© 2013 Michael Thompson [ Rule of Law ] [ Electoral College ] [ September 11th ]

 Liberty in America

 
 
Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.
--- Benjamin Franklin

  • January 5,2007 WASHINGTON -President Bush says he and other government officials have the power to snoop through your mail without a judge's warrant. [ read ]

  • August 24,2006 CONCORD,NH -The state Supreme Court ruled on Tuesday that the government can keep and destroy more than 500 CDs taken from Michael Cohen, owner of Pitchfork Records in Concord, in 2003 even though the state failed to prove that a single disk was illegal. [ read ]

  • August 17,2006 DETROIT -A federal judge ruled Thursday that the government’s warrantless wiretapping program is unconstitutional and ordered an immediate halt to it. The White House said it “couldn't disagree” more with the ruling. [ read ]

  • August 8,2006 Personal Commentary -Political satire is still alive and well for now. [ read ]

  • July 28,2006 PHILADELPHIA -Man arrested for taking cellphone photo of police activity [ read ]

  • July 26,2006 NEW YORK -The U.S. government, citing national security concerns, on Tuesday sued Missouri officials for demanding that AT&T Inc. disclose whether it gave customer data to the government's spying program. [ read ]

  • July 24,2006 WASHINGTON -A panel of legal scholars and lawyers assembled by the American Bar Association is sharply criticizing the use of "signing statements" by President Bush that assert his right to ignore or not enforce laws passed by Congress. [ read ]

  • July 20,2006 SAN FRANCISCO -A federal judge today denied the government's motion to dismiss the Electronic Frontier Foundation's (EFF's) case against AT&T for collaborating with the NSA in illegal spying of millions of ordinary Americans. [ read ]

  • July 16,2006 NEW YORK -The Real Agenda - It is only now, nearly five years after Sept. 11, that the full picture of the Bush administration's response to the terror attacks is becoming clear. Much of it, we can see now, had far less to do with fighting Osama bin Laden than with expanding presidential power. [ read ]

  • July 4,2006 WASHINGTON -US Demand for college wiretaps questioned [ read ]

  • June 13,2006 DETROIT -Judge denies request to summarily dismiss anti-wiretapping lawsuit [ read ]

  • May 21,2006 USA Today -The National Security Agency has been secretly collecting the phone call records of tens of millions of Americans, using data provided by AT&T, Verizon and BellSouth, people with direct knowledge of the arrangement told USA TODAY. [ read ]

  • May 04,2006 Fairfax County Virginia -S.W.A.T. team gunman accidentally kills optometrist suspected of betting on college ball games. [ read ]

  • May 02,2006 -FBI agents last month sought to sift through the files of the late muckracking journalist Jack Anderson to take back those it deemed classified over concern they could hurt U.S. interests. [ read ]

  • May 01,2006 WASHINGTON -The number of court-approved warrants allowing the Bush administration to conduct intelligence searches and electronic surveillance inside the United States climbed 18 percent to 2,072 in 2005, the Justice Department said on Monday. [ read ]

  • Apr 28,2006 SAN FRANCISCO -The federal government intends to invoke the rarely used "State Secrets Privilege" -- the legal equivalent of a nuclear bomb -- in the Electronic Frontier Foundation's class action lawsuit against AT&T that alleges the telecom collaborated with the government's secret spying on American citizens. [ read ]

  • March 18,2006 SAN FRANSISCO -A federal judge on Friday ordered Google Inc. to give the Bush administration a peek inside its search engine, but rebuffed the government's demand for a list of people's search requests - potentially sensitive information that the company had fought to protect. [ read ]

  • March 14,2006 SAN FRANSISCO -Google Inc faces off against the U.S. Justice Department in federal court on Tuesday as the Internet company seeks to quash a subpoena for search data, including millions of user queries, in a battle over privacy issues on the Web. [ read ]

  • March 9,2006 WASHINGTON -A U.S. academic accused the FBI on Friday of trying to silence his criticism of Bush administration policy toward Venezuela, further straining ties between Washington and the major oil supplier. [ read ]

  • March 2,2006 PROVIDENCE, RI -Pay too much and you could raise the alarm [ read ]

  • February 25,2006 San Francisco (AP) -Concerns by Google Inc. that a Bush administration demand to examine millions of its users' Internet search requests would violate privacy rights are unwarranted, the Justice Department said in a court filing. [ read ]

  • February 15,2006 Houston (AP) -Houston's police chief on Wednesday proposed placing surveillance cameras in apartment complexes, downtown streets, shopping malls and even private homes to fight crime during a shortage of police officers.

    "I know a lot of people are concerned about Big Brother, but my response to that is, if you are not doing anything wrong, why should you worry about it?" Chief Harold Hurtt told reporters Wednesday at a regular briefing. [ read ]

  • February 7,2006 Washington (AP) -Senators raised doubts about the legal rationale for the Bush administration's eavesdropping program Monday, forcing Attorney General Alberto Gonzales to provide a lengthy defense of the operations he called a vital "early warning system" for terrorists. [ read ]

  • February 6,2006 Washington (REUTERS) -The Bush administration defended a domestic spying program on Sunday, saying it was tightly targeted only at people suspected of having ties to al Qaeda, but a Republican senator who is to lead hearings on it said he believes the White House acted outside the law. [ read ]

  • February 5,2006 Washington (REUTERS) -U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales plans to tell a Senate committee on Monday that President George W. Bush's warrantless domestic surveillance program is carefully targeted and "not a dragnet," Time magazine reported on its Web site on Saturday. [ read ]

  • February 1,2006 Newton, MA -FBI Agents Back Down When Librarian Refuses to Let Them Seize 30 Computers Without a Warrant [ read ]

  • January 25,2006 Georgetown (Reuters) - Georgetown University students hold up a sign with their backs turned towards U.S. Attorney-General Alberto Gonzales (R, at podium) in protest as he speaks about domestic wiretapping in the United States during an appearance at the university's "Georgetown National Law Forum" in Washington January 24, 2006. REUTERS/Evan Sisley. [ read ]

  • January 23,2006 Manhattan, Kansas (Reuters) -President George W. Bush rejected charges his domestic eavesdropping program was illegal on Monday, while other administration officials said the war on terrorism has made the federal law on electronic surveillance outdated. [ read ]

  • January 20,2006 CNET News.com -Microsoft, AOL and Yahoo have all handed the US government a selection of search requests and indexed Web sites, but Google is standing firm [ read ]

  • January 3,2006 Washington (Reuters) -President George W. Bush opened a 30-day push to gain renewal of the anti-terrorism USA Patriot Act on Tuesday with a partisan blast at Democrats and a meeting with U.S. prosecutors who called the law essential. [ read ]

  • January 2,2006 San Antonio, TX (Reuters) -President George W. Bush defended domestic eavesdropping by the National Security Agency on Sunday after a newspaper report about a Justice Department official's resistance to the program prompted new calls for a Senate inquiry. [ read ]

  • December 17,2005 Washington (Reuters) -President George W. Bush on Friday refused to discuss a report that he secretly authorized a U.S. agency to eavesdrop on people in America but said everything he does to protect the public against terrorism is within the law. [ read ]

  • December 16,2005 Washington (Reuters) -A group of U.S. senators, demanding increased protection of civil liberties, defied President George W. Bush on Friday by blocking renewal of the USA Patriot Act, a centerpiece of his war on terrorism. [ read ]

  • December 9,2005 Capitol Hill Blue -“Stop throwing the Constitution in my face,” Bush screamed back. “It’s just a goddamned piece of paper!” [ read ]

  • December 8,2005 WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Republican congressional negotiators announced a White House-backed deal on Thursday to extend the USA Patriot Act, a centerpiece of President George W. Bush's war on terrorism, but opponents said it did not satisfy their civil liberties concerns. [ read ]

  • December 7,2005 WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. officials on Thursday defended the deadly shooting of a threatening air passenger as necessary to protect the flying public and the White House said an investigation will determine whether there were lessons to be learned from the incident [ read ]

  • December 6,2005 ZDNET NEWS -The U.S. Department of Transportation has been handing millions of dollars to state governments for GPS-tracking pilot projects designed to track vehicles wherever they go. So far, Washington state and Oregon have received fat federal checks to figure out how to levy these "mileage-based road user fees." [ read ]

  • November 30,2005 WASHINGTON -U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has defended the unlimited detention of suspected terrorists saying, in an interview that it benefitted the United States and the entire world. "You can't allow somebody to commit the crime before you detain them, because if they commit the crime, thousands of innocent people die," she told the USA Today daily. [ read ]

  • June 23,2005 WASHINGTON -The Supreme Court on Thursday said the Constitution doesn't prohibit local governments from seizing private property for other private uses, so long as it's developed for the public benefit. [ read ]

  • November 20,2003 MIAMI -
    Miami police fire rubber bullets at peaceful protesters. (Video)
    [ brief ]

    As a middle-aged Coral Gables attorney, dressed sharply in a red suit jacket, skirt and black slingback heels, Elizabeth Ritter stood out among the throng of protesters on Nov. 20, 2003.

    Frustrated that she couldn't do business because the Miami-Dade County Courthouse was shut down that week during the Free Trade Area of the Americas summit, she hastily made a sign that read ''Fear Totalitarianism'' and decided to stand with the protesters.

    The sign, however, became her shield against a barrage of rubber bullets fired at her by a legion of Broward Sheriff's deputies in riot gear. And, in an image captured by a videographer, she is shot in the head as she cowers in the street.

    And now another video, recently released, raises questions about the degree to which police, specifically, Broward Sheriff's deputies, were encouraged, -- and even praised -- for using force against Ritter and other protesters.

    The tape, recorded for training purposes, shows Major John Brooks -- then a captain -- addressing dozens of deputies in an outdoor BSO tent.

    ''How about yesterday, huh?'' Brooks says, complimenting the officers for their work during the protests. ``I would go to war with everyone here.''

    Brooks continues, ``I went home, I couldn't sleep, I was just so pumped up about how good you guys were . . . Nobody broke ranks. You're the best I've ever been with.''

    Sgt. Michael Kallman, a BSO counterterrorism unit officer, addresses the group next. A voice off-camera says, ``What about the lady behind the sign? We have intel on her?''

    The officers laugh.

    Kallman smiles and says, ``The good news about being able to watch you guys live on TV is that the lady with the red dress, I don't know who got her, but it went right through the sign and hit her smack dab in the middle of the head!''

    He raises his forefinger and zooms it toward his forehead.

    The cops all laugh.

    Another officer asks, off-camera, ``Did I get a piece of her red dress?''

    BSO'S RESPONSE

    No disciplinary action has been taken against any officers in the video, said BSO spokesman Elliott Cohen.

    [ brief ] [ original story ]

    		•    
    Tips for Writing an Effective Letter to Elected Officials
  • Address the letter to the Representative or Senator(s) who represents you in Congress.
  • Immediately identify the subject.
  • If it concerns a specific bill, identify it by name and number (S.-" Senate Bill"/ H. R.-" House Bill").
  • Limit the letter to one topic.
  • Tell the Senator or Representative why you are advocating this position.
  • State facts; give examples.
  • Explain how the legislation may affect you and your company, group, etc.
  • Do not generalize. Be specific.
  • The letter should be polite, positive and constructive, never threatening.
  • In closing, restate the purpose of the letter.
  • Thank the Senator or Representative for his/ her consideration.
  • Include your local address on the letter.
  • Limit the letter to one page, two at most.
  • Type the letter or write neatly.
  • Type/print your name below your signature.
  • Do not send a photocopy.

    • Example

      
The Honorable John Doe
U.S. Senate
Washington, DC 20510

Dear Senator Doe:

I am writing you to (support/oppose) (S.-) . . .

I urge you to (support/ oppose) (S.-) because . . . 

In conclusion, I urge you to . . .

Sincerely,

John Q. Public
Your Address
City, State Zip

    E-mail
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    Faxing

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    © 2013 Michael Thompson