How Much Is Your Personal Information Worth?

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Americans, assets, Business, companies, corporations, data brokers, data-mining, Databases, Economy, greed, information, invasion, people, personal information, privacy, profits, real-estate, U.S, United States, value

Not as much as you think! Data mining is a multi-billion dollar profit-making machine used by the data broker industry to make enormous profits off of your personal information! Corporations buy your personal data from the data brokers for pennies on the dollar to cater directly to your needs whether it is a medicine, car loan, mortgage for a new home, a marriage or divorce or an upcoming vacation. Data brokers know EVERYTHING about you, and they sell your private life based on how much you are worth to certain catered companies! – John Loeffler, Fountain City, Wisconsin, U.S.A.

Read more here and take the quiz: http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/927ca86e-d29b-11e2-88ed-00144feab7de.html#axzz2W709OIoW

 

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Public Poll on Terrorism vs. Privacy

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Americans, Congress, corruption, deception, FBI, Federal Government, invasion, lies, NSA, Polls, privacy, psy-ops, Public, surveys, terrorism, U.S, U.S. Government, United States

Apparently, there are still a vast majority of Americans who believe that the threat of terrorism is more important, so they are willing to give up their privacy. That plays right into the U.S. Government‘s hands! The federal government manufactures almost all of the terrorism committed on U.S. soil, usually using the FBI as their main source, and very little actual terrorism happens in America! U.S. citizens are sold on corporate-run, government-censored mass media that deceptively informs them of current events. The dumbing down of Americans is astounding in its magnitude! Wake up America, and stop believing in the constant lies flowing out of the U.S. Government including Congress! – John Loeffler, Fountain City, Wisconsin, U.S.A.

 

READER ALERT: How Internet Companies Blatantly Lie About NSA Spying!

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AOL, Apple, cell phones, cloaked, communications, corruption, cover-ups, covert operations, crimes, Facebook, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, felony, Forbes, Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, Google, Google CEO Larry Page, Hotmail, Illegal, internet, invasion, lies, Microsoft, National Security Agency, New York Times, NSA, Orwellian, PalTalk, PRISM, privacy, Skype, spying, terrorists, Time, Top Secret, trust, Twitter, U.S, U.S. Constitution, U.S. Government, United States, wormholes, Yahoo, YouTube

What do Google, AOL, Skype, Facebook, Apple, Hotmail and Yahoo all have in common? They have all been caught turning over private user data to the government’s spy agency, the NSA. All these companies routinely turn over the emails, voice calls, text chats, photos, files and even logins and passwords of their users, including Americans.

“There is a massive apparatus within the United States government that with complete secrecy has been building this enormous structure that has only one goal,” journalist Glenn Greenwald recently told Piers Morgan (who knows all about spying and hacking people’s private data). “And that is to destroy privacy and anonymity not just in the United States but around the world.”

Tech companies rush to issue (false) denials

Immediately after these revelations surfaced over the past few days, all these companies began denying any involvement with the NSA. “Google CEO Larry Page and Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg are denying reports that depict two of the Internet’s most influential companies as willing participants in a secret government program that gives the National Security Agency unfettered access to email and other personal information transmitted on various online services,” reports the San Francisco branch of CBS News.

But what nobody is yet revealing is that all these companies are required by law to LIE to their own customers about secret government surveillance.

The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, you see, makes it a federal crime for any company participating in the surveillance to publicly acknowledge the existence of that surveillance. Thus, executives at Facebook, Google, Skype and others would all face arrest and federal prosecution as “terrorists” if they admitted the truth to their own users.

That’s just how far down the rabbit hole this government surveillance program goes: Not only does the government spy on you and everything you do — “they quite literally can watch your ideas as you type” — the government can also force all the tech companies cooperating with the spying to publicly deny the existence of the program.

The New York Times goes on to report:

In at least two cases, at Google and Facebook, one of the plans discussed was to build separate, secure portals, like a digital version of the secure physical rooms that have long existed for classified information, in some instances on company servers. Through these online rooms, the government would request data, companies would deposit it and the government would retrieve it, people briefed on the discussions said.

This is how companies like Google and Facebook can claim, with a straight face, that the NSA doesn’t have “backdoor access to our servers.” They don’t need it! What actually happens is that Google, Facebook, Yahoo and others simply deposit all user data at another location — a “gateway” where the NSA copies it off.

Now you understand how to correctly parse this fake denial by Google’s chief executive Larry Page, who says, “The U.S. government does not have direct access or a ‘back door’ to the information stored in our data centers.”

It doesn’t need “direct access.” It has INDIRECT access that was set up by Google!

Here are the diagrams from the top secret PRISM program that tells the truth:

 Monitoring a target’s communication

These diagrams show how the bulk of the world’s electronic communications move through companies based in the United States.

Providers and data

The PRISM program collects a wide range of data from the nine companies, although the details vary by provider:

Participating providers

This one shows when each company joined the program, with Microsoft being the first, on Sept. 11, 2007, and Apple the most recent, in October 2012:

Source:   http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/special/politics/prism-collection-documents/

Read more important information here (source):  http://www.naturalnews.com/040692_NSA_spying_tech_companies_FISA.html

Are you concerned that your government is not only invading your privacy, but they are also violating the U.S. Constitution, which is illegal, to do so?  The U.S. Government does not trust you, because they fear that you will find out just how corrupt they have become! – John Loeffler, Fountain City, Wisconsin, U.S.A.

 

READER ALERT! Boston Counter-Terror Unit Tracked Protesters NOT Terrorists!

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1st Amendment, 2011, Boston, Boston Marathon, Boston Marathon Bombings, Boston Police Department, BRIC, CIA, Civil Rights, corruption, covert operations, Demonstrations, Department of Homeland Security, DHS, Facebook, FBI, Fenway Park, finance, greed, internet, invasion, Occupy Boston, occupy movement, Occupy Wall Street, Partnership for Civil Justice, Peace, Police, privacy, protests, Russia, secrecy, spying, Take Back Boston Rally, Tsarnaev Brothers, U.S, U.S. Bill of Rights, U.S. Constitution, U.S. Government, United States, violations, Wall Street

We wanted to share with our friends and supporters the following article by Michael Isikoff of NBC News. The article references documents obtained by the Partnership for Civil Justice Fund showing that the FBI and Department of Homeland Security coordinated with local police agencies, including Boston’s counter-terror unit, to monitor Occupy Wall Street demonstrations and other peaceful protest activities.

From NBC News:

Unaware of Tsarnaev warnings,
Boston counterterror unit tracked protesters

By Michael Isikoff

Boston Police Commissioner Ed Davis testifies before a House committee on the marathon bombings. (Photo: NBC News)

In the fall of 2011, a key Boston police counterterror intelligence unit — funded with millions of dollars in U.S. homeland security grants — was closely monitoring anti-Wall Street demonstrations, including tracking the Facebook pages and websites of the protesters and writing reports on the potential impact on “commercial and financial sector assets” in downtown areas, according to internal police documents.

The police monitoring of the activities of Occupy Boston — an off-shoot of the Occupy Wall Street protests that swept the country in 2011 — came during a period after the U.S. government received the second of two warnings from the Russian government about the radical Islamic ties of alleged Boston Marathon bomber Tamerlan Tsarnaev.

Boston Police Commissioner Ed Davis told a congressional panel Thursday that his department was never alerted by any federal agency to the information about Tsarnaev, but added that it was “hard to say” whether it would have made any difference in preventing the bombing. FBI  officials have insisted that the intelligence about Tsarnaev was vague and uncorroborated and that their own assessment at the time produced no “derogatory” information that justified opening a full-scale investigation.

But the internal Boston police documents, recently obtained by a civil liberties group, could raise fresh questions about the role of Homeland Security-funded “fusion centers” like the Boston Regional Intelligence Center, or BRIC, which conducted the monitoring. The Boston unit  is one of 72 such units set up to collect, analyze and share intelligence about potential terror threats. While  Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano has called the units “one of the centerpieces” of the nation’s counterterrorism efforts, congressional critics have questioned their effectiveness and accused them in some cases of writing “useless” reports that infringed on civil liberties.

“They  were monitoring completely lawful activities,” said Mara Verheyden-Hilliard, executive director of the Partnership for Civil Justice, a civil liberties group that recently obtained the documents on the BRIC’s monitoring of Occupy Boston under the Freedom of Information Act. She said the BRIC monitoring was an example of the “vast expenditure of government money” to collect intelligence on activities unrelated to terrorism, in violation of First Amendment rights.

A Boston police spokeswoman said the department has changed its reporting procedures since the monitoring of the protests and emphasized that the BRIC is “about a lot more than terrorism.”

A Homeland Security official declined comment, saying the BRIC, like other fusion centers, was “locally owned and operated.” But the official noted that, just five days before the marathon bombing, the BRIC did produce an assessment for the event that, while concluding there was “no specific” or “credible” threat information, advised that “officials should be aware of a range of potential terrorist threats, from scattered unsophisticated attacks to dispersal of chemical or biological agents.” The assessment also identified the marathon finish line — where the bombing took place — as well as Fenway Park as “an area of increased vulnerability.”

The internal police documents about the activities of the BRIC show that on Sept. 30, 2011 — just two days after the second Russian warning about Tsarnaev was sent to the CIA — the Boston police unit was focused on an upcoming “Take Back Boston Rally” planned for the city’s Dewey Square.

“Approximately 100 people are listed as attending the Take Back Boston Rally on the event’s Facebook page and Occupy Boston organziers are encouraging people to attend it as well,” reads one BRIC report written by a U.S. homeland security official on Sept. 30, 2011. “The BRIC has received information that approximately 700 people will participate in the Take Back Boston march, with approximately 100 people staying to camp out as part of Occupy Boston.”

A follow-up report, three days days later, tracked the number of protesters, noting that “the size of the camp in Dewey Square has steadily grown over the weekend” and that “according to the group’s website” the demonstrators were planning two marches, including one to a “local media station, very likely to be Fox News Boston on Beacon Hill.”

Verheyden-Hilliard, whose group obtained the documents, said it was not surprising that the BRIC would be reporting such information since later documents appear to show Homeland Security officials requesting such data. In one “Daily Intelligence Briefing,” dated Oct. 21, 2011, the “Threat Management Division” of Homeland Security’s Federal Protective Service outlines a “template for creating the daily intelligence brief for your region” and then cites a “list of events we want to request” that officials submit “for daily briefing information.” Among the categories, in addition to reporting on domestic terrorist acts and “significant criminal activity” is one called “Peaceful Activist Demonstrations.”

In his testimony Thursday, Commissioner Davis acknowledged to a House committee that his department, which runs the BRIC, was never provided any of the intelligence from the FBI and CIA that Tsarnaev, a resident of Cambridge, had been twice flagged by the Russians as an Islamic radical with ties to “underground” groups in that country.

“We were not aware of the two brothers,” Davis said in response to questioning by Rep. Mike McCaul of Texas, chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee. “We were not aware of Tamerlan’s activities.”

Davis acknowledged that police counterterrorism detectives were assigned to an FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF) — a separate unit from the Homeland Security fusion centers that serves as the government’s primary investigative arm for probing terror threats. An FBI agent at the Boston JTTF conducted an “assessment” of Tsarnaev in 2011 after the first warning about his ties was sent by Russia’s FSB intelligence service. The assessment found no “derogatory” information about Tsarnaev that justified conducting a formal investigation. Later information about Tsarnaev included a second Russian warning to the CIA on Sept. 28, 2011.

But while Boston police had access to the JTTF’s classified database, Davis said that his own officers assigned to the task force were never  specifically alerted to any the information about Tsarnaev. “They tell me they received no word about that individual prior to the bombing.”

FBI spokesman Jason Pack said Thursday that state and local members of the JTTF are “responsible for maintaining awareness of possible threats” in their areas and could have performed “customized key word searches” of the FBI database that would have yielded the information about Tsarnaev.

NBC News researcher Taylor Sears contributed to this report.

Background reading

DHS documents revealing that peaceful protesters were monitored as a matter of policy can be read by clicking here:  http://www.justiceonline.org/commentary/new-documents-reveal-dhs.html

FBI documents showing the nationwide monitoring of the Occupy movement can be read by clicking here:  http://www.justiceonline.org/commentary/fbi-files-ows.html

 

Institutionalized Spying – The New America!

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2012 FISA Amendments Reauthorization Act, 9/11, Americans, cell phones, CIA, CISPA, computers, corruption, covert operations, Department of Homeland Security, Facebook, failure, FBI, Federal Government, Freedom, Google, History, Illegal, internet, invasion, law, Loss, NSA, Obama, Orwellian, Patriot Act, phone companies, Police State, privacy, spying, Surveillance, technology, terrorism, totalitarianism, U.S, U.S. Constitution, U.S. Government, United States, unlawful, Wiretapping

Big Brother no longer is fiction. It hasn’t been for some time. It’s official US policy. According to ACLU’s Technology and Liberty Program director Barry Steinhardt:

“Given the capabilities of today’s technology, the only thing protecting us from a full-fledged surveillance society are the legal and political institutions we have inherited as Americans.”

“Unfortunately, the September 11 attacks have led some to embrace the fallacy that weakening the Constitution will strengthen America.”

Manufactured national security threats matter more than fundamental freedoms. Domestic spying is institutionalized.

Anyone can be monitored for any reason or none at all. Privacy rights are lost. Patriot Act legislation authorized unchecked government surveillance powers.

Financial, medical and other personal information can be accessed freely. So-called “sneak and peak” searches may be conducted through “delayed notice” warrants, roving wiretaps, email tracking, and Internet and cell phone use.

The FBI, CIA, NSA, and Pentagon spy domestically. So do state and local agencies. Spies “R” us defines US policy. America is a total surveillance society. It’s unsafe to live in. Everyone is suspect unless proved otherwise.

The 2012 FISA Amendments Reauthorization Act renewed warrantless spying. It passed with little debate. On Sunday, December 30, 2012 Obama signed it into law. Doing so largely went unnoticed.

These type disturbing measures usually slip below the radar. Weekends and holiday period enactments conceal blows to freedom. Warrantless spying became law for another five years.

Phone calls, emails, and other communications may be monitored secretly without court authorization. Probable cause isn’t needed. So-called “foreign intelligence information” is sought. Virtually anything qualifies. Vague language is all-embracing.

Months after 9/11, Bush secretly authorized the NSA to eavesdrop on Americans lawlessly. Sweeping surveillance followed without court-approved warrants.

Doing so violates core constitutional protections. Major US telecommunications companies are involved. They have been since 9/11. Things now are worse than then.

On April 29, Russia Today (RT) headlined “Spy, or pay up: FBI-backed bill would fine US firms for refusing wiretaps.” A day earlier Washington Post article was cited.

It headlined “Panel seeks to fine tech companies for noncompliance with wiretap orders,” saying:

“A government task force is preparing legislation that would pressure companies such as Facebook and Google to enable law enforcement officials to intercept online communications as they occur, according to current and former US officials familiar with the effort.”

At issue is alleged FBI concerns about “Internet communications of terrorists and other criminals.”

FBI spying is longstanding. So are other lawless practices. Throughout its history, the agency operated within and outside the law.

J. Edgar Hoover ran it from 1924 – 1972. He waged war on communists, anti-war, human and civil rights activists, the American Indian Movement, Black Panther Party, and other groups challenging rogue state policies.

He ordered agents to infiltrate, disrupt, sabotage, and destroy them. Anyone advocating ethnic justice and racial emancipation, as well as economic, social, and political equality across gender and color lines became vulnerable.

Post-9/11, FBI abuses escalated. Intrusive surveillance tools now target ordinary Americans. Unchecked authority and other abusive practices are widespread. America’s war on terror matters most.

Disturbing tactics include greater physical surveillance, commercial database data retrieval, paid informants infiltrating groups (or targeting individuals) on false pretenses, and letting covert unidentified agents conduct “pretext” interviews for information.

Muslims are America’s target of choice. So are anti-war and social justice activists. A gloves off, no-holds barred approach is followed. Virtually anything is fair game. Innocent people are vulnerable.

The Patriot Act authorized so-called National Security Letters (NSLs). FBI agents take full advantage. They do so by demanding personal customer records from ISPs, financial institutions, credit companies, and other sources without prior court approval.

The FBI wants more. According to the Washington Post, it wants companies failing to heed wiretap orders penalized.

In February 2011, then FBI general counsel Valerie Caproni told House Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security Subcommittee members about a “Going Dark” problem.

She explained the agency’s inability to access comprehensive “communications and related data.” She claimed a “public safety” threat when critical information is missed.

In March 2013, current FBI general counsel Andrew Weissmann addressed an American Bar Association discussion. He did so on legal challenges new technologies pose, saying:

“We don’t have the ability to go to court and say, ‘We need a court order to effectuate the intercept.’ Other countries have that. Most people assume that’s what you’re getting when you go to a court.”

Under current law, Internet communications companies can refuse to comply with court-ordered wiretaps. They can claim no practical way to do so.

Proposed legislation would change things. It would force companies to rebuild their capability to allow government monitoring.

Weissmann calls doing so a “top priority.” Proposed legislation is being drafted. It’s an extension of the 1994 Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act (CALEA).

It grants federal authorities sweeping surveillance powers. Doing so lets them spy on Americans more intrusively.

CALEA originally applied only to digital telephone networks. It forced telephone companies to redesign their network architectures to make wiretapping easier.

In 2005, online communications were added. Broadband providers had to rebuild their networks accordingly.

At issue was permitting access to Internet “phone calls” through VOIP applications, as well as online “conversations” by instant messaging programs.

Law enforcement wiretapping is longstanding. Existing laws permit tapping phone or online communications regardless of what programs or protocols are used.

Industry largely cooperates. Digital age surveillance is easier than authorities claim. They want greater ease than currently permitted. Expanding CALEA is overkill. Doing so enhances police state powers.

The FBI cites its “tappability principle.” It does so to justify its demands. It claims whatever is legally searchable sometimes should be physically searchable all times.

Applied to phone and Internet communications, it would require designing phones and computers with built-in bugs. Doing so would elevate surveillance powers. Everyone could be spied on at all times. Private communications no longer would exist.

Expanding CALEA is the tip of the iceberg. Perhaps software companies are next. Enhanced legislative authority may force them to create surveillance-ready programs. Doing so may compromise innovation.

Applying phone system rules to software development and online communications assures trouble. What’s longstanding policy for one compromises innovation for the others. It also more greatly undermines freedom.

Police state powers are enhanced. Companies are forced to comply. Under draft legislation, courts could levy fines. Judicial inquiries could impose additional ones. After 90 days, unpaid amounts would double daily.

According to Center for Democracy and Technology senior counsel Greg Nojeim:

“This proposal is a non-starter that would drive innovators overseas and cost American jobs. They might as well call it the Cyber Insecurity and Anti-Employment Act.”

Former federal prosecutor Michael Sussman added:

“Today, if you’re a tech company that’s created a new and popular way to communicate, it’s only a matter of time before the FBI shows up with a court order to read or hear some conversation.”

“If the data can help solve crimes, the government will be interested.”

In 2010, after its networks were hacked, Google began emails and text messages end-to-end encryption. Facebook followed suit.

Doing so compromises FBI monitoring. Agency officials want enhanced CALEA authorization permitting it.

They claim doing so only extends current law to new technologies. It requires phone and online companies to allow wiretapping.

It’s much more than that. It elevates mass surveillance to a dangerously higher level. It’s another step toward full-blown tyranny.

On April 29, the Center for Democracy & Technology (CDT) headlined “Feds Push for Backdoor Wiretap Capabilities.”

According to CDT Senior Staff Technologist Joe Hall:

“A wiretapping mandate is a vulnerability mandate. The unintended consequences of this proposal are profound.”

“At the very time when the nation is concerned about cybersecurity, the FBI proposal has the potential to make our communications less secure.”

“Once you build a wiretap capability into products and services, the bad guys will find a way to use it.”

CDT President Leslie Harris added:

“What the FBI is proposing sounds benign, but it comes with such onerous penalties that it would force developers to seek pre-approval from the FBI.”

“No one is going to want to face fines that double every day, so they will go to the FBI and work it out in advance, diverting resources, slowing innovation, and resulting in less secure products.”

“The sad irony,” said Hall, “is that this is likely to be ineffective. Building a communications tool today is a homework project for undergraduates.”

“So much is based on open source and can be readily customized. Criminals and other bad actors will simply use homemade communication services based offshore, making them even harder to monitor.”

Media scholar/critic/activist Robert McChesney told Progressive Radio News Hour listeners how Internet freedom has been compromised.

His important new book “Digital Disconnect: How Capitalism is Turning the Internet Against Democracy” explains what should concern everyone.

“The corporate media sector (did) everything in its immense power to limit (its) openness and egalitarianism…., he said.”

“….corporate and state surreptitious monitoring of Internet users” compromises fundamental freedoms.

Doing so is “inimical to much of the democratic potential of digital communication.”

Internet freedom depends on “arrest(ing) the forces that promote inequality, monopoly, hypercommercialism, corruption, depoliticization, and stagnation.”

It requires ending mass surveillance powers. It’s about restoring lost democratic principles. America’s heading the wrong way. It’s perilously close to ending freedom altogether.

Source:  http://www.thesleuthjournal.com/institutionalized-spying-on-americans/?goback=%2Egde_1846553_member_237616143

Oh Look, Rep. Mike Rogers Wife Stands To Benefit Greatly From CISPA Passing!

Tags

bill sponsor, CISPA, Computer security, Conflict, Congress, contractors, corruption, Cybersecurity Bill, defense, greed, Interest, internet, invasion, Kristi Clemens Rogers, Michael Rogers, Mike Rogers, money, National Security Agency, NSA, privacy, Representative, Republican, U.S. citizens, U.S. House of Representatives, U.S. Military, U.S. Senate, U.S. State Department, United States, Untrustworthy

from the no-conflict,-no-interest dept

It would appear that Rep. Mike Rogers, the main person in Congress pushing for CISPA, has kept rather quiet about a very direct conflict of interest that calls into serious question the entire bill. It would appear that Rogers’ wife stands to benefit quite a lot from the passage of CISPA, and has helped in the push to get the bill passed. It’s somewhat amazing that no one has really covered this part of the story, but it highlights, yet again, the kind of activities by folks in Congress that make the public trust Congress less and less.

It has seemed quite strange to see how strongly Rogers has been fighting for CISPA, refusing to even acknowledge the seriousness of the privacy concerns. At other times, he can’t even keep his own story straight about whether or not CISPA is about giving information to the NSA (hint: it is). And then there was the recent ridiculousness with him insisting that the only opposition to CISPA came from 14-year-old kids in their basement. Wrong and insulting.

Of course, as we’ve noted all along, all attempts at cybersecurity legislation have always been about money. Mainly, money to big defense contractors aiming to provide the government with lots of very expensive “solutions” to the cybersecurity “problem” — a problem that still has not been adequately defined beyond fake scare stories. Just last month, Rogers accidentally tweeted (and then deleted) a story about how CISPA supporters, like himself, had received 15 times more money from pro-CISPA group that the opposition had received from anti-CISPA groups.

So it seems rather interesting to note that Rogers’ wife, Kristi Clemens Rogers, was, until recently, the president and CEO of Aegis LLC a “security” defense contractor company, whom she helped to secure a $10 billion (with a b) contract with the State Department. The company describes itself as “a leading private security company, provides government and corporate clients with a full spectrum of intelligence-led, culturally-sensitive security solutions to operational and development challenges around the world.”

Hmm. Sounds like a company like that would benefit greatly to seeing a big ramp up in cybersecurity FUD around the globe, and, with it, big budgets by various government agencies to spend on such things. Indeed, just a few months ago, Rogers penned an article for Washington Life Magazine all about evil hackers trying to “steal information.” In it, there’s a line that might sound a wee-bit familiar, referring to the impression of hackers as being “the teenager in his or her parent’s basement with bunny slippers and a Mountain Dew.” Apparently, both of the Rogers really have a thing about teens in basements. The article is typical FUD, making statements with no proof, including repeating the NSA’s ridiculous allegation that hackers have led to the “greatest transfer of wealth in American history.” It’s such a good line, except that it’s completely untrue. The top US companies have recently admitted to absolutely no damage from such attacks. The article also lumps in “hacktivists” like Anonymous, as if they’re a part of this grand conspiracy that needs new laws.

Tellingly, in the print version of Washington Life that this article appeared in, which you can see embedded below, you’ll note that there’s a side bar right next to her article about the importance of passing cybersecurity legislation in Congress. Guess what’s not mentioned anywhere at all? The fact that Kristi Rogers, author of the fear-mongering article, happens to be married to Rep. Mike Rogers, the guy in charge of pushing through cybersecurity legislation. That sure seems like a rather key point, and a major conflict of interest that neither seemed interested in disclosing. Oh, and Kristi Rogers recently changed jobs as well, such that she’s now the “managing director of federal government affairs and public policies” at Manatt a big lobbying firm, where (surprise, surprise) she’s apparently focused on “executive-level problem solving in the defense and homeland security sectors.” I’m sure having CISPA in place will suddenly create plenty of demand for such problem solving.

A few months ago, on one of his FUD-filled talks about why we need cybersecurity, Rogers claimed that it was all so scary that he literally couldn’t sleep at night until CISPA was passed due to an “unusual source” threatening us. The whole statement seemed odd, until you realize that his statement came out at basically the same time as his wife’s fear-mongering article about cybersecurity. I guess when your pillow talk is made up boogeyman stories about threats that don’t actually exist, it might make it difficult to fall asleep.

Either way, even if we assume that everything here was done aboveboard — and we’re not suggesting it wasn’t — this is exactly the kind of situation that Larry Lessig has referred to as soft corruption. It’s not bags of money shifting hands, but it appears highly questionable to the public, leading the public to trust Congress a lot less. At the very least, in discussing all of this stuff, when Mrs. Rogers is writing articles that help the push for CISPA, it seems only fair to disclose that she’s married to the guy pushing for the bill. And when Mr. Rogers is pushing for the bill, it seems only right to disclose that his wife almost certainly would benefit from the bill passing. And yet, that doesn’t seem to have happened… anywhere.

Source:  http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130417/16253022748/oh-look-rep-mike-rogers-wife-stands-to-benefit-greatly-cispa-passing.shtml

 

Stop CISPA!

Tags

CISPA, Facebook, Federal Government, internet, intrusion, invasion, law, privacy, Twitter, U.S. Government, United States, United States House of Representatives, United States Senate

This is personal!
Keep government out of our personal business!

 

CISPA CYBER-SECURITY BILL PASSES HOUSE!

Tags

Barack Obama, CISPA, Congress, Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protect Act, Cybersecurity Bill, invasion, law, lawmakers, Obama, privacy, Senate, U.S. Government, U.S. House of Representatives, U.S. Senate, United States, United States House of Representatives, United States Senate, White House

The US House of Representatives has passed the controversial Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protect Act (CISPA).

Lawmakers in the House voted 288-to-127 Thursday afternoon to accept the bill. Next it will move to the Senate and could then end up on the desk of US President Barack Obama for him to potentially sign the bill into law. Earlier this week, though, senior White House advisers said they would recommend the president veto the bill.

Should CISPA earn the president’s autograph, private businesses will be encouraged to voluntarily share cyberthreat information with the US government. The authors of the bill say this is an effort to better combat the reportedly increasing attempts to harm America’s critical computer networks and pilfer the systems of private companies for intellectual property and other sensitive trade secrets.

Read more here:  http://rt.com/usa/congress-house-bill-cispa-031/

 

U.S. Patriots & Activists Now Labeled As Terrorists!

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activists, Agenda 21, America, Americans, Author, Barack Obama, Civil Rights, Conservatives, conspiracy theorists, Conspiracy theory, Constitution Party, deceptive, DHS, DOJ, Drones, Eric Holder, Federal Government, Federal government of the United States, Genocide, George H.W. Bush, gun grab, guns, J. Richard Cohen, Janet Napolitano, Loss, murder, Oath Keepers, Patriots, President, privacy, right-wing conservatives, scandals, socialism, Southern Poverty Law Center, SPLC, spying, Surveillance, survivalists, Tea Party, tracking, U.N., U.S, United States, United States Attorney General

Report Prepared for Obama’s DHS & DOJ Targets Survivalists, Patriots & Conservatives as Terrorist Threats

The Southern Poverty Law Center, a group who regularly attacks patriotic Americans by masquerading as a civil rights group, is compiling lists and conducting surveillance on what it calls “patriots”, “survivalists”, and “conspiracy theorists”. Even more disturbing, is the access this group has to the Obama administration’s Department of Justice.

In a report prepared for U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) is asking the Federal Government to create a new inter-agency task force which will be dedicated to tracking and taking down conspiracy theorists, survivalists, “Patriot groups” and the “American radical right”.

The Government Supported Attack Group, who is actively creating lists and conducting surveillance on Americans, says the following people need to be tracked by the Federal Government.

• Those who talk about, or believe in Conspiracy Theories.
• Those who talk about or believe in Agenda 21 — a United Nations sustainability plan that was signed by President George H.W. Bush and is part of a plan to impose socialism on America and strip away private property rights.
• Those who believe that the government is poised to take their guns.
• Those who believe the President is trying to impose Socialism on the American people.
• Those who call themselves Survivalist or belong to Patriot Groups.
• Right-wing groups like the Tea Party, the Constitution Party, the Oath Keepers, or other “conspiracy-oriented Patriot groups”

The report was written by J. Richard Cohen, President of the SPLC and a member of the Department of Homeland Security’s Countering Violent Extremism Working Group.

The fact that our government entertains the thoughts of a raving madman is a testament to how far this country has fallen from its founding doctrines. How a person who labels patriotic Americans as a terrorist threat is allowed to work with the federal government, especially at a time when the DHS is in the middle of so many Spying & Drone Scandals, is a complete mystery that should scare the hell out of every American in this country.

We have a government who is declaring war on the thoughts, opinions and principles that founded this country. When a man who declares Patriots to be a “terrorist group” is allowed such high level access to our leaders, there is something seriously wrong with our system.

Source:  http://www.thesleuthjournal.com/report-prepared-for-obamas-dhs-doj-targets-survivalists-patriots-conservatives-as-terrorist-threats/