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Political
Insecurity |
Defining
Terrorism:
The
Patriot Act & Other Failed Attempts
The
Patriot Act is a bad piece of legislation for a lot of
reasons. Attempts to modify the Patriot Act were made
in 2005, but the Patriot Act still contains language that
could result in the abuse of Americans. This is especially
true of the definition of "terrorism." Yet few
seem to be willing to seriously discuss the definition,
or the lack of a definition for "aiding a terrorist."
One reason could be that there is no widely accepted definition
of terrorism. Within the U.S. government, different agencies
and departments use different definitions of terrorism.
In fact, even the people that do the spying use different
definitions. Click HERE! |
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You're
Not A Terrorist. So Why Care About Spying?
This war is about behavior modification. The idea is that because
you are being watched and blacklisted based on your political
"profile," you will be less likely to attend, for example, an
anti-war march or an environmental protest. If you are not the
protesting type, you may just want to read a book about war
or the environment. You can still checkout any book you want,
but certain books, and certain political views, will get you
on the list, and will cause your phone to be tapped. You can
also be stopped by the secret police if you threaten the profits
of those close to the administration by exposing illegal corruption,
under the justification that you are a terrorist. Click
HERE! |
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Intelligence
Reform Bill Imprisons Americans The
Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act appears to
be aimed at crushing political resistance against the president
and his "community" of spies. Some of the provisions
include new ways to track the movements of political dissenters,
new attempts to control the politics of working Americans, and
a host of new excuses to spy on Americans who've done nothing
wrong. Click HERE! |
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Stop
Lost:
Why
Stop Loss Must Be Stopped
"Stop loss" creates hardship and undermines American
democracy. We cannot allow an executive order and the tired
old excuse of "national security" to be used to rewrite
the words printed on contracts with the American people and
the American soldier. Bypassing the democratic process to sneak
around the words that constitute the rules is flatly wrong.
Click HERE! |
Stealing
Democracy:
Election
Scandals, Illegal Ballots, & Political Corruption
Election
scandals in the U.S. are effectively stealing democracy from
the American people. The 2004 presidential election used punch
cards that produced errors significant enough to possibly change
the outcome of the election, and electronic ballots that do
not produce a paper record. While this article focuses considerable
attention on some of the startling problems with "butterfly
ballots" that did not receive attention during the 2000 presidential
election, the article also focuses on political corruption,
and the abuses of democratic freedom that occurred during the
presidential elections of 2000 and 2004, as well as the California
recall, including some of my own terrifying experiences. Don't
let democracy get stolen in another fraudulent election. Click
HERE! |
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The
9/11 Commission Report
The 9/11 Commission's report is one of the most comprehensive
and compelling documents produced by the United States government
regarding the events surrounding 9/11. It is over 500 pages
long, and responding to it is a project in itself. There are
many arguments made in the report that I want to address, but
I have narrowed my list to five topics that most closely relate
to the information I have already written about. Click
HERE! |
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Bush
Irresponsible on Security:
Good
News on the Way
The Bush administration was wrong to threaten its political
enemies and attempt to keep them silent, monitored, and harassed
using policies, statements, and legislation. But through statements
and actions such as those of Dick Cheney, they ended up destroying
their position and making the whole national security debate
seem like nothing more than a political ploy. Click
HERE! |
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Does
Democracy Threaten Our National Security? The
President's National Security Strategy argues that in order
to "pre-empt" the spread and use of weapons of mass destruction
("WMD's"), the social, political, economic, and moral policies
and principles of all nations, including our own, must be controlled
using the economic and military power of the United States, under
the direction of the Commander in Chief. In the case of disagreements,
the administration will act decisively and exercise its own will,
using any means necessary, to maintain its power and control over
all ideas, in all nations, including the U.S. But such a strategy
can only produce the complete and total destruction of the principles
we cherish, producing a world in which the will of the administration
is carried out using the economic and military power of the United
States. Click HERE! |
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Officially
Terrifying America:
The
Rhetoric of Homeland Security
The Homeland Security Act of 2002 permits the monitoring of
everyone in the country, whether they are suspected of anything
or not. You don't even have to publicly disagree with the administration
to be monitored. The Department of Homeland Security will gather
information from anyone ranging from your doctor to your local
bank, as well as the databases of the FBI and CIA. It provides
a way for the administration to eliminate political enemies,
or anyone that disagrees with the administration and possesses
sufficient power to undermine the administration's politics.
If you think that once this war on terrorism is over it's back
to normal, you're wrong. But a "permanent war" isn't an idea
Americans should get used to, and it certainly shouldn't be
used to justify the destruction of democratic freedom in order
to carry out the will of the administration. Click
HERE! |
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Government
Hackers Invade Your Privacy The
military's Total Information Awareness System can be
abused by leaders in order to suppress political dissent and
frighten people who challenge their government. That is reason
enough to abandon such a project. But the kinds of colossal
errors made at the program's inception threaten privacy and
security even more. Not only is it impossible to protect privacy
and security in such a system due to the opinions of those charged
with the duty, it is impossible to guard against errors that
will inevitably lead to abuses of such a system. Just the errors
in the flow chart presented by the Office of Information Awareness
indicate that the people in charge of protecting our privacy
and security are not up to the job, and depending on the nature
of the mistake, may actually be seeking to undermine privacy
and security altogether. Click HERE!
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"Patriot
II" Reveals Secret Plans to Destroy Freedom The
Domestic Security Enhancement Act of 2003, also known as the "Patriot II"
Act, unnecessarily restricts freedom, increases spying and invasions of
privacy, makes privacy into a weapon, targets immigrants, separates businesses
and communities, and creates a DNA database that tracks the political enemies
of the administration. Much of the document relies on an overly broad definition
of terrorism that includes anyone who disagrees with the administration
while shopping at a mall, sitting in a bar, talking on the phone, sending
an email, or making a purchase. In light of these problems, the Patriot
II Act leads one to the conclusion that its effects if passed will be mostly
negative, and detrimental to freedom. Click HERE!
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FBI
To Investigate Buyers of Fuel-Efficient Cars?
It
sounds ridiculous to some people to say that the FBI may begin investigating
Americans who purchase fuel-efficient cars, but that really isn't the point
of this article. The FBI has now pressured Congress, using undisclosed tactics,
to gain the authority to probe the records of so-called "terrorists,"
which may include anyone who criticizes the President, by examining the
records of "car dealers, pawnbrokers, travel agents, casinos, and other
businesses [...] ...without the approval of a judge or grand jury"
Somehow, the debate was conducted in secret, away from public scrutiny,
and away from some of the Congressional committees representing the American
public that should have had a say in the matter. Does this really have anything
to do with fuel-efficient cars? Click HERE!
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© Copyright 1998-2005 T.J. Newton. Click HERE
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