The Digital Dispatch

From NOEBIE.net

Freedom

Innocent Americans’ Data Will Now Be Kept Five Years

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Americans’ private data to be kept 5 years. [UPI.com] – Attorney General Eric Holder signed guidelines Thursday that, among other things, expand from 180 days to five years the time the National Counterterrorism Center may keep private information about Americans not suspected of having ties to terrorism, The New York Times reported.

The guidelines also will allow the center to make more copies of entire databases and study them by using complex algorithms to search for patterns indicative of a threat, intelligence officials said.

The Crisis of Civilization

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The Crisis of Civilization is a documentary about the end of the Industrial Age based on the book by Nafeez Mosaddeq Ahmed. Director Dean Puckett and Animator Lucca Benney remix, interweave and otherwise mashup clips and images from far and wide to illustrate Ahmed’s narration.

The film provides compelling evidence that the many crises facing us in our day are all interrelated manifestations of a single failing global system. The question is not whether there should be dramatic changes to our way of life. For better or worse, change is already upon us. The question is whether we can find a way to sustain human life and liberty in the coming age.

Our days of denial are coming to a close.

Big Brother’s Secret Legal Theory

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I wish I could tell you more about the government’s “secret legal theory” that allows them to spy on you, but it’s – you know – a secret.

Democratic Senators Warn About Use of Patriot Act. [NYTimes.com] – WASHINGTON — For more than two years, a handful of Democrats on the Senate intelligence committee have warned that the government is secretly interpreting its surveillance powers under the Patriot Act in a way that would be alarming if the public — or even others in Congress — knew about it.

On Thursday, two of those senators — Ron Wyden of Oregon and Mark Udall of Colorado — went further. They said a top-secret intelligence operation that is based on that secret legal theory is not as crucial to national security as executive branch officials have maintained.

Inside HR 347

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Though many believe that HR347 was enacted specifically to quell the growing tide of protest, some think it simply gives legal weight to policies long in practice.

Inside that new anti-Occupy bill. [Salon.com] – HR 347 makes it a prosecutable offense to knowingly, and without lawful authority, enter “(1) the White House or its grounds or the Vice President’s official residence or its grounds, (2) a building or grounds where the President or other person protected by the Secret Service is or will be temporarily visiting, or (3) a building or grounds so restricted due to a special event of national significance.”

Keep Those Videocams Rolling

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Judge declares Illinois’ eavesdropping law unconstitutional. [ChicagoTribune.com] – A Cook County judge on Friday declared the state’s controversial eavesdropping law unconstitutional, securing an important victory for activists who want to videotape the police in public but muddying the legal waters as the city gears up for potentially thousands of demonstrators for the NATO summit in May.

Snipers and Aerial Surveillance Ready for G8 Chicago

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Face Masks, Snipers and Aerial Surveillance: Chicago’s Newest Anti-Protest Measures Revealed. [Truthout] – Each time a new measure that the city of Chicago is preparing for the coming NATO and G8 summits is unveiled, the tension in the city ratchets up a notch. The latest news comes in the form of reports that Chicago has purchased face shields, and may be considering the implementation of airborne surveillance technology.

Why Chris Hedges is Suing Barack Obama

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Somehow I missed this article last week. God bless Chris, and his efforts.

Chris Hedges: Why I’m Suing Barack Obama. [Truthdig] – I spent many years in countries where the military had the power to arrest and detain citizens without charge. I have been in some of these jails. I have friends and colleagues who have “disappeared” into military gulags. I know the consequences of granting sweeping and unrestricted policing power to the armed forces of any nation. And while my battle may be quixotic, it is one that has to be fought if we are to have any hope of pulling this country back from corporate fascism.