DHS To Air "Suspicious Activity" Video at Wal-Mart Checkouts

Wait, wait, wait. Don't about eight out of ten Wal-Mart shoppers look suspicious?

[Excerpt]

Watch: Janet Napolitano Tells Walmart Shoppers to Look for 'Suspicious' Activity in Video to Air at Checkout Counter



If you see something suspicious in the parking lot or in the store, say something immediately. Report suspicious activity to your local police or sheriff. If you need help, ask a Walmart manager for assistance," says Janet Napolitano in a new DHS video. . .
 
Read more at: TowleRoad


And if you don't believe me: People of Wal-Mart

DHS Thinks I am the Skyline Chili Bomber

Hey, ever wonder what the security agents at the airport are looking for when they pull you out of line? Ever wonder what they're doing while sorting through your undergarments in your checked baggage?

On a recent trip back to Ohio, I picked up several cans and envelopes of Skyline Chili, a regional favorite that I can't get at home. They were tied together in a grocery sack, and put in my checked baggage for the trip home. As this was the only remotely suspicious thing that could have appeared on an x-ray, my bag was openened, and I had a nice calling card from the Department of Homeland Security, along with a hole ripped in the grocery bag.

I am the Skyline Chili Bomber, ladies and gentlemen!

This illuminating story shows what sort of "intelligence" they are gathering on ordinary Americans.

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Collecting of Details on Travelers Documented

The U.S. government is collecting electronic records on the travel habits of millions of Americans who fly, drive or take cruises abroad, retaining data on the persons with whom they travel or plan to stay, the personal items they carry during their journeys, and even the books that travelers have carried, according to documents obtained by a group of civil liberties advocates and statements by government officials.

The personal travel records are meant to be stored for as long as 15 years, as part of the Department of Homeland Security's effort to assess the security threat posed by all travelers entering the country. Officials say the records, which are analyzed by the department's Automated Targeting System, help border officials distinguish potential terrorists from innocent people entering the country.

Read on at: WashingtonPost.com

Musical Chairs on the Titanic: Chertoff and Johnson

I reported yesterday (before the news of Alberto Gonzales' resignation) that DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff was being floated as a possible replacement. There have now been rumors that Bush crony Clay Johnson may replace Chertoff at DHS. There is much scuttlebutt that these names are only being floated to make the ultimate choices seem better by comparison. We can only hope.

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CNN: Bush Plans To Install Inexperienced, Bush Loyalist Clay Johnson At Homeland Security

This morning, CNN’s Suzanne Malveaux reported that “very senior level sources” inside the administration are telling her that Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff will replace Attorney General Alberto Gonzales.

Additionally, these sources say Chertoff will be replaced at Homeland Security by Clay Johnson III, the Deputy Director for Management at the Office of Management and Budget. . .

Read the rest, and watch the clip at: ThinkProgress.org

Chertoff: The Boy Who Cried Wolf

Excuse me for feeling skeptical. This plot may very well have been as nasty and as ready-to-go as Michael Chertoff says, but how can we know? Time after time, we hear some huge terrorist plot has been--barely--thwarted; only to find out later (with much less fanfare) that it was pretty much a load of hooey. So, just like the boy who cried wolf, when the crisis is real, will anybody believe it?

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'Plot Would Have Killed Thousands'

Terrorists who had planned to detonate gel-based explosives on U.S.-bound flights from London last August would have achieved mass devastation, according to new information from Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff in an exclusive interview with ABC News.

"I think that the plot, in terms of its intent, was looking at devastation on a scale that would have rivaled 9/11," Chertoff told ABC's Pierre Thomas. "If they had succeeded in bringing liquid explosives on seven or eight aircraft, there could have been thousands of lives lost and an enormous economic impact with devastating consequences for international air travel."

Read on at: ABCNews.GO.com

Nothing is Private: DHS Data-mines Travelers

In the past, it was very easy to deride privacy advocates as alarmist, tin-foil-hatters. But, look at this, and tell me that this is the United States of America that we all learned about in school. Tell me this squares with what the founders set out to form.

Yes, this particular article deals with those people traveling from Europe to the United States, but remember, that would include you and me if we go there on a round-trip ticket. And do you really think that they only do this with foreign travel? That this isn't part of a larger data-mining program? And do you trust this administration to use this information only "where the life of a data subject or of others could be imperiled or seriously impaired?"

It's disgusting, it's wrong, and I dearly hope our next President starts dismantling some of these gross violations of people's rights.

[Excerpt]

Travelers Face Greater Use of Personal Data
Pact Covers Passengers Flying From Europe to U.S.

By Paul Lewis and Spencer S. Hsu

Washington Post Staff Writers

Friday, July 27, 2007

The United States and the European Union have agreed to expand a security program that shares personal data about millions of U.S.-bound airline passengers a year, potentially including information about a person's race, ethnicity, religion and health.

Under the agreement, airlines flying from Europe to the United States are required to provide data related to these matters to U.S. authorities if it exists in their reservation systems. The deal allows Washington to retain and use it only "where the life of a data subject or of others could be imperiled or seriously impaired," such as in a counterterrorism investigation.

According to the deal, the information that can be used in such exceptional circumstances includes "racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, religious or philosophical beliefs, trade union membership" and data about an individual's health, traveling partners and sexual orientation.

Yep, you read that right: sexual orientation. For WHAT possible "security" purpose?

Read on, it gets worse: WashingtonPost.com