February 3rd 2007 News from The Liberty Coalition

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Dear Friends of Liberty,

The Liberty Coalition participated in a summit this past week on whistle-blower issues. There was a consensus that all national security whistle-blowers, or as we prefer to call them truth-tellers, need to be protected against retaliation. Without them, we would not know about waste, fraud and abuse in the various intelligence and law-enforcemenet agencies. It is very important that 'truth-tellers' be allowed to voice their concerns to Congress, within their own agencies or to law-enforcement agencies without fear of being retaliated against. Unfortunately, there are to many examples of truth-tellers being retaliated against especially after 9/11. We will continue to be working with a wide variety of groups to help protect whistle-blowers.

Video of the week:

Andy Griffith vs. The Patriot Act


Book of the week:


Spychips How Major Corporations and Government Plan to Your Every Move with RFID


News:

FBI turns to broad new wiretap method
Instead of recording only what a particular suspect is doing, agents conducting investigations appear to be assembling the activities of thousands of Internet users at a time into massive databases, according to current and former officials. That database can subsequently be queried for names, e-mail addresses or keywords

Bush Is Not Above the Law
Last August, a federal judge found that the president of the United States broke the law, committed a serious felony and violated the Constitution. Had the president been an ordinary citizen — someone charged with bank robbery or income tax evasion — the wheels of justice would have immediately begun to turn.

Bureaucrats against the Brave
Since DHS doesn’t seem willing or able to do its job, Congress should clarify the situation lest those coming here seeking sanctuary and freedom will continue to be thrown into camps or turned back to the very people they were fleeing.

The Spy Who Billed Me

In the post-9/11 rush to beef up intelligence, the government has outsourced everything from spy satellites to covert operations -- and well-connected companies are cashing in.

Psychiatry Gone Wild: TeenScreen Documents Exposed.

Certainly pharmaceutical companies will benefit from mass screening of our children.

Blog of the Week:

State Security Industrial Complex

Saying of the Week:

No provision in our Constitution ought to be dearer to man than that which protects the rights of conscience against the enterprises of the civil authority: Thomas Jefferson: American 3rd US President (1801-09).

The Liberty Coalition works to help organize, support, and coordinate transpartisan public policy activities related to civil liberties and basic human rights. We work in conjunction with groups of partner organizations that are interested in preserving the Bill of Rights, personal autonomy and individual privacy.

Information and action items on the Liberty Coalition website, email update or other materials should not be taken as an endorsement by any partner organization unless explicitly stated as such.