The government wants to spy on you

From Freedom Press Action Fund:

The Trump administration may get even more power to spy on your personal communications — unless we speak out.

Sen. Tom Cotton (R–Arkansas) has introduced a bill that would permanently reauthorize an invasive surveillance program that violates your online privacy. Given this administration's hostility toward communities of color and activists, the reauthorization of this program would pose a particular threat to marginalized people in the United States.

Tell Congress that this is unacceptable: Do not reauthorize Section 702 spying.

Section 702 of the FISA Amendments Act authorizes intelligence agencies (like the FBI and NSA) to scan in bulk phone calls, text messages and emails traveling across the internet. These agencies are supposed to target only people outside the United States, but they also sweep up massive amounts of Americans’ communications — without a warrant or any individualized suspicion of wrongdoing.

Section 702 is one of the surveillance programs Edward Snowden exposed. Now it's up to us to protect our online privacy from an administration that's notorious for abusing its power.

It’s common for the Section 702 dragnet to sweep up “family photographs, love letters, personal financial matters, discussions of physical and mental health, and political and religious exchanges” between Americans. While this sweeping authority was meant to protect us from the most serious threats to our national security, the FBI regularly uses it to sidestep Fourth Amendment protections and search Americans' personal information for matters entirely unrelated to foreign intelligence. Instead of letting this horrible surveillance dragnet expire, Cotton's bill would make it a permanent fixture of life in the United States.

Urge Congress to protect your online privacy and rein in mass government surveillance.

To sign petition

Tell Obama to pardon Edward Snowden

From Demand Progress:

As the movie launching this week reminds us, Edward Snowden’s whistleblowing revealed the NSA’s massive, secret – and unconstitutional – surveillance programs.

He took a huge personal risk to bring these programs to light. And his actions launched a vital national debate on whether the NSA should be spying on innocent Americans.

But three years later, Snowden is still being forced to live in exile and threatened with likely spending the rest of his life in prison if he ever comes back to the country he loves.

We have less than 125 days to push President Obama to officially pardon this important American whistleblower.

Tell President Obama: Pardon Edward Snowden now!

Presidential pardons are about justice. They are for when the legal system has failed, or the laws are unjust or when our consciences demand it.

Snowden made his sacrifice not for personal gain, but because he knew it was the only real way to expose the unconstitutional spying programs he witnessed.

So when the White House tries to claim Snowden “is not a whistleblower”1 because he didn’t follow the "proper" whistleblower process, they’re just playing cynical word games.

Intelligence contractors, like Edward Snowden, are NOT protected by the Intelligence Community’s whistleblower protections. The Intelligence Community’s own lawyer, even admits it.2

Even had Edward Snowden followed the “proper” process, his whistleblowing wouldn’t have been protected.

Presidential pardons exist for exactly this kind of extraordinary situation. It’s time that President Obama uses that power to recognize Snowden’s public service.

Sign and share the petition to President Obama: Pardon Edward Snowden now and let him come home!

Snowden acted out of desperation and patriotism to inform Americans of the unconstitutional mass surveillance the NSA was conducting.

Even former Attorney General Eric Holder agrees: “I think that he actually performed a public service by raising the debate that we engaged in and by the changes that we made.”3

Snowden stood up for our rights. Now it’s time we stand up for his.

Stand up for Edward Snowden and tell President Obama: Three years is enough. Pardon Snowden and bring him home!

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The passing of the greatest

As we all mourn the passing of Cassius Clay,later to be known as Muhammad Ali we look at all the areas of his life. Sports fans and sports media will profile his boxing career. Here we will discuss his fights outside the boxing ring. This was back in the '60's and 70's. Things were a lot different then than they are today in 2016. Racist Jim Crow laws were still in place throughout the American south with the Ku Klux Klan calling the shots. In a environment such as this you can see how blacks were genuinely oppressed. Ali's refusal to fight in Vietnam was a noble one. His reasons very sound and very accurate. Why should a black man die for a racist country that mistreats him? Ali pointed out that unlike the KKK,the Vietcong did nothing to him and he has no ill will toward them. Those are very sound reasons. Ali refused to help his oppressors. He even told them that if they didn't like it they could send him to jail. A lot of brave men throughout history sacrificed their livelihoods to do the right thing. Edward Snowden is a recent example. Just as Ali's actions initially caused him a lot of trouble he was later vindicated but he did bounce back to retire in 1981. Not only that but it made him a hero. Ali was fighting not only a boxing opponent but a racist society that was content to keep him down but failed to do so. Muhammad Ali is more than a boxing champ. He is an American hero.

Edward Snowden is a hero

Edward Snowden

As far as I'm concerned Edward Snowden is a hero. He exposed a massive invasion of the American people's privacy by a corrupt government. This goes beyond the Whitehouse this contaminates Congress as well. We find that one of the president's biggest Republican cheerleaders,Senator Lindsay Graham-SC,defending what the NSA and in turn,what the Whitehouse did. In fact if Graham wants us to surrender who rights and privacy he can go first. Other statists are coming forward as well to condemn Snowden. The good thing is we are finding out who the statists are and when their terms are up we can kick their sorry butts out of office. They're pissed that Snowden didn't go through proper channels. What was he supposed to do? Give that information over to higherups at the NSA? Go to the Holder Justice Department? Trust statists like Graham? If he did any of those he would be Osama Bin Laden's roommate by now. The fact that he handled the way he did shows he's not stupid. Not by any means. Let's see where this goes.