Big Brother has been born

[skoda]

Bush signed the Bill today and it is now the LAW.....

Federal goverment can come into your home WITHOUT a warrant

Tap your phone, monitor your activities on the net, and read your e-mails....America the Free is now America was Free....

They call it the anti terrorist law

[Onasoapbox]

Is it really that simple? They just walk in-with little or no reason??

[heath]

from my newsletter:

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:[/size]<HR>------------------------------------------------------------
WARS AND RUMORS OF WARS
------------------------------------------------------------

Terrorist 1 : "Hey, I'm bored. Let's commit acts of
terrorism today"

Terrorist 2 : "But, that's illegal now!"

Terrorist 1 : "Oh darn. Oh well, let's go fishing instead".

Are you sick of hearing our public servants blither
mindlessly about our "new war"? Every time a politician
proclaims that we will be victorious in our "War on
Terrorism", I'm given pause.

Will it be like our conquering victory in the "War on
Poverty"?

What about the "War On Drugs"? Will our victory in the
war on terrorism be as successful?

What a joke. The country is at war, alright. Thousands
of miles away brave young men and women are putting their
lives at risk, willing to pay the ultimate price for our
freedom.

Like the song says, war is hell on the home front too and
our kind Uncle Sam has thought nothing of waging war
on you and me.

The self-serving, power grabbing, freedom stealing exploits
enjoyed by Congress reached a new height today when Bush
signed into law the "USA Act". Its an indisputable fact
that no one's life, liberty or property is truly safe when
these conniving, evil people are in session.

At first, they tried to put an Internet Gambling bill
in the Ant-Terrorism act The language was removed:
http://thedailyspread.com/blitherings/terror_1.html

There are already plans to re-introduce the anti
gambling bill, though:
http://www.ptd.net/webnews/wed/ak/N1164_28.html

Remember the 4th Amendment? Its history, gone forever.
George Bush signed it away today.
http://wired.com/news/conflict/0,2100,47858,00.html
http://wired.com/news/conflict/0,2100,47901,00.html

The police can now come into your house without a
search warrant, confiscate some of your property (
including voice mail messages), leave and never tell you.
Your phones can be tapped without warrant.

The FBI can watch your every move on the Internet,
read your email, etc. No permission needed or
warrant needed. Phone companies must turn over
ALL your phone records to the FBI on demand, and
its AGAINST THE LAW for the phone company to notify
you. Credit agencies must turn over credit reports
to the FBI.

The misuse and abuse of law enforcement databases
is bad enough already:
http://www.freep.com/news/mich/lein31_20010731.htm

Look at the provisions of this new bill that's now
become law:
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,37202,00.html

Now, remember the Bill of Rights - specifically
Amendment #4:
http://pacific.discover.net/~dansyr/billrigh.html

I hope that everyone feels safer now.

Here's more insanity --

FLA is under martial Law:
http://worldnetdaily.com/news/articl...TICLE_ID=25051

Phil. man hassled, detained, barred from flight because
of book:
http://www.politechbot.com/p-02675.html

Make no mistake about it friends, Sept 11th was one small
step for terrorism, but one giant leap for the police state.

P.S. What is all this talk about "capturing Bin Laden"?
Does anyone realize how ludicrous such a statement is?
They couldn't find Eric Robert Rudolph in the forests of
North Carolina but we're going to find a sunburned
terrorist in the middle of a desert full of other
sunburned terrorists. Okay, right.

P.P.S. What about this talk of federalizing airport
security? Is this an April Fools Day Joke? Talk about a
tragedy waiting to happen.

Do you really want your security in the hands of a system
that would yield the perpetual long lines of the DMV,
the "torment-the-customer" focus of the IRS, and the
corruption of HUD?

P.P.S. 3000 People get this newsletter and I'm sick of
hearing from folks who would rather trade MY freedom
for THEIR security by allowing civil liberties of all
people to be infringed in the interest of the "war on
terrorism".

So please don't email me and tell me how un-American I am.
There is no security in this world and pursuit of it is
illusory at best. All we can do is stand up as free men
and women for what we believe in, and be willing to fight
and die for those things if the occasion arises.

Today, Congress hands the Executive branch the most power
it has ever had since the countries inception in 1776.
The USA ACT removes judicial oversight from protecting
you and me.

Quick Question:
If the government's fight against terrorism is a just
cause, then why does it need to eliminate parts of the
constitution and the normal checks and balances to pull
it off?

One Answer:
Because its real agenda has nothing to do fighting
terrorism. Now they have the power to eliminate
any remaining dissent against their power base.

So please, save your emails of outrage to me. I love this
country and cherish the freedoms it was founded upon, but
what Congress has done and the President confirmed today
is a dark moment in our history.

I'm with Justice William O. Douglas, who cautioned a
half-century ago: "To be let alone is indeed the beginning
of all freedom."

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

[ronbets]

These laws were passed under the guise of national security. Watch, down road, maybe within a year or two, and see how these laws will negatively affect you the BMs and players. They'll turn the gun turrets around and steal from you. After all, you're breaking the law.

[squirrelsear]

fantastic article, heath

[mjh218]

I tink you guys are prematurely flipping out! What these bils do is allow police and FBI so on to tap, search and arrest suspected terrorists. It is not applicable to just any crime. You must be a suspected terrorist! What it allows the authorities to do is to tap all of the suspected terrorsits phone lines, not just one that would generally be allowed on a warrant.

Second it allows authorities to detain suspected terrorists for 7 days before they must let them go.

This is all for suspected terrorists not average Joes like you and me! In order to allow the authorities to do their job and protect us we must allow the government to invade our privacy a smalll bit! This is not a big deal! You need tnot flip out!

[Conrad]

Great post heath.

The introduction of such draconic measures is parallel to creating a totalitarian police state. The Running Man comes to mind...

[JC]

Heath,

First let me commend you as a great American. Too many people in this country seem to interpret anti-government as anti-American. They forget that our very own roots are anti-government.

I do think this bill is a big deal. Why? Because they never go backwards. Once they take rights away they don't reinstate them. I haven't read the entire bill but if Heath is right and the "... USA ACT removes judicial oversight from protecting you and me," then we have real problems. As weak as some of these protections have become, and as much of a rubber stamp of the government the courts have become, you still had a slight chance of being heard. If Heath is right, I pity us all.

Finally, once they enjoy their new powers they like to start using them elsewhere. They tend to trickle down into other matters. Today it is terrorism, tomorrow it will be drugs, next ot will be pornography, and them gambling. Don't say they would never do such a thing. It's a very slippery slope.

And now for your reading pleasure: http://www.nara.gov/exhall/charters/...claration.html

[This message has been edited by JC (edited 10-26-2001).]

[skoda]

Thats it......they don't go back or have they! What's next is the question? They were not kidding when they said America has changed...as said earlier, America was the Free!
Bin there and done that it is no more, now it's Bin Laden! Thank you..... Our US Goverment got caught with their pants down now they will want a raise for doing a job that wasn't done when they got their last raise? duh

I owe I owe off to work I go.....

[bayshore kid]

I like the bill. These a$$holes don't deserve any privacy.

I personally got nothing to hide from the Feds so they're more than welcome to come over for a beer and game.

Bayshore

[skoda]

Sorry Bayshore...would you invite them over for some tea and biscuits.
Your missing the point, read the 4th Amendment beer and gambling could be next? The bottom line is whatever you want it to be I'm not telling you how to think but It sure looks like the Goverment is!


The following is a transcription of the first 10 amendments to the
United States Constitution.
Called the "Bill of Rights", these amendments were ratified on December 15, 1791.

*Amendment I.
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

*Amendment II
A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.

*Amendment III
No Soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the Owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law.

*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.

*Amendment V
No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.

*Amendment VI
In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defence.

*Amendment VII
In suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury, shall be otherwise reexamined in any Court of the United States, than according to the rules of the common law.

*Amendment VIII
Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.

*Amendment IX
The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.

*Amendment X
The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.

[heath]

The Govt. had so much power before this. Now its really scary.

I am continually amazed at how anyone that bets on sports (in Nevada or offshore or anywhere else) can be for anything that gives the government more power.

Although BW is no saint, he is the poster child for goverment abuse.

What they've done to him is one of the scariest, most gut wrenching things I've ever seen. Ronbets is right -- they'll turn the turrets on us -- they already did on BW.

JC,

In discussion on the bill, Ashroft (I think it was him) and others discussed that they had basically suspended the 4th Amendment.

They created a new Federal "oversight" commitee to deal with any complaints of civil liberty violations.

mjh218 --

The provision is to detain illegal aliens for 7 days, not a citizen (I think).

The Federal law is 24 hours, and I think that is still the case if you are a citizen.

bayshore --

The whole "I'm not doing anything illegal, I've got nothing to worry about" is the wrong attitude for any true American. Its this empty-headed optimisim that breeds the indifference that will lead us to become a police state.

[This message has been edited by heath (edited 10-27-2001).]

[bayshore kid]

heath

This country has too many freedoms already.

Why do you think people like OJ kill and get away scott free?

If you're not hiding anything than don't sweat it. Obviously YOU ARE.

Bayshore

[heath]

The FBI wants even more power.

Its kind of sad to see all this happen. The principles that make this country great don't have to be eroded like this...

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:[/size]<HR>WASHINGTON — The Federal Bureau of Investigation is seeking to broaden considerably its ability to tap into Internet traffic in its quest to root out terrorists, going beyond even the new measures afforded in anti-terror legislation signed by President Bush Friday, according to lawyers familiar with the FBI’s plans.


Stewart Baker, an attorney at the Washington D.C.-based Steptoe & Johnson and a former general consul to National Security Agency, said the FBI has plans to change the architecture of the Internet and route traffic through central servers that it would be able to monitor e-mail more easily.

The plans goes well beyond the Carnivore e-mail-sniffing system which allows the FBI to search for and extract specific e-mails off the Internet and generated so much controversy among privacy advocates and civil libertarians before the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

“From the work I’ve been doing, I’ve seen the efforts the FBI has been making and it suggests that they are going to unveil this in the next few months,” Baker said of the plan.

FBI Spokesman Paul Bresson said he was unaware of any development in the e-mail surveillance arena that would require major architectural changes in the Internet, but acknowledged that such a plan is possible.

Any new efforts would “would be in compliance with wiretapping statutes,” Bresson said. “We would be remiss if we didn’t.”

Such a move might have been unthinkable before Sept. 11.

Last year, privacy groups and civil libertarians howled in protest when the FBI trotted out plans to start using the Carnivore system. The Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) in Washington was ready to go full rounds with the government in court over Carnivore, and House Majority Leader Dick Armey, R-Texas, asked Attorney General John Ashcroft to take another look at its constitutionality.

Now, though, the country is asking for more, not less, law enforcement on the Internet, and even those who once complained are coming around.

“I have two minds on this,” says Fred Peterson, vice president of government affairs for the Xybernaut Corporation, which manufactures computer technology for military and law enforcement. The past six weeks have left little doubt in most peoples’ mind, he said, that new measures must be taken.

“I think that the threat has increased and while (FBI) demands were unreasonable at a time when the threat was less immediate and less fatal – it’s just not the same story anymore,” he said.

Others are still skeptical, though not as much.

“I don’t think (FBI) motives are bad, but I do think they’re using people’s current state of mind – they’re using it to their advantage,” said Mikal Condon, staff attorney for EPIC.

The new FBI plans would give the agency a technical backdoor to the networks of Internet service providers’ like AOL and Earthlink and Web hosting companies, Baker said. It would concentrate Internet traffic in several central locations where e-mail and other web activity could be wiretapped.

Baker said he expects the agency will approach the Internet companies on an individual basis to ask for their help in the endeavor.

But Jim Harper, staff counsel for privacy advocate Privacilla.org said the FBI may have a hard time convincing some companies to redesign the Internet on its behalf. “It’s not really surprising, but I would be shocked to see if it gets done,” he said. “Restructuring the Internet? I don’t think so.”

Others say the Internet companies will not put up much of a fight.

Sue Ashdown, executive director of the Washington-based American ISP Association, an Internet company trade group, said most Internet companies aren’t healthy enough financially to take on the government in court to protect their subscribers’ privacy rights. And no one, she says, wants to appear hostile to law enforcement right now.

“I know there are a lot of members in the association with feelings on both sides,” said Ashdown.

“In the current patriotic climate, enterprises of all types will likely play along with the FBI in order to avoid a public relations disaster,” said Gene Riccoboni, an Internet attorney with the Stamford, Connecticut-based Grimes & Battersby.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

[This message has been edited by heath (edited 10-27-2001).]

[alysheba88]

Heath, if you, JC and me are on the same side of an issue it has to be right!

[heath]

bayshore,

Have you ever WAGERED on a sporting event?

If so, then you ought to be scared.

How would you like to have your life, liberty and property seized because of some professed "war on gambling" by the U.S. government down the road?

O.J. Simpson got off because justice is for the rich in this country.

The white man has been buying justice for years in this country -- I don't understand why people like you are so pissed off when a black man finally purchases himself some justice.

Name one freedom you would taken away that would enabled us to convict OJ? The freedom for a white woman to date a black man?

[This message has been edited by heath (edited 10-27-2001).]

[Conrad]

Now I don't mean to piss anyone off but the blind belief in the "land of the free" while the gov't slowly keeps chipping away at personal freedom is not a good thing. It only leads to complacency and the mistaken belief that the US is the most free country in the world when I can tell you right now that this is not the case. And unfortunately due to new legislation being introduced it is falling down the ladder as we speak.

I don't know if the law can specifically allow for foreign nationals only to be detained for 7 days. I think any law like this has to be absolute and encompass all people, not just foreigners. 7 days is a f*cking long time, especially when you consider that after that time they can merely open the door, walk you out, and never give you a reason why they kept you for so long in the first place.

[bayshore kid]

heath

Yes, I have placed numerous wagers on sporting events and got 3 in action now as I post and another three NHL plays kicking of in 30 mins. That answers the first question.

Second, it's obvious what race you are because of the wording of what you said SPECIFICALLY insinuating the black man has finally got a piece of deserved justice.

I hate racists and people who use race as a "tool" for leverage.

OH BTW, Rodney King must've been white, right? How quickly we forgot that joke of a lawsuit.

I guess there will always be people like you, heath, that throws racism in every point you make.

I respect everyone's opinion but will not listen to any crap that pertains to racism when used as a tool for an argument.

Bayshore

[PMcK]

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:[/size]<HR>Originally posted by heath:
The self-serving, power grabbing, freedom stealing exploits enjoyed by Congress reached a new height today when Bush signed into law the "USA Act". Its an indisputable fact that no one's life, liberty or property is truly safe when these conniving, evil people are in session.
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
Aren’t these “conniving, evil people” democratically elected representatives of American people doing what the majority wants? At least that would be the case in a well working democracy and isn’t the USA the greatest democracy in the world?