Stop the Propaganda / Feed the Truth » Police State

Government spies could scan every call, text and email

Stop the Propaganda — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 21:59:13 +0000

(Telegraph.co.uk) - The huge eavesdropping programme would involve the creation of a mammoth central computer database to store hundreds of billions of individual pieces of communications traffic. Supporters say it would become one of the security services’ most comprehensive tools in the fight against terrorism but critics described it as “sinister”. MI5 currently has to apply to [...]

Government will spy on every call and e-mail

Stop the Propaganda — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 21:55:51 +0000

(TimesOnline.com) - Ministers are considering spending up to £12 billion on a database to monitor and store the internet browsing habits, e-mail and telephone records of everyone in Britain. GCHQ, the government’s eavesdropping centre, has already been given up to £1 billion to finance the first stage of the project. Hundreds of clandestine probes will be installed [...]

U.S. agents can seize travelers’ laptops: report

Stop the Propaganda — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 20:24:01 +0000

(StopThePropaganda.com) - Careful what you keep on your laptop or even your iPod when travelling to the United States. WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. federal agents have been given new powers to seize travelers’ laptops and other electronic devices at the border and hold them for unspecified periods the Washington Post reported on Friday. Under recently disclosed Department [...]

Welcome To The 21st Century Police State

Stop the Propaganda — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 16:46:17 +0000

(Rogue Government) - It is becoming increasingly clear that we are living in a police state the likes of which Adolf Hitler would have approved of. In the past week, a couple of disturbing news stories detailing extreme police brutality has been reported. In Arkansas a young man was tasered 19 times while he was [...]

Bill C-51, Codex and the SPP

Stop the Propaganda — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 16:39:53 +0000

(IntelStrike.com) - On April 8, 2008, Canada’s Health Minister introduced Bill C-51 which proposed sweeping changes to the Food and Drugs Act. The Canadian government has since been forced to make amendments because of intense grassroots pressure. There are fears that this Bill could lead to some vitamins, herbs, minerals, and dietary supplements no longer being [...]

What a Police State Looks Like…

Sparrows — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 08:25:02 +0000

The day after a video emerged of a cop knocking a cyclist to the ground, a second video alleging police brutality surfaced today in which an NYPD officer is seen whaling away at a man's legs with a baton. Cephus [the victim] says he wasn't drinking that day and denies having gotten physical with the officers. "I was with some friends at a cookout," he said. "I stepped out of the park to get some ice. The officers told me I couldn't return because they said I had alcohol. I told them it was only ice. "They thought I was drunk and they just came at me. They started swinging and hitting me with the batons." Cephus was charged with assault, criminal possession of a weapon, menacing and resisting arrest. Note: So what if the man was drunk? Lock him up without excessive force.

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OPP officer posed as journalist during 2007 Mohawk protest

Stop the Propaganda — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 15:31:17 +0000

(CBC.ca) - An OPP officer pretended to be a news reporter at a Mohawk protest that prompted the closure of a major rail line and Highway 401 in eastern Ontario during last year’s Aboriginal Day of Action, CBC News has learned. The officer’s tactics have emerged from testimony recently made public when a judge overturned a [...]

News You Might Have Missed: Court Confirms President’s Dictatorial Powers

Andy Worthington, Andy Worthington's Blog — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 15:00:01 +0000

A 5 to 4 ruling in the case of Ali Saleh Kahlah al-Marri legitimizes the president's right to indefinitely imprison "enemy combatants."

Get your hands off my iPod!

Stop the Propaganda — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 08:00:11 +0000

Big brother is watching you and your iPod. Think about it. If customs officials can inspect the contents of your laptop and your iPod, they might as well see what else is in there. (Guardian News and Media Limited ) - An agreement on intellectual property rights to be ratified by the G8 heads of [...]

Senate Approves Telecom Amnesty, Expands Domestic Spying Powers

Ryan Singel — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 19:13:49 +0000

(Wired Blog Network) - The U.S. Senate overwhelmingly voted Wednesday to grant retroactive amnesty to the telecoms that aided the President Bush's five-year secret, warrantless wiretapping of Americans, and to expand the government's authority to sift through U.S. communications, handing a key victory to the Bush administration. READ MORE HERE [ Source: Wired Blog Network, Ryan Singel, [...]

Analysis: NSA Spying Judge Defends Rule of Law, Congress Set to Strip His Power

Ryan Singel — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 17:47:06 +0000

(Wired Magazine) - Just days before the Senate will convene to give a final blessing to President Bush's secret, warrantless wiretapping program, a federal court judge ruled that his legal justification for the surveillance has no legal merit. READ MORE HERE [ Source: Wired Magazine Blogs, Ryan Singel, ryan@ryansingel.net ]

Judge: President’s ‘State Secrets’ Privilege Can’t Shield Wiretapping

David Kravets — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 06:47:41 +0000

(Wired Magazine) - U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker ruled late Wednesday that the government cannot assert the so-called "state secrets" privilege to automatically dismiss a lawsuit challenging President Bush's secret spying program adopted in the wake of the 2001 terror attacks. READ MORE HERE [ Source: Wired Magazine Blogs, David Kravets, dkravets@wired.com ]

DoJ Policy Would Sanction Racial Profiling, Let FBI Target Americans Without Cause

Kim Zetter — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 01:25:48 +0000

(Wired Magazine) - The Justice Department is considering establishing a new policy that would allow the FBI to target Americans for investigation even in the absence of evidence or other compelling indications that the person was breaking a law, according to the Associated Press. The policy, being considered as part of the attorney general's guidelines to [...]

European Lawmaker Sues U.S. Agencies to Obtain Travel-Related and Other Personal Information

Stop the Propaganda — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 04:34:54 +0000

Washington, D.C. - The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) filed suit on behalf of a member of the European Parliament today, demanding that the U.S. government release records about her “risk assessment” score and other information gathered about her during her international travels. The lawsuit comes just days after the disclosure that the U.S. and the [...]

Telecom Amnesty Foes On the Move

kdawson — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 12:02:00 +0000

ya really notes a blog posting up at Wired reporting that foes of the Telecom Amnesty Bill have mounted a campaign on Barack Obama's own website. Though the group was created only days ago, on June 25, it has grown to be the fifth largest among 7,000 such groups, just short of Women for Obama. Although it is widely known that Obama changed his stance from opposing telecom immunity to supporting it, many have not given up hope of getting him to switch once again. Meanwhile, left-leaning bloggers and libertarian activists have joined forces to raise $325,000 in the fight against the legislation. "Their Blue America PAC is already targeting House Democrats who voted for the bill, including placing a full-page ad in the Washington Post [an image appears in the Wired story] slamming House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, who claimed credit for creating the so-called compromise bill. The coalition plans to follow-up with a Ron Paul-style money bomb, which will be used to target key Senators..."

US To Get EU Private Citizen Data

CowboyNeal — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 15:38:00 +0000

An anonymous reader writes "In a case of 'all your data are belong to us,' the US government is close to coming to an agreement with the EU that allows it to get private citizen data on EU citizens to 'look for suspicious activity.' So, now we know what step three is: setup a security agency in US to resell otherwise unavailable data."

Senate Hearing On Laptop Seizures At US Border

kdawson — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 05:11:00 +0000

suitablegirl writes "As we have discussed, Customs and Border Patrol is allowed to seize and download data from laptops or electronic devices of Americans returning from abroad. At a Senate hearing tomorrow, privacy advocates and industry groups will urge the lawmakers to take action to protect the data and privacy of Americans not guilty of anything besides wanting to go home."

Airport Tyranny: The Introduction of “behavior detection” technology at major US airports

Stop the Propaganda — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 14:47:00 +0000

For more details, please click on the link to read the article.

Giveaway of Fourth Amendment Rights: House Approves Unconstitutional Surveillance Legislation

Stop the Propaganda — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 01:36:00 +0000

For more details, please click on the link to read the article.

US and European Union grant unlimited powers to police and secret services

Stop the Propaganda — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 18:47:00 +0000

Under the cover of the " war against terror ", the United States and the European Union have granted unlimited powers to secret services and police. Emergency measures which were introduced on a provisional basis in 2001, outside any judiciary control, have become permanent. Since September 2001, at least 80,000 people, mainly Muslim, would have been kidnapped, kept in secret prisons, and tortured by CIA and FBI agents. Hundreds of others have been put on the UN « black list ». That’s what happened to the businessman Youssef Nada, 77 years old, an Italian citizen of Egyptian origin, accused by U.S. President, G.W Bush of financing Al-Qaeda. Two judiciary investigations resulted in a non-suit, but Mr. Nada didn’t get his name deleted from the UN « black list » (*). His assets remain frozen; he is barred from travelling to or transiting in any country. He can’t go outside the tiny enclave of Campione - an Italian enclave inside Swiss territory - where Silvia Cattori went to meet him.

The New Surveillance Bill: The Worst of Both Worlds

Aziz Huq, The Nation — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 16:00:01 +0000

On fundamental matters of privacy and accountability, the new FISA Amendments Act reduces the separation of powers to a check-the-box exercise.

‘Orwellian law must be stopped’

Stop the Propaganda — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 14:43:00 +0000

For more details, please click on the link to read the article.

Bush Wants Your Eyeballs

Matthew Rothschild, The Progressive — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 07:00:01 +0000

George Bush just issued a directive to expand the acquisition of biometric information from citizens, and may share it with foreign governments.

Wiretaps “R” Us: Is the FBI Tracking Your Cellphone?

Stop the Propaganda — Sat, 14 Jun 2008 22:02:00 +0000

Under broad powers handed the Federal Bureau of Investigation by Congress in 2001 after it passed the Orwellian USA Patriot Act, the rights of ordinary citizens have progressively been stripped away by America’s national security state. With a history of domestic counterinsurgency operations against the left, and despite bruising attacks after 9/11 on its (undeserved) reputation [...]