Friday, October 31, 2008

seriously scary!














Them??

nah,
much scarier is
the departing crew of crooks.



Here's what they are up to while we geniuses










are watching these assholes.






The Washington Post is good this morning in reporting that the Bush Administration, which is exiting with the house falling down around it, is trying to knock out another couple of columns before it goes. After all we’ve learned in recent months, what we don’t need is more deregulation so industry can do what it wants without oversight.

The new rules would be among the most controversial deregulatory steps of the Bush era and could be difficult for his successor to undo. Some would ease or lift constraints on private industry, including power plants, mines and farms.

Those and other regulations would help clear obstacles to some commercial ocean-fishing activities, ease controls on emissions of pollutants that contribute to global warming, relax drinking-water standards and lift a key restriction on mountaintop coal mining.

And more:

As the deadlines near, the administration has begun to issue regulations of great interest to industry, including, in recent days, a rule that allows natural gas pipelines to operate at higher pressures and new Homeland Security rules that shift passenger security screening responsibilities from airlines to the federal government. The OMB also approved a new limit on airborne emissions of lead this month, acting under a court-imposed deadline…

A rule put forward by the National Marine Fisheries Service and now under final review by the OMB would lift a requirement that environmental impact statements be prepared for certain fisheries-management decisions and would give review authority to regional councils dominated by commercial and recreational fishing interests.





Self-regulation has worked out so well on Wall Street, so why not in the environment?

Celebrating 96 years of Studs










We are the most powerful nation in the world,
but we're not the only nation in the world.
We are not the only people in the world.
We are an important people, the wealthiest, the most powerful and,
to a great extent, generous.
But we are part of the world.





I hope for peace and sanity...
it's the same thing.








Louis "Studs" Terkel 16 May 1912 – 31 October 2008

Thursday, October 30, 2008

Military Deployment Within U.S. Borders

ACLU Demands Information

Deployment Erodes Longstanding Separation Between Civilian And Military Government


NEW YORK – The American Civil Liberties Union today demanded information from the government about reports that an active military unit has been deployed inside the U.S. to help with "civil unrest" and "crowd control" – matters traditionally handled by civilian authorities. This deployment jeopardizes the longstanding separation between civilian and military government, and the public has a right to know where and why the unit has been deployed, according to an ACLU Freedom of Information request filed today.

"The military's deployment within U.S. borders raises critical questions that must be answered," said Jonathan Hafetz, staff attorney with the ACLU National Security Project. "What is the unit's mission? What functions will it perform? And why was it necessary to deploy the unit rather than rely on civilian agencies and personnel and the National Guard? Given the magnitude of the issues at stake, it is imperative that the American people know the truth about this new and unprecedented intrusion of the military in domestic affairs."

According to a report in the Army Times, the Army recently deployed an active military unit inside the United States under Northern Command, which was established in 2002 to assist federal homeland defense efforts and coordinate defense support of civil authorities. This deployment marks the first time an active unit has been given a dedicated assignment to Northern Command.

Civilian authorities, not the military, have historically controlled and directed the internal affairs of the United States. This rule traces its origins to the nation's founding and has been reaffirmed in landmark statutes including the Posse Comitatus Act, which helps preserve the foundational principles of our Constitution and democracy.

"This is a radical departure from separation of civilian law enforcement and military authority, and could, quite possibly, represent a violation of law," said Mike German, ACLU national security policy counsel and former FBI Agent. "Our Founding Fathers understood the threat that a standing army could pose to American liberty. While future generations recognized the need for a strong military to defend against increasingly capable foreign threats, they also passed statutory protections to ensure that the Army could not be turned against the American people. The erosion of these protections should concern every American."

In order to assess the implications of the recent deployment, the ACLU requested the Departments of Justice, Homeland Security and Defense today to immediately make public all legal opinions, executive orders, presidential directives, memos, policy guidance, and other documents that authorize the deployment of military troops for domestic purposes.

Since the terrorist attacks of 9/11, the Department of Defense has dramatically expanded its role in domestic law enforcement and intelligence operations, including the National Security Agency's warrantless wiretapping programs, the Department of Homeland Security's use of military spy satellites, and the participation of military personnel in state and local intelligence fusion centers. The ACLU has repeatedly expressed concern about these incremental encroachments of the military into domestic affairs, and the assignment of active duty troops to Northern Command only heightens these concerns.

get the message?

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

no age limit

While many of us are still cleaning up after the mess left behind from the lack of government oversight of our country's financial system, the shooting death of an 8-year- old boy with an Uzi is further evidence as to why government regulation can be a very good thing.

Over the weekend, 8-year-old Christopher Bizilj and his father were participating in the Westfield Sportsman's Club Machine Gun Shoot in western Massachusetts. The event organizers boasted in an advertisement that the $5 entry fee was waived for children under age 16







and

"no age limit or licenses required to shoot machine guns."


please click link to read more...

Monday, October 27, 2008

Saturday, October 25, 2008

great article by Frida Berrigan



Too Many Guns
More than 200 years after our founding fathers enshrined the right to "bear arms" in our Constitution, we have more arms than we can bear, writes Frida Berrigan in her latest column.

please click link to read more...

Thursday, October 23, 2008

Thoughts on Powell's endorsement...

The only reason Obama got this endorsement is because Colin Powell is black. Also, the only reason Admiral John Nathman, Brigadier-General James Smith, Four-star General Merrill McPeak and 20 other military leaders have endorsed Obama, is because Colin Powell is black." --Stephen Colbert







Obama wins the support of aspiring war criminal
Barack Obama is the worst thing that could have happened to the progressive, anti-war movement. He absorbed it and nullified it. He co-opted it and subverted it.

Colin Powell, the aspiring war criminal, the shamed devil sycophant, has now been guaranteed a leadership position by a guy who has pledged to increase the size of the military, conduct the occupation of Iraq more "responsibly," deliver an increase of American cannon fodder to the unwinnable clusterfuck that is Afghanistan, and open up new fronts in this bullshit "war on terror" that we have inflicted on the world.

Obama was given a chance to affect "change" as a Senator and failed. He campaigned vocally against the Iraq war in his Democratic primary in Illinois. Once he got elected, he fell silent.

He spoke out against telecom immunity, but when it came time for the actual vote he slapped his constituents across the face and dared them to complain. They didn't.

He chose Joe Biden, self-described Zionist and early Iraq-war propagandist, as his running-mate. No one talks about Joe Biden.

See, as long as people keep voting for the lesser of two evils, it gives the lesser evil a shield from accountability, and the freedom to remain evil and to become more evil as long as the threat of greater evil is there to play its role.

Obama is just a smaller step in the wrong direction, not the beginning of incremental improvement.

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

What You Don't Know About the U.S. Bailout






Voters are rightly furious at the proposal to spend $700 billion that the government doesn't have, just to bail out Wall Street bankers who created the current economic crisis in the first place.

But did you know about the trillions of dollars the Federal Reserve is pumping into the system on top of that?

Or the trillions missing from the Pentagon?

Do you know what the real cost of the bailout of Wall Street may end up being?

Sunday, October 19, 2008

Bush issues two more presidential signing statements.


Yesterday, President Bush asserted “that he had the executive power to bypass several parts of two bills: a military authorization act and a measure giving inspectors general greater independence from White House control,” the New York Times’ Charlie Savage reports:

In the authorization bill, Mr. Bush challenged four sections. One forbid the money from being used “to exercise United States control of the oil resources of Iraq”; another required negotiations for an agreement by which Iraq would share some of the costs of the American military operations there. […]

In the other bill, he raised concerns about two sections that strengthen legal protections against political interference with the internal watchdog officials at each executive agency. One section gives the inspectors general a right to counsels who report directly to them. But Mr. Bush wrote in his signing statement that such lawyers would be bound to follow the legal interpretations of the politically appointed counsels at each agency.

Bush has issued signing statements to bypass more than 1,100 sections of laws. A recent report by the House Armed Services Committee said Bush has used the statements in a “broad and unsubstantiated” manner and that 78 percent of them “have raised constitutional or legal objections.”

Friday, October 17, 2008

Gun Violence Prevention Groups

Endorse New York State Assembly Candidates





New York, NY - Three major gun violence prevention organizations today announced their endorsements in several New York State Assembly races. New Yorkers Against Gun Violence (NYAGV), GunFreeKids.org, and The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence along with its Million Mom March Chapters work together to help protect New Yorkers from the threat of gun violence and support candidates who support strong gun laws.

The endorsed candidates announced today include 12 Democrats and 2 Republicans.

“The Assemblymembers we endorse today have been strong leaders in the fight to enact life-saving legislation,” said Jackie Hilly, Executive Director of NYAGV. “All New Yorkers deserve representation in Albany by people who share their ideals and will work hard for sensible gun laws. We can make a real difference in the fight against gun violence when our elected officials work with us to remove illegal weapons from New York communities.”

“The State Assembly historically introduces and passes a range of strong gun violence prevention bills only to watch them die on the vine in the State Senate,” said Andy Pelosi, President of GunFreeKids.org. “This year we want to recognize the Assembly leadership for their long-standing efforts in working to reduce gun violence, while also highlighting other members from both sides of the aisle that share the commitment of reducing gun violence in our state.”

This year microstamping and improved gun dealer regulations - both important law enforcement tools to help investigate and pursue crime guns and the criminals who use them - are at the top of the groups agendas. In 2008, the State Assembly passed both bills, but the Senate refused to act.

“We make it too easy for dangerous people to get dangerous weapons, and these Assembly Members will continue to fight for common sense gun laws to help keep our children and our families safe,” said Paul Helmke, President of the Brady Campaign.

The Endorsed State Assembly Candidates Are:

Speaker Sheldon Silver, 64th Assembly District (Manhattan)

Assemblymember Patricia Eddington, 3rd Assembly District (Medford)

Assemblymember Steve Englebright, 4th Assembly District (East Setauket)

Assemblymember Charles Lavine, 13th Assembly District (Glen Cove)

Assemblymember Michelle Schimel, 16th Assembly District (Great Neck)

Assemblymember Tom McKevitt, 17th Assembly District (Garden City)

Assemblymember Tom Alfano, 21st Assembly District (Franklin Square)

Assemblymember Joseph Lentol,. 50th Assembly District (Brooklyn)

Assemblymember Annette Robinson, 56th Assembly District (Brooklyn)

Assemblymember Brian Kavanagh, 74th Assembly District (Manhattan)

Assemblymember Michael Benjamin, 79th Assembly District (Bronx)

Assemblymember Ruben Diaz, Jr., 85th District (Bronx)

Assemblymember Amy Paulin, 88th Assembly District (Scarsdale)

Assemblymember David Koon, 135th Assembly District (Fairport)

New Yorkers Against Gun Violence (NYAGV) is a statewide advocacy group working to build public awareness of the devastating impact of gun violence in New York and across the country, while advocating for sensible gun legislation on the city, state and federal levels.

Visit NYAGV at www.NYAGV.org

GunFreeKids.org is working to help empower voters in New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and other states to participate in gun violence prevention activities in their communities and to support state-based candidates who favor strong gun laws.

Find out more at www.GunFreeKids.org

As the nation's largest, non-partisan, grassroots organization leading the fight to prevent gun violence, the Brady Campaign, with its dedicated network of Million Mom March Chapters, works to enact and enforce sensible gun laws, regulations and public policies. The Brady Campaign is devoted to creating an America free from gun violence, where all Americans are safe at home, at school, at work, and in our communities.

Visit the Brady Campaign website at www.bradycampaign.org .

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Everyone's a little bit... racist?

Obama/Biden vs McCain/Palin, what if things were switched around?.....think about it.
Would the country's collective point of view be different? Could racism be the culprit?





Ponder the following:

What if the Obamas had paraded five children across the stage, including
a three month old infant and an unwed, pregnant teenage daughter?

What if John McCain was a former president of the Harvard Law Review?

What if Barack Obama finished fifth from the bottom of his graduating class?

What if McCain had only married once, and Obama was a divorcee?

What if Obama was the candidate who left his first wife after a severe
disfiguring car accident, when she no longer measured up to his standards?

What if Obama had met his second wife in a bar and had a long affair while
he was still married?

What if Michelle Obama was the wife who not only became addicted to pain
killers but also acquired them illegally through her charitable organization?

What if Cindy McCain graduated from Harvard?

What if Obama had been a member of the Keating Five?
(The Keating Five were five United States Senators accused of corruption
in 1989, igniting a major political scandal as part of the larger Savings
and Loan crisis of the late 1980s and early 1990s.)

What if McCain was a charismatic, eloquent speaker?

What if Obama couldn't read from a teleprompter?

What if Obama was the one who had military experience that included
discipline problems and a record of crashing seven planes?

What if Obama was the one who was known to display publicly, on many
occasions, a serious anger management problem?

What if Michelle Obama's family had made their money from beer distribution?

What if the Obamas had adopted a white child?

You could easily add to this list. If these questions reflected reality,
do you really believe the election numbers would be as close as they are?

This is what racism does. It covers up, rationalizes and minimizes
positive qualities in one candidate and emphasizes negative qualities in
another when there is a color difference.


Educational Background:

Barack Obama:
Columbia University - B.A. Political Science with a Specialization in
International Relations.
Harvard - Juris Doctor (J.D.) Magna Cum Laude

Joseph Biden:
University of Delaware - B.A. in History and B.A. in Political Science.
Syracuse University College of Law - Juris Doctor (J.D.)

vs.

John McCain:
United States Naval Academy - Class rank: 894 of 899

Sarah Palin:
Hawaii Pacific University - 1 semester
North Idaho College - 2 semesters - general study
University of Idaho - 2 semesters - journalism
Matanuska-Susitna College - 1 semester
University of Idaho - 3 semesters - B.A. in Journalism

Education isn't everything, but this is about the two highest offices in
the land as well as our standing in the world. You make the call.

Saturday, October 11, 2008

Open Letter To John McCain - Frank Schaeffer


Senator John McCain: If your campaign does not stop equating Sen. Barack Obama with terrorism, questioning his patriotism and portraying Mr. Obama as "not one of us," I accuse you of deliberately feeding the most unhinged elements of our society the red meat of hate, and therefore of potentially instigating violence.

At a Sarah Palin rally, someone called out, "Kill him!" At one of your rallies, someone called out, "Terrorist!" Neither was answered or denounced by you or your running mate, as the crowd laughed and cheered. At your campaign event Wednesday in Bethlehem, Pa., the crowd was seething with hatred for the Democratic nominee - an attitude encouraged in speeches there by you, your running mate, your wife and the local Republican chairman.



Shame!




John McCain: In 2000, as a lifelong Republican, I worked to get you elected instead of George W. Bush. In return, you wrote an endorsement of one of my books about military service. You seemed to be a man who put principle ahead of mere political gain.

You have changed. You have a choice: Go down in history as a decent senator and an honorable military man with many successes, or go down in history as the latest abettor of right-wing extremist hate.

John McCain, you are no fool, and you understand the depths of hatred that surround the issue of race in this country. You also know that, post-9/11, to call someone a friend of a terrorist is a very serious matter. You also know we are a bitterly divided country on many other issues. You know that, sadly, in America, violence is always just a moment away. You know that there are plenty of crazy people out there.

John McCain, you're walking a perilous line. If you do not stand up for all that is good in America and declare that Senator Obama is a patriot, fit for office, and denounce your hate-filled supporters when they scream out "Terrorist" or "Kill him," history will hold you responsible for all that follows.

John McCain and Sarah Palin, you are playing with fire, and you know it. You are unleashing the monster of American hatred and prejudice, to the peril of all of us. You are doing this in wartime. You are doing this as our economy collapses. You are doing this in a country with a history of assassinations.

Change the atmosphere of your campaign. Talk about the issues at hand. Make your case. But stop stirring up the lunatic fringe of haters, or risk suffering the judgment of history and the loathing of the American people - forever.

We will hold you responsible.

This post first ran in the Baltimore Sun as an op-ed on Oct 10, 2008. Frank Schaeffer is the author of Crazy for God: How I Grew Up as One of the Elect, Helped Found the Religious Right, and Lived to Take All (or Almost All) of It Back.

Senator John McCain: If your campaign does not stop equating Sen. Barack Obama with terrorism, questioning his patriotism and portraying Mr. Obama as "not one of us," I accuse you of deliberately feed...
Senator John McCain: If your campaign does not stop equating Sen. Barack Obama with terrorism, questioning his patriotism and portraying Mr. Obama as "not one of us," I accuse you of deliberately feed...


Friday, October 10, 2008

MORE FBI's Surveillance Powers ...?


Techniques May Be Used in U.S. Without Any Fact Linking Subject to Terrorism

By Carrie Johnson
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, October 4, 2008; A03

Justice Department officials released new guidelines yesterday that empower FBI agents to use intrusive techniques to gather intelligence within the United States, alarming civil liberties groups and Democratic lawmakers who worry that they invite privacy violations and other abuses.

The new road map allows investigators to recruit informants, employ physical surveillance and conduct interviews in which agents disguise their identities in an effort to assess national security threats. FBI agents could pursue each of those steps without any single fact indicating a person has ties to a terrorist organization.

Attorney General Michael B. Mukasey said the guidelines are necessary to fulfill the FBI's core mission to predict threats and respond even before an attack takes place. The ground rules will help the bureau become "a more flexible and adept collector of intelligence," as independent commissions urged after the strikes of Sept. 11, 2001, Mukasey said in a statement yesterday.

The guidelines, which harmonize five different road maps dating back more than a generation, take effect Dec. 1. That is two months later than initially planned, and authorities said the delay was a concession to privacy advocates and Arab American groups who expressed concern that their members could be subject to racial or ethnic profiling.

Justice Department leaders rewrote a key section of the guidelines concerning agents' infiltration of groups and attendance at demonstrations. Under the new language, agents would be able to investigate the likelihood of violence stemming from a planned demonstration for as many as 30 days, with renewals subject to supervisory approval.

Congressional staff members said the revisions were superficial, and the American Civil Liberties Union immediately condemned the road map. Critics had asked Justice Department leaders to wait until a new president takes office, an approach that administration officials rejected.

Caroline Fredrickson, director of the ACLU's Washington legislative office, said: "Since, under these guidelines, a generalized 'threat' is enough to begin an investigation, the FBI will be given carte blanche to begin surveillance without factual evidence. . . . These guidelines will lead to political witch hunts and more unwarranted investigations of political enemies and peace groups."

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.) said the grant of new authority to FBI agents flies in the face of recent history, including overreaching and sloppy record-keeping by agents who demanded too much secret information from telephone companies and Internet service providers as part of national security investigations.

Bush administration officials assert that the overhaul is merely a common-sense change that would give FBI agents who pursue national security leads the same power as agents who investigate criminal offenses.

Civil liberties activists yesterday raised anew questions about the expanded role of the FBI in collecting an array of foreign intelligence within U.S. borders, absent evidence of a crime. For instance, the guidelines allow FBI agents to conduct interviews and monitor the movement of people who may possess useful information on subjects of general interest to American policymakers, such as a foreign government's oil exports.

Thursday, October 9, 2008

Imagine John Winston Lennon at 68



we still miss




our friend John














and will always








honor



and share















his dream

Tuesday, October 7, 2008

Coal Miners Protest NRA

October 3, 2008
West Virginia Coal Miners Stay Home To Protest a Film Crew From the NRA Interviewing Union Members To Attack Sen. Obama








It's become one of the oldest tricks in the cynical political playbook: manipulate working class union households to vote against their own economic interests by dividing Americans along "social issues" such as guns, religion, gay marriage, and even civil rights issues.

But perhaps there is hope that at least some "Reagan democrats" are tired of being lied to by the right-wing. In desperate economic times, union households are seeing how the gun lobby is vainly trying to carry the water for the GOP to distract working families with cultural politics.

A West Virginia station reported:

Blacksville #2 Mine Idle After 440 Workers Stay Home -- UMWA Workers Took Memorial Day in Protest

BLACKSVILLE -- Coal production at a mine in Monongalia County came to a halt today when every union miner stayed home, as part of a political protest.

It was an idle day Monday at the Blacksville #2 Mine.

More than 440 workers who are members of the United Mine Workers of America took what's called a Memorial Day instead of going to work.

Union officials say they took the day to protest after a film crew from the National Rifle Assocation showed up at the Consol mine last week to interview union workers.

They say the crew tried to get union coal miners to speak out against Barak Obama.

The UMWA has endorsed the democratic presidential nominee.

Friday, October 3, 2008

Mission Accomplished!




(10-02) 12:09 PDT WASHINGTON
-- Illegal immigration has slowed in the past three years, and the influx of legal permanent immigrant residents in the United States now exceeds the number of new undocumented residents, according to a report released Thursday by a Washington think tank.

Wednesday, October 1, 2008

Goodbye Posse Comitatus

Army Begins Permanent "Dwell Time" Missions Oct 1

Wed Sep 24, 2008



According to the September 8 Army Times, the Army will deploy its first ever full-time combat unit within the borders of the United States, starting October 1. While troops have previously been mobilized within the US, as they were to help in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, employing combat troops in any extended capacity to serve as domestic law enforcement is in open violation of the Posse Comitatus Act as it has been historically interpreted from its passage in 1878 until its dismantling under the Bush Administration.

Still, there has not been a full-scale deployment of troops within the borders of the United States since the end of the Reconstruction. This 130-year restriction on the use of military for civilian policing will end on October 1, 2008. As noted in the Army Times article:

The 3rd Infantry Division’s 1st Brigade Combat Team has spent 35 of the last 60 months in Iraq patrolling in full battle rattle, helping restore essential services and escorting supply convoys.

Now they’re training for the same mission — with a twist — at home.

Beginning Oct. 1 for 12 months, the 1st BCT will be under the day-to-day control of U.S. Army North, the Army service component of Northern Command, as an on-call federal response force for natural or manmade emergencies and disasters, including terrorist attacks.



The article does not state the reason for the deployment, the reason for the date (Oct 1) or length (1 year) of the deployment, nor the reason that this particular brigade was selected. It does state, however, that another unit will replace the 1st BCT after it finishes its deployment, and that the "dwell time mission" is expected to become a permanent one:

"Right now, the response force requirement will be an enduring mission. How the [Defense Department] chooses to source that and whether or not they continue to assign them to NorthCom, that could change in the future," said Army Col. Louis Vogler, chief of NorthCom future operations. "Now, the plan is to assign a force every year."



While the "dwell time mission" will be trained for certain peace time tasks (a la Katrina clean-up), it is clear from the article that a number of their duties will include tasks traditionally assigned to state and local law enforcement - a clear violation of Posse Comitatus. The article makes multiple references to "Homeland Security" type scenarios like response to terrorist attacks, weapons of mass destruction, etc. But there are also numerous references to "crowd control" type duties, and one officer describes training to use tasers.

The 1st BCT’s soldiers also will learn how to use "the first ever nonlethal package that the Army has fielded," 1st BCT commander Col. Roger Cloutier said, referring to crowd and traffic control equipment and nonlethal weapons designed to subdue unruly or dangerous individuals without killing them.

The package includes equipment to stand up a hasty road block; spike strips for slowing, stopping or controlling traffic; shields and batons; and, beanbag bullets.



To my knowledge, there has been NO coverage of this in any traditional media. Nor has there been any justification for what looks like the action of a rogue President teetering on the verge of enforcing Martial Law. I encourage everyone to write their elected representatives to ask for an accounting.

I realize that there are "bigger" stories filling the news cycle but isn't there something wrong when we start using our military as a force for policing our own citizenry?