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“There are signs that underground shelters, almost-forgotten relics of the Cold War era, are making a comeback. The Vivos network, which offers partial ownerships similar to a timeshare in underground shelter communities, is one of several ventures touting escape from a surface-level calamity. Radius Engineering in Terrell, Texas, has built underground shelters for more than three decades, and business has never been better, says Walton McCarthy, company president. The company sells fiberglass shelters that can accommodate 10 to 2,000 adults to live underground for one to five years with power, food, water and filtered air, McCarthy says. The shelters range from $400,000 to a $41 million facility Radius built and installed underground that is suitable for 750 people, McCarthy says. He declined to disclose the client or location of the shelter.” (07/29/10) Link: http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2010-07-28-doomsday28_ST_N.htm | |
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“Loveland resident Bill Miller wants $100,000 and a policy change from the Loveland Police Department. The 72-year-old man sued the city in U.S. District Court in Denver this week, claiming officers violated his constitutional rights in 2008 when they stopped him at Lake Loveland for carrying a gun. … Miller was sitting on a bench overlooking Lake Loveland on Oct. 7, 2008, with a holstered handgun. He carries a gun to advertise his custom holster business and to open a dialogue about every American’s Second Amendment rights, according to his lawsuit. However, others enjoying Lake Loveland saw the gun, worried and called police. Officers approached Miller to check out the complaint.” (07/29/10) Link: http://www.reporterherald.com/news_story.asp?ID=28907 | |
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“Thousands of secret military documents were released Sunday by a Web-based organization, a gigantic leak of classified information that appeared to present a bleak view of Afghanistan war and could have a profound impact on the public perception of the conflict. The release of the documents, which were obtained and made public by the website WikiLeaks, evoked the Pentagon Papers, the secret history of the Vietnam War, which when published contradicted the public narrative of that war and played a role in turning public opinion against it.” (07/25/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/23fu4tv | |
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“A former Army lieutenant who was discharged from service last week for being openly gay said Sunday that he will continue to fight for a quick repeal of the controversial ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ policy. ‘I know that there are a lot of people who are suffering, and my oath, my commitment to them, doesn’t end,’ former Lt. Dan Choi told CNN’s Don Lemon.” (07/25/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/2d45mx4 | |
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Commentaries on changing the world with social networking, The tea party’s march madness, The sociopathic Judge Jay Bybee,The sorry state of political protest, Farewell to James P. Hogan, Top secret America, Banning the burqa, Anarchism and nonviolence,The culture of resistance and more! In the news, Liberty on Tour sets schedule, From seedlings to servings: feeding the hungry in South Carolina, Maryland Judge fines man for factory installed tail lights and Moonshine “tempts new generation” Til next week For freedom Mary lou Link: http://eationalreview.com/land | |
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“Liberty On Tour is a dynamic project of two friends, Pete Eyre and Adam Mueller, who are touring 13 cities in 13 weeks in their RV dubbed MARV while advancing a message of voluntaryism. Along the way they’ll interact with a wide variety of individuals at meetups and other events, cover timely stories and relevant historical incidents and cover/engage in local activism. They hope to be an educational resource and bridge between those new to the ideas of liberty and those already involved.” [editor’s note: The tour starts Aug.4 in NYC and ends Nov.2 in Miami =MLS] (07/10) Link: http://www.libertyontour.com | |
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“It all began in third grade, when Katie Stagliano’s 40-pound cabbage fed 275 homeless people. Now, Katie’s six gardens have produced over 4,000 pounds of vegetables to feed the needy. … So Katie started planting vegetable gardens as part of her nonprofit Katie’s Krops. She has six right now — including one the length of a football field at her school in her hometown of Summerville, S.C. Classmates, her family and other people in the community help plant and water, and Bonnie Plants donates seedlings. This past year, Katie took her commitment to a new level, giving soup kitchens over 2,000 pounds of lettuce, tomatoes and other vegetables.” (07/21/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/33l6w3e | |
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“A Maryland judge issued an $85 fine to the owner of a Pontiac G8 GT for illegal tail lights, despite being factory-installed and approved by the US Department of Transportation. She’s promised to keep fining him. Judicial activism, FTL!Forum member ‘jackalope’ at G8Board.com was ticketed by a Maryland officer who claimed he was sporting illegal tail lights. After amassing a healthy amount of evidence proving he hadn’t modified his car and it was approved for sale by the Department of Transportation, he went to court confident the ticket would be dismissed, only to find the contrary.” (07/19/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/27gxo4d | |
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“A growing number of Americans are thought to be getting involved in moonshining — distilling illegal liquor. Traditionally hidden in the backwoods, stills are now going into production in cities across the nation, as Claire Prentice reports from New York. Against the backdrop of the recession and the current craze for artisan produce, illegal distilling clubs and ‘kitchen-sink’ operations are popping up all over the US, from California to New York and Pennsylvania.” (07/18/10) Link: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-10556048 | |
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Commentaries on the Tea Party protest history, How Jon Gaunt became a free speech martyr, Turning us into a nation full of suspects, Police brutality in America, Education witchhunt, addicted to the warfare state, A prisoner’s wife and more! In the news, Tea Party federation expels California GOP astroturf op over racial writing, Iroquois passport dispute raises sovereignty issue, DC Photographer detained twice in four months for taking pictures of cops, and More cops charged in post-Katrina bridge shootings Til next week For freedom Mary lou Link: http://rationalreview.com/land | |
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“The Tea Party political movement saw a major split over the weekend, with the National Tea Party Federation expelling a member group after its spokesman wrote an online post satirizing a fictional letter from what he called ‘Colored People’ to President Abraham Lincoln. On its website, the federation stated it had given the Tea Party Express, through direct contact with one of its leaders, a deadline to rebuke and remove spokesman Mark Williams. ‘That leader’s response was clear: they have no intention of taking the action we required for their group to continue as a member of the National Tea Party Federation,’ the federation stated.” [editor’s note: A good move that should have come a long time ago — TPE has never been anything but a Republican PAC gravy-training on the “Tea Party” movement - TLK] (07/18/10) Link: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38299783/ns/politics/ | |
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“An American Indian lacrosse team’s refusal to travel on passports not issued by the Iroquois confederacy goes to the heart of one of the most sensitive issues in Indian Country: sovereignty. The rights of Native nations to govern themselves independently has long been recognized by federal treaties, but the extent of that recognition beyond U.S borders is under challenge in a post-Sept. 11 world. After initially refusing to accept Iroquois-issued passports because the documents lack security features, the State Department gave the team a one-time waiver. But leaders of the Iroquois Nationals squad announced Saturday that a last ditch attempt to persuade British officials to recognize their passports had failed, meaning the team wouldn’t play in its last scheduled game.” [Hat tip — Joey King] (07/18/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/2cjcoo5 | |
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“Jerome Vorus, a 19-year-old man living in Washington DC, is the latest photographer to prove that cops either do not know the law regarding photography or just choose to make it up as they go along in the hopes the photographer will be clueless. Fortunately, Vorus is far from clueless. In the last four months, he’s been detained twice for taking pictures of cops. In the first incident last March, he was actually tackled by an officer … you can hear that incident in the audio recording he made … The assault takes place in the first clip. The second clip captures the aftermath, including a moment when a cop tells Vorus he needs to ’stop hiding behind the Constitution.’” (07/13/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/3ywesvl | |
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“Four more New Orleans police officers have been charged in the deadly shootings of two people in Hurricane Katrina’s chaotic aftermath and could face … the death penalty — for the killings that have brought down a string of other officers.Six current or former officers are charged in a 27-count indictment unsealed Tuesday. Five former New Orleans police officers already have pleaded guilty to helping cover up the shootings … In one instance, a mentally disabled man was shot in the back and stomped before he died.The indictment charges [the officers] with deprivation of rights under color of law and use of a weapon during the commission of a crime. They could face the death penalty if convicted ..” (07/13/10) Link: http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2010-07-13-katrina-police-shootings_N.htm | |
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Commentaries on Jump starting the First Amendment, Government stopping charities from feeding the homeless, Porcupines, ‘Southern belle’ Constance McMillen ,Where the hell is the peace movement?, How the McDonald decision shows that activism works, Eminent domain: We’re all Indians now, Revolutionary acts you can commit at home in your spare time and more! In the news, Judge won’t jail “banner” activist, Cuba to free 52 political prisoners, Abducted anti-whaling activist released by Japan, Dozens arrested at nuke weapons protest in Tennessee, Wyoming threatens to sell Grand Teton land, Established Maine couple kicked out of US Til next week for freedom Mary Lou Link: http://rationalreview.com/land | |
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“Environmentalist Ted Glick narrowly escaped a jail sentence today for misdemeanor convictions related to hanging banners in the atrium of the Hart Senate Office Building …. ‘I’m overwhelmingly surprised,’ Glick told Raw Story. ‘I fully expected to go to jail.’ The 60 year-old Bloomfield, NJ resident was convicted May 13 of two misdemeanors: disorderly conduct and unlawfully assembling on Capitol Grounds. He was facing up to three years in prison in today’s sentencing for unfurling two banners saying ‘Green Jobs Now’ and ‘Get to Work’ from the Hart Senate Office Building’s 7th floor into the atrium on Sept. 8, 2009, the day the Senate returned from its summer recess.” (07/07/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/25hmvzt | |
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“Cuba will free 52 political prisoners, Cuba’s Catholic church said on Wednesday, in a major concession to international pressure and a possible step toward improved relations with the United States and Europe. The church said five of the prisoners would be released later on Wednesday and allowed to go to Spain, while the remaining 47 would be freed over the next few months and permitted to leave the country. The 52 men appeared to be those still in jail from 75 arrested in a 2003 government crackdown against dissidents that damaged Cuba’s international standing.” (07/07/10) Link: http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6665H220100708 | |
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“Anti-whaling activist Peter Bethune has been given a two-year prison sentence, suspended for five years, by a Japanese court. The New Zealander, an ex-member of direct action group Sea Shepherd, faced charges of illegally boarding a whaling ship in the Antarctic in February. He said he wanted to detain its captain but he was instead taken to Japan, where he was arrested [sic].” (07/07/10) Link: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/world/asia_pacific/10534373.stm | |
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“Some three dozen peace activists and a counter-protester were arrested this morning at the Y-12 nuclear weapons plant during a commemoration of the 30th anniversary of the initial ‘Plowshares’ anti-nuclear weapons protest that took place Sept. 9, 1980. Fourteen of the anti-nuclear weapons protesters will be charged for crossing a fence onto Y-12 property, officials said. They will be taken to the Blount County Detention Center for processing. Another 23 face state charges for blocking a roadway into the plant and will be booked at the Anderson County Jail in Clinton. A counter-protester who blew his horn incessantly at the activists and then got out of his car will be charged with disorderly conduct at the Anderson County Jail. The protest drew a couple of hundred people, including some who have been involved in acts of civil disobedience for decades.” (07/05/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/2dlavql | |
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“For sale: Two square miles of Grand Teton National Park. Majestic views of the Teton Range. Prime location for luxury resort, home development. Pristine habitat for moose, elk, wolves, grizzlies. Price: $125 million. Call: Governor Dave Freudenthal. Wyoming is trying to force the Interior Department to trade land, minerals, or mineral royalties for 1,366 acres it owns within the majestic park. If federal officials don’t agree to a deal — soon — Freudenthal threatens to put a For Sale sign on the property. Wyoming has owned the land since statehood in 1890, when the federal government set aside land in new Western states to be mined, logged, or leased to raise money for public education. Wyoming kept its so-called ’school sections’ after Grand Teton National Park was established in 1950.” (07/05/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/2cqaczc | |
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“A York county couple, originally from England, is about to be kicked out of the country. For a decade, Dean and Laura frank built up ‘Laura’s Kitchen,’ a small, but popular local restaurant in Wells, now shuttered and for sale. That’s because the ‘E-2′ visa they’d legally had for years — twice renewed with no problem– was suddenly denied last year. The reason — an immigration case worker in California reviewing their numbers declared their business ‘marginal,’ not profitable enough, even though they made enough to run the business, live virtually debt free and employ local people part-time. They are now in the country on a temporary tourist visa, trying to wrap up their affairs and sell their properties — while desperately hoping for an unexpected reprieve.” (07/02/10) Link: http://www.wgme.com/newsroom/top_stories/videos/wgme_vid_4186.shtml | |
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Web only this week! Hope y’all had a great Independence Day. til next week For freedom Mary lou Link: http://www.rationalreview.com/land | |
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“The Iranian nuclear scientist in the middle of the high stakes battle between Washington and Tehran has released two new videos, claiming to have “escaped” U.S. intelligence and says he’s on his way back to Iran.The scientist, Shahram Amiri, who, according to U.S. intelligence officials resettled in the U.S. last year after working for several years as a CIA spy, has claimed that he escaped “U.S. intelligence officers in Virginia.” He says he is now in a “safe place” but that he is in “danger and could possibly be arrested again by U.S. intelligence officers at any moment.” (06/30/10) Link: http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/iranian-defector-escaped-cia/story?id=11053597 | |
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“Julian Heicklen, the unrelenting FIJA overachiever, went on his own Magical Mystery Tour in late June that featured five FIJA events and a Porcupine Festival in four states in the space of five days. And that included a 16-hour stay in Springfield, Massachusetts, at taxpayer expense. It was while he was fomenting freedom by passing out Fully Informed Jury Association pamphlets in Springfield that he managed to demonstrate two truisms at once; first that cops will cower from cameras, and second that paramedics everywhere seem eager to ignore the ‘First do no harm’ paradigm.” (06/30/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/2ujs86f | |
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“Despite a whopping $900 million security budget for the G-summits in Canada over the weekend, the streets of Toronto were swarmed by an angry mass of black-clad anarchists who wreaked havoc, leaving a trail of destruction. A protest organized mainly by labor groups Saturday began as an upbeat rally over global causes, ranging from anti-poverty issues to anti-globalization to anti-war.” (06/28/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/23gawlo | |
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“An Ohio family recently learned their 6-year-old daughter was on the Department of Homeland Security’s ‘no-fly’ list, Fox8.com reported.Alyssa Thomas, 6, was traveling with her parents when a ticket agent notified the family she was on the list of restricted fliers.”We were, like, puzzled,” said her father, Dr. Santhosh Thomas. “I’m like, well, she’s kinda six-years-old and this is not something that should be typical.”When the family tried to clear up the issue with Homeland Security, they received a letter notifying them that it could not be changed.” (06/26/10) Link: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2010/06/26/year-old-ohio-girl-placed-fly-list/?test=latestnews | |
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“Police said they arrested more than 400 people after a demonstration against the Group of 20 summit turned violent in downtown Toronto and braced for more possible trouble Sunday. Police spokeswoman Michelle Murphy said 412 people had been arrested across the city after what she described as ‘quite a messy protest’ on Saturday. They face charges ranging from mischief to assaulting police. Saturday’s protest started as a peaceful demonstration, but rapidly turned into a riot after groups of masked anarchists broke away from the main crowd, smashing store windows and banks and torching at least two police cars.” (06/27/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/2anmya8 | |
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“Give Jane Barry five days and a bullhorn and she can give you 200 protesters and a message: No to offshore drilling. Barry, a 63-year-old real estate broker from Gloucester, organized one of 26 ‘Hands Across the Sand’ protests in Massachusetts — 808 nationwide — to oppose offshore drilling and call for clean energy alternatives. Participants linked hands, standing on beaches together at noon for 15 minutes yesterday. ‘Sometimes in order to start something, you have to scream,’ Barry said in an interview. Barry took an old real estate sign and decorated it with paper hands and an ocean made of blue electrical tape. Beneath her straw with the words ‘Hands Across the Sand’ written in orange and blue marker, she was joined by 15 others who gathered at one end of Good Harbor Beach, held hands and started walking toward the other end, their feet splashing in the surf. Barry started yelling into her bullhorn for people to join.” (06/27/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/2balvr6 | |
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Last week, Yahoo wouldn’t let me upload the weekly digest … it kept saying it was ‘broken and they’d fix in a few hours’, but never did ,… so, here’s two week’s worth of news and commentaries1 The week in review June 13-19 Commentaries on Police State USA,Mexico’s Gaza, The importance of indirect strategy and tactics,George’s Famous Baklava, Eminent domain, Going after the wrong people, Ask the tyrants why they’re opposed, Police and accountability, Helen Thomas and more! In the news, UK Grandmother jailed over WWII “family heirloom” pistol, Proposed cat leash law sparks hissing match in Vermont and NY’s “finest” manhandle, humiliate rights activist Heicklen. The week in review June 20-26 In the news …The Toronto G20 riot fraud, Arrest total tops 400 after night of riots at G20 meeting, “Secret” Canadian law lets police abduct people over paperwork, George Donnelly faces “petty offenses”and School removes “Lord” from diplomas. Til next week for freedom Mary lou Link: http://rationalreview.com/lsnd | |
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“The Ontario government secretly passed legislation giving police sweeping new powers for the duration of the G8 and G20 summits, enabling authorities to arrest anyone who refuses to furnish identification and submit to a search while within five metres of a designated security zone in downtown Toronto. Critics reacted furiously to the new rules, which remained unpublicized until Thursday when a man, 32, was arrested in Toronto for refusing to show ID to police.” (06/25/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/352orgv | |
Commentary
jump to News Section | jump to Action Items Section
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“The investment arms of the CIA and Google are both backing a company that monitors the web in real time — and says it uses that information to predict the future. The company is called Recorded Future, and it scours tens of thousands of websites, blogs and Twitter accounts to find the relationships between people, organizations, actions and incidents — both present and still-to-come. In a white paper, the company says its temporal analytics engine ‘goes beyond search’ by ‘looking at the ‘invisible links’ between documents that talk about the same, or related, entities and events.’” (07/29/10) Link: http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2010/07/exclusive-google-cia/ | |
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“Last month I gave out a vehicle for engaging business owners who prohibit guns in their establishments. It consisted of a cover letter asking for their thoughts after they read a copy of my column analyzing who gun free zones protect us from, and a lined sheet of paper for them to write back to you. You added a business envelope to send it to them and a stamped, self addressed envelope for them to send their answer back. Easy peasy. So far, the file has been downloaded 565 times. If we assume about half the well intentioned folks did nothing with it, we have 280. If each of them actually used it for one business and passed the file on to a friend or two by email, we are probably back to maybe 500 tries to engage someone on the other side with a reasoned argument and a polite request for a response. I also asked for anybody who did get a response to let me know at danbidstrup at hotmail dot com. After nearly two months, how many responses have I gotten? Zippo! Not one.” (07/28/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/2aj2zad | |
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“Brian Brown, the president of the National Organization for Marriage (NOM), which opposes same-sex unions, has brought his 23-city bus tour here in hopes of drawing a crowd. He has succeeded, but not in the way you might expect. On a warm weekday, with the university students mostly on vacation and the legislature in recess, the state Capitol grounds have a placid midsummer air. But with the appointed time of noon at hand, that is about to change. As Brown stands at the foot of the Capitol, watching a few sympathizers gather around a lectern, a distant rumble intrudes on the quiet. Marching up State Street are 200 or 300 demonstrators, carrying signs and chanting slogans, all attracted by the chance to repudiate the NOM message as noisily as they can.” (07/29/10) Link: http://reason.com/archives/2010/07/29/dueling-protests | |
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“What WikiLeaks did was brilliant journalism, and the bleating critics from the president on down are revealing just how low a regard they have for the truth. As with Richard Nixon’s rage against the publication of the Pentagon Papers, our leaders are troubled not by the prospect of these revelations endangering troops but rather endangering their own political careers. It is our president who unnecessarily sacrifices the lives of our soldiers and not those in the press who let the public in on the folly of the mission itself.” (07/27/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/25xsxwf | |
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“Unfortunately, for Kina and his wife — the loan modification appears to have never been finalized in terms of the reduced payment and they found their mortgage checks sent to an escrow account and NOT credited to their monthly mortgage requirements. Now they are facing foreclosure and immediate eviction, July 27th, for ‘failure to make payments.’ Kina and his wife made numerous calls to Chase which were never returned. Finally, out of desperation they turned to the St. Louis Branch of Legal Aid, and a local activist group, Missourians Organizing for Reform and Empowerment (MORE), in an 11th hour attempt to save their home. … Armed with only the best of intentions and an almost naive belief in our system; activists staged a protest/sit-in at the only Chase location in St. Louis — situated in an office building in affluent, suburban, Chesterfield, Missouri. What happened that morning was a disgrace to the very idea of democracy.” (07/28/10) Link: http://counterpunch.org/molloff07282010.html | |
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“It is brilliance dumping all of these papers just ahead of the election cycle because the main stream media is going to be gabbing about politics for the next few weeks anyway. WikiLeaks gave them all something worth talking about. And the topic of conversation is going to be Democrats and Republicans, and about how the more things change the more they stay the same. We The People are noticing this. I think that the politicians will not seriously try and refute the papers. They can’t. They probably don’t even know what is in them. They will, however, spend the next few weeks condemning WikiLeaks.” (07/26/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/2ea77mk | |
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“It isn’t an exaggeration to say that the Regime is conducting a low-grade war against producers and consumers of raw milk — a campaign that bears an undeniable family resemblance to the murderous, decades-long farce called the War on Drugs. It shouldn’t come as a surprise to learn that a government presuming to dictate to us what mood-altering substances we can consume would likewise presume to tell us what foods we can eat and offer to others.” (07/25/10) Link: http://freedominourtime.blogspot.com/2010/07/regimes-war-on-food.html | |
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“‘Arma virumque cano …’ are the opening words, give or take, of Virgil’s Aeneid, a ten thousand line epic poem written around 19 A.D., about the guy, a Trojan famously defeated by the Greeks, named Aeneas, who refugeed out to found the city that would someday be Rome. The words mean ‘Of arms and the man I sing …’” (07/25/10) Link: http://www.ncc-1776.org/tle2010/tle580-20100725-02.html | |
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Link: http://tinyurl.com/2eq6wzg | |
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“The tea party movement is not just a political juggernaut — it’s also become a big business. That quickly became clear following last September’s unexpectedly enormous rally in Washington organized by Dick Armey’s FreedomWorks, the event that helped put the movement on the map. With crowd estimates ranging from 75,000 to 2 million, the rally was such a hit that conservative activists are planning a sequel this year. A bunch of them actually. And these competing events have led to confusion and infighting among the tea party faithful.” (07/23/10) Link: http://motherjones.com/politics/2010/07/tea-partys-march-madness | |
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“There are some striking similarities between Schlegelberger, the self-pitying instrument of Hitler’s will, and Judge Jay S. Bybee of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, who played a key role in devising the Bush junta’s torture policies. Both of them came from conservative religious backgrounds; both believed in unqualified obedience to established authority. And as Bybee’s May 26 testimony before a closed-door meeting of the House Judiciary Committee demonstrates, he — like Schlegelberger — has mastered Himmler’s method of redirecting pity from the victims of state-authorized crimes to the perpetrators thereof.” (07/20/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/2fg2kyq | |
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“At 1am this morning, 60 bailiffs demolished ‘Democracy Village,’ a makeshift protest campsite at Parliament Square Gardens in London. This ragtag community of peace activists, pro-democracy campaigners and the homeless have, over the past three months, turned the square opposite the Houses of Parliament into something resembling a cross between the Glastonbury festival and a cardboard city.” (07/20/10) Link: http://www.spiked-online.com/index.php/site/article/9277/ | |
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Farewell to James P. Hogan, writer and friend
Source: The Libertarian Enterprise Author: Fran Van Cleave “I first met Jim Hogan back in the mid-nineties at the Doctors for Disaster Preparedness convention, an annual get-together for skeptics of environmentalist doom. That probably sounds strange, but the disasters they talked about were of the government-caused variety. My husband Kent and I, pleasantly surprised to find one of our favorite science-fiction writers in attendance, were stunned to find ourselves hanging out with Jim for nearly the entire weekend.” (07/19/10) Link: http://www.ncc-1776.org/tle2010/tle579-20100718-03.html | |
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“The top-secret world the government created in response to the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, has become so large, so unwieldy and so secretive that no one knows how much money it costs, how many people it employs, how many programs exist within it or exactly how many agencies do the same work.” (07/19/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/35a8xqe | |
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“Following the Belgian parliament’s decision in May to vote through a law banning the niqab and burqa, now France’s National Assembly has shown itself equally determined to rid public spaces of extravagant face-veiling clothing. Last week, a ‘bill to forbid concealing one’s face in public’ was approved by 335 votes to one. While there’s still a chance that France’s highest legal body, the Constitutional Council, will rule the bill unconstitutional, a French ban on the face-covering niqab and the accompanying outer garment, the burqa, could be in force by early next year.” (07/19/10) Link: http://www.spiked-online.com/index.php/site/article/9272/ | |
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Anarchism and nonviolence: Time for a “complementarity of tactics”
Source: Truth Out Author: Randall Amster “Critical voices regularly chastise anarchists without indicating that they fully understand what anarchism actually is. But anarchists as well oftentimes seem to act in contravention of both historical and political senses of what anarchism represents.” (07/14/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/2fvu794 | |
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“Resistance is not a band of armed men hell-bent on wreaking havoc. It is not a cell of terrorists scheming ways to detonate buildings. True resistance is a culture. It is a collective retort to oppression. Understanding the real nature of resistance, however, is not easy. No newsbyte could be thorough enough to explain why people, as a people, resist. Even if such an arduous task was possible, the news might not want to convey it, as it would directly clash with mainstream interpretations of violence and non-violent resistance.” (07/18/10) Link: http://counterpunch.org/baroud07152010.html | |
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“The first of the modern Tea Party protests took place in 2007. It was a combined event, both a protest against the excessive spending of George W. Bush and a campaign event of presidential candidate Ron Paul. Throughout 2008 more of these combined events occurred. This is important to remember, because while the current state of the Tea Party movement is such to cause many libertarians and other freedom lovers to be a little cautious of the current Tea Party protests, especially those that emphasize the pseudo-patriotism of the current military misadventures in the Middle East, especially the Tea Party Express AstroTurf movement, the history is still noble.” (07/15/10) Link: http://aynrkey.blogspot.com/2010/07/tea-party-protests.html | |
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“Even idiots should have the right to free speech. And idiots don’t get much bigger than Jon Gaunt. Jon Gaunt — ‘Gaunty’ as he likes to be known — is about as shocking as UK ‘shock jocks’ get, which is not terribly shocking. He’s been the presenter of noisy phone-in shows for the BBC and Talksport and a columnist for the Sun (where he now presents an online-only talk show). Like many ‘shock jocks’ — he apparently dislikes the label — he has appointed himself as the voice of the common man.” (07/15/10) Link: http://www.spiked-online.com/index.php/site/article/9205/ | |
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“‘A man’s home is his castle.’ Rarely has this 400-year-old quipped defence against the arbitrary exercise of state power seemed quite as quaint as it does today. Because whatever else a man’s home is, whatever else he feels his private sphere to be, it is certainly not impermeable. In fact, due to a whole raft of legislation over the past 10 years, our private existence has never been quite so transparent. The state, should it so wish, can read our emails, can check which websites we visit, can watch us take our dogs for walks, can follow us on our way to work … in fact, the possibilities for state surveillance are endless. And the chief reason for this is a spectacularly snide piece of legislation called the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA).” (07/14//10) Link: http://www.spiked-online.com/index.php/site/article/9199/ | |
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“Across America, daily incidents occur, one of many the cold-blooded January 1, 2009 murder of Oscar Grant — unarmed, offering no resistance, thrust face-down on the ground, shot in the back, and killed, videotaped on at least four cameras for irrefutable proof. USA Today said five bystanders taped it. His killer: Oakland, CA transit officer, Johannes Mehserle, tried for the killing, the jury told to consider four possible verdicts — innocent, second-degree murder, voluntary manslaughter, or involuntary manslaughter, jurors deciding the latter. … Because minority victims seldom get justice, especially against police, Mehserle may serve minimal time, then be paroled quietly when the current furor subsides.” (07/14/10) Link: http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article25929.htm | |
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“I used to tell my husband, Ameer Makhoul, ‘One day, they’ll come for you.’ As chairman of the Public Committee for the Protection of Political Freedoms he’d begun to organize an awareness-raising campaign to push back against the security services’ harassment of our community, the Palestinian citizens of Israel.Come for Ameer they did, late one night this May, pounding at our door, ransacking our house and terrifying our two teenage daughters.His July 13 hearing — persecution really — could begin the legal nightmare that ruptures our family for many years. This is the likely course of events unless Ameer gets a fair trial and his coerced statements are rejected or suppressed by the court.” (07/14/10) Link: http://counterpunch.org/abdu07142010.html | |
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“Hundreds of Israeli college professors have signed a petition accusing the education minister of endangering academic freedoms after he threatened to ‘punish’ any lecturer or institution that supports a boycott of Israel. The backlash against Gideon Saar, a member of the prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party, comes after a series of moves suggesting he is trying to stamp a more stridently right-wing agenda on the Israeli education system.” (07/12/10) Link: http://counterpunch.org/cook07122010.html | |
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“Which is the more serious threat to life, liberty and property: The illicit violence practiced by a handful of furtive armed drug smugglers in the Arizona desert, or the increasingly brazen militarization of U.S. law enforcement in the ‘war on drugs?’” (07/09/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/26xef4p | |
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“Pretty much everywhere we look, when we find industries or fields where copyright doesn’t exist or isn’t relied upon, we see the same thing: much higher levels of competition, more and faster innovation and an overall thriving industry.” (07/05/10) Link: http://techdirt.com/articles/20100702/11365410062.shtml | |
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“In May, four reporters were banned from covering military commissions at Gitmo, and now, in an effort to jump start the First Amendment, McClatchy reports that major news organizations are organizing to challenge the ban as illegal in that it ‘bars publication of information considered ‘protected’ even if the information is already widely known and publicly available.’” (07/08/10) Link: http://counterpunch.org/stahl07082010.html | |
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“The National Coalition for the Homeless has issued a report detailing laws and ordinances in a couple of dozen localities across the nation that prohibit charities — churches, civic organizations, charities, etc. — from feeding the homeless. Or, at least, inhibit their ability to do so with burdensome regulation. … This seems like lunacy to me. There are people who are destitute and hungry. There are other people who are willing to give of their own time, talent and wealth to provide for those people. But the government is limiting their ability to do so, or in some instances stopping them.” (07/01/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/29et6ks | |
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“In June I had the pleasure of visiting PorcFest 2010, a friendly festival of freedom-seekers held in Northern New Hampshire; so far north that, had one traveled much further, one would have entered Her Majesty’s jurisdiction. One of her subjects had in fact come south, from his freedomain somewhere near the North Pole, to enhance the Festival; and it was an honor to meet both him and several other heroes of liberty. The setting was awesome, with a wonderful vista from the campground across a broad valley to the majestic White mountains, which the Feds call the Presidential Range, perhaps on the false premise that Presidents are also magnificent, or that they rise high above plain mortals. Or perhaps that they have rocks for brains.” (907/07/10) Link: http://www.strike-the-root.com/porcupines | |
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It’s not a democracy unless we call it our own — 6 ways to make it happen
Source: AlterNet Author: Jim Hightower “On the Fourth of July, we celebrated Jefferson, Franklin, Adams, Madison and all the other great men who created our democracy, right? Not exactly. The Founders did create the framework for a democratic republic, but they didn’t create much democracy. Indeed, in America’s first presidential election, only 4 percent of the people were even eligible to vote. The Founders created the possibility for democracy, but it took the struggle (often bloody and always hard) of ordinary people over the years to create the substance.” (07/07/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/2e8fr6k | |
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“At last week’s Gay Pride March in New York City, the youngest of the three grand marshals was a heavily rouged 18-year-old whose long brown curls looked amply sprayed to withstand the June humidity. In March, Constance McMillen filed suit against her high school in a small Mississippi town. She did this after officials said she couldn’t go to the prom with her girlfriend and wear a tuxedo. Then, rather than address a complaint the ACLU sent on her behalf, the school canceled the prom altogether. And so her ride on the back of a silver Mustang convertible through the streets of New York served as a prom of sorts for a young woman who has been compared to Rosa Parks and to the students who initiated the lunch counter sit-ins during the civil rights movement.” (07/07/10) Link: http://www.slate.com/id/2259423/ | |
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“Peace activists with Peace of the Action (POTA) had just set up across from the White House when police officers arrived to shake their authority at Cindy Sheehan with a badass threat of six months in jail. Of course, she and Jon Gold knew they were under a stay-away order and couldn’t put even a toenail over the line of demarcation — this order imposed after they were arrested March 20, 2010 and spent more than 50 hours behind bars for exercising shrinking rights to protest. We POTA activists are focusing on a gargantuan dilemma — one that impacts our security with heartbreakingly vivid images of gushing oil, dead marine life, and a bleak prognosis for planet Earth. We gathered in Lafayette Park in DC across from the House occupied by an imperial president to declare freedom from oil addiction.” (07/07/10) Link: http://counterpunch.org/beattie07062010.html | |
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“Glenn Reynolds takes note of the significant shift in judicial and popular thought on gun control over the last 30 years, ending with the McDonald decision that made clear the individual right of Americans to keep and bear arms, in a Washington Examiner column over the weekend. Glenn emphasizes that this shows how much impact the Tea Party can have if it maintains its efforts in the long run, reversing a seemingly-unstoppable tide of government bloat and intrusion, but the transformation is worthy of note even without that context …” (07/05/10) Link: http://tinyurl.com/36ygokm | |
Action Items
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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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NH: 2009 National 4th Annual Live Free Or Die Rally
Source: Live Free or Die Rally Event Date(s): 08/21/09 - 08/23/09 “The All Free, Only TRUE First Amendment Rally in the U.S. AUGUST 21, 22, 23, 2009 …. The National Annual N.H. State Live Free Or Die Rally is a non partisan, non aligned, non profit, all free true First Amendment event advocating freedom of speech, rights to redress with gathering and providing opportunity for the public, appropriate advocacy groups, legislators, politicians of all parties to come together on Common ground under one tent with tolerance once a year to discuss, share or review controversial topics.” Link: http://livefreeordierally.com/node/1 | |
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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 | |
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“The mission of the Second Amendment March is to galvanize the courage and resolve of American gun owners; to petition our elected officials against establishing anti-gun legislation; and to remind America that the Second Amendment is necessary to maintain our right to self defense. It is the one right that protects all others. We will accomplish our mission by a centralized, peaceful march on the United States Capitol, supported by satellite marches to State Capitols and smaller cities all across America.” (02/09) Link: http://secondamendmentmarch.com/ | |
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End The Fed: National Day of support
Source: Abolish the Federal Reserve Event Date(s): Saturday, November 22, 2008 @ 12pm “On November 22, 1910 a malevolent Creature was conceived at Jekyll Island. Ninety-eight years after its illegitimate conception, we will gather at the gates of its lair to signal the end of its reign! Patriots from across the country will join together to protest the Federal Reserve system. Activists will demand an END to private banker control over the nation’s money supply and the return to a hard, commodity backed monetary system. WHERE: All 38 Fed Bank/Branch locations: Atlanta, Baltimore, Birmingham, Boston, Buffalo, Cincinnati, Charlotte, Chicago, Cleveland, Dallas, Denver, Detroit, El Paso, Helena, Houston, Jacksonville, Kansas City, Little Rock, Los Angeles, Louisville, Memphis, Miami, Minneapolis, Philadelphia, Portland, Nashville, New Orleans, New York City, Oklahoma City, Omaha, Pittsburgh, Richmond, Salt Lake City, San Antonio, San Francisco, Seattle, St. Louis, and Washington, D.C.” (10/21/08) Link: http://www.abolishthefederalreserve.com/?p=55 | |
