404 Congressional Action

Talk about error. On October 23, 2007 404 of our congress critters voted to give the Shrub et. al. authority to police our thoughts (especially on the net) and arbitrarily decide if we are inclined to be violent.

Not happy enough finding terrorist in every country with exportable assets, they are getting ready to start filling detention centers here at home. So, be careful what you print or say, the thought police are on their way. Ain't it funny how even C-Span didn't mention passage of this bill?

The way I see it we have 404 traitors to the constitution in the House. I wonder how many we have in the Senate. We know the Resident is.

Now...Into the circle file.

Bye Bye Democracy

Once again Paul Craig Roberts not only hits the nail on the head as to where our country is heading if we don't wake up the sheeple and do a 180* fishtail, but drives it home with clear, simple language that not only connects the dots, he does so in an irrefutable manner. In this age of empty talking heads and propaganda puppet pundits, it is easy to see why he cannot be found in the arena of the Military-Industrial-Corporate-Congressional-Media. Even Joe Six-Pack would understand and respond to his message. His commentary deserves a full read, so no quotes here.

On a note more complicated, yet still vital, Columbia, the media giant not the Country, is on the verge of eliminating our electronic privacy. They have a court order (pending appeal) that is requiring an ISP to begin keeping records of all data passing through RAM to be used in the future as evidence of past transgressions. Everything you type, say, see, and hear with your computer passes through its RAM which makes this a prosecutors wet dream, but in reality points out the ignorance that inundates our society. Sorry, but that's as simple as I can explain it. The upshoot goes as follows:

For example, if you have a VOIP-based phone system (where conversations appear momentarily in RAM in your data center), are you responsible for recording every phone call for potential disclosure in litigation?

The article ends simply:

If you're worried about government-issued wiretap orders, maybe it's time to start worrying about Hollywood-issued ones too.

An other Alternet article concludes this rant. Statistical analysis (.pdf) of talk radio proves the lie of a "Liberal" bias. Not that any Neo-Con-Repug bothers with facts.

Now, into the circle file...

There are still a few journalists around.

First, watched Bill Moyer's "Journal" last night and while he's covering the weakness of the Ethics bill roll-over by the Demo-wimps, giving time to ex-Senator Bob Kerry's apologetic applause to the Demo-wimps follow the leader giving, $95 Billion plus supplementary spending bill with the excuse that it is for the troops is merely one more example of the propaganda that shapes the conversation away from the truth. The money is not in support of the troops, it's purpose is to fatten the bottom line of the Military-Industrial-Congressional-Media (MIMC) complex (which explains the weakness of the ethics bill, also.)

Murray Waas is one of a very few journalists that are reporting on the true impacts of the attorney scandal brewing in congress. That's who the above link goes to. Peggy Harris of the AP shows how the Main Stream Corporate Media (MSCM) reports these events sans context. If you want some context about the current state of the states you need to read chris-floyd.com/ . I would add Wayne Madsen, but his site has gone to a for pay model and while the knowledge he shares is worth the $7 a month, I can't endorse your having to spend money for info (although I can privately inform you it's more than worth the outlay.)

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Big Brother goes to School

Once again Cris Floyd is connecting some dots. Thanks to the new law (thank you, yellow bellied minions on the congressional dole) signed into existence last Tuesday, on the Residence's whim any individual He deems a threat to "National Security" can be picked up, whisked off to some undisclosable location, and interrogated (terrorized) without benefit of legal representation. Since He knows that at least 60% of us disagree with at least one of his policies, He needs a new tool to find out who among his subjects dare to print dissent. As this would require way too much reading for an illiterate, the guvment has hired four schools of higher education to devise a software program to do the reading for him.

Big Bro intends not only that the trains be gonna running on time, who gets tickets to the camps will be determined by software. Won't even be needing any Eichmanns this time. Just hire a bunch of college kids to write a program ("I didn't think they would misuse it," I can hear their future proclamations as they get caught up in a program run amok), as the Resident proclaims he is doing his job of "Keeping Americans safe." Funny me, I thought his job was to Protect and Defend the Constitution. Looks like half the population is going to end up guarding the incarcerated other half.

In local news, a nearby town recently armed their five man police force with fully automatic rifles. The bull here in Texas is getting more dangerous on a daily basis.

In national news the Dow broke 1200, whoopie, of course adjusted for inflation, it just caught up to the value it had in 1967.

Oh, in case this has been too subtle for the software, this is dissent with both fact and opinion.

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Terror, Terror, Terror

With out doubt the propaganda's been successful, in congress at least. The Resident is now Cowboy King George. Pre Magna Carta, above the law and below contempt. The laughable 32%, quaking in fear and whom congress, for some ungodly reason, desires to impress have driven our country into some freaky semblance of a dictatorship ruled by a dry drunk.

His shining star, the Iraq war. The "War on Terror" a simple side note simply enacted to consolidate power. Every action by the rabble in power have had only one aim in mind. The creation of an Imperial Presence. Oh, they call it an Unitary Executive, but them's just fancy words. what they want is unchecked power, beholden to none. Drooling with the idea of a big daddy strong man giving them permission to fullfill their wildest fantasies and sickest dreams.

Now, since our(?) congress has given them free rein, our only hope is the collapse of our army in Iraq. The growing resistance to that illegal (a fact quite often overlooked) war by the men and women fighting there might bring the whole fiasco to a grinding halt and throwing public light on the hell hole of a mess that passes for public office in these modern times, jar the sombulant population into action. After all, this experiment we call the U.S.A. is supposed to be directed by "WE THE PEOPLE."

Now, into the circle file...

Remember: It's not just pedophiles and their enablers.

Regarding the GOP (Guardians Of Pedophiles) scandal now filling the minds of the media and public, if it serves to remove the Resident's enablers is a good thing. That damage, though real, only affected a certain number of teens. Let us not lose sight of the real damage that Congress did to this country last week. That damage was done to each and every one of us:

Yale Law Professor Bruce Ackerman states in the L.A. Times, "The compromise legislation....authorizes the president to seize American citizens as enemy combatants, even if they have never left the United States. And once thrown into military prison, they cannot expect a trial by their peers or any other of the normal protections of the Bill of Rights."

Similarly, law Professor Marty Lederman explains: "this [subsection (ii) of the definition of 'unlawful enemy combatant'] means that if the Pentagon says you're an unlawful enemy combatant -- using whatever criteria they wish -- then as far as Congress, and U.S. law, is concerned, you are one, whether or not you have had any connection to 'hostilities' at all."

As we (Paul Joseph Watson) reported on Friday, the bill also contains a definition of "wrongfully aiding the enemy" which labels all American citizens who breach their "allegiance" to President Bush and the actions of his government as terrorists subject to possible arrest, torture and conviction in front of a military tribunal.

Other facts we need to not forget: War in Afghanistan/Iraq/Iran; Paper ballots; Education; And all the other Rights not labeled in the Constitution, but referred to in the Tenth Amendment.

Each, every, and any moral action that returns control to WE THE PEOPLE and removes the reigns of power from the cretins in Washington is a blessing from God (no matter how or even if you worship him/her/it).

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Pages of pages to Pages

What in the ____ is the fuss all about?
The pages went up the Hill
To learn how our Government operates
And bends to the People’s will.

They learned well how the people in power
React to the threat to their station.
Or rather the lack of proper response
And their self serving, quiet, inaction.

Well, the lesson, it seems, continues apace
I hope everyone understands.
True power resides, not in powerful lies,
But by citizen’s voicing demands.

From the very beginning of the National Creed
The voices cried out for protection of speech
Demanding Amendments before ratifying
Constitutional limits on government’s reach.

So the masses are stirring
Protesters speak out
True power in action
Is what the fuss is about.

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Points to Ponder

The Congress voted for secret Torture
You have no right to remain silent
No attorney will be present.
Arrested on suspicion of the President
That you are a Terrorist.
Meanwhile on prime time
Commercials are pushing
Viagra and sugar and sleep aids
Get busy. Quit thinking. Go back to sleep.

Get with the program they said,
“Let us lead.” And over a cliff they proceed.
Do you really want to follow
That dark path they have embarqued?
Wanting to know everything about everyone
While working in secret themselves.
There is a word for that, “Totalitarian.”

Most of your taxes now feed the war machine
Instead of feeding or schooling our children.
The Government backed a coup in Venezuela
To benefit multinational business.
Now they claim a coup that overthrew
A corrupted congress in Thailand was wrong.
So, shut up, eat your sugar, and turn on the TV.
Until you fall asleep again.

There is a call for new harsher laws on immigration
Having not enforced the ones already written.
The drive to ban all abortions
Now includes banning all contraception.
In a country founded on freedom, the government wants to control every aspect of our lives.
And when truth is inconvenient to “Our Leaders“, they conveniently tells lies.

A religion founded on charity and forgiveness
Has become a weapon to justify killing and plunder.
The Speaker of the House covers for a pedophile Preaches Christian values while in Hubris the A.G. tells the Courts to be humble.
The President says his job is not to protect and defend as he swore in his induction.
His job, he says, is to protect us, keep us safe, even if it means destroying the Constitution.

No one claims to know the Republican’s largest contributor as the “Contract for America” became “The Contract on America.”
The ideological drive to remove “Liberals” from Congress becomes driven by greed.
The driving force of office holders is to stay in office long enough to earn a pension.
The total lack of values and concern for citizens drives belief into suspension.

Watch Bill Moyers on PBS Wednesday for the Tip of an Iceburg.

Now, into the circle file...

A Pre 9-11 Mindset

In the early 13th Century, Genghis Kan outlawed torture. In 2006, Congress reinstated torture as an interrogation policy. Early in the Thirteenth Century, the King was stripped of his ability to detain a person with out charges being brought. In 2006, Congress voted to restore that power to the State. A truly pre 9/11 mindset.

65 to 34 and 253 to 168 the US went from being a Banana Republic , Tin-Pot Dictatorship to a pre-middle ages Authoritarian Despotism. Good bye Magna Carta. It only applies to foreigners, we’re told. If you believe that, I’ve got a bridge in Brooklyn you aught to buy from me. The Resident can declare you an enemy combatant, send you to Guantanamo, deny you a lawyer, not tell you what the charges are, keep secret the evidence against you, and torture you for the names of other “Guilty” people. That is what Habeas Corpus no longer applying means.

Yesterday, 300 people were denied their First Amendment Right to peacefully assemble and protest. Under the new rules, they could be charged with threatening the material interests’ of businesses and thereby becoming an Enemy Non-Combatant. Have you ever donated to an umbrella type Charitable organization? If they then take a portion of that money and distribute it to an other charity that the government later proclaims aids “Terrorists,” surprise, you are now, an Enemy Non-Combatant. Off to Guantanamo! I am not exaggerating. At least 34 Senators and 168 Representatives agree with me as does a coalition of hundreds of Constitutional Scholars and Lawyers and over 30 newly retired military officers and over 100 retired analysts from the CIA, NSA, and FBI.

John Christensen , of the third century church said,

“He or she, who is not angry when there is cause for anger, sins. Anger looks to the good of Justice. If you can look at in-justice without anger, then you are unjust.”

Unreasoned patience is what occurred in the 1930s. As people were being carted off, held with out charges, and tried and convicted in secret courts, good God fearing and otherwise intelligent German people remained silent. Are we too busy watching TV, cheering our favorite sports team, to do the right thing? As Dante’ warned us,

“The hottest places in Hell are reserved for those who remain neutral in times of crisis.”

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Speaking About Elections

The signs and portents do abound
The price of gas is going down
The factor of fear is on the rise
The Terror flag waves in front of our eyes
Elections must be coming around.

What fools the sheep of Americans be
Erzast "Leaders" they are following blindly
Trusting the lies of the media spin
That disregard truths that don't fit in
To the Propaganda that passes for the News we see.

Our Nation devolving to a torturous State
Critics accused of a political slate
Changing the Laws to protect the guilty
Innocent people detained in pepetuity
Politics driven by fear and hate.

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Sunday Morning (coming down)

“Sunday morning coming down,” comes from a Chris Kristofferson song and the only way it doesn’t apply is that this down has been building up since Carter used his piety to get elected. A militant Christian for President. I ain’t saying he’s not a good man, I’m saying that the obvious contradictions between being a Christian (a follower of Christ’s teachings) and being the commander of the worlds largest killing machine is the embodiment of an oxymoron. I had gotten to the point of accepting his atonement by building homes for the poor and then I heard him say (about three years ago when a nuclear submarine was named after him), “This is the proudest day of my life.” Peace through war is the essence of an unobtainable goal.

What’s that got to do with the here and now? McCain (previously a victim of torture) has given the Resident Carte Blanque to redefine torture anyway he sees fit. Held to account only if he publishes a technique deemed inappropriate by which ever oversight committee isn’t overseeing that aspect of government. This to establish half the credentials needed to become a candidate for the highest office in our nation. Now he has to convince the minions of his pious religiosity (of a Christian nature, of course) in order to fulfill the two absolute basics that are needed to qualify for the job. So sad to see that his journey is through the Rresident’s alimentary canal, working from the bottom up. More simply put: He’s got his head up the Resident’s as… A good discription of the "Compromise".

If the Sunday morning talking (dick)heads could understand Spanish they might not be railing lamely about Chavez’s speech at the U.N. If you can’t take a joke… Anyway, it was much less offensive than the Resident’s “Axis of Evil” or “Islamo-Fascists” rhetoric. Or as toxic as Preacher Robert’s, (as Christians) let’s assassinate any one we don’t like type statements.

I would say, “Lord forgive them for they know not what they do,” except that I believe they know full well what they do and why.

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This is my country?

So, the three maveric? Republicans make a big show about bucking the Resident and with their tails between their legs mealy mouth how they are supporting article 3 of Geneva. NOT. BS lies for mainstream distribution to give them security cover. And the sheeple will suck it up hook, line, and sinker. The CIA will continue their torture. And innocent people will continue to languish in dark holes while the nations collective leaders keep their heads up the Resident's as...
Or better said:

What we have seen today is no "grand compromise," no "great debate," no "act of principle" and certainly no "preservation" of the Geneva Conventions. What we have seen instead is a small group of rich, cynical, power-hungry old bastards belch forth lies in the service of torture and tyranny. And if you're not angry about that, if you're not "shrill" about that, then by God you are one piss-poor American citizen. You shame every man and woman who have fought and died and marched and worked and dreamed for our freedoms.

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Rewriting the Geneva Convention Article 3

First he broke the law, then came on TV and proudly proclaimed it, now he's beginning to run scared and is asking the congress to retroactively legalize his actions. This is the clarity he wants to lay claim to:

SEC. 6. SATISFACTION OF TREATY OBLIGATIONS…

(b) RIGHTS NOT JUDICIALLY ENFORCEABLE.—

(1) IN GENERAL.—No person in any habeas action or any other action may invoke the Geneva Conventions or any protocols thereto as a source of rights, whether directly or indirectly, for any purpose in any court of the United States or its States or territories.

SEC. 9. RETROACTIVE APPLICATION.

This Act shall take effect on the date of the enactment of this Act and shall apply retroactively, including to any aspect of the detention, treatment, or trial of any person detained at any time since September 11, 2001, and to any claim or cause of action pending on or after the date of the enactment of this Act.

This crap should make it obvious. The Resident is not only a liar and a coward, he wants to legalize torture. His justification:

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

(6) The use of military commissions is particularly important in this context because other alternatives, such as the use of courts-martial, generally are impracticable. The terrorists with whom the United States is engaged in armed conflict have demonstrated a commitment to the destruction of the United States and its people, to the violation of the law of war, and to the abuse of American legal
processes. In a time of ongoing armed conflict, it generally is neither practicable nor appropriate for combatants like al Qaeda terrorists to be tried before tribunals that include all of the procedures associated with courts-martial.

He has decided they are guilty as charged and Al-Qaeda, therefor they don't qualify as human beings and deserving of human rights. Never mind that of the thousand or so non-combatants, they are down to fourteen. I thank God that the Tribunals haven't been operating up to now or there would be a classified number of people (from teenagers to seventy-years-old) in classified locations suffering classified interrogations all for the satisfaction of the large ego of this little man.

Now, into the circle file...