Federal ID Plan Raises Privacy Concerns
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By Eliott C. McLaughlin
CNN
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(CNN) -- Americans may need passports to board domestic flights or to picnic in a national park next year if they live in one of the states defying the federal Real ID Act.
Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff says there are no plans for a federal database of drivers' information.
The act, signed in 2005 as part of an emergency military spending and tsunami relief bill, aims to weave driver's licenses and state ID cards into a sort of national identification system by May 2008. The law sets baseline criteria for how driver's licenses will be issued and what information they must contain.
The Department of Homeland Security insists Real ID is an essential weapon in the war on terror, but privacy and civil liberties watchdogs are calling the initiative an overly intrusive measure that smacks of Big Brother.
More than half the nation's state legislatures have passed or proposed legislation denouncing the plan, and some have penned bills expressly forbidding compliance.
Several states have begun making arrangements for the new requirements -- four have passed legislation applauding the measure -- but even they may have trouble meeting the act's deadline.
The cards would be mandatory for all "federal purposes," which include boarding an airplane or walking into a federal building, nuclear facility or national park, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff told the National Conference of State Legislatures last week. Citizens in states that don't comply with the new rules will have to use passports for federal purposes.
"For terrorists, travel documents are like weapons," Chertoff said. "We do have a right and an obligation to see that those licenses reflect the identity of the person who's presenting it."
Chertoff said the Real ID program is essential to national security because there are presently 8,000 types of identification accepted to enter the United States.
"It is simply unreasonable to expect our border inspectors to be able to detect forgeries on documents that range from baptismal certificates from small towns in Texas to cards that purport to reflect citizenship privileges in a province somewhere in Canada," he said.
Chertoff attended the conference in Boston, Massachusetts, in part to allay states' concerns, but he had few concrete answers on funding.
The Department of Homeland Security, which estimates state and federal costs could reach $23.1 billion over 10 years, is looking for ways to lessen the burden on states, he said. On the recent congressional front, however, Chertoff could point only to an amendment killed in the Senate last month that would've provided $300 million for the program.
"There's going to be an irreducible expense that falls on you, and that's part of the shared responsibility," Chertoff told the state legislators.
Bill Walsh, senior legal fellow for the Heritage Foundation, a Washington-based conservative think tank that supports the Real ID Act, said states shouldn't be pushing for more federal dollars because, ultimately, that will mean more federal oversight -- and many complaints about cost coincide with complaints about the federal government overstepping its bounds.
"They are only being asked to do what they should've already done to protect their citizens," Walsh said, blaming arcane software and policies at state motor vehicle departments for what he called "a tremendous trafficking in state driver's licenses."
The NCSL is calling Real ID an "unfunded mandate" that could cost states up to $14 billion over the next decade, but for which only $40 million has been federally approved. The group is demanding Congress pony up $1 billion for startup costs by year's end or scrap the proposal altogether.
Everyone must visit DMV by 2013
The Real ID Act repealed a provision in the 9/11 Commission Implementation Act calling for state and federal officials to examine security standards for driver's licenses.
It called instead for states to begin issuing new federal licenses, lasting no longer than eight years, by May 11, 2008, unless they are granted an extension.
It also requires all 245 million license and state ID holders to visit their local departments of motor vehicles and apply for a Real ID by 2013. Applicants must bring a photo ID, birth certificate, proof of Social Security number and proof of residence, and states must maintain and protect massive databases housing the information.
NCSL spokesman Bill Wyatt said the requirements are "almost physically impossible." States will have to build new facilities, secure those facilities and shell out for additional equipment and personnel.
Those costs are going to fall back on the American taxpayer, he said. It might be in the form of a new transportation, motor vehicle or gasoline tax. Or you might find it tacked on to your next state tax bill. In Texas, Wyatt said, one official told him that without federal funding, the Lone Star State might have to charge its citizens more than $100 for a license.
"We kind of feel like the way they went about this is backwards," Wyatt said, explaining that states would have appreciated more input into the process. "Each state has its own unique challenges and these are best addressed at state levels. A one-size-fits-all approach to driver's licenses doesn't necessarily work."
Many states have revolted. The governors of Idaho, Maine, Montana, New Hampshire, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Washington have signed bills refusing to comply with the act. Six others have passed bills and/or resolutions expressing opposition, and 15 have similar legislation pending.
Though the NCSL says most states' opposition stems from the lack of funding, some states cited other reasons for resisting the initiative.
New Hampshire passed a House bill opposing the program and calling Real ID "contrary and repugnant" to the state and federal constitutions. A Colorado House resolution dismissed Real ID by expressing support for the war on terror but "not at the expense of essential civil rights and liberties of citizens of this country."
Privacy concerns raised
Colorado and New Hampshire lawmakers are not alone. Groups like the American Civil Liberties Union and Electronic Frontier Foundation say the IDs and supporting databases -- which Chertoff said would eventually be federally interconnected -- will infringe on privacy.
EFF says on its Web site that the information in the databases will lay the groundwork for "a wide range of surveillance activities" by government and businesses that "will be able to easily read your private information" because of the bar code required on each card.
The databases will provide a one-stop shop for identity thieves, adds the ACLU on its Web site, and the U.S. "surveillance society" and private sector will have access to the system "for the routine tracking, monitoring and regulation of individuals' movements and activities."
The civil liberties watchdog dubs the IDs "internal passports" and claims it wouldn't be long before office buildings, gas stations, toll booths, subways and buses begin accessing the system.
But Chertoff told legislators last week that DHS has no intention of creating a federal database, and Walsh, of the Heritage Foundation, said the ACLU's allegations are disingenuous.
States will be permitted to share data only when validating someone's identity, Walsh said.
"The federal government wouldn't have any greater access to driver's license information than it does today," Walsh said.
States have the right to refuse to comply with the program, he said, and they also have the right to continue issuing IDs and driver's licenses that don't meet Real ID requirements.
But, Walsh said, "any state that's refusing to implement this key recommendation by the 9/11 Commission, and whose state driver's licenses are as a result used in another terrorist attack, should be held responsible."
State reaction to Real ID has not been all negative. Four states have passed bills or resolutions expressing approval for the program, and 13 states have similar legislation pending (Several states have pending pieces of legislation both applauding and opposing Real ID).
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Chertoff said there would be repercussions for states choosing not to comply.
"This is not a mandate," Chertoff said. "A state doesn't have to do this, but if the state doesn't have -- at the end of the day, at the end of the deadline -- Real ID-compliant licenses then the state cannot expect that those licenses will be accepted for federal purposes." E-mail to a friend E-mail to a friend
All About American Civil Liberties Union • Michael Chertoff • U.S. Department of Homeland Security
Is a Second More Deadly 9/11 Now In the Works?
There Are Good Reasons to Believe This Is So
Richard Franklin
As you know, a B-52 bomber was equipped with six nuclear warheads mounted on Advanced Cruise Missiles and then flown from Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota to Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana on August 30. They were mounted on the wings of the bomber.
According to Michael Madsen's sources, a group of officers within the US Air Force became aware of the theft of these missiles and their nuclear warheads and intercepted them at Barksdale.
After this event somehow leaked to the media, the White House apparently scrambled to concoct a story to account for the theft. They came up with a lulu. They told us it was all a 'mistake'. The six nuclear warheads had been mistakenly mounted on Advanced Cruise Missiles, which were then mistakenly mounted on the wings of the B-52, and then mistakenly flown to Louisiana. If we are to believe the White House's absurd story, nobody among the crew of the bomber was even aware of the deadly cargos attached to the wings of their aircraft.
Wayne Madsen has reported that the nukes were destined for Iraq, but were intercepted by renegade officers of the US Air Force who are opposed to attacking Iran with nuclear warheads in a plan that was devised and was being allegedly overseen by Dick Cheney. According to Madsen, a U.S. attack on Iran using nuclear weapons was scheduled to coincide with Israel's September 6 air attack on a reputed Syrian nuclear facility in Dayr az-Zwar in northern Syria. The interception of the nuclear warheads apparently caused the White House cabal to defer an American coordination with the Israeli attack until such time as the problem of the intercepted nukes was resolved on the domestic front.
The activist group Citizens for Legitimate Government has come up with an astounding revelation that has been ignored by our controlled media. A spokesperson for the group has indicated that six members of the US Air Force who were directly involved in loading or transporting the missiles, were killed within 7 days of the Barksdale interception. Their deaths have been ruled 'accidents'. I repeat, these deaths happened within 7 days of the incident! The odds against this happening are mind boggling.
The victims according to CLG include Airman First Class Todd Blue, 20, who died while on leave in Virginia. A husband and wife from Barksdale Air Force Base were killed on Shreveport-Blanchard Highway while riding a motorcycle. Adam Barrs, a 20-year-old airman from Minot Air Force Base was killed in a crash on the outskirts of the city. First Lt. Weston Kissel, 28, a Minot Air Force Base bomber pilot, was killed in a motorcycle crash in Tennessee. Police found the body of a missing Air Force captain John Frueh near Badger Peak in northeast Skamania County, Washington.
It has been surmised by many that those directing the nuclear thefts embarked on a cleanup operation to silence any persons who were not part of the conspiracy but had knowledge of exactly what had gone down at Minot and Barksdale Air Force Bases. It defies common sense to come up with any other explanation for the six deaths, a figure that may already be out of date. Any further deaths may quite possibly be kept from the media.
While the White House has concocted a coverup story to explain the, theft of six Advanced Cruise Missiles carrying nuclear warheads, it has not explained why it is that six such missiles were loaded at Minot, but ONLY FIVE ARRIVED AT BARKSDALE! There is only one possible explanation. Somewhere between the Minot and Barksdale, the plane landed to deliver one missile with its warhead.
A Patriotic Communist's Opinion
"I’m sorry, but I don’t want to be an emperor. That’s not my business. I don’t want to rule or conquer anyone. I should like to help everyone if possible - Jew, Gentile - black man - white.
We all want to help one another. Human beings are like that. We want to live by each other’s happiness - not by each other’s misery. We don’t want to hate and despise one another. In this world there’s room for everyone and the good earth is rich and can provide for everyone.
The way of life can be free and beautiful, but we have lost the way. Greed has poisoned men’s souls - has barricaded the world with hate - has goose-stepped us into misery and bloodshed. We have developed speed, but we have shut ourselves in. Machinery that gives abundance has left us in want. Our knowledge has made us cynical; our cleverness, hard and unkind. We think too much and feel too little. More than machinery we need humanity. More than cleverness, we need kindness and gentleness. Without these qualities, life will be violent and all will be lost.
The aeroplane and the radio have brought us closer together. The very nature of these inventions cries out for the goodness in man - cries for universal brotherhood - for the unity of us all. Even now my voice is reaching millions throughout the world - millions of despairing men, women, and little children - victims of a system that makes men torture and imprison innocent people. To those who can hear me, I say: ‘Do not despair.’ The misery that is now upon us is but the passing of greed - the bitterness of men who fear the way of human progress. The hate of men will pass, and dictators die, and the power they took from the people will return to the people. And so long as men die, liberty will never perish.
Soldiers! Don’t give yourselves to brutes - men who despise you and enslave you - who regiment your lives - tell you what to do - what to think and what to feel! Who drill you - diet you - treat you like cattle, use you as cannon fodder. Don’t give yourselves to these unnatural men - machine men with machine minds and machine hearts! You are not machines! You are not cattle! You are men! You have the love of humanity in your hearts. You don’t hate, only the unloved hate - the unloved and the unnatural!
Soldiers! Don’t fight for slavery! Fight for liberty! In the seventeenth chapter of St Luke, it is written the kingdom of God is within man not one man nor a group of men, but in all men! In you! You, the people, have the power - the power to create machines. The power to create happiness! You, the people, have the power to make this life free and beautiful - to make this life a wonderful adventure. Then in the name of democracy - let us use that power - let us all unite. Let us fight for a new world - a decent world that will give men a chance to work - that will give youth a future and old age a security.
By the promise of these things, brutes have risen to power. But they lie! They do not fulfil that promise. They never will! Dictators free themselves but they enslave the people. Now let us fight to fulfil that promise! Let us fight to free the world - to do away with national barriers - to do away with greed, with hate and intolerance. Let us fight for a world of reason - a world where science and progress will lead to all men’s happiness. Soldiers, in the name of democracy, let us unite!"
--Charlie Chaplin
$315 Billion
Ever visualized $87 billion, the amount President Bush announced on national television that he was going to ask the Congress to grant him to continue the fight on terror in Iraq and Afghanistan. President Bush asked for this money on September 7th, 2003, for the fiscal year, beginning October 1, 2004. Since before then, to the end of September, 2007, the United States has dedicated approximately $315 billion dollars to the cause.
Have a visual representation of this huge amount of money after the jump
It is impossible for anyone to visualize such huge amounts of money. Lets have a look…..
One dollar … it’s roughly 6 inches long, and 2½ inches wide. It’s roughly as thick as a regular piece of paper.
$1 will buy you a chance to win up to $3000 with a Connecticut scratch-off lottery ticket called the “Emerald Green Tripler.”
Six dollars … set side by side, roughly 12 inches long, and 7½” inches wide. Very roughly, a little longer, but narrower than a sheet of paper.
$6 will buy you about than 2 gallons of gas (at $3.00 a gallon), but you could only buy 1½ gallons of milk, which sells for $3.99 a gallon in Charlotte, NC.
Three Thousand dollars … roughly the thickness of a ream of paper, 2 inches thick or 500 sheets. If you made a single stack, it would be a foot high.
You could buy a 50" Widescreen, Flat Panel, HD-Ready Plasma TV for this amount of money.
Seventy-Two Thousand dollars … is about the size of a whole box of copier paper. This is roughly what it would cost you to buy a 2007 Jaguar XK8 2dr Convertible.
Three-Hundred-and-Sixty Thousand dollars … A stack 5 feet tall. Shorter than the average American man. If you made a single stack, it would be 120 feet high.
You can buy a 3-bedroom, 2 bath, 1973-sq. foot condo in Las Vegas, Nevada for this amount of money.
Nine Million dollars … The pile is 5 feet tall, 10 feet long, and 6¼ feet wide. A single stack of dollar bills in this amount would be 3,000 feet high.
This horde is comparable in size to a single compact car. You could buy 489 of them for the amount, though, with enough cash left over to fill up the gas tanks of 162 of them.
But this amount of money is more than four times what you can expect to earn in your entire life, if you are an American with a college degree.
Nine-Hundred Million dollars… The mound of cash is now 20 feet tall, 50 feet long, and 31¼ feet wide. The single stack of dollar bills is now climbing to 300,000 feet, or 56.8 miles.
It is about half as long as a conventional tennis court.
This is the dollar amount for the damage caused by a natural disaster, according to insurance claims filed by victims in four states that were affected by a category 3 hurricane, (Dennis) in July, 2005.
This amount of money is what an ideal elementary school class size (400 students) can expect to earn in their lifetimes, combined.
Fifteen billion dollars … This pile of money is 60 feet high, 150 feet long, and 62½ feet deep.
This is the amount of money that the US Army has paid to Halliburton (a company once led by Vice President Dick Cheney) since late 2001 in no-bid contracts to perform services such as delivering food and fuel and constructing housing for U.S. Troops around the world, and has been persistently dogged with allegations for fraud, poor quality, overpricing, and other abuses. (On July 13, 2006, the US Army announced that it would end its dealings with the company.)
Eighty-Seven Billion dollars … This is what the President asked for on September 7th, 2003. It is 100 feet tall, 250 feet long, and 125 feet wide. A stack of singles would be 28,998,000 feet, or over 5,492 miles, or a round-trip between Washington DC and Los Angeles, California. (2,650 miles, one-way).
A Boeing 737-200 jet is 100 feet long. You could fit 2 of those jets nose to nose along the length of this pile, and have room to spare.
If we spread the $87 billion over an American football field, we would not be able to see much of the game. The players would be buried in 55 feet of money.
$87 billion is more than all of the states’ current budget deficits, combined. $87 billion is more than twice the amount we’re spending on Homeland Security.
One-Hundred-Sixty-Six Billion dollars … this represents the total amount of money President Bush spent in Iraq & Afghanistan by the beginning of fiscal year 2004 : the $87 billion he asked for, plus the $79 billion he’d already spent.
You can barely see the man down in the corner.
This pile is 500 feet long at its longest point, which is quite a bit longer than an American football field. The roof opening of the Reliant Stadium in Houston, Texas, is 500 feet long. This pile of money is still 100 feet tall, and 125 feet wide. If you stacked the bills in a single column, it would be 55,333,200 feet tall, or almost 10,500 miles, or 1.68 times the distance between Washington DC and Baghdad, Iraq.
$166 billion is $568 for every man, woman and child in the United States. It’s $3,269 for every person in Iraq and Afghanistan.
One-Hundred-Ninety-One Billion dollars … April 17, 2004 : “The President wants Congress to grant him another $25 billion to continue the fight in Iraq and Afghanistan, but members of both parties in Congress indicated strong reservations about giving the Pentagon the free hand it is seeking to spend the money.”
“Responding to tough questions from senators in both parties, (Deputy Defense Secretary Paul D.) Wolfowitz acknowledged that, with war costs running about $4.5 billion a month, far more money will be needed next year than is now on the table. ‘There will be a request for a full year supplemental early next year. It will sure be much larger than $25 billion,’ he said.”
Two-Hundred-Seventy-Two Billion dollars …
UPDATE : April 25, 2005
Senate OKs $81B In Spending for Iraq, Afghanistan
WASHINGTON | The Senate on Thursday overwhelmingly approved $81 billion for wars in Iraq and Afghanistan in a spending bill that would push the total cost of combat and reconstruction past $300 billion.
Both the Senate and House versions of the measure would give President Bush much of the money he requested but the bills differ over what portion should go to military operations.
The Pentagon says it needs the money by the first week of May, so Senate and House negotiators are expected to act quickly to send the president a final version of the spending bill. (AP)
This pile is 250 feet long, and 125 feet wide. It’s 320 feet high at the tallest point, which is as tall as St. Steven’s Tower, the clock tower that houses Big Ben at Parliament, in London, England.
Three-hundred-fifteen billion dollars …
Update : July 21, 2006
This is the amount of money the US has allocated for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, to be spent by September 30, 2006, the end of the fiscal year. And the Senate is working on a spending bill that will add another $50 billion more in spending for 2007.
This pile is 125 feet wide, 200 feet deep, and 450 feet tall.
450 feet is the height of a 38-story building. It’s the hieght of the Millenium Wheel in London. It is also the height of the Luxor Hotel in Las Vegas and the Louisiana State Capitol Building.
If you were to stack the money in a single stack, your stack would be 19,887 miles tall, enough to wrap the Moon at its equator almost 3 times.
Jesus was a Budhist Jew, Paul Founded Christianity
Before I begin, I would like to make it clear that I believe Jesus existed, whether his name was really Jesus or not. I also hold a high reverence for his teachings, which I try to live by every day. I just don't believe in hell, heaven, killing, and damnation. I have no doubt that some readers will consider me a liar who thinks he knows everything, but that is simply an untrue judgment. There is a lot I don't know and I feel that the key to progress is in embracing that idea. It is the way of education and especially science, which I hold in high regard. Failure to realize our short-comings is failure to progress.
Because I have not studied Judaism, I cannot really say factually how the Jewish people see Jesus. However, it is my understanding that he is simply regarded as a teacher. I find it odd that Jesus was a Jew, which is not argued, yet alleged followers of Jesus denounce many Jewish beliefs and traditions and harbor a new set of beliefs, not taught by Jesus. The bible states that Jesus was like man in all ways except sin. What does this mean? It seems to say that Jesus was a man, in all ways with the exception of the fact that he lived by strict morals that were scarcely found in the religious practices of that time and place. I have heard about the parallels of his teachings and those of Buddhism. Were these coincidences or something else? It is undeniable that a good portion of Jesus' young adult life is unaccounted for pursuing his teachings of logical, undeniable morals. Where did he go? Where did these new insights come from? In 1887 a respected Russian journalist named Nicolas Notovich published a book called "The Unknown Life of Jesus." The book was, obviously, called blasphemy. Notovich claimed his book was a factual account of his trip to the Himalayas in northern India to an isolated Buddhist monastery. Notovich wrote about ancient Buddhist scrolls speaking of a scholar and prophet named Issa, a foreigner from a small, Mediterranean country who arrived as a teenage boy to study the teachings of the Buddha. He was there 500 years after the death of Buddha, which coincides with the time of the lost years of Jesus' life. In 1902, a Hindu priest came to the same monastery and translated those scrolls with the same conclusion. There are many reports of Jesus visiting other countries, going as far north as ancient England to meet the Druids. It seems likely to me that the success of christianity should be attributed to the fact that, for quite some time, Jesus traveled thousands of miles, preaching all the way. The bible even states that Jesus' great uncle traveled to England often as a merchant. Joseph of Arimathea was the uncle of Mary and a successful tin merchant, which tin was abundant in England and similar in value to present-day steel. It was quite likely that Jesus accompanied him at least once. Loyal great uncle, Joseph, carried on Jesus' teachings after the crucifixion.
Jesus was brilliant in the respect that instead of preaching to the leaders of countries who would have surely persecuted him (oh yeah, they did), he preached to the poor, telling them they will inherit the kingdom of heaven. In his later days, he claimed to be the son of god, which originally could have simply meant that he obeyed, honored, and taught what god would teach like a good son would do, but later was blatantly a claim to be of god's seed. I would attribute this to egotism because at this point, Jesus was considered a leader and a savior in the sense that Gandhi was savior to his people. I mean no disrespect, but let's be honest. If Jesus is capable of anger and hostility (his persecution of the merchants), then why not egotism and perhaps a deliberate lie, albeit for the greater good. In fact, the alleged lost books of the bible speak of how Jesus was even capable of murder. Keep in mind that I do not consider these ideas as facts, but there is just as much evidence, if not more in some cases, as the truth of the complete works of the bible.
The bible also states that Jesus followed the practices of Judaism in every regard. This means that Jesus was circumcised, which makes a man worthy of marriage, and also means that he took a wife, which is necessary in Judaism in order to be a rabbi (priest/teacher). It is obvious if you read the new testament that Jesus was married to Mary Magdalene, whom his disciples were jealous of and whom Jesus kissed all the time. There is also a story of a wedding in which it doesn't say specifically who was married, but Jesus and Mary were in charge of. Obviously, this was a method in catholicism to portray the purity of Jesus, but it would have been sacrilegious in those times. Also in catholicism, Mary is portrayed as pure, even though the bible states Jesus had four brothers and at least two sisters (because of the use of the plural "sisters"). It was his brother, James, who also attempted to continue the ministries of Jesus.
Considering that Jesus was a devout Jew, why is it that his life spawned a new religion altogether? Do you really believe that this is was Jesus wanted? Why is it that most christians don't know that Paul, previously known as Saul, was Jesus' adversary. He only claimed an alliance with Jesus' teachings after Jesus was crucified. It was only then that he claimed to continue the teachings of Jesus, although he had radically different opinions on how to obtain the kingdom of heaven.
Paul vs. Jesus
One of the most famous criticisms comes from Thomas Jefferson, who wrote in a letter to James Smith, that "Paul was ... the first corrupter of the doctrines of Jesus." (Works, 1829 edition, vol. 4, p. 327.) George Bernard Shaw, the English playwright, is widely quoted as having said that: "...it would have been a better world if Paul had never been born."
Jesus reportedly teaches that BEHAVIORAL requirements (works/deeds), rooted in an internal change of spiritual growth within the person (not external or apart from the person, though the gift of teaching and techniques to achieve this personal change are a gift of grace not earned or deserved by us, but requiring ACTIONS [deeds] to implement), are integral to salvation. While perhaps it is not possible for us to "earn" the "free gift" that Jesus reportedly provides -- a teaching of the universal compassionate love by which the evil within us CAN be transformed into a more holy kindness of love -- the Jesus account clearly includes a behavioral component to his requirements for "salvation." While he does not say that this satisfies any "debt," he still requires it; perhaps he is demanding merely a small partial "payment" as a gesture of "good faith." (In fact, James suggests this by his comments in James 2:26, that we demonstrate our faith -- if it is genuine -- BY our works or deeds.)
Some will say that puny mortals can never perform enough good behavior to "earn" or "merit" salvation based on the value of their deeds -- that the attempts at human righteousness is as "filthy rags."
Aside from the fact that this simply contradicts Jesus, the point is not whether or not our puny mortal attempts at righteousness have sufficient intrinsic value. Jesus never says that compassionate deeds "earn" salvation, or that any of us could ever "merit" the very gift of our existence. He merely sets that as the standard for compliance. Just as a child may offer its parents or grandparents an awkwardly-drawn piece of art, which likely holds little real artistic merit (perhaps in terms of art critics it might be as "filthy rags"), still the parents sincerely and genuinely cherish such efforts. It may not "merit" winning an art contest and may be able to "earn" very little, but loving parents find it good enough to represent the qualities THEY deem of real and lasting value. The point is that Paul sets the standard for salvation as faith or belief in accepting Jesus (see below) while Jesus explicitly rejects this standard (see Matt 7:21-27) and sets the standard at universal compassionate love expressed in actions, as noted in greater detail in the next few paragraphs.
Why would a loving god, as spiritual father on a more perfect scale, for those who believe him to be that, not be able to give even greater acceptance, even of "filthy rags," if sincerely offered as the best effort ... ESPECIALLY if he has said that he would do so?
To argue against that is to join Paul in contradicting the teachings of Jesus.
In the Sermon on the Mount, near the beginning of his ministry, Jesus is shown as introducing a bold new concept, not only that we should love friends and neighbors, but our enemies as well.
When asked by a lawyer what the most important commandment in the LAW was, Jesus reportedly answered (as reported in Matt 22:36-40 and Luke 10:25-37) with references from the Old Testament, that the GREATEST law was to love god (see Deut 6:5) and the second was to love your neighbor as yourself (see Lev 18:19). In the Luke text, the lawyer specifically asks what is necessary for eternal life (verse 25) and after Jesus references the two GREAT commandments, he says "This DO and you will live" (verse 28) -- showing clearly that salvation is related to works/deeds/actions, however important faith might be to motivating such behavior. Note further, that in the Luke version, this was illustrated by an example, the parable of the Good Samaritan, which was used to define "neighbor" very broadly, to include enemies. The Samaritan (the lowest of the outcasts) is the one who exemplifies this broad definition, and who provides the example of one who is saved by their compassionate actions toward their enemy. Yet the Samaritan is not even a believer, not one having "faith" and not one who has accepted Jesus as savior, yet this is who Jesus chooses as the example of one who gains eternal life, which is what the lawyer specifically asked.
Another time during his ministry, Jesus taught that the people who would go to heaven (be saved) must be as little children (Matt. 18:4-5; 19:14; Mark 9:36-37; 10:14-15; Luke 18:15-17), while Paul wrote that maturity demands us to forsake the things of childhood (I Cor 13:11).
Thus, Jesus teaches us that the kingdom of heaven will be filled with those who lived their lives in active compassion and childlike innocence, while Paul envisions a heaven of crusty, serious "mature" grouches who merely have to profess "acceptance of" or "belief in" Jesus without ever actually performing a single kind, compassionate, cheerful or childishly playful deed.
In his last teaching before going to the upper room for the Last Supper and the "beginning of the end," Jesus described in Matt. 25:31-45 the final judgment as being based solely and entirely on behavioral responses to internalized compassion. And Jesus makes it very clear that those who DO express universal compassion in behavioral action WILL BE SAVED, and those who do not will NOT be saved. Period. There is no other qualification.
Blatant Lie
Bush has stated "We thought Saddam had WMD's." Here's a video that shows he is nothing short of a liar.
Props to Tool and A Perfect Circle
Rock bands Tool and A Perfect Circle, led by the same frontman, Maynard James Keenan, are making it clear how they feel about our current government. I personally feel that if you see political tyranny and you have the ability to be heard by many, it would be treacherous to hold your peace. They along with others represent those of us who are mortified by the evil actions of our government and the sheeple who support them.
Counting Bodies Like Sheep To The Rhythm Of The War Drums
By A Perfect Circle
Don't fret precious I'm here, step away from the window
Go back to sleep
Safe from pain and truth and choice and other poison devils,
See, they don't give a fuck about you, like I do.
Count the bodies like sheep
Count the bodies like sheep
Counting bodies like sheep
To the rhythm of the war drums
Count the bodies like sheep
Go back to sleep
Go back to sleep
Counting bodies like sheep
To the rhythm of the war drums
Go back to sleep
Go back to sleep
Counting bodies like sheep
To the rhythm of the war drums
Go back to sleep
Go back to sleep
Counting bodies like sheep
Go back to sleep
Go to sleep [x14]
Go back to sleep
Go back to sleep
Go back to sleep
Counting bodies like sheep
Go back to sleep
Go back to sleep
Counting bodies like sheep
Go back to sleep
Go back to sleep
Counting bodies like sheep
To the rhythm of the war drums
Go back to sleep
Go back to sleep
Counting bodies like sheep
To the rhythm of the war drums
Go back to sleep
Go back to sleep
Counting bodies like sheep
To the rhythm of the war drums [x2]
I'll be the one to protect you from your enemies and all your demons
I'll be the one to protect you from a will to survive and a voice of reason
I'll be the one to protect you from your enemies and your choices son
They're one in the same, I must isolate you
Isolate and save you from yourself
Vicarious
By Tool
I own the tv
Cause tragedy thrills me
Whatever flavor it happens to be like
Killed by the husband
Drowned by the ocean
Shot by his own son he used to poison
And in his dream
He kissed him goodbye
That's my kind of story
It's no fun 'til someone dies
Don't look me at like I am a monster
Frown out your one face
But with the other
Stare like a junkie into the TV
Stare like a zombie
While the mother holds her child
Watches him die
Hands to the sky crying
Why, oh why?
Cause I need to watch things die
From a distance
Vicariously I live while the whole world dies
You all need it too, don't lie
Why can't we just admit it?
Why can't we just admit it?
We won't give pause until the blood is flowing
Neither the brave nor bold
Were writers the stories told
We won't give pause until the blood is flowing
I need to watch things die
From a good safe distance
Vicariously I live while the whole world dies
You all feel the same, so
Why can't we just admit it?
Blood like rain come down
Drawn by grave and mound
Part vampire
Part warrior
Carnivore and voyeur
Still have the transmitter
Sink to the death rattle
La, la, la, la, la, la-la-lie
Credulous at best
Your desire to believe in
Angels in the hearts of men
But pull your head on out
Your head please
And give a listen
Shouldn't have to say it all again
The universe is hostile, so impersonal
Devour to survive so it is,
So it's always been
We all feed on tragedy
It's like blood to a vampire
Vicariously I...
Live while the whole world dies
Much better you, than I
Annihilation
By A Perfect Circle
From dehumanization to arms production,
For the benefit of the nation or its destruction
Power, power, the law of the land,
Those living for death will die by their own hand,
Life's no ordeal if you come to terms,
Reject the system dictating the norms
From dehumanization to arms production,
To hasten the nation towards its destruction
Power, power, the law of the land,
Those living for death will die by their own hand,
Life's no ordeal if you come to terms,
Reject the system dictating the norms
From dehumanization to arms production,
To hasten the nation towards its destruction
Power, power, the law of the land,
Those living for death will die by their own hand,
Life's no ordeal if you come to terms,
Reject the system dictating the norms
From dehumanization to arms production,
To hasten this nation towards its destruction,
It's your choice, your choice, your choice, your choice,
Peace or annihilation
Footage from the horrifyingly powerful movie, Lord of War.
Killing for God
I have played the game--at least the demo and I am astonished and fearful of propoganda like this. I decided to pose as a christian teen and use their "ask us a question" system to get more insight into what these people believe. Here is the email:
Richard (not my real name),
Thank you for visiting dontbeleftbehind.com. You asked, 'Hello and God bless you for spreading His ministry! There is something that I am curious about though. Would there ever be a case in which God would permit killing someone?'.
Many people make the mistake of believing the Bible says, “You shall not kill,” and seek to apply this command to war. However, the Bible actually says, “You shall not murder” (Exodus 20:13). The Hebrew word literally means “the intentional, premeditated killing of another person with malice.” God often ordered the Israelites to go to war with other nations (1 Samuel 15:3; Joshua 4:13). God ordered the death penalty for numerous crimes (Exodus 21:12; 21:15; 22:19; Leviticus 20:11). So, God is not against killing in all circumstances, but rather only murder. War is never a good thing, but sometimes it is a necessary thing. In a world filled with sinful people (Romans 3:10-18), war is inevitable. Sometimes the only way to keep sinful people from doing great harm is by going to war with them.
Sincerely in Christ,
Shea
AllAboutGod.com
My next question, which I may ask my new friend, Shea, is who determines the group of sinful people to attack? Will it be someone like Bush? He has claimed to be doing god's will, yet he has been proven to be a liar at the expense of our troops. Many christians claim that they are peaceful people and those who wish hostility on others do not speak for christianity, but the bible says otherwise.
And to those who say "Oh, that's just one group of radicals who made that game," think again. Priests all over the country are promoting this game and the ideology of it.
Mystery Plane was the Doomsday, Perhaps 3 Doomsdays
http://911blogger.com/node/10441
The E-4B Advanced Airborne Command Post is designed to be used by the National Command Authority as a survivable command post for control of U.S. forces in all levels of conflict including nuclear war. In addition to its primary mission, secondary missions assigned to the E-4B include VIP travel support and Federal Emergency Management Agency support, which provides communications to relief efforts following natural disasters such as hurricanes and earthquakes.
The morning of 9/11, CNN reported a mystery jet plane flying above Washington, DC. At 9:54 a.m., correspondent John King, who was standing near the White House, reported that about ten minutes earlier (hence, around 9:44 a.m.), there was "a white jet circling overhead." He added: "Now, you generally don't see planes in the area over the White House. That is restricted air space. No reason to believe that this jet was there for any nefarious purposes, but the Secret Service was very concerned, pointing up at the jet in the sky. It is out of sight now, best we can tell." [1] Shortly after, another CNN correspondent, Kate Snow, also reported having seen a plane, "circling over the Capitol" building at around the same time. She said: "Now whether that may have been an Air Force plane, it's unclear. But that seemed to be the reason, according to security guards that I talked with, towards the evacuation of the Capitol." [2]
Yet the identity of this "white jet" aircraft has been a mystery. Indeed, there has been virtually no discussion of its existence, even though it was flying above Washington at a time when America was under attack, and when the only aircraft in the area should have been fighter jets, there to protect against possible further attacks. The 9/11 Commission, which claimed that its aim had been to present "the fullest possible account of the events surrounding 9/11" appears not to have investigated the identity of this plane, and made no mention of it in its final report.
THE MYSTERY PLANE IDENTIFIED
In his recent Internet article "The 9/11 Mystery Plane," Mark H. Gaffney presented compelling evidence--including a clear photo and video footage--indicating that this "white jet" had in fact been an E-4B National Airborne Operations Center (NAOC) plane. These are highly modified Boeing 747s that act as flying military command posts. [3]
Important new evidence corroborates Gaffney's conclusion, and raises further questions about the role played by the E-4B planes on 9/11. This evidence appears in the 2003 book Black Ice: The Invisible Threat of Cyber-Terrorism, written by Dan Verton, a former intelligence officer in the U.S. Marine Corps and former senior writer for Computerworld magazine, who has written extensively on national security, the intelligence community, and national defense topics. Verton reported that, the morning of September 11, an E-4B was launched from "an airfield outside of the nation's capital." (He did not, however, state which specific base.) This plane was carrying "civilian and military officials," and was going "to conduct a previously scheduled Defense Department exercise." This exercise would involve "the use and testing of the aircraft's various advanced technology and communications equipment."
According to Verton, the E-4B launched from near Washington "had only just taken off" at the time of the Pentagon attack, which was at 9:37 a.m. This would mean it could, quite plausibly, have been circling above the White House and Capitol building at around 9:44 a.m., when CNN's John King and Kate Snow spotted a plane up above. Verton adds that, once airborne, the E-4B "was immediately ordered to cease the military exercise it was conducting and prepare to become the actual national airborne operations center." [4]
GLOBAL GUARDIAN
The exercise the E-4B was participating in would have been Global Guardian, which was being conducted at the time by the U.S. Strategic Command (Stratcom), to test its ability to fight a nuclear war. The Omaha World-Herald has reported that three National Airborne Operations Center planes were airborne the morning of 9/11 for this exercise. Following the attacks, all three remained in the air. [5] According to the World-Herald, Global Guardian was canceled after the second WTC tower was hit, at 9:03 a.m. [6] This is what we would logically expect, since it was quite obvious by that time that America was under attack, and an ongoing massive war exercise could, presumably, have led to great confusion within the military about what was real and what was just simulation. Yet, according to Verton's account, it was only around the time of the Pentagon attack that the E-4B launched near Washington was ordered to stop the exercise. This would therefore have been over half an hour after the second attack had occurred. If Verton is correct, we need to know why there was such a delay in pulling this aircraft out of the exercise.
DOOMSDAY PLANES
It is important to note that the E-4B is no ordinary aircraft. It is a militarized version of a Boeing 747-200, equipped with advanced communications equipment, and capable of carrying a crew of up to 112 people. Nicknamed "Doomsday" planes during the Cold War, E-4Bs serve the president, the secretary of defense, and the Joint Chiefs of Staff. In times of national emergency, they can act as highly-survivable command, control, and communications centers to direct forces, execute war orders, and coordinate actions by civil authorities. The U.S. military possesses four of them in total. One is always kept on alert, with a full battle staff. Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska is the "Main Operating Base" for the E-4B, though there are also numerous "Forward Operating Bases" (FOB) throughout the U.S. [7]
As well as the three E-4Bs in the air the morning of September 11 due to the Global Guardian exercise, what appears to have been the fourth of these planes--presumably the one kept on alert--was apparently activated and launched simply in response to the attacks. Reportedly, minutes after the attack on the Pentagon, it took off from Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, near Dayton, Ohio, bound for an undisclosed location. The plane returned to the base at some unspecified time later on in the day. [8] Like the E-4B launched near Washington, little attention has been paid to this aircraft and what its purpose was on 9/11. Again, no mention was made of it in the 9/11 Commission Report.
This highlights the fact that, approaching the sixth anniversary of the attacks, we still only really know a very small fraction of what was going on during the day of 9/11. As Mark Gaffney rightly concludes, there is an "urgent need for a new 9/11 investigation: It must be nonpartisan, independent, adequately funded, and empowered with the authority to subpoena witnesses." [9]
NOTES
[1] "The White House Has Been Evacuated." Breaking News, CNN, September 11, 2001. The clip can be viewed online at: http://www.archive.org/details/cnn200109110929-1011.
[2] "America Under Attack: Terrorists Attacks in Both Washington, DC and New York." Breaking News, CNN, September 11, 2001. The clip can be viewed online at: http://www.archive.org/details/cnn200109111011-1053.
[3] Mark H. Gaffney, "The 9/11 Mystery Plane." Rense.com, April 5, 2007.
[4] Dan Verton, Black Ice: The Invisible Threat of Cyber-Terrorism. New York: Osborne/McGraw-Hill, 2003, pp. 143-144.
[5] Joe Dejka, "Inside StratCom on Sept. 11 Offutt Exercise Took Real-life Twist." Omaha World-Herald, February 27, 2002.
[6] Joe Dejka, "When Bush Arrived, Offutt Sensed History in the Making." Omaha World-Herald, September 8, 2002.
[7] Stephen I. Schwartz (Editor), Atomic Audit: The Costs and Consequences of U. S. Nuclear Weapons Since 1940. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution Press, 1998, p. 210; "E-4B National Airborne Operations Center." Federation of American Scientists, April 23, 2000; "E-4B." U.S. Air Force, August 2007.
[8] Timothy R. Gaffney, "Wright-Pat Air Force Base Goes to Highest Alert." Dayton Daily News, September 12, 2001.
[9] Mark H. Gaffney, "The 9/11 Mystery Plane."
Bush on the Constitution: ‘It’s just a goddamned piece of paper’
By By DOUG THOMPSON
Dec 5, 2005, 07:53
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Last month, Republican Congressional leaders filed into the Oval Office to meet with President George W. Bush and talk about renewing the controversial USA Patriot Act.
Several provisions of the act, passed in the shell shocked period immediately following the 9/11 terrorist attacks, caused enough anger that liberal groups like the American Civil Liberties Union had joined forces with prominent conservatives like Phyllis Schlafly and Bob Barr to oppose renewal.
GOP leaders told Bush that his hardcore push to renew the more onerous provisions of the act could further alienate conservatives still mad at the President from his botched attempt to nominate White House Counsel Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court.
“I don’t give a goddamn,” Bush retorted. “I’m the President and the Commander-in-Chief. Do it my way.”
“Mr. President,” one aide in the meeting said. “There is a valid case that the provisions in this law undermine the Constitution.”
“Stop throwing the Constitution in my face,” Bush screamed back. “It’s just a goddamned piece of paper!”
I’ve talked to three people present for the meeting that day and they all confirm that the President of the United States called the Constitution “a goddamned piece of paper.”
And, to the Bush Administration, the Constitution of the United States is little more than toilet paper stained from all the shit that this group of power-mad despots have dumped on the freedoms that “goddamned piece of paper” used to guarantee.
Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, while still White House counsel, wrote that the “Constitution is an outdated document.”
Put aside, for a moment, political affiliation or personal beliefs. It doesn’t matter if you are a Democrat, Republican or Independent. It doesn’t matter if you support the invasion or Iraq or not. Despite our differences, the Constitution has stood for two centuries as the defining document of our government, the final source to determine “in the end ” if something is legal or right.
Every federal official - including the President - who takes an oath of office swears to uphold and defend the Constitution of the United States.”
Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia says he cringes when someone calls the Constitution a “living document.”
“Oh, how I hate the phrase we have “a ‘living document,” Scalia says. “We now have a Constitution that means whatever we want it to mean. The Constitution is not a living organism, for Pete’s sake.”
As a judge, Scalia says, “I don’t have to prove that the Constitution is perfect; I just have to prove that it’s better than anything else.”
President Bush has proposed seven amendments to the Constitution over the last five years, including a controversial amendment to define marriage as a “union between a man and woman.” Members of Congress have proposed some 11,000 amendments over the last decade, ranging from repeal of the right to bear arms to a Constitutional ban on abortion.
Scalia says the danger of tinkering with the Constitution comes from a loss of rights.
“We can take away rights just as we can grant new ones,” Scalia warns. “Don’t think that it’s a one-way street.”
And don’t buy the White House hype that the USA Patriot Act is a necessary tool to fight terrorism. It is a dangerous law that infringes on the rights of every American citizen and, as one brave aide told President Bush, something that undermines the Constitution of the United States.
But why should Bush care? After all, the Constitution is just “a goddamned piece of paper.”
© Copyright 2006 by Capitol Hill Blue
Welcome to the American Gestapo
Published on Wednesday, November 20, 2002 by Capitol Hill Blue
by Doug Thompson
Wonder if any of the vast sums of money approved Tuesday for the new Department of Homeland Security are set aside for black uniforms with knee-length boots and black leather trench coats?
Should be. Since we’ve gone to all this trouble to create the new American Gestapo we might as well let them look the part.
Excuse me if I don’t join in all the senseless celebration over creation of yet another mammoth bureaucracy of the federal government. Pardon me if I don’t go ga-ga over a federal agency that has been given unlimited powers to spy on Americans, trample all over the First and Fourth Amendments, ignore the privacy of anyone it chooses and violate the rights of every man, woman and child who used to live in the Land of the Free.
Our own paranoia has accomplished what Osama bin Laden and his minions could not with hijacked airplanes and vague threats about future attacks – these fears have forced America to abandon its principles and create a police state.
This new Department of Homeland Security has the power to wiretap any American it wants, without a court order, without cause and without justification to any higher authority. Homeland Security goon squads will have the power to enter any American home, without a search warrant, without probable cause, simply because someone somewhere says “hey, this guy might be a threat.” No checks and balances, no due process. Nothing.
Video cameras at ATMs, convenience stores, department stores and office building lobbies already record Americans living in urban areas 75-100 times on any given day but that isn’t enough for the new American Gestapo. They plan to erect video cameras on streets, along public highways, in neighborhoods and deploy them on helicopters and police cars to record everything you and I do every day of the year.
“We are entering a new era of domestic surveillance,” says retired FBI agent Franklin Postel. “One where the constitution is secondary to the cause. The new department has the power to document the day-to-day actions of any American it chooses.”
A secret court decision last May already gives the Justice Department expanded powers to wiretap phones, spy on Americans and “share information” with other law enforcement agencies.
These powers, granted under a dangerous piece of legislation called the “USA Patriot Act,” allow Attorney General John Ashcroft to sign away the normal rights and protections that Americans used to enjoy – little things like probable cause, due process and the now forgotten belief that any accused is presumed innocent until proven guilty.
Those who support these expanded powers say the system has "safeguards" where law enforcement personnel must get a judge's approval before wiretapping an American family but those who have studied the law said the "safeguards" are, in fact, "carefully worded loopholes."
"The law only requires an 'administrative review' by the very department that wants to spy on Americans," says retired federal judge John Macklin. "Most judges would not approve such wiretaps but the law is engineered to make sure that most judges never see the request."
Ashcroft says he will implement the new powers “immediately” and is already increasing surveillance of Americans.
Look closer at the powers granted under the act and you will find things that would make Hitler proud.
They include provisions to allow private citizens to spy on other private citizens without fear of prosecution if the Department determines their actions were conducted “in the national interest.”
“I’ve read some of the abstracts on the new law and they take the handcuffs off people like me,” says private detective Andrew Burlingame. “I can tap anyone I damn well please. All I have to do is claim I thought the guy was a terrorist.”
Under the new law, an agent of the Department of Homeland Security can walk into your bank, flash a badge and demand to see your checking and saving account records. No court order. All they need is the “presumption of guilt.” They can stop you in your car without cause and search it and you. They can hold you in jail for 30 days or more without filing any charges or allowing you to make any phone calls.
They can call up America Online and put a trace on all your Internet activity without a court order. They can require Visa to turn over all your credit card activity records without notice.
"Again, the process only requires an internal administrative review and not the involvement of any independent judicial authority," says retired judge Macklin. "It violates all previous standards for due process and probable cause."
In other words, they can do any damn thing they want and there isn’t a thing that any of us can do about it.
Some may argue the current terrorist threat requires such drastic measures. But what happens when that threat is met? The Department of Homeland Security and its draconian powers will still exist. Who will determine the new threat? Who will decide who becomes the enemy?
"An evil exists that threatens every man, woman and child of this great nation," the leader of another country once wrote. "We must take steps to ensure our domestic security and protect our homeland."
That was Adoph Hitler, writing about creation of the Gestapo in Nazi Germany.
Wecome to the American Gestapo. Be careful what you say and do. They are watching and they will be watching from now on.
Doug Thompson is the founder and publisher of Capitol Hill Blue.
© Copyright 2002 Capitol Hill Blue
Regress Less!
Thank you for taking the time to read what I need to share. To show my appreciation, I believe it is only fair to warn you about what follows. There is a chance that I may anger you. You may call me a conspiracy nut or even a traitor, but Samuel Clemens, better known as Mark Twain, once said:
"...the citizen who thinks he sees that the commonwealth's political clothes are worn out, and yet holds his peace and does not agitate for a new suit, is disloyal; he is a traitor."
I used to think things were going just fine. I was born into a nation of honor and dignity. I could almost feel my heart swell with pride when I thought about the greatness of the United States of America. Now, the only greatness I see is in individuals and in our potential. I know that the majority of the American people are caring and compassionate, but you are not ruled by the majority. You are ruled by bankers and egomaniacs who DO NOT have your best interests in mind. In the early 1900's, J.P. Morgan used his influence to create a rumor that a New York City financial institution went bankrupt and Americans cleaned out our private banks, forcing them to get loans, causing their recipients to sell their properties, thus a spiral of bankruptcies and repossessions ensued. We have been slaves of debt to them ever since. In the mid 1900's, banker David Rockefeller, as a member of the Council on Foreign Relations said:
"We are grateful to the Washington Post, the New York Times, Time Magazine and other great publications, whose directors have attended our meetings and respected their promises of discretion for almost 40 years. It would have been impossible for us to develop our plan for the world if we had been subjected to the lights of publicity during those years. But, the world is more sophisticated and prepared to march towards a world government. The supranational sovereignty of an intellectual elite and world bankers is surely preferable to the national auto-determination practiced in past centuries."
Since ancient times, governments have realized that the people can be controlled with fear. I know it is hard for many to imagine, but that is the reason for World War 1, World War 2, the Vietnam War, and the War on Terror. George W. Bush said:
"An evil exists that threatens every man, woman, and child of this great nation. We must take steps to ensure our domestic security and protect our homeland."
Actually, Bush's writers can't take credit for that line. It is from the lips of Adolf Hitler. Adolf Hitler used his people's religion as a tool against them. Adolf Hitler staged an attack on his own people and blamed it on communist terrorists. Shortly after, he passed the Enabling Act, which completely eradicated the the German constitution, destroying people's liberties. He then led a series of preemptive wars that were justified to the German people as necessary to maintaining HOMELAND SECURITY.
In this modern age, we have the ability to speak to the world, not just our countrymen. You should swallow your pride and get to know them. You should be concerned with what they are saying. You should understand the seriousness of our actions as a whole. If you really want to fight for what you believe in, don't you think it is important for your beliefs to be backed by facts? When will you wake up?! When will you care to find the truth instead of believing what you are told by your television? When will you stand up for yourself, your family, and your neighbors?
I know I sound crazy. I don't expect you to take my word for it. I want you to challenge me.
Our beloved former president, John F. Kennedy, once made it clear to us what was happening. In case you've forgotten, or perhaps you never heard it, it goes as follows:
"...we are opposed around the world by a monolithic and ruthless conspiracy that relies primarily on covet means for expanding it's sphere of influence on infiltration instead of invasion, on subversion instead of elections, on intimidation instead of free choice. It is a system which has conscripted vast human and material resources into the building of a tightly knit, highly efficient machine that combined military, diplomatic, intelligence, economic, scientific, and political operations. It's preparations are concealed, not published. It's mistakes are buried, not headlined. It's dissenters are silenced, not praised. No expenditure is questioned. No secret is revealed. That is why the Athenian lawmaker, Solon, decreed it a crime for any citizen to shrink from controversy. I am asking your help in the tremendous task of informing and alerting the American people. Confident that with your help, man will be what he was born to be. Free and independent."
In the case of 9/11 there is proof that our government has taken hold of our pursuit of happiness and ripped it from our hearts. Please prove me wrong. There is nothing I want more than to be wrong. It hurts too much to know the truth. Today, there are two ways to pursue happiness: to ignore the world around you or to change the world around you. Ultimately, you make the decision, but you should be ashamed of yourself for not caring enough, or caring, but not doing enough.
If they continue to get away with this, we are doomed. Please don't let them. Find the facts and spread them like gospel. Your freedom is at stake! Millions are speaking out on the World Wide Web and it is your duty as an American to join them. One person is easily silenced. Millions united are steadfast and undeniable. Let them have their guns and bombs. We do not need violence to make change. The answer is education. Shake your neighbor out of his stupor with facts. Show him what he has been blind to due to the media and his own denial. Have faith in yourself and humanity, for it is the only way.
Top 10 Signs of the Impending U.S. Police State
http://www.alternet.org/story/36553/
Is the U.S. becoming a police state? Here are the top 10 signs that it may well be the case.
1. The Internet Clampdown
One saving grace of alternative media in this age of unfettered corporate conglomeration has been the internet. While the masses are spoon-fed predigested news on TV and in mainstream print publications, the truth-seeking individual still has access to a broad array of investigative reporting and political opinion via the world-wide web. Of course, it was only a matter of time before the government moved to patch up this crack in the sky.
Attempts to regulate and filter internet content are intensifying lately, coming both from telecommunications corporations (who are gearing up to pass legislation transferring ownership and regulation of the internet to themselves), and the Pentagon (which issued an "Information Operations Roadmap" in 2003, signed by Donald Rumsfeld, which outlines tactics such as network attacks and acknowledges, without suggesting a remedy, that US propaganda planted in other countries has easily found its way to Americans via the internet). One obvious tactic clearing the way for stifling regulation of internet content is the growing media frenzy over child pornography and "internet predators," which will surely lead to legislation that by far exceeds in its purview what is needed to fight such threats.
2. "The Long War"
This little piece of clumsy marketing died off quickly, but it gave away what many already suspected: the War on Terror will never end, nor is it meant to end. It is designed to be perpetual. As with the War on Drugs, it outlines a goal that can never be fully attained -- as long as there are pissed off people and explosives. The Long War will eternally justify what are ostensibly temporary measures: suspension of civil liberties, military expansion, domestic spying, massive deficit spending and the like. This short-lived moniker told us all, "get used to it. Things aren't going to change any time soon."
3. The USA PATRIOT Act
Did anyone really think this was going to be temporary? Yes, this disgusting power grab gives the government the right to sneak into your house, look through all your stuff and not tell you about it for weeks on a rubber stamp warrant. Yes, they can look at your medical records and library selections. Yes, they can pass along any information they find without probable cause for purposes of prosecution. No, they're not going to take it back, ever.
4. Prison Camps
This last January the Army Corps of Engineers gave Halliburton subsidiary Kellogg Brown & Root nearly $400 million to build detention centers in the United States, for the purpose of unspecified "new programs." Of course, the obvious first guess would be that these new programs might involve rounding up Muslims or political dissenters -- I mean, obviously detention facilities are there to hold somebody. I wish I had more to tell you about this, but it's, you know... secret.
5. Touchscreen Voting Machines
Despite clear, copious evidence that these nefarious contraptions are built to be tampered with, they continue to spread and dominate the voting landscape, thanks to Bush's "Help America Vote Act," the exploitation of corrupt elections officials, and the general public's enduring cluelessness.
In Utah, Emery County Elections Director Bruce Funk witnessed security testing by an outside firm on Diebold voting machines which showed them to be a security risk. But his warnings fell on deaf ears. Instead Diebold attorneys were flown to Emery County on the governor's airplane to squelch the story. Funk was fired. In Florida, Leon County Supervisor of Elections Ion Sancho discovered an alarming security flaw in their Diebold system at the end of last year. Rather than fix the flaw, Diebold refused to fulfill its contract. Both of the other two touchscreen voting machine vendors, Sequoia and ES&S, now refuse to do business with Sancho, who is required by HAVA to implement a touchscreen system and will be sued by his own state if he doesn't. Diebold is said to be pressuring for Sancho's ouster before it will resume servicing the county.
Stories like these and much worse abound, and yet TV news outlets have done less coverage of the new era of elections fraud than even 9/11 conspiracy theories. This is possibly the most important story of this century, but nobody seems to give a damn. As long as this issue is ignored, real American democracy will remain an illusion. The midterm elections will be an interesting test of the public's continuing gullibility about voting integrity, especially if the Democrats don't win substantial gains, as they almost surely will if everything is kosher.
Bush just suggested that his brother Jeb would make a good president. We really need to fix this problem soon.
6. Signing Statements
Bush has famously never vetoed a bill. This is because he prefers to simply nullify laws he doesn't like with "signing statements." Bush has issued over 700 such statements, twice as many as all previous presidents combined. A few examples of recently passed laws and their corresponding dismissals, courtesy of the Boston Globe:
--Dec. 30, 2005: US interrogators cannot torture prisoners or otherwise subject them to cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment.
Bush's signing statement: The president, as commander in chief, can waive the torture ban if he decides that harsh interrogation techniques will assist in preventing terrorist attacks.
--Dec. 30, 2005: When requested, scientific information ''prepared by government researchers and scientists shall be transmitted [to Congress] uncensored and without delay."
Bush's signing statement: The president can tell researchers to withhold any information from Congress if he decides its disclosure could impair foreign relations, national security, or the workings of the executive branch.
--Dec. 23, 2004: Forbids US troops in Colombia from participating in any combat against rebels, except in cases of self-defense. Caps the number of US troops allowed in Colombia at 800.
Bush's signing statement: Only the president, as commander in chief, can place restrictions on the use of US armed forces, so the executive branch will construe the law ''as advisory in nature."
Essentially, this administration is bypassing the judiciary and deciding for itself whether laws are constitutional or not. Somehow, I don't see the new Supreme Court lineup having much of a problem with that, though. So no matter what laws congress passes, Bush will simply choose to ignore the ones he doesn't care for. It's much quieter than a veto, and can't be overridden by a two-thirds majority. It's also totally absurd.
7. Warrantless Wiretapping
Amazingly, the GOP sees this issue as a plus for them. How can this be? What are you, stupid? You find out the government is listening to the phone calls of US citizens, without even the weakest of judicial oversight and you think that's okay? Come on -- if you know anything about history, you know that no government can be trusted to handle something like this responsibly. One day they're listening for Osama, and the next they're listening in on Howard Dean.
Think about it: this administration hates unauthorized leaks. With no judicial oversight, why on earth wouldn't they eavesdrop on, say, Seymour Hersh, to figure out who's spilling the beans? It's a no-brainer. Speaking of which, it bears repeating: terrorists already knew we would try to spy on them. They don't care if we have a warrant or not. But you should.
8. Free Speech Zones
I know it's old news, but... come on, are they fucking serious?
9. High-ranking Whistleblowers
Army Generals. Top-level CIA officials. NSA operatives. White House cabinet members. These are the kind of people that Republicans fantasize about being, and whose judgment they usually respect. But for some reason, when these people resign in protest and criticize the Bush administration en masse, they are cast as traitorous, anti-American publicity hounds. Ridiculous. The fact is, when people who kill, spy and deceive for a living tell you that the White House has gone too far, you had damn well better pay attention. We all know most of these people are staunch Republicans. If the entire military except for the two guys the Pentagon put in front of the press wants Rumsfeld out, why on earth wouldn't you listen?
10. The CIA Shakeup
Was Porter Goss fired because he was resisting the efforts of Rumsfeld or Negroponte? No. These appointments all come from the same guys, and they wouldn't be nominated if they weren't on board all the way. Goss was probably canned so abruptly due to a scandal involving a crooked defense contractor, his hand-picked third-in-command, the Watergate hotel and some hookers.
If Bush's nominee for CIA chief, Air Force General Michael Hayden, is confirmed, that will put every spy program in Washington under military control. Hayden, who oversaw the NSA warrantless wiretapping program and is clearly down with the program. That program? To weaken and dismantle or at least neuter the CIA. Despite its best efforts to blame the CIA for "intelligence errors" leading to the Iraq war, the picture has clearly emerged -- through extensive CIA leaks -- that the White House's analysis of Saddam's destructive capacity was not shared by the Agency. This has proved to be a real pain in the ass for Bush and the gang.
Who'd have thought that career spooks would have moral qualms about deceiving the American people? And what is a president to do about it? Simple: make the critical agents leave, and fill their slots with Bush/Cheney loyalists. Then again, why not simply replace the entire organization? That is essentially what both Rumsfeld at the DoD and newly minted Director of National Intelligence John are doing -- they want to move intelligence analysis into the hands of people that they can control, so the next time they lie about an "imminent threat" nobody's going to tell. And the press is applauding the move as a "necessary reform."
Remember the good old days, when the CIA were the bad guys?
Intelligence Report
By Lyric Wallwork Winik
Published: October 7, 2007
Bush Buddies Represent U.S. Abroad
Our country sends ambassadors to almost every nation in the world. Most of these men and women are diplomats who’ve spent their careers working in the foreign service. However, regardless of whether the President is a Democrat or a Republican, about one-third of our ambassadors are nondiplomats who are either friends of the Chief Executive or major political donors. Some current examples:
* U.S. Ambassador to Australia Robert McCallum was a member with Bush of Skull & Bones at Yale.
* U.S. Ambassador to Belize Robert Dieter was one of Bush’s roommates at Yale.
* U.S. Ambassador to Poland Victor Ashe was a close friend of Bush’s at Yale and also a member of Skull & Bones.
* U.S. Ambassador to Hungary April Foley dated George Bush at Harvard Business School, according to press reports.
* U.S. Ambassador to Sweden Michael Wood was Bush’s friend at prep school and his frat brother at Yale.
* U.S. Ambassador to China Clark Randt was also a frat brother at Yale.
* U.S. Ambassador to Japan Thomas Schieffer was Bush’s partner when he owned the Texas Rangers.
Quotes on Conspiracy
* "Permit me to issue and control the money of a nation, and I care not who makes its laws!"
-Mayer Anselm Rothschild
* "From the days of Sparticus Wieshophf, Karl Marx, Trotski, Belacoon, Rosa Luxenburg, and Ema Goldman, this world conspiracy has been steadily growing. This conspiracy played a definite recognizable role in the tragedy of the French revolution. It has been the mainspring of every subversive movement during the 19th century. And now at last this band of extraordinary personalities from the underworld of the great cities of Europe and America have gripped the Russian people by the hair of their head and have become the undisputed masters of that enormous empire."
- Winston Churchill, 1922
* "Since I entered politics, I have chiefly had men's views confided to me privately. Some of the biggest men in the United States, in the field of commerce and manufacture, are afraid of something. They know that there is a power somewhere so organized, so subtle, so watchful, so interlocked, so complete, so pervasive, that they better not speak above their breath when they speak in condemnation of it."
- Woodrow Wilson, The New Freedom (1913)
* "The world is governed by very different personages from what is imagined by those who are not behind the scenes."
- Benjamin Disraeli, first Prime Minister of England, in a novel he published in 1844 called Coningsby, the New Generation
* "The drive of the Rockefellers and their allies is to create a one-world government combining supercapitalism and Communism under the same tent, all under their control... Do I mean conspiracy? Yes, I do. I am convinced there is such a plot, international in scope, generations old in planning, and incredibly evil in intent."
- Congressman Larry P. McDonald, 1976, killed in the Korean Airlines 747 that was shot down by the Soviets.
* "I am one of those who do not believe the national debt is a national blessing... it is calculated to raise around the administration a moneyed aristocracy dangerous to the liberties of the country."
- Andrew Jackson, letter, April 26, 1824
* " There today exists uncontrolled in the hands of a set of men a power to make dollars from nothing."
- Thomas W. Lawson Frenzied Finance, 1905
* "Those that create and issue the money and credit direct the policies of government and hold in their hands the destiny of the people."
- Reginald McKenna, President of the Midlands Bank of England
* "It must not be felt that these heads of the world's chief central banks were themselves substantive powers in world finance. They were not. Rather, they were the technicians and agents of the dominant investment bankers of their own countries, who had raised them up and were perfectly capable of throwing them down. The substantive financial powers of the world were in the hands of these investments bankers (also called 'international' or 'merchant' bankers) who remained largely behind the scenes in their own unicorporated private banks. These formed a system of international cooperation and national dominance which was more private, more powerful, and more secret than that of their agents in the central banks..."
- Professor Carroll Quigley, Tradgey and Hope: A History of the World in Our Time, 1966
* "It [the depression] was not accidental. It was a carefully contrived occurrence.... The international bankers sought to bring about a condition of despair here so that they might emerge as the rulers of us all."
- Congressman Louis T. McFadden, Chairman of the House Banking and Currency Committee
* "If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation and then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around them will deprive the people of all property until their children will wake up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered."
-Thomas Jefferson, letter to then Secretary of the Treasury, Albert Gallatin, 1802
* "100% of what is collected is absorbed soley by interest on the Federal Debt ... all individual income tax revenues are gone before one nickel is spent on the services taxpayers expect from government."
- Grace Commission Report, submitted to President Ronald Reagan on January 15, 1984
* "The high office of President has been used to foment a plot to destroy the American's freedom, and before I leave office I must inform the citizen of his plight."
- John F. Kennedy, speech at Columbia University, 10 days before his assassination
* "Now that we can control the weather, create earthquakes and tidal waves and, use it as a weapon of war, we do not need a treaty."
- Senator Claiborne Pell, Senate Intelligence Committe member, commenting on a USA/USSR treaty signed in 1978
* "The real rulers of Washington are invisible and exercise power from behind the scenes."
- US Supreme Court Justice Felix Frankfurter
* "Some people think the Federal Reserve Banks are United States Government Institution. They are private credit monopolies which prey upon the people of the United States for the benefit of themselves and their foreign customers."
- Congressman Louis T. McFadden, Chairman of the House Banking and Currency Committee, June 20, 1932
* "The few who understand the system will either be so interested in its profits or so dependent on its favours that there will be no
opposition from that class, while on the other hand, the great body of the people mentally incapable of comprehending the tremendous advantage that capital derives from the system will bear its burdens without complaint and perhaps without even suspecting that the system is inimical to their interests."
- John Sherman letter sent to New York bankers, Morton, and Gould, in support of the then proposed National Banking Act,June 25, 1863
* “The Federal Reserve (Bank) is one of the most corrupt institutions the world has ever seen. There is not a man within the sound of my voice who does not know that this Nation is run by the international bankers.”
― Congressman Louis T. McFadden
* “If the American people ever allow the banks to control the issuance of their currency (instead of Congress), first by inflation and then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around them will deprive the people of ALL PROPERTY until their children will wake up homeless on the continent their fathers occupied. The issuing power of money should be taken from the banks and restored to Congress and the people to whom it belongs.”
― Thomas Jefferson, quoted in The Story of our Money by Olive Cushing Dwinell
* “Banking was conceived in iniquity and was born in sin. The Bankers own the earth. Take it away from them, but leave them the power to create deposits, and with the flick of the pen they will create enough deposits to buy it back again. However, take it away from them, and all the great fortunes disappear, and they ought to disappear, for this would be a happier and better world to live in. But, if you wish to remain the slaves of Bankers and pay the cost of your own slavery, let them continue to create money and control credit."
― Sir Josiah Stamp - president of the Bank of England in the 1920’s and the second richest man in Britain
* “The people must be helped to think naturally about money. They must be told what it is, and what makes it money, and what are the possible TRICKS OF THE PRESENT SYSTEM which put nations and peoples UNDER CONTROL OF THE FEW. If the American people knew the CORRUPTION IN OUR MONEY SYSTEM THERE WOULD BE REVOLUTION BEFORE MORNING!”
― Henry Ford, Sr. — American Developer of the Automobile (Emerging Struggle pg. 165)
* “Mr. Chairman, we have in this country one of the most corrupt institutions the world has ever known. I refer to the Federal Reserve Board and the Federal Reserve Banks, hereinafter called the Fed. The Fed has cheated the government of these United States and the people of the United States out of enough money to pay the Nation's debt. The depredations and iniquities of the Fed has cost this country enough money to pay the National debt several times over. These twelve private credit monopolies were deceitfully and disloyally foisted upon this country by the bankers who came here from Europe and repaid us our hospitality by undermining our American institutions. Those bankers took money out of this country to finance Japan in a war against Russia. They created a reign of terror in Russia with our money in order to help that war along. They instigated the separate peace between Germany and Russia and thus drove a wedge between the Allies in the World War."
― Congressman Louis T. McFadden, Chairman of House Banking Committee 1921 through 1931 — in a speech made before the House in 1934
* “This is a staggering thought. We are completely dependent on the commercial Banks. Someone has to borrow every dollar we have in circulation, cash or credit. If the Banks create ample synthetic money we are prosperous; if not, we starve. We are absolutely without a permanent money system. When one gets a complete grasp of the picture, the tragic absurdity of our hopeless position is almost incredible, but there it is. It is the most important subject intelligent persons can investigate and reflect upon. It is so important that our present civilization may collapse unless it becomes widely understood and the defects remedied very soon.”
― Robert H. Hemphill (Credit Manager of Federal Reserve Bank, Atlanta, Ga.)
* "When the Federal Reserve Act was passed, the people of these United States did not perceive that a world banking system was being set up here. A super-state controlled by international bankers and international industrialists acting together to enslave the world for their own pleasure. Every effort has been made by the Fed (Reserve) to conceal its powers but the truth is — THE FED HAS USURPED THE GOVERNMENT!"
― Congressman Louis McFadden, Chairman of House Comm. on Banking and Currency from 1920 to 1931 (Shadows of Power, pg. 23
* "I am afraid that the ordinary citizen will not like to be told that the banks can and do “CREATE” money, and they who control the credit of a nation direct the policy of the government and hold in the hollow of their hands, the destiny of the people."
― Reginald McKenna, Chancellor of England’s Exchequer, January 1924
* "The present Federal Reserve System is a flagrant case of the Government’s conferring a special privilege upon bankers. The Government hands to the banks its credit, at virtually no cost to the banks, to be loaned out by the bankers for their own private profit. Still worse, however, is the fact that it gives the bankers practically complete control of the amount of money that shall be in circulation. Not one dollar of these Federal Reserve notes gets into circulation and without someone paying interest of someone paying interest to some bank to keep it circulation. Our present money system is a debt of money system. Before a dollar can circulate, a debt must be created. Such a system assumes that you can borrow yourself out of debt."
― Willis A. Overholser, LL.B - in History of Money in the United States.
