US Privacy Groups Urge Senate Not To Ram Through NSA Spying Powers (wired.com) 35
Some of the United States' largest civil liberties groups are urging Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer not to pursue a short-term extension of the Section 702 surveillance program slated to sunset on December 31. From a report: The more than 20 groups -- Demand Progress, the Brennan Center for Justice, American Civil Liberties Union, and Asian Americans Advancing Justice among them -- oppose plans that would allow the program to continue temporarily by amending "must-pass" legislation, such as the bill needed now to avert a government shutdown by Friday, or the National Defense Authorization Act, annual legislation set to dictate $886 billion in national security spending across the Pentagon and US Department of Energy in 2024.
"In its current form, [Section 702] is dangerous to our liberties and our democracy, and it should not be renewed for any length of time without robust debate, an opportunity for amendment, and -- ultimately -- far-reaching reforms," a letter from the groups to Schumer says. It adds that any attempt to prolong the program by rushed amendment "would demonstrate blatant disregard for the civil liberties and civil rights of the American people."
"In its current form, [Section 702] is dangerous to our liberties and our democracy, and it should not be renewed for any length of time without robust debate, an opportunity for amendment, and -- ultimately -- far-reaching reforms," a letter from the groups to Schumer says. It adds that any attempt to prolong the program by rushed amendment "would demonstrate blatant disregard for the civil liberties and civil rights of the American people."
NSA Spying Powers: Now with Added Stealth Mode (Score:4, Insightful)
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And hey, as long as they're updating things, why not throw in a clause that all senators must use Comic Sans in all official documents? It's about as subtle as this move.
Uh, that would be quite a subtle move actually, given the fact that hardly anyone actually reads that shit. Not really necessary in order to vote the party line. Reading is optional now. Like too many 3rd and 4th graders can confirm.
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Why do Senators and Congressman need to read a bill? They can just MMA the opposition into submission to get a bill passed now.
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US politicians excel (Score:4, Insightful)
... to continue temporarily by ...
The US government has been giving war-time powers to their servants for over 20 years. Now, the war is officially ended, it would be nice if the current crop of US politicians acted like it. Alas, they've been doing the opposite for 20 years, and US politicians love to shout, "you're a victim, I'll save you".
The other thing US politicians excel at: Enshitification of democracy, AKA "Democracy does not work".
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Voting is a popularity contest. That means it is not a contest of competence, experience, honesty, or even loyalty. It is 100% a matter of public perception.
That, in turn, means: the best liar wins. Whoever makes the most believable promises to the masses gets their vote.
There is no way to fix this. A few individuals can self-analyze and make an effort to dig deeper before they vote, but they will quickly learn that all candidates are unworthy and nobody else is bothering to put forth the effort. Most
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In the '90s neo-con 'thought leader' Grover Norquist told a group of Republican politicians, "The only way you will be able to convince voters that government is broken is if you break it first." Later he described their plan to run the debt up so high that there would be no room for anything but interest payment and the military, they intended to shrink the Federal government to the size where "I can drag it into the bathroom and drown it in the tub." For the last quarter century the neo-cons in charge o
Think about the children (Score:1)
What's new? (Score:2)
"In its current form, [Section 702] is dangerous to our liberties and our democracy, and it should not be renewed for any length of time without robust debate, an opportunity for amendment, and -- ultimately -- far-reaching reforms," a letter from the groups to Schumer says. It adds that any attempt to prolong the program by rushed amendment "would demonstrate blatant disregard for the civil liberties and civil rights of the American people."
So, par for the course then? If they didn't come across as such an unfettered disaster, barely able to function as humans, you'd almost think congress creates these shut-down scares to specifically foist unpopular legislation through with the "emergency" funding bills.
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The USA is changing: In a few decades, the majority of voters will be not senior citizens, not white, not fundamental Christians, not owning homes or retirement funds, not remembering the 1950s post-war economy, and definitely not believing that corporate prosperity makes it the greatest country ever.
The values driving the 21st Century Republican Party will soon be gone. It will be interesting times for US politics as young adults deal with the detritus created by the fanaticism, greed/consumerism and p
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The GOP has a plan for that. Voter suppression and gerrymandering will be used to ensure that only their chosen voters get a meaningful vote.
Expect to see this ramped up, especially if Trump gets another term.
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The GOP has a plan for that. Voter suppression and gerrymandering will be used to ensure that only their chosen voters get a meaningful vote.
Expect to see this ramped up, especially if Trump gets another term.
If Trump gets another term I see some VERY drastic changes in our future. With the fanaticism extending to everywhere but the courts, save maybe the Supreme so far, there will be no more checks and balances. It'll be really ugly. We thought the last go was fun? Yikes.
Re:What's new? (Score:4, Informative)
In a few decades, the majority of voters will be not senior citizens
Agree with some of the rest of what you say -- although, you paint with too broad a brush my friend -- but this one is factually inaccurate. A simple look at demographics and birth rates [census.gov] would validate this. If you hate having senior citizens as 15% of the population you're really going to hate when they're nearly a quarter of the population.
Just 886 billion (Score:1)
350 billion to repair infrastructure, but this should get us a couple dozen AI data centers that can automatically flag anyone questioning elections or voluntary drug beta testing
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compelled cooperation (Score:2)
"This interception takes place with the compelled cooperation of US telecommunications companies that handle internet traffic at stages along global networks."
The NSA has mandatory taps at all the phone and internet carriers, this has been reported for years, and they just ingest whatever they want. Probably there are some loose filters on what they actually bother to keep. Clearly it is massively invasive and should not be allowed to continue in it's present form.
The letter was written to Schumer, who may
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Looking at the history of the uni-party for the last two decades I think it likely that Schumer will listen and then say, "So what's in it for me?"
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Dems are no saints, but there is no "uni-party" now. There is the fascist Trump party, and then everyone else.
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But trump definitely is evil, Biden did not lie. And the GOP is profoundly anti-democratic, the Speaker of the House is a white Christian nationalist who worked hard to overturn the 2020 election.
Trump has been declaring in his speeches that he will convert the federal workforce such that anyone can be fired by the president at will and must follow his personal whims. He claims that a presidential candidate should be immune from prosecution. He has been indicted for dozens of federal crimes and spends his d
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Lol, you cited a 2021 opinion piece from the Heritage Foundation. Who cares what "a contributor to The Daily Signal" thinks?
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It wasn't an 'analysis'. It was just some joker's uninteresting personal opinions. Nothing in it supported your "D and R are two wings of the same bird" nonsense.
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Well its good to see that you've backtracked on your claim, seeing as how you have no evidence.
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"D and R are two wings of the same bird" was obviously your claim, and now "Actually I don't think D and R are two wings of the same bird".
Clearly you did backtrack, and now you've lied about it.
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Enemy of the State 2: Not Just a Movie Anymore (Score:1)