Major Victory For Equality

What we have already known to be true and Constitutionally correct, has been verified by the highest of all courts. While the religious extremists contest that their 1st Amendment rights have been violated. They too are protected by the ever powerful Constitution of these United States. For the sake of staying true to who we are as a Nation, surely you already know this right?

This has always been a case about equality, and civil rights. It never should have involved religion as their is no place for religion within the law, just as there is no place for law within any religion. This decision does not force the will of the LGBT community on anyone, it merely ensures their rights as human beings under the Constitution. The same rights afforded to everyone else in America. And no, it is not forcing religions to change anything. Churches won’t be forced allow gay weddings, and no we’re not going to re-write the Bible. The same Bible that offers no consequence for being homo-sexual, but does say that a woman must be stoned upon divorce. So hey! We can now get stoned together!

When Mike Huckabee issued a statement today against this decision, he proved the level of intolerance being condoned by leaders in America. For example, when he made the oxymoronic statement regarding the Supreme Court’s decision, (he stated that “‘we must resist and reject judicial tyranny”) he proved his ignorance and intolerance. To suggest that somehow religion is under attack in America is purely an isolated concept and belief, spread amongst a very small number of Americans. Freedom of religion is as equally protected by the constitution, as the confederate flag is.

This is the kind of language used by our elected (or soon to be elected) officials, to win over the religious right. While also spreading misinformation to the American public. Huckabee goes on to say:

“The Supreme Court can no more repeal the laws of nature and nature’s God on marriage, than it can the law of gravity. Under our constitution the court cannot write a law, even though some cowardly politicians will wave the white flag and accept it without realizing that they are failing their sworn duty to reject abuses from the court. If accepted by Congress and this President this decision will be a serious blow to religious liberty, which is the heart of the First Amendment”

This is what we are facing today. Nonsensical statements that are not only based on rhetoric and poor use of words, but also represent a small minority of religious extremists in this country. Nothing has been implemented allowing any restrictions on religion or change in any given belief system. It most certainly does not impose the will of those who benefit from this ruling on any religion either. This is a simple ruling that says, if anyone wants to get married and be miserable like the rest of us, so be it.

All joking aside, this is a great day for the United States and what this country stands for. To rule otherwise would open the door to religious tyranny, making anything outside of what Mike Huckabee believes, less than equal. Jeb Bush is another great example. When he spoke out against the Pope recently. He all but clarified that while he is a Catholic, he cannot agree with certain aspects of his religion, albeit in Pope Francis’ words. People like this are dangerous because they pick and choose what portions of an given religion, they choose to follow. Thus making up the rules as they go along.

Think Muslim extremists. They too follow only the portions of the Quran as they see fit, and manipulate it’s words to incite fear and promote recruitment. Resulting in the atrocities seen worldwide. I am simply pointing out the subtle similarities between the two, (no means to compare). I mean the Huckabees of the world haven’t yet said that God hates them all, and they should be executed. It’s not until then, that we can compare right? Maybe that last statement went a little too far, maybe it didn’t.

Some people fall for it, because that’s all they’ll listen to. But the vast majority, including you for reading this, knows this is right. Because if you are reading this or anything similar. You have allowed yourself to be open and understanding. This ruling however, is just common sense and you know it. It’s about equality, not religion. So leave that shit at home. Sometimes you just have to be human and think with conscience, in order to do what’s right. It’s time to stop being ancient, and get with the times. It’s called progress, and it’s happening everyday.

My mind rests at ease knowing there are millions more people like me, ready to fight them back. This day speaks to Liberty, Justice, and Equality just as much as that fateful day in 1967, when the Supreme Court ruled that inter-racial marriage was also an equal right. If it wasn’t for the mass movement worldwide, it could be decades before people even fought for this day. This is how the game is played. By making your voice heard, loudly, and in massive numbers to fight back the intolerance, injustice, and corruption that we face today.

Does this mean all those LGBT organizations that represent the community will go away? Of course not, as there is much to continue fighting for. Will New Politics Nation stop writing about these politicians and what their political-religious motivations are? Nope. There is much to be reported on, and much more needs to be said. This landmark decision represents so much more than just the LGBT community, it’s a decision that reinforces the Constitution and ensures equality for all moving forward.

“No union is more profound than marriage, for it embodies the highest ideals of love, fidelity, devotion, sacrifice, and family. In forming a marital union, two people become something greater than once they were. As some of the petitioners in these cases demonstrate, marriage embodies a love that may endure even past death. It would misunderstand these men and women to say they disrespect the idea of marriage. Their plea is that they do respect it, respect it so deeply that they seek to find its fulfillment for themselves. Their hope is to not be condemned to live in loneliness, excluded from one of civilization's oldest institutions. They ask for equal dignity in the eyes of the law. The Constitution grants them that right.” - Justice Anthony Kennedy on behalf of the Court

It’s almost poetic...

Freedom of Information Act Survives Yet Another Attack

The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) while powerful in its words, can only depend on the people to defend it. As Mitch McConnell attempted to secretly limit its power, the Senate today rejected this latest attempt. At least for now.

Mitch McConnell (who on the surface pretends to hate me but secretly has a “man-crush” on me), has been dealt a much deserved slap in the face for his corrupt tactics. In using the same “must-pass” rhetoric that John McCain used for last years National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), he was rejected like a small Spud Webb driving to the basket against a much larger Kareem Abdul Jabbar. Excuse the analogy. For those that don’t follow basketball, when someone drives to the basket and gets their shot blocked, it’s what most people call a rejection.

Late last year, Arizona Senators John McCain and Jeff Flake attached a land-swap measure to the “must-pass” defense bill (NDAA), in which ownership of 2,400 acres of Apache holy land known as Oak Flat was transferred to a mining company. A tactic that was recently cited in a New York Times Op-Ed as “a new low in congressional corruption.” The article also points out that the swap had been attempted several times before by Arizona members of Congress. Among those involved was Rick Renzi, a former Republican representative who was sent to federal prison for three years in February on corruption charges, related to earlier versions of the same land-transfer deal.

Remember Renzi? He was indicted on 35 counts connected to various land deals to which he profited over $800,000. He pled not guilty (of course). However in 2013, Renzi was convicted on 17 of 32 counts in his corruption case. That case accused him of using his office for personal financial gain and looting a family insurance business to help pay for his 2002 campaign. Then in October of that same year, he was sentenced to three years in prison.

Renzi was convicted in part for using the same reasoning McCain used in his case, as well as the same reason McConnell used in attempting to secretly pass legislation without debate. Both John McCain and Mitch McConnell are obviously a little smarter than Renzi, at least so far. Luckily for McConnell he was called out by his fellow corruptors before the shit got too deep. He was attempting to pass the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act (CISA), along with major changes to the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).

While this is not new, as politicians typically attach “riders” at the last minute to what they like to call “must-pass” legislation to satisfy special interests. These actions are always associated with corrupt political tactics in one form or another. I reported on this in a previous article citing major concerns, that these actions coupled with the USA Freedom Act allow the NSA enhanced surveillance capabilities. As if the USA Freedom Act didn’t grant them enough. They actually have more capabilities than ever before, with access to more detailed individual information.

Senate Democratic leadership wrote to the majority leader on Wednesday to urge him to back down from his "ridiculous" plan to attach cybersecurity legislation to an annual defense policy bill. The letter, signed by Minority Leader Harry Reid, Minority Whip Dick Durbin, and Sens. Chuck Schumer and Patty Murray, asks McConnell to not sneak the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act on as an amendment to the NDAA, which is generally viewed as "must-pass" legislation.

"Adding CISA to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) in a manner that allows neither debate nor amendment is ridiculous," the Democratic leaders wrote. "This is especially true given the President's commitment to veto the NDAA for unrelated reasons. This is a pure political ploy that does nothing to advance America's national security. We urge you to reconsider your efforts to jam through this important legislation in a manner that renders it meaningless."

In doing so, the FOIA averts yet another attack, as changes to it were also included in the NDAA which read as follows:

SEC. 1046. REVISION OF FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT TO REINSTATE EXEMPTIONS UNDER THAT ACT AS IN EFFECT BEFORE THE SUPREME COURT DECISION IN MILNER V. DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY.

Paragraph (2) of section 552 (b) of title 5, United States Code is amended—

(1) by inserting “(A)” before “related”;

(2) by inserting “or” after “an agency;”; and

(3) by adding at the end the following new subparagraph:

“(B) predominantly internal to an agency, but only to the extent that disclosure could reasonably be expected to risk impairment of the effective operation of an agency or circumvention of statute or regulation;”.

SEC. 1047. EXEMPTION OF INFORMATION ON MILITARY TACTICS,TECHNIQUES, AND PROCEDURES FROM RELEASE UNDER FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT.

(a) EXEMPTION.—Chapter 3 of title 10, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following new section:

Ҥ 130g. Nondisclosure of information: military tactics, techniques, and procedures

“(a) AUTHORITY FOR NONDISCLOSURE.—The Secretary of Defense may withhold from public disclosure otherwise required by law information on military tactics, techniques, and procedures in accordance with this section.

“(b) STANDARD FOR EXEMPTION FROM DISCLOSURE.—For the purposes of this section, information on a military tactic, technique, or procedure may be withheld from public disclosure only if the Secretary makes each of the following determinations with respect to the information:

“(1) That the public disclosure of the information could reasonably be expected to risk impairment of the effective operation of the armed forces. “(2) That either of the following condition is met:

“(A) The military tactic, technique, or procedure has not been publicly disclosed.

“(B) The use of the military tactic, technique, or procedure in connection with a specific military operation, either planned or executed, or its effectiveness, has not been publicly disclosed.

“(c) CITATION TO FOIA PARAGRAPH.—This section is a statute that specifically exempts certain matters from disclosure under section 552 of title 5 within the meaning of paragraph (3) of subsection (b) of that section”.

Some of the bill's supporters are lining up to take shots McConnell's strategy. Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein (who for years has pushed for information-sharing legislation), accused McConnell of trying to stifle debate, noting that lawmakers on both sides of the issue "want an opportunity to offer relevant amendments." Feinstein also stated on the Senate floor that "A number of my colleagues would like to propose amendments, as is their right. And I expect I would support some of them and would oppose some of them. But the Senate should have an opportunity to fully consider the bill, to receive the input of other committees with jurisdiction in this area."

McConnell spokesman Don Stewart said in an email, "Actually, there is plenty of time for debate. They can go debate now instead of a quorum call. And they can amend, we did not fill the tree,". Senate Intelligence Chairman Richard Burr filed CISA as a second-degree amendment to another amendment late Tuesday, a maneuver that means it will not be open to further changes during debate.

Under CISA organizations aren’t required to hand over information on cybersecurity threats directly to the federal government. Instead, it would use a common system to share information while granting immunity from privacy laws, when users’ personal data is made available by organizations, such as service providers. Many privacy advocates see CISA as a serious blow to privacy rights. As it will open a door to hacking by government and private companies, allow service providers to perform surveillance on their users, and place more personal data on Americans in government hands.

Which is exactly what the USA Freedom Act does, however when you add CISA it essentially grants blanket immunity for companies to monitor all information including software and the devices the software runs on, while also providing immunity from sharing such information. The bill skirts the little privacy laws we have left, or should I say strengthens current laws that are put in place to circumvent privacy laws as well as hacking laws. Service providers will now be the ones hacking your systems.

While we may have our victory today, we have a lot more fighting to do in the war for our privacy. As this is far from over. We are steadily being stripped of our right to protect our privacy. The Administration is currently attempting to to limit our ability to protect ourselves from using encryption technologies.

If you concern yourself with the information that companies like Google, Facebook, Twitter, and many more use to provide you more “relevant” content. If you understand what the value is of such information. Then you have to ask yourself, why does the government want it. After all, we are not talking about national security anymore, we are talking about aggregate data on individuals in this country. And the people that want it have the worst security in the world. If they can’t protect their sensitive information, how are they going to protect your personal information?

When the FBI starts to give Google and Facebook grief for encrypting your information from outside sources, bells should start ringing. If these big companies continue to provide security at that level, protecting yourself from them is not only the easy part, but it should be the least of your concerns. After all, they sell advertising. Not much else. Who knows what the government is doing with your information. It certainly isn’t better Cable TV programming, or cellular service.

Keep yourselves protected!

AN OPEN LETTER ABOUT NEW POLITICS NATION

TO OUR FRIENDS AND SUPPORTERS:
Those who do not forget modesty and humility have enriched hearts and are generous of spirit.
When we appreciate those who support us and always seek to learn from others, we develop the capacity for unlimited self-improvement.

(Translation of "To My Friends" published in the Seikyo Shimbun)

As many of you know my story behind the community oriented "Open To Everyone Think-Tank" that I founded many years ago. I started New Politics and New Ideas on Facebook, which is pretty entertaining now that I look back on it. The name seemed fitting for the purpose in which we would stand and fight for. This was about a year after I started my fight against the legislative political corruption within the Texas education system. It was around that time the while reeling from watching politician after politician when even the most powerful, yet now forgotten, politicians like Tom DeLay, were getting charged with various types of corruption. In Texas it was bad, and it still is. It's probably the worst in the country.

It wasn't long after the corruption battle (that still continues), that I began taking on more issues, as it seemed the deeper I went the worse it was. This was the original inspiration for starting the movement. I kept meeting more people, then even more people started getting involved. This is what became the community that we are today. When I started this community, it was born from the battle against corruption. The inspiration was to bring people together, of varying opinions to determine sensible solutions. The goal has always been to fight and make a tangible and noticeable difference throughout society, as a community of voices. Since then, we have taken on many political, societal, and other issues that the masses feel personally affected by.  
Needless to say, it quickly went from I to whole lot of we's, and we have grown exponentially until we got to where we are today. We quickly found out there was no way to avoid the politics of it all. As much as we tried to avoid the rhetoric, politicians are so quick to spit it in your face. We quickly went from coming in slightly naive, to being hard-asses and standing our ground. We brought change, 2 years ago the Texas State Legislature voted to disallow contributions from for profit companies involved in education. However, Texas still 80 million dollars a year just for Standardized Testing.

The community is now so large, and there are so many of us with a huge distrust of the mass media, and opinionated beliefs that steer people into believing things that are just untrue. So the our community continues to grow, more and more everyday. With more and more of a demand for truthful reporting. We provide the tools and access to many resources and our community is evolving into many citizen journalists. We have a wonderful blogger who is only 18 years old, that gets so much attention. Because people want to know what Millennials think. Guess what? They're radical in the best way possible.

It's been one of the greatest adventures of a lifetime. Because we were making change then and we're still doing it today in the same way we always have. And we are becoming more organized ans streamlined everyday. So at this point we are reporting so much the we founded New Politics Nation. It is simply the news media arm of New Politics and New Ideas. A branch of the original community organization, if you will, to be our News Media outlet. We provide unbiased, original reporting based purely on facts. That is the point, the Mass Media speaks along basic talking points that represent their employer's or their own personal beliefs. While we are intently focused on truth, transparency, and most importantly accountability.

As a community that is not Democrat or Republican, we don't represent the "right" or the "left", and we come together as people to share thoughts and ideas. To bridge the divide and make a difference in the disparities between people. Turning adversaries into teams for the sake of community, theirs or ours. The same common people that politicians seem to ignore, as they all line their pockets with special interest dollars. This little social-experiment has been working! And while it hasn't been perfectly smooth the whole time, none of us would have it any other way.

While our combined community organizations are doing well it has doubled the rate of new membership, we believe it is mostly due to recent positive Twitter-Storms of our most recent articles. Many have reached out to us, and my reports have been cited by hundreds of others in just the last two-weeks.

We are expanding at an almost uncontrollable rate for one man to handle, Internally I manage the whole operation on my own. We are now implementing new systems, developing some as well to accommodate integration across all channels all while getting meaningful apps developed and now a new large scale website. With every resource at your fingertips. The last few weeks have been one hell of a ride.

However, this is what I have always imagined it would be, and it is now growing on a massive scale. For something that is completely self-funded by one person, it is pretty exhausting work right now. We have not, nor will we ever accept money from corporate special interests. We are not labeled as a charity, although we generate no income. Yet here we are.

At some point soon we will develop a donation channel, because with more funds we can accomplish so much more. It kind of goes without saying. Will we file as a 501(c)3, maybe. Better yet maybe not. We are already succeeding at what we have accomplished in our little social experiment. So why not take a page from Mark Ash's book. The guy who co-founded Truth-Out, and then founded and operates Reader Supported News on the same principle. This was take from the RSN website:

"Reader Supported News (RSN) will carry forward the core concept that the reader is best served by financial control of the news service they depend on. No outside investment capital was used in the startup of RSN. No advertising money will be accepted by RSN. No grants will be sought by RSN. We like having the reader as our boss."

They maintain themselves as a non-profit while paying taxes every year. After a decade I would call his "social-experiment" a success. They have fund drives every month and the readership along with some authors pay the bills. We are now about to implement our own website under the same principles, and in time we will be sun-setting our blogs across the net. This will be done over time as the priority will be the new website, which will go online in the coming days. It will be basic at first, with everything as accessible as it is now. Then as we implement all the things that we feel will make a difference in many lives, the site will be much more robust.

Here are some points about the website and things you will find:

Free Security Tools:
These are for the masses to protect yourselves from the government at large. But mostly from hackers, malware, and the governments of Russia and China who have made great strides technologically, and are out for your personal information. They are either developed by us, or other organizations free of charge.

Guest Bloggers and Featured Writers:
We have been gaining a lot of attention from many bloggers and journalists, that have asked to join us. Many have been vetted, and some are still in the process. Expect to see a lot more truth, transparency, and accountability very soon.

Transparency and Accountability:
We are a large part of the Open-Data movement. We will be offering widgets that can directly be used on our site designed for individuals to search out Elected Officials and who they represent. Which these days is shown by the amount of special interest monies they receive.

In Depth Factual Reporting:
Much like the recent reports that I have published. We will continue to provide that same level of in-depth analysis and reporting, that has provided much helpful information for those who don't quite understand what the government is doing.

And many more membership features such as a regular newsletter, tips and tricks, and current affairs at any given time. You will control how much e-mail you get. If you choose not to receive any, then you will only be contacted when things change for your accounts, system implementation, or any necessary information regarding your membership.

Our Privacy Policy will of the strictest nature, and with that we will be offering many of the latest open-source free privacy tools for free. With the new laws in place our elected officials have granted the NSA even more powers, with ways of giving themselves immunity.

Much like my report on the facade that is the USA Freedom Act. When I exposed that in the National Defense Act for 2016, they intend to restrict the Freedom of Information Act. Thus closing us off from information we are entitled to. They will basically hide whatever they want, by simply classifying and categorizing things in certain ways.

This way they will ensure that we never know about them, and will not be entitled to any information about them either. Think the mass collection of data has ended? Think it will end in December like the NSA keeps saying it will? Think again. On January 1st, 2016, if the National Defense Authorization Bill takes effect, it will allow them to continue unabated, and we won't even know about it. But we are fighting it tooth and nail, the FOIA is as important to truthful reporting, as the First Amendment is to our entitled freedoms.

These are some serious issues, the require National Attention. We will be doing everything in our power to hold those accountable through transparency and accountability. And we aim to stop the attack on the Freedom of Information Act. Because if we don't act right now and they vote pass it. It may be too late to do anything about it later.

All I ask is that you follow our Facebook Page (tagged at the top), and join us on our website as it will be live in the coming days. We rely on the voices of the masses, to hear the commonality in the voices of the people. Which in turn, helps us decide where our focus should be, and the direction of our approach as we hound our elected officials. The same politicians that seem to be so out of touch with the mass majority of Americans. That is why we make sure that we're in touch, constantly.

We are not asking for money, donations, or anything like that (yet), as we expect to be funded by grants who stand for the same core beliefs we stand for. But we may decide to be funded by the people. This will be a decision that everyone will vote on. Because it has a direct effect on the direction of our community. And you are the community. We will remain as transparent as we demand elected officials to be. We do not hold ourselves above anyone as this is a project by what we sometimes call, "The Human Party."
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Our transparency to our members, will be the same level of transparency that we seek in legislation, as well as the accountability of our elected officials, and in the fight against inequality, intolerance, and the attack on all of our civil liberties. Don't like Obama? Great, let us know about it. Don't like any of your options in the candidates for upcoming elections, we want to know. Whether you agree or disagree on any issues, tell us about it, so we can then help dictate agreeable legislation for the people... All of them.

Think you can write about the issues facing our Nation? We will provide you the platform in which to voice your opinion. As a regular or guest contributor. Even if you think you can't write, you are more than welcomed to offer your thoughts as a guest blogger as well. It's your voice, put in on paper let's here what you have to say. Then we'll open up a discussion about it.

There is so much more to discuss, however this has gone from a post asking for your support in joining us, to an article that will be published today. We ask for your support in the most non-partisan way possible. We do not need to know if you are Republican or Democrat. We leave that decision to you should you decide to provide it.

Additionally we will be offering so much more as well, so please stay tuned and consider joining our community. It's the only one like it in the world. We are proud to say that even after nearly a decade, we are the only open to everyone community Think-Tank world-wide. We will not censor or prohibit any posts or contributions with the exception of hate speech, personal attacks on others in the community. The full details will be posted on the site.

And of course, as I mentioned earlier, your privacy will be treated with the most advanced technology ever seen. In fact, we allow for anonymous profile information in any case you may feel the need to remain anonymous.

We have the opportunity to be pioneers in our very own future, and we have the backing of so many "Millennials" as well. No party or politician can say that. We are very proud of that one fact, because they are the future.

We're growing, on a massive scale, we are creating a significant community of independent thinkers, and we are shaping the future of our great nation. Our future.

See you there!

Like and follow our Facebook page:
facebook.com/new.politics.and.new.ideas

Follow our Twitter page:
twitter/NPNI_Nation

And in the next day or two you will receive an invite to be a part of our community via our website. This will be the absolute best way to contribute with meaning. A meaning that will make some real change.

Thank you for all of your support thus far and we look forward to meeting so many more on the mission to have real representation for us. See you soon!


(Apologies in advance for any typos and improper grammar, as this was written in haste)

Never Forget...

On June 6, 1944... D-Day...

NSA Maintains Surveillance Power

Photo: CC-BY-SA 4.0

Once it was signed in to law the three most controversial parts of the Patriot Act, including Section 215, comes back into play. While also enacting some big changes being touted as restrictions on the NSA by every major news outlet.

With direct and unabated access to our information via Service Providers, the NSA will have access to even more detailed information about us. Although they were monitoring your online activity previously, the original version of the Patriot Act didn’t allow for this because it wasn’t clearly specified. With the new current powers enacted, they can just as easily access your information, still without a warrant, from your Service Providers. As long as they provide a warrant within 7-days thereafter. Sound familiar? That’s because Section 215 of the Patriot Act was written in the exact same way. They still retain and will continue business as usual, with even more clearly defined power.

Whereas the Patriot Act was purposely vague in most areas, without the proper details they inadvertently limited their power right out if the gate. Now that the lines have been clearly drawn about what data they collect. The very nature of being vague in just the right areas is prevalent. Bare with me through this as I try to clarify some of the more important aspects of what just happened to the NSA, in regards to the USA Freedom Act.

So it starts with this, Section 101. To give you the feeling of accomplishment:

USA Freedom Act Section 101

(Sec. 101) Amends the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (FISA) to establish a new process to be followed when the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) submits an application to a FISA court for an order requiring the production of business records or other tangible things for an investigation to obtain foreign intelligence information not concerning a U.S. person or to protect against international terrorism or clandestine intelligence activities. (The FBI currently uses such authority to request FISA orders requiring telephone companies to produce telephone call records to the National Security Agency.)

Much like the Patriot Act, it states “to obtain information not concerning a U.S. person” yet they were still doing it (and will continue to do so).  Section 101 merely changes the “application process” and is an amendment to Section 501(b)(2) (50 U.S.C. 1861(b)(2)) - Application for order; conduct of investigation generally. And reads as follows:

“The Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation or a designee of the Director (whose rank shall be no lower than Assistant Special Agent in Charge) may make an application for an order requiring the production of any tangible things (including books, records, papers, documents, and other items) for an investigation to obtain foreign intelligence information not concerning a United States person or to protect against international terrorism or clandestine intelligence activities, provided that such investigation of a United States person is not conducted solely upon the basis of activities protected by the first amendment to the Constitution.”

Based on the previous law, this leaves the door wide open to collect information on whoever they please, so long as there the illusion of justification. We already know that’s the same way they began the bulk-collection of data in the first place. Now with the bulk collection program coming back online today, after briefly being shut down by congress. What we are going to see is the NSA reacting to a provision in the USA Freedom Act, that allows them to operate the bulk collection program for 6 months. This wording was originally put in there so that they can wind down the bulk-collection and adjust to the new Act. However the new act gives them access to even more information than before.

So winding the program down was never going to happen. They knew it and it hasn’t even stopped. While many are citing this as if it were some type of machine with a kill-switch. It is not. It is a very large, very intricate network of worldwide servers. So intricate, that when it was deemed the NSA could not track our online activity, the NSA turned to our friends across the pond to do it for us. Now they will pick from service providers instead.

In fact, while The USA Freedom Act supposedly disallows the government from collecting and storing your meta-data, such as information like your phone number, the other caller’s phone number, the length of the call, etc. Section 107(k)(3)(B) of the USA Freedom Act states that ‘call detail records’ do NOT include - “the contents of any communication, the name, address, or financial information of a subscriber or customer, or cell site location information.” Instead of collecting basic information about your devices, they can now collect the detailed information they have been after this whole time. Information about you individually. This actually fixes a hole they had in the previous program.

In layman’s terms, they can no longer collect your phone numbers, but they can now collect the finer details about you.The rest can be had by accessing your Service Provider’s databases. Especially with the new powers granted to the Attorney General, giving them an avenue to bypass the FISA court whenever it’s convenient. All they must do is simply assign their motive as exercising their “emergency powers”. Additionally the surveillance powers of the “Lone-Wolf” and “Roving Wiretaps” are still in full effect. Todd Hinnen from the Justice Department, testified in 2011 that only a “small but steady number of national security investigations each year” used roving wiretaps.

USA Freedom Act Section 102:

(Sec. 102) Authorizes the Attorney General to require the emergency production of tangible things without first obtaining a court order if the Attorney General: (1) reasonably determines that an emergency situation requires the production of tangible things before an order authorizing production can be obtained with due diligence, (2) reasonably determines that a factual basis exists for the issuance of such a production order, (3) informs a FISA judge of the decision to require such production at the time the emergency decision is made, and (4) makes an application to a FISA judge within seven days after the Attorney General requires such emergency production.

When discussing the “Lone Wolf” portion of the Act he stated although we have not used this authority to date, it is designed to fill an important gap in our collection capabilities by allowing us to collect on an individual foreign terrorist who is inspired by – but not a member of – a terrorist group. For example, it might allow surveillance when an individual acts based upon international terrorist recruitment and training on the internet without establishing a connection to any terrorist group. According to data from U.S. courts, in 2013, the most recent year for which figures are available, 11 federal wiretaps were designated as roving.

By making the NSA and FISA court more transparent all they are doing is confirming the revelations of Edward Snowden, and what we all suspected before that. Okay, so now you know about it. See, they’re being transparent. That is the level of transparency they’re offering? It’s the same old dance, we’re going to remove this because we understand you don’t like it. But you have to let us implement this plan. I understand we have to make compromises to move forward. But this was a compromise that was made forgetting one key component, the whole point of it. The American people's civil liberties.

So what exactly is the compromise when the NSA gets to go about their business, and collect all of our information. Well now it means we have to re-think our personal security. We have to now hide our information from those that provide our services. The same people we pay our bill to, so that we may access these services. How do you protect yourself from that? You don’t. In fact we never have been able to. But what was once a tactic used by local police in investigations, is now a tactic used by the federal government. For whatever nefarious reason, that one day, they decided they must have.

According to Cindy Cohn and Mark Jaycox of the Electronic Frontier Foundation in a recent article on Reader Supported News:

“We’ve also been speaking out publicly against Executive Order 12333, an executive order that the NSA relies on for most of its digital surveillance of people worldwide. We’ll be launching a big campaign to attack this Executive Order, putting pressure on President Obama. Our goal is to get the president to address the biggest problems with EO 12333 with a new executive order before he leaves office.”

“Above all, we’re taking aim at the problem of overclassification. The government has used secrecy and the claim of national security interests to ward off public oversight. No reform can be effective unless we bring more sunlight into how the government is interpreting the law and the surveillance programs it is turning against law-abiding citizens. This necessitates an overhauling of the classification system, reforms to the security clearance process, strong protections for whistleblowers, even more transparency to the FISA Court, and addressing the abuses of the state secrets privilege.”

Photo CC-BY-SA 4.0

They also state later in the article that, “It will also hopefully embolden Congress to feel that they can bring a sensible balance to surveillance policy and practice”. This is what we fought for? To bring about a conclusion that relies on “hopefully” emboldening Congress to bring “sensible policy” for the people? Sensible policy, privacy rights, and protecting ourselves from mass surveillance is what we were fighting for this whole time! At least everyone I know was. And in all of the people I have discussed this issue with, they are not satisfied with this new implementation, citing its weakness in providing much protection or change at all.

The USA Freedom Act is an oxymoron in itself. How can the title include “Freedom” when in fact it is designed to remove freedoms? Their goal is to know everything there is to know about us, to potentially be used against us when THEY need to. A simple use-case would be to silence, censor, and control the information we consume. Which will dictate the future of our country in favor of special interests, corporations, and crippling our human rights. We are allowing ourselves to become slaves to the system. A system based on the all knowing and constant watching by our big brother.

They have also thrown in some useless provisions like having the Inspector General to review and report if any violations of civil liberties have occurred previously. They have also stated that a panel to advocates to oversee certain court requests that may infringe on civil liberties. We may never know if any panel should be implemented, or who they may be. But in the end, all these people and the Inspector General have the power to do, is generate reports. Reports that have always fallen on deaf ears. I personally can not recall anyone in Washington making a stink about a report from the Inspector general. The USA Freedom Act, appears to provide some privacy from the government on the surface. But in reality, it seems to have given the Patriot Act even more authority.

Meanwhile the country celebrates a victory. Most admitting it is a “small victory, but at least it’s a step in the right direction”, disregarding the fact that we should not be the victims of surveillance at all. The American people have simply been duped into accepting and claiming victory over what we were protesting. Under the guise of a new name and a few bogus rules. In the same way we relinquished our rights under the guise of a false enemy from some unknown place, with countless faces. An enemy that will never go away, and our surveillance laws have done nothing to prevent any terrorist acts.

In fact every plot that has been thwarted has done so using the same basic tactics of local law-enforcement, many times by local law-enforcement themselves. The Patriot Act has done nothing and produce negative results in the war on terror. The same negative results that led us to where we are demanding action while also reinforcing the major distrust most people have in  the government.

Julian Assange from WikiLeaks stated in an interview with Democracy Now, when asked about Rand Paul’s statement, “Why should the telecommunications companies, why should private enterprise have this information, holding it to be sought by the government?”, he responded with:

“That’s right. So the alternative proposal, which is something that was in the USA FREEDOM Act, which is pretty misnamed—it is a sort of milder version of the USA PATRIOT Act, in some ways. Instead, Verizon and the other—AT&T and other big telcos will hold the information, ready for the National Security Agency. But, you know, it doesn’t make much of a difference if that’s an automated system. It’s just—you know, 80 percent of the National Security Agency is outsourced anyway, in terms of the management of its data. In this case, if it has automatic connections to AT&T and Verizon, there’s no difference in terms of its searching ability. Now, in terms of whether there’s warrants that are used for searches, it is perhaps an aid, because the companies could be made legally liable—that’s up to Congress—for not insisting on a warrant to access that information. I rather suspect that Congress won’t mandate that the companies can’t hand over information unless there’s a warrant.”

At the end of the day, this is not the solution we were all looking for when I signed up for this battle. I will continue the fight. If everyone else decides that this is good enough for them, well it’s not enough for me and most of the populace. We have many surveillance programs in place that have been there for decades. We don’t need anymore, and we certainly don’t need to continue to spy on Americans. We have a right to freedom of expression, we have a right to have our own opinions, and we certainly have the right to speak-up and speak-out. Historically speaking, it’s those inalienable rights that have brought about historic change in America.

Do not forget that the bulk collection of even more detailed data has resumed, there is also one other factor that plays into all of this. Bulk collection will continue until December 31st, whereas they are required under the USA Freedom Act to stop. However we are looking at an attack on the Freedom of Information Act, that will allow any operations to continue unabated. Here are the Proposed Changes To The Freedom Of Information Act - National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2016.

SEC. 1046. REVISION OF FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT TO REINSTATE EXEMPTIONS UNDER THAT ACT AS IN EFFECT BEFORE THE SUPREME COURT DECISION IN MILNER V. DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY.

Paragraph (2) of section 552 (b) of title 5, United States Code is amended—

(1) by inserting “(A)” before “related”;

(2) by inserting “or” after “an agency;”; and

(3) by adding at the end the following new subparagraph:

“(B) predominantly internal to an agency, but only to the extent that disclosure could reasonably be expected to risk impairment of the effective operation of an agency or circumvention of statute or regulation;”.

SEC. 1047. EXEMPTION OF INFORMATION ON MILITARY TACTICS,TECHNIQUES, AND PROCEDURES FROM RELEASE UNDER FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT.

(a) EXEMPTION.—Chapter 3 of title 10, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following new section:

Ҥ 130g. Nondisclosure of information: military tactics, techniques, and procedures

“(a) AUTHORITY FOR NONDISCLOSURE.—The Secretary of Defense may withhold from public disclosure otherwise required by law information on military tactics, techniques, and procedures in accordance with this section.

“(b) STANDARD FOR EXEMPTION FROM DISCLOSURE.—For the purposes of this section, information on a military tactic, technique, or procedure may be withheld from public disclosure only if the Secretary makes each of the following determinations with respect to the information:

“(1) That the public disclosure of the information could reasonably be expected to risk impairment of the effective operation of the armed forces. “(2) That either of the following condition is met:

“(A) The military tactic, technique, or procedure has not been publicly disclosed.

“(B) The use of the military tactic, technique, or procedure in connection with a specific military operation, either planned or executed, or its effectiveness, has not been publicly disclosed.

“(c) CITATION TO FOIA PARAGRAPH.—This section is a statute that specifically exempts certain matters from disclosure under section 552 of title 5 within the meaning of paragraph (3) of subsection (b) of that section”.

Let’s not get tricked into believing we have won anything. Because on this issue alone, we have so much more to fight for. We are being ruled and controlled by the elitists in this country, and that is no secret. The question still remains. Are we going to continue to be complacent and just be drawn to the conclusion the we are a slave to this political oligarchy? Or are we going to get up and put up a meaningful fight? They will not give us our freedom, we must fight to get it back.

Let the commonality in our voices, for the solutions we seek be heard. Loud and Clear. It is time to mobilize the masses, and make the changes we all seek. As they were granted to us since the birth of our great nation.

Join us in the fight to regain our civil liberties, equal rights, and restore the power of these United States back to the people. Sign up for our newsletter right here on our site. Should you find this article posted elsewhere, you can find our site here: http://goo.gl/izaac7