Anonymous Targets Controversial Senate Bill

International Hacking Group Issues Warning to U.S. Senate:
"Expect Us!"

"Anonymous" has set its sights on S. 1867, the National Defense Authorization Act of 2012, a bill that the Obama Administration and civil libertarians have expressed great concern over.

The bill, which passed by a 93-7 vote in the Senate several days ago, was crafted by Senator Carl Levine (D-MI) and Senator John McCain (R-AZ). It includes a provision that would allow the United States military to arrest and indefinitely detain anyone suspected of being a terrorist or linked to a terrorist organization... without due process.

In addition, because the bill does not clearly indicate how the term terrorist is defined, S. 1867 would grant the President and the military full authority to arrest and indefinitely detain American citizens suspected of engaging in terrorism, again, without due process.

Once certain legislative amendments have been made, as per the request of the Obama Administration, the bill will be sent to the House of Representatives for a vote. The President has been urged to veto the legislation if the changes are not implemented.

One section of the "Detainee Matters" provision of the bill, which has caused the greatest concern, states the following:

"The Administration objects to and has serious legal and policy concerns about many of the detainee provisions in the bill. In their current form, some of these provisions disrupt the Executive branch's ability to enforce the law and impose unwise and unwarranted restrictions on the U.S. Government's ability to aggressively combat international terrorism; other provisions inject legal uncertainty and ambiguity that may only complicate the military's operations and detention practices.

Section 1031 attempts to expressly codify the detention authority that exists under the Authorization for Use of Military Force (Public Law 107-40) (the “AUMF”). The authorities granted by the AUMF, including the detention authority, are essential to our ability to protect the American people from the threat posed by al-Qa'ida and its associated forces, and have enabled us to confront the full range of threats this country faces from those organizations and individuals. Because the authorities codified in this section already exist, the Administration does not believe codification is necessary and poses some risk.

After a decade of settled jurisprudence on detention authority, Congress must be careful not to open a whole new series of legal questions that will distract from our efforts to protect the country.

While the current language minimizes many of those risks, future legislative action must ensure that the codification in statute of express military detention authority does not carry unintended consequences that could compromise our ability to protect the American people.

The Administration strongly objects to the military custody provision of section 1032, which would appear to mandate military custody for a certain class of terrorism suspects. This unnecessary, untested, and legally controversial restriction of the President's authority to defend the Nation from terrorist threats would tie the hands of our intelligence and law enforcement professionals.

Moreover, applying this military custody requirement to individuals inside the United States, as some Members of Congress have suggested is their intention, would raise serious and unsettled legal questions and would be inconsistent with the fundamental American principle that our military does not patrol our streets."

Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) addressed the issue of "Indefinite Detention" in a 13-minute statement to President Obama two days before the vote was cast.

From The G-Man published the bill in its entirety on November 17, 2011. Here is the link:

http://fromthegman.blogspot.com/2011/11/politics-in-action-hr-3094-and-s-1867.html

Anonymous video uploaded to YouTube by anonymous04210

Rand Paul video uploaded to YouTube by ricthuse

Mosque Mayhem

Faithful praying towards Makkah; Umayyad Mosque, Damascus.

Families of 9/11 Victims Ignoring Crucial Facts

The First Amendment of the United States Constitution states the following: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”

Now, let’s focus on the section that pertains to religion. Again, it states Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof. Okay, let’s bring it home by examining what shall make no law prohibiting the free exercise thereof means. Call me stupid, but I believe that basically means Americans have the right to practice whatever faith they want whenever they want. Sounds pretty simple, right? Well, not in “Gotham City”.

A large number of New York City residents, particularly the families and loved ones of 9/11 victims, have expressed extreme outrage over the fact that city officials are considering building an Islamic cultural center, which will include a makeshift mosque, near Ground Zero. They’ve made it abundantly clear, to Mayor Michael Bloomberg and numerous city officials, that the center and praying section have no place near what the grieving families consider sacred ground.

I totally understand the frustration and rage of those that vehemently oppose the plan. These people have lost husbands, wives, brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles and a host of loved ones in the most horrific way. September 11 will forever remain one of the most tragic and gut-wrenching periods in not just New York City history, but in American history.

The anger and fear has now spread to different sections of the country. Perhaps the fear is predicated on the notion that if anything resembling a mosque is erected near Ground Zero, it won’t be long before other sacred sites all across America will have cultural centers and mosques in close proximity. Thus, leading many ignorant Americans to believe the country is somehow turning into the United States of Islam. Nothing could be farther from the truth.

You want the hardcore, raw and uncensored truth, folks? Here it is. The cultural center has every right to be built near Ground Zero because the religion of Islam didn’t bring down the Twin Towers. Islamic extremists brought them down! There’s a huge difference. Moreover, Muslim employees were also crushed to death when the towers fell. Sadly, the growing opposition and rage over the proposed dwelling has caused many to lose sight of these two crucial facts.

Here’s another fact. Many areas near Ground Zero are sprinkled with sidewalk merchants and carts that sell Halal food. The merchants and cooks are of Muslim decent and serve hundreds, if not thousands, of Americans on a daily basis. We buy their trinkets, handbags and chicken with rice and white sauce dishes with a smile. It makes no sense for so many to fiercely oppose a proposed mosque when millions of Americans embrace and conduct business with Muslims in and around Ground Zero annually.

Allow me to take this commentary to the extreme. What if a group of Jewish extremists took control of the planes, in order to protest overwhelming U.S. sentiment in favor of the Palestinian people’s right to exist and control large sections of Israel, and smashed them into the World Trade Center towers? Do you think the outcry against a proposed synagogue near Ground Zero would be as strong? I don’t think so.

Setting aside the conspiracy theories of “Info Wars” talk show host Alex Jones (http:www.infowars.com) and the 9/11 Truth Movement, I have no problem admitting that I have great compassion for those seeking some form of closure regarding the events of 9/11. However, in all fairness, and in defense of the Constitution of the United States of America, the families and others should stand down, quell the anger and resentment, and respect the mandates set forth centuries ago by our Founding Fathers. Most importantly, they should look deep within and ask the hard question: Should we hold Islam or hate-filled radicals responsible for taking our loved ones away?

This commentary is from the heart and......From The G-Man.

Photo source: Agência Brasil by Antonio Melina/ABr.

Author: Antonio Melina/ABr

Permission: Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 Brazil