Okla. Heads UP! Drone Surveillance Bill In Committee Tuesday 26th

Eye in the Sky Must Have a Warrant!

Kaye Beach

Feb. 25, 2013

HB1556 will be heard in the House Aerospace and Energy Committee at 1:30 Tuesday Feb. 26th  Calls, emails needed today!

House Bill 1556-the Oklahoma Unmanned Aerial Surveillance Act

HB 1556 by Rep. Paul Wesselhoft requires law officers, absent an emergency, to obtain a warrant first before using drones for surveillance purposes and prohibits the state from outfitting drones with weapons.

The FAA estimates as many as 30,000 drones could be flying in US skies by 2020 and Oklahoma is poised to become a state leader in the drone industry.  In fact, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security launched one of its first test flights for civil use of drones over the skies of Oklahoma in December 2012.

FORT SILL — The small, winged drone quietly soared overhead as SWAT team members closed in on a building at Fort Sill.

When a suspect sprinted from the structure, the drone banked through a cloudless afternoon sky in an effort to track the person.

A few miles away, two Lockheed Martin technicians sat in a converted bedroom of a ranch-style house using a laptop computer to control the drone’s movements. They followed the action on a video relay.  NewsOK, Dec. 31, 2012 Read more

Drones are capable highly advanced surveillance. Law enforcement drones can carry various types of equipment including live-feed video cameras, facial recognition, automatic license plate readers, infrared cameras and more.  Drone manufacturers admit some are designed to carry “less lethal” weapons such as Tasers or rubber bullets and law enforcement has openly expressed interest in utilizing these weapons.

HB1556 will be heard in the House Aerospace and Energy Committee.(contact info below)  Call and tell them that you want them to support HB 1556 for these reasons:

• Drones should be deployed by law enforcement only with a warrant, in an emergency, or when there are specific and articulable grounds to believe that the drone will collect evidence relating to a specific criminal act.
• Images should be retained only when there is reasonable suspicion that they contain evidence of a crime or are relevant to an ongoing investigation or trial.
• Usage policy on domestic drones should be decided by the public’s representatives, not by police departments, and the policies should be clear, written, and open to the public.
• Use of domestic drones should be subject to open audits and proper oversight to prevent misuse.
• Domestic drones should not be equipped with lethal or non-lethal weapons.

Aerial, warrantless surveillance is a violation of our Fourth Amendment rights and our right to privacy!

Oklahoma House Aerospace and Energy Committee Members

Email block bcc;

johntrebilcock@okhouse.gov,weldon.watson@okhouse.gov, donarmes@okhouse.gov, mikebrown@okhouse.gov, david.brumbaugh@okhouse.gov, mariancooksey@okhouse.gov,  scott.inman@okhouse.gov, steve.kouplen@okhouse.gov, randy.mcdaniel@okhouse.gov, rcpruett@okhouse.gov, mike.sanders@okhouse.gov, bensherrer@okhouse.gov, garybanz@okhouse.gov, david.brumbaugh@okhouse.gov,leedenney@okhouse.gov, charlie.joyner@okhouse.gov stevemartin@okhouse.gov jerrymcpeak@okhouse.gov, mikereynolds@okhouse.gov,  colby.schwartz@okhouse.gov, aaron.stiles@okhouse.gov, lisajbilly@okhouse.gov, josh.cockroft@okhouse.gov,  jwhickman@okhouse.gov,  dan.kirby@okhouse.gov, mark.mcbride@okhouse.gov, eric.proctor@okhouse.gov, sean.roberts@okhouse.gov, seneca.scott@okhouse.gov

Chair Rep. John Trebilcock johntrebilcock@okhouse.gov

(405) 557-7362

Rep. Weldon Watson  weldon.watson@okhouse.gov

(405) 557-7330

Rep. Don Armes donarmes@okhouse.gov (405) 557-7307

Rep. Mike Brown mikebrown@okhouse.gov  (405) 557-7408

Rep. David Brumbaugh david.brumbaugh@okhouse.gov

(405) 557-7347

Rep. Marian Cooksey  mariancooksey@okhouse.gov

(405) 557-7342

Rep. Scott Inman scott.inman@okhouse.gov   (405) 557-7370

Rep. Steve Kouplen steve.kouplen@okhouse.gov  (405) 557-7306

Rep. Randy McDaniel  randy.mcdaniel@okhouse.gov

(405) 557-7409

Rep. R.C. Pruett  rcpruett@okhouse.gov  (405) 557-7382

Rep. Mike Sanders mike.sanders @okhouse.gov (405) 557-7407

Rep. Ben Sherrer bensherrer@okhouse.gov  (405) 557-7364

Rep. Gary W. Banz  garybanz@okhouse.gov (405) 557-7395

Rep. David Brumbaugh david.brumbaugh@okhouse.gov

(405) 557-7347

Rep. Lee Denney leedenney@okhouse.gov  (405) 557-7304

Rep. Charlie Joyner charlie.joyner@okhouse.gov

(405) 557-7314

Rep. Steve Martin  stevemartin@okhouse.gov  (405) 557-7402

Rep. Jerry McPeak  jerrymcpeak@okhouse.gov  (405) 557-7302

Rep. Mike Reynolds mikereynolds@okhouse.gov

(405) 557-7337

Rep. Colby Schwartz colby.schwartz@okhouse.gov

(405) 557-7352

Rep. Aaron Stiles aaron.stiles@okhouse.gov (405) 557-7386

Rep. Lisa J. Billy  lisajbilly@okhouse.gov  (405) 557-7365

Rep. Josh Cockroft  josh.cockroft@okhouse.gov

(405) 557-7349

Rep. Jeffrey W. Hickman  jwhickman@okhouse.gov

(405) 557-7339

Rep. Dan Kirby  dan.kirby@okhouse.gov  (405) 557-7356

Rep. Mark McBride  mark.mcbride@okhouse.gov

(405) 557-7346

Rep. Eric Proctor  eric.proctor@okhouse.gov  (405) 557-7410

Rep. Sean Roberts  sean.roberts@okhouse.gov  (405) 557-7322

Rep. Seneca Scott  seneca.scott@okhouse.gov  (405) 557-7391

Oklahomans concerned about unmanned aircraft attend state Capitol rally

Photo by Dana Lawhon

Kaye Beach

Feb.24, 2013

From the Oklahoman, Michael McNutt, Feb. 23, 2013

Nearly 200 people attend a rally Saturday at the Oklahoma Capitol in Oklahoma City to support Oklahoma House Bill 1556 by Rep. Paul Wesselhoft, R-Moore, that would place regulations on the use of drones in the state.

Joanne Francisco, one of several people who came to a state Capitol rally Saturday with a face mask, said the encroachment of government on
her 4th Amendment right to privacy, such as the possible use of drones to spy on individuals, is a growing concern.

“Government is getting too intrusive, nosy,”
said Francisco, of Tulsa. “How do we know when our rights have been infringed upon? We can see a peeping Tom outside our window, but we
can’t necessarily see when we’re being spied on by a drone.”

The article highlights statements by Ryan Kiesel, Director of the Oklahoma ACLU, Amie Stepanovich, legal counsel for the Electronic Privacy Information Center and an expert in government surveillance, and Amanda Teegarden, Exec. Director of OK-SAFE, Oklahomans for Sovereignty and Free Enterprise.

Read more

Oklahoma has three important privacy protecting bill active this session.  All of them need some grassroots support to help ensure that they become law.

Please see our action items on HB1556, HB1557 and HB1559 covering privacy protections regarding drones, phones and RFID chips;

Okla. Legislative Action: Three Important Privacy Protection Bills and What You Can Do to Help

Action Alert! House Bill 1559 – NO RFID IN OUR ID

Kaye Beach

Feb, 22, 2013

House Bill 1559 – NO RFID IN OUR ID!

HB1559 by Rep. Paul Wesselhoft would prohibit the state Public Safety  Department from installing Radio Frequency Identification tracking  technology in a driver’s license or state-issued identification card.

What is RFID?  Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) chips are very small information technology devices that are attached or embedded into anything that needs to be tracked or identified. RFID is great for tracking of objects, goods, and inventory.

In 2007, the Govt. Accountability Office official warned that:

“Once a particular individual is identified through an RFID tag, personally identifiable information can be retrieved from any number of sources and then aggregated to develop a profile of the individual. Both tracking and profiling can compromise an individual’s privacy”

HB1559 has been sent to the House Transportation Committee. However,  the Chairman of the committee, Rep. Charlie Joyner, refuses to schedule  the bill to be heard (which is very odd since he voted FOR this very  same piece of legislation in the past!)

Please email or call Rep. Joyner the member of the Transportation Committee and ask that he please give HB1559 a hearing. Do this right away! If this bill is not  scheduled on Tuesday Feb. 26-it will die.

Chairman House Transportation Committee Rep. Charlie Joyner charlie.joyner@okhouse.gov  (405) 557-7314

Tell him that:

• The state of Oklahoma already prohibits the implantation of RFID microchips in human beings.

• RFID on our driver’s license and state ID cards would be the next  best thing to actually implanting them in our bodies because we carry  our ID documents with us everywhere we go.

• RFID readers are  becoming more and more prevalent and will eventually enable tracking us wherever we go revealing our travels, habits and associations.

• Tagging and tracking of human beings is inappropriate and violates our right to privacy.

• AND remind him that he voted FOR this legislation before!

RFID is for inventory, NOT human beings!

Oklahomans Going It Alone Against Smart Meters?

Kaye Beach

Feb, 11, 2013

A smart meter is usually an electrical meter that records consumption of electric energy in intervals of an hour or less and communicates that information at least daily back to the utility for monitoring and billing purposes ^[7] Smart meters enable two-way communication between the meter and the central system. (Wikipedia)

There are 3 major concerns surrounding the smart grid and smart meters.

1. Health/Safety
2. Privacy
3. Security

Over the last couple of years I have aired my concerns about smart meters, most of which are associated with privacy or property rights.

http://axiomamuse.wordpress.com/tag/smart-meters/

I have stuck closely to the privacy issues because this is the area that personally causes me the most worry and I have some level of experience and expertise when it comes to matters of technology, privacy and public policy. The privacy threats associated with these two way communication devices is, for me, is easy to understand and explain. I am fortunate that, when it comes to the potential surveillance and privacy issues, there is a variety of credible sources I can draw upon to help make my points clear.

For example, see this recent Congressional Research Report that, in a matter of fact manner, lays out the intrusive surveillance capabilities of smart meters and the smart grid;

“With smart meters, police will have access to data that might be used to track residents’ daily lives and routines while in their homes, including their eating, sleeping, and showering habits, what appliances they use and when, and whether they prefer the television to the treadmill, among a host of other details.”

This report, Smart Meter Data: Privacy and Cybersecurity, goes on to discuss existing law related to the Fourth Amendment and discusses the possibility that this intrusive capability may not be adequately covered by existing law. Clearly, the sanctity and privacy of our very homes is in the privacy invasion danger zone.

My point is that when it comes to smart meters and privacy, I am well equipped to engage but for the complicated questions surrounding the biological interactions of this newly introduced technology, I feel a bit out of my league and have been reluctant to jump into the health and safety questions revolving around the smart meters.

However, as I speak to person after person in this state who are suffering from not only ill effects on their health but also from being ignored, mocked or even bullied by the utility corporation and state officials, I am becoming outraged and advocating for fair and open government that respects the rights of all is something that falls squarely within my comfort zone.

I have spoken to people in our state that have fled their beautiful home, taking refuge in a small, cramped travel trailer, because a family member became dangerously ill after the meter was installed. Another couple disconnected their electric service and is using a generator rather than risk their health or privacy, still another family keeps close watch over their analog meter and fends off its replacement with a smart meter with a lock and letters threatening legal action against OG&E, others have resorted to constructing safe spaces within their homes by using frequency blocking shielding materials so that they can get respite from the symptoms caused by the new meters. Others feel that they have been bullied into submission by installers and utility providers. These are just a few of the stories that I am personally familiar with. What is going on here?!

Resistance to smart meters is happening everywhere and stories like these recent ones are simply unbelievable.

Handicapped Woman Refuses Smart Meter — Has Power Cut in the Dead of Winter

Residents unhappy with smart meter related arrests

Are we going to let this situation fester to the point that we see these kinds of actions in Oklahoma?

Going It Alone

Many Oklahomans have been fighting individual, solitary battles against the utility corporations and the Oklahoma Corporation Commission to get these unwanted smart meters off of their homes. I believe that there are many more Oklahomans out there suffering or fighting all alone.

Whether or not we are personally concerned about the possible privacy, security or health issues that surround smart meters, we all should be concerned if the utility corporations, our elected representatives, the Oklahoma Corporation Commission and other public servants of this state are not being properly responsive to those who have serious objections to having a smart meter installed on their property or homes

Meet Joe Esposito.

Joe is one of these people I have met who is struggling with what to do about his smart meter that has had an adverse effect on his health. But Joes he is not going to do it in darkness. Joe is trying to help others and he is wants to bring concerns about smart meters to the attention of the public.

Joe Esposito did his research on the smart meters when he became aware that the Public Service Company of Oklahoma planned to install one on each and every home in the City of Owasso beginning in 2011.

He felt very uncomfortable being forced to have his home serve as a test case for what appeared to be untested, unproven and unsafe technology and contacted the power company and asked that no smart meter be installed on his home.

Despite his request, on March 16, 2011, the smart meter was installed on his home, without his permission.

The meters are mandatory in Oklahoma, no matter how compelling your reason for not wanting one, no one is permitted to ‘opt out’. There is no state or federal law that requires us to accept installation of a smart meter. The Oklahoma Corporation Commission is responsible for creating the rules that make them mandatory.

TITLE 165: OKLAHOMA CORPORATION COMMISSION

CHAPTER 35. ELECTRIC UTILITY RULES

PERMANENT RULES

After the installation of the smart meter, Mr Esposito began to experience unusual health problems: dental problems, tingling in his mouth, sharp pains throughout his body at night and more.

Upon investigation, Mr. Esposito found and some techniques to block the frequencies caused by the meter and when he utilized these techniques he experienced rapid improvement in his health.

During the Month of January 2013, Mr. Esposito delivered the following seven documents to the Oklahoma Legislature, the Governor and Lt. Governor, the Corporation Commission as well as Senator Inhofe, Senator Coburn and Representative Bridenstine.

1. STATEMENT OF CONCERN AND ACTION AGAINST SMART METERS IN THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA Jan. 8, 2013
2. Letter to Commission Secretary British Columbia Utilities Commission, 2013
3. The Smart Meter Abyss November 2012 Owasso, Oklahoma
4. Hazardʼs of Electromagnetic
   Radiation (EMR) Reference Sheet
5. ARE YOU LIVING CLOSE TO ‘CANCER GENERATOR’?
6. EMF Safety Network
7. EMF Safety Network page 2

Mr. Esposito also has a website under development, Stop Smart Meters in Oklahoma

http://www.stopsmartmetersinoklahoma.org/

If you are having problems with your smart meter, you will want to connect with this gentleman. Joe Esposito’s email address is joeesposito8111@yahoo.com

Stop Smart Meters in Oklahoma is not fully operational yet but there are some suggestions up for Oklahomans opposed to smart meter installation under Actions You Can Take

Another place for Oklahomans concerned about smart meters to connect is on Facebook. Oklahoma Smart Meter Info Swap

I will continue to follow the stories of Oklahomans who have been going it alone against the forced installation of smart meters on their homes.

If you have or are currently having problems with your smart meter in Oklahoma and would like share your story, please contact me at axxiomforliberty@gmail.com

Drones, Phones and RFID; PRIVACY Unites Left and Right in Oklahoma

Kaye Beach

Jan. 10, 2013

Despite the uncomfortable level of political division among Americans, there are still issues that bring us together.

This legislative session the left and right are pulling together for privacy.  I couldn’t be more excited about this development becuase when the battle between our right to privacy and big corporation’s desire to make money intersect, our numbers are everything.

On Sat. Feb. 23rd at the Oklahoma State Capitol, we will have an opportunity to assemble and to demonstrate those numbers and make it very clear to our elected representatives that Oklahomans expect their privacy rights to be respected!

Speakers:

Amie Stepanovich, EPIC, the Electronic Privacy Information Center, on drones and privacy

Ryan Kiesel, Director, OK ACLU

Amanda Teegarden, Exec. Director od OK-SAFE  – Oklahomans for Sovereignty and Free Enterprise will be our Master of Ceremonies-

Here is a copy of this flyer for you to download and share!

International Day For Privacy Oklahoma City

If you would like to connect with others online who are excited about and are attending this event, check out Oklahomans For Fourth Amendment Rights at State Capitol on Facebook.

KFOR reports Feb. 5th, 2013:

Unlikely groups join forces to support privacy bills

The Oklahoma Chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union along with Rep. Paul Wesselhoft held a joint press conference at the State Capitol Tuesday to explain the three bills aimed at protecting the privacy rights of Oklahomans.

House Bill 1559: The first bill would prohibit the Department of Public Safety from installing RFID radio frequency identification in a driver’s license.

House Bill 1557: Another bill would require law enforcement, absent an emergency, to first obtain a warrant before they access the geo-location data stored by a cell phone.

House Bill 1556: Finally, the third bill would limit the ability of law enforcement to use drones for surveillance without a warrant. 

Read more from KFOR

http://kfor.com/2013/02/05/unlikely-groups-join-forces-to-support-privacy-bills/

Targeted Interstate Photo Sharing (TIPS): Homeland Security, NLETS and the IACP Target Your Biometric Driver’s License Photo

Kaye Beach

Dec. 29, 2012

In the modern surveillance state it’s all about the biometrics, especially facial recognition which allows for at-a-distance identification and investigation of individuals without their knowledge or consent-no warrant required!

Very few realize that upon issuance of a state driver’s license, a state identification card, or any other form of government issued photo ID, we are having our facial biometrics captured by high resolution photography.  The analog cameras in every state have been replaced with high resolution digital cameras that capture, map, digitize, and database our facial features for use with facial recognition technology.

The federal REAL ID Act was passed in 2005.  The first (and most important!) benchmark of REAL ID is capture and retention of the driver’s license applicant’s facial image.

A Picture Is Worth a Thousand Words

The following is from an article published in Nov. of this year by the Police Chief, the official magazine of the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP);

(“Image” means biometric image which is quite different than a simple photograph)

“In 2006, the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Science and Technology (S&T) Directorate gave the International Justice and Public Safety Network (Nlets) funds to implement driver’s license image sharing between the states. Nlets is a nonprofit organization owned by the 50 states that has connections to every federal, state, local, and military law enforcement agency in the United States. If an agency’s technical capabilities allow, officers can query state driver’s license databases from a mobile or a desktop device and obtain an image in a manner of seconds.”

A Picture Is Worth a Thousand Words, From The Police Chief, vol. LXXIX, no. , November 2012. Copyright held by the International Association of Chiefs of Police, 515 North Washington Street, Alexandria, VA 22314 USA

Your state department of public safety or DMV driver’s license database provides your biometric data which tethers your body to other unique biographical data such as your social security number, age, address and more.  As a tool for surveillance and control, your faceprint is invaluable.

 “Today, more than 25 states have implemented this technology and are providing law enforcement images. In the next year, at least 12 more states will implement this technology.” A Picture Is Worth a Thousand Words

Now,  law enforcement can, simply by taking your picture, identify and investigate you as you go about your business in public without you even being aware that this is happening.

“For some time now, officers have been able to retrieve images through a mobile device while on the street to help identify individuals.” A Picture Is Worth a Thousand Words

The truth is that they cannot do this everywhere, yet.  While the technology is in place there is still the issue of access to be dealt with.  This is a legal and not a technical matter.  As we know, if the government has the technical ability to do something, they believe that they should be able to do it.  In other words, the law must conform to the capability of the technology and not the other way around.  Policy, once (somewhat) grounded in principle is now rooted in practice so now if they can do it, they will do it and they are doing it.

Undercover cops secretly use smartphones, face recognition to spy on crowds

This kind of surveillance is damaging.   Psychologically, pervasive surveillance, or even the possibility of it, is universally understood to change the behavior of those subjected to it.  It induces conformity of behavior and of thought as well.  As the range of surveillance grows, our ability to simply be, to exercise our free will, shrinks.

“Nlets will not consider photo sharing a success until it is implemented in all 50 states” link

Targeted Interstate Photo Sharing (TIPS)

“Nlets and DHS S&T have been working to expand the use of images in public safety. A new DHS/Nlets project called Targeted Interstate Photo Sharing (TIPS)” A Picture Is Worth a Thousand Words

NLETS formerly the National Law Enforcement Telecommunications Service is now THE INTERNATIONAL JUSTICE & PUBLIC SAFETY NETWORK

NLETS

“links together every state, local, and federal and International law enforcement (INTERPOL), justice and public safety agency for the purpose of exchanging critical information.”  http://www.nlets.org/

As this law enforcement writer notes,

“when we engage in innovative law enforcement technology solutions, we need to take extra care to adequately address the security and privacy of personally identifiable information.”  

And who does the writer fear, is not adequately addressing the security and privacy of our personally identifiable information?  Good old NLETS.

Read; When the Cops are Worried About Your Privacy-You Should Worry Too!

NLETS role has always been to serve the state’s law enforcement needs, but that role, as noted by NLETS, is changing.

From Hot Trends and Innovations at Nlets 2012 Slide # 42

While Nlets is 45 years old this year, we have always taken the “child” role, with the States being the “parent”

–In recent years, the child is becoming the parent in many aspects.

Why? For one thing NLETS is now being funded and thus, directed by the federal government.

Slide # 47

Slide # 17

From Hot Trends and Innovations at Nlets 2012

PROJECT SPONSOR

Department of Homeland Security

When lines of authority are blurred, power naturally defaults to the highest level.  The states are not ‘partners’ with the federal government in matters that require state authority over their jurisdiction.

From the Legal Information Institute;

Jurisdiction-The term jurisdiction is really synonymous with the word “power”

Jurisdiction is the territory within which a court or government agency may properly exercise its power

State and local policing is a jurisdictional matter and the states and local governments have conceded their authority in this.  Informational jurisdiction is no exception and in fact leads physical control.

What is revealed in this IACP Nov. 2012 article is that the Department of Homeland Security has funded an international non-governmental organization, the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP), to manage the operational issues of the endeavor; Targeted Interstate Photo Sharing (TIPS).

“The DHS S&T has funded the IACP Technology Center to provide a practitioner group to advise Nlets on operational issues. These experienced practitioners will provide input on how this technology can be used in the field.”

What that means is that we are in trouble. 

The IACP is an international, non-governmental organization accredited by the United Nations and has been instrumental in bringing about profound changes to our nation politically, technologically and culturally.  There has been a great paradigm shift in our nation since 9-11 that spans all agencies of government.  This shift affects every aspect of our lives and has practically decimated the US Constitution and Bill of Rights.  US citizens, regardless of their political persuasion, are united in astonishment as they witness the slash and burn abrogation of one cherished right after another.

There is no sector of our society left untouched by the new paradigm and each has its own specialists attending to the transformation in their particular realm.  In the realm of policing, it is the IACP who is in charge of nurturing and tending this transformation.

Here is just one example;

Intelligence Led Policing and Fusion Centers: How the IACP Helped the USA to Cross the Rubicon

I hate to share information like this without providing you with any solutions.  I have been working diligently for years to find a way for us to protect our biometric data which is the key to our government’s efforts to create the most effective and efficient surveillance society ever experienced on this earth.

Although I have found no solution in legislation, no real willingness by enough of our elected representatives to do what they took an oath to do; to protect our liberty I do still recommend that you contact your state representative and tell them if you have concerns about open access to your data contained in the state Dept. of Public Safety database.  Tell them that you expect them to protect your personal information from being freely shared and used on a whim to track and spy on you.  They need to hear concerns from their constituents.

It is clear that we cannot stop the government from sharing this information in ways that will hurt our ability to control our own lives.   If we want to protect ourselves we must remove our biometrics from the system by either not giving it to them in the first place or taking legal action to remove it.

That is what I am trying to do, remove my biometric data from the system.  There is just no good reason for it being collected in the first place and no one ever informed me or you of what was being taken from us when we applied for our state driver’s license and they certainly never warned us about the repercussions of trusting them with our most personal information.

Read more about my lawsuit

My Real ID Reckoning

Latest update and request for support

Stop Biometric ID!  Kaye Beach needs your support for lawsuit

Wary eyes shift to the skies as unmanned aircraft are tested in state

Kaye Beach

Dec. 31, 2012

Waking up to read this article has really put a damper on my Happy New Year.

Unmanned aircraft are being tested in Oklahoma for possible civilian uses, such as by police departments. But testing of the state-of-the-art crafts also has raised privacy concerns.

By Phillip O’Connner  Published: December 31, 2012

FORT SILL — The small, winged drone quietly soared overhead as SWAT team members closed in on a building at Fort Sill.

When a suspect sprinted from the structure, the drone banked through a cloudless afternoon sky in an effort to track the person.

A few miles away, two Lockheed Martin technicians sat in a converted bedroom of a ranch-style house using a laptop computer to control the drone’s movements. They followed the action on a video relay.

The simulated chase this month was among the first test flights in a U.S. Department of Homeland Security program designed to evaluate the possible civilian use of “Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems.”

Read more

Edmond high schools to start drug testing in January

Kaye Beach

Dec. 5, 2012

 

 

Reported by KOCO News

Edmond high schools to start drug testing in January

Dec. 4, 2012

EDMOND, Okla. —

Three of the largest metro high schools in Oklahoma will start drug testing students, authorities confirmed.

The policy at Edmond North, Edmond Santa Fe and Edmond Memorial high schools starts on Jan. 7, said district spokeswoman Susan Parks-Schlepp.

Though some parents expressed privacy concerns, most seemed happy with the new policy. School leaders told KOCO Eyewitness News 5 that drugs are a problem in the district and that drug testing is one way to combat it.

. . .According to a letter sent home to parents, the monthly testing will begin after winter break. It will involve a random sample of students and will be administered as a saliva test to detect the use of alcohol, non-prescribed medications or illegal drugs.

Read more: http://www.koco.com/news/oklahomanews/edmond/Edmond-high-schools-to-start-drug-testing-in-January/-/11777934/17656982/-/ti7jo6z/-/index.html#ixzz2EF3gZB9z

 

Drug abuse among our children is an obvious concern but is random, suspicion-less drug testing of students the right way to deal with this issue?  What does this practice teach them?  Is it worth it?

It occurs to me that there are a couple of lessons that this might teach kids that do not seem especially desirable.

Don’t do something because you might get caught.  The end result is the same as if a teenager refrained from drug use because it was the right thing to do but the lessons of self control and discipline has been stolen from the individual.  The motivation is external depriving kids of the opportunity or satisfaction of  learning and growing.  What will they do when they can get away with it?  Will they learn to rely on external controls rather than self control?

You are assumed guilty until proven otherwise.  Great preparation for the real, adult world that they will be entering since the same skewed concept is being utilized on the population at large. .  Don’t expect these kids that are increasingly RFID tagged and tracked, biometrically scanned, searched, sniffed and subjected to random police drug searches, to resist or even recognize government over reach as adults.  Presumption of innocence in the cornerstone of our system of justice.  Even though children don’t have exactly the same level of rights and responsibilities that adults have, isn’t the presumption of innocence one of those fundamental concepts that should generally apply across the board?  We all say want a free country but this is the way to ensure that we will have a compliant country.

This drug testing program applies to any extra curricular activities.  I guess if a student wants to smoke pot or dabble with other drugs, they won’t have a chance to be distracted or diverted away from that by a more wholesome activity.

Here is the actual Edmond Schools Drug Testing Policy

As I said, drug use by kids is a real concern and it is our job to keep them safe till they are of age and we can always justify just about anything on a case by case basis but when you look at the totality of all of the practices justified for safety or efficiency in our schools, well, that looks pretty scary too.

 

Oklahomans Get New ‘OverSite’ to Stop Terrorism at Sporting Events, Political Rallies

Kaye Beach

Oct. 23, 2012

An article published yesterday by Oklahoma’s News 6 introduces us to a new technology system designed to keep us safe from terrorism as large events such as sporting events, the State Fair and even at political rallies. It’s called “OverSite”

Given the fact that the OverSite system incorporates facial recognition, that ought to be a real hit given that we are governed by an administration that frequently confuses legitimate First Amendment protected activities as possible indicators of terrorism.

Crew Demonstrates Technology Aimed To Pinpoint Terrorists At Large Events

 Oct 22, 2012  News On 6

A sniper with a high-powered rifle was on top of the Case Center at the University of Tulsa on Monday.

He was demonstrating technology that can pinpoint a shooter’s location in a large crowd almost immediately.

The technology comes from Oklahoma company OverSite, and it can protect people from all kinds of terrorist attacks at big events like football games, political rallies, NASCAR races and state fairs.

Read more

Interestingly the article provides this boast about the OverSite technology;

“If we’re looking for somebody in a crowd, we have our cameras working, we can find the bad guy, put facial recognition on him, he’s identified, even if beard, mustache, glasses, hat, still gonna catch him,” Eller said. link

Really?  Color me skeptical on that claim.

We need to know, are they using facial recognition on event goers in general or only on legitimate suspects with probable cause?

OverSite’s Trick Camera-SkyCam SpyCam

Closed Facility Aerial Cameras (surveillance) – Few people watching sporting events have failed to see a camera gliding on cables high above the event and crowd providing exciting and unique angles of play and reaction.  SkyCam works with OverSite©  to develop a two-camera capability that appears normal in all ways except that one camera does what SkyCam normally does while the other is individually controlled to watch the audience and scan for faces and/or activities that might be suspect to the well-being of the people and facility. Link

Here is a little more information on OverSite from their official website;

OverSite

Protecting America’s Infrastructure

The OverSite© technology was created by Triarii Scientific, LLC (TriSci) in response to operational recognition that government agencies ranging from Homeland Security to the Department of Defense have been so overwhelmed protecting our military, training local and national emergency management personnel, finding common communications grounds, etc., that it has not been able to embrace the growing needs of a broad group defined as “Soft Targets.”

OverSite© can provide a broad selection of sensor technologies, timely analysis processes and response mechanisms such as

- Video

- Audio

- Chem-bio

- Radioactive

- Nuclear

- Retina scan

        – Facial recognition

- Weather, etc.

- On-site analysis

- Response coordination

- Centralized communications

The technology was tested before in Oklahoma on April 6, 2011;

The OSU University Multispectral Laboratories recently demonstrated the unique capabilities of an integrated mobile security vehicle called OverSite during the simulation of a terror attack at Boone Pickens Stadium on April 6, 2011.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VSa6F5JIagg

OverSite also had another test run prior to April 6, 2011 and at the Super Bowl XLV, no less.

Prior to the April 6 test, OverSite was also deployed at Super Bowl XLV in Dallas, Texas, where core system integration was tested and improved.

Since the April 6 test, the Over­Site Rapid Deployment Module, developed and integrated on behalf of the Oklahoma Nation­al Guard’s 63rd Civil Support Team, has been readied for deployment to Maryland

http://arrc.ou.edu/pdf/Sensors_Review.pdf

The federal Department of Homeland Security provided the funding for the April 6, 2011 demonstration of OverSite;

The simulation involved members of the Oklahoma Army National Guard Civil Support Team and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, who with the help of OverSite responded to ten different threat scenarios.  The proof of concept demonstration was funded by the Department of Homeland Security.

https://news.okstate.edu/press-releases/849-osu-uml-showcases-mobile-security-vehicle-during-simulated-terror-attack-at-boone-pickens-stadium-

Triarii Scientific LLC – Earmarks Received 2010

2010

WMD Multi-Sensor Response and Infrastructure Project System (Defense)

$1,600,000

Rep. Mary Fallin (-OK)

Tulsa, Oklahoma

Industry of Fear

On  Sept. 19,  2011, ESPN Magazine expressed concern about the proliferation of counter terrorism and homeland security projects, including OverSite aimed at sporting events.  ESPN descibes

Industry of fear

. . .As the bullets sped toward their target, a monitor in an RV lit up. The screen flashed a triangular wedge of purple within an image of the stadium’s architectural plan. Todd Lamb, the lieutenant governor of Oklahoma, was (inside the RV, surveying this mobile command post.

. . . Lamb watched as a second purple sliver flashed, and the point where the two slices intersected began to glow. Security cameras swerved their view to the precise spot where the sniper had launched his shot, identifying the section, row and nearest seat to rushing guards. The whole thing took a little more than 15 seconds.

It was just a drill. The sniper was an FBI agent. The crowd noise screamed through loudspeakers. The bullets were pinpointed, quickly and accurately, by an OSU-developed system called OverSite along with software and sensors made by Raytheon, a defense technology and security company. Oklahoma State scientists incubated OverSite at the University Multispectral Laboratories (UML), an unconventional-warfare outfit the school launched in 2006.  After years of research and millions in taxpayer and private money, OSU tested the project in April, demonstrating its impressive results to Lamb, Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin and other policymakers. (Emphasis mine)

. . . At today’s games, endless lines await you. Guards search you and, if it’s your unlucky day, grope you. Cameras spy on you. Traffic barriers, pat-downs and metal detectors all carry the same message: You are safer because your surroundings are bear-trapped.

. . . For the companies developing terror-fighting tools, the money and sex appeal are in sci-fi-level detection.

.  . .Since 9/11, these kinds of devices have filled airports, convention halls and corporate headquarters, and now their manufacturers hungrily eye sports arenas. “We see it as an emerging business,” says Mark Desmarais, the program director for Clear View at Raytheon. Security companies know just how to capture that market: scare the hell out of anyone who runs a stadium.

Read more of Industry of Fear

Oklahomans should be asking their elected officials some questions about this system.

Namely;

Will data will be collected on ordinary event attendees and what is being done with that data?

CCHF: Cost Savings from Electronic Health Records Is Hype

Kaye Beach

Oct. 22, 2012

From the Citizens Council for Health Freedom’s Oct. 2012 Newsletter. (If you are not subscribed to this free informative newsletter, you can do so here)

 

HHS has spent $25 billion of Recovery Act funds on health IT.

A new extensive study on the use of health information technology (IT) shows that the purported cost savings associated with electronic health records (EHR) is more hype than reality. Researchers from McMaster University Medical Center in Hamilton, Ontario, and scholars from other research centers (including U.S.-based centers) poured through almost 36,000 research studies of health IT. They were able to identify 31 that specifically addressed the outcomes of cost savings from health IT. The Wall Street Journal reports:

With a few isolated exceptions, the preponderance of evidence shows that the [health IT] systems had not improved health or saved money.

The authors of “The Economics of Health Information Technology in Medication Management: A Systematic Review of Economic Evaluations” found no evidence from four to five decades of studies that health IT reduces overall health costs. Three studies examined in that McMaster review incorporated the gold standard of evidence: large randomized, controlled trials. They provide the best measure of the effects of health IT systems on total medical costs.

A study from Regenstrief, a leading health IT research center associated with the Indiana University School of Medicine, found that there were no savings, and another from the same center found a significant increase in costs of $2,200 per doctor per year. The third study measured a small and statistically questionable savings of $22 per patient each year.

In short, the most rigorous studies to date contradict the widely broadcast claims that the national investment in health IT – some $1 trillion will be spent, by our estimate – will pay off in reducing medical costs. Those studies that do claim savings rarely include the full cost of installation, training and maintenance – a large chunk of that trillion dollars – for the nation’s nearly 6,000 hospitals and more than 600,000 physicians. But by the time these health-care providers find out that the promised cost savings are an illusion, it will be too late. . . . [All emphasis added.]

As cited above, it is estimated that the United States will spend some $1 trillion on health IT. Billions of dollars from the Recovery Act of 2009 have already been spent on it. The federal government’s Recovery Act-Funded Programs website shows that HHS has spent over $25 billion on health IT as of January 2012. Of that, $20.6 billion was spent on the Medicare and Medicaid EHRs Incentive Program, while another $2 billion was spent on the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology’s Implementation Plan.

Yet the federal government recently questioned whether now is the time to move forward with regulations for a National Health Information Network. In response to its request, HHS received over 140 comments on the proposed nationwide health information network, according to ModernHealthCare.com. The article notes that the federal government concluded that “now is not the time, probably, to pursue a regulatory approach that follows what we laid out in the RFI [request for information].” [Emphasis added.]

Furthermore, an analysis of Medicare data by the New York Times says:

The move to electronic health records may be contributing to billions of dollars in higher costs for Medicare, private insurers and patients by making it easier for hospitals and physicians to bill more for their services, whether or not they provide additional care. . . . Regulators say physicians have changed the way they bill for office visits similarly, increasing their payments by billions of dollars as well.

As a result, four committee chairs in the U.S. House have called for the suspension of “meaningful use” incentive payments “until your agency [HHS] promulgates universal interoperable standards” that would “also require a commensurate delay of penalties for providers who choose not to integrate HIT into their practice.” The October 4 letter is signed by Reps. Dave Camp, Fred Upton, Wally Herger, and Joe Pitts.

Americans must demand accountability and corrective action from policymakers for the enormous financial investment in health IT, which has not proven to save money or lives, according to the empirical evidence cited above.

Sources:

• ” A Major Glitch for Digitized Health-Care Records,” by Stephen Soumerai and Ross Koppel, Wall Street Journal, September 17, 2012.
• ” Transcript of a Statement by Dr. Farzad Mostashari to the Sept. 6, 2012 Meeting of the Health Information Technology Policy Committee,” ModernHealthCare.com, September 7, 2012.
• ” Recovery Act-Funded Programs,” U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; data as of January 2012 (website accessed October 4, 2012).
• ” Medicare Bills Rise as Records Turn Electronic,” Reed Abelson et al., The New York Times, September 21, 2012.
• Letter to Kathleen Sebelius, Secretary, HHS, from Congressmen Dave Camp, Fred Upton, Wally Herger and Joe Pitts, October 4, 2012.

Health Freedom Watch is a monthly email newsletter published by the Citizens’ Council for Health Freedom (formerly Citizens’ Council on Health Care), a national nonprofit, educational organization whose mission is to support patient and doctor freedom, medical innovation and the right to a confidential patient-doctor relationship. Health Freedom Watch provides reports on national and state policies that impact citizens’ freedom to choose their health-care treatments and practitioners, and to maintain their health privacy – including genetic privacy. Citizens’ Council for Health Freedom (CCHF) is not affiliated with any other organization. © Citizens’ Council for Health Freedom.