cannabisnews.com: House Passes Sweeping Anti-Terrorism Bill House Passes Sweeping Anti-Terrorism Bill Posted by FoM on October 24, 2001 at 18:39:38 PT By John Lancaster, Washington Post Staff Writer Source: Washington Post Barely six weeks after the Sept. 11 attacks, the House this morning overwhelmingly approved the final version of a landmark bill that will greatly expand the ability of law enforcement and intelligence agencies to tap phones, monitor Internet traffic and conduct other forms of surveillance in pursuit of terrorist suspects.The Senate is expected to take up the House-passed bill later today or Thursday and it could be on President Bush's desk in time for a White House signing ceremony Friday, congressional aides said. Differences between the House and Senate versions had essentially been worked out in negotiations leading up to today's vote. In passing the bill 356-66, the House gave the Bush administration most of what it wanted when Attorney General John D. Ashcroft in mid-September presented Congress with a draft that he said was critical to forestalling new terrorist attacks, in part by permitting law enforcement and intelligence agencies to easily share information."The House is taking a responsible step forward by giving law enforcement the tools necessary to secure the safety of Americans while protecting our Constitutional rights," House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) said in a statement following the vote. "This anti-terrorism bill enhances communication between law enforcement and surveillance agencies, strengthens control of border abuse by foreign terrorists and broadens stiff penalties, including life in prison, for terrorist activities."Lawmakers denied the administration's most controversial request, which would have allowed the indefinite jailing of noncitizens without charges if they were suspected of involvement of terrorism. The compromise House-Senate version would limit to seven days the length of time an alien could be held without the filing of immigration or criminal charges.That and other changes failed to satisfy civil liberties advocates, who say the new surveillance powers are so broadly defined that innocent Americans could well be caught up in the dragnet. They also say that many of the new law-enforcement tools could be used by prosecutors in ordinary criminal cases completely unrelated to terrorism."This legislation is based on the faulty assumption that safety must come at the expense of civil liberties," Laura W. Murphy, the chief lobbyist for the American Civil Liberties Union, said in a statement. "These new and unchecked powers could be used against American citizens who are not under criminal investigation, immigrants who are here within our borders legally, and also against those whose First Amendment activities are deemed to be threats to National Security by the Attorney General."The Senate worked closely with the administration in drafting the bill, and, in the end, it was the Senate version – or something very close to it – that passed the House this morning. Senate negotiators, led by Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) did yield to House leaders on one critical point: Under the final version of the bill, critical provisions relating to electronic surveillance will expire after four years, after which they would have to be renewed.The administration strenuously opposed the change but relented after House lawmakers made clear they would not accept the bill without a "sunset clause," which they say will permit Congress to deal with any unforeseen consequences from the legislation.The legislation also includes a number of measures aimed at disrupting terrorist financial networks, which rely heavily on money-laundering. House Republican leaders, under pressure from banking interests that opposed some aspects of the money-laundering portion of the bill, had initially sought to consider those changes as separate legislation. But the Senate's Democratic leadership said they would not consider an anti-terrorism bill that did not include money-laundering.Source: Washington Post (DC) Author: John Lancaster, Washington Post Staff WriterPublished: Wednesday, October 24, 2001Copyright: 2001 The Washington Post Company Contact: letterstoed washpost.comWebsite: http://www.washingtonpost.comRelated Articles & Web Site:ACLUhttp://www.aclu.org/Senate & House Approve Similar Billshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread11078.shtmlBoost FBI's Power — for Nowhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread11077.shtmlSenate Passes Anti-Terrorism Bill http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread11076.shtml Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #27 posted by Jeaneous on October 25, 2001 at 21:06:55 PT: One Light in the Dark His name is Russ Feingold. One brave American. [ Post Comment ] Comment #26 posted by FoM on October 25, 2001 at 20:52:48 PT News Brief from The Washington Post Agents To Track Money Customs Team Builds On Anti-Drug Effort By Kathleen Day, Washington Post Staff Writer Friday, October 26, 2001; Page A23 Copyright: 2001 The Washington Post Company The Bush administration said yesterday that it has created a team to identify and try to interrupt the flow of money to terrorists.Unlike current efforts, which collect and analyze information collected from banks and other financial institutions, the new team of 100 people will have agents to walk the streets, knock on doors, and conduct undercover and electronic surveillance operations, federal officials said.The effort, to be run by the U.S. Customs Service, will use 70 people on an existing team in New York that has specialized in tracking illicit money from drug sales and other illegal activities, officials said. Another 30 agents will come from the FBI, Justice Department, the Internal Revenue Service and the Treasury Department's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network. Targets will include underground financial systems, illicit charities, corrupt financial institutions , counterfeiters, credit-card fraud operations and phony export-import companies, officials said.Among the successes the New York drug-money tracking team claims was a three-year investigation in the late 1990s. In that case, the team interrupted a network of drug traffickers that had been sending millions of dollars a year -- separately in amounts under $10,000 -- to South America from money-order retailers in the New York City area, officials said. [ Post Comment ] Comment #25 posted by dddd on October 25, 2001 at 20:21:59 PT rather disturbing isnt it Dan B ..when you realize that there is some sort of national press over-ride for all networks.This is what I've been ranting about..dddd [ Post Comment ] Comment #24 posted by Lehder on October 25, 2001 at 17:37:39 PT abc evening "news" the report on the passage of the anti's new terror bill listed a couple of its provisions: email monitoring, phone tapping. no mention at all given to the new powers of secret searches of peoples homes while they're away. none.it was passed 98-1 in the senate. i have yet to look up who the 1 is.there seems to be little hope left. the subversion of news, the propaganda, the illegal searches, supression of dissenting views, the phony wars on terrorism and drugs, the killings in michigan, and the infinite constitutional perfidies - totalitarians believe that anything is possible. and it is easy to see how, when sufficiently powerful to manipulate the reality that people perceive, they are able to delude themselves. totalitarian control is so complete that i find it harder and harder to believe that there are any natural events anymore at all, including the wtc attacks. everything else is contrived and manipulated so why should i imagine that they were not contrived as well, especially considering how convenient it has proven for the interests of domestic repression, asian oil, political popularity.and the government is so powerful that it can indeed be successful for a long time in operating by principles that contradict reality. it must of necessity collapse at some future time, but the deaths and destruction to come before then will be on a scale unprecedented in history. if one compares the power of the current movement with that of hitler, then one can by simple proportion make first order estimates of the death and destruction to come based on the figures from ww2. what is the correct multiple in respective power? try 100. okay. how many died in ww2? about 40,000,000? close enough. x 100 gives 4 billion, most of the world. this means either global nuclear or global biological war or both. sorry to be so grim. tell me where i've erred. [ Post Comment ] Comment #23 posted by Dan B on October 25, 2001 at 12:48:04 PT: Speaking of a "Free Press" Yesterday I was watching the news--flipping as I often do between CNN, MSNBC and FOX News--when I noticed an absolutely astonishing development.Colin Powell was speaking to a congressional panle of some sort (I forget now what he was saying), and all of the sudden another screen popped up showing Bush's helicopter arriving at the White House. The commentator was speaking over what Powell was saying, so I switched from CNN to MSNBC. Behold, the exact pictures depicted in exactly the same way! A small screen with Colin Powell speaking was moved to the left to foreground a larger screen off to the right with the arriving helicopter; a logo was pasted above the smaller screen to the left; "America Strikes Back" (or some similar title) was emblazoned across the bottom; and a headline news ticker was racing across the screen below that.I wanted to see what FOX News had going on--sort of a game I play with the TV when I sense something fishy is going on. Once again, the exact same pictures were presented in exactly the same fashion, complete with logo and news ticker. Here's the interesting thing: Bush was not even doing anything. No comments, no questions answered--he didn't even pass by the press close enough to be asked anything. He was simply arriving. Now, what the hell is so important about the president arriving at home? More importantly, what prompted all three major cable news stations to not only report on this non-story, but to do so in exactly the same way, deliberately upstaging Powell's comments to the Senate in the process? It boggles the mind to think that people can witness such things and still never question the supposition that we have such a thing as "free press" in this country.Anyone in government will tell you that the press are not free. Buying them requires a great many taxpayer dollars.Dan B [ Post Comment ] Comment #22 posted by freedom fighter on October 25, 2001 at 10:55:46 PT Chilling effects on Freedom of Speech and right to privacy...http://www.ap.org/pages/whatsnew/records.htmlhttp://www.ap.org/pages/whatsnew/coverquest.htmlff [ Post Comment ] Comment #21 posted by Silent_Observer on October 25, 2001 at 08:28:14 PT Lehder..I know you are.. I'm typically not given to pointless ruminations, but like most people, I can't get clear these days. Like Todd said, "Sometimes I don't know...I just don't know how to feel..." [ Post Comment ] Comment #20 posted by Lehder on October 25, 2001 at 08:20:19 PT I'm on your side, Silent_O I hope you understand I was being sarcastic, mimicing the attitudes of every brand of warrior. I like poetry,Paradise is that old mansionMany owned before --Occupied by each an instantThen reversed the Door -- Bliss is frugal of her LeasesAdam taught her ThriftBankrupt once through his excesses ---Emily Dickinson and certainly prefer it to anthrax and war. Who made the anthrax, put it in the form of floating spores? Your link tells us that governments did this: U.S., Russia, Iraq. The spores have only a single use - to kill as many people as possible. All government is bad. It's an evil and a terrible, destructive handicap, an obsession that people must outgrow. [ Post Comment ] Comment #19 posted by Silent_Observer on October 25, 2001 at 07:55:02 PT Sorry, Lehder.. My ramblings were just that - ramblings...a mind dump... [ Post Comment ] Comment #18 posted by Lehder on October 25, 2001 at 07:49:02 PT BAH, Rumsfeld has said repeatedly that rooting out terrorism is a long-term project that will last for years and has compared it to the Cold War, which lasted half a century. --from Silent_O's linkWhat kind of idiots are happy and eager to sign themselves, their children and their grandchildren to this ridiculous, now advertized as fifty-year, war on terrorism? Well, there seems to be a lot of them. The same kind who are happy to have their homes, actually they're thinking your homes, warrantlessly invaded by the police, while you are at work, in a search for evidence of terrorist activity, evidence like marijuana pipes.Decades of drug-war propaganda, flag waving, repression of debate and anything that hints of an intelligence, and compulsory government miseducation have empowered the stupidest, most violent, impulsive and easily led among us and given them control over all others by means of officially approved physical brutality. Land of the Free.In 1973 the prisoners of the Vietnam war were the popular political rage of the day. Everybody had a button: Bring Back the POW's. Well, it would have been crazy of course to be against "bringing back the POW's", but the attendant bullshit could get a little tiresome too. My friend and his mother got into an argument with one of the zealots over it all and the dispute became very acrimonious. The buttoned lady was ready to kill us, condemn and imprison us. Finally one of us asked, "Who are the POW's?" and, "What is a POW?" She was unable to answer. She didn't know what a "POW" was, but she pronounced the "word" as that - a word, like Bang! or Wham! - POW! She didn't know. That's how stupid some of these people are. Like the suckers I saw rolling down their car windows to hand their money over for the WTC victims while a cop stood there beside his car with lights whirling. Look, I don't know where that money went. Mine stayed in my pocket and, being Lehder, I stopped and rolled down my window to tell them so. Now I gotta find a green ribbon.I don't know how to fight these people except by taking their money away. They are perfectly willing to invade your house, shoot people, stop people on the street and search them, piss test them, jail them, take their property. I am not inspired by these kinds of activities, they don't attract me, I have no desire to shoot anybody and I can't fight these people on their own ground. Silent_O, your poetic ramblings are despised by the people who are in charge of you and all of us. None of your musings, they would say, serve to inderdict, confront, produce, feed or take a profit. You would seem not to be a contributing member of society.Benjamin Franklin rated thrift near the top of the list of virtues. But it's losing its sheen. Today we're advised to consume and to spend. Go about your lives as usual, they advise us, as they themselves run away from their own offices in fear of antrhax, spores manufactured by their own programs, and cower in stone houses and underground bunkers. Well, I'm promoting thrift as a lost virtue. Stay home. Keep your money. It was hard to get ahold of, hang on to it. Keep your taxes low; buy used goods, not new ones; start a diet on Thanksgiving; tell your kids the truth about Santa. HUMBUG! [ Post Comment ] Comment #17 posted by Silent_Observer on October 25, 2001 at 07:18:53 PT Picasso...yes.. This is our world of pairs of opposites..zeros and ones.Interesting when you think about it - thats all computers work on. And yet, look what can be done with just one pair of opposites, 0 and 1. Just one pair of opposites can be made to create web pages for us to communicate, to send email, to conduct e-commerce. Thats all it akes - one pair of opposites.Was that what God was doing when He separated the day from the night? [ Post Comment ] Comment #16 posted by Angelfood Picasso on October 25, 2001 at 07:01:43 PT ...yes...Good and Evil..... necessary as light and darkhot and coldjoy and painlaughing or cryinggood and evil....ya cant have one without the other [ Post Comment ] Comment #15 posted by Silent_Observer on October 25, 2001 at 06:50:05 PT Oh well...so much for Wanted Dead Or Alive... http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/ap/20011025/ts/attacks_military_16.html [ Post Comment ] Comment #14 posted by Silent_Observer on October 25, 2001 at 06:41:04 PT Good and Evil? What a truly unsophisticated way of thinking!Forgive my musings, but how could God concievably be one side, opposing the other? [ Post Comment ] Comment #13 posted by Kanabys on October 25, 2001 at 06:29:51 PT I'm with ya SO You are not alone in your feelings. I too have been experiencing these "almost" exact things. The human race IS, as a majority, not thankful as to what it has. Too many sheeple encased in their own little selfish worlds trying to manipulate everything and everyone else for thier benefit. It really Sux!! The group of people here at cannabisnews is hope for me for the future, but I fear that mankind as a whole is doomed. If only the attitude of us here at this forum could spread contagiously, then there might be hope for all. Peace to all who believe...... and keep on keeping on SO my friend, we will endure :) [ Post Comment ] Comment #12 posted by Silent_Observer on October 25, 2001 at 06:01:58 PT Sorry for this spate of posts...but... one more thread of thought from last night...This is by no means intended to be preachy, but merely what crossed my mind. Could it be that, as a race, we are not grateful enough? Could it be that humans don't see the paradise that is spread before them here and now? Is it possible that all the misery, deprivation and sorrow in the world today are solely the cause of human intervention? Then again, not all human actions have been bad...have they?Luckily the snap of fall has yet to accompany the fall of the leaves in this East Coast area, and I was able to walk in the park in the dark of night - oblivious to any possible danger - in a t-shirt and jeans. But I could see the lights of the city just beyond the trees. The street that winds through the park was lit, and red/yellow/orange leaves on the ground looked so beautiful. Then the moon came out from behind the clouds. How could you not acknowledge the magic there? What really is the difference between this and heaven? I asked myself if I loved my country. The answer - of course I do! I asked if I loved my city, my neighborhood. Yes and yes! I asked myself...where would I rather be living? In fact, there is nowhere else I'd rather be living than in this condo I've lived in for the past 13 years. Its small, but its mine...the neighbors are wonderful - we all look out for each other - the neighborhood is gorgeous.So...shouldn't I be more grateful? The answer came back - a resounding yes!Well, then, why am I so miserable?I asked myself - did the moon care whether it shone its light on me or the dead leaves? From my perspective, the dead leaves looked beautiful - but were they terrified when they died? Did they know they would be back in April? Would they be the same ones reincarnating, or would they be different leaves? What if we cut down all the trees? How could they reincarnate then?In the same way, is it possible that the human race has outlived its usefulness? Should there really be an sorrow at all? Should the planet be allowed a few more billion years to recover from this human abuse before a newer, kinder, gentler and more intelligent race returned? One that would truly see the heaven that is spread out right before them? Do I sound like I've been smoking something? Well, I haven't, but I have to admit to being a very confused person these days.Again, thanks for reading through this mind-dump! [ Post Comment ] Comment #11 posted by Silent_Observer on October 25, 2001 at 05:38:31 PT Last night.. I went for a walk in the park near where I live, to drain my mind, I think.I thought I might share some of my thoughts with you all. One of the nice things that has happened to me is having found this forum and the great people here. I could name names, but we all know who we are..:)My own personal world has been been relatively unaffected by all these events. It certainly was unaffected by Rainbow Farm, but - although I came very close to having become a casualty of September 11 - I have felt none of the effects...not really.So, why was I so thoroughly depressed? I couldn't help reviewing the immediate events in my life - nothing but positive things over the past few weeks. Even the course of events that ensured that I was miles away from any harm was great news - powerful evidence that a Power greater than all of us steered me the right way. Sometimes frightening when you think about it, but infinitely reassuring too. But the sadness was overwhelming.For now, the only thing I can think of is this. There is no doubt that on some level we are all connected. By that I mean all humans, all animals, and things. Sometimes, like Schopenhauers's man jumping from a bridge and being saved by another man who risks his life, certain events have a way of letting our material walls crumble a little. I wondered whether with the collapse of the steel and concrete in those towers, a few cracks in my own sense of separation from everyone else did not also begin to appear.I wonder how it would be to feel someone else's feelings, without a context. This would surely be highly confusing. How could you be sad when nothing sad has happened to you? If you can directly trace a disappointment to a certain event in your life, thats one thing. But to feel emotions that have no apparent source is disconcerting.Now, there is no doubt that watching the towers fall, and the suddenness of the attack on our home turf is scary, but this grief was extremely deep - almost personal...in fact, forget the "almost".I am beginning to think that part of the despondency has arisen from wondering how one hand could have such hatred for the other. Can you imagine how long our bodies would survive if our fingers despised our thumbs, our elbows hated our groins?Isn't this what the human race is experiencing?Then again, is this all for the good? Could it be that we, as a race, do not deserve this planet? After all, look what we have done to it, look how we treat each other. You don't see golden retrievers go to war.I don't know....I guess I'm still confused...But thanks for reading...you all are definitely my family. [ Post Comment ] Comment #10 posted by dddd on October 25, 2001 at 05:37:27 PT and for added effect ..I'll talk like that guy who runs the Quik-E-Mart on the Simpsons.....If I really wanted to do a good job of it,,I'd get one of my old girlfriends to follow me around,wrapped in a sheet,with only her eyes exposed,,and then I could verbally abuse her in the Post Office,or the gun store...of course,,none of this would really be "funny",,but it would prove a point....maybe I'll wait a bit,until the homeland security gestapo gang is fully deployed....dangerous fun...dddd [ Post Comment ] Comment #9 posted by Silent_Observer on October 25, 2001 at 05:12:26 PT dddd..you are the funny one In this case, if you do it, and people give you hell, you would have proved many things...But especially igonorance of the fact that guys in tubans do not worship "swami" guys!! [ Post Comment ] Comment #8 posted by FoM on October 24, 2001 at 21:56:25 PT You silly boy you! You'll go and get yourself shot dddd! Don't do that but it sounds funny the way you say it. LOL! [ Post Comment ] Comment #7 posted by dddd on October 24, 2001 at 21:35:18 PT strange times indeed ..Just for some weird fun,,,I am entertaining the idea,of fashioning myself a turban,,and putting this big bejeweled broach that my Granny gave me on the front of it,,so I look like some wierd swami guy,,,and go out to the post office,,the public library,,the gun store,,the DMV,,,,just to see the reactions of people.The turban would label me,as a "Guy wearing a turban".........I would be interested to see who questions me,,and how many people would drop a dime on me.........but,,,after all,,if I was an actual terrorist,,It would be rather silly to be wearing a turban,,I would be an opposite terrorist replica,,and I'll bet you I would turn heads,and raise eyebrows wherever I went....?dddd [ Post Comment ] Comment #6 posted by FoM on October 24, 2001 at 21:29:18 PT Anthrax Related Article from The Washington Post I thought this was interesting so I'm passing it on. Additive Made Spores Deadlier By Rick Weiss and Dan Eggen Washington Post Staff Writers Thursday, October 25, 2001; Page A1 The anthrax spores that contaminated the air in Senate Majority Leader Thomas A. Daschle's office had been treated with a chemical additive so sophisticated that only three nations are thought to have been capable of making it, sources said Wednesday. The United States, the former Soviet Union and Iraq are the only three nations known to have developed the kind of additives that enable anthrax spores to remain suspended in the air, making them more easily inhaled and therefore more deadly, experts said yesterday. Complete Article -- http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A47864-2001Oct24.html [ Post Comment ] Comment #5 posted by FoM on October 24, 2001 at 20:45:42 PT Fear, civil liberties and terrorism My husband had a very odd to say the least experience yesterday in a major truck stop restroom in Gary,Indiana. He was getting ready to leave and a man with a blue turbin on was standing at the sink and violently shaking his outer clothing. I said was it raining and he said no. Everyone is so jumpy. My husband left as soon as possible. This world is so darn scary now. How can we protect our liberties and our lives too? I wish I knew. [ Post Comment ] Comment #4 posted by dddd on October 24, 2001 at 19:53:35 PT Achtung!!!..Papers.....where are your papers!!? ...Yes,,it's rather disturbing how this is being sneakily railroaded through...and even more disturbing,,,there aint sh*t anyone can do about it.. ..It's no longer the fox guarding the henhouse,,the foxes have moved in to the dam henhouse,and they now own it,,,no one has heard anything from the hens....ya see,,there's no longer a henhouse availiable for the farmer to defend from the foxes...They took over the henhouse,and now they are keeping the farmer,and the Sheeple away,and reassuring them that the chicken are fine...This bill is jam packed with Constitutional blasphemies,and brutal raping of rights,,and carjackings of freedoms...I will post some excerpts from this bill later.Batten down the hatches,,,nope,I dont have a place in the hills... yet..dddd [ Post Comment ] Comment #3 posted by Tim Stone on October 24, 2001 at 19:33:12 PT If the House passed it... ,,,pull the chain and flush it...please. [ Post Comment ] Comment #2 posted by null on October 24, 2001 at 19:13:20 PT First thought Alarming. Broad powers w/out enough checks = guaranteed abuse. 4Q/4D, have you picked out your spot in the hills? [ Post Comment ] Comment #1 posted by ekim on October 24, 2001 at 19:07:57 PT: they really do address you as "Citizen." AS SEEN ON TV DEPT.: The new checkpoints have been established and they look just like the mockups that were shown on TV. There's a large red and yellow placard that says "Homeland Security Internal Checkpoint." You have to show your driver's license to go through and you're told that soon even that will not be sufficient. There was a company of National Guard setting up an ancillary facility. They had their new gray helmets with the visors on, so you couldn't see their eyes. And it is true. We went through the checkpoint. And yes, they really do address you as "Citizen." http://www.almartinraw.com/column37.html [ Post Comment ] Post Comment