It's Ashcroft's (and Bush's) gift to AmeriKa, the gift of a new Soviet
style/1984 US government.

Has this thing passed yet? It's frightening.
-----------------------


Ninety percent of the act has nothing to do with terrorism and is
instead a giant Federal power-grab with tentacles reaching into every
facet of our society. It strips American citizens of all of their rights
and grants the government and its private agents total immunity. Here is
a quick thumbnail sketch of just some of the draconian measures
encapsulated within this tyrannical legislation:

*Note: Over and over again, in subsection after subsection, the second
Patriot Act states that its new Soviet-type powers will be used to fight
international terrorism, domestic terrorism and other types of crimes.
Of course the government has already announced in Section 802 of the
first USA Patriot act that any crime is considered domestic terrorism.

SECTION 101 will designate individual terrorists as foreign powers and
again strip them of all rights under the "enemy combatant" designation.

SECTION 102 states clearly that any information gathering, regardless of
whether or not those activities are illegal, can be considered to be
clandestine intelligence activities for a foreign power. This makes news
gathering illegal.

SECTION 103 allows the Federal government to use wartime martial law
powers domestically and internationally without Congress declaring that
a state of war exists.

SECTION 106 is bone-chilling in its straightforwardness. It states that
broad general warrants by the secret FSIA court (a panel of secret
judges set up in a star chamber system that convenes in an undisclosed
location) granted under the first Patriot Act are not good enough. It
states that government agents must be given immunity for carrying out
searches with no prior court approval. This section throws out the
entire Fourth Amendment against unreasonable searches and seizures.

SECTION 109 allows secret star chamber courts to issue contempt charges
against any individual or corporation who refuses to incriminate
themselves or others. This sections annihilate the last vestiges of the
Fifth Amendment.

SECTION 110 restates that key police state clauses in the first Patriot
Act were not sunsetted and removes the five year sunset clause from
other subsections of the first Patriot Act. After all, the media has
told us: "This is the New America. Get used to it. This is forever."

SECTION 111 expands the definition of the "enemy combatant" designation.

SECTION 122 restates the government's newly announced power of
"surveillance without a court order."

SECTION 123 restates that the government no longer needs warrants and
that the investigations can be a giant dragnet-style sweep described in
press reports about the Total Information Awareness Network. One passage
reads, "thus the focus of domestic surveillance may be less precise than
that directed against more conventional types of crime."

SECTION 126 grants the government the right to mine the entire spectrum
of public and private sector information from bank records to
educational and medical records. This is the enacting law to allow
ECHELON and the Total Information Awareness Network to break down any
and all walls of privacy. The government states that they must look at
everything to "determine" if individuals or groups might have a
connection to terrorist groups. As you can now see, you are guilty until
proven innocent.

SECTION 127 allows the government to takeover coroners' and medical
examiners' operations whenever they see fit. See how this is like Bill
Clinton's special medical examiner he had in Arkansas that ruled that
people had committed suicide when their arms and legs had been cut off.

SECTION 128 allows the Federal government to place gag orders on Federal
and State Grand Juries and to take over the proceedings. It also
disallows individuals or organizations to even try to quash a Federal
subpoena. So now defending yourself will be a terrorist action.

SECTION 129 destroys any remaining whistle blower protection for Federal
agents.

SECTION 202 allows corporations to keep secret their activities with
toxic biological, chemical or radiological materials.

SECTION 201 of the second Patriot Act makes it a criminal act for any
member of the government or any citizen to release any information
concerning the incarceration or whereabouts of detainees. It also states
that law enforcement does not even have to tell the press who they have
arrested and they never have to release the names.

SECTION 205 allows top Federal officials to keep all their financial
dealings secret, and anyone investigating them can be considered a
terrorist. This should be very useful for ***** Cheney to stop anyone
investigating Haliburton.

SECTION 301 and 306 (Terrorist Identification Database) set up a
national database of "suspected terrorists" and radically expand the
database to include anyone associated with suspected terrorist groups
and anyone involved in crimes or having supported any group designated
as "terrorist." These sections also set up a national DNA database for
anyone on probation or who has been on probation for any crime, and
orders State governments to collect the DNA for the Federal government.

SECTION 303 sets up national DNA database of suspected terrorists. The
database will also be used to "stop other unlawful activities." It will
share the information with state, local and foreign agencies for the
same purposes.

SECTION 311 federalizes your local police department in the area of
information sharing.

SECTION 312 gives immunity to law enforcement engaging in spying
operations against the American people and would place substantial
restrictions on court injunctions against Federal violations of civil
rights across the board.

SECTION 313 provides liability protection for businesses, especially big
businesses that spy on their customers for Homeland Security, violating
their privacy agreements. It goes on to say that these are all
preventative measures - has anyone seen Minority Report? This is the
access hub for the Total Information Awareness Network.

SECTION 321 authorizes foreign governments to spy on the American people
and to share information with foreign governments.

SECTION 322 removes Congress from the extradition process and allows
officers of the Homeland Security complex to extradite American citizens
anywhere they wish. It also allows Homeland Security to secretly take
individuals out of foreign countries.

SECTION 402 is titled "Providing Material Support to Terrorism." The
section reads that there is no requirement to show that the individual
even had the intent to aid terrorists.

SECTION 403 expands the definition of weapons of mass destruction to
include any activity that affects interstate or foreign commerce.

SECTION 404 makes it a crime for a terrorist or "other criminals" to use
encryption in the commission of a crime.

SECTION 408 creates "lifetime parole" (basically, slavery) for a whole
host of crimes.

SECTION 410 creates no statute of limitations for anyone that engages in
terrorist actions or supports terrorists. Remember: any crime is now
considered terrorism under the first Patriot Act.

SECTION 411 expands crimes that are punishable by death. Again, they
point to Section 802 of the first Patriot Act and state that any
terrorist act or support of terrorist act can result in the death

SECTION 421 increases penalties for terrorist financing. This section
states that any type of financial activity connected to terrorism will
result to time in prison and $10-50,000 fines per violation.

SECTIONS 427 sets up asset forfeiture provisions for anyone engaging in
terrorist activities.

SECTION 501 (Expatriation of Terrorists) expands the Bush
administration's "enemy combatant" definition to all American citizens
who "may" have violated any provision of Section 802 of the first
Patriot Act. (Section 802 is the new definition of domestic terrorism,
and the definition is "any action that endangers human life that is a
violation of any Federal or State law.") Section 501 of the second
Patriot Act directly connects to Section 125 of the same act. The
Justice Department boldly claims that the incredibly broad Section 802
of the First USA Patriot Act isn't broad enough and that a new,
unlimited definition of terrorism is needed.

Under Section 501 a US citizen engaging in lawful activities can be
grabbed off the street and thrown into a van never to be seen again. The
Justice Department states that they can do this because the person "had
inferred from conduct" that they were not a US citizen. Remember Section
802 of the First USA Patriot Act states that any violation of Federal or
State law can result in the "enemy combatant" terrorist designation.

http://www.rense.com/general59/brief.htm