Abused By Illusions

In Those Days

2010-03-29T16:36:00.009-05:00

In those days nothing quite seemed to work. It was as though I had made my lifes vocation and it was screwing up. Everything in those days seemed out of whack and I often wondered if my middle name had become off kilter. In those days the past seemed broken, the present majorly depressing, and the future didn't seem at all as bright as it once had. All those people that proclaimed from the roof tops to be my friends were in those days no where to be found.

They made a few token efforts but in those days there were a thousand other things that required their immediate attention. I sat alone in those days and often wondered how my universe had become so skewed. In those days I spent hours looking for who had caused my lonely predicament. I often counted miseries in those days to wile away hours when I had nothing better to do. I developed little mental games in those days to play just by myself.

I got lots of intense thinking done in those days. Many self discoveries in those days came to me like pouring rain. I heard voices in the wind and found secrets in the clouds that I have never seen since those days. Those days seem like long ago now but in my heart I know they were only yesterday and are likely to come again often in my life. As one gets older it seems that they more and more find themselves stuck off and on in those days.

I got a call the other day from a friend that had been absent back in those days. It seems she now found herself right in the middle of those days. It made me think back on those days and wonder where so many had been back then. I spent hours that day talking to her and tried to do my best to get her through those days. We talked about my experiences back in those days and how I had coped. We made plans to meet when she got through those days.

My promises in those days to her were ones that I meant to keep. But as so often happened in those days we never seemed to get together. Days, weeks, and finally years past in those days and we never did get to meet. I heard the other day that she had passed away. I shed some tears thinking about those days. Her sister was in from somewhere down south and after the funeral we spent hours talking about those days.

It all made me think how today can so quickly become those days. How sometimes time can get away and before you know it anytime can become those days. So I sat down today while thinking of those days and wrote this out for you all to see. I just hope my words find you before today drifts away like the retreating tide and becomes those days. Before you know it, today and even tomorrow will have become those days. So while your thinking about those days give someone a call or write them an email. It may just make you keep from having regrets about what you didn't do back in those days.

Quitting the Play

2010-03-13T12:22:00.003-05:00

We enter ths world so very sweet and innocent. Till early on they educate us in an opposing philosophy. It's sophistry teaching us that the worlds just not that way. We are taught to transform from being a happy smiling child into a new creature full of fear and doubt. We are taught from our earliest years that it is best to regurgitate someone else's answer instead of seeking and finding our own. Through slight of hand they teach us early on to play for the audience and in doing so we lose our self trying ever harder to play the part for which they have prepared us.

We learn a lesson so wrong that it becomes the world's collective hurt. Changing masks to suit each new audience we slowly allow the sweet child to fade away. She is hidden by the sometimes grand and sometimes mundane parts we are taught to play. No longer does she remember who she was meant to be.

Time to time she tries to slip her mask down to show someone who it was she was meant to be. The great actors of the world can't take it for they have all been taught to always play their part. For no one is allowed to be who they were meant to be. Everyone is miserable and we should want to be just as they.

It's all like some Mephistos play. The Kingdom of God swirls all around them and within them. Yet with eyes to see and ears to hear they adamantly refuse to see or hear it's arrival. For the play connects them to this world while the Kingdom shines a light upon their collective fall from the grace of the God that they mock.

We're all taught to trade our ivory robes for crimson rags. For crimson rags are the worlds costume of choice. A garment designed to hide their nakedness but that allows their abject hypocrisy to shine through like the light of this world that it has become. We run faster and faster chasing after what the world has tried so hard to teach us is true hapiness. While deep down we have known all along that we were born with the only true happiness that we can ever have. We know that the only thing standing in the way of that happiness is the part that they have tried so hard to teach us to play. But, like it always has, the world stands ever ready to protect the play through hate, strife, and war if need be.

"You can't be happy it would ruin our play!" they scream. We're so happy being unhappy why can't you just be content to be just like us? Get yourself some religion so you can blame lucifer for your unhappiness or get yourself some politics so you can blame the other party. Just don't ever interfere with our play! We have way to much invested in this play for mere individuals to question it.

Today, though, I choose to quit the play. I've decided not to be a good sport for even one more day. I cast my crimson rags into the fire and hope for an ivory robe one day. I shall for now revel in my nakedness. Today you see I have decided to just be me and let the pieces fall where they may. I vow to help others who wish to quit the play and just be themselves. I wish no ill will toward those whom have decided that they can't live without the play.

I'm just forced at this juncture in my life to quit the play!

Blackmail and Thrill Rides in Tampa

2010-02-27T19:00:00.005-05:00

I persuaded a gruff Tampa Bay area delivery driver to allow me to tag along on his mad cap Tampa Bay area thrill ride. He was resistant at first but I was soon able to persuade him to cooperate. It was simple really all I had to do was flash some pictures of said driver exiting a *furry party taken some days ago by my agents in the areas seedier underbelly. This thrill ride was sure to allow me to survey the natives in their natural environment while the city teemed in the natural swirl of pandemonium that is a hallmark of most modern major U.S. cities.

Million dollar homes within blocks of boarded up dilapidated buildings and housing projects created an interesting fresco for one, such as myself, with a trained eye in the art of neo-optic semi-synaptic psychological deconstruction. For sale signs line the streets here like psychotic exemplars on a multicultural American economic and social cancer screening. I first observed that the street people prevalent on the streets look as if the derive much more from the mainstream than they once did. Designer shirts coupled with ragged trousers and bed rolls recite a visual narrative that currently sweeps the urban scape of United States major metropolitan areas. The mantra of continual upward mobility has somehow trans morphed into the nightmare of downward economic and social spiral. Some have blamed the alchemist of finance for this seemingly new phenomena. Here, however, I will not digress to further muddy the waters with my own dribblings of sentimental utterances. The economic situation of the country is in utter chaos even the most blind among us can see this clearly.

In upscale neighborhoods Lotus, Mercedes, Royals Royce, and various and sundry luxury automobiles aprise the careful observer of continuing economic prosperity for the top tier of an increasingly top heavy economic house of cards. The slums in contrast speak volumes of the spreading want and despair gathering, like ominous storm clouds, over our cities both large and small. One can almost smell the coming storm on the stagnant air wafting through the city here. There is a foreboding feeling in the air at both mainstream bistros and back alley sandwich shops. Now and then I catch fleeting glimpses in the corners of tearing eyes an eerie expectation of the other shoe dropping and the reverberations toppling the entire unsteady house of cards that our nation has become.

Most, though, seem oblivious as they meander throughout the city. They appear as cybernetic androids following some long forgotten pattern seemingly embedded deep within some long forgotten urban program.

The psycho delivery driver, that has become my guide akin to the ghost of prosperity past, mumbles to himself in a vernacular that seems to crawl from deep within a Louisianan Bayou. He assails me with a physical presence and ironic commentary giving his van the electrified atmosphere of a ceremony being held at an ancient blood letting temple.

The interior milieu of the van coupled with the driver's banter makes the environment queerly stifling yet at some strange sublime level also enlightening. This modern prophet of diesel fumes and artery clogging greasy spoon fare is a keen observer of the human condition with an apparent doctorate in fecal frivolity. He has the ability to turn the most mundane of objects and the people we pass into brilliant frescoes of gastric rupturing hilarity.

Periodically he seems to doze and his blue collar chariot list either to the side of the road or into oncoming traffic. As I awaken him to avoid leaving the road or an almost certain collision I sometimes notice an almost dreamy look in his eyes. This aberrant yet strangely innocent look seems to invoke happier times and environs from a past most different than his present.

We end our wild ride through the streets at a boarded up building emblazoned with a skull icon. He explains to me that this building was used as the location shoot for the apartment building in the movie, "The Punisher." His stubby fingers jab toward a large building scaping the sky like a gigantic talon. That building, he explains, is where the climax to the same film was shot.

We end our day in a small Cuban restaurant enjoying my first Cuban sandwich. The contrast of the slightly greasy meat and hard crusted bread is ample analogy to this city which we have traversed. This the city named, Tampa, supposedly by native Americans to mean the place of the fiery sticks. Cities such as this derive their flavor from the contrast between both its' people and structures. We visit them and through our observations savor them much like my first taste of a Cuban sandwich. In the process we satiate not only our desire to know a new place but also to know a little bit more about ourselves.

*Furry parties are people that hold fetish parties where everyone dresses up as stuffed animals for sexual gratuitous purposes.

Dispatch from the Paranoid Front

2010-02-23T00:32:00.002-05:00

Days pass and I find myself running from the spirits of past, present, and future. I watch as the oblivious soak up the uncaring sunshine of the Gulf Coast. The sea of body language testifies to a myriad of broken dreams and resilient unfulfilled hopes. Their cares evaporating off their well oiled bodies flickers like some satanically tainted celluloid clip from an ancient Lawrence of Arabia film.

They come here to the edge of the ocean to hear the earth sing its sad soothing lullaby. The surf, for them the disenfranchised of both God and man, is natures non-pharmaceutical antidepressant. They are akin to a terrestrial reenactment of the whales that swim from the depths of the deep blue sea to beach themselves. Both, ceremonial acts of a noble but troubled species, touches me and in some twisted way makes me feel less critical of my own personal demons. The noise of the surf becomes an auditory baptism of all the negativity that has built up and corrupted both my mind and spirit.

Both man and beast come to this boundary between terra firma and the deep blue sea in hopes of banishing the melancholic demons tormenting them. I am surrounded by the jinn of these lost souls. Jinn, in some cases so fierce, that they can fling a man a mile or more. They soon pick me up and begin to bounce me from dune to dune in hopes of being rid of me. As I am tumbled like a discarded rag doll I hear bits and pieces of their lunatic liturgies.

A banal parade of garishly appareled adolescents march by, fueled by hormonal storms, casting their path down the sand like a drunken sailor on shore leave. They have not reached the level of desperation promulgated by their parents but seem to be furtively pursuing the family tradition. The surf whispers to me, in a nearly perceptible voice, secrets that it is never quite able to convey in spite of its seeming desperation.

I am saddened by memories bobbing on the waves of my consciousness. Memories of when I was an active participant instead of always the exiled observer in the corner. Depressed by my banishment from the corporal world and the current estate of desolation which I now find to be my domicile.

I wiggle my toes in the warm sand as i relish the siren song of the rushing surf which seems to wish to envelop me. I ponder if in fact I will ever be able to escape my self imposed exile here. Will my spirit rise from the ashes, like the phoenix of old, to once again soar magnificently upon the brilliant wings of my dreams? I call out to the now darkening horizon in a voice that my mind scantily recalls as the voice of my childhood. "Please send us, your abandoned children, that which can only be called redemption!"

The Looming Sense of Impending Doom

2010-02-14T10:19:00.001-05:00

Valentines Day, a holiday created by corporate ghouls to extract filthy lucre out of life's only pure emotion. An orgy of bittersweet confections, cheap heart effigies, and dying roses.

A day to say the things we should be saying everyday. Overcome by the break neck pace enforced by an alleged civilized society we forget. Unconciously we know, in this like so much more, how we have traded the actual for the figurative.

Today we should jump off the demon eyed horse of this lunatics merry-go-round and grab hold, if only briefly, of that which can give our breaking hearts true respite. Stopping for just one second to the search the chasms of our tattered souls for that which is not ephemeral but eternal.

Let us search today for the path leading out of this transmuted funhouse of the heartbroken and spiritually maimed; which has become so much less than fun. We drunkenly lurch first one way then the other in flight from the spectral hauntings of our own human failings.

Finally we are caught as we cross a set of tracks right before the exit. Our heads held firmly to the tracks by the sinewless talons of fear that has replaced our heart. In the distance we hear that most fearful sound of approaching inevitability!

Happy bittersweet confections, cheap heart effigies, and dying roses day!

Paranoia and Terror in Tampa

2010-02-08T01:17:00.012-05:00

A new millennium a decade underway. The me generation, raised in the orgy of consumption that had been the 1980's, was beginning to gray and sag. I embarked on a trip to see if meaning still existed in these Disunited States of America. Or had hope and promise for the future been bled away to become the nightmare of Paranoia and Terror as the idiot box had been screeching at us for nearly a decade. Was I prepared for such a trip? Or would the madness and paranoia hanging low and heavy across the crumbling infrastructure engulf me as it had so many. Not taking any chances I had arranged for an arsenal at my final destination to fend off threats both real and spectral.

They pick me up at the site of my planes crash, for aren't all landings merely controlled crashes anyway, cleverly disguised as 1980's refugees. Out of the corner of my eye, my perception heightened by the five in-flight drinks , I can see their more sinister reptilian features flicker before once again shimmering back to that of 80's refugees today big hair has been replaced by thinning graying hair. Well that is except for the one that they call Papa Bear (did he eat all his cubs?) who wears his 80's mane like some sort of Zuli-Swilli tribe badge of courage! (Wouldn't his pop be proud --back hand delivered -- Bip)

I see that this trip is going to be one of those strange ones, no LSD needed, flashbacks saved from previous decades enough to fuel the wild ride coming. Hours or so it seems, steel belts humming an insane lullaby on the asphalt, co2dependence (a leopard by species) --a friend just made, doing the driving, as we circle round and round and round again the airport roundabout desperately seeking our egress from this TSA militarized zone! The seal, once again his flippers smelling of someone elses fish, screams for co2dependence to turn left as Papa Bear grips the oh shit handle like some joystick of the damned and screams no right!

The group is birthed out into Florida (land of the newly wed and the nearly dead) after bribing the polyester tufted highwayman stuffed in the glass booth. Birth pangs are quickly apparent as Papa Bear squeals (sounding like a squirrel birthing a watermelon) a languid line of curses about co2dependence's inability to drive.

Heading at breakneck speed, adrenaline and collective thirst propelling us, we careen into a house of spirits on the motherless Florida highway. The seal and I search up and down the isle for the perfect mood setting spirit. Pacing the aisles, like two deviants recently kicked from the last methadone clinic on the planet, we decide on two half gallons as one might not be enough in case of shipwreck or disaster. We quickly bribe the state licensed bootlegger and make our way back to the SS Hades and begin to bring her aft. Screech! We have forgotten a tobacco gift to appease the god of sand fleas and unrequited hopes. We reenter, the state licensed bootlegger, like a universal miracle morphs into an exotic tobacconist and extorts us for our pitiful two pack offering.

Back on the motherless Florida highway we head toward Papa Bear's suburban home for the damaged, disillusioned, and delusional. An animal shelter of sorts, it's exterior in compliance with the tightly packed decor of the surrounding suburb. Papa Bear, like the cat lady of lore, quickly introduces the scribbler to his grotto of broken miscreants.

The biggest alligator I ever encountered, with a goatee, meets us at the door and does what apparently is the standard security check for this refuge of the damned. I am in fear for what seems like hours, of a coming body cavity search, before he scowls and finally allows me to pass unmolested into the bowels of this sinister feeling grotto.

As I descend further into this grotto of the sick and twisted I become aware of a rabbit and a toucan chirping back and forth to each other in some indiscernible language. They each have a small laptop device and appear to be playing one of the latest devil worshiping games so popular among the younger set of heathens.

The seal enters the room occupied by the rabbit and toucan as each, almost looking as though it is synchronized, rolls his eyes. The seal, based upon the loud noises he is emitting, seems to be working himself into an orgasmic frenzy of sorts in his constant search for mislaid mullet. A panda emerges from down some unseen hall and scolds the seal imploring him not to awaken what he describes as a viscous kung fu skunk whom apparently is his mate. (What would that pair give one? A skanda or a punk?)

Suddenly a spider monkey races down the hall and burst into the room like a bullet fired from old scratches own gun. It squeaks that the seal has awoken it and its ferret mate. The seal pulls from his bag of tricks one of the many barbed sticks he carries there and pokes the spider monkey with it causing a large commotion. The entire house seems to chirp like some insane fun-house newly relocated from the lower tier of Hell. A roar is heard from Papa Bears cave as he burst down the hall sending the approaching toucan on a tumultuous spin across the room

I now know that I am in the thick of the most dangerous assignment ever. I am frozen in absolute paranoia and terror. Screw my editor for sending me on such an insanity laden suicide mission into the very heart of darkness . As vertigo begins to overtake me I open the first half gallon taking a long draw ....................Updates Later...............

A couple of quotes that I really like

2010-01-24T11:23:00.003-05:00

Here are a couple of quotes that I recently ran across. Tell me what you think about them?

"What a man believes upon grossly insufficient evidence is an index into his desires - desires of which he himself is often unconscious. If a man is offered a fact which goes against his instincts, hewill scrutinize it closely, and unless the evidence is overwhelming, he will refuse to believe it. If, on the other hand, he is offered something which affords a reason for acting in accordance to his instincts, he will accept it even on the slightest evidence. The origin of myths is explained in this way."-- Bertrand Russell, philosopher - "Roads to Freedom"

The fastest way to succeed is to look as if you're playing by other people's rules, while quietly playing by your own. ~Michael Korda

Whats the deal with Facebook Vs Myspace

2010-01-16T00:27:00.002-05:00

I was just wondering if anyone else has had a similar experience to mine? I've been on Myspace for ages now and connected with very few old friends. I get on my Facebook a few days ago and damn I can't quit finding people. Is it that Myspace is mainly the younger crowd and Facebook is the old fuddies which most of my old friends would be? Or does it have something to do with the software itself? Inquiring minds want to know. Whats you opinion?

What is truth in 2010?

2010-01-10T03:04:00.002-05:00

All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident. Arthur SchopenhauerGerman philosopher (1788 - 1860)

How does Arthur Schopenhauer’s quote above apply in 2010? What has become of truth as we enter 2010? After being lied into two unnecessary wars we elect a president that rides a landslide of demanded change into office. Yet, although his speaking ability is a vast improvement, he continues the policies of his lying predecessor. He spends massive amounts of taxpayer money bailing out financial institutions that are "too big to fail." Yet the mass of the population is told that we are to do more with less and endure the pain. We are told that this financial crisis came about because these very same individuals in the financial sector had been playing fast and loose in financial casinos of their own creation. No word is mentioned of the money dumped into the black holes of Afghanistan and Iraq. How far would this money have gone in shoring up the county’s finances and crumbling infrastructure? No one knows as it’s not discussed and is unlikely to be so considering that we now have to stay the course in these disasters. Which, to me, is the equivalent of one bashing her head into the wall today, tomorrow, and everyday into the future. Why? Because, by god, that’s what she started doing and she has to see it through. But I guess, in looking at much of our countries recent history and probably no small part of it’s distant past as well, doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results is an unwritten rule of US government policy.

Not long before I stopped posting on my blog I had an interesting conversation with a young lady in attendance at a small get together. I forget now what movie had initiated the conversation but for the stories sake we will say it was Oliver Stone’s JFK. The conversation moved onto discussion of Gary Web’s "Dark Alliance" series of articles written for the San Jose Mercury News and later published in book form that detailed the CIA and our governments participation in the cocaine trade as part of the Iran-Contra scandal. I started to tell her about an event that I witnessed as part of my job back in the late 80’s or early 90’s that had direct bearing on what Gary Web was trying to bring out with his series of articles. What this young lady said stopped me in my tracks. She said that she thought that most people were aware of the truth to this or that conspiracy but that they really didn’t want to know about any of it as it was all too scary. She went on to use the example of Orson Well’s "War of the Worlds" and the pandemonium that such a fake event caused and stated that we were all better off not to know.

My people are destroyed for LACK OF KNOWLEDGE: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children.
Hosea 4:6

"If a nation expects to be ignorant and free in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be." --Thomas Jefferson to Charles Yancey, 1816. ME 14:384

This conversation resulted in my awakening from my own self-delusion. I had always assumed that those around me needed only to be informed of things that they were unaware. Thus, my odyssey began. As I held similar conversations, throughout my travels, it became apparent that far and wide almost everyone I met was informed but preferred willful ignorance. Willful ignorance you see is both easy and safe. It requires no action on your part. It allows those in power to repeat the same lies over and over and you can pretend anew each day that they are fresh and new. The media and politicians make this easier by periodically repackaging the lies so that once again they might seem fresh.

So once again what is truth in 2010? I posit that it remains to be seen. It is up to each one of us. What say you?

TRUTH SHALL spring out of the earth; and righteousness shall look down from heaven. Psalms 85:11

And ye shall know the truth, and the TRUTH SHALL make you free. John8:32

If you love wealth greater than liberty, the tranquility of servitude greater than the animating contest for freedom, go home and leave us in peace. We seek not your council, nor your arms. Crouch down and lick the hand that feeds you; and may posterity forget that ye were our countrymen.
--Samuel Adams

I'm back

2010-01-03T02:48:00.002-05:00

I've decided after my lengthy absence to start blogging here once again. In the days to come perhaps I can try to catch up here on why I have been gone. Stay tuned!! Did anyone miss me?

Knoxville Medical Marijuana March

2007-08-20T11:30:00.000-05:00

Pictures from Saturdays March for Medical Marijuana at Market Square in Knoxville, Tennessee.

2006-09-13T13:16:00.000-05:00

What we are

Imagine

2006-09-12T15:20:00.000-05:00

Imagine

A great compilation put together by Rumpbucket on Youtube that speaks to where we find ourselves 5 years later. Do we live in a safer more secure world? I'll let you decide.

Mind The Gap

2006-09-06T12:44:00.000-05:00


MI5 whistleblower David Shayler presents new evidence to demand London bombings enquiry. A very detailed and well evidenced documentary which sets out to challenge and ends up totally destroying the official government account of the London bombings. Te quality of the original is average. He describes it at the end as a professional home video still interesting home video.

2006-09-04T09:59:00.000-05:00

Conspiracy vs Coincidence Collage

An excellent video that highlights the difference between conspiracy and coincidence using examples from the past and modern incidents. Watch it now!

Depeche Mode: "John The Revelator"

2006-09-03T04:53:00.000-05:00

I'm not a big Depeche Mode fan but I'll have to give them a thumbs up for the video below!

Hurricane Katrina Anniversary Post

2006-08-29T09:26:00.000-05:00

I’m posting the above video in honor of the one-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. Earlier in the summer I made a personal track to the storm-ravaged Gulf Coast and had the eerie experience of driving through the streets of New Orleans. Coming into the city the first thing I noticed was a smell akin to mildewed wet clothing lingering on top of what can only be described as the smell of death. The site of the destruction was breathtaking and my first thought was that what I was looking at must be similar to what the destruction of a nuclear device might look like. Skyscrapers with the windows blown out, huge box store marquees thrown like children’s toys and lodged into the sides of other buildings. The feeling that the site and smell of New Orleans invoked in me I can only describe by stating that as I entered all I could think about was getting out of there. I can’t imagine having to live there and have the deepest sympathy for those that do after having driven through and seeing the destruction wrought there.

Traveling further through Louisiana I met and enjoyed the hospitality of some of the states and I might dare say the country’s most gracious host (they did after all put up with all my ignant Yankee questions). Also during this leg of my journey I was introduced, by the same great folks, to the culinary delight called a “roux.” Since returning to Tennessee I have made it a personal mission to become somewhat adept at cooking this dish myself as I just can’t get enough of it and can’t rightly say how I ever ate before I was aware of it. I also ate me a mess of “Sugar Town” melons or more lovingly referrred to as “piss chunks.” Folks this was the best watermelon I have ever ate in my life and I’ve been wondering how I can get these shipped up here to me in Yankee land. Thanks again for having me folks! I truly enjoyed getting to enjoy the slice of heaven you folks have for yourself and look forward to the day that I can return. I have ommited your names to protect the innocent and so that you might avoid the infamy of entertaining such a despicable guest as myself!

Masonry - Behind Closed Doors

2006-08-29T08:32:00.000-05:00

What goes on behind the closed doors of the masonic lodge? Jack Harris, former worshipful master in the masonic lodge, reenacts portions of masonic rituals from the first three degrees in freemasonry and explains what he taught in the lodge. Is freemasonry a religion? And why all the rituals? Get an in-depth answer from Jack Harris in the John Ankerberg show! If you are truly curious about freemasonry, and what goes on behind closed doors, you want this show!

Scientists at the Lawrence Livermore Laboratory Cast New Doubt on Magic Bullet Theory

2006-08-26T23:48:00.000-05:00

Scientists at the Lawrence Livermore Laboratory studying the assassination of President John F. Kennedy have done what many thought impossible -- their research suggests that the single-bullet theory is even less credible than it seems.

Read the story at Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

ESS to Participate in Strong Angel III Integrated Disaster

2006-08-24T01:54:00.000-05:00

ESS to test the company's new on-demand Crisis Management software during the event

TEMPE, Ariz. – August 14, 2006 – ESS today announced its participation in Strong Angel III, a collaborative demonstration of civil and military cooperation and communication capabilities put together by a partnership of private companies, government agencies, humanitarian and relief agencies and universities. Hosted by San Diego State University and taking place in San Diego August 21-26, Strong Angel III will field test effective means of delivering life-saving humanitarian relief and rapidly deployable communications systems in the wake of major disasters.

The core site for Strong Angel III will be the operations center at the San Diego Fire Department Fire Rescue Training Facility site, located at the former Naval Training Center near downtown San Diego. San Diego State University's Visualization Center will be a secondary location.

The Strong Angel III demonstration simulates the impact on information sharing in a real-world disaster. The demonstration will assume the context of a worldwide pandemic caused by a highly contagious virus, which is further complicated by a wave of cyber-attacks inflicted by terrorists that cripple critical local infrastructure and systems. Strong Angel III team members will conduct field trials and demonstrations of solutions that address 49 specific humanitarian relief challenges – both technical and social – that have not yet been adequately overcome in real disaster relief efforts.

"In the wake of major incidents like the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Hurricane Katrina and the tsunami in Southeast Asia, it is more important than ever to have an integrated response when disaster strikes," said Eric Rasmussen, MD, director of Strong Angel III and professor at San Diego State University. "The level of public-and private-sector engagement in Strong Angel III is at a remarkable level, underscoring the significance of the task at hand and the commitment of everyone involved to work together to maximize preparedness and coordination efforts."

Some of the demonstrations will include developing solutions for redundant power, adaptive communications, austere network communications, mobile workers, cross-organizational collaboration, mesh networking, satellite services, ephemeral workgroups, geospatial information systems, rapid assessment techniques, shared situational awareness, cyber-security, alerting tools, community informatics, machine-based translation for multi-lingual communication, and social network development.

Strong Angel III sponsors include Google, Cisco Systems, CommsFirst, Microsoft, Save the Children, Sprint Nextel, the Naval Postgraduate School, and the U.S. Department of Defense.

ESS will participate as part of a team from the National Institute for Urban Search and Rescue (NIUSR) and will also test its new Crisis Management application during the exercise. John Gargett, Product Manager for Crisis Management at ESS and a member of the NIUSR Executive Board, will serve as Team NIUSR Command. Other ESS staff members on Team NIUSR include Chuck Mancini, National Solutions Manager – Crisis Management for ESS, as IT Unit Specialist; Tony Bellomo, ESS Senior Technical Consultant, as IT Director; John Ketcham, Crisis Management Practice Manager at ESS, as Situation Unit Leader; and Curtis Moreland, Director of Information Technology at ESS, as Server Manager.

"ESS is committed to the Crisis Management community and to helping with the successful execution of this valuable event," said Robert Johnson, CEO of ESS. "Being able to test our new product during an exercise of this magnitude is a great opportunity."

Louis Clark McCoy, President of NIUSR, said, "We are excited about the participation of ESS in this important activity. Using the ESS application to manage certain aspects of Strong Angel III will provide us with a number of benefits, both during the event and for post-event metrics that will help us measure the success of the exercise."

The new application, on-demand emergency response product by ESS, will be used for a variety of activities during Strong Angel, including monitoring unit logs, incident logs, resource deployments, personnel deployments and Incident Command System (ICS) position checklists. The software is designed to help organizations respond to any kind of incident – big or small, short- or long-term – by making it easy to perform a range of essential tasks.

"We are looking forward to this exercise," said Gargett. "You can never do too much to prepare for real-world disasters and our interest in this is two-fold, in terms of helping to mitigate the impact of a disaster through practice as well as enhanced technology."

About Strong Angel III

Strong Angel III is the third in a series of demonstrations that have taken place since 2000. The first two Strong Angel demonstrations were held in 2000 and 2004 in Hawaii associated with the joint Naval exercises called RIMPAC. Strong Angel III will issue a lessons-learned document on its website as soon as possible after conclusion of the demonstration. For more information on Strong Angel III and a listing of participating public- and private-sector organizations, please visit www.strongangel3.net.

About ESS

ESS is a leading provider of Operational Risk Management software and services for Environmental, Health & Safety (EH&S) and Crisis Management. The company has provided Essential Suite™ and Compliance Suite™ solutions to more than 17,000 businesses, government agencies and other organizations worldwide.

NWO From The Mouths of The Elite

2006-08-23T10:08:00.000-05:00

Immortal Technique - Fourth Branch of Government

2006-08-23T09:51:00.000-05:00

Federal Appeals Court: Driving With Money is a Crime

2006-08-21T20:18:00.000-05:00

Read the story here and then tell me if you see the possible catch-22 that could result from this genius ruling. It would seem to me that, if this ruling stands, that if I'm not carrying money then I'm a vagrant subject to arrest and if I am carrying money then I am a drug dealer amd subject to confiscation of said money and/or arrest. Yet, we wonder why the crime rate continues to grow? Or is it really the idiocy of the court system that continues to grow?

They Want Your Soul - 640x480

2006-08-21T19:44:00.000-05:00

It's really hard to describe this video with words. It features assaulting visuals, with facts and combined information that you will find in no other documentary, laid over an music score that you wont soon forget. With the intense audio/visuals and loads of information you may need to watch this several times to absorb the many things you've probably never heard of. The information contained in this video applies to all Americans and humans alike, regards of beleifs or affiliations. This is as unbiased as it gets.

Major Talking Points:
Political-Bias-Neuroscience, Controlled-Media, Pop-culture / sports, Elite, TV & Radio-induced-ignorance, Death-of-the-Middle-Class, Disaster-Profits, Our-new-hybrid-political-system, Bush / Kerry, Skull & Bones, Hack-Elections, 911-Commission / Prior-Knowledge, Fear-Mongering, Freedom / Terrorism, Shredded-Constitution, War-in-Iraq, PNAC, Military-Net-Centric-Computing, NSA-Wiretaps, Data-mines, DARPA Internet2, TIA/MATRIX, National-ID's, GPS car/phone tracking, Verichip-Implants, Nanotechnology, NBIC, Masonic-DC, Artificial-Intelligence, God-on-Earth, Singularity, Transhumanism, Biological-Brain-Computers, Cyborgs, Beast-of-Revelation, New-Age, Occult, Mayan 2012

All Seeing Eye-Bohemian Rhapsody-From YouTube!

2006-07-26T03:28:00.000-05:00

Some Quotes to Ponder this inDEPENDENCE Day

2006-07-04T16:45:00.000-05:00

And it seems to me perfectly in the cards that there will be within the next generation or so a pharmacological method of making people love their servitude, and producing … a kind of painless concentration camp for entire societies, so that people will in fact have their liberties taken away from them but will rather enjoy it, because they will be distracted from any desire to rebel by propaganda, brainwashing, or brainwashing enhanced by pharmacological methods. — Aldous Huxley, 1959

None are so hopelessly enslaved as those who falsely believe they are free. — Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Through clever and constant application of propaganda people can be made to see paradise as hell, and also the other way around, to consider the most wretched sort of life as paradise. — Adolf Hitler, Mein Kampf, 1923

The real hate crimes are written in the world's holy books for the purpose of pitting one neighbor against another in the name of profit. — Harold Williamson

More than any other time in history, mankind faces a crossroads. One path leads to despair and utter hopelessness. The other, to total extinction. Let us pray we have the wisdom to choose correctly. — Woody Allen

Isn't security the freedom from oppression? Let us pray...When the people start to pray, you've got them on their knees! — Barmaid

Given sufficient time, often the only difference between heresy and prophecy has been their sequence in history. — Harold Williamson

Yesterday idolized, today hated and spit upon, tomorrow forgotten and the day after tomorrow promoted to Sainthood. The only salvation is a sense of humor. — Albert Einstein

Most people would rather die than think; in fact, they do so. — Bertrand Russell

People are supposed to be obedient producers, do what they're told, and the rest of your life is supposed to be passive consuming. Don't think about things. Don't know about things ... Just do what you're told, pay attention to something else and maximize your consumption. That's the role of the public. — Noam Chomsky

The police are not very effective against criminals, but they are extremely effective at controlling the general public. — Ed Stamm

I've never seen a situation so dismal that a policeman couldn't make it worse. — Brendan Behan

When we cooperate with the police, we are called "good citizens", but when we cooperate with each other, we are called "gangs". — any kid on the street

Maximum enlistment age upped to 42

2006-06-21T21:52:00.000-05:00

The Army has again raised its age limit for active-duty and Army Reserve recruits in hopes of expanding its pool of potential soldiers.

The new maximum enlistment age is 42 for both components, Recruiting Command announced Wednesday.

See the full story at Army Times!

2006-05-28T22:38:00.000-05:00

I have registered to play in the PokerStars World Blogger Championship of Online Poker!

This Online Poker Tournament is a No Limit Texas Holdem event exclusive to Bloggers.

Registration code: 7330476

Quote of the Day

2006-05-25T15:12:00.000-05:00

Society prepares the crime; the criminal commits it.

H.T. Buckle

Intelligence Czar Can Waive SEC Rules

2006-05-24T17:48:00.000-05:00

If everything happening in the country becomes a secret, in the name of National Defense, pretty much everything becomes legally permissable or at the very least those involved become non-prosecutable? What would such a national system rightfully be called?

Now, the White House's top spymaster can cite national security to exempt businesses from reporting requirements

President George W. Bush has bestowed on his intelligence czar, John Negroponte, broad authority, in the name of national security, to excuse publicly traded companies from their usual accounting and securities-disclosure obligations. Notice of the development came in a brief entry in the Federal Register, dated May 5, 2006, that was opaque to the untrained eye.

Read the full story here!

2006-05-24T16:15:00.000-05:00

Under a government which imprisons any unjustly, the true place for a just man is in prison.
Henry David Thoreau

Bush governs in dictator style

2006-05-21T18:36:00.000-05:00

Robert L. Black Jr. a retired judge from the Ohio 1st District Court of Appeals makes the following statement in a recent article he penned.

The Constitution says that the president must enforce congressional enactments without exception.

Bush has implicitly defied the Supreme Court's ruling that Congress could legally give certain executive branch officials (such as, a special prosecutor) the power to act independently of the president or the executive branch. He has said that the Constitution gives him control over all executive officials regardless of what Congress enacts.

The leadership style is hierarchical, with the top guy able to make any decision he pleases basically without any approval from any quarter. It is the style of a dictator. It is 100 percent subversive of our Constitutional framework.

Are we read to discard our Constitution because we are afraid of Osama bin Laden?

Read the full story at Cincinnati.com!

Conservatives snub Bush

2006-05-21T18:26:00.000-05:00

The patriarch of US conservatives urged his followers on Sunday to halt their financial support of the Republican Party and start an independent movement, creating a major political shift that could result in heavy losses for the US ruling party in upcoming elections.

Richard Viguerie, who was instrumental in cementing the winning coalitions behind Ronald Reagan in 1980 and George W Bush in 2000, declared that conservatives were "downright fed up" with both the president and congressional Republicans and should strike out on their own.

Read the full story at News24.com!

Fireman: "bomb in the building start clearing out"

2006-05-21T18:06:00.000-05:00

New Video Clip Surfaces: Firefighters Say Bombs in WTC.

See it here!

Illinois Legislators Introduce Bill for Bush Impeachment

2006-05-21T18:01:00.000-05:00

Three members of the Illinois General Assembly have introduced a bill that urges the General Assembly to submit charges to the U. S. House of Representatives to initiate impeachment proceedings against the President of the United States, George W. Bush, for willfully violating his Oath of Office to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States and if found guilty urges his removal from office and disqualification to hold any other office in the United States.
The Jefferson Manual of rules for the US House of Representatives makes clear that impeachment proceedings can be initiated by a state legislature submitting charges. The state of Illinois is on its way toward forcing on the House what not a single one of its members has yet had the courage to propose: Articles of Impeachment.

Read the full story at Coastal Post Online!

Who controls the world?

2006-05-11T19:45:00.000-05:00

Who indeed? http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3891535120990840079

Pardons Granted 88 Years After Crimes of Sedition

2006-05-03T19:09:00.000-05:00

The sedition law, which made it a crime to say or publish anything "disloyal, profane, violent, scurrilous, contemptuous or abusive" about the government, soldiers or the American flag, was unanimously passed by the Legislature in February 1918. It expired when the war ended, Mr. Work said.

During that time, though Germans were the largest ethnic group in Montana, it was also illegal to speak German, and books written in it were banned. Local groups called third-degree committees were formed to ferret out people not supportive of the war, especially those who did not buy Liberty Bonds.

Mr. Work, who was conducting research for the book when the Sept. 11 attacks occurred, said he had found the similarities between 2001 and 1918 to be eerie.

"The hair on the back of my neck stood up," Mr. Work said. "The rhetoric was so similar, from the demonization of the enemy to saying 'either you're with us or against us' to the hasty passage of laws."

Read the rest of the story here!

The "New Totalitarianism" now defines a desperate neo-con end game

2006-05-02T02:08:00.000-05:00

The "New Totalitarianism" now defines a desperate neo-con end game

Sad But Hilarious: Forbes List Best Places to Go to Prison

2006-04-29T07:51:00.000-05:00

Is it a sign of the times? A sign of the changing readership of Forbes? Or just a change in the vacation destinations of choice of said readership? Check out the article at Forbes.com . What do you think?

THE DOORS OF PERCEPTION:WHY AMERICANS WILL BELIEVE ALMOST ANYTHING

2006-04-26T21:27:00.000-05:00

P.T. Barnum is often quoted as saying, "there is a sucker born every minute." Tim O'Shea has posted an excellent article at Thedoctorwithin.com that expands on Barnum's saying in this modern age. The title of Mr. Oshea's article is THE DOORS OF PERCEPTION: WHY AMERICANS WILL BELIEVE ALMOST ANYTHING. The author does an excellent job of demonstrating and documenting how the perception of Americans is created almost whole cloth with the three elements of deceit, dissimulation, and distraction. Reading Mr. Oshea's work made me think that if Barnum were alive today he might revise his maxim to something along the lines of, "there is a sucker created every second." From reading Mr. Oshea's essay it would appear that this revised maxim might apply to many of us and if one takes an honest look around our country might one discover that we have become a nation of programmed suckers. Give his essay a read and tell me what you think?

Sociopathy of Conspiracy

2006-04-25T07:41:00.000-05:00

Check out this interesting and highly informative essay by Alfred Lehmberg titled Sociopathy of Conspiracy. The author, in my opinion, makes some very interesting observations that seem to run counter to the generally accepted thinking on this topic and ties his observatons in with numerous sociological studies. Sometimes I wonder if generally accepted thinking is not in and of itself a pathology indicative of a mass societal psychosis. What do you think?

More involved in Oklahoma City bombing?

2006-04-20T00:25:00.000-05:00

Check out this interesting interview by Rita Cosby of Terry Nichols son and what he says about the OKC Bombing here!

56% OF GULF WAR VETS SICK FROM DEPLETED URANIUM

2006-04-15T05:45:00.000-05:00

SF BAY VIEW.COM

Heads roll at Veterans Administration
Mushrooming depleted uranium (DU) scandal blamed

by Bob Nichols
Project Censored Award Winner

Preventive Psychiatry E-Newsletter charged Monday that the reason Veterans Affairs Secretary Anthony Principi stepped down earlier this month was the growing scandal surrounding the use of uranium munitions in the Iraq War.

Writing in Preventive Psychiatry E-Newsletter No. 169, Arthur N. Bernklau, executive director of Veterans for Constitutional Law in New York, stated, “The real reason for Mr. Principi’s departure was really never given, however a special report published by eminent scientist Leuren Moret naming depleted uranium as the definitive cause of the ‘Gulf War Syndrome’ has fed a growing scandal about the continued use of uranium munitions by the US Military.”

Bernklau continued, “This malady (from uranium munitions), that thousands of our military have suffered and died from, has finally been identified as the cause of this sickness, eliminating the guessing. The terrible truth is now being revealed.”

He added, “Out of the 580,400 soldiers who served in GW1 (the first Gulf War), of them, 11,000 are now dead! By the year 2000, there were 325,000 on Permanent Medical Disability. This astounding number of ‘Disabled Vets’ means that a decade later, 56% of those soldiers who served have some form of permanent medical problems!” The disability rate for the wars of the last century was 5 percent; it was higher, 10 percent, in Viet Nam.

“The VA Secretary (Principi) was aware of this fact as far back as 2000,” wrote Bernklau. “He, and the Bush administration have been hiding these facts, but now, thanks to Moret’s report, (it) ... is far too big to hide or to cover up!”

Read the full story at SFBayview.com!

The Death of British Freedom

2006-04-14T14:27:00.000-05:00

Check out John Pilger's article The Death of British Freedom over at Antiwar.com via the supplied link. It seems that Britan, like the United States, is in the process of legislating the freedoms of her people away.

Former Head Of Star Wars Program Says Cheney Main 9/11 Suspect

2006-04-04T09:10:00.000-05:00

Isn't it interesting that more and more credible mainstream sources are beginning to come forward with grave doubts on the governments conspiracy theory? Could the dam be bursting? Check out this article by Paul Joseph Watson and Alex Jones at http://www.propagandamatrix.com/articles/april2006/040406mainsuspect.htm .

Bush Declares War on Journalist Not Conforming to Administrations Propaganda

2006-03-06T10:51:00.000-05:00

National Security letters are going out to those that host the sites of journalist critical or not conforming to the Bush administrations ongoing propaganda campaign. One such letter recently went out to the host of Doug Thompson's Capitol Hill Blue site requesting traffic data, payment information, and information about the publisher. The trouble is that Mr. Thompson is also the owner of the service that host the website so in effect the government is asking him to turn over said information and not tell himself about it. The article also discusses Attorney General Gonzales quest to convene grand juries to bring journalist in front of to find out whom it is within government that is leaking information on the current administrations illegal use of wiretaps.

Read the full story on the Bush Administrations war on the last remaining vestiges of open and honest journalism at Capitol Hill Blue .

This all reminds me of a statement made by the President during a speech on August 5, 2004:

"Our enemies are innovative and resourceful -- and so are we. They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people -- and niether do we."

I realize that at the time this statement was made that it was said that this was just yet another Bush verbal gaffe. Although, in light of everything that this corrupt administration has done and continues to do in the apparent attempt to destroy our constitutional form of government is it any great stretch of the imagination for one to believe that perhaps this statement is just an instance of the truth slipping out?

It is said that Ben Franklin once questioned on what the Constitution had given us replied, "a Republic if you can keep it." Today we find ourselves at the apex of the decision betweeen a Constitutional Republic governed by laws and reason and tyranny governed by petty men that seek only to increase their personal fortunes using the fear and herd mentality of their fellow country men. Will Americans once again rise to the occasion as they have so many times in the past and see that the ship of state is set back on a proper course? Or will the apathy of the American public make the following statement by George W. Bush a self-fullfilling prophecy:

"If this were a dictatorship it'd be a heck of a lot easier, just as long as I'm the dictator." -- George W. Bush December 18, 2000

911 Eyewitness Video

2006-02-26T07:00:00.000-05:00

Excellent 911 Google streaming video from an angle you may have never seen before. This video was recorded and compiled by Richard A. Siegel. This is the only known unedited footage that contains a clear, real-time audio track of the many disturbing events that took place during the World Trade Center destruction. Learn the truth about what happened at the WTC on 9.11.2001 from eyewitness testimony and easily understood scientific analysis. Local news radio coverage as overheard at the Hoboken waterfront. The pictures tell the story and this is one story that all New Yorkers, and anyone who was traumatized by this shocking attack on the WTC, must see. In memory of all those that perished, 911 Eyewitness is a voice of the victims that must never be forgotten.

See it here!

A chilling threat in freedom's land

2006-02-26T06:57:00.000-05:00

By LEONARD PITTS

"The enemies of freedom will be defeated." - President George W. Bush, 2005"
"We have met the enemy and he is us." - Pogo, 1971"

The following happened in the United States of America on Feb. 9 of this year.

The scene is the Little Falls branch of the Montgomery County Public Library in Bethesda, Md. Business is going on as usual when two men in uniform stride into the main reading room and call for attention. Then they make an announcement: It is forbidden to use the library's computers to view Internet pornography.

As people are absorbing this, one of the men challenges a patron about a Web site he is visiting and asks the man to step outside. At this point, a librarian intervenes and calls the uniformed men aside. A police officer is summoned. The men leave. It turns out they are employees of the county's department of Homeland Security and were operating way outside their authority.

Rad the rest of the story here!

Bush Tags Bloggers As Terrorists

2006-02-14T16:01:00.000-05:00

In a time of universal deceit - telling the truth is a revolutionary act.
George Orwell

As a rule, dictatorships guarantee safe streets and terror of the doorbell. In democracy the streets may be unsafe after dark, but the most likely visitor in the early hours will be the milkman.
Adam Michnik

It's dangerous to be right when the government is wrong.
Francois Marie Arouet Voltaire

So the telling of truth is now considered a terrorist act?

Read this stomach churning story at http://www.propagandamatrix.com/articles/february2006/140206bloggers.htm!

Remember the truth. Remember Terrance Yeakey!

2006-02-14T15:57:00.000-05:00

Terrance Yeakey was the first police officer to arrive at the Murrah Building following the Oklahoma City bombing. Terrance called his wife that morning and cried to her over the phone. He told her repeatedly "It's not true. It's not what they are saying. It didn't happen that way." Apparently, Officer Yeakey saw something he wasn't supposed to. He was harassed for a full year after the bombing and expressed his belief to loved ones that he would be murdered because of what he knew. One evening, Yeakey called his then ex-wife to inform her that he was being followed by what he thought were federal agents and he was going to try and lose them. His patrol car was found abandoned along a dirt road near El Reno, the front seat soaked with blood. Officer Yeakey himself was found a mile and a half away on federal property, he had been severely beaten with gashes on both arms and his throat, rope burns on his wrists and neck, plus a gunshot through the back of his head leaving no powder burns.

Read the full story and hear the audio at http://www.cerebellum.tv/stories/yeakey.php!

"Killing One Person Is Murder: Killing Thousands At 9/11 Is Domestic Policy": This Bumper Sticker Slogan On Seattle Resident's Car Has Led To MKULTRA

2006-02-13T02:03:00.000-05:00

"Killing One Person Is Murder: Killing Thousands At 9/11 Is Domestic Policy": This Bumper Sticker Slogan On Seattle Resident's Car Has Led To MKULTRA Tactics Used Against Her.Many others like Susan Elmes of Seattle have had 'physical abuse and gang stalking' tactics used against them for simply expressing their freedom of speech rights. Although spygate is a problem, FBI/CIA hired thugs are in force doing the administration's dirty work as illegal wiretapping and surveillance campaign goes on in the background.
11 Feb 2006

Read the full story at Artic Beacon now!

Check out The Kentroversy Papers

2006-02-09T05:10:00.000-05:00

Check out The Kentroversy papers at http://kentroversypapers.blogspot.com/. The site contains the story and insider knowledge of a disaffected member of one of the Elite families that was and is connected to the Bush Crime family.

Osama and the J. Edgar Hoover Memorial Vacuum Cleaner

2006-01-31T06:48:00.000-05:00

Check out the linked article with the title above at Another Day in the Empire. It's a fantastic read about the path our country has chosen down the slippery slope toward a police state and despotism.

ENRON - THE SMOKIN' CANNON OF 9/11?

2006-01-18T03:20:00.000-05:00

Could it be that today the United States is ruled by cheap whores and those that are not are caught in ethical honeypots? Read Devvy Kidd's article here and you tell me?

Oklahoma City bombing: New evidence renews conspiracy debate

2006-01-17T03:00:00.000-05:00

An interesting article from the Kansas City Star on new evidence in the OKC Bombing case!

Homeland Security opening private mail

2006-01-07T14:58:00.000-05:00

Pay particular attention to the highlighted portion of Amendemnt IV of the United States Constitution: Amendment IV - Search and seizure. Ratified 12/15/1791.

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.

Now read the MSNBC story about the 81 year old retired University of Kansas History professor's mail from a longtime friend living in the Phillipines who just happens to be of the Catholic faith at http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10740935/.

I suppose I shouldn't be at all suprised with the DHS employing former members of the East German Stasi and the Soviet era KBG, see refernces at http://www.dissidentvoice.org/Jan05/Whitney0121.htm , http://www.libertypost.org/cgi-bin/readart.cgi?ArtNum=81704 ,that such individuals would be working overtime to create for the American public a utopian police state devoid of our most cherished rights. My question, however, is where are those pesky elected officials of ours that swore an oath to defend the constitution against all enemies foriegn and domestic? Not only are they turning a blind eye to the enemies of the constitution in the present administration but apparently aren't happy with such simple treason and have decided to import foriegn enemies to help oversee the destruction of the American Republic. The founding fathers cry out from their graves while the present generation of, dare I say statesman, fiddle, play rounds of golf, and scramble to launder their illegal contributions from lobbyist as the Bill of Rights is gutted.

How Bush's Sick Joke Became Public Policy

2005-12-30T14:17:00.000-05:00

“A dictatorship would be a heck of a lot easier, there's no question about it.”

So declared George W. Bush in July 2001, just weeks prior to 9/11. This was at least the third occasion on which Mr. Bush spoke wistfully, in public and on the record, about exercising dictatorial powers.

Once would be a lame joke; twice, a symptom of a seriously impaired sense of humor. Three times, however, is suggestive of seriously malevolent intentions. In our system of government, which remains in form – if not in practice – a constitutional republic, chief executives simply do not joke about dictatorial ambitions.

Here's a useful parallel. It is a serious federal offense even to joke about wanting to kill the President of the United States. Doing so even one time is sufficient to provoke a visit from the Secret Service. Were someone to do so three times, he would almost certainly face prosecution, as well as an invasive psychological evaluation.

Shouldn't it be considered just as grave an offense for a president, who swore an oath in God's name to uphold our Constitution, to make jokes about murdering our republic in order to erect a dictatorship?

We now know that Mr. Bush wasn't merely repeating one of his favorite thigh-slappers. In the hours immediately following the 9/11 attacks, the legal alchemists in Mr. Bush's court sought to transmute his insipid, adolescent joke into a tangible reality.

Of course, the assumption that Bush can wield quasi-dictatorial powers has been woven into the extravagant claims he and his underlings have made regarding the supposedly illimitable “Commander-in-Chief” authority permitting him to imprison people at will, wage aggressive war without a congressional declaration, order illegal surveillance of American citizens, and otherwise do pretty much anything he is not explicitly forbidden by Congress to do. That is the gravamen of The Powers of War and Peace, John Yoo's book-length brief on behalf of the Bush regime's doctrine of unfettered executive power. As a second-tier functionary in the regime's legal directorate, Yoo was a primary author of that doctrine.

But thanks to a badly overdue disclosure offered by former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, we now have a better understanding of just how arrogantly lawless the Bush regime has become. In a December 23 Washington Post op-ed column that was prompted by the unfolding “Snoopgate” scandal, Daschle testifies that the Senate specifically denied to the Bush regime the plenary powers it now claims were given to it.

Read the full story at The New American!

GET OFF THE GLOBALIZATION GRID

2005-12-26T22:13:00.000-05:00

Nancy Levant
August 23, 2005
NewsWithViews.com

Each and every day, people around the world are realizing that the one-world government is based upon a hybrid Socialism-Communism economics system – a system of corporate governance and ownership of natural resources, land, water, and complete control of human beings. It is a system based upon the marriage of corporations, science, and politics. It is a system that is funded by us, the world’s people.

But what do knowing people do? We can’t fight manufactured super viruses, HAARP and psychotronic weapons, and we certainly cannot fight global nuclear arsenals. But we can, however, refuse to think and participate in the global economics systems, which were set up to literally enslave humankind. For instance, the usury system, which was implemented to keep us in a perpetual state of un-payable and unsolvable debt, can go unused.

We have been sold a bill of goods that we are “successful” if we owned things – including homes (remember the push several years ago by our leadership that declared all Americans should own homes). In fact, “ownership” does not exist under the current Federal Reserve System and centralized wealth banking system. The usury system actually began with the birth of our nation. “Ownership” in America actually means that you, yourself, are owned and that anything you have accumulated, including land, homes, automobiles, and other possessions, can be taken. We are now realizing the truth of this system. The usury system also identifies people as bank-owned commodities. This comes in handy as the world switches to global Socialism and perceived “rights” are eliminated one by one.

It is time to reinvent America, but we cannot do so using the current bastardization of our Constitution. Congress has become corrupted in unimaginable senses, and representation has been steadily eroded over the last 200+ years. We have seen a steady march toward government by corporate aristocracy for 200+ years, but we allowed the taking of freedom in exchange for a perceived ownership of stuff. It is time to understand government for the first time in American history, and it is time to create the government of our choosing. To even have the chance to do so, we must stop thinking like controlled subjects and we must stop living under bureaucratic regulations of control. We must recreate ourselves by recreating our patterns of thinking and living. There is simply no other alternative but globally regulated enslavement by global aristocrats – and they have arrived fully armed and loaded to the teeth with weapons and taxation cash. Their entire system is based upon our money and their interest rates. We have to stop funding our enslavers

Read the rest of this story at Newswithviews.com!

Will we also submit to slavery if assured of freedom?

2005-12-22T19:19:00.000-05:00

Augustus was sensible that mankind is governed by names; nor was he deceived in his expectation, that the senate and people would submit to slavery, provided they were respectfully assured that they still enjoyed their ancient freedom. - Edward Gibbons, The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire

Read more at Undernews!

Bill Would Allow Arrests For No Reason In Public Place

2005-12-22T17:06:00.000-05:00

Citizens Would Also Have To Show ID

UPDATED: 7:22 pm EST December 19, 2005

CLEVELAND -- A bill on Gov. Bob Taft's desk right now is drawing a lot of criticism, NewsChannel5 reported.

One state representative said it resembles Gestapo-style tactics of government, and there could be changes coming on the streets of Ohio's small towns and big cities.

The Ohio Patriot Act has made it to the Taft's desk, and with the stroke of a pen, it would most likely become the toughest terrorism bill in the country. The lengthy piece of legislation would let police arrest people in public places who will not give their names, address and birth dates, even if they are not doing anything wrong.

WEWS reported it would also pave the way for everyone entering critical transportation sites such as, train stations, airports and bus stations to show ID.

"It brings us frighteningly close to a show me your papers society," said Carrie Davis of the ACLU, which opposes the Ohio Patriot Act.

There are many others who oppose the bill as well.

"The variety of people who opposed to this is not just a group of the usual suspects. We have people far right to the left opposing the bill who think it is a bad idea," said Al McGinty, NewsChannel5’s terrorism expert.

Read the full story at Newsnet5.com!

Gonzales: War powers authorized eavesdropping

2005-12-19T19:01:00.000-05:00

Mr. Gonzales this is true if the target of the war is say the American People?

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President George W. Bush's decision to eavesdrop on people within the United States was backed by the U.S. Congress' authorization of military force after the September 11, 2001, attacks, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said on Monday.

"There were many people, many lawyers, within the administration who advised the president that he had inherent authority as commander in chief under the Constitution to engage in this kind of signals intelligence of our enemy," Gonzales said in an interview with CNN.

"We also believe that the authorization to use force which was passed by the Congress in the days following the attacks of September 11th constituted additional authorization for the president to engage in this kind of" electronic surveillance, he said.

Read the full story here!

Did Congress Pass Legislation Allowing Bush to Violate The Law Against Illegal Spying?

2005-12-19T18:50:00.000-05:00

Will they continue to allow him to keep doing it now that he's confessed? If WE THE PEOPLE don't act on this, and demand an end to it and serious, legal repercussions, the USA is lost.

by Rob Kall

Bush spends a few years, with the collaboration of right wing psycho members of congress, ordering a spy agency that's not supposed to operate in the US to spy on US citizens.

The sycophant mainstream media pick up the spoon-fed Republican spin that it was about national security. They fail to ask the big question. What the hell were you doing violating federal laws against non-court-authorized spying? If the nation was in danger, why couldn't you get court authorization? Why did you use the NSA to spy illegally. Why not use legal agencies that have conventional rules, oversight and protections?

But these pathetic media pawns, these stenographic transmitters of the right wings lying spin didn't ask any of these obvious questions. Or they gently offered them and let Bush's evasions pass.

That leaves the alternative media to ask the questions. And we can ask the right questions. The problem is, we don't get to ask Bush, or the NSA, or the criminal congressmen who he told, who abetted if not collaborated in his crime.

We don't get to broadcast an answer to millions of viewers.

But at least we are taking a shot at seeking the truth. At least we are concerned about the truth and about the law and about the safety and future of American democracy.

Somehow, this insane situation can not stand. Bush broke the law. His confidant congressional partners in crime also broke the law. They cannot spin their way out of this one. They cannot block an investigation. The chronically spineless, ineffectual Democrats are going to have to get off their asses and take this one. Russ Feingold did it. He got up in congress and expressed his outrage. And enough senators, including Republicans, who, perhaps have begun to wake to see that they have been supporting a stupid, lying, idiot criminal, got together to block the continuation of the patriot act.

Read the full article at Opednews.com!

Congressman calls for Bush impeachment

2005-12-19T18:39:00.000-05:00

U.S. Rep. John Lewis said Monday in a radio interview that President Bush should be impeached if he broke the law in authorizing spying on Americans.

Read the full article at AccessNorthGeorgia.com.

Music for the Resistance from Les Visible

2005-12-19T18:36:00.000-05:00

Check it out!

http://www.soundclick.com/bands/pagemusic.cfm?bandID=97737

NSA uses ECHELON against US citizens

2005-12-17T16:02:00.000-05:00

And the Pat Act is off for now
By Thomas C Greene in Washington
Published Friday 16th December 2005 22:36 GMT

Washington Roundup Who would have believed that twitchy paranoiacs are actually onto something? Incredibly, they are: the New York Times has revealed that the US National Security Agency (NSA) has been spying on American citizens.

Read the full story at The Register!

TSA Wants Access to Veterans’ Files to Add ‘Mental Defectives’ to Watch List

2005-12-15T14:57:00.000-05:00

It looks as though, if TSA gets its way, a large portion of the veterans returning from Irag and Afghanistan may be shit out of luck if they want to travel by airplane. Isn't it just insane how the military wonders why it is getting so hard to recruit? Serve your country in a war zone and come home traumatized and lose your right to free and unrestricted travel. Get put on the very same list as the terrorist they supposedly sent you to fight? How's that for a thank you?

Read about it at CQ.com!

Is the Pentagon spying on Americans?

2005-12-14T18:06:00.000-05:00

Secret database obtained by NBC News tracks ‘suspicious’ domestic groups
NBC VIDEO

• Pentagon spying?
Dec. 13: A secret Pentagon database indicates the U.S. military is collecting information on American peace activists and monitoring Iraq war protests. NBC's Lisa Myers reports.
Nightly News

Read about it at MSNBC!

It looks as though perhaps the mainstream media has become enamored with conspiracy theory. You think? Or has the tremendous loss of profits and thus jobs in the media over the past couple of years nudged the media into, gasp, beginning to investigate and report real news? Only time will tell I suppose. However, I think the MSM probably has a large hill to climb in regaining their credibility atleast among sentient human beings. Apparently government produced and released propaganda pieces do not sate the appetite of those that seek realiable news and information. It looks as though the population of "ditto heads" willing to tune in and nod their heads obediently is not sufficent to financially maintain the fourth estate in the manner in which they had become accustomed. Hopefully these free market forces have and will continue to awaken the MSM from their slumber. For their sake, I hope they have not waited too long to seek to restore some semblance of a free and honest American press.

Republican Congressman Says Totalitarian Regime a Danger

2005-12-12T17:31:00.000-05:00

Republican Congressman Says Totalitarian Regime a Danger
Bob Barr says military dictatorship close

Read the below excerpt from former Republican Congressman Bob Barr's interview and read the full interview here!

Barr said that legislation like the Patriot Act and its imminent re-authorization and expansion were more of a threat to the American way of life than any terrorist attack.

"Even when the leaders in Washington say we're not going to let the terrorists change our way of life, they are implementing policies that do precisely that."

Barr elaborated that the manipulation of fear was a key cornerstone in the government's coup de 'tat on constitutional liberties.

"They're using people's fear of another terrorist attack to move forward with various government programs that the government has wanted to gather and put in place for many many years. They're using the fear which is now driving public policy in this country which is very unfortunate and very un-American. Our leaders are shamelessly playing on that fear to implement and grab power."

Secret ID Law to Get Hearing

2005-12-12T11:00:00.000-05:00

John Gilmore is apparently getting ready to get his day in court. Check out the latest in the article over at Wired News!

Gilmore describes himself as being under "regional arrest," and said he would love to drive and fly again.

"I'm a millionaire," Gilmore said. "I can do whatever the fuck I want, right? Why should I run around without an ID? Because no one else was paying attention to that and letting our liberties slip down the drain. I figured it was worth some amount of money and some amount of personal sacrifice to keep a free society"

UNDERNEWS: BODIES OF IRAQ VETS SENT BACK TO FAMILIES AS BAGGAGE

2005-12-12T07:08:00.000-05:00

UNDERNEWS: BODIES OF IRAQ VETS SENT BACK TO FAMILIES AS BAGGAGE

Selfishness and Social Darwinism

2005-12-12T06:16:00.000-05:00

When you get the chance check out Randy at Twain's Ghost essay Selfishness and Social Darwinism; in it he reexamines social Darwinism. He makes an excellent argument on how the corporatist misuse the words of, gasp, Adam Smith and his Wealth of Nations. The essay also looks at the works of Stephen Jay Gould, Richard C Lewinton, and Peter Kropotkin. An excellent read for those that wish to delve into the truths and fallacies espoused in the name of the modern economic system.

Goodbye Jo Jo Dancer you will be Greatly Missed!

2005-12-11T05:02:00.000-05:00

Richard Franklin Lennox Thomas Pryor
(December 1, 1940 - December 10, 2005)

UNDERNEWS: HUNGARIAN JOURNALIST ATTACKS U.S. CONCENTRATION CAMPS

2005-12-11T04:50:00.000-05:00

UNDERNEWS: HUNGARIAN JOURNALIST ATTACKS U.S. CONCENTRATION CAMPS

UNDERNEWS: DEMOCRATS IN HOUSE - INCLUDING PELOSI - HAVE DEAL WITH GOP NOT TO FILE ETHICS COMPLAINTS AGAINST EACH OTHER

2005-12-11T04:49:00.000-05:00

UNDERNEWS: DEMOCRATS IN HOUSE - INCLUDING PELOSI - HAVE DEAL WITH GOP NOT TO FILE ETHICS COMPLAINTS AGAINST EACH OTHER

Bush on the Constitution: 'It's just a goddamned piece of paper'

2005-12-09T18:34:00.000-05:00

Read my earlier open letter as I think it outlines nicely my feelings on a statement like this. This statement by a sitting President of the United States of America perfectly illustrates all that is wrong with our country. Read the excerpt below and then read Mr. Thompson's full article here!

Last month, Republican Congressional leaders filed into the Oval Office to meet with President George W. Bush and talk about renewing the controversial USA Patriot Act.

Several provisions of the act, passed in the shell shocked period immediately following the 9/11 terrorist attacks, caused enough anger that liberal groups like the American Civil Liberties Union had joined forces with prominent conservatives like Phyllis Schlafly and Bob Barr to oppose renewal.

GOP leaders told Bush that his hardcore push to renew the more onerous provisions of the act could further alienate conservatives still mad at the President from his botched attempt to nominate White House Counsel Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court.

“I don’t give a goddamn,” Bush retorted. “I’m the President and the Commander-in-Chief. Do it my way.”

“Mr. President,” one aide in the meeting said. “There is a valid case that the provisions in this law undermine the Constitution.”

“Stop throwing the Constitution in my face,” Bush screamed back. “It’s just a goddamned piece of paper!”

I’ve talked to three people present for the meeting that day and they all confirm that the President of the United States called the Constitution “a goddamned piece of paper.”

And, to the Bush Administration, the Constitution of the United States is little more than toilet paper stained from all the shit that this group of power-mad despots have dumped on the freedoms that “goddamned piece of paper” used to guarantee.

Read the Complte article at Capitol Hill Blue.

ERASING AMERICA!

2005-12-09T02:29:00.000-05:00

When you get the chance check out Steven Yates article on how the America you grew up in is being erased. You can find the full article over at Newswithviews.com. Here is a short excert to give you an idea of what a good read you are in for.

The United States of America, once—long ago—a Constitutional republic, is being erased. The erasure of America isn’t reported on the 6 o’clock news, of course. It isn’t much noticed, because it is happening too slowly—although the pace has increased over the past couple of decades. Be this as it may, there is no need to speak of “conspiracy theories.” For one thing, it isn’t a theory. It is as much a fact as gravity. It is being carried out in plain sight, not behind closed doors in smoke filled rooms. Anyone with Web access can follow the process. Those in the business of erasing America know, however, that they are operating in a culture whose educational system has been strip-mined, so to speak. America’s masses by and large don’t know what a Constitutional republic is, and use the Web the same way they use television—for entertainment. But all you need to know is there, and you don’t have to stick with NewsWithViews.com or Steven Yates’s blog.

Check out the full article at Newswithviews.com.

Steven Yates, Ph.D., is the most published professional philosopher in South Carolina. He teaches as a lowly adjunct instructor of philosophy at University of South Carolina Upstate (occupational punishment for his utter lack of political correctness and for pursuing issues from the standpoint of adherence to Constitutionally limited government, personal moral responsibility guided by a Christian worldview, and the rule of law as opposed to arbitrary rule by politicians, judges, and unelected bureaucrats). Later this month he will be joining the faculty at Greenville Technical College in Greenville, S.C., also as an adjunct.

He is the author of Civil Wrongs: What Went Wrong With Affirmative Action (San Francisco: ICS Press, 1994) and Worldviews: Christian Theism vs. Modern Materialism (delayed, but due out this summer). He also works on manuscripts with names such as In Defense of Logic and Philosophical Questions as well as on a science fiction novel, Skywatcher’s World. His articles and reviews have appeared on LewRockwell.com as well as NewsWithViews.com and other websites. He has also published in academic journals including Inquiry, Metaphilosophy, American Catholic Philosophical Quarterly, Reason Papers, Public Affairs Quarterly, Journal of Libertarian Studies, Quarterly Journal of Austrian Economics and others. He recently held a year-long fellowship with the Ludwig von Mises Institute in Auburn, Ala., has appeared at conferences ranging from the American Philosophical Association to the South Carolina Society for Philosophy, and made numerous talk radio appearances. He spoke on “The Real Matrix and Sustainable Development” at the recent 6th Annual Freedom 21 National Conference in Reno, Nev. He lives in Greenville, South Carolina, where he also directs the Worldviews Project and is a member of the S.C. Chapter of Citizens Committee to Stop the FTAA.
You can read more of his articles at his blog It's Happening Here!

An Excellent Essay by Manuel Valenzuela on the Modern Condition

2005-12-08T13:35:00.000-05:00

Below is an exceprt from an excellent essay by Manual Valenzuela on how the media manipulaltes and manufactures reality in whole cloth. It is highly recommended read. The full article is available at Mr. Valenzuela's site at http://www.valenzuelasveritas.blogspot.com/.

The Keepers at the Gate are the creators of reality, of news and opinion, those that filter and whitewash and erase from memory, those whose job it is to distract and sensationalize and manage culture. It is they who possess the responsibility of altering mass thought and opinion in favor of the Establishment, pushing the goals of the few into the homes of the many. A nation that has been weaned away from the liberating mechanisms of knowledge and reason and free thinking must depend on the opinions it hears and the images it sees to create its own reality. Pushed away from and trained to detest reading, getting news only by watching television, trained to absorb the views of pundits and talking heads whose opinion always favors the interests of the elite, America’s population is robbed of divergent and diverse views, failing to grasp the dissenting opinions and debate needed for brains to analytically synthesize all angles of a story.

Instead, a population conditioned to have the attention span of ten second sound bites has been manipulated to hear the repetitive slogans and cheers and talking points emanated by the talking heads seen on television. Through repetition of catchphrases and words the opinion of the masses is generated, creating a consensus of mass appeal the easier to dictate the direction of the nation. In such a way, since 9/11, the corporate media, in partnership with the Bush administration, has methodically managed the “war on terror” through censorship of diverging opinion, by the repetitive use of slogans and catchphrases, by creating alternate realities and by controlling the views, images and sound bites allowed to fester on the airwaves.

For they are the Keepers at the Gate, the entities that decide what constitutes the programming and news and reality the masses should be made to watch. They are the puppeteers and we the marionettes, our actions and opinions controlled with the invisible strings of manipulation. We are mere pawns in their games of chess and monopoly, impotent to challenge their omnipresence. Our reality is their fiction, whatever they decide to filter into our lives.

They can manipulate us into an immoral and illegal war using the tools learned from Madison Avenue marketers, exploiting our mammalian passions, wants and emotions, tinkering with the buttons of human psychology. They can condition us to hate and fear and seek vengeance, using enemies, both real and imagined, to force us to give up freedoms and rights and democracy, in the process transforming once decent people into cheerleaders and supporters of torture, mass murder, illegal occupation, war crimes and the evisceration of both due process and habeas corpus. They can devise a fictional war on terror, using modern day bogey men to manipulate our fear-induced emotions, thereby enriching and empowering themselves, all the while we willingly concede our remaining freedoms and rights to the corporatists in power.

UNDERNEWS: ECONOMY BOOMING FOR BUSH'S FRIENDS, NOT OTHERS

2005-12-06T16:36:00.000-05:00

UNDERNEWS: ECONOMY BOOMING FOR BUSH'S FRIENDS, NOT OTHERS

An Open Letter on Conspiracy Theory and Antiestablishment Sentiment

2005-12-03T05:24:00.000-05:00

Recently someone made the comment that I was antiestablishment and enamored with conspiracy theories. The following is an open letter replying to said comment.

I am in no way antiestablishment with but one simple caveat. The caveat being that when one says establishment they mean lawful constitutional government constituted of legally elected representatives of the several states. I also hold that these representatives should maintain their oaths of office while serving and should be free from graft and corruption. I hold these beliefs sacred in that I took an oath to uphold and defend the Constitution of the United States of America against all enemies foreign and domestic and served honorably for a period of 10 years in under this oath.

That being said if it makes me antiestablishment to speak out against those that fail to fulfill their oaths of office or are corrupt while serving then perhaps by that definition I am antiestablishment. Unless the verbiage of the United States Constitution has been changed it begins with the words, “We the People.” Notice that it does not begin, “We the Government.” Each person that serves in government office, be it high or low, serves by the will of the people. Each person in goverments very position exist solely due the very fact that the United States Constitution exist. For this reason persons serving in elected office are known as constitutional officers. They swear an oath to uphold and defend the constitution and to carry out the duties of their respective offices faithfully. Note that at the time the United States Constitution was being signed that there was a great struggle between two sides and it was unclear that we would get a constitution and thus have a country. But, as often has been the case in the more enilightened eras of the Republic, a compromise was forged between the two sides and the constitution was signed. What was that compromise? That compromise was the Bill of Rights. Now we have a current compliment of legislators that have seen fit to limit or in some cases obliterate elements of the bill of rights. How is this upholding and defending this document that by its existence forms their only claim to legitimate governance?

The genius of the founding fathers of this country lay in their foresight to see that the new countries citizens would always be the front line in insuring that the government carried out the will of, “We the people.” This august group of men did have one failing when laying their longterm plans. They never envisioned a citizenry that would become so lazy and generally apathetic as to gather the information that they needed to stay abreast of the actions of their government through thirty-second sound bytes delivered by a monopolized media. They never envisioned foreign money pouring in through political action committees becoming the dominant voice in the political struggle that they had reserved for, “We the People.” In short they never imagined the halls of government from the state houses all the way to the White House becoming houses of high priced political prostitutes for sale to the highest foreign or corporate John.

What does one mean when they say someone is enamored by conspiracy theory? First what is a conspiracy theory? The dictionary definition reads something along the lines of: A theory seeking to explain a disputed case or matter as a plot by a secret group or alliace rather than an individual or isolated act. What is a coincidence? The dictionary definition reads something like: A sequence of events that although accidental seems to have been planned or arranged. So someone that is not a conspiracy theorist believes in coincidence theory correct? Was Franklin D. Roosevelt a conspiracy theorist when he said, “In politics, nothing happens by accident. If it happens, you can bet it was planned that way.” Is 18 U.S.C. 371 a conspiracy theorist when it lays out the legal definition of what exist for someone to be charged with the Federal crime of conspiracy? How many things ever get done at your home or office merely by coincidence? How are those people defined that continue to believe the lies of the mainstream media after their lies and omissions are exposed over and over again?

Am I a person enamored of conspiracy theory because I seek out all available sources and refuse to rely solely on a mainstream media that has been proven a liar? Does it make me a conspiracy crank to want to read the press from within and from without our borders and try to piece together a larger picture than that provided by a mainstream media sound byte or rant? Is it being antiestablishment or unpatriotic to be critical of our government? What did Thomas Paine and Republican President Teddy Roosevelt have to say on this very topic? Thomas Paine said, "It is the duty of the patriot to protect his country from its government." Republican President Teddy Roosevelt said, To announce that there must be NO criticism of the President, or that we are to stand by the President Right or Wrong, is not only UNPATRIOTIC and SERVILE, but is Morally TREASONABLE to the American Public." So I suppose if I am antiestablishment I stand in honorable company at least. Below you will find some quotes that I felt relevant and timely based on my above thoughts. Is this a list filled with quotes of antiestablishment conspiracy theorist? We report! You decide!

There is a principle which is a bar against all information, which is proof against all arguments and which can not fail to keep a man in everlasting ignorance--that principle is contempt prior to investigation."
 Herbert Spencer

"I don't trust government. And neither should our citizens."
—US Senator Larry Craig, United States Senate, Committee on the Judiciary, "DOJ Oversight: Terrorism and Other Topics", testimony by US Attorney General John Ashcroft re President George Bush Jr.'s Executive Orders to "legalize torture" of US citizens and refusal to release that memo (felony Contempt of Congress), C-SPAN2, June 8, 2004

"People who shut their eyes to reality simply invite their own destruction."
—James Baldwin

Freedom is the right to tell people what they don't want to hear - George Orwell

“The citizen who sees his society’s democratic clothes being worn out and does not cry it out, is not a patriot, but a traitor.”
--Mark Twain

If Tyranny and Oppression come to this land, it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy.
James Madison

It is a universal truth that the loss of liberty at home is to be charged to the provisions against danger, real or pretended, from abroad.
James Madison

Learned Institutions ought to be favorite objects with every free people. They throw that light over the public mind which is the best security against crafty and dangerous encroachments on the public liberty.
James Madison

No nation could preserve its freedom in the midst of continual warfare.
James Madison

Of all the enemies of public liberty, war is perhaps the most to be dreaded, because it comprises and develops the germ of every other.
James Madison

The means of defense against foreign danger historically have become the instruments of tyranny at home.
James Madison

"I came to America because of the great, great freedom which I heard existed in this country. I made a mistake in selecting America as a land of freedom, a mistake I cannot repair in the balance of my lifetime."
--Albert Einstein, 1947

UNDERNEWS: INSIDE A BUSH GULAG ON THE MISSISSIPPI

2005-11-29T00:23:00.000-05:00

UNDERNEWS: INSIDE A BUSH GULAG ON THE MISSISSIPPI

A very interesting read from Sam over at Undernews. Is it just me or do things here in the good ol' US of A get more sad everyday? Read this and let me know what you think?

Your Papers Please!

2005-11-23T14:29:00.000-05:00

Meet Deborah Davis. She's a 50 year-old mother of four who lives and works in Denver, Colorado. Her kids are all grown-up: her middle son is a soldier fighting in Iraq. She leads an ordinary, middle class life. You probably never would have heard of Deb Davis if it weren't for her belief in the U.S. Constitution.

This is not America. When honest, law-abiding citizens can't commute to work on a city bus without a demand for their 'papers', something is very, very wrong.

One morning in late September 2005, Deb was riding the public bus to work. She was minding her own business, reading a book and planning for work, when a security guard got on this public bus and demanded that every passenger show their ID. Deb, having done nothing wrong, declined. The guard called in federal cops, and she was arrested and charged with federal criminal misdemeanors after refusing to show ID on demand.

On the 9th of December 2005, Deborah Davis will be arraigned in U.S. District Court in a case that will determine whether Deb and the rest of us live in a free society, or in a country where we must show "papers" whenever a cop demands them.

Read the full story and get further information on why requiring people to produce papers doesn't make us any safer at Papersplease.org.

ALERT: EPA TO ALLOW PESTICIDE TESTING ON ORPHANS & MENTALLY HANDICAPPED CHILDREN

2005-11-16T15:44:00.000-05:00

Wednesday, November 16, 2005

Public Comment Period Closes
December 12, 2005

Public comments are now being accepted by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on its newly proposed federal regulation regarding the testing of chemicals and pesticides on human subjects. On August 2, 2005, Congress had mandated the EPA create a rule that permanently bans chemical testing on pregnant women and children. But the EPA's newly proposed rule, misleadingly titled "Protections for Subjects in Human Research," puts industry profits ahead of children's welfare. The rule allows for government and industry scientists to treat children as human guinea pigs in chemical experiments in the following situations:

Children who "cannot be reasonably consulted," such as those that are mentally handicapped or orphaned newborns may be tested on. With permission from the institution or guardian in charge of the individual, the child may be exposed to chemicals for the sake of research.
Parental consent forms are not necessary for testing on children who have been neglected or abused.
Chemical studies on any children outside of the U.S. are acceptable.

Read the full story at the Organic Consumers Association.

It is stories like this that further the gut feeling I have had for a long time. We have become a sick, twisted, demented society thats darkness now far exceeds anything that even the most evil regimes ever dreamt up. Where the Nazis had there odd Goebbles, Mengle, and Hitler we have vast bureaucracies inside government and the coporate world that carry out the same functions only a million fold. Where the old evil regimes had only a single political party with a vested interest in seeing them succeed this modern manifestation of coporatism/facism has the entire body politic with a vested interest in seeing them succeed.

Before you go and shout that you are not numbered among those I speak of do some quick research. If you own stock see what those companies in which you invest really do in order to make the return that you demand on your money. If you don't own stock how about a retirement fund of some sort? Do you know what companies that this money is invested in? If not call up the company that manages the fund and find out just what those companies do in order to assure a high enough yield so that you will have the money you expect for retirement. The scareiest part of modern evil in my opinion is that most of us do not realize that it is not a case of an evil them but in fact is an unintended evil us. The positive part of all of this is that there is something we can do about all of this. We can do the research on where our money goes and make an informed decision to divest from such companies and thereby opt out of evil which such organizations sow.

9/11 Aid For Ground Zero Workers To Be Taken Back By Congress…

2005-11-16T15:19:00.000-05:00

Is it just me or is everything the good old government of the US of A does these days in the name of helping here at home just smoke and mirrors? Read this story here.

Civil liberties in danger, says ex-intel official Daniel Ellsberg

2005-11-14T17:47:00.000-05:00

This is an interesting and chilling read on what Daniel Ellsberg, who leaked the Pentagon Papers during the Vietnam War, says may be in store for us come the next large terrorist attacks. Read NorthJersey.com coverage of a talk he gave Sunday, November 13, 2005 here.

UNDERNEWS: LACK OF CURIOSITY AMONG STUDENTS AS WORK BECOMES MORE SPECIALIZED

2005-11-14T16:47:00.000-05:00

UNDERNEWS: LACK OF CURIOSITY AMONG STUDENTS AS WORK BECOMES MORE SPECIALIZED

B. Y. U. physics professor says physics prove official explanation of 911 building collapses false

2005-11-11T20:48:00.000-05:00

The physics of 9/11 — including how fast and symmetrically one of the World Trade Center buildings fell — prove that official explanations of the collapses are wrong, says a Brigham Young University physics professor.
In fact, it's likely that there were "pre-positioned explosives" in all three buildings at ground zero, says Steven E. Jones.

His paper that has been submitted for scientific peer review can be read here.

UNDERNEWS: TEENAGERS' DETACHMENT FROM SELF

2005-11-05T12:21:00.000-05:00

UNDERNEWS: TEENAGERS' DETACHMENT FROM SELF

Historic Vermont Meeting in State Capital Passes Resolution to Secede from the U.S.

2005-11-03T18:40:00.000-05:00

The members of a peaceful freedom-fighting group want no part of neo-cons running the imperialistic U.S. government. Plan to secede from the U.S. gaining momentum in the fiercely independent Green Mountain state.
2 Nov 2005

Read the rest of the story at Artic Beacon!

Harper's Magazine: We Now Live in a Fascist State

2005-10-24T07:13:00.000-05:00

Date: Tue, 11 Oct 2005 13:34:38 -0700

The article below appears in the current issue of Harpers and was written
by Lewis H. Lapham

www.harpers.org/LewisLapham.html

Knowing the source of this piece makes it all the more disturbing. It is not every day that the editor of a respected national magazine publishes an essay claiming that America is not on the road to becoming, but ALREADY IS, a fascist state.... or words to that affect.

To help prepare you for what follows, here are the final sentence from this piece.... [I think we can look forward with confidence to character-building bankruptcies, picturesque bread riots, thrilling cavalcades of splendidly costumed motorcycle police.]

On message By Lewis H. Lapham Harper's Magazine, October 2005, pps. 7-9 "But I venture the challenging statement that if American democracy ceases to move forward as a living force, seeking day and night by peaceful means to better the lot of our citizens, then Fascism and Communism, aided, unconsciously perhaps, by old-line Tory Republicanism, will grow in strength in our land." -Franklin D. Roosevelt, November 4, 1938

In 1938 the word "fascism" hadn't yet been transferred into an abridged metaphor for all the world's unspeakable evil and monstrous crime, and on coming across President Roosevelt's prescient remark in one of Umberto Eco's essays, I could read it as prose instead of poetry -- a reference not to the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse or the pit of Hell but to the political theories that regard individual citizens as the property of the government, happy villagers glad to wave the flags and wage the wars, grateful for the good fortune that placed them in the care of a sublime leader. Or, more emphatically, as Benito Mussolini liked to say, "Everything in the state. Nothing outside the state. Nothing against the state."

The theories were popular in Europe in the 1930s (cheering crowds, rousing band music, splendid military uniforms), and in the United States they numbered among their admirers a good many important people who believed that a somewhat modified form of fascism (power vested in the banks and business corporations instead of with the army) would lead the country out of the wilderness of the Great Depression -- put an end to the Pennsylvania labor troubles, silence the voices of socialist heresy and democratic dissent. Roosevelt appreciated the extent of fascism's popularity at the political box office; so does Eco, who takes pains in the essay "Ur-Fascism," published in The New York Review of Books in 1995, to suggest that it's a mistake to translate fascism into a figure of literary speech. By retrieving from our historical memory only the vivid and familiar images of fascist tyranny (Gestapo firing squads, Soviet labor camps, the chimneys at Treblinka), we lose sight of the faith-based initiatives that sustained the tyrant's rise to glory. The several experiments with fascist government, in Russia and Spain as well as in Italy and Germany, didn't depend on a single portfolio of dogma, and so Eco, in search of their common ground, doesn't look for a unifying principle or a standard text. He attempts to describe a way of thinking and a habit of mind, and on sifting through the assortment of fantastic and often contradictory notions -- Nazi paganism, Franco's National Catholicism, Mussolini's corporatism, etc. -- he finds a set of axioms on which all the fascisms agree. Among the most notable:

The truth is revealed once and only once.

Parliamentary democracy is by definition rotten because it doesn't represent the voice of the people, which is that of the sublime leader.

Doctrine outpoints reason, and science is always suspect.

Critical thought is the province of degenerate intellectuals, who betray the culture and subvert traditional values.

The national identity is provided by the nation's enemies.

Argument is tantamount to treason.

Perpetually at war, the state must govern with the instruments of fear. Citizens do not act; they play the supporting role of "the people" in the grand opera that is the state.

Eco published his essay ten years ago, when it wasn't as easy as it has since become to see the hallmarks of fascist sentiment in the character of an American government. Roosevelt probably wouldn't have been surprised.

He'd encountered enough opposition to both the New Deal and to his belief in such a thing as a United Nations to judge the force of America's racist passions and the ferocity of its anti-intellectual prejudice. As he may have guessed, so it happened. The American democracy won the battles for Normandy and Iwo Jima, but the victories abroad didn't stem the retreat of democracy at home, after 1968 no longer moving "forward as a living force, seeking day and night to better the lot" of its own citizens, and now that sixty years have passed since the bomb fell on Hiroshima, it doesn't take much talent for reading a cashier's scale at Wal-Mart to know that it is fascism, not democracy, that won the heart and mind of America's "Greatest Generation," added to its weight and strength on America's shining seas and fruited plains.

A few sorehead liberal intellectuals continue to bemoan the fact, write books about the good old days when everybody was in charge of reading his or her own mail. I hear their message and feel their pain, share their feelings of regret, also wish that Cole Porter was still writing songs, that Jean Harlow and Robert Mitchum hadn't quit making movies. But what's gone is gone, and it serves nobody's purpose to deplore the fact that we're not still riding in a coach to Philadelphia with Thomas Jefferson. The attitude is cowardly and French, symptomatic of effete aesthetes who refuse to change with the times.

As set forth in Eco's list, the fascist terms of political endearment are refreshingly straightforward and mercifully simple, many of them already accepted and understood by a gratifyingly large number of our most forward-thinking fellow citizens, multitasking and safe with Jesus. It does no good to ask the weakling's pointless question, "Is America a fascist state?" We must ask instead, in a major rather than a minor key, "Can we make America the best damned fascist state the world has ever seen," an authoritarian paradise deserving the admiration of the international capital markets, worthy of "a decent respect to the opinions of mankind"? I wish to be the first to say we can. We're Americans; we have the money and the know-how to succeed where Hitler failed, and history has favored us with advantages not given to the early pioneers.

We don't have to burn any books.

The Nazis in the 1930s were forced to waste precious time and money on the inoculation of the German citizenry, too well-educated for its own good, against the infections of impermissible thought. We can count it as a blessing that we don't bear the burden of an educated citizenry. The systematic destruction of the public-school and library systems over the last thirty years, a program wisely carried out under administrations both Republican and Democratic, protects the market for the sale and distribution of the government's propaganda posters. The publishing companies can print as many books as will guarantee their profit (books on any and all subjects, some of them even truthful), but to people who don't know how to read or think, they do as little harm as snowflakes falling on a frozen pond.

We don't have to disturb, terrorize, or plunder the bourgeoisie.

In Communist Russia as well as in Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany, the codes of social hygiene occasionally put the regime to the trouble of smashing department-store windows, beating bank managers to death, inviting opinionated merchants on complimentary tours (all expenses paid, breathtaking scenery) of Siberia. The resorts to violence served as study guides for free, thinking businessmen reluctant to give up on the democratic notion that the individual citizen is entitled to an owner's interest in his or her own mind.

The difficulty doesn't arise among people accustomed to regarding themselves as functions of a corporation. Thanks to the diligence of out news media and the structure of our tax laws, our affluent and suburban classes have taken to heart the lesson taught to the aspiring serial killers rising through the ranks at West Point and the Harvard Business School -- think what you're told to think, and not only do you get to keep the house in Florida or command of the Pentagon press office but on some sunny prize day not far over the horizon, the compensation committee will hand you a check for $40 million, or President George W. Bush will bestow on you the favor of a nickname as witty as the ones that on good days elevate Karl Rove to the honorific "Boy Genius," on bad days to the disappointed but no less affectionate "Turd Blossom." Who doesn't now know that the corporation is immortal, that it is the corporation that grants the privilege of an identity, confers meaning on one's life, gives the pension, a decent credit rating, and the priority standing in the community? Of course the corporation reserves the right to open one's email, test one's blood, listen to the phone calls, examine one's urine, hold the patent on the copyright to any idea generated on its premises. Why ever should it not? As surely as the loyal fascist knew that it was his duty to serve the state, the true American knows that it is his duty to protect the brand.

Having met many fine people who come up to the corporate mark -- on golf courses and commuter trains, tending to their gardens in Fairfield County while cutting back the payrolls in Michigan and Mexico -- I'm proud to say (and I think I speak for all of us here this evening with Senator Clinton and her lovely husband) that we're blessed with a bourgeoisie that will welcome fascism as gladly as it welcomes the rain in April and the sun in June. No need to send for the Gestapo or the NKVD; it will not be necessary to set examples.

We don't have to gag the press or seize the radio stations.

People trained to the corporate style of thought and movement have no further use for free speech, which is corrupting, overly emotional, reckless, and ill-informed, not calibrated to the time available for television talk or to the performance standards of a Super Bowl halftime show. It is to our advantage that free speech doesn't meet the criteria of the free market. We don't require the inspirational genius of a Joseph Goebbels; we can rely instead on the dictates of the Nielsen ratings and the camera angles, secure in the knowledge that the major media syndicates run the business on strictly corporatist principles -- afraid of anything disruptive or inappropriate, committed to the promulgation of what is responsible, rational, and approved by experts. Their willingness to stay on message is a credit to their professionalism.

The early twentieth-century fascists had to contend with individuals who regarded their freedom of expression as a necessity -- the bone and marrow of their existence, how they recognized themselves as human beings. Which was why, if sometimes they refused appointments to the state-run radio stations, they sometimes were found dead on the Italian autostrada or drowned in the Kiel Canal. The authorities looked upon their deaths as forms of self-indulgence. The same attitude governs the agreement reached between labor and management at our leading news organizations. No question that the freedom of speech is extended to every American -- it says so in the Constitution -- but the privilege is one that musn't be abused. Understood in a proper and financially rewarding light, freedom of speech is more trouble than it's worth -- a luxury comparable to owning a racehorse and likely to bring with it little else except the risk of being made to look ridiculous. People who learn to conduct themselves in a manner respectful of the telephone tap and the surveillance camera have no reason to fear the fist of censorship. By removing the chore of having to think for oneself, one frees up more leisure time to enjoy the convenience of the Internet services that know exactly what one likes to hear and see and wear and eat. We don't have to murder the intelligentsia.

Here again, we find ourselves in luck. The society is so glutted with easy entertainment that no writer or company of writers is troublesome enough to warrant the compliment of an arrest, or even the courtesy of a sharp blow to the head. What passes for the American school of dissent talks exclusively to itself in the pages of obscure journals, across the coffee cups in Berkeley and Park Slope, in half-deserted lecture halls in small Midwestern
colleges. The author on the platform or the beach towel can be relied upon to direct his angriest invective at the other members of the academy who failed to drape around the title of his latest book the garland of a rave review.

The blessings bestowed by Providence place America in the front rank of nations addressing the problems of a twenty-first century, certain to require bold geopolitical initiatives and strong ideological solutions. How can it be otherwise? More pressing demands for always scarcer resources; ever larger numbers of people who cannot be controlled except with an increasingly heavy hand of authoritarian guidance. Who better than the Americans to lead the fascist renaissance, set the paradigm, order the preemptive strikes? The existence of mankind hangs in the balance; failure is not an option. Where else but in America can the world find the visionary intelligence to lead it bravely into the future -- Donald Rumsfeld our Dante, Turd Blossom our Michelangelo?

I don't say that over the last thirty years we haven't made brave strides forward. By matching Eco's list of fascist commandments against our record of achievement, we can see how well we've begun the new project for the next millennium -- the notion of absolute and eternal truth embraced by the evangelical Christians and embodied in the strict constructions of the Constitution; our national identity provided by anonymous Arabs; Darwin's theory of evolution rescinded by the fiat of "intelligent design"; a state of perpetual war and a government administering, in generous and daily doses, the drug of fear; two presidential elections stolen with little or no objection on the part of a complacent populace; the nation's congressional districts gerrymandered to defend the White House for the next fifty years against the intrusion of a liberal-minded president; the news media devoted to the arts of iconography, busily minting images of corporate executives like those of the emperor heroes on the coins of ancient Rome.

An impressive beginning, in line with what the world has come to expect from the innovative Americans, but we can do better. The early twentieth-century fascisms didn't enter their golden age until the proletariat in the countries that gave them birth had been reduced to abject poverty. The music and the marching songs rose with the cry of eagles from the wreckage of the domestic economy. On the evidence of the wonderful work currently being done by the Bush Administration with respect to the trade deficit and the national debt -- to say nothing of expanding the markets for global terrorism -- I think we can look forward with confidence to character-building bankruptcies, picturesque bread riots, thrilling cavalcades of splendidly costumed motorcycle police.

See more at http://organicconsumers.org/Politics/harpers101205.cfm

Vermonters Move to Secede From USA

2005-10-24T05:34:00.000-05:00

Jumping From the Sinking Ship of Empire: Vermonters Move to Secede From USA

James Howard Kunstler, author of the book about Peak Oil The Long Emergency, will be the keynote speaker at The Vermont Convention on Independence to be held in the House Chamber of the State House in Montpelier, VT on Friday, October 28th, 2005. Sponsored by the Second Vermont Republic, the convention, which will begin at 9 am and conclude at 5 pm, is open to the public and free of charge. This historic event will be the first statewide convention on secession in the United States since North Carolina voted to secede from the Union on May 20, 1861.

Organizers of the convention say it has two objectives: First, to raise the level of awareness of Vermonters of the feasibility of independence as a viable alternative to a nation which has lost its moral authority and is unsustainable. And second, to provide an example and a process for other states and nations which may be seriously considering separatism, secession, independence, and similar devolutionary strategies. The Second Vermont Republic describes itself as "a peaceful, democratic, grassroots, libertarian populist movement committed to the return of Vermont to its status as an independent republic as it once was between 1777 and 1791."

Read the full story at Peak Oil Anarchy!

Three Questions Worth Asking Yourself

2005-10-13T14:47:00.000-05:00

Read this article and afterward ask yourself these three questions.
If you would leave some of your answers to these questions in the comments please.

Am I willing to question a group's ethics over my own?

Am I willing to confront and refute those ethics?

Is my sense of self defined by society?

Check out the Anti-Neocon Forum

2005-10-11T01:07:00.000-05:00

I found a great site the other day I wanted to tell everyone about. It has all the information that you ever wanted to know about the Neoconservatives or Neocons and their patron saint Professor Leo Strauss.

If you get the chance check it out at: http://www.rys2sense.com/anti-neocons/index.php

Online Poker Blogger Championship

2005-10-04T18:36:00.000-05:00

I signed up for Pokerstar's Poker Championship for bloggers that is being held at 4 p.m. on the 23rd of October and is offering $25,000 worth of prizes. So bloggers signup for free and come on out and play. See you on the felt!

C.I. Abramson

I have registered to play in the
Online Poker Blogger Championship!

This event is powered by PokerStars.

Registration code: 2396982

DID H.W. BUSH, CLINTON OFFICIALS ORCHESTRATE OKC BOMBING?

2005-10-02T15:26:00.000-05:00

The Intelligence Community is guided by the definition of terrorism contained in Title 22 of the US Code, Section 2656f(d):

—The term “terrorism” means premeditated, politically motivated violence perpetrated against noncombatant targets by subnational groups or clandestine agents, usually intended to influence an audience.

—The term “international terrorism” means terrorism involving the territory or the citizens of more than one country.

—The term “terrorist group” means any group that practices, or has significant subgroups that practice, international terrorism.

Today I would like to point you to commentary written by Patrick Briley on things that are known about the Oklahoma City bombing of the Murrah Building. Above I have included the definition of terrorism which is available at the Central Intelligence Angencies website at . You will notice in line two and three of this definition used by intelligence agencies that terrorism is usually intended to influence an audience. When reading Mr. Briley's article I would like you to consider who the intended audience was of the Oklahoma City bombing of the Murrah building. Also ask yourselves: "Who was it that benefitted from this operation?"

Anytime that a crime is investigated one looks for three things:

1. Intent

2. Opportunity

3. Capability

Did the patriot/militia movement or for that matter Tim McVeigh benefit from this event? Don't you think it strange that once McVeigh was in custody that he didn't use the court case to air his antigovernment views? This is in fact what the government claimed as his motivation for committing the crime for which he was executed was it not?

Now I want you to look back before the Oklahoma City bombing at the laundry list of Federal legislation that the governmant desired the legislator to vote into law. The problem was that the congress critters knew that to vote for such legislation was political suicide. Most if not all of the proposed legislation was in direct contravention of the Bill of Rights of the United States Constitution. A vote for this legislation, in normal times, would have immediately been seen by their constituents as a violation of their oaths of office.

But, after such a horrific loss of life from a bombing such as the Oklahoma City bombing everything is changed. Why? Because the constituents have been made to feel unsafe. Now the congress critter could vote for said legislation under the title of ANTITERRORISM AND EFFECTIVE DEATH PENALTY ACT OF 1996 without fear of any backlash from their constituents.

So again I ask you who benefitted from the Oklahoma City Bombing? The Militia or was it your very own Congress Critters and the Excutive that were able to pass tyrannical legislation due to the fear that the alleged homegrown terrorist had instilled in the public at large?

To this very day the real terrorist continue to bomb and maim. After each incident I want you to pay particular attention to whose agenda benefits in the end. Is it homegrown militia's or Islamic Militants agenda that is furthered? Or could it be people in suits in the beltway that have large private "blind" trust in the defense/security sector? Sometimes I just have to wonder if the real reason for terrorism isn't as simple as greed and the blind lust for political power at all cost. Again and again I am taken back to my training as an investigator and the intent, opportunity, capability, and most of all the motive just doesn't fit the theatrical presentation as presented by the government and their media toadies.

William Shakespear said, "All the world is a stage, and all the men and women merely players. They have their exits and entrances; each man in his time plays many parts." Could it be that this "War on Terrorism" is but a play upon this stage? Could this all be just a Theater of Fear with the admission price being the surrender of the last vestiges of freedom?

What part will you play?

Read Patrick Briley's article DID H.W. BUSH, CLINTON OFFICIALS ORCHESTRATE OKC BOMBING? here!

Army in Worst Recruiting Slump in Decades

2005-09-30T18:02:00.000-05:00

You tell lie after lie to start a war. You cut Veteran's healthcare benefits. You have returning veterans from the war you originally lied the troops into that are now sleeping in the streets. The troops you have in the war are having to purchase their own body armor. Government leaders and all of their friends are making big money in defense investments and from rebuilding the country your lies destroyed the infrastructure of.

Your excuse changes monthly on why troops are serving multiple tours of duty in this god awful hell hole of leaders creation. Yet your think tanks have the audacity to say that it's the strong national economy and potential enlistees hearing about deaths in Iraq.

Wake up! It's called common sense something that has apparently become a forgotten art in the beltway!

Read the story here!

Handbook for bloggers and cyber-dissidents

2005-09-22T18:26:00.000-05:00

I'm posting a link for the Handbook for Bloggers and Cyber-dissidents put out by Reporters Without Borders. It is a great source of tips for those wishing to remain anonymous while using the internets as a platform for political dissent. It also covers ways of getting your blog publicity as well as how to maintain your credibility through observing basic ethical and journalistic principles.

You can get your copy in PDF format on the Reporters With out Borders Website here!

Blair 'relished sending British forces to war'

2005-09-19T00:30:00.000-05:00

I've just got one question for Tony Blair and for the supporters of the Iraqi debacle on this side of the pond. Why don't you war mongering wanks volunteer for military service yourselves? The military is having one hell of a time recruiting enough folks to keep this charlie foxtrot slogging along. Get off your fat asses, from in under your desk, and from behind your keyboards and quit talking about supporting the troops and go join them. The military can have your sorry ass whipped into war fighting shape in no time and you can put your hummingbird asses where your alligator mouths have taken you. I know your excuses. It would be to much of a sacrifice, you would lose too much money, your education or your career are much too important.

Truth is they have a nice enlistment bonus at the moment that would probably pay your house payment, your car payment, and American Express bill for a while. I'm not gonna hold my breath though you have decided to the let poor and the middle class pay for the brunt of this war in their blood. You will just as soon continue to sit on your fat ass and wave your flag from safely in under your desk and behind your keyboard. You are not so much a war hawk as you are a chicken hawk as you rant about how we (really meaning those poor folk) have to stay the course over in Iraq. I say shut the F up until you march down and fill out your recruiting paperwork.

Go back to ranting about how you support 'W' in your blog, counting your defense stock divdends, and limiting big government in your warhawk blog. But remember it's all just one great big turd of a selfdelusional lie your a chickenshit hypocrite that only mouths the words to the song because you don't have the ass to dance the dance.

Read about Tony Blair's and your own shame here!

Video: Citizens Handcuffed, Forced To Give Up Firearms

2005-09-18T03:50:00.000-05:00

When you watch this video listen for this quote:

"Police took their weapons but LET THEM STAY IN THEIR HOMES".

So what was the justification for disarming the people to begin with?

http://www.gunowners.org/abcnews.mpg

Pentagon Worker, Under Orders, Destroyed Documents Identifying Atta as Terrorist 2 years before 2001 Attacks

2005-09-16T06:18:00.000-05:00

When will Americans wake up and realize that a political house cleaning is long over due, that it is time to house the criminals masquerading as politicians and civil servants in their ever expanding penal system, and that they have been lied to deceived and had treason committed against them? How long will it be before their eyes are opened to the fact that sociopathic lunatics are in charge of the asylum? Will it be in time to keep this old house that we all know as the United States of America from falling? I hope so but I lose more faith in a positive outcome everyday. Americans have been lulled into the false belief that as long as they keep their spending up at the mall that they will remain free.

America has forgotten the warnings of her forefathers regarding the greatest threat to liberty that being her own government. America remiss in remembering why a Bill of Rights was so important to those that formed her first government. In short Americans have become lazy craven timorous observers as this great old house is ravaged by the parasites within.

Before posting the link to the story on the Pentagon worker who destroyed documents that identified Mohammad Atta as a terrorist 2 years before the 2001 attacks I would like to leave you with some quotes by some famous Americans from a different time. Their words are just as true if not more true than when they penned them.

If Tyranny and Oppression come to this land, it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy.
James Madison

It is a universal truth that the loss of liberty at home is to be charged to the provisions against danger, real or pretended, from abroad.
James Madison

No nation could preserve its freedom in the midst of continual warfare.
James Madison

Of all the enemies of public liberty, war is perhaps the most to be dreaded, because it comprises and develops the germ of every other.
James Madison

The means of defense against foreign danger historically have become the instruments of tyranny at home.
James Madison

"It is the duty of the patriot to protect his country from its government."
-- Thomas Paine

A Bill of Rights is what the people are entitled to against every government, and what no just government should refuse, or rest on inference.
Thomas Jefferson

“The citizen who sees his society’s democratic clothes being worn out and does not cry it out, is not a patriot, but a traitor.”
--Mark Twain

Why is any of this important to me you might ask? I was in a college course last spring when the topic of government came up. I made the mistake of repeating some of the quotes above and other similar ones to my younger classmates. They were aghast and told me that I couldn't talk like that. They told me that words like the above would get one arrested and locked up by the state. One classmate considered the words of our founders so subversive that he had to get up and leave saying that our discussion was scaring him. I wasn't scared that the police or anyone was going to come arrest me. What scared me was watching and listening to my younger classmates. Many of them were truly terrified. Where and how did they get these ideas? Was the world upside down or was I?

How can we honestly say that we are exporting freedom and democracy to the world when our government is instilling this kind of terror in those young people? When our democratically elected representatives are treasonously voting for laws such as the P.A.T.R.I.O.T. Act and removing the original sunset clauses on many of the provisions of same in contravention of the oath of office that they all swore to?

If the words of our founding fathers are now treasonous and the highest virtues in the land are insuring we continue to spend at the mall and never ever speak in dissension with the wrong headed actions of our elected representatives then America we are in trouble. Does anyone understand where I am coming from on this? Or am I just an addled old veteran that doesn't understand how chic it is to live in a corporate facist state?

As always your comments are encouraged and most appreciated. I got the code fixed for the popup comments but when it takes you to the comments page you still have to scroll to the top of the page in some browsers to get to the link for the comment popup.

C.I. Abramson

Here is the link to the story on the destruction of the documents identifying Atta as a terrorist two years before the 2001 attacks: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050916/ap_on_go_co/sept11_hijackers

Just because you do not take an interest in politics doesn't mean politics won't take an interest in you. --Pericles (430 B.C.)

To announce that there must be NO criticism of the President, or that we are to stand by the President Right or Wrong, is not only UNPATRIOTIC and SERVILE, but is Morally TREASONABLE to the American Public." Former Republican President, Theodore Roosevelt

"People who shut their eyes to reality simply invite their own destruction."
—James Baldwin

There is a principle which is a bar against all information, which is proof against all arguments and which can not fail to keep a man in everlasting ignorance--that principle is contempt prior to investigation."
-- Herbert Spencer

Full Text of Roberts Confirmation Hearing referencing Implantable Chips

2005-09-16T04:39:00.000-05:00

It took a bit of slogging around but I have found documentary evidence of the exchange between Senator Biden and John Roberts during the confirmation hearing. Here's the full text of the exchange dealing with implantable chips courtesy of a press release from Senator Bidens website. I have placed the relevant section of the exhange in bold. The audio recording of this can be reached via the link to Alex Jones Prisonplanet.com website in my posting below.

C.I. Abramson

http://biden.senate.gov/newsroom/details.cfm?id=245583

September 12, 2005
Press Release

Biden's Opening Statement at the Confirmation Hearings for John G. Roberts, Jr. to become Chief Justice of the United States

Mr. BIDEN: Judge Roberts, welcome.

Judge, as you know, there is a genuine intellectual struggle going on in our country over whether our Constitution will continue to protect our privacy and continue to empower the federal government to protect the powerless.

For 70 years, there has been a consensus in our Supreme Court on these issues. And this consensus has been fully embraced by the American people.

But there are those who strongly disagree with this consensus – and they seek to unravel it. And, Judge, you have the unenviable position of being right in the middle of this fundamentally important debate.

And, quite frankly, we need to know on which side you stand. For whoever replaces Chief Justice Rehnquist, as well as Justice O’Connor, will play pivotal roles in this debate.

But for tens of millions of our people this is more than an academic debate.

For the position you take in this debate will affect their lives in very real and personal ways – for the next three decades. There is nothing they can do about it after this moment.

I believe in a Constitution – as our Supreme Court’s first great Chief Justice, John Marshall, said in 1819 – and I quote “intended to endure for ages to come, and consequently to be adapted to the various crises of human affairs.”

At its core, the Constitution envisions ever increasing protections of human liberty and dignity for its citizens and a national government empowered to face unanticipated “crises.”

Judge, herein lies the crux of the intellectual debate I referenced at the outset – whether we will have ever increasing protections for human liberty and dignity or whether those protections will be diminished.

In 1925, the Constitution preserved the rights of parents to determine how to educate their kids, striking down a law that required children to attend public schools. In 1965, the Constitution told the state to get out of a married couple’s bedroom, by striking down a state law prohibiting married couples from using contraceptives. In 1967, the Constitution defended the right of a black woman to marry a white man. And in 1977, the Constitution stopped a city from making it a crime for a grandmother to live with her grandchildren.

And, fortunately, even when the Supreme Court, at first, took our Constitution away from the promise and hope of our Constitution’s ennobling phrases; in the end, we have kept the faith.

In 1873, for example, the Court said states could forbid women from being lawyers. It took a hundred years to undo this terrible mistake. But the Court eventually got it right.

In 1896, the Supreme Court said “separate but equal” was lawful. It took 58 years for the Supreme Court to outlaw racial segregation, throwing that doctrine in the dustbin of history. But the Court ultimately got it right.

In the early 1900s, the Court rendered the federal government powerless to outlaw child labor and to protect workers. It took until 1937 for the Supreme Court to see the error in its ways. But the Court finally got it right.

At every step, we’ve had to struggle against those who saw the Constitution as frozen in time. But time and again, we have overcome, and the Constitution has remained relevant and dynamic thanks to a proper interpretation of the ennobling phrases purposefully placed in our great “civic Bible.”

And once again – when it should be even more obvious we need increased protections for liberty – as we look around the world and see thousands persecuted for their faith, women unable to show their faces in public, and children maimed and killed for no other reason than which tribe they were born into.

And once again – when it should be obvious we need a more energetic national government to deal with the challenges of a new millennium – terrorism, the spread of weapons of mass destruction, pandemic disease, and religious intolerance.

Once again, our journey of progress is under attack from the Right.

There are judges, scholars, and opinion leaders – good and honorable people – who believe the Constitution provides no protection against government intrusions into our highly personal decisions – decisions about birth, marriage, family, death, and religion. There are those who would slash the power of our national government, fragmenting it among the states. Incredibly, some have even argued that the Constitution eliminates the federal government’s ability to respond to disasters like Katrina.

Judge, I don’t believe the Constitution these individuals long for could have led to the America our Founders envisioned. Like the Founders, I believe our Constitution is as big and as grand as this great nation.

Our constitutional journey did not stop with women barred from being lawyers, with 10-year-olds working in coal mines, or with black kids forced into different schools than white kids just because the Constitution nowhere mentions “sex discrimination,” “child labor,” or “segregated education.”

Our constitutional journey did not stop then, and it must not stop now. For we will be faced with equally consequential decisions in the 21st Century: can microscopic tags be implanted in a person’s body to track his every movement; can patents be issued for the creation of human life; can brain scans be used to determine whether a person is inclined toward criminal or violent behavior?

Judge, I need to know whether you will be a Justice who believes that the constitutional journey must continue to speak to these consequential decisions – or that we’ve gone far enough in protecting against government intrusion into the most personal decisions we make.

Judge, that’s why this is a critical moment. Those elected officials on the Far Right, such as Mr. DeLay and others, have been unsuccessful at implementing their radical agenda in the elected branches – so they pour their energy and resources into trying to change the Court’s view of the Constitution.

And now they have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity – the filling of two Supreme Court vacancies, one of which is the Chief Justice’s – the first time that’s happened in 75 years.

Judge, I believe with every fiber of my being that their view of the Constitution and where the Country should be taken would be a disaster for our people.

Like most Americans, I believe the Constitution recognizes a general right to privacy.

I believe the rights of women must be nationally and vigorously protected.

I believe the federal government must act as a shield to protect the powerless against major economic interests.

I believe the federal government should stamp out discrimination – wherever it occurs.

And I believe the Constitution inspires and empowers us to achieve these goals.

Judge, if I looked only at what you’ve said and written in the past, I’d feel compelled to vote NO. You dismissed the Constitution’s protection of privacy as a “so-called right,” you derided agencies like the Securities and Exchange Commission that combat corporate misconduct as “constitutional anomalies,” and you dismissed “gender discrimination” as merely a quote, “perceived problem.”

This is your chance to explain what you meant by what you have said and what you have written.

The Constitution provides for one democratic moment before a lifetime of judicial independence, when we the people of the United States are entitled to know as much as we can about the person we are entrusting with safeguarding our future and the future of our children and grandchildren.

This is that moment. That’s what these hearings are about.

###