Politics

With the signing of the Military Commissions Act , the Bush Administration has now completely obliterated habeas corpus from the American Constitution. It seems the U.S. government can now arrest anyone, no matter their nationality, and hold them indefinately without cause, charges, trial, or an opportunity to confront their accuser. Those arrested can be detained and moved anywhere the U.S deems appropriate; these places are not reserved to U.S. soil.

Statement by President Bush:

“Today, the Senate sent a strong signal to the terrorists that we will continue using every element of national power to pursue our enemies and to prevent attacks on America. The Military Commissions Act of 2006 will allow the continuation of a CIA program that has been one of America’s most potent tools in fighting the War on Terror. Under this program, suspected terrorists have been detained and questioned about threats against our country. Information we have learned from the program has helped save lives at home and abroad. By authorizing the creation of military commissions, the Act will also allow us to prosecute suspected terrorists for war crimes” – Source: White House Press Office

More than 30 percent of the electorate will use new technology to vote on Nov. 7. In addition to the new voting equipment, 49 states have introduced new statewide, computerized databases to determine who is eligible to vote. According to Eugene Spafford, executive director of the Center for Education and Research in Information Assurance and Security (CERIAS), the technology may be problematic, possibly causing a debacle reminiscent of the 2000 election.

Most of the problems would result in human error – where are the machines stored? and possible power failures that would lead to the machines resetting – many without paper ballot backups . …

I would bring my own paper and pencil . ..

BOSTON (Reuters) –
“They can train themselves over the Internet. They never have to necessarily go to the training camp or speak with anybody else and that diffusion of a combination of hatred and technical skills in things like bomb-making is a dangerous combination,” Chertoff said. “Those are the kind of terrorists that we may not be able to detect with spies and satellites.”

To help gather intelligence on possible home-grown attackers, Chertoff said Homeland Security would deploy 20 field agents this fiscal year into “intelligence fusion centers,” where they would work with local police agencies.

What Is a Fusion Center? From the DOJ’s Fusion Center Guidlines:

A fusion center is an effective and efficient mechanism to exchange information and intelligence, maximize resources, streamline operations, and improve the ability to fight crime and terrorism by analyzing data from a variety of sources. In addition, fusion centers are a conduit for implementing portions of the National Criminal Intelligence Sharing Plan (hereafter, NCISP or Plan).

The Fusion Center Guidelines support the use of a variety of databases, drivers’ licenses, motor vehicle registrations, criminal justice and corrections sources, and “public and private sources,”. What private and public sources?

Charles Allen, chief intelligence officer for DHS, at a Sept. 7 House hearing stated that iInformation-sharing and data mining remain key activities at a growing number of state and local intelligence fusion centers and by Oct 2007 the DHS intends to deploy federal intellignece officers to 18 state fusion centers to facilitate the collaboration. Forty-two states have either set up such centers or plan to do so.

Big Brother is listing and reading – are you?