From: "James O. Whitlock" Subject: Date: Sat, 31 May 2003 14:25:52 -0400 Organization: Buffalo Peace People MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: multipart/alternative; boundary="----=_NextPart_000_0036_01C32780.92C50B30" X-Priority: 3 X-MSMail-Priority: Normal X-Unsent: 1 X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V5.50.4522.1200 This is a multi-part message in MIME format. ------=_NextPart_000_0036_01C32780.92C50B30 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable THE ATTACK ON FREEDOM MoveOn Bulletin Friday, May 30, 2003 Co-Editors: Tai Moses and Rachel Neumann, AlterNet=20 Subscribe online at: http://www.moveon.org/moveonbulletin/=20 CONTENTS: 1. Wes Boyd: Freedom is Our Strength 2. Rachel Neumann: Your Rights and Liberties: Use Them or Lose Them 3. Matt Welch: Get Ready for Patriot II 4. Tram Nguyen: Immigrant Families Condemn Racial Targeting 5. Jason Halperin: Patriot Raid 6. Farai Chideya: Getting Ashcrofted 7. Kari Lydersen: Selling Civil Liberties 8. Karen Charman: Environmentalists =3D Terrorists 9. Nat Hentoff: Liberty Vanishes While the Press Sleeps 10. Annalee Newitz: Surveillance 101 11. Jim Hightower: Shredding Ashcroft 12. About the Bulletin=20 ------------------------------=20 -->AlterNet: The Intelligent Alternative Want to stay abreast of the Bush administration's attack on civil = liberties? Looking for an alternative to corporate mainstream media? At = AlterNet you'll find news you can use from sources you can trust, as = well as a lively variety of views and voices. Visit us and subscribe to = AlterNet's Rights & Liberties free email newsletter, or any of our other = newsletters: http://email.alternet.org/?p=3Dsubscribe=20 ------------------------------=20 FREEDOM IS OUR STRENGTH=20 MoveOn Bulletin Op-Ed by Wes Boyd In 1814, the British marched on Washington and burned down the White = House. In World War II, the United States fought a virulent fascism that = took tens of millions of lives. During the cold war, we faced down tens = of thousands of nuclear-tipped missiles pointed directly at our cities. = These conflicts struck at the very heart of our survival as a nation.=20 Although there have always been men who call for dictatorial powers in = times of crisis, our Bill of Rights survived these threats intact = because our leaders knew that these freedoms are the foundation of our = strength as a nation and must be protected.=20 Today we hear from the Bush administration that freedom must be traded = for security -- that unless we cede our rights as citizens to the proper = authorities, we will never be safe. Showing no historical perspective, = callow pundits claim that the threats we face today are overwhelming = compared to anything in the past.=20 Luckily, Americans are made of sterner stuff. We'll continue to protect = freedom, and it will make us strong.=20 ------------------------------=20 YOUR RIGHTS AND LIBERTIES: USE THEM OR LOSE THEM Rachel Neumann, AlterNet The administration's attack on civil liberties is so overblown as to = seem surreal. And if that weren't enough, currently proposed legislation = would increase the PATRIOT Act's powers. Our right to think and speak = for ourselves, without fear of spying neighbors, surveillance cameras or = retaliation, is gravely threatened and only our collective and = coordinated resistance will stop that threat. http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=3D16014=20 ------------------------------=20 GET READY FOR PATRIOT II Matt Welch, AlterNet The first USA PATRIOT Act was written, passed and signed into law within = seven weeks of 9/11. As a result, the government gained new power to = wiretap phones, confiscate property of suspected terrorists, spy on its = own citizens without judicial review, conduct secret searches and snoop = on the reading habits of library users. Now Attorney General John = Ashcroft wants to finish the job. http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=3D15541=20 ------------------------------=20 IMMIGRANT FAMILIES CONDEMN RACIAL TARGETING Tram Nguyen, ColorLines RaceWire A series of "Public Truth" forums planned around the country highlight = the impact of the war on terrorism and national security on the lives of = immigrants, refugees and communities of color. Despite widespread fear = in their communities, participants are outspoken in condemning the = policies and practices that have unjustly targeted them. http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=3D15943=20 ------------------------------=20 PATRIOT RAID Jason Halperin, AlterNet Loaded guns pointed in faces, people made to crawl on their hands and = knees, police officers kicking in doors, keeping their fingers on the = trigger even after the situation was under control. All a mistake. And, = according to the ACLU a perfectly legal one, thanks to the PATRIOT Act. = People who thought these laws would never affect them, who thought that = the PATRIOT Act only applied to the guilty, should heed this story as a = wake-up call. http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=3D15770=20 ------------------------------=20 GETTING ASHCROFTED Farai Chideya, AlterNet Everybody wants to cash in on the marketability of biometrics, the = technology of identifying people based on biological traits. Biometrics = extends far beyond electronic fingerprinting to retinal scans and, = perhaps most controversial, face recognition from video surveillance. = Let's face it: the biometrics industry is fast becoming Big Brother, = Inc. http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=3D15781=20 ------------------------------=20 SELLING CIVIL LIBERTIES Kari Lydersen, AlterNet Americans are used to being bombarded with ads for everything from = shampoo and SUVs to dating services and weight loss regimens. But now = they are also seeing paid ads selling them on an issue that many = previously either took for granted or didn't think about much at all: = the importance of our civil liberties. The campaign represents the first = time in its 80-year history that the ACLU has run paid TV ads. http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=3D15757=20 ------------------------------=20 ENVIRONMENTALISTS =3D TERRORISTS Karen Charman, TomPaine.com If legislation crafted by the ultra-conservative American Legislative = Exchange Council becomes law, some fundamental rights of American = citizenship -- like signing a Sierra Club petition or publicly = protesting for animal rights -- could become illegal. http://www.tompaine.com/feature2.cfm/ID/7748=20 ------------------------------=20 LIBERTY VANISHES WHILE THE PRESS SLEEPS Nat Hentoff, Village Voice The media, with few exceptions, are failing to report consistently and = in depth precisely how Bush and Ashcroft are undermining our fundamental = individual liberties. For instance, how many Americans know that if = PATRIOT II is passed (and Bush certainly won't veto it), they can be = stripped of their citizenship if charged with giving "material support" = to a group designated by the government as "terrorist"? http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=3D15630=20 ------------------------------=20 SURVEILLANCE 101 Annalee Newitz, AlterNet Is New York City a laboratory for a "future surveillance state"? U.S. = privacy laws allow public surveillance because, their proponents say, = you have no reasonable expectation of privacy on the street. But some = activists think New York's mechanical eyes violate human dignity, = converting our anonymous public lives into somebody's private video = collection. http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=3D15587=20 ------------------------------=20 SHREDDING ASHCROFT Jim Hightower, AlterNet One of the most inspiring -- and unexpected -- sources of resistance to = Ashcroft's wild schemes are America's librarians. These gutsy defenders = of liberty are distributing information and joining public discussion = groups to tell us about the freedom-busting legislation that Ashcroft = cynically titled the "USA PATRIOT Act." http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=3D15843=20 ------------------------------=20 ABOUT THE MOVEON BULLETIN AND MOVEON.ORG The MoveOn Bulletin is a free email bulletin providing information, = resources, news, and action ideas on important political issues. The = full text of the MoveOn Bulletin is online at = http://www.moveon.org/moveonbulletin/; you can subscribe to it at that = address. The MoveOn Bulletin is a project of MoveOn.org.=20 MoveOn.org is an issue-oriented, nonpartisan, nonprofit organization = that gives people a voice in shaping the laws that affect their lives. = MoveOn.org engages people in the civic process, using the Internet to = democratically determine a non-partisan agenda, raising public awareness = of pressing issues, and coordinating grassroots advocacy campaigns to = encourage sound public policies. You can help decide the direction of = MoveOn.org by participating in the discussion forum at: http://www.actionforum.com/forum/index.html?forum_id=3D223=20 ------=_NextPart_000_0036_01C32780.92C50B30 Content-Type: text/html; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable

THE ATTACK ON FREEDOM

MoveOn Bulletin
Friday, May = 30,=20 2003
Co-Editors: Tai Moses and Rachel Neumann, AlterNet=20

Subscribe online at:
http://www.moveon.org/move= onbulletin/=20

CONTENTS:
1. Wes Boyd: Freedom is Our = Strength
2.=20 Rachel Neumann: Your Rights and Liberties: Use Them or = Lose=20 Them
3. Matt Welch: Get Ready for Patriot = II
4. Tram=20 Nguyen: Immigrant Families Condemn Racial = Targeting
5. Jason=20 Halperin: Patriot Raid
6. Farai Chideya: Getting Ashcrofted
7. Kari Lydersen: Selling Civil=20 Liberties
8. Karen Charman: Environmentalists =3D=20 Terrorists
9. Nat Hentoff: Liberty Vanishes While = the Press=20 Sleeps
10. Annalee Newitz: Surveillance = 101
11. Jim=20 Hightower: Shredding Ashcroft
12. About the=20 Bulletin=20

------------------------------=20

-->AlterNet: The Intelligent Alternative
Want to stay = abreast of=20 the Bush administration's attack on civil liberties? Looking for an = alternative=20 to corporate mainstream media? At AlterNet you'll find news you can use = from=20 sources you can trust, as well as a lively variety of views and voices. = Visit us=20 and subscribe to AlterNet's Rights & Liberties free email = newsletter, or any=20 of our other newsletters:
http://email.alternet.o= rg/?p=3Dsubscribe=20

------------------------------=20

FREEDOM IS OUR STRENGTH
MoveOn Bulletin = Op-Ed
by Wes=20 Boyd

In 1814, the British marched on Washington and burned down the White = House.=20 In World War II, the United States fought a virulent fascism that took = tens of=20 millions of lives. During the cold war, we faced down tens of thousands = of=20 nuclear-tipped missiles pointed directly at our cities. These conflicts = struck=20 at the very heart of our survival as a nation.=20

Although there have always been men who call for dictatorial powers = in times=20 of crisis, our Bill of Rights survived these threats intact because our = leaders=20 knew that these freedoms are the foundation of our strength as a nation = and must=20 be protected.=20

Today we hear from the Bush administration that freedom must be = traded for=20 security -- that unless we cede our rights as citizens to the proper=20 authorities, we will never be safe. Showing no historical perspective, = callow=20 pundits claim that the threats we face today are overwhelming compared = to=20 anything in the past.=20

Luckily, Americans are made of sterner stuff. We'll continue to = protect=20 freedom, and it will make us strong.=20

------------------------------=20

YOUR RIGHTS AND LIBERTIES: USE THEM OR LOSE = THEM
Rachel=20 Neumann, AlterNet
The administration's attack on civil liberties is = so=20 overblown as to seem surreal. And if that weren't enough, currently = proposed=20 legislation would increase the PATRIOT Act's powers. Our right to think = and=20 speak for ourselves, without fear of spying neighbors, surveillance = cameras or=20 retaliation, is gravely threatened and only our collective and = coordinated=20 resistance will stop that threat.
http://www.al= ternet.org/story.html?StoryID=3D16014=20

------------------------------=20

GET READY FOR PATRIOT II
Matt Welch, = AlterNet
The=20 first USA PATRIOT Act was written, passed and signed into law within = seven weeks=20 of 9/11. As a result, the government gained new power to wiretap phones, = confiscate property of suspected terrorists, spy on its own citizens = without=20 judicial review, conduct secret searches and snoop on the reading habits = of=20 library users. Now Attorney General John Ashcroft wants to finish the = job.
http://www.al= ternet.org/story.html?StoryID=3D15541=20

------------------------------=20

IMMIGRANT FAMILIES CONDEMN RACIAL = TARGETING
Tram Nguyen,=20 ColorLines RaceWire
A series of "Public Truth" forums planned around = the=20 country highlight the impact of the war on terrorism and national = security on=20 the lives of immigrants, refugees and communities of color. Despite = widespread=20 fear in their communities, participants are outspoken in condemning the = policies=20 and practices that have unjustly targeted them.
http://www.al= ternet.org/story.html?StoryID=3D15943=20

------------------------------=20

PATRIOT RAID
Jason Halperin, AlterNet
Loaded = guns=20 pointed in faces, people made to crawl on their hands and knees, police = officers=20 kicking in doors, keeping their fingers on the trigger even after the = situation=20 was under control. All a mistake. And, according to the ACLU a perfectly = legal=20 one, thanks to the PATRIOT Act. People who thought these laws would = never affect=20 them, who thought that the PATRIOT Act only applied to the guilty, = should heed=20 this story as a wake-up call.
http://www.al= ternet.org/story.html?StoryID=3D15770=20

------------------------------=20

GETTING ASHCROFTED
Farai Chideya, = AlterNet
Everybody=20 wants to cash in on the marketability of biometrics, the technology of=20 identifying people based on biological traits. Biometrics extends far = beyond=20 electronic fingerprinting to retinal scans and, perhaps most = controversial, face=20 recognition from video surveillance. Let's face it: the biometrics = industry is=20 fast becoming Big Brother, Inc.
http://www.al= ternet.org/story.html?StoryID=3D15781=20

------------------------------=20

SELLING CIVIL LIBERTIES
Kari Lydersen,=20 AlterNet
Americans are used to being bombarded with ads for = everything from=20 shampoo and SUVs to dating services and weight loss regimens. But now = they are=20 also seeing paid ads selling them on an issue that many previously = either took=20 for granted or didn't think about much at all: the importance of our = civil=20 liberties. The campaign represents the first time in its 80-year history = that=20 the ACLU has run paid TV ads.
http://www.al= ternet.org/story.html?StoryID=3D15757=20

------------------------------=20

ENVIRONMENTALISTS =3D TERRORISTS
Karen Charman, = TomPaine.com
If legislation crafted by the ultra-conservative = American=20 Legislative Exchange Council becomes law, some fundamental rights of = American=20 citizenship -- like signing a Sierra Club petition or publicly = protesting for=20 animal rights -- could become illegal.
http://www.tompaine= .com/feature2.cfm/ID/7748=20

------------------------------=20

LIBERTY VANISHES WHILE THE PRESS SLEEPS
Nat = Hentoff,=20 Village Voice
The media, with few exceptions, are failing to report=20 consistently and in depth precisely how Bush and Ashcroft are = undermining our=20 fundamental individual liberties. For instance, how many Americans know = that if=20 PATRIOT II is passed (and Bush certainly won't veto it), they can be = stripped of=20 their citizenship if charged with giving "material support" to a group=20 designated by the government as "terrorist"?
http://www.al= ternet.org/story.html?StoryID=3D15630=20

------------------------------=20

SURVEILLANCE 101
Annalee Newitz, = AlterNet
Is New York=20 City a laboratory for a "future surveillance state"? U.S. privacy laws = allow=20 public surveillance because, their proponents say, you have no = reasonable=20 expectation of privacy on the street. But some activists think New = York's=20 mechanical eyes violate human dignity, converting our anonymous public = lives=20 into somebody's private video collection.
http://www.al= ternet.org/story.html?StoryID=3D15587=20

------------------------------=20

SHREDDING ASHCROFT
Jim Hightower, = AlterNet
One of the=20 most inspiring -- and unexpected -- sources of resistance to Ashcroft's = wild=20 schemes are America's librarians. These gutsy defenders of liberty are=20 distributing information and joining public discussion groups to tell us = about=20 the freedom-busting legislation that Ashcroft cynically titled the "USA = PATRIOT=20 Act."
http://www.al= ternet.org/story.html?StoryID=3D15843=20

------------------------------=20

ABOUT THE MOVEON BULLETIN AND MOVEON.ORG
The = MoveOn=20 Bulletin is a free email bulletin providing information, resources, = news, and=20 action ideas on important political issues. The full text of the MoveOn = Bulletin=20 is online at http://www.moveon.org/move= onbulletin/;=20 you can subscribe to it at that address. The MoveOn Bulletin is a = project of=20 MoveOn.org.=20

MoveOn.org is an issue-oriented, nonpartisan, nonprofit organization = that=20 gives people a voice in shaping the laws that affect their lives. = MoveOn.org=20 engages people in the civic process, using the Internet to = democratically=20 determine a non-partisan agenda, raising public awareness of pressing = issues,=20 and coordinating grassroots advocacy campaigns to encourage sound public = policies. You can help decide the direction of MoveOn.org by = participating in=20 the discussion forum at:
http:= //www.actionforum.com/forum/index.html?forum_id=3D223=20

 

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