Well, it has been a long time. . .

June 6, 2013

. . . but today’s news brings me back here to process the insanity. It has been revealed that Verizon has been sending records on all telephone traffic to the NSA. The entire Twitter community, it seems, is sharing a joke—800,000 Tweeting, “Can you hear me now?” And, courtesy of the Washington Post, we have details about just how much our government is spying on us: http://wapo.st/1ba8gQL shows that they are mining data from nine Internet service providers.
Did the 23,000 of us who originally formed the group that ultimately set up this blog make the wrong call back in July 2008 and after, when we told our candidate, “You made the wrong choice on the FISA warrantless wiretapping act, but we will support you anyway”? Would we have been better to walk away and support a third-party candidate? There is no way to know, of course; the much-desired glimpse into an alternative universe for comparison is not possible except in science fiction. The clear truth is that we are at least disappointed, at most frightened for our democracy.
While we can still post here, spied upon or otherwise, welcome back to the conversation!

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Posted by sallijane

A few RTs, please

September 29, 2009

If you’re on Twitter, and don’t mind making a tweet or two over the next few hours, it’d be peachy if you could retweet one or more of the following:

On PATRIOTS and JUSTICE: What we don’t know http://is.gd/3MWMG (via @emptywheel @getfisaright)

RT @getfisaright Snap poll: will you have time to help bring justice to the #patriotact? http://is.gd/3MS35

RT @getfisaright Following the PATRIOT Act debates via @twazzup: http://is.gd/3MNNA — pls RT #patriotact #p2

Thanks!

jon

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Posted by jdp23

Bring JUSTICE to the PATRIOT Act: 5 ways to help on Twitter

September 27, 2009

The JUSTICE Act would reform the PATRIOT  by limiting the use of sneak-and-peak warrants and National Security Letters, and hold telecom companies accountable for past abuses.  If you’re on Twitter, here’s how you can help.

This week, we’re going to be to be doing activism on Twitter, Facebook, and the blogosphere to pressure Senate Judiciary Committee members to adopt the JUSTICE Act’s strong reforms during their markup session on Thursday.  We’ve got a blogger call Tuesday at 3 p.m. Eastern.  For now, we’re laying the groundwork.  Please join us!

Here’s how:

  1. Follow @justiceact, watch for updates, and retweet
  2. Thank Senators Russ Feingold and Tom Udall for sponsoring the JUSTICE Act using the act.ly petition at  http://act.ly/kn or by retweeting

    3. @RussFeingold and @SenatorTomUdall: thanks for introducing the JUSTICE Act http://act.ly/kn

  3. When you see articles and videos about the PATRIOT Act reauthorization, tweet them using the hashtag
  4. Follow the #patriotact hashtag, and retweet early and often
  5. Let people know about this post!

    6. Bring JUSTICE to the PATRIOT Act: 5 ways to help on Twitter (via @JusticeAct) http://is.gd/3ITyE

Our next step will be to put pressure on some specific Senators … please let us know who you think we should target.  Stay tuned for more!

jon

PS: If you’re also on Facebook, please share this link — and join the PASS the JUSTICE Act group!

About Get FISA Right

For those of you who don’t remember the “Senator Obama, Please Get FISA Right” MyBo group, it started by growing organically, and then a group of volunteers worked to help it go viral in 2008 — and bloggers were instrumental in that effort.

Once the MyBo group had a huge following, we used a wiki/collaborative process to create an open letter to Obama. Thanks to a huge amount of blog coverage, and ultimately spillover MSM coverage, Obama responded to the group.

Although we lost the legislative battle, and Obama’s response left much to be desired, the group certainly got Obama’s attention and successfully opened up a direct line of communication with him. Now, with PATRIOT ACT reform coming up, many of us are back.

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Posted by jdp23