Tag Archives: TSA

Trump’s “Great, Great Wall” to be Big and Scary

Tuesday, 21 March 2017 05:42

This article appeared online at TheNewAmerican.com on Monday, March 20, 2017:

United States Customs and Border Protection of...

United States Customs and Border Protection officers, fully armed and armored for a counter-terrorism operation.

In his address to Congress earlier this month, President Donald Trump said, “We will soon begin the construction of a great, great wall along our southern border” to “restore integrity and the rule of law at our borders.” Now that the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agency has begun issuing RFPs — requests for proposals — the wall is also going to be big and scary: “The wall design shall be physically imposing in height,” according to CBP officials.

It will be at least 18 feet in height, but CBP’s “nominal” goal is more like 30 feet above ground, and another six feet below ground (to discourage tunneling underneath it). It’s also going to be thick, as one of the requirements is that it must take someone at least an hour — and ideally more than four hours — to bore a hole in it large enough to allow him to crawl through it. That, theoretically at least, would allow enough time for border agents to respond to the attempted breach.

Its RFPs will entertain alternatives to the concrete wall many have already envisioned, responding to border agents’ suggestions that it have a “see-through” component,

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Not All Travel Bans Apply to Foreigners

Thursday, 09 February 2017 06:45

This article was published by The McAlvany Intelligence Advisor on Wednesday, February 8, 2017:

Embed from Getty Images

The federal government published the final rules on Monday on just how the Department of Transportation, the Department of State and the Internal Revenue Service, working together, can disrupt one’s plans to travel abroad:

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January 2016: TSA Will Require REAL ID for Flight Check-in

Friday, 12 June 2015 04:53

This article first appeared online at TheNewAmerican.com on Thursday, June 11, 2105:

View image | gettyimages.com

Anyone checking in for an airline flight on January 1, 2016 and thereafter will be turned away if his driver’s license isn’t “REAL ID compliant,” according to Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officials.

But, “it’s a choice,” according to Nevada’s Department of Motor Vehicles Public Information Officer David Fierro: “It’s not mandatory. It’s a choice for secured identification. If you use a passport when you’re travelling you won’t have any problems. If you use your driver’s license for identification, you’ll need to either apply for the REAL ID card, or get a passport.”

To be compliant, driver’s licenses must capture specific identifying details about the person and then associate them with a unique identification number. DMV.org lists those details:

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DHS’ Napolitano Leaves Legacy of Corruption, Lies, Lawsuits and Waste

Friday, 12 July 2013 13:21

Many were surprised at Janet Napolitano’s announcement that she was leaving her position as Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) at the end of August to become President of the University of California. Chosen from more than 300 candidates vying for the position, Napolitano managed to keep her interest in, and her successful bid for, that position from the public until Friday.

She issued the usual departure appreciation statement:

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The Fiscal Cliff: What Really Needs to Be Done

Thursday, 15 November 2012 15:34

Piggy Bank

(Photo credit: Images_of_Money)

Now that the national elections are history, attention in Washington is firmly focused on the “fiscal cliff”: the day of reckoning created by the congress during the budget ceiling debate in the summer of 2011. When the Super Committee failed in its mandate to create a plan to address the deficits and the national debt, the result was the misnamed Budget Control Act of 2011 which, in current parlance, kicked the can to December 31, 2012. All that act did was to raise the debt limit immediately by $400 billion, thus averting a government shutdown, while allowing further increases in the debt limit without another congressional confrontation with the White House. The tradeoff was the promise of spending cuts in the future.

That future is now.

If nothing is done, and the economy runs off the so-called fiscal cliff, the impact will be a combination of $7 trillion worth of tax increases and spending cuts over the next decade.

There will be automatic spending cuts of $120 billion annually in both defense and non-defense spending, there will be increases in income and capital gains tax rates, the reestablishment of the so-called “death tax” (the estate tax), 27 million households will now be subject to the “wealth tax” under the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT), while those enjoying the payroll tax “holiday” will see their Social Security withholding taxes return to the 6.2% rate from the current temporary 4.2% rate. There would be the confluence of another flurry of other tax increases and spending cuts as well, including 27% cuts to Medicare providers and at least four other tax increases imbedded in Obamacare.

According to the Heritage Foundation, the fiscal cliff will cost families making $70,000 a year more than

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Obama Unleashed

Sunday, 11 November 2012 06:55

The Debt Star As if he ever intended to pull his punches in his continuing drive to establish a totalitarian state in America, newly reelected Obama has wasted no time in extending and expanding his illegitimate powers. As Mike Adams (one of the more astute and insightful of writers I try to read daily) noted in his daily blog on Wednesday:

He’s the one who issued an executive order claiming government ownership over all farms and farm equipment, in case you forgot that little fact.

He’s also the guy who just recently issued an executive order merging Homeland Security with local corporate entities to grant the executive branch of government a power monopoly over the nation, bypassing the courts and Congress. You probably haven’t even heard about that one, because he secretly signed it during Hurricane Sandy.

From there, Adams speculates on Obama’s second term and his continuing attack on our freedoms:

He sees an expansion of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and the surveillance state by setting up arbitrary “check points” on roadways, at sporting events, at shopping malls, and other “surprise” locations. He expects to see even more belligerent and invasive behaviors, conditioning us for the coming police state.

He expects secret arrests of American citizens and even “kill orders” to be issued against his political opponents.

He anticipates additional government spending without limit, the current debt ceiling notwithstanding.

He thinks our foods will increasingly be modified genetically (GMO) while attempts to let consumers know about them will be overridden and rejected.

He is sure that health care will look more and more like a government agency, with mandatory vaccinations and the war against raw milk continuing.

His push to emasculate the Second Amendment will drive gun and ammunition sales much higher, along with prices for them. It’s interesting to note that Wednesday’s selloff in the stock market didn’t include shares of Ruger and Smith & Wesson, both of which rose substantially.

He expects to see continued and accelerating disregard for the niceties contained in the Bill of Rights.

Government expansion will include increases in food stamps and other entitlement programs.

He expects more and more large employers to move their operations offshore to avoid the onerous demands and mandates under Obamacare which is now firmly cemented into place as a result of the election.

Preppers and veterans will increasingly be targets for reprisals, with the government calling them “potential terrorists” for engaging in what he calls “fundamental preparedness strategies” such as storing water, food, medicines and ammunition.

There are millions of us who see clearly, some perhaps for the first time, exactly what’s coming. Adams just sees over the horizon a little farther than most.

Pastor Chuck Baldwin’s Election Predictions Resonate with Me

Sunday, 04 November 2012 06:56

Chuck Baldwin

Chuck Baldwin (Photo credit: Gage Skidmore)

Baldwin is a remarkable man. His Wikipedia entry is almost a puff piece, but you can’t avoid noting his character, his willingness to take a stand, and to make tough decisions in accordance with the light he has been given. This from Wiki is especially revealing:

In 2010, Baldwin retired from his position as pastor of Crossroad Baptist Church and announced his intention to move to Montana, because he believed God had told him that the Mountain states were the “tip of the spear in the freedom fight.”

In March 2011, he wrote an article in support of the American Redoubt concept originated by novelist and blogger James Wesley Rawles. This plan designates five western states (Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, eastern Oregon, and eastern Washington) as a safe haven for conservative Christians.

In a June 9, 2011 article, Baldwin outlined his reasons for choosing the Flathead Valley of Western Montana for his family’s home. He cited Montana’s freedom-loving people, its recognition of the right to keep and bear arms, and a feeling of strong conviction, following prayer.

And so, when he speaks, I listen:

I think Mitt Romney will somewhat comfortably win the Presidential election.

This will cause “conservatives,” Christians, and most Republicans to go into a state of deep hibernation, which will allow Romney to wreak havoc upon the Constitution and liberties of the people.

In 2012, Barack Obama is the “Boogeyman” that must defeated at all costs. But the fact is, with the exception of Romney’s more business-friendly approach to economics, the differences between Obama and Romney are negligible.

He reiterates the similarities between

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Airports Telling TSA to Take a Hike

Monday, 06 August 2012 19:13

Infowars: Sacramento International Airport Evicts TSA Screeners

Sacramento International Airport is dropping the TSA and replacing all security screeners with private contractors after it was given approval to opt out of the TSA program.

ORD / Chicago - 20110719 TSA Grope

ORD / Chicago – 20110719 TSA Grope (Photo credit: marklyon)

Could this be the beginning of the end of the TSA—the despised Transportation Security Agency? Sacramento is the third largest airport in the country to tell TSA to take a hike, and replace the federal gropers with private ones.

It’s a small victory against federal intrusion in peoples’ privacy, but a victory nevertheless. Enthusiasm must be balanced against the requirements that the private contractors still must follow TSA guidelines, use TSA body scanners, wear TSA badges, and be watched by TSA supervisors. And current TSA gropers are allowed to apply for the same job as private employees.

But there are some gains, too. Hardy Acree, Sacramento’s airport director, says “I think there is going to be higher level of customer service.” The airport’s deputy director, Linda Beech Cutler, added that the privatization “makes us more flexible for staffing, for peak times and not being so staffed up [over-staffed] for not so busy times.” In other words, scarce resources will probably be used more efficiently.

And a flyer who learned of the change opined that “it might be better, less intrusive…I don’t like how the government runs their business.”

TSA isn’t making a big deal about the desertions, as expected, because if enough airports bail, then their whole raison d’tre disappears.

Infowars writer Watson fails to make any mention, however, of other options to provide passenger security instead of private or federal feelers. For example, not a single terrorist has managed to penetrate security at Israel’s Ben Gurion International Airport since 1972!

How do they do that? They don’t take pictures, for one thing. The agents are mostly female, for another, and what they do is ask questions, looking for “tells” that give away potential threats.

So this escape from the tentacles of the grasping, groping, overreaching federal agency must be considered to be a victory, albeit a small one.

New High-Tech Body Scanners Courtesy of the CIA

Saturday, 28 July 2012 06:31

English: Millimeter wave technology. Gen 2 sca...

Millimeter wave technology. Gen 2 scanner manufactured by Brijot of Lake Mary, Fla. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The latest piece of terrifying technology, the Picosecond Programmable Laser scanner from Genia Photonics, will be able to identify gunpowder residue on an individual’s shoes, and what he had for breakfast along with his adrenaline levels, according to the anonymous author of Gizmodo.com.

The portable unit, about the size of a breadbox, is described as “robust” and “mobile,” meaning it could not only be used in airports to supplement the invasions of privacy already being performed by the TSA but also in mobile units, such as police cruisers, roaming the streets, looking for suspicious “wavelength patterns and sequences.” According to anonymous:

The machine is ten million times faster—and one million times more sensitive—than any currently available system. That means that it can be used systematically on everyone passing through airport security, not just suspect or randomly sampled people…

The small, inconspicuous machine is attached to a computer running a program that will show the information in real time, from trace amounts of cocaine on your dollar bills to gunpowder residue on your shoes. Forget trying to sneak a bottle of water past security—they will be able to tell what you had for breakfast in an instant while you’re walking down the hallway.

All of this is being provided through a grant system set up in 1999 by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) when it was discovered that the agency was falling behind the technology curve and decided to do something about it. According to the CIA:

By the 1990s, however, especially with the advent of the World Wide Web, it is the commercial market that is setting the pace in IT [information technology] innovation. And, as is the nature of a market-based economy, the flow of capital and talent has irresistibly moved to the commercial sector, where the prospect of huge profits from initial public offerings and equity-based compensation has become the norm.

In contrast to the remarkable transformations taking place in Silicon Valley and elsewhere, the Agency, like many large Cold War era private sector corporations, felt itself being left behind. It was not connected to the creative forces that underpin the digital economy and, of equal importance, many in Silicon Valley knew little about the Agency’s IT needs. The opportunities and challenges posed by the information revolution to the Agency’s core mission areas of clandestine collection and all-source analysis were growing daily. Moreover, the challenges are not merely from foreign countries but also transnational threats [such as drug cartels].

And so, in coordination with Congress which provided some start-up funds, a quasi-private venture capital company was set up, called In-Q-Tel, with major intellectual input provided by

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Policing for Profit in Tennessee

Friday, 25 May 2012 04:41

When George Reby was pulled over for speeding in Putnam County, Tennessee, little did he know it was going to cost him $22,000 despite never being charged with a crime.

An insurance investigator from New Jersey, Reby was driving down Interstate 40 on his way to a convention. He had $22,000 in cash with him, rolled up in 22 $1000 packages in a bag, which he intended to use to purchase a car that he had found on eBay. From the video provided by NewsChannel 5 in Nashville, Reby was stopped for speeding and the following conversation between Reby and Office Larry Bates took place:

Bates: Are you carrying any cash?

Reby: Around $20,000.

Bates: Do you mind if I search your vehicle?

Reby: No, I don’t mind.

From there it all went downhill. Bates seized the money under the suspicion that Reby might be planning to use the money to purchase illegal drugs. When interviewed by NewsChannel 5, Bates was asked why he was suspicious:

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As Regulations Strangle the Economy, History Provides an Alternative

Sunday, 22 April 2012 06:56

Small Steps Toward Deregulation

Because of disappointment over the economy’s rate of recovery which appeared to be confirmed by the March jobs numbers coming in at half the rate expected, the House is making efforts to roll back regulations that are said to be inhibiting the recovery.

The Wall Street Journal explained that, although the jobless rate edged down in March from 8.3 percent to 8.2 percent, “that decline was due less to new hiring than people abandoning their job searches.” Indeed, according to the St. Louis Federal Reserve a record 88 million people are “not in the labor force,” up from 60 million in the early 1980s.

Regulations emanating from regulatory agencies have turned into a veritable waterfall under the Obama administration, forcing the White House last summer to promise to “review hundreds of regulations that could get streamlined or scrapped in response to criticism from the GOP and business that burdensome rules are holding back the economy.”

Writing at The New American, William Hoar noted that, even if such a review actually took place and then resulted in any kind of rollback of regulations, it would amount to no more than “a speed bump for the diktaks racing out of Washington.” In fact, the White House is a significant part of the problem. Congressman Tom Graves (R-GA) noted that since Obamacare became law it has grown from a 2000-page bill to more than 6,000 pages of regulations in the Federal Register.

Rep. Don Young (R-AK) got so exasperated with the regulations threatening to asphyxiate the economy that he announced plans to introduce legislation to abolish every

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Paul Ryan’s Plan Unveiled, Reviled, Applauded

Tuesday, 05 April 2011 21:59

Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI)

Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Now that Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) has unveiled his “Path to Prosperity” budget, nearly all discussion is focusing on the details and not on the proper role of government. Writing in the Wall Street Journal on Sunday, Ryan said that “our budget … cuts $6.2 trillion in spending from the president’s budget over the next 10 years, reduces the debt as a percentage of the economy, and puts the nation on a path to actually pay off our national debt.” He also said that it

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Congressional Pushback

Thursday, 06 January 2011 07:35

Michele Bachmann - Restoring Honor rally

Image by theqspeaks via Flickr

Now that the 112th Congress has been sworn in and subjected to the reading of the Constitution and its 27 amendments, the direction of that Congress is beginning to take shape. In response to pressure from Americanists, Tea Partiers, Constitutionalists, and other limited-government supporters, Congress’ first effort at legislation will be to vote today to cut its own budget by 5 percent. That would result in savings of a minuscule $35 million, but loyalists are taking heart that the “first olive out of the bottle is always the hardest” and that much bigger targets and greater success lie ahead. Repealing ObamaCare is next on the agenda with passage almost assured. Rep. Fred Upton, (R-Mich), new chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, predicted not only that such a bill pulling ObamaCare “out by the roots” will pass, but might even be able to muster two-thirds of those voting.

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Top Secret America: Expensive, Chaotic and Dangerous

Tuesday, 28 December 2010 10:13

Headquarters of the NSA at Fort Meade, Maryland.

Image via Wikipedia

Last July the Washington Post published a three-part story on “the huge security buildup in the United States after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.” This week, the Post published “Monitoring America,” the fourth installment of its “Top Secret America” series, describing security efforts at the local level.

After two years of research, hundreds of interviews, and thousands of hours poring over documents, the Washington Post investigation was unable to determine anything for sure—except, of course, that the security system is massive:

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The College Graduate Bubble: One Student’s Story

Friday, 24 December 2010 08:31

The entrance to the Gallatin School of Individ...

Image via Wikipedia

Cortney Munna bought the lie, hook, line and sinker. The College Board has been selling it for years: “Over the course of a 40-year career, the average college graduate earns about 66 percent more than the typical high-school graduate.” At age 17, Cortney and her mother, Cathryn, decided they “would do whatever they could to get Cortney into the best possible college, and they maintained a blind faith that the investment would be worth it,” as researcher Ron Lieber told their story:

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TSA Catches More Flak

Tuesday, 29 June 2010 16:58

Seal of the United States Department of Homela...

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The new DVD Please Remove Your Shoes, to be released on July 1, was reviewed by Scott Mayerowitz at ABC News, who asked rhetorically, “Do You Really Believe You Are Safe at the Airport?” and then answered “No.”

Fred Gevalt paid for this documentary out of his own pocket because “our real security at the airport…appears to be worse than ever. Clearly something has to be fixed. We have given TSA sufficient time since their creation to establish their merit and they haven’t. It’s time to call for a rethink of the whole security system, and now is as good a time as any. We certainly shouldn’t allow this farce to continue.”

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TSA and the Fourth Amendment: Take another Look

Monday, 08 March 2010 17:45

Transportation Security Administration officer...

Image via Wikipedia

When Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano announced that Major General Robert Harding was President Obama’s latest nominee for the Transportation Security Agency (TSA), she said, “Mr. Harding has the experience and perspective [emphasis added] to make a real difference in carrying out the mission of the agency. If there was ever a nominee that warranted expedited…consideration in the Senate, this is it.”

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