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New Civilization News: Elyse Under Surveillance |
Category: Crime, Policing 32 comments
24 Oct 2007 @ 20:56 by quinty : “Heavy handed” 24 Oct 2007 @ 21:54 by vaxen : Well... sorry that this has happened to your friend, Richard, but... I can't say that we haven't warned Americans for a very long time that the police state is here and is alive and well. This is not an isolated occurance and with the militarization of the 'police force )happened a long time ago:MJTF's)' will become, more and more, an all too common happening. Here is a link that has many stories you would do well to heed. [link] Those who do not properly educate the people of this nation are the ones who deserve neither liberty nor safety. As for Benjamin Franklin? Check out the Medmanham Friars of which (The Hellfire Club) he was an August member! Sir Francis Dashwood. Right Benjamin! Ha! 24 Oct 2007 @ 22:12 by bushman : You, might keep it in your mind that if your going to a store anywhere, go to a sales person and show them what your trying to do, ask them can you help me match this color ect, I have this friend who got the wrong bottle of wine and instad of going to a worker with the recipt first and returning it, he had walked in and just got the right bottle and they did the same thing even though he had the recipt and showed it at check out with the returned bottle, they acused him of trying to steel, even once it went to a judge he couldnt proove his case. These days you must go directly to customer service desk and make sure the store knows what your doing. This is why most stores put the customer service desk next to or near the entrance to the store. Once your past the checkout area your technicaly in the store and subject to construed interpitations of your shopping habits. 25 Oct 2007 @ 10:41 by Dempstress @137.195.176.12 : Poor woman What a shock. I haven't heard that such situations are common in the UK, but if they are in the US then I suppose it's only a matter of time. Like Elyse I operate on a day-to-day assumption that if I'm doing nothing wrong I have nothing to worry about, but this has certainly given me a pause for thought. CD 26 Oct 2007 @ 21:08 by vaxen : Pause that refreshes... "Indeed I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just.": Thomas Jefferson = "Under the influence of politicians, masses of people tend to ascribe the responsibility for wars to those who wield power at any given time. In World War I it was the munitions industrialists; in World War II it was the psychopathic generals who were said to be guilty. This is passing the buck. The responsibility for wars falls solely upon the shoulders of these same masses of people, for they have all the necessary means to avert war in their own hands. In part by their apathy, in part by their passivity, and in part actively, these same masses of people make possible the catastrophes under which they themselves suffer more than anyone else. To stress this guilt on the part of the masses of people, to hold them solely responsible, means to take them seriously. On the other hand, to commiserate masses of people as victims, means to treat them as small, helpless children. The former is the attitude held by genuine freedom fighters; the latter that attitude held by power-thirsty politicians." : Wilhelm Reich, The Mass Psychology of Fascism = "It is part of the general pattern of misguided policy that our country is now geared to an arms economy which was bred in an artifically induced psychosis of war hysteria and nurtured upon an incessant propaganda of fear." : General Douglas MacArthur, Speech, May 15, 1951 This coming Saturday, October 27, people from all walks of life will gather in 11 cities around the country in a national expression of the breadth and depth of antiwar sentiment in this nation. For many people, it will be their first step in transforming their antiwar feelings into antiwar action. Regional actions will enable much larger numbers of people to participate. [link] 26 Oct 2007 @ 23:45 by quinty : "What if somebody gave a war and nobody came?” I think Reich reflects his times with that comment. And the Iraq War was universally supported for reasons related to, but not the same as, those Reich claims. This war, like many wars in the past, was supposed to be over “before Christmas.” Long before Christmas. And stoking up a popular fiery response to “evil” is always a sure winner when creating enthusiasm for a war. One against evil, which will last only a short time, and will heighten and demonstrate our national pride and glory. The immorality of this war comes back to bite us because, like so many previous wars, so many times, the war didn’t end “before Christmas,” and has rubbed the noses of many Americans, if not all of us, into the grime, into death and needless, unending destruction. This is a war built upon lies and fantasies. (Old news, right, but a large minority of Americans still believe in it.) Odd that you quote Douglas MacArthur, Vax? You would be merciless if one of us did that. After all, look at MacArthur’s record? His bungling and his arrogance. I must admit I’m tempted to dig it in, since I’m sure you would. MacArthur! The man who arrogantly attempted to push aside the President and almost started World War III! A man who was unable to distinguish himself from the potential imperial expansion and might of the United States! His son, Arthur, went to Trinity in New York, before he went on to Columbia where he distinguished himself on the football team. He liked to load up his open air Cadillac convertible with other school kids from Trinity and would speed up and down Park Avenue until finally a cop would stop him. The fuming cop would look him over puling out his pad until MacArthur displayed his ID. At which time the cop would blush, apologize, and Arthur would speed away. Training for the ruling class? I’m sure you can tell us all about that, Vax. Ben Franklin a Satanist? Oy vey. Oy vey. As for the march against the war, Ellen and I are seriously thinking of going up to Boston. I usually skip the speeches. Many cranks, characters, and people with odd causes tend to show up. And whoever is on stage tends to like to work the crowd. In the Bay Area there was a great dispute over this several years ago when the current madness in Iraq began. I sided with those who wanted to focus on the war. When an enormity of that nature is about to begin, take hold of the country, and cause much senseless death and slaughter, distractions and scaring off many potential allies - like those middleclass mothers pushing their strollers along on these marches - tends to be counterproductive. Unfortunately, many fringe groups are lured to these events. And rather than have those wishing to grow marijuana in their living rooms present I would prefer all the ordinary square, workaday, opponents of the war there. And there are many. For that would greatly increase the numbers as well as the respectability of the event, making a larger point. One perhaps the media and politicians can't ignore. International Answer did a good job, though, running the San Francisco demos. Back then before the war. And managed to keep that anarchist group - the Black Hand, I believe it’s called (you can correct me) - from appearing before most of the marchers and demonstrators went home. I saw them, the anarchists, in action once in downtown San Francisco after a march, smashing the windows of banks. It was cat and mouse with the anarchists being the cat, and the cops the mouse. They were pretty flabby, the cops were, running heavily in their creaking leather gear after the anarchists up the streets. The cops were no match for these kids. And sensing the contradiction even sometimes good naturedly laughed over it. Since I would like to see these marches increase in size, so that they won’t be easily slimed and tarred as merely big gatherings of crazies, with many ordinary middleclass people marching and participating, I would just as much assume the SWP and animalrightsers stayed away. Since the larger issue is what we should focus on. And the more who show up the better the point is made. But I’m sure Vax will set me straight on all this now. Your turn.... 27 Oct 2007 @ 04:20 by vaxen : Obviously... what McArthur said didn't sink in. But... that's ok. And I didn't mention the word 'satanist' where Ben was concerned. But rather 'The Medmanham Friars.' Sir Francis Dashwoods 'club' of occultists, also known as "The Hellfire Club," seeking enlightenment and a bit of fun. Research along that vein is astoundingly rewarding for our darling 'Ben' was most assuredly a member. As for the Black Hand I do remember something along those lines but not clearly. All the many groups are actually often tools in the hands of the so called 'ruling elite.' I don't know if I can add much of anything more to the dialogue save that I hope that if you do go to the demonstration in Boston that you return home safely and soundly and hopefully you'll give us a report. Thesis, antithesis, synthesis. "War in space, to replace war on Earth, is not evolution, but cosmic madness. A world thus united in fear is worse than one divided by ignorance. It is now time for the great leap into the future, a leap that moves us out of fear and ignorance and into an unbroken era of universal peace. Know that this is our destiny. And it will be ours just as soon as we choose it." - Dr. Stephen Greer 27 Oct 2007 @ 10:44 by jazzolog : Where The Heck Is Jonesborough, TN? Never mind, Google is mapping it for me as I write. It looks like the closest Fall Out Against The War is in Indiana, at least 4 or 5 hours. I like the idea though...and a chance to get out of Athens today, where we have a Halloween celebration whose drunkenness arrests usually make national news. Thanks for the comments, especially to Dempstress who unfortunately doesn't frequent the winding halls of NCN all that much. Elyse has been watching our dialogue, though not commenting. She's probably aware our conversation goes where it will in here, and that most of the topics are related somehow. A false arrest in a drugstore IS connected to the invasion of Iraq and "a world thus united in fear." Her email yesterday said, "The head of surveillance of the drugstore chain called me today to say he had received my letter and was looking into how employees are trained, etc. Of course he couldn't apologize or anything, but I felt we made a human connection at least." 27 Oct 2007 @ 15:57 by quinty : Just a slight quibble... If you look up the Medmanham Friars you will see they were a Satanist group. (Franklin a Satanist?) And as for MacArthur it wasn't what he said but the source. I'm still sure you would have been merciless. And the thought that the "Black Block" which is located in the northwest and travels around (if they still exist), is a "tool of the ruling elite" is laughable. There are crazies out there, you know, Vax, who don't require the encouragement of the “ruling class” (perhaps the Medmanham Friars?) to raise all kinds of hell. Anyone who has ever lived in Berkeley, Greenwich Village, or San Francisco knows that. End of quibble. In a large university town (Athens is, isn't it?) wouldn't there be a local march or something? There may be one here in Providence though the real action nearby should be in Boston and New York. I remember the marches in San Francisco before the war began drew at least a hundred thousand people. More with each succeeding march. The San Francisco newspapers and media claimed only something like three or five thousand showed up for the first march and pretty much ignored it. Though the main street of the city, Market Street, was jammed with people all the way from the Embarcadero up to City Hall in the Civic Center, a distance of two or three miles. And they kept coming and coming. Since the war has become unpopular the media may be a little more accurate now, though their figures tend to be "conservative." “Attitudes” do count. Ben Franklin the Satanist..... hmmmmmmmmm. 27 Oct 2007 @ 19:25 by vaxen : COINTELPRO... is very aware of the so called "crazies." Maybe you should be more aware of how cointelpro ops works. Tools they are indeed. But that's a horse of another color, and a story that nobody really cares about (Black Ops,) else the White House and Washington D.C. would have vanished long ago. As far as the label 'satanist' is concerned... most so called 'satanic' groups (Any group that isn't Christian!) don't use Hebrew, nor do they worship the 'bible,' nor are they anti-Christian (Hell, for that matter most so called 'Christians think the 'Bible' was written in King James English!)... However those who do practice more ancient faiths are aware of the Judaic pentient for 'control.' Thus most remain secreted within the very groups that would control them lock, stock, and barrel. Satan, in the Hebrew tongue, simply means 'enemy.' Paradise lost is a work of poesy and Dante's Inferno belonged to him alone though it seems to have entered Christain eschatology via the ass somewhere along the line. Ass being an oblique reference to the ancient Hisirian (Osirian) antithesis Set who was also, by the Greeks, known as Typhon. Knowing the Greek love of 'apo piso' makes understanding that little bit of kink a real 'gas.' The Romans were forgidden the eating of beans for much the same reasons. Can't have the souls of our 'Ankestros' floating off to heaven in a fart you know. Seems that the BBC is voting for Ron Paul. You have heard of him, eh? Probably not if your pundits come solely from mainstream Television. In any case who worships their enemy anyway? Yes, that is a rhetorical question so... blast away. Here is some fun: "The House on Thursday passed a modified version of the SCHIP bill, with a vote that was seven votes shy of a veto-proof majority. There were 142 members of Congress who voted against extending health care to more poor children. Behind their rhetoric, their intentions are clear: they want to protect the health insurance market and the huge profits that go with it. "But the huge profits are killing health care. We all know that now. Profit-maximizing insurance companies are bad economics. They make money by denying care, which is a terrible way to try to keep us healthy. (The Rockridge Institute's white paper on health care security has details [link] .)" "... If we can't come together when we need each other most--when we're sick, injured or dying--without our vulnerability being used as an opportunity to maximize profits, then the U.S. is a hollow shell. The community that makes our nation a family is dead." [link] === [link] 
Since Jodell is, ah, "Voting (*wink*)for Hillary Clinton," too bad voting isn't done with the tongue, I thought I'd include this here cause Sawain is nigh... "The House on Thursday passed a modified version of the SCHIP bill, with a vote that was seven votes shy of a veto-proof majority. There were 142 members of Congress who voted against extending health care to more poor children. Behind their rhetoric, their intentions are clear: they want to protect the health insurance market and the huge profits that go with it. "But the huge profits are killing health care. We all know that now. Profit-maximizing insurance companies are bad economics. They make money by denying care, which is a terrible way to try to keep us healthy. (The Rockridge Institute's white paper on health care security has details [link] .)" "... If we can't come together when we need each other most--when we're sick, injured or dying--without our vulnerability being used as an opportunity to maximize profits, then the U.S. is a hollow shell. The community that makes our nation a family is dead." [link] === [link] 27 Oct 2007 @ 19:32 by quinty : Got started too late and decided not to go to Boston afterall. Though I suspect there will be a good turnout so we won’t be missed. I think the Bush years, with its emphasis on secrecy and illegal domestic spying, exploiting fear, has created an environment for heightened policing. To some that’s welcome, to others not so. Not that the cops have ever been passive. Police brutality has a long history. But with this so-called war on terror sterner and tougher measures have become increasingly accepted. And there’s the current crusade against “illegal immigrants” too. Bush has popped the bottle making all this acceptable. A lax and careless attitude about picking someone up for shop lifting in a drugstore might only reflect upon a squalid environment which may or may not have already been there. And it also reflects upon those individuals who did it: from the cops eager to nab a suspect up to management which sees no reason to even apologize for their mistake. Nor apparently do they even care about “public relations” or "good customer service." All this is expressive of a terrible squalor. But Bush has certainly set a national environment for increased policing. Remember they, the Bush administration, attempted to establish a so-called TIPS program, in which neighbors would watch neighbors. Now we have the incredible daily song and dance over torture, whether our country practices it or not. As well as widespread corruption. With that kind of example in the White House no wonder cops may think they can manhandle and bully people. Nor is there anything truly new about such brutal behavior. But there is still an opposition here, one conscious of basic rights. And so long as an opposing voice exists, as well as courts, and some inkling of justice, these abuses can be fought. And will be. Just about every city has some sort of “cop watch,” someone watching out over the behavior of the cops. They have guns, authority, badges. Any honest cop should admit that constant oversight is required, even if they don’t like it. But most communities saw the need for oversight a long time ago. Let’s see if the far right trys to take that away. New York has a long history of problems. There should be groups there which can help.... Certainly the management of the drugstore needs to rethink some of its policies and procedures. And if they are too lazy to then an outside nudge may be called for. 27 Oct 2007 @ 19:35 by quinty : Vax, this is silly. Of course we've heard of COINTELPRO. And of Ron Paul, who is good on the war. (And that's about all.) I mean, please..... As for your scrappy eschatology and Biblical reference to asses, oy vey oy vey.... 27 Oct 2007 @ 19:42 by vaxen : Quinty... san you sound 'whooped' already! "Let’s see if the far right takes that away." They can only take what you give them! Left, right, center? All illusions. Be here now. Grab a gun... shoot a *op. ;) Well, silly, or not, it is fun to watch y'all dance the night away. When you wake up in the morning the tent, and all those lovely ladies, the nectared wines, the great foods, will all be gone... and you'll wonder if it was all a dream or if it really happened. Looks like you'll be, ah, "voting" for Hillary too? ;) Cyborg insects with embedded microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) will run remotely controlled reconnaissance missions for the military, if its '"HI-MEMS" program succeeds. The Hybrid-Insect MEMS program hatched earlier this year at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency plans to develop cyborg bugs to patrol, gather intelligence, penetrate secret meetings, track targets, retrieve samples and more... War, Hate, Peace, Love, Peace, Hate, War... Don't be late. The Mad Hatters Ball is about to begin the 'Begin...' cf: [link] 27 Oct 2007 @ 19:50 by quinty : Oh Hillary Hillary, Hillary, how I love you! Oh Hillary, flame of my heart oh passion and desire Hillary, Hillary, Hillary how we need you! Sure, Vax. sure..... 28 Oct 2007 @ 08:06 by vaxen : I knew it! "An irreligious time which coincides exactly with the idea of a world-city is a time of decline. True. But we have not chosen this time. We cannot help it if we are born as men of the early winter of Civilisation. Everything depends on our seeing our own position, our destiny, clearly, on our realising that though we may lie to ourselves about it we cannot evade it." "We are born into this time and must bravely follow the path to the destined end. There is no other way. Our duty is to hold on to the last position, without hope, without rescue, like that Roman soldier whose bones were found in front of a door in Pompeii, who, during the eruption of Vesuvius, died at his post because they forgot to relieve him. That is greatness. That is what it means to be a thoroughbred. The honorable end is the one thing that can not be taken from a man." (Oswald Spengler, The Decline of the West) "By now you should understand what the main task of our Art is: detach yourself from the humid substance that you are made of, and be regenerated in the solar strength. Be transformed into a ‘being who is’, or into a breathing center, freed from the bonds of sublunar natures. You must wear out the thirst, the fever, and the endless and dark yearning for existence. This is the condition for going beyond the law of men." (Ercole Quadrelli, Gruppa di UR) "The Initiate is a being who has learned how to take control of the totality of the cravings and deficiencies which urge him internally. He has learned how to resist them, and has the power to say NO, and how to break their law and how to develop a new life without them." (Julius Evola) [link] And most especially for quinty san in lieu of his gorgeous little poem above: [link] 28 Oct 2007 @ 10:31 by jazzolog : Inspiration From The Sticks One of the people who emails me hard and quick over stuff I send out is Annie Warmke. This incredible creature lives in the middle of nowhere with her family, a mess of chickens, and herd of llamas in a massive mud hut reinforced with netting, straw, bottles and tires. From this platform of acreage the Warmkes spend all their time showing eastern Ohio how to live as far off the grid as they can go. [link] It is a treat and privilege for us to spend any amount of time with them at all. Of course Annie came back with both feet about Elyse' experience with cops, cuffs, and jailcell. The advice she gave was shop local and with owners you get to know. I wrote back the corner drugstore and grocery are relics of the past...but maybe you still can find a little bookstore where they know you and what you like to read. Here's Annie's reply yesterday morning~~~ "While I often suffer from a lack of friends here that I can talk to at a higher intellectual level I buy practically everything I need at locally owned shops and not only do I know them but we have organized them either as a chamber of commerce or with Ohio Green Living.org. Our goal is to keep those shop keepers owning their shops so that we can at least pretend temporarily that the fascist state is over the ridge in another town. Most days I could pinch myself that I live at a place like Blue Rock Station where we set some of the rules for how we live, and we have the luxury to carry on in that vein. "As time passes I am more and more convinced that unless we accept that the future requires great sacrifice we are going to suffer even more. We often tell folks to forget recycling - it is just a simple exercise that makes no difference at the end of the day. We have to 'reduce' and in a mighty big way in a mighty big hurry. That's why THE INCONVENIENT TRUTH trailer at the end made me cry. Changing the light bulbs, riding your bike to work or composting your kitchen waste is not going to stop what is happening to the earth - unless we all did it at the same time NOW. Imagine that...Annie"  28 Oct 2007 @ 17:04 by vaxen : Thanks... jazzolog. "...The honorable end is the one thing that can not be taken from a man." - Spengler 28 Oct 2007 @ 17:04 by quinty : Just so that Vax won't think I'm "whooped" already, I changed the sentence up there to "attempt to take our rights away." And speaking of cheese, the French, as well as other European nations, I suppose, subsidize their small farms. They take food seriously, and won't (or didn't) allow agribusiness (with its white wonderbread profit driven soul) put the small farmers out of business. As an American, one of the chief glories of Europe are all the outdoor food markets. In Paris once I came upon a cheese fair which ran the length of three or four city blocks. Stand after stand of cheese, all varieties and makes. They know what's important there. Yes, I agree: crushing aluminum cans with the heal of your shoe ain't going to make it. Though it helps and is a good habit, I think, just on general principles. What makes us think we have the right to despoil our world, our nest, by treating it as an enormous waste bin for all the filth we create? On NPR this morning there was an interesting piece on how many states of the nation (the US) are working on clean renewable energy resources since there is no leadership in Washington. (Though the Democrats did get a bill passed which is currently in conference. Will Bush sign it?) And what is amazing about this effort is that each state is way beyond expectations. Wind power being a popular source for energy. 28 Oct 2007 @ 17:09 by vaxen : Energy... from the 'vacuum.' [link] Please don't forget Tesla. He was murdered and the plans for his inventions stolen by good old USA gov. Don't you think it is high time for a real revolution all around the table? States, as well as the head of the beast in Washington. Enough is enough... Arguing Democrat or Republican lies all day long isn't going to save you or the planet. The planet doesn't care for man made 'laws.' A thousand bills in a sold out, traitorous, congress - won't change the doom that materialism has elected as a way of death. Toss the bastards out of the White Houses everywhere! But, most of all, kick them out of your heart! 28 Oct 2007 @ 23:23 by quinty : Well, Vax If you put it that way I’m ready to curl up under a tree somewhere and die. For I really don’t see what else I can do? Screw the ordinary workings of democracy and the best Congress money can buy. Corporate America has clearly failed us! Unless, of course, you’re suggesting we unlock all our rifles and guns from their storage cabinets and meet somewhere to charge the White House? How many guys you got? I’ve always wanted to see the private quarters of the White House. So where do we meet? Do we take your pickup or mine? Can we do it quick or do you expect we take a lot of casualties? Should we stop off at a MacDonald’s on the way to buy some whoppers? And lots of fries? At least a six pack of beer? But will the Earth survive long enough for us to finish our revolution? Or because of a lack of time do we have to attempt instead to persuade our current government? Since useless as that is the corporate interests will still be thinking of profits as we all go over the brink? Or are we just doomed? (I vividly recall once seeing Alan Ginsberg repeat over and over again, as if no one else were there, “We’re doomed. We’re doomed.” The way he chanted this it certainly made one wonder. If those most obviously in tune, our poets, after all, are worried....?) Are we merely an insignificant infection in one small pocket of the universe which, like a virus, is merely isolated and rampant and will soon run its course, destroying our home, the world? Like a pustule? But Vax if we go the revolutionary route we may just further despoil our environment. Burning oil wells in Texas and Louisiana. Crops on fire throughout the Middle West: all that burning corn and wheat and soybeans creating a vast toxic cloud, suffocating Chicago, Saint Louis, and Indianapolis. The government even nuking New York. (The Bushies hate those Upper West Side types.) Mayhem, universal wreckage, soldiers mutinying, mass executions, mass hysteria, pandemics, millions of refugees fleeing across the Mexican and Canadian borders. Why, there may even be an earthquake, and California will finally fall into the sea. Or drift away. Some folks would like that. And by then the world would have come to an end anyway: we would just hurry it up with all our added destruction. What’s more seers and prophets have been predicting for eons such a violent and unseemly end. But if our government is so foolish, warped, corrupt, venal, obsessed with immediate gratification and profit that appealing to their own sense of self preservation is useless, I guess we have no other choice. Watch what you start Vax. Wouldn’t it be a gas if you actually got it? But when we finally stand up to our corrupt government, will they just laugh at my pitchfork? Or do they laugh more loudly when I vote? I think I know your answer. Your turn 29 Oct 2007 @ 04:04 by vaxen : Got it... "All I know is that in this life there is a Grace that somehow reveals people to help us understand. These angelic beings arrive at times when it is clear we do not deserve them, and yet they linger with us and sometimes stay." - jazzolog House Passes Thought Crime Bill House Passes HR 1955 "the Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act of 2007" Labor Unions are especially at risk under this bill’s definition of "VIOLENT RADICALIZATION." It would take just one fight between union members and their employer, or with police, scabs or strike breakers for a union to be labeled a "violent radical organization with an agenda, terrorists." Historically unions have violent conflicts fighting for fair wages and better working conditions. Big Corporations can use this vaguely written bill to stop any labor movement. Police need only allege that people in a labor movement "were thinking about using violence." And Government is quite adept at providing false or purchased testimony. Once this bill passes the U.S. Government and police can eliminate any peaceful/lawful organization in "COINTELPRO" fashion by sending agent provocateurs into targeted lawful organizations and protest demonstrations to cause violence and/or destruction of private property. For instance, often many diverse organizations attend protests against the Iraq War, where violence might take place. Under this bill, all organizations that participate at a demonstration to stop the Iraq War could be charged with terrorism should violence occur, i.e., "for supporting an agenda by violence to coerce and influence the U.S. Government." After this bill is passed, government and police will be able to eliminate any organization or individual that would dare attend a meeting or demonstration for or against anything. Under this bill, after the Government charges you with Terrorism for "thinking about or supporting an Agenda that might entail violence", "Patriot Act Asset Forfeiture Provisions" kick in under Title 18 of the federal code. The "federal relation back doctrine" provides the government the power to seize any asset that was used prior to facilitate or support a purpose that would make that asset subject to government forfeiture. After this bill passes peaceful organizations and protestors attending demonstrations may be at great risk. Under the Patriot Act, if you or your organization are criminally charged with terrorism or terrorist conspiracy, Government can forfeit your home if used for meetings as constituting an asset "used" to support a terrorist conspiracy. The government can seize your car if used to transport co-conspirators to meetings or demonstrations that advance an "illegal agenda." Even if no violence took place. Government can, 20 years in the future, come back to forfeit those assets using only "civil evidence" since the passage of Henry Hide’s forfeiture bill HR 1658 in 2000. And no person or organization need be charged with a crime. Under this new bill just thinking or talking about violence in your home is enough to have your house seized by the government. That includes talking on your phone at your property. Under this new bill, innocent citizens are at risk if they participate in political, religions, labor, any meeting where another participant might attempt to further a lawful agenda though violence. Under the Patriot Act innocent citizens start out guilty having to prove they did not have reason to know the persons that they associated with may commit a terrorist act. [link] 29 Oct 2007 @ 04:34 by vaxen : Addenda: "She was in legal trouble. I couldn't believe it, but there it all was. She had been caught up in the system of spying that seems to have become the norm in this free society these last, recent, horrendous years. She had been observed, her actions interpreted, and she was reported." - jazzolog To vote or not to vote? To participate, or not to participate, in the fraudulent government? To fight for freedom or not to fight for freedom? Can a working debt slave, man or woman, in America, actually 'participate' in government (Democracy?), at any level of effectiveness, these days? Who is running America? Have you ever asked that question? Under the doctrine of Parens Patriae, "Government As Parent", as a result of the manipulated bankruptcy of the United States of America in 1930, ALL the assets of the American people, their person, and of our country itself are held by the Depository Trust Corporation at 55 Water Street, NY, NY, secured by UCC Commercial Liens, which are then monetized as "debt money" by the Federal Reserve. It may interest you to know that under the umbrella of the Depository Trust Corporation lies the CEDE Corporation, the Federal Reserve Corporation and the American Bar Association, the legal arm of the banking interests. Now you know who is running America! You might want to take exception to the name on the marquee at the entrance to 55 Water Street. ??? . . . "Tower of Power" . . . ??? Another thing to think about -- who owns the media and the news you are fed??? Guess Who??? An Independent Press??? Ha!!! [link] Torture, Then And Now By Rev. Fred Morris In the fall of 1974, I was being tortured by members of the Brazilian army in Recife, Brazil, led by officers who bragged about having been trained at the School of the Americas (then in Panama). [link] 29 Oct 2007 @ 10:10 by jazzolog : These Certainly Are The Wider Issues as Quinty and Vax continue their dialogue. Elyse knows this, and continues to explore possibilities for involving the concerns of other people in what she has gone through. It ain't over yet, of course. A bit like a rape, recovery takes time...and the attorneys charge by the hour. She's got a bad cold right now, and is not browsing the web. She did have a bit of a trek looking for a new drugstore for medicine. 29 Oct 2007 @ 15:27 by vaxen : jazzolog... doesn't she know that all those drugs etc., can be gotten from the internet and delivered by our wonderful post office for a lot less? Risky, of course, but maybe she likes the atmo-sphere of those places... Maybe you would be kind enough to suggest that she leave the hellhole known as New York city? Its' days are numbered. But I suppose most denizens of that hell would rather go down with the ship than make a practical move for lifes' sake. Good show bubba... 29 Oct 2007 @ 16:17 by a-d : "....A bit like a rape,...." It WAS a rape: A VIOLATION on ANOTHER PERSON('s Being ( Elyse in this case); Body & Soul and Social Rights to life in Peace & Harmony and Freedom. That 'rape' "only" is a sexual/physical act is a SERIOUS misnomer and should NOT be allowed to continue to go by UN-corrected! 29 Oct 2007 @ 17:37 by quinty : Some folks like New York, you know, Vax? Though, yeah, she better get out of there before the Bushies decide to nuke the Upper West Side. 29 Oct 2007 @ 18:40 by Quinty @72.195.137.102 : Hey Vax Excuse me for a humorless response. As a former New Yorker, who grew up there, I'm touchy about such subjects. I am at this minute listening to the third movement of Rimsky Korsakov's Third Symphany. As well as working on other things. Ah, paradise.......... 30 Oct 2007 @ 01:56 by vaxen : Torture dehumanizes! I consider Richards' friends experience at the hands of the local Gestapo to be a form of insidious torture. If you read the article I linked you to in the above then you will understand what we are faced with today. Why are these people still in the White House? If you read the 'other' article as to who runs America, and why, then you know. If you don't know then I suggest that you find out in a hurry. It is past time for the American people to stand up and say “no more. These policies do not represent us—this is totally un-American and we will have no more of it in our name.” [link] 30 Oct 2007 @ 09:53 by jazzolog : No Place To Hide I have a number of friends who "dropped out" in the '70s to get back to the land and all that. Of course there also were the commune experiments. NCN is full of people who refuse to do this and that. Many people want to keep all the money they get...or do away with money altogether...and not share in the social work that taxes can accomplish. I've never agreed wholeheartedly with any of those opinions. I don't like being watched and bossed around...or the tendency to be sneaky that surveillence creates in me. But technology has made it inevitable. And once you're identified as "a person of interest," obviously life becomes unbearable. That Elyse vows to fight back in that situation is the only way to go! Don't want to quibble Vax, but I think not many turn to the Internet when they just need a decongestant or some Tiger Balm. Furthermore there is ample evidence that metropolitan centers make the most ecological sense. Bicycling 10 miles to work is feasible for an old duffer like me, but I'm still shelling out (but not for Shell) to ride in my hybrid. 30 Oct 2007 @ 16:58 by quinty : Digressing back to an earlier digression.... Thanks to Ellen for forwarding this..... Following is a summary of estimates from around the country for October 27 events, based on police, media and organizers reports. UFPJ numbers are based on a press release posted on the national website [link] . San Francisco: Both AP and Reuters said "more than 10,000". AP quoted an ANSWER organizer as saying 30,000. Per ABC News the organizer number was 15,000. UFPJ number was 16,000. Chicago: AP said the police count was 5,000. Reuters said the actual count was 10,000. UFPJ said 30,000. Boston: Both the Boston police and the Boston Globe said 10,000. UFPJ said 10,000. New York City: Both AP and Reuters said the number was in the "thousands" and said that the turnout was depressed from earlier NYC rallies because of the rain. ("Thousands" is ambiguous but typically means less than 10,000.) ABC News in a World News Tonight report said the number was 10,000. UFPJ said the number was 45,000. Los Angeles: Per CBS News, police said 700, organizers said 10,000; they pointed out the huge discrepancy in their report. ANSWER organizers reported 10,000 to 20,000. UFPJ reported 15,000. Seattle: AP said the number was in the "thousands". KOMO (local radio) said 4,000. UFPJ number was 6,000. Orlando: The Orlando Sentinel said 2,000. UFPJ number was 3,000. Salt Lake City: KSL (local radio) reported "hundreds". UFPJ reported 1,000. Philadelphia: AP reported a few hundred: (Oct 28, 2007 - PHILADELPHIA (AP) - A few hundred anti-war protesters gathered at Independence Mall on Saturday.... [link] ) UFPJ reported 8,000. Jonesborough: UFPJ reported 400. New Orleans: UFPJ reported 300. (Me again, Quinty - Either the protesters have lost enthusiasm or there has been an undercount. I saw and heard nothing on the media (local and national) about the national protests.Maybe you did? And we all know opposition to the war has greatly increased since the enormous demonstrations preceding it. The last major one in San Francisco (January, 2003, I believe) was well over a hundred thousand. Though the press only reluctantly covered it. As we can all remember the nation, as a whole, was once gung ho. Saddam, the Hitler of the Middle East, had to go less he nuke us all in the middle of the night. Ah, Evil! the Islamofascists are coming! The Islamofascists are coming! Quick! Hide under your bed! Millions of us knew it was all baloney. So what does our dissent mean now? That we were all "premature" opponents of the Iraq war? That had we waited until the "establishment" turned against it we would be respectable? I’ve noticed that much of the venom which lingers on today against those who originally opposed it (such as Move On, Al Gore, others) is greater than it is against those who have only recently seen the light. As William Manchester in his marvelous book, A World Lit Only By Fire, says: “Those who translate revolutionary concepts into action are never as acceptable, or even as respectable, as those who express themselves indirectly.”) As a bonus, here's Krugman from yesterday's Times. A sane and sensible voice. Fearing Fear Itself By Paul Krugman The New York Times Monday 29 October 2007 In America's darkest hour, Franklin Delano Roosevelt urged the nation not to succumb to "nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror." But that was then. Today, many of the men who hope to be the next president - including all of the candidates with a significant chance of receiving the Republican nomination - have made unreasoning, unjustified terror the centerpiece of their campaigns. Consider, for a moment, the implications of the fact that Rudy Giuliani is taking foreign policy advice from Norman Podhoretz, who wants us to start bombing Iran "as soon as it is logistically possible." Mr. Podhoretz, the editor of Commentary and a founding neoconservative, tells us that Iran is the "main center of the Islamofascist ideology against which we have been fighting since 9/11." The Islamofascists, he tells us, are well on their way toward creating a world "shaped by their will and tailored to their wishes." Indeed, "Already, some observers are warning that by the end of the 21st century the whole of Europe will be transformed into a place to which they give the name Eurabia." Do I have to point out that none of this makes a bit of sense? For one thing, there isn't actually any such thing as Islamofascism - it's not an ideology; it's a figment of the neocon imagination. The term came into vogue only because it was a way for Iraq hawks to gloss over the awkward transition from pursuing Osama bin Laden, who attacked America, to Saddam Hussein, who didn't. And Iran had nothing whatsoever to do with 9/11 - in fact, the Iranian regime was quite helpful to the United States when it went after Al Qaeda and its Taliban allies in Afghanistan. Beyond that, the claim that Iran is on the path to global domination is beyond ludicrous. Yes, the Iranian regime is a nasty piece of work in many ways, and it would be a bad thing if that regime acquired nuclear weapons. But let's have some perspective, please: we're talking about a country with roughly the G.D.P. of Connecticut, and a government whose military budget is roughly the same as Sweden's. Meanwhile, the idea that bombing will bring the Iranian regime to its knees - and bombing is the only option, since we've run out of troops - is pure wishful thinking. Last year Israel tried to cripple Hezbollah with an air campaign, and ended up strengthening it instead. There's every reason to believe that an attack on Iran would produce the same result, with the added effects of endangering U.S. forces in Iraq and driving oil prices well into triple digits. Mr. Podhoretz, in short, is engaging in what my relatives call crazy talk. Yet he is being treated with respect by the front-runner for the G.O.P. nomination. And Mr. Podhoretz's rants are, if anything, saner than some of what we've been hearing from some of Mr. Giuliani's rivals. Thus, in a recent campaign ad Mitt Romney asserted that America is in a struggle with people who aim "to unite the world under a single jihadist Caliphate. To do that they must collapse freedom-loving nations. Like us." He doesn't say exactly who these jihadists are, but presumably he's referring to Al Qaeda - an organization that has certainly demonstrated its willingness and ability to kill innocent people, but has no chance of collapsing the United States, let alone taking over the world. And Mike Huckabee, whom reporters like to portray as a nice, reasonable guy, says that if Hillary Clinton is elected, "I'm not sure we'll have the courage and the will and the resolve to fight the greatest threat this country's ever faced in Islamofascism." Yep, a bunch of lightly armed terrorists and a fourth-rate military power - which aren't even allies - pose a greater danger than Hitler's panzers or the Soviet nuclear arsenal ever did. All of this would be funny if it weren't so serious. In the wake of 9/11, the Bush administration adopted fear-mongering as a political strategy. Instead of treating the attack as what it was - an atrocity committed by a fundamentally weak, though ruthless adversary - the administration portrayed America as a nation under threat from every direction. Most Americans have now regained their balance. But the Republican base, which lapped up the administration's rhetoric about the axis of evil and the war on terror, remains infected by the fear the Bushies stirred up - perhaps because fear of terrorists maps so easily into the base's older fears, including fear of dark-skinned people in general. And the base is looking for a candidate who shares this fear. Just to be clear, Al Qaeda is a real threat, and so is the Iranian nuclear program. But neither of these threats frightens me as much as fear itself - the unreasoning fear that has taken over one of America's two great political parties. 30 Oct 2007 @ 19:56 by vaxen : Yeah... well, Franklin Delano, unh hunh, did a lot of things behind everyones' back. Have you heard that Sybil Edmonds is willing to "tell all" to any of the major Mass Media Conglomerates if they will interview her? [link] J.P. Morgan, ever hear of him? Rockefeller, Kuhn-Loeb, Warburg, etc., etc., and the Federal Reserve Fraud. Neat. Tidy little bit of thievery of minds and men. As long as people are dependent on fraudsters for the currencies which make commerce viable there will be injustice and inequality. Soka Gakkai reccomends a 'Human Revolution' of the interior sort suggesting that is the first place to look for corruption - the human heart. Looks good, at first view, but, then, take a look at the Sho Hondo fiasco and the Japanese Diet (Political.) Interesting that we use the Japanese, still, as shock troops. Oh, you didn't know that? ;) Genki Desu! Tai Atari! Incidentally Al Qaeda doesn't exist! Two "great!?" political parties? There is only one political party and it isn't called Democrat and it isn't called Republican both parties being lackeys of the real party... can you name that party, quinty? [link] 1 Nov 2007 @ 09:01 by jazzolog : Elyse Thinks She's Got Trouble? How would you like to be this woman? Ann Wright is a 29-year US Army veteran who retired as a Colonel, and a former US diplomat who resigned in March, 2003, in opposition to the war on Iraq. She served in Nicaragua, Grenada, Somalia, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Sierra Leone, Micronesia and Mongolia. In December, 2001, she was on the small team that reopened the US Embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan. The US Department of State has delayed publication of her new book, "Dissent: Voices of Conscience," for over three months. It will be published whenever the State Department finishes its search for classified materials. Her story~~~ Banned From Canada for a Year for War Protest By Ann Wright t r u t h o u t | Perspective Tuesday 30 October 2007 The invitation said six members of the Canadian Parliament were to speak October 25 on Canada's Parliament Hill as members of a panel called "Peacebuilders Without Borders: Challenging the Post-9/11 Canada-US Security Agenda." I arrived at the Ottawa airport on the morning of October 25 expecting to be met by three members of Parliament and to hold a press conference at the airport. Medea Benjamin, co-founder of Codepink Women for Peace and Global Exchange, was also invited by the Parliamentarians, but had been arrested the previous day for holding up two fingers in the form of a peace sign during the US House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs hearing in which Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice testified on Iraq, Iran and Israel-Palestinian issues. The October 24 committee hearing began with Codepink peace activist Desiree Fairooz holding up her red, paint-stained hands to Rice and shouting, "The blood of millions of Iraqis is on your hands." As Capitol Hill police took her out of the House hearing, Fairooz yelled over her shoulder, "War criminal, take her to the Hague." Shortly thereafter, two Codepinkers were arrested for just being in the room, and brutally hauled out of the hearing by Capitol police. An hour later, Medea and a male Codepinker were arrested for no reason. Four of the five had to stay overnight in the District of Columbia jail; Medea was one of those and missed the trip to Ottawa. I presented immigration officials our letter of invitation from the Parliamentarians that explained Medea and I had been denied entry to Canada at the Niagara Falls border crossing on October 3, 2007, because we had been convicted in the United States of peaceful, non-violent protests against the war on Iraq, including sitting on the sidewalk in front of the White House with 400 others, speaking out against torture during Congressional hearings, and other misdemeanors. The Canadian government knew of these offenses as they now have access to the FBI's National Crime Information database on which we are listed. The database was created to identify members of violent gangs and terrorist organizations, foreign fugitives, patrol violators and sex offenders - not for peace activists peacefully protesting illegal actions of their government. The immigration officer directed me to a secondary screening, where my request to call the members of Parliament waiting outside the customs' doors was denied. My suggestion that the letter of invitation from the Parliamentarians might be valuable in assessing the need for me to be in Canada was dismissed with the comment that members of Parliament do not have a role in determining who enters Canada. I suggested the laws enacted by the Parliament were the basis of that determination. I added that the reason I had been invited to Ottawa by Parliamentarian was to be an example of how current laws may exclude those whom Canadians may wish to allow to enter. I also mentioned Parliament might decide to change the laws immigration officials implement. I also suggested, since the Parliament provides the budget to the Immigration Services, they might notify the Parliamentarians awaiting my arrival that I had been detained. The officers declined to do so citing my privacy, which I immediately waived. The Parliamentarians were never notified by immigration I had arrived and was being detained. Only when my cell phone was returned to me by immigration officers four hours later was I able to make contact with the Parliamentarians. After nearly four hours of interrogation, I was told by the senior immigration officer I was banned from Canada for one year for failure to provide appropriate documents that would overcome the exclusion order I had been given in early October because of conviction of misdemeanors (all payable by fines) in the United States. The officer said that to apply for a Temporary Resident Permit (TRP) for entry for a specific event on a specific date, I must provide to a Canadian Embassy or consulate the arresting officer's report, court transcripts and court documents for each of the convictions, an official document describing the termination of sentences, a police certificate issued within the last three months by the FBI, police certificates from places I have lived in the past ten years (that includes Sierra Leone, Micronesia, Afghanistan and Mongolia), a letter acknowledging my convictions from three respected members of the community (the respected members that I will ask to write a letter have all been convicted of similar "offenses") and a completed 18 page "criminal rehabilitation" packet. Additionally, besides obtaining the TRP, since I was being banned for a year from Canada, I would have to obtain a "Canadian Government Minister's consent." The officer said the TRP and the Minister's consent normally took from 8-10 months to obtain. In the distant future, to be able to enter Canada without a TRP, I would have to be "criminally rehabilitated" and be free for five years of conviction of any offense, including for peaceful protest. The senior immigration officer took my fingerprints for Canadian records, escorted me to the airport departures area and placed me on the first plane departing for Washington, DC. In the meantime, the members of Parliament conducted the press conference and the panel without my presence, but certainly using the example of what had happened to me, and previously to Medea Benjamin, as incidents that the Parliamentarians are very concerned about, specifically their government's wholesale acceptance of information on the FBI's database, information that appears to have been placed there for political intimidation. A participant on the Parliamentary panel I was unable to attend was Monia Mazigh, the wife of Canadian citizen Maher Arar, who, when he transited New York's JFK airport, was sent by US authorities to Syria where he was imprisoned and tortured for 10 months. The day before I arrived at the Ottawa airport, Rice acknowledged the United States had "not handled his case properly." But Rice did not apologize to Arar on behalf of the Bush administration during testimony to the House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee. The previous week during a video conference, both Republican and Democrat members of Congress offered apologies to Arar. Arar, an Ottawa telecommunications engineer, still has a lawsuit pending against American officials. Arguments are scheduled for November 9 in New York. Many countries have succumbed to the behind-the-scenes, 9/11 pressure of the Bush administration to enact extensive and expansive anti-terrorism laws to increase "harmonization" and integration of security measures among countries. Unfortunately, the Canadian government is mirroring the Bush administration's use of security measures to increase control over dissent in their country - and in other countries. Most of the new security measures are done through administrative agreements, international joint working groups, regulations and the use of international organizations such as the G-8 and the International Civil Aviation Organization. By using administrative regulations, the US and Canadian governments avoid opening up the proposed restrictions of personal privacy to public scrutiny and debate by preventing such regulations from being enacted in the Congress or Parliament. Through these agreements with Canada and other G-8 countries, the Bush administration is setting up a global infrastructure for the registration and surveillance of populations worldwide, looking at every person as a suspect and a risk, whom must, in their opinion, as a precaution, be identified and tracked. Ordinary legal protections fundamental to democratic societies such as the presumption of innocence, rights against unreasonable search and seizure and rights against arbitrary detention and punishment are greatly threatened by these precautionary measures. Countries are accepting the "precautionary principle" and are gathering and sharing information not only to track suspected "terrorists," but to stop dissidents from flying and/or entering other countries, to stop activists and intellectuals at borders, - the Bush administration has refused visas for numerous academics from all over the world who have been invited to teach at American universities, but whom have spoken and written against the Bush war in Iraq, torture. and other violations of international law - to detain persons without reasonable grounds and to send persons to third world countries and prisons operated by the US government, where they are detained indefinitely without charge, tortured and sometimes murdered. The Canada-US Smart Border Agreement and Action Plan, an administrative agreement signed in December 2001, is the master document for security integration between Canada and the United States. The agreement calls for biometric standards for identity cards, coordinated visa and refugee policy, coordinated risk assessment of travelers, integrated border and marine enforcement teams, integrated national security intelligence teams, coordinated terrorist lists, increased intelligence sharing and joint efforts to promote the Canada-US model internationally. After 9/11, the Bush administration, under the National Security Entry-exit Registration System (NSEERS), registered and took biometric identifiers (fingerprints) of all males age 16-45 with links to Muslim and Arab countries visiting or traveling though the United States. Next, persons applying for visas to visit the United States had to submit biometric data (fingerprints) that will be stored in a US database for 100 years through the new US Visitor and Immigrant Status Indication Technology (US-VISIT) program. The Bush administration expanded its biometric round-up on a global scale in 2002 by requiring all countries that want to retain their visa waiver status with the US to require, by 2004, biometric passports through the Enhanced Border Security and Visa Entry Reform Act of 2002. In 2004, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) set a face recognition standard with fingerprint and iris scans as optional standards. Beginning in 2005, the United States and Canada have biometric passports with facial recognition. We all want our countries to be safe from criminal actions. However, the unnecessary curtailment of civil liberties and purposeful targeting of those who disagree with government policies must end. I call on the US Congress to conduct hearings to determine who ordered the FBI to place peaceful, non-violence protest convictions on the international data base, and for what purpose. It feels to me like purposeful intimidation to stop dissent - but I can guarantee you, it won't work! To all those concerned about free speech, freedom to travel, ending an illegal war, stopping torture, and other violations of domestic and international law, come to Washington and help us!!! (For more extensive information on security agreements that unnecessarily jeopardize our civil liberties, please see "Americanizing the Restriction of Canadians' Rights - Security Overtaking Trade as a Driver of 'Deep Integration'," by Maureen Webb, Canadian centre for Policy Alternatives. [link] ) [link] Other entries in Crime, Policing 17 Nov 2007 @ 21:16: who are the real dangerous predators : msnbc ! 18 Apr 2005 @ 19:50: Prison and the Net 3 Mar 2005 @ 15:22: PROPOSAL TO THE UN ON DRUGS POLICY 3 Jun 2004 @ 15:24: Counting the Costs of the Drug War 20 Apr 2004 @ 18:46: In the mind of a psychopath
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24 Oct 2007 @ 09:27, by Richard Carlson