My World

Crouch down and lick the hand that feeds you

How is it we have forgotten so much?

If ye love wealth greater than liberty, the tranquility of servitude             greater than the animating contest for freedom, go home from us in             peace. We seek not your counsel, nor your arms. Crouch down and lick             the hand that feeds you; and may posterity forget that ye were our             countrymen.

            - Samuel Adams          

Who's Buying This Country?

On Vox: Who's Buying This Country?

   

This from Wikipaedia:

On November 16, 2006, Clear Channel Communications agreed to be acquired by Bain Capital and Thomas Lee Partners for nearly $19 billion.[

Why is this notable?

(Disclaimer: A Libertarian blog)

December 13, 2007

Mitt Romney to Buy Clear Channel Communications

Posted by Chris Brunner at December 13, 2007 12:25 PM

What would it cost to buy the support of just about every nationally-syndicated neocon talk show host in America? About $19.5 Billion, which is what Mitt Romney's private equity firm, Bain Capital, and Thomas H. Lee Partners have agreed to pay in a leveraged buyout agreement with Clear Channel Communications, the largest radio station owner in the country.

Clear Channel owns over 1,100 full-power AM, FM, and shortwave radio stations, twelve radio channels on XM Satellite Radio, and more than 30 television stations in the United States. Premiere Radio Networks, which is the largest syndication company in the United States, is a wholly owned subsidiary of Clear Channel and is home to Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, and many others. Sean Hannity recently signed a large multi-market contract with Clear Channel, as well.

Axiomatic: Follow the money

Does this disturb anyone? And if you follow the links on Bain Capital in Wikipaedia; it gets more so.

Originally posted on alexwilliams.vox.com

Thought Crime

The Democrats we elected last November 2006 have betrayed our trust. They are gutless cowards who have absolutely no respect for you, me or the Constitution that so very many citizen/soldiers gave their lives for in the last century and this one. It's despicable enough when Republicans sponsor this kind of legislation, but for a so-called Democrat to do so !?!

And finally at the end of this excerpt; I am forced to agree with a Texas Libertarian candidate running for the Republican nomination. His is the only acceptable response to this insanity.

The following is an excerpt from:

Dissent Is Patriotic
The Bill of Rights Defense Committee's e-mail newsletter
December 2007, Vol. 6, No. 8

This quote from Representative Jane Harman (D-CA-36th), the bill's sponsor, suggests that the bill may veer close to the establishment of "thought crime." Harman said, "We must intervene before a person crosses the line separating radical views from violent behavior … "

Targeting "Thought Crime"

Grassroots activists from across the political spectrum are outraged about a House bill that passed overwhelmingly (404-6) on October 23. The Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act, H.R. 1955, would create a 10-member commission and name a university as a "center of excellence" to study "the facts and causes of violent radicalization, homegrown terrorism and ideologically based violence in the United States."
The chief question is, Who will this study scrutinize? Activists are concerned that their actions may be labeled as "force or violence," even if they involve no violence. For example, sitting in at a congressional representative's office, or blocking traffic to make a political statement. Iraq war protesters in large cities like Portland, Oregon, and San Francisco blockaded large parts of their cities' downtowns in protest as the invasion began in March 2003. Would such actions and the groups that carry them out be "studied" for using force "to intimidate or coerce the United States government … in furtherance of political or social objectives?"
This quote from Representative Jane Harman (D-CA-36th), the bill's sponsor, suggests that the bill may veer close to the establishment of "thought crime." Harman said, "We must intervene before a person crosses the line separating radical views from violent behavior … " Her words echo the Bush Administration's "preventive paradigm," discussed in David Cole's book, Less Safe, Less Free, in which Cole writes that a government that attempts to apprehend individuals before they've committed a crime relies on suspicion and gut feelings, and veers away from the rule of law and checks and balances. "Predicting future threats is not an exact science," writes Cole, "and the judgments made are not ordinarily susceptible to proof."

What You Can Do:

The Senate version, S 1959, has not been brought to the floor for a vote, so you can still contact your senator, especially if she or he is a member of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, where the bill awaits committee approval to move to the Senate floor. See the BORDC legislation page for more links and information on this bill.
American Freedom Agenda Act
Among all the bills introduced this session, there is one that actually begins the task of restoring the Bill of Rights. The Americacn Freedom Agenda Act H.R. 3835, was introduced by Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX-14th) on October 15 and referred to four committees: Intelligence, Judiciary, Armed Services, and Foreign Affairs.

Paul's bill would: 1) Repeal the Military Commissions Act, 2) Eliminate testimony gathered through torture, 3) Permit foreign intelligence wiretapping only through the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, 4) Allow members of Congress to challenge signing statements, 5) Prohibit kidnapping and extraordinary rendition, and 6) Prohibit the use of secret evidence to name individuals or groups as terrorists.

No other bill currently before Congress goes as far as HR 3385 towards restoring the Constitution. For more information, see BORDC's legislation page.

The Demon - FEAR

The Demon: Fear

There is a demon running loose in this country, called FEAR. Please let us work together to banish this demon now.

Please, Please, read this, comment and spread this far and wide. We the People and every free-thinking person is under assault from both the right and the left. This House R. 1955 was sponsored by so-called Democrats!

Edit: Congressman Neil Abercrombie,  Congressman Jerry F Costello, and Congressman Dennis Kucinich were the only Democrats to have the "cojones" to vote No!


To Whom It May Concern
It has come to my attention, that The U.S. House of Representatives has recently passed HR 1955 titled the Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act of 2007.

This act defines homegrown terrorism as: "(3) HOMEGROWN TERRORISM- The term homegrown terrorism’ means the use, planned use, or threatened use, of force or violence by a group or individual born, raised, or based and operating primarily within the United States or any possession of the United States to intimidate or coerce the United States government, the civilian population of the United States, or any segment thereof, in furtherance of political or social objectives. "

This act also allows for a central organization to be created to monitor, detect, and report on suspicious "homegrown terrorist activity within the United States". The definition of such activity is vague, leaving room for the possibility of anyone seriously advocating social change, restoration of the constitution, and advocating the organization of protests to "coerce the United States government, the civilian population, or any segment thereof".

This Act is undermining, and threatening, the constitutional rights of U.S. citizens to organize in dissent of the Patriot Act, NSA surveillance, telecom immunity, social injustice, the War on Terror, or any other program that the citizenry feels is in violation of their inalienable rights as U.S. citizens.

We have had enough. Please report on this. The link to the Act, in full detail, is listed here:

http://www.govtrack.us/congress/billtext.xpd?bill= ...

Please report on this. All U.S. citizens who are doing nothing but voicing their opinions against a government that has expanded their executive powers, bypassed our congressional check and balance, and has undermined our U.S. Judiciary System, are now at risk, by this new act, of being labeled and prosecuted as a terrorist.

Please help.

War With Iran ?

                                           

Pat Buchanan on the Push For Iran

   

Juan Cole and Barret Rubin warn us:

They [the source's institution] have "instructions" (yes, that was the word used) from the Office of the Vice-President to roll out a campaign for war with Iran in the week after Labor Day; it will be coordinated with the American Enterprise Institute, the Wall Street Journal, the Weekly Standard, Commentary, Fox, and the usual suspects. It will be heavy sustained assault on the airwaves, designed to knock public sentiment into a position from which a war can be maintained. Evidently they don't think they'll ever get majority support for this--they want something like 35-40 percent support, which in their book is "plenty."

Pat Buchanan warns us:

And George W. smells it. He no longer fears the power of Congress, and his rhetoric suggests he is contemptuous of it. He is brimming with self-assurance that he can break any Democratic attempt to impose deadlines for troop withdrawal and force Congress to cough up all the funds he demands.

Confident of victory this fall on the Hill, Bush is now moving into Phase III in his War on Terror: First, Afghanistan, then Iraq, then Iran.

Do not take this writer's word for it. Hearken to the astonishing rhetoric Bush used at the American Legion Convention in Las Vegas against Tehran:

"Iran ... is the world's leading state sponsor of terrorism. ... Iran funds terrorist groups like Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, which murder the innocent and target Israel. ... Iran is sending arms to the Taliban. ... Iran has arrested visiting American scholars who have committed no crimes. ... Iran's active pursuit of technology that could lead to nuclear weapons threatens to put a region already known for instability and violence under the shadow of a nuclear holocaust.

"Iran's actions threaten the security of nations everywhere. ... We will confront this danger before it is too late."

Do you get the picture? The good news is that we've got two days before the fecal storm begins. Start by calling your congressman and telling them:

• No to war with Iran
• No to the $200 billion supplemental
• Yes to SB 759 and HR 3119

Then tell all your friends. Posting this post in its entirety in your own blog might be a good start, so feel free to do that.


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Tags: activism, iran

                                       

                                                                         

WMD's - Seattle's Own

funny thing happened on the way to the forum...

It's Seattle's own SeaFair!