FISA 2012, or the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 2012, is a member in a group of surveillance laws that aims to deliver more power over the internet to the government. FISA received attention in 2008 when it was expanded to grant the NSA warrentless wiretapping authority under the Bush Administration, which has been continued and seeks to expand under the obama administration. The ACLU has estimated that the NSA, under the authority of FISA 2012, intercepts 1.7 billion calls, emails, texts, or other forms of communication per day in America. It is also understood that under FISA, warrentless wiretaps have been conducted on Judges, politicians, journalists and not just everday citizens. FISA 2012 was in Congressional hearing today, where EFF and others covered live: Why can’t we know how many people are affected by FISA amendment act in the US? This kind of vagueness creates suspicions,” the EFF quotes Rep. John Conyers (D-Michigan). Even before Thursday’s hearing, however, Rep. Conyers has adamantly opposed a FISA renewal. [Source] According to Wired, lawmakers spent the day arguing merely about increasing accountability and transparency with FISA. From the various reviews I’ve read, I’ve noticed that there were few, if any, arguments on the Constitutional basis [...]
May, 2012:
Holding a Gun to Obesity
While 2012 may be the year of tyrannical legislation, such as a large soda ban,large coffee ban, and sugar ban, it may also be the year of the yearning for liberty. That’s what it seems like in New York, as residents and onlookers from other states negatively reacted to news today that Mayor Bloomberg intends to ban all sugary drinks above 16 ounces in size. “I disagree with it, because it’s the right to choose. If you want to drink a Slurpee, you should be allowed to drink a Slurpee,” said Jamie Sawyer, a tourist from Oklahoma [Source] And Jamie about sums up the only reason needed to see what is wrong with King Bloomberg’s dictate. But for the sake of putting content on this blog, I’ll continue my criticism. The large soda coffee sugar ban seeks to prohibit private businesses and private individuals choosing to conduct commerce, specifically, the trade of a sugary drink larger than 16 ounces. From what I understand, no amount of sugar is specified, although diet-sodas will not be included. So technically, a drink larger than 16 ounces AND considered sugary (no minimum was specified), is a more unwise choice than a drink 16 ounces [...]
Paleo Blogger, Where Free Speech Ends and Licensed Speech Begins
A Paleo Blogger who suffered from Diabetes and created a blog to discuss the issue and his success with the Paleo Diet received an order from the North Carolina Board of Dietitians and Nutrition to cease and desist from exercising his Natural and Constitutional right to Free Speech. Steve Cooksey, who is now being defended by the Institute for Justice, started DiabetesWarrior Dot Net as a method of communicating about himself and nutritional information and opinions with others. His blog experienced success in attracting a sizable amount of readers, and he was recently invited to speak at a Conference on January 12, 2012, where he voiced his opinions, which do not agree with mainstream notions and opinion. [Short video on Paleo Blogger Steve Cooksey's Case for Free Speech] Shortly after the Conference, possibly after someone at the Conference “took offense” to his statements and reported him to the Government North Carolina board of dietitians and nutrition, Mr. Cooksey received a call from the Director of the Board dictating the following [Source]: “She stated that I, as a non-licensed person could provide NO dietary or nutritional advice… period. It makes no difference if I am giving the advice away or if it’s for a fee” “She [...]
The Unconstitution of the United States of America
“When the People Fear the government, there is Tyranny. When the government fears the people, there is Liberty”-Thomas Jefferson 2012 has been a tough year. We are only six months in, and already, Americans are being arrested by drones, being killed by drones, and policed by them. Congress is attempting to take the internet with CISPA, to regulate it, to criminalize it, and to governmentalize it. At the same time, Congress is discussing giving control of the internet over to an international government, the UN. It has now graduated from conspiracy theory to fact, that there are lists of words that are tracked and used to investigate private citizens, and to delve into the personal life of everyday people, and to misconstrue them as hostile or extreme. It is now fact that the Pentagon has been and is hiring Propaganda Firms to attack the media, although most of the media has marched in lockstep behind the propaganda. “It is dangerous to be right when the government is wrong” – Voltaire “They who can give up essential liberty to obtain temporal safety deserve neither” -Benjamin Franklin It is now fact that the President of the United States has “Secret kill lists” being used [...]
