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A blog of all section with no images |
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Current Issue
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Written by Adam Abraham
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Wednesday, 14 March 2007 |
Racial Divisiveness Convenient Ploy to Mask Larger Health IssueIt’s About Love DeficiencyApril/May 2007 - The Abolitionist Examinerby Adam Abraham An ABC News Health story trumpets, “Blacks Continue to Lose the Health Care Battle”. The study was conducted by researchers at Harvard and Brown Universities, and published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). Its ostensive intention was to show a need to continue collecting racial data for the purposes of policing equality of treatment. Sounds like a good idea, right?
Wrong. Its real effect is to maintain divisiveness, keeping both blacks and whites thinking that a “fight” is still needed (or will occur), with one group on the offensive, and the other on the defensive. It passively and insidiously portrays blacks as continued “losers” in the game of being American. None of these postulates are true. The only thing this really accomplishes is to maintain the status quo.  Be first to comment this article |  Add as favourites (90) |  Quote this article on your site | Views: 3320
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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 17 April 2007 )
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Press Releases Sent By TMA and Coalition Partners
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Written by Coalition
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Monday, 12 March 2007 |
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Jesse R. Benton
March 12, 2007 202-246-6363
Stop National Security Letters, Says Transpartisan Coalition
In light of abuse, longtime critics of Patriot Act provision call for end to this highly intrusive practice
WASHINGTON, DC - The Liberty Coalition, a transpartisan public policy group dedicated to preserving the Bill of Rights, personal autonomy and individual privacy has called on Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director Robert Mueller to end the use of National Security Letters (NSL's) after a newly released Department of Justice (DOJ) audit confirmed fears that the FBI has improperly and unlawfully misused the controversial provision of the USA Patriot Act.
Upon taking his post, FBI director Robert Mueller pledged to uphold the United States Constitution. Civil liberties advocates have long argued that these secret, coercive demands for privacy records violate people's fundamental privacy rights because they allow the FBI to require telephone companies, internet service providers, banks, credit bureaus, insurance companies and other businesses to produce highly personal records about their customers without any evidence the person whose records are demanded has done anything wrong and without any judicial or independent check to protect individual rights.
"National Security Letters are a clear and dangerous violation of Americans' expectation of privacy in their financial, communications and insurance records unless they have done something wrong," said Liberty Coalition national director Michael Ostrolenk. "If Director Mueller wants to uphold both his word and duty, he will not oppose reforms of this intrusive, unchecked power."
NSL's were created in 1978 to circumvent the Right to Financial Privacy Act, but were limited strictly to foreign agents. Compliance was voluntary, and states' consumer privacy laws often allowed institutions to decline these requests.
In 2001, section 505 of the USA Patriot Act greatly expanded the use of NSL's, allowing their use in scrutiny of US residents who are not suspected of any wrongdoing. It also granted the privilege to other federal agencies like the Department of Homeland Security. Patriot Act reauthorization in 2005 added specific penalties for companies that failed to comply, giving FBI agents powerful tools to further coerce business owners to turn over customer information. The customers whose records are turned over to FBI databases is never told their private records are now held and distributed across the federal government, even if they have not done anything wrong and are never charged with any crime or other violation.
The DOJ audit, conducted by Inspector General Glenn A. Fine, found that FBI agents demanded individual's personal data without proper authorization and improperly obtained telephone records under the guise of "emergency" in non-emergency circumstances. In addition, the FBI significantly underreported to Congress for three years how it forced businesses to turn over customer data. The Justice Department also misled the American people and Congress about the explosion in the use of these intrusive demands, at one point denying investigative reporting that over 30,000 requests had been made in a single year—this report documented that, in fact, over 50,000 had been made in a year for a total of almost 150,000 in a three year period. .
"The Inspector General's report, which was required by the Patriot Act reauthorization over the administration's objections, serves to underscore the danger when any government agent, regardless of intention, is given unchecked power to secretly gather the private records of people who have done nothing wrong," continued Ostrlolenk. "Congress must truly reform the National Security Letter power to focus these intrusive demands on those conspiring with al Qaeda and subject such demands to judicial checks to ensure that innocent people's privacy is not swept away by false claims of emergency or other inappropriate grounds."
-30- Be first to comment this article | Add as favourites (79) | Quote this article on your site | Views: 1627 |
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Press Releases Sent By TMA and Coalition Partners
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Written by Coalition
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Wednesday, 07 March 2007 |
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Jesse R. Benton
202-246-6363 March 7, 2007 Transpartisan Coalition Calls for Whistleblower Hearings Petition with strong left-right support headed to Capitol Hill WASHINGTON, DC - The Liberty Coalition, a transpartisan public policy group dedicated to preserving the Bill of Rights, personal autonomy and individual privacy today sent a petition signed by 30 liberal, libertarian and conservative groups including the American Civil Liberties Union, Citizen Outreach, OMB Watch, Electronic Privacy Information Center, Government Accountability Project, Electronic Freedom Foundation, and the National Coalition Against the Censorship to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform urging prompt hearings on the case of Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Whistleblower Sibel Edmonds. Edmonds, a former FBI Language Specialist, brought charges of wrongdoing, criminal activity, cover-ups and national security threats inside the agency following the terrorist attacks of 9/11. Edmonds was promptly fired, which she asserts was an act of retaliation. The Department of Justice (DOJ) then used the State Secrets Privilege to shut down court proceedings in her case and prevent Congress from exploring the matter. Civil Liberties advocates argue that Edmonds’s case in an example of other instances where whistleblowers who tried to inform Congress and taxpayers about national security threats were intimidated silenced and retaliated against. “Mrs. Edmonds is not a national security threat but a national hero and the American public deserves to hear the truth of her case. Congress must act and act now by having public hearings. Without them, the cover-ups and criminal activities will just continue.” Said Michael Ostrolenk, National Director of the Liberty Coalition. Mr Ostrolenk was supported in his contentions by Liberty Coalition partner Stephen Kohn, President of the National Whistleblower Center who said “Congress must hear from Mrs. Edmonds and others who corroborated her case - we cannot wait until after another attack to learn about threats to our security." This popular position is echoed by Danielle Brian, Executive Director of the Project On Government Oversight, a watchdog group that signed the appeal brief in Mrs. Edmonds case who said "The issues surrounding the Edmonds case are so significant that Congress must hold hearings to investigate the government's actions.” The issues reported by Ms. Edmonds include: - Espionage activities within the FBI, DOD, and the Department of State.
- Cover-up of information and leads pre and post 9/11, under the excuse of protecting certain diplomatic relations.
- Deliberate mistranslation of crucial intelligence by FBI translators and management.
- Foreign entities bribing government officials and elected representatives.
Civil Liberty advocates assert that these issues point to an abuse of power, a criminal conspiracy and attempts to cover -up wrong doing by using the coercive power of the state. In regards to abuse of power, Ann Beeson, Associate Legal Director, ACLU National Office, and Lead Counsel in Mrs. Edmonds case said. “The government abused the state secrets privilege to deny Sibel Edmonds her day in court, and to prevent accountability in other cases for illegal spying and rendition. It is high time for Congress to intervene.” Dr. William Weaver, Senior advisor and Board Member of the National Security Whistleblower’s Coalition, who is an expert on the state secret privilege agreed with Mrs. Beeson when he said, “In Edmonds' case tyranny comes in the form of the state secrets privilege, a foolproof mechanism of the federal government to hide executive branch corruption, incompetence, and illegal activity. This is a practice more at home with Czars and nabobs, and should have no place in the United States." Ostrolenk continued by saying “This is worse than Watergate in that American lives have been lost and our national security has been compromised. Mrs. Edmonds case has been vindicated by the Justice Department office of Inspector General, and several congressional offices.The public has a right to know. The excuse of protecting national security is fallacious. They are protecting their own power and not the American people. Mrs. Edmonds must be heard.” -30- Be first to comment this article | Add as favourites (89) | Quote this article on your site | Views: 1344 |
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