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India is planning to provide its 1.1 billion-plus citizens with ID cards. Entrepreneur, Nandan Nilekani has been chosen to lead the ambitious project which will be the second largest citizens' database in a democracy, with China being the biggest. The government believes the scheme, which will be finalised over three years, will aid the delivery of vital social services to the poorest people who often lack sufficient identification papers. It also sees the scheme as a way to tackle increasing amounts of identity fraud and theft and, at a time of increased concern over the threat of militant violence, to...

SNIPPET: ""Spanish police suspect terrorism links in arrests," from the Associated Press, February 3 (thanks to all who sent this in): The Spanish police arrested 13 people on Tuesday on suspicion of links to organized crime and terrorism groups. A police statement said the detainees — 11 Pakistanis, a Nigerian and an Indian — are suspected of belonging to an international criminal gang involved in passport forgery, drug trafficking and the smuggling of people." SNIPPET: "The police statement said the group is suspected of having contacts in Belgium, Britain, France, Germany, Switzerland and Thailand. The group allegedly stole passports in...

As part of measures to crackdown on illegal workers, the UK on Tuesday started issuing identity cards to foreigners, incorporating their facial image and fingerprints to securely lock them to one identity. For the start ID cards are being issued to people making applications to remain in the UK as a student or based on marriage, the Home Office said in a statement. This will be followed by identity cards for British workers in sensitive roles and locations in 2009 and to young people in 2010, it said.

Republican Debate the other night - YouTube Rudy Guiliani: We should develop a tamper proof ID card" "and if you got the tamper proof ID card, then you'd be allowed to work, pay taxes, get online, become a citizen, follow the rules...."

San Francisco will begin issuing municipal identification cards to illegal immigrants next year, becoming the second city in the country to create such a program in the wake of stalled immigration reform efforts in Washington. The board of supervisors Tuesday gave the final OK needed to create the ID card program, systematically legitimizing the city's estimated 40,000 illegal immigrants. The cards will be available to anyone living in the city next August and used as proof of identity when it comes to most facets of city business, from library service to police stops. Although immigrants are the prime target for...

The Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to issue municipal identification cards to city residents - regardless of whether they are in the country legally - and to double the amount of public money available to candidates running for supervisor. Supervisor Tom Ammiano, who authored the ID card legislation, said the program is a smart public safety measure because it would make residents living on the social margins of San Francisco more likely to seek the help of police and could give them more access to banking services. "People are afraid to report crimes," Ammiano said, referring to illegal immigrants who...

SHENZHEN, China, Aug. 9 — At least 20,000 police surveillance cameras are being installed along streets here in southern China and will soon be guided by sophisticated computer software from an American-financed company to recognize automatically the faces of police suspects and detect unusual activity. Starting this month in a port neighborhood and then spreading across Shenzhen, a city of 12.4 million people, residency cards fitted with powerful computer chips programmed by the same company will be issued to most citizens. Data on the chip will include not just the citizen’s name and address but also work history, educational background,...

The Government faces damaging claims of misleading voters over ID cards after documents revealed it always planned to make the controversial scheme compulsory. Whitehall papers, which the Government has fought for two years to suppress, disclose that Labour intended to force the public to sign up to the programme. They appear to contradict commitments given by Labour in its 2005 Election manifesto, which pledged that the cards, and the national identity register containing people's names, addresses, fingerprints and other information, would be 'on a voluntary basis'. The briefing notes, released under the Freedom Of Information Act, show that civil servants...

Welcome to a special 2006 election edition of "Winning the Future." The fall 2006 elections are now just two months away. Although the conventional wisdom is that Republicans will have a tough time this fall, I believe that we can still win -- but not without substantial changes. In this edition of "Winning the Future," I outline 11 values-led policies that are both morally right and that enjoy (not coincidentally) the overwhelming support of the American people. These are the values and the policies that Republicans should embrace this fall. Here's the key: Republican victory in 2006 depends on a...

LOS ANGELES - The county Sheriff's Department is in the process of distributing new identification cards to 5,000 volunteers after the head of a "Homeland Security Support Unit" created and distributed unauthorized ID cards bearing Sheriff Leroy Baca's signature. Media reports about the actions of Gary Nalbandian, a reserve deputy who issued the laminated cards to members of the group, prompted a county investigation. As a result, county supervisors on Tuesday directed a revision of the County Badge Ordinance, which includes policies for identification cards. The Homeland Security Support Unit, according to a county report discussed Tuesday, is designed to...

HARRISBURG-- A bill that would require Pennsylvania voters to show ... identification at the polls or be forced to cast a provisional ballot has passed the state Senate. The ... bill was approved ... 29-21, and sent to the House, which has already approved a measure with similar requirements. However, a spokeswoman for Gov. Rendell and an ACLU official criticized it as putting up obstacles for voters. "The governor is concerned that identification requirements may discourage people from voting and eventually disenfranchise people," said Rendell's press secretary. If [it] becomes law, the requirements would be in force for the 2006...

Immigration and Customs Enforcement and U.S. Marshals Service agents arrested Sergio Khorosh on May 9 after seizing more than 1,300 counterfeit federal law enforcement badges in New York. Khorosh, a native of Russia, was charged with knowingly transferring counterfeit police badges in interstate or foreign commerce, knowingly possessing and offering for sale counterfeit police badges, and possessing illegal weapons. "This was truly a frightening discovery. While the investigation is ongoing, we have reason to believe that Mr. Khorosh may have provided high-quality counterfeit law enforcement badges to a large number of individuals. Retrieving these badges and making sure they are...

Link to story: http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0507Mexico-ID07.html Senate Bill 1511, which targeted the more than 102,000 Mexicans carrying the matricula consular cards in Arizona, would have required public entities to accept only IDs issued by Arizona, the federal government or an Indian tribe.

The House recently passed legislation requiring states to turn 190 million driver's licenses into national ID cards, with state taxpayers paying most of the cost. The first thing wrong here is that the House stuck the ID card proposal on the appropriations bill that supports troops in Iraq and sent it over to the Senate. We should not slow down money for our troops while we debate ID cards. The second problem is that states not only get to create these ID cards, they'll likely end up paying the bill. This is one more of the unfunded federal mandates that...

The U.S. House of Representatives passed a national ID bill last week that masqueraded as “immigration reform.” The bill does nothing to address immigration policy, however, nor does it propose deporting a single illegal alien already in our country. It does nothing to address the porous border between the U.S. and Mexico, which is the fundamental problem. In reality, the bill is a Trojan horse. It pretends to offer desperately needed border control in order to con a credulous Congress into sacrificing more of our constitutionally protected liberty. Supporters claim the national ID scheme is voluntary. However, any state that...

The U.S. House of Representatives approved on Thursday a sweeping set of rules aimed at forcing states to issue all adults federally approved electronic ID cards, including driver's licenses. Under the rules, federal employees would reject licenses or identity cards that don't comply, which could curb Americans' access to airplanes, trains, national parks, federal courthouses and other areas controlled by the federal government. The bill was approved by a 261-161 vote. The measure, called the Real ID Act, says that driver's licenses and other ID cards must include a digital photograph, anticounterfeiting features and undefined "machine-readable technology, with defined minimum...

Government plans for national identity cards were approved by the Commons last night despite more than a quarter of MPs not voting. Although Conservative and Labour rebels failed to derail the Identity Cards Bill, they provoked a highly embarrassing mass abstention. The Bill was given a second reading by 385 votes to 93, a Government majority of 292, indicating that dozens of Labour and Tory backbenchers abstained. Of a total voting strength of 651, 173 MPs were absent or decided not to vote on one of the Government's flagship measures proposing the biggest changes to individual liberties for 50 years....

Gun Owners of America E-Mail Alert 8001 Forbes Place, Suite 102 Springfield, VA 22151 Phone: 703-321-8585 / FAX: 703-321-8408 http://www.gunowners.org Monday, October 4, 2004 What part of "Constitution" don't they understand? In a frightening move, House Republicans -- members of the party that supposedly favors "limited government" -- are pushing an Orwellian nightmare in Congress in the name of "national security." In the wake of the 9/11 Commission's recommendations, the Senate -- unlike the House -- has prepared legislation which would closely track that Commission's findings by reorganizing the intelligence services in the federal government. The Senate bill is relatively...

Schoolchildren to be RFID-chipped July 08 2004 by Jo Best Japanese authorities decide tracking is best way to protect kids The rights and wrongs of RFID-chipping human beings have been debated since the tracking tags reached the technological mainstream. Now, school authorities in the Japanese city of Osaka have decided the benefits outweigh the disadvantages and will now be chipping children in one primary school. The tags will be read by readers installed in school gates and other key locations to track the kids' movements. The chips will be put onto kids' schoolbags, name tags or clothing in one Wakayama...

Thousands of Muslim women will be exempted from having to show their faces on identity cards as the Government moves to allay fears among British Muslims that the new cards will be used to target them in the 'war on terror'. As David Blunkett, the Home Secretary, faced attack for not allowing enough debate over the introduction of the first ID cards in Britain since the Second World War, officials made it clear that if Muslim women do not want to reveal their faces in public, that would be respected. Instead of a photograph, there would be an exemption for...

Looks like Britain is about to introduce their ID card to the public there. Wonder how long it will be before we here in the USA will have an id card? As if an id card is going to stop crime. Whether it is terrorism or otherwise.

Cars from Bedford, Davidson, DeKalb, Marshall, Rutherford and White counties dotted Fairlane Church of Christ's parking lot at 8 a.m. Saturday as applicants lined up to obtain cards that identified them as Mexican citizens. Security concerns, which led to cancellation of an earlier Mexican Matricular Card distribution in Shelbyville, led sponsors of Saturday's event to limit publicity to flyers distributed on Thursday and Friday and spots on a Murfreesboro-based Spanish-language radio station. The National Alliance, the White Revolution and similar extremist groups threatened to interrupt the December distribution. Many key local Hispanic groups and leaders were unaware of the program...

<p>Next week the U.S. Supreme Court will hear a case to decide whether or not all Americans must have identification on them at all times. The case has been brought by a cowboy in Nevada who was asked to show ID while he was leaning against his pickup truck on the side of the road near his ranch. The police officer did not offer any specific reason why he demanded proof of identity. Having committed no crime, Dudley Hiibel, the cowboy, refused -- and was arrested. He was later convicted for "Delaying a Peace Officer." In America, still a free country, citizens should not be required to provide identification papers at any whim of the authorities.</p>

David Frum's Diary By David Frum | National Review Online | Jan 5, 2004 JAN. 5, 2004: BOOK NOTES It’s exactly one year since my book The Right Man appeared. In the subsequent twelve months, the United States under the leadership of President Bush has scored many crucial victories in the war on terror. The overthrow of Saddam Hussein and his later capture obviously head the list, but there’s more: the capture of 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Muhammed in Pakistan in March; the capture of Saif al-Adel, the planner of the Riyadh terror bombings, in May;and the foiling of hundreds...

The Bush administration nearly reached agreement with the Vicente Fox government to give legal status to millions of Mexicans illegally in America, but Sept. 11 brought it to a halt. Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge said Tuesday it's time for a legal status short of citizenship for 8 to 12 million illegal immigrants from various countries. The government would legalize the status of those already in the country on a one-time basis, he said. ''Then, as a country, you make a decision that from this day forward, this is the process of entry, and if you violate that process of...

<p>Randy Pullen raised the profile of immigration issues in the race for Phoenix mayor Monday with a fund-raiser featuring a U.S. congressman who is an outspoken critic of immigration policies.</p> <p>Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo., said illegal immigration is no longer just the domain of the federal government.</p>

Police approve Mexican ID cardsPolice approve Mexican ID cards Fresno officials hope decision will improve link with crime victims. By Louis Galvan The Fresno Bee (Published Friday, June 6, 2003, 5:35 AM) Fresno police now will accept a Mexican national identification card from Mexican citizens who come into contact with officers. Police Chief Jerry Dyer and Mexican Consul Jaime Paz y Puente took turns Thursday endorsing a "memorandum of understanding" between the two agencies. They called the agreement, a year in the making, a major step toward better communication with Mexican nationals -- especially crime victims. Two days ago, the...

<p>The California Assembly on Monday approved legislation that would allow legal and illegal immigrants from Mexico to obtain city and county services by displaying an identification card issued by the Mexican Consulate.</p> <p>The bill, AB 522, would enable such cards to be used for acquiring marriage or business licenses, for example, or for borrowing library books or securing senior citizen discounts on public transportation.</p>

<p>A move by several Central American countries to issue identification cards to their citizens in the United States has sparked complaints that the cards promote illegal immigration.</p> <p>The cards, patterned after Mexico's highly successful consular identification card, allow immigrants to open bank accounts, board airplanes and conduct other official business, regardless of their immigration status.</p>

ASHCROFT, YOU IDIOT! Well, the Homeland Security bill will soon be law. “Know Your Customer” will be a reality. Now the Imperial Federal Government is going to gain access to virtually every bit of electronic data there is about you. This means everything … from airline tickets to grocery purchases to magazine subscriptions to deposit records to credit card purchases to association memberships. All of it. Some criticism has been leveled against Attorney General John Ashcroft for his support of this “Total Information Awareness” program. His response? Well, Ashcroft says “I think the kinds of technology that can sell soap...

A new national database has sparked a rare outbreak of civil disobedience IN THE late 1970s, nervous residents of Suginami-ku, one of Tokyo's western wards, were battling the municipality's plans to load their personal records into electronic databases, fearing the move would make it easier for the government to invade their privacy. To bypass the protests, local officials simply had the menacing new computers smuggled into the ward's offices—at 3am. A quarter-century later, Suginami-ku's residents are at it again, fighting fiercely to protect their privacy. This time, however, the local government is eagerly taking the residents' side. And to the...

<p>Mexican Consulate representative Bernardo Mendez will be in Oakland Saturday to issue identification cards to Mexican residents.</p> <p>The cards, known as "matricular consular" cards, are recognized as valid identification by Oakland city departments, including police, under an ordinance written by City Council President Ignacio De La Fuente.</p>

A court in the Russian republic of Tatarstan on the Volga river has refused to allow Muslim women to wear headscarves on their passport photos. Three Muslim women appeared in court on Friday to protest against having to remove their traditional headwear on official ID cards. "It is Islamophobia that moves our officials to refuse our women such an elementary right," said Walliulla Yakupov of the Tatar Islamic Administration. After the verdict the women said their human rights have been violated and vowed to fight on. Islam renaissance The three women filed suits after the local passport agency refused to...

Thought for the day If you believe in a truly libertarian society, your only way to success is in working to build a society based upon traditional morality, shame and chastity. Contradictory? Actually, no. Given a little examination, it turns out to be rather obvious; almost self-evidently true. If you want to live in a country where every man supports himself rather than looking to the taxpayer, where crime is rare and so massive police powers, ID cards and DNA databases are superfluous, you will not do so on the back of the destructive policies of social liberalism. Libertarians traditionally...

Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia is a smart man and an excellent writer. He is also a living example of how bad political and philosophical premises can put great talent in the service of an evil cause. In November, while speaking at the University of Missouri, Scalia was asked what he thought about proposals to impose a national ID card on the American people. Scalia said he personally opposes the idea and would vote against it if it were put to a vote. But when a student asked him whether a national ID would violate the Constitution’s Fourth Amendment, which...

Controversial proposals to bring in a type of identity card in the UK are to be published by Home Secretary David Blunkett. Opponents of ID cards, ranging from civil liberty groups to MPs from each of the main parties, have already attacked plans for benefits "entitlement cards". Mr Blunkett, who faced a barrage of opposition after suggesting ID cards in the wake of 11 September, is expected to announce a six month consultation process on the proposals. Ministers say they are neutral about the idea and want to hear the public's opinions. The consultation will allow the government to test...