[Mb-civic] Inspiration....and alert to oppose Patriot Act

[ean at sbcglobal.net]

Here are: 1) For inspiration--A short expert from the Not in Our Name 
statement issued after last Nov. election; and  2) Online action alert 
demanding no secret renewal and worsening of the "Patriot" Act

>From the Not In Our Name Statement of Conscience  (NION SOC):
   "The Bush government seeks to impose a narrow, intolerant, and
   political form of Christian fundamentalism as government policy. No
   longer on the margins of power, this extremist movement aims to strip
   women of their reproductive rights, to stoke hatred of gays and
   lesbians, and to drive a wedge between spiritual experience and
   scientific truth. We will not surrender to extremists our right to
   think. ... "Millions of us worked, talked, marched, poll watched,
   contributed, voted, and did everything we could to defeat the Bush
   regime in the last election. ... It would be a terrible mistake to let
   our failure to stop Bush in these ways lead to despair and inaction. On
   the contrary, this broad mobilization of people committed to a fairer,
   freer, more peaceful world must move forward. We cannot, we will not,
   wait until 2008. The fight against the second Bush regime has to start
   now. ... "The movement against the war in Vietnam never won a
   presidential election. But it blocked troop trains, closed induction
   centers, marched, spoke to people door to door -- and it helped to stop
   a war. ... "We must change the political reality of this country by
   mobilizing the tens of millions who know in their heads and hearts that
   the Bush regime's 'reality' is nothing but a nightmare for humanity."

--------------
Dear EFF supporter,

It's not often that we send out a special action alert,
but in this case, time is of the essence.  This Thursday,
May 26, your senator will consider a bill that puts our
most basic civil liberties in grave danger.  Read below
to learn more and take action today - your voice matters!    

: . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . :

* Action Alert: Say No to New PATRIOT Spying Powers!

The Senate Intelligence Committee is about to consider, 
behind closed doors, a bill that would not only renew 
the USA PATRIOT Act's most dangerous provisions, but 
would also expand the government's power to secretly 
demand the private records of people who aren't 
suspected of any crime - without a judge's approval.

The Justice Department already has dangerously broad 
subpoena powers under the USA PATRIOT Act.  PATRIOT 
Section 215 allows intelligence investigators to demand 
all kinds of private records about citizens who 
aren't suspected of spying or terrorism.  PATRIOT 
Section 505, meanwhile, expanded the government's 
ability to use "National Security Letters" to secretly 
obtain data on private online and financial 
activities without court oversight or probable cause.

The new bill not only makes these highly controversial 
provisions permanent, it marries the worst aspects of 
the two, allowing new "administrative subpoenas" in 
national security cases that would let the government 
secretly demand all types of records without a 
judge's permission.

The Justice Department tried to get this super-charged 
subpoena power inserted into PATRIOT back in 2001. 
But even in the immediate aftermath of 9/11, Congress 
refused to allow this kind of unchecked surveillance 
power.

The closed-door mark-up session for this bill will take 
place this Thursday, May 26.  The time to act is now.

Make your voice heard!
<http://action.eff.org/site/Advocacy?id=133>

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"In times of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act."
   ---   George Orwell


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