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An American Hero
Source: Richard C. Cook Submitted: 07/22/2008
Dr. Ron Paul, the Republican candidate for the 2008 presidential nomination, is not the first U.S. politician to point to the abuses of the Federal Reserve System and call for its abolishment. Similar pleas to get rid of the Fed were made by Reps. Wright Patman (1893-1976) and Henry Gonzales (1916-2000), both Democratic congressmen from Texas and chairmen of the House Banking Committee.

Few recall, however, how controversial the Fed was when it was first proposed and then maneuvered through a recessing Congress just before Christmas 1913. Rep. Charles Lindbergh, Sr., R-MN and father of the future aviator, called the Federal Reserve Act “the worst legislative crime of the ages.”

But the strongest opposition came later, during the Great Depression. The source was Rep. Louis T. McFadden, a Republican representative from Pennsylvania who, as a former bank cashier and president, knew the financial system intimately.  Read full article »
Don't understand the Federal Reserve System? This book will help. (And it's free) http://MeetTheSystem.ORG
My First-Hand Experience With Government Spies
Source: Alternet Submitted: 07/21/2008
--Veteran peace activist in Baltimore, Max Obuszewski, who initiated the suit, was as well consistently shadowed as he walked down the streets. His "primary crime" (their lingo) was entered into the homeland security database as "terrorism - anti govern(ment)." His "secondary crime" was listed as "terrorism -- anti-war protesters." The database is known as the Washington-Baltimore High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area, or HIDTA. Yes, a respected peace organizer of many decades standing is checked as a terrorist, his actions listed as criminal, for doing nothing more than exercising his rights. It boggles the mind.  Read full article »
"Terrorism" is a weapon wielded by the state against its own people.

It provides a pretext for every conceivable violation of "inalienable" rights.

If you're not killing or conspiring to kill innocent civilians, you are not a terrorist.

It is our duty as Americans (and as sovereign human beings) to resist these criminals.
Zimbabwe introduces 100-billion-dollar note
Source: CNN Submitted: 07/19/2008
HARARE, Zimbabwe (CNN) -- Zimbabwe's troubled central bank introduced $100 billion banknotes Saturday in a desperate bid to ease the recurrent cash shortages plaguing the inflation-ravaged economy.

The bills officially come into circulation Monday, although they were on the foreign currency dealers market Saturday. --As high as they are, though, the bills still aren't enough to buy a loaf of bread. They can buy only four oranges.

The new note is equal to just one U.S. dollar.  Read full article »
Myth of "Global Warming Consensus" Explodes
Source: Daily Tech Submitted: 07/18/2008
--In a posting to the APS forum, editor Jeffrey Marque explains,"There is a considerable presence within the scientific community of people who do not agree with the IPCC conclusion that anthropogenic CO2 emissions are very probably likely to be primarily responsible for global warming that has occurred since the Industrial Revolution."

The APS is opening its debate with the publication of a paper by Lord Monckton of Brenchley, which concludes that climate sensitivity -- the rate of temperature change a given amount of greenhouse gas will cause -- has been grossly overstated by IPCC modeling. A low sensitivity implies additional atmospheric CO2 will have little effect on global climate.

Larry Gould, Professor of Physics at the University of Hartford and Chairman of the New England Section of the APS, called Monckton's paper an "expose of the IPCC that details numerous exaggerations and "extensive errors"  Read full article »
Micro Generation and Micro Farming
Source: GeorgeWashington2.Blogspot Submitted: 07/17/2008
One of the world's leading experts on trend forecasting says that producing our own energy for our homes and cars (called "micro generation") will become a huge trend in the next couple of decades. -What's he talking about?

Well, energy and food prices will keep going up. Every dollar we don't have to pay to the energy utility or food producers is a dollar we get to keep. And the technology for producing it ourselves is getting better and better.  Read full article »
Stop The (Printing) Press!
Source: Lew Rockwell Submitted: 07/17/2008
Ron Paul's statement before the US House of Representatives Financial Services Committee, Humphrey Hawkins Hearing on Monetary Policy, July 16, 2008

"Mr. Chairman, today we find ourselves on the verge of an economic crisis the likes of which the United States has not seen in decades. Our economy is very clearly in a recession, and every time someone tells us that the worst has passed, another serious event takes place, as we saw once again last week and early this week. Everyone now realizes that the situation is dire, yet either no one understands the cause behind the credit crisis, or no one is willing to take the necessary steps to ensure as orderly an end to the crisis as possible. Instead, we hear talk of further bailouts. The Fed-brokered takeover of Bear Stearns, a supposed one-off incident, has now been joined by a potential bailout of the Government-Sponsored Enterprises, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac."  Read full article »
America, Get a Grip...
Source: GeorgeWashington2.Blogspot Submitted: 07/15/2008
Former deputy national intelligence officer for transnational threats, a 23-year senior CIA analyst, who "drafted or was involved in many of the government's most senior assessments of the threats facing our country [and who] devoted years to understanding and combating the jihadist threat", writes today in the Washington Post that the neocons have whipped us into an irrational fear of the terrorism. In reality, "Osama bin Laden and his disciples are small men and secondary threats whose shadows are made large by our fears" and our leaders.

This is no surprise to anyone who has been paying attention. The BBC produced a documentary called The Power of Nightmares in 2005 that showed that politicians were greatly exaggerating the terrorist threat for political ends. FBI agents and CIA intelligence officials, Time Magazine, K eith Olbermann (and here), The Washington Post, Rolling Stone and many others have all documented the intentional fearmongering tactics which the neocons have used to drum up support for their wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, and now Iran.  Read full article »
Jim Rogers: Fannie Plan a "disaster"
Source: Bloomberg Submitted: 07/14/2008
``They're ruining what has been one of the greatest economies in the world,'' Rogers said. Bernanke and Paulson ``are bailing out their friends on Wall Street but there are 300 million Americans that are going to have to pay for this.''  Read full article »
Bob Barr put through the "Paul-O-meter"
Source: Liberty Maven Submitted: 07/13/2008
It is now Libertarian candidate Bob Barr’s turn to be spun through the Paul-O-Meter. We rate the candidates on 20 criteria to see how closely they match up with Ron Paul on the issues.  Read full article »
Homeland Security Aide Caught Offering Access For Donations (With Video)
Source: ThinkProgress Submitted: 07/13/2008
The Sunday Times reports Stephen Payne, a Bush pioneer and a political appointee to the Homeland Security Advisory Council, was caught on tape offering access to key members of the Bush administration inner circle in exchange for “six-figure donations to the private library being set up to commemorate Bush’s presidency.”

In an undercover video, Payne is seen promising to arrange a meeting for an exiled leader of Krygystan with Dick Cheney or Condoleezza Rice. (Not President Bush because “he doesn’t meet with a lot of former Presidents these days,” Payne says. “I don’t think he meets with hardly anyone.”) All it will take for him to arrange this high-level meeting, says Payne, is “a couple hundred thousand dollars, or something like that”:  Watch here »
Larken Rose: Kicking the Dragon
Source: JoePlummer.com Submitted: 07/12/2008
We have all heard the horror stories of men convicted and locked away in prison for crimes they did not commit; decades of their lives lost to a “system of justice” that failed to protect them. What we rarely hear is HOW such a thing can happen. Without a “step-by-step” account of what went wrong, it’s easy to believe it was just a “bad prosecutor,” or “bad cop,” or maybe even the occasional “bad judge” that led to the wrongful conviction.

Larken Rose was convicted of a crime he did not commit. Fortunately for him, his crime (“willful” failure to file Income Taxes) did not carry a death sentence or life in prison. “Justice” only claimed about a year of his life. However, in this case the victim DOES provide us a step-by-step account. It might surprise you to find that government officials aren’t always interested in “justice.” It might surprise you to find out; those who benefit from the system will sometimes lie and manipulate to “protect it” (at the expense of the truth.)  Read full article »
Formerly “CIA-funded” Warlords Turn Their Guns On U.S. Troops
Source: USnews.com Submitted: 07/11/2008
KABUL—The war in Afghanistan reached a wrenching milestone this summer: For the second month in a row, U.S. and coalition troop deaths in the country surpassed casualties in Iraq.

--Indeed, along with a smattering of Afghan tribal groups, Pakistani extremists, and drug kingpins, two of the most dangerous players are violent Afghan Islamists named Gulbuddin Hekmatyar and Jalaluddin Haqqani, according to U.S. officials. In recent weeks, Hekmatyar has called upon Pakistani militants to attack U.S. targets, while the Haqqani network is blamed for three large vehicle bombings, along with the attempted assassination of Karzai in April.

Ironically, these two warlords—currently at the top of America's list of most wanted men in Afghanistan—were once among America's most valued allies. In the 1980s, the CIA funneled hundreds of millions of dollars in weapons and ammunition to help them battle the Soviet Army during its occupation of Afghanistan.  Read full article »
Want some torture with your peanuts?
Source: Washington Times Submitted: 07/10/2008
A senior government official with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has expressed great interest in a so-called safety bracelet that would serve as a stun device, similar to that of a police Taser®. According to this promotional video found at the Lamperd Less Lethal, Inc. website, the bracelet would be worn by all airline passengers (video also shown below).

This bracelet would:

• Take the place of an airline boarding pass

• Contain personal information about the traveler

• Be able to monitor the whereabouts of each passenger and his/her luggage

• Shock the wearer on command, completely immobilizing him/her for several minutes  Read full article »
The 2006 election was a failure
Source: DownsizeDC Submitted: 07/10/2008
The Republicans used to claim they wanted smaller government. They also claimed that they couldn't really deliver this until they controlled both the Congress and the White House. In 2000 temporarily, and again in 2002, they gained that control, but they didn't deliver smaller government. Instead, they increased government by gargantuan amounts.

In 2006 the electorate punished the Republicans. Voters gave the Democrats majorities in the House and Senate. Polls showed several reasons for this. Voters objected to Republican spending, Republican corruption, Republican lawlessness, and a reckless Republican foreign policy.

Democrats were elected to change these Republican policies. Now, two years later, all the Republican's Big Government policies remain in place. Indeed, the Democrats have actually expanded those policies. --Partisan electoral politics has failed us again.

The Democrat controlled Congress also sent a strong message of toleration for government sanctioned lawbreaking. They did this by immunizing the tele-communications companies that had collaborated with President Bush to illegally spy on American citizens.  Read full article »
PLEASE take a minute to send your "representative" a message (using the DownsizeDC electronic message system.) Let them know how you feel about their vote. The vote record is available here: ( "AYE" = yes, "NAY" = no)
http://action.downsizedc.org/background.php?cid=95#list

Here is my personal message (feel free to use all or part of it if you like.)

"Thank you SO MUCH for giving the telecoms retroactive immunity. Thank you also for effectively sanctioning the actions of a lawless Executive branch. Thank you for betraying your sworn oath to “PRESERVE, PROTECT and DEFEND” the constitution of these United States. THANK YOU SENATOR for proving that you, like so many of those you rub elbows with, care NOTHING for truth, justice, or the rule of law that you’ve been elected to uphold. Keep up the great work! Each and every betrayal unites more Americans against the corrupt system you serve."

You can send your message here: http://action.downsizedc.org/wyc.php?cid=95
The Worst of All Worlds
Source: DownsizeDC Submitted: 07/09/2008
Why did nearly half the Democrats in the House vote for the "FISA Amendments Act" that's now pending in the Senate, when most of them had opposed warrantless spying and telecom immunity before? The answer is that they were bribed, using your tax dollars.

The Washington Post claims a deal was cut: the Democratic Leadership would support the FISA bill if the President would agree to add $95 billion in DOMESTIC spending to the latest Iraq appropriation.

In other words, House Democrats voted to continue the war and sold the Fourth Amendment for $95 billion.

Republicans say they want less spending. Democrats say they want less war. What's their compromise? More spending and more war.  Read full article »
Perverting "Justice"
Source: Huffington Post Submitted: 07/08/2008
--The nonsexual torture that was committed ranged from beatings and suffocation, electrodes attached to sensitive areas, and forced sleep deprivation, to prisoners being hung by the wrists from the ceiling and placed in solitary confinement until psychosis was induced. These abuses violate both US and international law. Three former military attorneys, recognizing this blunt truth, refused to participate in the "military tribunals" -- rather, "show trials" -- aimed at condemning men whose confessions were elicited through torture.

Though we can now debate what the penalty for waterboarding should be, America as a nation, maintaining an odd silence, still cannot seem to discuss the sex crimes involved.

Why? It's not as if the sex crimes that US leaders either authorized or tolerated are not staring Americans in the face: the images of male prisoners with their heads hooded with women's underwear; the documented reports of female US soldiers deployed to smear menstrual blood on the faces of male prisoners, and of military interrogators or contractors forcing prisoners to simulate sex with each other, to penetrate themselves with objects, or to submit to being penetrated by objects. Indeed, the Military Commissions Act of 2006 was written deliberately with loopholes that gave immunity to perpetrators of many kinds of sexual humiliation and abuse.  Read full article »
Ripping the 4th
Source: Huffington Post Submitted: 07/06/2008
Early next week the U.S. Senate will vote on an extension of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, with a few small amendments intended to immunize telecommunications corporations that assisted our government in the warrantless and illegal wiretapping it has grown to love.

That such a gutting of the Fourth Amendment to the Constitution even made it out of committee is yet another stain on the gutless and seemingly powerless Democratic majority in both houses of Congress.  Read full article »
US drug policy: How does it stack up?
Source: StopTheDrugWar.org Submitted: 07/06/2008
…it's striking that the lifetime marijuana use rate in the U.S. (42.4 percent) is more than twice as high as the rate in the Netherlands (19.8 percent), despite the latter country's famously (or notoriously, depending on your perspective) tolerant cannabis policies. The difference for lifetime cocaine use is even bigger: The U.S. rate (16.2 percent) is eight times the Dutch rate (1.9 percet).  Read full article »
Texas Lawyer Takes On Bloodthirsty Cops
Source: Prison Planet Submitted: 07/04/2008
The prospect of cops forcibly jabbing a needle into your arm and taking a blood sample on the side of a highway in suspected DWI cases is perhaps the most egregious portend of police state America in history, but one Texas lawyer has taken a stand to denounce the program as completely illegal.

Law enforcement programs in Texas, Ohio and other areas have trained cops to pull suspected drunk drivers over and forcibly extract blood, even against their will, a form of legalized police brutality that outstrips anything in Soviet Russia or Communist China.  Read full article »
"Find out just what any people will quietly submit to and you have found out the exact measure of injustice and wrong which will be imposed upon them, and these will continue till they are resisted with either words or blows, or with both. The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they oppress." --Frederick Douglass
Canadian ISPs Plan Net Censorship (Recommended)
Source: American Free Press Submitted: 07/04/2008
--The plans made by the large telecom businesses would change the Internet into a cable-like system, where customers sign up for specific web sites, and must pay to see each individual site beyond a certain point. Subscription browsing would be limited, extra fees would be applied to access out-of-network sites. Many sites would be blocked altogether.

“We had inside sources from bigger companies who gave us the information on how exclusivity deals are being made at this moment between ISPs and big content providers (like TV production studios and major video game publishers) to decide which web sites will be in the ‘standard package’ offered to their customers, leaving all the rest of the Internet unreachable unless you pay extra subscription fees per every ‘non-standard’ site you visit,” Leysen said.

--The plans would in effect be economic censorship, with only the top 100 to 200 sites making the cut in the initial subscription package. Such plans would likely favor major news outlets and suppress smaller news outlets, as the major news outlets would be free (with subscription), and alternative news outlets, like AFP, would incur a fee for every visit.

“The Internet will become a playground for billion-dollar content providers just like television is,” said Leysen.  Read full article »
The Spirit of '76
Source: DownsizeDC Submitted: 07/03/2008
For weeks now we've been fighting, as hard as anyone, to stop the "FISA Amendments Act."

If this fight is lost, it will be because some folks forgot a unique and important thing about American history. On July 4, 1776, 56 men stood up and agreed to pay the price for our liberty. -They had spirit.

The politicians who walk the halls of Capitol Hill are home in their districts now. They'll ride in parades and give speeches in front of flags. But the symbolism is distracting. These men and women are NOT what America is all about. They are not leaders. They are not special. Frankly, they don't deserve the attention they'll get, because unlike the 56 men who birthed our country, they're not willing to pay a price for liberty.

They lack spirit. They are either fear-peddlers or just plain afraid.  Read full article »
2008 Update
Source: Strike The Root Submitted: 07/01/2008
--Is the trouble now behind us, or is more on the way? Is the glass half full, or about to shatter on the floor?

Unhappily, Scenario Number Two appears the more likely. My guess is that trouble has moved in for an extended stay: what I call the Perma-Depression. The reasons for this prediction are appallingly clear, even if the Corporatist Media (especially in the U.S. ) and their status-quo cheerleaders often paint a rosier picture. The underlying fundamentals nearly all point in the same direction: down. Hard times lie ahead, and it will take more than a short business-cycle correction to bring back the easy prosperity Americans once took for granted.

Far too much damage has been done to America since 1913 for a quick turnaround, and the policies being pushed by the Corporate Media and the Old Power Parties (as represented by Obama and McCain in particular) are just more of the same – war with Iran or Pakistan or some other Target of the Month; bigger government generally; a takeover of the banks by the Fed; more restrictions on business and on personal liberty, and so on. FDR, Johnson, and every other anti-liberty, war-mongering, "guns and butter"-promising, pseudo-compassionate pol in American history would be proud. Such policies are guaranteed to make things worse; they always have. Indeed: such policies are what brought us to where we are today.  Read full article »
Speculators as Scapegoats
Source: FFF.org Submitted: 06/29/2008
It seems that American statists are conjuring up new scapegoats for America’s economic woes, what with speculators, oil companies, and OPEC becoming the new national boogeymen. I suppose this was inevitable given that it might be difficult to blame ever-rising gasoline prices at the pump on illegal aliens.

First, though—a little personal history on this subject:

Three-and-a-half years ago — December 27, 2004 — I wrote an article entitled “The Federal Attack on the Dollar” in which I stated in part:

“In effect, Washington officials are doing what imperial powers have done throughout history — debasing the currency to finance massive military and welfare expenditures. The consequence will inevitably be ever-increasing prices, which is simply the market’s way of saying that the currency is falling in value in comparison with everything else. The advantage to public officials, obviously, is that the masses usually have no idea that government is behind the rising prices and so join the government’s chorus blaming the rising prices on rapacious businessmen, profiteers, and speculators.”  Read full article »
Lying cops busted by surveillance video
Source: Bad Cop News Submitted: 06/29/2008
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - Undercover police officers who arrested four men on drug charges are under investigation after surveillance video proved the men they arrested committed no crime.

--Two hours of video showed no contact at all between the four men arrested and undercover officers - proof that lead prosecutors to drop charges against the four men, and even declare in court the men did not commit the crime.  Read full article »
Supreme Court: You have a right to a gun
Source: Digg Submitted: 06/26/2008
Answering a 217-year old constitutional question, the Supreme Court ruled on Thursday that the Second Amendment protects an individual right to have a gun, at least in one’s home. The Court, splitting 5-4, struck down a District of Columbia ban on handgun possession. Although times have changed since 1791, Justice Antonin Scalia said for the majority, “it is not the role of this Court to pronounce the Second Amendment extinct.”

Examining the words of the Amendment, the Court concluded “we find they guarantee the individual right to possess and carry weaons in case of confrontation” — in other words, for self-defense. “The inherent right of self-defense has been central to the Second Amendment right,” it added.

The individual right interpretation, the Court said, “is strongly confirmed by the historical background of the Second Amendment,” going back to 17th Century England, as well as by gun rights laws in the states before and immediately after the Amendment was put into the U.S. Constitution.  Read full article »
It's nice to have some GOOD NEWS mixed in with the daily Constitutional carnage.
Leaked NIST document regarding WTC 7 (Audio)
Source: Prison Planet Submitted: 06/25/2008
Alex welcomes Richard Gage of Architects & Engineers For 9/11 Truth and Kevin Ryan of Underwriters Laboratory to discuss leaked confidential NIST documents concerning the investigation into the collapse of WTC 7.  Listen here »
At Last, Some Truth About Iraq and Afghanistan
Source: Lew Rockwell Submitted: 06/24/2008
After a sea of lies and a tsunami of propaganda, the ugly truth behind the Iraq and Afghanistan wars finally emerged into full view this week.

Four major western oil companies, Exxon, Mobil, Shell, BP and Total, are about to sign US-brokered no-bid contracts with the US-installed Baghdad regime to begin exploiting Iraq’s oil fields.

--Washington disguised its energy geopolitics by claiming the Afghan occupation was to fight "Islamic terrorism," liberate women, build schools, and promote democracy. Ironically, the Soviets made exactly the same claims when they occupied Afghanistan from 1979-1989. The cover story for Iraq was weapons of mass destruction, Saddam’s supposed links to 9/11, and promoting democracy.  Read full article »
From the Project For A New American Century (PNAC) "Rebuilding America's Defenses Report" (Authored one year prior to the attacks of September 11th, 2001)

Page 26
"Though the immediate mission of those forces is to enforce the no-fly zones over northern and southern Iraq, they represent the long-term commitment of the United States and its major allies to a region of vital importance.

While the unresolved conflict with Iraq provides the immediate justification, the need for a substantial American force presence in the Gulf transcends the issue of the regime of Saddam Hussein."

The NeoCons wanted Iraq from day one - 9/11 provided the excuse to seize it. It was never about connections to Bin Laden, it was never about "liberating Iraqis," and there was never any intention to leave.

These men DELIBERATELY led our nation to war under false pretenses. They initiated a "war of aggression." If we do not hold them accountable for their crimes, who will?
The Revolution Continues
Source: GiveMeLiberty.org Submitted: 06/22/2008
June 30, 2008 may go down in history as the day Americans began, in earnest, the moral and solemn process of holding their Government accountable to the Constitution by directly exercising their unalienable and individual Right of Redress, rather than depending upon the will of the majority of votes as cast in local precincts, the halls of Congress or the inner chambers of our courthouses.

June 30, 2008 marks the beginning of the People's Plan to Restore Constitutional Order - the righteous administration of divine government under the Constitution of the United States of America, without favor or exception.  Read full article »
Congress pats itself on back as it caves on telecom immunity
Source: ARS Technica Submitted: 06/22/2008
--The most extended apologia came from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), who urged that the compromise be judged by comparison with the Senate bill, which she characterized as the only realistic alternative. She outlined several ways in which the current legislation is preferable to the Senate's version. First, the compromise bill reasserts that FISA is the "exclusive means" for conducting electronic surveillance, which would require the president to ignore such language twice in order to launch an extralegal surveillance program, rather than only once, as under traditional FISA rules. Second, it preserves prior judicial review of surveillance authorizations, except in "very, very rare" circumstances, such as when the attorney general asserts that waiting for a judge would entail delay. Third, it contains specific provisions barring the use of authorizations targeting parties abroad as a pretext for targeting U.S. persons, presumably to be enforced by a board of psychics. Finally, it provides for an internal investigation of the extent of past surveillance, which Congress will act upon with the same legendary zeal for civil liberties it has displayed over the past seven years.  Read full article »
You cannot destroy America by flying airplanes into buildings. You cannot destroy it with bombs in subways or in the streets. You can’t even destroy it with nuclear or other advanced weapons of mass destruction.

No, there are only two things powerful enough to destroy this country: A population willing to concede their rights, and a government that is willing to take them.
Massachusetts: Voter anger may lead to end of income tax
Source: Sun Chronicle Submitted: 06/21/2008
A weak economy, soaring gasoline prices and a frustration with government could cause voters to approve a ballot initiative to wipe out the state income tax, legislators said Thursday.

The legislators said they think the move is too drastic and would cripple state services, but believe voters are looking for a way to lower their costs and lash out at government.

"I think people are frustrated and are looking at a way of expressing it," said state Rep. John Lepper, R-Attleboro.
  Read full article »
Maybe they've noticed that our roads up here in New Hampshire are "working just fine," they're kept clear in the winter, if you have an emergency Police and Rescue are available 24 / 7, etc.

The funny thing about giving government more money is this: NO MATTER HOW MUCH YOU HAND OVER, IT WILL NEVER BE ENOUGH! In fact, the more money it has, the easier it becomes to “create new ways” to spend it even faster.
2-star General Accuses WH of War Crimes
Source: Washington Post Submitted: 06/19/2008
The two-star general who led an Army investigation into the horrific detainee abuse at Abu Ghraib has accused the Bush administration of war crimes and is calling for accountability.

In his 2004 report on Abu Ghraib, then-Major General Anthony Taguba concluded that "numerous incidents of sadistic, blatant, and wanton criminal abuses were inflicted on several detainees." He called the abuse "systemic and illegal." And, as Seymour M. Hersh reported in the New Yorker, he was rewarded for his honesty by being forced into retirement.

"The profiles of these eleven former detainees, none of whom were ever charged with a crime or told why they were detained, are tragic and brutal rebuttals to those who claim that torture is ever justified. Through the experiences of these men in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Guantanamo Bay, we can see the full-scope of the damage this illegal and unsound policy has inflicted --both on America's institutions and our nation's founding values, which the military, intelligence services, and our justice system are duty-bound to defend.

"In order for these individuals to suffer the wanton cruelty to which they were subjected, a government policy was promulgated to the field whereby the Geneva Conventions and the Uniform Code of Military Justice were disregarded. The UN Convention Against Torture was indiscriminately ignored. . . .

"After years of disclosures by government investigations, media accounts, and reports from human rights organizations, there is no longer any doubt as to whether the current administration has committed war crimes. The only question that remains to be answered is whether those who ordered the use of torture will be held to account."  Read full article »
See Also:

LAW SCHOOL TO ORGANIZE BUSH WAR CRIMES TRIAL

"This is not intended to be a mere discussion of violations of law that have occurred," said convener Lawrence Velvel, dean and cofounder of the school. "It is, rather, intended to be a planning conference at which plans will be laid and necessary organizational structures set up, to pursue the guilty as long as necessary and, if need be, to the ends of the Earth."
Full Article Here: http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/node/34171
SILVER, GOLD AND THE IRS
Source: News With Views Submitted: 06/19/2008
I began a recent presentation before a large group of cattle producers (R-CALFUSA) by showing a paper dollar bill and a silver coin. The words “one dollar” is inscribed on both the coin and the paper, yet the paper dollar will only pay for about one quart of gasoline at today’s prices, while the silver dollar will pay for well over five gallons. I explained to my audience that consumer prices are not high – the paper dollar has lost most of its value. It makes no difference how high the price of gasoline goes, a silver dollar will continue to buy gas for 20 cents a gallon, exactly the price gas was during the Great Depression. Based on 1940 prices, a paper dollar is worth about two pennies.

Today in America, we are being systematically robbed of our property because we have allowed the Federal Reserve to flood our banks with fiat, worthless paper money. There is actually a law against paper money but nobody seems to know about it. The Supreme law of the land is the US Constitution, which stated in Article I Section 10: Individual states are “not allowed to make any things but gold and silver coin a tender in payment of debts.” The Constitution also states that “Congress has the power to COIN money and regulate the value thereof.” Our Founding Fathers knew how a central bank printing paper money would collapse our economy.

--Robert Kahre owns a family business and instead of using paper money he paid his workers with gold and silver coins minted by the United States government. He paid them based on the “face value” of the coins. If he paid a worker a dollar an hour he paid with a silver dollar, which states on the coin that it is “one dollar” regardless of today’s value. His wages were so low that he didn’t have to file W-2 income tax forms or withhold taxes or pay workman’s comp. This upset the IRS, which charged him and his family with 161 federal tax crimes.  Read full article »
-As you would have them do unto you
Source: Downsize DC Submitted: 06/18/2008
"George W. Bush brought death and chaos to Iraq on the basis of lies. Now, as he staggers through the last months of his failed presidency, he is trying one more bit of trickery — forcing the Nuri Al-Maliki government to legitimize a long-term military occupation of Iraq in a treaty, which will make that sovereign country an American colony."

--The above quote of the day reflects widespread Arab and Muslim reaction to the Bush administration's proposed "treaty of permanent occupation" with Iraq. We believe the Golden Rule requires us to give these reactions respectful consideration. Would we accept what we're asking the Iraqi people to accept? The proposed treaty requires that Iraq . . .

* Allow the U.S. to build 58 permanent military bases on their soil

* Grant U.S. control of Iraqi airspace up to 30,000 feet

* Establish immunity from prosecution for U.S. troops and contractors

* Permit the U.S. to determine when Iraq is at war with another country (Iran for instance)

* Agree to a two year notice to cancel the treaty

Please notice that President Bush wants to impose his preferred policy on the next president. He also asserts that his "agreement" with Iraq will be an "executive accord," NOT subject to ratification by the Senate.

--These treaty proposals, coming in the wake of everything else our government has done -- invasions, renditions, torture, lack of due process -- massively increase the danger of blowback against the American people. We believe it's time to downsize the President's reckless and overreaching foreign policy.  Read full article »
CIA Gave Torture Tips to Pentagon
Source: Alternet Submitted: 06/18/2008
Documents released by a Senate committee investigating the Pentagon's torture-based interrogation methods reveal that CIA advisers had a larger role in shaping the program than previously thought.

According to the Washington Post, a CIA legal expert gave the Pentagon a torture tutorial in October of 2002:

A senior CIA lawyer advised Pentagon officials about the use of harsh interrogation techniques on detainees at Guantanamo Bay in a meeting in late 2002, defending waterboarding and other methods as permissible despite U.S. and international laws banning torture, according to documents released yesterday by congressional investigators.

Torture "is basically subject to perception," CIA counterterrorism lawyer Jonathan Fredman told a group of military and intelligence officials gathered at the U.S.-run detention camp in Cuba on Oct. 2, 2002, according to minutes of the meeting. "If the detainee dies, you're doing it wrong." [WaPo]  Read full article »
Chemical Dumbing Down of America (Video)
Source: YouTube Submitted: 06/17/2008
.  Watch here »
When "Sorry" Is Not Good Enough
Source: Prison Planet Submitted: 06/16/2008
--Last week on his nationally syndicated show, Reagan stated, "We ought to find the people who are doing this, take them out and shoot them. Really. You take them out, they are traitors to this country, and shoot them. You have a problem with that? Deal with it. You shoot them. You call them traitors, that’s what they are, and you shoot them dead. I’ll pay for the bullets.”

Why do Neo-Cons think they can solicit murder against Americans for their political bel