The Covert Family Website

Looks like the UN is officially asking the US to close Gitmo:

Nytimes article

A United Nations panel on torture called on the United States today to close the detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba and expressed concern over reports of secret detention centers and of a practice of sending terror suspects to countries with poor human rights records.

In the report, issued by the Committee on Torture in Geneva, the panel said that the United States should clearly ban interrogation techniques like “water boarding,” in which an inmate is held under water to create the fear of drowning; sexual humiliation, and the use of dogs to induce fear. It said that detainees had died during interrogation involving improper techniques.

Somebody needs to step up to the plate and DO something about the President.  Why is congress asleep at the wheel?

Article hallenges_hundreds_of_laws?mode=PF">here.

President Bush has quietly claimed the authority to disobey more than 750 laws enacted since he took office, asserting that he has the power to set aside any statute passed by Congress when it conflicts with his interpretation of the Constitution.

Among the laws Bush said he can ignore are military rules and regulations, affirmative-action provisions, requirements that Congress be told about immigration services problems, ‘’whistle-blower” protections for nuclear regulatory officials, and safeguards against political interference in federally funded research.
….
A president who ignores the court, backed by a Congress that is unwilling to challenge him, Golove said, can make the Constitution simply ‘’disappear.”
…..
‘’This is an attempt by the president to have the final word on his own constitutional powers, which eliminates the checks and balances that keep the country a democracy,” Fein said. ‘’There is no way for an independent judiciary to check his assertions of power, and Congress isn’t doing it, either. So this is moving us toward an unlimited executive power.”

This shit is really, really starting to piss me off!  Write to your congressional representatives and demand accountability.

Dear [representative],

I’ve recently learned about AT&T’s decision to send all of its internet traffic straight to the NSA for monitoring and I’m very disturbed.

There is an expectation and a right to privacy that I see the current Administration disregarding with icreasing frequency.

Can you please work to make sure this kind of wholesale violation of US Citizens rights doesn’t happen again?

More information about the lawsuit being brought against AT&T by the EFF (Electronic Frontier Foundation) can be found here:

http://tinyurl.com/znkey

Than you in advance for your prompt attention to this concern.

Jake Covert
16701 Bettmar St.
Roseville, MI 48066

The full URL is here.

First the spying, now this?

The government is opening your mail!  Part of me says “yeah, I could see why that could be necessary..”.

But if we let this stand, then it’ll become commonplace and any expectations of mail privacy we have are then gone. 

I feel like I’m living in a police state!

Arrrgggghhhhh!!!!!

CNN Article

Have you been listening to the news lately?  Have you?

The Bush administration’s illegal wiretaping program has me just steaming.  I’m sure if you value your civil rights, then you’re probably upset as well.

Well, do what’s necessary, and WRITE your darn representative.  They are not telepathic and with the advent of email, you have NO excuse not to.

Here is my letter:

I’ve very concerned about the unchecked powers that President Bush is appointing himself.

Please investigate this illegal wiretap monitoring of US citizens and help protect our civil liberties.

Thanks,

Jake Covert
16701 Bettmar Street
Roseville, MI 48066

Short and sweet.

LA Times article here.

By Mark Mazzetti and Borzou Daragahi, Times Staff Writers

WASHINGTON — As part of an information offensive in Iraq, the U.S. military is secretly paying Iraqi newspapers to publish stories written by American troops in an effort to burnish the image of the U.S. mission in Iraq.

Oh, the hypocrisy…

Lawrence Lessig interviewed by Foreign Policy magazine on the European Union’s attempt to wrestle control of ICANN out of the US’ hands…

Should the United Nations control the Internet? That’s the subject of a heated debate slated to take place at the World Summit on the Information Society in Tunis later this month. The European Union is pressing for a U.N. role in governing the Internet, which is currently in the hands of a U.S. nonprofit. Lawrence Lessig breaks down the debate and offers his views.

http://foreignpolicy.com/story/cms.php?story_id=3306&page=0

Rough paraphrase of a quote by Lewis Bernard.  Dr. Bernard Lewis is Professor Emeritus of Near East Studies at Princeton University.

If a foreign government is pro-American, it’s people will be anti-American.  If a foreign government is anti-American, it’s people will be pro-American

- Lewis Benard

At least we’ve found just the right mixture of [ freedom / capitalism ] to be the lightning rod. 

http://www.aijac.org.au/updates/Dec-01/031201.html

http://www.princeton.edu/%7Epiirs/programs/near_eastern_studies.html