Our Treasonable Past

Today's Video: Daniel Ellsburg Handcuffed By Police Protesting Torture

Editor’s note: Most of us of a certain age will remember Daniel Ellsburg, who in 1971 leaked the “Pentagon Papers,” a top-secret Pentagon study of US government decision-making in relation to the Vietnam War, to “The New York” Times and other newspapers. Well, today Mr. Ellsburg is 80 years old and still very much an activist, thank you. In this video, Ellsburg is being handcuffed for protesting, outside the White House, the torture of Bradley Manning who is awaiting trial for allegedly giving government secrets to Wikileaks.

Today's Video: The Dirty F-ing Hippies Were Right!

Editor’s Note: This video makes a well told powerful statement of truth. Although this video has been avaliable on YouTube since 2009, we feel it needs to go viral. If you’re an old hippie from the sixties, don’t be afraid to shout, “We tried to tell you so!” If you grew up in this post hippie world, don’t be afraid to question why all of this is still going on, even though we tried to warn the world over forty years ago. We urge you to post this on your Facebook page, and to send it to every one of your friends!

Feds Want to Crack Your Blackberry

If you’re wondering why Research In Motion (RIM), maker of the Blackberry, was loathe to cooperate with the authorities in Dubai and India when they demanded access to encrypted Blackberry calls, it’s because they knew no matter how little they cracked that door, it would eventually open wide. Need proof? Take a look at Monday’s New York Times in which we learn that the Feds want new regulations to force companies like RIM to design back doors into their offerings to allow easy wiretap access by law enforcement. It’ll be hard for RIM to say “no” to the U.S. when they’ve already said “yes” to other countries.

“Essentially, officials want Congress to require all services that enable communications — including encrypted e-mail transmitters like BlackBerry, social networking Web sites like Facebook and software that allows direct ‘peer to peer’ messaging like Skype – to be technically capable of complying if served with a wiretap order. The mandate would include being able to intercept and unscramble encrypted messages.”

Continue reading Feds Want to Crack Your Blackberry

Tea Party Television on CBS

The ends justify the means. At least that’s the message I’m getting from two new cop shows on CBS, both of which indicate it’s ok for law enforcement to step on every constitutional right, so long as charges stick and society is protected. It’s as if the Strike Team on The Shield is suddenly a shining example of good, effective police work.

Friday night, the Tiffany Network premiered Blue Bloods, the new Tom Selleck vehicle. A character driven police drama revolving around a family of New York City cops, the opening episode is immediately reminiscent of the old Dirty Harry movies with Clint Eastwood. Here the premise seems to be that the police could be doing their jobs a lot better if they weren’t hampered by obstructions like the constitution.

Continue reading Tea Party Television on CBS