What You Won't See In US Media

Old Aug 26, 2011, 8:30 am
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What You Won't See In US Media

Yes, the United States is not Mubarak-era Egypt, or East Germany under Erich Honecker. But Americans have already lost - or rather, given up-significant liberties since September 11, with the Patriot Act and the more aggressive tactics of the National Security Agency and other intelligence agencies as well as the FBI. The average citizen might not notice or even care about these restrictions; indeed, a huge section of the American public supports even more intrusive monitoring of their fellow citizens and even the criminalisation of forms of dissent against what they deem to be the correct path.
http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth...842777735.html
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Old Aug 26, 2011, 9:42 am
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Even the initial AP report of the NYPD/FBI intelligence gathering was almost instantly buried. Sickening.
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Old Aug 26, 2011, 10:00 am
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Originally Posted by tkey75
Even the initial AP report of the NYPD/FBI intelligence gathering was almost instantly buried. Sickening.
Land of the Free...
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Old Aug 26, 2011, 11:09 am
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Originally Posted by LuvAirFrance
How true, how very true. I fear there's more to come.
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Old Aug 26, 2011, 11:15 am
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Originally Posted by tkey75
Even the initial AP report of the NYPD/FBI intelligence gathering was almost instantly buried. Sickening.
Then there is this gem:

http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/201...tment_spi.html

A building superintendent in New Brunswick opened the door to apartment No. 1076 one balmy Tuesday and discovered an alarming scene: terrorist literature strewn about the table and computer and surveillance equipment set up in the next room.

The panicked superintendent dialed 911, sending police and the FBI rushing to the building near Rutgers University the afternoon of June 2, 2009. What they found in that first-floor apartment, however, was not a terrorist hideout, but a command center set up by a secret team of New York Police Department intelligence officers.

From that apartment, about an hour outside the departments jurisdiction, the NYPD had been staging undercover operations and conducting surveillance throughout New Jersey. Neither the FBI nor the local police had any idea.
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Old Aug 26, 2011, 12:35 pm
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Tag line on the article:
As the US security state grows and civil rights and liberties erode, Osama bin Laden gets the last laugh
.

Sad Sad Sad

When military tactics and strategies drawn from the front lines of war are applied to radically different contexts, the results are rarely beneficial to the health of a democracy.
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Old Aug 26, 2011, 2:43 pm
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Maybe they have too much to do hacking people's voicemail. After all the staff reductions, it gets hard to spy on people AND report news.
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Old Oct 6, 2011, 6:51 pm
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Originally Posted by Wally Bird
How true, how very true. I fear there's more to come.
It will get much, much worse. The problem is that the vast majority of people in this country is complacent. They don't care even to read this. They don't want to know about this. All they care about is "dancing with the stars" or "monday night football". Whoever the TSA poster is in these forums, he unfortunately is correct. Nobody cares and the dozen or so people actively participating here are smaller than a tiny blimp on the screen and not making any impression. Sad, sad, sad.
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Old Apr 1, 2012, 3:11 pm
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When I was in university (pre-911) I once argued that democracy and freedom in the US was so entrenched in the culture that just the thought of them moving away from democracy was unthinkable. Boy, was I wrong. With security theatre on one end and corporate takeover on the other, very little of what many Americans think they stand for actually goes on for all practical purposes. I was reading that a vast majority of US legislatures are in the "1%". But that's not because people capable of being in Congress or Senate are also successful in the business world, but rather because now only rich can run in US federal elections for all practical purposes. As a result, the country is now run by an elite group almost incapable of empathizing with an average person on the ground. Other policies aside, it has a real impact on travel policies as well because these US lawmakers don't have to put up with crap us average Joes go through. I doubt they fly economy anyway.

Rant over.
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Old Apr 5, 2012, 2:15 am
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Isn't it frightening that THIS is exactly what the founding fathers wanted to end. They never wanted for the United states to be ruled by a king and an upper house made up solely of and elitist group of people........

Many Americans hold the constituion in very high regard but in all reality that has been undermined and basically made useless in many respects. Sad isn't it?
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Old Apr 5, 2012, 3:18 am
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Americans may have given up significant liberties since 9/11... and yes, that is both sad and noteworthy, and undoubtedly newsworthy....

...but one wonders how many of the countries where most of aljazeeras viewers live could match the US (even now) for personal freedom and democratic rights?

Or in how many of those countries the media has the freedom to be critical of their own nation or government?
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Old Apr 5, 2012, 5:49 am
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Originally Posted by trooper
Americans may have given up significant liberties since 9/11... and yes, that is both sad and noteworthy, and undoubtedly newsworthy....

...but one wonders how many of the countries where most of aljazeeras viewers live could match the US (even now) for personal freedom and democratic rights?

Or in how many of those countries the media has the freedom to be critical of their own nation or government?
Before this heads to OMNI, the saddest thing about media is that in other countries they long to have liberty to tell what is the truth. Ours has become the lapdog of those in power and they fail to utilize the liberty they have.

And it is correct about running for office. I have seriously considered running for my state legislature or even congress. However, in addition to the campaign cash that must be raised, I can not go on the campaign trail and still work to make a living.
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Old Apr 5, 2012, 7:56 am
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Originally Posted by moeve
Isn't it frightening that THIS is exactly what the founding fathers wanted to end. They never wanted for the United states to be ruled by a king and an upper house made up solely of and elitist group of people........
The very epitome I think.
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Old Apr 5, 2012, 12:11 pm
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If you think the USA is the epitome of "1984" you also need to check what's happening in the U.K. and the broad expansion soon to come. No, it doesn't excuse the erosions to our civil liberties, such as the new bomb the USSC announced allowing ANYONE detained by law enforcement for ANY REASON to be subjected to a strip search, but beyond street camera surveillance the U.K. is looking to add a vareity of other intrusions into people's lives.
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Old Apr 17, 2012, 12:01 pm
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Ron Paul for President!!
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