The Morning Roar: Obama To Call For “Changes” To N.S.A’s Bulk Data Collection, CO Will Apply Retroactive Reversal To Marijuana Convictions, And Man Brings Rifle to Airport, But Is Asked To Leave For Distributing Flyers
Welcome to your Tuesday edition of The Morning Roar! Grab a cup of coffee and relax. We've taken the initiative to provide you with three important stories that could have an effect on your liberty. Please stop back tomorrow for a new edition of The Morning Roar, which is published every weekday, Monday through Friday!Obama To Call For "Changes" To N.S.A's Bulk Data CollectionPresident Barack Obama is finally going to propose reforms that purport to change the N.S.A's bulk data collection that was brought to public attention by heroic whistle-blower Edward Snowden. Don't pull your Barry is my homeboy t-shirt out of the attic just yet. These potential policies appear to be crafted to give the appearance that the president is making changes to protect individuals from the prying eyes of N.S.A. surveillance, but are most likely superficial tweaks that allow the N.S.A. to continue business as usual. The unsubstantial policy changes were enthusiastically previewed by the New York Times.
The Obama administration is preparing to unveil a legislative proposal for a far-reaching overhaul of the National Security Agency’s once-secret bulk phone records program in a way that — if approved by Congress — would end the aspect that has most alarmed privacy advocates since its existence was leaked last year, according to senior administration officials.
Under the proposal, they said, N.S.A. would end its systematic collection of data about Americans’ calling habits. The records would stay in the hands of phone companies, which would not be required to retain the data for any longer than they normally would. And the N.S.A. could obtain specific records only with permission from a judge, using a new kind of court order.
In a speech in January, President Obama said he wanted to get the N.S.A. out of the business of collecting call records in bulk while preserving the program’s capabilities. He acknowledged, however, that there was no easy way to do so, and had instructed Justice Department and intelligence officials to come up with a plan by March 28 — Friday — when the current court order authorizing the program expires.
As part of the proposal, the administration has decided to ask the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court to renew the program as it currently exists for at least one more 90-day cycle, senior administration officials said. But under the plan the administration has developed and now advocates, the officials said, it would later undergo major changes.
For the next 90 days all of your communications will continue to be recorded, thanks to the President kicking the can three months down the road. Once those 90 days are in the past, then "major changes" would be ready to be implemented.
The NY Times articles provides further insight into the detailed changes to N.S.A surveillance methods.
The new surveillance court orders envisioned by the administration would require phone companies to swiftly provide records in a technologically compatible data format, including making available, on a continuing basis, data about any new calls placed or received after the order is received, the officials said.
They would also allow the government to seek related records for callers up to two calls, or “hops,” removed from the number that has come under suspicion, even if those callers are customers of other companies.
The N.S.A. now retains the phone data for five years. But the administration considered and rejected imposing a mandate on phone companies that they hold onto their customers’ calling records for a period longer than the 18 months that federal regulations already generally require — a burden that the companies had resisted and that was seen as a major obstacle to keeping the data in their hands. A senior administration official said that intelligence agencies had concluded that the impact of that change would be small because older data is less important.
To summarize these "sweeping" changes, the government will still have proxy access to your calls by designating the phone company to hold communications for 18 months, rather than 5 years and the government will now be limited to two "hops" removed from the number under suspicion.
These proposed changes are insulting. As I stated in yesterday's Morning Roar, politicians will offer reforms that claim to rein in out of control intelligence agencies, but we must be realistic with the expectation that these agencies, as structured, can be brought under control. The bottom line, these agencies, which survive by committing rights violations, would never exist in a free society.
Even an individual that believes in the ability of the State to protect it's citizens, must question why these regulations would be any more effective in curtailing the N.S.A. These changes are putting lipstick on a pig. They will have no affect on the growth of the surveillance State.
Colorado Will Apply Retroactive Reversal To Marijuana ConvictionsIt's not all doom and gloom in liberty town. We can look to the great state of Colorado for an example of a state that is expanding individual liberty. Now that recreational marijuana is legal in Colorado, the Colorado Court of Appeals has ruled that cases that were under appeal when the amendment to legalize marijuana took effect in December 2012, are now eligible to have their conviction retroactively reversed. The ruling will begin to allow some individuals convicted of non-violent marijuana related crimes to go free. The Huffington Post reported on the historic ruling.
The Colorado Court of Appeals said people whose cases were under appeal when Amendment 64 took effect in December 2012 are eligible to have their convictions reversed.A spokeswoman for the Attorney General John Suthers said prosecutors are reviewing the opinion to determine any next steps.Marijuana advocate Brian Vicente said the ruling could affect hundreds of people who were given jail terms for petty marijuana offenses.The case involved a woman who was convicted of multiple drug charges, including possession of about a third of an ounce of marijuana. Amendment 64 decriminalized the possession of an ounce or less of marijuana.In the ruling, the judges said it they had a duty to follow the will of the voters.The judges said a defendant could get post-conviction relief if "there has been significant change in the law."
This is a positive step and we should celebrate for the non-violent "criminals" that soon will have their freedom back. Colorado is leading the way in setting these individuals free. These individuals paid a hefty price for a nonexistent crime. They did not violate anyone's rights, and in return they had their own rights egregiously violated by the State.For more conversation of the economics of the drug war check out this episode of the Lions of Liberty Podcast, where host Marc Clair speaks with Dr. Mark Thornton, Senior Fellow at the Ludwig von Mises Institute, about the economics of the War on Drugs. They discuss how the drug war is a an example of the difference between a mainstream approach to an issue, and an Austrian or free market approach. They also go into some common objections to drug legalization, and some of the lessons we can learn about prohibition from shows like “Breaking Bad” and “The Wire”.Man Brings Rifle to Airport, But Is Asked To Leave For Distributing FlyersThis video posted by Annabelle Bamforth at BenSwann.com is a must watch. A man who calls himself "Liberty Carrots" entered the Manchester-Boston Regional Airport with a rifle slung over his shoulder and a handful of pamphlets. The papers apparently contained stories critical of the TSA and other relevant liberty infringing issues. Watch as the airport authorities pay zero attention to the bolt-action rifle hanging on his back, but harass him for exercising his First Amendment right by passing out newsletters.This video appears to have been uploaded to YouTube on March 21, 2014. The real name of the man in the video who calls himself Liberty Carrots is Joe Nemi Jones, according to a post on the freekeene.com website. As of the publish time, Mr. Jones is still a free man and has not been charged with a crime.If we have learned anything from a liberty activist that pulled a similar stunt (Adam Kokesh), then Liberty Carrots could expect a SWAT raid on his home any moment now.Joe Nemi Jones did this, as stated on Free Keene, in order to support his First and Second Amendment rights guaranteed by the United States Constitution. Shockingly, the airport security was much more worried about restricting the First Amendment, rather than the Second Amendment.While I would not advocate anyone attempt this type of activism, it does take balls and an unwavering belief in the United States Constitution. Two things that I respect. However, this activist stunt could have ended much worse for all parties involved and it could be argued that the stunt made Joe look like a crazy person. Mr. Jones would not be able to do much to advance liberty if he had ended up in jail, much like the aforementioned activist Adam Kokesh, when he pulled a similar stunt.Read The Morning Roar every weekday Monday-Friday!The Lions of Liberty are on Twitter, Facebook & Google+Receive access to ALL of our EXCLUSIVE bonus audio content – including “Conspiracy Corner”, “Degenerate Gamblers” and the “League of Liberty Podcast” by joining the Lions of Liberty Pride and supporting us on Patreon!