South Carolina Democrats and Republicans push legislation to “nullify” NSA

At Not Just The News, the privacy of our visitors is of extreme importance to us (See this article to learn more about Privacy Policies.). This privacy policy document outlines the types of personal information is received and collected by Not Just The News and how it is used.

Log Files

Like many other Web sites, Not Just The News makes use of log files. The information inside the log files includes internet protocol (IP) addresses, type of browser, Internet Service Provider (ISP), date/time stamp, referring/exit pages, and number of clicks to analyze trends, administer the site, track user"s movement around the site, and gather demographic information. IP addresses, and other such information are not linked to any information that is personally identifiable.

Cookies and Web Beacons

Not Just The News does use cookies to store information about visitors preferences, record user-specific information on which pages the user access or visit, customize Web page content based on visitors browser type or other information that the visitor sends via their browser.

DoubleClick DART Cookie

• Google, as a third party vendor, uses cookies to serve ads on Not Just The News.


• Google"s use of the DART cookie enables it to serve ads to users based on their visit to Not Just The News and other sites on the Internet.


• Users may opt out of the use of the DART cookie by visiting the Google ad and content network privacy policy at the following URL - http://www.google.com/privacy_ads.html.

These third-party ad servers or ad networks use technology to the advertisements and links that appear on Not Just The News send directly to your browsers. They automatically receive your IP address when this occurs. Other technologies ( such as cookies, JavaScript, or Web Beacons ) may also be used by the third-party ad networks to measure the effectiveness of their advertisements and / or to personalize the advertising content that you see.

Not Just The News has no access to or control over these cookies that are used by third-party advertisers.

You should consult the respective privacy policies of these third-party ad servers for more detailed information on their practices as well as for instructions about how to opt-out of certain practices. Not Just The News"s privacy policy does not apply to, and we cannot control the activities of, such other advertisers or web sites.

If you wish to disable cookies, you may do so through your individual browser options. More detailed information about cookie management with specific web browsers can be found at the browser"s respective websites.

South Carolina Democrats and Republicans push legislation to “nullify” NSA

GCHQ"s cover for Optic Nerve provided by legislation introduced in 2000

GCHQ"s cover for Optic Nerve provided by legislation introduced in 2000
http://hits.theguardian.com/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.25.5/63769?ns=guardian&pageName=Article%3Agchq-insists-optic-nerve-program-legal-legislation-2000%3A2051552&ch=World+news&c3=Guardian&c4=NSA+files%2CUS+news%2CData+protection+%28Govt.%2Findustrial+use+of+data%29%2CNSA%2CWorld+news%2CGCHQ+%28News%29%2CCounter-terrorism+and+security+%28UK+news%29%2CUK+news%2CPrivacy+%28News%29%2CYahoo+%28Technology%29%2CInternet%2CTechnology%2CWeb+browsers+%28Technology%29%2CTelecoms+%28Technology%29&c5=Unclassified%2CNot+commercially+useful%2CTechnology+Gadgets%2CCorporate+IT%2CUSA+HSBC&c6=Nick+Hopkins&c7=2014%2F02%2F27+08%3A01&c8=2051552&c9=Article&c10=News&c13=&c19=GUK&c47=UK&c64=UK&c65=GCHQ%27s+cover+for+Optic+Nerve+provided+by+legislation+introduced+in+2000&c66=News&c67=nextgen-compatible&c72=&c73=&c74=&c75=&h2=GU%2FNews%2FWorld+news%2FThe+NSA+files

Section 8 of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act permits GCHQ to perform indiscriminate trawls of external data

Giving evidence to MPs before Christmas, Sir Iain Lobban, the director of GCHQ, used the analogy favoured by the security agencies to explain what they do. He likened the gathering of intelligence to building a haystack and said he was “very well aware that within that haystack there is going to be plenty of innocent communications from innocent people”.

The latest revelations from the Edward Snowden files show this haystack also includes webcam images of millions of internet users, some of whom are involved in deeply adult forms of in flagrante “communication”.

Surveillance of this kind puts a new spin on William Hague’s defence of GCHQ’s snooping programmes: “If you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to fear.”

In some ways, the Guardian story about GCHQ’s Optic Nerve operation brilliantly illustrates the tangle that ministers and the intelligence services have got themselves into. And it poses a big question mark over the repeated assertion that mass surveillance is proportionate and necessary.

The agencies do not regard the “unselected surveillance” as revealed by Optic Nerve as snooping. As Lobban said to MPs last November: “My people are motivated by saving the lives of British forces on the battlefield, they are motivated by fighting terrorists and serious criminals. If they were asked to snoop, I would not have the workforce. They would leave the building.”

Nick Pickles, the director of Big Brother Watch, takes a different view. “Secretly intercepting and taking photographs from millions of people’s webcam chats is as creepy as it gets.Orwell’s 1984 was supposed to be a warning, not an instruction manual.”

GCHQ insists the activity is legal. And doubtless it is, if you believe that the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act, which was passed in 2000, was drafted with this kind of surveillance in mind.

But even the parliamentary intelligence and security committee – not a body known for challenging the agencies with any robustness – is now questioning whether ministers and the agencies can really use Ripa for cover. The collection of webcam material was probably secured by getting an “external warrant” under paragraph four of section 8 of Ripa.

In most Ripa cases, a minister has to be told the name of an individual or firm being targeted before a warrant is granted. But section 8 permits GCHQ to perform more sweeping and indiscriminate trawls of external data if a minister issues a “certificate” along with the warrant. It allows ministers to sanction the collection, storage and analysis of vast amounts of material, using technologies that barely existed when Ripa was introduced.

• The NSA files


• United States


• Data protection


• NSA


• GCHQ


• UK security and counter-terrorism


• Privacy


• Yahoo


• Internet


• Web browsers


• Telecoms

Nick Hopkins

theguardian.com © 2014 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

Technology news, comment and analysis | theguardian.com


Read more about GCHQ"s cover for Optic Nerve provided by legislation introduced in 2000 and other interesting subjects concerning NSA at TheDailyNewsReport.com

Obama: ‘Whenever I can take steps without legislation,’ I will

Infowars.com
February 9, 2014

In his weekly address, Obama repeated previous comments about circumventing Congressional process.

“I want to work with Congress on this agenda where I can,” Mr. Obama said. “But in this year of action, whenever I can take steps without legislation to expand opportunity for more American families, I will.”

This article was posted: Sunday, February 9, 2014 at 6:37 am

Tags: constitution

---

---

  Print this page.

---

---

Infowars

Obama: ‘Whenever I can take steps without legislation,’ I will

Gun Legislation and Stuff

Gun Legislation and Stuff

South Carolina expects to pass model legislation to gut Obamacare, FreedomWorks asks other states to follow

At Not Just The News, the privacy of our visitors is of extreme importance to us (See this article to learn more about Privacy Policies.). This privacy policy document outlines the types of personal information is received and collected by Not Just The News and how it is used.

Log Files

Like many other Web sites, Not Just The News makes use of log files. The information inside the log files includes internet protocol (IP) addresses, type of browser, Internet Service Provider (ISP), date/time stamp, referring/exit pages, and number of clicks to analyze trends, administer the site, track user"s movement around the site, and gather demographic information. IP addresses, and other such information are not linked to any information that is personally identifiable.

Cookies and Web Beacons

Not Just The News does use cookies to store information about visitors preferences, record user-specific information on which pages the user access or visit, customize Web page content based on visitors browser type or other information that the visitor sends via their browser.

DoubleClick DART Cookie

• Google, as a third party vendor, uses cookies to serve ads on Not Just The News.


• Google"s use of the DART cookie enables it to serve ads to users based on their visit to Not Just The News and other sites on the Internet.


• Users may opt out of the use of the DART cookie by visiting the Google ad and content network privacy policy at the following URL - http://www.google.com/privacy_ads.html.

These third-party ad servers or ad networks use technology to the advertisements and links that appear on Not Just The News send directly to your browsers. They automatically receive your IP address when this occurs. Other technologies ( such as cookies, JavaScript, or Web Beacons ) may also be used by the third-party ad networks to measure the effectiveness of their advertisements and / or to personalize the advertising content that you see.

Not Just The News has no access to or control over these cookies that are used by third-party advertisers.

You should consult the respective privacy policies of these third-party ad servers for more detailed information on their practices as well as for instructions about how to opt-out of certain practices. Not Just The News"s privacy policy does not apply to, and we cannot control the activities of, such other advertisers or web sites.

If you wish to disable cookies, you may do so through your individual browser options. More detailed information about cookie management with specific web browsers can be found at the browser"s respective websites.

South Carolina expects to pass model legislation to gut Obamacare, FreedomWorks asks other states to follow

Gun Legislation and Stuff

Gun Legislation and Stuff

Carlos Maza: Fox News Falsely Claims Chris Christie Didn"t Veto Marriage Equality Legislation

Fox News attempted to  paint  Gov. Chris Christie as a moderate on social issues, falsely claiming that he had refused to veto legislation that would have legalized same-sex marriage in New Jersey.

On the November 10 edition of Fox News Sunday with Chris Wallace, Fox News reporter Carl Cameron discussed Gov. Christie’s political reputation among conservatives, citing his decision not to veto marriage equality legislation in 2013 as evidence that Christie might not appeal to social conservatives:

The reason Christie didn’t veto a marriage equality bill in 2013 is because he had already vetoed it in 2012 despite widespread public support for the measure. Christie cited his personal opposition to marriage equality and was widely criticized for the suggestion that the issue should be put up for a public vote.

State lawmakers struggled – and are still struggling - to gather enough votes to override that veto.

When a New Jersey lower court ruled on September 27 that the state must allow same-sex couples to marry, Christie’s administration appealed the decision and warned of “far-reaching implications” if same-sex marriages weren’t delayed until the appeals process was completed.

It wasn’t until New Jersey’s Supreme Court refused Christie’s request for a delay that he finally dropped his appeal effort, reiterating that he “strongly disagrees” with the court’s decision.

In October, Christie stated that he would continue to oppose marriage equality even if one of his children turned out to be gay. 

Gov. Christie may still have trouble courting social conservatives, but his unwillingness to stand in the way of marriage equality legislation won’t be the reason why. 

Media Matters for America

Carlos Maza: Fox News Falsely Claims Chris Christie Didn"t Veto Marriage Equality Legislation

Tech Giants Throw Weight Behind Legislation Which Would ACTUALLY Rein In NSA Spying

Washington’s Blog
November 1, 2013

The head of the Senate Intelligence Committee – NSA shill Diane Feinstein – introduced a Trojan Horse of a bill today which pretends it reins in the NSA, but would actually legalize bulk surveillance on Americans.

But the tech giants just threw their support behind a real reform bill.  Specifically, Google, Apple, Microsoft, Yahoo, Facebook and AOL put their support behind the USA Freedom Act … the bill introduced by Senator Leahy and Congressman Sensenbrenner to start reining in the NSA for real.

The tech giants aren’t supporting the bill out of the goodness of their hearts, but because cooperating with the NSA has cost them tens of billions of dollars. And see this.

This article was posted: Friday, November 1, 2013 at 5:59 am

Tags: domestic spying, government corruption, technology

---

---

  Print this page.

---

---

Infowars

Tech Giants Throw Weight Behind Legislation Which Would ACTUALLY Rein In NSA Spying

Citigroup Written Legislation Moves Through the House of Representatives

libertyblitzkrieg.com
October 31, 2013

Five years after the Wall Street coup of 2008, it appears the U.S. House of Representatives is as bought and paid for as ever. We heard about the Citigroup crafted legislation currently being pushed through Congress back in May when Mother Jones reported on it. Fortunately, they included the following image in their article:

Unsurprisingly, the main backer of the bill is notorious Wall Street lackey Jim Himes (D-Conn.), a former Goldman Sachs employee who has discovered lobbyist payoffs can be just as lucrative as a career in financial services. The last time Mr. Himes made an appearance on these pages was in March 2013 in my piece: Congress Moves to DEREGULATE Wall Street.

More from the New York Times:

The House is scheduled to vote on two bills this week that would undercut new financial regulations and hand Wall Street a victory. The legislation has garnered broad bipartisan support in the House, even after lawmakers learned that Citigroup lobbyists helped write one of the bills, which would exempt a wide array of derivatives trading from new regulation.

Remember what George Carlin observed:

“Bipartisan usually means some larger-than-usual deception is being carried out.”

The bills are part of a broader campaign in the House, among Republicans and business-friendly Democrats, to roll back elements of the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act, the most comprehensive regulatory overhaul since the Depression. Of 10 recent bills that alter Dodd-Frank or other financial regulation, six have passed the House this year. This week, if the House approves Citigroup’s legislation and another bill that would delay heightened standards for firms that offer investment advice to retirees, the tally would rise to eight.

But simply voting on the bills generates benefits for both House lawmakers and Wall Street lobbyists, critics say. For lawmakers, it comes in the form of hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions. The banks, meanwhile, welcome the bills as a warning to regulatory agencies that they should tread carefully when drawing up new rules.

“The House is the odd man out in terms of doing Wall Street’s bidding,” said Marcus Stanley, policy director of Americans for Financial Reform, a nonprofit group critical of the financial industry. “They’re letting Wall Street write the law to its own benefit in ways that harm the public.”

Wall Street’s support from the House extends beyond favorable votes. When bank executives are called to testify before Congress, industry lobbyists distribute proposed questions to lawmakers and their staff, seeking to exert some control over the debate, according to emails written by staff members on the House Financial Services Committee that were reviewed by The Times.

The legislation, Mr. Himes said in an interview, poses no financial risk to the country. And while he is the second-largest recipient among House Democrats of financial sector donations, that is not what is compelling his vote, he said.

Of course not. What are you a conspiracy theorist?

“It hardly determines, thank goodness, how legislators think about these issues,” said Mr. Himes, a former Goldman Sachs executive.

“After inflicting so much pain and suffering on the American people, now is not the time to let the largest banks back into the casino,” Representative Maxine Waters, the ranking Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee, said in a statement.

Sorry ma’m you’re just a little late.

Some House bills have the explicit purpose of delaying new regulation. One bill scheduled for a vote this week could temporarily restrain the Labor Department from imposing a new rule requiring some financial advisers to take on a fiduciary duty to clients when providing retirement investment advice. Such a duty would demand that the advisers act in the best interest of the client.

The bill that Citigroup helped draft takes aim at one of the more contentious provisions in Dodd Frank, a requirement that banks “push out” some derivatives trading into separate units that are not backed by the government’s insurance fund. The goal was to isolate this risky trading and to prevent government bailouts.

How contentious! This is America after all.

Full article here.

This article was posted: Thursday, October 31, 2013 at 10:20 am

Tags: domestic news, economics

---

---

  Print this page.

---

---

Infowars

Citigroup Written Legislation Moves Through the House of Representatives

VIDEO: Day 12 of Government Shutdown

House Democrats call for vote to end the federal shutdown. (October 12)

Thanks for checking us out. Please take a look at the rest of our videos and articles.

To stay in the loop, bookmark our homepage.

VIDEO: Day 12 of Government Shutdown

VIDEO: NY City Council Approves NYPD Oversight

The New York City Council voted to approve new oversight for the NY Police Department, and to create easier standards for racial profiling lawsuits. The measures stemmed largely from concern about the NYPD’s use of the stop and frisk tactic. (Aug. 23)

Thanks for checking us out. Please take a look at the rest of our videos and articles.

To stay in the loop, bookmark our homepage.

VIDEO: NY City Council Approves NYPD Oversight

VIDEO: NY City Council Approves NYPD Oversight

The New York City Council voted to approve new oversight for the NY Police Department, and to create easier standards for racial profiling lawsuits. The measures stemmed largely from concern about the NYPD’s use of the stop and frisk tactic. (Aug. 23)

Thanks for checking us out. Please take a look at the rest of our videos and articles.

To stay in the loop, bookmark our homepage.

VIDEO: NY City Council Approves NYPD Oversight

Senate poised to pass sweeping immigration legislation

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Democratic-led Senate will vote at 4 p.m. EDT on Thursday on its landmark immigration bill, Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid announced.

The White House-backed measure is expected to win strong bipartisan approval, and then go to the Republican-led House, which plans to draft its own bill, one without the Senate‘s proposed pathway to citizenship for millions of undocumented immigrants.

(Reporting By Thomas Ferraro; Editing by Sandra Maler)

Congress News Headlines – Yahoo! News

Senate poised to pass sweeping immigration legislation

Senate poised to pass sweeping immigration legislation

A girl wears a ”Don’t Deport My Mom t-shirt” as she joins immigrants and activists, led by Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and CASA, as they chant and march to urge congress to act on immigration reform, on Capitol Hill in Washington, June 26, 2013.

Credit: Reuters/Jonathan Ernst

Reuters: Politics

Senate poised to pass sweeping immigration legislation

Pratt wants Toomey ousted for gun legislation

Pratt wants Toomey ousted for gun legislation

Obama"s Gun Legislation Proposals

Obama"s Gun Legislation Proposals

Reid to Unveil Gun Legislation for Senate Floor Action in April

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said he is preparing gun legislation for floor action in April that will be a slimmed-down version of measures to curb gun violence approved by the Judiciary Committee.

The bill will include additional federal aid for school safety, tougher penalties for gun trafficking and expanded background checks for gun purchases, Reid, a Nevada Democrat, said in a statement today in Washington.

He said supporters of a proposed ban on assault-weapon sales will be given the chance to offer it as an amendment. Reid said earlier this week that the proposal by Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein of California lacked the votes to advance in the chamber and wouldn’t be included in the bill.

Congress is considering tighter gun regulations following the Dec. 14 mass shooting at a Connecticut elementary school that killed 20 children and six school employees.

Reid said he hopes negotiators will reach a compromise on a plan to expand background checks during the congressional recess that starts March 23. If so, he would consider including the language in the measure, he said.

A proposal to expand background checks for gun purchases to include sales at gun shows is opposed by the National Rifle Association and a number of Republicans in Congress. Polls show a majority of Americans endorse mandatory gun background checks.

“The bill I advance tonight will serve as the basis for opening debate,” Reid said in his statement. “Once debate begins, I will ensure that a ban on assault weapons, limits to high-capacity magazines” and other amendments will receive votes, he said.

Assault Weapons

Earlier this week, Reid said he wouldn’t include the assault-weapons ban in the legislation because fewer than 40 senators support it. Including it would make it impossible to start debate as Republicans would block the measure, he said.

The provision to impose a maximum 15-year sentence for “straw purchases” of guns is “the most likely bill to pass” the Senate this year, second-ranking Senate Democrat Dick Durbin of Illinois told reporters yesterday at a Wall Street Journal breakfast.

Feinstein’s proposed assault-weapons ban is “the toughest one and the hottest politically,” Durbin said. Feinstein’s proposal to limit the size of large-capacity ammunition magazines “has a better chance of passage” with the odds “maybe over 50” percent, he said.

© Copyright 2013 Bloomberg News. All rights reserved.

Newsmax – Newsfront

Reid to Unveil Gun Legislation for Senate Floor Action in April

Status of proposals for gun control legislation

Status of proposals for curbing gun violence announced earlier this year by President Barack Obama:

___

NEEDS CONGRESSIONAL ACTION:

—A divided Senate Judiciary Committee approved by a 10-8 vote Tuesday a Democratic bill expanding required federal background checks to nearly all gun purchases. The bill, whose chief sponsor was Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., had the support of all Democrats on the subcommittee and each Republican opposed it.

The background check measure would expand the requirement to firearms sales between private individuals, such as those that occur at gun shows. Currently, the checks are required only for sales by federally licensed firearms dealers.

The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence has said that 40 percent of gun sales are conducted with no criminal background check, such as at gun shows and by private sellers over the Internet or through classified ads. Obama said there should be exceptions for cases like certain transfers among family members and temporary transfers for hunting purposes.

— Reinstating the assault weapons ban. A 10-year ban on high-grade, military-style weapons expired in 2004. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., says such a ban might clear the Senate but doubts it could get through the House. A vote on renewing the assault weapons ban in legislation proposed by Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., was postponed until Thursday.

— Renewing a 10-round limit on the size of ammunition magazines. Part of Feinstein bill that will be considered Thursday.

— Prohibiting the possession, transfer, manufacture and import of dangerous, armor-piercing bullets.

— Senate confirmation of a director for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. The agency has been run by an acting director, Todd Jones, whom Obama will nominate to become director.

— Last Thursday, the Senate Judiciary Committee voted 11-7 for a measure by Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., to increase federal penalties to up to 25 years in prison for illegal gun trafficking and for those purchasing firearms for criminals or others barred from having them.

___

EXECUTIVE ORDER:

— Address legal barriers in health laws that bar some states from making available information about people who are prohibited from having guns.

— Improve incentives for states to share information with the background check system.

— Make sure that federal agencies share relevant information with the background check system.

— Direct the attorney general to work with other agencies to review existing laws to make sure they can identify individuals who shouldn’t have access to guns.

— Direct the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other research agencies to conduct research into the causes and prevention of gun violence.

— Clarify that no federal law prohibits doctors or other health care providers from contacting authorities when patients threaten to use violence.

— Give local communities the opportunity to hire up to 1,000 school resource officers and counselors.

— Require federal law enforcement to trace all recovered guns.

— Propose regulations that will enable law enforcement to run complete background checks before returning firearms that have been seized.

— Direct the Justice Department to analyze information on lost and stolen guns and make that information available to law enforcement.

— Provide training for state and local law enforcement, first responders and school officials on how to handle active-shooter situations.

— Make sure every school has a comprehensive emergency management plan.

— Help ensure that young people get needed mental health treatment.

— Ensure that health insurance plans cover mental health benefits.

— Encourage development of new technology to make it easier for gun owners to safely use and store their guns.

— Have the Consumer Product Safety Commission assess the need for new safety standards for gun locks and gun safes.

— Launch a national campaign about responsible gun ownership.

(Copyright 2013 Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

Status of proposals for gun control legislation