‘My most reliable sources for articles are government
officials who do or say things that, inadvertently, reveal the vicious nature
of political systems. It is not so much that these people are too stupid to
realize the implications of their words or deeds but, rather, that they are so
convinced of the propriety of what they are doing that they see no problem in
openly expressing themselves.
Thanks to Wendy
McElroy we now have access to the State of Virginia’s directive, to state
employees, on how to identify and deal with threats of “terrorism.” The
governor signed off on this document, declaring the state’s purpose of
“safeguarding the people of Virginia.” A close reading, however, discloses a
different purpose, namely, to protect the state from “the people of
Virginia.”
Among those identified, in the
document, as domestic terrorist organizations are “property rights activists”
and “anti-government and militia” groups. Some of the goals these “terrorists”
have in carrying out their violent acts include to “undermine confidence in the
government,” and to “influence government or social policy.” While it might be
argued that such groups and purposes pose a problem only when their actions
result in violence, it is equally clear that persons advocating non-violent
political change could be labeled as “terrorists” for purpose of both
surveillance and prosecution.’
The People’s Republic
of Virginia
amerikan values .....
‘The war on drugs reached the pinnacle of cruelty when
18-year-old Mitchell Lawrence was sentenced to two years in jail for selling a
teaspoonful of marijuana to an undercover police officer for $20.
On June 30, 2004, detective Felix
Aguirre, employed by the Drug Task Force, was assigned the duty of going
undercover to buy drugs from kids who hung out in a parking lot in Berkshire
County in Massachusetts. Merchants had complained to police about the kids.
Mitchell Lawrence was there with his pipe and a few buds of marijuana. He had
no idea the parking lot was less than 1,000 feet from a preschool located in
the basement of a church, nor did he know this parking lot was the site of a
police sting operation.
Aguirre approached Mitchell and
asked him if he had any weed. Mitchell pulled out a small bag of marijuana. The
cop offered him $20. Mitchell hesitated; Aguirre insisted. Mitchell, who had
seen Aguirre hanging out with other kids, motioned the cop to follow him up the
street where he intended to smoke with him. Aguirre waved the $20 in his face.
Mitchell, who was broke at the time, took the money, the first time he had ever
accepted money in exchange for marijuana.’
Two Years In Jail For A
Joint?
Just seems a bit rugged to me, when an American soldier
received only a 6 month sentence for terrorizing an Iraqi prisoner with his
dog?
a familiar double standard .....
‘A major government watchdog group is charging that Muslim
charities are being shut down for supposedly backing terrorist causes, while
giant firms like Halliburton are receiving the full protection of U.S. law for
allegedly breaking government sanctions against doing business with Iran - a
country designated as a sponsor of terrorism.
"There is unequal
enforcement of anti-terrorist financing laws," says the Washington-based
non-profit OMB Watch.
The group says the USA
Patriot Act gives the government "largely unchecked power to designate any
group as a terrorist organisation". And once a charitable organisation is
so designated, all of its materials and property may be seized and its assets
frozen. The charity is unable to see the government's evidence and thus
understand the basis for the charges.
Since its assets are
frozen, it lacks resources to mount a defence. And it has only limited right of
appeal to the courts. So the government can target a charity, seize its assets,
shut it down, obtain indictments against its leaders, but then delay a trial
almost indefinitely.’
In Terror War, Not All
Names Are Equal