Monthly Archives: October 2009

U.S. Spies Buy Stake in Firm That Monitors Blogs, Tweets

America’s spy agencies want to read your blog posts, keep track of your Twitter updates — even check out your book reviews on Amazon.

In-Q-Tel, the investment arm of the CIA and the wider intelligence community, is putting cash into Visible Technologies, a software firm that specializes in monitoring social media. (Read more from wired.com)

Dear CIA,

Decode THIS:

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C.I.A. Is Still Cagey About Oswald Mystery

For six years, the agency has fought in federal court to keep secret hundreds of documents from 1963, when an anti-Castro Cuban group it paid clashed publicly with the soon-to-be assassin, Lee Harvey Oswald. The C.I.A. says it is only protecting legitimate secrets. But because of the agency’s history of stonewalling assassination inquiries, even researchers with no use for conspiracy thinking question its stance. (Read more from nytimes.com)

“[I will] smash the CIA into a thousand pieces and scatter them to the wind.” ~ John F. Kennedy

Obama’s unrestrained FBI: Is this America?

In the last weeks of the Bush-Cheney administration, FBI Director Robert Mueller and then-Attorney General Michael Mukasey rushed into law such unbounded expansions of the FBI’s domestic surveillance powers that I was stunned. Years ago, I had often and critically reported on J. Edgar Hoover’s ravenous invasions of Americans’ personal privacy rights, including mine; but these new FBI guidelines, taking effect last Dec. 1, are unsparingly un-American.

As described by the Electronic Frontier Foundation, an ever-watchful guardian of the Constitution, these Attorney General’s Guidelines for Domestic FBI Operations authorize the FBI – without going to a court – “to open investigative ‘assessments’ of any American without any factual predicate or suspicion. Such ‘assessments’ allow the use of intrusive techniques to surreptitiously collect information on people suspected of no wrongdoing and no connection with any foreign entity. These inquiries may include the collection of information from online sources and commercial databases.

. . . .

President Obama has expressed no objections to these radical revisions of the Constitution, a founding document he used to educate students about at the University of Chicago. His attorney general, Eric Holder, said calmly during his Senate confirmation hearing: “The guidelines are necessary because the FBI is changing its mission … from a pure investigating agency to one that deals with national security.” (Read more from wnd.com)

The Oath Keepers

Judge for yourself.

READY TO REVOLT: Oath Keepers pledges to prevent dictatorship in United States
Group asks police and military to lay down arms in response to orders deemed unlawful

Personally, I’m much more scared of government than of anti-government groups.

Chris Matthews attacks oath keepers. He does a pretty good hatchet job. The oathkeeper guy was on his heels:

See also:
Foreign Cops Take Part in “Domestic Terrorism” Drill in California

Congressmen Grayson and Paul Ask Senate Banking to Delay Confirmation of Bernanke Until Fed Releases Information on Secret Bailouts

Banking Cartel: “Silly congressmen, you work for us!”

Below is letter text, and attached is the letter that was faxed to every member of the Senate Banking Committee.

10/07/09

Chairman Chris Dodd
U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs
534 Dirksen Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20551

Dear Chairman Dodd and members of the Banking Committee,

We are writing to ask you to postpone the confirmation of Ben Bernanke until the Federal Reserve releases documentation that will allow the public and the Senate to have a full understanding of the commitments that the Federal Reserve has made on our behalf. Without such an understanding, it is impossible to know whether Chairman Bernanke is fit to serve another term and fulfill the Federal Reserve’s dual mandate to ensure price stability and full employment. A list of said documentation is enumerated below. (Read more from prisonplanet.com)

Senators Jeff Merkley (D-OR) and Bob Corker (R-TN) introduce the *bullshit* Federal Reserve Accountability Act

Senators Jeff Merkley (D-OR) and Bob Corker (R-TN)

Washington D.C. October 20, 2009 -Today, Senators Jeff Merkley (D-OR) and Bob Corker (R-TN) introduced the Federal Reserve Accountability Act, an attempted compromise on the issue of transparency for America’s secretive central bank. The bill would permit an audit of the Fed’s actions in the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) and similar high profile bailouts, but would not allow Congress to review the Fed’s inflation of the money supply or the its agreements with foreign central banks.

Legislation that would bring a full audit of the Fed, Congressman Ron Paul’s H.R. 1207 and its Senate companion S. 604, has gained strong grassroots support and built tremendous pressure on banking special interests.

Opponents of Fed Transparency argue that a full audit of the Federal Reserve would damage the central bank’s “independence” and allow Congress to dictate monetary policy.

“Claims that transparency at the Federal Reserve would leave Congress in charge of monetary policy are simply bogus,” said Jesse Benton, Senior Vice President of Campaign for Liberty. “There is absolutely no reason why The American People should not be able to review the minutes of the Federal Open Market Committee after a reasonable amount of time has passed.”

“The Federal Reserve Accountability Act does not audit the monetary policy functions which have been responsible for our deteriorating dollar and so many of our current economic problems, and it is not an acceptable piece of legislation. Campaign for Liberty will continue to push for a full audit of the Fed.” (Read more from campaignforliberty.com)

See also, Ron Paul’s remarks: