Homeland Security

[Soldier4Christ]

UK Terror Threat Severe - Critical

The U.S. is apparently not the only country picking up on a possible increased terror threat. In Britain, the threat level is at the “severe end of severe” according to sources who say the level of “chatter” among terrorist cells has increased in recent months.

The security services say they are now operating at full stretch to counter the elevated threat.

Britain’s close relationship with the US has been particularly inflammatory after cross-border raids into Pakistan by American forces.

Security officials had considered downgrading the official threat level from “severe” but that plan has now been abandoned as a result of the increase in terrorist activity.

A senior counter terrorism source said: “We were looking at the threat level six months ago and asking how severe is severe? But it is October now and we are at the severe end of severe.

“Al-Qaeda’s core exists on the Afghan-Pakistan border. The arrangement of people changes at a frighteningly rapid pace but they have enough people to replace them and there are people who are looking at us and at external operations, some at this country in particular.

“We are not chasing shadows. These are potential threats to security and life. Police and the security network are operating at full capacity.”

The source said a review by the Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre, which looks at information from MI5, MI6 and GCHQ, had considered downgrading the threat from “severe,” meaning an attack is highly likely, to “substantial,” meaning an attack is a strong possibility, but that move was abandoned after the level of activity increased.

The assessment, which has five levels, has been considered severe since the arrest of the men allegedly plotting to attack transatlantic airliners in 2006 but moved up to “critical,” meaning an attack is imminent, during last year’s car bomb alert which led to the attack on Glasgow airport.

It is now only just below that level.

MI5 is watching around 200 networks across Britain and MI6 and GCHQ are constantly monitoring communications on the crucial Afghan-Pakistan border area.

Although key commanders have been killed in air strikes, one of the particular concerns is the disappearance of Rashid Rauf from Birmingham, an alleged al-Qaeda mastermind who escaped from Pakistani custody last December.

Security officials are also worried about threats which may come from off the radar.

They are particularly worried by lone operators who “self-radicalise” over the internet and stock-pile chemicals from domestic sources.

“They are discreet from traditional networks and have a very small intelligence signature which makes them hard to pick up,” the source said.

[Soldier4Christ]

Brooklyn al Qaeda? Materials Found During Arrest Prompts Investigation

Brooklyn police stumbled upon a trove of possible terrorist related materials including; al Qaeda news clippings, chemical manuals and weapons literature. The discovery was made while responding to a landlords call regarding photocopied drivers licenses he discovered in an evicted tenants apartment.

From The NY Post

The tenant, Hisham Khaleel, 35, had been evicted.

Responding officers found 13 copied licenses, all of which appeared to belong to customers from the Vanderbilt YMCA on East 47th Street in Manhattan, where Khaleel worked briefly as an unarmed security guard.

They also found news clippings about al Qaeda, literature on chemical purchasing and processing, an owner’s manual for a Beretta handgun, a reference guide for modern airplanes, a video on rifle-shooting fundamentals and a sniper’s manual.

Cops also uncovered lab glassware catalogs and a book, “Hostile Planet: The Essential Guide to Surviving Natural Disasters, Pandemics and Terrorist Attacks.”

[...]

Khaleel was awaiting arraignment last night in Brooklyn Supreme Court on charges of criminal possession of stolen property and unlawful possession of personal identification.

However, sources said the materials found in the apartment had piqued probers’ interest, and a full-scale investigation was under way.

[Soldier4Christ]

Stolen Truck Full of Coffee Creamer - Illinois

West City police may have an important clue to the identity of the person who drove off with a 53-foot trailer over the weekend: The person apparently takes cream in his or her coffee.

A whole lot of cream, since the hijacked trailer was loaded with Coffee-mate creamer, a West City Police Department spokeswoman said.

The trailer was attached to a cab that was parked for several days in a parking lot at one of the village’s shopping centers, police report. When the semitrailer’s driver returned to the lot Sunday night, the cab’s window was broken and the trailer was missing.

The value of the trailer’s contents was unavailable and police offered no theories as to why that particular truck trailer was targeted in the lot full of trucks, or what thieves could do with their haul.

An Internet search revealed dozens of Web sites extolling the virtues of coffee creamer as an explosive and included several videos displaying its volatility.

The 1999 white cargo trailer belonged to Parrish Trucking of Freeburg and had the number 3062 printed on the rear door.

I foresee a ban on coffee creamer in the works. 

[nChrist]

Stolen Truck Full of Coffee Creamer - Illinois

West City police may have an important clue to the identity of the person who drove off with a 53-foot trailer over the weekend: The person apparently takes cream in his or her coffee.

A whole lot of cream, since the hijacked trailer was loaded with Coffee-mate creamer, a West City Police Department spokeswoman said.

The trailer was attached to a cab that was parked for several days in a parking lot at one of the village’s shopping centers, police report. When the semitrailer’s driver returned to the lot Sunday night, the cab’s window was broken and the trailer was missing.

The value of the trailer’s contents was unavailable and police offered no theories as to why that particular truck trailer was targeted in the lot full of trucks, or what thieves could do with their haul.

An Internet search revealed dozens of Web sites extolling the virtues of coffee creamer as an explosive and included several videos displaying its volatility.

The 1999 white cargo trailer belonged to Parrish Trucking of Freeburg and had the number 3062 printed on the rear door.

I foresee a ban on coffee creamer in the works. 

WOW! - WHOOOOOA! - This is my brand and what I use in my coffee. However, I use the diet variety. I wonder if the diet Coffee-mate creamer is less explosive.      

[Soldier4Christ]

It doesn't matter as long as it is a powder type coffee creamer. Coffee creamer is not the only thing that is explosive in that manner. Factories that produce powdered food products have had this explosive problem for some time. Occasionally all it takes is a static electric zap to set off a major explosion in this processing plants. I did some electrical work in one such factory that processed flour. I had to wear special clothing going in, no metal such as belt buckles. Even my tools had to be designed so as to not cause a spark.

There is no need to worry though about it in your home. The conditions needed to cause it to explode or burn just don't exist in homes.

[Soldier4Christ]

State Department warns against travel to Mexico
Deadliest drug zone invites Americans to tour 'land of encounters'

More than 1,100 people have been slaughtered in a bloodbath of drug-related violence in one city just south of the U.S.-Mexico border this year – that's nearly four victims each day – and some say it is just part of a large crisis that is will soon spill over the border.

The U.S. State Department issued a travel advisory for Americans who visit Mexico, citing Ciudad Juarez as a hotbed of criminal activity. A large Mexican metropolis in Chihuahua State bordering El Paso, Texas, Juarez is Mexico's deadliest narcotics-war zone with two criminal gangs fighting for power – over city streets and drug-smuggling routes into the United States.

The State Department is warning U.S. citizens of escalating crime along the border, stating that 1,600 cars were stolen in Juarez in July alone. Public shootouts, muggings, murders and bank robberies are rampant, and Mexican criminals harass U.S. travelers along border regions.

"Some recent Mexican army and police confrontations with drug cartels have taken on the characteristics of small-unit combat, with cartels employing automatic weapons and, on occasion, grenades," according to the State Department. "Firefights have taken place in many towns and cities across Mexico but particularly in northern Mexico, including Tijuana, Chihuahua City and Ciudad Juarez. The situation in northern Mexico remains fluid; the location and timing of future armed engagements cannot be predicted."

Mexican criminals are said to be armed with sophisticated weapons, often wearing police or military uniforms and driving government vehicles. Many people – including U.S. citizens – are being kidnapped and held for ransom or killed across Mexico.

Decapitation, torture, human 'soup'

Gang-related violence has killed an estimated 5,000 people since President Felipe Calderon ordered police and 3,600 soldiers to crack down on drug cartels in December 2006.

On Saturday gunmen killed six men at a family party in Ciudad Juarez, the Associated Press reported. In just the last three days, 23 people have been killed in northern Mexico. Also, 12 were killed in Baja California, including two adults and two children who were gunned down in spray of bullets from an AK-47 assault rifle.

Another 11 homicides were reported earlier this month after masked attackers dressed as police opened fire in a bar. A U.S. citizen was shot in Juarez Monday. He and another female victim, 19, of an unrelated Juarez shooting were brought to an El Paso hospital for medical attention. Among Monday killings was a double homicide inside a home, while another man was found shot to death in the same city Tuesday evening.

In a similar wave of violence this month, 54 people were killed within one week in Tijuana. Twelve bodies were dumped outside an elementary school and some had their tongues removed, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported. Other bodies were decapitated, cut up or wrapped in blankets and tossed along roadsides. Police also discovered a barrel filled with acid containing human remains and a note threatening to make "soup" of gang rivals.

Also this month, a group of drug hitmen killed five people, including two cops, at a car stereo and alarm shop. Shortly afterward, men shot two Chihuahua state police officers in Juarez with assault rifles. Seventy-one bullet casings were found at the scene. The killers had a wreath delivered to police headquarters with a threatening note identifying the victims and a third name of another officer. A young girl, 12, was shot by hitmen in June, and a Juarez police commander was gunned down in an ambush of 50 bullets. Many of the murders took place in broad daylight.

The violence is not aimed only at drug cartels. A new Discovery production titled "Silence in Juarez" details historical accounts of abductions and murder in the city. The program reveals 400 women have been tortured and raped in Juarez since 1993, and more than 1,000 have gone missing.

U.S. Border Patrol, media assaulted

Law-abiding authorities sometimes quit their positions when their lives and families are threatened by hit men. In a city plagued by corruption and bribery, and with so many criminals disguising themselves as police and soldiers, officials often have difficulty differentiating between legitimate and crooked authorities.

In August, WND reported four Mexican soldiers held a U.S. Border Patrol agent at gunpoint after crossing a barbed-wire fence into U.S. territory. The Mexican government claims its soldiers were simply lost despite the agent's repeated attempts to identify himself in both English and Spanish.

There have been dozens of other incursions by Mexican police and soldiers into the U.S. WND reported an investigation by Judicial Watch that documented 29 confirmed incidents along the U.S.-Mexican border involving Mexican military and/or law enforcement personnel in fiscal year 2007.

The report lists incidents such as the one at the Fort Hancock Station in El Paso:

    "[Troopers] attempted to apprehend three vehicles believed to be smuggling contraband on I-10 … As the vehicles approached the border, [troopers] stated that a Mexican Military Humvee armed with a .50 caliber weapon and several soldiers were seen assisting smugglers return to Mexico … Officers then noticed several armed subjects dressed in fatigue type clothing unload the contraband into the Humvee. These subjects set fire to the stalled vehicle before leaving the area."

Increasingly, border agents are coming under assault. The Texas Legislature, fearing violence spillover as the drug war worsens, allocated $110 million to beef up Border Patrol in the area.

Members of the media have come under attack as well. Reporters Without Borders stated 95 attacks on journalists in Mexico have taken place since the beginning of this year, including threats, assaults, kidnappings and murders. Newspapers and other media outlets have begun censoring their coverage and running stories without reporters' names to avoid retaliation.

Mexican hitmen entering U.S.

In August, Mexican cartels threatened to send hitmen into the U.S.

"We received credible information that drug cartels in Mexico have given permission to hit targets on the U.S. side of the border," El Paso police spokesman Officer Chris Mears told Fox News.

In June, six Mexican men in police tactical clothing shot a man to death in a drug-cartel hit, firing more than 100 rounds into his Phoenix home. The assailants were said to be wielding AR-15 assault weapons and wearing full body armor and black assault gear similar to uniforms worn by Phoenix police tactical teams.

Worst 'yet to come'

Spillover is imminent because cartels employ people from both Mexico and the U.S., border anthropologist and drug-traffic expert Howard Campbell told the San Diego Union-Tribune.

"At some point, the Mexican cartel people may decide, what do they have to fear, really?" Campbell said. "A lot is their own perception that they can't get away with this stuff in the U.S. But sadly, I think they could. My sources in Juarez are saying the worst of the violence is yet to come."

Meanwhile, Mexican officials have launched a desperate campaign to draw American tourists back into Juarez after many have decided to stay away from the region, the Associated Press reports. Billboards now tout the city as the "land of encounters."

[nChrist]

It doesn't matter as long as it is a powder type coffee creamer. Coffee creamer is not the only thing that is explosive in that manner. Factories that produce powdered food products have had this explosive problem for some time. Occasionally all it takes is a static electric zap to set off a major explosion in this processing plants. I did some electrical work in one such factory that processed flour. I had to wear special clothing going in, no metal such as belt buckles. Even my tools had to be designed so as to not cause a spark.

There is no need to worry though about it in your home. The conditions needed to cause it to explode or burn just don't exist in homes.

 

I'm safe anyway since I use the liquid variety of coffee-mate.

We have the occasional grain silo explosions in this part of the country, so I think that I understand now. I'll have to look in the kitchen cabinets and see if we have any of the powder variety. If so, I think that I'll call the EPA for proper disposal.   

[Soldier4Christ]

Scheme to smuggle guns, visas uncovered
Jordanian native offered informant missile that 'can reach the Pentagon'

An FBI informant helped agents uncover a visa fraud and gun smuggling scheme run by two Annandale men, one of whom told the informant he could sell him a missile that “can reach the Pentagon,” according to a sworn statement unsealed Monday.

The investigation started when the informant met with Amjad Hamed, a Jordanian native and legal U.S. resident since 1978, in Hamed’s Annandale home in April 2006, the affidavit said. Hamed reportedly asked the informant to obtain visas for six associates who wanted to immigrate to the U.S. from Jordan and the West Bank.

Hamed reportedly told the informant that three of the of the six passports and visas were for people who had been arrested by the Israeli government. Hamed added that he had been jailed in Israel three times.  Months later, between May 2007 and June 2007, Hamed sold three firearms — a fully automatic AR-15 assault rifle and two handguns, one with a serial number scratched off — to the informant, the affidavit said.

In June 2007, the two met in an Annandale parking lot, where the informant asked about buying a missile. “When I say missile, it is with everything ... with the controls if you want you can reach the Pentagon,” the affidavit said Hamed responded. In August 2007, the informant met with Hamed’s cousin Ibrahim Hamed, a Jordanian immigrant living legally in the U.S. since 1989. Ibrahim has been charged with transporting a firearm with an obliterated serial number across state lines. Amjad has been charged with conspiracy to commit visa fraud.

Gregory Stambough, Ibrahim Hamed’s attorney, said the affidavit was “overblown” and “is not really reflective of the events as they actually took place.” Amjad Hamed’s attorney did not return calls Tuesday. Both men are being held without bail.

[Soldier4Christ]

 Reward Increased for Operation Backfire Fugitives

Today, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) announced an increased reward for information about fugitives being sought for their role in a domestic terrorism cell. Specifically, the FBI is offering a reward of up to $50,000 for information leading to the arrest of Josephine Sunshine Overaker, Joseph Mahmoud Dibee, Justin Franchi Solondz, and Rebecca Rubin. These individuals were members of the domestic terrorism cell, referred to as “The Family,” whose criminal actions included vandalism, animal releases, arsons, and attempted arsons across Oregon, Washington, California, Wyoming, and Colorado.

“We depend on the assistance of our domestic and international law enforcement partners in this ongoing fugitive search,” said Executive Assistant Director Arthur M. Cummings, II, of the FBI’s National Security Branch. “These individuals are terrorists; regardless of their political or social message, their actions were criminal and violated federal laws. The FBI has remained steadfast in the search for these individuals and is making every effort to locate these fugitives and bring them to justice.”

From 1996 to 2001, these individuals conducted a range of criminal actions throughout the United States in the name of the Animal Liberation Front (ALF) and Earth Liberation Front (ELF). They were responsible for at least 25 domestic terrorism criminal actions totaling over $48 million in damages, including the largest eco-related arson in history, a $26 million arson at the Vail Ski Resort in Vail, Colorado. To date, Operation Backfire has resulted in the indictment of 17 individuals for eco-terrorism criminal activities, four of which remain at large, possibly overseas.

“The crimes perpetrated by ALF and ELF have proven violent and potentially deadly, as the criminals use sophisticated incendiary devices, pipe bombs, and tactics” said ATF Deputy Assistant Director William McMahon. “As these fugitives are still on the run, law enforcement must remain aggressive in our pursuit. The ATF will continue to work with the FBI to battle the twin menaces of violent crime and terrorism.”
Detailed descriptions of these fugitives are available on www.fbi.gov. These fugitives are considered armed and dangerous. If you have information concerning any of them, please do not take any independent action. We ask that you contact your local FBI office or the nearest American Embassy or Consulate.

[Soldier4Christ]

Feds warn of terror plot against NYC subways
Internal memo says FBI received 'plausible but unsubstantiated' report

Federal authorities are warning law enforcement personnel of a possible terror plot against the New York City subway and train systems during the holiday season, and police are beefing up security in preparation.

An internal memo obtained by The Associated Press says the FBI has received a "plausible but unsubstantiated" report that al-Qaida terrorists in late September may have discussed attacking the subway system.

A person briefed on the matter, speaking to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the intelligence-gathering work, said the threat may also be directed at the passenger rail lines running through New York, such as Amtrak and the Long Island Rail Road, which are particularly busy with Thanksgiving holiday travelers.

A U.S. counterterror official, also speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to do so publicly, said senior government officials have been briefed because the FBI very recently received credible information about possible attacks over the holiday season, and authorities are particularly concerned about this long holiday weekend.

FBI spokesman Richard Kolko confirmed only that his agency and the Homeland Security Department issued a bulletin Tuesday night to state and local authorities, and the information is being reviewed.

Department of Homeland Security spokesman Russ Knocke said the warning was issued as a routine matter, but added that there may be an increased police presence in New York and other large cities.

The internal bulletin says al-Qaida terrorists "in late September may have discussed targeting transit systems in and around New York City. These discussions reportedly involved the use of suicide bombers or explosives placed on subway/passenger rail systems," according to the document.

"We have no specific details to confirm that this plot has developed beyond aspirational planning, but we are issuing this warning out of concern that such an attack could possibly be conducted during the forthcoming holiday season," according to the warning dated Tuesday.

NYPD spokesman Paul Browne said they have received an unsubstantiated report and as a result have "deployed additional resources in the mass transit system."

While federal agencies regularly issue all sorts of advisory warnings, the language of this one is particularly blunt.

Intelligence and homeland security officials are working with local authorities to try to corroborate the information "and will continue to investigate every possible lead," the memo says.

Rep. Peter King, the top Republican on the House Homeland Security Committee, said authorities "have very real specifics as to who it is and where the conversation took place and who conducted it."

"It certainly involves suicide bombing attacks on the mass transit system in and around New York and it's plausible, but there's no evidence yet that it's in the process of being carried out," King said.

Knocke, the DHS spokesman, said the warning was issued "out of an abundance of caution going into this holiday season."

No changes are being made to the nation's threat level, or for transit systems at this time, he said.

"However, transit passengers in larger metropolitan areas like New York may see an increased security presence in the coming days," Knocke said.

The increased personnel could include uniformed and plainclothes "behavior detection" officers, federal air marshals, canine teams, and security inspectors, Knocke said.

[HisDaughter]

Doomsday: U.S. report warns of 'strategic shock' leading to massive unrest    

The United States could be sleep-walking into its next crisis, a military report said.

The report by the U.S. Army War College's Strategic Institute, said that a defense community paralyzed by conventional thinking could be unprepared to help the United States cope with a series of unexpected crises that would rival the Al Qaida strikes in 2001, termed a "strategic shock."

The report cited the prospect of the collapse of a nuclear state leading to massive unrest in the United States, Middle East Newsline reported.

"Widespread civil violence inside the United States would force the defense establishment to reorient priorities in extremis to defend basic domestic order and human security," the report, authored by [Ret.] Lt. Col. Nathan Freir, said.

"Deliberate employment of weapons of mass destruction or other catastrophic capabilities, unforeseen economic collapse, loss of functioning political and legal order, purposeful domestic resistance or insurgency, pervasive public health emergencies, and catastrophic natural and human disasters are all paths to disruptive domestic shock."

Titled "Known Unknowns: Unconventional Strategic Shocks in Defense Strategy Development," the report warned that the U.S. military and intelligence community remain mired in the past as well as the need to accommodate government policy. Freier, a former Pentagon official, said that despite the Al Qaida surprise in 2001 U.S. defense strategy and planning remain trapped by "excessive convention."

"The current administration confronted a game-changing 'strategic shock' inside its first eight months in office," the report said. "The next administration would be well-advised to expect the same during the course of its first term. Indeed, the odds are very high against any of the challenges routinely at the top of the traditional defense agenda triggering the next watershed inside DoD [Department of Defense]."

The report cited the collapse of what Freier termed "a large capable state that results in a nuclear civil war." Such a prospect could lead to uncontrolled weapons of mass destruction proliferation as well as a nuclear war.

The report cited the prospect of a breakdown of order in the United States. Freier said the Pentagon could be suddenly forced to recall troops from abroad to fight domestic unrest.

"An American government and defense establishment lulled into complacency by a long-secure domestic order would be forced to rapidly divest some or most external security commitments in order to address rapidly expanding human insecurity at home," the report said.

The report said the United States could also come under pressure from a hostile state with control over insurgency groups. The hostile state could force American decision-makers into a desperate response.

"The United States might also consider the prospect that hostile state and/or nonstate actors might individually or in concert combine hybrid methods effectively to resist U.S. influence in a nonmilitary manner," the report said. "This is clearly an emerging trend."

"The aforementioned are admittedly extreme," the report said. "They are not, however, implausible or fantastical."

[Soldier4Christ]

Assets Seized at Company Suspected of Funneling Money to Iran

Federal authorities moved on Wednesday to seize assets from a company suspected of being a front for an Iranian bank that has ties to terrorism, assets that include the company’s 40 percent stake in a sleek Midtown Manhattan office tower.

The seizure was the latest step in the government’s broader effort to financially suffocate Iran’s biggest banks, several of which have been accused of funneling money to groups like Hamas and financing Iran’s nuclear missile program. The United States and other countries have blacklisted Iranian banks in recent years and frozen their assets, part of a plan to stifle Iran’s foreign financial transactions.

On Wednesday, several branches of the government joined forces to strike a blow against Iran’s largest bank, Melli.

The Treasury Department announced that it had designated the Assa Corporation, which does business in New York, a shell company that launders money and sends it to Melli. The Assa Corporation’s parent, the Assa Company, based in the Channel Islands, owns a 40 percent stake in 650 Fifth Avenue, a 36-story granite-and-glass tower at 52nd Street. The building has many prominent tenants, including Citibank, Equity 1 and Pali Capital.

As the Treasury was making its declaration on Wednesday, the Justice Department started its own indirect strike against Bank Melli, initiating legal action to take control of the Assa Corporation’s stake in 650 Fifth Avenue and to seize funds from Assa’s bank accounts.

“This scheme to use a front company set up by Bank Melli — a known proliferator — to funnel money from the United States to Iran is yet another example of Iran’s duplicity,” Stuart Levey, the undersecretary of the treasury for terrorism and financial intelligence, said in a statement on Wednesday, using a term that refers to spreading nuclear weapons to states without them. “The dangerous mix of proliferation and deception has led the United States, the European Union and Australia to designate Bank Melli, and the United Nations to issue a call for vigilance with respect to all Iranian banks.”

A man who is listed as an agent for 650 Fifth Avenue, James Quinn, did not return a phone call to his office on Wednesday.

According to legal documents filed by the office of Lev L. Dassin, the United States attorney in Manhattan, the building was constructed in the 1970s by the Pahlavi Foundation, a nonprofit agency of the shah of Iran, and financed partly by a loan from Bank Melli. By the end of the decade, the Islamic revolution had taken place, and Iran’s diplomatic relationship with the United States had soured.

In 1989, the foundation, which had renamed itself Alavi, formed the 650 Fifth Avenue Company in partnership with Bank Melli, but disguised the bank’s role by transferring its partial stake to the Assa shell company, federal authorities said. From then on, they said, the shell company sent its proceeds from the building’s rental income to Bank Melli, in violation of federal laws that forbid the exportation of goods and services to Iran without a license from the treasury.

[Soldier4Christ]

Businesses use RFID to track workers, pay for fewer hours

The same computer chips used to track razor blades and lipstick are now being used to track workers and cut jobs.

Radio Frequency Identification technology  was on display  this week by the Charlotte, N.C.-based Material Handling Industry of America at the ProMat trade show at McCormick Place.

Retailers, such as Wal-Mart and Target, have used the technology to track their products. But the displays at ProMat showed how businesses can track how quickly employees are working and then pay them for fewer labor hours. Retail inventories also can be chipped so fewer workers are needed to sort through them.

"Everyone says, 'I want to be able to push a button in my office and know where my guys are,'" said Bruce Smallwood of Accu-Sort Inc, of Telford, Pa., a company that makes barcode and RFID readers.

In fact, I.D. Systems Inc., of Hackensack, N.J., has installed RFID tags in 35,000 forklifts across the country, according to Kenneth Ehrman,  president. The tags are linked to the ignition, so an employee needs an authorized badge to start the engine.

The RFID tag can also track when the forklift is being operated. The business can then compare a digital log of the vehicle's time spent moving to the operator's time card and then pay them for less time. Additionally, the RFID tag causes a machine to turn off when it's left idling.

"You're paying eight hours of work for one hour of product moving in the facility," said Ehrman.

I.D. Systems received a $4 million contract from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to develop a system to track vehicles and workers innovled in such areas as baggage handling at airports.

RFID can also be used to cut a company's costs by speeding up the handling of retail goods. Each bin of products will have its own RFID tag, and that tag's code can be read by a hand-held scanner. This makes it faster for employees to find what they're looking for.

"You don't need human beings to see what's in inventory," said Jeffrey Allen of AL Systems, of Rockaway, N.J.

Companies are also using RFID to track how quickly employees work and have them compete with each other in order for everyone to work faster. If a task normally takes two minutes and an employee finds a more efficient way to get it done in one minute, then the standards are changed, said Ehrman.

Yet this could cause complaints from an employee who can't physically move faster.

"What happens if that person can't improve?" said John Brosnan of the Illinois Labor Relations Board, which mediates labor disputes.

If everyone's being made to work faster and getting more done in less time, maybe the person lagging behind will become expendable.

Allen, whose company makes software that directs RFID devices said one retail company's employee parking lot went from full to half-full after installing RFID for its inventory.

"You can replace all that extra labor with technology," said Allen.

[nChrist]

WOW!

We can compare the above information about RFID chips with what GOD has told us will happen in the Tribulation Period. The technology for the Mark of the Beast and other things mentioned in GOD'S WORD don't sound very wild now. In fact, there are many things described in the Bible about the Tribulation Period, and NONE of them sound very wild now.

[Soldier4Christ]

New film uncovers 'homegrown jihad'
Group left off terror list operates 35 training camps across U.S.

A jihadist group responsible for nearly 50 attacks on American soil is operating 35 training camps across the nation, but its name cannot be found on the State Department's list of foreign terrorist organizations.

Exposing Jamaat ul-Fuqra's threat to the U.S., putting it on the terror list and shutting it down is the aim of a documentary film premiering tomorrow night at the Landmark Theater in Washington, D.C., at 7:30 p.m.

The film's producer, the Christian Action Network, or CAN, says there's no charge to attend the showing of "Homegrown Jihad: The Terrorist Camps Around the U.S.," and DVDs are available at its website. A trailer for the film can be viewed online.

In 2006, the film points out, a Justice Department document, marked "Dissemination Restricted to Law Enforcement," exposed 35 terrorist training compounds in the U.S. Among the items of evidence was a confiscated terrorist training film by Jamaat ul-Fuqra's leader, Sheik Muburak Gilani, called "Soldiers of Allah."

In "Soldiers of Allah," Jamaat ul-Fuqra's reason for being in America is clearly stated.

"We are fighting to destroy the enemy. We are dealing with evil at its roots and its roots are America," declares Giliani.

The training video, featured prominently in CAN's documentary, teaches American students how to operate AK-47 rifles, rocket launchers, and machine guns; how to kidnap Americans and then kill them; how to conduct sabotage and subversive operations; and how to use mortars and explosives.

Jamaat ul-Fuqra's attacks on American soil range from bombings to murder to plots to blow up U.S. landmarks.

"Act like you are his friend. Then kill him," says Gilani, explaining how to handle American "infidels."

CAN said the more than two years of research it took to make the documentary included going inside the compounds with video cameras and confronting members of the group.

The filmmaker cites a 2006 Department of Justice report saying Jamaat ul-Fuqra "has more than 35 suspected communes and more than 3,000 members spread across the United States, all in support of one goal: the purification of Islam through violence."

In 2005, the Department of Homeland Security predicted the group would continue to carry out attacks in the U.S.

CAN points out that Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl was attempting to interview Jamaat ul-Fuqra's leader, Gilani, in 2002 when he was kidnapped and later beheaded. One year later, Iyman Faris, member of both Jamaat ul-Fuqra and al-Qaida, pleaded guilty in federal court to a plot to blow up the Brooklyn Bridge.

Gilani was at one time in Pakistani custody for the abduction of Pearl. Intelligence sources also suggest a link between Jamaat ul Fuqra and Richard Reid, the infamous "shoe bomber" who attempted to ignite explosives aboard a Paris-to-Miami passenger flight Dec. 22, 2001.

"What we are witnessing here is kind of a brand-new form of terrorism," says FBI Special Agent Jody Weis in the documentary. "These home-grown terrorists can prove to be as dangerous as any known group, if not more so,"

As WND reported, a covert visit to a Jamaat ul-Fuqra encampment in upstate New York by the Northeast Intelligence Network found neighboring residents deeply concerned about military-style training taking place there but frustrated by the lack of attention from federal authorities.

Gilani also is the founder of a village in South Carolina called "Holy Islamville."

Muslims of the Americas Inc., a tax-exempt organization, has been directly linked by court documents to Jamaat ul-Fuqra. The organization operates communes of primarily black, American-born Muslims throughout the U.S. The investigation confirmed members commonly use aliases and intentional spelling variations of their names and routinely deny the existence of Jamaat ul-Fuqra.

The group openly recruits through various social service organizations in the U.S., including the prison system. Members live in compounds where they agree to abide by the laws of Jamaat ul-Fuqra, which are considered to be above local, state and federal authority.

U.S. authorities have probed the group for charges ranging from links to al-Qaida to laundering and funneling money into Pakistan for terrorist activities. The organization supports various terrorist groups operating in Pakistan and Kashmir, and Gilani himself is linked directly to Hamas and Hezbollah.