Congress passes FISA

If I'm not doing anything illegal I have nothing to fear...right?

link to ACLU press release

(quoted below)

“With one vote, Congress has strengthened the executive branch, weakened the judiciary and rendered itself irrelevant,” said Caroline Fredrickson, Director of the ACLU Washington Legislative Office. “This bill – soon to be law – is a constitutional nightmare. Americans should know that if this legislation is enacted and upheld, what they say on international phone calls or emails is no longer private. The government can listen in without having a specific reason to do so. Our rights as Americans have been curtailed and our privacy can no longer be assumed.”

The C.I.A.'s Black Sites

The C.I.A.'s Black Sites.

“When you cross over that line of darkness, it’s hard to come back. You lose your soul. You can do your best to justify it, but it’s well outside the norm. You can’t go to that dark a place without it changing you.” He said of his friend, “He’s a good guy. It really haunts him. You are inflicting something really evil and horrible on somebody.”

Nietzsche was right in that regard.

Nation's Soul Is at Stake

"The plaintiffs in the Al-Haramain case include a charity that claims the government illegally wiretapped calls between itself and its lawyers. During the litigation, the government turned over a document that proved, the plaintiffs say, that the charity was indeed surveilled without a warrant. The government claimed the document was classified top secret and asked the plaintiffs to return it. However, the lawyers still remember what the document said. Now the government wants to prevent the lawyers from using their own memories to prove that the charity was indeed monitored and therefore has the right to sue.

The trial court in Oregon ruled in favor of the plaintiff (.pdf), leading the government to appeal. On appeal, Al-Haramain's attorney Jon B. Eisenberg was required to write his appellate brief at government offices and was not permitted to retain a copy of his own document, nor will he be allowed to see the government's reply to his arguments."

Guy gets harassed by FBI for reading while bearded.