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Thread: Trump administration cracks down on Foia

  1. #1

    Trump administration cracks down on Foia

    In Europe we effectively have no right to access information; as a result our media is effectively blind…
    Obviously Donald Trump plans to “Make America Great Again” by hiding human rights violations from the public.

    On Friday, the Trump administration officials took steps to crack down on transparency at one of the largest US federal agencies, the interior department, proposing changes that could make it harder for the public to obtain records of agency dealings that is guaranteed by law under the Freedom of Information Act (Foia).

    The proposal would allow the interior department to reject Foia requests that it considers “unreasonably burdensome”.
    The interior department oversees hundreds of millions of acres of public land, including national parks.

    Daniel Jorjani, former employee of the Koch-brother-backed conservative group Freedom Partners, signed off on the proposed revisions.
    In recent months, records uncovered through Foia have revealed the department’s close ties with energy industry groups and ethics violations among top officials.

    Jeremy Nichols of WildEarth Guardians responded:
    This is a war on transparency.
    This is a calculated attempt to shield the interior department from scrutiny, to shield it from watchdogs, and to shield it from accountability.
    https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/...t-foia-changes
    Do NOT ever read my posts. Google and Yahoo wouldn’t block them without a very good reason: Google-censors-the-world/page3

    The Order of the Garter rules the world: Order of the Garter and the Carolingian dynasty



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  3. #2

  4. #3
    So the environmentalists were flooding them with stupid questions like how many kangaroo rats are there in Death Valley National Park?
    "He's talkin' to his gut like it's a person!!" -me
    "dumpster diving isn't professional." - angelatc
    "You don't need a medical degree to spot obvious bullshit, that's actually a separate skill." -Scott Adams
    "When you are divided, and angry, and controlled, you target those 'different' from you, not those responsible [controllers]" -Q

    "Each of us must choose which course of action we should take: education, conventional political action, or even peaceful civil disobedience to bring about necessary changes. But let it not be said that we did nothing." - Ron Paul

    "Paul said "the wave of the future" is a coalition of anti-authoritarian progressive Democrats and libertarian Republicans in Congress opposed to domestic surveillance, opposed to starting new wars and in favor of ending the so-called War on Drugs."

  5. #4

    Thumbs down Secret stuff - Less Transparency

    Gov officials are being paid well to cover up their shenanigans. Ye ol' payola.

    Records uncovered using the Freedom of Information Act in recent months have revealed the department’s close ties with energy industry groups as well as several apparent ethics violations among top political officials.

    Daniel Jorjani, one of interior’s top lawyers and a former employee of the Koch-brother-backed conservative group Freedom Partners, signed off on the proposed revisions, which are facing harsh criticism from civil society groups that rely on Foia to track the department’s actions.

    https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/...t-foia-changes
    Quote Originally Posted by Swordsmyth View Post
    You only show up to attack Trump when he is wrong
    Make America the Land of the Free & the Home of the Brave again

  6. #5
    Quote Originally Posted by dannno View Post
    So the environmentalists were flooding them with stupid questions like how many kangaroo rats are there in Death Valley National Park?
    I fail to see why all information inside the Department of the Interior is not public information. Just put all their info on a publically searchable database and call it a day. No FOIA needed. Save money and Increase transparency.

  7. #6
    Quote Originally Posted by dannno View Post
    So the environmentalists were flooding them with stupid questions like how many kangaroo rats are there in Death Valley National Park?
    Thanks Donald Trump… for understanding that humans and the environment are a threat to corporate profits…

    The Trump administration announced that it will roll back an Obama-era water rule to protect drinking water and the waterways that flow into it. Obama waited 7 years before this rule was put in place in 2015...

    Critics say 60% of US waterways will be at risk for pollution from corporate giants, "Piece by piece, molecule by molecule, Trump is handing over our country to corporate polluters and other industrial interests at the expense of our future": https://www.commondreams.org/news/20...ations-streams


    Quote Originally Posted by specsaregood View Post
    I fail to see why all information inside the Department of the Interior is not public information. Just put all their info on a publically searchable database and call it a day. No FOIA needed. Save money and Increase transparency.
    In the Kingdom of the Netherlands we also have "laws", like for example that all court verdict must be published. The argument for NOT publishing more than 90% of these verdicts is that it costs too much money!
    Do NOT ever read my posts. Google and Yahoo wouldn’t block them without a very good reason: Google-censors-the-world/page3

    The Order of the Garter rules the world: Order of the Garter and the Carolingian dynasty

  8. #7
    Quote Originally Posted by dannno View Post
    So the environmentalists were flooding them with stupid questions like how many kangaroo rats are there in Death Valley National Park?
    Or perhaps they want to limit people's ability to request information about who, exactly, is taking over "federal lands" for various activities like drilling, mining, forestry and farming operations and for what purposes. Some of the "no-go" areas designated under Agenda 21/2030 land use plans are being turned over to foreign interests. I don't view environmentalists requesting information about such activities as being stupid questions. Questions about kangaroo rats, yes, stupid. Questions about Chinese companies strip mining Death Valley, no, not stupid.
    Last edited by devil21; 12-31-2018 at 11:02 AM.
    "Let it not be said that we did nothing."-Ron Paul

    "We have set them on the hobby-horse of an idea about the absorption of individuality by the symbolic unit of COLLECTIVISM. They have never yet and they never will have the sense to reflect that this hobby-horse is a manifest violation of the most important law of nature, which has established from the very creation of the world one unit unlike another and precisely for the purpose of instituting individuality."- A Quote From Some Old Book

  9. #8
    Quote Originally Posted by Firestarter View Post
    Thanks Donald Trump… for understanding that humans and the environment are a threat to corporate profits…

    The Trump administration announced that it will roll back an Obama-era water rule to protect drinking water and the waterways that flow into it. Obama waited 7 years before this rule was put in place in 2015...

    Critics say 60% of US waterways will be at risk for pollution from corporate giants, "Piece by piece, molecule by molecule, Trump is handing over our country to corporate polluters and other industrial interests at the expense of our future": https://www.commondreams.org/news/20...ations-streams


    In the Kingdom of the Netherlands we also have "laws", like for example that all court verdict must be published. The argument for NOT publishing more than 90% of these verdicts is that it costs too much money!
    Take your enviro propaganda elsewhere, that regulation was a power grab that stole property rights from private land owners if there were puddles in their field after a heavy rain.
    Never attempt to teach a pig to sing; it wastes your time and annoys the pig.

    Robert Heinlein

    Give a man an inch and right away he thinks he's a ruler

    Groucho Marx

    I love mankind…it’s people I can’t stand.

    Linus, from the Peanuts comic

    You cannot have liberty without morality and morality without faith

    Alexis de Torqueville

    Those who fail to learn from the past are condemned to repeat it.
    Those who learn from the past are condemned to watch everybody else repeat it

    A Zero Hedge comment



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  11. #9
    Quote Originally Posted by Swordsmyth View Post
    Take your enviro propaganda elsewhere, that regulation was a power grab that stole property rights from private land owners if there were puddles in their field after a heavy rain.
    I hope you take an additional dose of fluoride: http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthr...r-Health/page2

    Are trolls controlled through smartphone apps?

    The smartphone app and website Act.IL was developed by former Israeli intelligence officers in collaboration with the Israeli government. The founder and CEO of Act.IL, Yarden Ben Yosef, is a former army intelligence officer who is in regular contact with the country's military and intelligence establishment. Act.IL is largely staffed by former intelligence officers.

    Once logged in to Act.IL, users are presented with a series of “missions” they can take part in to "get cool prizes”.

    http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthr...=1#post6722784
    Do NOT ever read my posts. Google and Yahoo wouldn’t block them without a very good reason: Google-censors-the-world/page3

    The Order of the Garter rules the world: Order of the Garter and the Carolingian dynasty

  12. #10
    Quote Originally Posted by Firestarter View Post
    I hope you take an additional dose of fluoride: http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthr...r-Health/page2

    Are trolls controlled through smartphone apps?

    The smartphone app and website Act.IL was developed by former Israeli intelligence officers in collaboration with the Israeli government. The founder and CEO of Act.IL, Yarden Ben Yosef, is a former army intelligence officer who is in regular contact with the country's military and intelligence establishment. Act.IL is largely staffed by former intelligence officers.

    Once logged in to Act.IL, users are presented with a series of “missions” they can take part in to "get cool prizes”.

    http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthr...=1#post6722784
    Take your propaganda elsewhere, the regulation in question was a giant violation of property rights.
    This forum is supposed to be against big government.
    Never attempt to teach a pig to sing; it wastes your time and annoys the pig.

    Robert Heinlein

    Give a man an inch and right away he thinks he's a ruler

    Groucho Marx

    I love mankind…it’s people I can’t stand.

    Linus, from the Peanuts comic

    You cannot have liberty without morality and morality without faith

    Alexis de Torqueville

    Those who fail to learn from the past are condemned to repeat it.
    Those who learn from the past are condemned to watch everybody else repeat it

    A Zero Hedge comment

  13. #11
    Quote Originally Posted by Swordsmyth View Post
    Take your propaganda elsewhere, the regulation in question was a giant violation of property rights.
    This forum is supposed to be against big government.
    That would include Walls, Jack-booted police thugs, more internal Military, ICE, Real ID, Fractional banking, CorporateCapitalism, MIC, Entitlements......
    There is no spoon.

  14. #12
    Quote Originally Posted by Ender View Post
    That would include Walls, Jack-booted police thugs, more internal Military, ICE, Real ID, Fractional banking, CorporateCapitalism, MIC, Entitlements......
    Yup, I don't support the wall, I don't want jackbooted police, I don't want internal military presence beyond what it takes to defend the country, I want to reduce ICE after the invaders have been deported, I'm against REAL ID, I'm against government/bankster collaboration in our current banking system, I'm against Corporate Crony Capitalism, I want the MIC cut down to the size required for actual defense and I'm against Entitlements.


    Now how about you punch left just a little and explain to Firestarter that WOTUS was bad?
    Never attempt to teach a pig to sing; it wastes your time and annoys the pig.

    Robert Heinlein

    Give a man an inch and right away he thinks he's a ruler

    Groucho Marx

    I love mankind…it’s people I can’t stand.

    Linus, from the Peanuts comic

    You cannot have liberty without morality and morality without faith

    Alexis de Torqueville

    Those who fail to learn from the past are condemned to repeat it.
    Those who learn from the past are condemned to watch everybody else repeat it

    A Zero Hedge comment

  15. #13
    Quote Originally Posted by Ender View Post
    That would include Walls, Jack-booted police thugs, more internal Military, ICE, Real ID, Fractional banking, CorporateCapitalism, MIC, Entitlements......
    I guess we should first read ALL the propaganda posted by him, to know that even though Sionshyll regularly has posted pro-wall propaganda; this doesn´t make him pro-wall?!?


    Quote Originally Posted by Swordsmyth
    U.S. Department of Homeland Security spokeswoman Katie Waldman called the group “a violent mob” and said they had thrown projectiles at agents who responded with “the minimum force necessary to defend themselves.”
    “Congress needs to fully fund the border wall,” Waldman said in a statement.
    http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthr...=wall+migrants


    Quote Originally Posted by Swordsmyth
    "We need to build the wall along the southern border—President Trump has called for the wall and I agree," Inhofe said in a press release. "As a former builder and developer in south Texas I know border security is national security and we need to do more to deter the growing numbers of unauthorized immigrants coming across our borders."
    http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthr...=wall+migrants


    Quote Originally Posted by Swordsmyth
    GOOD!
    http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthr...ary-until-wall
    Do NOT ever read my posts. Google and Yahoo wouldn’t block them without a very good reason: Google-censors-the-world/page3

    The Order of the Garter rules the world: Order of the Garter and the Carolingian dynasty

  16. #14
    I guess that full censorship of all and every media that dare criticise Fuhrer Trump, will truely “Make America Great Again”!

    President Donald Trump has slammed the Pentagon's inspector-general for releasing reports about the Army’s failings in Iraq and Afghanistan because transparency is against his policy.
    Trump told acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan he wanted to stop the “insane”practice of releasing reports about the Pentagon to the public; “they should be private reports and be locked up”:
    What kind of stuff is this? We're fighting wars, and they're doing reports and releasing it to the public. Now the public means the enemy.


    Last year, the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR), also revealed the Pentagon had wasted at least $15.5 billion in Afghanistan since 2008: https://www.rt.com/usa/447970-trump-...tchdog-insane/
    Do NOT ever read my posts. Google and Yahoo wouldn’t block them without a very good reason: Google-censors-the-world/page3

    The Order of the Garter rules the world: Order of the Garter and the Carolingian dynasty

  17. #15
    Quote Originally Posted by Firestarter View Post
    The proposal would allow the interior department to reject Foia requests that it considers “unreasonably burdensome”.
    I don't know how FOIA requests work. But if they're burdensome, can't they just charge the people making the request some reasonable amount to cover the cost?

  18. #16
    Quote Originally Posted by specsaregood View Post
    I fail to see why all information inside the Department of the Interior is not public information. Just put all their info on a publically searchable database and call it a day. No FOIA needed. Save money and Increase transparency.
    This would seem more than feasible as all the data would be electronic to begin with. No one is marking up paperwork by hand today, everything is digital at some stage. I assume these agencies are running internal searches for the information anyways, plug it into the public web.
    “…let us teach them that all who draw breath are of equal worth, and that those who seek to press heel upon the throat of liberty, will fall to the cry of FREEDOM!!!” – Spartacus, War of the Damned

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  20. #17
    Quote Originally Posted by Firestarter View Post
    I guess we should first read ALL the propaganda posted by him, to know that even though Sionshyll regularly has posted pro-wall propaganda; this doesn´t make him pro-wall?!?


    http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthr...=wall+migrants



    http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthr...=wall+migrants
    Posting news means you agree with it?


    I said it was good that he was putting the military on the border, I have always said that we should do that.
    Never attempt to teach a pig to sing; it wastes your time and annoys the pig.

    Robert Heinlein

    Give a man an inch and right away he thinks he's a ruler

    Groucho Marx

    I love mankind…it’s people I can’t stand.

    Linus, from the Peanuts comic

    You cannot have liberty without morality and morality without faith

    Alexis de Torqueville

    Those who fail to learn from the past are condemned to repeat it.
    Those who learn from the past are condemned to watch everybody else repeat it

    A Zero Hedge comment

  21. #18
    Quote Originally Posted by Superfluous Man View Post
    I don't know how FOIA requests work. But if they're burdensome, can't they just charge the people making the request some reasonable amount to cover the cost?
    I agree that it would be reasonable to charge an amount to send the information as otherwise it would be the taxpayers that have to pay for it.

    As I survive in the Netherlands, I have never performed a Foia request.
    How it works over here, you can sent a WOB request to the government. The government can refuse without reason. Then you can start a court case for the information, which will probably be dismissed by the corrupt courts.
    If they send you the requested information it's usually free of charge or for a small fee.


    It would be even better if it would be a matter of policy to publish information online. This would be make it possible to actually monitor what the government is doing for "our" taxpayer's money.
    This also prevents (or at least makes it more difficult) for the government to know which person asks for information it would rather keep secret.
    Quote Originally Posted by kpitcher View Post
    This would seem more than feasible as all the data would be electronic to begin with. No one is marking up paperwork by hand today, everything is digital at some stage. I assume these agencies are running internal searches for the information anyways, plug it into the public web.
    Do NOT ever read my posts. Google and Yahoo wouldn’t block them without a very good reason: Google-censors-the-world/page3

    The Order of the Garter rules the world: Order of the Garter and the Carolingian dynasty



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