Today we celebrate the birth of our nation, the day we told the British Empire that we were no longer subjects of their rule. On the 4th of July, 1776 we became America, a united group of 13 colonies brought together to form a union of liberty with respect for its people and the freedom instilled within us all by our Creator. In the many years since our Founding Fathers gave birth to this great nation it has been tested, it has been tried, but time and time again it has triumphed, emerging strong - a beacon of freedom to inspire the world.

Tapping the News – Civil Liberties – July 2nd PRISM real-time surveillance "Prism is the most egregious example of NSA overreach that we've seen in the last 10 years or so," Eric King, head of research at London-based campaign group Privacy International, told the BBC. "The fact that this material is being shared with the Brits at GCHQ raises serious concerns about the legal regime that is in place for processing the information".

Benjamin Franklin once said "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure." Franklin was describing what is known as the ‘precautionary principle.’ This is a principle while good has been twisted by government in the name of safety.

US Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) is starting to realize that maybe, in the 21st century, bloggers and Twitter users deserve the same level of First Amendment protection as other journalists. Unfortunately, the definition of "journalist" the Senator prefers misses the mark, revealing in the process his desire to control the information received by the public.

Tapping the News – Civil Liberties – June 28, 2013NSA tracked meta-data since 2001

On today’s edition of the FreedomCast, David Freddoso joins me with the latest on the IRS targeting scandal, the waste, fraud and abuse occurring at the nation’s largest bureaucracy and why this entire scandal is an incrimination of our bloated and out of control tax code. Related Links:

Tapping the New -- Civil Liberties -- June 27 The FBI Uses Drones for Surveillance on U.S. SoilThis is just the beginning of domestic drone use by US enforcement agencies"FBI director Robert Mueller said Wednesday that the nation's top law enforcement bureau uses drones to conduct surveillance on U.S. soil, though only on a "very, very minimal basis.""The article goes on to say that...

Tapping the News -- Civil Liberties -- June 26NSA Removes Dishonest “Factsheet” from Website Yesterday, two Congressmen called the NSA out for publishing misleading and false data about the NSA programs on their website. The government continues to try to distract and confuse the American people about the tracking of US metadata. The NSA took down the sheet to address inaccuracies.

Tapping the News -- Civil Liberties June 25New Proposal to Place Checks on NSA