Violent Radicalization & Homegrown Terrorist Act

H.R. 1955: Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorist Act - Have you heard about this law? It was passed recently by the U.S. House of Representatives (404-6). As you might assume based on the title of the bill, it focuses on violent radicals in the U.S. However, some activists worry that it will be used to persecute people the government considers "thought criminals."

If you want more information on this bill, here's a story about it: http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2007/10/25/18456040.php. And if you actually trust the government, here's a press release from the House Committee on Homeland Surveillance... oh, wait... that's actually Homeland Security: http://homeland.house.gov/press/index.asp?ID=287&SubSection=0&Issue=0&DocumentType=0&PublishDate=0 (Their article warns you to BE AFRAID of the threat of suicide bombers from the U.S. So everyone, support Homeland Security - keep your levels of fear up, okay?)


So, any opinions on this bill? How does it compare to already-existing legislation? Do you think it will affect non-violent activists, and if so, how? And if you're from another country, how do laws like this one compare to the laws of your country? (lol, Sorry if I sound too teacher-like with all of these questions, but I'm very interested to hear people's answers.)

 

Damnit man!!!!! It's shit like this that makes me long to get the fuck out of the USA and stay out.... I'd expect this law will eventually be used to stifle any sort of rigorous public discourse concerning our ""Benevolent Rulers"".... It's easy to see how the vague wording will lend itself to whatever interpretation the powers that be decide is in their best interest to apply..... This shit is really truly sickening.... Makes me ashamed to be an AmeriKKKan

 

When we allowed the department of Homeland Security to be founded, we threw up our hands and told Pappy Cheney to protect us.

And he gloried in that power.

 

My family and I are seriously looking into emigrating to a better country, AND we are towing our part of the line, trying to support the activists and we need to strike, strike, strike.

I was picking coffee the other day and listening to a song on B.Dylan's : No Direction Home...

track 15, of Chimes of Freedom
"Far between sundown's finished and midnight's broken toll
We ducked inside the doorway, as thunder went crashing,
As majestic bells of bolts, struck shadows in the sounds,
Seeming to be the chimes of freedom flashing.

Flashing for the warriors whose strength is not to fight,
Flashing for the refugees on the unarmed road of flight,
And for each an' every underdog soldier in the night,
An' we gazed upon the chimes of freedom flashing.

Through the city's melted furnace, unexpectedly we watched
With faces hidden as the walls were tightening
As the echo of the wedding bells before the blowin' rain
Dissolved into the bells of the lightning
Tolling for the rebel, tolling for the rake
Tolling for the luckless, the abandoned an' forsaken
Tolling for the outcast, burnin' constantly at stake
An' we gazed upon the chimes of freedom flashing.

Through the mad mystic hammering of the wild ripping hail
The sky cracked its poems in naked wonder
That the clinging of the church bells blew far into the breeze
Leaving only bells of lightning and its thunder
Striking for the gentle, striking for the kind
Striking for the guardians and protectors of the mind
An' the poet an the painter far behind his rightful time
An' we gazed upon the chimes of freedom flashing.

In the wild cathedral evening the rain unraveled tales
For the disrobed faceless forms of no position
Tolling for the tongues with no place to bring their thoughts
All down in taken-for granted situations
Tolling for the deaf an' blind, tolling for the mute
For the mistreated, mate-less mother, the mis-titled prostitute
For the misdemeanor outlaw, chased an' cheated by pursuit
An' we gazed upon the chimes of freedom flashing.

Even though a cloud's white curtain in a far-off corner flared
An' the hypnotic splattered mist was slowly lifting
Electric light still struck like arrows, fired but for the ones
Condemned to drift or else be kept from drifting
Tolling for the searching , on their speechless, seeking trail
For the lonesome-hearted lovers with too personal a tale
An' for each un-harmful, gentle soul misplaced inside a jail
An' we gazed upon the chimes of freedom flashing.

Starry-eyed an' laughing as I recall when we were caught
Trapped by no track of hours for they hanged suspended
As we listened one last time an' we watched with one last look
Spellbound an' swallowed 'til the tolling ended
Tolling for the aching whose wounds cannot be nursed
For the countless confused, accused, misused, strung-out ones an' worse
An' for every hung-up person in the whole wide universe
An' we gazed upon the chimes of freedom flashing


So in my mind's eye, I imagined this GIANT HAMMER striking an anvil and the sparks (of freedom) where the fruit of our Striking.

So this image had me crying... o how I despair our country. IF ONLY WE WOULD Throw A GENERAL STRIKE...

when are we going to get it together folks and BE THE CHANGE?

L&L Succulent

 

Yes. Indeed. But we didn't just ask Cheney to protect us - we asked Bush, Rumsfeld, Rice, Gonzales, et al. to protect us. And they have abused our trust. And now, anyone who asks questions is "un-American," or "empowering the terrorists." Governments seem to thrive on exploiting people's fear.

However, as much as I dislike America at times, it could be worse. ("It could be worse" is obviously not a good excuse, but still...) I've been to over a dozen protests, and so far, I've never been tear gassed, pepper sprayed, arrested, beaten, or murdered by the cops. Homeland Security was videotaping us at one protest recently and the cops tried to illegally detain us on a street corner... but we weren't treated as badly as we would have been in some countries.

By the way, people with a record of activism and civil disobedience are no longer being allowed into Canada.

 

"Those Who Sacrifice Liberty For Security Deserve Neither"

Benjamin Franklin

I've also seen it quoted this way:

Those who would sacrifice freedom for temporary security deserve neither

 

I'm telling you, its becoming a dictatorship; see how fast they put us all in concentration camps for speaking out for our rights; also known as "dissent" or "terrorism"...

 

My bf and I are already planning to move to Canada... hopefully asap!!

 

The concentration camps (or detention centers) already exist. Check this out:

http://video.google.com/videosearch?hl=en&q=detention camps&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wv#

This video is old. Imagine how far they've come since.

 

I've been reading up on this more lately, and its definately happening. What I'm guessing is that they're for when the riots break out and the revolution starts, or perhaps when our fearless leaders decide to make the transistion to a dicatorship... or worse.