Register to vote, and send Voltage to play at the Democratic National Convention.  We have songs that are perfect for the event already written, and I am already the number one democrat at the DNC.

sorry, PB formatting strikes again. go read!

hmmmm. I'm sure nobody here has ever been a little late paying the phone bill, but evidently the FBI has a problem. The phone companies have disconnected some of their wiretaps. 

FBI Assistant Director Jim Miller has a good line. I think I'll use it next time I need to postpone a payment:

the FBI "will not tolerate financial mismanagement"

has a nice ring, don't you think? If the phone company calls me up, I'll shout "What!?!?!!? This is INTOLERABLE!. We will not tolerate financial mismanagement!

"It sounds as though the telecoms believe it when the FBI says the warrant is in the mail, but not when they say the check is in the mail," said German, a former FBI agent.

Perhaps this is one reason the FBI resorted to NSLs instead. Hey, there's no judicial oversight, you get all the info you need, and scare the poo out of anyone at will. A real bargain at 41 cents.

Robert Mueller, Director of the FBI, testified to the Senate Judiciary Committee that the FBI abused the National Security Letters.

Inspector General Glenn A. Fine reported a year ago that the FBI used such letters -- which are not subject to a court's review -- to improperly obtain telephone logs, banking records and other personal records of thousands of Americans from 2003 to 2005. An internal FBI audit also found that the bureau potentially violated laws or agency rules more than 1,000 times in such cases.

What's a Security Letter?

A National Security Letter (NSL) is a form of administrative subpoena used by the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation and reportedly by other U.S. Government Agencies including the Central Intelligence Agency and the Department of Defense. It is a demand letter issued to a particular entity or organization to turn over various record and data pertaining to individuals. They require no probable cause or judicial oversight. They also contain a gag order, preventing the recipient of the letter from disclosing that the letter was ever issued. --wiki

Why all the sudden publicity about NSL? Is it 'over'? I don't think so. Congress had a chance to do something, but they somehow missed that opportunity. The FBI wants to set up an office to internally police it. You gotta laugh. Everybody in Government wants to police themselves.

"Just trust us!", they say.

I say,  " Forget it, Jack."

As the sign says, " In God We Trust -all others pay cash" (and get warrants).

This is a Patriot Act you can support for a change. Some very fine Senate Democrats, namely Barack Obama, Sherrod Brown (D-OH), and Dick Durbin (D-IL), have sponsored this legislation, which 'incentivizes decency' for transnational American corporations. There is currently a version in both houses, and the House version ( H. R. 3319, The Patriot Corporations Act) has these interesting

REQUIREMENTS- A corporation meets the requirements of this subparagraph, with respect to any taxable year, if such corporation --

produces in the United States at least 90 percent of the goods and services sold by such corporation during such taxable year,

does not provide compensation to any management personnel of such corporation at a level of compensation which exceeds 10,000 percent of the level of compensation of the full-time employee of such corporation with the lowest level of compensation during such taxable year,

conducts at least 50 percent of the research and development conducted by such corporationduring such taxable year (determined on the basis of cost) in the United States,

has contributed at least 5 percent of wages paid by the corporation during the taxable year to a portable pension fund for the benefit of employees of the corporation ,

has paid at least 70 percent of the cost of a standardized health insurance plan for the benefit of employees of the corporation during such taxable year,

has maintained at all times during such taxable year neutrality in employee organizing drives and has in effect a policy to that effect,

provides full differential salary and insurance benefits for all National Guard and Reserve employees who are called to active duty,

has not been (at any time during such taxable year) in violation of appropriate Federal regulations including those related to the environment, workplace safety, labor relations, and consumer protections, as determined by the Secretary, and

has not been in violation of any other regulations specified by the Secretary.

The two bills are currently in committee, but I for one am hopeful of seeing some form of protection for American workers emerge for a vote once we have a Democrat in the White House.

House Sponsors:

Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), Phil Hare (D-IL), Betty Sutton (D-OH), Nancy Boyda (D-KS), Jerry Mcnerney (D-CA), Steven Kagan (D-WI), Keith Ellison (D-FL), Tim Ryan (D-OH), Dale Kildee (D-MI), Hilda Solis (D-CA), Michael Michaud (D-ME), Lynn Woolsey (D-CA), Danny Davis (D-IL), and Jesse Jackson, Jr. (D-IL)

In its latest major invasion of our privacy on the behalf of corporate data-miners, the Administration has decided that tax preparers can sell or give your tax returns to anyone. No restrictions on use. No restrictions, period.
 
Be very careful indeed what you sign or initial this year, or you could well find all your personal details published on the internet (or worse), complete with SSN.

Think Progress has the story.

The new proposal allows the tax preparers –- from your local accountant to giants such as H&R Block –- to get your signature and then give or sell the full tax return to data brokers, to your boss, to anyone. And there are absolutely no restrictions about what recipients do with the returns. The rule lets recipients post the full return to the Internet if they want.

Globalization And Democracy: Some Basics By Michael Parenti 05/27/07 "ICH" ---

-- The goal of the transnational corporation is to become truly transnational, poised above the sovereign power of any particu­lar nation, while being served by the sovereign powers of all nations. Cyril Siewert, chief financial officer of Colgate Palmol­ive Company, could have been speaking for all transnationals when he remarked, “The United States doesn’t have an automatic call on our [corporation’s] resources. There is no mindset that puts this country first.”[i]

Came across this article last night, and it was so well written I wanted to share it with our group here. Not long, and very much worth the time.

The FISA travesty, to my mind at least, is part and parcel of a much bigger and more ominous picture - globalization. Coopting Industry into the most sensitive inner workings of our government seems to show yet again that our Government has ABDICATED its responsibility to the People in favor of privatization, or in other words, a 'bloodless coup' of epic proportions has been taking place right under our noses for many years. It's time to rise up and draw the line in the sand. (Before there's a 'No Trespassing' sign on the sand)

The FBI definition of white collar crime is this:

 "those illegal acts which are characterized by deceit, concealment, or violation of trust and which are not dependent upon the application or threat of physical force or violence"

The Telecoms, by this definition, are guilty as charged! The Administration, which persuaded them to commit such an egregious violation, is the prime conspirator. Two thirds of Congress, the FBI, the NSA, and the Executive are all working overtime to protect Ma Bell...who is working overtime for US?

I am making a proposal here to have a nationwide 'Telecom Strike'. After the sad, sad support the FISA Bill got in the Senate, I feel the only voice left is that of the people themselves.

If we have ONE day where all computers shut down, all phones cease, even ATM and credit transactions stop - we can effectively look AT&T in the eye and say,

"Up yours, Jack".  

NO MORE SPYING

No MORE IMMUNITY FOR CRIMINAL ACTS.

This retroactive immunity ploy effectively gives ANY Executive the power to do ANYTHING he likes in the future - because then he can grant all his henchmen 'immunity' after the fact. Please sign the petition at Firedoglake. 

It isn't over.  We are pushing members of the House to stand firm against telecom immunity -- please take a little time to sign the petition here.  Have you called your Representative today? 

Gonzales may be gone, but the the US Attorneys are still functioning as a GOP political hit squad, and nowhere is this more evident than in my own state of Alabama.

Our former Democratic Governor, Don Siegelman, is currently sitting in prison under a gag order, while our Republican Senator, Jeff Sessions, has been tasked with destroying one of the witnesses who can prove the political motivation behind his prosecution. CBS has recently killed the story on Jill Simpson and Don Siegelman, citing a need to 'further vet' her character and her testimony.

 The GOP 'war strategy' to take back the legislature has now claimed a fesh victim - a 63 year old retired school teacher named Sue Schmitz.

 

Harper's, Feb. 1, 2008

by Scott Horton

Another Election Season; Another Political Prosecution in Alabama 

The morning calm in the small Alabama town of Toney, located near Huntsville, was broken at 6:15 a.m. yesterday morning. A team of five FBI agents, accompanied by a prison matron, pounded on the door. When the man of the house answered, he was forced into the yard, shirtless in the early morning cold. The team had come for his wife, Sue Schmitz. She was dragged out of her bathroom, where she was taking a shower, handcuffed, breaking her flesh and scraping her wrists, and hustled off to prison.

Who was this threat to the community? Sue Schmitz is a diminutive, 63-year-old retired social studies teacher who has lived in the town for 38 years, roughly 20 of them as a civics teacher. She is loved in the community and among her students is legendary for her passion for civics and her outreach to the disadvantaged. The dream of her life was to let the fire of civic spirit catch on in communities and among families on the margin of society, where the danger of drug abuse and criminality are the highest. She dedicated her life to it. She launched a program called “We the People,” designed to build civic spirit and interest in participatory democracy among school children. And Sue Schmitz’s advocacy of civic engagement led directly to her conflict with U.S. Attorney Alice Martin, who considers it to be criminal. But one other fact figures directly in this drama. Schmitz is a Democratic member of the state legislature.

As an interesting aside, I'll also mention that Ben Lodmell, Democratic candidate for Congress AL-01 (this district is the same one occupied by Sen. Sessions and represented in congress by Jo Bonner (R-AL), has amazingly found himself being booked for 'soliciting a prostitute'. Within minutes of this, the media had the full story, and the undercover police officer has yet to tell us who put her up to it. I don't think it takes Sherlock Holmes to figure this one out.

There's a war on in Bama - and the bad guys have the Governor and the US Attorney's Office on THEIR side. 

With this blog the 100,000 point level has been broken, and even though the points do not covert to cash they do show how much work you can do. If I the dial up boy can top 100,000 point level in six months then I know everyone else can do it too, so the more all of you use this website the more our right to freedom of speech is exercised. Please contribute your efforts as much as possible here, and rock n’ roll this country back to a democracy that we can all be truly proud to say is the best.

From my understanding there is a need for poll watchers needed for the polls on 02-05-08, and if you are interested you need to contact either me to pass it on to the person that got me into it here in Missouri, or you should contact someone locally ASAP. I do not know which states are in need of poll watchers, or exactly which polling places need them, but I will post a list of states below that are voting on 02-05-08.

Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Utah

Lodmell's campaign is opening headquarters in Mobile, home of Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Bush Bot Extraordinaire.

AL02 has acquired Bobby Bright

A reminder to AL voters from Kathy:

Vote with care.  Although Tuscaloosa County machines flag errors and allow voters to recast erroneous ballots, the tickets present several opportunities to make mistakes. A vote won’t count if Democratic delegates who are not committed to the candidate chosen are selected.

Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-ND) and Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-ME) are co-sponsoring S.215 "to amend the Communications Act of 1934 to ensure Network Neutrality."

Known as the Internet Freedom Preservation Act, this bill will protect us from the travesty proposed by the Telecoms, which would allow them to become information gatekeepers rather than simple conduits. In other words, the telecoms want to turn the Information Superhighway into a toll road.

They argue that they have the right to do that because they own the communications infrastructure and need to recover their costs. They leave out the fact that they are subsidized, and have been for decades, by the American taxpayer to provide these services, some of which have yet to appear on the rural market.

I applaud this effort, and applaud all the Senators who are currently sponsoring the bill.  Co-sponsors include:

Mr. KERRY, Mrs. BOXER, Mr. HARKIN, Mr. LEAHY, Mrs. CLINTON, Mr. OBAMA, and Mr. WYDEN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.

Not all the Democrats are spineless wimps, or the servants of Corporate Giants like AT&T. Byron Dorgan is on the job. Please contact your state senator and urge them to support this vital legislation. You have everything to gain, and a free internet to lose. 

a real American. Now he's being assailed by a Democrat for his seat in Congress. The power structure wants Dennis gone yesterday. Keep 'em awake - go to Kucinich.us and drop a couple of bucks in the hat to help Dennis maintain his presence in Congress. He fights for ALL of us, not just OH residents.

I'll miss you, Dennis. One thing for sure -you're never boring! ^o^ 

Just look back over the last twenty years there has never been a single month with deflation, and millions of Americans do not make a penny more in wages really.