Homeland Stupidity

Rampant Injustice in a Tullahoma “Terrorist” Case

"I have received an e-mail alerting me to the conviction of a black man from Tullahoma, Tennessee for making a threat, and he could receive 12-20 years in prison for doing so. Sentencing is in August. Lawmakers have literally created the crime of terrorism for possibly or allegedly ill-considered and/or extreme remarks made in a variety of emotional or mental states that include haste, anger, sarcasm, habit, ignorance, being under pressure, stress, the desire to fight back somehow, frustration, displacement, being under the influence of alcohol, or simply lack of restraint and bad judgment." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingRampant Injustice in a Tullahoma “Terrorist” Case

Another Black Man up on “Terrorist” Charges

"Michael C. Lewis, 25, is charged with discharging a firearm into a car and building. The result? He's charged with 'one count of going armed with intent and two counts of terrorism.' People sometimes go off, sometimes they commit crimes, sometimes they are career criminals, sometimes not. Justice requires making distinctions. But in no case should people be thrown into prison for 10 years or 20 years or 50 years, the possible terrorism penalty in this case, as a terrorism 'add-on' to all the other possible conventional crimes. Terrorism statutes with such penalties applied in such lax ways are in and of themselves cruel and unusual punishment." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingAnother Black Man up on “Terrorist” Charges

Ron Paul: If You Like The Surveillance State, You’ll Love E-Verify

"The mandatory E-Verify system requires Americans to carry a 'tamper-proof' social security card. Before they can legally begin a job, American citizens will have to show the card to their prospective employer, who will then have to verify their identity and eligibility to hold a job in the US by running the information through the newly-created federal E-Verify database. The database will contain photographs taken from passport files and state driver’s licenses. The law gives federal bureaucrats broad discretion in adding other 'biometric' identifiers to the database and broad authority to determine what features the 'tamper proof' card should contain." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingRon Paul: If You Like The Surveillance State, You’ll Love E-Verify

Around the Bay Area, you’re being watched

"It's not just the National Security Agency secretly vacuuming up your personal data. Local police agencies are increasingly adopting Big Data technologies such as automatic license-plate readers that gather information about everyone, whether they've broken the law or not. A lot of the information ends up on the 14th floor of a federal office building in San Francisco, where a 'fusion center' run by state and local law enforcement agencies combines the data with a plethora of personal information about you, from credit reports to car rentals to unlisted phone numbers to gun licenses." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingAround the Bay Area, you’re being watched

How Bad Is The Surveillance State?

"Even more baffling to me is the reaction of some 'conservatives' who deny the scope of spying activities and, at once, minimizing the civil-liberties threat and justifying the activities as absolutely necessary and vital for the protection of the country. The truth is that the network television show 'Person of Interest' is much closer to reality than most people think – except for the fact that no one is actually using the mining of data to protect the lives of innocent American citizens caught in the crossfire. Let’s look at some of the hard, cold facts of today’s surveillance state." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingHow Bad Is The Surveillance State?

No Rose Can Mask the Stench of Obama’s Tyranny

"Mr. Obama considers government's power to be illimitable, and individual freedom to be a revocable gift conferred by those who presume to rule the rest of us. This was made abundantly – and redundantly – clear in a recent interview Obama gave to the repellently sycophantic PBS host Charlie Rose regarding the totalitarian NSA surveillance program. Speaking about what he called 'tradeoffs' between freedom and security, Obama said: 'I don’t think anybody says we’re no longer free because we have checkpoints at airports.' There are dozens of imaginable variations on the official lie Obama decanted on the Charlie Rose program." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingNo Rose Can Mask the Stench of Obama’s Tyranny

Do Americans love Big Brother?

"Now we know the NSA and the FBI are vacuuming up Americans’ telephone calls, emails, Google searches, parking receipts, travel itineraries, bookstore purchases and all sorts of digital 'pocket litter.' Vast quantities of the world’s communications are being stored in Utah, available for government inspection. Now we know the NSA and the FBI have consistently misled Congress and the public with half-truths about supposed oversight. Now we know the sudden flood of leaks is not damaging our security. So is it just that Americans love Big Brother because they haven’t been told the truth in the past? If so, the latest revelations may cause a shift in public opinion." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingDo Americans love Big Brother?

Where Immigration Policy Intersects with Government Surveillance

"The drones are already there, though they aren’t continuously in the air; some are Predator B and Guardian drones — unarmed versions of the fighter jet-shaped aircraft commonly used in the Middle East. Also in the sky are large blimps loaded with high-tech cameras, on loan from the Justice Department — like the one I saw resting here outside of Valentine, Texas, roughly 20 miles from the border. Called 'the floating eye,' these building-sized balloons were formerly used to spot insurgents in Afghanistan. Now, they have become so common in the area that one was included in an artist’s rendering of a soon-to-be-built drive-in movie theater in Marfa, Texas." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingWhere Immigration Policy Intersects with Government Surveillance

Fact checking NSA’s 9/11 claim: U.S. already knew identity of Saudi hijacker

"Those making the argument have ignored a key aspect of historical record. U.S. intelligence agencies knew the identity of the hijacker in question, Saudi national Khalid al Mihdhar, long before 9/11 and had the ability find him, but they failed to do so. Mihdhar is at the center of the well-known story of the failure of information sharing between the CIA and FBI and other agencies. Indeed, the Obama administration’s invocation of the Mihdhar case echoes a nearly identical argument made by the Bush administration eight years ago when it defended the NSA’s warrantless wiretapping program." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingFact checking NSA’s 9/11 claim: U.S. already knew identity of Saudi hijacker