“Congress shall make no law… abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances."

Right now, it is tentatively scheduled for March 31st in Bismarck.

Signed up So Far

Northern Conservative @K@ JMiller

Say Anything @K@ Rob

Open thread for ideas. Suggestions. Etc.

      February 9, 1995.


http://www.fas.org/irp/offdocs/eo/eo-12949.htm

By the authority vested in me as President by Sections 102 and
   104 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (50 U.S.C.
   1802 and 1804), in order to provide as set forth in that Act (this
   chapter) for the authorization of electronic surveillance for
   foreign intelligence purposes, it is hereby ordered as follows:

     1-101. Pursuant to Section 102(a)(1) of the Foreign Intelligence
   Surveillance Act of 1978 (50 U.S.C. 1802(a)), the Attorney General
   is authorized to approve electronic surveillance to acquire foreign
   intelligence information without a court order, but only if the
   Attorney General makes the certifications required by that Section.

     1-102. Pursuant to Section 102(b) of the Foreign Intelligence Act
   of 1978 (50 U.S.C. 1802(b)), the Attorney General is authorized to
   approve applications to the court having jurisdiction under Section
   103 of that Act (50 U.S.C. 1803) to obtain orders for electronic
   surveillance for the purpose of obtaining foreign intelligence
   information.

     1-103. Pursuant to Section 104(a)(7) of the Foreign Intelligence
   Surveillance Act of 1978 (50 U.S.C. 1804(a)(7)), the following
   officials, each of whom is employed in the area of national
   security or defense, is designated to make the certifications
   required by Section 104(a)(7) of the Act in support of applications
   to conduct electronic surveillance:

       (a) Secretary of State.

       (b) Secretary of Defense.

       (c) Director of Central Intelligence.

       (d) Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

       (e) Deputy Secretary of State.

       (f) Deputy Secretary of Defense.

       (g) Deputy Director of Central Intelligence.

   None of the above officials, nor anyone officially acting in that
   capacity, may exercise the authority to make the above
   certifications, unless that official has been appointed by the
   President with the advice and consent of the Senate.

     1-104. Section 2-202 of Executive Order No. 12036 (set out under
   section 401 of this title) is amended by inserting the following at
   the end of that section: ''Any electronic surveillance, as defined
   in the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978, shall be
   conducted in accordance with that Act as well as this Order.''.

     1-105. Section 2-203 of Executive Order No. 12036 (set out under
   section 401 of this title) is amended by inserting the following at
   the end of that section: ''Any monitoring which constitutes
   electronic surveillance as defined in the Foreign Intelligence
   Surveillance Act of 1978 shall be conducted in accordance with that
   Act as well as this Order.''.                          

http://www.fas.org/irp/offdocs/eo12139.htm                                                              Jimmy Carter.

New York-based Human Rights Watch has issued a report saying the United States operated a secret prison in Afghanistan and tortured detainees. The report quoted an Ethiopian-born detainee as saying he was kept in a pitch-black prison and forced to listen to Eminem and Dr. Dre’s rap music for 20 days before the music was replaced by "horrible ghost laughter and Halloween sounds."

The report said detainees at the facility -- known as "Dark Prison" -- were deprived of sleep, chained to walls and forced to listen to loud music in total darkness for days.

The group said the allegations are credible enough to warrant an official investigation. American officials say the United States doesn't engage in torture. CIA officials have no commented on the allegations.

Statement by Kerry spokesman David Wade: 'Ken Mehlman’s filthy and shameful lie about a decorated combat veteran is disgraceful. Political hack Ken Mehlman and draft dodging, donut eating Rush Limbaugh have something in common. Neither of them know anything about how to make American troops safe. John Kerry will continue to speak out about how to succeed in Iraq and protect brave American troops'...

More work needs to be done, of course, but the Iraqi people are in reach of a watershed transformation from the primitive, killing tyranny of Saddam to modern, self-governing, self-securing nationhood--unless the great American military that has given them and us this unexpected opportunity is prematurely withdrawn.

It is a war between 27 million and 10,000; 27 million Iraqis who want to live lives of freedom, opportunity and prosperity and roughly 10,000 terrorists who are either Saddam revanchists, Iraqi Islamic extremists or al Qaeda foreign fighters who know their wretched causes will be set back if Iraq becomes free and modern. The terrorists are intent on stopping this by instigating a civil war to produce the chaos that will allow Iraq to replace Afghanistan as the base for their fanatical war-making. We are fighting on the side of the 27 million because the outcome of this war is critically important to the security and freedom of America. If the terrorists win, they will be emboldened to strike us directly again and to further undermine the growing stability and progress in the Middle East, which has long been a major American national and economic security priority.

Does America have a good plan for doing this, a strategy for victory in Iraq? Yes we do. And it is important to make it clear to the American people that the plan has not remained stubbornly still but has changed over the years. Mistakes, some of them big, were made after Saddam was removed, and no one who supports the war should hesitate to admit that; but we have learned from those mistakes and, in characteristic American fashion, from what has worked and not worked on the ground. The administration's recent use of the banner "clear, hold and build" accurately describes the strategy as I saw it being implemented last week.