That's Right, I'm A Crazy Motherfucker

At least that's what about half of the morons I have to deal with on a daily basis say.

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FISA And The Verizon Phone Scandal

Quite the shit storm is resulting from the reporting that the NSA is getting the phone records of every Verizon customer in the United States.

Wonder why I italicized that last bit?

Do you know that the court order they are touting came from a very special court that goes by the acronym FISA?

Do you know what FISA stands for? The court in question is named for this;

Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 .

See anything Domestic indicated in that title?

No?

Me neither.

I think a little history lesson is in order here to help frame why I think that not only is this whole program illegal as fuck in the first place, I think the legal fig leaf they are using to justify it is also way the fuck off base.
Take a moment and read the following that I got off Wikipedia, then I am going to dig a little deeper into the actual guidelines and parameters that the FISA court is constrained by and then I will let you make your own judgment call on this.



First, the back ground of where FISA originated and why.

The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) was introduced on May 18, 1977, by Senator Ted Kennedy and was signed into law by President Carter in 1978. The bill was cosponsored by the nine Senators: Birch Bayh, James O. Eastland, Jake Garn, Walter Huddleston, Daniel Inouye, Charles Mathias, John L. McClellan, Gaylord Nelson, and Strom Thurmond.

The FISA resulted from extensive investigations by Senate Committees into the legality of domestic intelligence activities. These investigations were led separately by Sam Ervin and Frank Church in 1978 as a response to President Richard Nixon’s usage of federal resources to spy on political and activist groups, which violates the Fourth Amendment.[4] The act was created to provide Judicial and congressional oversight of the government's covert surveillance activities of foreign entities and individuals in the United States, while maintaining the secrecy needed to protect national security. It allowed surveillance, without court order, within the United States for up to one year unless the "surveillance will acquire the contents of any communication to which a United States person is a party". If a United States person is involved, judicial authorization was required within 72 hours after surveillance begins.

My emphasis.

That's right, they could tap your phone for 3 days before they had to get a warrant.BUT, the original intent was focused on FOREIGN individuals or Foreign governments suspected of terrorist activities and United States citizens were very specifically provided special considerations.
The warrants were actually so rarely denied it was almost a gimmee when asked for and the rate of requests skyrocketed after a few years.

The FISA act was amended several times but it was always centered on foreign suspects.

Let me skip over a bunch of what I was going to point out here, if you want to be more well informed yourself, please take several minutes and go read the whole Wikipedia entry, there is a lot of information there that most folks do not know even exists.

Right now I am going to just go straight for the jugular and quote the Wikipedia entry directly and point out this is why I call Bullshit on their flimsy excuse that they have a court order forcing Verizon and I'm sure all the rest of the Telco's to comply with their blanket wiretapping of United States citizens.

With a court order

Alternatively, the government may seek a court order permitting the surveillance using the FISA court.[20] Approval of a FISA application requires the court find probable cause that the target of the surveillance be a "foreign power" or an "agent of a foreign power", and that the places at which surveillance is requested is used or will be used by that foreign power or its agent. In addition, the court must find that the proposed surveillance meet certain "minimization requirements" for information pertaining to U.S. persons.[21]

There it is in Black and White.

There is a word for this kind of government activity that people get real squeamish when they hear used in this country and that word is Despotism.

des·pot·ism (dsp-tzm)
n.
1. Rule by or as if by a despot; absolute power or authority.
2. The actions of a despot; tyranny.
3.
a. A government or political system in which the ruler exercises absolute power: "Kerensky has a place in history, of a brief interlude between despotisms" (William Safire).
b. A state so ruled.

The orders to carry out these acts had to be authorized at the highest levels of government as it directly affects national security.

I do not want to hear the words, I was unaware or I didn't know come from the leader of this country about this because you and I both know damned good and well this had to have Presidential authority.

I'm sure this was discussed and vetted at Cabinet level and it sounds eerily familiar to the Bush Cabals hunting for a legal precedent of any kind possible to justify torture, except this time it was to spy on virtually every citizen of this country.


This administration has crossed a big line in the sand and stood up on their hind legs and dared anyone to question their authority.

I do believe they will get that wish.

This issue is sure as hell not going to go away and I can see multiple legal challenges on the horizon concerning this matter.

I have zero hope that it will be successfully challenged though as I feel that the Third Branch of our government, The Judiciary, has been completely compromised and has lost it's adherence to it's original reason to exist.

Impartial observance of facts and sound legal judgment using the original framework provided by the Constitution.

Sounds kind of Old Fashioned when it is put in that way but it was meant to stand the test of time.


Unfortunately it has failed miserably to do that.

The fact that the FISA court was used in a back door move to justify this egregious violation of the Fourth Amendment just underscores the lack of integrity and independent thought combined with an unwillingness to stand up to a runaway government that has been so much on display from other court districts throughout our country, including and especially our Supreme Court.


If you can't extrapolate what is being reported far enough ahead to imagine what we are not hearing about then you need to go back to mowing the lawn,

with your teeth.

You Are Getting Very Sleepy.......

Concentraaaate.

When I count to three, you will have an irresistible urge to tell all of your friends to vote for me in the Coolest SOB Blogger contest.


One.


Two.



Oh who in the fuck am I kidding?


I would like to thank any and all who have voted for me.
I was quite amazed to see someone besides my friend who I emailed that did.

After that, it's all gravy and posterity anyway.

It looks like Wirecutter is running away with it,I voted for his ornery ass myself.
Now that the momentary distraction is over I need to get back up to speed and keep my eyes peeled for the latest outrage Du Jour.

It never ends anymore. It seems like every damn day there is another assault on our liberties and sensibilities both.I try to make a swift response to the most egregious ones.

In the mean time,



Have a nice day.

I'm Just Giving Them A Little Head Start

Commenter Steven entered this Blog in the Coolest SOB Blogger contest.
That is very humbling. I certainly would have never even entertained the thought. Thank you for your consideration Steven!
Now that I am in however, it is time to make up some ground.

Look out Wirecutter, Here I come!
LOL!

I would be surprised to see a single vote but who knows?

You can go vote for your favorite Blogger here.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank each and everyone who stops by this little rant hole and especially folks like Wirecutter, Angel, Irish and the III Percent Patriots for sending me so much traffic every day.

All are daily must reads for me and to even be on the same page as them is an honor.

The List Of Keywords DHS monitors on Social Networking Sites

It is a good sized list broken up into categories they define as security areas.
The list is here.
They were forced to release the list after a FOIA request turned into a lawsuit by these guys,the Electronic Privacy Information Center .

The list was posted by the Electronic Privacy Information Center who filed a request under the Freedom of Information Act, before suing to obtain the release of the documents. The documents were part of the department’s 2011 ’Analyst’s Desktop Binder‘ used by workers at their National Operations Center which instructs workers to identify ‘media reports that reflect adversely on DHS and response activities’.

My emphasis.

The article is at Forbes, here.

Can't be having any negative press now can we?

Narcissistic Assholes.

There is a link to a redacted version of this, ’Analyst’s Desktop Binder‘, in the article but I will just give it to you.

So while these paranoid cocksuckers are combing through every fucking Tweet, Facebook post and Email sent every hour of every day, we see just how effective this bullshit is when two fucking clowns detonate two out of ten home made BOMBS (Three guesses if that is a keyword) at the Boston Marathon.


One thing that just occurred to me about about that story.
They had pictures of those two guys planting the two that went off.

I never heard or saw mentioned anything like that about the other ones that didn't.

Hmm.
Something fishy there with the official story line.
Anyways,back to this rat killing adventure.

So the STASI, I mean nice, patriotic do gooders and defenders against all evil doers people at The DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY have been doing this for fucking years now.
Intercepting and STORING, all this electronic correspondence.
Inconceivable amounts of data.

The thing is, they have actually busted a few complete fucking morons, who actually posted their nefarious shit on Facebook.

You gotta be a special kind of stupid motherfucker to post shit like that anywhere, but Facebook?
Really?
Why don't you just turn yourself in and save everyone the trouble if you are that fucking stupid?

So now that we have this list of shit the government keys on, I would like to give voice to an idea that I can't take credit for but is stunningly brilliant in an evil Bond villain kind of way.
(you know who you are you evil fucking genius)


This is actually very simple and easy too, the best kind of evil plan I may add.

Get a copy of this list.
Keep it handy.

Every time you send an Email,post a Tweet ,call someone on your cell phone or post some useless shit on Facebook, add one or two of these words at the end.There are several to choose from obviously and some of them are pretty fucking innocuous.

That way, EVERYTHING gets flagged by DHS.

Let's see just how much computer power and digital storage those motherfuckers really have.

Most of what they monitor just goes straight to storage but if they have to flag every damn thing,that will keep their shit busy as hell and maybe then, they will get it through their thick fucking skulls that trolling the American public without a fucking warrant ain't such a good idea after all.

Now this will surely get me labeled as a Domestic Terrorist, for promoting this idea.
I prefer to call it Self Defense against Tyranny.Intercepting and recording my communications without a warrant is a direct violation of these words;



The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

Just as gun control is a direct violation of the words Shall Not Be Infringed, I am forced to ask yet again,apparently in vain,

just what part of this definitive statement don't you fucking understand?

If our government wants to abandon the rule of law in a one sided argument that it is for our own good then I will scream bullshit at the top of my lungs and remind them that once that compact has been broken by them then we are on a two way street here baby.

The rights I have were not given to me by them and certainly are not subject to the politically expedient argument that it is for "Homeland Security".

Fuck You Jack.

They aren't even pretending anymore. Ours is a rogue government that does whatever it pleases and there are no consequences!



They expect you and I to abide by so many fucking laws that in all reality, no one even knows just how many there actually are anymore and the sonsabitches literally pass more every fucking day.
Yet they actually think that laws are for the little people and they can just ignore the ones that happen to impinge upon their current desires.

Again, Fuck You, Jack.
Play by the rules as they were written and quit trying to rig the game here.

Little by little we are getting more pixels in the big picture of our governments strategy and methodology when it comes to the modern security apparatus.

We keep looking for clear black and white and all we see is a whole lotta gray and they want to keep it that way.




Biosurveillance Integration

I Agree

A Quick Joke

Ya know why women get crows feet wrinkles at the corners of their eyes?

From squinting real hard when they say,
"you want me to suck WHAT?!"

Modesty

It's over rated.

Invisible High Heels

All American And Bad Assed

This thing is so fucking cool I can't hardly stand it.
Sumbitch has a Detroit Diesel tricked out in a chopped old Peterbilt.

Just by looking and listening to it, by experience with those engines, that thing hauls ass.
Guaranteed.
Notice the torque the fucking thing has.

One Less Vote For Gun Control In The Senate

Frank Lautenberg,(D) New Jersey,kicked the bucket at 89. Hew was the last WWII veteran in Congress.
He was also a staunch supporter of gun control.

Lautenberg, 89, missed key Senate votes late last year during a weeks-long absence because of a cold that turned into what he called a "severe case of bronchitis with fluid in the chest." He also battled stomach cancer in recent years.

He announced in a statement in February that he would not seek re-election next year, but he continued to push for stronger gun control laws.

After last month's Boston Marathon bombings, Lautenberg said he would reintroduce legislation to require background checks for sales of explosive powder.


An influential businessman-turned-legislator, Lautenberg scored big victories in Congress, including a ban on smoking on airplanes, preventing domestic abusers from possessing guns, cracking down on drunk driving, and the "Toxic Right to Know" law about the release of pollutants into communities.

We could only be so lucky to see Dianne Feinstein do us the same favor.

Old fuckers like these two who have been in office for many years have a lot of clout.

With Frankie doing us all a favor and becoming room temperature, all that follows him right to the grave.

Good.

I can certainly respect the man for his many years of service to his country but career politicians need to be abolished.

They invariably get corrupted.

Term limits is a subject that very seriously needs to be addressed, the original intent of the founders was for someone to get elected, do a job and then return to private life.

Anyways, so long Frankie.

The gun control zealots must be crying in their beer today.

Pressure On Holder taking A Toll

It seems some of the aides in the Whitehouse are grumbling about all the negativity focused on AG Holder and wish he would just get the fuck down the road.

Holder thought about stepping down after the last election but decided to stay to achieve some of his goals and leave on his own terms but controversy has stuck to him like shit to a fuzzy blanket.

From the New York Times;

If Mr. Holder really thought he could escape controversy, the last few weeks have reinforced how inescapable controversy has become for the nation’s chief law enforcement officer. A furor over tactics in leak investigations, including secretly obtaining phone logs for reporters at The Associated Press and Fox News, has again engulfed the attorney general in allegations, investigations and calls for resignation.

snip

The White House views the attacks on Mr. Holder as a “political agenda” and “would not hasten the departure of someone who’s competent and runs the department and is a friend because there’s a drumbeat,” said William M. Daley, a former White House chief of staff under Mr. Obama. “Whoever Barack Obama puts in there, these people will try to drumbeat him out of there, no matter what.”

But that does not mitigate the frustration of some presidential aides. “The White House is apoplectic about him, and has been for a long time,” said a Democratic former government official who did not want to be identified while talking about friends.

I do believe it to be true that it wouldn't matter who Obama put in the spot that there would be a lot of pressure.
There is also a good fucking reason for that.

One only has to look at the absolute lack of prosecution in the ongoing financial sector criminality.

They are more worried about internal information leaks than they are the continued and blatant economic pillaging going on world wide and based right here in the United States, right under their fucking noses.

Everything else pales in comparison to that.

Fast and furious is a children's game compared to the big banks rigging the LIBOR rate. We are talking about hundreds of trillions of fucking dollars.

Nobody went to jail for that shit and if I recall there was something like SIXTEEN fucking banks in on that scam.

Because the LIBOR rate is basically a British banking system utensil regulators here and in Britain all tried covering their asses which this statement points out so nicely;

The New York Fed and the Bank of England say they didn’t act because they had no responsibility for oversight of Libor. That fell to the British Bankers’ Association, the industry lobbying group that created the rate in 1986 and largely ignored recommendations from central bankers after 2008 to change the way it was computed.

Citibank, J.P. Morgan and Bank of America were right in the middle of that shit.
Those are U.S. based banks which means that the fucking FED had a vested interest in getting involved in that shit and we got bupkiss.

Moving right along, now we find out that the Justice Department got the Associated Press phone records in yet another illegal wiretap situation and now we have the Justice Department investigating the Justice Department.

Somehow they break this news with a straight face.


You're fucking right Holder should step down.

Until the political pressure and the possible fallout gets to be too much to bear, I don't see Obama bailing on his BFF but politics can be a fickle business and if the cost gets too high you can bet your homesick ass Obama would stick his hand out in a second looking for his resignation.

Politicians are always more concerned about their own interests above all else.

Now that the fact that certain people are already measuring the guy up for his liabilities has been made public, you can expect the pressure to come hard to finish him.

What A Difference A Year Makes

Yep, today is an anniversary of sorts.

One year ago today I went on my last, epic, drunk.

Tomorrow is the anniversary of being sober for one year.

No meetings, no support groups, I just don't drink anymore by sheer willpower and the Grace of God.

Don't get me wrong, I do have my moments when chugging a couple of ice cold beers is almost irresistible but I know from experience that once I start, I don't stop until I pass out.

Watch this guy in the video for a laugh and then think about what I am about to say, I have been so drunk it makes this clown look like a rookie.

I used to black out and still function.

Wake up wondering where the fuck I was at and how the fuck I got there.

I was drinking a fifth of straight whiskey and chasing it with beer every fucking day.

I weigh about one fifty/sixty.

That's hardcore, I don't give a fuck who y'are.

Puke?

I would puke every morning and it got so bad I was puking in anything handy day and night.

I still got up and went to work almost every day too.

They call that functional alcoholism and I was fucking good at it.

I have pretty much lost everything I ever had because of it too.

A marriage, two houses, totaled over thirty cars and have had so many car , motorcycle and personal accidents I have literally lost count but it is well over a hundred by now.It's called being out of control except I called it life as usual.

One year ago I crossed a big line and came close to losing everything again. My wife especially.

That was enough.

I don't want to lose her, she is the best thing that ever happened to me so I sat down with a hangover that would kill a mere mortal and did a little soul searching.

I think I made the right decision.

I can see a lot of changes in my life and it ain't always a bowl of cherries but it is a damn sight better than I probably deserve.I look back at some of my older rants and just laugh now.

I have shit to do so I'm going to go do it instead of thinking about it and looking at it through the bottom of a bottle.

Thanks fer stopping by.

Cross posted at my other Blog.
Ornery Bastard.

Not At My House

But I do check every morning, just in case.