Congress Voting to Extend the PATRIOT Act

As it’s not getting much play in the news I thought I’d let everybody know that the PATRIOT Act is up for renewal. I can already tell you that the renewal will go through and we’ll be subjected for several more years of government tyranny in the name of fighting a tactic which is impossible.

There isn’t much left to say on the PATRIOT Act other than it remains a great litmus test to show us which of our “representatives” are against our rights and which are completely against our rights (OK there is also Ron Paul who has proven he’s for our rights but he’s a very rare individuals indeed).

They’re Not Even Trying to Hide the Police State Anymore

Thor in fucking Valhalla… the government isn’t even attempting to hide the fact that this entire country has turned into a damned police state. First an Indiana court ruled that peasents have no right to resist unlawful police entry and now the Supreme Court has ruled that police may use any noise inside a home as probably cause that evidence is being destroy:

The justices in an 8-1 decision said officers who loudly knock on a door and then hear sounds suggesting evidence is being destroyed may break down the door and enter without a search warrant.

Residents who “attempt to destroy evidence have only themselves to blame” when police burst in, said Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr.

So what kinds of sounds could suggest evidence is being destroy? Well if an officer can articulate his reasoning why the sound of that vacuum cleaner made him believe evidence was being destroyed a door breaking they may go. At least there was one dissenter in the Supreme Court:

In a lone dissent, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said she feared the ruling in a Kentucky case will give police an easy way to ignore the 4th Amendment. “Police officers may not knock, listen and then break the door down,” she said, without violating the 4th Amendment.

I’m not sure if you’ve been alerted to this face Justice Ginsburg but the 4th Amendment is dead and buried. The police no longer need a warrant to enter your home, they simply need to hear noises that may possibly mean evidence of some sort is being destroyed. Basically this ruling is the government giving a huge middle finger and telling you to bend over and get ready for a collapsible baton up the ass.

Welcome to the United Police State of America. Feel free to do whatever you want since everything is illegal. Seriously though fuck the state.

FBI Surveillance Spyware

It’s no secret that the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) use various form of technology to perform surveillance. In this day of high tech gadgets far more information can often be gleamed from a computer than simply tapping phone lines. The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) was able to use a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to obtain information on the FBI’s Computer and Internet Protocol Address Verifier (CIPAV) spyware (by the way was that enough acronym soup for you?):

What is CIPAV and How Does It Work?
The documents discuss technology that, when installed on a target’s computer, allows the FBI to collect the following information:

  • IP Address
  • Media Access Control (MAC) address
  • “Browser environment variables”
  • Open communication ports
  • List of the programs running
  • Operating system type, version, and serial number
  • Browser type and version
  • Language encoding
  • The URL that the target computer was previously connected to
  • Registered computer name
  • Registered company name
  • Currently logged in user name
  • Other information that would assist with “identifying computer users, computer software installed, [and] computer hardware installed”

The documents are an interesting read and it really brings up the question of how one could defend themselves against such a tool. This depends on how the FBI installs the software. If they break into your computer remotely to install it the only option available is to ensure your system is locked down as tightly as possible. That doesn’t solve the problem of the FBI sneaking into your dwelling or place of business and installing the software remotely.

This is where full disk encryption comes into play. If you entire hard disk is encrypted there really isn’t much that can be done without the password. Not only can data on the drive not be seen but it also can’t be changed and thus you can’t install software onto the system without the decryption key. Not only does full disk encryption protect your data if your device is stolen but it also protects your from third parties installing software onto the system.

Government in Your Phone

Happy days are afoot now. In 2006 the federal government approved the creation of the Commercial Mobile Alert System and it’s ready for action. On the surface it’s claimed to be a mechanism of alerting people in an area of a disaster. I’m sure anybody reading this blog long enough know that I’m very skeptical of anything the government does. First I find the following interesting:

A special chip is required to allow a phone to receive the messages, and soon all new phones will have the technology. Some smartphones already have the chip, and software updates will be available when the network goes online later this year, Genachowski said.

Why does this interest me? It interests me for several reasons. First is the design of this chip open for anybody to develop or is production of these chips controlled by one company that was granted a government monopoly? If the design of this chip isn’t open we have no clue what it can actually do. When the government controls something I can’t verify the abilities of I worry.

Another thing I find interesting are the levels of alerts this system can implement:

Presidential Alerts – Alerts for all Americans related to national emergencies, such as terrorist attacks, that will preempt any other pending alerts;

Imminent Threat Alerts – Alerts with information on emergencies, such as hurricanes or tornadoes, where life or property is at risk, the event is likely to occur, and some responsive action should be taken; and

Child Abduction Emergency/AMBER Alerts – Alerts related to missing or endangered children due to an abduction or runaway situation.

Combine this with the following:

People will be able to opt out of receiving all but the presidential alerts.

So what the Hell is this system supposed to accomplish? Obviously not warning people in an area of natural disasters because those messages can be opted out of. But if there is a terrorist attack in New York again I’m unable to opt-out of that message. I’m sorry but a terrorist attack in another state isn’t something I need to be warned about immediately while a tornado touching down over my house would be of some interest to me. The opt-out mechanism is backwards to say the last and that is also cause for suspicion.

Basically the government has legislated a new chip be required in all new cell phones yet have no released any documents that I can find that give the exact specifications of this chip or its capabilities. I’m guessing we’re going to find something additional functionality further down the road but I could just be cynical due to the history of government implemented projects.

What’s interesting is currently only AT&T and Verizon are signed up for this. Sprint and T-Mobile (who will soon be AT&T) haven’t which really makes me want to utilize my Sprint phone more.

Documents Released Showing 150 Gitmo Detainees Are Believed to be Innocent

What happens when a government is granted the ability to hold prisoners indefinably without charges or trial? You get innocent people held in a prison, that’s what. Documents uncovered by Wikileaks have revealed the United States government believes many prisoners held in Gitmo are actually innocent:

Files obtained by the website Wikileaks have revealed that the US believed many of those held at Guantanamo Bay were innocent or only low-level operatives.

The files, published in US and European newspapers, are assessments of all 780 people ever held at the facility.

They show that about 220 were classed as dangerous terrorists, but 150 were innocent Afghans and Pakistanis.

You got that? 150 people people held in Gitmo are presumed to be innocent bystanders by the government of the United States. Oh and this is just a classy line by our benevolent Lords:

The Pentagon said the files’ release could damage anti-terrorism efforts.

By “damage anti-terrorism efforts” they really mean embarrass the Hell out of us. This also makes an excellent case for working hard to protect our rights from government intrusion.

Mileage Based Tax and Other Fun Uses for GPS

Those of you who have purchased hybrid or electric cars recently probably remember a pretty nice tax incentive. Not only has the government been granting tax breaks to those purchasing fuel efficient vehicles but those who have these cars pay the government less gasoline tax as well. Unfortunately for you guys the government doesn’t like missing out on what it considers revenue and the State of Minnesota is looking into mileage based taxation:

The state’s Department of Transportation is recruiting 500 drivers in Hennepin and Wright counties to travel with GPS-enabled smart phones for a “Minnesota Road Fee Test.” The data will be used as state officials consider replacing gas taxes with mileage-based user fees.

It seems the state has a hard on for putting GPS devices in automobiles. If that state decides to go this route I wouldn’t be surprised if inclusion of these devices becomes mandatory (maybe that’s when I’ll move to join the Free Staters in New Hampshire) through legislation. These types of devices would grant the state three major benefits as I see it; the ability to tax people based on miles driven, the ability to track the whereabouts of vehicles for law enforcement uses, and the ability to automatically write traffic violations.

The first item is the justification being used by the states to get the pilot program going. It’s doesn’t take a stretch of the imagination to see the police using these devices to track where somebody has been. Police have a bigger hard on for violating rights than the politicians.

The second item is the most interesting because it would create an additional source of revenue. A GPS system can be used for many things including determining the speed of a vehicle. With the correct data the device in your vehicle could know the speed limit on each street in Minnesota. The GPS could be used to determine the speed of your vehicle and the speed limit of the street your traversing; if the first value is higher than the second the device can automatically issue you a speeding ticket. And there you have it, instant additional revenue.

Man I miss the days when I was naive of government desires and thought these ideas were just cooky conspiracy theories.

Doctors Who and Brown Banned from China

I guess the Chinese government has gotten sick of constant Dalek invasions and guys named Biff because they’ve made a move to ban references to time travel:

In a statement (available here in Chinese) dated March 31, the State Administration for Radio, Film & Television said that TV dramas that involve characters traveling back in time “lack positive thoughts and meaning.” The guidelines discouraging this type of show said that some “casually make up myths, have monstrous and weird plots, use absurd tactics, and even promote feudalism, superstition, fatalism and reincarnation.”

Isn’t socialism great? What other system of society has so much vested interested in controlling what its people think that it makes a rule prohibition the idea of time travel? Seriously Doctor Who and Emmet Brown never hurt anybody… OK maybe a few people. But those people all had it coming!

When Did the Definition of Voluntary Change

I’m a bit confused. Some point between the time I learned the definition of voluntary and yesterday the definition of the word was changed. I say this because Harry Reid has stated that paying taxes is voluntary:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H6q0slMhDw8]

Thankfully Google still has my back here as it contained the old definition of voluntary which reads in part:

of your own free will or design; done by choice; not forced or compelled

Voluntary action is action taken by choice and free of any coercion. Paying taxes on the other hand is something we do because the government has threatened us with violence if we do not. If you or I don’t pay our taxes the government will take one or all of several actions which include taking the money from us (garnishing wages), tossing us in prison, taking your property, or having one of their hired thugs beat us should we refuse to comply with either of the two previous retaliatory actions.

So I’m very confused and would like to know this new definition of the word voluntary that Harry is using. It’s not in any dictionary so I’m guessing it’s probably in the newest version of the Newspeak.

Poorly Implemented Tracking System

It seems Copenhagen airport has wasted a bunch of money on a tracking system that is so easy to defeat that I’m going to tell you how to do it. First read this and try to guess my ingenious way of defeating this tracking system:

According to the New York Times, Copenhagen International Airport is currently testing a new program that monitors passengers based on WiFi data emitted from devices like laptops and smartphones.

You may have come to the same method of bypassing this tracking system as I have, turn off your fucking WiFi card. Simple, easy, and effective. You could also mess with the tracking system by putting your WiFi enabled phone into somebody bag when they’re not looking. Better yet just put your WiFi enabled device under a seat somewhere and go walk around the airport. Seriously this is a horribly implemented tracking system.

Your Tax Dollars at Work Illegally Experimenting on American Citizens

I came across a really interesting article on Wikipedia titled Unethical Human Experimentation in the United States. Many of these experiments were government initiated and funded which is rather frightening.

A couple of the most interesting reads are the Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment and Project MKULTRA (which isn’t just some conspiracy theorist malarkey, but an actual series of CIA experiments that later lead to a congressional hearing). It’s worth taking some time out of your day and reading through these because some of them are almost unbelievable.