Lawmakers, Privacy Experts Sound Alarm
on Most ‘Terrifying Expansions of Government
Surveillance’ in History in Spy Powers Bill
Posted By: earlybird, 4/15/2024 6:03:30 PM
Lawmakers and privacy experts on both sides of the political spectrum are sounding the alarm on a provision in a spy powers reform bill that one senator described as one of the “most terrifying expansions of government surveillance” in history. Eighty-six House Republicans last Friday voted for the Reforming Intelligence and Securing America Act (RISAA), a bill that would reauthorize Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). Section 702 is a government surveillance authority that is meant to target foreign adversaries, but often surveils Americans’ communications without a warrant.
people like this.
people like this.
people like this.
people like this.
people like this.
people like this.
people like this.
people like this.
people like this.
people like this.
people like this.
people like this.
people like this.
people like this.
people like this.
people like this.
people like this.
people like this.
people like this.
people like this.
Below, you will find ...
Most Recent Articles posted by "earlybird"
and
Most Active Articles (last 48 hours)
Most Recent Articles posted by
earlybird"
Lawmakers and privacy experts on both sides of the political spectrum are sounding the alarm on a provision in a spy powers reform bill that one senator described as one of the “most terrifying expansions of government surveillance” in history.
Eighty-six House Republicans last Friday voted for the Reforming Intelligence and Securing America Act (RISAA), a bill that would reauthorize Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). Section 702 is a government surveillance authority that is meant to target foreign adversaries, but often surveils Americans’ communications without a warrant.
The first Trump trial is here, set to begin on Monday, with the allegation being that the former president violated New York law by having his company misreport payments to Stormy Daniels as “legal fees” rather than campaign expenditures. Much of the commentary on the case — at least from those defending the former president — has consisted of accusations that Manhattan District Attorney (DA) Alvin Bragg is abusing his power on a political vendetta and that Judge Juan Merchan is a biased partisan.(snip) Better, then, to (snip) explain why the DA’s case is wrong as a matter of law.
Before getting into bigger picture analysis and intellectual discussion about FISA and the 702 reauthorizations, let me just reveal some inside DC crap that drives me nuts and at the same time will help y’all understand the nonsense.
First, the Intelligence Community (IC) tells congress, particularly the House and Senate Intelligence Committees, that all hell will break loose if they don’t reauthorize full electronic surveillance of Americans. Congress is petrified of the IC.
Speaker Johnson and all of the key participants are totally siloed from understanding that 702 has nothing to do with incidental collection of American data whilst the honorable IC were doing foreign intercepts.
By this point, it’s clear to everyone that Bill Barr was a dirty pawn of the Deep State, installed to undermine President Trump from the inside. Yet, we’ve now got a rare look at just how evil he truly was. Barr wasn’t merely “concerned” about the 2020 election; he was outright “irate.” Not over the injustice of it all, mind you, but because he was incensed by any investigations into the sham. If this doesn’t scream his direct involvement in the coup against Trump, what does?
Here’s what Trump spokeswoman Liz Harrington had to share about “irate” Bill Barr and his urgent push to halt any probes
President Joe Biden’s new EV mandates will likely prove to be a sizable wealth transfer from rural red regions of America to urban blue sections, and to wealthy Democrats who reside in them, according to reports.
On March 20, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) finalized its tailpipe emissions rules for the auto industry starting in 2027.
These rules are the strictest in history and will effectively force carmakers to have one-third of new car sales be plug-in electric vehicles (EVs) by 2027 and more than two-thirds by 2032.
This represents a dramatic increase from current EV sales, which were about 8 percent of the new car market in 2023.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has released previously hidden reports of facial paralysis and other adverse events following COVID-19 vaccination.
The 780,000 reports were received shortly after the COVID-19 vaccines were rolled out and show that people experienced a wide range of post-vaccination problems, including heart inflammation, miscarriages, and seizures.
“Loss of consciousness and seizure immediately following injection. Went to ER by ambulance,” one person reported.
Another stated, “Diagnosed with Bells Palsy today due to left-sided facial numbness and paralysis.”
Pennsylvania rules that require mail-in ballots to be dated are legal, a federal appeals court has ruled.
A state law that says voters must fill out, date, and sign envelopes containing the ballots is not prevented by the Civil Rights Act of 1964, a majority said in the March 27 ruling.
The act bans denying “the right of any individual to vote in any election because of an error or omission on any record or paper relating to any application, registration or other act requisite to voting.”
Calls for impeachment and a misconduct warning emerged late on March 28, after a sitting federal judge criticized former President Donald Trump, who is running for president, during a cable news appearance.
U.S. District Judge for the District of Columbia Reggie Walton appeared on CNN and criticized President Trump after the former president targeted another judge and that judge’s daughter.
New York State Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan “is suffering from an acute case of Trump Derangement Syndrome,” President Trump said this week.
A judge in Texas struck down a Biden administration rule on March 28 that required states to measure and report the greenhouse gas emissions from any vehicles using the national highway system.
The rule was issued by the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT)’s Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) in 2023 as part of President Biden’s efforts to slash carbon emissions in half by 2030.
Specifically, it required state transportation departments and metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs) to both measure their transportation-related emissions on the U.S. highway system and set their own emission reduction targets.
A Jan. 6 defendant seeking to be released from prison was granted in part by the United States District Court for the District of Columbia this week.
The order, signed by U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden on March 26, will grant (pdf) the release of Kevin Seefried, a defendant convicted for his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol breach, pending the appeal of his conviction.
This decision comes despite stark warnings from the Justice Department regarding the implications of such a move.
The New York “hush money” lawfare case against President Trump was always the most ridiculous. The Supreme Court previously ruled in the Bob McDonnell (VA Gov) case, that politicians can use campaign payments to assist their personal position and not report them.
(snip)Michael Cohen previously gave a written statement to the FEC that candidate Trump knew nothing of the payment he made to Stormy Daniels. [LINK] Again, everyone forgets that key detail. And according to the latest reporting, Cohen might have set the entire thing up as an extortion effort against Trump. Regardless, you enter the NYC ‘Stop Trump’ judicial system and Lawfare finds a home
In an apparent move to stir up greater support from the hardline leftists in the progressive movement, RFK Jr has announced 38-year-old Nicole Shanahan as his Vice-Presidential running mate.
The move appears to be an effort to appeal to the Bernie Sanders, ecology-centric, radical leftist, earth-saving environmentalist wing of the Democrat base voter. Positioning the ticket to carve out a younger voting bloc and stir interest amid the Sanders/AOC crowd.
Shanahan had previously donated $4 million to the SuperPAC supporting Robert Kennedy Jr and given thousands of dollars to the Soros funded progressives in politics
Most Active Articles (last 48 hours)
New York Times Reporter Maggie Haberman:
Donald Trump ‘Appears to Doze Off’
During New York Trial 25 replies
Donald Trump ‘Appears to Doze Off’
During New York Trial 25 replies
New York Times (NYT) reporter Maggie Haberman claimed that former President Donald Trump appeared to “doze off” during the start of his hush money criminal trial in Manhattan.
In an article that Haberman wrote in the NYT, Trump was described as being “alternately irritated and exhausted” as jury selection for the trial, which centers around alleged hush-money payments the former president made to adult entertainment star Stormy Daniels during the 2016 presidential election, began. Haberman wrote:
Even as a judge was hearing arguments on last-minute issues in a criminal case that centers on salacious allegations and threatens to upend his bid for the presidency, Mr. Trump appeared to
The first quarter of 2024 has seen the number of measles cases recorded in the U.S. stand significantly higher than in recent years, a report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) details.
Americans have reported a total of 338 cases since January 1, 2020—and 97 cases, or 29 percent of the total, came between the start of 2024 and March 28, per the report. And as of April 11, the number of cases in 2024 had risen to 121.
“What was surprising about 2024 is that we’ve seen a significant increase,” John Brownstein, an epidemiologist at Boston Children’s Hospital, told ABC News’ Mary Kekatos.
Report: NPR Punishes Senior Editor Who
Blasted Network’s Leftist Mindset and
‘Angered’ Colleagues 18 replies
Blasted Network’s Leftist Mindset and
‘Angered’ Colleagues 18 replies
59
NPR senior Editor Uri Berliner is reportedly facing consequences after publicly criticizing the outlet’s progressive leanings.
According to a Tuesday article by NPR’s David Folkenflik, Berliner has been suspended for five days without pay, a term that began on Friday after he penned an essay for the Free Press. “It angered many of his colleagues, led NPR leaders to announce monthly internal reviews of the network’s coverage, and gave fresh ammunition to conservative and partisan Republican critics of NPR, including former President Donald Trump,” Folkenflik wrote.
Vandals keyed the cars of at least 10 members of the state Republican Party while the group held its biennial convention inside Concord High School on Saturday. “There’s already too much vitriol in partisan politics,” Party Chair Chris Ager said. Ager said he had heard of as many as two dozen attendees, all parked together, who said they had found key scratches on their cars. “Any acts of violence, or vandalism or vitriol on either side, I don’t think, helps the people of New Hampshire.”
Caitlin Clark admitted she was a bit nervous before being chosen with the No. 1 pick in the WNBA draft by the Indiana Fever, even though it was no surprise.
"I dreamed of this moment since I was in second grade, and it's taken a lot of hard work, a lot of ups and downs, but more than anything, just trying to soak it in," Clark said
Take a dip in the murky waters of recent Trump Apocalypse journalism—it says there’s gonna be a civil war and dictatorship. But don’t worry, not really—it’s just the politics of fear.
In a scary article subtitled “Donald Trump is warning that 2024 could be America’s last election,” New Republic alerts us that, if Trump wins, America is pretty much done being a democracy. “If we don’t win on November 5, I think our country is going to cease to exist. It could be the last election we ever have. I actually mean that,” Trump said out loud at a recent rally, so it couldn’t possibly be hyperbole
"Rust" armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed sentenced
to 18 months in prison over deadly 2021 shooting 11 replies
to 18 months in prison over deadly 2021 shooting 11 replies
The "Rust" armorer who last month was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter in the deadly shooting of Halyna Hutchins, the film's cinematographer, was sentenced in a New Mexico state court today to 18 months' imprisonment. Hannah Gutierrez-Reed received the maximum penalty for her part in the 2021 tragedy that several experts have since characterized as a preventable incident, where actor Alec Baldwin discharged live rounds from a prop gun on the movie set during a rehearsal.
As was widely expected, the Indiana Fever selected Iowa standout Caitlin Clark with the No. 1 overall pick in Monday’s WNBA Draft.
Soon after Clark walked across the draft stage in Brooklyn, New York, basketball fans took to social media to discuss what her first professional contract might looks like.
According to Spotrac, a media outlet that specifically focuses on pro sports contracts, Clark’s first WNBA deal could be worth up to $338,056 over the course of four years.
House Republicans delivered articles of impeachment against Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to the Senate on Tuesday, setting up a trial over the cabinet secretary’s complicity in the record surge in illegal immigration that emerged under President Biden.
A group of GOP impeachment managers walked over to the Senate Tuesday afternoon to officially deliver the articles and initiate an impeachment trial as Democrats seek to expedite the process or dismiss the charges altogether. Senators will be sworn-in as jurors on Wednesday to begin trial proceedings.
They're said to be low in fat, good for cholesterol and an overall healthier choice than the real deal.
But a new trial suggests that plant-based fake meat products are not in fact a nutritious choice - and could increase the risk of heart disease.
The study, published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, found that people who ate a diet high in fake meats like Beyond burgers and Impossible burgers for eight weeks had higher blood sugars than those who ate real meat.
This puts them at higher risk for developing heart disease and diabetes down the line, the authors wrote.
Iran's unprecedented missile and drone strike on Israel is unlikely to prompt dramatic sanctions action on Iran's oil exports from the Biden administration due to worries about boosting oil prices and angering top buyer China, said analysts.
Shortly after Tehran launched its weekend attack - retaliation for Israel's suspected April 1 strike on the Iranian consulate in Damascus - House Republican leaders accused President Joe Biden of failing to enforce existing measures and said they would take up this week a series of bills to sharpen sanctions on Iran.
MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough had a tough morning. Iran launched an unprecedented attack on Israel from its soil over the weekend, hurling drones and ballistic missiles at the Jewish state, humiliating Biden, who warned Tehran with a simple word: “Don’t.” He then proceeded to go on vacation, knowing that our only democratic ally in the Middle East was about to be attacked. The inflation numbers remain high; this entire presidency has been shipwrecked by incompetence, arrogance, and, yes, Joe’s decrepit state.
Comments:
Did Speaker Johnson fall orey to the IC's mendacity?