“TURNING OFF THE POWER”
by Mike Maharrey, the Tenth Amendment Center
(Jan. 25, 2014) – With the introduction of the Fourth Amendment Protection Act this week, Mississippi became the tenth state in the country to consider legislation to make life difficult for the NSA’s ongoing mass surveillance programs.
Senate Bill 2438 (SB2438), introduced by Sen. Chris McDaniel, would make it the official policy of Mississippi to “refuse material support, participation or assistance to any federal agency which claims the power, or with any federal law, rule, regulation or order which purports to authorize the collection of electronic data or metadata of any person(s) pursuant to any action not based on a warrant that particularly describes the person(s), place(s) and thing(s) to be searched or seized.”
In Mississippi, this would primarily address the use of data and metadata in court and criminal proceedings, thwarting one practical effect of what the NSA does with all the data it collects.
A Reuters report last year revealed that the NSA shares data with state and local law enforcement through a formerly-secret outfit called the Special Operation Division (SOD). Retuers noted that a vast majority of this information is for use in non-terror criminal investigations, side-stepping warrant requirements under the state constitution and the 4th Amendment. The federal government also shares data mined by its agencies, including the NSA, through “fusion centers.”
The Mississippi Fourth Amendment Protection Act would ban the state from continuing practice.
The legislation would also address the status of Mississippi State University as an NSA “Center for Academic Excellence.” (CAE) Currently, the spy agency has agreements with 166 schools across the U.S. These CAE’s act as critical research facilities which help the NSA expand their capabilities. They also serve as fertile recruiting grounds for future NSA analysts.
Finally, SB2438 would ban the state from entering into any agreements to provide water or electricity to a physical location within the state. And while there is no current facility in Mississippi, OffNow coalition representative Shane Trejo said he would like to see things stay that way.
“This legislation makes sure that the NSA doesn’t get any bright ideas while bills in places like Tennessee and Utah will consider turning off the power or water to their spy centers,” he said. “NSA advocates tell us that those bills won’t work because the NSA would just set up shop in another state. Well that’s not going to happen if the other states, like Mississippi, preemptively tell the NSA ‘You’re not welcome here!’”
Similar bills have already been introduced in other states without NSA facilities, including Arizona, California, Indiana, and Oklahoma. Washington State and Tennessee lawmakers are also considering Fourth Amendment Protection Acts, and NSA does have a physical NSA presence in those states.
Inside sources say that a bill will also be introduced soon in Utah, where the massive new “data center” has recently started coming on line. That bill would propose turning the water off to the facility, effectively crippling NSA’s ability to cool their supercomputers, which are reported to need up to 1.7 million gallons of water every single day to operate.
Bills that address just the data-sharing portion of the Mississippi bill have been introduced in Kansas, Missouri and New Hampshire.
SB2438 has been referred to the Senate Rules Committee, where it will need to be passed by a majority vote before being considered by the full senate.
Track the status of similar legislation around the country here.
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Contact: Mike Maharrey
Communications Director
O: 213.935.0553 F: 213.402.3938
media@tenthamendmentcenter.com
www.tenthamendmentcenter.com
We have seen the growth of out of control government, without vote, without permission to spend and waste taxpayers money since 1975 after Vietnam ended. Most Americans are very foolish and really don’t realize how out of control it is. We have a faux POTUS, America is under a Coup/Usurpation/Dictatorship that can’t be removed by conventional court law since they have used the “no standing rule” order from Hillary and others to block any and all criminal presentments to allow Discovery and prosecution of any people operating and getting paid in this coup-administration. Now, operating as a dictatorship, we have seen for over 5 years how laws, bills and doctrine have been pushed through to burden the American people. Government operations have multiplied to unsustainable levels and the “it’s them or me” mentality has developed in all government agencies in the quest for more paychecks, lucrative retirement programs and benefits living in complete ignorance of the population and America’s needs. In management, there is mostly no accountability and closed door policy to allow theft, lies, corruption, destruction at all costs to the host, with no regard for “end results”. The “new age selfies” have become a disaster in operations at all levels with no accountability. Aviation is a clear example in the last few years that has gone from a professional organization to a vest of corporate secrecy, lack of FAA involvement in the process and crashes, pilots landing at wrong airports, cover-ups of investigations, etc., have exploded to record levels. We have LEO’s murdering a Republican Commissioner in Monroe County, Tennessee and still under investigation that took years to even open after going through the levels of internal cover ups/red tape, etc. We are seeing an emerging “new culture” that is completely Godless/profit and entitlement-oriented run by management hiding behind closed doors and living in darkness to protect their checks and benefits primarily where all other responsibility is secondary or non-existent and all self or departmentally approved to arrive at nirvana somewhere down the road for all the wonderful work they have done and “services” they have performed? The train is a runaway and is coming off the tracks, most of America is now powerless against this coup due to their ignorance and selfish preservation mentality. Sadly, many of the Universities have joined for profit and self-preservation with the corruption in government and organizations that benefit their own interests. Our universities were bastions of free thought, creativity, personal growth, social improvement and too many benefits to list. Today, we have seen slow change since the 80’s when the “me generation” took form and we are now seeing universities scared and tied to government rules and regulations that have reduced them to brainwashing centers of mass production and generic output regulations to cattle-call most paying customers through the system. I am 150% for education and many areas have made record levels in new techniques of learning but on the other side of the coin, we have to look at that bad term “end results” and look at so many people coming out of colleges that are results of lowered standards, lack critical thinking, have many poor skill levels compared to several years ago before Big Brother and political correctness disease became falsely accepted levels of more helter-skelter. We are illegally arresting honorable Veterans for standing up for the Constitution and an illegal POTUS.