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12/7/2002
Photographer Arrested for Taking Pictures of Vice President's Hotel :.An amateur photographer named Mike Maginnis was arrested on Tuesday in his home city of Denver - for simply taking pictures of buildings in an area where Vice President Cheney was residing. Maginnis told his story on Wednesday's edition of Off The Hook .
Maginnis's morning commute took him past the Adams Mark Hotel on Court Place. Maginnis, who says he always carried his camera wherever he went, snapped about 30 pictures of the hotel and the surrounding area - which included Denver police, Army rangers, and rooftop snipers. Maginnis, who works in information technology, frequently photographs such subjects as corporate buildings and communications equipment.
The following is Maginnis's account of what transpired:
As he was putting his camera away, Maginnis found himself confronted by a Denver police officer who demanded that he hand over his film and camera. When he refused to give up his Nikon F2, the officer pushed him to the ground and arrested him.
After being brought to the District 1 police station on Decatur Street, Maginnis was made to wait alone in an interrogation room. Two hours later, a Secret Service agent arrived, who identified himself as Special Agent "Willse."
The agent told Maginnis that his "suspicious activities" made him a threat to national security, and that he would be charged as a terrorist under the USA-PATRIOT act. The Secret Service agent tried to make Maginnis admit that he was taking the photographs to analyze weaknesses in the Vice President's security entourage and "cause terror and mayhem."
When Maginnis refused to admit to being any sort of terrorist, the Secret Service agent called him a "raghead collaborator" and a "dirty pinko faggot."
After approximately an hour of interrogation, Maginnis was allowed to make a telephone call. Rather than contacting a lawyer, he called the Denver Post and asked for the news desk. This was immediately overheard by the desk sergeant, who hung up the phone and placed Maginnis in a holding cell.
Three hours later, Maginnis was finally released, but with no explanation. He received no copy of an arrest report, and no receipt for his confiscated possessions. He was told that he would probably not get his camera back, as it was being held as evidence.
Maginnis's lawyer contacted the Denver Police Department for an explanation of the day's events, but the police denied ever having Maginnis - or anyone matching his description - in custody. At press time, the Denver PD's Press Information Office did not return telephone messages left by 2600.
The new police powers introduced by the USA- PATRIOT act, in the name of fighting terrorism, have been frightening in their apparent potential for abuse. Mike Maginnis's experience on Tuesday is a poignant example of how this abuse is beginning to occur. It suggests that a wide range of activities which might be considered "suspicious" could be suddenly labeled a prelude to terrorism, and be grounds for arrest.
We will continue to post updates to this story as we learn them.
posted by Kevin at 12:45 AM
12/6/2002
Feds Label Wi-Fi (802.11) a Terrorist Tool :.Of course, I just emphatically urged all of you to learn about and adopt Wi-Fi gear a couple of days ago. It makes sense that this technology would be associated with terrorism. Anything that allows US to resist THEM is terrorist technology. The THEM really hate the fact that Wi-Fi is allowing people to gain access to the Internet anonymously. THEY REALLY HATE THAT. Do you understand? THEY REALLY REALLY REALLY HATE THAT. They want everyone on a wireless network to be a trusted client. Trusted meaning fully compromised with no privacy. You better go out and buy guns. You better go out and buy ammunition. And you better go out and buy Wi-Fi access points and interface cards: Attention, Wi-Fi users: The Department of Homeland Security sees wireless networking technology as a terrorist threat.
That was the message from experts who participated in working groups under federal cybersecurity czar Richard Clarke and shared what they learned at this week's 802.11 Planet conference. Wi-Fi manufacturers, as well as home and office users, face a clear choice, they said: Secure yourselves or be regulated.Research Credit: ST
posted by Kevin at 12:27 PM
United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit:
"The Second Amendment does not confer an individual right to own or possess arms." :.If you're not arming yourself RIGHT NOW, you ought to have your head examined. Here we go: In 1999, the State of California enacted amendments to its gun control laws that significantly strengthened the state�s restrictions on the possession, use, and transfer of the semiautomatic weapons popularly known as "assault weapons." Plaintiffs, California residents who either own assault weapons, seek to acquire such weapons, or both, brought this challenge to the gun control statute, asserting that the law, as amended, violates the Second Amendment, the Equal Protection Clause, and a host of other constitutional provisions. The district court dismissed all of the plaintiffs� claims. Because the Second Amendment does not confer an individual right to own or possess arms, we affirm the dismissal of all claims brought pursuant to that constitutional provision.BW writes: I don't EVER see this being seen by the U.S. Supreme Court as the "most pro-gun Attorney General in recent history" John Ashcroft had already written briefs to the USSC NOT to hear Emerson or Haney (both 2nd Amendment cases) earlier this year. It's just one more nail in the coffin of the Republic. Woo hoo! --- TR has been reading some of the texts related to the foundation of the United States Government. If you ever have any doubts about what the intent of the 2nd Amendment is, check out the following. TR writes: Disarming law-abiding citizens is typical of the criminal court system that only exists to legitimize this tyranny we live under. So only state militias are able to bear arms, huh? Well, maybe they should read the Pennsylvannia Minority Paper; written during the Constitutional Convention Debates by the same people who demanded that a Bill of Rights be added to that document of despotism known as the US Constitution. These quotes, I believe, help set the context for determining exactly who is supposed to bear arms and whose interests the Bill of Rights are intended to serve. ----- 7. That the people have a right to bear arms for the defence of themselves and their own state, or the United States, or for the purpose of killing game; and no law shall be passed for disarming the people OR ANY OF THEM, unless for crimes committed, or real danger of public injury from individuals; and as standing armies in the time of peace are dangerous to liberty, they ought not to be kept up: and that the military shall be kept under strict subordination to and be governed by the civil powers.
8. The inhabitants of the several states shall have liberty to fowl and hunt in seasonable times, on the lands they hold, and on all other lands in the United States not inclosed, and in like manner to fish in all navigable waters, and others not private property, without being restrained therein by any laws to be -passed by the legislature of the United States. ----- Further down in the same document they talk of the dangers of a state militia and standing army/state police force: The absolute unqualified command that Congress have over the militia may be made instrumental to the destruction of all liberty, both public and private; whether of a personal, civil or religious nature.
Thirdly, the absolute command of Congress over the militia may be destructive of public liberty; for under the guidance of an arbitrary government, they may be made the unwilling instruments of tyranny. The militia of Pennsylvania may be marched to New England or Virginia to quell an insurrection occasioned by the most galling oppression, and aided by the standing army, they will no doubt be successful in subduing their liberty and independence; but in so doing, although the magnanimity of their minds will be extinguished, yet the meaner passions of resentment and revenge will be increased, and these in turn will be the ready and obedient instruments of despotism to enslave the others; and that with an irritated vengeance. Thus may the militia be made the instruments of crushing the last efforts of expiring liberty, of riveting the chains of despotism on their fellow citizens, and on one another. This power can be exercised not only without violating the constitution, but in strict conformity with it; it is calculated for this express purpose, and will doubtless be executed accordingly.
As this government will not enjoy the confidence of the people, but be executed by force, it will be a very expensive and burthensome government. The standing army must be numerous, and as a further support, it will be the policy of this government to multiply officers in every department: judges, collectors, taxgatherers, excisemen and the whole host of revenue officers will swarm over the land, devouring the hard earnings of the industrious. Like the locusts of old, impoverishing and- desolating all before them.http://www.constitution.org/afp/pennmi00.htm ----- Also, Jefferson, in a draft of the Virginia Constitution made it clear what he had in mind: Note: Arms
No freeman shall be debarred the use of arms [within his own lands]. -- Thomas Jefferson, Draft Constitution for Virginia [June, 1776.] FAIR COPY Research Credit: BW and TR
posted by Kevin at 11:48 AM
12/5/2002
White House Touts 'Solid' Evidence on Iraqi Weapons :.The U.S. is actually in a great position to know what Iraq has, since the U.S. supplied much of it in the first place. That imbecile Ari Fleicher probably won't mention this: The White House said Thursday it possesses solid evidence that Iraq has weapons of mass destruction, and rejected Baghdad's denials, saying they have no credibility.
President Bush, asked if the United States was headed toward war, said: "That's a question you should ask to Saddam Hussein."
White House spokesman Ari Fleischer declined to say what evidence the administration has on Saddam's weapons, but said the United States will provide intelligence to United Nations inspectors.
posted by Kevin at 3:44 PM
Kissinger: In His Own Words :."Today Americans would be outraged if U.N. troops entered Los Angeles to restore order; tomorrow they will be grateful. This is especially true if they were told there was an outside threat from beyond, whether real or promulgated, that threatened our very existence. It is then that all peoples of the world will plead with world leaders to deliver them from this evil. The one thing every man fears is the unknown. When presented with this scenario, individual rights will be willingly relinquished for the guarantee of their well being granted to them by their world government."-- Henry Kissinger speaking at Evian, France, May 21, 1992 Bilderburgers meeting. Unbeknownst to Kissinger, his speech was taped by a Swiss delegate to the meeting.
posted by Kevin at 12:52 AM
12/4/2002
Operation TIPS Plan Fails :.This is somewhat encouraging. One positive story for every thousand negative ones. Hey, I'll take it: A controversial government initiative to recruit Americans to spy on each other in an attempt to prevent terrorist attacks was quietly killed with the passage of the Homeland Security Act.
First announced by the Justice Department in January, Operation TIPS (Terrorism Information and Prevention System), was initially designed as a nationwide reporting system that would enlist one million workers � ranging from postal employees to truck drivers � to tattle on any "suspicious activity" by people along their routes.
The program was met with vehement opposition from privacy groups, newspaper editorialists and even conservative legislators. Some likened TIPS to an operative of the East German Stasi, the secret police that used citizen informants to spy on ordinary Germans for more than 40 years.
posted by Kevin at 3:15 PM
Total Information Awareness Demonstration for John Poindexter :.Do you feel like letting Mr. Poindexter know where he can shove his depraved Information Awareness Office? Somewhere out of view of the all seeing eye and illegal private power structure, perhaps? John M. and Linda Poindexter
10 Barrington Fare
Rockville, MD, 20850
+1 301 424 6613Some people are suspicious that the degenerate Poindexter's Total Information Awareness system will be used to harass and track the activities of people who some significant fraction of society disagree with. They fear a replacement of today's general tolerance (and official blindness to one's Bill-of-Rights-protected activities such as speech and association), with specific harassment of those whose names pop up in the database. Such harassment of people who are not reasonably suspected of criminal activity would destroy much of value in our society, such as the presumption of innocence and the "live and let live" philosophy that encourages diversity. Offering dissidents "a death of a thousand cuts" by constantly harassing them and denying them the privileges of ordinary life would be far worse than charging them with a (bogus) crime, which they could clear up merely by demonstrating their innocence in court.This is a very popular topic on search engines lately so I'm going to throw in some food for bots (humans can ignore this): Scientia est potentia, IAO, TIA, DARPA. Hmmm: CHENEY SECRET ORGAN BANK. HaHa!
posted by Kevin at 2:16 AM
Mike Ruppert Issues Solemn Message :.The tone in dissident circles is becoming increasingly grim, but I think this is a time to celebrate! Yes, the show is winding down, but that's ok! You will soon get a chance to choose, overtly, between black and white, good and bad. Take the vaccination, don't take the vaccination. Get on the truck to go to the camp, refuse to get on the truck to go to the camp. I'm tired of all this messing around. Let's get this show on the road. Perhaps this will turn out to be a crisis of opportunity instead of just a crisis. I feel that our best chance of emerging from these troubled times would come if the system, as we know it, did fall apart. My only hope is that, when it comes down, it doesn't come down in the form of mushroom clouds. Hopefully, the physical base, the dirt, will still be usable. If that's the case, individuals will need to build locally based political and economic systems from the ground up. They should also make a point of not allowing federal governments back onto the stage. We've seen that they're only good at collecting taxes and killing people. Local governments. Local economies. Local industries. Local agriculture. Planetary consciousness. This thing, this situation we all face, cannot be changed by mass protests, gradual applications of pressure or any legislative process. Realize the fact that WE HAVE ALREADY LOST. Say it with me, "We have already lost." Everyone reading this site knows it, whether you want to admit it or not. We all know that the actors in control are in a position to take this thing to its logical conclusion, which is the enslavement of the remaining population of the planet. After you get over the fear, these concepts become liberating, actually. Start making a plan. Start imaging how you, your family, your friends and a few other people could grow food, make clothes, raise children and enjoy life without surveillance cameras, checkpoints and all of the other nonsense. These people already did it. Oh yeah, drop the word "job" from your vocabulary. You won't be needing it anymore: Rather than fear what we will be told is a heinous plot by Saddam to kill us all, we should be more afraid of the well-planned dark night of tyranny, death and suffering that is about to descend all over the globe. This story and the linkage that it represents are the ringing of the doorbell from an uninvited visitor who plans to steal away with whatever vestiges of civil liberty remain in this country.
posted by Kevin at 2:09 AM
U.S. Government Can Execute Americans Anywhere :.If the fine people running the show decide that you are an enemy combatant, well, you better get your affairs in order. If you aren't killed, you will disappear into some nameless, placeless American gulag. Whether you're ever heard from again, well, those are details to be worked out later, I guess: U.S. operatives have already killed one American enemy combatant and they can legally do it again, according to the rules of war devised by the Bush administration.
President Bush signed a secret directive after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks that directs the CIA to covertly attack Al Qaeda anywhere in the world. And the directive doesn't discriminate � meaning, there is no exception for Americans working for the terror group.
Permission to strike, however, is more like a quiet understanding rather than an outright prescription.
posted by Kevin at 2:06 AM
Harassment of Homeschoolers :.The public education system in the U.S. is actually a fascist indoctrination program designed to produce grunting imbeciles fit for either prison cells or cubicles. Study any fascist regime and you will find that state run indoctrination in schools is an integral component of governance. The U.S. Civil War was fought partially because cheap labor was needed to work in the new industrial factories coming online at the time. Productive labor may be extracted from employees at a much lower cost than is possible from slaves. A slave owner had to feed and house slaves. Allegedly "free" employees, however, are left to recover from the work day on their own dime. Dehumanizing, repetitive work for penury was the new economic miracle of industrialization. This is the point at which a substandard form of public education became necessary. The children (future employees) need to be kept stupid and made to follow rigid rules, so they don't start wondering why "freedom" seems so much like slavery. Take a look at this interesting tidbit from the article: Homeschooling � teaching children in the home instead of sending them out to a public or private educational institution � was the norm in the U.S. until about the mid-1800s, when there was a national movement toward establishing a public school system.In other words: The public school system was established right about the time industrialization was sweeping across the land. Hmmm. And so what happens when you choose to educate your children at home? Increasingly, cops are showing up. Never mind the fact that the homeschooled kids turn out to be brighter than any of the teachers they are likely to encounter in the public schools. Never mind that the homeschooled kids routinely score in the very top echelons of all aptitude assessments. You see, when you educate your children at home, they're going to be able to look at something and say: "That's BS, I'm not going along with that. In fact, I might like to have a go at tearing that thing down and replacing it with something much less corrupt." The problem is that they may be saying those words about local, state and national governments and the corporations they serve. No wonder cops are getting involved.
posted by Kevin at 2:05 AM
12/3/2002
Lockdown :.This article is excellent. It sums up the entirety of the difficulties we face. Luckily, the Them have terrorists to blame for everything that ails ya. They know that fear of _____<--- (fill in the blank) helps to keep people from asking the right questions: Through inequities in trade abroad and iniquities of social policy at home we are creating a local and international underclass with little stake in our immediate society. Through our immigration legislation and enhanced security networks we seek to contain them. Through our criminal justice system and foreign policies we seek to police them. From gated communities we move inexorably to gated countries and continents. Our prisons are full, our borders fortified, our embassies armed and global summits take place behind cordons of riot police - the private affluence and public squalor of the Thatcher years gone global.
"There is nothing so dangerous as a man who has nothing to lose," wrote James Baldwin, the African-American writer. "You do not need 10 men, only one will do."Research Credit: DG
posted by Kevin at 5:13 PM
Give Books Instead of Video Games :.Video games are gifts that keep on giving, but probably not in ways you have considered. They breed stupidity and violence: Hours of playing violent video games can affect the way the brain works on a cellular level, causing misfiring of signals between nerve cells or slowing brain activity, researchers reported Monday.
The researchers said the adverse effects are most apparent among teens that are diagnosed with a condition called disruptive behavior disorder or DBD. These kids, according to Dr. Vincent P. Mathews of the University of Indiana Medical School in Indianapolis, are the ones most likely to "act out by harming animals or property or fighting with other kids."
posted by Kevin at 5:11 PM
12/2/2002
Wi-Fi: Insurgent Technology :.The day may come when those of us concerned with freedom will HAVE to build our own networks. This article provides introductory level information about how individuals are using 802.11 devices to, well, give the bird to telecos and PHBs pushing expensive and stupid technology (3G). If you want to learn more, here are some resources to get you up and running FAST: If you want to find wireless networks to use: Read the wardriving HOWTO. Then choose a sniffer. Since most of you are Windows users, netstumbler is excellent. Of course, it's free. If you want to build your own wireless network: http://www.wirelessanarchy.com/ (There may be a group near you.) http://www.oreillynet.com/topics/wireless/802.11 (Many articles.) http://www.freenetworks.org/ (News and discussion.) Especially useful for infrastructure construction purposes: Food containers (Pringles cans, etc.) and the Ethernet DC power injector, or do-it-yourself style. Have fun!
posted by Kevin at 1:10 PM
The Dismantling of the U.S. Legal System :.What else is there to say, folks? We're in a tyranny: The Bush administration is developing a parallel legal system in which terrorism suspects -- U.S. citizens and noncitizens alike -- may be investigated, jailed, interrogated, tried and punished without legal protections guaranteed by the ordinary system, lawyers inside and outside the government say.
posted by Kevin at 1:21 AM
Israel to Escalate War in Wake of Kenya Attacks :.Wake the sleepers: LONDON The Mossad has activated "sleeper" agents in Saudi Arabia and Yemen after Prime Minister Ariel Sharon ordered Mossad head Meir Dagan to track down the planners and perpetrators of last Friday's twin attacks in Mombasa.
Quoting one source, the London Sunday Times reported that Sharon summoned Dagan to a meeting following the attacks and told him: "War has been declared on the State of Israel by the global Islamic terror syndicate. Change your priorities and get them, one by one."
posted by Kevin at 1:20 AM
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:. Reading
 Fatal
Harvest: The Tragedy of Industrial Agriculture by Andrew Kimbrell
Readers will come to see
that industrial food production is indeed a "fatal harvest"
- fatal to consumers, as pesticide residues and new disease vectors
such as E. coli and "mad cow disease" find their way
into our food supply; fatal to our landscapes, as chemical runoff
from factory farms poison our rivers and groundwater; fatal to
genetic diversity, as farmers rely increasingly on high-yield
monocultures and genetically engineered crops; and fatal to our
farm communities, which are wiped out by huge corporate
farms.
 Friendly
Fascism: The New Face of Power in America by Bertram Myron Gross
This is a relatively
short but extremely cogent and well-argued treatise on the rise
of a form of fascistic thought and social politics in late 20th
century America. Author Bertram Gross' thesis is quite straightforward;
the power elite that comprises the corporate, governmental and
military superstructure of the country is increasingly inclined
to employ every element in their formidable arsenal of 'friendly
persuasion' to win the hearts and minds of ordinary Americans
through what Gross refers to as friendly fascism.
 The
Good Life
by Scott and Helen Nearing Helen
and Scott Nearing are the great-grandparents of the back-to-the-land
movement, having abandoned the city in 1932 for a rural life based
on self-reliance, good health, and a minimum of cash...Fascinating,
timely, and wholly useful, a mix of the Nearings' challenging
philosophy and expert counsel on practical skills.
 Silent
Theft: The Private Plunder of Our Common Wealth by David Bollierd
In Silent Theft, David Bollier
argues that a great untold story of our time is the staggering
privatization and abuse of our common wealth. Corporations are
engaged in a relentless plunder of dozens of resources that we
collectively own—publicly funded medical breakthroughs,
software innovation, the airwaves, the public domain of creative
works, and even the DNA of plants, animals and humans. Too often,
however, our government turns a blind eye—or sometimes helps
give away our assets. Amazingly,
the silent theft of our shared wealth has gone largely unnoticed
because we have lost our ability to see the commons.
 The
Self-Sufficient Life and How to Live It: The Complete Back-To-Basics
Guide by John Seymour The
Self Sufficient Life and How to Live It is the only book that
teaches all the skills needed to live independently in harmony
with the land harnessing natural forms of energy, raising crops
and keeping livestock, preserving foodstuffs, making beer and
wine, basketry, carpentry, weaving, and much more.
 When
Corporations Rule the World by David C. Korten
When Corporations
Rule the World explains how economic globalization has concentrated
the power to govern in global corporations and financial markets
and detached them from accountability to the human interest. It
documents the devastating human and environmental consequences
of the successful efforts of these corporations to reconstruct
values and institutions everywhere on the planet to serve their
own narrow ends.
 The
New Organic Grower: A Master's Manual of Tools and Techniques
for the Home and Market Gardener
This expansion
of a now-classic guide originally published in 1989 is intended
for the serious gardener or small-scale market farmer. It describes
practical and sustainable ways of growing superb organic vegetables,
with detailed coverage of scale and capital, marketing, livestock,
the winter garden, soil fertility, weeds, and many other
topics.
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