July 11, 2008 :: J.E. Robertson :: No Comment Yet
President George W. Bush yesterday signed an update to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) into law, after the Senate passed the controversial legislation, giving telecommunications firms retroactive immunity for cooperating with warrantless wiretapping conducted on American citizens, with no foundation in US law and in direct violation of the original FISA law, and the US Constitution. A federal court had ruled that the warrantless wiretaps violated the US Constitution, prompting a move by Pres. Bush and his allies in Congress to pass a new law correcting the legal problem.
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June 23, 2008 :: J.E. Robertson :: No Comment Yet
Democratic and Republican leaders have reached an agreement on legislation that would expand the government’s legal right to wiretap foreign suspects on American soil, including up to 7 days surveillance on Americans, where such a method is deemed necessary to target foreign suspects. Warrants will not be passed over completely, and the bill should bring government policy in line with Constitutional provisions on privacy.
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March 12, 2008 :: admin :: No Comment Yet
12 March :: Democrats propose permitting telecom firms to defend themselves in ex parte communications with judges, away from view of plaintiffs, where evidence includes classified national security information; move is designed to allow court cases to move forward, permit phone companies right to mount defense, but with no offer of retroactive immunity for any […]
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February 7, 2008 :: admin :: No Comment Yet
7 February :: Bush spokesman says “waterboarding” is legal, may be authorized for use at any time, “under certain circumstances”; critics express disbelief, as two recent laws, Supreme Court ruling clearly bar use of abusive interrogation techniques; according to the LA Times “The technique has been traced to the Spanish Inquisition and has been the […]
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November 19, 2007 :: admin :: No Comment Yet
19 November :: Fmr UK PM Tony Blair, envoy for ‘Quartet’ —UN, US, EU, Russia— to Middle East, has proposed a sweeping economic regeneration, job-creation plan for Palestinian territories, to dissuade militancy, get territories on path to viable statehood, long-term peace; plan to include Jericho trade-park, a checkpoint-free Jordan-Jericho trade corridor, public works projects like […]
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November 17, 2007 :: admin :: No Comment Yet
17 November :: Bank of England governor warns coming year will be hardest economically for Great Britain, with credit problems, banking tightness and housing slump contributing to general tightening of purse-strings, possible consumer slowedown as well; Bank gov. Mervyn King said it will be 2009 “before growth picks up and inflation is brought under control”, […]
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November 16, 2007 :: admin :: No Comment Yet
16 November :: The Dept. of Justice, under new attorney general, Michael Mukasey, has reopened an investigation into whether its lawyers violated the law in connection with Pres. Bush’s warrantless wiretapping; the investigation had been suspended when the White Houes refused security clearance to investigators to examine evidence, which refusal has been called into question […]
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November 16, 2007 :: admin :: No Comment Yet
16 November :: The Dept. of Justice, under new attorney general, Michael Mukasey, has reopened an investigation into whether its lawyers violated the law in connection with Pres. Bush’s warrantless wiretapping; the investigation had been suspended when the White Houes refused security clearance to investigators to examine evidence, which refusal has been called into question […]
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October 26, 2007 :: admin :: No Comment Yet
26 October :: Report from Government Accountability Office (GAO) finds terrorist watch list may be targetting too many people to be effective, including 755,000 names as of May 2007, 860,000 at present; critics of the list say it threatens civil liberties, contravenes Constitutional protections; Sen. Lieberman has expressed concern about its “500 percent increase in […]
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October 20, 2007 :: admin :: No Comment Yet
20 October :: US Senate crafts ‘compromise’ wiretapping bill that grants telecoms immunity from prosecution for illegally handing customer information to NSA; deal was made after intel. committee chair Sen. Rockefeller (D-WV), obtained the secret documents debating, justifying and authorizing the warrantless wiretapping program which spied on American citizens; White House has said it will […]
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October 26, 2006 :: J.E. Robertson :: No Comment Yet
In the wake of major terrorist attacks against densely populated civilian centers in several countries across Europe, Asia and America, governments and private industry are looking at ways of using biometric scanning technology to determine who should or should not have access to certain locations and services. The technology is complicated and highly advanced, but unproven, and potentially highly flawed.
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January 17, 2006 :: J.E. Robertson :: No Comment Yet
Former US Vice President Al Gore gave what is being described as an historic non-partisan speech, calling for a passionate nationwide movement to defend and uphold the Constitution of the United States. Gore gave the speech in a non-partisan context, speaking at the Daughters of the American Revolution hall, with the express support and participation of Representative Bob Barr, Republican of Georgia.
The speech was attended by both Republicans and Democrats and thousands of people who fear that new arguments made by the Executive branch for expanded police powers pose a serious threat to the nation’s system of government and the rule of law.
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January 16, 2006 :: staff :: One Comment
Congressman Barr and I have disagreed many times over the years, but we have joined together today with thousands of our fellow citizens-Democrats and Republicans alike-to express our shared concern that America’s Constitution is in grave danger.
In spite of our differences over ideology and politics, we are in strong agreement that the American values we hold most dear have been placed at serious risk by the unprecedented claims of the Administration to a truly breathtaking expansion of executive power.
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