Governed through Consent

You and I are governed through consent.

This is a given in a world of question marks that I don’t have all the answers, but a world in which I try to exist. What happens when you no longer agree with how you are governed? Who is it that will inevitably control your consent?

Last Friday, The Guardian published an article on PRISM. An NSA program targeting all of the data processed on every cell phone number Verizon provided. When we say all of the data, we mean all.

Every tweet.

Every status update.

Every nonsensical thought.

They want to predetermine subversives and terrorists.

They want to know all of this information to prevent mass bombings and solve criminal behavior.

Why do we use the term “They”?

“They” are the organizations that prevent the behavior?

It’s my theory that “They” are not middle income government employees, but let’s not go there. That is dangerous territory in this day and age.

I am often asked, “What is my political affiliation?”

For many reasons I am pretty conservative in my actions. For many more I am liberal in my views.

Basically I feel we each have the right to private property, life built on our own terms and the ability to express ourselves without recourse.

It was pointed out to me yesterday that I am Libertarian.

Now, I have looked that up and largely agree with their views, but I don’t believe that I am.

Then in that same conversation I was asked if I am an anarchist.

This led me down a train of thought that you can only imagine.

While I am not happy with how we are governed I do believe we need to be governed. I believe there needs to be systems and processes in place to provide the infrastructure we have come to enjoy.

Without an entity worrying about the details we would not have reached the diversity in thought and availability of information.

We would not have moved beyond the Industrial age to the Information age.

We would have halted our theoretical evolution.

OR perhaps not, but we wouldn’t be where we are today.

Many of the arguments I have read refer to our Founding Fathers. They contain great quotes by great men who were themselves subjected to a tyrant. Benjamin Franklin is HUGE right now.

“Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both.”

That is the one that circulates and recirculates until your head spins. But what was his context?

I haven’t actually had time to read the entire book I found involving this, so we will just have to believe that he was referring to the standard practices of the British who ran the Colonies at the time.

Franklin also believed that in order for the republic that would be formed the peoples had to be virtuous for it to survive.

His parents were pious Puritans. Puritan values include devotion to egalitarianism, education, industry, thrift, honesty, temperance, charity, and community spirit.

These values have become so integrated with the American spirit that you can feel Franklin’s impact daily.

Franklin also believed in the “Divine Providence” of this endeavor. This nation built on freedom and self-reliant responsibility. He felt God was in command of our every action.

To me he was correct.

God’s divine providence created a whole new world of governmental possibilities.

However, Franklin also believed that in order for the Republic to survive it had to be run by good, virtuous men.

Nearly 100 years later Lord Acton provided a memorable thought.

“Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.”

What the Founding Fathers built and believed in was a system of small federal government that kept the states in control of their destinies. No, not all the representatives agreed to that ideology, but their history proved that only the local governments could understand the needs of the local population.

The foundation was set for freedom and liberty and due process.

(Due Process 2013 style is another post entirely)

Now nearly 250 years from the Continental Congress we are met with a growing dissidence to the actions of the government that has constantly been handed more and more power.

We give them power for our safety.

We write the rules of social responsibility with the government providing the keys to the piggy bank that will provide prosperity to the nation.

We provide our consent to security beyond anything our forefathers ever imagined.

I can remember when I was a child we had some freedom to explore. We could wander within a range of our home and experience the liberty of our own choices. Nothing was more liberating than walking to the corner store with a dollar and buying a candy bar and then eating it in the woods with my friends.

I was 8 years old and felt like I had some control of my existence.

Today, my son is 7 years old and when I think of letting him walk to the building next door to our apartment to buy a candy bar alone I cringe.

Why is that?

Because our world is incredibly different.

We live in a world where it seems the majority of the population has forgotten that to be a part of a free society they have to have a certain level of virtue and decorum. The unwritten rules of life and propriety that are scoffed at in the modern world are the precise rules that let us be free.

So when we are faced with the choice to put up surveillance cameras to monitor the actions of others to place blame when something bad happens, we let them.

We allow the monitoring of ourselves to protect ourselves from thieves, murderers, vagrants, and child abusers.

We trade our privacy to protect. We began doing this while I was a child.

Monitors in that store where I bought the candy bar would blink and the VHS tapes would record and if something bad were to every have happened to me there I would have been seen.

When my mother and grandmother were children they had the ability to have that same freedom I felt, but the monitoring of their actions didn’t exist. That was when community meant something. That was when if you miss behaved your mother received a phone call from the store clerk telling her that you had pinched a piece of chocolate and she could pay for it next time she was there.

We have replaced this line of thinking.

We now do what we want and leave it to a prosecutor to catch us. We have allowed the disintegration of the community that the founding fathers had wanted to create.

We now have “Big Brother.”

Where your actual blood brothers should be we have a video camera, a satellite link and digital relations watching out for us.

As technology has developed during my lifetime, I’ve watched the preventative measures to unseen dangers develop as well.

For every milestone made in technology there is a milestone in government bureaucracy. We give more power and the government willingly and joyously accepts.

All in the name of security and jobs.

I think back to Lord Acton, “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.”

I think back to Ben Franklin’s belief that for the republic to prosper we need virtuous leaders.

I’m of the opinion that the bureaucratic power we have provided the government lends itself to absolute corruption. If we are governed by consent we have given the powers in charge the ability to do whatever where ever they want.

My freedoms dwindle while they remain unchecked.

But

There is another piece to this puzzle.

Education

We were given an education that caused us to think for ourselves, grasp theories and explore possibilities, write our own opinions and develop the tools to think for ourselves.

Whether we were introverted or extroverted we were taught to develop ideals that would have a positive impact on the world.

I don’t know if this was everywhere, but I know this is what I was taught by the leadership in my school.

Think for myself.

Share your theory and have an open discussion.

Build the idea alone and then put it into action as a community.

Whether that community was a few students or a whole organization.

It is with this line of thinking that we have developed the tools that allow for the wealth of human knowledge and history to be available at a moment’s notice. By developing a theory alone and putting it into practice within a group humanity has developed the internet, the computer, the personal computer, cell phones, GPS, and on and on.

We embraced all of these technologies that we have built because of the knowledge that exists within them.

Humans are curious. Humans crave connection. Humans crave community.

So here we are. 2013.

Our curiosity, our connection, our community exists online and through the internet. We share knowledge, opinions, news, and need to innovate.

We share one with another in hopes of creating breakthroughs in our own human, temporary, existence so that all of society can improve.

Our education provided the tools to make this possible.

I graduated high school in 1999, having completed courses in Physics and Calculus, advanced placement in History and Government. I don’t know if we were an exceptional class, or the norm for the country of the time, but I was normal for my peer set.

I look back with interest as I discuss education today with my peers who have become teachers.

Nothing is taught in the same light as before.

Where once teachers shared their idealism and need to get the children to think for themselves. There is now a need to conform and teach to the prescribed curriculum.

A curriculum that has been dumbed down.

In a world whose lifeblood is knowledge we are hindering our children who attend public schools.

We are teaching to the base line instead of setting our expectations higher.

Why?

Through my research I have found several reasons…none of them are good.

First, it is not easy to control someone who has the ability to think for themselves.

Second, we are a resource based planet. We can never create more of any of our finite resources and it has been suggested that more educated people require higher incomes and therefore will consume more resources with these higher incomes. So it’s actually a threat to our sustainability.

Finally, those in power like to feel superior to the norm. If you price education out of their range and remove the tools to assist in the payment of that education; and then tax and fee the student to death they will never meet their potential. By never meeting their potential that makes room for those with the money, no matter their common sense and reasoning, to become the societal elite.

My children are being raised at a time when math isn’t thought to be of much importance. Reading words and comprehension are vastly different topics. Science isn’t really about innovation, but about repetition. Recycle, reduce, reuse the same theories until they learn more at home than in the school that is supposed to be teaching them the keys to the world.

The state that I live in, love and pay taxes to has rewritten our public school curriculum to their political affiliation, rewriting history and adopting books that change the very foundation of knowledge.

I could go on and on about the travesty that is our educational system, but really what does this have to do with the problem at hand?

By being taught to only do as the authority tells you and to be punished for thinking otherwise we are predisposing our kids to a life of surveillance. By not educating them to think for themselves they will never cause dissidence or create polarizing arguments.

They will never feel the passion of knowing something isn’t right at the very core of their being.

“There comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular, but he must take it because conscience tells him it is right.” Martin Luther King, Jr.

Right now we are at an impasse.

Society, government, virtue, and education are all being forced to reexamine themselves.

I have more questions now than when I began my research for this topic.

Questions that go to the very core of who we are as Americans, who we are as Humans, and who we want to become.

Do we want to continue down this path of centralized, political subservience?

Do we need to reboot the system?

Do we know who is dependable enough to not seek selfish gains to correct the problems?

Is it possible to create the world we want while hurting no one?

The undercurrents of society are not sure about the last one, but I feel as others feel that in order to change the future you have to do it differently than in the past.

War in any form is not an option because it would take from the very premise of the changes needed to improve society.

So, to you dear reader, how can we make this country, a country we can be proud of once again?

Now be good boys and girls and Share

I have been trying to think of a way to explain and humanize the information on ACTA for you all. As to what it means to the average citizen…how it will affect our lives.

I must admit it is hard.

I am a blogger. I post my opinions on life. I post my opinions on politics. I post my opinions on the government and civil liberties. Occasionally I have shared music videos and speeches. I have posted photographs that accentuate the point I am trying to make. I don’t fill the page with images, I see no point in that. I am not a photographer, I am a writer.

I write utilizing my first amendment rights to freedom of speech and press.

I consider it a wonderfully fun part of my day, this sharing process that occurs with you all.

Some posts I think of me talking to a shrink, that’s really what this blog started out as…a place to put my thoughts. Other posts are more like news articles sort of the content of the last weeks or content on the occupy movement. I have commentaries on how I perceived the Houston branch of the Occupy movement, my life over the course of the last year, and how we can effectively change the world. I wrote – not so long ago – about the Human Project. I plan to write on the Venus Project and more from TED.

Acccording to the Freshly Pressed home page there are  445,814 bloggers on WordPress alone. There are dozens of free blog hosting sites, not to mention the sites that own their domain, and have a blog to share content with you all.

Imagine all of them disappearing.

Last Wednesday’s SOPA/PIPA protest was just a taste of the changes that would be made.

Here’s the thing though…that legistlation is going to be resubmitted and reworked and attached as riders to other bills until it is passed.

UNLESS WE DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT.

When I think of or hear the word Treaty I think of war. There is a treaty signed to end most wars. So…I Googled the word “treaty,” and if you can imagine it Google gave me the Wikipedia link first!

SOPA/PIPA for shame! ACTA be damned! (Haha)

Anyway, Wikipedia defines a treaty as “an express agreement under international law entered into by actors in international law, namely sovereign states and international organizations. A treaty may also be known as an (international) agreement, protocol, covenant, convention or exchange of letters, among other terms. Regardless of terminology, all of these forms of agreements are, under international law, equally considered treaties and the rules are the same.^[1] Treaties can be loosely compared to contracts: both are means of willing parties assuming obligations among themselves, and a party to either that fails to live up to their obligations can be held liable under international law.”

I know when I worked with contracts that if a contractor did not live up to the contract that they were in default and we dealt with the company accordingly. Sometimes in court, sometimes in words, either way we made sure to have the partner company make good on their contract. Only one service contract I know wasn’t honored and that contract was terminated.

This makes me wonder what will happen if the U.S. Trade Representative and the IIPA is unable to convince the majority of the Congress to vote for a bill that would dissolve the use of freedom of expression, speech and press. Simply because we are now able to share content through a medium like the Internet.

ACTA is a treaty after all, it’s important to know what that means.

Share…is that a bad word? My five-year old thinks so…he has toys, but now he also has a little brother. His brother is growing up and wants to play with his toys too. He didn’t pay for them, but they are there and he wants to use them. I have to teach a lesson in sharing every morning and evening to my five-year old. He had a monopoly on the toys for five years, but now he does not.

He is angry about it, but it has to be done. He has to learn this to be able to socialize properly.

The five-year old is a whiz at utilizing the Internet. He can download, upload, and I think he has even shared videos on my Facebook page. He redesigns my Droid homepage on my phone every chance he gets. He can’t wait to be able to have a computer of his own to play with and create on.

The treaty the U.S. government has signed with other nations effectively ends this right. This thing that my son can’t wait to do is dying because someone in Hollywood who used to dream this way as a child says no you can’t do that anymore (at least not without giving me my dues.) What would the world be like if Steve Jobs or Steven Spielberg hadn’t had dreams of grandeur as children?

Original content is their argument. What original has come out of Hollywood in the last few years? Really?!

Everything is recycled, reproduced, reused, and we are on our fourth and fifth installments of some movie enterprises.

I don’t care to see another Marvel comic book made into a movie! If I wanted to watch a comic I would actually go to the comic book store and buy one!

Original content…really?!

Are we at war over the Internet? Are we choosing our sides as we share?

The anonymous hackers that are bringing their message to the nations that support ACTA believe we are.

The government is behaving in a manner which says you are guilty until proven innocent, and the only time I have witnessed that stance is in wartime.

I have been raised to believe that the Bill of Rights is something I can depend on that will allow me the freedoms I need to be a fruitful member of society. I should be able to “petition the government for a redress of grievances.” I should be able to speak out against a bill, a charter, or a treaty; and not be keyworded into being an enemy of the state. The wording of the Patriot Act is perfectly clear and even if the Supreme Court has declared some line items unconstitutional, by speaking about changing the world as we know it, I am siding with the dissidence. Whether I agree with how they are doing it or not I do agree with the groups at Occupy Wall Street, Occupy Congress, Occupy the Courts, and all the other protests.

Humanity is at a precipice.

We are at a point in history that decides our next evolutionary marker.

Are we going to allow our governments to put an end to things like open-sourcing and sharing of ideas? Are we going to allow a few men at the top to tell us that they are right and we are wrong and we are not allowed to have an opinion much less voice it in a digital media that can be shared?

Are we sheep?

My favorite quote from Einstein is, “In order to be an immaculate member of a flock of sheep, one must above all be a sheep.”

I am not a sheep, and I don’t even pretend to be immaculate. I feel sorry for those who do. I try to live right, but if that means to some I am living wrong, that is not my karma.

Sharing and speaking and gathering to protest is the right thing to do right now.

We are at a point when we either follow or create a new path.

We can live as previous generations extolling the high moral standards of the immoral or we can be a generation of exacting change.

Choose wisely.

John Lennon was way ahead of his time, but that's what makes him eternal.

Inform yourself – Have you heard of ACTA?

When I think about pirates I see the incredibly sexy Johnny Depp standing at the helm of the Black Pearl in a Disney blockbuster (BTW according to accounts he is back on the market). I don’t think of little old me sitting behind my computer informing the public by sharing information or photographs. Some people out there liken me to Capt. Jack.

Uh-oh – IP theft in progress…courtesy of who knows…it was on Photo Bucket

I don’t think so…

Alas, the more I dig into the history behind the bills and legislation and background of the lobby parties behind things like SOPA and PIPA I get angry. As I have been digging I have found some things that I need to share with you all. Some you may be aware of already, others you may not be aware.

I have just heard of the International Intellectual Property Alliance “(IIPA), formed in 1984, is a private sector coalition of seven trade associations representing U.S. producers of content and materials protected by copyright laws, including computer software, films, television programs, music, books and journals (in both electronic and print media), with the aim of strengthening international protection and enforcement of copyright by working with U.S. government, foreign government and private sector representatives.” – borrowed from Wikipedia…click the link for more information.

Turns out that this is a major lobby group that makes “suggestions” to the likes of the World Trade Organization, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, and the World Intellectual Property Organization. They publish an Annual Report on how much money they are “losing” because of copyright infringement…no I didn’t read the report. But if you are interested here is the link. They also help create trade agreements to stay ahead of the intellectual property laws.

Bing.com defines intellectual property as “Original creative work manifested in a tangible form that can be legally protected, e.g. by a patent, trademark, or copyright”

There was this thing that I signed prior to starting my work here at the university…about intellectual property…does that mean that since most of my blog posts are posted during the hours I happen to be at work that even though I utilize a Creative Commons copyright, that my work actually belongs to the university? Hmmm…points to ponder. Perhaps the day I leave I will buy my own domain instead of using the one provided by wordpress.com. Must remember to ask HR as I did hand in my notice today. But that still leaves the question…who owns the information? I hope they realize they should actually provide me with work to do or I will always find my own to complete.

We all remember the Bratz Dolls, right? Well the guy that thought them up presented them to his employer, Mattel, who promptly declined. So, what did he do? He found MGA Entertainment, a company that WAS willing to manufacture the dolls. These dolls were introduced in 2001, and pretty much flopped until Christmas. They increased in popularity until 2005 when they were promptly removed from the shelves due to an intellectual property dispute between the former Mattel employee, Mattel, and MGA Entertainment. That was real…those dolls are tangible property.

What about the internet? Everyone using the internet links to it from a source IP…in this case IP means internet protocol…the IP connects you to the World Wide Web (WWW).

You may be thinking – “Hey those are the same thing?!”

Uhhhh….nope…the world wide web is a service provided via the internet. Quite simply the internet is the hardware and the world wide web is the software. I had thought the two were interchangable, but they are not.

PIPA, one of the bills from last week’s protest, was a move to make it legal for the internet protocol providers to shutdown websites they deemed to be utilizing pirated information. SOPA, the other bill, was to create the terms of prosecution for intellectual property theft via the world wide web.

CERN created the world wide web and it will remain free forever, but the IP providers charge us for utilizing their equipment to connect to the internet. Eh…everyone wants to make a buck somehow…I’m okay with charging me to use the internet if I can get to the world wide web for free.

So what is the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) that I am so concerned about? It is the attempt by the IIPA lobby and similar organizations to put the lockdown on the WWW. Right out of the gate they state, “Noting that effective enforcement of intellectual property rights is critical to sustaining economic growth across all industries and globally.”

I am again borrowing from Wiki their summation of the treaty…

“The Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) is a proposed plurilateral agreement for the purpose of establishing international standards on intellectual property rights enforcement.^[1] It would establish an international legal framework for countries to join voluntarily,^[2] and would create a governing body outside international institutions such as the World Trade Organization (WTO), the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) or the United Nations.^[1][3] Negotiating countries have described it as a response “to the increase in global trade of counterfeit goods and pirated copyright protected works.”^[2] The scope of ACTA includes counterfeit goods, generic medicines and copyright infringement on the Internet.^[4] Groups such as the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) oppose ACTA,^[5] stating that civil society groups and developing countries were excluded from discussion during ACTA’s development in an example of policy laundering.^[6]

Opponents have argued that the treaty will restrict fundamental civil and digital rights, including the freedom of expression and communication privacy.^[7] “The bulk of the WTO’s 153 members” have raised concerns that treaty could distort trade and goes beyond the existing Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights.^[8] Opponents also criticize ACTA’s removal of “legal safeguards that protect Internet Service Providers from liability for the actions of their subscribers” in effect giving ISPs no option but to comply with privacy invasions.^[9] According to an analysis by the Free Software Foundation, ACTA would require that existing ISPs no longer host free software that can access copyrighted media, and DRMprotected media would not be legally playable with free or open source software.^[10]“

(So yeah I am currently in treaty violation mode, but then so is Wikipedia.)

Because this was signed by the USA on October 1, 2011.

The treaty requests the creation of an ACTA commitee…enter SOPA and PIPA and their effects.

I am trying to decide what to do with all of this information. How do we act from here? How do we create the kind of progress we have had in the last few decades without open sourcing? Who does this treaty really serve? Does it provide a service or more red tape?

There is a line that says “Mutantis Mutandis” which is Latin for “…changing those things which need to be changed…” this whole thing needs to be changed.

I am going to go think now on the way of things because there is much in my life which needs pondering. Perhaps I will have found some clarity to share with you by morning. If you can clarify please comment below. Gracias!

Damn…again…thank you Bing Images for this one.

What is mightier?

If you have read my last few posts and listened to the videos contained in yesterday’s post it is safe to say the governments of the world have known problems with file sharing.

From Anonyops

Yesterday – in grand US government fashion – the website Megaupload was shutdown. According to the article by Matthew Barakat, “One of the world’s most popular file-sharing sites was shut down Thursday, and its founder and several company officials were accused of facilitating millions of illegal downloads of films, music and other content. A federal indictment accused Megaupload.com of costing copyright holders at least $500 million in lost revenue.”

Here is my view on copyright violation…if you’re not making money off of it – use it.

Now I do not know how Megaupload works, to be honest I didn’t even know the site existed until about 10pm last night. They may be making money off it, they may not…if someone reading this knows how they work please share :).

The internet wide protests against SOPA and PIPA on Wednesday make the shutting down of Megaupload a little funny. These bills haven’t passed yet and already the government is finding loopholes in other laws to be able to shut down websites that they determine are doing something illegal. Whether they are or aren’t I do not know….too much time to figure that one out.

I wonder who is to say that if you purchase a CD, download a song to your computer, you send that song to a friend that DIDN’T purchase the CD, that you aren’t committing a crime. Is this copyright infringement? Did you just facilitate an illegal act? If you do it repeatedly does that mean that the government has the right to come into your home and take away your computer?

I suggest that they will try. The Patriot act made it legal for them to monitor our every move online. To quote the video I watched before Christmas, “If you think you have to be a terrorist or doing anything wrong to be directly impacted by [the Patriot act] think again!”

In one of the videos I posted yesterday the speaker talked about how the entertainment industry filed lawsuits against the first makers of VCRs and MP3 players.

Do you remember recording to your VCR on tapes? Apparently it was a horrible atrocity for the entertainment industry. It meant that you were willing to watch something more than one time and you weren’t going to be compensating them for it. I remember being a kid on a little island in the mid-Atlantic with no American television shows, but my grandmother would send us tapes. Tapes with cartoons in English that we could understand. We watched those tapes until they wore out…was that illegal? Should she have gone to jail for distribution?

We praise our DVR’s but isn’t that just another method the cable/satellite providers are using to control how you view your television? If you have the “right” cell phone provider you can share the files to your phone and watch it anywhere, but if you don’t have the “right” provider than you don’t have that ability. You pay the cable company, you pay the cell phone provider, they bombard us with ads and we can’t share a video or movie?

They have fought the VCR in court, they have worked with the electronics companies to make sure the DVD’s we view and buy are not able to be copied. The VCR/DVD combo disappeared fast once they realized you could copy a DVD on to tape and share it with a friend. The internet is a place to share. It is a place that in the hands of anyone could shut the entertainment industry down.

I love my movies. If I know someone who wants a copy one that I have I SHOULD be able to give it to them. I can not tolerate the idea that I am not going to face going to jail because I didn’t pony up more money to the industry by sharing. That by sharing something I purchased and own is illegal.

Also, if my son is hilarious and sings along to a song from the radio. I share it on Facebook with my friends. I can now be charged with copyright infringement. How freaking stupid.

I don’t think these guys are hurting for cash. (Which is why they can fight us)

In response to the shutdown of Megaupload, last night a group of anonymous hackers shutdown the FBI’s website. I did not say it was “Anonymous” simply a group of individuals who realize the banality of the entertainment industries actions and their puppet agency known as the FBI. I am not saying this out of sedition or revolt, but out of a love for my civil liberties that apparently I haven’t had since 2001.

There was a speech by President Bush, in 2001, when the Patriot Act was rushed through Congress and signed into law that went something like this…

“An evil exists that threatens every man, woman, and child of this great nation. We must take steps to ensure out domestic security and protect our homeland.”

That is a great line. You believe it, right? You think woo hoo America!

As is often the case online these words have been attributed to Hitler…however in fact checking this blog for you I have learned that someone didn’t check THEIR facts before posting the video online. (so not going to hunt down that video)

As Hitler announced the Gestapo a memo was released and posted throughout Germany and the totalitarian German state was born.

Does this sound familiar?

             “The burning of the Reichstag was intended to be the signal for a bloody uprising and civil war. Large-scale pillaging in Berlin was planned for as early as four o’clock in the morning on Tuesday. It has been determined that starting today throughout Germany acts of terrorism were to begin against prominent individuals, against private property, against the lives and safety of the peaceful population, and general civil war was to be unleashed…^[1]“

What about their response?

Ordnung des Reichspräsidenten zum Schutz von Volk und Staat		Order of the Reich President for the Protection of People and State
Auf Grund des Artikels 48 Abs. 2 der Reichsverfassung wird zur Abwehr kommunistischer staatsgefährdender Gewaltakte folgendes verordnet:		On the basis of Article 48 paragraph 2 of the Constitution of the German Reich, the following is ordered in defense against Communist state-endangering acts of violence:
§ 1.	Die Artikel 114, 115, 117, 118, 123, 124 und 153 der Verfassung des Deutschen Reichs werden bis auf weiteres außer Kraft gesetzt. Es sind daher Beschränkungen der persönlichen Freiheit, des Rechts der freien Meinungsäußerung, einschließlich der Pressefreiheit, des Vereins- und Versammlungsrechts, Eingriffe in das Brief-, Post-, Telegraphen- und Fernsprechgeheimnis, Anordnungen von Haussuchungen und von Beschlagnahmen sowie Beschränkungen des Eigentums auch außerhalb der sonst hierfür bestimmten gesetzlichen Grenzen zulässig.	§ 1.	Articles 114, 115, 117, 118, 123, 124 and 153 of the Constitution of the German Reich are suspended until further notice. It is therefore permissible to restrict the rights of personal freedom [habeas corpus], freedom of opinion, including the freedom of the press, the freedom to organize and assemble, the privacy of postal, telegraphic and telephonic communications. Warrants for House searches, orders for confiscations as well as restrictions on property, are also permissible beyond the legal limits otherwise prescribed.

Now we all know the tragedy that befell us on September 11, 2001. I do not deny that tragedy, and I felt such sorrow for the condition of the world and the people who lost their lives. However…the reaction of the US government hasn’t been the best and we have all (myself included here) allowed the passage of such knee jerk bills.

In true internet user fashion I refer to Wikipedia for the information about the Patriot Act. I hope it is accurate…I know they try.

The Patriot Act is our “Order…for the Protection of the People”

“The act, a response to the terrorist attacks of September 11th, dramatically reduced restrictions on law enforcement agencies’ ability to search telephone, e-mail communications, medical, financial, and other records; eased restrictions on foreign intelligence gathering within the United States; expanded the Secretary of the Treasury’s authority to regulate financial transactions, particularly those involving foreign individuals and entities; and broadened the discretion of law enforcement and immigration authorities in detaining and deporting immigrants suspected of terrorism-related acts. The act also expanded the definition of terrorism to include domestic terrorism, thus enlarging the number of activities to which the USA PATRIOT Act’s expanded law enforcement powers can be applied.”

“The Act was passed in the House by 357 to 66 (of 435) and in the Senate by 98 to 1 and was supported by members of both the Republican and Democratic parties. Opponents of the law have criticized its authorization of indefinite detentions of immigrants; searches through which law enforcement officers search a home or business without the owner’s or the occupant’s permission or knowledge; the expanded use of National Security Letters, which allows the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to search telephone, e-mail, and financial records without a court order, and the expanded access of law enforcement agencies to business records, including library and financial records.”

As citizens we have been fighting it though.

“Since its passage, several legal challenges have been brought against the act, and Federal courts have ruled that a number of provisions are unconstitutional.”

Here is another problem I have with it…the bill implies that indefinite detention only relates to foreigners on American soil, not Americans…but it gives the provision for Domestic Terrorism.

What is domestic terrorism?

“According to a memo produced by the FBI’s Terrorist Research and Analytical Center in 1994, domestic terrorism was defined as “the unlawful use of force or violence, committed by a group(s) of two or more individuals, against persons or property to intimidate or coerce a government, the civilian population, or any segment thereof, in furtherance of political or social objectives.”^[2]

Another problem I see is that some of the provisions in the Patriot Act were set to go away in 2006, and the legality of the act was set to end in 2011. But Congress quietly passed it through and our “President for Change” signed it back into law last year. Yay us. (And I realize I have shared that with you all before.)

In our ever-changing, evolving, connected world, are the actions of either the US government or the anonymous hackers appropriate? Was taking down the Megaupload website an act of retribution for the internet-wide blackouts Wednesday? Was the response from the hackers an attack in a “Cyber War”?

I stand with my comments to the Anonyops website last night. If progress is what we are hoping to accomplish with the occupy movement and the enlightenment of society than what we need is a coordinated effort that involves the education of all people. Most “normal” people will not stand with the occupiers or Anonymous because they don’t understand what is going on, they don’t see that shutting down a government website was a good thing, all they see is the attack. I still believe that occupy needs leadership (although I have been told that idea is arcaic.)

I have so much more to say with regards to the current state of the search for a Republican Presidential candidate and Ron Paul and international relations and the military, but that will have to be another time…we are nearing 2000 words here.

I  hope you all think about the world we are living. I hope you consider the fact that “things” aren’t going to get better until we are all able to work together to educate and inform and maintain progress. Stay informed.

Don’t get your news from the national media because they aren’t talking about ANY of this. I tried to find information on this last night as I flipped from CNN to HLN to MSNBC to Fox.

It’s not there. Use your tools. Use the internet. Stand together.

From Anonyops

Have a blessed weekend!