Thursday, November 23, 2006

Pentagon still spying on war protesters, anti-war movement

Yeah. Just watch this.

Sunday, November 19, 2006

Abusive, militant UCLA Campus Police unnecessarily taser student 5 times for not having an ID

Apparently, when 23-year-old UCLA student Mostafa Tabatabainejad didn't immediately vacate the building, security operatives returned with police officers to escort him from the premises. The Daily Bruin writes: "By this time the student had begun to walk toward the door with his backpack when an officer approached him and grabbed his arm, at which point the student told the officer to let him go. A second officer then approached the student as well.


During the unacceptable, disgusting, and unjustified act of tasering Tabatabainejad, the abusive and militant officers even threaten other students who try to rally to his cause in the end.

Warning: the videos below may be disturbing to some.



The LA Times has a story about it and it looks like the student will file suit. NBC News 4 covers it from an off-campus "safe zone" - yes the girl they talk to is afraid to go onto the campus with the video footage for fear of being questioned and possible detained.


Via eightandfive

19 things Republicans want you to forget!

1) Republicans want you to forget that there were no weapons of mass destruction.

2) Republicans want you to forget that while the Republican Policy Committee was opposed to the deployment of U.S. Soldiers to Bosnia under President Clinton,they’ll brand you a terrorist if you oppose President Bush’s war in Iraq.

3) Republicans want you to forget there was no yellow cake uranium.

4) Republicans want you to forget that they hired a bunch of rich thugs to lie about John Kerry in 2004.

5) Republicans want you to forget they lied about John McCain in 2000…otherwise we would have President McCain right now and not President Bush.

6) Republicans want you to forget that before attacking Afghanistan to search for Osama Bin Laden and fight the terrorists, Bush first decided we need to attack Iraq – where there were no terrorists…until we attacked and occupied Iraq.

7) Republicans want you to forget that when the Army Chief of Staff Eric Shinseki suggested that “several hundred thousand troops”would be needed to stabilize and occupy a country the size of Iraq, President Bush and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld both derided the Army Chief of Staff. His reward for his honesty? They let him go.

8) Republicans want you to forget that they inherited the biggest surplus in the history of the United States when they assumed control of all three branches of the United States government in 2000 when they took power, and turned it into the largest deficit in the history of the United States.

9) Republicans want you to forget that they had a plan to attack Iraq drawn up long before 9/11.

10) Republicans want you to forget that you can’t spend any money when you are dead.

11) Republicans want you to forget that sending jobs overseas takes jobs away from working Americans.

12) Republicans want you to forget that they want your grandparents to pay as much as possible for healthcare.

13) Republicans want you to forget that they don’t want Social Security to exist at all, instead, you get whatever money you have managed to save when you retire.

14) Republicans want you to forget that a Republican President has started every war since WW2. If they can’t find enemies, they just pick a noun (drugs, terror).

15) Republicans want you to forget that they have people in their party who solicit sex from underage boys – and when they get caught, they just quit and oh darn, Congress has no authority over private citizens so now Mark Foleycannot be prosecuted.

16) Republicans want you to forget that they use racial slurs on colleagues’ voicemail. When they are caught, they say they are drunks.

17) Republicans want you to forget that fuel costs have doubled since 2000, but your income has not.

18) Republicans want you to forget that even though you are not making record profits, oil companies are.

19) Republicans want you to forget that if major companies can’t pay their bills, they can declare bankruptcy and get out of their debts, but you have to pay all of your debts even if you declare bankruptcy.

Via eightandfive

Thursday, November 16, 2006

U.S. may mull pre-emptive Iran strike, and put us in harms way once again

According to Reuters, the United States or other countries will one day be forced to consider pre-emptive action if Iran and North Korea continue to seek nuclear weapons, a senior U.S. government official said on Tuesday.

WEll, I can tell you that if this happens, I am getting out of this country. Wait! We might not be able to leave, remember: When the Department of Homeland Security system comes into effect next January, your U.S. Passport won't matter, if the agency says "no" to a clearance request, or doesn't answer the request at all, you won't be permitted to enter-or leave-the United States. Yay!

But thanks to covert government actions, many citizens don't know this is about to happen.

Sunday, November 12, 2006

87 percent say 'plenty to justify' Bush impeachment


An MSNBC online poll shows that the overwhelming majority of its participating voters believe President Bush should be impeached.

Of nearly 360,000 people who had voted in the "unscientific" poll by 9:30PM Eastern on Friday evening, 87 percent responded "Yes."

Despite considerable voter support for impeachment indicated in its tally, MSNBC notes that it is "not a scientific survey". And it shouldn't be scientific, because it's not science that Bush should be impeached.

Democratic National Committee chairman Howard Dean recently said, "[W]e're not going to do that," while the probable next Speaker of the House, Rep. Nancy Pelosi, had earlier indicated that impeachment was "off the table." Why? Bring it back to the table!

The poll is available here but could be removed, altered or archived at any time. A cache of earlier, though similar, results is viewable here.

Via Raw Story

The questionable and mysterious past of Robert Gates

Robert Gates is George W. Bush’s choice for replacing Donald Rumsfeld as Defense Secretary. Robert Gates is also a trusted Bush Inc. friend. But is he trustworthy to the public? Sources say no.

We know one thing: the current Bush administration wants to get Gates in the door and through the congressional approval process by pushing for a quick confirmatio before the end of 2006, before the new Democrat controlled Senate is seated.

If Bush’s plan goes smoothly, "there will be no time for a serious investigation into Gates’s past." Perfecto.

Gates has faced accusations of working with Islamic extremists in Iran, arming Saddam Hussein’s dictatorship in Iraq, and politicizing U.S. intelligence to conform with the desires of policymakers. Do we really want someone who was EVEN accused of these things in a position such as Secretary of Defense?

In 1993, Russia sent an intelligence report to a U.S. House investigative task force stating that Gates participated in secret contacts with Iranian officials in 1980 to delay release of 52 U.S. hostages then held in Iran, a move to benefit the presidential campaign of Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush. Now where have we seen this kind of behavior recently? Hmmm.

"To push through Gates’s nomination to be CIA director in 1991, the elder George Bush lined up solid Republican backing for Gates..."

As Bush Inc. grapples with the current 'Iraq gone wrong', "they are turning to an even more trusted hand to run the Defense Department. The appointment of Robert Gates suggests that the Bush Family is circling the wagons to save the embattled presidency of George W. Bush."

Read the full article at Consortium News
Also read "Gates has a history of manipulating intelligence"

Saturday, November 11, 2006

U.N. resolution condemning Israel, vetoed by U.S. as usual

The U.S. has again decided to support Israel instead of basic human rights by vetoing a U.N. resolution, as they always do and have done for the past few decades.

The United States has cast 82 vetoes in the United Nations' 61 years, and nine of the last 10 council vetoes, seven of which dealt with the Israel-Palestinian conflict.

See kids, when the U.S. government doesn't like a resolution, either because it makes their friends look bad or is against the administrations' twisted foreign policies, they simply veto it. Easy!

U.S. Ambassador to the UN, John Bolton, says he condemns the bombing by Israel that killed 18 innocent Palestinians, but that the "language" of the U.N. resolution was unfairly biased against Israel.

And what happens when the U.S. puts it's imperialistic ambitions above human life? More terrorist acts! Yay!!

The U.S. veto sent the wrong message to both Israeli and Palestinian militants, Palestinian U.N. Observer Riyad Mansour told reporters. "Will that help extremist elements to take issues into their own hands on both sides? You bet!"

Read about the vetoes.

Read the full article

Friday, November 10, 2006

Republicans = Scientoligists

This is a little something Bill Maher wrote at Huffington Post:

In Scientology, anyone who criticizes the religion is fair game for any and all kinds of retribution. You can file lawsuits against them, you can harass them, you can spread lies about them, and it's OK because the critic is fundamentally evil.

This is the same reason Republicans have no problem running push polls, or handing out leaflets with false accusations, or calling Democrats and telling them that their polling place has been changed... all this dishonest, sleazy stuff is OK because it's in the service of a greater good.

And this all ties into the so-called father of neo-conservatism, the philosopher Leo Strauss, who argued that the only way to stop liberalism from ruining society was for the elites (a.k.a his neocon followers) to exploit myths (religion) or create new myths (the Islamic Menace).

Couldn't have said it better Bill.

Will Rumsfeld be prosecuted for war crimes? Hopefully.

Is this happening? Maybe! The top prosecuter of Germany is seeking a criminal investigation and prosecution of Donald Rumsfeld, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, former CIA director George tenet, and other senior U.S. civilian and military officers, for their roles in human rights violations at Abu Ghraib prison and Guantanamo Bay.

Excerpt from TIME:


"The plaintiffs in the case include 11 Iraqis who were prisoners at Abu Ghraib, as well as Mohammad al-Qahtani, a Saudi held at Guantanamo, whom the U.S. has identified as the so-called "20th hijacker" and a would-be participant in the 9/11 hijackings. As TIME first reported in June 2005, Qahtani underwent a "special interrogation plan," personally approved by Rumsfeld, which the U.S. says produced valuable intelligence. But to obtain it, according to the log of his interrogation and government reports, Qahtani was subjected to forced nudity, sexual humiliation, religious humiliation, prolonged stress positions, sleep deprivation and other controversial interrogation techniques."


Finally and thanks to Germany, a huge supporter of human rights throughout the world.


"The utter and complete failure of U.S. authorities to take any action to investigate high-level involvement in the torture program could not be clearer," says Michael Ratner, president of the Center for Constitutional Rights, a U.S.-based non-profit helping to bring the legal action in Germany. And we could not agree more.

Thursday, November 09, 2006

Rumsfeld should let Majeed al-Rawi stay at his place for a while

Insurgents in Fallujah hid a bomb in front of Majeed al-Rawi's house a few days ago, intending to use it against U.S. or Iraqi troops. Majeed al-Rawi had one option after this happened: move out of his home.

"If I report it to the Americans, I will be killed by the men who put it there, and if I don't, my family will be killed either by the explosion or the Americans,"said al-Rawi, a car dealer. "This is not a way to live; this is a way to hate life."

Come on Rumsfeld! It's your fault (and your cohorts) this is happening. Don't you think al-Rawi could maybe stay with you for a while? You know, until the whole thing clears up. I mean, you got off so easily...al-Rawi didn't. He didn't have a choice. Well, unless he wants to die, then could probably stay at his house.

The U.S. 'War on Terror' worsens terrorists and creates anti-USA feeings around the world, as it has for many many decades!

The number of shootings, bombings and bombs found and defused has doubled in Fallujah since last winter, to about four or five a day, U.S. officers say. There have been about half a dozen car bombings in recent weeks.

U.S. and Iraqi troops have nowhere near the manpower needed to take up the slack, said Lt. Col. James Teeples, the senior adviser to the Iraqi Army unit responsible for much of the city. Hmm, kind of like in Afghanistan too.

"We just don't have the manpower to maintain surveillance on the entire city," Teeples said.

It's because you shouldn't be surveying the city at all, you shouldn't be there period. The reason this started in the first place is because of the twisted U.S. foreign policy for the past several decades.


If people would do research themselves, maybe read a history book or two (not the one's you get in school, then maybe more people would realize there is a consistent history of U.S. hegemonic and imperial ambitions throughout the past years.

Full article via StarTribune.com

Wednesday, November 08, 2006

The almost end of a 6 year nightmare for the world

Many good things happened yesterday. Nancy Pelosi will be the first woman to serve as Speaker of the House of Representatives. Keith Ellison (D-MN), will become the first Muslim to serve in Congress. And with With Claire McCaskill’s (D) Senate victory in Missouri, a record number of women (16) will now serve in the U.S. Senate.

Many people and politicians alike, around the world, saw the way voters took to the polls on Tuesday as a rejection to Bush Inc's corrupt and murderous ways. There is no doubt that many American's made it clear that we will not stand by and have our freedoms and others' freedoms violated around the world.

A French teacher said it was about time U.S. voters figured out what much of the rest of the world already knew. Well said.

More than 200 Socialist members of the European Parliament hailed the American election results as "the beginning of the end of a six-year nightmare for the world."Only two more years.

But we should not become too joyous as of yet, for we now must decapitate the monster, and finish the job.

What will come next? Will America continue down it's distraught and always failed path in foreign policy? Can we expect more corruption? Most likely. More leaders playing off of the American publics' fear? We hope not.

It is our job as citizens to keep the power balanced, to question everything done by our government, and to make the government fear US.

"People Should Not Be Afraid Of Their Governments. Governments Should Be Afraid Of Their People."

Bush tells terrorists: ‘Do Not Be Joyful’ over election results

President Bush, befor ethe elections said that if opponents of his Iraq policy were victorious, “the terrorists win and America loses.”



Terrorists say, "But, but... you said we win!" Sorry terrorists, we have a pseudo-dictatorship going on here. And remember terrorists, if it wasn't for Bush, many of you newly formed terror cells would not have jobs.

Via Think Progress

Six states raise minimum wage! A good start.

Six states approvedraising the minimum wage, joining 18 other states in setting a wage higher than the ridiculously low federal mark of $5.15 an hour.

In my state, Ohio, voters raised the wage to $6.85 an hour, Montana to $6.15 or the federal wage, whichever is higher, and Missouri to $6.50. Arizona voters raised the minimum wage to $6.75.

CNN also projects that Nevada voters will approve a mandatory minimum wage constitutional amendment that would set the wage at $6.15 if the employer does not provide health benefits. Blah.

A good start for most states. But they are still too low for anyone to live off of, even on the slimmest of budgets. There's a book, which I read, called Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America

The author, Barbara Ehrenreich, sets out to find how anyone could make ends meet on $7 an hour, she left behind her middle class life as a journalist except for $1000 in start-up funds, a car and her laptop computer to try to sustain herself as a low-skilled worker for a month at a time. In 1999 and 2000, Ehrenreich worked as a waitress , a cleaning woman, a nursing home aide, and in a Wal-Mart employee.

End result? Her income barely covered her month's expenses in only one instance, when she worked seven days a week at two jobs (one of which provided free meals) during the off-season in a vacation town.

13 nations denounced for web censorship

Belarus, China, Cuba, Egypt, Iran, Myanmar, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tunisia, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Vietnam have all censored the web in some way.

Reporters Without Borders (RWB) claims these nations are the worst culprits for systematic online censorship, and they were targeted in the group's 24-hour online protest. No one should ever be prevented from posting news online or writing a blog," said the Paris-based group, and I agree.

In an annual report, the group said 61 people worldwide, 52 in China, are in prison for posting what the countries claimed was "subversive" content.

RWB obtained a copy of the verdict in the case of Jiang Lijun, sentenced to 4 years in prison in Nov. 2003 for his online pro-democracy articles in China. RWB said that Yahoo! had helped Chinese police identify him. 200 people have already recorded a message for the founder of Yahoo!, deploring the fact that his company helps the Chinese authorities track down cyber-dissidents.

Nepal, Maldives and Libya have been removed from Reporters Without Borders' annual list of Internet enemies. But there's an addition to the list, Egypt, where it said "many bloggers were harassed and imprisoned this year." What do you think?

Via Newsvine

Tuesday, November 07, 2006

Terrorist acts being carried out in Virginia against possible Democratic voters

Arlington, Virginia resident Tim Daly received a personalized phone call on his answering machine yesterday from an individual claiming to be from the "Virginia Elections Commission." The caller stated that "we've determined you are registered in New York to vote. Therefore, you will not be allowed to cast your vote on Tuesday." The caller then warned, "if you do show up, you will be charged criminally." That would instill fear into anyone's mind.

State elections in Virginia are supervised by the Virginia State Board of Elections (SBE) and there is no "Virginia Elections Commission." Democratic Party officials has said the GOP hopes to avoid being charged criminally by misidentifying the SBE, however, legal advisers to the Democratic Party have stated that it is a crime to impersonate a state official.

This is also a terrorist activity. Webster's says, 'terrorism' is "the systematic use of terror especially as a means of coercion." So we can all agree and without doubt confirm that what happened to Daly in Virginia was an act of terrorism. Period.

Daly has been registered to vote in Virginia since 1998 when he moved from New York.

The GOP has obviously gained access to records of voters who moved to Virginia since at least 1998 and are attempting to intimidate them by claiming they are still registered to vote in their previous states of residence.

There are reports of other similar attempts to suppress the vote in Virginia but only Daly has filed a sworn affidavit, and volunteered to appear in court as a witness. The FBI has also launched a probe, who knows if that will solve anything. Via Huffington Post.

New HBO Documentary, Hacking Democracy, available on Google Video

This new HBO documentary, Hacking Democracy, exposes the vulnerability of electronic voting machines. The film follows investigative journalist Bev Harris as she investigates the security and accuracy of electronic voting systems.

The Nov. 2 New York Times review says:
"Rigged voting in Louisiana? Say it ain't so. But it's not shocked-shocked you feel watching this; it's genuine shock. As the drama proceeds, adducing more evidence for the unreliability of the voting machines than can possibly be explored here, you might also feel flattened. Computers count around 80 percent of votes in America. The marketing director for Diebold, Mark Radke, who defends both the company and its chief executive (a major Republican fund-raiser who once promised in a letter to "deliver the electoral votes of Ohio" to President Bush), talks in maddening doublespeak and wears the arched-eyebrow expression of a silent-movie fiend. His Nixon-era nondenial denials turn the stomach."

Check it out:

Monday, November 06, 2006

87% of international terrorism cases brought by the FBI rejected by Federal prosecutors

Federal prosecutors have rejected 87% of the international terrorism cases brought by the FBI during the first nine months of fiscal year 2006, a Syracuse University analysis concluded. And the number of rejections has been generally increasing since 2001.

Of course, the Justice Department said the findings are an "astonishing misunderstanding" of the inner workings of the federal criminal justice system.

"This report contains inaccurate figures, relies on a faulty assumption that every referral from an investigative agency should result in a criminal prosecution and ignores the reality of how the war on terrorism is being conducted," said Justice Department spokesman Brian Roehrkasse.

Hmmm, is it just me, or is 87% a ridiculously high percentage? I was thinking more like 12% would be acceptable. Hell, even a 60% rejection rate would be acceptable with this administration. But Eighty-Seven Percent. Come on.

Because of the 'new mission' since 9/11, Roehrkasse said, cases rejected for prosecution don't necessarily close investigations. Oh! Kind of like this guy who was tortured but never charged, now I understand! In other words, they scare people and intimidate them, if they can't find a valid reason to detain them.

Hoax cases that were dismissed may have been included in the government data, too, he said. Yes, I am sure there were many people who entertaind themselves by being investigated by the feds.

Roehrkasse said the department's rejection rate stands at 67%, not 87%. He added the department has prosecuted 36 international terrorism defendants, nearly double the number reported in the analysis.

Still not at my really high and lenient rejection rate 60%.

Susan Long, one of the report's authors, said the data used in the review were obtained from the Justice Department's Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys. "The information comes from their files," Long said.

Via USA Today

Military recruiters misleading students to get them to enlist


What a surprise! A recent ABC News undercover investigation shows Army recruiters telling students that the war in Iraq was over, trying to get them to enlist. Students were equipped with hidden video cameras before visiting 10 Army recruitment offices in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut.

"We're not at war. War ended a long time ago," said one recruiter. Recruiters told students there would be little chance they'd to go Iraq, if they enlisted. Col. Robert Manning, who is in charge of U.S. Army recruiting for the entire Northeast, said that new recruits were likely to go to Iraq.

Even Manning tries to brush off this disgusting display by sick recruiters preying on students to advance their own place. "It's hard to believe some of things they are telling prospective applicants," Manning said. "I still believe that this is the exception more than the norm. … I've visited many stations myself, and I know that we have many wonderful Americans serving in uniform as recruiters."

Bullshit. You have no idea. Manning, please tell us which one of those recruiters wouldn't want to look good in front of you to maintain their rank and keep their job? Many "wonderful Americans serving in uniform"? Oh! You mean pawns of your war games to successfully execute the Bush admin. agenda, backdrops for Republican propaganda, and people who get paid 10 times less than what private contractors in Iraq get paid. Watch the video

Saddam’s guilty verdict 4 days early, but why?

Just before the 'not really' verdict was announced, Saddam said to "pardon and do not take revenge on the invading nations and their people." (MSNBC)

Then, the Supreme Iraqi Criminal Tribunal announced yesterday that Saddam Hussein has been found guilty and is sentenced to death. But it didn’t release the official verdict. NBC News has the story:

"The full verdict, a document of several hundred pages, explaining how and why today’s judgment was reached was not released. U.S. officials said it should be ready by Thursday. So why issue the verdict today? U.S. court advisors told reporters today it was delayed mainly for technical reasons."

"Technical reasons?" Oh! You mean "just days before the mid-term election"! Of course, because the Bush administration wants to be hailed as a hero, now we understand!

The court was created by the administration-controlled Coalition Provisional Authority and the administration still exercises considerable control over the court. The New York Times reports, "American influence…has been undeniably pervasive, with about 90 percent of the $145 million in annual costs for the court and associated investigations paid for by the United States Justice Department, and lawyers sent by Washington acting as advisers.”

Talking Points Memo via ThinkProgress

Also see Saddam verdict date "rigged" for Bush

Sunday, November 05, 2006

Afghanistan, Inc. - Contractors in Afghanistan making big money for bad work

CorpWatch has released a new 31 page investigative report, Afghanistan, Inc., where you’ll get an inside look at a system gone out of control, with little accountability and plenty of opportunity for graft and abuse. It isn’t a story you want to read; it’s a story you must read.

The author of Afghanistan, Inc. is Fariba Nawa, an Afghan-American who returned to her native country to examine the progress of reconstruction, uncovers some examples of where the money has (and hasn’t) gone, how the system of international aid works (and doesn’t), and what it is really like in the villages and cities where outsiders are rebuilding the war-torn countryside.

CorpWatch investigates and exposes corporate violations of human rights, environmental crimes, fraud and corruption around the world. Through its independent media work, CorpWatch fosters global justice, accountability and democratic control of corporations.

Click here to download the complete report. An HTML text version of the report is also available.

Bush Admin. wants to silence the tortured regarding secret CIA prisons and methods

Another step for Big Brother Bush who is trying to block lawyers' access to the 14 detainees.

Bush argues that those tortured in U.S. prison camps cannot disclose such information to their courts or even to their attorneys based on the contrary theory that such disclosure would constitute trading on insider information and compromise U S security interests:

From the Washington Post:

"The Bush administration has told a federal judge that terrorism suspects held in secret CIA prisons should not be allowed to reveal details of the "alternative interrogation methods" that their captors used to get them to talk."

"The government says in new court filings that those interrogation methods are now among the nation's most sensitive national security secrets and that their release -- even to the detainees' own attorneys -- "could reasonably be expected to cause extremely grave damage." Terrorists could use the information to train in counter-interrogation techniques and foil government efforts to elicit information about their methods and plots, according to government documents submitted to U.S. District Judge Reggie B. Walton on Oct. 26."

Gov't lawyers say detainees held in CIA prison camps have no automatic right to speak to lawyers because the new Military Commissions Act, signed by President Bush last month, stripped them of access to U.S. courts.

Via True Blue Liberal

Video the Vote: Sending videographers to monitor voter polling sites

In 2000 and 2004, we saw many problems at the polls: long lines, eligible voters turned away, voter intimidation, misallocation and malfunctioning of voting equipment. These stories were largely ignored as they took a back seat to the calling of races on Election Day.

Ian Inaba's new documentary film "American Blackout" received a Special Jury Award at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival. The film takes a look at the disenfranchisement of the Black voters in America and corruption in the 2000 and 2004 national elections. Inaba, 35, is a journalist for the Guerrilla News Network and directed the music videos for "Mosh" by Eminem and "Time and Time Again" by Chronic Future.

Now, Inaba wants to bypass the mainstream media and provide real-time media coverage of any problems that arise at voting sites. The "Video the Vote" campaign will send volunteer videographers to the upcoming mid-term elections and in greater numbers during the 2008 presidential election. Brilliant.

As Inaba tells WireTap, "We want to provide same-day footage and provide an alternative narrative in real time, so that we can all have a more complete picture of what occurs in our elections. We're dispatching videographers all over the country working closely with the Election Protection lawyers and volunteers. We found there is a big desire out there to do this. We'll do it in November and again in 2008. We already have hundreds of video volunteers nationwide."

This is the sort of thing people need to be doing: grassroots, cut throat, get-it-done-yourself and stop relying on the major media outlets.

Saturday, November 04, 2006

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff says Rumsfeld is inspired by God

"It's not Jesus Camp, it's Jesus Death Camp" (well said Cryptogon):

The top US general defended the leadership of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, saying it is inspired by God. "He leads in a way that the good Lord tells him is best for our country," said Marine General Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Now if that's not bullshit, I don't know what is. When are people going to realize we are being "led" by murderous hegemonic imperialists, who are hellbent on fulfilling their own needs and interests of there cohorts. Religion doesn't belong anywhere near government. Period.

Yahoo News via Cryptogon

Friday, November 03, 2006

U.S. citizens to be required ''clearance'' to leave the United States

We've seen a long list of threats to our privacy and human rights recently. We think it all went downhill on October 17th. But this is just the latest move to become a 'secure' Totalitarian state.

If the U.S. government (a.k.a Bush Administration) gets its way, beginning on Jan. 14, 2007, we'll all be on no-fly lists, unless the government gives us permission to leave-or re-enter-the United States.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (HSA) has proposed that all airlines and cruise lines be required to obtain clearance for each passenger they propose taking into or out of the United States.

"This proposed rule implements the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 requirement that such information be provided to the government before departure of the aircraft. This proposed rule provides air carriers a choice between transmitting complete manifests no later than 60-minutes prior to departure of the aircraft or transmitting manifest information on passengers as each passenger checks in for the flight, up to but no later than 15 minutes prior to departure."

"
Under both options, the carrier will not permit the boarding of a passenger unless the passenger has been cleared by CBP (Customs and Border Protection)."

Entire official federal document
USCBP-2005-0003-0005

When the DHS system comes into effect next January, your U.S. Passport won't matter, if the agency says "no" to a clearance request, or doesn't answer the request at all, you won't be permitted to enter-or leave-the United States. The decision would probably be made without a warrant, and come with many violations to your rights.

Earlier this year, HSA forbade airlines from transporting an 18-year-old a native-born U.S. citizen, back to the United States. The prohibition lasted nearly six months until it was finally lifted a few weeks ago. Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union are two countries in recent history that didn't allow their citizens to travel abroad without permission. Hey, that's neat! What are your thoughts on this?

See this PDF document for more information.

Via Friends of Liberty

Bush is more dangerous than Kim Jong-il

We saw this in the beginning of September when a poll showed European's think the U.S. is the greatest threat to global security.

Research here shows that British voters see George Bush as a great danger to world peace, more of a threat than even North Korean leader, Kim Jong-il, or the Iranian president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Axis of Evil? Hmmm.

The survey has been carried out by the Guardian in Britain and leading newspapers in Israel (Haaretz), Canada (La Presse and Toronto Star) and Mexico (Reforma), using professional local opinion polling in each country.

This exposes high levels of distrust. In Britain, 69% of those questioned say they believe US policy has made the world less safe since 2001, with only 7% thinking action in Iraq and Afghanistan has increased global security.

The finding is mirrored in Canada and Mexico, with 62% of Canadians and 57% of Mexicans saying the world has become more dangerous because of US policy. Even in Israel, only one in four Israeli voters say that Bush has made the world safer, outweighed by the number who think he has added to the risk of international conflict, 36% to 25%. A further 30% say that at best he has made no difference.

Voters in three of the four countries surveyed also overwhelmingly reject the decision to invade Iraq, with only Israeli voters in favour, 59% to 34% against. Opinion against the war has hardened strongly since a similar survey before the US presidential election in 2004.

In Britain 71% of voters now say the invasion of Iraq was unjustified, a view shared by 89% of Mexicans and 73% of Canadians. Voters don't think America has helped advance democracy in developing countries either, one of the justifications for deposing Saddam Hussein. Only 11% of Britons and 28% of Israelis think that has happened.

In the eyes of UK voters: 87% think bin Laden is a great or moderate danger to peace, compared with 75% who think this of Bush. That's a pretty close call.

Bush is seen in Britain as a more dangerous man than the president of Iran (62% think he is a danger), the North Korean leader (69%) and the leader of Hizbullah, Hassan Nasrallah (65%).

Full article via Guardian Unlimited

Wednesday, November 01, 2006

The new U.S. Currency - How to "de-God" your cold hard cash


"In God We Trust" was put on all paper currency by an Act of Congress in 1955; the phrase was declared the national motto by an Act of Congress in 1956 and first appeared on paper currency in 1957.

In the mid-1950s, the "red scare" had Congress and President Eisenhower acting in paranoid fits of illegal and unconstitutional activity. The FBI, under the militant J. Edgar Hoover, engaged in illegal spying campaigns against Americans. Kind of like the unconstitutional and illegal activities of the Bush administration today! Neat!

Adding "In God We Trust" to the US currency was an act of religious and political propaganda, allegedly to counter the threat of "godless communism." Boooo!

As Mitchell Kahle states, "For more than 10 years, I have spent only Godless dollars. Using a red pen or stamp, I mark a circle and slash over the word 'God' (as pictured above) on every bill that passes my way. When I make a withdrawal from the bank ATM, I immediately 'de-God' each of the crisp new $20s. When I spend the $20s, and receive $1s, $5s, or $10s in change, I 'de-God' each bill before passing it along. No merchant or business has ever refused to accept this 'godless' money."

So what does "In God We Trust" actually mean? Based on the facts, it means only that the government continues to maintain superstitious practices and paranoid acts that should have died along with McCarthyism. It means that the government does not actually support religious freedom. It means that the government continues to establish that monotheism, belief in one "Almighty God," is the de facto official religion of the United States. Via Boing Boing