Ron Paul Introduces Legislation To Strike NDAA’s Unconstitutional Section 1021
Kurt Nimmo writing at Infowars.com:
Rep. Ron Paul left the campaign trail on Wednesday to speak on the House floor about the National Defense Authorization Act, which was signed into law on the first day of the new year by Obama.
Paul introduced legislation to strike the NDAA’s Section 1021, the discretionary detention provision authorizing the President to detain persons accused by the government of supporting terrorism…
Missing Wikipedia? Here’s How You Can Access It
As most Internet users already know, leading Internet companies like Google, Wikipedia, and Craigslist are protesting the SOPA legislation very publicly today, with Wikipedia totally blacked out. But, if you really, really need to access Wikipedia today, they have kindly explained how to come in through the back door:
Is it still possible to access Wikipedia in any way?
Yes. During the blackout, Wikipedia is accessible on mobile devices and smart phones. You can also view Wikipedia normally by disabling JavaScript in your browser, as explained on this Technical FAQ page. Our purpose here isn’t to make it completely impossible for people to read Wikipedia, and it’s okay for you to circumvent the blackout. We just want to make sure you see our message.
Rupert Murdoch’s Late Night SOPA Tweets
Oh dear Rupert, is this how you spend Saturday night these days?
Well now we know where he stands on SOPA, and what a great relationship he has with Google and other leading Internet companies…
40,000 New Laws For New Year Across United States
The libertarians are really onto something … From MSNBC:
About 40,000 state laws taking effect at the start of the new year will change rules about getting abortions in New Hampshire, learning about gays and lesbians in California, getting jobs in Alabama and even driving golf carts in Georgia.
Several federal rules change with the new year, too, including a Social Security increase amounting to $450 a year for the average recipients and stiff fines up to $2,700 per offense for truckers and bus drivers caught using hand-held cellphones while driving.
NBC News, the National Conference of State Legislatures, The Associated Press, and other organizations tracked the changes…
Who Is The Protect IP Act Really Protecting?
The Preventing Real Online Threats of Economic Creativity and Theft of Intellectual Property Act, or PROTECT IP Act, is supposedly targeted at so-called ”rogue websites” that trade in infringing goods. Abigail Phillips gives some much-needed context to the controversial legislation for the Electronic Frontier Foundation:
Last year’s rogue website legislation is back on the table, with a new name: the “Preventing Real Online Threats to Economic Creativity and Theft of Intellectual Property Act of 2011″—or (wink, wink) “PROTECT IP”. The draft language is available here.
The earlier bill, which failed to pass thanks largely to a hold on the legislation placed by Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon, would have given the government dramatic new copyright enforcement powers targeted at websites “dedicated to infringing activities,” even where those websites were not based in the United States. Despite some salient differences (described below) in the new version, we are no less dismayed by this most recent…
‘Do Not Track Me Online’ Privacy Bill Introduced
Photo: Nokia Releases (CC)
Tired of spam e-mails and unwanted pop-ups? This bill will create regulations as to how marketers obtain information about you without your knowledge. The bill still allows web users the option to be tracked by advertisers, just in case you enjoy having marketing companies target you. Los Angeles Times reports:
The first “do not track” legislation was introduced in Congress on Friday, raising the possibility that Web users will be able to prevent advertisers from recording their online behavior for marketing purposes, similar to the Do Not Call Registry created in 2003.
The bill, called the “Do Not Track Me Online Act of 2011,” would give the Federal Trade Commission the right to create regulations that would force online marketers to respect the wishes of users who did not want to be tracked.
“Failure to do so would be considered an unfair or deceptive act punishable by law,” noted a statement from the…
Senator Schumer Tries To Ban Snorting Bath Salts
An example of the type of bath salts that would be the subject of new federal law.
Chuck Schumer, the senior Senator from New York, is not happy about the creative use of bath salts (smoking or snorting them for a speedy high) and has plans to make them federal controlled substances. Report from Reuters:
Two drugs that produce a “meth-like” high and are being sold under the guise of “bath salts” would be banned as federally controlled substances under a bill unveiled by U.S. Senator Charles Schumer of New York.
“These so-called bath salts contain ingredients that are nothing more than legally sanctioned narcotics, and they are being sold cheaply to all comers, with no questions asked, at store counters around the country,” said Schumer, a Democrat.
Schumer said he will introduce a bill to outlaw the two synthetic drugs — mephedrone and methylenedioxypyrovalerone, or MDPV. The drugs come in powder and tablet…
9/11 Health Bill May Pass After All
It looks like New York’s Democrat Senators have finally convinced enough of their Republican companions in the Senate to vote for the 9/11 health legislation sorely needed for sick first responders (but not without knocking $1.2 billion off the price). From New York Magazine’s Daily Intel:
Don’t look now, but the Democrats are starting to rack up a pretty sizable number of successes in what was at one time expected to be a quiet and largely uneventful lame-duck session. There was the tax-cut deal, which included an extension of unemployment benefits, then the repeal of “don’t ask, don’t tell,” and soon, it appears, even the long-stalled James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act. And yes, it is strange that guaranteeing medical assistance for first responders sickened by the toxic dust of the destroyed World Trade Center is a specifically Democratic issue.
Republicans have maintained that they don’t have anything against the heroes of…
The Eleven Pens Of Barack Obama: Signing Financial Reform Is Signing Up For A New Struggle To Make It Real
With eleven pens for souvenirs, President Obama signed the financial reform bill in a rare celebratory moment. Significantly, the ceremony did not take place in the Oval Office but up the block at the Ronald Reagan building perhaps to signal recalcitrant Republicans that this is a cause they should sign on to.
It wasn’t clear if he was aware that he was signing up for a new volatile phase of struggle to rein in out of control financial power.
The three GOP lawmakers who voted for the bill received a standing ovation from the largely democratic crowd that watched Obama embrace Paul Volcker, while Elizabeth Warren stood by applauding (before taking her picture with the former Fed head).
Warren’s presence didn’t make many news stories or the Times photo caption perhaps because many—mostly bankers and some Obama advisors—want her out of the picture permanently. They say Banks need protection too. Quips David Sirota,…
No “Kill Switch” in Lieberman-Collins Bill, But There’s Been One Since 1934
Via ReadWriteWeb:
It doesn’t sound like a “kill switch.” The bill would require the President to submit a report describing, among other things, “The actions necessary to preserve the reliable operation and mitigate the consequences of the potential disruption of covered critical infrastructure” (pg. 84 lines 1-4). That sounds like the opposite of a kill switch: this legislation describes a process by which the president is expected to take action to ensure access to “critical infrastructure” -including the Internet.
There’s plenty of room to debate the merits of the federal government dictating the security policies of private companies, the ability of the president to continually extend any provisions beyond 30 days, the value of establishing new cyber security departments within the government, and the vagueness of the language in the bill. But this is nothing nearly so radical as some are making it out to be.
In fact, as Senate Committee on Homeland…
Senator Orrin Hatch (R) Says, If You’re Out Of Work, You’re A Drug Addict
Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT)
What is it with morons from Utah getting all up in other people’s business? Here’s the latest stupidity to emanate from that part of the country, from Raw Story:
Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) offered an amendment Tuesday that would require drug tests for those who seek welfare and unemployment benefits. States have the authority to enact drug testing requirements for their welfare programs under the 1996 Welfare Reform Act, signed into law by President Bill Clinton, but they are not mandated to conduct tests under current law.”
Now it was lame enough that the moderate Republican (no, he WASN’T a Liberal), Bill Clinton, allowed this invasive nonsense to be pulled on welfare recipients (Why in hell aren’t we drug-testing bankers? You MUST be high to think some of the gambles those idiots took were a great idea.) just to placate the insane-o hard right Republicans. However this Orrin jerk…
Call To Act: Save And Strengthen Financial Reform
We have less than a month to go before the Congress votes on financial reform.
Ironically, the deadline seems to be July 4th, our independence day, an occasion that will likely usher in ever more dependence on Wall Street despite appearances.
The conference on the Hill formally begins this week after weeks of behind the scenes legislative “reconciliation”–a fancy name for horse-trading and compromising between the House and Senate over different versions of the “reforms” with thousands of lobbyists for the financial industry using every trick in their infinite playbooks of persuasion and pay-offs to assure that the final bill is loop-hole full, weak and easy to maneuver around.
Matt Taibbi reports real reform is a goner:
“The financial-services industry has reportedly flooded the Capitol with more than 2,000 paid lobbyists; even veteran members are stunned by the intensity of the blitz. “They’re trying everything,” says Sen. Sherrod Brown, a Democrat from Ohio. Wall…
Rep. Alan Grayson Introduces the War Is Making You Poor Act (Video)
Rep. Grayson introduces a bill to cut separate funding for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and uses the money to eliminate federal income taxes on every American’s first $35,000 of income. Cosponsors of this bill include Ron Paul, Walter Jones, John Conyers, Lynn Woolsey, and Dennis Kucinich.
American Town Bans Bottled Water
Photo: Ten Thousand Bullets (CC)
Is this the beginning of the end for plastic bottles of water? Is there hope that the Great Pacific (and Atlantic) Garbage Patch might stop growing? Here at disinformation we’re sensitized to the issues as we’ll soon be releasing the movie Tapped on DVD, but could this ban be going to far, too soon? Report from The Boston Channel:
The town of Concord has banned the sale of bottled drinking water in town beginning in 2011. “We only have one planet and I just don’t want to see it spoiled,” said Jean Hill, who introduced the measure at Concord’s Town Meeting.
Hill said that New York, Illinois and Virginia, as well as more than 100 cities, have taken action to cut spending on bottled water.
The measured passed by Concord would allow the sale of refillable containers of water, which could still be sold and delivered in town. Only plastic bottles that…
9/11 Truthers Could Be Locked Up For Life Under Proposed U.S. Law
A new bill quietly introduced by Congress last week is causing quite a stir among civil liberties groups. The brainchild of senators John McCain and Joe Lieberman, the bill would give the United States government the power to indefinitely detain terror suspects without charge or trial. It would also allow the government to interrogate them for the intelligence value and it doesn’t make a distinction between U.S. citizens and non-citizens.
Authority to Spy on Americans Unclear as Patriot Act Expires
Why aren’t we hearing more about this chance to rid ourselves of the most unconstitutional piece of legislation in recent memory, the PATRIOT Act? Elizabeth Gorman files this rare report for ABC News:
Rushed into law by Congress just weeks after Sept. 11, 2001 three controversial provisions of the Patriot Act granting officials far-reaching surveillance and seizure powers in the name of national security, are due to expire this New Year’s Eve.
Two differing bills passed by the House and Senate judiciary committees in recent weeks will have to be reconciled in Congress, but only when the Senate isn’t backlogged by health care, Democratic aides told ABC News.
“This critical legislation protects our national security, as well as our civil liberties, and the clock is ticking,” said Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner, R-Wisc., an author of President Bush’s 2001 Patriot Act and former chairman of the House Judiciary Committee under the Bush administration.
Sensenbrenner urged the House…
