This chills me to the very core of my being...

[rumguy]

This may be a dupe - but evidently Ashcroft and the Dept. of Homeland Security has been monitoring progressive clothing websites! WTF? This site knows about it through "access logs" - question: does DU have access logs?

THEY HAVE RECORDS OF RATHER EXTENSIVE VISITATION OVER A FEW DAYS.

"At first we were amused that the Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security were looking at our little site. We hope they liked the Ashcroft Fascist button! But when they returned, we noticed something that wasn't so funny.

Note the lines:

n021.dhs.gov - - <26/Jan/2004:04:13:29 -0500> "GET /faq.html HTTP/1.1" 200 8215 "http://sidesearch.lycos.com/results.asp?tab=web&query=progressive%20clothing&loc=1&rf=sidesearch&" "Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 5.5; Windows NT 5.0)"

n021.dhs.gov - - <29/Jan/2004:08:09:55 -0500> "GET / HTTP/1.1" 200 807 "http://www.altavista.com/web/results?q=progressive+clothing&avkw=aapt" "Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 5.5; Windows NT 5.0)"

For those of you who aren't access log literate, this means that they came to Outspoken Clothing via the search engines AltaVista and Lycos, where they searched on the phrase "progressive clothing." Now, maybe there is just someone working there who wants to buy our Anyone But Bush 2004 or Gay Marriage Now merchandise, but somehow, we doubt it.

It seems that the anti-terrorist division of our government is spending its time (and our tax dollars) doing web searches on people who disagree with their politics and have the audacity to say so on t-shirts. Progressive clothing = potential terrorist? Never mind that we're three pacifists running our business out of an apartment - because we don't like Bush, we might be a threat to national security. We're interested to see what happens the next time one of us tries to get on a plane!"



http://www.outspokenclothing.com/homelandsecurity.html

[tom_paine]

1. I have ABSOLUTELY NO DOUBT that they are doing this

Would the Soviets have done it?

The Nazis?

Ferdie Marcos' "security forces"?

Idi Amin?

You have your answer.

[Demonaut]

17. You know that they really dont need to actively watch us, the lurking

free republic nazi party does that for them, lol, asscroft is out in 8 months

[bpilgrim]

24. especially when they got BOTS

the internet is a totalitarian's wet dream shot they don't need to put wires in your head or nuttin we freely trpe our thoughts into their memory...

but it cuts both ways... it is the best tool an activist could ever hope for to organize and spread the word!

thank GORE he 'invented' the internet :bounce:

psst... pass the word ;->

peace

[saltpoint]

2. Just as Scrooge was visited by ghosts to inspire a --

-- change of mind and heart, Ashcroft & Co. need to be visited by the ghosts of Tom Paine and Madison, Jefferson, Franklin, etc.

It might clear a few points up for them on the spirit of a constitutional republic.

[tom_paine]

7. Please, if those ghosts showed up

The Busheviks would call Ghostbusters and that would be it.

The Founding Fathers (with the exception of Hamilton) would HAVE HATED the Imperial Family Bush.

HATED THEM.

[saltpoint]

12. Yes. That's why I posted that I wanted the BFEE --

-- to be haunted by them. We're on the same Bill of Rights page on this. Definitely.

[zonmoy]

14. Only way that it would work

is if they are given a choice between changing their ways and a one way trip to hell.

[JasonDeter]

3. You should somehow manipulate this into the mainstream media

The publicity will make you RICH!

[eyesroll]

4. I've had a couple of dhs hits

They were "bookmarked or typed," which means someone logging on from the dhs server actually had to be seeking my site out. This could be anything from someone with Wisconsin ties seeing the write-up in the local alt weekly, to me having a file. (It's probably the former.)

I'd imagine that there are some progressive DHS employees, who want the appropriate clothing, but I agree this is suspicious -- would a government employee be shopping on their work servers? (My employer doesn't monitor or care, but I don't work for the government.)

[DrWeird]

5. The man is white supremacist.

He had the statue of Justice covered.

He had Tommy Chong arrested.

Ashcroft is an unamerican terrorist.

[Cleita]

10. And you know what white supremists call themselves?

Aryan Nation and Neo-Nazis and proud of it.

[ixion]

6. interesting though, that for all their rhetoric about TIA

that they're using lycos and altavista.

What, the dhs doesn't have it's own search technology and web robot?

That's sort of a wry silver lining.

[texastoast]

13. Not sure

Three years ago my son did some searches from our home computer when he was into drugs. He searched "marijuana" and "dxm hbr." I found these on my computer's internet history, so I began to dig a little deeper.

When I did an internet search of these same terms, it turned up a site which at the time had something to do with bandwidth usage or some other techie thing. I went to that site, thinking I was going to find more information about the search subject matter, and I found MY home computer's recent internet history. The name of that site three years ago was squishy.com. The site has changed now and does not have the appearance it had before.

If anyone knows anything about sites like this, I surely am interesting in knowing more.

[Brian Sweat]

8. I think it is just an individual.

Notice that they used Mozilla? I doubt DOJ uses Mozilla as their browser for net spying.

[rumguy]

9. I hope you are right, and you may be

yet still, I don't know...

[rumguy]

18. but notice it's BOTH the DOJ and the DHS....in conjuction....n/t

[Snazzy]

26. It's Internet explorer

"Mozilla compatible" -- IE originally based on Mozilla way back when.

[Snazzy]

29. I take that back

multiple browsers.

In one session they use Netscape Gecko 7.02--which I'm not up to speed on what the log entry signature means--that's may be the browser in AOL, or a stand alone Netscape or Mozilla?

That doj or DHS seems to be returning to this search suggests to me that it is not casual browsing on the Gov's time.

I'd watch out for some politically motivated thing--like taxes or something. Try to shut you down before the conventions. They got away with busting Chong just fine, right.

[Cooley Hurd]

11. This shit gets more Nixonian every day...

H.R. - get me Hooooooover on the phone!

[Lars39]

15. That pic would look Soooo good next to a similar one of bush*

Can you imagine both side by side on a sign? :)

[leftchick]

34. Yes I can! That would be great!

Photoshoppers?!?

[Cooley Hurd]

35. This was an easy one...

[leanings]

16. Paranoia strikes deep...

C'mon, folks. Is there any reason the gov would be monitoring these sites? And if they were, do you think they'd leave such easily discernible fingerprints?

When I worked at DOJ I went to a lot of sites like this when I was bored at work. I surfed here, too.

[rumguy]

19. you surfed here from the DOJ? wow...but what about the DOJ and the DHS

both dropping in over the span of a few days...I assume that they had never visited before and that's why it caught the website owners attention...

[leanings]

22. They said that they don't

check there access logs regularly. And there's a hell of a lot of DOJ and DHS employees. And it's not just guys in DC, too. Every US Attorney's office in the country probably comes up as DOJ. I wouldn't doubt that there are Coast Guard and Border Patrol servers that would come up the same way...

[rumguy]

23. You may be right, and I sincerely hope you are....

[Ksec]

20. Ignore the rapists , terrorists, murderers and bust a guy wearing

a ABB T shirt...

Foul. How can such a petty act thats legal get attention when we have so many serious things going on? This is whats wrong with Ashcrofts world.

[seabeyond]

21. i go onto islamic sites

and accidently got into pedophile club site really interesting to hear how they justify behavior and document how to do and get away with.........and always there is the giggle and not so giggle that ashcroft put a check by my name

the black woman ranting on the bus finger in the face cussing, was arrested for terrorism. without the cussing and finger she was saying dont touch my child i am here talk to me. never heard if thye checked out what the bus driver did, if she touched the child

terrorism was dismissed my point is, saying fuck, became a terrorist threat

kinda why we knew patriot act wouldnt work

interesting that you all are so good to see these things, man you all rock, and thank for this site

[shance]

25. Send this to local, state and Federal representatives and media outlets.

n/t

[havocmom]

27. If a man can get busted for a joke about a burning bush they may be

looking to find a clever turn of a phrase which might be construed as some sort of threat. They don't need much at all to search/arrest/detain/sentence just about anybody they want to thanks to Patriot Act.

They are also getting whomped up on lately. Not used to that and probably there are pockets of frustrated bully wannabes looking for a rumble.

Expect the worst. Hope for the best. These twerps have worked very hard at learning how to hold the masses down. They have learned from CREEP's mistakes. They are dangerous.

[hexola]

28. You are paranoid!!!

...but evidently Ashcroft and the Dept. of Homeland Security has been monitoring progressive clothing websites...

Please...major assumption there...you are jumping to paranoid conclusions.

Most likely some lazy DHS chump wasting your tax dollars browsing the web...Governement employees are notorious for wasting time online...

You have NO WAY of knowing that the intent was, or what info was noted.

Worry about something else!!!

"...maybe there is just someone working there who wants to buy our Anyone But Bush 2004 or Gay Marriage Now merchandise, but somehow, we doubt it..."

I dont!!!

[rumguy]

31. that's not my assumption - it's the website owners' assumption...eom

[Hell Hath No Fury]

32. You must be very young...

or you would not think this "paranoid" at all.

The 60s taught us the government had no problems spying on/infiltrating peace activists/left-wing groups. And, under this administration, these types of activities have made a BIG come back. Peace groups are once again being monitored/infiltrated -- it's been making the papers.

As mentioned below, my own site has been cruised by the DOJ several times -- my webmaster determined that one visit was from someone from the DOJ who found the site by punching "american foreign policy george w. bush administration" into a search engine. You'd think they of ALL people would know what Bush's foreign policy is.

[Hell Hath No Fury]

30. I sent this story to my webmaster...

who then did a look through our logs and, lo and behold, we've been visited several times -- one a very lengthy stay -- from the DOJ.

When I read my WM's email I was still a little taken aback, even though I had always assumed we'd be checked on at some point.

:scared:

[LibertyorDeath]

33. kick

[mac2]

36. They use our money to control us.....

for their own political fight.