Homeland Security Kiboshes Domestic Spying Initiative
June 25th, 2009 by Russ
In the 1998 campy terror-thriller, Enemy of the State, Will Smith is constantly admonished by Gene Hackman to avoid looking up for fear of having his face recognized by a CIA domestic spy satellite.
Truth, as they say, is stranger than fiction. Not only was a 2007 domestic surveillance program designed right out of the paranoid mind’s eye of the film, it had been in the works for nearly three years before sane officials shut it down.
Homeland Security Chief Janet Napolitano announced Wednesday that she is putting an end to a little known and highly reviled program designed to use spy-satelites to track the activities of American citizens. Innocuously called the National Applications Office, the program allowed local and federal law enforcement to access spy-satellite images in surveillance efforts that were both warrantless and without probable cause.
Brazenly proposed by Bush Administration toadies in 2007, the program has raised the ire of privacy-advocates and public servants-alike. In fact, in October of that year, Congress filed an injunction to prevent its funding or operation. Its charter wasn’t officially signed until February 2008.
Since then, Napolitano said her department had conducted a five-month review of the program, and had already gotten bored of peeping on naked citizens through open skylights.
In the words of Will Smith’s Gene Hackman’s character, Brill:
The government’s been in bed with the entire telecommunications industry since the forties. They’ve infected everything. They get into your bank statements, computer files, email, listen to your phone calls… Every wire, every airwave. The more technology used, the easier it is for them to keep tabs on you. It’s a brave new world out there. At least it’d better be.
And so, the National Applications Office is relegated to the dustbin of history, while mass wiretapping, drone aircraft surveillance programs, and library card tracking aggregators continue to invade the privacy of US citizens.
MPP Grades Bush’s War on Drugs: F
January 5th, 2009 by PerryDespite the administration’s claims that overall drug use is down more than 20 percent, the Marijuana Policy Project is not impressed. For continuing failed policies, the MPP gave the Bush administration an F on the report card.
Watch the video to see their justification.
Overall Teen Drug Use Down?
December 12th, 2008 by Perry
At a meeting with several drug prevention leaders and spokesmen for recovery, Bush announced three new studies conducted by his administration; one study pertaining to teenage drug use, and the others in regards to cocaine abuse and availability.
Bush also announced that overall drug use among youths has declined 25 percent since 2001, based on a Michigan study. The results have not shown any sort of decrease as of late, but the numbers trend a seven-year decline Bush used as proof of the effectiveness in prevention and treatment programs, as well as an ability to disrupt drug supply. Although “mild bother” might be a better word for the administration’s efforts at drug trade disruption.
The article also notes the use of drugs such as ecstasy, steroids and marijuana, did not statistically change.
Joseph A. Califano, Jr., director for the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University, said:
Marijuana is as available to teenagers in this country as candy.
It’s not a coincidence that this is coming during Bush’s “legacy tour” as he has less and less impact on policy and, instead, continues to eulogize accomplishments during his 2 terms. Unfortunately, cherry picking studies that apply to small areas of the country doesn’t exactly cement a successful tenure when it comes to drug prevention.
Tommy Chong Prosecutor Won’t Resign
December 9th, 2008 by Alex
It looks like the soon-to-be outed vestiges of the Bush administration are digging in their claws and not leaving without causing some discomfort first.
Breaking from the custom of leaving service once a new administration takes office, US Attorney Mary Beth Buchanan has indicated she will not resign from her position.
Not sure who Mary Beth Buchanan is? She’s the one who spent $12 million of tax payer money prosecuting Tommy Chong (and other paraphernalia sellers) via the federal government’s Operation Pipe Dreams.
The sting, its effects and underlying causes were chronicled in the award winning documentary a/k/a Tommy Chong – which is now playing on Showtime.
Luckily, US Attorney personnel decisions (including all hiring & firing) are under the full authority of the President. Buchanan’s unwillingness to follow tradition in no way means she’ll be staying at her position for the upcoming years, but she will definitely be a thorn in Obama’s side if he plans to remove her immediately.
We’ll keep you posted.
