Costello Endorses Houchen for State Senate

 

OK LABOR COMMISSIONER MARK COSTELLO ENDORSES HOUCHEN FOR OKLAHOMA SENATE

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 29, 2012

CONTACT: info@howardhouchen.com; (888) 230-4856

 

Oklahoma City, OK –  In what promises to be a key pickup for Senate Republicans in the “Little Dixie” region of the state, long known for entrenched Democrats, Howard Houchen (R-Hugo) is gaining notice early in the race by picking up the high profile endorsement of Oklahoma Labor Commissioner Mark Costello.

 “When I ran for Labor Commissioner in 2010, I campaigned on my commitment to bring sound business practices and constitutional principles to State Government.  Howard Houchen shares these values and will be an invaluable asset to southeastern Oklahoma. He is unabashed in his love for his home region, and unashamed to stand strong for what is right for Oklahoma in general and right for SE Oklahoma in particular. I am proud to offer my endorsement of Howard Houchen as the right choice for State Senate, District 5,”  Labor Commissioner Mark Costello stated.

 Houchen will be facing Jerry Ellis (D-Valliant) on the November general election ballot. This race also has an unusual twist: Democrat incumbent Ellis, due to term limits, is only eligible to serve two years of the upcoming four year term. He will be forced to vacate the seat midway through the term if he is re-elected.

 Houchen commented,  “Commissioner Costello has a proven record of increasing government efficiency and accountability while controlling, and even decreasing, the costs to the hardworking taxpayers of Oklahoma. I share that vision and appreciate his leadership. I look forward to ensuring that the interests of the good folks in SE Oklahoma are heard loud and clear in Oklahoma City as we all work to achieve a more economically free and prosperous tomorrow.”

 Houchen is a graduate of University of Oklahoma with a degree in Political Science, and boasts an MA in National Security Studies from the American Military University. With extensive international and small business expertise, he is extensively published in multiple conservative publications. He proudly raises his two sons alongside his wife Jeannie in the S.E. Oklahoma community of Hugo. He and his family are avid hunters and sportsmen, treasuring the bountiful natural resources that are plentiful in our beautiful state and rural communities.

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The Team Chaplain Must Be Fingerprinted — HB3076

WOW!  My apologies to all but I let a DOOZIE slip by!  There are “bad bills”, “really bad bills”, “well intended bills with bad or misguided language”, and then there are ‘DOOZIE’S”.  These are the ones that sound very benign, benevolent even, yet the unforeseen (unspoken) consequences can be devastating.  HB3076 is a DOOZIE!

HB3076, authored  by Rep. Joe Dorman, passed the Oklahoma Appropriations Subcommittee on Public Safety on 12 Feb., 2012 on a unanimous 9 – 0 vote.  HB3076 begins with:  

“An Act relating to schools; amending 70 O.S. 2011, Section 5-142, which relates to criminal history record checks; defining term; requiring board of education to request national criminal history check for any prospective volunteer; requiring school district to pay search fee; prohibiting future checks after prospective volunteer passes a check unless break in service occurs; and providing an effective date.” 

Not too bad on the surface until you read, and then REALLY think about, the language.  HB3076 is an amendatory bill that adds “Prospective Volunteer” to the list of individuals that a school board SHALL (meaning: MUST) request, from the Oklahoma State Board of Education (utilizing the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation — OSBI) a “National Criminal History Check”.  According to HB3076 a  “Prospective volunteer includes a parent, guardian, or any individual who intends to volunteer in a capacity that gives him or her direct contact with students.”

Any of you folks ever ‘”volunteered” for a school event where you had “direct contact with students”?  I’d be willing to bet most of you have.  As a matter of fact, I know of many school districts where family, friend, and community “volunteers” make up the bulk of support for school events and the “volunteers” have “direct contact with students” at some point during the school event. 

Okay…get ready to be fingerprinted.  Why?  Because that is one very important feature of a “National Criminal History Check”.  To “volunteer” you get to allow OSBI to come and fingerprint you and collect other personal information…YEEEHAAAWWWW, you’re on your way to being a “volunteer”!!!!  Oh…did I mention that there is money involved as well?  Yes!  The school district or “a support organization associated with the school district gets to pay for the “National Criminal History Check” not to exceed US$50.00!!!  (OMG! I can hardly wait…I’m amost a “volunteer”!)

In my little ole hometown of Hugo, Oklahoma U.S. of A., I’d willing to estimate that some 250 (very conservative estimate) would fall into the legal definition of “volunteer” under HB3076.  Now, I’m not saying that 250 good folks would go through this INSANE proposal…but lets say 100 of us diehard “volunteer” (in little ole Hugo) decided that our “volunteerness” was worth anything for our kids and our town.  That is just a mere US$5,000.00 (as long as we don’t take a year off from “volunteering”). 

The HHS Football Buffaloes Team Chaplain would get to be fingerprinted!  All those great gals that help with the cheerleaders will get to be fingerprinted!  The “volunteer” folks that work the concession stands get to be fingerprinted!  Those parents that “volunteer” to ride on those real comfortable big-yellow school buses get to be fingerprinted!  The Mom’s, Dad’s, Aunt’s, and Grandparent’s that “volunteer” their time and resources to upgrade and/or clean facilities…YEP, they get to be fingerprinted!

Here’s a link to HB3076 — just click around and look at who voted FOR it in committee and then call you Oklahoma State Representative: http://www.oklegislature.gov/BillInfo.aspx?Bill=HB3076#

I’m done…Kill This Bill!!!

More Oklahoma “Obamacare” Shennanigans? HB2490

 

Oh Goody!!! (NOT!) Ever hear of “rap back”? Well, guess what? That is a really neat way for state (but mainly Fed) gov’t to collect and hoard the biometric info of innocent citizens. Its SO important that PPACA (Obamacare) mandates the collection of biometric info as well as “mandating” states set-up their own “rap-back” program: Oklahoma??? You betcha! And here it is, in committee today! http://www.oklegislature.gov/BillInfo.aspx?Bill=HB2490

• FROM HB2490: “When deemed appropriate, the Bureau is authorized to provide rap back information consisting of subsequent changes or updates to a criminal history record to the person or entity that has previously requested the particular criminal history record.”

From The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services: https://www.cms.gov/SurveyCertificationGenInfo/Downloads/backgroundcheckqanda.pdf

From the above link:    “Each participating State is required to develop and test a rap-back system by which State law enforcement departments immediately inform the State of any criminal convictions against the employee that occur following the pre-employment background check.”

ANY QUESTIONS???  KILL THIS BILL!!!

Oklahoma Criminal Defense Weekly_Biometrics, the Global DMV and Kaye Beach

www.ocdw.com                               08.15.11                      James L. Hankins, Publisher

REPRINTED WITH PERMISSION FROM OCDW

FEATURE ARTICLE .

 Biometrics, the Global DMV, and the Oklahoma City Fusion Center:

And no, Homeland Security does not need a warrant

Kaye Beach, a young wife and mother, made the decision this year to not renew her Oklahoma driver’s license.  The digital photos on driver’s licenses are now cutting edge biometrics easily read by facial recognition software. Once an image has been captured by CCTV cameras, handheld scanners, or other devices, it can be linked to a comprehensive database of your personal information, no warrant required. 

 Ms. Beach was recently cited for driving without a license, so she raised the retainer needed for excellent counsel who obtained a dismissal of the charge in a Norman, OK, courtroom.  No longer has a defendant, Ms. Beach now become a plaintiff: she is suing the State of Oklahoma for the right to opt for a driver’s license that does not contain biometric information.  A photo not of biometric quality, but still adequate for identification purposes, can easily be substituted for the digital, high resolution image.

 The presumption of innocence that is the foundation of any free society comes with a corollary right to privacy and anonymity. You may give up your right to privacy in a public place – anyone can photograph you – but all nine justices of the Supreme Court have acknowledged a citizen’s right to anonymity. As long as you are not behaving in a way that gives rise to a suspicion of criminality you are not required to state your name or show identification.

 A co-author of YOUR BODY IS YOUR ID toured the Fusion Center located in Oklahoma City, and asked the former OSBI director, DeWade Langley, who oversaw the fusion center, if the federal government needs to provide a warrant to obtain information about citizens directly from the Oklahoma Fusion Center or from any of the databases the fusion center has access to, ( law enforcement databases, motor vehicle databases, public-private partnerships, corrections databases, public health databases, corporate databases, data mining companies such as Acxiom, ChoicePoint, and LexisNexis, The International Justice and Public Safety Network, and many others)  Agent Langley replied a warrant is not necessary.   

 L-1 Identity Solutions, the largest provider of biometrics in the United States, is involved in the creation of state driver’s licenses and passports, and contracts with nearly every intelligence agency in the United States. Past and current members of the company’s Board of Directors include a former head of the CIA, a former director of the FBI, the former head administrator of the TSA, among other members of the intelligence community. The company, which has in the past provided Chinese nationals with facial recognition software that was used to track dissidents, is currently up for sale and the potential buyer is a French company, Safran.  The Safran group has 55,000 employees worldwide and has partnered with China for forty years.

 Essentially, what our government is doing by collecting and centralizing ever more information about each of us, is increasing what privacy expert Bruce Schneier refers to as the value of the prize for hackers and identity thieves. In July, 2010, the Washington Post published a disturbing series of articles indicating that the massive intelligence being gathered by the government, a large part of which is personal information on its citizens, is impossible to manage and therefore largely ineffective for national security purposes or to fight terrorism. There are, however, other purposes for which governments surveil their own citizens. In THE END OF AMERICA, Naomi Wolf lists ten steps always taken by the government in countries undergoing a fascist shift toward authoritarian rule. Fourth on the list is “surveil ordinary citizens”.  Subsequent to the events of 9/11, the other nine steps have also been put into place, or are in the process of being implemented, in America. 

 For further information refer to YOUR BODY IS YOUR ID, available at www.constitutionalalliance.org or visit the Axxiom For Liberty website created by Kaye Beach at www.axiomamuse.wordpress.com , or visit www.stoprealidcoalition.com . To view the EPIC (Electronic Privacy Information Center) Amicus Brief on Fusion Centers visit:  

 http://www.scribd.com/doc/21970412/EPIC-Amicus-Brief-on-Fusion-Centers

 The information in this article has been largely distilled from YOUR BODY IS YOUR ID by R.U. Free with permission from the authors.    Patty Hankins, pattyhankins@yahoo.com

Axxiom for Liberty Radio Show_11-12-10

Tonight on Axxiom for Liberty Radio Show on the Rule of Law Radio Network, Kaye and I discuss the hot-topics of the day…including the “Gold Star” states that are meeting the benchmarks necessary for the formation and institutionalization of a National (international) ID system for WE Americans. Friday 6:00 to 8:00 pm CST

Later in the program we welcome David Hall.  David Hall is a Board Member of Associated Conservatives of America.  He was born in Hannibal, Missouri in 1951. He and his wife Phyllis both grew up in Christian homes of several generations and raised five children in the same faith. David is the belladier of the life-sized Liberty Bell touring Texas tolling magnificently for freedom. He is a gifted leader in the prolife movement and has a unique ability to stand for righteousness wherever he goes. He was on the front lines in the attempt to save Nancy Cruzan when she was starved to death and to get Deborah McClelland released when she was arrested for shutting down a killing center. ACA is blessed to have David as a director.

The nation’s only traveling, working Liberty Bell carries on the tradition of the original sacred icon of 1753. As long as there is Liberty, there will need to be a Bell to Proclaim it and soldiers to defend it. We serve in hundreds of Honor Guard ceremonies each year and participate in many events dedicated to helping, supporting, and honoring our heroes. 

Its primary purpose is to honor those who have paid the ultimate price for our Liberty, and to support those who serve in our military to protect Liberty.

Axxiom for Liberty is now heard on AM and FM broadcasts in 20 states across these United States of America and around the world via Live web-cast that can be heard from www.ruleoflawradio.com. You can also call 512-485-9010 to ListenLive.

The call-in number for questions or comments DURING the show is :512-646-1984