A news service of Freedom Advocates
Last summer, after months of encrypted emails, I spent three days in Moscow hanging out with Edward Snowden for a Wired cover story. Over pepperoni pizza, he told me that what finally drove him to leave his country and become a whistleblower was his conviction that the National Security Agency was conducting illegal surveillance on […]
It’s hard to think of biometric identity technology without picturing Tom Cruise on the run in the movie Minority Report. Hunted by killer robots with iris scanning equipment and hailed by animated billboards that use similar tech to personalise their adverts, Cruise is reduced to a full eye transplant to evade capture and death. It made […]
The Stanley Family is greeted by supporters outside of the Garland County Arkansas Court House. Image courtesy Arkansas Herald. A review hearing in Garland County Juvenile Court in Arkansas yesterday resulted in the case being closed for the four younger Stanley children. The parents now have full custody back of these four children. The three […]
Is this the year Congress passes a bill to limit NSA spying? The House of Representatives certainly hopes so. But just how strong that reform will be remains to be seen. Minutes ago, the House of Representatives passed the USA Freedom Act overwhelmingly with 338 yes votes and 88 no votes. EFF is neutral on the […]
The motel and hotel industry is not only spying you, it is partnering with police. This isn’t just routine cooperation when police request information for criminal investigations. Instead, it is apparently everyday data sharing on every guest. It is a troubling private-public overlap where motel and hotel clerks are systematically sharing “do not rent” lists and […]
The busybodies in Michigan have proposed a new bill directed at children who are homeschooled, which will require two annual home inspections and official state registration. Stephanie Chang, a Michigan State Representative, is worried that homeschool parents will abuse their children while no one is watching. Apparently, the state wants to be the sole authority on child abuse; including indoctrination, […]
Xerox’s Automatic Vehicle Passenger Detection Journalists and transparency activists across the country have done a phenomenal job of shining light on how local law enforcement agencies use emerging technologies to surveil everyday people on a massive scale. It’s often like playing Whac-A-Mole and Go Fish at the same time. One day, the question may be […]
A Teacher’s Perspective on the “Every Child Achieves Act of 2015” by Dawn Hoagland, gutsy public school teacher and regular contributor to ABCSOFDUMBDOWN.BLOGSPOT.COM The “Every Child Achieves Act” has passed unanimously out of the Health, Education, Labor, and Pension Committee in the Senate. The usual suspects are singing its praises while the people who actually read […]
Stealth Ratification – End Run Around the Senate RED ALERT!!! Idaho S.1067 – Stealth Ratification – End Run Around the Senate The Obama Administration is REQUIRING ALL STATES to pass model legislation written by the Uniform Law Commission in Chicago that includes reference to the Hague Convention on the International Recovery of Child Support and Other Forms of Family […]
A coalition of 34 organizations from across the political spectrum is launching Fight215.orgtoday to help concerned individuals contact lawmakers and demand an end to NSA’s unconstitutional mass surveillance under the Patriot Act. The launch coincides with the countdown to the expiration of Section 215 of the Patriot Act, which the NSA claims justifies bulk collection of […]
The smart grid isn’t coming. It’s already here. Everywhere people’s houses are being fitted if they already haven’t with smart electric meters and smart water meters. These meters communicate real-time usage data via radio frequency (which comes with its own set of health problems). Essentially, consumption of utilities in your home is being big brother […]
The next time you take a trip to the mall, make sure you give those mannequins a big smile. The surveillance industry’s latest recruit—joining the ranks of the Statue of Liberty, vending machines, Kinect, and a litany of other seemingly innocuous retail products—is store mannequins. The $245 billion dollar luxury goods industry currently avails itself […]
A newly leaked chapter of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement from Wikileaks has confirmed some of our worst fears about the agreement. The latest provisions would enable multinational corporations to undermine public interest rules through an international tribunal process called investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS). Under this process, foreign companies can challenge any new law or […]
During the National Vaccine Advisory Committee’s (NVAC) February meeting, American adults were put on notice by Big Brother that non-compliance with federal vaccine recommendations will not be tolerated. Public health officials have unveiled a new plan to launch a massive nationwide vaccination promotion campaign involving private business and non-profit organizations to pressure all adults to […]
An Alert by Anita Hoge National Review Online and Thomas B. Fordham Institute are wrong, wrong, wrong on HR 5. National Review Online and Fordham Institute are totally wrong on HR 5. They are calling HR 5 as “take back our schools” legislation and that “federal overreach in education might finally be coming to a close.” Michael […]
FA Note: Marching down DHS’ path from Real ID to Global ID, global data sharing and global tracking. Attention California: the privacy and security of your driver licenses are under threat from a new scheme to massively expand how photo IDs are shared and analyzed by law enforcement agencies. Over the last few months, an […]
The superintendent of the Watchung Hills Regional High School District in New Jersey has confirmed that she sent an email to fellow superintendents Tuesday about her concern that education publishing giant Pearson is “monitoring” children’s social media accounts for possible leaks about the Common Core-aligned PARCC tests. On Friday, Bob Braun, a former leading columnist for […]
First I want to say that many corporate (security) sympathizers tend to defend private policing, but this article will debunk all their arguments and show how private policing is the end-all end-game ultimate threat to freedom in America and humanity as a whole, all in the name of protecting corporate profits $ while working hand […]
This week I got an angry email from a friend who had just rented a car from Hertz: “Did you know Hertz is putting cameras in rental cars!? This is bullsh*t. I wonder if it says they can tape me in my Hertz contract.” He sent along this photo of a camera peeping at him […]
Several major international agreements are under negotiation which would greatly empower multinational corporations and the World Economic Forum is promoting a new model of global governance that creates a hybrid government-corporate structure. Humankind is proceeding on a path to global corporate rule where transnational corporations would not just influence public policy, they would write the […]
PATRIOTIC? State Sen. Jennifer Wexton wants to endow Virginia law-enforcement agencies with Patriot Act powers. FA Update: Virginia’s Republican-controlled Senate and House have enrolled (passed) Senate Bill 919 (text here), and House Bill 1946 (text here). House Bill 1946 was signed by the House Speaker March 6, and Senate Bill 919 was signed by the Senate President […]
John W. Whitehead, Founder, the Rutherford Institute “Corporate America is using police forces as their mercenaries.”—Ray Lewis, Retired Philadelphia Police Captain It’s one thing to know and exercise your rights when a police officer pulls you over, but what rights do you have when a private cop—entrusted with all of the powers of a government […]
In a development with massive implications for the Obama administration’s ongoing attempt at nationalizing education with Common Core, a Missouri judge ruled this week that the federally funded testing regime for the controversial standards was unconstitutional. The ruling means that the state of Missouri is officially prohibited from participating in the “Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium” […]
Feds look to adopt 322 pages of fresh taxes, regulations; FCC Chair Refuses to Testify before Congress Obamanet Another wild power-grab. Power without accountability. The net is the very last frontier for free speech. — Despite google algorithms that consistently render — day in day out, year in year out — always render left-wing sites […]
Sustainable Development is the blueprint being used across America and around the world to implement the United Nations Agenda 21 Programme.
