I noticed the following article of something happening in Las Vegas
(Columbia, MO Daily Tribune).  The USA federal gov't Justice Department
subpoenaed a newspaper for the identity of people who "anonymously"
commented on an article that appeared in the newspaper.    

This is the really scary, "big brother" part of the article:  
<snip>
The comments are written under pseudonyms. Along with the real names of
people who posted comments, the subpoena asks the newspaper for the
writers' gender, birth date, physical address, telephone number,
Internet service provider, IP address and credit card numbers.
<snip> 

So much for the First Amendment to the USA Constitution (freedom of
speech) under the current administration.

Is this Stalinist Soviet Union; North Korea, Iran; or the United States
where we claim to have the best personal freedoms and protections of any
society in the history of the civilized world?

<snip>
Jun 16, 6:34 PM EDT

Vegas paper gets subpoena to ID online commenters 
 
LAS VEGAS (AP) -- A Nevada newspaper says it has been served a federal
grand jury subpoena seeking information about readers who posted
comments on the paper's Web site.

The Las Vegas Review-Journal reported Tuesday that its editor, Thomas
Mitchell, plans to fight the request, which the newspaper received after
reporting on a federal tax fraud case against business owner Robert
Kahre.

The subpoena seeks the identities and personal information about people
who posted comments on the story. The newspaper said prosecutors told
the judge in the case that some comments hinted at acts of violence and
the subpoena was issued out of concern for jurors' safety.

Mitchell said anonymous speech is "a fundamental and historic part of
this country." The newspaper would consider cooperating if specific
crimes or real threats were presented, he said.

The newspaper said the subpoena bears the name of U.S. Assistant
District Attorney J. Gregory Damm, a lawyer on the Justice Department
team that is prosecuting Kahre and others on charges including income
tax evasion, fraud and criminal conspiracy.

Grand jury proceedings are secret, and the subpoena is not a public
record.

A spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney for Nevada declined to comment.

The newspaper said it received the subpoena June 2, a week after its
story describing the government's case against Kahre, a Las Vegas
construction company executive accused of paying contractors with gold
and silver U.S. coins based on the precious metal value of the coins but
using the much lower face value of the coins for tax purposes. Kahre and
the other defendants have pleaded not guilty.

The story drew nearly 175 online comments by Monday night, most in
support of Kahre and critical of the government and jurors and attorneys
in the case.

One commentator said: "The sad thing is there are 12 dummies on the
jury who will convict him. They should be hung along with the feds."

Another called Damm a "socialist, fascist Mormon" and a "Nazi moron."

The comments are written under pseudonyms. Along with the real names of
people who posted comments, the subpoena asks the newspaper for the
writers' gender, birth date, physical address, telephone number,
Internet service provider, IP address and credit card numbers.

After a 2003 raid on Kahre's business, Kahre and several of his workers
sued Damm, two Internal Revenue Service agents and others who were
involved. That civil matter is pending.

In 2007, Kahre sued Damm and agents of the FBI and IRS, alleging
criminal behavior. U.S. District Court Judge David Ezra dismissed the
complaint in December, and Kahre appealed to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court
of Appeals.

Two years ago, Damm prosecuted a similar tax case against nine
defendants, including Kahre. The trial ended with no convictions and
four acquittals.

Five defendants were partially acquitted, and two of them were dropped
from the indictment that generated the current case.

---

Information from: Las Vegas Review-Journal, http://www.lvrj.com 
 <snip>

Best regards, Steve
Steven D. Whitaker, CRM

>>> [log in to unmask] 6/16/2009 10:43 AM >>>
Well it looks like this new administration is the same as the old
administration. Where is the transparency that was promised?

CREW sues Secret Service over...White House...Visitor Logs

"16 Jun 2009 // *Washington, D.C.* - Today, Citizens for Responsibility
and
Ethics in Washington (CREW) is filing a complaint against the
Department of
Homeland Security based on the refusal of the Secret Service to provide
CREW
with White House visitor records under the Freedom of Information Act
(FOIA)."

"Taking the exact same position as the Bush administration, the Obama
administration claimed the records are presidential, not agency
records, and
otherwise exempt in their entirety because of the possibility in some
instances they could reveal information protected by the presidential
communications privilege."

http://shrinkster.com/178u 

-- 
Peter Kurilecz CRM CA
[log in to unmask] 
Richmond, Va
Information not relevant for my reply has been deleted to reduce the
electronic footprint and to save the sanity of digest subscribers

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