The Feds have been forced to release their social network monitoring manual, which contains the list of words the government watches on social media and news sites.
Earlier the Huffington Post reported on the Feds have been forced to give up their list of words they monitor on Facebook, Twitter, and comments being posted on news articles so I compiled that list below.
Homeland Security Manual Lists Government Key Words For Monitoring Social Media, News
Ever complain on Facebook that you were feeling “sick?” Told your friends to “watch” a certain TV show? Left a comment on a media website about government “pork?”
If you did any of those things, or tweeted about your recent vacation in “Mexico” or a shopping trip to “Target,” the Department of Homeland Security may have noticed.
In the latest revelation of how the federal government is monitoring social media and online news outlets, the Electronic Privacy Information Center has posted online a 2011 Department of Homeland Security manual that includes hundreds of key words (such as those above) and search terms used to detect possible terrorism, unfolding natural disasters and public health threats. The center, a privacy watchdog group, filed a Freedom of Information Act request and then sued to obtain the release of the documents.
The 39-page “Analyst’s Desktop Binder” used by the department’s National Operations Center includes no-brainer words like “”attack,” “epidemic” and “Al Qaeda” (with various spellings). But the list also includes words that can be interpreted as either menacing or innocent depending on the context, such as “exercise,” “drill,” “wave,” “initiative,” “relief” and “organization.”
These terms and others are “broad, vague and ambiguous” and include “vast amounts of First Amendment protected speech that is entirely unrelated to the Department of Homeland Security mission to protect the public against terrorism and disasters,” stated the Electronic Privacy Information Center in letter to the House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Counterterrorism and Intelligence.
The manual was released by the center a week after Homeland Security officials were grilled at a House hearing over other documents obtained through a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit that revealed analysts were scrutinizing online comments that “reflect adversely” on the federal government. Mary Ellen Callahan, the chief privacy officer for the Department of Homeland Security, and Richard Chavez, director for the National Operations Center, testified that the released documents were outdated and that social media was monitored strictly to provide situational awareness and not to police disparaging opinions about the federal government. On Friday, Homeland Security officials stuck by that testimony.
A senior Homeland Security official who spoke to The Huffington Post on Friday on condition of anonymity said the testimony of agency officials last week remains “accurate” and the manual “is a starting point, not the endgame” in maintaining situational awareness of natural and man-made threats. The official denied Electronic Privacy Information Center’s charge that the government is monitoring dissent.
It is almost beyond comprehension that both House and Senate politicians – both democrats and republicans – would pass a bill to limit a citizen’s right to free speech (except in specific government-designated areas) with little debate or public notice. And not so incomprehensible that a communist-oriented president would sign such a bill in secret.
But here it is: House Resolution H.R. 347 which
“… Amends the federal criminal code to revise the prohibition against entering restricted federal buildings or grounds to impose criminal penalties on anyone who knowingly enters any restricted building or grounds without lawful authority. Defines “restricted buildings or grounds” as a posted, cordoned off, or otherwise restricted area of:
(1) the White House or its grounds or the Vice President’s official residence or its grounds,
(2) a building or grounds where the President or other person protected by the Secret Service is or will be temporarily visiting, or
Listen to what conservative commentator Andrew Napolitano has to say on the issue …
This is what the ACLU had to say about the issue …
“ …while H.R. 347, on its own, is only of incremental importance, it could be misused as part of a larger move by the Secret Service and others to suppress lawful protest by relegating it to particular locations at a public event. These ‘free speech zones’ are frequently used to target certain viewpoints or to keep protesters away from the cameras. Although H.R. 347 doesn’t directly address free speech zones, it is part of the set of laws that make this conduct possible, and should be seen in this context.” <Source>
Remember that this is the left-wing ACLU which supports most socialist, Marxist and communist viewpoints of their membership.
Bottom line …
If this bill were simply about protecting the President of the United States and other federal officials, I would not have much concern. However, due to the recent power grab by the Executive Branch of the Government and the morally reprehensible actions of the most corrupt ideological President in modern history, I am worried.
Here is a president who has a vested interest in making sure that the public does not visibly see the large number of people and organizations which are protesting his ideological policies and his actions which are rapidly turning America into a Greece-like socialistic bankruptcy. He says one thing like blaming George Bush for crony capitalism and then does the very same thing as crony socialism.
The real bottom line is that our leaders are so out-of-touch with the American people and the ideals of America that they need to protect themselves against the public which appears to be morally outraged against the decline of America at the hands of these incompetent and corrupt ideologues.
It appears that the timing of this bill is to limit the television coverage of the two major party conventions where protest is a time-honored practice.
There are enough laws on the books to keep the President and other federal officials safe. More laws are not needed. Especially those that cut deeper into the United States Constitution than are necessary.
In the House, this bill was passed with 176 democrat and 223 republican votes.
This weekend, a video produced by Free Market America went live on YouTube — and it is racking up nationwide hits. Deservedly so. The Earth Day-timed message is compelling and extremely relevant this campaign season. As the group writes: “The environmental agenda has been infected by extremism — it’s become an economic suicide pact. And we’re here to challenge it.” Watch:
For some reason still unknown, Twitter suspended the group’s account. They’ve tried to get answers about the cause of the suspension. But no replies. Adam Bitely at NetRightDaily notes:
for some strange reason, Twitter silenced the official account for the new Americans for Limited Government project Free Market America. The account, @FreeMarket_US, went live a few days before Earth Day and was slowly picking up steam.
On Earth Day, the official website for Free Market America was launched and [its] Facebook and Twitter components started to come to life as well. The first video put out by Free Market America, “If I wanted America to fail”, got over 120,000 hits in less than 36 hours!
But you would never know that if you tried to follow the Twitter page–it was suspended by Twitter midway through the day on Earth Day!
After numerous attempts to contact Twitter and see what the story was behind the suspension, we still have received no reason why the account was suspended.
When it comes to using Twitter as a tool for promoting your political cause, you better hope that Twitter approves of your message or else you will be censored. So watch out, you could be next!
We would greatly appreciate if you could help our cause to figure out why Free Market America is being censored. Please Tweet the following message: “Why has @Twitter suspended @FreeMarket_US? #Censorship”
This is just bizarre. The Kill Zimmerman account was left untouched for weeks before finally being taken down.
What is Free Market America guilty of? Advocating free markets. Is that against Twitter terms of service?
I’ll update with any word from Twitter about the suspension. Hopefully, they’ll get back to ALG/Free Market America, resolve whatever issues caused the suspension, and get them back in the Twittersphere.
Update: Results. After conservatives online kicked up a fuss tonight, Free Market America’s Twitter account has been restored. (The official explanation is that the account was the victim of an “automated spam filter.”)
Good for Free Market America.
It does pay to get on Twitter. Every voice counts. And yes, Twitter is a political battlespace. Get on it.
Nancy Pelosi had better hurry, because if her chances of getting two-thirds of both the House and Senate to agree to a constitutional amendment are practically zilch now, they’re going to be zilchier after November’s elections.
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi on Thursday endorsed a movement announced by other congressional Democrats on Wednesday to ratify an amendment to the U.S. Constitution that would allow Congress to regulate political speech when it is engaged in by corporations as opposed to individuals.
[...]
Pelosi said the Democrats’ effort to amend the Constitution is part of a three-pronged strategy that also includes promoting the DISCLOSE Act, which would increase disclosure requirements for organizations running political ads, and “reducing the role of money in campaigns” (which some Democrats have said can be done through taxpayer funding of campaigns).
The constitutional amendment the Democrats seek would reverse the Supreme Court’s 2010 decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission. In that decision the court said that the First Amendment protects a right of free speech for corporations as well as for individuals, and that corporations (including those that produce newspapers, films and books) have a right to speak about politicians and their records just as individuals do.
Will Pelosi’s amendment also regulate union “speech” by putting an end to Big Labor’s Super PAC spending and campaign contributions? (rhetorical question — don’t waste time answering)
Precisely what would Nancy’s revised amendment contain? Come on, she’s not going to give it away — you have to vote to ratify it in order to find out what’s in it:
A father fatally shot a man in Pompano Beach after the man threatened his family, swinging a piece of wood at his wife and kids, the Broward Sheriff’s Office said. . . .
“At this point, all indications so far point to this man defending his family and defending himself,” BSO spokeswoman Veda Coleman-Wright said.
It happened shortly before 5:30 p.m. Sunday . . . . The wife and two children walked out the door when a stranger confronted them.
The stranger swung a piece of wood at them, BSO said. It was two and three feet long and looked like it came from furniture. Then the father and his two brothers came home. “He sees this stranger going into his yard and he has this piece of wood in his hand and he’s swinging it toward his family,” Coleman-Wright said. “His wife and children were hysterically screaming.”
Emiliano Arellano, 37, got out of the car with his handgun, which he was licensed to carry, . . . .
Arellano and his two brothers tried to stop the man, BSO said. The wife and 3-year-old son managed to get in the car, but the 5-year-old daughter could not, Coleman-Wright said. Arellano said he was going to call the police.
“And that’s when the guy lost it, became very agitated and made aggression toward [Arellano’s] daughter,” Coleman-Wright said.
Arellano fired once, fatally hitting the man in the chest. . . . .
The notion that the government can determine whether your speech is offensive and throw you in jail is scary. You can read articles from the BBC and other sources and not find what it was that this 21 year old man actually said. From the BBC:
A student who admitted posting racially offensive comments on Twitter about footballer Fabrice Muamba has been jailed for 56 days.
Swansea University student Liam Stacey, 21, from Pontypridd, admitted inciting racial hatred over remarks about the Bolton Wanderers player, who collapsed during a FA Cup tie at Tottenham.
A district judge in Swansea called the comments “vile and abhorrent”.
Muamba, 23, who suffered a cardiac arrest, is still in intensive care.
Sentencing Stacey at Swansea Magistrates’ Court, District Judge John Charles told him: “In my view, there is no alternative to an immediate prison sentence.
“It was not the football world who was praying for [Muamba]…. everybody was praying for his life.”
Stacey broke down in tears as he was led away to begin his jail term.
As he passed the public gallery, he was briefly embraced by friends and his parents.
A second year biology student at Swansea, Stacey was arrested after his comments on the social networking site were reported by other users. . . . .
In response to people being upset Mr. Stacey made two other posts. The second one could be construed as racist, though it wasn’t made directly at Mr. Muamba.
The Director of Progressive Media and Online Response.
So now it seems that the http://www.AttackWatch.com website, the http://www.TruthTeam2012.com websites trying to debunk the underlying truth about dear leader have decided to step it up a notch with personal intimidation.
If You Blog about Obama You can Expect a Phone Call from his personal web propaganda muscle: The New White House ‘Web Police’ Job given to Jesse Lee.
A woman close to me once characterized the sea change in our society well. “Years ago you knew who the bad girls were,” said she. “Now you know who the good girls are.”
And the good boys get condemned for not pretending the bad girls are good.
I am, of course, speaking about the dust up involving law student Sandra Fluke and talk-show host Rush Limbaugh. Fluke had said in front of Congress that financing rolls in the hay can be so expensive that it can be a burden on women in law school. So she wants you, dear taxpayer, to foot the bill for her contraception. In response to this, Limbaugh called her a “slut” during his commentary on the matter. And now he’s being labeled a “sexist” and misogynistic for it (he has since apologized). Of course, in Fluke’s testimony, she didn’t literally say that she was having $1000-worth of sex a year. What she said was, “Without insurance coverage, contraception can cost a woman over $3000 during law school. For a lot of students who, like me, are on public interest scholarships, that’s practically an entire summer’s salary.” Now, I’ll leave it to you to determine her implication, but I’ll say that if a female law student is engaging in so much sexual congress that she’s spending a mint on birth-control, I wouldn’t reflexively assume she’s a slut.Because I’d wonder how she was working her way through law school.
Really, though, if such a woman doesn’t deserve slut status, who does? Is the word now obsolete? Have we become like a Barbary-pirate nation where the term “thief” may be out of style because its use may offend the majority?
It really is a testimonial as to how we live in that prophesied time in which good is called bad and bad is called good. Undesirable behavior is kept to a minimum through stigmatization, and to this end we have always labeled such behavior and those who habitually engage in it with derogatory terms. Now, however, it is the virtuous who are stigmatized into silence.
As for Fluke, slut or not, she is certainly something else: a slick political operative and willing Democrat human prop. Contrary to earlier reports, which portrayed her as a starry-eyed 23-year-old being picked on by a big bad powerful white guy, Fluke is actually a 30-year-old former president of Georgetown Law Students for Reproductive Justice. In other words, she’s an experienced feminist activist – and I suspect she relishes the attention.
Her reasoning ability, however, makes one conclude that helping her become a lawyer may not exactly be in the “public interest.” She said that in criticizing her, Limbaugh was trying to stifle free speech, when he was just exercising his. When commenting on Georgetown’s unwillingness to pay for her contraception, she said, “[C]onservative Catholic organizations have been asking: what did we expect when we enrolled at a Catholic school? We can only answer that we expected women to be treated equally….” Interesting.
Am I to understand that Georgetown offers men free contraception?
She also said in her testimony, “Forty percent of female students at Georgetown Law report struggling financially as a result of this policy [no free birth-control].
Last week, the Knoxville News Sentinel reported that Lenoir City High School in Tennessee denied an atheist student permission to publish an editorial accusing school administrators and faculty of violating her rights as an atheist. Krystal Myers, editor of the school newspaper, wrotethat the school allows prayer at football games “via the public address system,” which she claims makes it school-sponsored prayer. Among other things, she also took issue with prayer at graduation, a teacher wearing a T-shirt with a crucifix on it, and another teacher writing Bible verses on the board as part of “Quote of the Day.”The U.S. Constitution protects expression of religion, speech, and the press, but these rights aren’t absolute. The U.S. Supreme Court has interpreted the First Amendment to deny free speech protection to child pornography, incitement of violence, defamation, copyright infringement, and other forms of expression. The court also has ruled that a government high school can restrict speech in school-sponsored publications.Notwithstanding Myers’s allegation that Lenoir City High School violated the Establishment Clause or the school’s right to restrict speech in a student newspaper, should the administrators have censored her article? Perhaps the better and less controversial option would have been to allow the editorial, along with a counterpoint editorial from a Christian student. For example, Myers wrote:
“Before I even begin, I just want to clear up some misconceptions about atheism. No, we do not worship the ‘devil.’ We do not believe in God, so we also do not believe in Satan. And we may be ‘godless,’ but that does not mean that we are without morals. I know I strive to be the best person I can be, even without religion. In fact, I have been a better person since I have rejected religion.”
A counterpoint response could have been along these lines:
“Ms. Myers might not believe the God of the Bible or Satan exists, but they certainly believe she exists. Satan is at enmity with God, and the Bible teaches that we belong either to God or to Satan. Our ‘morals’ and good deeds fall far short of God’s standards of perfection. No matter how much we strive to be the ‘best person’ we can be, we are sinners under God’s wrath and in need of a Savior. I’ll explain what that means.”
By publishing two opposing articles, Lenoir City High School could not be accused of favoring one system of belief over the other. Consequently, the administrators could have created a platform for debating the claims of the Christian faith and atheism and preparing young people to defend their beliefs. Instead, Myers will continue to think she’s part of a persecuted minority group.
Myers and her persecution complex remind me of myself in young adulthood, full of passion about my formerly liberal and misguided views. She’s experiencing the power of boldly expressing her opinions, and the attention surrounding the censorship controversy likely will fuel her fervor.
Do you think the school should have censored the editorial?
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Nancy Pelosi had better hurry, because if her chances of getting two-thirds of both the House and Senate to agree to a constitutional amendment are practically zilch now, they’re going to be 
By publishing two opposing articles, Lenoir City High School could not be accused of favoring one system of belief over the other. Consequently, the administrators could have created a platform for debating the claims of the Christian faith and atheism and preparing young people to defend their beliefs. Instead, Myers will continue to think she’s part of a persecuted minority group. 
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