Quote:
Originally posted by LadyMischief
You should be concerned. Get informed, it may be what's coming...
http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=15541
Some highlights include...:
Americans could have their citizenship revoked, if found to have contributed "material support" to organizations deemed by the government, even retroactively, to be "terrorist." As Hentoff wrote in the Feb. 28 Village Voice: "Until now, in our law, an American could only lose his or her citizenship by declaring a clear intent to abandon it. But ? and read this carefully from the new bill ? 'the intent to relinquish nationality need not be manifested in words, but can be inferred from conduct.'" (Italics Hentoff's.)
The government would be instructed to build a mammoth database of citizen DNA information, aimed at "detecting, investigating, prosecuting, preventing or responding to terrorist activities." Samples could be collected without a court order; one need only be suspected of wrongdoing by a law enforcement officer. Those refusing the cheek-swab could be fined $200,000 and jailed for a year. "Because no federal genetic privacy law regulates DNA databases, privacy advocates fear that the data they contain could be misused," Wired News reported March 31. "People with 'flawed' DNA have already suffered genetic discrimination at the hands of employers, insurance companies and the government."
Authorities could wiretap anybody for 15 days, and snoop on anyone's Internet usage (including chat and email), all without obtaining a warrant.
Oh and here's a good one:
The death penalty would be expanded to cover 15 new offenses.
American citizens could be subject to secret surveillance by their own government on behalf of foreign countries, including dictatorships.
Oh it's fun stuff...
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Simple minds are easily lead to believe in anything that is popular.
Left wing propaganga like this makes me laugh, because it reminds me so much of shady preachers planting seeds of paranoia in followers minds. "Rock 'n Roll is the devil... it will disguise itself as harmless fun, until it engulfs you in a lifestyle of sex and drugs. ONLY JESUS CAN SAVE YOU MY CHILD!" ...yada yada yada
It also reminds me of Disney's Beauty and the Beast, where the ring leader of the hunt for the beast was rallying the towns people ..."He will kill your children and stomp your homes, he must be destroyed!!". A simple minded analogy of what ignorance can do.
Whether or not some of the new proposals are outrageous and unconstitutional, some people still fail to see the extremeties of these laws. If the government wants your DNA, they could already get it... a court order is about all it takes. The point of this is, to not associate yourself with the types of suspicion that causes you to be under the microscope. The government doesn't have time, money or horsepower to start probing into nonsense investigations. Maybe on a small town, local level... sure we already have corrupt asshole cops in every neighborhood, that will make your life hell if they don't like you for whatever reason. This is NOT new. I do not believe everyday, working class citizens are going to be plucked from their cozy homes, at random and stripped of their rights. We still have a judicial system in America, as corrupt and backwards as it may be at times, it still stands. Although injustices happen, they have ALWAYS happened throughout history and present day, America is not a society that tolerates gross injustices on a large scale and in recent years, greatly publicizes many of these injustices.
I have watched CourTV for several years now... I see a lot of stories and always thought fingerprints or DNA samples at BIRTH would be a great idea. Sure it might be abused in some rare instances, but abuse happens with EVERYTHING. People are quick to point out the negative effects, yet fail to acknowled the positive it could bring, to many innocent suspects.
If you are so paranoid, that you are going to be hauled off to a terrorist holding facility, you have much deeper issues and/or criminal relations than the majority of Americans. Think logically and numerically, before you try and convict notions that aren't even legalized.
...And if the government wants to tap into my phone conversations or internet usage, they are more than welcome to. The fear that "Big Brother" is watching, has been instill in Americans long before the Patriot Act, if you do nothing wrong... you have nothing to be ashamed of. Contrary to what some people and paranoia seed planting non-Americans might believe, the government couldn't care less if some people like to masturbate to midget transsexuals.
