Free Republic

Earlier this week, the federal government announced that the Air Force might be dispatching drones to a backyard near you. The stated purpose of these spies in the sky is to assist local police to find missing persons or kidnap victims, or to chase bad guys. If the drone operator sees you doing anything of interest (Is your fertilizer for the roses or to fuel a bomb? Is that Sudafed for your cold or your meth habit? Are you smoking in front of your kids?), the feds say they may take a picture of you and keep it. The...

Noam Chomsky, Daniel Ellsberg and Icelandic parliament member Birgitta Jonsdottir are among the seven witnesses expected to testify in a New York federal court on Thursday in support of a class action lawsuit against the United States government over controversial provisions in the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), a military spending bill they claim threatens American's civil liberties and basic human rights.

Darkness was falling on Dec. 15 as the U.S. Congress passed the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) of 2012. It is ironic that at a time when the country should have been celebrating the 220th anniversary of the ratification of the first 10 amendments to the U.S. Constitution on Dec. 15, 1791, more commonly known as the Bill of Rights, our elected representatives were completing legislation that essentially eviscerates the liberties that the Bill of Rights secured for every U.S. citizen. To truly comprehend the travesty of this new legislation, one only needs to review these constitutional rights for himself...

I thought this would be interesting to share with all fans and supporters of Rubio here and all those who think only leftist Democrats and leftists disguised as Republicans supported this bill. Thought it would be interesting to see a Conservative perspective of support for the bill, admist all the claims that this was something done by Obama to start to create a Communist regime. This has been posted in replies to other posts before but I thought it was deserving of its own thread, so here it is.

Barack Obama has abandoned a commitment to veto a new security law that allows the military to indefinitely detain without trial American terrorism suspects arrested on US soil who could then be shipped to Guantánamo Bay. Human rights groups accused the president of deserting his principles and disregarding the long-established principle that the military is not used in domestic policing. The legislation has also been strongly criticised by libertarians on the right angered at the stripping of individual rights for the duration of "a war that appears to have no end". The law, contained in the defence authorisation bill that...

What if our rights didn't come from God or from our humanity, but from the government? What if the government really thinks we're not unique individuals with immortal souls, but just public property? What if we were only entitled to our natural rights if it pleased the government? What if our rights could be stripped away whenever the government considers us to be its enemy? What if this could all be accomplished with the consent of the people? What if the people's own representatives subverted the Constitution? What if the people were so afraid that they accepted the subversion? What...

Presidential hopeful Ron Paul says his rivals’ militant stances on “the defense of liberty” would make it difficult for him to support any of them for president should he not get the Republican nomination, because their positions would lead to bigger government. But the Texas congressman also told Fox News’ Neal Cavuto Wednesday that despite these concerns, he probably would not run as a third-party candidate. “I would have trouble with what I heard last night because it is almost opposite of the defense of liberty that I’m talking about,” Paul told Cavuto, referring to Tuesday night’s presidential debate. “I...

There are lots of reasons. But here’s one. Ron Paul isn’t serious about the most basic requisite of a national government, which is defense. Paul’s position just isn’t one reflective of serious leadership. The idea that the federal government doesn’t have an obligation to PREVENT a Timothy McVeigh or a Mohammed Atta or a Major Hasan from doing evil to innocent Americans is one which can’t be found in the head of anybody who understands what it means to be president.

The Republican candidates for president outlined their visions for fighting terrorism and keeping the country safe during a CNN debate Tuesday held just down the street from the White House they hope to occupy. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, the latest GOP frontrunner in this volatile primary season, sparred with libertarian-leaning Texas Rep. Ron Paul over the Patriot Act as the debate opened, with Gingrich calling for an even more robust version of the law. "I would look at strengthening it because the dangers that are posed are so great," Gingrich said. Paul, who has been sharply critical of the...

To Jennifer Workman, God Himself commands her to protect her 8 year-old daughter Madison. “I am a steward of the Lord for this child, “she said as she walked outside her single level home in Lenore West Virginia on Monday. “And I am not going to let anyone tell me what's best for my child.” In 1999, Madison’s older sister developed autism just months after receiving her state-required immunizations for measles, mumps and rubella. “Right after she received her childhood vaccines…her verbal...her potty training…everything had stopped,” she said. And so two years ago when it came time for Madison to...

A dear friend of mine described the horrific scene at her daughter’s home when a SWAT team emerged – based on a false report. A portion of the story is documented here: "On Tuesday, June 7, 2011, a West Virginia family sat in their living room watching “Deadliest Catch” when a very loud thump was heard at their front door. The children, as previously trained by their parents, immediately fled to their designated safe spot. The young children knew something was very wrong when they heard a sound like that at their front door at that time of night. When...

With the death of Osama, it is time for America to declare victory on the War on Terrorism. The main aim of the war on terrorism was to destroy Al Qaeda and kill Osama, just as World War Two aimed to destroy the Nazis and kill Hitler. Of course, mopping up operations should be carried out, to capture and kill remnants of Al Qaeda. But we do not want to see another endless war, similar to the so-called war on drugs, which will never come to an end. The war on terrorism was used as an excuse to take away...

Irony is defined as "the use of words to convey a meaning that is the opposite of its literal meaning." The term doublespeak means "evasive, ambiguous language that is intended to deceive or confuse." There is perhaps no greater example of ironic doublespeak than inclusion of the phrase "civil liberties" within the inapt designation: "American Civil Liberties Union." Indeed, few leftist organizations in existence today can compete with the ACLU in terms of demonstrated hostility toward what the Declaration of Independence describes as "certain unalienable rights" with which Americans are "endowed by their Creator." Consider the doublespeak inherent throughout the...

On Feb. 18, a federal judge in South Carolina on Thursday dismissed a lawsuit brought by an American citizen who said he was illegally detained and tortured in a military jail after being convicted of terrorism conspiracy.

Just before Christmas, the American Civil Liberties Union launched another salvo against people of faith. On Dec. 22, the ACLU sent a letter to federal health officials urging the government to force US Catholic hospitals to perform abortions in violation of their core moral commitment to protecting the unborn. They're counting on sympathetic Obama rationing czar Donald Berwick to dictate which religious principles hospital operators can and can't follow. The ACLU reiterated its call for a federal probe of Catholic hospitals nationwide that refuse to provide "emergency" contraception and abortions to women. The Catholic Church makes clear that it is...

Just recently, I had a couple of astonishing conversations with random strangers. And in Berkeley, no less. The first one was with the manager of a women's clothing shop, where I was doing some "retail therapy." Somehow we started talking about a possible new Berkeley tax. Then she uttered the following: "They're all trying to kill us. They want as few human beings as possible." Now, I want you to imagine the otherworldliness of this moment -- of someone, anyone in Berkeley saying such a thing. Of course, when Bush was in office, the hatred was omnipresent and palpable. But...

Stepped-up security screening at airports in the wake of foiled terrorism plots has provoked an outcry from airline pilots and travelers, including parents of children who say they are too intrusive. Are you less likely to fly because of stepped-up security procedures such as full-body scans and patdowns? Yes - I will make alternate travel plans to avoid intrusive security scans and patdowns No - It is a necessary procedure to ensure terror plots are thwarted Undecided

A growing pilot and passenger revolt over full-body scans and what many consider intrusive pat-downs couldn't have come at a worse time for the nation's air travel system. Thanksgiving, the busiest travel time of the year, is less than two weeks away. Grassroots groups are urging travelers to either not fly or to protest by opting out of the full-body scanners and undergo time-consuming pat-downs instead. Such concerns prompted a meeting Friday of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano with leaders of travel industry groups.

Police will soon be allowed to return to the days when they could stop and search people on the basis of their ethnic background. Last night the news threatened to ignite a huge row between the Government and civil liberties groups. So-called ‘Sus laws’ were scrapped in the 1980s after the alleged targeting of black people by police led to race riots in London, Birmingham and Liverpool.

This is pretty scary stuff. The Federal government is ready to seize control of private company networks in order to "protect" us in the event of a hacker attack.

NEW YORK — New York officials say they could stop attacks like the attempted Times Square car bomb by expanding a controversial surveillance system so sensitive that it will pick up even suspicious behavior.

Senate bill 510, the Food Safety Modernization Act of 2010, may be the most dangerous bill in the history of the US. It is to our food what the bailout was to our economy, only we can live without money. “If accepted [S 510] would preclude the public’s right to grow, own, trade, transport, share, feed and eat each and every food that nature makes. It will become the most offensive authority against the cultivation, trade and consumption of food and agricultural products of one’s choice. It will be unconstitutional and contrary to natural law or, if you like, the...

This is what ordering a pizza could be like in just a few years. Scary!

Last May at the National Archives, President Barack Obama warned that “more mistakes would occur” if Congress continued to politicize terrorist detention policy and the closure of Guantanamo Bay. “[I]f we refuse to deal with those issues today,” he predicted, “then I guarantee you, they will be an albatross around our efforts to combat terrorism in the future.” On June 17, at the Administrative Maximum (ADX) penitentiary in Florence, Colo., one of those albatrosses, inmate number 24079-038, began his day with a whole new range of possibilities.(snip) Reid was arrested in 2001 for attempting to blow up American Airlines Flight...

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) -- In its search for fugitives, the FBI has begun using facial-recognition technology on millions of motorists, comparing driver's license photos with pictures of convicts in a high-tech analysis of chin widths and nose sizes. The project in North Carolina has already helped nab at least one suspect. Agents are eager to look for more criminals and possibly to expand the effort nationwide. But privacy advocates worry that the method allows authorities to track people who have done nothing wrong. "Everybody's participating, essentially, in a virtual lineup by getting a driver's license," said Christopher Calabrese, an attorney...

An abortion opponent is brutally murdered, the offices of a group helping to organize the "tea parties" receives a bomb threat, Republican voters are threatened by members of a hate group during a presidential election, opponents to socialized medicine are assaulted at town hall meetings, pro-military demonstrators and troops returning home from Iraq are assaulted by "peace protesters." So what is the reaction by the mainstream media, by the civil rights enforcers and "civil liberties" groups? It ranges from muted to absolute silence! Oh sure, there are the obligatory ...

In recent surveys on economic and personal freedom, conservative states such as Texas, Kansas and so on have scored high marks while liberal states such as California, Connecticut, Massachusetts and New York has scored low. New Hampshire scored big on both economic and personal liberty proving once again the power of private sector and low taxes against socialist oppression. California, that socialist paradise that liberals love ranked rock bottom on nearly all the surveys. Where does Maine stand? Not surprisingly Maine scored very low on economic liberty. Maine as you all remember is the worst state to set up a...

What a difference an election makes, huh? Remember when hoards of angry crowds protesting the election of George W. Bush and later the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq was patriotic? In fact, crowds yelling and carrying signs that were, let’s say, “not complimentary” of the president and his so-called cabal of imperialists, terrorists, and oil criminals was said to be the highest form of patriotism. Extra patriotism points were given to the Michael Moores and Al Gores for doing it overseas. But now, with Democrats in power in Washington, angry protesters protesting ObamaCare—the largest and most unconstitutional governmental power grab...

A proposal to loosen restrictions on the use of tracking cookies by federal government websites should be carefully scrutinized so they don't jeopardize the privacy of people who visit them, groups advocating civil liberties warned Monday. The American Civil Liberties Union said the proposal, floated July 24 by the White House OMB, or Office of Management and Budget, was a "sea change" that could erode protections that for the past nine years have safeguarded the personal information of millions of people who visit federal websites. "Without explaining this reversal of policy, the OMB is seeking to allow the mass collection...

ACLU pushes prison to stop cutting out Bible passages included in letters from the outside.

It didn't take long for liberals to politicize the recent murders of an abortion doctor and a Holocaust Museum guard. The day after the museum shooting, Markos Moulitsas of "Daily Kos" fame praised April's controversial Department of Homeland Security report on "Rightwing Extremism" (the one that urged law enforcement to watch out for potential terrorists lurking among pro-lifers and federalism enthusiasts). In Sunday's New York Times, Frank Rich deemed the DHS report "prescient," and warned that "homicide-saturated vituperation" from conservative talk radio might lead to more violence. The liberal overreaction to the crimes of two despicable "lone nuts" demonstrates that...

Law enforcement officials are vastly expanding their collection of DNA to include millions more people who have been arrested or detained but not yet convicted. The move, intended to help solve more crimes, is raising concerns about the privacy of petty offenders and people who are presumed innocent. Until now, the federal government genetically tracked only convicts. But starting this month, the Federal Bureau of Investigation will join 15 states that collect DNA samples from those awaiting trial and will collect DNA from detained immigrants — the vanguard of a growing class of genetic registrants. The F.B.I., with a DNA...

"Rule one: Never allow a crisis to go to waste. They are opportunities to do big things." - Rahm Emmanuel In our recent election, many Americans voted for a Savior, not a president. Americans were enamored with the idea of making history in this election, and in that sense we have gotten what we wanted. Unfortunately, Barack Obama is the wrong man, and this is definitely the wrong time. In fact, the timing couldn't be worse. We have in recent years vastly expanded the powers and autonomy of the Executive Branch, removing checks and balances along the way. Owing in...

At several points in the last few years, as I gamely tried to convince conservatives that they should be concerned about the scale and scope of the Bush-Cheney surveillance state, the torture program, the claimed presidential right to seize, detain and torture anyone deemed an "enemy combatant", the avoidance of the FISA law, the suspension of habeas corpus, I was ridiculed as an hysteric. When forced to defend basic civil liberties against a presidency claiming unprecedented war powers within the boundaries of the US and potentially against American citizens, I found only one argument got through. What if Hillary Clinton...

IN another outreach to rogu ish regimes, the Obama ad ministration on Monday an nounced the easing of some restrictions on Cuba. Team Bam hopes that a new face in the White House will heal old wounds. Fat chance. Sure, it's fine to allow separated families to see each other more than once every three years -- even though Cubanos aren't allowed to visit America. And permitting gifts to Cuban relatives could ease unnecessary poverty -- even though the regime will siphon off an estimated 20 percent of the money sent there. In the end, though, it's still Fidel Castro...

"Nobody's being forced into these assistance programs," said Craig Blair, a Republican in the West Virginia Legislature who has created a Web site — notwithmytaxdollars.com — that bears a bobble-headed likeness of himself advocating this position. "If so many jobs require random drug tests these days, why not these benefits?"

Think tanks have long ranked not just countries, but U.S. states, according to their economic freedom, and Reporters Without Borders grades nations on their respect for press freedom. Until recently, though, nobody has really tried to assess the attitude toward personal freedom prevailing at the state level, or to really get a handle on the best place to live in the United States for people who want the government to just leave them alone. A new report from George Mason University's Mercatus Center takes on that job, finishing the work started last summer by Reason magazine. In Freedom in the...

MILWAUKEE (WKOW) - The ACLU of Wisconsin is defending a Beaver Dam teacher who was put on administrative leave after she posted a questionable photo on her Facebook page.From the ACLU of Wisconsin:ACLU of Wisconsin: School should allow teacher to pose with rifle on FacebookA Beaver Dam Middle School teacher, Betsy Ramsdale, should not have been put on administrative leave simply because of a photo on Facebook showing her training a rifle at the camera. While school safety is of paramount importance, public school teachers do not lose their right to free expression when they are not working. The context...

Loyal to Liberty THOUGHTLET What signals the difference between a "socialist" and a "communist"? It's the gradual repression of political and civil liberty culminating in the open prosecution and suppression of dissident views. But this suppression cannot come about until a monopoly has been established over access to the seats of government executive and decision making power. The key manifestation of this monopoly is of course some form of party dictatorship. Aside from all the evidence in his known background, associates, policy preferences and political actions one of the main reasons I make bold to call Obama a communist is...

by Gina L. DiorioHow would you like to know you could be carted off to a military installation at the whim of the Secretary of Homeland Security? If that sounds ominous, it should.But that’s what could happen under a bill proposed last month by Congressman Alcee Hastings (D-FL).The National Emergency Centers Establishment Act (HR 645) requires the Secretary of Homeland Security to “establish not fewer than 6 national emergency centers on military installations.� And according to the bill text, the four-fold purpose of the centers will be: To provide temporary housing, medical, and humanitarian assistance to individuals and families dislocated due...

Mohamed Shommo, an engineer for Cisco Systems Inc., travels overseas several times a year for work, so he is accustomed to opening his bags for border inspections upon returning to the U.S. But in recent years, these inspections have gone much deeper than his luggage. Border agents have scrutinized family pictures on Shommo's digital camera, examined Koranic verses and other audio files on his iPod and even looked up Google keyword searches he had typed into his company laptop. "They literally searched everywhere and every device they could," said Shommo, who now minimizes what he takes on international trips and...

KopBusters rented a house in Odessa, Texas and began growing two small Christmas trees under a grow light similar to those used for growing marijuana. When faced with a suspected marijuana grow, the police usually use illegal FLIR cameras and/or lie on the search warrant affidavit claiming they have probable cause to raid the house. Instead of conducting a proper investigation which usually leads to no probable cause, the Kops lie on the affidavit claiming a confidential informant saw the plants and/or the police could smell marijuana coming from the suspected house. The trap was set and less than 24...

BANGOR, Maine — The Maine Humanities Council will present a two-part series, “Fear, Civil Liberties and the Rule of Law” this fall at the Bangor Public Library.

The FBI Story by: Daniel Smith, July 31, 2008 …Waco…Ruby Ridge…Elian Gonzalez…Yearning For Zion Ranch…These words do not just compose a list of proper nouns. They are recent typifications of a problem as old as the United States, and, perhaps, as old as humanity itself. After all, our Founding Fathers’ chief concern was the limitation of governmental powers; the story of Eden pictures creatures refusing the mandate of their Creator. In both cases, personal liberty waged a war against law, and vice versa. Reconciliation between liberty and law is not yet realized—a point the Cato Institute brought to the forefront...

The protests of civil liberties organizations about the Patriot Act, interrogation techniques, warrantless wiretaps, and other measures the government has used to prevent terrorist attacks, have been more of a philistine bray then a well-considered criticism. Civil liberties groups, both liberal and conservative, have invoked the specter of a police state. For example http://www.thebulletin.us/site/index.cfm?newsid=19866825&BRD=2737&PAG=461&dept_id=576361&rfi=8

Kathleen Seidel is a New Hampshire mother of two. She runs a blog, Neurodiversity.com, about autism--a topic of special interest to her as one of her children had an "autistic spectrum diagnosis." There is a theory that thimerosal, a preservative formerly used in vaccines, causes autism. Seidel has written skeptically of that theory, and of the trial lawyers who have sought to cash in on it. Last month one of those lawyers, Clifford Shoemaker, had Seidel served with a subpoena demanding that she report for a deposition and produce a voluminous collection of documents, described in her motion to quash...

The U.S. Postal Service is known for saying "neither rain, nor sleet, nor gloom of night" will slow its service. But what about a federal investigation? Long before it ever reaches a mailbox, the information on packages and envelopes can be recorded. The service has approved 10,000 requests from law enforcement agencies to document information on the outside of letters and parcels as part of criminal investigations. Civil liberties activist Randall Kallinen says the information-gathering is being conducted without warrants. "What we're talking about here is wholesale envelopes, thousands and thousands of requests with no judicial review," Kallinen said. He...

A bill that could make it illegal to glance at a naked neighbor is moving forward in the City Council, despite objections from the New York Civil Liberties Union and some council members, who say it is overly broad and could criminalize innocent behavior. Council Member Peter Vallone Jr. said he introduced the bill to fight back against perverts, such as people who stand at the bottom of a flight of stairs and look up women's skirts. Mr. Vallone said he has met with Speaker Christine Quinn about the legislation and said that although she told him she has reservations...

Lately, a whole lot of people around here seem to be exercised over the issue of whether the Constitution applies to "citizens only," or to the more generic category, "people." Must have been something President Bush or Attorney General Ashcroft said…. Well, I offered the result of my humble attempt at rational analysis, with the amusing result (hey, even I find it funny) of being screamed at and chastised, in 36-point type, for my dim-witted ignorance; and was in so many words accused of being a dunderhead, a horse's patoot, a "dunce." (Hey, maybe it's all true. :^) ) But ...

Automated photo enforcement is a growing cancer that is underminding the very fabric of our civil liberties. A number of foreign or multi-national companies have already established or are in the process of establishing U.S. operations in anticipation of an explosive new growth market—U.S taxpayers. These companies—usually from countries that do not share our history of civil liberties—the professional lobbyists who sell them, the legislators who allow them and the progressive judges who re-affirm their legality are all contributing to the erosion of the very principles on which our country was founded. It's time to tell our representatives that enough...