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In case you missed it, last Thursday our illustrious House of Representatives voted on an amendment that would have blocked the possibility for the President to lock up American citizens without a trial.  Unsurprisingly, our so-called “representatives” once again voted against protecting the constitutional rights of the citizenry in the name of the Orwellian, never-ending “war on terror.”  If you need a refresher on the NDAA and the authoritarian power it grants the executive branch, I suggest you read one of my most popular posts ever: NDAA: The Most Important Lawsuit in American History that No One is Talking About.

After the amendment’s failure, its sponsor Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash) correctly called out Republicans for their complete and total hypocrisy when it comes to “big government.”  He stated:

“This is a vote against the United States constitution and it is a vote against due process.  It is mind-boggling and extremely disappointing that the party who claims to fear big government overreach has voted against an amendment to prevent the government from indefinitely detaining individuals detained on U.S. soil –- including U.S. citizens.”

Now from the Huffington Post:

WASHINGTON — The U.S. House of Representatives voted again Thursday to allow the indefinite military detention of Americans, blocking an amendment that would have barred the possibility.

Supporters of detention argue that the nation needs to be able to arrest and jail suspected terrorists without trial, including Americans on U.S. soil, for as long as there is a war on terror. Their argument won, and the measure was defeated by a vote of 200 to 226.

But opponents, among them the Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.), who offered the amendment to end that authority, argued that such detention is a stain on the Constitution that unnecessarily militarizes U.S. law enforcement.

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One of the most dangerous things happening in America today is that so called “private” companies are doing much of the government’s dirty work, completely in the shadows and with essentially zero accountability.  Booz Allen Hamilton, the defense contractor that employed whistleblower hero Edward Snowden is one of them.  Recall that Booz Allen is the contractor that journalist and activist Barrett Brown was thoroughly investigating when he was arrested last year.  In the past couple of days, both Bloomberg and the New York Times have written stories on this shady company and some interesting facts have emerged.  One of the most telling is this excerpt from Booz Allen’s annual report:

“Because we are limited in our ability to provide information about these contracts and services,” the company said in its latest annual report, “you may not have important information concerning our business, which will limit your insight into a substantial portion of our business, and therefore may be less able to fully evaluate the risks related to that portion of our business.”

More from Bloomberg:

There’s a company near Washington with strong ties to the U.S. intelligence community that has been around for almost a century and has secret ways of making money — so secret that the company can’t tell you what they are. Investors who buy just need to have faith.

Booz Allen is the government contractor that employed Edward Snowden when he leaked a trove of secret documents about National Security Agency surveillance programs to the U.K.’s Guardian newspaper and the Washington Post. The consulting company, based in McLean, Virginia, is upfront about the ways in which its silence creates risks for shareholders. It derives 99 percent of its revenue from the U.S. government and says a substantial portion of its contracts are classified.

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Congress sure is hard at work at the moment trying to pass one horrific bill after the other. With the disastrous CISPA, aka the “Patriot Act for the Internet,” rightfully getting most of the attention since it represents such a treasonous attack on civil liberties (it passed the House of Representatives last week and now moves on to the Senate), another awful bill is also moving forward that we must all be aware of and fight hard against.  I am referring to S. 743, or the Marketplace Fairness Act (MFA), colloquially known as the “internet or online sales tax bill.” While it is being sold by its sponsors and the Obama Administration as helping brick and mortar mom and pop retailers level the playing field with online retailers, what it actually does in practice is create a bureaucratic tax nightmare and could be the final nail in the coffin for the U.S. economy.  But don’t take my word for it…

A bipartisan group of Senators have written a letter to Harry Reid expressing not only their concerns with the bill, but also outrage at the fact that he is trying to sneak it through without normal committee process.  Here is the letter:

Senators Say Legislation Should Go Through Committee Process

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I’m on plane headed to Nashville and it remains to be seen whether or not I can get this out.  I’ll be pretty much out of the loop for the next several days so hopefully I can get this posted.

A friend of mine, Paul Rosenberg wrote this fantastic piece the other day about how the government would go after Bitcoin.  It very much reminds me of the famous Gandhi saying “first they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.”  I think we are somewhere in between the mockery phase and the battle phase at the moment.  Whether the recent massive DDOS attacks on primary Bitcoin exchange Mt, Gox was sophisticated criminal hackers or oligarchs in government and central banking may never be known, but there’s no doubt about the threat that Bitcoin and alternative currencies presents to the current power structure.  So without further ado, here are excerpts from Paul:

Bitcoin – poorly understood and frequently talked about ignorantly – is a wonderful new financial tool… and a very timely one. But because of its virtues, it is about to be attacked.

Why The Fiat Masters Must Attack Bitcoin

I say that Bitcoin will be attacked for the simple reason that it is the anti-fiat currency… and a lot of very powerful people have their entire kingdoms built upon fiat currency and its central banking game.

It is actually very similar to gold and silver in its overall effect: If Bitcoin, or gold, or silver – or any combination thereof – ever became dominant, no one could play games with the world’s money and skim from millions of people at once… or run welfare states in defiance of economic reality.

The bankers do not want to lose their positions, and if they let this alternative currency take over, they will. So, they will have to attack.. In fact, I am sure as I can be that they are doing it already.

The Attacks

It is important to understand that the system is not invulnerable. It’s certainly not easy to attack (like a Cyprus bank account), but attacks both small and large are possible.

I’m not going to describe large attacks, as I don’t want to give anyone ideas. You can either believe me that they are possible, or not. These big attacks, however, would not be easy, and would have side-effects. So, I don’t expect to see them first. First, Bitcoin’s enemies have to win the PR war.

There was a great line in the movie Gladiator that applies right now:

You have a great name. Before they destroy you, they will have to destroy your name.

So, the first attacks will be combined with a PR war. The point will be to scare people away. “You’ll get ripped-off!” will be their emphatic meme.

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