A Green Road Blog 

"The debate over the potentially devastating health effects of cell phones continues, with new ammunition." Dr. Mercola

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2009/09/03/Brain-Damage-From-Mobile-Phone-Radiation.aspx

Minerva Novoa,
Internet Advocacy Coordinator

Dear Eric,

Do you have fresh lettuce in your fridge?

Last Wednesday, a company recalled romaine lettuce in 29 states due to salmonella. Much of that lettuce was already in people's homes. Did you know about the recall effort so you could check on your greens? Probably not.

It's time we stop relying on unreliable recalls and start to prevent food poisoning up front. The Food Safety Enhancement Act will do that, but we need your Representative to vote FOR it this week, before Congress goes on its recess!

The House could vote THIS AFTERNOON or tomorrow. Act now!

Look at your cell phone
Now look at your phone bill. Ugh! Why can’t you take your phone to another company to get a better deal? Tell Congress to stop the giant telecom companies from holding your phone hostage.

Parties for health reform
Congress is headed home in August, and members need to hear about fixing health care, not just ignoring it. We’re looking for activists to hold house parties (we have tips and help here) where your guests write letters about getting real solutions to their problems.

Has your credit card deal changed?
We’re hearing banks are changing credit card deals before the new reform law takes effect. If your card terms are being messed with tell us about it here so we can know about any new tricks to fight against.

Newsweek recently reported that the nation's biggest phone companies, "working closely with the White House, have mounted a secretive lobbying campaign to get Congress to quickly approve a measure wiping out all private lawsuits against them" for helping the Bush administration illegally wiretap innocent Americans.¹

Yesterday, President Bush weighed in publicly, promising to veto an upcoming bill dealing with our nation's wiretapping policy if it doesn't give corporations retroactive immunity for their lawbreaking.²

Pending lawsuits could be the only way Americans ever find out how far Bush went in breaking the law—Bush's threat yesterday is an attempted cover-up.³

Some Democrats like Sen. Russ Feingold immediately said no to Bush.⁴ But House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said retroactive immunity "is not off the table."⁵

Can you call your Congressman  today? Tell him to oppose retroactive immunity for phone companies' lawbreaking.

Yesterday, the American Civil Liberties Union summed up the situation well:

Why is the president of the United States trying to get the telecommunications companies off the hook for their illegal activity? He is supposed to be upholding laws, not encouraging companies to break them. Businesses that break the law should be held accountable. We expect these companies to keep our personal information private, and if they break the law, there should be consequences—not a re-write of the rule book.⁶

After September 11, the Bush Administration began working with phone companies to monitor the private phone calls and emails of millions of ordinary Americans without legally-required warrants. A former AT&T employee says the company even let the government set up shop right in their office—a charge AT&T has refused to confirm or deny.⁷

Since then, lawsuits have been filed against these companies for breaking the law—and these suits could allow facts to surface that the Bush administration has so far refused to give Congress. Retroactive immunity for phone company lawbreaking could prevent the truth from ever coming out.

That's why we need lots of members of Congress to oppose the idea of letting these phone companies off the hook for past lawbreaking. Can you call or email your Rep?

Thanks for all you do.

–Nita, Adam G., Justin, Natalie and the MoveOn.org Political Action Team
  Thursday, October 11th, 2007

Sources:

1. "Case Dismissed? The secret lobbying campaign your phone company doesn't want you to know about," Newsweek, September 20, 2007
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20884696/site/newsweek/page/0/

2. "Wiretap laws face new static," ZDNet News, October 10, 2007
http://news.zdnet.com/2100-9588_22-6212777.html

3. "Congress Stand Firm: America Deserves A Legal Decision on Warrantless Wiretapping," Electronic Frontier Foundation, October 10, 2007
http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/archives/005480.php#005480

4. "Statement of U.S. Senator Russ Feingold In Response to the President's Remarks on FISA," October 10, 2007
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=3046&id=11365-8424909-Fj_QDQ&t=4

5. "Wiretap laws face new static," ZDNet News, October 10, 2007
http://news.zdnet.com/2100-9588_22-6212777.html

6. "ACLU Response to President Bush's Request for Telecom Amnesty, Civil Liberties Group Lauds House Committee Vote to Reject Telecom Immunity," ACLU Press Release, October 10, 2007
http://www.aclu.org/safefree/general/32138prs20071010.html

7. "Wiretap laws face new static," ZDNet News, October 10, 2007
http://news.zdnet.com/2100-9588_22-6212777.html

The Chicago Police Department is warning officers their cell phone records are available to anyone—for a price. Dozens of online services are selling lists of cell phone calls, raising security concerns among law enforcement and privacy experts.

Criminals can use such records to expose a government informant who regularly calls a law enforcement official.

Suspicious spouses can see if their husband or wife is calling a certain someone a bit too often.

And employers can check whether a worker is regularly calling a psychologist—or a competing company...

Late last month, the department sent a warning to officers about [a company], which sells lists of calls made on cell phones and land lines.²

AMERICAblog just bought General Wesley Clark's cell phone records for $89.95...All we needed was General Clark's cell phone number and our credit card, and 24 hours later we had one hundred calls the general made on his cell phone in November. The calls included a number of calls to Arkansas, to foreign countries, and at least one call to a prominent reporter at the Washington Post.⁴

You provide the business or personal cell phone number, we will send you the outgoing calls made from the most recent (or requested) billing period, including dates and calls made...

Note: We DO NOT CHARGE hidden back end fees like other sites if you don't have a Social Security Number ($20), Name and Address ($45), or Cell Carrier ($20), in order to complete this search. Our cost TO YOU is the same whether you know that information or not!!