Activist Convicted of Resisting Arrest Without Violence

Flickr/ photographer padawan *(xava du)

Activist Post

Orlando Cop Watch activist, John Kurtz, has been ordered jailed for 30 days with 1 year probation for resisting arrest without violence.

Kurtz's case came to public attention in January after he was arrested for filming a case of police brutality administered at the hands of officer Adam Gruler, well known for his questionable conduct and liberal use of tasers and verbal abuse.  Kurtz was facing a possible 6-year prison sentence for his audacity to film a public servant attacking a member of the public even after the person was restrained with handcuffs.

Kurtz's video camera was confiscated after his arrest and mysteriously went missing, destroying a key piece of evidence for his own defense, as well as to document exactly what happened that day.  The evidence, therefore, relied upon the words of police officers attached to the event.

Despite the conflicting testimony of these officers -- including the arresting officer Adam Gruler himself saying that John did not resist -- Kurtz was still convicted of resisting his illegal arrest.

The Perfect (Radiation) Storm is Brewing

Dees Illustration

Brandon Turbeville

Activist Post

Ever since March 11, 2011, when the Japanese earthquake rattled the Asian country, there have been increasing numbers of strange coincidences involving nuclear power plants, natural disasters, and mismanagement of facilities. I say strange coincidences, because it now appears that nuclear power plants fall into the same category as the recent earthquakes that seem to be increasing in frequency and proximity to highly populated areas, as well as tornadoes that seem to be doing the same.

As for the Japanese situation, after months of claims by both the Japanese and American “authorities,” as well as the mainstream media that the situation in Japan was not as serious as “conspiracy theorists” were making it out to be, the Japanese Nuclear Emergency Response Headquarters has finally been forced to admit that at least three of the nuclear reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant had, indeed, melted down. 

Top Obama Advisor: Homeland is "Primary" Focus of Counterterrorism

"Liberty Upended" - Anthony Freda

Activist Post

The Huffington Post is reporting that the White House is set to release their new counterterrorism strategy on the White House website.  In a press conference Tuesday, deputy national security advisor for Homeland Security and counterterrorism, John Brennan, outlined some of the details:

'This is the first counterterrorism strategy that focuses on the ability of al Qaeda and its network to inspire people in the United States to attack us from within,' he said in a speech at Johns Hopkins University's School of Advanced International Studies. 'Indeed, this is the first counterterrorism strategy that designates the homeland as a primary area of emphasis in our counterterrorism efforts.'

These statements alone seem to indicate that Americans can expect more domestic surveillance, warrantless wiretapping, citizen spy programs and other guilty-until-proven innocent violations of their rights.  In a chest-thumping admission, Brennan said they'll use a "relentless campaign that harnesses every element of American power" to fight the war on terror.

In other words, it seems the full power of the American war machine will be turned inward to monitor and respond to Al Qaeda's "affiliates and its adherents" on American soil.  

Can Individualism Actually Benefit The Environment?

in·di·vid·u·al·ism: Belief in the primary importance of the individual and in the virtues of self-reliance and personal independence; 2. a) A doctrine advocating freedom from government regulation in the pursuit of a person's economic goals; b) A doctrine holding that the interests of the individual should take precedence over the interests of the state or social group. (Source)

Wikimedia Commons Image

Eric Blair
Activist Post

I'm an extreme Individualist for demanding personal freedom and property rights. But I'm also sympathetic to the suffering of my fellow humans and I'm very concerned about the state of the environment. Consequently, the current matrix would pit me against two separate philosophies: the collective good versus individual freedom. Unfortunately, because of this divide, there's not much discussion about whether what's good for the individual may also be better for the whole of humanity.

Many environmentalists argue that Individualism, if ever allowed to prevail, will lead to environmental destruction and the corporate takeover of the planet. But, I say look around, hasn't our collectivized system resulted in just that?  Our environment is being devastated despite an obese EPA and United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), while the natural result of collectivism is more corporate-state consolidation, or centralization -- which we are clearly experiencing. So, during a time of stunning centralization, vastly devoid of Individualism in its purest sense, the environment declines more rapidly than ever; yet environmentalists continue suggest more collectivized "solutions".

In essence, since the ideology of Individualism does not have any genuine influence over the current system, it holds no responsibility for current Too-Big-to-Fail-driven economic collapse, wars for no other reason than imperial consolidation, corporate environmental destruction, the starving of half the world, or a host of other problems that the good-hearted environmentalists say "could" occur under a system of Individualism.

The Day the Earth Stood Nil: Wisdom Vs. Cleverness

Anthony Freda Illustration

Rand Clifford
Activist Post

Could human intelligence be a lethal mutation? Catastrophes spawned by Earth’s most intelligent species suggest not only self-extinction, but annihilation of countless other species. Is the apparent disconnect between cleverness and wisdom primarily a human characteristic, and if so, what are the chances of human wisdom catching up with human cleverness?

Noam Chomsky gave a speech about human intelligence and the environment at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, on September 30, 2010. With typical Chomsky eloquence he explored this question of lethality of the mutation of intelligence...referring to a debate between astrophysicist Carl Sagan and biologist Ernst Mayr regarding the possibility of discovering intelligent life somewhere else in the universe.

Who could not love Carl Sagan, the man who gave the term “billions” a personality? Ernst Mayr was widely considered “the grand old man of American biology”. Debating with Mayr, Sagan talked about “billions and billions” of other planets sharing Earth’s general profile, and there being no reason for intelligent life not to develop elsewhere. Mayr noted that of the billions of species that have existed on Earth, the average life span is about 100,000 years—nearly how long modern humans have been around. And Mayr basically argued that intelligence is a lethal mutation. Reinforcement of Mayr’s argument lurks all around, even inside of us.

Hemp, The Great Green Hope

Wiki Commons

Rand Clifford 

Activist Post

“It has something to do with something called marijuana. I believe it is a narcotic of some kind.”

So said congressman Rayburn to congressman Snell’s question: “What is this bill about?”

That was way back in the summer of 1937, when Congress was being asked to essentially outlaw a drug they knew nothing about, marijuana. But realistically, marijuana had little to do with it. The real issue was non-drug industrial hemp.

Industrialists were like scarab beetles, rolling around this giant ball of profit protection, and they ran right over the domestic hemp industry. Hemp presented way too much competition, too much threat to entrenched and entrenching profits. Took a pretty big ball of dung, but the scarabs rolled it expertly, professionals. Except for several years of heavy production during WWII, under the feds’ “Hemp for Victory” campaign -- which told the truth about hemp and helped us win the war -- not a single acre of hemp has been legally grown in America since 1937. Seventy-four years and counting. That was one enormous ball of dung. The entire hemp-prohibition infamy could be called a dung deal, especially as related to the commonwealth.

Is the Global Economy Going Rogue? Why We MUST Start Living More Locally…Before It’s Too Late

The elephant in the room of our political dithering and partisan complaints is a global economy that’s too big not to fail. Learn about five indicators that the elephantine economy is about to go rogue and make localization a cutting-edge survival skill.   

Ellen LaConte
Activist Post

No doubt you’ve heard the great news: Globalization is going to save the world. Sure, things are (really) bad right now, but as more nations join the global economy, their economies will become more integrated, and their interests and goals will become more aligned. As the economic playing field levels, perceived inequalities between ethnicities and belief systems will be ironed out. We’ll all work together to combat problems like global warming. And, ultimately, we’ll all be borne forward on a tide of economic prosperity until we reach the shores of a big, happy, peaceful, unified world.

It all sounds very progressive and promising. Too bad it’s just a collective pipe dream—and a very dangerous one.

While there have been some voices of dissent, they’ve been largely drowned out by the assurances of those getting rich from the global economy. The prevailing attitude seems to be that globalism is good—or will be as soon as the bugs get worked out.

What most people can’t seem to grasp, or perhaps more accurately don’t want to believe, is that globalization not only ain’t all that, it’s the exact opposite of what we should be doing. It’s a system that’s doomed and for a simple reason: It goes against the laws of Life itself. Life evolved local and regional economies that couldn’t burn and churn through Earth’s finite supplies of resources. It put global economies that could out of business. Simply put, the global economy is too big NOT to fail.

Save the USA by Restoring Government to Its Proper Role

Dees Illustration

David Redick
Activist Post

The USA is at a tipping point where spending reductions and legal reforms must be made or we will have a more severe economic crash than the one we have experienced since 2008. The US Dollar has lost over 95% of its purchasing power since 1913, and faces further losses if we don’t make changes soon. The GOP ‘Path to Prosperity’ sounds good, but only asks for minor spending cuts while saying nothing about our failing monetary system and costly military bases and wars. The world views us as a failing empire, and other major nations are making preparations to replace our dominance in financial and political matters. This article shows how we can reduce our arrogant excesses and avoid an economic and political crash.