police said Monday.

Carlos Montano, a county resident, has been charged with involuntary manslaughter and drunken driving. Mr. Montano had been arrested two other times on drunken-driving charges, and on at least one of those occasions county police reported him to federal authorities.

“We have determined that he is in the country illegally. He has been arrested by Prince William County Police in the past,
said police spokesman Jonathan Perok.

He said U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement was notified at the time of one of those arrests. “At the time of this incident, the accident yesterday, he was in the deportation process and was out on his recognizance for court proceedings.”

The crash at around 8:30 Sunday morning killed Sister Denise Mosier and injured two other nuns as they were driving to a retreat at the Benedictine Monastery in Bristow, Va. The two injured nuns were in critical but stable condition late Monday, according to St. Gertrude High School in Richmond run by the Benedictine Sisters of Virginia.

Mr. Montano was being treated for injuries he received in the crash and was expected to be released from the hospital into police custody as early as Monday evening.

Messages left with ICE and the Homeland Security Department were not returned, but the incident raises questions about the agency’s policy of detaining only some illegal immigrants awaiting deportation.

“I have been saying for months now that this administration’s new policy of concentrating almost solely on ‘criminal aliens,’ and not enforcing the laws by deporting known illegal aliens, would have devastating consequences. Now, we see the tragic results this ‘virtual amnesty’ policy of the Obama administration has caused,” said Rep. Harold Rogers of Kentucky, the ranking Republican on the House Appropriations homeland security subcommittee.

“A life could have been saved had ICE just simply done their job to begin with,” Mr. Rogers said. “By implementing selective amnesty one case at a time, the U.S. government is literally putting lives at risk.”

The Obama administration has issued a policy of putting a higher priority on convicted criminals and suspected terrorists.

In a June 30 memo, John T. Morton, assistant secretary of homeland security for ICE, said agents should focus their capture and deportation efforts on illegal immigrants who were suspected of terrorism, had been convicted of violent crimes or were repeat offenders, gang members or “aliens who otherwise pose a serious risk to public safety.” He did not define what rose to the level of serious risk.

The latest ICE statistics show that the agency has stepped up deportations of criminals, but has slowed deportation of other illegal immigrants. The agency also is holding fewer illegal immigrants at any one time than it did last year, according to the statistics.

Critics have long demanded that ICE increase its bed capacity. In the years after the Sept. 11 attacks, some proposals called for a capacity increase to 60,000 beds to try to keep illegal immigrants off the streets while awaiting deportation. The president and Congress, however, never funded that request, and so far in fiscal 2010 ICE is holding 30,349 people on an average day.

The incident comes at a thorny time for the Obama administration and the immigration issue.

Early last week, a judge halted key parts of Arizona’s new immigration law, delivering a partial victory to the Justice Department, which had argued that the law intruded on federal jurisdiction.

But late last week, a draft memo obtained by Sen. Charles E. Grassley, Iowa Republican, showed that the administration has pondered ways to work around Congress and use its authority to extend legal status to many illegal immigrants. The memo called one of the methods it explored “a non-legislative version of ‘amnesty.’
”

In the days since, Republicans have demanded that the administration rule out an end run around Congress.

Administration officials have said they won’t use the powers to offer blanket legal status.

“This administration believes that the only way to deal with immigration is to do it comprehensively, to do it through Congress with Democrats and Republicans working together,” White House press secretary Robert Gibbs told Fox News in an interview last week after the memo surfaced.The Virginia man suspected in a drunken-driving crash that killed a Catholic nun in Prince William County this weekend is an illegal immigrant and repeat offender who was awaiting deportation and who federal immigration authorities had released pending further proceedings, police said Monday.

click here to read full article

5 Ways Grocery Stores Rip You Off

May 21, 2010

Wallet Pop

By Linda Doell

For most of us, going to the grocery store is unavoidable. And if you’re not careful, leaving too much money in stores’ hands will be unavoidable, too.

Scanners ring up wrong prices, stores overcharge, and you can end up paying more for less in subtle ways as well.

Just this week, we told you the Los Angeles City Attorney’s office filed criminal charges against the California grocery chain Ralph’s, alleging the retailer has been overcharging for prepackaged and weighed goods. Undercover inspectors found overcharges, incorrectly-priced food packages or packages that weighed lighter than they should, according to the allegations.

Stores also pump up the weight in packaged food, by adding ice or water solutions. The nonprofit National Conference on Weights and Measures says consumers may be paying up to $23 a pound for ice in seafood in certain circumstances, according to a 17-state investigation conducted earlier this year. An ice glaze is added during the packaging process to help preserve the quality. It’s legal, but some unscrupulous packagers can profit by pumping up the amount of the solution.

LiveCheap.com, a website dedicated to helping people, well, live cheap, came up with the top five ways grocery stores can get you to pay more than you should:

Click here for the full report.

Climate “Experts” Claim January Was The Hottest In History

February 26, 2010

Express

By Donna Bowater

CLIMATE scientists yesterday stunned Britons suffering the coldest winter for 30 years by claiming last month was the ­hottest January the world has ever seen.

The remarkable claim, based on global satellite data, follows Arctic temperatures that brought snow, ice and travel chaos to millions in the UK.

At the height of the big freeze, the entire country was blanketed in snow. But Australian weather expert Professor Neville Nicholls, of Monash University in Melbourne, said yesterday: “January, according to satellite data, was the hottest January we’ve ever seen.

“Last November was the hottest November we’ve ever seen. November-January as a whole is the hottest November-January the world has seen.” Veteran ­climatologist Professor Nicholls was speaking at an online climate change briefing, added: “It’s not warming the same everywhere but it is really quite challenging to find places that haven’t warmed in the past 50 years.”

His extraordinary claims came after the World Meteorological Organisation revealed 2000 to 2009 was the hottest decade since records began in 1850.

But UK forecaster Jonathan Powell, of Positive Weather Solutions, said: “If it is the case and it is borne out that January was the hottest on record, it is still no marker towards climate change.

“It’s all part of a cyclical issue and nothing should be read too deeply into that.

“It’s been the coldest for 30 years in Britain but we predicted that and climate change always tends t o throw up anomalies. It’s all in line with predictions and I won’t be sold on climate change at all. The data is either faulty or manufactured to make it look like it shouldn’t.”

Click here for the full report

Goldman Sachs Oil Scam Passes $2.5 Trillion

November 13, 2009

Phil Stock World

Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, BP, TOT, Shell, DB and Societe General founded the Intercontinental Exchange in 2000.  ICE is an online commodities and futures marketplace. It is outside the US and operates free from the constraints of US laws.  The exchange was set up to facilitate “dark pool” trading in the commodities markets.  Billions of dollars are being placed on oil futures contracts at the ICE and the beauty of this scam is that they NEVER take delivery, per se.  They just ratchet up the price with leveraged speculation using your TARP money. This year alone they ratcheted up the global cost of oil from $40 to $80 per barrel.

A Congressional investigation into energy trading in 2003 discovered that ICE was being used to facilitate “round-trip” trades.  Round-trip” trades occur when one firm sells energy to another and then the second firm simultaneously sells the same amount of energy back to the first company at exactly the same price. No commodity ever changes hands. But when done on an exchange, these transactions send a price signal to the market and they artificially boost revenue for the company.  This is nothing more than a massive fraud, pure and simple.

“Traders of the the ICE core membership (GS, MS, BP, DB, RDS.A, GLE & TOT) wouldn’t really have to put much money at risk by their standards in order to move or support the global market price via the BFOE market. Indeed the evolution of the Brent market has been a response to declining production and the fact that traders could not resist manipulating the market by buying up contracts and “squeezing” those who had sold oil they did not have. The fewer cargoes produced, the easier the underlying market is to manipulate.” – Chris Cook, Former Director of the International Petroleum Exchange, which was bought by ICE.

How widespread are “round-trip’‘ trades? The Congressional Research Service looked at trading patterns in the energy sector and this is what they reported: This pattern of trading suggests a market environment in which a significant volume of fictitious trading could have taken place. Yet since most of the trading is unregulated by the Government, we have only a slim idea of the illusion being perpetrated in the energy sector.

DMS Energy, when investigated by Congress, admitted that 80 percent of its trades in 2001 were “round-trip” trades.   That means 80 percent of all of their trades that year were bogus trades where no commodity changed hands, and yet the balance sheets reflect added revenue.  Remember, these trades are sham deals where nothing was exchanged.  Duke Energy disclosed that $1.1 billion worth of trades were “round-trip” since 1999. Roughly two-thirds of these were done on the InterContinental Exchange; that is, the online, nonregulated, nonaudited, nonoversight for manipulation and fraud entity run by banks in this country. That means thousands of subscribers would see false pricing. Under investigation, a lawyer for J.P. Morgan Chase admitted the bank engineered a series of “round-trip” trades with Enron.

Click here for full report