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| | ====Book burning==== | | ====Book burning==== |
| | In May 2009 [[bible]]s were burned at Bagram Air Base in [[Afghanistan]].<ref>[http://www.upi.com/Top_News/2009/05/20/Military-burns-Bibles-sent-to-Afghanistan/UPI-70431242828660/ Military burns Bibles sent to Afghanistan], [[UPI]], May 20, 2009.</ref><ref>[http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=32000 Is the Military Supposed to Burn Bibles?], by Robert Maginnism, ''[[Human Events]]'', 05/26/2009.</ref> | | In May 2009 [[bible]]s were burned at Bagram Air Base in [[Afghanistan]].<ref>[http://www.upi.com/Top_News/2009/05/20/Military-burns-Bibles-sent-to-Afghanistan/UPI-70431242828660/ Military burns Bibles sent to Afghanistan], [[UPI]], May 20, 2009.</ref><ref>[http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=32000 Is the Military Supposed to Burn Bibles?], by Robert Maginnism, ''[[Human Events]]'', 05/26/2009.</ref> |
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| − | ===Privacy and government surveillance===
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| − | :''See: [[Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act]]''
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| − | The Cybersecurity Act of 2009 would give the administration authority to conduct warrant-less spying and dictatorial power over Internet.<ref>[https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2009/04/should-obama-control-internet Should Obama Control the Internet?], ''Mother Jones'', April 2, 2009.</ref>
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| − | *Section 215 -- drastically broadens the kinds of information the government can demand under Foreign Intelligence Security Act to "any tangible thing" while lowering the burden of proof to obtain such an order. According to the ''[[Washington Post]]'' this measure "allows investigators probing terrorism to seek a suspect's records from third parties such as financial services and travel and telephone companies without notifying the suspect. The American Civil Liberties Union has criticized the provision, saying it violates the First Amendment rights of U.S. citizens."
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| − | *Section 206—grants the authority to use secret "roving wiretaps." "In the past, authorities had to seek court approval for each electronic device carried by a suspect, from a cellphone and a BlackBerry to a home computer," writes the ''Post'', "But under the provision, one warrant can cover all of those machines." "Unlike roving wiretaps authorized for criminal investigations," the ACLU explains, "section 206 does not require the order to identify either the communications device to be tapped nor the individual against whom the surveillance is directed, which is what gives section 206 the Kafkaesque moniker, the "John Doe roving wiretap provision."
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| − | *Section 6001—or the "lone wolf" provision, which allows for secret FISA surveillance orders against people who have no connections to a terror group or foreign nation. "The government justified this provision by imagining a hypothetical "lone wolf," an international terrorist operating independently of any terrorist organization," explains the ACLU, "but there is little evidence to suggest this imaginary construct had any basis in reality."
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| − | Rod Beckstrom, formerly in charge of coordinating the US government’s cyber-security operations, in a resignation letter to Secretary of Homeland Security [[Janet Napolitano]],<ref>[http://online.wsj.com/public/resources/documents/BeckstromResignation.pdf Letter from Rod Beckstrom to Janet Napolitano], [[Wall Street Journal]], March 9, 2009.</ref> cited the expanded control over the nation’s computer security efforts poses “threats to our democratic processes.” <ref>''[http://www.upi.com/Top_News/Special/2009/03/11/US-cybersecurity-head-quits-citing-growing-role-of-spy-agencies/UPI-64411236692969/ U.S. cybersecurity head quits, citing growing role of spy agencies]'', Shaun Waterman, [[UPI]], March 11, 2009.</ref>
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| | ==Further reading== | | ==Further reading== |