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In his own words, the true nature of G.W. Bush Revealed! Rare Banned Bush Speech
You have got to listen to this montage of George W. Bush. It will send chills down your spine and turn your stomach.
WARNING:
NOT FOR THE FAINT AT HEART! You have got to listen to this montage of George W. Bush. It will send chills down your spine and turn your stomach. WARNING: ... more -
Little Dinosaurs: A Fight Against Tyranny
"Little Dinosaurs" is an elegantly simple, award-winning animated short-film. Within a time-frame of 60-seconds, the film addresses important contemporary social issues at both practical and global levels. First, it speaks to the issue of bullying, which is currently a major concern for schools and communities in many countries. Secondly, it invokes thoughts about children working together and achieving a sense of unity. Finally, "Little Dinosaurs’" narrative can be abstracted to a global level, in particular to thoughts about the daunting present-day struggles to confront terrorism and tyranny.
The film's message on the world-wide issue is a declaration that, “If we don’t unite against tyranny, we will all be slaves to fear.”
This composition includes several colorful high-resolution images from the film, as well as the acclaimed, beautifully animated 60-second film, "Little Dinosaurs." "Little Dinosaurs" is an elegantly simple, award-winning animated short-film. Within a time-frame of 60-seconds, the film a... more -
RNC in twin cities: 8 protesters charged with terrorism under Patriot Act
"On Wednesday eight members of the anarchist protest group the Republican National Convention Welcoming Committee (RNCWC) were charged under provisions of the Minnesota state version of the Patriot Act with “Conspiracy to Riot in Furtherance of Terrorism.”
The eight charged are all young, and could face up to seven-and-a-half years in prison under a provision that allows the enhancement of charges related to terrorism by 50 percent. They are: Monica Bicking, Eryn Trimmer, Luce Guillen Givins, Erik Oseland, Nathanael Secor, Robert Czernik, Garrett Fitzgerald and Max Spector.
Among other things, the youth, who were arrested last weekend even prior to the start of the convention, are charged with plotting to kidnap delegates to the RNC, assault police officers and attack airports. Almost all of the charges listed are based upon the testimony of police infiltrators, one an officer, the other a paid informant.
[...]
Anarchistic groups like the RNCWC—with their emphasis on the “direct action” of small groups and their aversion to politics and the lessons of history—are quite easily infiltrated by agents and provocateurs. Nonetheless, there is little to suggest that the youth are violent or that they are anything more than politically naive. The police evidence is threadbare on the surface, and depends primarily on the counterfactual charge of “conspiracy”—that those arrested would have committed crimes, or that they are responsible for the crimes of others.
Several of those arrested were also members of the student group “Food not Bombs,” and were working in a soup kitchen at the time of their arrest.
[...]
There has also been widespread repression of the media that covered the protests during the RNC. Amy Goodman of Democracy Now! was arrested on Monday, after protesting the arrest of several members of her news crew. Also reportedly arrested were Associated Press photographer Matt Rourke, two cameramen of Twin City CBS and NBC affiliates, and several independent videographers. There was also an unverified report that a Fox News crew was gassed.
The media reform movement Free Press has collected over 50,000 signatures demanding that charges against all journalists arrested during the RNC be dropped.
[...]
By Tom Eley
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2008/sep2008/poli-s06.shtm...
See also:
http://current.com/items/89267349_rnc_8_charged_with_co...
http://current.com/items/89274562_lockdown_in_st_paul_a...
http://dandelionsalad.wordpress.com/2008/09/04/8-member...
http://wordpress.com/tag/rnc-st-paul-minneapolis-mn/
Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/theuptake/2831828326/ "On Wednesday eight members of the anarchist protest group the Republican National Convention Welcoming Committee (RNCWC) were ch... more -
US: RNC cops brutally suppress press freedom
You need to watch this video. Warning: it may make you cry (it did for me).
A personal friend of mine was arrested and treated with shocking inhumanity by the police officers breaking up a legal protest at the RNC. A member of the press (working with Amy Goodman of Democracy Now!) who posed no threat to anyone, she was shoved to the ground and attacked for having the temerity to bear witness to the harsh tactics being used against the protesters around her.
I've heard more stories of the lengths the forces up in MN have been going to crack down on American citizens (basically treating them as "enemy combatants" for exercising their Constitutionally-protected rights), but this is the most potent evidence I've seen of how far things have gone.
What kind of national security is this?
W
If you want to take action, another friend of mine has a list of things you can do:
If you could sign this letter to protest the arrest and charges against Nicole Salazar, violently arrested while doing her duty as Press at the RNC:
https://secure.freepress.net/site/Advocacy?id=281
Also sign this petition:
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/tell-a-friend/1575604
You can watch the videos of her and Amy Goodman's arrests here on CPJ:
http://cpj.org/blog/2008/09/democracy-now-journalists-a...
To write a letter in support of dropping the charges:
http://www.democracynow.org/blog/2008/9/3/call_to_actio... You need to watch this video. Warning: it may make you cry (it did for me). ... more -
How the RNC bought the Police
ST. PAUL, Minn. - Taxpayers should be off the hook for any damages stemming from claims of police misconduct related to the Republican National Convention under a first-of-its-kind agreement.
The deal required the Republican Party's host committee to buy insurance covering up to $10 million in damages and unlimited legal costs for law enforcement officials accused of brutality, violating civil rights and other misconduct.
Other cities who hosted conventions in recent years - including Denver, Boston, New York and Philadelphia - either covered those costs from their general budgets or used tax money to buy insurance policies. ST. PAUL, Minn. - Taxpayers should be off the hook for any damages stemming from claims of police misconduct related to the Republican... more -
Bush to Attack Iran, Suspend Elections, and Declare Martial Law???
Nothing is official, but this article and video are very interesting and exactly what I've been saying for a long time.
Key Terms to look up: REX 84, FEMA, Playa NM, House Bill HR 1955/S - 1959, HR 4279, HR 8791, NS PD 51, HS PD 20... and plenty more
It didn’t make the news, at least not the corporate news. According to Bob Feuer, Bush will attack Iran, declare martial law, and suspend the election. Congress critter John Olver apparently made this claim at a town hall meeting at the Jones Library in Amherst, Massachusetts, last July. Feuer, a lawyer and political activist challenging Olver in the 1st Congressional District of Massachusetts, was at the town hall meeting with others to present Olver with resolutions to impeach Bush for war crimes when Olver made the comments. On July 5, 2007, the After Downing Street website posted Feuer’s retelling of the incident:
At about 10 am, the congressman came into the room with his aid, and Susie Patlove welcomed the congressman, laid out our agenda, and the congressman approved. We commenced with individual introductions and brief reports on the outcomes in each of our towns. Cong. Olver asked us to spare him a review of what he already knew and believed about the crimes of the Bush administration, and of the overwhelming majority of his district in favor of impeachment. When he aggrandized himself on his voting record, I took exception to 24 April 2007. When he asked what I was referring to, I challenged him to co-sponsor H. Res. 333; and he emphatically refused.
Nonetheless, we informed him of the good that would come out of an impeachment, and gave intelligent and caring answers to all of the objections he might harbor. We had present a young U.S. soldier, a veteran of both the Iraq and Afghanistan occupations, who directly asked the congressman what could we do to move him towards co-signing H. Res. 333. The congressman did not answer that direct question.
He is deeply concerned whether we will actually have an election in Nov. ‘08, as he believes this administration will likely strike Iran from the air, declare a national emergency, and cancel the ‘08 elections. He sees ending the war as his primary goal, and he believes the brilliant Nancy Pelosi [sic] has a strategy more potent than impeachment. He thinks impeachment is a futile waste of legislative energy, will be harmful of democratic ‘08 victories, and further tighten the “gridlock” he has complained of for the past few decades.
Olver would later deny he said this and would insist he was misquoted.
Not a word appeared in the corporate media, even though Olver has been a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives since 1991. But then, of course, the corporate media is in bed with the neocons and wholly complicit in their plans to reduce Muslim and Arab countries to smoldering cinders. Last time around, neocon operative Judith Miller was allowed to publish all sorts of lies about Iraq in the “liberal” New York Times. Silence this time around should be expected.
Feuer’s claim is especially pertinent now as Dennis Kucinich attempts to get Bush impeached and rumblings about an attack against Iran pick up speed. The election is but a mere four months away and if Olver is correct — Bush will attack Iran, suspend the election, and declare martial law — this will have to go down in the next couple months or so. Bush and the neocons have installed their repressive legislation and directives — PDD51, the Military Commissions Act, and the John Warner Defense Authorization Act, all designed to silence the opposition and “enforce acquiescence at home,” as the Episcopal priest and activist Frank Morales notes.
Only time will tell if this scenario will actually occur. If it does, we can expect the corporate media to remain silent on the rendition of activists to those brand spanking new Halliburton concentration camps, as fascists always sweep up and do away with the opposition. Nothing is official, but this article and video are very interesting and exactly what I've been saying for a long time. ... more -
America under Martial Law
well you pissed off yet???
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Enabling Tyranny
Dr. Paul Craig Roberts, an assistant secretary of the U.S. Treasury during the Reagan Administration, is a former associate editor of the Wall Street Journal and coauthor of The Tyranny of Good Intentions. Dr. Paul Craig Roberts, an assistant secretary of the U.S. Treasury during the Reagan Administration, is a former associate editor of ... more
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Crying Wolf: Are we all fascists now?
Book review of Naomi Wolf's The End of America and Jonah Goldberg's Liberal Fascism.
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Enabling Tyranny by Paul Craig Roberts
Across the political spectrum, Americans are happy to shred the Constitution in behalf of some agenda or the other. The government is happy to oblige, because shredding the Constitution removes constraints on the government’s power. Across the political spectrum, Americans are happy to shred the Constitution in behalf of some agenda or the other. The government is ... more
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Our Founding Fathers On Liberty and Tyranny
To me this is what the Fourth of July is all about. Remembering the men who sacrificed all they had to take the journey to a more perfect union... a free union. We don't truly have that today, and the main reason why is because we as a people have to really want it. I question now if we really do, and that is sad. These words of wisdom and warning from men who though flawed were brilliant and who knew something themselves about slavery of the mind and soul are words to be reflected on. As John Adams said, "Liberty once lost, is lost forever." We as a people are allowing liberty to slip away as we distract ourselves and lose our focus on these words. How I wish we had men of such courage and brilliance as these to once again point us in the right direction. However, their words can be the inspiration we need to now do that. The question is: will we? To me this is what the Fourth of July is all about. Remembering the men who sacrificed all they had to take the journey to a more perf... more
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African Union says it can sort out Zimbabwe crisis
SHARM EL SHEIKH, Egypt, June 27 (Reuters) - The African Union is convinced it can sort out an election crisis in Zimbabwe, the organisation's top official said on Friday ahead of an African summit.
"The problem of Zimbabwe, I am convinced it will be solved in a credible way. But please give us time to solve it with our heads of state," Jean Ping, chairman of the AU Commission told a news conference on the sidelines of a meeting of African foreign ministers in Egypt.
"I am convinced we will sort it out and that our credibility will be maintained."
The crisis in Zimbabwe dominated closed-door talks in the resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh ahead of a summit on Monday and Tuesday meant to focus on solving the continent's water and sanitation problems.
Mugabe said on Thursday he would attend the summit but no solutions could be imposed on Zimbabwe from outside. He said he was ready to answer any challenge to the election from within the AU.
,,,,,,,,,So the AU likes to think it can sort this out and Mugabe is adament it is no one elses business and remains an internal matter. I dont see this going any further except a backroom pre summit deal where they agree not to mention any thing that may upset Mugabe. SHARM EL SHEIKH, Egypt, June 27 (Reuters) - The African Union is convinced it can sort out an election crisis in Zimbabwe, the organis... more -
Mugabe wins election 'landslide'
"Robert Mugabe is expected to be sworn in as President of Zimbabwe again today after one of the bloodiest and most controversial elections in African history. Zimbabwean officials said that Mugabe had won a landslide victory with most votes counted in Friday's widely derided presidential run-off.
Officials were reported as saying that results were showing a dramatic reversal of Morgan Tsvangirai's lead in the first round of elections three months ago, giving Mugabe a resounding victory before he heads to an African Union summit to confront growing criticism from the continent's other leaders.
But the ruling Zanu-PF party's claims that voters have deserted the opposition Movement for Democratic Change in droves to support Mugabe's claim that the vote is part of a struggle to maintain Zimbabwe's independence have met with incredulity and anger.
The head of one foreign election observer mission, Marwick Khumalo, who leads the Pan-African Parliament monitors, said that many Zimbabweans had voted only out of fear and that the turnout was in truth 'very, very low' after Tsvangirai withdrew from the race because of the violence.
Khumalo also suggested that many voters deliberately defaced their ballots after they were intimidated into going to the polls. He said that at one polling place in rural Matabeleland nearly 40 per cent of the ballots were spoilt.
The African Union is divided, with its commission chairman, Jean Ping, urging compromise.
Countries such as Nigeria, Botswana, Kenya and Tanzania have criticised the poll to some extent, but there is less inclination for a confrontation with Mugabe from South Africa, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Angola.
US officials called the vote a sham and said it will seek a UN Security Council resolution this week to send a 'strong message of deterrence' to Zimbabwe's leader and is expected to press for an arms embargo on Zimbabwe and a travel ban on its officials.
Gordon Brown yesterday said that Zimbabwe had reached a new low point with the election. 'We will work with international partners to find a way to close this sickening chapter that has cost so many lives,' the Prime Minister said."
By Chris McGreal.
Archbishop Desmond Tutu has urged the international community to intervene in Zimbabwe - by force if necessary.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/7479696.stm
Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai says he will push for negotiations on a new constitution and fresh elections. He also kept open the possibility that Mr Mugabe could remain as a ceremonial head of state.
http://news.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30200-1320354,00... "Robert Mugabe is expected to be sworn in as President of Zimbabwe again today after one of the bloodiest and most controversial ... more -
Zimbabwe halts opposition rallies
Zimbabwe's authorities have stopped opposition presidential candidate Morgan Tsvangirai from campaigning for the 27 June election.
The order banning "several future rallies" came after police briefly detained Mr Tsvangirai ahead of a rally in the second-largest city of Bulawayo.
The length or extent of the ban, which cites security fears, is not yet clear.
It comes soon after the government banned food aid distribution, saying agencies were helping the opposition. Zimbabwe's authorities have stopped opposition presidential candidate Morgan Tsvangirai from campaigning for the 27 June election... more -
U.S. and British Diplomats held by Zimbabwe police
"Zimbabwean police detained U.S. and British diplomats on Thursday, slashing the tires of their cars after they visited victims of political violence ahead of a presidential election run-off, the U.S. embassy said.
The U.S. ambassador blamed the attack on President Robert Mugabe's government.
Former colonial power Britain and the United States accuse Mugabe of a campaign of violence and intimidation against supporters of opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai in the run-up to the vote.
The attack took place in Bindura, 80 km (50 miles) north of Harare, a U.S. embassy spokesman said.
"Police put up a roadblock, stopped the vehicles, slashed the tires, reached in and grabbed telephones from my personnel, and the war veterans (Mugabe's supporters) threatened to burn the vehicles with my people inside unless they got out and accompanied police to a station nearby," U.S. Ambassador James McGee said in an interview on CNN.
"We do believe this is coming directly from the top," he said.
Tsvangirai beat Mugabe in a March 29 presidential election but failed to win enough votes to avoid a second round.
The opposition says 65 people have been killed since the first round of voting by supporters of Mugabe's ruling ZANU-PF party who want to extend his 28-year rule. Mugabe blames the opposition for the violence.
Tsvangirai was detained for nine hours on Wednesday but continued his campaign on Thursday.
South Africa said it planned to begin sending election observers to Zimbabwe this week as part of a larger mission sent by the Southern African Development Community, adding that it was essential that the election be fair and transparent.
Simba Makoni, the ruling party defector who came third in the first round called on Thursday for the run-off to be scrapped to prevent further bloodshed.
Makoni won over 8 percent and those who voted for him could be crucial in deciding the contest.
In an indicator of Zimbabwe's rapid economic decline, its dollar currency plunged to a new low of between 995 million and 1.45 billion to the greenback on Thursday from an average 700 million at the beginning of the week." "Zimbabwean police detained U.S. and British diplomats on Thursday, slashing the tires of their cars after they visited victims o... more -
Obama reaches out to Pro-Israel group
Introduced as the nominee of the Democratic Party, Senator Barack Obama drew several standing ovations from a vastly Jewish crowd at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee’s annual policy conference in Washington on Wednesday, talking tough on the Iranian threat to Israel while also promising that he would lead in pursuing a peace settlement in Israel.
Mr. Obama endorsed a two-state, Israel-Palestine settlement, and took an implicit poke at President Bush. He was speaking, as did John McCain before him on Monday, to a policy conference of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, a major lobbying organization for Israel.
“I won’t wait until the waning days of my presidency,” Mr. Obama said. “I will take an active role and make a personal commitment to do all I can to advance the cause of peace from the start of my administration.”
As president, he added: “I will work to help Israel achieve the goal of two states, a Jewish state of Israel and a Palestinian state, living side by side in peace and security.”
Shortly after he spoke, his former rival, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton came a touch closer than she did last night to acknowledging that he is the nominee of the party. She vouched for Mr. Barack’s friendship and concern for Israel, but did not call him the nominee.
“Let me be very clear,” she said, “I know Senator Obama will be a good friend of Israel.”
Mr. Obama defended his stance that he would negotiate with the nation’s enemies, but coupled that with a pledge of unstinting support for Israel’s security. He also promised to send military hardware to Israel under the same conditions governing NATO nations.
He talked tough on Iran, describing it in terms suggestive of a rogue nation. He made clear that he would place the military might of the United States behind Israel in the event of an Iranian attack on the Jewish state. Introduced as the nominee of the Democratic Party, Senator Barack Obama drew several standing ovations from a vastly Jewish crowd at t... more -
Chávez decree tightens hold on intelligence
CARACAS, Venezuela — President Hugo Chávez has used his decree powers to carry out a major overhaul of this country’s intelligence agencies, provoking a fierce backlash here from human rights groups and legal scholars who say the measures will force citizens to inform on one another to avoid prison terms.
Under the new intelligence law, which took effect last week, Venezuela’s two main intelligence services, the DISIP secret police and the DIM military intelligence agency, will be replaced with new agencies, the General Intelligence Office and General Counterintelligence Office, under the control of Mr. Chávez.
The new law requires people in the country to comply with requests to assist the agencies, secret police or community activist groups loyal to Mr. Chávez. Refusal can result in prison terms of two to four years for most people and four to six years for government employees.
“We are before a set of measures that are a threat to all of us,” said Blanca Rosa Mármol de León, a justice on Venezuela’s top court, in a rare public judicial dissent. “I have an obligation to say this, as a citizen and a judge. This is a step toward the creation of a society of informers.”
The sweeping intelligence changes reflect an effort by Mr. Chávez to assert greater control over public institutions in the face of political challenges following a stinging defeat in December of a package of constitutional changes that would have expanded his powers.
Mr. Chávez, who has insisted the defeat will not dampen his ambitions to transform Venezuela into a Socialist state, said the new law was intended to guarantee “national security” and shield against “imperialist attacks.”
He lashed out at its critics as being agents of the “empire,” meaning the United States....
On Sunday, Mr. Chávez referred to critics of the intelligence law as de facto supporters of the Bush administration and of the Patriot Act, the American antiterrorism law that enhances the ability of security agencies to monitor personal telephone and e-mail communications.
Mr. Chávez’s new intelligence law has similar flourishes. For instance, it authorizes his new intelligence agencies to use “any special or technically designed method” to intercept and obtain information.
...
“This is purely Cuban-style policy,” Juan José Molina, a legislator with Podemos, a leftist party that broke from Mr. Chávez’s coalition last year, said of the new intelligence law. “Our rulers want to impose old models upon us.”...
The drafting and passage of the law behind closed doors, without exposing it to the public debate it would have had if Mr. Chávez had submitted it to the Assembly, also contributed to the public uproar and suspicion.
...
“Even within the Bolivarian movement, this would officialize Soviet- and Cuban-style purges, accusing dissidents of being spies, traitors or agents of the imperialist enemy,” El Nacional, a normally staid opposition newspaper, said in an editorial that ended, “This is revolting.”...
“This is the most scandalous effort to intimidate the population in the 10 years this government has been in power,” said Rocío San Miguel, a prominent legal scholar who heads a nongovernmental organization that monitors Venezuelan security and defense issues.
Ms. San Miguel said information her group had collected could be deemed illegal under the new law. The group has data from military sources showing that Mr. Chávez’s efforts to create a force of one million reservists had fallen far short.
“Under the new law, this information could be considered a threat to national security and I could be sent immediately to jail,” she said. “Effectively this is a way to instill fear in NGOs and news organizations and parts of society that remain outside the government’s reach.” CARACAS, Venezuela — President Hugo Chávez has used his decree powers to carry out a major overhaul of this country’s intelligence age... more -
Don't let tyranny take hold
Cameo by the Ghost Busters.
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Tyranny
