NHTSA (pronounced NAZI) wants the heavily armed thugs who patrol America to hold people down, force a needle into their vein, and draw blood.

You read this correctly.

The National Highway Transportation and Safety Administration, which is a branch of the Department of Transportation is using tax money to train the thugs who patrol our streets to hold people down and stick a needle into their vein.

HERE’S PROOF THAT THE NHTSA, COPS, AND SAFETY NAZIS SUCK
You can verify this, by searching the internet for the following term - NHTSA “draw blood” force.

UNREASONABLE SEARCH AND SEIZURE
In the past, when cops wanted to obtain blood or urine evidence to support their accusations of alcohol or drug use, the police would take a suspect to a medical facility where they would hold people down while trained medical staff would draw blood. Sometimes they even forced a catheter into a persons urethra in order to obtain a urine sample.

Now, cops are going to hold people down and extract bodily evidence by force, at gunpoint or with threat of taser or beatings. These bloodsuckers might do this at the hood or back seat of a police car where the last person may have vomited.

The sick and twisted safety nazis from MADD are so excited they want to take rides in the police cruisers just so they can be there to witness the vampire cops in action.

If a cop suspects a person of driving while intoxicated, they often ask a person to SUBMIT to a breathalyzer test. Now, if the person refuses, one or two cops might hold they person down while the other one takes a needle and jabs it into the persons vein.

This activity does not require a doctors orders, or even the supervision of a medical professional.

The Bill of Rights is supposed to protect us from these violent invasions of our bodies, but the government, including the judicial system, is allowing this. This is as unreasonable as it gets. Since the government wants to violate people in this manner, they are not going to stop it until the people, YOU and I, DEMAND it is stopped!
WHERE IS THE OUTRAGE?

Get involved! Tell the elected officials, the lobbyists, government bureaucrats, and corporation CEO’s we’ve had all we can stand, and stand together to demand our rights. We demand all the Bill of Rights to be interpreted by the courts to the benefit of the people. We want the 10th amendment to secure the rights of the individual first, over the rights of states.

Action Required, TAKE OUR COUNTRY BACK:
Take this and other grievances and put them into a list of grievances between now and April 15, 2010. (Tax Day)

On April 16, 2010, take the day off work. Bring your list of grievances to everywhere where laws are written, signed into law, including local government buildings. Do not forget the courthouses - they are often overlooked, but the judicial system is even more poorly run than the other branches of government.
Allow the government bodies the weekend of April 17th and 18th, to prepare an official response and reaffirm they derive all power from the people. Either they are going to go back to being a government OF THE PEOPLE, BY THE PEOPLE, AND FOR THE PEOPLE, or the people will begin taking more serious and appropriate action beginning April 19, 2010.

April 19th is the Patriots anniversary of the “shot heard around the world” on the Lexington common in 1775, beginning the American Revolutionary War in which the colonists and the Kings army had it out in order to secure our independence, rights, liberties, and freedoms. Do not expect the government to make this a federal holiday. This is a day owned by the people.

There once was a TRANSPARTISAN meetup group called Triangle Campaign for Liberty. Today, I received word that they have changed their name to Republican Liberty Caucus. I immediately dissociated from them. I want NOTHING WHATSOEVER to do with the Republican party due to their:

1. proven ineffectiveness at running the federal government,
2. religious and moral impositions which are detrimental to religious freedom,
3. protection of the wealthy class who rule over the economy,
4. refusal to provide equal protection from government to those not wealthy,
5. bigotry which categorically denies equality to all citizens,
6. proven willingness to suspend the bill of rights and constitution,
7. their support for war based on lies, in order to benefit the wealthy through no-bid contracts made in advance of the invasion of Iraq,
8. their desire to continue police actions which are devastating the economy, and with no exact plans which would result in victory, including the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, the War on Terror, and the War on Drugs,
9. protection of high-level leaders from prosecution of war crimes,
10. arming and training an army division for combat against the citizenry, and
11. support for violation of individual liberty through programs such as the Patriot Act, and proliferation of checkpoints and surveillance against lawful citizens.

While I appreciate that many people in the Republican Party have adopted libertarian values, the actions of the party are not consistent with my beliefs. The Republican Party does NOT have a monopoly over libertarianism any more than they have a monopoly over patriotism and morality.

Please comment on this at The Grassroot Libertarian forum.
_________________
Jan MacKay
Candidate for NC Senate District 15, 2008
http://grassroot.us/mackayforsenate

DESPITE NC ELECTION LAWS RIGGED BY UNETHICAL DEMOCRATS AND REPUBLICANS to limit voter choice by making it extremely difficult for third party candidates to get on the ballot, THE NC LIBERTARIANS ARE ON THE BALLOT and intend to do well enough that they will also appear on the ballot in 2010 and 2012.

The Libertarians, who have a platform of smaller government, reduced taxes, and more freedom, have found an EXCELLENT CANDIDATE FOR GOVERNOR in Michael Munger, and have also put together a field of strong candidates for US Congress and the North Carolina General Assembly, as well as some candidates for county commissioner.

The ballot access laws pertaining to political parties specifies that in order for an existing political party to exist in North Carolina, they must get at least 2% of the vote for either President or Governor. The restrictive ballot access laws are unethically tilted in favor of the democrats and republican so that they can continue their monopolistic rule. This is not conducive to a fair election process as required by the NC Constitution.

Even if the third parties could get a few candidates elected to the NC legislature, if neither the candidate for President nor the candidate for Governor reaches this two percent barrier, the elected NC Senators and House members would immediately become “unaffiliated”!! All registered voters affiliated with that party would also become “unaffiliated”. Due to the difficulties of establishing a powerful enough third party, major parties maintain their cursed DUOPOLY which restricts voter choice.
Many polls show gubernatorial candidate Munger, is going to do better than the 2% required.

In fact, many people consider Michael Munger to be a better, more prepared candidate for Governor than Charlotte Mayor Pat McRory. The democratic choice for Governor is terrible, and this is recognized by enough democrats that they cannot, in good conscience, elect Lt Governor Bev Perdue. For democrats with conscience, their choices are either Munger or McRory. As a result, the intelligent democrats who actually took more than just a moment to think about their choice for Governor, will be voting for Michael Munger!
In the NC race for US Senate, incumbent Elizabeth Dole and Kay Hagan have been engaging in so many attack ads that they’ve turned voters off. In the final week before the election, Dole has an ad that makes it seem that Hagan is of the belief that “There is no God!” This is politics at its’ lowest. While those two trade attacks back and forth, Libertarian candidate Chris Cole, is benefiting, with polls results which have been as high as double digits. This is another strong showing for a Libertarian candidate in a three way race.

In past elections, Libertarian candidates in two way races, against opponents who would otherwise run unopposed, have done much better than in three way races, pulling in double digit results, and actually coming close in some elections.

Candidates in three way races have not done well in past elections due to lack of financial support and due to partisan loyalties of voters. In the 2004 elections, LP candidates in three way races for NC Senate and NC House have not been able to get better than 4%.

However, this year, voters are upset with the status quo governance by the people elected into the major parties. We are still engaged in costly, unwanted wars despite the demands of the citizens in the 2004 elections, spending hundreds of billions of dollars which are badly needed at home. The government seems to have forgot the US Constitution and Bill of Rights. Citizens  demanded Congress and the President to say NO to the Wall Street Bailout, but until the elections are over and until the newly appointed President (likely to be an Obama administration) and Congress, this country is no longer a representative republic.

At the state level, North Carolina is fed up with the bad ethics, corruption, and wasteful spending. While the economy is suffering, and unemployed people don’t know how they are going to pay the mortgage or where they are going to get their next meal, Mary Easley was running around Europe spending taxpayer money like it is going out of style (which it is!). NC taxpayers should demand reimbursement of the $332 for Mary Easleys’ caviar cocktail as well as repayment for all the other extravagances of the Easleys’ European Vacation.

Many independent thinking voters are fed up with such abuses at the state level, primarily by the NC ruling party (democrats), but they cannot bring themselves to vote for the Republicans because so many Republicans are conservative religious zealots who would, given the chance, dictate everyones moral beliefs. If there is anything that most North Carolinians understand, whether they are from a small town of major city, it is that religious freedom is one of the most important freedoms, and without it, America would cease being the land of the free.

As a result, smart democrats who can no longer go along with the failures of the state legislature, are looking for other choices but will preserve American freedom by not voting for socially conservative republicans. If they find out about a third party candidate who can give them this alternative, they will vote Libertarian, but that is the sticking point.

The mass media gets MONEY from political advertisements, and most third party campaigns are financed on a shoestring budget. It is difficult for a newspaper or television station to give advertising or endorsements to a candidate who runs against someone who is part of their gravy train.

For example, the major mass media influences in Raleigh, which people get most of their information from regarding the elections, are one major newspaper and one major television station. These Raleigh mass media outlets would be shooting themselves in the wallet if they endorsed and provided media help to a great candidate such as NC state senate hopeful Jan MacKay, when the other candidates in the major parties are paying them. To overcome her shoestring campaign budget, senate candidate MacKay has been running a grassroots campaign, and has a top-ranked web site for the MacKay for Senate  campaign, which asks people to tell their friends. “I am going for the win!” says candidate MacKay. “I understand the realities, and the history of single digit results in past three way races against two major party candidates, but this time things are different. Wake county democrats have selected a self-described conservative Republican who was the former chair of the Wake County Republican Mens Club. So, I am approaching this as the most democrat of either of my two conservative opponents, and will let them split the conservative vote. All it takes is enough people to spread the word to vote for the candidate, and research the candidates, rather than to vote partisan. Also, having such a terrific candidate as Dr. Michael Munger running for Governor certainly helps a lot.”

Regardless of how the NC Libertarian candidates do in the general elections this Tuesday, many of them will be working in conjunction with other third parties for fair ballot access and increased voter choice.

NC Senate Candidate MacKay drafts legislative proposal in advance of Ballot Access Summit:
“Fair Ballot Access for Increased Voter Choice”

Raleigh NC October 13, 2008

Important Update: 10/14/08
An EVENT FLYER is now available at http://grassroot.us/docs/ballot_access_flyer.pdf
Also, the location for the House District 38 Candidate Forum and Ballot Access Forum will be the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, 3313 Wade Ave, Raleigh NC. Bryan Irving, NC Senate District 17 candidate, will also be there! The public and third party hopefuls are welcome, so please join us!

Jan MacKay, candidate for NC Senator for District 15, has drafted proposed legislation in advance of a Ballot Access Summit which is to be held October 21, 2008 at 7pm. The draft proposal is entitled “Fair Ballot Access for Increased Voter Choice”. The summit is being organized by the Green Party. Libertarians will be participating, and perhaps members of other political parties. All details of the summit, such as the location, are not known at this time, but the public will certainly be welcome. The ballot access forum will be held directly after a candidate forum featuring two candidates for NC House District 38, Susan Hogarth (Libertarian) and Debra Ross (incumbent Democrat). As we get close to the 21st, the public can email Jan for the summit location.

According to Jan MacKay, “In addition to being extremely biased in favor of Democrats and Republicans , which are the two largest political parties, the current law is also very flawed. If, for whatever reason, a party is terminated, if there is a member of that party elected to the NC General Assembly, the legislator will automatically be deemed “unaffilated”. Let’s say, for example, Jan MacKay is elected to the NC Senate as the Libertarian candidate. There is no provision which allows her to continue to be the Libertarian Senator if the party is terminated. It is not clear what would happen to Libertarians elected to the NCGA , but the law clearly specifies that all registered voters become unaffiliated upon termination of a political party. The State would probably deem the NCGA member as unaffiliated, and such a move might present an unwanted and unnecessary judicial challenge. Clearly the law must be amended.”

Ms. MacKay continues, “As to whether or not the General Assembly would go along with increased voter choice by lowering the requirements for new political parties as specified in General Statutes, Chapter 163, Article 9, I do know that the legislators have had a habit of passing laws which are in their best interest to protect their duopoly, rather than in the best interest of the people. The past actions of the NC General Assembly are contrary to what the voters want. The voters made it very clear that they want more choice when over 80,000 of them signed petitions to get the Libertarians on the ballot in 2008.”

The draft of the proposed legislation can be viewed at Fair Ballot Access for Increased Voter Choice.

“If the summit is in agreement with the proposed draft legislation, and if I am elected, I will get this proposal to the legislative drafting division of the NCGA, will sponsor it, and will look for transpartisan support so that the bill doesn’t get sent to a committee to die, which is a dirty trick often used by senior members of the House and Senate. As dirty tricks occur, I will consider it my duty to inform the public. If I am not elected, I will go to Jones Street and look for a bill sponsor. The people want this! Legislators should not deny them this.”
Note: Senate Candidate Bryan Irving has reviewed the draft proposal and will also support it if elected.

Jan MacKay knows about the legislative process as a result of diligence when fighting for civil liberties, and is ready to go to work as your senator immediately. For more info, see Ballot Access.

NC Senate Candidate Battles Safety Nanny Government
Raleigh NC, Bikers USA, September 29, 2008On April 25th, Jan MacKay says she was nearly run down on Garner Rd, by a highway patrol truck driven by a state trooper, just down the street from Highway Patrol Headquarters. She received a ticket for not wearing a helmet, despite wearing one which she says meets the lawful requirements. Perhaps, it did not appear to conform. Perhaps, it did not meet with the troopers subjective approval. However, Ms MacKay says it was a manufacturer self-certified partial coverage helmet. As such, it is of a type compliant with federal motor vehicle safety standard, FMVSS 218, therefore lawful.

Since then, she has gone to district court four times. The first three times, the court was not ready to proceed. The trooper who is based in Surry and Yadkin counties has driven to Raleigh twice, a 5 hour round trip, and sat in court. The total amount of time the trooper has been away from patrol has been approximately 17 hours, over an infraction which carries a $25 fine. This seems like a travesty not wanted by the taxpayers. Some citizens might also see problems when consumers, rather than manufacturers, are held responsible for complying with federal requirements on motor vehicles and motor vehicle equipment, and in the case of a helmet - what they wear.

On July 1st, Ms MacKay announced her candidacy for NC Senate representing Senate District 15 which is North Raleigh, Wake Forest, and unincorporated areas around Falls Lake, which she says should remain unincorporated despite annexation plans. She is getting lots of well-wishers from all over North Carolina and from other states as well. Her internet campaign is doing well, with a website is top-ranked on Google. “That’s good because I do not have money from PAC’s and lobbyists in order to support my campaign. I think the pathway to ending corruption in Raleigh is for legislators to stop taking money from special interests. Information, yes. Money, no. I will try to live on the meager $20,659 salary and do my best for the people rather than the well-financed.”

On August 27th, she was found guilty in district court and immediately appealed to Superior Court. According to the judge, she was not found guilty due to the leather helmet she was wearing, but because the trooper testified the straps were not tightly cinched under her chin. It was exactly the type of decision she wanted, because an appeal to Superior Court is needed in order to overturn the NC helmet law and stop law enforcement from being overly aggressive in pulling over motorcyclists.

On September 26th, she served a copy of a 26 page legal brief on the Wake County District Attorney Office and filed it with the clerk of Superior Court. Jan is not a lawyer, and is defending herself. “I do not recommend anyone represent themselves pro se in major crimes, but if an intelligent person cannot represent herself in court against a minor infraction, and get a fair trial, then our judicial system has serious problems”. If the law is overturned, people will still be able to wear helmets. They will be able to wear any helmet they want, rather than being forced to wear one that someone in China says is compliant, and perhaps they will not be forced to attach any device to their heads. This is all about individual liberties and the right to decide such important matters for themselves rather than rely on a safety nanny government to make all decisions for us. The date for the trial in Superior Court is November 10th, six days after the election. Perhaps it will be the first of many rights and individual liberties “Senator” Jan MacKay will energetically fight for.

This press release can be downloaded in any of the following formats: .pdf .doc .odt

The Elizabeth Dole campaign has been airing a video in which a picture of rival Kay Hagan appears and a womans’ voice says “There is no God!”

That is not the voice of Kay Hagan. Now, Kay Hagan has a lawsuit against Elizabeth Dole, and has had to incur the expense of running an ad to counter the negative publicity.

The Godless ad has deceived the voting public.

In North Carolina, the constitution has a provision that requires all elected officials to believe in God. However, religious freedom is a cornerstone of the US Constitution. Freedom of religion is more encompassing than the right to worship the Christian God in any way they choose. It goes beyond a persons’ selection of a Christian denomination.
Atheists in North Carolina are forced to pay taxes, but cannot hold an elected office. Logic says that the inability of atheists to hold elected office also amounts to lack of equality in representation. One of the major battle cries of the Revolutionary War was “taxation without representation is tyranny”.

There can be no doubt that Dole was wrong to deceive the voting public. Kay Hagan is not an atheist, so the question as to whether or not there is freedom and equality for atheists in America, will be a question for another day.

Timmy B. wrote:

How much does it (cost) the taxpayers to pass just one law, a simple law?

Jan responds:

Good question! Since there is probably no official answer, let’s figure $10,000 if a simple bill sails right through. Here are some figures to back up the estimate.

I put together some figures, only because I don’t think we’ll find any official figures from the state for how much it costs to:
1. draft a law
2. introduce it
3. work the law through the house, then the senate
4. get the law signed by the governor
5. notify the citizens and enforcement agencies that enforcement will begin.

There were 551 session laws passed in 2007 and 116 in 2008. For each year, the 50 senators and 120 house members were each paid $20,659 not counting travel expenses, benefits, and extra pay. 170 x $20659 = $3,512,030. This is just legislator salaries.

In 2007, the 50 Senators were each paid salaries of $20659 for a total of $1032950, so getting each of the 551 session laws through the senate cost $1875.
In 2007, the 120 House members were each paid $20659 for a total of $2479080, so getting each of the 551 session laws through the house cost $4499.
Total for getting each of the 551 session laws through both house chambers is $6374

In 2008, the pay was the same but the number of session laws was only 116, so
getting each law through the senate cost cost $8904,
getting each law through the house cost $21371.
Total for each session law in the legislature was $30725

A comment by one of the senior senators was that House Bill 563, which embedded federal motor vehicle safety standard (FMVSS) 218 into the helmet law, had more discussion than any other bill except one, so it probably cost the state on the high side of the bell curve. A starting figure of at least $50,000 for H563 seems about right. Keep in mind that this does not include all other expenses: legislative assistants, cost of updating documents regarding the state laws, facility management, security, light bill. This does not include the cost of sending state troopers and Governors Highway Safety Program adminstrators to the legislative building, does not count many other costs of the Executive branch, and it does not count training all law enforcement agents, preparing the district attorneys, and road trips to bias the judges against fair trials (see NC GHSP bias judges).

While the estimate of $50,000 seems to be a little more than the salaries of two legislative jobs,  let’s see if we can use this kind of bad legislation as a catalyst to actually COST some legislators their jobs! In close elections, it could easily happen that House Bill 563 embedding FMVSS 218 can actually shake things up, and make a difference if we get the word out for people to get out and vote and to check this candidate analysis before heading to the polls. Libertarians, as a party, have actually adopted repeal of helmet laws and seat belt laws as issues of basic liberties, and prepared issue papers, so if there is a libertarian candidate, they are usually going to be a great choice for those who want smaller government, lower taxes, and more freedom.

Costs for a District Court trial.
Last year, I spent a couple nights of research in order to find an official figure from the NC Courts on how much it costs for a district court trial. The figure turned out to be $872. This was an average. If 2000 motorcyclists brought helmet tickets to trial, it would cost the taxpayers $1.7 MILLION! I was written a helmet ticket in Wake County, by an NC State Highway Patrol Trooper who appears to have been visiting from Surry and Yadkin counties - that’s a 5 hour round trip for each day of trial! It is pretty obvious that the state has no intention of proceeding with a trial, and just wants to try and wear me down to paying a $25 fine. I contend that I am not guilty, and want this to go to trial. The value of rights, freedom, liberty, and self-responsibility: PRICELESS!

Thanks for the question!

Jan MacKay
NC Senate District 15
Candidate

Message from a Common Man,

and a reply from Jan MacKay, NC Senate District 15 candidate.

Timmy B. wrote:

I am a common man with, what used to be, a common plan. At least so I thought. I was content with an everyday job. I didn’t want to be rich, I just wanted to survive comfortably. Pay my bills, treat my family to a little fun and enjoyment, and have a few bucks to store for my golden years. Now a days my golden years are coming closer and closer and the only bucks I’ve stored aren’t enough to get me through a single year. Our forefathers came to this country to get away from the life we live today. Our Representatives have made it hard for the common man. They’ve sent our jobs to foreign lands, raised our taxes, let illegal immigrants come in and take what jobs WE THE PEOPLE have left, and tell us it’s all in the name of prosperity. Well I don’t know about you but I’m not prospering much these days. And it’s not just big government, Its local government that’s to blame as well. I’ve watched factories that’s been in business for more years than I’ve been alive, factories that’s built cities, just fold and let hundreds of thousands of people go all in the name of prosperity. And the plan that the city council has is to annex new land, start building ball fields and golf courses that can’t even afford to keep themselves going and let the unemployed taxpayers pay for it all. And while WE THE PEOPLE scavenge around to come up with money that WE THE PEOPLE could be buying food and cloths with, to pay for their great ideas, They sit on their bureaucratic butts and see what kind of new laws they can come up with, all in the name of what’s good for WE THE PEOPLE. When will they say enough is enough? What will it take to get them to realize that WE THE PEOPLE are tapped out. My mother used to tell me, as did a lot of parents tell their children, There is no such  a thing as a money tree. I just wonder how much it cost WE THE PEOPLE to come up with that helmet law. And wasn’t it just another way to generate a new tax revenue. I mean look at it, how many bikers had to go out and buy a new DOT approved helmet that cost $60 to $160 plus. How much did the government make off of that deal? I know our government  needs money to operate this country we live in. But HOW MUCH IS ENOUGH? I voted for Bush, and for that I apologies to the country. I will vote for Jan Mackay, but I gotta tell you, I wouldn’t want to be in her shoes for nothing in the world. I send her good luck and God speed.

Timmy,

Thanks for the best wishes.

In the last year, I have been fortunate to be represented “somewhat” adequately by the Senator I am running against. However, in two terms, he still hasn’t found a way to become effective in working with a majority rule legislature. I believe he tried. For that, I cannot fault him.

I’m running because silence and just showing up in order to cast a vote is not good enough. It is frustrating to sit in the galleries, and see a great opening where someone on the floor, with fiery passion could stand up, speak with conviction, and make a big difference. Passion, energy, and courage to stand up to the senior political hypocrites is required in order to fight back against high taxes, unnecessary spending, frequent corruption, and lousy politics which pit those who have, (such as health care system administrators, federal and state bureaucrats, corporation board members, lawyers, insurance companies, university administrators, and even the Governor himself), against the common citizen who has lost everything, or is about to lose everything they worked so hard for.

You are right that it is not an enviable task. It will be a constant struggle to convince the majority legislators of the problems with their approaches. The best way to do that is with demonstrated passion, conviction, researching the best solutions, and daring to vote no, more often than yes (when required). Silence is not in my nature, and neither is blindly following a “party line”. As you said, enough is enough! The Governor just came back from a really nice $170k trip to Italy. He and the first lady stayed at more expensive hotels than you and I would ever dream of staying, and the NC taxpayers footed the bill. Meanwhile people are losing their homes, and cannot even afford gas to commute to work, if they are fortunate enough to still have a job. I’ve been looking at the budget adjustments, and am astounded at the high price tags on pork spending projects that do not contribute in the least way to the infrastructure. These expenses are not needed, and will only benefit a privileged few.  In the meantime, people like you and I cannot afford to repair our own roofs, yet the state plans to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to put a walkway and rotunda in between buildings at an exclusive school which nobody in our families will ever see. Meanwhile, the highways and bridges infrastructure is getting older, and quality mass transit to relieve traffic congestion is nothing more than a bad joke. You have to pay taxes for everything you do, including paying for groceries, even though you already paid taxes on your income. You pay taxes when you buy anything, and pay taxes on any real property you are lucky enough to afford to keep, and now they want taxes even if you are forced to sell your home. Selection of protective gear on your motorcycle is a basic decision but you cannot make it. When moments count, cops are only several minutes away, and there are safety nannies who want to stop you from carrying anything larger than a pocketknife and sharper than a butterknife. Every level of government thinks they have the right to trespass on your land, and privacy is a thing of the past. There are too many things wrong with status quo, and this is no time for mediocrity.

Thanks for your support!

Jan MacKay

NC Senate District 15
2008 NC Senate Candidate

POST

The Patriot Act is being used to by the federal government to subvert the Bill of Rights and the US Constitution. This is the most significant attack on freedom in the United States of America since the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II. This discussion topic is to help unite citizens at state levels who oppose the Patriot Act, and to plan grassroots activities such as the signing of petitions in order to demand the repeal of the Patriot Act.