MozillaQuest the on-line computer magazine

27 February, 2006

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Renewing the Un-Patriot Act is the wrong thing to do!

Patriot Act Bad for Internet Users -- Kill it!

Oust the U. S. Representatives and Senators who vote for the Patriot Act

. . . the Patriot Act affects anyone using the Internet and everyone reading this Web page now. That means the Patriot Act affects you! And that means the Patriot Act is bad for you if you value your privacy, your freedom, or your liberty! . . .

If you love America. If you are an American Patriot. Then you should and must do everything you can do to fight renewal of the Patriot Act and to oust every Senator and Congressperson who votes for renewal of the Patriot Act!

MozillaQuest Magazine Op-ED

27 February 2006 (C)

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"Those who would give up essential liberty for temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." (Ben Franklin) Congress has given up our essential liberty supposedly for safety. Thus if we do not stop Congress from renewing the dastardly Patriot Act, we deserve neither safety nor liberty. Renewing the Un-Patriot Act is the wrong thing to do! (Junk the Un-Patriotic, Patriot Act, MozillaQuest Magazine, 15 December 2005)

Switch from the MS Windows operating system to the GNU-Linux operating system

To learn why Linux is so much a better choice than is Microsoft Windows, please see our article Gaël Duval Tells Why Mandrake Linux Is Better Than MS Windows

Also, please see our article Solutions for Identity, Credit Card, Bank Account, and Personal Information Theft - Part I: Overview.

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Creating a Personal or Company Budget with OpenOffice/StarOffice Calc - Part 1: Basics

Bush Abuses

Here are some examples of Bush abuses of laws and resolutions.

(1) The Bush regime conned the United Nations into passing some resolutions to help to push Hussein to comply with the U.N. WMD inspections. Apparently none of the U.N. people thought Bush would use these resolutions as a pretense to invade Iraq, at least without going back to the U.N. for an actual resolution specifically approving a U. S. invasion of Iraq. But Bush did invade Iraq under false premises and he abused the U. N. resolution to do that. Now the rest of the World no longer trusts the United States because of this abuse.

(2) Likewise with the Congressional use of military force resolution regarding Iraq. Congress passed the Authorization for Use of Military Force in Iraq bill to give some teeth to Bush's diplomatic efforts to get Saddam Hussein to comply with weapons inspections. Instead Bush abused that resolution to rush to war with Iraq.

(3) It's the same thing with the NSA domestic spying debacle. Bush is abusing the military force resolution regarding Iraq and Article II of the U. S. Constitution to use the NSA to spy on Americans without first obtaining search warrants, which are required by the U. S. Constitution.

Amidst a background of secret deals between the Bush administration and U.S. Senators, it looks as though the Senate is going to pass the horrible, un-constitutional, and un-American Patriot Act this week. What a shame! What a tragedy!

At issue are 16 sections of the Patriot Act that were set to expire at the end of 2005. However, several temporary extensions have kept those 16 sections of the Patriot Act alive.

Unfortunately the Senate Republicans did not have the patriotism to let them die. And the Senate Democrats did not have the courage to maintain a filibuster that would have killed those 16 sections of the Patriot Act. What a shame! What a tragedy!

"The USA PATRIOT Act broadly expands law enforcement's surveillance and investigative powers and represents one of the most significant threats to civil liberties, privacy and democratic traditions in U.S. history." (The USA PATRIOT Act, Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF). Link in the Resources section at the end of this article.)

The Patriot Act Affects You

Many of these offensive provisions of the Patriot Act involve the use of electronic technoloy such as the Internet. They allow the U. S. Government to eavesdrop and to spy on Internet and telephonic activities of Americans.

Thus, the Patriot Act affects anyone using the Internet and everyone reading this Web page now. That means the Patriot Act affects you! And that means the Patriot Act is bad for you if you value your privacy, your freedom, or your liberty!

The Un-Patriot Act is an attack on free (as in freedom, liberty, and privacy -- not as in free beer) use and enjoyment of the Internet including e-mail, messaging, chat, Web surfing, forums, and many other Internet services. (Junk the Un-Patriotic, Patriot Act, MozillaQuest Magazine, 15 December 2005)

Bush Regime Will Misuse the Patriot Act

In addition to the obviously obnoxious provisions of the Patriot Act, what are the offensive hidden provisions of the Patriot Act? And how will the Bush regime misuse those provisions?

Consider the Patriot Act in conjunction with the Bush government using the NSA (National Security Agency) to secretly spy on Americans without search warrants, which is against the applicable provisions of FISA (Federal Intelligence Surveillance Act) and the United States Constitution.
Consider the Bush regime quietly allowing the sale of certain U. S. Port operations to an Arab country with terrorist ties in violation of the laws relating to CFIUS (Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States) -- until CNNs Lou Dobbs exposed that.
Consider that Bush and company repeatedly get a legislative body to pass legislation or a resolution for which that body is led to believe the item means one thing -- and then the Bush regime uses that legislation or resolution to justify unauthorized activities.

It's almost a parallel to Murphy's Law and its corollary:

If something can go wrong, it will and
- something always can go wrong.
If Bush can abuse a law or resolution, he will and
- a Bush-sponsored law or resolution always can be abused.

Don't Trust George Bush or His Regime

Moreover, it now is pretty darn clear that you cannot trust President Bush or his people. Just a few examples of Bush lies are:

Iraq has WMD (weapons of mass destruction),
Brownie you are doing a good job,
All wiretaps are conducted under search warrants,
Mission accomplished
The U.S has enough troops in Iraq to get the job done,
Denying the torture of Arab detainees and prisoners,
Etc., etc., etc.

So why should we trust George Bush or his people when it comes to the Patriot Act? The answer is simple: we should not!

Some Patriot Act Cons

NPR (National Public Radio) has an interesting analysis of some of the 16 Patriot Act sections that are at issue, The Patriot Act: Key Controversies by Larry Abramson and Maria Godoy (14 February 2006). It lists the pros and the cons for each of the analyzed sections of the Patriot Act. (Links in Resources section at end of article.)

Considering the Bush track record, figure the con is what will happen if the Patriot Act is extended. And you can take con to mean either swindle or bad things or both when it comes to the Bush regime and the Patriot Act!

For example, regarding Information Sharing the con is: Critics warn that unrestricted sharing could lead to the development of massive databases about citizens who are not the targets of criminal investigations.
For Roving Wiretaps the con is: Critics say the language of the act could lead to privacy violations of anyone who comes into casual contact with a suspect.
For Access to Records the con is: Critics attack the breadth of the provision, saying the law could be used to demand the reading records of library or bookstore patrons.
For Foreign Intelligence Wiretaps and Searches the con is: Because foreign intelligence probes are conducted in secret, with little oversight, critics say abuses could be difficult to uncover.
For "Sneak & Peek" Warrants the con is: Critics say the provision allows the use of "sneak and peek" warrants for even minor crimes, not just terror and espionage cases. [Parking and traffic tickets are minor crimes. Ed.]
For Material Support the con is: Critics say the provision could lead to guilt by association. (Ibid.)

Additionally, be wary of:

The 'Lone Wolf' Provision

Section 6001 of the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 allows intelligence investigations of lone terrorists not connected to a foreign nation or organization.

While not part of the Patriot Act, this provision also sunsets on Dec. 31 and is under review. Civil liberties groups say the provision could sweep in protesters and those suspected of involvement in domestic terrorism. Language passed by the Senate Intelligence Committee would make this section permanent. (Ibid.)

Patriot Act Violates Spirit and Letter of U.S. Constitution

Of course we need to stop terroristic attacks against America and Americans. But we need to do that within the letter and the spirit of our U. S. Constitution and our Bill of Rights. There is absolutely no compelling reason that Bush and his regime need to violate the letter or the spirit of our U. S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights in order to protect America and Americans from the Arab terrorists.

However, the Patriot Act violates the spirit, if not the letter, of our U. S. Constitution and our Bill of Rights. And it violates the natural rights and freedoms of all mankind! Therefore the U. S. Senate should and must vote against extending the Patriot Act. Any Senator who votes for the Patriot Act is un-patriotic and afraid to stand up to the tyranny of the Bush regime!

Kill the Patriot Act

The Un-Patriot Act must be thrown out and allowed to die. If any of its provisions are really necessary to fight terrorism, they can be included in a new bill built from the ground up -- rather than a poorly patched Un-Patriot Act.

The current Patriot Act is nothing but dysfunctional FUD. And whatever they call the new bill, they should not call it a Patriot Act. Renewing the Un-Patriot Act is the wrong thing to do!

You can and must take immediate action to stop making the Un-Patriot Act permanent. To do that call, email, snail mail and/or telegraph your U. S. Senators and Congress people now! Or do all of those things.

Tell your U. S. Senators and Congressperson that if they vote in favor of making the Un-Patriot Act permanent, you will vote against them whenever they run for re-election! Renewing the Un-Patriot Act is the wrong thing to do! [MozillaQuest Magazine will compile, publish, and maintain a list of all the Senate and Congress traitors that have already or do vote to renew the Patriot Act.]

And tell them if they vote against making the Un-Patriot Act permanent, they will be doing the right thing and you will vote for them whenever they run for re-election! Throwing out the Un-Patriot Act is the right thing to do!

If your U. S. Representative voted in favor of making the Un-Patriot Act permanent, tell him or her unless he or she moves for reconsideration and then votes against making the Un-Patriot Act permanent, you will vote against him or her whenever he or she runs for re-election! Renewing the Un-Patriot Act is the wrong thing to do!

If your U. S. Representative voted against making the Un-Patriot Act permanent, tell him or her that was the right thing to do and you will vote for him or her whenever he or she runs for re-election! Throwing out the Un-Patriot Act is the right thing to do!

You can get the names, addresses, and phone numbers of your U. S. Senators and your U. S. Representative from the House and Senate Web sites. Renewing the Un-Patriot Act is the wrong thing to do! l

For more detail and information about the Patriot Act and why renewing the Un-Patriot Act is the wrong thing to do, please see the resources listed below.