First and foremost thank you to the about 50 people who joined us on Orwell day at the BRIC fusion center in Boston. Thank you to the many speakers who joined us and spoke about privacy, and thanks to the Massachusetts Pirate Party for holding a crytpo party. It's amazing how far things have traveled in the past two months. Two months ago we had maybe 15 people join us at the BRIC for IDP (the International Day of Privacy) so the groundswell of popular local support for action against surveillance was tangible yesterday. We the people are done with having our human and civil rights removed.
     The BRICnic was a friendly peaceful gathering with many local dissent groups we hoped to bring together the voices of dissent so we can continue to shout out against the government system together so that our voices will all be louder. What comes next will determine how successful the BRICnic was but it is encouraging to see the new faces and new voices we gathered and tremendously encouraging to hear the many ideas and approaches to dissent.
     We must remove our consent from this governmental system run amuck. We need to foster communities of dissent and we need to watch over each other. To reach critical mass and create real change we must lend each other support. We need new ideas and new tactics because simply marching alone isn't enough. We need everyone to get involved because it's everyone's asses on the line. There are so many ways to dissent and so many local groups that you can join no matter where you are, so please get involved- and if you can't find a group that works for you start one! The more groups we make and the more actions that are taken the closer we get to reclaiming our human rights.

    We have awoken in the Orwellian nightmare and our only salvation is to pull together to build a better world.

first hour and five minutes of BRICnic speeches http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2HJMSwIlcE&feature=c4-overview&list=UUaD_fe8jVMhqiTaKsJXLX_g
 
     Howdy I'm Kinetic Theorist on twitter and folks call me KT. I'm a member of MassOps, and I was asked to speak here today by Restore the Fourth on a couple privacy issues I've faced as an activist and I was asked to read a statement I gave as testimony on upcoming privacy legislation to the Massachusetts state Legislature.

     I'm not sure what proper greeting of Orwell day should be, not merry Orwell to you but perhaps have a double plus good Orwell day- or today is more equal? In any case thanks for joining us here. Two months ago MassOps held IDP the international day of privacy here at the BRIC and I gave a speech then as well. Two months ago I stood around the corner and yelled through a megaphone a then unproven accusation that our government had in essence ended privacy. The opening lines of the speech were “Dear friends today is IDP the International Day of Privacy. Here in Massachusetts more than maybe anywhere else in America today is a day to speak out about the complete lack of privacy we have as citizens. When I say there is a complete lack of privacy I mean we have none whatsoever.” days later Snowden's leak showed that the lack of privacy was real and total, and that everyday citizens were in fact targeted. The goal of my IDP speech was to begin a pushback... well here today I see that pushback in progress. We are growing in number and shouting louder than ever here and everywhere, and we will not allow our constitutional freedoms and our natural human rights to continue to be subverted by the government to serve corporate interests. We will be free. We will not live under their boot.
    Wishing to remain private isn't criminal and doesn't denote criminality as folks who casually say “I’ve nothing to hide” suppose. I bet they shut the bathroom door too. Privacy is freedom- it's the freedom to speak think associate and conduct legal activity without undo scrutiny and it is absolutely key to a free society. The horror of big brother isn't the surveillance it's the ability to make individuals self censor and avoid associations with ideas and each other. It is the power to stop would be whistle blowers from leaking information to a “free press” because they know the walls (or basically anything with a computer chip) have ears and eyes. Domestic spying is a attack on freedom and nothing else, and it is the powder to punish those who speak out.
     This is the testimony I gave to the Massachusetts legislature on July 9th about how my privacy has been grievously violated due to my activism and it is part of how I have pushed back:

"  I'm an activist here in Massachusetts. I'm here today because you are my representative voice in state governance and you have a choice between two divergent paths in terms of privacy. I am a Verizon customer and a former occupier so for me the fact of criminally breached privacy is personal. On the one hand you could follow the federal government and take unAmerican unconstitutional steps to limit citizens rights and on the other hand you could take steps to protect the citizens of the Commonwealth from having their rights stripped from them. It is my sincere hope that you will choose the latter.
     Over the past month Edward Snowden a former NSA contractor has made the world aware of both domestic and foreign surveillance by the US government. I mentioned that I am a Verizon customer because it is now a known fact that without a warrant specific to me or to any investigation I might have been involved in my personal data has been handed to the government to be stored and scrutinized under a general warrant. General warrants are exactly what the bill of rights prohibits. I also mentioned I am a former occupier because thanks to Freedom of Information Act requests it is known fact that the occupiers in Boston were processed as an “extremist” and a “potential terrorists” by our local fusion center with the help of Boston Police. I have already personally run afoul of our massive domestic surveillance at least twice despite never being arrested or facing charges or as far as I know even having a warrant specific to me. I ask that you please protect my privacy and the privacy of the citizens of the commonwealth.
     You are looking at a proposals like the Free Speech act and the Electronic Privacy act which would- if passed- bring the requirement of a warrant to access electronic communications. Opposite those bills there is “An act updating the wire interception law” which dramatically expands the state level law enforcement's ability to wiretap. I strongly urge you to pass into law strong protective measures for citizen communications and vote down “an act updating the wire interception law”. The trend right now is to gather and hoard massive piles of data but this will not make us more secure, it will make us less safe and less free. For instance look how the NYPD have used their access to the FBI National Crime Information Center database, AP reported on a whole slew of misuses ranging from snooping into peoples data outside of the context of law enforcement to surveillance of a location before an armed robbery, to the officer who was using the database to select victims to kill and eat. I ask that you keep Massachusetts citizens data out of such hoards. It only takes one person to expose any or all of our personal communications, our location, and whatever other information gets stored. Law enforcement should spend more time reading the constitution that they've sworn to protect and less time reading my emails.
     Our law enforcement does not need military equipment to do their job. They are not facing an opposing army. They certainly don't need drones. Currently the FBI is flying drones domestically without any restrictions on use, so today I ask that you consider ways to limit drone use within Massachusetts. The ACLU has made suggestions about how to do this, so all I will say is please make sure that drones can only be deployed without weapons and only when there are very specific warrants attached to their use. Drones have been used by our government to assassinate US citizens (our government confirms four such cases) so it is particularly worrisome that they are being used domestically without any guidelines.
     Our government is founded on a set of documents that forms a contract about how we will be governed. There is a federal level contract and a state level contract, and at both levels there are protections from search and seizure without probable cause, and a right of citizens to communicate unmolested by the eyes of government. This is a right that on the federal level has been unquestionably breached. You can follow the Federal legislature down that rabbit-hole and enjoy the same 10% favor-ability polling they have or you can rebuke the trend and take steps to live up to the contract you have with we the people. Boston is the birthplace of the fourth amendment, and today you are in the position to protect that heritage. Please do not fail.

    The legislative session is two years long so we'll see which path they go down
     In closing I challenge everyone here to continue to push back despite the fact that it can be scary. The people in this building have asserted I am basically a peaceful nonviolent terrorist, and I'm sure many of you are also peaceful nonviolent terrorists like me according to them. Peaceful terrorists is DHS's perfect example of Orwellian double-speak. Under the NDAA though this designation of terrorist carries with it the penalty of detention without end or trial, or it can mean execution. The people in this building have in fact written a basic death warrant for us, and it's all of us because the NDAA of course extends this suspension of due process out to those who aid terrorists... by being associated with them. look at Todashev  down in Florida who knew the alleged bombers years ago, the FBI questioned him so hard he died unarmed with six bullets in his chest and one to the back of his head- no charges no crime just executed for the NDAA crime of suspicion of association. These people are part of DHS and have been stockpiling billions of rounds of ammo which can't be used out of country because it's against the Geneva convention... and we're being told “trust us.” well I don't trust them. They have been lying, spying, writing death warrants, stockpiling ammo, and executing Americans. Our lives are already on the line, so no matter how scary it gets we simply must push back. We must confront their lies with truth bring transparency to their secrecy and in doing so we must band together and look out for each other as a community of dissenters. Nonviolence trumps violence honesty in the face of lies wins, so be honest be nonviolent and never be silenced by fear. Remember if we allow them to remove our civil and human rights we are admitting to being less than human, and they will treat us accordingly. Get involved and assert your humanity with any of these groups here.

Thank you

 
      George Orwell warned us in his book 1984 of the possibility of a government which is at permanent war and stifles the freedom of it's citizens though wide domestic spying backed up by brutal policing... MassOps is hosting the BRICnic on august 4th (or 8/4) at 3:00pm in the park behind 1 Schroeder Place Roxbury MA which is the BRIC DHS fusion center. The nightmare of 1984 is upon us here in America. We are in a state of endless war- Iraq, Afghanistan, and especially the unending “war on terror” and we are under a vast domestic spying program (our federal government just voted to continue funding the NSA) and law enforcement is already brutal. Remember that the occupy movement was violently repressed and that (even in nonviolent places like New York) the “anti terror units” we're called upon to evict protesters. Activists are now “terrorists” in the eyes of law enforcement and are treated accordingly. It is time to stand up now and defy the criminality of our government- do not consent to your shackles!
     Domestic spying is insidious. We now know that all of our travel and everything we say or write and whoever we say it to is recorded and scrutinized by our government which has so many laws on the book that it's been estimated that everyone commits three felonies a day. Now that you know the that your words are being recorded and scrutinized by a government that can lock you away at any moment you self censor your actions associations and speech. Domestic spying is against the fourth amendment, and causes serious damage to the first amendment, so it is not only onerous and insidious it is illegal. We the people are the sovereign power, this is our land by right, and the tyrants who seek to steal our land from us are criminals and must be opposed.
     It's time to wake up and face the reality of 1984 here in America. It is time to see it for what it is- criminality on the part of those who are supposed to represent our interests and a perversion of the constitution. We will have our picnic in the park openly defying those who watch us and would steal from us our right to privacy and our right to speak. We will push back against the state by arming ourselves with knowledge to take home and spread to our friends and family. We will not cower to criminals and we will be vocal in our outrage at the seeping surveillance state. We reject 1984, come join us.

    The BRICnic will be attended by Restore the Fourth who is observing Orwell Day by holding a panel of speakers. The docket includes Alex from Warrantless.org, Kade from the ACLU, Steve and Kendra of the Mass Pirate Party, KT of MassOps, and Chris Faraone a journalist, and author covering the Boston political & activist scene. We'll provide food, water, information, and defiance of authority so please bring your ears, and ideas so together we can successfully turn back this post 9/11 1984 authoritarian state.


 
-Delivered at an open hearing on the proposed legislation 7-9-13

    Hi I'm KT and I'm an activist here in Massachusetts. I'm here today because you are my representative voice in state governance and you have a choice between two divergent paths in terms of privacy. I am a Verizon customer and a former occupier so for me the fact of criminally breached privacy is personal. On the one hand you could follow the federal government and take unAmerican unconstitutional steps to limit citizens rights and on the other hand you could take steps to protect the citizens of the Commonwealth from having their rights stripped from them. It is my sincere hope that you will choose the latter.
     Over the past month Edward Snowden a former NSA contractor has made the world aware of both domestic and foreign surveillance by the US government. I mentioned that I am a Verizon customer because it is now a known fact that without a warrant specific to me or to any investigation I might have been involved in my personal data has been handed to the government to be stored and scrutinized under a general warrant. General warrants are exactly what the bill of rights prohibits. I also mentioned I am a former occupier because thanks to Freedom of Information Act requests it is known fact that the occupiers in Boston were processed as an “extremist” and a “potential terrorists” by our local fusion center with the help of Boston Police. I have already personally run afoul of our massive domestic surveillance at least twice despite never being arrested or facing charges or as far as I know even having a warrant specific to me. I ask that you please protect my privacy and the privacy of the citizens of the commonwealth.
     You are looking at a proposals like the Free Speech act and the Electronic Privacy act which would- if passed- bring the requirement of a warrant to access electronic communications. Opposite those bills there is “An act updating the wire interception law” which dramatically expands the state level law enforcement's ability to wiretap. I strongly urge you to pass into law strong protective measures for citizen communications and vote down “an act updating the wire interception law”. The trend right now is to gather and hoard massive piles of data but this will not make us more secure, it will make us less safe and less free. For instance look how the NYPD have used their access to the FBI National Crime Information Center database, AP reported on a whole slew of misuses ranging from snooping into peoples data outside of the context of law enforcement to surveillance of a location before an armed robbery, to the officer who was using the database to select victims to kill and eat. I ask that you keep Massachusetts citizens data out of such hoards. It only takes one person to expose any or all of our personal communications, our location, and whatever other information gets stored. Law enforcement should spend more time reading the constitution that they've sworn to protect and less time reading my emails.
     Our law enforcement does not need military equipment to do their job. They are not facing an opposing army. They certainly don't need drones. Currently the FBI is flying drones domestically without any restrictions on use, so today I ask that you consider ways to limit drone use within Massachusetts. The ACLU has made suggestions about how to do this, so all I will say is please make sure that drones can only be deployed without weapons and only when there are very specific warrants attached to their use. Drones have been used by our government to assassinate US citizens (our government confirms four such cases) so it is particularly worrisome that they are being used domestically without any guidelines.
     Our government is founded on a set of documents that forms a contract about how we will be governed. There is a federal level contract and a state level contract, and at both levels there are protections from search and seizure without probable cause, and a right of citizens to communicate unmolested by the eyes of government. This is a right that on the federal level has been unquestionably breached. You can follow the Federal legislature down that rabbit-hole and enjoy the same 10% favor-ability polling they have or you can rebuke the trend and take steps to live up to the contract you have with we the people. Boston is the birthplace of the fourth amendment, and today you are in the position to protect that heritage. Please do not fail.
Thank you

 
    Mr. Obama has said he welcomes a discussion on the FISA/NSA breach of the American Fourth Amendment. If this were true he wouldn't have run his secret spying program through the secret court.
    We do as a nation need to discuss the actions of our government, and the betrayal that is occurring in Washington. We need to discuss the facts of our federal government:

  • FISA court: a secret court that affects US citizens. Secret courts violate due process (you cannot confront your accusers). Even its rulings are classified.

  • NDAA: allows the military to act on American soil, and to detain Americans indefinitely. It legally allows the detention and assassination of US citizens by the executive branch. It legally allows US soil to be treated like a foreign battlefield. (in essence this is Martial Law because there is a second justice track where the military is the new judiciary, and the legal law enforcement)

  • Drones: the current use of drones in foreign countries is as an assassination tool. Here in America they are being used to monitor people and places. (fourth amendment nightmare, and fifth). Drones have been used to assassinate US citizens abroad, and our attorney general has stated that a executive death order IS due process and they could be used on American soil.

  • NSA/DHS/FBI/PD these are the domestic branches of law enforcement that now have unlimited access and seemingly unlimited power over the citizens given the lack of citizen oversight and the erosion of the constitutional protections.

  • CIA/National Guard/US Military under the NDAA these institutions (like the FISA courts) that were designed for use in foreign lands now have jurisdiction here against the citizens of the US, recently the Pentagon confirmed this by announcing it had the power to quell any uprising in America without the request from the local or state level civilian government.

  • Fascism- the merger of state and corporate powers- is a fact in America. Citizens United states that Corporations are people, and in a land where the government is “For by and of the people” this is heavily loaded and vastly important. Now our government can “legally” serve corporate interests against the citizens interests, and Corporations are able to directly purchase congress and the presidency. Further evidence of Fascism is the blurring of corporations and law enforcement most recently we had it confirmed that the government is collecting data on every American with the aid of the communications mega corporations then that data is handed back to corporate contractors... you may still be arrested by a policeman but your being observed and investigated by a fascist mixture corporation and government.

  So here is the discussion the people of the united states should be having: what do we do now that the government of the United States of America has fallen to Fascism?
     We must exercise our human rights and we must be ungovernable while under an illegal (constitution breaking) government. We must stand together and speak out against the government. We must make our voices heard in the ears of everyone we meet. Then we must arrest those who have failed to uphold their oath to protect the constitution. We must do these things or face the consequences of living under a fascist regime where citizens are slaves with no rights, no wealth, no power, no access to information, and live in fear of their government. Governments like ours with these sorts of laws have happened before recently in Nazi Germany. 1984 is not a playbook and the Third Reich isn't supposed to be either.

MassOps Mission Statement:
     It is MassOps mission to return America to the rule of a legal Constitutional government that serves its citizens with respect for human rights. We will resist and expose Fascism and tyranny in all forms. We will resist and expose the police state. We will never elevate partisan interests over national interests. We will exercise our natural rights as humans and our constitutional rights as Americans. We will be open and transparent in our actions. We will never fall silent in the face of oppression or injustice.