Category Archives: government, law, and politics

One Tough Man

Does this make Kennedy a tougher guy than FDR?

Files depict JFK’s life of pain

US President John F Kennedy took up to eight different medications a day to deal with the terrible pain resulting from numerous ailments, newly disclosed files have shown.

America’s youngest president was suffering from more conditions, was in greater pain and was taking more medications than the public knew at the time, according to a new biography to be published next year.

Somebody’s Watching Me

Feds Get New Snooping Powers
Surveillance court grants greater scope in search of terrorist activity; privacy issues raised.
Scarlet Pruitt

“A secret U.S. federal appeals court has granted law enforcement officials expanded domestic spying powers, allowing them to conduct a broad range of electronic surveillance including Internet monitoring and keystroke logging to track terrorism suspects.”

The decision, released earlier this week, overturned a previous ruling by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) last May. That decision rejected the U.S. government’s efforts to expand its domestic snooping authority.

Secret U.S. court OKs electronic spying
By Declan McCullagh

“update WASHINGTON–A secretive federal court on Monday granted police broad authority to monitor Internet use, record keystrokes and employ other surveillance methods against terror and espionage suspects.”

In an unexpected and near-complete victory for law enforcement, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court of Review overturned a lower court’s decision and said that Attorney General John Ashcroft’s request for new powers was reasonable.

Security Blanket

"The natural progress of things is for government to gain ground and for liberty to yield."

"Those who desire to give up freedom in order to gain security will not have, nor do they deserve, either one."

"When the government fears the people, there is liberty. When the people fear the government, there is tyranny."

– Thomas Jefferson

Fighting Terrorism Without Sacrificing Privacy
People submit to invasive technology because it makes them feel safer, but that’s all it’s doing, security expert says.
By Nancy Weil

"LAS VEGAS — In the aftermath of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks people have been willing to accept invasive technological measures officials contend are being used to thwart terrorism not because those technologies will actually accomplish that goal–because they won’t–but because they help us feel safer, author and lawyer Jeffrey Rosen said here Tuesday."

Ministry of Information (MiniInf)

Stop the Government Plan to Mine our Privacy

Recent media reports have revealed that a little-known Defense Department office is developing a computer system called “Total Information Awareness” that threatens to turn us all into “suspects” without proof of criminal wrongdoing.

Not only do Big Brother warning alarms go off with this one, but a few others as well. I’m no Masonic conspiracy nut, but the logo for the Information Awareness Office freaked me out.