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December 31, 2003
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December 29, 2003
December 28, 2003
Fight to the death: the Iraqis who hated Saddam, but who hate the Americans more
You should read this article.
Fight to the death
(TruthOut permacopy)
December 20, 2003
Paul McGeough reports from Baghdad on the Iraqis who hated Saddam, but who hate the Americans more.
Everybody Wants to Rule the Web
Everybody Wants to Rule the Web
There's mounting evidence that the Internet's good old days as a global cyber-zone of freedom -- where governments generally take a "hands off" approach -- may be numbered. In fact, last week, delegates from 192 countries met in Geneva to discuss how the Internet should be governed and what steps should be taken to solve the global "digital divide" and "harness the potential of information" on behalf of the world's poor. Also on the table at the session -- the United Nations World Summit on the Information Society -- was the question of domain name management and how much protection free speech and expression should receive on the Net.
The real issue, however, is whether a "U.N. for the Internet" is on the way. Last week's summit and another in 2005 will discuss whether Internet decisionmaking should be shifted from largely private management to the United Nations.
In one sense, none of this is surprising. Regulators across the globe have long been clamoring for greater control over content and commerce on the Internet. Ironically, in the guise of protecting the world's citizens, Statists around the world want to get their hands on one of the world's most liberating communications technologies.
...
Soldiers patrol city streets as Americans are warned of imminent terrorist threat
Soldiers patrol city streets as Americans are warned of imminent terrorist threat
NY Times Delusion: A Campaign Finance Triumph
t r u t h o u t - New York Times | A Campaign Finance Triumph
Teen Drug Surveys Contradict Each Other
Teen Drug Surveys Contradict Each Other
Excerpt:
While Monitoring the Future, conducted by University of Michigan researchers and funded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, indicates a decrease in teen use of marijuana and other drugs, the privately-funded PRIDE Survey showed a sharp rise in drug use: Monthly use of marijuana by junior-high students rose 51 percent from 2002 to 2003, and monthly use of heroin rose 60 percent. Despite the differences, both surveys confirm that ONDCP has failed by a large margin to meet goals set for it by Congress. Full PRIDE Survey results are available at http://www.pridesurveys.com.
NIDA Survey: Drug Use by U.S. Teens Declining
FOXNews.com - Top Stories - Drug Use by U.S. Teens Declining
December 27, 2003
Day of Coordinated Attacks in Iraq
Coalition Forces Attacked in Southern Iraq
(TruthOut permacopy)
KARBALA, Iraq (AP) -- Insurgents using car bombs, mortars and machine guns launched three coordinated attacks in the southern city of Karbala on Saturday, killing 11 people -- including six Iraqi police officers and four coalition soldiers, military and hospital officials said. Two of the four coalition dead were from Thailand. An Iraqi civilian also was killed.
The attacks also wounded at least 172 people, with U.S. Army Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt saying 37 of them were coalition soldiers, including five Americans. Some 135 Iraqi police officers and civilians also were wounded, said Ali al-Arzawi, deputy head of Karbala General Hospital.
Coffee, Tea or Handcuffs?
LA Weekly: Columns: Open City: Coffee, Tea or Handcuffs?
An Australian journalist gets a taste of Department of Homeland Security hospitality
by Steven Mikulan
(TruthOut permacopy)
December 26, 2003
On the Web, an Amateur Audience Creates Anti-Bush Ads
An article about MoveOn's Bush In 30 Seconds video contest:
On the Web, an Amateur Audience Creates Anti-Bush Ads
(TruthOut permacopy -- second story on the page)
Where Political Influence Is Only a Keyboard Away
Where Political Influence Is Only a Keyboard Away
More than ever, the Internet gives people a connection -- and a voice -- in campaigns.
By Matea Gold, LA Times Staff Writer
(TruthOut permacopy)
Gadhafi: Intimidated, or just chilling out?
CNN.com - Gadhafi: Iraq war may have influenced WMD decision - Dec. 22, 2003
...
Asked about his decision, Gadhafi acknowledged that the Iraq war may have influenced him, but he insisted he wanted to focus on the "positive."
He said the world is a changed place in which his country can feel safe without weapons of mass destruction.
...
Gadhafi told CNN that other countries have set a positive example by dismantling weapons of mass destruction programs peacefully. He said he hopes other nations will follow his action.
QADDAFI TO GIVE UP SMOKING
QADDAFI TO GIVE UP SMOKING
Opens Libya to U.N. Ashtray Inspectors
by Andy Borowitz
In what some White House officials are hailing as the successful result of months of backdoor diplomacy, Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi of Libya agreed today to give up cigarettes once and for all.
“It’s a filthy, filthy habit,” said Col. Qaddafi, grinding a pack of Lucky Strikes under his polished jackboot. “I should have given it up years ago.”
...
“This is just another one of Muammar’s lame New Year’s Eve resolutions,” said Mr. Fakude, who shared a dorm room with Col. Qaddafi at Libya State University back when the dictator was known simply as Bluto Qaddafi. “I remember when he promised to give up beer. Yeah, right! That lasted about five minutes.”
PETA takes its message to the ballet
Animal rights group is taking its message to the ballet | csmonitor.com
Sugg: Neal Boortz is no John Galt
Neal Boortz is no John Galt
Libertarians will ensure their irrelevance if they embrace radio ignoramus
BY JOHN F. SUGG
Creative Loafing Atlanta
W. Times: Dean left speechless on Libya arms move
Dean left speechless on Libya arms move
The Washington Times: Nation/Politics
Girl Guide to Geeks
Pretty funny, and actually moderately insightful. Warp factor: 5 (<--- Just kidding...I don't really groove on the Trek thing that hard.)
December 24, 2003
Rumsfeld Made Iraq Overture in '84 Despite Chemical Raids
Rumsfeld Made Iraq Overture in '84 Despite Chemical Raids
Rumsfeld Made Iraq Overture in '84 Despite Chemical Raids
By CHRISTOPHER MARQUIS
Published: December 23, 2003
WASHINGTON, Dec. 22 — As a special envoy for the Reagan administration in 1984, Donald H. Rumsfeld, now the defense secretary, traveled to Iraq to persuade officials there that the United States was eager to improve ties with President Saddam Hussein despite his use of chemical weapons, newly declassified documents show.
Mr. Rumsfeld, who ran a pharmaceutical company at the time, was tapped by Secretary of State George P. Shultz to reinforce a message that a recent move to condemn Iraq's use of chemical weapons was strictly in principle and that America's priority was to prevent an Iranian victory in the Iran-Iraq war and to improve bilateral ties.
During that war, the United States secretly provided Iraq with combat planning assistance, even after Mr. Hussein's use of chemical weapons was widely known. The highly classified program involved more than 60 officers of the Defense Intelligence Agency, who shared intelligence on Iranian deployments, bomb-damage assessments and other crucial information with Iraq.
The disclosures round out a picture of American outreach to the Iraqi government, even as the United States professed to be neutral in the eight-year war, and suggests a private nonchalance toward Mr. Hussein's use of chemicals in warfare. Mr. Rumsfeld and other Bush administration officials have cited Iraq's use of poisonous gas as a main reason for ousting Mr. Hussein.
The documents, which were released as part of a declassification project by the National Security Archive, and are available on the Web at www.nsarchive.org, provide details of the instructions given to Mr. Rumsfeld on his second trip to Iraq in four months. The notes of Mr. Rumsfeld's encounter with Tariq Aziz, the foreign minister, remain classified, but officials acknowledged that it would be unusual if Mr. Rumsfeld did not carry out the instructions.
Since the release of the documents, he has told members of his inner circle at the Pentagon that he does not recall whether he had read, or even had received, the State Department memo, Defense Department officials said.
One official noted that the documents reflected the State Department's thinking on Iraq, but did not indicate Mr. Rumsfeld's planning for his meeting with Mr. Hussein nor his comments on the meeting after its conclusion.
Mr. Rumsfeld's trip was his second visit to Iraq. On his first visit, in late December 1983, he had a cordial meeting with Mr. Hussein, and photographs and a report of that encounter have been widely published.
In a follow-up memo, the chief of the American interests section reported that Mr. Aziz had conveyed Mr. Hussein's satisfaction with the meeting. "The Iraqi leadership was extremely pleased with Amb. Rumsfeld's visit," the memo said. "Tariq Aziz had gone out of his way to praise Rumsfeld as a person."
When news emerged last year of the December trip, Mr. Rumsfeld told CNN that he had "cautioned" Mr. Hussein to forgo chemical weapons. But when presented with declassified notes of their meeting that made no mention of that, a spokesman for Mr. Rumsfeld said he had raised the issue in a meeting with Mr. Aziz.
Lawrence Di Rita, the chief Pentagon spokesman, said on Friday that there was no inconsistency between Mr. Rumsfeld's previous comments on his missions to Iraq and the State Department documents.
By early 1984, events threatened to upset the American-Iraqi relationship. After pleading for a year for international action against the chemical warfare, Iran had finally persuaded the United Nations to criticize the use of chemical weapons, albeit in vague terms.
Pressure mounted on the Reagan administration, which had already verified Iraq's "almost daily" use of the weapons against Iran and against Kurdish rebels, documents show. In February, Iraq warned Iranian "invaders" that "for every harmful insect there is an insecticide capable of annihilating it." Within weeks, the American authorities intercepted precursor chemicals that were bound for Iraq. Finally, on March 5, the United States issued a public condemnation of Iraq.
But days later, Mr. Shultz and his deputy met with an Iraqi diplomat, Ismet Kittani, to soften the blow. The American relationship with Iraq was too important — involving business interests, Middle East diplomacy and a shared determination to thwart Iran — to sacrifice. Mr. Kittani left the meeting "unpersuaded," documents show.
Mr. Shultz then turned to Mr. Rumsfeld. In a March 24 briefing document, Mr. Rumsfeld was asked to present America's bottom line. At first, the memo recapitulated Mr. Shultz's message to Mr. Kittani, saying it "clarified that our CW [chemical weapons] condemnation was made strictly out of our strong opposition to the use of lethal and incapacitating CW, wherever it occurs." The American officials had "emphasized that our interests in 1) preventing an Iranian victory and 2) continuing to improve bilateral relations with Iraq, at a pace of Iraq's choosing, remain undiminished," it said.
Then came the instructions for Mr. Rumsfeld: "This message bears reinforcing during your discussions."
The American relationship with Iraq during its crippling war with Iran was rife with such ambiguities. Though the United States was outwardly neutral, it tilted toward Iraq and even monitored talks toward the sale of military equipment by private American contractors.
Tom Blanton, executive director of the National Security Archive, said: "Saddam had chemical weapons in the 1980's, and it didn't make any difference to U.S. policy."
Mr. Blanton suggested that the United States was now paying the price for earlier indulgence. "The embrace of Saddam in the 1980's and what it emboldened him to do should caution us as Americans that we have to look closely at all our murky alliances," he said. "Shaking hands with dictators today can turn them into Saddams tomorrow."
Thom Shanker contributed reporting for this article.
(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.)
Scientists Blame Soot for Global Warming
AP Wire | 12/23/2003 | Scientists Blame Soot for Global Warming
Bartlett: Third parties don't have a chance
I hear this a lot from republicans. I wonder if it means that Libertarians are becoming uncreasingly threatening to them.
republican third party opponents seems to consistently understate the reality of the Libertarian threat. For example, Bartlett says:
it is true that Libertarian Party candidates at the state level have sometimes gotten enough votes to elect a losing Republican had he gotten their votes.
Sounds pretty insignificant. But when you restate it to conform with reality, it sounds much more impressive:
it is true that Libertarian Senate candidates have gotten enough votes to elect a losing Republican had he gotten their votes, in two consecutive elections.
December 21, 2003
Cannabis campaigner may be forced to go
Cannabis campaigner may be forced to go
Pot activist Steve Kubby - who says he depends on marijuana to ward off a rare form of cancer - is now fighting to stay in Canada.
Kubby, 56, is under a departure order from Citizenship and Immigration Canada that would force him, wife Michele, and two daughters, out of the country as early as Jan. 15.
...
Hawaii reporter: Happy Bill of Rights Day
Happy Bill of Rights Day
The Libertarian View
By Tracy A. Ryan, 12/16/2003 2:00:36 AM
In recognition of the adoption of the first ten amendments to the Constitution on Dec. 15, 1791, Dec. 15th is "Bill of Rights Day." Did you see this important day in the news? Are Republicans and Democrats out making speeches like they do on the Fourth of July or on Labor Day? Well Libertarians are celebrating. To a libertarian being a proud American means more than just marching and flag waving. That kind of "patriotism" can be found in countries all over the world; many with little respect for individual rights. Our American Bill of Rights is an acknowledgment in the supreme law of our government that our rights and to liberty make individuals the true sovereigns here. Americans need never be forced to kneel before a collectivist autocracy.
On Saturday the 13th the Libertarian Party of Hawaii held its' December general meeting in Pahoa on the Big Island of Hawaii....
Harry Browne on The Liberation of Iraq
How Do I Liberate Thee?
Let Me Count the Ways
by Harry Browne
December 15, 2003
Excerpts:
How has Iraq been liberated? Let me count the ways . . .
1. The country is occupied by a foreign power.
2. Its officials are appointed by that foreign power.
3. Its citizens must carry ID cards.
4. They must submit to searches of their persons and cars at checkpoints and roadblocks.
5. They must be in their homes by curfew time.
6. Many towns are ringed with barbed wire.
...
9. The occupiers have decreed that certain electoral outcomes won't be permitted.
...
11. Protests are outlawed.
12. Private homes are raided or demolished — with no due process of law.
...
14. Newspapers, radio stations, and TV are all supervised by the occupiers.
...
Checks and Balances Live On
Rebuff for Bush on civil liberties (December 20, 2003)
(TruthOut permacopy)
THE Bush administration may be forced to rethink its war on terrorism strategy after two US courts ruled yesterday that detainees should not remain indefinitely in a legal twilight zone.
In a critical decision, a San Francisco appeals court disputed the administration's claims to have "unchecked authority" in dealing with prisoners held at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba outside the US criminal justice system.
The 2-1 decision came a few hours after a Manhattan appeals court ruled that accused "dirty bomb" plotter Jose Padilla - a US citizen alleged to be an enemy combatant - be released from military custody within 30 days.
...
Bill of Rights day in Noho
This is about Northampton, MA's Bill of Rights Day celebration. I've lived and worked in Northampton in the past. It's a great little Northeast city.
December 20, 2003
The Conservative Case Against George W. Bush
Righteous Anger
The Conservative Case Against George W. Bush
'Sick' Saddam drugged: visitor
'Sick' Saddam drugged: visitor (December 20, 2003)
A STARTLING new photograph of a sick-looking Saddam Hussein suggests he is being drugged or given strong medication by his US captors.
The man who took the photo told The Weekend Australian last night Hussein appeared very sick when he was visited by Iraqi Governing Council member Ahmed Chalabi two days after being captured near Tikrit.
...
Rogers brings it all back home
This is a friend and cohort of mine from college. I thought to check and see what she was up to, and thanks to the Internet, I was able to.
Rogers brings it all back home
It’s not unusual to hear musicians talk about getting back to their roots but when singer-songwriter Theresa Rogers says it, she means it literally, coming home to Wellfleet. Rogers, who fronted a successful Western Mass college circuit band has stepped away from the common career path taken by many aspiring musicians. She eschewed the idea of heading for bright lights, big city in favor of coming home to Cape Cod.
...
Intelligence Report: Iraq Outlook Bleak
This article is extracted from the Washington Times' "In the Ring" column
t r u t h o u t - Intelligence Report: Iraq Outlook Bleak
The National Intelligence Council, a group under CIA Director George J. Tenet, has released a paper that is part of an effort by intelligence analysts to predict global events in the next 17 years.
For its Middle East section, one analyst predicts Iraq faces a broad range of outcomes, mostly bad. ...
Bush Overruled on 'Dirty Bomb' Suspect
Yahoo! News - Bush Overruled on 'Dirty Bomb' Suspect
(TruthOut permacopy)
NEW YORK - President Bush does not have power to detain American citizen Jose Padilla, the former gang member seized on U.S. soil, as an enemy combatant, a federal appeals court ruled Thursday.
...
William Rivers Pitt | We Caught The Wrong Guy
t r u t h o u t - William Rivers Pitt | We Caught The Wrong Guy
3 senators urge Rumsfeld to free or try terror detainees
Coalition Strike In Afghanistan Kills 9 Children
Coalition Strike In Afghanistan Kills 9 Children
(for-pay archive)
December 19, 2003
Architects Unveil Revised Freedom Tower Design
A slightly different take on the same news event: Architects Unveil Revised Freedom Tower Design
WTC Freedom Tower to rise 1,776 feet
Freedom Tower to rise 1,776 feet from ashes
Architect says it will be an 'exclamation point' on the skyline
From Phil Hirschkorn
CNN
Friday, December 19, 2003
NEW YORK (CNN) -- The Freedom Tower to be built at the site of the devastated World Trade Center in Lower Manhattan is still planned as the world's tallest building, according to a revised model unveiled Friday by the architects collaborating on its design.
How Christmas displays illuminate a strong economy
Light Unto the Wealth of Nations
How Christmas displays illuminate a strong economy
By Virginia Postrel
Reason.com
Who's Who among American Terrorists
This is a detailing of the main American citizen detainees in the "War on Terror" -- John Walker Lindh, Jose Padilla, etc. -- and the presumed reasoning behind their various legal statuses.
December 18, 2003
Eland: One Autocratic Belligerent Deposed, One to Go
The Independent Institute | One Autocratic Belligerent Deposed, One to Go, by Ivan Eland
December 17, 2003
Blackfriars Rates The Clarity of 2004 Presidential Campaign Web Sites
This just a press release really, but it has a little info in it.
Blackfriars Rates The Clarity of 2004 Presidential Campaign Web Sites
December 16, 2003
Pork Spending in the 2004 Budget
From the Heritage Foundation: Another Omnibus Spending Bill Loaded with Pork
Bob Smith turns it into a call for action:
Save this list. During the 2004 campaign, pick any one of these organizations, and try to get a chance to ask your incumbent politician about it.
Ask him where it is.
Ask him what it does.
Ask him to explain it's value to us.
Ask him why it wasn't funded by the people who will use it.
Ask him why he wanted to spend your money on it.
If you're feeling bold, and he's still paying attention, ask him what HE got out of it.
Scarmig: How I Said No to the Automatic Social Security Number
How I Said No to the Automatic Social Security Number
This is the story of how I successfully refused to accept a Social Security Number for my child.
I simply said “no.”
Really. That’s how easy it was. I just said no, again, and again.
...
December 15, 2003
December 14, 2003
December 13, 2003
Group to honor Bill of Rights Day with March and Memorial on Monday
This is an advance story (which is essentially just my press release, cleaned up a little) about the Bill of Rights Day activity that I'm organizing. I'm saving the text of it here as it was published at Yubanet.
(This will eventually be posted at my main blog, but it's not functioning properly, so I'm using this blog as a backup place to put these entries.)
Group to honor Bill of Rights Day with March and Memorial on Monday
By Lance Brown, Nevada County Bill of Rights Defense Committee
Dec 13, 2003, 08:43
Local civil liberties activists will be holding a memorial service and march for the Bill of Rights in Nevada City this Monday-- Bill of Rights Day. The group will gather outside the Rood County Government Center at Noon, and march to Calanan Park in downtown Nevada City.
All interested parties are invited to attend.
This marks the third consecutive year that local activists have held a public commemoration of Bill of Rights Day -- the anniversary of the ratification of the first 10 amendments to the U.S. Constitution. A "funeral" last year preceded this year's memorial, and in 2001 the day was marked with a rally.
The event is part of an ongoing local campaign to raise awareness about what the group sees as grave dangers to our civil liberties that have come in the wake of the “war on terror”. The Nevada County Bill of Rights Defense Committee is launching a drive to pass local resolutions making Nevada County a "civil liberties safe zone", as part of a national movement where over 200 communities (and three states) have passed similar resolutions.
For more local information, call 274-2474 or visit ncrights.org.
Bill of Rights Day LTE in the SacBee
This is a letter of mine that was just published in the Sacramento Bee.
sacbee.com -- Letters to the editor
Bill of Rights Day
Dec. 15 is Bill of Rights Day, the anniversary of the ratification of the Bill of Rights.
I only became aware that it was a holiday in recent years, and the first time I celebrated Bill of Rights Day was in 2001. As a Libertarian, living through a wholesale expansion of federal law enforcement tactics in the name of the "war on terror," honoring the birthday of the Bill of Rights with a rally seemed like a smart idea.
By December 2002, the threats to civil liberties had risen to a level where we thought it made more sense to have a "funeral" to mark the day. So we did. And this Monday we'll have a memorial ceremony, as a sequel.
This year, I've come to accept that this is a holiday that's becoming genuinely important to me. I've compiled nearly 20 ways people can celebrate and honor Bill of Rights Day, and put them into a free website at BillofRightsDay.com.
Come on everyone -- give it a try: "Happy Bill of Rights Day!"
- Lance Brown, Nevada City
CANADA DENIES REFUGEE STATUS TO US MEDICAL MARIJUANA EXILE
Drug War Chronicle
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/315/stevekubby.shtml
CANADA DENIES REFUGEE STATUS TO US MEDICAL MARIJUANA EXILE
Prominent American medical marijuana activist Steve Kubby
(http://www.kubby.com), who fled the US saying an impending jail sentence
would cause his death, has been denied refugee status by the Canadian
Immigration and Refugee Board. An adrenal cancer patient, Kubby has smoked a
dozen joints a day for year, which he says keeps him alive, and would have
been denied that medication while serving a misdemeanor sentence in
California. But Kubby did not have a well-founded fear of being persecuted
or tortured, nor was there any risk to his life if he returned to his home
state of California, the board ruled Monday.
He has said he will appeal, but the clock is ticking for Kubby and his
family, whose requests for refugee status were also denied. Under Canadian
law, he has 15 days to apply to the Supreme Court for a review of the
decision, and if the court chooses not to review his case, he and his family
would have to leave the country within 30 days. One option would be to apply
for a "pre-removal risk assessment," which would force immigration officials
to once again investigate whether he would face "cruel or unusual punishment
or risk to life" if returned to the US.
Steve Kubby Kubby, the 1998 Libertarian Party nominee for governor of
California, fled to Canada with his family in 2001 after being found guilty
of possession of a small amount of psychedelic mushrooms and peyote in his
home state. That conviction arose from a medical marijuana raid on Kubby's
home. The state could not convict on the marijuana charges -- California law
allows for its medical use -- but did manage to nail Kubby for the 'shrooms.
He was prepared to serve a 120-day sentence provided he could have access to
medical marijuana. But local authorities in California refused to allow him
to have his medicine in jail, so Kubby ran for his life to what he hoped
would be a friendlier clime.
He and his family entered Canada on tourist visas, but were detained by
Canadian immigration authorities after newspaper stories featured their
cause and described them cultivating a medical marijuana garden at their
home in Sechelt, British Columbia, a short ferry ride up BC's Sunshine Coast
from Vancouver. At that point, Kubby, his wife Michelle, and their two
daughters applied for asylum as refugees fleeing persecution by American
drug warriors. Since then, they have remained in Canada, where they produce
a program on Pot-TV (http://www.pot-tv.net), a web-based marijuana reform
broadcaster funded by marijuana seed magnate Marc Emery. They also received
a permit from Health Canada to cultivate marijuana for Kubby's medicinal use
are currently growing 117 plants, Kubby told the Toronto Globe & Mail.
In addition to the fear of persecution because of his well-known advocacy of
medical marijuana, Kubby argued that medical marijuana users were not
protected in California, and that he would die if deprived of his medicine.
The Immigration and Refugee Board, however, ruled that Kubby was not and
would not be persecuted, that California law in fact protects medical
marijuana users, and that he would not suffer serious health effects if
incarcerated without access to medical marijuana.
In an opinion written by board member Paulah Dauns, the board noted that
Kubby had not been convicted on medical marijuana charges, but on other drug
charges, and that California law protected him. "In effect, the process
worked, as it was designed to," she wrote. "He argues that a medical
marijuana patient should be protected from persecution. What he has
demonstrated is that in fact, they are." Dauns also wrote that while there
was little doubt marijuana relieved Kubby's cancer symptoms, there was no
evidence that depriving him of cannabis while incarcerated on the California
'shroom charge would kill him, despite testimony from Dr. Joseph Connors of
the British Columbia Cancer Agency, who told the court during an April
hearing that Kubby would die within four days if denied access to marijuana
for his condition. Kubby was not a refugee, wrote Dauns, but a "fugitive
from justice."
And while Kubby argued that his use of marijuana was akin to a diabetic's
use of insulin, Dauns was having none of that, either. "Insulin has been
approved by the medical community as a treatment, whereas marijuana has
not," she said. "The research on the benefits of marijuana is woefully
inadequate and inconclusive, making a comparison of these two treatments
illogical," she wrote.
The Kubby case is the first of a handful of similar "reefer refugee" cases
to be decided in Canada. Two Northern California men, Kenneth Hayes and
Steve Tuck, who fled federal marijuana charges related to California medical
marijuana grows, have cases pending before the author of Monday's decision,
board member Dauns. Some advocates had hoped Kubby, with his strong health
argument, had the strongest of any of the pending cases.
Canadian Kubby supporters denounced the decision. "This is yet another
example of the harms of cannabis prohibition," said Philippe Lucas, director
of Canadians for Safe Access (http://www.safeaccess.ca), a medical marijuana
defense organization based on its southern sister, Americans for Safe Access
(http://www.safeaccessnow.org). "The Kubbys are kind contributors to the
social well-being of Canadians -- under any other circumstances, Canada
would welcome this reverse brain-drain. It is only through the perversion of
justice caused by prohibition that a loving family like the Kubbys could be
condemned to an uncertain future at the hands of American prosecutors."
But it wasn't only abstract prohibition that had Lucas and other Canadian
activists irked, it was the harsh slap in the face from a traditionally
refugee-friendly country. "Are we as a nation really so quick to take a
chance on Steve Kubby's health?" asked Lucas. "Shouldn't a modern liberal
democracy like Canada err on the side of social justice when a man's life is
on the line? If Steve Kubby should suffer the same fate as Peter McWilliams
-- who died choking on his own vomit while being denied his medicinal
cannabis after his arrest -- the hands of those who denied his refugee claim
will be forever stained in his blood."
"Today, I'm ashamed of being a Canadian," concurred Tim Meehan, national
director of the anti-prohibition wing of the New Democratic Party
(http://www.ndpot.ca). "Here at home, our government constantly reminds us
of how important the refugee protection system is. Canada's reputation is
built on it. However, when they subject people like Steve Kubby and his
family to institutional prejudice because of their choice of medical
treatment, and are more concerned about angering a trading partner than
saving a human life, that demonstrates our government's priorities are very
seriously out of alignment. I hope Canadians remember that in the upcoming
federal election," Meehan added.
Visit http://www.mapinc.org/alert/0282.html for a letter-writing alert to
help Steve Kubby.
Read a summary of the decision at:
http://www.irb.gc.ca/en/decisions/kubby/va2_01374_e.htm#summary
Read the decision in full at:
http://www.irb.gc.ca/en/decisions/kubby/va2_01374_e.htm
Or to get right to the paragraphs where Dauns lays out her reasoning, go to:
http://www.irb.gc.ca/en/decisions/kubby/va2_01374_e.htm#determination
American Medical Marijuana Refugee Ordered To Return To United States
NORML's Weekly News Bulletin -- December 11, 2003
http://norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=5856
American Medical Marijuana Refugee Ordered To Return To United States
Immigration Board Recognizes Pot To Be "Best Treatment Available," But
Rejects Patient's Asylum Request
December 11, 2003 - Vancouver, BC, Canada
Vancouver, British Columbia: The Canadian Immigration and Refugee Board this
week denied refugee status to American Steve Kubby and his family, and
ordered their return to California where Kubby is expected to be sentenced
to four months in jail for drug-related charges. Kubby has said he will
appeal the ruling.
He and his wife Michelle and two children will be allowed to remain in the
country while awaiting their appeal.
Kubby fled to Canada in 2001 rather than serve time in jail, where he would
be denied access to medicinal marijuana, which he requires to treat symptoms
of a rare, life-threatening form of adrenal cancer known as
pheochromocytoma. Kubby was diagnosed in 1968 with the disease - which he's
managed since the early 1980s exclusively by smoking cannabis - and given
six months to live. (Life expectancy of a person with pheochromocytoma is
typically three to five years.) Today Kubby is recognized as one of the
longest living survivors of the disease.
Though the Board recognized that "marijuana continues to be the best
treatment available to Mr. Kubby," and that he could potentially suffer a
heart attack or stroke without cannabis, it nevertheless ruled, "The
claimant is not a person in need of protection in that his removal to the
United States would not subject him personally to a risk to his life."
The Board based this decision, in part, on the premise that Kubby would
likely have access to medicinal marijuana while in jail. However, California
law does not compel the state to allow inmates access to medical cannabis,
stating: "Nothing in this article shall require any accommodation of any
medical use of marijuana ... on the property or premises of any jail,
correctional facility, or other type of penal institution in which prisoners
reside or persons under arrest are detained."
While living in Canada, Kubby had been one of fewer than 600 individuals to
receive a federal exemption from Health Canada to legally cultivate and use
pot for medical purposes.
NORML Foundation Executive Director Allen St. Pierre called the Refugee
Board's decision unfortunate and puzzling considering the government's prior
acknowledgement of Kubby's medical need to use cannabis. "This decision
makes little sense in light of the fact that the Canadian government has
already approved Steve Kubby's medical use of marijuana by granting him a
special exemption from prosecution," he said.
"Why they couldn't extend that same thinking to his asylum request seeking
protection for his health from America's policy of strict marijuana law
enforcement is puzzling. This decision does not bode well for the other
Americans who have sought refuge status in Canada for their
physician-sanctioned use of medical marijuana."
Since 1989, the Immigration and Refugee Board has heard nearly 1,000 refugee
cases from the United States, including 268 pending cases. So far, none of
those individuals have been granted asylum.
For more information, please contact Allen St. Pierre of The NORML
Foundation at (202) 483-8751. Full text of the Immigration and Refugee
Board's ruling is available online at:
http://www.irb.gc.ca/en/decisions/kubby/va2_01374_e.htm
(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.)
Woman Uses Greeting Card to Smuggle Meth
FOXNews.com - Top Stories - Woman Uses Greeting Card to Smuggle Meth
The court case that could reshape US democracy
The court case that could reshape US democracy
(TruthOut permacopy)
By Rupert Cornwell in Washington
11 December 2003
It bears the utterly uninformative title of Veith et al vs Jubelirer (docket number 02-1580). But the case, which the US Supreme Court heard yesterday, deals with the explosive political issue of gerrymandering - and its ruling next year could literally reshape America's democracy.
Veith et al vs Jubelirer involves only Pennsylvania. The state's Democrats have challenged what they say is a rigged and unfair plan to redraw congressional districts, a move approved by Pennsylvania's Republican-controlled legislature after the 2000 census.
Big Money's Spigot Will Stay Open
Big Money's Spigot Will Stay Open
t r u t h o u t permacopy
By Nick Anderson and Janet Hook
Los Angeles Times
Thursday 11 December 2003
Even though it erected formidable new barriers between politicians and deep-pocketed donors, the election law upheld Wednesday by the Supreme Court has not shut down big money in politics.
Instead, creative operatives allied with both parties are constructing new groups to raise and spend political money to get around the law.
...
Unwanted dog cheats death four times
Executing your dog because you don't want it or can't handle it any more is sick and pathetic. It's great that the dog lived, but that woman who dumped it on animal control should be ashamed of herself for putting that dog through that experience.
Unwanted dog cheats death four times
An unwanted dog which was put down with drugs, put in a plastic bag and then through a rubbish compressor has been found alive moments before being buried in a landfill site.
The five-year-old shepherd-Labrador cross was found clawing through the plastic bag on the back of a rubbish truck at the Edgeboro Landfill in East Brunswick, New Jersey.
December 12, 2003
Diebold email: "Make vote printouts too costly for MD"
NOTE: I have not read this whole thing, but it appears to have quite a bit of interesting info. the author of it wants it spread around, so I'm posting it here (just as I received it) in hopes of doing that.
-----------------------------------------------------
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Eric A. Smith
Hot Damn! Design
81-03-3959-5371
snowdog@juno.ocn.ne.jp
Diebold email: "Make vote printouts too costly for MD"
-- Scandals deepen for e-vote manufacturer
ANNAPOLIS, Maryland, December 12th — An internal memo has just surfaced suggesting e-vote manufacturer Diebold planned to overcharge the state of Maryland and make voter printouts "prohibitively expensive".
An employee named "Ken" wrote the Jan. 3 letter suggesting the company charge Maryland "out the yin" if legislators insisted on printouts.
Referring to a University of Maryland study critical of the company's machines, he added: "[The State of Maryland] already bought the system. At this point they are just closing the barn door. Let's just hope that as a company we are smart enough to charge out the yin if they try to change the rules now and legislate voter receipts."
He goes on to say "...any after-sale changes should be prohibitively expensive."
Delegate Karen S. Montgomery dropped the bombshell on Thursday amid negotiations with Diebold over its touchscreen voting machines.
Montgomery, who has written a bill mandating voter-verifiable ballots, described pressure to drop the issue, saying "scurrilous remarks" were being levelled against proponents of the measure. She said she believes the cost is being driven up to prevent anyone from insisting on verifiable printouts.
Steven T. Dennis of Gazette.net broke the story yesterday; he said spokesman David Bear deflected criticism by claiming the comments were "the internal discussion of one individual and [do] not reflect the sentiments or the position of the company."
Diebold, whose primary business has until recently been ATMs and ticket-vending machines (all of which produce paper printouts), made headlines last week when it dropped copyright-infringement suits against Swarthmore students who had published thousands of its internal memos on the Internet.
Prominent among the leaked memos is a missive to Global Election Systems (now Diebold) -- baldly stating that 16 thousand Gore votes were "disappeared" during the 2000 election. Author Lana Hires frantically asks how she should explain the problem to an auditor:
Additional memos are equally candid and suggestive:
-more-
Initially brought to light by activist Bev Harris, these and other alarming disclosures have added weight to the arguments of computer security experts and legislators nationwide, who say that Diebold's machines (as well as those of rivals ES&S and Sequoia) pose a grave risk to America's elections.
Harris received over 7,000 of the Diebold memos from an undisclosed source in early September. For the past three years, she has been arguing for greater security and accountability in electronic voting, last year weathering a similar unsuccesful gag lawsuit from e-vote firm ES&S.
A month after Harris recieved the memos she went public with them; Diebold immediately launched a gag lawsuit, and Harris's ISP shut down her activist site. A group of Swarthmore students and other activists responded by spreading the memos across the Internet.
When Diebold threatened to sue under the auspices of the DMCA, litigators from the Electronic Frontier Foundation and the ACLU stepped in to defend activists. Presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich added significant support by hosting the memos on his own website. Last week, Diebold withdrew its lawsuits.
With a new ISP, Harris has resumed her activism, and her book "Black Box Voting: Ballot Tampering in the 21st Century," can currently be downloaded for free from the site blackboxvoting.org.
Meanwhile, on Capital Hill, Congressman Rush Holt has also raised the issue of security, sponsoring the "Voter Confidence and Increased Accountability Act of 2003" (H.R. 2239), which calls for paper ballots, surprise recounts and auditable software in voting machines.
But while Holt's bill adds a significant level of transparency to the process, Harris says it doesn't go far enough. In a recent Buzzflash interview, she said:
"The problem area, and it is a whopper, is that this bill doesn't attack the crux of the issue, which is proper auditing -- and that is something that is needed for any computerized system, including optical scan machines.
The very first thing we need to do is get solid input from auditors who are experienced in fraud detection.
While we are designing amendments to the bill, we also must get some people with a solid grasp of history, because we need a voting system that is in keeping with the vision of our founding fathers -- and this is a public policy issue, not a computer issue. The most important thing that we keep forgetting is that the founders, especially Thomas Jefferson, felt that it was critical -- not "important," but CRITICAL to democracy, to keep the vote directly in the hands of the people themselves. Any solution which requires us to trust a handful of experts will, sooner or later, result in the demise of our democracy.
-more-
That means we need to retain (and enforce) policies to tally the votes at the polls, in front of observers. In some countries, they let as many regular citizens as can fit in the room in to watch the physical counting. It is this neighborhood tallying, and the open and public nature of it, that is the embodiment of democracy."
In July, Harris demonstrated just how insecure a Diebold machine could be, showing in a step-by-step expose how to reverse a federal election. New Zealand's Scoop Media posted the illustrated account online.
Author Faun Otter and others have also raised the issue of impartiality on the part of Diebold's board, which has contributed hundreds of thousands of dollars to Republican campaigns. National headlines were made when CEO Michael O'Dell, who recently hosted a $600,000 fundraiser for Vice President Dick Cheney, announced in a Republican fundraising letter that he was "committed to delivering Ohio's votes to the President".
But controversy doesn't end with Diebold alone. Rival voting machine company ES&S also came under scrutiny when it surfaced that it was run by Chuck Hagel until two weeks before his own election. Senator Hagel won by the biggest landslide in Nebraskan history; a victory the press characterized as a "stunning upset". His company, ES&S, counted 83% of the votes.
Hagel left out details of his ES&S involvement in his SEC filings, and, when the discrepancy surfaced, two days after a closed-door meeting with Hagel SEC legal counsel Victor Baird resigned and the matter was dropped.
And Hagel, who prior to his stewardship of ES&S was head of the Private Sector Council for George H.W. Bush, has bigger plans: Harris says the domain name "Bush-Hagel2004.com" was purchased last year but subsequently released and the Senator has already bought the rights to "hagel2008.com" and "ChuckHagel2008.com".
Meanwhile Hagel campaign manager Michael McCarthy owns over 30% of ES&S's parent company, and even the Senator hasn't fully divested himself of ownership -- he still has a $5 million stake in ES&S parent company the McCarthy Group.
Harris says there are firms offering comparatively secure systems -- competitors Avante, Accupol and Vogue, for example -- but some activists say any machine offers an opportunity for vote tampering. They're calling for a return to simple ballots, though such a solution is unlikely -- Bush's Help America Vote Act mandates a nationwide migration to electronic voting by 2006.
Secretary of state Kevin Shelley's recent declaration that all California voting machines must provide printouts may prompt the rest of the country to follow the west’s lead. But it may end up being a matter of too little, too late, as Diebold, ES&S and Sequioa systems are already in place in 37 states.
Harris, for one, is calling for a legal injunction to halt the use of any insecure systems prior to the 2004 primaries. If her instincts are right, a fierce battle may loom on the horizon -- a battle for the very heart and soul of America's democracy.
Officials to phone, fax and email about secure voting:
Congress
http://www.visi.com/juan/congress/
State elections boards:
http://www.blackboxvoting.org/htdocs/dcforum/DCForumID29/47.html
State Attorneys General (party affiliations listed):
http://www.naag.org/ag/full_ag_table.php
-more-
State Election Officials
http://www.nased.org/
Members, Natl. Assoc. of County Recorders, Election Officials and Clerks:
http://www.nacrc.org/leadership/st_coord.htm
Penelope Bonsall, national director of the Office of Election Administration
Office of Election Administration
Federal Election Commission
999 E Street, NW
Washington, DC 20463
vss@fec.gov
(202) 694-1095 (phone)
(202) 219-8500 (fax)
Online e-petitions EFF and VerifiedVoting.org:
http://action.eff.org/action/index.asp?step=2&item=2821
http://www.verifiedvoting.org
Media Contacts:
http://dmoz.org/Arts/Television/News/
http://newslink.org
http://www.cantufind.com/american_newspapers.htm
http://dmoz.org/Arts/Radio/Formats/Talk_Radio/Networks/
http://dmoz.org/Arts/Radio/Formats/Talk_Radio/Stations/
http://dmoz.org/Arts/Television/Networks/Cable/
http://dmoz.org/Arts/Television/Networks/
http://dmoz.org/Computers/Internet/Broadcasting/Information/
Contact: Eric A. Smith, Hot Damn! Design, Tokyo, Japan ● 81-03-3959-5371
# # #
Borowitz: SUPREME COURT OVERTURNS GORE’S ENDORSEMENT OF DEAN
SUPREME COURT OVERTURNS GORE’S ENDORSEMENT OF DEAN
Transfers Nod to Bush in 5-4 Decision
December 11, 2003
LP RELEASE: Campaign finance ruling
====================================
NEWS FROM THE LIBERTARIAN PARTY
2600 Virginia Avenue, NW, Suite 100
Washington DC 20037
World Wide Web: http://www.LP.org
====================================
For release: December 11, 2003
====================================
For additional information:
George Getz, Communications Director
Phone: (202) 333-0008
====================================
High court's ruling is all-out assault
on right to engage in politics, Libertarians say
WASHINGTON, DC -- The Libertarian Party, which is one of the plaintiffs
that challenged the campaign finance law upheld on Tuesday by the
Supreme Court, has denounced the ruling as an "all-out assault on the
right of every American to engage in the political process."
"Why not just outlaw elections and get it over with?" said Geoffrey
Neale, the Libertarian Party's national chair. "The Supreme Court has
just given incumbent politicians the power to financially cripple their
competitors and, in the process, award themselves lifetime jobs."
In a 5-4 ruling that shocked advocacy groups across the political
spectrum, the Supreme Court endorsed key provisions of the McCain-
Feingold campaign finance law. Specifically, the court upheld a ban on
"soft money" contributions from wealthy individuals, corporations and
labor unions, as well the law's prohibition on running certain
political advertisements within close proximity to an election.
But Libertarians point out that McCain-Feingold was nothing more than
an incumbent protection act in the first place -- and that the court's
ruling was tantamount to outlawing political competition.
"Running for office and communicating a message aren't free," Neale
said. "So making it illegal to raise money to buy political ads, and
banning the ads during the period when they're most effective, is
tantamount to outlawing the message itself. That's a crime against the
First Amendment as well as an affront to the democratic process."
Incumbent politicians already enjoy powerful advantages, Neale pointed
out, such as name recognition and the ability to attract news media,
taxpayer-financed staffs and office space, and the franking privilege.
The so-called campaign finance reform act was merely an attempt to
eliminate the only weapon that many challengers have: contributions
freely given by individuals or groups that share their views, he noted.
Acknowledging that the stated goal of the legislation was to clean up
politics, Neale said: "Justice Sandra Day O'Connor pointed out that
'corruption, and in particular the appearance of corruption,' is
rampant in Washington -- and of course, she's right.
"But a free-flowing, robust political debate isn't the problem; it's
the solution. The only way to dislodge an entrenched, corrupt
politician is to allow competing candidates, and anyone else who so
chooses, to publicly criticize them and offer voters a better
alternative.
"By upholding McCain-Feingold, the Supreme Court has merely guaranteed
that corrupt politicians will stay in office for a longer period of
time."
In March 1992, the Libertarian Party signed on as a co-plaintiff in
McConnell v FEC, the lawsuit spearheaded by Kentucky Senator Mitch
McConnell that sought to overturn the campaign finance reform law.
The party argued that the law would have a devastating impact on its
activities by eliminating certain sources of revenue and imposing
significant regulatory and administrative burdens.
For example, the law prohibits the organization from accepting
donations of more than $25,000 from any individual; prevents it from
taking money from organizations that are not "recognized political
committees," so it cannot sell ads in its party newspaper to nonprofit
corporations or incorporated businesses; and cannot accept funds for
memberships or literature from its own state affiliates, unless they
also comply with the law's onerous regulations.
However, the party was vindicated by one aspect of Tuesday's ruling,
Neale added, when the court struck down the provision of the law
banning minors from making contributions to political parties.
# # #
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
The Libertarian Party http://www.lp.org/
2600 Virginia Ave. NW, Suite 100 voice: 202-333-0008
Washington DC 20037 fax: 202-333-0072
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
For subscription changes, please use the WWW form at:
http://www.lp.org/action/email.html
Pot doc's license revocation upheld
Dec. 10, 2003 -- Pot doc's license revocation upheld
By HANK LAWSON Staff writer
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed Monday the federal government's revocation of Dr. Marion "Molly" Fry's license to prescribe medication including marijuana.
Who died and made non-aggression fundamental?
This memoir of sorts is rambling, but it has a quality to it which makes it interesting, and a little insightful.
Who died and made non-aggression fundamental?
by Student of Life
December 10, 2003
Campaign finance supporters praise Supreme Court ruling
This statement from the president of Common Cause is one of the most delusional claims I've heard from a public figure in a while.
"The toxic link between donors who write six-figure checks and people in power at the highest levels of government has been severed for good," said Chellie Pingree, the group's president, in a statement.
It's almost as funny as "The era of big government is over" was. Oh, yeah, folks....this time they've got it all worked out. Sure.
CNN.com - Campaign finance supporters praise Supreme Court ruling - Dec. 10, 2003
Supreme Court upholds 'soft money' ban
CNN.com - Supreme Court upholds 'soft money' ban - Dec. 10, 2003
December 09, 2003
December 08, 2003
KUBBY VOWS APPEAL OF RULING DENYING REFUGEE STATUS IN CANADA
For Immediate Release
December 8, 2003
Press Conference:
Tuesday, Dec. 9th, noon, BC Marijuana Party Headquarters, 307 West Hastings,
Vancouver
Decision Online:
http://www.irb.gc.ca/en/decisions/kubby/va2_01374_e.htm
KUBBY VOWS APPEAL OF RULING DENYING REFUGEE STATUS IN CANADA
VANCOUVER -- Steve Kubby, medical marijuana patient and former Libertarian
Party candidate for governor of California, vowed to appeal a ruling by the
Refugee Protection Division today that denied him refugee status in Canada
based on his need for medical marijuana.
Kubby complained, "I cannot understand how the Refugee panel could conclude
that my life would not be at risk if I were forced to return to the US,
after the leading cancer specialist in British Columbia testified that I
would die without it."
British Columbia cancer specialist Dr. Joseph Michael Connors, an expert in
the area of adrenal cancers, called by the Immigration Ministry, examined
Kubby and testified at the hearing about his medical condition.
The ruling recognizes that, according to Dr. Connors, "Mr. Kubby's tumour
releases, in excess quantities, hormones normally found in the adrenal
gland. Excessive levels of these hormones in Mr. Kubby's blood cause a
range of separate symptomatic problems including paroxysmal headaches,
palpitations (rapid and irregular beating of the heart), hypertension
(sudden dangerous rise in blood pressure), sudden abdominal cramps and
diarrhea, chest pain, shortness of breath, nausea, sudden severe weakness
and anorexia (loss of appetite). If not controlled, Mr. Kubby's symptoms
could evolve further to the point where a myocardial infarction (heart
attack) or cerebral vascular accident (stroke) could occur."
The ruling also acknowledged that "there is evidence before the Board, that
marihuana controls the symptoms of Mr. Kubby's cancer, including
hypertension. In Dr. Connors' opinion, marihuana continues to be the best
treatment available to Mr. Kubby."
However, the ruling went on to say that "it cannot therefore be stated with
any degree of certainty, that marihuana is the reason for Mr. Kubby's
survival even though it remains the best treatment option at this time."
Health Canada has even given Mr. Kubby permission to grow one hundred and
seventeen marijuana plants, based on "medical necessity."
The ruling further acknowledged, Kubby "has received a Health Canada
exemption, which suggests he is a bona fide ill person in need of medical
marihuana. It is noteworthy that Mr. Kubby was investigated and charged
with marihuana related criminal offences in Canada. Those Canadian charges
were later stayed by the Crown, and his marihuana grow equipment was
returned to him by the RCMP after the charges were stayed. This suggests
the Government of Canada believes he has a medical necessity for marihuana."
Despite all of this, the ruling somehow concluded, "he has not established
there is a risk to his life or a risk of cruel and unusual treatment or
punishment" if Kubby is forced to return to the US.
Kubby vowed, "Apparently, I have to die in order to convince the Refugee
board, but instead I intend to fight."
###
Kerry: "Did I expect George Bush to f - - - it up as badly as he did?"
New York Post Online Edition: CURSING KERRY UNLEASHES
FOULMOUTHED ATTACK ON BUSH
BillofRightsDay.com
Here's a new site I put together to help folks organize their Bill of Rights Day celebration efforts:
December 07, 2003
Boots on the Ground, Hearts on Their Sleeves
Boots on the Ground, Hearts on Their Sleeves
By DAVID BROOKS
Published: December 2, 2003
Bossier School Board upholds Advil expulsion
Bossier School Board upholds Advil expulsion
Girl had over-the-counter pills in purse at school
December 06, 2003
Hess: You pays your nickel, you takes your chances
This op-ed is a pretty good dressing-down of a "big prostitution bust", by Arizona Libertarian Barry Hess.
Hip hoppers say Dennis no menace
Hip hoppers say Dennis no menace=The Hill.com=
Dennis Kucinich, that is.
Phillies' Ideas for Libertarian Presidential Candidates
I am not running for President - but I do have some ideas on what our Party needs in one
by George Phillies
In Iraq Picture, Bush Is Holding the Centerpiece
The Bird Was Perfect But Not For Dinner (washingtonpost.com)
In Iraq Picture, Bush Is Holding the Centerpiece
Lindaman: Welcome Back, Rush...Now Retire!
AmericanDaily.com - Welcome Back, Rush...Now Retire! - Thomas Lindaman
December 05, 2003
Rumsfeld's Leaked Memo about the "War on Terror"
I tried to find this memo when it was hot news, and gave up before I was able to. But I recently found cause to look again, and had better luck. I'm storing it here because it's worth archiving (Plus it's public domain, I assume, so I might as well get the traffic instead of USATODAY, where I got it from.)
October 16, 2003
TO: Gen. Dick Myers
Paul Wolfowitz
Gen. Pete Pace
Doug Feith
FROM: Donald Rumsfeld
SUBJECT: Global War on Terrorism
The questions I posed to combatant commanders this week were: Are we winning or losing the Global War on Terror? Is DoD changing fast enough to deal with the new 21st century security environment? Can a big institution change fast enough? Is the USG changing fast enough?
DoD has been organized, trained and equipped to fight big armies, navies and air forces. It is not possible to change DoD fast enough to successfully fight the global war on terror; an alternative might be to try to fashion a new institution, either within DoD or elsewhere — one that seamlessly focuses the capabilities of several departments and agencies on this key problem.
With respect to global terrorism, the record since Septermber 11th seems to be:
We are having mixed results with Al Qaida, although we have put considerable pressure on them — nonetheless, a great many remain at large.
USG has made reasonable progress in capturing or killing the top 55 Iraqis.
USG has made somewhat slower progress tracking down the Taliban — Omar, Hekmatyar, etc.
With respect to the Ansar Al-Islam, we are just getting started.
Have we fashioned the right mix of rewards, amnesty, protection and confidence in the US?
Does DoD need to think through new ways to organize, train, equip and focus to deal with the global war on terror?
Are the changes we have and are making too modest and incremental? My impression is that we have not yet made truly bold moves, although we have have made many sensible, logical moves in the right direction, but are they enough?
Today, we lack metrics to know if we are winning or losing the global war on terror. Are we capturing, killing or deterring and dissuading more terrorists every day than the madrassas and the radical clerics are recruiting, training and deploying against us?
Does the US need to fashion a broad, integrated plan to stop the next generation of terrorists? The US is putting relatively little effort into a long-range plan, but we are putting a great deal of effort into trying to stop terrorists. The cost-benefit ratio is against us! Our cost is billions against the terrorists' costs of millions.
Do we need a new organization?
How do we stop those who are financing the radical madrassa schools?
Is our current situation such that "the harder we work, the behinder we get"?
It is pretty clear that the coalition can win in Afghanistan and Iraq in one way or another, but it will be a long, hard slog.
Does CIA need a new finding?
Should we create a private foundation to entice radical madradssas to a more moderate course?
What else should we be considering?
Please be prepared to discuss this at our meeting on Saturday or Monday.
Thanks.
December 03, 2003
Taibbi: Clark's True Colors
I was not impressed by Taibbi's attitude and approach in writing this article*, but he makes some OK points.
*As Matt Stoller of the Clark Sphere put it:
Seriously, attacking Clark is fine, he's in politics. But why go after the campaign staffers who are trying to do their best? Come on. This is ridiculous. Posing as a porn director at a Meetup and then getting awkward quotes from 22 year old volunteers? Really.
by Matt Taibbi
You can see something in the eyes of most all the Democratic candidates: the pugnacity of Howard Dean, the idealism of Dennis Kucinich, even (surprisingly) the elaborate sense of humor just under the surface of Joe Lieberman.
Not Wesley Clark. His eyes are blank. Like a turtle resting on a rock in the middle of a pond, he simply seems never to move, no matter how long you stare. But then, just as you're about to pack up your picnic basket and go home, you catch him: His head pops out, and he slides off into the water...
Lydon on Emerson: A God for Bloggers
A God for Bloggers
by Christopher Lydon
Ralph Waldo Emerson on his 200th birthday this spring is "closer to us than ever," writes the great Harold Bloom. He is a man for bloggers to embrace most especially, not for Emerson's glory but for our own understanding of a transformative moment we are living through.
Poet, public intellectual, performance artist and incomparable diarist, Emerson (1803-1882) has glory enough. It's we who need his encouraging frame around bloggery--this still strange and marvellous exercise in democratic media.
...
Some Iraqis Welcome Bush, Others Wish Him in Hell
This article is archived at TruthOut. The original doesn't appear to be available at MSNBC.com anymore.
The Pentagon crosses the lexicon
The Pentagon crosses the lexicon
As the horizon in Iraq recedes, the U.S. military’s language adapts
ANALYSIS
By Michael Moran
MSNBC
The turkey has landed
The turkey has landed: how Bush cooked up a secret mission to give thanks to his troops
By Phil Reeves in Baghdad and David Usborne in New York
The Independent-UK
An Apology to Younger Americans
An Apology to Younger Americans
By Sam Smith, The Progressive Review
November 30, 2003
In observance of the approaching 66th anniversary of my arrival on this planet I would like to apologize to you on behalf of my generation. Even members of Confederacy had the grace to secede from the union; my generation has remained within like a deadly virus, subverting it, shaming it, screwing it, stealing from it, and finally strangling it. It will likely be known as the worst generation – the one that brought the First American Republic down – unmatched in the damage it has done to the Constitution, the environment, and a two century struggle to create a society democratic and decent in its politics, economics, and social concourse.
To be sure, when we were young we were, as we said then, somethin' else. We launched the civil rights, women's, gay, and environmental movements, not to mention creating some memorable music before descending into disco. Soon other things started to go downhill rapidly. We became not only the generation that invented the phrase, 'never trust anyone over thirty,' we proved it.
...
December 01, 2003
The Bush Betrayal
I'm posting the full text of this excellent opinion piece, because I'd like to have it archived here. It was originally published in the Washington Post.
By David Boaz
Sunday, November 30, 2003
In 2000 George W. Bush campaigned across the country telling voters: "My opponent trusts government. I trust you."
Little wonder that some of his supporters are now wondering which candidate won that election.
Federal spending has increased by 23.7 percent since Bush took office. Education has been further federalized in the No Child Left Behind Act. Bush pulled out all the stops to get Republicans in Congress to create the biggest new entitlement program -- prescription drug coverage under Medicare -- in 40 years.
He pushed an energy bill that my colleague Jerry Taylor described as "three parts corporate welfare and one part cynical politics . . . a smorgasbord of handouts and subsidies for virtually every energy lobby in Washington."
It's a far cry from the less-government, "leave us alone" conservatism of Ronald Reagan.
Conservatives used to believe that the U.S. Constitution set up a government of strictly limited powers.
It was supposed to protect us from foreign threats and deliver the mail, leaving other matters to the states or to the private sector -- individuals, families, churches, charities and businesses.
That's what lots of voters assumed they would get with Bush. In his first presidential debate with Al Gore, Bush contrasted his own vision of tax reduction with that of his opponent, who would "increase the size of government dramatically." Gore, Bush declared, would "empower Washington," but "my passion and my vision is to empower Americans to be able to make decisions for themselves in their own lives."
Bush was tapping into popular sentiment.
In fact, you could say that what most voters wanted in 2000 was neither Bush nor Gore but smaller government. A Los Angeles Times poll in September 2000 found that Americans preferred "smaller government with fewer services" to "larger government with many services" by 59 to 26 percent.
But that's not what voters got. Leave aside defense spending and even entitlements spending: In Bush's first three years, nondefense discretionary spending -- which fell by 13.5 percent under Ronald Reagan -- has soared by 20.8 percent. His more libertarian-minded voters are taken aback to discover that "compassionate conservatism" turned out to mean social conservatism -- a stepped-up drug war, restrictions on medical research, antigay policies, federal subsidies for marriage and religion -- and big-spending liberalism justified as "compassion."
When they're given a chance to vote, Americans don't like big government.
Last November 45 percent of the voters in the most liberal state in the Union, Ted Kennedy's Massachusetts, voted to abolish the state income tax.
In January, Oregon's liberal electorate rejected a proposed tax increase, 55 percent to 45 percent.
In September Alabama voters rejected Gov. Bob Riley's $1.2 billion tax hike by 2 to 1.
California voters tossed out big-spending Gov. Gray Davis, and 62 percent of them voted for candidates who promised not to raise taxes to close the state's deficit.
Bush and his aides should be worrying about the possibility that libertarians, economic conservatives and fed-up taxpayers won't be in his corner in 2004 in the same numbers as 2000.
Republican strategists are likely to say that libertarians and economic conservatives have nowhere else to go. Many of the disappointed will indeed sigh a deep sigh and vote for Bush as a lesser evil.
But Karl Rove, who is fascinated by the role Mark Hanna played in building the post-1896 Republican majority, should remember one aspect of that era: In the late 19th century, the Democratic Party of Jefferson, Jackson and Cleveland was known as "the party of personal liberty." More so than the Republicans, it was committed to economic and cultural laissez-faire and opposed to Prohibition, protectionism and inflation.
When the big-government populist William Jennings Bryan claimed the Democratic nomination in 1896, many assumed he would draw industrial workers from the Republicans and bring new voters to the polls. Instead, Bryan lost in a landslide, and turnout declined for the next few elections. As the more libertarian Democrats found less reason to go to the polls, the Republicans dominated national politics for the next 36 years.
It could happen that limited-government voters decide to stay home, or vote for an independent candidate in the mold of Ross Perot or Jesse Ventura or vote Libertarian.
They could even vote for an antiwar, anti-Patriot Act, socially tolerant Democrat.
Given a choice between big-government liberalism and big-government conservatism, the leave-us-alone voters might decide that voting isn't worth the trouble.
The writer is executive vice president of the Cato Institute and author of "Libertarianism: A Primer."
Geoff Metcalf: Under the Color of Authority
IRS: Abuse of Power
Under the Color of Authority
Geoff Metcalf
Monday, Nov. 24, 2003
Find out just what people will submit to, and you have found out the exact amount of injustice and wrong which will be imposed upon them; and these will continue until they are resisted with either words or blows, or both. The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they oppress. – Frederick Douglass
For over a decade I have been interviewing and reporting on what has been called The "Tax Honesty Movement." Some people call these folks “tax protesters," others call them wackos. To a growing many, they are patriots committed to redressing what they perceive as a grievous wrong.
In the wake of years of study, interviews and analysis I have come to my own personal conclusions:
-As an academic exercise, and objective evaluation of the facts in evidence, the Tax Freedom crowd is mostly right.
-However, as a practical reality check, and ‘The Golden Rule’ (those with the gold make the rules), when contemporary ‘Davids’ square off with the federal government’s ‘Goliath,’ right is NOT might.
-Those who take on “The G” can and will be eviscerated by bureaucratic ‘shock and awe’ that has and will ruin lives.
...
One of the most heroic crusaders cast in the role of ‘David’ is Joseph R. (Joe) Banister. Joe is a CPA and former IRS Criminal Investigation Division special agent [www.freedomabovefortune.com]. He is a good guy with a fascinating story and about to become another victim of abuse of power under the color of authority.
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Big Crowd at Military School Protest Gets Earful of Patriotic Music From Army
Big Crowd at Military School Protest Gets Earful of Patriotic Music From Army
COLUMBUS, Ga. (AP) - Demonstrators gathered outside Fort Benning to protest a military school were hit with a sonic barrage Saturday: patriotic music Army officials had blaring from the main gate.
A crowd estimated by Columbus police at 8,000 gathered to protest the school once known as the School of the Americas, which they blame for Latin American human rights abuses. It appeared to be the largest first-day gathering in the 14-year history of the protest.
The Army's loudspeakers, playing "The Army Song" and "God Bless the U.S.A.," were 50 yards away from where protesters were speaking to the crowd.
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Raimondo: Boot Boortz!
Neal Boortz is a statist, not a libertarian.
So why is he speaking at the Libertarian Party’s national convention?
by Justin Raimondo
November 26, 2003
One thing one has to say about most of the "liberventionists" – the tiny but vocal clot of pro-war, pro-Bush "libertarians" – and that is they oppose this administration’s attacks on our civil liberties here at home. But what are we to make of alleged libertarians, such as Neal Boortz, who wants to know why the FBI shouldn’t be allowed to spy on the antiwar movement:
"The FBI is investigating the backgrounds and organizational methods of antiwar demonstrators in the US. Hopefully that doesn't come as a surprise to you. It is safe to assume that a large number of these demonstrators are out there in the streets because they want America to fail in its efforts to fight terrorism and its efforts to bring secular representative governments to Iraq and Afghanistan. Translated: Many of these demonstrators are pro-Saddam and anti-US. So, who wouldn't want them investigated by the FBI?"
Oh, gee, I don’t know: maybe a self-described "libertarian" who advocates strictly limited government and regards such surveillance as impermissible, in principle. Perhaps someone who takes the Bill of Rights seriously. In short, someone who believes in upholding the primacy of individual liberty – even in the face of an unprecedented assault by a cabal of war-crazed power-hungry ideologues.
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Lessig: The New Road to the White House
The New Road to the White House
How grassroots blogs are transforming presidential politics.
When they write the account of the 2004 campaign, it will include at least one word that has never appeared in any presidential history: blog. Whether or not it elects the next president, the blog may be the first innovation from the Internet to make a real difference in election politics. But to see just why requires a bit of careful attention.
...
AlterNet: Neocons Leak Bad Intelligence
AlterNet: Neocons Leak Bad Intelligence
By Jim Lobe, AlterNet
November 20, 2003
The leak of a secret memorandum written by a senior Pentagon official reveals less about the connection between Saddam and al Qaeda than the growing desperation of neo-conservative hawks in the Bush administration.
US starts to lift the veil on Camp X-Ray trials
US starts to lift the veil on Camp X-Ray trials
(TruthOut permacopy)
Patriot Act Expansion Moves Through Congress
Patriot Act Expansion Moves Through Congress
by Jim Lobe
(TruthOut permacopy)
George Orwell: Why I Write
This was really interesting for me. Thanks to Tim at Libertarian Rant for pointing it out.
SITE NOTE: Scaling back for now
I need to conserve time for a while, so entries here are going to be less robust than usual. In most cases I might just end up posting links to what I've read, more as a way of keeping track than anything else. I'm sorry if anyone has grown dependent on the excerpts and ratings. ;-\
I don't know if this has long-term implications for the Little Brown Reader. For the time being, I consider it to be a temporary shift in my approach. I'll be sure to let you know if that changes.
Patriot Act Author Has Concerns
Patriot Act Author Has Concerns
By Richard B. Schmitt, Times Staff Writer
Detaining citizens as 'enemy combatants' -- a policy not spelled out in the act -- is flawed, the legal scholar says.
WASHINGTON — The Justice Department's war on terrorism has drawn intense scrutiny from the left and the right. Now, a chief architect of the USA Patriot Act and a former top assistant to Atty. Gen. John Ashcroft are joining the fray, voicing concern about aspects of the administration's anti-terrorism policy.
At issue is the government's power to designate and detain "enemy combatants," in particular in the case of "dirty bomb" plot suspect Jose Padilla, the Brooklyn-born former gang member who was picked up at a Chicago airport 18 months ago by the FBI and locked in a military brig without access to a lawyer.
...
Fight to the death: the Iraqis who hated Saddam, but who hate the Americans more
You should read this article.
Fight to the death
(TruthOut permacopy)
December 20, 2003
Paul McGeough reports from Baghdad on the Iraqis who hated Saddam, but who hate the Americans more.
Everybody Wants to Rule the Web
Everybody Wants to Rule the Web
There's mounting evidence that the Internet's good old days as a global cyber-zone of freedom -- where governments generally take a "hands off" approach -- may be numbered. In fact, last week, delegates from 192 countries met in Geneva to discuss how the Internet should be governed and what steps should be taken to solve the global "digital divide" and "harness the potential of information" on behalf of the world's poor. Also on the table at the session -- the United Nations World Summit on the Information Society -- was the question of domain name management and how much protection free speech and expression should receive on the Net.
The real issue, however, is whether a "U.N. for the Internet" is on the way. Last week's summit and another in 2005 will discuss whether Internet decisionmaking should be shifted from largely private management to the United Nations.
In one sense, none of this is surprising. Regulators across the globe have long been clamoring for greater control over content and commerce on the Internet. Ironically, in the guise of protecting the world's citizens, Statists around the world want to get their hands on one of the world's most liberating communications technologies.
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Soldiers patrol city streets as Americans are warned of imminent terrorist threat
Soldiers patrol city streets as Americans are warned of imminent terrorist threat
NY Times Delusion: A Campaign Finance Triumph
t r u t h o u t - New York Times | A Campaign Finance Triumph
Teen Drug Surveys Contradict Each Other
Teen Drug Surveys Contradict Each Other
Excerpt:
While Monitoring the Future, conducted by University of Michigan researchers and funded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, indicates a decrease in teen use of marijuana and other drugs, the privately-funded PRIDE Survey showed a sharp rise in drug use: Monthly use of marijuana by junior-high students rose 51 percent from 2002 to 2003, and monthly use of heroin rose 60 percent. Despite the differences, both surveys confirm that ONDCP has failed by a large margin to meet goals set for it by Congress. Full PRIDE Survey results are available at http://www.pridesurveys.com.
NIDA Survey: Drug Use by U.S. Teens Declining
FOXNews.com - Top Stories - Drug Use by U.S. Teens Declining
December 27, 2003
Day of Coordinated Attacks in Iraq
Coalition Forces Attacked in Southern Iraq
(TruthOut permacopy)
KARBALA, Iraq (AP) -- Insurgents using car bombs, mortars and machine guns launched three coordinated attacks in the southern city of Karbala on Saturday, killing 11 people -- including six Iraqi police officers and four coalition soldiers, military and hospital officials said. Two of the four coalition dead were from Thailand. An Iraqi civilian also was killed.
The attacks also wounded at least 172 people, with U.S. Army Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt saying 37 of them were coalition soldiers, including five Americans. Some 135 Iraqi police officers and civilians also were wounded, said Ali al-Arzawi, deputy head of Karbala General Hospital.
Coffee, Tea or Handcuffs?
LA Weekly: Columns: Open City: Coffee, Tea or Handcuffs?
An Australian journalist gets a taste of Department of Homeland Security hospitality
by Steven Mikulan
(TruthOut permacopy)
December 26, 2003
On the Web, an Amateur Audience Creates Anti-Bush Ads
An article about MoveOn's Bush In 30 Seconds video contest:
On the Web, an Amateur Audience Creates Anti-Bush Ads
(TruthOut permacopy -- second story on the page)
Where Political Influence Is Only a Keyboard Away
Where Political Influence Is Only a Keyboard Away
More than ever, the Internet gives people a connection -- and a voice -- in campaigns.
By Matea Gold, LA Times Staff Writer
(TruthOut permacopy)
Gadhafi: Intimidated, or just chilling out?
CNN.com - Gadhafi: Iraq war may have influenced WMD decision - Dec. 22, 2003
...
Asked about his decision, Gadhafi acknowledged that the Iraq war may have influenced him, but he insisted he wanted to focus on the "positive."
He said the world is a changed place in which his country can feel safe without weapons of mass destruction.
...
Gadhafi told CNN that other countries have set a positive example by dismantling weapons of mass destruction programs peacefully. He said he hopes other nations will follow his action.
QADDAFI TO GIVE UP SMOKING
QADDAFI TO GIVE UP SMOKING
Opens Libya to U.N. Ashtray Inspectors
by Andy Borowitz
In what some White House officials are hailing as the successful result of months of backdoor diplomacy, Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi of Libya agreed today to give up cigarettes once and for all.
“It’s a filthy, filthy habit,” said Col. Qaddafi, grinding a pack of Lucky Strikes under his polished jackboot. “I should have given it up years ago.”
...
“This is just another one of Muammar’s lame New Year’s Eve resolutions,” said Mr. Fakude, who shared a dorm room with Col. Qaddafi at Libya State University back when the dictator was known simply as Bluto Qaddafi. “I remember when he promised to give up beer. Yeah, right! That lasted about five minutes.”
PETA takes its message to the ballet
Animal rights group is taking its message to the ballet | csmonitor.com
Sugg: Neal Boortz is no John Galt
Neal Boortz is no John Galt
Libertarians will ensure their irrelevance if they embrace radio ignoramus
BY JOHN F. SUGG
Creative Loafing Atlanta
W. Times: Dean left speechless on Libya arms move
Dean left speechless on Libya arms move
The Washington Times: Nation/Politics
Girl Guide to Geeks
Pretty funny, and actually moderately insightful. Warp factor: 5 (<--- Just kidding...I don't really groove on the Trek thing that hard.)
December 24, 2003
Rumsfeld Made Iraq Overture in '84 Despite Chemical Raids
Rumsfeld Made Iraq Overture in '84 Despite Chemical Raids
Rumsfeld Made Iraq Overture in '84 Despite Chemical Raids
By CHRISTOPHER MARQUIS
Published: December 23, 2003
WASHINGTON, Dec. 22 — As a special envoy for the Reagan administration in 1984, Donald H. Rumsfeld, now the defense secretary, traveled to Iraq to persuade officials there that the United States was eager to improve ties with President Saddam Hussein despite his use of chemical weapons, newly declassified documents show.
Mr. Rumsfeld, who ran a pharmaceutical company at the time, was tapped by Secretary of State George P. Shultz to reinforce a message that a recent move to condemn Iraq's use of chemical weapons was strictly in principle and that America's priority was to prevent an Iranian victory in the Iran-Iraq war and to improve bilateral ties.
During that war, the United States secretly provided Iraq with combat planning assistance, even after Mr. Hussein's use of chemical weapons was widely known. The highly classified program involved more than 60 officers of the Defense Intelligence Agency, who shared intelligence on Iranian deployments, bomb-damage assessments and other crucial information with Iraq.
The disclosures round out a picture of American outreach to the Iraqi government, even as the United States professed to be neutral in the eight-year war, and suggests a private nonchalance toward Mr. Hussein's use of chemicals in warfare. Mr. Rumsfeld and other Bush administration officials have cited Iraq's use of poisonous gas as a main reason for ousting Mr. Hussein.
The documents, which were released as part of a declassification project by the National Security Archive, and are available on the Web at www.nsarchive.org, provide details of the instructions given to Mr. Rumsfeld on his second trip to Iraq in four months. The notes of Mr. Rumsfeld's encounter with Tariq Aziz, the foreign minister, remain classified, but officials acknowledged that it would be unusual if Mr. Rumsfeld did not carry out the instructions.
Since the release of the documents, he has told members of his inner circle at the Pentagon that he does not recall whether he had read, or even had received, the State Department memo, Defense Department officials said.
One official noted that the documents reflected the State Department's thinking on Iraq, but did not indicate Mr. Rumsfeld's planning for his meeting with Mr. Hussein nor his comments on the meeting after its conclusion.
Mr. Rumsfeld's trip was his second visit to Iraq. On his first visit, in late December 1983, he had a cordial meeting with Mr. Hussein, and photographs and a report of that encounter have been widely published.
In a follow-up memo, the chief of the American interests section reported that Mr. Aziz had conveyed Mr. Hussein's satisfaction with the meeting. "The Iraqi leadership was extremely pleased with Amb. Rumsfeld's visit," the memo said. "Tariq Aziz had gone out of his way to praise Rumsfeld as a person."
When news emerged last year of the December trip, Mr. Rumsfeld told CNN that he had "cautioned" Mr. Hussein to forgo chemical weapons. But when presented with declassified notes of their meeting that made no mention of that, a spokesman for Mr. Rumsfeld said he had raised the issue in a meeting with Mr. Aziz.
Lawrence Di Rita, the chief Pentagon spokesman, said on Friday that there was no inconsistency between Mr. Rumsfeld's previous comments on his missions to Iraq and the State Department documents.
By early 1984, events threatened to upset the American-Iraqi relationship. After pleading for a year for international action against the chemical warfare, Iran had finally persuaded the United Nations to criticize the use of chemical weapons, albeit in vague terms.
Pressure mounted on the Reagan administration, which had already verified Iraq's "almost daily" use of the weapons against Iran and against Kurdish rebels, documents show. In February, Iraq warned Iranian "invaders" that "for every harmful insect there is an insecticide capable of annihilating it." Within weeks, the American authorities intercepted precursor chemicals that were bound for Iraq. Finally, on March 5, the United States issued a public condemnation of Iraq.
But days later, Mr. Shultz and his deputy met with an Iraqi diplomat, Ismet Kittani, to soften the blow. The American relationship with Iraq was too important — involving business interests, Middle East diplomacy and a shared determination to thwart Iran — to sacrifice. Mr. Kittani left the meeting "unpersuaded," documents show.
Mr. Shultz then turned to Mr. Rumsfeld. In a March 24 briefing document, Mr. Rumsfeld was asked to present America's bottom line. At first, the memo recapitulated Mr. Shultz's message to Mr. Kittani, saying it "clarified that our CW [chemical weapons] condemnation was made strictly out of our strong opposition to the use of lethal and incapacitating CW, wherever it occurs." The American officials had "emphasized that our interests in 1) preventing an Iranian victory and 2) continuing to improve bilateral relations with Iraq, at a pace of Iraq's choosing, remain undiminished," it said.
Then came the instructions for Mr. Rumsfeld: "This message bears reinforcing during your discussions."
The American relationship with Iraq during its crippling war with Iran was rife with such ambiguities. Though the United States was outwardly neutral, it tilted toward Iraq and even monitored talks toward the sale of military equipment by private American contractors.
Tom Blanton, executive director of the National Security Archive, said: "Saddam had chemical weapons in the 1980's, and it didn't make any difference to U.S. policy."
Mr. Blanton suggested that the United States was now paying the price for earlier indulgence. "The embrace of Saddam in the 1980's and what it emboldened him to do should caution us as Americans that we have to look closely at all our murky alliances," he said. "Shaking hands with dictators today can turn them into Saddams tomorrow."
Thom Shanker contributed reporting for this article.
(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.)
Scientists Blame Soot for Global Warming
AP Wire | 12/23/2003 | Scientists Blame Soot for Global Warming
Bartlett: Third parties don't have a chance
I hear this a lot from republicans. I wonder if it means that Libertarians are becoming uncreasingly threatening to them.
republican third party opponents seems to consistently understate the reality of the Libertarian threat. For example, Bartlett says:
it is true that Libertarian Party candidates at the state level have sometimes gotten enough votes to elect a losing Republican had he gotten their votes.
Sounds pretty insignificant. But when you restate it to conform with reality, it sounds much more impressive:
it is true that Libertarian Senate candidates have gotten enough votes to elect a losing Republican had he gotten their votes, in two consecutive elections.
December 21, 2003
Cannabis campaigner may be forced to go
Cannabis campaigner may be forced to go
Pot activist Steve Kubby - who says he depends on marijuana to ward off a rare form of cancer - is now fighting to stay in Canada.
Kubby, 56, is under a departure order from Citizenship and Immigration Canada that would force him, wife Michele, and two daughters, out of the country as early as Jan. 15.
...
Hawaii reporter: Happy Bill of Rights Day
Happy Bill of Rights Day
The Libertarian View
By Tracy A. Ryan, 12/16/2003 2:00:36 AM
In recognition of the adoption of the first ten amendments to the Constitution on Dec. 15, 1791, Dec. 15th is "Bill of Rights Day." Did you see this important day in the news? Are Republicans and Democrats out making speeches like they do on the Fourth of July or on Labor Day? Well Libertarians are celebrating. To a libertarian being a proud American means more than just marching and flag waving. That kind of "patriotism" can be found in countries all over the world; many with little respect for individual rights. Our American Bill of Rights is an acknowledgment in the supreme law of our government that our rights and to liberty make individuals the true sovereigns here. Americans need never be forced to kneel before a collectivist autocracy.
On Saturday the 13th the Libertarian Party of Hawaii held its' December general meeting in Pahoa on the Big Island of Hawaii....
Harry Browne on The Liberation of Iraq
How Do I Liberate Thee?
Let Me Count the Ways
by Harry Browne
December 15, 2003
Excerpts:
How has Iraq been liberated? Let me count the ways . . .
1. The country is occupied by a foreign power.
2. Its officials are appointed by that foreign power.
3. Its citizens must carry ID cards.
4. They must submit to searches of their persons and cars at checkpoints and roadblocks.
5. They must be in their homes by curfew time.
6. Many towns are ringed with barbed wire.
...
9. The occupiers have decreed that certain electoral outcomes won't be permitted.
...
11. Protests are outlawed.
12. Private homes are raided or demolished — with no due process of law.
...
14. Newspapers, radio stations, and TV are all supervised by the occupiers.
...
Checks and Balances Live On
Rebuff for Bush on civil liberties (December 20, 2003)
(TruthOut permacopy)
THE Bush administration may be forced to rethink its war on terrorism strategy after two US courts ruled yesterday that detainees should not remain indefinitely in a legal twilight zone.
In a critical decision, a San Francisco appeals court disputed the administration's claims to have "unchecked authority" in dealing with prisoners held at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba outside the US criminal justice system.
The 2-1 decision came a few hours after a Manhattan appeals court ruled that accused "dirty bomb" plotter Jose Padilla - a US citizen alleged to be an enemy combatant - be released from military custody within 30 days.
...
Bill of Rights day in Noho
This is about Northampton, MA's Bill of Rights Day celebration. I've lived and worked in Northampton in the past. It's a great little Northeast city.
December 20, 2003
The Conservative Case Against George W. Bush
Righteous Anger
The Conservative Case Against George W. Bush
'Sick' Saddam drugged: visitor
'Sick' Saddam drugged: visitor (December 20, 2003)
A STARTLING new photograph of a sick-looking Saddam Hussein suggests he is being drugged or given strong medication by his US captors.
The man who took the photo told The Weekend Australian last night Hussein appeared very sick when he was visited by Iraqi Governing Council member Ahmed Chalabi two days after being captured near Tikrit.
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Rogers brings it all back home
This is a friend and cohort of mine from college. I thought to check and see what she was up to, and thanks to the Internet, I was able to.
Rogers brings it all back home
It’s not unusual to hear musicians talk about getting back to their roots but when singer-songwriter Theresa Rogers says it, she means it literally, coming home to Wellfleet. Rogers, who fronted a successful Western Mass college circuit band has stepped away from the common career path taken by many aspiring musicians. She eschewed the idea of heading for bright lights, big city in favor of coming home to Cape Cod.
...
Intelligence Report: Iraq Outlook Bleak
This article is extracted from the Washington Times' "In the Ring" column
t r u t h o u t - Intelligence Report: Iraq Outlook Bleak
The National Intelligence Council, a group under CIA Director George J. Tenet, has released a paper that is part of an effort by intelligence analysts to predict global events in the next 17 years.
For its Middle East section, one analyst predicts Iraq faces a broad range of outcomes, mostly bad. ...
Bush Overruled on 'Dirty Bomb' Suspect
Yahoo! News - Bush Overruled on 'Dirty Bomb' Suspect
(TruthOut permacopy)
NEW YORK - President Bush does not have power to detain American citizen Jose Padilla, the former gang member seized on U.S. soil, as an enemy combatant, a federal appeals court ruled Thursday.
...
William Rivers Pitt | We Caught The Wrong Guy
t r u t h o u t - William Rivers Pitt | We Caught The Wrong Guy
3 senators urge Rumsfeld to free or try terror detainees
Coalition Strike In Afghanistan Kills 9 Children
Coalition Strike In Afghanistan Kills 9 Children
(for-pay archive)
December 19, 2003
Architects Unveil Revised Freedom Tower Design
A slightly different take on the same news event: Architects Unveil Revised Freedom Tower Design
WTC Freedom Tower to rise 1,776 feet
Freedom Tower to rise 1,776 feet from ashes
Architect says it will be an 'exclamation point' on the skyline
From Phil Hirschkorn
CNN
Friday, December 19, 2003
NEW YORK (CNN) -- The Freedom Tower to be built at the site of the devastated World Trade Center in Lower Manhattan is still planned as the world's tallest building, according to a revised model unveiled Friday by the architects collaborating on its design.
How Christmas displays illuminate a strong economy
Light Unto the Wealth of Nations
How Christmas displays illuminate a strong economy
By Virginia Postrel
Reason.com
Who's Who among American Terrorists
This is a detailing of the main American citizen detainees in the "War on Terror" -- John Walker Lindh, Jose Padilla, etc. -- and the presumed reasoning behind their various legal statuses.
December 18, 2003
Eland: One Autocratic Belligerent Deposed, One to Go
The Independent Institute | One Autocratic Belligerent Deposed, One to Go, by Ivan Eland
December 17, 2003
Blackfriars Rates The Clarity of 2004 Presidential Campaign Web Sites
This just a press release really, but it has a little info in it.
Blackfriars Rates The Clarity of 2004 Presidential Campaign Web Sites
December 16, 2003
Pork Spending in the 2004 Budget
From the Heritage Foundation: Another Omnibus Spending Bill Loaded with Pork
Bob Smith turns it into a call for action:
Save this list. During the 2004 campaign, pick any one of these organizations, and try to get a chance to ask your incumbent politician about it.
Ask him where it is.
Ask him what it does.
Ask him to explain it's value to us.
Ask him why it wasn't funded by the people who will use it.
Ask him why he wanted to spend your money on it.
If you're feeling bold, and he's still paying attention, ask him what HE got out of it.
Scarmig: How I Said No to the Automatic Social Security Number
How I Said No to the Automatic Social Security Number
This is the story of how I successfully refused to accept a Social Security Number for my child.
I simply said “no.”
Really. That’s how easy it was. I just said no, again, and again.
...
December 15, 2003
December 14, 2003
December 13, 2003
Group to honor Bill of Rights Day with March and Memorial on Monday
This is an advance story (which is essentially just my press release, cleaned up a little) about the Bill of Rights Day activity that I'm organizing. I'm saving the text of it here as it was published at Yubanet.
(This will eventually be posted at my main blog, but it's not functioning properly, so I'm using this blog as a backup place to put these entries.)
Group to honor Bill of Rights Day with March and Memorial on Monday
By Lance Brown, Nevada County Bill of Rights Defense Committee
Dec 13, 2003, 08:43
Local civil liberties activists will be holding a memorial service and march for the Bill of Rights in Nevada City this Monday-- Bill of Rights Day. The group will gather outside the Rood County Government Center at Noon, and march to Calanan Park in downtown Nevada City.
All interested parties are invited to attend.
This marks the third consecutive year that local activists have held a public commemoration of Bill of Rights Day -- the anniversary of the ratification of the first 10 amendments to the U.S. Constitution. A "funeral" last year preceded this year's memorial, and in 2001 the day was marked with a rally.
The event is part of an ongoing local campaign to raise awareness about what the group sees as grave dangers to our civil liberties that have come in the wake of the “war on terror”. The Nevada County Bill of Rights Defense Committee is launching a drive to pass local resolutions making Nevada County a "civil liberties safe zone", as part of a national movement where over 200 communities (and three states) have passed similar resolutions.
For more local information, call 274-2474 or visit ncrights.org.
Bill of Rights Day LTE in the SacBee
This is a letter of mine that was just published in the Sacramento Bee.
sacbee.com -- Letters to the editor
Bill of Rights Day
Dec. 15 is Bill of Rights Day, the anniversary of the ratification of the Bill of Rights.
I only became aware that it was a holiday in recent years, and the first time I celebrated Bill of Rights Day was in 2001. As a Libertarian, living through a wholesale expansion of federal law enforcement tactics in the name of the "war on terror," honoring the birthday of the Bill of Rights with a rally seemed like a smart idea.
By December 2002, the threats to civil liberties had risen to a level where we thought it made more sense to have a "funeral" to mark the day. So we did. And this Monday we'll have a memorial ceremony, as a sequel.
This year, I've come to accept that this is a holiday that's becoming genuinely important to me. I've compiled nearly 20 ways people can celebrate and honor Bill of Rights Day, and put them into a free website at BillofRightsDay.com.
Come on everyone -- give it a try: "Happy Bill of Rights Day!"
- Lance Brown, Nevada City
CANADA DENIES REFUGEE STATUS TO US MEDICAL MARIJUANA EXILE
Drug War Chronicle
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/315/stevekubby.shtml
CANADA DENIES REFUGEE STATUS TO US MEDICAL MARIJUANA EXILE
Prominent American medical marijuana activist Steve Kubby
(http://www.kubby.com), who fled the US saying an impending jail sentence
would cause his death, has been denied refugee status by the Canadian
Immigration and Refugee Board. An adrenal cancer patient, Kubby has smoked a
dozen joints a day for year, which he says keeps him alive, and would have
been denied that medication while serving a misdemeanor sentence in
California. But Kubby did not have a well-founded fear of being persecuted
or tortured, nor was there any risk to his life if he returned to his home
state of California, the board ruled Monday.
He has said he will appeal, but the clock is ticking for Kubby and his
family, whose requests for refugee status were also denied. Under Canadian
law, he has 15 days to apply to the Supreme Court for a review of the
decision, and if the court chooses not to review his case, he and his family
would have to leave the country within 30 days. One option would be to apply
for a "pre-removal risk assessment," which would force immigration officials
to once again investigate whether he would face "cruel or unusual punishment
or risk to life" if returned to the US.
Steve Kubby Kubby, the 1998 Libertarian Party nominee for governor of
California, fled to Canada with his family in 2001 after being found guilty
of possession of a small amount of psychedelic mushrooms and peyote in his
home state. That conviction arose from a medical marijuana raid on Kubby's
home. The state could not convict on the marijuana charges -- California law
allows for its medical use -- but did manage to nail Kubby for the 'shrooms.
He was prepared to serve a 120-day sentence provided he could have access to
medical marijuana. But local authorities in California refused to allow him
to have his medicine in jail, so Kubby ran for his life to what he hoped
would be a friendlier clime.
He and his family entered Canada on tourist visas, but were detained by
Canadian immigration authorities after newspaper stories featured their
cause and described them cultivating a medical marijuana garden at their
home in Sechelt, British Columbia, a short ferry ride up BC's Sunshine Coast
from Vancouver. At that point, Kubby, his wife Michelle, and their two
daughters applied for asylum as refugees fleeing persecution by American
drug warriors. Since then, they have remained in Canada, where they produce
a program on Pot-TV (http://www.pot-tv.net), a web-based marijuana reform
broadcaster funded by marijuana seed magnate Marc Emery. They also received
a permit from Health Canada to cultivate marijuana for Kubby's medicinal use
are currently growing 117 plants, Kubby told the Toronto Globe & Mail.
In addition to the fear of persecution because of his well-known advocacy of
medical marijuana, Kubby argued that medical marijuana users were not
protected in California, and that he would die if deprived of his medicine.
The Immigration and Refugee Board, however, ruled that Kubby was not and
would not be persecuted, that California law in fact protects medical
marijuana users, and that he would not suffer serious health effects if
incarcerated without access to medical marijuana.
In an opinion written by board member Paulah Dauns, the board noted that
Kubby had not been convicted on medical marijuana charges, but on other drug
charges, and that California law protected him. "In effect, the process
worked, as it was designed to," she wrote. "He argues that a medical
marijuana patient should be protected from persecution. What he has
demonstrated is that in fact, they are." Dauns also wrote that while there
was little doubt marijuana relieved Kubby's cancer symptoms, there was no
evidence that depriving him of cannabis while incarcerated on the California
'shroom charge would kill him, despite testimony from Dr. Joseph Connors of
the British Columbia Cancer Agency, who told the court during an April
hearing that Kubby would die within four days if denied access to marijuana
for his condition. Kubby was not a refugee, wrote Dauns, but a "fugitive
from justice."
And while Kubby argued that his use of marijuana was akin to a diabetic's
use of insulin, Dauns was having none of that, either. "Insulin has been
approved by the medical community as a treatment, whereas marijuana has
not," she said. "The research on the benefits of marijuana is woefully
inadequate and inconclusive, making a comparison of these two treatments
illogical," she wrote.
The Kubby case is the first of a handful of similar "reefer refugee" cases
to be decided in Canada. Two Northern California men, Kenneth Hayes and
Steve Tuck, who fled federal marijuana charges related to California medical
marijuana grows, have cases pending before the author of Monday's decision,
board member Dauns. Some advocates had hoped Kubby, with his strong health
argument, had the strongest of any of the pending cases.
Canadian Kubby supporters denounced the decision. "This is yet another
example of the harms of cannabis prohibition," said Philippe Lucas, director
of Canadians for Safe Access (http://www.safeaccess.ca), a medical marijuana
defense organization based on its southern sister, Americans for Safe Access
(http://www.safeaccessnow.org). "The Kubbys are kind contributors to the
social well-being of Canadians -- under any other circumstances, Canada
would welcome this reverse brain-drain. It is only through the perversion of
justice caused by prohibition that a loving family like the Kubbys could be
condemned to an uncertain future at the hands of American prosecutors."
But it wasn't only abstract prohibition that had Lucas and other Canadian
activists irked, it was the harsh slap in the face from a traditionally
refugee-friendly country. "Are we as a nation really so quick to take a
chance on Steve Kubby's health?" asked Lucas. "Shouldn't a modern liberal
democracy like Canada err on the side of social justice when a man's life is
on the line? If Steve Kubby should suffer the same fate as Peter McWilliams
-- who died choking on his own vomit while being denied his medicinal
cannabis after his arrest -- the hands of those who denied his refugee claim
will be forever stained in his blood."
"Today, I'm ashamed of being a Canadian," concurred Tim Meehan, national
director of the anti-prohibition wing of the New Democratic Party
(http://www.ndpot.ca). "Here at home, our government constantly reminds us
of how important the refugee protection system is. Canada's reputation is
built on it. However, when they subject people like Steve Kubby and his
family to institutional prejudice because of their choice of medical
treatment, and are more concerned about angering a trading partner than
saving a human life, that demonstrates our government's priorities are very
seriously out of alignment. I hope Canadians remember that in the upcoming
federal election," Meehan added.
Visit http://www.mapinc.org/alert/0282.html for a letter-writing alert to
help Steve Kubby.
Read a summary of the decision at:
http://www.irb.gc.ca/en/decisions/kubby/va2_01374_e.htm#summary
Read the decision in full at:
http://www.irb.gc.ca/en/decisions/kubby/va2_01374_e.htm
Or to get right to the paragraphs where Dauns lays out her reasoning, go to:
http://www.irb.gc.ca/en/decisions/kubby/va2_01374_e.htm#determination
American Medical Marijuana Refugee Ordered To Return To United States
NORML's Weekly News Bulletin -- December 11, 2003
http://norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=5856
American Medical Marijuana Refugee Ordered To Return To United States
Immigration Board Recognizes Pot To Be "Best Treatment Available," But
Rejects Patient's Asylum Request
December 11, 2003 - Vancouver, BC, Canada
Vancouver, British Columbia: The Canadian Immigration and Refugee Board this
week denied refugee status to American Steve Kubby and his family, and
ordered their return to California where Kubby is expected to be sentenced
to four months in jail for drug-related charges. Kubby has said he will
appeal the ruling.
He and his wife Michelle and two children will be allowed to remain in the
country while awaiting their appeal.
Kubby fled to Canada in 2001 rather than serve time in jail, where he would
be denied access to medicinal marijuana, which he requires to treat symptoms
of a rare, life-threatening form of adrenal cancer known as
pheochromocytoma. Kubby was diagnosed in 1968 with the disease - which he's
managed since the early 1980s exclusively by smoking cannabis - and given
six months to live. (Life expectancy of a person with pheochromocytoma is
typically three to five years.) Today Kubby is recognized as one of the
longest living survivors of the disease.
Though the Board recognized that "marijuana continues to be the best
treatment available to Mr. Kubby," and that he could potentially suffer a
heart attack or stroke without cannabis, it nevertheless ruled, "The
claimant is not a person in need of protection in that his removal to the
United States would not subject him personally to a risk to his life."
The Board based this decision, in part, on the premise that Kubby would
likely have access to medicinal marijuana while in jail. However, California
law does not compel the state to allow inmates access to medical cannabis,
stating: "Nothing in this article shall require any accommodation of any
medical use of marijuana ... on the property or premises of any jail,
correctional facility, or other type of penal institution in which prisoners
reside or persons under arrest are detained."
While living in Canada, Kubby had been one of fewer than 600 individuals to
receive a federal exemption from Health Canada to legally cultivate and use
pot for medical purposes.
NORML Foundation Executive Director Allen St. Pierre called the Refugee
Board's decision unfortunate and puzzling considering the government's prior
acknowledgement of Kubby's medical need to use cannabis. "This decision
makes little sense in light of the fact that the Canadian government has
already approved Steve Kubby's medical use of marijuana by granting him a
special exemption from prosecution," he said.
"Why they couldn't extend that same thinking to his asylum request seeking
protection for his health from America's policy of strict marijuana law
enforcement is puzzling. This decision does not bode well for the other
Americans who have sought refuge status in Canada for their
physician-sanctioned use of medical marijuana."
Since 1989, the Immigration and Refugee Board has heard nearly 1,000 refugee
cases from the United States, including 268 pending cases. So far, none of
those individuals have been granted asylum.
For more information, please contact Allen St. Pierre of The NORML
Foundation at (202) 483-8751. Full text of the Immigration and Refugee
Board's ruling is available online at:
http://www.irb.gc.ca/en/decisions/kubby/va2_01374_e.htm
(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.)
Woman Uses Greeting Card to Smuggle Meth
FOXNews.com - Top Stories - Woman Uses Greeting Card to Smuggle Meth
The court case that could reshape US democracy
The court case that could reshape US democracy
(TruthOut permacopy)
By Rupert Cornwell in Washington
11 December 2003
It bears the utterly uninformative title of Veith et al vs Jubelirer (docket number 02-1580). But the case, which the US Supreme Court heard yesterday, deals with the explosive political issue of gerrymandering - and its ruling next year could literally reshape America's democracy.
Veith et al vs Jubelirer involves only Pennsylvania. The state's Democrats have challenged what they say is a rigged and unfair plan to redraw congressional districts, a move approved by Pennsylvania's Republican-controlled legislature after the 2000 census.
Big Money's Spigot Will Stay Open
Big Money's Spigot Will Stay Open
t r u t h o u t permacopy
By Nick Anderson and Janet Hook
Los Angeles Times
Thursday 11 December 2003
Even though it erected formidable new barriers between politicians and deep-pocketed donors, the election law upheld Wednesday by the Supreme Court has not shut down big money in politics.
Instead, creative operatives allied with both parties are constructing new groups to raise and spend political money to get around the law.
...
Unwanted dog cheats death four times
Executing your dog because you don't want it or can't handle it any more is sick and pathetic. It's great that the dog lived, but that woman who dumped it on animal control should be ashamed of herself for putting that dog through that experience.
Unwanted dog cheats death four times
An unwanted dog which was put down with drugs, put in a plastic bag and then through a rubbish compressor has been found alive moments before being buried in a landfill site.
The five-year-old shepherd-Labrador cross was found clawing through the plastic bag on the back of a rubbish truck at the Edgeboro Landfill in East Brunswick, New Jersey.
December 12, 2003
Diebold email: "Make vote printouts too costly for MD"
NOTE: I have not read this whole thing, but it appears to have quite a bit of interesting info. the author of it wants it spread around, so I'm posting it here (just as I received it) in hopes of doing that.
-----------------------------------------------------
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Eric A. Smith
Hot Damn! Design
81-03-3959-5371
snowdog@juno.ocn.ne.jp
Diebold email: "Make vote printouts too costly for MD"
-- Scandals deepen for e-vote manufacturer
ANNAPOLIS, Maryland, December 12th — An internal memo has just surfaced suggesting e-vote manufacturer Diebold planned to overcharge the state of Maryland and make voter printouts "prohibitively expensive".
An employee named "Ken" wrote the Jan. 3 letter suggesting the company charge Maryland "out the yin" if legislators insisted on printouts.
Referring to a University of Maryland study critical of the company's machines, he added: "[The State of Maryland] already bought the system. At this point they are just closing the barn door. Let's just hope that as a company we are smart enough to charge out the yin if they try to change the rules now and legislate voter receipts."
He goes on to say "...any after-sale changes should be prohibitively expensive."
Delegate Karen S. Montgomery dropped the bombshell on Thursday amid negotiations with Diebold over its touchscreen voting machines.
Montgomery, who has written a bill mandating voter-verifiable ballots, described pressure to drop the issue, saying "scurrilous remarks" were being levelled against proponents of the measure. She said she believes the cost is being driven up to prevent anyone from insisting on verifiable printouts.
Steven T. Dennis of Gazette.net broke the story yesterday; he said spokesman David Bear deflected criticism by claiming the comments were "the internal discussion of one individual and [do] not reflect the sentiments or the position of the company."
Diebold, whose primary business has until recently been ATMs and ticket-vending machines (all of which produce paper printouts), made headlines last week when it dropped copyright-infringement suits against Swarthmore students who had published thousands of its internal memos on the Internet.
Prominent among the leaked memos is a missive to Global Election Systems (now Diebold) -- baldly stating that 16 thousand Gore votes were "disappeared" during the 2000 election. Author Lana Hires frantically asks how she should explain the problem to an auditor:
Additional memos are equally candid and suggestive:
-more-
Initially brought to light by activist Bev Harris, these and other alarming disclosures have added weight to the arguments of computer security experts and legislators nationwide, who say that Diebold's machines (as well as those of rivals ES&S and Sequoia) pose a grave risk to America's elections.
Harris received over 7,000 of the Diebold memos from an undisclosed source in early September. For the past three years, she has been arguing for greater security and accountability in electronic voting, last year weathering a similar unsuccesful gag lawsuit from e-vote firm ES&S.
A month after Harris recieved the memos she went public with them; Diebold immediately launched a gag lawsuit, and Harris's ISP shut down her activist site. A group of Swarthmore students and other activists responded by spreading the memos across the Internet.
When Diebold threatened to sue under the auspices of the DMCA, litigators from the Electronic Frontier Foundation and the ACLU stepped in to defend activists. Presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich added significant support by hosting the memos on his own website. Last week, Diebold withdrew its lawsuits.
With a new ISP, Harris has resumed her activism, and her book "Black Box Voting: Ballot Tampering in the 21st Century," can currently be downloaded for free from the site blackboxvoting.org.
Meanwhile, on Capital Hill, Congressman Rush Holt has also raised the issue of security, sponsoring the "Voter Confidence and Increased Accountability Act of 2003" (H.R. 2239), which calls for paper ballots, surprise recounts and auditable software in voting machines.
But while Holt's bill adds a significant level of transparency to the process, Harris says it doesn't go far enough. In a recent Buzzflash interview, she said:
"The problem area, and it is a whopper, is that this bill doesn't attack the crux of the issue, which is proper auditing -- and that is something that is needed for any computerized system, including optical scan machines.
The very first thing we need to do is get solid input from auditors who are experienced in fraud detection.
While we are designing amendments to the bill, we also must get some people with a solid grasp of history, because we need a voting system that is in keeping with the vision of our founding fathers -- and this is a public policy issue, not a computer issue. The most important thing that we keep forgetting is that the founders, especially Thomas Jefferson, felt that it was critical -- not "important," but CRITICAL to democracy, to keep the vote directly in the hands of the people themselves. Any solution which requires us to trust a handful of experts will, sooner or later, result in the demise of our democracy.
-more-
That means we need to retain (and enforce) policies to tally the votes at the polls, in front of observers. In some countries, they let as many regular citizens as can fit in the room in to watch the physical counting. It is this neighborhood tallying, and the open and public nature of it, that is the embodiment of democracy."
In July, Harris demonstrated just how insecure a Diebold machine could be, showing in a step-by-step expose how to reverse a federal election. New Zealand's Scoop Media posted the illustrated account online.
Author Faun Otter and others have also raised the issue of impartiality on the part of Diebold's board, which has contributed hundreds of thousands of dollars to Republican campaigns. National headlines were made when CEO Michael O'Dell, who recently hosted a $600,000 fundraiser for Vice President Dick Cheney, announced in a Republican fundraising letter that he was "committed to delivering Ohio's votes to the President".
But controversy doesn't end with Diebold alone. Rival voting machine company ES&S also came under scrutiny when it surfaced that it was run by Chuck Hagel until two weeks before his own election. Senator Hagel won by the biggest landslide in Nebraskan history; a victory the press characterized as a "stunning upset". His company, ES&S, counted 83% of the votes.
Hagel left out details of his ES&S involvement in his SEC filings, and, when the discrepancy surfaced, two days after a closed-door meeting with Hagel SEC legal counsel Victor Baird resigned and the matter was dropped.
And Hagel, who prior to his stewardship of ES&S was head of the Private Sector Council for George H.W. Bush, has bigger plans: Harris says the domain name "Bush-Hagel2004.com" was purchased last year but subsequently released and the Senator has already bought the rights to "hagel2008.com" and "ChuckHagel2008.com".
Meanwhile Hagel campaign manager Michael McCarthy owns over 30% of ES&S's parent company, and even the Senator hasn't fully divested himself of ownership -- he still has a $5 million stake in ES&S parent company the McCarthy Group.
Harris says there are firms offering comparatively secure systems -- competitors Avante, Accupol and Vogue, for example -- but some activists say any machine offers an opportunity for vote tampering. They're calling for a return to simple ballots, though such a solution is unlikely -- Bush's Help America Vote Act mandates a nationwide migration to electronic voting by 2006.
Secretary of state Kevin Shelley's recent declaration that all California voting machines must provide printouts may prompt the rest of the country to follow the west’s lead. But it may end up being a matter of too little, too late, as Diebold, ES&S and Sequioa systems are already in place in 37 states.
Harris, for one, is calling for a legal injunction to halt the use of any insecure systems prior to the 2004 primaries. If her instincts are right, a fierce battle may loom on the horizon -- a battle for the very heart and soul of America's democracy.
Officials to phone, fax and email about secure voting:
Congress
http://www.visi.com/juan/congress/
State elections boards:
http://www.blackboxvoting.org/htdocs/dcforum/DCForumID29/47.html
State Attorneys General (party affiliations listed):
http://www.naag.org/ag/full_ag_table.php
-more-
State Election Officials
http://www.nased.org/
Members, Natl. Assoc. of County Recorders, Election Officials and Clerks:
http://www.nacrc.org/leadership/st_coord.htm
Penelope Bonsall, national director of the Office of Election Administration
Office of Election Administration
Federal Election Commission
999 E Street, NW
Washington, DC 20463
vss@fec.gov
(202) 694-1095 (phone)
(202) 219-8500 (fax)
Online e-petitions EFF and VerifiedVoting.org:
http://action.eff.org/action/index.asp?step=2&item=2821
http://www.verifiedvoting.org
Media Contacts:
http://dmoz.org/Arts/Television/News/
http://newslink.org
http://www.cantufind.com/american_newspapers.htm
http://dmoz.org/Arts/Radio/Formats/Talk_Radio/Networks/
http://dmoz.org/Arts/Radio/Formats/Talk_Radio/Stations/
http://dmoz.org/Arts/Television/Networks/Cable/
http://dmoz.org/Arts/Television/Networks/
http://dmoz.org/Computers/Internet/Broadcasting/Information/
Contact: Eric A. Smith, Hot Damn! Design, Tokyo, Japan ● 81-03-3959-5371
# # #
Borowitz: SUPREME COURT OVERTURNS GORE’S ENDORSEMENT OF DEAN
SUPREME COURT OVERTURNS GORE’S ENDORSEMENT OF DEAN
Transfers Nod to Bush in 5-4 Decision
December 11, 2003
LP RELEASE: Campaign finance ruling
====================================
NEWS FROM THE LIBERTARIAN PARTY
2600 Virginia Avenue, NW, Suite 100
Washington DC 20037
World Wide Web: http://www.LP.org
====================================
For release: December 11, 2003
====================================
For additional information:
George Getz, Communications Director
Phone: (202) 333-0008
====================================
High court's ruling is all-out assault
on right to engage in politics, Libertarians say
WASHINGTON, DC -- The Libertarian Party, which is one of the plaintiffs
that challenged the campaign finance law upheld on Tuesday by the
Supreme Court, has denounced the ruling as an "all-out assault on the
right of every American to engage in the political process."
"Why not just outlaw elections and get it over with?" said Geoffrey
Neale, the Libertarian Party's national chair. "The Supreme Court has
just given incumbent politicians the power to financially cripple their
competitors and, in the process, award themselves lifetime jobs."
In a 5-4 ruling that shocked advocacy groups across the political
spectrum, the Supreme Court endorsed key provisions of the McCain-
Feingold campaign finance law. Specifically, the court upheld a ban on
"soft money" contributions from wealthy individuals, corporations and
labor unions, as well the law's prohibition on running certain
political advertisements within close proximity to an election.
But Libertarians point out that McCain-Feingold was nothing more than
an incumbent protection act in the first place -- and that the court's
ruling was tantamount to outlawing political competition.
"Running for office and communicating a message aren't free," Neale
said. "So making it illegal to raise money to buy political ads, and
banning the ads during the period when they're most effective, is
tantamount to outlawing the message itself. That's a crime against the
First Amendment as well as an affront to the democratic process."
Incumbent politicians already enjoy powerful advantages, Neale pointed
out, such as name recognition and the ability to attract news media,
taxpayer-financed staffs and office space, and the franking privilege.
The so-called campaign finance reform act was merely an attempt to
eliminate the only weapon that many challengers have: contributions
freely given by individuals or groups that share their views, he noted.
Acknowledging that the stated goal of the legislation was to clean up
politics, Neale said: "Justice Sandra Day O'Connor pointed out that
'corruption, and in particular the appearance of corruption,' is
rampant in Washington -- and of course, she's right.
"But a free-flowing, robust political debate isn't the problem; it's
the solution. The only way to dislodge an entrenched, corrupt
politician is to allow competing candidates, and anyone else who so
chooses, to publicly criticize them and offer voters a better
alternative.
"By upholding McCain-Feingold, the Supreme Court has merely guaranteed
that corrupt politicians will stay in office for a longer period of
time."
In March 1992, the Libertarian Party signed on as a co-plaintiff in
McConnell v FEC, the lawsuit spearheaded by Kentucky Senator Mitch
McConnell that sought to overturn the campaign finance reform law.
The party argued that the law would have a devastating impact on its
activities by eliminating certain sources of revenue and imposing
significant regulatory and administrative burdens.
For example, the law prohibits the organization from accepting
donations of more than $25,000 from any individual; prevents it from
taking money from organizations that are not "recognized political
committees," so it cannot sell ads in its party newspaper to nonprofit
corporations or incorporated businesses; and cannot accept funds for
memberships or literature from its own state affiliates, unless they
also comply with the law's onerous regulations.
However, the party was vindicated by one aspect of Tuesday's ruling,
Neale added, when the court struck down the provision of the law
banning minors from making contributions to political parties.
# # #
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
The Libertarian Party http://www.lp.org/
2600 Virginia Ave. NW, Suite 100 voice: 202-333-0008
Washington DC 20037 fax: 202-333-0072
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
For subscription changes, please use the WWW form at:
http://www.lp.org/action/email.html
Pot doc's license revocation upheld
Dec. 10, 2003 -- Pot doc's license revocation upheld
By HANK LAWSON Staff writer
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed Monday the federal government's revocation of Dr. Marion "Molly" Fry's license to prescribe medication including marijuana.
Who died and made non-aggression fundamental?
This memoir of sorts is rambling, but it has a quality to it which makes it interesting, and a little insightful.
Who died and made non-aggression fundamental?
by Student of Life
December 10, 2003
Campaign finance supporters praise Supreme Court ruling
This statement from the president of Common Cause is one of the most delusional claims I've heard from a public figure in a while.
"The toxic link between donors who write six-figure checks and people in power at the highest levels of government has been severed for good," said Chellie Pingree, the group's president, in a statement.
It's almost as funny as "The era of big government is over" was. Oh, yeah, folks....this time they've got it all worked out. Sure.
CNN.com - Campaign finance supporters praise Supreme Court ruling - Dec. 10, 2003
Supreme Court upholds 'soft money' ban
CNN.com - Supreme Court upholds 'soft money' ban - Dec. 10, 2003
December 09, 2003
December 08, 2003
KUBBY VOWS APPEAL OF RULING DENYING REFUGEE STATUS IN CANADA
For Immediate Release
December 8, 2003
Press Conference:
Tuesday, Dec. 9th, noon, BC Marijuana Party Headquarters, 307 West Hastings,
Vancouver
Decision Online:
http://www.irb.gc.ca/en/decisions/kubby/va2_01374_e.htm
KUBBY VOWS APPEAL OF RULING DENYING REFUGEE STATUS IN CANADA
VANCOUVER -- Steve Kubby, medical marijuana patient and former Libertarian
Party candidate for governor of California, vowed to appeal a ruling by the
Refugee Protection Division today that denied him refugee status in Canada
based on his need for medical marijuana.
Kubby complained, "I cannot understand how the Refugee panel could conclude
that my life would not be at risk if I were forced to return to the US,
after the leading cancer specialist in British Columbia testified that I
would die without it."
British Columbia cancer specialist Dr. Joseph Michael Connors, an expert in
the area of adrenal cancers, called by the Immigration Ministry, examined
Kubby and testified at the hearing about his medical condition.
The ruling recognizes that, according to Dr. Connors, "Mr. Kubby's tumour
releases, in excess quantities, hormones normally found in the adrenal
gland. Excessive levels of these hormones in Mr. Kubby's blood cause a
range of separate symptomatic problems including paroxysmal headaches,
palpitations (rapid and irregular beating of the heart), hypertension
(sudden dangerous rise in blood pressure), sudden abdominal cramps and
diarrhea, chest pain, shortness of breath, nausea, sudden severe weakness
and anorexia (loss of appetite). If not controlled, Mr. Kubby's symptoms
could evolve further to the point where a myocardial infarction (heart
attack) or cerebral vascular accident (stroke) could occur."
The ruling also acknowledged that "there is evidence before the Board, that
marihuana controls the symptoms of Mr. Kubby's cancer, including
hypertension. In Dr. Connors' opinion, marihuana continues to be the best
treatment available to Mr. Kubby."
However, the ruling went on to say that "it cannot therefore be stated with
any degree of certainty, that marihuana is the reason for Mr. Kubby's
survival even though it remains the best treatment option at this time."
Health Canada has even given Mr. Kubby permission to grow one hundred and
seventeen marijuana plants, based on "medical necessity."
The ruling further acknowledged, Kubby "has received a Health Canada
exemption, which suggests he is a bona fide ill person in need of medical
marihuana. It is noteworthy that Mr. Kubby was investigated and charged
with marihuana related criminal offences in Canada. Those Canadian charges
were later stayed by the Crown, and his marihuana grow equipment was
returned to him by the RCMP after the charges were stayed. This suggests
the Government of Canada believes he has a medical necessity for marihuana."
Despite all of this, the ruling somehow concluded, "he has not established
there is a risk to his life or a risk of cruel and unusual treatment or
punishment" if Kubby is forced to return to the US.
Kubby vowed, "Apparently, I have to die in order to convince the Refugee
board, but instead I intend to fight."
###
Kerry: "Did I expect George Bush to f - - - it up as badly as he did?"
New York Post Online Edition: CURSING KERRY UNLEASHES
FOULMOUTHED ATTACK ON BUSH
BillofRightsDay.com
Here's a new site I put together to help folks organize their Bill of Rights Day celebration efforts:
December 07, 2003
Boots on the Ground, Hearts on Their Sleeves
Boots on the Ground, Hearts on Their Sleeves
By DAVID BROOKS
Published: December 2, 2003
Bossier School Board upholds Advil expulsion
Bossier School Board upholds Advil expulsion
Girl had over-the-counter pills in purse at school
December 06, 2003
Hess: You pays your nickel, you takes your chances
This op-ed is a pretty good dressing-down of a "big prostitution bust", by Arizona Libertarian Barry Hess.
Hip hoppers say Dennis no menace
Hip hoppers say Dennis no menace=The Hill.com=
Dennis Kucinich, that is.
Phillies' Ideas for Libertarian Presidential Candidates
I am not running for President - but I do have some ideas on what our Party needs in one
by George Phillies
In Iraq Picture, Bush Is Holding the Centerpiece
The Bird Was Perfect But Not For Dinner (washingtonpost.com)
In Iraq Picture, Bush Is Holding the Centerpiece
Lindaman: Welcome Back, Rush...Now Retire!
AmericanDaily.com - Welcome Back, Rush...Now Retire! - Thomas Lindaman
December 05, 2003
Rumsfeld's Leaked Memo about the "War on Terror"
I tried to find this memo when it was hot news, and gave up before I was able to. But I recently found cause to look again, and had better luck. I'm storing it here because it's worth archiving (Plus it's public domain, I assume, so I might as well get the traffic instead of USATODAY, where I got it from.)
October 16, 2003
TO: Gen. Dick Myers
Paul Wolfowitz
Gen. Pete Pace
Doug Feith
FROM: Donald Rumsfeld
SUBJECT: Global War on Terrorism
The questions I posed to combatant commanders this week were: Are we winning or losing the Global War on Terror? Is DoD changing fast enough to deal with the new 21st century security environment? Can a big institution change fast enough? Is the USG changing fast enough?
DoD has been organized, trained and equipped to fight big armies, navies and air forces. It is not possible to change DoD fast enough to successfully fight the global war on terror; an alternative might be to try to fashion a new institution, either within DoD or elsewhere — one that seamlessly focuses the capabilities of several departments and agencies on this key problem.
With respect to global terrorism, the record since Septermber 11th seems to be:
We are having mixed results with Al Qaida, although we have put considerable pressure on them — nonetheless, a great many remain at large.
USG has made reasonable progress in capturing or killing the top 55 Iraqis.
USG has made somewhat slower progress tracking down the Taliban — Omar, Hekmatyar, etc.
With respect to the Ansar Al-Islam, we are just getting started.
Have we fashioned the right mix of rewards, amnesty, protection and confidence in the US?
Does DoD need to think through new ways to organize, train, equip and focus to deal with the global war on terror?
Are the changes we have and are making too modest and incremental? My impression is that we have not yet made truly bold moves, although we have have made many sensible, logical moves in the right direction, but are they enough?
Today, we lack metrics to know if we are winning or losing the global war on terror. Are we capturing, killing or deterring and dissuading more terrorists every day than the madrassas and the radical clerics are recruiting, training and deploying against us?
Does the US need to fashion a broad, integrated plan to stop the next generation of terrorists? The US is putting relatively little effort into a long-range plan, but we are putting a great deal of effort into trying to stop terrorists. The cost-benefit ratio is against us! Our cost is billions against the terrorists' costs of millions.
Do we need a new organization?
How do we stop those who are financing the radical madrassa schools?
Is our current situation such that "the harder we work, the behinder we get"?
It is pretty clear that the coalition can win in Afghanistan and Iraq in one way or another, but it will be a long, hard slog.
Does CIA need a new finding?
Should we create a private foundation to entice radical madradssas to a more moderate course?
What else should we be considering?
Please be prepared to discuss this at our meeting on Saturday or Monday.
Thanks.
December 03, 2003
Taibbi: Clark's True Colors
I was not impressed by Taibbi's attitude and approach in writing this article*, but he makes some OK points.
*As Matt Stoller of the Clark Sphere put it:
Seriously, attacking Clark is fine, he's in politics. But why go after the campaign staffers who are trying to do their best? Come on. This is ridiculous. Posing as a porn director at a Meetup and then getting awkward quotes from 22 year old volunteers? Really.
by Matt Taibbi
You can see something in the eyes of most all the Democratic candidates: the pugnacity of Howard Dean, the idealism of Dennis Kucinich, even (surprisingly) the elaborate sense of humor just under the surface of Joe Lieberman.
Not Wesley Clark. His eyes are blank. Like a turtle resting on a rock in the middle of a pond, he simply seems never to move, no matter how long you stare. But then, just as you're about to pack up your picnic basket and go home, you catch him: His head pops out, and he slides off into the water...
Lydon on Emerson: A God for Bloggers
A God for Bloggers
by Christopher Lydon
Ralph Waldo Emerson on his 200th birthday this spring is "closer to us than ever," writes the great Harold Bloom. He is a man for bloggers to embrace most especially, not for Emerson's glory but for our own understanding of a transformative moment we are living through.
Poet, public intellectual, performance artist and incomparable diarist, Emerson (1803-1882) has glory enough. It's we who need his encouraging frame around bloggery--this still strange and marvellous exercise in democratic media.
...
Some Iraqis Welcome Bush, Others Wish Him in Hell
This article is archived at TruthOut. The original doesn't appear to be available at MSNBC.com anymore.
The Pentagon crosses the lexicon
The Pentagon crosses the lexicon
As the horizon in Iraq recedes, the U.S. military’s language adapts
ANALYSIS
By Michael Moran
MSNBC
The turkey has landed
The turkey has landed: how Bush cooked up a secret mission to give thanks to his troops
By Phil Reeves in Baghdad and David Usborne in New York
The Independent-UK
An Apology to Younger Americans
An Apology to Younger Americans
By Sam Smith, The Progressive Review
November 30, 2003
In observance of the approaching 66th anniversary of my arrival on this planet I would like to apologize to you on behalf of my generation. Even members of Confederacy had the grace to secede from the union; my generation has remained within like a deadly virus, subverting it, shaming it, screwing it, stealing from it, and finally strangling it. It will likely be known as the worst generation – the one that brought the First American Republic down – unmatched in the damage it has done to the Constitution, the environment, and a two century struggle to create a society democratic and decent in its politics, economics, and social concourse.
To be sure, when we were young we were, as we said then, somethin' else. We launched the civil rights, women's, gay, and environmental movements, not to mention creating some memorable music before descending into disco. Soon other things started to go downhill rapidly. We became not only the generation that invented the phrase, 'never trust anyone over thirty,' we proved it.
...
December 01, 2003
The Bush Betrayal
I'm posting the full text of this excellent opinion piece, because I'd like to have it archived here. It was originally published in the Washington Post.
By David Boaz
Sunday, November 30, 2003
In 2000 George W. Bush campaigned across the country telling voters: "My opponent trusts government. I trust you."
Little wonder that some of his supporters are now wondering which candidate won that election.
Federal spending has increased by 23.7 percent since Bush took office. Education has been further federalized in the No Child Left Behind Act. Bush pulled out all the stops to get Republicans in Congress to create the biggest new entitlement program -- prescription drug coverage under Medicare -- in 40 years.
He pushed an energy bill that my colleague Jerry Taylor described as "three parts corporate welfare and one part cynical politics . . . a smorgasbord of handouts and subsidies for virtually every energy lobby in Washington."
It's a far cry from the less-government, "leave us alone" conservatism of Ronald Reagan.
Conservatives used to believe that the U.S. Constitution set up a government of strictly limited powers.
It was supposed to protect us from foreign threats and deliver the mail, leaving other matters to the states or to the private sector -- individuals, families, churches, charities and businesses.
That's what lots of voters assumed they would get with Bush. In his first presidential debate with Al Gore, Bush contrasted his own vision of tax reduction with that of his opponent, who would "increase the size of government dramatically." Gore, Bush declared, would "empower Washington," but "my passion and my vision is to empower Americans to be able to make decisions for themselves in their own lives."
Bush was tapping into popular sentiment.
In fact, you could say that what most voters wanted in 2000 was neither Bush nor Gore but smaller government. A Los Angeles Times poll in September 2000 found that Americans preferred "smaller government with fewer services" to "larger government with many services" by 59 to 26 percent.
But that's not what voters got. Leave aside defense spending and even entitlements spending: In Bush's first three years, nondefense discretionary spending -- which fell by 13.5 percent under Ronald Reagan -- has soared by 20.8 percent. His more libertarian-minded voters are taken aback to discover that "compassionate conservatism" turned out to mean social conservatism -- a stepped-up drug war, restrictions on medical research, antigay policies, federal subsidies for marriage and religion -- and big-spending liberalism justified as "compassion."
When they're given a chance to vote, Americans don't like big government.
Last November 45 percent of the voters in the most liberal state in the Union, Ted Kennedy's Massachusetts, voted to abolish the state income tax.
In January, Oregon's liberal electorate rejected a proposed tax increase, 55 percent to 45 percent.
In September Alabama voters rejected Gov. Bob Riley's $1.2 billion tax hike by 2 to 1.
California voters tossed out big-spending Gov. Gray Davis, and 62 percent of them voted for candidates who promised not to raise taxes to close the state's deficit.
Bush and his aides should be worrying about the possibility that libertarians, economic conservatives and fed-up taxpayers won't be in his corner in 2004 in the same numbers as 2000.
Republican strategists are likely to say that libertarians and economic conservatives have nowhere else to go. Many of the disappointed will indeed sigh a deep sigh and vote for Bush as a lesser evil.
But Karl Rove, who is fascinated by the role Mark Hanna played in building the post-1896 Republican majority, should remember one aspect of that era: In the late 19th century, the Democratic Party of Jefferson, Jackson and Cleveland was known as "the party of personal liberty." More so than the Republicans, it was committed to economic and cultural laissez-faire and opposed to Prohibition, protectionism and inflation.
When the big-government populist William Jennings Bryan claimed the Democratic nomination in 1896, many assumed he would draw industrial workers from the Republicans and bring new voters to the polls. Instead, Bryan lost in a landslide, and turnout declined for the next few elections. As the more libertarian Democrats found less reason to go to the polls, the Republicans dominated national politics for the next 36 years.
It could happen that limited-government voters decide to stay home, or vote for an independent candidate in the mold of Ross Perot or Jesse Ventura or vote Libertarian.
They could even vote for an antiwar, anti-Patriot Act, socially tolerant Democrat.
Given a choice between big-government liberalism and big-government conservatism, the leave-us-alone voters might decide that voting isn't worth the trouble.
The writer is executive vice president of the Cato Institute and author of "Libertarianism: A Primer."
Geoff Metcalf: Under the Color of Authority
IRS: Abuse of Power
Under the Color of Authority
Geoff Metcalf
Monday, Nov. 24, 2003
Find out just what people will submit to, and you have found out the exact amount of injustice and wrong which will be imposed upon them; and these will continue until they are resisted with either words or blows, or both. The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they oppress. – Frederick Douglass
For over a decade I have been interviewing and reporting on what has been called The "Tax Honesty Movement." Some people call these folks “tax protesters," others call them wackos. To a growing many, they are patriots committed to redressing what they perceive as a grievous wrong.
In the wake of years of study, interviews and analysis I have come to my own personal conclusions:
-As an academic exercise, and objective evaluation of the facts in evidence, the Tax Freedom crowd is mostly right.
-However, as a practical reality check, and ‘The Golden Rule’ (those with the gold make the rules), when contemporary ‘Davids’ square off with the federal government’s ‘Goliath,’ right is NOT might.
-Those who take on “The G” can and will be eviscerated by bureaucratic ‘shock and awe’ that has and will ruin lives.
...
One of the most heroic crusaders cast in the role of ‘David’ is Joseph R. (Joe) Banister. Joe is a CPA and former IRS Criminal Investigation Division special agent [www.freedomabovefortune.com]. He is a good guy with a fascinating story and about to become another victim of abuse of power under the color of authority.
...
Big Crowd at Military School Protest Gets Earful of Patriotic Music From Army
Big Crowd at Military School Protest Gets Earful of Patriotic Music From Army
COLUMBUS, Ga. (AP) - Demonstrators gathered outside Fort Benning to protest a military school were hit with a sonic barrage Saturday: patriotic music Army officials had blaring from the main gate.
A crowd estimated by Columbus police at 8,000 gathered to protest the school once known as the School of the Americas, which they blame for Latin American human rights abuses. It appeared to be the largest first-day gathering in the 14-year history of the protest.
The Army's loudspeakers, playing "The Army Song" and "God Bless the U.S.A.," were 50 yards away from where protesters were speaking to the crowd.
...
Raimondo: Boot Boortz!
Neal Boortz is a statist, not a libertarian.
So why is he speaking at the Libertarian Party’s national convention?
by Justin Raimondo
November 26, 2003
One thing one has to say about most of the "liberventionists" – the tiny but vocal clot of pro-war, pro-Bush "libertarians" – and that is they oppose this administration’s attacks on our civil liberties here at home. But what are we to make of alleged libertarians, such as Neal Boortz, who wants to know why the FBI shouldn’t be allowed to spy on the antiwar movement:
"The FBI is investigating the backgrounds and organizational methods of antiwar demonstrators in the US. Hopefully that doesn't come as a surprise to you. It is safe to assume that a large number of these demonstrators are out there in the streets because they want America to fail in its efforts to fight terrorism and its efforts to bring secular representative governments to Iraq and Afghanistan. Translated: Many of these demonstrators are pro-Saddam and anti-US. So, who wouldn't want them investigated by the FBI?"
Oh, gee, I don’t know: maybe a self-described "libertarian" who advocates strictly limited government and regards such surveillance as impermissible, in principle. Perhaps someone who takes the Bill of Rights seriously. In short, someone who believes in upholding the primacy of individual liberty – even in the face of an unprecedented assault by a cabal of war-crazed power-hungry ideologues.
...
Lessig: The New Road to the White House
The New Road to the White House
How grassroots blogs are transforming presidential politics.
When they write the account of the 2004 campaign, it will include at least one word that has never appeared in any presidential history: blog. Whether or not it elects the next president, the blog may be the first innovation from the Internet to make a real difference in election politics. But to see just why requires a bit of careful attention.
...
AlterNet: Neocons Leak Bad Intelligence
AlterNet: Neocons Leak Bad Intelligence
By Jim Lobe, AlterNet
November 20, 2003
The leak of a secret memorandum written by a senior Pentagon official reveals less about the connection between Saddam and al Qaeda than the growing desperation of neo-conservative hawks in the Bush administration.
US starts to lift the veil on Camp X-Ray trials
US starts to lift the veil on Camp X-Ray trials
(TruthOut permacopy)
Patriot Act Expansion Moves Through Congress
Patriot Act Expansion Moves Through Congress
by Jim Lobe
(TruthOut permacopy)
George Orwell: Why I Write
This was really interesting for me. Thanks to Tim at Libertarian Rant for pointing it out.
SITE NOTE: Scaling back for now
I need to conserve time for a while, so entries here are going to be less robust than usual. In most cases I might just end up posting links to what I've read, more as a way of keeping track than anything else. I'm sorry if anyone has grown dependent on the excerpts and ratings. ;-\
I don't know if this has long-term implications for the Little Brown Reader. For the time being, I consider it to be a temporary shift in my approach. I'll be sure to let you know if that changes.
Patriot Act Author Has Concerns
Patriot Act Author Has Concerns
By Richard B. Schmitt, Times Staff Writer
Detaining citizens as 'enemy combatants' -- a policy not spelled out in the act -- is flawed, the legal scholar says.
WASHINGTON — The Justice Department's war on terrorism has drawn intense scrutiny from the left and the right. Now, a chief architect of the USA Patriot Act and a former top assistant to Atty. Gen. John Ashcroft are joining the fray, voicing concern about aspects of the administration's anti-terrorism policy.
At issue is the government's power to designate and detain "enemy combatants," in particular in the case of "dirty bomb" plot suspect Jose Padilla, the Brooklyn-born former gang member who was picked up at a Chicago airport 18 months ago by the FBI and locked in a military brig without access to a lawyer.
...
Day of Coordinated Attacks in Iraq
Coalition Forces Attacked in Southern Iraq
(TruthOut permacopy)
KARBALA, Iraq (AP) -- Insurgents using car bombs, mortars and machine guns launched three coordinated attacks in the southern city of Karbala on Saturday, killing 11 people -- including six Iraqi police officers and four coalition soldiers, military and hospital officials said. Two of the four coalition dead were from Thailand. An Iraqi civilian also was killed.
The attacks also wounded at least 172 people, with U.S. Army Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt saying 37 of them were coalition soldiers, including five Americans. Some 135 Iraqi police officers and civilians also were wounded, said Ali al-Arzawi, deputy head of Karbala General Hospital.
Coffee, Tea or Handcuffs?
LA Weekly: Columns: Open City: Coffee, Tea or Handcuffs?
An Australian journalist gets a taste of Department of Homeland Security hospitality
by Steven Mikulan
(TruthOut permacopy)
On the Web, an Amateur Audience Creates Anti-Bush Ads
An article about MoveOn's Bush In 30 Seconds video contest:
On the Web, an Amateur Audience Creates Anti-Bush Ads
(TruthOut permacopy -- second story on the page)
Where Political Influence Is Only a Keyboard Away
Where Political Influence Is Only a Keyboard Away
More than ever, the Internet gives people a connection -- and a voice -- in campaigns.
By Matea Gold, LA Times Staff Writer
(TruthOut permacopy)
Gadhafi: Intimidated, or just chilling out?
CNN.com - Gadhafi: Iraq war may have influenced WMD decision - Dec. 22, 2003
...
Asked about his decision, Gadhafi acknowledged that the Iraq war may have influenced him, but he insisted he wanted to focus on the "positive."
He said the world is a changed place in which his country can feel safe without weapons of mass destruction.
...
Gadhafi told CNN that other countries have set a positive example by dismantling weapons of mass destruction programs peacefully. He said he hopes other nations will follow his action.
QADDAFI TO GIVE UP SMOKING
QADDAFI TO GIVE UP SMOKING
Opens Libya to U.N. Ashtray Inspectors
by Andy Borowitz
In what some White House officials are hailing as the successful result of months of backdoor diplomacy, Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi of Libya agreed today to give up cigarettes once and for all.
“It’s a filthy, filthy habit,” said Col. Qaddafi, grinding a pack of Lucky Strikes under his polished jackboot. “I should have given it up years ago.”
...
“This is just another one of Muammar’s lame New Year’s Eve resolutions,” said Mr. Fakude, who shared a dorm room with Col. Qaddafi at Libya State University back when the dictator was known simply as Bluto Qaddafi. “I remember when he promised to give up beer. Yeah, right! That lasted about five minutes.”
PETA takes its message to the ballet
Animal rights group is taking its message to the ballet | csmonitor.com
Sugg: Neal Boortz is no John Galt
Neal Boortz is no John Galt
Libertarians will ensure their irrelevance if they embrace radio ignoramus
BY JOHN F. SUGG
Creative Loafing Atlanta
W. Times: Dean left speechless on Libya arms move
Dean left speechless on Libya arms move
The Washington Times: Nation/Politics
Girl Guide to Geeks
Pretty funny, and actually moderately insightful. Warp factor: 5 (<--- Just kidding...I don't really groove on the Trek thing that hard.)
December 24, 2003
Rumsfeld Made Iraq Overture in '84 Despite Chemical Raids
Rumsfeld Made Iraq Overture in '84 Despite Chemical Raids
Rumsfeld Made Iraq Overture in '84 Despite Chemical Raids
By CHRISTOPHER MARQUIS
Published: December 23, 2003
WASHINGTON, Dec. 22 — As a special envoy for the Reagan administration in 1984, Donald H. Rumsfeld, now the defense secretary, traveled to Iraq to persuade officials there that the United States was eager to improve ties with President Saddam Hussein despite his use of chemical weapons, newly declassified documents show.
Mr. Rumsfeld, who ran a pharmaceutical company at the time, was tapped by Secretary of State George P. Shultz to reinforce a message that a recent move to condemn Iraq's use of chemical weapons was strictly in principle and that America's priority was to prevent an Iranian victory in the Iran-Iraq war and to improve bilateral ties.
During that war, the United States secretly provided Iraq with combat planning assistance, even after Mr. Hussein's use of chemical weapons was widely known. The highly classified program involved more than 60 officers of the Defense Intelligence Agency, who shared intelligence on Iranian deployments, bomb-damage assessments and other crucial information with Iraq.
The disclosures round out a picture of American outreach to the Iraqi government, even as the United States professed to be neutral in the eight-year war, and suggests a private nonchalance toward Mr. Hussein's use of chemicals in warfare. Mr. Rumsfeld and other Bush administration officials have cited Iraq's use of poisonous gas as a main reason for ousting Mr. Hussein.
The documents, which were released as part of a declassification project by the National Security Archive, and are available on the Web at www.nsarchive.org, provide details of the instructions given to Mr. Rumsfeld on his second trip to Iraq in four months. The notes of Mr. Rumsfeld's encounter with Tariq Aziz, the foreign minister, remain classified, but officials acknowledged that it would be unusual if Mr. Rumsfeld did not carry out the instructions.
Since the release of the documents, he has told members of his inner circle at the Pentagon that he does not recall whether he had read, or even had received, the State Department memo, Defense Department officials said.
One official noted that the documents reflected the State Department's thinking on Iraq, but did not indicate Mr. Rumsfeld's planning for his meeting with Mr. Hussein nor his comments on the meeting after its conclusion.
Mr. Rumsfeld's trip was his second visit to Iraq. On his first visit, in late December 1983, he had a cordial meeting with Mr. Hussein, and photographs and a report of that encounter have been widely published.
In a follow-up memo, the chief of the American interests section reported that Mr. Aziz had conveyed Mr. Hussein's satisfaction with the meeting. "The Iraqi leadership was extremely pleased with Amb. Rumsfeld's visit," the memo said. "Tariq Aziz had gone out of his way to praise Rumsfeld as a person."
When news emerged last year of the December trip, Mr. Rumsfeld told CNN that he had "cautioned" Mr. Hussein to forgo chemical weapons. But when presented with declassified notes of their meeting that made no mention of that, a spokesman for Mr. Rumsfeld said he had raised the issue in a meeting with Mr. Aziz.
Lawrence Di Rita, the chief Pentagon spokesman, said on Friday that there was no inconsistency between Mr. Rumsfeld's previous comments on his missions to Iraq and the State Department documents.
By early 1984, events threatened to upset the American-Iraqi relationship. After pleading for a year for international action against the chemical warfare, Iran had finally persuaded the United Nations to criticize the use of chemical weapons, albeit in vague terms.
Pressure mounted on the Reagan administration, which had already verified Iraq's "almost daily" use of the weapons against Iran and against Kurdish rebels, documents show. In February, Iraq warned Iranian "invaders" that "for every harmful insect there is an insecticide capable of annihilating it." Within weeks, the American authorities intercepted precursor chemicals that were bound for Iraq. Finally, on March 5, the United States issued a public condemnation of Iraq.
But days later, Mr. Shultz and his deputy met with an Iraqi diplomat, Ismet Kittani, to soften the blow. The American relationship with Iraq was too important — involving business interests, Middle East diplomacy and a shared determination to thwart Iran — to sacrifice. Mr. Kittani left the meeting "unpersuaded," documents show.
Mr. Shultz then turned to Mr. Rumsfeld. In a March 24 briefing document, Mr. Rumsfeld was asked to present America's bottom line. At first, the memo recapitulated Mr. Shultz's message to Mr. Kittani, saying it "clarified that our CW [chemical weapons] condemnation was made strictly out of our strong opposition to the use of lethal and incapacitating CW, wherever it occurs." The American officials had "emphasized that our interests in 1) preventing an Iranian victory and 2) continuing to improve bilateral relations with Iraq, at a pace of Iraq's choosing, remain undiminished," it said.
Then came the instructions for Mr. Rumsfeld: "This message bears reinforcing during your discussions."
The American relationship with Iraq during its crippling war with Iran was rife with such ambiguities. Though the United States was outwardly neutral, it tilted toward Iraq and even monitored talks toward the sale of military equipment by private American contractors.
Tom Blanton, executive director of the National Security Archive, said: "Saddam had chemical weapons in the 1980's, and it didn't make any difference to U.S. policy."
Mr. Blanton suggested that the United States was now paying the price for earlier indulgence. "The embrace of Saddam in the 1980's and what it emboldened him to do should caution us as Americans that we have to look closely at all our murky alliances," he said. "Shaking hands with dictators today can turn them into Saddams tomorrow."
Thom Shanker contributed reporting for this article.
(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.)
Scientists Blame Soot for Global Warming
AP Wire | 12/23/2003 | Scientists Blame Soot for Global Warming
Bartlett: Third parties don't have a chance
I hear this a lot from republicans. I wonder if it means that Libertarians are becoming uncreasingly threatening to them.
republican third party opponents seems to consistently understate the reality of the Libertarian threat. For example, Bartlett says:
it is true that Libertarian Party candidates at the state level have sometimes gotten enough votes to elect a losing Republican had he gotten their votes.
Sounds pretty insignificant. But when you restate it to conform with reality, it sounds much more impressive:
it is true that Libertarian Senate candidates have gotten enough votes to elect a losing Republican had he gotten their votes, in two consecutive elections.
December 21, 2003
Cannabis campaigner may be forced to go
Cannabis campaigner may be forced to go
Pot activist Steve Kubby - who says he depends on marijuana to ward off a rare form of cancer - is now fighting to stay in Canada.
Kubby, 56, is under a departure order from Citizenship and Immigration Canada that would force him, wife Michele, and two daughters, out of the country as early as Jan. 15.
...
Hawaii reporter: Happy Bill of Rights Day
Happy Bill of Rights Day
The Libertarian View
By Tracy A. Ryan, 12/16/2003 2:00:36 AM
In recognition of the adoption of the first ten amendments to the Constitution on Dec. 15, 1791, Dec. 15th is "Bill of Rights Day." Did you see this important day in the news? Are Republicans and Democrats out making speeches like they do on the Fourth of July or on Labor Day? Well Libertarians are celebrating. To a libertarian being a proud American means more than just marching and flag waving. That kind of "patriotism" can be found in countries all over the world; many with little respect for individual rights. Our American Bill of Rights is an acknowledgment in the supreme law of our government that our rights and to liberty make individuals the true sovereigns here. Americans need never be forced to kneel before a collectivist autocracy.
On Saturday the 13th the Libertarian Party of Hawaii held its' December general meeting in Pahoa on the Big Island of Hawaii....
Harry Browne on The Liberation of Iraq
How Do I Liberate Thee?
Let Me Count the Ways
by Harry Browne
December 15, 2003
Excerpts:
How has Iraq been liberated? Let me count the ways . . .
1. The country is occupied by a foreign power.
2. Its officials are appointed by that foreign power.
3. Its citizens must carry ID cards.
4. They must submit to searches of their persons and cars at checkpoints and roadblocks.
5. They must be in their homes by curfew time.
6. Many towns are ringed with barbed wire.
...
9. The occupiers have decreed that certain electoral outcomes won't be permitted.
...
11. Protests are outlawed.
12. Private homes are raided or demolished — with no due process of law.
...
14. Newspapers, radio stations, and TV are all supervised by the occupiers.
...
Checks and Balances Live On
Rebuff for Bush on civil liberties (December 20, 2003)
(TruthOut permacopy)
THE Bush administration may be forced to rethink its war on terrorism strategy after two US courts ruled yesterday that detainees should not remain indefinitely in a legal twilight zone.
In a critical decision, a San Francisco appeals court disputed the administration's claims to have "unchecked authority" in dealing with prisoners held at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba outside the US criminal justice system.
The 2-1 decision came a few hours after a Manhattan appeals court ruled that accused "dirty bomb" plotter Jose Padilla - a US citizen alleged to be an enemy combatant - be released from military custody within 30 days.
...
Bill of Rights day in Noho
This is about Northampton, MA's Bill of Rights Day celebration. I've lived and worked in Northampton in the past. It's a great little Northeast city.
December 20, 2003
The Conservative Case Against George W. Bush
Righteous Anger
The Conservative Case Against George W. Bush
'Sick' Saddam drugged: visitor
'Sick' Saddam drugged: visitor (December 20, 2003)
A STARTLING new photograph of a sick-looking Saddam Hussein suggests he is being drugged or given strong medication by his US captors.
The man who took the photo told The Weekend Australian last night Hussein appeared very sick when he was visited by Iraqi Governing Council member Ahmed Chalabi two days after being captured near Tikrit.
...
Rogers brings it all back home
This is a friend and cohort of mine from college. I thought to check and see what she was up to, and thanks to the Internet, I was able to.
Rogers brings it all back home
It’s not unusual to hear musicians talk about getting back to their roots but when singer-songwriter Theresa Rogers says it, she means it literally, coming home to Wellfleet. Rogers, who fronted a successful Western Mass college circuit band has stepped away from the common career path taken by many aspiring musicians. She eschewed the idea of heading for bright lights, big city in favor of coming home to Cape Cod.
...
Intelligence Report: Iraq Outlook Bleak
This article is extracted from the Washington Times' "In the Ring" column
t r u t h o u t - Intelligence Report: Iraq Outlook Bleak
The National Intelligence Council, a group under CIA Director George J. Tenet, has released a paper that is part of an effort by intelligence analysts to predict global events in the next 17 years.
For its Middle East section, one analyst predicts Iraq faces a broad range of outcomes, mostly bad. ...
Bush Overruled on 'Dirty Bomb' Suspect
Yahoo! News - Bush Overruled on 'Dirty Bomb' Suspect
(TruthOut permacopy)
NEW YORK - President Bush does not have power to detain American citizen Jose Padilla, the former gang member seized on U.S. soil, as an enemy combatant, a federal appeals court ruled Thursday.
...
William Rivers Pitt | We Caught The Wrong Guy
t r u t h o u t - William Rivers Pitt | We Caught The Wrong Guy
3 senators urge Rumsfeld to free or try terror detainees
Coalition Strike In Afghanistan Kills 9 Children
Coalition Strike In Afghanistan Kills 9 Children
(for-pay archive)
December 19, 2003
Architects Unveil Revised Freedom Tower Design
A slightly different take on the same news event: Architects Unveil Revised Freedom Tower Design
WTC Freedom Tower to rise 1,776 feet
Freedom Tower to rise 1,776 feet from ashes
Architect says it will be an 'exclamation point' on the skyline
From Phil Hirschkorn
CNN
Friday, December 19, 2003
NEW YORK (CNN) -- The Freedom Tower to be built at the site of the devastated World Trade Center in Lower Manhattan is still planned as the world's tallest building, according to a revised model unveiled Friday by the architects collaborating on its design.
How Christmas displays illuminate a strong economy
Light Unto the Wealth of Nations
How Christmas displays illuminate a strong economy
By Virginia Postrel
Reason.com
Who's Who among American Terrorists
This is a detailing of the main American citizen detainees in the "War on Terror" -- John Walker Lindh, Jose Padilla, etc. -- and the presumed reasoning behind their various legal statuses.
December 18, 2003
Eland: One Autocratic Belligerent Deposed, One to Go
The Independent Institute | One Autocratic Belligerent Deposed, One to Go, by Ivan Eland
December 17, 2003
Blackfriars Rates The Clarity of 2004 Presidential Campaign Web Sites
This just a press release really, but it has a little info in it.
Blackfriars Rates The Clarity of 2004 Presidential Campaign Web Sites
December 16, 2003
Pork Spending in the 2004 Budget
From the Heritage Foundation: Another Omnibus Spending Bill Loaded with Pork
Bob Smith turns it into a call for action:
Save this list. During the 2004 campaign, pick any one of these organizations, and try to get a chance to ask your incumbent politician about it.
Ask him where it is.
Ask him what it does.
Ask him to explain it's value to us.
Ask him why it wasn't funded by the people who will use it.
Ask him why he wanted to spend your money on it.
If you're feeling bold, and he's still paying attention, ask him what HE got out of it.
Scarmig: How I Said No to the Automatic Social Security Number
How I Said No to the Automatic Social Security Number
This is the story of how I successfully refused to accept a Social Security Number for my child.
I simply said “no.”
Really. That’s how easy it was. I just said no, again, and again.
...
December 15, 2003
December 14, 2003
December 13, 2003
Group to honor Bill of Rights Day with March and Memorial on Monday
This is an advance story (which is essentially just my press release, cleaned up a little) about the Bill of Rights Day activity that I'm organizing. I'm saving the text of it here as it was published at Yubanet.
(This will eventually be posted at my main blog, but it's not functioning properly, so I'm using this blog as a backup place to put these entries.)
Group to honor Bill of Rights Day with March and Memorial on Monday
By Lance Brown, Nevada County Bill of Rights Defense Committee
Dec 13, 2003, 08:43
Local civil liberties activists will be holding a memorial service and march for the Bill of Rights in Nevada City this Monday-- Bill of Rights Day. The group will gather outside the Rood County Government Center at Noon, and march to Calanan Park in downtown Nevada City.
All interested parties are invited to attend.
This marks the third consecutive year that local activists have held a public commemoration of Bill of Rights Day -- the anniversary of the ratification of the first 10 amendments to the U.S. Constitution. A "funeral" last year preceded this year's memorial, and in 2001 the day was marked with a rally.
The event is part of an ongoing local campaign to raise awareness about what the group sees as grave dangers to our civil liberties that have come in the wake of the “war on terror”. The Nevada County Bill of Rights Defense Committee is launching a drive to pass local resolutions making Nevada County a "civil liberties safe zone", as part of a national movement where over 200 communities (and three states) have passed similar resolutions.
For more local information, call 274-2474 or visit ncrights.org.
Bill of Rights Day LTE in the SacBee
This is a letter of mine that was just published in the Sacramento Bee.
sacbee.com -- Letters to the editor
Bill of Rights Day
Dec. 15 is Bill of Rights Day, the anniversary of the ratification of the Bill of Rights.
I only became aware that it was a holiday in recent years, and the first time I celebrated Bill of Rights Day was in 2001. As a Libertarian, living through a wholesale expansion of federal law enforcement tactics in the name of the "war on terror," honoring the birthday of the Bill of Rights with a rally seemed like a smart idea.
By December 2002, the threats to civil liberties had risen to a level where we thought it made more sense to have a "funeral" to mark the day. So we did. And this Monday we'll have a memorial ceremony, as a sequel.
This year, I've come to accept that this is a holiday that's becoming genuinely important to me. I've compiled nearly 20 ways people can celebrate and honor Bill of Rights Day, and put them into a free website at BillofRightsDay.com.
Come on everyone -- give it a try: "Happy Bill of Rights Day!"
- Lance Brown, Nevada City
CANADA DENIES REFUGEE STATUS TO US MEDICAL MARIJUANA EXILE
Drug War Chronicle
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/315/stevekubby.shtml
CANADA DENIES REFUGEE STATUS TO US MEDICAL MARIJUANA EXILE
Prominent American medical marijuana activist Steve Kubby
(http://www.kubby.com), who fled the US saying an impending jail sentence
would cause his death, has been denied refugee status by the Canadian
Immigration and Refugee Board. An adrenal cancer patient, Kubby has smoked a
dozen joints a day for year, which he says keeps him alive, and would have
been denied that medication while serving a misdemeanor sentence in
California. But Kubby did not have a well-founded fear of being persecuted
or tortured, nor was there any risk to his life if he returned to his home
state of California, the board ruled Monday.
He has said he will appeal, but the clock is ticking for Kubby and his
family, whose requests for refugee status were also denied. Under Canadian
law, he has 15 days to apply to the Supreme Court for a review of the
decision, and if the court chooses not to review his case, he and his family
would have to leave the country within 30 days. One option would be to apply
for a "pre-removal risk assessment," which would force immigration officials
to once again investigate whether he would face "cruel or unusual punishment
or risk to life" if returned to the US.
Steve Kubby Kubby, the 1998 Libertarian Party nominee for governor of
California, fled to Canada with his family in 2001 after being found guilty
of possession of a small amount of psychedelic mushrooms and peyote in his
home state. That conviction arose from a medical marijuana raid on Kubby's
home. The state could not convict on the marijuana charges -- California law
allows for its medical use -- but did manage to nail Kubby for the 'shrooms.
He was prepared to serve a 120-day sentence provided he could have access to
medical marijuana. But local authorities in California refused to allow him
to have his medicine in jail, so Kubby ran for his life to what he hoped
would be a friendlier clime.
He and his family entered Canada on tourist visas, but were detained by
Canadian immigration authorities after newspaper stories featured their
cause and described them cultivating a medical marijuana garden at their
home in Sechelt, British Columbia, a short ferry ride up BC's Sunshine Coast
from Vancouver. At that point, Kubby, his wife Michelle, and their two
daughters applied for asylum as refugees fleeing persecution by American
drug warriors. Since then, they have remained in Canada, where they produce
a program on Pot-TV (http://www.pot-tv.net), a web-based marijuana reform
broadcaster funded by marijuana seed magnate Marc Emery. They also received
a permit from Health Canada to cultivate marijuana for Kubby's medicinal use
are currently growing 117 plants, Kubby told the Toronto Globe & Mail.
In addition to the fear of persecution because of his well-known advocacy of
medical marijuana, Kubby argued that medical marijuana users were not
protected in California, and that he would die if deprived of his medicine.
The Immigration and Refugee Board, however, ruled that Kubby was not and
would not be persecuted, that California law in fact protects medical
marijuana users, and that he would not suffer serious health effects if
incarcerated without access to medical marijuana.
In an opinion written by board member Paulah Dauns, the board noted that
Kubby had not been convicted on medical marijuana charges, but on other drug
charges, and that California law protected him. "In effect, the process
worked, as it was designed to," she wrote. "He argues that a medical
marijuana patient should be protected from persecution. What he has
demonstrated is that in fact, they are." Dauns also wrote that while there
was little doubt marijuana relieved Kubby's cancer symptoms, there was no
evidence that depriving him of cannabis while incarcerated on the California
'shroom charge would kill him, despite testimony from Dr. Joseph Connors of
the British Columbia Cancer Agency, who told the court during an April
hearing that Kubby would die within four days if denied access to marijuana
for his condition. Kubby was not a refugee, wrote Dauns, but a "fugitive
from justice."
And while Kubby argued that his use of marijuana was akin to a diabetic's
use of insulin, Dauns was having none of that, either. "Insulin has been
approved by the medical community as a treatment, whereas marijuana has
not," she said. "The research on the benefits of marijuana is woefully
inadequate and inconclusive, making a comparison of these two treatments
illogical," she wrote.
The Kubby case is the first of a handful of similar "reefer refugee" cases
to be decided in Canada. Two Northern California men, Kenneth Hayes and
Steve Tuck, who fled federal marijuana charges related to California medical
marijuana grows, have cases pending before the author of Monday's decision,
board member Dauns. Some advocates had hoped Kubby, with his strong health
argument, had the strongest of any of the pending cases.
Canadian Kubby supporters denounced the decision. "This is yet another
example of the harms of cannabis prohibition," said Philippe Lucas, director
of Canadians for Safe Access (http://www.safeaccess.ca), a medical marijuana
defense organization based on its southern sister, Americans for Safe Access
(http://www.safeaccessnow.org). "The Kubbys are kind contributors to the
social well-being of Canadians -- under any other circumstances, Canada
would welcome this reverse brain-drain. It is only through the perversion of
justice caused by prohibition that a loving family like the Kubbys could be
condemned to an uncertain future at the hands of American prosecutors."
But it wasn't only abstract prohibition that had Lucas and other Canadian
activists irked, it was the harsh slap in the face from a traditionally
refugee-friendly country. "Are we as a nation really so quick to take a
chance on Steve Kubby's health?" asked Lucas. "Shouldn't a modern liberal
democracy like Canada err on the side of social justice when a man's life is
on the line? If Steve Kubby should suffer the same fate as Peter McWilliams
-- who died choking on his own vomit while being denied his medicinal
cannabis after his arrest -- the hands of those who denied his refugee claim
will be forever stained in his blood."
"Today, I'm ashamed of being a Canadian," concurred Tim Meehan, national
director of the anti-prohibition wing of the New Democratic Party
(http://www.ndpot.ca). "Here at home, our government constantly reminds us
of how important the refugee protection system is. Canada's reputation is
built on it. However, when they subject people like Steve Kubby and his
family to institutional prejudice because of their choice of medical
treatment, and are more concerned about angering a trading partner than
saving a human life, that demonstrates our government's priorities are very
seriously out of alignment. I hope Canadians remember that in the upcoming
federal election," Meehan added.
Visit http://www.mapinc.org/alert/0282.html for a letter-writing alert to
help Steve Kubby.
Read a summary of the decision at:
http://www.irb.gc.ca/en/decisions/kubby/va2_01374_e.htm#summary
Read the decision in full at:
http://www.irb.gc.ca/en/decisions/kubby/va2_01374_e.htm
Or to get right to the paragraphs where Dauns lays out her reasoning, go to:
http://www.irb.gc.ca/en/decisions/kubby/va2_01374_e.htm#determination
American Medical Marijuana Refugee Ordered To Return To United States
NORML's Weekly News Bulletin -- December 11, 2003
http://norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=5856
American Medical Marijuana Refugee Ordered To Return To United States
Immigration Board Recognizes Pot To Be "Best Treatment Available," But
Rejects Patient's Asylum Request
December 11, 2003 - Vancouver, BC, Canada
Vancouver, British Columbia: The Canadian Immigration and Refugee Board this
week denied refugee status to American Steve Kubby and his family, and
ordered their return to California where Kubby is expected to be sentenced
to four months in jail for drug-related charges. Kubby has said he will
appeal the ruling.
He and his wife Michelle and two children will be allowed to remain in the
country while awaiting their appeal.
Kubby fled to Canada in 2001 rather than serve time in jail, where he would
be denied access to medicinal marijuana, which he requires to treat symptoms
of a rare, life-threatening form of adrenal cancer known as
pheochromocytoma. Kubby was diagnosed in 1968 with the disease - which he's
managed since the early 1980s exclusively by smoking cannabis - and given
six months to live. (Life expectancy of a person with pheochromocytoma is
typically three to five years.) Today Kubby is recognized as one of the
longest living survivors of the disease.
Though the Board recognized that "marijuana continues to be the best
treatment available to Mr. Kubby," and that he could potentially suffer a
heart attack or stroke without cannabis, it nevertheless ruled, "The
claimant is not a person in need of protection in that his removal to the
United States would not subject him personally to a risk to his life."
The Board based this decision, in part, on the premise that Kubby would
likely have access to medicinal marijuana while in jail. However, California
law does not compel the state to allow inmates access to medical cannabis,
stating: "Nothing in this article shall require any accommodation of any
medical use of marijuana ... on the property or premises of any jail,
correctional facility, or other type of penal institution in which prisoners
reside or persons under arrest are detained."
While living in Canada, Kubby had been one of fewer than 600 individuals to
receive a federal exemption from Health Canada to legally cultivate and use
pot for medical purposes.
NORML Foundation Executive Director Allen St. Pierre called the Refugee
Board's decision unfortunate and puzzling considering the government's prior
acknowledgement of Kubby's medical need to use cannabis. "This decision
makes little sense in light of the fact that the Canadian government has
already approved Steve Kubby's medical use of marijuana by granting him a
special exemption from prosecution," he said.
"Why they couldn't extend that same thinking to his asylum request seeking
protection for his health from America's policy of strict marijuana law
enforcement is puzzling. This decision does not bode well for the other
Americans who have sought refuge status in Canada for their
physician-sanctioned use of medical marijuana."
Since 1989, the Immigration and Refugee Board has heard nearly 1,000 refugee
cases from the United States, including 268 pending cases. So far, none of
those individuals have been granted asylum.
For more information, please contact Allen St. Pierre of The NORML
Foundation at (202) 483-8751. Full text of the Immigration and Refugee
Board's ruling is available online at:
http://www.irb.gc.ca/en/decisions/kubby/va2_01374_e.htm
(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.)
Woman Uses Greeting Card to Smuggle Meth
FOXNews.com - Top Stories - Woman Uses Greeting Card to Smuggle Meth
The court case that could reshape US democracy
The court case that could reshape US democracy
(TruthOut permacopy)
By Rupert Cornwell in Washington
11 December 2003
It bears the utterly uninformative title of Veith et al vs Jubelirer (docket number 02-1580). But the case, which the US Supreme Court heard yesterday, deals with the explosive political issue of gerrymandering - and its ruling next year could literally reshape America's democracy.
Veith et al vs Jubelirer involves only Pennsylvania. The state's Democrats have challenged what they say is a rigged and unfair plan to redraw congressional districts, a move approved by Pennsylvania's Republican-controlled legislature after the 2000 census.
Big Money's Spigot Will Stay Open
Big Money's Spigot Will Stay Open
t r u t h o u t permacopy
By Nick Anderson and Janet Hook
Los Angeles Times
Thursday 11 December 2003
Even though it erected formidable new barriers between politicians and deep-pocketed donors, the election law upheld Wednesday by the Supreme Court has not shut down big money in politics.
Instead, creative operatives allied with both parties are constructing new groups to raise and spend political money to get around the law.
...
Unwanted dog cheats death four times
Executing your dog because you don't want it or can't handle it any more is sick and pathetic. It's great that the dog lived, but that woman who dumped it on animal control should be ashamed of herself for putting that dog through that experience.
Unwanted dog cheats death four times
An unwanted dog which was put down with drugs, put in a plastic bag and then through a rubbish compressor has been found alive moments before being buried in a landfill site.
The five-year-old shepherd-Labrador cross was found clawing through the plastic bag on the back of a rubbish truck at the Edgeboro Landfill in East Brunswick, New Jersey.
December 12, 2003
Diebold email: "Make vote printouts too costly for MD"
NOTE: I have not read this whole thing, but it appears to have quite a bit of interesting info. the author of it wants it spread around, so I'm posting it here (just as I received it) in hopes of doing that.
-----------------------------------------------------
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Eric A. Smith
Hot Damn! Design
81-03-3959-5371
snowdog@juno.ocn.ne.jp
Diebold email: "Make vote printouts too costly for MD"
-- Scandals deepen for e-vote manufacturer
ANNAPOLIS, Maryland, December 12th — An internal memo has just surfaced suggesting e-vote manufacturer Diebold planned to overcharge the state of Maryland and make voter printouts "prohibitively expensive".
An employee named "Ken" wrote the Jan. 3 letter suggesting the company charge Maryland "out the yin" if legislators insisted on printouts.
Referring to a University of Maryland study critical of the company's machines, he added: "[The State of Maryland] already bought the system. At this point they are just closing the barn door. Let's just hope that as a company we are smart enough to charge out the yin if they try to change the rules now and legislate voter receipts."
He goes on to say "...any after-sale changes should be prohibitively expensive."
Delegate Karen S. Montgomery dropped the bombshell on Thursday amid negotiations with Diebold over its touchscreen voting machines.
Montgomery, who has written a bill mandating voter-verifiable ballots, described pressure to drop the issue, saying "scurrilous remarks" were being levelled against proponents of the measure. She said she believes the cost is being driven up to prevent anyone from insisting on verifiable printouts.
Steven T. Dennis of Gazette.net broke the story yesterday; he said spokesman David Bear deflected criticism by claiming the comments were "the internal discussion of one individual and [do] not reflect the sentiments or the position of the company."
Diebold, whose primary business has until recently been ATMs and ticket-vending machines (all of which produce paper printouts), made headlines last week when it dropped copyright-infringement suits against Swarthmore students who had published thousands of its internal memos on the Internet.
Prominent among the leaked memos is a missive to Global Election Systems (now Diebold) -- baldly stating that 16 thousand Gore votes were "disappeared" during the 2000 election. Author Lana Hires frantically asks how she should explain the problem to an auditor:
Additional memos are equally candid and suggestive:
-more-
Initially brought to light by activist Bev Harris, these and other alarming disclosures have added weight to the arguments of computer security experts and legislators nationwide, who say that Diebold's machines (as well as those of rivals ES&S and Sequoia) pose a grave risk to America's elections.
Harris received over 7,000 of the Diebold memos from an undisclosed source in early September. For the past three years, she has been arguing for greater security and accountability in electronic voting, last year weathering a similar unsuccesful gag lawsuit from e-vote firm ES&S.
A month after Harris recieved the memos she went public with them; Diebold immediately launched a gag lawsuit, and Harris's ISP shut down her activist site. A group of Swarthmore students and other activists responded by spreading the memos across the Internet.
When Diebold threatened to sue under the auspices of the DMCA, litigators from the Electronic Frontier Foundation and the ACLU stepped in to defend activists. Presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich added significant support by hosting the memos on his own website. Last week, Diebold withdrew its lawsuits.
With a new ISP, Harris has resumed her activism, and her book "Black Box Voting: Ballot Tampering in the 21st Century," can currently be downloaded for free from the site blackboxvoting.org.
Meanwhile, on Capital Hill, Congressman Rush Holt has also raised the issue of security, sponsoring the "Voter Confidence and Increased Accountability Act of 2003" (H.R. 2239), which calls for paper ballots, surprise recounts and auditable software in voting machines.
But while Holt's bill adds a significant level of transparency to the process, Harris says it doesn't go far enough. In a recent Buzzflash interview, she said:
"The problem area, and it is a whopper, is that this bill doesn't attack the crux of the issue, which is proper auditing -- and that is something that is needed for any computerized system, including optical scan machines.
The very first thing we need to do is get solid input from auditors who are experienced in fraud detection.
While we are designing amendments to the bill, we also must get some people with a solid grasp of history, because we need a voting system that is in keeping with the vision of our founding fathers -- and this is a public policy issue, not a computer issue. The most important thing that we keep forgetting is that the founders, especially Thomas Jefferson, felt that it was critical -- not "important," but CRITICAL to democracy, to keep the vote directly in the hands of the people themselves. Any solution which requires us to trust a handful of experts will, sooner or later, result in the demise of our democracy.
-more-
That means we need to retain (and enforce) policies to tally the votes at the polls, in front of observers. In some countries, they let as many regular citizens as can fit in the room in to watch the physical counting. It is this neighborhood tallying, and the open and public nature of it, that is the embodiment of democracy."
In July, Harris demonstrated just how insecure a Diebold machine could be, showing in a step-by-step expose how to reverse a federal election. New Zealand's Scoop Media posted the illustrated account online.
Author Faun Otter and others have also raised the issue of impartiality on the part of Diebold's board, which has contributed hundreds of thousands of dollars to Republican campaigns. National headlines were made when CEO Michael O'Dell, who recently hosted a $600,000 fundraiser for Vice President Dick Cheney, announced in a Republican fundraising letter that he was "committed to delivering Ohio's votes to the President".
But controversy doesn't end with Diebold alone. Rival voting machine company ES&S also came under scrutiny when it surfaced that it was run by Chuck Hagel until two weeks before his own election. Senator Hagel won by the biggest landslide in Nebraskan history; a victory the press characterized as a "stunning upset". His company, ES&S, counted 83% of the votes.
Hagel left out details of his ES&S involvement in his SEC filings, and, when the discrepancy surfaced, two days after a closed-door meeting with Hagel SEC legal counsel Victor Baird resigned and the matter was dropped.
And Hagel, who prior to his stewardship of ES&S was head of the Private Sector Council for George H.W. Bush, has bigger plans: Harris says the domain name "Bush-Hagel2004.com" was purchased last year but subsequently released and the Senator has already bought the rights to "hagel2008.com" and "ChuckHagel2008.com".
Meanwhile Hagel campaign manager Michael McCarthy owns over 30% of ES&S's parent company, and even the Senator hasn't fully divested himself of ownership -- he still has a $5 million stake in ES&S parent company the McCarthy Group.
Harris says there are firms offering comparatively secure systems -- competitors Avante, Accupol and Vogue, for example -- but some activists say any machine offers an opportunity for vote tampering. They're calling for a return to simple ballots, though such a solution is unlikely -- Bush's Help America Vote Act mandates a nationwide migration to electronic voting by 2006.
Secretary of state Kevin Shelley's recent declaration that all California voting machines must provide printouts may prompt the rest of the country to follow the west’s lead. But it may end up being a matter of too little, too late, as Diebold, ES&S and Sequioa systems are already in place in 37 states.
Harris, for one, is calling for a legal injunction to halt the use of any insecure systems prior to the 2004 primaries. If her instincts are right, a fierce battle may loom on the horizon -- a battle for the very heart and soul of America's democracy.
Officials to phone, fax and email about secure voting:
Congress
http://www.visi.com/juan/congress/
State elections boards:
http://www.blackboxvoting.org/htdocs/dcforum/DCForumID29/47.html
State Attorneys General (party affiliations listed):
http://www.naag.org/ag/full_ag_table.php
-more-
State Election Officials
http://www.nased.org/
Members, Natl. Assoc. of County Recorders, Election Officials and Clerks:
http://www.nacrc.org/leadership/st_coord.htm
Penelope Bonsall, national director of the Office of Election Administration
Office of Election Administration
Federal Election Commission
999 E Street, NW
Washington, DC 20463
vss@fec.gov
(202) 694-1095 (phone)
(202) 219-8500 (fax)
Online e-petitions EFF and VerifiedVoting.org:
http://action.eff.org/action/index.asp?step=2&item=2821
http://www.verifiedvoting.org
Media Contacts:
http://dmoz.org/Arts/Television/News/
http://newslink.org
http://www.cantufind.com/american_newspapers.htm
http://dmoz.org/Arts/Radio/Formats/Talk_Radio/Networks/
http://dmoz.org/Arts/Radio/Formats/Talk_Radio/Stations/
http://dmoz.org/Arts/Television/Networks/Cable/
http://dmoz.org/Arts/Television/Networks/
http://dmoz.org/Computers/Internet/Broadcasting/Information/
Contact: Eric A. Smith, Hot Damn! Design, Tokyo, Japan ● 81-03-3959-5371
# # #
Borowitz: SUPREME COURT OVERTURNS GORE’S ENDORSEMENT OF DEAN
SUPREME COURT OVERTURNS GORE’S ENDORSEMENT OF DEAN
Transfers Nod to Bush in 5-4 Decision
December 11, 2003
LP RELEASE: Campaign finance ruling
====================================
NEWS FROM THE LIBERTARIAN PARTY
2600 Virginia Avenue, NW, Suite 100
Washington DC 20037
World Wide Web: http://www.LP.org
====================================
For release: December 11, 2003
====================================
For additional information:
George Getz, Communications Director
Phone: (202) 333-0008
====================================
High court's ruling is all-out assault
on right to engage in politics, Libertarians say
WASHINGTON, DC -- The Libertarian Party, which is one of the plaintiffs
that challenged the campaign finance law upheld on Tuesday by the
Supreme Court, has denounced the ruling as an "all-out assault on the
right of every American to engage in the political process."
"Why not just outlaw elections and get it over with?" said Geoffrey
Neale, the Libertarian Party's national chair. "The Supreme Court has
just given incumbent politicians the power to financially cripple their
competitors and, in the process, award themselves lifetime jobs."
In a 5-4 ruling that shocked advocacy groups across the political
spectrum, the Supreme Court endorsed key provisions of the McCain-
Feingold campaign finance law. Specifically, the court upheld a ban on
"soft money" contributions from wealthy individuals, corporations and
labor unions, as well the law's prohibition on running certain
political advertisements within close proximity to an election.
But Libertarians point out that McCain-Feingold was nothing more than
an incumbent protection act in the first place -- and that the court's
ruling was tantamount to outlawing political competition.
"Running for office and communicating a message aren't free," Neale
said. "So making it illegal to raise money to buy political ads, and
banning the ads during the period when they're most effective, is
tantamount to outlawing the message itself. That's a crime against the
First Amendment as well as an affront to the democratic process."
Incumbent politicians already enjoy powerful advantages, Neale pointed
out, such as name recognition and the ability to attract news media,
taxpayer-financed staffs and office space, and the franking privilege.
The so-called campaign finance reform act was merely an attempt to
eliminate the only weapon that many challengers have: contributions
freely given by individuals or groups that share their views, he noted.
Acknowledging that the stated goal of the legislation was to clean up
politics, Neale said: "Justice Sandra Day O'Connor pointed out that
'corruption, and in particular the appearance of corruption,' is
rampant in Washington -- and of course, she's right.
"But a free-flowing, robust political debate isn't the problem; it's
the solution. The only way to dislodge an entrenched, corrupt
politician is to allow competing candidates, and anyone else who so
chooses, to publicly criticize them and offer voters a better
alternative.
"By upholding McCain-Feingold, the Supreme Court has merely guaranteed
that corrupt politicians will stay in office for a longer period of
time."
In March 1992, the Libertarian Party signed on as a co-plaintiff in
McConnell v FEC, the lawsuit spearheaded by Kentucky Senator Mitch
McConnell that sought to overturn the campaign finance reform law.
The party argued that the law would have a devastating impact on its
activities by eliminating certain sources of revenue and imposing
significant regulatory and administrative burdens.
For example, the law prohibits the organization from accepting
donations of more than $25,000 from any individual; prevents it from
taking money from organizations that are not "recognized political
committees," so it cannot sell ads in its party newspaper to nonprofit
corporations or incorporated businesses; and cannot accept funds for
memberships or literature from its own state affiliates, unless they
also comply with the law's onerous regulations.
However, the party was vindicated by one aspect of Tuesday's ruling,
Neale added, when the court struck down the provision of the law
banning minors from making contributions to political parties.
# # #
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2600 Virginia Ave. NW, Suite 100 voice: 202-333-0008
Washington DC 20037 fax: 202-333-0072
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For subscription changes, please use the WWW form at:
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Pot doc's license revocation upheld
Dec. 10, 2003 -- Pot doc's license revocation upheld
By HANK LAWSON Staff writer
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed Monday the federal government's revocation of Dr. Marion "Molly" Fry's license to prescribe medication including marijuana.
Who died and made non-aggression fundamental?
This memoir of sorts is rambling, but it has a quality to it which makes it interesting, and a little insightful.
Who died and made non-aggression fundamental?
by Student of Life
December 10, 2003
Campaign finance supporters praise Supreme Court ruling
This statement from the president of Common Cause is one of the most delusional claims I've heard from a public figure in a while.
"The toxic link between donors who write six-figure checks and people in power at the highest levels of government has been severed for good," said Chellie Pingree, the group's president, in a statement.
It's almost as funny as "The era of big government is over" was. Oh, yeah, folks....this time they've got it all worked out. Sure.
CNN.com - Campaign finance supporters praise Supreme Court ruling - Dec. 10, 2003
Supreme Court upholds 'soft money' ban
CNN.com - Supreme Court upholds 'soft money' ban - Dec. 10, 2003
December 09, 2003
December 08, 2003
KUBBY VOWS APPEAL OF RULING DENYING REFUGEE STATUS IN CANADA
For Immediate Release
December 8, 2003
Press Conference:
Tuesday, Dec. 9th, noon, BC Marijuana Party Headquarters, 307 West Hastings,
Vancouver
Decision Online:
http://www.irb.gc.ca/en/decisions/kubby/va2_01374_e.htm
KUBBY VOWS APPEAL OF RULING DENYING REFUGEE STATUS IN CANADA
VANCOUVER -- Steve Kubby, medical marijuana patient and former Libertarian
Party candidate for governor of California, vowed to appeal a ruling by the
Refugee Protection Division today that denied him refugee status in Canada
based on his need for medical marijuana.
Kubby complained, "I cannot understand how the Refugee panel could conclude
that my life would not be at risk if I were forced to return to the US,
after the leading cancer specialist in British Columbia testified that I
would die without it."
British Columbia cancer specialist Dr. Joseph Michael Connors, an expert in
the area of adrenal cancers, called by the Immigration Ministry, examined
Kubby and testified at the hearing about his medical condition.
The ruling recognizes that, according to Dr. Connors, "Mr. Kubby's tumour
releases, in excess quantities, hormones normally found in the adrenal
gland. Excessive levels of these hormones in Mr. Kubby's blood cause a
range of separate symptomatic problems including paroxysmal headaches,
palpitations (rapid and irregular beating of the heart), hypertension
(sudden dangerous rise in blood pressure), sudden abdominal cramps and
diarrhea, chest pain, shortness of breath, nausea, sudden severe weakness
and anorexia (loss of appetite). If not controlled, Mr. Kubby's symptoms
could evolve further to the point where a myocardial infarction (heart
attack) or cerebral vascular accident (stroke) could occur."
The ruling also acknowledged that "there is evidence before the Board, that
marihuana controls the symptoms of Mr. Kubby's cancer, including
hypertension. In Dr. Connors' opinion, marihuana continues to be the best
treatment available to Mr. Kubby."
However, the ruling went on to say that "it cannot therefore be stated with
any degree of certainty, that marihuana is the reason for Mr. Kubby's
survival even though it remains the best treatment option at this time."
Health Canada has even given Mr. Kubby permission to grow one hundred and
seventeen marijuana plants, based on "medical necessity."
The ruling further acknowledged, Kubby "has received a Health Canada
exemption, which suggests he is a bona fide ill person in need of medical
marihuana. It is noteworthy that Mr. Kubby was investigated and charged
with marihuana related criminal offences in Canada. Those Canadian charges
were later stayed by the Crown, and his marihuana grow equipment was
returned to him by the RCMP after the charges were stayed. This suggests
the Government of Canada believes he has a medical necessity for marihuana."
Despite all of this, the ruling somehow concluded, "he has not established
there is a risk to his life or a risk of cruel and unusual treatment or
punishment" if Kubby is forced to return to the US.
Kubby vowed, "Apparently, I have to die in order to convince the Refugee
board, but instead I intend to fight."
###
Kerry: "Did I expect George Bush to f - - - it up as badly as he did?"
New York Post Online Edition: CURSING KERRY UNLEASHES
FOULMOUTHED ATTACK ON BUSH
BillofRightsDay.com
Here's a new site I put together to help folks organize their Bill of Rights Day celebration efforts:
December 07, 2003
Boots on the Ground, Hearts on Their Sleeves
Boots on the Ground, Hearts on Their Sleeves
By DAVID BROOKS
Published: December 2, 2003
Bossier School Board upholds Advil expulsion
Bossier School Board upholds Advil expulsion
Girl had over-the-counter pills in purse at school
December 06, 2003
Hess: You pays your nickel, you takes your chances
This op-ed is a pretty good dressing-down of a "big prostitution bust", by Arizona Libertarian Barry Hess.
Hip hoppers say Dennis no menace
Hip hoppers say Dennis no menace=The Hill.com=
Dennis Kucinich, that is.
Phillies' Ideas for Libertarian Presidential Candidates
I am not running for President - but I do have some ideas on what our Party needs in one
by George Phillies
In Iraq Picture, Bush Is Holding the Centerpiece
The Bird Was Perfect But Not For Dinner (washingtonpost.com)
In Iraq Picture, Bush Is Holding the Centerpiece
Lindaman: Welcome Back, Rush...Now Retire!
AmericanDaily.com - Welcome Back, Rush...Now Retire! - Thomas Lindaman
December 05, 2003
Rumsfeld's Leaked Memo about the "War on Terror"
I tried to find this memo when it was hot news, and gave up before I was able to. But I recently found cause to look again, and had better luck. I'm storing it here because it's worth archiving (Plus it's public domain, I assume, so I might as well get the traffic instead of USATODAY, where I got it from.)
October 16, 2003
TO: Gen. Dick Myers
Paul Wolfowitz
Gen. Pete Pace
Doug Feith
FROM: Donald Rumsfeld
SUBJECT: Global War on Terrorism
The questions I posed to combatant commanders this week were: Are we winning or losing the Global War on Terror? Is DoD changing fast enough to deal with the new 21st century security environment? Can a big institution change fast enough? Is the USG changing fast enough?
DoD has been organized, trained and equipped to fight big armies, navies and air forces. It is not possible to change DoD fast enough to successfully fight the global war on terror; an alternative might be to try to fashion a new institution, either within DoD or elsewhere — one that seamlessly focuses the capabilities of several departments and agencies on this key problem.
With respect to global terrorism, the record since Septermber 11th seems to be:
We are having mixed results with Al Qaida, although we have put considerable pressure on them — nonetheless, a great many remain at large.
USG has made reasonable progress in capturing or killing the top 55 Iraqis.
USG has made somewhat slower progress tracking down the Taliban — Omar, Hekmatyar, etc.
With respect to the Ansar Al-Islam, we are just getting started.
Have we fashioned the right mix of rewards, amnesty, protection and confidence in the US?
Does DoD need to think through new ways to organize, train, equip and focus to deal with the global war on terror?
Are the changes we have and are making too modest and incremental? My impression is that we have not yet made truly bold moves, although we have have made many sensible, logical moves in the right direction, but are they enough?
Today, we lack metrics to know if we are winning or losing the global war on terror. Are we capturing, killing or deterring and dissuading more terrorists every day than the madrassas and the radical clerics are recruiting, training and deploying against us?
Does the US need to fashion a broad, integrated plan to stop the next generation of terrorists? The US is putting relatively little effort into a long-range plan, but we are putting a great deal of effort into trying to stop terrorists. The cost-benefit ratio is against us! Our cost is billions against the terrorists' costs of millions.
Do we need a new organization?
How do we stop those who are financing the radical madrassa schools?
Is our current situation such that "the harder we work, the behinder we get"?
It is pretty clear that the coalition can win in Afghanistan and Iraq in one way or another, but it will be a long, hard slog.
Does CIA need a new finding?
Should we create a private foundation to entice radical madradssas to a more moderate course?
What else should we be considering?
Please be prepared to discuss this at our meeting on Saturday or Monday.
Thanks.
December 03, 2003
Taibbi: Clark's True Colors
I was not impressed by Taibbi's attitude and approach in writing this article*, but he makes some OK points.
*As Matt Stoller of the Clark Sphere put it:
Seriously, attacking Clark is fine, he's in politics. But why go after the campaign staffers who are trying to do their best? Come on. This is ridiculous. Posing as a porn director at a Meetup and then getting awkward quotes from 22 year old volunteers? Really.
by Matt Taibbi
You can see something in the eyes of most all the Democratic candidates: the pugnacity of Howard Dean, the idealism of Dennis Kucinich, even (surprisingly) the elaborate sense of humor just under the surface of Joe Lieberman.
Not Wesley Clark. His eyes are blank. Like a turtle resting on a rock in the middle of a pond, he simply seems never to move, no matter how long you stare. But then, just as you're about to pack up your picnic basket and go home, you catch him: His head pops out, and he slides off into the water...
Lydon on Emerson: A God for Bloggers
A God for Bloggers
by Christopher Lydon
Ralph Waldo Emerson on his 200th birthday this spring is "closer to us than ever," writes the great Harold Bloom. He is a man for bloggers to embrace most especially, not for Emerson's glory but for our own understanding of a transformative moment we are living through.
Poet, public intellectual, performance artist and incomparable diarist, Emerson (1803-1882) has glory enough. It's we who need his encouraging frame around bloggery--this still strange and marvellous exercise in democratic media.
...
Some Iraqis Welcome Bush, Others Wish Him in Hell
This article is archived at TruthOut. The original doesn't appear to be available at MSNBC.com anymore.
The Pentagon crosses the lexicon
The Pentagon crosses the lexicon
As the horizon in Iraq recedes, the U.S. military’s language adapts
ANALYSIS
By Michael Moran
MSNBC
The turkey has landed
The turkey has landed: how Bush cooked up a secret mission to give thanks to his troops
By Phil Reeves in Baghdad and David Usborne in New York
The Independent-UK
An Apology to Younger Americans
An Apology to Younger Americans
By Sam Smith, The Progressive Review
November 30, 2003
In observance of the approaching 66th anniversary of my arrival on this planet I would like to apologize to you on behalf of my generation. Even members of Confederacy had the grace to secede from the union; my generation has remained within like a deadly virus, subverting it, shaming it, screwing it, stealing from it, and finally strangling it. It will likely be known as the worst generation – the one that brought the First American Republic down – unmatched in the damage it has done to the Constitution, the environment, and a two century struggle to create a society democratic and decent in its politics, economics, and social concourse.
To be sure, when we were young we were, as we said then, somethin' else. We launched the civil rights, women's, gay, and environmental movements, not to mention creating some memorable music before descending into disco. Soon other things started to go downhill rapidly. We became not only the generation that invented the phrase, 'never trust anyone over thirty,' we proved it.
...
December 01, 2003
The Bush Betrayal
I'm posting the full text of this excellent opinion piece, because I'd like to have it archived here. It was originally published in the Washington Post.
By David Boaz
Sunday, November 30, 2003
In 2000 George W. Bush campaigned across the country telling voters: "My opponent trusts government. I trust you."
Little wonder that some of his supporters are now wondering which candidate won that election.
Federal spending has increased by 23.7 percent since Bush took office. Education has been further federalized in the No Child Left Behind Act. Bush pulled out all the stops to get Republicans in Congress to create the biggest new entitlement program -- prescription drug coverage under Medicare -- in 40 years.
He pushed an energy bill that my colleague Jerry Taylor described as "three parts corporate welfare and one part cynical politics . . . a smorgasbord of handouts and subsidies for virtually every energy lobby in Washington."
It's a far cry from the less-government, "leave us alone" conservatism of Ronald Reagan.
Conservatives used to believe that the U.S. Constitution set up a government of strictly limited powers.
It was supposed to protect us from foreign threats and deliver the mail, leaving other matters to the states or to the private sector -- individuals, families, churches, charities and businesses.
That's what lots of voters assumed they would get with Bush. In his first presidential debate with Al Gore, Bush contrasted his own vision of tax reduction with that of his opponent, who would "increase the size of government dramatically." Gore, Bush declared, would "empower Washington," but "my passion and my vision is to empower Americans to be able to make decisions for themselves in their own lives."
Bush was tapping into popular sentiment.
In fact, you could say that what most voters wanted in 2000 was neither Bush nor Gore but smaller government. A Los Angeles Times poll in September 2000 found that Americans preferred "smaller government with fewer services" to "larger government with many services" by 59 to 26 percent.
But that's not what voters got. Leave aside defense spending and even entitlements spending: In Bush's first three years, nondefense discretionary spending -- which fell by 13.5 percent under Ronald Reagan -- has soared by 20.8 percent. His more libertarian-minded voters are taken aback to discover that "compassionate conservatism" turned out to mean social conservatism -- a stepped-up drug war, restrictions on medical research, antigay policies, federal subsidies for marriage and religion -- and big-spending liberalism justified as "compassion."
When they're given a chance to vote, Americans don't like big government.
Last November 45 percent of the voters in the most liberal state in the Union, Ted Kennedy's Massachusetts, voted to abolish the state income tax.
In January, Oregon's liberal electorate rejected a proposed tax increase, 55 percent to 45 percent.
In September Alabama voters rejected Gov. Bob Riley's $1.2 billion tax hike by 2 to 1.
California voters tossed out big-spending Gov. Gray Davis, and 62 percent of them voted for candidates who promised not to raise taxes to close the state's deficit.
Bush and his aides should be worrying about the possibility that libertarians, economic conservatives and fed-up taxpayers won't be in his corner in 2004 in the same numbers as 2000.
Republican strategists are likely to say that libertarians and economic conservatives have nowhere else to go. Many of the disappointed will indeed sigh a deep sigh and vote for Bush as a lesser evil.
But Karl Rove, who is fascinated by the role Mark Hanna played in building the post-1896 Republican majority, should remember one aspect of that era: In the late 19th century, the Democratic Party of Jefferson, Jackson and Cleveland was known as "the party of personal liberty." More so than the Republicans, it was committed to economic and cultural laissez-faire and opposed to Prohibition, protectionism and inflation.
When the big-government populist William Jennings Bryan claimed the Democratic nomination in 1896, many assumed he would draw industrial workers from the Republicans and bring new voters to the polls. Instead, Bryan lost in a landslide, and turnout declined for the next few elections. As the more libertarian Democrats found less reason to go to the polls, the Republicans dominated national politics for the next 36 years.
It could happen that limited-government voters decide to stay home, or vote for an independent candidate in the mold of Ross Perot or Jesse Ventura or vote Libertarian.
They could even vote for an antiwar, anti-Patriot Act, socially tolerant Democrat.
Given a choice between big-government liberalism and big-government conservatism, the leave-us-alone voters might decide that voting isn't worth the trouble.
The writer is executive vice president of the Cato Institute and author of "Libertarianism: A Primer."
Geoff Metcalf: Under the Color of Authority
IRS: Abuse of Power
Under the Color of Authority
Geoff Metcalf
Monday, Nov. 24, 2003
Find out just what people will submit to, and you have found out the exact amount of injustice and wrong which will be imposed upon them; and these will continue until they are resisted with either words or blows, or both. The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they oppress. – Frederick Douglass
For over a decade I have been interviewing and reporting on what has been called The "Tax Honesty Movement." Some people call these folks “tax protesters," others call them wackos. To a growing many, they are patriots committed to redressing what they perceive as a grievous wrong.
In the wake of years of study, interviews and analysis I have come to my own personal conclusions:
-As an academic exercise, and objective evaluation of the facts in evidence, the Tax Freedom crowd is mostly right.
-However, as a practical reality check, and ‘The Golden Rule’ (those with the gold make the rules), when contemporary ‘Davids’ square off with the federal government’s ‘Goliath,’ right is NOT might.
-Those who take on “The G” can and will be eviscerated by bureaucratic ‘shock and awe’ that has and will ruin lives.
...
One of the most heroic crusaders cast in the role of ‘David’ is Joseph R. (Joe) Banister. Joe is a CPA and former IRS Criminal Investigation Division special agent [www.freedomabovefortune.com]. He is a good guy with a fascinating story and about to become another victim of abuse of power under the color of authority.
...
Big Crowd at Military School Protest Gets Earful of Patriotic Music From Army
Big Crowd at Military School Protest Gets Earful of Patriotic Music From Army
COLUMBUS, Ga. (AP) - Demonstrators gathered outside Fort Benning to protest a military school were hit with a sonic barrage Saturday: patriotic music Army officials had blaring from the main gate.
A crowd estimated by Columbus police at 8,000 gathered to protest the school once known as the School of the Americas, which they blame for Latin American human rights abuses. It appeared to be the largest first-day gathering in the 14-year history of the protest.
The Army's loudspeakers, playing "The Army Song" and "God Bless the U.S.A.," were 50 yards away from where protesters were speaking to the crowd.
...
Raimondo: Boot Boortz!
Neal Boortz is a statist, not a libertarian.
So why is he speaking at the Libertarian Party’s national convention?
by Justin Raimondo
November 26, 2003
One thing one has to say about most of the "liberventionists" – the tiny but vocal clot of pro-war, pro-Bush "libertarians" – and that is they oppose this administration’s attacks on our civil liberties here at home. But what are we to make of alleged libertarians, such as Neal Boortz, who wants to know why the FBI shouldn’t be allowed to spy on the antiwar movement:
"The FBI is investigating the backgrounds and organizational methods of antiwar demonstrators in the US. Hopefully that doesn't come as a surprise to you. It is safe to assume that a large number of these demonstrators are out there in the streets because they want America to fail in its efforts to fight terrorism and its efforts to bring secular representative governments to Iraq and Afghanistan. Translated: Many of these demonstrators are pro-Saddam and anti-US. So, who wouldn't want them investigated by the FBI?"
Oh, gee, I don’t know: maybe a self-described "libertarian" who advocates strictly limited government and regards such surveillance as impermissible, in principle. Perhaps someone who takes the Bill of Rights seriously. In short, someone who believes in upholding the primacy of individual liberty – even in the face of an unprecedented assault by a cabal of war-crazed power-hungry ideologues.
...
Lessig: The New Road to the White House
The New Road to the White House
How grassroots blogs are transforming presidential politics.
When they write the account of the 2004 campaign, it will include at least one word that has never appeared in any presidential history: blog. Whether or not it elects the next president, the blog may be the first innovation from the Internet to make a real difference in election politics. But to see just why requires a bit of careful attention.
...
AlterNet: Neocons Leak Bad Intelligence
AlterNet: Neocons Leak Bad Intelligence
By Jim Lobe, AlterNet
November 20, 2003
The leak of a secret memorandum written by a senior Pentagon official reveals less about the connection between Saddam and al Qaeda than the growing desperation of neo-conservative hawks in the Bush administration.
US starts to lift the veil on Camp X-Ray trials
US starts to lift the veil on Camp X-Ray trials
(TruthOut permacopy)
Patriot Act Expansion Moves Through Congress
Patriot Act Expansion Moves Through Congress
by Jim Lobe
(TruthOut permacopy)
George Orwell: Why I Write
This was really interesting for me. Thanks to Tim at Libertarian Rant for pointing it out.
SITE NOTE: Scaling back for now
I need to conserve time for a while, so entries here are going to be less robust than usual. In most cases I might just end up posting links to what I've read, more as a way of keeping track than anything else. I'm sorry if anyone has grown dependent on the excerpts and ratings. ;-\
I don't know if this has long-term implications for the Little Brown Reader. For the time being, I consider it to be a temporary shift in my approach. I'll be sure to let you know if that changes.
Patriot Act Author Has Concerns
Patriot Act Author Has Concerns
By Richard B. Schmitt, Times Staff Writer
Detaining citizens as 'enemy combatants' -- a policy not spelled out in the act -- is flawed, the legal scholar says.
WASHINGTON — The Justice Department's war on terrorism has drawn intense scrutiny from the left and the right. Now, a chief architect of the USA Patriot Act and a former top assistant to Atty. Gen. John Ashcroft are joining the fray, voicing concern about aspects of the administration's anti-terrorism policy.
At issue is the government's power to designate and detain "enemy combatants," in particular in the case of "dirty bomb" plot suspect Jose Padilla, the Brooklyn-born former gang member who was picked up at a Chicago airport 18 months ago by the FBI and locked in a military brig without access to a lawyer.
...
Rumsfeld Made Iraq Overture in '84 Despite Chemical Raids
Rumsfeld Made Iraq Overture in '84 Despite Chemical Raids
Rumsfeld Made Iraq Overture in '84 Despite Chemical Raids
By CHRISTOPHER MARQUIS
Published: December 23, 2003
WASHINGTON, Dec. 22 — As a special envoy for the Reagan administration in 1984, Donald H. Rumsfeld, now the defense secretary, traveled to Iraq to persuade officials there that the United States was eager to improve ties with President Saddam Hussein despite his use of chemical weapons, newly declassified documents show.
Mr. Rumsfeld, who ran a pharmaceutical company at the time, was tapped by Secretary of State George P. Shultz to reinforce a message that a recent move to condemn Iraq's use of chemical weapons was strictly in principle and that America's priority was to prevent an Iranian victory in the Iran-Iraq war and to improve bilateral ties.
During that war, the United States secretly provided Iraq with combat planning assistance, even after Mr. Hussein's use of chemical weapons was widely known. The highly classified program involved more than 60 officers of the Defense Intelligence Agency, who shared intelligence on Iranian deployments, bomb-damage assessments and other crucial information with Iraq.
The disclosures round out a picture of American outreach to the Iraqi government, even as the United States professed to be neutral in the eight-year war, and suggests a private nonchalance toward Mr. Hussein's use of chemicals in warfare. Mr. Rumsfeld and other Bush administration officials have cited Iraq's use of poisonous gas as a main reason for ousting Mr. Hussein.
The documents, which were released as part of a declassification project by the National Security Archive, and are available on the Web at www.nsarchive.org, provide details of the instructions given to Mr. Rumsfeld on his second trip to Iraq in four months. The notes of Mr. Rumsfeld's encounter with Tariq Aziz, the foreign minister, remain classified, but officials acknowledged that it would be unusual if Mr. Rumsfeld did not carry out the instructions.
Since the release of the documents, he has told members of his inner circle at the Pentagon that he does not recall whether he had read, or even had received, the State Department memo, Defense Department officials said.
One official noted that the documents reflected the State Department's thinking on Iraq, but did not indicate Mr. Rumsfeld's planning for his meeting with Mr. Hussein nor his comments on the meeting after its conclusion.
Mr. Rumsfeld's trip was his second visit to Iraq. On his first visit, in late December 1983, he had a cordial meeting with Mr. Hussein, and photographs and a report of that encounter have been widely published.
In a follow-up memo, the chief of the American interests section reported that Mr. Aziz had conveyed Mr. Hussein's satisfaction with the meeting. "The Iraqi leadership was extremely pleased with Amb. Rumsfeld's visit," the memo said. "Tariq Aziz had gone out of his way to praise Rumsfeld as a person."
When news emerged last year of the December trip, Mr. Rumsfeld told CNN that he had "cautioned" Mr. Hussein to forgo chemical weapons. But when presented with declassified notes of their meeting that made no mention of that, a spokesman for Mr. Rumsfeld said he had raised the issue in a meeting with Mr. Aziz.
Lawrence Di Rita, the chief Pentagon spokesman, said on Friday that there was no inconsistency between Mr. Rumsfeld's previous comments on his missions to Iraq and the State Department documents.
By early 1984, events threatened to upset the American-Iraqi relationship. After pleading for a year for international action against the chemical warfare, Iran had finally persuaded the United Nations to criticize the use of chemical weapons, albeit in vague terms.
Pressure mounted on the Reagan administration, which had already verified Iraq's "almost daily" use of the weapons against Iran and against Kurdish rebels, documents show. In February, Iraq warned Iranian "invaders" that "for every harmful insect there is an insecticide capable of annihilating it." Within weeks, the American authorities intercepted precursor chemicals that were bound for Iraq. Finally, on March 5, the United States issued a public condemnation of Iraq.
But days later, Mr. Shultz and his deputy met with an Iraqi diplomat, Ismet Kittani, to soften the blow. The American relationship with Iraq was too important — involving business interests, Middle East diplomacy and a shared determination to thwart Iran — to sacrifice. Mr. Kittani left the meeting "unpersuaded," documents show.
Mr. Shultz then turned to Mr. Rumsfeld. In a March 24 briefing document, Mr. Rumsfeld was asked to present America's bottom line. At first, the memo recapitulated Mr. Shultz's message to Mr. Kittani, saying it "clarified that our CW [chemical weapons] condemnation was made strictly out of our strong opposition to the use of lethal and incapacitating CW, wherever it occurs." The American officials had "emphasized that our interests in 1) preventing an Iranian victory and 2) continuing to improve bilateral relations with Iraq, at a pace of Iraq's choosing, remain undiminished," it said.
Then came the instructions for Mr. Rumsfeld: "This message bears reinforcing during your discussions."
The American relationship with Iraq during its crippling war with Iran was rife with such ambiguities. Though the United States was outwardly neutral, it tilted toward Iraq and even monitored talks toward the sale of military equipment by private American contractors.
Tom Blanton, executive director of the National Security Archive, said: "Saddam had chemical weapons in the 1980's, and it didn't make any difference to U.S. policy."
Mr. Blanton suggested that the United States was now paying the price for earlier indulgence. "The embrace of Saddam in the 1980's and what it emboldened him to do should caution us as Americans that we have to look closely at all our murky alliances," he said. "Shaking hands with dictators today can turn them into Saddams tomorrow."
Thom Shanker contributed reporting for this article.
(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.)
Scientists Blame Soot for Global Warming
AP Wire | 12/23/2003 | Scientists Blame Soot for Global Warming
Bartlett: Third parties don't have a chance
I hear this a lot from republicans. I wonder if it means that Libertarians are becoming uncreasingly threatening to them.
republican third party opponents seems to consistently understate the reality of the Libertarian threat. For example, Bartlett says:
it is true that Libertarian Party candidates at the state level have sometimes gotten enough votes to elect a losing Republican had he gotten their votes.
Sounds pretty insignificant. But when you restate it to conform with reality, it sounds much more impressive:
it is true that Libertarian Senate candidates have gotten enough votes to elect a losing Republican had he gotten their votes, in two consecutive elections.
Cannabis campaigner may be forced to go
Cannabis campaigner may be forced to go
Pot activist Steve Kubby - who says he depends on marijuana to ward off a rare form of cancer - is now fighting to stay in Canada.
Kubby, 56, is under a departure order from Citizenship and Immigration Canada that would force him, wife Michele, and two daughters, out of the country as early as Jan. 15.
...
Hawaii reporter: Happy Bill of Rights Day
Happy Bill of Rights Day
The Libertarian View
By Tracy A. Ryan, 12/16/2003 2:00:36 AM
In recognition of the adoption of the first ten amendments to the Constitution on Dec. 15, 1791, Dec. 15th is "Bill of Rights Day." Did you see this important day in the news? Are Republicans and Democrats out making speeches like they do on the Fourth of July or on Labor Day? Well Libertarians are celebrating. To a libertarian being a proud American means more than just marching and flag waving. That kind of "patriotism" can be found in countries all over the world; many with little respect for individual rights. Our American Bill of Rights is an acknowledgment in the supreme law of our government that our rights and to liberty make individuals the true sovereigns here. Americans need never be forced to kneel before a collectivist autocracy.
On Saturday the 13th the Libertarian Party of Hawaii held its' December general meeting in Pahoa on the Big Island of Hawaii....
Harry Browne on The Liberation of Iraq
How Do I Liberate Thee?
Let Me Count the Ways
by Harry Browne
December 15, 2003
Excerpts:
How has Iraq been liberated? Let me count the ways . . .
1. The country is occupied by a foreign power.
2. Its officials are appointed by that foreign power.
3. Its citizens must carry ID cards.
4. They must submit to searches of their persons and cars at checkpoints and roadblocks.
5. They must be in their homes by curfew time.
6. Many towns are ringed with barbed wire.
...
9. The occupiers have decreed that certain electoral outcomes won't be permitted.
...
11. Protests are outlawed.
12. Private homes are raided or demolished — with no due process of law.
...
14. Newspapers, radio stations, and TV are all supervised by the occupiers.
...
Checks and Balances Live On
Rebuff for Bush on civil liberties (December 20, 2003)
(TruthOut permacopy)
THE Bush administration may be forced to rethink its war on terrorism strategy after two US courts ruled yesterday that detainees should not remain indefinitely in a legal twilight zone.
In a critical decision, a San Francisco appeals court disputed the administration's claims to have "unchecked authority" in dealing with prisoners held at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba outside the US criminal justice system.
The 2-1 decision came a few hours after a Manhattan appeals court ruled that accused "dirty bomb" plotter Jose Padilla - a US citizen alleged to be an enemy combatant - be released from military custody within 30 days.
...
Bill of Rights day in Noho
This is about Northampton, MA's Bill of Rights Day celebration. I've lived and worked in Northampton in the past. It's a great little Northeast city.
December 20, 2003
The Conservative Case Against George W. Bush
Righteous Anger
The Conservative Case Against George W. Bush
'Sick' Saddam drugged: visitor
'Sick' Saddam drugged: visitor (December 20, 2003)
A STARTLING new photograph of a sick-looking Saddam Hussein suggests he is being drugged or given strong medication by his US captors.
The man who took the photo told The Weekend Australian last night Hussein appeared very sick when he was visited by Iraqi Governing Council member Ahmed Chalabi two days after being captured near Tikrit.
...
Rogers brings it all back home
This is a friend and cohort of mine from college. I thought to check and see what she was up to, and thanks to the Internet, I was able to.
Rogers brings it all back home
It’s not unusual to hear musicians talk about getting back to their roots but when singer-songwriter Theresa Rogers says it, she means it literally, coming home to Wellfleet. Rogers, who fronted a successful Western Mass college circuit band has stepped away from the common career path taken by many aspiring musicians. She eschewed the idea of heading for bright lights, big city in favor of coming home to Cape Cod.
...
Intelligence Report: Iraq Outlook Bleak
This article is extracted from the Washington Times' "In the Ring" column
t r u t h o u t - Intelligence Report: Iraq Outlook Bleak
The National Intelligence Council, a group under CIA Director George J. Tenet, has released a paper that is part of an effort by intelligence analysts to predict global events in the next 17 years.
For its Middle East section, one analyst predicts Iraq faces a broad range of outcomes, mostly bad. ...
Bush Overruled on 'Dirty Bomb' Suspect
Yahoo! News - Bush Overruled on 'Dirty Bomb' Suspect
(TruthOut permacopy)
NEW YORK - President Bush does not have power to detain American citizen Jose Padilla, the former gang member seized on U.S. soil, as an enemy combatant, a federal appeals court ruled Thursday.
...
William Rivers Pitt | We Caught The Wrong Guy
t r u t h o u t - William Rivers Pitt | We Caught The Wrong Guy
3 senators urge Rumsfeld to free or try terror detainees
Coalition Strike In Afghanistan Kills 9 Children
Coalition Strike In Afghanistan Kills 9 Children
(for-pay archive)
December 19, 2003
Architects Unveil Revised Freedom Tower Design
A slightly different take on the same news event: Architects Unveil Revised Freedom Tower Design
WTC Freedom Tower to rise 1,776 feet
Freedom Tower to rise 1,776 feet from ashes
Architect says it will be an 'exclamation point' on the skyline
From Phil Hirschkorn
CNN
Friday, December 19, 2003
NEW YORK (CNN) -- The Freedom Tower to be built at the site of the devastated World Trade Center in Lower Manhattan is still planned as the world's tallest building, according to a revised model unveiled Friday by the architects collaborating on its design.
How Christmas displays illuminate a strong economy
Light Unto the Wealth of Nations
How Christmas displays illuminate a strong economy
By Virginia Postrel
Reason.com
Who's Who among American Terrorists
This is a detailing of the main American citizen detainees in the "War on Terror" -- John Walker Lindh, Jose Padilla, etc. -- and the presumed reasoning behind their various legal statuses.
December 18, 2003
Eland: One Autocratic Belligerent Deposed, One to Go
The Independent Institute | One Autocratic Belligerent Deposed, One to Go, by Ivan Eland
December 17, 2003
Blackfriars Rates The Clarity of 2004 Presidential Campaign Web Sites
This just a press release really, but it has a little info in it.
Blackfriars Rates The Clarity of 2004 Presidential Campaign Web Sites
December 16, 2003
Pork Spending in the 2004 Budget
From the Heritage Foundation: Another Omnibus Spending Bill Loaded with Pork
Bob Smith turns it into a call for action:
Save this list. During the 2004 campaign, pick any one of these organizations, and try to get a chance to ask your incumbent politician about it.
Ask him where it is.
Ask him what it does.
Ask him to explain it's value to us.
Ask him why it wasn't funded by the people who will use it.
Ask him why he wanted to spend your money on it.
If you're feeling bold, and he's still paying attention, ask him what HE got out of it.
Scarmig: How I Said No to the Automatic Social Security Number
How I Said No to the Automatic Social Security Number
This is the story of how I successfully refused to accept a Social Security Number for my child.
I simply said “no.”
Really. That’s how easy it was. I just said no, again, and again.
...
December 15, 2003
December 14, 2003
December 13, 2003
Group to honor Bill of Rights Day with March and Memorial on Monday
This is an advance story (which is essentially just my press release, cleaned up a little) about the Bill of Rights Day activity that I'm organizing. I'm saving the text of it here as it was published at Yubanet.
(This will eventually be posted at my main blog, but it's not functioning properly, so I'm using this blog as a backup place to put these entries.)
Group to honor Bill of Rights Day with March and Memorial on Monday
By Lance Brown, Nevada County Bill of Rights Defense Committee
Dec 13, 2003, 08:43
Local civil liberties activists will be holding a memorial service and march for the Bill of Rights in Nevada City this Monday-- Bill of Rights Day. The group will gather outside the Rood County Government Center at Noon, and march to Calanan Park in downtown Nevada City.
All interested parties are invited to attend.
This marks the third consecutive year that local activists have held a public commemoration of Bill of Rights Day -- the anniversary of the ratification of the first 10 amendments to the U.S. Constitution. A "funeral" last year preceded this year's memorial, and in 2001 the day was marked with a rally.
The event is part of an ongoing local campaign to raise awareness about what the group sees as grave dangers to our civil liberties that have come in the wake of the “war on terror”. The Nevada County Bill of Rights Defense Committee is launching a drive to pass local resolutions making Nevada County a "civil liberties safe zone", as part of a national movement where over 200 communities (and three states) have passed similar resolutions.
For more local information, call 274-2474 or visit ncrights.org.
Bill of Rights Day LTE in the SacBee
This is a letter of mine that was just published in the Sacramento Bee.
sacbee.com -- Letters to the editor
Bill of Rights Day
Dec. 15 is Bill of Rights Day, the anniversary of the ratification of the Bill of Rights.
I only became aware that it was a holiday in recent years, and the first time I celebrated Bill of Rights Day was in 2001. As a Libertarian, living through a wholesale expansion of federal law enforcement tactics in the name of the "war on terror," honoring the birthday of the Bill of Rights with a rally seemed like a smart idea.
By December 2002, the threats to civil liberties had risen to a level where we thought it made more sense to have a "funeral" to mark the day. So we did. And this Monday we'll have a memorial ceremony, as a sequel.
This year, I've come to accept that this is a holiday that's becoming genuinely important to me. I've compiled nearly 20 ways people can celebrate and honor Bill of Rights Day, and put them into a free website at BillofRightsDay.com.
Come on everyone -- give it a try: "Happy Bill of Rights Day!"
- Lance Brown, Nevada City
CANADA DENIES REFUGEE STATUS TO US MEDICAL MARIJUANA EXILE
Drug War Chronicle
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/315/stevekubby.shtml
CANADA DENIES REFUGEE STATUS TO US MEDICAL MARIJUANA EXILE
Prominent American medical marijuana activist Steve Kubby
(http://www.kubby.com), who fled the US saying an impending jail sentence
would cause his death, has been denied refugee status by the Canadian
Immigration and Refugee Board. An adrenal cancer patient, Kubby has smoked a
dozen joints a day for year, which he says keeps him alive, and would have
been denied that medication while serving a misdemeanor sentence in
California. But Kubby did not have a well-founded fear of being persecuted
or tortured, nor was there any risk to his life if he returned to his home
state of California, the board ruled Monday.
He has said he will appeal, but the clock is ticking for Kubby and his
family, whose requests for refugee status were also denied. Under Canadian
law, he has 15 days to apply to the Supreme Court for a review of the
decision, and if the court chooses not to review his case, he and his family
would have to leave the country within 30 days. One option would be to apply
for a "pre-removal risk assessment," which would force immigration officials
to once again investigate whether he would face "cruel or unusual punishment
or risk to life" if returned to the US.
Steve Kubby Kubby, the 1998 Libertarian Party nominee for governor of
California, fled to Canada with his family in 2001 after being found guilty
of possession of a small amount of psychedelic mushrooms and peyote in his
home state. That conviction arose from a medical marijuana raid on Kubby's
home. The state could not convict on the marijuana charges -- California law
allows for its medical use -- but did manage to nail Kubby for the 'shrooms.
He was prepared to serve a 120-day sentence provided he could have access to
medical marijuana. But local authorities in California refused to allow him
to have his medicine in jail, so Kubby ran for his life to what he hoped
would be a friendlier clime.
He and his family entered Canada on tourist visas, but were detained by
Canadian immigration authorities after newspaper stories featured their
cause and described them cultivating a medical marijuana garden at their
home in Sechelt, British Columbia, a short ferry ride up BC's Sunshine Coast
from Vancouver. At that point, Kubby, his wife Michelle, and their two
daughters applied for asylum as refugees fleeing persecution by American
drug warriors. Since then, they have remained in Canada, where they produce
a program on Pot-TV (http://www.pot-tv.net), a web-based marijuana reform
broadcaster funded by marijuana seed magnate Marc Emery. They also received
a permit from Health Canada to cultivate marijuana for Kubby's medicinal use
are currently growing 117 plants, Kubby told the Toronto Globe & Mail.
In addition to the fear of persecution because of his well-known advocacy of
medical marijuana, Kubby argued that medical marijuana users were not
protected in California, and that he would die if deprived of his medicine.
The Immigration and Refugee Board, however, ruled that Kubby was not and
would not be persecuted, that California law in fact protects medical
marijuana users, and that he would not suffer serious health effects if
incarcerated without access to medical marijuana.
In an opinion written by board member Paulah Dauns, the board noted that
Kubby had not been convicted on medical marijuana charges, but on other drug
charges, and that California law protected him. "In effect, the process
worked, as it was designed to," she wrote. "He argues that a medical
marijuana patient should be protected from persecution. What he has
demonstrated is that in fact, they are." Dauns also wrote that while there
was little doubt marijuana relieved Kubby's cancer symptoms, there was no
evidence that depriving him of cannabis while incarcerated on the California
'shroom charge would kill him, despite testimony from Dr. Joseph Connors of
the British Columbia Cancer Agency, who told the court during an April
hearing that Kubby would die within four days if denied access to marijuana
for his condition. Kubby was not a refugee, wrote Dauns, but a "fugitive
from justice."
And while Kubby argued that his use of marijuana was akin to a diabetic's
use of insulin, Dauns was having none of that, either. "Insulin has been
approved by the medical community as a treatment, whereas marijuana has
not," she said. "The research on the benefits of marijuana is woefully
inadequate and inconclusive, making a comparison of these two treatments
illogical," she wrote.
The Kubby case is the first of a handful of similar "reefer refugee" cases
to be decided in Canada. Two Northern California men, Kenneth Hayes and
Steve Tuck, who fled federal marijuana charges related to California medical
marijuana grows, have cases pending before the author of Monday's decision,
board member Dauns. Some advocates had hoped Kubby, with his strong health
argument, had the strongest of any of the pending cases.
Canadian Kubby supporters denounced the decision. "This is yet another
example of the harms of cannabis prohibition," said Philippe Lucas, director
of Canadians for Safe Access (http://www.safeaccess.ca), a medical marijuana
defense organization based on its southern sister, Americans for Safe Access
(http://www.safeaccessnow.org). "The Kubbys are kind contributors to the
social well-being of Canadians -- under any other circumstances, Canada
would welcome this reverse brain-drain. It is only through the perversion of
justice caused by prohibition that a loving family like the Kubbys could be
condemned to an uncertain future at the hands of American prosecutors."
But it wasn't only abstract prohibition that had Lucas and other Canadian
activists irked, it was the harsh slap in the face from a traditionally
refugee-friendly country. "Are we as a nation really so quick to take a
chance on Steve Kubby's health?" asked Lucas. "Shouldn't a modern liberal
democracy like Canada err on the side of social justice when a man's life is
on the line? If Steve Kubby should suffer the same fate as Peter McWilliams
-- who died choking on his own vomit while being denied his medicinal
cannabis after his arrest -- the hands of those who denied his refugee claim
will be forever stained in his blood."
"Today, I'm ashamed of being a Canadian," concurred Tim Meehan, national
director of the anti-prohibition wing of the New Democratic Party
(http://www.ndpot.ca). "Here at home, our government constantly reminds us
of how important the refugee protection system is. Canada's reputation is
built on it. However, when they subject people like Steve Kubby and his
family to institutional prejudice because of their choice of medical
treatment, and are more concerned about angering a trading partner than
saving a human life, that demonstrates our government's priorities are very
seriously out of alignment. I hope Canadians remember that in the upcoming
federal election," Meehan added.
Visit http://www.mapinc.org/alert/0282.html for a letter-writing alert to
help Steve Kubby.
Read a summary of the decision at:
http://www.irb.gc.ca/en/decisions/kubby/va2_01374_e.htm#summary
Read the decision in full at:
http://www.irb.gc.ca/en/decisions/kubby/va2_01374_e.htm
Or to get right to the paragraphs where Dauns lays out her reasoning, go to:
http://www.irb.gc.ca/en/decisions/kubby/va2_01374_e.htm#determination
American Medical Marijuana Refugee Ordered To Return To United States
NORML's Weekly News Bulletin -- December 11, 2003
http://norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=5856
American Medical Marijuana Refugee Ordered To Return To United States
Immigration Board Recognizes Pot To Be "Best Treatment Available," But
Rejects Patient's Asylum Request
December 11, 2003 - Vancouver, BC, Canada
Vancouver, British Columbia: The Canadian Immigration and Refugee Board this
week denied refugee status to American Steve Kubby and his family, and
ordered their return to California where Kubby is expected to be sentenced
to four months in jail for drug-related charges. Kubby has said he will
appeal the ruling.
He and his wife Michelle and two children will be allowed to remain in the
country while awaiting their appeal.
Kubby fled to Canada in 2001 rather than serve time in jail, where he would
be denied access to medicinal marijuana, which he requires to treat symptoms
of a rare, life-threatening form of adrenal cancer known as
pheochromocytoma. Kubby was diagnosed in 1968 with the disease - which he's
managed since the early 1980s exclusively by smoking cannabis - and given
six months to live. (Life expectancy of a person with pheochromocytoma is
typically three to five years.) Today Kubby is recognized as one of the
longest living survivors of the disease.
Though the Board recognized that "marijuana continues to be the best
treatment available to Mr. Kubby," and that he could potentially suffer a
heart attack or stroke without cannabis, it nevertheless ruled, "The
claimant is not a person in need of protection in that his removal to the
United States would not subject him personally to a risk to his life."
The Board based this decision, in part, on the premise that Kubby would
likely have access to medicinal marijuana while in jail. However, California
law does not compel the state to allow inmates access to medical cannabis,
stating: "Nothing in this article shall require any accommodation of any
medical use of marijuana ... on the property or premises of any jail,
correctional facility, or other type of penal institution in which prisoners
reside or persons under arrest are detained."
While living in Canada, Kubby had been one of fewer than 600 individuals to
receive a federal exemption from Health Canada to legally cultivate and use
pot for medical purposes.
NORML Foundation Executive Director Allen St. Pierre called the Refugee
Board's decision unfortunate and puzzling considering the government's prior
acknowledgement of Kubby's medical need to use cannabis. "This decision
makes little sense in light of the fact that the Canadian government has
already approved Steve Kubby's medical use of marijuana by granting him a
special exemption from prosecution," he said.
"Why they couldn't extend that same thinking to his asylum request seeking
protection for his health from America's policy of strict marijuana law
enforcement is puzzling. This decision does not bode well for the other
Americans who have sought refuge status in Canada for their
physician-sanctioned use of medical marijuana."
Since 1989, the Immigration and Refugee Board has heard nearly 1,000 refugee
cases from the United States, including 268 pending cases. So far, none of
those individuals have been granted asylum.
For more information, please contact Allen St. Pierre of The NORML
Foundation at (202) 483-8751. Full text of the Immigration and Refugee
Board's ruling is available online at:
http://www.irb.gc.ca/en/decisions/kubby/va2_01374_e.htm
(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.)
Woman Uses Greeting Card to Smuggle Meth
FOXNews.com - Top Stories - Woman Uses Greeting Card to Smuggle Meth
The court case that could reshape US democracy
The court case that could reshape US democracy
(TruthOut permacopy)
By Rupert Cornwell in Washington
11 December 2003
It bears the utterly uninformative title of Veith et al vs Jubelirer (docket number 02-1580). But the case, which the US Supreme Court heard yesterday, deals with the explosive political issue of gerrymandering - and its ruling next year could literally reshape America's democracy.
Veith et al vs Jubelirer involves only Pennsylvania. The state's Democrats have challenged what they say is a rigged and unfair plan to redraw congressional districts, a move approved by Pennsylvania's Republican-controlled legislature after the 2000 census.
Big Money's Spigot Will Stay Open
Big Money's Spigot Will Stay Open
t r u t h o u t permacopy
By Nick Anderson and Janet Hook
Los Angeles Times
Thursday 11 December 2003
Even though it erected formidable new barriers between politicians and deep-pocketed donors, the election law upheld Wednesday by the Supreme Court has not shut down big money in politics.
Instead, creative operatives allied with both parties are constructing new groups to raise and spend political money to get around the law.
...
Unwanted dog cheats death four times
Executing your dog because you don't want it or can't handle it any more is sick and pathetic. It's great that the dog lived, but that woman who dumped it on animal control should be ashamed of herself for putting that dog through that experience.
Unwanted dog cheats death four times
An unwanted dog which was put down with drugs, put in a plastic bag and then through a rubbish compressor has been found alive moments before being buried in a landfill site.
The five-year-old shepherd-Labrador cross was found clawing through the plastic bag on the back of a rubbish truck at the Edgeboro Landfill in East Brunswick, New Jersey.
December 12, 2003
Diebold email: "Make vote printouts too costly for MD"
NOTE: I have not read this whole thing, but it appears to have quite a bit of interesting info. the author of it wants it spread around, so I'm posting it here (just as I received it) in hopes of doing that.
-----------------------------------------------------
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Eric A. Smith
Hot Damn! Design
81-03-3959-5371
snowdog@juno.ocn.ne.jp
Diebold email: "Make vote printouts too costly for MD"
-- Scandals deepen for e-vote manufacturer
ANNAPOLIS, Maryland, December 12th — An internal memo has just surfaced suggesting e-vote manufacturer Diebold planned to overcharge the state of Maryland and make voter printouts "prohibitively expensive".
An employee named "Ken" wrote the Jan. 3 letter suggesting the company charge Maryland "out the yin" if legislators insisted on printouts.
Referring to a University of Maryland study critical of the company's machines, he added: "[The State of Maryland] already bought the system. At this point they are just closing the barn door. Let's just hope that as a company we are smart enough to charge out the yin if they try to change the rules now and legislate voter receipts."
He goes on to say "...any after-sale changes should be prohibitively expensive."
Delegate Karen S. Montgomery dropped the bombshell on Thursday amid negotiations with Diebold over its touchscreen voting machines.
Montgomery, who has written a bill mandating voter-verifiable ballots, described pressure to drop the issue, saying "scurrilous remarks" were being levelled against proponents of the measure. She said she believes the cost is being driven up to prevent anyone from insisting on verifiable printouts.
Steven T. Dennis of Gazette.net broke the story yesterday; he said spokesman David Bear deflected criticism by claiming the comments were "the internal discussion of one individual and [do] not reflect the sentiments or the position of the company."
Diebold, whose primary business has until recently been ATMs and ticket-vending machines (all of which produce paper printouts), made headlines last week when it dropped copyright-infringement suits against Swarthmore students who had published thousands of its internal memos on the Internet.
Prominent among the leaked memos is a missive to Global Election Systems (now Diebold) -- baldly stating that 16 thousand Gore votes were "disappeared" during the 2000 election. Author Lana Hires frantically asks how she should explain the problem to an auditor:
Additional memos are equally candid and suggestive:
-more-
Initially brought to light by activist Bev Harris, these and other alarming disclosures have added weight to the arguments of computer security experts and legislators nationwide, who say that Diebold's machines (as well as those of rivals ES&S and Sequoia) pose a grave risk to America's elections.
Harris received over 7,000 of the Diebold memos from an undisclosed source in early September. For the past three years, she has been arguing for greater security and accountability in electronic voting, last year weathering a similar unsuccesful gag lawsuit from e-vote firm ES&S.
A month after Harris recieved the memos she went public with them; Diebold immediately launched a gag lawsuit, and Harris's ISP shut down her activist site. A group of Swarthmore students and other activists responded by spreading the memos across the Internet.
When Diebold threatened to sue under the auspices of the DMCA, litigators from the Electronic Frontier Foundation and the ACLU stepped in to defend activists. Presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich added significant support by hosting the memos on his own website. Last week, Diebold withdrew its lawsuits.
With a new ISP, Harris has resumed her activism, and her book "Black Box Voting: Ballot Tampering in the 21st Century," can currently be downloaded for free from the site blackboxvoting.org.
Meanwhile, on Capital Hill, Congressman Rush Holt has also raised the issue of security, sponsoring the "Voter Confidence and Increased Accountability Act of 2003" (H.R. 2239), which calls for paper ballots, surprise recounts and auditable software in voting machines.
But while Holt's bill adds a significant level of transparency to the process, Harris says it doesn't go far enough. In a recent Buzzflash interview, she said:
"The problem area, and it is a whopper, is that this bill doesn't attack the crux of the issue, which is proper auditing -- and that is something that is needed for any computerized system, including optical scan machines.
The very first thing we need to do is get solid input from auditors who are experienced in fraud detection.
While we are designing amendments to the bill, we also must get some people with a solid grasp of history, because we need a voting system that is in keeping with the vision of our founding fathers -- and this is a public policy issue, not a computer issue. The most important thing that we keep forgetting is that the founders, especially Thomas Jefferson, felt that it was critical -- not "important," but CRITICAL to democracy, to keep the vote directly in the hands of the people themselves. Any solution which requires us to trust a handful of experts will, sooner or later, result in the demise of our democracy.
-more-
That means we need to retain (and enforce) policies to tally the votes at the polls, in front of observers. In some countries, they let as many regular citizens as can fit in the room in to watch the physical counting. It is this neighborhood tallying, and the open and public nature of it, that is the embodiment of democracy."
In July, Harris demonstrated just how insecure a Diebold machine could be, showing in a step-by-step expose how to reverse a federal election. New Zealand's Scoop Media posted the illustrated account online.
Author Faun Otter and others have also raised the issue of impartiality on the part of Diebold's board, which has contributed hundreds of thousands of dollars to Republican campaigns. National headlines were made when CEO Michael O'Dell, who recently hosted a $600,000 fundraiser for Vice President Dick Cheney, announced in a Republican fundraising letter that he was "committed to delivering Ohio's votes to the President".
But controversy doesn't end with Diebold alone. Rival voting machine company ES&S also came under scrutiny when it surfaced that it was run by Chuck Hagel until two weeks before his own election. Senator Hagel won by the biggest landslide in Nebraskan history; a victory the press characterized as a "stunning upset". His company, ES&S, counted 83% of the votes.
Hagel left out details of his ES&S involvement in his SEC filings, and, when the discrepancy surfaced, two days after a closed-door meeting with Hagel SEC legal counsel Victor Baird resigned and the matter was dropped.
And Hagel, who prior to his stewardship of ES&S was head of the Private Sector Council for George H.W. Bush, has bigger plans: Harris says the domain name "Bush-Hagel2004.com" was purchased last year but subsequently released and the Senator has already bought the rights to "hagel2008.com" and "ChuckHagel2008.com".
Meanwhile Hagel campaign manager Michael McCarthy owns over 30% of ES&S's parent company, and even the Senator hasn't fully divested himself of ownership -- he still has a $5 million stake in ES&S parent company the McCarthy Group.
Harris says there are firms offering comparatively secure systems -- competitors Avante, Accupol and Vogue, for example -- but some activists say any machine offers an opportunity for vote tampering. They're calling for a return to simple ballots, though such a solution is unlikely -- Bush's Help America Vote Act mandates a nationwide migration to electronic voting by 2006.
Secretary of state Kevin Shelley's recent declaration that all California voting machines must provide printouts may prompt the rest of the country to follow the west’s lead. But it may end up being a matter of too little, too late, as Diebold, ES&S and Sequioa systems are already in place in 37 states.
Harris, for one, is calling for a legal injunction to halt the use of any insecure systems prior to the 2004 primaries. If her instincts are right, a fierce battle may loom on the horizon -- a battle for the very heart and soul of America's democracy.
Officials to phone, fax and email about secure voting:
Congress
http://www.visi.com/juan/congress/
State elections boards:
http://www.blackboxvoting.org/htdocs/dcforum/DCForumID29/47.html
State Attorneys General (party affiliations listed):
http://www.naag.org/ag/full_ag_table.php
-more-
State Election Officials
http://www.nased.org/
Members, Natl. Assoc. of County Recorders, Election Officials and Clerks:
http://www.nacrc.org/leadership/st_coord.htm
Penelope Bonsall, national director of the Office of Election Administration
Office of Election Administration
Federal Election Commission
999 E Street, NW
Washington, DC 20463
vss@fec.gov
(202) 694-1095 (phone)
(202) 219-8500 (fax)
Online e-petitions EFF and VerifiedVoting.org:
http://action.eff.org/action/index.asp?step=2&item=2821
http://www.verifiedvoting.org
Media Contacts:
http://dmoz.org/Arts/Television/News/
http://newslink.org
http://www.cantufind.com/american_newspapers.htm
http://dmoz.org/Arts/Radio/Formats/Talk_Radio/Networks/
http://dmoz.org/Arts/Radio/Formats/Talk_Radio/Stations/
http://dmoz.org/Arts/Television/Networks/Cable/
http://dmoz.org/Arts/Television/Networks/
http://dmoz.org/Computers/Internet/Broadcasting/Information/
Contact: Eric A. Smith, Hot Damn! Design, Tokyo, Japan ● 81-03-3959-5371
# # #
Borowitz: SUPREME COURT OVERTURNS GORE’S ENDORSEMENT OF DEAN
SUPREME COURT OVERTURNS GORE’S ENDORSEMENT OF DEAN
Transfers Nod to Bush in 5-4 Decision
December 11, 2003
LP RELEASE: Campaign finance ruling
====================================
NEWS FROM THE LIBERTARIAN PARTY
2600 Virginia Avenue, NW, Suite 100
Washington DC 20037
World Wide Web: http://www.LP.org
====================================
For release: December 11, 2003
====================================
For additional information:
George Getz, Communications Director
Phone: (202) 333-0008
====================================
High court's ruling is all-out assault
on right to engage in politics, Libertarians say
WASHINGTON, DC -- The Libertarian Party, which is one of the plaintiffs
that challenged the campaign finance law upheld on Tuesday by the
Supreme Court, has denounced the ruling as an "all-out assault on the
right of every American to engage in the political process."
"Why not just outlaw elections and get it over with?" said Geoffrey
Neale, the Libertarian Party's national chair. "The Supreme Court has
just given incumbent politicians the power to financially cripple their
competitors and, in the process, award themselves lifetime jobs."
In a 5-4 ruling that shocked advocacy groups across the political
spectrum, the Supreme Court endorsed key provisions of the McCain-
Feingold campaign finance law. Specifically, the court upheld a ban on
"soft money" contributions from wealthy individuals, corporations and
labor unions, as well the law's prohibition on running certain
political advertisements within close proximity to an election.
But Libertarians point out that McCain-Feingold was nothing more than
an incumbent protection act in the first place -- and that the court's
ruling was tantamount to outlawing political competition.
"Running for office and communicating a message aren't free," Neale
said. "So making it illegal to raise money to buy political ads, and
banning the ads during the period when they're most effective, is
tantamount to outlawing the message itself. That's a crime against the
First Amendment as well as an affront to the democratic process."
Incumbent politicians already enjoy powerful advantages, Neale pointed
out, such as name recognition and the ability to attract news media,
taxpayer-financed staffs and office space, and the franking privilege.
The so-called campaign finance reform act was merely an attempt to
eliminate the only weapon that many challengers have: contributions
freely given by individuals or groups that share their views, he noted.
Acknowledging that the stated goal of the legislation was to clean up
politics, Neale said: "Justice Sandra Day O'Connor pointed out that
'corruption, and in particular the appearance of corruption,' is
rampant in Washington -- and of course, she's right.
"But a free-flowing, robust political debate isn't the problem; it's
the solution. The only way to dislodge an entrenched, corrupt
politician is to allow competing candidates, and anyone else who so
chooses, to publicly criticize them and offer voters a better
alternative.
"By upholding McCain-Feingold, the Supreme Court has merely guaranteed
that corrupt politicians will stay in office for a longer period of
time."
In March 1992, the Libertarian Party signed on as a co-plaintiff in
McConnell v FEC, the lawsuit spearheaded by Kentucky Senator Mitch
McConnell that sought to overturn the campaign finance reform law.
The party argued that the law would have a devastating impact on its
activities by eliminating certain sources of revenue and imposing
significant regulatory and administrative burdens.
For example, the law prohibits the organization from accepting
donations of more than $25,000 from any individual; prevents it from
taking money from organizations that are not "recognized political
committees," so it cannot sell ads in its party newspaper to nonprofit
corporations or incorporated businesses; and cannot accept funds for
memberships or literature from its own state affiliates, unless they
also comply with the law's onerous regulations.
However, the party was vindicated by one aspect of Tuesday's ruling,
Neale added, when the court struck down the provision of the law
banning minors from making contributions to political parties.
# # #
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2600 Virginia Ave. NW, Suite 100 voice: 202-333-0008
Washington DC 20037 fax: 202-333-0072
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For subscription changes, please use the WWW form at:
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Pot doc's license revocation upheld
Dec. 10, 2003 -- Pot doc's license revocation upheld
By HANK LAWSON Staff writer
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed Monday the federal government's revocation of Dr. Marion "Molly" Fry's license to prescribe medication including marijuana.
Who died and made non-aggression fundamental?
This memoir of sorts is rambling, but it has a quality to it which makes it interesting, and a little insightful.
Who died and made non-aggression fundamental?
by Student of Life
December 10, 2003
Campaign finance supporters praise Supreme Court ruling
This statement from the president of Common Cause is one of the most delusional claims I've heard from a public figure in a while.
"The toxic link between donors who write six-figure checks and people in power at the highest levels of government has been severed for good," said Chellie Pingree, the group's president, in a statement.
It's almost as funny as "The era of big government is over" was. Oh, yeah, folks....this time they've got it all worked out. Sure.
CNN.com - Campaign finance supporters praise Supreme Court ruling - Dec. 10, 2003
Supreme Court upholds 'soft money' ban
CNN.com - Supreme Court upholds 'soft money' ban - Dec. 10, 2003
December 09, 2003
December 08, 2003
KUBBY VOWS APPEAL OF RULING DENYING REFUGEE STATUS IN CANADA
For Immediate Release
December 8, 2003
Press Conference:
Tuesday, Dec. 9th, noon, BC Marijuana Party Headquarters, 307 West Hastings,
Vancouver
Decision Online:
http://www.irb.gc.ca/en/decisions/kubby/va2_01374_e.htm
KUBBY VOWS APPEAL OF RULING DENYING REFUGEE STATUS IN CANADA
VANCOUVER -- Steve Kubby, medical marijuana patient and former Libertarian
Party candidate for governor of California, vowed to appeal a ruling by the
Refugee Protection Division today that denied him refugee status in Canada
based on his need for medical marijuana.
Kubby complained, "I cannot understand how the Refugee panel could conclude
that my life would not be at risk if I were forced to return to the US,
after the leading cancer specialist in British Columbia testified that I
would die without it."
British Columbia cancer specialist Dr. Joseph Michael Connors, an expert in
the area of adrenal cancers, called by the Immigration Ministry, examined
Kubby and testified at the hearing about his medical condition.
The ruling recognizes that, according to Dr. Connors, "Mr. Kubby's tumour
releases, in excess quantities, hormones normally found in the adrenal
gland. Excessive levels of these hormones in Mr. Kubby's blood cause a
range of separate symptomatic problems including paroxysmal headaches,
palpitations (rapid and irregular beating of the heart), hypertension
(sudden dangerous rise in blood pressure), sudden abdominal cramps and
diarrhea, chest pain, shortness of breath, nausea, sudden severe weakness
and anorexia (loss of appetite). If not controlled, Mr. Kubby's symptoms
could evolve further to the point where a myocardial infarction (heart
attack) or cerebral vascular accident (stroke) could occur."
The ruling also acknowledged that "there is evidence before the Board, that
marihuana controls the symptoms of Mr. Kubby's cancer, including
hypertension. In Dr. Connors' opinion, marihuana continues to be the best
treatment available to Mr. Kubby."
However, the ruling went on to say that "it cannot therefore be stated with
any degree of certainty, that marihuana is the reason for Mr. Kubby's
survival even though it remains the best treatment option at this time."
Health Canada has even given Mr. Kubby permission to grow one hundred and
seventeen marijuana plants, based on "medical necessity."
The ruling further acknowledged, Kubby "has received a Health Canada
exemption, which suggests he is a bona fide ill person in need of medical
marihuana. It is noteworthy that Mr. Kubby was investigated and charged
with marihuana related criminal offences in Canada. Those Canadian charges
were later stayed by the Crown, and his marihuana grow equipment was
returned to him by the RCMP after the charges were stayed. This suggests
the Government of Canada believes he has a medical necessity for marihuana."
Despite all of this, the ruling somehow concluded, "he has not established
there is a risk to his life or a risk of cruel and unusual treatment or
punishment" if Kubby is forced to return to the US.
Kubby vowed, "Apparently, I have to die in order to convince the Refugee
board, but instead I intend to fight."
###
Kerry: "Did I expect George Bush to f - - - it up as badly as he did?"
New York Post Online Edition: CURSING KERRY UNLEASHES
FOULMOUTHED ATTACK ON BUSH
BillofRightsDay.com
Here's a new site I put together to help folks organize their Bill of Rights Day celebration efforts:
December 07, 2003
Boots on the Ground, Hearts on Their Sleeves
Boots on the Ground, Hearts on Their Sleeves
By DAVID BROOKS
Published: December 2, 2003
Bossier School Board upholds Advil expulsion
Bossier School Board upholds Advil expulsion
Girl had over-the-counter pills in purse at school
December 06, 2003
Hess: You pays your nickel, you takes your chances
This op-ed is a pretty good dressing-down of a "big prostitution bust", by Arizona Libertarian Barry Hess.
Hip hoppers say Dennis no menace
Hip hoppers say Dennis no menace=The Hill.com=
Dennis Kucinich, that is.
Phillies' Ideas for Libertarian Presidential Candidates
I am not running for President - but I do have some ideas on what our Party needs in one
by George Phillies
In Iraq Picture, Bush Is Holding the Centerpiece
The Bird Was Perfect But Not For Dinner (washingtonpost.com)
In Iraq Picture, Bush Is Holding the Centerpiece
Lindaman: Welcome Back, Rush...Now Retire!
AmericanDaily.com - Welcome Back, Rush...Now Retire! - Thomas Lindaman
December 05, 2003
Rumsfeld's Leaked Memo about the "War on Terror"
I tried to find this memo when it was hot news, and gave up before I was able to. But I recently found cause to look again, and had better luck. I'm storing it here because it's worth archiving (Plus it's public domain, I assume, so I might as well get the traffic instead of USATODAY, where I got it from.)
October 16, 2003
TO: Gen. Dick Myers
Paul Wolfowitz
Gen. Pete Pace
Doug Feith
FROM: Donald Rumsfeld
SUBJECT: Global War on Terrorism
The questions I posed to combatant commanders this week were: Are we winning or losing the Global War on Terror? Is DoD changing fast enough to deal with the new 21st century security environment? Can a big institution change fast enough? Is the USG changing fast enough?
DoD has been organized, trained and equipped to fight big armies, navies and air forces. It is not possible to change DoD fast enough to successfully fight the global war on terror; an alternative might be to try to fashion a new institution, either within DoD or elsewhere — one that seamlessly focuses the capabilities of several departments and agencies on this key problem.
With respect to global terrorism, the record since Septermber 11th seems to be:
We are having mixed results with Al Qaida, although we have put considerable pressure on them — nonetheless, a great many remain at large.
USG has made reasonable progress in capturing or killing the top 55 Iraqis.
USG has made somewhat slower progress tracking down the Taliban — Omar, Hekmatyar, etc.
With respect to the Ansar Al-Islam, we are just getting started.
Have we fashioned the right mix of rewards, amnesty, protection and confidence in the US?
Does DoD need to think through new ways to organize, train, equip and focus to deal with the global war on terror?
Are the changes we have and are making too modest and incremental? My impression is that we have not yet made truly bold moves, although we have have made many sensible, logical moves in the right direction, but are they enough?
Today, we lack metrics to know if we are winning or losing the global war on terror. Are we capturing, killing or deterring and dissuading more terrorists every day than the madrassas and the radical clerics are recruiting, training and deploying against us?
Does the US need to fashion a broad, integrated plan to stop the next generation of terrorists? The US is putting relatively little effort into a long-range plan, but we are putting a great deal of effort into trying to stop terrorists. The cost-benefit ratio is against us! Our cost is billions against the terrorists' costs of millions.
Do we need a new organization?
How do we stop those who are financing the radical madrassa schools?
Is our current situation such that "the harder we work, the behinder we get"?
It is pretty clear that the coalition can win in Afghanistan and Iraq in one way or another, but it will be a long, hard slog.
Does CIA need a new finding?
Should we create a private foundation to entice radical madradssas to a more moderate course?
What else should we be considering?
Please be prepared to discuss this at our meeting on Saturday or Monday.
Thanks.
December 03, 2003
Taibbi: Clark's True Colors
I was not impressed by Taibbi's attitude and approach in writing this article*, but he makes some OK points.
*As Matt Stoller of the Clark Sphere put it:
Seriously, attacking Clark is fine, he's in politics. But why go after the campaign staffers who are trying to do their best? Come on. This is ridiculous. Posing as a porn director at a Meetup and then getting awkward quotes from 22 year old volunteers? Really.
by Matt Taibbi
You can see something in the eyes of most all the Democratic candidates: the pugnacity of Howard Dean, the idealism of Dennis Kucinich, even (surprisingly) the elaborate sense of humor just under the surface of Joe Lieberman.
Not Wesley Clark. His eyes are blank. Like a turtle resting on a rock in the middle of a pond, he simply seems never to move, no matter how long you stare. But then, just as you're about to pack up your picnic basket and go home, you catch him: His head pops out, and he slides off into the water...
Lydon on Emerson: A God for Bloggers
A God for Bloggers
by Christopher Lydon
Ralph Waldo Emerson on his 200th birthday this spring is "closer to us than ever," writes the great Harold Bloom. He is a man for bloggers to embrace most especially, not for Emerson's glory but for our own understanding of a transformative moment we are living through.
Poet, public intellectual, performance artist and incomparable diarist, Emerson (1803-1882) has glory enough. It's we who need his encouraging frame around bloggery--this still strange and marvellous exercise in democratic media.
...
Some Iraqis Welcome Bush, Others Wish Him in Hell
This article is archived at TruthOut. The original doesn't appear to be available at MSNBC.com anymore.
The Pentagon crosses the lexicon
The Pentagon crosses the lexicon
As the horizon in Iraq recedes, the U.S. military’s language adapts
ANALYSIS
By Michael Moran
MSNBC
The turkey has landed
The turkey has landed: how Bush cooked up a secret mission to give thanks to his troops
By Phil Reeves in Baghdad and David Usborne in New York
The Independent-UK
An Apology to Younger Americans
An Apology to Younger Americans
By Sam Smith, The Progressive Review
November 30, 2003
In observance of the approaching 66th anniversary of my arrival on this planet I would like to apologize to you on behalf of my generation. Even members of Confederacy had the grace to secede from the union; my generation has remained within like a deadly virus, subverting it, shaming it, screwing it, stealing from it, and finally strangling it. It will likely be known as the worst generation – the one that brought the First American Republic down – unmatched in the damage it has done to the Constitution, the environment, and a two century struggle to create a society democratic and decent in its politics, economics, and social concourse.
To be sure, when we were young we were, as we said then, somethin' else. We launched the civil rights, women's, gay, and environmental movements, not to mention creating some memorable music before descending into disco. Soon other things started to go downhill rapidly. We became not only the generation that invented the phrase, 'never trust anyone over thirty,' we proved it.
...
December 01, 2003
The Bush Betrayal
I'm posting the full text of this excellent opinion piece, because I'd like to have it archived here. It was originally published in the Washington Post.
By David Boaz
Sunday, November 30, 2003
In 2000 George W. Bush campaigned across the country telling voters: "My opponent trusts government. I trust you."
Little wonder that some of his supporters are now wondering which candidate won that election.
Federal spending has increased by 23.7 percent since Bush took office. Education has been further federalized in the No Child Left Behind Act. Bush pulled out all the stops to get Republicans in Congress to create the biggest new entitlement program -- prescription drug coverage under Medicare -- in 40 years.
He pushed an energy bill that my colleague Jerry Taylor described as "three parts corporate welfare and one part cynical politics . . . a smorgasbord of handouts and subsidies for virtually every energy lobby in Washington."
It's a far cry from the less-government, "leave us alone" conservatism of Ronald Reagan.
Conservatives used to believe that the U.S. Constitution set up a government of strictly limited powers.
It was supposed to protect us from foreign threats and deliver the mail, leaving other matters to the states or to the private sector -- individuals, families, churches, charities and businesses.
That's what lots of voters assumed they would get with Bush. In his first presidential debate with Al Gore, Bush contrasted his own vision of tax reduction with that of his opponent, who would "increase the size of government dramatically." Gore, Bush declared, would "empower Washington," but "my passion and my vision is to empower Americans to be able to make decisions for themselves in their own lives."
Bush was tapping into popular sentiment.
In fact, you could say that what most voters wanted in 2000 was neither Bush nor Gore but smaller government. A Los Angeles Times poll in September 2000 found that Americans preferred "smaller government with fewer services" to "larger government with many services" by 59 to 26 percent.
But that's not what voters got. Leave aside defense spending and even entitlements spending: In Bush's first three years, nondefense discretionary spending -- which fell by 13.5 percent under Ronald Reagan -- has soared by 20.8 percent. His more libertarian-minded voters are taken aback to discover that "compassionate conservatism" turned out to mean social conservatism -- a stepped-up drug war, restrictions on medical research, antigay policies, federal subsidies for marriage and religion -- and big-spending liberalism justified as "compassion."
When they're given a chance to vote, Americans don't like big government.
Last November 45 percent of the voters in the most liberal state in the Union, Ted Kennedy's Massachusetts, voted to abolish the state income tax.
In January, Oregon's liberal electorate rejected a proposed tax increase, 55 percent to 45 percent.
In September Alabama voters rejected Gov. Bob Riley's $1.2 billion tax hike by 2 to 1.
California voters tossed out big-spending Gov. Gray Davis, and 62 percent of them voted for candidates who promised not to raise taxes to close the state's deficit.
Bush and his aides should be worrying about the possibility that libertarians, economic conservatives and fed-up taxpayers won't be in his corner in 2004 in the same numbers as 2000.
Republican strategists are likely to say that libertarians and economic conservatives have nowhere else to go. Many of the disappointed will indeed sigh a deep sigh and vote for Bush as a lesser evil.
But Karl Rove, who is fascinated by the role Mark Hanna played in building the post-1896 Republican majority, should remember one aspect of that era: In the late 19th century, the Democratic Party of Jefferson, Jackson and Cleveland was known as "the party of personal liberty." More so than the Republicans, it was committed to economic and cultural laissez-faire and opposed to Prohibition, protectionism and inflation.
When the big-government populist William Jennings Bryan claimed the Democratic nomination in 1896, many assumed he would draw industrial workers from the Republicans and bring new voters to the polls. Instead, Bryan lost in a landslide, and turnout declined for the next few elections. As the more libertarian Democrats found less reason to go to the polls, the Republicans dominated national politics for the next 36 years.
It could happen that limited-government voters decide to stay home, or vote for an independent candidate in the mold of Ross Perot or Jesse Ventura or vote Libertarian.
They could even vote for an antiwar, anti-Patriot Act, socially tolerant Democrat.
Given a choice between big-government liberalism and big-government conservatism, the leave-us-alone voters might decide that voting isn't worth the trouble.
The writer is executive vice president of the Cato Institute and author of "Libertarianism: A Primer."
Geoff Metcalf: Under the Color of Authority
IRS: Abuse of Power
Under the Color of Authority
Geoff Metcalf
Monday, Nov. 24, 2003
Find out just what people will submit to, and you have found out the exact amount of injustice and wrong which will be imposed upon them; and these will continue until they are resisted with either words or blows, or both. The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they oppress. – Frederick Douglass
For over a decade I have been interviewing and reporting on what has been called The "Tax Honesty Movement." Some people call these folks “tax protesters," others call them wackos. To a growing many, they are patriots committed to redressing what they perceive as a grievous wrong.
In the wake of years of study, interviews and analysis I have come to my own personal conclusions:
-As an academic exercise, and objective evaluation of the facts in evidence, the Tax Freedom crowd is mostly right.
-However, as a practical reality check, and ‘The Golden Rule’ (those with the gold make the rules), when contemporary ‘Davids’ square off with the federal government’s ‘Goliath,’ right is NOT might.
-Those who take on “The G” can and will be eviscerated by bureaucratic ‘shock and awe’ that has and will ruin lives.
...
One of the most heroic crusaders cast in the role of ‘David’ is Joseph R. (Joe) Banister. Joe is a CPA and former IRS Criminal Investigation Division special agent [www.freedomabovefortune.com]. He is a good guy with a fascinating story and about to become another victim of abuse of power under the color of authority.
...
Big Crowd at Military School Protest Gets Earful of Patriotic Music From Army
Big Crowd at Military School Protest Gets Earful of Patriotic Music From Army
COLUMBUS, Ga. (AP) - Demonstrators gathered outside Fort Benning to protest a military school were hit with a sonic barrage Saturday: patriotic music Army officials had blaring from the main gate.
A crowd estimated by Columbus police at 8,000 gathered to protest the school once known as the School of the Americas, which they blame for Latin American human rights abuses. It appeared to be the largest first-day gathering in the 14-year history of the protest.
The Army's loudspeakers, playing "The Army Song" and "God Bless the U.S.A.," were 50 yards away from where protesters were speaking to the crowd.
...
Raimondo: Boot Boortz!
Neal Boortz is a statist, not a libertarian.
So why is he speaking at the Libertarian Party’s national convention?
by Justin Raimondo
November 26, 2003
One thing one has to say about most of the "liberventionists" – the tiny but vocal clot of pro-war, pro-Bush "libertarians" – and that is they oppose this administration’s attacks on our civil liberties here at home. But what are we to make of alleged libertarians, such as Neal Boortz, who wants to know why the FBI shouldn’t be allowed to spy on the antiwar movement:
"The FBI is investigating the backgrounds and organizational methods of antiwar demonstrators in the US. Hopefully that doesn't come as a surprise to you. It is safe to assume that a large number of these demonstrators are out there in the streets because they want America to fail in its efforts to fight terrorism and its efforts to bring secular representative governments to Iraq and Afghanistan. Translated: Many of these demonstrators are pro-Saddam and anti-US. So, who wouldn't want them investigated by the FBI?"
Oh, gee, I don’t know: maybe a self-described "libertarian" who advocates strictly limited government and regards such surveillance as impermissible, in principle. Perhaps someone who takes the Bill of Rights seriously. In short, someone who believes in upholding the primacy of individual liberty – even in the face of an unprecedented assault by a cabal of war-crazed power-hungry ideologues.
...
Lessig: The New Road to the White House
The New Road to the White House
How grassroots blogs are transforming presidential politics.
When they write the account of the 2004 campaign, it will include at least one word that has never appeared in any presidential history: blog. Whether or not it elects the next president, the blog may be the first innovation from the Internet to make a real difference in election politics. But to see just why requires a bit of careful attention.
...
AlterNet: Neocons Leak Bad Intelligence
AlterNet: Neocons Leak Bad Intelligence
By Jim Lobe, AlterNet
November 20, 2003
The leak of a secret memorandum written by a senior Pentagon official reveals less about the connection between Saddam and al Qaeda than the growing desperation of neo-conservative hawks in the Bush administration.
US starts to lift the veil on Camp X-Ray trials
US starts to lift the veil on Camp X-Ray trials
(TruthOut permacopy)
Patriot Act Expansion Moves Through Congress
Patriot Act Expansion Moves Through Congress
by Jim Lobe
(TruthOut permacopy)
George Orwell: Why I Write
This was really interesting for me. Thanks to Tim at Libertarian Rant for pointing it out.
SITE NOTE: Scaling back for now
I need to conserve time for a while, so entries here are going to be less robust than usual. In most cases I might just end up posting links to what I've read, more as a way of keeping track than anything else. I'm sorry if anyone has grown dependent on the excerpts and ratings. ;-\
I don't know if this has long-term implications for the Little Brown Reader. For the time being, I consider it to be a temporary shift in my approach. I'll be sure to let you know if that changes.
Patriot Act Author Has Concerns
Patriot Act Author Has Concerns
By Richard B. Schmitt, Times Staff Writer
Detaining citizens as 'enemy combatants' -- a policy not spelled out in the act -- is flawed, the legal scholar says.
WASHINGTON — The Justice Department's war on terrorism has drawn intense scrutiny from the left and the right. Now, a chief architect of the USA Patriot Act and a former top assistant to Atty. Gen. John Ashcroft are joining the fray, voicing concern about aspects of the administration's anti-terrorism policy.
At issue is the government's power to designate and detain "enemy combatants," in particular in the case of "dirty bomb" plot suspect Jose Padilla, the Brooklyn-born former gang member who was picked up at a Chicago airport 18 months ago by the FBI and locked in a military brig without access to a lawyer.
...
The Conservative Case Against George W. Bush
Righteous Anger
The Conservative Case Against George W. Bush
'Sick' Saddam drugged: visitor
'Sick' Saddam drugged: visitor (December 20, 2003)
A STARTLING new photograph of a sick-looking Saddam Hussein suggests he is being drugged or given strong medication by his US captors.
The man who took the photo told The Weekend Australian last night Hussein appeared very sick when he was visited by Iraqi Governing Council member Ahmed Chalabi two days after being captured near Tikrit.
...
Rogers brings it all back home
This is a friend and cohort of mine from college. I thought to check and see what she was up to, and thanks to the Internet, I was able to.
Rogers brings it all back home
It’s not unusual to hear musicians talk about getting back to their roots but when singer-songwriter Theresa Rogers says it, she means it literally, coming home to Wellfleet. Rogers, who fronted a successful Western Mass college circuit band has stepped away from the common career path taken by many aspiring musicians. She eschewed the idea of heading for bright lights, big city in favor of coming home to Cape Cod.
...
Intelligence Report: Iraq Outlook Bleak
This article is extracted from the Washington Times' "In the Ring" column
t r u t h o u t - Intelligence Report: Iraq Outlook Bleak
The National Intelligence Council, a group under CIA Director George J. Tenet, has released a paper that is part of an effort by intelligence analysts to predict global events in the next 17 years.
For its Middle East section, one analyst predicts Iraq faces a broad range of outcomes, mostly bad. ...
Bush Overruled on 'Dirty Bomb' Suspect
Yahoo! News - Bush Overruled on 'Dirty Bomb' Suspect
(TruthOut permacopy)
NEW YORK - President Bush does not have power to detain American citizen Jose Padilla, the former gang member seized on U.S. soil, as an enemy combatant, a federal appeals court ruled Thursday.
...
William Rivers Pitt | We Caught The Wrong Guy
t r u t h o u t - William Rivers Pitt | We Caught The Wrong Guy
3 senators urge Rumsfeld to free or try terror detainees
Coalition Strike In Afghanistan Kills 9 Children
Coalition Strike In Afghanistan Kills 9 Children
(for-pay archive)
Architects Unveil Revised Freedom Tower Design
A slightly different take on the same news event: Architects Unveil Revised Freedom Tower Design
WTC Freedom Tower to rise 1,776 feet
Freedom Tower to rise 1,776 feet from ashes
Architect says it will be an 'exclamation point' on the skyline
From Phil Hirschkorn
CNN
Friday, December 19, 2003
NEW YORK (CNN) -- The Freedom Tower to be built at the site of the devastated World Trade Center in Lower Manhattan is still planned as the world's tallest building, according to a revised model unveiled Friday by the architects collaborating on its design.
How Christmas displays illuminate a strong economy
Light Unto the Wealth of Nations
How Christmas displays illuminate a strong economy
By Virginia Postrel
Reason.com
Who's Who among American Terrorists
This is a detailing of the main American citizen detainees in the "War on Terror" -- John Walker Lindh, Jose Padilla, etc. -- and the presumed reasoning behind their various legal statuses.
December 18, 2003
Eland: One Autocratic Belligerent Deposed, One to Go
The Independent Institute | One Autocratic Belligerent Deposed, One to Go, by Ivan Eland
December 17, 2003
Blackfriars Rates The Clarity of 2004 Presidential Campaign Web Sites
This just a press release really, but it has a little info in it.
Blackfriars Rates The Clarity of 2004 Presidential Campaign Web Sites
December 16, 2003
Pork Spending in the 2004 Budget
From the Heritage Foundation: Another Omnibus Spending Bill Loaded with Pork
Bob Smith turns it into a call for action:
Save this list. During the 2004 campaign, pick any one of these organizations, and try to get a chance to ask your incumbent politician about it.
Ask him where it is.
Ask him what it does.
Ask him to explain it's value to us.
Ask him why it wasn't funded by the people who will use it.
Ask him why he wanted to spend your money on it.
If you're feeling bold, and he's still paying attention, ask him what HE got out of it.
Scarmig: How I Said No to the Automatic Social Security Number
How I Said No to the Automatic Social Security Number
This is the story of how I successfully refused to accept a Social Security Number for my child.
I simply said “no.”
Really. That’s how easy it was. I just said no, again, and again.
...
December 15, 2003
December 14, 2003
December 13, 2003
Group to honor Bill of Rights Day with March and Memorial on Monday
This is an advance story (which is essentially just my press release, cleaned up a little) about the Bill of Rights Day activity that I'm organizing. I'm saving the text of it here as it was published at Yubanet.
(This will eventually be posted at my main blog, but it's not functioning properly, so I'm using this blog as a backup place to put these entries.)
Group to honor Bill of Rights Day with March and Memorial on Monday
By Lance Brown, Nevada County Bill of Rights Defense Committee
Dec 13, 2003, 08:43
Local civil liberties activists will be holding a memorial service and march for the Bill of Rights in Nevada City this Monday-- Bill of Rights Day. The group will gather outside the Rood County Government Center at Noon, and march to Calanan Park in downtown Nevada City.
All interested parties are invited to attend.
This marks the third consecutive year that local activists have held a public commemoration of Bill of Rights Day -- the anniversary of the ratification of the first 10 amendments to the U.S. Constitution. A "funeral" last year preceded this year's memorial, and in 2001 the day was marked with a rally.
The event is part of an ongoing local campaign to raise awareness about what the group sees as grave dangers to our civil liberties that have come in the wake of the “war on terror”. The Nevada County Bill of Rights Defense Committee is launching a drive to pass local resolutions making Nevada County a "civil liberties safe zone", as part of a national movement where over 200 communities (and three states) have passed similar resolutions.
For more local information, call 274-2474 or visit ncrights.org.
Bill of Rights Day LTE in the SacBee
This is a letter of mine that was just published in the Sacramento Bee.
sacbee.com -- Letters to the editor
Bill of Rights Day
Dec. 15 is Bill of Rights Day, the anniversary of the ratification of the Bill of Rights.
I only became aware that it was a holiday in recent years, and the first time I celebrated Bill of Rights Day was in 2001. As a Libertarian, living through a wholesale expansion of federal law enforcement tactics in the name of the "war on terror," honoring the birthday of the Bill of Rights with a rally seemed like a smart idea.
By December 2002, the threats to civil liberties had risen to a level where we thought it made more sense to have a "funeral" to mark the day. So we did. And this Monday we'll have a memorial ceremony, as a sequel.
This year, I've come to accept that this is a holiday that's becoming genuinely important to me. I've compiled nearly 20 ways people can celebrate and honor Bill of Rights Day, and put them into a free website at BillofRightsDay.com.
Come on everyone -- give it a try: "Happy Bill of Rights Day!"
- Lance Brown, Nevada City
CANADA DENIES REFUGEE STATUS TO US MEDICAL MARIJUANA EXILE
Drug War Chronicle
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/315/stevekubby.shtml
CANADA DENIES REFUGEE STATUS TO US MEDICAL MARIJUANA EXILE
Prominent American medical marijuana activist Steve Kubby
(http://www.kubby.com), who fled the US saying an impending jail sentence
would cause his death, has been denied refugee status by the Canadian
Immigration and Refugee Board. An adrenal cancer patient, Kubby has smoked a
dozen joints a day for year, which he says keeps him alive, and would have
been denied that medication while serving a misdemeanor sentence in
California. But Kubby did not have a well-founded fear of being persecuted
or tortured, nor was there any risk to his life if he returned to his home
state of California, the board ruled Monday.
He has said he will appeal, but the clock is ticking for Kubby and his
family, whose requests for refugee status were also denied. Under Canadian
law, he has 15 days to apply to the Supreme Court for a review of the
decision, and if the court chooses not to review his case, he and his family
would have to leave the country within 30 days. One option would be to apply
for a "pre-removal risk assessment," which would force immigration officials
to once again investigate whether he would face "cruel or unusual punishment
or risk to life" if returned to the US.
Steve Kubby Kubby, the 1998 Libertarian Party nominee for governor of
California, fled to Canada with his family in 2001 after being found guilty
of possession of a small amount of psychedelic mushrooms and peyote in his
home state. That conviction arose from a medical marijuana raid on Kubby's
home. The state could not convict on the marijuana charges -- California law
allows for its medical use -- but did manage to nail Kubby for the 'shrooms.
He was prepared to serve a 120-day sentence provided he could have access to
medical marijuana. But local authorities in California refused to allow him
to have his medicine in jail, so Kubby ran for his life to what he hoped
would be a friendlier clime.
He and his family entered Canada on tourist visas, but were detained by
Canadian immigration authorities after newspaper stories featured their
cause and described them cultivating a medical marijuana garden at their
home in Sechelt, British Columbia, a short ferry ride up BC's Sunshine Coast
from Vancouver. At that point, Kubby, his wife Michelle, and their two
daughters applied for asylum as refugees fleeing persecution by American
drug warriors. Since then, they have remained in Canada, where they produce
a program on Pot-TV (http://www.pot-tv.net), a web-based marijuana reform
broadcaster funded by marijuana seed magnate Marc Emery. They also received
a permit from Health Canada to cultivate marijuana for Kubby's medicinal use
are currently growing 117 plants, Kubby told the Toronto Globe & Mail.
In addition to the fear of persecution because of his well-known advocacy of
medical marijuana, Kubby argued that medical marijuana users were not
protected in California, and that he would die if deprived of his medicine.
The Immigration and Refugee Board, however, ruled that Kubby was not and
would not be persecuted, that California law in fact protects medical
marijuana users, and that he would not suffer serious health effects if
incarcerated without access to medical marijuana.
In an opinion written by board member Paulah Dauns, the board noted that
Kubby had not been convicted on medical marijuana charges, but on other drug
charges, and that California law protected him. "In effect, the process
worked, as it was designed to," she wrote. "He argues that a medical
marijuana patient should be protected from persecution. What he has
demonstrated is that in fact, they are." Dauns also wrote that while there
was little doubt marijuana relieved Kubby's cancer symptoms, there was no
evidence that depriving him of cannabis while incarcerated on the California
'shroom charge would kill him, despite testimony from Dr. Joseph Connors of
the British Columbia Cancer Agency, who told the court during an April
hearing that Kubby would die within four days if denied access to marijuana
for his condition. Kubby was not a refugee, wrote Dauns, but a "fugitive
from justice."
And while Kubby argued that his use of marijuana was akin to a diabetic's
use of insulin, Dauns was having none of that, either. "Insulin has been
approved by the medical community as a treatment, whereas marijuana has
not," she said. "The research on the benefits of marijuana is woefully
inadequate and inconclusive, making a comparison of these two treatments
illogical," she wrote.
The Kubby case is the first of a handful of similar "reefer refugee" cases
to be decided in Canada. Two Northern California men, Kenneth Hayes and
Steve Tuck, who fled federal marijuana charges related to California medical
marijuana grows, have cases pending before the author of Monday's decision,
board member Dauns. Some advocates had hoped Kubby, with his strong health
argument, had the strongest of any of the pending cases.
Canadian Kubby supporters denounced the decision. "This is yet another
example of the harms of cannabis prohibition," said Philippe Lucas, director
of Canadians for Safe Access (http://www.safeaccess.ca), a medical marijuana
defense organization based on its southern sister, Americans for Safe Access
(http://www.safeaccessnow.org). "The Kubbys are kind contributors to the
social well-being of Canadians -- under any other circumstances, Canada
would welcome this reverse brain-drain. It is only through the perversion of
justice caused by prohibition that a loving family like the Kubbys could be
condemned to an uncertain future at the hands of American prosecutors."
But it wasn't only abstract prohibition that had Lucas and other Canadian
activists irked, it was the harsh slap in the face from a traditionally
refugee-friendly country. "Are we as a nation really so quick to take a
chance on Steve Kubby's health?" asked Lucas. "Shouldn't a modern liberal
democracy like Canada err on the side of social justice when a man's life is
on the line? If Steve Kubby should suffer the same fate as Peter McWilliams
-- who died choking on his own vomit while being denied his medicinal
cannabis after his arrest -- the hands of those who denied his refugee claim
will be forever stained in his blood."
"Today, I'm ashamed of being a Canadian," concurred Tim Meehan, national
director of the anti-prohibition wing of the New Democratic Party
(http://www.ndpot.ca). "Here at home, our government constantly reminds us
of how important the refugee protection system is. Canada's reputation is
built on it. However, when they subject people like Steve Kubby and his
family to institutional prejudice because of their choice of medical
treatment, and are more concerned about angering a trading partner than
saving a human life, that demonstrates our government's priorities are very
seriously out of alignment. I hope Canadians remember that in the upcoming
federal election," Meehan added.
Visit http://www.mapinc.org/alert/0282.html for a letter-writing alert to
help Steve Kubby.
Read a summary of the decision at:
http://www.irb.gc.ca/en/decisions/kubby/va2_01374_e.htm#summary
Read the decision in full at:
http://www.irb.gc.ca/en/decisions/kubby/va2_01374_e.htm
Or to get right to the paragraphs where Dauns lays out her reasoning, go to:
http://www.irb.gc.ca/en/decisions/kubby/va2_01374_e.htm#determination
American Medical Marijuana Refugee Ordered To Return To United States
NORML's Weekly News Bulletin -- December 11, 2003
http://norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=5856
American Medical Marijuana Refugee Ordered To Return To United States
Immigration Board Recognizes Pot To Be "Best Treatment Available," But
Rejects Patient's Asylum Request
December 11, 2003 - Vancouver, BC, Canada
Vancouver, British Columbia: The Canadian Immigration and Refugee Board this
week denied refugee status to American Steve Kubby and his family, and
ordered their return to California where Kubby is expected to be sentenced
to four months in jail for drug-related charges. Kubby has said he will
appeal the ruling.
He and his wife Michelle and two children will be allowed to remain in the
country while awaiting their appeal.
Kubby fled to Canada in 2001 rather than serve time in jail, where he would
be denied access to medicinal marijuana, which he requires to treat symptoms
of a rare, life-threatening form of adrenal cancer known as
pheochromocytoma. Kubby was diagnosed in 1968 with the disease - which he's
managed since the early 1980s exclusively by smoking cannabis - and given
six months to live. (Life expectancy of a person with pheochromocytoma is
typically three to five years.) Today Kubby is recognized as one of the
longest living survivors of the disease.
Though the Board recognized that "marijuana continues to be the best
treatment available to Mr. Kubby," and that he could potentially suffer a
heart attack or stroke without cannabis, it nevertheless ruled, "The
claimant is not a person in need of protection in that his removal to the
United States would not subject him personally to a risk to his life."
The Board based this decision, in part, on the premise that Kubby would
likely have access to medicinal marijuana while in jail. However, California
law does not compel the state to allow inmates access to medical cannabis,
stating: "Nothing in this article shall require any accommodation of any
medical use of marijuana ... on the property or premises of any jail,
correctional facility, or other type of penal institution in which prisoners
reside or persons under arrest are detained."
While living in Canada, Kubby had been one of fewer than 600 individuals to
receive a federal exemption from Health Canada to legally cultivate and use
pot for medical purposes.
NORML Foundation Executive Director Allen St. Pierre called the Refugee
Board's decision unfortunate and puzzling considering the government's prior
acknowledgement of Kubby's medical need to use cannabis. "This decision
makes little sense in light of the fact that the Canadian government has
already approved Steve Kubby's medical use of marijuana by granting him a
special exemption from prosecution," he said.
"Why they couldn't extend that same thinking to his asylum request seeking
protection for his health from America's policy of strict marijuana law
enforcement is puzzling. This decision does not bode well for the other
Americans who have sought refuge status in Canada for their
physician-sanctioned use of medical marijuana."
Since 1989, the Immigration and Refugee Board has heard nearly 1,000 refugee
cases from the United States, including 268 pending cases. So far, none of
those individuals have been granted asylum.
For more information, please contact Allen St. Pierre of The NORML
Foundation at (202) 483-8751. Full text of the Immigration and Refugee
Board's ruling is available online at:
http://www.irb.gc.ca/en/decisions/kubby/va2_01374_e.htm
(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.)
Woman Uses Greeting Card to Smuggle Meth
FOXNews.com - Top Stories - Woman Uses Greeting Card to Smuggle Meth
The court case that could reshape US democracy
The court case that could reshape US democracy
(TruthOut permacopy)
By Rupert Cornwell in Washington
11 December 2003
It bears the utterly uninformative title of Veith et al vs Jubelirer (docket number 02-1580). But the case, which the US Supreme Court heard yesterday, deals with the explosive political issue of gerrymandering - and its ruling next year could literally reshape America's democracy.
Veith et al vs Jubelirer involves only Pennsylvania. The state's Democrats have challenged what they say is a rigged and unfair plan to redraw congressional districts, a move approved by Pennsylvania's Republican-controlled legislature after the 2000 census.
Big Money's Spigot Will Stay Open
Big Money's Spigot Will Stay Open
t r u t h o u t permacopy
By Nick Anderson and Janet Hook
Los Angeles Times
Thursday 11 December 2003
Even though it erected formidable new barriers between politicians and deep-pocketed donors, the election law upheld Wednesday by the Supreme Court has not shut down big money in politics.
Instead, creative operatives allied with both parties are constructing new groups to raise and spend political money to get around the law.
...
Unwanted dog cheats death four times
Executing your dog because you don't want it or can't handle it any more is sick and pathetic. It's great that the dog lived, but that woman who dumped it on animal control should be ashamed of herself for putting that dog through that experience.
Unwanted dog cheats death four times
An unwanted dog which was put down with drugs, put in a plastic bag and then through a rubbish compressor has been found alive moments before being buried in a landfill site.
The five-year-old shepherd-Labrador cross was found clawing through the plastic bag on the back of a rubbish truck at the Edgeboro Landfill in East Brunswick, New Jersey.
December 12, 2003
Diebold email: "Make vote printouts too costly for MD"
NOTE: I have not read this whole thing, but it appears to have quite a bit of interesting info. the author of it wants it spread around, so I'm posting it here (just as I received it) in hopes of doing that.
-----------------------------------------------------
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Eric A. Smith
Hot Damn! Design
81-03-3959-5371
snowdog@juno.ocn.ne.jp
Diebold email: "Make vote printouts too costly for MD"
-- Scandals deepen for e-vote manufacturer
ANNAPOLIS, Maryland, December 12th — An internal memo has just surfaced suggesting e-vote manufacturer Diebold planned to overcharge the state of Maryland and make voter printouts "prohibitively expensive".
An employee named "Ken" wrote the Jan. 3 letter suggesting the company charge Maryland "out the yin" if legislators insisted on printouts.
Referring to a University of Maryland study critical of the company's machines, he added: "[The State of Maryland] already bought the system. At this point they are just closing the barn door. Let's just hope that as a company we are smart enough to charge out the yin if they try to change the rules now and legislate voter receipts."
He goes on to say "...any after-sale changes should be prohibitively expensive."
Delegate Karen S. Montgomery dropped the bombshell on Thursday amid negotiations with Diebold over its touchscreen voting machines.
Montgomery, who has written a bill mandating voter-verifiable ballots, described pressure to drop the issue, saying "scurrilous remarks" were being levelled against proponents of the measure. She said she believes the cost is being driven up to prevent anyone from insisting on verifiable printouts.
Steven T. Dennis of Gazette.net broke the story yesterday; he said spokesman David Bear deflected criticism by claiming the comments were "the internal discussion of one individual and [do] not reflect the sentiments or the position of the company."
Diebold, whose primary business has until recently been ATMs and ticket-vending machines (all of which produce paper printouts), made headlines last week when it dropped copyright-infringement suits against Swarthmore students who had published thousands of its internal memos on the Internet.
Prominent among the leaked memos is a missive to Global Election Systems (now Diebold) -- baldly stating that 16 thousand Gore votes were "disappeared" during the 2000 election. Author Lana Hires frantically asks how she should explain the problem to an auditor:
Additional memos are equally candid and suggestive:
-more-
Initially brought to light by activist Bev Harris, these and other alarming disclosures have added weight to the arguments of computer security experts and legislators nationwide, who say that Diebold's machines (as well as those of rivals ES&S and Sequoia) pose a grave risk to America's elections.
Harris received over 7,000 of the Diebold memos from an undisclosed source in early September. For the past three years, she has been arguing for greater security and accountability in electronic voting, last year weathering a similar unsuccesful gag lawsuit from e-vote firm ES&S.
A month after Harris recieved the memos she went public with them; Diebold immediately launched a gag lawsuit, and Harris's ISP shut down her activist site. A group of Swarthmore students and other activists responded by spreading the memos across the Internet.
When Diebold threatened to sue under the auspices of the DMCA, litigators from the Electronic Frontier Foundation and the ACLU stepped in to defend activists. Presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich added significant support by hosting the memos on his own website. Last week, Diebold withdrew its lawsuits.
With a new ISP, Harris has resumed her activism, and her book "Black Box Voting: Ballot Tampering in the 21st Century," can currently be downloaded for free from the site blackboxvoting.org.
Meanwhile, on Capital Hill, Congressman Rush Holt has also raised the issue of security, sponsoring the "Voter Confidence and Increased Accountability Act of 2003" (H.R. 2239), which calls for paper ballots, surprise recounts and auditable software in voting machines.
But while Holt's bill adds a significant level of transparency to the process, Harris says it doesn't go far enough. In a recent Buzzflash interview, she said:
"The problem area, and it is a whopper, is that this bill doesn't attack the crux of the issue, which is proper auditing -- and that is something that is needed for any computerized system, including optical scan machines.
The very first thing we need to do is get solid input from auditors who are experienced in fraud detection.
While we are designing amendments to the bill, we also must get some people with a solid grasp of history, because we need a voting system that is in keeping with the vision of our founding fathers -- and this is a public policy issue, not a computer issue. The most important thing that we keep forgetting is that the founders, especially Thomas Jefferson, felt that it was critical -- not "important," but CRITICAL to democracy, to keep the vote directly in the hands of the people themselves. Any solution which requires us to trust a handful of experts will, sooner or later, result in the demise of our democracy.
-more-
That means we need to retain (and enforce) policies to tally the votes at the polls, in front of observers. In some countries, they let as many regular citizens as can fit in the room in to watch the physical counting. It is this neighborhood tallying, and the open and public nature of it, that is the embodiment of democracy."
In July, Harris demonstrated just how insecure a Diebold machine could be, showing in a step-by-step expose how to reverse a federal election. New Zealand's Scoop Media posted the illustrated account online.
Author Faun Otter and others have also raised the issue of impartiality on the part of Diebold's board, which has contributed hundreds of thousands of dollars to Republican campaigns. National headlines were made when CEO Michael O'Dell, who recently hosted a $600,000 fundraiser for Vice President Dick Cheney, announced in a Republican fundraising letter that he was "committed to delivering Ohio's votes to the President".
But controversy doesn't end with Diebold alone. Rival voting machine company ES&S also came under scrutiny when it surfaced that it was run by Chuck Hagel until two weeks before his own election. Senator Hagel won by the biggest landslide in Nebraskan history; a victory the press characterized as a "stunning upset". His company, ES&S, counted 83% of the votes.
Hagel left out details of his ES&S involvement in his SEC filings, and, when the discrepancy surfaced, two days after a closed-door meeting with Hagel SEC legal counsel Victor Baird resigned and the matter was dropped.
And Hagel, who prior to his stewardship of ES&S was head of the Private Sector Council for George H.W. Bush, has bigger plans: Harris says the domain name "Bush-Hagel2004.com" was purchased last year but subsequently released and the Senator has already bought the rights to "hagel2008.com" and "ChuckHagel2008.com".
Meanwhile Hagel campaign manager Michael McCarthy owns over 30% of ES&S's parent company, and even the Senator hasn't fully divested himself of ownership -- he still has a $5 million stake in ES&S parent company the McCarthy Group.
Harris says there are firms offering comparatively secure systems -- competitors Avante, Accupol and Vogue, for example -- but some activists say any machine offers an opportunity for vote tampering. They're calling for a return to simple ballots, though such a solution is unlikely -- Bush's Help America Vote Act mandates a nationwide migration to electronic voting by 2006.
Secretary of state Kevin Shelley's recent declaration that all California voting machines must provide printouts may prompt the rest of the country to follow the west’s lead. But it may end up being a matter of too little, too late, as Diebold, ES&S and Sequioa systems are already in place in 37 states.
Harris, for one, is calling for a legal injunction to halt the use of any insecure systems prior to the 2004 primaries. If her instincts are right, a fierce battle may loom on the horizon -- a battle for the very heart and soul of America's democracy.
Officials to phone, fax and email about secure voting:
Congress
http://www.visi.com/juan/congress/
State elections boards:
http://www.blackboxvoting.org/htdocs/dcforum/DCForumID29/47.html
State Attorneys General (party affiliations listed):
http://www.naag.org/ag/full_ag_table.php
-more-
State Election Officials
http://www.nased.org/
Members, Natl. Assoc. of County Recorders, Election Officials and Clerks:
http://www.nacrc.org/leadership/st_coord.htm
Penelope Bonsall, national director of the Office of Election Administration
Office of Election Administration
Federal Election Commission
999 E Street, NW
Washington, DC 20463
vss@fec.gov
(202) 694-1095 (phone)
(202) 219-8500 (fax)
Online e-petitions EFF and VerifiedVoting.org:
http://action.eff.org/action/index.asp?step=2&item=2821
http://www.verifiedvoting.org
Media Contacts:
http://dmoz.org/Arts/Television/News/
http://newslink.org
http://www.cantufind.com/american_newspapers.htm
http://dmoz.org/Arts/Radio/Formats/Talk_Radio/Networks/
http://dmoz.org/Arts/Radio/Formats/Talk_Radio/Stations/
http://dmoz.org/Arts/Television/Networks/Cable/
http://dmoz.org/Arts/Television/Networks/
http://dmoz.org/Computers/Internet/Broadcasting/Information/
Contact: Eric A. Smith, Hot Damn! Design, Tokyo, Japan ● 81-03-3959-5371
# # #
Borowitz: SUPREME COURT OVERTURNS GORE’S ENDORSEMENT OF DEAN
SUPREME COURT OVERTURNS GORE’S ENDORSEMENT OF DEAN
Transfers Nod to Bush in 5-4 Decision
December 11, 2003
LP RELEASE: Campaign finance ruling
====================================
NEWS FROM THE LIBERTARIAN PARTY
2600 Virginia Avenue, NW, Suite 100
Washington DC 20037
World Wide Web: http://www.LP.org
====================================
For release: December 11, 2003
====================================
For additional information:
George Getz, Communications Director
Phone: (202) 333-0008
====================================
High court's ruling is all-out assault
on right to engage in politics, Libertarians say
WASHINGTON, DC -- The Libertarian Party, which is one of the plaintiffs
that challenged the campaign finance law upheld on Tuesday by the
Supreme Court, has denounced the ruling as an "all-out assault on the
right of every American to engage in the political process."
"Why not just outlaw elections and get it over with?" said Geoffrey
Neale, the Libertarian Party's national chair. "The Supreme Court has
just given incumbent politicians the power to financially cripple their
competitors and, in the process, award themselves lifetime jobs."
In a 5-4 ruling that shocked advocacy groups across the political
spectrum, the Supreme Court endorsed key provisions of the McCain-
Feingold campaign finance law. Specifically, the court upheld a ban on
"soft money" contributions from wealthy individuals, corporations and
labor unions, as well the law's prohibition on running certain
political advertisements within close proximity to an election.
But Libertarians point out that McCain-Feingold was nothing more than
an incumbent protection act in the first place -- and that the court's
ruling was tantamount to outlawing political competition.
"Running for office and communicating a message aren't free," Neale
said. "So making it illegal to raise money to buy political ads, and
banning the ads during the period when they're most effective, is
tantamount to outlawing the message itself. That's a crime against the
First Amendment as well as an affront to the democratic process."
Incumbent politicians already enjoy powerful advantages, Neale pointed
out, such as name recognition and the ability to attract news media,
taxpayer-financed staffs and office space, and the franking privilege.
The so-called campaign finance reform act was merely an attempt to
eliminate the only weapon that many challengers have: contributions
freely given by individuals or groups that share their views, he noted.
Acknowledging that the stated goal of the legislation was to clean up
politics, Neale said: "Justice Sandra Day O'Connor pointed out that
'corruption, and in particular the appearance of corruption,' is
rampant in Washington -- and of course, she's right.
"But a free-flowing, robust political debate isn't the problem; it's
the solution. The only way to dislodge an entrenched, corrupt
politician is to allow competing candidates, and anyone else who so
chooses, to publicly criticize them and offer voters a better
alternative.
"By upholding McCain-Feingold, the Supreme Court has merely guaranteed
that corrupt politicians will stay in office for a longer period of
time."
In March 1992, the Libertarian Party signed on as a co-plaintiff in
McConnell v FEC, the lawsuit spearheaded by Kentucky Senator Mitch
McConnell that sought to overturn the campaign finance reform law.
The party argued that the law would have a devastating impact on its
activities by eliminating certain sources of revenue and imposing
significant regulatory and administrative burdens.
For example, the law prohibits the organization from accepting
donations of more than $25,000 from any individual; prevents it from
taking money from organizations that are not "recognized political
committees," so it cannot sell ads in its party newspaper to nonprofit
corporations or incorporated businesses; and cannot accept funds for
memberships or literature from its own state affiliates, unless they
also comply with the law's onerous regulations.
However, the party was vindicated by one aspect of Tuesday's ruling,
Neale added, when the court struck down the provision of the law
banning minors from making contributions to political parties.
# # #
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
The Libertarian Party http://www.lp.org/
2600 Virginia Ave. NW, Suite 100 voice: 202-333-0008
Washington DC 20037 fax: 202-333-0072
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
For subscription changes, please use the WWW form at:
http://www.lp.org/action/email.html
Pot doc's license revocation upheld
Dec. 10, 2003 -- Pot doc's license revocation upheld
By HANK LAWSON Staff writer
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed Monday the federal government's revocation of Dr. Marion "Molly" Fry's license to prescribe medication including marijuana.
Who died and made non-aggression fundamental?
This memoir of sorts is rambling, but it has a quality to it which makes it interesting, and a little insightful.
Who died and made non-aggression fundamental?
by Student of Life
December 10, 2003
Campaign finance supporters praise Supreme Court ruling
This statement from the president of Common Cause is one of the most delusional claims I've heard from a public figure in a while.
"The toxic link between donors who write six-figure checks and people in power at the highest levels of government has been severed for good," said Chellie Pingree, the group's president, in a statement.
It's almost as funny as "The era of big government is over" was. Oh, yeah, folks....this time they've got it all worked out. Sure.
CNN.com - Campaign finance supporters praise Supreme Court ruling - Dec. 10, 2003
Supreme Court upholds 'soft money' ban
CNN.com - Supreme Court upholds 'soft money' ban - Dec. 10, 2003
December 09, 2003
December 08, 2003
KUBBY VOWS APPEAL OF RULING DENYING REFUGEE STATUS IN CANADA
For Immediate Release
December 8, 2003
Press Conference:
Tuesday, Dec. 9th, noon, BC Marijuana Party Headquarters, 307 West Hastings,
Vancouver
Decision Online:
http://www.irb.gc.ca/en/decisions/kubby/va2_01374_e.htm
KUBBY VOWS APPEAL OF RULING DENYING REFUGEE STATUS IN CANADA
VANCOUVER -- Steve Kubby, medical marijuana patient and former Libertarian
Party candidate for governor of California, vowed to appeal a ruling by the
Refugee Protection Division today that denied him refugee status in Canada
based on his need for medical marijuana.
Kubby complained, "I cannot understand how the Refugee panel could conclude
that my life would not be at risk if I were forced to return to the US,
after the leading cancer specialist in British Columbia testified that I
would die without it."
British Columbia cancer specialist Dr. Joseph Michael Connors, an expert in
the area of adrenal cancers, called by the Immigration Ministry, examined
Kubby and testified at the hearing about his medical condition.
The ruling recognizes that, according to Dr. Connors, "Mr. Kubby's tumour
releases, in excess quantities, hormones normally found in the adrenal
gland. Excessive levels of these hormones in Mr. Kubby's blood cause a
range of separate symptomatic problems including paroxysmal headaches,
palpitations (rapid and irregular beating of the heart), hypertension
(sudden dangerous rise in blood pressure), sudden abdominal cramps and
diarrhea, chest pain, shortness of breath, nausea, sudden severe weakness
and anorexia (loss of appetite). If not controlled, Mr. Kubby's symptoms
could evolve further to the point where a myocardial infarction (heart
attack) or cerebral vascular accident (stroke) could occur."
The ruling also acknowledged that "there is evidence before the Board, that
marihuana controls the symptoms of Mr. Kubby's cancer, including
hypertension. In Dr. Connors' opinion, marihuana continues to be the best
treatment available to Mr. Kubby."
However, the ruling went on to say that "it cannot therefore be stated with
any degree of certainty, that marihuana is the reason for Mr. Kubby's
survival even though it remains the best treatment option at this time."
Health Canada has even given Mr. Kubby permission to grow one hundred and
seventeen marijuana plants, based on "medical necessity."
The ruling further acknowledged, Kubby "has received a Health Canada
exemption, which suggests he is a bona fide ill person in need of medical
marihuana. It is noteworthy that Mr. Kubby was investigated and charged
with marihuana related criminal offences in Canada. Those Canadian charges
were later stayed by the Crown, and his marihuana grow equipment was
returned to him by the RCMP after the charges were stayed. This suggests
the Government of Canada believes he has a medical necessity for marihuana."
Despite all of this, the ruling somehow concluded, "he has not established
there is a risk to his life or a risk of cruel and unusual treatment or
punishment" if Kubby is forced to return to the US.
Kubby vowed, "Apparently, I have to die in order to convince the Refugee
board, but instead I intend to fight."
###
Kerry: "Did I expect George Bush to f - - - it up as badly as he did?"
New York Post Online Edition: CURSING KERRY UNLEASHES
FOULMOUTHED ATTACK ON BUSH
BillofRightsDay.com
Here's a new site I put together to help folks organize their Bill of Rights Day celebration efforts:
December 07, 2003
Boots on the Ground, Hearts on Their Sleeves
Boots on the Ground, Hearts on Their Sleeves
By DAVID BROOKS
Published: December 2, 2003
Bossier School Board upholds Advil expulsion
Bossier School Board upholds Advil expulsion
Girl had over-the-counter pills in purse at school
December 06, 2003
Hess: You pays your nickel, you takes your chances
This op-ed is a pretty good dressing-down of a "big prostitution bust", by Arizona Libertarian Barry Hess.
Hip hoppers say Dennis no menace
Hip hoppers say Dennis no menace=The Hill.com=
Dennis Kucinich, that is.
Phillies' Ideas for Libertarian Presidential Candidates
I am not running for President - but I do have some ideas on what our Party needs in one
by George Phillies
In Iraq Picture, Bush Is Holding the Centerpiece
The Bird Was Perfect But Not For Dinner (washingtonpost.com)
In Iraq Picture, Bush Is Holding the Centerpiece
Lindaman: Welcome Back, Rush...Now Retire!
AmericanDaily.com - Welcome Back, Rush...Now Retire! - Thomas Lindaman
December 05, 2003
Rumsfeld's Leaked Memo about the "War on Terror"
I tried to find this memo when it was hot news, and gave up before I was able to. But I recently found cause to look again, and had better luck. I'm storing it here because it's worth archiving (Plus it's public domain, I assume, so I might as well get the traffic instead of USATODAY, where I got it from.)
October 16, 2003
TO: Gen. Dick Myers
Paul Wolfowitz
Gen. Pete Pace
Doug Feith
FROM: Donald Rumsfeld
SUBJECT: Global War on Terrorism
The questions I posed to combatant commanders this week were: Are we winning or losing the Global War on Terror? Is DoD changing fast enough to deal with the new 21st century security environment? Can a big institution change fast enough? Is the USG changing fast enough?
DoD has been organized, trained and equipped to fight big armies, navies and air forces. It is not possible to change DoD fast enough to successfully fight the global war on terror; an alternative might be to try to fashion a new institution, either within DoD or elsewhere — one that seamlessly focuses the capabilities of several departments and agencies on this key problem.
With respect to global terrorism, the record since Septermber 11th seems to be:
We are having mixed results with Al Qaida, although we have put considerable pressure on them — nonetheless, a great many remain at large.
USG has made reasonable progress in capturing or killing the top 55 Iraqis.
USG has made somewhat slower progress tracking down the Taliban — Omar, Hekmatyar, etc.
With respect to the Ansar Al-Islam, we are just getting started.
Have we fashioned the right mix of rewards, amnesty, protection and confidence in the US?
Does DoD need to think through new ways to organize, train, equip and focus to deal with the global war on terror?
Are the changes we have and are making too modest and incremental? My impression is that we have not yet made truly bold moves, although we have have made many sensible, logical moves in the right direction, but are they enough?
Today, we lack metrics to know if we are winning or losing the global war on terror. Are we capturing, killing or deterring and dissuading more terrorists every day than the madrassas and the radical clerics are recruiting, training and deploying against us?
Does the US need to fashion a broad, integrated plan to stop the next generation of terrorists? The US is putting relatively little effort into a long-range plan, but we are putting a great deal of effort into trying to stop terrorists. The cost-benefit ratio is against us! Our cost is billions against the terrorists' costs of millions.
Do we need a new organization?
How do we stop those who are financing the radical madrassa schools?
Is our current situation such that "the harder we work, the behinder we get"?
It is pretty clear that the coalition can win in Afghanistan and Iraq in one way or another, but it will be a long, hard slog.
Does CIA need a new finding?
Should we create a private foundation to entice radical madradssas to a more moderate course?
What else should we be considering?
Please be prepared to discuss this at our meeting on Saturday or Monday.
Thanks.
December 03, 2003
Taibbi: Clark's True Colors
I was not impressed by Taibbi's attitude and approach in writing this article*, but he makes some OK points.
*As Matt Stoller of the Clark Sphere put it:
Seriously, attacking Clark is fine, he's in politics. But why go after the campaign staffers who are trying to do their best? Come on. This is ridiculous. Posing as a porn director at a Meetup and then getting awkward quotes from 22 year old volunteers? Really.
by Matt Taibbi
You can see something in the eyes of most all the Democratic candidates: the pugnacity of Howard Dean, the idealism of Dennis Kucinich, even (surprisingly) the elaborate sense of humor just under the surface of Joe Lieberman.
Not Wesley Clark. His eyes are blank. Like a turtle resting on a rock in the middle of a pond, he simply seems never to move, no matter how long you stare. But then, just as you're about to pack up your picnic basket and go home, you catch him: His head pops out, and he slides off into the water...
Lydon on Emerson: A God for Bloggers
A God for Bloggers
by Christopher Lydon
Ralph Waldo Emerson on his 200th birthday this spring is "closer to us than ever," writes the great Harold Bloom. He is a man for bloggers to embrace most especially, not for Emerson's glory but for our own understanding of a transformative moment we are living through.
Poet, public intellectual, performance artist and incomparable diarist, Emerson (1803-1882) has glory enough. It's we who need his encouraging frame around bloggery--this still strange and marvellous exercise in democratic media.
...
Some Iraqis Welcome Bush, Others Wish Him in Hell
This article is archived at TruthOut. The original doesn't appear to be available at MSNBC.com anymore.
The Pentagon crosses the lexicon
The Pentagon crosses the lexicon
As the horizon in Iraq recedes, the U.S. military’s language adapts
ANALYSIS
By Michael Moran
MSNBC
The turkey has landed
The turkey has landed: how Bush cooked up a secret mission to give thanks to his troops
By Phil Reeves in Baghdad and David Usborne in New York
The Independent-UK
An Apology to Younger Americans
An Apology to Younger Americans
By Sam Smith, The Progressive Review
November 30, 2003
In observance of the approaching 66th anniversary of my arrival on this planet I would like to apologize to you on behalf of my generation. Even members of Confederacy had the grace to secede from the union; my generation has remained within like a deadly virus, subverting it, shaming it, screwing it, stealing from it, and finally strangling it. It will likely be known as the worst generation – the one that brought the First American Republic down – unmatched in the damage it has done to the Constitution, the environment, and a two century struggle to create a society democratic and decent in its politics, economics, and social concourse.
To be sure, when we were young we were, as we said then, somethin' else. We launched the civil rights, women's, gay, and environmental movements, not to mention creating some memorable music before descending into disco. Soon other things started to go downhill rapidly. We became not only the generation that invented the phrase, 'never trust anyone over thirty,' we proved it.
...
December 01, 2003
The Bush Betrayal
I'm posting the full text of this excellent opinion piece, because I'd like to have it archived here. It was originally published in the Washington Post.
By David Boaz
Sunday, November 30, 2003
In 2000 George W. Bush campaigned across the country telling voters: "My opponent trusts government. I trust you."
Little wonder that some of his supporters are now wondering which candidate won that election.
Federal spending has increased by 23.7 percent since Bush took office. Education has been further federalized in the No Child Left Behind Act. Bush pulled out all the stops to get Republicans in Congress to create the biggest new entitlement program -- prescription drug coverage under Medicare -- in 40 years.
He pushed an energy bill that my colleague Jerry Taylor described as "three parts corporate welfare and one part cynical politics . . . a smorgasbord of handouts and subsidies for virtually every energy lobby in Washington."
It's a far cry from the less-government, "leave us alone" conservatism of Ronald Reagan.
Conservatives used to believe that the U.S. Constitution set up a government of strictly limited powers.
It was supposed to protect us from foreign threats and deliver the mail, leaving other matters to the states or to the private sector -- individuals, families, churches, charities and businesses.
That's what lots of voters assumed they would get with Bush. In his first presidential debate with Al Gore, Bush contrasted his own vision of tax reduction with that of his opponent, who would "increase the size of government dramatically." Gore, Bush declared, would "empower Washington," but "my passion and my vision is to empower Americans to be able to make decisions for themselves in their own lives."
Bush was tapping into popular sentiment.
In fact, you could say that what most voters wanted in 2000 was neither Bush nor Gore but smaller government. A Los Angeles Times poll in September 2000 found that Americans preferred "smaller government with fewer services" to "larger government with many services" by 59 to 26 percent.
But that's not what voters got. Leave aside defense spending and even entitlements spending: In Bush's first three years, nondefense discretionary spending -- which fell by 13.5 percent under Ronald Reagan -- has soared by 20.8 percent. His more libertarian-minded voters are taken aback to discover that "compassionate conservatism" turned out to mean social conservatism -- a stepped-up drug war, restrictions on medical research, antigay policies, federal subsidies for marriage and religion -- and big-spending liberalism justified as "compassion."
When they're given a chance to vote, Americans don't like big government.
Last November 45 percent of the voters in the most liberal state in the Union, Ted Kennedy's Massachusetts, voted to abolish the state income tax.
In January, Oregon's liberal electorate rejected a proposed tax increase, 55 percent to 45 percent.
In September Alabama voters rejected Gov. Bob Riley's $1.2 billion tax hike by 2 to 1.
California voters tossed out big-spending Gov. Gray Davis, and 62 percent of them voted for candidates who promised not to raise taxes to close the state's deficit.
Bush and his aides should be worrying about the possibility that libertarians, economic conservatives and fed-up taxpayers won't be in his corner in 2004 in the same numbers as 2000.
Republican strategists are likely to say that libertarians and economic conservatives have nowhere else to go. Many of the disappointed will indeed sigh a deep sigh and vote for Bush as a lesser evil.
But Karl Rove, who is fascinated by the role Mark Hanna played in building the post-1896 Republican majority, should remember one aspect of that era: In the late 19th century, the Democratic Party of Jefferson, Jackson and Cleveland was known as "the party of personal liberty." More so than the Republicans, it was committed to economic and cultural laissez-faire and opposed to Prohibition, protectionism and inflation.
When the big-government populist William Jennings Bryan claimed the Democratic nomination in 1896, many assumed he would draw industrial workers from the Republicans and bring new voters to the polls. Instead, Bryan lost in a landslide, and turnout declined for the next few elections. As the more libertarian Democrats found less reason to go to the polls, the Republicans dominated national politics for the next 36 years.
It could happen that limited-government voters decide to stay home, or vote for an independent candidate in the mold of Ross Perot or Jesse Ventura or vote Libertarian.
They could even vote for an antiwar, anti-Patriot Act, socially tolerant Democrat.
Given a choice between big-government liberalism and big-government conservatism, the leave-us-alone voters might decide that voting isn't worth the trouble.
The writer is executive vice president of the Cato Institute and author of "Libertarianism: A Primer."
Geoff Metcalf: Under the Color of Authority
IRS: Abuse of Power
Under the Color of Authority
Geoff Metcalf
Monday, Nov. 24, 2003
Find out just what people will submit to, and you have found out the exact amount of injustice and wrong which will be imposed upon them; and these will continue until they are resisted with either words or blows, or both. The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they oppress. – Frederick Douglass
For over a decade I have been interviewing and reporting on what has been called The "Tax Honesty Movement." Some people call these folks “tax protesters," others call them wackos. To a growing many, they are patriots committed to redressing what they perceive as a grievous wrong.
In the wake of years of study, interviews and analysis I have come to my own personal conclusions:
-As an academic exercise, and objective evaluation of the facts in evidence, the Tax Freedom crowd is mostly right.
-However, as a practical reality check, and ‘The Golden Rule’ (those with the gold make the rules), when contemporary ‘Davids’ square off with the federal government’s ‘Goliath,’ right is NOT might.
-Those who take on “The G” can and will be eviscerated by bureaucratic ‘shock and awe’ that has and will ruin lives.
...
One of the most heroic crusaders cast in the role of ‘David’ is Joseph R. (Joe) Banister. Joe is a CPA and former IRS Criminal Investigation Division special agent [www.freedomabovefortune.com]. He is a good guy with a fascinating story and about to become another victim of abuse of power under the color of authority.
...
Big Crowd at Military School Protest Gets Earful of Patriotic Music From Army
Big Crowd at Military School Protest Gets Earful of Patriotic Music From Army
COLUMBUS, Ga. (AP) - Demonstrators gathered outside Fort Benning to protest a military school were hit with a sonic barrage Saturday: patriotic music Army officials had blaring from the main gate.
A crowd estimated by Columbus police at 8,000 gathered to protest the school once known as the School of the Americas, which they blame for Latin American human rights abuses. It appeared to be the largest first-day gathering in the 14-year history of the protest.
The Army's loudspeakers, playing "The Army Song" and "God Bless the U.S.A.," were 50 yards away from where protesters were speaking to the crowd.
...
Raimondo: Boot Boortz!
Neal Boortz is a statist, not a libertarian.
So why is he speaking at the Libertarian Party’s national convention?
by Justin Raimondo
November 26, 2003
One thing one has to say about most of the "liberventionists" – the tiny but vocal clot of pro-war, pro-Bush "libertarians" – and that is they oppose this administration’s attacks on our civil liberties here at home. But what are we to make of alleged libertarians, such as Neal Boortz, who wants to know why the FBI shouldn’t be allowed to spy on the antiwar movement:
"The FBI is investigating the backgrounds and organizational methods of antiwar demonstrators in the US. Hopefully that doesn't come as a surprise to you. It is safe to assume that a large number of these demonstrators are out there in the streets because they want America to fail in its efforts to fight terrorism and its efforts to bring secular representative governments to Iraq and Afghanistan. Translated: Many of these demonstrators are pro-Saddam and anti-US. So, who wouldn't want them investigated by the FBI?"
Oh, gee, I don’t know: maybe a self-described "libertarian" who advocates strictly limited government and regards such surveillance as impermissible, in principle. Perhaps someone who takes the Bill of Rights seriously. In short, someone who believes in upholding the primacy of individual liberty – even in the face of an unprecedented assault by a cabal of war-crazed power-hungry ideologues.
...
Lessig: The New Road to the White House
The New Road to the White House
How grassroots blogs are transforming presidential politics.
When they write the account of the 2004 campaign, it will include at least one word that has never appeared in any presidential history: blog. Whether or not it elects the next president, the blog may be the first innovation from the Internet to make a real difference in election politics. But to see just why requires a bit of careful attention.
...
AlterNet: Neocons Leak Bad Intelligence
AlterNet: Neocons Leak Bad Intelligence
By Jim Lobe, AlterNet
November 20, 2003
The leak of a secret memorandum written by a senior Pentagon official reveals less about the connection between Saddam and al Qaeda than the growing desperation of neo-conservative hawks in the Bush administration.
US starts to lift the veil on Camp X-Ray trials
US starts to lift the veil on Camp X-Ray trials
(TruthOut permacopy)
Patriot Act Expansion Moves Through Congress
Patriot Act Expansion Moves Through Congress
by Jim Lobe
(TruthOut permacopy)
George Orwell: Why I Write
This was really interesting for me. Thanks to Tim at Libertarian Rant for pointing it out.
SITE NOTE: Scaling back for now
I need to conserve time for a while, so entries here are going to be less robust than usual. In most cases I might just end up posting links to what I've read, more as a way of keeping track than anything else. I'm sorry if anyone has grown dependent on the excerpts and ratings. ;-\
I don't know if this has long-term implications for the Little Brown Reader. For the time being, I consider it to be a temporary shift in my approach. I'll be sure to let you know if that changes.
Patriot Act Author Has Concerns
Patriot Act Author Has Concerns
By Richard B. Schmitt, Times Staff Writer
Detaining citizens as 'enemy combatants' -- a policy not spelled out in the act -- is flawed, the legal scholar says.
WASHINGTON — The Justice Department's war on terrorism has drawn intense scrutiny from the left and the right. Now, a chief architect of the USA Patriot Act and a former top assistant to Atty. Gen. John Ashcroft are joining the fray, voicing concern about aspects of the administration's anti-terrorism policy.
At issue is the government's power to designate and detain "enemy combatants," in particular in the case of "dirty bomb" plot suspect Jose Padilla, the Brooklyn-born former gang member who was picked up at a Chicago airport 18 months ago by the FBI and locked in a military brig without access to a lawyer.
...
Eland: One Autocratic Belligerent Deposed, One to Go
The Independent Institute | One Autocratic Belligerent Deposed, One to Go, by Ivan Eland
Blackfriars Rates The Clarity of 2004 Presidential Campaign Web Sites
This just a press release really, but it has a little info in it.
Blackfriars Rates The Clarity of 2004 Presidential Campaign Web Sites
December 16, 2003
Pork Spending in the 2004 Budget
From the Heritage Foundation: Another Omnibus Spending Bill Loaded with Pork
Bob Smith turns it into a call for action:
Save this list. During the 2004 campaign, pick any one of these organizations, and try to get a chance to ask your incumbent politician about it.
Ask him where it is.
Ask him what it does.
Ask him to explain it's value to us.
Ask him why it wasn't funded by the people who will use it.
Ask him why he wanted to spend your money on it.
If you're feeling bold, and he's still paying attention, ask him what HE got out of it.
Scarmig: How I Said No to the Automatic Social Security Number
How I Said No to the Automatic Social Security Number
This is the story of how I successfully refused to accept a Social Security Number for my child.
I simply said “no.”
Really. That’s how easy it was. I just said no, again, and again.
...
December 15, 2003
December 14, 2003
December 13, 2003
Group to honor Bill of Rights Day with March and Memorial on Monday
This is an advance story (which is essentially just my press release, cleaned up a little) about the Bill of Rights Day activity that I'm organizing. I'm saving the text of it here as it was published at Yubanet.
(This will eventually be posted at my main blog, but it's not functioning properly, so I'm using this blog as a backup place to put these entries.)
Group to honor Bill of Rights Day with March and Memorial on Monday
By Lance Brown, Nevada County Bill of Rights Defense Committee
Dec 13, 2003, 08:43
Local civil liberties activists will be holding a memorial service and march for the Bill of Rights in Nevada City this Monday-- Bill of Rights Day. The group will gather outside the Rood County Government Center at Noon, and march to Calanan Park in downtown Nevada City.
All interested parties are invited to attend.
This marks the third consecutive year that local activists have held a public commemoration of Bill of Rights Day -- the anniversary of the ratification of the first 10 amendments to the U.S. Constitution. A "funeral" last year preceded this year's memorial, and in 2001 the day was marked with a rally.
The event is part of an ongoing local campaign to raise awareness about what the group sees as grave dangers to our civil liberties that have come in the wake of the “war on terror”. The Nevada County Bill of Rights Defense Committee is launching a drive to pass local resolutions making Nevada County a "civil liberties safe zone", as part of a national movement where over 200 communities (and three states) have passed similar resolutions.
For more local information, call 274-2474 or visit ncrights.org.
Bill of Rights Day LTE in the SacBee
This is a letter of mine that was just published in the Sacramento Bee.
sacbee.com -- Letters to the editor
Bill of Rights Day
Dec. 15 is Bill of Rights Day, the anniversary of the ratification of the Bill of Rights.
I only became aware that it was a holiday in recent years, and the first time I celebrated Bill of Rights Day was in 2001. As a Libertarian, living through a wholesale expansion of federal law enforcement tactics in the name of the "war on terror," honoring the birthday of the Bill of Rights with a rally seemed like a smart idea.
By December 2002, the threats to civil liberties had risen to a level where we thought it made more sense to have a "funeral" to mark the day. So we did. And this Monday we'll have a memorial ceremony, as a sequel.
This year, I've come to accept that this is a holiday that's becoming genuinely important to me. I've compiled nearly 20 ways people can celebrate and honor Bill of Rights Day, and put them into a free website at BillofRightsDay.com.
Come on everyone -- give it a try: "Happy Bill of Rights Day!"
- Lance Brown, Nevada City
CANADA DENIES REFUGEE STATUS TO US MEDICAL MARIJUANA EXILE
Drug War Chronicle
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/315/stevekubby.shtml
CANADA DENIES REFUGEE STATUS TO US MEDICAL MARIJUANA EXILE
Prominent American medical marijuana activist Steve Kubby
(http://www.kubby.com), who fled the US saying an impending jail sentence
would cause his death, has been denied refugee status by the Canadian
Immigration and Refugee Board. An adrenal cancer patient, Kubby has smoked a
dozen joints a day for year, which he says keeps him alive, and would have
been denied that medication while serving a misdemeanor sentence in
California. But Kubby did not have a well-founded fear of being persecuted
or tortured, nor was there any risk to his life if he returned to his home
state of California, the board ruled Monday.
He has said he will appeal, but the clock is ticking for Kubby and his
family, whose requests for refugee status were also denied. Under Canadian
law, he has 15 days to apply to the Supreme Court for a review of the
decision, and if the court chooses not to review his case, he and his family
would have to leave the country within 30 days. One option would be to apply
for a "pre-removal risk assessment," which would force immigration officials
to once again investigate whether he would face "cruel or unusual punishment
or risk to life" if returned to the US.
Steve Kubby Kubby, the 1998 Libertarian Party nominee for governor of
California, fled to Canada with his family in 2001 after being found guilty
of possession of a small amount of psychedelic mushrooms and peyote in his
home state. That conviction arose from a medical marijuana raid on Kubby's
home. The state could not convict on the marijuana charges -- California law
allows for its medical use -- but did manage to nail Kubby for the 'shrooms.
He was prepared to serve a 120-day sentence provided he could have access to
medical marijuana. But local authorities in California refused to allow him
to have his medicine in jail, so Kubby ran for his life to what he hoped
would be a friendlier clime.
He and his family entered Canada on tourist visas, but were detained by
Canadian immigration authorities after newspaper stories featured their
cause and described them cultivating a medical marijuana garden at their
home in Sechelt, British Columbia, a short ferry ride up BC's Sunshine Coast
from Vancouver. At that point, Kubby, his wife Michelle, and their two
daughters applied for asylum as refugees fleeing persecution by American
drug warriors. Since then, they have remained in Canada, where they produce
a program on Pot-TV (http://www.pot-tv.net), a web-based marijuana reform
broadcaster funded by marijuana seed magnate Marc Emery. They also received
a permit from Health Canada to cultivate marijuana for Kubby's medicinal use
are currently growing 117 plants, Kubby told the Toronto Globe & Mail.
In addition to the fear of persecution because of his well-known advocacy of
medical marijuana, Kubby argued that medical marijuana users were not
protected in California, and that he would die if deprived of his medicine.
The Immigration and Refugee Board, however, ruled that Kubby was not and
would not be persecuted, that California law in fact protects medical
marijuana users, and that he would not suffer serious health effects if
incarcerated without access to medical marijuana.
In an opinion written by board member Paulah Dauns, the board noted that
Kubby had not been convicted on medical marijuana charges, but on other drug
charges, and that California law protected him. "In effect, the process
worked, as it was designed to," she wrote. "He argues that a medical
marijuana patient should be protected from persecution. What he has
demonstrated is that in fact, they are." Dauns also wrote that while there
was little doubt marijuana relieved Kubby's cancer symptoms, there was no
evidence that depriving him of cannabis while incarcerated on the California
'shroom charge would kill him, despite testimony from Dr. Joseph Connors of
the British Columbia Cancer Agency, who told the court during an April
hearing that Kubby would die within four days if denied access to marijuana
for his condition. Kubby was not a refugee, wrote Dauns, but a "fugitive
from justice."
And while Kubby argued that his use of marijuana was akin to a diabetic's
use of insulin, Dauns was having none of that, either. "Insulin has been
approved by the medical community as a treatment, whereas marijuana has
not," she said. "The research on the benefits of marijuana is woefully
inadequate and inconclusive, making a comparison of these two treatments
illogical," she wrote.
The Kubby case is the first of a handful of similar "reefer refugee" cases
to be decided in Canada. Two Northern California men, Kenneth Hayes and
Steve Tuck, who fled federal marijuana charges related to California medical
marijuana grows, have cases pending before the author of Monday's decision,
board member Dauns. Some advocates had hoped Kubby, with his strong health
argument, had the strongest of any of the pending cases.
Canadian Kubby supporters denounced the decision. "This is yet another
example of the harms of cannabis prohibition," said Philippe Lucas, director
of Canadians for Safe Access (http://www.safeaccess.ca), a medical marijuana
defense organization based on its southern sister, Americans for Safe Access
(http://www.safeaccessnow.org). "The Kubbys are kind contributors to the
social well-being of Canadians -- under any other circumstances, Canada
would welcome this reverse brain-drain. It is only through the perversion of
justice caused by prohibition that a loving family like the Kubbys could be
condemned to an uncertain future at the hands of American prosecutors."
But it wasn't only abstract prohibition that had Lucas and other Canadian
activists irked, it was the harsh slap in the face from a traditionally
refugee-friendly country. "Are we as a nation really so quick to take a
chance on Steve Kubby's health?" asked Lucas. "Shouldn't a modern liberal
democracy like Canada err on the side of social justice when a man's life is
on the line? If Steve Kubby should suffer the same fate as Peter McWilliams
-- who died choking on his own vomit while being denied his medicinal
cannabis after his arrest -- the hands of those who denied his refugee claim
will be forever stained in his blood."
"Today, I'm ashamed of being a Canadian," concurred Tim Meehan, national
director of the anti-prohibition wing of the New Democratic Party
(http://www.ndpot.ca). "Here at home, our government constantly reminds us
of how important the refugee protection system is. Canada's reputation is
built on it. However, when they subject people like Steve Kubby and his
family to institutional prejudice because of their choice of medical
treatment, and are more concerned about angering a trading partner than
saving a human life, that demonstrates our government's priorities are very
seriously out of alignment. I hope Canadians remember that in the upcoming
federal election," Meehan added.
Visit http://www.mapinc.org/alert/0282.html for a letter-writing alert to
help Steve Kubby.
Read a summary of the decision at:
http://www.irb.gc.ca/en/decisions/kubby/va2_01374_e.htm#summary
Read the decision in full at:
http://www.irb.gc.ca/en/decisions/kubby/va2_01374_e.htm
Or to get right to the paragraphs where Dauns lays out her reasoning, go to:
http://www.irb.gc.ca/en/decisions/kubby/va2_01374_e.htm#determination
American Medical Marijuana Refugee Ordered To Return To United States
NORML's Weekly News Bulletin -- December 11, 2003
http://norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=5856
American Medical Marijuana Refugee Ordered To Return To United States
Immigration Board Recognizes Pot To Be "Best Treatment Available," But
Rejects Patient's Asylum Request
December 11, 2003 - Vancouver, BC, Canada
Vancouver, British Columbia: The Canadian Immigration and Refugee Board this
week denied refugee status to American Steve Kubby and his family, and
ordered their return to California where Kubby is expected to be sentenced
to four months in jail for drug-related charges. Kubby has said he will
appeal the ruling.
He and his wife Michelle and two children will be allowed to remain in the
country while awaiting their appeal.
Kubby fled to Canada in 2001 rather than serve time in jail, where he would
be denied access to medicinal marijuana, which he requires to treat symptoms
of a rare, life-threatening form of adrenal cancer known as
pheochromocytoma. Kubby was diagnosed in 1968 with the disease - which he's
managed since the early 1980s exclusively by smoking cannabis - and given
six months to live. (Life expectancy of a person with pheochromocytoma is
typically three to five years.) Today Kubby is recognized as one of the
longest living survivors of the disease.
Though the Board recognized that "marijuana continues to be the best
treatment available to Mr. Kubby," and that he could potentially suffer a
heart attack or stroke without cannabis, it nevertheless ruled, "The
claimant is not a person in need of protection in that his removal to the
United States would not subject him personally to a risk to his life."
The Board based this decision, in part, on the premise that Kubby would
likely have access to medicinal marijuana while in jail. However, California
law does not compel the state to allow inmates access to medical cannabis,
stating: "Nothing in this article shall require any accommodation of any
medical use of marijuana ... on the property or premises of any jail,
correctional facility, or other type of penal institution in which prisoners
reside or persons under arrest are detained."
While living in Canada, Kubby had been one of fewer than 600 individuals to
receive a federal exemption from Health Canada to legally cultivate and use
pot for medical purposes.
NORML Foundation Executive Director Allen St. Pierre called the Refugee
Board's decision unfortunate and puzzling considering the government's prior
acknowledgement of Kubby's medical need to use cannabis. "This decision
makes little sense in light of the fact that the Canadian government has
already approved Steve Kubby's medical use of marijuana by granting him a
special exemption from prosecution," he said.
"Why they couldn't extend that same thinking to his asylum request seeking
protection for his health from America's policy of strict marijuana law
enforcement is puzzling. This decision does not bode well for the other
Americans who have sought refuge status in Canada for their
physician-sanctioned use of medical marijuana."
Since 1989, the Immigration and Refugee Board has heard nearly 1,000 refugee
cases from the United States, including 268 pending cases. So far, none of
those individuals have been granted asylum.
For more information, please contact Allen St. Pierre of The NORML
Foundation at (202) 483-8751. Full text of the Immigration and Refugee
Board's ruling is available online at:
http://www.irb.gc.ca/en/decisions/kubby/va2_01374_e.htm
(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.)
Woman Uses Greeting Card to Smuggle Meth
FOXNews.com - Top Stories - Woman Uses Greeting Card to Smuggle Meth
The court case that could reshape US democracy
The court case that could reshape US democracy
(TruthOut permacopy)
By Rupert Cornwell in Washington
11 December 2003
It bears the utterly uninformative title of Veith et al vs Jubelirer (docket number 02-1580). But the case, which the US Supreme Court heard yesterday, deals with the explosive political issue of gerrymandering - and its ruling next year could literally reshape America's democracy.
Veith et al vs Jubelirer involves only Pennsylvania. The state's Democrats have challenged what they say is a rigged and unfair plan to redraw congressional districts, a move approved by Pennsylvania's Republican-controlled legislature after the 2000 census.
Big Money's Spigot Will Stay Open
Big Money's Spigot Will Stay Open
t r u t h o u t permacopy
By Nick Anderson and Janet Hook
Los Angeles Times
Thursday 11 December 2003
Even though it erected formidable new barriers between politicians and deep-pocketed donors, the election law upheld Wednesday by the Supreme Court has not shut down big money in politics.
Instead, creative operatives allied with both parties are constructing new groups to raise and spend political money to get around the law.
...
Unwanted dog cheats death four times
Executing your dog because you don't want it or can't handle it any more is sick and pathetic. It's great that the dog lived, but that woman who dumped it on animal control should be ashamed of herself for putting that dog through that experience.
Unwanted dog cheats death four times
An unwanted dog which was put down with drugs, put in a plastic bag and then through a rubbish compressor has been found alive moments before being buried in a landfill site.
The five-year-old shepherd-Labrador cross was found clawing through the plastic bag on the back of a rubbish truck at the Edgeboro Landfill in East Brunswick, New Jersey.
December 12, 2003
Diebold email: "Make vote printouts too costly for MD"
NOTE: I have not read this whole thing, but it appears to have quite a bit of interesting info. the author of it wants it spread around, so I'm posting it here (just as I received it) in hopes of doing that.
-----------------------------------------------------
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Eric A. Smith
Hot Damn! Design
81-03-3959-5371
snowdog@juno.ocn.ne.jp
Diebold email: "Make vote printouts too costly for MD"
-- Scandals deepen for e-vote manufacturer
ANNAPOLIS, Maryland, December 12th — An internal memo has just surfaced suggesting e-vote manufacturer Diebold planned to overcharge the state of Maryland and make voter printouts "prohibitively expensive".
An employee named "Ken" wrote the Jan. 3 letter suggesting the company charge Maryland "out the yin" if legislators insisted on printouts.
Referring to a University of Maryland study critical of the company's machines, he added: "[The State of Maryland] already bought the system. At this point they are just closing the barn door. Let's just hope that as a company we are smart enough to charge out the yin if they try to change the rules now and legislate voter receipts."
He goes on to say "...any after-sale changes should be prohibitively expensive."
Delegate Karen S. Montgomery dropped the bombshell on Thursday amid negotiations with Diebold over its touchscreen voting machines.
Montgomery, who has written a bill mandating voter-verifiable ballots, described pressure to drop the issue, saying "scurrilous remarks" were being levelled against proponents of the measure. She said she believes the cost is being driven up to prevent anyone from insisting on verifiable printouts.
Steven T. Dennis of Gazette.net broke the story yesterday; he said spokesman David Bear deflected criticism by claiming the comments were "the internal discussion of one individual and [do] not reflect the sentiments or the position of the company."
Diebold, whose primary business has until recently been ATMs and ticket-vending machines (all of which produce paper printouts), made headlines last week when it dropped copyright-infringement suits against Swarthmore students who had published thousands of its internal memos on the Internet.
Prominent among the leaked memos is a missive to Global Election Systems (now Diebold) -- baldly stating that 16 thousand Gore votes were "disappeared" during the 2000 election. Author Lana Hires frantically asks how she should explain the problem to an auditor:
Additional memos are equally candid and suggestive:
-more-
Initially brought to light by activist Bev Harris, these and other alarming disclosures have added weight to the arguments of computer security experts and legislators nationwide, who say that Diebold's machines (as well as those of rivals ES&S and Sequoia) pose a grave risk to America's elections.
Harris received over 7,000 of the Diebold memos from an undisclosed source in early September. For the past three years, she has been arguing for greater security and accountability in electronic voting, last year weathering a similar unsuccesful gag lawsuit from e-vote firm ES&S.
A month after Harris recieved the memos she went public with them; Diebold immediately launched a gag lawsuit, and Harris's ISP shut down her activist site. A group of Swarthmore students and other activists responded by spreading the memos across the Internet.
When Diebold threatened to sue under the auspices of the DMCA, litigators from the Electronic Frontier Foundation and the ACLU stepped in to defend activists. Presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich added significant support by hosting the memos on his own website. Last week, Diebold withdrew its lawsuits.
With a new ISP, Harris has resumed her activism, and her book "Black Box Voting: Ballot Tampering in the 21st Century," can currently be downloaded for free from the site blackboxvoting.org.
Meanwhile, on Capital Hill, Congressman Rush Holt has also raised the issue of security, sponsoring the "Voter Confidence and Increased Accountability Act of 2003" (H.R. 2239), which calls for paper ballots, surprise recounts and auditable software in voting machines.
But while Holt's bill adds a significant level of transparency to the process, Harris says it doesn't go far enough. In a recent Buzzflash interview, she said:
"The problem area, and it is a whopper, is that this bill doesn't attack the crux of the issue, which is proper auditing -- and that is something that is needed for any computerized system, including optical scan machines.
The very first thing we need to do is get solid input from auditors who are experienced in fraud detection.
While we are designing amendments to the bill, we also must get some people with a solid grasp of history, because we need a voting system that is in keeping with the vision of our founding fathers -- and this is a public policy issue, not a computer issue. The most important thing that we keep forgetting is that the founders, especially Thomas Jefferson, felt that it was critical -- not "important," but CRITICAL to democracy, to keep the vote directly in the hands of the people themselves. Any solution which requires us to trust a handful of experts will, sooner or later, result in the demise of our democracy.
-more-
That means we need to retain (and enforce) policies to tally the votes at the polls, in front of observers. In some countries, they let as many regular citizens as can fit in the room in to watch the physical counting. It is this neighborhood tallying, and the open and public nature of it, that is the embodiment of democracy."
In July, Harris demonstrated just how insecure a Diebold machine could be, showing in a step-by-step expose how to reverse a federal election. New Zealand's Scoop Media posted the illustrated account online.
Author Faun Otter and others have also raised the issue of impartiality on the part of Diebold's board, which has contributed hundreds of thousands of dollars to Republican campaigns. National headlines were made when CEO Michael O'Dell, who recently hosted a $600,000 fundraiser for Vice President Dick Cheney, announced in a Republican fundraising letter that he was "committed to delivering Ohio's votes to the President".
But controversy doesn't end with Diebold alone. Rival voting machine company ES&S also came under scrutiny when it surfaced that it was run by Chuck Hagel until two weeks before his own election. Senator Hagel won by the biggest landslide in Nebraskan history; a victory the press characterized as a "stunning upset". His company, ES&S, counted 83% of the votes.
Hagel left out details of his ES&S involvement in his SEC filings, and, when the discrepancy surfaced, two days after a closed-door meeting with Hagel SEC legal counsel Victor Baird resigned and the matter was dropped.
And Hagel, who prior to his stewardship of ES&S was head of the Private Sector Council for George H.W. Bush, has bigger plans: Harris says the domain name "Bush-Hagel2004.com" was purchased last year but subsequently released and the Senator has already bought the rights to "hagel2008.com" and "ChuckHagel2008.com".
Meanwhile Hagel campaign manager Michael McCarthy owns over 30% of ES&S's parent company, and even the Senator hasn't fully divested himself of ownership -- he still has a $5 million stake in ES&S parent company the McCarthy Group.
Harris says there are firms offering comparatively secure systems -- competitors Avante, Accupol and Vogue, for example -- but some activists say any machine offers an opportunity for vote tampering. They're calling for a return to simple ballots, though such a solution is unlikely -- Bush's Help America Vote Act mandates a nationwide migration to electronic voting by 2006.
Secretary of state Kevin Shelley's recent declaration that all California voting machines must provide printouts may prompt the rest of the country to follow the west’s lead. But it may end up being a matter of too little, too late, as Diebold, ES&S and Sequioa systems are already in place in 37 states.
Harris, for one, is calling for a legal injunction to halt the use of any insecure systems prior to the 2004 primaries. If her instincts are right, a fierce battle may loom on the horizon -- a battle for the very heart and soul of America's democracy.
Officials to phone, fax and email about secure voting:
Congress
http://www.visi.com/juan/congress/
State elections boards:
http://www.blackboxvoting.org/htdocs/dcforum/DCForumID29/47.html
State Attorneys General (party affiliations listed):
http://www.naag.org/ag/full_ag_table.php
-more-
State Election Officials
http://www.nased.org/
Members, Natl. Assoc. of County Recorders, Election Officials and Clerks:
http://www.nacrc.org/leadership/st_coord.htm
Penelope Bonsall, national director of the Office of Election Administration
Office of Election Administration
Federal Election Commission
999 E Street, NW
Washington, DC 20463
vss@fec.gov
(202) 694-1095 (phone)
(202) 219-8500 (fax)
Online e-petitions EFF and VerifiedVoting.org:
http://action.eff.org/action/index.asp?step=2&item=2821
http://www.verifiedvoting.org
Media Contacts:
http://dmoz.org/Arts/Television/News/
http://newslink.org
http://www.cantufind.com/american_newspapers.htm
http://dmoz.org/Arts/Radio/Formats/Talk_Radio/Networks/
http://dmoz.org/Arts/Radio/Formats/Talk_Radio/Stations/
http://dmoz.org/Arts/Television/Networks/Cable/
http://dmoz.org/Arts/Television/Networks/
http://dmoz.org/Computers/Internet/Broadcasting/Information/
Contact: Eric A. Smith, Hot Damn! Design, Tokyo, Japan ● 81-03-3959-5371
# # #
Borowitz: SUPREME COURT OVERTURNS GORE’S ENDORSEMENT OF DEAN
SUPREME COURT OVERTURNS GORE’S ENDORSEMENT OF DEAN
Transfers Nod to Bush in 5-4 Decision
December 11, 2003
LP RELEASE: Campaign finance ruling
====================================
NEWS FROM THE LIBERTARIAN PARTY
2600 Virginia Avenue, NW, Suite 100
Washington DC 20037
World Wide Web: http://www.LP.org
====================================
For release: December 11, 2003
====================================
For additional information:
George Getz, Communications Director
Phone: (202) 333-0008
====================================
High court's ruling is all-out assault
on right to engage in politics, Libertarians say
WASHINGTON, DC -- The Libertarian Party, which is one of the plaintiffs
that challenged the campaign finance law upheld on Tuesday by the
Supreme Court, has denounced the ruling as an "all-out assault on the
right of every American to engage in the political process."
"Why not just outlaw elections and get it over with?" said Geoffrey
Neale, the Libertarian Party's national chair. "The Supreme Court has
just given incumbent politicians the power to financially cripple their
competitors and, in the process, award themselves lifetime jobs."
In a 5-4 ruling that shocked advocacy groups across the political
spectrum, the Supreme Court endorsed key provisions of the McCain-
Feingold campaign finance law. Specifically, the court upheld a ban on
"soft money" contributions from wealthy individuals, corporations and
labor unions, as well the law's prohibition on running certain
political advertisements within close proximity to an election.
But Libertarians point out that McCain-Feingold was nothing more than
an incumbent protection act in the first place -- and that the court's
ruling was tantamount to outlawing political competition.
"Running for office and communicating a message aren't free," Neale
said. "So making it illegal to raise money to buy political ads, and
banning the ads during the period when they're most effective, is
tantamount to outlawing the message itself. That's a crime against the
First Amendment as well as an affront to the democratic process."
Incumbent politicians already enjoy powerful advantages, Neale pointed
out, such as name recognition and the ability to attract news media,
taxpayer-financed staffs and office space, and the franking privilege.
The so-called campaign finance reform act was merely an attempt to
eliminate the only weapon that many challengers have: contributions
freely given by individuals or groups that share their views, he noted.
Acknowledging that the stated goal of the legislation was to clean up
politics, Neale said: "Justice Sandra Day O'Connor pointed out that
'corruption, and in particular the appearance of corruption,' is
rampant in Washington -- and of course, she's right.
"But a free-flowing, robust political debate isn't the problem; it's
the solution. The only way to dislodge an entrenched, corrupt
politician is to allow competing candidates, and anyone else who so
chooses, to publicly criticize them and offer voters a better
alternative.
"By upholding McCain-Feingold, the Supreme Court has merely guaranteed
that corrupt politicians will stay in office for a longer period of
time."
In March 1992, the Libertarian Party signed on as a co-plaintiff in
McConnell v FEC, the lawsuit spearheaded by Kentucky Senator Mitch
McConnell that sought to overturn the campaign finance reform law.
The party argued that the law would have a devastating impact on its
activities by eliminating certain sources of revenue and imposing
significant regulatory and administrative burdens.
For example, the law prohibits the organization from accepting
donations of more than $25,000 from any individual; prevents it from
taking money from organizations that are not "recognized political
committees," so it cannot sell ads in its party newspaper to nonprofit
corporations or incorporated businesses; and cannot accept funds for
memberships or literature from its own state affiliates, unless they
also comply with the law's onerous regulations.
However, the party was vindicated by one aspect of Tuesday's ruling,
Neale added, when the court struck down the provision of the law
banning minors from making contributions to political parties.
# # #
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
The Libertarian Party http://www.lp.org/
2600 Virginia Ave. NW, Suite 100 voice: 202-333-0008
Washington DC 20037 fax: 202-333-0072
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
For subscription changes, please use the WWW form at:
http://www.lp.org/action/email.html
Pot doc's license revocation upheld
Dec. 10, 2003 -- Pot doc's license revocation upheld
By HANK LAWSON Staff writer
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed Monday the federal government's revocation of Dr. Marion "Molly" Fry's license to prescribe medication including marijuana.
Who died and made non-aggression fundamental?
This memoir of sorts is rambling, but it has a quality to it which makes it interesting, and a little insightful.
Who died and made non-aggression fundamental?
by Student of Life
December 10, 2003
Campaign finance supporters praise Supreme Court ruling
This statement from the president of Common Cause is one of the most delusional claims I've heard from a public figure in a while.
"The toxic link between donors who write six-figure checks and people in power at the highest levels of government has been severed for good," said Chellie Pingree, the group's president, in a statement.
It's almost as funny as "The era of big government is over" was. Oh, yeah, folks....this time they've got it all worked out. Sure.
CNN.com - Campaign finance supporters praise Supreme Court ruling - Dec. 10, 2003
Supreme Court upholds 'soft money' ban
CNN.com - Supreme Court upholds 'soft money' ban - Dec. 10, 2003
December 09, 2003
December 08, 2003
KUBBY VOWS APPEAL OF RULING DENYING REFUGEE STATUS IN CANADA
For Immediate Release
December 8, 2003
Press Conference:
Tuesday, Dec. 9th, noon, BC Marijuana Party Headquarters, 307 West Hastings,
Vancouver
Decision Online:
http://www.irb.gc.ca/en/decisions/kubby/va2_01374_e.htm
KUBBY VOWS APPEAL OF RULING DENYING REFUGEE STATUS IN CANADA
VANCOUVER -- Steve Kubby, medical marijuana patient and former Libertarian
Party candidate for governor of California, vowed to appeal a ruling by the
Refugee Protection Division today that denied him refugee status in Canada
based on his need for medical marijuana.
Kubby complained, "I cannot understand how the Refugee panel could conclude
that my life would not be at risk if I were forced to return to the US,
after the leading cancer specialist in British Columbia testified that I
would die without it."
British Columbia cancer specialist Dr. Joseph Michael Connors, an expert in
the area of adrenal cancers, called by the Immigration Ministry, examined
Kubby and testified at the hearing about his medical condition.
The ruling recognizes that, according to Dr. Connors, "Mr. Kubby's tumour
releases, in excess quantities, hormones normally found in the adrenal
gland. Excessive levels of these hormones in Mr. Kubby's blood cause a
range of separate symptomatic problems including paroxysmal headaches,
palpitations (rapid and irregular beating of the heart), hypertension
(sudden dangerous rise in blood pressure), sudden abdominal cramps and
diarrhea, chest pain, shortness of breath, nausea, sudden severe weakness
and anorexia (loss of appetite). If not controlled, Mr. Kubby's symptoms
could evolve further to the point where a myocardial infarction (heart
attack) or cerebral vascular accident (stroke) could occur."
The ruling also acknowledged that "there is evidence before the Board, that
marihuana controls the symptoms of Mr. Kubby's cancer, including
hypertension. In Dr. Connors' opinion, marihuana continues to be the best
treatment available to Mr. Kubby."
However, the ruling went on to say that "it cannot therefore be stated with
any degree of certainty, that marihuana is the reason for Mr. Kubby's
survival even though it remains the best treatment option at this time."
Health Canada has even given Mr. Kubby permission to grow one hundred and
seventeen marijuana plants, based on "medical necessity."
The ruling further acknowledged, Kubby "has received a Health Canada
exemption, which suggests he is a bona fide ill person in need of medical
marihuana. It is noteworthy that Mr. Kubby was investigated and charged
with marihuana related criminal offences in Canada. Those Canadian charges
were later stayed by the Crown, and his marihuana grow equipment was
returned to him by the RCMP after the charges were stayed. This suggests
the Government of Canada believes he has a medical necessity for marihuana."
Despite all of this, the ruling somehow concluded, "he has not established
there is a risk to his life or a risk of cruel and unusual treatment or
punishment" if Kubby is forced to return to the US.
Kubby vowed, "Apparently, I have to die in order to convince the Refugee
board, but instead I intend to fight."
###
Kerry: "Did I expect George Bush to f - - - it up as badly as he did?"
New York Post Online Edition: CURSING KERRY UNLEASHES
FOULMOUTHED ATTACK ON BUSH
BillofRightsDay.com
Here's a new site I put together to help folks organize their Bill of Rights Day celebration efforts:
December 07, 2003
Boots on the Ground, Hearts on Their Sleeves
Boots on the Ground, Hearts on Their Sleeves
By DAVID BROOKS
Published: December 2, 2003
Bossier School Board upholds Advil expulsion
Bossier School Board upholds Advil expulsion
Girl had over-the-counter pills in purse at school
December 06, 2003
Hess: You pays your nickel, you takes your chances
This op-ed is a pretty good dressing-down of a "big prostitution bust", by Arizona Libertarian Barry Hess.
Hip hoppers say Dennis no menace
Hip hoppers say Dennis no menace=The Hill.com=
Dennis Kucinich, that is.
Phillies' Ideas for Libertarian Presidential Candidates
I am not running for President - but I do have some ideas on what our Party needs in one
by George Phillies
In Iraq Picture, Bush Is Holding the Centerpiece
The Bird Was Perfect But Not For Dinner (washingtonpost.com)
In Iraq Picture, Bush Is Holding the Centerpiece
Lindaman: Welcome Back, Rush...Now Retire!
AmericanDaily.com - Welcome Back, Rush...Now Retire! - Thomas Lindaman
December 05, 2003
Rumsfeld's Leaked Memo about the "War on Terror"
I tried to find this memo when it was hot news, and gave up before I was able to. But I recently found cause to look again, and had better luck. I'm storing it here because it's worth archiving (Plus it's public domain, I assume, so I might as well get the traffic instead of USATODAY, where I got it from.)
October 16, 2003
TO: Gen. Dick Myers
Paul Wolfowitz
Gen. Pete Pace
Doug Feith
FROM: Donald Rumsfeld
SUBJECT: Global War on Terrorism
The questions I posed to combatant commanders this week were: Are we winning or losing the Global War on Terror? Is DoD changing fast enough to deal with the new 21st century security environment? Can a big institution change fast enough? Is the USG changing fast enough?
DoD has been organized, trained and equipped to fight big armies, navies and air forces. It is not possible to change DoD fast enough to successfully fight the global war on terror; an alternative might be to try to fashion a new institution, either within DoD or elsewhere — one that seamlessly focuses the capabilities of several departments and agencies on this key problem.
With respect to global terrorism, the record since Septermber 11th seems to be:
We are having mixed results with Al Qaida, although we have put considerable pressure on them — nonetheless, a great many remain at large.
USG has made reasonable progress in capturing or killing the top 55 Iraqis.
USG has made somewhat slower progress tracking down the Taliban — Omar, Hekmatyar, etc.
With respect to the Ansar Al-Islam, we are just getting started.
Have we fashioned the right mix of rewards, amnesty, protection and confidence in the US?
Does DoD need to think through new ways to organize, train, equip and focus to deal with the global war on terror?
Are the changes we have and are making too modest and incremental? My impression is that we have not yet made truly bold moves, although we have have made many sensible, logical moves in the right direction, but are they enough?
Today, we lack metrics to know if we are winning or losing the global war on terror. Are we capturing, killing or deterring and dissuading more terrorists every day than the madrassas and the radical clerics are recruiting, training and deploying against us?
Does the US need to fashion a broad, integrated plan to stop the next generation of terrorists? The US is putting relatively little effort into a long-range plan, but we are putting a great deal of effort into trying to stop terrorists. The cost-benefit ratio is against us! Our cost is billions against the terrorists' costs of millions.
Do we need a new organization?
How do we stop those who are financing the radical madrassa schools?
Is our current situation such that "the harder we work, the behinder we get"?
It is pretty clear that the coalition can win in Afghanistan and Iraq in one way or another, but it will be a long, hard slog.
Does CIA need a new finding?
Should we create a private foundation to entice radical madradssas to a more moderate course?
What else should we be considering?
Please be prepared to discuss this at our meeting on Saturday or Monday.
Thanks.
December 03, 2003
Taibbi: Clark's True Colors
I was not impressed by Taibbi's attitude and approach in writing this article*, but he makes some OK points.
*As Matt Stoller of the Clark Sphere put it:
Seriously, attacking Clark is fine, he's in politics. But why go after the campaign staffers who are trying to do their best? Come on. This is ridiculous. Posing as a porn director at a Meetup and then getting awkward quotes from 22 year old volunteers? Really.
by Matt Taibbi
You can see something in the eyes of most all the Democratic candidates: the pugnacity of Howard Dean, the idealism of Dennis Kucinich, even (surprisingly) the elaborate sense of humor just under the surface of Joe Lieberman.
Not Wesley Clark. His eyes are blank. Like a turtle resting on a rock in the middle of a pond, he simply seems never to move, no matter how long you stare. But then, just as you're about to pack up your picnic basket and go home, you catch him: His head pops out, and he slides off into the water...
Lydon on Emerson: A God for Bloggers
A God for Bloggers
by Christopher Lydon
Ralph Waldo Emerson on his 200th birthday this spring is "closer to us than ever," writes the great Harold Bloom. He is a man for bloggers to embrace most especially, not for Emerson's glory but for our own understanding of a transformative moment we are living through.
Poet, public intellectual, performance artist and incomparable diarist, Emerson (1803-1882) has glory enough. It's we who need his encouraging frame around bloggery--this still strange and marvellous exercise in democratic media.
...
Some Iraqis Welcome Bush, Others Wish Him in Hell
This article is archived at TruthOut. The original doesn't appear to be available at MSNBC.com anymore.
The Pentagon crosses the lexicon
The Pentagon crosses the lexicon
As the horizon in Iraq recedes, the U.S. military’s language adapts
ANALYSIS
By Michael Moran
MSNBC
The turkey has landed
The turkey has landed: how Bush cooked up a secret mission to give thanks to his troops
By Phil Reeves in Baghdad and David Usborne in New York
The Independent-UK
An Apology to Younger Americans
An Apology to Younger Americans
By Sam Smith, The Progressive Review
November 30, 2003
In observance of the approaching 66th anniversary of my arrival on this planet I would like to apologize to you on behalf of my generation. Even members of Confederacy had the grace to secede from the union; my generation has remained within like a deadly virus, subverting it, shaming it, screwing it, stealing from it, and finally strangling it. It will likely be known as the worst generation – the one that brought the First American Republic down – unmatched in the damage it has done to the Constitution, the environment, and a two century struggle to create a society democratic and decent in its politics, economics, and social concourse.
To be sure, when we were young we were, as we said then, somethin' else. We launched the civil rights, women's, gay, and environmental movements, not to mention creating some memorable music before descending into disco. Soon other things started to go downhill rapidly. We became not only the generation that invented the phrase, 'never trust anyone over thirty,' we proved it.
...
December 01, 2003
The Bush Betrayal
I'm posting the full text of this excellent opinion piece, because I'd like to have it archived here. It was originally published in the Washington Post.
By David Boaz
Sunday, November 30, 2003
In 2000 George W. Bush campaigned across the country telling voters: "My opponent trusts government. I trust you."
Little wonder that some of his supporters are now wondering which candidate won that election.
Federal spending has increased by 23.7 percent since Bush took office. Education has been further federalized in the No Child Left Behind Act. Bush pulled out all the stops to get Republicans in Congress to create the biggest new entitlement program -- prescription drug coverage under Medicare -- in 40 years.
He pushed an energy bill that my colleague Jerry Taylor described as "three parts corporate welfare and one part cynical politics . . . a smorgasbord of handouts and subsidies for virtually every energy lobby in Washington."
It's a far cry from the less-government, "leave us alone" conservatism of Ronald Reagan.
Conservatives used to believe that the U.S. Constitution set up a government of strictly limited powers.
It was supposed to protect us from foreign threats and deliver the mail, leaving other matters to the states or to the private sector -- individuals, families, churches, charities and businesses.
That's what lots of voters assumed they would get with Bush. In his first presidential debate with Al Gore, Bush contrasted his own vision of tax reduction with that of his opponent, who would "increase the size of government dramatically." Gore, Bush declared, would "empower Washington," but "my passion and my vision is to empower Americans to be able to make decisions for themselves in their own lives."
Bush was tapping into popular sentiment.
In fact, you could say that what most voters wanted in 2000 was neither Bush nor Gore but smaller government. A Los Angeles Times poll in September 2000 found that Americans preferred "smaller government with fewer services" to "larger government with many services" by 59 to 26 percent.
But that's not what voters got. Leave aside defense spending and even entitlements spending: In Bush's first three years, nondefense discretionary spending -- which fell by 13.5 percent under Ronald Reagan -- has soared by 20.8 percent. His more libertarian-minded voters are taken aback to discover that "compassionate conservatism" turned out to mean social conservatism -- a stepped-up drug war, restrictions on medical research, antigay policies, federal subsidies for marriage and religion -- and big-spending liberalism justified as "compassion."
When they're given a chance to vote, Americans don't like big government.
Last November 45 percent of the voters in the most liberal state in the Union, Ted Kennedy's Massachusetts, voted to abolish the state income tax.
In January, Oregon's liberal electorate rejected a proposed tax increase, 55 percent to 45 percent.
In September Alabama voters rejected Gov. Bob Riley's $1.2 billion tax hike by 2 to 1.
California voters tossed out big-spending Gov. Gray Davis, and 62 percent of them voted for candidates who promised not to raise taxes to close the state's deficit.
Bush and his aides should be worrying about the possibility that libertarians, economic conservatives and fed-up taxpayers won't be in his corner in 2004 in the same numbers as 2000.
Republican strategists are likely to say that libertarians and economic conservatives have nowhere else to go. Many of the disappointed will indeed sigh a deep sigh and vote for Bush as a lesser evil.
But Karl Rove, who is fascinated by the role Mark Hanna played in building the post-1896 Republican majority, should remember one aspect of that era: In the late 19th century, the Democratic Party of Jefferson, Jackson and Cleveland was known as "the party of personal liberty." More so than the Republicans, it was committed to economic and cultural laissez-faire and opposed to Prohibition, protectionism and inflation.
When the big-government populist William Jennings Bryan claimed the Democratic nomination in 1896, many assumed he would draw industrial workers from the Republicans and bring new voters to the polls. Instead, Bryan lost in a landslide, and turnout declined for the next few elections. As the more libertarian Democrats found less reason to go to the polls, the Republicans dominated national politics for the next 36 years.
It could happen that limited-government voters decide to stay home, or vote for an independent candidate in the mold of Ross Perot or Jesse Ventura or vote Libertarian.
They could even vote for an antiwar, anti-Patriot Act, socially tolerant Democrat.
Given a choice between big-government liberalism and big-government conservatism, the leave-us-alone voters might decide that voting isn't worth the trouble.
The writer is executive vice president of the Cato Institute and author of "Libertarianism: A Primer."
Geoff Metcalf: Under the Color of Authority
IRS: Abuse of Power
Under the Color of Authority
Geoff Metcalf
Monday, Nov. 24, 2003
Find out just what people will submit to, and you have found out the exact amount of injustice and wrong which will be imposed upon them; and these will continue until they are resisted with either words or blows, or both. The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they oppress. – Frederick Douglass
For over a decade I have been interviewing and reporting on what has been called The "Tax Honesty Movement." Some people call these folks “tax protesters," others call them wackos. To a growing many, they are patriots committed to redressing what they perceive as a grievous wrong.
In the wake of years of study, interviews and analysis I have come to my own personal conclusions:
-As an academic exercise, and objective evaluation of the facts in evidence, the Tax Freedom crowd is mostly right.
-However, as a practical reality check, and ‘The Golden Rule’ (those with the gold make the rules), when contemporary ‘Davids’ square off with the federal government’s ‘Goliath,’ right is NOT might.
-Those who take on “The G” can and will be eviscerated by bureaucratic ‘shock and awe’ that has and will ruin lives.
...
One of the most heroic crusaders cast in the role of ‘David’ is Joseph R. (Joe) Banister. Joe is a CPA and former IRS Criminal Investigation Division special agent [www.freedomabovefortune.com]. He is a good guy with a fascinating story and about to become another victim of abuse of power under the color of authority.
...
Big Crowd at Military School Protest Gets Earful of Patriotic Music From Army
Big Crowd at Military School Protest Gets Earful of Patriotic Music From Army
COLUMBUS, Ga. (AP) - Demonstrators gathered outside Fort Benning to protest a military school were hit with a sonic barrage Saturday: patriotic music Army officials had blaring from the main gate.
A crowd estimated by Columbus police at 8,000 gathered to protest the school once known as the School of the Americas, which they blame for Latin American human rights abuses. It appeared to be the largest first-day gathering in the 14-year history of the protest.
The Army's loudspeakers, playing "The Army Song" and "God Bless the U.S.A.," were 50 yards away from where protesters were speaking to the crowd.
...
Raimondo: Boot Boortz!
Neal Boortz is a statist, not a libertarian.
So why is he speaking at the Libertarian Party’s national convention?
by Justin Raimondo
November 26, 2003
One thing one has to say about most of the "liberventionists" – the tiny but vocal clot of pro-war, pro-Bush "libertarians" – and that is they oppose this administration’s attacks on our civil liberties here at home. But what are we to make of alleged libertarians, such as Neal Boortz, who wants to know why the FBI shouldn’t be allowed to spy on the antiwar movement:
"The FBI is investigating the backgrounds and organizational methods of antiwar demonstrators in the US. Hopefully that doesn't come as a surprise to you. It is safe to assume that a large number of these demonstrators are out there in the streets because they want America to fail in its efforts to fight terrorism and its efforts to bring secular representative governments to Iraq and Afghanistan. Translated: Many of these demonstrators are pro-Saddam and anti-US. So, who wouldn't want them investigated by the FBI?"
Oh, gee, I don’t know: maybe a self-described "libertarian" who advocates strictly limited government and regards such surveillance as impermissible, in principle. Perhaps someone who takes the Bill of Rights seriously. In short, someone who believes in upholding the primacy of individual liberty – even in the face of an unprecedented assault by a cabal of war-crazed power-hungry ideologues.
...
Lessig: The New Road to the White House
The New Road to the White House
How grassroots blogs are transforming presidential politics.
When they write the account of the 2004 campaign, it will include at least one word that has never appeared in any presidential history: blog. Whether or not it elects the next president, the blog may be the first innovation from the Internet to make a real difference in election politics. But to see just why requires a bit of careful attention.
...
AlterNet: Neocons Leak Bad Intelligence
AlterNet: Neocons Leak Bad Intelligence
By Jim Lobe, AlterNet
November 20, 2003
The leak of a secret memorandum written by a senior Pentagon official reveals less about the connection between Saddam and al Qaeda than the growing desperation of neo-conservative hawks in the Bush administration.
US starts to lift the veil on Camp X-Ray trials
US starts to lift the veil on Camp X-Ray trials
(TruthOut permacopy)
Patriot Act Expansion Moves Through Congress
Patriot Act Expansion Moves Through Congress
by Jim Lobe
(TruthOut permacopy)
George Orwell: Why I Write
This was really interesting for me. Thanks to Tim at Libertarian Rant for pointing it out.
SITE NOTE: Scaling back for now
I need to conserve time for a while, so entries here are going to be less robust than usual. In most cases I might just end up posting links to what I've read, more as a way of keeping track than anything else. I'm sorry if anyone has grown dependent on the excerpts and ratings. ;-\
I don't know if this has long-term implications for the Little Brown Reader. For the time being, I consider it to be a temporary shift in my approach. I'll be sure to let you know if that changes.
Patriot Act Author Has Concerns
Patriot Act Author Has Concerns
By Richard B. Schmitt, Times Staff Writer
Detaining citizens as 'enemy combatants' -- a policy not spelled out in the act -- is flawed, the legal scholar says.
WASHINGTON — The Justice Department's war on terrorism has drawn intense scrutiny from the left and the right. Now, a chief architect of the USA Patriot Act and a former top assistant to Atty. Gen. John Ashcroft are joining the fray, voicing concern about aspects of the administration's anti-terrorism policy.
At issue is the government's power to designate and detain "enemy combatants," in particular in the case of "dirty bomb" plot suspect Jose Padilla, the Brooklyn-born former gang member who was picked up at a Chicago airport 18 months ago by the FBI and locked in a military brig without access to a lawyer.
...
Pork Spending in the 2004 Budget
From the Heritage Foundation: Another Omnibus Spending Bill Loaded with Pork
Bob Smith turns it into a call for action:
Save this list. During the 2004 campaign, pick any one of these organizations, and try to get a chance to ask your incumbent politician about it.
Ask him where it is.
Ask him what it does.
Ask him to explain it's value to us.
Ask him why it wasn't funded by the people who will use it.
Ask him why he wanted to spend your money on it.
If you're feeling bold, and he's still paying attention, ask him what HE got out of it.
Scarmig: How I Said No to the Automatic Social Security Number
How I Said No to the Automatic Social Security Number
This is the story of how I successfully refused to accept a Social Security Number for my child.
I simply said “no.”
Really. That’s how easy it was. I just said no, again, and again.
...
December 14, 2003
December 13, 2003
Group to honor Bill of Rights Day with March and Memorial on Monday
This is an advance story (which is essentially just my press release, cleaned up a little) about the Bill of Rights Day activity that I'm organizing. I'm saving the text of it here as it was published at Yubanet.
(This will eventually be posted at my main blog, but it's not functioning properly, so I'm using this blog as a backup place to put these entries.)
Group to honor Bill of Rights Day with March and Memorial on Monday
By Lance Brown, Nevada County Bill of Rights Defense Committee
Dec 13, 2003, 08:43
Local civil liberties activists will be holding a memorial service and march for the Bill of Rights in Nevada City this Monday-- Bill of Rights Day. The group will gather outside the Rood County Government Center at Noon, and march to Calanan Park in downtown Nevada City.
All interested parties are invited to attend.
This marks the third consecutive year that local activists have held a public commemoration of Bill of Rights Day -- the anniversary of the ratification of the first 10 amendments to the U.S. Constitution. A "funeral" last year preceded this year's memorial, and in 2001 the day was marked with a rally.
The event is part of an ongoing local campaign to raise awareness about what the group sees as grave dangers to our civil liberties that have come in the wake of the “war on terror”. The Nevada County Bill of Rights Defense Committee is launching a drive to pass local resolutions making Nevada County a "civil liberties safe zone", as part of a national movement where over 200 communities (and three states) have passed similar resolutions.
For more local information, call 274-2474 or visit ncrights.org.
Bill of Rights Day LTE in the SacBee
This is a letter of mine that was just published in the Sacramento Bee.
sacbee.com -- Letters to the editor
Bill of Rights Day
Dec. 15 is Bill of Rights Day, the anniversary of the ratification of the Bill of Rights.
I only became aware that it was a holiday in recent years, and the first time I celebrated Bill of Rights Day was in 2001. As a Libertarian, living through a wholesale expansion of federal law enforcement tactics in the name of the "war on terror," honoring the birthday of the Bill of Rights with a rally seemed like a smart idea.
By December 2002, the threats to civil liberties had risen to a level where we thought it made more sense to have a "funeral" to mark the day. So we did. And this Monday we'll have a memorial ceremony, as a sequel.
This year, I've come to accept that this is a holiday that's becoming genuinely important to me. I've compiled nearly 20 ways people can celebrate and honor Bill of Rights Day, and put them into a free website at BillofRightsDay.com.
Come on everyone -- give it a try: "Happy Bill of Rights Day!"
- Lance Brown, Nevada City
CANADA DENIES REFUGEE STATUS TO US MEDICAL MARIJUANA EXILE
Drug War Chronicle
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/315/stevekubby.shtml
CANADA DENIES REFUGEE STATUS TO US MEDICAL MARIJUANA EXILE
Prominent American medical marijuana activist Steve Kubby
(http://www.kubby.com), who fled the US saying an impending jail sentence
would cause his death, has been denied refugee status by the Canadian
Immigration and Refugee Board. An adrenal cancer patient, Kubby has smoked a
dozen joints a day for year, which he says keeps him alive, and would have
been denied that medication while serving a misdemeanor sentence in
California. But Kubby did not have a well-founded fear of being persecuted
or tortured, nor was there any risk to his life if he returned to his home
state of California, the board ruled Monday.
He has said he will appeal, but the clock is ticking for Kubby and his
family, whose requests for refugee status were also denied. Under Canadian
law, he has 15 days to apply to the Supreme Court for a review of the
decision, and if the court chooses not to review his case, he and his family
would have to leave the country within 30 days. One option would be to apply
for a "pre-removal risk assessment," which would force immigration officials
to once again investigate whether he would face "cruel or unusual punishment
or risk to life" if returned to the US.
Steve Kubby Kubby, the 1998 Libertarian Party nominee for governor of
California, fled to Canada with his family in 2001 after being found guilty
of possession of a small amount of psychedelic mushrooms and peyote in his
home state. That conviction arose from a medical marijuana raid on Kubby's
home. The state could not convict on the marijuana charges -- California law
allows for its medical use -- but did manage to nail Kubby for the 'shrooms.
He was prepared to serve a 120-day sentence provided he could have access to
medical marijuana. But local authorities in California refused to allow him
to have his medicine in jail, so Kubby ran for his life to what he hoped
would be a friendlier clime.
He and his family entered Canada on tourist visas, but were detained by
Canadian immigration authorities after newspaper stories featured their
cause and described them cultivating a medical marijuana garden at their
home in Sechelt, British Columbia, a short ferry ride up BC's Sunshine Coast
from Vancouver. At that point, Kubby, his wife Michelle, and their two
daughters applied for asylum as refugees fleeing persecution by American
drug warriors. Since then, they have remained in Canada, where they produce
a program on Pot-TV (http://www.pot-tv.net), a web-based marijuana reform
broadcaster funded by marijuana seed magnate Marc Emery. They also received
a permit from Health Canada to cultivate marijuana for Kubby's medicinal use
are currently growing 117 plants, Kubby told the Toronto Globe & Mail.
In addition to the fear of persecution because of his well-known advocacy of
medical marijuana, Kubby argued that medical marijuana users were not
protected in California, and that he would die if deprived of his medicine.
The Immigration and Refugee Board, however, ruled that Kubby was not and
would not be persecuted, that California law in fact protects medical
marijuana users, and that he would not suffer serious health effects if
incarcerated without access to medical marijuana.
In an opinion written by board member Paulah Dauns, the board noted that
Kubby had not been convicted on medical marijuana charges, but on other drug
charges, and that California law protected him. "In effect, the process
worked, as it was designed to," she wrote. "He argues that a medical
marijuana patient should be protected from persecution. What he has
demonstrated is that in fact, they are." Dauns also wrote that while there
was little doubt marijuana relieved Kubby's cancer symptoms, there was no
evidence that depriving him of cannabis while incarcerated on the California
'shroom charge would kill him, despite testimony from Dr. Joseph Connors of
the British Columbia Cancer Agency, who told the court during an April
hearing that Kubby would die within four days if denied access to marijuana
for his condition. Kubby was not a refugee, wrote Dauns, but a "fugitive
from justice."
And while Kubby argued that his use of marijuana was akin to a diabetic's
use of insulin, Dauns was having none of that, either. "Insulin has been
approved by the medical community as a treatment, whereas marijuana has
not," she said. "The research on the benefits of marijuana is woefully
inadequate and inconclusive, making a comparison of these two treatments
illogical," she wrote.
The Kubby case is the first of a handful of similar "reefer refugee" cases
to be decided in Canada. Two Northern California men, Kenneth Hayes and
Steve Tuck, who fled federal marijuana charges related to California medical
marijuana grows, have cases pending before the author of Monday's decision,
board member Dauns. Some advocates had hoped Kubby, with his strong health
argument, had the strongest of any of the pending cases.
Canadian Kubby supporters denounced the decision. "This is yet another
example of the harms of cannabis prohibition," said Philippe Lucas, director
of Canadians for Safe Access (http://www.safeaccess.ca), a medical marijuana
defense organization based on its southern sister, Americans for Safe Access
(http://www.safeaccessnow.org). "The Kubbys are kind contributors to the
social well-being of Canadians -- under any other circumstances, Canada
would welcome this reverse brain-drain. It is only through the perversion of
justice caused by prohibition that a loving family like the Kubbys could be
condemned to an uncertain future at the hands of American prosecutors."
But it wasn't only abstract prohibition that had Lucas and other Canadian
activists irked, it was the harsh slap in the face from a traditionally
refugee-friendly country. "Are we as a nation really so quick to take a
chance on Steve Kubby's health?" asked Lucas. "Shouldn't a modern liberal
democracy like Canada err on the side of social justice when a man's life is
on the line? If Steve Kubby should suffer the same fate as Peter McWilliams
-- who died choking on his own vomit while being denied his medicinal
cannabis after his arrest -- the hands of those who denied his refugee claim
will be forever stained in his blood."
"Today, I'm ashamed of being a Canadian," concurred Tim Meehan, national
director of the anti-prohibition wing of the New Democratic Party
(http://www.ndpot.ca). "Here at home, our government constantly reminds us
of how important the refugee protection system is. Canada's reputation is
built on it. However, when they subject people like Steve Kubby and his
family to institutional prejudice because of their choice of medical
treatment, and are more concerned about angering a trading partner than
saving a human life, that demonstrates our government's priorities are very
seriously out of alignment. I hope Canadians remember that in the upcoming
federal election," Meehan added.
Visit http://www.mapinc.org/alert/0282.html for a letter-writing alert to
help Steve Kubby.
Read a summary of the decision at:
http://www.irb.gc.ca/en/decisions/kubby/va2_01374_e.htm#summary
Read the decision in full at:
http://www.irb.gc.ca/en/decisions/kubby/va2_01374_e.htm
Or to get right to the paragraphs where Dauns lays out her reasoning, go to:
http://www.irb.gc.ca/en/decisions/kubby/va2_01374_e.htm#determination
American Medical Marijuana Refugee Ordered To Return To United States
NORML's Weekly News Bulletin -- December 11, 2003
http://norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=5856
American Medical Marijuana Refugee Ordered To Return To United States
Immigration Board Recognizes Pot To Be "Best Treatment Available," But
Rejects Patient's Asylum Request
December 11, 2003 - Vancouver, BC, Canada
Vancouver, British Columbia: The Canadian Immigration and Refugee Board this
week denied refugee status to American Steve Kubby and his family, and
ordered their return to California where Kubby is expected to be sentenced
to four months in jail for drug-related charges. Kubby has said he will
appeal the ruling.
He and his wife Michelle and two children will be allowed to remain in the
country while awaiting their appeal.
Kubby fled to Canada in 2001 rather than serve time in jail, where he would
be denied access to medicinal marijuana, which he requires to treat symptoms
of a rare, life-threatening form of adrenal cancer known as
pheochromocytoma. Kubby was diagnosed in 1968 with the disease - which he's
managed since the early 1980s exclusively by smoking cannabis - and given
six months to live. (Life expectancy of a person with pheochromocytoma is
typically three to five years.) Today Kubby is recognized as one of the
longest living survivors of the disease.
Though the Board recognized that "marijuana continues to be the best
treatment available to Mr. Kubby," and that he could potentially suffer a
heart attack or stroke without cannabis, it nevertheless ruled, "The
claimant is not a person in need of protection in that his removal to the
United States would not subject him personally to a risk to his life."
The Board based this decision, in part, on the premise that Kubby would
likely have access to medicinal marijuana while in jail. However, California
law does not compel the state to allow inmates access to medical cannabis,
stating: "Nothing in this article shall require any accommodation of any
medical use of marijuana ... on the property or premises of any jail,
correctional facility, or other type of penal institution in which prisoners
reside or persons under arrest are detained."
While living in Canada, Kubby had been one of fewer than 600 individuals to
receive a federal exemption from Health Canada to legally cultivate and use
pot for medical purposes.
NORML Foundation Executive Director Allen St. Pierre called the Refugee
Board's decision unfortunate and puzzling considering the government's prior
acknowledgement of Kubby's medical need to use cannabis. "This decision
makes little sense in light of the fact that the Canadian government has
already approved Steve Kubby's medical use of marijuana by granting him a
special exemption from prosecution," he said.
"Why they couldn't extend that same thinking to his asylum request seeking
protection for his health from America's policy of strict marijuana law
enforcement is puzzling. This decision does not bode well for the other
Americans who have sought refuge status in Canada for their
physician-sanctioned use of medical marijuana."
Since 1989, the Immigration and Refugee Board has heard nearly 1,000 refugee
cases from the United States, including 268 pending cases. So far, none of
those individuals have been granted asylum.
For more information, please contact Allen St. Pierre of The NORML
Foundation at (202) 483-8751. Full text of the Immigration and Refugee
Board's ruling is available online at:
http://www.irb.gc.ca/en/decisions/kubby/va2_01374_e.htm
(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.)
Woman Uses Greeting Card to Smuggle Meth
FOXNews.com - Top Stories - Woman Uses Greeting Card to Smuggle Meth
The court case that could reshape US democracy
The court case that could reshape US democracy
(TruthOut permacopy)
By Rupert Cornwell in Washington
11 December 2003
It bears the utterly uninformative title of Veith et al vs Jubelirer (docket number 02-1580). But the case, which the US Supreme Court heard yesterday, deals with the explosive political issue of gerrymandering - and its ruling next year could literally reshape America's democracy.
Veith et al vs Jubelirer involves only Pennsylvania. The state's Democrats have challenged what they say is a rigged and unfair plan to redraw congressional districts, a move approved by Pennsylvania's Republican-controlled legislature after the 2000 census.
Big Money's Spigot Will Stay Open
Big Money's Spigot Will Stay Open
t r u t h o u t permacopy
By Nick Anderson and Janet Hook
Los Angeles Times
Thursday 11 December 2003
Even though it erected formidable new barriers between politicians and deep-pocketed donors, the election law upheld Wednesday by the Supreme Court has not shut down big money in politics.
Instead, creative operatives allied with both parties are constructing new groups to raise and spend political money to get around the law.
...
Unwanted dog cheats death four times
Executing your dog because you don't want it or can't handle it any more is sick and pathetic. It's great that the dog lived, but that woman who dumped it on animal control should be ashamed of herself for putting that dog through that experience.
Unwanted dog cheats death four times
An unwanted dog which was put down with drugs, put in a plastic bag and then through a rubbish compressor has been found alive moments before being buried in a landfill site.
The five-year-old shepherd-Labrador cross was found clawing through the plastic bag on the back of a rubbish truck at the Edgeboro Landfill in East Brunswick, New Jersey.
December 12, 2003
Diebold email: "Make vote printouts too costly for MD"
NOTE: I have not read this whole thing, but it appears to have quite a bit of interesting info. the author of it wants it spread around, so I'm posting it here (just as I received it) in hopes of doing that.
-----------------------------------------------------
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Eric A. Smith
Hot Damn! Design
81-03-3959-5371
snowdog@juno.ocn.ne.jp
Diebold email: "Make vote printouts too costly for MD"
-- Scandals deepen for e-vote manufacturer
ANNAPOLIS, Maryland, December 12th — An internal memo has just surfaced suggesting e-vote manufacturer Diebold planned to overcharge the state of Maryland and make voter printouts "prohibitively expensive".
An employee named "Ken" wrote the Jan. 3 letter suggesting the company charge Maryland "out the yin" if legislators insisted on printouts.
Referring to a University of Maryland study critical of the company's machines, he added: "[The State of Maryland] already bought the system. At this point they are just closing the barn door. Let's just hope that as a company we are smart enough to charge out the yin if they try to change the rules now and legislate voter receipts."
He goes on to say "...any after-sale changes should be prohibitively expensive."
Delegate Karen S. Montgomery dropped the bombshell on Thursday amid negotiations with Diebold over its touchscreen voting machines.
Montgomery, who has written a bill mandating voter-verifiable ballots, described pressure to drop the issue, saying "scurrilous remarks" were being levelled against proponents of the measure. She said she believes the cost is being driven up to prevent anyone from insisting on verifiable printouts.
Steven T. Dennis of Gazette.net broke the story yesterday; he said spokesman David Bear deflected criticism by claiming the comments were "the internal discussion of one individual and [do] not reflect the sentiments or the position of the company."
Diebold, whose primary business has until recently been ATMs and ticket-vending machines (all of which produce paper printouts), made headlines last week when it dropped copyright-infringement suits against Swarthmore students who had published thousands of its internal memos on the Internet.
Prominent among the leaked memos is a missive to Global Election Systems (now Diebold) -- baldly stating that 16 thousand Gore votes were "disappeared" during the 2000 election. Author Lana Hires frantically asks how she should explain the problem to an auditor:
Additional memos are equally candid and suggestive:
-more-
Initially brought to light by activist Bev Harris, these and other alarming disclosures have added weight to the arguments of computer security experts and legislators nationwide, who say that Diebold's machines (as well as those of rivals ES&S and Sequoia) pose a grave risk to America's elections.
Harris received over 7,000 of the Diebold memos from an undisclosed source in early September. For the past three years, she has been arguing for greater security and accountability in electronic voting, last year weathering a similar unsuccesful gag lawsuit from e-vote firm ES&S.
A month after Harris recieved the memos she went public with them; Diebold immediately launched a gag lawsuit, and Harris's ISP shut down her activist site. A group of Swarthmore students and other activists responded by spreading the memos across the Internet.
When Diebold threatened to sue under the auspices of the DMCA, litigators from the Electronic Frontier Foundation and the ACLU stepped in to defend activists. Presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich added significant support by hosting the memos on his own website. Last week, Diebold withdrew its lawsuits.
With a new ISP, Harris has resumed her activism, and her book "Black Box Voting: Ballot Tampering in the 21st Century," can currently be downloaded for free from the site blackboxvoting.org.
Meanwhile, on Capital Hill, Congressman Rush Holt has also raised the issue of security, sponsoring the "Voter Confidence and Increased Accountability Act of 2003" (H.R. 2239), which calls for paper ballots, surprise recounts and auditable software in voting machines.
But while Holt's bill adds a significant level of transparency to the process, Harris says it doesn't go far enough. In a recent Buzzflash interview, she said:
"The problem area, and it is a whopper, is that this bill doesn't attack the crux of the issue, which is proper auditing -- and that is something that is needed for any computerized system, including optical scan machines.
The very first thing we need to do is get solid input from auditors who are experienced in fraud detection.
While we are designing amendments to the bill, we also must get some people with a solid grasp of history, because we need a voting system that is in keeping with the vision of our founding fathers -- and this is a public policy issue, not a computer issue. The most important thing that we keep forgetting is that the founders, especially Thomas Jefferson, felt that it was critical -- not "important," but CRITICAL to democracy, to keep the vote directly in the hands of the people themselves. Any solution which requires us to trust a handful of experts will, sooner or later, result in the demise of our democracy.
-more-
That means we need to retain (and enforce) policies to tally the votes at the polls, in front of observers. In some countries, they let as many regular citizens as can fit in the room in to watch the physical counting. It is this neighborhood tallying, and the open and public nature of it, that is the embodiment of democracy."
In July, Harris demonstrated just how insecure a Diebold machine could be, showing in a step-by-step expose how to reverse a federal election. New Zealand's Scoop Media posted the illustrated account online.
Author Faun Otter and others have also raised the issue of impartiality on the part of Diebold's board, which has contributed hundreds of thousands of dollars to Republican campaigns. National headlines were made when CEO Michael O'Dell, who recently hosted a $600,000 fundraiser for Vice President Dick Cheney, announced in a Republican fundraising letter that he was "committed to delivering Ohio's votes to the President".
But controversy doesn't end with Diebold alone. Rival voting machine company ES&S also came under scrutiny when it surfaced that it was run by Chuck Hagel until two weeks before his own election. Senator Hagel won by the biggest landslide in Nebraskan history; a victory the press characterized as a "stunning upset". His company, ES&S, counted 83% of the votes.
Hagel left out details of his ES&S involvement in his SEC filings, and, when the discrepancy surfaced, two days after a closed-door meeting with Hagel SEC legal counsel Victor Baird resigned and the matter was dropped.
And Hagel, who prior to his stewardship of ES&S was head of the Private Sector Council for George H.W. Bush, has bigger plans: Harris says the domain name "Bush-Hagel2004.com" was purchased last year but subsequently released and the Senator has already bought the rights to "hagel2008.com" and "ChuckHagel2008.com".
Meanwhile Hagel campaign manager Michael McCarthy owns over 30% of ES&S's parent company, and even the Senator hasn't fully divested himself of ownership -- he still has a $5 million stake in ES&S parent company the McCarthy Group.
Harris says there are firms offering comparatively secure systems -- competitors Avante, Accupol and Vogue, for example -- but some activists say any machine offers an opportunity for vote tampering. They're calling for a return to simple ballots, though such a solution is unlikely -- Bush's Help America Vote Act mandates a nationwide migration to electronic voting by 2006.
Secretary of state Kevin Shelley's recent declaration that all California voting machines must provide printouts may prompt the rest of the country to follow the west’s lead. But it may end up being a matter of too little, too late, as Diebold, ES&S and Sequioa systems are already in place in 37 states.
Harris, for one, is calling for a legal injunction to halt the use of any insecure systems prior to the 2004 primaries. If her instincts are right, a fierce battle may loom on the horizon -- a battle for the very heart and soul of America's democracy.
Officials to phone, fax and email about secure voting:
Congress
http://www.visi.com/juan/congress/
State elections boards:
http://www.blackboxvoting.org/htdocs/dcforum/DCForumID29/47.html
State Attorneys General (party affiliations listed):
http://www.naag.org/ag/full_ag_table.php
-more-
State Election Officials
http://www.nased.org/
Members, Natl. Assoc. of County Recorders, Election Officials and Clerks:
http://www.nacrc.org/leadership/st_coord.htm
Penelope Bonsall, national director of the Office of Election Administration
Office of Election Administration
Federal Election Commission
999 E Street, NW
Washington, DC 20463
vss@fec.gov
(202) 694-1095 (phone)
(202) 219-8500 (fax)
Online e-petitions EFF and VerifiedVoting.org:
http://action.eff.org/action/index.asp?step=2&item=2821
http://www.verifiedvoting.org
Media Contacts:
http://dmoz.org/Arts/Television/News/
http://newslink.org
http://www.cantufind.com/american_newspapers.htm
http://dmoz.org/Arts/Radio/Formats/Talk_Radio/Networks/
http://dmoz.org/Arts/Radio/Formats/Talk_Radio/Stations/
http://dmoz.org/Arts/Television/Networks/Cable/
http://dmoz.org/Arts/Television/Networks/
http://dmoz.org/Computers/Internet/Broadcasting/Information/
Contact: Eric A. Smith, Hot Damn! Design, Tokyo, Japan ● 81-03-3959-5371
# # #
Borowitz: SUPREME COURT OVERTURNS GORE’S ENDORSEMENT OF DEAN
SUPREME COURT OVERTURNS GORE’S ENDORSEMENT OF DEAN
Transfers Nod to Bush in 5-4 Decision
December 11, 2003
LP RELEASE: Campaign finance ruling
====================================
NEWS FROM THE LIBERTARIAN PARTY
2600 Virginia Avenue, NW, Suite 100
Washington DC 20037
World Wide Web: http://www.LP.org
====================================
For release: December 11, 2003
====================================
For additional information:
George Getz, Communications Director
Phone: (202) 333-0008
====================================
High court's ruling is all-out assault
on right to engage in politics, Libertarians say
WASHINGTON, DC -- The Libertarian Party, which is one of the plaintiffs
that challenged the campaign finance law upheld on Tuesday by the
Supreme Court, has denounced the ruling as an "all-out assault on the
right of every American to engage in the political process."
"Why not just outlaw elections and get it over with?" said Geoffrey
Neale, the Libertarian Party's national chair. "The Supreme Court has
just given incumbent politicians the power to financially cripple their
competitors and, in the process, award themselves lifetime jobs."
In a 5-4 ruling that shocked advocacy groups across the political
spectrum, the Supreme Court endorsed key provisions of the McCain-
Feingold campaign finance law. Specifically, the court upheld a ban on
"soft money" contributions from wealthy individuals, corporations and
labor unions, as well the law's prohibition on running certain
political advertisements within close proximity to an election.
But Libertarians point out that McCain-Feingold was nothing more than
an incumbent protection act in the first place -- and that the court's
ruling was tantamount to outlawing political competition.
"Running for office and communicating a message aren't free," Neale
said. "So making it illegal to raise money to buy political ads, and
banning the ads during the period when they're most effective, is
tantamount to outlawing the message itself. That's a crime against the
First Amendment as well as an affront to the democratic process."
Incumbent politicians already enjoy powerful advantages, Neale pointed
out, such as name recognition and the ability to attract news media,
taxpayer-financed staffs and office space, and the franking privilege.
The so-called campaign finance reform act was merely an attempt to
eliminate the only weapon that many challengers have: contributions
freely given by individuals or groups that share their views, he noted.
Acknowledging that the stated goal of the legislation was to clean up
politics, Neale said: "Justice Sandra Day O'Connor pointed out that
'corruption, and in particular the appearance of corruption,' is
rampant in Washington -- and of course, she's right.
"But a free-flowing, robust political debate isn't the problem; it's
the solution. The only way to dislodge an entrenched, corrupt
politician is to allow competing candidates, and anyone else who so
chooses, to publicly criticize them and offer voters a better
alternative.
"By upholding McCain-Feingold, the Supreme Court has merely guaranteed
that corrupt politicians will stay in office for a longer period of
time."
In March 1992, the Libertarian Party signed on as a co-plaintiff in
McConnell v FEC, the lawsuit spearheaded by Kentucky Senator Mitch
McConnell that sought to overturn the campaign finance reform law.
The party argued that the law would have a devastating impact on its
activities by eliminating certain sources of revenue and imposing
significant regulatory and administrative burdens.
For example, the law prohibits the organization from accepting
donations of more than $25,000 from any individual; prevents it from
taking money from organizations that are not "recognized political
committees," so it cannot sell ads in its party newspaper to nonprofit
corporations or incorporated businesses; and cannot accept funds for
memberships or literature from its own state affiliates, unless they
also comply with the law's onerous regulations.
However, the party was vindicated by one aspect of Tuesday's ruling,
Neale added, when the court struck down the provision of the law
banning minors from making contributions to political parties.
# # #
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2600 Virginia Ave. NW, Suite 100 voice: 202-333-0008
Washington DC 20037 fax: 202-333-0072
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
For subscription changes, please use the WWW form at:
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Pot doc's license revocation upheld
Dec. 10, 2003 -- Pot doc's license revocation upheld
By HANK LAWSON Staff writer
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed Monday the federal government's revocation of Dr. Marion "Molly" Fry's license to prescribe medication including marijuana.
Who died and made non-aggression fundamental?
This memoir of sorts is rambling, but it has a quality to it which makes it interesting, and a little insightful.
Who died and made non-aggression fundamental?
by Student of Life
December 10, 2003
Campaign finance supporters praise Supreme Court ruling
This statement from the president of Common Cause is one of the most delusional claims I've heard from a public figure in a while.
"The toxic link between donors who write six-figure checks and people in power at the highest levels of government has been severed for good," said Chellie Pingree, the group's president, in a statement.
It's almost as funny as "The era of big government is over" was. Oh, yeah, folks....this time they've got it all worked out. Sure.
CNN.com - Campaign finance supporters praise Supreme Court ruling - Dec. 10, 2003
Supreme Court upholds 'soft money' ban
CNN.com - Supreme Court upholds 'soft money' ban - Dec. 10, 2003
December 09, 2003
December 08, 2003
KUBBY VOWS APPEAL OF RULING DENYING REFUGEE STATUS IN CANADA
For Immediate Release
December 8, 2003
Press Conference:
Tuesday, Dec. 9th, noon, BC Marijuana Party Headquarters, 307 West Hastings,
Vancouver
Decision Online:
http://www.irb.gc.ca/en/decisions/kubby/va2_01374_e.htm
KUBBY VOWS APPEAL OF RULING DENYING REFUGEE STATUS IN CANADA
VANCOUVER -- Steve Kubby, medical marijuana patient and former Libertarian
Party candidate for governor of California, vowed to appeal a ruling by the
Refugee Protection Division today that denied him refugee status in Canada
based on his need for medical marijuana.
Kubby complained, "I cannot understand how the Refugee panel could conclude
that my life would not be at risk if I were forced to return to the US,
after the leading cancer specialist in British Columbia testified that I
would die without it."
British Columbia cancer specialist Dr. Joseph Michael Connors, an expert in
the area of adrenal cancers, called by the Immigration Ministry, examined
Kubby and testified at the hearing about his medical condition.
The ruling recognizes that, according to Dr. Connors, "Mr. Kubby's tumour
releases, in excess quantities, hormones normally found in the adrenal
gland. Excessive levels of these hormones in Mr. Kubby's blood cause a
range of separate symptomatic problems including paroxysmal headaches,
palpitations (rapid and irregular beating of the heart), hypertension
(sudden dangerous rise in blood pressure), sudden abdominal cramps and
diarrhea, chest pain, shortness of breath, nausea, sudden severe weakness
and anorexia (loss of appetite). If not controlled, Mr. Kubby's symptoms
could evolve further to the point where a myocardial infarction (heart
attack) or cerebral vascular accident (stroke) could occur."
The ruling also acknowledged that "there is evidence before the Board, that
marihuana controls the symptoms of Mr. Kubby's cancer, including
hypertension. In Dr. Connors' opinion, marihuana continues to be the best
treatment available to Mr. Kubby."
However, the ruling went on to say that "it cannot therefore be stated with
any degree of certainty, that marihuana is the reason for Mr. Kubby's
survival even though it remains the best treatment option at this time."
Health Canada has even given Mr. Kubby permission to grow one hundred and
seventeen marijuana plants, based on "medical necessity."
The ruling further acknowledged, Kubby "has received a Health Canada
exemption, which suggests he is a bona fide ill person in need of medical
marihuana. It is noteworthy that Mr. Kubby was investigated and charged
with marihuana related criminal offences in Canada. Those Canadian charges
were later stayed by the Crown, and his marihuana grow equipment was
returned to him by the RCMP after the charges were stayed. This suggests
the Government of Canada believes he has a medical necessity for marihuana."
Despite all of this, the ruling somehow concluded, "he has not established
there is a risk to his life or a risk of cruel and unusual treatment or
punishment" if Kubby is forced to return to the US.
Kubby vowed, "Apparently, I have to die in order to convince the Refugee
board, but instead I intend to fight."
###
Kerry: "Did I expect George Bush to f - - - it up as badly as he did?"
New York Post Online Edition: CURSING KERRY UNLEASHES
FOULMOUTHED ATTACK ON BUSH
BillofRightsDay.com
Here's a new site I put together to help folks organize their Bill of Rights Day celebration efforts:
December 07, 2003
Boots on the Ground, Hearts on Their Sleeves
Boots on the Ground, Hearts on Their Sleeves
By DAVID BROOKS
Published: December 2, 2003
Bossier School Board upholds Advil expulsion
Bossier School Board upholds Advil expulsion
Girl had over-the-counter pills in purse at school
December 06, 2003
Hess: You pays your nickel, you takes your chances
This op-ed is a pretty good dressing-down of a "big prostitution bust", by Arizona Libertarian Barry Hess.
Hip hoppers say Dennis no menace
Hip hoppers say Dennis no menace=The Hill.com=
Dennis Kucinich, that is.
Phillies' Ideas for Libertarian Presidential Candidates
I am not running for President - but I do have some ideas on what our Party needs in one
by George Phillies
In Iraq Picture, Bush Is Holding the Centerpiece
The Bird Was Perfect But Not For Dinner (washingtonpost.com)
In Iraq Picture, Bush Is Holding the Centerpiece
Lindaman: Welcome Back, Rush...Now Retire!
AmericanDaily.com - Welcome Back, Rush...Now Retire! - Thomas Lindaman
December 05, 2003
Rumsfeld's Leaked Memo about the "War on Terror"
I tried to find this memo when it was hot news, and gave up before I was able to. But I recently found cause to look again, and had better luck. I'm storing it here because it's worth archiving (Plus it's public domain, I assume, so I might as well get the traffic instead of USATODAY, where I got it from.)
October 16, 2003
TO: Gen. Dick Myers
Paul Wolfowitz
Gen. Pete Pace
Doug Feith
FROM: Donald Rumsfeld
SUBJECT: Global War on Terrorism
The questions I posed to combatant commanders this week were: Are we winning or losing the Global War on Terror? Is DoD changing fast enough to deal with the new 21st century security environment? Can a big institution change fast enough? Is the USG changing fast enough?
DoD has been organized, trained and equipped to fight big armies, navies and air forces. It is not possible to change DoD fast enough to successfully fight the global war on terror; an alternative might be to try to fashion a new institution, either within DoD or elsewhere — one that seamlessly focuses the capabilities of several departments and agencies on this key problem.
With respect to global terrorism, the record since Septermber 11th seems to be:
We are having mixed results with Al Qaida, although we have put considerable pressure on them — nonetheless, a great many remain at large.
USG has made reasonable progress in capturing or killing the top 55 Iraqis.
USG has made somewhat slower progress tracking down the Taliban — Omar, Hekmatyar, etc.
With respect to the Ansar Al-Islam, we are just getting started.
Have we fashioned the right mix of rewards, amnesty, protection and confidence in the US?
Does DoD need to think through new ways to organize, train, equip and focus to deal with the global war on terror?
Are the changes we have and are making too modest and incremental? My impression is that we have not yet made truly bold moves, although we have have made many sensible, logical moves in the right direction, but are they enough?
Today, we lack metrics to know if we are winning or losing the global war on terror. Are we capturing, killing or deterring and dissuading more terrorists every day than the madrassas and the radical clerics are recruiting, training and deploying against us?
Does the US need to fashion a broad, integrated plan to stop the next generation of terrorists? The US is putting relatively little effort into a long-range plan, but we are putting a great deal of effort into trying to stop terrorists. The cost-benefit ratio is against us! Our cost is billions against the terrorists' costs of millions.
Do we need a new organization?
How do we stop those who are financing the radical madrassa schools?
Is our current situation such that "the harder we work, the behinder we get"?
It is pretty clear that the coalition can win in Afghanistan and Iraq in one way or another, but it will be a long, hard slog.
Does CIA need a new finding?
Should we create a private foundation to entice radical madradssas to a more moderate course?
What else should we be considering?
Please be prepared to discuss this at our meeting on Saturday or Monday.
Thanks.
December 03, 2003
Taibbi: Clark's True Colors
I was not impressed by Taibbi's attitude and approach in writing this article*, but he makes some OK points.
*As Matt Stoller of the Clark Sphere put it:
Seriously, attacking Clark is fine, he's in politics. But why go after the campaign staffers who are trying to do their best? Come on. This is ridiculous. Posing as a porn director at a Meetup and then getting awkward quotes from 22 year old volunteers? Really.
by Matt Taibbi
You can see something in the eyes of most all the Democratic candidates: the pugnacity of Howard Dean, the idealism of Dennis Kucinich, even (surprisingly) the elaborate sense of humor just under the surface of Joe Lieberman.
Not Wesley Clark. His eyes are blank. Like a turtle resting on a rock in the middle of a pond, he simply seems never to move, no matter how long you stare. But then, just as you're about to pack up your picnic basket and go home, you catch him: His head pops out, and he slides off into the water...
Lydon on Emerson: A God for Bloggers
A God for Bloggers
by Christopher Lydon
Ralph Waldo Emerson on his 200th birthday this spring is "closer to us than ever," writes the great Harold Bloom. He is a man for bloggers to embrace most especially, not for Emerson's glory but for our own understanding of a transformative moment we are living through.
Poet, public intellectual, performance artist and incomparable diarist, Emerson (1803-1882) has glory enough. It's we who need his encouraging frame around bloggery--this still strange and marvellous exercise in democratic media.
...
Some Iraqis Welcome Bush, Others Wish Him in Hell
This article is archived at TruthOut. The original doesn't appear to be available at MSNBC.com anymore.
The Pentagon crosses the lexicon
The Pentagon crosses the lexicon
As the horizon in Iraq recedes, the U.S. military’s language adapts
ANALYSIS
By Michael Moran
MSNBC
The turkey has landed
The turkey has landed: how Bush cooked up a secret mission to give thanks to his troops
By Phil Reeves in Baghdad and David Usborne in New York
The Independent-UK
An Apology to Younger Americans
An Apology to Younger Americans
By Sam Smith, The Progressive Review
November 30, 2003
In observance of the approaching 66th anniversary of my arrival on this planet I would like to apologize to you on behalf of my generation. Even members of Confederacy had the grace to secede from the union; my generation has remained within like a deadly virus, subverting it, shaming it, screwing it, stealing from it, and finally strangling it. It will likely be known as the worst generation – the one that brought the First American Republic down – unmatched in the damage it has done to the Constitution, the environment, and a two century struggle to create a society democratic and decent in its politics, economics, and social concourse.
To be sure, when we were young we were, as we said then, somethin' else. We launched the civil rights, women's, gay, and environmental movements, not to mention creating some memorable music before descending into disco. Soon other things started to go downhill rapidly. We became not only the generation that invented the phrase, 'never trust anyone over thirty,' we proved it.
...
December 01, 2003
The Bush Betrayal
I'm posting the full text of this excellent opinion piece, because I'd like to have it archived here. It was originally published in the Washington Post.
By David Boaz
Sunday, November 30, 2003
In 2000 George W. Bush campaigned across the country telling voters: "My opponent trusts government. I trust you."
Little wonder that some of his supporters are now wondering which candidate won that election.
Federal spending has increased by 23.7 percent since Bush took office. Education has been further federalized in the No Child Left Behind Act. Bush pulled out all the stops to get Republicans in Congress to create the biggest new entitlement program -- prescription drug coverage under Medicare -- in 40 years.
He pushed an energy bill that my colleague Jerry Taylor described as "three parts corporate welfare and one part cynical politics . . . a smorgasbord of handouts and subsidies for virtually every energy lobby in Washington."
It's a far cry from the less-government, "leave us alone" conservatism of Ronald Reagan.
Conservatives used to believe that the U.S. Constitution set up a government of strictly limited powers.
It was supposed to protect us from foreign threats and deliver the mail, leaving other matters to the states or to the private sector -- individuals, families, churches, charities and businesses.
That's what lots of voters assumed they would get with Bush. In his first presidential debate with Al Gore, Bush contrasted his own vision of tax reduction with that of his opponent, who would "increase the size of government dramatically." Gore, Bush declared, would "empower Washington," but "my passion and my vision is to empower Americans to be able to make decisions for themselves in their own lives."
Bush was tapping into popular sentiment.
In fact, you could say that what most voters wanted in 2000 was neither Bush nor Gore but smaller government. A Los Angeles Times poll in September 2000 found that Americans preferred "smaller government with fewer services" to "larger government with many services" by 59 to 26 percent.
But that's not what voters got. Leave aside defense spending and even entitlements spending: In Bush's first three years, nondefense discretionary spending -- which fell by 13.5 percent under Ronald Reagan -- has soared by 20.8 percent. His more libertarian-minded voters are taken aback to discover that "compassionate conservatism" turned out to mean social conservatism -- a stepped-up drug war, restrictions on medical research, antigay policies, federal subsidies for marriage and religion -- and big-spending liberalism justified as "compassion."
When they're given a chance to vote, Americans don't like big government.
Last November 45 percent of the voters in the most liberal state in the Union, Ted Kennedy's Massachusetts, voted to abolish the state income tax.
In January, Oregon's liberal electorate rejected a proposed tax increase, 55 percent to 45 percent.
In September Alabama voters rejected Gov. Bob Riley's $1.2 billion tax hike by 2 to 1.
California voters tossed out big-spending Gov. Gray Davis, and 62 percent of them voted for candidates who promised not to raise taxes to close the state's deficit.
Bush and his aides should be worrying about the possibility that libertarians, economic conservatives and fed-up taxpayers won't be in his corner in 2004 in the same numbers as 2000.
Republican strategists are likely to say that libertarians and economic conservatives have nowhere else to go. Many of the disappointed will indeed sigh a deep sigh and vote for Bush as a lesser evil.
But Karl Rove, who is fascinated by the role Mark Hanna played in building the post-1896 Republican majority, should remember one aspect of that era: In the late 19th century, the Democratic Party of Jefferson, Jackson and Cleveland was known as "the party of personal liberty." More so than the Republicans, it was committed to economic and cultural laissez-faire and opposed to Prohibition, protectionism and inflation.
When the big-government populist William Jennings Bryan claimed the Democratic nomination in 1896, many assumed he would draw industrial workers from the Republicans and bring new voters to the polls. Instead, Bryan lost in a landslide, and turnout declined for the next few elections. As the more libertarian Democrats found less reason to go to the polls, the Republicans dominated national politics for the next 36 years.
It could happen that limited-government voters decide to stay home, or vote for an independent candidate in the mold of Ross Perot or Jesse Ventura or vote Libertarian.
They could even vote for an antiwar, anti-Patriot Act, socially tolerant Democrat.
Given a choice between big-government liberalism and big-government conservatism, the leave-us-alone voters might decide that voting isn't worth the trouble.
The writer is executive vice president of the Cato Institute and author of "Libertarianism: A Primer."
Geoff Metcalf: Under the Color of Authority
IRS: Abuse of Power
Under the Color of Authority
Geoff Metcalf
Monday, Nov. 24, 2003
Find out just what people will submit to, and you have found out the exact amount of injustice and wrong which will be imposed upon them; and these will continue until they are resisted with either words or blows, or both. The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they oppress. – Frederick Douglass
For over a decade I have been interviewing and reporting on what has been called The "Tax Honesty Movement." Some people call these folks “tax protesters," others call them wackos. To a growing many, they are patriots committed to redressing what they perceive as a grievous wrong.
In the wake of years of study, interviews and analysis I have come to my own personal conclusions:
-As an academic exercise, and objective evaluation of the facts in evidence, the Tax Freedom crowd is mostly right.
-However, as a practical reality check, and ‘The Golden Rule’ (those with the gold make the rules), when contemporary ‘Davids’ square off with the federal government’s ‘Goliath,’ right is NOT might.
-Those who take on “The G” can and will be eviscerated by bureaucratic ‘shock and awe’ that has and will ruin lives.
...
One of the most heroic crusaders cast in the role of ‘David’ is Joseph R. (Joe) Banister. Joe is a CPA and former IRS Criminal Investigation Division special agent [www.freedomabovefortune.com]. He is a good guy with a fascinating story and about to become another victim of abuse of power under the color of authority.
...
Big Crowd at Military School Protest Gets Earful of Patriotic Music From Army
Big Crowd at Military School Protest Gets Earful of Patriotic Music From Army
COLUMBUS, Ga. (AP) - Demonstrators gathered outside Fort Benning to protest a military school were hit with a sonic barrage Saturday: patriotic music Army officials had blaring from the main gate.
A crowd estimated by Columbus police at 8,000 gathered to protest the school once known as the School of the Americas, which they blame for Latin American human rights abuses. It appeared to be the largest first-day gathering in the 14-year history of the protest.
The Army's loudspeakers, playing "The Army Song" and "God Bless the U.S.A.," were 50 yards away from where protesters were speaking to the crowd.
...
Raimondo: Boot Boortz!
Neal Boortz is a statist, not a libertarian.
So why is he speaking at the Libertarian Party’s national convention?
by Justin Raimondo
November 26, 2003
One thing one has to say about most of the "liberventionists" – the tiny but vocal clot of pro-war, pro-Bush "libertarians" – and that is they oppose this administration’s attacks on our civil liberties here at home. But what are we to make of alleged libertarians, such as Neal Boortz, who wants to know why the FBI shouldn’t be allowed to spy on the antiwar movement:
"The FBI is investigating the backgrounds and organizational methods of antiwar demonstrators in the US. Hopefully that doesn't come as a surprise to you. It is safe to assume that a large number of these demonstrators are out there in the streets because they want America to fail in its efforts to fight terrorism and its efforts to bring secular representative governments to Iraq and Afghanistan. Translated: Many of these demonstrators are pro-Saddam and anti-US. So, who wouldn't want them investigated by the FBI?"
Oh, gee, I don’t know: maybe a self-described "libertarian" who advocates strictly limited government and regards such surveillance as impermissible, in principle. Perhaps someone who takes the Bill of Rights seriously. In short, someone who believes in upholding the primacy of individual liberty – even in the face of an unprecedented assault by a cabal of war-crazed power-hungry ideologues.
...
Lessig: The New Road to the White House
The New Road to the White House
How grassroots blogs are transforming presidential politics.
When they write the account of the 2004 campaign, it will include at least one word that has never appeared in any presidential history: blog. Whether or not it elects the next president, the blog may be the first innovation from the Internet to make a real difference in election politics. But to see just why requires a bit of careful attention.
...
AlterNet: Neocons Leak Bad Intelligence
AlterNet: Neocons Leak Bad Intelligence
By Jim Lobe, AlterNet
November 20, 2003
The leak of a secret memorandum written by a senior Pentagon official reveals less about the connection between Saddam and al Qaeda than the growing desperation of neo-conservative hawks in the Bush administration.
US starts to lift the veil on Camp X-Ray trials
US starts to lift the veil on Camp X-Ray trials
(TruthOut permacopy)
Patriot Act Expansion Moves Through Congress
Patriot Act Expansion Moves Through Congress
by Jim Lobe
(TruthOut permacopy)
George Orwell: Why I Write
This was really interesting for me. Thanks to Tim at Libertarian Rant for pointing it out.
SITE NOTE: Scaling back for now
I need to conserve time for a while, so entries here are going to be less robust than usual. In most cases I might just end up posting links to what I've read, more as a way of keeping track than anything else. I'm sorry if anyone has grown dependent on the excerpts and ratings. ;-\
I don't know if this has long-term implications for the Little Brown Reader. For the time being, I consider it to be a temporary shift in my approach. I'll be sure to let you know if that changes.
Patriot Act Author Has Concerns
Patriot Act Author Has Concerns
By Richard B. Schmitt, Times Staff Writer
Detaining citizens as 'enemy combatants' -- a policy not spelled out in the act -- is flawed, the legal scholar says.
WASHINGTON — The Justice Department's war on terrorism has drawn intense scrutiny from the left and the right. Now, a chief architect of the USA Patriot Act and a former top assistant to Atty. Gen. John Ashcroft are joining the fray, voicing concern about aspects of the administration's anti-terrorism policy.
At issue is the government's power to designate and detain "enemy combatants," in particular in the case of "dirty bomb" plot suspect Jose Padilla, the Brooklyn-born former gang member who was picked up at a Chicago airport 18 months ago by the FBI and locked in a military brig without access to a lawyer.
...
Group to honor Bill of Rights Day with March and Memorial on Monday
This is an advance story (which is essentially just my press release, cleaned up a little) about the Bill of Rights Day activity that I'm organizing. I'm saving the text of it here as it was published at Yubanet.
(This will eventually be posted at my main blog, but it's not functioning properly, so I'm using this blog as a backup place to put these entries.)
Group to honor Bill of Rights Day with March and Memorial on Monday
By Lance Brown, Nevada County Bill of Rights Defense Committee
Dec 13, 2003, 08:43
Local civil liberties activists will be holding a memorial service and march for the Bill of Rights in Nevada City this Monday-- Bill of Rights Day. The group will gather outside the Rood County Government Center at Noon, and march to Calanan Park in downtown Nevada City.
All interested parties are invited to attend.
This marks the third consecutive year that local activists have held a public commemoration of Bill of Rights Day -- the anniversary of the ratification of the first 10 amendments to the U.S. Constitution. A "funeral" last year preceded this year's memorial, and in 2001 the day was marked with a rally.
The event is part of an ongoing local campaign to raise awareness about what the group sees as grave dangers to our civil liberties that have come in the wake of the “war on terror”. The Nevada County Bill of Rights Defense Committee is launching a drive to pass local resolutions making Nevada County a "civil liberties safe zone", as part of a national movement where over 200 communities (and three states) have passed similar resolutions.
For more local information, call 274-2474 or visit ncrights.org.
Bill of Rights Day LTE in the SacBee
This is a letter of mine that was just published in the Sacramento Bee.
sacbee.com -- Letters to the editor
Bill of Rights Day
Dec. 15 is Bill of Rights Day, the anniversary of the ratification of the Bill of Rights.
I only became aware that it was a holiday in recent years, and the first time I celebrated Bill of Rights Day was in 2001. As a Libertarian, living through a wholesale expansion of federal law enforcement tactics in the name of the "war on terror," honoring the birthday of the Bill of Rights with a rally seemed like a smart idea.
By December 2002, the threats to civil liberties had risen to a level where we thought it made more sense to have a "funeral" to mark the day. So we did. And this Monday we'll have a memorial ceremony, as a sequel.
This year, I've come to accept that this is a holiday that's becoming genuinely important to me. I've compiled nearly 20 ways people can celebrate and honor Bill of Rights Day, and put them into a free website at BillofRightsDay.com.
Come on everyone -- give it a try: "Happy Bill of Rights Day!"
- Lance Brown, Nevada City
CANADA DENIES REFUGEE STATUS TO US MEDICAL MARIJUANA EXILE
Drug War Chronicle
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/315/stevekubby.shtml
CANADA DENIES REFUGEE STATUS TO US MEDICAL MARIJUANA EXILE
Prominent American medical marijuana activist Steve Kubby
(http://www.kubby.com), who fled the US saying an impending jail sentence
would cause his death, has been denied refugee status by the Canadian
Immigration and Refugee Board. An adrenal cancer patient, Kubby has smoked a
dozen joints a day for year, which he says keeps him alive, and would have
been denied that medication while serving a misdemeanor sentence in
California. But Kubby did not have a well-founded fear of being persecuted
or tortured, nor was there any risk to his life if he returned to his home
state of California, the board ruled Monday.
He has said he will appeal, but the clock is ticking for Kubby and his
family, whose requests for refugee status were also denied. Under Canadian
law, he has 15 days to apply to the Supreme Court for a review of the
decision, and if the court chooses not to review his case, he and his family
would have to leave the country within 30 days. One option would be to apply
for a "pre-removal risk assessment," which would force immigration officials
to once again investigate whether he would face "cruel or unusual punishment
or risk to life" if returned to the US.
Steve Kubby Kubby, the 1998 Libertarian Party nominee for governor of
California, fled to Canada with his family in 2001 after being found guilty
of possession of a small amount of psychedelic mushrooms and peyote in his
home state. That conviction arose from a medical marijuana raid on Kubby's
home. The state could not convict on the marijuana charges -- California law
allows for its medical use -- but did manage to nail Kubby for the 'shrooms.
He was prepared to serve a 120-day sentence provided he could have access to
medical marijuana. But local authorities in California refused to allow him
to have his medicine in jail, so Kubby ran for his life to what he hoped
would be a friendlier clime.
He and his family entered Canada on tourist visas, but were detained by
Canadian immigration authorities after newspaper stories featured their
cause and described them cultivating a medical marijuana garden at their
home in Sechelt, British Columbia, a short ferry ride up BC's Sunshine Coast
from Vancouver. At that point, Kubby, his wife Michelle, and their two
daughters applied for asylum as refugees fleeing persecution by American
drug warriors. Since then, they have remained in Canada, where they produce
a program on Pot-TV (http://www.pot-tv.net), a web-based marijuana reform
broadcaster funded by marijuana seed magnate Marc Emery. They also received
a permit from Health Canada to cultivate marijuana for Kubby's medicinal use
are currently growing 117 plants, Kubby told the Toronto Globe & Mail.
In addition to the fear of persecution because of his well-known advocacy of
medical marijuana, Kubby argued that medical marijuana users were not
protected in California, and that he would die if deprived of his medicine.
The Immigration and Refugee Board, however, ruled that Kubby was not and
would not be persecuted, that California law in fact protects medical
marijuana users, and that he would not suffer serious health effects if
incarcerated without access to medical marijuana.
In an opinion written by board member Paulah Dauns, the board noted that
Kubby had not been convicted on medical marijuana charges, but on other drug
charges, and that California law protected him. "In effect, the process
worked, as it was designed to," she wrote. "He argues that a medical
marijuana patient should be protected from persecution. What he has
demonstrated is that in fact, they are." Dauns also wrote that while there
was little doubt marijuana relieved Kubby's cancer symptoms, there was no
evidence that depriving him of cannabis while incarcerated on the California
'shroom charge would kill him, despite testimony from Dr. Joseph Connors of
the British Columbia Cancer Agency, who told the court during an April
hearing that Kubby would die within four days if denied access to marijuana
for his condition. Kubby was not a refugee, wrote Dauns, but a "fugitive
from justice."
And while Kubby argued that his use of marijuana was akin to a diabetic's
use of insulin, Dauns was having none of that, either. "Insulin has been
approved by the medical community as a treatment, whereas marijuana has
not," she said. "The research on the benefits of marijuana is woefully
inadequate and inconclusive, making a comparison of these two treatments
illogical," she wrote.
The Kubby case is the first of a handful of similar "reefer refugee" cases
to be decided in Canada. Two Northern California men, Kenneth Hayes and
Steve Tuck, who fled federal marijuana charges related to California medical
marijuana grows, have cases pending before the author of Monday's decision,
board member Dauns. Some advocates had hoped Kubby, with his strong health
argument, had the strongest of any of the pending cases.
Canadian Kubby supporters denounced the decision. "This is yet another
example of the harms of cannabis prohibition," said Philippe Lucas, director
of Canadians for Safe Access (http://www.safeaccess.ca), a medical marijuana
defense organization based on its southern sister, Americans for Safe Access
(http://www.safeaccessnow.org). "The Kubbys are kind contributors to the
social well-being of Canadians -- under any other circumstances, Canada
would welcome this reverse brain-drain. It is only through the perversion of
justice caused by prohibition that a loving family like the Kubbys could be
condemned to an uncertain future at the hands of American prosecutors."
But it wasn't only abstract prohibition that had Lucas and other Canadian
activists irked, it was the harsh slap in the face from a traditionally
refugee-friendly country. "Are we as a nation really so quick to take a
chance on Steve Kubby's health?" asked Lucas. "Shouldn't a modern liberal
democracy like Canada err on the side of social justice when a man's life is
on the line? If Steve Kubby should suffer the same fate as Peter McWilliams
-- who died choking on his own vomit while being denied his medicinal
cannabis after his arrest -- the hands of those who denied his refugee claim
will be forever stained in his blood."
"Today, I'm ashamed of being a Canadian," concurred Tim Meehan, national
director of the anti-prohibition wing of the New Democratic Party
(http://www.ndpot.ca). "Here at home, our government constantly reminds us
of how important the refugee protection system is. Canada's reputation is
built on it. However, when they subject people like Steve Kubby and his
family to institutional prejudice because of their choice of medical
treatment, and are more concerned about angering a trading partner than
saving a human life, that demonstrates our government's priorities are very
seriously out of alignment. I hope Canadians remember that in the upcoming
federal election," Meehan added.
Visit http://www.mapinc.org/alert/0282.html for a letter-writing alert to
help Steve Kubby.
Read a summary of the decision at:
http://www.irb.gc.ca/en/decisions/kubby/va2_01374_e.htm#summary
Read the decision in full at:
http://www.irb.gc.ca/en/decisions/kubby/va2_01374_e.htm
Or to get right to the paragraphs where Dauns lays out her reasoning, go to:
http://www.irb.gc.ca/en/decisions/kubby/va2_01374_e.htm#determination
American Medical Marijuana Refugee Ordered To Return To United States
NORML's Weekly News Bulletin -- December 11, 2003
http://norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=5856
American Medical Marijuana Refugee Ordered To Return To United States
Immigration Board Recognizes Pot To Be "Best Treatment Available," But
Rejects Patient's Asylum Request
December 11, 2003 - Vancouver, BC, Canada
Vancouver, British Columbia: The Canadian Immigration and Refugee Board this
week denied refugee status to American Steve Kubby and his family, and
ordered their return to California where Kubby is expected to be sentenced
to four months in jail for drug-related charges. Kubby has said he will
appeal the ruling.
He and his wife Michelle and two children will be allowed to remain in the
country while awaiting their appeal.
Kubby fled to Canada in 2001 rather than serve time in jail, where he would
be denied access to medicinal marijuana, which he requires to treat symptoms
of a rare, life-threatening form of adrenal cancer known as
pheochromocytoma. Kubby was diagnosed in 1968 with the disease - which he's
managed since the early 1980s exclusively by smoking cannabis - and given
six months to live. (Life expectancy of a person with pheochromocytoma is
typically three to five years.) Today Kubby is recognized as one of the
longest living survivors of the disease.
Though the Board recognized that "marijuana continues to be the best
treatment available to Mr. Kubby," and that he could potentially suffer a
heart attack or stroke without cannabis, it nevertheless ruled, "The
claimant is not a person in need of protection in that his removal to the
United States would not subject him personally to a risk to his life."
The Board based this decision, in part, on the premise that Kubby would
likely have access to medicinal marijuana while in jail. However, California
law does not compel the state to allow inmates access to medical cannabis,
stating: "Nothing in this article shall require any accommodation of any
medical use of marijuana ... on the property or premises of any jail,
correctional facility, or other type of penal institution in which prisoners
reside or persons under arrest are detained."
While living in Canada, Kubby had been one of fewer than 600 individuals to
receive a federal exemption from Health Canada to legally cultivate and use
pot for medical purposes.
NORML Foundation Executive Director Allen St. Pierre called the Refugee
Board's decision unfortunate and puzzling considering the government's prior
acknowledgement of Kubby's medical need to use cannabis. "This decision
makes little sense in light of the fact that the Canadian government has
already approved Steve Kubby's medical use of marijuana by granting him a
special exemption from prosecution," he said.
"Why they couldn't extend that same thinking to his asylum request seeking
protection for his health from America's policy of strict marijuana law
enforcement is puzzling. This decision does not bode well for the other
Americans who have sought refuge status in Canada for their
physician-sanctioned use of medical marijuana."
Since 1989, the Immigration and Refugee Board has heard nearly 1,000 refugee
cases from the United States, including 268 pending cases. So far, none of
those individuals have been granted asylum.
For more information, please contact Allen St. Pierre of The NORML
Foundation at (202) 483-8751. Full text of the Immigration and Refugee
Board's ruling is available online at:
http://www.irb.gc.ca/en/decisions/kubby/va2_01374_e.htm
(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.)
Woman Uses Greeting Card to Smuggle Meth
FOXNews.com - Top Stories - Woman Uses Greeting Card to Smuggle Meth
The court case that could reshape US democracy
The court case that could reshape US democracy
(TruthOut permacopy)
By Rupert Cornwell in Washington
11 December 2003
It bears the utterly uninformative title of Veith et al vs Jubelirer (docket number 02-1580). But the case, which the US Supreme Court heard yesterday, deals with the explosive political issue of gerrymandering - and its ruling next year could literally reshape America's democracy.
Veith et al vs Jubelirer involves only Pennsylvania. The state's Democrats have challenged what they say is a rigged and unfair plan to redraw congressional districts, a move approved by Pennsylvania's Republican-controlled legislature after the 2000 census.
Big Money's Spigot Will Stay Open
Big Money's Spigot Will Stay Open
t r u t h o u t permacopy
By Nick Anderson and Janet Hook
Los Angeles Times
Thursday 11 December 2003
Even though it erected formidable new barriers between politicians and deep-pocketed donors, the election law upheld Wednesday by the Supreme Court has not shut down big money in politics.
Instead, creative operatives allied with both parties are constructing new groups to raise and spend political money to get around the law.
...
Unwanted dog cheats death four times
Executing your dog because you don't want it or can't handle it any more is sick and pathetic. It's great that the dog lived, but that woman who dumped it on animal control should be ashamed of herself for putting that dog through that experience.
Unwanted dog cheats death four times
An unwanted dog which was put down with drugs, put in a plastic bag and then through a rubbish compressor has been found alive moments before being buried in a landfill site.
The five-year-old shepherd-Labrador cross was found clawing through the plastic bag on the back of a rubbish truck at the Edgeboro Landfill in East Brunswick, New Jersey.
December 12, 2003
Diebold email: "Make vote printouts too costly for MD"
NOTE: I have not read this whole thing, but it appears to have quite a bit of interesting info. the author of it wants it spread around, so I'm posting it here (just as I received it) in hopes of doing that.
-----------------------------------------------------
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Eric A. Smith
Hot Damn! Design
81-03-3959-5371
snowdog@juno.ocn.ne.jp
Diebold email: "Make vote printouts too costly for MD"
-- Scandals deepen for e-vote manufacturer
ANNAPOLIS, Maryland, December 12th — An internal memo has just surfaced suggesting e-vote manufacturer Diebold planned to overcharge the state of Maryland and make voter printouts "prohibitively expensive".
An employee named "Ken" wrote the Jan. 3 letter suggesting the company charge Maryland "out the yin" if legislators insisted on printouts.
Referring to a University of Maryland study critical of the company's machines, he added: "[The State of Maryland] already bought the system. At this point they are just closing the barn door. Let's just hope that as a company we are smart enough to charge out the yin if they try to change the rules now and legislate voter receipts."
He goes on to say "...any after-sale changes should be prohibitively expensive."
Delegate Karen S. Montgomery dropped the bombshell on Thursday amid negotiations with Diebold over its touchscreen voting machines.
Montgomery, who has written a bill mandating voter-verifiable ballots, described pressure to drop the issue, saying "scurrilous remarks" were being levelled against proponents of the measure. She said she believes the cost is being driven up to prevent anyone from insisting on verifiable printouts.
Steven T. Dennis of Gazette.net broke the story yesterday; he said spokesman David Bear deflected criticism by claiming the comments were "the internal discussion of one individual and [do] not reflect the sentiments or the position of the company."
Diebold, whose primary business has until recently been ATMs and ticket-vending machines (all of which produce paper printouts), made headlines last week when it dropped copyright-infringement suits against Swarthmore students who had published thousands of its internal memos on the Internet.
Prominent among the leaked memos is a missive to Global Election Systems (now Diebold) -- baldly stating that 16 thousand Gore votes were "disappeared" during the 2000 election. Author Lana Hires frantically asks how she should explain the problem to an auditor:
Additional memos are equally candid and suggestive:
-more-
Initially brought to light by activist Bev Harris, these and other alarming disclosures have added weight to the arguments of computer security experts and legislators nationwide, who say that Diebold's machines (as well as those of rivals ES&S and Sequoia) pose a grave risk to America's elections.
Harris received over 7,000 of the Diebold memos from an undisclosed source in early September. For the past three years, she has been arguing for greater security and accountability in electronic voting, last year weathering a similar unsuccesful gag lawsuit from e-vote firm ES&S.
A month after Harris recieved the memos she went public with them; Diebold immediately launched a gag lawsuit, and Harris's ISP shut down her activist site. A group of Swarthmore students and other activists responded by spreading the memos across the Internet.
When Diebold threatened to sue under the auspices of the DMCA, litigators from the Electronic Frontier Foundation and the ACLU stepped in to defend activists. Presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich added significant support by hosting the memos on his own website. Last week, Diebold withdrew its lawsuits.
With a new ISP, Harris has resumed her activism, and her book "Black Box Voting: Ballot Tampering in the 21st Century," can currently be downloaded for free from the site blackboxvoting.org.
Meanwhile, on Capital Hill, Congressman Rush Holt has also raised the issue of security, sponsoring the "Voter Confidence and Increased Accountability Act of 2003" (H.R. 2239), which calls for paper ballots, surprise recounts and auditable software in voting machines.
But while Holt's bill adds a significant level of transparency to the process, Harris says it doesn't go far enough. In a recent Buzzflash interview, she said:
"The problem area, and it is a whopper, is that this bill doesn't attack the crux of the issue, which is proper auditing -- and that is something that is needed for any computerized system, including optical scan machines.
The very first thing we need to do is get solid input from auditors who are experienced in fraud detection.
While we are designing amendments to the bill, we also must get some people with a solid grasp of history, because we need a voting system that is in keeping with the vision of our founding fathers -- and this is a public policy issue, not a computer issue. The most important thing that we keep forgetting is that the founders, especially Thomas Jefferson, felt that it was critical -- not "important," but CRITICAL to democracy, to keep the vote directly in the hands of the people themselves. Any solution which requires us to trust a handful of experts will, sooner or later, result in the demise of our democracy.
-more-
That means we need to retain (and enforce) policies to tally the votes at the polls, in front of observers. In some countries, they let as many regular citizens as can fit in the room in to watch the physical counting. It is this neighborhood tallying, and the open and public nature of it, that is the embodiment of democracy."
In July, Harris demonstrated just how insecure a Diebold machine could be, showing in a step-by-step expose how to reverse a federal election. New Zealand's Scoop Media posted the illustrated account online.
Author Faun Otter and others have also raised the issue of impartiality on the part of Diebold's board, which has contributed hundreds of thousands of dollars to Republican campaigns. National headlines were made when CEO Michael O'Dell, who recently hosted a $600,000 fundraiser for Vice President Dick Cheney, announced in a Republican fundraising letter that he was "committed to delivering Ohio's votes to the President".
But controversy doesn't end with Diebold alone. Rival voting machine company ES&S also came under scrutiny when it surfaced that it was run by Chuck Hagel until two weeks before his own election. Senator Hagel won by the biggest landslide in Nebraskan history; a victory the press characterized as a "stunning upset". His company, ES&S, counted 83% of the votes.
Hagel left out details of his ES&S involvement in his SEC filings, and, when the discrepancy surfaced, two days after a closed-door meeting with Hagel SEC legal counsel Victor Baird resigned and the matter was dropped.
And Hagel, who prior to his stewardship of ES&S was head of the Private Sector Council for George H.W. Bush, has bigger plans: Harris says the domain name "Bush-Hagel2004.com" was purchased last year but subsequently released and the Senator has already bought the rights to "hagel2008.com" and "ChuckHagel2008.com".
Meanwhile Hagel campaign manager Michael McCarthy owns over 30% of ES&S's parent company, and even the Senator hasn't fully divested himself of ownership -- he still has a $5 million stake in ES&S parent company the McCarthy Group.
Harris says there are firms offering comparatively secure systems -- competitors Avante, Accupol and Vogue, for example -- but some activists say any machine offers an opportunity for vote tampering. They're calling for a return to simple ballots, though such a solution is unlikely -- Bush's Help America Vote Act mandates a nationwide migration to electronic voting by 2006.
Secretary of state Kevin Shelley's recent declaration that all California voting machines must provide printouts may prompt the rest of the country to follow the west’s lead. But it may end up being a matter of too little, too late, as Diebold, ES&S and Sequioa systems are already in place in 37 states.
Harris, for one, is calling for a legal injunction to halt the use of any insecure systems prior to the 2004 primaries. If her instincts are right, a fierce battle may loom on the horizon -- a battle for the very heart and soul of America's democracy.
Officials to phone, fax and email about secure voting:
Congress
http://www.visi.com/juan/congress/
State elections boards:
http://www.blackboxvoting.org/htdocs/dcforum/DCForumID29/47.html
State Attorneys General (party affiliations listed):
http://www.naag.org/ag/full_ag_table.php
-more-
State Election Officials
http://www.nased.org/
Members, Natl. Assoc. of County Recorders, Election Officials and Clerks:
http://www.nacrc.org/leadership/st_coord.htm
Penelope Bonsall, national director of the Office of Election Administration
Office of Election Administration
Federal Election Commission
999 E Street, NW
Washington, DC 20463
vss@fec.gov
(202) 694-1095 (phone)
(202) 219-8500 (fax)
Online e-petitions EFF and VerifiedVoting.org:
http://action.eff.org/action/index.asp?step=2&item=2821
http://www.verifiedvoting.org
Media Contacts:
http://dmoz.org/Arts/Television/News/
http://newslink.org
http://www.cantufind.com/american_newspapers.htm
http://dmoz.org/Arts/Radio/Formats/Talk_Radio/Networks/
http://dmoz.org/Arts/Radio/Formats/Talk_Radio/Stations/
http://dmoz.org/Arts/Television/Networks/Cable/
http://dmoz.org/Arts/Television/Networks/
http://dmoz.org/Computers/Internet/Broadcasting/Information/
Contact: Eric A. Smith, Hot Damn! Design, Tokyo, Japan ● 81-03-3959-5371
# # #
Borowitz: SUPREME COURT OVERTURNS GORE’S ENDORSEMENT OF DEAN
SUPREME COURT OVERTURNS GORE’S ENDORSEMENT OF DEAN
Transfers Nod to Bush in 5-4 Decision
December 11, 2003
LP RELEASE: Campaign finance ruling
====================================
NEWS FROM THE LIBERTARIAN PARTY
2600 Virginia Avenue, NW, Suite 100
Washington DC 20037
World Wide Web: http://www.LP.org
====================================
For release: December 11, 2003
====================================
For additional information:
George Getz, Communications Director
Phone: (202) 333-0008
====================================
High court's ruling is all-out assault
on right to engage in politics, Libertarians say
WASHINGTON, DC -- The Libertarian Party, which is one of the plaintiffs
that challenged the campaign finance law upheld on Tuesday by the
Supreme Court, has denounced the ruling as an "all-out assault on the
right of every American to engage in the political process."
"Why not just outlaw elections and get it over with?" said Geoffrey
Neale, the Libertarian Party's national chair. "The Supreme Court has
just given incumbent politicians the power to financially cripple their
competitors and, in the process, award themselves lifetime jobs."
In a 5-4 ruling that shocked advocacy groups across the political
spectrum, the Supreme Court endorsed key provisions of the McCain-
Feingold campaign finance law. Specifically, the court upheld a ban on
"soft money" contributions from wealthy individuals, corporations and
labor unions, as well the law's prohibition on running certain
political advertisements within close proximity to an election.
But Libertarians point out that McCain-Feingold was nothing more than
an incumbent protection act in the first place -- and that the court's
ruling was tantamount to outlawing political competition.
"Running for office and communicating a message aren't free," Neale
said. "So making it illegal to raise money to buy political ads, and
banning the ads during the period when they're most effective, is
tantamount to outlawing the message itself. That's a crime against the
First Amendment as well as an affront to the democratic process."
Incumbent politicians already enjoy powerful advantages, Neale pointed
out, such as name recognition and the ability to attract news media,
taxpayer-financed staffs and office space, and the franking privilege.
The so-called campaign finance reform act was merely an attempt to
eliminate the only weapon that many challengers have: contributions
freely given by individuals or groups that share their views, he noted.
Acknowledging that the stated goal of the legislation was to clean up
politics, Neale said: "Justice Sandra Day O'Connor pointed out that
'corruption, and in particular the appearance of corruption,' is
rampant in Washington -- and of course, she's right.
"But a free-flowing, robust political debate isn't the problem; it's
the solution. The only way to dislodge an entrenched, corrupt
politician is to allow competing candidates, and anyone else who so
chooses, to publicly criticize them and offer voters a better
alternative.
"By upholding McCain-Feingold, the Supreme Court has merely guaranteed
that corrupt politicians will stay in office for a longer period of
time."
In March 1992, the Libertarian Party signed on as a co-plaintiff in
McConnell v FEC, the lawsuit spearheaded by Kentucky Senator Mitch
McConnell that sought to overturn the campaign finance reform law.
The party argued that the law would have a devastating impact on its
activities by eliminating certain sources of revenue and imposing
significant regulatory and administrative burdens.
For example, the law prohibits the organization from accepting
donations of more than $25,000 from any individual; prevents it from
taking money from organizations that are not "recognized political
committees," so it cannot sell ads in its party newspaper to nonprofit
corporations or incorporated businesses; and cannot accept funds for
memberships or literature from its own state affiliates, unless they
also comply with the law's onerous regulations.
However, the party was vindicated by one aspect of Tuesday's ruling,
Neale added, when the court struck down the provision of the law
banning minors from making contributions to political parties.
# # #
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
The Libertarian Party http://www.lp.org/
2600 Virginia Ave. NW, Suite 100 voice: 202-333-0008
Washington DC 20037 fax: 202-333-0072
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
For subscription changes, please use the WWW form at:
http://www.lp.org/action/email.html
Pot doc's license revocation upheld
Dec. 10, 2003 -- Pot doc's license revocation upheld
By HANK LAWSON Staff writer
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed Monday the federal government's revocation of Dr. Marion "Molly" Fry's license to prescribe medication including marijuana.
Who died and made non-aggression fundamental?
This memoir of sorts is rambling, but it has a quality to it which makes it interesting, and a little insightful.
Who died and made non-aggression fundamental?
by Student of Life
December 10, 2003
Campaign finance supporters praise Supreme Court ruling
This statement from the president of Common Cause is one of the most delusional claims I've heard from a public figure in a while.
"The toxic link between donors who write six-figure checks and people in power at the highest levels of government has been severed for good," said Chellie Pingree, the group's president, in a statement.
It's almost as funny as "The era of big government is over" was. Oh, yeah, folks....this time they've got it all worked out. Sure.
CNN.com - Campaign finance supporters praise Supreme Court ruling - Dec. 10, 2003
Supreme Court upholds 'soft money' ban
CNN.com - Supreme Court upholds 'soft money' ban - Dec. 10, 2003
December 09, 2003
December 08, 2003
KUBBY VOWS APPEAL OF RULING DENYING REFUGEE STATUS IN CANADA
For Immediate Release
December 8, 2003
Press Conference:
Tuesday, Dec. 9th, noon, BC Marijuana Party Headquarters, 307 West Hastings,
Vancouver
Decision Online:
http://www.irb.gc.ca/en/decisions/kubby/va2_01374_e.htm
KUBBY VOWS APPEAL OF RULING DENYING REFUGEE STATUS IN CANADA
VANCOUVER -- Steve Kubby, medical marijuana patient and former Libertarian
Party candidate for governor of California, vowed to appeal a ruling by the
Refugee Protection Division today that denied him refugee status in Canada
based on his need for medical marijuana.
Kubby complained, "I cannot understand how the Refugee panel could conclude
that my life would not be at risk if I were forced to return to the US,
after the leading cancer specialist in British Columbia testified that I
would die without it."
British Columbia cancer specialist Dr. Joseph Michael Connors, an expert in
the area of adrenal cancers, called by the Immigration Ministry, examined
Kubby and testified at the hearing about his medical condition.
The ruling recognizes that, according to Dr. Connors, "Mr. Kubby's tumour
releases, in excess quantities, hormones normally found in the adrenal
gland. Excessive levels of these hormones in Mr. Kubby's blood cause a
range of separate symptomatic problems including paroxysmal headaches,
palpitations (rapid and irregular beating of the heart), hypertension
(sudden dangerous rise in blood pressure), sudden abdominal cramps and
diarrhea, chest pain, shortness of breath, nausea, sudden severe weakness
and anorexia (loss of appetite). If not controlled, Mr. Kubby's symptoms
could evolve further to the point where a myocardial infarction (heart
attack) or cerebral vascular accident (stroke) could occur."
The ruling also acknowledged that "there is evidence before the Board, that
marihuana controls the symptoms of Mr. Kubby's cancer, including
hypertension. In Dr. Connors' opinion, marihuana continues to be the best
treatment available to Mr. Kubby."
However, the ruling went on to say that "it cannot therefore be stated with
any degree of certainty, that marihuana is the reason for Mr. Kubby's
survival even though it remains the best treatment option at this time."
Health Canada has even given Mr. Kubby permission to grow one hundred and
seventeen marijuana plants, based on "medical necessity."
The ruling further acknowledged, Kubby "has received a Health Canada
exemption, which suggests he is a bona fide ill person in need of medical
marihuana. It is noteworthy that Mr. Kubby was investigated and charged
with marihuana related criminal offences in Canada. Those Canadian charges
were later stayed by the Crown, and his marihuana grow equipment was
returned to him by the RCMP after the charges were stayed. This suggests
the Government of Canada believes he has a medical necessity for marihuana."
Despite all of this, the ruling somehow concluded, "he has not established
there is a risk to his life or a risk of cruel and unusual treatment or
punishment" if Kubby is forced to return to the US.
Kubby vowed, "Apparently, I have to die in order to convince the Refugee
board, but instead I intend to fight."
###
Kerry: "Did I expect George Bush to f - - - it up as badly as he did?"
New York Post Online Edition: CURSING KERRY UNLEASHES
FOULMOUTHED ATTACK ON BUSH
BillofRightsDay.com
Here's a new site I put together to help folks organize their Bill of Rights Day celebration efforts:
December 07, 2003
Boots on the Ground, Hearts on Their Sleeves
Boots on the Ground, Hearts on Their Sleeves
By DAVID BROOKS
Published: December 2, 2003
Bossier School Board upholds Advil expulsion
Bossier School Board upholds Advil expulsion
Girl had over-the-counter pills in purse at school
December 06, 2003
Hess: You pays your nickel, you takes your chances
This op-ed is a pretty good dressing-down of a "big prostitution bust", by Arizona Libertarian Barry Hess.
Hip hoppers say Dennis no menace
Hip hoppers say Dennis no menace=The Hill.com=
Dennis Kucinich, that is.
Phillies' Ideas for Libertarian Presidential Candidates
I am not running for President - but I do have some ideas on what our Party needs in one
by George Phillies
In Iraq Picture, Bush Is Holding the Centerpiece
The Bird Was Perfect But Not For Dinner (washingtonpost.com)
In Iraq Picture, Bush Is Holding the Centerpiece
Lindaman: Welcome Back, Rush...Now Retire!
AmericanDaily.com - Welcome Back, Rush...Now Retire! - Thomas Lindaman
December 05, 2003
Rumsfeld's Leaked Memo about the "War on Terror"
I tried to find this memo when it was hot news, and gave up before I was able to. But I recently found cause to look again, and had better luck. I'm storing it here because it's worth archiving (Plus it's public domain, I assume, so I might as well get the traffic instead of USATODAY, where I got it from.)
October 16, 2003
TO: Gen. Dick Myers
Paul Wolfowitz
Gen. Pete Pace
Doug Feith
FROM: Donald Rumsfeld
SUBJECT: Global War on Terrorism
The questions I posed to combatant commanders this week were: Are we winning or losing the Global War on Terror? Is DoD changing fast enough to deal with the new 21st century security environment? Can a big institution change fast enough? Is the USG changing fast enough?
DoD has been organized, trained and equipped to fight big armies, navies and air forces. It is not possible to change DoD fast enough to successfully fight the global war on terror; an alternative might be to try to fashion a new institution, either within DoD or elsewhere — one that seamlessly focuses the capabilities of several departments and agencies on this key problem.
With respect to global terrorism, the record since Septermber 11th seems to be:
We are having mixed results with Al Qaida, although we have put considerable pressure on them — nonetheless, a great many remain at large.
USG has made reasonable progress in capturing or killing the top 55 Iraqis.
USG has made somewhat slower progress tracking down the Taliban — Omar, Hekmatyar, etc.
With respect to the Ansar Al-Islam, we are just getting started.
Have we fashioned the right mix of rewards, amnesty, protection and confidence in the US?
Does DoD need to think through new ways to organize, train, equip and focus to deal with the global war on terror?
Are the changes we have and are making too modest and incremental? My impression is that we have not yet made truly bold moves, although we have have made many sensible, logical moves in the right direction, but are they enough?
Today, we lack metrics to know if we are winning or losing the global war on terror. Are we capturing, killing or deterring and dissuading more terrorists every day than the madrassas and the radical clerics are recruiting, training and deploying against us?
Does the US need to fashion a broad, integrated plan to stop the next generation of terrorists? The US is putting relatively little effort into a long-range plan, but we are putting a great deal of effort into trying to stop terrorists. The cost-benefit ratio is against us! Our cost is billions against the terrorists' costs of millions.
Do we need a new organization?
How do we stop those who are financing the radical madrassa schools?
Is our current situation such that "the harder we work, the behinder we get"?
It is pretty clear that the coalition can win in Afghanistan and Iraq in one way or another, but it will be a long, hard slog.
Does CIA need a new finding?
Should we create a private foundation to entice radical madradssas to a more moderate course?
What else should we be considering?
Please be prepared to discuss this at our meeting on Saturday or Monday.
Thanks.
December 03, 2003
Taibbi: Clark's True Colors
I was not impressed by Taibbi's attitude and approach in writing this article*, but he makes some OK points.
*As Matt Stoller of the Clark Sphere put it:
Seriously, attacking Clark is fine, he's in politics. But why go after the campaign staffers who are trying to do their best? Come on. This is ridiculous. Posing as a porn director at a Meetup and then getting awkward quotes from 22 year old volunteers? Really.
by Matt Taibbi
You can see something in the eyes of most all the Democratic candidates: the pugnacity of Howard Dean, the idealism of Dennis Kucinich, even (surprisingly) the elaborate sense of humor just under the surface of Joe Lieberman.
Not Wesley Clark. His eyes are blank. Like a turtle resting on a rock in the middle of a pond, he simply seems never to move, no matter how long you stare. But then, just as you're about to pack up your picnic basket and go home, you catch him: His head pops out, and he slides off into the water...
Lydon on Emerson: A God for Bloggers
A God for Bloggers
by Christopher Lydon
Ralph Waldo Emerson on his 200th birthday this spring is "closer to us than ever," writes the great Harold Bloom. He is a man for bloggers to embrace most especially, not for Emerson's glory but for our own understanding of a transformative moment we are living through.
Poet, public intellectual, performance artist and incomparable diarist, Emerson (1803-1882) has glory enough. It's we who need his encouraging frame around bloggery--this still strange and marvellous exercise in democratic media.
...
Some Iraqis Welcome Bush, Others Wish Him in Hell
This article is archived at TruthOut. The original doesn't appear to be available at MSNBC.com anymore.
The Pentagon crosses the lexicon
The Pentagon crosses the lexicon
As the horizon in Iraq recedes, the U.S. military’s language adapts
ANALYSIS
By Michael Moran
MSNBC
The turkey has landed
The turkey has landed: how Bush cooked up a secret mission to give thanks to his troops
By Phil Reeves in Baghdad and David Usborne in New York
The Independent-UK
An Apology to Younger Americans
An Apology to Younger Americans
By Sam Smith, The Progressive Review
November 30, 2003
In observance of the approaching 66th anniversary of my arrival on this planet I would like to apologize to you on behalf of my generation. Even members of Confederacy had the grace to secede from the union; my generation has remained within like a deadly virus, subverting it, shaming it, screwing it, stealing from it, and finally strangling it. It will likely be known as the worst generation – the one that brought the First American Republic down – unmatched in the damage it has done to the Constitution, the environment, and a two century struggle to create a society democratic and decent in its politics, economics, and social concourse.
To be sure, when we were young we were, as we said then, somethin' else. We launched the civil rights, women's, gay, and environmental movements, not to mention creating some memorable music before descending into disco. Soon other things started to go downhill rapidly. We became not only the generation that invented the phrase, 'never trust anyone over thirty,' we proved it.
...
December 01, 2003
The Bush Betrayal
I'm posting the full text of this excellent opinion piece, because I'd like to have it archived here. It was originally published in the Washington Post.
By David Boaz
Sunday, November 30, 2003
In 2000 George W. Bush campaigned across the country telling voters: "My opponent trusts government. I trust you."
Little wonder that some of his supporters are now wondering which candidate won that election.
Federal spending has increased by 23.7 percent since Bush took office. Education has been further federalized in the No Child Left Behind Act. Bush pulled out all the stops to get Republicans in Congress to create the biggest new entitlement program -- prescription drug coverage under Medicare -- in 40 years.
He pushed an energy bill that my colleague Jerry Taylor described as "three parts corporate welfare and one part cynical politics . . . a smorgasbord of handouts and subsidies for virtually every energy lobby in Washington."
It's a far cry from the less-government, "leave us alone" conservatism of Ronald Reagan.
Conservatives used to believe that the U.S. Constitution set up a government of strictly limited powers.
It was supposed to protect us from foreign threats and deliver the mail, leaving other matters to the states or to the private sector -- individuals, families, churches, charities and businesses.
That's what lots of voters assumed they would get with Bush. In his first presidential debate with Al Gore, Bush contrasted his own vision of tax reduction with that of his opponent, who would "increase the size of government dramatically." Gore, Bush declared, would "empower Washington," but "my passion and my vision is to empower Americans to be able to make decisions for themselves in their own lives."
Bush was tapping into popular sentiment.
In fact, you could say that what most voters wanted in 2000 was neither Bush nor Gore but smaller government. A Los Angeles Times poll in September 2000 found that Americans preferred "smaller government with fewer services" to "larger government with many services" by 59 to 26 percent.
But that's not what voters got. Leave aside defense spending and even entitlements spending: In Bush's first three years, nondefense discretionary spending -- which fell by 13.5 percent under Ronald Reagan -- has soared by 20.8 percent. His more libertarian-minded voters are taken aback to discover that "compassionate conservatism" turned out to mean social conservatism -- a stepped-up drug war, restrictions on medical research, antigay policies, federal subsidies for marriage and religion -- and big-spending liberalism justified as "compassion."
When they're given a chance to vote, Americans don't like big government.
Last November 45 percent of the voters in the most liberal state in the Union, Ted Kennedy's Massachusetts, voted to abolish the state income tax.
In January, Oregon's liberal electorate rejected a proposed tax increase, 55 percent to 45 percent.
In September Alabama voters rejected Gov. Bob Riley's $1.2 billion tax hike by 2 to 1.
California voters tossed out big-spending Gov. Gray Davis, and 62 percent of them voted for candidates who promised not to raise taxes to close the state's deficit.
Bush and his aides should be worrying about the possibility that libertarians, economic conservatives and fed-up taxpayers won't be in his corner in 2004 in the same numbers as 2000.
Republican strategists are likely to say that libertarians and economic conservatives have nowhere else to go. Many of the disappointed will indeed sigh a deep sigh and vote for Bush as a lesser evil.
But Karl Rove, who is fascinated by the role Mark Hanna played in building the post-1896 Republican majority, should remember one aspect of that era: In the late 19th century, the Democratic Party of Jefferson, Jackson and Cleveland was known as "the party of personal liberty." More so than the Republicans, it was committed to economic and cultural laissez-faire and opposed to Prohibition, protectionism and inflation.
When the big-government populist William Jennings Bryan claimed the Democratic nomination in 1896, many assumed he would draw industrial workers from the Republicans and bring new voters to the polls. Instead, Bryan lost in a landslide, and turnout declined for the next few elections. As the more libertarian Democrats found less reason to go to the polls, the Republicans dominated national politics for the next 36 years.
It could happen that limited-government voters decide to stay home, or vote for an independent candidate in the mold of Ross Perot or Jesse Ventura or vote Libertarian.
They could even vote for an antiwar, anti-Patriot Act, socially tolerant Democrat.
Given a choice between big-government liberalism and big-government conservatism, the leave-us-alone voters might decide that voting isn't worth the trouble.
The writer is executive vice president of the Cato Institute and author of "Libertarianism: A Primer."
Geoff Metcalf: Under the Color of Authority
IRS: Abuse of Power
Under the Color of Authority
Geoff Metcalf
Monday, Nov. 24, 2003
Find out just what people will submit to, and you have found out the exact amount of injustice and wrong which will be imposed upon them; and these will continue until they are resisted with either words or blows, or both. The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they oppress. – Frederick Douglass
For over a decade I have been interviewing and reporting on what has been called The "Tax Honesty Movement." Some people call these folks “tax protesters," others call them wackos. To a growing many, they are patriots committed to redressing what they perceive as a grievous wrong.
In the wake of years of study, interviews and analysis I have come to my own personal conclusions:
-As an academic exercise, and objective evaluation of the facts in evidence, the Tax Freedom crowd is mostly right.
-However, as a practical reality check, and ‘The Golden Rule’ (those with the gold make the rules), when contemporary ‘Davids’ square off with the federal government’s ‘Goliath,’ right is NOT might.
-Those who take on “The G” can and will be eviscerated by bureaucratic ‘shock and awe’ that has and will ruin lives.
...
One of the most heroic crusaders cast in the role of ‘David’ is Joseph R. (Joe) Banister. Joe is a CPA and former IRS Criminal Investigation Division special agent [www.freedomabovefortune.com]. He is a good guy with a fascinating story and about to become another victim of abuse of power under the color of authority.
...
Big Crowd at Military School Protest Gets Earful of Patriotic Music From Army
Big Crowd at Military School Protest Gets Earful of Patriotic Music From Army
COLUMBUS, Ga. (AP) - Demonstrators gathered outside Fort Benning to protest a military school were hit with a sonic barrage Saturday: patriotic music Army officials had blaring from the main gate.
A crowd estimated by Columbus police at 8,000 gathered to protest the school once known as the School of the Americas, which they blame for Latin American human rights abuses. It appeared to be the largest first-day gathering in the 14-year history of the protest.
The Army's loudspeakers, playing "The Army Song" and "God Bless the U.S.A.," were 50 yards away from where protesters were speaking to the crowd.
...
Raimondo: Boot Boortz!
Neal Boortz is a statist, not a libertarian.
So why is he speaking at the Libertarian Party’s national convention?
by Justin Raimondo
November 26, 2003
One thing one has to say about most of the "liberventionists" – the tiny but vocal clot of pro-war, pro-Bush "libertarians" – and that is they oppose this administration’s attacks on our civil liberties here at home. But what are we to make of alleged libertarians, such as Neal Boortz, who wants to know why the FBI shouldn’t be allowed to spy on the antiwar movement:
"The FBI is investigating the backgrounds and organizational methods of antiwar demonstrators in the US. Hopefully that doesn't come as a surprise to you. It is safe to assume that a large number of these demonstrators are out there in the streets because they want America to fail in its efforts to fight terrorism and its efforts to bring secular representative governments to Iraq and Afghanistan. Translated: Many of these demonstrators are pro-Saddam and anti-US. So, who wouldn't want them investigated by the FBI?"
Oh, gee, I don’t know: maybe a self-described "libertarian" who advocates strictly limited government and regards such surveillance as impermissible, in principle. Perhaps someone who takes the Bill of Rights seriously. In short, someone who believes in upholding the primacy of individual liberty – even in the face of an unprecedented assault by a cabal of war-crazed power-hungry ideologues.
...
Lessig: The New Road to the White House
The New Road to the White House
How grassroots blogs are transforming presidential politics.
When they write the account of the 2004 campaign, it will include at least one word that has never appeared in any presidential history: blog. Whether or not it elects the next president, the blog may be the first innovation from the Internet to make a real difference in election politics. But to see just why requires a bit of careful attention.
...
AlterNet: Neocons Leak Bad Intelligence
AlterNet: Neocons Leak Bad Intelligence
By Jim Lobe, AlterNet
November 20, 2003
The leak of a secret memorandum written by a senior Pentagon official reveals less about the connection between Saddam and al Qaeda than the growing desperation of neo-conservative hawks in the Bush administration.
US starts to lift the veil on Camp X-Ray trials
US starts to lift the veil on Camp X-Ray trials
(TruthOut permacopy)
Patriot Act Expansion Moves Through Congress
Patriot Act Expansion Moves Through Congress
by Jim Lobe
(TruthOut permacopy)
George Orwell: Why I Write
This was really interesting for me. Thanks to Tim at Libertarian Rant for pointing it out.
SITE NOTE: Scaling back for now
I need to conserve time for a while, so entries here are going to be less robust than usual. In most cases I might just end up posting links to what I've read, more as a way of keeping track than anything else. I'm sorry if anyone has grown dependent on the excerpts and ratings. ;-\
I don't know if this has long-term implications for the Little Brown Reader. For the time being, I consider it to be a temporary shift in my approach. I'll be sure to let you know if that changes.
Patriot Act Author Has Concerns
Patriot Act Author Has Concerns
By Richard B. Schmitt, Times Staff Writer
Detaining citizens as 'enemy combatants' -- a policy not spelled out in the act -- is flawed, the legal scholar says.
WASHINGTON — The Justice Department's war on terrorism has drawn intense scrutiny from the left and the right. Now, a chief architect of the USA Patriot Act and a former top assistant to Atty. Gen. John Ashcroft are joining the fray, voicing concern about aspects of the administration's anti-terrorism policy.
At issue is the government's power to designate and detain "enemy combatants," in particular in the case of "dirty bomb" plot suspect Jose Padilla, the Brooklyn-born former gang member who was picked up at a Chicago airport 18 months ago by the FBI and locked in a military brig without access to a lawyer.
...
Diebold email: "Make vote printouts too costly for MD"
NOTE: I have not read this whole thing, but it appears to have quite a bit of interesting info. the author of it wants it spread around, so I'm posting it here (just as I received it) in hopes of doing that.
-----------------------------------------------------
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Eric A. Smith
Hot Damn! Design
81-03-3959-5371
snowdog@juno.ocn.ne.jp
Diebold email: "Make vote printouts too costly for MD"
-- Scandals deepen for e-vote manufacturer
ANNAPOLIS, Maryland, December 12th — An internal memo has just surfaced suggesting e-vote manufacturer Diebold planned to overcharge the state of Maryland and make voter printouts "prohibitively expensive".
An employee named "Ken" wrote the Jan. 3 letter suggesting the company charge Maryland "out the yin" if legislators insisted on printouts.
Referring to a University of Maryland study critical of the company's machines, he added: "[The State of Maryland] already bought the system. At this point they are just closing the barn door. Let's just hope that as a company we are smart enough to charge out the yin if they try to change the rules now and legislate voter receipts."
He goes on to say "...any after-sale changes should be prohibitively expensive."
Delegate Karen S. Montgomery dropped the bombshell on Thursday amid negotiations with Diebold over its touchscreen voting machines.
Montgomery, who has written a bill mandating voter-verifiable ballots, described pressure to drop the issue, saying "scurrilous remarks" were being levelled against proponents of the measure. She said she believes the cost is being driven up to prevent anyone from insisting on verifiable printouts.
Steven T. Dennis of Gazette.net broke the story yesterday; he said spokesman David Bear deflected criticism by claiming the comments were "the internal discussion of one individual and [do] not reflect the sentiments or the position of the company."
Diebold, whose primary business has until recently been ATMs and ticket-vending machines (all of which produce paper printouts), made headlines last week when it dropped copyright-infringement suits against Swarthmore students who had published thousands of its internal memos on the Internet.
Prominent among the leaked memos is a missive to Global Election Systems (now Diebold) -- baldly stating that 16 thousand Gore votes were "disappeared" during the 2000 election. Author Lana Hires frantically asks how she should explain the problem to an auditor:
Additional memos are equally candid and suggestive:
-more-
Initially brought to light by activist Bev Harris, these and other alarming disclosures have added weight to the arguments of computer security experts and legislators nationwide, who say that Diebold's machines (as well as those of rivals ES&S and Sequoia) pose a grave risk to America's elections. Harris received over 7,000 of the Diebold memos from an undisclosed source in early September. For the past three years, she has been arguing for greater security and accountability in electronic voting, last year weathering a similar unsuccesful gag lawsuit from e-vote firm ES&S. A month after Harris recieved the memos she went public with them; Diebold immediately launched a gag lawsuit, and Harris's ISP shut down her activist site. A group of Swarthmore students and other activists responded by spreading the memos across the Internet. When Diebold threatened to sue under the auspices of the DMCA, litigators from the Electronic Frontier Foundation and the ACLU stepped in to defend activists. Presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich added significant support by hosting the memos on his own website. Last week, Diebold withdrew its lawsuits. With a new ISP, Harris has resumed her activism, and her book "Black Box Voting: Ballot Tampering in the 21st Century," can currently be downloaded for free from the site blackboxvoting.org. Meanwhile, on Capital Hill, Congressman Rush Holt has also raised the issue of security, sponsoring the "Voter Confidence and Increased Accountability Act of 2003" (H.R. 2239), which calls for paper ballots, surprise recounts and auditable software in voting machines. But while Holt's bill adds a significant level of transparency to the process, Harris says it doesn't go far enough. In a recent Buzzflash interview, she said: "The problem area, and it is a whopper, is that this bill doesn't attack the crux of the issue, which is proper auditing -- and that is something that is needed for any computerized system, including optical scan machines. The very first thing we need to do is get solid input from auditors who are experienced in fraud detection. While we are designing amendments to the bill, we also must get some people with a solid grasp of history, because we need a voting system that is in keeping with the vision of our founding fathers -- and this is a public policy issue, not a computer issue. The most important thing that we keep forgetting is that the founders, especially Thomas Jefferson, felt that it was critical -- not "important," but CRITICAL to democracy, to keep the vote directly in the hands of the people themselves. Any solution which requires us to trust a handful of experts will, sooner or later, result in the demise of our democracy. -more- That means we need to retain (and enforce) policies to tally the votes at the polls, in front of observers. In some countries, they let as many regular citizens as can fit in the room in to watch the physical counting. It is this neighborhood tallying, and the open and public nature of it, that is the embodiment of democracy." In July, Harris demonstrated just how insecure a Diebold machine could be, showing in a step-by-step expose how to reverse a federal election. New Zealand's Scoop Media posted the illustrated account online. Author Faun Otter and others have also raised the issue of impartiality on the part of Diebold's board, which has contributed hundreds of thousands of dollars to Republican campaigns. National headlines were made when CEO Michael O'Dell, who recently hosted a $600,000 fundraiser for Vice President Dick Cheney, announced in a Republican fundraising letter that he was "committed to delivering Ohio's votes to the President". But controversy doesn't end with Diebold alone. Rival voting machine company ES&S also came under scrutiny when it surfaced that it was run by Chuck Hagel until two weeks before his own election. Senator Hagel won by the biggest landslide in Nebraskan history; a victory the press characterized as a "stunning upset". His company, ES&S, counted 83% of the votes. Hagel left out details of his ES&S involvement in his SEC filings, and, when the discrepancy surfaced, two days after a closed-door meeting with Hagel SEC legal counsel Victor Baird resigned and the matter was dropped. And Hagel, who prior to his stewardship of ES&S was head of the Private Sector Council for George H.W. Bush, has bigger plans: Harris says the domain name "Bush-Hagel2004.com" was purchased last year but subsequently released and the Senator has already bought the rights to "hagel2008.com" and "ChuckHagel2008.com". Meanwhile Hagel campaign manager Michael McCarthy owns over 30% of ES&S's parent company, and even the Senator hasn't fully divested himself of ownership -- he still has a $5 million stake in ES&S parent company the McCarthy Group. Harris says there are firms offering comparatively secure systems -- competitors Avante, Accupol and Vogue, for example -- but some activists say any machine offers an opportunity for vote tampering. They're calling for a return to simple ballots, though such a solution is unlikely -- Bush's Help America Vote Act mandates a nationwide migration to electronic voting by 2006. Secretary of state Kevin Shelley's recent declaration that all California voting machines must provide printouts may prompt the rest of the country to follow the west’s lead. But it may end up being a matter of too little, too late, as Diebold, ES&S and Sequioa systems are already in place in 37 states. Harris, for one, is calling for a legal injunction to halt the use of any insecure systems prior to the 2004 primaries. If her instincts are right, a fierce battle may loom on the horizon -- a battle for the very heart and soul of America's democracy. Officials to phone, fax and email about secure voting: Congress State elections boards: State Attorneys General (party affiliations listed): -more- State Election Officials Members, Natl. Assoc. of County Recorders, Election Officials and Clerks: Penelope Bonsall, national director of the Office of Election Administration Online e-petitions EFF and VerifiedVoting.org: Media Contacts: # # #
http://www.visi.com/juan/congress/
http://www.blackboxvoting.org/htdocs/dcforum/DCForumID29/47.html
http://www.naag.org/ag/full_ag_table.php
http://www.nased.org/
http://www.nacrc.org/leadership/st_coord.htm
Office of Election Administration
Federal Election Commission
999 E Street, NW
Washington, DC 20463
vss@fec.gov
(202) 694-1095 (phone)
(202) 219-8500 (fax)
http://action.eff.org/action/index.asp?step=2&item=2821
http://www.verifiedvoting.org
http://dmoz.org/Arts/Television/News/
http://newslink.org
http://www.cantufind.com/american_newspapers.htm
http://dmoz.org/Arts/Radio/Formats/Talk_Radio/Networks/
http://dmoz.org/Arts/Radio/Formats/Talk_Radio/Stations/
http://dmoz.org/Arts/Television/Networks/Cable/
http://dmoz.org/Arts/Television/Networks/
http://dmoz.org/Computers/Internet/Broadcasting/Information/
Contact: Eric A. Smith, Hot Damn! Design, Tokyo, Japan ● 81-03-3959-5371
Borowitz: SUPREME COURT OVERTURNS GORE’S ENDORSEMENT OF DEAN
SUPREME COURT OVERTURNS GORE’S ENDORSEMENT OF DEAN
Transfers Nod to Bush in 5-4 Decision
LP RELEASE: Campaign finance ruling
====================================
NEWS FROM THE LIBERTARIAN PARTY
2600 Virginia Avenue, NW, Suite 100
Washington DC 20037
World Wide Web: http://www.LP.org
====================================
For release: December 11, 2003
====================================
For additional information:
George Getz, Communications Director
Phone: (202) 333-0008
====================================
High court's ruling is all-out assault
on right to engage in politics, Libertarians say
WASHINGTON, DC -- The Libertarian Party, which is one of the plaintiffs
that challenged the campaign finance law upheld on Tuesday by the
Supreme Court, has denounced the ruling as an "all-out assault on the
right of every American to engage in the political process."
"Why not just outlaw elections and get it over with?" said Geoffrey
Neale, the Libertarian Party's national chair. "The Supreme Court has
just given incumbent politicians the power to financially cripple their
competitors and, in the process, award themselves lifetime jobs."
In a 5-4 ruling that shocked advocacy groups across the political
spectrum, the Supreme Court endorsed key provisions of the McCain-
Feingold campaign finance law. Specifically, the court upheld a ban on
"soft money" contributions from wealthy individuals, corporations and
labor unions, as well the law's prohibition on running certain
political advertisements within close proximity to an election.
But Libertarians point out that McCain-Feingold was nothing more than
an incumbent protection act in the first place -- and that the court's
ruling was tantamount to outlawing political competition.
"Running for office and communicating a message aren't free," Neale
said. "So making it illegal to raise money to buy political ads, and
banning the ads during the period when they're most effective, is
tantamount to outlawing the message itself. That's a crime against the
First Amendment as well as an affront to the democratic process."
Incumbent politicians already enjoy powerful advantages, Neale pointed
out, such as name recognition and the ability to attract news media,
taxpayer-financed staffs and office space, and the franking privilege.
The so-called campaign finance reform act was merely an attempt to
eliminate the only weapon that many challengers have: contributions
freely given by individuals or groups that share their views, he noted.
Acknowledging that the stated goal of the legislation was to clean up
politics, Neale said: "Justice Sandra Day O'Connor pointed out that
'corruption, and in particular the appearance of corruption,' is
rampant in Washington -- and of course, she's right.
"But a free-flowing, robust political debate isn't the problem; it's
the solution. The only way to dislodge an entrenched, corrupt
politician is to allow competing candidates, and anyone else who so
chooses, to publicly criticize them and offer voters a better
alternative.
"By upholding McCain-Feingold, the Supreme Court has merely guaranteed
that corrupt politicians will stay in office for a longer period of
time."
In March 1992, the Libertarian Party signed on as a co-plaintiff in
McConnell v FEC, the lawsuit spearheaded by Kentucky Senator Mitch
McConnell that sought to overturn the campaign finance reform law.
The party argued that the law would have a devastating impact on its
activities by eliminating certain sources of revenue and imposing
significant regulatory and administrative burdens.
For example, the law prohibits the organization from accepting
donations of more than $25,000 from any individual; prevents it from
taking money from organizations that are not "recognized political
committees," so it cannot sell ads in its party newspaper to nonprofit
corporations or incorporated businesses; and cannot accept funds for
memberships or literature from its own state affiliates, unless they
also comply with the law's onerous regulations.
However, the party was vindicated by one aspect of Tuesday's ruling,
Neale added, when the court struck down the provision of the law
banning minors from making contributions to political parties.
# # #
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
The Libertarian Party http://www.lp.org/
2600 Virginia Ave. NW, Suite 100 voice: 202-333-0008
Washington DC 20037 fax: 202-333-0072
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
For subscription changes, please use the WWW form at:
http://www.lp.org/action/email.html
Pot doc's license revocation upheld
Dec. 10, 2003 -- Pot doc's license revocation upheld
By HANK LAWSON Staff writer
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed Monday the federal government's revocation of Dr. Marion "Molly" Fry's license to prescribe medication including marijuana.
Who died and made non-aggression fundamental?
This memoir of sorts is rambling, but it has a quality to it which makes it interesting, and a little insightful.
Who died and made non-aggression fundamental?
by Student of Life
December 10, 2003
Campaign finance supporters praise Supreme Court ruling
This statement from the president of Common Cause is one of the most delusional claims I've heard from a public figure in a while.
"The toxic link between donors who write six-figure checks and people in power at the highest levels of government has been severed for good," said Chellie Pingree, the group's president, in a statement.
It's almost as funny as "The era of big government is over" was. Oh, yeah, folks....this time they've got it all worked out. Sure.
CNN.com - Campaign finance supporters praise Supreme Court ruling - Dec. 10, 2003
Supreme Court upholds 'soft money' ban
CNN.com - Supreme Court upholds 'soft money' ban - Dec. 10, 2003
December 09, 2003
December 08, 2003
KUBBY VOWS APPEAL OF RULING DENYING REFUGEE STATUS IN CANADA
For Immediate Release
December 8, 2003
Press Conference:
Tuesday, Dec. 9th, noon, BC Marijuana Party Headquarters, 307 West Hastings,
Vancouver
Decision Online:
http://www.irb.gc.ca/en/decisions/kubby/va2_01374_e.htm
KUBBY VOWS APPEAL OF RULING DENYING REFUGEE STATUS IN CANADA
VANCOUVER -- Steve Kubby, medical marijuana patient and former Libertarian
Party candidate for governor of California, vowed to appeal a ruling by the
Refugee Protection Division today that denied him refugee status in Canada
based on his need for medical marijuana.
Kubby complained, "I cannot understand how the Refugee panel could conclude
that my life would not be at risk if I were forced to return to the US,
after the leading cancer specialist in British Columbia testified that I
would die without it."
British Columbia cancer specialist Dr. Joseph Michael Connors, an expert in
the area of adrenal cancers, called by the Immigration Ministry, examined
Kubby and testified at the hearing about his medical condition.
The ruling recognizes that, according to Dr. Connors, "Mr. Kubby's tumour
releases, in excess quantities, hormones normally found in the adrenal
gland. Excessive levels of these hormones in Mr. Kubby's blood cause a
range of separate symptomatic problems including paroxysmal headaches,
palpitations (rapid and irregular beating of the heart), hypertension
(sudden dangerous rise in blood pressure), sudden abdominal cramps and
diarrhea, chest pain, shortness of breath, nausea, sudden severe weakness
and anorexia (loss of appetite). If not controlled, Mr. Kubby's symptoms
could evolve further to the point where a myocardial infarction (heart
attack) or cerebral vascular accident (stroke) could occur."
The ruling also acknowledged that "there is evidence before the Board, that
marihuana controls the symptoms of Mr. Kubby's cancer, including
hypertension. In Dr. Connors' opinion, marihuana continues to be the best
treatment available to Mr. Kubby."
However, the ruling went on to say that "it cannot therefore be stated with
any degree of certainty, that marihuana is the reason for Mr. Kubby's
survival even though it remains the best treatment option at this time."
Health Canada has even given Mr. Kubby permission to grow one hundred and
seventeen marijuana plants, based on "medical necessity."
The ruling further acknowledged, Kubby "has received a Health Canada
exemption, which suggests he is a bona fide ill person in need of medical
marihuana. It is noteworthy that Mr. Kubby was investigated and charged
with marihuana related criminal offences in Canada. Those Canadian charges
were later stayed by the Crown, and his marihuana grow equipment was
returned to him by the RCMP after the charges were stayed. This suggests
the Government of Canada believes he has a medical necessity for marihuana."
Despite all of this, the ruling somehow concluded, "he has not established
there is a risk to his life or a risk of cruel and unusual treatment or
punishment" if Kubby is forced to return to the US.
Kubby vowed, "Apparently, I have to die in order to convince the Refugee
board, but instead I intend to fight."
###
Kerry: "Did I expect George Bush to f - - - it up as badly as he did?"
New York Post Online Edition: CURSING KERRY UNLEASHES
FOULMOUTHED ATTACK ON BUSH
BillofRightsDay.com
Here's a new site I put together to help folks organize their Bill of Rights Day celebration efforts:
December 07, 2003
Boots on the Ground, Hearts on Their Sleeves
Boots on the Ground, Hearts on Their Sleeves
By DAVID BROOKS
Published: December 2, 2003
Bossier School Board upholds Advil expulsion
Bossier School Board upholds Advil expulsion
Girl had over-the-counter pills in purse at school
December 06, 2003
Hess: You pays your nickel, you takes your chances
This op-ed is a pretty good dressing-down of a "big prostitution bust", by Arizona Libertarian Barry Hess.
Hip hoppers say Dennis no menace
Hip hoppers say Dennis no menace=The Hill.com=
Dennis Kucinich, that is.
Phillies' Ideas for Libertarian Presidential Candidates
I am not running for President - but I do have some ideas on what our Party needs in one
by George Phillies
In Iraq Picture, Bush Is Holding the Centerpiece
The Bird Was Perfect But Not For Dinner (washingtonpost.com)
In Iraq Picture, Bush Is Holding the Centerpiece
Lindaman: Welcome Back, Rush...Now Retire!
AmericanDaily.com - Welcome Back, Rush...Now Retire! - Thomas Lindaman
December 05, 2003
Rumsfeld's Leaked Memo about the "War on Terror"
I tried to find this memo when it was hot news, and gave up before I was able to. But I recently found cause to look again, and had better luck. I'm storing it here because it's worth archiving (Plus it's public domain, I assume, so I might as well get the traffic instead of USATODAY, where I got it from.)
October 16, 2003
TO: Gen. Dick Myers
Paul Wolfowitz
Gen. Pete Pace
Doug Feith
FROM: Donald Rumsfeld
SUBJECT: Global War on Terrorism
The questions I posed to combatant commanders this week were: Are we winning or losing the Global War on Terror? Is DoD changing fast enough to deal with the new 21st century security environment? Can a big institution change fast enough? Is the USG changing fast enough?
DoD has been organized, trained and equipped to fight big armies, navies and air forces. It is not possible to change DoD fast enough to successfully fight the global war on terror; an alternative might be to try to fashion a new institution, either within DoD or elsewhere — one that seamlessly focuses the capabilities of several departments and agencies on this key problem.
With respect to global terrorism, the record since Septermber 11th seems to be:
We are having mixed results with Al Qaida, although we have put considerable pressure on them — nonetheless, a great many remain at large.
USG has made reasonable progress in capturing or killing the top 55 Iraqis.
USG has made somewhat slower progress tracking down the Taliban — Omar, Hekmatyar, etc.
With respect to the Ansar Al-Islam, we are just getting started.
Have we fashioned the right mix of rewards, amnesty, protection and confidence in the US?
Does DoD need to think through new ways to organize, train, equip and focus to deal with the global war on terror?
Are the changes we have and are making too modest and incremental? My impression is that we have not yet made truly bold moves, although we have have made many sensible, logical moves in the right direction, but are they enough?
Today, we lack metrics to know if we are winning or losing the global war on terror. Are we capturing, killing or deterring and dissuading more terrorists every day than the madrassas and the radical clerics are recruiting, training and deploying against us?
Does the US need to fashion a broad, integrated plan to stop the next generation of terrorists? The US is putting relatively little effort into a long-range plan, but we are putting a great deal of effort into trying to stop terrorists. The cost-benefit ratio is against us! Our cost is billions against the terrorists' costs of millions.
Do we need a new organization?
How do we stop those who are financing the radical madrassa schools?
Is our current situation such that "the harder we work, the behinder we get"?
It is pretty clear that the coalition can win in Afghanistan and Iraq in one way or another, but it will be a long, hard slog.
Does CIA need a new finding?
Should we create a private foundation to entice radical madradssas to a more moderate course?
What else should we be considering?
Please be prepared to discuss this at our meeting on Saturday or Monday.
Thanks.
December 03, 2003
Taibbi: Clark's True Colors
I was not impressed by Taibbi's attitude and approach in writing this article*, but he makes some OK points.
*As Matt Stoller of the Clark Sphere put it:
Seriously, attacking Clark is fine, he's in politics. But why go after the campaign staffers who are trying to do their best? Come on. This is ridiculous. Posing as a porn director at a Meetup and then getting awkward quotes from 22 year old volunteers? Really.
by Matt Taibbi
You can see something in the eyes of most all the Democratic candidates: the pugnacity of Howard Dean, the idealism of Dennis Kucinich, even (surprisingly) the elaborate sense of humor just under the surface of Joe Lieberman.
Not Wesley Clark. His eyes are blank. Like a turtle resting on a rock in the middle of a pond, he simply seems never to move, no matter how long you stare. But then, just as you're about to pack up your picnic basket and go home, you catch him: His head pops out, and he slides off into the water...
Lydon on Emerson: A God for Bloggers
A God for Bloggers
by Christopher Lydon
Ralph Waldo Emerson on his 200th birthday this spring is "closer to us than ever," writes the great Harold Bloom. He is a man for bloggers to embrace most especially, not for Emerson's glory but for our own understanding of a transformative moment we are living through.
Poet, public intellectual, performance artist and incomparable diarist, Emerson (1803-1882) has glory enough. It's we who need his encouraging frame around bloggery--this still strange and marvellous exercise in democratic media.
...
Some Iraqis Welcome Bush, Others Wish Him in Hell
This article is archived at TruthOut. The original doesn't appear to be available at MSNBC.com anymore.
The Pentagon crosses the lexicon
The Pentagon crosses the lexicon
As the horizon in Iraq recedes, the U.S. military’s language adapts
ANALYSIS
By Michael Moran
MSNBC
The turkey has landed
The turkey has landed: how Bush cooked up a secret mission to give thanks to his troops
By Phil Reeves in Baghdad and David Usborne in New York
The Independent-UK
An Apology to Younger Americans
An Apology to Younger Americans
By Sam Smith, The Progressive Review
November 30, 2003
In observance of the approaching 66th anniversary of my arrival on this planet I would like to apologize to you on behalf of my generation. Even members of Confederacy had the grace to secede from the union; my generation has remained within like a deadly virus, subverting it, shaming it, screwing it, stealing from it, and finally strangling it. It will likely be known as the worst generation – the one that brought the First American Republic down – unmatched in the damage it has done to the Constitution, the environment, and a two century struggle to create a society democratic and decent in its politics, economics, and social concourse.
To be sure, when we were young we were, as we said then, somethin' else. We launched the civil rights, women's, gay, and environmental movements, not to mention creating some memorable music before descending into disco. Soon other things started to go downhill rapidly. We became not only the generation that invented the phrase, 'never trust anyone over thirty,' we proved it.
...
December 01, 2003
The Bush Betrayal
I'm posting the full text of this excellent opinion piece, because I'd like to have it archived here. It was originally published in the Washington Post.
By David Boaz
Sunday, November 30, 2003
In 2000 George W. Bush campaigned across the country telling voters: "My opponent trusts government. I trust you."
Little wonder that some of his supporters are now wondering which candidate won that election.
Federal spending has increased by 23.7 percent since Bush took office. Education has been further federalized in the No Child Left Behind Act. Bush pulled out all the stops to get Republicans in Congress to create the biggest new entitlement program -- prescription drug coverage under Medicare -- in 40 years.
He pushed an energy bill that my colleague Jerry Taylor described as "three parts corporate welfare and one part cynical politics . . . a smorgasbord of handouts and subsidies for virtually every energy lobby in Washington."
It's a far cry from the less-government, "leave us alone" conservatism of Ronald Reagan.
Conservatives used to believe that the U.S. Constitution set up a government of strictly limited powers.
It was supposed to protect us from foreign threats and deliver the mail, leaving other matters to the states or to the private sector -- individuals, families, churches, charities and businesses.
That's what lots of voters assumed they would get with Bush. In his first presidential debate with Al Gore, Bush contrasted his own vision of tax reduction with that of his opponent, who would "increase the size of government dramatically." Gore, Bush declared, would "empower Washington," but "my passion and my vision is to empower Americans to be able to make decisions for themselves in their own lives."
Bush was tapping into popular sentiment.
In fact, you could say that what most voters wanted in 2000 was neither Bush nor Gore but smaller government. A Los Angeles Times poll in September 2000 found that Americans preferred "smaller government with fewer services" to "larger government with many services" by 59 to 26 percent.
But that's not what voters got. Leave aside defense spending and even entitlements spending: In Bush's first three years, nondefense discretionary spending -- which fell by 13.5 percent under Ronald Reagan -- has soared by 20.8 percent. His more libertarian-minded voters are taken aback to discover that "compassionate conservatism" turned out to mean social conservatism -- a stepped-up drug war, restrictions on medical research, antigay policies, federal subsidies for marriage and religion -- and big-spending liberalism justified as "compassion."
When they're given a chance to vote, Americans don't like big government.
Last November 45 percent of the voters in the most liberal state in the Union, Ted Kennedy's Massachusetts, voted to abolish the state income tax.
In January, Oregon's liberal electorate rejected a proposed tax increase, 55 percent to 45 percent.
In September Alabama voters rejected Gov. Bob Riley's $1.2 billion tax hike by 2 to 1.
California voters tossed out big-spending Gov. Gray Davis, and 62 percent of them voted for candidates who promised not to raise taxes to close the state's deficit.
Bush and his aides should be worrying about the possibility that libertarians, economic conservatives and fed-up taxpayers won't be in his corner in 2004 in the same numbers as 2000.
Republican strategists are likely to say that libertarians and economic conservatives have nowhere else to go. Many of the disappointed will indeed sigh a deep sigh and vote for Bush as a lesser evil.
But Karl Rove, who is fascinated by the role Mark Hanna played in building the post-1896 Republican majority, should remember one aspect of that era: In the late 19th century, the Democratic Party of Jefferson, Jackson and Cleveland was known as "the party of personal liberty." More so than the Republicans, it was committed to economic and cultural laissez-faire and opposed to Prohibition, protectionism and inflation.
When the big-government populist William Jennings Bryan claimed the Democratic nomination in 1896, many assumed he would draw industrial workers from the Republicans and bring new voters to the polls. Instead, Bryan lost in a landslide, and turnout declined for the next few elections. As the more libertarian Democrats found less reason to go to the polls, the Republicans dominated national politics for the next 36 years.
It could happen that limited-government voters decide to stay home, or vote for an independent candidate in the mold of Ross Perot or Jesse Ventura or vote Libertarian.
They could even vote for an antiwar, anti-Patriot Act, socially tolerant Democrat.
Given a choice between big-government liberalism and big-government conservatism, the leave-us-alone voters might decide that voting isn't worth the trouble.
The writer is executive vice president of the Cato Institute and author of "Libertarianism: A Primer."
Geoff Metcalf: Under the Color of Authority
IRS: Abuse of Power
Under the Color of Authority
Geoff Metcalf
Monday, Nov. 24, 2003
Find out just what people will submit to, and you have found out the exact amount of injustice and wrong which will be imposed upon them; and these will continue until they are resisted with either words or blows, or both. The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they oppress. – Frederick Douglass
For over a decade I have been interviewing and reporting on what has been called The "Tax Honesty Movement." Some people call these folks “tax protesters," others call them wackos. To a growing many, they are patriots committed to redressing what they perceive as a grievous wrong.
In the wake of years of study, interviews and analysis I have come to my own personal conclusions:
-As an academic exercise, and objective evaluation of the facts in evidence, the Tax Freedom crowd is mostly right.
-However, as a practical reality check, and ‘The Golden Rule’ (those with the gold make the rules), when contemporary ‘Davids’ square off with the federal government’s ‘Goliath,’ right is NOT might.
-Those who take on “The G” can and will be eviscerated by bureaucratic ‘shock and awe’ that has and will ruin lives.
...
One of the most heroic crusaders cast in the role of ‘David’ is Joseph R. (Joe) Banister. Joe is a CPA and former IRS Criminal Investigation Division special agent [www.freedomabovefortune.com]. He is a good guy with a fascinating story and about to become another victim of abuse of power under the color of authority.
...
Big Crowd at Military School Protest Gets Earful of Patriotic Music From Army
Big Crowd at Military School Protest Gets Earful of Patriotic Music From Army
COLUMBUS, Ga. (AP) - Demonstrators gathered outside Fort Benning to protest a military school were hit with a sonic barrage Saturday: patriotic music Army officials had blaring from the main gate.
A crowd estimated by Columbus police at 8,000 gathered to protest the school once known as the School of the Americas, which they blame for Latin American human rights abuses. It appeared to be the largest first-day gathering in the 14-year history of the protest.
The Army's loudspeakers, playing "The Army Song" and "God Bless the U.S.A.," were 50 yards away from where protesters were speaking to the crowd.
...
Raimondo: Boot Boortz!
Neal Boortz is a statist, not a libertarian.
So why is he speaking at the Libertarian Party’s national convention?
by Justin Raimondo
November 26, 2003
One thing one has to say about most of the "liberventionists" – the tiny but vocal clot of pro-war, pro-Bush "libertarians" – and that is they oppose this administration’s attacks on our civil liberties here at home. But what are we to make of alleged libertarians, such as Neal Boortz, who wants to know why the FBI shouldn’t be allowed to spy on the antiwar movement:
"The FBI is investigating the backgrounds and organizational methods of antiwar demonstrators in the US. Hopefully that doesn't come as a surprise to you. It is safe to assume that a large number of these demonstrators are out there in the streets because they want America to fail in its efforts to fight terrorism and its efforts to bring secular representative governments to Iraq and Afghanistan. Translated: Many of these demonstrators are pro-Saddam and anti-US. So, who wouldn't want them investigated by the FBI?"
Oh, gee, I don’t know: maybe a self-described "libertarian" who advocates strictly limited government and regards such surveillance as impermissible, in principle. Perhaps someone who takes the Bill of Rights seriously. In short, someone who believes in upholding the primacy of individual liberty – even in the face of an unprecedented assault by a cabal of war-crazed power-hungry ideologues.
...
Lessig: The New Road to the White House
The New Road to the White House
How grassroots blogs are transforming presidential politics.
When they write the account of the 2004 campaign, it will include at least one word that has never appeared in any presidential history: blog. Whether or not it elects the next president, the blog may be the first innovation from the Internet to make a real difference in election politics. But to see just why requires a bit of careful attention.
...
AlterNet: Neocons Leak Bad Intelligence
AlterNet: Neocons Leak Bad Intelligence
By Jim Lobe, AlterNet
November 20, 2003
The leak of a secret memorandum written by a senior Pentagon official reveals less about the connection between Saddam and al Qaeda than the growing desperation of neo-conservative hawks in the Bush administration.
US starts to lift the veil on Camp X-Ray trials
US starts to lift the veil on Camp X-Ray trials
(TruthOut permacopy)
Patriot Act Expansion Moves Through Congress
Patriot Act Expansion Moves Through Congress
by Jim Lobe
(TruthOut permacopy)
George Orwell: Why I Write
This was really interesting for me. Thanks to Tim at Libertarian Rant for pointing it out.
SITE NOTE: Scaling back for now
I need to conserve time for a while, so entries here are going to be less robust than usual. In most cases I might just end up posting links to what I've read, more as a way of keeping track than anything else. I'm sorry if anyone has grown dependent on the excerpts and ratings. ;-\
I don't know if this has long-term implications for the Little Brown Reader. For the time being, I consider it to be a temporary shift in my approach. I'll be sure to let you know if that changes.
Patriot Act Author Has Concerns
Patriot Act Author Has Concerns
By Richard B. Schmitt, Times Staff Writer
Detaining citizens as 'enemy combatants' -- a policy not spelled out in the act -- is flawed, the legal scholar says.
WASHINGTON — The Justice Department's war on terrorism has drawn intense scrutiny from the left and the right. Now, a chief architect of the USA Patriot Act and a former top assistant to Atty. Gen. John Ashcroft are joining the fray, voicing concern about aspects of the administration's anti-terrorism policy.
At issue is the government's power to designate and detain "enemy combatants," in particular in the case of "dirty bomb" plot suspect Jose Padilla, the Brooklyn-born former gang member who was picked up at a Chicago airport 18 months ago by the FBI and locked in a military brig without access to a lawyer.
...
Campaign finance supporters praise Supreme Court ruling
This statement from the president of Common Cause is one of the most delusional claims I've heard from a public figure in a while.
"The toxic link between donors who write six-figure checks and people in power at the highest levels of government has been severed for good," said Chellie Pingree, the group's president, in a statement.
It's almost as funny as "The era of big government is over" was. Oh, yeah, folks....this time they've got it all worked out. Sure.
CNN.com - Campaign finance supporters praise Supreme Court ruling - Dec. 10, 2003
Supreme Court upholds 'soft money' ban
CNN.com - Supreme Court upholds 'soft money' ban - Dec. 10, 2003
December 08, 2003
KUBBY VOWS APPEAL OF RULING DENYING REFUGEE STATUS IN CANADA
For Immediate Release
December 8, 2003
Press Conference:
Tuesday, Dec. 9th, noon, BC Marijuana Party Headquarters, 307 West Hastings,
Vancouver
Decision Online:
http://www.irb.gc.ca/en/decisions/kubby/va2_01374_e.htm
KUBBY VOWS APPEAL OF RULING DENYING REFUGEE STATUS IN CANADA
VANCOUVER -- Steve Kubby, medical marijuana patient and former Libertarian
Party candidate for governor of California, vowed to appeal a ruling by the
Refugee Protection Division today that denied him refugee status in Canada
based on his need for medical marijuana.
Kubby complained, "I cannot understand how the Refugee panel could conclude
that my life would not be at risk if I were forced to return to the US,
after the leading cancer specialist in British Columbia testified that I
would die without it."
British Columbia cancer specialist Dr. Joseph Michael Connors, an expert in
the area of adrenal cancers, called by the Immigration Ministry, examined
Kubby and testified at the hearing about his medical condition.
The ruling recognizes that, according to Dr. Connors, "Mr. Kubby's tumour
releases, in excess quantities, hormones normally found in the adrenal
gland. Excessive levels of these hormones in Mr. Kubby's blood cause a
range of separate symptomatic problems including paroxysmal headaches,
palpitations (rapid and irregular beating of the heart), hypertension
(sudden dangerous rise in blood pressure), sudden abdominal cramps and
diarrhea, chest pain, shortness of breath, nausea, sudden severe weakness
and anorexia (loss of appetite). If not controlled, Mr. Kubby's symptoms
could evolve further to the point where a myocardial infarction (heart
attack) or cerebral vascular accident (stroke) could occur."
The ruling also acknowledged that "there is evidence before the Board, that
marihuana controls the symptoms of Mr. Kubby's cancer, including
hypertension. In Dr. Connors' opinion, marihuana continues to be the best
treatment available to Mr. Kubby."
However, the ruling went on to say that "it cannot therefore be stated with
any degree of certainty, that marihuana is the reason for Mr. Kubby's
survival even though it remains the best treatment option at this time."
Health Canada has even given Mr. Kubby permission to grow one hundred and
seventeen marijuana plants, based on "medical necessity."
The ruling further acknowledged, Kubby "has received a Health Canada
exemption, which suggests he is a bona fide ill person in need of medical
marihuana. It is noteworthy that Mr. Kubby was investigated and charged
with marihuana related criminal offences in Canada. Those Canadian charges
were later stayed by the Crown, and his marihuana grow equipment was
returned to him by the RCMP after the charges were stayed. This suggests
the Government of Canada believes he has a medical necessity for marihuana."
Despite all of this, the ruling somehow concluded, "he has not established
there is a risk to his life or a risk of cruel and unusual treatment or
punishment" if Kubby is forced to return to the US.
Kubby vowed, "Apparently, I have to die in order to convince the Refugee
board, but instead I intend to fight."
###
Kerry: "Did I expect George Bush to f - - - it up as badly as he did?"
New York Post Online Edition: CURSING KERRY UNLEASHES
FOULMOUTHED ATTACK ON BUSH
BillofRightsDay.com
Here's a new site I put together to help folks organize their Bill of Rights Day celebration efforts:
December 07, 2003
Boots on the Ground, Hearts on Their Sleeves
Boots on the Ground, Hearts on Their Sleeves
By DAVID BROOKS
Published: December 2, 2003
Bossier School Board upholds Advil expulsion
Bossier School Board upholds Advil expulsion
Girl had over-the-counter pills in purse at school
December 06, 2003
Hess: You pays your nickel, you takes your chances
This op-ed is a pretty good dressing-down of a "big prostitution bust", by Arizona Libertarian Barry Hess.
Hip hoppers say Dennis no menace
Hip hoppers say Dennis no menace=The Hill.com=
Dennis Kucinich, that is.
Phillies' Ideas for Libertarian Presidential Candidates
I am not running for President - but I do have some ideas on what our Party needs in one
by George Phillies
In Iraq Picture, Bush Is Holding the Centerpiece
The Bird Was Perfect But Not For Dinner (washingtonpost.com)
In Iraq Picture, Bush Is Holding the Centerpiece
Lindaman: Welcome Back, Rush...Now Retire!
AmericanDaily.com - Welcome Back, Rush...Now Retire! - Thomas Lindaman
December 05, 2003
Rumsfeld's Leaked Memo about the "War on Terror"
I tried to find this memo when it was hot news, and gave up before I was able to. But I recently found cause to look again, and had better luck. I'm storing it here because it's worth archiving (Plus it's public domain, I assume, so I might as well get the traffic instead of USATODAY, where I got it from.)
October 16, 2003
TO: Gen. Dick Myers
Paul Wolfowitz
Gen. Pete Pace
Doug Feith
FROM: Donald Rumsfeld
SUBJECT: Global War on Terrorism
The questions I posed to combatant commanders this week were: Are we winning or losing the Global War on Terror? Is DoD changing fast enough to deal with the new 21st century security environment? Can a big institution change fast enough? Is the USG changing fast enough?
DoD has been organized, trained and equipped to fight big armies, navies and air forces. It is not possible to change DoD fast enough to successfully fight the global war on terror; an alternative might be to try to fashion a new institution, either within DoD or elsewhere — one that seamlessly focuses the capabilities of several departments and agencies on this key problem.
With respect to global terrorism, the record since Septermber 11th seems to be:
We are having mixed results with Al Qaida, although we have put considerable pressure on them — nonetheless, a great many remain at large.
USG has made reasonable progress in capturing or killing the top 55 Iraqis.
USG has made somewhat slower progress tracking down the Taliban — Omar, Hekmatyar, etc.
With respect to the Ansar Al-Islam, we are just getting started.
Have we fashioned the right mix of rewards, amnesty, protection and confidence in the US?
Does DoD need to think through new ways to organize, train, equip and focus to deal with the global war on terror?
Are the changes we have and are making too modest and incremental? My impression is that we have not yet made truly bold moves, although we have have made many sensible, logical moves in the right direction, but are they enough?
Today, we lack metrics to know if we are winning or losing the global war on terror. Are we capturing, killing or deterring and dissuading more terrorists every day than the madrassas and the radical clerics are recruiting, training and deploying against us?
Does the US need to fashion a broad, integrated plan to stop the next generation of terrorists? The US is putting relatively little effort into a long-range plan, but we are putting a great deal of effort into trying to stop terrorists. The cost-benefit ratio is against us! Our cost is billions against the terrorists' costs of millions.
Do we need a new organization?
How do we stop those who are financing the radical madrassa schools?
Is our current situation such that "the harder we work, the behinder we get"?
It is pretty clear that the coalition can win in Afghanistan and Iraq in one way or another, but it will be a long, hard slog.
Does CIA need a new finding?
Should we create a private foundation to entice radical madradssas to a more moderate course?
What else should we be considering?
Please be prepared to discuss this at our meeting on Saturday or Monday.
Thanks.
December 03, 2003
Taibbi: Clark's True Colors
I was not impressed by Taibbi's attitude and approach in writing this article*, but he makes some OK points.
*As Matt Stoller of the Clark Sphere put it:
Seriously, attacking Clark is fine, he's in politics. But why go after the campaign staffers who are trying to do their best? Come on. This is ridiculous. Posing as a porn director at a Meetup and then getting awkward quotes from 22 year old volunteers? Really.
by Matt Taibbi
You can see something in the eyes of most all the Democratic candidates: the pugnacity of Howard Dean, the idealism of Dennis Kucinich, even (surprisingly) the elaborate sense of humor just under the surface of Joe Lieberman.
Not Wesley Clark. His eyes are blank. Like a turtle resting on a rock in the middle of a pond, he simply seems never to move, no matter how long you stare. But then, just as you're about to pack up your picnic basket and go home, you catch him: His head pops out, and he slides off into the water...
Lydon on Emerson: A God for Bloggers
A God for Bloggers
by Christopher Lydon
Ralph Waldo Emerson on his 200th birthday this spring is "closer to us than ever," writes the great Harold Bloom. He is a man for bloggers to embrace most especially, not for Emerson's glory but for our own understanding of a transformative moment we are living through.
Poet, public intellectual, performance artist and incomparable diarist, Emerson (1803-1882) has glory enough. It's we who need his encouraging frame around bloggery--this still strange and marvellous exercise in democratic media.
...
Some Iraqis Welcome Bush, Others Wish Him in Hell
This article is archived at TruthOut. The original doesn't appear to be available at MSNBC.com anymore.
The Pentagon crosses the lexicon
The Pentagon crosses the lexicon
As the horizon in Iraq recedes, the U.S. military’s language adapts
ANALYSIS
By Michael Moran
MSNBC
The turkey has landed
The turkey has landed: how Bush cooked up a secret mission to give thanks to his troops
By Phil Reeves in Baghdad and David Usborne in New York
The Independent-UK
An Apology to Younger Americans
An Apology to Younger Americans
By Sam Smith, The Progressive Review
November 30, 2003
In observance of the approaching 66th anniversary of my arrival on this planet I would like to apologize to you on behalf of my generation. Even members of Confederacy had the grace to secede from the union; my generation has remained within like a deadly virus, subverting it, shaming it, screwing it, stealing from it, and finally strangling it. It will likely be known as the worst generation – the one that brought the First American Republic down – unmatched in the damage it has done to the Constitution, the environment, and a two century struggle to create a society democratic and decent in its politics, economics, and social concourse.
To be sure, when we were young we were, as we said then, somethin' else. We launched the civil rights, women's, gay, and environmental movements, not to mention creating some memorable music before descending into disco. Soon other things started to go downhill rapidly. We became not only the generation that invented the phrase, 'never trust anyone over thirty,' we proved it.
...
December 01, 2003
The Bush Betrayal
I'm posting the full text of this excellent opinion piece, because I'd like to have it archived here. It was originally published in the Washington Post.
By David Boaz
Sunday, November 30, 2003
In 2000 George W. Bush campaigned across the country telling voters: "My opponent trusts government. I trust you."
Little wonder that some of his supporters are now wondering which candidate won that election.
Federal spending has increased by 23.7 percent since Bush took office. Education has been further federalized in the No Child Left Behind Act. Bush pulled out all the stops to get Republicans in Congress to create the biggest new entitlement program -- prescription drug coverage under Medicare -- in 40 years.
He pushed an energy bill that my colleague Jerry Taylor described as "three parts corporate welfare and one part cynical politics . . . a smorgasbord of handouts and subsidies for virtually every energy lobby in Washington."
It's a far cry from the less-government, "leave us alone" conservatism of Ronald Reagan.
Conservatives used to believe that the U.S. Constitution set up a government of strictly limited powers.
It was supposed to protect us from foreign threats and deliver the mail, leaving other matters to the states or to the private sector -- individuals, families, churches, charities and businesses.
That's what lots of voters assumed they would get with Bush. In his first presidential debate with Al Gore, Bush contrasted his own vision of tax reduction with that of his opponent, who would "increase the size of government dramatically." Gore, Bush declared, would "empower Washington," but "my passion and my vision is to empower Americans to be able to make decisions for themselves in their own lives."
Bush was tapping into popular sentiment.
In fact, you could say that what most voters wanted in 2000 was neither Bush nor Gore but smaller government. A Los Angeles Times poll in September 2000 found that Americans preferred "smaller government with fewer services" to "larger government with many services" by 59 to 26 percent.
But that's not what voters got. Leave aside defense spending and even entitlements spending: In Bush's first three years, nondefense discretionary spending -- which fell by 13.5 percent under Ronald Reagan -- has soared by 20.8 percent. His more libertarian-minded voters are taken aback to discover that "compassionate conservatism" turned out to mean social conservatism -- a stepped-up drug war, restrictions on medical research, antigay policies, federal subsidies for marriage and religion -- and big-spending liberalism justified as "compassion."
When they're given a chance to vote, Americans don't like big government.
Last November 45 percent of the voters in the most liberal state in the Union, Ted Kennedy's Massachusetts, voted to abolish the state income tax.
In January, Oregon's liberal electorate rejected a proposed tax increase, 55 percent to 45 percent.
In September Alabama voters rejected Gov. Bob Riley's $1.2 billion tax hike by 2 to 1.
California voters tossed out big-spending Gov. Gray Davis, and 62 percent of them voted for candidates who promised not to raise taxes to close the state's deficit.
Bush and his aides should be worrying about the possibility that libertarians, economic conservatives and fed-up taxpayers won't be in his corner in 2004 in the same numbers as 2000.
Republican strategists are likely to say that libertarians and economic conservatives have nowhere else to go. Many of the disappointed will indeed sigh a deep sigh and vote for Bush as a lesser evil.
But Karl Rove, who is fascinated by the role Mark Hanna played in building the post-1896 Republican majority, should remember one aspect of that era: In the late 19th century, the Democratic Party of Jefferson, Jackson and Cleveland was known as "the party of personal liberty." More so than the Republicans, it was committed to economic and cultural laissez-faire and opposed to Prohibition, protectionism and inflation.
When the big-government populist William Jennings Bryan claimed the Democratic nomination in 1896, many assumed he would draw industrial workers from the Republicans and bring new voters to the polls. Instead, Bryan lost in a landslide, and turnout declined for the next few elections. As the more libertarian Democrats found less reason to go to the polls, the Republicans dominated national politics for the next 36 years.
It could happen that limited-government voters decide to stay home, or vote for an independent candidate in the mold of Ross Perot or Jesse Ventura or vote Libertarian.
They could even vote for an antiwar, anti-Patriot Act, socially tolerant Democrat.
Given a choice between big-government liberalism and big-government conservatism, the leave-us-alone voters might decide that voting isn't worth the trouble.
The writer is executive vice president of the Cato Institute and author of "Libertarianism: A Primer."
Geoff Metcalf: Under the Color of Authority
IRS: Abuse of Power
Under the Color of Authority
Geoff Metcalf
Monday, Nov. 24, 2003
Find out just what people will submit to, and you have found out the exact amount of injustice and wrong which will be imposed upon them; and these will continue until they are resisted with either words or blows, or both. The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they oppress. – Frederick Douglass
For over a decade I have been interviewing and reporting on what has been called The "Tax Honesty Movement." Some people call these folks “tax protesters," others call them wackos. To a growing many, they are patriots committed to redressing what they perceive as a grievous wrong.
In the wake of years of study, interviews and analysis I have come to my own personal conclusions:
-As an academic exercise, and objective evaluation of the facts in evidence, the Tax Freedom crowd is mostly right.
-However, as a practical reality check, and ‘The Golden Rule’ (those with the gold make the rules), when contemporary ‘Davids’ square off with the federal government’s ‘Goliath,’ right is NOT might.
-Those who take on “The G” can and will be eviscerated by bureaucratic ‘shock and awe’ that has and will ruin lives.
...
One of the most heroic crusaders cast in the role of ‘David’ is Joseph R. (Joe) Banister. Joe is a CPA and former IRS Criminal Investigation Division special agent [www.freedomabovefortune.com]. He is a good guy with a fascinating story and about to become another victim of abuse of power under the color of authority.
...
Big Crowd at Military School Protest Gets Earful of Patriotic Music From Army
Big Crowd at Military School Protest Gets Earful of Patriotic Music From Army
COLUMBUS, Ga. (AP) - Demonstrators gathered outside Fort Benning to protest a military school were hit with a sonic barrage Saturday: patriotic music Army officials had blaring from the main gate.
A crowd estimated by Columbus police at 8,000 gathered to protest the school once known as the School of the Americas, which they blame for Latin American human rights abuses. It appeared to be the largest first-day gathering in the 14-year history of the protest.
The Army's loudspeakers, playing "The Army Song" and "God Bless the U.S.A.," were 50 yards away from where protesters were speaking to the crowd.
...
Raimondo: Boot Boortz!
Neal Boortz is a statist, not a libertarian.
So why is he speaking at the Libertarian Party’s national convention?
by Justin Raimondo
November 26, 2003
One thing one has to say about most of the "liberventionists" – the tiny but vocal clot of pro-war, pro-Bush "libertarians" – and that is they oppose this administration’s attacks on our civil liberties here at home. But what are we to make of alleged libertarians, such as Neal Boortz, who wants to know why the FBI shouldn’t be allowed to spy on the antiwar movement:
"The FBI is investigating the backgrounds and organizational methods of antiwar demonstrators in the US. Hopefully that doesn't come as a surprise to you. It is safe to assume that a large number of these demonstrators are out there in the streets because they want America to fail in its efforts to fight terrorism and its efforts to bring secular representative governments to Iraq and Afghanistan. Translated: Many of these demonstrators are pro-Saddam and anti-US. So, who wouldn't want them investigated by the FBI?"
Oh, gee, I don’t know: maybe a self-described "libertarian" who advocates strictly limited government and regards such surveillance as impermissible, in principle. Perhaps someone who takes the Bill of Rights seriously. In short, someone who believes in upholding the primacy of individual liberty – even in the face of an unprecedented assault by a cabal of war-crazed power-hungry ideologues.
...
Lessig: The New Road to the White House
The New Road to the White House
How grassroots blogs are transforming presidential politics.
When they write the account of the 2004 campaign, it will include at least one word that has never appeared in any presidential history: blog. Whether or not it elects the next president, the blog may be the first innovation from the Internet to make a real difference in election politics. But to see just why requires a bit of careful attention.
...
AlterNet: Neocons Leak Bad Intelligence
AlterNet: Neocons Leak Bad Intelligence
By Jim Lobe, AlterNet
November 20, 2003
The leak of a secret memorandum written by a senior Pentagon official reveals less about the connection between Saddam and al Qaeda than the growing desperation of neo-conservative hawks in the Bush administration.
US starts to lift the veil on Camp X-Ray trials
US starts to lift the veil on Camp X-Ray trials
(TruthOut permacopy)
Patriot Act Expansion Moves Through Congress
Patriot Act Expansion Moves Through Congress
by Jim Lobe
(TruthOut permacopy)
George Orwell: Why I Write
This was really interesting for me. Thanks to Tim at Libertarian Rant for pointing it out.
SITE NOTE: Scaling back for now
I need to conserve time for a while, so entries here are going to be less robust than usual. In most cases I might just end up posting links to what I've read, more as a way of keeping track than anything else. I'm sorry if anyone has grown dependent on the excerpts and ratings. ;-\
I don't know if this has long-term implications for the Little Brown Reader. For the time being, I consider it to be a temporary shift in my approach. I'll be sure to let you know if that changes.
Patriot Act Author Has Concerns
Patriot Act Author Has Concerns
By Richard B. Schmitt, Times Staff Writer
Detaining citizens as 'enemy combatants' -- a policy not spelled out in the act -- is flawed, the legal scholar says.
WASHINGTON — The Justice Department's war on terrorism has drawn intense scrutiny from the left and the right. Now, a chief architect of the USA Patriot Act and a former top assistant to Atty. Gen. John Ashcroft are joining the fray, voicing concern about aspects of the administration's anti-terrorism policy.
At issue is the government's power to designate and detain "enemy combatants," in particular in the case of "dirty bomb" plot suspect Jose Padilla, the Brooklyn-born former gang member who was picked up at a Chicago airport 18 months ago by the FBI and locked in a military brig without access to a lawyer.
...
KUBBY VOWS APPEAL OF RULING DENYING REFUGEE STATUS IN CANADA
For Immediate Release
December 8, 2003
Press Conference:
Tuesday, Dec. 9th, noon, BC Marijuana Party Headquarters, 307 West Hastings,
Vancouver
Decision Online:
http://www.irb.gc.ca/en/decisions/kubby/va2_01374_e.htm
KUBBY VOWS APPEAL OF RULING DENYING REFUGEE STATUS IN CANADA
VANCOUVER -- Steve Kubby, medical marijuana patient and former Libertarian
Party candidate for governor of California, vowed to appeal a ruling by the
Refugee Protection Division today that denied him refugee status in Canada
based on his need for medical marijuana.
Kubby complained, "I cannot understand how the Refugee panel could conclude
that my life would not be at risk if I were forced to return to the US,
after the leading cancer specialist in British Columbia testified that I
would die without it."
British Columbia cancer specialist Dr. Joseph Michael Connors, an expert in
the area of adrenal cancers, called by the Immigration Ministry, examined
Kubby and testified at the hearing about his medical condition.
The ruling recognizes that, according to Dr. Connors, "Mr. Kubby's tumour
releases, in excess quantities, hormones normally found in the adrenal
gland. Excessive levels of these hormones in Mr. Kubby's blood cause a
range of separate symptomatic problems including paroxysmal headaches,
palpitations (rapid and irregular beating of the heart), hypertension
(sudden dangerous rise in blood pressure), sudden abdominal cramps and
diarrhea, chest pain, shortness of breath, nausea, sudden severe weakness
and anorexia (loss of appetite). If not controlled, Mr. Kubby's symptoms
could evolve further to the point where a myocardial infarction (heart
attack) or cerebral vascular accident (stroke) could occur."
The ruling also acknowledged that "there is evidence before the Board, that
marihuana controls the symptoms of Mr. Kubby's cancer, including
hypertension. In Dr. Connors' opinion, marihuana continues to be the best
treatment available to Mr. Kubby."
However, the ruling went on to say that "it cannot therefore be stated with
any degree of certainty, that marihuana is the reason for Mr. Kubby's
survival even though it remains the best treatment option at this time."
Health Canada has even given Mr. Kubby permission to grow one hundred and
seventeen marijuana plants, based on "medical necessity."
The ruling further acknowledged, Kubby "has received a Health Canada
exemption, which suggests he is a bona fide ill person in need of medical
marihuana. It is noteworthy that Mr. Kubby was investigated and charged
with marihuana related criminal offences in Canada. Those Canadian charges
were later stayed by the Crown, and his marihuana grow equipment was
returned to him by the RCMP after the charges were stayed. This suggests
the Government of Canada believes he has a medical necessity for marihuana."
Despite all of this, the ruling somehow concluded, "he has not established
there is a risk to his life or a risk of cruel and unusual treatment or
punishment" if Kubby is forced to return to the US.
Kubby vowed, "Apparently, I have to die in order to convince the Refugee
board, but instead I intend to fight."
###
Kerry: "Did I expect George Bush to f - - - it up as badly as he did?"
New York Post Online Edition: CURSING KERRY UNLEASHES
FOULMOUTHED ATTACK ON BUSH
BillofRightsDay.com
Here's a new site I put together to help folks organize their Bill of Rights Day celebration efforts:
Boots on the Ground, Hearts on Their Sleeves
Boots on the Ground, Hearts on Their Sleeves
By DAVID BROOKS
Published: December 2, 2003
Bossier School Board upholds Advil expulsion
Bossier School Board upholds Advil expulsion
Girl had over-the-counter pills in purse at school
December 06, 2003
Hess: You pays your nickel, you takes your chances
This op-ed is a pretty good dressing-down of a "big prostitution bust", by Arizona Libertarian Barry Hess.
Hip hoppers say Dennis no menace
Hip hoppers say Dennis no menace=The Hill.com=
Dennis Kucinich, that is.
Phillies' Ideas for Libertarian Presidential Candidates
I am not running for President - but I do have some ideas on what our Party needs in one
by George Phillies
In Iraq Picture, Bush Is Holding the Centerpiece
The Bird Was Perfect But Not For Dinner (washingtonpost.com)
In Iraq Picture, Bush Is Holding the Centerpiece
Lindaman: Welcome Back, Rush...Now Retire!
AmericanDaily.com - Welcome Back, Rush...Now Retire! - Thomas Lindaman
December 05, 2003
Rumsfeld's Leaked Memo about the "War on Terror"
I tried to find this memo when it was hot news, and gave up before I was able to. But I recently found cause to look again, and had better luck. I'm storing it here because it's worth archiving (Plus it's public domain, I assume, so I might as well get the traffic instead of USATODAY, where I got it from.)
October 16, 2003
TO: Gen. Dick Myers
Paul Wolfowitz
Gen. Pete Pace
Doug Feith
FROM: Donald Rumsfeld
SUBJECT: Global War on Terrorism
The questions I posed to combatant commanders this week were: Are we winning or losing the Global War on Terror? Is DoD changing fast enough to deal with the new 21st century security environment? Can a big institution change fast enough? Is the USG changing fast enough?
DoD has been organized, trained and equipped to fight big armies, navies and air forces. It is not possible to change DoD fast enough to successfully fight the global war on terror; an alternative might be to try to fashion a new institution, either within DoD or elsewhere — one that seamlessly focuses the capabilities of several departments and agencies on this key problem.
With respect to global terrorism, the record since Septermber 11th seems to be:
We are having mixed results with Al Qaida, although we have put considerable pressure on them — nonetheless, a great many remain at large.
USG has made reasonable progress in capturing or killing the top 55 Iraqis.
USG has made somewhat slower progress tracking down the Taliban — Omar, Hekmatyar, etc.
With respect to the Ansar Al-Islam, we are just getting started.
Have we fashioned the right mix of rewards, amnesty, protection and confidence in the US?
Does DoD need to think through new ways to organize, train, equip and focus to deal with the global war on terror?
Are the changes we have and are making too modest and incremental? My impression is that we have not yet made truly bold moves, although we have have made many sensible, logical moves in the right direction, but are they enough?
Today, we lack metrics to know if we are winning or losing the global war on terror. Are we capturing, killing or deterring and dissuading more terrorists every day than the madrassas and the radical clerics are recruiting, training and deploying against us?
Does the US need to fashion a broad, integrated plan to stop the next generation of terrorists? The US is putting relatively little effort into a long-range plan, but we are putting a great deal of effort into trying to stop terrorists. The cost-benefit ratio is against us! Our cost is billions against the terrorists' costs of millions.
Do we need a new organization?
How do we stop those who are financing the radical madrassa schools?
Is our current situation such that "the harder we work, the behinder we get"?
It is pretty clear that the coalition can win in Afghanistan and Iraq in one way or another, but it will be a long, hard slog.
Does CIA need a new finding?
Should we create a private foundation to entice radical madradssas to a more moderate course?
What else should we be considering?
Please be prepared to discuss this at our meeting on Saturday or Monday.
Thanks.
December 03, 2003
Taibbi: Clark's True Colors
I was not impressed by Taibbi's attitude and approach in writing this article*, but he makes some OK points.
*As Matt Stoller of the Clark Sphere put it:
Seriously, attacking Clark is fine, he's in politics. But why go after the campaign staffers who are trying to do their best? Come on. This is ridiculous. Posing as a porn director at a Meetup and then getting awkward quotes from 22 year old volunteers? Really.
by Matt Taibbi
You can see something in the eyes of most all the Democratic candidates: the pugnacity of Howard Dean, the idealism of Dennis Kucinich, even (surprisingly) the elaborate sense of humor just under the surface of Joe Lieberman.
Not Wesley Clark. His eyes are blank. Like a turtle resting on a rock in the middle of a pond, he simply seems never to move, no matter how long you stare. But then, just as you're about to pack up your picnic basket and go home, you catch him: His head pops out, and he slides off into the water...
Lydon on Emerson: A God for Bloggers
A God for Bloggers
by Christopher Lydon
Ralph Waldo Emerson on his 200th birthday this spring is "closer to us than ever," writes the great Harold Bloom. He is a man for bloggers to embrace most especially, not for Emerson's glory but for our own understanding of a transformative moment we are living through.
Poet, public intellectual, performance artist and incomparable diarist, Emerson (1803-1882) has glory enough. It's we who need his encouraging frame around bloggery--this still strange and marvellous exercise in democratic media.
...
Some Iraqis Welcome Bush, Others Wish Him in Hell
This article is archived at TruthOut. The original doesn't appear to be available at MSNBC.com anymore.
The Pentagon crosses the lexicon
The Pentagon crosses the lexicon
As the horizon in Iraq recedes, the U.S. military’s language adapts
ANALYSIS
By Michael Moran
MSNBC
The turkey has landed
The turkey has landed: how Bush cooked up a secret mission to give thanks to his troops
By Phil Reeves in Baghdad and David Usborne in New York
The Independent-UK
An Apology to Younger Americans
An Apology to Younger Americans
By Sam Smith, The Progressive Review
November 30, 2003
In observance of the approaching 66th anniversary of my arrival on this planet I would like to apologize to you on behalf of my generation. Even members of Confederacy had the grace to secede from the union; my generation has remained within like a deadly virus, subverting it, shaming it, screwing it, stealing from it, and finally strangling it. It will likely be known as the worst generation – the one that brought the First American Republic down – unmatched in the damage it has done to the Constitution, the environment, and a two century struggle to create a society democratic and decent in its politics, economics, and social concourse.
To be sure, when we were young we were, as we said then, somethin' else. We launched the civil rights, women's, gay, and environmental movements, not to mention creating some memorable music before descending into disco. Soon other things started to go downhill rapidly. We became not only the generation that invented the phrase, 'never trust anyone over thirty,' we proved it.
...
December 01, 2003
The Bush Betrayal
I'm posting the full text of this excellent opinion piece, because I'd like to have it archived here. It was originally published in the Washington Post.
By David Boaz
Sunday, November 30, 2003
In 2000 George W. Bush campaigned across the country telling voters: "My opponent trusts government. I trust you."
Little wonder that some of his supporters are now wondering which candidate won that election.
Federal spending has increased by 23.7 percent since Bush took office. Education has been further federalized in the No Child Left Behind Act. Bush pulled out all the stops to get Republicans in Congress to create the biggest new entitlement program -- prescription drug coverage under Medicare -- in 40 years.
He pushed an energy bill that my colleague Jerry Taylor described as "three parts corporate welfare and one part cynical politics . . . a smorgasbord of handouts and subsidies for virtually every energy lobby in Washington."
It's a far cry from the less-government, "leave us alone" conservatism of Ronald Reagan.
Conservatives used to believe that the U.S. Constitution set up a government of strictly limited powers.
It was supposed to protect us from foreign threats and deliver the mail, leaving other matters to the states or to the private sector -- individuals, families, churches, charities and businesses.
That's what lots of voters assumed they would get with Bush. In his first presidential debate with Al Gore, Bush contrasted his own vision of tax reduction with that of his opponent, who would "increase the size of government dramatically." Gore, Bush declared, would "empower Washington," but "my passion and my vision is to empower Americans to be able to make decisions for themselves in their own lives."
Bush was tapping into popular sentiment.
In fact, you could say that what most voters wanted in 2000 was neither Bush nor Gore but smaller government. A Los Angeles Times poll in September 2000 found that Americans preferred "smaller government with fewer services" to "larger government with many services" by 59 to 26 percent.
But that's not what voters got. Leave aside defense spending and even entitlements spending: In Bush's first three years, nondefense discretionary spending -- which fell by 13.5 percent under Ronald Reagan -- has soared by 20.8 percent. His more libertarian-minded voters are taken aback to discover that "compassionate conservatism" turned out to mean social conservatism -- a stepped-up drug war, restrictions on medical research, antigay policies, federal subsidies for marriage and religion -- and big-spending liberalism justified as "compassion."
When they're given a chance to vote, Americans don't like big government.
Last November 45 percent of the voters in the most liberal state in the Union, Ted Kennedy's Massachusetts, voted to abolish the state income tax.
In January, Oregon's liberal electorate rejected a proposed tax increase, 55 percent to 45 percent.
In September Alabama voters rejected Gov. Bob Riley's $1.2 billion tax hike by 2 to 1.
California voters tossed out big-spending Gov. Gray Davis, and 62 percent of them voted for candidates who promised not to raise taxes to close the state's deficit.
Bush and his aides should be worrying about the possibility that libertarians, economic conservatives and fed-up taxpayers won't be in his corner in 2004 in the same numbers as 2000.
Republican strategists are likely to say that libertarians and economic conservatives have nowhere else to go. Many of the disappointed will indeed sigh a deep sigh and vote for Bush as a lesser evil.
But Karl Rove, who is fascinated by the role Mark Hanna played in building the post-1896 Republican majority, should remember one aspect of that era: In the late 19th century, the Democratic Party of Jefferson, Jackson and Cleveland was known as "the party of personal liberty." More so than the Republicans, it was committed to economic and cultural laissez-faire and opposed to Prohibition, protectionism and inflation.
When the big-government populist William Jennings Bryan claimed the Democratic nomination in 1896, many assumed he would draw industrial workers from the Republicans and bring new voters to the polls. Instead, Bryan lost in a landslide, and turnout declined for the next few elections. As the more libertarian Democrats found less reason to go to the polls, the Republicans dominated national politics for the next 36 years.
It could happen that limited-government voters decide to stay home, or vote for an independent candidate in the mold of Ross Perot or Jesse Ventura or vote Libertarian.
They could even vote for an antiwar, anti-Patriot Act, socially tolerant Democrat.
Given a choice between big-government liberalism and big-government conservatism, the leave-us-alone voters might decide that voting isn't worth the trouble.
The writer is executive vice president of the Cato Institute and author of "Libertarianism: A Primer."
Geoff Metcalf: Under the Color of Authority
IRS: Abuse of Power
Under the Color of Authority
Geoff Metcalf
Monday, Nov. 24, 2003
Find out just what people will submit to, and you have found out the exact amount of injustice and wrong which will be imposed upon them; and these will continue until they are resisted with either words or blows, or both. The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they oppress. – Frederick Douglass
For over a decade I have been interviewing and reporting on what has been called The "Tax Honesty Movement." Some people call these folks “tax protesters," others call them wackos. To a growing many, they are patriots committed to redressing what they perceive as a grievous wrong.
In the wake of years of study, interviews and analysis I have come to my own personal conclusions:
-As an academic exercise, and objective evaluation of the facts in evidence, the Tax Freedom crowd is mostly right.
-However, as a practical reality check, and ‘The Golden Rule’ (those with the gold make the rules), when contemporary ‘Davids’ square off with the federal government’s ‘Goliath,’ right is NOT might.
-Those who take on “The G” can and will be eviscerated by bureaucratic ‘shock and awe’ that has and will ruin lives.
...
One of the most heroic crusaders cast in the role of ‘David’ is Joseph R. (Joe) Banister. Joe is a CPA and former IRS Criminal Investigation Division special agent [www.freedomabovefortune.com]. He is a good guy with a fascinating story and about to become another victim of abuse of power under the color of authority.
...
Big Crowd at Military School Protest Gets Earful of Patriotic Music From Army
Big Crowd at Military School Protest Gets Earful of Patriotic Music From Army
COLUMBUS, Ga. (AP) - Demonstrators gathered outside Fort Benning to protest a military school were hit with a sonic barrage Saturday: patriotic music Army officials had blaring from the main gate.
A crowd estimated by Columbus police at 8,000 gathered to protest the school once known as the School of the Americas, which they blame for Latin American human rights abuses. It appeared to be the largest first-day gathering in the 14-year history of the protest.
The Army's loudspeakers, playing "The Army Song" and "God Bless the U.S.A.," were 50 yards away from where protesters were speaking to the crowd.
...
Raimondo: Boot Boortz!
Neal Boortz is a statist, not a libertarian.
So why is he speaking at the Libertarian Party’s national convention?
by Justin Raimondo
November 26, 2003
One thing one has to say about most of the "liberventionists" – the tiny but vocal clot of pro-war, pro-Bush "libertarians" – and that is they oppose this administration’s attacks on our civil liberties here at home. But what are we to make of alleged libertarians, such as Neal Boortz, who wants to know why the FBI shouldn’t be allowed to spy on the antiwar movement:
"The FBI is investigating the backgrounds and organizational methods of antiwar demonstrators in the US. Hopefully that doesn't come as a surprise to you. It is safe to assume that a large number of these demonstrators are out there in the streets because they want America to fail in its efforts to fight terrorism and its efforts to bring secular representative governments to Iraq and Afghanistan. Translated: Many of these demonstrators are pro-Saddam and anti-US. So, who wouldn't want them investigated by the FBI?"
Oh, gee, I don’t know: maybe a self-described "libertarian" who advocates strictly limited government and regards such surveillance as impermissible, in principle. Perhaps someone who takes the Bill of Rights seriously. In short, someone who believes in upholding the primacy of individual liberty – even in the face of an unprecedented assault by a cabal of war-crazed power-hungry ideologues.
...
Lessig: The New Road to the White House
The New Road to the White House
How grassroots blogs are transforming presidential politics.
When they write the account of the 2004 campaign, it will include at least one word that has never appeared in any presidential history: blog. Whether or not it elects the next president, the blog may be the first innovation from the Internet to make a real difference in election politics. But to see just why requires a bit of careful attention.
...
AlterNet: Neocons Leak Bad Intelligence
AlterNet: Neocons Leak Bad Intelligence
By Jim Lobe, AlterNet
November 20, 2003
The leak of a secret memorandum written by a senior Pentagon official reveals less about the connection between Saddam and al Qaeda than the growing desperation of neo-conservative hawks in the Bush administration.
US starts to lift the veil on Camp X-Ray trials
US starts to lift the veil on Camp X-Ray trials
(TruthOut permacopy)
Patriot Act Expansion Moves Through Congress
Patriot Act Expansion Moves Through Congress
by Jim Lobe
(TruthOut permacopy)
George Orwell: Why I Write
This was really interesting for me. Thanks to Tim at Libertarian Rant for pointing it out.
SITE NOTE: Scaling back for now
I need to conserve time for a while, so entries here are going to be less robust than usual. In most cases I might just end up posting links to what I've read, more as a way of keeping track than anything else. I'm sorry if anyone has grown dependent on the excerpts and ratings. ;-\
I don't know if this has long-term implications for the Little Brown Reader. For the time being, I consider it to be a temporary shift in my approach. I'll be sure to let you know if that changes.
Patriot Act Author Has Concerns
Patriot Act Author Has Concerns
By Richard B. Schmitt, Times Staff Writer
Detaining citizens as 'enemy combatants' -- a policy not spelled out in the act -- is flawed, the legal scholar says.
WASHINGTON — The Justice Department's war on terrorism has drawn intense scrutiny from the left and the right. Now, a chief architect of the USA Patriot Act and a former top assistant to Atty. Gen. John Ashcroft are joining the fray, voicing concern about aspects of the administration's anti-terrorism policy.
At issue is the government's power to designate and detain "enemy combatants," in particular in the case of "dirty bomb" plot suspect Jose Padilla, the Brooklyn-born former gang member who was picked up at a Chicago airport 18 months ago by the FBI and locked in a military brig without access to a lawyer.
...
Hess: You pays your nickel, you takes your chances
This op-ed is a pretty good dressing-down of a "big prostitution bust", by Arizona Libertarian Barry Hess.
Hip hoppers say Dennis no menace
Hip hoppers say Dennis no menace=The Hill.com=
Dennis Kucinich, that is.
Phillies' Ideas for Libertarian Presidential Candidates
I am not running for President - but I do have some ideas on what our Party needs in one
by George Phillies
In Iraq Picture, Bush Is Holding the Centerpiece
The Bird Was Perfect But Not For Dinner (washingtonpost.com)
In Iraq Picture, Bush Is Holding the Centerpiece
Lindaman: Welcome Back, Rush...Now Retire!
AmericanDaily.com - Welcome Back, Rush...Now Retire! - Thomas Lindaman
Rumsfeld's Leaked Memo about the "War on Terror"
I tried to find this memo when it was hot news, and gave up before I was able to. But I recently found cause to look again, and had better luck. I'm storing it here because it's worth archiving (Plus it's public domain, I assume, so I might as well get the traffic instead of USATODAY, where I got it from.)
October 16, 2003
TO: Gen. Dick Myers
Paul Wolfowitz
Gen. Pete Pace
Doug Feith
FROM: Donald Rumsfeld
SUBJECT: Global War on Terrorism
The questions I posed to combatant commanders this week were: Are we winning or losing the Global War on Terror? Is DoD changing fast enough to deal with the new 21st century security environment? Can a big institution change fast enough? Is the USG changing fast enough?
DoD has been organized, trained and equipped to fight big armies, navies and air forces. It is not possible to change DoD fast enough to successfully fight the global war on terror; an alternative might be to try to fashion a new institution, either within DoD or elsewhere — one that seamlessly focuses the capabilities of several departments and agencies on this key problem.
With respect to global terrorism, the record since Septermber 11th seems to be:
We are having mixed results with Al Qaida, although we have put considerable pressure on them — nonetheless, a great many remain at large.
USG has made reasonable progress in capturing or killing the top 55 Iraqis.
USG has made somewhat slower progress tracking down the Taliban — Omar, Hekmatyar, etc.
With respect to the Ansar Al-Islam, we are just getting started.
Have we fashioned the right mix of rewards, amnesty, protection and confidence in the US?
Does DoD need to think through new ways to organize, train, equip and focus to deal with the global war on terror?
Are the changes we have and are making too modest and incremental? My impression is that we have not yet made truly bold moves, although we have have made many sensible, logical moves in the right direction, but are they enough?
Today, we lack metrics to know if we are winning or losing the global war on terror. Are we capturing, killing or deterring and dissuading more terrorists every day than the madrassas and the radical clerics are recruiting, training and deploying against us?
Does the US need to fashion a broad, integrated plan to stop the next generation of terrorists? The US is putting relatively little effort into a long-range plan, but we are putting a great deal of effort into trying to stop terrorists. The cost-benefit ratio is against us! Our cost is billions against the terrorists' costs of millions.
Do we need a new organization?
How do we stop those who are financing the radical madrassa schools?
Is our current situation such that "the harder we work, the behinder we get"?
It is pretty clear that the coalition can win in Afghanistan and Iraq in one way or another, but it will be a long, hard slog.
Does CIA need a new finding?
Should we create a private foundation to entice radical madradssas to a more moderate course?
What else should we be considering?
Please be prepared to discuss this at our meeting on Saturday or Monday.
Thanks.
December 03, 2003
Taibbi: Clark's True Colors
I was not impressed by Taibbi's attitude and approach in writing this article*, but he makes some OK points.
*As Matt Stoller of the Clark Sphere put it:
Seriously, attacking Clark is fine, he's in politics. But why go after the campaign staffers who are trying to do their best? Come on. This is ridiculous. Posing as a porn director at a Meetup and then getting awkward quotes from 22 year old volunteers? Really.
by Matt Taibbi
You can see something in the eyes of most all the Democratic candidates: the pugnacity of Howard Dean, the idealism of Dennis Kucinich, even (surprisingly) the elaborate sense of humor just under the surface of Joe Lieberman.
Not Wesley Clark. His eyes are blank. Like a turtle resting on a rock in the middle of a pond, he simply seems never to move, no matter how long you stare. But then, just as you're about to pack up your picnic basket and go home, you catch him: His head pops out, and he slides off into the water...
Lydon on Emerson: A God for Bloggers
A God for Bloggers
by Christopher Lydon
Ralph Waldo Emerson on his 200th birthday this spring is "closer to us than ever," writes the great Harold Bloom. He is a man for bloggers to embrace most especially, not for Emerson's glory but for our own understanding of a transformative moment we are living through.
Poet, public intellectual, performance artist and incomparable diarist, Emerson (1803-1882) has glory enough. It's we who need his encouraging frame around bloggery--this still strange and marvellous exercise in democratic media.
...
Some Iraqis Welcome Bush, Others Wish Him in Hell
This article is archived at TruthOut. The original doesn't appear to be available at MSNBC.com anymore.
The Pentagon crosses the lexicon
The Pentagon crosses the lexicon
As the horizon in Iraq recedes, the U.S. military’s language adapts
ANALYSIS
By Michael Moran
MSNBC
The turkey has landed
The turkey has landed: how Bush cooked up a secret mission to give thanks to his troops
By Phil Reeves in Baghdad and David Usborne in New York
The Independent-UK
An Apology to Younger Americans
An Apology to Younger Americans
By Sam Smith, The Progressive Review
November 30, 2003
In observance of the approaching 66th anniversary of my arrival on this planet I would like to apologize to you on behalf of my generation. Even members of Confederacy had the grace to secede from the union; my generation has remained within like a deadly virus, subverting it, shaming it, screwing it, stealing from it, and finally strangling it. It will likely be known as the worst generation – the one that brought the First American Republic down – unmatched in the damage it has done to the Constitution, the environment, and a two century struggle to create a society democratic and decent in its politics, economics, and social concourse.
To be sure, when we were young we were, as we said then, somethin' else. We launched the civil rights, women's, gay, and environmental movements, not to mention creating some memorable music before descending into disco. Soon other things started to go downhill rapidly. We became not only the generation that invented the phrase, 'never trust anyone over thirty,' we proved it.
...
December 01, 2003
The Bush Betrayal
I'm posting the full text of this excellent opinion piece, because I'd like to have it archived here. It was originally published in the Washington Post.
By David Boaz
Sunday, November 30, 2003
In 2000 George W. Bush campaigned across the country telling voters: "My opponent trusts government. I trust you."
Little wonder that some of his supporters are now wondering which candidate won that election.
Federal spending has increased by 23.7 percent since Bush took office. Education has been further federalized in the No Child Left Behind Act. Bush pulled out all the stops to get Republicans in Congress to create the biggest new entitlement program -- prescription drug coverage under Medicare -- in 40 years.
He pushed an energy bill that my colleague Jerry Taylor described as "three parts corporate welfare and one part cynical politics . . . a smorgasbord of handouts and subsidies for virtually every energy lobby in Washington."
It's a far cry from the less-government, "leave us alone" conservatism of Ronald Reagan.
Conservatives used to believe that the U.S. Constitution set up a government of strictly limited powers.
It was supposed to protect us from foreign threats and deliver the mail, leaving other matters to the states or to the private sector -- individuals, families, churches, charities and businesses.
That's what lots of voters assumed they would get with Bush. In his first presidential debate with Al Gore, Bush contrasted his own vision of tax reduction with that of his opponent, who would "increase the size of government dramatically." Gore, Bush declared, would "empower Washington," but "my passion and my vision is to empower Americans to be able to make decisions for themselves in their own lives."
Bush was tapping into popular sentiment.
In fact, you could say that what most voters wanted in 2000 was neither Bush nor Gore but smaller government. A Los Angeles Times poll in September 2000 found that Americans preferred "smaller government with fewer services" to "larger government with many services" by 59 to 26 percent.
But that's not what voters got. Leave aside defense spending and even entitlements spending: In Bush's first three years, nondefense discretionary spending -- which fell by 13.5 percent under Ronald Reagan -- has soared by 20.8 percent. His more libertarian-minded voters are taken aback to discover that "compassionate conservatism" turned out to mean social conservatism -- a stepped-up drug war, restrictions on medical research, antigay policies, federal subsidies for marriage and religion -- and big-spending liberalism justified as "compassion."
When they're given a chance to vote, Americans don't like big government.
Last November 45 percent of the voters in the most liberal state in the Union, Ted Kennedy's Massachusetts, voted to abolish the state income tax.
In January, Oregon's liberal electorate rejected a proposed tax increase, 55 percent to 45 percent.
In September Alabama voters rejected Gov. Bob Riley's $1.2 billion tax hike by 2 to 1.
California voters tossed out big-spending Gov. Gray Davis, and 62 percent of them voted for candidates who promised not to raise taxes to close the state's deficit.
Bush and his aides should be worrying about the possibility that libertarians, economic conservatives and fed-up taxpayers won't be in his corner in 2004 in the same numbers as 2000.
Republican strategists are likely to say that libertarians and economic conservatives have nowhere else to go. Many of the disappointed will indeed sigh a deep sigh and vote for Bush as a lesser evil.
But Karl Rove, who is fascinated by the role Mark Hanna played in building the post-1896 Republican majority, should remember one aspect of that era: In the late 19th century, the Democratic Party of Jefferson, Jackson and Cleveland was known as "the party of personal liberty." More so than the Republicans, it was committed to economic and cultural laissez-faire and opposed to Prohibition, protectionism and inflation.
When the big-government populist William Jennings Bryan claimed the Democratic nomination in 1896, many assumed he would draw industrial workers from the Republicans and bring new voters to the polls. Instead, Bryan lost in a landslide, and turnout declined for the next few elections. As the more libertarian Democrats found less reason to go to the polls, the Republicans dominated national politics for the next 36 years.
It could happen that limited-government voters decide to stay home, or vote for an independent candidate in the mold of Ross Perot or Jesse Ventura or vote Libertarian.
They could even vote for an antiwar, anti-Patriot Act, socially tolerant Democrat.
Given a choice between big-government liberalism and big-government conservatism, the leave-us-alone voters might decide that voting isn't worth the trouble.
The writer is executive vice president of the Cato Institute and author of "Libertarianism: A Primer."
Geoff Metcalf: Under the Color of Authority
IRS: Abuse of Power
Under the Color of Authority
Geoff Metcalf
Monday, Nov. 24, 2003
Find out just what people will submit to, and you have found out the exact amount of injustice and wrong which will be imposed upon them; and these will continue until they are resisted with either words or blows, or both. The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they oppress. – Frederick Douglass
For over a decade I have been interviewing and reporting on what has been called The "Tax Honesty Movement." Some people call these folks “tax protesters," others call them wackos. To a growing many, they are patriots committed to redressing what they perceive as a grievous wrong.
In the wake of years of study, interviews and analysis I have come to my own personal conclusions:
-As an academic exercise, and objective evaluation of the facts in evidence, the Tax Freedom crowd is mostly right.
-However, as a practical reality check, and ‘The Golden Rule’ (those with the gold make the rules), when contemporary ‘Davids’ square off with the federal government’s ‘Goliath,’ right is NOT might.
-Those who take on “The G” can and will be eviscerated by bureaucratic ‘shock and awe’ that has and will ruin lives.
...
One of the most heroic crusaders cast in the role of ‘David’ is Joseph R. (Joe) Banister. Joe is a CPA and former IRS Criminal Investigation Division special agent [www.freedomabovefortune.com]. He is a good guy with a fascinating story and about to become another victim of abuse of power under the color of authority.
...
Big Crowd at Military School Protest Gets Earful of Patriotic Music From Army
Big Crowd at Military School Protest Gets Earful of Patriotic Music From Army
COLUMBUS, Ga. (AP) - Demonstrators gathered outside Fort Benning to protest a military school were hit with a sonic barrage Saturday: patriotic music Army officials had blaring from the main gate.
A crowd estimated by Columbus police at 8,000 gathered to protest the school once known as the School of the Americas, which they blame for Latin American human rights abuses. It appeared to be the largest first-day gathering in the 14-year history of the protest.
The Army's loudspeakers, playing "The Army Song" and "God Bless the U.S.A.," were 50 yards away from where protesters were speaking to the crowd.
...
Raimondo: Boot Boortz!
Neal Boortz is a statist, not a libertarian.
So why is he speaking at the Libertarian Party’s national convention?
by Justin Raimondo
November 26, 2003
One thing one has to say about most of the "liberventionists" – the tiny but vocal clot of pro-war, pro-Bush "libertarians" – and that is they oppose this administration’s attacks on our civil liberties here at home. But what are we to make of alleged libertarians, such as Neal Boortz, who wants to know why the FBI shouldn’t be allowed to spy on the antiwar movement:
"The FBI is investigating the backgrounds and organizational methods of antiwar demonstrators in the US. Hopefully that doesn't come as a surprise to you. It is safe to assume that a large number of these demonstrators are out there in the streets because they want America to fail in its efforts to fight terrorism and its efforts to bring secular representative governments to Iraq and Afghanistan. Translated: Many of these demonstrators are pro-Saddam and anti-US. So, who wouldn't want them investigated by the FBI?"
Oh, gee, I don’t know: maybe a self-described "libertarian" who advocates strictly limited government and regards such surveillance as impermissible, in principle. Perhaps someone who takes the Bill of Rights seriously. In short, someone who believes in upholding the primacy of individual liberty – even in the face of an unprecedented assault by a cabal of war-crazed power-hungry ideologues.
...
Lessig: The New Road to the White House
The New Road to the White House
How grassroots blogs are transforming presidential politics.
When they write the account of the 2004 campaign, it will include at least one word that has never appeared in any presidential history: blog. Whether or not it elects the next president, the blog may be the first innovation from the Internet to make a real difference in election politics. But to see just why requires a bit of careful attention.
...
AlterNet: Neocons Leak Bad Intelligence
AlterNet: Neocons Leak Bad Intelligence
By Jim Lobe, AlterNet
November 20, 2003
The leak of a secret memorandum written by a senior Pentagon official reveals less about the connection between Saddam and al Qaeda than the growing desperation of neo-conservative hawks in the Bush administration.
US starts to lift the veil on Camp X-Ray trials
US starts to lift the veil on Camp X-Ray trials
(TruthOut permacopy)
Patriot Act Expansion Moves Through Congress
Patriot Act Expansion Moves Through Congress
by Jim Lobe
(TruthOut permacopy)
George Orwell: Why I Write
This was really interesting for me. Thanks to Tim at Libertarian Rant for pointing it out.
SITE NOTE: Scaling back for now
I need to conserve time for a while, so entries here are going to be less robust than usual. In most cases I might just end up posting links to what I've read, more as a way of keeping track than anything else. I'm sorry if anyone has grown dependent on the excerpts and ratings. ;-\
I don't know if this has long-term implications for the Little Brown Reader. For the time being, I consider it to be a temporary shift in my approach. I'll be sure to let you know if that changes.
Patriot Act Author Has Concerns
Patriot Act Author Has Concerns
By Richard B. Schmitt, Times Staff Writer
Detaining citizens as 'enemy combatants' -- a policy not spelled out in the act -- is flawed, the legal scholar says.
WASHINGTON — The Justice Department's war on terrorism has drawn intense scrutiny from the left and the right. Now, a chief architect of the USA Patriot Act and a former top assistant to Atty. Gen. John Ashcroft are joining the fray, voicing concern about aspects of the administration's anti-terrorism policy.
At issue is the government's power to designate and detain "enemy combatants," in particular in the case of "dirty bomb" plot suspect Jose Padilla, the Brooklyn-born former gang member who was picked up at a Chicago airport 18 months ago by the FBI and locked in a military brig without access to a lawyer.
...
Taibbi: Clark's True Colors
I was not impressed by Taibbi's attitude and approach in writing this article*, but he makes some OK points.
*As Matt Stoller of the Clark Sphere put it:
Seriously, attacking Clark is fine, he's in politics. But why go after the campaign staffers who are trying to do their best? Come on. This is ridiculous. Posing as a porn director at a Meetup and then getting awkward quotes from 22 year old volunteers? Really.
by Matt Taibbi
You can see something in the eyes of most all the Democratic candidates: the pugnacity of Howard Dean, the idealism of Dennis Kucinich, even (surprisingly) the elaborate sense of humor just under the surface of Joe Lieberman.
Not Wesley Clark. His eyes are blank. Like a turtle resting on a rock in the middle of a pond, he simply seems never to move, no matter how long you stare. But then, just as you're about to pack up your picnic basket and go home, you catch him: His head pops out, and he slides off into the water...
Lydon on Emerson: A God for Bloggers
A God for Bloggers
by Christopher Lydon
Ralph Waldo Emerson on his 200th birthday this spring is "closer to us than ever," writes the great Harold Bloom. He is a man for bloggers to embrace most especially, not for Emerson's glory but for our own understanding of a transformative moment we are living through.
Poet, public intellectual, performance artist and incomparable diarist, Emerson (1803-1882) has glory enough. It's we who need his encouraging frame around bloggery--this still strange and marvellous exercise in democratic media.
...
Some Iraqis Welcome Bush, Others Wish Him in Hell
This article is archived at TruthOut. The original doesn't appear to be available at MSNBC.com anymore.
The Pentagon crosses the lexicon
The Pentagon crosses the lexicon
As the horizon in Iraq recedes, the U.S. military’s language adapts
ANALYSIS
By Michael Moran
MSNBC
The turkey has landed
The turkey has landed: how Bush cooked up a secret mission to give thanks to his troops
By Phil Reeves in Baghdad and David Usborne in New York
The Independent-UK
An Apology to Younger Americans
An Apology to Younger Americans
By Sam Smith, The Progressive Review
November 30, 2003
In observance of the approaching 66th anniversary of my arrival on this planet I would like to apologize to you on behalf of my generation. Even members of Confederacy had the grace to secede from the union; my generation has remained within like a deadly virus, subverting it, shaming it, screwing it, stealing from it, and finally strangling it. It will likely be known as the worst generation – the one that brought the First American Republic down – unmatched in the damage it has done to the Constitution, the environment, and a two century struggle to create a society democratic and decent in its politics, economics, and social concourse.
To be sure, when we were young we were, as we said then, somethin' else. We launched the civil rights, women's, gay, and environmental movements, not to mention creating some memorable music before descending into disco. Soon other things started to go downhill rapidly. We became not only the generation that invented the phrase, 'never trust anyone over thirty,' we proved it.
...
The Bush Betrayal
I'm posting the full text of this excellent opinion piece, because I'd like to have it archived here. It was originally published in the Washington Post.
By David Boaz
Sunday, November 30, 2003
In 2000 George W. Bush campaigned across the country telling voters: "My opponent trusts government. I trust you."
Little wonder that some of his supporters are now wondering which candidate won that election.
Federal spending has increased by 23.7 percent since Bush took office. Education has been further federalized in the No Child Left Behind Act. Bush pulled out all the stops to get Republicans in Congress to create the biggest new entitlement program -- prescription drug coverage under Medicare -- in 40 years.
He pushed an energy bill that my colleague Jerry Taylor described as "three parts corporate welfare and one part cynical politics . . . a smorgasbord of handouts and subsidies for virtually every energy lobby in Washington."
It's a far cry from the less-government, "leave us alone" conservatism of Ronald Reagan.
Conservatives used to believe that the U.S. Constitution set up a government of strictly limited powers.
It was supposed to protect us from foreign threats and deliver the mail, leaving other matters to the states or to the private sector -- individuals, families, churches, charities and businesses.
That's what lots of voters assumed they would get with Bush. In his first presidential debate with Al Gore, Bush contrasted his own vision of tax reduction with that of his opponent, who would "increase the size of government dramatically." Gore, Bush declared, would "empower Washington," but "my passion and my vision is to empower Americans to be able to make decisions for themselves in their own lives."
Bush was tapping into popular sentiment.
In fact, you could say that what most voters wanted in 2000 was neither Bush nor Gore but smaller government. A Los Angeles Times poll in September 2000 found that Americans preferred "smaller government with fewer services" to "larger government with many services" by 59 to 26 percent.
But that's not what voters got. Leave aside defense spending and even entitlements spending: In Bush's first three years, nondefense discretionary spending -- which fell by 13.5 percent under Ronald Reagan -- has soared by 20.8 percent. His more libertarian-minded voters are taken aback to discover that "compassionate conservatism" turned out to mean social conservatism -- a stepped-up drug war, restrictions on medical research, antigay policies, federal subsidies for marriage and religion -- and big-spending liberalism justified as "compassion."
When they're given a chance to vote, Americans don't like big government.
Last November 45 percent of the voters in the most liberal state in the Union, Ted Kennedy's Massachusetts, voted to abolish the state income tax.
In January, Oregon's liberal electorate rejected a proposed tax increase, 55 percent to 45 percent.
In September Alabama voters rejected Gov. Bob Riley's $1.2 billion tax hike by 2 to 1.
California voters tossed out big-spending Gov. Gray Davis, and 62 percent of them voted for candidates who promised not to raise taxes to close the state's deficit.
Bush and his aides should be worrying about the possibility that libertarians, economic conservatives and fed-up taxpayers won't be in his corner in 2004 in the same numbers as 2000.
Republican strategists are likely to say that libertarians and economic conservatives have nowhere else to go. Many of the disappointed will indeed sigh a deep sigh and vote for Bush as a lesser evil.
But Karl Rove, who is fascinated by the role Mark Hanna played in building the post-1896 Republican majority, should remember one aspect of that era: In the late 19th century, the Democratic Party of Jefferson, Jackson and Cleveland was known as "the party of personal liberty." More so than the Republicans, it was committed to economic and cultural laissez-faire and opposed to Prohibition, protectionism and inflation.
When the big-government populist William Jennings Bryan claimed the Democratic nomination in 1896, many assumed he would draw industrial workers from the Republicans and bring new voters to the polls. Instead, Bryan lost in a landslide, and turnout declined for the next few elections. As the more libertarian Democrats found less reason to go to the polls, the Republicans dominated national politics for the next 36 years.
It could happen that limited-government voters decide to stay home, or vote for an independent candidate in the mold of Ross Perot or Jesse Ventura or vote Libertarian.
They could even vote for an antiwar, anti-Patriot Act, socially tolerant Democrat.
Given a choice between big-government liberalism and big-government conservatism, the leave-us-alone voters might decide that voting isn't worth the trouble.
The writer is executive vice president of the Cato Institute and author of "Libertarianism: A Primer."
Geoff Metcalf: Under the Color of Authority
IRS: Abuse of Power
Under the Color of Authority
Geoff Metcalf
Monday, Nov. 24, 2003
Find out just what people will submit to, and you have found out the exact amount of injustice and wrong which will be imposed upon them; and these will continue until they are resisted with either words or blows, or both. The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they oppress. – Frederick Douglass
For over a decade I have been interviewing and reporting on what has been called The "Tax Honesty Movement." Some people call these folks “tax protesters," others call them wackos. To a growing many, they are patriots committed to redressing what they perceive as a grievous wrong.
In the wake of years of study, interviews and analysis I have come to my own personal conclusions:
-As an academic exercise, and objective evaluation of the facts in evidence, the Tax Freedom crowd is mostly right.
-However, as a practical reality check, and ‘The Golden Rule’ (those with the gold make the rules), when contemporary ‘Davids’ square off with the federal government’s ‘Goliath,’ right is NOT might.
-Those who take on “The G” can and will be eviscerated by bureaucratic ‘shock and awe’ that has and will ruin lives.
...
One of the most heroic crusaders cast in the role of ‘David’ is Joseph R. (Joe) Banister. Joe is a CPA and former IRS Criminal Investigation Division special agent [www.freedomabovefortune.com]. He is a good guy with a fascinating story and about to become another victim of abuse of power under the color of authority.
...
Big Crowd at Military School Protest Gets Earful of Patriotic Music From Army
Big Crowd at Military School Protest Gets Earful of Patriotic Music From Army
COLUMBUS, Ga. (AP) - Demonstrators gathered outside Fort Benning to protest a military school were hit with a sonic barrage Saturday: patriotic music Army officials had blaring from the main gate.
A crowd estimated by Columbus police at 8,000 gathered to protest the school once known as the School of the Americas, which they blame for Latin American human rights abuses. It appeared to be the largest first-day gathering in the 14-year history of the protest.
The Army's loudspeakers, playing "The Army Song" and "God Bless the U.S.A.," were 50 yards away from where protesters were speaking to the crowd.
...
Raimondo: Boot Boortz!
Neal Boortz is a statist, not a libertarian.
So why is he speaking at the Libertarian Party’s national convention?
by Justin Raimondo
November 26, 2003
One thing one has to say about most of the "liberventionists" – the tiny but vocal clot of pro-war, pro-Bush "libertarians" – and that is they oppose this administration’s attacks on our civil liberties here at home. But what are we to make of alleged libertarians, such as Neal Boortz, who wants to know why the FBI shouldn’t be allowed to spy on the antiwar movement:
"The FBI is investigating the backgrounds and organizational methods of antiwar demonstrators in the US. Hopefully that doesn't come as a surprise to you. It is safe to assume that a large number of these demonstrators are out there in the streets because they want America to fail in its efforts to fight terrorism and its efforts to bring secular representative governments to Iraq and Afghanistan. Translated: Many of these demonstrators are pro-Saddam and anti-US. So, who wouldn't want them investigated by the FBI?"
Oh, gee, I don’t know: maybe a self-described "libertarian" who advocates strictly limited government and regards such surveillance as impermissible, in principle. Perhaps someone who takes the Bill of Rights seriously. In short, someone who believes in upholding the primacy of individual liberty – even in the face of an unprecedented assault by a cabal of war-crazed power-hungry ideologues.
...
Lessig: The New Road to the White House
The New Road to the White House
How grassroots blogs are transforming presidential politics.
When they write the account of the 2004 campaign, it will include at least one word that has never appeared in any presidential history: blog. Whether or not it elects the next president, the blog may be the first innovation from the Internet to make a real difference in election politics. But to see just why requires a bit of careful attention.
...
AlterNet: Neocons Leak Bad Intelligence
AlterNet: Neocons Leak Bad Intelligence
By Jim Lobe, AlterNet
November 20, 2003
The leak of a secret memorandum written by a senior Pentagon official reveals less about the connection between Saddam and al Qaeda than the growing desperation of neo-conservative hawks in the Bush administration.
US starts to lift the veil on Camp X-Ray trials
US starts to lift the veil on Camp X-Ray trials
(TruthOut permacopy)
Patriot Act Expansion Moves Through Congress
Patriot Act Expansion Moves Through Congress
by Jim Lobe
(TruthOut permacopy)
George Orwell: Why I Write
This was really interesting for me. Thanks to Tim at Libertarian Rant for pointing it out.
SITE NOTE: Scaling back for now
I need to conserve time for a while, so entries here are going to be less robust than usual. In most cases I might just end up posting links to what I've read, more as a way of keeping track than anything else. I'm sorry if anyone has grown dependent on the excerpts and ratings. ;-\
I don't know if this has long-term implications for the Little Brown Reader. For the time being, I consider it to be a temporary shift in my approach. I'll be sure to let you know if that changes.
Patriot Act Author Has Concerns
Patriot Act Author Has Concerns
By Richard B. Schmitt, Times Staff Writer
Detaining citizens as 'enemy combatants' -- a policy not spelled out in the act -- is flawed, the legal scholar says.
WASHINGTON — The Justice Department's war on terrorism has drawn intense scrutiny from the left and the right. Now, a chief architect of the USA Patriot Act and a former top assistant to Atty. Gen. John Ashcroft are joining the fray, voicing concern about aspects of the administration's anti-terrorism policy.
At issue is the government's power to designate and detain "enemy combatants," in particular in the case of "dirty bomb" plot suspect Jose Padilla, the Brooklyn-born former gang member who was picked up at a Chicago airport 18 months ago by the FBI and locked in a military brig without access to a lawyer.
...
