Watch What You Read!

[AGBF]

Well...Big Brother is watching what you read. He is now looking at what you take out of the library in his search for terrorists...and he doesn't need to obtain any pesky subpoena from a judge to get all the info. about you. I read mainly legal thrillers. Perhaps the Feds will think I am planning to become an attorney! Oh...and the Feds can also see records of what a patron read on the Internet.

A link to the article is below and here are some excerpts from it:

"Using its expanded power under the antiterrorism law known as the USA Patriot Act, the F.B.I. is demanding library records from a Connecticut institution as part of an intelligence investigation, the American Civil Liberties Union said Thursday.
...

The A.C.L.U. said that in the Connecticut case, the bureau was using a separate investigative tool, a type of administrative subpoena known as a national security letter, to get records related to library patrons, reading materials and patrons' use of the Internet.

The bureau's power to use national security letters to demand records without a judge's approval was expanded under the antiterrorism law. Last year, a federal judge in Manhattan struck down part of the subpoena provision as unconstitutional, in part because it allowed for no judicial oversight, but the Justice Department is appealing the ruling.

Anthony D. Romero, executive director of the A.C.L.U., said the demand for the Connecticut library records 'shows that our supposed hysteria over the Patriot Act wasn't so hysterical after all.'

'This is a prime example of the government using its Patriot Act powers without any judicial oversight to get sensitive information on law-abiding Americans,' Mr. Romero said."


article

Deborah

 

[Libster]

Deb,
Big Brother is watching everything we do!

 

[AGBF]

Date: 8/27/2005 9:22:19 AM
Author: Feydakin
Those pesky librarys should all be closed anyway..


You don't need to learn anything on your own, just accept what we.... uh... they tell you to learn and be happy about it..

So true. Do you have any insight into what sort of materials I should avoid reading if I want to escape the notice of The FBI? Are cookbooks safe? Bodice bursters...I mean romantic novels? What about Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys? I will try to steer clear of manuals for making nuclear weapons. Oh, wait. Pakistan and Iran already have them. Maybe they are no longer a threat. What am I allowed to read?

Deb

 

[AGBF]

PS-This may be the moment to confess that I agreed with Storm about the Supreme Court decision that allowed the confiscation of private property that would be sold to another private entity. It was too embarrassing to admit that I agree with Storm on anything, but I will now take a stand.

I think the State should keep its hands off my house, my land, and my library card.

Deborah

 

[AGBF]

Date: 8/27/2005 1:37:23 PM
Author: Feydakin
See, now you don''t even need to go to the library

You only posted this for my edification because your wife carries a gun!

Deb

 

[movie zombie]

interesting that the 1950''s were spent trying to convince women to get back to the kitchen when during WWII ''they'' were trying to convince women to become rosie riviter. seems ''they'' are never happy....

peace, movie zombie

 

[AGBF]

Date: 8/27/2005 2:19:15 PM
Author: movie zombie
interesting that the 1950''s were spent trying to convince women to get back to the kitchen when during WWII ''they'' were trying to convince women to become rosie riviter. seems ''they'' are never happy....

The same thing happened in Nazi Germany. Women were urged in and out of the workforce depending on whether the men were able to man the factories or, during wartime, whether they were all in the military.

Deb

 

[AChiOAlumna]

Libraries aren''t the only ones being affected. Doctors, therapists, etc. are also impacted. I can actually have the FBI come in to my office under the Patriot Act, take a file on one of my clients and leave without my permission and without a subpeona. On top of that, then I am bound to secrecy and cannot tell my client that this has happened!!

So much for therapist/client rapport and the therapeutic relationship!!!

 

[AGBF]

Date: 8/27/2005 5:23:02 PM
Author: AChiOAlumna
Libraries aren't the only ones being affected. Doctors, therapists, etc. are also impacted. I can actually have the FBI come in to my office under the Patriot Act, take a file on one of my clients and leave without my permission and without a subpeona. On top of that, then I am bound to secrecy and cannot tell my client that this has happened!!

So much for therapist/client rapport and the therapeutic relationship!!!

I think you must have been hit by Section 215. It's hard to believe this could happen in America, isn't it? You would be committing a crime if you or the hospital or agency for which you worked disclosed that you had provided the private files on a patient to the government (and the government has no obligation even to allege the patient was a criminal)!

Privacy? Forget it. Citizens of the United States have none as long as The Patriot Act is law. Any law-abiding citizen can have his privacy invaded by the government and the government need not even allege any misconduct by that citizen!

Section 215 is described below:


"Section 215, which grants the FBI sweeping authority to seize sensitive personal information and belongings, with no notice to the person whose information or property has been seized, and no requirement of proof of individualized criminal activity. The law places a 'gag' on an organization (or its representatives) that is served with a Section 215 order by an FBI agent; disclosure to anyone that an order has been received is a crime."

source of description above

Deborah

 

[movie zombie]

ah, section 215, so very democratic, so american, so in line with the US Constitution, such a noble cause to fight and die for

....our founders must be rolling in their graves and if alive now would probably be leading a revolt against such an affront to the US Constitution and our American way of life.

peace, movie zombie

 

[ame]

Welcome to america folks...

 

[fire&ice]

Date: 8/27/2005 1:27:57 PM
Author: AGBF


PS-This may be the moment to confess that I agreed with Storm about the Supreme Court decision that allowed the confiscation of private property that would be sold to another private entity. It was too embarrassing to admit that I agree with Storm on anything, but I will now take a stand.

I think the State should keep its hands off my house, my land, and my library card.

Deborah

Oh dear - you would have to agree with me also.

I''m not a fan of the Patriot Act. I am conservative in that less government intervention in our personal lives the better.

Though - to play the devil''s advocate - Britian certainly moved quickly on the 7/7 bombers because of the installed camera''s. This development has somewhat changed my stance on the issue of camera''s in subway stations, etc.

That said - you are being tracked far more than you think. It kinda burns my butt that in order to get "weekly specials" at my grocery store I need a card that keeps track of how many x''s I buy detergent. Am I a compulsive washer? Or if I buy an enormous amount of bleach - am I trying to hide something?

I feel like big brother has already arrived.

I really don''t know what would set off a red flag as far as "what''s suspicious". Like you, I read legal thrillers. I also read murder mysteries. Would that make me someone who would try to figure out the perfect murder? And, I checked out a book on Schuzhund training. Would that make me look like a para military?

 

[Gemklctr]

Date: 8/27/2005 5:23:02 PM
Author: AChiOAlumna
Libraries aren''t the only ones being affected. Doctors, therapists, etc. are also impacted. I can actually have the FBI come in to my office under the Patriot Act, take a file on one of my clients and leave without my permission and without a subpeona. On top of that, then I am bound to secrecy and cannot tell my client that this has happened!!

So much for therapist/client rapport and the therapeutic relationship!!!

For the PS group things are going to get even worse. I was just informed by one of my gem dealers that, as of January 1, 2006, all dealers will be required to keep new, detailed records of their transactions (both purchases and sales) to be made available to law enforcement/intelligence agencies to help fight money laundering by and financing of terrorists. Apparently, the gem trade and particularly diamonds (e.g., "blood" or "conflict" diamonds) are frequently used for such purposes. Big Brother may then be tracking your engagement odyssey and upgrade decisions!