Category Archives: fourth amendment

NSA: It’s worse than we thought

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I hope you’re sitting down, because this is going to blow you away.

An interactive graphic from Der Spiegel explains that this tool is a part of NSA’s ANT division that the agency developed so it can see and hear what is happening in a room “without having to actually install radio-signal-emitting bugging devices in them.”

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…and you thought that mercury poisoned folk like myself were crazy for saying that EMF’s bothered us greatly.  When I was sicker, I could not talk on a cell phone for an hour, or I would become ill with a migraine.  EMF’s from the classroom smartboard/computer/wand make me ill.

And as far as the radiated beams causing cancer…well, that is a stone in the gravel pit.  The NSA is running amok with nobody reining them in or following anything that looks like our Constitution…

Oh, and in case you missed it–they’re also intercepting laptops bought online and installing spyware on them. Yep.

….because we got to get the boogeyman.

We got to get the boogeyman.

I wonder about this and those birds falling out of the sky.  More here.

Opposing Enbridge

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Warrior Publications has this up on the curious fact that people opposing the Enbridge pipeline are not the radicals that the Oil industry and the politicos would like you to think.

Like I’ve said before, there are a lot more people in favor of protecting the environment but are afraid to be categorized as terrorists or radicals, so they remain silent.  It really came home to me when I wrote an op-ed for my local paper talking about environmental concerns, including GMO labeling.  I had people call me and talk to me in person (in a low voice, no doubt so no one else could hear the conversation) about how they agreed with me.  But they didn’t take that next step and write their own op-ed on how they, too, wanted to protect the environment.

The oil industry and others have done a bang up job of portraying *all* environmentalists as radical, violent people….when only a small number of people have done things that are disagreeable to the rest.  And I’m sure there were agent provocateurs amongst the violent ones.

The following isn’t related to the environmental protests, but it is helpful in understanding that it isn’t paranoia on the part of protestors:

 

Money can’t buy security, either…

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<sigh>  Well, folks, if you were feeling a little more secure about our Constitution with the last court ruling on NSA surveillance...think again.

As the commenters said, I wonder what kind of dirt the NSA has on Judge William Pauley.  There is no way on Earth that this is in keeping with the Fourth Amendment:

 

U.S. Constitution › Fourth Amendment

Fourth Amendment

Amendment IV

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.

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This bears repeating:  No warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause supported by oath or affirmation, particularly describing the place to be searched and the persons or things to be seized.

Probable cause is required for searching a person, their houses, papers, and effects.  A court must agree that there is probable cause in order for the agency to violate someone’s privacy.

This amendment protects a person from a government abusing its power, as we saw in the Soviet Union, Nazi Germany, and China.  People who are not doing anything wrong have a right to be let alone.

 

Third Way

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You might remember this post with a quote that says the words “third way”.  Not long after I posted it, Ed on the Ed Show (MSNBC) mentioned the Third Way.  I can’t remember exactly what he said, but it was negative and the segment intrigued me.

I’ve just now gotten around to doing a bit of research on Third Way.  Whew…do you smell a rat??  Me, too.

Red flags are going off with Elizabeth Warren being attacked by supposed Democrats for…speaking out against selling us out to the 1% by cutting Social Security and other social programs….calling them “populist”. Um-hmmm…that and the word “entitlement” are key words for the “I’ve-got-mine-screw-you” crowd. 

Now, getting back to the previous post with Hillary Clinton’s religious leader saying those words:  third way…and how they wanted to do away with New Deal programs:

It emerged, he [Reverend Don Jones] says, as a third way, a reaction against both separatist fundamentalism and the New Deal’s labor-based liberalism.

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Social Security. Public Schools.  Medicaid.  Medicare.  Public employees like fire fighters, police.  Public Libraries.  A decent living wage.

I know that it’s hard to believe they want to destroy it all, but all signs are pointing towards that very end.

Elizabeth Warren stands in the way of that.

Here’s a humorous video up on it:

Please, please run for President, Elizabeth.  Please!!  I’ll go knocking on doors…whatever needs done to help get you votes.  Hillary Clinton is nothing but a Goldwater Girl doing the dirty work of the bankers, warmongers, education profiteers, Big Oil, Monsanto, and no doubt countless other organizations that don’t give a crap about Americans or America, the poor, the elderly, the children, the environment, nor the middle class.

Please run, Elizabeth.

Framing the news

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Look at this segment on ABC News on the ruling that what the NSA is doing is Unconstitutional.

Just the wording alone is alarmist:

CIA Spy Ruling Could Be a Major Setback for the War on Terror

(sorry for the large type)

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The segment states that this is a victory for Edward Snowden. (!)

Wow.  Just wow.  Journalists…er, um, people who get a paycheck pretending to be journalists…who didn’t do their job in the first place, making it imperative for someone else–in this case Edward Snowden–to do what they should have been doing are putting this as a victory for him.

Instead, they should be saying this is a victory for our democracy.

This is a victory for upholding our Constitution.

They frame it as a blow to the war on terror when, as the judge states, there is no evidence that this has saved lives.

And eavesdropping on friendly countries…? How is that helping the war on terror?  Is Angela Merkel a terrorist?

 

Allen Dulles and his brother

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Elliott at firedoglake has this preview of a book salon today at 5:00 p.m. EST.  Wow.  Just listening to the short video just sends the mind reeling….if there were any reason for limiting the power of the defense dept, and especially defense contractors, this is IT.  Dulles had entirely too much power to manipulate situations towards his own personal goals instead of what was best.  And his warped view of what freedom means is just stunning….it’s all about the money.

A wiki entry on JFK and Allen Dulles here.

I’ve read a couple of blogs on JFK and the CIA theories, and Huffpost mentions Senator Hart, who was on the Church Committee to investigate. He put it on the press’ failure to follow up on the witnesses being shot and other leads.  He also states that nobody wants to put this out there because whomever did it is still “out there”.  Well, I don’t know about that particular person or persons, since it was 50 years ago….but yeah, there are still mercenaries born every minute who would just as soon shoot you as look at you.  It’s called courage, Gary, when you speak out even though you’re scared.

Another Presbyterian, Maggie Kuhn, spoke the phrase:  “Speak your mind, even if your voice shakes.”

Funny that she and Allen Dulles could be of the same faith with such opposing views…

I heart Valerie Plame

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Valerie Plame was on CNN talking with Wolf Blitzer a little while ago.  I tried to locate her interview on their site…but it’s nowhere on there and I’m too tired to look deeper for it.

She talked about the newest revelation of the CIA operative in Iran…who disappeared while on assignment.  She said the analyst who sent him there had no business doing so.  A further explanation on CBS stated that three analysts were fired after his disappearance.

Plame stated that since 9/11, the defense dept has been overtaken by defense contractors.  She named the amount, but I forget how much– a large amount, though.  She is all for cutting the amount of defense contractors to shrink the dept back to manageable size. (paraphrasing)

Watch your back, Valerie.  John F. Kennedy had the same thoughts….

 

Suzuki showing support for First Nations

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David Suzuki is supporting the Elsipogtog protests.  Thank you, David!

Meanwhile, the trucks arrive in convoy. Another pic here.

Harper spies on the peaceful group. Note that their own intelligence says they do not see them as a violent threat….yet, they show up in riot gear and tear gas the peaceful protestors. I’m glad to read that they are also protesting Enbridge, which is in my own backyard.  “We want to keep the people and environment safe…”  bwahaha, that’s rich.  If you really cared about the environment, you wouldn’t be building a pipeline to begin with.

(DN also covered this happening in the U.S. towards nonprofit groups that big business perceives as threats. Big Brother has arrived.)

Lastly, this pic of a smiling female Warrior.

My other blogs on energy and fracking here, here, and here, and here.

 

75th Anniversary of Kristallnacht

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Germans observed the 75th anniversary of Kristallnacht (night of broken glass) when the assault against the Jews began in earnest.

It’s hard to watch the video of it.  The pure hatred of the dark ones sends chills down my spine.

(kind of like the war on the poor, children (public ed.), and the elderly (Social Security) and the overreach of the NSA in the U.S. now, eh?)

The stories of life and death

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This makes me cry.  Not just for the sad ending, but when they talked of his last five hours of life, it reminded me of my Mom’s passing.  They sang songs, too.  What a gift music is–to comfort in times of sorrow, as well as celebrating the good times…

….and I feel the same way he did–I was at that point many times when I was much sicker.  I can count at least three times where I woke up in the middle of the night gasping for breath because my lungs would not inflate or had fluid.  The last time, I begged God to just take me.  I think it’s harder for the family when one passes over–they see it as final, but I don’t.

It’s final for the life here on Earth, and that is sad, but I can’t wait to get to the other side….it’s beautiful and full of love.