Tag: legislation

The Coming Fight Over American Surveillance

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

The Coming Fight Over American Surveillance

But no threat of any kind is required to conduct surveillance under Section 702. The law permits surveillance of any foreigner abroad, as long as a significant purpose of the surveillance is to acquire “foreign intelligence information.” FISA defines this term extremely broadly to include any “information related to . . . the conduct of U.S. foreign affairs.” A conversation between friends about whether the United States should do more to support Ukraine would justify surveillance under this definition.

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The Government Keeps Lying to Us About Ukraine. Where Is the Outrage?

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

by Michael Tracey

On June 4, a group referring to itself as the “Polish Volunteer Corps” issued a boastful announcement confirming its participation in a series of cross-border ground offensives into Russia. News of these audacious raids was jarring enough, given the many prior assurances of U.S. and Ukrainian war planners, who insisted no attacks would be carried out inside Russian territory. It was all the more conspicuous that the incursion units were apparently comprised of Polish soldiers

The Government Keeps Lying to Us About Ukraine. Where Is the Outrage?

The Stupidity Of Making Porn Filters Mandatory On Mobile Devices (And Other Musings On Reality)

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

NSFW!

Lawmakers in the Alabama state legislature have voted for a bill that would require parental controls and NSFW content filters to be enabled on every phone and tablet sold in the state. House Bill (HB) 298, or the Protection of Minors from Unfiltered Devices Act, cleared the state House with an overwhelming 70-8 vote, with two dozen members abstaining from voting, last week. Now in the Senate, HB 298 is seeing success after the bill’s sole sponsor, state Rep. Chris Sells, failed in some previous legislative sessions to push this legislation to approval.

The Stupidity Of Making Porn Filters Mandatory On Mobile Devices (And Other Musings On Reality)

Congrats, People Of Montana: Your Governor Is About To Blow A Ton Of Taxpayer Money On An Unconstitutional TikTok Ban

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

Congrats, People Of Montana: Your Governor Is About To Blow A Ton Of Taxpayer Money On An Unconstitutional TikTok Ban

Except, of course, he’s done no such thing. He’s trampled on the 1st Amendment rights of Montanans and put their data at much greater risk. That’s because the law will require geographic tracking by TikTok, Apple, and Google to a much more significant degree than exists currently, just to figure out who is in Montana and who is not. So, by setting up this ban, he’s forcing these companies to collect more data than they otherwise would, putting that data at much greater risk.

On top of that, if China wants that data, they can just buy it from American data brokers, because we have basically nothing in place to stop them. Banning TikTok does literally nothing to help here, other than rile up some brainwashed boomers who think that China is spying on Americans through an app kids use to share dance moves.

Recommended video: TikTok Banned in Montana

Vance: Biden Admin ‘Moralizing And Lecturing’ Other Countries While China Builds Roads And Feeds People + More

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

Republican Ohio Senator J.D. Vance accused the Biden administration of “moralizing and lecturing” other countries in a floor speech opposing a new diplomatic nominee late Wednesday.

Vance: Biden Admin ‘Moralizing And Lecturing’ Other Countries While China Builds Roads And Feeds People

Video via African Diaspora News Channel

Related:

Get Progressive Politics Out of Foreign Policy, Says JD Vance

“Right now, you know that Joe Biden is not sending weapons to Taiwan, weapons that we promised the Taiwanese, because we’re sending those weapons to Ukraine or elsewhere,” Vance said.

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Though Vance said he admires the brave people of Ukraine, he said America should remove troops and resources from Ukraine.

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“It’s time to manufacture our weapons in the United States,” the Ohioan said. “And it’s time to send a message to the world that America is the arsenal of democracy, but we cannot do that unless you get out and stop the focus on Ukraine.”

Arsenal of Democracy

“The great arsenal of democracy” came to specifically refer to the industry of the U.S., as the primary supplier of material for the Allied war effort [WWII].

Meanwhile, he wants to pull a Zelensky back home. /s

Senator Brian Schatz Joins The Moral Panic With Unconstitutional Age Verification Bill

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

Senator Brian Schatz is one of the more thoughtful Senators we have, and he and his staff have actually spent time talking to lots of experts in trying to craft bills regarding the internet. Unfortunately, it still seems like he still falls under the seductive sway of this or that moral panic, so when the bills actually come out, they’re perhaps more thoughtfully done than the moral panic bills of his colleagues, but they’re still destructive.

Senator Brian Schatz Joins The Moral Panic With Unconstitutional Age Verification Bill

Related:

Bipartisan Senate bill would ban social media algorithms for minors

Senators Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), Chris Murphy (D-Conn), Katie Britt (R-Ala) and Tom Cotton (R-Ark) introduced the Protecting Kids on Social Media Act on Wednesday. The bill would set a minimum age of 13 to use social media sites, and would require parental consent and age verification for users under 18.

The Messed Up Truth About The Louisiana Purchase

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)
American Progress, 1872.

The Louisiana Purchase is usually presented as an incredible, inspiring moment in American history in which President Thomas Jefferson, wise, benevolent eyes twinkling under his powdery white wig, made an incredibly shrewd real estate deal with notorious, disgraced French emperor Napoleon Bonaparte and, with one stroke of his giant quill pen, doubled the size of the United States of America for the bargain price of $15 million, or just three cents an acre. What we don’t usually learn about is the negative domino effect this treaty had in terms of inspiring the concept of manifest destiny or the belief that white colonists had a God-given duty to expand across North America and redeem and remake the land in their own image.

The Messed Up Truth About The Louisiana Purchase