Judge rips decision to order warrantless wiretaps in U.S. BY MICHAEL J. SNIFFEN The Associated Press
WASHINGTON — A federal judge who used to authorize wiretaps in terrorist and espionage cases criticized President Bush’s decision to order warrantless surveillance after the Sept. 11 attacks. Royce Lamberth, a district court judge in Washington, said Saturday it was proper for executive branch agencies to conduct such surveillance. “But what we have found in the history of our country is that you can’t trust the executive,” he said at the American Library Association’s convention. “We have to understand you can fight the war [on terrorism] and lose everything if you have no civil liberties left when you get through fighting the war,” said Lamberth, who was appointed by President Reagan. The judge disagreed with letting the executive branch alone decide which people to spy on in national security cases. “The executive has to fight and win the war at all costs. But judges understand the war has to be fought, but it can’t be at all costs,” Lamberth said. “We still have to preserve our civil liberties. Judges are the kinds of people you want to entrust that kind of judgment to more than the executive.” Lamberth was named chief of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court in 1995 by then-Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist. Lamberth held that post until 2002. The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 established the court after domestic spying scandals in the 1970s. The court meets in secret to review applications from the FBI, the National Security Agency and other agencies for warrants to wiretap or search the homes of people in the United States in terrorist or espionage cases. Each application is signed by the attorney general. The court has approved more than 99 percent of them. Shortly after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, Bush authorized the NSA to spy on calls between people in the United States and suspected terrorists abroad without FISA court warrants. The administration said it needed to act more quickly than the court could and that the president had inherent authority under the Constitution to order warrantless domestic spying. After the program became public and was challenged in court, Bush put it under FISA court supervision this year. The president still claims the power to order warrantless spying. White House spokesman Tony Fratto said Bush believes in the program, which is classified because its purpose is to stop terrorists’ planning.
How much longer are we going to hear/read about these wiretaps? Right or wrong, they have been going on forever! The only difference is that the opposing political machine is getting it out to the liberal media....which isn't too hard to do!
When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche
“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.” Adolph Hitler
Our personal freedoms being infringed upon First published: Tuesday, July 3, 2007
Today I received a notice from E-ZPass that my service has been suspended for 60 days for exceeding the speed limit posted on "E-ZPass Only'' lanes. It was my second violation in a recent week.
I have recently returned from my winter address and did not know of this new Orwellian policy with its Big Brother eye keenly focused on my behavior, so I was stunned by the abruptness and finality of the strict new policy. It is so strict, in fact, that I was charged for driving 1 mph over the limit on one occasion and 2 mph over the limit on the other.
This is an example of the development of our society in ways that horrify this citizen, who grew up cherishing the freedoms he was taught to enjoy and defend. I feel violated to be so closely monitored by a service I pay for both directly and through taxation.
Each day, I read about more of the freedoms our government tries to wrestle away from us, and how we are being watched and monitored by cameras (satellite and ground), wiretaps, corporate and governmental data-sharing, and Internet surveillance. I fear the direction in which the people in power are taking us. I hope the youth of today see what we are losing, and soon come to our, and their, rescue, much like the brave ones who stood up in the late '50 and '60s to defend our freedoms.
Usually with EZPass, the speed limit posted is really not the allowed speed limit. You can usually go a bit faster than the sign says and you are ok. This guy must have been going quite a bit faster than he states to get a violation like that.
However, I do agree that 'Big Brother' is definately growing up and there are not many freedoms left. Everyone today has the perception that the government knows what's best for us. Heck...they don't even know what's best for them! And as far as the his statement referring to the 50's/60's generation....sure that generation was the one fighting 'against' the establishment. Today, they are the same people, only grown up, that are creating this burocratic government. With more rules, regulations and laws in place than ever before in history. With that said....so much for the 50's/60's generation...they are now running the country!!!
When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche
“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.” Adolph Hitler
EDITORIALS Security cams something we can live with
One could argue that the day after the Fourth of July is not the right time to be discussing this, but on the other hand, maybe it’s precisely the right time. The subject is surveillance cameras, which Sen. Joseph Lieberman, chairman of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security, has called for many more of to deal with the terrorist threat. Finding the proper balance between freedom and security has been an issue all throughout this country’s history, but never more so than now. It is, therefore, a most worthy topic for July Fourth week. “The Brits have got something smart going in England, and it was part of why I believe they were able to so quickly apprehend suspects in the terrorist acts over the weekend,” said Lieberman earlier in the week. He was referring to the cameras they have all over London and other major cities. Those cameras have helped authorities catch other terrorists in the past, including those who tried to bomb London buses and subway trains in 2005 after the successful attacks of a few months before. In a perfect world, we would all be free to go about our business without any surveillance cameras snapping our pictures. But this is far from a perfect world; in fact, it is a very dangerous one. Cameras are a way of getting people to behave — as with traffic cameras, bank security cameras, and those used to fight crime in Schenectady (District Attorney Robert Carney announced Monday that another 30 will be added to the 10 already in place in the city) — and to find them if they don’t. In England cameras aren’t just in a few places but everywhere, so a person who is out and about is photographed many more times during the day. But we have them here too; it’s really only a matter of degree. These devices are a minimal violation of privacy — after all, they’re taking pictures of you in public, not your home — and well worth the price for the added security they offer.
http://www.dailygazette.com Cameras are a way of getting people to behave — as with traffic cameras, bank security cameras,
I don't see security cameras in banks holding back those bank robbers. God, you read about bank robberies ALL the time. And even with the cameras and showing pictures of the bank robbers on TV...some still are never caught. I'm not opposed 'totally' with security cameras, but the 'bad guys' will just figure out another way to beat the system.
When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche
“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.” Adolph Hitler
“The Brits have got something smart going in England, and it was part of why I believe they were able to so quickly apprehend suspects in the terrorist acts over the weekend,”
So they were apprehended.....cant catch them BEFORE the carnage????
...you are a product of your environment, your environment is a product of your priorities, your priorities are a product of you......
The replacement of morality and conscience with law produces a deadly paradox.
STOP BEING GOOD DEMOCRATS---STOP BEING GOOD REPUBLICANS--START BEING GOOD AMERICANS
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Woman Arrested for Not Watering Lawn July 6th, 2007 @ 10:00pm Sam Penrod Reporting
A widow and grandma spent the morning in jail, arrested for refusing to give a policeman her name when he tried writing her a ticket for failing to water her yard. The woman hasn't watered her lawn in more than a year, and the condition of her yard violates an Orem zoning ordinance.
Tonight, the woman says she is traumatized and shocked that she was hauled to jail, just because she says she can't afford to water her lawn.
Betty Perry says, "I never thought they would ever do anything like that to a person that is 70 years old. I've never bothered anybody, I've never hurt anybody."
She says the policeman who brought her home tonight was very courteous, even held open the door for her. But there were no gentlemen there when she was taken from her home this morning and booked into jail.
When Betty Perry heard a knock at her door and saw a police officer standing outside, she never imagined she would end up in jail. That's what happened, though, when the officer tried enforcing Orem's nuisance ordinance against neglected yards.
"I didn't want to tell him anything until I talked to a lawyer or my son. I wanted to see what he'd tell me to do. I've never had any experience before with the law, ever in my life," she said.
As the enforcement officer started writing her a ticket, she tried going back in her house. That's when the officer tried to handcuff her for refusing to give her name and resisting the ticket. She tripped on the steps, scraping up her nose and elbows, leaving blood on her door, her porch and her clothes. Perry was handcuffed, fingerprinted and put in a jail cell, where she sat for more than an hour.
"I laid down in there. I never seen the inside of a jail before. I didn't know how it looked, I was really scared," she says.
When police brass learned what happened, she was immediately released.
Orem police spokesman Lt. Doug Edwards said, "Every officer in his career has situations they find themselves getting into, at the end of it they scratch their head and say, ‘gosh, how did this happen?' Today, I think, was one of those days. Clearly there were some other options available."
After being arrested, Perry is now scared of the police. She says, "Don't ever say no when the police tell you do to something. You better do what they tell you no matter what, even if you don't have anybody to help you. You've got to do what they tell you or they will hurt you."
The officer was sent home for the day and placed on paid administrative leave. Police are not pressing any charges against Betty Perry for either neglecting her yard or resisting the ticket.
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widow and grandma spent the morning in jail, arrested for refusing to give a policeman her name when he tried writing her a ticket for failing to water her yard. The woman hasn't watered her lawn in more than a year, and the condition of her yard violates an Orem zoning ordinance.
I think that officer should come to Rotterdam and go to walmart and given them a citation.....
...you are a product of your environment, your environment is a product of your priorities, your priorities are a product of you......
The replacement of morality and conscience with law produces a deadly paradox.
STOP BEING GOOD DEMOCRATS---STOP BEING GOOD REPUBLICANS--START BEING GOOD AMERICANS
I know a girl who came here to live from Germany. She said that in Germany everyone is responsible for the 'government' land in front of their home. Including the street. (no street cleaners there) And she said that it would be an embarrassment to have the front of your house 'messy' and unkept. Perhaps we should start doing that here too.
When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche
“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.” Adolph Hitler
The way I look at it is if you don't have anything to hide why worry about it. If you do it's just a matter of time and they can get a wire tap from a judge and get the information legally. The government isn't looking for anything but possible terrorist activity and I don't thionk they'er interested in my boring life.
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