[CTRL] ABC NEWS: Sources: U.S. Prepared Commandos to Capture bin Laden, But Held Back (fwd)
-Caveat Lector- Sources: U.S. Prepared Commandos to Capture bin Laden, But Held Back May 30, 2001 W A S H I N G T O N, May 30 The U.S. government set up several secret commando missions to capture Osama bin Laden, only to call them off at the last minute, U.S. military and intelligence sources have told ABCNEWS. The commando missions were arranged by teams assembled by the CIA and the Defense Department, but abandoned because people in charge were not comfortable with the risks, sources say. Some of the commando team members have already been inside Afghanistan, where bin Laden has lived since 1996. Other teams are on several hours' notice to try again, the sources say. A commando operation to capture bin Laden would entail much higher risks. American commandos could be killed or captured, and any botched raid would only add to bin Laden's mystique, U.S. officials say. U.S. officials accuse the exiled Saudi dissident of masterminding the bombings of the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998 and want him to stand trial. Four of his followers were convicted in the case Tuesday, but bin Laden and numerous other defendants are still at large. The bombings killed 224 people, including 12 Americans. The United States targeted bin Laden three years ago, soon after the bombings. U.S. warships in the Arabian Sea fired cruise missiles at a suspected bin Laden training camp in Afghanistan. A Hard Man to Find The U.S. government spends hundreds of millions of dollars each year trying to learn every detail of bin Laden's life, using satellites and a network of informers. For years, the United States has been waiting for him to make a mistake. We have people that track him all the time and know him probably better than his wives know him, says Jeff Ellis, a former commando who participated in several secret missions to capture terrorists overseas. If there's an opportunity to grab this guy, the government, unless they've changed, will go after him, says Ellis, who now works for Research Planning Inc., a private sector company based in Falls Church, Va. But bin Laden has proven to be an extremely difficult target, sources say. He has stopped using easy-to-trace satellite phones. He disguises his travel by using beaten-up old trucks or cars, sleeps in a different place every night and often changes his plans at the last minute. He is heavily guarded. He'll have people that will sit down there and work him through where he gets his food, how he gets his food, where he sleeps that night, how they're going to move him. It's just like the Secret Service protecting our president, says Ellis. The kind of detailed knowledge we need about his immediate movements, his everyday activities and his current location at any given time are very difficult to come up with, says retired Lt. Gen. Patrick Hughes, former director of the Defense Intelligence Agency. Without knowing where he is going to be, chances are you won't apprehend him. In the 1998 airstrike, the cruise missiles hit the camp just two hours after bin Laden's departure, U.S. sources say. The problem is, if one is going to contemplate a strike on him ... one needs absolutely perfect information. Not only now but where he will be in the next hour or two, says Ken Katzman, a former CIA analyst who now works for the Congressional Research Service. A HREF=http://www.ctrl.org/;www.ctrl.org/A DECLARATION DISCLAIMER == CTRL is a discussion informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substancenot soap-boxingplease! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright fraudsis used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. Archives Available at: http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html A HREF=http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html;Archives of [EMAIL PROTECTED]/A http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ A HREF=http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/;ctrl/A To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
[CTRL] [Fwd: 6 Kids and 27 Dogs in Standoff With Cops in Idaho] (fwd)
-Caveat Lector- Original Message Subject: 6 Kids and 27 Dogs in Standoff With Cops in Idaho Date: Wed, 30 May 2001 15:28:40 -0700 From: spiker [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: (Recipient list suppressed) Source: Fox News http://www.foxnews.com/ 6 Kids and 27 Dogs in Standoff With Cops in Idaho http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,26011,00.html Wednesday, May 30, 2001 SANDPOINT, Idaho Six children, believed to be hungry and armed, refused to leave their rural home and instead released their pack of vicious dogs on sheriff's deputies who had earlier arrested their mother, the Bonner County sheriff said. Deputies retreated from the rural house Tuesday evening and were pondering their next move Wednesday morning. Wednesday morning. I told them, 'We're just going to defuse it, we're leaving,' Sheriff Phil Jarvis said Tuesday night. I'm not going to get into a Randy Weaver thing. In 1992 at Ruby Ridge, Idaho, the wife and son of white separatist Randy Weaver were killed during a standoff with federal agents. The children, ranging in ages from 8 to 16, would not respond to calls from social workers or law enforcement officers during a two-hour standoff Tuesday. The incident was triggered by the arrest Tuesday of the children's mother, Joann McGuckin, on a warrant charging felony injury to a child. Authorities believe McGuckin, 46, is mentally ill. Her husband died more than a week ago, Jarvis said. Further information on the warrant was not immediately available. We know there are six children in there and guns in the house. The kids are trained to use the guns, Jarvis said. We've been working for four or five days trying to figure out how to get the mom off the property and get her in a mental hold. McGuckin owns 27 dogs, which have been running free and hunting as a pack in the area, Jarvis said. They hunt. They pack like wild animals, Jarvis said. They took down a moose a little while ago. On May 21, the dogs attacked a woman who was walking near the house, Jarvis said. Stephanie Almy suffered bites requiring 17 stitches, and a deputy who rescued her was also bitten. McGuckin retreated into the house and agreed to put all the dogs in the basement, except two. She refused to come out of the house anymore. The home lacks power, water and heat. The children are in the care of their 16-year-old sister, Jarvis said. They've been home-schooled, he said. A 19-year-old sister who left home some time ago has been assisting the sheriff's department. The family is absolutely stone broke, Jarvis said. Deputies developed a plan to bring McGuckin some money, thinking she might leave the house to get groceries. A deputy delivered the money Tuesday and McGuckin agreed to go with him to Garfield Bay to make the call. At about 4 p.m. Tuesday, McGuckin was taken into custody at Garfield Bay. Deputies returned to the home to get the children and put them in the custody of state Department of Health and Welfare. As a deputy was explaining the situation to the 15-year-old boy, he runs back to the house and yells, 'Get the guns,' Jarvis said. They let all the dogs out of the basement. The dogs were attacking again. After warding off the dogs with gunshots, officers used a loudspeaker to try to talk the kids out of the house. We were trying to convince them that we weren't there to hurt them, and that we were there to assist them, to get them housing and food, Jarvis said. At about 7 p.m., the officers left. The children are no worse than they were night before last, Jarvis said. They're in the care of their 16-year-old sister. http://disc.server.com/discussion.cgi?id=149495article=2064 = CRIME.COM takes you live outside the Federal Penitentiary in Terre Haute with the only streaming video camera on the web. Watch history in the making, as the world awaits the execution of the most notorious terrorist in America. http://www.crime.com/deathrow/pop-up/countdown_cam.html MICHAEL BRESCIA aka John Doe #2 http://disc.server.com/discussion.cgi?id=149495article=2056 Carol Conspiracy Poster Girl Howe http://disc.server.com/discussion.cgi?id=149495article=2055 Pat Shannon Re: Don't buy McVeigh's Book OR the government Wed May 30 13:03:45 2001 http://disc.server.com/discussion.cgi?id=149495article=2049 WND exclusive stories on Oklahoma City tragedy http://www.worldnetdaily.com/okc.asp Open letter to John Ashcroft http://www.apfn.org/apfn/ashcroft.htm A HREF=http://www.ctrl.org/;www.ctrl.org/A DECLARATION DISCLAIMER == CTRL is a discussion informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substancenot soap-boxingplease! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright fraudsis used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives
[CTRL] FC: More on dead bodies, autopsy photos, and privacy rights (fwd)
-Caveat Lector- * In response to: http://www.politechbot.com/p-02062.html * From: Aimee Farr [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: RE: Another 1A vs. privacy case: Lawsuit over autopsy photos Date: Fri, 25 May 2001 19:31:39 -0500 In-Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [But can a dead man have any privacy interests in photographs of his body? Can his family members sue a web site that posted the photos for entertainment, amusement or profit? Does a dead man have interests in the physical integrity of his body? No. Nor does he have a cause of action that will survive his death for his heirs to assert if his body is injured - death has already occurred. To provide a remedy for this situation, the law has recognized the interests of family members through the 'ole mistreatment/mishandling of corpse actions, which the courts refer to as a special case. In a like vein, courts have given special consideration to the circumstances surrounding a person's death by recognizing a privacy interest in the decedent's heirs. Heirs generally do not succeed to a privacy claim as it is a personal tort, and does not normally survive the victim, adhering to the old common law of England. However, see Reid v. Pierce County, 961 P.2d 333 (Wash. 1998) (holding family members have privacy interests in the autopsy records of decedents). @ http://www.law.syr.edu/faculty/bender/torts/additionalcases/reid.pdf Within an FOIA context, courts have withheld JFK autopsy records and Challenger space shuttle recordings, finding that the records of the decedents were personal in nature, property of the decedents' estates, and not subject to disclosure. If so, is that any different in principle from photos and video that evening news airs every day? Invasion of privacy is often mischaracterized by the media as a singular cause of action. There are four privacy torts: unreasonable intrusion upon seclusion/private affairs, public disclosure of private facts, appropriation, and false light in the public eye. (Privacy mileage in your state may vary.) In the matter at hand, usually brought in terms of public disclosure of private facts, the courts will try to *balance* the competing interests by asking: (1) is the matter made public one which would be highly offensive and objectionable to a reasonable person?, and (2) does the public lack a legitimate interest in the information? Photos and video on the evening news are usually not highly offensive to a reasonable person, and are usually in the public interest. Why would it be permissible for the state to (before the new law passed) make the photos available to anyone willing to trek down to the courthouse but impermissible to publish them? Short answer: Because a reasonable basis for legislation is a legal term of art, and is often anything but reasonable. Law and commonsense are distinct concepts, often light-years apart when legislatures are in session.. Long answer: You ask why garnering public records would not be actionable as an intrusion upon seclusion/private affairs, yet publishing the information would be actionable as public disclosure of private facts. It does seem to defy logic. Courts have held that merely because a fact is in the public view does not mean that it should be subject to mass public disclosure when it does not involve a matter of public concern: the Justicefiles.org decision @ http://www.politechbot.com/docs/justicefiles.opinion.051001.html (...there is a compelling interest in keeping Social Security numbers private; the disclosure of that information is highly offensive to the reasonable person; it is not of legitimate concern to the public.) One of the very first privacy cases involved a celeb appearing on stage in *tights* when somebody took a picture with the aid of a flashlight (Manola v. Stevens, N.Y. Sup.Ct. 1890, in N.Y. Times, June 15, 18, 21, 1890 (defendant enjoined from publishing, a portrait of Manola is here: http://www.scu.edu/law/FacWebPage/Glancy/html/miss_m_i.html. While often cited in terms of appropriation, this early case still stands for the proposition that something can be rather public, and yet private. A woman's legs were rather private in 1890, and her feelings in this regard deserving of weighty consideration). See also, Daily Times Democrat v. Graham, 1964, 276, Ala. 380, 162 So.2d 474 (woman photographed when dress blown up in a fun house); Street v. National Broadcasting Co., 6th Cir. 1981, 645 F.2d 1227, certiorari dismissed 454 U.S. 1095, 102 S.Ct. 667 (finding no invasion of privacy in the historical drama of a rape which happened decades earlier, because the plaintiff was a public figure). Of late, the media has characterized 1A vs. privacy as a novel issue. The press gave birth to the latter in the pursuit of the former. [FN1] Aimee E. Farr Attorney At Law Texas [EMAIL PROTECTED] 1. Of the desirability -- indeed of the necessity -- of some such protection, there can, it is
[CTRL] FC: Scientology critic seeks asylum in Canada, reportedly arrested (fwd)
-Caveat Lector- Some quick searches turned up no news articles about Henson's reported arrest. Background: http://www.politechbot.com/cgi-bin/politech.cgi?name=henson http://www.salon.com/tech/feature/2001/05/23/henson/index.html -Declan ** From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Date: 28 May 2001 21:56:06 - Subject: Henson arrested by heavily-armed swarm of police in Toronto This might be good to forward to media only, especially Keith's lawyer's contact info which should NOT be posted to ars at the moment lest it cause a firestorm of calls. (I presume the jail at Oakland, or wherever they send immigration prisoners, is where Keith is now. His lawyer could help on that, but only to media, not to alt.religion.scientology or wide fora.) Here's the flash, minimal as it is. I won't email anyone updates unless they explicitly express further interest. [Snip] One of Keiths lawyers has just spoken to Keith and Immigration. This is the situation: An Immigration warrant waas issued for Keiths Arrest For failure to declare to Immigration, when Keith entered Canada on May 12 --- Apparently, Henson was arrested by heavily-armed police at a shopping mall. His spiritual adviser Gregg Hagglund (or whatever you want to call him ;-) is taking him a red cross care package and may be visiting him for a while. I think he's incommunicado for a bit. There is a bail hearing tomorrow on this and then we'll find out exactly what's up. The SNAFU here (and the basic clusterfuck) is that his lawyer Guidy Mamann was poised to file the necessary papers tomorrow. Who knows what will happen? Deportation is almost the best case, with additional charges entirely possible, depending on whether or not the arrest was based on entirely bogus information. (Henson did not enter Canada as a fugitive, though a bench warrant was issued on May 18, six days after he entered Canada.) Here's Keith's counsel information from a press release by Gregg Hagglund. Mr. Guidy Mamann [EMAIL PROTECTED] of Mamann Associates. www.migrationlaw.com 74 Victoria Street, Suite 303 Toronto, Canada M5C 2A5 [phone number deleted per request. --DBM] And Keith's own contact information Keith Henson c/o Temple of At'L'An Refugee Committee 2237 Munns Ave. Oakville Ontario Canada L6H 3M9 email [EMAIL PROTECTED] Telephone: 905-844-6216 Henson's reluctant American counsel: James J. Harr of James O. Cripps Suite 4 PO Box 3540 133 N Buena Vista Hemet, California 92343 Phone: (909) 925-5024 Fax: (909) 652-2250 Henson's former counsel Graham Berry email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Riverside Press-Enterprise Reporter Erin Randolph Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (909) 487-5229 Websites featuring information on the case http://freehenson.da.ru (a redirector which will always point at the current home of the site) http://www.operatingthetan.com Current home of the Free Keith Henson site NOTE that all references to http://freehenson.tripod.com are permanently broken as I have no intention of ever using Tripod for anything of any kind ever again Point instead to http://freehenson.da.ru or http://www.operatingthetan.com http://cryptome.org This one might be responsible for the Slashdot one and I'm greatly pleased with it. http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=01/05/17/0238223mode=thread Slashdot thread on Henson situation http://www.politechbot.com/cgi-bin/politech.cgi?name=henson A nicely selected and bandwidth-friendly distillation of some of the most critical material which has been posted to Declan McCullagh's well-regarded politech list - POLITECH -- Declan McCullagh's politics and technology mailing list You may redistribute this message freely if you include this notice. To subscribe, visit http://www.politechbot.com/info/subscribe.html This message is archived at http://www.politechbot.com/ - A HREF=http://www.ctrl.org/;www.ctrl.org/A DECLARATION DISCLAIMER == CTRL is a discussion informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substancenot soap-boxingplease! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright fraudsis used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. Archives Available at: http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html A HREF=http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html;Archives of [EMAIL PROTECTED]/A http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ A HREF=http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/;ctrl/A
[CTRL] Jews fabricate holy sites
-Caveat Lector- Hebrew U. professor: Jews fabricate holy sites By Melissa Radler http://www.jpost.com/Editions/2001/05/29/News/News.27070.html NEW YORK (May 29) - Jews fabricated the existence of holy sites in the West Bank after the Six Day War, said Hebrew University Prof. Moshe Maoz to New York Jewish leaders on Friday during a visit that was sponsored by the Israeli government. We invent all kinds of tombs in Palestinian-populated areas, said Maoz at a meeting with the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York, citing Joseph's Tomb, located in Nablus, which was destroyed by Palestinian rioters and rebuilt as a mosque in October 2000. Maoz added that world Jewry has overreacted to the desecration of the tomb, while failing to note that groups of all faiths, including the Moslem Public Affairs Council in the US, recognized the site as being holy to Jews and condemned its destruction. Sometimes I think Judaism is paganism, said Maoz, referring to holy sites in general. We sanctify stones and tombs instead of spirit. Maoz's visit to the US was sponsored by the Israeli consulate's office of academic affairs, which brought him over to discuss prospects for peace and coexistence in the Middle East. Following Maoz's speech, a consulate spokesman emphasized that speakers we bring over do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the Israeli government or the office of academic affairs in the US. A HREF=http://www.ctrl.org/;www.ctrl.org/A DECLARATION DISCLAIMER == CTRL is a discussion informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substancenot soap-boxingplease! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright fraudsis used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. Archives Available at: http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html A HREF=http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html;Archives of [EMAIL PROTECTED]/A http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ A HREF=http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/;ctrl/A To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
[CTRL] Learn the truth about Mideast (fwd)
-Caveat Lector- Noboa: Learn the truth about Mideast San Antonio Express-News http://www.hearstnp.com/san_antonio/bea/news/stories/san/storypage.cfm?xla=saenxlb=1160xlc=242602xld=120 If we believe the U.S. media's portrayal of the Middle East conflict, then we already have identified the good guys and the terrorists. From local newspapers to Hollywood films, we recognize Israeli Jews as civilized, reasonable and democratic and Palestinians as terrorists. Now this simplistic scenario is beginning to unravel as we see images of stone-throwing Palestinian youths facing Israeli tanks and supersonic F-16 jets bombing neighborhood factories. So to ensure continued unconditional U.S. support, Israeli Prime Minster Ariel Sharon recently called for a total cease-fire. But after rejecting a key recommendation of the Mitchell commission a freeze on Israeli settlements Sharon's offer is a deceitful ploy. The Palestinians would be foolish to accept more settlement expansion, which further reduces what little territory they have left. Moreover, these settlements are in violation of U.N. resolutions and international law. There are two kinds of terrorism in this ancient, contested land: The terror of occupation and the terror of desperation. Suicide bombers are desperate, but they are not simpletons propagandized into martyrdom. Their family members, friends and neighbors have been killed, tortured, maimed or made homeless by Israeli authorities. The media will call them cowards, but what would any red-blooded American do if invaders were to occupy and terrorize our country? The terror of desperation is born out of brutality, deprivation and powerlessness; it is sporadic, indiscriminate and often counterproductive. The media would have us believe Israel is only responding to terrorism, but this belies the historical realities of the terror of occupation. It wasn't the Palestinians but Zionist extremists who introduced terrorism into the Holy Land. In the 1920s, they placed bombs in Arab marketplaces to terrorize civilians. It was Zionist terrorism that, after two decades, drove the British out of Palestine to establish a Jewish state. With the establishment of Israel, Palestinians became aliens in their own land. Ruled by military edict, they were denied freedom of movement, equal education and rights to own land. In fact, 78 percent of what historically had been Arab Palestine became Israeli. Today, Palestinians are fighting just to recover the West Bank and Gaza, 22 percent of historic Palestine. Yet Israel controls about half these territories. The terror of Israeli occupation is akin to slow strangulation houses are demolished, orchards destroyed, roads blockaded and water and power manipulated. Most of all, the terror of occupation is unforgivingly violent. A disproportionate amount of military aggression will be used against protesters, stone-throwers bystanders and even security police. Local physicians long ago determined that most of the stone-throwing youth and children who were killed had been shot in the head or upper body. This shoot-to-kill extends to Palestinian leaders, with Israeli missiles acting as judge, jury and prosecutor. As many predicted, the violence has escalated dramatically since the election of Sharon. His election was hailed by major pro-Israel Jewish organizations. The American Jewish Congress noted, He is widely recognized as one of Israel's greatest military heroes. Sharon does have a quite a record. In 1953, he led a commando squad that massacred 69 men, women and children in Qibbiya. After the 1976 war, he ordered the assassination of more than 100 Palestinian resistance leaders. In 1982, his forces allowed, if not encouraged, Israeli-supported Lebanese militia to murder more than 900 Palestinian refugees at Sabra and Shatila. Yet Sharon already has met twice with President Bush, while Yasser Arafat awaits his first invitation. Still, we are told Uncle Sam is the only unbiased broker for Middle East peace. That's certainly demonstrated by U.S. aid to Israel, which including military support from 1949 through 2001 exceeds $90 billion. Moreover, our Mideast policy has long been dictated by Israel's powerful lobby, as documented by former Congressman Paul Findley in his book, They Dare To Speak Out. Neither Israel nor Uncle Sam would permit an international peace-keeping force or international observers, because they wouldn't be fair to Israel. Perhaps they know that for decades Israel has violated numerous U.N. resolutions by denying basic human rights to Palestinians. And then we wonder why our allies voted us off the U.N. Human Rights Commission. I urge Americans to take off their media blinders, check out other sources of information, such as the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs (www. washington-report.org), and open their hearts and minds to the full story. Julio Noboa is an educator and free-lance writer. To message him, e-mail [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[CTRL] U Of Hartford Honors Scum
-Caveat Lector- University Of Hartford To Grant Israeli President Honorary Degree ibThe gap is not only in capabilities, but also moral and cultural,. Indeed, it must be the end of time when the scum's of earth are deluded by cheaply bought suits of honor. - Moshe Katsav/i/b RACISM BEING SUPPORTED AT THE UNIVERSITY OF HARTFORD MOSHE KATSAV SHOULD NOT BE HONORED Moshe Katsav has a long history of ADVOCATING BRUTAL FORCE TO CRUSH PALESTINIAN ASPIRATIONS [eliminateracism, bigotry and obsessive hatred of Palestinians]. As early as 1989, the Jerusalem Post reported Transport Minister Moshe Katsav yesterday put forward his prescription for ending the intifada [Palestinian uprising for Independence]: close the territories for three months, ban movement of Palestinian labourers to Israel, and bar the media from the areas while deploying troops massively so as to put an end to the Arab riots. (JP, May 11, 1989). As a Likud MK, Katsav said to the illegal Hebron settlers in 1996: The Likud has no intention of recognizing the Oslo accords, and will at any price prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state (The Jerusalem Post February 7, 1996). Katsav's most blatant racist remarks were are described in the following article which appeared in the Jerusalem Post on May 10. Note that his comments were made to a group of children. An immense gap exists between Israel and its enemies, President Moshe Katsav said today. The gap is not only in capabilities, but also moral and cultural, Katsav said. Katsav made his remarks at a Bar- and Bat-Mitzvah ceremony for 86 children whose fathers died while serving in the IDF, Army Radio reported. It seems to me that a few hundred meters from here there are people who not only do not identify with our continent or even planet Earth, rather they seem to be from another galaxy, a completely different world, Katsav said. The gap between them and us is immense, he added. (JP 5/10/01) The May 15 edition of Ha'aretz, Danny Rubinstein addressed some of Katsav's racist remarks explaining that it has become fashionable in Israeli media to label innocent Palestinians killed as mistakes while labeling Israelis killed as murdered and that this is precisely fed by such remarks as those of Katsav. A letter by Dr. Veronika Cohen to Ha'aretz published May 21 also is relevant. It stated: President Moshe Katsav recently asserted that Palestinians are so different from us Israelis that they cannot be conceived of as belonging to the same region or continent, indeed the same galaxy, to which we belongNever mind that this astonishing declaration of our moral superiority came the same week during which we murdered a four-month-old Palestinian baby For shame, Mr. President? Do you follow the news? If Israelis think like this about Katsav, why is the University of Hartford offering him an honorary degree? This is not to mention that Katsav represents a government that is widely condemned throughout the world for its record of Human rights violations. Amnesty International strongly condemned what it called the Israeli army's iron fist military tactics against Palestinian civilians. There is a pattern of gross human rights violations that may well amount to war crimes, according to AI's international research director, Claudio Cordone (Nov. 1, 2000). Investigations by Human Rights Watch, Physicians For Human Rights, the Israeli human rights group B'Tselem, and the UN High Commissioner on Human Rights have all contradicted the Israeli army assertions that they are showing restraint and have documented patterns of human rights violations by Israeli occupation authorities. These detailed reports are available online and refute the Israeli government lines. In the last seven months, the Israeli army has killed 500 and injured over 17,000 Palestinians. One third of the victims were under the age of 18. The Israeli army continues its policy of demolishing homes, collective punishment, uprooting trees, and siege of towns. Katsav continued to provide racist remarks to support these policies. Shame on the University of Hartford for honoring such a man. --- Please write to these folks to voice your concerns:. Hartford Courant [EMAIL PROTECTED] President Walter Harrison: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Provost Donna M. Randall: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Vice President for External Relations W. Stephen Jeffrey: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Dean of the Faculty Diane Prusank: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Send copies of your letters to [EMAIL PROTECTED] There will be a public protest (initiated by the Progressive Student Alliance): Meet in Elizabeth Park, on the corner of Prospect and Asylum Streets in Hartford, at 10 am on Sunday, June 3rd. We will then march to the University to complain about their choice of this person for an honorary degree. For details write: [EMAIL PROTECTED] A HREF=http://www.ctrl.org/;www.ctrl.org/A DECLARATION DISCLAIMER == CTRL is a discussion informational exchange
[CTRL] The Diary of Sana' Amr
-Caveat Lector- What About the Palestinians, ABC? By Middle East News Online Editorial by Ramzy Baroud http://www.middleeastwire.com/newswire/stories/20010528_meno.shtml The next morning following the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 1982, members of the powerful Israeli lobby, AIPAC showered congressmen with pictorial books about the Holocaust as they were on their way to an urgent session. But why would the American Israeli Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) justify Israel's deadly invasion of Lebanon which caused the death of tens of thousands by stressing the suffering of the Jews in a completely different political setting and historical era? The answer to such a question is evident, as the goal has always been to manipulate the suffering of the Jews to justify the killing of Palestinians. Unfortunately, such a practice has proven fruitful. It may be difficult to understand, as Arabs are neither German nor Nazi. Moreover, the political scenario is entirely different as Israel has been the one playing the Nazi role, Israeli leaders as Hitler, and Palestinians as the victims of Hitler. The answer is perplexing. For decades Israel has succeeded, through the use of the western media, in presenting itself to the world as the victim, not the aggressor, and it's unfriendly Arab neighbors are similar to the Jews' unfriendly European neighbors in the past. It might be shocking to learn that Palestinians make the parallel between Nazi practices and Israel almost every day, in their chants, in the graffiti on their walls, in their media .. That parallel was not an intellectual transgression in history, but a very well founded argument, as the Jewish racial supremacy which the Jewish State manifests is not much different from the purity of the Arian race Hitler once offered. In fact, Zionism, the ideology on which Israel was founded was recognized by the United Nations as a racist philosophy until United States' pressure managed to remove the indicting resolution. In the same manner, AIPAC used it's Holocaust argument in the past to justify Israel's genocide of Palestinians, Lebanese and Arabs throughout the years, American media is currently intensifying it's propaganda war. The Holocaust Industry has been in full use by the American television network. ABC in recent days aired the movie Anne Frank which narrates the story of a Jewish girl who hides with her family for over two years in German-occupied Amsterdam, hoping to flee the Nazi's wrath. The tragic story ends with Anne's death after contracting a fatal disease weeks before the concentration camps, which hosted millions of people throughout Europe, were dismantled. But why Anne Frank now, in a time when Israel is slaughtering Palestinians every day using American-made hi-tech weapons and F-16 warplanes? On a political level, one can conclude that international condemnation of Israel's war crimes against Palestinians is an increasingly worrisome notion that is quickly eroding the myth that Israel is the victim (although it has nuclear weapons) and Palestinians are the oppressors (although they rely mainly on rock throwing in their resistance.) Israel has already crossed every boundary that distinguishes a peaceful person from a cruel and barbaric criminal. The real tragedy is seeing ABC, a presumably respected American broadcasting company taking part in this manipulative strategy. Anne Frank and any other child in this world, whether Jew or non-Jew deserves to be remembered for the suffering he or she has endured. But commemorating Anne Frank who died from typhus 60 years ago and failing to acknowledge the pain of Palestinian children who were murdered in cold blood by Israeli soldiers in the last a few months is the real cruelty, needless to say hypocrisy. According to unconfirmed stories, Anne Frank's family hid for two years to escape the Nazi's punishment. But confirmed reports tell us that 2 million Palestinians have been living like hostages under Israel's military siege for eight months, and off-and-on for 34 years. Where are ABC's talented directors, actors and million dollar productions to depict the Palestinian suffering which takes place every day? Meanwhile, a 13-year-old Palestinian girl from the village of Dora, near Hebron was arrested by Israeli forces on February 28, 2001. Human rights reports say that Sana' Amr is being held in the worst conditions and is being treated very poorly while interrogated in her cell. Israel so far has failed to file any charges against the child, whose family knows nothing of her fate. Would ABC, which persistently points at Palestinians as an equal partner in the ongoing violence report about Sana'? Will the Palestinian child's family be interviewed? Or will her diary be reviewed for a possible story for a future movie? Inserting more and more Holocaust stories and documentaries throughout the American media while using words such as terrorists and mobs to describe Palestinian youth, will
[CTRL] Lebensraum
-Caveat Lector- For Immediate Release N0. 101 WHY IS PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH CONDONING ISRAELI AGGRESSION IN PALESTINE? Washington, D.C. (May 22,2001) As Israel's primary benefactor on the political, military, and economic levels, the United States has a special responsibility to contain that country's proclivity to engage in aggressive acts against the indigenous peoples of the Middle East. While the new Bush II administration is not displaying the outright hatred for the Palestinians displayed by his predecessor, and while President Bush has not brought Israel's partisans into his government wholesale as the corrupt Bill Clinton had done, this administration is still ultimately responsible for and complicit in the acts of its Israeli protg. As such, the actions of this administration in regard to Israel, whether these are acts of commission or omission, will be registered with the indigenous peoples of the Middle East and compared, first and foremost, with the policies of Bush the father. Until now, Bush the son is failing to live up to his father's own standards, particularly in the area of Israeli settlements. Arabs and Muslims wonder why Bush II has not condemned Israel for its incendiary expansion of settlements in the way that his father did. The Bush I administration explicitly called Israeli settlements an obstacle to peace and threatened to withhold its aid until Israel reversed itself. When Israel continued its defiance, Secretary of State James A. Baker III appeared on television and scolded Israel, saying that if it wished to change its mind it could call the telephone number of the White House switchboard, which he gave on the air. Could not this Secretary of State, Colin Powell, with all that moral authority he holds in this country, show the same resolve? Bush II should explicitly condemn settlements as a matter of principle and international law and demand a complete freeze. That freeze should include so-called natural growth expansion, which to Arabs and Muslims sounds eerily similar to World War II Germany's lebensraum, or living space. For Israel's existing settlements are growing naturally not into empty space, but into occupied Palestinian lands, farms, and villages, and connecting roads - into spaces in which Palestinian families indigenous to those lands are themselves trying to live. Some would say that America should not dictate policy to Israel because it is a US ally. Yet such claims ring hypocritical to Middle Eastern ears, as Washington does not hesitate to dictate policy to Egypt, Jordan, and other regional states in the most derogatory fashion, to states it refers to as its allies. Further, demanding that Israel stop expanding settlements does not require Israel to comply with American dictates per se, but rather with international law as expressed in the Geneva Convention, which explicitly forbids all civilian settlement activity inside occupied territory. Furthermore, one cannot condemn the concept of lebensraum in World War II Germany and yet in the same breath condone Israel's natural settlement growth by continuing to lend political, military, and economic support to the state, which is conducting this activity on a daily basis. Nor would it be politically difficult to condemn it: the existence of the Mitchell report and its stance on Israeli settlements provides the administration a safe and open invitation to do so. (Since Sharon assumed office on March 7, 10 percent of all the country's housing starts have been in settlements, and 15 outposts have been set up next to existing settlements.) Arabs and Muslims both in the region and in the United States - Arabs and Muslims who voted for him - have also noticed that Bush II proceeded to embrace the career war criminal Ariel Sharon in the White House, during the first 100 days of his presidency no less. This is a direct insult to all the Palestinian families who saw their loved ones butchered in Sharon's massacres, and by extension, to the entire Palestinian people. Nor are Sharon's war crimes limited to that single episode; we can go all the way back to the 1956 Suez war with Egypt in which Sharon's troops buried thousands of surrendered Egyptian soldiers alive in an act of unspeakable barbarity. The peoples of the region also remember Sharon's bulldozing of entire rows of Palestinian homes throughout the Gaza Strip in 1970, in order to widen the roads to facilitate the passage of Israeli occupation tanks. The administration says it considers Slobodan Milosevich to be a war criminal, yet this declaration rings hollow when one looks at Sharon's war crimes and President Bush's hearty embrace of a career war criminal when he happens to be an Israeli. To add insult to injury, the Bush II administration declares as terrorists (including the so-called tanzim or cadres) the new generation of Palestinian people involved in conducting the civil uprising against Israeli occupation, and against the so-called closure
[CTRL] The Taliban, Art and Israel
-Caveat Lector- By Khalid Baig http://www.albalagh.net/current_affairs/wsj1.shtml Letter to Wall Street Journal in response to the article by its feature editor, Tunku Varadarajan. (see: http://www.opinionjournal.com/columnists/tvaradarajan/?id=95000530) A man by the name of Tunku Varadarajan has tried, convicted, and lambasted the Taliban for words they did not utter and acts they did not perform. Taliban's Roving Ambassador Syed Rahmatullah Hashmi spoke at many forums during his recent visit. I was there when he spoke at the University of Southern California. In fact the transcript of his talk is available for all to read at our web site. (The Invisible Afghanistan: http://www.albalagh.net/current_affairs/syed_hashmi.shtml) When the world is destroying our future with economic sanctions, then they have no right to worry about our past. I called my headquarters, I asked them, why are they going to blow the statues, and I talked to the head of the council of scholars of people, who had actually decided this. He told me that UNESCO and an NGO from Sweden, or from one of these Scandinavian countries Norway, Sweden, one of these they had actually come with a project of rebuilding the face of these statues, which have worn by rain. The council of people told them to spend that money in saving the lives of these children, instead of spending it to restore these statues. And these guys said, 'No, this money is only for the statues.' And the people were really pissed off. They said that, if you don't care about our children, we are going to blow those statues. If you were in such a situation what would you do? If your children are dying in front of your eyes, and you are under sanctions, and then the same people who have imposed sanctions are coming and building statues here? What would you do? This account was in fact confirmed by the careful rebuttal from State Department spokesman Richard Boucher on March 20, 2001, who called the allegations inaccurate and self-serving. He could not say that Hashmi was lying and no such incident had taken place before the decision to destroy the statues. Rather his defense was that although the NGO's had gone there with the obscene idea of renovating statues in the midst of death, as Hashmi said, but some other NGOs were also providing some money to the people! Now Mr. Varadarajan is informing us that the offers of money for the protection of the statues were made after the Taliban announced they would destroy the un-Islamic idols. I would like to think that he is merely confused about the later offers of money and ignorant of the original NGO project. But his solemn assertions and air of certainty make one wonder whether his confusion was elsewhere; that while his parents sent him to school to become a lawyer, he got confused and instead became a liar. After having destroyed the character and credibility of the accused, Mr. Varadarajan then proceeds to convict him for a conspiracy to commit genocide. Here again the truth is stranger than fiction. Here is the real story. In Afghanistan, there are laws applicable to Muslims only. The Ministry of Vice and Virtue is responsible for enforcing those laws. As part of the enforcement, they have to catch the violators and bring them to justice. As you can imagine, sometimes non-Muslims, especially Hindus, since they are indistinguishable, get caught unjustly. To avoid that the local Hindus discussed with the Taliban ways of protecting them from such enforcement efforts. That was two years ago. Over this period various proposals were discussed and finally they agreed on the identification badge. The badge would mean that Ministry officials are not to bother the wearer. The identification is only for the purpose of granting exemption where it is due. Is that bad? Ask the Hindu and Sikh community leader in Afghanistan, Inder Singh Majboor, who said they are happy with the ruling. [BBC]. The identification badges have been compared with the Nazi tagging of Jews by a fierce propaganda machine as is done in this article. It is a minor detail that the Hindus who had left Afghanistan during the civil war came back after the Taliban take over, precisely because of the peace and protection they provided. The propaganda machine has been looking very hard for any incident that could be termed as persecution and has not been able to find any. If one Hindu had been maltreated by the Taliban that would have been headline news. So much for the tyranny of the Taliban. On the other hand there are some real problem areas in the world today. Perhaps Mr. Varadarajan knows about a country by the name of Israel where the occupation army requires the Palestinians to carry identification cards that identify their religion for the purpose of persecution. By law non-Jews are second-class citizens in that country. The identity cards mark one's nationality as Jewish or Arab and are thus used as a basis to discriminate, writes an American Jewish
[CTRL] Australia's Islamic Enemy
-Caveat Lector- Australian Muslim Public Affairs Committee (AMPAC) Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Web: http://www.muslimaffairs.com.au 28/05/01 DON CHIPP NOMINATION AS MAYOR IS A CAUSE FOR CONCERN (Melbourne, Australia) The decision of Mr Don Chipp, founder of the the Australian Democrats Party, to run for Lord Mayor of Melbourne (see http://www.theage.com.au/breaking/2001/05/28/FFXT95G49NC.html ) should be met with concern and opposition by all people who favour a tolerant multi-cultural society in Melbourne. Mr Chipp announced he would come out of retirement to stand for election in order to heal some of the divisions within the council. During the Gulf War, Mr Chipp helped fan the fear and contempt that many Australians held for Islam and Muslims, exhibiting some of the most extreme Islamaphobia seen during the period. In a 27 January 1991 article (included below) in the Sunday Telegraph, Mr Chipp launched a highly inflammatory tirade against Islam and Arabs - speaking of a a mysterious religious factor of hate and suggesting that the US and the West needed to attack the Islamic enemy on Middle Eastern territory. He also fantasised about being an Israeli strategist - calling for a retaliatory attack on Saddam of such ferocity and effectiveness that the Arab members of the Coalition would be forced to leave it. At a time when Muslim women were being attacked in the streets of Australia and the Human Rights Commission reported that anti-Muslim attacks had rocketed (Telegraph Mirror, 14 February 1991), Mr Chipp attempted to incite the Australian public with the warning that the millions of followers of Islam were prepared to die for Allah under Saddam's leadership. As history has shown, despite all of Chipps' anti-Muslim rhetoric, none of his claims came to any fruition. As far as we are aware, Mr Chipp has never apologized nor retracted his bigoted and baseless statements. The election of a person who holds such views as these would be a disaster for a city that presents itself as a model of multiculturalism and diversity. Sunday Telegraph - 27 January 1991 ISRAEL SHOULD STRIKE Don Chipp I once served, in an honorary capacity, on the World Board of the International Union against Cancer. Eighty-three nations made up the organisation which helped establish educative programs in under-developed countries and in the mid-'60s I visited Iraq to assist local doctors set up such a program. I am still friendly with the Iraqi surgeon who acted as my host. As we drove through the city square from the airport, the gruesome sight of three bodies hanging there prompted the brief comment from my friend: Israeli spies. During the next few days I was to hear the phrase Islamic renaissance many times. He showed me the education system of Iraq, which I was to discover from visits to other Arab countries, featured a similar theme. It was passionate, manic, illogical and all-consuming hatred, not only of Israel but all Jews and everyone who supported the Jewish state. For example, in primary schools, simple addition and subtraction was not doing using objects such as lemons, apples or bottles on a wall. The counters used were Israelis: There are five Jews, you kill four ... how many remain? After the early classes, the inculcation of hatred became more sophisticated to the extent that it was absorbed by otherwise well-educated minds. In assessing the Gulf War, the Western mind has difficulty allowing for this mysterious religious factor of hate. It makes the list of imponderables longer than the total of facts we know or can deduce, using our non-Arab means of perception and our non-Islamic processes of logic. I give some examples. It is not difficult to classify Saddam Hussein as a creature of consummate evil. No further vile acts of human degradation coming from him should surprise us; and yet millions of followers of Islam in Pakistan, Libya, Jordan, Algeria, Egypt and Malaysia are prepared to die for Allah under his leadership. There is a similar wave of hysterical allegiance from the non-Arab nation of Iran: 700,000 of whose young citizens died at Saddam's hands during the Eight Year War. We know the awesome firepower of the US and its allies has mercilessly blasted Iraq for more than a week but we have doubts about the real damage done to his massive and highly sophisticated war machine. For example, despite the horrific raids on Bagdad, its television station is still apparently functioning normally. We know he gets pleasure at the sight of human blood and of human death but is terrified of his own safety. We know the tyranny of his rule makes popular discontent among his people irrelevant but we do not know of internal machinations which could lead to a revolution in the palace. The list of do not knows assumes agonising proportions when we add the inner thoughts of the Iranian Rafsanjani, the Syrian Assad, the
[CTRL] India is fast emerging as a major production center for cyberporn
-Caveat Lector- Wrong end of the stick Ravi Visvesvaraya Prasad http://www.hindustantimes.com/nonfram/280501/platefrm.asp India is fast emerging as a major production centre for cyberpornography. Today there are over 18,000 pornographic websites featuring Indians, up from only 4,000 at the beginning of 2001. At least 25 Indian sites feature in the top 500 list of most-visited pornographic websites internationally. All of them provide hardcore pornographic films starring Indians to their subscribers, and offer free two-minute samples to entice visitors. The popularity among Indian websurfers of a particular series is due to their providing hundreds of static images free of charge to lure subscribers to their paid movie sections. In the public interest litigation currently pending before the Delhi High Court, two advocates want all cybercafs and educational institutions to install filtering software on their computers to prevent exposure to inappropriate material that is sexual, hateful, or violent in nature, or encourage activities that are dangerous or illegal. A similar demand was raised in the Child Online Protection Act passed by US Congress in 1998. The American Civil Liberties Union, American Library Association, Electronic Frontier Foundation, Internet Free Expression Alliance, and the student-run organisation PeaceFire challenged COPAs constitutional validity. After the US district court in Philadelphia directed the US Department of Justice not to enforce COPA pending a final ruling, the latter approached the US Supreme Court to resolve the impasse. All the filtering nanny packages commercially available today have severe deficiencies. These compute the percentage of skin colours in a picture, and even the best ones have a success rate of less than 20 percent. No filtering package has yet been developed which can distinguish between pictures of nude people on a porn site and those in a Reubens painting. The American Library Association argued before the Philadelphia court: Given the inherent limitations of available filtering technology, it is practically impossible to comply. Electronic Frontier Foundation added: No filtering product on the market today has anywhere near even a 20 per cent effectiveness rate, which will result in a completely false sense of security. Even blocking textual material based on specified keywords has a success rate of less than 85 per cent. Many pornographic websites also detect the presence of these nanny packages and have developed techniques to bypass them. Most of the pornographic websites created in India are hosted on servers abroad both due to the high bandwidth requirements for transmission of movies and images, as well as the need for secure electronic commerce and credit card transactions. Chennai is the major production centre, followed by Kochi, Ernakulam, Thiruvananthapuram, Coimbatore, Visakhapatnam and Vijayawada. Surprisingly, our moral busybodies have not attempted any action against these websites even though they are committing a criminal offence under Section 67 of the Information Technology Act, 2000, which states: Whoever publishes or transmits or causes to be published in the electronic form, any material which is lascivious or appeals to the prurient interest or if its effect is such as to tend to deprave and corrupt persons who are likely, having regard to all relevant circumstances, to read, see or hear the matter contained or embodied in it, shall be punished on first conviction with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to five years and with fine which may extend to one lakh rupees and in the event of a second or subsequent conviction with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to 10 years and also with fine which may extend to Rs 2 lakh. Hosting these websites on servers located outside India appears to be no defence since under Section 1(2), the IT Act extends to the whole of India and, save as otherwise provided in this Act, it applies also to any offense or contravention thereunder committed outside India by any person. Further, Section 75 states: (1) Subject to the provisions of sub-section (2), the provisions of this Act shall apply also to any offense or contravention committed outside India by any person irrespective of his nationality. (2) For the purposes of sub-section (1), this Act shall apply to an offence or contravention committed outside India by any person if the act or conduct constituting the offense or contravention involves a computer, computer system or computer network located in India. Moreover, in view of Sections 81 and 61 of the Act, it appears that the creators of these websites are criminally liable under Indian law irrespective of the countries they are residents of and irrespective of where the servers are located. However, it is doubtful whether such provisions could be enforced in practice under international law and the accused extradited to
[CTRL] Sacrifice ourselves in order for our children (fwd)
-Caveat Lector- Sacrifice ourselves in order for our children http://disc.server.com/Indices/149495.html APFN, Most of this I got from March issue of Nexus magazine. Chuck Halliburton Corporations Brown and Root is one of the major components of the Bush-Cheney Drug Empire. This is the first sentence in the March issue of Nexus magazine. Dont believe it well hang on and lets take a look at the facts. When I (cll) worked for Howard, Needles, Tamen, and Bergendoff, the fourth largest engineering company in the world during the 70s it was not unusual to hear rumors about Brown and Root. Little did I know that the Bush familys involvement in drug-running was an open secret. But today Dick Cheneys direct link to a global drug pipeline through a US construction company is less well known. The success of Halliburton, Inc.s, five-year, US $3.8 BILLION porkout on federal contracts and taxpayer insured loans is only a partial indicator of what we have in store for the future. Now that the Bush ticket is in office, are you ready to get really ripped off? A report from the Center for Public Integrity (CPI) (www.public-i.org) may indicate that drug money has played a major role in the successes achieved by Halliburton under Cheneys tenure as CEO from 95 to 2000. Looking deeper into history reveals that Brown and Roots past, as well as the past of Dick Cheney himself, is connected to the international drug cartel, from several directions. Ive been on over a 100 construction sites as a consultant and know a rat when I smell one, and Brown and Root is no exception. If size means anything about the potential to be corrupt maybe we should start there. So, how big is B R? Few firms match the presence of this huge construction company that employs 20,000 people in more than 100 countries. It can train, arm, feed and supply security forces and house complete armies. Are they the bad guy you ask? Well go to their web site and see why the CIA likes to use them for cover. They are proud to tell you that they have received the contract to dismantle aging Russian nuclear-tipped ICBMs under ground. Using this companies cover along with the Whitehouses help, the G W Bush/Cheney crew should be able to control the international drug trade, all the way from Medellin to Moscow to the US. How did they get started and become so big you may ask. Well, through major contributions to then Senator Lyndon Johnson, Brown and Root virtually made LBJs career. And as a result it should be no surprise that B R made billions in government contracts during the Vietnam War. Currently B Rs owner Halliburton, has made sure that most of the $1.2 million in political contributions went to the Republican Party. (and by the way this represents twice as much as they use to give before Cheney was there) How then did Bush get hooked up with Cheney? Well while Cheney was head of Halliburton (prior to becoming VP), Halliburton bought Dresser oil equipment and drilling company for a little over $8 BILLION. So who is Dresser? Dresser was once owned by Brown Brothers Harriman, of which Prescott served as managing director when George H.W. was whisked off to Texas from Harvard in 48 to begin his Texas oil business. Now folks dont forget that Halliburton is a Dallas based company, and now we find GW and DC in the Whitehouse. D. Cheney has taken a step down in pay but dont worry, Im sure his $45.5 million in Halliburton shares will be paying good dividends over the next few years. Even if they have to do not for profit work for the US military. According to Associated Press, Brown and Root has made more than $2 billion supporting and supplying US troops. So why does B R have 922,000 square feet of warehouse space in Colombia which had no presence there before 1997 according to Colombias Foreign Investment Promotion Agency. Go figure . As mentioned in the CPI article a Halliburton VP indicated that if the Bush-Cheney ticket won the companys contracts would obviously go through the roof. The Christian Science Monitor indicated that Kosovo Liberation Army controls 70 percent of the heroin entering Western Europe and B R made billions, billions folks supplying US troops from large, remote, B R facilities. Consequently where ever there are B R facilities one may not need to look too far to find drugs being produced or transported. Folks as you already know it makes no difference who is in office things will not change for the better as we might imagine. All I can say is get ready for a war in Colombia and anywhere else that drugs are being produced. And watch as the masters of the empire amass more wealth which is used to control our lives everyday. As I contemplate what has happened over just these past fives years, and compared them to what Ive seen in the patriot movement for the past 20+ years I see people frustrated but not willing to really face the music. Patriots are playing their little games with
[CTRL] Konformist: Pearl Harbor Sucks (fwd)
-Caveat Lector- Chicago Sun-Times http://www.suntimes.com PEARL HARBOR / * 1/2 (PG-13) May 25, 2001 Rafe McCawley: Ben Affleck Danny Walker: Josh Hartnett Evelyn: Kate Beckinsale Doolittle: Alec Baldwin Dorie Miller: Cuba Gooding Jr. President Roosevelt: Jon Voigt Touchstone presents a film directed by Michael Bay. Written by Randall Wallace. Running time: 183 minutes. Rated PG-13 (for sustained intense war sequences, images of wounded, brief sensuality and some language). BY ROGER EBERT Pearl Harbor is a two-hour movie squeezed into three hours, about how on Dec. 7, 1941, the Japanese staged a surprise attack on an American love triangle. Its centerpiece is 40 minutes of redundant special effects, surrounded by a love story of stunning banality. The film has been directed without grace, vision or originality, and although you may walk out quoting lines of dialogue, it will not be because you admire them. The filmmakers seem to have aimed the film at an audience that may not have heard of Pearl Harbor, or perhaps even of World War II. This is the Our Weekly Reader version. If you have the slightest knowledge of the events in the film, you will know more than it can tell you. There is no sense of history, strategy or context; according to this movie, Japan attacked Pearl Harbor because the United States cut off its oil supply, and it was down to an 18-month reserve. Would going to war restore the fuel sources? Did it perhaps also have imperialist designs? The movie doesn't say. So shaky is the film's history that at the end, when Jimmy Doolittle's Tokyo raiders crash-land in China, they're shot at by Japanese patrols without any explanation about the Sino-Japanese war already under way. I predict some viewers will leave the theater sincerely confused about why there were Japanese in China. As for the movie's portrait of the Japanese themselves, it is so oblique that Japanese audiences will find little to complain about, apart from the fact that they play such a small role in their own raid. There are several scenes where the Japanese high command debates military tactics, but all of their dialogue is strictly expository; they state facts but do not emerge with personalities or passions. Only Adm. Yamamoto (Mako) is seen as an individual, and his dialogue seems to have been rewritten with the hindsight of history. Congratulated on a brilliant raid, he demurs, A brilliant man would find a way not to fight a war. And later, I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant. Do you imagine at any point the Japanese high command engaged in the 1941 Japanese equivalent of exchanging high fives and shouting yes! while pumping their fists in the air? Not in this movie, where the Japanese seem to have been melancholy even at the time about the regrettable need to play such a negative role in such a positive Hollywood film. The American side of the story centers on two childhood friends from Tennessee with the standard-issue screenplay names Rafe McCawley (Ben Affleck) and Danny Walker (Josh Hartnett). They enter the Army Air Corps and both fall in love with the same nurse, Evelyn Johnson (Kate Beckinsale)--first Rafe falls for her, and then, after he is reported dead, Danny. Their first date is subtitled Three Months Later and ends with Danny, having apparently read the subtitle, telling Evelyn, Don't let it be three months before I see you again, OK? That gets almost as big a laugh as her line to Rafe, I'm gonna give Danny my whole heart, but I don't think I'll ever look at another sunset without thinking of you. That kind of bad laugh would have been sidestepped in a more literate screenplay, but our hopes are not high after an early newsreel report that the Germans are bombing downtown London--a difficult target, since although there is such a place as central London, at no time in 2,000 years has London ever had anything described by anybody as a downtown. There is not a shred of conviction or chemistry in the love triangle, which results after Rafe returns alive to Hawaii shortly before the raid on Pearl Harbor and is angry at Evelyn for falling in love with Danny, inspiring her timeless line, I didn't even know until the day you turned up alive--and then all this happened. Evelyn is a heroine in the aftermath of the raid, performing triage by using her lipstick to separate the wounded who should be treated from those left to die. In a pointless stylistic choice, director Michael Bay and cinematographer John Schwartzman shoot some of the hospital scenes in soft focus, some in sharp focus, some blurred. Why? In the newsreel sequences, they fade in and out of black and white with almost amusing haste, while the newsreel announcer sounds not like a period voice but like a Top-40 DJ in an echo chamber. The most involving material in the film comes at the end, when Doolittle (Alec Baldwin) leads his famous raid on Tokyo, flying Army bombers off the decks of Navy carriers and hoping to
[CTRL] Zionist Occupation of America
-Caveat Lector- U.S. Responsibility and the Pro-Zionist Lobby by Justin Rhodes http://www.mediamonitors.net/justinrhodes1.html Approximately one year ago, presidential hopeful Al Gore stood before the participants at the annual Policy Conference organized by the pro-Zionist American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). Gore told the audience about a bizarre meeting that had occurred several decades earlier between Israels first prime minister, David Ben-Gurion, and the then-U.S. ambassador, Ogden Reid. Apparently, the ambassador walked into Ben-Gurions office and on finding the prime minister standing on his head, decided to follow suit. Whats the moral of this tale? According to Gore: Even if the world is turned upside down, the United States and Israel will see eye to eye. Gores obsequious words are painfully clear today. The world has been turned upside down in the Occupied Territories, and the U.S. and Israeli governments are in complete agreement that the Palestinians are to blame, which was aptly demonstrated during a recent news conference in which President Bush proclaimed, The signal to the Palestinians is to stop the violence. I cant make it any more clear. The fact that Israels colonial occupation has continued for more than three decades is irrelevant to the president. Instead, he seems intent on propagating the Palestinian equals violence doctrine, which is vital to Israels public relations campaign. Of course the Bush administrations support for Israel is more than just verbal. The president will continue to push for economic and military aid to Israel, which has been estimated between $3 and $5.5 billion per year. Ive seen countless examples of how this military aid has been used to terrorize innocent people. On one occasion, while in the Palestinian town of Beit Jala, I visited an apartment complex owned and inhabited by three brothers and their families--a total of twenty-five people; it had been hit by three rockets, destroying a kitchen, a bathroom, and part of the buildings foundation. An elderly man showed us the remains of one rocket, on which we found the following inscription: Made in the U.S.A. Furthermore, President Bush will steadfastly uphold the U.S. tradition of giving Israel diplomatic support; this was recently illustrated when the U.S. vetoed a UN resolution that would have allowed an unarmed international observer force into the Occupied Territories. Currently the U.S. is using its diplomatic muscle to make sure that Zionism is not discussed during the UNs World Conference on Racism in August. However, if it is discussed, the U.S. has threatened to boycott the conference. A U.S. State Department official explained his countrys reasoning to the Toronto Globe Mail: There have been two previous conferences on racism [in 1978 and 1983] and we didnt go to those because they were about Zionism being a form of racism and about the apartheid regime in South Africa, exclusively. They were country-specific polemic-fests, thats what they were foreseen to be and thats what they turned out to be. He then promised that the U.S. would attend if, and only if, the conference addressed racism as a world-wide phenomenon and not as a country-specific issue. Let me attempt to translate what he just said: We boycotted the other conferences because we had good relations with the Zionist regime in Israel and the apartheid regime in South Africa, and by condemning them we would have been condemning ourselves. We will attend this years conference as long as it doesnt vilify our ally, Israel, and as long as we speak about racism in an abstract and irrelevant manner. Essentially, Israels 34-year occupation has nothing to fear from the current U.S. government. Israel will continue to expropriate Palestinian land, demolish Palestinians homes, build and expand settlements and bypass roads, and isolate and suffocate the Palestinians in their reservations, I mean, cities. The U.S. will respond to these colonial policies with meaningless rhetoric or silence. Regarding the United States actions during this conflict, one thing is certain: its vociferous support for Israel and its indifference in the face of Palestinian suffering are a direct result of an ideological occupation that has gripped the U.S. government. This occupation is based on the internalization of Israels arguments vis-a-vis the current conflict, and if its institutions are not challenged, then the lifeblood of the Israeli occupation of Palestine--U.S. economic, military, and diplomatic support--will continue to flow freely. The success of this ideological occupation is partly the result of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), considered one of the top five most influential lobbying organizations in the United States. As Bill Clinton once said, AIPAC has done a magnificent job, better than anybody else lobbying in this town [Washington, D.C.]. You have been stunningly effective. This effectiveness could be
[CTRL] Israel is running out of friends
-Caveat Lector- Israel is rapidly running out of friends By ERIC MARGOLIS Contributing Foreign Editor May 27, 2001 http://www.canoe.ca/Columnists/margolis.html ROME - Only a few short months ago, Israel's then opposition leader, Ariel Sharon, stormed Jerusalem's Al-Aksa Mosque at the head of 1,000 police, igniting the second Palestinian intifada that now rages out of control. Sharon's coup won him election as prime minister but plunged the region into chaos. In North America, Palestinians are blamed by the usually pro-Israel media and politicians for the current wave of violence and terrorism. But here in Europe, and around the world, there is a rising wave of anger and condemnation against Israel's repression in the Occupied Territories. Only the U.S. stands behind Israel, and less so by the day. The European Union is debating imposing trade sanctions on Israeli exports from the Occupied Territories. Senior EU officials charge Israel with violating the Geneva Convention and international human rights laws. The Convention, signed by Israel, expressly forbids military action against the population of the occupied territories. A top official of the Swiss-based International Red Cross charged Israel's campaign to assassinate Palestinian officials and its increasing employment of heavy weapons against civilians was tantamount to war crimes. Israel's use of tanks against Palestinians is being compared to the Soviets' brutal crushing of the 1956 Hungarian uprising in Budapest. Israel rejects all such criticism, insisting it is merely combating terrorism. Last week, Israel tried to assassinate one of the most senior Palestinian officials, Jibril Rajoub, a moderate and possible successor to PLO leader Yasser Arafat, by pouring tank fire into his home. This, the second attempted murder of a PLO leader in the last weeks, caused the U.S. Ambassador to Israel, Martin Indyk, a former high-ranking official of the U.S. pro-Israel lobby, to accuse the Sharon government of trying to block any chance for peace by assassinating moderate Palestinian leaders who can stop the violence. Sharon's unleashing of Israeli hit squads has produced a new spiral of revenge attacks. Palestinian extremists of Hamas and Islamic Jihad lobbed mortar fire at Israeli settlements and staged bloody human bomb attacks against Israeli civilians. Israel retaliated by blasting Palestinians with artillery, gunboats, tanks, helicopter gunships and, last week, U.S.-supplied F-16 fighters. Attacks by Palestinians on Jewish civilians are criminal, and militarily useless, as is Israel's shooting at Palestinians. They provide Israel with the excuse to unleash its military might against a defenceless civilian population, and have silenced Israel's pro-peace moderates. Palestinians who believe they can duplicate the victory of Hezbollah guerrillas over Israel in Lebanon are dangerously deluded. Still, Israel's continued colonization of Arab land remains at the heart of the current conflict. Sharon made clear Israel will not stop expanding settlements on occupied Arab land, though many are only partly inhabited. Sharon has repeatedly urged settlers to grab as much Arab land as possible to create irreversible facts on the ground. Israel continued to build settlements during the decade of the Oslo Peace Accords, in spite of pledges to stop. Each settlement had to be protected by an army base, a cleared security zone, and Jewish-only security roads, all built on expropriated Arab land. The strategically-sited settlements carved up Arab territory into a patchwork, making any coherent, viable Palestinian state impossible. This relentless expropriation, including the bulldozing of Arab villages and precious olive groves, which take a century to produce fruit, was the main element that ignited the current intifada. Israel's moderates and left have long demanded settlement-building cease and the settlers, mostly from the U.S. or Russia, be relocated to Israel. No real peace will be possible as long as they remain. Many of the 200,000 settlers came for subsidized housing; others because they believe God gave them the Arabs' land. Israeli moderates say these fundamentalist colonists should not hold the fate of Israel and the Middle East in their hands. The American Mideast scholar, Edward Said, puts it even more harshly, calling the settlers heavily-armed, fanatical religious cultists. A decade ago, George Bush Sr. tried to pressure Israel to cease expanding settlements by threatening to withhold some of the US$3-5 billion the U.S. gives Israel annually. Bush and his secretary of state, James Baker, were immediately accused of anti-Semitism and scourged by the media. Campaign funds poured into the coffers of a little-known Democratic candidate, Bill Clinton. So President George W. Bush is being extra cautious. Instead of leaning on Israel, he is hiding behind the international Mitchell Commission
Re: [CTRL] Konformist: Pearl Harbor Sucks (fwd)
-Caveat Lector- but as the global trade treaties can show you - Global Corporations with factories in china, taiwan, america, germany, england, india, south america can easily bully nations like canada into accepting a bad deal - a multinational recently sued canada. Nobody has to bully Canada into accepting these trade agreements as Canadian politicians are lapdogs for mutlinationals and globalism is seen as something akin to Utopia by almost all pols and the media (barring the occasional whinge from the CBC mind you). But this is to be expected in a nation that yearns passionately to be the UN's model state - the perverse logic here says that in allowing our country to be dominated and dictated to by outside forces we somehow create a strong Canadian identity for ourselves. A HREF=http://www.ctrl.org/;www.ctrl.org/A DECLARATION DISCLAIMER == CTRL is a discussion informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substancenot soap-boxingplease! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright fraudsis used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. Archives Available at: http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html A HREF=http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html;Archives of [EMAIL PROTECTED]/A http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ A HREF=http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/;ctrl/A To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
[CTRL] The Replacement
Free Congress Foundation's Notable News Now Excerpts from FCF Programming and Other FCF Projects May 28, 2001 The Free Congress Commentary FBI Director Replacement a Serious Decision for Bush by Paul M. Weyrich From the Endangered Liberties Television Program This nation has managed to hang on by a thread somehow, through the prayers and hard work of good people. I cannot help but think of how close we have come to either having Federal Bureau of Investigation Director Louis Freeh stay on in his current position or be replaced by President Al Gore. What a frightening thought! I am still shaken by it. Instead, a good and decent president, George W. Bush, someone who prays for Divine guidance each and every day, someone who reads the Scriptures, someone who discusses holy things with the elect, will be making that appointment. I have spoken with Attorney General Ashcroft about the search and certainly he is of sound mind in thinking about the sort of person who needs to hold this position. First of all we are talking about a 10-year term. The FBI Director can outlast two full terms of a president. Second, the pay isn't all that great. The person is obviously going to have to be extremely dedicated and able to live with his means. The candidate we are talking about should probably know the FBI but should not be taken in by it. A lot of what has gone wrong with the FBI over the last two decades or more has to do with the bureaucratic structure. There is going to be a tendency to want to blame most of the FBI's ills on the late Director J. Edgar Hoover. Hoover did a lot of things that were questionable. But he also did a not of things that were right. And he wasn't always trying to expand the powers of the FBI, which was to his credit. He kept the portfolio of the FBI narrowly focused. Consequently, the FBI acquired a reputation, and a deserved one, of getting what it went after. Today's FBI has become a sad joke. If some of these cases weren't so terribly important for national security reasons, one almost wouldn't mind seeing what went wrong analyzed by any number of the newsmagazines. All of this is to say that the president has one of the most important decisions of his presidency coming up in the next few months. In many ways this is at least as important as a Supreme Court nominee. The president needs to consult widely on this appointment. He needs to pray about it fervently. He needs, as unfortunate as this is, to have discreet discussions with the Senate, where the nomination will have to go for confirmation. This nominee needs to be someone the nation can trust. The nominee needs to be someone who can raise morale at the FBI, which is at an all-time low. This person needs to be above reproach. That is one tall order for even this president. This appointment may well determine what kind of nation we live in beyond the presidency of George W. Bush. Please, Mr. President. Give this your very best. Paul Weyrich is president of the Free Congress Foundation. For media inquiries, contact Notra Trulock 202.546.3000 / [EMAIL PROTECTED] For other questions or comments, contact Angie Wheeler [EMAIL PROTECTED] Visit our website at http://www.freecongress.org This publication is a service of the Free Congress Research and Education Foundation, Inc. (FCF) and does not necessarily reflect the views of the Free Congress Foundation nor is it an attempt to aid or hinder the passage of any bill. Free Congress Foundation * 717 Second Street, NE * Washington, DC 20002 * 202.546.3000 * Fax: 202.544.2819 Project Manager: Angela Wheeler * Copyright * 2001 Free Congress Foundation - All Rights Reserved.
[CTRL] Taliban dismiss UN report on opium stocks in Afghanistan (fwd)
-Caveat Lector- Taliban dismiss UN report on opium stocks in Afghanistan http://asia.dailynews.yahoo.com/headlines/world/article.html?s=asia/headlines/010526/world/afp/Taliban_dismiss_UN_report_on_opium_stocks_in_Afghanistan.html KABUL, May 26 (AFP) - The Taliban's Foreign Ministry Saturday rejected a UN report that the regime had stockpiled large quantity of opium and its high profile campaign against poppy cultivation was merely an attempt to bump up drug prices. The report is baseless, Taliban Foreign Ministry spokesman Faiz Ahmed Faiz told AFP. The Taliban Islamic militia has waged a heroic struggle against narcotics, he said and added this is our own decision. We consider it our religious responsibility to eradicate this notorious phenomenon from Afghanistan. UN experts on Friday questioned the sincerity of Taliban's ban on poppy cultivation in Afghanistan, saying the value of opium and heroin stocks had risen tenfold this year. In a report to the Security Council, they said if Taliban officials were sincere in stopping the production of opium and heroin, then one would expect them to order the destruction of all stocks existing in areas under their control. The expert group was set up by UN Secretary General Kofi Annan to recommend how to monitor an arms embargo and other sanctions the UN imposed on the Taliban on December 20. The report quoted figures from the UN's Drug Control and Crime Prevention Office (DCCPO) in Vienna to show that total opium production in Afghanistan almost doubled, from 2,500 tons in 1998 to 4,600 tons the following year. Another 3,100 tons were produced in 2000 before the supreme leader of the Taliban, Mullah Mohammed Omar, pronounced the ban on July 27. The data appear to confirm the view that the Taliban has accumulated a sizeable stock of opium and heroin and wanted to stop production to prevent prices from further spiralling downward, the report said. It noted that the average price of opium in Afghanistan jumped from 28 dollars a kilo last year to 280 dollars a kilo in February. Dismissing the group's comments Faiz said: This is their view. We have not been appreciated for the achievements that we have had so far in this field, he said. The decision to ban poppy was not designed to please somebody, he said. Annan told reporters on Friday he had no concrete proof of the charge that the Taliban had stockpiled drugs. What we do know, from all accounts, is that poppy production has more or less been eliminated for this year, which is quite an incredible achievement in the period of one year, he said, but we will continue to monitor that. A HREF=http://www.ctrl.org/;www.ctrl.org/A DECLARATION DISCLAIMER == CTRL is a discussion informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substancenot soap-boxingplease! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright fraudsis used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. Archives Available at: http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html A HREF=http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html;Archives of [EMAIL PROTECTED]/A http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ A HREF=http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/;ctrl/A To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
[CTRL] Gun Burning Day at UN (fwd)
-Caveat Lector- ALERT FROM JEWS FOR THE PRESERVATION OF FIREARMS OWNERSHIP America's Aggressive Civil Rights Organization (Subscribe/UnSubscribe instructions near the end of the message) May 25, 2001 ALERT: July 9 Is Gun Burning Day at UN Supporter's bonus: Advance Copy of JPFO Shotgun News Column Common Sense U.N. BURNS GUNS ON JULY 9: YOUR RIGHTS ARE NEXT By Richard W. Stevens Editor, The Bill of Rights Sentinel Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership It is Small Arms Destruction Day on July 9, 2001. Plans are underway for government agents to ignite huge bonfires of handguns, rifles and other firearms in major population centers worldwide. No joke. The United Nations Conference on Small Weapons is sponsoring massive gun burnings on July 9 to mark the opening in New York of the UN Conference on Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons. Organizers of the Conference say the public destruction of weapons is good because it is one of the best ways to attract attention to global civilian disarmament. Whose guns will be burned? Privately-held weapons that have been captured or confiscated by governments, of course. But certainly not the guns held by governments and their armies, police forces and death squads. What Is Going On? Having failed to rid the world of nuclear weapons, the UN lately has been working to disarm the world's civilians. Going under the name of reducing illicit trafficking in light weapons and small arms, the UN's expressed goal is to concentrate power into the hands of UN member governments: * A UN report in August 1999 recommended that all small arms and light weapons which are not under legal civilian possession and which are not required for the purposes of national defense and internal security, should be collected and destroyed by States as expeditiously as possible. * Secretary-General Kofi Annan in April 2000 called for non- proliferation of small arms, declaring that these weapons must be brought under the control of states. * A UN Committee of Governmental Experts in March 2001 recommended that all nations install centralized gun control with detailed record-keeping and prohibitions against selling small arms to anyone except other governments. Make no mistake: when the UN refers to small arms, it means rifles and handguns. In our Second Amendment, the word arms means, at the very least, small arms. The UN program thus directly infringes our Second Amendment. Americans: your right to keep and bear arms will soon face a united world of enemies. Even the so-called human rights advocates Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have joined forces with the regimes of Cambodia, Colombia, Zimbabwe, Syria and Iraq to press for world gun control at the July 9 Conference. Do you really think the current U.S. government or the Supreme Court will defend the Second Amendment against the UN? Three Propaganda Points The international victim disarmament forces focus on three talking points. First, they treat firearms as the cause of war, violence, unrest, and crime. In their advocacy papers, they actually blame the guns, not the aggressors or the evil ideas. They stand with activist doctor groups who claim firearms are a public health menace. Second, the victim disarmers follow the morally bankrupt idea that armed conflict is always wrong. They cannot tell the difference between a good government and an evil government, or between aggression and self-defense. Armed defense is morally right and is a moral duty under the Judeo-Christian tradition and under the non-religious philosophy of natural law. The victim disarmers never distinguish between oppression and righteous self-protection. Third, the anti-small arms forces say they are only going after illegal or illicit possession of firearms. They urge governments to confiscate and destroy all firearms that are owned illegally. Who defines what is illegal? The UN's member governments: Red China, Iraq, Colombia, and the dozens of other oppressive and/or corrupt regimes, many of whom obtained power by force, not election. What It All Means -- Your Next Move Future UN action may well declare American gun owners to be criminals. If your gun is too big, too small, too powerful, too accurate or too ugly, it may be deemed dangerous to world peace and thus illegal. If you reload your own ammunition or fix guns, you may be deemed an illicit trafficker in small arms. Get smart, gun owners, and get moving! Every gun owner must fully grasp this looming threat to our rights as Americans. Use the powerful Gran'pa Jack booklet The UN is Killing Your Freedoms [ http://www.jpfo.org/gpjack5.htm ] to show how the UN endangers most of the rights Americans take for granted -- most especially the gun rights. Distribute copies of this article and the booklet to every citizen and every member of every gun club in America. Save money -- order bundles of booklets, only $20.00
[CTRL] The Muslim Jesus
-Caveat Lector- Developing a Dialogue Between Christianity and Islam THE MUSLIM JESUS Collected, edited and translated by Tarif Khalidi. Harvard University Press $22.95, 243 pages By LARRY B. STAMMER, Times Religion Writer http://www.latimes.com/news/state/20010526/t44089.html Southern California is the most religiously diverse region in the world, with more than 600 variations of faiths in Los Angeles alone. Yet it is surprising how little followers of three major faiths--Judaism, Christianity and Islam--know about each other. In particular is the one-sided picture of Islam, sometimes portrayed as a terrorist religion. This kind of ignorance born of stereotypes is not only frustrating but, in some parts of the world, deadly. The fratricidal wars between Serbs, who are predominantly Orthodox Christians, and ethnic Albanians, who are predominantly Muslim, come to mind. Religious differences weren't the only sparks that ignited that conflagration. Ancient hatreds, grudges, economic differences and power politics have all been implicated. But the antipathy that fueled the conflict would have been less severe if Christians and Muslims knew more about each other's faiths. Because Christianity and Islam, unlike Judaism, are evangelical faiths whose followers are often on the front lines of winning converts, a dialogue is even more urgently needed. But dialogue cannot occur in an atmosphere of ignorance. It requires a working knowledge of each other. Now comes a book, The Muslim Jesus, which helps dispel the ignorance among Christians about Islam. It is a collection of Islamic sayings about Jesus in the Koran and Islamic literature. The Jesus sayings, published by Harvard University Press, were collected and edited by Tarif Khalidi, a professor of Arabic and director of the Centre of Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies, and fellow of King's College, Cambridge. The book is divided into two sections, Khalidi's introduction and commentary on the sayings, and the sayings themselves. Khalidi's commentary is grounded in solid research, if excessively academic in tone. But there are also shafts of insight. With a little perseverance, the reader is rewarded with a better understanding of Islam, and an appreciation of how one of the most central figures in Western civilization--Jesus of Nazareth--is perceived by another tradition. There are several hundred sayings and stories ascribed to Jesus in Islamic literature, including the Koran and Muslim works of ethics, popular devotion, anthologies of wisdom and histories of prophets and saints. Khalidi loosely refers to this collection as the Muslim Gospel. Jesus is known in the Koran and in the Muslim tradition as the Spirit of God and the Word of God. But, he is not the Son of God as Christians believe. Whereas Christians emphasize Jesus' culminating act of love and self-giving--his death on the cross and Resurrection for the sins of the world--Muslims emphasize his birth as the son of Mary.. It was a sinless birth that took place under a palm tree, not in a manger. Jesus lives, not as the second person of the Trinity, but as a messenger of Allah. Khalidi offers interesting tidbits, among them the fact that the Koran contains two word-for-word quotations from Hebrew and Christian Scriptures--the commandment stipulating an eye for an eye, and Jesus' saying that it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to get to heaven. Jesus is not the only non-Muslim biblical figure mentioned in the Koran. Others include Moses, David, Solomon, Job and John the Baptist. There are also stories and sayings of Adam, Noah, Abraham, Jonah, Isaiah and Ezra--all figures in Hebrew Scripture, or what Christians call the Old Testament. But none hold as much interest and attention as Jesus. Jesus and his followers constitute one of the most theologically charged topics in the entire Koran, Khalidi writes. Among the Jesus sayings in Islamic literature are these: Blessed is he who sees with his heart but whose heart is not in what he sees. Be at ease with people and ill at ease with yourself. Christ said, 'The world is a bridge. Cross this bridge but do not build upon it.' Jesus said, 'The heart of a believer cannot really support the love of both this world and the next, just as a single vessel cannot really support both water and fire.' But there is no Sermon on the Mount, no parables, no teachings on the law and the spirit in Islamic literature. Instead, Jesus is followed by faithful disciples, is humble and pious toward his mother, and speaks of God's unity, confirming the messages of earlier prophets. The clear bulk of references . . . remind Jesus himself or mankind in general that God is the ultimate creator and master of life and destiny of Jesus, as of all creation. Here, then, is the true Jesus 'cleansed' of the 'perversions' of his followers who
[CTRL] FC: Family Research Council hails EEOC ruling on library filtering (fwd)
-Caveat Lector- News coverage: http://www.startribune.com/viewers/qview/cgi/qview.cgi?story=84238770template=metro_a_cache http://www.newsbytes.com/news/01/166171.html -Declan From: Family Research Council [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Press Release - EEOC Says Cyberporn Harmful to Librarians To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Date: Fri, 25 May 2001 13:23:34 -0400 Here is our latest press release. To see the on-line version, please visit: http://www.frc.org/press/index.cfm?get=recentid=P01E14 --- FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 25, 2001 CONTACT: Kristin Hansen, (202) 393-2100 FOR RADIO: Kelly Green EEOC FINDS MINNEAPOLIS LIBRARY A SEXUALLY HOSTILE WORK ENVIRONMENT DUE TO INTERNET PORNOGRAPHY, FRC NOT SURPRISED This deals a major blow to the American Library Association and its irresponsible anti-filtering policy, said Jan LaRue, FRC's senior director of Legal Studies WASHINGTON, D.C. -- On Thursday, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) announced a finding of probable cause that 12 Minneapolis public librarians were subjected to a sexually hostile work environment in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 when they were exposed to pornography on the Internet. We knew it was just a matter of time before some dedicated librarians would stand up to the American Library Association and rescue their library. Our hats are off to the 'Minneapolis 12,' said Jan LaRue, senior director of Legal Studies at the Family Research Council. The EEOC's decision is both legally correct and amply justified. Minneapolis librarians have complained of hard-core pornographic Web sites left visible on Internet terminals, graphic printouts left on tables and youngsters exposed to images of bestiality and child rape. Patrons have also complained that anyone walking through the library could see pornography on computers. Very few libraries have utilized blocking technology on computers due to the policies and pressure of the American Library Association (ALA), which promotes unrestricted access by anyone, regardless of age, to all of the materials available on the Internet regardless of content, including the most deviant pornography. A public library is supposed to be a place dedicated to quiet, to knowledge, and to beauty, not a dirty peep show open to kids and funded by taxpayers. The ALA resists doing what's constitutional and common sense: don't bring into the library through cyberspace what would never be stocked on the bookshelves. ALA bureaucrats don't work in libraries - they don't have to clean up after the porn or be threatened with a knife by a porn-surfing addict who's been told his time on the computer is up, LaRue said. LaRue called on library boards across the country to utilize blocking technology to keep illegal pornography from turning their library into a sexually hostile work environment like Minneapolis. If anyone thinks Minneapolis is an isolated incident, they need to read FRC's publication, 'Dangerous Access 2000 Edition: Uncovering Internet Pornography in America's Libraries,' which is available online at www.frc.org, said LaRue. --- - POLITECH -- Declan McCullagh's politics and technology mailing list You may redistribute this message freely if it remains intact. To subscribe, visit http://www.politechbot.com/info/subscribe.html This message is archived at http://www.politechbot.com/ - A HREF=http://www.ctrl.org/;www.ctrl.org/A DECLARATION DISCLAIMER == CTRL is a discussion informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substancenot soap-boxingplease! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright fraudsis used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. Archives Available at: http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html A HREF=http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html;Archives of [EMAIL PROTECTED]/A http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ A HREF=http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/;ctrl/A To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[CTRL] Why the government's rush to execute Timothy McVeigh? (fwd)
-Caveat Lector- Why the government's rush to execute Timothy McVeigh? http://disc.server.com/discussion.cgi?id=149495article=1969 http://www.wsws.org/articles/2001/may2001/mcve-m26.shtml By Kate Randall 26 May 2001 The US government has been forced to delay the execution of Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh following the revelation that the Federal Bureau of Investigation withheld more than 3,100 pages of documents from his defense team. Attorney General John Ashcroft announced on May 11 that McVeigh's lethal injection, originally set for May 16 in Terre Haute, Indiana, had been rescheduled for June 11. In the aftermath of the announcement, Ashcroft, President Bush, FBI Director Louis Freeh and other government officials have repeatedly insisted that there is nothing in the documents that could affect McVeigh's legal position. Ashcroft and Bush have stated there will be no further delays in carrying out his execution. They have maintained this position despite the fact that additional documents have been discovered since Ashcroft's initial acknowledgment of withheld material. Only last Thursday Ashcroft announced that a final search at FBI offices had turned up an additional 898 pages of documents. But the attorney general reiterated that the government would fight any attempt by McVeigh's attorneys to seek a delay in the execution. The government maintains that the documents were withheld from McVeigh's defense as a result of an organizational foul-up by the FBI. There was no intention to deprive the defense lawyers of the material, officials insist. There is no reason to uncritically accept this explanation as the truth. But even if the documents were withheld inadvertently, the fact remains that federal authorities failed to provide the defense with a huge volume of evidence that bears directly on the FBI investigation into the bombing. This is a serious violation of a defendant's right to a fair trial, and the violation is compounded by the fact that it concerns a capital case. It constitutes legal grounds for contesting either McVeigh's original trial, the penalty phase, or both. Given the mass of documents involved, and the fact that the defendant is facing the death penalty, limiting the extension to 30 days is a travesty of due process. There is no way McVeigh's lawyers can study the documents, let alone adequately investigate issues arising from them, in such a short period. Furthermore, the repeated public statements of high government officials, echoed by the media, that there is nothing of an exculpatory nature in the material can only have the effect of prejudicing any jury that might be assembled to consider future legal proceedings, should McVeigh decide to take that path. The question arises: why the rush to execute McVeigh? A number of factors could be involved in the government's determination to have done with McVeigh as soon as possible. The documents may contain information that conflicts with the government's official version of the Oklahoma City bombing, which insists that only two individuals were involved: McVeigh and his former army buddy Terry Nichols. Does the newly unearthed evidence point to a wider conspiracy? Much of it consists of interviews and leads gathered shortly after the April 1995 blast by 46 FBI field offices concerning John Doe No. 2, a man witnesses reported seeing at the scene of the crime. Federal investigators subsequently dropped their search for this individual and prosecuted and convicted McVeigh and Nichols, contending the two men acted alone. While McVeigh himself has denied the existence of a John Doe No. 2, his former attorney Stephen Jones contends that McVeigh was among a group of conspirators. Lawyers for Terry Nichols, who have filed a motion for a new trial on the basis of the withheld documents, have always claimed there was such a man and that his existence could cast doubt on Nichols' role in the crime. The withheld evidence might also contain information damaging to the FBI or other government agencies. There is good reason to suspect that FBI informants knew more about the bombing and the events leading up to it than has been revealed. It is well known that the FBI has many informants in the militia movement, among gun lobbyists, the Christian right, the Ku Klux Klan and other racist and extreme-right groups. There is a long history of FBI collusion in right-wing violence. One of the most notorious examples involves the activities of FBI informant Gary T. Rowe. In 1980 the Justice Department admitted that the FBI knew of Rowe's involvement in a series of racially motivated attacks in the South during the civil rights struggles of the 1960s. Rowe admitted to participating in the attack on the Freedom Riders at the Birmingham bus station in 1961, as well as being in the car with the gunman who in 1965 shot and killed Viola Liuzzo, a 39-year-old civil rights activist from Detroit. In the recent trial of former Ku Klux Klansman
[CTRL] Barbaric Israel
-Caveat Lector- SUBJECT: Sri Lanka Parliament passes unprecedented, unanimous resolution in condemnation of Israel by Bakeer Markar [EMAIL PROTECTED] Friday, May 25th 2001 (Colombo): Today, in an unprecedented move the parliament of Sri Lanka unanimously passed a resolution condemning the Government of Israel for its ruthless barbaric policy towards the Palestinian people, and calling upon the international community and the United Nations Organisation to halt these atrocities and see that the just aspiration of the Palestinian people are granted without delay. The resolution put forwarded by opposition parliamentarian Imthiaz Bakeer Markar, who is well known for his ardent support for the Palestinian Cause, in a passionate speech to the parliament, questioned as to how one could object to Palestinian resistance, when they themselves are made to experience the brutal occupation of their land by an artificially created country. He added further that, it is disappointing to see the recent peacemaking trend the Middle East, totally reversed by the outcome of the recent elections. Finally, Mr. Bakeer Markar recognized that, although as a small country they would have limitations in directly stopping Ariel Sharon s barbaric measures of achieving the wider Zionist dream; it wouldnt stop them from declaring their anger on Israeli policy, or from expressing their great concern on Palestinian lives, security and rights, to the world. Showing the resolutions wide endorsement, the resolution was seconded by a Cabinet Minister, Mahinda Rajapakse and received words of support from all the speeches made during the debate; from parties in both sides of the House, including the Foreign Minister, Lakshman Kadiragramar. Government allies, Sri Lanka Freedom Partys Minister Alavi Mowlana and Leader of the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress, Minister A.Rauff Hakeem, along with main opposition United National Partys A.H.M Azwer, parliamentary leader of the leftist Peoples Liberation Front, Mr. Vimal Weerawanshe and Tamil United Liberation Fronts Marvei Senadiraja were among the speakers who gave their support to the resolution, which received wide media coverage in Sri Lanka. Translation of the Resolution passed by the Parliament of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka on the 25th of May 2001: The Sri Lanka Parliament whilst deploring the ruthless policy of the Government of Israel to deprive the Palestinian people of their motherland by rendering destitute thousands of refugees by scant regard to the more than sixty resolutions passed by the United Nations to condemn the atrocities purported on the Palestinian people, by reneging the conditions of the Oslo Peace Treaty and the Camp David peace agreements and blatantly undermining recommendations of the Mitchell Committee, rejecting requests to send a peace keeping force to Palestine to maintain peace and carrying on regardless their barbaric policy on the Palestinian people, by causing destruction to life and property of the Palestinians, this House is of the view that steps should be taken to call from the international community and the United Nations Organisation to halt these atrocities, and see that the just aspirations of the Palestinian people are granted without delay. A HREF=http://www.ctrl.org/;www.ctrl.org/A DECLARATION DISCLAIMER == CTRL is a discussion informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substancenot soap-boxingplease! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright fraudsis used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. Archives Available at: http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html A HREF=http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html;Archives of [EMAIL PROTECTED]/A http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ A HREF=http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/;ctrl/A To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
[CTRL] [Spy News] Outsourcing the Drug War (fwd)
-Caveat Lector- Investigative Report By Jeremy Bigwood Special to CorpWatch May 23, 2001 A U.S.-made Huey II military helicopter manned by foreigners wearing U.S. Army fatigues crash lands after being pockmarked by sustained guerrilla fire from the jungle below. Its crew members, one of them wounded, are surrounded by enemy guerrillas. Another three helicopters, this time carrying American crews, cut through the hot muggy sky. While two of them circle, firing machine-guns at hidden enemy, one swoops down alongside the downed Huey, and the Americans jump through the wash of the blades into the firefight on the ground, successfully rescuing the downed crew members. It could be a scene from a soon-to-be-released Hollywood blockbuster based on the war in Vietnam or El Salvador. But, it happened in Colombia last February, as part of the U.S. $1.3 billion intervention called Plan Colombia. The Americans who braved the bullets were members of an armed airmobile Search and Rescue Team. However, they were not part of the U.S. Armed Forces, but civilian employees of a private company called DynCorp, the new privateer mercenaries of a U.S. policy that now outsources its wars. Like the old English privateer pirates of the Caribbean five hundred years ago, sailing under no national flag - robbing and plundering Latin America's riches for the English Crown, Washington now employs hundreds of contract employees through U.S. corporations to carry out its policies in Colombia and other countries. In the old days, the British maintained that because the pirate ships did not fly the English flag, the Crown was not responsible for their actions. While the new privateers are underwritten through U.S. taxes, they are technically contract employees. Like the sixteenth century pirates, if they get caught in an embarrassing crime, or are killed, the U.S. government can deny responsibility for their actions. What's more only a select few in Congress know of their activities and their operations are not subject to public scrutiny, despite the fact that they are on the government payroll. It's very handy to have an outfit not part of the U.S. armed forces, obviously. If somebody gets killed or whatever, you can say it's not a member of the armed forces, former U.S. Ambassador to Colombia, Myles Frechette told reporters. Meanwhile, Former Drug Czar Barry McCaffrey recently described himself as an unabashed admirer of outsourcing. And there is an economic consideration too. Deploying high ranking active duty military officers to staff Colombian operations is far more costly than hiring retired officers working privately. A U.S. government official, who asked not to be named, said that there were several reasons that the U.S. government outsources projects: [Outsourcing] can be a flexible, cost-effective means of providing specific labor-intensive services on a short-term basis. Once we hire government workers, they are here forever. Some of these jobs are only short-term.. Outsourcing belligerent activities on the part of the U.S. government is not new. It goes back to the Revolutionary War. Many such companies were involved in the Vietnam war, but they were only a minuscule presence compared to the major military effort by the U.S. there. What is new is that now contract employees are in the forefront of operations. In the Colombian war, private outsourced military men are out on the frontlines, while the real U.S. troops are hidden on bases as trainers. The exact number of contract employees in Colombia is not known. A recent State Department report states that there are only 200 U.S. military soldiers and about 170 American contractors working in Colombia. Historically, official counts of U.S. personnel and contractors tend to be underestimated in counter-insurgency operations. DynCorp and Plan Colombia By far the largest U.S. contractor company in Latin America is DynCorp, headquartered in Reston, Virginia near the CIA, and Pentagon. It hires and places many ex-military personnel, but is actually much more diverse and more high-tech than that. The company's website promotes it as an Internet Technologies corporation. DynCorp describes its areas of expertise as Information Systems, Information Technology/Outsourcing and Technical Services. Once you dig a little deeper, it becomes clear that this is no ordinary high-tech start up. According to its own literature, DynCorp's expertise spans more than five decades - encompassing events from the computer revolution, the Space Age, the Cold War and conflicts from Korea, Vietnam and Desert Storm. Through these times, we have dedicated ourselves to providing customers with the best and most educated solutions. Our IT experience has evolved with this ever-changing industry, and we continue to offer our clients solid solutions based on this evolution. DynCorp has worked with domestic and foreign government agencies to provide successful information, engineering and aerospace
[CTRL] FC: Quebec fines maple syrup web site for no French translations (fwd)
-Caveat Lector- Background on Quebec's language laws: http://frenchcaculture.about.com/aboutcanada/frenchcaculture/cs/languagelaws/ Commission de protection de la langue francaise: http://www.cplf.gouv.qc.ca/ Complaint form you can use to get someone in trouble: http://www.synapse.net/%7Eimperatif/verification.html -Declan --- http://cbc.ca/cgi-bin/templates/view.cgi?/news/2001/05/21/internet010521 Quebec's language laws stretch into cyberspace WebPosted Tue May 22 00:57:07 2001 MONTREAL - A couple selling maple syrup over the Internet has been fined for operating an English-only Web site in Quebec. Muriel and Stanley Reid were cited for violating Quebec's language law, Bill 101. They plan to challenge the fine in court. The Reids and at least 10 people in the province have been fined under the French Language Charter while doing business in cyberspace. The law allows retailers to display English words. But there must be a French translation, seen as markedly predominant. The Reids say they're selling to customers outside Quebec who only speak English. [...] - POLITECH -- Declan McCullagh's politics and technology mailing list You may redistribute this message freely if it remains intact. To subscribe, visit http://www.politechbot.com/info/subscribe.html This message is archived at http://www.politechbot.com/ - A HREF=http://www.ctrl.org/;www.ctrl.org/A DECLARATION DISCLAIMER == CTRL is a discussion informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substancenot soap-boxingplease! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright fraudsis used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. Archives Available at: http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html A HREF=http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html;Archives of [EMAIL PROTECTED]/A http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ A HREF=http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/;ctrl/A To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
[CTRL] Abortion/Extortion
-Caveat Lector- conservativeinfo - Subscribe to the Conservative Information email list at http://conservativeinfo.listbot.com Abortion Practitioner Gets Prison Sentence for Extortion Source: Associated Press; May 24, 2001 Ocala, FL -- - An abortion practitioner convicted of trying to extort millions of dollars from Marion County, Florida, by falsely accusing an official of bomb threats received three years and 10 months in prison during a sentencing hearing Thursday. A jury in February found abortion practitioner James Scott Pendergraft, who once bragged of committing more abortions than anyone else in the U.S., guilty in federal court of attempted extortion, conspiracy and mail fraud. He also was sentenced to two years probation and ordered to pay a $25,000 fine. His real estate adviser, Michael Spielvogel, was convicted of the same charges, plus lying to the FBI and filing a false statement. Spielvogel faced up to 40 years in prison during the sentencing hearing but received a three-year, five-month prison sentence, followed by three years of probation but was not fined. Prosecutors said the case was about extortion, not abortion. The defendants were accused of lying in affidavits in an effort to extort a big settlement from Marion County in exchange for dropping a lawsuit. The lawsuit claimed the county and the city of Ocala weren't allowing off-duty police officers to moonlight at Pendergraft's abortion facility. The prosecution's case centered on threats that Spielvogel claimed were made to him in a telephone call by county Commissioner Larry Cretul. According to Spielvogel, Cretul said it was not a matter of if but when Pendergraft's abortion facility would be bombed. Spielvogel admitted in court that he made up the remarks attributed to Cretul and that he faked a telephone conversation in front of Pendergraft so the abortion practitioner would think that Cretul had made the threats. At a meeting with a county attorney, Pendergraft also threatened to bankrupt the county by seeking $100 million in damages. His attorneys said the threat was rhetorical. The meeting was secretly taped by FBI agents. Pendergraft owns four other abortion facilities in Tampa, Orlando and Fort Lauderdale. A staffer in Pendergraft's Ocala facility said he intended to keep his abortion facilities open even if he goes to prison. A HREF=http://www.ctrl.org/;www.ctrl.org/A DECLARATION DISCLAIMER == CTRL is a discussion informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substancenot soap-boxingplease! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright fraudsis used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. Archives Available at: http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html A HREF=http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html;Archives of [EMAIL PROTECTED]/A http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ A HREF=http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/;ctrl/A To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
[CTRL] Californians Favor Nuclear Plants (fwd)
-Caveat Lector- conservativeinfo - Subscribe to the Conservative Information email list at http://conservativeinfo.listbot.com Californians Favor Nuclear Plants SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - A surprising 59 percent of Californians now support building more nuclear plants, according to a poll released Wednesday. The pollsters said the findings suggest how deeply the power crisis has affected people in the state, which has been hit by rolling blackouts and soaring electric bills over the past few months. The last time the organization polled Californians about nuclear energy was 1984 - five years after the accident at Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania - and it found 61 percent opposed to nuclear power. ``In my interpretation, the current energy crisis has some bearing on the public's changed attitudes on nuclear power,'' said Mark DiCamillo, spokesman for the Field Institute, a nonpartisan polling organization. ``The public is searching for clean ways to add to the capacity. I think the poll is saying that nuclear should be included in that consideration.'' The Field poll comes as the Bush administration pushes for a renewed look at nuclear power. Vice President Dick Cheney, who heads the president's energy task force, has promoted nuclear power as essential to America's energy needs and said that at least some of the 65 power plants that need to be built annually to meet future electricity demand ought to be nuclear. No utilities have ordered any new nuclear power plants in the United States since 1978. The poll 1,015 California adults was taken May 11-20. It showed that 59 percent of Californians favor nuclear power and 36 percent are opposed. The margin of error was plus or minus 3.2 percentage points. A HREF=http://www.ctrl.org/;www.ctrl.org/A DECLARATION DISCLAIMER == CTRL is a discussion informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substancenot soap-boxingplease! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright fraudsis used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. Archives Available at: http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html A HREF=http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html;Archives of [EMAIL PROTECTED]/A http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ A HREF=http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/;ctrl/A To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
[CTRL] Little Rock to seize man's property for Clinton library (fwd)
-Caveat Lector- conservativeinfo - Subscribe to the Conservative Information email list at http://conservativeinfo.listbot.com Little Rock to seize man's property for Clinton library -- Under fire from property rights advocates, Little Rock, Arkansas, is defending plans to seize property for President Clinton's presidential library under a law that allows the city to take land for public parks. The property owner has gone to court to challenge the move. (05/23/01) http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,25398,00.html A HREF=http://www.ctrl.org/;www.ctrl.org/A DECLARATION DISCLAIMER == CTRL is a discussion informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substancenot soap-boxingplease! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright fraudsis used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. Archives Available at: http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html A HREF=http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html;Archives of [EMAIL PROTECTED]/A http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ A HREF=http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/;ctrl/A To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
[CTRL] Full-Bore Assault on Regulation (fwd)
-Caveat Lector- conservativeinfo - Subscribe to the Conservative Information email list at http://conservativeinfo.listbot.com Bush Is Putting Team in Place for a Full-Bore Assault on Regulation By STEPHEN LABATON New York Times WASHINGTON, May 22 â Across an array of federal agencies, the Bush administration has begun to make good on its commitment of broad deregulation, promoting a policy transformation long sought by the business community and opposed by consumer, labor and environmental organizations. Well beyond the intersecting spheres of energy and the environment, where the shifting policies have been apparent for months and crystallized last week in the proposal for a relaxation of regulations to encourage energy development, the scaffolding of a new regulatory framework is taking shape. It would affect antitrust enforcement, telecommunications, workplace rules, consumer protections, financial services and even how the military and other agencies buy goods and services from the private sector. For instance, Mary Sheila Gall, the official selected to head the Consumer Product Safety Commission, has a decade-long track record at the agency of voting against proposed safety rules because she has often said that injuries are caused not by faulty product designs but by negligent consumers. Her record has attracted widespread support from many manufacturers and strong criticism from Consumers Union and other similar groups. She has criticized the agency for promoting a federal nanny state. Safety experts and industry executives predict that after she takes over, a number of proposals under consideration, like one requiring flame-resistant treatment of upholstered furniture and another regulating baby bath seats, will be dropped. Timothy J. Muris, the nominee to head the Federal Trade Commission, has repeatedly said that the Clinton administration was insensitive to the economic benefits of large corporate mergers and too aggressive in bringing major monopoly cases and challenging a large airline for predatory pricing. Mr. Muris, a top antitrust official in the Reagan administration, complained at his Senate confirmation hearing last Wednesday that under the previous administration, there were many large monopoly investigations at the Department of Justice sending a signal that I thought was inappropriate. And John D. Graham, another Bush appointee for a senior regulatory post, has long maintained that the federal government has imposed too many onerous environmental, health and safety regulations on big business without properly calculating the financial costs of such regulations. Dr. Graham, a Harvard professor whose research on risks has been sponsored by corporations with stakes in the outcome of regulatory debates, has maintained that exposure to low levels of dioxins, which the government classifies as a human carcinogen, may actually reduce cancer and that there is insufficient evidence to demonstrate any harmful effect of residual pesticides on food. He is expected to become the White House's senior budget official for reviewing almost every proposed federal regulation. The approach being pursued by the Bush regulators involves a far more rigorous examination of the financial costs and benefits of regulation, one that experts predict will tip the balance of power from consumer, environmental and labor groups to businesses and will lead to a wholesale elimination of scores of rules that have prevented American companies from both growing and having more flexibility in making business decisions. Supporters of the existing regulations say that the rules promote many benefits that are not easily quantifiable and are certain to be overlooked under such cost-benefit analyses, from protecting consumers from dangerous products to preserving the environment and limiting companies from dominating certain crucial industries like telecommunications. But the administration is sympathetic to companies that have been deeply critical of the financial costs of such rules. There are those who believe cost should be no object, said Mitchell E. Daniels Jr., the White House budget director and a central player in the regulatory process. They take the position that if an objective feels good, we should impose a regulation without regard to costs. That's not a very realistic approach. While many of the Bush appointees are still awaiting confirmation, leaders of American businesses say they can already feel the different regulatory climate in Washington. Under Clinton, some of the regulatory agencies had a view that they didn't trust business and the government did a lot of things even if they had to go over the line, said Thomas J. Donohue, president and chief executive of the United States Chamber of Commerce. The Bush guys have more of an understanding of the effect of regulation on the business community and on the economy. And they are doing it while there is an energy crisis on their hands and
[CTRL] JSMP - Obstructing Nominations
Judicial Selection Monitoring Project Coalition for Judicial Restraint Weekly Update for 5/24/01 Volume IV, Number 9 Published by the Center for Law Democracy at the Free Congress Foundation. Thomas L. Jipping, M.A., J.D., Director John A. Nowacki, Esq., Deputy Director Jason Koehne, Coalition Coordinator (e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] ) Phone: 202-546-3000 Fax: 202-543-5605 http://www.freecongress.org/ http://www.freecongress.org/ http://www.judicialselection.org ** IN THIS ISSUE: * Bush Submits Five New Nominations. * Commentary: Court Cancelled. ** Bush Submits Five New Nominations President Bush has followed up his initial group of 11 judicial nominees with five more nominations over the past week. On May 18, he nominated Richard F. Cebull and Sam E. Haddon to be U.S. District Judges for the District of Montana. On May 21, he nominated Sharon Prost to be a U.S. Circuit Judge for the Federal Circuit. On May 22, he nominated Lavenski R. Smith, of Arkansas, to be a U.S. Circuit Judge for the Eighth Circuit. And on May 23, he nominated William J. Riley, of Nebraska, to be a U.S. Circuit Judge for the Eighth Circuit. Richard Cebull has been a U.S. Magistrate Judge in Great Falls, Montana. Sam Haddon is in private practice at Boone, Karlberg Haddon in Missoula, Montana. Sharon Prost is the Chief Counsel at the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, a position she has held since January. She was Deputy Chief Counsel from 1995-2001, and was Acting Solicitor for the National Labor Relations Board from 1989-1992. Lavenski Smith is presently Commissioner of the Arkansas Public Service Commission. He was an Associate Justice on the Arkansas Supreme Court from 1999-2000. Smith was Chairman of the Arkansas Public Service Commission from 1997-1999, and an Assistant Professor at John Brown University from 1994-1996. William Riley is a partner at Fitzgerald, Schorr, Barmetter Brennan, in Omaha, Nebraska. He is an Adjunct Professor at the Creighton University School of Law, and a former clerk to U.S. Circuit Judge Donald Lay on the Eighth Circuit. ** Commentary: Court Cancelled By Thomas L. Jipping The Senate Judiciary Committee was to hold its first hearing Wednesday on President Bush's judicial nominees. Though 100 positions on the federal district and appeals courts stand vacant, the Democrat obstruction machine forced its cancellation. From unprecedented demands for single-senator vetoes to filibuster threats and now blocking hearings, Senate Democrats are on a partisan mission to block Bush nominees. But guess who said the following: I hope the [Judiciary] Committee will not delay in scheduling the additional hearings we need to hold to consider the fine men and women whom the president has nominated to fill these important [judicial] positions. Why, it was Sen. Patrick Leahy, top Judiciary Committee Democrat and now leader of the Democrat obstruction machine. Oh, and Leahy condemned delays in scheduling hearings in June 1998 when there were 72 judicial vacancies. This week he delayed a scheduled hearing though vacancies are 40 percent higher. Last July, Senator Leahy was shoveling coal into the furnace driving the confirmation train, saying we cannot afford to stop or slow down the little progress we are making. That was then, with a Democrat president and just 60 vacancies. This is now, with a Republican president and 67 percent more vacancies, and he's pulling hard on the confirmation emergency brake to ensure no progress is made at all. Leahy is not alone on the wrecking crew. In October 1996, with 63 vacancies, Sen. Joseph Biden, D-Del., complained there had been too few nomination hearings that year and said, We should have done more. Now with 100 vacancies, Biden is helping ensure the Senate will do even less. The silence in the so-called media is similarly deafening. In January 1998, for example, the San Antonio Express News said it was Judiciary Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch's duty to hold hearings on and confirm or reject judicial nominees. Hatch and his fellow senators, the paper opined, should schedule hearings immediately. Enough of simply stonewalling and political posturing. Now that vacancies are 20 percent higher and Hatch in fact scheduled a hearing that Democrats scuttled, we'll be listening for the Express News' outrage. And then there's the legal establishment. In a mid-1999 letter to Senate leaders, five former presidents of the American Bar Association complained that the Judiciary Committee had held no hearings so far that year. They warned that 65 vacancies and the failure to hold hearings would without question threaten the efficient administration of justice. With 54 percent more vacancies today, and with Hatch attempting to hold nomination hearings, these bar leaders have so far been silent about
[CTRL] Another reprieve for McVeigh (fwd)
-Caveat Lector- Another reprieve for McVeigh - Thu May 24 01:37:26 2001 http://disc.server.com/discussion.cgi?id=149495article=1900 Another reprieve for McVeigh © 2001 WorldNetDaily.com Despite an avalanche of information showing the FBI mishandled the investigation into the Oklahoma City bombing -- even withholding reams of evidence from Timothy McVeigh's defense team -- the federal government seems determined to execute the convicted bomber next month. This is a mistake. This is a miscarriage of justice. This is a rush to bury the evidence of government's complicity, negligence or incompetence in the deaths of 168 Americans. It is obvious on the basis of recent revelations in WorldNetDaily that almost everything we've been told by government about the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City April 19, 1995, is a lie or a half-truth. Permanently silencing McVeigh, without obtaining his cooperation about others involved in the conspiracy, is unacceptable. Let McVeigh sit on death row as long as necessary. Executing him now will only serve to bring a false sense of closure to a case that is as far from being solved as it was six years ago. Am I some bleeding heart trying to prevent McVeigh from judgment day? Hardly. I believe he deserves to die, but I don't want others involved in this heinous crime -- the worst terrorist assault on American soil ever -- to get away scot-free. Earlier this month, I wrote a column raising some of the unanswered questions about this case. They are still unanswered, though we are learning more every day thanks to some intrepid, long-overdue investigative reporting work. But let's go over the key questions once again: What was the role of Andy Strassmeir in the bombing? Strassmeir was closely associated with McVeigh in the underworld of neo-Nazi activity and terrorist plans, according to witnesses, including a government informant. Why was he never questioned in the case while some 20,000 other people were? Strassmeir's father is Gunther Strassmeir, Helmut Kohl's secretary of state, a man known as the architect of German reunification. The younger Strassmeir received military intelligence training at Bundeswehr Academy in Hanover. He's now back in Germany, reportedly living with his parents. The Murrah Building was the local home of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. Why is it that -- coincidentally -- most of the ATF's employees didn't show up for work the morning of the bombing? Every ATF member survived the attack. It's a stretch to believe someone wasn't tipped off about the bombing. Why were the reports about a planned bombing of a federal building in Oklahoma on April 19, 1995, by ATF informant Carol Howe ignored? Why have the links she drew between Strassmeir and McVeigh been discredited? Why did the FBI report on the day of the bombing that two other explosive devices were found in the building? What happened to those sophisticated devices that were larger than the one that went off? And how did the truck bomb create a pattern of devastation unexplainable from its position in front of the building? How does the government explain other witnesses who report seeing bomb squad activity at the Murrah building an hour or more before the blast? Many more questions will be raised in the coming weeks -- I promise you. Because this story has emerged as perhaps the most important story in the world in recent weeks, WorldNetDaily is pulling out all the stops to provide comprehensive coverage of the latest developments -- as well as some old news obscured in the rush to point fingers of blame at only McVeigh and Terry Nichols. The stonewalling must end. The government cover-up must stop. It's time for a real investigation involving none of the FBI agents whose vested interest is protecting their own butts. As I said before, the right thing to do is to make McVeigh talk. He should be forced to come clean. He owes that much to the survivors of this tragedy. And so does the government. But even if McVeigh doesn't talk, he must be kept alive until all the facts are in. And, more importantly, the government should be made to answer the questions it has been dodging for too long. The victims deserve the truth. The survivors deserve the truth. The American people deserve the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Joseph Farah is editor and chief executive officer of WorldNetDaily.com and writes a
[CTRL] Whiny Democrats
Free Congress Foundation's Notable News Now Excerpts from FCF Programming and Other FCF Projects May 24, 2001 The Free Congress Commentary When It Comes to Nominations, Dems Get Their Way by John Nowacki If Senator Jeffords of Vermont does abandon the Republican Party today, it won't shift control over the confirmation of President Bush's nominees to the Democrats. It will merely formalize the situation that is already in place. Democrats have easily managed to keep confirmations to an absolute minimum under the current 50-50 arrangement in the Senate. They prevented the Judiciary Committee from voting on the nominees for Solicitor General and Assistant Attorney General in one week by having them held over, and the following week, when that option was not available, they merely got up and walked out of the committee meeting--which destroyed the quorum and again prevented a vote. They've continued to make a ruckus about the nominee for Solicitor General, Ted Olson, so much that Republican Senator Orrin Hatch agreed to allow a limited inquiry into parts of Olson's career after reiterating that he would do no such thing. And yesterday morning, they scuttled the first hearing on President Bush's judicial nominations by complaining that they hadn't had enough time (two full weeks) to look at their records. Senate Democrats have made no secret of their new criteria for judicial nominees: ideological litmus tests. They said it plainly after John Ashcroft was confirmed as Attorney General, and they're continuing to make that clear every time the subject comes up. They have also made no secret of their willingness to use every trick in the book to accomplish their agenda. They know no one will call them on it. Whether it involves a committee walkout, the hint of a filibuster, or tagging someone as an extremist, the Senate Democrats have shown that they will do whatever it takes to block, or stall, nominations. It does not matter that they are in the minority. Through their obstructionist tactics, they call the important shots, no matter who is supposed to be chairing the Judiciary Committee. At that committee meeting several weeks ago, just before the Democrats walked out, an irritated Senator Hatch asked whether they wanted him to be a chairman or a puppet. Though they'll obviously jump at the prospect of a chairmanship if Jeffords turns his coat, it doesn't seem to matter as far as the Democrats' goals are concerned. One way or the other, they seem to be having it all their way. John Nowacki is deputy director of the Free Congress Foundation's Center for Law and Democracy. For media inquiries, contact Notra Trulock 202.546.3000 / [EMAIL PROTECTED] For other questions or comments, contact Angie Wheeler [EMAIL PROTECTED] Attention FCF Fans! We are happy to make available to you the 2001 FCF coffee mug! The mug is cobalt blue with white FCF eagle logo. Great gift for your biggest FCF fan (or yourself!) It's a nice way to enjoy your morning beverage while reading Notable News Now! Just $4.00 plus shipping and handling. To order, contact Michelle Boswell at [EMAIL PROTECTED] or order on-line at www.freecongress.org. Visit Our Website at http://www.FreeCongress.org This publication is a service of the Free Congress Research and Education Foundation, Inc. (FCF) and does not necessarily reflect the views of the Free Congress Foundation nor is it an attempt to aid or hinder the passage of any bill. Free Congress Foundation * 717 Second Street, NE * Washington, DC 20002 * 202.546.3000 * Fax: 202.544.2819 Project Manager: Angela Wheeler * Copyright * 2001 Free Congress Foundation - All Rights Reserved.
[CTRL] McCain, free speech, and NRA (fwd)
-Caveat Lector- http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=22922 NRA: Bill of Rights' best defender By Debbie Schlussel © 2001 WorldNetDaily.com Few things make me prouder to be an American than the National Rifle Association. Speaking at the NRA's 2001 Annual Meeting, Sunday in Kansas City, Mo., I've never been surrounded by so many so dedicated to preserving our freedoms. While the popular media tries to portray the NRA rank and file as right-wing wackos and rednecks, that's quite a different vision from what I saw. In fact, the thousands of NRA members I met looked like you or me -- the average American you'd see in your hometown. Clean cut, well-groomed and fashionably dressed, each one could be your neighbor -- the one you'd invite to your Fourth of July picnic. The NRA is a lot different than Hollywood and Peter Jennings would have you believe. Eight of 76 members of the NRA's governing board of directors are Jewish, for instance -- more than 10 percent. At the convention, there were quite a few blacks -- like conservative columnist and radio host Armstrong Williams, plenty of women -- like actress Susan Howard (Dallas) and plenty of others you wouldn't expect if you believe what you hear on TV and read in conventional newspapers. The NRA is a cross-section of America, more representative than many other organizations -- including the self-anointed Million Moms, a largely upper-middle-class group of soccer moms and semi-celebrities who push gun control. But what doesn't make NRA members average is their dedication to our basic civil rights. They recognize that without a strong Second Amendment, Americans might as well forget the rest of the Bill of Rights -- especially the First Amendment's free speech protections. Anyone who doubts that, hasn't been following the so-called campaign finance reform efforts of Sen. John McCain over the last couple of years. Make no mistake about it. McCain's claim to be worried about money's alleged control over the election process is phony. This is simply a McCain attempt to score political popularity points at the expense of our most precious freedom -- political speech. And clearly, the free speech of the NRA is McCain's biggest target, as evidenced by the senator's comments on Sunday's political shows. McCain attacked the NRA because he lost -- fair and square -- the South Carolina Republican Primary and did not get to be president. And, while campaign finance reform was the centerpiece of his campaign there, the NRA was his primary target. In the battle between McCain and free speech, the NRA won. And the NRA is still winning. The Million Moms, who never were a million, are faltering. Almost all of their candidates lost the 2000 elections, and -- as reported by Independence Institute scholar and National Review columnist Dave Kopel -- they laid off 30 of their 35 staffers. In contrast, the NRA is a record 4.3 million members strong and growing -- one of the largest citizen organizations in America. Over 86 percent of NRA-endorsed candidates won their elections, and Fortune Magazine just named the NRA as the most influential lobbying group in America. Even in Hollywood, which hates the NRA and disdains average Americans, shows that proudly feature guns in crime-fighting -- like Pamela Anderson's VIP and Chuck Norris' Walker, Texas Ranger (which just ended a ratings-winning 9 seasons) -- are hits. By comparison, Arnold Schwarzenegger's The Sixth Day -- for which he refused to appear holding a gun in promotional posters -- was a dud. Best of all, annoying, super-sized, gun-grabbing loudmouth Rosie O'Donnell, whose ratings have sunk since she attacked Tom Selleck for his NRA affiliation, announced she's leaving the airwaves after next season. Even Steven Yokich, leader of the United Auto Workers union, paid backhanded respects to the NRA's positive influence on his own members, when he frantically used union members' forced dues to fund dual attacks on the NRA and campaign pushes for Al Gore, last fall. He recognized, as did the NRA, that many union members believe in the Second Amendment. The NRA brought President Charlton Heston and Vice President Wayne LaPierre on speaking tours of swing states with heavy union populations. That's why, last year, traditionally Democratic, union-dominated states like Arkansas and West Virginia, voted for a Republican presidential candidate. But the NRA's popularity is not about guns or hunting or big money. It's about freedom. The average NRA member is not a wealthy person. He or she is not like Denise and Marc Rich or Peter Buttenweiser -- one of the Democrats' largest soft-money donors. Many of them are Yokich's working-class union members, working the assembly line, like my late cousin Marc -- a target of union-paid gun-related propaganda supporting Al Gore. Or moms raising children at home. They want the same freedom as the wealthy to protect themselves --
[CTRL] FC: Echelon exists and is not that bad, European Parliament cmte says (fwd)
-Caveat Lector- --- Leaked report: http://fas.org/irp/program/process/europarl_draft.pdf HTML version: http://cryptome.org/echelon-ep.htm --- http://www.wired.com/news/privacy/0,1848,44072,00.html Report Downplays Echelon Effect By Declan McCullagh ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) 9:00 a.m. May 24, 2001 PDT WASHINGTON -- A global surveillance system known as Echelon does exist and has the ability to eavesdrop on telephone calls, faxes and e-mail messages, a European Parliament committee has concluded. In a 250KB draft report, the committee said that Echelon -- operated by English-speaking countries including the United States, Canada and Great Britain -- is designed for intelligence purposes but that no substantiated evidence exists that it has been used to spy on European firms on behalf of American competitors. While impressive, Echelon is not nearly as extensive as news reports have claimed, the 33-member committee concluded, saying the system continues to rely heavily on satellite and radio intercepts and can intercept only a very limited proportion of the growing amount of telecommunications traffic that flows through fiber optic and land lines. [...] - POLITECH -- Declan McCullagh's politics and technology mailing list You may redistribute this message freely if it remains intact. To subscribe, visit http://www.politechbot.com/info/subscribe.html This message is archived at http://www.politechbot.com/ - A HREF=http://www.ctrl.org/;www.ctrl.org/A DECLARATION DISCLAIMER == CTRL is a discussion informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substancenot soap-boxingplease! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright fraudsis used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. Archives Available at: http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html A HREF=http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html;Archives of [EMAIL PROTECTED]/A http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ A HREF=http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/;ctrl/A To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
[CTRL] Statement of Senator James M. Jeffords (fwd)
-Caveat Lector- Statement of Senator James M. Jeffords http://disc.server.com/discussion.cgi?id=149495article=1904 Burlington, Vermont May 24, 2001 Anyone who knows me, knows I love the State of Vermont. It has always been known for its independence and social conscience. It was the first state to outlaw slavery in its constitution. It proudly elected Matthew Lyon to Congress, despite his flouting of the Sedition Act. It sacrificed a higher share of its sons to the Civil War than perhaps any other state in the Union. I recall Vermont Senator Ralph Flanders' dramatic statement almost 50 years ago, helping to bring to a close the McCarthy hearings, a sorry chapter in our history. Today's chapter is of much smaller consequence, but I think it appropriate that I share my thoughts with my fellow Vermonters. For the past several weeks, I have been struggling with a very difficult decision. It is difficult on a personal level, but it is even more difficult because of its larger impact on the Senate and the nation. I've been talking with my family, and a few close advisors, about whether or not I should remain a Republican. I do not approach this question lightly. I have spent a lifetime in the Republican Party, and served for 12 years in what I believe is the longest continuously held Republican seat in the U.S. Senate. I ran for re-election as a Republican just last fall, and had no thoughts whatsoever then about changing parties. The party I grew up in was the party of George Aiken, Ernest Gibson, Ralph Flanders, and Bob Stafford. These names may not mean much today outside Vermont. But each served Vermont as a Republican Senator in the 20th century. I became a Republican not because I was born into the party but because of the kind of fundamental principles that these and many other Republicans stood for moderation, tolerance, and fiscal responsibility. Their party our party was the party of Lincoln. To be sure, we had our differences in the Vermont Republican Party. But even our more conservative leaders were in many ways progressive. Our former governor, Deane Davis, championed Act 250, which preserved our environmental heritage. And Vermont's Calvin Coolidge, our nation's 30th president, could point with pride to our state's willingness to sacrifice in the service of others. Aiken and Gibson and Flanders and Stafford were all Republicans. But they were Vermonters first. They spoke their minds often to the dismay of their party leaders and did their best to guide the party in the direction of our fundamental principles. For 26 years in Washington, first in the House of Representatives and now in the Senate, I have tried to do the same. But I can no longer do so. Increasingly, I find myself in disagreement with my party. I understand that many people are more conservative than I am, and they form the Republican Party. Given the changing nature of the national party, it has become a struggle for our leaders to deal with me, and for me to deal with them. Indeed, the party's electoral success has underscored the dilemma I face within my party. In the past, without the presidency, the various wings of the Republican Party in Congress have had some freedom to argue and ultimately to shape the party's agenda. The election of President Bush changed that dramatically. We don't live in a parliamentary system, but it is only natural to expect that people such as myself, who have been honored with positions of leadership, will largely support the president's agenda. And yet, more and more, I find I cannot. Those who don't know me may have thought I took pleasure in resisting the president's budget, or that I enjoyed the limelight. Nothing could be further from the truth. I had serious, substantive reservations about that budget, and the decisions it sets in place for today and the future. Looking ahead, I can see more and more instances where I will disagree with the President on very fundamental issues: the issues of choice, the direction of the judiciary, tax and spending decisions, missile defense, energy and the environment, and a host of other issues, large and small. The largest for me is education. I come from the state of Justin Smith Morrill, a U.S. Senator who gave America the land grant college system. His Republican Party stood for opportunity for all, for opening the doors of public school education to every American child. Now, for some, success seems to be measured by the number of students moved out of public schools. In order to best represent my
[CTRL] [Spy News] Israeli agents spread more poisoned chocolates (fwd)
-Caveat Lector- http://www.irna.com/newshtm/eng/03200326.htm thr 055 Palestine-Poison /WRD/ Israel agents spread more poisoned chocolates Al-Khalil, May 24, IRNA -- Palestinian health officials have again warned children and minors against eating or touching poisoned chocolates distributed by Israeli agents for the purpose of killing Palestinian children. Samples of the poisoned chocolates and other types of sweets have been found in parts of the Gaza Strip as well as al-Khalil, Ramallah and Nablus. On Thursday, the Palestinian Ministry of Health confirmed earlier reports concerning the poisoned chocolates, saying Israeli denials of responsibility for the deadly sweets were expected. What do you expect them to say. The Jews would kill a person and participate in his funeral procession to cast away suspicions of responsibility, said a Palestinian health official in the al-Khalil area. The ministry asked school principals and teachers to educate children about the dangers of touching and eating poisoned chocolates. Last week, a spokesman for the Israeli army denied any responsibility for the barbaric action. However, the fact that Hebrew markings and other Israeli trade-marks were found on the chocolate wrapping leave no doubt as to the origin of the lethal objects. KA/NK/AK/KS End ::irna20:03 == SPY NEWS is OSINT newsletter and discussion list associated to Mario's Cyberspace Station http://mprofaca.cro.net/mainmenu.html == *** NOTICE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to SPYNEWS eGroup members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for non-profit research and educational purposes only. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml -- To subscribe SPYNEWS send a blank message: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] To change your subscription mode to Daily Digest (one message a day) send a blank message: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe SPYNEWS send a blank message: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Mario Profaca, independent journalist, SPY NEWS eGroup list owner, editor moderator, is a member of of the Committee of Concerned Journalists, an initiative administered through the offices of the Project for Excellence in Journalism in Washington, D.C. mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] SPY NEWS home page: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/spynews Spy books, handbooks and manuals: http://mprofaca.cro.net/spybooks.html = Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ A HREF=http://www.ctrl.org/;www.ctrl.org/A DECLARATION DISCLAIMER == CTRL is a discussion informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substancenot soap-boxingplease! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright fraudsis used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. Archives Available at: http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html A HREF=http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html;Archives of [EMAIL PROTECTED]/A http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ A HREF=http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/;ctrl/A To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
[CTRL] California growing faster than Bangladesh (fwd)
-Caveat Lector- For an immigration time-out: http://www.projectusa.org/ California growing faster than Bangladesh Issue 75: May 23, 2001 Growth for the sake of growth is the ideology of the cancer cell. Ed Abbey +== TIME OUT PROJECT ==+ Last December, in a Los Angeles Times story, reporter Robin Wright asked Bangladeshi President Sheika Hasina: At independence, Bangladeshi women averaged six to seven children. Today, that rate has been halved by a strong family planning program. Yet, Bangladesh still has 120 million people and by the year 2050 will have at least twice that number, according to the U.S. State Department. How will Bangladesh feed, educate, employ and house those kinds of numbers? We'll send them to America! President Hasina replied, laughing. (Full horrifying quote: http://projectusa.org/Ezine_memo.html) In light of recent Census Bureau projections showing immigration doubling US population within the lifetimes of today's children, the American people might ask President Bush a similar question about one of our fastest-growing states: With the population of California already at 34 million and expected to reach 60 million by 2050, overwhelmingly because of mass immigration, how will we provide energy for all those people? Our president would likely respond with his stock immigration campaign answer, Family values don't stop at the Rio Grande, -- a response only slightly less flippant than President Hasina's. Or he might borrow a page from the Hasina Plan, and offer to send excess Californians to Colorado. More reading: California's population growth rate increases -- now almost 50 percent higher than that of Bangladesh http://www.cap-s.org/pressreleases.html#NEWS RELEASE 5 16 People 'longage,' power shortage Rick Oberlink in the San Diego Union http://www.cap-s.org/sdutoberlink.html Now (California's) No. 1 concern, energy is shaping views on immigration and politics. The Christian Science Monitor, May 21, 2001 http://www.csmonitor.com/durable/2001/05/21/fp10s1-csm.shtml +== TAKE POSITIVE ACTION ==+ Unless Congress acts soon, California's relentless immigration-driven growth will mean more power plants and grids; more subdivisions, strip malls, traffic and pollution; and tighter water supplies -- with no relief in sight for the already over-developed state. Since the world adds another U.S. in population (net) every four years -- 99% percent of which growth occurs in developing countries like Bangladesh -- there is an almost limitless supply of those who will come seeking higher levels of consumption. (http://www.census.gov/ipc/www/wp98001.html) (And they will continue to come until one of two things happens: either 1) Congress finally adopts a responsible immigration policy, or 2) quality of life in California and the rest of the nation deteriorates to the point that America is no longer a desirable place to live.) This kind of growth, and the development it will spawn, is a serious environmental issue, to be sure. So what is our country's premier environmental organization doing to address this clear and looming population disaster? The well-funded, 600,000-member Sierra Club is standing on the sidelines impotently advocating for the PC fantasy of global population solutions. So weak and environmentally useless is the Sierra Club on growth, that even the pro-development National Association of Home Builders recently endorsed the Sierra Club's position on development. (http://www.nahb.com/news/sierraresponse.htm) Meanwhile, public debate on the California power crisis has become a red herring, pitting conservation against development. While conservation should be a part of any environmental agenda, it is clearly only a part of the solution -- growth and its causes must be addressed. You can call the Sierra Club and encourage them to think globally, but ACT LOCALLY on the serious issue of population growth and immigration. Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Phone: 415 977 5500 And a short polite letter to your local newspaper noticing immigration is not being discussed in the debate on California's energy shortage would be an important and helpful action to take. www.newsdirectory.com +== QUOTE OF THE WEEK ==+ Human history becomes more and more a race between education and catastrophe. H. G. Wells (1866 - 1946) +==EMAIL OF THE WEEK==+ I think most of the pro-mass immigrationalists have forgotten that immigration is a privilege and not a right. I can't imagine where we would be today without quality organizations like ProjectUSA, FAIR, and NumbersUSA making such a positive impact on this issue by enlightening us on the flagrant abuses and fraud in the system as well as communicating the vital importance of a stable and sustainable population. Paul Francis Cary, North Carolina +==INFORMATION==+ Unsubscribe: http://projectusa.org/Ezine_unsubscribe.html Ezine staff: http://projectusa.org/Ezine_staff.html Tax-exempt gifts: http://projectusa.org/contribute.html A
[CTRL] FW: Secrets of McCain's gun-show bill (fwd)
-Caveat Lector- -Original Message- From: Alan Korwin [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Sent: Tuesday, May 22, 2001 2:11 PM To: Alan Korwin Subject: Gun Show Bill Secrets Found (Please see our NEW ADDRESS at end of report) GUN-SHOW BILL IS NOT WHAT THEY SAY GUN-SHOW BILL IS NOT WHAT THEY SAY GUN-SHOW BILL IS NOT WHAT THEY SAY Re: S. 890, The McCain-Lieberman Bill: Gun Show Loophole Closing and Gun Law Enforcement Act of 2001. Mass media publicity on the newly proposed gun-show bill is grossly inaccurate. The bill has almost nothing to do with what you've probably heard so far. The so-called gun-show loophole headlines are a minor detail and basically obscure what the bill really does. I've just finished studying the eight pages of legalese. Here is it what it calls for: 1. Unprecedented federal control over gun shows nationwide -- perfectly legal gun shows become strictly outlawed without prior federal approval, licensing and registration of each show; 2. Centralized federal licensing and registration of every gun-show promoter in the nation; 3. Centralized federal registration of every vendor -- including non-gun vendors -- at any gun show in the country. In order for me to sell my BOOKS at a gun show I'll have to pre-register and prove who I am, or face arrest; a private individual looking to sell a single gun would be treated as a vendor under this law and must be registered even if the gun isn't sold; 4. Centralized federal registration of EVERY PERSON who attends a gun show in America, whether or not they make purchases of anything at all -- you won't be allowed in without registering; 5. Centralized collection of any other information on gun-show attendees, as determined solely by the Secretary of the Treasury; 6. Imprisonment for attending a gun show and failing to give up any information required by regulations of the Secretary of the Treasury; 7. Imprisonment of any gun-show promoter who fails to register a single vendor; 8. Imprisonment of gun-show promoters who cannot prove they notified every person attending a gun show of the new rules, and obtained from attendees any information the Secretary of the Treasury mandates by regulation; 9. Centralized collection of any other information the Secretary of the Treasury decides, by regulation, is necessary on vendors, attendees, and the gun show itself; 10. Submission by gun-show promoters of vendor registration logs a) 30 days before any gun show, and b) additional submission of updated vendor registration logs 72 hours before any gun show, and c) additional submission of vendor registration logs within five days of the close of any gun show, under penalty of arrest and imprisonment for non-compliance; 11. Identification of vendors only by use of federally approved photo ID that may include use of a social security number, electronically encoded data, or biometric identifiers such as fingerprint, voice print, retina scan, iris scan, or similar (as defined under 18 USC 1028(d)(2)); 12. Creation of a new license (in addition to a gun-show-promoter license), similar to FFLs, for individuals who want access to the NICS national background check system for facilitating gun-show sales for private citizens; 13. Regulations to be issued by the Secretary of the Treasury on the procedures, data collections, methods and implementation of the entire process to federally control gun shows, in addition to the requirements made by the proposed statute; such regulations will not be known, drafted or even suggested, until after the McCain-Lieberman law is enacted; 14. The proposed bill also puts pressure on state governments to make at least 95% of their law enforcement records for the past 30 years openly available to the federal government; and -- makes unlimited funds available for the states to comply with these federal goals; -- requires annual federal review of states' compliance; -- increases penalties (up to ten years imprisonment) for record-keeping violations; -- grants states permission to make even more restrictive requirements without being out of compliance with these new federal laws (and by implication, puts states that resist these rules in federal trouble); -- provides hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars for more law enforcement under numerous programs including project Exile and others; -- hires 200 more Federal BATF Agents; -- provides $10 million to the National Institute for Justice to give out for research on technologies that limit the use of a gun to the owner; and -- provides for annual reports (in great detail) by the Attorney General to Congress on whether the Brady law is working; 15. Enlargement of the federal bureaucracy and appropriation from taxpayers of such funds as are necessary to license, register and monitor an estimated ten million non-criminals who attend the thousands of gun shows held annually in America; and 16. Oh yes, I almost forgot about the so-called
[CTRL] First Amendment Applies to Everyone (fwd)
Free Congress Foundation's Notable News Now Excerpts from FCF Programming and Other FCF Projects May 23, 2001 The Free Congress Commentary Yes, the First Amendment Applies to Everyone By Thomas L. Jipping In Woodbury, Minnesota, the principal of Woodbury High School ordered student Elliot Chambers to remove a shirt with the message Straight Pride on it. As the Supreme Court said in a 1971 case involving a jacket bearing the message F**K the Draft, this case may seem at first blush too inconsequential to find its way into our books, but the issue it presents is of no small constitutional significance. Ditto. Woodbury High School is progressive, tolerant, diverse, and oh so inclusive. In fact, rather than simply being tolerant and inclusive, Woodbury High School makes a point of demonstrating its tolerance, practically shouting it to the world. We all know the most visible, efficient way of proving tolerance these days is to be pro-homosexual and, sure enough, Woodbury High School has designated classrooms called safe zones where homosexuals can gather. School staff volunteer to be in these rooms, which are complete with posters bearing those pink triangles, to hand out propaganda, er, literature from homosexual advocacy groups. Now I know what you are thinking. Using school facilities, school staff, and such in this way would not be at all tolerant or inclusive if it applied only to homosexuals. In other words, being tolerant and inclusive would require that those with another sexual preference - such as, say, heterosexuals - also be allowed to express themselves. Otherwise, the school would simply be pro-homosexual. Along comes Elliot Chambers. Elliot came to school in a shirt that said Straight Pride. The principal banned Elliot from wearing it because a few homosexual students were offended by it. Now if the school were truly tolerant and inclusive, the principal would have told those homosexual students that they were entitled to their views and opinions but since the school was truly tolerant and inclusive, Elliot was entitled to his as well. But apparently the school is not truly tolerant and inclusive. And besides that, there's this thing called the First Amendment which applies to public schools. Back in 1971, in a case involving someone with F**k the Draft on their jacket instead of Straight Pride on their shirt, the Supreme Court opened its opinion with this line: This case may seem at first blush too inconsequential to find its way into our books, but the issue it presents is of no small constitutional significance. The same was true when Elliot and his parents took their case to court. Just two years earlier, in the 1969 case titled Tinker v. Des Moines Independent School District, senior and junior high school students wanted to wear black armbands to school protesting the Vietnam War. The school said they would be disruptive, spark violence, or otherwise interfere with school activities. The Supreme Court said: It can hardly be argued that...students...shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate. I think that would apply to Elliot. When Elliot and his parents went to court, U.S. District Court Judge Donovan Frank ruled in his favor and issued an injunction against the school. It appears this judge - a Clinton appointee, no less - understands that the First Amendment applies to everyone. Yet the fact that school officials apparently believe that tolerance and inclusion are a one-way street, protecting the preferred and punishing the disfavored, should send chills up the spine of every freedom-loving American. When confronted with this obvious double-standard, Elliot's principal said she thought the shirt would incite violence. Guns don't kill people, people kill people. Cars don't run red lights, people run red lights. Shirts don't incite violence, people incite violence. The Supreme Court in Tinker said: There is here no evidence whatever of petitioners' interference, actual or nascent, with the schools' work or of collision with the rights of other students to be secure and to be let alone Any word spoken, in class, in the lunchroom, or on the campus, that deviates from the views of another person may start an argument or cause a disturbance. But our Constitution says we must take this risk. This is how our freedom is being turned into a weapon against us. Remember those speech codes in universities that ban certain speech or certain views by labeling them harassment? The same thing is going on here. Whatever happened to I may disagree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it? It has become If I disagree with what you say, you may not say it. That's not free speech, that's not fairness, that's not tolerance, that's not inclusion. Watch out folks, if this can happen in schools, it can happen anywhere. Thomas L. Jipping is Vice-President for Legal Policy at the Free
[CTRL] Myth of the Martyred Mapmaker (fwd)
Myth of the Martyred Mapmaker Fired Contractor Turned Into Hero http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A53125-2001May20.html By Michael Grunwald Washington Post Staff Writer Monday, May 21, 2001; Page A01 Two months ago, Ian Thomas was an anonymous government cartographer, posting wildlife maps on the U.S. Geological Survey's Web site. Today, he is a martyr of the environmental movement, celebrated as a victim of the Bush administration's supposed hostility to nature. Thomas was fired March 12 for posting a map of caribou migrations in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, the pristine swath of tundra where the new administration hopes to promote oil exploration. Within days, green groups were trashing Interior Secretary Gale A. Norton for playing politics, and Thomas's tale of suppressed science was making international news. Last week, he even made the funny pages, as Garry Trudeau recounted his plight in six Doonesbury strips. It turned out that the Alaska caribou calve exactly where Secretary Norton wants to drill! Trudeau's fictional Washington Post reporter declared. So the offending map was yanked off the Net, and the unwitting mapmaker was sacked. It's quite a story. But it's not quite a true story. It certainly isn't the whole story. For starters: Thomas was a contract worker, not a federal employee, and he had been in trouble with his USGS bosses before, once for posting sensitive Department of Defense data on their Web site. The decision to cancel his contract was made not by Norton or any other Bush appointee, but by the top biologist at his research center, a self-described liberal Democrat who opposes drilling in the Arctic refuge. Another career bureaucrat -- the chief USGS biologist, who is also a Democrat and a conservationist -- made the call to pull the caribou map off the Web. The real reason Thomas lost his job, according to internal USGS e-mails from March and interviews last week, is that he posted an inaccurate map related to a hypersensitive issue that was far outside his Maryland office's turf and even farther outside the scope of his contract. His bosses had already decided not to renew his $39.71-an-hour deal before the incident, and his immediate superior -- yet another self-described liberal Democrat -- had recently refused to continue as his manager, calling him a bit out of control. USGS is part of Interior, but there is no evidence that Norton or her aides played any role in his termination. In fact, USGS officials say the oil industry would have loved the Thomas map, which actually understated the caribou calving grounds by relying on obsolete data. There were absolutely no political overtones to this whatsoever, said Jay Hestbeck, the biologist who terminated Thomas's contract. That's just something people want to believe. It's pure fantasy, but it's a perfect story for people who want to see the world that way. Even Thomas now says that his dismissal was less about political interference than bureaucratic panic, and that it would have gone unnoticed if environmentalists hadn't been so eager for ammunition to use against the Arctic drilling plan. But with mobilized green groups vociferously linking the administration to Big Oil, King Coal and arsenic in the water supply, the symbolism of this case quickly overtook the facts. Thomas still believes that Bush and Norton have created a climate of fear at federal agencies that handle energy issues, but he says he is no longer pushing Doonesbury-style conspiracy theories about his own plight. It's gone so far beyond anything I ever dreamed of happening, said Thomas, who accepted a job offer from the World Wildlife Fund the day after he was fired. It's crazy! Still, his saga keeps spreading: from the Los Angeles Times to French television to a three-page spread in the Guardian of London to Jim Romenesko's media gossip Web site to the Reuters wire. Thomas even rated a brief mention in the Chinese version of Elle magazine -- along with an '80s pop band that understands the vagaries of sudden celebrity. I have no idea what it says except it goes: Ian Thomas, blah, blah, blah, Duran Duran, Thomas explained in an e-mail. Very cool! 'A Bit Out of Control' Ian Thomas is 33. He lives in a group house in Mount Pleasant with five vegans and two dogs and a votenader.org sticker on the door. He shows up for an interview wearing an unraveling red sweater and faded green denim jeans. It would appear from the scruffy patches around his face that he has not yet learned how to shave. He is an international chess master. He reads science fiction. He is a passionate enviro. He seems like a very nice man, but not exactly an Organization Man. Thomas, a London native, came to the United States a decade ago after completing a civil engineering degree, and worked on hydrologic models for the National Audubon Society. He later took a job at the Smithsonian's environmental research
[CTRL] FC: Don't fall for the HIV needles email hoax -- a cautionary tale (fwd)
-Caveat Lector- * From: Max Cacas [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: 'Declan McCullagh' [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Cautionary tale on using e-mail Date: Thu, 17 May 2001 11:57:39 -0400 Declan, Here's an item that might be interesting to your Politech subscribers. Today's (5/17/01) Washington Post has what can best be described as a cautionary tale on indiscriminately using e-mail to pass around seemingly innocuous items to friends and colleagues. It concerns the aide to a top official in Fairfax County, Va. who spread what she thought was a credible story about HIV-infected needles attached to the bottom of gas station pumps - a story that turned out to be a hoax. By sending the message to 100 friends and colleagues, the aide set the story loose all over the world, and she -- and her boss -- are continuing to pay the price to this day. The best quote from the story comes from the aide: I can tell you, after this experience, if the sky is falling, no one will hear it from me. The story headlined Apocryphal E-Mail Bedevils Va. Sender can be found on washingtonpost.com at: http://washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A36923-2001May16.html Cheers, - Max Max Cacas - Senior Online Producer[radio/webcasting] Technology Programs The Freedom Forum / Arlington, Va. USA email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.freedomforum.org Inanimate objects are out to screw you. - Fred W. Friendly - POLITECH -- Declan McCullagh's politics and technology mailing list You may redistribute this message freely if it remains intact. To subscribe, visit http://www.politechbot.com/info/subscribe.html This message is archived at http://www.politechbot.com/ - A HREF=http://www.ctrl.org/;www.ctrl.org/A DECLARATION DISCLAIMER == CTRL is a discussion informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substancenot soap-boxingplease! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright fraudsis used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. Archives Available at: http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html A HREF=http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html;Archives of [EMAIL PROTECTED]/A http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ A HREF=http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/;ctrl/A To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
[CTRL] FC: Legal barriers to human cloning may be few, from Washington Post (fwd)
-Caveat Lector- http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A61636-2001May22.html By Rick Weiss Washington Post Staff Writer Wednesday, May 23, 2001; Page A01 The letter from the Food and Drug Administration got right to the point. You are receiving this letter because in media reports and on your website you have expressed an intention to pursue the creation of a human being using cloning technology, it said. Human cloning is subject to FDA regulation, the letter warned. You should be aware that failure to comply with FDA regulatory requirements may lead to enforcement action. The March 23 letter went to Brigitte Boisselier, scientific director of an obscure religious group that has said it will clone a dead child, and to Kentucky scientist Panos Zavos, who recently said that he, too, intends to clone someone. But Boisselier and Zavos say the FDA is bluffing, and they're not alone. Many legal scholars say they find little evidence to support the FDA's assertion of authority over cloning. They say food and drug laws provide no legal basis for stopping doctors from trying to clone a person, and if the FDA tried to do so it would lose in court. Moreover, the prime alternative to FDA regulation -- a congressional ban on human cloning -- may be just as untenable. The six anti-cloning bills pending before Congress are entangled in the politics of abortion. Some legal scholars suspect that even if a ban were to pass on the Hill, it might be struck down as unconstitutional because it would abridge the fundamental right to procreate. That could mean there is little to stop anyone in this country from pursuing human cloning. [...] - POLITECH -- Declan McCullagh's politics and technology mailing list You may redistribute this message freely if it remains intact. To subscribe, visit http://www.politechbot.com/info/subscribe.html This message is archived at http://www.politechbot.com/ - A HREF=http://www.ctrl.org/;www.ctrl.org/A DECLARATION DISCLAIMER == CTRL is a discussion informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substancenot soap-boxingplease! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright fraudsis used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. Archives Available at: http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html A HREF=http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html;Archives of [EMAIL PROTECTED]/A http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ A HREF=http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/;ctrl/A To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
[CTRL] Abortion and Breast Cancer (fwd)
-Caveat Lector- conservativeinfo - Subscribe to the Conservative Information email list at http://conservativeinfo.listbot.com Why the Silence About Abortion and Breast Cancer Source: Chicago Tribune; May 21, 2001 by Dennis Byrne [Dennis Byrne is a Chicago-area writer and public affairs consultant.] How long will this nation sit by as a powerful, well-funded industry continues to expose women to the No. 1 preventable risk of breast cancer? How long will the industry's political flunkies, who receive millions in campaign funds from this special interest, be allowed to turn a blind eye to a danger that kills thousands of women every year? How long will a biased media keep silent in the face of a hazard that directly imperils more than 1 million women a year? No, I'm not talking about the chemical industry, daily poisoning the environment with its toxins. Nor the producers of fatty food or alcohol, also factors suspected of increasing breast cancer. The industry I'm talking about is the abortion business--consisting of abortion providers, their clinics, ideological supporters, grant-giving foundations and the rest of the political power structure that refuses to even admit that a scientific debate, let along scientific evidence, exists about the dangers of induced abortions. They--despite their claims of superior benevolence and compassion--are threatening thousands of women's lives with an unspeakably painful disease. Yet in the month of May, a time of renewal, promise, new life and marches throughout the country against breast cancer, millions of women are being deceived about this risk, or denied the knowledge of important studies. Twenty-seven out of 34 independent studies conducted throughout the world (including 13 out of 14 conducted in the United States) have linked abortion and breast cancer. Seventeen of these studies show a statistically significant relationship. Five show more than a two-fold elevation of risk. In turn, the abortion industry says all those studies are trumped by one study, whose methodology, critics say, is seriously flawed. The biological hypothesis is that during pregnancy, a woman's breasts begin developing a hormone that causes cells--both normal and pre-cancerous--to multiply dramatically. If the pregnancy is carried to term, those undifferentiated cells are shaped into milk ducts and a naturally occurring process shuts off the rapid cell multiplication. An induced abortion leaves a women with more undifferentiated cells, and so, more cancer-vulnerable cells. When I first wrote about this issue in 1997, the scorn and name-calling flowed in. Anti-choice fanatic. Ignorant bozo. Misogynist. Since then, much has happened. The United Kingdom's Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists became the first medical organization to warn its abortion practitioners that the abortion-breast cancer link could not be disregarded. It said that the methodology of the principal ABC (abortion-breast cancer) researcher, Joel Brind, was sound. John Kindley, an attorney, warned in a 1999 Wisconsin Law Review article that physicians who do not inform their patients of the ABC link expose themselves to medical malpractice suits. He concluded that about 1 out of 100 women who have had an induced abortion die from breast cancer attributable to the abortion. The American Cancer Society Web page lists induced abortions (along with pesticides, chemical exposures, weight gain and other factors) among elements that may be related to breast cancer, and that the relationship is being studied. Earlier, Dr. Janet Darling and colleagues at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, in a study commissioned by the National Cancer Institute, found that among women who had been pregnant at least once, the risk of breast cancer in those who had . . . an induced abortion was 50 percent higher than among other women. The risk of breast cancer for women under 18 or over 29 who had induced abortions was more than twofold. Women who abort and have a family history of breast cancer increase their risk 80 percent. The increased risk of women under 18 with that family history was incalculably high. Being pro-choice didn't shield Darling from the usual attacks. She fought back. If politics gets involved in science, she then told the Los Angeles Daily News, it will really hold back the progress that we make. I have three sisters with breast cancer, and I resent people messing with the scientific data to further their own agenda, be they pro-choice or pro-life. I would have loved to have found no association between breast cancer and abortion, but our research is rock solid, and our data is accurate. It's not a matter of believing, it's a matter of what is. Yet the Web site of the Y-ME National Breast Cancer Organization, sponsor of many marches, fails to mention even the possibility of the ABC connection in its list of risk factors. Not even under its list of fuzzy, not clear-cut factors. Not even
[CTRL] Congressman said, Yeah we knew this was going to happen. (fwd)
-Caveat Lector- BOHNEN: Okay. While Kim clarifies that... The two deputies apparently were on guard duty the night of the bombing. I've interviewed them last night and the interview was embargoed until now while they are preparing the news conference. And what their story is is that one of them was on guard duty in front of the Water Resources Board when an Oklahoma Congressman approached them and happened to be talking about what happened... you know, earlier in the day, and the Congressman said, Yeah we knew this was going to happen. We blew it. There was apparently som e right-wing, fundamentalist Muslim sect in Oklahoma City and the Sheriff's deputy made the comment, I beg your pardon? What did you say? Yeah, we knew it was going to happen. We blew it. GO HERE FOR FULL STORY: http://www.busprod.com/hellion/okc/articles/ISTOOK1.TXT ( WHERE IS THE O'RIELLY FACTOR WHEN YOU NEED THEM ) [EMAIL PROTECTED] = Re: Experts say Murrah Building damage not done by truck blast Mon May 21 17:36:18 2001 http://disc.server.com/discussion.cgi?id=149495article=1834 The minister who married my wife and I was in OK City at the time of the bombing and volunteered to help. Along with being required to show his ID six times before being allowed to help dig for survivors, he reported that even while the screams of the trapped people could be heard under the rubble, men in suits and ties were taping thin plastic sheeting over portions of the wreckage. The sheeting was too thin to provide any support to the wreckage or stop debris from faling off. he only purpose seemed to be to make sure that certain pieces of the Murrah Building could not be seen or photographed. In the following photo, one such piece of plastic, shiny and new and free from dust, proving it had to be applied AFTER the bombing, is seen at the far right. Note the ladder leaned up against the flat piece of floor in the foreground to get a sense of the scale of the piece of the building that has been wrapped in plastic. http://www.whatreallyhappened.com/RANCHO/POLITICS/OK/plastic.jpg Oklahoma City Bombing Cover-Up (Lots of updated info) http://www.apfn.org/apfn/okc_coverup.htm Lead in Oklahoma City bombing http://disc.server.com/discussion.cgi?id=149495article=1802 MORE FBI COVER-UP! Missing Tapes Raise Questions in Waco Siege http://disc.server.com/discussion.cgi?id=149495article=1838 ( WHERE IS THE O'RIELLY FACTOR WHEN YOU NEED THEM ) [EMAIL PROTECTED] A HREF=http://www.ctrl.org/;www.ctrl.org/A DECLARATION DISCLAIMER == CTRL is a discussion informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substancenot soap-boxingplease! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright fraudsis used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. Archives Available at: http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html A HREF=http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html;Archives of [EMAIL PROTECTED]/A http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ A HREF=http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/;ctrl/A To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
[CTRL] Federal Bureau of Incompetence (fwd)
Free Congress Foundation's Notable News Now Excerpts from FCF Programming and Other FCF Projects May 22, 2001 Inside Stories Notra Trulock's Commentary: Federal Bureau of Incompetence Federal Bureau of Incompetence by Notra Trulock Growing up in the Midwest in the 1950s, we were taught to revere American institutions like the military and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. And why not? Our fathers and uncles had won World War II and service in the military was our civic duty. Not to serve was unthinkable. Likewise, the FBI was a symbol of the incorruptible - an ever vigilant guardian of our public order and a bulwark against foreign subversion. The local FBI office regularly hosted visits by Boy Scout troops and other youth groups; many a boy or girl came away dreaming of becoming an FBI agent. A career as a military officer or fighting crime and foreign spies were among those honorable professions encouraged by parents - at least in the Midwest in the 1950s and early 1960s.. But something happened along the way. Vietnam nearly destroyed the military as an institution. In the 1960s, the military as an institution was betrayed by people like Robert S. McNamara and its senior uniformed leadership; that story is told very well in a recent book called Dereliction of Duty. It took a decade or more of quiet hard work to restore the military to its former greatness, as witnessed in its performance in the Gulf War. The Clinton era nearly did the military in again, but fortunately President Bush will hopefully see to the welfare of our servicemen and restore morale. The Clinton era, with its scandals and disdain for the rule of law and the Constitution, was a sort of Vietnam for the FBI. Okay, so I have some issues with the FBI: violations of my First and Fourth Amendment rights among them. But by any measure, the 1990s have not been good years for the FBI. Consider the following. 1. In 1992 at Ruby Ridge, the FBI shot and killed Randy Weaver's 14-year-old son and then an FBI sniper, who claimed he could hit a quarter at 200 yards, murdered Weaver's wife as she stood on a porch holding the couple's baby in her arms. Now Clinton and Freeh could reasonably claim that Ruby Ridge didn't happen on their watch. But under Freeh, the FBI's response to the government's investigation established a pattern of cover-ups, withholding of evidence, and misleading testimony. Freeh even hired an agent as his deputy, only to have the agent retire when news of his complicity in the cover-up came to light. 2. Controversy still rages about the FBI's handling of the Branch Davidians at Waco in 1993. Timothy Lynch of the CATO Institute has raised important questions about the thoroughness of Senator John Danforth's review of the Waco incident. In particular, Lynch found that Danforth ignored clear evidence of the FBI's obstruction of the subsequent investigation; the pattern was getting familiar: cover-ups, withholding of evidence, and misleading testimony. Danforth is not the only former US Senator to be misled by the FBI in a blue ribbon review of its performance. The tragedy of Waco and Ruby Ridge, beyond the immediate consequences, is that the Clinton Administration's failure to exercise due diligence in its investigations may have led directly to the Oklahoma City bombing disaster. 3. Who can forget the FBI's destruction of the reputation and life of Richard Jewell? FBI leaks to a rabid media resulted in Jewell's being held hostage in his apartment by the media pack. Seems that the FBI jumped the gun on Jewell, however, and now is after Eric Robert Randolph, who is still at large. As for Jewell...well, never mind. 4. Free Congress' Lisa Dean has repeatedly warned about FBI's and law enforcement's threats to our Fourth Amendment rights. The FBI's Carnivore email surveillance program exposes thousands of innocent Americans to federal monitoring of their email traffic. Director Freeh evidently doesn't think much of the Fourth Amendment, however, and has argued that we need a new amendment more attuned to the information age. By the way, only a government bureaucrat would think that renaming the program to DSC1000 would delude American citizens that the program has changed. Dean has written extensively on the broad range of surveillance technologies under development by law enforcement agencies. When their own file keeping on American citizens came under scrutiny, Freeh's agency simply out-sourced the collection and maintenance of such files. Now FBI agents can access your personal data, credit history, etc., by clicking an icon on their desktop computers. 5. Freeh was not alone in believing that the end of the Cold War equated to a reduced threat of espionage. But Freeh was one official who could act on that, as it turned out, misperception to the detriment of the nation's security. He practically dismantled the FBI's counterintelligence arm, especially that section that
[CTRL] Rewriting History
-Caveat Lector- http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=22899 This is a WorldNetDaily printer-friendly version of the article which follows. To view this item online, visit http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?22899 Sunday, May 20, 2001 SUNDAY QA History re-written to undermine gun rights? Geoff Metcalf interviews historian and author Clayton Cramer Editor's note: There can be no doubt that gun rights are under assault in America these days. Manufacturers are facing intimidation and lawsuits from various government agencies and gun owners are having to endure increasingly restrictive laws affecting their rights to purchase, keep and use firearms. A large part of this ongoing battle revolves around public perception. Certainly school shootings and accidental deaths of children playing with unlocked guns affect the public's attitudes, as do television ads, talk-show guests and books dealing with gun control. In December, Geoff Metcalf interviewed Dr. Joyce Malcolm, a professor and historian. Dr. Malcolm wasn't convinced of the assertions made by Professor Michael Bellesiles in his book, Arming America: The Origins of a National Gun Culture. Bellesiles claims that the American colonists did not, by and large, own or value firearms. In her critique of Bellesiles' work, Malcolm takes on his research methods, conclusions and use of selective information. Enter Clayton Cramer, an author and historian. While doing research on a related historical topic when Bellesiles first began presenting his findings, Cramer became interested in what Bellesiles had to say since it affected his own research. WorldNetDaily staff writer and talk-show host Geoff Metcalf recently interviewed Cramer and, today, we learn what Cramer discovered about Bellesiles' work and its relevance to the gun-control debate. Metcalf's daily streaming radio show can be heard on TalkNetDaily weekdays from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. Eastern time. By Geoff Metcalf © 2001 WorldNetDaily.com Question: The left more than embraced Arming America: The Origins of a National Gun Culture. Here we have a scholar who says that colonists really didn't have much value for firearms, and here we have the facts to support that. So what's the deal? Answer: When Bellesiles first presented these ideas in a Journal of American History paper back in 1996, it was a really startling idea he was presenting -- and I did not immediately discount the possibility. It would not be the first time that an historian sat down and looked at something everyone knows and found out that, no, it wasn't that way after all. I couldn't immediately throw it out as a possibility. I was doing research on a related topic at that time -- it was why concealed weapons laws appear when and where they do. I found they suddenly occurred in about the 1830s in some of the southern states and, if Bellesiles was correct, there hadn't been a great many guns in the U.S. Q: Why would you have to control them then? A: Yeah. There would be some logic to that. So it was something that I was prepared to at least use as a working hypothesis as I was going through old newspapers, travel accounts and diaries. But the problem was, the more I read of them, the more it became apparent that something was really, really wrong. Q: The classic example I gave Joyce Malcolm when she joined us was kind of personal. My family is from New England. There was a Michael Metcalf who, in 1676, was living in Dedham, Massachusetts, and he came home one day to discover the Indians had burned his home to the ground and pillaged his livestock. It was the beginning of The King Phillips War. It was an Indian war. So Michael put a militia band together and they headed south into Rhode Island and fought the Indians in the Great Swamp. Guns were ubiquitous. A: It would certainly seem like you would get that impression. Bellesiles makes the claim that, for the most part, when the Indians and the Europeans did fight, the Europeans mainly worked on starving the Indians out by destroying their crops and, in fact, there is a little truth to that. In a number of accounts of the 18th century that I have read, there is mention of starving the Indians as the most effective way of dealing with them. Q: And what was the method used to starve them? A: The method used was to take away their guns. But here is the thing that was really troubling: The more I started to check the sources that he cites in his book, the more discrepancies I found. Something a little worse than cherry-picking the sources. Q: Let's get to it: What you are suggesting is that his big problem is not just the selective cherry-picking of facts that supported his hypothesis, but that he actually lied. A: I would say he has a very, very severe reading problem that somehow has been undiagnosed all the way through his doctorate. Q: You are being very politic and generous, but go on. A: Let me give you an
[CTRL] Heston Re-Elected NRA President (fwd)
-Caveat Lector- http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/ap/20010521/us/nra_heston_1.html Monday May 21 1:39 PM ET Heston Re-Elected NRA President KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) - Charlton Heston, who has electrified the National Rifle Association with his rousing, musket-waving speeches, was re-elected to an unprecedented fourth term as NRA president Monday. The 77-year-old actor was chosen by the NRA's 76-member board of directors. ``There really wasn't much discussion'' about whether to keep Heston in the job, said NRA spokesman Bill Powers. Heston was first elected to head the 4.2-million-member gun-rights group in 1998. Presidents serve one-year terms. On Saturday, he told NRA members at their annual meeting that he had expected his most recent term to be his last but that he was asked to stay on. To a roaring crowd, he thrust a Revolutionary War musket above his head Saturday and said, ``I have only five words for you: From my cold, dead hands.'' It was an encore of his performance at last year's convention, when he issued a challenge to gun-control forces he said want to disarm NRA members. Powers said Heston is ``a tremendous resource'' for the NRA because of his history of civil rights involvement, including marching with the Rev. Martin Luther King and working for free-speech and gun rights. ``Given that long life of service to those important issues, he brings to bear a tremendous amount of credibility on our behalf,'' Powers said. - A HREF=http://www.ctrl.org/;www.ctrl.org/A DECLARATION DISCLAIMER == CTRL is a discussion informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substancenot soap-boxingplease! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright fraudsis used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. Archives Available at: http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html A HREF=http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html;Archives of [EMAIL PROTECTED]/A http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ A HREF=http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/;ctrl/A To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
[CTRL] Constitution a scripted rant
-Caveat Lector- According to the author, reference to a Constitutional right - one that he doesn't care for - is nothing more than a scripted rant. But don't dare tread on his precious freedom of the press. This piece is incredibly insulting to gun owners and to the framers of the Constitution. How ironic that the piece was published in Boston. Maybe the author, in his next piece, will declare his loyalty to the king of England. http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/142/metro/Club_gushes_over_Uzis+.shtml Club gushes over Uzis By Brian McGrory, Globe Staff, 5/22/2001 The headline in yesterday's Patriot Ledger was certainly unique: ''Fun with firepower.'' The prominent story told of a fund-raising event in Hanson that allows everyday people to pay for the thrill of firing off a variety of machine guns. ''Incredible,'' one donor exclaimed after shooting an Uzi. ''Exhilarating,'' gushed her friend. One of the pictures that accompanied the story was of a 3-year-old boy in short pants getting what the newspaper caption describes as an ''up-close look at one of the weapons.'' He is, in fact, toddling all around it. How marvelous! How, well, incredibly exhilarating! Anyone can walk off the street and sate their desire to fire a machine gun, to press their finger against the delicate trigger and feel the explosion of so much power. And all for such a good cause; a third of the proceeds will be sent to the Shriner's Hospital in Boston. So just one question remains: Have we lost our collective mind? The organizers, the Hanson Rod and Gun Club, are quite sure we haven't, that we can all come together and share the wonder of fully automatic weaponry in total harmony. In fact, they lured 1,000 people to the eighth annual festivities on Saturday. ''Some people like to sky dive. Some people like to scuba dive,'' says John Davis, who ran the event. ''This is a new experience for them. They get to fire a fully automatic firearm.'' They certainly do, and Davis has the bullet-riddled van to prove it. He concedes that he's ''worried'' about the perception of the event, but quickly adds that there are doctors, lawyers, and law enforcement officers who take part in the shooting. He also points out that because of a recently enacted town bylaw, kids are now prohibited from firing the guns - a change from past years. ''Between noon and one, the parents can allow their kids to take a closer look at the firearms,'' he says. Credit the Hanson town fathers - and mothers - for recognizing a truly awful event. Two years ago, they tried to ban the shooting entirely, but lost in a Town Meeting vote after gun club members recited their scripted rant about losing their God-given right to bear arms. Actually, officials were just trying to stop the show, and for good reason. Here's what guns do: They kill. They might be shrewd investments, as Davis points out. They might have significant historical value. They might be beautiful to look at, thrilling for some people to hold, but the bottom line, their intended purpose, the reason they were built, is to kill. And kill they do. The teenage murderers at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colo., had in their cache of weaponry a 9mm semi-automatic carbine when they slayed 12 fellow students and a teacher in 1999. That same type of lightweight semi-automatic rifle was also used in the Jonesboro schoolyard massacre the year before. Five people died there. Michael McDermott is charged with having an AK-47, a semi-automatic rifle, when he allegedly went on his post-Christmas killing spree in Wakefield last year that left seven dead. It's nothing new, but worth repeating, to say that kids are bombarded with violence. They see people shot to death every hour of every night on network television. They play video games that are entirely geared toward death. They see kids their age killing kids their age all across America, such that school shootings aren't always front-page news anymore. And now comes this gun group to glorify it all even more, to strip away the distance, to put the weapons right in people's hands and tell children that firing a machine gun is not only normal and healthy, but according to the Patriot Ledger, ''fun.'' What might the men and women of the Hanson Rod and Gun Club say if the next school shooting - and unfortunately, there's always a next school shooting - is somewhere nearby? Brian McGrory's e-mail address is [EMAIL PROTECTED] This story ran on page 1 of the Boston Globe on 5/22/2001. © Copyright 2001 Globe Newspaper Company. A HREF=http://www.ctrl.org/;www.ctrl.org/A DECLARATION DISCLAIMER == CTRL is a discussion informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substancenot soap-boxingplease! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright fraudsis used
[CTRL] Know Your Customer
Free Congress Foundation's Notable News Now Excerpts from FCF Programming and Other FCF Projects May 21, 2001 Inside Stories Paul Weyrich's Endangered Liberties Commentary: Judicial Nomination Tug-of-War The Free Congress Commentary Threat of Know Your Customer Still Lingers by Lisa S. Dean From the Endangered Liberties Television Program In 1999 Congress and the American people squashed a program proposed by the federal banking agencies known as Know Your Customer. Over 300,000 Americans responded to the agencies during the public comment period expressing outrage. Members of Congress expressed outrage that such a proposal was even being considered. Even state banking associations strongly opposed the rule. Briefly, Know Your Customer would have deputized your banker by forcing him to collect your personal information and monitor your bank accounts to determine a pattern of banking activity. If he spotted what he considered to be unusual account activity, that is, if you deposited or withdrew a little more money per month than normal, or deviated from your usual pattern of activity, then your banker had to report you to the federal government, specifically, he had to file a Suspicious Activity Report with the Treasury Department's investigative arm, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network or FinCEN, without your knowledge. FinCEN would then review your account activity and determine whether it should investigate you for possible money laundering or other financial crime. If your banker chose not to report you, he could have been subject to fines, imprisonment or loss of employment. Needless to say, that accounts for the overwhelming number of citizens and congressmen who complained about the rule. The agencies were forced to withdraw their proposal and mercifully, Know Your Customer, as a proposed federal regulation, died and several attempts have been made in Congress to ensure that it does not return. However, those attempts just might be futile if the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development has its way. The OECD is a Paris-based international organization charged with handling international money laundering and other financial crimes along with the Financial Action Task Force, also based in Paris. Its current proposal calls for each of the 28-member nations to increase bank surveillance on customers by instituting Know Your Customer practices. For an international organization to twist the arms of democratic nations in order to get them to adopt policies that conflict with the rights and freedoms of their citizens is no surprise. But the thought that these countries, including our own, are considering them is. Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill has not calmed the fears of privacy advocates and other Americans who are concerned that this proposal could become a reality. While concerned about the tax implications involving e-commerce is a worthy one, privacy advocates strongly caution O'Neill not to sacrifice our Constitutional rights in the process, especially for a system that has proven itself both unpopular and inadequate. Larry Lindsey, the current White House Assistant for Economic Affairs, and former member of the Federal Reserve Board has repeatedly denounced Know Your Customer as an ineffective program. Last year The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) estimated that one in five suspicious activity reports filed by banks on their customers are related to a serious crime. 45% of those reports involve amounts of money less than $10,000, the limit that is required by law enforcement to begin investigations against citizens. Which means that banks are forwarding personal financial records of citizens to federal agencies that couldn't legally investigate even if they wanted to. That information, which by nature is confidential between a bank and its customer, can be shared with other agencies as well as state and local law enforcement officials WITHOUT A WARRANT. This year alone banks are expected to file approximately a quarter of a million suspicious activity reports on their customers. If these statistics are any real indicator, tens of thousands of innocent bank customers will be reported to the federal government for alleged financial crimes and some might actually be investigated. Why? Because some relative left you some money or your boss gave you an unexpected bonus? Or perhaps because you needed a little more money for the weekend and withdrew from your account? Whatever the case, the bottom line is that this country needs a REAL victory over Know Your Customer rules and its methods of doing so must be conducted through our Constitutional process, and certainly not by international decree. Secretary O'Neill must part ways with the mindset that was so prevalent during the previous administration, namely, that our Constitutional rights are an obstacle to the law rather than the purveyor of it. Bush has so far been successful at restoring
[CTRL] Jobless in Utopia
-Caveat Lector- conservativeinfo - Subscribe to the Conservative Information email list at http://conservativeinfo.listbot.com Montana sawmill tries to stave off extinction By Sean Paige SPECIAL TO THE WASHINGTON TIMES EUREKA, Mont. -- Thousands of trucks carrying hand-hewn logs descended on this tiny northwestern Montana town last week in a bid to save the area´s last independent sawmill and draw attention to rural areas hit hard by the Clinton administration´s environmental policies. Trucks lined up through the day to drop off their loads at the Owens and Hurst Lumber Co., which laid off a third of its work force in January as a result of declining access to timber on national forests. To keep going, the sawmill has been hauling in burned logs from Alberta, Canada, more than 500 miles away. At the fairgrounds, Gov. Judy Martz applauded the little town´s perseverance in the face of economic adversity and said she believes the Bush administration understands Western issues and at least is willing to listen. Mrs. Martz, a Republican, blasted the Clinton administration´s roadless initiative and called for more aggressive management of federal forests and local input. It´s time that Washington, D.C., listens first to those closest to the land, she said. Mrs. Martz and other speakers said Americans need to understand that logging and healthy forests have a symbiotic relationship, and that the non-management of federal forests during the Clinton years have left them overgrown, diseased and fire-prone. It´s not about logging, it´s about forest health, Mrs. Martz said. And logging is one of the tools to ensure a healthy forest. The Eureka Log Haul drew participants from as far away as Ohio, including one man who flew a log on a small airplane. The declining fortunes of mining, oil and timber -- Montana´s bread-and-butter industries since its founding -- have left the state in dire economic straits. Last year, Montana ranked last nationally in average wages paid and near the bottom in per capita income earned. The closure of two major sawmills last year was a serious blow to Lincoln County, where more than 50 percent of the economy is tied to the wood products industry and unemployment is four times the national average. The 30 percent decline in wood products production in the last decade is related directly to a 70 percent reduction in trees harvested from national forests, largely because of the Endangered Species Act, said Chuck Keegan, a timber industry specialist with the Bureau of Business and Economic Research at the University of Montana. I would place almost all the blame for the timber industry´s decline on the 70 percent reduction on timber sale offerings from national forests, said Mr. Keegan. Mills like the one in Eureka cannot survive unless they are assured a dependable supply of timber off national forests, said sawmill co-owner Jim Hurst. Our immediate survival depends on the accelerated sale of timber that was burned [in wildfires] last year, Mr. Hurst said. Those sales will buy the mill time while we figure out what´s going to happen with the Forest Service in the new administration. Bob Seidel, timber management assistant at the Eureka office of the Kootenai National Forest, doesn´t expect the amount of timber sold in that district to rise much in the future because of critical habitat designation for grizzly bear, wolf and other endangered species. But his office is hustling to put together a sale on stands of timber burned in wildfires last summer, he said, and is trying to implement a stay on the salvage timber sale, which will speed along the process by allowing work to go forward while any appeals to the sales are considered. A HREF=http://www.ctrl.org/;www.ctrl.org/A DECLARATION DISCLAIMER == CTRL is a discussion informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substancenot soap-boxingplease! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright fraudsis used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. Archives Available at: http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html A HREF=http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html;Archives of [EMAIL PROTECTED]/A http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ A HREF=http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/;ctrl/A To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to
[CTRL] Warm and Fuzzy Misinformation
-Caveat Lector- conservativeinfo - Subscribe to the Conservative Information email list at http://conservativeinfo.listbot.com Little Bears and Big Oil: The Debate Begins in Earnest By Susan Jones CNSNews.com Morning Editor May 18, 2001 A warm and fuzzy photograph of a polar bear and her cubs that appeared on the front page of the Washington Post Tuesday was not snapped in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge after all. The photo supposedly showing A polar bear and her cubs at rest in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge accompanied an article about oil firms making a high-tech pitch to develop the ANWR. But a correction in Thursday's Washington Post noted the picture actually was snapped in the 1980s about 200 miles northwest of ANWR. Here's the newspaper's May 17 correction: Due to incorrect information provided to the Associated Press, a photo caption accompanying a May 15 article on Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge describe a polar bear and cubs as being at rest in the refuge. The file photo, taken in the early 1980s, actually showed bears on pack ice 30 miles offshore in the Beaufort Sea, about 200 miles northwest of the ANWR. Sen. Frank Murkowski (R-Alaska) said cute bear photos like the one the Post ran are part of the propaganda we'll be seeing more of in the days ahead, as ANWR drilling opponents ratchet up their campaign to prevent oil exploration and drilling in what they call America's pristine wilderness. Alarmist But Murkowski and others who support the development of domestic energy supplies say ANWR opponents are exaggerating the environmental threat. They note that while the refuge itself is enormous - about 20 million acres, the size of South Carolina - only a tiny section - about the size of Washington's Dulles Airport - would be set aside for drilling. President Bush pitched his call for ANWR drilling Thursday, saying, We can build roads of ice that literally melt away when summer comes and the drilling then stops to protect wildlife. ANWR can produce 600,000 barrels of oil a day for the next 40 years. What difference does 600,00 barrels a day make? Well, that happens to be exactly the amount we import from Saddam Hussein's Iraq. On the Today show Friday morning, Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham picked up where the president left off, calling the president's plan balanced and sensible. While some say Bush's energy plan is dead on arrival in Congress, Secretary Abraham said, I think you're going to find a lot of support for an overwhelming number of the 105 recommendations the president has made. 'Misguided, flawed, one-sided' An editorial in Friday's New York Times calls the Bush energy proposal misguided...an alarmingly unbalanced piece of work whose main objective seems to be to satisfy the ambitions of the oil, gas and coal industries, either by easing environmental rules or by opening public lands for aggressive exploration. The newspaper, which counts itself among Bush's energy critics, complains the plan does little for efficiency or renewable energy. It urges an attentive Congress to make sure that Bush's bad ideas disappear and that only good ones survive. Democrats, pushing their own energy plan, are expected to attack Bush on the grounds that his plan was hatched in secret, and that it's nothing more than a sop to the Big Oil Companies that supported the Bush during his presidential campaign. A HREF=http://www.ctrl.org/;www.ctrl.org/A DECLARATION DISCLAIMER == CTRL is a discussion informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substancenot soap-boxingplease! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright fraudsis used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. Archives Available at: http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html A HREF=http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html;Archives of [EMAIL PROTECTED]/A http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ A HREF=http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/;ctrl/A To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
[CTRL] Contra Kyoto
-Caveat Lector- conservativeinfo - Subscribe to the Conservative Information email list at http://conservativeinfo.listbot.com A Stronger Case Against Kyoto by S. Fred Singer President George Bush finds himself under siege after rejecting the Kyoto Protocol, a treaty that would impose punitive energy sanctions on the United Statesâ economy in response to unjustified global warming fears. Foreign politicians, American political opponents, and fundraisers for Green groups are all ganging up on him. It could get worse once the sharks smell blood in the water. But there are sensible ways to meet the challenge. Of course, the critics are being disingenuous. Bush announced his opposition to Kyoto during his campaign and has never wavered. His position also reflects the U.S. Senate vote of 95 - 0 against any such treaty that would cause severe economic damage to the U.S. but exempt most of the rest of the world. And while the American public may express concern about global warming, a recent Time/CNN poll indicates that less than half would be willing to pay an additional 25 cents for a gallon of gasoline. True enough, Bushâs PR has not been the greatest. For example, he should have reiterated his position after the election using the bully pulpit instead of waiting until March. He could have stressed the higher energy costs flowing from Kyoto and the severe job losses as industry moved offshore, pointing to the calamitous consequences on lower-income groups and attacking Green elitists at the same time. He neglected to inform the public that Kyoto is not supported by adequate science and is ineffective in reducing the rise in greenhouse gases. In any case, even enviro groups, certainly the moderate ones, agree that cutting energy use by some 35 percent in a decade is wildly unrealistic. Worst of all, he has been keeping on the White House staff and in key government departments Gore acolytes who are actively opposed to his policies. The White House has even recruited from environmental organizations. Talk about shooting yourself in the foot. But itâs not too late; there are countermeasures that might work and would let his critics take the onus for opposing Kyoto. But while they might conceivably change the specific targets or timetables or modalities of Kyoto, they would keep its structure in place. And this would almost certainly come back to haunt us. Kyotoâs expanding bureaucracy and the 180 or so nations that form the Conference of the Parties to the Protocol would get their hooks into U.S. energy policy and thereby our economic policy. Unelected regulators not responsible or even responsive to our citizens would determine our economic future. To avoid paying such a heavy price, it would be best to return to the original 1992 climate treaty and its voluntary efforts to control emissions through conservation and higher energy efficiency. Slowly rising fuel prices, as oil and gas become depleted, and advances in technology will surely accelerate the ongoing trend towards decarbonization â producing more GNP output with less fossil fuels. Hybrid electric cars, electricity generation with fuel cells and advanced nuclear reactors, more efficient appliances, and cheaper wind and solar energy production are all in the offing. In the meantime, advancing climate science could convince the public that human-induced climate change is a minor contributor to the much larger natural changes and that, in any case, a slightly warmer climate and higher carbon dioxide levels would benefit agricultural crops and all of humanity. The Kyoto Protocol is the opening wedge. Unless the Bush White House takes a firm stance on climate policy, its energy policy is in peril; one cannot separate the two. Beyond this, foreign policy and national sovereignty are at stake. *S. Fred Singer is Professor Emeritus of Environmental Sciences at the University of Virginia and a former director of the U.S. Weather Satellite Service. He is the author of Hot Talk, Cold Science: Global Warmingâs Unfinished Debate, published by the Independent Institute (Oakland, CA, 1999). A HREF=http://www.ctrl.org/;www.ctrl.org/A DECLARATION DISCLAIMER == CTRL is a discussion informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substancenot soap-boxingplease! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright fraudsis used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. Archives Available at: http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html A
[CTRL] Experts say Murrah Building damage not done by truck blast alone (fwd)
-Caveat Lector- Witnesses heard multiple explosions - Sun May 20 14:39:56 2001 http://disc.server.com/Indices/149495.html Witnesses heard multiple explosions Experts say Murrah Building damage not done by truck blast alone By Jon Dougherty - [EMAIL PROTECTED] Multiple witnesses reported hearing more than one explosion the day the Alfred P. Murrah Building in Oklahoma City was bombed, while other explosives experts contend that the damage done to the building could not have been caused by a single bomb placed outside in a truck. According to excerpts of a new 500-page report authored by the Oklahoma City Bombing Investigation Commission, led by ex-Oklahoma state Rep. Charles Key, the FBI concluded that the damage to the Murrah Building was caused by one ammonium nitrate truck bomb, which was concealed in a 20-foot Ryder rental truck. However, the commission's report said, multiple witnesses have testified to hearing a second bomb go off shortly after 9 a.m. the morning of April 19, 1995. Furthermore, the report said, explosives experts contend that the extent of the damage to the building -- of which aerial photos showed nearly one-third was destroyed -- could not have resulted from a single truck bomb. A summary of the damage report to the building, which was made available exclusively to WorldNetDaily, said witness accounts regarding the explosions vary, depending upon their location at the time of the bombing. And just a few of those accounts were provided to WND via the report summary. Nevertheless, the accounts cast doubt on the federal government's insistence that a single ANFO -- ammonium nitrate and fuel oil -- bomb, driven to the front of the Murrah building by convicted bomber Timothy McVeigh and, witnesses say, at least one other person, caused all of the damage. The bombing killed 168 people and injured hundreds of others. Witness statements The commission said a Housing and Urban Development employee reported feeling an initial shock while she was on the ninth floor, which she assumed was an earthquake. A massive explosion then followed that sensation, she said. A local CBS affiliate reporter also said she had interviewed a number of people who had climbed under their desks to seek shelter. That indicates, according to some analysts who agree with the commission's conclusions, that another device likely exploded -- perhaps in the garage area of the Murrah Building -- before the Ryder truck bomb, because a sensation was felt and people had enough time to get under a desk before the ANFO explosion. Another witness, the report said, felt a 'boom,' then heard a second explosion, while another, who was at a third floor stairwell, also heard a second explosion. Bomb numbers, characteristics change Initial reports in local media said city and county bomb squad personnel, as well as some government agents, had discovered up to two other unexploded bombs in the building. But those reports virtually disappeared a few days after the bombing. The sightings of the additional bombs were, when reported, confirmed by local, state and federal officials. The commission's report said Dr. Raymon Brown, a seismologist with the Oklahoma Geological Survey, explained how two explosions could be heard or felt by witnesses. He stated that the ground wave [from a single explosion -- outside, in front of the building] was probably heard first, with an air wave following, giving the impression of two explosions, the report said. Because the speed of sound is faster in the earth, the ground wave arrives early. The air wave follows, which allows the explosion to be heard. Other experts refuted that explanation. As the commission report showed, there were discrepancies in witness accounts, seismological accounts, and even official federal accounts about the bomb's makeup, the shock waves it caused and specific characteristics surrounding the bomb's size. The report said the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms reported the blast as being the result of a car bomb containing 1,200 pounds of ANFO. Then, it was reported that the bomb weighed 4,000 pounds. The story changed again immediately preceding [McVeigh's 1997 federal] trial [in Denver, Colo.] when it was asserted that the bomb was a mixture of ammonium nitrate and nitromethane (ANNM), weighing 4,800 pounds. Also, the commission pointed out, as rescue efforts began, there were reports of other bombs being found in the building,
[CTRL] Survival Kits
-Caveat Lector- MEXICO TO GIVE BORDER CROSSERS SURVIVAL KITS Critics say packages of medicine and food encourage illegal entry. May 16, 2001 By SAM QUINONES For the Register MEXICO CITY - If it can't stop emigration to the United States, the Mexican government thinks at least its people shouldn't die in the process. So starting next month, the government will distribute up to 200,000 survival kits to people planning to head north. http://www.ocregister.com/news/16emigratecci4.shtml = A HREF=http://www.ctrl.org/;www.ctrl.org/A DECLARATION DISCLAIMER == CTRL is a discussion informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substancenot soap-boxingplease! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright fraudsis used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. Archives Available at: http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html A HREF=http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html;Archives of [EMAIL PROTECTED]/A http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ A HREF=http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/;ctrl/A To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
[CTRL] [Fwd: HORROR! CHINESE COOK AND EAT ABORTED HUMAN BABIES] (fwd)
-Caveat Lector- XXX - RATED - DO NOT HAVE CHILDREN SEE THESE PICTURES XXX XXX - HORROR! CHINESE COOK AND EAT ABORTED HUMAN BABIES XXX http://disc.server.com/discussion.cgi?id=149495article=1649 Original Message Subject: HORROR! CHINESE COOK AND EAT ABORTED HUMAN BABIES Date: Thu, 17 May 2001 14:21:33 -0700 From: spiker [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: (Recipient list suppressed) Source: Hal Turner Show http://www.halturnershow.com/ HORROR! CHINESE COOK AND EAT ABORTED HUMAN BABIES http://www.halturnershow.com/horror.htm ` Photo #1 http://www.halturnershow.com/GookBreakfast1.jpg Photo #2 http://www.halturnershow.com/GookBreakfast2.jpg === WHY IS ALL REPEAT ALL MAJOR MEDIA NOT INVESTIGATING THIS INFORMATION? OKC = ELOHIM, TERROR, AND TRUTH William F. Jasper, Thu May 17 11:30 ARA Elohim City, and the OKC Bombing APFN, Thu May 17 15:26 Release of FBI Files in McVeigh Case Only Tip of Iceberg New American Oklahoma City, Government-Paid Neo-Nazis, and the FCC J. Orlin Grabbe http://disc.server.com/Indices/149495.html The Aryan Republican Army, Elohim City, and the OKC Bombing http://www.apfn.org/apfn/ara_okc.htm THE NEW AMERICAN: Issues in Focus Oklahoma City Bombing http://www.thenewamerican.com/focus/okc/index.htm Oklahoma City Bombing Cover-Up ATTN: MAJOR (TRUTHFUL) MEDIA: http://www.apfn.org/apfn/okc_coverup.htm Index for The John Doe Times Volumn 5 - J.D. CASH'S LATEST BLOCKBUSTER: STRASSMEIR Despite a whole host of international treaties and conventions establishing procedures for transatlantic cooperation between the two governments in criminal investigations, once again it seems Strassmeir is immune to such inconveniences. http://xld.com/public/jdt/jdindx5.htm DID TIM MCVEIGH KNOW AND MEET PAUL FATTA THE WACO GUN DEALER AT DIFFERENT GUN SHOWS? DID THE PEOPLE FROM ELOHIM CITY KNOW THE PEOPLE FROM PLASTINE, TEXAS (BRANCH DAVIDIANS)? WHY IS ALL THIS INVESTIGATION FROM THE MEDIA BEEN KEPT SECRET? WHAT IS THE REAL STORY BEHIND OKC BOMBING AND IT'S DIRECT RELATIONSHIP TO THE EVENTS AT WACO, TEXAS. FBI AGENT DON LEONARD KILLED IN THE OKC BOMBING, KNOW! WHAT IS THE CONNECTION BETWEEN ALL THESE EVENTS AND FORT SMITH, AR? WE ARE APT TO SHUT OUR EYES AGAINST A PAINFUL TRUTH... FOR MY PART, I AM WILLING TO KNOW THE WHOLE TRUTH; TO KNOW THE WORST; AND TO PROVIDE FOR IT. Patrick Henry http://www.apfn.org/apfn/apfncont.htm A HREF=http://www.ctrl.org/;www.ctrl.org/A DECLARATION DISCLAIMER == CTRL is a discussion informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substancenot soap-boxingplease! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright fraudsis used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. Archives Available at: http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html A HREF=http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html;Archives of [EMAIL PROTECTED]/A http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ A HREF=http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/;ctrl/A To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
[CTRL] Iowans unsophisticated
-Caveat Lector- For an immigration time-out: http://www.projectusa.org/ New York Iowans unsophisticated says Des Moines Register columnist Issue 74: May 18, 2001 +== TIME OUT PROJECT ==+ Last September, Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack announced his support for a plan that would exempt Iowa from federal immigration limits. A combination of national ridicule and strong local opposition has since caused Vilsack to backpedal on the issue, but an early champion of his cheap labor scheme, the Des Moines Register, continues to press for high levels of immigration. This, in spite of the paper's own poll showing that 58% of Iowans did not agree with the governor's proposal. So enthusiastic is the Register for even more immigration, that it has been led to make some surprising claims: In a September 6, 2000 editorial, the paper declared that importing working age Iowans from other countries would actually improve the environment. And a January 1, 2001 front page side bar warned Iowans that a failure to import cheap foreign labor could cause an increase in Iowa's unemployment rate since Iowa businesses, short of workers, would need to relocate (you might have to read that one twice). While such claims are easily dismissed as not being worth serious attention, one question does remain: Why does the Des Moines Register go to such lengths to convince Iowans to support a plan to turn their state into a new Ellis Island? At least part of the answer can be found in a May 13 piece by Register opinion columnist and editorial board member Shirley Ragsdale, for whom the immigration issue is first and foremost a matter of the skin color and ethnicity of the immigrants themselves. Her column begins with a dismissal of criticism of current U.S. immigration policy (which will cause U.S. population to double within the lifetimes of today's children unless Congress acts) as xenophobic. Then she asserts the non sequitur people have merit regardless of skin color, religion or ethnic origin. But for Ms. Ragsdale, it seems, there is something more than general color-blind human merit wrapped up in the skin color, religion or ethnic origin of new immigrants; for her, the various skin colors, etc., of new immigrants are in fact the very reason to support mass immigration: new Iowans, she argues, would help to make Iowa more culturally sophisticated and diverse. The fact that her position is racist in itself is apparently lost on Ms. Ragsdale, and she ends her column by complaining that those who persist in exploiting differences, overstating the superiority inherent in being Iowa born and planting doubts in the minds of the unsophisticated are making it far more difficult to convince Iowans to embrace her views. More reading: Area diverse enough, most say http://www.dmregister.com/news/stories/c4788998/14672882.html Ragsdale: Surely, Iowans don't buy it http://desmoinesregister.com/news/stories/c5917686/14645762.html +== TAKE POSITIVE ACTION ==+ Shirley Ragsdale, of course, is not the only small city newspaper editor to demonstrate her sophistication by sneering at her rustic readership (she makes it clear in the column that she herself has not lived all her life in a small town). But this isn't just harmless provincialism. On this matter of immigration, Ms Ragsdale and the Des Moines Register play a dangerous game. America's successful history of immigration and assimilation has been marked by periodic immigration time-outs -- the most recent of which lasted the forty years between 1925 to 1965. In the face of today's record-breaking wave of mass immigration, there is no reason to believe public opinion will not soon demand another time-out in order to allow for assimilation, linguistic unity, infrastructure development, and the like. In fact, we should expect a demand for a breather. The question is: what tone will public demand take? By insisting that immigration is most of all an issue of skin color and cultural otherness, short-sighted -- but probably well-meaning -- journalists and politicians are increasing the likelihood that the next public demand for an immigration time-out will take a racial tone. You can remind the Des Moines Register that support for and opposition to mass immigration for racial or ethnic reasons are simply two sides of the same coin. Ask the paper to please be more responsible and fair in its coverage of the very important issue of mass immigration. Des Moines Register comment line: 1 800 247 5346 (x 8202) In Iowa: 515 284 8202 Or Mary P. Stier President and Publisher [EMAIL PROTECTED] +== QUOTE OF THE WEEK ==+ Telemachus, soon shalt thou learn this, when thou thyself art got to the place of battle where the best men try the issue, -- namely, not to bring shame on thy father's house, on us who in times past have been eminent for might and hardihood over all the world. Odysseus Homer's The Odyssey Tenth Century, BC (?) +==EMAIL OF THE WEEK==+ Diversity is not what makes
[CTRL] Busting Kindergartners
-Caveat Lector- http://www.nytimes.com/2001/05/17/nyregion/17THRE.html May 17, 2001 Crackdown on Threats in Schools Fails a Test By KATE ZERNIKE MANALAPAN, N.J., May 15 Just weeks after the school shootings in March in Santee, Calif., the county prosecutor here met with local school superintendents and emphasized the need for zero tolerance. There is no gray area, he told them. Any student who makes a threat, even in jest, must be disciplined. The schools obeyed, fast and furiously. A 10-year-old girl who whimpered, I could kill her! after she wet her pants because a teacher had refused to let her go to the bathroom was suspended for three days. A 10-year- old who muttered, I oughtta murder his face! when someone left his desk in disarray got the same punishment. The suspensions at least 50 in the last six weeks, compared with almost none last year were meted out mostly to children in kindergarten to third grade, in many cases for repeating expressions they had heard their parents use at home. All those suspended, including kindergartners, now have police files in their names. Parents reacted to the suspensions with outrage, hiring lawyers to defend their children. Confronted by the anger, the Manalapan-Englishtown school board said tonight that it would stop the automatic suspensions and return decisions about discipline to teachers and principals. Board members said they would vote next week to review the police file for every suspended child and expunge any records if the punishment seemed unfair. A policy that looked good on paper, they said, had not worked well in practice. I don't think anybody envisioned this the prosecutor's office, the superintendent, the principals, said James Mumolie, the school board president. What happened in this solidly middle-class town shows some of the pitfalls of a post-Columbine era, when no officials want to be caught without the strictest of policies should a shooting occur at their school, and when parents, including many in Manalapan, demand toughness. Now the same parents complain that schools are going so far as to trample on civil rights. They're suspending babies, babies, for saying things they hear everywhere they go, said Wanda Minken, a parent of three elementary school students in Manalapan who said her children have not been suspended, yet. It's McCarthyism, that's what this is, Mrs. Minken said. These are kids who've never even had lunch detention. About 90 percent of school systems nationwide have what they call zero- tolerance policies for violence or threats, according to the United States Department of Education. Few have enforced them as strictly as Manalapan, but more and more are learning the lesson that Manalapan has. In February, the American Bar Association passed a resolution opposing zero-tolerance policies, saying they have redefined students as criminals. Among the harsher cases, they cited a Louisiana boy who was suspended for two days after warning his peers in the lunch line not to eat all the potatoes or I'm gonna get you! The school board in West Windsor, N.J., let up on its zero- tolerance policy last fall after a furor over the suspension of a 9-year-old boy who had threatened to shoot a wad of paper with a rubber band. Similarly, the federal Department of Education's Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools warns against the policies and is planning to release a new handbook, written with the Secret Service, on how to evaluate threats better. Those urging less strictness point out that school violence is down by 30 percent in the last decade, that students are still more likely to be hit by lightning than to be killed in school. Studies have shown that zero-tolerance policies suspend disproportionate numbers of black students. Zero tolerance was originally applied to gun possession when President Bill Clinton signed the Gun Free Schools Act in 1994. But many schools adopted the same stance toward threats, especially after a student fatally shot 2 other students and injured 13 at Santana High School in Santee in March, an incident that sparked a spate of copycat shootings and threats nationwide. Manalapan, a suburb of tidy subdivisions and large lawns an hour's drive south of New York City, is the kind of town, parents say, where sport utility vehicles and minivans clog the streets on parent-teacher conference nights. Last year, parents at the elementary schools pressed the school board to make sure no intruders entered the buildings, which prompted the schools to require that visitors be buzzed in. So the letter that went home in April did not surprise them. The decision on whether or not to report a threat does not belong to the school official, said the letter, which was signed by the superintendents of the seven elementary school districts that feed into the Freehold Regional High School District as well the Freehold superintendent. He/ she must
[CTRL] JSMP Weekly Update [Edwards Pushes for Renomination of Judicial A ctivist Wynn] for 4/18/01 (fwd)
Judicial Selection Monitoring Project Coalition for Judicial Restraint Weekly Update for 4/18/01 Volume IV, Number 8 Published by the Center for Law Democracy at the Free Congress Foundation. Thomas L. Jipping, M.A., J.D., Director John A. Nowacki, Esq., Deputy Director Jason Koehne, Coalition Coordinator (e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] ) Phone: 202-546-3000 Fax: 202-543-5605 http://www.freecongress.org/ http://www.freecongress.org/ ** IN THIS ISSUE: * Commentary: Edwards Seeking Legislation From The Bench. * James Wynn's Activist Dissenting Concurring Opinions. * Commentary: The Real Story On Held Up Nominations. ** Commentary: Edwards Seeking Legislation From The Bench By John Nowacki We should be nominating judges. Whether it is a Democratic or a Republican administration, it shouldn't make any difference in nominating well-qualified judges. This body should act on the qualification of those men and women to serve on the court, not based upon the Republican or Democratic composition of the court. It is just that simple. This should be totally nonpartisan. So said Senator John Edwards (D-NC) in October of last year, when there were 34 fewer vacancies in the federal courts than there are today. And, assuming that he meant to say confirming instead of nominating, he was absolutely right. When the President--any President--nominates someone for a federal judgeship, that nominee's party affiliation should not be a consideration. Presidents and the Senators who must confirm the nominees should look to whether the candidate for a judgeship is fair, impartial, and of the right temperament. They should also make certain that those confirmed to the federal bench are dedicated to upholding the law, and not to legislating their partisan political agenda from the bench. A qualified judge--the kind Senator Edwards was talking about--is one who takes his oath of office seriously and understands that judges are to apply and interpret the law, leaving the re-writing of law to the legislature. Unfortunately, Edwards seems to have forgotten everything he said about the need for non-partisan confirmations in the months since Election Day. When President Bush announced 11 nominations to the U.S. Courts of Appeals last week, Edwards announced that he would hold up Terrence Boyle, the nominee from North Carolina, unless the President nominated the Senator's choice for a circuit judgeship. Why? Pure partisanship. Until we find some constructive process that allows for balance, then I would not support any nominee, including Judge Boyle, Edwards said. According to the Associated Press, Edwards suggested his cooperation could be gained by the re-nomination of state judge James Wynn--a Clinton nominee whom Edwards apparently believes would balance Judge Boyle's elevation to the Court of Appeals. President Bush has been very clear about his standard for judicial selection. When he presented his nominees on May 9, Bush said: Every judge I appoint will be a person who clearly understands the role of a judge is to interpret the law, not to legislate from the bench. To paraphrase . . . James Madison, the courts exist to exercise not the will of men, but the judgment of law. My judicial nominees will know the difference. So . . . Bush says that his nominees will be men and women who will exercise restraint and respect the constitutional separation of powers. What is it that needs balancing here? The partisan interests that Edwards condemned on the Senate floor just seven months ago? Of course, that's precisely what Edwards is worried about. He wants judges who have the Democrats' stamp of approval and who are perfectly willing to legislate from the bench. Just take a look at the man whom he would nominate if he were President (and whom he's trying to nominate, even though he's not). As a judge on the North Carolina Court of Appeals, James Wynn wrote that the state supreme court should revoke a municipality's sovereign immunity from tort liability, even though that would be a clear usurpation of the legislature's role. During a brief stint on the North Carolina Supreme Court, Wynn held that when determining the duty of care a homeowner owes to licensees and invitees on his property, the common law distinction between the two was abolished and replaced with a single standard. The Chief Justice of that very court -- who concurred in the result of the case only--wrote that it was unadvisable to render an opinion of that magnitude when no party had suggested the modification and the court did not have the benefit of arguments and briefs on the issues decided by the majority. According to the Greensboro News Record, Wynn's position actually scrapped more than a century of existing law. Wynn's nomination went nowhere in the last Congress because of his clear record as a judicial
[CTRL] Abortion-Crime Study is Erroneous (fwd)
-Caveat Lector- conservativeinfo - Subscribe to the Conservative Information email list at http://conservativeinfo.listbot.com Statistician Says Abortion-Crime Study is Erroneous Source: Fox News; May 16, 2001 New york, NY -- America's dramatic drop in crime during the 1990s has been attributed to everything from the strong economy and tougher laws to the massive increase in the number of prisons. But none of the reasons scholars have offered to explain the nation's safer climate are as controversial as that proposed by Stanford Law Professor John Donahue. In research to be published in this month's Harvard Quarterly Journal of Economics, Donahue and a co-researcher claim legalized abortion may account for as much as half of the recent crime reduction. According to the study, the crime rate in America dropped 18 years after the U.S. Supreme Court legalized abortion, reducing the number of mothers who gave birth to unwanted children, and thus reducing the number of people alive today who would be in the peak age group and demographic for committing crimes. Donohue said his study is not pushing a pro-abortion agenda, nor is he recommending abortion as a crime deterrent tool. Instead, he said his study points out the importance of making sure children are born into loving and nurturing environments and preventing unwanted pregnancies. The study has elicited strong opposition from pro-life advocates, but even some researchers neutral on the issue of abortion say the study doesn't hold up under tough scrutiny. Statistician David Murray of the Statistical Assessment Service said the drop in crime rate correlates with a number of different social and cultural developments during the same time period -- everything from the advent of the Internet to the demise of disco music. The latter no more explain the drop in crime than legalized abortion does, he said. They didn't ask the right question and as soon as you ask the right question the effect they think they're seeing disappears and the picture becomes much more obscure, much more cloudy, Murray said. Murray said young males between the ages of 17 and 25 do commit the majority of crimes. If abortion did reduce crime, crime rates would have dropped first among young people. They haven't. The number of crimes committed by older people dropped first. Your trying to identify, retroactively looking backwards, (if) these people (would) have been likely criminals because they fall in social categories that are also likely to be aborted, said Murray, who said the study amounted to racial profiling. He said that while the rate of homicide committed by young men has dropped, the rate of aggravated assaults among the young has increased. And the rate of homicides committed by young females -- which should have been equally affected by abortion as males -- has not dropped. They didn't ask the right question, they looked at all crimes aggregated together and they looked at all age groups within a certain frame as to whether they have committed crimes, Murray said. Maryanne Hackett, a spokesperson for Illinois Right to Life, said the 1.5 million abortions performed in the U.S. every year span the population spectrum. You're not just losing a certain group that might be criminals, Hacket said. You're losing people that contribute and are valuable to society, she said. Hackett said looking to abortion as a solution for the crime problem would be like killing prisoners and drug users to solve crime problems. We're substituting one thing for another. We're not really solving our problems, we're just killing the people that we think create the problems, she said. -- Roe v. Wade: 28 Years of Life Denied http://www.roevwade.org __ To unsubscribe, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED] A HREF=http://www.ctrl.org/;www.ctrl.org/A DECLARATION DISCLAIMER == CTRL is a discussion informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substancenot soap-boxingplease! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright fraudsis used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. Archives Available at: http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html A HREF=http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html;Archives of [EMAIL PROTECTED]/A http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ A HREF=http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/;ctrl/A To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE
[CTRL] FC: Europe weighs recording all phone calls, Net traffic for 7 yrs (fwd)
-Caveat Lector- --- News coverage: http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/5/19003.html The Council of the European Union, which represents the 15 member governments, will discuss implementing a policy originally designed with the FBI six years ago. It calls for the retention of every phone call, every mobile phone call, every fax, every e-mail, every website's contents, all internet usage, from anywhere, by everyone, to be recorded, archived and be accessible for at least seven years, notes the journal. --- Date: Thu, 17 May 2001 01:48:42 +0100 To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] From: Tim Dedopulos [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Any interest -- EU to open 7yrs full data retention to police In-Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Hi Declan. Is the following Statewatch report of any interest to you for Politech? It basically details European Union plans to (a) mandate the recording and storage of all telecoms data within the EU for seven years and (b) to give law enforcement agencies more or less free access to that data... (quote: The EU governments are, in effect, to tell the European Commission (and European Parliament) that the demands of the law enforcement agencies take precedence over the privacy and freedoms of people.) Very worrying for those of us on this side of the pond. Tim. --- http://www.statewatch.org/news/2001/may/03Benfopol.htm investigation, full report: EU-FBI telecommunications surveillance system EU governments to give law enforcement agencies access to all communications data The new initiative by the EU governments to back the demands of their law enforcement agencies (LEAs) only came to light when Statewatch acquired a series of EU documents which it had been refused access to. The documents in question were refused on the grounds that: the matter was still under discussion..[and] disclosure of these document could impede the efficiency of the ongoing deliberations. The demands of the law enforcement agencies centre on the issue of data retention, that is the recording and storage of all telecommunications data: - every phone call, every mobile phone call, every fax, every e-mail, every website's contents, all internet usage, from anywhere, by everyone, to be recorded, archived and be accessible for at least seven years The move by the EU governments (the Council of the European Union) has been sparked by a draft proposal put forward by the European Commission on the processing of personal data and the protection of privacy in the electronic communications sector (COM(2000)385 final, 12.7.00). The proposal would update Directive 97/55/EC but is not intended to create major changes to the substance of the existing Directive, merely to update the existing provisions. The proposal thus builds on the principles of the 1997 law and data protection rules established in EU community law. Also under discussion is a related Communication from the Commission on Creating a Safer Information Society by improving the security of information infrastructures and combating computer-related crime (COM(2000)890 final) (see Statewatch, vol 11 no 1). Here the Commission, in line with community law, emphasises that: interceptions are illegal unless they are authorised by law when necessary in specific cases for limited purposes. The EU-FBI surveillance plan comes home The EU adopted the Requirements developed by the FBI on 17 January 1995 - the Requirements set out demands on network and service providers to provide the law enforcement agencies with both data from intercepted communications and real-time access to transmissions (see Statewatch, vol 7 no 1 4 and 5; vol 8 no 5 6; vol 9 no 6; vol 11 no 1). In September 1998 the EU's Police Cooperation Working Party proposed that the Requirements be extended to cope with internet and satellite phone telecommunications. The initial report (ENFOPOL 98) went through several drafts and ended up as ENFOPOL 19 (15 March 1999) which gathered dust. It transpired that because of the negative press surrounding ENFOPOL 98, which coincided with exposures on the ECHELON spying system, there was a lack of political support to move forward on the issue (report on the Police Cooperation Working Party meeting on 13-14 October 1999 by the European Commission). In the spring of 2000 the EU's Police Cooperation Working Party decided that issues previously discussed under the title of interception of telecommunications would now be called advanced technologies. A report by the same working party (ENFOPOL 52, 12 July 2000) spelled out that an informal inter-pillar link should be created between their work and that being carried out under the first pillar on the global Information Society. The purpose was to bring to the attention of the Telecommunications Council and the Internal Market Council, working on technical and commercial decisions, the need to: safeguard the possibility of lawful interception. On 29 May 2000 the Convention on Mutual Assistance in criminal matters was
[CTRL] FC: Nevada politician unwittingly emails porn to colleagues (fwd)
-Caveat Lector- In Washington, this happened to Sen. Bennett, the former chairman of the Republican High-Tech Task Force and the current chairman of a GOP working group on cyber safety and critical infrastructure protection: http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,43740,00.html From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Date: Tue, 15 May 2001 15:51:46 -0400 Subject: Legislature in Porn Virus Web Your Taxpayer Dollars At Work Lawmaker Accidentally Catches Legislature In Porn Virus Web Law Vegas Review-Journal Communication at the Legislature has come a long way from 20 years ago when lanky powerhouse lobbyist Jim Joyce would wave his tie as a signal to other lobbyists to rescue him from an unwanted conversation But now e-mail is the communication of choice. Got a laptop? Sit in a hearing and e-mail the legislators on the committee during the testimony. Anyone can do it, but it only works with lawmakers who are computer savvy and check their e-mails, like Assemblyman Dennis Nolan, R-Las Vegas. Nolan opened a porn virus which shut down the Legislature's e-mail Wednesday and Thursday. He opened the e-mail, thinking it was from an engineering associate, but it was a virus that sent X-rated pictures to all the people on his address book -- including fellow lawmakers. http://www.lvrj.com/lvrj_home/2001/May-14-Mon-2001/news/16070714.html - POLITECH -- Declan McCullagh's politics and technology mailing list You may redistribute this message freely if it remains intact. To subscribe, visit http://www.politechbot.com/info/subscribe.html This message is archived at http://www.politechbot.com/ - A HREF=http://www.ctrl.org/;www.ctrl.org/A DECLARATION DISCLAIMER == CTRL is a discussion informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substancenot soap-boxingplease! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright fraudsis used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. Archives Available at: http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html A HREF=http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html;Archives of [EMAIL PROTECTED]/A http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ A HREF=http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/;ctrl/A To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
[CTRL] Mo. Dem Governor Under Fire for Expensive Parties (fwd)
-Caveat Lector- conservativeinfo - Subscribe to the Conservative Information email list at http://conservativeinfo.listbot.com Mo. Dem Governor Under Fire for Expensive Parties JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) - Gov. Bob Holden cultivated an image as a careful money manager during two terms as Missouri treasurer before narrowly winning the governor's office last year. But four months after spending nearly $1 million in mostly private money on an inauguration that treated several thousand visitors to a barbecue buffet, four dances and a gala emceed by actor Tony Randall, Holden's inaugural committee is more than $417,000 in debt. Missouri was outspent only by Puerto Rico on its festivities among the 17 gubernatorial inaugurations held since December, an Associated Press survey found. Missouri's is the only inauguration carrying major debt, the AP found. The Missouri inauguration's scale was increased even as the economy slowed. Since the party, Holden has trimmed his state budget and taken other cost-cutting steps, including shutting off fountains at the Capitol. Financial details of the inauguration are murky because Missouri does not require disclosure of private inaugural fund raising and spending. ``This was extremely extravagant for the times and we can't even find out how the governor spent the money or where he's getting donations,'' complained state Rep. Jason Crowell, a Republican from Cape Girardeau. Holden, a Democrat, said he is too busy with his first legislative session as governor to focus on repaying at least 20 creditors, but all have received some money, and ``I'm telling them it is going to be paid, just give me a little bit of time.'' After the Legislature adjourns on Friday, Holden hopes to raise enough money to pay off the debts within two months, he said. That troubles campaign finance watchdogs because Holden will be raising money at the same time he decides the fate of legislation dear to lobbyists and special interests. Missouri law places no limits on private inaugural giving. ``This creates a perception problem that Bob Holden is beholden,'' said Jason Cronin, spokesman for Common Cause in Washington. A Missouri record of at least $997,900 was spent, including $125,400 in taxpayer money. The inauguration included souvenir golf balls, heated tents for dances on the Capitol lawn and a neon inauguration logo suspended in the Rotunda. The public money went for such basics as printing and mailing inaugural invitations and programs. Nearly all of the events were open to the public. The festivities even included Missouri's first inaugural ball for children. ``We wanted to make this memorable for all the people,'' Holden said. The $417,000 debt was discovered by the AP and confirmed by Holden's office, a day after the governor told the AP the debt was just $157,000. After the AP disclosure, Missouri newspaper editorials criticized Holden, the Columbia Daily Tribune declaring he ``got carried away.'' ``It makes citizens cynical,'' commented The Springfield News-Leader. Missourians were bewildered by the inaugural tab. ``That blows my mind. How did he spend that much money? Did he charge a cover?'' asked college student Jennifer O'Brien, 19, of Columbia. Kenny Palmer, 47, of Neosho, shrugged. ``It's politics, and in politics you get used to using other people's money,'' he said. ``But it's hard to understand how you can throw a party and go into the hole.'' In contrast, Holden's fellow Democrat Howard Dean of Vermont spent just $500 from campaign funds for punch and cookies after starting his fifth term as governor. Puerto Rico spent slightly more than $1 million for its weeklong bash, which included three public concerts honoring the commonwealth's first woman governor, Sila M. Calderon. The two Missouri inaugurations before Holden's were staged with about the same amount of public money as Holden's committee received. But the 1993 and 1997 inaugurals each used less than $25,000 in private donations, organizers said. After hearing the cost estimates, Crowell offered legislation requiring disclosure of all future inaugural fund raising and spending by governors. The proposal was approved by the House and awaits Senate debate. ``The people of Missouri should be able to know the who, what, when and why about who's footing the bill for such a huge party,'' Crowell said. Holden declined the AP's request to look at his inauguration financial records. Instead, he released only a list naming contributors and combining money in hand with amounts expected from likely donors. But that created confusion. For example, the Missouri AFL-CIO was listed as a $10,000 donor, but union president Hugh McVey said he ``hasn't donated a dime'' because of a chill in relations between Holden and unions. McVey said he will probably contribute, but declined to say how much. Holden aides said they counted prospective donors because they did not want to embarrass anyone who indicated they might
[CTRL] Dan Rather: Clinton is Honest (fwd)
-Caveat Lector- conservativeinfo - Subscribe to the Conservative Information email list at http://conservativeinfo.listbot.com Tonight, in a taped interview aired on the Fox News Channel's The O'Reilly Factor, host Bill O'Reilly pressed CBS Evening News anchor Dan Rather about former President Bill Clinton's honesty. Here's the exchange: O'Reilly: I want to ask you flat out, do you think President Clinton's an honest man? Rather: Yes, I think he's an honest man. O'Reilly: Do you, really? Rather: I do. O'Reilly: Even though he lied to Jim Lehrer's face about the Lewinsky case? Rather: Who among us has not lied about something? O'Reilly: Well, I didn't lie to anybody's face on national television. I don't think you have, have you? Rather: I don't think I ever have. I hope I never have. But, look, it's one thing- O'Reilly, jumping in: How can you say he's an honest guy then? Rather: Well, because I think he is. I think at core he's an honest person. I know that you have a different view. I know that you consider it sort of astonishing anybody would say so, but I think you can be an honest person and lie about any number of things. O'Reilly: Really?!? Rather: Yeah, I do. O'Reilly: See, I can't. I want my government to be honest across-the-board. I don't want people lying. A HREF=http://www.ctrl.org/;www.ctrl.org/A DECLARATION DISCLAIMER == CTRL is a discussion informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substancenot soap-boxingplease! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright fraudsis used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. Archives Available at: http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html A HREF=http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html;Archives of [EMAIL PROTECTED]/A http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ A HREF=http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/;ctrl/A To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
[CTRL] Teachers with guns
-Caveat Lector- From Gun Owners of America (GOA). http://capwiz.com/gunowners/issues/alert/?alertid=2 (Monday, May 14, 2001) -- Republican Senator Bob Smith of New Hampshire is giving gun-haters fits once again. Smith has filed an amendment allowing teachers and principals to use a gun on school grounds to prevent a school massacre. Currently, federal law prohibits citizens from carrying a gun within a thousand feet of school property in virtually all circumstances. The Smith provision would protect decent Americans like Assistant Principal Joel Myrick of Pearl, Mississippi, who circumvented federal law when he used a firearm in 1997 to stop a killer's rampage. It is imperative that gun owners contact their Senators right away in support of the Smith amendment. The Senate is currently debating an education bill (S. 1) that has become something of a magnet, attracting all kinds of gun-related amendments dealing with kids and schools. Smith's amendment is the only one that would advance Second Amendment rights. On the negative side, Senator Robert Byrd (D-VA) has introduced the most far-reaching anti-gun amendment, as it would impose a new tax upon gun buyers, who will have to purchase lock up your safety trigger locks with every retail handgun sale. Moreover, the Byrd provision would impose lifetime gun bans for juvenile indiscretions and expand the arcane rules making it virtually impossible to teach your kids the safe use of firearms. The Smith and Byrd amendments to S. 1 could be voted on this week. ACTION: Please contact your U.S. Senators and urge them to support the Smith amendment to prevent further school massacres. [The provision is known as Senate Amendment 547, or SA 547.] Also, urge your Senators to vote against anti-gun provisions like the Byrd amendment (SA 410). Scroll up to the Take Action Now feature to use the provided pre-written text, or call your Senators at 877-762-8762 (toll free) or at 202-224-3121. A HREF=http://www.ctrl.org/;www.ctrl.org/A DECLARATION DISCLAIMER == CTRL is a discussion informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substancenot soap-boxingplease! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright fraudsis used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. Archives Available at: http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html A HREF=http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html;Archives of [EMAIL PROTECTED]/A http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ A HREF=http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/;ctrl/A To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
[CTRL] Democrats and Media Lapdogs
Free Congress Foundation's Notable News Now Excerpts from FCF Programming and Other FCF Projects May 16, 2001 The Free Congress Commentary Democrats Win at Game-Playing By Thomas L. Jipping Last week President Bush nominated 11 individuals to fill some of the many vacancies on the U.S. Court of Appeals. All are highly qualified and fit as closely as political circumstances allow the president's substantive standard: judges who will interpret, but not make, law. What's a leftist to do under these circumstances? For eight years, Senate Democrats and their left-wing interest group allies have shoveled coal into the confirmation train's boilers. Well, maybe coal harms the environment too much so maybe they use solar panels. Anyway, for eight years they chanted confirm, confirm, confirm as Clinton nominees rolled through the Senate. President Clinton in fact had a 374-1 confirmation run, even though he had a so-called opposition Senate for six of those eight years. So now it would seem a bit, oh, hypocritical to suddenly apply the confirmation brakes because a Republican is in the White House. They would have to explain all their past ranting about filling vacancies, especially since vacancies are higher now than when all the ranting went on. They would have to find some excuse for the obvious partisan politics, especially since they said for six years that partisan politics had no place in the confirmation process. So they come up with one gimmick after another, anything to throw a wrench in the works. Their latest gem: they did it first!! The current version of this stunt is the claim that Republicans denied confirmation to 167 Clinton judicial nominees. An eager liberal media lap up this dangling statistic and report it without any investigation, without any scrutiny, without a look at all. But as my dad used to say, liars figure and figures lie. What this figure hanging in mid-air is supposed to suggest is that Republicans could have confirmed all those nominees, but chose not to do so. That, in turn, suggests that nominations are all made at the beginning of each two-year Congress, in plenty of time to do all the background checks, hearings, questionnaires, investigations, and follow-ups that are now standard confirmation operating procedure. Not true. When the Congressional Research Service examined nominations that expired at the close of a two-year Congress without receiving a hearing, it excluded nominations made so late that they could not have been considered. Applying that standard knocks out at least eight nominations from the 106th Congress alone. Another problem with the 167 figure is that it double and triple counts individuals nominated in successive Congresses. A dozen of the nominations expiring at the close of the 106th Congress fall in this category and seven, more than half, were confirmed. So Senate Democrats are using as Exhibit A the charge that Republicans prevented individuals from being confirmed who are, in fact, serving as federal judges today. That's a word game worthy of Bill Clinton. The truth is that Republicans never pulled the overt, explicit, in-your-face, partisan obstruction stunts the Democrats are pulling today. Many conservatives urged them to do so, but they never did. Republicans never threatened filibusters - in fact, Republican leaders openly discouraged their colleagues from this approach. Republicans never applied issue-based litmus tests, threatening to deny confirmation to nominees failing to promise to rule the right way on those issues. Republicans never walked out of committee hearings to prevent votes on nominees. Democrats are playing more aggressive, and more partisan, political games than Republican ever did. So even if it were valid to say they did it too, Democrats are still busted. And Democrats still have all their own words to somehow explain away, to pretend that by urging more confirmations they were actually saying the process should slow down. Stay tuned. Thomas L. Jipping is Vice-President for Legal Policy at the Free Congress Foundation. For media inquiries, contact Notra Trulock 202.546.3000 / [EMAIL PROTECTED] For other questions or comments, contact Angie Wheeler [EMAIL PROTECTED] Coalition for Judicial Restraint To see the Coalition for Judicial Restraint weekly report contact John Nowacki at (e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]) Visit our website at http://www.FreeCongress.org
[CTRL] Konformist: Who Will Own the Internet? (fwd)
-Caveat Lector- Please send as far and wide as possible. Thanks, Robert Sterling Editor, The Konformist http://www.konformist.com Who Will Own the Internet? George Mokray [EMAIL PROTECTED] This comes from a trusted source. Phil Agre [EMAIL PROTECTED] =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- =-= This message was forwarded through the Red Rock Eater News Service (RRE). You are welcome to send the message along to others but please do not use the redirect option. For information about RRE, including instructions for (un)subscribing, see http://dlis.gseis.ucla.edu/people/pagre/rre.html =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- =-= Friday, May 11, 2001 Debra Sweezey [EMAIL PROTECTED] Telecom Act Nixed -- Feds Hand Bells the Net This is very likely to be a headline you'll read in next week's paper. When it happens -- and it is happening -- ISPs and CLECs are history, and monopolies rule again. You have just a few weeks to change tomorrow's history, and you have the world's greatest tool for change right at your fingertips. Post notices on news groups, use your mailing list, chat, whatever, as long as you CALL FOR ACTION NOW! There is federal legislation that threatens to hand the Bells the Net. It is called H.R. 1542, misleadingly named the Broadband Relief Act of 2001. It is authored by two very powerful Congressmen, House Commerce Chairman W.J. Billy Tauzin (R-LA) and Ranking Minority Member John Dingell (D-MI), and supported - surprise, surprise, by only four companies. Perhaps you've heard of them: SBC, Verizon, Bell South and Qwest. In essence, the bill allows the RBOCs to immediately begin offering long-distance data service, and eliminates the Telecom Act's requirement that they lease parts of their networks -- including equipment used for high-speed Internet service -- to competitors. Out goes the competition, up go the prices. Share this information with your friends, family, customers, colleagues today! Beg them to make their voices heard. Do they really want the local phone monopoly running the Internet? Do they want higher prices, lousy service, and no new technology? USISPA, the US Internet Service Providers Alliance, is comprised of ISPs and ISP state association across the country, and we are working in the trenches trying to protect consumers and the Internet from the Bell monopolies. We need your help in letting Congress know that what they're trying to do, on the Bells' dime, is not okay with America. We willing and ready to help you any way we can. Please call or email Debra Sweezey of the US Internet Service Providers Alliance, and we'll give you all the information you need. We will give you the contact information for your local representative in addition to sample statements or letters, or we're happy to contact your representative on your behalf. Whatever's easiest for you. We hope you will join the fight for a free and open Internet. We need you! This message comes to you through the United States Internet Service Providers Alliance (USISPA), an alliance of state ISP associations and ISP across the country working to ensure a fair and competitive open telecommunications environment nationwide. For more info or to find how you can help USISPA help you, email Debra Sweezey, Project Director for USISPA, at [EMAIL PROTECTED] or call her at 202-326-0440. = Debra Sweezey Project Director, USISPA 202.326.0440 [EMAIL PROTECTED] * [EMAIL PROTECTED] Internet Freedom and Broadband Deployment Act of 2001 (Introduced in the House) HR 1542 IH 107th CONGRESS 1st Session H. R. 1542 To deregulate the Internet and high speed data services, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES April 24, 2001 Mr. TAUZIN (for himself, Mr. DINGELL, Mr. GOODLATTE, Mr. BOUCHER, Mr. ENGLISH, Mr. FROST, Mr. SMITH of Washington, Mr. LUCAS of Kentucky, Mr. WHITFIELD, Mr. MURTHA, Mr. COLLINS, Mr. BLAGOJEVICH, Mr. FOSSELLA, Mr. DICKS, Mr. GILLMOR, Mr. BARTON of Texas, Mr. KIND, Mr. GREENWOOD, Mr. MEEKS of New York, Mr. CAMP, Mr. BALDACCI, Mr. RAHALL, Mr. HOLDEN, Mrs. MCCARTHY of New York, Mr. BRADY of Pennsylvania, Mr. SIMPSON, Mr. BOYD, Mrs. NORTHUP, Mr. ENGEL, Mr. SANDLIN, Mr. EVERETT, Mr. BOEHNER, Mr. REYNOLDS, Mr. WELDON of Pennsylvania, Mr. SESSIONS, Mr. BONIOR, Mr. MALONEY of Connecticut, Mr. BUYER, Mr. CUNNINGHAM, Mr. MCCRERY, Mr. BISHOP, Mr. LAMPSON, Mr. VITTER, Mr. BASS, Mr. ACKERMAN, Mr. BLUNT, Mr. MCHUGH, Mr. RYAN of Wisconsin, Mr. QUINN, Mr. BACA, Mr. GONZALEZ, Mr. BAKER, Mr. WALSH, Mr. GREEN of Texas, Mr. WEXLER, Mr. OXLEY, Mr. RADANOVICH, Mr. DIAZ-BALART, Mr. COOKSEY, Mr. CLEMENT, Mr. LARSEN of Washington, Mr. SCHROCK, Mr. PETRI, Mr. WATKINS, Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN, Mr. HILLIARD, Mr. OTTER, Mr. SHADEGG, Mr. BRYANT, Mr. PLATTS, Mr. PUTNAM, Mr. CUMMINGS, Mr. RODRIGUEZ, Mr. CONDIT, Mr. BURR of North Carolina, and Mr. WYNN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and
[CTRL] The Wimp in the White House
-Caveat Lector- http://www.jewishworldreview.com/michelle/malkin1.asp Michelle Malkin W. wimps out on guns http://www.jewishworldreview.com -- THE Million Mom March fell about 999,800 bodies short this year. Rosie O'Donnell, a leading anti-gun loudmouth who emceed last year's march and later sought armed security guards for her own children, was a no-show at the pathetically attended protest in Washington, D.C. Similar rallies across the country also fizzled, drawing sparse crowds of liberal activists still sullenly opposed to the Second Amendment. The measly march's message rang loud and clear: Gun-control extremism is a dying movement. Unfortunately, the White House didn't hear it. In Philadelphia this week, President Bush enthusiastically unveiled Project Safe. It's a new gun-policy initiative that will involve gobs of new federal spending and an unprecedented partnership between all levels of government. Unprecedented? Yikes. Gun owners, watch your wallets - and your holsters. The Bush package includes several pet causes of the gun-control lobby, including $75 million for gun locks; $15.3 million for 113 new federal Attorneys to serve as full-time gun prosecutors; and $19.1 million to expand a program by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms aimed at preventing youths from obtaining guns. Although Bush stressed that he simply wants to enforce existing laws, the fine print of Project Safe echoes the gun-grabbing Left's call to ban the importation of high-capacity ammunition clips. There are already 30,000 gun laws on the books. Passing one more law banning ammo clips won't do diddly to reduce gun violence. And I'll bet my .38 that those 113 new federal bureaucrats, under pressure to justify their jobs, will spend most of their day chasing after gun owners guilty of technical violations -- not violent crimes. Kinder Gentler Republicans like Bush who took up the compromise banner of enforcing existing laws have painted themselves into a rhetorical corner. Most of those laws are ineffective in the fight against crime. Instead, they are bureaucratic obstacles that make it unreasonably - if not unconstitutionally -- difficult for law-abiding citizens to purchase, store, and modify guns for protection. Those laws need to be repealed, not enforced. Bush this week cited well-worn anti-gun statistics and condemned the unacceptable number of fatal shooting deaths in the U.S. But like the liberal anti-gun lobby, the GOP president was silent about the untold number of gun shootings committed every year in self-defense. Just two weeks ago, a 12-year-old girl in Clarksdale, Miss., saved her mother's life when she shot and killed an abusive ex-boyfriend who had forced his way into the apartment and started choking her mom. Detective Danny Hill of the Clarksdale Police Department said the brave girl had heard the commotion and she knew from past experience what was going on. So did a Tacoma, Wa., woman who saved her own life in late April after shooting a former boyfriend who invaded her home in violation of two restraining orders. According to police reports, the man had two convictions for domestic violence against the woman over the past year. When he threatened to kill her after breaking into her home, she ran to her bedroom -- where she kept a handgun -- and fired one fatal shot at him. And in Colorado this week, a trial date was finally set for a serial rapist whose terrorism against elderly women ended only after 72-year-old Jean Zamarripa shot him after he broke into her home last fall. When she heard a noise in the backyard, Zamarippa grabbed her loaded .38-caliber revolver. She fired four times when the intruder rammed his shoulder into her back door. I'm just a little grandmother, and I mind my own business, Zamarripa, a retired medical assistant, told the Associated Press. What would I have done if I hadn't had my gun? I would have been just another statistic. What will it take for Beltway Republicans to stop their Clintonesque pandering to Hollywood soccer moms and start representing us gun-owning mammas who don't have Secret Service protection and can't afford to hire armed personal security guards? We refuse to be the statistics you ignore. A HREF=http://www.ctrl.org/;www.ctrl.org/A DECLARATION DISCLAIMER == CTRL is a discussion informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substancenot soap-boxingplease! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright fraudsis
[CTRL] [BP] Project Gutenberg Needs You! (fwd)
-Caveat Lector- Please Be Encouraged To Resend And Repost This Announcement *** ***Project Gutenberg Request for Support for May 16, 2001*** [This is a blatant request for support for Project Gutenberg Please delete it and accept our apology if not interested!!] [We only send such messages once each Spring and/or Autumn.] [We put this off from April 15, so we could include several new state registrations and further information on the rest] Lot's of important news for those who read all the way thru. We Have Made It Much Easier To Volunteer http://promo.net/pg/volunteer.html We Have Made It Much Easier To Donate [More Below] Right now we are in a sort of Catch-22 situation with fundraising right now. . .we are registered in about 1/3 of the states right now, with paperwork in to get to 2/3, but we don't have enough money to register in the last 1/3, and the first 1/3 will start needing to be renewed by the time we get to the last 1/3. . .and the stack of paperwork for these is literally as large as the person handling them. The trustees of the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation have told me we need to raise $25,000 just to complete all this paperwork, as there are lots of fees associated with theses, and we have to hire a CPA to sign the last bunch. . .obviously we did the easiest and least expensive states first. Neither of our trustees have the time to do all this by themselves, so we also have to pay for a 1/4 time assistant, even though our trustees do serve pro bono. We can't get on shows such as Oprah, Regis, Letterman and Leno to do any demonstrations and fundraising until we are registered in all 50 states, and probably also the District of Columbia, so it's even more of a Catch-22 than it first appears. . . . We are expecting to have approximately 4,000 Etexts online by the end of the year, with nearly 2,000 volunteers whom we would like to provide more support for in the areas of copyright research, book finding, scanning, proofreading, etc. Currently every one of the Project Gutenberg sites around the world is operated by a volunteer who provides all the disk space, bandwidth, etc., and we would love to buy our own drives for at least the two major US sites on which we initially post our Etexts. *** As of 05/16/01 contributions are only being solicited from people in: Connecticut, Louisiana, Maine, Missouri, Oklahoma, Colorado, Delaware, Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Montana, Nebraska, South Dakota, Texas, Vermont, Wyoming, South Carolina. = 18 states We have completed filing in the following states, awaiting response: Alabama, Arkansas, California, Georgia, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin and the District of Columbia. We are partially filed in Maryland, they wanted more information. The last 5 states have such incredible paperwork that we haven't quite been able to do it all yet. . .sorry. . . . Alaska, Arizona, Florida, North Carolina, West Virginia. In answer to various questions we have received on this: We are constantly working on finishing the paperwork to legally request donations in all 50 states. If your state is not listed and you would like to know if we have added it since the list you have, just ask. While we cannot solicit donations from people in states where we are not yet registered, we know of no prohibition against accepting donations from donors in these states who approach us with an offer to donate. *** Why Should *YOU* Support Project Gutenberg? Because The Work of Project Gutenberg is: 1. Permanent 2. Free 3. Available 4. Useful 5. Enlightening 6. Growing and, best of all 7. Yours! First a few lines of comment on each of these topics, then a more detailed explanation. 1. Permanent Unlike the usual character of the Internet and the World Wide Web, television and radio, or most other modern media production outlets, Project Gutenberg is a landmark. . .a permanent feature of the Net . . .since before anyone had coined the term Internet. . .since before the World Wide Web. . .and we are now supported by a Trust/ Foundation which will hopefully help continue the existence of PG for more decades, or even centuries into the future. 2. Free There are no hidden costs to use Project Gutenberg, no hardware or software requirements. . .nearly every computer comes with a variety of ways to receive, save, read and search our Etexts. 3. Available There are mirror sites wide varieties of regions, including every continent in the world, even Antarctica. . .to insure everyone has easy access. Within the last month or two, new sites have been announced in Greece, Bulgaria, and Hungary. Contrary to the policies of most Etext operations, Project Gutenberg encourages EVERYONE to download our Etexts and to make
[CTRL] Civil rights and wrongs (fwd)
-Caveat Lector- http://wnd.com/news/printer-friendly.asp?ARTICLE_ID=22810 Civil rights and wrongs By Joseph Farah © 2001 WorldNetDaily.com President Clinton tried last summer through executive order to extend special civil rights protections to those who don't speak English. Executive Order 13166 required federal agencies to provide programs and activities normally provided in English to non-English speaking residents. In other words, Clinton tried to make law, through EO 13166, as he had with a record number of sweeping executive orders specifically designed to go over the heads of Congress and usurp constitutional authority of the legislative branch of government. Clinton's top aide, Paul Begala, you might remember, actually boasted in the New York Times that the administration would use this weapon to bypass Congress any time it pleased. Stroke of the pen, law of the land, he said. Kinda cool. Well, fortunately for once, the U.S. Supreme Court didn't think it was so cool. In a recent 5-4 ruling, the court barred a private right of action to challenge state laws mandating English as the official language. The case called Alexander v. Sandoval involved a Spanish-speaking woman, Martha Sandoval, who demanded that Alabama give her the state driver's license test in her native tongue. Alabama refused, citing its constitutional declaration of English as the official language. This was a good, commonsense ruling in a case that should never have reached the Supreme Court. Imagine poor Martha Sandoval -- so downtrodden and oppressed that she couldn't manage to get a driver's license because the test was in English. But this poor victim had the resources and wherewithal to file a lawsuit that made its way through the lower courts, where she prevailed, and all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. It's ludicrous -- almost as crazy as Clinton's executive orders. But, for a change, the third branch of government actually did the right thing. The Supreme Court, in a narrow, split decision, found that individuals cannot sue under the Civil Rights Act based on disparate impact of laws -- only on intentional discrimination. The ruling raises another question -- unaddressed by the decision itself. There are 25 states that recognize English as the official language of the land, yet, the permanent bureaucracy in many of those states -- as well as the one in Washington -- have for too long ignored those requirements. I lived in California for 20 years. Many years ago California voters approved, by an overwhelming majority, English as the official language. All government communications were to be in English, the voters decided. It was the law of the land. Yet, it has been consistently ignored ever since. Ballots are multilingual. The Department of Motor Vehicles provides instructions in other languages. The state, in short, goes out of its way to drive up taxpayer costs in direct violation of the will of the people and the law of the land. Think of all the money that is wasted on bilingual education alone in the government schools. Not only doesn't bilingual education work, it is counterproductive and extremely costly. Did you know that the law of the land requires naturalized citizens of the United States to demonstrate the ability to read, write and speak simple words in English? Since only citizens are supposed to vote, of what use are bilingual ballots in America? None of this was directly addressed in the Sandoval decision, but it's time for America to start dealing with such fundamental questions. And it's time for the permanent, enabling, self-empowering bureaucracies in state capitals and in Washington to stop breaking the law and to stop flouting the will of the people. I criticized the court last month for its decision in a Texas case, in which it ruled cops could handcuff and arrest drivers for an offense such as not wearing a seatbelt. I still stand by that criticism and see such cloudy thinking as leading directly to a police-state mentality. However, the high court got one right on the same day. The Sandoval case is worth thinking about. It should be an encouragement to Americans frustrated for too long by elitists overruling their commonsense expressions of right and wrong. And it ought to get us all thinking about the need for a common language to hold America together. Joseph Farah is editor and chief executive officer of WorldNetDaily.com and writes a daily column. A HREF=http://www.ctrl.org/;www.ctrl.org/A DECLARATION DISCLAIMER == CTRL is a discussion informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substancenot soap-boxingplease! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright
[CTRL] 60 Hard Truths about Liberals
-Caveat Lector-
{REWRITTEN BY BOB FROM MICHIGAN}
A Christian Tract regarding Biblical Principles of
government.
Title: 60 Hard Truths about Liberals
For those of you who do not know, especially young
people, I am compelled to inform you of the generally
unknown truth that the word Liberal has a proud
heritage and was originally a word that described men
who were the political opposites of modern Liberals.
The word Liberal was forcibly stolen and corrupted
by evil men who intentionally perverted the use and
meaning of the word.
In the long forgotten past, the word Liberal
described honorable and principled men who held to a
philosophy of government that advocated Constitutional
Republicanism. Constitutional Republicanism is a type
of government almost unknown to most of the world.
America was originally a Constitutional Republic. A
Constitutional Republic defined is characterized by a
very small government with limits on its powers of
taxation and whose other powers are strictly limited
by rigorously enforced Constitutional edicts.
But modern Liberals are nothing more and nothing less
than Communists, Socialists and Dictators. Modern
Liberals promote, advocate and enforce the
centralization of all political power into an all
powerful central government. The honorable old
Liberals of the 19th century must be spinning in their
graves over the outrageous corruption and modern use
of the word Liberal.
Following are 60 Truisms concerning Liberals:
1. At the most basic level, the Liberal is anti-God.
He is an intellectually dishonest, unprincipled,
mentally immature, spoiled child who is forever in
search of a world without moral consequence. That is
why the Liberal makes The State his god. The Liberal
worships THE STATE. The Liberal attempts to use his
god (government) to eliminate all moral consequences
for immoral behaviour. In the name of Justice, the
Liberal also pretends to make his god (The State)
level all peoples so that the wise or the beautiful
or the genius will have no advantage over the unwise,
the ugly and the simpleton in the marketplace. The
Liberal calls this tyrannical State of Government,
UTOPIA.
2. The Liberal vainly imagines that freedom from moral
consequence can be secured by a collectivist,
totalitarian state.
3. Liberals use moralistic platitudes and catchy
phrases like social justice and The Brotherhood of
Man to appeal to the naive masses who are duped into
believing that the ultimate goals of Liberals are
genuinely benign and beneficient. However at the root,
like the Prince in Machiavellis greatest work, the
single moral principle that Liberals adhere to is the
continual accumulation and centralization of all
power.
4. The ideologies of Liberals must inevitably end in
world-wide totalitarianism.
5. All non-sexual individual freedoms are despised by
the Liberal. Why? Because those kinds of individual
freedoms, (such as economic self-reliance) demand
moral responsibility.
6. The fundamental power struggle of Liberals may be
classified as the individual versus the collective.
The Liberal supports the collective in every contest
against the individual. The individual must be
relieved of all power in favor of the collective. All
power must be centralized.
7. Liberals hate Individualism because it demands
moral responsibility. Liberals support collectivism
because they hope to eliminate the need for moral
responsibility.
8. The U.S. Constitution and specifically the support
for rugged individualism which is evident in the Bill
of Rights, is the enemy of the Liberal.
9. The Liberal despises the United States because it
is the premier protector and promoter of individualism
in the world.
10. In the mind of a Liberal, all institutions and
concerns - schools, environment, courts, etc. - serve
no relevant purpose other than the promotion of
collectivism.
11. In the depraved thought processes of a Liberal,
abortion becomes necessary to guarantee sexual freedom
and eliminate moral consequence.
12. The basis of traditional healthy psychology is to
help individuals take personal responsibility for the
choices they have made and to help them make better
choices in the future. The basis of modern psychology
as defined by the Liberals who are members of the
self-deluded, isolated and ill-educated Professorial
Class living in their government financed socialist
Ivory Towers, is the elimination of moral
responsibility.
13. In order to advance their agenda, Liberals create
an atmosphere of crisis and fear that is used to
justify their collectivist oppression. Liberals love
to go to war against other nations for it is during
times of war that they are most successful in getting
the most oppressive legislation passed in Congress.
Check your history books and you will see that every
major war America has fought in the last 100 years was
started by a Liberal or a statist who philosophically
supported centralized government.
14. Any religion or religious person who
[CTRL] Reports that McVeigh had collaborators (fwd)
-Caveat Lector- Reports that McVeigh had collaborators http://disc.server.com/Indices/149495.html If the Kansas City Star is correct, the new evidence is likely to give a boost to reports that McVeigh had collaborators, including some from within the white supremacist movement -- a theory that has not been widely reported inside the U.S., perhaps because it differs with the federal government's version of events that prosecutors told the jury. The U.K. Independent recently ran a compelling three-part series that says new evidence reveals he was part of an undergound network of white supremacists. (http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/story.jsp?story=71520) FBI Database Problem Delays McVeigh's Death http://www.cluebot.com/article.pl?sid=01/05/13/1856213 posted by cicero on Sunday May 13, @01:48PM From the blame-it-on-the-computer dept. The U.S. government has postponed Timothy McVeigh's scheduled death until June 11 because the FBI failed to turn over 3,000 pages of documents to McVeigh's defense lawyers. Details remain sketchy, but it appears as though the problem arose because of a disconnect between the existence of the documents in physical form and their corresponding entries in a database. In other words, the FBI never typed in summaries of those documents, so they didn't appear when operators did database searches. According to the FBI: Over the course of the last several months, the FBI exercised due diligence to ensure that all records created as a result of the investigation were logged into and compared with each of 26 data bases which serve as a repository for information. During this process it was determined that some of the materials from various FBI field offices were not a part of the investigative database. (http://www.fbi.gov/pressrel/pressrel01/defenbaugh.htm) On Thursday, the Justice Department sent a letter to McVeigh's attorneys saying that materials include FBI reports of investigation (302s and inserts) and physical evidence, such as photographs, written correspondence and tapes. (http://www.usdoj.gov/opa/pr/2001/May/214ag.htm) This marks at least the fifth time in recent years that the FBI has failed to disclose evidence in a major case, the Los Angeles Times reports. The problem is that the FBI has a terrible record for turning over this kind of material, Herman Schwartz, an American University law professor who has studied the FBI, told the Times. (http://www.latimes.com/print/asection/20010512/t39883.html) The Washington Post today notes that 46 of the FBI's 56 field offices did not turn over documents, and blames the problem on the agency's insular culture. (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A20334-2001May12.html) The Globe and Mail notes that congressional hearings have also recently been told that the FBI concealed evidence that would have exonerated Joseph Salvati, who spent 30 years in prison for murder before being freed. (http://www.globeandmail.com/gam/International/20010512/UFBIINSB.html) Reaction on Capitol Hill veered between blaming the FBI employees and blaming technology. House Judiciary chairman James Sensenbrenner pointed out in a press release that he had anticipated such problems. He said: Because of concern about the FBIs antiquated computer systems, three senior members of the House Judiciary Committee joined me on April 25, 2001, in writing Director Freeh about the Bureaus information technology problems. In that letter, we wrote The Committee is concerned that the FBI has information technology systems that are slow, unreliable, and obsolete - systems that are unable to address the Bureaus critical needs. Lamar Smith, chairman of the House Crime subcommittee, said: The latest development in the McVeigh case only heightens the need for accurate and efficient record keeping. The FBI dealt with a situation of immense magnitude following the Oklahoma City bombing. A great amount of data was generated. As a result, a more sophisticated and updated computer system was necessary to process the information. But based on the scarce details made public so far, that wasn't the problem. The problem does not appear to be the sophistication of the FBI's computer system, but human error in that FBI agents did not enter documents into the database. This database snafu could have a tremendous impact on the future of the case. Until now, McVeigh has reportedly accepted his execution, even to the point of not pursuing appeals. Now, his defense attorneys say, he may consider dropping his wish to die. (http://www.latimes.com/print/asection/20010512/t39880.html) They've filed a new appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court based on this new evidence, which the Kansas City Star says includes witness reports about other
[CTRL] Endangered Liberties
Free Congress Foundation's Notable News Now Excerpts from FCF Programming and Other FCF Projects May 14, 2001 Inside Stories Paul Weyrich's Endangered Liberties Commentary: U.N. Trying to Confiscate U.S. Gun Rights The Free Congress Commentary Who, What, When, Where? What Has Happened to Our Privacy? by Lisa S. Dean From the Endangered Liberties Television Program It seems that everywhere you go these days, you can't escape the cameras. It's as if the lives of every American citizen has become his own Truman Show. Depending on where you live, the cameras snap a picture of you crossing the street, sitting at an intersection or driving along a highway. But is anyone watching? In September of last year, 48,000 motorists traveling along a Maryland interstate received letters from the Maryland Mass Transit Administration which read as follows: Your vehicle was seen traveling on southbound I-95 near I-195 on Wednesday, Sept. 27. Please provide the following information: Where were you going? Who was with you? What was the purpose of your trip? The 48,000 drivers who received the letter were not accused of any crime. The state was merely asking the questions for information purposes taking advantage of the new surveillance technology along the Maryland highways to conduct traffic surveys. Some have questioned the constitutionality of these systems, whether they are cameras that issue tickets or monitoring by transit administrations of motorists on highways. One of those questioning is House Majority Leader Dick Armey, who, this week, sent a strong letter to Interior Secretary Gale Norton which read, I am concerned that this may be seen as a step toward a Big Brother surveillance state, where the government monitors the comings and goings of its citizens and urged Norton to review these systems and take the steps needed to protect the privacy of the millions of Americans who use them. Specifically, Armey shares the concerns of many Virginia residents who have to endure the National Park Service's traffic cameras that are situated along the George Washington Memorial Parkway, a route that many commuters as well as tourists take every day. Because the speed limit along the Parkway is much lower than the normal traffic speed, the issuance of tickets through these cameras would make an effective revenue-generating source and this of course is what the National Park Service is counting on. With the typical boldness of a federal agency, the National Park Service has established these cameras through a federal regulation, in complete disregard for the authority of the state governor, who opposes such law enforcement measures as well as without Congressional approval. In a letter to Majority Leader Armey last year, Virginia Governor Jim Gilmore stated While there is clearly the necessity to assure public safety through effective enforcement of traffic laws, the use of cameras, operating without human judgment reduces our system of justice to trial by machinery without the presumption of innocence. And that statement is the heart of the matter. Law enforcement, in using technology to aid in enforcing the letter of the law, is changing the spirit behind those laws by not taking in to account that it's the job of police officers to issue citations to people and cameras only issue citations to objects, such as automobiles. Receiving a ticket in the mail from the county or the state with the accusation of a traffic violation, with a photograph enclosed of your vehicle's license plate, is certainly not enough evidence to prove that you're guilty of the crime for which you're being accused. In fact, by issuing tickets in this manner, the state is actually making the assumption that you were the driver of the vehicle. There's a problem in doing so. Traditional US law makes no assumptions. If it did, our court system would look radically different and the phrase innocent until proven guilty would mean nothing. Both Governor Gilmore and Majority Leader Armey should be applauded for taking issue with the constitutionality of law enforcement's methods and their impact on the privacy of American citizens. While the possibilities of using technology to catch criminals are endless, it is critical for law enforcement, at all levels, to use it responsibility, and that means within constitutional bounds. Lisa Dean is Vice President for Technology Policy at the Free Congress Foundation. For media inquiries, contact Notra Trulock 202.546.3000 / [EMAIL PROTECTED] For other questions or comments, contact Angie Wheeler [EMAIL PROTECTED] U.N. Trying to Confiscate U.S. Gun Rights by Paul M. Weyrich From the Endangered Liberties Television Program One of the reasons I always thought the various proposals to move the United Nations headquarters out of the United States had merit has to do with the sorts of meetings which this outfit hosts on a regular basis. Come this July, every opponent of guns in the world,
[CTRL] Forced Union Dues
-Caveat Lector- conservativeinfo - Subscribe to the Conservative Information email list at http://conservativeinfo.listbot.com New Law Would Stop Forced Union Dues For Politics By Jim Burns CNSNews.com Senior Staff Writer May 11, 2001 Harry Beck, the Oregon telephone repairman whose refusal to pay compulsory union dues led to a 1988 U.S. Supreme Court decision in his favor, told a House subcommittee Thursday that a new federal law is needed to stop such abuses. The law would prevent what is known as closed shops, where workers are required to join a union as a condition of employment, in favor of open shops where workers have a choice of joining a union. Beck told the House Subcommittee on Workforce Protections they can make a difference. Before the House of Representatives again this year is a bill which can go a long way to freeing us from these abuses. The National Right to Work act finally would codify Beck, he said. Rep. Bob Goodlatte is sponsoring the National Right To Work Act this year. Goodlatte said his bill would restore the system of voluntary unionism that the founders of American labor unions originally intended. Since the Wagner Act of 1935 made forced union dues a keystone of federal labor law, millions of American workers have been forced to pay for union 'representation' that they neither choose nor desire, said Goodlatte. The National Right To Work Act reduces federal power over America's labor markets, promotes economic growth and a higher standard of living and enhances freedom, he added. It is up to this honored body, Beck said, to step forward with legislative care to release hardworking men and women from ever again being forced to pay servitude to union bosses in order to feed and clothe their families. We need your protection, and we need it now. Don't let this bill be watered down by liberal political correctness. How much longer do we have to wait? It's now up to you. The U.S. Supreme Court in 1988 ruled that objecting employees can reclaim compulsory union dues that are not used for collective bargaining activities, such as politics. Beck told the subcommittee he has nothing against anyone wanting to join a labor union, even though he didn't want to. I believe anyone who wishes to join a labor union should have the unfettered right to do so. I believe union workers must be allowed to be engaged in union political activity, as an example of this country's belief in freedom of speech. However, the freedom of speech carries with it the freedom to express speech when it disagrees with union bosses, said Beck. Subcommittee Chairman Charles Norwood (R-Ga.) said the purpose of Thursday's hearing was oversight, meaning the subcommittee was ascertaining information from witnesses in order to craft future legislation. Our oversight objective is very narrow and clear, Norwood said. What are these workers complaining about? They say some unions disregard the limitations placed upon their conduct.. Simply, they claim that their unions are overreaching. Norwood added, Based on the evidence I have seen, I am convinced that some union locals do, in fact, regularly trample on the rights of individuals in far excess of the scope of their permissible authority. What we learned from the Supreme Court in the Beck case is that often, more than 70 percent of these monies are used for purposes not associated with the union's collective bargaining related functions. However, Wendy Fields- Jacobs of the United Auto Workers organizing department, told the committee, her union has allowed their members to receive a rebate on their dues if they are used for political purposes. For almost thirty years the UAW's constitution has allowed members who do not agree with the Union's political and legislative activities to receive a rebate of the portion of their dues use for these purposes. To receive this rebate, which amounts to only a small percentage of total dues, a member only has to send a letter to the Union's Secretary-Treasurer, said Fields-Jacobs. She added, Historically, only a tiny number of members have objected to the use of their dues for political purposes and requested the rebate. This is because the vast majority of UAW members strongly support the participation of the Union in political and legislative activities. UAW members recognize that what the Union is able to achieve through collective bargaining is profoundly affected by decisions made in Washington and in state capitals across the country. Rep. Major Owens (D-N.Y.), the subcommittee's ranking Democrat, expressed similar sentiment. Beck was decided in 1988. Since that decision, there have been less than 100 cases pending at the NLRB concerning Beck rights. In a single year, the NLRB issues more than 1,000 complaints alleging unlawful discharge of a worker by an employer. Yet, a worker has more protection to refuse to pay a few dollars a month to a union than the worker gets when he or she is fired for supporting
[CTRL] FC: 2600 plans hacker-caravan to courtroom showdown with Ford (fwd)
-Caveat Lector- *** Background: http://www.politechbot.com/p-01956.html *** Date: Sun, 13 May 2001 15:32:24 -0400 (EDT) From: Macki [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: Declan McCullagh [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: 2600 is meeting Ford in court In-Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Message-ID: [EMAIL PROTECTED] MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII X-UIDL: 27e1d1aff3e15f7db2ff47e465a61169 Declan, The first court hearing in the lawsuit from Ford is this Friday (May 18th) in Detroit. We've actually retained a lawyer and expect to mount a rigorous defense. A caravan is being organized for supporters to drive out from Long Island to Detroit, and a new website has been launched (this time with content) http://www.FordReallySucks.com --Macki - POLITECH -- Declan McCullagh's politics and technology mailing list You may redistribute this message freely if it remains intact. To subscribe, visit http://www.politechbot.com/info/subscribe.html This message is archived at http://www.politechbot.com/ - A HREF=http://www.ctrl.org/;www.ctrl.org/A DECLARATION DISCLAIMER == CTRL is a discussion informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substancenot soap-boxingplease! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright fraudsis used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. Archives Available at: http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html A HREF=http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html;Archives of [EMAIL PROTECTED]/A http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ A HREF=http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/;ctrl/A To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
[CTRL] Liberal Media Bias This Week (fwd)
-Caveat Lector- conservativeinfo - Subscribe to the Conservative Information email list at http://conservativeinfo.listbot.com Notable Quotables May 14,2001 Vol. Fourteen; No. 10 This week's examples of the media's liberal bias from the Media Research Center. Respected vs. Controversial Among the most controversial...Michael McConnell, who argued in support of banning homosexuals from the Boy Scouts. -- ABC's Jackie Judd reporting President Bush's first federal judge nominations, World News Tonight, May 8. ...Michael McConnell, a widely respected legal scholar who once clerked for Justice William Brennan, one of the court's most revered liberal judges. -- Jim Angle on FNC's Special Report with Brit Hume, same night. Indicted Democrat = Republican Now [Congressman James] Traficant is a Democrat, but this indictment is actually an embarrassment to Republican leaders. They gave him $20 million last year for a project in his district in return for his support of the Republicans. -- Linda Douglass, ABC's World News Tonight, May 4. Wolf Blitzer: Jon, is this more of an embarrassment for Democrats or Republicans? He's a Democrat who voted for the Republican Speaker. Jonathan Karl: Well, James Traficant is a lifetime Democrat, but Democrats are very quick to point out not only did he voted for the Speaker, but that the Republicans have courted him aggressively. Republicans last year in Congress helped funnel some $20 million in federal projects to Traficant's district. So the spin from the Democrats here is that this is a Republican embarrassment. -- Exchange on CNN's Wolf Blitzer Reports, May 4. Bush's Permanent Damage During the campaign, Bush sounded like an environmentalistAnd early on, he upholds Clinton restrictions on diesel fuel pollution. But since then Bush suspends a ban on new roads in national forests, proposes canceling new mining rules, reconsiders Clinton wilderness designations, considers opening the Arctic wilderness to oil drilling, reneges on a campaign promise to lower carbon dioxide emissions and now is about to cancel a plan to save endangered grizzlies by re-introducing them to wilderness areas out West, a concession to Idaho's GovernorConcerned Republicans worry Bush may have already lost pro-environment Republicans and independents, voters crucial to the success of his presidency, to say nothing, they say, of the more permanent damage to the environment. -- Andrea Mitchell, NBC Nightly News, April 30. Shooting Down Missile Defense There is a little skepticism in the air here today. Some cynicism, too. The government has an idea of how to spend $50 billion of your money. That's BILLION. It will be spent on building a system to safeguard the national security -- but by the government's own assessment it will probably not be foolproof, it will unnerve America's allies, and in the end it may cost considerably MORE than $50 billion. A more critical assessment is that this system can never be made to work, that it will torpedo the basis of all arms control arrangements, and that in any event, any terrorist or ârogue nation' that means to wreak havoc on U.S. soil can do so in ways that this system will not prevent. -- Peter Jennings in his Jennings Journal e-mail to viewers, May 1. One other note. Critics often object to the animation in news reports because the animation usually has the systems working. -- Peter Jennings on the May 1 World News Tonight after a missile defense story which included animation. President Bush is preparing a major speech on another controversial space program, the so-called missile defense shield designed to shoot down incoming missiles in space. This is a concept that's at once feared and reviled, from Beijing to Moscow, from within Washington, D.C. to European capitals. -- Tom Brokaw, NBC Nightly News, April 30. Lauer's Left-Wing Approach Critics of the President say he speaks like a moderate and acts like a conservative, that he does one thing and says another. How do you respond to that? What about on the subject of the environment? During the campaign he, he portrayed himself as an environmentally friendly person. And now of course he's, he's either moved back or delayed several initiatives that would help clean up the environment. In fairness though, he said that he will not go along with caps on carbon dioxide emissions from power plants, and he's going to delay reductions in arsenic in drinking water. The President's gonna start talking about a national missile defense system. How is he going to make a case for that, Karen, when some of the fundamental tests of that system in the past have not come out well? Is it worth pursuing that at a cost of billions of dollars? -- Matt Lauer's questions to White House counselor Karen Hughes, April 30 Today. Vouching for False Ad Well there's nothing inaccurate in that ad. -- Tim Russert to White House senior advisor Karl Rove, in reference to a DNC ad in which a little girls asks,
[CTRL] DON'T LET THE BILLION-MOM LIE WIN THE INFO WAR (fwd)
-Caveat Lector- ALERT FROM JEWS FOR THE PRESERVATION OF FIREARMS OWNERSHIP America's Aggressive Civil Rights Organization (Subscribe/UnSubscribe instructions near the end of the message) May 12, 2001 ALERT: DON'T LET THE BILLION-MOM LIE WIN THE INFO WAR First there was the Million Mom March. Photos showed that only 40,000 showed up for the famous march on Washington, D.C., But that didn't matter: the moms got the uncritical support of the media and millions of dollars in foundation funding to help them disarm you and your family. Now, those politically connected women have joined with their global counterparts to perpetrate an even bigger lie. The Billion Mom March (www.billionmommarch.org) plans to enlist women all over the world in a strident demand to abolish to your gun rights. This time they're planning year-long activities instead of one big march. (Perhaps that's to make it harder for skeptics to discover that they're not a billion-member grassroots effort, but an elite, well-funded public relations corps.) One guess as to where the Billion Mom March was born. That's right -- at the United Nations. Their plans were created at a March 2001 U.N. conference on small arms. They formally announced their intentions at the U.N. on Thursday, May 10. The first major focus of their efforts will be yet another U.N. conference on small arms, this July. There will never be a billion moms marching for disarmament. What there will be is another yet another -- bigger, louder, better-financed -- round of lies and law-making. This time it will be global, not merely national. The only way to combat the effect of these Big Lie campaigns and the useful idiots who fall under their sway is learn in detail what they're trying to do and understand what makes them do it. Then use facts to persuade family members, friends, co-workers, newspaper editors, and maybe even some of those marching moms of the real truth -- that guns in the hands of responsible civilians are the healthiest thing for the children. (Don't the billion moms remember that Hitler slaughtered 1.5 million children whose disarmed parents couldn't protect them?) Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership has two illustrated, easy-to-read booklets that offer the most hard- hitting, yet simple, arguments against the Big Liars of the U.N.-inspired Billion Moms: Gran'pa Jack No. 5, The United Nations is Killing Your Freedoms!, exposes how the U.N., with the approval of the U.S. government (and with *your* taxes), has laid the groundwork for destroying nearly every part of the Bill of Rights - and is now forcefully moving to implement its plans. Gran'pa Jack No. 7, Do Gun Prohibitionists Have a Mental Problem?, (co-authored by Dr. Sarah S. Thompson) exposes the underlying motivations of millions of anti-gunners and can help you: * Understand why so many people are anti-gun * Communicate effectively with your anti-gun friends and family members * Avoid frustrating and ineffective arguments * Defuse emotionally charged discussion about guns Invest just six dollars, get both these booklets, and you'll have answers at your fingertips next time someone says they want to take away guns for the children. While you're at it, order a few copies for friends. Gran'pa Jack #5: http://www.jpfo.org/gpjack5.htm Gran'pa Jack #7: http://www.jpfo.org/gpjack7.htm The Liberty Crew See our special on the Photon Micro-Light II Personal Flashlight: http://www.jpfo.org/store.htm NEW! Gun clubs can become JPFO affiliates for only $40 annual dues. Affiliate with both JPFO and CCOPS at the same time: only $59.95! Call for details. 1-800-869-1884 Are you buying books, CDs, or videos? Help JPFO earn a commission on your purchases, Click through to Amazon.com via the JPFO web site at: http://www.jpfo.org/bookstore.htm 4-cents per minute long distance http://www.jpfo.org/helpjpfo.htm Original Material in JPFO ALERTS is Copyright 2001 JPFO, Inc. Permission is granted to reproduce this alert in full, so long as the following JPFO contact information is included: Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership PO Box 270143 Hartford, Wisconsin 53027 Phone: 1-262-673-9745 Orders only: 1-800-869-1884 (toll-free!) Fax: 1-262-673-9746 Web: http://www.jpfo.org/ JPFO ALERTS is provided as a free service to the Internet Community. If you wish to help support this service, consider joining JPFO! $20/year (no, you don't have to be Jewish!) Join for 2 years and receive a free JPFO lapel pin! To SUBSCRIBE to JPFO Alerts: send a blank e-mail to: [EMAIL
[CTRL] INSIDE THE NEW OKLAHOMA CITY FBI DOCUMENTS (fwd)
-Caveat Lector- INSIDE THE NEW OKLAHOMA CITY FBI DOCUMENTS http://disc.server.com/Indices/149495.html From: pdxs [EMAIL PROTECTED] - 5/14/01 What could possibly be in the thousands of pages of FBI records that the government withheld from the lawyers representing Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols? How about proof or a larger conspiracy, or evidence that the government knew about the bomb plot in advance? Here's a look at where some of that information might come from, excerpted from Jim Redden's book Snitch Culture (Feral House, 2000): WHAT DID THEY KNOW ... AND WHEN DID THEY KNOW IT According to the U.S. Justice Department, the government's mishandling of the Waco stand-off led directly to the largest single act of domestic terrorism in United States history, the April 19, 1995 bombing of the Alfred E. Murrah federal official building in Oklahoma City. Federal prosecutors claim that former U.S. Army buddies Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols blew up the building to avenge the death of the Davidians. But at least one informant had tipped the government off to the plot in advance, raising the question of why it was allowed to proceed. At the very least, news reports and court records suggest the government and private advocacy groups were tracking McVeigh years before the bombing. He visited Waco during the 51-day siege, talking with other government critics and openly selling anti-New World Order literature and bumper stickers on the hood of a car. As it turns out, the government was watching those who came to show their support for the Davidians. The FBI kept tabs on 'right-wing' sympathizers who flocked to Waco during the siege and monitored Internet traffic, the Associated Press reported on October 9, 1999. Shortly after McVeigh was arrested for the bombing, the Cable News Network reported that he had come to attention of undercover government operatives at an Arizona gun show. At that time, McVeigh was reportedly making a living buying and selling weapons and anti-government literature at gun shows around the country. The report did not say whether the operatives were BATF agents or paid informants. Another sign that the government was or should have been aware of McVeigh surfaced on April 21, two days after the Oklahoma City bombing, when the Anti-Defamation League issued a press release tying McVeigh to The Spotlight, a populist weekly newspaper with anti-Semitic overtones published by a small, far-right, conspiracy-minded organization based in Washington DC called the Liberty Lobby. The ADL release, which was picked up by the Washington Post, said that McVeigh had purchased a classified advertisement in the August 9, 1993 issue of The Spotlight to sell rocket launchers. According to the ADL, McVeigh purchased the ad under the name T. Tuttle. The ADL press release was mostly accurate. McVeigh had bought an ad for a flare gun he called a Law Launcher replica using the name T. Tuttle. But how did the ADL know about the ad? The ADL either had someone close to McVeigh, or the government was tracking him and sharing the information with the organization. In the months following the bombing, the government alleged that McVeigh and Nichols were assisted in the bomb plot by one or more John Does. A drawing of John Doe # 2 was released and widely circulated. As time went on, however, the government backed down from this claim, eventually saying that McVeigh and Nichols acted alone. Many independent reporters and researchers still believe that other people were involved in the plot, however. A freelance journalist named J.D. Cash was the first to report that McVeigh and at least a half-dozen other men planned the bombing at Elohim City, a Christian Identity community called in rural Oklahoma. McVeigh had been tied to Elohim City shortly after he was arrested. The phone card mentioned in the ADL press release had been used to call the community two weeks before the bombing. On February 11, 1997, Cash published a story in the small McCurtain Daily Gazette which revealed that a BATF informant named Carol Howe had infiltrated Elohim City before the bombing. Howe had seen McVeigh (whom she knew as Tuttle) and a number of other residents and visitors plotting to blow up the Oklahoma City federal office building in late 1994. Although these allegations were largely ignored by the corporate press, they were later confirmed by internal BATF documents which proved Howe was an informant, that she saw McVeigh and other plotting to blow up the Alfred E. Murrah building, and she notified her superiors of the plot before the actual bombing. The key to Howe's story is Elohim City, a primitive community founded Robert Millar, a right-wing preacher. It was a common meeting place for militant white supremacists over the years, including members of The Order, a racist gang that murdered Jewish radio talk show host Alan Berg and staged a series of high-profile bank robberies in the early 1980s. As Time magazine
[CTRL] The Million Liars
-Caveat Lector- http://www.nationalreview.com/comment/comment-lampo051101.shtml The Million Mom Posse When will these Million Moms stop lying about kids and guns? By David Lampo, publications director at the Cato Institute May 11, 2001 9:05 a.m. They're baaack. Just when you thought you were safe from Rosie and the anti-gun nuts because their candidate Al Gore got Bushwhacked, the Million Mom March folks are back, planning a series of Mother's Day events peddling the same lies and about kids and guns as last year. This year things are a bit different, however. Last Mother's Day, they and their sister organizations such as Handgun Control and the Violence Policy Center organized the march on Washington to promote sensible gun laws. Boasting an attendance of 750,000 and reinforced with Hollywood star power such as Rosie O'Donnell, they exploited the tragedy of the then-recent killings at Columbine High by bemoaning the 12 kids a day killed by guns. They called for closing the gun-show loophole and passing a host of federal gun-control legislation including licensing and registration, all in the name of gun safety. They had the media with them and some big-time momentum. Until Election Day, that is. Many working-class Democrats, fond of both hunting and their guns, deserted the party and voted for President Bush, putting normally Democratic states such as Arkansas, Tennessee, and West Virginia in the Republican column. A year later, most of the Million Mom staff has been laid off; the crime rate continues its dramatic drop; and the National Rifle Association's membership has soared to 4.3 million. But these gals never give up. Since there is little likelihood of any new gun legislation coming out of Washington, they've decided that this year there will be a series of state and local rallies instead, all promoting gun safety, of course, and including everything from a blood drive in Kentucky to Family Day in Morristown, N.J., to crafts and play activities for the children, singing groups, and presentations by local celebrities in Alexandria, Va. Gotta hand it to them; these ladies know how to have a good time. Except for one thing. They're still lying about kids and guns. That is not a good thing. It sets a bad example for the kids. On their website they still talk about honoring the memory of the 10 children who die from gunfire every single day in America. This is simply not true. According to the National Center for Health Statistics, in 1998 there were 609 firearm-related fatalities among children up to and including 14 years of age, and of these, 121 were accidental. The number of children accidentally killing other children with handguns could be counted on two hands. More kids drown in backyard pools or from accidents involving space heaters or bicycles than die in gun accidents. In fact, the number of gun accidents are at record lows, so one would think that Moms everywhere would be celebrating. But not these Moms. They're on a mission. So they embellished the numbers by throwing in teens up to 20 years of age. That adds 2,184 kids murdered, 1,241 suicides, and another 262 killed accidentally every year. Ahh, much better. That gives us 3, 751 kids a year killed by guns. What they don't tell you is that most of those murdered teens are not shot on the way from a hayride. Many of them are involved in gangs, drugs, or crime, and many are themselves cold-blooded killers, the very perpetrators of gun violence so bemoaned by these sanctimonious Moms. Nearly three quarters of these murder victims have criminal records. Most crime is, in fact, committed by a very narrow segment of our population. The idea that anyone can become a murderer simply because there's a gun lying around is simply balderdash. It seems to be designed to instill fear. Fear of your family; fear of your friends; fear of yourself. Not a very sunny view of the world. The Moms also don't tell you that virtually every academic study done shows that restrictions on guns do not affect the overall rate of suicide, only the portion committed with guns. As Prof. Gary Kleck has observed in his book, Targeting Guns, after summarizing the academic studies, There is no statistically significant association between gun availability levels and total suicide rates. The causes of teenage suicide apparently have much more to do with Moms than with guns, but everyone loves a scapegoat. Like gun shows. After Columbine, gun shows became Public Enemy No. 1 among all right thinking people, and closing the gun-show loophole remains their number one priority in Congress. The gun-show loophole has been bemoaned by Bill and Hillary, by Sarah Brady at Handgun Control, and by good Moms everywhere. Why, if we didn't have the loophole, they reason, the massacre at Columbine wouldn't have happened. The loophole they keep
[CTRL] You have a right to a firearm (fwd)
-Caveat Lector- http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=22786 You have a right to a firearm By Jon Dougherty © 2001 WorldNetDaily.com So long as there are idiots out there who are trying to convince people to disarm themselves so they can be maimed or killed by violent criminals, I will fulfill my journalistic duty to remind folks that they don't necessarily have to become a statistic if they don't want to. You have a constitutional right to own a firearm -- handgun, shotgun, rifle -- if you so choose. And, like all our other rights -- free speech, freedom of religion, the right to avoid self-incrimination -- your right to own a gun cannot be infringed, taken away, banned, limited, or ignored. You may not agree with or like Buddhism, Wicca or Islam, but in America you don't have the right to forbid people from observing or practicing those religions. You may not agree with or like what WorldNetDaily or Rush Limbaugh or Bill Clinton or the New York Times has to say, but you don't have the right to order them to shut down or shut up. Consequently, you can belong to all the million mom or handgun control groups you want, but you don't have the right to forbid, limit, or ban persons from buying and owning firearms. It's as much a constitutional right as any other. Maybe too few people realize this because too few schools provide kids with proper constitutional instruction. I know of and have heard of teachers who badmouth and ridicule the Second Amendment just because they personally don't like guns. Ironically, however, they use their First Amendment right of free speech to trash the Second. Or maybe it's because too few media pinheads have a clue about the proper constitutional rights and responsibilities of citizens and government alike. I know of lots of journalists who would rather be invited to parties held by anti-liberty minded politicians than remind their readers of their right to own a firearm. Or maybe it's because too many communities ban or severely restrict access to guns while too many judges and lawmakers let these communities get by with it. I know of lots of local big fish who are of the mind that they should be dictators of their own little domain and should have the right to restrict gun rights (and others) at their leisure or whim. But whatever the reason, the one irrefutable fact of the matter is this: Americans do now and have always had the right to keep and bear arms, because our Constitution says we can -- and there isn't a damned thing gun opponents can do about it. Or rather, there shouldn't be anything they can do about it. Far too many federal, state and local politicians and judges are just as anti-gun, all-controlling and hypocritical about the Constitution and the rights it guarantees we the people. Oddly, they will let kids view pornography on the Internet but are against letting a 100-pound woman carry a gun in her purse so she can defend herself against a 220-pound male rapist. My guess is if more lawmakers and judges were attacked, beaten or raped, they'd suddenly see the wisdom of the Second Amendment. I'm not advocating that, mind you, but unless you've been in that kind of situation, it's very easy to deny others the right to defend themselves -- especially if you're personally surrounded with a boatload of armed personal bodyguards or cops. People should understand that while some anti-gun advocates really believe what they are doing is right, their efforts to make sure you're unarmed are inherently more dangerous to you than guns themselves. Criminals love helpless, hapless victims. Always have, always will; the more helpless, the better. Consequently, the more gun control laws anti-gunners convince lawmakers to pass and judges to uphold, the more violence and deaths our society will suffer because lawbreaking maniacs don't care much about laws -- against guns or anything else -- in the first place. The cardinal rule of safety that you should follow is this: You should never let someone who is not responsible for you determine what's best for your personal safety. Also, even if you don't like guns you shouldn't be willing to accept limitations or bans on them because sooner or later, somebody will get around to limiting or banning other constitutional rights you do approve of. If anti-gun proponents want to disarm themselves, tell everyone they see that they're disarmed and post a sign in their front yard that says, Don't worry -- I don't have a gun, that's their business. And their right. But if any group or politician seeks to infringe upon, limit or ban the right to keep and bear arms, remind them they have no right to do so. You can use your First Amendment right of government redress to do the reminding, as well as your constitutional right to vote. Jon E. Dougherty is a staff reporter and columnist for WorldNetDaily, and author of the special report, Election 2000: How the
[CTRL] Fewer Gun Injuries (fwd)
-Caveat Lector- http://www.nationalreview.com/comment/comment-levy051101.shtml Fewer Gun Injuries Good news, bad logic. By Robert A. Levy, senior fellow in constitutional studies at the Cato Institute, and author of Pistol Whipped: Baseless Lawsuits, Foolish Laws May 9, 2001, available at www.cato.org May 11, 2001 9:45 a.m. un-related deaths in the United States, down 26 percent from 1993 to 1998, are now at their lowest level since 1966, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Anti-gun advocates are quick to credit tougher gun controls. The National Rifle Association touts safety courses. More likely, the good news about declining gun injuries can be traced to better law enforcement, a booming economy, the waning crack trade, and an aging population. Tougher gun controls don't explain the parallel drop in non-gun-related homicides. And NRA safety courses don't explain comparable decreases in gun assaults as well as accidents. That doesn't mean safety courses are a bad idea. They probably cost little to administer, and could be helpful in curbing accidents especially those involving younger gun users. On the other hand, more rigorous gun controls are not only ineffective, but also counter-productive. Many of the recommended regulations would make matters worse by stripping law-abiding citizens of their chief means of self-defense. Historically, more gun laws have gone hand-in-hand with an explosion of violent crime. Only during the past decade have we seen dramatic reductions in violence, as reflected in the CDC report. Yet according to the U.S. Bureau of Justice, the number of circulating guns in the United States grew by 10 percent during the mid-1990s. A day after the CDC report was released, the Associated Press published its analysis of the latest statistics from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (BATF). Worldwide production of handguns fell 52 percent from a peak in 1993 to roughly 1.5 million guns in 1999. Predictably, gun-control crusaders pointed to the 1993 Brady Act, which requires a background check for all purchases from licensed gun dealers. No doubt it's more difficult to buy a gun from a licensed dealer nowadays. It's also more costly for licensed dealers to operate. That's why their number has plummeted from a peak of 284,000 in 1992 to 104,000 today. To the extent that the Brady Act has frustrated gun sales by licensed dealers, the Act has worsened the problem of gun violence. Criminals who are not deterred by laws against armed robbery, rape, and murder will hardly be deterred by laws requiring background checks. Instead, sales get re-routed to unlicensed dealers and, if those sales are somehow proscribed, to the black market. Meanwhile, smaller gun makers are going out of business; two California dealers have declared bankruptcy; Colt announced a layoff of 300 workers, then withdrew from the consumer handgun business, focusing instead on military weapons and collectibles. Higher dealer costs are showing up in higher prices. Top-quality handguns are now priced in the $350 to $550 range, with fewer guns available for less than $100. Not surprisingly, higher prices have less impact on criminal demand than on the demand from price-sensitive, inner-city citizens. Peaceable, would-be gun owners cannot buy affordable handguns, which might otherwise have been used to ward off assailants. Even Dennis Henigan, legal director of the Center to Prevent Handgun Violence, concedes that most people who buy handguns do so for self-defense. It is perverse and immoral to keep firearms away from prospective victims of violence. Fortunately, citizens who are put off by intrusive background checks have a couple of options. First, rather than upgrade to a newer model, they can rely on a weapon already owned or one purchased from a private party. Older guns function quite well notwithstanding their age. That explains why the number of firearms in circulation continues to grow even though fewer guns are being manufactured each year. Second, potential victims of criminal predators can arm themselves with rifles or shotguns, neither of which is subject to background checks. That may account for the increasing production of those weapons 2.8 million in 1999, up eight percent from 1993 despite a declining production of handguns. For those residents of high-risk areas who live in fear but are reluctant to own a gun, the CDC report of substantial reductions in violent crime is most gratifying. Indeed, the lower level of violence is the most likely reason for the drop in gun production. As criminal activity diminishes, the demand for weapons of self-defense shrinks in tandem. The anti-gun lobby has that correlation exactly backwards. It's not that guns in the hands of more Americans cause crime. Quite the contrary, it's crime that
[CTRL] JSMP Weekly Update [Bush Nominates 11] for 5/11/01 (fwd)
Judicial Selection Monitoring Project Coalition for Judicial Restraint Weekly Update for 5/11/01 Volume IV, Number 7 Published by the Center for Law Democracy at the Free Congress Foundation. Thomas L. Jipping, M.A., J.D., Director John A. Nowacki, Esq., Deputy Director Jason Koehne, Coalition Coordinator (e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] ) Phone: 202-546-3000 Fax: 202-543-5605 http://www.freecongress.org/ http://www.freecongress.org/ ** IN THIS ISSUE: * Bush Nominates Eleven For Courts of Appeals Vacancies. * JSMP Launches New Website. * Senator Edwards Vows To Block Boyle Nomination. * Commentary: Dems Get Judicial Selections Right? ** Bush Nominates Eleven For Courts of Appeals Vacancies On Wednesday, President Bush sent his first eleven judicial nominations to the Senate. All of the nominations were for vacancies on the U.S. Courts of Appeals. Miguel Estrada is nominated to the District of Columbia Circuit (a court with 3 of 12 seats vacant). Estrada is a partner at Gibson, Dunn, and Crutcher in D.C. He served as Assistant to the U.S. Solicitor General from 1992-1997, as an Assistant United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York from 1990-1992, and as a clerk to Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy during the 1988-1989 term. John Roberts is also nominated to the D.C. Circuit. He is a partner and the head of appellate practice at Hogan Hartson in D.C. He was the Principal Deputy Solicitor General from 1989-1993, Associate Counsel to President Reagan (1982-1986), and law clerk to then-Associate Justice William Rehnquist (1980-1981). Roberts has argued 33 cases before the U.S. Supreme Court, and a Legal Times profile published last October described him as being viewed by many as the best Supreme Court advocate in private law firm practice. Barrington Parker is nominated to the Second Circuit (a court with 1 of the 13 seats vacant). He was in private law practice from 1970-1994, when he was appointed to be a U.S. District Judge for the Southern District of New York by President Clinton. Terrence Boyle is nominated to the Fourth Circuit (a court with 5 of 15 seats vacant). He is currently Chief U.S. District Judge for the Eastern District of North Carolina. He was appointed to that court by President Reagan in 1984. Boyle was in private practice from 1974-1984. He has sat by designation on the Fourth Circuit, authoring more than 20 opinions in that capacity. Boyle is a former aide to Senator Jesse Helms (R-NC). He was nominated to the Fourth Circuit in 1991 by the first President Bush, but his nomination was one of several Senate Democrats blocked from moving forward. Roger Gregory is nominated to the Fourth Circuit. He was recess appointed to that court by President Clinton in December, after being nominated late last summer. His nomination was controversial at the time, in part because he was a Virginian nominated to a North Carolina seat on the court. Gregory was in private practice from 1978 until his recess appointment. His nomination marks the first time a President has re-nominated a person whose nomination was originally submitted by a President of the opposite party. Dennis Shedd is also nominated to the Fourth Circuit. Shedd was appointed to be a U.S. District Judge for the District of South Carolina by the first President Bush in 1990. Like Boyle, he has sat by designation on the Fourth Circuit. Shedd was in private practice from 1976-1978, and from 1988-1991. Edith Clement is nominated to the Fifth Circuit, where 3 of the 17 seats are vacant. She was in private practice from 1975 until 1991, when the first President Bush appointed her to be a U.S. District Judge for the Eastern District of Louisiana. Priscilla Owen is also nominated to the Fifth Circuit. She was elected to the Supreme Court of Texas in 1994 and re-elected last year. Owen was in private practice from 1978-1994. Deborah Cook is nominated to the Sixth Circuit, where 6 of the 16 seats are vacant. Like Owen, Cook was elected to the Supreme Court of her state--Ohio--in 1994 and re-elected in 2000. She served as a judge on the Ohio Court of Appeals from 1991-1994, and was in private practice from 1976-1991. Jeffrey Sutton is also nominated to the Sixth Circuit. He is a partner at the firm of Jones Day Reavis Pogue. Sutton served as the Solicitor of the State of Ohio from 1995-1998. He has argued 9 cases before the U.S. Supreme Court, and 12 before the Ohio Supreme Court. Michael McConnell is nominated to the Tenth Circuit. McConnell is a professor at the University of Utah College of Law. He taught at the University of Chicago Law School from 1985-1996, was an Assistant to the Solicitor General from 1983-1985, and is the author of more than 50 law journal articles. ** JSMP Launches New Website
[CTRL] McVeigh: Late Release of Documents Sparks Shock, Outrage (fwd)
-Caveat Lector- McVeigh's Lawyers Studying New FBI Papers Late Release of Documents Sparks Shock, Outrage By Judith Crosson Reuters DENVER (May 11) - Attorneys for Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh on Friday were sifting through hundreds of documents the U.S. government said the FBI did not provide to the defense, as the possibility loomed his scheduled execution next week would be halted. The strange turn of events was set into motion on Thursday when the FBI handed over the documents to McVeigh's defense team, casting doubt over whether the execution by lethal injection would take place next Wednesday in a federal prison in Terre Haute, Indiana, and shocking victims of the blast. The planned execution has put the international spotlight on America's use of the death penalty, and the latest disclosure was sure to raise the temperature in this already heated debate. The Justice Department said the government considered the documents would have ''no bearing'' on McVeigh's conviction for the April 1995 bombing that killed 168 people and injured hundreds of others in what has been called the most heinous act of terrorism on U.S. soil. But McVeigh's attorneys said they were shocked the material would show up so close to the execution date and were considering whether to ask for a stay of execution. ''We're considering all the options,'' McVeigh's Denver-based attorney Nathan Chambers told reporters. Other options include requesting a new trial, although seeking a stay of execution would likely be the first order of business, lawyers who follow the case said. 'ALL ROADS RUN THROUGH TERRE HAUTE' While McVeigh's attorneys were scrambling to review the police interviews, photographs, written correspondence and tapes not provided during the discovery phase of the trial, nobody was expecting McVeigh to walk out of prison a free man. In fact, his lawyers could only try to stop the execution if the 33-year-old former soldier wanted it stopped, legal analysts said. ''All roads run through Terre Haute,'' said Scott Robinson, a Denver attorney who followed McVeigh's 1997 trial in Denver. In December, McVeigh halted all his appeals and asked the court to set an execution date. Robinson said a lot depended on what was contained in the new information. If it showed others identified as the bomber, it could go to a question of McVeigh's guilt. But prosecutors could also point to McVeigh's reported confession of the bombing and his chilling referral in an interview to the deaths of 19 children in the blast as ''collateral damage,'' Robinson said. But Robinson said a court would be hard-pressed to turn down a stay of execution now that the new documents had surfaced. ''McVeigh, the man on death row, now controls in many ways his own immediate fate. And the government which did so much to take that control away from him has intentionally or negligently given it right back to him,'' CBS legal analyst Andrew Cohen said. A May 9 letter written by Justice Department attorney Sean Connelly to McVeigh's lawyers said the documents were discovered after an FBI archivist put out a request for all the material related to the case. McVeigh was informed about the new documents, his lawyer said. OUTRAGE IN OKLAHOMA Oklahoma Gov. Frank Keating said reaction in Oklahoma City to the latest development in the McVeigh case was one of ''stunned disbelief.'' ''Obviously, until we know why they weren't turned over, there is a big question mark over this whole proceeding, and that obviously causes all of us in this state, at least, real concern,'' the Republican governor said in a CNN interview. People who lost relatives when the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building blew up were beside themselves. ''I guarantee you, if this boy walks, some heads are going to roll,'' said Kathleen Treanor, whose daughter, Ashley Eckles, was one of the children killed in the building's day care center. Justice Department spokeswoman Mindy Tucker said, ''While the department is confident the documents do not in any way create any reasonable doubt about McVeigh's guilt and do not contradict his repeated confessions of guilt, the department is concerned that McVeigh's attorneys were not able to review them at the appropriate time.'' The documents were also delivered to the attorney for Terry Nichols, McVeigh's former army buddy who is now serving a life sentence for planning the bombing. ''It's deeply disturbing that such a substantial amount of information that we were clearly entitled to and which the government admits should have been disclosed at the trial was not,'' attorney John Richilano said. Reut05:53 05-11-01 JUST REPORTED JUSTICE DEPT. RECOMMEND 30 DAY DELAY IN EXECUTION OF McViegh. Oklahoma City Bombing http://www.apfn.org/apfn/oklahoma.htm Good Morning: As you hear the
[CTRL] Ruger recalls gun locks (fwd)
-Caveat Lector- -- Forwarded message -- Date: Fri, 11 May 2001 08:40:50 -0400 From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: Gunsafe members [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Ruger recalls gun locks http://news.findlaw.com/ap/o/1110/5-10-2001/20010510015306550.html WASHINGTON (AP) _ A Connecticut company is recalling 1.2 million padlocks and 800,000 cable gun locks that can be opened with the wrong keys or if struck. Sturm, Ruger Co. Inc. of Southport has received three reports of people opening the padlocks without using the keys that go with them, the Consumer Product Safety Commission said Wednesday. No injuries have been reported. Ruger distributed the padlocks with its pistols and revolvers from 1987 until 1995. The cable locks were distributed with its rifles and shotguns from 1998 until March 2001. People with questions may call the company at 1-888-317-6887.. For replacements, they can send the padlocks and cable locks to Sturm, Ruger Co. Inc., Dept. LK, 411 Sunapee St., Newport, NH 03773. A HREF=http://www.ctrl.org/;www.ctrl.org/A DECLARATION DISCLAIMER == CTRL is a discussion informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substancenot soap-boxingplease! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright fraudsis used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. Archives Available at: http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html A HREF=http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html;Archives of [EMAIL PROTECTED]/A http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ A HREF=http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/;ctrl/A To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
[CTRL] South Pacific states to adopt uniform gun ban (fwd)
-Caveat Lector- The Australian way: In case of civil war, make sure the innocent can't defend themselves. http://www.theage.com.au/news/2001/05/11/FFXYISIEJMC.html Push for uniform gun laws in Pacific By GREG ROBERTS BRISBANE Friday 11 May 2001 South Pacific nations are set to adopt gun controls similar to those in Australia, after a three-day meeting that ends in Brisbane today. The Federal Government signalled yesterday that Australian laws may need to be modified to achieve a uniform gun-control system in the increasingly troubled region. Key changes proposed by South Pacific delegates, such as stricter limitations on the ownership of semi-automatic and automatic weapons, are similar to those introduced in Australia after the Port Arthur massacre. The ease of access to high-powered weapons has exacerbated regional unrest, including the 10-year civil war on Bougainville and the Solomon Islands conflict. Officials from South Pacific island states have agreed to draw up laws for their countries within a regional framework. Australia wants the framework formally adopted at the next South Pacific Islands Forum meeting in Nauru in August. But delegates admitted that the laws would not be able to tackle the region's central gun-control problem - the role of ill-disciplined police and military personnel. Kini Keteca, legal adviser to the Fiji Police Force, said the laws would be limited because they would not restrict police and military access to firearms, but he praised plans to reduce the broader population's access to weapons. Pacific Islands regional coordinator for the Australian Federal Police Terry Allen said the laws could not directly deal with the underlying causes of many of the region's problems, such as urban drift, unemployment and inequitable access to government services. What we can do is to have a better control of weapons which probably allows the political processes to deal with some of the issues, Mr Allen said. At the end of the day we can probably do away with some of the large numbers of guns in the region. That has to be a good thing. Department of Foreign Affairs spokesman David Apps said the laws would restrict access to official armories. The Solomon Islands conflict, for instance, intensified when the Malaita Eagle Force seized police weapons. Mr Apps said Australia may need to modify its gun laws to achieve regional uniformity. The hope would be that we will not be required to alter our legislation in any dramatic way, he said. A HREF=http://www.ctrl.org/;www.ctrl.org/A DECLARATION DISCLAIMER == CTRL is a discussion informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substancenot soap-boxingplease! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright fraudsis used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. Archives Available at: http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html A HREF=http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html;Archives of [EMAIL PROTECTED]/A http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ A HREF=http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/;ctrl/A To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
[CTRL] Greek and Latin
Free Congress Foundation's Notable News Now Excerpts from FCF Programming and Other FCF Projects May 11, 2001 The Free Congress Commentary Pope John Paul II Still Trying to Unite Greek and Latin Churches by Nicholas Sanchez Despite the fact that his health betrays the fact that he is now in the closing days of his pontificate, His Holiness John Paul II seems committed to pushing forward with his dream of a united Christiandom. His recent trip to Greece, Syria and Malta allowed him to make an attempt to reunite the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Churches (the two largest bodies of Christians in the world) after nearly a thousand years of separation. However, as it has been every time the pope has made moves to reconcile these two bodies, the results of his most recent efforts are decidedly mixed and do not seem to offer any real hope for reunion anytime soon. To show the hard feelings that still linger between the Latin and Greek Churches, many faithful of the Orthodox Christian Church in Greece -- including many monks -- took to the streets to protest his visit. It was reported that some of the more enthusiastic protesters labeled the Pope an arch-heretic. And before his arrival, the monks of Mount Athos -- an island made up of various Orthodox monasteries often called the Holy Mountain -- held all-night vigils of prayer against the pope's impending visit. However, Archbishop Christodoulos, the reigning hierarch of Greece, allowed the visit to occur...and the Pope was able to make his pilgrimage, which he billed as an attempt to re-trace the steps of St. Paul. (St. Paul the Apostle, of course, is the Jewish convert to Christianity who converted on the road to Damascus. After his conversion, he spread the Gospel in Athens, among other places, and later went on to Rome and martyrdom.) While in Greece, the pope was met by Christodoulos and made an official apology to him and all Orthodox Christians for the Roman Church's sack of Constantinople during the time of the Crusades. Up until the Second Vatican Council, Catholics were commonly taught that the Crusades were one of the most glorious epochs in Church history. However, as more than one Orthodox commentator has made note of, the problems that exist between Orthodoxy and Catholicism cannot be attributed solely to historical mistakes. There are theological questions that have not been settled between the East and West. And there are also political questions that right now make re-approachment difficult right now. For instance, after visiting Greece, His Holiness made his way to Syria. While there he went to the Omayyad Mosque -- becoming the first Roman Pontiff to ever enter a Muslim mosque. He also became the first Successor to St. Peter to ever pray in such a temple. And this was not just any mosque either. The Omayyad Mosque in Damascus, Syria is built over the ground where the head of St. John the Baptist, tradition holds, is laid. While the pope's visiting a mosque raised eyebrows among conservative and traditionalist Catholics, it certainly did not do anything to strengthen relations with the Orthodox, with whom he had just previously met with. The majority of Orthodox Christians live in the Middle East and in the Slavic lands. These are countries where the large majority of the people are either Eastern Orthodox or Muslim. And anyone who has picked up a newspaper in the last couple of years should well realize that the relationship between the Orthodox and Muslims has not been particularly good lately. Whether it has been the war in Kosovo against Serbia or the Chechnyian rebels and their campaign against Russia, ancient rivalries are running strong today. Naturally many Orthodox will be offended by the Pope running from them to the arms of the Muslims; almost as if to say that the Orthodox and Muslims are held in the same regard by the See of Rome. This leads one to wonder why a politically savvy a pope as John Paul would pay special homage to the shrine of a religion that even one of his own Cardinals has called the enemy of Christianity? This is especially confusing when you consider that this Pope has said from the very beginning of his pontificate that he wished to see an end to the schism between East and West. There is no doubt that Pope John Paul II is a holy man. There is no doubt that he will and should be remembered by Catholics and non-Catholics alike as one of the great opponents against the pernicious Communist state. And there is certainly no doubt that he has outstretched his arms to the Orthodox Christians. However, the one question mark that will loom large after he has passed from this life is how much he actually did for relations between the Catholics and the Orthodox ... whether he was an agent of reconciliation or an overreaching ecumenist. Nicholas Sanchez is the Free Congress Foundation's Director of Development. For media inquiries, contact Notra Trulock 202.546.3000 / [EMAIL
[CTRL] Beware of the Cell Phone Cops (fwd)
-Caveat Lector- conservativeinfo - Subscribe to the Conservative Information email list at http://conservativeinfo.listbot.com Beware of the Cell Cops Another overblown hazard. By Adam Thierer, director of telecommunications studies at the Cato Institute May 10, 2001 9:05 a.m. You may soon be ticketed for using a cell phone in your car. Hundreds of bills have been introduced in state and municipal legislatures across America in recent years that make talking on a cell phone while driving a crime. So far, few such bills have become law. But the U.S. House Transportation Subcommittee on Highways and Transit held a hearing on the issue this week, and the anti-cell phone nannies are lobbying hard. With cell-phone use exploding in recent years (more than 115 million wireless subscribers today), it is not surprising that these devices would cause some problems. But how big of a problem does cell-phone use in cars pose? The results may surprise you. The AAA Foundation of Traffic Safety has released the results of a new study in which the group analyzed 26,000 traffic accidents to determine what factors contributed to those accidents. Among the top causes were: outside objects, persons, or events (19.7% of accidents surveyed); eating and drinking in the car (18.8%); adjusting the radio, cassette, or CD player (11.4%); and distractions caused by other occupants in the vehicle (9.4%). The less significant causes listed by the survey were: moving objects in the vehicle (3.2 %); using or dialing on a cell phone (1.5%); using other devices in vehicle (1.4%); adjusting climate controls (1.2%); and smoking-related distractions (1.2%). Compared to using a cell phone, it is 12 times more likely you will cause an accident by snacking in the car and eight times more likely you may cause an accident by toying with your car stereo. It would make more sense for policymakers to ban eating Big Macs and listening to Britney Spears in our cars than it would to ban cell phone use. This is not to say, however, that using a cell phone while driving doesn't pose some degree of risk. And this threat, critics argue, is likely to grow as cell-phone use grows. But while new technologies often introduce new problems into society, still newer technologies typically come along to solve those problems. For example, hands-free cellular devices, which employ an earpiece and a clip-on microphone, are on the market and widely used by motorists. One-button speed-dialing, an option on almost all phones, enables drivers to place calls without having to dial a series of numbers. And voice-activated calling is right around to corner. This will allow drivers to simply say call home and let the phone do the rest. Imposing burdensome restrictions on cell phone use in cars, therefore, is unnecessary and may cost lives by having the unintended consequence of discouraging drivers from carrying a cell phone in their car. With an estimated 118,000 emergency calls placed by cell phone users every day, the life-saving applications of cell phones are well established. If a ban were to discourage drivers from carrying phones in their cars, the costs would likely outweigh the benefits. On a more practical note, it is difficult to understand how such a ban would be enforced. Where will policymakers draw the line? Since snacking behind the wheel and playing with your car stereo are more distracting and dangerous than cell phone use, should legislators ban those activities first? What about arguing with you spouse or kids in the car? Should that be policed? And what about the CB radios truckers still use? There's a simpler way to approach this problem from a public-policy perspective: Don't try to ban technologies (cell phones, radios, CBs, etc.) or specific activities (conversations, singing, smoking, etc.) inside the cabin of an automobile. Instead, simply enforce those laws already on the books dealing with reckless or negligent driving. If a driver is weaving in and out of traffic lanes, or posing a serious threat to others on the road for any reason, they should be pulled over and probably ticketed if the infraction is serious enough. In conclusion, a degree of patience and humility is necessary by policymakers. It is impossible to legislate a 100% risk-free society into existence. Technology is solving a problem it created. Turning our nation's law enforcement officers into a cellular SWAT team in the meantime will only deter them from policing more dangerous activities while threatening to further erode our personal liberties. A HREF=http://www.ctrl.org/;www.ctrl.org/A DECLARATION DISCLAIMER == CTRL is a discussion informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substancenot soap-boxingplease! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright fraudsis used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum
[CTRL] Konformist: slavery: a capitalist parable (fwd)
-Caveat Lector- Please send as far and wide as possible. Thanks, Robert Sterling Editor, The Konformist http://www.konformist.com http://www.disinfo.com/pages/article/id1189/pg1/ slavery: a capitalist parable by Mickey Z ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) - May 09, 2001 Editor's Note: Mickey Z (Michael Zezima) is the author of Saving Private Power: The Hidden History of The Good War (Soft Skull Press, 2000). He also contributed a chapter called Saving Private Power to You Are Being Lied To (New York: Disinfo Books, 2001), edited by Russ Kick. In the most remote regions of Brazil, slave labor is employed to cut down grand swaths of the precious rain forest to make room to grow eucalyptus which is then burned by male slaves (who exploit the body, mind, and spirit of female slaves forced into prostitution) to make charcoal for the steel mills of Brazil where the poorest of the poor toil for wages that do not sustain them so that steel can be shipped to a General Motors plant in Mexico (GM is now the largest employer south of the US border) where the poorest of the poor endure maquiladora conditions so these automobile parts can then be shipped to a GM plant in the US (roughly 50 percent of what is termed trade consists of business transactions between branches of the same transnational corporation) where even the poorest of the poor proudly take on imposing debt to possess a car Made in the USA so they can clog the highways that were paved over inestimable eco-systems, filling the air with noxious pollution as they make their way to the drive-through window of and anti-union fast food restaurant that purchased the beef of slaughtered cattle that once grazed on land cleared by male slaves who exploit the body, mind, and spirit of female slaves in the most remote regions of Brazil. If you are interested in a free subscription to The Konformist Newswire, please visit: http://www.eGroups.com/list/konformist Or, e-mail [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the subject: I NEED 2 KONFORM!!! (Okay, you can use something else, but it's a kool catch phrase.) Visit the Klub Konformist at Yahoo!: http://clubs.yahoo.com/clubs/klubkonformist Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ A HREF=http://www.ctrl.org/;www.ctrl.org/A DECLARATION DISCLAIMER == CTRL is a discussion informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substancenot soap-boxingplease! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright fraudsis used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. Archives Available at: http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html A HREF=http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html;Archives of [EMAIL PROTECTED]/A http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ A HREF=http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/;ctrl/A To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
[CTRL] FC: FBI reportedly recruited Equalizer hacker as informant (fwd)
-Caveat Lector- From: Kevin L. Poulsen [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: Declan McCullagh [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Max Vision: FBI pawn? Date: Tue, 8 May 2001 23:01:24 -0400 http://www.securityfocus.com/news/203 Max Vision: FBI pawn? by Kevin Poulsen, SecurityFocus.com May 8, 2001 2:48 PM PT Federal officials used threats and a false promise of leniency to lure computer security researcher and admitted cyber intruder Max Butler into becoming an undercover FBI informant, according to a defense motion filed in the case Tuesday. It was only when Butler balked at covertly recording a friend and colleague, and instead sought advice from an attorney, that the government threw the book at him, the motion charges. The government as much as promised him he would receive consideration, says defense attorney Jennifer Granick. At least until he hired an attorney. [...] The agents gave Butler the nickname Equalizer, and immediately put him to work. Phone hackers had infiltrated 3Com's PBX, and were using the company phone system for free teleconferencing. Butler's first mission was to familiarize himself with new telephone system intrusion tools and techniques and to be able to pose as a 'phone phreak' (telephone hacker) in the investigation, the motion reads. Mr. Butler, using his computer knowledge, and dropping the names of people the intruders knew from Internet Relay Chat (IRC), was able to lull the intruders into a sense of security. They then revealed, to Mr. Butler and through him to the FBI, the name of the hacking group that had committed the intrusion and the handle of the primary intruder, reads the motion. During this monitored conversation, the suspects also discussed several instances of credit card fraud occurring over the network. Butler went on to hold IRC conversations with the hackers, and provide the FBI with transcripts. The agents were evidently pleased enough with Butler's work to give him another assignment, and near the end of July they summoned Equalizer to a meeting in the FBI offices high above San Francisco's Golden Gate Boulevard. Butler's new mission: Attend the DEFCON hacker convention at the Plaza Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas -- the largest annual gathering of security experts, hackers and cybercops in the world. There, he was to collect PGP encryption keys from conference attendees and try to match people's real names with their hacker identities and with the keys, reads the motion. The motion doesn't reveal how much information Butler gathered at DEFCON 6.0 on behalf of the FBI, and in an interview, Granick said Butler doesn't recall what he reported back to the Bureau. On Granick's advice, Butler refuses interviews about his case. After DEFCON, the FBI had another assignment for Butler. This time he was to wear a transmitting device - a 'wire' - and secretly record friend and colleague Matthew Harrigan, then CTO of San Francisco security services firm MCR, for which Butler had performed some consulting. snip - POLITECH -- Declan McCullagh's politics and technology mailing list You may redistribute this message freely if it remains intact. To subscribe, visit http://www.politechbot.com/info/subscribe.html This message is archived at http://www.politechbot.com/ - A HREF=http://www.ctrl.org/;www.ctrl.org/A DECLARATION DISCLAIMER == CTRL is a discussion informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substancenot soap-boxingplease! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright fraudsis used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. Archives Available at: http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html A HREF=http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html;Archives of [EMAIL PROTECTED]/A http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ A HREF=http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/;ctrl/A To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
[CTRL] Gun-safety ads coming to the movies (fwd)
-Caveat Lector- http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/ap/20010509/us/guns_movies_1.html Wednesday May 9 1:35 PM ET Gun Safety Ads to Preview at Movies By SHANNON McCAFFREY, Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON (AP) - Moviegoers may soon get a 30-second lesson in gun safety along with their popcorn. Beginning May 18, a trailer featuring Arizona Sen. John McCain talking about gun safety will play on 2,500 screens in 44 states. In the ad, McCain, standing on a school playground, urges adults to keep guns locked up and encourages children to tell a parent or a teacher if they hear someone talk about using a gun. ``Because what you do today may save a friend's life tomorrow,'' McCain says. ``In this great country, owning a gun is a right that carries responsibilities,'' the former GOP presidential candidate says. Americans for Gun Safety, a nonprofit group, is paying $250,000 to run the ad for one month in 210 cities. Jonathan Cowan, president of Washington-based group, said the message is being taken to movie theaters to catch the attention of kids and parents as the summer movie season kicks off. Cowan said the group was also focusing on movie to remind children ``that the use of guns as entertainment in movies is not something anyone wants to see in real life.'' American for Gun Safety estimates that 40,000 children bring guns to school each year. The group is also launching a firearms safety program online. The ad will appear in every state except Alabama, Alaska, Connecticut, Idaho, Hawaii and Utah. Jim Baker, chief lobbyist for the National Rifle Association, said the message of the movie trailers is a good one. But he said it belies Americans for Guns Safety's broader agenda of more stringent gun control measures, which NRA opposes. The ad makes no mention of gun control, but McCain and Sen. Joseph Lieberman, D-Conn., are planning to introduce legislation later this month designed to close a loophole that allows weapons to be purchased at gun shows without a background check. Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., has already introduced similar legislation. - On the Net: Americans for Gun Safety: www.agsfoundation.com McCain: www.senate.gov/(tilde)mccain A HREF=http://www.ctrl.org/;www.ctrl.org/A DECLARATION DISCLAIMER == CTRL is a discussion informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substancenot soap-boxingplease! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright fraudsis used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. Archives Available at: http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html A HREF=http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html;Archives of [EMAIL PROTECTED]/A http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ A HREF=http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/;ctrl/A To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
[CTRL] Guilty until proven innocent?
Free Congress Foundation's Notable News Now Excerpts from FCF Programming and Other FCF Projects May 10, 2001 The Free Congress Commentary Traficant - Guilty until Proven Innocent? by Paul M. Weyrich How can I say this in such a way that it won't be misunderstood? I don't want anybody to think that I approve of wrongdoing on the part of public officials. So if someone is really guilty they ought to be punished. But in our system the accused is supposed to be presumed innocent until proven guilty. Somehow in the atmosphere in which we find ourselves, public officials, once accused, are presumed guilty no matter what the evidence and that just isn't right. Let me say at the outset I have no particular knowledge regarding the case against Representative Jim Traficant, Democrat of Ohio. A grand jury has returned a multi-count indictment against the nine-term Congressman, alleging a variety of charges, including bribery. All of the charges appear to involve relatively minor matters, but if all of the charges were true, taken collectively, perhaps they would add up to something very serious. Some years ago, Traficant, acting in his own defense, beat RICO racketeering charges brought by the Justice Department. He believes this latest round of indictments amounts to payback time. No one had ever won a RICO case against the Establishment before. Again, maybe Traficant is guilty as sin. But if he is I will be very surprised. I have interviewed him on television several times and I have had him speak to meetings I have chaired. There is something genuine about this fellow that is quite remarkable. He may be a great actor. But I do think he has a point, that his indictment may indeed be the result of a payback. That is how the Washington Establishment operates. If they target you, they intend to get you. Should you manage to survive one way, they will come back and get you some other way. Television's X-Files is not outrageous in that respect. Traficant says he is again going to defend himself. He says he can't trust his defense to some high priced lawyer who might sell him out at the moment of truth. He is probably right to go that route, given his situation. Once more, if the Congressman is really a crook then let a jury of his peers put him where he belongs. But in doing so, they will be silencing one of the few genuine voices who is willing to speak out without fear. Sometimes what he says is silly. Sometimes it is just plain wrong. But sometimes he hits the nail right on the head the way none of his colleagues ever does. They may silence Traficant but they do so while the big time crooks get by with murder and no one ever lays a hand on them. Jim Traficant, I hope you are innocent. And if you are, I hope you blow them away in the courtroom. Paul Weyrich is president of the Free Congress Foundation. For media inquiries, contact Notra Trulock 202.546.3000 / [EMAIL PROTECTED] For other comments and inquiries, contact Angie Wheeler at [EMAIL PROTECTED] Visit our website at www.FreeCongress.org .
[CTRL] The Calloused Conscience
-Caveat Lector- conservativeinfo - Subscribe to the Conservative Information email list at http://conservativeinfo.listbot.com Paul Greenberg: The Calloused Conscience Source: Arkansas Democrat Gazette; May 8, 2001 When the U. S. House of Representatives passed an Unborn Victims Act making it a crime to harm an unborn child in the course of an assault on the mother, it was big news, the stuff of front-page headlines. (House OKs fetus bill/Passage stirs outcry from abortion-rights advocates - Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Page 1, April 27, 2001.) Moral: There is nothing so new as the old. A total of 24 states already recognize that crimes can be committed against the unborn. Just last February, Eric Bullock, 31, was convicted here in Arkansas under the state's Fetal Protection Act. He was sentenced to life in prison without parole for hiring three guys to beat up a pregnant ex-girlfriend; the baby was stillborn hours after the attack. This year, the state legislature defined the fetus as a person within the meaning of civil law - in order to include the unborn in wrongful death actions. Which would seem only just - and common sense. Of course people who lose a child still in the womb have suffered a great loss. In short, American law in A.D. 2001 may be catching up with an advanced piece of jurisprudence like Exodus 21:22: If men struggle, and wound a pregnant woman so that her fruit be expelled, but no harm befall her, then shall he be fined as her husband shall assess, and the matter placed before the judges. Who would deny that an awful crime is committed when the unborn are victims of criminal acts? Well, 172 congressmen voted against the Unborn Victims Act. One would like to think that those votes had little to do with the merits of the bill, but were cast in the swirling context of abortion politics, which will obscure common sense every time. The bill explicitly states that nothing in its language shall be construed to permit the prosecution of any person for conduct relating to an abortion for which the consent of the pregnant woman ... has been obtained. It also exempts from prosecution any action by the woman, legal or illegal, that harms her unborn child, including any form of medical treatment. But all of that was not enough for defenders of abortion rights, which have become a kind of political sacrament. The bill's opponents depicted it as an attack on abortion. And they're right. Because any defense of the unborn is an attack on abortion. Grant the unborn their humanity, recognize that a crime against the unborn is a crime, and the whole structure of legal, moral and medical arguments for abortion begins to unravel. For abortion to be defended, the unborn must be treated as unpersons. This long-running debate over abortion irresistibly brings to mind another long-running controversy in American history: the one over slavery. No matter how many times opponents of slavery explained that they were out to abolish it only in the territories, or just in the District of Columbia, or in international trade, and that they had no designs on the Peculiar Institution where it already existed, their opponents knew better. Defenders of slavery knew that, if the slaves' humanity were recognized in just some parts of the Union, or some parts of law, that recognition would spread and undermine the whole institution. So it is with abortion. Begin to recognize that the unborn can be victims, and who knows where the contagion might spread? Soon the dogma of abortion itself might be questioned. The opponents of this bill had it right: It does indeed represent a step down a slippery slope. For abortion to remain unquestionable, it is imperative that not just a law protecting Unborn Victims be defeated. The very thought of the unborn as victims, as persons, must be denied. Deny their humanity, and we can do as we will with them. See the history of slavery. Or of the European holocaust. That's why this is a dispute not just over law and morals, but words.. That's why defenders of abortion will call the unborn anything but the unborn; the word implies too much, like the possibility that they might be human. Euphemism has become their refuge and their sanctuary. John Conyers, a congressman from Michigan, understood what was at stake here. Note the lengths to which he went to avoid using any word that might hint at the human identity of what is destroyed in an abortion: This would be the first time in the federal legal system, the congressman warned his colleagues, that we would begin to recognize a fertilized egg, a zygote, an embryo or a fetus. That's what this bill is trying to do. The congressman seemed to use every word except baby. And never, never call them the unborn. For we might then recognize in them our brothers and sisters, our children, even ourselves at one point in eternity. That is why verbicide must precede feticide. If these victims are just fertilized eggs, embryos,
[CTRL] FC: UFO enthusiasts gather in DC, demand Congress hold hearings (fwd)
-Caveat Lector- http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,43526,00.html Ooo-WEE-ooo Fans Come to D.C. By Declan McCullagh ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) 2:00 a.m. May 10, 2001 PDT WASHINGTON -- UFO enthusiasts gathered on Wednesday to share dozens of eyewitness accounts and a thick sheaf of documents that they claim finally prove the existence of alien visitors. At a National Press Club event, the Disclosure Project said it has identified several hundred witnesses throughout the world who are eager to testify before Congress about their encounters with extraterrestrial spacecraft or beings. There is a secret government -- a covert government -- operation that has dealt with this for at least 50 years, said Steven Greer, the group's founder. Greer said he wanted UFO files declassified, a ban on space weapons, and peaceful exploration with all cultures on Earth and in space. Call it a close encounter with an X-Files spinoff. The three-hour event featured testimonials from all-too-earnest UFO buffs, warnings that the adolescent phase of humanity was nearly over, and vague descriptions of anti-gravity devices, free energy machines and faster-than-light spaceships that could end human suffering -- if only the feds would fess up and tell all. But it isn't merely the Defense Department, the CIA, the National Security Agency, the National Reconnaissance Office and even more secretive agencies that are participating in the cover-up, says Greer, a physician who lives in Crozet, Virginia. He fingered Northrop, Lockheed Martin and SAIC as examples of government contractors who are surreptitiously developing aircraft and weapons based on technology snatched from UFOs. Carol Rosin, a self-described space defense consultant, went even further: We can end the energy crisis, she said. We can build cars that drive around off the road, on beams. Until UFO fanatics produce tangible evidence -- an alien body, an unknown metal, or a beam-mobile -- their claims should be dismissed with prejudice, says Kevin Christopher, a spokesman for the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal. [...] - POLITECH -- Declan McCullagh's politics and technology mailing list You may redistribute this message freely if it remains intact. To subscribe, visit http://www.politechbot.com/info/subscribe.html This message is archived at http://www.politechbot.com/ - A HREF=http://www.ctrl.org/;www.ctrl.org/A DECLARATION DISCLAIMER == CTRL is a discussion informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substancenot soap-boxingplease! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright fraudsis used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. Archives Available at: http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html A HREF=http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html;Archives of [EMAIL PROTECTED]/A http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ A HREF=http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/;ctrl/A To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
[CTRL] Billion Moms?
-Caveat Lector- Hey, if a Million didn't work, let's try a Billion. Unfortunately, because so many governments are statist and thus can force their subjects to show up for demonstrations, there's a far greater chance that the gun haters will suceed in this one. http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20010509/ts/guns_protest_dc_1.html Wednesday May 9 9:21 PM ET Global Gun Protest Hopes to Sign Up a Billion Moms UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Anti-gun activists said on Wednesday they hope to sign up a billion mothers to help launch a global protest against gun violence. ``We will march to protest the lives so heartlessly cut short and demand that world leaders and arms manufacturers and traffickers in death keep their weapons away from our children,'' protest organizers said in a statement posted on their Web site (www.billionmommarch.org). Their plans are to be unveiled at a news conference at U.N. headquarters on Thursday, timed to fall just before Mother's Day, which is observed on Sunday in the United States and Canada, said Elvi Ruottinen, one of the organizers. Although the worldwide protest is to be called the ``Billion Mom March,'' it will not take the form of a single protest march, like the ``Million Mom March'' against gun violence which took place across the United States last Mother's Day, Ruottinen told Reuters. Instead, various protests will take place in different nations throughout the rest of the year, she said. Because of the success of the Million Mom March, ``now they are getting a billion mothers on the job,'' she said. In a nod to the Internet era, one part of the protest will consist of a ``Cybermarch'' e-mail campaign aimed at opinion leaders like President Bush and first lady Laura Bush. As the first stage of the global campaign, mothers in the United States will be staging rallies at 33 state capitols on Mother's Day and afterward1 lobbying state and local legislators to enact ``sensible'' gun laws, organizers said. A major focus of the mothers' campaign will be a U.N.. conference on small arms to be held in New York from July 9 to 20, aimed at cracking down on the global trade in light weapons, Ruottinen said. A HREF=http://www.ctrl.org/;www.ctrl.org/A DECLARATION DISCLAIMER == CTRL is a discussion informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substancenot soap-boxingplease! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright fraudsis used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. Archives Available at: http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html A HREF=http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html;Archives of [EMAIL PROTECTED]/A http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ A HREF=http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/;ctrl/A To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
[CTRL] The Ten Commandments (fwd)
-Caveat Lector- conservativeinfo - Subscribe to the Conservative Information email list at http://conservativeinfo.listbot.com ACLJ Asks Federal Court to Dismiss ACLU Lawsuit Against Ohio Judge Over Display of Ten Commandments CLEVELAND--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 8, 2001--The American Center for Law and Justice, an international public interest law firm, has asked a federal court in Cleveland to dismiss a lawsuit filed by the ACLU against Ohio Judge James DeWeese for posting the Ten Commandments in his Richland County, Ohio courtroom. This is the latest attack by the ACLU in its war over the Ten Commandments and our nation's heritage, said Francis J. Manion, Senior Regional Counsel of the ACLJ, which is representing Judge DeWeese. Acknowledgment of the role of the Ten Commandments in the formation of our legal system is not only constitutional but especially appropriate in a courtroom. That's why the Supreme Court of the United States has not one but two depictions of the Ten Commandments in its courtroom in Washington, D.C. The ACLJ agreed to represent Judge DeWeese on March 30th after the ACLU brought suit against him in U.S. District Court in Cleveland on March 8th for displaying the Ten Commandments in his courtroom. In a formal response to the ACLU suit filed in U.S. District Court in Cleveland, the ACLJ denies claims that the display of the Ten Commandments in Judge DeWeese's courtroom violates the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution and asks the court to dismiss the suit. In addition to displaying the Ten Commandments in the courtroom, Judge DeWeese also displays copies of the Bill of Rights, as well as framed posters containing famous quotes about the judicial system from Alexander Hamilton, Thomas Jefferson, and James Madison. Further, Judge DeWeese's courtroom also contains the Seal of the State of Ohio, which contains the state's motto, With God All Things Are Possible - a phrase that survived a court challenge in March and was declared constitutional by the Sixth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Manion said: The ACLU wants to bully public officials into thinking there is something illegal about mentioning God or using texts with religious origins in public places. We intend to demonstrate that they are wrong. We are honored to represent this outstanding jurist who not only recognizes but is proud to publicly acknowledge the source of our legal system. The ACLJ represents Judge DeWeese - as it does all of its clients - free of charge. The ACLJ is involved in a national effort to defend the public display of the Ten Commandments in communities across the country. In a case now pending before the U.S. Supreme Court, the ACLJ is defending the city of Elkhart, Indiana against a lawsuit by the ACLU challenging a monument of the Ten Commandments that has been on display outside city hall since the 1950's. The ACLJ has asked the Supreme Court to take the Elkhart case and overturn a decision by the Seventh U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals which ruled the display unconstitutional. At the same time, the ACLJ is involved in ten cases involving challenges to the display of the Ten Commandments. And, the ACLJ has launched a national petition campaign - which already has generated more than 80,000 names - to urge Congress to approve a joint resolution affirming the public display of the Ten Commandments. The American Center for Law and Justice is an international public interest law firm and educational organization that focuses on pro-family, pro-life, and pro-liberty cases. The ACLJ is headquartered in Virginia Beach, VA and its web site address is www.aclj.org. __ To unsubscribe, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED] A HREF=http://www.ctrl.org/;www.ctrl.org/A DECLARATION DISCLAIMER == CTRL is a discussion informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substancenot soap-boxingplease! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright fraudsis used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. Archives Available at: http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html A HREF=http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html;Archives of [EMAIL PROTECTED]/A http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ A HREF=http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/;ctrl/A To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research
[CTRL] Left-wing Should Practice What It Preaches
Free Congress Foundation's Notable News Now Excerpts from FCF Programming and Other FCF Projects May 9, 2001 The Free Congress Commentary Left-wing Critics Should Practice What They Preach By Thomas L. Jipping President Bush will send his first judicial nominations to the Senate this week. Believe it or not, it looks like he is following the advice of some of his harshest left-wing critics. Before you get upset, let me tell you what that advice is. Nan Aron of the leftist Alliance for Justice wrote in the San Francisco Chronicle in 1999 that the president has a duty to fill judicial vacancies and appoint jurists who share his views. If only those same leftists would practice what they preach. The president's critics are doing more than their share of confirmation shape-shifting these days. Take the issue of judicial vacancies, which just topped 100 for only the second time since June 1994. Back in 1998, Illinois Democrat Dick Durbin said 84 vacancies was a nationwide crisis. In 1999, President Clinton called 65 vacancies a mounting vacancy crisis. And in 2000, Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle said 75 vacancies a dire shortage of judges. Now those same Senators are part of the obstruction force. Senate Democrats have also changed their position on whether individual Senators should be able to veto nominations in their states. Though they demand a veto now, it was none other than Senator Edward Kennedy who ended this policy when he chaired the Judiciary Committee a quarter-century ago. Senator Joseph Biden also rejected a home-state veto when he chaired the committee, saying that if the White House consults with home state Senators, they will not be able to veto nominees. Now under President Bush, consultation includes rather than precludes a veto. Senate Democrats have also about-faced on using ideological litmus tests to reject nominees who fail to pledge how they will rule on certain issues. During the Clinton years, Senator Leahy was particularly adamant in opposing the litmus test. In July 1997, he said he hoped no Senator is imposing an ideological litmus test on judicial nominations. In March 1998, he said imposing litmus tests on judicial nominees must stop. And in October 1999, he said that you cannot have a small clique decide they want to know exactly how judges are going to rule before they go on the bench, or they're not going to confirm them. Yet he and other Democrats have vowed to do just that now that President Bush is in office. So let's recap. Democrats rejected home-state vetoes when they ran the Senate but now demand them with Republicans in charge. Low vacancies under a Democrat president produced calls for faster confirmations, while high vacancies under a Republican president result in threats of obstruction. Even fundamental constitutional principles were not enough to hold up Democrat nominees; even a partisan perk justifies Democrats' shutdown threat. Litmus tests were taboo with a Democrat nominating judges; they are standard operating procedure with a Republican president sending up nominees. President Bush is following the advice of his left-wing critics; perhaps they should practice what they preach. Thomas L. Jipping is Vice-President for Legal Policy at the Free Congress Foundation. For media inquiries, contact Notra Trulock 202.546.3000 / [EMAIL PROTECTED] For other questions or comments, contact Angie Wheeler [EMAIL PROTECTED] Correction: In the May 8 edition of Notable News Now the following sentence should have been: Boston was going to scrap its 50-some year-old streetcars on the shuttle line at the Ashmont-Mattapan end of the Red Line subway. Coalition for Judicial Restraint To see the Coalition for Judicial Restraint weekly report contact John Nowacki at (e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]) Visit our website at http://www.FreeCongress.org
[CTRL] More on Robert Blake's wife Bonny Lee Bakley, 45, (fwd)
-Caveat Lector- Bakley had been on probation after being convicted in her home state of Arkansas of carrying a fake ID. Braun said the couple had signed a prenuptial agreement before their marriage earlier this year that stated Bakley couldn't engage in any criminal activity. They married after DNA tests confirmed that her 11-month-old daughter, Rose Lenore Sophia, was fathered by Blake. The girl was originally named Christian Shannon Brando because Bakley believed the father was Christian Brando, the son of actor Marlon Brando. Although Bakley lived in a unit behind Blake's home, the marriage was improving, Braun said. The baby was placed in the care of Blake's relatives. http://www.salon.com/news/wire/2001/05/07/murder/index.html A HREF=http://www.ctrl.org/;www.ctrl.org/A DECLARATION DISCLAIMER == CTRL is a discussion informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substancenot soap-boxingplease! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright fraudsis used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. Archives Available at: http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html A HREF=http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html;Archives of [EMAIL PROTECTED]/A http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ A HREF=http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/;ctrl/A To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
[CTRL] curry for goose/gander?
-Caveat Lector- Vdare - http://www.vdare.com Everyone knows there wouldn't be a high-tech industry without Indian immigrants, don't we? They say so themselves. They're becoming an organized faction pressing for more Indian immigration, government posts etc. Funny thing, India's own immigration debate is quite different - tough but, well, sensible. One reason: fear of factional strife...by Peter Brimelow http://www.vdare.com/pb/indian_geese.htm Steve Sailer on Samuelson's Slip-up on Equality http://www.vdare.com/sailer/samuels_slipup.htm And on Why the DuBois Boomlet? http://www.vdare.com/sailer/dubois_boomlet.htm A staggeringly incorrect Sam Francis column (with VDARE's exclusive hyperlinks!) on the Blanton verdict in Birmingham and the Second Reconstruction http://www.vdare.com/francis/blanton_trial.htm James Fulford on Diversity vs. Freedom: Jihad on Campus http://www.vdare.com/fulford/diversity_freedom_gihad.htm TO BE POSTED WEDNESDAY NIGHT: Fulford on the Catholic Bishops and Immigration. FORWARD TO FRIENDS AND ESPECIALLY ENEMIES! A HREF=http://www.ctrl.org/;www.ctrl.org/A DECLARATION DISCLAIMER == CTRL is a discussion informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substancenot soap-boxingplease! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright fraudsis used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. Archives Available at: http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html A HREF=http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html;Archives of [EMAIL PROTECTED]/A http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ A HREF=http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/;ctrl/A To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
[CTRL] Bush Making 1st Judicial Picks (fwd)
-Caveat Lector- http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/ap/20010509/ts/bush_judges_21.html Wednesday May 9 6:43 AM ET Bush Making 1st Judicial Picks By RON FOURNIER, AP White House Correspondent WASHINGTON (AP) - President Bush is nominating 11 conservatives to federal appeals courts, after scaling back the size of his first slate of judicial picks in response to Democratic objections. The nominees themselves are little known outside judicial circles, but their selection offers a first glimpse of Bush's resolve to add conservatives to the federal judiciary and the eagerness of Democrats to stop him. The White House portrayed the picks as conservative and well-qualified. Bush will welcome them to the White House on Wednesday for a formal nomination ceremony. ``We believe this is the strongest and most diverse slate of judges ever sent up by a president,'' said White House counsel Al Gonzales. A senior White House official provided The Associated Press with a list of the nominees. Though a review of their legal records suggests Bush's first judicial nominees are solidly conservative, he took pains to mollify Democrats by appointing three women, two blacks, one Hispanic and two individuals who originally had been tapped for judgeships by President Clinton. Seven of the 11 candidates are sitting judges. Many owe previous judicial selections to Republican presidents. None is known as an ideologue or as especially partisan, although it is hard to gauge the prospects for confirmation when the Senate is split 50-50. Democrats have threatened to hold up the president's nominees, partly in revenge for the delays that met some of Clinton's judicial picks. One of the more conservative selections, Washington lawyer Miguel Estrada, has a long list of admirers who call him one of the smartest and ethically rigorous lawyers they know. He is a partner at Gibson, Dunn Crutcher, the firm that represented Bush at the Supreme Court during the postelection legal fight. Estrada came to the United States from Honduras as a teen-ager and took the SAT in English two years later. He got into Harvard and graduated near the top of his class. Estrada favors gun control, but believes in the conservative judicial model of reading the ``plain language'' of a law or of the Constitution. The best-known proponent of this philosophy is probably Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. The White House informally advised lawmakers last week that Bush intended to nominate 15 judges, pending final reviews. Candidates drawing objections from Democrats were pulled from the list, including a GOP congressman from California, as Bush sought a controversy-free first slate. Bush hopes to nominate the withheld candidates at a later date - but not for a least a couple of weeks - after further consultation with Congress, the White House official said. Republican Rep. Chris Cox was the most prominent candidate tabled, along with Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Carolyn Kuhl for the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco and Peter Keisler for the 4th Circuit in Richmond, Va. In addition to Estrada, the source said Bush also intends to nominate: -Roger Gregory to the 4th Circuit in Virginia. Clinton nominated him to the post originally. Bush hopes the pick is cast as a show of bipartisanship. -U.S. District Judge Edith Brown Clement to the 5th Circuit Court in New Orleans. She is a member of the conservative Federalist Society, whose members have had a hand in shaping Bush's judicial choices. She was named to the federal bench in Louisiana by President George Bush in 1991. -U.S. District Judge Terrence W. Boyle to the 4th Circuit in North Carolina. He was nominated for the appeals court by Bush's father but never confirmed. -John G. Roberts to the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C. Also nominated by Bush's father, Roberts is a popular member of the bar who is considered a politically well-connected moderate. A specialist in making oral arguments before the Supreme Court, he is considered among the two or three most effective lawyers there. -Jeffrey S. Sutton to the 6th Circuit in Ohio. He is a Supreme Court specialist with a winning record. -Barrington D. Parker, appointed to the bench by Clinton, to the 2nd Circuit in Connecticut. He has 30 years experience as a judge, litigator and law clerk. -Deborah Cook to the 6th Circuit in Ohio. She was elected twice to the Ohio Supreme Court. -Dennis Shedd to the 4th Circuit. The South Carolina resident was appointed to the federal district court by Bush's father. -Prescilla Owen to the 5th Circuit in Texas. Elected to the Texas Supreme Court in 1994, she is the second woman ever to sit on the state's high court. -Michael McConnell to the 10th Circuit in Denver. He is another well-respected Supreme Court specialist, a professor at the University of Utah College of Law. A HREF=http://www.ctrl.org/;www.ctrl.org/A DECLARATION DISCLAIMER
[CTRL] Greenies Should Pursue Wealth
-Caveat Lector- conservativeinfo - Subscribe to the Conservative Information email list at http://conservativeinfo.listbot.com The Right Kind of Green The pursuit of wealth is the best environmental policy. BY THOMAS J. BRAY Tuesday, May 8, 2001 Wall St Journal President Bush may painting himself back into a corner on carbon dioxide regulation. And he is getting lots of help from big corporations eager to demonstrate they are on the side of angels. With only two weeks to go before the administration unveils its energy policy, insiders say a proposal for a voluntary cap-and-trade system to limit CO2 emissions is under active consideration. Under such a system, participating companies would be able to trade emission rights for cash on the barrelhead. Some companies already have begun piling up credits, in part because they figure it's inevitable and in part to burnish their images. Last week Entergy Corp., the nation's third-largest electric utility, declared that it would voluntarily cap its own CO2 emissions at 50 million tons a year. Likewise, Ford Motor Co., whose chairman is the avowedly green William Clay Ford Jr., announced in its second annual corporate citizenship report that it is seeking ways to cut CO2 emissions unilaterally. Ford's efforts to be a responsible corporate citizen, cooed the Sierra Club, are in stark contrast with the Bush administration's irresponsible remarks trivializing energy efficiency and President Bush's broken promise on curbing global warming. Bush advisers have spent much of the last month listening to a chorus of experts, most of whom believe global warming is already reality, debating what to do. It might be tough for Mr. Bush to turn his back entirely on the Rio Treaty his father negotiated in 1992, which calls for government action. Besides, how could anyone object to a voluntary system of hedging against a United Nations prediction that temperatures will rise by as much as 10 degrees Fahrenheit over the next 100 years? Here's how. The White House is almost surely wrong if it thinks a voluntary program will win brownie points from its environmental critics. The voluntary strategy would be an admission that global warming is a serious threat, even though President Bush himself has acknowledged that the jury is still out. Sooner or later, voluntary controls are likely to be replaced by mandatory ones. Even greens who concede that the scientific evidence is sketchy, argue that the precautionary principle requires America, the biggest polluter, to act now. By the time the theory is proved, they say, the world could be toast. But there is a risk to the government getting things wrong as well. In the 1970s, many of the same scientists were all agog about the risk of global cooling. What if we wind up spending huge sums to insure against the wrong thing--and make the actual problem worse? That wouldn't exactly be a first for Washington. Indeed, as some economists point out, the Kyoto accords would have cost America $100 billion to $400 billion in lost gross domestic product. Yet the computer models favored by climatologists indicate Kyoto would have done very little to actually reduce warming. Skeptics believe Kyoto was a bait-and-switch that would have been followed by far more costly controls. A sensible middle ground, some conservative environmentalists argue, would be a strategy aimed at improving mankind's resilience--its ability to adapt to emerging threats whatever they might be. If the data suggest global warming is indeed a problem, for example, then policies might be devised to discourage development in vulnerable, low-lying coastal areas. Or more attention might be given to agricultural strains that are better able to withstand drought. Rather than place draconian taxes on energy use--taxes that aren't likely to be accepted by the American public, judging from the response to high gasoline, fuel-oil and electricity prices--taxes and regulation should be reduced as a means of encouraging new technologies that might greatly reduce environmental impacts. The main object would be to create a wealthier world. Wealthy societies are far more resilient than poor societies. Such an approach also would have the virtue of being entirely in keeping with President Bush's conservative, supply-side views. Even more to the point, it would be in keeping with the optimistic streak in our American nature. Mr. Bray is a staff columnist at the Detroit News. His OpinionJournal.com column appears Tuesdays. __ To unsubscribe, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED] A HREF=http://www.ctrl.org/;www.ctrl.org/A DECLARATION DISCLAIMER == CTRL is a discussion informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substancenot soap-boxingplease! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright fraudsis used politically
