Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Pastimes : THE SLIGHTLY MODERATED BOXING RING -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Lazarus_Long who wrote (17564)	7/15/2002 10:43:42 PM
From: E	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 21057

Oh heavens to Betsy. I've been offline all day, and haven't read the last maybe 90 posts, and just posted two posts to OMD intended, I hoped, to be responsive to all the posts in my inbox, and see that you are replying to a post of Steven's that my posts clearly echo. But I hadn't read Steven's post when i wrote, but only the one OMD post sent to me!

To: Lazarus_Long who wrote (17564)	7/15/2002 11:07:06 PM
From: Dayuhan	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 21057

we certainly wouldn't want an impeachment or to weaken the President when there is a war on, now would we? An impeachment, or even talk of impeachment, would be ridiculous. I do think it is appropriate to remind ourselves and each other on occasion that we are led by politicians, that politicians as a group are ethically challenged (to put it politely), and that we should never give these people too much of our trust, even if we happen to agree with their basic platform. Some might call this "weaking the President". I call it an acknowledgement of reality. On precisely these lines, has anybody heard anything about this proposal? Is it real? If so, is it constitutional, or even sane? smh.com.au US planning to recruit one in 24 Americans as citizen spies By Ritt Goldstein July 15 2002 The Bush Administration aims to recruit millions of United States citizens as domestic informants in a program likely to alarm civil liberties groups. The Terrorism Information and Prevention System, or TIPS, means the US will have a higher percentage of citizen informants than the former East Germany through the infamous Stasi secret police. The program would use a minimum of 4 per cent of Americans to report "suspicious activity". Civil liberties groups have already warned that, with the passage earlier this year of the Patriot Act, there is potential for abusive, large-scale investigations of US citizens. As with the Patriot Act, TIPS is being pursued as part of the so-called war against terrorism. It is a Department of Justice project. Highlighting the scope of the surveillance network, TIPS volunteers are being recruited primarily from among those whose work provides access to homes, businesses or transport systems. Letter carriers, utility employees, truck drivers and train conductors are among those named as targeted recruits. A pilot program, described on the government Web site www.citizencorps.gov, is scheduled to start next month in 10 cities, with 1 million informants participating in the first stage. Assuming the program is initiated in the 10 largest US cities, that will be 1 million informants for a total population of almost 24 million, or one in 24 people. Historically, informant systems have been the tools of non-democratic states. According to a 1992 report by Harvard University's Project on Justice, the accuracy of informant reports is problematic, with some informants having embellished the truth, and others suspected of having fabricated their reports. Present Justice Department procedures mean that informant reports will enter databases for future reference and/or action. The information will then be broadly available within the department, related agencies and local police forces. The targeted individual will remain unaware of the existence of the report and of its contents. The Patriot Act already provides for a person's home to be searched without that person being informed that a search was ever performed, or of any surveillance devices that were implanted. At state and local levels the TIPS program will be co-ordinated by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which was given sweeping new powers, including internment, as part of the Reagan Administration's national security initiatives. Many key figures of the Reagan era are part of the Bush Administration. The creation of a US "shadow government", operating in secret, was another Reagan national security initiative. Ritt Goldstein is an investigative journalist and a former leader in the movement for US law enforcement accountability. He has lived in Sweden since 1997, seeking political asylum there, saying he was the victim of life-threatening assaults in retaliation for his accountability efforts. His application has been supported by the European Parliament, five of Sweden's seven big political parties, clergy, and Amnesty and other rights groups.