Month: July 2002

No cooperation with the U.S. Stasi. Wayne Madsen at Petitions Online –

No cooperation with the U.S. Stasi – a petition against the new
citizen spying organizations. I’m signature number 143. [trt-ny]
bq.
WE, the undersigned, categorically reject President Bush’s Freedom
Corps, Citizens Corps, Citizens Corps Councils, Operation TIPS
(Terrorism Information and Prevention System), Volunteers in Police
Service, and Neighborhood Watch Program.

We refuse to participate in an American version of East Germany’s
Stasi or the similar citizens’ spying programs established by Nazi
Germany, Vichy France, Stalinist Russia, Mao’s Cultural Revolution, or
Khmer Rouge Cambodia.
[End the War on Freedom]

I’m signature number 355. Of course, I don’t believe for a minute that a petition will have any effect on the KGB’s plans.

Magaw forced out as security chief. Less than six months after he was given the task of making U.S. airports and airlines safe, John Magaw was forced out Wednesday as head of the new Transportation Security Administration. [MSNBC]

This is great news. Magaw was the head of the BATF under Clinton, and putting a terrorist in charge of stopping terrorists is a pretty foolish idea. Hopefully his replacement, a former commandant of the Coast Guard, will be an improvement.

Nelson Mandela: a terrorist’s best friend. Quite why so many people write about Nelson Mandela in such a hagiographic manner baffles me. This is a man who is going out of his way to give aid and succor to Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi, the man convicted of murdering 270 people in the air and on the ground when he blew up a Pan Am Jumbo Jet full of people over Lockerbie, Scotland. [Samizdata.net]

Let’s not forget that Mandela used to be the head of the ANC, which was a terrorist organization until it took over South Africa. Perhaps this is just a form of professional courtesy–like cops not giving each other speeding tickets.

An American Stasi. Brian Doherty at Reason –

An American Stasi – more commentary on TIPS. [brianf]
bq.
These TIPS soldiers have been given the mission to go where the police can’t necessarily go, see what the police can’t necessarily see, and then report findings to the Justice Department, which will maintain a database of tips.

Request for help on documentary film on civil liberties after 9-11 [Politech]

bq.

People (preferably students, preferably in the DC or SF Bay Areas) who who have been directly affected by the “New McCarthyism.” Specifically, we are looking for people who have been affected by technology surveillance…someone who may have experienced serious repercussions for going to a given web site or expressing a certain view on line.

We are also looking for a college student (or recent grad) who might be willing and able to speak more generally about the new threats to on-line privacy post-Sept. 11th.

Given who they want to hear from, it seems pretty obvious the people making the film are really just interested in hearing from liberals. Too bad, it might actually do some good if they talked to people with actual jobs and from other political viewpoints.

Gilmore v. Ashcroft — FAA ID Challenge. “United States courts have recognized for more than a century that honest citizens have the right to travel throughout America without government restrictions.

Here’s a press release from the Libertarian Party on the government’s plan to have informants spy on Americans:

bq.
Libertarians blast new Bush program
to create network of citizen informers

WASHINGTON, DC — A new government program that seeks to recruit millions of mail carriers, utility workers and others with access to private homes as citizen-informants should be terminated immediately, Libertarians say.

“Big Brother is watching you — and he just might be your cable guy,” said Steve Dasbach, Libertarian Party executive director. “This program will undermine the American traditions of freedom and privacy, and make us more like the nations that we abhor.”

A pilot program for TIPS — the Terrorism Information and Prevention System — is scheduled to start next month in 10 cities. Its goal: Recruiting 1 million people with access to Americans’ homes, such as letter carriers and utility workers, to report “suspicious, and potentially terrorist-related activity.”

The network of citizen-informers is a component of President Bush’s volunteer Citizens Corps program, which advises Americans on how to “keep their neighborhoods safe.”

But the problem with TIPS is that it goes far beyond any reasonable steps to prevent terrorism and smacks of a police state, said Dasbach.

“By deputizing utility workers, delivery drivers and other private
employees as de facto government agents, the government has created a way to search your home without a warrant,” Dasbach said. “The only reason the government wants to recruit private citizen-spies is that they can do things the government can’t do legally, such as monitor your private behavior with absolutely no suspicion that you’ve done anything wrong.

“These were standard tactics for the Stasi — the East German secret police — but they should be repugnant to every American.”

When TIPS is fully operational, the United States would have a higher percentage of government informers than the former communist East Germany, according to an analysis by investigative journalist Ritt Goldstein.

“Assuming the pilot program is initiated in the 10 largest cities,
about one out of 24 Americans — or 4 percent of the population —
would become citizen-spies,” Dasbach noted. “It’s time to ask all
Americans: Should you trust a government that doesn’t trust you?”

Equally disturbing, Dasbach noted, is that the TIPS program mandates that all data collected by the citizen-informants be entered into a Justice Department database and made available to state and local law enforcement agencies.

“It’s frightening to think that your plumber, UPS driver or handyman might have the power to label you “suspicious” and insert your name into a government database without your knowledge,” Dasbach said.

“Informant reports are also notoriously inaccurate. A 1992 report by Harvard University’s Project on Justice found that many informants routinely embellish the truth or even fabricate reports.

“Thanks to the TIPS program, you could wind up having to explain your private behavior to an FBI agent simply because the cable guy noticed something “suspicious” or a neighbor doesn’t like you. Aren’t those the kinds of tactics employed by the nations that we’re fighting in the War on Terrorism?

“Here’s a TIP for Mr. Bush: Abolish this program immediately. The U.S. government has no business spying on its own citizens.”

Gun and Quick Thinking Saves Man from Bear Attack. A man out camping with his brother woke up with one heck of a headache, only to discover that a bear was biting him in the head.

Thanks to his quick reactions — and to the handgun he was carrying — Rodney Black, 51, will be OK. [FirearmNews.com]

Bears wandering through campsites at night are not that unusual. After an experience when I was a kid, I decided not to go camping in bear country again without one of these. Bears usually leave people alone, but if they’re really hungry (as in Mr. Black’s case), or especially if they think you’re threatening their cubs, they will attack.

Postscript: A few emails say that smoking cessation is not covered under health insurance because most programs and treatments don’t work. A few emails say that health insurance generally doesn’t cover birth control either. And smokers are a better deal for insurance companies because they die a decade or two earlier than non-smokers, on average. That’s a good point. Death is generally expensive. If it happens sooner that’s a savings for the insurance company.   [Scripting News]

Consider what that means for the anti-smoking zealots in the government who sue tobacco companies claiming that smokers costs society more money than non-smokers. If the claims of the zealots were true, then smokers would be a worse deal for insurance companies, not a better one. I never thought of that before.

Arafat Splits U.N., U.S. Leaders [AP World News]

The Europeans seem to be missing the point. They insist that Arafat is the legitimate leader of the Palestinians, while the US government says that Arafat has to be replaced. The US is not disputing that he is currently the legitimate leader, they’re pointing out that peace is impossible as long as that remains the case.