Category Archives: Civil Liberties

04.19.13
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The Week: The insanity of blaming Islam

We are still speculating about virtually everything right now, but I feel as though I need to explain why I find the quick and easy conversation about Muslims being radicalized in America to be so illogical and laced with bigotry.

Of course, there is a global violent jihadist movement, loosely organized, that wants to recruit young men to influence policies at home and abroad and perhaps usher in the global caliphate. That ideology motivates some Muslims to kill innocent people.

But you’re allowed to be a radical Muslim in America. You’re allowed to believe that the Qu’ran proscribes the most elegant set of laws. You’re allowed to believe that one man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter. And you can say, in America, pretty much anything you want. Not everything, and after 9/11, a little less, but you can still make very unpopular arguments.

So just for the sake of argument, let’s assume that the only factor that motivated these two brothers from Chechnya to set off bombs and kill police officers is their decision to accept some form of radical Islamic teachings as their foundational belief system. (I highly doubt this is the case, but let’s just throw it out there.)

We ask: “We have to look at the whole issue of radicalization. What prompts someone raised as an American to cause such carnage?”

That’s what Peter King, the Republican chair of the Homeland Security committee, asked. So he goes right to the religion; somehow, he slides very quickly past the possibility that something about America is radicalizing people of all sorts.

He commits the sin of essentialism.

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Click below for the full article.

http://theweek.com/article/index/243051/the-insanity-of-blaming-islam

 

04.19.13
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CNN: Uncle calls Boston Marathon bombers ‘losers,’ urges nephew to surrender

When asked what provoked the bombing suspects, the uncle stated: “Being losers, hatred to those who were able to settle themselves — these are the only reasons I can imagine.

“Anything else, anything else to do with religion, with Islam, is a fraud, is a fake,” Tsarni said.

“Somebody radicalized them, but it’s not my brother who just moved back to Russia, who spent his life bringing bread to their table, fixing cars. He didn’t have time or chance or anything, options. He’s been working,” Tsarni said.

Tsarni says he teaches his own children to love the United States because it gives a chance to everyone “to be treated as a human being.”

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Click below for the full article.

http://www.cnn.com/2013/04/19/us/marathon-suspects-uncle/index.html

 

04.19.13
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CNN: One Bombing Suspect Dead; Other on the run

One suspect in the Boston Marathon bombings is dead. The other — his brother — was on the run Friday, pursued by an army of law enforcement officials whose manhunt virtually shut down the city.

A man identified by several sources as Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26, died after an overnight shootout with police. He’s the man described Thursday by the FBI as black-capped Suspect No. 1 in the attacks Monday that killed three.

His brother, Dzhokar Tsarnaev, apparently escaped — leading police to throw a huge dragnet around the region. In photos released by the FBI of the bombing suspects, the younger brother is seen wearing a white cap. The agency called him Suspect No. 2.

Developments moved quickly:

— Police, often with guns drawn, continued to chase leads in pursuit of the surviving suspect. In Watertown, reporters were cordoned off and told to stay back.

— A Maryland man who said he was the suspects’ uncle told reporters the two men had brought shame on their family and all ethnic Chechens with the attacks, which he called an atrocity. “If you’re alive, turn yourself in and ask for forgiveness,” Ruslan Tsarni urged his nephew.

— A former teacher at the high school Dzhokar Tsarnaev attended, who lives near Tsarnaev’s residence now, described the younger brother as “a wonderful kid” who seemed incapable of such violence.

— Wednesday, two days after the bombings, Dzhokar Tsarnaev apparently tweeted, “I’m a stress free kind of guy.” Early Tuesday, he tweeted, “There are people that know the truth but stay silent & there are people that speak the truth but we don’t hear them cuz they’re the minority.”

— Tamerlan Tsarnaev was wearing explosives and a triggering device when he died, a source briefed on the investigation told CNN’s Deborah Feyerick.

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Click below for the full article.

http://www.cnn.com/2013/04/19/us/boston-area-violence/index.html?hpt=hp_t1

04.18.13
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Republican Mike Rogers led CISPA bill, the Fourth Amendment, and you

Overshadowed by congressional action on guns and immigration is an Internet privacy bill that could affect most Americans, without them knowing it, on a daily basis.

computer servers

The final vote in the House was 248-168, as 42 Democrats voted for the bill, while 28 Republicans voted against it.

And like gun control, it’s far from a done deal after the House passes CISPA. It would need Senate approval, and President Barack Obama has indicated he’ll possibly veto CISPA if it comes to his desk.

Both sides of Congress would need to muster a two-thirds majority vote to override the president’s veto, which would seem unlikely in the current political atmosphere of Washington.

At the heart of CISPA is a Fourth Amendment issue.

The amendment reads:

“The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.”

CISPA is designed to let the federal government work with private companies to fight hackers and cybercriminals in and outside of the United States. As part of the effort to detect cyber threats, private companies could voluntarily share with the government data about Internet users.

The sharing could be done in “real time” as the cybercops try to defeat and track down the evildoers. Companies could also share data among themselves as part of the effort.

There are major drawbacks about the legislation, say CISPA’s critics. The privacy provisions for consumers, they claim, are vague or nonexistent. The government and companies can’t look at your personal data, such as medical records and tax returns, if they are part of the “data dump” that is shared in real time. But the law doesn’t require that companies excise, or edit out, that information in the transfer process.

Another criticism is that a warrant isn’t needed for the government to obtain that information. And companies that share your information won’t be held legally liable for sharing that information, a practice that seemingly conflicts with privacy policies on existing websites.

CISPA’s biggest critic in Congress is a representative from Colorado, Jared Polis. The Democrat told the House on Wednesday, “This is the biggest government takeover of personal information that I’ve seen during my time here in Congress.”

Mike Rogers, a Republican representative from Michigan and the House Intelligence Committee chairman, is leading the CISPA effort, along with Dutch Ruppersberger, a Democrat from Maryland.

Rogers believes the measure is long needed. “People were stealing their identities, their accounts, their intellectual property, and subsequent to that, their jobs,” he recently said. “[Web users] began to question the value of getting on Internet and using [it] for commercial purposes. Their trust in the free and open Internet … was at risk.”

He has also stressed that participation in CISPA is voluntary for companies.

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What do you think about this clear violation of the fourth amendment?  Michigan residents living in the 8th US Congressional district can reach out to Mike Rogers to give their opinion of his bill:

Office Information
2112 Rayburn House Office Building Washington, D.C. 20515 Phone: (202) 225-4872 Fax: (202) 225-58201000 West St. Joseph Suite 300 Lansing, Michigan 48915 Phone: (517) 702-8000 Toll Free: 877-333-MIKE Fax: (517) 702-8642To Send an e-mail:http://mikerogers.house.gov/contact/

Click below for the full article.

http://news.yahoo.com/cispa-fourth-amendment-143420272.html

 

04.18.13
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The Week: Does the gun bill’s failure prove the Senate is broken?

Background checks have overwhelming support from the American public: A Washington Post-ABC News poll last week found that 86 percent of people support a law “requiring background checks on people buying guns at gun shows or online.”

The Senate, ostensibly, represents those same people. Yet the Toomey-Manchin bill regulating that exact issue failed in the Senate on Wednesday by a vote of 54-46. (It needed 60 votes to pass.) What’s wrong with this picture?

The main problem is that small states are vastly overrepresented in the Senate. If you judge the vote by population, the Toomey-Manchin bill actually got a majority of the votes. Alec MacGillis of The New Republic breaks down the numbers and finds that “senators voting for the bill represented about 194 million people, while the senators voting against the bill represented about 118 million people,” which is “getting close to a two-thirds majority in favor of the measure.”

While the Constitution has always protected the interests of small states, the disparity has never been this big. Ezra Klein of The Washington Post points out just how much things have changed:

During the first Congress, Virginia, the largest state, was roughly 12 times the size of Delaware, which was, at the time, the smallest state. Today, California is 66 times the size of Wyoming. That makes the Senate five times less proportionate today than it was at the founding. [Washington Post]

Of course, the effects of the Great Compromise wouldn’t be so, well, great, if it weren’t so easy to filibuster bills. “Everything needs 60 votes today. This is supposed to be a majority body,” Sen. Dianne Feinstein complained after the bill failed, according to The Huffington Post.

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Click below for the full article.

http://theweek.com/article/index/242989/does-the-gun-bills-failure-mean-the-senate-is-broken

04.18.13
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The Blaze: MSNBC Publicly Shames Senators Who ‘Voted Against Common Sense,’ Warns Of Retribution In 2014

The air in the small town of West, Texas was still filled with the smell of smoke and ammonia as medical crews worked to help the hundreds who were injured while rescue workers struggled to locate and identify the dozens killed in yesterday’s fertilizer plant explosion, MSNBC was looking for revenge. Revenge for the death of the gun control bill in the U.S. Senate.

Following the Senate’s rejection of the gun control bill, MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” launched a campaign of public shaming of those who voted “no.” (And in some cases, they chose a few unflattering photos to display.)

MSNBC Publicly Shames Senators Who Voted No On Gun Bill

On Thursday morning, the majority of the first hour of “Morning Joe” was dedicated to the not-so-surprising results from yesterday’s defeat of the Senate’s gun bill. Co-host Mika Brzezinski talked about the “stinging loss for the president…and might I add to the script, the country.” Brzezinski went on to talk about those who voted against the bill, announcing that the show was going to put their names and pictures on the screen so all could see the 54 “Faces of Cowardice.”

Democrats who voted against the bill were featured individually as well as given their own special page at the end of the segment.

MSNBC Publicly Shames Senators Who Voted No On Gun Bill

Joe Scarborough also piled on, warning of consequences coming to anyone who voted against the “90 percent.” (Scarborough declared himself and anyone who supported the background checks in the now-dead bill, “We are the 90 percent!”)

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Click below for the full article and some other related articles.

MSNBC Publicly Shames Senators Who ‘Voted Against Common Sense,’ Warns Of Retribution In 2014

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/04/18/msnbc-publicly-shames-senators-who-voted-against-common-sense-warns-of-retribution-in-2014/

Is the liberal anti-gun push backfiring?
http://www.theblaze.com/blog/2013/04/18/is-the-liberal-anti-gun-push-backfiring/

MSNBC Host Blames NRA for ‘Slow’ Boston Investigation: ‘In the Business of Helping Bombers Get Away With Their Crimes’
http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/04/18/msnbc-host-blames-nra-for-slow-boston-investigation-in-the-business-of-helping-bombers-get-away-with-their-crimes/

04.18.13
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Marketwatch: No decisions made on gun-control bill: Boehner

House committee chairmen are looking at gun violence proposals but no decisions
have been made about legislation, House Speaker John Boehner said Thursday.
“When we have a decision to announce, we’ll announce it,” Boehner told
reporters, a day after the Senate defeated an amendment that would have expanded
background checks for gun buyers.

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Do Republicans also need an education on the Second Amendment?  What do you think?  This is an interesting statement from the top GOP in the House.  Click below for the direct link.

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/no-decisions-made-on-gun-control-bill-boehner-2013-04-18?siteid=yhoof2

04.18.13
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Associated Press on Murder Case: Abortion clinic worker says “I saw 10 babies breathe”

former abortion clinic worker capped the five-week murder trial of her former boss with powerful testimony that she saw more than 10 babies breathe before they were killed.

“I thought they were breathing,” Kareema Cross testified Thursday, explaining that she saw their chests go up and down in the clinic run by Dr. Kermit Gosnell. “He would say they’re not really breathing.”

Cross, 28, is the final prosecution witness in the capital murder case against Gosnell. He is charged in the deaths of a patient and seven babies allegedly born alive.

Cross also described seeing three babies move, one after being born in a toilet, and heard a fourth give a “soft whine.”

Cross, who worked at the clinic from 2005 to 2009, was so disturbed by its operation that she took photos and called authorities, although she gave a relative’s name.

A 2011 grand jury report blasts state and city officials for failing to inspect or shut down Gosnell’s busy clinic in West Philadelphia. A 2010 FBI raid over Gosnell’s separate pain management practice ultimately led to its closure.

The defense has denied that babies were born alive, and Cross is sure to face strenuous questioning Thursday afternoon from Gosnell’s lawyer, Jack McMahon.

Click below for the full article.

http://news.yahoo.com/abortion-clinic-worker-saw-10-babies-breathe-183731159.html

04.18.13
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Medals for Drones??? Say it ain’t So!!! Reuters: Pentagon scraps medal for drone pilots after uproar

 

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel rolled back a decision by his predecessor, Leon Panetta, who two months ago unveiled a “Distinguished Warfare Medal” outranking the Bronze Star and the Purple Heart, awarded to wounded troops.

Hagel, a Vietnam veteran with two Purple Hearts, said instead the Pentagon would create a “distinguishing device” that can be affixed to existing medals.

Opponents had decried Panetta’s high placement of the medal, which was meant to be a nod to the changing nature of warfare and represented the most substantial shakeup in the hierarchy of military medals since World War Two.

Brian Jopek, whose 20-year-old son, Ryan, earned a Bronze Star when he was killed by a roadside bomb in Iraq in 2006, had branded Panetta’s decision a “slap in the face.

Click below for the full article.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/04/15/us-usa-pentagon-medal-idUSBRE93E12V20130415

 

04.18.13
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Business Insider: Pentagon to take over CIA’s drone program?

Drone Operator

Recently divulged plans to shift the drone program away from the CIA and solely  into the hands of the Defense Department (DoD) highlights a huge issue  about targeted killings by CIA drone pilots.

 

Daniel Klaidman of the Daily Beast reports (emphasis  ours):

“CIA and DoD operators would begin to  work more closely together to ensure a smooth hand-off. The CIA would remain  involved in lethal targeting, at least on the intelligence side, but would not actually control the unmanned aerial vehicles.”

“Since the inception of the drone  program, targeting decisions have been made inside the CIA with  little or no input from other agencies, though the White House sometimes  weighs in … [but Obama] does not … sign  off on all CIA strikes.”

The disclosure may explain how U.S. drones kill people whose  identities aren’t confirmed.

Read more:  http://www.businessinsider.com/pentagon-taking-over-drone-strikes-2013-3#ixzz2Qs63gKh9

Click below for the full article.

http://www.businessinsider.com/pentagon-taking-over-drone-strikes-2013-3