haha, allison, bloody wanker, indeed!
Welp, here's some light reading for everyone in their spare time -- the um Patriot Act, the neocon plan for American dominance over the entire world through military action blah blah blah
So much for my ongoing mangina quest (the new holy grail?! ;D
Have funsies! I gotta go play with some kidlets :-)
Mizz Lexxxie
p.s. A really great site to visit is buzzflash.com . . . as my bro-in-law says, '"I don't want the alleged 'fair and balanced,' I want the truth!" I love that site's hooks -- some great one-liners
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**A very well-written commentary . . . not a straight reporting job (btw, does that even exist anymore?) . . . .but it provides good background on the neocons' (neoconservatives) plans for the Middle East
www.washingtonmonthly.com/features/2003/0304.marshall.html**If you want it from the horse's mouth (or patooty, depending on your perspective), go to
www.newamericancentury.org/index.html which was established by the neocon wunderkind himself, William Kristol . . . he provides many links back to '97 or so, but again, this is from a very conservative, Reagan-esque view of the world, so . . . you have been forewarned!
**Civil LIberties, RIP -- Again, an analysis and commentary on the *first* Patriot Act (through about a year ago), from the San Fancisco Bay Guardian, which, yes, is a liberal entity. However, they cite some very interesting aspects of this "Act" and their implications. Since you probably won't find much if any of this in any mainstream or cable news outlet . . . read on!
www.sfbg.com/36/50/cover_civil_liberties.html**Sorry, I didn't have a link for this one
Libraries Warn of FBI Spying on Reading Habits
By Adam Tanner
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Several libraries in California have begun to warn book lovers that the U.S. government may be monitoring their reading habits in a sweeping effort to crack down on terrorism, officials said on Tuesday.
"It's only been recently that people have become aware just how pernicious it is," said Anne Turner, director of libraries in Santa Cruz, a coastal city south of San Francisco. She added: "Our board decided to take a public stand" and posted warnings at its branches as of Friday.
"In Santa Cruz not everybody is a hippie radical and the response has been outrage."
President Bush signed sweeping anti-terror legislation, called the USA Patriot Act, into law in October 2001 in reaction to the Sept. 11 attacks.
Section 215 allows the FBI, with search warrants, to go into libraries and bookstores and demand circulation records or receipts of anyone connected to an investigation of spying or international terrorism.
Library associations across the country have complained about the new rules for some time and now several have started posting warnings at their branches.
"Warning: Although the Santa Cruz Library makes every effort to protect your privacy, under the federal USA Patriot Act (Public Law 107-56), records of the books and other materials you borrow from this library may be obtained by federal agents," the Santa Cruz warning reads.
------->>>>>"That federal law prohibits library workers from informing you if federal agents have obtained records about you."
Turner said she knows of no incidents where the FBI sought records at her 10 libraries over the past year.
But Judith Krug, director of the Freedom to Read Foundation, a sister group of the American Library Association, cited a recent study finding that FBI agents visited 85 academic libraries.
Concern over privacy violations prompted one member of Congress to propose new legislation last week that would exempt bookstores and libraries from the Patriot Act rules.
"There can be no question that we must protect Americans against terrorists, but that does not mean that we have to give the federal government the right to monitor what Americans are reading at their local library, or what books they are buying at their local book store," Vermont Independent Congressman Bernie Sanders said.
The FBI measures have also spurred criticism abroad, and earlier this year Europe's largest security and human rights watchdog, the OSCE, criticized the United States for spying on book buyers and library patrons.
Krug said she opposed posting signs in libraries because such warnings could undermine the belief that people have a right to privacy.
"My concern with posting signs is that you are undermining the user's assumption that when they walk into libraries what they do is protected by the various statutes," she said.
"I think there are more effective ways to get this particular section of the Patriot Act changed."
03/11/03 17:43
