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Thom's blog
Americans Want More Than Rhetoric And Reports on The NSA
On the 53rd anniversary of President Eisenhower's warning about the military-industrial complex, President Obama spoke in defense of massive government spying programs. During the much-anticipated speech, the President claimed that he will reign in our government's wide net of surveillance, and give the public “more confidence” in the National Security Agency's spying programs. However, most of the reforms that the President offered focus on data storage, mining, and sharing. They do not put limits on bulk data collection, make FISA Court rulings transparent, or do anything to protect the privacy rights of Americans.
These so-called signal intelligence directives simply call for reports, reviews, and future policies, instead of defining concrete measures to protect Americans' civil rights. Fifty three years ago, President Eisenhower warned us about the power of “the potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power,” and we only need to look at the influence our intelligence agencies have to understand that warning. Despite the fact that there is no evidence that these government spying programs have saved American lives, our President, and our national security officials continue to claim that these violations of our civil rights are necessary to keep us safe.
Americans don't want rhetoric and reports about government surveillance, they want their personal information to remain private in the absence of a warrant. There is a legitimate role for our national intelligence agencies, but we should not be asked to sacrifice our essential liberty in the name of national security.
-Thom
(What do you think? Tell us here.)
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Tonight on The Big Picture on RT TV at 7pm and 9pm... Bigger Picture On Iran (check your local listings for stations or stream at RT, and catch past shows on Youtube)
Watch the video 'Last Hours' narrated by Thom Hartmann about the "time bomb" that is ticking underground, underwater and under ice… frozen methane that is now escaping and could trigger runaway climate change. www.lasthours.org
Have a question or comment for Thom? Grab your phone, hit record and send your video to YourTakeMyTake@gmail.com and we may air it on "The Big Picture."
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Thursday's Daily Stack
Hour Two: Isn't it time for the WPA?
Book: The Emperor Wears No Clothes: Hemp and the Marijuana Conspiracy by Jack Herer.
Article: " Heroin" by Wikipedia (diacetylmorphine).
Hour Three: What does the right have against America's public schools?- Bob Bowdon, ChoiceMedia.tv
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Friday on The Thom Hartmann Program, 3-6pm ET
Hour One: Brunch With Bernie - Senator Bernie Sanders takes your calls
Hour Three: Anything Goes Friday!
And, the best of the rest of the news and your calls right here on...
The Thom Hartmann Program...your media support group for "we the people"...
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Monday on The Thom Hartmann Program, 3-6pm ET
We'll be celebrating the birth, life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr...
Plus, we'll be considering what Dr. King would think of America today...how far have we really come with respect to poverty, financial and racial disparity, voting rights and more...I be challenging conservative Demetrius Minor of Project 21...
And, next week marks the anniversary of the worst Supreme Court decision in recent history...Citizens United...I'll be talking with the folks at Move to Amend on their efforts
Plus, we'll have all the news and information you won't get from the corporate owned news media...along with your calls...right here on..,
The Thom Hartmann Program...
AND...Don't forget...Democracy is NOT a spectator sport...it begins with you...
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Thom's Poll
Are you satisfied with President Obama's speech on the NSA?
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Watch & Listen to Thom
If you suddenly got $100 - would you hold it or spend it?
Scientists now know what cats think of humans - here it is....
our Take/My Take Live - Doctors are refusing Medicaid
Is the GOP the last place for bigots?
I Have a Politician in my Vagina!
Time for a new WPA?
Or watch the Full "Big Picture" Show...
Full Show 1/16/14: Supreme Court to Rule on Abortion Clinic Buffer Zone
Thom discusses why the government should be the employer of last resort with Conservative David Laska, the Supreme Court case on the legality of abortion clinic buffer zones with Comedian and Author Lizz Winstead and why GOPROUD founder Jimmy LaSalvia left the GOP with Jimmy LaSalvia. Thom takes viewer video questions and phone calls in "Your Take, My Take Live" and in tonight's "Daily Take" Thom discusses how the multiplier effect via unemployment insurance is a huge boost to our economy.
Thom Hartmann on the News: January 16, 2014
A Hunter Student Shares her Story...
What Does the Right Have Against America's Public Schools?
4:20 Friendly...Burden or Benefit to the Economy?
Isn't it Time for the WPA?
Caller: Pot Doesn't Make you Want Hard Drugs!
Caller: Marijuana, Gateway to the White House
Thom Hartmann on Decriminalizing Pot
The Thom Hartmann Program - January 16, 2014
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Thom and Louise Hartmann founded the New England Salem Children's Village (NESCV) in New Hampshire in 1979. With states delaying payment for the children they entrust to the village, they need help with cash flow. Can you help? Now on Facebook.
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