Tag Archive: Domestic Spying


FBI Pushes For Wiretap-Ready Internet

Filed under: Hope and Change, Science & Technology, Corruption, Statism, Arrogance, Shame, Hypocrisy, Police State, Law Enforcement Thuggery, Civil Liberties, Crime, Natural Rights, Constitution, Internet Freedom, Social Media, Liberty — 1 Comment
May 14, 2013

FBI’s Latest Proposal For A Wiretap-Ready Internet Should Be Trashed

 

 

 

” The FBI has some strange ideas about how to “update” federal surveillance laws: They’re calling for legislation to penalize online services that provide users with too much security.

I’m not kidding. The proposal was revealed in The Washington Post last week — and a couple days ago, a front-page story in The New York Times reported the Obama administration is preparing to back it.

Why? Federal law enforcement agencies like the FBI have long feared their wiretap capabilities would begin “going dark” as criminals and terrorists — along with ordinary citizens — shift from telephone networks, which are required to be wiretap-ready under the 1994 Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act (CALEA), to the dizzying array of online communications platforms available today.”

 

 

 

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House Republicans F**K Us All – Passes CISPA … Party Of Freedom My ASS

Filed under: Arrogance, Civil Liberties, Constitution, Corruption, Hope and Change, Internet Freedom, Law Enforcement Thuggery, Liberty, Police State, Politics, Privacy, Shame, Statism — 3 Comments
April 18, 2013

House Approves CISPA Over Privacy Objections

” The U.S. House of Representatives has voted to approve a controversial cyberthreat information-sharing bill, despite opposition from the White House and several privacy and digital rights groups.

The House on Thursday voted 288-127 to approve the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA), a bill that would allow U.S. intelligence agencies to share cyberthreat information with private companies. It would also shield private companies that voluntarily share cyberthreat information with each other and with government agencies from privacy lawsuits brought by customers.

The bill would still need to be passed by the U.S. Senate before heading to President Barack Obama for his signature. The Senate declined to act on another version of CISPA during the last session of Congress, and earlier this week, Obama’s advisors threatened a veto, although that was before the House approved a handful of amendments intended to address privacy concerns.

CISPA would allow private companies to share a broad range of customer data with each other and with government agencies, privacy groups have complained.

Supporters, however, argued the legislation is needed to encourage better information sharing about active cyberattacks, resulting in better defense of U.S. networks. Federal law now prohibits intelligence agencies from sharing classified cyberthreat information with private companies.”

 Here is the vote list … Know your traitors . Statist Scumbags … and the republicans would have us believe that they are the party of liberty ? 

FINAL VOTE RESULTS FOR ROLL CALL 192(Republicans in roman; Democrats in italic; Independents underlined)
H R 3523      RECORDED VOTE      26-Apr-2012      6:31 PM
QUESTION:  On Passage
BILL TITLE: To provide for the sharing of certain cyber threat intelligence and cyber threat information between the intelligence community and cybersecurity entities, and for other purposes

AYES NOES PRES NV
REPUBLICAN 206 28 7
DEMOCRATIC 42 140 8
INDEPENDENT
TOTALS 248 168   15

—- AYES    248 —

Adams
Aderholt
Alexander
Altmire
Amodei
Austria
Bachmann
Bachus
Barletta
Barrow
Bartlett
Bass (NH)
Benishek
Berg
Biggert
Bilbray
Bilirakis
Bishop (GA)
Bishop (NY)
Black
Blackburn
Bonner
Bono Mack
Boren
Boswell
Boustany
Brady (TX)
Broun (GA)
Buchanan
Buerkle
Burgess
Burton (IN)
Butterfield
Calvert
Camp
Campbell
Cantor
Capito
Cardoza
Carney
Carter
Cassidy
Castor (FL)
Chabot
Chaffetz
Chandler
Clyburn
Coble
Coffman (CO)
Cole
Conaway
Connolly (VA)
Cooper
Costa
Cravaack
Crawford
Crenshaw
Critz
Cuellar
Culberson
Denham
Dent
DesJarlais
Diaz-Balart
Dicks
Dold
Donnelly (IN)
Dreier
Duffy
Duncan (SC)
Duncan (TN)
Ellmers
Fincher
Fitzpatrick
Flake
Fleischmann
Flores
Forbes
Fortenberry
Foxx
Franks (AZ)
Frelinghuysen
Gallegly		 Garamendi
Gardner
Garrett
Gerlach
Gibbs
Gingrey (GA)
Gonzalez
Goodlatte
Gowdy
Granger
Graves (GA)
Graves (MO)
Griffin (AR)
Griffith (VA)
Grimm
Guinta
Guthrie
Hanabusa
Hanna
Harper
Harris
Hartzler
Hastings (WA)
Hayworth
Heck
Hensarling
Herger
Herrera Beutler
Hochul
Huelskamp
Huizenga (MI)
Hultgren
Hunter
Hurt
Israel
Issa
Jenkins
Johnson (OH)
Johnson, Sam
Jordan
Kelly
King (IA)
King (NY)
Kingston
Kinzinger (IL)
Kissell
Kline
Labrador
Lamborn
Lance
Langevin
Lankford
Larsen (WA)
Latham
LaTourette
Latta
Lewis (CA)
Lipinski
LoBiondo
Long
Lucas
Luetkemeyer
Lummis
Lungren, Daniel E.
Manzullo
Matheson
McCarthy (CA)
McCarthy (NY)
McCaul
McIntyre
McKeon
McKinley
McMorris Rodgers
Meehan
Mica
Miller (FL)
Miller (MI)
Miller, Gary
Moran
Mulvaney
Murphy (PA)
Myrick
Neugebauer		 Noem
Nugent
Nunes
Nunnelee
Olson
Owens
Palazzo
Paulsen
Peterson
Petri
Pitts
Platts
Poe (TX)
Pompeo
Price (GA)
Quayle
Reed
Reichert
Renacci
Ribble
Rivera
Roby
Roe (TN)
Rogers (AL)
Rogers (KY)
Rogers (MI)
Rokita
Rooney
Ros-Lehtinen
Roskam
Ross (AR)
Ross (FL)
Royce
Runyan
Ruppersberger
Ryan (WI)
Scalise
Schilling
Schmidt
Schock
Schrader
Scott (SC)
Scott, Austin
Scott, David
Sessions
Shimkus
Shuler
Shuster
Smith (NE)
Smith (NJ)
Smith (TX)
Smith (WA)
Southerland
Stearns
Stivers
Stutzman
Sullivan
Terry
Thompson (CA)
Thompson (PA)
Thornberry
Tiberi
Tipton
Towns
Turner (NY)
Turner (OH)
Upton
Walberg
Walden
Webster
West
Westmoreland
Whitfield
Wilson (SC)
Wittman
Wolf
Womack
Woodall
Yoder
Young (AK)
Young (FL)
Young (IN)

—- NOES    168 —

Ackerman
Akin
Amash
Andrews
Baca
Baldwin
Barton (TX)
Bass (CA)
Becerra
Berkley
Berman
Bishop (UT)
Bonamici
Brady (PA)
Braley (IA)
Brooks
Brown (FL)
Capps
Capuano
Carnahan
Carson (IN)
Chu
Cicilline
Clarke (MI)
Clarke (NY)
Clay
Cleaver
Cohen
Conyers
Costello
Courtney
Crowley
Cummings
Davis (CA)
Davis (IL)
DeFazio
DeGette
DeLauro
Deutch
Dingell
Doggett
Doyle
Edwards
Ellison
Emerson
Engel
Eshoo
Farenthold
Farr
Fattah
Fleming
Frank (MA)
Fudge
Gibson
Gohmert
Gosar		 Green, Al
Green, Gene
Grijalva
Gutierrez
Hahn
Hall
Hastings (FL)
Heinrich
Higgins
Himes
Hinchey
Hinojosa
Holt
Honda
Hoyer
Jackson (IL)
Jackson Lee (TX)
Johnson (GA)
Johnson (IL)
Johnson, E. B.
Jones
Kaptur
Keating
Kildee
Kind
Kucinich
Landry
Larson (CT)
Lee (CA)
Levin
Lewis (GA)
Loebsack
Lofgren, Zoe
Lowey
Luján
Lynch
Mack
Marchant
Markey
Matsui
McClintock
McCollum
McCotter
McDermott
McGovern
McNerney
Meeks
Michaud
Miller (NC)
Miller, George
Moore
Murphy (CT)
Nadler
Napolitano
Neal
Olver		 Pallone
Pascrell
Pastor (AZ)
Pearce
Pelosi
Perlmutter
Peters
Pingree (ME)
Polis
Posey
Price (NC)
Quigley
Rahall
Rehberg
Reyes
Richardson
Richmond
Rigell
Rohrabacher
Rothman (NJ)
Roybal-Allard
Rush
Ryan (OH)
Sánchez, Linda T.
Sanchez, Loretta
Sarbanes
Schakowsky
Schiff
Schwartz
Schweikert
Scott (VA)
Sensenbrenner
Serrano
Sewell
Sherman
Simpson
Speier
Stark
Sutton
Thompson (MS)
Tierney
Tonko
Tsongas
Van Hollen
Velázquez
Visclosky
Walsh (IL)
Walz (MN)
Wasserman Schultz
Waters
Watt
Waxman
Welch
Wilson (FL)
Woolsey
Yarmuth

—- NOT VOTING    15 —

Blumenauer
Bucshon
Canseco
Davis (KY)
Filner		 Hirono
Holden
Maloney
Marino
McHenry		 Paul
Pence
Rangel
Sires
Slaughter

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Surveillance State USA

Filed under: Arrogance, Civil Liberties, Constitution, Law Enforcement Thuggery, Police State, Politics, Statism — 1 Comment
March 14, 2013

For The Record Exposes The Terrifying Surveillance State

 

 

Surveillance State

 

Video at the link

 

” Who is listening? Who is reading your emails? Who is watching you?

We all have a basic idea of how much access the government has to our personal information. But what are they using it for and, more importantly, what are they capable of? Since September 11, 2001, the National Security Agency (NSA) has turned America into a surveillance state, and tonight’s premiere of For The Record, TheBlaze’s new news magazine series, takes a deeper look into just what the government is doing with all that information.

“There is little information today the NSA cannot acquire if it wants to,” said American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) attorney Alexander Abdo. Using the firsthand accounts of four NSA whistleblowers, For The Record exposes the truth behind the government agency that is invading American’s privacy under the guise of national security.”

 

 

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Big Brother Monitors Your Banking

Filed under: Arrogance, Barbarism, Civil Liberties, Conspiracy, Corruption, Debt, Monetary Policy, National Security, Police State, Politics, Statism, Terrorism — 3 Comments
March 14, 2013

U.S. To Let Spy Agencies Scour Americans’ Finances

 

 

 

 

 ” The Obama administration is drawing up plans to give all U.S. spy agencies full access to a massive database that contains financial data on American citizens and others who bank in the country, according to a Treasury Department document seen by Reuters.

The proposed plan represents a major step by U.S. intelligence agencies to spot and track down terrorist networks and crime syndicates by bringing together financial databanks, criminal records and military intelligence. The plan, which legal experts say is permissible under U.S. law, is nonetheless likely to trigger intense criticism from privacy advocates.

The Treasury plan would give spy agencies the ability to analyze more raw financial data than they have ever had before, helping them look for patterns that could reveal attack plots or criminal schemes.”

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Say No To CIPSA

Filed under: Politics, Law, Statism, Arrogance, Police State, Civil Liberties, Internet Freedom, Cyber Crime, Liberty — 3 Comments
March 13, 2013

Censorship In America: 34 Civil Liberties Groups Speak Out Against CISPA In Lead Up To Hearings

 

 

 

” On Monday, EFF and over 30 other Internet rights organizations sent a letter to members of Congress demanding they vote no on the “cybersecurity” bill known as CISPA. The letter starts off a week in which Congress will hold three different hearings about CISPA and computer and network security. In addition to the letter, each hearing will provide opportunity to voice many of the bill’s problems. We encourage you to join the fight and tell your Representative to say no to CISPA.

 

The first hearing this week will focus on the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) role in cybersecurity. In the past couple of years there has been a turf battle over whether the National Security Agency (NSA) or DHS should run the nation’s Internet and network security. Even after NSA head General Keith Alexander declared that civilian agencies should be in charge, the House didn’t get the message. The letter we sent highlights a loophole in CISPA allowing companies to bypass privacy laws and share potentially personal information directly with the NSA. We agree with General Alexander. Civilian control of our domestic cybersecurity is a necessity. “

 

 

 

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What Is A ‘Reasonable” Expectation Of Privacy ?

Filed under: Politics, Hope and Change, Corruption, Law, Barbarism, Statism, Arrogance, Hypocrisy, Police State, Law Enforcement Thuggery, Civil Liberties, Privacy, Constitution, Liberty — Leave a comment
March 7, 2013

Game of Drones

 

 

 

” True enough: as Stanford Law’s Ryan Calo notes, under current law, “citizens do not enjoy a reasonable expectation of privacy in public, nor even on the portions of their property visible from a public vantage.”

That’s a problem. Drone technology dramatically enhances the government’s ability to monitor citizens in public places and on their own property — and privacy law hasn’t kept pace with technological change.

Law enforcement agencies already have access to some 146 commercial drones — and that may be just the beginning as drones get smaller and more capable.

Defense contractor AeroVironment is perfecting the “Nano Hummingbird,” a drone that weighs less than an AA battery and is capable of alighting on a window ledge to record video.”

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Look , Up In The Sky … A Bird ? A Plane ? A Drone ?

Filed under: Civil Liberties, Constitution, Engineering Marvels, Hope and Change, Liberty, Nanny State, New Media, Police State, Preparedness, Regulation, Science & Technology, Space — 8 Comments
March 5, 2013

A Drone? A Really Big Bird? A UFO? What Did Alitalia Pilot See Near JFK?

 

 

 

” The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating a report from the pilot who claimed he saw an unmanned or remote-controlled aircraft while on his final approach to John F. Kennedy International Airport .

The pilot, who was at the controls of Alitalia Flight AZA 60, a Boeing 777, spotted what may have been a drone about four to five miles southeast of the airport at an altitude of 1,500 feet while on final approach to Runway 31 Right at about 1:15 p.m.”

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Obama Lies Compilation

Filed under: Arrogance, Corruption, Hope and Change, Hypocrisy, Lies, Politics, Shame — 1 Comment
March 3, 2013

 Change You Can Believe In

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We’ll Be Needing Drone Loads Sooner Than We Thought

Filed under: Politics, Gun Rights, Military, Hope and Change, Science & Technology, Corruption, Civil Discord, Guns, Nanny State, Arrogance, Shame, Hypocrisy, Police State, Law Enforcement Thuggery, Armed Citizenry, Civil Liberties, Self-Defense, Founding Fathers, Privacy, Individual Responsibility, Gun Control, Natural Rights, Constitution, Civil Disobedience, Liberty — Leave a comment
March 3, 2013

DHS Built Domestic Surveillance Tech Into Predator Drones

 

 

” Homeland Security’s specifications for its drones, built by San Diego-based General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, say they “shall be capable of identifying a standing human being at night as likely armed or not,” meaning carrying a shotgun or rifle. They also specify “signals interception” technology that can capture communications in the frequency ranges used by mobile phones, and “direction finding” technology that can identify the locations of mobile devices or two-way radios.

The Electronic Privacy Information Center obtained a partially redacted copy of Homeland Security’s requirements for its drone fleet through the Freedom of Information Act and published it this week. CNET unearthed an unredacted copy of the requirements that provides additional information about the aircraft’s surveillance capabilities.

Concern about domestic use of drones is growing, with federal legislation introduced last month that would establish legal safeguards, in addition to parallel efforts underway from state and local lawmakers. The Federal Aviation Administration recently said that it will “address privacy-related data collection” by drones.

The prospect of identifying armed Americans concerns Second Amendment advocates, who say that technology billed as securing the United States’ land and maritime borders should not be used domestically. Michael Kostelnik, the Homeland Security official who created the program, told Congress that the drone fleet would be available to “respond to emergency missions across the country,” and a Predator drone was dispatched to the tiny town of Lakota, N.D., to aid local police in a dispute that began with reimbursement for feeding six cows. The defendant, arrested with the help of Predator surveillance, lost a preliminary bid to dismiss the charges.”

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Inside NYPD’s Surveillance System

Video
Filed under: Arrogance, Civil Discord, Civil Liberties, Corruption, Crime, Hope and Change, Hypocrisy, Law Enforcement Thuggery, Nanny State, Police State, Privacy, Science & Technology, Shame — Leave a comment
February 21, 2013
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DHS Drones – For Public Safety

Filed under: Arrogance, Corruption, Police State, Politics, Statism — 5 Comments
February 18, 2013

DHS Advances Plan For “Public Safety” Drones

 

 

 

 

” The Department of Homeland Security is advancing its plan to use surveillance drones for “public safety” applications, announcing last week that it had received a deluge of “excellent” responses from potential vendors and was set to carry out more tests of the technology.

New testing of spy drones for “public safety” applications has been rubber stamped by the DHS. Image: YouTube

As we first reported in July last year, DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano told a House Committee on Homeland Security that the federal agency was “looking at drones that could be utilized to give us situational awareness in a large public safety [matter] or disaster,” despite the fact that the agency had previously indicated it was reticent to use spy drones to keep tabs on the public.”

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They Give New Meaning To Being Bugged

Filed under: Arrogance, Civil Discord, Civil Liberties, Constitution, Hypocrisy, Idiocy, Individualism, Liberty, Nanny State, Police State, Science & Technology, Shame, Statism — Leave a comment
February 17, 2013

Your Tax Dollars at Work : Check Out the New Tiny “Bug Bot” Drones from the Air Force

 

 

 

” Most people understand that we have a massive military industrial complex (MIC.) Defense contractors and government partner to develop weapon systems and improve our “war fighting” capabilities. Massive amounts of money got to the Pentagon and contractors.

An offshoot of the MIC, it is a fast growing area for contractors and there are mega (tax) dollars to be made in surveillance.

Take a look at this amazing video recently produced by the Air Force introducing drones which act  and look like birds and insects. There are powered by the sun, wind, power lines,  even “vibrating machinery.” It is truly mind blowing technology. How would you like a swarm of these things floating around your town? “

 

 

Video at the link

Bug Bot Drones

 

 

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Drone Worship

Filed under: Arrogance, Civil Discord, Civil Liberties, Constitution, Corruption, Hope and Change, Hypocrisy, Law, Law Enforcement Thuggery, Liberty, Nanny State, Police State, Politics, Privacy, Science & Technology, Shame, Statism — 5 Comments
February 17, 2013

FAA Moves Closer To Widespread US Drone Flights With Plan For Test Sites

 

 

” A future in which unmanned drones are as common in U.S. skies as helicopters and airliners has moved a step closer to reality with a government request for proposals to create six drone test sites around the country.

The Federal Aviation Administration made the request Thursday, kicking off what is anticipated to be an intense competition between states hoping to win one of the sites.

The FAA also posted online a draft plan for protecting people’s privacy from the eyes in the sky. The plan would require each test site to follow federal and state laws and make a privacy policy publicly available.

Privacy advocates worry that a proliferation of drones will lead to a “surveillance society” in which the movements of Americans are routinely monitored, tracked, recorded and scrutinized by the authorities.”

 

 

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And They Don’t Want Us To Know Either

Filed under: Arrogance, Barbarism, Civil Liberties, Corruption, Hope and Change, Hypocrisy, Law, Media Double Standards, New Media, Police State, Politics, Privacy, Regulation, Shame, Statism — 3 Comments
January 2, 2013

What the Senate Doesn’t Know About FISA

 

 

” Nancy Pelosi once said that we had to pass Obamacare to see what’s in it. Last week, Congress said we shouldn’t ask what’s in the federal surveillance law even after we’ve passed it.

That’s the most charitable way to interpret the Senate’s votes reauthorizing expiring provisions of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) without any major changes or new checks and balances. The FISA amendments package of 2008 allows the kind of general warrants the Fourth Amendment was intended to prevent, giving the government a blank check for snooping on Americans.

It’s not so much that senators voted by lopsided margins to continue Bush-era warrantless wiretapping nearly five years into the age of hope and change (with the Obama administration’s blessing, of course). More surprising is their lack of interest in how many people are being spied on and how likely irrelevant data belonging to innocent citizens is to be ensnared in terrorism investigations.”

 

 

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Government Spying Continued … Hope & Change

Filed under: Arrogance, Civil Discord, Civil Liberties, Corruption, Hope and Change, Hypocrisy, Police State, Politics, Privacy, Regulation, Science & Technology, Shame — Leave a comment
December 30, 2012

US Senate Approves FISA Warrantless Wiretapping Extension

 

 

 

 

“ Washington - The Senate has voted to reauthorize a controversial amendment that allows US intelligence agencies to wiretap communications without warrants.

The FISA Amendments Act of 2008 was passed to allow the wiretapping of many US phone conversations and electronic communications and to grant retroactive immunity to Bush administration officials and telecom corporations for illegal wiretapping of domestic communications. FISA, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, allows the NSA and other US intelligence agencies to wiretap conversations in which at least one of the parties is a foreign citizen without first obtaining a warrant. “
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States Lead The Way

Filed under: Hypocrisy, Law, Police State, Politics, Privacy, Shame, States Rights — Leave a comment
December 29, 2012

Nevada Introduces Anti-NDAA Bill

 

 

 

 

” With the recent passage by Congress of the 2013 National Defense Authorization Act, soon to be signed into law by Barack Obama, and existence of the 2012 NDAA law, many states have sought nullification of NDAA. Nevada is now set to put forth it’s own anti-NDAA bill, BDR 728. On December 19, the Nevada chapters of the People Against the National Defense Authorization Act (PANDA) announced the introduction of the bill. The bill is sponsored by Nevada State Senator Don Gustavson and will be presented to lawmakers in February when the legislature reconvenes.

Christopher Corbett, Nevada state coordinator for PANDA, said in a statement that announced the introduction of the bill, which is titled “The Nevada Liberty Preservation Act”:

I appreciate the community support backing up our efforts and the courage of those members of our governing bodies who are willing to actively protect the constitutional rights of their constituents. We need to restore the Constitutionally protected right to due process for every American.”

 

 

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Feinstein : ” Ample Oversight ” On Domestic Surveillance Program

Filed under: Arrogance, Benghazi, Civil Discord, Civil Liberties, Corruption, Hypocrisy, Police State, Politics, Privacy, Regulation, Science & Technology, Shame, Statism — Leave a comment
December 27, 2012

Despite Concerns By Fellow Democrats And Civil Libertarians, The Senator Says There’s Ample Oversight On Spying

Ample Oversight … Where have we heard that before ? Oh yeah . The Stimulus , Fannie Mae , Freddie Mac , Pigford , Gunwalker , Benghazi , Solyndra , need we go on ? Charlie Rangel , Maxine Waters , William Jefferson , Domestic Drones , TSA ?  Secret Service , GSA ?

” However, outgoing chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee Sen. Dianne Feinsten, D.-Calif., defended the surveillance practices permitted under FISA’s current provisions. “I don’t think there’s any program that has more vigorous oversight,” she said in response to Wyden Thursday. Feinstein said that in regards to stopping domestic terrorist attacks in recent years, the surveillance program “has worked,” noting that some of the 100 arrests made over the past four years to prevent attacks on U.S. soil have been made based on intelligence gleaned under FISA.

According to the Guardian, “National Security Agency whistleblower Bill Binney has estimated that the agency has ‘assembled’ 20 trillion transactions between U.S. citizens.”

As Wyden put it Thursday, “I think, when you talk about oversight, and you can’t even get a rough estimate of how many law-abiding Americans had their communications swept up by this law … the idea of robust oversight, really ought to be called toothless oversight if you don’t have that kind of information.” “

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It’s All About Safety …. Wanna Buy A Bridge ?

Filed under: Arrogance, Civil Discord, Civil Liberties, Hope and Change, Nanny State, Police State, Politics, Privacy, Science & Technology, Shame, Statism — Leave a comment
December 16, 2012

 

Obama Bypasses Congress to Mandate Black Boxes for All Cars — Beginning in ’14

 

 

 

 

” Bypassing Congress, the Obama administration has issued a proposed administrative rule, which if adopted, would mandate the installation of “black boxes” in all automobiles and light trucks beginning in 2014.

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) proposed the regulation on Dec. 7, which it said “would capture valuable safety-related data in the seconds before and during a motor vehicle crash.”

The proposed standard would require automakers to install event data recorders (EDRs) – so-called “black box devices” — to collect specific safety related data in all light passenger vehicles beginning Sept. 1, 2014.

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said approximately 96 percent of model year 2013 passenger cars and light-duty vehicles are already equipped with black-box capability.

“By understanding how drivers respond in a crash and whether key safety systems operate properly, NHTSA and automakers can make our vehicles and our roadways even safer,” LaHood said in a news release. “This proposal will give us the critical insight and information we need to save more lives.” “

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Spies , Spies , Spies Everywhere

Filed under: Civil Discord, Civil Liberties, Corruption, Hope and Change, Law Enforcement Thuggery, Military, Police State, Science & Technology, Statism, Weaponry — Leave a comment
December 11, 2012

End The Lie

HT/ConservativeDailyNews

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Drone Wars

Filed under: Barbarism, Foreign Policy, Hope and Change, Hypocrisy, Islam, Law, Police State, Politics, Science & Technology, Statism — Leave a comment
November 27, 2012

When it comes to national security, the frightening truth is that we have to trust our public officials.

 

 

  Which is exactly the crisis we the people face today . At exactly the period when we most need to be able to have faith in the authorities we find ourselves at a place that precludes granting the government that needed  trust . 

 

 

 

 

” Right now, the United States and the larger international community is caught in a difficult debate over the use of drones against enemy combatants. Domestically, there is an odd confluence of views. The Obama administration’s policy on drones has been congenial to the conservatives, who oppose him on domestic issues; but his liberal allies, like the American Civil Liberties Union, are dismayed by what they perceive as his administration’s overuse of drones in Pakistan from 2004 to 2012. Has the United States pushed its drone attacks too far or not far enough? Have too many potential targets escaped attack because of an undue fear of excessive “incidental” or collateral damage to the lives and property of innocent non-combatants? “

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Domestic Spying Continued

Filed under: Arrogance, Civil Discord, Civil Liberties, Corruption, Hope and Change, Media Double Standards, Police State, Politics, Science & Technology, Statism — 1 Comment
November 27, 2012

DHS Wants To Double US Predator Drone Fleet

 

DHS Wants To Double US Predator Drone Fleet

 

 

 ” It’s in your face fascism!  Department of Homeland Security  (DHS), according to Trevor Timm at Activist Post, ”…signed a contract that could be worth as much as $443 million with General Atomics for the purchase up to fourteen additional Predator drones to fly near the border of Mexico and Canada. “ 

 

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Investigate the Investigators

Filed under: Arrogance, Civil Liberties, Corruption, Hope and Change, Law Enforcement Thuggery, Police State, Science & Technology, Statism — Leave a comment
November 15, 2012

The real Petraeus scandal is why the bureau was rummaging around in his private communications in the first place.

 

 

 

 

” For the past week, Washington has been embroiled in an ever-escalating sex scandal involving Gen. David Petraeus, his biographer Paula Broadwell, and a third woman named Jill Kelley, and now, tangentially it seems, Gen. John Allen. The affair between Petraeus and Broadwell was discovered by the FBI and revealed late last week when Petraeus resigned as director of the CIA. But while the salacious details have kept Washington’s press corps busy, the details about how the bureau ever got this information should concern us far more.

Every turn in the investigation that led to Petraeus’s resignation perfectly illustrates the incredible and dangerous reach of the massive United States surveillance apparatus, which, through hundreds of billions of dollars in post-9/11 programs — coupled with weakened privacy laws and lack of oversight — has affected the civil liberties of every American for years. The only difference here is the victim of the surveillance state’s reach was not a faceless American, but the head one of the agencies tasked to carry it out.

The spark that set events in motion was a handful of allegedly harassing emails sent anonymously to Kelley, a friend of Petraeus’s, which she brought to a friend at the FBI. Yet it’s unclear why an investigation was ever opened, given that everything publicly known about the emails suggests they weren’t illegal.

As the Daily Beast reported, they said things like “Who do you think you are? … You parade around the base … You need to take it down a notch.” The story noted, “when the FBI friend showed the emails to the cyber squad in the Tampa field office, her fellow agents noted that the absence of any overt threats.” “

 

 

Illustration By Patrick Chappette

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Useless Trampling Of Civil Liberties

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Filed under: New Media — Leave a comment
October 10, 2012

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Homeland Security Learns to Love Small Spy Drones

Filed under: Arrogance, Civil Discord, Civil Liberties, Hope and Change, Law Enforcement Thuggery, Media Double Standards, Nanny State, Police State, Property Rights, Science & Technology, Statism — Leave a comment
October 9, 2012

 

” There was a time when the Department of Homeland Security wasn’t enthusiastic about its drone fleet. Unmanned flying surveillance ‘bots had the potential to freak out the public, top DHS science and technology officials worried. That time has evidently passed — particularly for smaller flying spies.

In the coming months, Fort Sill, Oklahoma will become a proving ground to learn what small surveillance drones can add to “first responder, law enforcement and border security scenarios,” according to a recent solicitation to the country’s various drone manufacturers. Each selected drone wil undergo five days’ worth of tests as part of a new program from DHS’ Science and Technology directorate, called Robotic Aircraft for Public Safety or, gloriously, RAPS.”

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