Tribulation Card and Mark - UBM [David Eells]

The Lord shared a revelation with me. Revelation 12:6 speaks of 3 1/2 years and in Revelation 13:5 there is another 3 1/2 years. This is the first and second halves of the tribulation. There is a direct parallel between these two chapters of the book of Revelation and the gospels and the book of Acts. The gospels foreshadow the first three and one-half years and Acts the second three and one-half years.

In Revelation 12:5 the man child is caught up to the throne of God. In Revelation 12:6 the man child teaches the woman in the wilderness for three and one-half years. In Revelation 12:6,14 the woman, although persecuted by the dragon, is actually protected for these three and one-half years. In Rev.13 during the second three and one-half years, there is no sign of the man child anymore. This woman (the church) is facing the beast who is making war on them and killing them. The parallel I draw is that in the beginning of the gospels the man child (Jesus) is born of the woman, caught up to the throne (authority of God ),and teaches the disciples for three and one-half years; the same as the man child in Revelation 12 is to do. Some say that the man child in Revelation 12 has already past, and that it was talking about Jesus. Revelation 4:1 tells us that these verses are future: "I will show thee the things which must come to pass hereafter". It was after A.D. 96 when John got this revelation; therefore it cannot be Jesus though it does look like Jesus.

History keeps on repeating itself. God used Jesus as a type and a shadow of what now is to come to pass. Jesus taught the disciples for three and one-half years; they were His "two witnesses" that he sent out two by two. After he left the disciples, they still went out two by two everywhere for forty years until A.D. 70. Forty years is not three and one-half years, but it means the same thing. Forty is the number of tribulation. Moses brought the children of Israel into the wilderness for forty years . That wilderness foreshadows the one here in Revelation 12:6. The woman fled into the wilderness. The wilderness is the tribulation. The numbers forty and three and one-half represent the same thing. There are parallels between the gospels and Revelation 12, and parallels between the book of Acts and Revelation 13. The book of Acts ended in 70 A.D. with the beast coming and destroying the harlot. That is the same way the second three and one-half years in Revelation will end. The beast is ultimately going to come and destroy the harlot because the harlot persecutes God's people and kills the saints.

The disciples under Jesus were fed and protected for three and one-half years just as the woman is under the man-child. During the second period in Acts, war is made on the disciples by the beast and the harlot and the disciples are killed just as the two witnesses are killed in Rev.13:7. If you can see this parallel, then maybe you can understand something else that the Lord showed me. American technicians have designed both a card with a chip and an implantable chip that many believe have something to do with the end time scenario. I was asking the Lord some questions, and He was giving me some answers. I asked the Lord, "Lord , I can see what puts the woman in the wilderness for the second three and one-half years , (The mark of the beast is obviously going to separate the woman from the world. It was designed by God to separate the woman from the world. It will cause the woman to have to walk by faith in the wilderness and to get her provision from God rather than take the mark and be able to buy and sell with the world.) but Lord, what is it that is going to cause the woman to go into the wilderness for the first three and one-half years?" I know when the first three and one-half years starts. The Bible tells us in Daniel 9:26-27 that the covenant is going to be made for one week (seven years), and that the prince that is going to come is going to make that covenant (He is a principality and not a man just as in Dan.10:13,20 because he is the same one who destroyed the city and the sanctuary 2000 years ago).

In the middle of the week he is going to break the covenant. The covenant is broken by the mark of the beast. He is going to break this religious covenant. First, it is going to be religious tolerance. They will make you be so tolerant that you cannot preach Jesus Christ. They do not want to hear that name. They want a generic God. They want to just call Him God so that everyone is pleased. They all call Him God, but that does not mean anything. That is their generic God. It is kind of like what happened to the Catholic church. The Catholic church is called the universal church. They leaned heavily on "God", because they had combined so many pagan, ethnic, and Christian groups together. It is called the universal church, but it is nothing but a country club. Today we have the same thing coming down the road -a universal church. They will just call him "God", but they will not let you preach the name of Jesus Christ.

I asked the Lord, "Lord, I can see the mark of the beast is definitely going to keep the woman in the wilderness for the second three and one-half years, but what is going to put her there in the first three and one-half years? What is going to cause her to decide to separate from the world and go your way?" This came to my mind: "the mark of the beast in the second three and one-half years and the card in the first three and one-half years". I did not say it was God; I just said it came to my mind. I said, "Lord, if that is right, where is the card in the gospels? If the card comes first and then the mark, where is the card in the gospels?" The Lord gave me an answer immediately. Luke 2:6 says, "And it came to pass while they where the days where fulfilled that she should be delivered. And she brought forth her first-born son. She wrapped him in swaddling cloth and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn". This is the birth of the man child from the woman. There is a type and a shadow for you to see here. This is not by accident. In Revelation chapter 12, that man child that was brought forth from that woman taught that woman in the wilderness for three and one-half years. The woman is the church. The man child is the first fruits of those to manifest Christ in our days. Jesus was called the first fruits in I. Corinthians 15,Christ the first fruits.

Time in the scripture is laid out in seven prophetic days or a seven thousand year period according to 2 Pet.3:8. The man child of these days is about to be born, after two days (counting from Jesus birth), on the morning of the third day according to Hos.6:2-3. That is the beginning or the morning of the seventh day (counting from Adam). In Luke 2:2 we see what, I believe, is the card, "Now it came to pass that in those days there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus (the beast) that all the world should be enrolled". Enrolled is the word there, not taxed. "This was the first enrollment made when Quirinius was the governor of Syria" I looked up the word enrollment; it is the word "apographe", which means a writing of separation, or a writing of departure. How are they going to collect all the information to make the mark of the beast in the middle of the tribulation? How are they going to have all this information together on everybody? Caesar wanted to know who was in his kingdom. The U.N. is going to do this. They have a lot of information already, but they are going to gather more information. The best way they can do it is through this card with a computer chip in it because it is more acceptable especially to Christians. The closest card that they have invented already is called the M. A. R. C. card. The military is using it already. It has a lot of information. Ultimately the information that they put on this thing they are going to use to separate. An enrollment is when you include some people in your group and reject others. They are gathering people together to see who belongs to Caesar's ( the Beasts )kingdom. Ultimately the Christians are going to opt out. They are not going to belong to Caesar's kingdom.

The name on the forehead or hand identifies you as belonging to Caesar. You can take that spiritually or physically. The word name means nature, character and authority. Who is the nature, character and authority that rules in your mind ( forehead ) and rules over your works ( hand )? If you have a false Jesus that nature, character and authority that rules in your mind is ant-Christ. Revelation chapter 14 talks about the first fruits, and they have the name of God in their forehead. That is what identifies them as His people. It identifies who rules over that mind. Is it the mind of the spirit ( Christ ) or the mind of the flesh (antichrist) that rules over you? "If you are not for me you are against me", Jesus said. Anti means against. "The mind of the flesh is enmity (enemy) against God". Revelation 13:16 talks about the mark of the beast in the forehead that lets you know that they are ruled by the mind of the flesh, and their works are the works of the flesh. In the scriptures the right hand symbolizes your works. At the beginning of the tribulation (at the time the man child is born) there is going to be an enrollment for all the world. The book of Acts is the 40 years after the man child left until the time the beast destroyed the harlot in A.D. 70. That is the three and one half years of Revelation chapter 13.

Remember it was the false prophet that wanted to put this name in the forehead. He had authority to give people this name. The false prophet is the head of the false church. That is the one standing in the pulpit of a lot of churches. He is the one who had the authority to put the mark on the forehead or to give you the name and character by which you are going to serve under. If they preach to you another Jesus you are serving somebody that is antichrist. The word anti- can mean two things; it means against or in the place of. Since the church began, they have been trying to put somebody else in the place of Jesus. A lot of people are not going to like it but the real Jesus is about to stand up. He is going to stand up at the beginning of the tribulation period.

God hides things in the types and shadows of the scriptures. Ask God to show you a revelation about the end time. There is no better time to ask him than today because it has been sealed until the time of the end. Now is when he is really willing to open up your understanding and help you to see and understand the end. It is the first time you have really needed it anyway. Do you understand now? The gospels foreshadow the first three and a half years and at the beginning of this Jesus the man-child was born. He then taught the woman, the disciples. None of the disciples were killed during this period but were protected from the Dragon and fed just as the first three and one-half years of the end time in Rev.12. In the second three and one-half years of Rev.13, foreshadowed by the book of Acts, war is made on the Saints by the Beast and the Harlot. At this point I said to the Lord "Then if this is true in the beginning of Acts, the second three and one-half years we should see the mark being given. The Lord immediately brought to mind Acts 4.

Acts 4:5 says, "And it came to pass on the morrow that their rulers and elders and scribes where gathered together in Jerusalem". These are the rulers and elders and scribes of the apostate church. This was the Sanhedrin. The Sanhedrin were the false prophets of the early apostate church. Further back in the scriptures they would have called them the seventy elders. That came from way back when Moses was given the seventy elders. The Sanhedron was basically the seventy elders. They had the heads of the twenty-four orders of priests. They had the chief priests, elders that were of age and maturity, and they had head scribes. All of them were in the court of the seventy elders. They basically ruled over the apostate people of God. Which is exactly what is about to happen. The U.N. is gathering the heads of these various religious priesthoods to rule over religion. They have taken the name "United Religions" and they are the ones that are going to do this. The Sanhedrin was gathered together to see what to do with the disciples of Jesus Christ. Acts 4:7 says", And when they had set them in the midst, they said to them', By what power or in what name have you done this?" Remember in Rev.13:17 the name is the mark. Name in the greek means nature, character and authority. Name in the forehead or hand identifies those who are Christ's in Rev.14:1 or Antichrists in 13:17.

The nature, character, and authority in your hand or forehead is your mark or your name. In other words in what right and what character and what authority do you preach this Jesus? The same thing is about to happen. They will want to know, "What right do you have to say that your God is the only God? What right do you have to say that there is only one way to heaven, and why do you offend all these other worshippers?" They want to change the name, in other words the nature, character, and authority of God. This is the mark. They are not going to let you preach Jesus. They will let you say all that you want about God, in the name of tolerance, but just don't have a narrow-minded God like we have in this book. He is a narrow-minded God. It is just about like that right now. Look at the public schools all over the country. You cannot stand up and say anything in Jesus' name.

It continues, "Then Peter, filled with the Holy spirit, said unto them", You rulers of the people and elders if we this day are examined concerning a good deed done to an impotent man by what means this man was made whole, be it known to you all and unto all of the people of Israel that in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead even in him doth this man stand before you whole". They were not shy about pronouncing the name of Jesus, and they were about to be persecuted because of that. That name was in their forehead. Ultimately it cost them their lives, but right here they are just being persecuted for it. "He is the stone which was set at naught of you the builders". There is one chief cornerstone which is a replica of the whole rest of the building. The chief cornerstone of the pyramid is an exact replica of the whole rest of the pyramid. The chief cornerstone is missing from the pyramid. Urimmidden, the ancient Chaldean name for Pyramid means revelation measurements. The great pyramid was built by Enoch and his sons and it went through the flood. The chief cornerstone is missing from it. I have read in three different places that the illuminati is planning on putting a chief cornerstone on the great pyramid at the stroke of midnight of the year 2000.

The illuminati is the real government behind the government. They are the people with the money and are Satanic. They want to put their own chief cornerstone on that building. I do not think that President Clinton is as important as most people think that he is. He is not the one really running things and neither is Hillary. She only thinks that she is running things. Acts 4:11 says, "He is the stone which was set at naught by you the builders which was made the chief cornerstone and in none other is there salvation for neither is there any other name under heaven that is given among men wherein we must be saved". You can profess the name of Jesus all you want, but if you are not in the name of Jesus you are not going to be saved. I do not care if you have accepted Jesus as your personal savior. Salvation is nowhere else but in Jesus Christ 1Jn.5:11. You can imagine that they did not want to hear that, and they still do not want to hear that in this day. This is going to be the separating thing, the name of Jesus.

In Revelation 14, the first fruits had their name right there on their foreheads. What good is your Jesus if He is not this Jesus who is the Savior? The Bible says in II Corinthians 3:18, "We behold as in a mirror the glory of the Lord and we are transformed into that same image from glory to glory". It is very important to have the right Jesus or else the image that we are transformed into is the image of antichrist. That is the image of the beast! The only people who are really in the image of Christ are believers. That is why they were called Christians, because they went about doing the works of Jesus Christ. They are in the image of Jesus Christ because they beheld the true Christ. If you behold in the mirror the true Christ, you will become like Him. If you behold in the mirror a false, backslidden, know-nothing, do-nothing, Jesus (who sits up on a cloud and watches everything go by) then that is all that you have. You have an antichrist. We have to have this Jesus, He is powerful, and He is our Savior. Does everybody's Jesus have the same nature, character and authority? Absolutely not. This apostate church who was judging the disciples of Christ did not recognize the name. They do not recognize the name today. The word Jesus is not even a translation. It is a transliteration. The original word is Jehoshua. There is not magic in the word Jesus. It is the One who stands behind the name. Are you acting and are you speaking in the name? That is the nature, character and authority of Jesus. So you see it's not just saying the name, but acting in the name. The Bible says to do all in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Because the world is all acting in another name. We are supported by and given authority by Jesus Christ. What we do shows whether we are acting in that name.

Acts 5:13 says, "Now when they beheld the boldness of Peter and John and had perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men they marveled and took knowledge of them that they had been with Jesus". If somebody knew Jesus, but they did not know you, and you did not tell them that you were Christian, would they be able to see Jesus in you? They could see that these men had been with Jesus. These were not learned men or men that had been through Bible school. "And seeing that man that was healed standing with them they could say nothing about it". I believe in these days that are coming the power of God is going to save a lot of people from persecution and death. Acts 5:15 continues to say, "But when they had commanded them to go aside out of the council, they conferred among themselves saying, 'What shall we do to these men for indeed a notable miracle hath been wrought through them is manifest to all who dwell in Jerusalem, and we cannot deny it. But that it spread no further among the people let us threaten them that they speak henceforth to no man in this name'." They wanted them to take the mark of the beast. The mark of the beast is the name in the forehead. They wanted Peter and John to submit to their name. Their own nature, character and authority. They did not want them to submit to the name of Jesus. They wanted them to give up the name of Jesus. They did not want them to preach anymore in Jesus' name. "And they called them and charged them not to speak at all or teach in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John answered and said unto them', whether it is right in the sight of God to hearken unto you rather than unto God judge ye. For we cannot but speak the things that we saw and heard'." They were preaching something that they experienced. A lot of people are preaching something that they have not experienced. "And they, when they had further threatened them, let them go finding nothing how they might punish them because of the people. For all men glorified God for that which was done". The power of God saved them. "For the man was more than forty years old on whom the miracle of healing was wrought". The mark, in Rev.14:1 was the name on the forehead. The name that these people served under was Jesus Christ. The apostate religious false prophet wanted them to serve, of course, under the name that they served under, but they refused. This was, according to Peter, that which was spoken about by the prophet Joel. That was the early rain. Now what we are coming to is the later rain. It has got to happen at the end of this six thousand years on the morning of the seventh thousand year period. I went to talk to a sister in Baton Rouge, and I was sharing with her these things that the Lord was showing me about the mark. Karen let me get finish talking, and when I was done, she said, "I had a dream" This sister has had some good dreams in the past. And she shared that dream with me.

In her dream she was in a store (that brings to mind buying and selling or Babylon). She was down the main aisle and off on a side aisle where she could not see what was going on. She heard a lot of commotion in the front of the store, but she did not know what it was. While she heard this commotion, she looked around the corner of the aisle, and she saw a lot of military types coming in with machine guns. She hid behind one of the walls of the grocery store. When she looked around, she saw that she was right in the line of fire. She decided to go towards the back of the store to get out. On the left hand side, she noticed that there was a door open leading to the street. She thought it was very suspicious to have a back door open in a store. Because of that, she did not take that left hand door out of the store. She instead went over to the right side of the store. That door opened also to the street. There was a tall lady standing outside the door. She asked the lady what was going on. This lady said, "People are going to be using credit cards with chips in them". The sister who had the dream said she knew that this was going to be forced. Then the lady said, "But don't worry about this. This won't send you to Hell".

Karen's husband Mike asked me what I thought about that statement, if it was positive or negative. I told him that "it does not say anything in the Bible about beware of a card. It does not say anything about not taking a card. It says not to take a mark in the forehead or the hand. I believe the lady outside the door was probably telling you the truth. This card is not going to send you to Hell". Since that time I have asked the Lord, "Lord, even though this will not send us to Hell, is it your perfect will that we accept it or that we refuse this?" The Lord asked me, "Who was enrolled". I went back to Luke chapter 2. Jesus' mother and acting father were enrolled. The enrollment is that gathering of the information using the card. I was looking through some papers that I had forgotten about, and I saw one from another sister who had sent me a vision about the same thing. It was by Kay Fowler. She is another sister that is also gifted in dreams and visions. The name of it is Heinrich Himmler. He was the one in charge of the Nazi concentration camps. He helped with the banding of the Jews with their mark. This is what the paper says,

"On September 3,1992, I dreamed all night about the mark spoken of in Revelation. I am standing in England talking to some friends. (I visited there in 1990 with some friends from Somersett.) I asked the question, 'Do any of you ever remember hearing about a mark people will one day receive. One day the money will lose it's value, and will be thrown into the streets. For people to live, to buy, and to sell, they will have to have a mark. In the palm of their hand, on the wrist, or on the forehead. Remember Germany how the value of the money failed, and a man name Heinlich (she got the name wrong a little bit) took over. Remember all that happened under him....I am thinking of the death camps and armbands. I walk over to a nearby window and look out. It is snowing very hard. This is unusual for England. A vision begins as I look through the snow. I see an office building with the workers at their desks. Their heads are down working. A man is escorted in. It is Heimlich. People thought he was dead, but he had been hidden all these years. He now has white hair with a long black wig concealing it. A large cape coat is over his shoulders. He was shown over to another office quietly and nobody noticed it. He is coming back to work now. I then heard, "The third mark will be the permanent, deadly one". The spiritual mark of the beast is walking after the mind of the flesh and the works of the flesh. The mark itself is what creates the image of the beast. The Greek word for mark is charagma from which we get our word character. Your understanding of the character is what brings you into His image. You look in the mirror and you see Jesus and you are transformed into the image of Jesus. Who is the image of Christ? The people of God. Who is the image of Antichrist? The people of the world. Even the religious people who do not know the real Christ. They are the image of Antichrist. The mark or character recreates itself in what is called the icon (image). This is like a typewriters characters (mark) that recreate themselves as an eicon (image) on a page. Jesus is the image (charasso) or character of God. In other words Jesus is the character God uses to recreate Himself in our heart. Jesus said "The words that I have spoken unto you are spirit, and are life". When Jesus words enter into the fertile ground of receptive hearts they bring forth fruit, his fruit(Lk.8:15). All words have the power of spirit and life. The question is whose spirit and whose life. For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we did not preach, or if ye receive a different spirit, which ye did not receive, or a different gospel, which ye did not accept, ye do well to bear with him(2Cor.11:4). The seed is the Word Jesus said. Each seed brings forth after its own kind. The words of even a cultist bring forth his spirit and life in those who listen to him. The words of these dead so called Christian religions bring forth only the same. They cannot bring forth Christ. What is manifested by His Word looks and sounds like Him (Jn.14:12, 7:38,39). You see the word, whether of Christ or Antichrist is the character and the heart is where the fruit is born and the image is created. True Christians are the image of Christ and the rest are the image of antichrist or the Beast. There is no way that you can deny this, because it is all throughout the scriptures. ( see The Mark and Image of the Beast ) That spiritual mark of the beast is not permanent. Every one of us was born with it. We were all born walking after the mind of the flesh. It is not permanent thank God. The third mark is going to be the permanent, deadly one, because once you take it there is no turning back. God says in Revelation 14 the person who takes that mark on the hand or the forehead is going to be tormented day and night in the presence of the angels, and they are going to drink unmixed the cup of God's wrath forever. This last mark is the permanent, deadly one. Meaning that there are some before that which are not permanent or deadly. The vision continues to say, "Upon awaking I thought, 'That name sounds like heimlich in the heimlich maneuver. I kept this to myself for almost two weeks. Then I decided to discuss it with my sister Marsha. I told her I had a dream of the mark and Germany. She said, 'I watched a movie today of Germany and World War II. The man's name sounded like Heimlich maneuver'. I knew that this was God getting my attention, and I decided to seek Him concerning it. After prayer, I felt I would be going to the library. At the Hendersonville library, I asked for the assistance at the computerized card catalog. She found nothing much under Heimlich maneuver. She suggested that I go to the medical encyclopedia. I told her, 'No, this is a German who lived during World War II'. I suggested German history from 1939-1945. She took down the reference number of the first one and handed it to me and pointed me to an aisle. As I took the very first book from the shelf, I knew I would find the answer in it. It was titled The Black Angels I opened the cover and there on the inside page I read of Heinrich Himmler. Not Heimlich as I had remembered. And easy name to remember since my husband is a paramedic. Heinrich Himmler developed the German SS, was Hitler's close bodyguard, was head of the concentration camps, and at one time was second in power of Germany. The same spirit that was in Himmler will rest on another".

Really it will rest on many others. Every character in the book of Revelation is a corporate body.

"His dark side won't be seen at first. As this man enters the office he will arise to dictatorship, and a purge that could be paralleled to that of the holocaust will transpire. There will be much persecution of the Christians. This will be in a time of economical crisis in Europe and, I believe, in the United States. At the same time the weather is going to be very severe (the snow that was falling in the vision). This will also be the time of the setting up of the kingdom of Antichrist. The world has become accustomed the casteless system already by the wide use of credit cards and automated tellers. The smart cards will soon be used the world over. On the cards will be all the ID numbers and all pertinent information needed for each person. Next will come suggestion for implanting the microchip in the body for convenience sake. Most major animal shelters in the U.S. now implant dogs with tiny chips just under the skin with phone numbers of the owners in case they get lost. We'll be next. The following night I dreamed all night long of the word holocaust and when I awoke I heard the word holocaust. I then went back to sleep and dreamed again of the word holocaust. Lord, let us be prepared let us know that there is grace enough. Spiritual interpretation: Satan knows he has but a short time. He is coming down to this earth with hordes of his black angels to do warfare. He will try to destroy our very souls. It will be a holocaust as his tail is brought all across the heavens to bring down many stars. We must not fear what man can do to us. But to be on guard and to watch over our very souls which is most precious. What an honor to be counted as a martyr for Jesus. To be a good soldier for Jesus Christ is to battle in the heavenlies against principalities and powers of darkness. We must not fight flesh, but to be forewarned is to be forearmed".

That, to me, is a second witness about this thing that is coming. I had already believed that the spiritual mark is not permanent. It can be reversed. Through salvation in Christ, we can learn to walk after His spirit by His grace. If you have His spirit, you can walk after His spirit and hear His voice. He said, "My sheep hear my voice. They follow me". We can now by the grace of God "do all in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ". That is what separates Christians from the world. There are only two men on the earth. One of those men is Christ and the other is Antichrist. There are a lot of religious people in Antichrist. Paul said", They went out from among us that it might be proved that they were not of us". There are two kinds of Antichrist. There is the Antichrist in the church, and there is an Antichrist in the world. What separates them from the true Christians? The name that they serve under. The nature, character, and authority that they serve under. That is why the Lord showed me, I believe, that the card will come in the beginning of the tribulation and the mark in the middle. The thing that really separates us, even from the beginning, has been the mark of God. The mark of God in your forehead. The Jews would write the scriptures and put them in a little box on their forehead. Rev.13:16 speaks of the mark of the Beast. Exodus 13:16 Dt.11:18 speaks of the mark of God. That is the same verse and no coincidence. Sounds like a good thing to do, meaning spiritually not physically. How can you walk after the Lord if you do not put the word of God in your mind? How can you do the works of God with your hand if you do not have the word of God in your mind?

The people with the spiritual mark of the Lord never have to fear taking the literal mark of the beast. The people who are walking in what is called the church today, who are walking after the mind of the flesh, they are the ones who have something to fear. There is no safety in that. The safety and salvation that the Lord has given us is in Christ. There is no protection outside of that name. Who is it that abides in the secret place of the Most High? The Bible says that we are hidden with Christ in God. He is the secret place of the Most High. There is no salvation outside of Christ. When you walk in the flesh, guess where you are walking? It is only abiding in Him that we have salvation 1Jn. 5:11. Those who have the spiritual mark will have no choice but to take the physical mark for it is in their nature. It is their capacity to walk in the Spirit and deny their own identification.

Take note of the following articles:

Military Personnel to be Issued Smart Card

Called "M.A.R.C". Card

Many of you are already aware that the Army currently issues a "smart identification card" to its service members. U. S. Senator Charles Robb (Virginia) wants to now begin issuing the standardized smart cards incorporating the newest and latest smart card technology to every person in all military branches. The cards will be used for everything from identification purposes to commissary privileges.

The cards presently being issued to Army personnel are called "M.A.R.C". cards. The "MARC" acronym stands for "Multi-technology Automated Reader Card" - the MARC card. Was the M.A.R.C. acronym chosen to mock Christians who believe, as is described in the Book of Revelation, that there will be a government imposed "system" in which no one will be able to buy or sell lest he has the "MARK" of the Beast.

Could it possibly be that not one single person involved in establishing this card and coming up with the name had ever heard of the Mark of the Beast?. I doubt it! In fact, it's almost as if the "MARC" name was first chosen, then some grouping of words was selected to fit the "acronym". A type of "reverse engineering" just to achieve the desired MARC (MARK) designation. Who knows why. That's why I believe it was done to mock believers. They considered the obvious analogy and decided it was acceptable - as a joke or for whatever reason. Now Senator Robb wants to further expand the M.A.R.C. card system.

One other note. Whenever you hear that something is being done to make government "more efficient", it simply means: a plan to achieve greater control exerting less effort at reduced cost.

Senate Floor Statement by Senator Charles S. Robb

July 7, 1997

Mr. President, I'd like to take a few minutes to discuss an amendment I'm offering to this year's DOD authorization bill that will make a real difference in the lives of all members of the naval service -- and eventually all members of our armed forces. It will eliminate many long lines and hours of frustration, it will substantially reduce record keeping errors and it will save the DOD and the taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars. And it represents the next phase of the effective utilization of smart card technology -- a technology I've been encouraging and working on for many years.

Mr. President, when a new recruit joins the armed services today, he or she faces a long and tedious registration process. A typical new recruit faces hours of waiting in line to fill out forms with his or her name, date of birth, rank, military I.D. number, and so forth, only to be sent over to another line to fill out another form with much of the same information again. Not only is this process aggravating for our new recruits -- it's a waste of the service's time and personnel. It takes dozens of people countless hours to process in each new recruit through this inefficient system, costing the service valuable time and money that it could be putting to better use elsewhere.

Once registered, a new recruit is issued a handful of IDs and cards to carry. A typical service member today might be required to carry a general ID card, an immunization card, a meal card, an equipment card, a weapons card, a military driver's license, a vehicle registration, a card to pick up mail, a card to carry if staying as a guest at another base, and if lucky enough to be stationed near some good fishing, a fishing permit. With so much clutter, it's not uncommon for a service member to misplace one of their cards, which wastes even more of the military's time and resources replacing them.

For years, I've been looking at ways that the military could streamline the methods it uses for its registration and record keeping, looking for a way to improve what I saw as an outdated and inefficient system of issuing multiple cards containing duplicate information.

The government and the private sector have been using cards for years as a means of information storage. Many of the earliest cards had just a name and number, much like the social security card that is still in use today. As the need for increased security and efficiency in the transfer of information from a card grew, however, we saw the introduction of cards that relied on new information storage systems like bar codes and magnetic stripes, much like the kind found on today's credit cards, ATM cards, telephone calling cards and in dozens of other card-based applications. And as the technological capabilities of cards have increased, so has the number of cards that each of us carries every time we leave our residence.

Mr. President, we now stand on the brink of a new explosion in card technology, one that promises to offer us even greater convenience and efficiency in everyday life, saving money and time while increasing our control over the information we provide to others. After years of research and development, I'm pleased to report that a new, user-friendly card technology will soon allow us to replace the handful of cards now used in the DoD with a single, multi-application smart card.

Mr. President, with the amendment that I'm offering today, next year, under a pilot program that I've been working closely with the Department of Defense and the Department of the Navy to develop, a new recruit won't face the long and wasteful lines, the duplication of information or the cumbersome bundles of cards that many of us remember. Instead, upon arriving at boot camp, each new sailor and Marine will be issued a single card: the MARC card. Short for Multi-technology Automated Reader Card, this card will be used across the entire Navy and Marine Corps next year, and if it works as well as some of us believe it will, we'll then extend it to all of the armed forces. The MARC card is a remarkable achievement. The MARC card can carry your security clearance. The MARC card can carry your meal information. The MARC card can hold your immunization records. The MARC card can serve as your room key.

Mr. President, the long term savings that will result from this program will be substantial; the improvements in the increased speed and quality of services will be enormous. With the MARC card, we can reduce support infrastructure, thereby improving our tooth to tail ratio while making our sailors' and Marines' lives easier.

The MARC card is one of the first widespread applications of the most exciting new card technology on the market today: the smart card. Smart cards like the MARC card rely on an integrated circuit chip - a microchip - to store more information and data than was ever before possible on a single card. Within each card is a small microprocessor along with a sizeable memory capacity, which gives each smart card the capabilities of a small microcomputer.

The capabilities of the smart card are so great that a single card can perform all of the functions that this entire stack of cards does, and perform dozens of time-saving new applications as well. Unlike older cards, the smart card is easily updatable, and has the capability to constantly take on new information.

Yet the real strength of smart cards like the MARC card lies not in the convenience of carrying so much information on a single card, but in the money that we can save as a result. By harnessing the strength and memory of a small computer inside of a portable plastic card, a multitude of new applications can be offered that will increase the efficiency of government, cutting down expensive and unnecessary administrative costs while reducing waste, fraud and abuse at all levels of government.

Mr. President, I've seen this card in action, and the savings and increased efficiency it can offer the members of our armed forces are really impressive.

In the past, when our sailors would dock at a naval base upon their return from sea, they faced a long and tedious process of waiting in line after line to check in to their shore station. Often taking up to a week, a sailor would need to fill out countless forms to register for quarters, for medical treatment, for security clearance, for his next assignment, for the mess hall, etc.

But today at the Smart Base in Pascagoula, Mississippi -- which is the first naval base to automate its operations using the MARC card -- a sailor who arrives off of the USS Yorktown faces a check-in time of just a few minutes. By simply walking up to a kiosk, he can insert his MARC card into a reader not unlike an Automatic Teller Machine, and within seconds, be assigned his quarters and other necessary information, while personal data needed by the command is simultaneously zipped electronically around the rest of the base. His MARC card even serves as his room key.

Not only does this process save sailors a lot of wasted time, but it reduces the number of administrative staff needed to check in an entire ship. To process every sailor from an arriving ship, a base need only have a handful of staff on a hand and a few kiosks that interact with the MARC card.

Mr. President, the MARC card can improve the efficiency of every operation across the military. Let me give you an example. Today, when a sailor or marine heads to a mess hall to eat, he has to show his ID card, as well as his meal card, to one of the duty personnel, who tediously records the information from both cards by hand into a ledger. After each meal, another officer must spend hours reconciling who ate what on that particular day, at a great expense, both in the time involved and the money it costs. On average, it takes a mess hall 4-6 hours a day to account for all the meals that are eaten.

With the MARC card, however, sailors or marines will simply swipe their cards through a reader as they enter the mess hall and be automatically accounted for by a computer. Anyone who tries to sneak an extra meal without paying is caught in the act, which helps the Navy reduce fraud. After each meal, the officer in charge of the mess hall will only need to call up a file on their computer to account for the meals served. The total time involved is reduced from several hours to just a few minutes.

Not only will this project save the Navy time and money -- the food service savings alone will save over 2 million dollars in the first year, a savings of 49% -- it will also allow our armed forces to allocate more resources to the duties they most need to focus on. From security access to dining hall access, from checking out weapons to checking out library books, the MARC card can save the armed forces thousands of hours a year in wasted administrative costs.

The $36 million I'm asking for in this amendment doesn't authorize any new spending -- it only redirects the use of $36 million within the Navy and Marines O&M account that has already been authorized by the committee. Because the MARC card program has been so effective in reducing the costs of general administration in the military, our investment of $36 million in an expansion of the MARC program will save the Navy and Marines O&M account many millions more in FY 98 and beyond.

By investing $36 million in the MARC program, the Navy's project manager estimates that the savings to O&M from using the 3 MARC applications already in place across the Navy and Marines will top $134 million in FY 98. Now that's just the savings from using the MARC card in 3 applications -- Food Service, Security Access and Clearance Verification. As other applications are deployed, the savings may top $200 million in FY 98, and well over $500 million over the next 5 years.

Mr. President, with the budget situation that we face today, we are compelled to look to all areas of the government to eliminate needless administrative services and streamline the many duties that our government performs. In this era of "reinventing government", smart card technology has potential applications not just in the military, but all across the government. By eliminating long waits in lines at government agencies, by eliminating the manual entry of data all across government agencies, by doing away with duplication of data across the government, by eliminating fraud, smart cards can slash the administrative costs of government while improving the quality and speed with which many government services are delivered.

Mr. President, the technology is here, in our hands, and the savings to be had are real, immediate and substantial. I firmly believe that we should move forward with applying smart card technology, not only in the military, but all across the government.

Now Mr. President, I realize that smart cards are still a new technology right now, and that they're unfamiliar to many potential users. I am aware that some people are uncomfortable with the idea of having a single card for everything they need. Placing so much information on a single card raises more than a few eyebrows over privacy and security concerns.

And I know that a lot of people are concerned that, by placing so much personal information on a single card, an employer might have access to medical records, or a librarian might be able to find out what you ate for lunch that day. Let me say that I share these concerns.

[No surprise - here comes the "But"...]

But in fact, Mr. President, while all this information may be carried on a single card, powerful encryption technology ensures that personal information is seen only by those who the individual wants to see to see it. The technology available today allows us to select what information is carried on our smart card, and guarantees that we are the only ones who can grant access to that information.

Even though we can store our financial and medical records on the same smart card, the card's microchip is divided into separate compartments that make it impossible for our bank to see our medical records and our doctor to see our last bank deposit.

And if we should lose our card, anybody who finds it will discover that it's useless to them. Because without the proper authorization code that only the individual knows -- and with more sensitive applications, without biometric authentication like hand geometry scanners -- the card won't work in the hands of anybody but it's owner. Just as our ATM card is useless to a thief without the proper PIN number, a thief will find that, without authentication by its owner, a stolen smart card is a worthless piece of plastic.

In an era where our personal information is becoming increasingly easier for others to access, where our very personal and private activities can be electronically tracked, smart cards are a way to return control over this information where it belongs: in the hands of the individual.

And with modern-day encryption and other security measures built into the chip on a smart card, the information on this card is more secure from theft or fraud than any credit card or ATM card in use today.

Mr. President, there is no doubt of the need for increased efficiency, security and portability of information across all sectors of our government. We have the technology, literally, in our hands to make it happen. Already, several other government agencies have begun to implement this technology in a variety of applications across government. Today, for example, smart cards are used as identification and security badges in government buildings.

In states like Wyoming, pilot programs are underway to use smart cards to electronically disburse WIC and food stamp benefits. In several western states, a smart card called the "health passport" is being used to increase the portability and accessibility of an individual's medical records while safeguarding their confidentiality. At colleges like the University of Michigan, a single smart card can call up a student's financial aid records, buy her books and open the door of her dorm.

On our subways and our military bases, in our hospitals and our schools, across the public and private sector, smart cards can cut down the time we spend on burdensome administrative work and save us valuable time and resources.

But the reason I'm so enthusiastic about this new technology, Mr. President, is not just because smart cards can eliminate waste. I'm not here speaking today simply because smart cards can save us time and money. I'm strongly supportive of this new technology because smart cards can make our lives better and easier. Whether it's reducing the time we wait in line at a government office or providing a doctor the information needed to save a life, smart cards can make our entire infrastructure more user-friendly and efficient; smart cards make technology work better for us.

I am confident that pilot smart card programs like the MARC program will demonstrate the effectiveness of smart cards and the need for this technology across government, and will lead to increased use of this technology in our future. That's why I'm so excited about it and that's why I'm so pleased the managers seem willing to include this provision in their manager's amendment later this evening. With that, Mr. President, I thank the chair and I yield the floor.

Senator Charles S. Robb
154 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
202/224-4024

BUSH CONTEMPLATES NATIONAL ID CARD FOR ALL CITIZENS

DRUDGE REPORT - SUNDAY SEPT 23 2001 20:02:37 ET

A highly controversial option has emerged for use in fighting terrorism in the United States: A national ID card which would be issued to every citizen.

A proposal for the creation of a national ID card was presented to President Bush in recent days, top government sources tell the DRUDGE REPORT.

The ID card plan was included in a classified briefing outlining steps the nation can take to limit exposure to terror attacks.

Bush briefly discussed the ID card option with British Prime Minister Tony Blair, according to insiders.

"I can tell you this, the president is very reluctant [to issue a national ID card]", a top White House source said on Sunday. "But we must look at all options".

Just as House Democratic Leader Richard Gephardt [D-MO] says Congress should quickly move to open debate on security measures such as a national ID card.

"We are in a new world", Gephardt said. "This event will change the balance between freedom and security".

SAFETY FROM A CHIP

ORACLE Chairman and CEO Larry Ellison this weekend called for the United States to create a national identification system -- and offering to donate the software to make it possible --free-of-charge.

"We need a national ID card with our photograph and thumbprint digitized and embedded in the ID card", Ellison said in an interview Friday night on the evening news of KPIX-TV in San Francisco.

Blair has tentatively approved identity cards which will be introduced for the first time in Britain.

The universal identity card leads major papers in London on Monday:

'ID CARDS FOR ALL' fronts the TIMES.

'IDENTITY CARDS ON THE WAY IN FIGHT ON TERROR' headlines the MAIL.

'WE'RE ALL GOING TO HAVE ID CARDS' splashes the SUN.

Blair has opted for a voluntary scheme in issuing the card, rejecting a compulsory "on demand" card because of connotations with Nazi Germany, where lack of proper identity cards could result in instant arrest, according to reports.

However, it will be virtually impossible for anyone to live a normal life without the new ID card in England - possession of a valid card will be necessary for boarding an aircraft, buying gas, opening a bank account, starting a job or claiming government benefits.

UK. Home Secretary David Blunkett on Sunday questioned the idea of a "voluntary card".

"It would not be a great deal of help" in the fight against terrorism, Blunkett said on BBC1's On the Record.

Blunkett stressed the need to balance the fight against terrorism with the freedoms of a liberal society.

But he said that his "instincts" were that beating terror must take priority and that politicians' ability to act must not be hamstrung by an excessively legalistic approach to human rights.

New laws are expected to be rushed through the U.K'.s Parliament in coming weeks to allow for the legality of a mandatory ID card.

In a nationwide poll released Sunday, a stunning 85% of Brits would welcome a national ID card system in the wake of the terrorist attacks on the United States, with an overwhelming majority calling for the cards to be packed with information to clearly identify the holder: These include photograph (97%), date of birth (96%) eye color (92%), a finger print (85%), DNA details (75%), criminal records (74%) and religion (67%).

Stateside, U.S. Rep. George Gekas [R-PA], chairman of the House immigration subcommittee, told reporters last week that Congress could no longer reject out of hand a national ID card system for citizens.

In a survey released Wednesday by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press, seven of 10 Americans favored a requirement that citizens carry a national identity card at all times. The proposal had particularly strong support from women.

ORACLE's Ellison said in the electronic age, little privacy is left anyway.

"Well, this privacy you're concerned about is largely an illusion", he told PIX's anchorman Hank Plante. "All you have to give up is your illusions, not any of your privacy. Right now, you can go onto the Internet and get a credit report about your neighbor and find out where your neighbor works, how much they earn and if they had a late mortgage payment and tons of other information".

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