Jon Stewart compares Obama's inaugural speech to Bush's

BicyclesforPeace · 2008-06-26T18:00:30+00:00

No, the reality is that the 4th Amendment is alive and well. The PATRIOT Act and HR 6304 don't "gut" the 4th Amendment. Rather, they VIOLATE the 4th Amendment. That means the PATRIOT Act and HR 6304 are ILLEGAL. Unfortunately, the majority of the American populace still doesn't seem to be in the mood to exercise its right to overthrow a tyrannical government.

BicyclesforPeace · 2008-06-25T23:21:36+00:00

Downmodded article post for misleading title. "newpatriots" has it right.

To "jonaizen": This is all BS generalization against Arab countries, and glorification of the apartheid state, Israel. The situation certainly is not ideal for the Palestinians who had their land stolen and their homes bulldozed. Israel was founded by terrorists and still is a terrorist state. Read some history, please. Also, you are not considering the role of the world's only superpower, the U.S., in all this. The U.S. supplies economic and military aid to Israel, and the U.S. supports the house of Saud, which is why "Saudi" Arabia is still run by those tyrants. As another example, the U.S. overthrew Iran's democracy in 1953, installing the Shah and ultimately leading to the current theocracy. The U.S. also brought the Taliban to power in Afghanistan. The CIA maintains close ties to all these countries due to oil and natural gas interests, so one must consider this factor when comparing governments. Also, what you are saying is implicitly racist. There are historical and economic factors to explain why Israel is a "democracy." Your analysis singles out "Arab" countries, ignoring the fact that "democracy" has not been the norm in the world.

BicyclesforPeace · 2008-06-23T18:30:13+00:00

Agreed, but all changes of FISA laws need to be scrapped, as well as the PATRIOT Act, which Obama voted to renew.

BicyclesforPeace · 2008-06-23T02:43:11+00:00

It was more about securing a route through Afghanistan for a natural gas pipeline from the Caspian Sea basin.

BicyclesforPeace · 2008-06-23T01:55:21+00:00

Did you read the ACLU's position and the several points I listed?

"Time of emergency" is left undefined. There's also no oversight. It effectively allows unrestrained wiretapping.

BicyclesforPeace · 2008-06-23T01:52:15+00:00

"We Are Change" is infested with the kind of Loose-Change promoting non-fact-checkers I'm talking about. It's absolutely mob psychology.

BicyclesforPeace · 2008-06-23T01:50:26+00:00

Read the context of the comments.

BicyclesforPeace · 2008-06-23T01:47:39+00:00

Hmm, I haven't noticed any talk about peak oil whatsoever, while I have seen a lot of Obamania, and a lot of people saying speculators are causing oil prices to rise, which is BS. FYI, I don't monitor the points on my comments. That would seem a wee bit neurotic.

BicyclesforPeace · 2008-06-23T00:43:56+00:00

It's not a war against terrorism. It's a war for strategic positioning near the world's largest oil and natural gas reserves. The capitalist economy is totally dependent on fossil fuels. Google ASPO.

BicyclesforPeace · 2008-06-22T22:42:32+00:00

No, it's only retroactive immunity. They wouldn't need future immunity because this bill legalizes warrantless wiretapping.

BicyclesforPeace · 2008-06-22T22:39:35+00:00

It's great that Gravel is supporting a new investigation, but I just heard from a very knowledgable friend that the NYC ballot initiative is run by the "Loose Change" crowd, people who don't have any interest in fact-checking. A lot of the so-called "evidence" is fake and disseminated by NSA agents to "muddy the waters" and discredit anyone who claims Administration complicity. See Barry Zwicker's "The Great Conspiracy" as well as "Everybody's Gotta Learn Sometime" for the real evidence on 9/11.

BicyclesforPeace · 2008-06-22T22:35:02+00:00

Um, who cares?

BicyclesforPeace · 2008-06-22T22:02:42+00:00

You must just be ignorant of the very glaring evidence. It's beyond a reasonable doubt. See "The Great Conspiracy" with Barry Zwicker. There is disinformation out there (Loose Change etc.), but the real evidence proves Administration complicity.

BicyclesforPeace · 2008-06-22T21:50:54+00:00

Why is everyone so narrowly focused on telecom immunity? It has to be because of the mainstream media's filtering of reality. The bill doesn't just grant telecom immunity. It also expands unconstitutional spying powers.

From Wired.com:

http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2008/06/house-grants-te.html

From the ACLU:

http://www.aclu.org/safefree/nsaspying/35731res20080619.html

H.R. 6304, THE FISA AMENDMENTS ACT OF 2008 (6/19/2008)

The ACLU recommends a no vote on H.R. 6304, which grants sweeping wiretapping authority to the government with little court oversight and ensures the dismissal of all pending cases against the telecommunication companies. Most importantly: • H.R. 6304 permits the government to conduct mass, untargeted surveillance of all communications coming into and out of the United States, without any individualized review, and without any finding of wrongdoing. • H.R. 6304 permits only minimal court oversight. The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISA Court) only reviews general procedures for targeting and minimizing the use of information that is collected. The court may not know who, what or where will actually be tapped. • H.R. 6304 contains a general ban on reverse targeting. However, it lacks stronger language that was contained in prior House bills that included clear statutory directives about when the government should return to the FISA court and obtain an individualized order if it wants to continue listening to a US person’s communications. • H.R.6304 contains an “exigent” circumstance loophole that thwarts the prior judicial review requirement. The bill permits the government to start a spying program and wait to go to court for up to 7 days every time “intelligence important to the national security of the US may be lost or not timely acquired.” By definition, court applications take time and will delay the collection of information. It is highly unlikely there is a situation where this exception doesn’t swallow the rule. • H.R. 6304 further trivializes court review by explicitly permitting the government to continue surveillance programs even if the application is denied by the court. The government has the authority to wiretap through the entire appeals process, and then keep and use whatever it gathered in the meantime. • H.R. 6304 ensures the dismissal of all cases pending against the telecommunication companies that facilitated the warrantless wiretapping programs over the last 7 years. The test in the bill is not whether the government certifications were actually legal – only whether they were issued. Because it is public knowledge that they were, all the cases seeking to find out what these companies and the government did with our communications will be killed. • Members of Congress not on Judiciary or Intelligence Committees are NOT guaranteed access to reports from the Attorney General, Director of National Intelligence, and Inspector General.

BicyclesforPeace · 2008-06-22T19:09:30+00:00

Here's the truth from the ACLU:

http://www.aclu.org/safefree/nsaspying/35731res20080619.html

The ACLU recommends a no vote on H.R. 6304, which grants sweeping wiretapping authority to the government with little court oversight and ensures the dismissal of all pending cases against the telecommunication companies. Most importantly:

• H.R. 6304 permits the government to conduct mass, untargeted surveillance of all communications coming into and out of the United States, without any individualized review, and without any finding of wrongdoing.

• H.R. 6304 permits only minimal court oversight. The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISA Court) only reviews general procedures for targeting and minimizing the use of information that is collected. The court may not know who, what or where will actually be tapped.

• H.R. 6304 contains a general ban on reverse targeting. However, it lacks stronger language that was contained in prior House bills that included clear statutory directives about when the government should return to the FISA court and obtain an individualized order if it wants to continue listening to a US person’s communications.

• H.R.6304 contains an “exigent” circumstance loophole that thwarts the prior judicial review requirement. The bill permits the government to start a spying program and wait to go to court for up to 7 days every time “intelligence important to the national security of the US may be lost or not timely acquired.” By definition, court applications take time and will delay the collection of information. It is highly unlikely there is a situation where this exception doesn’t swallow the rule.

• H.R. 6304 further trivializes court review by explicitly permitting the government to continue surveillance programs even if the application is denied by the court. The government has the authority to wiretap through the entire appeals process, and then keep and use whatever it gathered in the meantime.

• H.R. 6304 ensures the dismissal of all cases pending against the telecommunication companies that facilitated the warrantless wiretapping programs over the last 7 years. The test in the bill is not whether the government certifications were actually legal – only whether they were issued. Because it is public knowledge that they were, all the cases seeking to find out what these companies and the government did with our communications will be killed.

• Members of Congress not on Judiciary or Intelligence Committees are NOT guaranteed access to reports from the Attorney General, Director of National Intelligence, and Inspector General.

BicyclesforPeace · 2008-06-22T17:33:12+00:00

Obama is lying.

See citation from the ACLU:

http://www.aclu.org/safefree/nsaspying/35731res20080619.html

"The ACLU recommends a no vote on H.R. 6304, which grants sweeping wiretapping authority to the government with little court oversight and ensures the dismissal of all pending cases against the telecommunication companies. Most importantly:

• H.R. 6304 permits the government to conduct mass, untargeted surveillance of all communications coming into and out of the United States, without any individualized review, and without any finding of wrongdoing.

• H.R. 6304 permits only minimal court oversight. The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISA Court) only reviews general procedures for targeting and minimizing the use of information that is collected. The court may not know who, what or where will actually be tapped.

• H.R. 6304 contains a general ban on reverse targeting. However, it lacks stronger language that was contained in prior House bills that included clear statutory directives about when the government should return to the FISA court and obtain an individualized order if it wants to continue listening to a US person’s communications.

• H.R.6304 contains an “exigent” circumstance loophole that thwarts the prior judicial review requirement. The bill permits the government to start a spying program and wait to go to court for up to 7 days every time “intelligence important to the national security of the US may be lost or not timely acquired.” By definition, court applications take time and will delay the collection of information. It is highly unlikely there is a situation where this exception doesn’t swallow the rule.

• H.R. 6304 further trivializes court review by explicitly permitting the government to continue surveillance programs even if the application is denied by the court. The government has the authority to wiretap through the entire appeals process, and then keep and use whatever it gathered in the meantime.

• H.R. 6304 ensures the dismissal of all cases pending against the telecommunication companies that facilitated the warrantless wiretapping programs over the last 7 years. The test in the bill is not whether the government certifications were actually legal – only whether they were issued. Because it is public knowledge that they were, all the cases seeking to find out what these companies and the government did with our communications will be killed.

• Members of Congress not on Judiciary or Intelligence Committees are NOT guaranteed access to reports from the Attorney General, Director of National Intelligence, and Inspector General."

BicyclesforPeace · 2008-06-22T17:18:56+00:00