Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2017/12/20/act-now.html
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I think you need to look to your formatting for this post, Cory.
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or the NSA will be stripped of its powers…
No, they will be stripped of their unconstitutional powers. Their legitimate powers will be just fine, and they can keep us all safe from the brown. All they’re losing is the ability to keep us safe from our neighbors, who might hold the wrong opinions, tree-huggers and the like.
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Seriously had it with these fucktards.
“the USA Liberty Act is exactly what you imagine it to be: a piece of law written to give the illusion of reform by adding reports and paperwork, and yet quietly retains highly questionable spying programs – keeping the real levers of power in the hands of the security services and the Congressmen who wrote the law.” The Register
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Well, I called my reps.
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I’m not sure whether to be thrilled or sad that my people are never on these action lists. On the one hand, it means they’ve already agreed with me (even when I do call just in case), on the other, it means that as usual, there’s nothing I can do about it.
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Between PKD and JG Ballard, I think we already know what the future was going to look like…
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More than they do already?
massive new NSA spying powers
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renew the Section 702 powers
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ACT NOW: Only hours remain
If you’re going to do a last minute hail mary pass, try not to confuse the messaging in the process.
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they know their teamsters but do they etcetera ho ho ho
I find it very interesting that this bill is being pushed by Devin Nunes. In case anyone here is unaware, he is involved in an ongoing surveillance-related controversy - he is one of the leaders alleging a scandal that HRC 2016 campaign paid Fusion GPS to produce the Steele Dossier as evidence for the FBI to wiretap Trump Tower using an Obama-appointed FISA court judge. [0]
I find the idea of him expanding the FISA court powers contradictory to his stated purpose of seeking justice in the matter of his supposed 2016 election scandal. Note that this idea is the activists’ interpretation of the bill & not my own view.
If that were the case, then perhaps his intent is to leverage the expanded NSA powers to spy on the FBI, which he seems to believe is working against the current administration. This would not be the first time different parts of the US government were spying on each other. [1]
I don’t believe that is the intent of this bill. After reviewing, it seems more likely that the intent of the bill covers two goals: 1. To require added accountability to the FISA application process such that abuses of the FISA court are easier to identify. There are a number of sections in the bill which require disclosures by the FBI which were not necessary before. 2. To remove bureaucratic barriers limiting the Attorney General, who in the case of this political situation, will be relied upon to investigate the government itself.
So I can see where the activists are coming from with their take on this bill, and certainly there is a political divide over whether or not this bill is a good thing.
Personally I am hoping it will pass.
Sources:
[0] http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2017/12/08/head-house-ethics-panel-finds-evidence-abuse-in-us-government-surveillance.html
[1] https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-switch/wp/2014/03/12/feinstein-doesnt-like-the-cia-spying-on-her-committee-but-shes-fine-with-nsa-bulk-data-collection/
It’s not “Congresscritters”. The proper term is,
“Congresswhores”.
Thanks.
Anything you’d like to share?
Sorry… weird tense wording… I just meant they are both dead, but both wrote in the past on various aspects of the world today that were prescient, in my view.
[ETA] They helped to define the future, which, in relation to Ballard and PKD is where we live now. This future sucks, just like they predicted in the ways that they predicted.
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