ENHANCED DRIVER'S LICENSE NOW IN QUEBEC

Following in B.C.'s trails that test drove the Enhanced Driver’s License (EDL), Premier Jean Charest announced today that in the next few weeks, any Quebecer wishing to travel to the U.S., can obtain an EDL for 40 $ - much cheaper and convenient than a passport - he advertizes.

Convenient for who, is the question every citizen who chooses an EDL over a passport to save less than 8 $ a year, should be asking themselves while they still have the option. As contrary to a passport when the only time one usually carries it is when travelling outside of the country, the EDL will accompany each and every one of our moves every time we use our car or carry our wallet even if it’s just to go to the corner store. We don’t only allow our every step to the monitoring and recording of bureaucrats, but we open the door to future invasions of our privacy by employers, marketing firms, public health authorities, big corporations that will undoubtedly invent a reason to access our RFID for ‘’our own good’’ of course. It will undoubtedly become a dangerous assault to privacy much worse than the cell phone or the GPS. Obviously Quebec did not consider that it was a serious enough issue to consult or debate with the population before adopting the EDL. The sheep will obediently follow, is what Charest must have reflected when proudly showing off his own EDL - the very first issued in Quebec.

It is optional…for now. But how long before we are told that passports are a useless burden and will be totally abolished to be replaced by the EDL? And if you think that travelling to other countries would be difficult without a passport, take comfort in knowing that with globalization, it is more than probable that every country will eventually adopt EDL’s instead of passports.

By opting for such ‘’convenient solutions’’ without thinking of the future consequences, we get hopelessly trapped into accepting a state control that surpasses even Orwell’s fiction. Remember that albeit we can use our car without a GPS, a cell phone or our passport, driving without a driver’s license is quite inconvenient and costly! Say a resounding no to the ‘’convenient’’ EDL now while we still can!

New driver's licence will serve as proof of citizenship

MANDATORY CHIP IMPLANTS IN MEXICO

Despite its huge threat to public privacy, and some threat to health, this piece of information was not trumpeted all over the news. It was sent to us by a C.A.G.E. reader who has been following the developments of the implant chip for some time.

For those who don’t know what the implant chip is, we invite you to visit the website of its main manufacturers at http://www.verichipcorp.com/ .

The FDA in the U.S.A. approved its use in 2004 and it has been introduced to the people slowly but surely ‘’for noble reasons’’ of course. The RFID chip started out as a means to track merchandise and has now extended to pets and livestock, it is recommended for people with Alzheimer’s, for military soldiers, for prisoners. Well… Mexico will have now made it mandatory by March 2008, to any workers and visitors entering Mexico from the neighboring southern borders as you will read in the article from yahoo. Mandatory implanting of the RFID chip is the beginning of a very slippery slope. Mexico, the U.S.A. and Canada’s talk about a North American union, makes our country very vulnerable to this technology.

No matter how appealing for some needs this intrusive technology may seem at first, if we allow it, it will be a catastrophe to basic human liberties. Of course they will sell the notion to us very astutely, boasting its merits on our everyday lives of no longer having to put up with terrorism, criminals, the disappearance of our loved ones, the commodity and economy of no longer needing passports, medical data, credit and debit cards. But the bottom line is, that if we accept it, we will have forfeited all our privacy. Each of our moves and actions will become readily traceable and monitored at will. Our every action and transaction in society will have become linked to the chip, in a way that if we refused the implant, we would no longer be able to function in a system on which our drivers’ licenses, our medical records, our passports, our paying devices, will be dependant.

Citizens of all nations must not be lured to think that this will be a plus in their life. It must be aggressively and passionately fought and defeated at all levels.

MEXICO TO USE BIOCHIP TO CONTROL ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION

By IANS Friday December 28, 02:02 PM

Mexico City, Dec 28 (IANS) Mexico's National Migration Institute (INM) has said it will introduce electronic registration for foreigners entering the country through the southern border to curb illegal immigration.

In a communique, the INM Thursday said Biochip implants would be used to control the entry of workers and visitors from Belize and Guatemala from March 2008, Spanish news agency EFE reported Friday.

The implant will replace the currently used local pass, which can be easily modified.

The biochip ID will allow total electronic registration of entries and departures, officials said.

The INM said a migration form for local visitors will be issued to residents of regions near the border with Guatemala, while the migration form for border workers will benefit workers in the area bordering Belize and Guatemala.

In 2006, Mexico nabbed 200,000 people trying to enter illegally through the southern border, according to INM figures.