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Church-Goers and Torture By Britt E. ToweryChurch-Goers and Torture By Britt E. Towery
"Though the British tortured enemy captives during the American Revolution, Gen. George Washington would not do it, thereby distinguishing this country by its humanity." —Arthur Schlesinger, American historian "Torture brings Americans down to the level of the people who torture. It is not only immoral, but illegal."
Church-goers and torture Article Reference: "Matthew quotes Jesus as saying ‘Turn the other cheek. Do not repay evil for evil. Go the second mile. Love your enemies. ...May God have mercy on our souls for not being clear that we are following the Lord of Love, the Creator of the Universe, and not expedient political policy."
54% of Weekly Church Attenders Believe Torture is OK
—David Gushee, Distinguished University Professor of Christian Ethics at Mercer University Source: Opinion: A Christian's lament over the Pew torture poll Articles: Moral Relativism: A Little Torture is Just Fine? Faith Leaders Call Torture Immoral The Abolition of Torture By Andrew Sullivan
Research: ACAT-USA / Action by Christians Against Torture (USA) Evangelicals for Human Rights (EHR) National Religious Campaign Against Torture (NRCAT) The Religious Dimensions of the Torture Debate Washington's Crossing By David Hackett Fischer 13th Amendment Issue - Mandatory Volunteerism13th Amendment Issue - Mandatory Volunteerism
"Charities and nonprofits ....across the country provide needed services to Americans in a way that government never could. The Democrat-led Conference Committee made a mistake in striking my common sense, bipartisan amendment. ...People do not donate to charities for a tax break, but reducing the deduction will certainly decrease the amount of money available to the charities, nonprofits, and religious organizations that are doing such great work in the face of economic hardship. The Democrat leadership in Congress has prepared a budget that clearly sends the wrong message to those who serve individuals in need, and to those who rely on charitable giving."
—John Thune, U.S. Senator [R, SD]
Source:
Thune Amendment Protecting Charitable
Deduction Stripped from Democrat Budget John Thune United States Senator South Dakota, April 29, 2009 [H.R. 1388] TinyURL: http://tinyurl.com/den5gx / TinyURL Preview: http://preview.tinyurl.com/den5gx "Senator John Thune applauded today's 94 to 3 vote on his amendment to the Democrat budget that would protect the full federal income tax deduction for charitable giving. President Obama's budget framework had proposed reducing the deduction, which would result in less charitable giving nationwide."
Source:
Senate Passes Thune Amendment to
Protect Deduction for Charitable Giving John Thune United States Senator South Dakota, April 2, 2009 [ H.R. 1388 ] TinyURL: http://tinyurl.com/cjqadn / TinyURL Preview: http://preview.tinyurl.com/cjqadn "National service programs would also bring churches and traditional charitable organizations under the heel of government...”
Source:
Obama Signs Sweeping National Service Bill
By Thomas R. Eddlem (New American Magazine, 04/22/2009) http://www.thenewamerican.com/usnews/election/1030 At Uncle Sam's Service
By Patrick Krey (New American Magazine, 01/23/2009) http://www.thenewamerican.com/usnews/election/709 Any Volunteers for National Service?
By Patrick Krey (New American Magazine, 01/22/2009) http://www.thenewamerican.com/usnews/election/708 "GIVE Act, H.R. 1388 ....massively expands the National Service Corporation and allocates to it billions of dollars, and one executive for the program now says it will allow for the 'managing' of up to 8 or 9 million people."
Source:
New law to 'manage' 8 million 'volunteers'
Obama signs huge expansion of youth brigades legislation By Bob Unruh (WorldNetDaily, 04/21/2009) http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=95674 "The Declaration... lists 'liberty' as an unalienable right conferred by 'the Creator'...the president and the Congress need to be reminded that the 13th Amendment to the Constitution declares: 'Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude … shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.'"
Source:
Onward, mandatory soldiers!
By Michael P. Ackley (WorldNetDaily, 04/13/2009) [ HR 1444 / HR 1388 ] http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php/index.php?pageId=94751 "HR 1388, the “Serve America Act” is cloaked in feel-good rhetoric and supposedly noble goals, but it is nothing more than another Washington power-grab..."
Source:
Promoting Statism in the Name of Service - Part 1
Redstate, posted by hogan, 03/25/2009 - Serve America Act HR 1388 http://www.redstate.com/hogan/2009/03/25/promoting-statism-in-the-name-of-service National Service - Soviet Style - Part II Redstate, posted by hogan, 03/25/2009 - Serve America Act HR 1388 http://www.redstate.com/hogan/2009/03/25/national-service-soviet-style-part-ii-in-a-series-that-you-cant-possibly-make-up "National service, in some form, has been endorsed by every U.S. president since George Bush the Elder. But none has promoted it as insistently as Barack Obama."
Source:
National Service" and Conscription: A Question of Ownership
By William Norman Grigg (Campaign For Liberty, 02/11/2009) http://www.campaignforliberty.com/article.php?view=11 Campaign For Liberty Mission: to promote and defend the great American principles of individual liberty, constitutional government ... http://www.campaignforliberty.com Listen:
Worldview Matters with Brannon Howse: Obama's volunteerism
Brannon Howse, President ofWorldview Weekend (Worldview Radio, April 23, 2009 - Download MP3)
[ Transcript: http://www.worldviewtimes.com/article.php/articleid-4768/Brannon-Howse/Brannon-Howse/) http://www.worldviewradio.com/episode.php?EpisodeID=11801 Watch:
Raw Video: Obama Signs National Service Bill
YouTube: AssociatedPress, April '09 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bw7efheujxA DeMint Expresses Concern About the GIVE Act YouTube: SenJimDeMint, April '09 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lJp4-QwHZA Senator John Thune Introduces
Charitable Giving Amendment YouTube: JohnThune, March 2009 [H.R. 1388] http://www.youtube.com/user/JohnThune Research:
Remarks by The President
At Signing of The Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act Office of the Press Secrectary, Apr. 21, 2009 http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/Remarks-by-the-President-at-Signing-of-the-Edward-M-Kennedy-Serve-America-Act/ GovTrack: H.R. 1388: Generations Invigorating Volunteerism and Education Act
bill entitled "The Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act, an Act to reauthorize and reform the national service laws. Apr 21, 2009: Became Public Law No: 111-13. http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h111-1388 Open Congress: H.R.1388 - Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act
The Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act (formally the Generations Invigorating Volunteerism and Education (GIVE) Act) Sponsor: Rep. Carolyn McCarthy [D, NY-4] Bill Has Become Law, April 21, 2009 http://www.opencongress.org/bill/111-h1388/show GovTrack: H.R. 1444 - Congressional Commission on Civic Service Act
To establish the Congressional Commission on Civic Service to study methods of improving and promoting volunteerism and national service, and for other purposes. Sponsor: Rep. James McDermott [D-WA] http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h111-1444 Open Congress: H.R. 1444 - Congressional Commission on Civic Service Act
Sponsor Rep. James McDermott [D, WA-7] Introduced March 11, 2009 http://www.opencongress.org/bill/111-h1444/show Related Truth Point Post:
Ron Paul on the 13th Amendment - Involuntary Servitude...the Draft
[ Read: Ron Paul Statement in Opposition to HR 1388 - National Service, '09 also Legislation focuses on individual liberty (Americorps program), '97 http://truthpoint.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!3E1C89D2FC2BD759!3497.entry .
Research - U.S. National Motto History - 'In God We Trust'Research - United States National Motto History - 'In God We Trust'
U.S. Code: Title 36, Patriotic Societies and Observances
Chapter 3 - National Anthem, Motto... (United States Code Office of the Law Revision Counsel Official site from the US House of Representatives) http://uscode.house.gov/download/pls/36C3.txt U.S. Treasury: History of "In God We Trust"
U.S. Department of the Treasury - Fact Sheet http://www.ustreas.gov/education/fact-sheets/currency/in-god-we-trust.shtml U.S Mint: Timeline of the United States Mint
U.S. Department of the Treasury http://www.usmint.gov/historianscorner/index.cfm?action=timeline This Day In History: July 30, 1956
President Eisenhower signs “In God We Trust” into law - P.L. 84-140 http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history.do?action=Article&id=799 Secretary Salmon P. Chase Responsible for
"In God We Trust" on Coins/Currency (Christian Coalition of America, 2008) http://www.cc.org/blog/secretary_salmon_p_chase_responsible_quotin_god_we_trustquot_coinscurrency Restoring America: Understanding the Design
and Symbolism of the U.S. One Dollar Bill http://www.restoringamerica.org/the_dollar_bill.htm Arkansas Memory Project by Aaron Martin: "In God We Trust"
Arkansas School for Mathematics and Sciences http://asms.k12.ar.us/armem/martin/index.htm ACLJ: A Legislative History of the National Motto
American Center for Law and Justice http://www.aclj.org/News/Read.aspx?ID=489 'In God We Trust’ Celebrates 50 Years
Our national motto’s history spans some 150 years. By Sarah Kuziomko (Concerned Women for America, 2006) http://www.cwfa.org/articles/11011/CWA/misc/index.htm Star Spangled Presidents
By Helen Kampion (Our White House, National Children's Book and Literacy Alliance) http://www.ourwhitehouse.org/starspangled.html The Star-Spangled Banner
(BlogSpot: Fourth of July History and Traditions, '07) [ National Anthem Congressional resolution March 3 1931 (46 Stat. 1508, codified at 36 USC §301) ] http://historyindependenceday.blogspot.com/2007/12/star-spangled-banner.html Home of the Brave 'Star-Spangled Banner'
(WordPress: What's New at the Internet Archive, '09) http://internetarchive.wordpress.com/2009/03/03/home-of-the-brave Related Post:
Truth Point: 1st Amendment - U.S. National Motto History - 'In God We Trust'
http://truthpoint.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!3E1C89D2FC2BD759!3413.entry . Data Retention (EC Directive) Regulations 2009Data Retention (European Commission Directive) Regulations 2009
"The Data Retention (EC Directive) Regulations 2009 require service providers to retain details of user internet access, email and internet telephony for 12 months."
Source:
Internet data-retention law comes into force
Tom Espiner ZDNet.co.uk (April 6,2009) http://news.zdnet.co.uk/communications/0,1000000085,39637592,00.htm "This Mandatory Data Retention is regardless of whether an Internet Service Provider or Telecommunications Company has any business need for this data any more , and which would therefore have been destroyed or anonymised under the Principles of Data Protection under the Data Protection Act. This data is not data identified as being useful for a particular targeted criminal investigation, but is mass surveillance snooping on the vast majority of the 450 million innocent people in the European Union."
Source:
The Data Retention (EC Directive) Regulations 2009
Come Into force on 6th April 2009 By wtwuon (Spy Blog - SpyBlog.org.uk, March 16, 2009) TinyURL: http://tinyurl.com/cly4w4 / TinyURL Preview: http://preview.tinyurl.com/cly4w4 Susan Hall, ICT and media partner at law firm Cobbetts LLP - UK "...believes that these measures will have little discernable impact on the fight against terrorism, as the criminals involved will just find ways of bypassing the checks by using other people's unsecured Wi-Fi connections, hotspots or pay-as-you-go 3G modems."
Source:
EU Data Retention Directive provokes widespread condemnation
Critics speak out against law forcing ISPs to record every email and SMS from 15 March By Ian Williams (vnunet.com, March 13, 2009) http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2238499/concerns-eu-retention-directive Research:
Statewatch Observatory - UK
The surveillance of telecommunications in the EU Under mandatory data retention a record will be kept of everyone's phone-calls, e-mails, mobile phone calls (including location) and internet usage http://www.statewatch.org/eu-data-retention.htm Digital Rights Ireland 'Data Retention'
Republic of Ireland - a civil liberties group
http://www.digitalrights.ie/category/data-retention European Digital Rights: Campaign - Privacy 'No Voluntary Data Retention;
Civil liberties groups La Quadrature du Net, European Digital Rights (EDRi), AK Vorrat, and Netzpolitik.org are urging the European Parliament to heed advice given by the European Data Protection Supervisor Peter Hustinx and scrap plans dubbed "voluntary data retention". http://www.edri.org/campaigns/no-voluntary-data-retention European Digital Rights (EDRi)
Defends civil rights in the information society privacy and civil rights organisations have EDRI membership http://www.edri.org AK Vorrat: 5-Minute Overview: German Data Retention Law
Stoppt den Überwachungswahn! [ English] http://www.vorratsdatenspeicherung.de/content/view/301/79/lang,en AK Vorrat - Stoppt den Überwachungswahn! [ English ]
Arbeitskreis Vorratsdatenspeicherung German Working Group on Data Retention an association of civil rights campaigners http://www.vorratsdatenspeicherung.de/component/option,com_frontpage/Itemid,1/lang,en/ Communiqué: No Data Retention By coordination
Human Rights 21- France, Oct, 13, 2008 [ Bable Fish web page translation - French to English <http://www.humanrights21.org/?p=77> ] [ retention of the data of EC Européenne Union / France LCEN Law for Confidence in the Digital economy ] TinyURL: http://tinyurl.com/cwustq / TinyURL Preview: http://preview.tinyurl.com/cwustq Watch:
NetzpolitikTV 025: Data Retention in Europe
(Google Video, Oct 2007) [English] [ NetzpolitikTV-Interview Rikke Frank Joergensen of Digital Rights Denmark and European Digital Rights explains danger of data retention in europe Digital Rights (Copenhagen, Denmark) is a vivil organisation
aimed at raising awareness of rights in the digital world ] http://video.google.com/videosearch?q=The+Data+Retention+EC+Directive+Regulations .
1st Amendment Case - Salazar v. Buono - Mojave Desert Cross1st Amendment U.S. Supreme Case Salazar v. Buono
Mojave Cross Veterans Memorial "The Supreme Court has agreed to decide whether an 8-foot cross in the Mojave National Preserve is an unconstitutional governmental endorsement of religion."
Read:
On The Docket U.S. Supreme Court News: Salazar v. Buono
[ In Feb. 2009 - the Supreme Court accepted the case for review. The court will hear oral arguments in the fall. ]
http://onthedocket.org/cases/2008/salazar-v-buono Source:
Justices agree to hear Mojave Desert cross case (Feb. 23, 2009)
Case Reference: Salazar v. Buono On The Docket U.S. Supreme Court News http://onthedocket.org/articles/2009/02/23/justices-agree-hear-mojave-desert-cross-case-feb-23-2009 Read:
9th Circuit Court of Appeals '08: Buono v. Kempthorne - No. 05-55852
(WordPress: Ninth Circuit Opinions, Civil against the United States, 05/14/2008) http://www.ninthcircuitopinions.com/2008/05/14/buono-v-kempthorne-2 9th Circuit Court of Appeals '07: Buono v. Kempthorne - No. 05-55852
(WordPress: Ninth Circuit Opinions, Civil against the United States, 09/06/2007) http://www.ninthcircuitopinions.com/2007/09/06/buono-v-kempthorne 08': In the Supreme Court of the United States No. 08-472
Dirk Kempthorne, Secretary of the Interior, et al., Petitioners v. Frank Buono On Petition for a writ of certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit Petition For A Writ of Certiorari Gregory G. Garre Solicitor General Counsel of Record Ronald J. Tenpas Assistant Attorney General Daryl Josseffer Assistant to the Solicitor General Kathryn E. Kovacs Attorney Department of Justice DAVID L Bernhardt Solicitor Department of the Interior Washington, D.C. (United States Department of Justice, Office of the Solicitor General) http://www.usdoj.gov/osg/briefs/2008/2pet/7pet/2008-0472.pet.aa.html April 2007: United States Court of Appeals For The Ninth Circuit
Frank Bunon, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Dirk Kempthorn, Secretary of the Interior, in his official capacity; Jonathan B, Jarvis, Regional Director,
Pacific West Region, National Park Service, Department of the Interior, in his official capacity; Dennis Schramm, Superintendent, Mojave National
Prevere, National Park Sevice, Department of thr Interior,
in his official capacity, Defendants-Appellants No. 05-55852 D.C. No. CV-01-00216-RT Order Amending Opinion and Amended Opinion Appeal from the United States District Court for the Central District of California
Robert J. Timlin, Senior Judge, Persiding [ Argued and Submitted April 9, 2007 --- Pasadena, California Dirk Kempthorne is substituted for his predecessor Gail Norton as Secretary of the Department of the Interior. Dennis Schramn is substituted for his predecessor Mary Martin as the Superintendent of the Mojave National Preserve. *** Fed. R. App. P. 43(c)(2). 549 3***] [Google html version - Findlaw http://caselaw.findlaw.com/data2/circs/9th/0555852P.pdf/] TinyURL http://tinyurl.com/d9h4ge / TinyURL Preview: http://preview.tinyurl.com/d9h4ge “The ACLU and 9th Circuit Court seem determined to remove a war memorial that has been in place for over 75 years ... This is another example of the judiciary over-stepping its authority by attempting to usurp and thwart the legislative process.... The ACLU will not be satisfied with the removal of this one memorial... If the [ Mojave Desert Veterans Memorial ] Ninth Circuit’s decision is allowed to stand, countless other similar veterans memorials will be endangered.”
—Glen Gardner, Veterans of Foreign Wars National Commander
http://www.vfw.org/index.cfm?fa=news.newsDtl&did=4673 "In 1934, the VFW erected a small wooden cross and plaque in what is now the Mojave National Preserve...The memorial was struck down by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals as a violation of the US Constitution, prompting the government to cover the memorial with a large plywood box."
Source:
VFW Hopes Supreme Court Saves Mojave Desert Salazar v. Buono
(Veterans of Foreign Wars - News, 02/27/2009) [ U.S. Supreme Court announced 2009 it will hear case regarding Mojave Desert Cross, veterans’ memorial erected by VFW in 1934.] http://www.vfw.org/index.cfm?fa=news.newsDtl&did=4939&tok=1 Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States
Mission is to "honor the dead by helping the living' through veterans' service, community service, national security and a strong national defense. http://www.vfw.org "The Supreme Court announced [ 02/2009 ] that it will hear the case [Salazar v. Buono] regarding the Mojave Desert cross ...The American Legion and other veterans groups said the 9th Circuit's ruling could trigger legal challenges to the display of crosses at Arlington National Cemetery and elsewhere."
Source:
Supreme Court to Hear Mojave Desert Cross case
(American Legion Online Update, 02/26/2009) http://www.legion.org/onlineupdate/2519/supreme-court-hear-mojave-desert-cross-case The Mojave Desert Cross "... right now is covered in plywood, so no one can see it...it's our hope that we can get a victory here and the plywood will be removed, and we can get back to honoring our veterans..."
—Kelly Shackelford, Chief Counsel of the Liberty Legal Institute
(Supreme Court to decide dispute over cross in Mojave By Charlie Butts and Jody Brown, OneNewsNow, 02/25/2009)
2009 "The Supreme Court announced today that it will hear the case regarding the Mojave Desert Cross ... In...2008, Liberty Legal Institute filed an amicus brief asking for certiorari on behalf of the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States (VFW), The American Legion, the Military Order of the Purple Heart (MOPH), Veterans of Foreign Wars Department of California, and American Ex-Prisoners of War (AXPOW). The VFW erected the memorial and originally owned the land on which the memorial sits, and had donated it to the government in 1934. The ACLU sued for removal of the veterans' memorial on the grounds that it is unconstitutional, and the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals agreed and ordered the memorial and cross dismantled. ... The fate of the Mojave Desert Cross is just one of the trends of hostility toward veterans' memorials."
Read:
No. 08-472 In the Supreme Court of the United States
Dirk Kempthorne, Secretary of the Interior, et al., Petitioners, v. Franks Buono On Petition For A Writ Of Certiorari To The United States Court Of Appeals For The Ninth Circuit Brief Amici Curiae of Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States; The American Legion; Military Order of the Purple Heart; Veterans of Foreign Wars Department of California; American Ex-Prisoners of War in Support of Petitioners (Liberty Legal Institute - PDF) <http://libertylegal.org/Img/LLI%20amici%20brief.pdf/> Source:
U.S. Supreme Court Accepts Mojave Desert Cross Case
Veterans Hope Court Saves War Memorial (PRNewswire-USNewswire,[ redOrbit ] Liberty Legal Institute, 02/23/2009) http://news.prnewswire.com/ViewContent.aspx?ACCT=109&STORY=/www/story/02-23-2009/0004976857 Liberty Legal Institute
Protecting religious freedoms and First Amendment rights for individuals, groups and churches http://www.libertylegal.org "The Salazar v. Buono (Mojave Cross Veterans Memorial) Supreme Court Case "...could reshape the doctrine of separation of church and state... In the last two decades, the justices have been closely divided on whether religious symbols...can be displayed on public property."
Source:
Supreme Court to hear Mojave Cross Case Dedicated to Fallen Soldiers By David G. Savage (Veterans Today Network - Special Report, 02/24/2009) http://www.veteranstoday.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=4956 "Supporters of the [ Mojave Cross Veterans Memorial ] -- including the VFW, the American Legion and other veterans’ groups -- argue in a brief that a decision allowing removal of the cross would endanger other religious symbols on federal property, such as grave markers in national cemeteries."
Source:
Supreme Court agrees to hear case involving cross on federal land
By Robert Marus (Associated Baptist Press, 02/23/2009) http://www.abpnews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3868&Itemid=53 "War veteran organizations are watching the Mojave case and the Utah [ Pleasant Grove City v. Summum - 10 Commandments monument ] case closely, believing they could impact war memorials nationwide."
Source:
U.S. Supreme Court to hear war memorial cross case
By Staff (Baptist Messenger of Oklahoma, 02/23/2009) http://www.baptistmessenger.com/story/946CA89B7E916A5592F9FDA889A2F8E8 "...The Mojave Desert WWI Veterans Memorial Case in California is a very dangerous precedent: There are 9,000 Crosses and Stars of David at Normandy Beach. There are 22 National Cemeteries with veterans at rest beneath religious symbols."
Source:
American Legion PERA 2007 Speech [PDF]
[ Veterans’ Memorials, Boy Scouts, Public Seals, and Other Public Expressions of Religion Protection Act of 2007 ] [Google html versions of document <http://www.legion.org/documents/legion/word/pera_speech.doc/>] (http://www.legion.org/documents/legion/word/pera_speech.doc) TinyURL: http://tinyurl.com/cmv9mp / TinyURL Preview: http://preview.tinyurl.com/cmv9mp "... The First Amendment...says Congress shall pass no law ‘prohibiting the free exercise’ of religion. The cross is an important symbol to millions of veterans, some of whom had to make the ultimate sacrifice for this nation. ...Today’s lawyers and judges are outlawing the values and religious symbols that the Founding Fathers revered and proclaimed as the very foundation of the American republic...Today it’s a memorial. Tomorrow, these same judges can order the removal of crosses on veterans gravestones, the dismissal of military chaplains and the closure of base chapels.”
—Marty Conatser, American Legion National Commander (2007-08) Source:
American Legion Blasts 9th Circuit's Cross Ban
(OURVOICE, American Legion, 09/10/2007) [ Mojave Desert veterans memorial the beginning
of the 'slippery slope of extreme secularism' ]
http://ourvoice.legion.org/story/116/american-legion-blasts-9th-circuits-cross-ban "In the Mojave Desert Veterans Memorial Case, a solitary cross, erected on a rock outcrop 11 miles off the road in the desert by veterans in 1934 to honor World War I veterans, has been declared to be an unconstitutional violation of the Establishment Clause because in 1994 it was incorporated into the Mojave Desert Preserve.
Although Congress passed legislation originally sponsored by Rep. Jerry Lewis, my Representative in California, to transfer the one-acre Mojave Desert Veterans Memorial to private parties, veterans, in exchange for five acres of private land, the Federal judge, on motion of the ACLU, nullified the act of Congress, finding its action violates the Establishment Clause, and ordered the Executive Branch to tear down the Cross. That case is on appeal. ...and all veterans' memorials -- deserve to be defended, and The American Legion is ready and able to do so."
—Mr. Rees Lloyd, Commander of Dist. 21, American Legion Department of California, '06
Source:
Statement of Rees LLoyd, Commander
District 21, Department of California The American Legion - Before The Subcommittee of The Constitution, Civil Rights, And Property Rights Committee on The Judiciary - United States Senate on S. 3696, Veternas Memorial, Boy Scouts, Pubic Seals And Other Public Expressions Of Religion Act of 2006 ('PERA') Aug. 2, 2006 http://judiciary.senate.gov/hearings/testimony.cfm?id=2030&wit_id=5796 “It is a terrible shame that the Ninth Circuit has determined that it is not possible to honor our veterans if the shape of the memorial happens to be a cross, and that a historic monument placed by veterans has no legal standing when attacked by the ACLU...The court’s support of this attack on memorials could have serious consequences for the thousands of monuments to veterans at our historic battlefields across the nation.”
—Congressman Jerry Lewis (R-CA)
Source:
Ninth Circuit Erred in Attacking Mojave
Cross Veterans Memorial, Lewis Believes (Congressman Jerry Lewis California's 41st District, 09/07/2007) http://www.house.gov/jerrylewis/september72007.html “The agenda of one person claiming to be ‘offended’ shouldn’t diminish the sacrifice made by America’s veterans and their families ... Crosses on veterans’ memorials have been under attack, despite claims to the contrary by the ACLU and others. One only needs to look to what’s happened with the memorials at Mt. Soledad and in the Mojave Desert to see this. The statements made by atheist groups that they will go after more crosses if the ACLU’s legal efforts are successful further expose this reality.”
—Doug Napier, Alliance Defense Fund Senior Counsel
(Focus on the Family to feature ADF-American Legion project defending veterans’ memorials, Alliance Defense Fund, 07/2007)
"The Veterans of Foreign Wars erected the first Mojave Desert Cross atop Sunrise Rock in 1934 as a memorial to World War I veterans, maintaining and replacing the cross as needed since then. When the memorial became the subject of legal battles, government officials covered the cross with boards."
“The secularists’ attempt to dismantle this [ Mojave Desert Cross ] memorial adds injury to insult toward those who have lost family or friends during World War I ....”
—Joe Infranco, Alliance Defense Fund Senior Counsel
Read:
In the United States Court of Appeals
for the Ninth Circut - No. 05-55852
Frank Buono, Plaintiff-Appellee, v.
Gail Norton, Secretary of the Interior, et al., Defendant-Appellants, On Appeal, from the United States District Court
for the Central District of California Brief Amicus Curiae of the National Legal Foundation in support of the Appellants urging reversal [ Alliance Defense Fund funded friend-of-the-court brief for The National Legal Foundation asserting that the land transfer was a proper legal remedy to save World War I memorial, located on public land in Mojave Desert. The land transfer is the subject of a hearing in U.S. Court of Appeals for 9th Circuit ] [ ADF PDF ] (http://www.telladf.org/UserDocs/KempthorneAmicus.pdf/) Source:
ADF to 9th Circuit: Mojave land transfer was legal, uncover that cross
Land transfer ordered by Congress to save cross subject of hearing Monday (Alliance Defense Fund, April 09, 2007) http://www.alliancedefensefund.org/news/story.aspx?cid=4067 National Legal Foundation
Christian public interest law firm dedicated to the preservation of America's freedom and constitutional rights. http://www.nlf.net Alliance Defense Fund
Dedicated women and men fighting for religious freedom, the sanctity of human life, and marriage and the family http://www.alliancedefensefund.org ".... returning veterans of World War I emigrated to the desert for their health, and possibly for some solitude after the trials of war. A group of these veterans erected a cross and a sign that read: 'The Cross. Erected in memory of the dead of all wars.' The cross was erected by the Veterans of Foreign Wars Death Valley Chapter, the year was 1934...."
[ *** The Cross, Erected in Memory of the 'Dead of All Wars' 'Erected 1934 by Members of Veterans of Fore[ig]n Wars / Foregin [sic Wars, Death Valley post 2884 *** ]
Source:
Faith Under Fire in the Desert: Desert Christ Park / Mojave Cross
(Sun Runner, Magazine of California Desert Life & Culture 2006/2007)
http://www.thesunrunner.com/Stories/Faith_Under_Fire_in_the_Desert/faith_under_fire_in_the_desert.html "ACLU sued .. to have it [ Mojave Desert World War I Veterans Memorial Cross ] removed."
Read:
"...there is a need for Americans, the 'We the People' of the Declaration of Independence, to stop acting as sheep before lawyers sitting as judges who are usurping the powers of the legislative and executive branches, and are sucking freedom and democracy from our republican form of government."
—Rees Lloyd, former American Civil Liberties Union attorney
Judicial Voodoo VS. The Cross
By Rees Lloyd (WorldNetDaily, 04/15/2005) [ Mojave Desert Veterans Memorial Cross ] http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=43799 "... court's...opinion (... notes that one of the plaintiffs represented himself to be a sherpa who wanted to install a Bhuddist monument while also noting that he is a 'devout Catholic' who doesn't live anywhere near the cross and is merely offended by the knowledge that it exists)..."
[ "In May 1999, a Buddhist monk attempted to receive permission to construct a stupa on the site. Citing their eventual intention to remove the cross, the park denied the monk's request." --- Footnote 257: Mary G. Martin letter to Sherpa San Harold Horpa, 05/27/1999 <http://www.nps.gov/archive/moja/adminhist/adhin.htm>
From Neglected Space To Protected Place:An Administrative History of Mojave National Preserve
by Eric Charles Nystrom, March 2003, Chapter Six: Park Management and Admistration Prepared for: United States Department of the Interior National Park Service Mojave National Preserve <http://www.nps.gov/archive/moja/adminhist/adhi.htm>
http://www.nps.gov/archive/moja/adminhist/adhi6.htm ] [ "...ACLU filed complaint March 2001, on behalf of plaintiff Frank Buono, former assistant superintendent of the Mojave Preserve ...Oct. 2001, ACLU filed an amended complaint joining as plaintiff Alan Schwartz, Jewish war veteran. ... controversy surrounding the cross surfaced in 1999, when the [ National Park Service ] NPS received a letter from an individual who identified himself as 'Sherpa San Harold Horpa' of Jensen, Utah. ...who sent letter under alias 'Sherpa San Harold Horpa' ... also known to Buono as Herman R. Hoops ('Hoops'), retired NPS employee and longtime acquaintance of Buono."
ACLU's disinformation exposed
By Rees Lloyd (WorldNetDaily, 09/22/2006 http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=52087 ] Read:
United States District Court for Central District of California
Frank Buono & Allen Schwartz, Plaintiffs v.
Gale Norton, John Reynolds, & Mary Martin, Defendants. Case No. EDCV 01-216 RT (SGLx) Order 1) Granting Plaintiffs Frank Buono's and Allen Schwartz's Motion for Summary Judgment and; 2) Denying Defendants Gale Norton's, John Reynolds's, and Mary Martin's motion for summary judgment ***court, Judge Robert J. Timlin***
[ CourtZero - PDF ] (http://www.courtzero.org/mojavecrossopinion.pdf/) Watch:
Source:
The Forbidden Mojave Desert Cross
(Blogspot CourtZero, 11/28/2006) http://letthemenforceit.blogspot.com/2006/11/forbidden-mojave-desert-cross.html Articles:
Another Cross in Limbo Awaiting Court Decision
By Nathan Burchfiel (Cybercast News Service, 04/25/2007) [ California Mojave Desert Cross War Memorial ] http://www.cnsnews.com/public/Content/Article.aspx?rsrcid=7409 High Noon at Sunrise Rock By Christopher Levenick
(Wall Street Journal, posted on American Enterprise Institute, 05/27/2005) [ In 1934 J. Riley Bembry and fellow WW I veterans erected the Mojave cross in honor of fallen comrades ] http://www.aei.org/publications/pubID.22588,filter.all/pub_detail.asp Research:
Conservapedia Buono v. Kempthorne
http://www.conservapedia.com/Buono_v._Kempthorne House Report 108-283 - Making Appropriations
For The Department Of Defense For The Fiscal Year Ending September 30, 2004, And For Other Purposed (Library of Congress, Thomas) [ SEC. 8121 - Mojave National Preserve national memorial ] http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/cpquery/?&sid=cp108c3F0O&refer=&r_n=hr283.108&db_id=108&item=&sel=TOC_153458 Related Truth Point Posts:
1st Amendment Case - Mt. Soledad Veterans Memorial Cross
http://truthpoint.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!3E1C89D2FC2BD759!3501.entry 1st Amendment: 10 Commandments Monument Case - Pleasant Grove City v. Summum
http://truthpoint.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!3E1C89D2FC2BD759!3410.entry 1st Amendment: Separation of Church and State http://truthpoint.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!3E1C89D2FC2BD759!3412.entry .
1st Amendment Case - Mt. Soledad Veterans Memorial CrossFirst Amendment Case: Mt. Soledad Veterans Memorial Cross Legal Battle
2009 - "The current case involves Jewish War Veterans of the United States of America and several individuals represented by the American Civil Liberties Union, which brought the present lawsuit challenging Congress' taking of the... [ Mt. Soledad Veterans Memorial ] and the presence of the cross on federal property..."
Source:
Federal Appeals Court to Examine Constitutionality of San Diego Monument American Center for Law and Justice ACLJ - Represents Members of Congress Seeking to Protect the Mount Soledad Veteran’s Memorial (DeMossNewsPond, 03/13/2009) http://www.demossnewspond.com/aclj/news/federal_appeals_court_to_examine_constitutionality_of_san_diego_monument "The American Center for Law and Justice"... filed an brief [http://www.aclj.org/media/pdf/Mt.SoledadBrief.pdf/] at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in the ongoing legal battle to protect the constitutionality of the Mt. Soledad Veterans Memorial display in San Diego. ...
[ACLJ amicus brief ] argues that the federal government’s acquisition and operation of the Mt. Soledad Veterans Memorial – including its commemorative cross – is consistent with the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. In our view, the federal appeals court should reach the only proper conclusion – that the Mt. Soledad Memorial is not only an appropriate symbol honoring military veterans, but it is constitutional as well."
Source:
Another Round in Court Over Mt. Soledad
Jay Sekulow's Trial Notebook, 03/13/2009 http://www.aclj.org/TrialNotebook/Read.aspx?ID=750 “One person’s agenda shouldn’t diminish the sacrifices made by America’s veterans and their families...The ACLU claims to be the foremost defender of the United States Constitution and the Bill of Rights.’ Most Americans know, however, that title really belongs to the veterans whose memorial the ACLU is attacking.”
—Joe Infranco, Alliance Defense Fund Senior Counsel
"Alliance Defense Fund attorneys filed a friend-of-the-court brief [http://www.telladf.org/UserDocs/SanDiegoAmicus.pdf/] ...in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit in defense of a... cross located at the Mount Soledad Veterans Memorial. The American Civil Liberties Union and its allies are challenging the constitutionality of the cross, which is located on federal land at the memorial. ADF attorneys represent The American Legion Department of California in the case."
Source:
ADF: Mt. Soledad Veterans Memorial cross is constitutional
Friend-of-court brief filed with 9th Circuit on behalf of The American Legion Department of California (Alliance Defense Fund, 03/25/2009) http://www.alliancedefensefund.org/news/story.aspx?cid=4883 "The national American Legion has joined with the Alliance Defense Fund and Liberty Legal Institute to defend and protect our nation’s war memorials from increasing legal attacks ..."
Source:
Alliance Defense Fund: Veterans' Memorials
http://www.alliancedefensefund.org/memorials Calif. Supreme Court declines review of decision on
Mt. Soledad National War Memorial land transfer Justices let Court of Appeal ruling stand that says transfer to feds okay; ADF filed friend-of-the-court brief for The American Legion Dept. of California (Alliance Defense Fund, 02/22/2007) http://www.alliancedefensefund.org/news/story.aspx?cid=4018 Transfer of Mt. Soledad land to feds to save war
memorial constitutional, says CA Court of Appeal ADF and its allies filed friend-of-the-court brief on behalf of The American Legion (Alliance Defense Fund, 11/30/2006) http://www.alliancedefensefund.org/news/story.aspx?cid=3935 ADF attorneys ask 9th Circuit to dismiss
17-year lawsuit against Mt. Soledad cross Friend-of-the-court brief states that case is now “moot” since President Bush signed law transferring cross to federal land Alliance Defense Fund, 11/28/2006 http://www.alliancedefensefund.org/news/story.aspx?cid=3932 ADF and American Legion ask Supreme Court
to stop removal of Mt. Soledad cross ADF steps up defense of veterans memorial, files friend-of-the-court brief in U.S. Supreme Court arguing on behalf of stay (Alliance Defense Fund, 07/03/2006) http://www.alliancedefensefund.org/news/story.aspx?cid=3790 Alliance Defense Fund
Responding to the urgent need for the legal defense and advocacy of religious freedom http://www.alliancedefensefund.org "The Supreme Court announced its ruling in Pleasant Grove, Utah v. Summum which says that the presence of a donated monument does not require the acceptance of all donated monuments. The ruling, which reverses the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals’ ruling, works in favor of veterans’ memorials nationwide, since many are donated and would have been threatened by the Tenth Circuit’s ruling. The Court’s majority opinion specifically references the brief filed by the veterans."
Source:
U.S. Supreme Court Rules 9-0 to Protect Govt. Monuments
Veterans Celebrate Ruling That Will Help Preserve War Memorials (Save Our Memorials, project of Liberty Legal Institute. Press Release, 02/25/2009 - PDF) http://www.saveourmemorials.com/docs/090225_release.pdf Liberty Legal Institute: Save Our Memorials
http://www.saveourmemorials.com Liberty Legal Institute
Protecting religious freedoms and First Amendment rights for individuals, groups and churches. http://www.libertylegal.org
"... the ACLU by its continuing attacks on Mt. Soledad and other veterans memorials, continues to create a growing backlash, resulting now in an unprecedented nationwidewide defense of veterans memorials..." Source:
Launch of National Defense of Veterans Memorial Project
By Rees Lloyd, California civil rights attorney, veteran, and Director of the Defense of Veterans Memorials Project of the American Legion Department of California (American Legion Department of California San Francisco Headquarters, 05/18/2007) http://www.calegion.org/html/desk_news.html#project Defense of Veterans Memorials Project
American Legion Department of California http://www.calegion.org/html/veterans-memorials-project.html American Legion Department of California - Headquarters
Veterans Helping Veterans and Their Communities http://www.calegion.org "A...serious threat has surfaced, from self-serving groups seeking to use the threat of lawsuits and judicial activism to cover, remove, and even destroy Veterans Memorials and other public buildings that contain religious symbolism of any type
...The American Legion National Headquarters has joined forces with the Alliance Defense Fund and Liberty Legal Institute to defend and protect our nation's war memorials from increasing legal attacks from the ACLU and its allies..."
Read:
The American Legion, ADF, LLI Launch National
Effort To Defend Veterans’ Memorials
(American Legion Vison May Web News, 05/24/2007) http://www.legion.org/vision/currentevents/2007/05/the_american_legion_adf_lli_la.html Source:
American Legion Riders - Post 489 - Call to Action
Guard America's War Memorials - A call to action for The American Legion Riders, Press Release, 06/14/2007 http://www.legionriders489.org/pressroom.htm National American Legion Riders Information Center
Members of the American Legion who are also motorcycle enthusiasts http://www.americanlegionriders.net Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) "... and The American Legion have been involved in legal efforts to defend the cross memorial at Mt. Soledad in San Diego and the Mojave Desert Cross in southern California against ACLU-led efforts to have them removed. "
Source:
The American Legion, ADF, LLI Launch
National Effort To Defend Veterans' Memorials (OURVOICE, American Legion, 05/24/2007) http://ourvoice.legion.org/story/51/the-american-legion-adf-lli-launch-national-effort-to-defend-veterans-memorials "The Thomas More Law Center’s "...friend of the court brief [ supporting Mt. Soledad cross ] was filed on behalf of former Navy pilot and prisoner of war Rear Admiral Jeremiah Denton, USN (Ret.), and the families of Marine Majors Michael D. Martino and Gerald Bloomfield, III, both of whom were killed in combat in Iraq..." TMLC Files Brief on Behalf of War Heroes Opposing
ACLU’s Efforts to Destroy Mt. Soledad Cross (Thomas More Law Center, 04/02/2009) http://www.thomasmore.org/qry/page.taf?id=19&_function=detail&sbtblct_uid1=475 Adm. Jeremiah Denton, Vietnam War Hero & US Senator,
to be Honored at Mt. Soledad Veterans Memorial (Thomas More Law Center, 09/16/2008) [ Thomas More Law Center and the American Legion, Department of California, honor Vietnam War hero, retired Admiral and former U.S. Senator, Jeremiah Denton, with a plaque dedication ceremony atop Mt. Soledad Veterans Memorial ] http://www.thomasmore.org/qry/page.taf?id=19&_function=detail&sbtblct_uid1=475 "Many of our fallen war heroes have been honored with individual plaques displayed at the foot of the Mt. Soledad memorial cross. And yet, in bitter irony, the very freedoms that these veterans died to protect are being perverted by the ACLU and used to deprive them and their grieving friends, families and comrades the honor and solace they deserve.”
—Richard Thompson, President and Chief Counsel of the Thomas More Law Center
(ACLU Dishonors Veterans And Fallen War Heroes, TMLC News / victimsoflaw net 08/28/2006) "Those who want the Mt. Soledad cross removed erroneously base their case on the metaphor ‘separation of church and state,’ a phrase nowhere in the Constitution. ... It’s time to stop government by the ACLU and for the ACLU.”
—Richard Thompson, President and Chief Counsel of the Thomas More Law Center
(U.S. Congress Acts to Save the Mt. Soledad Cross, 11/23/2004 / TMLC Internet Archive Wayback Machine) Thomas More Law Center
Dedicated to the defense and promotion of the religious freedom of Christians, time-honored family values, and the sanctity of human life. http://www.thomasmore.org The Mt. Soledad Memorial Cross "... in no way represents an 'establishment of religion.' Displaying a cross on public property does not establish Christianity as the official religion of San Diego."
Source:
Crossed up (Posted By Greg Jones, 08/03/2006)
Foundation for Moral Law Weblog: Firm Foundation http://morallaw.org/blog/?p=8 "...The secularist jihad, led by ACLU mullahs, will stop at nothing to expunge this nation’s Judeo-Christian heritage, and to prevent the government from paying tribute to the Christians who died defending America. What next, What about all of those crosses on federal land in veterans cemeteries, here and abroad? Doesn’t this constitute government endorsement of religion as well? ... Compare the number of Christians who died fighting for America to the number of ACLU lawyers who were killed in their country’s service. No comparison..."
—Don Feder, President of Jews Against Anti-Christian Defamation
Source:
Jews Against Anti-Christian Defamation Applauds
San Diego Vote To Save Mt. Soledad Cross (Jews Against Anti-Christian Defamation, Press Release, 07/27/2005) http://www.jews4fairness.org/pr072705.php Jews Against Anti-Christian Defamation Purpose: To secure justice and fair treatment to all citizens alike and to put an end forever to unjust and unfair discrimination against Christians http://www.jews4fairness.org Visit:
Watch:
"Mt. Soledad Memorial 'now serves to honor American veterans of all wars, not just veterans of World War I, World War II, and Korea.'"
C-Span Congressional Chronicle Video: Jeff Sessions On Mt. Soledad Memorial
Jeff Sessions United States Senator Alabama [R]
[ Sessions on the Mt. Soledad Veterans' Memorial, 07/27/2006 Complete Text - Sessions Official Site: TinyURL: http://tinyurl.com/d4b486 ] http://www.c-spanarchives.org/congress/?q=node/77531&id=7491665 Mt Soledad War Memorial - American Legion Press Conference
YouTube: tmorriss 2006 Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8A5w4ULf1IA Part 2 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J3GfoHymr5U Part 3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xvZisx1eETg Mt. Soledad National Memorial Salute to Veterans
YouTube: joshuagross http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BPgJmU5t4aE What About Arlington - performed by Jami Grooms
YouTube: JamiSandyGrooms [ American Legion, Liberty Legal Institute, Alliance Defense Fund are using this video in national campaign to protect religious symbols on the tombstones and monuments in Arlington National Cemetery that honor the fallen hero's of this great country ] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Zr0TMnB-ps Col David Hunt Erupts in Anger over Flag Ritual Flap! YouTube: johnnydollar01, 2007 [ Colonel David Hunt outraged over administration ban of flag folding recitations at military funerals and Lt. Col. Oliver North explains flag ban ]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RbzXuQ0UZio Articles:
“I'm for leaving it [ the Mt. Soledad Veterans Memorial cross ] alone...Let it be.” —Allen Miliefsky, San Diego, CA resident, retired Air Force lieutenant colonel
and commander of Jewish War Veterans of the United States of America, Post 185 Local Jewish Veterans Want Mount Soledad Cross Left Alone
By David Ogul (SignOnSanDiego, Union-Tribune, 01/19/2009) [ San Diego, Calif. - Most local members of Jewish War Veterans aren't offended by the Mt. Soledad cross ]
http://www3.signonsandiego.com/stories/2009/jan/19/1m19cross212940-local-jewish-veterans-want-mount-s/ "...lawyers for Jewish War Veterans [ Jewish War Veterans of the USA ] ...contend [ the Mt. Soledad Veterans Memorial Cross ] violates the constitutional separation between government and religion..."
Source:
Soledad cross foes want order reversed
By Greg Moran (Contact) (SignOnSanDiego, Union-Tribune, 01/08/2009) http://www3.signonsandiego.com/stories/2009/jan/08/1m8cross23938-soledad-cross-foes-want-order-revers At Cross Purposes - Church and state
collide with a cross on government land. The Mount Soledad cross has been the subject of legal battles for almost two decades. By Marcia Manna(San Diego Magazine, July 2008) http://www.sandiegomagazine.com/media/San-Diego-Magazine/July-2008/At-Cross-Purposes/index.php Bush Signs Bill to Protect Mount Soledad cross
(Baptist Press, 08/15/2006) [ President Bush signed into law Aug. 14 legislation to protect San Diego’s Mount Soledad cross as memorial to military veterans ] http://www.bpnews.net/BPnews.asp?ID=23793 House Passes Bill Attempting to Intervene in Cross Dispute
By Robert Marus (Associated Baptist Press, 07/20/2006) [ Case Paulson v. City of San Diego bill transferring the cross to federal ownership was H.R. 5683 ] http://www.abpnews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1378 ACLU v. The Cross
By Michael Gaynor (RenewAmerica, 07/21/2006) [ Bill (H.R. 5863) to transfer ownership of veterans Mt. Soledad memorial to federal government ] http://www.renewamerica.us/columns/gaynor/060721 House Intervenes to Save Mount Soledad Cross
By Gudrun Schultz (LifeSiteNews, 07/20/2006) http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2006/jul/06072002.html Supreme Court Intervenes to Save the Mt. Soledad Cross
(LifeSiteNews, 07/04/2006) http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2006/jul/06070401.html Court: San Diego Veteran Memorial
Cross Must Come Down by August 1 (LifeSiteNews, 06/23/2006) http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2006/jun/06062302.html Judge Orders San Diego to Remove
Disputed Mountain Cross Erected in 1954 ACLU triumphs over wishes of 105,000 citizens who signed ballot initiative By Gudrun Schultz (LifeSiteNews, 05/04/2006) http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2006/may/06050406.html Veterans Go To Battle For Memorials
By Rees Lloyd, former ACLU attorney (WorldNetDaily, 05/ 22/2007) http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=41710 War hero, ex-senator asks Bush to save cross
San Diego landmark to be removed by judge's order next month James L. Lambert (WorldNetDaily, 07/01/2006) [ Former POW and U.S. senator Jeremiah Denton requested President Bush authorize federal government to take over site of historic San Diego cross ] http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=50859 Slain Marine's parents appeal to Bush to save cross
Officer killed in Iraq memorialized under symbol threatened by court order By James L. Lambert (WorldNetDaily, 06/09/2006) [ Parents of Capt. Michael Martino, who was killed in action in Iraq, want federal park service to take over Mt. Soledad war memorial site from city of San Diego ] http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=50567 Research:
History: San Diego City Charter and Mt. Soledad National War Memorial
[ San Diegans for Mt. Soledad National War Memorial led citywide Proposition A campaign to protect Mount Soledad
by transferring the site of the memorial to the federal government
as a national monument protected - Chairman Phil Thalheimer,
Co-chairs Myke Shelby / Joshua Gross --- website inactive since '06 ]
http://soledadnational.sitebuilder.completecampaigns.com/sbcc/personalinfo.php?page=biography GovTrack: H.R. 5683 - Mt. Soledad Veterans Memorial (109th Congress/2005-06)
To preserve the Mt. Soledad Veterans Memorial in San Diego, California, by providing for the immediate acquisition of the memorial by the United States. http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h109-5683 111th Congress - 2009-2010 H.R. 1300: Veterans' Memorials, Boy Scouts,
Public Seals, and Other Public Expressions of Religion Protection Act of 2009 [ Bill in U.S. Congress originating in the House of Representatives - To amend the Revised Statutes of the United States to prevent the use ofthe legal system in a manner that extorts money from State and local governments, and the Federal Government, and inhibits such governments' constitutional actions under the first, tenth, and fourteenth amendments Sponsors Rep. Dan Burton (R-IN) - Introduced Mar 4, 2009 - Last Action: Mar 4, 2009: Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary ] http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h111-1300 Related Cases: The Army says that fighting a lawsuit against
the religious icon is too costly and impractical By Gregg K. Kakesako (Star-Bulletin - Hawaii, 1997) [ Hawaii - Schofield Barrack Kolekole Pass cross / Camp H. M. Smith cross ] http://archives.starbulletin.com/1997/10/20/news/story2.html Flag-folding Recitation Ban:
"Reciting what the 13 folds to the United States Flag stand for in Military Funerals, can no longer be read by anyone who is an employee of America."
"The First Amendment to the United States Constitution apparently says that you can say anything you want to say in America, but if your free speech says anything about the Christian God, it is illegal. Where is that written in our Constitution?"
—Pastor Don Swarthout, President and founder of Christians Reviving America's ValuEs (CRAVE) http://www.christians4america.com Source:
U. S. Flag Ceremony Banned
(Christian Newswire, CRAVE, 10/31/2007) http://www.christiannewswire.com/news/188804645.html "World War II Navy sailor Bobby Castillo, 85, member of Memorial Honor Detail 12, called the federal decision 'a slap in the face to every veteran. ...When we got back from the war, we didn't ask for a whole lot...We just want to give our veterans the respect they deserve. No one has ever complained to us about it. I just don't understand.'"
Source: After complaint in Riverside, Flag-Folding Recitation
Banned at Veterans cemeteries Nationwid By Joe Vargo (Press-Enterprise, 10/25/2007) http://www.pe.com/localnews/inland/stories/PE_News_Local_S_flag25.3ee2dc9.html "Following one complaint...The U.S. government has bowed to pressure from one radical anti-Christian secularist. Allowed to stand, the action by the Veterans Administration, in essence, means that anti-Christian bigotry is now the accepted and approved law of the land.”
Source:
Federal government bans flag-folding recitations following one complaint
(WordPress, Family Action Organization, 10/27/2007 http://familyactionorganization.wordpress.com/2007/10/27/federal-government-bans-flag-folding-recitations-following-one-complaint/ Christians encouraged to take action on funeral flag recitation ban From Allie Martin and One News Now. (Word PressFamily Action Organization, 10/29/2007) http://familyactionorganization.wordpress.com/2007/10/29/christians-encouraged-to-take-action-on-funeral-flag-recitation-ban/ Mail Archive - osint: Federal Government Bans Flag-folding Recitations
(American Family Association - AFA Action Alerts, 10/2007)
http://www.mail-archive.com/osint@yahoogroups.com/msg48445.html "The flag folding ceremony represents the same religious principles on which our great country was originally founded."
*The second fold is a symbol of our belief in the eternal life.
*The fourth fold represents our weaker nature; for as American citizens trusting in God, it is to Him we turn in times of peace, as well as in times of war, for His divine guidance.
*The eleventh fold, in the eyes of Hebrew citizens, represents the lower portion of the seal of King David and King Solomon and glorifies, in their eyes, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
*The twelfth fold, in the eyes of a Christian citizen, represents an emblem of eternity and glorifies, in their eyes, God the Father, the Son and Holy Ghost.
When the flag is completely folded, the stars are uppermost, reminding us of our national motto, 'In God We Trust.'
Source:
American Legion Online: Flag Folding - Procedures and Symbols
http://www.legion.org/national/americanflag/folding Related Truth Point Posts:
1st Amendment Case - Salazar v. Buono - Mojave Desert Cross
http://truthpoint.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!3E1C89D2FC2BD759!3502.entry 1st Amendment: 10 Commandments Monument Case - Pleasant Grove City v. Summum
http://truthpoint.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!3E1C89D2FC2BD759!3410.entry 1st Amendment: Separation of Church and State
http://truthpoint.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!3E1C89D2FC2BD759!3412.entry .
Australia Censors WikileaksAustralia Censors Wikileaks
For Exposing Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) Blacklist
"Wikileaks has argued such blacklists are 'dangerous to 'above ground' activities such as political discourse...'"
Source: Wikileaks spills ACMA blacklist
(Liam Tung, ZDNet.au, 03/19/2009) http://www.zdnet.com.au/news/security/soa/Wikileaks-spills-ACMA-blacklist/0,130061744,339295538,00.htm March 2009 "This week saw Australia joining China and the United Arab Emirates as the only countries censoring WikiLeaks."
Source: WikiLeaks Exposes Australian Web Blacklist
By David Kravets (Wire, 03/19/2009) http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2009/03/wikileaks-expos.html Wikileaks co-founder Julian Assange "...said secret censorship systems were 'invariably corrupted', pointing to the Thailand censorship list ... In January the Thai system was used to censor Australia reportage about the imprisoned Australian writer Harry Nicolaides...."
[ Wikipedia: Harry Nicolaides ... is an Australian writer...imprisoned in Thailand under Thai lèse majesté law -- section 112, reads: 'Whoever defames, insults or threatens the King, the Queen, the Heir-apparent or the Regent, shall be punished with imprisonment of three to fifteen years.' ...a passage in 2005 novel --- Verisimilitude. Is the truth, the truth? --- of his deemed to defame the Thai monarchy. ]
Source:
Leaked Australian blacklist reveals banned sites
By Asher Moses The Age Australia (03/19/2009) http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2009/03/19/1237054961100.html "It is time journalists and publishers starting actually engaging in 'fearless journalism' rather than simply placing the words on their mastheads...It is time activists serious about their mission used every technical and legal ploy they can to further it."
—Julian Assange Co-Founder Wikileaks
http://www.mediagiraffe.org/mgprofiles/index.php?action=profile&id=458 Source:
Immune to Critics, Secret-Spilling Wikileaks Plans to
Save Journalism ... and the World By Ryan Singel (Wire, 07/03/2008) http://www.wired.com/politics/onlinerights/news/2008/07/wikileaks "People are now realising that the [ Australian Communications and Media Authority - ACMA blacklist ] could affect sites they themselves visit, that controversial material and politically sensitive material will make the list, and that mistakes are bound to be made."
Source: Answering a few questions about the leaked blacklist
By Colin Jacobs (Electronic Frontiers Australia, 03/ 20/ 2009 - updated) http://www.efa.org.au/2009/03/20/answering-a-few-questions-about-the-leaked-blacklist No Clean Feed - Stop Internet Censorship in Australia
Electronic Frontiers Australia http://nocleanfeed.com Electronic Frontiers Australia (EFA)
organisation representing Internet users concerned with on-line freedoms and rights http://www.efa.org.au "The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) is coming under fire from free-speech advocates after it threatened the host of a popular Australian online discussion forum with a $11,000-a-day fine for publishing a link to an American pro-life website that ACMA had previously blacklisted."
Read:
‘Embarrassed’ ACMA forced to change ways
By Kathryn Edwards (Australian PC World, March 17, 2009) [ Australian Communications and Media Authority complaint anti-abortion Web site ] http://www.pcworld.idg.com.au/article/280492/embarrassed_acma_forced_change_ways North Coast Voices: What if you gave an Internet censorship party and nobody came?, 03/19/2009
ACMA forces Whirlpool to remove link to banned anti-abortion web page
(Somebody Think Of The Children, 03/13/2009) [ also read: ACMA declares anti-abortion site ‘prohibited content’
01/21/2009 http://www.somebodythinkofthechildren.com/acma-anti-abortion-prohibited ]
http://www.somebodythinkofthechildren.com/acma-demand-whirlpool-remove-link-to-banned-anti-abortion-web-page Source:
Pro-Life Website Banned on Australian
Government's Internet Blacklist By Kathleen Gilbert (LifeSiteNews, March 19, 2009) http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/mar/09031905.html "Reporters Without Borders.... placed Australia on its 'watch list' of countries imposing anti-democratic internet restrictions that could open the way for abuses of power and control of information."
Source:
Banned hyperlinks could cost you $11,000 a day
By Asher Moses Sydney Morning Herald, March 17, 2009 [ Australian communications regulator will fine people who hyperlink to sites its blacklist ] http://www.smh.com.au/news/home/technology/banned-hyperlinks-could-cost-you-11000-a-day/2009/03/17/1237054787635.html "... not all countries share the notions of free speech and freedom of the press that many of us hold so dear. Some countries explicitly disavow such notions. ... we ought to look for greater transparency in governments’ Internet interventions. We ought to demand that governments admit what they do, and accept public responsibility for the consequences."
—Ben Edelman, assistant professor at Harvard Business School
in Negotiation, Organizations & Markets unit http://www.benedelman.org/bio/ Source:
On a Filtered Internet, Things Are Not As They Seem
Reporters Without Borders (June 2004) http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=10761 First Online Free Expression Day launched on Reporters Without Borders website - New list of Internet Enemies - Download updated version of Handbook for Bloggers and Cyber-Dissidents (Reporters Without Borders/ Reporters sans frontières) http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=26086 "A study titled Enhancing Child Safety and Online Technologies has just been published by Harvard's Berkman Centre for Internet and Society <http://cyber.law.harvard.edu>, reports NetChoice. And guess what? Net filtering might not be a silver bullet. "
Read:
Berkman Center Issues Comprehensive Internet Safety Report
(NetChoice, Jan. 14, 2009)
http://blog.netchoice.org/2009/01/berkman-center-issues-comprehensive-internet-safety-report.html Source:
Cleaning Up Australia
By Newmatilda com - blogwatch, Jan 30, 2009 What are the world's geeks saying about Stephen Conroy's internet nanny scheme? Blogwatch braves the cultural cringe to find out http://newmatilda.com/2009/01/30/cleaning-australia newmatilda com: Tag 'internet censorship'
http://newmatilda.com/tag/internet-censorship "Australian blogosphere has largely come together to protest a government internet filtering scheme that will require Internet Service Providers to offer a 'Clean-Feed' service to all homes, schools and public access points to the internet."
Source:
Australia rallies to “Stop the Clean Feed”
By John Liebhardt, freelance journalist (Global Voices, 12/11/2008) [ Blog hosted at Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard University ] http://globalvoicesonline.org/2008/12/11/australia-rallies-to-stop-the-clean-feed For news updates on ACMA Internet Censorship
Mike Meloni's blog: Somebody Think Of The Children - Tag ‘Internet Censorship’ http://www.somebodythinkofthechildren.com/category/discussion-of-internet-censorship-mainly-in-australia/ Somebody Think Of The Children
Mike Meloni's blog with a focus on Internet censorship in Australia http://www.somebodythinkofthechildren.com NetAlarmed (Mike Meloni's fictional website)
It is a work of satire in response to Australian Government's absurd Internet censorship policy and the former NetAlert policy http://www.netalarmed.com "Pretty well everything I feared about censorship by the internet filter and heavy handed government action is coming true. ... if the filter becomes mandatory ... legal sites will effectively become censored for no apparent reason (other than political whim or special privileges)."
—John S. Wilkins, PhD, University of Melbourne Australia
Source:
Internet censorship in Australia ramps up
by John S. Wilkins (ScienceBlogs, Evolving Thoughts, 03/19/ 2009) http://scienceblogs.com/evolvingthoughts/2009/03/internet_censorship_in_austral.php Blogspot - John S. Wilkins: Drought Resistant Philospher - Tag 'Censorship' http://droughtresistant.blogspot.com/search/label/Censorship Sydney Indymedia - Australia Tag 'ACMA'
http://sydney.indymedia.org.au/topic/acma Weblogs: Sally Hawkins PhD student with Southern Cross University, NSW Australia
Open Content Australia http://www.ocaustralia.blogspot.com OCA Research Review http://www.ocarr.blogspot.com James McDougall, director, National Childrens and Youth Law Centre <http://www.ncylc.org.au> "... believes that Conroy and the government are pushing mandatory ISP filtering as a universal panacea to the vast and complex issue of the protection of children using the web. ...Holly Doel-Mackaway, child rights advisor for Save the Children Australia <http://www.savethechildren.org.au> says ' ... mandatory filtering ...contravenes one of the cornerstones of the UN Convention on the Rights ... the right for children to be informed.'"
Source:
Wrong way Conroy persists in censorship
(Jack the Insider Blog, Australian, Dec. 01, 2008) http://blogs.theaustralian.news.com.au/jacktheinsider/index.php/theaustralian/comments/wrong_way_conroy_persists_in_censorship/ " ...Australia’s boom is fueled by mineral exports to China, it would seem that Australian Government policies are now by China in return."
Read:
"The internet remains where the battle for information lies and the fact that the Government is devoting so much effort at reining it in, in itself indicates how much of a threat they perceive it to be ..."
—Nicholas Bequelin, senior researcher, Asia division of Human Rights Watch
http://www.hrw.org/en/node/75139 China says internet censorship needed to keep children from harmful sites By Ben Blanchard in Beijing (news com au, 01/ 26/2009) http://www.news.com.au/technology/story/0,28348,24963218-5014239,00.html Source:
Australia Joins China In Censoring The Internet
By Duncan Riley (TechCrunch, Dec. 30, 2007) http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/12/30/australia-joins-china-in-censoring-the-internet Amnesty: Yahoo, Google, and Microsoft doing bad things in China
By Nate Anderson (Ars Technica, 07/20/2006) [ Amnesty International 2006 report says that Yahoo, Google, and Microsoft are 'complicit in the Chinese government's denial of freedom of information. ] http://arstechnica.com/old/content/2006/07/7311.ars AI: Undermining freedom of expression in China.
The role of Yahoo!, Microsoft and Google (Amnesty International, 07/19/2006) http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/POL30/026/2006 Amnesty International UK: July 2006 Yahoo!, Google and Microsoft: http://www.amnesty.org.uk/news_details.asp?NewsID=17041 Yahoo!, Microsoft and Google: http://www.amnesty.org.uk/news_details.asp?NewsID=17054 Wikileaks News:
"Global interest in censorship issues floods
Twitter: Wikileaks - 6:24 AM, March 21, 2008 http://twitter.com/wikileaks Society of Professional Journalists pleased over judge’s ruling in WikiLeaks case (Society of Professional Journalists, Press Release, 03/03/2008) https://www.spj.org/news.asp?ref=767 Society of Professional Journalists
Dedicated to the perpetuation of a free press as the cornerstone of our nation and our liberty. https://www.spj.org Coalition of Media Organizations Challenges Prior Restraints in Wikileaks Case By David Ardia (02/27/2008) Blog: Citizen Media Law Project) http://www.citmedialaw.org/blog/2008/coalition-media-organizations-challenges-prior-restraints-wikileaks-case Citizen Media Law Project: Julius Baer Bank and Trust v. Wikileaks
By David Ardia 2008 (Citizen Media Law Project) http://www.citmedialaw.org/threats/julius-baer-bank-and-trust-v-wikileaks Citizen Media Law Project (CMLP)
Community of lawyers, academics, journalists, and others who are interested in facilitating citizen participation in online media and in protecting the legal rights of those engaged in speech on the Internet. http://www.citmedialaw.org To Stop a Leak By Brian Braiker
(Newsweek Web Exclusive, 02/21/2008) [ Wikileaks / Julius Baer Bank Case - U.S. District Court, San Francisco, CA ] http://www.newsweek.com/id/114415/page/1 Watch:
ACMA Internet Censorship
Australian Communications and Media Authority
YouTube: viatjaira, March 2009 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=quIOz2Ya5lo No internet Censorship in Australia
YouTube: dragonfilmproduction, Jan. 2009 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4C9JCMO7Na8 Government Internet Filter
YouTube: jimboot, Oct. 2008 [ Australian Govt is trying to bring in Internet censorship through the implementation of a 'Clean Feed' filter ] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gp3i-xQuMdc Internet Censorship in Australia
YouTube: PaulusAlexus, Jan. 2008 [ Points out dangers of Rudd Government's plan to censor Internet at ISP level ] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZLMI3QUfuTc Research:
“The Internet is a medium founded on free speech and anonymity. What they are doing threatens that. Information is supposed to be free. Knowledge is power. ...It is well known that Australia is being used a test ground for this idea to spread it to the rest of the world. ISP bans such as this one have already been implemented in various nations such as China, Thailand, and some Scandinavian countries such as Sweden. ...Everyone has the right to information."
Digital Liberty Coalition Grassroots incorporated entity which exists to protect civil liberties where they are threatened by the poor administration and application of digital rights and technology. http://www.dlc.asn.au "... Human Rights Council of Australia is partnering with the campaigning organization GetUP against the Rudd Government’s proposal to filter the Internet. HRCA Campaign to save the Internet http://hrca.org.au/?page_id=118 " "The Federal Government is planning to force all Australian servers to filter internet traffic and block any material the Government deems ‘inappropriate’. Under the plan, the Government can add any ‘unwanted’ site to a secret blacklist."
GetUp: Save The Net - Australia
Independent, grass-roots community advocacy organisation giving everyday Australians opportunities to get involved and hold politicians accountable on important issues http://www.getup.org.au/campaign/SaveTheNet/442 "...censorship regime is unnecessary, because children can be protected by installing a child-protection internet filter on their PC. ...The government has extended this censorship of the internet to all communications devices including mobile phones. ...this censorship is an unnecessary restriction on freedom of speech..."
NSWCCL: stand up for our rights: Internet Censorship
NSW Council for Civil Liberties - Australia
http://www.nswccl.org.au/issues/freespeech/internet.php "Save The Free Internet! ... Rudd Labor government mandatory Internet filtering system ...The 'cleanfeed' system will be mandatory on all ISPs and there will be no opt out. The government will have sole discretion to decide for us what is 'inappropriate' web content."
WeAreChange Go Petition: Protect the Free Internet
- Say No to Mandatory Censorship Human Rights - Australia, 2008 http://www.gopetition.com.au/online/23396.html WeAreChange Australia
Grass roots peacefulactivist organisation committed to upholding and defending the universal values of truth, democracy, justice and liberty which we believe to be under assault by the current governing authorities in Australia and elsewhere in the world. http://www.wearechange.org.au "Chat rooms monitored. Blogs deleted. Websites blocked. Search engines restricted. People imprisoned for simply posting and sharing information. ... Internet repression is not just about governments. IT companies have helped build the systems that enable surveillance and censorship to take place. ...Freedom of expression is a fundamental human right. It is one of the most precious of all rights. We should fight to protect it. "
Amnesty International Campaign: Be irrepressible
The Internet is a new frontier in the struggle for human rights http://irrepressible.info Le Tombeau de la Liberté / The Tomb of Freedom
Les textes des lois et décrets qui répriment l’usage d’internet Texts of the laws and decrees which repress the use of Internet (Globenet - l'Internet associatif et solidaire, France) [ Bable Fish web page translation - French to English <http://www.globenet.org/Le-Tombeau-de-la-Liberte.html> ] TinyURL: http://tinyurl.com/dxkekq / TinyURL Preview: http://preview.tinyurl.com/dxkekq UNSW: Internet Filtering and Censorship Research Project References
University of New South Wales, Cyberspace Law and Policy Centrem Australia http://www.cyberlawcentre.org/censorship/references.htm UNSW Cyberspace Law and Policy Centre
Provides a focus for research, public interest advocacy and education on issues of Law and policy concerning digital transactions in cyberspace. University of New South Walesm Australia http://www.cyberlawcentre.org Trinity College - Australia: Internet Censorship
http://www.trinity.wa.edu.au/plduffyrc/web/censorship.htm Vicnet - Australia: Legal Information Internet Censorship
http://www.vicnet.net.au/legal/censorship.htm Wikipedia: Internet Censorship in Australia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_censorship_in_Australia Wikipedia: Cleanfeed (content blocking system) " ... name of a privately administered ISP level content filtering system operating in the United Kingdom. It is also the name of a proposed mandatory Australian ISP level content filtering system which is undergoing testing.
Wikipedia: Internet Watch Foundation --- in United Kingdom IWF produces a blacklist of Internet sites and content that it deems to be in contravention/potentially in contravention to UK laws. Many UK based ISPs use this list to filter the content available to their subscribers.
Wikipedia: Administrators' noticeboard/2008 IWF action --- Internet Watch Foundation, UK... "IWF issue - Online filtering creates a situation based on presumption of guilt. In the past, removal of illegal online content was handled by takedown notices such as the DMCA [ Digital Millennium Copyright Act - United States copyright law ]. Takedown notices gave the host of the content under challenge a choice of whether to comply with or to ignore the notice..." [ link source: Wikipedia Blocks UK ISP Censorship Filters, The H - Heise Online, 12/08/2008 <http://www.h-online.com/open/Wikipedia-blocks-UK-ISP-censorship-filters--/news/112179> ]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Administrators%27_noticeboard/Major_UK_ISPs_reduced_to_using_2_IP_addresses Wikipedia: Censorship in Canada --- " 2006, Canadian Internet service providers ... announced 'Project Cleanfeed Canada' ...list of blocked sites is compiled from reports by Internet users and investigated by independent organization 'cybertip.ca'. "
Related Issue:
The Australian Press Council "... has an on-going 'come clean' campaign to encourage governments and other holders of information to be more open with the public by providing the media with the information they need to report on matters of public interest and concern. The Council has noted the increasing decline in the openness of information providers... major publishers and broadcasters, alarmed at the culture of secrecy in contemporary Australia, initiated the Right to Know campaign in 2007."
Source:
Right to Know (Report on Free Speech Issues 2007-2008)
Australian Press Council http://www.presscouncil.org.au/pcsite/fop/fop_ar/ar08.html#right Australia Right to Know
News.com.au - Special feature 2007-08: Right To Know Australia - How you are kept from knowing the truth and what you can do about it http://www.news.com.au/feature/0,,5013456,00.html Australia's Right To Know
Presented by Antony Funnell, Media Report - Australia, 05/31 /2007 (Australian Broadcasting Corporation - National Radio) [ Media Report speaks with chief organisers of Australia's Right To Know ] campaign - News Limited's Lucinda Duckett. - Read Transcript | http://www.abc.net.au/rn/mediareport/stories/2007/1937618.htm U.S.A. Cybersecurity Act of 2009 / S.778
OpenCongress: 111ST Session of Congress: S.778 - Cybersecurity Act of 2009
-- bill to establish, within the Executive Office of the President, the Office of National Cybersecurity Advisor http://www.opencongress.org/bill/111-s778/show GovTrack - Senator Rockefeller - S.778: 111th Congress 2009-10
***Cybersecurity Act of 2009 *** A bill to establish, within the Executive Office of the President, the Office of National Cybersecurity Advisor. --- Introduced: Apr 1, 2009 Sponsor Sen. John Rockefeller [D-WV] Cosponsors: Sen. Olympia Snowe [R-ME] - Sen. Bill Nelson [D-FL] http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=s111-778 CDT: Cybersecurity Act of 2009 Cybersecurity Bill Proposes Unprecedented Government Power Over the Internet (Center for Democracy and Technology, 04/01/2009) http://www.cdt.org/security New Bill Would Give Obama An Internet Kill Switch
Geek News, 04/02/2009 [ Rockefeller/Snowe bill s.778 ] http://www.geek-news.net/2009/04/new-bill-would-give-obama-internet-kill.html Bill Would Grant President Unprecedented Cyber-security Powers
By Roy Mark (eWeek, 04/02/2009) [ Cybersecurity Act of 2009 ] http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Security/Bill-Grants-President-Unprecedented-Cyber-Security-Powers-504520 Feds Muscle in on Cybersecurity Game With Standards and Money
BNA E-Commerce and Tech Law Blog Bureau of National Affairs, 04/02/2009 [ Cybersecurity Act of 2009 - S. 778 ]
http://pblog.bna.com/techlaw/2009/04/feds-muscle-in-on-cybersecurity-with-cybersecurity-act.html .
Jon Stewart: Mess O' Potamia - Iraq War is OverDaily Show with Jon Stewart: Mess O' Potamia - The Iraq War is Over
The Daily Show With Jon Stewart Clip: s.14 : ep.30 - March 3, 2009 Mess O'Potamia - The Iraq War Is Over was removed [ is no longer available ] on Hulu and Fancast Comedy Central: Daily Show With Jon Stewart Clip - March 3, 2009: Mess O'Potamia he Iraq War Is Over http://www.thedailyshow.com/video/index.jhtml?videoId=220241&title=mess-opotamia-the-iraq-war-is Barack Obama announces [ President Obama Remarks Ending Iraq War,
Camp Lejeune, NC, 02/27/2009 ] that everyone is coming
home except for several dozen thousands of soldiers Daily Show with Jon Stewart, 03/03/2009, excerpt (s.14 : ep.30) Also Watch:
Despite Celebrated Speech, Has Obama Really
Ordered an End to US Occupation of Iraq? (DemocracyNow, March 04, 2009) http://www.democracynow.org/2009/3/4/despite_celebrated_speech_has_obama_really ForaTv 09/29/2008: Barack Obama - Ending the War in Iraq
[ Director's Forum with Senator Barack Obama Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars This program recorded on July 15, 2008 ] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b0NLyx83v3Q Read: "There is a vast and unbridgeable chasm between the antiwar position taken by a young state senator [ Brack Obama ] in October 2002 and that of the president at the end of February 2009. ...He can parse words all he wants but if he extends the occupation of Iraq indefinitely and escalates the war in Afghanistan, it is a betrayal of the promise his campaign promoted."
Source:
'Obama’s Betrayal on the Iraq War'
By Jack Random (Pacific Free Press, March 08, 2009) http://www.pacificfreepress.com/news/1/3822-obamas-betrayal-on-the-iraq-war.html Obama's Iraq Exit Editorial
(The Nation, March 2009 edition) http://www.thenation.com/doc/20090323/editors All Troops Out By 2011? Not So Fast;
Why Obama's Iraq Speech Deserves a Second Look By Jeremy Scahill (AlterNet, Feb. 28, 2009) [ Obama's speech promising a full withdrawal from Iraq adopted the long-discredited narrative of the Bush administration ] TinyURL: http://tinyurl.com/dyte5u / TinyURL Preview:http://preview.tinyurl.com/dyte5u "I support President Obama for taking a step in the right direction in Iraq, but I do not think that his plan goes far enough. You cannot leave combat troops in a foreign country to conduct combat operations and call it the end of the war. You can't be in and out at the same time. ...America must determine at some point to end the occupation, close the bases and bring the troops home."
—Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-OH)
Source:
Kucinich on Iraq Troop Withdrawal:
You Can’t be In and Out at the Same Time (CommonDreams, Feb. 27, 2009) http://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2009/02/27-20 Camp Lejeune, NC, February 27, 2009: President Barack Obama's "... decision to leave a sizable force was welcomed by some congressional Republicans, including former presidential candidate Sen. John McCain..."
Source:
Obama sets date to end Iraq combat mission
McCain happy with large numbers in post-combat Iraq; Democrats not so (MSNBC - news services, Feb. 27, 2009) http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29371588 Clips & Comment - Full Text: President Barack Obama Speech Camp Lejeune - Ending the War in Iraq February 27, 2009 http://www.clipsandcomment.com/2009/02/27/full-text-president-barack-obama-speech-camp-lejeune-ending-the-war-in-iraq Articles & Updates:
Does the Afghanistan War Represent Graveyard Thinking?
By John W. Whitehead (Rutherford Institute, 04/15/2009) http://www.rutherford.org/articles_db/commentary.asp?record_id=587 .
1st Amendment - Constitutionality of 'New' Fairness Doctrine Questioned1st Amendment - Constitutionality of 'New' Fairness Doctrine Questioned
"Free speech advocates have been raising alarms over the possibility of a new so-called 'Fairness Doctrine' that would impose government regulations on speech on radio talk shows..."
Source:
Free speech litmus test proposed
'Durbin Doctrine' includes 'frightening new government censorship powers' By Bob Unruh (WorldNetDaily, March 04, 2009) http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=90733 "...the Durbin’s amendment [ Sen. Durbin, D-Ill - Amdt. 591 ] was left vague, it could give the FCC a much wider reaching authority to enforce it however they wish and thus leave any potential outcome up to that bureaucracy."
Source:
Inhofe: Senate Democrat Amendment Threatens Christian Radio
Oklahoma senator explains Durbin's amendment is a veiled attempt to attack talk radio, specifically religious radio. By Jeff Poor (Business & Media Institute, March 4, 2009) http://www.businessandmedia.org/articles/2009/20090304134901.aspx "... Democrats are keen to crack down on conservative talk radio... free speech they don't like, that is -- is now impossible to deny."
Source:
The unfairness of a Fairness Doctrine
Proposals by some Democrats are really just aimed at cracking down on conservative talk radio. By Brian C. Anderson (Los Angeles Times, March 3, 2009) http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-anderson3-2009mar03,0,3448325.story "... an amendment by Sen. Dick Durban (D-Ill.) that seeks to achieve the same goals of the Fairness Doctrine through backdoor FCC regulations..."
Source:
Senate Rejects Fairness Doctrine,
But Dems ‘Open Back Door to Censorship’ By Susan Jones (Cybercast News Service. Feb. 27, 2009) http://www.cnsnews.com/public/content/article.aspx?RsrcID=44227 U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) 's amendment " ... forces FCC to impose 'diversity' in communications media ownership, a clear attempt to dismantle successful syndicated radio programs. The fight goes on to protect free speech on the airwaves."
Source:
Ding dong. The Fairness Doctrine is Dead…Sort of.
(Christian Broadcasting Network, Feb. 26, 2009) http://www.cbn.com/CBNnews/549194.aspx "Leading conservative talk-show hosts and their allies in Congress have expressed concerns that the [ Fairness ] Doctrine may be revived in 'camouflaged form' to silence conservative talk radio, including Christian programs."
Source:
US Fairness Doctrine “Threatens” Christian Radio
By Joseph DeCaro (Worthy News Feb. 22, 2009) http://www.worthynews.com/4850-fairness-doctrine-may-threaten-christian-radio "The Fairness Doctrine, first introduced in 1949, required radio stations to broadcast opposing views on any matter of public importance they discussed. However, in 1987, President Reagan directed that it be abandoned. Since then, Democrats have made several unsuccessful attempts to reinstate the Doctrine."
Source:
Conservative Radio Giant Michael Savage Joins with
TMLC to Challenge Fairness Doctrine (Thomas More Law Center, Feb. 18, 2009) http://www.thomasmore.org/qry/page.taf?id=19&_function=detail&sbtblct_uid1=596 "...the American Spectator reported on senior FCC staff working for Commissioner Michael Copps holding meetings with advisers to House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman to discuss ways the committee can create openings for the FCC to put in place a form of the 'Fairness Doctrine' without actually calling it such."
Read: In All Fairness By The Prowler
By The Prowler (American Spectator, 02/16/2009) http://spectator.org/archives/2009/02/16/in-all-fairness Source:
Democrats Plot “Fairness Doctrine” for Internet Talk Radio
By Kurt Nimmo (Infowars, Feb. 17, 2009) http://www.infowars.com/democrats-plot-fairness-doctrine-for-internet-talk-radio 2009 National Religious Broadcasters Convention " ... was the first meeting in years in which the re-implementation of the Fairness Doctrine -- or a similar regulation under a different name -- seemed a real possibility."
Source:
Christian broadcasters fear Fairness Doctrine return
By Michael Foust (Baptist Press, Feb. 11, 2009) http://www.bpnews.net/BPnews.asp?ID=29849 “The day has come when we need to say, ‘We will preach the gospel of Jesus Christ whether some government makes it illegal to do so or not,’”
—Dr. Frank Wright, president and CEO of the National Religious Broadcasters
(http://content.nrb.org/press/wrightbio.pdf/) Source:
Christian Broadcasters Face 'Dark Clouds'; Affirm Commitment to Preach
By Eric Young (Christian Post (02/10/2009)
TinyURL: http://tinyurl.com/bfwofj / TinyURL Preview: http://preview.tinyurl.com/bfwofj American Center for Law and Justice:
"... we must remain vigilant to ensure that the FCC does not use its authority to encourage diversity of ownership as a back-door means of censoring speech over the airwaves."
ACLJ Legislative Alert: Senate Victory for Broadcaster Freedom
(American Center for Law and Justice, 02/26/2009) http://www.aclj.org/LegislativeAlert/Read.aspx?GUID=12ddf59a-d2ef-48a4-9528-1f3dd03a98eb "... the Senate approved an amendment by Senator Jim DeMint which prohibits the FCC from reinstating the Fairness Doctrine and requiring broadcasters - including Christian broadcasters - always air both sides of a controversial issue. While this is an important victory, it is Round One. "
Broadcaster Freedom Victory - Round One
Jay Sekulow's Trial Notebook, 02/27/2009 (American Center for Law and Justice) http://www.aclj.org/TrialNotebook/Read.aspx?id=742 The Fight to Stop the Fairness Doctrine
Jay Sekulow's Trial Notebook, 10/18/2007 (American Center for Law and Justice) http://www.aclj.org/TrialNotebook/Read.aspx?id=540 ACLJ: No Silencing of Christian and Conservative Broadcasters!
(American Center for Law and Justice) https://www.aclj.org/Petition/Default.aspx?sc=3293&ac=1 ACLJ - Fairness Doctrine: An Archaic Policy That Violates the First Amendment
In The News/ Related Documents In Churches and Political Speech (American Center for Law and Justice) http://www.aclj.org/news/Read.aspx?ID=2709 American Center for Law and Justice Dedicated to the ideal that religious freedom and freedom of speech are inalienable, God-given rights http://www.aclj.org Media Research Center:
"...the worst part of the Durbin Amendment is the possibility that Obama's FCC may now be empowered to prematurely pull the broadcast licenses of radio stations they deem as failing to meet these new 'Fairness' Doctrine-esque guidelines."
Essay: The Durbin Amendment – The New ‘Fairness’ Doctrine with a Kicker
By Seton Motley, Director of Communications for Media Research Center (NewsBusters, Feb. 27, 2009) http://newsbusters.org/blogs/seton-motley/2009/02/27/essay-durbin-amendment-new-fairness-doctrine-kicker "Conservative and Christian talk radio face the real threat of government censorship on several fronts."
MRC's Free Speech Alliance Calls on Pres. Obama to Oppose
All Forms of Government Censorship on the Radio The President’s stated opposition to the Censorship Doctrine is not enough (Media Research Center - Press Release, Feb. 19, 2009) http://www.mrc.org/press/2009/press20090219.asp Media Research Center: Free Speech Alliance Defending free speech against a return of the Censorship Doctrine or any other assault on the First Amendment and talk radio http://www.mrcaction.org/517/petition.asp?PID=18840310 Past Articles/News:
Democrats Will Attempt To Re-Impose The Fairness Doctrine By J.D. Longstreet (WesternFront America, 12/18/2008) http://westernfrontamerica.com/2008/12/18/democrats-attempt-reimpose-fairness-doctrine Broadcast 'Fairness' Fouls Out
By George F. Will (Washington Post, 12/07/2008) http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/12/05/AR2008120503194.html Extending the 'fairness doctrine' to the web
By Arthur Bruzzone (Examiner, 10/18/2008) http://www.examiner.com/x-431-SF-Politics-Examiner~y2008m10d18-Extending-the-fairness-doctrine-to-the-web 'Fairness' is censorship
(Washington Times - Editorial, 06/17/2008)
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2008/jun/17/fairness-is-censorship A New Stealth Fairness Doctrine
By Bob Ellis (Dakota Voice, 06/13/2008) http://www.dakotavoice.com/2008/06/a-new-stealth-fairness-doctrine Fairness Doctrine About As Fair as Patriot Act is Patriotic
Cheaters Don't Like The Score, So They Try To Change The Rules By Paul Joseph Watson (Prison Planet, 06/28/2007) http://www.prisonplanet.com/articles/june2007/280607fairnessdoctrine.htm GOP preps for talk radio confrontation
By Alexander Bolton (The Hill, 06/27/2007) http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/gop-preps-for-talk-radio-confrontation-2007-06-27.html Chilling The Internet? Lessons from FCC Regulation of Radio Broadcasting
By Thomas W. Hazlett and David W. Sosa (Cato Institute, March 19, 1997) https://www.cato.org/pubs/pas/pa-270.html Why the Fairness Doctrine is Anything But Fair
By Adam Thierer (Heritage Foundation, Oct. 29, 1993) http://www.heritage.org/research/regulation/em368.cfm Research:
Govtrack - Legislation - 111st Congress S.Amdt. 591
An amendment to S. 160 District of Columbia House Voting Rights Act of 2009 To encourage and promote diversity in communication media ownership, and to ensure that the public airwaves are used in the public interest. Sponsor: Sen. Richard Durbin [D-IL] http://www.govtrack.us/congress/amendment.xpd?session=111&amdt=s591 U.S. Senate Roll Call Votes 111th Congress - 1st Session: Amendment (Durbin Amdt. No. 591)
Amendment Number: S.Amdt. 591 to S. 160 (District of Columbia House Voting Rights Act of 2009) Statement of Purpose: To encourage and promote diversity in communication media ownership, and to ensure that the public airwaves are used in the public interest. (United States Senate Legislation & Records) http://senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=111&session=1&vote=00070 Inhofe Warns ‘Durbin Doctrine’ is New ‘Fairness Doctrine’
Speaks Out Against Democrats’ New Stealth Attack on Free Speech [ U.S. Senator Jim Inhofe issued warning on Senate Floor about dangers of Democrats’ attempt to stifle Free Speech through their efforts to promote diversity in communication media ownership and promote Broadcast Localism. Senate passed legislation (S.Amdt.573) that prohibits Federal Communications Commission from reinstituting the fairness doctrine - amendment by Sen. Dick Durbin (R-Ill.) approved ] (James M. Inhofe U.S. Senator - Oklahoma [R], Press Release, Mar. 4, 2009) TinyURL: http://tinyurl.com/djblq8 / TinyURL Preview: http://preview.tinyurl.com/djblq8
Senate Rejects Fairness Doctrine
All eyes now on FCC as Democrats open back-door censorship (Jim DeMint U.S. Senator, South Carolina, Feb. 26, 2009) TinyURL: http://tinyurl.com/d6rj6r / TinyURL Preview: http://preview.tinyurl.com/d6rj6r DeMint to Force Vote Next Week on Bill to Stop Fairness Doctrine
President Obama says his administration opposes the Fairness Doctrine, which violates free speech; the DeMint-Thune Broadcaster Freedom Act take a stand against such censorship (Jim DeMint U.S. Senator, South Carolina, Feb. 19, 2009) TinyURL: http://tinyurl.com/bz2brt / TinyURL Preview: http://preview.tinyurl.com/bz2brt Walden Congratulates Demint on Passage of Fairness Doctrine Prohibition In Senate
But Durbin amendment opens up a backdoor to the Fairness Doctrine (Greg Walden U.S. Congressman, Oregon, Feb. 26, 2009) http://www.house.gov/apps/list/press/or02_walden/02_26_fairness_doctrine.shtml Greg Walden U.S. Congressman, Oregon - Issue Pages: Broadcaster Freedom Act
http://walden.house.gov/Issues.ViewIssue_id23.shtml Pence Files Amendment To Protect Against Censorship of Radio Airwaves
(Congressman Mike Pence 6th District Of Indiana [ R ], Feb 24, 2009) http://mikepence.house.gov/News/DocumentSingle.aspx?DocumentID=112379 Congressman Mike Pence 6th District Of Indiana: Fairness Doctrine Update
http://mikepence.house.gov/fairnessdoctrine/fairnessdoctrine.htm Watch:
DeMint Introduces Broadcaster Freedom Act
[ Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) introduces the Broadcaster Freedom Act, which would allow Congress to take a stand against reinstatement of the Fairness Doctrine, during a speech on the Senate floor ] (YouTube: SenJimDeMint, Feb. 25, 2009) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQZ322c6MbM Rep. Greg Walden and Sen. Jim DeMint's Fairness Doctrine
press conference on Fox News [ Rep. Greg Walden (R-Ore.) and Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) discuss two amendments adopted by Senate regarding so-called Fairness Doctrine. - amendment offered by Sen. DeMint would put an end to government censorship of speech on the airwaves. - amendment offered by Sen. Dick Durbin opens up backdoor to government censorship ] (YouTube: RepGregWalden, Feb. 26, 2009) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YsRYiJ3rGkY YouTube - RepGregWalden 10/2007: Walden discusses the unFairness Doctrine
[ Greg Walden, U.S. Congressman, Oregon urges his colleagues to sign the petition to
bring an up or down vote on Broadcaster Freedom Act and Fairness Doctrine to House floor ]
[ Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HwxbCrq_v0k ] [ Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v2kJHz0KSQo ] [ Part 3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oba6deHCAeQ ] [ Part 4: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RRac34jBDyk ] [ Part 5: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M9AZobIpbGQ ] Sen. Inhofe Responds to Democrats' Calls for 'Fairness Doctrine'
(YouTube: JimInhofePressOffice, Feb 12, 2009) [ James Inhofe, United States Senator, (R-OK) ] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4sJ30HHxj2k Inhofe, Demint Press Conference on Fairness Doctrine (YouTube: JimInhofePressOffice, Jan 07, 2009) [ James Inhofe, United States Senator (R-OK) ] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BbCSowAYmFk Unfair and Unbalanced
(Focus on the Family Action - CitizenLink: Stoplight 12/05/2008) [ Stuart Shepard explains how the efforts by Democratic leaders in Congress to force the so-called Fairness Doctrine on talk radio ] http://www.citizenlink.org/Stoplight/A000008831.cfm Petitions Urge Representatives to Oust Fairness Doctrine
(Focus on the Family Action - CitizenLink: Turn Signal, 07/01/2008) [ Focus on the Family Action is delivering petitions to U.S. House members asking for support of a moratorium on the controversial Fairness Doctrine ] http://www.citizenlink.org/turnsignal/A000007745.cfm Video/Article - NRB 2009: Fairness Doctrine, Hate Speech And Localism
By cwnewz network [ 2009 National Religious Broadcasters Convention - NRB Leaders made clear their concerns about Fairness Doctrine - clips: Janet Parshall, Craig Parshall, Ashton Hardy, Jay Sekulow ] (CWNEWZ - Christian Web News Feb. 17 2009) http://cwnewz.com/content/view/602/2/ Video/Article - Government Makes it Illegal or Not
By Rebecca Easterling (CWNEWZ - Christian Web News, Feb. 09, 2009) [ 2009 National Religious Broadcasters Convention, 2009 - Dr. Frank Wright, President and CEO of NRB voiced concerns for future of religious broadcasting. ] http://cwnewz.com/content/view/582/2/ . Ron Paul on the 13th Amendment - Involuntary Servitude...the DraftRon Paul on the 13th Amendment - Involuntary Servitude...the Draft
On Reinstating the Draft By Ron Paul
Much has been made by the new administration of the idea of national service and volunteerism. While service to one’s community is certainly admirable, it is not the federal government’s place to “encourage” or promote volunteerism. Moreover, there are troubling signs that national service could transition from voluntary to mandatory, or de facto mandatory, such as the requirement of service in order to be granted a diploma, or something along those lines.
Involuntary servitude was supposed to be abolished by the 13th Amendment, but things like Selective Service and the income tax make me wonder how serious we really are in defending just basic freedom. The income tax enslaves workers for nearly 4 months out of a year by garnishing what amounts to all their wages in that period of time. A military draft could demand your very life, without your consent. This should be unthinkable in a free society.
Proponents of reinstating the draft claim it is needed to protect liberty from enemies abroad. But what about the enemies of liberty right here at home? I am convinced that there are more threats to American liberty within the 10 mile radius of my office on Capitol Hill than there are on the rest of the globe. If we would get our troops off of foreign soil, those perceived enemies of our liberty abroad are much more likely to stand down and let us be. We have more than enough troops to mind our own business and defend ourselves. It is only for world domination that we have a troop shortage.
Nevertheless, some think recruiting for our military is too low and that the younger generation will not answer the call of duty willingly, and must be drafted by force. I take extreme exception to this characterization of young people today.First of all, I believe they correctly see that foreign policy, as unpopular as it has been under Bush, is not significantly changing under Obama, and has little, if anything, to do with defending the United States, and certainly not the Constitution. Second, many see friends and acquaintances who have voluntarily enlisted, and have taken note of how the soldier, the veteran is treated. Perhaps rather than blaming younger generations for being selfish, older generations should remember their promises to those who volunteer for military service and be mindful of how they are treated. Every homeless vet by the side of the road, every suicide, every report of substandard conditions in veteran hospitals is a sign of how we let our military down. Perhaps we should look to those issues if we have problems with military recruitment, rather than to trample freedom in the name of protecting it.
If that is not enough reason, consider that most in the military are against a draft. There is a vast difference between serving alongside another volunteer, and serving alongside a reluctant conscript. Americans need to be on the lookout for any propaganda trying to ease us back into the draft. Too often a flawed foreign policy prompts the need for a draft. Abolishing the Selective Service is one thing we could do to counter those efforts.
On Reinstating the Draft By Ron Paul
(Texas Straight Talk, Feb. 16, 2009) <http://www.house.gov/apps/blog/tx14_paul/> "With the increased need for more troops for the administration’s expanded military adventurism in Afghanistan, as well as the continuing movement to conscript young people not eligible for military service to serve the government at home, can anyone doubt that this bill [ HR 1388 - National Service ] is only the down payment on a much larger program of mandatory national service?"
Statement in Opposition to HR 1388 - National Service Statement of Congressman Ron Paul, March 18, 2009 United States House of Representatives http://www.house.gov/apps/list/speech/tx14_paul/natservoppose.shtml Also Read:
"Conscription is slavery, plain and simple. And it was made illegal under the 13th amendment, which prohibits involuntary servitude."
3000 American Deaths in Iraq
Hon. Ron Paul of Texas, U.S. House of Representatives Speeches And Statements, Jan. 5, 2007 http://www.ronpaullibrary.org/document.php?id=532 "... many in Congress would rather draft more young bodies than rethink our role as world policeman and bring some of our troops home."
Rethinking the Draft By Ron Paul
Texas Straight Talk, Nov. 27, 2006 http://www.ronpaullibrary.org/document.php?id=488 "Justifying conscription to promote the cause of liberty is one of the most bizarre notions ever conceived by man! Forced servitude, with the risk of death and serious injury as a price to live free, makes no sense."
Conscription - The Terrible Price of War
Hon. Ron Paul of Texas, U.S. House of Representatives Speeches And Statements, Nov. 21, 2003 http://www.ronpaullibrary.org/document.php?id=616 "Shutting down Selective Service will ... end a program that violates the very principals of individual liberty our nation was founded upon."
Abolish Selective Service
Hon. Ron Paul of Texas, U.S. House of Representatives Speeches And Statements, Jan. 30, 2003 http://www.ronpaullibrary.org/document.php?id=659 "Despite the threat posed to the very existence of the young republic by the invading British Empire, Congress ultimately rejected the proposal to institute a draft. If the new nation of America could defeat what was then the most powerful military empire in the world without a draft, there is no reason why we cannot address our current military needs with a voluntary military."
Say No to Conscription
Hon. Ron Paul of Texas, U.S. House of Representatives Speeches And Statements, May 9, 2002 http://www.ronpaullibrary.org/document.php?id=711 "... the philosophy which inspired America’s founders, expressed in the Declaration of Independence, is that individuals possess natural, God-given rights which cannot be abridged by the government. Forcing people into military service against their will thus directly contradicts the philosophy of the Founding Fathers. A military draft also appears to contradict the constitutional prohibition of involuntary servitude."
Statement Opposing Military Conscription
Hon. Ron Paul of Texas, U.S. House of Representatives
Speeches And Statements, March 20, 2002 http://www.ronpaullibrary.org/document.php?id=718 "The draft ... is a blatant attack on the Thirteenth Amendment, which prohibits involuntary servitude. If the federal government fought individual states over the legalization of private-sector slavery, then should it not also be equally compelled to decry public-sector servitude? Of course it should, but an elastically interpreted 'living Constitution' makes all sorts of public schemes safe from legal reproach."
Conscription Policies
Hon. Ron Paul of Texas, U.S. House of Representatives Speeches And Statements, June 13, 2001 http://www.ronpaullibrary.org/document.php?id=778 "Our nation does have a problem with recruitment and retention -- reasons often cited for keeping the draft registration. Countless surveys, though, have found these problems come not from a lack of patriotism, but because more and more Americans are frustrated with our foreign policy and the increasing number of 'police actions' that put soldiers in harm's way without a national interest at stake."
Draft not needed for protection of liberty
Selective Service should be eliminated, funds to Veterans Administration By Ron Paul, Texas Straight Talk, Aug. 23, 1999 http://www.ronpaullibrary.org/document.php?id=111 ".... we see school districts around the nation requiring volunteerism or public service as a condition of graduation ...The role of government is to protect life and liberty from initiations of force or fraud. By preventing government from drafting our children into a system of social engineering..."
Legislation focuses on individual liberty
By Ron Paul, Texas Straight Talk, Aug. 25, 1997 http://www.ronpaullibrary.org/document.php?id=8 US Justice Dept. Says NO to Lawsuits Until Obama Administration Rewrites FOIA GuidelinesUnited States Department of Justice Say NO to Lawsuits Until President Obama's
Administration Rewrites Freedom of Information Act Guidelines
"I like to think of the Freedom of Information Act as democracy’s x-ray machine, because it gives us an inside look at the internal machinery of government so we can identify the waste, fraud, abuse and corruption that leave our nation dangerously weak, inefficient, and ineffective. Unfortunately the x-ray machine is not working as well as it should, and important information about the health of our democracy is being hidden from view."
—Caroline Fredrickson, Director, ACLU Washington Legislative Office, Freedom of Information Act Before the House Government Reform and Oversight Subcommittee on Information Policy, Census, and National Archives ('07)
Read:
"... the Justice Department requested a 90-day stay so it could have more time to review three torture memos that we’ve specifically re-requested for release through our five-year-old Freedom of Information Act request."
Source:
OLC: We’ll See You in Court!
(Blog of Rights - ACLU, Feb. 13, 2009) http://blog.aclu.org/2009/02/13/olc-well-see-you-in-court/ ACLU - National Security: Freedom of Information/Government Secrets American Civil Liberties Union http://www.aclu.org/natsec/foia/index.html ACLU - Government Documents on Torture Freedom of Information Act
American Civil Liberties Union [ documents the government did not want the general public to read ] http://www.aclu.org/intlhumanrights/gen/13794res20050429.html News:
Obama administration defending Bush secrets
Justice Department seeks to hold back lawsuits as FOIA rules rewritten (MSNBC, AP, Feb 16, 2009) [Freedom of Information Act] http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29225492/ Research Link:
FAS Project on Government Secrecy: Obama Administration Documents on Secrecy Policy
(Federation of American Scientists) http://www.fas.org/sgp/obama/index.html Watch:
YouTube - LawWebTV: Freedom of Information Act
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mWzeAomhQjU Federal Trade Commission Staff Report Feb '09 Online Behavioral Advertising PrinciplesFederal Trade Commission Staff Report: February 2009
Online Behavioral Advertising Principles
" ... the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ".... has periodically examined the consumer privacy issues raised by online behavioral advertising – which is the practice of tracking an individual’s online activities in order to deliver advertising tailored to his or her interests."
Source:
FTC Staff Revises Online Behavioral Advertising Principles
Federal Trade Commission February 12, 2009 http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2009/02/behavad.shtm February 2009 Staff Report - Self-regulatory Principles For Online Behavioral Advertising Behavioral Advertising Tracking, Targeting, and Technology "... failed to protect consumers ..." — Jeff Chester, executive director at Center for Digital Democracy
Source:
Consumer groups: FTC ad policy falls short
Groups say commission largely adhered to current policy of self-regulation (MSNBC, Feb 12, 2009) http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29164921/ The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) "...does not find existing self-regulatory efforts to be sufficient."
Source: Neither a Retreat Nor an Imprimatur By Alissa Cooper
(Center for Democracy and Technology, Blog Feb. 13, 2009) http://blog.cdt.org/2009/02/13/neither-a-retreat-nor-an-imprimatur/ Center for Democracy and Technology.
Works to promote democratic values and constitutional liberties in the digital age http://www.cdt.org Federal Trade Commission (FTC) February 2009 "released voluntary guidelines for Internet advertising and behavioral targeting. ...'There is no means to enforce the guidelines, and Commissioners Jon Leibowitz and Pamela Jones Harbour warned that they are insufficient to ensure consumers' privacy.'"
Source:
Trade Commission Issues Issue Voluntary Guidelines
for Online Tracking, Targeting, and Advertising (Electronic Privacy Information Center, News, Feb. 12, 2009). Electronic Privacy Information Center
Established to focus public attention on emerging ivil liberties issues and to protect privacy, the First Amendment, and constitutional values. http://epic.org Related Articles:
Google to match online adverts with web users' viewing habits
By Maija Palmer in London and Alan Rappeport in New York (Financial Times, March 12 2009) [ Behavioural targeting AOL, Google, Yahoo raises privacy concerns ] http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/177c9258-0ea7-11de-b099-0000779fd2ac.html FTC warns of "day of reckoning" for online advertisers
By Nate Anderson (Ars Technica, Feb. 12, 2009) [ Federal Trade Commission report Feb. 2009 ] http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2009/02/ftc-warns-of-day-of-reckoning-for-online-advertisers.ars Advertisers join forces for online self-regulation
By Nate Anderson, (Ars Technica, Jan 13, 2009) [ Four US advertising trade groups have joined forces
to self-regulate behavioral advertising online ] http://arstechnica.com/media/news/2009/01/advertisers-join-forces-for-online-self-regulation.ars Every Click You Make - Internet Providers Quietly Test
Expanded Tracking of Web Use to Target Advertising By Peter Whoriskey (Washington Post, Apr. 4, 2008) http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/03/AR2008040304052.html FTC Staff Issues Proposed Self Regulatory Principles
for Behavioral Advertising and Seeks Comment Posted By Timothy P. Tobin (Privacy Law Blog, Dec. 20, 2007) TinyURL: http://tinyurl.com/ajojx4 / TinyURL Preview: http://preview.tinyurl.com/ajojx4 Afghanistan Civilian Casualties in Military OperationsAfghanistan Civilian Casualties in Military Operations
"... when raids go wrong they end up killing Afghan civilians..." Source: Afghans threaten troops over civilian deaths
Villagers angered over loss of life, predict spike in violence if raids continue (MSNBC, AP, Jan. 31, 2009) http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28950166/ "More than 80% of Afghan civilian deaths today caused by the US/NATO are due to close air support attacks. "
—Prof. Marc W. Herold
Source:
Afghan Civilians killed by U.S/NATO Actions since 2006
The Matrix of Death: (Im) Precision of U.S Bombing and the (Under) Valuation of an Afghan Life By Prof. Marc W. Herold (Global Research, Oct. 9, 2008) http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=10506 Marc Herold, Ph.D. University Of New Hampshire: Documents - Afghanistan
- Dossier on Civilian Victims of United States' Aerial Bombing of Afghanistan - The Afghan Victim Memorial Project http://pubpages.unh.edu/~mwherold “Any civilian casualty is one civilian casualty too many ... And every effort that can be made must be made to ensure the safety and welfare of the civilian population where military operations are conducted.”
—Kai Eide, UN Special Representative in Afghanistan and head
of United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan Source: UN calls for probe into reports of Afghan civilian casualties in military operation
(UN News Centre, Aug. 23, 2008) http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=27795&Cr=Afghan&Cr1=UNAMA Read:
UNAMA Annual Report on Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict - 2208
(United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan Nations - Documents - English - PDF) (http://www.unama-afg.org/docs/_UN-Docs/_human%20rights/2009/UNAMA_09february-Annual%20Report_PoC%202008_FINAL_11Feb09.pdf/) "...pro-government forces are killing more Afghan civilians than are their Taliban foes...."
Source:
Losing Afghanistan, One Civilian at a Time
By Peter Bergen and Katherine Tiedemann (Washington Post, Nov. 18, 2007) http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/16/AR2007111601203.html "The issue of civilian dogged the U.S. led coalition forces from the beginning of its intervention..."
Source:
Afghan civilian deaths damaging NATO
By Carlotta Gall and David E. Sanger (International Herald Tribune, May 13, 2007) http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/05/13/africa/taliban.php Watch:
Harrowing video film backs Afghan villagers'
claims of carnage caused by US troops (Times - UK, Sept. 8, 2008) http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article4699077.ece Listen:
Civilian Casualties Stir Angst In Afghanistan
By Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson (National Public Radio, (All Things Considered, Aug. 27, 2008) [ Afghan civilians, many of them children, were killed in a joint U.S.-Afghan operation ] http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=94028683 U.N.: U.S. Led Strike Killed Dozens Of Afghan Children
(National Public Radio. Day to Day, Aug. 27, 2008) [ Alex Chadwick talks to Washington Post's Candace Rondeaux about civilian deaths in Afghanistan. ] http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=94019631 AIHRC Press Releases:
AIHRC press release on civilian causalities in military operations
in Aziz-Abad village of Shendan District of Hirat province (Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission, Press Release, Aug. 23 2008) http://www.aihrc.org.af/pre_eng_civil_klng.htm AIHRC expresses its deep regrets and concerns in regard to the
painfulincidents and casualties of innocent civilian occurred on Saturday in province of Nangarhar and Monday in province Kapisa (Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission, Press Release, Mar. 07, 2007) http://www.aihrc.org.af/pre_eng_7_mar_07.htm AIHRC expresses serious concern on re-occurrence of civilian casualties,
especially of children and women during Coalition military operation against terrorist positions in Kandahar Province (Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission, Press Release, May 24 2006) http://www.aihrc.org.af/pre_air_bomb_may24_2006.htm Research:
ACLU: The Human Cost - Civilian Casualties in Iraq & Afghanistan
American Civil Liberties Union http://www.aclu.org/natsec/foia/search.html Amnesty International Report 2008: Afghanistan
[ Read Abuses by international forces - Killings of civilians ] http://thereport.amnesty.org/eng/Regions/Asia-Pacific/Afghanistan Commonwealth Institute War Report: Afghan Archives - Civilian Casualties
http://www.comw.org/warreport/afghanarchiveciv.html CIVIC Blog: War Victims Monitor
Campaign for Innocent Victims in Conflict http://warvictims.wordpress.com Doctors Without Borders: Iraq
http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/news/allcontent.cfm?id=36 FAIR - Region: Afghanistan
http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=18®ion_id=10 FAIR - Region: Iraq/Civilian and Combatant Casualties
http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=18®ion_id=28 HRW Report 2008: Troops in Contact - Airstrikes and Civilian Deaths in Afghanistan
Human Rights Watch http://www.hrw.org/en/reports/2008/09/08/troops-contact-0 Institute for Public Accuracy News Releases: Iran/Afghanistan
http://www.accuracy.org/newsrelease.php?articleId=1921 Unknown News: Casualties in Afghanistan and Iraq
http://www.unknownnews.net/casualties.html Wikipedia: Civilian casualties of the War in Afghanistan (2001–present)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civilian_casualties_of_the_War_in_Afghanistan_(2001%E2%80%93present) * Concerns Raised About Anti-Counterfeiting Trade AgreementConcerns Raised About Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement
Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) "...raises serious concerns about citizens' civil liberties and privacy rights..."
"The Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) is withholding hundreds of documents about a secret intellectual property enforcement treaty currently under negotiation between the U.S. and more than a dozen other countries.In a pending federal lawsuit, the Electronic Frontier Foundation and Public Knowledge are demanding that background documents on the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) be released under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). But the USTR has claimed that more than 1300 pages should be withheld because they implicate national security or expose the USTR's deliberative processes. The USTR has released only 159 pages for public viewing.
ACTA raises serious concerns about citizens' civil liberties and privacy rights. The contents and text of ACTA remain secret, but a document leaked to the public last year shows that ACTA could include stronger criminal measures, increased customs border search powers, and requirements for Internet service providers to cooperate with copyright holders.
Some public suggestions from content companies have included requiring ISPs to engage in filtering of their customers' Internet communications for potentially copyright-infringing material, mandatory disclosure of personal information about alleged copyright infringers, and adoption of 'Three Strikes' policies requiring ISPs to automatically terminate customers' Internet access upon a repeat allegation of copyright infringement."
-excerpt
Source: Government Blocks Release of Documents on Secret IP
Enforcement Treaty Despite Obama's Order for Openness, Americans Still Kept in the Dark About ACTA (Electronic Frontier Foundation, Jan. 29, 2009) http://www.eff.org/press/archives/2009/01/29 "ACTA is the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement being negotiated by the US, the EU, Japan, South Korea, Canada, Mexico, Australia, and New Zealand. The stated goal of the agreement is the international enforcement of strong intellectual property rights through increased cooperation and coordination among international governmental agencies."
Source: Public Knowledge
http://www.publicknowledge.org/issues/acta Watch:
YouTube - ScottPearceEsq: The Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Act
ACTA - This treaty is being negotiated in secret. It will further erode privacy rights. The government will have access to private information without a warrant or probable cause. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xSmvIay-hj4 Why Copyright? Canadian Voices on Copyright Law
YouTube: FairCopyright4Canada http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RTFEwXi1Pnk Past News:
"The U.S. is a leading proponent of the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA)"
Read:
WikiLeaks: Proposed US ACTA multi-lateral intellectual property trade agreement ('07)
http://www.wikileaks.org/wiki/Proposed_US_ACTA_multi-lateral_intellectual_property_trade_agreement_(2007) Source:
Will ACTA Mean the Establishment of the International IP Police?
(Scott & Scott Business and Technology Law, 08/18/2008) http://blawg.scottandscottllp.com/businessandtechnologylaw/2008/06/will_acta_mean_the_establishme.html "...documents detailing [ Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement ] ACTA's plans would not need to be leaked online if the process was open and transparent."
—Dr. Michael Geist, law professor at the University of Ottawa, Canada
He holds the Canada Research Chair of Internet and E-commerce Law Visit:
Michael Geist's Blog
http://www.michaelgeist.ca Source:
Copyright deal could toughen rules governing info on iPods, computers
By Vito Pilieci (Canada.com, Canwest News Service May 26, 2008) http://www.canada.com/topics/technology/science/story.html?id=ae997868-220b-4dae-bf4f-47f6fc96ce5e&p=1 Research:
Why We Must React to ACTA By Glyn Moody
(Linux Journal, July 24, 2008) http://www.linuxjournal.com/content/why-we-must-react-acta The Problem with the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement
(and what to do about it) By Aaron Shaw (Knowledge Ecology Studies, Vol 2 ('08)
http://kestudies.org/ojs/index.php/kes/article/view/34/59 Copyright Enforcement Revisited By Adam Thierer
(Cato Institute - TechKnowledge no. 92, Nov. 4, 2004) http://www.cato.org/tech/tk/041104-tk.html On Drawing Lines in Copyright Law By Adam Thierer
(Cato Institute - TechKnowledge no. 75, Mar. 5, 2004) http://www.cato.org/tech/tk/040305-tk.html Cato Institute: Telecom, Internet and
Information Policy - Intellectual Property http://www.cato.org/tech/intproperty.html knowledgerush: Agreement on Trade-Related
Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights http://knowledgerush.com/kr/encyclopedia/Agreement_on_Trade-Related_Aspects_of_Intellectual_Property_Rights Wikipedia: Criticism of intellectual property
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criticism_of_intellectual_property Updates:
ComputerWeeking: Counterfeiting Trade
http://www.computerweekly.com/Home/tags/counterfeiting-trade.htm iptegrity.com Monica Horten
Political Battle for Online Content in European Union http://www.iptegrity.com/index.php Legislating IP (an intellectual property law blog)
Tech Law Advisor - information concerning copyright in Congress/United States http://techlawadvisor.com/induce Death of Democracy... Martial Law in the USA?Death of Democracy... Martial Law in the USA?
Biblioteca Pléyades: The Death of Democracy... Martial law in the USA?
http://www.bibliotecapleyades.net/sociopolitica/sociopol_martiallawusa.htm Biblioteca Pléyades U.S. District Judge Awards Millions to USS Pueblo SurvivorsU.S. District Judge Awards Millions to USS Pueblo (AGER-2) Survivors
Background - USS Pueblo (AGER-2):
"USS Pueblo (AGER-2) is a Banner-class technical research ship (Navy intelligence) which was boarded and captured by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (NDPRK) on January 23 1968 ... North Korea stated that she strayed into their territorial waters, but the United States maintains that the vessel was in international waters at the time of the incident."
Source:
Wikipedia: USS Pueblo (AGER-2)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Pueblo_(AGER-2) "The USS Pueblo, which was captured by the North Koreans in 1968, was the first U.S. Navy ship to be hi-jacked on the high seas by a foreign military force in over 150 years."
Source:
Pueblo Incident Introduction
By Skip Schumacher (USS Pueblo AGER-2, USSPueblo.org) http://www.usspueblo.org/v2f/incident/incidentframe.html "It was 11 long months before the Pueblo's men were freed. Both captain and crew were horribly treated and later recounted their torture at the hands of the North Koreans."
Source:
Crew of USS Pueblo released by North Korea
(History.com, This Day in History, December 23, 1968) http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history.do?action=Article&id=2523 News:
"U.S. District Judge Henry H. Kennedy Jr. "... awarded millions to men who were captured/tortured by North Korea after the county seized USS Pueblo during Cold War."
Source:
Judge awards millions to men from USS Pueblo
North Korea seized the U.S. spy ship and its crew during Cold War (MSNBC, AP, Dec. 30, 2008) http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28440016/ "U.S. District Judge Henry H. Kennedy Jr."...said Congress in 1996 lifted immunity for foreign states officially designated by the State Department as state sponsors of terrorism."
Source:
Judge awards $65M to men taken from USS Pueblo (Daily Global, Dec. 30, 2008) http://www.dailyglobal.com/2008/12/judge-awards-65m-to-men-taken-from-uss-pueblo Special Presentations
How Not To Volunteer For The Draft/National Service
Blog Index
'Take the Fifth' - Talking to the Police By Prof. James Duane'Take the Fifth' - Talking to the Police By Prof. James Duane
James Duane is a professor of law at Regent University in Virginia Beach, Virginia http://www.regent.edu/acad/schlaw/faculty_staff/duane.cfm
Watch:
Talking to the Police by Prof. James Duane
[ Professor James Duane explains why innocent people should never talk to the police. "take the Fifth" George Bruch from the Virginia Beach police department responds to Professor James Duane's presentation on why innocent people should never talk to the police. ] (Regent University in Virginia Beach, Virginia Video) http://www.regent.edu/admin/media/schlaw/LawPreview/ "Don't Talk to the Police" by Professor James Duane
[ James Duane explains why innocent people should never talk to the police. "take the Fifth" ] (Google Video - 27 min - May 21, 2008) http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-4097602514885833865 "Don't Talk to the Police" by Officer George Bruch
[ George Bruch from the Virginia Beach police department responds to Professor James Duane's presentation on why innocent people should never talk to the police. ] (Google Video - 21 min - May 21, 2008) http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=6014022229458915912 Don't Talk to Cops, Part 1
YouTube: MarcusP52 [ Professor James Duane - law school professor and former criminal defense attorney tells you why you should never agree to be interviewed by the police. "take the Fifth" ] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8z7NC5sgik Don't Talk to Cops, Part 2
YouTube: MarcusP52 [ George Bruch, Virginia Beach police department ] An experienced police officer tells you why you should never agree to be interviewed by the police. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08fZQWjDVKE |
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