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As of today, Liberty Action News, a service of Rational Review News, will be moving to a new site at http://rationalreview.news-digests.com/land Last week’s stories can still be found at the old site http://www.rationalreview.com/land | |
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Commentaries on Bill of Rights Day, Trapped in Bank of America hell, Terrorism by association, WikiLeaks as this century’s Upton Sinclair, The assault on Assange is an assault on liberty, “V” for Vigilante, Copsuckers, Gun Owners Year in Review — 2010, Six companies that haven’t wussed out of working with WikiLeaks, DoJ preps for ominous expansion of “anti-terrorism” Law targeting activists and more! In the news, Assange (relatively) free on bail, UK Transit thugs to begin random searches, Suspicious” ornament shuts Pentagon train station, Lawyers in gun case argue for $3.13 million attorney fees, Assange still committed to publishing secret documents: mother, Australian Police who broke man’s leg over taunt may cost taxpayers $200,000, Limits of free speech tested by off-the-cuff online remarks Til next week For freedom Mary Lou Link: http://rationalreview.com/land | |
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“A British court granted bail to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange Thursday after rejecting an appeal to keep him in jail while he fights extradition to Sweden to answer allegations of sex crimes. … The judge endorsed the stringent bail conditions imposed by the lower court, which included a 240,000-pound ($374,000) surety and the requirement that Assange wear an electronic tag and abide by a curfew. When he is released, Assange will swap the stark surroundings of Wandsworth prison in London for a friend’s country mansion in Suffolk, eastern England, and report regularly to police as conditions of the bail.” (12/16/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/3xtohoq | |
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“Riders on the Washington metro system were warned Thursday to expect random checks of carry-on items two days after the government disclosed the arrest of an Afghan man for allegedly threatening to bomb the system. The stepped-up security [sic] measures at the height of the Christmas shopping season also coincided with a warning by Interpol that it had received information about possible Al-Qaeda attacks in the United States and Europe.” (12/16/10) Link: http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2010/12/dc-subway-random-searches/ | |
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“A blinking Christmas ornament in a Pentagon subway trash can caused the station to be shut down Wednesday during morning rush hour, diverting hundreds of passengers in frigid temperatures while authorities investigated the ’suspicious object.’” (12/15/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/2cmfw9v | |
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“Lawyers for the District of Columbia residents who successfully challenged the city’s ban on handguns were in court today defending their request for nearly $3.13 million in legal fees and costs. Alan Gura, the lead attorney for the plaintiffs, urged a Washington federal trial judge to award the team the prevailing market value for attorneys who handle complex federal litigation. Gura called the fee request reasonable, citing his efficiency and his overall success in the case.” (12/13/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/2vmght6 | |
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“WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange told his mother from his prison cell in London that he remained committed to publishing secret U.S. cables, despite condemnation from Washington and elsewhere, Australian television reported Tuesday.” [editor’s note: The picture accompanying this story is, well, you gotta see it … -MLS] (12/14/10) Link: http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSL3E6NE0H420101214 | |
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Australia: Police who broke man’s leg over taunt may cost taxpayers $200,000
Source: News.com.au [Australia] “Police who broke a man’s leg after he taunted them about not being able to park a car could end up costing taxpayers $200,000 in compensation. The leg of Martin Francis, 46, was badly broken in two places, he lost his job and was out of work for eight months after he was wrongfully arrested in August last year and jammed into a police vehicle outside a Mount Isa nightclub.” (12/09/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/3xlqqxf | |
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“What’s a tweet, between friends? The law says sometimes it’s a threat. One man thought he was just bantering with his pals when he joked about blowing an airport sky-high. Another was reacting to a radio phone-in when he mused about stoning a journalist to death. Because they made their throwaway comments on Twitter, both are in legal trouble. Their cases have outraged civil libertarians and inflamed debate about the limits of free speech in a Web 2.0 world. The Internet makes private jokes, tastes, and opinions available for public consumption, blurring the line between public and private in a way that has left the law gasping to keep up.” (12/12/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/24afj8y | |
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Commentaries on Power and force in “Crash”, Radical muslims aren’t alone, Nightmare with Child Protective Services, Problems in communications and political activism, End the FCC, Pushing a right to bear arms: The sharp kind, Homeland Security “messages” coming to Walmart, Government forced to release docs on spying program, and Wikileaks (What can one person do to help , Acid test,From Jefferson to Assange, Wikileaks vs. the empire, Wikileaks mirrors, Truth in chains, How WikiLeaks altered the way we see the world in just a week, Anatomy of a DDOS and why it matters to you, Hands off Assange, WikiLeaks no threat to free society, How denial works and Wanted by the empire, dead or alive.) In the news, Pro-WikiLeaks cyber army gains strength, Protests shake Haiti after vote, We Won’t Fly billboard campaign takes off, Ohio Town debates dropping flag for pole-dancing Santa, Evidence for ET is mounting daily, but not proven, on again off again “Free Brian Aitken” Rally, Poll paints a bleak picture for the West in Afghanistan, Tennessee Efforts to copy Arizona Know-Nothing appeasement law , UK Santa faces littering rap, DoT exploring technology that would disable cell phones in cars, Three injured as police clash with protesters in Greece, PayPal joins Internet backlash against WikiLeaks, and Mississippi Supreme Court grants Corey Maye new trial til next week Fopr freedom! Mary lou Link: http://rationalreview.com/land | |
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“The retaliatory attacks by pro-WikiLeaks activists are growing in strength as hackers add botnets and thousands of people download an open-source attack tool, security researchers said today. … Most of those participating in the attacks are using the LOIC (Low Orbit Ion Cannon) DDoS tool, said researchers with Imperva and Sophos. The open-source tool, which is sometimes classified as a legitimate network- and firewall-stress testing utility, is being downloaded at the rate of about 1,000 copies per hour, said Tal Be’ery, the Web research team lead at Imperva’s Application Defense Center.” (12/09/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/27my9r7 | |
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“Violent protests, ignited by preliminary presidential election results in Haiti that were widely considered suspect, shut down this troubled country yesterday and threatened the fragile stability that has held since the devastating Jan. 12 earthquake. Businesses and schools were closed, streets emptied of traffic, and the international airport was closed. Protesters set fire to the party headquarters of President Rene Preval’s chosen successor, and many hundreds marched on the Electoral Council offices, where United Nations peacekeeping troops repelled them with tear gas, rubber bullets, and flash-bang grenades.” (12/09/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/2fwopct | |
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“If you thought the airport Opt Out Day demonstrations on the day before Thanksgiving was a one-shot showdown against abusive TSA tactics you thought wrong. The We Won’t Fly team of Jim Babb and George Donnelly has launched a follow-up protest — placing giant billboards outside America’s airports.” (12/08/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/26ar9z3 | |
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“For more than a decade, as Christmas approached and a bone-chilling cold held the Midwest in its grip, officials in Willoughby, Ohio, would take down the most prominent American flag in town and replace it with … a pole-dancing Santa Claus. The illuminated Santa is part of an elaborate holiday light display in a downtown park, and leaders in the city located 18 miles northeast of Cleveland say Saint Nick has been swinging on that same 100-foot flagpole for about 12 years. But this year, for the first time, some residents of the town of 23,000 are saying the tradition is unpatriotic, especially in a time of war.” (12/08/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/23othn9 | |
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“Lately, a handful of new discoveries make it seem more likely that we are not alone — that there is life somewhere else in the universe. In the past several days, scientists have reported there are three times as many stars as they previously thought. Another group of researchers discovered a microbe can live on arsenic, expanding our understanding of how life can thrive under the harshest environments. And earlier this year, astronomers for the first time said they’d found a potentially habitable planet.” (12/08/10) Link: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101208/ap_on_sc/us_sci_alien_life | |
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“Alan Gottlieb, founder and executive vice president of the Second Amendment Foundation will travel to New Jersey Dec. 12 to join speakers at a rally in Toms River in support of Brian Aitken. The New Jersey man has been imprisoned for essentially having two legally-owned handguns in his car, parked at his parents’ home, along with other belongings he was moving to a new residence in another city.” (12/06/10) Link: http://www.saf.org/viewpr-new.asp?id=347 | |
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“Most Afghans want foreign troops out sooner rather than later because life is worse, rather than better, since the surge of tens of thousands of troops thrown into the fight by U.S. President Barack Obama a year ago. Big majorities want Hamid Karzai’s government to negotiate with the Taliban, regard corruption as endemic and believe Afghan government officials are pocketing much of the billions earmarked for aid and development.” (12/06/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/25k7vxa | |
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“State Sen. Bill Ketron, R-Murfreesboro, is working on a Tennessee version of the controversial Arizona law that made it a state crime to be in the country illegally [sic]. It also gave local police power to question and detain anyone they suspect of being an illegal immigrant. Ketron said he expects to file his bill by Thursday. ‘You can’t deny how (illegal immigration) is affecting us, from education to health care to the judicial system to incarceration, and more importantly the number of jobs it’s taken away,’ he said.” [editor’s note: Yes you can deny it; xenophobia, scapegoating and racism are the only purpose of this nonsense - SAT] (12/06/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/29k7n68 | |
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“Council officials are threatening to prosecute a secret Santa for leaving Christmas gifts for children in a park. The mystery man, who signs himself The Woodland Santa, creeps into Pembrey country park, near Llanelli, at night to hang gift-wrapped books and toys from trees. But Carmarthenshire council warned the man that he could land in court for fly-tipping, reports The Mirror.” (12/02/10) Link: http://web.orange.co.uk/article/quirkies/Santa_faces_littering_rap | |
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“The Transportation Department is looking into technology to disable cell phones in vehicles, according to Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. ‘There’s a lot of technology out there that can disable phones and we’re looking at that,’ LaHood said on MSNBC’s ‘Morning Joe.’” ( 12/03/10 ) Link: http://tinyurl.com/24hlo4b | |
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“Greek police clashed with youths hurling petrol bombs in Athens on Monday during protests to mark the anniversary of the 2008 police killing of a teenager that triggered the country’s worst riots in decades. Three people were injured as thousands marched through the Greek capital in protests the authorities had feared would turn violent amid rising public discontent as Greece battles a debt crisis with stringent austerity measures.” (12/06/10) Link: http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6B53J820101206 | |
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“The backlash against WikiLeaks intensifed today after payments site PayPal revealed it had frozen WikiLeaks’ account, saying it was being used to ‘encourage, promote, facilitate or instruct others to engage in illegal activity.’ The company, owned by auction website eBay, revealed it had cut access for donations to WikiLeaks amid unsubstantiated speculation that the decision may have been inspired by heavy political pressure.” (12/04/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/27fzk8d | |
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From the decision: “We vacate the judgment of the Court of Appeals. We also reverse Maye’s judgment of conviction, because the trial court committed reversible error by refusing Maye’s requested defense-of-others jury instruction. Therefore, we remand this case to the trial court for a new trial consistent with this opinion. On remand, Maye is entitled to reassert his right to be tried in Jefferson Davis County.” [PDF] (12/02/10) Link: http://www.mssc.state.ms.us/Images/Opinions/CO65411.pdf | |
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Commentaries on Letter to Amazon, Ideas to die for, Wikileaks and the New Global Order, The FBI’s Stalinist Homeland Security theater, DHS declare war on the Net — let’s fight back, 10 skills needed to survive post-collapse, The pushy parents of modern-day radicalism, When will Americans take to the streets?, FBI thwarts own car bomb, Power grabs at the airport, the Sickly state of 1st Amendment and more! In the news US military tries to intimidate soldiers in Iraq into not reading Wikileaks, PayPal joins Internet backlash against WikiLeaks, High school player flagged for TD nod to God, WikiLeaks, hammered by attacks, loses Amazon host, Abuse expert: TSA gropers prep kids for predators, December 4 is Farmers and Hunters Feeding the Hungry Day in Ohio, Idiot pol wants to label Wikileaks a “foreign terrorist organization”, Chinese Woman adopts 1500 stray dogs, government steals land, Thousands protest against Irish bailout Til next week For freedom Mary Lou Link: http://rationalreview.com/land | |
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“U.S. soldiers in Iraq who try to read about the Wikileaks disclosures — or read coverage of them in mainstream news sites — on unclassified networks get a page warning them that they’re about to break the law.” (12/05/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/347grfb | |
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“A high school football player in Tacoma, Wash., got flagged for dropping to his knee and pointing to the sky after scoring a touchdown during a playoff game. ‘It’s just something I do every time I get in the end zone,’ said Ronnie Hastie, a Tumwater High School running back. ‘To honor my Lord because I play for him. I give him the glory because he’s the one that gives me the strength.’ Although Hastie’s strength may be divine, high school referees are apparently not.” (12/01/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/235gglk | |
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“Amazon, after coming under fire for hosting WikiLeaks, booted it from its servers on Wednesday, prompting the whistleblower website to shift to Web-hosting services in Europe. … The WikiLeaks website was sluggish and periodically unavailable on Wednesday but it was not immediately clear if this was due to its hosting issues or if it had again come under cyberattack as in previous days.” (12/02/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/3xzu2vv | |
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“An expert in the fight against child sexual abuse is raising the alarm about a technique the TSA is reportedly using to get children to co-operate with airport pat-downs: calling it a ‘game.’ Ken Wooden, founder of Child Lures Prevention, says the TSA’s recommendation that children be told the pat-down is a ‘game’ is potentially putting children in danger. Telling a child that they are engaging in a game is ‘one of the most common ways’ that sexual predators use to convince children to engage in inappropriate contact, Wooden told Raw Story. … The TSA policy could ‘desensitize children to inappropriate touch and ultimately make it easier for sexual offenders to prey on our children,’ he added.” (12/01/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/2v58kd4 | |
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“With the opening day of Ohio’s deer-gun season on November 29, hunters are reminded that donating a deer is free at meat processors participating in the Farmers and Hunters Feeding the Hungry (FHFH) venison donation program. Although venison donations are accepted any day during the deer hunting season, September 25-February 6, 2011; Saturday, December 4 has been designated as FHFH Day. Participating meat processors can be found by visiting the FHFH Web site at www.fhfh.org. Last year, hunters showed they cared by donating nearly 116,750 pounds of venison which equates to 467,000 meals for Ohioans in need.” (11/30/10) Link: http://www.buckeyefirearms.org/node/7535 | |
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“Rep. Pete King (R-L.I.) urged U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder to designate WikiLeaks a ‘foreign terrorist organization,’ saying it ‘posed a clear and present danger to the national security of the United States,’ and to prosecute founder Julian Assange for espionage.” [editor’s note: For “national security of the United States,” read “Pete King’s cockamamie megalomaniacal schemes” - TLK] (11/29/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/39rsy3s | |
Commentary
jump to News Section | jump to Action Items Section
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“George Mahoney worked and saved and built his cozy, colonial-style home in Lynnfield, Massachusetts, in 1981. … For many years, the Mahoneys paid down their relatively small mortgage with their local bank — a division of Bank of America (BofA). In 2007, they took out a second mortgage to help a daughter start a small business…. About a year after getting the second mortgage, BofA started notifying George that his payments were late. Soon they jacked his credit card interest rates from 7 percent to 28 percent. Next, they ruined his credit record…. Then one day in the fall of 2009, BofA initiated foreclosure on the house he had built and owned for 28 years. The only problem? The Mahoneys had never missed a single payment on either their first or second mortgage.” (12/16/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/37ankry | |
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“‘I don’t think there’s anything fair about a grand jury,’ says Tom Burke, a central organizer of the committee who was subpoenaed in Grand Rapids, Mich., after the FBI followed him to a coffee shop. ‘There’s no judge, you aren’t allowed to have your lawyer with you. … It’s a totally undemocratic and biased system, and it would be foolish to cooperate.’” (12/13/10) Link: http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/6745/terrorist_by_association/ | |
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“The practice of police ‘accountability’ generally consists of using money stolen at gunpoint to buy off victims and survivors of officially sanctioned criminal violence. Few better examples can be found than the $975,000 settlement paid by the City of Wilmington, Delaware, to Elaine Hale, whose husband Derek was murdered by Wilmington Police on November 6, 2006.” (12/15/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/293grw2 | |
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“Commenting on the good that can come from openness and transparency, Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis once said that ’sunlight is the best disinfectant.’ Well, today we find ourselves in a foul, germ-ridden place, where official misconduct is allowed to breed, infect the body politic and fester. Things are done in the name of the American people that would outrage them if they really knew the truth. And some past generations had the benefit of brave individuals to shine the light and clear up the stench, and they were all the better for it.” (12/15/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/295q2d2 | |
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“Today is the 219th anniversary of the ratification of the Bill of Rights — the first ten amendments to the Constitution. Bill of Rights Day should be the preeminent Anti-Politician Day on the American calendar. Instead, it has become simply another pretext for rulers to delude the ruled. ” (12/15/10) Link: http://counterpunch.org/bovard12152010.html | |
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“It’s the holiday that got away. Wednesday is the 219th anniversary of the ratification of the Bill of Rights, a critical turning point in the history of this country and one that transformed this nation forever. Still, you won’t find any Bill of Rights greeting cards in local stores. It’s not that Americans are short on patriotism. In fact, we celebrate Veterans Day, Constitution Day, Flag Day, Memorial Day, Washington’s Birthday, Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Independence Day.” (12/14/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/25zdwj2 | |
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“For months, Ada County Sheriff David Updyke had been investigating a secretive group of armed extremists living at the periphery of his southwest Idaho jurisdiction. When an informant provided him with a membership list of the armed band, Updyke wasted no time. He obtained arrest warrants, organized a large, heavily armed strike force, and made a beeline for the Payette River Valley. The warrants were a ruse. Updyke wasn’t planning a mass arrest; he was plotting a massacre.” (12/10/10) Link: http://freedominourtime.blogspot.com/2010/12/v-for-vigilante.html | |
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“Julian Assange is not Wikileaks; in other words, whether you regard him as a hero, villain, victim or egotistical malcontent, Wikileaks itself remains difficult to characterize. If it can be blamed for deterring diplomacy, derided for titillating us with diplomatic gossip, or dispensed with faint praise (by activist and writer Todd Gitlin) as the ‘Facebook of whistleblowing’, it can also be heralded for providing additional proof (if any were needed) of the gross hypocrisies and moral cowardice of the post-9/11 American security state.” (12/14/10) Link: http://www.spiked-online.com/index.php/site/article/10000/ | |
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“Helping your child understand why he may be a threat to national security.” [cartoon] (undated) Link: http://www.rense.com/1.imagesH/cavitysearch_splash.jpg | |
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“In an ideal world, the WikiLeaks revelations would have ended two wars. Documenting patterns of cavalier abuse and untold brutality in Iraq and Afghanistan might have sparked public outrage sufficient to undermine the capacity to continue these campaigns. Instead we’ve seen the war machine dig in even deeper, extending drawdown deadlines and expanding fronts to adjacent locales.” (12/13/10) Link: http://counterpunch.org/amster12132010.html | |
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“In a bizarre and historical twist of fate, conservatives today are finding themselves in a state of open rebellion against established authority, and it is becoming embarrassingly obvious that they don’t have the faintest glimmer of how to handle this conflict between their fundamental nature and what is necessary if the American culture is to survive. Nowhere is this clearer than in the case of Manning, Assange, and Wikileaks.” (12/12/10) Link: http://www.ncc-1776.org/tle2010/tle599-20101212-02.html | |
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“Your attention to and activism with Gun Owners of America has made a world of difference over the past several months. The past couple of years were supposed to be the worst on record, as far as gun rights are concerned. With the election of Barack Hussein Obama, Americans went rushing to gun stores and generated a buying spree that created shortages of firearms and ammunition around the country.” (12/10/10) Link: http://www.ammoland.com/2010/12/10/gun-owners-year-in-review-2010/ | |
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“Giants like PayPal, Amazon.com, Visa and MasterCard almost instantly crumbled under government (and p.r.) pressure to drop WikiLeaks, depriving the site of vital funding sources and online platforms. But other companies, some of them small, independent start-ups, have decided to risk the wrath of Joe Lieberman, the State Department, and their European counterparts and help keep WikiLeaks afloat by providing funding sources (yeah, you can now donate to WikiLeaks even if you only have Visa or MasterCard) and hosting the site. Here’s a list of companies that have stood by WikiLeaks …” (12/10/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/249lvyn | |
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DoJ preps for ominous expansion of “anti-terrorism” Law targeting activists
Source: TruthOut Author: Michael Deutsch “Under the new definition of ‘material support,’ the efforts of President Jimmy Carter to monitor the elections in Lebanon and coordinate with the political parties there, including the designated FTO Hezbollah, could well be prosecuted as a crime.” (12/11/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/35wojqu | |
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WikiLeaks: What can one person do to help?
Source: The Self-Sovereign Individual Project Author: Kitty Antonik and Paul Wakfer “[G]etting support money to WikiLeaks has become very awkward for those able to donate only small amounts. PayPal, MasterCard and Visa all appear to be currying favor with the US government, if not actually kowtowing to direct political pressure, by agreeing that WikiLeaks is engaged in ‘illegal’ activities thereby justifying their removal of services. So it appears that either snail mail money orders/drafts or bank wire transfers (electronic funds transfer — EFT) are the only means left to get funding to WikiLeaks.” (12/09/10) Link: http://selfsip.org/focus/helpwikileaks.html | |
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“The aftermath of the release of the first 1% of the recent second wave of leaks of sensitive government documents is in some ways more fun than reading of the newly uncovered secrets themselves. It has drawn a clear distinction between those who are horrified and those who are delighted; like the acid test for fake gold, this reveals what people really think about government, now that it matters.” (12/90/10) Link: http://www.strike-the-root.com/acid-test | |
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“[US Senator Dianne] Feinstein represents precisely the government that Thomas Jefferson had in mind when he said, in defense of unfettered freedom of the press, ‘Were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter.’” [editor’s note: Once again, Mr. Scheer shows why I continue to look for his writings to include here - SAT] (12/08/10) Link: http://www.thenation.com/article/156909/jefferson-assange | |
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Homeland Security “messages” coming to Walmart, hotels, malls
Source: Raw Story Author: Daniel Tencer “Shoppers at Walmart will soon have something other than glossy magazines and chewing gum to look at when in the checkout line: A ‘video message’ from the Department of Homeland Security asking them to look out for ’suspicious’ activity and report it immediately. It’s part of a new Department of Homeland Security program that could see Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano’s face on video screens in malls, retail outlets and hotels across the United States.” (12/08/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/29tjp7g | |
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“The sides are lining up, much like Bush predicted in 2001 with his ‘You are with us or against us.’ A brave Aussie, a principled French judge, an American libertarian congressman, a youthful computer nerd — the enemies of empire come in all shapes and sizes.” (12/08/10) Link: http://counterpunch.org/walberg12082010.html | |
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“Arizona used to be a knife carrier’s nightmare, with a patchwork of local laws that forced those inclined to strap Buck knives or other sharp objects to their belts to tread carefully as they moved from Phoenix (no knives except pocketknives) to Tempe (no knives at all) to Tucson (no knives on library grounds). But that changed earlier this year when Arizona made its Legislature the sole arbiter of knife regulations. And because of loose restrictions on weapons here, Arizona is now considered a knife carrier’s dream, a place where everything from a samurai sword to a switchblade can be carried without a quibble.” (12/05/10) Link: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/05/us/05knives.html | |
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Government forced to release docs on spying program
Source: Inter Press Service Author: William Fisher “Last week’s release of 900 pages of U.S. government documents dealing with the implementation of the nation’s primary surveillance law suggests that the government has been systematically violating the privacy rights of U.S. citizens. How many citizens is unclear, since the documents were extensively redacted. The previously secret internal documents were obtained through a court battle by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).” (12/06/10) Link: http://ipsnorthamerica.net/news.php?idnews=3423 | |
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“Wikileaks is currently under heavy attack. In order to make it impossible to ever fully remove Wikileaks from the Internet, you will find below a list of mirrors of Wikileaks website and CableGate pages. This page is a mirror of an original at wikileaks website.” (12/07/10) Link: http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article27007.htm | |
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“Well, they got him at last. WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, the target of several of the world’s most powerful governments, turned himself into British authorities today and is now at the mercy of state authorities who have already shown their wolfish – and lawless – desire to destroy him and his organization. ” (12/07/10) Link: http://counterpunch.org/floyd12072010.html | |
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“As if individual liberty were not sufficiently under assault already, a runaway government agency, whose very existence is not sanctioned by Article 1, Section 8 of the United States Constitution — which lists those few activities in which government is legally permitted to engage — is trying to carry off a fascist coup d’etat against the First Amendment freedoms afforded to Americans by the Internet.” (12/05/10) Link: http://www.ncc-1776.org/tle2010/tle598-20101205-07.html | |
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How WikiLeaks altered the way we see the world in just a week
Source: Guardian [UK] Author: Robert Booth and Haroon Siddique “As startling as the exposes were — the Saudi king urging America ‘to cut off the head of the snake,’ to launch a military attack on Iran’s nuclear programme — it was as much the sense of a curtain lifting to reveal the world leaders not as wizards but as all too human, and that the private positions of those in power were often diametrically opposed to what they said in public, that made the cables so gripping — and perhaps so dangerous.” (12/04/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/2vnkgj4 | |
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Anatomy of a DDOS and why it matters to you
Source: The Libertarian Enterprise Author: William Stone III ‘As I write this, Wikileaks is fighting for its life. This is an important issue for several reasons, not the least of which is this: It may be that your computer is attacking them. Wikileaks has been undergoing a Distributed Denial of Service attack since the eve of their most recent release of over 250,000 U.S. State Department documents. In order to understand what’s happening, it will be necessary to explain a DDOS and how your computer may be involved …” (12/05/10) Link: http://www.ncc-1776.org/tle2010/tle598-20101205-04.html | |
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“As I’ve come to recognize how the meanings of words diverge from one person to the next, I’ve also become more frustrated by the objective use of language. Trivial barriers are preventing so much from being accomplished. Anarchists and libertarians are heavily factioned. Disagreements over definitions, especially how those definitions should be delineated, appears to be a significant problem. The motivation can be said to be little more than a clinging to words for their own sake.” (12/05/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/268nq37 | |
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“It’s unclear whether the truth will set us free, but it is clear that secrets are the means of our enslavement. Whistle-blowers Julian Assange and Bradley Manning are heroes who should be respected by freedom fighters everywhere. If it had not been irreparably befouled by Albert Gore and Barry Obama, each of them should receive a Nobel Prize.” (12/05/10) Link: http://www.ncc-1776.org/tle2010/tle598-20101205-02.html | |
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“Clearly, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has done our nation a service by publishing at-times embarrassing accounts of how the U.S. government conducts its foreign policy. This is a government that claims to be of the people, by the people and for the people, and which has grand pretenses about projecting freedom worldwide, yet it wants to be able to keep most of the details of its actions away from the prying eyes of the public. There’s no evidence that any information released will endanger anyone, and the U.S. government reportedly refused Assange’s request to work with him to scrub any names that could be compromised.” (12/03/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/24tu8mk | |
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Nightmare with Child Protective Services
Source: Sherrie Questioning All Author: Sherrie Questioning All “My child said, these are the questions they asked: ‘Does your mother have SOLAR PANELS? Where Exactly does your mother take you camping? Where exactly have you gone hiking? Do you hike and then camp? Does anyone else go with you camping? What do you do when you go camping? Does your mother have alternative energy? Does your mother have stored food? Does your mother have any guns? Does your mother saying anything about ‘The end of the world?’ What kind of remodeling has your mother done to your home? Do you have a ’safe room’ like a bomb shelter in your home?’” (12/03/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/2v93y32 | |
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“So it turns out that contrary to widespread impression, the American government is just as willing to step all over people’s right to free expressions as are governments in what are deemed more tyrannical countries. News has it that the Washington based Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery “is removing a video after complaints from a Catholic group that the images were sacrilegious.” A video by the artist David Wojnarowicz is supposed to be “hate speech,” according to Catholic League President Bill Donohue. The video depicted a swarm of ants crawling on a crucified Christ figure. He contended that it was meant to insult Christians and this warranted its being removed – that is, banned.” (12/04/10) Link: http://www.thedailybell.com/1570/Tibor-Machan-Radical-Muslims-Aren-Not-Alone-.html | |
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“So the latest in the US government sticking its head in the sand over Wikileaks is that the Library of Congress has blocked access to the Wikileaks site. … I don’t know how to put this any more diplomatically, so I’ll just say it straight up: this is stupid. This is pure denialism. We’ve seen it before, such as in the Al-Haramain case, where the government accidentally leaked evidence of warrantless wiretapping, and the information was widely available … but everyone involved in the case had to pretend it wasn’t available. It’s stupid.” (12/03/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/2dzbc5m | |
Action Items
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“OptOutDay.com is an educational outreach campaign, designed to get people to better understand what they are now consenting to when they purchase a plane ticket. Many people only fly around the holidays and may not be aware of the security changes, which is why November 24 was chosen. There is no intent or desire to delay passengers en route to friends and family over Thanksgiving. Once people are made aware of what is happening, they may have reservations about the new virtual strip searches and enhanced pat downs — especially for their children or spouse or other loved one.” (11/10) Link: http://www.optoutday.com/ | |
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2010 National 5th Annual New Hampshire State Live Free Or Die Rally
Source: Live free or Die Rally Event Date(s): August 25-August 29 “The LFOD Rally is the only all free true first amendment event in the U.S. ” (08/20/10) Link: http://livefreeordierally.com/ | |
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“We want to remind Americans that they have a basic human right to keep and bear arms — both for self-defense and to preserve individual freedom — that is not only enshrined in the Bill of Rights, but is protected only by Americans’ willingness to actually exercise that right. Just as is true with free speech, freedom of assembly, and every other right guaranteed by the Constitution — if you don’t insist on your Constitutional freedoms by exercising them in public, you will lose them.” (08/03/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/28zjwl6 | |
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Petition: any member of Congress who votes for ObamaCare should be forced to participate themselves
Source: Congressman Fleming Website Congressman John Fleming [LA] is proposing an amendment to the ObamaCare bill : sign petition here if you believe any member of Congress who votes for a government run health care plan should be forced to participate in the plan themselves. [editor’s note: Spread this little gem far and wide-MLS] (08/09) Link: http://fleming.house.gov/index.html | |
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“Monolithic agribusiness & biotech corporations like Monsanto are gaining more and more power over our food supply, thanks in part to Congress creating policies that give them competitive advantage while harming small farmers & competitors, but also because we consume their products every day, without knowing….Accept the Challenge:I will not buy Roundup weed killer, and will instead use an alternative method of weed control. (Please fill out the form below to accept the challenge and see your impact added to our calculator).” (06/22/09) Link: http://bytestyle.tv/node/55 | |
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“The Motorhome Diaries is the story of three friends who took to the road in April 2009 to search for freedom in America. Along the way the friends — Jason, Pete and Tom — interact with individuals and groups from diverse backgrounds and viewpoints at college campuses, homes, businesses and organizations that are united by one thing: increasing individual freedom and responsibility and decreasing the scope of government.” [editor’s note: Every day a new adventure-MLS](04/09) Link: http://motorhomediaries.com/ | |
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“Scarecrow is an attempt to unify libertarians behind one presidential candidate in the 2012 election cycle. The fact that Scarecrow isn’t running, or even real, is a bonus. … If you want liberty and smaller government, electoral politics is a loser’s game. Still, it’s the game we play in America, and it’s so entrenched in our culture that any attempt to break free of it must first involve a widespread acknowledgment of its failings. … Scarecrow For President is a movement through which libertarians can announce to the world that we’re here, we’re correct, we’re huge in number, and we’re done with Washington’s game. … The intent of this site is to kick off a movement. It is the webmaster’s hope that the movement will grow much larger than this site. I am just an anonymous blogger with an idea. You are Scarecrow For President. You should make your own Scarecrow For President site, market it, and update it constantly. You should steal all my readers and become the center of the movement.” (02/09) Link: http://scarecrowforpresident.blogspot.com/2009/02/faq.html | |
