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What minarchists don’t understand is that tiger cubs grow big, and grown tigers are never tame. You can’t domesticate a tiger like a house cat. You can always play with a grown house cat. For the five percent of the day that it’s awake. You cannot play with a tiger cub when it grows up. Tigers are wild and always will be. Government, because it is predicated on force and violence, will always be what it is: forceful and violent. Its fangs ain’t cute anymore.
police
prisons
gag orders
wiretapping
surveillance
eavesdropping
illegal rendition
prolonged detention without trial
government spending on security
invoking of states secrets to further an agenda
House Judiciary Committee Approves Strong PATRIOT Act Reform
In a 16-10 party-line vote on Nov. 5, the House Committee on the Judiciary approved H.R. 3845, the USA PATRIOT Amendments Act of 2009. The legislation contains several important reforms of controversial surveillance powers granted in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Republicans on the committee claimed that "the legislation would hinder law enforcement and intelligence agencies in fighting terrorism."
Among the most touted of the reforms provided by the bill, H.R. 3845 would permit the so-called “lone wolf” provision to sunset.
It was intended to allow the surveillance of individuals believed to be doing the bidding of foreign governments or terrorist organizations, even when the evidence of that connection was lacking.
H.R. 3845 also restricts the use of national security letters.
Under current law, intelligence agencies have few restrictions on the use of NSLs, and in numerous cases, they overuse the authority. An FBI inspector general report in 2007 “found that the FBI used NSLs in violation of applicable NSL statutes, Attorney General Guidelines, and internal FBI policies.” The reform provisions seek to create greater judicial scrutiny of NSL use, as the relevant agency would need to demonstrate to a judge the connection to foreign actors, as well as the need for a gag order, prior to issuing the NSL.
In other reform provisions, the legislation would require the government demonstrate to a judge that the target of a roving wiretap is a single person in order to obtain a warrant. An even stricter evidentiary standard is mandated to obtain library and bookstore records. The roving wiretap and records seizure authorities are set to expire at the end of 2013 rather than in 2009.
The House bill also establishes new reporting and audit provisions to facilitate congressional oversight of surveillance.