Numbering & Tracking: RFID 1st Fallout Nears for Arizona

WASHINGTON – Arizona lawmakers told the federal government in 2008 that the state would not cooperate in the Real ID Act, a post-9/11 law that aimed to make it harder for potential terrorists to get fake IDs.


The first fallout from the decision could begin to be felt in Arizona on Monday.
That’s when residents of states that have not complied with the Real ID Act – Arizona is one of 11 such states – will not be able to use their driver’s licenses to get in to restricted areas of nuclear power plants and federal facilities.


In January, the list of areas requiring a second form of identification, like a passport, would expand to include all federal facilities that require identification. Ultimately, the restriction could apply to people trying to board a plane – although that will not come until at least 2016 and only after a Department of Homeland Security evaluation.
It might be time for the state to revisit the Real ID issue before then, said Rep. Debbie McCune Davis, D-Glendale.


Read more:
http://cronkitenewsonline.com/2014/07/first-fallout-approaches-for-states-refusal-to-comply-with-real-id-act/

The ISIS Chronicles - A History

On June 10, 2014, Mosul, the second largest city in Iraq and the capital of Ninawa province, fell to the Salafi-Jihadi organization, the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS). The fall of Mosul and the subsequent blitz with which ISIS took over other Sunni majority cities shocked Washington and Baghdad. However, the leaderships of the two countries have entertained different visions as to how to deal with this surging threat to regional and international stability. This has only added another layer of misconception about ISIS and its future military and religiopolitical program in the Middle East. ISIS has achieved what Al Qaeda failed to accomplish. A recent statement by ISIS in which it rebranded itself as the “Islamic State,” declaring the establishment of an Islamic Caliphate in Iraq and Syria, led by its leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, as Caliph Ibrahim, shows both the astuteness of its military command and ingenuity of its ideologues. Contrary to conventional wisdom, the Islamic State has already replaced Al Qaeda as the paradigm organization of Salafi-Jihadists and stands, if not defeated in its formative stage, not only to change the map of political geography of the Middle East, but also the scope and breadth of Salafi-jihadi threat to the West and Middle East.


Read more:
http://nationalinterest.org/feature/the-isis-chronicles-history-10895

Numbering & Tracking People: Kentucky Driver's Licenses & RFID chips

FRANKFORT, Ky. (WKYT)- Kentucky is working with the Department of Homeland Security to comply with the REAL ID Act of 2005, but if it doesn't make changes by 2016, a Kentucky driver's license will not be enough to board an airplane.
People will have to show a passport, which costs $110, or some other form of federal identification.


The law requires a driver's license to be issued by a single state agency. In Kentucky, local court clerk offices issue them.  Kentucky's Transportation Cabinet commissioner says that makes it more difficult to standardize the process. "There are some obstacles to overcome because we are a large state, and we do issue from a lot of different areas," Kentucky Transportation Cabinet commissioner Rodney Kuhl said. "We have to work through some security features of our issuing offices in order to be able to have the compliance we need to be."


Deadlines for changes:
July 21: Restricted areas for all federal facilities and nuclear power plants
Jan. 19, 2015: Semi-restricted areas, such as those available to the general public but subject to ID-based access control, at most federal federal facilities.
2016 or later: Boarding commercial airplanes. A driver’s license or identification card from a noncompliant state may only be used in conjunction with a second form of ID for boarding federally regulated commercial aircraft.