General – Page 129 – Letter Never Sent

General — Comments Off
21
Sep 02

Extending Jury Rights

Wow. This is awesome. From the NY Times: South Dakota to Vote on Extending Jury Rights

In November, voters in South Dakota will decide whether to give tax protesters, medical marijuana users and other criminal defendants a new right. A proposed constitutional amendment would allow defendants there to concede their guilt but nonetheless argue for acquittal on the grounds that the law under which they were charged is misguided or draconian.

We need to have something like this as more and more stupid laws are passed and enforced. The current legal system is a farce, and more and more power is being taken away from juries. Jury trials are an endangered species.

General — Comments Off
21
Sep 02

PATRIOTISM: A MENACE TO LIBERTY

Seen at WhatReallyHappened.com, Patriotism: A Menace to Liberty by Emma Goldman.

What, then, is patriotism? “Patriotism, sir, is the last resort of scoundrels,” said Dr. Johnson. Leo Tolstoy, the greatest anti-patriot of our times, defines patriotism as the principle that will justify the training of wholesale murderers; a trade that requires better equipment for the exercise of man-killing than the making of such necessities of life as shoes, clothing, and houses; a trade that guarantees better returns and greater glory than that of the average workingman.

Gustave Hervé, another great anti-patriot, justly calls patriotism a superstition–one far more injurious, brutal, and inhumane than religion. The superstition of religion originated in man’s inability to explain natural phenomena. That is, when primitive man heard thunder or saw the lightning, he could not account for either, and therefore concluded that back of them must be a force greater than himself. Similarly he saw a supernatural force in the rain, and in the various other changes in nature. Patriotism, on the other hand, is a superstition artificially created and maintained through a network of lies and falsehoods; a superstition that robs man of his self-respect and dignity, and increases his arrogance and conceit.

Indeed, conceit, arrogance, and egotism are the essentials of patriotism. Let me illustrate. Patriotism assumes that our globe is divided into little spots, each one surrounded by an iron gate. Those who have had the fortune of being born on some particular spot, consider themselves better, nobler, grander, more intelligent than the living beings inhabiting any other spot. It is, therefore, the duty of everyone living on that chosen spot to fight, kill, and die in the attempt to impose his superiority upon all the others. …

Patriotism is the religion of nationalism, collective idol worship and mass emotionalism. As Bill Hicks said (I’m paraphrasing), ‘Last time I checked, it was a round fucking world.’

Politics — 1 Comment
21
Sep 02

Pulling the anti-Semitism card

From the NY Times:

Harvard’s Pro-Israel, Jewish president, Lawrence H. Summers, has attempted to paint critics of Israel as anti-Semites. This is the sort of thing a person does when they are unable or unwilling to make a coherent argument and wish to stifle discussion. This came after many students and professors have called for Harvard to divest itself of all Israeli investments.

Labeling the petition anti-Semitic is a strategy to detract from the criticisms of Israel,” Professor Spelke said. “It turns the substance of a political debate into a debate of morals and supposed racism.

I thought the following portion contained an important omission:

Lawrence S. Bacow, president of nearby Tufts University, applauded Mr. Summers for his stand. “University presidents ought to raise important questions and I think he has,” Mr. Bacow said, adding that he, too, was concerned about signs suggesting a rise in anti-Semitism on campuses.

Regardless of how unimportant it may actually be, isn’t it at least noteworthy to mention that Lawrence Bacow is Jewish? Might that not factor into your appraisal of the situation? He is the only other University president quoted in the piece.

Military and defense — Comments Off
20
Sep 02

Interesting information

American Military Interventions of the 20th Century

Please be aware that this listing does not include many, many U.S. “interventions” where U.S. troops were not the primary force – such as the U.S. intervention in the Greek civil war during the 1950s – nor does it include the many, many U.S. nuclear threats that one might well consider a form of intervention – such as the U.S. nuclear threat during the ’73 Arab-Israeli war – nor does it include many CIA organized war efforts, such as the long war against the leftist Angolan government which was waged by the U.S. and racist South Africa – nor does it include all the countries intervened/invaded by the U.S. in World War I and World War II.

Department of Defense List of Military Installations Foreign

Politics — Comments Off
20
Sep 02

You’re joking right?

You have to read this. It covers all the bases. You’re joking right? by Joel S.

7. Flight 93. I would never dishonor the memories of those guys on board, their actions were truly heroic. But you would reduce the words “Let’s Roll” to a sound bite for political gain. There’s that integrity thing again. The victim’s families and the country are not expected to ask questions, right? The three missing minutes on the cockpit recorder, the fact that Cheney admitted he would have made the call to fire, the seismic evidence of a jet in the area at that time, the witnesses who saw one, the wide trail of debris, all lead to the “possibility” of a shoot down. And no one would be blamed, because the action would have been justifiable. It’s the cover-up and lies that aren’t ethical. That integrity thing, remember? But we are supposed to trust you and not ask questions. You’re joking, right?

8. Showdown with Saddam. Let’s send the boys into Baghdad. Let’s get that bastard. Hmmm… Who served in Nam? Not Dubya.. a pilot in the Air National Guard (p.s. don’t say the word kamikaze to a Texas pilot, they don’t know about those things). Not Cheney… “other priorities.” Perle, Wolfowitz, Card, and most of the Administration’s advisors and bureaucrats clamoring for war, ducked when it was their turn. But now we are supposed to charge blindly into war, without asking questions, or examining all of our options, even while in the middle of another war. You’re joking, right?

General — Comments Off
20
Sep 02

You are a slave. We control what freedoms you’re allowed to have.

From the Washington Post:

Efforts to legalize marijuana for medical purposes in the District were blocked yesterday when a federal appeals court overturned, without explanation, an earlier court ruling that had cleared the way for the issue to be put before D.C. voters.

The decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit reversed a ruling by the U.S. District Court, which in March declared unconstitutional a congressional amendment that prevented the city from spending money to put a medical marijuana initiative on the ballot.

Screw the War on Drugs, the War Against Terror, the War Against Iraq. Bring the War Against Big Brother.

General — Comments Off
20
Sep 02

Huh? Pro-west Turk elites afraid of democracy?

Of course, the despots of Turkey are our closest allies in the Mideast aside from the theocratic fascists of Israel. From the NY Times: Turkey Bars Politician From Election:

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkey’s most popular politician, the leader of an Islamic-oriented party, was barred Friday from running in November elections.

The High Electoral Board ruled that Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the head of the Justice and Development Party, cannot run on Nov. 3 because he was convicted of reading a poem that the court said incited religious hatred.

General — Comments Off
20
Sep 02

New bill will make analog VCRs and TVs illegal in 2006

Intellectual property vampires want to take away your rights. Via boingboing.net:

Rep. Billy Tauzin has released a “discussion draft” of a bill to be introduced this session that will ensure that the Broadcast Flag mandate will come to pass. The Broadcast Flag is a ridiculous bit of anti-freedom policy that allows a video signal to tell receivers, “Don’t let me be copied.” The bill will require every device that can be used as a receiver — including general-purpose PCs — to employ only “approved” technologies. Moreover, this particular bill goes even farther, requiring that all analog-outputting TV devices be discontinued by 2006: that’s right, your TV, VCR, camcorder, DVD player, and TiVo will all be obsolete in 2006. .

General — Comments Off
20
Sep 02

About our Police State

Many of these links were lifted from infowars.com. Props to Alex and his crew. I enjoyed watching him today on cable access.

Kinloch police officer says he accidentally shot motorist Yea, I’m sure a cop would never intentionally harm a citizen.
Victory. Court Rules DWI Car Seizures Violate Due Process. Asset forfeiture laws should be illegal. Period. Do we really need to give law enforcement a bonus for ripping people off?
New World Order: Rumsfeld could propose new Nato force: Why? Is this UN not rapacious enough for Rumsfeld’s liking? That Rumsfeld guy needs to be given a permanent vacation.
Police Brutality Case Caught On Tape: Man In Video Punched, Maced Repeatedly Remember the police are here to protect you. They won’t hurt innocent people. Put your hands where I can see them and show me your papers!

the old stuff