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NARA Goes Online
TeachingMachines writes "NARA, the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration, has gone online. NARA's self-described mission is 'to ensure ready access to the essential evidence that documents the rights of American citizens, the actions of Federal officials, and the national experience.' A very relevant site for the times, with transcripts and images of the most politically important documents of the United States. Included are the Constitution, Declaration of Independence, and the Bill of Rights. Check out the list of available documents. The site is pretty large, with some incredible exhibits, and even an image of the original Magna Carta. Definitely worth a look."
Now that its online, we get to nuke it back off? You people are just too easily amused.
*checks out the website thats growing slower*
My potato gun was confiscated by the United Nations. They said I wasn't allowed to have weapons of mash destruction.
I take that back. This information could be used to aid terrorists. Take it down.
dubya
Folks, this is the answer to our prayers! Once the masses can get to these documents via the web, they'll actually read about the rights they have and discover that they're being taken for a ride by any number of special interest groups, politicians, media conglomerates, Attorney Generals *cough*, little ole' ladies, etc.
Time for us to just sit back and enjoy the ride. Any moment now, the US population is going to wake up.
You are checking your backups, aren't you?
According to the blurb, the mission of this is:
to ensure ready access to the essential evidence that documents the rights of American citizens, the actions of Federal officials, and the national experience. (bold mine)
Last I checked, the archive is run by the government (www.archives.gov), so how upfront are they going to be about the "actions of the Federal officials"? This seems like a good idea, but it could easily become little more than a "rah-rah-look-at-how-great-we-are" propaganda machine. I truly hope not, because it seems like a great idea.
after all, it's a historical archive of rights
we used to have.
It'll certainly be useful when kids start asking these questions:
"Daddy, is it true you used to have the right to privacy?"
"Daddy, is it true you used to have the right to see the evidence against you and defend against it?"
I remember seeingone of the original copies of the Magna Carta when I was in the 2nd grade, while on a field trip. And now I can look at the original, online... I still like going to the museum best.
+ G to tha Izzo, A to tha Tizee, Talking Giz-oat, Ya'll Bettah Feel Me... +
this is spam,isn't it? tell me true
It is indeed a history lesson.
I don't know about anyone else but I've had them bookmarked for over a year. It's not like they just woke up and smelled the internet.
-CZ
A: At the bottom of course.
I'll be here all week folks. Please, try the fish.
Presumably they've blacked out all the bits about habeas corpus?
to ensure ready access to the essential evidence that documents the rights of American citizens
/.`ed
until it was
We leave our country and move to the United States because of the nebelous thing called "Freedom". Having all the relevant documents in one spot that can be studied is a fine thing.
For you who were born here, perhaps the Gettysburg address has lost its thrill, but for me, when I heard it on a recent "Civil War" showing on PBS, my hair stood on end and a shiver ran down my spine.
Especially these days, readers should re-acquaint themselves with the constitution, the bill of rights, and some of the famous speeches of past leaders. It takes a little digging to find what you need on the new site, but it's all there.
Maybe i'm a little off topic, but just thinking about what this adopted country that I love so much stands for, and the fight that we on the home front are doing to make sure that our freedoms and rights remain intact in the face of so many obstacles -- makes it all worthwhile.
Newsfollow.com
Your post was correctly modded as "funny," and I certainly hope you were trying to be funny.
If you really think a nation of people who for the most part won't read a single sheet of illustrated directions to learn how to program their VCRs are going to dive into much longer historical documents, you are a seriously deluded individual.
The only way most people today will experience a brush with learning about the Declaration of Independence, is if they happen upon 1776 on TV and it takes them a while to realize they're not actually watching Chicago.
~Philly
Seeing as how our government does not honor a lot of the rights we have on a day to day basis. For example, if I protest the war in this post, some blind moderator will mark it as a troll. In essence, I am being punished for my right to free speech without being penalized for it. Also, these documents in no way support or show any regard for how the US has treated members of other nations. Maybe NARA should include pictures of dead Veitnamese, South Americans, Africans, Phillipinos, Afghani, Iraqis, Iranians, Syrians, Palestinians, etc. That is the legacy of the documents listed in the article above. I am afraid to think what the forefathers would be saying if they were alive today.
Maybe this exists somewhere I've not found. I'd like to see a nice searchable voting record for Representatives, which is indexed against Presidential Vetos and Supreme Court rulings. If a bill was originally drafted by a non-legislator, I'd like to see that, too. Then on top of that, summarize certain interesting tallies.
Rep. Harry Careless (X-SS) has sponsored 2 and voted in favor of 18 bills, subsequently Vetoed or Struck.
[
I am not in the US but I must say that I think the US Constitution is very well written and a great model for any nation (even if I may not totally disagree with small parts). I just read the Constitution and Bill of Rights and it it is well-written, timeless (i.e.: still applicable) and looks like the authors really cared about democracy and wanted to start a true democratic republic where the people had the power (and were not controlled by a government but had ccontrol over a truly democratic congress).
However, the more I read of the Constitution, the more it seems that the modern governments of the USA try to break every rule (just go through them) it sets (to the extent that I believe many countries are far more democratic). Something I did not know that is interesting is that it seems to implie that the USA government is not allowed to have a permenent army but when attacked the citizens may form one for a short period (hence the right to bear arms, I guess). Throughout it really does put the citizens control, but, I guess, it did not work...
Joe Llywelyn Griffith Blakesley
[This post is in the public domain (copyright-free) unless otherwise stated]
What, April Fools was 4 days ago, typical bureaucracy always delaying things!
Yeah right it's not an April Fools, the government really wants to make sure the rights of American citizens and the actions of the government are well documented?
Oh shit, when it's not an April Fools Joke then it's your Ministry of Information. Its name almost sounds like it too.
"I did not have sexual relations with that woman. I really never did. What woman are you even talking about?"
What time is it/will be over there? Check with my iPhone app!
"In 1215 at Runnymede, doo-dah, doo-dah..."
Which sort of proves the point that things are more easily remembered when put in a catchy song.
~Philly
fucking loser American
NARA goes online, is welcomed with a hearty slashdotting and goes down in a heap of flames... what an eventful start!
Just rewrite the history books so there never was any of your so called, "right to privacy."
He who controls the present controls the past.
He who controls the past controls the future.
COCK
Correct me if I'm wrong, but this order relates to their not being able to go on strike... not their ability to strike airplanes.
According to nmap, the government decided that it is best to use Solaris 8 to run the site. Hmmm...good choice I guess. I was really hoping that it would be BSD, but I guess it really is dead at 4.8. =)
That's nice and all, but it would be nice if they massively improved access to the Federal Register. As an environmental engineer dealing with air quality issues, I have to look up regs all the time for changes, so I can atest it is terribly slow. So slow, EPA took all the effort to put the environmental portion of the Federal Register on their own website.
Seems to me like this site is gathering evidence for U.S. Crimes against the people that is sure to becoming in a couple of years. Oh well, try not to completely Slashdot it, I want a look into the past, maybe I'll learn when we went wrong.
Has the US Code, the above important documents, and thomas.loc.gov has current and past legislation; all this was up in 94.
What's new here?
KLAATU, BORADA, NIh*ahem*
That's great!, Now the FBI can track all those pesky citizens that actually care about their rights. Thank god they passed the Patriot Act!
But I think this shows that certain parts of the US government isn't all bad. Sure, there are some rotten apples, and quite a few of them are leading these 4 years (*coughAshcroftcough*), but at least the ENTIRE beaucracy isn't totally corrupt as to believe the US Constitution is moot. Which you might believe if you read all the latest comments on Slashdot.
Maybe this just shows that an entire beauracracy cannot become totally evil, or totally good.
But that's just me rambling, I guess.
josh
hookers and grits.
--those documents have no relevance to reality anymore. The executive, judicial and legislative branches ignore them, they are almost completely corrupt and compromised now, the cops and military just take and follow orders, any orders. We have a theoretical constitutionally based representative republic, in reality, we have a totalitarian technofuedalistic autoaucracy that is a blend of socialism and corporatism, that runs on crimes, bribery, blackmail, state organized "terror" and massive bureaucratic malfeasance and indifference.
There are so many examples it's a waste of time to list them. We have millions of people who already can read, they are fully aware of the concepts contained,they even go so far as to get arested to challenge laws, and it's a complete dismal failure for the most part. We don't have the critical mass numbers of those sorts of people. When the "fix is in" to the extent it is now,and with the levels of apathy we have and the obvious demonization efforts and mass psyops being used, there's nothing short of using number 4 in the list of "boxes" we have to effect any meaningful change. I'm sure you know which that "box" is, the list that starts with "the soapbox".
I am cynical and pessimistic of this nation changing to anything but "more" big brotherism. If there was even a 10% drop in the amount of money, time and effort put into entertainments like fictional TV, movies, music, sports, videogames, etc and put into honest awareness rising and activism,and if millions of people would just shun either working for "the man" or would engage in a universal massive "no" saying to illegal and unethical orders and edicts when they are given, then maybe, perhaps, but I have seen no reductions in that after watching and being a political activst for just at 4 decades now. Next year I'll hit my 4th decade exactly from when I started actually working politics and various issues as a major part of my life. In fact I'd say there's LESS activism and awareness now then back then, even with the tremendously easy ways we have to communicate and get information now. And the various so called laws passed recently, based on extremely coincidental reichstagg events timing? And the level of intrusive and manipulative technology available to governments,with any numbers of intelligent people perfectly willing to sell, maintain and profit from them, and their accumulated and planned accumulations of advanced and exotic weaponry along with just a massiveincrease in conventional weaponry they have spread out to police departments all over, and their obvious perfect willingness to use these devices and their human mercenary "assets"? Nope, I'm extremely pessimistic.
I'm not saying I have personally given up, but I will say I am heavy into what is in essence a plan B now, just personal survival basically, and I have been for around 6 years even moreso than in the years previous to that,and have been waiting for the second shoe to drop. We are one major so called "foreign terrorist" attack away from it being all over when it comes to ANY so-called born-with personal soverign freedoms or ANY honesty in government. And that second shoe drop could come this very year in my estimation.
If the National Archives and Records Administration keeps the US Constitution, it's a museum, not an archive.
... well, it's time to say that the Republic is long dead.
... I know I am.
As Bruce Sterling has implied, life moves in clades, and if we need something solid and dependable around, we'll have it orbit ourselves.
With the way things are going, they may as well put all of the federal government's documents and operations online, since there will be no practical way for any alleged citizen to get into the soon-to-be-made W3S (Washington DC Special Security Sector).
You can pick any event in American history to show the downfall starting (my favorite is Shay's Rebellion), but after the events of 1913 (Federal Reserve and income tax), 1933 (overblown socialism and anti-gun law), 1945 (atomic/nuclear bombs and OSS/CIA), the Cold War, the War on Poverty, the War on Drugs, and now the War on Anything Islamic
Get over it. Adapt and survive. Buy weapons, ammunition, reloading equipment, tools, books
[You have a stable society when some nut guns down a schoolyard and the law doesn't change.]
Of all the things to be archived on the 'net, this is probably one of the best to find.
This sig no verb.
... In Sweden we have something called "Offentlighetsprincipen". This means that all documents used in federal administration (except those specifically tagged as "confidential") are publically available.
You can walk into any business governed by the state and ask to see any document.
Has there been a slashdot poll on one's favorite of the bill of rights?
<1> freedom of religion, press, speech
<2> freedom to bear arms
<3> no quartering of soldiers
<4> no unreasonable search and seizure
<5> due process of law
<6> right to speedy trial
<7> right to jury trial
<8> no excessive bail
<9> bill of rights doesn't deny rights not enumerated
<10> powers not enumerated in constitution reserved for states, people
<X> right of cowboy neal to bare ???
How many of these rights that haven't been infringed on in the past 12 months?
But how long before the easily accessible records of the past become the easily alterable records of the past... I can just see people going, "Well it's NARA, it has to be true."
-------
"In times of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act."
-- George Orwell
First the question won't be asked because the meaning of the word privacy will have been altered beyond recognition. You child will think they have a "right to privacy" and that it's worth dying for, but they will have no clue to what this means:
"Amendment IV
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized."
The "right to privacy" is a diluted positively asserted thing which can and does allow unreasonable searches without warrent specified by the much more powerful limit on government action above.
"Daddy, is it true you used to have the right to see the evidence against you and defend against it?"
"Amendment V
No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation."
Your child won't know what a Grand Jury is and due process of law has already been perverted so no such thing is needed. The secret court says you are a terrorist, knowing how they know would alowy you to hurt more people off to jail you go.
What's all this fuss over anyway? We stared at the Soviets and global destruction for 50 years without becoming a police state. China is still around. Now, becase some jackass in Afganistan manages to kill a few thousand people we panic?
What do we think we are going to stop? Terrorists WILL get their hands on nukes, they will take out cities and nothing can be done about it anymore than Israel can keep people from pipe bombing cafes. The world will go on.
The only thing we can assure is what kind of world that will be. We can become another slave state or we continue to offer hope to the world for a better tomorrow. If we get lazy and turn on each other not only will the terrorist have won, they will have been right.
DMCA, Hollings, Palladium. What might have sounded like paranoia is now common sense.
tell everyone who really shot JFK ? Probably not... this site will likely be a waste of time and even if they have important information, Americans won't read it. They get all the information they need to make judgments on US/World affairs from the last bastions of journalist integrity ... CNN and FOX.
!!! ROLF !!!
I'm involved in a project called bluemud.org, and we already have most of these documents available. Plus on bluemud.org they're searchable by topic, keyword, and publication date.
We have over a quarter million documents waiting to get filtered into the directory, of which about 1100 have already been processed and are available to the general public. The rest of them are being filtered as quickly as possible and for impatient people, they can be viewed by registering on the site.
WOW.
It's not like NARA hasn't existed before. Every public document has been accessible for quite some time, paper, pergament or digitalized.
...they did a bang-up job of ensuring ready access to that fairly essential evidence.
OK.
/. can't accept anything that doesn't come dripping out of CmdrTaco's hemarrhoid-infested anus, because if they bothered to actually look into why TWA-800 was felled they'd be amazed to discover that it fits right in with all the other uber-geek material posted here.
This order applies only to the NAVAL SPECIAL WARFARE DEVELOPMENT GROUP, and it was signed the day after the French periodical Paris Match published radar tapes showing something sharing the sky with TWA-800.
It's too bad the shitheads here at
Is this truly the only Earth I can live on?
Who are you? The new #2 Who is #1? You are #617565. I am not a number, I am a free man! Muhahaha.
This is a copy, confirmed by Edward I in 1297, and on display at the National Archives in DC.
Which original?
The NARA has been online for a few years now, and this website doesn't look any different from what I was browsing through for WWII photos several months ago. It's a pretty great site, but this isn't new folks.
Besides the more mainstream stuff, there are also some really interesting oddball things hanging around. For instance, John F. Kennedy's Favorite Waffle Recipe. Or a letter from a 12-year-old Fidel Castro to Franklin D. Roosevelt. Or, most essential of all, When Nixon met Elvis.
Although I'm a little confused about what exactly the big news is...I've been browsing the NARA website for about 5 years now.
I was going to put a sig here, but I had already submitted the message.
NARA.gov has been online for at least two years, and now simply links to archives.gov.
As an archivist-in-training (currently on leave from a grad program), I couldn't but help comment on this discussion. Archivists, as a whole - even those who work for NARA - are mostly a progressive bunch, who seek to ensure access to information rather than restrict it. We have our own set of professional ethics, namely the Code of Ethics for Archivists published by the Society of American Archivists. Archives do not fundamentally exist to be hidden - they are a source of information to be preserved and to be accessed. However, in certain cases, restrictions on records exist to protect the creators. For example, medical records, if cited by a scholar, must often not name the patient in any identifiable way. However, we often ask donors to think about the restrictions they place on their records so that the records will, eventually, be available. I suggest that you look at the position statements made by the SAA and judge for yourself. Granted, not all archivists agree on them, but the SAA is a fairly tight knit organization and the position it sets forth often represent the majority of its members.
-- anarchivist@noise.annNOSPAMarbor.mi.us s/NOSPAM/-
I don't get 404'd....i get a stinkin' MS website asking if I'd like to search for something else and that they can't find what I'm looking for!
Did anyone see the transcript of the "Constitution"?
I read it and it is Treason! It is not transcripts of the original "Constitution"; it is the transcripts of the "Constitution" after it has been ammended by all ammendments after the 10th!
ABSOLUTELY FUCKING MARVELOUS! When they said they were providing the transcripts of the "Constitution", they didn't provide just the original "Constitution, but all the construed articles and and effects after it was ammended.
TREASON! Show the original CONSTITUTION, you fucking assholes!
Do you remember somthing called the GATT treaty? That's the *thing* that said everyone must be assigned a Mark Of The Beast^H^H^H^H^HSocial Security. The GATT is completly unconstitutional because it attempts to force everyone into a contract with the Social Security Administration. Read the United Nation's constitution and you'll know that it is responsible for "social security" and it does this by working through the IMF to make the U.S. Trasury send off all those pesky SS-5 forms to thet hospitals/calfing_institutions and other places.
Where's the revolution? There can't be one when there are no Common Law courts. Goto http://chansen.tzo.com and read-up.
"On June 2, the National Office for the Receipt of Information on Human Rights Violations in Cuba reported that workers at a popular cyber cafe had been instructed to review all outgoing e-mails and to track websites viewed by individual patrons. "
Of course you don't hear about that sort of thing happening in "The Land of the Free".
Why don't we all email the hi-res versions of the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights to all our government officials - Bush, Cheney, Ashcroft, and your Senators, and Congressperson.
What a great defeatist attitude. It's a little like saying "we're all going to die anyway so why not kill ourselves now?"
No, I say we are going to live so let's live well.
Terrorism is not a forgone conclusion and there will not be a better world until you eradicate terrorism and all religous funatics. The question is whether you are willing to lessen some of your civil liberties now or wait until things get so bad that they have to declare martial law?
Eradicate all religous fanatics? Hmmmm, sounds bad. Don't need to violate anyone's rights to do that, no sir-ree. There's a nice place for you just off the coat of Florida. It's a big sunny island where everyone gets along because they have eradicated all the fanatics and their rights. I've never heard of any plane hijacking there. Why don't you go hang out there for a while, I'm sure you will be happy.
DMCA, Hollings, Palladium. What might have sounded like paranoia is now common sense.
invented after the Magna Carta?
Uhhhh... this news is at least ten years old. I know this because I was the system administrator who helped put up NARA's first web site back in the early 90's, and NARA's first webmaster. I remember putting the Constitution and Declaration exhibits online (though I didn't make the actual web pages).
NARA was one of the first government agencies on the web, primarily at first to provide access to genealogical research.
... byte me anonymous dough boy. Yes, I DO a lot more than "just rant", and have done so for years. In fact, marching in demos is something I DON'T do, and haven't since a long time ago. I quit marching when I witnessed a group of cops kill someone, a kid they pulled at random out of the crowd, they gang stomped him to death by kicking in his body until he was a mass of blood and gore. They got completely away with it. They were laughing when they did it. I went as far as a personal interview with the lieutenant governor of my state over that one, the end result was nothing happened about it.
And yes, you can say I am "anti" that sort of "government".
Who modded this "funny?" There should be a "Score +1, depressingly true" mod.
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed are not necessarily my own, as I've not yet had my medication today.
Go here and sign up at the bottom of the page.
There is a good deal of solemn cant about the common interests of capital
and labour. As matters stand, their only common interest is that of cutting
each other's throat.
-- Brooks Atkinson, "Once Around the Sun"
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