Okay, Folks, One More Time...

The Fourth Amendment

“The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants issued, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation and particularly describing the place to be searched and the persons or things to be seized.”

Enabling Act
as Practiced in the United States

An enabling act, in reference to the admission of new states into the Union, is legislation passed by Congress authorizing the people of a territory to frame a constitution. The act also lays down the requirements that must be met as a prerequisite to statehood.

Ten Dangers of the PATRIOT Act
that every American should know

1. The government can conduct "sneak and peek" searches in which agents enter your home or business and search your belongings without informing you … either until long after the fact … or never.

2. Government agents can force libraries and bookstores to hand over the titles of books that you have purchased or borrowed and can demand the identity of anyone who has purchased or borrowed certain books. The government can also prosecute libraries and bookstores for informing you that the search occurred or even for informing you that an inquiry was made.

3. Federal agents are authorized under the PATRIOT Act to use hidden devices to trace the telephone calls or emails of people who are not even suspected of a crime. The FBI is also permitted to use its Magic Lantern technology to monitor everything you do on your computer--recording not just websites you visit but EVERY SINGLE KEYSTROKE as well.

4. Government agents are permitted to arrest and detain individuals "suspected" of terrorist activities and to hold them INDEFINITELY, WITHOUT CHARGE, and WITHOUT access to an ATTORNEY. This includes you, your family, your friends--everyone!

5. Federal agents are permitted to conduct full investigations of American citizens and permanent legal residents simply because they have participated in activities protected by the First Amendment, such as writing a letter to the editor or attending a peaceful rally.

6. Law enforcement agents are permitted to listen in on discussions between prisoners and their attorneys, thus denying them their Constitutional right to confidential legal counsel.

7. Terrorism suspects may be tried in secret military tribunals where defendants have no right to a public trial, no right to trial by jury, no right to confront the evidence, and no right to appeal to an independent court. In short, the Constitution does not apply.

8. The CIA is granted authority to spy on American citizens, a domestic power that has previously been denied to this international espionage organization.

9. In addition to the PATRIOT Act, the Bush administration has given us Operations TIPS, a government program that encourages citizens to spy on each other and to report their neighbors’ activities to the authorities. It's EXACTLY the kind of thing for which we used to deride East Germany and the Soviet Union--and for which we currently deride Red China and North Korea. Fortunately, Operation TIPS (or AmeriSnitch, as it's known to its many detractors) seems to have been recalled to the factory--at least for now.

Brad Templeton has set up a website at http://www.all-the-other-names-were-taken.com/tipstips.html
where you can report people you suspect of being informants for Operation TIPS. It's an interesting and amusing site, well worth a look.

10. In the wake of Operation TIPS came something even worse: Total Information Awareness. TIA is a program of the Defense Department that, when fully operational, will link commercial and government databases so that the DoD can immediately put its finger on any piece of information about you that it wants. Granted, the name has since been changed to protect the guilty, but the program is still in place in full and increasing force.

Have You Read 1984?
It’s Here!

New York Times columnist William Saffire writes: "Every purchase you make with a credit card, every magazine subscription you buy and medical prescription you fill, every web site you visit and e-mail you send or receive, every academic grade you receive, every bank deposit you make, every trip you book and every event you attend--all these transactions and communications will go into what the Defense Department describes as a virtual, centralized grand database."