Page 4 November 21, 2013 TORRANCE TRIBUNE One Man’s Opinion Another Man’s Opinion New Law to Protect Against Wiretapping By Cristian Vasquez Early in October, Governor Jerry Brown signed into law a bill authored by Senator Ted W. Lieu that will mandate that reporters and their news organizations are given five days notice of any subpoenas of their records held by others. Sen. Lieu introduced SB 558 after reports showed that federal government secretly collected the phone records of the Associated Press by going after third-party groups such as phone companies, Internet service providers, hotels and car rental firms. The law intends to protect freedom of the press by ensuring that the government’s scope and reach be limited with regards to wiretapping. However, the passage of this law highlights a bigger problem than the one addressed by Sen. Lieu and that is that we are very vulnerable to the secret wiretappings of the federal government. The recent NSA wiretapping scandal is a perfect example that private citizens, as well as news agencies, are at the mercy of the federal government’s spying efforts. The new law provides a five-day shield for law enforcement agencies to obtain records, but it doesn’t directly address the issue of illegal wiretapping. Granted in a court of law, such information should be dismissed on the basis that it was obtained without the approval of warrants. Yet the fact remains that anyone is vulnerable to wiretapping. I am not a conspiracy theorist, nor do I think that Big Brother is out to get us. However, it’s disturbing that the powers and actions Any delay beyond that date would invalidate all the quotations provided to insurance applicants, putting all proposals back to square one. It would be difficult to simply reinstate all cancelled policies because all such policies were filed and approved by state insurance departments. Reinstatement would take months, during which time policy cancellations will have become effective and millions of people will be uninsured. In the meantime, CGI, the firm that created the technological bungle has been given a new contract to fix the problems they created. Moreover, now they are working on fixing a law that will probably be changed to accommodate the “big lie,” thus re-invalidating their work. The incompetence of his signature law has dragged into his standing on other critical national matters. On foreign policy his polling has dropped to 38-53. On immigration it is 35-53. On the national budget it is 32-62 (An astonishing negative 30-point spread!). On the economy it is 38-59. When the government shut down ended, Republicans and Democrats had agreed to establish a skeletal framework for a government budget by Dec. 13. However since negotiators have met only once, prospects for progress are remote. We will therefore continue marching toward another budgetary crisis in January. With studied frowns, the gathered hospital doctors agree to submit this case to the Washington D.C based IPAB death panel, recommending further treatment as contrary to good policy. “Pull the plug,” they say. RIP, Mr. President. • Visit us online: www.heraldpublications.com born from the Patriot Act have become the foundation for wiretapping. This act was created in the fear and panic following 9-11 as a way to protect Americans from future attacks. Today, based on the foundation laid by the Patriot Act, the federal government has become more intrusive without the notion of a real commitment to safety. Has the world always operated with spies? Yes. Has wiretapping helped solve crimes and remove dangerous people from the streets? It definitely has. Wiretapping does help keep people safe, yet when the ability to wiretap and spy on people is carried out without any clear purpose, then we have given up too many of our freedoms. The federal government argues that it was done in the name of national security, but the truth is that it’s no more than an excuse used to gain support for its actions. Sen. Lieu’s bill represents more than an attempt to protect freedom of the press. It should be used as a blueprint to protect the average American citizen from the criminal actions of a federal government that finds it necessary to read our emails and buy our phone records. We have the right to speak on the phone without having to worry about some federal employee reading through transcripts from my conversations. Do I have something to hide? No. Are most Americans involved in illegal activities that the federal government needs to know about? No. Every American has the right to be left alone and we are now in a position where we have to fight to be left alone. • By Gerry Chong The senior staff at the Hospital of Universal Mercy has gathered at the bedside of the patient in the ICU. He has aged a decade in the last month. His eyes are closed and multiple IV lines dangle like spaghetti strands. In the quiet of the darkened room, there are few remaining visitors since former old friends named Clinton, Feinstein, Landreau, Rockefeller and Baucus have left his side….. nay, not just left, but have demanded he rise up and resurrect his Liberal legacy before they are all dragged down by it. But the patient is too weak. In the Nov. 13 Quinnipiac poll, the patient’s approval has fallen to 39-54 percent disapproval, a 15 point negative spread! He is viewed as dishonest and not trustworthy by 52-44 percent, about the same as Richard Nixon. The defining work of his life is viewed positively by 39 percent but negatively by 55 percent. By a 73-20 percent margin, the public wants his politically strong-armed work postponed. Only 29 percent believe his life’s work can be corrected by his self-imposed deadline of Nov. 30, while 61 percent don’t buy it. Critically, only 19 percent believe his crowning achieve will ever improve America while 43 percent believe it will make matters worse. By any measure, more people will lose insurance coverage than gain coverage. There is no easy answer to the question of how he can make amends for the biggest lie in American politics. It would be difficult to delay the law since all premium quotations in insurance exchanges are predicated on an April 1, 2014 start date. b u s i n e s s & p r o f e s s i o n a l d i r e c t o r y painting handyman HANDY MAN TKO PAINTING CO. 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Torrance 11_21_13
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