Steve Watson
GCN Live.com
February 28, 2012

Watchdogs warn that UAVs increase “First Amendment risks for would be political dissidents”.

Several prominent privacy watchdog groups have petitioned the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on the proposed increase in the use of unmanned aerial vehicles in the skies above the US.

Over 30 rights groups, including The American Civil Liberties Union, The Electronic Privacy Information Center and The Bill of Rights Defense Committee are demanding that the FAA hold a rulemaking session to consider the privacy and safety threats posed by the increased use of drones.

The petition (PDF) notes that because “drones greatly increase the capacity for domestic surveillance”, including the use of sophisticated high-definition digital and infrared cameras, heat sensors and motion detectors, they must be subject to increased rather than relaxed scrutiny and regulation.

The petition also notes that the FAA must follow its legal mandate and protect the safety of Americans by “resolv[ing] the privacy problems association with the highly intrusive nature of drone aircraft, and the ability of operators to gain access to private areas or to track individuals over large distances.”

The privacy groups also note that the use and retention of data gathered by government and privately operated drones should be flagged.

“The consequences of increased government surveillance through the use of drones are even more troubling.” the petition notes. “The ability to link facial recognition capabilities on drone cameras to the FBI’s Next Generation Identification database or DHS’ IDENT database, two of the largest collections of biometric data in the world, increases the First Amendment risks for would be political dissidents.”

Congress recently passed legislation paving the way for what the FAA predicts will be somewhere in the region of 30,000 drones in operation in US skies by 2020.

Once signed by president Obama, the FAA Reauthorization Act allows for the FAA to permit the use of drones and develop regulations for testing and licensing by 2015.

The bill will exponentially speed up and streamline the process by which the FAA authorizes the use of drones by federal, state and local police and other government agencies. Currently, the FAA issues a certificate on a case by case basis.

The legislation represents the result of a huge push by the military industrial complex to open up US skies to what will become a multi-million dollar business.

The ACLU has noted that “This bill would push the nation willy-nilly toward an era of aerial surveillance without any steps to protect the traditional privacy that Americans have always enjoyed and expected.”

A recent Rasmussen poll found that despite a willingness on the part of Americans to see the use of drones by the military in overseas situations, 52% oppose the use of surveillance drones by private entities, police agencies, and government agencies inside the US. Just 30% said they were in favor of the use of drones in the US.

Steve Watson is the London based writer and editor for Alex Jones’ Infowars.net, and Prisonplanet.com. He has a Masters Degree in International Relations from the School of Politics at The University of Nottingham in England.

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Steven Birn
Steven Birn Speaks

If one were to listen to the mainstream media you would think Occupy Wall Street has gone away.

But for a handful of violent clashes with police, the OWS movement has moved out of the headlines. Last year the media didn’t warn the country about the impending Wall Street protests organized far in advance by Stephen Lerner of SEIU, Van Jones and others. They then pretended like the movement was organic, suddenly popping up out of nowhere. Never mind that the left was on record concerning their plans to protest banks, investment houses and the rich generally. The media is pulling the same stunt again.

OWS is set to return April 9th with something called a “99% Spring.” This supposedly non-violent week of protests is being organized by a who’s who of leftists and leftist organizations. The UAW, Moveon.org, Engage, Progressive Democrats of America, Van Jones, Sarita Gupta etc. These folks are planning for massive protests throughout the country during the week of April 9th. Yet the media is going to portray the protests as an organic, spontaneous event. Never mind that the left issued a press release on the subject on February 15th and has spent many months organizing the protests.

Uaw 99 Percent Spring Daily Caller

It appears the UAW is taking the lead in organizing the 99% Spring. This is interesting in light of the fact that the UAW was the biggest beneficiary of Obama’s car industry bailout. The UAW isn’t the only one organizing this though as several George Soros funded organizations such as moveon.org are also organizing.

While the 99% Spring rhetoric is peaceful and points towards Martin Luther King’s non-violent protests, we must not forget the violence of Occupy Wall Street. What the OWS folks are doing with the 99% Spring is trying to avoid a violent meltdown similar to 1968. It seems unlikely given the violence of OWS and the racism and anti-Semitism also found at OWS protests. They can talk about non-violence until they’re blue in the face, the fact is OWS was violent and many of the 99% Spring organizers have advocated violence in the past. In short, non-violence is just a buzz word meant to placate people who aren’t really paying attention. It means nothing to the organizers.

The whole point of this movement is to overthrow the American government as we know it. They want to enforce socialism, if not outright Marxism. Last year OWS at times advocated killing capitalists and in the very least sought to demonize anyone with money. Well, anyone with money not associated with them. George Soros is a good rich guy, so are rich Hollywood leftists. All the other guys are evil.

When the 99% Spring begins, all organized by the UAW, Van Jones and any number of other leftists, the media will act shocked by the grassroots nature of it all. They’ll be amazed at how much these protesters care. The truth is that just like OWS, the 99% Spring will be nothing more than a highly organized protest meant to bring chaos to the streets and push the country towards totalitarian socialism. The media won’t tell you that but if you follow what these people are, how they’re organizing and what they’re goals are it becomes very clear. The far left has a formula, they’re up front about it if you dig around a little bit. The dirty secret is that OWS and the 99% Spring are nothing but an organized astro-turf protest.

Steven Birn is an attorney and conservative political junkie and blogger. For more news and commentary visit Steven Birn Speaks.

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Paul Joseph Watson
GCN Live.com

Lawmakers in Wyoming have introduced a bill that would compel the state to prepare for a complete collapse of the federal government, laying plans for an alternate currency, a standing army raised via a military draft, and an aircraft carrier.

“House Bill 85 passed on first reading by a voice vote. It would create a state-run government continuity task force, which would study and prepare Wyoming for potential catastrophes, from disruptions in food and energy supplies to a complete meltdown of the federal government,” reports the Wyoming Star Tribune.

Compared to the rest of the country, Wyoming’s public finances are in a relatively good condition, a fact that has spurred lawmakers to protect the state against contagion from other areas that could develop in the aftermath of a massive financial collapse.

The bill (PDF) lays the groundwork for how the state would respond in the event of a sudden devaluation of the dollar or “a situation in which the federal government has no effective power or authority over the people of the United States.”

“I don’t think there’s anyone in this room today what would come up here and say that this country is in good shape, that the world is stable and in good shape — because that is clearly not the case,” state Rep. Lorraine Quarberg, R-Thermopolis, said. “To put your head in the sand and think that nothing bad’s going to happen, and that we have no obligation to the citizens of the state of Wyoming to at least have the discussion, is not healthy.”

The bill has to pass two more House votes before it can be considered by the Senate. If passed, the task force would have until December 1, 2012 to submit a report to the governor detailing the continuity of government plan.

While authorities at both the state and federal level are making preparations for social dislocation, with FEMA recently ordering $1 billion dollars worth of dehydrated food, a total of 420 million meals, Americans who buy food supplies in bulk are being characterized as potential terrorists by the FBI.

Continuity of government plans implemented at the federal level are so sensitive that when the plan was last updated in 2007, Congressman Peter DeFazio was barred from seeing the details despite being a sitting member of the House Homeland Security Committee.

Peter DeFazio (D – OR) was asked by his constituents to see what was contained within the classified portion of the White House’s plan for operating the government after a catastrophic terrorist attack, but was denied access, leading him to comment, “Maybe the people who think there’s a conspiracy out there are right.”

Five years later, the biggest threat posed to America’s survival in its current form of government stems not from terrorists but from the country’s huge unsustainable national debt and the possibility of another economic collapse.

Recently, a USA Today article quoted three separate financial experts who all concur that the worst of the financial turmoil is yet to come, with trend forecaster Gerald Celente warning of an “economic 9/11″ that will provoke mass civil unrest fueled by anti-government sentiment.

Paul Joseph Watson is the editor and writer for Prison Planet.com. He is the author of Order Out Of Chaos. Watson is also a regular fill-in host for The Alex Jones Show and Infowars Nightly News.

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