WASHINGTON DC – The National Security Agency has acknowledged in a new classified briefing that it does not need court authorization to listen to domestic phone calls.

Rep. Jerrold Nadler, a New York Democrat, disclosed this week that during a secret briefing to members of Congress, he was told that the contents of a phone call could be accessed “simply based on an analyst deciding that.”

If the NSA wants “to listen to the phone,” an analyst’s decision is sufficient, without any other legal authorization required, Nadler said he learned. “I was rather startled,” said Nadler, an attorney and congressman who serves on the House Judiciary committee. (more…)

In response to the NSA leaks, and the bazillions of questions from concerned Americans about their privacy being snooped on by the government, the administration coordinated a Senate Classified Briefing to explain the details of the program.   The intent was to inform the elected Senators so they could answer questions from their state citizenry.

Less than half of them attended.

WASHINGTON DC – Less than half (47) of US Senators attended a classified briefing on Thursday afternoon, instead choosing to head home for the weekend.  The briefing was with “with James Clapper, the Director of National Intelligence, Keith Alexander, the head of the National Security Agency (NSA), and other officials.”

Wow. (more…)

Here’s an odd fact – Sarah Palin and the United Nations are both agreed on this point.  The U.S. should stay out of Syria.    The CIA is just about to deliver weapons to the al-Qaeda aligned Syrian “rebels” – a big mistake. 

3oo Marines have been staged in Jordan to facilitate our support; Driven by the false flag of the Assad regime using chemical weapons – they are not.  It’s the rebels using localized Serin Gas to create the appearance of Assad chemical weapon use and draw the U.S. toward intervention.  Same process the same Islamists used in Benghazi, Libya. 

(VIA THE HILL) Former GOP vice presidential candidate and Alaska governor Sarah Palin told a Washington audience Saturday that the U.S. should not get involved in the Syrian civil war.

Palin argued that the U.S. should not intervene in any Middle East conflict as long as President Obama remains in office.

“Until we have a commander in chief who knows what he is doing….let Allah sort it out!” she told the Faith and Freedom Coalition.

(more…)

Pained, troubled and brave–those are the sentiments, turned adjectives, I would use to describe the word-image when reading the recently published book by Robert Zimmerman Sr.

Knowing the Zimmerman family found some form of understanding through the research we had compiled last year surrounding the entire scheme to arrest George Zimmerman is good. Reading the words of George’s father, Robert, we can grasp the feeling of being overwhelmed. ‘Fleas looking into the furnace of hate’ is how we visualized them last year.

The recent publication outlines that sense with profound affirmation.

As followers of this site will know by now, there was a time several months ago when all of my available options were exhausted. Our promise of intellectual honesty demanded we not pull punches, and speak the truth openly and directly regardless of consequence. But when it came to honest discussion of George’s legal counsel, Mark O’Mara, we knew the ground was precarious and filled with invisible land mines. Trepidations were overwhelming.

So reluctantly, out of fear of undermining George Zimmerman’s defense, and yet the need for a necessarily dictated honesty, we reached out to his Dad. (more…)

Story HERE

A U.S. military proposal for arming Syrian rebels also calls for a limited no-fly zone inside Syria that would be enforced from Jordanian territory to protect Syrian refugees and rebels who would train there, according to U.S. officials.  (link)

Let there be no doubt the Gang of Ocho has decided to give blanket amnesty, albeit with the customary bells and whistles of obfuscation, and refusing to secure the border.  By golly they’ve already got it all done and don’t need that pesky conservative stuff botching up the works.

WASHINGTON DC – Sen. Marco Rubio initially praised a border security proposal from Sen. John Cornyn, helping to make it the leading choice of conservatives demanding tighter enforcement measures.

Now others in the Gang of Eight fear Cornyn’s plan could sink their entire immigration deal.

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) is beginning to speak out forcefully against the Cornyn language, bombarding the Texas Republican with critical comments from the Senate floor. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) is lobbying other Republicans on potential compromises. And Rubio, although he said Wednesday that the Cornyn plan “dramatically improves the bill,” is working on a package that others in the Gang of Eight hope could emerge as an alternative. (more…)

Hat Tip Sal Paradise – Typical Progs: When the Democrat Chairman of the NJ Law and Public Safety committee realizes the Gun control bill will not pass, he cancels the vote.

What’s wrong with this MSNBC screen shot?

Treeper Admin Stella has really done a remarkable job sharing articles about this entire NSA leaker issue.    Here are some links she shares which are some of the most engaging considerations and help to frame the various aspects for thought.

I’ll be the first to admit I’m just not up to speed on the various nuance surrounding this intelligence story.   I’m not at all OK with the NSA, or anyone else, collecting or storing information on private communication for *possible* use at another, albeit later, time.   It just strikes my gut as Big Brother with an agenda, not to mention a violation of the 4th amendment.

So back to the information articles that Stella is researching/sharing:

From Legal Insurrection: Edward Snowden, the now-former NSA contractor who leaked secret documents to The Washington Post and the Guardian, said he didn’t want to become the story.  “I don’t want public attention because I don’t want the story to be about me. I want it to be about what the US government is doing,” he told The Guardian.

But Edward Snowden dumped a bunch of documents, made a lot of claims, and then fled.  He’s the only one who can clarify or confirm the statements he’s made, or demonstrate his comprehension for what’s in the documents he leaked, and he’s made himself unavailable to do so. The public is trying to collect and digest all the facts, and some still have questions. (more…)

I’ve begun using the term usurpation to describe this administration, and the co-dependents/ willfully blind who support it.  

The NSA intelligence data mining is clearly unconstitutional under the 4th amendment.  The IRS targeting based on political ideology is also illegal and unconstitutional.   The Dept of Justice manipulating warrants (lying to judges) to gather phone records on AP reporters and Fox’s James Rosen is a clear usurpation of the 1st amendment.

Now the latest usurpation can be seen in the Obama administration using an Executive Order to create de-facto amnesty (XO-Dream Act);  And then to make matters worse – they stop the criminal background checks and ID requirements under such a program.  So anyone can enter the U.S. claim to be whoever they want, and no criminal background check will be done.

And the Congresscritters are worried about Terrorists benefitting from the NSA leaker?  How about they apply the same consideration (ie worry) about open borders without checks for those who cross them and then apply for Dream Act protections? (more…)