Mount Vernon Area Tea Party, Washington
ALERT: Obama Internet Control Passes U.S. Senate!
Barack Hussein Obama is one step closer to seizing control of the Internet, which is a far bigger prize than the reinstitution of the Fairness Doctrine. In fact, if the the Obama Regime gains this power, then they'll be able to follow suit with Talk Radio, and then have the same sort of iron-fisted control of media networks the Communist Chinese have. Just imagine an America where the Internet, which was invented here, were nothing more than a propaganda tool for the Obama regime!? Sadly, that became much more likely yesterday.
The so-called "Protecting Cyberspace as a National Asset Act," which was approved by a U.S. Senate Committee this week, is nothing more than a "kill switch" for opposing viewpoints on the Internet. It paves the way for the nightmare scenarios which are currently just conspiracy theories to most. But if they have total control of the Internet, and they got it legally (in the eyes of most Americans, and let's face it, we are growing, but we aren't even close to a majority yet), via an act of Congress (however unconstitutionally, and yes, I realize this sort of executive power grab is absolutely, inherently unconstitutional), the Obama Regime (and the puppet masters behind it) will have the same sort of power that Woodrow Wilson had, but none of his relative restraint.
Without the Internet to express our views, and to communicate, network, and collaborate, we instantly become many fractured local movements, only as large as we have time to make phone calls and have money to send out snail mail (paper letters). It would mean that the Obama regime has all of the technology that was enabled by freedom and property rights, and the forces of freedom would be blown back into the pre-Internet era. Talk about a paradigm shift!
WE MUST NOT ALLOW THIS! Here's the excerpt from TechWorld:
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Obama Internet kill switch plan approved by US Senate
President could get power to turn off Internet
By Grant Gross
Published: 11:02 GMT, 25 June 10
A US Senate committee has approved a wide-ranging cybersecurity bill that some critics have suggested would give the US president the authority to shut down parts of the Internet during a cyberattack.
Senator Joe Lieberman and other bill sponsors have refuted the charges that the Protecting Cyberspace as a National Asset Act gives the president an Internet "kill switch." Instead, the bill puts limits on the powers the president already has to cause "the closing of any facility or stations for wire communication" in a time of war, as described in the Communications Act of 1934, they said in a breakdown of the bill published on the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee website.
The committee unanimously approved an amended version of the legislation by voice vote Thursday, a committee spokeswoman said. The bill next moves to the Senate floor for a vote, which has not yet been scheduled.
The bill, introduced earlier this month, would establish a White House Office for Cyberspace Policy and a National Center for Cybersecurity and Communications, which would work with private US companies to create cybersecurity requirements for the electrical grid, telecommunications networks and other critical infrastructure.
The bill also would allow the US president to take emergency actions to protect critical parts of the Internet, including ordering owners of critical infrastructure to implement emergency response plans, during a cyber-emergency. The president would need congressional approval to extend a national cyber-emergency beyond 120 days under an amendment to the legislation approved by the committee.
The legislation would give the US Department of Homeland Security authority that it does not now have to respond to cyber-attacks, Lieberman, a Connecticut independent, said earlier this month.
"Our responsibility for cyber defence goes well beyond the public sector because so much of cyberspace is owned and operated by the private sector," he said. "The Department of Homeland Security has actually shown that vulnerabilities in key private sector networks like utilities and communications could bring our economy down for a period of time if attacked or commandeered by a foreign power or cyber terrorists."
Other sponsors of the bill are Senators Susan Collins, a Maine Republican, and Tom Carper, a Delaware Democrat.
One critic said Thursday that the bill will hurt the nation's security, not help it. Security products operate in a competitive market that works best without heavy government intervention, said Wayne Crews, vice president for policy and director of technology studies at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, an anti-regulation think tank.
"Policymakers should reject such proposals to centralize cyber security risk management," Crews said in an e-mail. "The Internet that will evolve if government can resort to a 'kill switch' will be vastly different from, and inferior to, the safer one that will emerge otherwise."
Cybersecurity technologies and services thrive on competition, he added. "The unmistakable tenor of the cybersecurity discussion today is that of government steering while the market rows," he said. "To be sure, law enforcement has a crucial role in punishing intrusions on private networks and infrastructure. But government must coexist with, rather than crowd out, private sector security technologies."
On Wednesday, 24 privacy and civil liberties groups sent a letter raising concerns about the legislation to the sponsors. The bill gives the new National Center for Cybersecurity and Communications "significant authority" over critical infrastructure, but doesn't define what critical infrastructure is covered, the letter said.
Without a definition of critical infrastructure there are concerns that "it includes elements of the Internet that Americans rely on every day to engage in free speech and to access information," said the letter, signed by the Center for Democracy and Technology, the American Civil Liberties Union, the Electronic Frontier Foundation and other groups.
"Changes are needed to ensure that cybersecurity measures do not unnecessarily infringe on free speech, privacy, and other civil liberties interests," the letter added.
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PLEASE CONTACT YOUR SENATOR EVERY DAY ABOUT THIS!
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News items like this remind us of the fact that the wisdom of food storage, energy independence (including at your own home, as in solar panels, wind energy, solar water heaters, etc.), and general preparedness is increasingly important, and our need to be prepared is far more urgent than even a month ago. It might be a good time to look into FoodInsurance.com, like Glenn Beck recommends, for all who don't have a guaranteed supply of food to last them a year or more. And if one has nothing saved up, food-wise, gold-wise, or other-wise, but can see what is coming, nothing will bring peace of mind like the ability to eat, no matter what.
Honestly, if things get bad enough, many believe that food will be worth its weight in gold. A starving man will definitely part with whatever he has to in order to survive, and even more so if he has a starving wife and starving children.
Please also remember to prepare go-packs (a backpack with everything you'd need to survive on foot, in case you must leave your home on short notice). And try to store clothing, shoes, fuel, water, toothpaste, soap, etc. in addition to food - if this happens soon, you won't want to have to divide your resources among other essentials like soap, shampoo, Q-tips, toothbrushes/heads, toothpaste, deodorant/antiperspirant, toilet paper, etc. Don't forget copies of the Constitution & Declaration, and other essential publications.