The right of the people to be secure…Goodnight sweet liberty

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

http://constitution.laws.com/4th-amendment

After September 11th, 2001, those were just words on an old piece of paper, no longer a restriction of the Government’s overreaching power to shake down its subjects.
Kenneth G. Eade

https://www.facebook.com/repjustinamash

https://www.facebook.com/repjustinamash

Block New Spying on U.S. Citizens: Vote “NO” on H.R. 4681

Dear Colleague:

The intelligence reauthorization bill, which the House will vote on today, contains a troubling new provision that for the first time statutorily authorizes spying on U.S. citizens without legal process.

Last night, the Senate passed an amended version of the intelligence reauthorization bill with a new Sec. 309—one the House never has considered. Sec. 309 authorizes “the acquisition, retention, and dissemination” of nonpublic communications, including those to and from U.S. persons. The section contemplates that those private communications of Americans, obtained without a court order, may be transferred to domestic law enforcement for criminal investigations.

To be clear, Sec. 309 provides the first statutory authority for the acquisition, retention, and dissemination of U.S. persons’ private communications obtained without legal process such as a court order or a subpoena. The administration currently may conduct such surveillance under a claim of executive authority, such as E.O. 12333. However, Congress never has approved of using executive authority in that way to capture and use Americans’ private telephone records, electronic communications, or cloud data.

Supporters of Sec. 309 claim that the provision actually reins in the executive branch’s power to retain Americans’ private communications. It is true that Sec. 309 includes exceedingly weak limits on the executive’s retention of Americans’ communications. With many exceptions, the provision requires the executive to dispose of Americans’ communications within five years of acquiring them—although, as HPSCI admits, the executive branch already follows procedures along these lines.

In exchange for the data retention requirements that the executive already follows, Sec. 309 provides a novel statutory basis for the executive branch’s capture and use of Americans’ private communications. The Senate inserted the provision into the intelligence reauthorization bill late last night. That is no way for Congress to address the sensitive, private information of our constituents—especially when we are asked to expand our government’s surveillance powers.

I urge you to join me in voting “no” on H.R. 4681, the intelligence reauthorization bill, when it comes before the House today.

Justin Amash
Member of Congress

https://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/113-2014/h558

U.S. Supreme Court, February 2, 1948

Johnson v. United States (1948)

"In any event, we cannot forgive the requirements of the Fourth Amendment in the name of law enforcement. This is no formality that we require today, but a fundamental rule that has long been recognized as basic to the privacy of every home in America. ...it is not asking too much that officers be required to comply with the basic command of the Fourth Amendment before the innermost secrets of one's home or office are invaded. Few threats to liberty exist which are greater than that posed by the use of eavesdropping devices. Some may claim that, without the use of such devices, crime detection in certain areas may suffer some delays, since eavesdropping is quicker, easier, and more certain. However, techniques and practices may well be developed that will operate just as speedily and certainly and -- what is more important -- without attending illegality."

Justice Robert H. Jackson

Before Sept. 11, the idea that Americans would voluntarily agree to live their lives under the gaze of a network of biometric surveillance cameras, peering at them in government buildings, shopping malls, subways and stadiums, would have seemed unthinkable, a dystopian fantasy of a society that had surrendered privacy and anonymity.
Jeffrey Rosen

Also see: Top NSA Official "We are a police state"

Honesty is the first chapter in the book of wisdom.

Thomas Jefferson

The American fascist would prefer not to use violence. His method is to poison the channels of public information. With a fascist the problem is never how best to present the truth to the public but how best to use the news to deceive the public into giving the fascist and his group more money or more power.

Henry A. Wallace

Do remember that dishonesty and cowardice always have to be paid for. Don't imagine that for years on end you can make yourself the boot-licking propagandist of the Soviet régime, or any other régime, and then suddenly return to mental decency. Once a whore, always a whore.

George Orwell

Experience hath shewn, that even under the best forms of government those entrusted with power have, in time, and by slow operations, perverted it into tyranny.

Thomas Jefferson

The very same events occur [for all declining empires], falling like dominoes, more or less in order, in any empire, in any age:

1. The reach of government leaders habitually exceeds their grasp.

2. Dramatic expansion (generally through warfare) is undertaken without a clear plan as to how that expansion is to be financed.

3. The population is overtaxed as the bills for expansion become due, without consideration as to whether the population can afford increased taxation.

4. Heavy taxation causes investment by the private sector to diminish, and the economy begins to decline.

5. Costs of goods rise, without wages keeping pace.

6. Tax revenue declines as the economy declines (due to excessive taxation). Taxes are increased again, in order to top up government revenues.

7. In spite of all the above, government leaders personally hoard as much as they can, further limiting the circulation of wealth in the business community.

8. Governments issue bonds and otherwise borrow to continue expansion, with no plan as to repayment.

9. Dramatic authoritarian control is instituted to assure that the public continues to comply with demands, even if those demands cannot be met by the public.

10. Economic and social collapse occurs, often marked by unrest and riots, the collapse of the economy, and the exit of those who are productive.

11. In this final period, the empire turns on itself, treating its people as the enemy.

The above review suggests that if our schoolbooks stressed the underlying causes of empire collapse, rather than the names of famous generals and the dates of famous battles, we might be better educated and be less likely to repeat the same mistakes.

Unfortunately, this is unlikely. Chances are, future leaders will be just as uninterested in learning from history as past leaders. They will create empires, then destroy them.

How Empires End

The care of human life and happiness, and not their destruction, is the first and only object of good government.

Thomas Jefferson

A fire broke out backstage in a theatre. The clown came out to warn the public; they thought it was a joke and applauded. He repeated it; the acclaim was even greater.

I think that's just how the world will come to an end: to general applause from those who believe it's just a joke.

Søren Kierkegaard

Sometimes it is said that man cannot be trusted with the government of himself. Can he, then be trusted with the government of others? Or have we found angels in the form of kings to govern him? Let history answer this question.

Thomas Jefferson

People of the nation do not understand our banking and money system

It is well enough that people of the nation do not understand our banking and money system, for if they did, I believe there would be a revolution before tomorrow morning.

Henry Ford

What does this graph mean?

If you divide the S&P 500 Index by the size of the Federal reserve balance sheet, you see the true purpose of QE1, QE2, and QE3. It wasn’t to save Main Street. It was to save Wall Street. Without the Federal Reserve funneling fiat to the .1% banking cabal and creating inflation in energy, food, and other basic necessities for the 99.9%, there is no stock market recovery. The recovery has occurred in Manhattan and the Hamptons. It’s been non-existent for the vast majority of people in this country. The wealth effect and trickle down theory have been disproved in spades. The only thing trickling down on the former middle class from the Fed is warm and yellow.

www.washingtonsblog.com

When you consider the fact that the Federal Reserve System is the central bank among the central banks of the world, at least for the present, you begin to understand how a tiny handful of people, who are in charge of an institution that is beyond political control, and whose ownership is concealed with respect to the 12 regional banks, is in control of the economy.

This is central planning. We should call it what it is. I know of no socialist government in the West that has ever had the same degree of power over the entire economy that the Federal Reserve System has in the United States.

I’m not speaking here of the Soviet Union or Communist China. The Federal Reserve was never in a position of being able to have people arrested in the middle of the night, carried away, and executed. But if you’re talking about central planning over the central institution of the economy, this is true central planning.

It is licensed by the federal government, but it is not controlled by the federal government.

The Daily Reckoning

I sincerely believe that banking establishments are more dangerous than standing armies, and that the principle of spending money to be paid by posterity, under the name of funding, is but swindling futurity on a large scale.
Thomas Jefferson

And we now have a banking cartel (Fed), an internal spy network (NSA), a police state, and a standing army.

The training manual outlines scenarios under which, “Civil unrest may range from simple, nonviolent protests that address specific issues, to events that turn into full-scale riots.”

The most shocking aspect of the document is the fact that it describes the deployment of a “lethal response” directed against “unarmed civilians,” including “sniper response” and “small arms direct fire.”

Under the heading “sniper response,” the document states, “Ensure that target leaders or troublemakers are targeted,” in addition to a passage which states, “Exploit the psychological effect of an attack.”

Infowars.com

Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety

Benjamin Franklin

The truth will set you free, but first it will piss you off.

Gloria Steinem

The truth will set you free. But not until it is finished with you.
David Foster Wallace

http://youtu.be/jUow1DhAubA

They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.
Benjamin Franklin

When the people fear their government

When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty.

Thomas Jefferson

Whatever you think about Adam Kokesh, he was arrested and detained in a federal detention facility for resisting address even though there is video showing him at a peaceful demonstration in Philadelphia.  This may be the beginning of something that will become much bigger.  When the Government seizes and detains someone for expressing speech – while suspending their civil rights, there is tyranny.  The felony charges have been dropped and he has been issued citations. 

This is far from the first time Kokesh, 31, has gotten himself in trouble during protests. He was thrown out of the 2008 Republican National Convention for heckling John McCain and was arrested for dancing at the Thomas Jefferson Memorial in Washington, D.C., during a protest of a court decision that banned dancing at the site.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/

Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!

Patrick Henry

After hearing about this and doing some research, I came across his statement.  So much for the non-violent path:

When a government has repeatedly and deliberately failed to follow its own laws, violated the fundamental human rights of its citizens, threatened the sanctity of a free press, created institutions intended to eliminate privacy of communication, waged war at the behest of special interest that threatens the public safety, killed hundreds of children with drone strikes, imprisoned and destroyed the lives of countless individuals for victimless crimes, stifled economic opportunity to maintain the dominance of the financial elite, stolen from the people through an absurd system of taxation and inflation, sold future generations into debt slavery, and abused it’s power to suppress political opposition, it is unfit to exist and it becomes the duty of the people to alter or abolish that government by whatever means necessary to secure liberty and ensure peace. A new American revolution is long overdue.

This revolution has been brewing in the hearts and minds of the people for many years, but this independence day, it shall take a new form as the American Revolutionary Army will march on each state capital to demand that the governors of these 50 states immediately initiate the process of an orderly dissolution of the federal government through secession and reclamation of federally held property. Should one whole year from this July 4th while the crimes of this government are allowed to continue, we may have passed the point at which non-violent revolution becomes impossible. The time to sit idly by has passed. To remain neutral is to be complicit, just doing your job is not an excuse, and the line in the sand has been drawn between the people, and the criminals in Washington, D.C. while some timid souls will say that it is too early, the we can solve this problem through democratic means provided by government, that current levels of taxation are reasonable for the services provided, and that the crimes of this government are merely a tolerable nuisance, it may already be too late. While there is risk in drastic action, the greater danger lies in allowing this government to continue unchallenged.

http://communities.washingtontimes.com/neighborhood/urban-game-changer/2013/may/24/adam-kokesh-breaks-free-philadelphia-jail/.

Looks like the sticks, stones, torches, and pitchforks will surface with Mr. Kokesh.

They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.

Benjamin Franklin

Nothing is so permanent as a temporary Government program

Milton Freidman

Liberty is the possibility of doubting, of making a mistake,... of searching and experimenting,... of saying No to any authority - literary, artistic, philosophical, religious, social, and even political.

Ignazio Silone

House Bill HR 6357 was introduced by Dennis Kucinich last week.  The prognosis for the bill is:

This bill has a 0% chance of being enacted. The following factors were considered:This bill was a re-introduction of H.R. 6010 (111th) from the previous session of Congress. (-3%)The sponsor is a member of the minority party.(-2%).  Just 4% of all House bills in 2009–2010were enacted. http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/112/hr6357

What’s so special about the bill?  The intent is to prohibit the extrajudicial killing of United States citizens.  Why would we need a bill to prevent the Government from killing American citizens?

Change has come to the US via the Obama administration.  Signing the NDAA in the dark of night on New Years eve.  Hoping that no one would notice.  See Section 1021 & 1022.

The definition of terrorism as defined by the DoD is:

The calculated use of unlawful violence or threat of unlawful violence to inculcate fear; intended to coerce or to intimidate governments or societies in the pursuit of goals that are generally political, religious, or ideological.

The FBI uses the Code of Federal Regulations definition:

The unlawful use of force and violence against persons or property to intimidate or coerce a government, the civilian population, or any segment thereof, in furtherance of political or social objectives.

The definition generally relates to the use of violence.  The Homeland Security Act of 2002 goes further:  damaging to critical infrastructure or key resources.

However, it appears that the current definition by the US Government is a Potter Stewart definition:

I know it when I see it

BTW, The signs to watch for are Here

He that would make his own liberty secure, must guard even his enemy from opposition; for if he violates this duty he establishes a precedent that will reach himself. 

Thomas Paine

SO read the section on authorization of military force. 

SEC. 1021. AFFIRMATION OF AUTHORITY OF THE ARMED FORCES OF THE UNITED STATES TO DETAIN COVERED PERSONS PURSUANT TO THE AUTHORIZATION FOR USE OF MILITARY FORCE.

(a) In General- Congress affirms that the authority of the President to use all necessary and appropriate force pursuant to the Authorization for Use of Military Force (Public Law 107-40; 50 U.S.C. 1541 note) includes the authority for the Armed Forces of the United States to detain covered persons (as defined in subsection (b)) pending disposition under the law of war.

(b) Covered Persons- A covered person under this section is any person as follows:

(1) A person who planned, authorized, committed, or aided the terrorist attacks that occurred on September 11, 2001, or harbored those responsible for those attacks.

(2) A person who was a part of or substantially supported al-Qaeda, the Taliban, or associated forces that are engaged in hostilities against the United States or its coalition partners, including any person who has committed a belligerent act or has directly supported such hostilities in aid of such enemy forces.

(c) Disposition Under Law of War- The disposition of a person under the law of war as described in subsection (a) may include the following:

(1) Detention under the law of war without trial until the end of the hostilities authorized by the Authorization for Use of Military Force.

(2) Trial under chapter 47A of title 10, United States Code (as amended by the Military Commissions Act of 2009 (title XVIII of Public Law 111-84)).

(3) Transfer for trial by an alternative court or competent tribunal having lawful jurisdiction.

(4) Transfer to the custody or control of the person’s country of origin, any other foreign country, or any other foreign entity.

(d) Construction- Nothing in this section is intended to limit or expand the authority of the President or the scope of the Authorization for Use of Military Force.

(e) Authorities- Nothing in this section shall be construed to affect existing law or authorities relating to the detention of United States citizens, lawful resident aliens of the United States, or any other persons who are captured or arrested in the United States.

(f) Requirement for Briefings of Congress- The Secretary of Defense shall regularly brief Congress regarding the application of the authority described in this section, including the organizations, entities, and individuals considered to be ‘covered persons’ for purposes of subsection (b)(2).

http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/112/hr1540/text

Sovereign Man asked a few questions about a free society.

Does a free society send government hit men to eliminate anyone they perceive to be an enemy of the state?

Does a free society have hundreds of police agencies, each with the authority to deprive a man of his life, liberty and property in their sole discretion?

Does a free society have hundreds of thousands of laws, codes, rules, regulations, and policies which effectively criminalize nearly every aspect of one’s existence?

Does a free society lead the world in prison population?

Does a free society hunt down criminals and terrorists by treating its citizens like criminals and terrorists?

Does a free society tell its citizens what foods they are / are not allowed to consume?

Does a free society steal your money at gunpoint to buy bombs that they drop by remote control on brown people in faraway lands?

Does a free society debase its currency and plunder the purchasing power of its citizens?

Does a free society saddle unborn generations with obligations they never signed up to bear?

Does a free society award near total control of the economy, the money supply, and everything tied to it, to a tiny elite few?

Does a free society brainwash its citizens into believing that they live in a free society? (at least the Chinese know they’re not free…)

Ask yourself, are you really living in a free society? Are you free? If not, why not? What else could possibly be more important?

It takes courage to answer honestly. But once you realize the truth and begin to see the system for what it is, it can be a liberating and life-changing experience.

http://www.sovereignman.com/

Are we free?  In the land of the free?

Those who deny freedom to others deserve it not for themselves. 

Abraham Lincoln

Where liberty dwells, there is my country.

Benjamin Franklin

National honor is national property of the highest value. 

James Monroe

http://youtu.be/16K6m3Ua2nw

What is the essence of America?  Finding and maintaining that perfect, delicate balance between freedom "to" and freedom "from." 

Marilyn vos Savant

Ending the road to Erehwon

Anyone who says sunshine brings happiness has never danced in the rain

It looks pretty dark.  But I’m still optimistic that the sun will return. 

The dogmas of the quiet past are inadequate to the stormy present. The occasion is piled high with difficulty, and we must rise with the occasion. As our case is new, so we must think anew and act anew. We must disenthrall ourselves, and then we shall save our country.

Abraham Lincoln

A precedent that will reach himself

He that would make his own liberty secure, must guard even his enemy from opposition; for if he violates this duty he establishes a precedent that will reach himself. 

Thomas Paine

'Freedom' now comes with all sorts of strings attached, special stipulations. These days, we're told: "You're free. Now follow all of these regulations that are interpreted at the exclusive discretion of hundreds of executive agencies under the penalty of imprisonment and/or financial penalties so egregious that you'll be paying for the rest of your natural life."

The rule of law no longer exists-- not in the United States, not in the western world.
In the EU, member states and unelected, supranational agencies are now routinely violating their own charters and international agreements to bail out, print, and borrow however much they want, whenever they want, irrespective of what the law says.

Moreover, hundreds of US government executive agencies and their ever-expanding authorities are creating a complex 'shadow code' system of policies and regulations, each of which can be interpreted in the sole discretion of a single bureaucrat who's out to get you.
Consider:

• US-based Gibson Guitar Corp has twice been raided by FBI agents on suspicion of importing wood that violates India's trade regulations. They don't care that Gibson's CEO has a memo from the Indian government approving the deal. The wood remains confiscated, even though charges have never been filed.

• There's a regulation on the books, buried deep within the system, requiring you to first fill out a form with the Census Bureau of all places. It's rarely (if ever) enforced, but it exists... and anyone who doesn't do it is subject to fine and/or imprisonment at the pleasure of the Census Bureau.

• A few months ago, a fisherman from New Bedford, Mass. accidentally caught an 800-pound bluefin tuna in his trawl gear after setting out from dock. It was freakish good fortune, albeit short-lived. The man was relieved of his tuna by the National Maritime Fisheries Service because there is 'no permit that allows catching bluefin with a trawl net.'

• Even having too much cash now can be considered a criminal offense. There are countless stories like Anthony Smelley's, who in 2009 was pulled over on I-70 in Putnam County, Indiana and found with $17,500 in cash. He was able to prove that the money was his, legitimately. It didn't matter. He was relieved of the cash, but charged with no crime.

• You can't so much as apply for a passport now without being threatened with "fine and/or imprisonment under U.S. law including the provisions of 18 USC 1001, 18 USC 1542, and/or 18 USC 1621."  The same goes for 'alteration of a passport' or even using a passport 'in violation of the restrictions contained herein..', whatever that's supposed to mean.

This is not the land of the free. The US government's extraordinary network of codes, regulations, and policies has created a nation of citizens who live in a state of constant violation, governed by criminals who have the authority to defraud them.

At this moment, you are guilty of dozens of crimes and/or regulatory violations.  Such rules are selectively enforced; the rule of law means nothing, it's all about who your connections are, whose palms are greased, and whose campaign you enriched.

Like a cheap credit card offer, all the song and dance about 'land of the free' comes with fine print at the bottom of the page-- "terms and conditions may apply, void where prohibited."  This is not freedom. It's freedom*

http://www.sovereignman.com/

Here is my advice as we begin the century that will lead to 2081.  First, guard the freedom of ideas at all costs.  Be alert that dictators have always played on the natural human tendency to blame others and to oversimplify.  And don't regard yourself as a guardian of freedom unless you respect and preserve the rights of people you disagree with to free, public, unhampered expression. 

Gerard K. O'Neil

1984 or 1776

Liberty: One of Imagination's most precious possessions. 

Ambrose Bierce

As a precursor, reading this may put you on a list.

In a post on Government intrusion on liberty and freedom, Lew Rockwell’s post Every Breath You Take, Every Move You Make – 14 New Ways That the Government Is Watching You on recent government actions is a bit scary.  The short list:

#1 Requirement to carry documentation

#2 Facebook and on Twitter surveillance

#3 High-tech street lights

#4 DHS propaganda on hotel TV’s

#5 FBI recording internet talk radio programs

#6 TSA VIPR random inspections at bus stations and on interstate highways

#7 Thermal imaging face scanners

#8 Future Attribute Screening Technology (FAST) program.

#9 Pre-crime software technology for children

#10 Surveillance cameras in public school cafeterias

#11 U.S. government "polls" and "surveys"

#12 FBI requiring store owners to report "suspicious activity" including paying with cash

#13 Police pulling personal data from cell phones without permission or warrant

#14 Prohibition on citizens filming police

Peak your interest?  Read the article HERE

After reading Lew’s post, you may want to read more about how to change the system HERE

He that would make his own liberty secure, must guard even his enemy from opposition; for if he violates this duty he establishes a precedent that will reach himself. 

Thomas Paine

If given the choice between living in "1984" and living in "1776", I know what my choice would be.

Lew Rockwell