becoming free

FBI loses in its quest to violate internet archive's privacy rights

2008-05-07T19:54:00.000-07:00

No need for me to comment much other than say that this is very good news. Freedom isn't handed our freely, it must be rigorously defended. Thank you internet archives guys for standing up for freedom.

From the wired

The Internet Archive, a project to create a digital library of the web for posterity, successfully fought a secret government Patriot Act order for records about one of its patrons and won the right to make the order public, civil liberties groups announced Wednesday morning.

On November 26, 2007, the FBI served a controversial National Security Letter (.pdf) on the Internet Archive's founder Brewster Kahle, asking for records about one of the library's registered users, asking for the user's name, address and activity on the site.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation, the Internet Archive's lawyers, fought the NSL, challenging its constitutionality in a December 14 complaint (.pdf) to a federal court in San Francisco. The FBI agreed on April 21 to withdraw the letter and unseal the court case, making some of the documents available to the public.

The Patriot Act greatly expanded the reach of NSLs, which are subpoenas for documents such as billing records and telephone records that the FBI can issue in terrorism investigations without a judge's approval. Nearly all NSLs come with gag orders forbidding the recipient from ever speaking of the subpoena, except to a lawyer.

Brewster Kahle called the gag order "horrendous," saying he couldn't talk about the case with his board members, wife or staff, but said that his stand was part of a time-honored tradition of librarians protecting the rights of their patrons.

"This is an unqualified success that will help other recipients understand that you can push back on these," Kahle said in a conference call with reporters Wednesday morning.

Though FBI guidelines on using NSLs warned of overusing them, two Congressionally ordered audits revealed that the FBI had issued hundreds of illegal requests for student health records, telephone records and credit reports. The reports also found that the FBI had issued hundreds of thousands of NSLs since 2001, but failed to track their use. In a letter to Congress last week, the FBI admitted it can only estimate how many NSLs it has issued.

The Internet Archive's case is only the third known court challenge to an NSL, all of which ended with the FBI rescinding the NSL, according to the ACLU's Melissa Goodman.

"That makes you wonder about the the hundreds of thousands of NSLs that haven't been challenged," Goodman said, suggesting that the FBI had collected sensitive information on innocent Americans.

The EFF, joined by the ACLU, initially used the letter to challenge the constitutionality of NSLs generally, saying the gag order violates the First Amendment. They also argued that the specific NSL used was illegal since the Internet Archive is a library, not a communications provider.

The settlement with the government (.pdf) puts an end to that challenge and still keeps Kahle and his lawyers from discussing -- even in the most general terms -- what the FBI was after and what public information the Internet Archive turned over to the FBI. For instance, the lawyers declined to say what kind of information the target was looking at or uploading -- such as animal rights information or Muslim literature.

The ACLU has successfully quashed two other NSLs, including one request to a library system asking for web surfing histories of patrons and another to a small New York hosting provider asking for data about a website it hosted. The Internet Archive case is only the second time the courts allowed the recipient of a Patriot Act National Security Letter to reveal his or her identity.

In the case of a NSL sent to a small ISP in New York, a judge ruled that the entire NSL statute is unconstitutional because of the gag order, but that ruling is under appeal. Though the FBI withdrew the request for information on one of the websites the ISP hosted, the target of that letter is still bound by a gag order, though he did write an op-ed for the Washington Post about the experience.

Though Kahle wouldn't say what the feds were after, he stressed that the Internet Archive stores very little non-public information -- only an unverified email address for those who choose to provide it -- and does not log IP addresses.

SOTT defends its free speech rights

2008-05-05T05:21:00.000-07:00

I am watching this case that I previously posted on very closely. As I mentioned before, it seems like one heck of a free speech issue to me. And since the powers that be are clamping down so much on freedom, it would be interesting to see the outcome. I am glad that SOTT is not going gently into the night but instead is vigorously defending themselves and by proxy our right to state OPINIONS on matters of FACT. I am glad other web citizens are picking up on it too. Too bad more people are not. I am reminded of this:

First they came for the Communist and I did not speak out--because I was not a communist.

Then they came for the Socialist and I did not speak out--because I was not a socialist.

Then they came for the Trade Unionist and I did not speak out--because I was not a Trade Unionist.

Then they came for the Jews and I did not speak out--because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for me, and there was no one left to speak out for me."

----Reverend Martin Niemueller

It seems that friends of Mr. Pepin or maybe they're just individuals who see the case differently than I do, are going to little read blogs like yours truly to defend him. Free speech and all. I have no issues with them posting what they think about the case as long as they are not using foul language and threatening harm. I may not agree with what is said, but I certainty will support the right for it to be said. SOTT seems to be fighting back by asking for a dismissal of the case.

QFG and SOTT.net defend Internet First Amendment rights.

SOTT.net - May 02, 2008

(PRNewsChannel) / Portland, Oregon - Quantum Future Group, Inc. ("QFG"), the only defendant that has been served in an Internet defamation suit brought by New-Age guru Eric Pepin's sales company, has forcefully challenged the merits of the case and has asked an Oregon federal judge for a dismissal and attorneys fees.

The case concerns postings on a forum hosted by SOTT.net (Signs of the Times), an Internet site devoted to news and analysis in various fields, including analyzing and exposing cults. Citing Oregon's anti-SLAPP ("Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation") statute, QFG contends that the statements about Pepin and his company, Higher Balance Institute, LLC ("HBI") are constitutionally protected. Because HBI cannot show that it probably will prevail, QFG argues, the case must be dismissed before QFG or the other defendants must spend large amounts to defend themselves.

"Without exception," the motion states, "the statements are all constitutionally protected expressions of opinion rather than verifiable assertions of fact. HBI cannot meet its burden to prove, by clear and convincing evidence, that the statements are false, let alone that Defendants knew that they were false or had serious doubts as to their truth."

The statements cited in QFG's complaint question Pepin's meditation techniques and comment on Pepin's 2007 trial on multiple sexual charges involving a 17-year-old male acolyte. The statements at issue include a November 7, 2007 comment that "It's really starting to look like this Eric Pepin and his Higher Balance Institute may be merely COINTELPRO and a front for pedophilia" and a November 4, 2007 comment by an anonymous poster that something "fishy" was going on at HBI.

QFG's motions state that the forum posts are opinion based on stated facts published on a mainstream news source and are constitutionally protected. The motion also argues that the operator of an Internet forum cannot be liable for the posts of third parties under the Communications Decency Act of 1996 ("CDA") and questions Oregon's jurisdiction over QFG, a California non-profit corporation whose primary place of business is in France.

"These are exactly the sort of statements that the First Amendment and recent statutes protect as free speech," said QFG attorney Stephen Kaus, who prepared the papers with his colleagues Walter Hansell and Merrit Jones. "People are entitled to believe in gurus such as Pepin and buy their books and courses for hundreds of dollars or more, but people are also entitled to point out their view that the techniques of telepathy and development of a sixth eye promoted by Pepin are nonsense."

Much of the dispute concerns Pepin's trial on charges of sexual misconduct with a minor. Pepin was acquitted in a court trial because the judge did not feel the charges had been proven beyond a reasonable doubt. According to the article in the Oregonian, Washington County Circuit Court Judge Steven L. Price stated that it was, " 'probable that the conduct alleged in all counts occurred,' but he wasn't convinced beyond a reasonable doubt" and "called the leader of a metaphysical Internet sales company manipulative and controlling and his testimony unbelievable, even as he acquitted him today of charges that he had sex with an underage boy."

SOTT.NET posters point out that being found "not guilty beyond a reasonable doubt" is not the same thing as being found "innocent of all charges."

The sexual charges aside, the SOTT.NET forum topic on Pepin and HBI has been the site of a lively debate on whether he is an exploiter, ever since a visitor posted an inquiry about them in 2006. Several Pepin devotees have posted fervent praise, while others have denounced him as a power-lusting cult leader who takes advantage of gullible followers.

SOTT.NET contends that it is the public's right to examine the claims of any company selling a product or service to the public and to form their own opinion as to whether it is "snake-oil" sold by con-artists or not and that those opinions may be made public for the safety of consumers.

In a previous press release, atty Walter Hansell noted: "HBI's lawsuit is a frontal assault on free speech, and on the free global flow of information and opinion on the Internet. It is a blunt force attack on the discussion of sincere opinions among people sharing common interests."

See: http://www.prnewschannel.com/absolutenm/templates/?a=423&z=4

Following the filing of the motions to dismiss on April 25th, Walter Hansell of Cooper, White & Cooper said: "The intent of this suit by HBI is to stifle free speech, but luckily the anti SLAPP statute allows us to nip the matter in the bud before the cost is out of hand."

About Signs of The Times:
SOTT.net is an independent alternative news and analysis outlet that seeks to shine a spotlight on significant events and trends that affect the entire world. SOTT.net helps bring clarity out of a sea of media spin. The site is funded entirely by donations from individuals and groups that seek to support its work. For more information visit http://www.sott.net

About Quantum Future Group:
Quantum Future Group (QFG) supports activities that bring together people to engage in and to promote the study of scientific ideas and research in all scientific and socio-cultural fields that further the deepest understanding of our world and our place within it without regard to nationality or ethnicity. QFG seeks to increase the understanding of humankind by humankind, as a whole, by sponsoring research into all the parts to see how they fit together. QFG supports documented research that is made freely and widely available to all humanity. For more information visit:http://quantumfuturegroup.org

About Cooper, White & Cooper LLP:
Cooper, White & Cooper LLP, based in San Francisco, is longtime defender of free speech and communications. For more information visit http://www.cwclaw.com/

Contact: Joseph Quinn
Email: : sott@sott.net
Phone: : +33 563 048231
Web site: www.sott.net
To view this press release online

Another case of free speech treatened!

2008-03-22T10:11:00.000-07:00

Here we go again. It keeps happening and unless we stay on top of
these things it will only get worse.

The alternative news site AlterInfo is also in trouble and are being sued.
As I said before I don't have to agree with the politics of a given site but surely they are allowed to speak their minds. Got this one from SOTT

Jeff
sott.net
Fri, 21 Mar 2008 13:03 ED

The French alternative website Alterinfo.net is threatened with closing down as they face legal complaints and accusations of "antisemitism" by the Zionist lobby.

The French associative AlterInfo news agency is facing what it qualifies as a "new attempt of intimidation and destabilization". In January, UEJF [1] and AIPJ [2], two Jewish militant associations, lodged and summoned AlterInfo to appear in court for a summary judgment. The judgment returned on January 18th ruled in the Jewish lobbies' favour, which prompted the news agency to lodge an appeal, in which they will be able to better explain and justify their position. [Note: AlterInfo cannot reveal too many details about the case, to prevent the justice from interpreting the news release as an interference in the judicial procedure.]

These legal proceedings, as reported on the alternative news site, follow repeated death threats as well as several attempts at bribery in order to influence the editors and their editorial line. The editorial line is defined as "the transmission of another version of what the dominant thought imposes, an alternative interpretation of the information conveyed by the commercial media".

This procedure is coupled with a media campaign, in the front line of which we find UEJF and AIPJ.

Alterinfo's editor reports in an article:
" [...] I will mention two articles which the militant UEJF and AIPJ associations published against me and against the Alter Info website in their community press. 'L'Actualité Juive' ('The Jewish News') and its very 'objective' scribe are not attempting this for the first time: over the last year, at least three insulting articles have been published by the same right-thinking author. See :
href="http://www.alterinfo.net/docs/actualite_juive.pdf"> Jean-Yves Camus' last article in 'Actualité Juive' in pdf format

The CRIF[3], recently joined this assault by publishing a statement entitled: "Writ issued against an anti-Semitic and conspiracy focused website."

Alterinfo states:
"Those who, since our beginnings, have been denigrating us, have suddenly been more fearless after the complaint filed against us - which is easily seen by googling alterinfo.net (always visible on some sites against which we do not exclude the possibility of raising a complaint). After the CRIF website which published: 'Writ issued against an anti-semitic and conspiratorial website', the prochoix.org website joins the list of the sectarian storytellers, where we can read in a resentful and very subjective rag published on prochoix.org (Caroline Fourest's site): ' [...] The text, extracted from 'Les Indigènes de la République' website, has already been republished by Bellaciao, Indymedia / Paris Ile-de-France, or the anti-Semitic and conspiracy focused website alterinfo.net. ' [Link to the article]

Alterinfo declares: "That we are being blamed, for lack of other lies, to be conspiracy focused doesn't bother us, and we claim our "conspira-Zionism", but the anti-Semitism, in addition to being an offence, we strongly deny; we shall see at the appropriate moment (when we have the financial means) if the justice will pronounce fairly on this issue."

The AlterInfo editors denounce the UEJF and AIPJ method which, according to them, follow the same logic: "Failing to silence us, they want to ruin us financially and psychologically in order to hinder our association's proper functioning".

The site appealed for donations on January 11th, to deal with expenses induced by the procedure. On February 18th, the association paid 9200 Euros for lawyer's fees, which covers "hardly half the expenses generated by this case". The pleading hearing for the appeal is scheduled on April 16th, 2008 at 2 pm; to send your donation please click here.

AlterInfo is in good standing among the French alternative media. "In January, the site had 312,749 visits and 1,686,434 readings for 171,503 different IP addresses. The number of readers of our site irritates, and perhaps even frightens, certain groups ", declares Alterinfo.

Among these site visitors are several renowned readers and institutions, all identified by their connection IP. "The diversity and relevance of the published texts seem to interest many more people than our opponents would like us to believe. If, as our detractors assume, our guests were only nut-cases or vulgar anti-Semites, how do you explain our readers' diversity?

To illustrate their deviancy and demonstrate that their charges are only fantasy, we retain listings of the connection IPs of the governmental institutions - governments and parliaments as well as various ministries (national and foreign), even the Elysée (French Presidency) occasionally (by the way, what could the president advisors look for on our site?) What is indicated by these numerous financial institutions - central banks of various countries, even the World Bank coming to glean information from our site, and the various national trade media which regularly also visit our pages?", reports Alterinfo.

These legal proceedings are all the more surprising as Alterinfo deals with the problems of Zionism (a xenophobic political ideology which is among others promulgated by Christians and condemned by numerous Jews) and emphasizes frequently the distinction, which it makes, between Zionism and Judaism.

Is it factual to call a person anti-American who criticizes Dick Cheney's neoliberal political ideology?

Don't be mistaken, in this case, it is the freedom of speech on the Internet that is targeted. AlterInfo needs you... NOW!

"All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is for the good men do nothing." (Edmund Burke)

"It is not our detractors who will close our site and associative news agency, but the passivity and/or the laxness of our most diligent readers and our supposed supporters and their reaction to our current financial difficulties."

"Those who filed this lawsuit thought indeed that even if we won in the summary judgment or in appeal, we would be financially 'weakened'. If they partially 'succeeded', it becomes clear how many supporters we have, and to a certain extent, they only strengthened our determination to continue, and brought more attention to our purpose and cause. Furthermore, they gave us the occasion to see who were our true friends, and it is priceless.", declared Alterinfo editors.

Here are the four news releases published by the AlterInfo website to
date:
- Alter Info communiqué (UEJF and AIPJ vs. Alter Info case) January 11th, 2008.
- Report: UEJF and J'ACCUSE vs. Alter Info -January 20th, 2008.
- Results of our call to donation and projects for the continuation [Alter Info editorial staff] - February 18th, 2008.
-Bis repetita UEJF/J'ACCUSE contre Alter Info: L'assignation en référé, nouveau procédé de censure ? - Zeynel CEKICI, Alterinfo's chief editor - 18 mars 2008

[1] The Union of the Jewish students of France ( UEJF) is a student association created in 1944, which represents the Jewish students in France (Wikipedia).

[2] J'Accuse (I accuse) - International Association for Justice (AIPJ), was founded in 2001, notably by people in charge of UEJF and LICRA. Marc KNOBEL,
researcher at the CRIF and at the Simon Wiesenthal Center is the president. About this matter, it is interesting to have a look at the text "The thought Police: CRIF at the National Magistracy School" on Altermedia.info.

[3] The French Jewish Organizations Council (known also under the CRIF acronym) federates, within a single representative organization, various
political, social or religious leanings in the French Jewry. To date, the CRIF federates more than sixty associations, among which the Unified Jewish Social Fund and the Universal Jewish Alliance (Wikipedia).

I Abhor racism but still a victory for freedom

2008-03-15T09:12:00.000-07:00

While I disagree with the racist content of housing ads posted on craigslist. I think this lawsuit is a good example of how those who wish to limit free speech can use real legitimate issues to do so.
I was happy to see the suit dismissed.

Virtual Demos Over Net Censorship

2008-03-13T15:27:00.000-07:00

From BBC

Thousands of people are taking part in "virtual protests" against countries accused of censoring the internet.

For its first Online Free Expression Day, media watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has created virtual versions of nine public spaces.

These areas where protests are not normally possible include Beijing's Tiananmen Square and Kim Il-Sung Square in the North Korean capital Pyongyang.

RSF says at least 62 cyber-dissidents are in jail around the world.

More than 2,600 websites, blogs, or forums were closed down or blocked last year, the group says Internet enemies'

The RSF demonstrations are running for 24 hours, until 1000 GMT on 13 March. Several hours after they opened, more than 5,000 virtual dissidents were protesting online.

A response of this kind is needed to the growing tendency to crack down on bloggers and to close websites

Users are invited to create an avatar, choose a message for a banner and take part in one of the demonstrations in Burma, China, Cuba, Egypt, Eritrea, North Korea, Tunisia, Turkmenistan and Vietnam.

This year, RSF has added Zimbabwe and Ethiopia to its list of "internet enemies".

The other countries blacklisted by the group are Belarus, Burma, China, Cuba, Egypt, Iran, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tunisia, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Vietnam.

"From now on, we will organise activities every 12 March to condemn cyber-censorship throughout the world," RSF said in a statement.

"A response of this kind is needed to the growing tendency to crack down on bloggers and to close websites."

One of the most targeted internet sites is the popular video-sharing website, YouTube, that has been blocked or banned in a number of countries including China, Iran, Pakistan, Turkey, Burma and Brazil.

The reasons for banning the site vary from country to country, but include government objections to religious and political material, foreign sites and pornography.

McCain's Spiritual Guide:Destroy Islam

2008-03-13T13:02:00.000-07:00

I am not a fan of any organized religion, Islam included. But the kind of rhetoric being
thrown around by so called spiritual guides are anything but spiritual. The article I found on today on Mother Jones says this guru of McCain is calling for war against the "false religion of Islam". Just about all of them are false, so are we to just wage war every and any where people are religious?
People can believe what they want, in my view but when they use those beliefs to rape, murder and pillage be they Christian, Jew Gentile, Muslims or what have you, I have a problem. This "spiritual guide" is advocating genocide. He's allowed to say what he wants but reasonable people should shun him and render his words meaningless by refusing to support such rhetoric.

Televangelist Rod Parsley, a key McCain ally in Ohio, has called for eradicating the "false religion." Will the GOP presidential candidate renounce him?

By David Corn

March 12, 2008

Senator John McCain hailed as a spiritual adviser an Ohio megachurch pastor who has called upon Christians to wage a "war" against the "false religion" of Islam with the aim of destroying it.

On February 26, McCain appeared at a campaign rally in Cincinnati with the Reverend Rod Parsley of the World Harvest Church of Columbus, a supersize Pentecostal institution that features a 5,200-seat sanctuary, a television studio (where Parsley tapes a weekly show), and a 122,000-square-foot Ministry Activity Center. That day, a week before the Ohio primary, Parsley praised the Republican presidential front-runner as a "strong, true, consistent conservative." The endorsement was important for McCain, who at the time was trying to put an end to the lingering challenge from former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee, a favorite among Christian evangelicals. A politically influential figure in Ohio, Parsley could also play a key role in McCain's effort to win this bellwether state in the general election. McCain, with Parsley by his side at the Cincinnati rally, called the evangelical minister a "spiritual guide."

The leader of a 12,000-member congregation, Parsley has written several books outlining his fundamentalist religious outlook, including the 2005 Silent No More. In this work, Parsley decries the "spiritual desperation" of the United States, and he blasts away at the usual suspects: activist judges, civil libertarians who advocate the separation of church and state, the homosexual "culture" ("homosexuals are anything but happy and carefree"), the "abortion industry," and the crass and profane entertainment industry. And Parsley targets another profound threat to the United States: the religion of Islam.

In a chapter titled "Islam: The Deception of Allah," Parsley warns there is a "war between Islam and Christian civilization." He continues:

I cannot tell you how important it is that we understand the true nature of Islam, that we see it for what it really is. In fact, I will tell you this: I do not believe our country can truly fulfill its divine purpose until we understand our historical conflict with Islam. I know that this statement sounds extreme, but I do not shrink from its implications. The fact is that America was founded, in part, with the intention of seeing this false religion destroyed, and I believe September 11, 2001, was a generational call to arms that we can no longer ignore.

Parsley is not shy about his desire to obliterate Islam. In Silent No More, he notes—approvingly—that Christopher Columbus shared the same goal: "It was to defeat Islam, among other dreams, that Christopher Columbus sailed to the New World in 1492…Columbus dreamed of defeating the armies of Islam with the armies of Europe made mighty by the wealth of the New World. It was this dream that, in part, began America." He urges his readers to realize that a confrontation between Christianity and Islam is unavoidable: "We find now we have no choice. The time has come." And he has bad news: "We may already be losing the battle. As I scan the world, I find that Islam is responsible for more pain, more bloodshed, and more devastation than nearly any other force on earth at this moment."

Parsley claims that Islam is an "anti-Christ religion" predicated on "deception." The Muslim prophet Muhammad, he writes, "received revelations from demons and not from the true God." And he emphasizes this point: "Allah was a demon spirit." Parsley does not differentiate between violent Islamic extremists and other followers of the religion:

There are some, of course, who will say that the violence I cite is the exception and not the rule. I beg to differ. I will counter, respectfully, that what some call "extremists" are instead mainstream believers who are drawing from the well at the very heart of Islam.

The spirit of Islam, he maintains, is one of hostility. He asserts that the religion "inspired" the 9/11 attacks. He bemoans the fact that in the years after 9/11, 34,000 Americans "have become Muslim" and that there are "some 1,209 mosques" in America. Islam, he declares, is a "faith that fully intends to conquer the world" through violence. The United States, he insists, "has historically understood herself as a bastion against Islam," but "history is crashing in upon us."

At the end of his chapter on Islam, Parsley asks, "Are we a Christian nation? I say yes." Without specifying what actions should be taken to eradicate the religion, he essentially calls for a new crusade.

Parsley, who refers to himself as a "Christocrat," is no stranger to controversy. In 2007, the grassroots organization he founded, the Center for Moral Clarity, called for prosecuting people who commit adultery. In January, he compared Planned Parenthood to Nazis. In the past Parsley's church has been accused of engaging in pro-Republican partisan activities in violation of its tax-exempt status.

Why would McCain court Parsley? He has long had trouble figuring out how to deal with Christian fundamentalists, an important bloc for the Republican Party. During his 2000 presidential bid, he referred to Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell as "agents of intolerance." But six years later, as he readied himself for another White House run, McCain repudiated that remark. More recently, his campaign hit a rough patch when he accepted the endorsement of the Reverend John Hagee, a Texas televangelist who has called the Catholic Church "the great whore" and a "false cult system." After the Catholic League protested and called on McCain to renounce Hagee's support, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee praised Hagee's spiritual leadership and support of Israel and said that "when [Hagee] endorses me, it does not mean that I embrace everything that he stands for or believes in." After being further criticized for his Hagee connection, McCain backed off slightly, saying, "I repudiate any comments that are made, including Pastor Hagee's, if they are anti-Catholic or offensive to Catholics." But McCain did not renounce Hagee's endorsement.

McCain's relationship with Parsley is politically significant. In 2004, Parsley's church was credited with driving Christian fundamentalist voters to the polls for George W. Bush. With Ohio expected to again be a decisive state in the presidential contest, Parsley's World Harvest Church and an affiliated entity called Reformation Ohio, which registers voters, could be important players within this battleground state. Considering that the Ohio Republican Party has been decimated by various political scandals and that a popular Democrat, Ted Strickland, is now the state's governor, McCain and the Republicans will need all the help they can get in the Buckeye State this fall. It's a real question: Can McCain win the presidency without Parsley?

The McCain campaign did not respond to a request for comment regarding Parsley and his anti-Islam writings. Parsley did not return a call seeking comment.

"The last thing I want to be is another screaming voice moving people to extremes and provoking them to folly in the name of patriotism," Parsley writes in Silent No More. Provoking people to holy war is another matter. About that, McCain so far is silent.

Bush Debt 7.7 Trillion

2008-03-12T06:22:00.000-07:00

I am no Clinton fan. I think he was a covert fascist in his own way. But gads!
The fictitious money he helped create out of nothing at least created a surplus.

Thanks to the Think Progress peeps for this one.

Today, lawmakers took to the Senate floor and blasted President Bush’s wasteful spending. To fully illustrate the impact, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), brought up a chart showing the budget plans of President Clinton versus the budget formulated by Bush. He concluded that by squandering Clinton’s government surplus, Bush has cost the country $7.7 trillion:

We are told to be worried about terrorists and the evils they do because they hate our American way of life, our wonderful freedoms. But who is it that has wrecked our way of life and restricted our freedoms? Under whose leadership have we gone down the same road the Soviets traveled when they went into Afghanistan? The US is bleeding and our money and manpower is being drained by poorly planned, executed and unnecessary wars. Do these people in office not learn from history, or do they always believe they operate under the law of exception?

Lawmaker Wants to Make Anonymous Internet Posting Illegal

2008-03-10T13:13:00.000-07:00

Gosh, what is it these days with wanting to clamp down freedom of speech and expression? It's the progressive fascistization of the world. This moron of a lawmaker wants to make anonymous posting illegal on the web.

By Kellie Wilson

Kentucky Representative Tim Couch filed a bill this week to make anonymous posting online illegal.

The bill would require anyone who contributes to a website to register their real name, address and e-mail address with that site.

Their full name would be used anytime a comment is posted.

If the bill becomes law, the website operator would have to pay if someone was allowed to post anonymously on their site. The fine would be five-hundred dollars for a first offense and one-thousand dollars for each offense after that.

Representative Couch says he filed the bill in hopes of cutting down on online bullying. He says that has especially been a problem in his Eastern Kentucky district.

Action News 36 asked people what they thought about the bill.

Some said they felt it was a violation of First Amendment rights. Others say it is a good tool toward eliminating online harassment.

Represntative Couch says enforcing this bill if it became law would be a challenge.

More free speech issues...from china

2008-03-09T16:20:00.000-07:00

Since I'm on a free speech roll...

From yahoo news

"Lust, caution" actress banned in China

Actress Tang Wei, who won an award in Taiwan for her role in the erotic spy thriller "Lust, Caution," is seen here in California in February 2008. The actress has been blacklisted in China due to controversy over the film, a report has said

Free speech on the web threatened

2008-03-09T12:16:00.001-07:00

While posting about Battlestar Galactica, I also checked out some old links and came across a doozy of a case regarding a free speech issue. While I don't always have time to look into all my links anymore, a cursory view suggests that a whole lot has happened in a year. Signs of the times became SOTT.net and they are being sued.

It seems this Eric Pepin dude didn't like what was said about him on the alternative news forum for the SOTT website a while back. He claims to have lost income based on the discussion.
You'd think this guy who admits to having slept with his employees would be less litigious. Is he going to sue every website that mentioned his case regarding sex with a minor? Is he going to sue every public person who participated on the discussion forum that ensued? He got off on that case, but come on..suing for discussing what was a real news story is kinda...well, you make up your mind.

"Master" Eric J Pepin

Yesterday, as I was working on finishing up the next installment of the Comet Series of Articles, FedEx delivered a packet of mail from our corporate registered agent in the U.S. It was "Complaint and Demand for Jury Trial" filed in the State of Oregon by Eric Pepin's Higher Balance Institute, LLC. The reason? A discussion on the SOTT Forum that begins HERE.

Well, that was entertaining enough when you think about the fact that the discussion that he objects to was centered on several newspaper articles that describe his close calls with the legal system in Oregon over charges of sex abuse.

The legal document I received is 10 pages long so I'm just going to summarize it here. If you want to read the whole thing (it's hilarious beyond belief!) go HERE for the pdf.

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT DISTRICT OF OREGON

Civil No.: CV '08-0233 HA

COMPLAINT AND DEMAND FOR JURY TRIAL

HIGHER BALANCE, LLC, an Oregon
Limited Liability Company, dba HIGHER
BALANCE INSTITUTE, Plaintiff

v.

QUANTUM FUTURE GROUP, INC, a
California corporation, and LAURA
KNIGHT- JADCZYK, Defendants.

Plaintiff Higher Balance LLC, dba Higher Balance Institute ("HBI") files this Complaint against defendants Quantum Future Group, Inc. ("QFG") and Laura Knight-Jadczyk and alleges the following:

...defendants committed intentional torts that were purposefully targeted at HBI within the State of Oregon; defendants knew that HBI is a resident of the State of Oregon; defendants' tortious conduct cause HBI to suffer economic harm within the State of Oregon; HBI's claims arise out of defendants' activities relating to the State of Oregon; and the exercise of jurisdiction over defendants is reasonable in light of their intentional misconduct directed towards a resident of the State of Oregon.

As this Court has specific personal jurisdiction over the defendants, venue is proper in this district and division under 28 U.S.C 1391(a)(3)

General Allegations:

HBI is an Oregon-based company with over 40,000 customers from all over the world. HBI is dedicated to helping its customers relieve stress, reduce anxiety, and achieve emotional balance and spiritual enlightenment through meditation techniques. The majority of HBI's revenues are derived from the online sale of its books and CDs, which are designed to help its customers learn these meditation techniques.

[Etc...]

Defendant QFG operates a website known as Signs of the Times ("SOTT"). QFG posts articles and sponsors forums regarding various conspiracy theories and allegedly corrupt organizations on the SOTT website.

Employees and agents of QFG, including defendant Knight-Jadczyk, serve as administrators and moderators of SOTT forums. QFG employees and agents, including defendant Knight-Jadczyk, post comments and analyses in SOTT forums. These employees and agents act within the course and scope of their agency for QFG when serving as administrators and moderators of the SOTT website and when posting comments and analyses on the SOTT website.

SOTT forums are available to the general public online.

...Many of HBI's existing and potential customers read the SOTT website as a source of alternative media....

FIRST CLAIM FOR RELIEF - Defamation - Libel

....Beginning in May 2006, QFG sponsored a forum on the SOTT website concerning HBI under the heading "COINTELPRO."

Beginning in November 2007, defendants intentionally posted several false, baseless, and derogatory accusations concerning HBI on the SOTT website including, but not limited to:

a. HBI is a "front for pedophilia";
b. HBI is a "cointelpro" organization;
c. Meditation, as sold by HBI, is an act of "falling into confluence with a psychopathic reality";
d. Those associated with HBI must be careful to avoid sexual molestation by HBI members;
e. HBI is conning the public;
f. "Fishy sexual conduct is occurring at HBI; and
g. HBI "leads people more deeply into sleep."

By posting these statements in a public internet forum, defendants have published and communicated false and baseless accusations concerning HBI to third parties, including existing and potential HBI customers.

Defendants' statements tend to subject HBI to hatred, contempt, and ridicule and tend to diminish the esteem, respect, goodwill and confidence in which HBI is held by the public and by its customers.

Defendant made these false statements with knowledge of their falsity or with reckless disregard for their truth.

As a result of defendants' false and defamatory statement, HBI suffered general damages in the form of loss of reputation in an amount to be determined at trial, but in any event, not less than $500,000. HBI has also suffered special damages in the form of lost income in amounts to be determined at trial, but in any event, not less than $834,732.

Defendants defamatory statements are still available to the general public on the SOTT website and are easily found through internet searches relating to HBI. Defendants conduct causes HBI irreparable harm, and HBI is entitled to an injunction preventing defendants' continued defamation of HBI.

SECOND CLAIM FOR RELIEF: False Light

Defendants intentionally gave publicity to matters concerning HBI that placed HBI in a false light before the public. etc

...economic damages ... not less than $834,732.

THIRD CLAIM FOR RELIEF: Intentional Interference with Economic Relations - Interference with Business Relationships

Defendant intentionally interfered with many of these business relationships by communicating the false and defamatory information listed...

...economic damages ... not less than $97,299.

HBI... has also suffered damages in the form of loss of reputation ... damages .... not less than $500,000.

...Defendants conduct was malicious and warrants punitive damages...

FOURTH CLAIM FOR RELIEF: Intentional Interference With Economic Relations - Prospective Economic Advantage

Defendant's interference has diminished the esteem, respect, goodwill, and confidence in which HBI is held by the general public, thereby hindering HBI's ability to obtain many new customers with whom HBI had a prospective business relationship. ... damages to be determined at trial...

...On its First Claim for Relief, that HBI be awarded general and special damages in amounts to be determined at trial, but in any event, not less than $1,334,732, and that defendants be enjoined from their continued defamation of HBI.

...On its Second Claim for Relief, that HBI be awarded damages in an amount to be determined at trial, but in any event, not less than $1,334,732. and that defendants be enjoined from continuing to place HBI in a false light.

...On its Third Claim for Relief, that HBI be awarded damages in an amount to be determined at trial, but in any event, not less than $597,299. plus punitive damages, and that defendants be enjoined from their coninued interference with HBI's prospective business relationships.

...On its Fourth Claim for Relief, that HBI be awarded damages in an amount to be determined at trial, but in any event, not less than $1,205,000 plus punitive damages, and that defendants be enjoined from their continued interference with HBI's business relationships.

... That HBI be awarded pre-judgment and post-judgment interest on all damages recovered.

...That HBI be awarded its costs and disbursements incurred in this action; ...

Harry and David demands a trial by jury on all issues so triable.

25th day of February, 2008.

Bullivant houser Bailey PC
Renee E. Rothauge
Chad M. Colton
Tel 503.228.6351
Attorneys for Higher Balance Institute

Whoah! That's some heavy duty stuff, eh? Sounds like we just ripped up on that poor guy for no reason at all!

But that's not quite the situation. The original article about Eric Pepin that was brought to our attention on page 5 of the above-mentioned forum thread read as follows:

A 39-year-old Aloha man who promises spiritual awakening through meditation books and CDs he sells on the Internet is facing sex-abuse charges.

Beaverton police Detective Mike Smith said Eric J. Pepin runs what appears to be a cult out of his Higher Balance Institute on Southwest Second Street in Beaverton.

Pepin was arraigned Tuesday in Washington County criminal court on one count of using a child in a display of sexually explicit conduct, two counts of second-degree sexual abuse, and four counts of third-degree sexual abuse. He was released after posting $26,750 cash, or 10 percent of $267,500 bail. A trial was set for Sept. 12.

Using a child in a sexual display is a Measure 11 crime punishable by a mandatory minimum of 5 years and 10 months in prison.

Jamison Dwight Priebe, 21, who works for Pepin and lives at the same address in the 19600 block of Southwest Cooperhawk Court in Aloha, also was arrested on one count each of using a child in a sexual display and third-degree sexual abuse.

Priebe and Pepin turned themselves in at the Washington County Jail last week after a grand jury handed down secret indictments. Priebe was released after posting $25,375 cash bail and is awaiting arraignment Monday.

Smith said a man who is now 20 was 17 and working for Pepin when he allegedly was sexually abused at the Higher Balance office in the 11900 block of Southwest Second Street in Beaverton and at Pepin's former home in the city.

A call to the Higher Balance Institute on Wednesday was answered by a "Personal Star Reach Coach," who referred questions to Pepin's private attorney, Sam Kauffman.

"The charges are false, and we are confident Mr. Pepin will be exonerated," Kauffman said.

Pepin's Web site claims he has located more than 100 missing persons and runaways, along with U.S. Navy submarines, through a psychic ability he calls "remote viewing."

Pepin's meditation systems, which sell for $79 to $149, help customers develop their "sixth sense" and apply it "inward to awaken a dimensional universe within the mind," the Web site says.

According to an affidavit Smith filed with a request for a search warrant, the alleged victim told police that Internet customers who rave about Pepin's teachings are men and women usually older than 35. But, the man said Pepin told him he should recruit "good-looking men" between the ages of 18 and 24 to work for him.

The court record also says Pepin knew the man was 17 when he forced him to perform sex acts.

The boy, Smith wrote, "was taught by Pepin to believe that the sexual contact was only a spiritual necessity." But after a while, the affidavit says, the boy decided he was being used by Pepin, who bought him meals and paid him $200 after sex.

The man contacted Beaverton police in January.

Smith said anyone who may have had underage sexual contact with Pepin should call him at 503-526-2280.

Smith said the man accusing Pepin told police he met one of Pepin's followers at Beaverton Town Square in April 2004. He told Smith the recruiter invited him to meet Pepin and see him demonstrate levitation.

Pepin introduced himself dressed in a robe emblazoned with the words "Master Eric" and a triangular symbol and told the victim to take off his shirt, the detective said.

"It's a cult," Smith said, "anytime you have a guy who fancies himself as the master, the leader."

In another story from Associated Press found HERE, we read:

Beaverton police Detective Mike Smith said Pepin operated the Higher Balance Institute in Beaverton. Smith said the ornate robe emblazoned "Master Eric" turned up during a search.

Well, I've been falsely accused of trying to start a cult myself, so I might ordinarily have had sympathy for Pepin, but when I read the bit about the robe, I blew my tea through my nose. I guess that's why I'm such a failure as a cult-leader (aside from the fact that I'm not interested in the job) - I hardly ever wear anything other than sweats and bedroom slippers and spend all my time working!

In any event, even though a grand jury felt that there was enough evidence to indict Pepin, he was eventually acquitted in trial before a judge as the following report informs us:

Institute leader acquitted of sex charges

HOLLY DANKS - HILLSBORO -- A Washington County Circuit judge called the leader of a metaphysical Internet sales company manipulative and controlling and his testimony unbelievable, even as he acquitted him Wednesday of charges that he had sex with an underage boy.

Judge Steven L. Price, after a five-day trial without a jury, found Eric James Pepin, 40, not guilty of two counts of second-degree sexual abuse, four counts of third-degree sexual abuse and one count of using a child in a display of sexually explicit conduct.

Also acquitted of third-degree sexual abuse and using a child in a pornographic display was Jamison Dwight Priebe, 21, who has worked for Pepin's Higher Balance Institute since he was 18.

"Everybody has stood by me who knows me," Pepin said Wednesday after hugging supporters. "They had faith in me, prayed for me. I told them I wouldn't let them down. I did nothing of what was alleged. I've been nothing but honorable and impeccable."

However, Price said it was "probable that the conduct alleged in all counts occurred," but he wasn't convinced beyond a reasonable doubt. "There's a lack of strong corroboration," such as a date-stamp on a videotape of the sexual encounter, the judge said.

The accuser testified Pepin had him take off his shirt the first day they met at Pepin's Beaverton home in April 2004.

"He was going to try and fix my energy and he needed me to trust him," the accuser said. Pepin touched the teen's "chakra points" on his heart, head and lower abdomen.

"Eric asked me to tell him everything I had done in my life that I was ashamed about," the teen added.

The accuser said Pepin asked him how old he was the first day they met and that he told him the truth.

"He said students had to be 18 because he didn't like parents fussing around," the accuser said.

But within days the two were having sex, including a three-way encounter with Priebe, the youth testified. Pepin called it "crossing the abyss," the accuser said, "surrendering yourself to your teacher, your master."

Pepin testified he is gay and has had sexual relationships with most of his 11 employees, but not before they were 18. Pepin said he gave his accuser a job, even though the teen was a poor worker, and continued to be intimate with him and give him money after he was fired, to help him out.

Stephen A. Houze, Pepin's private defense attorney, called the accuser a liar more than 100 times in his closing argument and noted that Pepin was "the perfect patsy" because society wants to believe the worst of a gay man. Houze said the accuser brought the charges because he wanted to shake down Pepin.

Pepin's Higher Balance Institute, now on Northwest Saltzman Road in Cedar Mill, reached an annual high of $2 million in Internet sales of meditation CDs, tapes and books before his arrest in July.

Pepin touts himself as a psychic and "remote viewer" who has found lost submarines and missing people, and says he created the "psychic pill" Magneurol6-S that enhances brain function, heals nerve damage, heightens paranormal experiences and relieves stress for $79 a bottle.

Andrew Erwin, deputy district attorney, called Higher Balance nothing more than a sex cult run by a "snake oil" salesman who preys on the troubled.

The accuser had nothing to gain by going to police and turned down $250,000 from Pepin to drop the sex charges, Erwin said.

"I'm disappointed," Erwin said of the verdicts. "The judge wants proof beyond all doubt and that's too high a standard."

And now, Pepin wants to sue QFG and yours truly for talking about these articles, published in a newspaper and scattered across the web (though all of them are no longer on the newspaper's website, wonder what's up with that?)!!

Notice that Pepin, himself, revealed his "sex cult" practices in his own testimony. We'll be trying to get transcripts of the trial to publish so our readers can hear it from the horse's mouth; stay tuned for that.

Notice also that Pepin's attorney, Houze, accused the victim of bringing charges because he wanted to shake down Pepin even though the kid turned down 250 K hush money offered by Pepin. Well, maybe that's what gave Pepin the idea of suing me. Only thing is, he's gonna have a hard time collecting his 4.47 million because I don't own a thing, live in a rented house, drive a used car and QFG rarely has more than a grand in the bank at any given time. When we have fund-raisers, the funds are used almost instantly, repaying loans and covering basic expenses for the site and equipment.

It's also humorous that Pepin is suing QFG which only sponsors a world-wide group of independent researchers who, together, make up sott.net. QFG doesn't own sott, nor does QFG have any employees nor any official oversight of anything that the sott.net researchers say or do.

But the bottom line is this: Eric Pepin is convicted out of his own mouth of being a sexual predator. I mean, what kind of teacher of meditation says that he has sex with all his employees? And all of them young men?

Nope, we aren't backing down. We firmly believe, based on available official documents and court records, that Eric Pepin is a danger to innocent people looking for spiritual guidance. Obviously, young guys just looking for sex and money and a good time will be delighted to take his pills, listen to his tapes and attend his retreats. But the wider public who are not aware of these things in Pepin's background, who are not aware that even the judge who acquitted him regretted having to do so, and that the Prosecutor of the case was also convinced that justice had NOT been done, need to be warned about this sexual predator in our midst.

Maybe Eric Pepin will take Sott.net down, we don't know. We don't have money for an expensive defense attorney, we barely stay afloat. But even if that happens (and we hope our readers will help us out now as never before), there are others who know and I don't think that Eric Pepin and all his minions can track down and silence all of them.

I think it's about free speech but maybe others think otherwise.
I would love to hear what both armchair and expert legal minds think about cases such as this one.

Battlestar Galactica

2008-03-09T11:23:00.000-07:00

I can't believe it's been a year and some since I said I would post more on Battlestar Galactica. Since then a really cool book has been published called Cylons in America. It covers much better than I could, everything I wanted to say about the show. The final season is coming up and it will be interesting to see what happens to the rag tag fleet as they search for a home. That home is supposed to be the thirteenth colony of earth. They may find it very Cylon like if they end up in our homeland with its fundamentalist monotheistic and militarist rulers who look like humans but are very machine like in many ways.

I watched...gasp....TV

2007-02-19T18:17:00.000-08:00

It seems there have been a rash of alternative news sites being down. My favorite one in particular has been down for a few days now. With no signs of the times, no discussion forum and being sick at home, I dared watched what system of a down says leaves you blinded. Yes! I watched TV.
I got to see narcissistic man as machine and machine as man in the scifi channel's battlestar galactica. More on that later....

The Israeli strikes on Lebanon.

2006-07-15T08:00:00.000-07:00

Just as the voices condemning Israel for the situation in Gaza, and the apartheid wall began to grow, conveniently Hizbollah gave them a reason to show the world that Arabs that are baaaad. Regardless, of who the bad guys are, it is always the common man, that pays. Certainly there are Arab terrorists just as there are Israeli terrorists. You don't hear too much about the latter but a few years back one killed a Jewish political leader, that wasn't tough enough on
Arabs. Most Arabs for that matter like most Jews are not terrorists. What is happening in Palestine and Lebanon is punishing civilan Arabs across the board. This interview of a citizen of Gaza tells how the common man pays.

Israel is once again testing the reslove of the world and franky based on the responses so far, The world has none. The bully can continue to run roughshod over the Palestinians and as the latest news attest, the Lebanese. Through it all, I keep hearing about Israel's right to defend itself .

As Robert Fisk wrote in the independent two days ago

.. prisoner swaps is probably all that will come of this. In January 2004,
for example, Israel freed 436 Arab prisoners and released the bodies of 59
Lebanese for burial, in return for an Israeli spy and the bodies of three
Israeli soldiers.As long ago as 1985, three Israeli soldiers captured in 1982
were traded for 1,150 Lebanese and Palestinian prisoners. So Hizbollah knows -
and the Israelis know - how this cruel game is played. How many have to die
before the swaps begin is a more important question.

What should be done to those who play with people's lives like this? These acts by Israel are atrocious and I'm being mild here. Within the next few weeks, the streets of cities with major jewish populations around the world will see rallies in support of Israel's vicious acts. Who is rallying for the poor Palestinians and Lebanese civilans that are suffering? Worse yet do everyday people really know what these latest attacks mean. I'll spell it out as my jewish friend did on this discussion forum.

...it's important to remember the Jewish motto that comes from the Bible: "Tamut
Nafshi Im Plishtim" Translation: "I (My soul) will die with the enemies".
Meaning: "If Israel is attacked, all Arab enemies will be destroyed, and
if we die, we take you with us." This is the attitude.

And also

Another thing to remember, are words by Martin Van Creveld
"Our armed forces are not the thirtieth strongest in the world, but rather the second or third. We have the capability to take the world down with us. And I can assure you that that this will happen before Israel goes under."

Isreal has nuclear weapons. Are we all willing to go down in a nuclear conflagation with them because of their arrogance?

No Bravery

2006-06-04T17:45:00.000-07:00

http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/photos-us-doesnt-want-seen/2006/02/14/1139890737099.html

There is no bravery in what is happening in Iraq. I also think this video should be on all the progressive blogs. We should all know what supporting the troops mean and we should also know that it can be us.

http://icasualties.org/oif/

U.S. Deaths Confirmed By The DoD:	2473
Reported U.S. Deaths Pending DoD Confirmation:	2
Total	2475

DoD Confirmation List

http://www.iraqbodycount.org/database/

Civilians reported killed by military intervention in Iraq
Min	Max
38059	42434

Disappointed by the Pentagon: The video release

2006-05-18T14:08:00.000-07:00

I know the internet is blazing with reports about the footage judicial watch forced the government to release. I was all excited, when I heard it was going to be released. For once I expected them to prove me wrong in my assessment of the 911 events. This is what I expected, something like the photo above. But once again they disappoint. This is all pathocrats are capable of doing. They don't give a whit about the feelings of the slaves. I can imagine how they're smirking thinking they pulled the wool over our heads on this one. Well I think it's gonna backfire. You can't fool everybody every time.

Release of the pentagon attack video

2006-05-17T20:49:00.000-07:00

Can you believe this is the nose of a boeing hitting the pentagon?

The real conspiracy theorist are those who believe this. According to Judicial watch, the group that petitioned for the release of the tapes:

"We fought hard to obtain this video because we felt that it was very important to complete the public record with respect to the terrorist attacks of September 11," said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton.
"Finally, we hope that this video will put to rest the conspiracy theories involving American Airlines Flight 77.

Yeah it sure will for those who choose to remain enslaved by lies.

A more plausible scenario is at the pentagon strike website. In response to the new developments concerning the attack on the pentagon, the editors of signs of the times, have this to say:

Basically then, while the mainstream press is trumpeting the line that "the defense Department has released "the video of Flight 77 hitting the Pentagon", nothing could be further from the truth because there is still no evidence of a Boeing 757 in the security camera footage. If mainstream press reporters were to be honest (for once in their lives) the most they could state would be that: "the DOD has released a video of the attack on the Pentagon in which something appears in one frame of the footage and the U.S. government claims that this 'something' is the nose cone of Flight 77."
I need not say more.

Take a lesson from....

2006-05-11T07:09:00.000-07:00

In this here post 911 era, I am surprised that the chains are no longer stubtle. Still, as obvious as it seems that as we are enslaved today, people will defend the illusion of freedom. Are we all stupid? Blind? Did we in the past half a decade learn to that evil only wears a turban with a strap-on bomb to blow freedom loving people stuff? Speaking of which., could it be that the belief in that kind of evil (the turban, bomb strapping kind) has led us to:
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2006/04/30/bush_challenges_hundreds_of_laws/

Former administration officials contend that just
because Bush reserves the right to disobey a law does not mean he is not enforcing it: In many cases, he is simply asserting his belief that a certain requirement encroaches on presidential power.[...]
Legal scholars say the scope and aggression of Bush's assertions that he can bypass laws represent a concerted effort to expand his power at the expense of Congress, upsetting the balance between the branches of government. The Constitution is clear in assigning to Congress the power to write the laws and to the president a duty ''to take care that the laws be faithfully executed." Bush, however, has repeatedly declared that he does not need to ''execute" a law he believes is unconstitutional.

In otherwords, I George Bush the younger am commander in chief. You must do as I say not as I do because I am above all laws and you are not. That goes for you too congress, the judiciary and most of all patriotic Americans. In case you forgot, "patriotic" means never questioning the commander in chief as you send your sons and daughters to be cannon fodder in the fight against the turbaned and bomb...er... terrorist.

This is the illusion of freedom we're defending. I can imagine the Coutler types screaming 'get with the program because illusion is everything.

How is it that we accept such chains. It is that belief word? Just as our president feels he doesn't have to 'execute a law he BELIEVES is unconstitutional whether or not it actually is. We want to believe that no one could be so depraved to do the things 'conspiracy theorists' are accusing our government of doing. Help America survive the criminals in the white house and the sycophantic others who are supposed to make sure checks and balances occur. Don't just believe what you are told. Conspiracies do exist and it doesn't mean you're kooky for entertaining the possibility. You're kookier for believing the crap that we're fed everyday to keep us complacent.

Find out how we get infected by this illusion of freedom. The process is called political ponerology.

Assigning COINTELPRO agents to Anti-Pathocrats

2006-03-22T18:59:00.000-08:00

I was getting my daily update from alternative news sources like signs of the times because mainstream media is the instrument of pathocracy and and abolitionist has to be informed. Lo and behold! I was suprised to see that I couldn't access one of my old reliables. I figured out why. Just as Octavia Butler's heroines have to deal with agents and shady characters of all stripes, it seems Laura Knight-Jadczyk, the owner of Signs of the Times got assigned her own special agent. This or these (they usually assign more than one) particular agent(s) have much power because they managed to get the site shut down. Check out the entire saga here. It details how the pathocrats operate to keep the truth from us. If miss Jadczyk is anything like Octavia's heroines, and I know she is, she has to be careful with this one. She herself has said:

"Now folks, come on, how many websites that were just started by an ordinary guy who took on a couple of "ordinary" partners, and is just a hobby and sharing on the internet, are able to afford a copyright attorney in McLean Virginia???"

It means these particular agents are big time if you think about the area called McLean Virginia. Ordinary folks, especially those seeking to become free ought to check this out and rally around one of the rare truthseekers who actually share what they learn with us so that we can become free.

America's pathocrats want you! dead or enslaved

2006-03-21T08:40:00.001-08:00

Still shocked about Octavia's passing as I reflect on some of the themes she wrote about. She sure had a lot to say about the state of affairs on this prison planet. How do we get out of this mess and become free? I am not talking about getting out by drinking cool aid or waiting for spaceships or Jesus to save us. I am talking about free as in the ability to choose to live and be the best one can. I am talking about freedom to know and promote the truth, to love, learn and serve if we so choose, freedom to have basic necessities even. I am talking about freeing ourselves because if we don't there may be no one else to do it. I realize many things must happen to get to that point but we can start by facing the truth in front of us today.

The article posted below by Dave Eriqat that is one of those things we should all read. It is quite accurate in the description of what we face today and in the future. Basically what is envisioned for us is even more enslavement or population reduction i.e death. What's new about that? The difference between now and a very probable future is that we will be stripped of the illusions of freedom because life will be that much harder when resources become more scarce. Moreover, a natural disaster of cataclysmic proportions could also cause societal meltdown. Heck I can say that it is melting down now but it's only the little drops of rain before the downpour. Still and all, the illusion is falling apart. The problem is that it is in the pathocrats best interest to keep us in the dark as long as possible, even if by force. This way they can prepare for ways of maintaining their hegemony when @*%&% really hits the fan. They are doing so now.

I must say that even though I think Eriqat for the most part is spot on, the hyped oil shortage could also be just another part of the illusion that he may be mising. What if the real issue is that the earth is overdue for one of its periodical cleansings, as in natural cataclysms and the warmongers know it? All of the distractions mentioned in the article could be used to consolidate control and create funding for the pathocrats to build their spaceships or underground bases or whatever they decide for escaping what's coming. I am not saying that there won't be resource shortages at all. Surely if a comet hits there will be mega problems. In some places there are already artificially induced food and water shortages but I just don't think oil is as major a resource shortage as we are told. If he's going to question the media hype he may want to investigate that one as well. All in all it's a good article. Keep in mind that what is happening in places like Palestine, Dafur, Iraq and others today can and is, slowly happening in America too. It will be worse because we thought we were free all along. Is it because the pathocrats are that good at their propaganda or are we so stupid about our slavery?There is no rule that says we have to be under the rule of pathocrats as Octavia's heroines have shown over and over. The pathocrats can remain in power while we remove ourselves from the 'law of accident' as Gurdjieff would say.

Anyway, The article is below.

http://www.countercurrents.org/eriqat130306.htm
The End Of Civilization
By Dave Eriqat
13 March, 2006Countercurrents.org
I had a mild epiphany the other day: it’s not President Bush who’s living in a fantasy world, it’s most of his critics who are. I’m no apologist for Bush – I neither like nor dislike him. He’s no more significant to me than a fly buzzing around outside my window. So permit me to explain my reasoning.
People look at Bush’s invasion of Iraq and see a miserable failure. But a failure to do what? Democratize Iraq? Eliminate Iraq’s WMD arsenal? Reduce global terrorism? If those were, in fact, the reasons for invading Iraq, then the invasion would have to be classified as a failure. But what if the real reason was to secure Iraq’s oil supplies, perhaps not for immediate use, and perhaps not even for use by the United States? Then the invasion of Iraq would have to be judged a success, a “mission accomplished,” so to speak.

Or take Bush’s seemingly irresponsible handling of the domestic economy. How can any sane person fail to understand that cutting revenue while increasing spending will produce deficits, and that those deficits cannot increase in perpetuity? Sooner or later that accumulated debt has got to have consequences. Bush appears to be acting as if there were no tomorrow. But what if there really were no tomorrow, financially speaking? In that case, the reckless economic policies of today would not only be irrelevant, but might actually be shrewd. I mean, if one knows that he is not going to have to pay back his debts tomorrow, then why not borrow money like crazy today? In fact, if civilization is coming to an end, then why not use all that borrowed money to stock up on guns and vital resources, such as oil?

Now, I’m just one person. And I’ve been closely studying economic, environmental, and energy issues for only a few years. And I’m no expert. Yet I’ve come to the conclusion – and I don’t want to be a “Chicken Little” here – that civilization as we have known it for the last century is doomed. Our wasteful manner of living – heck, the sheer size of our human population – is unsustainable. Everywhere you look you can see signs of strain on the Earth, from spreading pollution of the air, water, and land, to disappearance of life in the seas, to depletion of natural resources. Something’s got to give. Things simply cannot continue as they have.

If I can see this, I would guess the United States Government, what with its thousands of full time experts, probably can too. Now, if you are the government (and I don’t mean Tom “I am the federal government” DeLay), and your experts tell you that civilization as we know it is doomed, what do you do? Well, for starters, you do not tell your population of sheeple. That would precipitate panic and result in premature doom, which would consume the government along with everything else. Above all, government seeks to survive, so you would maintain the facade of normalcy for the benefit of your population while you use what time you have left to prepare, as quietly as possible, for the inescapable future.
What will matter in this future? Commodities, principally energy, food, and water. Everything else is secondary. Money is far down the list in importance.
So how would you, the government, prepare for a future world in which commodities are king? By securing today as many of those commodities as possible. Hence, the U.S. government’s binge of military base building throughout the commodity-rich regions of the world. What would you not worry about? Money. The only concern you might have for money is to prevent its premature demise. Hence, the smoke and mirrors used to paint a pretty but false portrait of the economy. Some will argue that the government needs more than just energy, food, and water to survive. True, but by controlling the bulk of the world’s key commodities, everything else can be procured, including human labor and loyalty.

In preparing for the future demise of civilization you would also seek to increase the government’s power as much and as rapidly as possible. Why? To maintain control over those increasingly precious resources, and equally important, to control people – especially your own people – by force, if necessary. Viewed in this light, the government’s aggressive pursuit of power during the last five years makes perfect sense. Ironically, President Bush got it right when he reportedly referred to the now totally eviscerated United States Constitution as a “god damned piece of paper.” That’s really all it is anymore.

So what fantasy world are Bush’s critics living in? The fantasy world in which civilization can continue as it has in the past. That we can continue to improve the standard of living of everyone in the world if we just return to a more sharing and egalitarian way of life, like that which we enjoyed between World War II and the mid 1970s. This is a fantasy. The Earth has finite limits. We are finally starting to grasp that fact with respect to oil. But oil depletion is merely the first in a series of coming crises ensuing from the finite confines of our planet. The fundamental problem – and I’m not a Malthusian – is that there are simply too many people for the Earth to sustain. This is why fish are disappearing from the oceans, why the supply of oil is unable to keep up with demand, why the globe is being deforested, why animal and plant species are going extinct, why water wars are in the offing. Perhaps if people were wiser and more willing to share, and implicitly, less greedy, we could sustain the more than six billion people on Earth, but, alas, such idealism does not describe human beings.

The one thing that has enabled the human population to grow to the immense dimensions we see today is oil, the resource facing the greatest challenge from depletion. As the oil supply diminishes, in the absence of herculean efforts to use oil more efficiently and fairly, large numbers of human beings will die off. Before then, soaring prices for oil will probably destroy the economies of the countries most dependent on the stuff, if not the entire intricately linked world economy. This is what I mean by the end of civilization. Of course life will go on. But it won’t be anything like what we’ve been accustomed to. Life will be more like that of the Middle Ages, in which a few wealthy lords controlled all the resources and possessed all the power, and the rest of the people – the lucky ones, anyway – were veritable slaves under these lords. In many ways that state of affairs exists today, but it’s unseen by all but the most observant individuals. The future I’m talking about, though, is considerably more spartan than what the worker bees enjoy
today.

I believe that what we’re witnessing today is the inception of a titanic and protracted competition for survival: between countries, between civilizations, between governments and their people. Moreover, I believe the Bush administration is the first to recognize this competitive future, which explains its fundamentally different – seemingly feckless – behavior compared to past administrations. Bush’s favored courtiers, which include corporations, are profiting today and will become the new nobility in the coming New Middle Ages.

Truth and Distractions
The governments of the world, and the U.S. Government in particular, don’t want their people to know the truth. Governments usually end up seeing themselves as entities distinct from their people, and usually end up competing against them. That is true of almost every government on Earth today, and is especially true of the U.S. Government. Keeping the truth from people helps a government achieve its goals, for if the people knew the truth they might demand that the government start actually serving them.

One way to keep the truth from people, aside from today’s favored approach of simply suppressing it, is to feed them a steady diet of compelling distractions.

Elections are one such distraction. Elections arouse peoples’ passions and keep them entertained for weeks or months. Elections even give people the illusion of participation, when, in fact, elections mean absolutely nothing in a country like the United States, which is run by money. Of course, elections are run by, and legitimized by governments.

Sex is another good distraction, both sex scandals and sex-related social issues. Look at how much mileage the media got out of the Catholic Church sex abuse scandals. By comparison, sexual abuses by the government’s own schoolteachers outnumber those by the church, but we hear nary a word about them because they reflect negatively on the government, and the media cooperates in keeping this quiet. Sex between consenting adults, which ought to be nobody’s business except the participants’, also consumes our attention. Look at how much attention people pay to homosexuality. Why is that anybody else’s business? It’s not, obviously, but it’s a great distraction from important things, such as the government’s reverse-Robin Hood economic policies. The same with abortion. Abortion is a personal matter for the people involved. It’s none of society’s business. But government stokes the flames of debate about abortion and it consumes peoples’ attention. Sexually transmitted diseases – diseases in general – are also good distractions and have the added benefit of instilling fear in the population.

Crime is a perennial distraction. Even when the crime rate is falling, the government seems to hype the crime statistics, making it seem as if you’re putting your life at risk by merely setting foot outside your front door. Of course, “crime” breeds prisons, and prisons empower the government. Given the benefits of crime to the government, it comes as no surprise that the government creates crime by criminalizing harmless behavior such as using drugs or hiring a prostitute.

Religion is also a distraction. Domestically, the fashionable debate today revolves around the separation of church and state. There really ought not be any debate. The United States Constitution is unequivocal: the United States Government shall not recognize any particular religion. End of story. It does not say how states may address religion, but it does say that all powers not prohibited to the states belong to the states. In my opinion, then, if a state wants to recognize a religion, it may do so.

The “clash of civilizations” is perhaps the newest distraction, and a completely contrived one at that. The Muslim-Christian antipathy that exists today is both a religious and a cultural distraction. Decades ago, when we were affluent, we were taught to celebrate cultural diversity on our planet. Today that same diversity is touted as the explanation for the “clash of civilizations.” Granted, different cultures are, well, different. But that doesn’t mean that conflict must ensue, and for decades there was no conflict. Clearly, the flames of cultural conflict are being stoked. By whom? The governments of the world and the media. For example, just look at how European media companies and European governments colluded recently to provoke Muslims with those silly cartoons. Cultural conflict not only distracts the masses, but it provides governments with a credible justification to increase their power, for instance, to regulate headgear worn in schools and restrict immigration. Of course, “terrorism” is ancillary to this clash of civilizations and serves to intensify anxiety in the population. How many acts of terrorism are actually perpetrated by governments? It’s impossible to say, but it’s definitely more than zero, a lot more. So why does a government perpetrate an act of terrorism? To create a distraction, to increase its power, or both.
One thing all of these distractions have in common is collusion – intentional or incidental – between the government and the media. The government seems to be involved in all of these distractions to varying degrees, ranging from merely exaggerating the importance of some distractions to actively orchestrating others. And none of these distractions could successfully distract the public without the zealous participation of, and amplification by, the media. One might argue that the media is naturally drawn to report sensational news, as a moth is drawn to light, and most of these distractions qualify as sensational. But I don’t think it’s purely coincidental that the media relishes these stories when there is so much overlap between the agendas of the government and the corporations that comprise the “media.”

Both entities seek to dominate, exploit, and control the “little people.” And the little people, being xenophobic, uneducated, and fearful, are easily manipulated in a formulaic manner to help undermine their own welfare. Simply look at their support for Bush, a leader who has systematically attacked their standard of living, not to mention their liberties. All Bush had to do was push a few buttons labeled “religion,” “sex,” and “culture” to get them to react like Pavlovian dogs. And all this button pushing was, of course, happily assisted by the media.

Resource Competition

We humans like to think of ourselves as so much more sophisticated than “lower” animals. In affluent times and places we can afford to worry about silly things like what movies will win Oscar awards, whether our body looks good at the gym, or where we will take our next family vacation.But our existence still depends on this fundamental equation: survival = food + water + shelter.In leaner times, like those we’re heading into, the above equation becomes sharply apparent. Food production today is highly dependent on oil. Oil powers our farm implements, oil and natural gas are ingredients in commercial pesticides and fertilizers, and oil transports food to market.

Today food travels as far as 10,000 miles from where it’s produced to where it’s consumed, which would be impossible without oil. Oil vastly increases agricultural productivity. So it’s because of our largess of oil that the human population has been able to grow as large as it has. One might say that humans eat oil. We can, of course, produce food without oil – barring such evil manifestations as crops that are genetically engineered to require the use of petroleum-based pesticides – but without oil food production will be much lower.
Water is a resource we take for granted. We act as though there is no limit to the supplies of water, and that there are no repercussions to our profligate consumption of it. We’re building cities in places without adequate water supplies – Phoenix and Las Vegas come to mind – and we’re using up vast reservoirs of non-replenishable “fossil” water, such as the Ogallala Aquifer in the American Midwest. Just as we’re failing to plan for economic “rainy days,” we’re failing to regulate our water usage to prepare for a literal lack of rainy days. We seem to think that the replenishable water supply patterns will remain unchanged, an especially optimistic expectation if the Earth’s climate is truly in the midst of major change. But the water situation is even worse in some other places than in America. Water delivery is partly dependent on energy, just as food production is. It takes energy to pump water from the ground, to transport it to where it’s consumed, and even to treat it. Of course, food production is vitally dependent on water.
I hardly need mention the importance of oil except to say that for the first time in history, the demand curve is passing the supply curve. Moreover, the supply curve will soon be heading downward and we’ll find ourselves perpetually chasing this ever dwindling supply downhill.

When demand merely exceeds supply the price of oil will increase. But when demand exceeds supply and the supply starts to diminish, then prices will really go up, enough to destroy economies or render impractical the transportation of food and water to some places. But the gap between supply and demand means more than just higher prices. It also means shortages. Those who can afford to buy oil will usually have their needs satisfied, albeit at higher cost. But those who cannot pay the price will do without. Occasionally, even those who can afford to buy oil will be forced to do without because from time to time there simply won’t be any oil to buy on the global market, at any price. Imagine going to your local gas station and seeing a sign out front reading “Sorry, no gas.” Imagine going to your local grocery store and seeing empty shelves because the trucks that deliver goods to the store had no diesel fuel. Imagine having to bundle up in two layers of sweaters inside your house because you have to make half your normal allotment of home heating oil last the entire winter. These hypothetical scenarios will become reality and will occur with increasing frequency as time goes on.

What’s going to happen when people have to vigorously compete for food, water, and energy in order to survive? I think it’s going to get vicious. My opinion of humanity holds that in the face of such adversity, it will be every man for himself. Countries will compete against countries. States will compete against states. Cities will compete against cities. Governments will even compete against their citizens. Civilization, in the sense of the word “civility,” will be no more. Perhaps genetically engineered terminator seeds, depleted uranium, and exotic diseases are secretly intended to reduce the human population to alleviate resource competition.
Clearly, the U.S. invasion of Iraq is one of the opening salvos in the coming resource wars. And the U.S.’s belligerence toward Iran is undoubtedly due to Iran’s possession of vast oil and natural gas resources. Bear in mind that a country need not seek control of vital resources with the intention of consuming them. The country that controls resources can use those resources either as a lever to compel other countries to behave a certain way, or to buy other resources or finished goods, such as weapons and integrated circuit chips.

The End of Money

The 1970s was the apotheosis of the “American Dream.” Wedged between the preceding decade of civil unrest and the subsequent decade of recessions, rapidly rising homelessness, and mass layoffs, the 1970s was a comparatively idyllic decade. It certainly had its problems – stagflation, for instance – but even while living during that time I felt it was a special decade. Life was good; people were happy, friendly, and mellow; TV shows and movies were cheerful; civil liberties were at their peak; government power was at its lowest ebb; the country was affluent and at its peak of industrial prowess. It’s not a coincidence that the tallest buildings in America were built during the 1970s. Those buildings were icons of American industry and power. Although the Vietnam War raged during the first half of the 1970s, it was in the process of winding down and came to an end by the middle of that decade. The cessation of the Vietnam War was as much a reflection of the peoples’ desire to “live and let live” as it was a military defeat. Military conscription also ended in that decade, and even the cold war cooled off because of détente.
Unfortunately, what we didn’t realize at the time was that we would never again have it so good.

The 1970s represented a “tipping point,” to use the popular vernacular, for the American Dream. That was when globalization really started to take off and when the serious decline of American industry began, the steel and auto industries being among the first casualties. Interestingly, the 1970s was also the decade of peak oil production in the United States, after which point we became increasingly reliant on imported oil, which greased our downward slide. What I didn’t realize until writing this was how crucial a role President Nixon played in creating this tipping point. Nixon opened the door to trade with China, a major player in today’s globalized economy. Nixon disassociated the U.S. dollar from gold, facilitating the destruction of wealth through unrelenting devaluation of the dollar. Nixon launched the war on drugs, a precursor to today’s war on terror (or is it the war of terror, I can’t tell?). Both the drug war and war on/of terror consume wealth in order to serve the imperial ambitions of the U.S. Government, but contribute nothing to the country’s production of wealth.

The 1980s was a decade in which previously accumulated wealth was systematically extracted, mainly through the mechanism of “Merger Mania.” The 1980s was a decade of marked industrial and economic decline, which was masked to a large extent by releasing into the economy some of the wealth squeezed out of these mergers, as well as by the massive accumulation of debt. The transformations of the 1980s also introduced a new component: the injection of foreign wealth into the country. Many of the assets sold in the 1980s were purchased by foreigners, especially the Japanese, a trend which accelerated toward the latter half of the decade, highlighting America’s economic decline. The 1980s also marked the inception of the mythical “service economy” theory to justify the profitable exporting of American jobs. The economy is like a pyramid. Forming the foundation of this pyramid is the one true source of wealth: natural resources – the free wealth given to us by the Earth and the Sun. Mining for minerals and energy, agriculture, fishing, and forestry are the source of all other wealth. Above this foundation are industries that utilize its products. These second level industries consist primarily of manufacturers that take raw materials and produce something of greater value. Above the manufacturers are companies that serve them, including law firms, advertising agencies, shipping companies, airlines, hotels, restaurants, and even entertainment. As wealth moves up this pyramid a little wealth, constituting salaries and savings, is retained by each level in the pyramid. The myth of the service economy, the darling theory of the 1980s, is that a country could retain the top of the pyramid and outsource the base of it. During the last three decades we have transfered much of the base of this economic pyramid to countries such as China and India and indeed, initially, the money kept flowing to the top of the pyramid which remained in the United States. But after a while, a new top of the pyramid began to form in those countries where we had shipped the base of the pyramid. Witness today not only the exodus of high tech jobs to China and India, but that in those countries pure service companies, such as advertising agencies, are also starting to flourish.

The 1990s was a period of greatly accelerating globalization and economic decline for the United States, aided and abetted by such treaties as NAFTA, GATT, and the WTO. Again, this massive decline was masked by the illusion of wealth that persisted during the huge stock market bubble of the latter half of the 1990s. Like merger mania before it, the stock market bubble attracted a lot of foreign wealth. A bit more previously accumulated wealth was extracted from rising human productivity here in the United States during the 1990s.

Finally, the 2000s so far represent an era massively dependent on inflows of foreign wealth. With our previously accumulated wealth now exhausted and little means left for fundamental wealth production, about the only thing keeping the U.S. economy afloat these days is consumer spending and deficit spending by the government, both of which are financed by growing mountains of debt, which is owed to foreigners. The United States has largely been reduced to a nation of people that sell each other hamburgers, with foreigners paying the checks. Asset sales to foreigners continue as well, the failed Chinese bid for Unocal and the not-so-failed Dubai bid to run some of our seaports being prominent recent examples.

During the last thirty years in America two persistent trends are clear: the steady depletion of existing wealth and decline in the means to produce new wealth; and the steady rise of an imperial U.S. Government.
Today, the economic imbalances in the United States economy are so vast that I cannot see how they can be corrected gracefully. Even more astonishing to me is that people keep buying financial instruments like U.S. Treasury bills. Do these investors really believe they’re ever going to get their money back? The national debt is so large that paying it down is nearly impossible, especially since there is no political will to either increase taxes or reduce spending. Obviously, the U.S. Government knows it cannot pay down the national debt, which is why it covertly relies on dollar devaluation to reduce the value of the national debt.

It’s only a matter of time before the majority of investors in dollar-denominated financial instruments open their eyes and stop buying those assets. When that happens the dollar is doomed. The government’s only recourse when it cannot borrow money will be to print dollars, which will only accelerate the dollar’s demise, possibly even inducing hyperinflation along the way.
If oil prices skyrocket because of the global supply and demand relationship and harm the U.S. economy, that could accelerate the dollar’s demise as well. I personally don’t see how the dollar can avoid substantial devaluation, either slowly or rapidly. I hope the decline is gradual.
All of the world’s government-issued currencies are in similar straits. None are firmly backed by finite, physical resources, such as gold. Consequently, all currencies have the potential to suffer from devaluation, even more so since the economies of the world’s countries are so intricately linked together. If one currency abruptly collapses, especially an important one like the dollar, they could all come crashing down.

Additionally, faith in the world’s currencies depends in part on globalization. The willingness of an investor in Japan to buy American dollars depends in part on the investor’s expectation of a continuing economic relationship between Japan and America. But in an era where global trade is increasingly challenged by oil shortages, faith in other countries’ currencies will diminish too. Countries will increasingly prefer to conduct international trade using universal mediums like gold instead of currency.

If currencies such as the dollar become worthless, even local trade may be conducted using gold or other precious metals. Such trade may, in fact, have to be conducted in black markets, since financially distressed governments will probably seek to confiscate all gold and precious metals from their citizens. The bottom line is that government-issued currency will be a thing of the past. So how will the government continue to exist?
Acquisition of Resources
Without money or credit, government can only continue to exist through force. The United States government is particularly well endowed in this regard and has demonstrated its willingness to use force to acquire resources, and not as a last resort either.
Iraq’s oil is the first such resource to be acquired by military force. Iran’s oil and natural gas may well be the next. In the long run, the energy-rich regions of central Asia will also attract the hungry gaze of the U.S. Empire. Of course, other powerful, populous, and hungry countries, such as China and India, will also have designs on these energy-rich regions, which will probably result in significant wars. Oil from the Middle East will probably become so valuable that countries will have to provide a military escort for every tanker carrying oil across the ocean.
Domestically, energy will be controlled by the government. It will satisfy its needs first, corporations will have their needs satisfied second, and the populace will be forced to ration whatever is left.

Food is also critical to the government, comprised, as it is, of people. So it’s logical to assume that the government will at some point take control of food production. As with energy, the government will satisfy its own food requirements first, and the populace will be left to ration whatever is left. If water becomes a scarce or unreliable resource, then we can assume that the government will take control of that as well. In a future where money has no value, the only way a government can retain people is by providing them with food, water, and shelter. In fact, in a future world where resource competition is the order of the day, people will probably covet a government job – as a bureaucrat, a laborer, or a soldier – simply because it will mean three square meals a day and a roof over their head.

Of course, government needs more than just food, water, and shelter. Government needs weapons, vehicles, computers, communications gear, and myriad other manufactured items. Some of these things are manufactured wholly in other countries, or depend in part on components from other countries. Without money the government cannot buy these things. But it can trade precious resources, such as oil, water, and food, for them. Some critical factories, such as domestic weapons plants, may be taken over wholesale by the government for security reasons.

Slave Labor
Government cannot operate on resources and material alone. It also needs labor. Some of that labor can be “purchased” in exchange for resources. But in order for the government to operate “profitably” it will have to employ slave labor, that is, labor it doesn’t have to pay so richly for.
We already have such a precedent. Many of the two million people already incarcerated in this country are veritable slave laborers. They “earn” anywhere from twenty-five cents to one dollar per hour, often working for major American corporations. But in some cases these poor prisoners are then charged room and board for being in prison, thus wiping out their minuscule income. In effect, since they are being forced to work without making any net income, they are slaves. It does not challenge the imagination to envision future slave laborers working in factories manufacturing everything from machine guns to computers, or working on farms to produce food, returning each night to sleep in their prison cells.
The United States military is currently exploring ways to utilize civilian prisoners to satisfy the military’s labor needs. It’s only a matter of time before they come up with a justification for doing so.
Once the framework for utilizing slave laborers – all nice and legal, of course – is established, it’s quite easy to increase the pool of potential laborers, if necessary. The government merely has to criminalize more behaviors. Caught driving your car on the “wrong” day? Three months in prison loading ammunition cartridges. Caught possessing gold coins? Six months in prison assembling computers. Caught saying “subversive” things over the telephone to your aunt? Five years on a prison farm – for the both of you – tending crops. Of course, prison sentences will likely be accompanied by asset forfeiture, that is, if you have anything the government wants. There is already a precedent today for asset forfeiture too, even for minor offenses such as hiring a prostitute or having a marijuana cigarette in your car. Heck, simply walking through an airport today with “too much” cash on your person might result in it being confiscated.
Conclusion
Although this essay has mainly been a description of the United States and its future, much of it is applicable to the world as a whole. Some other countries may well face worse times ahead because they lack the natural resources and/or military might that the United States possesses.
The goal of this essay is not to propose solutions to the many problems facing us, although there are solutions, but to explain the seemingly irrational behavior we see around the world. Viewing the world today in light of the foregoing essay, Bush’s actions are understandable, even though I don’t endorse them: the competitive pursuit of resources, the rolling back of civil liberties, the carefree handling of the economy.
Copyright 2006 by Dave Eriqat

Rest in Peace Octavia E. Butler 6/22/1947-2/26/2006

2006-02-28T05:19:00.000-08:00

My all time favorite science fiction writer Octavia E .Butler passed away on Sunday. As I mourn her death, I celebrate what she has given to life. A Washington Post reviewer once described her as:

"A master storyteller who casts an unflinching eye on racism, sexism,
poverty, and ignorance and let’s the reader see the terror and the beauty of
human nature."

She did more than just write. She sounded the alarm regarding our enslavement and offered hope for freedom. She did it through her writings by examining the past and predicting the future of our reality. Those dark and ugly realities in her novels are present in our society now. Through her work we see how chaos is born from both the human and the alien or "other's" craving for control. The hope she offers isn't a watered down 'just believe in god and you'll be saved' kind of hope. It was always about the use of knowledge, which could only be gained by the will, intelligence and empathy of her heroines. This use allowed them to save themselves and others.

I suspect her main characters were always women because of an allusion to esoteric ideas regarding the feminine's direct connection to the creative aspect of the universe. They suffered yes, because as another of my favorite writers often talke about; conscious suffering has a place. Her characters also brought much to life in their creativity of thought and action. Many of us living in America suffer unconsciously. This not only cut us off from the creative life affirming aspect of existence, but through our choice of action or inaction allows for much death and suffering of others. Why? because there are always pathocrats willing to exploit our sleeping state. Octavia never shied away from presenting in the raw what her characters were up against in a pathocratic society. The terror of the situation can either wake you up or leave you like a deer caught in the headlights. Her characters never took the deer route even when they were as terrified as we are now.

I need not go on and on about her writings. I have previously reviewed her Parables series in terms of our enslaved status in USA and the world on this blog but the entire Butlerian oeuvre is worth reading. What I really wanted to say here is that she was well aware that her writings were a wake up call for unconscious sufferers. In one of her last interviews she spoke with Democracy Now's Amy Goodman about her work. She explains:

"I wrote the two Parable books back in the 1990s. And they are books about,
as I said, what happens because we don't trouble to correct some of the problems
that we're brewing for ourselves right now."

"I had been doing the two Parable books -- Parable of the Sower and Parable of the
Talents -- and they were what I call cautionary tales: If we keep misbehaving
ourselves, ignoring what we've been ignoring, doing what we've been doing to the
environment, for instance, here's what we're liable to wind up with"

She was eerily prescient because what we wind up with is here; War with Iran, Israel Marching, Civil War in Iraq, Life in the US, Internment camps and General Madness. My hope is that enough of us have the perspicacity of Octavia E. Butler's characters. It is the only way we will survive. First though, enough of us need to become conscious and her novels were dedicated to making us conscious. May she rest in peace.

Alito Confirmation Blues

2006-01-31T15:48:00.000-08:00

There is nothing to fear except the persistent refusal to find out the truth, the persistent refusal to analyze the causes of happenings
--------Dorothy Thompson

It seems the fuhrer's pick will be confirmed for his seat on the supreme court. It's another in a long list of signs that the fascist rulers no longer wish to do their dirty deeds undercover. Our enslavement is blatant and increasingly oppressive. I pray that the oppression
does not render us so weak that we keep choosing slavery. I am also beginning to see that answers to such prayers can only come from us deciding act by choosing truth, and being that truth. We must resist until our dying breath even when it appears that nothing can be done. They kill us regardless. If the killing isn't done directly, they use ponerological tools to keep us in place while cannibalizing us a little at a time. We do however have a choice even when they say otherwise. We can BE what the power elite fascists bunch cannot. Let us be representatives of truth and freedom. Let's study ponerology and learn how they enslave us. Then let's share what we learn so that we can become free.

I know at times like today when Alito's confirmation looms, it is easy to lose the courage necessary for doing this. The words of others can help. Words of those who choose to resist by documenting the lies of our enslavers are invaluable. Even if I don't agree with every single thing they write, the actions taken by those like Cindy Sheehan, Laura Knight-Jadczyk, Kurt Nimmo and John Kaminsky, Jeff Wells and others are necessary. They to put themselves on the line and stand up for truth. It means that we can and must do the same because they are fighting to be free so that we all can be free. As repayment they get lambasted by conscious and unconscious agents of COINTELPRO day in day out. Yet, they keep going. So I say when discouraged, get a dose of the objective reality to be found in their writings and keep going forward with the fight. As I've mentioned before in a slightly different way, it is up to each of us who wish to see truth prevail to do everything we can to make it so.

As Ms Jadczyk said:
"Just now, activists are the physicians of society. We can't do a thing
if we don't know the nature of the disease...."

Those people mentioned above including Ms Jadczyk can teach us a thing or two about the nature of the disease. To continue with some of her lessons:

...Modern COINTELPRO has been developed to an all new level of complexity and sophistication even if they still use many of the old tried and true methods of defamation and slander. After all, they have had access to some excellent talent to figure out how the human mind works and to know how to get to people and even to "trigger" them at a distance. I'm not talking about mysterious "mind control" experiments here, but simple psychological knowledge, though I won't discount the direct experimentation. After all, if you have some control over what kind of psychological "diet" is being fed to a society, you can pretty well set them up to do what you want right there in front of God and everybody. Education, religion, television, video games, control of the media for "ideological vectoring," etc. It's a pretty formidable array. But again, most of it is "terror tactics." We need to study it and find the curative means and employ them.

The science of evil-Ponerology

2005-12-17T09:52:00.000-08:00

Do not honor our leaders, our military "geniuses," our captains of industry; they represent the most selfish faction among us. Many are sociopaths and the rest are mostly so; how else could they go through life choosing mass murder and oppression for greedy purpose? ----Chris Crittenden

Long time no blog. Been at the grind on this prison planet but I haven't forgotten the
struggle to break out. I've been studying the terrain that's all. A larg part of the terrain involves the problem of evil.

Often you hear this person is evil or that person is good. What makes a person evil and our world increasingly so? The psychologist Andrew Lobaczewski has spent considerable time researching the problem of evil and how it spreads in society. He calls this science ponerology. Although the linked article deals with political ponerology, it is interesting to see how evil invades all spheres of existence on our planet and how it is done through the psychopathic personality.

Many of the powerful used to care enough to pretend concern for others. In the process they sometimes serve others in a positive way. Lately however, the looking out for number one/self serving disregard for others displayed by leaders in all spheres of our society has been blatant to the point of the destruction of American society. This behavior has also trickled down to many of the prisioners on planet earth who take their cues from said leaders. At the other end are many others who don't take those cues but prefer to pretend these behaviors are not exhibited at all. These two issues I believe, and the author of ponerology indicates is at the essence of the problem of evi. Of the two, the latter is the most dangerous for it leaves us unprepared for dealing with the consequence of evil behavior.

For example, many refused to accept that our government would do some of the very things evidence is now showing it to be involved in. In fact many supported its activities and ostracized those who warned of the dangers a Bush government posed. Would the Bush government have been able to cause so much damage if enough Americans accepted its propensity for evil a long time ago?
Maybe it's time we all start learning about the nature of evil before it gets even worse. A good start is with studying psychopaths

Recommended reading:
The Sociopath Next Door -Martha Stout
Inside the Criminal Mind - Stanton Samenow
Antisocial Behavior-Benjamin B. Wolman
Trapped in the mirror-Elan Golomb
Unholy hungers-Barbara E. Hort
Without Conscience-Robert D. Hare
Mask of sanity- Hervey Cleckly found at http://www.cassiopaea.org/cass/sanity_1.PdF
In sheep's clothing-George K. Simon
The cunning of history- Richard Rubenstein
By Way of Deception- Victor Ostrovsky

science fiction and science reality

2005-10-08T12:52:00.000-07:00

While I've gotten caught up in sci fi there is some real science going on that can seriously impact our lives, and may well be another tool of slavemasters to herd us into further control. It can also explain some strange immoral behaviors we see amongst our fellow so called humans. So what I really wanted to talk about before I did the Da Vinci redux yesterday is something I mentioned in response to a comment on these pages; It is the idea that science reality is stranger and scarier than any science fiction. I started thinking about this in earnest after reading Mind Parasites but if I wasn't thinking then, the headlines from the past two weeks would force anyone trying to get out of their enslavement to take serious stock of their reality. It is scary in it's implication for population control. Mind parasites indeed.

http://observer.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,,1577753,00.html
Armed and dangerous - Flipper the firing dolphin let loose by Katrina

Experts who have studied the US navy's cetacean training exercises claim the 36 mammals could be carrying 'toxic dart' guns. Divers and surfers risk attack, they claim, from a species considered to be among the planet's smartest. The US navy admits it has been training dolphins for military purposes, but has refused to confirm that any are missing.

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/9589897/
Bush says Pentagon could be put in charge of areas hit by avian influenza

President Bush, increasingly concerned about a possible avian flu
pandemic, revealed Tuesday that any part of the country where the virus breaks out could likely be quarantined and that he is considering using the military to enforce it. But such a shift could require a change in law, and some in Congress and the states worry it would increase the power of the federal government at the expense of local control.

On the heels of that ditty about military quarantines we hear a of a real feat in science regarding flu.
http://www.world-science.net/othernews/051005_spanishflufrm.htm
Scientists recreate virus that killed millions

Scientists say they have made a virus identical, in most key respects, to the Spanish flu virus that killed an estimated 20 million to 50 million people in 1918. An influenza ward in a U.S. Army Camp hospital in Aix-Les-Bains, France, in 1918. (U.S. National Museum of Health and Medicine) The purpose of the recreation, the researchers said, is to protect humanity from another world outbreak, which may be imminent because the virus is related to bird flu viruses that have been killing chickens and some humans.

To make sure that our minds are kept filled with fear of the terrorist issue we hear this:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/story/0,3605,1585977,00.html
Security fears as flu virus that killed 50 million is recreated

The government and military researchers who reconstructed the virus say their work has already provided invaluable insight into its unique genetic make-up and helps explain its lethality. But other researchers warned yesterday the that virus could escape from the laboratory. "This will raise clear questions among some as to whether they have really created a biological weapon," said Professor Ronald Atlas at the centre for deterrence of biowarfare and bioterrorism at the University of Louisville in Kentucky

Worse you can't really think too much you may be labeled a terrorist because your mind isn't private, maybe it's not even your own. This one really got me since my thing is neuroscience. I wonder if they could scan Rove, Bush and pals brain. Then again isn't their lies obvious?

http://www.nature.com/news/2005/050919/pf/437457a_pf.html
Brain imaging ready to detect terrorists, say neuroscientists

MRI scans can pick up lies, but raise ethical issues Brain-imaging techniques that reveal when a person is lying are now reliable enough to identify criminals, claim researchers. Critics maintain that the technique will never be useful for such investigations, arguing that, as with traditional polygraph detectors, liars could learn to fool the tests. And researchers in the field have previously admitted that the approach needs more work. But neuroscientists from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine in Philadelphia have now
told Nature that they believe their test is ready for real-life scenarios.Daniel Langleben and his colleagues use functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to track people's brains when they lie and tell the truth. By analysing brain activity during both scenarios, they have developed an algorithm that can detect lies from truth with 99% accuracy...

As long as it's not used for further mind control Neuroscience rocks! But I would be really under an illusion if I thought it wasn't used for that. The good thing is we have an explanation for our president with this research.

http://www.world-science.net/othernews/051002_liarsfrm.htm
Pathological liars found to have brain abnormalities

Oct. 2, 2005By Usha Sutliff/University of Southern Californiaand World Science StaffA study has found brain abnormalities in people who habitually lie, cheat and manipulate others. A three-dimensional MRI image of the brain (Courtesy University of Southern California) Previous research had shown that when normal people lie, there is heightened activity in the prefrontal cortex, a brain area that enables most people to feel remorse or learn moral behavior. The new study showed that the same brain area, just behind the forehead, exhibits structural differences among pathological liars, said the researchers.

I'm still waiting for a brain scan of our beloved slavemas....er president. Maybe he was a research subject.

Da Vinci code redux and other sci fi

2005-10-07T08:44:00.000-07:00

Continuing with my SciFi theme, I recently read Colin Wilson's The mind parasites. If you haven't heard of it, it was first published in 1967, and is out of print. A synopsis can be found here: http://www.webster.edu/~corbetre/personal/reading/wilson-parasites.html.http://www.elise.com/books/el/

If you're into all that government/elite military industrial corporate occult business you will find the book somewhat comical. If you think about the scenario that it proposes, something not far from the predator's mind of Carlos Castaneda's teachings of Don Juan or Gurdjieff's man as machine and food for the moon, it is downright scary. So I call it a comic horror with very relevant stuff. Sadly I was ingrigued but disappointed. It ended up supporting the idea that good guy scientists MUST plot with the US president to hoodwink the populace in order to save them. The salvation is from some "other" very bad humans not necessarily the mind parasites since the brilliant scientists are quite capable of taking care of them on their own. The president and the scientists save humanity from other bad humans by faking an alien invasion. Thus the populace was tricked into quitting a war they were insistent on fighting. Never mind it was a war other world leaders manipulated their citizens into to begin with.

Though my synopsis is rather simplistic, it's a good idea to read the book if you can get it. It forces you to think about stuff. Stuff that even if you don't believe it, and real life powerbrokers pretend is all bunk they spend a lot of time and money researching. Worse, they spit out disinfo regarding what they know about such stuff to draw our attention away from the real deal. One such book which does a good job in putting out intriguing ideas but draw attention away from the real deal is The Da vinci Code. I'll be honest, it's a fun fast paced read, much like Mind Parasites. Yet, I believe it is so popular because it presents a story with a ring of truth or rather attempts to reveal the real life mystery surrounding, the feminine principle, Christ, Da Vinci and god know what else Dan Brown could throw in. Who wouldn't want to know about that. Also like Mind Parasites, it is an adventure story involving world class academics who stumble upon a paradigm changing mystery. I won't go into much more detail about the book though since so many have already read it. There is however a real Da Vinci Code to contend with, which in my view the Dan Brown gets wrong. Laura Jadczyk's Secret History of the world and how to get out alive previously mentioned on these pages, is one book that points to the possibility of what the real code may be. I recently learned that there is an update of an article concerning the very topic and it's well worth the read.

Disasters and Talents: a parable

2005-09-24T12:54:00.000-07:00

When emotions rule alone,
Destruction.....destruction
-----Lauren Olamina Bankole, Parable of the Talents

If readers of this blog have taken a cursory look at my profile they will see that I am somewhat a fan of science fiction and mysticism. It is interesting because I am a student and a scientist. I am a sci fi fan because in such writings I often find a more objective portrayal of our current reality than in the news. It often speaks to someone with a mystical bent and it includes science even if at time the science is often wrong. Writer Octavia Butler is one of my favorite sci fi authors. I recently read the sequel to her Earthseed series Parable of the Sower. It is titled Parable of the Talents.

Parable of the Sower details a young woman's philosophical journey and loss of everything meaningful growing up in dystopian California. Talents is about her work to fulfill the destiny of what she discovered on the journey. By paying attention to objective reality, she discovers that standard organized religions do not and cannot work because they are not life affirming. They do not better the lot of man because they deny god. Sounds crazy that religions deny god right? For her god is just plain and simple change. Most people can't handle this. For the few than can imagine this intellectually, it's still difficult to incorporate in our practical existence. The idea that we must work hard on one direction but always be prepared or willing to change because someone (god) isn't going to come and rescue us from all of life's ills is a difficult one. However it is a necessay concept to put into practice for future existance. It reminds me of a saying by a real life group that experiment in science and mysticism called the

cassiopaeans. They say that:

"Life is
religion. Life experiences reflect how one interacts with God.
Those who are asleep are those of little faith in terms
of their interaction with the creation.
Some people think that the world exists for them
to overcome or ignore or shut out.
For those individuals, the worlds will cease.
They will become exactly what they give to life.
They will become merely a dream in the 'past.'
People who pay strict attention to objective reality right and left,
become the reality of the future."
---The cassiopaeans http://signs-of-the-times.org/signs/signs.htm

Getting back to the story:
After discovering that mankind's destiny is to move beyond the earth and populate the stars, the heroine begins to work on herself and help others who choose to develop their talents even if she doesn't know exactly how to begin getting to the stars and she isn't sure she is doing the right thing. It shows that what allows for our evolution is nurture of our talents within the bounds of objective reality here and now on earth. She practices the idea that:

"Chaos is god's most dangeros face
Amorphous, roiling, hungry
Shape chaos,shape god
Alter the speed or direction of change
Recombine the seeds of change
Transmute the impact of change
Seize change, use it, adapt and grow."
Thus Talent picks up where Sower left off so you get to see her struggles to fulfill the destiny in post-acpocalypse California. Here the US has sold the last of it's space shuttles to finance its wars. The average person cannot read much less imagine realistic space travel. The nation is a shell of itself after environmental(due to global warming), nuclear( due to wars) and biological (plagues of pox) catastrophies. The resulting social upheaval makes the recent events in New Orlearns due to hurricane Katrina seem like heaven. There is also the election campain and eventual presidencey of a warmongering christian fundamentalist Texan who knows how to manipulate people's perceptions with his lies. In this society, not so vastly different from ours I must say, it is mostly the wealthy that have a measure of real living; everyone else is just trying to survive. Rape, murders, witch burning (so there are slight differences), kidnapping and actual slavery are rampant. Yes slavery ! and it ain't just blacks. Everyone is vulnerable to enslavement except for the ruling elites or corporate heads. The Texan's goons are the most efficient slavemasters. Their acts comitted in the name of returning the nation to its great christian past are unconstitutional. The blinded believers, including the heroine's brother refuse to believe the horrible acts are commiteed by these christian leaders and their friends. Sadly like we see in today's USA nominally led by a christian fundamentalist Texan, when you're rich and powerful enough and most of the populace is kept scared about natural and man made disasters such as hurricanes and terrorists, the constitution is just something written on a piece of paper. People disappear without anyone knowing.

The book was informative because it shows how easy it is to enslave others or allow ourselves to be enslaved when disasters are happening all around you. The first trap is looking outside oneself be rescued. Such a situation is ripe for manipulation by anyone claiming to have a sure shot solution because we become vulnerable to burying our talents by believing lies. It prevents us from paying attention to objective reality and as such we set ourselves up to become what the cassiopaeans would call a "dream in the past". Lauren Olamina in Talents warns:

"Choose your leaders with wisdom and forethought
To be led by a coward is to be controlled by all that the coward fears.
To be led by a fool is to be led by the opportunists that control the fool
To be led by a thief is to offer up your most precious treasures to be stolen
To be led by a liar is to ask to be told lies
To be led by a tyrant is to sell yourself and those you love into slavery."

The book shows that our responsibilities are to multiply our talents or lose them if we bury them. To not bury our talents means working HARD on being truly human and being of service to others. It means not holding on so tightly to one thing (beliefs) that in the end it proves to be worthless. When we do this we look for external saviours and we become their slaves. The story shows how people with nothing discover that they have much to give and can be of service if they develop their talents. Also you see how being concerned with serving self is slavery because when we seek to serve only self we end up as fodder for those further up in the hierarchy of self service. We become become "echos of ourselves" or a "dream in the past." Lauren says:
"Beware:
All too often we say what we hear other say
We think what we're told to think
We see what we're permitted to see
Worse! We see what we're told to see
Repeitition and pride are the keys to this
To hear and see an obviouslie
Again and again and again
may be to say it almost by reflex
Then to defend it because we've said it
And at last to embrace it because we've defended it
because we cannot admit that we've embraced
and defended an obvious lie.
Thus, without thought, without intent
we make mere echoes of ourselves
and we say what we hear others say."

Nowhere is this more evident that in today's society led by the spin of a bunch of christian fundamentalist and corporate heads who control our leading fool.