Tag Archives: U.S. Congress

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Emil Guillermo: NSA/Patriot Act phone data collection declared illegal. But real battle ahead in Congress by June deadline. Some want it ended. GOP wants it continued. Do we really want to opt-out of democracy?

Remember how a federal judge ruled in 2013 that the NSA collecting  all your phone data was legal?

Today a federal appellate court ruled that the NSA data collection activity was  ILLEGAL.

But it didn’t rule on the second part of the ACLU’s suit…on whether the NSA’s data collection was unconstitutional.

More fights ahead.

Especially with the June deadline looming to end or extend the data collection provision in the Patriot Act.

The Senate likes the data collection and has already defeated a bill to end it last November.

The House has a bill ready to kill the data collection, but Senate Republicans are trying to kill the bill.

Maybe we can just have the government spy on Republicans who wish to opt-out on certain democratic  freedoms.

But that’s where we are. The court’s ruling today really leaves it up to Congress to decide if bulk collection of phone data is enough to compromise your freedom in the national interest.

See New York Times Report here.

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U.S. Rep. Mike Honda reflects on civil liberties, Fred Korematsu Day, and on his own experience as a Japanese American infant in a World War II internment camp

In this informal and candid conversation, U.S. Rep. Mike Honda, (D-CA 17) talked to me a few days before his special guest appearance at the Korematsu Institute’s celebration of Fred Korematsu.  Honda talked about the importance of Korematsu as an historical example for all people who believe in the U.S. and its Constitution. He talks about his own personal experience as an interned infant, what he remembers and how it shaped his life. The conversation took place on Jan. 24, 2014 in San Jose, CA.

[powerpress]http://www.amok.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/Honda-Internment2.m4a[/powerpress]

Honda Internment2

 

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Rep. David Wu’s failed promise

The debt ceiling debate was given a little levity when politicos had David Wu to pounce on.

It’s hard not to. The guy has been flat out bizarre in his actions.

But it’s not funny, really.

The guy may have been troubled personally, stressed out on many different levels.  But he was no buffoon. He was the first Chinese American elected to the House. And that’s a big, big deal.

Read my amok column exclusively on the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund website: 

http://aaldef.org/blog/farewell-to-tigger-wu.html