Homeland Security Tightens Grip on International Travel

[Jcrowley]

The new procedure will completely eliminate the opportunity for the public to find out how many people are on the list.  No airline or cruise company will ever receive a "no-fly" or "selectee" list.  Instead of providing a passenger manifest after departure as now required by the Customs and Border Patrol, airlines, cruise lines and other public carriers will have to provide a provisional pasenger list prior to departure.  This list will be checked against a Homeland Security list of citizens approved for international travel, and the carrier will be ordered not to board those who are not approved.  This is from the proposed rule itself:

Therefore, CBP has concluded that the prevention of a high-risk passenger from boarding an aircraft is the appropriate level of security in the commercial air travel environment. Manifest data received and vetted prior to passenger boarding will enable CBP to attain this level of security. Further, this vetting of passengers on international flights should eliminate the need for passenger carriers to conduct watch list screening of these passengers, upon publication and implementation of a final rule.  Accordingly, with this proposed rule,CBP is proposing two transmission options for air carriers to select from at their discretion: (i) the submission of complete manifests no later than 60minutes prior to departure or (ii)transmitting passenger data asindividual, real-time transactions, i.e.,as each passenger checks in, up to but no later than 15 minutes prior todeparture. Under both options, the carrier will not permit the boarding of a passenger unless the passenger has been cleared by CBP.

Seagoing vessels are required to submit their list 60 minutes prior to departure under the rule. 

Who will be on the list?  That's a secret.  What criteria will determine who is on and who is off the list?  That's a secret.  How many people will be approved and how many will not?  That's a secret.  If you're not on the approved list, how can you petition the government to change your status?  You can't.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article15504.htm

[mike_c]

1. IS IT FASCISM YET?

Jesus H. Christ! How far down that road are we going to go?

[Jcrowley]

2. Drones overhead

Global Hawk to fly 1st mission over U.S.
Sun Nov 19, 2:59 PM ET

BEALE AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. - They've become a fixture in the skies over Iraq and Afghanistan, a new breed of unmanned aircraft operated with remote controls by "pilots" sitting in virtual cockpits many miles away.
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But the Air Force's Global Hawk has never flown a mission over the United States.

That is set to change Monday, when the first Global Hawk is scheduled to land at Beale Air Force Base in northern California.

"This landmark flight has historic implications since it's the first time a Global Hawk has not only flown from Beale, but anywhere in the United States on an official Air Combat Command mission," base spokesman Capt. Michael Andrews said in a statement.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061119/ap_on_re_us/global_hawk

[acmejack]

3. You can't leave the country

And you are being spied upon every conceivable way. It is worse than fascism.

[Jcrowley]

4. U.S. near the bottom in privacy study

U.S. near the bottom in privacy study
Posted: Wednesday, November 1 at 06:13 pm CT by Bob Sullivan

U.S. privacy protections rank among the worst in the democratic world, a London-based privacy organization said Wednesday.

Privacy International ranked 36 nations around the globe, including all European Union nations and other major democracies, and determined that in categories such as enforcement of privacy laws, the U.S. is on par with countries like China, Russia and Malaysia.

Overall, the U.S. was determined to be an "extensive surveillance society,” the second-lowest rating in the study, which is available at Privacy International's Web site.

The survey identified Malaysia, China and Russia as the world’s lowest-ranked countries in terms of privacy. It ranked Germany and Canada as those that best protect the privacy of their citizens.

"The rankings establish for the first time that most of the world’s most economically advanced countries have failed to protect the privacy rights of their citizens, while some of the newest and poorest democracies have become best protectors," wrote Privacy International director Simon Davies in announcing the report.

http://redtape.msnbc.com/2006/11/us_near_the_bot.html

Detailed information here:
http://www.privacyinternational.org/article.shtml?cmd%5B347%5D=x-347-545269

[NV Whino]

5. Solution...

get rid of Homeland Security.