Video: Yes We 'Scan' - Obama Defends NSA Spying Program! - (But) I'm No Dick Cheney!
Showing posts with label 1984. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 1984. Show all posts
Wednesday, June 19, 2013
Wednesday, June 12, 2013
Watcher’s Council Nominations – Under Surveillance Edition - 06.12.13
JoshuaPundit on Jun 12 2013 | Nominations
Welcome to the Watcher’s Council, a blogging group consisting of some of the most incisive blogs in the ‘sphere’, and the longest running group of its kind in existence. Every week, the members nominate two posts each, one written by themselves and one written by someone from outside the group for consideration by the whole Council. Then we vote on the best two posts, with the results appearing on Friday.
Council News:
Ch-ch-ch-Changes: Council Members Gay Patriot and The Independent Sentinel have departed the Council due to the need to concentrate on other pursuits, although they will still remain members of the WoW community. We’ve greatly enjoyed having them as part of our group and wish them well in their future endeavors.
But hey, just looky what we have here!
This week marks the stellar debut of Liberty’s Spirit and Nice Deb, two awesome writers we’ve been fans of for some time. They’re definitely going to add something special to the Council mix… check out their submissions this week and see if you don’t agree.
This week, Ask Marion, Right Truth, and The Pirate’s Cove earned honorable mention status with some great pieces.
Council Submissions
- The Political Commentator – Connecting the radical dots in Boston!
- Simply Jews – More fun and games with Alice Walker
- The Noisy Room – Samantha Power: The Hand That Rocks A Nation
- Liberty’s Spirit – Autism-Meme as Political Insult
- The Razor – The Power of Islamic Propaganda
- Joshuapundit - The Anniversary Of A Miracle – Israel’s Victory In The Six Day War
- The Colossus of Rhodey – Poll Shows Support for Affirmative Action Dwindling
- Nice Deb – National Organization for Marriage’s John Eastman RIPS Democrats At IRS Hearing + Proof IRS Leaked Confidential Donor List to Political Rival
- GrEaT sAtAn”S gIrLfRiEnD – Beirut Is The Next Benghazi
- The Right Planet – What Are Some Good ‘Liberal’ Books?
- Bookworm Room – Game of Thrones and how the things that we watch reveal something about who we are and what we’ve become
- VA Right! - NSA Leaker Snowden: Hero or Traitor?
- The Glittering Eye - Weasels
- Rhymes With Right – A Long Distance Dedication To Obama Voters
- The Mellow Jihadi – My First Fist-Fight in the Navy
Honorable Mentions
- Ask Marion – NSA Whistleblower Snowden in Exile as the Obama Scandals List Grows
- Right Truth – Soldier Who Read Conservative Books Faces Charges…
- The Pirate’s Cove – Bummer: NY Times Admits To 15 Year Pause In Global Warming
Non-Council Submissions
- Zero Hedge - Are Central Bankers Losing Control? submitted by The Political Commentator
- The Texas Scribbler – Our Creepy President submitted by Simply Jews
- Sultan Knish – We’ll Keep the Red Flag Flying Here submitted by The Noisy Room
- This Ongoing War: A Blog – Will Appeasing Hezbollah Work Better Now Than it Did With Nazi Germany? submitted by Liberty’s Spirit
- Victor Davis Hanson – Obama is Just Obama submitted by The Razor
- Mark Steyn – The All Seeing State submitted by Joshuapundit
- Reason.com – Obama’’s Last Gasp at a Legacy submitted by The Colossus of Rhodey
- Doug Ross @ Journal – The Complete IRS Scandal Timeline in Spreadsheet Format [Updated] submitted by Nice Deb
- The Long War Journal – Iran’s Latin American Terror Network submitted by GrEaT sAtAn”S gIrLfRiEnD
- The National Journal – NSA Spying Scandal: 2006 or 2013? submitted by The Right Planet
- Israel Thrives - The Nakba Stratagem submitted by Bookworm Room
- Michelle Malkin – Assimilation, Not Amnesty submitted by VA Right!
- Alexis Simendinger/RealClearPolitics – Privacy, Security and Obama’s Uphill Quest for Trust submitted by The Glittering Eye
- Red State – IRS lectures pro-life group on acceptable speech, practice of religion. submitted by Rhymes with Right
- Chicago Boyz – Peggy Noonan is figuring it out … submitted by The Mellow Jihadi
- Gatestone Institute/Raheel Raza – On Israel’s President’s Conference submitted by The Watcher
- Ann Coulter – Tips For Right-Wingers On The IRS Scandal submitted by Watcher
Forum: Given The Scandals Surrounding His Administration, Will Obama Finish His Second Term?
Enjoy! And don’t forget to like us on Facebook and follow us Twitter..’cause we’re cool like that!
NSA Whistleblower Snowden in Exile as the Obama Scandals List Grows
By Marion Algier - AskMarion
Alexis de Tocqueville, the French political thinker and historian who is most famous for his work Democracy in America (paperback), said, “People get the government they deserve.” and there is a similar and well-documented quotation by Joseph de Maistre: "Every country has the government it deserves.”
They are both quotes usually used to explain why our governments (worldwide) are generally pretty awful. The inference is that if people were more careful who they voted for, if they took the time to inform themselves and if more people took the trouble to vote (and get involved in the system) in the first place, we would not have such mediocre or corrupt people in government, and indeed politicians would have to clean up their act and work a lot harder than they do or they would be replaced.
When I was a young student of history, government and politics, I used to think those comments were pretty cynical, but as I have watched and chronicled America’s decline since the Reagan era I have sadly found them to be more true than I ever wanted to believe or admit.
The Great American Experiment, as America is often called, was supposed to prove that the common man could rule himself and America’s Founding Fathers gave us every tool we needed to survive as long as we stayed engaged. But even with those tools the average American is lost, uninformed and disinterested, even now as they watch the one-time greatest country in the world crashing down around them!
The American people as a whole have given the politicians in Washington D.C., and even locally, carte blanche with little oversight or interest for decades. A trend that really began as the so-called ‘Greatest Generation’ returned home from war and the inattention and apathy has grown with each generation thereafter, except by those focused on destroying America. We have allowed ourselves and our children to methodically be dumbed-down, indoctrinated, and manipulated to the point that Pravda, the former propaganda newspaper for the USSR dubbed us Sheeple. We elected and re-elected a president that we still don’t really know and who has ‘always’ surrounded himself with radicals that didn’t like the American system, American ideals or the values of the average American. And we now find ourselves with a president, his administration and a government in general embroiled in scandal, cover-ups, and over-reach. Yet half the people still don’t know about or understand the scandals, that the 2012 election probably was stolen and when asked they just say, “Our president, ‘Obama’, is cool.” The other half are losing or have already lost faith in the government, as well as in their low-informed counterparts.
How many scandals are there now? Benghazi-gate, IRS-gate, NSA-gate, Press-gate… Sebelius-gate (or ObamaCare-gate), EPA-gate, Fast and Furious, voter/election fraud and the list goes on… now State Dept-gate and maybe Islamist-gate. They are spying on us and collecting our data without cause or warrants; using czars and Executive Orders to circumvent the Constitution; they arrogantly promote and defend those involved in the corruption and they investigated and suppressed the activities of anyone or group that opposed them to steal an election. And now courageous whistleblowers and witnesses, who are finally stepping up but are afraid enough that they won’t get a fair trial (or worse), are fleeing the country. Where is the outrage?
FoxNews: NSA whistle-blower who sought to 'inform the public' in surveillance risks decades in jail.
The source of the bombshell leaks about the U.S. government gathering information on billions of phone calls and Internet activities risks decades in jail for the disclosures if the U.S. can extradite him from Hong Kong, where he says he has taken refuge after saying his sole motive was to “inform the public.”
“We have the elements of a Police State here”- Mark Levin
Daniel Ellsberg, the man who leaked the Pentagon Papers in 1971, fully approves of Edward Snowden's leak about a top-secret National Security Agency surveillance program.
"I'm very impressed by what I've heard in the last couple of hours, including Snowden's own video here. I think he's done an enormous service, incalculable service," Ellsberg said Sunday night on CNN.
As for the surveillance program, Ellsberg said, "I have no doubt that this violates the Fourth Amendment of the Constitution and probably other parts of the Bill of Rights and should have been exposed."
"Can it really be a crime to expose crime?" Ellsberg asked.
HONG KONG (AP) — The American intelligence contractor who disclosed the U.S. government surveillance programs fled to Hong Kong because he believed he wouldn't get a fair trial in his home country.
Snowden says he worked as a contractor at the National Security Agency and the CIA. He allowed both the Guardian and The Washington Post newspapers to reveal his identity on Sunday (06.09.13) as the source of a series of top-secret documents outlining two NSA surveillance programs. He told the papers if the DOJ indicts him, which seems almost inevitable, that he doesn't really trust the judicial system in the United States to give him a fair trial". Most would agree that he is right.
One can only ask… wow, has America really fallen that far? It wasn’t so long ago that those would have headlines expected out of the USSR, not the USA.
Video: Neil Cavuto Erupts Over Democratic Operative's Defense of Government NSA Scandal
Infowars.com: Fox News host Neil Cavuto and Democratic strategist Julian Epstein erupted at each other on Saturday morning, when Cavuto demanded Epstein see the NSA subpoena as part of a larger pattern of oppressive behavior on the part of the Obama administration. “You see one incident after another that comes up,” Cavuto said. “It all comes back to the same basic issue: privacy invaded or potentially invaded. Institutions of all sorts doing the same thing. There is a pattern.”
Video: Judge Jeanine Slams IRS, NSA and Obama for Expanding Surveillance Program - Opening Statement
Video: “We have the elements of a Police State here”- A fired up Mark Levin talks to Neil Cavuto
Where are men (and women… the Margaret Thatchers of our day) like Harry Truman and Ronald Reagan, presidents/public servants who knew the buck stopped with them, who would have made the tough decisions and taken responsibility? In Obamaland it is everyone’s fault but his. And when they (present day leaders) do surface… why don’t we recognize them? What has happened to Americans who expected their elected leaders to represent their interests and values and who would have called for the resignations or impeachments of those in power today?
Yet when we look for responsibility and blame we must also add ourselves plus everyone in Congress, government workers and the mainstream media to the list. How many people voted without knowing who or what they were voting for? How many parents and grandparents even have knowledge of the anti-American rhetoric being taught in our schools… about the Common C.O.R.E. educational program? How many informed public servants and media have remained silent? How many have misled or lied under oath? How many are uninformed themselves? Did Congress tell us about the PRISM Project… the data centers (Utah) being built and is Congress asking the right questions now?
We, and globally, have already been so programmed that too many Americans actually believe that spying on and droning American citizens is okay. After all most people voluntarily post all their information on social media for the powers that be, and everyone else, to access. We are being led like sheep(le) to the slaughter. See: Timeline of revelations about surveillance that sweeps up Americans' phone calls, data Founding Father Benjamin Franklin said, “He who gives up freedom for safety deserves neither”, yet in an America who no longer knew (knows) her (or world) history, Americans could not wait for “W” and Congress to ram through the Patriot Act after 9/11, which 12-years later has only become ever more intrusive. People… if the government is watching and monitoring you, it is never good!! We are living in George Orwell’s 1984… Hear Beck’s emotional 1984 monologue HERE.
America… it is the responsibility of each of us to be informed, to vote for integrity and demand it. If the America our Founding Fathers left us is to survive, it is up to all of us to take a stand and get involved… today! Or there won’t be an American tomorrow that you will be comfortable leaving to your children!! Remember the words of Alexis de Tocqueville, “People get the government they deserve.” If you don’t inform yourself and get involved, what will you tell you children and grandchildren you were doing when America and freedom was being stolen?
Wednesday, November 28, 2012
Today… A Car That Takes Your Pulse, Tomorrow A Card or Implant That Controls Your Life
WSJ – Cross-Posted at AskMarion and at True Health Is True Wealth: What the car of the near future will sense about your biology. Auto makers are researching technology that could feed your heart rate, blood pressure and other biometric responses into the car's computers, the better to determine when you're drowsy or overwhelmed with distracting media. MIT researcher Bryan Reimer and WSJ's Joe White has details on Lunch Break. See Video
A Car That Takes Your Pulse
Designing Vehicles To Monitor Brain Waves, Sleepiness
Could a car that knows when you are stressed or ill save you from having an accident? Auto makers are stepping up efforts to find out.
A number of big car manufacturers are accelerating research into equipping vehicles with so-called biometric sensors that would keep tabs on a driver's vital health signs, including pulse, breathing and "skin conductance," aka sweaty palms. When that information is fed into the computers that manage a car's safety systems, it could enable a vehicle to better react to whatever challenges the road and traffic dish out.
The move comes amid major advances in mobile medical-monitoring technology, as well as growing concerns about meeting the needs of an aging and increasingly distracted population of motorists.
It also reflects another step in the industry's broader move toward self-driving cars, a brave new world in which computers could all but eliminate the potential for driver error—whether it's due to a distracting phone call or a sudden drop in blood sugar.
Already, some Lexus models use in-cabin cameras and some Mercedes-Benz vehicles have steering sensors to detect drowsy-driving behavior. The cars sound a warning beep or flash a coffee-cup icon to suggest that it's time for a break. Luxury brands are promoting these accident-avoidance technologies as examples of what sets their expensive vehicles apart from cheaper, mainstream models. The Mercedes system, called Attention Assist, comes as standard equipment in a wide range of its vehicles, from the smaller C-class sedans to the more opulent, and high-tech, S-class models.
Separately, car makers and federal safety regulators are working on in-vehicle systems that could reliably detect when someone is too drunk to drive.
The new body monitors could, if a driving hazard appeared imminent, trigger the car's safety systems to tap the brakes, turn off a radio, block a cellphone from ringing or take other actions. Some of these advances may be in cars in three to five years. Others depend upon whether researchers can crack the challenge of designing health-related sensors that can work flawlessly in a vehicle for up to a decade.
Sports car maker Ferrari SpA, for one, has filed a patent application that indicates the company is evaluating technology that would embed wireless electrodes in a car seat's headrest to monitor drivers' brain waves for stress as they pilot machines capable of roaring up to 200 miles per hour. Depending on what the sensors detect, the car might try to mitigate the driver's risk by cutting power to the motor or automatically stabilizing the vehicle. As Ferrari researchers put it in the patent filing: "drivers tend to miscalculate—in particular, overestimate—their driving skill and, more important, their psychophysical condition."
At Ford Motor Co., F +1.26%researchers are looking at connecting information from medical monitors, like seat-belt-based respiration sensors and steering-wheel heart-rate trackers, to its cars' in-dash multimedia systems.
Ford's prototype system aims to lessen distraction by taking readouts from biometric sensors and combining the data with information from the car, including speed, steering-wheel angle, and data from radar sensors or cameras used in blind-spot obstacle detection or cruise control. All the data are run through software that can gauge the driver's overall stress level. If it is high, the system could automatically engage a "Do Not Disturb" function for the driver's phone.
Jeff Greenberg, a senior technical leader involved with the Ford research, says the broad goal is to minimize driver distraction and stress. This may involve keeping people engaged and alert on a boring drive to work or helping them stay focused in more difficult driving moments. If a truck looms out of the blind spot during a high-speed freeway merge, for example, a driver would be better off if his phone's ringer was disabled at that moment, he says.
Mr. Greenberg says phone-disabling technology could come to showrooms "relatively quickly." Adding the biometric sensors, he says, "is further out." Ford classifies those technologies as research projects that typically are at least three to five years from being offered to consumers.
One reason: The technology is evolving faster than issues such as medical privacy and regulatory oversight can be resolved. Ford, like other auto makers, is loath to add the Food and Drug Administration to an already heavy regulatory load.
Car makers hope that vehicles with medical monitors will appeal to an aging population that wants to keep driving.
"If we want to keep people in their vehicles, it's key we integrate systems to support them," says Bryan Reimer, a researcher with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology AgeLab, which focuses on innovations for an aging population. AgeLab has worked with Toyota Motor Corp., 7203.TO -1.56%Ford and other companies to test how biometric sensors could be used both to guide the design of vehicles to make them easier to operate and as onboard systems to help people drive more safely.
Getty Images/Onoky
A number of big car manufacturers are accelerating research into equipping vehicles with so-called biometric sensors that would keep tabs on a driver's vital health signs.
Dick Myrick, a 63-year-old retired electrical engineer from Arlington, Mass., participated in AgeLab experiments in biometrically monitored driving. His says he would be interested in a car that kept tabs on his condition as part of its safety technology, but only if he was in control of the system. "I need to know that the function is on, and have it not on when I want," he says.
Others see the new technology as yet another thing to keep track of behind the wheel. It's "a further distraction" for drivers, says Gabrielle Lucci, 60, a Farmington Hills, Mich., retiree.
Devices that collect data about an individual's physical condition are getting cheaper and smaller. Many are designed to connect to smartphones using the same Bluetooth technology that connects smartphones to cars. This provides a gateway for wirelessly connecting devices like glucose or heart monitors into a car's multimedia displays.
"The same sensor you are wearing for your weekend warrior stuff…is the sensor you could slap on your mother" to monitor her heart, says Leslie Saxon, a cardiologist who leads the University of Southern California's Center for Body Computing. Dr. Saxon's project recently formed a research alliance with German luxury car maker BMW BMW.XE +0.72% AG.
Daniel Grein, a BMW designer, says the USC research could help determine how to connect a Bluetooth-equipped blood-sugar monitor to future BMW models. In Munich, he says, BMW engineers are also investigating how to design a car that could automatically stop if the driver suffered a heart attack.
Dr. Saxon says he sees a time when biometric monitors in a car could feed data, not just to onboard safety systems, but also to doctors and patients looking to better manage health care. "My car calls me when it needs something," Dr. Saxon says, referring to vehicle-service alerts generated by the car. "I want patients' cars to call them when they need blood-pressure medicine."
Sound interesting? Might increase safety? But as Founding Father Benjamin Franklin said, “He who trades security (or safety) for freedom" usually gets (nor deserves) either!!” Wake-up America, Europe, Christians, Patriots, lovers of freedom… this is Big Brother 1984 style all the way! Today it is a smart car… tomorrow it will be a smart card. Be sure to watch the video below and then you be the judge!
Video: Smart card (made 2005)
Related:
Now Big Brother is REALLY watching you
Smart Dust Computers… Vaccination Nanotechnology… NWO Here We Come
Christian Family Refuses Mandatory RFID Chip at Texas School
Buying and Selling in an RFID Chip for the First Time – VeriChip Changes Its Name
FBI begins installation of $1 billion face recognition system across America
Monday, September 10, 2012
Christian Family Refuses Mandatory RFID Chip at Texas School
Video: Christian Family Refuses Mandatory RFID Chip at Texas School
Tracking School Children With RFID Tags? It’s All About the Benjamins
Student body ID cards with RFID-embedded chips. Image: Northside Independent School District
Just as the U.S. Department of Agriculture mandates Radio Frequency Identification Device chips to monitor livestock, a Texas school district just begun implanting the devices on student identification cards to monitor pupils’ movements on campus, and to track them as they come and go from school.
Tagging school children with RFID chips is uncommon, but not new. A federally funded preschool in Richmond, California, began embedding RFID chips in students’ clothing in 2010. And an elementary school outside of Sacramento, California, scrubbed a plan in 2005 amid a parental uproar. And a Houston, Texas, school district began using the chips to monitor students on 13 campuses in 2004.
It was only a matter of time. Radio frequency identification devices are a daily part of the electronic age, and are fast becoming a part of passports, libraries and payment cards, and are widely expected to replace bar-code labels on consumer goods.
And it appears that the educational move to Big Brother-style monitoring is motivated mainly by money, despite privacy and health concerns.
Two schools at the Northside Independent School District in San Antonio began issuing the RFID-chip-laden student-body cards when classes began last Monday. Like most state-financed schools, their budgets are tied to average daily attendance. If a student is not in his seat during morning roll call, the district doesn’t receive daily funding for that pupil, because the school has no way of knowing for sure if the student is there.
But with the RFID tracking, students not at their desk but tracked on campus are counted as being in school that day, and the district receives its daily allotment for that student.
“What we have found, they are there, they’re in the building and not in their chairs. They are in the cafeteria, with counselors, in stairwells or a variety of places, some legitimately and some not,” district spokesman Pascual Gonzalez said in a telephone interview. “If they are on campus, we can legally count them present.”
The Spring Independent School District in Houston echoed the same theory when it announced results of its program in 2010. “RFID readers situated throughout each campus are used to identify where students are located in the building, which can be used to verify the student’s attendance for ADA funding and course credit purposes,” the district said.
But privacy groups are wary.
“We don’t think kids in schools should be treated like cattle,” Marc Rotenberg, the executive director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center, said in a telephone interview. “We generally don’t like it. My take on RFID is it’s fine for products, but not so much for people. That’s one of the places where the lines need to be drawn. ”
But there appears to be dozens of companies who see no need to draw such a line and offer their RFID wares to monitor students in what is still a tiny but growing market. Among the biggest companies in the market: AT&T.
“One day soon, home room teachers in your local middle and high schools may stop scanning rows of desks and making each student yell out ‘Here!’ during a morning roll call. Instead, small cards, or tags, carried by each student will transmit a unique serial number via radio signal to an electronic reader near the school door,” AT&T says in its RFID-student advertising materials.
Gonzalez said there has been minimal parental and student opposition to the program at John Jay High School and Anson Jones Middle School. The pilot project could expand to the Northside Independent School District’s 110 other schools, he said.
As for privacy, the system only monitors a student’s movements on campus. Once a student leaves campus, the chips no longer communicate with the district’s sensors.
He said the chips, which are not encrypted and chronicle students only by a serial number, also assist school officials to pinpoint where kids are at any given time, which he says is good for safety reasons. “With this RFID, we know exactly where the kid is within the school,” he said noting students are required to wear the ID on a lanyard at all times on campus.
The lack of encryption makes it not technically difficult to clone a card to impersonate a fellow student or to create a substitute card to play hooky, and makes the cards readable by anyone who wanted to install their own RFID reader, though all they would get is a serial number that’s correlated with the student’s ID number in a school database.
EPIC’s Rotenberg was among about two dozen health and privacy advocates who signed an August position paper blasting the use of RFID chips in schools.
The paper, which included signatures from the American Civil Liberties Union, Electronic Frontier Foundation and, among others, Big Brother Watch, said the RFID systems may have “potential” (.pdf) health risks, too.
“RFID systems emit electromagnetic radiation, and there are lingering questions about whether human health might be affected in environments where the reading devices are pervasive,” the paper said. “This concern and the dehumanizing effects of ubiquitous surveillance may place additional stress on students, parents, and teachers.”
Gonzalez said John Jay High has 200 surveillance cameras and Anson Jones Middle School, about 90.
“The kids,” he said, “are used to being monitored.”
Also Checkout: Parental Rights in the U.S. >> Go to http://parentalrights.org/
Related:
All Americans Will Receive a Microchip Implant in 2013 Per ObamaCare – Updated
The ‘new chip’… especially for you!
Buying and Selling in an RFID Chip for the First Time – VeriChip Changes Its Name
RFID Clothing Tags Would Not Be Private Labels~
Global Elite Using Obesity Vaccines to Alter Minds and Curb Consumption
Technorati Tags: War on Christianity,Christians,Christianity,RFID chips,Texas,Big Brother,Constitution,parental rights,parenting,God,First Amendment,Bill of Rights,individual freedoms,freedom is not free,stand-up American,stand-up Christians,1984,Verichip in the Healthcare Bill,Verichip,Microchips,Smart Card
Friday, May 4, 2012
Obama Assembling De Facto Propaganda Ministry
By Steve Peacock – WND
The U.S. State Department is planning to “buy” media broadcasts, as the Obama administration assembles a de facto propaganda machine, according to documents that reveal the president’s plans moving closer to the 2012 election.
![Watching32-276x275[1]](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9KiGTx31moUJcVsHLKBVY0eq8rA4Fgf5HX5KOwBQvIXp582y-4K43hBgAM85bUHu7ffKfKIlAtJMDa-db81bEBDs65_SSNFOpRl6UrsR-S-0v043fkh5zGvrB0lSPkJQXy37BsxHKVTyd/s1600-h/Watching32-276x275%25255B1%25255D%25255B3%25255D.jpg "Watching32-276x275[1]")
According to information WND located via routine database research, State’s Bureau of Public Affairs is soliciting the help of “global news coverage service providers” to create and disseminate department “news.”
The selected contractor will provide “full-time, 24/7 service,” the Statement of Work for the plan said.
“The department seeks a service provider for full, turn-key news-style global television coverage of ad hoc open press events featuring the Secretary of State and other officials across the United States and throughout the world,” according to the SOW, “and to send this content back to the department’s Washington headquarters…”
Upon receiving these privately packaged productions, the department, in turn, “will distribute this video content to media organizations through an array of traditional and new media platforms.”
Indeed, just as the department is awaiting contractor bids on the project, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s representative at the World Press Freedom Day in Tunisia heaped accolades upon UNESCO for hosting the annual event.
Read about how the U.S. mission at the United Nations works with reporters, and find out what the White House does with some of those raising questions.
In a “tweet” from Tunisia, Assistant Secretary of State for International Organization Affairs Esther Brimmer said, “I applaud the tireless, continuing work of #UNESCO in promoting the ideals of free and open media.”
Brimmer delivered remarks on behalf of the Obama administration during the opening ceremony, along with presenting a video speech from Clinton.
Referring to the Arab Spring demonstrations across the Middle East and North Africa, Clinton said, according to a prepared statement, “Voice by voice, text by text, Tunisians, Egyptians, Libyans and many others have dared to say what they believe and stand up for their own rights.
“Many others have dared to report on what they see happening, even when their lives were at risk.”
The State Department plan is twofold: to hire a single contractor to provide television news crew services on the one hand, and to provide transmission/streaming services as a corollary service.
“The television news crew category is both one and two-person crews, and includes one and multi-camera productions,” the SOW pointed out. “The transmission category includes both traditional fiber, terrestrial and satellite-based as well as file-based and Internet delivery platforms.”
The use of such government- as well as industry-funded broadcasts, known as “video news releases,” or VNRs, has increasingly come under fire in the past decade.
VNRs “are segments designed to be indistinguishable from independently produced news reports that are distributed and promoted to television newsrooms,” according to Source Watch, a Center for Media and Democracy project that chronicles the intersecting of public relations and public policy.
The General Accountability Office – the investigative arm of the U.S. Congress – in 2005 declared that several federal entities, such as the Department of Education and the Department of Health and Human Services, may have violated the law by disseminating VNRs as fact-based news reports.
Subsequent to the GAO’s findings, the “Stop Government Propaganda Act” was introduced to rein in and punish such activities; it died, however, after being introduced in the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Proponents of VNR distribution claim that use of the video products is wholly legitimate. The Public Relations Society of America is that a VNR simply is “the video equivalent of a press release.”
The organization does advocate that industry members abide by certain parameters to ensure the integrity of VNR usage:
- Organizations that produce VNRs should clearly identify the VNR as such and fully disclose who produced and paid for it at the time the VNR is provided to TV stations.
- PRSA recommends that organizations that prepare VNRs should not use the word “reporting” if the narrator is not a reporter.
- Use of VNRs or footage provided by sources other than the station or network should be identified as to source by the media outlet when it is aired.
Despite congressional refusal to crack down on VNRs, the Federal Communications Commission issued a reminder to licensees of their sponsor-identification requirements under the Communications Act or 1934. Rather than holding liable the creators of the reports, the commission has placed the burden of disclosure on who ultimately airs the VNR.
“These rules are grounded in the principle that listeners and viewers are entitled to know who seeks to persuade them with the programming offered over broadcast stations and cable systems,” the FCC said.
When such VNRs are aired, “licensees and operators generally must clearly disclose to members of their audiences the nature, source and sponsorship of the material that they are viewing.”
Although the FCC continues to enforce these rules, the penalties arguably have been light.
Last year, for instance, it issued a forfeiture order to Fox Television Stations, Inc. when station affiliate KMSP-TV of Minneapolis used – but failed to identify – a General Motors-provided VNR during a news broadcast.
The FCC fined Fox $4,000 for failing to disclose GM sponsorship of the report.
Among other VNR-related enforcement actions, in 2007 it imposed a $4,000 fine on Comcast Corp. for also violating the sponsorship disclosure rules. Comcast’s CN8 news affiliate in that case had aired a VNR produced on behalf of Nelson’s Rescue Sleep.
The FCC soon after separately slapped a $16,000 forfeiture against Comcast for airing two VNRs from General Mills and Allstate, respectively.
The State Department through May 21 is reviewing contractor proposals in response to the new solicitation. It did not disclose the estimated cost of the endeavor, for which it will award a year contract with four one-year options.
Sunday, April 29, 2012
Pathological Politics – Predatory Partners and Persecuting Patriots
By: Terresa Monroe-Hamilton - the NoisyRoom
In the notorious tradition of Nixon’s Enemies List, Obama is now openly persecuting patriots at every opportunity. He tries to shame them, taint them, marginalize them and if all that doesn’t work, he sends goons after them and either imprisons them or threatens them with imprisonment. He’s using every agency at his disposal, with a special emphasis on the EPA, FDA, IRS, SEC, ATF and Fish and Wildlife authorities. And he has hired a whole governmental ‘army’ to enforce his dictates and go after his enemies. Welcome to the American Stasi.
We have watched how Obama smears those who would dare to donate to Mitt Romney’s campaign. That should make us want to donate even more, not back down and cower in fear. We all know that Obama is determined to be reelected legally or illegally – he doesn’t care. He just wants to hold on to his power, so he can finish what he started – destroying America with his pathological politics of corruption, greed and evil. If the elections don’t suffice, he’ll invent an emergency to ensure his death grip on the throat of America.
Look at how Gibson Guitars has been treated. They have been raided multiple times, but they can’t defend themselves because in the last three years, this administration won’t say what crime they are charging them with. They are destroying a good and honest company that creates jobs and does business production here in America. Their crime – successful capitalism. Something Obama will not tolerate.
Then there are farmers. The EPA is clamping down on the Amish and others who don’t follow every regulation in an effort to put them out of business and it is working. I hear the stealthy, sly footsteps of Cass Sunstein. Soon, very soon, the government will control all our farmland and food. Then if you step out of line, they’ll just starve you to death. Farming on your own property will be illegal. It’s coming – bet on it. Right now they are seizing farmer’s bank accounts. The FDA is now using the terrorist based “Bank Secrecy Act” as justification to invade, investigate and even confiscate the bank accounts of Americans in the agricultural business.
From The Examiner:
The Bank Secrecy Act that came out of the events of 9/11, which has been expanded during the decade long war on terror, is now being used to criminally attack farmers who choose not to use banks as their sole or primary source for monetary transactions. This is especially relevant after the credit crisis of 2008, where many American[s] began withdrawing money from banks after bank solvency came into question.
This banking law, which allows for the unwarranted confiscation and seizure of funds based solely on perceived impropriety, is one of many new policies created under the Bush and Obama administrations to control the public, and the flow of money in the United States. Beginning in 2013, new capital controls are set to be implemented which will make it extremely difficult to move dollars in and out of the country, and more recently, the Obama administration diverted funds from other departments to hire thousands of IRS agents for the new healthcare system that will also commence in 2013.
Ted Nugent on Regulations
Glenn Beck – We Are All Criminals Now
Now, we turn to Ted Nugent, who has been all over the news as of late. Evidently Obama has had Ted Nugent in his sights for at least two years and probably much longer. Nugent was charged with breaking a law – of which the judge hadn’t even heard – while hunting black bear in Alaska. But you can bet the Feds did and they brought charges hoping to snare Nugent. But that didn’t work out as they intended – Nugent accepted that he ‘unknowingly’ broke the law and the sentence carried the same weight as jaywalking, a misdemeanor offense. They tried to snag him in California and accused him of baiting a deer. A total falsehood and you’d have to be a moron to do it since he was airing the episode on TV. They stormed three of his friends’ homes and then searched a room not covered by the search warrant. They found a set of brass knuckles and told Nugent’s friend they would drop the felony charge if he would help them ‘get’ Nugent. Fortunately Ted has very good friends. But they took all kinds of stuff from their homes.
Now, they have made Nugent slaughter his pigs in Michigan – labeling them as feral. Since when is livestock you keep in a pen ‘feral?’ Obviously they either don’t know or more likely, don’t care what the definition is. They were the wrong color and thus deemed ‘feral’ and Nugent was forced to slaughter them. It’s tempting to draw conclusions about motives related to winning points with the Dearbornistan locals, given that the “reason” for slaughtering the pigs is clearly a pretext; one wonders to oneself, could squeezing pig farmers be calibrated to curry favor with a Muslim community?
He’s also been persecuted for his Oryx in Texas as well. They are harassing him about raising these animals when he brought them back from the brink of extinction. A three legged little one was born and he is not being allowed to put it out of its misery. It will die a slow and painful death. How is that compassion? If he puts it down, it’s a felony.
Someone high up would not allow Nugent to attend a SEAL’s funeral when it was the hero’s final wish. His concerts have been cancelled in several cases as well. The Feds interviewed him over comments he made at an NRA conference recently. He was cleared, but I guess free speech is no longer very ‘free’ in this country. Nugent is a good man – a patriotic man. That’s a lot more than you can say about Obama and his thugs.
This isn’t just about Ted Nugent folks – it’s about each and every one of us. They are coming after the bloggers, the patriots, small businesses, you name it. There is no way we can avoid violating one of these bogus laws. It’s only a matter of time. Obama doesn’t care about the Constitution – it means nothing to him. They are coming and we had better stand together, or we will all hang separately as patriots. The way Nugent is being treated is absolutely disgraceful.
From Kim Strassel at the Wall Street Journal:
He’s targeted insurers, oil firms and Wall Street—letting it be known that those who oppose his policies might face political or legislative retribution. He lectured the Supreme Court for giving companies more free speech and (falsely) accused the Chamber of Commerce of using foreign money to bankroll U.S. elections. The White House even ginned up an executive order (yet to be released) to require companies to list political donations as a condition of bidding for government contracts. Companies could bid but lose out for donating to Republicans. Or they could quit donating to the GOP—Mr. Obama’s real aim.
We all know of Obama’s Enemies List, but do you know who his predatory partners are? Along with Communists and radicals, he has a special fondness for the Muslim Brotherhood. In fact, he has opened the front door of the White House and has told them to make themselves at home. These are the evil asshats who support and fund Hamas. These are Islamic terrorists of the ilk that carried out 9-11 and Obama embraces them while persecuting American patriots.
Rumors of War III
Obama is not even subtle about it. They have removed all references to radical Islam in federal publications. They allow Shariah Law to be carried out on American soil. Obama’s best friend is the Prime Minister of Turkey who gives him advice on his daughters. You see, it doesn’t matter whether Obama is a Muslim or not, his father was. Obama has Islamic street cred. It even gives him a basis for using Taqiyya against Americans. Obama is actively and aggressively promoting Islam around the planet and especially here at home. The only thing that matches his love of Islam, is his hatred of Israel.
If one is known by who his friends and enemies are, then Obama’s predatory partners and the patriots he persecutes are screaming volumes at us. It’s clear that his campaign of pathological politics and communism is on a set of tracks that leads somewhere we dare not go.
Saturday, March 24, 2012
Understanding Modern Martial Law and Dictator Under Obama
Video: Understanding Modern Martial Law Under Obama
Dr. James David Manning PhD. speaks about the recent Executive order released by Obama referring to it as Martial Law. Recorded 20 March 2012.
Obama Assumes Dictatorial Powers – Dick Morris TV: Lunch Alert!
Monday, March 19, 2012
NO PLACE TO HIDE AFTER THE 2012 ELECTION
This video series presents where we were just five short years ago.
The Obama regime and DHS have come a long way since then...
“We Are This Far From A Turnkey Totalitarian State" - Big Brother Goes Live September 2013
"George Orwell was right. He was just 30 years early.
In its April cover story, Wired has an exclusive report on the NSA's Utah Data Center, which is a must read for anyone who believes any privacy is still a possibility in the United States: "A project of immense secrecy, it is the final piece in a complex puzzle assembled over the past decade. Its purpose: to intercept, decipher, analyze, and store vast swaths of the world’s communications as they zap down from satellites and zip through the underground and undersea cables of international, foreign, and domestic networks.... Flowing through its servers and routers and stored in near-bottomless databases will be all forms of communication, including the complete contents of private emails, cell phone calls, and Google searches, as well as all sorts of personal data trails—parking receipts, travel itineraries, bookstore purchases, and other digital “pocket litter.”... The heavily fortified $2 billion center should be up and running in September 2013." In other words, in just over 1 year, virtually anything one communicates through any traceable medium, or any record of one's existence in the electronic medium, which these days is everything, will unofficially be property of the US government to deal with as it sees fit.
The codename of the project: Stellar Wind"... Read more on Stellar Wind Here
An interesting look at Derek Smith; he was the CEO of Choicepoint (as shown in the video). Guess what this globalist is up to these days... global pre-science...
http://geek.net/index.php/about/directors/derek-smith/
Chairman and CEO, Institute of Global Prescience
"Derek Smith is Chairman and CEO of the Institute of Global Prescience, an interdisciplinary non-profit research, education and service organization dedicated to the pursuit of prescience – foreknowledge that anticipates global events and trends that are yet unseen. The Institute seeks to harness the passion of individuals to anticipate issues through clue detection engines that identify inflection points in technological, financial and social systems"...
Smith goes from CEO to futurist
http://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/stories/2009/04/20/story3.html
"At the institute, students are using computer models to study such topics as whether bandwidth will be able to keep up with the growth of data flow and when the United States might elect its first atheist president.
Other topics include the future of cell phones, obesity, how attitudes will affect climate change and when the world will run out of oil"...
Take a look at the Institute of Global Prescience Board of Directors HERE. (http://www.prescienceintl.com/cti_ab.html) Notice the Federal and state government connections:
à Amy Zimpfer, Regional Deputy Director, EPA
à Anthony Eggert, Senior Policy Advisor, Office of the Chair California Air Resources Board
à Jeffrey Byron, Commissioner, CEC
à Paul Douglas, Supervisor, Renewable Procurement and Resource Planning, California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC)
à Trina Martynowicz, Clean Air Emerging Technologies and West Coast Collaborative, Clean Energy and Climate Change Office, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
Google and PG&E (think ‘SMART Meters’) are also represented.
The Institute of Global Prescience is but one of many, many non-profits, NGO’s and individuals seeking to destroy our country from within.
Is it the intention of American tax-payers to have their hard earned dollars spent on the development of a turnkey Totalitarian State? Do we support massive government spending on programs that are in direct violation of our right to privacy under the 4th Amendment? Do Americans understand that current elected officials are facilitating and funding these endeavors with our tax dollars? Will enough Americans wake up, organize and vote the career politicians out of office in November?
The real revolution must take place at the ballot box. Until enough of us can vote against the career politicians who are aiding and abetting the overthrow of our Constitutional Republic, we will have no place to hide once they turn that key. What you do for the 2012 election will determine our fate and that of future generations.
By AJ - h/t to MJ
**We all know that Big Brother is watching us 24/7 with cameras almost everywhere and through our TV cable box and the GPS system in your car, but today on Fox, Shep Smith pointed out and discussed with Judge Napolitano that Panetta and the CIA verified that they can also monitor us through our refrigerator, microwaves and other appliances. (Have not been able to find the video yet, but check back later).
Related: Glenn Beck Talks About ’1984′ & Big Brother Technology
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
HR 347 Just Passed Without Notice - US "Trespass Bill" will make protest illegal
‘Trespass Bill’ will make protest illegal
Just when you thought the government couldn’t ruin the First Amendment any further: The House of Representatives approved a bill on Monday that outlaws protests in instances where some government officials are nearby, whether or not you even know it.
Under H.R. 347, a federal law will formally be applied to such instances, but will also allow the government to bring charges to protesters, demonstrators and activists at political events and other outings across America.
This is absolute tyranny. No doubt about it. Makes it easy to do roundups and protects their butts (now they're all Kings) by stomping all over us. Even in little ways... think of Town Hall meetings... being carted away for asking a question the Congress Member doesn't like. You Betcha!
The US House of Representatives voted 388-to-3 in favor of H.R. 347 late Monday, 02.27.12, a bill which is being dubbed the Federal Restricted Buildings and Grounds Improvement Act of 2011. Hmmmm…
Just when you thought the government couldn’t ruin the First Amendment any further: The House of Representatives approved a bill on Monday that outlaws protests in instances where some government officials are nearby, whether or not you even know it.
The US House of Representatives voted 388-to-3 in favor of H.R. 347 late Monday, a bill which is being dubbed the Federal Restricted Buildings and Grounds Improvement Act of 2011. In the bill, Congress officially makes it illegal to trespass on the grounds of the White House, which, on the surface, seems not just harmless and necessary, but somewhat shocking that such a rule isn’t already on the books. The wording in the bill, however, extends to allow the government to go after much more than tourists that transverse the wrought iron White House fence.
Under the act, the government is also given the power to bring charges against Americans engaged in political protest anywhere in the country.
Under current law, White House trespassers are prosecuted under a local ordinance, a Washington, DC legislation that can bring misdemeanor charges for anyone trying to get close to the president without authorization. Under H.R. 347, a federal law will formally be applied to such instances, but will also allow the government to bring charges to protesters, demonstrators and activists at political events and other outings across America.
The new legislation allows prosecutors to charge anyone who enters a building without permission or with the intent to disrupt a government function with a federal offense if Secret Service is on the scene, but the law stretches to include not just the president’s palatial Pennsylvania Avenue home. Under the law, any building or grounds where the president is visiting — even temporarily — is covered, as is any building or grounds “restricted in conjunction with an event designated as a special event of national significance."
It’s not just the president who would be spared from protesters, either.
Covered under the bill is any person protected by the Secret Service. Although such protection isn’t extended to just everybody, making it a federal offense to even accidently disrupt an event attended by a person with such status essentially crushes whatever currently remains of the right to assemble and peacefully protest.
Hours after the act passed, presidential candidate Rick Santorum was granted Secret Service protection. For the American protester, this indeed means that glitter-bombing the former Pennsylvania senator is officially a very big no-no, but it doesn’t stop with just him. Santorum’s coverage under the Secret Service began on Tuesday, but fellow GOP hopeful Mitt Romney has already been receiving such security. A campaign aide who asked not to be identified confirmed last week to CBS News that former House Speaker Newt Gingrich has sought Secret Service protection as well. Even former contender Herman Cain received the armed protection treatment when he was still in the running for the Republican Party nod.
In the text of the act, the law is allowed to be used against anyone who knowingly enters or remains in a restricted building or grounds without lawful authority to do so, but those grounds are considered any area where someone — rather it’s President Obama, Senator Santorum or Governor Romney — will be temporarily visiting, whether or not the public is even made aware. Entering such a facility is thus outlawed, as is disrupting the orderly conduct of “official functions,” engaging in disorderly conduct “within such proximity to” the event or acting violent to anyone, anywhere near the premises. Under that verbiage, that means a peaceful protest outside a candidate’s concession speech would be a federal offense, but those occurrences covered as special event of national significance don’t just stop there, either. And neither does the list of covered persons that receive protection.
Outside of the current presidential race, the Secret Service is responsible for guarding an array of politicians, even those from outside America. George W Bush is granted protection until ten years after his administration ended, or 2019, and every living president before him is eligible for life-time, federally funded coverage. Visiting heads of state are extended an offer too, and the events sanctioned as those of national significance — a decision that is left up to the US Department of Homeland Security — extends to more than the obvious. While presidential inaugurations and meeting of foreign dignitaries are awarded the title, nearly three dozen events in all have been considered a National Special Security Event (NSSE) since the term was created under President Clinton. Among past events on the DHS-sanctioned NSSE list are Super Bowl XXXVI, the funerals of Ronald Reagan and Gerald Ford, most State of the Union addresses and the 2008 Democratic and Republican National Conventions.
With Secret Service protection awarded to visiting dignitaries, this also means, for instance, that the federal government could consider a demonstration against any foreign president on American soil as a violation of federal law, as long as it could be considered disruptive to whatever function is occurring.
When thousands of protesters are expected to descend on Chicago this spring for the 2012 G8 and NATO summits, they will also be approaching the grounds of a National Special Security Event. That means disruptive activity, to whichever court has to consider it, will be a federal offense under the act.
And don’t forget if you intend on fighting such charges, you might not be able to rely on evidence of your own. In the state of Illinois, videotaping the police, under current law, brings criminals charges. Don’t fret. It’s not like the country will really try to enforce it — right?
On the bright side, does this mean that the law could apply to law enforcement officers reprimanded for using excessive force on protesters at political events? Probably. Of course, some fear that the act is being created just to keep those demonstrations from ever occuring, and given the vague language on par with the loose definition of a “terrorist” under the NDAA, if passed this act is expected to do a lot more harm to the First Amendment than good.
United States Representative Justin Amash (MI-03) was one of only three lawmakers to vote against the act when it appeared in the House late Monday. Explaining his take on the act through his official Facebook account on Tuesday, Rep. Amash writes, “The bill expands current law to make it a crime to enter or remain in an area where an official is visiting even if the person does not know it's illegal to be in that area and has no reason to suspect it's illegal.”
“Some government officials may need extraordinary protection to ensure their safety. But criminalizing legitimate First Amendment activity — even if that activity is annoying to those government officials — violates our rights,” adds the representative.
Now that the act has overwhelmingly made it through the House, the next set of hands to sift through its pages could very well be President Barack Obama; the US Senate had already passed the bill back on February 6. Less than two months ago, the president approved the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012, essentially suspending habeas corpus from American citizens. Could the next order out of the Executive Branch be revoking some of the Bill of Rights? Only if you consider the part about being able to assemble a staple of the First Amendment, really. Don’t worry, though. Obama was, after all, a constitutional law professor. When he signed the NDAA on December 31, he accompanied his signature with a signing statement that let Americans know that, just because he authorized the indefinite detention of Americans didn’t mean he thought it was right.
Should President Obama suspend the right to assemble, Americans might expect another apology to accompany it in which the commander-in-chief condemns the very act he authorizes. If you disagree with such a decision, however, don’t take it to the White House. Sixteen-hundred Pennsylvania Avenue and the vicinity is, of course, covered under this act.
Related:
HR 347 - Thomas.loc.gov - This is pre-emptive law – all dissent..freedom of speech
HR 347 just passed - is this real?
National Responder Support Camp (NRSC)
Solicitation Number: HSFE70-12-R-0033
The House passed bill H.R. 347. A bill that makes it illegal to protest ...
(HR 347) - http://docs.house.gov/billsthisweek/20120227/BILLS-112hr347-SUS.pdf
H.R. 347: Goodbye, First Amendment: 'Trespass Bill' will make ...
Alerts
Obama Fights to Retain Warrantless Wiretapping: Despite being propelled to victory by progressive supporters critical of the Bush administration’s record on civil liberties, President Barack Obama has directed the Justice Department to defend many of the policies of George W. Bush, including warrantless wiretapping. Last week, the Justice Department filed papers asking the Supreme Court to overturn an appeals court ruling that allowed the continuation of an ACLU lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of a 2008 law giving the government unprecedented authority to monitor Americans’ international emails and phone calls. AllGov - more
Homeland Security Lied to Congress About Spying on US Citizens: All this is happening under the Obama administration, yet those who complained about Bush listening to known terrorist associates are no longer screaming bloody murder because it’s their guy who is running the show. Yes, the Department of Homeland Security has been caught in a lie. They are monitoring US citizens, including journalists, who oppose Obama’s agenda (or use certain words) with the assistance of Facebook, Twitter and other forms of social media. DHS, under the Obama regime, believes US citizens are the enemy. more
It’s Time to Accept Reality That It’s Too Late: It is too late to save your neighbor. It is too late to save your friend. It is too late to save a family member who will not listen or believes in the power of a global solution. It is too late to plan for a world of freedom and individualism. Atlas is shrugging, yet nobody cares. The power of the people is now the rule of law. Sadly the “people” who are in control are neither those of the Founders or of God. Prepare accordingly. more
The Culture and Mindset of FEMA and Emergency Responders: An Inside Look: I recently had the privilege to interview a highly credible inside source who has worked in the emergency response field for many years. He has been to dozens of trainings over the years. As an insider, he has been to many FEMA training centers, and has access to highly classified information. What my anonymous source shared with me about the culture and mindset of the emergency responder community was very alarming. I will give you a couple of quotes to get started: more
Steve Quayle Program Note: Steve and Greg Evensen guest on Omega Man Radio in a 3-hr program Thurs. March 1; 6p.m. PST / 7p.m. MTN / 8p.m. CST / 9p.m. EST. Topic: Catastrophic Upheaval In All Realms Is Now In Motion-The Coming Slaughter. Listen Live / Chat. Call In: 1-917-889-2745.
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