Sign the Petition stopwatching.us

The revelations about the National Security Agency's surveillance apparatus, if true, represent a stunning abuse of our basic rights. We demand the U.S. Congress reveal the full extent of the NSA's spying programs.

Dear Members of Congress,

We write to express our concern about recent reports published in the Guardian and the Washington Post, and acknowledged by the Obama Administration, which reveal secret spying by the National Security Agency (NSA) on phone records and Internet activity of people in the United States.

The Washington Post and the Guardian recently published reports based on information provided by an intelligence contractor showing how the NSA and the FBI are gaining broad access to data collected by nine of the leading U.S. Internet companies and sharing this information with foreign governments. As reported, the U.S. government is extracting audio, video, photographs, e-mails, documents, and connection logs that enable analysts to track a person's movements and contacts over time. As a result, the contents of communications of people both abroad and in the U.S. can be swept in without any suspicion of crime or association with a terrorist organization.

Leaked reports also published by the Guardian and confirmed by the Administration reveal that the NSA is also abusing a controversial section of the PATRIOT Act to collect the call records of millions of Verizon customers. The data collected by the NSA includes every call made, the time of the call, the duration of the call, and other "identifying information" for millions of Verizon customers, including entirely domestic calls, regardless of whether those customers have ever been suspected of a crime. The Wall Street Journal has reported that other major carriers, including AT&T and Sprint, are subject to similar secret orders.

This type of blanket data collection by the government strikes at bedrock American values of freedom and privacy. This dragnet surveillance violates the First and Fourth Amendments of the U.S. Constitution, which protect citizens' right to speak and associate anonymously, guard against unreasonable searches and seizures, and protect their right to privacy.

We are calling on Congress to take immediate action to halt this surveillance and provide a full public accounting of the NSA's and the FBI's data collection programs. We call on Congress to immediately and publicly:

• Enact reform this Congress to Section 215 of the USA PATRIOT Act, the state secrets privilege, and the FISA Amendments Act to make clear that blanket surveillance of the Internet activity and phone records of any person residing in the U.S. is prohibited by law and that violations can be reviewed in adversarial proceedings before a public court;
• Create a special committee to investigate, report, and reveal to the public the extent of this domestic spying. This committee should create specific recommendations for legal and regulatory reform to end unconstitutional surveillance;
• Hold accountable those public officials who are found to be responsible for this unconstitutional surveillance.

Thank you for your attention to this matter.

Sign the Petition stopwatching.us

Link: http://www.march-against-monsanto.com/

Why Do We March?

On May 25, activists around the world will unite to March Against Monsanto.

• Research studies have shown that Monsanto’s genetically-modified foods can lead to serious health conditions such as the development of cancer tumors, infertility and birth defects.
• In the United States, the FDA, the agency tasked with ensuring food safety for the population, is steered by ex-Monsanto executives, and we feel that’s a questionable conflict of interests and explains the lack of government-led research on the long-term effects of GM products.
• Recently, the U.S. Congress and president collectively passed the nicknamed “Monsanto Protection Act” that, among other things, bans courts from halting the sale of Monsanto’s genetically-modified seeds.
• For too long, Monsanto has been the benefactor of corporate subsidies and political favoritism. Organic and small farmers suffer losses while Monsanto continues to forge its monopoly over the world’s food supply, including exclusive patenting rights over seeds and genetic makeup.
• Monsanto's GM seeds are harmful to the environment; for example, scientists have indicated they have contributed to Colony Collapse Disorder among the world's bee population.

What are solutions we advocate?

• Voting with your dollar by buying organic and boycotting Monsanto-owned companies that use GMOs in their products.
• Labeling of GMOs so that consumers can make those informed decisions easier.
• Repealing relevant provisions of the US's "Monsanto Protection Act."
• Calling for further scientific research on the health effects of GMOs.
• Holding Monsanto executives and Monsanto-supporting politicians accountable through direct communication, grassroots journalism, social media, etc.
• Continuing to inform the public about Monsanto's secrets.
• Taking to the streets to show the world and Monsanto that we won't take these injustices quietly.

We will not stand for cronyism. We will not stand for poison. That’s why we March Against Monsanto.

Subscribe to get March Against Monsanto updates!

http://www.march-against-monsanto.com/

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Originally Posted by Emilie Rensink

March and Rally at the White House
Saturday, April 13
Assemble at 12 noon
Lafayette Park - 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW

The targeting of Africa and its vast natural resources by the Pentagon and CIA is in full swing.

Having killed thousands of people through U.S. drone strikes in the Middle East, Central Asia and the Horn of Africa, the U.S. government is now putting all of Africa in the crosshairs.

The Pentagon is establishing a drone base headquarters in Niger and a network of drone bases throughout the continent.

In late December 2012, the United States announced a plan to send military missions to as many as 35 countries on the African continent.

After engaging in centuries of colonial plunder and the kidnapping of millions into slavery, the U.S. and European powers are bringing a new wave of militarism to Africa.

Under the guise of “fighting terrorism” or “saving civilians,” the United States, France and Britain are invading and bombing African countries.

Now they will step up their campaign of killing African people by the employment of Pentagon and CIA drone aircraft located in a network of bases being established by the Pentagon throughout the continent.

The U.S. functions as a death squad government, permitting the president and military leaders to create secret “kill lists” of people who have been selected for assassination. There is no due process, no trial, no evidence – the individuals are selected to be murdered and they are killed, and many civilians who are nearby also die. Drones are the weapon of choice.

Over 3,000 people have been murdered by U.S. drone strikes in the last few years, including a large number of children among the many civilians who have been slaughtered by these robotic killing machines.

Sitting in offices thousands of miles away from their targets, U.S. operators routinely decide to “push the button” and kill their unsuspecting targets on the ground with hellfire missiles fired from unseen drone aircraft. In Pakistan and Afghanistan, villagers have staged mass protests against drone strikes after their kids were incinerated while they were collecting firewood or farming in nearby fields.

In the 19th century, it was a common tactic of imperialists to use gunboats to move around the world and assert their will, answering challenges to their authority with bullets and cannon shot. The use, or threat of the use, of naval force was used by Britain, the United States and other imperialist nations to force exploitative terms of trade and political accommodations on various political entities around the world.

The United States government’s drone program serves the same general purpose as gunboat diplomacy. It enables the United States to extend its military power over any country that lacks the ability, or will, to shoot down the aircraft.

Join us at the White House for a march and rally on Saturday, April 13 to let the world know that the people of this country are demanding “Drones Out of Africa and Everywhere!”

Initial endorsers:

• ANSWER Coalition
• Cynthia McKinney, former Congressperson
• Akbar Muhammad, International Rep. of Nation of Islam
• Revival of Pan Africanism Forum
• CRI-Panafricain
• Democratic Union of Gambian Activists - D.C.
• Ramsey Clark, former U.S. Attorney General
• Nisa Muhammad, writer Final Call newspaper
• Jared Ball, radio host, WPFW (Pacifica)
• Rev. Graylan Hagler, Senior Minister, Plymouth Congregational United Church of Christ
• Imam Mahdi Bray, Freedom Coalition
• Mara Verheyden-Hilliard, Executive Director, Partnership for Civil Justice Fund
• American-Iranian Friendship Committee (AIFC)
• Peta Lindsay, Party for Socialism and Liberation
• Haiti Liberte

and others.

Endorse the April 13 action now!

The April 13 “U.S. Drones Out of Africa and Everywhere!” March and Rally at the White House takes place during a nationwide month of action opposing drones that also includes National Days Against Drones Actions in San Diego April 4-7 and the Ground the Drones, End the Wars weekend of education and action in Syracuse, N.Y., April 26-28. Details

Please donate to help the April 13 March and Rally at the White House

Please help us cover the many costs of the April 13 mobilization by making an urgently needed donation right now.