Re: [privacy] Judge Defers Decision on U.S. Wiretap Suit

["Andrew Blair" <Andrew.Blair () genmills com>]

> But it gets even better:
> [snip]
> Nazih Hassan, a Lebanese-American, and a member of the ACLU, said the
wiretapping had 
> instilled fear in the Arab community. 
> "There is such a blurry line between talking about the things you care
about such as the 
> war in Iraq or the situation in Lebanon and 'supporting terrorism' that
I and many of my 
> friends have just stopped talking on the phone," he told Reuters
outside the court. 
> [snip]
>
>  Gosh, is that the blurry line between telling all your friends that
you hate the war and 
> wish it had never started (just fine with me, I'm not a big fan) vs.
swapping info with 
> your friends about where and when the next suicide bombing will be
staged?  If it's the 
> latter, I'd say its a pretty good idea to take that discussion
underground...  But wait 
> Mr. Hassan, if its so "blurry" to you, why are you running your trap
about it in front of 
> Reuters?

Maybe he's a bit worried about having conversations taken out of context
by some jittery rookie NSA analyst? Or those wonderful speech analysis
programs the NSA has running? What happens when one of those flag him as
a terrorist? You have little recourse to clear your name against the
masters err.. government these days if you get put on their lists, and
your life could be turned upside down in a second because some computer
program doesn't know the difference between sarcasm and malice.

This goes to the heart of what is wrong with all this. As an American
you have the *RIGHT* (not privilege - not option - not when the
government feels like it) to be innocent until PROVEN guilty. The idea
of these dragnet programs flies in the face of probable cause and every
other constitutional protection we have around prosecution, and
invariably cause more harm to innocent people than they protect us from
malicious ones.

The next time your name gets on a no-fly list or you get the "special
treatment" going through airport security because your name is Arabic or
you look middle-eastern you might get a clue of what this is all about.

I hate to be mean, but people who start attacking someone they don't
know based off a short Reuters clip make me sick. This guy is doing
nothing but exercising his rights to protect his constitutional
liberties. Give him a break. For you to sit here and attack him and
bring out that ridiculous "what are you worried about if you are
innocent" crap is cowardly and ignorant. I hope one day you realize how
lucky you are that there are those who are standing up to protect your
rights, because once they are gone they are never coming back.


Andy B
Support those who support your freedoms. Give to the EFF.


-----Original Message-----
From: Lindsey, Ben J [mailto:ben.lindsey () centerpointenergy com] 
Sent: Wednesday, June 14, 2006 7:30 AM
To: privacy () whitestar linuxbox org
Subject: [privacy] Judge Defers Decision on U.S. Wiretap Suit

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Apologies if this got out twice...  I got a bounce from somewhere...

- -bjl

- -------------------------------------------

The best part of the article:
[snip]
"Our clients have suffered concrete harm," Ann Beeson, the ACLU's
associate legal director, told the court, saying lawyers now have to
travel overseas to gather information they would have previously
received on the phone and journalists are beginning to lose sources. 
[snip]

  I'm not sure about this, but I'd wager if we put it to a poll, most of
us would want these lawyers and reporters phones tapped if they are
calling known or suspected terrorists...  It really breaks my heart to
hear that lawyers are having to bill time for this overseas travel too,
that's gotta be a back-breaker, I'm surprised they are still in
business.

But it gets even better:
[snip]
Nazih Hassan, a Lebanese-American, and a member of the ACLU, said the
wiretapping had instilled fear in the Arab community. 
"There is such a blurry line between talking about the things you care
about such as the war in Iraq or the situation in Lebanon and
'supporting terrorism' that I and many of my friends have just stopped
talking on the phone," he told Reuters outside the court. 
[snip]

  Gosh, is that the blurry line between telling all your friends that
you hate the war and wish it had never started (just fine with me, I'm
not a big fan) vs. swapping info with your friends about where and when
the next suicide bombing will be staged?  If it's the latter, I'd say
its a pretty good idea to take that discussion underground...  But wait
Mr. Hassan, if its so "blurry" to you, why are you running your trap
about it in front of Reuters?

  I'm sure its not his fault for saying stupid things -- what else can
you do when the ACLU wants a puppet these days?

- -bjl


> Message: 5
> Date: Tue, 13 Jun 2006 04:17:01 GMT
> From: "Fergie" <fergdawg () netzero net>
> Subject: [privacy] Judge Defers Decision on U.S. Wiretap Suit
> To: privacy () whitestar linuxbox org
> Message-ID: <20060612.211746.28.168082 () webmail04 lax untd com>
> Content-Type: text/plain
>
> Via Reuters.
>
> [snip]
>
> A federal judge on Monday deferred making an immediate decision on a 
> request that the Bush administration's domestic eavesdropping program 
> be halted as a violation of law.
>
> The American Civil Liberties Union, which filed the lawsuit in 
> January, asked U.S. District Judge Anna Diggs Taylor to stop the White

> House from intercepting international phone calls and e-mails without 
> a warrant in its fight against terrorism, saying it violates 
> Americans'
> free speech and privacy rights.
>
> [snip]
>
> More:
> http://go.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=technologyNews&st
> oryID=12504031
>
> - ferg
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