The Continuing Decline Of Western Civilization ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- He did it first! There's been a trend of conservative apologists claiming that these warrentless searches of US persons is perfectly fine, because Clinton and Carter both authorized the same thing. Let me be clear: if Clinton and Carter authorized the same thing, then they are as guilty as Bush Secondus of ordering federal agents to violate a law. They too, would be felons. But as georgia10 over at Daily Kos points out, Both of the warrentless search directives authorized by Carter and Clinton operate pursuant to clauses in FISA that state that all targets must be agents of a foreign power, and there must not be any suspicion that the search in question will involve any US persons. So no, Carter and Clinton did not authorize warrantless searches of American citizens. add to the discussion - 0 entriesposted by tcdowc - 4:25 pm - 12.21.05 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Credible threats Just thought you might be interested in a list of the various groups that the government is conducting surveillance of. This is all the FBI, and isn't necessarily related to the NSA wiretaps. The FBI claims that they monitor all groups that have possible connections to groups engaged in 'violent or illegal' activity. Just who are those groups? A group called The Truth Project, which is affilliated with the Quakers. A meeting at a Quaker Meeting House was listed as a 'threat'. This one is my favorite. The Servicemember's Legal Defense Fund, which is an outfit who helps out servicemembers who have been affected by 'Don't Ask Don't Tell'. A gay 'kiss-in' at UC Santa Cruz was labeled a 'credible' threat. One can only wonder to whom. The ACLU has asked for files from the FBI on more than 150 groups, this is just a sample of the things that have come to light so far. The SLDF information was from 8 pages released from a 400 page document on the group. Of course there's more. The Pentagon has acknowledged that they haven't been removing information of peaceful protests from their databases as regulations require. And then there's this. NSA agents visited a Dartmouth student who had requested an unabridged copy of Mao's Little Red Book from his local library. The material was required reading for a class on facsism and totalitarianism. Subsequently, the professor is reconsidering offering a class on terrorism, fearing for the safety of his students. add to the discussion - 0 entriesposted by tcdowc - 4:51 pm - 12.20.05 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- On the nature of assumptions This brings up an interesting point. I mean, I have no real respect for the gang in the WH these days, but it seems sort of ridiculous to assume that they would circumvent the FISA court when it hands out warrants like candy at Halloween just because they couldn't be bothered. In light of Sen. Rockefeller's letter to Cheney, you have to wonder if the reason that the law was circumvented is that the law simply doesn't cover the means or nature of the surveillance in question, and to try to rectify that situation would cause lots of problems for them. Consider that the NSA has carte blanche with respect to foreign nationals, and has no need to seek approval from Congress or the judiciary; and that the FBI is perfectly capable of attaining FISA warrants and wiretapping individuals (which is where all of our FISA statistics come from). Unless my premises are flawed (which is possible), the real question here is, what kind of surveillance is the NSA engaged in? add to the discussion - 0 entriesposted by tcdowc - 8:53 pm - 12.19.05 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I read it for the articles So, Bitch Ph.D. has quite the nice picture on the top of her blog. And I am well informed that if you have trouble finding a bra that fits well (or a bro), then you should go here, where she lays it out. add to the discussion - 0 entriesposted by tcdowc - 7:25 pm - 12.16.05 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
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