Court revives NSA dragnet surveillance case

Ars Technica.com

by David Kravetts, wired.com

A federal appeals court on Thursday reinstated a closely watched lawsuit accusing the federal government of working with the nation’s largest telecommunication companies to illegally funnel Americans’ electronic communications to the National Security Agency without court warrants.

While the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals revived the long-running case brought by the Electronic Frontier Foundation, the three-judge panel unanimously refused to rule on the merits of the case, or whether it was true the United States breached the public’s Fourth Amendment rights by undertaking an ongoing dragnet surveillance program the EFF said commenced under the Bush administration following 9/11.

The San Francisco-based appeals court reversed a San Francisco federal judge who tossed the case against the government nearly three years ago. US District Judge Vaughn Walker, now retired, said the lawsuit amounted to a “general grievance” from the public, and not an actionable claim.

Walker also presided over the only case that found the Bush administration illegally spied on American citizens when it unleashed the NSA on Americans’ conversations, ruling that the government violated the rights of two American lawyers for al-Haramain, a now defunct Islamic charity. The government is appealing that ruling.

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2011/12/court-revives-nsa-dragnet-surveillance-case.ars

Law breaking was certainly “business as usual” for the neocon “managers” of America’s government. It started in 1980. That makes their rein long enough to have created and filled a Pandora’s box with broken laws and other secrets the neocons wanted hidden from the public record.

A consortium of the neocon Executive Branch, the “SHOULDER-TO-SHOULDER” neocon Congressional Branch and BIG BUSINESS came together to violate the laws of America. After all – who was big and bad enough to stop them?

The Executive and Congressional branches were “joined at the hip”. When the Executive Branch broke the law, the Congressional Branch changed the law and made it retroactive. At that time America’s three branches of government were more like two. Only the Judicial Branch was battling the George W. Bush administration. And that was a full time job.

But apparently, it ain’t over til it’s over. There are still Americans who love America – from sea to shinning sea. They don’t seem to be the “GREED BASED TYPE”. They seem to be trying to return America to its pre-1980 days of “speaking softly and carrying a big stick”, They seem to be trying to return America to its ethical days. They’ve got a big job ahead of them but Godspeed.

 

Can Christianity and Evil Politics Co-exist in America?

Sure!

Christianity has co-existed with evil politics before and it is doing it again. Slavery and the holocaust were both parts of EVIL POLITICS. Germany and America were able to pull off some of the most inhumane acts in the history of the civilized world. And they did it in direct view of the Christian church.

The Christian church in America is not “all ruling”. There are no laws – that if broken – will send Christians to jail. Christians, in America, come together on the basis of faith. Christianity is faith based. And when it comes to politics, America urges the separation – not isolation – of church and state.

A need for a “man-made invisible barrier” that separates church from state received some impetus during the DARK AGES when religious interrogating of SUSPECTS of wrong-doing meant PHYSICAL TORTURE. Christianity no longer practices physical torture. Manufacturers of the rack and wheel must now be out of business.

But in 1980, something evil this way came. SUSPECTS of wrong-doing were given the PHYSICAL TORTURE treatment. And the body part of interest was concealed in the “drawz” of male suspects. Not quite sure about the body parts of female suspects. Females do have multiple “locales” of interest for male inquisitors.

Since 1980 America’s neocons have produced a long list of evil politics. Joejolly wonders if the “666” code is not currently at work right here in America.

Does Christian America see evil politics as a “live and let-live” condition? Does preservation not start with self?

Can Christianity and evil politics co-exist in America? Sure, Christianity has experience.

 

Focusing on the Eurozone Crisis

A Recent News Article On the BBC Website asked, “What really caused the eurozone crisis”? And the answer appears to be: the Eurozone caused its own crisis. If the Eurozone and the American economy crashes were related, that relationship, apparently, was beyond the scope of the news article.

The question, however, is news worthy and is a tribute to the journalistic search for truth.

The cause of all deadly problems should be sought after. A logical aim should be to solve the problem and do all one can to keep the problem from returning. And Europe has stated its intention to see that the current problem does not return. Europe, unlike America’s neocons and Tea Party, did not exempt the financial industry from inspection.

But one question might early arise. What or who is “The Market”?

“The Market” played a significant role in the author’s search for “What really caused the eurozone crisis”?. But it seemed difficult to “get a handle on” what or who is “the market”.

We all heard the news – early on – of Greece’s leaders talking to America’s financial market. Is America’s financial market a part of “The Market”? Does it matter? If there is a problem, the components of the problem matters – whether those problems be national, regional or international. . And the article was written as if the problem was contained in European markets. Is that the elusive truth the author sought? Is it relevant to the author’s article to define “The Market”? It didn’t seem that way.

Isolating Europe’s financial tribulations from an American influence on those tribulatioins helps set the stage for what is currently happening in Europe. Europe is focusing on the source of its financial problem – America’s neocons and Tea Party are not. Europe wants to heal the wound – America’s neocons wants to put a “band-aid” on it.

The BBC News article can be found here.

Little Change in Public’s Response to ‘Capitalism,’ ‘Socialism’

A Political Rhetoric Test

PEW Research

December 28, 2011

The recent Occupy Wall Street protests have focused public attention on what organizers see as the excesses of America’s free market system, but perceptions of capitalism — and even of socialism — have changed little since early 2010 despite the recent tumult.

The American public’s take on capitalism remains mixed, with just slightly more saying they have a positive (50%) than a negative (40%) reaction to the term. That’s largely unchanged from a 52% to 37% balance of opinion in April 2010.

Socialism is a negative for most Americans, but certainly not all. Six-in-ten (60%) say they have a negative reaction to the word; 31% have a positive reaction. Those numbers are little changed from when the question was last asked in April 2010.[...]

http://pewresearch.org/pubs/2159/socialism-capitalism-occupy-wall-street-libertarian-liberal-conservative

The above article from PEWResearch. org begs the question that most of us know the answer to: where does America get its opinions from? Do those opinions come ready-made or are they the results of personal “intervention”.

PEW has told us, in an earlier article that America gets most of its information from newspapers. Prior to 1980 that source would have been way-less biased than it is today. Much of today’s “news” could serve as “political advertisement” for political parties. Much of today’s news is “politicized”. The neocons, from long ago, targeted the “liberal news sources” and they have now developed their “hacking skills” to a “fault”.

If America’s ombudsmen(voters) agrees with the biased politicizing of news sources then perhaps America’s ombudsmen(voters) have at one time or another used their very own common sense to arrive at a political decision. That is generally the goal – with the hope that the American ombudsmen(voters) uses the “informed opinion” tool in chasing the “best political choice” for himself/herself and for America.

It is “damn” hard to believe that the “informed opinion” of America’s ombudsmen(voters) would have accepted the neocons’ Gramm Leach Bliley Act. It is “damn” hard to believe that America’s ombudsmen(voters) would have accepted rolling-back economic controls on banks to the 1930′s era. Those controls gave America’s ombudsmen(voters) seventy-some-odd years of economic stability. What those controls were replaced with(progress) crashed America’s economy within four years.

If there is little change in the public’s Response to ‘capitalism and socialism then the public is advised to “remove head from sand”. And no it wasn’t sand that the ostrich buried his head in. But if the ostrich sticks his head in a bush while evading danger – that still leaves his “butt” exposed.

Could the ostrich have been saying the same thing to his attackers that Maine’s neocon Governor said to the NAACP – “kiss my butt”? Press elements today are somewhat like the “old grey mare”. It’s not what it used to be. And America’s ombudsmen(voters) may well need to view more than one news source in reaching  “informed opinions”..

Black Computer Screen Encounters Are Over

Joejolly recently had several computer encounters with “black screens”. The background of his computer screen turned black. Joejolly first thought malware but later thought it was Microsoft. A system tray popup told joejolly to click on a button in order to validate joejolly’s operating system. Joejolly thought that to be a strange and outrageous demand since joejolly’s operating system came bundled with his computer several years ago. That Hewlett-Packard computer was purchased from Office Depot.

Joejolly thought Microsoft should be making demands on Office Depot or Hewlett Packard. So, joejolly sent an email to Hewlett Packard letting HP know of Microsoft’s concerns. And then joejolly removed Microsoft’s concerns from his computer. Vista was removed from joejolly’s computer and joejolly renewed an old acquaintance with UBUNTU. And all is well. No more black screens. No more pop-ups. No more tasks in task manager saying the nuisance would last until April of 2012. And UBUNTU is fine.

The Press, Conservatives and GOP

Elements of the press calls them “conservatives”, GOP, G.O.P. and Republicans. The “conservative” word and the acronyms GOP and G.O.P. are out of place in today’s “Republican” environment. The neocons destroyed all but the word Republican.

Everett Dirksen(R,IL) is no longer with us but he put it succintly when he said, “A million here, a million there and pretty soon we talking real money”. Today’s Republicans have replaced “millions” with “trillions” and see no problem with wasting those trillions on wars of choice that even an idiot would likely bypass.

While, for sure, the neocons and Tea Party are Republicans – its a value judgement as to whether or not they are “Grand”. And if somebody judges the list of neocon political activities to be “Grand”, then America is closer to HELL than America realizes.

Significant elements of America’s press needs to stop hacking and once again put Kipling’s six honest serving men to work. It is inadequate, silly and contributing to the stupidity of America when the press is reduced to just writing down on paper what somebody said and putting that effort into America’s CURRENT EVENTS news pool.

How Many American Un-employment Checks Will It Take to Pay 17 Billion Dollars to Nicaragua?

It is highly unlikely that either the Tea Party or the neocons will allow their tax cuts to be a part of reparations for the neocons’ war follies. And America, likely did not know that such a huge charge was “hanging over its head”.

This appears to be another war bill that the neocon “conservatives” have passed on to America. Joejolly discovered this article on the Moral Low Ground website. The International Court of Justice(I.C.J.) is said to have approved the 17 billion dollars amount for Reparations. It is currently unpaid. The article can be seen here.

A Compelling Video Awaits America’s Viewing

The website of IndictBushNow.org is providing video information on the Iraq war. It is a compelling video.

You remember the Iraq war.

That’s the war that had a secret reason for starting. Its the war that looked like a “rush job”. It’s the war that delivered “democracy” to Iraq. It’s the war that enabled President George W. Bush to say: I Liberated Iraq. It’s the war that prompted Mr. Dick Cheney to say: war crime claim is ‘cheap shot’. It’s the war that prompted United NationsSecretary-GeneralKofi Annan to say, “From our point of view and the UN Charterpoint of view, it [the war] was illegal”.

That video is hard-hitting. It is an analysis. And if you’ve ever desired to “turn your common sense latch off “ and just input information you might want to do it during that video.

And don’t bother checking with the Tea Party to see what their take is. You’ve likely seem it when you see the neocons’ take.

And what about the World Court and the United Nations. They have both made contributions to mankind. But the neocons have made them impotent. Is it time for them to “ride off into the sunset”? Everything has a life cycle. The League of Nations had a life cycle. Perhaps it is now time for the United Nations to look in the mirror to see who should ride off into the sunset next?

Joejolly said in one or more of his long ago posts that the discovery of Iraq war history might be delayed until archaeologists, while digging through ancient ruins of what used to be America, discovered that Pandora’s box that the neocons hid. But it might not take that long for America to have considerable insight into the war, whose cause, the neocons kept secret. That video can be seen at this link:

Watch RT Video: Bush’s & Cheney’s Bloody Legacy in Iraq

America’s Greed-Based Political Parties are Birds of a Feather

The Tea Party and the Neocon Party are both parts of the same thing – the Republican party. They designed their entry into American politics by capturing the Republican party. Unlike the stand-alone mode use by the John Birch Society, the neocons decided it would be easier to use an existing political structure than to fashion one of  their own. And the Republicans were closer to the neocons’ political ideal.

They fooled everybody.

Even the father of that conservative movement was fooled. He wound up giving an unfavorable opinion of the neocons’ ethics when the neocons were mired in their ethics cesspool. And there was an effort to link the Democrats to that neocon cesspool. A newspaper columnist was goading then Senator Barack Obama to wade into the smelly stuff and wrap his arms around the neocons in order to show America’s ombudsmen(voters) “political solidarity”. That newspaper was formerly owned by News Corporation. However the ruse failed. Even at that time Senator Barack Obama was not stupid. Joejolly said, at that time, Barack Obama’s mama didn’t raise no fools.

The neocons’ greed didn’t end with the personal stuff. After all the neocons had a business political base to look after. So, next came a massive “greed of all greeds” in their capture of the second largest oil reserves known to man. And again, the father of the movement spoke. He called the Iraq war a mistake. You see…the father of that conservative movement was an intelligent man who seemed to have been a born diplomat. But the language of diplomacy did not register well with the likes of what his idea developed into.

He didn’t get their attention. Perhaps he could have gotten the neocons’ attention had he told them to “go f**k your selves” or “kiss my butt”. That’s the kind of language the neocons use and understand. But William Buckley Jr. was not that kind of a human being.

Although the Tea Party mentioned “business as usual”, it left open the definition of “business as usual”. Currently the “business as usual” of twenty-some-odd years of neocon business and the “business as usual” of the Tea Party business seems to be mostly the same. Both seem to want to redefine America. And the place to start would be America’s Constitution – “that goddamn piece of paper” that made it into the public domain as such.

The neocons and the Tea Party both want to apply their “talent” to redefining America. America could not fare worse by using the talents of the Three Stooges to re-define America’s Constitution.

[ And while the Bush Doctrine on outer-space is undoubtedly the greatest greed-grab attempt ever, it failed. Joejolly, long ago said, "you can't own what you can't protect". The "invented" Palestinians could not protect Palestine and Israel was born. But in the case of outer space, no sooner than the Bush team lay claim to it, the Chinese shot down one of their aging satellites. And they did that without first getting permission from the Bush administration.

There are "factors" that can limit greed. Within the United States of America - its ombudsmen(voters) can limit greed.  Outside the United States - ballistic missiles can limit greed. China has ballistic missiles. Iraq does not.]

  

A Tea Party member says they were elected because America is tired of business as usual. The Tea Party has a a full plate of “business as usual” on their table:

There is a list of things on their plate. On their plate is the starting wars at the “drop of a hat”, financing wars with the proceeds from selling dope in minority neighborhoods, mass firing in America’s labor force, illegal spying on 200 million Americans, slicing penises of male terror suspects(not aware of any damage to the genitals of female terror suspects), pouring water up the noses of terror suspects, the Gramm Leach Bliley Act, fracking, giving America’s treasury away via tax cut for the rich and the outing of Valerie Plame.

Significant numbers of America’s ombudsmen(voters) and significant numbers of America’s press elements seems to have adapted to the neocons’ business as usual profile. But now, all that is about to change? The Tea Party realizes that America is tired of business as usual. And the Tea Party  has  pointed that out. So, here are some change suggestions to America’s twenty-some-odd years of business as usual.

As a first step, the Tea Party could end the business as usual Gramm Leach Bliley Act. That Act was created by neocons in 1999. It hibernated until January of 2003. In January of 2003 the President’s State of the Union Message brought the Gramm Leach Bliley Act alive. And the clock started counting-down to America’s 2^nd economic disaster under the Republicans’ management. Economy crashes are business as usual for the Republican party.

As a second step, the Tea Party could end fracking. Fracking got started by the neocon government without an environmental impact study. Fracking was the result of a “sweetheart” creation by the neocon-BIG business alliance. Fracking was said to have been created by the Halliburton Company. And America’s Vice President had been a leader of that company. America’s clean laws had to be “relaxed”. And that was no problem for the “BIG business as usual” President – George W. Bush. Big business got relaxed mining rules. Arkansas got an earthquake scare and Pennsylvania got tap water that caught fire.

The Tea Party, as a show of good faith, might just return the management of America back into the hands of sea to shinning sea America – RIGHT? Have you ever seen a flying bear? Which might  you see first – the flying bear or Tea Party “estrangement” from BIG BUSINESS?

[What would it mean if you, as a politician, were “tooling around” in a private jet that did not belong to you, your family or your party?]

A fool and his country may have already parted.