Happy New Year!

A little reminder from Charles Dickens ("The Chimes"):

Had Trotty dreamed? Or, are his joys and sorrows, and the actors in them, but a dream; himself a dream, the teller of this tale a dreamer, waking but now? If it be so, O listener, dear to him in all his visions, try to bear in mind the stern realities from which these shadows come; and in your sphere – none is too wide, and none too limited for such an end – endeavor to correct, improve, and soften them. So may the New Year be a happy one to you, happy to many more whose happiness depends on you! So may each year be happier than the last, and not the meanest of our brethren or sisterhood debarred their rightful share, in what our Great Creator formed them to enjoy.

Homeland Security Requests Inventory of All Chemicals on College Campuses

Apparantly, it is important to spend many man-hours compiling lists, but the borders stay wide open, where terrorists could easily sneak in.

From Texas Tech University's website

Former Italian President Claims 9-11 Inside Job

Claims well-known among intelligence agencies that CIA and Mossad planned attacks.

Read details at Prison Planet

Good Idea

Funny video that poses a solution to the politically correct "Happy Holidays".



Press the square in the player to view in full screen mode, or watch at the original website

Zogby Polls Rigged Against Ron Paul?

Man claims he was asked obtrusive questions about sex and other private matters after he voted for Ron Paul in a Zogby poll. He speculates that this may have been done to discourage Ron Paul voters from finishing the poll, thus voiding the results.

Read details here

Cops Taser Unconscious Diabetic Man Three Times, Claim He Was "Combatative"

From The Newspaper.com

Police in Ozark, Alabama on Tuesday used a taser on a sober man who was having a diabetic seizure. A trio of police cruisers were called to the scene of a black Nissan truck and trailer pulled over on the side of the road near the intersection of Highway 231 and Marley Mill Road at around 4pm. James Bludsworth, 54, a man with no criminal record, was was slumped over behind the wheel. Because of his condition he was not responsive to police commands.

Police then fired tasers at the sick man three times. A police officer now says that he smelled alcohol on Bludsworth, even though later testing showed no trace of alcohol in his system. Ozark Police Chief Myron Williams also claims the sick man was "combative." Instead of taking Bludsworth to medical care he was booked at Dale County Jail and charged with resisting arrest and driving under the influence of alcohol (DUI). Bludsworth has no recollection of the incident and is free on $1000 bond.

Police later dropped a charge against Bludsworth relating to an alleged towing infraction.

NJ Court: OK For Police to "Permamently Damage" DUI Suspects

From The Newspaper.com

Police may inflict permanent physical damage while forcibly taking blood from a motorist accused of driving under the influence of alcohol (DUI), according to a decision by the appellate division of the New Jersey Superior Court. The court on Tuesday found that police officers from Washington and Hamilton Townships did nothing wrong when they held down Russell Johnston in such a way that his wrist suffered permanent nerve damage as a nurse from Robert Wood Johnson Hospital took his blood.

During the incident, a police officer put his entire weight on one of Johnston's wrists to hold it down and used a handcuff to secure the other. Dr Michael S Grenis testified that Johnston's wrist was damaged as a direct result of the trauma.

"(Johnston) cannot safely lift heavy or fragile objects as the unpredictable sharp jolts of pain that come from any stress on the wrist which stretch the nerve may cause him to drop such fragile or heavy objects," Dr Grenis said during the first trial.

A review of the incident by Joseph J Stine, a former police chief from Pennsylvania, concluded that the level of force used against Johnston was unreasonable and excessive. Johnston sought to bring the question to a jury, but a Mercer County Court judge and the two judge appellate panel disagreed, ruling that no suit could be brought against the officers for the injury inflicted.

"We are satisfied that the actions taken by the police officers to restrain plaintiff were objectively reasonable," the appellate panel ruled. "Defendants are thus entitled to the protections afforded by the qualified immunity doctrine."

Paul Raises Millions in One Day

From The New York Times

On Monday, a group of Paul supporters helped raised more than $4.07 million in one day — approaching what the campaign raised in the entire last quarter — through a Web site called ThisNovember5th.com, a reference to the day the British commemorate the thwarted bombing.

Among 2008 presidential candidates, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York holds the record for raising the most in a single day: $6.2 million on June 30. But Mr. Paul has surpassed the best day of Mitt Romney, the former Massachusetts governor, who raised $3.14 million on Jan. 8.

Ron Paul Raises $2.4 Million Today!

From NBC’s Domenico Montanaro

Ron Paul has had quite the fundraising day. The candidate has raised almost $2.4 million today on the campaign’s This November 5th money push. The campaign has a lofty fourth-quarter goal of $12 million, and it is nearly halfway there, according to its Web site with $5.5 million raised so far. The fourth quarter doesn’t end until Dec. 31.

The goal is to raise more than $3.1 million, surpassing the most raised in a day in this campaign by a Republican.

Donate here

Ron Paul on Jay Leno

Short Video on the Council on Foreign Relations and the Media

If You Would Even Consider Voting for Hillary...

I strongly recommend that you watch this documentary: Clinton: His Life.

This film, of course, concentrates on Bill Clinton, but it reveals the depravity of both members of the marriage partnership. You may not find the opening of the documentary very convincing, especially if you are left-leaning. However, I urge you to stick with the film, which reveals in detail the following: Bill’s extreme sexual debauchery, tolerated by Hillary; the Clinton’s mistreatment of state troopers and Secret Service agents assigned to protect them; Bill’s refusal to investigate the Mena affair, in which large amounts of cocaine were trafficked into Arkansas when Bill was governor; the number and nature of mysterious deaths surrounding individuals who crossed the Clintons; and the apparent selling of state secrets to Chinese agents.

You may also want to add this transgression to the list: according to a forthcoming documentary, Hillary was involved in the largest campaign finance scandal in U.S. history. You may watch the trailer for Hillary Uncensored here

Bayer Knowingly Distributed AIDS-contaminated Drug In Foreign Countries

Peace Activists Barred From Entering Canada

- Until they are "criminally rehabilitated."  Canada has been acting more and more like its southern neighbor.  Maybe it is all part of the "Security and Prosperity Partnership" leading us into the North American Union...

Read details here: Op-Ed News

Update on Mysterious Death at Phoenix Airport

The story has subtly shifted: First, Carol Anne Gotbaum was reported to have strangled herself with her own handcuffs, which were behind her back (see earlier post). Now, she is purported to have strangled herself with a chain leading from the handcuffs behind her back to a bench below her: "Police say she strangled herself with her chain."

There is also a witness, who claims the following: "She got her cell phone, broke it on a couple of customers, hit [t]hem, threw it on her." I am not sure exactly what this witness is saying, since his diction is almost incomprehensible. However, I take it that Gotbaum is alleged to have attacked someone or some people with her cell phone. Interestingly, none of the surveillance videos I have seen show any of this.

Whether there has indeed been foul play in this case – as there does seem to be – let us not forget the epidemic of law enforcement brutality sweeping the country. If you need to be convinced of this epidemic, then I recommend the following compendium of videos.

If you do not need to be convinced of this epidemic, I do not think that it is healthy to watch these videos. Highlights include a school security guard breaking a girl’s wrist for dropping a piece of cake, police methodically breaking the arms of nonviolent and passive protestors, and police stalking a young victim of previous brutality. If we go beyond the U.S., we may observe the case of two handicapped men detained at gunpoint for merely looking at British police officers.

Count Those Votes!

Sad but hilarious video of Texas lawmakers voting for each other.

Was Mother of Three Killed at Phoenix Airport?

Contortionists worldwide must be mourning the death of Carol Anne Gotbaum. She was an artist of unparalleled talent, if you believe the cops who arrested, trussed, and imprisoned her at Sky Harbor International Airport in Phoenix, Arizona. She died in their custody last Friday because '[she] had possibly tried to manipulate the handcuffs from behind her to the front, got tangled up in the process and they ended up around her neck,' according to Sgt. Andy Hill.

Go ahead: try it. Hold your hands behind your back and raise them. Now you truly appreciate Mrs. Gotbaum’s unbelievable skill: it’s impossible to lift your arms more than a few vertebrae upward. They won’t go anywhere near your neck.

Rest of story here.

More testimony from experts.

[Phoenix Police Sgt.] Hill said it was possible that Gotbaum may have accidentally strangled herself while trying to escape from the handcuffs.

But former law enforcement officers and police tactics trainers said it would be very unusual for that to happen.

'I can't imagine anatomically how you could do that,' said Roy Bedard, a former police officer who now trains officers in defense tactics, including how to use handcuffs and other restraints. 'I have a hard time seeing how you could get tangled up in them.'"

Though the cause of her death remained a mystery, Hill said, 'It appeared as though Ms. Gotbaum had possibly tried to manipulate the handcuffs from behind her to the front, got tangled up in the process, and they ended up around her neck area.'

But most people whose hands are restrained behind their backs try to slip their hands underneath their legs, said Brad Garrett, a former FBI agent. It is possible for people who are double jointed to move their arms above their heads, but even then, Bedard said, their arms would usually be extended and not near their necks.

Garrett said it was too early to know exactly what happened, but that it would be strange for a person to accidentally choke to death on handcuffs. It would also be very difficult for someone to strangle themselves to death on purpose with the handcuffs, Garrett said.

'If she did that, she's a very determined person,' he said.

Dorothy Dietrich, a magician and escape artist, said she also was not sure how someone could choke themselves to death while trying to escape from handcuffs. 'That would be very hard to do,' she said."

Bush Claims Saddam Hussein Killed Nelson Mandela

From Reuters:

Nelson Mandela is still very much alive despite an embarrassing gaffe by U.S. President George W. Bush, who alluded to the former South African leader's death in an attempt to explain sectarian violence in Iraq.

"I heard somebody say, Where's Mandela?' Well, Mandela's dead because Saddam Hussein killed all the Mandelas," Bush, who has a reputation for verbal faux pas, said in a press conference in Washington on Thursday.

Insanity: German Government Promotes Father-Daughter Incest

I believe that the content of the following article is too graphic to post. However, you may read how the German government is explicitly promoting incest and pedophilia here. 

Update: Canada Admits Use of Undercover Cops During SPP Protest

"Quebec police admit they went undercover at Montebello protest"

From the article: "Police said the three [undercover agents] were told to monitor protesters who were not peacefully demonstrating to prevent any violent incidents, but they were called out as undercover agents when they refused to throw objects."

This is clearly false. Other protestors told the agent provocateurs to put down the rock and not start a riot. No one was goading the officers to start a fight. So, if the police are lying about the details of the incident, are they also lying about the purpose of the officers there?

For video of the incident and a good summary of the history of the use of agent provocateurs during anti-globalization protests, see here.

Canadian Police Provocateurs?

Canadian protesters have accused undercover Canadian police of attempting to instigate a violent confrontation. The protesters were peacefully challenging the “Security and Prosperity Partnership” (SPP), an unlawful agreement being forged by the heads of state of Mexico, the U.S., and Canada. The SPP is widely seen as a move towards a future “North American Union”, where the three countries will abrogate their sovereignty in favor of a European Union-like superstate.

During the protest, three unknown masked men appeared to be planning to throw rocks at a police line. They were confronted by the protesters, who reminded them that it was a peaceful protest. The masked men refused to reveal their identities to the other protesters, and refused to dismiss the notion that they were really police provocateurs. Eventually, they pushed their way into the police line, where they were seemingly arrested. However, there is no record of their arrest, and witnesses claim that the masked men were wearing the exact same boots as the uniformed riot officers.

There have been many claims of undercover police provocateurs during past protests. The speculation is that the provocateurs start a violent confrontation, which is used as an excuse to shoot fleeing women in the back with rubber bullets and generally discredit the protesters. Fortunately, a violent confrontation was averted this time, and the alleged provocateurs were caught on tape.

More details here.

Psychologists For Torture

Psychology has a relatively short but tarnished history. In the Soviet Union, present-day China, and other countries, the supposedly poor “mental health” of political prisoners has been used as an excuse to incarcerate them indefinitely into mental wards. Psychology and psychiatry have also furnished us with dangerous drugs for “mental disorders”. Ritalin, for example, has similar effects on the brain as cocaine. And antidepressants are increasingly causally linked to suicidal and homicidal behavior – by the internal documents of the drug companies themselves. It may not be a coincidence that every single school shooter has been on antidepressants.

But let us not waste our breath on the history of psychology, for we can merely look at what psychologists are doing now: effectively endorsing torture. A recent APA meeting did, thankfully, ban psychologists from actually torturing victims. However, the APA refused to ban participation in torture centers such as Guantanamo Bay. A Colonel at Guantanamo argued against the ban, saying "If we remove psychologists from these facilities, people are going to die,” to which a psychologist for the ban rightfully replied, "If psychologists have to be there so detainees don't get killed, those conditions are so horrendous that the only moral and ethical thing is to leave." The participation of psychologists at torture facilities clearly abets the practice of torture, keeping victims alive to endure even more unspeakable evils. Most of these victims are, of course, completely innocent. Look at the number of those released from Guantanamo without any charges whatsoever. Psychology has a tarnished history, but even bad men can redeem themselves. It is time for psychologists to find a conscience.

RON PAUL WINS TWO STRAW POLLS!

Ron Paul has won both the Alabama and New Hampshire straw polls. The mainstream media has done everything they could to have slandered Paul, and yet he won both polls by a landslide. America wants a pro-freedom, anti-war candidate. Who is second-tier now? McCain and Giuliani have not done so well...

Here and here.

Karl Rove, The Philosopher

Wikipedia Populated By Spies, PR Agents

I had heard that Microsoft was rewriting entries so that its products would look good. I had heard the rumors that CIA agents were using Wikipedia to write political propaganda. Now a CalTech graduate student has proved that these things are the case. Virgil Griffith has developed Wikipedia Scanner, a service to identify anonymous Wikipedia users by IP address and show which articles they have edited. Not only the CIA and Microsoft but Diebold, Congressional offices, Walmart, and political parties have been editing pages in their favor.

I have revised my earlier proposition that we completely boycott Wikipedia. If Wikipedia is the only place to find some “nerd knowledge” about something like an old video game, or if Wikipedia is the only good resource to find links to better, more detailed web pages on some neutral topic, then use Wikipedia in these limited cases as a last resort. Otherwise, if a topic can be tied in any way whatsoever to political or financial interest, avoid Wikipedia. Do not fool yourself into believing that Wikipedia provides unbiased and peer-reviewed articles. In such a case, you are allowing yourself to be duped by spies, lies, and corporate thugs.

Wired article

Wikipedia Scanner

Wikipedia's Response, And My Solution

Here is Wikipedia’s official response to my letter:

“Thank you for contacting us regarding the dispute you encountered.

Wikipedia is a collaborative encyclopedia. Since article content is not controlled by a central authority, we do not resolve editing disputes via email. Instead, please follow the steps outlined at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Dispute_resolution. These steps are designed to help you work with other editors and to draw upon the help of the wider community.

For discussion on violation of Wikipedia policies and guidelines by a particular user, please see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Requests_for_comment/User_conduct


Thank you for your contributions to Wikipedia.

Yours sincerely,
Utkarshraj Atmaram”

Apparently, it is no large concern to Wikipedia that someone is deleting entry pages. The “steps outlined” on the first link they gave me amounts to this: “Have a quiet chat with the person you disagree with. If this does not resolve this issue, turn a blind eye to the problem. If that does not comfort you, try one or several forms of mediation. If you have tried all this and it fails, then maybe we will do something about your problem.” And from what I have gathered from the other link, if you show any signs of bias – like not wanting your work deleted – or anger – like at having your work unjustly deleted – then the odds are against a ruling or mediation in your favor. If this is how Wikipedia wants to run their website, then I say fine.

For I have another idea: boycott Wikipedia. We do not need it, as there are websites for nearly anything that we can think of. Furthermore, it is not an advantage that anyone may re-edit or delete an entry. One, not everyone is qualified to make changes to an entry. Two, it is too easy for people to make changes to entries on account of personal taste, political correctness, or an agenda. Other websites may be ill-informed or biased, but at least the good websites may not be so easily altered by anyone with a motive.

Letter to Wikipedia Concerning User Misconduct

To Whom It May Concern,
I am concerned about the behavior of one of the Wikipedia users: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Morton_devonshire . He appears to be editing and even shutting down websites merely because he does not like their content. It is my impression that Wikipedia is designed to represent all points of view on subjects and that it is the duty of the reader to decide for himself which viewpoint is most plausible. Editing, I believe, should be reserved for factual errors and new information, and shutting down pages should be only done in extreme circumstances - such as, perhaps, advocacy of violence. I trust that you will look into this matter thoroughly and, if necessary, revoke this user's editing privileges.
Sincerely,
Curtis Sharp

Snow Makes Up Temperatures, No One Notices

During a press conference, White House press secretary Tony Snow was asked a question about the Iraqi Parliament taking off for the month the August. The question came as critical, since Iraq is in such chaos. Snow, defending the Iraqi Parliament, replied, “You know, it's 130 degrees in Baghdad in August”. Rebuttals to Snow concentrated on the fact that the Iraqi Parliament works in air conditioning, whereas American troops have to work all day in the heat. However, no one seemed to make the obvious point: it does not get to 130 degrees in Baghdad.

I have lived now for a year in west Texas, where it gets quite hot. And yet, I do not believe that the temperature has broken 105 degrees since I have been here. I thought to myself, if the temperature actually rises to 130 degrees in Baghdad, then it would be unbelievably hot. Doubtful of the number Snow provided, I looked it up and found that it was wrong: the average temperature in Baghdad in August is 108 degrees, with the record being 118 degrees. We cannot be charitable towards Snow and say that he was stating the heat index – which takes into account the effect of humidity on temperature – for there should be no heat index in Baghdad: it is a desert.

So what is the big deal? For starters, Snow was off by an average of a whopping 22 degrees. Think of a 22 degree difference at the colder end of the temperature scale: there is a big difference between freezing and 10 degrees. I am not debating with Snow over the fact that it is hot in Baghdad. Rather, I am perturbed that no one in the media caught on to Snow’s obviously incorrect figure. And, I think that this problem goes deeper than the fact that the media is typically uncritical of whatever comes out of the White House. (Frankly, I was even surprised that a reporter asked the question about the Iraqi Parliament taking off.) The deeper problem is this: Americans have no good understanding of the relative importance of numbers. We did not blink when someone told us the outrageously high figure of 130 degrees in Baghdad. Would we have blinked if someone told us 150? What about 212? How dumbed-down are we going to get?

Global Warming Data Page

On Prison Planet

Live Earth: More Than A Reason To Party?

The ostensible purpose of the Live Earth concerts was to raise awareness of man-made global warming. I doubt, however, that most of the concert goers did not already believe that global warming is man-made. So, if all the energy put into transportation, lighting, sound, food, sewage, and pamphlets was to have any value at all, the value was not in convincing a large number of people that global warming is truly man-made.

What was the real value, then, of the Live Earth concerts? What could the Live Earth concerts have accomplished that would have offset their substantial “carbon footprint” and generally negative environmental impact? One could reply that the concert goers would have learned about the science of global warming: how we know that man influences the climate to warm, how a warmer climate will be destructive to the earth, and what individuals may do to reduce or erase their own contributions to global warming. The third claim – that concert attendees could learn how to reduce their own carbon footprint – is only relevant if the first two claims are true: 1) that man causes global warming; 2) that global warming will result in some environmental cataclysm. I will maintain that neither of these claims is true. I will take just a few arguments from the BBC documentary on this page to the right, “The Great Global Warming Swindle”.

Claim 1: Man Causes Global Warming

This is the general form of the argument that man is causing the earth to warm:
Man produces CO2.
CO2 causes increases in global temperatures.
Therefore, man is causing increases in global temperatures.

This argument is implicit in Al Gore’s documentary. However, the second premise appears to be false: CO2 does not cause rises in temperatures. Al Gore cites the ice core studies as proof of a correlation between CO2 and temperature increases. There is indeed a correlation between the two, but it does not amount to a causal relationship. In fact, CO2 levels only rise hundreds of years after a temperature increase. Since CO2 levels increase only after temperatures increase, we cannot say that CO2 causes global temperatures to increase. Rather, CO2 increases seem to be an after-effect of temperature increase.

We may also ask ourselves, why are the temperatures of the other planets in the solar system increasing? To my knowledge, no life is on those planets, responsible for increasing the amount of CO2 in those planets’ atmospheres. But scientists are finding that there is a strong correlation between solar activity and rises in the planets’ temperatures. Moreover – unlike the CO2/global warming correlation - the factors in this correlation do not exist hundreds of years apart, and the purported cause does not take place after the purported effect. Though I assume more research must be done, current evidence supports that increases in solar activity may cause increases in the earth’s global temperatures.

Claim 2: Global Warming Will Be Cataclysmic

If the globe warms, we are told, ocean levels will rise, crops will not grow, glaciers will melt, and polar bears will die. Man-made global warming advocates are concerned about the temperatures rising by a few more degrees Celsius. However, the entire globe’s temperatures were already warmer by 3-5 degrees Celsius during the Medieval Warm Period. And yet, neither man nor the polar bears died out. The polar bears were obviously able to adapt to the warming conditions, and there is no evidence of which I am aware that man suffered any during this time. In fact, in northern England, where it is now too cold for grapes to grow, wine vineyards were flourishing.

Conclusion

I have contested that the only value to Live Earth would have been to educate people on the science of man-made global warming: 1) man causes global warming, 2) global warming is bad, and 3) we must each individually reduce our contributions to man-made global warming. I have argued that man does not cause global warming and that global warming appears to be a natural effect of solar activity that does not destroy the planet. I have maintained that, as a consequence, we do not need to take any measures to reduce our “contributions” to global warming.

I have heard people like Al Gore tell us that the debate is over. Mr. Gore, as far as I am concerned, the real debate has just begun. I will say, however, that your big awareness-raising party has demonstrated one thing: there are more than a few people who need to research the matter more fully.

Kissinger On Integrity

This selection is from the print edition of the Philadelphia Inquirer:

"CIA to Reveal Long-Secret Documents" by Scott Shane, NYT News Service

There was also a conversation in which Henry A. Kissinger, then serving as both secretary of state and national security adviser, denounced the efforts of CIA director William E. Colby to push an aggressive investigation of the agency’s past transgressions.

Kissinger said the accusations then appearing daily about agency misconduct were “worse than in the days of McCarthy.”

“What Colby has done is a disgrace,” Kissinger said.

“Should we suspend him?” Ford asked.

“No,” Kissinger said, “but after the investigation is over, you could move him and put in someone of towering integrity.” A year later, Ford replaced Colby with George H. W. Bush.

[George H. W. Bush a man of "towering integrity"?  No comment!]

Common Preservative Damages DNA

From the Epoch Times:

Research from Sheffield University, U.K., into a common food and drink preservative suggests that it can damage DNA. Sodium benzoate, a mold inhibiter commonly found in Pepsi, Coke, Sprite, other soft drinks, pickles, and sauces, is the culprit.

Peter Piper, professor of molecular biology and biotechnology, who has been working on sodium benzoate since 1999, tested sodium benzoate on living yeast cells. He was alarmed to find that it damaged their mitochondria's DNA.

Concerned, Piper made his research public, telling British newspaper, The Independent, on Sunday, May 27: "These chemicals have the ability to cause severe damage to DNA in the mitochondria to the point that they totally inactivate it—they knock it out altogether."

"The mitochondria consume the oxygen to give you energy, and if you damage it—as happens in a number of diseased states—then the cell starts to malfunction very seriously. And there is a whole array of diseases that are now being tied to damage to this DNA—Parkinson's and quite a lot of neurodegenerative diseases, but above all, the whole process of aging."

Sodium benzoate occurs naturally in cranberries, apples, milk products, cinnamon, and cloves. According to http://inchem.org, sodium benzoate occurring naturally in foods is about 40 mg/kg. Used as a preservative, it is about 2,000 mg/kg. Historically, benzoic acid came from a dry distillation of gum benzoin. Industrial preparation is now cheaply made from toluene. Sodium benzoate is made from benzoic acid.

The studies the FDA lists are mainly rat and mice studies, which don't appear to show toxicity. Tests made on limited numbers of individuals showed no adverse effects from the 1960s to the 1980s, therefore sodium benzoate and benzoic acid are considered safe by the FDA.

The Hyperactive Children's Support Group of Great Britain takes exception to that and recommends the avoidance of both sodium benzoate and benzoic acid. Piper considers tests done by the FDA "out of date."

A short-term study on rats—feeding them 1,800 mg/kg of sodium benzoate/benzoic acid—produced central nervous system damage. Benzoic acid caused liver pathology and reduced weight. However, these studies are deemed inadequate to determine safety.

The vitamin C (ascorbic acid) added to soft drinks reacts with sodium benzoate to make benzene, a known carcinogen and air pollutant.

Sources:
http://www.inchem.org/documents/cicads/cicads/cicad26.htm#SubSectionNumber:11.1.1
http://news.independent.co.uk/health/article2586653.ece

Giuliani's Press Secretary Has Reporter Arrested

First Amendment to the Constitution:

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."

In other words, by the government's own laws, it is illegal for the government to interfere with the activities of the press. Yet last night, freelance reporter Matt Lepacek was arrested for asking a question. During a press meeting after the New Hampshire presidential debate, Lepacek directed his question to Giuliani’s press secretary. Lepacek asked the press secretary to clarify Giuliani’s assertion to Peter Jennings that he had foreknowledge that World Trade Center Building 7 was going to collapse. (Watch Giuliani’s statement here)
This is newsworthy, as it is unclear how anyone could have predicted that WTC 7 could have collapsed. Unlike WTC 1 and 2, building 7 was not hit by any jetliner. Furthermore, it was only minimally damaged by falling debris and its small pockets of fire were nearly extinguished.

Giuliani’s press secretary refused to answer the question and instead attacked the press credentials of Lepacek. Lepacek affirmed that he was a fully accredited reporter, working for infowars.com. Upon hearing this, the press secretary began to run away from Lepacek and his question. When Lepacek repeated his questioning, the press secretary called over New Hampshire state troopers to have him arrested.

According to Luke Rudkowski, Lepacek’s friend and fellow press member, Lepacek called Rudkowski during his police questioning and revealed that he had been threatened with deportation to a secret detention facility. The state police had considered charging him with espionage for using a webcam during the event. Of course, using a webcam during a press meeting is not espionage. Lepacek was finally released on bail, possibly on the charge of criminal trespass. Again, Lepacek was a fully accredited reporter, so he was not trespassing.

Is this the America Giuliani wants? Does Giuliani desire for reporters to be arrested, in complete violation of their First Amendment rights, whenever they ask a question his press secretary does not like? Furthermore, why did the press secretary not answer the question? He could have even replied with something vacuous, like, “The proper authorities notified the mayor when they were aware that the building’s collapse was imminent.” Or, he could have simply said, “No comment,” or “I don’t know.” Instead, the press secretary became angry and ran away, as though he were afraid. What has Rudy Giuliani to hide? If there is nothing wrong with Giuliani’s foreknowledge that WTC 7 was going to collapse, then Giuliani should clear his name and reveal the source of his foreknowledge. Furthermore, if Giuliani is really dedicated to being the leader of the free world, he should show his commitment to the First Amendment by firing his press secretary and personally apologizing to Matt Lepacek.

As for the State Troopers who arrested Lepacek, it would be easy for me to call for their firing. Indeed, they probably should be, and on their way out of the department, they should be handed a copy of the Constitution so that they finally come to learn what laws they should have upheld and protected. But this brings us to one of the bigger problems: police officers do not even know the law. In some cases, it reaches high levels of absurdity, as when these police officers claimed that a woman who refers to the Constitution and cites a Supreme Court case “don’t believe in our laws”.

And here is the second big problem: how is Giuliani’s press secretary able to order around New Hampshire state troopers? How was this cozy relationship established between a PR representative and the state’s enforcement arm? Something bad is happening to our county when both law enforcement and the representative of a presidential candidate are both willing to act in total disregard of the law and suppress real journalism.


More may be read here:

“Reporter Arrested on Orders of Giuliani Press Secretary”

“News Of Reporter's Arrest For Asking a Question Makes Major Headlines”

The First False Flag Terror Attack?

Plutarch, a classical Greek historian, has written biographies of prominent Greeks and Romans, compiled in his work Parallel Lives. In Plutarch's biography of Solon, we learn that there were three factions competing for political dominance in Athens. One of these factions was headed by Pisistratus, who gave the impression that he was leading the masses to equality, though in fact he was merely ambitious for power. Pisistratus, in order to make himself favorable to the populace, put on a false front:

“he had the reputation of being a cautious and law-abiding man, who set great store by equality... [but he] completely deceived most people on these points” *

Yet, his greatest deception was but to come:

“The day came when Pisistratus deliberately wounded himself, drove into the market-place in a chariot and tried to rouse the people with the story that his enemies had organized a conspiracy to murder him because of his political programme.” (73)

The masses bought into his story, and when they came together in the Assembly, it was agreed that Pisistratus should have armed bodyguards to protect him from his supposed enemies. Initially, it was argued that the number of bodyguards be limited to fifty men, but the Assembly finally voted to allow Pisistratus an unlimited number of guards, whom he could take anywhere in the city. After having gathered his bodyguards, Pisistratus marched them straight into the Acropolis. He took over Athens and became tyrant over the city.

It is worthwhile to reflect on Solon’s admonitions to the Athenians, both before and after Pisistratus had secured himself as ruler. Following the purported attack on Pisistratus, many Athenians, including Solon, saw through the plot. However, many Athenians were too afraid to make a stand. Plutarch writes the following:

“Solon saw that the poorer classes were thoroughly roused and were determined to support Pisistratus, while the rich were too frightened to make any kind of stand against him. So he left the Assembly with a parting shot to the effect that he possessed more sense than the one party and more courage than the other; he was wiser than those who could not see through the plot, and braver than those who, although they were not taken in, were afraid to stand up to a tyrant.” (74)

As we have seen, both idiocy and cowardice put Athens into the hands of a tyrant; for after Solon left the Assembly, it had voted in favor of allowing Pisistratus to have armed guards, which were subsequently used against the city. Once Pisistratus had already seized power, and it was clear to all that Pisistratus was a tyrant, Solon attempted to rouse the courage of the Athenians so that they could take back their city. Plutarch writes of Solon:

“It was on this occasion, too, that he uttered the famous remark that it would have been easier at an earlier stage to forestall the tyranny while it was still being hatched, but that it was an even greater and nobler task to destroy it now that it was already established and fully grown.” (74)

No one in Solon’s day listened, and Pisistratus remained in power. All of this occurred circa 560 B.C. This may not be the earliest false flag terror event, but it is certainly an early demonstration of a “self-inflicted wound” used for political gain. Moreover, we should remember that Plutarch was not writing merely to inform his readers about past events: he was hoping that his readers would learn from them. Perhaps we should heed Solon’s words in our own time.

* The Rise and Fall of Athens. Ian Scott-Kilvert, trans. Penguin Books, 1960. P. 73.