How to take ACTION to defy the National Security Agency electronic surveillance system

June 10th, 2013 | Posted by jclifford in Activism | Homeland Insecurity | Liberty - (5 Comments)

Using the powers granted under the FISA Amendments Act and Patriot Act to establish unreasonable search and seizure of Americans’ homes, records, and communications by government agents, without any suspicion of a crime, the American military has moved its spies into almost every American home. These military spies, headquartered at the National Security Agency, have been watching ordinary Americans, to see what we do, who we talk to, what we buy – practically everything that we do. These days, there’s an electronic record of practically everything that we do, and the military’s spies at the NSA have seized control of that record.

Those who remember how governments have used surveillance systems in the past understand the danger that this military system spying against Americans poses to our liberty. Never before, however, has there been a surveillance system anything close to this large deployed by a military against a civilian population. The possible consequences, if this military spying network is allowed to survive, are terrifying.

SO WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO ABOUT IT?

It’s a early yet to know what form the resistance to project PRISM and the other unconstitutional NSA spying systems will be. Please, if you know of any protests being organized, post them in the comments section of this article.

Here are some initial opportunities for activism on this issue, however:

Street Protest

Live near New York City? Activists are gathering at 12:00 noon today at Union Square in New York City.

Prepare for Restore The Fourth street protests on the Fourth of July.

Another protest is being organized to take place outside the Boston headquarters of Verizon, on June 14.

Over on the West Coast, how about we crash Netroots Nation? Netroots Nation is an annual gathering of online activists who typically applaud Democratic Party politicians. We have discovered that Democratic Party politicians have joined with George W. Bush’s Republicans to body slam our online privacy, so it’s time for Netroots Nation to start talking back to the Democratic Party, don’t you think? Netroots Nation is meeting in just 10 days from now in San Jose, California.

Petitions

Sign the petitions logged in the official White House system to repeal the Patriot Act, to pardon Edward Snowden, to impeach Judge Roger Vinson for authorizing the Verizon phone data grab and to demand the resignation of Barack Obama.

Small Actions

Call your U.S. Representative and 2 U.S. Senators. Yes, this sounds hokey, but if these politicians in Congress do not hear from their constituents, they will interpret that silence as approval of the NSA spying programs. The congressional switchboard is at (202) 224-3121

Call the National Security Agency on your Verizon phone. When someone answers the phone, just say, “I am calling on a Verizon telephone. You should know that this call is being tracked by government spies.”

Among the public telephone numbers for the National Security Agency are:
(301) 688-6672
(301) 688-2336
(410) 854-8035
(301) 688-6527
(301) 688-5849
(410) 854-6334
(301) 688-6524

I’m endorsing this next one with a BIG asterisk: Consider contributing to a legal defense fund for Edward Snowden. The asterisk is that I want to confirm that we have some way of knowing that the money is really going to a legal defense fund for Edward Snowden before I fully recommend action on this front… I’ll check back in with that information.

Boycott the Searched Online Services

The security of Yahoo, AOL, Facebook, Google, Hotmail, etc. has been compromised. One way you can protest the NSA is to cut them off – by logging out of these systems, and deleting the cookies put on your computer by these companies to track your activities.

If Facebook activity plunges, and if people find alternatives to Google, members of Congress are going to start getting some passionate attention from freaked out tech company lobbyists.

nsa facebook protestOnline Activism

Be careful of this one. Protest organizers should be wary of using social media, what with the National Security Agency using places like Facebook to spy on Americans.

Still, if you really must stay on Facebook, at least use your account to keep awareness of this issue alive. Even though it annoys your friends who only want to see muffin recipes and pictures of kittens, keep posting links to news, and to protests related to the NSA spying program. Change your profile graphic to… oh, I don’t know, here’s an example over to the right.

OCCUPY!

It’s time for the Occupy Movement to get back on it’s feet, don’t you think? Contact the people you met during your participation in the Occupy protests, and organize a new wave of action!

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Green Shadow Cabinet Challenges Obama On Climate Change

May 15th, 2013 | Posted by The Green Man in Barack Obama | Environment - (0 Comments)

Barack Obama’s Secretary of State John Kerry is now attending an international Arctic Ministerial Summit on climate issues in Sweden. While there, he plans to do… not very much. Obama’s Arctic policy is to marginalize environmental issues, opening up Arctic waters to oil drilling and authorizing hunts against wolves from airplanes.

The Green Party this week has responded to Barack Obama’s continuing antagonism to climate action by partnering with Unite Against Pipelines, an organization that led a climate protest against President Obama this Monday in New York City. Obama was holding a fundraiser there at the ritzy Waldorf Astoria hotel. Obama has no time to craft meaningful climate policy, but he has plenty of time, apparently, to take loads of money from the representatives of the filthy rich… even though Obama isn’t running for re-election again.

green party climate directorExplaining the partnership, Mark Dunlea, Director of the Green Shadow Cabinet Office of Agriculture and Climate, comments, “We need system change, not climate change. Rather than striving to maximize the profits of the 1%, we need to support a sustainable approach to the economy that lifts up all Americans. Rather than begging money from Wall Street banksters, the President ought to be in DC working furiously to get private money and the 1% out of American elections.”

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Penguins Protest Coca-Cola Opposition To Recycling

May 14th, 2013 | Posted by The Green Man in Uncategorized - (0 Comments)

Coca-Cola thought it could hold a public promotion event shortly after working to destroy a recycling law in Australia. Not so fast. Protesters this week dressed as penguins hopped up on a stage during the Coca-Cola event, and held up a sign reading Coca-Cola is Out of Order. Across Australia, people have been sticking signs on Coca-Cola vending machines reading “Out Of Order”, in protest of Coke’s anti-recycling stance.

Diabetes plus anti-environmental policy? No, Coke does not add life.

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Shadow Vice President To March On The Chamber Of Commerce

May 13th, 2013 | Posted by Peregrin Wood in Activism | Economy | Greens - (0 Comments)

The Green Shadow Cabinet asks: “What are the most dire issues we face? If you’re like most Americans, you’d probably say the climate crisis and the jobs crisis. So why is Washington so obsessed with budget cuts and fossil fuels?”

cheri honkalaGreen Shadow Vice President Cheri Honkala has an answer, and she’s bringing it to the steps of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. This weekend, Honkala is leading an economic protest march all the way from Philadelphia to Washington D.C.

The march begins this coming Saturday, May 18, at Noon, at the corner of North 3rd and West Cumberland streets in Philadelphia. The marchers plan to arrive at the headquarters of U.S. Chamber of Commerce in Washington D.C., just down the block from the White House, six days later. The message of the marchers: Government policies that cater to the demands of large corporations, while ignoring human needs and the climate crisis, are destructive, not just ethically, but economically as well.

The name of the march: Operation Green Jobs. 54 marchers have committed to participate so far.

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The Secretary Of State Is Participating In Anti-Drone Protests?!?

April 28th, 2013 | Posted by jclifford in Activism | Alternative Parties | Greens - (4 Comments)

Today, starting just a few minutes from now, a coalition of activist groups working under the umbrella title of Upstate NY Coalition to Ground the Drones & End the Wars is holding a protest rally outside the Hancock Air National Guard Base in Syracuse, New York. The site is a hub of drone activity, given the proximity of a Lockheed Martin facility that develops surveillance and attack drone aircraft for the U.S. government.

The Secretary of State, the Attorney General, and the Secretary of Health will give speeches before the crowd of protesters. The Secretary of Space and the Secretary of Peace will also be there.

anti-drone protestNow, you may be asking yourself why the Secretary of State, Secretary of Health, and Attorney General would be speaking to a group of people protesting against drones, which are a central aspect of Obama Administration’s policy. For that matter, since when are there cabinet secretaries of Space and Peace?

The truth is that the political leaders I’ve referred to aren’t members of the Obama Administration. They’re members of the Green Shadow Cabinet:

Ann Wright – Green Secretary of State
Kevin Zeese – Green Shadow Attorney General
Margaret Flowers – Green Secretary of Health
Bruce Gagnon – Green Secretary of Space
David Swanson – Green Secretary of Peace

Who else but Green Party leaders would, after all, dare to suggest that the U.S. federal government shouldn’t have the power to spy on people without a search warrant, or execute people without trial?

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Dozen Arrested In Protest Against Indefinite Detention

April 23rd, 2013 | Posted by Peregrin Wood in Activism | Liberty - (1 Comments)

Yesterday, 12 Americans were put into jail cells as punishment for their role in a protest against Barack Obama’s continued operation of the unconstitutional prisons at Guantanamo Bay. The prisons were the site of torture conducted under the orders President George W. Bush – torture that continues to go unpunished under Barack Obama.

orange jumpsuitsThe protest, organized by Witness Against Torture, wasn’t in favor of the Guantanamo prisoners in particular. Rather, it was in favor of the legal principle that, in every place under the jurisdiction of the United States government, people charged with crimes must be given due process, including a fair and speedy trial. The people held prisoner at Guantanamo are being kept behind bars without any reasonable opportunity to defend themselves. Some of them haven’t even been formally accused of any crime.

In the United States of America, no one – not even people accused of terrible crimes – is supposed to be held prisoner on the mere presumption of guilt. When our government continues to engage in such indefinite, unconstitutional imprisonment, it becomes an honorable thing for protesters to be placed behind bars themselves in protest against the corrosion of our nation’s constitution.

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Boston Rallies to Redirect Budget Cuts from Human Needs to the Military Budget

April 16th, 2013 | Posted by Jim Cook in Activism | Economy | Politics | State and Local | War and Peace - (1 Comments)

At 11 AM today, a large coalition of groups assembles outside Boston’s North Station in a rally for the reprioritization of the budget from warfare to human needs. Participating groups include:

  • Budget for All Coalition
  • Mass. AFL-CIO
  • Mass. Jobs with Justice
  • Mass. Alliance of HUD Tenants
  • American Friends Service Committee
  • Mass. Peace Action
  • Disability Policy Consortium
  • Sierra Club – Boston; Boston Workers Alliance
  • ACTUP/Boston
  • Veterans for Peace
  • Homes for Families
  • Dorchester People for Peace
  • United for Justice with Peace
  • Boston Coalition to Fund Our Communities-Cut Military Spending 25%
  • Women’s International League for Peace & Freedom
  • Human Rights City Boston & Beyond
  • Survivors Inc.
  • SEIU Local 509 Lavender Caucus
  • Brookline PAX
  • FGE Locals 3258 and 1164/AFL-CIO

The call of these organizations is clear:

1. Prevent cuts to Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and Veterans benefits, or to housing, food and unemployment assistance;

2. Create and protect jobs by investing in manufacturing, schools, housing, renewable energy, transportation and other public services;

3. Provide new revenues for these purposes and to reduce the long-term federal deficit by closing corporate tax loopholes, ending offshore tax havens, and raising taxes on incomes over $250,000; and

4. Redirect military spending to these domestic needs by reducing the military budget, ending the war in Afghanistan and bringing U.S. troops home safely now.

Tomorrow, we’ll look and see whether this positive agitation for a more humane world has been covered by local media, or whether more negative activities are rewarded with attention. But if you’re one of the people living in the Boston metro area today, you can sidestep the media and make your own choice. While the media focuses on doom and gloom, there are a number of people out there actively organizing for their vision of a better world, right now, today. Will you join them?

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What Counts As Protest?

April 16th, 2013 | Posted by Peregrin Wood in Activism - (0 Comments)

In Togo, 12 year-old boy was killed by a “warning shot” by police who were trying to disperse a protest new “bedroom tax” provisions that could result in huge numbers of people being evicted from their apartments.

protest swimsuitIn Cherbourg, France, people gathered to protest shipments of radioactive nuclear fuel to Japan that will be used to restart a failed nuclear reactor there.

In New Zealand, anti-drilling protesters are preparing to confront a new law that limits the kinds of protest activities they may engage in against ships attempting to establish new crude oil drilling sites.

In Wales, hundreds of people are preparing to meet outside the Senedd to protest plans to frack for natural gas.

In Venezuela, people claiming that Henrique Cabriles won the recent presidential election through fraud are taking to the streets in protest.

Tomorrow in Manoa, Hawaii, students are gathering to protest against military drones used to conduct bombings and engage in surveillance against Americans without search warrants.

Next week, Code Pink is planning three days of protest outside the George W. Bush Library in Dallas to demand that the former president be held accountable for war crimes.

Greenpeace is organizing the preparation of banners by people all over the world in protest of plans by the Obama Administration to continue oil drilling in the Arctic.

In Canada, protesters are demanding the creation of warning labels for gasoline pumps to remind people that when they burn gasoline in their cars, they are contributing to the acceleration of climate change.

In the Netherlands, a company with the name Protest is making swimsuits and clothing for snowboarders, because going surfing and snowboarding is fun. The company explains, “We remind riders of the reason they set foot on a board in the first place – to have fun! And we inspire non-boarders with our belief that everyone can have a great time on the slopes or on the waves. Our clothes are built to support core riders. But they are also aimed at people who simply want to have fun on a board and look good doing it. Our goal is to make our clothes accessible to as many boarders as possible. “

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