Tuesday, November 21, 2006
Military Documents Hold Tips on Antiwar Activities
According to The New York Times, “An antiterrorist database used by the Defense Department in an effort to prevent attacks against military installations included intelligence tips about antiwar planning meetings held at churches, libraries, college campuses and other locations, newly disclosed documents show.”
Monday, November 20, 2006
Bye-Bye to Secret Spy Program?
This US News & World Report article about the NSA eavesdropping program begins: “Republicans who limped back to Washington for a lame duck congressional session last week found a host of marching orders from President Bush, but perhaps none more urgent than this: Before Democrats take control of Congress in January, they must pass legislation authorizing the National Security Agency's domestic eavesdropping program.” But, according to the article, the response has been a deafening silence.
Friday, November 17, 2006
House Passes ‘Terrorism’ Act Against Animal Activists
“Monday afternoon,” reports The New Standard, “the US House of Representatives passed a bill that reclassifies unlawful animal-rights tactics as terrorism under certain conditions, even if they are non-violent.” According to the report, “the bill will classify civil disobedience actions - such as blockades, property destruction, trespassing, and the freeing of captive animals - as terrorism.”
GPS Surveillance Creeps into Daily Life
This article by The New Standard begins, “For $5.99 per month, you can turn a cell phone into a surveillance device and track when your target leaves home, where he or she travels and at what speed. You can even detect how much battery power is left on the phone.” According to the report, marketed as "virtual eyes" on your kids or employees, this Global Positioning System provided by the company AccuTracking, even allows you to construct a virtual "fence" so that you can receive electronic alerts if the phone’s carrier crosses into forbidden areas.
Justice Department's Brief On Detention Policy Draws Ire
“Critics of U.S. detention policies warned yesterday that a brief legal document filed by the Justice Department this week raises the possibility that any of the millions of immigrants living in the United States could be subject to indefinite detention if they are accused of ties to terrorist groups.” According to The Washington Post, “In a six-page motion filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit in Richmond, Justice Department lawyers argue that an anti-terrorism law approved by Congress last month allows the government to detain any foreign national declared to be an enemy combatant, even if he is arrested and imprisoned inside the United States.”
Monday, November 13, 2006
Warrantless Wiretaps Unlikely to be OK'd
The Associated Press reports, “Legislation aimed at President Bush's once-secret program for wiretapping U.S.-foreign phone calls and computer traffic of suspected terrorists without warrants shows all the signs of not moving ahead, notwithstanding President Bush's request this week that a lame-duck Congress give it to him.”
Friday, November 10, 2006
With Power Set to Be Split, Wiretaps Re-Emerge as Issue
“The Bush administration escalated its defense of the National Security Agency’s domestic wiretapping program on Thursday, even as Democrats in Congress vowed to investigate the program aggressively once they assume power,” reports The New York Times. As the report explains, “In Washington, President Bush urged that during the lame-duck session that starts next week, Congress pass a bill effectively authorizing the program. And in San Francisco, the Justice Department told a federal court that public scrutiny of the operation risked ‘exceptionally grave harm to national security.’”
Thursday, November 09, 2006
Google Chief Vows to Protect Users' Privacy
According to The Guardian, “The Google chief executive, Eric Schmidt, yesterday vowed to resist attempts by US president George W Bush's administration to obtain private information on internet users.” The report goes on to explain, “Earlier this year, Google succeeded in having a subpoena allowing access to huge banks of data on the habits of web users overturned by a federal judge.”
