NSA reportedly collecting phone records of millions, though officials had denied holding 'data' on Americans

Via Guardian:

The National Security Agency is currently collecting the telephone records of millions of US customers of Verizon, one of America’s largest telecoms providers, under a top secret court order issued in April.

The order, a copy of which has been obtained by the Guardian, requires Verizon on an “ongoing, daily basis” to give the NSA information on all telephone calls in its systems, both within the US and between the US and other countries.

The document shows for the first time that under the Obama administration the communication records of millions of US citizens are being collected indiscriminately and in bulk – regardless of whether they are suspected of any wrongdoing.

June 6, 2013
foxnews.com

Reports that the Obama administration has been collecting the phone records of millions of Verizon customers in the U.S. could contradict statements made by top officials who previously claimed the government was not holding data on Americans.

Director of National Intelligence James Clapper was asked at a March hearing whether the National Security Agency collects any data on millions of Americans.

"No sir ... not wittingly," Clapper responded, acknowledging there are cases "where inadvertently, perhaps" the data could be collected.

NSA Director Gen. Keith Alexander also told Fox News last year that the agency does not "hold data on U.S. citizens."

But the Guardian newspaper reported late Wednesday that the administration has been collecting the phone records of millions of U.S. customers of Verizon under a top secret court order.

The order, a copy of which apparently was obtained by The Guardian, reportedly was granted by the secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court on April 25 and is good until July 19.

It requires Verizon, one of the nation's largest telecommunications companies, on an "ongoing, daily basis" to give the NSA information on all telephone calls in its systems, both within the U.S. and between the U.S. and other countries.

The text of the order, as published by The Guardian, says that "the Custodian of Records shall produce to the National Security Agency (NSA) upon service of this Order, and continue production on an ongoing daily basis thereafter for the duration of this Order, unless otherwise ordered by the Court, an electronic copy of the" the records in question.

Administration officials, while not directly acknowledging the order, defended their authority to collect records and stressed they're not listening in on conversations.

Further, the heads of the Senate intelligence committee sought to calm concerns, saying the requests are carefully scrutinized. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., though, revealed that this is part of an ongoing effort - she said these orders are renewed every three months through the court. She said the records are there for investigators to access if there is suspicion of terrorist activity.

A senior law enforcement official also pushed back on the report early Thursday morning, telling Fox News that the Justice Department has not yet received a referral from the intelligence community, meaning "the process has not started yet."

However, civil liberties groups and some lawmakers sounded the alarm over the collection effort.

"The National Security Agency's seizure and surveillance of virtually all of Verizon's phone customers is an astounding assault on the Constitution," Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., said.

One civil liberties group called this the "broadest surveillance order to ever have been issued."

"It requires no level of suspicion and applies to all Verizon subscribers anywhere in the U.S.," the Center for Constitutional Rights said in a statement.

The report in the Guardian newspaper follows revelations that the Justice Department was seizing the phone records of journalists, including at Fox News, in the course of leak probes.

The newspaper claims the document shows for the first time that under the Obama administration the communication records of millions of U.S. citizens were being collected indiscriminately and in bulk, regardless of whether they were suspected of any wrongdoing.

Under the terms of the order, the phone numbers of both parties on a call are handed over, as is location data, call duration, unique identifiers, and the time and duration of all calls, The Guardian said.

A senior administration official, while not confirming the report, told Fox News a FISA court order would not allow the government to listen in on anyone's phone calls, saying that all the government would be able to collect would be metadata such as the telephone number or the length of the call. The official also said that any court orders issued under FISA are subject to "strict controls" to ensure the rights of citizens are not violated.

"Information of the sort described in the Guardian article has been a critical tool in protecting the nation from terrorist threats to the United States, as it allows counterterrorism personnel to discover whether known or suspected terrorists have been in contact with other persons who may be engaged in terrorist activities, particularly people located inside the United States," the official said.

But Jameel Jaffer, American Civil Liberties Union deputy legal director, called the measure "beyond Orwellian."

"From a civil liberties perspective, the program could hardly be any more alarming. It's a program in which some untold number of innocent people have been put under the constant surveillance of government agents," Jaffer said in a statement.

Verizon said in a message to employees on Thursday that it could not comment on the accuracy of the newspaper report but clarified that such a court order "compels Verizon to respond" and forbids the company from revealing the order's existence.

The alleged order also "excludes from production the 'content of any communication . . . or the name, address, or financial information of a subscriber or customer,'" Verizon said.

If true, the broad, unlimited nature of the records being handed over to the NSA is unusual. FISA court orders typically direct the production of records pertaining to a specific named target suspected of being an agent of a terrorist group or foreign state, or a finite set of individually named targets. NSA warrantless wiretapping during the George W. Bush administration after the 9/11 attacks was very controversial.

The FISA court order, signed by Judge Roger Vinson, compelled Verizon to produce to the NSA electronic copies of "all call detail records or telephony [sic] metadata created by Verizon for communications between the United States and abroad" or "wholly within the United States, including local telephone calls," The Guardian said.

The law on which the order explicitly relies is the "business records" provision of the USA Patriot Act.

Verizon Communications Inc. listed 121 million customers in its first-quarter earnings report this April -- 98.9 million wireless customers, 11.7 million residential phone lines and about 10 million commercial lines. The court order didn't specify which type of phone customers' records were being tracked.

Fox News' Catherine Herridge, Joy Lin and Jake Gibson and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Gvernment has perverted the Constitution to allow itself to garnish our wages in what it calls “taxation.”

June 5, 2013
godfatherpolitics.com

Conservative economist and intellectual Walter Williams’ recent article pulls no punches. The brilliant author pithily explains how our government has perverted the Constitution to allow itself to garnish our wages in what it calls “taxation.”

In what amounts to a “body slam” of the last 100 years of American tax law, he shows the principal problem America has faced over the last century is completely self-inflicted. What would most Americans think if they knew that our Founding Father’s feared the creation of an institution like the IRS?

What would most Americans think if they realized that for more than half of our nation’s life, the income tax was unconstitutional?Met the Enemy_POGO

We lay blame at the feet of the IRS or of other power hungry politicized government agencies like the NEA, the NLRB, and the EPA … but it’s not their fault.

These organizations were created by Congress – and Congress acts on behalf of the will of the people. It’s our fault, America. We deserve the IRS, because we have elected the Congress that gives it its power.

The comic strip “Pogo” comes to mind: “We have met the enemy, and he is us.”

Benghazi, Mon Amour

June 5, 2013
pjmedia.com

Just when you think the farce that goes by the name of the Obama White House couldn’t descend any lower, along comes this:

In a move sure to provoke congressional Republicans, President Obama is nominating embattled U.N. Ambassador Susan E. Rice Wednesday to serve as his national security adviser.

The White House also confirmed that Mr. Obama is nominating former aide Samantha Power, who once referred to Hillary Rodham Clinton as a “monster” in the 2008 Democratic presidential primary, to succeed Ms. Rice as U.N. ambassador.

For those of you scoring at home, that’s not one, not two but three flips of the Obama bird to Congress, the American people and his erstwhile secretary of state, Hillary Clinton. Let’s start at the top.  Read More

‘Everything Is Up for Grabs’: Beck Explains Why World War III Could Be on the Horizon

 

June 4, 2013
theblaze.com

Glenn Beck dedicated the entire hour of his television program Tuesday to the follow-up of what he says got him into “so much trouble” during the so-called Arab Spring: a chalkboard that predicted the protests would cascade, and that radicals would work with Islamists overturn stability.

On Tuesday, Beck told his audience where he believes the road will now lead: World War III.

“The one thing that always gets me in trouble is usually I am way ahead of the game, and I have no perception of time,” Beck said. “I see things on a flat wall. They are coming, but it won’t be tomorrow.”

He added: “I hope with everything in me that I’m wrong, but the pattern of history is incredibly consistent…Everything is up for grabs in the world, and the rush for power is on.”

Beck argued that there are currently three dominant groups:

‘The Caliphate’: “It is the stated goal of Muslim Brotherhood leaders and many far left Islamists to re-establish the Caliphate, the Ottoman Empire, or the global Islamic state,” Beck said, playing video of Islamist leaders across the globe saying just that.

But, he added, this group is divided between Sunni and Shia Muslims. While Sunni Muslims — who dominate much of post-Arab Spring North Africa, Saudi Arabia, and the Muslim Brotherhood — aim to implement an Islamic state, Beck said the radical Shiites who wield influence in places like Iran, Assad’s Syria, and Pakistan are more focused on hastening the return of the twelfth imam. They believe he will only appear when the world is drowned in blood and chaos, so they aim to create those conditions.

“But either way, they both [believe] they control the entire world in the end,” Beck said.

‘The Controllers’: “Whether they are communists, socialists, fascists, progressives, Fabian socialists, bankers, Bilderbergs, Nazis, drug lords, Mayor Bloomberg… ” Beck stated. “[This is] anyone who wants either wants power in their own little fiefdom, or wants to control the planet through the United Nations or whatever. Anyone who wants a slice of that ‘control’ pie.”

He put countries like Russia, China, and North Korea in the “control” category.

‘Those That Just Want to Survive’: But throughout the world, most people aren’t thinking in terms of global domination, Beck said. Most people just want to live their lives, or, depending on where they live, just want enough food and water to get by. Beck put about 90% of the world into this category.

“That, unfortunately, this is the group that loses in the end, because this group is always forced to choose between stuff and sacrifice,” Beck said. “They have to choose sides eventually.” Read More

Locks cut to Boston water supply aqueduct

June 4, 2013
theglobaldispatch.com

 

Locks cut to Boston water supply aqueduct, ‘drinking water does not appear to have been tampered with’

The padlocks to hatches of an aqueduct outside of Boston that supplies drinking water to the metropolitan area were found cut Monday, leading to local concerns after there was a trespassing incident.

Officials say the drinking water does not appear to have been tampered with.

The CBS affiliate is reporting the details, noting that three padlocks were cut from separate access hatches located at approximately half-mile intervals along the aqueduct. Police say there is evidence of an attempt to cut a fourth lock.

State Police are investigating, though they say “there is no evidence of any crime other than vandalism.”

The MWRA says it doesn’t appear anyone tried to tamper with the water supply and there does not appear to be any contamination or changes in water quality.

Last month, State Police stepped up patrols at public water supplies after seven people were caught trespassing at the Quabbin Reservoir in Belchertown.


Published on May 15, 2013

Breaking: "Chemical Engineers" from Pakistan and Saudi Arabia were caught trespassing though police say “there was no evidence that the seven were committing any crime beyond the trespassing.

Video: GOP Rep. Jim Bridenstine’s Amazing One-Minute Destruction Of The Obama Regime On House Floor…

A Shocking Wake Up Call: This Is How Far The Police State Has Come

June 2, 2013
alt-market.com

This article was written by Mac SLavo and originally published at SHTFplan.com

We often talk about the destruction of American values and the rule of Constitutional law as if it were some future event.

What if it’s already too late? What if the police state we fear is coming… is already here?

The evidence is crystal clear, is it not?

This is a shocking wake up call, and one that every American who is denial about the direction in which our Republic is headed needs to see.

It’s been a long time coming.

But tonight, because of what we did on this day, in this election, at this defining moment, change has come to America.

President Barack Obama
November 5, 2008

Ted Cruz: Holder Should Resign "This DOJ Has Shown a Willingness to Disregard the Law"

World War 3 Has Already Begun

stormcloudsgathering.com

Nixon and Obama: Like brothers from another mother

Common Core’ Nationalizes And Dumbs Down Public School Curriculum

May 27, 2013
alt-market.com
By Ron Paul

This article was written by Ron Paul and originally published at Lew Rockwell

In addition to shredding civil liberties, launching a utopian global war for democracy, and going on a spending spree that would make LBJ blush, the so-called “conservative” Bush administration dramatically increased federal control over education via the “No Child Left Behind” act. During my time in Congress I heard nothing but complaints about this law from teachers, administrators, and, most importantly, students and parents. Most of the complaints concerned No Child Left Behind’s testing requirements, which encouraged educators to “teach to the test.”

Sadly, but not surprisingly, instead of improving education by repealing No Child Left Behind’s testing and other mandates, the Obama administration is increasing national control over schools via the “Common Core” initiative. Common Core is a new curriculum developed by a panel of so-called education experts. The administration is trying to turn Common Core into a national curriculum by offering states increased federal education funding if they impose Common Core’s curriculum on their public schools. This is yet another example of the government using money stolen from the people to bribe states into obeying federal dictates. Read More

Obama’s Dangerous Contempt for the Rule of Law

May 27, 2013
bloomberg.com
By Ramesh Ponnuru

Whatever the investigation into misconduct at the Internal Revenue Service reveals, we already have all the evidence we need to understand President Barack Obama’s fundamental attitude toward the rule of law. That evidence is right there in the public record, and what it shows is indifference and contempt.

The Constitution gives the president the power to appoint officials to fill vacancies when the Senate isn’t in session. In 2012, Obama made such “recess appointments” to the National Labor Relations Board and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau -- even though the Senate had stayed in session precisely to keep him from doing so.

Obama’s lawyers argued that the Senate wasn’t really in session even though it claimed to be: It was going through the motions to block Obama, but it wasn’t taking up bills or nominations. No previous president had ever tried this maneuver, and an appeals court has just ruled that it was unconstitutional.

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, the sweeping health-care law that Obama signed in 2010, asks state governments to set up health exchanges, and authorizes the federal government to provide tax credits to people who use those exchanges to get insurance. But most states have refused to establish the online marketplaces, and both the tax credits and many of the law’s penalties can’t go into effect until the states act. Read More

President Obama’s arrogance is undoing his presidency

May 25, 2013
kansascity.com
By Steve Rose
The Kansas City Star

Barack Obama just had his worst week in a deeply flawed presidency.

It’s not as bad as Jimmy Carter’s presidency, but it’s still one that can make even the most right-wing conservative long for Democrat Bill Clinton.

What Barack Obama has lacked from the beginning is humility, and what he has displayed consistently is arrogance.

He could have nipped the Benghazi fiasco in the bud, but Obama apparently decided that since only Fox News was beating the drums for the truth, he could finesse the ugly matter. Instead of coming clean from the get-go, that this was an act of terrorism, Obama stone-walled. Now, he has a bonafide scandal on his hands.

It still is not clear how far up the chain of command it went, possibly to Obama himself, but there was an order for our troops to “stand down” when the Benghazi consulate was under attack. Who gave that order? How much did the president know, when did he know it, and what did he do about it?   Read More

The Age Of Authoritarianism: Government Of The Politicians, By The Military, For The Corporations

May 25, 2013
alt-market.com
By John Whitehead

This article was written by John Whitehead and originally published at LewRockwell.com

“[F]orce alone cannot make us safe. We cannot use force everywhere that a radical ideology takes root; and in the absence of a strategy that reduces the well-spring of extremism, a perpetual war – through drones or Special Forces or troop deployments – will prove self-defeating, and alter our country in troubling ways.” ~ Barack Obama, May 23, 2013

President Obama’s declaration that “America is at a crossroads” in the fight against terror, a fight that is increasingly turning inwards, setting its sights on homegrown extremists, should give every American pause.

We have indeed reached a crossroads. History may show that from this point forward, we will have left behind any semblance of constitutional government and entered into a militaristic state where all citizens are suspects and security trumps freedom. Certainly, this is a time when government officials operate off their own inscrutable, self-serving playbook with little in the way of checks and balances, while American citizens are subjected to all manner of indignities and violations with little hope of defending themselves. We have moved beyond the era of representative government and entered a new age, let’s call it the age of authoritarianism.

Even with its constantly shifting terrain, this topsy-turvy travesty of law and government has become America’s new normal. Don’t believe me? Let me take you on a brief guided tour, but prepare yourself: the landscape is particularly disheartening to anyone who remembers what America used to be. Read More

Lahaina Market Place Cuts Down Its Trees

Just a bit of local news...5/25/13

My hand-painted t-shirt business was located in this beautiful Market Place on Front St. from 1984-2001. The Lahaina Market Place was enchanting, inviting, and oh so refreshing. Not anymore!



May 22, 2013 | 09:06 AM

LAHAINA MARKET PLACE CUTS DOWN ITS TREES

And now we're going to talk a bit about trees–or rather, the act of going up to very old, very beautiful trees and chain-sawing them into sawdust and toothpicks. This is happening, or by this point has happened, at the Lahaina Market Place on Front Street. That little courtyard of shops has been an oasis of shade for decades in Lahaina Town, but no more of that. All of the trees are coming down.
Did I mention at least one of the shop owners in the place is pissed? Did I mention he is supremely pissed?
"It looks like a SCUD missile hit the courtyard," said Scott Picard of Sure Thing Burger. "Lahaina Market Place is a respite for everyone in town. You know how warm it gets. This is where they stopped. They'd smell the food, see the jewelry, see the glass blower. Now that's gone."
No one from Lahaina Market Place management responded to my request for comment (the property owner is the Harry & Jeanette Weinberg Foundation). And one employee of one of the Lahaina Market Place did tell me that one reason for the tree removal was apparently that the roots from the old trees were pushing up the courtyard's bricks (a common enough reason for tree removal). But Picard told me that he received no warning whatsoever that the trees were coming down.
"There were no signs, letters or phone calls," he said. "We had to do a temporary closure. You can't give food away during construction like that. It's like a sawmill when you're cutting these trees down. It was like it was snowing–there was total whiteout."
So, yeah. Those of who liked to duck into Lahaina Market Place and rest under the shade of gentle, ancient trees while window shopping or getting brain freeze from one of Ululani's Shave Ice are now out of luck.
"They could have done a ceremony," Picard told me. "They could have done a million things. Instead, this is an epic event with a disastrous ending."

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