Vote! It’s Your Right and Your Duty
Oct 30 at 7:07am by Jagwire X
You may have voted already or you may not have, but send this to others to remind them that their vote counts and to get out and vote!
5 More Friends
Remember early voting is still available in 31 states. Go to http://maps.google.com/vote to find out where you can vote.
Spoonamore Reveals the Plan to Steal the 2008 Presidential Election
Oct 1 at 10:10am by Jagwire X
A Diebold Election Systems, Inc. model AccuVote-TSx DRE voting machine with VVPAT attachment.
It may be crazy — or then again maybe not. I guess we will see come November 5th when all the “votes” are in.
New Spoonamore Interview - E-voting Machines are a National Security Threat
Last week, Velevet Revolution interviewed GOP Cyber security expert Stephen Spoonamore about the upcoming election and his testimony in the new Ohio litigation to take depositions of Karl Rove and others.
The video is posted in full below with ten short clips for You Tube viewing. This interview is so important and explosive that we urge everyone to watch it.
Spoonamore says that the GOP wanted e-voting to steal elections but now foreign governments will be hacking and the winner will be determined by the best hackers. He says that if the GOP wins the hacking competition, McCain will win 51.2 percent with three electoral votes over Obama, and it will be a stolen election.
Spoon also makes a crucial point about the people who have been implicated in much of the election theft: “They are religious extremists.” He names those who know about stolen elections, and he insists that the only way to protect this election is with paper ballots, hand-counted.
Check out this extraordinary interview after the jump.
Read the rest of this entry »
ACLU and EFF suits challenge FISA Amendments
Jul 16 at 3:03pm by Jagwire X
ACLU
The American Civil Liberities Union filed a Motion For Leave To Participate In FISC Proceedings Required By The FISA Amendments Act Of 2008 in the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) court, requesting that all proceedings regarding the constitutionality of the FISA law be open to the public and transparent. This is contrary to how the secretive FISA court normally operates. As part of the action the ACLU requests that the proceedings be adversarial (i.e., that the ACLU or others as opposed to just the Government can participate in the FISA court).
Electronic Frontier Foundation
Additionally the ACLU filed another action in federal court in the Southern District of New York, alleging that the terms of which grants massive new warrantless eavesdropping powers in the President violate the Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
The ACLU’s lawsuits do not challenge the constitutionality of the telecom immunity provisions of the FISA Amendments Act of 2008 because those sections will be challenged by Electronic Frontier Foundation and local/affiliate ACLU groups in separate actions regarding NSA Spying.
ACLU Challenges Unconstitutional Spying Law
Jul 10 at 6:06pm by Jagwire X
ACLU
Yes! That’s exactly what the American Civil Liberties Union is for.
Both Congress and the House of Representative succumbed to the manipulation and scare tactics of the Bush administration. Both warrantless wiretapping and the FISA Amendments Act of 2008 are abuses of federal power and must be challenged. The next step is to take it to court. I don’t see how it can not be overturned, but with the way things are being run now anything is possible.
In July 2008, Congress capitulated to the White House’s demands and scare tactics by passing the FISA Amendments Act of 2008, giving the NSA even more power to spy on Americans without warrants than it exercised under its illegal surveillance program. The ACLU is asking the court to protect the privacy rights of all Americans and declare the FAA unconstitutional.
Read more about the ACLU Challenging the unconstitutional spying law at the ACLU’s website and sign up via Firedoglake to have you name included in the in the full-page ad in a major national newspaper protesting the the FISA Amendments Act.
Liberty and FISA Amendments Act of 2008
Jul 10 at 1:01pm by Jagwire X
Bill of Rights
The FISA Amendments Act of 2008 is a particularly pernicious piece of legislation. It denigrates our liberty and removes our guaranteed rights.
I’d like to share with a few pertinent quotes:
They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.
—Benjamin Franklin
Suspicion is a virtue as long as its object is the public good, and as long as it stays within proper bounds. … Guard with jealous attention the public liberty. Suspect every one who approaches that precious jewel.
—Patrick Henry
I would rather be exposed to the inconveniences attending too much liberty, than those attending too small a degree of it.
—Thomas Jefferson
Government is not reason, it is not eloquence — it is force! Like fire, it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master. Never for a moment should it be left to irresponsible action.
—George Washington
If God is truly just, I tremble for the fate of my country
—Gibson Haynes
Take a moment and contemplate those quotes.
Now consider this:
The FISA Amendments Act of 2008 has the following effects:
- The provisions of the bill granting immunity to the complicit telecoms create a roadblock for a number of lawsuits intended to expose and thwart the alleged abuses of power and illegal activities of the federal government since and before the September 11th attacks.
- The bill expands the power of the federal government in conducting warrantless surveillance and strips the requirements for judicial oversight, effectively enabling unlimited government surveillance of any citizen of the United States for any reason.
- Allows the government to conduct unapproved warrantless surveillance of any person for up to one week (168 hours) without any judicial oversight.
The Bill of Rights guarantees in the Fourth Amendment Protection from unreasonable search and seizure.
The FISA Amendments Act of 2008 effectively negates the Fourth Amendment. That being:
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.
Our liberty is being taken away from us one amendment at a time. Why are you being so complacent? Why are you not up in arms over this? The founders of this great country would shake their heads in shame at our government’s behavior and ours.
Call your congressmen and senators and urge them to repeal the FISA Amendments Act of 2008. It’s unconstitutional and illegal. One more quote from one of the founding fathers, in case you still don’t get it.
The people cannot be all, and always, well informed. The part which is wrong will be discontented, in proportion to the importance of the facts they misconceive. If they remain quiet under such misconceptions, it is lethargy, the forerunner of death to the public liberty.
—Thomas Jefferson
Further reading:
- Senate Accepts Retroactive Immunity for Telecoms
- FISA Amendments Act of 2008 - WikiPedia Article
- H.R. 3773: FISA Amendments Act of 2008 - Full Text
- The new FISA compromise: it’s worse than you think - Ars Technica
The Constitution Dies Tomorrow
Jul 9 at 11:11am by Jagwire X
Bill of Rights
Over 200 years ago, we enshrined the rule of law as the only monarch in America. Tomorrow, the Senate will likely vote to shred that precedent. Democrats, “compromising” with Republicans, will act together, in a bipartisan fashion, to destroy your right to be free from search without a warrant.
EFF Publishes Legal Guide for Bloggers
Jun 16 at 8:08pm by Jagwire X
Legal Guide for Bloggers
If you are a blogger you might be interested in this. From the EFF Newsletter:
Whether you’re a newly minted blogger or a relative old-timer, you’ve been seeing more and more stories pop up every day about bloggers getting into trouble for what they post.
Like all journalists and publishers, bloggers sometimes publish information that other people don’t want published.
You might, for example, publish something that someone considers defamatory, republish an AP news story that’s under copyright, or write a lengthy piece detailing the alleged crimes of a candidate for public office.
The difference between you and the reporter at your local newspaper is that in many cases, you may not have the benefit of training or resources to help you determine whether what you’re doing is legal. And on top of that, sometimes knowing the law doesn’t help - in many cases the law was written for traditional journalists, and the courts haven’t decided yet how it applies to bloggers.
But here’s the important part: None of this should stop you from blogging. Freedom of speech is the foundation of a functioning democracy, and Internet bullies shouldn’t use the law to stifle legitimate free expression. That’’s why EFF created the “Legal Guide for Bloggers,” compiling a number of FAQs designed to help you understand your rights and, if necessary, defend your freedom.
Follow the links below to read the guide and learn more about ways EFF is fighting to defend bloggers’ rights:
EFF: Fighting for Bloggers’ Rights
Press release: “Justice for Bloggers”
HR 1528 - The Finest Quality of Stupidity
Jun 14 at 3:03pm by Jagwire X
James Sensenbrenner
James Sensenbrenner (R-WI) wants to put you in jail if you watch someone use drugs, and you don’t report this activity to the authorities within 24 hours. It as absurd as it is disturbing.
I guess our prison aren’t crowded enough. Well there is nothing like some absurd intrusive 1984-esque law to add to the population of The ClinkTM.
Take a look at Spy vs. Spy and Sensenbrenner’s Police State.
It’s really depressing how this country is turning into the opposite of everything it stands for. And our lovely “Republican” and “conservative” administration whose actions espouse so many beliefs contrary to what the Republican Party is supposed to stand for. Like smaller and less intrusive government.
There are much bigger problems in the world than this: the environment, poverty, jobs, renewable energy to name but a few.
Ohio Election Redux
Jun 14 at 2:02pm by Jagwire X
2004 election controversy map
Gore Vidal has an excellent article about our current plight as a “democracy”. It’s interesting that in countries that are supposedly less democratic than ours any citizen is allowed to ask their leaders real questions. Instead we get a dog and pony show of hand picked audiences asking trivial questions with useless answers. In addressing the problems of the 2004 presidential election in Ohio, Vidal, makes it obvious that there were too many discrepancies for the election to have been anything but tampered with.
NYC Police Commissioner Ray Kelly Comments Regarding Protests
Mar 28 at 5:05pm by Jagwire X
Ray Kelly
“The anti-war demonstrations are costing the city millions of dollars in police overtime and drawing resources away from crime-fighting and anti-terrorism operations.” -NYC Police Commissioner Ray Kelly, March 26, 2003
This is being repeated by police forces around the country. This is an attempt to equivocate protesting and dissent with being anti-American and un-patriotic. The people have the right to protest, to dissent to express their dissatisfaction with the government. It is in fact more than a right, in our forefathers eyes, it is our duty.
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