Two QA Projects Proposed

[RU Sirius]

1) So I have an idea for two opening projects, although they will only appeal to the more detail oriented among us.

When I write: "We call for the resurrection of all basic liberties and protections – including protections against pervasive surveillance – taken away by the federal government and by the executive branch of the Federal Government resulting directly -- or obviously – as the result of reactions to the events of 9/11::

I have a pretty good sense of what I mean but I'm a bit rusty on the details. It's been a pretty overwhelming assault over recent years, and I have other interests. Prove me wrong, but I am frustrated that their isn't one-stop shopping -- some clear, cautious, smart, accessible guide that delineates all the stuff that's happened on the federal level over the course of the Bush Administration (there's room for another one that covers more ground, but this would be a lot for now), with just enough detail to make the implications pretty clear but not so much as to be too exhausting to deal with.

This seems like something a group mind here could do a pretty good job of putting together.

2) In a similar vein, I have the idea that QuestionAuthority could sponsor what I'm calling, for the moment, a "Fair Share of Abuse" page... this page could monitor the most egregious and absurd abuses of authority on both a micro (individual) and macro level. There's this thing The Progressive website does called "McCarthyism Watch" but it's not very active and it has only the left slant on these things. What about a daily catalogue of absurdities and abuses?

Thoughts are welcomed.

[Phil Leggiere]

Both ideas fill a gap. Oddly- or maybe not so- the best ongoing coverage i know of on this is by a Christian Bircher blogger often featured on Lew rockwell. http://www.freedominourtime.blogspot.com/
.

[Phil Leggiere]

I don' think this posted when I tried a little while ago, so here it is again.

On project 1 here's a chronological time-line of civil liberties in the bush era I put together that could hopefully start this kind of primer off. All the references can be hyper-linked to primary or news sources (which I've got bookmarked). Much more could be added but these are the high-lights or low-lights.




CIVIL LIBERTIES IN THE BUSH ERA:
TIMELINE 2001 to 2007


2001


January- Presidential directive delays indefinitely the scheduled release of presidential documents (authorized by the Presidential Records Act of 1978) pertaining to the Reagan-Bush administration.
February- Presidential directive is issued radically broadening scope of documents and information which can be deemed classified.
February- The National Security Agency (NSA) sets up Project Groundbreaker, a domestic call monitoring program infrastructure.
Spring-Secret presidential executive order authorizes NSA monitoring of domestic phone and internet traffic.
September- In immediate aftermath of 9-11 terror attacks Department of Justice authorizes detention without charge for any terror suspects. Over one thousand suspects are brought into detention over the next several months.
October- Attorney General John Ashcroft announces change in Department of Justice (DOJ) policy. According to the new policy DOJ will impose far more stringent criteria to the granting of Freedom of Information Act requests.
October- NSA launches massive new database of information on US phone calls.
October- The USA Patriot Act becomes law. Among other things the law: makes it a crime for anyone to contribute money or material support for any group on the State Department’s Terror Watch List, allows the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to monitor and tape conversations between attorneys and clients, allows the FBI to order librarians to turn over information about patron’s reading habits, allows the government to conduct surveillance on internet and email use of US citizens without notice. The act also calls for expanded use of National Security Letters (NSLs), which allow the FBI to search telephone, email and financial records of US citizens without a court order, exempts the government from needing to reveal how evidence against suspected terrorists was obtained and authorizes indefinite detention of immigrants at the discretion of law enforcement and immigration authorities.
November- Executive order limits release of presidential documents. The order gives incumbent presidents the right to veto requests to open any past presidential records and supercedes the congressionally passed law of 1978 mandating release of all presidential records not explicitly deemed classified.

2002-

Winter- FBI and Department of Defense (DOD), forbidden by law from compiling databases on US citizens, begin contracting with private database firm ChoicePoint to collect, store and maintain data.
Spring- Secret executive order issued authorizing NSA to wiretap the phones and read emails of US citizens.
Spring- Transportation Security Adminstration (TSA) acknowledges it has created both a “No Fly” and a separate “Watch” list of US travelers.
May- Department of Justice authorizes the FBI to monitor political and religious groups. The new rules permit the FBI to broadly search or monitor the internet for evidence of criminal activity without having any tips or leads that a specific criminal act has been committed.
November- Homeland Security Act of 2002 establishes separate Department of Homeland Security. Among other things the department will federally coordinate for the first time all local and state law enforcement nationwide and run a Directorate of Information and Analysis with authority to compile comprehensive data on US citizens using public and commercial records including credit card, phone, bank, and travel. The department also will be exempt form Freedom of Information Act disclosure requirements.


2003

February- Draft of Domestic Security Enhancement Act (aka Patriot Act 2), a secret document prepared by the Department of Justice is leaked by the Center for Public Integrity. Among the proposed bill’s provisions were/are:
Provisions of the February 7th draft version included:
• Removal of court-ordered prohibitions against police agencies spying on domestic groups.
• The FBI would be granted powers to conduct searches and surveillance based on intelligence gathered in foreign countries without first obtaining a court order.
• Creation of a DNA database of suspected terrorists.
• Prohibition of any public disclosure of the names of alleged terrorists including those who have been arrested.
• Exemptions from civil liability for people and businesses who voluntarily turn private information over to the government.
• Criminalization of the use of encryption to conceal incriminating communications.
• Automatic denial of bail for persons accused of terrorism-related crimes, reversing the ordinary common law burden of proof principle. All alleged terrorists would be required to demonstrate why they should be released on bail rather than the government being required to demonstrate why they should be held.
• Expansion of the list of crimes eligible for the death penalty.
• The United States Environmental Protection Agency would be prevented from releasing "worst case scenario" information to the public about chemical plants.
• United States citizens whom the government finds to be either members of, or providing material support to, terrorist groups could have their US citizenship revoked and be deported to foreign countries.
Although the bill itself due to public exposure has never (yet) been advanced in congress, some of its provisions have become law as parts of other bills. For example The Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2004 grants the FBI unprecedented power to obtain records from financial institutions without requiring permission from a judge. Under the law, the FBI does not need to seek a court order to access such records, nor does it need to prove just cause.
March- Executive order issued which radically tightens the declassification process of classified government documents, as well as making it far easier for government agencies to make and keep information classified. The order delayed by three years the release of declassified government documents dating from 1978 or earlier. It also allowed the government to treat all material sent to American officials from foreign governments -- no matter how routine -- as subject to classification, and expanded the ability of Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to shield documents from declassification. Finally it gave the vice president the power to classify information.

Fall- The FBI changes its traditional policy of destroying all data and documents collected on innocent citizens in the course of criminal investigations. This information would, according to the bureau, now be permanently stored. A year later in late 2004 Executive Order 13388, expanded access to those files for "state, local and tribal" governments and for "appropriate private sector entities," which are not defined.

Fall- As authorized by the Patriot Act the FBI expands the practice of national security letters. NSLs, originally introduced in the 1970s for espionage and terrorism investigations, enabled the FBI to review in secret the customer records of suspected foreign agents. This was extended by the Patriot Act to include permitting clandestine scrutiny of all U.S. residents and visitors whether suspected of terrorism or not.
2004
January- The FBI begins keeping a database of US citizens based on information obtained via NSLs.
May- John Ashcroft invokes State Secrets privilege to forbid former FBI translator Sibel Edmunds from testifying in a case brought by families of victims of the 9-11 attacks.
2005
Summer- The Patriot Act, due to expire at the end of 2005, is reauthorized.
2006
September- US Congress and Senate approve the Military Commissions Act, which authorizes torture and strips detainees suspected of terrorist ties of the right of habeas corpus (which includes formal charges, counsel and hearings).
October- “John Warner Defense Authorization Act” is passed. The act allows a president to declare a public emergency and station US military troops anywhere in America as well as take control of state based national guard units without consent of the governor or other local authorities. The law authorizes presidential deployment of US troops to round-up and detain “potential terrorists”, “illegal aliens” and “disorderly” citizenry.
2007
May- National Security Presidential Directive 51 (NSPD-51) establishes a new post-disaster plan (with disaster defined as any incident, natural or man-made, resulting in extraordinary mass casualties, damage or disruption) which places the president in charge of all three branches of government. The directive overrides the National Emergencies Act which gives Congress power to determine the duration of a national emergency.
July- Executive Order 13438: "Blocking Property of Certain Persons Who Threaten Stabilization Efforts in Iraq, issued. The order asserts the government’s power to confiscate the property “of persons determined to have committed, or to pose a significant risk of committing, an act or acts of violence that have the purpose or effect of threatening the peace or stability of Iraq or the Government of Iraq or undermining efforts to promote economic reconstruction and political reform in Iraq or to provide humanitarian assistance to the Iraqi people."
October- The Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism Act passes the House of Representatives 400 to 6 (to be voted on in the Senate in 2008). The act proposes the establishment of a commission composed of members of the House and Senate, Homeland Security and others, to "examine and report upon the facts and causes of violent radicalization, homegrown terrorism, and ideologically based violence in the United States” and specifically the role of the internet in fostering and disseminating extremism. According to the bill the term `violent radicalization' means the process of adopting or promoting an extremist belief system for the purpose of facilitating ideologically based violence to advance political, religious, or social change, while the term `ideologically-based violence' means the use, planned use, or threatened use of force or violence by a group or individual to promote the group or individual's political, religious, or social beliefs.”

[Praenomenal]

Micro Abuse.
http://www.boingboing.net/2007/11/27/driver-tasered-for-r.html

[Yodhe]

I think a "little black book of capitalism" would be an excellent project to initiate.

And to start thing off

The US Department of Agriculture says 12.6 million households nationwide, or more than 30 million people - 10% of the population - did not have enough food at some point in 2006.


Taken from this.....
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/7106726.stm

[Gary F. Moraco]

http://longestwalk.org/index.php?option=com_frontpage&Itemid=1

[RU Sirius]

Phil,

Is that original to you? We should put it on the homepage for starters. Maybe expand it out a bit and publish it on10 Zen Monkeys...

R>

[Phil Leggiere]

Yes, I put it together and could expand it as well as hyper-link everything.

[MondoGlobo]

we should probably forego publishing stuff on 10 Zen. time for the content here to stand on its own feet! -J

[Phil Leggiere]

right.

[RU Sirius]

In any case, I think it would be great if you would complete that and we'll run it as an article here. I'd make it a priority...

R>

[Phil Leggiere]

Sure thing, yeah. Over the next couple of days I'm going to make the links on each item and try to squeeze in anything else major I can find on fed laws and executive actions. So I can have that together probably by Monday.

[RU Sirius]

I want to thank Phil Leggiere for doing such an incredible job of putting the timeline of life and libertery during the Bush administration together so quickly. And he's already gotten his fair share of abuse!

RU