Battle for the California Desert: Why is the Government Driving Folks off Their Land?

Editor's Note: This is being done through the Agenda 21 United Nations Sustainable Development plan in order to drive Americans out of the rural communities, and into highly populated areas in order to establish controlled city-grids.


 on Aug 23, 2011
The Antelope Valley is a vast patch of desert on the outskirts of Los Angeles County, and a segment of the few rugged individualists who live out there increasingly are finding themselves the targets of armed raids from local code enforcement agents, who've assembled into task forces called Nuisance Abatement Teams (NATs).

The plight of the Valley's desert dwellers made regional headlines when county officials ordered the destruction of Phonehenge: a towering, colorful castle constructed out of telephone poles by retired phone technician Kim Fahey. Fahey was imprisoned and charged with several misdemeanors.

But Fahey is just one of many who've been targeted by the NATs, which were assembled at the request of County Supervisor Mike Antonovich in 2006. LA Weekly reporter Mars Melnicoff wrote an in-depth article in which she exposed the county's tactic of badgering residents with minor, but costly, code violations until they face little choice but to vacate the land altogether.

"They're picking on the the people who are the most defenseless and have the least resources," says Melnicoff.

Reason.tv collaborated with Melnicoff to talk with some of the NAT's targets, such as retired veteran Joey Gallo, who might face homelessness if he's forced to leave his house, and local pastor Oscar Castaneda, who says he's already given up the fight and is in the process of moving off the land he and his wife have lived on for 22 years. And, while Antonovich declined an interview, we did catch up with him at a public meeting in order to ask the big question at the center of all this: Why the sudden enforcement of these codes against people living in the middle of the desert, who seemingly are affecting no one?

Writer-Producers: Zach Weissmueller and Tim Cavanaugh. Associate Producer: Mars Melnicoff. Camera: Alex Manning and Weissmueller; edited by Weissmueller.

Approximately 9:48.

Music by Audionautix.com.

Visit Reason.tv for downloadable versions of this and all our videos, and subscribe to Reason.tv's YouTube Channel to receive automatic notification when new content is posted.

While Americans Shopped, The Constitution Was Shredded


YouTube
Saturday, December 17, 2011
Obama is set to officially codify martial law.

With Ron Paul, You get the Same Old Story.....

SIC SEMPER TYRANNIS!!!
Mark Matheny
December 16, 2011

Throughout the years, Ron Paul has not changed. He has been a rock of steadiness, and a threat to those who want to destroy all that the founding fathers established on our great continent....


 
The 1970"s...............





The 1980's...........


Still the 1980's.....


Today......

With Ron Paul, you just get the same ole - same ole........... FREEDOM.

Flashback : Barack Obama- "Lightning from the High Places"

SIC SEMPER TYRANNIS!!!
Mark Matheny
December 16, 2011

In light of all the unfolding events over the last few days, I thought it only fitting to repost this radio program. It is important to listen to this program, because I believe there is a great possibility that Obama will win a 2nd term....


Listen to internet radio with Mark Matheny on Blog

Talk Radio



DHS Aircraft Aided In Massacre Of 73 Civilians


Homeland Security surveillance plane helped Jamaican police carry out atrocity
Paul Joseph Watson
Infowars.com
Friday, December 16, 2011
If you thought that the use of a Predator drone to target a family in rural North Dakota was overkill, wait until you hear what happened in Jamaica. The Department of Homeland Security aided Jamaican authorities in massacring 73 civilians as part of a botched drug raid conducted with the help of a DHS surveillance aircraft – before attempting to cover up the atrocity by refusing to release the footage.

“At the DEA’s insistence, Jamaican authorities reluctantly raided Tivoli Gardens, the West Kingston slum (Christopher) Coke ran as a de facto governor, two years ago. Coke didn’t turn up, but Jamaican police officers killed 73 civilians, many of them allegedly in cold blood. A Department of Homeland Security surveillance plane was overhead the whole time,”reports Gawker.
Writing for the New Yorker, Mattathias Schwartz reveals how most of Coke’s gunmen disappeared almost instantly, before police proceeded to go door to door carrying out summary executions of innocent villagers.
Amidst the massacre, a Homeland Security surveillance plane circled overhead, providing Jamaican authorities withy real-time intelligence and surveillance footage.
After the Jamaican government claimed the DHS played no role in the atrocity, Schwartz filed a Freedom of Information Act Request which revealed that the U.S. had played a role, forcing the Jamaican government to retract the claim.
“PRIME MINISTER and Minister of Defence, Andrew Holness, has revealed that the United States Government provided surveillance assistance to the Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) through the presence of an aircraft over Tivoli Gardens during the May 24, 2010 operations in the West Kingston community to serve a warrant on convicted drug lord Christopher ‘Dudus’ Coke,” reported the Jamaica Gleaner.

Gunter Spens: USA Police State Worse Than East Germany – Infowars Nightly News


Infowars Nightly News
Friday, December 16, 2011
On the Thursday, December 15 edition edition of Infowars Nightly News, Alex interviews Gunter Spens, a former officer of the East German army and member of Texas Oathkeepers, who has made harrowing comparisons between the totalitarian surveillance state of East Germany and the high-tech totalitarian state now emerging in America.

Faux Conservatives Smear Ron Paul Ahead Of Iowa Run In

SIC SEMPER TYRANNIS!!!
Mark Matheny
December 15, 2011



Source: http://www.infowars.com/faux-conservatives-smear-ron-paul-ahead-of-iowa-run-in/

Expose: The Vatican Wants to Lay its Hands on Jerusalem


Arutz Sheva

December 15, 2011

Giulio Meotti, Italy

The Vatican is now reiterating demands for control of religious sites in Jerusalem. Jordan's occupation 1948-1967 didn't bother them.

Vatican - Jerusalem
Vatican - Jerusalem
Israel Radio Photo
“Peace negotiations in the Middle East must tackle the issue of the status of the holy sites of Jerusalem”, Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, head of the Vatican’s Council for Interreligious Dialogue, declared several days ago in Rome.
The Vatican’s former foreign minister asked to place some Israeli holy places under Vatican authority, alluding to the Cenacle on Mount Zion and the garden of Gethsemane at the foot of the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem.
The first site also houses what is referred to as King David’s tomb. 
“There will not be peace if the question of the holy sites is not adequately resolved”, Tauran said. “The part of Jerusalem within the walls – with the holy sites of the three religions – is humanity’s heritage. The sacred and unique character of the area must be safeguarded and it can only be done with a special, internationally-guaranteed statute”.
The Israeli government and the Vatican are deadlocked in discussions over the status of the religious sites. Vatican officials are now reiterating their demand for control over the religious sites in the ancient and holy city founded by King David as the capital of ancient Israel and now the capital of the reestablished Jewish state.
Danny Ayalon, Israel’s deputy foreign minister, declared that Israel might consider giving the Vatican “a greater role” in operating the sites. In the last weeks, the Roman Catholic Church’s authorities increased their political initiatives for Catholic control over some sites in Jerusalem.
The Vatican’s former arcibishop in Jerusalem, Michel Sabbah, just promoted an appeal to the European Union and United States to “stop the Hebraization of Jerusalem”.
Two weeks ago Msgr. David-Maria Jaeger, who was recently appointed by Pope Benedict XVI to the Vatican’s highest court, talked in Washington about a current U.S. Supreme Court case over whether an American boy born in Jerusalem should add Israel after the name of the historic city on his U.S. passport. Jaeger said that the question about Jerusalem is not “whether it is the capital of Israel, it is a question of whether it is a part of a national territory”.
A few days earlier, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Fouad Twal, gave a speech to greet the bishops of Europe and North America during their annual pilgrimage in Israel, in which Twal denounced “the Israeli right wing invading more and more of Jerusalem and trying to transform it into an only Hebrew-Jewish city, excluding the other faiths”.
Claudette Habesch, the Caritas general-secretary in Jerusalem, a Vatican NGO that works in social activities, just released an interview to Zenit news agency, in which he “christianized” the Palestinian Intifada against “what we call the Checkpoint of Humiliation”.
In September, Patriarch of Jerusalem Twal was at the White House for a meeting with the American administration as well as to support the PA statehood bid at the UN. Twal repeated Benedict XVI’s speech of May 13, 2009 in the Aida refugee camp in Bethlehem, one of the most political speeches ever pronounced by Ratzinger during his pontificate. It was given in front of the most eloquent symbol of the conflict: the security wall between Israel and the PA areas.
On that day the Pope spoke specifically of an “independent Palestinian state”.
The Opera Romana Pellegrinaggi, the Vatican’s powerful agency for worldwide pilgrimages, just organized a “marathon for peace” in Jerusalem to protest against the security fence near Bethlehem and to support "Palestinian political rights". The march began on the Mount of Olives, “where the Last Supper took place”.
On December 1st, several Christian and Muslim dignitaries met in Beit Sahour for a conference on “How to live together in a future Palestinian state?”. Patriarch Emeritus of Jerusalem Michel Sabbah and Sheikh Muhammad Ahmad Hussein, Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, also attended the event organized by Al-Liqa, a Vatican ecumenical center based in Bethlehem.
Sabbah said that “recourse to the UN for a Palestinian state is a step toward peace”. Last summer, Latin Patriarch Twal took part in a meeting in London with Anglican Archbishop Rowan Williams of Canterbury, in which the Vatican envoy denounced the “more than 550.000 Israelis living in East Jerusalem and the West Bank” and “the demography of Jerusalem changing rapidly with the sacred space being threatened”.
In 2006, then Israel’s Prime Minister, Ehud Olmert and Foreign Minister, Tzipi Livni, negotiated to give away the “holy basin” to the Vatican.
At the time, President Moshe Katzav, in the face of increasing public pressure, was forced to deny any plans to sign away the King David’s complex in Jerusalem.
It now appears that this option has once again surfaced. A major voice for the Vatican’s plan is Hanna Siniora, the elder statesman of Palestinian 'peace' activists, whose office is in the Vatican’s Tantur Institute for Ecumenical Studies in Jerusalem.
The site known as King David’s Tomb is the major target in the Vatican’s plan. It’s a complex of buildings of some 100,000 square feet where David and Solomon, and kings of Judea, are said to be buried, although this is disputed by historians.
The Upper Room, or Cenacle, as it is known, is on the second floor of the Crusader-era building. During his visit to Israel in 2000, Pope John Paul II held Mass there. The Roman Catholic Church has been fighting for more than 450 years to win back control over the sanctuary, which was seized from Franciscan monks during the Ottoman Empire's rule around 1551.
The building was granted to the Diaspora Yeshiva over 40 years ago, and yeshiva heads fear that the Vatican wishes to turn it into a pilgrimage site for hundreds of thousands of Catholics and hold religious services there.
The Vatican wants Israel relinquishing sovereignty at the Western Wall and the Temple Mount. The Holy See uses the expression “Holy Basin”, which refers to the area of the Temple Mount, the Mount of Olives, Mount Zion and a variety of Christian holy sites which the administration of former U.S. President Bill Clinton began reccomending be administered under a “special regime”.
The Obama plan also calls for resolving the two thorniest issues in the conflict by sharing Jerusalem and settling Arab refugees in Arab countries or a future Palestinian state, but not in Israel. According to Obama, the Old City of Jerusalem would be designated an “international zone”.
Israel’s President Shimon Peres, who has no authority, also agreed to hand over to the Vatican the sovereignty of the holy sites.
Any Vatican claim to a seat at the negotiating table is undermined by the complicity of the Vatican between 1948 and 1967. During the Jordanian occupation, Judaism’s holiest sites were desecrated and Jews were barred from visiting these shrines. The Jordanians built a hotel and a road through the Jewish cemetery on Mount of Olives and they used the broken headstones to build the latrines in the construction of the Intercontintental Hotel, which likely rests on burial grounds.
As was its practice during the Holocaust under Pius XII, the Vatican then turned a deaf ear to these gross violations of Jewish human rights.
If Israel would cede Jewish sovereignty on the holy sites, it would mean returning to a time when Jerusalem was separated by a seven-kilometer wall, barbed wire, minefields and bunkers. A tourist visiting the holy city would have found signs warning “Danger - Frontier ahead!”, “Snipers nearby” and “shetah hahefker”, which in Hebrew means: No-Man’s Land. 
It would be Sarajevo, not the Holy City of Jerusalem. 
The writer, an Italian journalist with Il Foglio, writes a weekly column for Arutz Sheva. He is the author of the book "A New Shoah", that researched the personal stories of Israel's terror victims, published by Encounter. His writing has appeared in publications, such as the Wall Street Journal, YNet, Frontpage and Commentary.

Amerika -The Police State


Listen to internet radio with Mark Matheny on Blog Talk Radio
WE'RE HIT!!! RADIO
December 15, 2011

Mark Matheny will discuss recent developements that are pushing America into economic collapse, war, and a Police State.

Big Sis Orders ICE To Prepare For Mass Influx of Immigrants


Directive follows leaked KBR memo requesting subcontractors to service detention camps
Paul Joseph Watson
Infowars.com
Thursday, December 15, 2011
Department of Homeland Security chief Janet Napolitano has directed ICE to prepare for a mass influx of immigrants into the United States, calling for the plan to deal with the “shelter” and “processing” of large numbers of people.

“The Department of Homeland Security wants a plan to deal with sudden mass migrations of immigrants to the U.S.,” reports Government Security News.
“DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano, according to a statement by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, recently directed ICE to develop a national-level mass migration plan. The plan will outline how to address the health care, sheltering, processing, transition and disposition of large numbers of undocumented individuals who might arrive in the U.S. as the result of a mass migration, said ICE on Dec. 13.”
Part of the preparations for sheltering and processing an influx of people includes the construction and manning of detention camps.
In 2006, Halliburton subsidiary Kellogg, Brown and Root was contracted by Homeland Security to build detention centers designed to deal with “an emergency influx of immigrants into the U.S,” or the rapid development of unspecified “new programs” that would require large numbers of people to be interned.
Last week we received a leaked memo from a state government employee detailing KBR’s efforts to hire subcontractors to provide services required for temporary “emergency environment” camps located in five regions of the United States, indicating that many of the camps have now been constructed and are ready for use.
The construction of new detention camps inside the United States has provoked fears that the facilities could also be used to intern American citizens in the aftermath of a national emergency.

'Indefinite Detention' Bill to be signed by President Obama

SIC SEMPER TYRANNIS!!!
Mark Matheny
December 15, 2011

Although Obama has stated recently that he would veto the NDAA bill, it looks as though he will be signing it into law now.

This bill will allow for the indefinite detention with out a trial, of anyone (including Americans) who are considered as a terrorist threat to the U.S.

There have been many news outlets that have either been silent on this issue, or have downplayed the severe implications of the bill by stating that the bill does not apply to American citizens, however, it is clear by the statement of Sen. Lindsey Graham, that the law will apply to Americans as well:
“It is not unfair to make an American citizen account for the fact that they decided to help Al Qaeda to kill us all and hold them as long as it takes to find intelligence about what may be coming next, ....  And when they say, ‘I want my lawyer,’ you tell them, ‘Shut up. You don’t get a lawyer.’”

Levin, Chairman of the Armed Services Committee stated that the language preventing Americans from being indefinitely detained was removed from the bill:
“The language which precluded the application of Section 1031 to American citizens was in the bill that we originally approved…and the administration asked us to remove the language which says that U.S. citizens and lawful residents would not be subject to this section,”
“It was the administration that asked us to remove the very language which we had in the bill which passed the committee…we removed it at the request of the administration,” ......“It was the administration which asked us to remove the very language the absence of which is now objected to.”

We know that in the aftermath of 9/11, the Bush administration passed the Patriot Act, in order to justify and codify into law, wiretapping and other acts that had been going on even during the Clinton administration. The Military Commisions Act was also passed in order to slowly create the environment for a complete takeover and the implementation of Martial Law. Now we have this bill, which Obama has every intention of signing, in my opinion. Don't believe he will? Well watch the video below from 2009:



Here is the portion of the bill discussed above:


http://www.rules.house.gov/Media/file/PDF_112_1/legislativetext/HR1540co... 
In H.R. 1045:

SEC. 1031. DEFINITION OF INDIVIDUAL DETAINED AT GUANTANAMO.

In this subtitle, the term ‘individual detained at Guantanamo’ means any individual who is located at United States Naval Station, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, on or after March 7, 2011, who--

(1) is not a citizen of the United States or a member of the Armed Forces of the United States; and

(2) is in the custody or under the effective control of the Department of Defense.

In S. 1867:

SEC. 1031. AFFIRMATION OF AUTHORITY OF THE ARMED FORCES OF THE UNITED STATES TO DETAIN COVERED PERSONS PURSUANT TO THE AUTHORIZATION FOR USE OF MILITARY FORCE.

(a) In General – Congress affirms that the authority of the President to use all necessary and appropriate force pursuant to the Authorization for Use of Military Force (Public Law 107-40) includes the authority for the Armed Forces of the United States to detain covered persons (as defined in subsection (b)) pending disposition under the law of war.

(b) Covered Persons – A covered person under this section is any person as follow:

(1) A person who planned, authorized, committed, or aided the terrorist attacks that occurred on September 11, 2001, or harbored those responsible for those attacks.

(2) A person who was a part of or substantially supported al-Qaeda, the Taliban, or associated forces that are engaged in hostilities against the United States or its coalition partners, including any person who has committed a belligerent act or has directly supported such hostilities in aid of such enemy forces.

(c) Disposition Under Law of War – The disposition of a person under the law of war as described in subsection (a) may include the following:

(1) Detention under the law of war without trial until the end of the hostilities authorized by the Authorization for Use of Military Force.

(2) Trial under chapter 47A of title 10, United States Code (as amended by the Military Commissions Act of 2009 (title XVIII of Public Law 111-84)).

(3) Transfer for trial by an alternative court or competent tribunal having lawful jurisdiction.

(4) Transfer to the custody or control of the person’s country of origin, any other foreign country, or any other foreign entity.

(d) Construction- Nothing in this section is intended to limit or expand the authority of the President or the scope of the Authorization for Use of Military Force.

(e) Requirement for Briefings of Congress – The Secretary of Defense shall regularly brief Congress regarding the application of the authority described in this section, including the organizations, entities, and individuals considered to be ‘covered persons’ for purposes of subsection (b)(2).

SEC. 1032. REQUIREMENT FOR MILITARY CUSTODY.

(a) Custody Pending Disposition Under Law of War -

(1) IN GENERAL – Except as provided in paragraph (4), the Armed Forces of the United States shall hold a person described in paragraph (2) who is captured in the course of hostilities authorized by the Authorization for Use of Military Force (Public Law 107-40) in military custody pending disposition under the law of war.

(2) COVERED PERSONS – The requirement in paragraph (1) shall apply to any person whose detention is authorized under section 1031 who is determined–

(A) to be a member of, or part of, al-Qaeda or an associated force that acts in coordination with or pursuant to the direction of al-Qaeda; and

(B) to have participated in the course of planning or carrying out an attack or attempted attack against the United States or its coalition partners.

(3) DISPOSITION UNDER LAW OF WAR – For purposes of this subsection, the disposition of a person under the law of war has the meaning given in section 1031(c), except that no transfer otherwise described in paragraph (4) of that section shall be made unless consistent with the requirements of section 1033.

(4) WAIVER FOR NATIONAL SECURITY – The Secretary of Defense may, in consultation with the Secretary of State and the Director of National Intelligence, waive the requirement of paragraph (1) if the Secretary submits to Congress a certification in writing that such a waiver is in the national security of the United States.

(b) Applicability to United States Citizens and Lawful Resident Aliens -

(1) UNITED STATES CITIZENS – The requirement to detain a person in military custody under this section does not extend to citizens of the United States.

(2) LAWFUL RESIDENT ALIENS – The requirement to detain a person in military custody under this section does not extend to a lawful resident alien of the United States on the basis of conduct taking place within the United States, except to the extent permitted by the Constitution of the United States.


Although it appears to exclude American citizens in this portion of the bill, I have shown that this appears to in fact extend to Americans as well.


This is what an article from Washington's Blog had to say:



The bill is confusing. As Wired noted on December 1st:
It’s confusing, because two different sections of the bill seem to contradict each other, but in the judgment of the University of Texas’ Robert Chesney — a nonpartisan authority on military detention — “U.S. citizens are included in the grant of detention authority.”
The ACLU notes:
Don’t be confused by anyone claiming that the indefinite detention legislation does not apply to American citizens. It does. There is an exemption for American citizens from the mandatory detention requirement (section 1032 of the bill), but no exemption for American citizens from the authorization to use the military to indefinitely detain people without charge or trial (section 1031 of the bill). So, the result is that, under the bill, the military has the power to indefinitely imprison American citizens, but it does not have to use its power unless ordered to do so.
But you don’t have to believe us. Instead, read what one of the bill’s sponsors, Sen. Lindsey Graham said about it on the Senate floor: “1031, the statement of authority to detain, does apply to American citizens and it designates the world as the battlefield, including the homeland.”
*** 
It seems that all the preparations for a coming economic collapse are being set. The U.S. military has been preparing contingency plans in case of any coming national emergencies. We have threats of war coming from Russia, China, and even our own nation!

With the growing unrest here in the United States, these measures by Congress, the Department of Homeland Security, FBI and other agencies to target Americans as "homegrown terrorists", are being done to protect the criminals running the Banks, Wall Street, and the Federal Reserve against those who want to bring them to justice for all the illegal acts of terror they have brought upon the American taxpayer!



Here are some examples of the propaganda being put out through video games, and the media to brainwash the public masses:
Video Game depicting Americans as terrorists




Let's look at some of the other steps being taken here in the U.S. to prepare for a possible economic collapse and social chaos coming:

There are many other steps being taken as well, but this will be enough to get you started.....


It is time to prepare for a rough road ahead. It seems they are also hell bent on setting Gingrich up to run against Barack Obama in 2012, so that Gingrich can throw the game, keeping King Obama in for an end run on the Sovereignty of the United States once and for all!

Eurozone crisis poses military risk, warns defence chief General Sir David Richards


Defence chiefs are drawing up plans to cope with the potential military fallout from the eurozone crisis, according to General Sir David Richards.

Chief of the Defence Staff General Sir David Richards says he has regrets about the way the war in Afghanistan has been fought but he believes it is a more stable place now than in 2001.
General Sir David Richards, the Chief of the Defence Staff 

Singapore Airforce stages complex war game in Arizona


Star Online
December 14, 2011
WITHIN mere minutes of spotting a car travelling on a dusty track in the United States’ south-western desert, the Republic of Singapore Air Force’s (RSAF) latest and most lethal “smart” bomb found and hit its target.
The 1.6 million-hectare Barry M. Goldwater Training Area in Arizona – about 19 times the size of Singapore – was where the RSAF dropped the Laser Joint Direct Attack Munitions (Jdams) bomb for the first time on Friday.
The area was also the battleground for one of the Singapore Armed Forces’ (SAF) biggest war games – and the most complex uni­lateral one – in the United States.
Codenamed Forging Sabre, the exercise, the third since the series started in 2005, was a dry run for the modernised or third-generation SAF.
Chief of Air Force Ng Chee Meng, who observed the proceedings, said putting the Laser Jdams – made by US defence firm Boeing – into action meant that RSAF would be sharper and more precise when “killing off mobile targets at speed”.
He added that RSAF pilots would not have to be exposed to high risks unnecessarily when hunting down the enemy.
At Friday’s integrated live-fire attack – the finale of a 14-day exercise – there was no deafening big bang or balls of orange flames spiralling skywards.
Instead, there were dull thuds, followed by puffs of smoke and dust, when the Laser Jdams bombs, armour-piercing Hellfire missiles and rockets hit their targets.
It was game over for the enemy, which had been “hammered” by the coordinated thrust of Singa­pore’s 450-plus airmen and commandos as well as 25 warplanes.


Is the FBI Using Smartphone Spyware For Law Enforcement Purposes?


The new american
WRITTEN BY BRIAN KOENIG
  
WEDNESDAY, 14 DECEMBER 2011 11:58

The narrative continues over smartphone privacy issues involving the data logging program Carrier IQ, which was recently found to be installed on about 150 million handsets worldwide, including many popular Android, iOS, Nokia, and Blackberry devices. Controversy over the invasive software stemmed from allegations that Carrier IQ has the ability to record an array of device information, including keystrokes, text messages, web browsing, and user location, all without the user’s knowledge or expressed consent.
Uproar over the smartphone "spyware" emerged in late November when Trevor Eckhart posted on his blog two videos unraveling how the Carrier IQ program he discovered on an HTC smartphone was able to track virtually every function on the phone. Following Eckhart’s purported revelation, several cellphone providers, including Sprint, T-Mobile, and AT&T, admitted they have used the program on their phones for performance-tracking purposes.
In turn, the software developer and several cellphone providers have been issued a class action lawsuitfor violating the Federal Wiretap Act, the Stored Electronic Communications Act, and the Federal Computer Fraud Abuse Act. The filing alleged that the companies committed an "unprecedented breach in the digital privacy rights of 150 million cell phone users" and that the defendants deliberately pre-installed the Carrier IQ software into their products, without any form of consumer disclosure.
As previously reported by The New American, the four consumers who commenced the lawsuit sought compensatory and punitive damages on behalf of all other consumers whose devices contain the spyware program, and the complaint requested that damages of $100 a day per violation should be granted to those affected. AT&T and Sprint quickly released statements explaining that the data extracted through the Carrier IQ program is exclusively used to improve service performance; likewise, Apple admitted to using the program on its iOS devices, but assured that future updates will fully eliminate the program.
However, new information regarding the debacle has provoked speculation of whether the FBI is using the software for law enforcement purposes, after a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request filed by Michael Morisy of MuckRock News, a proxy website for filing FOIA requests, shed new light on the controversy:
A recent FOIA request to the Federal Bureau of Investigation for "manuals, documents or other written guidance used to access or analyze data gathered by programs developed or deployed by Carrier IQ" was met with a telling denial. In it, the FBI stated it did have responsive documents — but they were exempt under a provision that covers materials that, if disclosed, might reasonably interfere with an ongoing investigation….
What is still unclear is whether the FBI used Carrier IQ's software in its own investigations, whether it is currently investigating Carrier IQ, or whether it is some combination of both — not unlikely given the recent uproar over the practice coupled with the U.S. intelligence communities reliance on third-party vendors. The response would seem to indicate at least the former, since the request was specifically for documents related directly to accessing and analyzing Carrier IQ data.

Video: Pentagon Drones Now Targeting Rural Americans


RT
December 13, 2011
Predator drones have been used to fight the war on terror worldwide. Recently Iran shot down a US drone flying over the country and now reports have surfaced indicating these same drones are being used on American citizens. Alex Jones, radio show host, joins us to help us dig deeper and find out why US citizens are being targeted.