Monthly Archives: April 2015

America Should Prevent Jade Helm 2015: Not Likely To Be Benign in Any Way

Posted on April 30, 2015 by Ramola D | Leave a comment

That’s the message now from various other analysts who feel very strongly that an exercise or drill of this size in civilian terrain does not bode good at all–I post a few videos and articles here which essentially underline the Military question, and that’s what tips me off too, to the actual possibilities here.

PETITION TO STOP JADE HELM Take a moment to sign. (Same Care2 petition, currently past 500.)

The Military Question

Let’s remind ourselves at base that we are Not living in a calm, collected democracy where the thought of “martial law” is pure conspiracy theory. We are living in an unbalanced surveillance state where state-sponsored terrorism is rampant on the streets (this is what Organized Harassment/Gangstalking/COINTELPRO is; this is what militarized and bullying police behavior is; this is what setting up violent looters and rioters at a justifiable but initially mostly peaceful protest, such as at Baltimore, is); where Emergencies and Executive Orders are passed at whim; where political intimidation of activists and whistleblowers has become a norm; where secrecy permits targeting and assault with EMF weapons in secret, as well as continued clandestine MKULTRA experimentation; and where whole communities have been conscripted into compliance, snitching, spying, and surveilling their neighbors, by Joint Agency Fusion Center personnel convincing them they’re engaging in the noble task of collecting helpful Human Intelligence on their fellow community member (including this writer), now unfortunately labelled a dissenter/extremist/subversive/potential terrorist/spy and therefore subject to increased Patriot Act persecution. Anyone reminded of Nazi Germany yet? Anonymous spells out the connections in a video below.

By the Military question I mean that the Military is Already carrying out Urban Warfare and Assymmetrical Warfare and Unconventional Warfare on American civilans today, on those glibly labelled Targeted Individuals: a clandestine operation run with Intel agencies and fulfilling many purposes, for many different agencies and groups: the incineration of dissent, the extermination of outspoken community members, the testing and training for young “Warfighters” (odd military word) on weapons of Electronic Warfare–Directed Energy Weapons using EMF radiation or sonic energy. This is a surreptitious operation, where the Military is already mingling with and around civilians, unnoticed by most–and this is one stated intent of the putative Jade Helm drill.

Watch the longer documentary from Anonymous, Uncovering Jade Helm:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=arfKwLn4Ro0

The Military Has Been Preparing for Years

The Military has been actually preparing for years for contingencies requiring martial law. See Suzanne Posel’s 2012 op-ed: Rex 84: Government Silently Positions for Martial Law as Financial Collapse Arrives in America

That–Rex 84–is one of the subjects discussed by Chip Tatum, former CIA/Special Ops Pilot, on his Veterans Truth Radio show, introduced here by David Robinson, who also posts links to various relevant Military documents in this post:Explosive:Jade Helm 15 Ex CIA Whistleblower Gene “Chip” Tatum. Note that this podcast carries excerpts of audio from Military statements about Jade Helm in North Carolina to local councils, about the nature of this drill–listen, and judge for yourself what it really means.

The Military has hundreds of documents (I have been reading some of them)–dating back to the ’80s–detailing, discussing, plotting and planning Urban Warfare, Asymmetric Warfare, Unconventional Warfare, Information Warfare, and Special Operations. Much of this has been prompted by a dramatic focus in the last twenty-five years or so on invisibly-radiating Electromagnetoc/Scalar/Sonic Weapons which permit concealment, deception, and trickery, which forms of maneuver in fact are detailed in their many manuals dedicated to the use of the euphemistically labelled Non-Lethal Weapons in Electronic Warfare and Special Warfare. They place great store by something they call a Revolution in Military Affairs which seems to be their way of trying to combat the info-overload we’re all swimming in thanks to the Internet; it also expresses their fear at the transparency and information-spread the Internet permits. Read Mark M. Rich’s New World War online for some clear explanation of this orientation. (My Amazon review of this crucially important book is here.) The Military has set up whole battalions of personnel to engage in PsyOps and MilDec-–Psychological Operations and Military Deception (Just Google the Journal of Military Deception)–aimed at civilians; this too is well-documented.

Urban Warfare/Information Warfare to them includes clandestine Computer Network interference, covert and overt Civilian Military Ops–conscripting communities; Special Operations includes undercover/covert Electronic Warfare on “dissidents” and “extremists” and “domestic adversaries” carried out, unbelievably, “under color of law” by joint actions and agreements with the Department of Justice and local law enforcement (See Nick Begich’s book Earth Rising for an excellent, researched description of this connection–more on this subject here shortly.)

Asymmetric Warfare involves Manhunting–essentially, a canned hunt of humans, or authorized murder of unarmed individuals who are in fact not engaged in combat with them–with these lovely lethal but invisible energy weapons. Again, Targeted Individuals are currently being hit. See Gregoire Chamayou’s book, A Theory of the Drone and this TomDispatch.com article on the book, Hunting Humans By Remote Control.

The focus on Electronic Warfare aims at Total Information Awareness and Full Spectrum Dominance of their “domestic adversaries” and others–they are aiming to know everything about you, 24/7, and attack you with radiation, 24/7–this program is underway as Low-Intensity Conflict (uncover/covert, on Targeted Individuals) currently; it is also Torture by any other name, which perhaps explains the Joint Agency inclusion of the CIA/MKULTRA in its administering.

The Military drill being proposed seeks to practice these fancy forms of warfare–Urban, Unconventional, Special--on civilians. These are code words for control and takeover of civilians.

The Military gets 57% of the annual Federal Budget. It’s had plenty of time, all these years, using massive funds, to develop all sorts of deadly and classified weapons, and to grow an ego that’s threatening to swallow America.

Massive Military drills — and this one is being planned as a recurring, annual drill (listen to the Chip Tatum podcast)– are ways to plant an unmistakeable Military presence right in our face and attempt to establish Military Authority. Permitting such a drill establishes precedent and permits the Military to take over Civilian space. This is not “protecting the Homeland,” this would be “intimidating the Populace.”

The Military does have extraordinary, supremely unsettling documents detailing Resettlement and Internment Operations in the Homeland, which detail the extraction of dissenters and militants. There are videos online (on Youtube) showing the massive movement of Military and UN tanks, trucks, and equipment across country, as detailed in the (also-linked-above) Anonymous documentary.

Another video, from Dahboo77 issues this caution, about what to expect in martial law:

Lessons from Baltimore

While some people–particularly those lulled by the more “intellectual-seeming” Mainstream Media–I count the Washington Post, New York Times, NPR here–may find it hard to believe that we could Possibly be at this point, one only has to look to Baltimore and listen to the Military/National Guard spokesperson talk about “supporting” the City. As reassurance, she offers her audience a little note of cheer at the end:”This is not martial law. We are not at that point.” She repeats it: “We are not at that point.” Not at that point…?

Does that mean that point–in her configuration, and the Military’s–is still ahead of us–maybe just ahead…? How could that point even exist? Why would she even refer to it? She even tells us what martial law is–as if that word has any place in a democracy! (But of course, we are no longer a democracy!) Watch the raw footage from Dahboo77.

On the subject of the Baltimore riots, there’s also this video message, from Anonymous on Baltimore, and an article by Sonali Kolhatkar on the contriving of violence at the protests in Baltimore.

Question Jade Helm 2015: There is Nothing Normal in America Right Now

Posted on April 26, 2015 by Ramola D | Leave a comment

If you Google Jade Helm on Youtube–and really, everyone should, just to figure out what on earth is going on–you will see videos running the gamut of speculation on what Jade Helm is, what it purports to do, and what it may very well be hoping to usher in or condition Americans to accept: martial law, an increased military presence in our streets and cities, a rounding up of “dissenters” or political dissidents, a treating of our cities and inner spaces as potential hostile territory and enemy terrain, a demonstration to us that America is the battlefield, indeed, that the battlefield is everywhere.

These are no longer far-fetched notions. Despite the silence of mainstream media and the apologetics from such as the Washington Post, and even Veterans Today, painting the furore over Jade Helm as hype, and disinfo, and fear-building, and a hoax, it is absolutely believable today that the US Military could engage in overt hostile actions against US citizens–it already has, covertly, with widespread covert/classified electronic warfare–directed-energy weapon–testing/training and experimentation, in collusion with Intel agencies and law enforcement, a Dirty Op which continues (this is what the phenomenon of “Targeted Individuals” is all about–more on this subject soon); and overtly too, in many ways.

Many observers believe the Military is already controlling our cities and states, along with Intel groups — and again, if you don’t Know this yet, it’s still not hard to believe, is it; we’re all at this point acutely aware of the excesses, abuses, and overreach of our overly-policed, overly-militarized, overly-intrusive, overly-paranoid, overly-covert, secrecy-obsessed post-Patriot Act Surveillance State.

There is nothing normal in America right now.

See Dane Wigington’s new post at GeoEngineering Watch: Imminent Collapse: Economic, Environmental, and Societal

and an interesting article on the weirdness in America right now from Pat Henry, Is the US Government Building the Terrorists they Need? at The Prepper’s Journal.

Read John Whitehead’s editorial at The Daily Bell, Battlefield America: The War on the American People.

Increased Military Presence

There are reports coming in all over the US of increased military presence in many cities and states, not just in the Southwest, in those first seven states mentioned. There are videos on Youtube showing the military on city streets, aggressively confronting civilians (Florida), parking their tanks in school parking lots (West Virginia). There are military documents–from the past 10 to 20 years, really, surfacing–naming “extremists,” “dissidents,” “domestic adversaries,” and discussing “urban warfare,” “re-education of dissidents,” “internment,” and “civil unrest.”

(Just take a look at Deborah Tavares’ storehouse of military documents on StoptheCrime.net,

or visit Dr. Nick Begich’s website Earthpulse Press, for a whole lot of articles, documents, and books on these subjects.)

Not to mention discussions of methodologies of (invisible/easily covert) non-lethal warfare to asymmetrically take out activists, protesters, dissenters, anyone not in line with US policies–meaning, let us extrapolate, lethal hegemonic corporate policies–these are not conspiracy theories, they are words from Military, Air Force, and Navy documents (some of which will be posted here soon).

Remember that our President keeps announcing emergencies and Executive Orders, and that we currently have laws on the books permitting him to corrall all food resources, arrest anyone without due process, and indefinitely detain anyone, ditto. We also have those much talked-about FEMA camps, and really, they do seem to have barbed wire and watchtowers! Remember the recent deaths of Gray State movie producer David Crowley and his entire family. Gray State was the documentary he was making about the FEMA camps.

Incessant Planes Over Cities & States

Everywhere in the US, small planes and helicopters fly incessantly over cities–engaging in covert surveillance (see The Guardian’s recent uncovering of this reality), and in covert electronic warfare, collecting “radiation intelligence,” or what the Military calls MASINT, Measurement and Signature Intelligence, the continuous, unintentionally radiated and uniquely-identified electromagnetic signatures from human brains, and directing directed-energy weapons at select locations–this activity is pronounced in the vicinity of “targeted individuals”–activists, whistleblowers, outspoken community members who have been non-consensually rolled into clandestine human experimentation programs, a continuation of MKULTRA–and whole communities are aware of this activity today.

(It’s not possible to be unaware of planes directly overhead, all the time, for the most part–although not everyone is aware what the constant planes are all about, and what exactly they are doing to these select individuals, whom they have been informed are “threats to national security.” “Targeted individuals” however, cannot fail to know what these planes are doing, since they are the ones being assaulted each time with pulsed radiation neuroweaponry. These are “classified” activities transparent to those being assaulted.)

What One Can Do

Recently, a petition was circulated on Care2Petitions asking people to urge states to deny the Military permission to do their Jade Helm “drills” in their state. That petition is here, and although it sounds sensationalist, it really reflects what people are feeling right now about US Military drills inside US cities.

I think there’s need for vigilance, and that if there is something we can do to influence local government and state representatives to deny permission for military drills featuring night-time activity and “extractions” by Special Ops, this would be the time to do it!

One of those things I’d recommend is joining the Weekly Planetary Meditation, linked here. Whatever your thoughts of galactic beings working to help us, meditation as a group is surely always a good thing, and dreaming of Light coming down to wake up the souls and consciences of those repressing America could only yield positive results…

These discussions and videos point to the seriousness of what Jade Helm represents–because the USA has been in freefall for some years now, and some of us have woken up to what is going on, and some of us are in the process of waking up, whatever Jade Helm may or may not be, this moment in our history is an opportunity for every single American to take action to prevent disaster and retain and promote peace. Jade Helm–like any public military drill–should be publicly challenged and questioned: stay informed, stay questioning, stay vigilant, and please, speak out! (And don’t forget to meditate!)

Gary Franchi at Next News Network on Youtube talks about some aspects of Jade Helm, and shows one brave citizen protesting at a county meeting, as well as a Military PR operative presenting Jade Helm in soothing PR tones:

Jim Fetzer discusses Jade Helm: Jade Helm is no ordinary training drill.

Richard Presser discusses Jade Helm and points to several other articles of interest, including one on the Shemitah year and implications.

Starship Earth’s thoughts on Jade Helm: The DisInfo War is in Full Swing, It’s Time to Go Into Action, America.

Michael Snyder’s thoughts: Signs that the Elite are Feverishly Preparing for Something Big.

Some informative and speculative articles at Dave Hodges’ Commonsense Show.

This is just a sampling. Please stay informed over the next few weeks and months, please take the trouble to follow this story on any site that will cover it, and please take as much (peaceful/non-violent) action as you personally can to keep America and all its residents safe. Meditation does bring peace….and long-time meditators tell us it does yield results. Let’s hope!

The “Deep State” Hides in Plain Sight: Organized Covert Harassment Points to Overreach and Abuse of Powers by Out-of-Control Intel Agencies

Posted on April 9, 2015 by Ramola D | 5 comments

We are living in a time of unprecedented surveillance and social control in the US and in many countries worldwide.

Secrecy in law has brought us to a point where people either live in fear of the surveillance state and are afraid to speak their minds, or are naively co-opted into actively harassing activists/whistleblowers/writers in their midst, by Intel agencies working locally through Fusion Centers (via narratives of fabricated “investigations” of these civically-engaged citizens falsely termed “security risks” now needing to be “monitored electronically” 24/7 by the oh-so-concerned State and enrolled covertly in “neuroscience/behavior modification programs” which warrant friendly but un-turndownable “official” requests for community co-operation).

Businesses and communities are openly repressed by Intel agencies using the overreaching powers of state secrecy laws–like Section 215 of the Patriot Act, and the whole Patriot Act, and the facile issue of National Security Letters via secret machinations of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, and secret sharing of private information, all tools to oppress civilians and groups, and to force a community’s silence through gag orders and threats of incarceration and fines.

Secrecy, Silencing, Surveillance, Censorship: are we Secure yet?

Where does Covert Harassment come from? Has American society always been secretly run by Intel groups?

Acccording to Mike Lofgren (former GOP congressional staff member with Senate and House Budget Committees) in this Bill Moyers episode, the “Deep State” has been hiding in plain sight for years and includes Intel agencies, Wall Street, and Silicon Valley: he collects his thoughts also here in this essay, Anatomy of the Deep State.

Do Secret Services and Spy Agencies have any right whatsoever to covertly harass citizens–and to co-opt others through lies and deceit into also persecuting these citizens?

Or do these actions indicate a tremendous overreach and abuse of their powers?

Harassment today is malicious in the extreme, and involves the covert use of deadly directed-energy neuroweapons (See Human Rights/Covert Criminal Targeting of Activists; more to come); “electronic monitoring” or “electronic surveillance,” which community members consent to engage in, themselves (because they all have cell phones?!), is nothing less than the GPS tracking, targeting, and discharge of deadly directed-energy neuroweapons on citizens (See Human Rights/Classified Weapons Testing; more to come).

The nature of spying in itself is a deterrent to democracy; to understand why. watch the documentary Counter-Intelligence posted online in five parts. See this Popular Resistance interview with filmmaker Scott Noble: Counter-Intelligence: Spying Deters Democracy. Excerpt: “In making the film I set out to explore how these agencies function in the real world. How do they keep secrets? What are some common m.o.’s? What is their ultimate purpose? In a broader sense I wanted to ask whether democracy is even possible when organizations like the CIA exist. We are currently living under a hybrid of plutocracy (from plouto, “wealth”) and cryptocracy (from krypton, “hidden”) that benefits about 1 percent of the human population. It’s no secret we’re ruled by the rich, but there is a relative lack of understanding about just how much information is kept hidden from the public. A 2004 study by Peter Galison at Harvard concluded that “the classified universe is certainly not smaller, and very probably much larger than this unclassified one.””

Watch Counter-Intelligence online.

What was COINTELPRO all about? Who did it target, and doesn’t it seem like it’s quite aggressively active today?

This brief video which excerpts part of the Church Committee findings, shows Walter Mondale and other Senators discussing the unprecedented nature of Covert Harassment they were uncovering: Covert Actions Against Citizens Living in America

Who do Americans listen to today? Are American communities and citizens all too easily swayed by the voice of “Authority”?

How easily can an American be persuaded to act against a fellow citizen, merely by the flashing of a badge? Is this how Intel agencies are running entire communities now, and ensuring their “community involvement/participation” in the harassment of activists/whistleblowers/writers–their own neighbors? Watch this ABC News John Quinone: What Would You Do? video for some absolutely riveting footage that answers just this question.

Other videos on this highly educational site explore COINTELPRO further, and reveal the modern face of Covert Harassment.

Speaking Out Against Secrecy & the Stripping of our Basic Rights

People everywhere today are beginning to speak out about the excessive surveillance, repression, and secrecy we face post 9/11 and the Patriot Act: it’s Time for the Pariot Act to expire, and time for us to speak out against secrecy laws which suppress and do not protect, which oppress and do not secure “national security” much as the latter is used glibly as a mantra to justify pretty much any invasion of privacy, personal sovereignty, and right to free speech.

The Electronic Frontier Fund has set up a site with information and action items–learn more about the undemocratic nature of Section 215 of the Patriot Act, take a small moment to sign a petition, post a link, tweet a note to Congress, or write a letter to Congress–we will never be free of surveillance and repression and the stripping of our basic rights, we will never end the horrors of Covert Harassment by overreaching Intel groups, never end the machinations and depredations of the Deep State if we don’t speak out, now, today, while we have an ounce of freedom left.

Also, do scroll down the previous post here for other links to petitions and letters. Please: act today. Sign them all!

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Posted in Activism, COINTELPRO terrorism, Counter-Intelligence, covert surveillance, electronic harassment, electronic surveillance, Individual Liberties, Individual Rights, Patriot Act, restoring democracy, Secrecy, Signing Petitions, Speaking Out, Surveillance

Tagged ABCNews, Bill Moyers, Censorship, Church Committee, CIA, Counter-Intelligence, Covert, electronic surveillance, FBI, Fight 215, Harassment, human rights, John Quinone, Mike Lofgren, Patriot Act, Popular Resistance, S, Scott Noble, secrecy, Section 215, speak out, Surveillance, take action, What Would You D, What Would You Do?

Massive Abuses of Domestic Surveillance Occasioned by the Patriot Act: Join Tech Companies & Privacy Rights Advocates to Ensure Section 215 of the USA Patriot Act Expires on June 1

Posted on April 4, 2015 by Ramola D | 4 comments

Section 215 of the USA Patriot Act, signed into existence in 2001 in the wake of the horrific Trade Center massacre, and renewed in 2005 and 2006, is set to expire in June 2015. However, it won’t just disappear or vanish by itself as we hope, especially if there is no public awareness or debate about it, it may be “set to expire” but, apparently if it’s not an issue Congress is compelled to pay attention to, it will really be “set to be reauthorized automatically.” (See Electronic Frontier Foundation’s Deep Links blog post here.)

So it’s really up to us–you and me, ordinary Americans living through these extraordinary times of Rights violations of every kind in our country–to speak out, compel public debate, and force through the expiration of Section 215 of a wholly invasive Act (the whole of which really needs to expire).

Many rights groups, advocates, and tech companies are beginning to speak out about the need to end Section 215:

Tech Companies Rally for Reform of Section 215 of USA Patriot Act

Chris Burt, Whir.com

“Tech companies sent a letter to Congress this week to urge legal limitations to electronic surveillance and metadata collection. The letter is undersigned by group member companies including Google, Apple, Microsoft, and Facebook, as well as a range of privacy and rights advocates.

The group suggests that as Section 215 of the Patriot Act expires on June 1, the time is ripe to draft reforms which will protect both national security and individual privacy. Other supporters include hosting company ServInt, Internet Infrastructure Coalition, and CloudFlare.”

“Google also invites the public to co-sign their letter, which is addressed to President Obama, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, NSA Director Admiral Michael Rogers, the leaders of both parties in the House and Senate, and several other key lawmakers.” Read full article: Tech Companies Rally for Reform of Section 215 of USA Patriot Act

Advocacy Groups Tell Congress Scrap Section 215

Sue Udry, Defending Dissent Foundation

“A strong coalition of civil rights and civil liberties groups, frustrated that Congress has not been able to pass surveillance reform legislation, is taking aim at Section 215 of the PATRIOT Act.

Three provisions of the PATRIOT Act will expire on June 1st: Section 215, the “Lone Wolf provision,” and the “roving wiretap” provision unless they are reauthorized by Congress.

All of these sections are concerning, but Section 215 takes the cake. It’s the authority that the NSA, with the FBI’s help, has interpreted to allow the U.S. government to vacuum up the call records of millions of innocent people. It’s also been the focus of most of the NSA reform efforts in Congress over the last year and a half. But if there were ever a time to reform the NSA, it’s now—because a vote for reauthorization, without comprehensive reform of NSA spying, will very clearly be a vote against the Constitution.” Read Full Article: Advocacy Groups Tell Congress Scrap Section 215

To understand why Section 215 is problematic, consider, if you live in the United States in 2015:

1) The FBI can at any time secretly order any business (your school, University, library, hospital, dentist, doctor, bank, credit card company) to turn over any records or “tangible things” relating to you–simply by saying the information is needed “for an authorized investigation…to protect against international terrorism or clandestine intelligence activities.” Not presenting any evidence whatsoever that you have any of these connections, to “international terrorism” or “clandestine intelligence”.

This can happen arbitrarily, to Anyone. The FBI now does not need to prove anything to anyone; the “authorizing” of the investigation is from the secret FISA court, who is actually told by the FBI to issue the authorizing, after being told the records are being sought for a terrorism or espionage investigation. (“Nor does the FBI still need actual facts to show that you may be a spy or terrorist. Instead, these secret orders can now be used to investigate anyone, even a U.S. citizen not suspected of any crime, so long as the FBI certifies to the FISA court that the records are sought for a terrorism or espionage investigation. The FISA court must issue the order if the FBI so certifies, even when there are no facts to back it up.”–Let the Sun Set on PATRIOT- Section 215, Electronic Frontier Foundation)

2) The FBI will, along with the above, “gag” the recipient: This business–or staffperson– is absolutely forbidden (“gagged”) (by threat of massive fine and many years in prison) from telling You, the focus of this covert, baseless, factless, evidence-less investigation, that your private school, financial, medical records have been divulged, that they are well on their way to being shared with thousands of people in the hundreds of security agencies we now have, that your emails are being read widely, that your library records: books, movies, tapes you’ve borrowed are now common knowledge. This business is served a Section 215 letter, which means: No Divulge.

3) What the above violates is your Fourth Amendment to privacy–now the FBI can search through your most private records/even those not online, without having to prove you are in any way remotely connected to crime of any kind.

4) To add, you can be investigated on the basis of your First Amendment rights as well–by virtue of the websites you visit, or the books that you read. (“Furthermore, under Section 215 the FBI can investigate United States persons (citizens and legal residents) based at least in part on their exercise of First Amendment rights, and can investigate non-U.S. persons based solely on their free speech activities or religious practices. You could be investigated based on the political or religious meetings you attend, the websites you visit or even the books that you read. As a result, Americans may be chilled from exercising these Constitutional rights. –Let the Sun Set on PATRIOT- Section 215, Electronic Frontier Foundation)

5) You’re kept in the dark. No-one will tell you they’ve been served with a Section 215 letter on you — although you may experience negative consequence from this action and suspect what is happening: you may suddenly lose your job, be suspended from school, be denied a loan, experience hostile treatment from employers/community members. The FBI will tell you, if you ask, via FOIA request, that they “cannot confirm or deny” that they’re investigating you–in other words, they will claim a FOIA exemption, in the name of national security–their intent here clearly is to keep you in the dark, so they can keep their fraudulent, baseless investigation secret and ongoing, and maintain, in this way, a distinct hold on your community as well, by forcing them to keep silent about being served with a Section 215 letter on you. What can you do about something no-one will acknowledge? Yes, we are in Kafkaesque terrain here, and no, you can’t escape, nor can you respond. Due process is officially dead, and you are being sealed off from judicial recourse. You are being “investigated”–and everyone “knows,” but you. (What exactly they “know” is questionable, since the FBI is not required to, nor can, furnish any proof of your non-existent espionage or terrorism; this is merely the long arm of the security state flexing its muscle.)

6) So, from the business end: if you are a business (like Google or Facebook or Yahoo or the local medical center) being secretly served with this letter/order demanding you turn over all emails/records of some particular customer/client, you cannot take anyone to court here, you cannot challenge the legality of what’s being done, you cannot demur, protest, deny. You have to pull out all those private records and hand them over. This is being done In Secret. And Secrecy permits Abuse. (“…unlike grand jury subpoenas used in non-FISA investigations, there is no way for someone served with a Section 215 order to go to court and challenge its legality. Combined with the FISA court’s lack of discretion and oversight when it comes to Section 215 orders, this is a recipe for abuse, giving the FBI essentially unchecked power to scrutinize the personal lives of innocent Americans.” —Let the Sun Set on PATRIOT- Section 215, Electronic Frontier Foundation)

To understand further why Section 215 must be ended, see ACLU’s page which has a really clear set of reasons why, as also Electronic Frontier Foundation’s Deep Links blog, and Mozilla’s Open Policy and Advocacy blog. To understand that Section 215 is about more than just bulk collection of phone records, visit the Center for Democracy and Technology’s video post.

To understand why the FISA court processes–which work with the FBI as mentioned above–are problematic (literally, these FISA surveillance orders are being opened arbitrarily by the FBI and NSA on thousands of innocent Americans), see the page here, which collects some news information and statistics on the incredible numbers of FISA warrants being handed out: Wrongful Surveillance and Secret Physical Searches On Thousands of Innocent Americans Permitted by “Rubber-Stamped” FISA Court Warrants and Approvals.

To speak out/add your voice/act to restore democracy, privacy, sanity to the US, please visit the petition pages set up at Electronic Frontier Fund, Defending Dissent, and drop in at Google’s letter to Congress to sign, to begin the process to bring this issue to the fore of public conversation and ensure that Section 215 dies a natural death in June.