tagged w/ Freedom of Assembly
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Naomi Wolf was arrested for walking on a public sidewalk during a protest outside a Huffington Post event..Naomi Wolf was arrested for walking on a public sidewalk during a protest outside a... more
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"It is easer for a Camel to go through the eye of a needle, that it is for a Rich Man to enter the Kingdom of Heaven." Or, maybe you just need to buy a bigger needle?
It's official: as Egypt was burning, Mubarak was stealing the gold. When we reported, presumably jokingly, two weeks ago that the Egyptian Central Bank may have been plundered, it turns out we were pretty much accurate once again. For all those wondering why Mubarak was refusing to hand over power for the past two weeks as hundreds of people were dying, we now have the answer - it was all just to make sure he transferred his assets, especially gold, to safe regimes (in the process paying tens of millions in commissions to that most noble of jobs - the banker class). The Telegraph reports: "A US official told The Sunday Telegraph: "Hosni Mubarak used the 18 days it took for protesters to topple him to shift his vast wealth into untraceable accounts overseas, Western intelligence sources have said...There's no doubt that there will have been some frantic financial activity behind the scenes. They can lose the homes and some of the bank accounts, but they will have wanted to get the gold bars and other investments to safe quarters. The Mubaraks are understood to have wanted to shift assets to Gulf states where they have considerable investments already – and, crucially, friendly relations. The United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia have frequently been mentioned as likely final destinations for Mr Mubarak and possibly his family."As usual, we remind readers that according to the World Gold Council, Egypt had 75.6 tonnes of gold at the end of 2010. Should this number not be reduced following Mubarak's plundering, we will know just how pervasive Tungsten is in the world central banking cartel.
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From Telegraph: ---
The former Egyptian president is accused of amassing a fortune of more than £3 billion - although some suggest it could be as much as £40 billion - during his 30 years in power. It is claimed his wealth was tied up in foreign banks, investments, bullion and properties in London, New York, Paris and Beverly Hills.
In the knowledge his downfall was imminent, Mr Mubarak is understood to have attempted to place his assets out of reach of potential investigators.
On Friday night Swiss authorities announced they were freezing any assets Mubarak and his family may hold in the country's banks while pressure was growing for the UK to do the same. Mr Mubarak has strong connections to London and it is thought many millions of pounds are stashed in the UK.
But a senior Western intelligence source claimed that Mubarak had begun moving his fortune in recent weeks.
"We're aware of some urgent conversations within the Mubarak family about how to save these assets," said the source, "And we think their financial advisers have moved some of the money around. If he had real money in Zurich, it may be gone by now."
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Perhaps Goldman Sachs can take a proactive PR step and disclose to the population that the flow trade-frontrunning hedge fund had nothing to do with facilitating the transfer of Mubarak's billions in stolen wealth from point A to point B. And perhaps all other banks can follow suit. Either that, or we can all just wait for Mubarak's sworn deposition when he is put on trial for crimes against the Egyptian people some time in 1-2 months. Doing text searches for "Goldman" in those thousand page PDFs will be breeze...
GO TO STORY:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/egypt/8320912/Egypt-Hosni-Mubarak-used-last-18-days-in-power-to-secure-his-fortune.html
Story By: Philip Sherwell, in New York, Robert Mendick, and Nick Meo in Cairo
Shadowy Cabal: Tyler Durden
Illustration & Art Work: Gérard Angé"It is easer for a Camel to go through the eye of a needle, that it is for a... more
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Posted on January 4, 2011 by Crushing Bastards
Crew photo from my first deployment. The plane is a RC-135 "Rivet Joint."
I am a US Air Force Intelligence veteran of the war in Afghanistan and I support Wikileaks.
During my service I held a Top Secret security clearance and worked as an Afghan-Pashto linguist; my duties included consuming and producing a large number of intelligence reports. After reading many of the Iraq/Afghan/Cablegate logs I am compelled to inform my fellow citizens that I saw nothing in these logs that could endanger our troops or public servants.
Here’s what I did see: I saw Iraq war logs that painted a very bleak picture of the situation there which doesn’t match up with the “improved security” that’s been reported by the “Defense” Department for years. I saw proof of public officials acting dishonestly and abusing their posts. Overall, I saw an out of control government that is in over its head and does more to endanger the lives of its people than any publishing organization ever could.
I volunteered to protect this country under the impression that my government followed the will of the American People and adhered to the US Constitution. As it turns out, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan were never constitutionally declared and despite public opinion being against the two wars they continue to grow more destructive. My experiences in these wars differed greatly from the propaganda the American people were sold by America’s mainstream media outlets; many times I would return from a mission to see wild inaccuracies being reported on Fox/CNN/MSNBC about the very operation I had just been supporting. Wikileaks has helped shine light on the true nature of these illegal wars and the policymakers that perpetuate them, for this I am thankful.
Speaking of policy makers that perpetuate war… Apparently, this nation is bankrupt. The US dollar, under the custodianship of Ben Bernanke’s Federal Reserve System, continues to lose its purchasing power as new dollars are printed to pay for warfare and corporate welfare (in the form of bailouts for bankers). We must recognize that printing more money will not solve our problems, it will only make Americans increasingly poorer. The foundation of America’s financial system is corrupt and dishonest; Wikileaks is also working to unmask this corrupt central-banking system.
For too long, bastards (using Julian Assange’s definition) have been able to use America’s good reputation as a cover for their misdeeds. These days, it seems that powerful interests wield more influence in Washington than the whole of the American electorate. These interests see the American people as nothing more than sheep to be fleeced and so they use their influence to make it easier for us to be held down. I support Wikileaks because I want to see these insidious influences exposed. My hope is that the 21st Century will be one of liberty and transparency, not of greater secrecy and slavish submission to authority.
Let it be known that there are many of us who will resist any attempts to stifle 1st Amendment protections; that America’s veterans take seriously their oaths to the US Constitution and will demand transparency and honesty from government officials; that America’s veterans stand ready to defend the ideals of a free society in the 21st century.
http://crushingbastards.org/blog/2011/01/04/i-am-a-us-air-force-intelligence-veteran-of-the-war-in-afghanistan-and-i-support-wikileaks/Posted on January 4, 2011 by Crushing Bastards
Crew photo from my first... more
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An RT crew was recently arrested by US police while filming protests near the Fort Benning military base in the US state of Georgia.
Correspondent Kaelyn Forde’s and her cameraman Jon Conway were detained while covering a rally protesting the School of the Americas. They were arrested after the demonstration was over and everybody, including correspondents, was leaving the area. The arrests were rough and included the use of hard plastic hand cuffs, the same type commonly used by US soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan, injuring Kaelyn Forde’s wrists. At the time of their arrests the correspondents were not told what crime they were being charged with.
They were held as protestors even though they presented valid press credentials to the court. Currently out on bail after 32 hours in custody, Forde and Conway were eventually charged with partaking in an illegal protest and disobeying the orders of law enforcement officers.
Davis Swanson, author of the newly released book, "War is a Lie" said this case is a disturbing trend in America, and the constitutional rights of both the press and the activists were violated by the police.
He explained the rights of a free press and free assembly seem to be thrown out when it comes to coverage of the US government, military, congressional campaigns and political parties.
“There is the freedom of assembly as well as the freedom of the press in our First Amendment, and it is being attacked,” Swanson said. “This is something that has been growing in recent years.”
There is a growing police presence at peaceful rallies and events, explained Swanson. Police are increasing their efforts and hostility at non-violent rallies. The event was a Christian protest, made up of activists that included priests, nuns, elderly individuals and minors.
“It is a growing problem that ought to concern all of us,” he said.
Swanson argued there was no justification for the police to violate the people’s first amendment rights. Increasing arrests, hostility and preemptive targeting of activists is unjust.
“There seems to be a crack down on people protesting even as the protests diminish in size,” he added.
The US military targets the media. The uses intimidation and releases tailored stories to the media, and most US media simply bend to the power and intimidation of the government, Swanson argued.
“We have a campaign of intimidation that is very very successful,” he said. “There are two disgraceful things that happened here. One,an arrest of journalists and activists, and two, most US media outlets not there, not risking arrests, complying withthe desires of those in power or successfully intimidated.”
Radio host Alex Jones said the arrests are a frightening sign and an attempt by the government to further curb American freedoms.
Having been arrested in the past as a member of the press, Jones said Forde’s story is all too familiar. First, the police force you to move, and then move you again, and when you comply they arrest you anyway, he explained.
“This is part of an ongoing program to persecute protestors and the press,” he said. “Now they’re trying to pass legislation where the Justice Department can shut down any website they want without a judge or jury. Tyranny is coming to the United States.”
“This is really US tactics that are increasingly used against journalist around the world now coming back here to the United States,” she said. “We’ve seen time and again in war zones the journalists who are independent journalists who are targeted and then it’s labeled an accident. So, some o those same tactics come back here in an effort to shut down peaceful protests which is entirely legal, this was a permitted demonstration, and yet both the demonstrators and members of the media who were covering it were arrested for no reason whatsoever except an act of intimidation.
Flounders argued that the military and the media are tied to one another. Thus US media rarely covers these events. She contended that the roll of the US media is shaped by the government, both in content and in how stories are covered.
Blogger David Lindorff from ThisCantBeHappening.net argued police are using peaceful protests to study and intimidate activists.An RT crew was recently arrested by US police while filming protests near the Fort... more
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Now if I've never I talked politics with you personally before, it's important that you understand that I am not talking about partisanship, but merely our obligation as a free citizenry to hold our leaders accountable. It does not matter if a D or an R follows their name, the whole point of the Bill of Rights and our system of checks and balances was to ensure that power was dispersed. The United States was formed in order to throw off the bonds of a tyrannical and repressive system which allowed no means of criticizing its leaders. It was not formed to spread that democracy elsewhere, it was not formed to promote the will of God, it was merely a system by which ordinary people could decide if their leader was doing a good job or a bad job. The end is the means, and it in no way can come at the end of a spear.
Before I let you watch the video, I just wanna be sure that to remind everyone that Bush can declare martial law at any time under the Defense Authorization Act of 2007.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Insurrection_Act
This was an actual amendment to the Insurrection Act which gives the power of the president to federalize the national guard. Here's a fun key change in what can trigger this authority. Originally, the president could only enact martial law under these conditions:
"insurrection, domestic violence, unlawful combination, or conspiracy"
Now, it's been expanded to include:
"natural disaster, epidemic, or other serious public health emergency, terrorist attack or incident, or OTHER CONDITION [emphasis mine. Yeah, that's not vague at all]"
...but don't worry, because this can only happen if:
"domestic violence has occurred to such an extent that the constituted authorities of the State or possession are incapable of maintaining public order." [hmmm, so like if all of the National Guard was stuck in Iraq this could happen, but then who would actually deal with this crisis? If only we had a privatized army run by a hardcore partisan Republican that was accountable to no one... Oh yeah, Blackwater! Whew!]
And here's the key passage for me:
"opposes or obstructs the EXECUTION OF THE LAWS of the United States or IMPEDES THE COURSE OF JUSTICE under those laws."
[Continued in the comments, damn your 4,000 character limit Current.com! And when the hell am I gonna get the HTML capabilities I deserve! Just kidding, it's all love. But seriously, someone get me some HTML capabilities, I miss my formatting!]Now if I've never I talked politics with you personally before, it's... more
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beedee
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added this
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3 years ago
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