John W. Whitehead: ‘Give Me Liberty Or Give Me Death’ - The Loss Of Our Freedoms In The Wake Of 9/11

To comply or to resist?   What began with the passage of the USA Patriot Act in October 2001 has snowballed into the eradication of every vital safeguard against government overreach, corruption and abuse. Since then, we have been terrorized, traumatized, and acclimated to life in the American Surveillance State. The bogeyman’s names and faces    ... MORE

American Hero Arrested For Disabling Red Light Cameras

by Sean Davis.    Who is the REAL public servant here? The arrest of a New York man for disabling red light cameras poses a vital question that all Americans must answer: is this Son of Liberty a great hero, or the greatest hero? Stephen Ruth, a 42-year-old New Yorker, was arrested earlier this week for neutering red camera lights, which act as automated ... MORE

California: Protect Your Driver's License Privacy

by Jeremy Gillula and Dave Maass.     The California Legislature wants the DMV to start issuing “Enhanced Driver Licenses” (EDL), similar to a REAL ID, that contain an RFID tag that could expose information about you from up to 30 feet away.  We need your help to bring S.B. 249 to a screeching halt by calling or emailing your state legislator today.  ... MORE

NYC Unveils Pilot Program To Track Driving Habits

Big Brother comes a knocking.   It’s a new city pilot program to track how you drive, when you drive, how fast your drive and how much gas you use. The Department of Transportation says it will help fix street problems. Others say its like Big Brother is watching you, CBS2’s Marcia Kramer reported Friday. It’s a tiny black box about the size of a   ... MORE

Baltimore Attorneys Reviewing 2,000 Cases Where Police Secretly Used Phone Tracking Devices On Petty Criminals

by Wils Robinson.   Lawyers in Baltimore are challenging almost 2,000 criminal cases where police secretly used cell phone tracking devices. Defense attorneys will reportedly ask the judge to 'throw out' a number of the cases where cops tracked down a suspect with stingray and reopen a 'large number' of others. It is a device that acts as a cellphone  ... MORE

Orwellian Justice Upholds NSA Spying on Americans: Court of Appeals Upholds Unconstitutional Mass Surveillance

by Stephen Lendman. Virtually unrestricted NSA data mining tramples on Fourth Amendment rights brazenly. In December 2013, Federal District Court of the District of Columbia Judge Richard Leon ruled NSA spying unconstitutional, saying: The threshold issue is whether plaintiffs have a reasonable expectation of privacy that is violated when the     ... MORE

Common Core: Who's Watching the Kids?

by Mary Anne Marcella and Cort Wrotnowski.   Common Core is about more than just a shift in educational standards.  The architects of Common Core have always planned to integrate computer technology with Common Core standards under the guise of “closing the digital divide” and “preparing our children for the 21st-century workplace.”  They   ... MORE

Steve Weis: When Curtains Block Justice

A parody of “When Phone Encryption Blocks Justice”.    In June, a laptop was stolen from a bedroom on a Monday afternoon in Palo Alto, CA, a suburb 15 miles south of San Francisco. There were no witnesses to the larceny, and no surveillance footage either. With a laptop thief on the loose and few leads at their disposal, investigators  ... MORE

AT&T Has “Partnership” With NSA To Spy On US Internet

by Clayton Browne.     Your world delivered. The most recent release of secret documents by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden makes it clear that telecom giant AT&T has been actively cooperating with the NSA in its large scale program to spy on the internet traffic of Americans. Based on the documents, it appears that AT&T has been        ... MORE

Chris Christie And Rand Paul Reflect The Clash Between The GOP's Authoritarian And Libertarian Tendencies

by Jacob Sullum.     One of the most telling moments in last week's Republican presidential debate came when moderator Megyn Kelly asked New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie to defend his position that Rand Paul, the Kentucky senator, should be held responsible for the next terrorist attack on Americans because he opposes the National Security Agency's   ... MORE

Nico Sell: It’s Time To Build The Private Web

A place for private communication and uncensored info.  The establishment of the U.S. Postal Service was one of the most visionary civil liberties ideas of its time. It was deeply rooted in George Washington’s belief that a strong state and society can only exist if every citizen has access to uncensored information and can freely communicate,   ... MORE

VIDEO: Rand Paul - Domestic Spying

NSA Grooming And Recruiting Children To Be Hackers

by William Lawler.    Recruitment posters show multiple young people placing their hands on a basketball sized earth as digital streams flow around the planet. The image conveys the distinct impression that these children control the world utilizing technology. This may be a powerful draw for children viewing the poster. Of course it does not hurt   ... MORE

Paul Rosenberg: Why You Must Dump Microsoft NOW

"they redefined their operating system to be spyware."   I’ve written about dumping Microsoft before – and I stand by those comments – but the newest outrage from Redmond forces me to it again. I don’t care how “inconvenient” you think it may be, you have to stop enriching Microsoft. NOW. Yes, I have serious issues with Apple too, but   ... MORE

Bill Perna: Why Some Americans Hate Edward Snowden

We can no longer be in denial.  Edward Snowden's actions confronts us with a vexing problem. Because of Snowden's actions we are now burdened with the knowledge and evidence that we live in a surveillance state. We are confronted with our complacency. A fundamental question begs an answer. What does it now mean to be an American?       ... MORE

We Are All Terror Suspects Under The FBI’s Program

by Thomas S. Neuberger.     What Big Brother is looking for. If you engage in any of the following activities, you could be on a terrorism watch list: Make suspicious comments regarding anti‑US, radical theology, vague or cryptic warnings that suggest or appear to endorse the use of violence in support of a cause. Make unusual comments      ... MORE

The FBI Wants The Key to Your Data: Is Gov't-Resistant Encryption An Intolerable Threat To Public Safety?

by Jacob Sullum.      Testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee last week, FBI Director James Comey argued that data should never be transmitted or stored in a way that frustrates government snooping. Comey warned that encryption is a boon to criminals and therefore must be designed so that law enforcement agencies can decode it   ... MORE

John W. Whitehead: Jade Helm, Terrorist Attacks, Surveillance And Other Fairy Tales For A Gullible Nation

A cautionary tale. Once upon a time, there was a nation of people who believed everything they were told by their government. When terrorists attacked the country, and government officials claimed to have been caught by surprise, the people believed them. And when the government passed massive laws aimed at locking down the nation and     ... MORE

Jacob Sullum: Christie Vs. Paul On Surveillance & Security

NJ governor unconcerned about warrantless snooping.  Chris Christie says Rand Paul, one of his rivals for the Republican presidential nomination, is "politicizing America's national security" by objecting to the government's indiscriminate collection of our telephone records. The New Jersey governor's puzzling charge against the Kentucky senator    ... MORE

Secret Court Allows Resumption Of Metadata Spying

by David Kravets.    Thought Congress halted the snooping program Snowden exposed? Think again. A secret US tribunal ruled late Monday that the National Security Agency is free to continue its bulk telephone metadata surveillance program—the same spying that Congress voted to terminate weeks ago. Congress disavowed the program NSA     ... MORE