With most or all of the Texas Legislative spotlight on voter ID, the federal Real ID is in a dangerous position to quietly poison the remainder of the days. While Texas is abiding ever so gracefully with the federal extension to find their way to compliance, DHS is erecting cameras throughout the state. It was only a matter of time before someone pointed out that RFID readers are popping up past the border into Southern Texas, complete with radio promotion propaganda.
A subject raised among Texas activist support groups comprised of civil libertarians, anti- border wall advocates and environmentalists gave rise to a question - how did this wall, complete with expensive surveillance technologies, crop up without due process and public input? Border surveillance compounds with renewed models of the fence are now up for decision making bids. Duncan Hunter's Real ID rider now is the shadowy facilitator creeping around the edges of the fence issue posing as placebo immigration reform.
One question keeps prompting our alert signals: where is the money coming from to do all of this?
While the State of Texas may not have the money and the cities lining the borders even less, it hasn't stopped the DHS from muscling in with voluntary-compulsory mandates on towns to "do this or else" at the expense of cities without notifying the public for input or for budgetary accountability. We checked in with Scott Nicols of No Border Wall Coalition to compare notes as to how I, a blogger in Austin, could wake up and find 10 red light cameras up and down the Guadalupe drag without so much as a notice from the City. Apparently, the DHS feds can give the City an I.O.U. do-it-now-or-else ultimatum. Sometimes they pay them back. In these border towns, often they are left holding the budgetary bag.
Now people are sending me pictures of RFID readers going up at the borders and complaining of radio campaigns to "get you home" to goose public support of ... Enhanced Drivers Licenses?
Why do we need RFID readers anyway? Well, so they can read RFID tags, some in your car and perhaps in your license. While I have been told by border Senator Shapleigh's office that they will stop the push for the Enhanced Drivers Licenses. There were murmurs that the stimulus bill held the federal monetizing power to greenlight Real IDs in Texas at Thursday's TxDOT meeting. All this so Texans can fist bump their way to "coolness" with their toll tags and their dandy surveilled identity cards? "Wow, check out my new government mandated ear tattoo, they branded my left thigh as well!!" - I'm being facetious. This is modern propaganda.
IN OTHER NEWS
EPIC - On the Dangers of Fusion Centers or Public Data Aggregates
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