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House 9/11 Commission Bill Includes.....
Sat Oct 2, 2004 14:43
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House 9/11 Commission Bill Includes Patriot II, National ID Card, Worst Anti-Immigration Measures in Decade
In addition to additional law enforcement powers, like those granted in the original 2001 USA Patriot Act, the new bill in the House of Representatives to implement the recommendations of the 9/11 Commission would likely create what amounts to a national identification card, and would harm basic fairness in the nation? immigration system, the American Civil Liberties Union said today. "Republican leadership is either trying to torpedo the 9/11 Commission? recommendations with a poison pill, or is attempting to muscle through a narrow policy agenda using must-pass legislation," said Laura W. Murphy, Director of the ACLU Washington Legislative Office. "Both scenarios are unacceptable." At issue is the House version of legislation drafted in response to the recently completed 9/11 Commission. Though the commission notably did not include any recommendation that the Patriot Act be extended, or that due process and judicial review in the immigration system be curtailed, House Republicans included such provisions anyway.
The inclusion of some parts of the Patriot II legislation is drawing increasing criticism, especially after a group of 9/11 widows appealed to lawmakers this week to not let such divisive provisions derail the bill.
http://www.aclu.org/SafeandFree/SafeandFree.cfm?ID=16572&c=206

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Gun Control: Have We Gone Too Far?
A fundamentally flawed piece of gun legislation just died. Here's why the rest should too.
It took three shootings over the course of ten years to spur Diane Feinstein, the Grand Dame of California politics, into spearheading the 1994 Assault Weapons Act. "It was the ultimate shock," Feinstein said of the final spree that claimed six lives in a San Francisco law office. "Someone comes in, aggrieved, and goes right through the place." And you know what? Such a response makes sense. After all, when 34 people are killed in three totally unrelated situations years apart, what other alternative is there than stripping away the rights of law-abiding citizens? Gun control is the ultimate extension of the "government-as-parent" scenario which posits that Americans are either too stupid or too ignorant to take care of themselves.
Such a mentality towards gun regulation only punishes the average citizen by depriving themselves of the right to defend their person and their property. Criminals aren't likely to care about where they find their firearms because, hey, they're criminals. When they rob a store the last thing they're worried about is whether or not their handgun is licensed.
http://www.thesimon.com/magazine/articles/canon_fodder/0655_gun_control_gone_too_far.html

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EFF Says the Draft "PATRIOT II" Legislation Goes Too Far Last week, it was widely reported that House Republicans are circulating draft legislation that contains provisions from the never-introduced "Domestic Security Enhancement Act of 2003," otherwise known as "PATRIOT II." The draft legislation is meant to implement intelligence reforms recommended by the 9/11 Commission's final report. But its reach goes far beyond those recommendations -- including provisions that would allow federal agents to use secret foreign intelligence warrants and wiretap orders against suspects unconnected to any terrorist group or foreign nation.
"The 9/11 Commission's recommendations should not be used as a trojan horse to introduce broad new police powers," says Kevin Bankston, EFF attorney and Equal Jusice Works/Bruce J. Ennis Fellow. "Trying to slip controversial 'PATRIOT II' provisions into the intelligence reform bill needlessly politicizes what has so far been a bipartisan effort to improve the performance of our nation's intelligence-gathering agencies."
http://www.linuxelectrons.com/article.php/20040927172244844

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ACLU fears return of TIA
"Senate bill follows 9-11 advice"
"Schwartz: Let's not relive TIA"
The American Civil Liberties Union fears that legislation stemming from 9-11 Commission recommendations that is kicking around Capitol Hill will revive the Total Information Awareness (TIA) program. As the Senate debates the bills, ACLU officials called on senators to eliminate an information-sharing provision that privacy advocates believe could lead to the resurrection of the controversial TIA. That program was killed last year amid an outcry about its broad information-gathering abilities. "Americans do not want Big Brother following their every move," said Laura Murphy, director of the ACLU's Washington, D.C., Legislative Office. TIA "was abandoned because of privacy concerns raised on both sides of the aisle. The Senate should amend this provision to ensure that law enforcement has access to the tools they need while being mindful of protecting one our most cherished freedoms -- the right to privacy."
ACLU members point to Section 206 of the Collins-Lieberman National Intelligence Reform Act. That part of the bill would create an information-sharing network that the union members say has insufficient safeguards to address privacy and civil liberties concerns.
http://www.fcw.com/fcw/articles/2004/0927/web-aclu-09-30-04.asp


EU, U.S. to Improve Intelligence Exchange
"We are devoting additional resources to Europol because we believe it's in the best interests of the United States and the world community," Ashcroft told journalists.
Attorney General John Ashcroft and EU justice officials agreed Thursday to improve the trans-Atlantic flow of intelligence to help track down terrorists and prevent attacks. Among new measures agreed during several hours of meetings here was the exchange of liaison intelligence officers between the continents. The United States will send an agent from the FBI to the European police agency Europol in The Hague, Netherlands, and the EU will post two agents in Washington, said Antonio Vitorino, the EU justice and home affairs commissioner. The discussions came at the start of two days of talks between EU justice and internal affairs ministers in the Netherlands, which currently holds the EU presidency. Later Thursday, France and the United States were to sign a bilateral agreement on the exchange of data between law enforcement agencies.
"We are devoting additional resources to Europol because we believe it's in the best interests of the United States and the world community," Ashcroft told journalists. "The promotion of the exchange of information is likely to result in saving lives and securing our cultures."
http://makeashorterlink.com/?H4AC21B69

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Secret plan to fingerprint visitors
TWO million UK visa applicants a year will be fingerprinted under secret Home Office plans to crack down on illegal immigrants, criminals and terrorists, Scotland on Sunday can reveal. Documents released in the United States prove that British officials have been examining the introduction of compulsory fingerprinting of all visa applicants before they are allowed to travel to the UK. Under the plan, which has the strong support of Home Secretary David Blunkett, the prints would be stored and checked against international databases of terrorists and criminals to prevent undesirables travelling to Britain in the first place. But the scheme was condemned last night by civil rights organisations, who said it was another step towards the Big Brother state, and pointed out that the UK objected to the proposed introduction of a similar scheme by the US to fingerprint British travellers.
The radical move to tighten the entry requirements for all visa applicants could also have dramatic repercussions for Scotland’s attempts to attract hundreds of thousands of new citizens into the country to combat the economic impact of a continuing decline in population.
http://news.scotsman.com/politics.cfm?id=1071452004

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Intelligence network worries the right, left
They could call it MATRIX Reloaded.
Less than a year after Utah Gov. Olene Walker pulled the plug on the supercharged crime-fighting computer known as MATRIX, the U.S. Congress is poised to implement its own national information-sharing network that would link hundreds upon hundreds of government and commercial databases. Its goal: To fight terrorism.
The National Intelligence Reform Act of 2004 — currently being debated in the Senate — contains a provision for an "Information Sharing Network" to coordinate data from "all available sources." Citing the findings on the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks, the bill states, "The effective use of information, from all available sources, is essential to the fight against terror and the protection of our homeland. The biggest impediment to all-source analysis, and to a greater likelihood of connecting the dots, is resistance to sharing." That, and a resistance from civil libertarians and conservatives who believe such an all-seeing computer system threatens fundamental constitutional rights by creating a mechanism for the government to spy on every American.
"It really, really bothers me that none of us have any privacy anymore," said Gayle Ruzicka of the Utah Eagle Forum, who finds herself on the same side of the issue as the American Civil Liberties Union.
http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,595094704,00.html

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The Saddam Conspiracy Theory
CIA created Saddam
There is a conspiracy theory circulating around Iraq about the U.S. government’s close connection with Saddam Hussein. Though far-fetched, it speaks volumes about the perception of many Iraqis toward the U.S. occupation. Reporting from a recent trip to Iraq, Mark Juergensmeyer of the University of California, Santa Barbara discusses the supposed Saddam/U.S. alliance — and the repercussions this has had in occupied Iraq.
A Sunni cleric in Baghdad told me that the struggle against American control of Iraq was linked to Saddam in a curious way. In his reasoning, the CIA had created Saddam and propped him up over the years.
http://www.theglobalist.com/DBWeb/StoryId.aspx?StoryId=4181

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China Shows Off Peacekeepers for Haiti
Armed police in combat boots karate-chopped and slashed the air with black clubs, part of a Chinese display of peacekeeping force as Beijing dispatches a 125-strong contingent to Haiti — its first contribution to a U.N. mission in the Western Hemisphere. Wearing blue U.N. helmets, officers marched in formation and demonstrated martial arts for journalists from more than 20 countries at a new training center south of Beijing on Tuesday. Others with body armor and clear plastic shields showed of riot-control tactics. "China yearns to take greater responsibility for international peacekeeping," said Zhao Xiaoxun, commander of a squad of riot police bound for Haiti. "Of course I am reluctant to leave my family, but I am also filled with a very deep sense of honor."
China sent 31 members of the police contingent to Haiti this month and the rest are scheduled to join them next month in the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince.
http://makeashorterlink.com/?M69C52B69

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China's Party Chief Tells Army to Be Ready for War
Chinese Communist Party chief and President Hu Jintao has urged the People's Liberation Army (PLA) to prepare for a military struggle, but stopped short of singling out rival Taiwan as the target. Many security analysts see the Taiwan Strait as the most dangerous flashpoint in Asia. China claims sovereignty over Taiwan and has threatened to attack if the democratic island of 23 million people declares independence. Hu, who assumed the role of military chief less than two weeks ago, told the 2.5-million-strong PLA to "seize the moment and do a good job of preparing for a military struggle," the People's Daily and the Liberation Army Daily said on Thursday. Hu did not say against whom the struggle might be fought.
But on Wednesday, a spokesman for China's policymaking Taiwan Affairs Office accused Taiwan Premier Yu Shyi-kun of clamoring for war with threats to fire missiles at Shanghai if the PLA attacked the self-ruled island.
http://www.prisonplanet.com/articles/september2004/300904readyforwar.htm

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Senator Dayton: NORAD Lied About 9/11
Mark Dayton has become the first U.S. senator to challenge the rush to consensus that "The 9/11 Commission Report" settles the open questions of Sept. 11, 2001. In hearings last Friday, Sen. Dayton (D-MN) raised an obvious point: if the timeline of air defense response as promoted in the Kean Commission's best-selling book is correct, then the timeline presented repeatedly by NORAD during the last two years was completely wrong. Yet now no one at NORAD is willing to comment on their own timeline!
When the official story of 9/11 can be changed repeatedly without anyone ever being held accountable, we have no right to ever again expect honest government. Please read the following story and do your part to support Sen. Dayton for highlighting the contradiction, and to encourage the media to follow up.
http://www.infowars.com/print/Sept11/dayton_911truth.htm


9-11 widow cites attorney- presidential conflicts, threat in estate court petition to judge
[Ed: Ellen Mariani told us today that she is speaking out in honor of her dead husband Neil and all others who perished with him on September 11: "All Americans and others around the world who were affected by the 9-11 attacks and who supported my RICO action deserve to hear the truth about what has been happening to me through the American legal system to block my quest for the truth. I also pray that my speaking out will not affect my New York wrongful death suit or the New Hampshire probate challenge brought by my step-daughter. Again, I ask for your understanding, prayers and support as I continue to grieve my poor husband's death."]
http://tomflocco.com/

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