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Tag(s): 9-11; ACLU; College; Domestic Spying; Domestic Surveillance-Wiretapping; Fear; Freedom; Freedom Of Speech; Freedoms; Judiciary; (more...) Martin Luther King; Peace; Protestors; Security; Terrorism; Torture; Travel; Video (less...)
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January 22, 2008 at 11:46:07

Does Post-911 Legislation Protect or Actually Endanger Us?

by Kathryn Smith Page 2 of 4 page(s)

www.opednews.com

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http://www.aclunc.org/issues/technology/say_no_to_video_surveillance.shtml

The ACLU of Northern California reports:

“State-of-the-art video cameras may be coming to your neighborhood. Look for them perched atop 27-foot-high utility poles…on the rise in Northern California and across the nation…They can zoom in close enough to read the title of the book you are reading, the name of the doctor’s office you are entering, or the face of the person you are talking to….Footage can be watched and controlled over the Internet…Everything the camera sees and hears can be stored in perpetuity on a hard drive or database…Video surveillance does more than imperil our privacy. The cameras create an easy new tool for inappropriate monitoring, discriminatory targeting, voyeurism, stalking or blackmail…

“A British study of surveillance cameras showed that the cameras focus disproportionately on people of color, women, and those who look or act ‘Slightly different‘. One in 10 women were monitored entirely for voyeuristic reasons.

“From Scotland to Sydney, studies have shown that the installation of video cameras does not prevent crime. The crime simply moves from where the cameras are to where they aren’t.

“Community policing programs, not cameras, prevent, reduce, and solve crime. Video cameras only provide the illusion of deterring crime”.

So much for protecting us from terrorism.

Then of course, there’s the aborted TIPS program, in which Americans would have turned in Americans as terrorists. That was exactly what informed our friends’ big “SSSHHH!” in Budapest. Exact same legislation: Turn in thy fellow Hungarian spy to the government! The result was far from being safe: On the contrary, ordinary people and not only big fish in the pond knew that they all had to shut up.

As for the TIPS program keeping us safe, I can say from first-hand experience, right here in the USA, that it will do anything but that. Better said, as the TIPS program is re-awakened in the Thought Crimes Bill, in which Americans are coached to suspect each other as terrorists, it will be Americans themselves who are actually endangered and not protected. When I wrote a letter to The PEN about the Thought Crimes Bill (in fairness to The PEN, let me stress that this was prior to the time that they “came around” and circulated a petition to stop it) they wrote back to me:

----- Original Message -----

From: The P.E.N. To:

Sent: Friday, December 07, 2007 11:21 PM

Subject: Re: here's another holiday gift idea

“dear Kathryn,
so nice to hear from you.

we have received a number of alarmed messages about this. (cut)…. and we should emphasize we have read the actual bill, word for word, and according to its plain language.

….(cut)…and it is pretty clearly limited to addressing, for example ‘use of force or violence by a group or individual to promote the group or individual's political, religious, or social beliefs’…are you asking us to DEFEND the use of political force or violence? not only would we not do any such thing, if we ever receive a communication even suggesting any such thing that is a zero tolerance ground for immediate and permanent removal from our alert list. we categorically repudiate anything but peaceful democratic change. period. …..” ….(Cut)

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2 comments

Barbara H. Peterson is retired from the California Department of Corrections, where she worked as a Correctional Officer at Folsom Prison. She was one of the first females to work at the facility in this classification. After retirement, she went to college online to obtain a Bachelor's degree in Business, and graduated with honors.

The most valuable thing she received from her time with UOP was a realization that her life's passion is writing. Now her business degree sits in her d...

to see more of bio, click on member name
Barbara PetersonBarbara H. Peterson is retired from the California Department of Corrections, where she worked as a Correctional Officer at Folsom Prison. She was one of the first females to work at the facility in this classification. After retirement, she went to college online to obtain a Bachelor's degree in Business, and graduated with honors.

The most valuable thing she received from her time with UOP was a realization that her life's passion is writing. Now her business degree sits in her d...

to see more of bio, click on member name

Comparisons

It is difficult to think of going through the things that you did. I appreciate your perspective. We need to wake up and smell the stench. The first step to losing one's freedom is to ignore that a problem exists, and just go along with the program. When the noose tightens it just might be too late.

by Barbara Peterson (46 articles, 80 quicklinks, 3 diaries, 416 comments) on Tuesday, January 22, 2008 at 8:52:39 PM

This quote summarizes the nature of my concerns and the content of personal experiences which stir my activism:

"Necessity is the plea for every infringement on human freedom. It is the argument of tyrants; it is the creed of slaves". --Paul Revere, House of Commons
Kathryn SmithThis quote summarizes the nature of my concerns and the content of personal experiences which stir my activism:

"Necessity is the plea for every infringement on human freedom. It is the argument of tyrants; it is the creed of slaves". --Paul Revere, House of Commons

"When the noose tightens, it just might be too late"

Barbara, you took the words right out of my mouth. Thank you for understanding exactly what we are up against and for voicing it. I am very, very concerned. And that is exactly why I wrote this article.

It is understandable on the one hand that many of us feel disempowered and discouraged,that our voice won't count, etc.

On the other hand, the purpose of this article is to illustrate the fundamental truth: The stakes are way too high for us to lay down and play victim. We just can' t afford to do that.

Tianenmen Square should be the best example to bring to mind. That is what dictatorships routinely do: Make it dangerous----openly and publicly so----for people to speak up. The taserings we are seeing are only the beginning of the abuse stages.

We'd better speak up NOW while we still can. BEFORE it is too late.

And I want to tell you all something. My experience is far from unique. As a matter of fact, I only had a small taste of dictatorship, from a safe distance. I never had to actually live in it. People who have lived there would have much more to say than I am saying here.

What little I did see/experience is plenty enough:

I NEVER want to see America going this far.

And alas, lamentably, it is. Most of us aren't aware of how far-gone it is because we haven't read the ACLU's website.

www.aclu.org

I invite each and every one of you to visit the ACLU's website with regularity. To read about the post-911 legislation is an education indeed: Democracy Now's news becomes confirmation once the (unconstitutional) "legal" fundamental underpinnings of all the events are understood.

One can check out the Congressional voting score card on the ACLU's website to see who voted which way (and who to unseat from office).

One can read the newest news, see who is being affected in society, and by what percentages, etc.

THIS IS VITALLY IMPORTANT FOR ALL AMERICANS TO DO. PLEASE PASS WORD ALONG. OUR FREE SPEECH IS ERODING FASTER THAN MOST OF US MAY KNOW, GIVEN THE NATIONAL SECURITY LETTERS WHICH CARRY GAG ORDERS AND THE VASTLY WIDE-SPREAD PHENOMENON OF ACTIVISTS CLAMPED DOWN ON AS "TERRORISTS" bY THE FBI.

PLEASE WRITE LETTERS TO THE EDITOR TO ALERT THE PUBLIC AND URGE THEM TO GET INVOLVED. THIS IS URGENT. PLEASE.

THANK YOU ALL.

by Kathryn Smith (97 articles, 2 quicklinks, 42 diaries, 410 comments) on Wednesday, January 23, 2008 at 12:17:23 AM