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Showing posts with label PROTEST. Show all posts
Showing posts with label PROTEST. Show all posts

Saturday, May 2, 2015

Baltimore Riots And A Vision Of Things To Come


By Brandon Turbeville 

The recent death of 25-year-old Freddie Gray at the hands of police in Baltimore, MD has now been added to the long list of American citizens murdered by the law enforcement community. Video footage of Gray’s arrest alone is cause enough for anger but his subsequent death after wounds inflicted by police – while not on video – are an atrocious case of neglect at best and outright torture and murder at worst. Given the track record of the US law enforcement community and the history of Baltimore’s policing in general, the latter is the most likely scenario.

The subsequent protests and civil disobedience that erupted after the coverage of the incident were undoubtedly warranted as were many of the clashes between protesters and police. However, the subsequent descent into riots, race violence, burning, and looting have only served to galvanize many Americans into support for brutal policing, divide races against one another, and further destroy the neighborhoods and communities of the very people being oppressed by the police. 

The result of the devolution of such a movement into racial components is threefold. 

Sunday, August 24, 2014

Ferguson: Ten Days That Shook the Country



How the tactics of occupation came home
by Justin Raimondo

The facts surrounding the murder of Michael Brown, an 18-year-old resident of Ferguson, Missouri, gunned down by Darren Wilson, a Ferguson police officer, are not entirely known – but enough is known that it’s quite justified to characterize it as cold-blooded murder. Thanks to Brown’s family, an autopsy has revealed that of the six shots fired by Wilson, five were survivable, but the sixth – which entered through the top of his head – was not. Although the evidence is not yet conclusive, the forensics – and the testimony of eyewitnesses – point to the fatal shot being fired as he was falling to the ground with his hands up in the classic posture of surrender.

Sunday, July 20, 2014

'Free Palestine!' World marches to protest Gaza victims




The BBC showed only a few SECONDS of the London march. And in Paris pro-Palestinian marches are now ILLEGAL.
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Saturday, May 4, 2013

Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young Ohio 1970 Kent State University


"Ohio" is a protest song written and composed by Neil Young in reaction to the Kent State shootings of May 4, 1970, and performed by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. It was released as a single, backed with Stephen Stills "Find the Cost of Freedom," peaking at #14 on the Billboard Hot 100. Although a live version of the song was included on the group's 1971 double album Four Way Street, the studio versions of both songs did not appear on an LP until the group's compilation So Far was released in 1974. The song also appeared on the Neil Young compilation album Decade, released in 1977.

On May 4, 1970 members of the Ohio National Guard fired into a crowd of Kent State University demonstrators, killing four and wounding nine Kent State students. The impact of the shootings was dramatic. The event triggered a nationwide student strike that forced hundreds of colleges and universities to close. H. R. Haldeman, a top aide to President Richard Nixon, suggests the shootings had a direct impact on national politics. In The Ends of Power, Haldeman (1978) states that the shootings at Kent State began the slide into Watergate, eventually destroying the Nixon administration. Beyond the direct effects of the May 4th, the shootings have certainly come to symbolize the deep political and social divisions that so sharply divided the country during the Vietnam War era.

In the nearly three decades since May 4, 1970, a voluminous literature has developed analyzing the events of May 4th and their aftermath. Some books were published quickly, providing a fresh but frequently superficial or inaccurate analysis of the shootings (e.g., Eszterhas and Roberts, 1970; Warren, 1970; Casale and Paskoff, 1971; Michener, 1971; Stone, 1971; Taylor et al., 1971; and Tompkins and Anderson, 1971). Numerous additional books have been published in subsequent years (e.g., Davies, 1973; Hare, 1973; Hensley and Lewis, 1978; Kelner and Munves, 1980; Hensley, 1981; Payne, 1981; Bills, 1988; and Gordon, 1997). These books have the advantage of a broader historical perspective than the earlier books, but no single book can be considered the definitive account of the events and aftermath of May 4, l970 at Kent State University.

In May 1970, at Kent State University in Ohio, National Guardsmen confronted student antiwar protesters with a tear gas barrage. Soon afterward, with no provocation, soldiers opened fire into a group of fleeing students. Four young people were killed, shot in the back, including two women who had been walking to class. Unfortunately, this short description contains four factual errors: some degree of provocation did exist; the students were not fleeing when the Guard initially opened fire; only one of the four students who died, William Schroeder, was shot in the back; and one female student, Sandy Schreuer, had been walking to class, but the other female, Allison Krause, had been part of the demonstration.

This article is an attempt to deal with the historical inaccuracies that surround the May 4th shootings at Kent State University by providing high school social studies teachers with a resource to which they can turn if they wish to teach about the subject or to involve students in research on the issue. Our approach is to raise and provide answers to twelve of the most frequently asked questions about May 4 at Kent State. We will also offer a list of the most important questions involving the shootings which have not yet been answered satisfactorily. Finally, we will conclude with a brief annotated bibliography for those wishing to explore the subject further.

The decision to bring the Ohio National Guard onto the Kent State University campus was directly related to decisions regarding American involvement in the Vietnam War. Richard Nixon was elected president of the United States in 1968 based in part on his promise to bring an end to the war in Vietnam. During the first year of Nixon's presidency, America's involvement in the war appeared to be winding down. In late April of 1970, however, the United States invaded Cambodia and widened the Vietnam War. This decision was announced on national television and radio on April 30, l970 by President Nixon, who stated that the invasion of Cambodia was designed to attack the headquarters of the Viet Cong, which had been using Cambodian territory as a sanctuary.

Protests occurred the next day, Friday, May 1, across United States college campuses where anti-war sentiment ran high. At Kent State University, an anti-war rally was held at noon on the Commons, a large, grassy area in the middle of campus which had traditionally been the site for various types of rallies and demonstrations.

DEMOCRACY NOW! (Documentary video) http://www.democracynow.org/2010/5/4/...
http://dept.kent.edu/sociology/lewis/...
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/05...
http://thrasherswheat.org/fot/ohio.htm

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Friday, January 4, 2013

Activists Gather In Washington, D.C. For The Dis-inauguration Of Barack Hussein Obama


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Sunday, December 23, 2012

Fear and Loathing in Paragould Arkansas

Mark Daniels
Global Political Awakening

The novel Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas is based on two trips to Las Vegas, Nevada, that Hunter S. Thompson took with attorney and Chicano activist Oscar Zeta Acosta in March and April 1971. The first trip spawned from an exposé Thompson was writing for Rolling Stone magazine about the Mexican-American television journalist Rubén Salazar, whom officers of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department had shot and killed with a tear gas grenade fired at close range during the National Chicano Moratorium March against the Vietnam War in 1970. Thompson was using Acosta—a prominent Mexican-American political activist and attorney—as a central source for the story, and the two found it difficult for a brown-skinned Mexican to talk openly with a white reporter in the racially tense atmosphere of Los Angeles, California. The two needed a more comfortable place to discuss the story and decided to take advantage of a Sports Illustrated magazine offer to write photograph captions for the annual Mint 400 desert race being held in Las Vegas from 21–23 March. (Source)

Recent reports of plans by the City of Paragould (Arkansas) Police Chief and Mayor to deploy heavily armed SWAT TEAMS on the streets of Paragould, Arkansas in an effort to combat a recent increase in crime is similarly disturbing and has been met with both local and international outrage from the public.

Rita Sklar, executive director of ACLU-Arkansas, said that aspects of Paragould Police Chief Todd Stovall's plan to have officers dressed in SWAT gear and armed with AR-15 assault rifles demanding ID from citizens in high crime areas shows that he has "zero understanding of Constitutional rights, period." Meanwhile, the Paragould PD issued a statement cancelling further town hall meetings on the proposal, citing "public safety" concerns after a growing backlash about the proposal. (Source)

I recently interviewed several local residents who are deeply concerned about the potential for abuse (violation of rights) by local law enforcement and the refusal of the Mayor to listen to their repeated requests for answers.  The local residents have requested anonymity due to the fear of retribution for speaking out.

Saturday, November 27, 2010

Thousands March In Dublin To Protest Irish Austerity Measures


DUBLIN (Dow Jones)--Thousands of people marched through central Dublin Saturday to protest the Irish government's plan to make EUR15 billion in budget cuts over the next four years and urge it to do more to generate growth and jobs in the debt-laden economy.
One of the organizers of the march, the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, an umbrella group representing some 800,000 workers across the island of Ireland, said the government still has time to change course before it announces its budget on Dec. 7, where it plans to set out EUR6 billion of budget cuts.
"This is a really important opportunity for the government to be shown visually how people feel about what it is that they are doing," Sally Anne Kinahan, ICTU assistant general secretary, said ahead of the march. "The biggest failure on the part of government...is the fact that they have done nothing to stimulate jobs."
Faced with a debt crisis following the collapse of the country's banking system, Ireland's government is carrying out severe budget cuts and is negotiating a multi-billion euro support package with the International Monetary Fund, European Union, and European Central Bank which is expected is coming days.
On Wednesday it announced details of a four-year plan, including EUR10 billion in expenditure cuts and EUR5 billion in tax measures to slash the country's budget deficit to below the EU limit of 3% of gross domestic product by 2014 from an expected 32% this year.
The measures include lowering the minimum wage, cutting public sector jobs, salaries, and pensions, reducing social welfare spending, increasing sales tax to 23% by 2014 from 21%, and widening the income tax base.
Shay Cody, the general secretary of IMPACT, Ireland's largest public sector union, said the government's four-year plan is driven by an obsession to bail out "zombie banks" rather than the need to stimulate economic activity to create jobs and get the public finances back in balance.
But despite Ireland announcing some of the harshest budget consolidation measures in Europe, the ICTU appears to have little appetite for industrial action of the kind seen in countries like Spain, Portugal, and Greece that have also been subjected to tough austerity measures.
"I don't think the right focus at the moment will be on industrial action, it is on political action looking at the forthcoming general election," Kinahan said. Irish Prime Minister Brian Cowen has said a general election will be called in the New Year.
However, some left-leaning groups would like to see Irish unions go further.
"They need to escalate and do strike action rather than just marching people around the town," said Brid Smith, a local government official in a working class suburb west of Dublin for People Before Profit, a small left-wing grass-roots political grouping. "People understand that there is such a thing as collective power, but it has never been mobilized."
She said the government should reverse its austerity measures and introduce heavier taxes on the wealthy people who profited most during the boom years that earned Ireland the name as the Celtic Tiger. She also says bond holders should bare a greater share of the losses.
Irish police said ahead of the march that they were expecting a peaceful protest, but were prepared to deal with any disturbances.
Related Articles:  

EU, IMF Bailout of Ireland Worth $32,000 per Citizen

Eurozone Debt Crisis 2.0: Dollar Sucks Less than Euro, Again


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Thursday, November 11, 2010

Agents Provocateurs Turn Tuition Protest Into Violent Melee

Kurt Nimmo
Infowars.com
November 11, 2010
Once again, dispatched agents provocateurs have turned a peaceful protest into a property-destroying circus sideshow.
“It was supposed to be a day of peaceful protest, with students exercising their democratic right to demonstrate against soaring university fees,” reports the Daily Mail. “But anarchists hijacked the event, setting off the most violent scenes of student unrest seen in Britain for decades. Militants from far-Left groups whipped up a mix of middle-class students and younger college and school pupils into a frenzy.”
Back in the day anarchists would have criticized the very idea of state-run universities and would have denounced the act of stealing money from one segment of society to pay the tuition of another. Now balaclava-clad anarchists are the vanguard of those resentful of the fact the free lunch is over and the state cannot afford to continue this educational boondoggle.
So called anarchists apparently no longer support the philosophy that the authority of the state has no place in conduct of human relations, including education. Anarchism today translates into mindless property destruction by dim-witted hooligans. It is used as justification by the state to attack “democratic” protesters and minimize their minor disagreements with the government and its institutions.



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Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Gerald Celente : The country is going down and it is going down quick

Gerald Celente: Trends and Forecasts

Gerald Celente on The Gary Null show 20 sept 2010





Gerald Celente, the CEO of Trends Research Institute, is renowned for his accuracy in predicting future world and economic events, which will send a chill down your spine considering

Trends Expert Gerald Celente is also known as Dr Doom and the Nostradamus of Modern Times , Gerald Celente is regarded as one of the foremost trend predictors in the world. This author of Trends 2000 and Trend Tracking, and publisher of The Trends Journal, is frequently a guest on television news and talk show programs. The New York Post said "if Nostradamus were alive today, he'd have a hard time keeping up with Gerald Celente." Subscribe to the Trends Journal

Celente says that by 2012 America will become an undeveloped nation, that there will be a revolution marked by food riots, squatter rebellions, tax revolts and job marches, and that holidays will be more about obtaining food, not gifts.

“We’re going to see the end of the retail Christmas….we’re going to see a fundamental shift take place….putting food on the table is going to be more important that putting gifts under the Christmas tree,” said Celente, adding that the situation would be “worse than the great depression”.

“America’s going to go through a transition the likes of which no one is prepared for,” said Celente, noting that people’s refusal to acknowledge that America was even in a recession highlights how big a problem denial is in being ready for the true scale of the crisis.

Celente, who successfully predicted the 1997 Asian Currency Crisis, the subprime mortgage collapse and the massive devaluation of the U.S. dollar, told UPI in November last year that the following year would be known as “The Panic of 2008,” adding that “giants (would) tumble to their deaths,” which is exactly what we have witnessed with the collapse of Lehman Brothers, Bear Stearns and others. He also said that the dollar would eventually be devalued by as much as 90 per cent.

The consequence of what we have seen unfold this year would lead to a lowering in living standards, Celente predicted a year ago, which is also being borne out by plummeting retail sales figures.

The prospect of revolution was a concept echoed by a British Ministry of Defence report last year, which predicted that within 30 years, the growing gap between the super rich and the middle class, along with an urban underclass threatening social order would mean, “The world’s middle classes might unite, using access to knowledge, resources and skills to shape transnational processes in their own class interest,” and that, “The middle classes could become a revolutionary class.”

In a separate recent interview, Celente went further on the subject of revolution in America.

“There will be a revolution in this country,” he said. “It’s not going to come yet, but it’s going to come down the line and we’re going to see a third party and this was the catalyst for it: the takeover of Washington, D. C., in broad daylight by Wall Street in this bloodless coup. And it will happen as conditions continue to worsen.”

“The first thing to do is organize with tax revolts. That’s going to be the big one because people can’t afford to pay more school tax, property tax, any kind of tax. You’re going to start seeing those kinds of protests start to develop.”

“It’s going to be very bleak. Very sad. And there is going to be a lot of homeless, the likes of which we have never seen before. Tent cities are already sprouting up around the country and we’re going to see many more.”

“We’re going to start seeing huge areas of vacant real estate and squatters living in them as well. It’s going to be a picture the likes of which Americans are not going to be used to. It’s going to come as a shock and with it, there’s going to be a lot of crime. And the crime is going to be a lot worse than it was before because in the last 1929 Depression, people’s minds weren’t wrecked on all these modern drugs – over-the-counter drugs, or crystal meth or whatever it might be. So, you have a huge underclass of very desperate people with their minds chemically blown beyond anybody’s comprehension.”

The George Washington blog has compiled a list of quotes attesting to Celente’s accuracy as a trend forecaster.

“When CNN wants to know about the Top Trends, we ask Gerald Celente.”
— CNN Headline News

“A network of 25 experts whose range of specialties would rival many university faculties.”
— The Economist

“Gerald Celente has a knack for getting the zeitgeist right.”
— USA Today

“There’s not a better trend forecaster than Gerald Celente. The man knows what he’s talking about.”
- CNBC

“Those who take their predictions seriously … consider the Trends Research Institute.”
— The Wall Street Journal

“Gerald Celente is always ahead of the curve on trends and uncannily on the mark … he’s one of the most accurate forecasters around.”
— The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

“Mr. Celente tracks the world’s social, economic and business trends for corporate clients.”
— The New York Times

“Mr. Celente is a very intelligent guy. We are able to learn about trends from an authority.”
— 48 Hours, CBS News

“Gerald Celente has a solid track record. He has predicted everything from the 1987 stock market crash and the demise of the Soviet Union to green marketing and corporate downsizing.”
— The Detroit News

“Gerald Celente forecast the 1987 stock market crash, ‘green marketing,’ and the boom in gourmet coffees.”
— Chicago Tribune

“The Trends Research Institute is the Standard and Poors of Popular Culture.”
— The Los Angeles Times

“If Nostradamus were alive today, he’d have a hard time keeping up with Gerald Celente.”
— New York Post


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Monday, September 20, 2010

Shut Up! You’re Disturbing the Elite

Keith Johnson
Revolt of the Plebs
September 20, 2010
So many warnings, so many solutions, and so many people who couldn’t care less.
dollar
“If the American People allow private banks to control the issuance of their currency, first by inflation and then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around them will deprive the People of all their Property until their Children will wake up homeless on the continent their Fathers conquered.” –Thomas Jefferson
LONG AGO: A man named Noah (the conspiracy theorist of his time) warns his people that a great flood is fast approaching.  His preparations for the event are largely dismissed as crazy, and he is constantly the subject of ridicule and mockery.  Even as the heavy rains turn torrential; the people continue to laugh, eat, drink and dance…right up until the water level rises high enough to sweep them all away.
1912: As the RMS Titanic takes on water; word spreads among the passengers that they must prepare to abandon ship.  Many refuse to board lifeboats because they are convinced that the vessel cannot sink.  Some stay in the lounges to socialize while others return to their cabins and fall fast asleep.  The lifeboats aboard the Titanic have the capacity to accommodate 2/3 of the passengers, but many of them are sent away nearly empty because some people refuse to take the crisis seriously.
1913: While treasonous politicians conspire to relinquish control of the U.S. economy over to European central banks; Congressman Charles Lindbergh, Sr. warns:
This Act [the Federal Reserve Act, Dec. 23rd 1913] establishes the most gigantic trust on earth. When the President [Woodrow Wilson] signs the Bill; the invisible government of the Monetary Power will be legalized. The people may not know it immediately, but the day of reckoning is only a few years removed. The worst legislative crime of the ages is perpetrated by this banking and currency Bill.  The new law will create inflation whenever the trusts want inflation. From now on, depressions will be scientifically created.”
His warning is ignored, and by 1929, America falls victim to its first “scientifically created”depression.
PRESENT DAY: The United States has entered into yet another “scientifically created”depression—brought about by the same unsound money policies—controlled by the same corrupt banking cartels.
Somewhere in America; a young man wearing an “End the Fed” T-shirt stands alone—across the street from a Federal Reserve Bank—shouting the prophetic words of Thomas Jefferson through an amplified bullhorn:
“If the American People allow private banks to control the issuance of their currency, first by inflation and then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around them will deprive the People of all their Property until their Children will wake up homeless on the continent their Fathers conquered.”
Many passersby snicker while others stop to stare.  A marked police cruiser pulls to the curb and demands that the young man leave the public sidewalk.  He reminds the officer of his first amendment right of free speech and peaceful assembly.  The officer reminds him that he couldn’t care less.  He pulls a Taser from his utility belt and fires two probes into the boy’s chest—sending him to the ground—where is subdued, and then loaded into the backseat of the cruiser before being hauled away.
Among the gathering crowd, few gasp in disbelief but are afraid to say a word.  Others point and laugh while the rest join in a morbid cacophony of cheers and applause.
It is a scene that is becoming far too common.  Across America, peaceful dissent and protest is being met with brute force, while ordinary citizens stand on the sidelines watching in amusement as the face of their fellow countrymen meet the stamping boot of the police state.
The Constitution has become a relic, and those who live by it are becoming a nuisance to those who would like to see it torn to shreds.  Word has come down from on high that these protests must end.  A new strategy to quell dissent is being deployed through mainstream media personalities, who have been given orders to reign in their flocks by controlling and limiting their mode of expression.
In the days leading up to Glenn Beck’s “Restoring Honor” rally, the self-described rodeo clown instructed attendees not to bring signs or posters.  Most complied, some chose instead to bring flags or dress up in colorful “period piece” costumes.
Weeks later, in a two minute segment of his Fox television program, Beck addressed his obedient flock and pleaded for them to abandon their signs and costumes altogether.  He referenced a new website by Think Progress, which Beck alledges was launched, “forthe sole purpose of making you in to the crazy costume person, the racist or the conspiracy theorist. They are going to try to make you into anything that you are not.”
Instead of encouraging his viewers to be discriminating in the signs they hoist or the clothes they wear, he suggested that his viewers give in to the criticism.   Beck told his people to, “Dress normally” and to, “Take the signs down.”
He then shared about a conversation he had with his daughter, who suggested that she really didn’t care what people said about her clothing.  His fatherly response to her was, “well, other people do,” andthen concluded by suggesting that the lesson for the day was: “Don’t give the media even a chance to typecast you.”
This is a clever psy-op using lots of double speak.  Beck is actually conditioning his people to be shamed over the use of signs, loud speech and clothing with political statements.  By instructing his people to avoid criticism, he is actually projecting that he concurs with the criticism itself.
Once these people accept that this behavior is a social faux pas, they too will join into the criticism and demonization of those who hold signs, use bullhorns or wear T-shirts with statements like “9/11 Was an Inside Job,” or “Don’t Tread on Me.”
Beck also suggested to his viewers that instead of bringing signs, they should bring their children.   This is an even more sinister plan.  The idea here is to use children as a tool to further demonize protestors.  At certain events, Beck’s “quiet” minions will show up—with their sons or daughters in tow—and confront more passionate demonstrators and remind them to, “Keep it down– children are present.” I’m sure you can envision how that will look on the evening news.
But this strategy to quell dissent is not confined to the establishment right.  The establishment left has its own plan, ripped straight from the pages of leftist icon Saul Alinsky’s “Rules for Radicals.”   Rule #5 of that book states:
“Ridicule is man’s most potent weapon. It is almost impossible to counteract ridicule. Also it infuriates the opposition, which then reacts to your advantage.”
On October 30, 2010—the Daily Show’s Jon Stewart and Stephan Colbert of the Colbert Report will be staging duel rallies in Washington D.C. to spoof Glenn Beck’s “Restoring Honor” rally and the Tea Party movement in general.
While we all enjoy good satire from time to time—even when the ribbing is done at our expense—these particular events should not be merely taken at face value.
The home page for Jon Stewart’s “Rally To Restore Sanity,” describes the event as,
“…a rally for the people who’ve been too busy to go to rallies, who actually have lives and families and jobs (or are looking for jobs)… Think of our event as Woodstock, but with the nudity and drugs replaced by respectful disagreement.”
Respectful disagreement?  This is sure a stark contrast to the liberal left that pioneered the explosive, ‘in-your-face’ anti-war, anti-fascist movement of the 1960’s and 70’s.  Today, the liberals seem to have no time for that.  But apparently some will at least be able to find the time to attend a mock rally of tomfoolery that serves no other purpose than to further alienate the left from the right.
The page goes on to read, “We’re looking for the people who think shouting is annoying, counterproductive, and terrible for your throat…bring your indoor voice”
Yeah, God forbid that we annoy our oppressors with our grievances or scratch our throats while exercising our first amendment rights.  The reason we’re in the mess we’re in is because too many people have been using their “indoor voice” for too many years.   Silence and complacency are the only things that are counterproductive.  I shutter to think what might have happened if Paul Revere had been stopped midway through his midnight ride and convinced that his “shouting” was “annoying” and “counterproductive.”
The liberals have lost their mojo when it comes to demonstrations.  Their recent attempts to counter the Tea Party movement with a Coffee Party movement have thus far been an epic failure.  During the Bush years, there was at least some semblance of an anti-war movement.  But as soon as Obama took office, that all but disappeared.
The popularity and effectiveness of Town Hall confrontations and Tea Party demonstrations has overshadowed the liberal voice.  Now, they are turning to more drastic measures by using ridicule to shame and silence their opposition.
Even some Tea Party groups, who many believe are free of establishment control, are starting to sound like they have been co-opted, and are preaching the same rhetoric as Glenn Beck.
Amy Kremer, chairman of the Tea Party Express, recently said“The time has come for us to put down the protest signs and pick up the campaign signs and get engaged.  We have stood on the sidelines for long enough protesting.”
So now we have both the establishment left and right working in concert to stifle the steadfast American tradition of dissent.  The right will be cordial, the left will laugh and the criminals in our government will have nice quiet streets to travel down as they take this country straight to Hell.



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Sunday, September 19, 2010

Activists Challenge CCTV State Spying in EU

YouTube -- RT




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Choose Freedom: Ignore DC

by Michael Boldin
Tenth Amendment Center



EDITOR’S NOTE: A version of this article was originally published on September 16, 2009. The following is edited slightly for time and context.
*******
There’s plenty of federal holidays for Americans to celebrate.  On July 4th, there’s independence from King George’s England.  On the first Monday in September, a holiday was dedicated to the “social and economic achievements of American workers.”  Other days throughout the year celebrate autumn harvest, soldiers who died in the civil war and even a person who sailed to this continent nearly three centuries before the country was “founded.”
When there’s no federally-sanctioned holiday to call upon, protesters and activists across the political spectrum often pick “important” dates to schedule events to bring attention to their cause.  We’ve seen protests on Tax Day, Independence Day, May Day, Earth Day, and more.  And, in the past few weeks we saw great importance placed on days that doesn’t even have a letter in their name, 8/28 and 9/12.
But nowhere to be found on these great lists of “federal holidays” or “protest days” is a celebration of the document that defined the principles of liberty that this country was supposedly founded upon – the Constitution.
LIMITING POWER
The Constitution was signed on September 17, 1787, and every year that date passes by with hardly a sound.  Sure, now that it’s considered a day of “federal observance” you’ll find government schools around the country including it in their lesson plans.  But these discussions generally focus on “Constitution Trivia” instead of what’s really important. While it may be good to educate our young on how many years a Senator serves, or how Supreme Court justices are appointed, it’s not enough.  Seriously lacking in the public discourse is the actual purpose of the Constitution – its underlying principles.
When the Constitution was being considered for ratification, there was strong opposition from famous American figures that included George Mason and Patrick Henry. One major reason for this was a fear of too much power.  The founding generation spent their lives toiling under a tyranny – a government without limits.  But, when the Constitution was written, it was done to codify in law that the powers of government would be limited to those which had been delegated to it – and nothing more.
The entire system was created under the principle of popular sovereignty – that ‘We the People of the Several States’ created the government, and all powers not delegated to it, were retained. But that’s not something you’re likely to hear from politicians in Washington DC, political pundits, schools, or just about anywhere else.  It’s generally not in their interest, either.
If politicians and their backers were promoting such crazy ideas as “originalism” and “limited government” they’d never be able to convince you that they have the power to tell you what kind of health care plan you’ll be getting, how big your toilet can be, what kind of plants you’re allowed to grow, where you’re allowed to exercise your “right” to free speech, whom you can buy and sell from, and even when you must send your children to die for them.
MORE OF THE SAME
Throughout history, even kings and queens have often failed to survive such acts of hubris; but, in “free” America, the major parties that produce all the presidents continue to receive approval through tens ofmillions of votes.  And where has that gotten people?
Well, let’s take a look at some major issues.
  • If you were opposed to war in the Bush administration, you’ve still got the same wars and threats of wars under Obama.
  • If you were opposed to national health care under Clinton, you got a massive expansion of government health care under George Bush, which laid the groundwork for an even bigger expansion under Obama.
  • If you didn’t like the federal government passing the Patriot Act without even reading it, you’re still getting the same (or worse) failure to read legislation today.
  • On the other hand, if you liked the Bush bailouts, you’ve gotta love the ones that Obama has given you!
No matter what side of the political aisle you sit on, the federal government is not your friend.  It’s not a friend to the Constitution, and it’s certainly no friend to your liberty.  For years and years…and years, people have yelled “vote the bums out!”  “Call Congress now!”  “March on DC!”  But, in the long run, little to none of this actually works.
If you oppose this national health care plan, they’ll give you that one.  If you oppose one war, you’ll get another one. If you oppose today’s bailout, they’ll find a different one tomorrow.  Decade in and decade out, the government keeps growing, and your liberty keeps shrinking.  And it doesn’t matter if the person in charge is named Obama, or Bush, or Reagan, or Clinton.
The bottom line?  Looking to the federal government – whether it’s though elections, or protests, or lawsuits, or rallies – is a failed strategy.   So how about trying something new?
A DIFFERENT PATH: NULLIFICATION
People around the country are recognizing that there is a different path, and one that has a chance of working on a big scale, too. Already nearly a dozen states have passed 10th amendment resolutionsreaffirming the proper role of government under the Constitution. 25 states have stopped the real id act dead in its tracks in most of the country. 8 states have passed firearms freedom acts – to nullify some federal gun laws and regulations in their state. 5 states have already passed laws to nullify federal health care mandates – with more on the way. And, fourteen states now have medical marijuana laws in direct opposition to federal laws.
In Jeffersonian-speak, this all falls under the banner of “nullification.”  When a state ‘nullifies’ a federal law, it is proclaiming that the law in question is void and inoperative, or ‘non-effective,’ within the boundaries of that state; or, in other words, not a law as far as that state is concerned.
While some in government and the media would like to paint this essential tool for resisting federal tyranny as solely aligned with the South in the War Between the States – and nothing more, they’re missing some essential history.  It’s been used in efforts to advance free speech, help runaway slaves, resist high taxes and more.
And recently, the Bush-Era Real ID Act is now virtually dead in the water, not due to elections or rallies, or calls to Congress – but instead, due to state-level resistance. In the past three-plus years, approximately two dozen states simply refused to implement the law.  The result?  The law is still on the books in Congress. It’s never been overturned by a federal court. But yet – in most of the country – it’s virtually null and void.
Even better, this is no single-issue movement.  Legislators in over 20 states are considering legislation to nullify some federal gun laws, and another 20 are looking at ways to nullify national health care.  15 states are weighing legislation or ballot initiatives that could turn them into medical marijuana states by next year, and activists in over a dozen states have been pushing for legislation that would require their governors to bring national guard troops home from Iraq and elsewhere. On top of it, a national tour has been launchedin support of these efforts – something that may have been impossible just a few years ago
LIBERTY BEGINS WITH YOU
Issue by issue, law by law, the best way to change the federal government is by refusing to comply with it on a state and individual level. Withdrawing our consent for unconstitutional “laws,” acts, regulations….and mandates…has a much better effect than begging or demanding that DC limit its own power.
Over the years, wise men and women warned us that the Constitution would never enforce itself.  I believe it’s time for people to recognize this as fact, and bring that enforcement closer to home.
Whether you’re on the left, or on the right, or even somewhere in the middle, the path to freedom, the path to your political goals lies not in Washington D.C.  Instead, it lies in Madison, and Jefferson (City)…and other state capitols around the country.
So this Constitution Day take a new pledge. Ignore and nullify the federal government.  When it refuses to follow the Constitution year in and year out, it becomes as worthless as it is dangerous.
Michael Boldin [send him email] is the founder of the Tenth Amendment Center.
NullifyNow.com
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