Mr. Galloway Goes to Washington--and tells it like it is

> EXCERPT: the Brit turned the tables on Coleman and
> steered the
> committee's attention toward "the real Oil for Food
> scandal."
>
> "Have a look at the fourteen months you were in
> charge of Baghdad, the
> first fourteen months when $8.8 billion of Iraq's
> wealth went missing on
> your watch. Have a look at Halliburton and other
> American corporations
> that stole not only Iraq's money but the money of
> the American
> taxpayer," Galloway said.
>
> "Have a look at the oil that you didn't even meter,
> that you were
> shipping out of the country and selling, the
> proceeds of which went who
> knows where. Have a look at the $800 million you
> gave to American
> military commanders to hand out around the country
> without even counting
> it or weighing it. Have a look at the real scandal
> breaking in the
> newspapers today, revealed in the earlier testimony
> in this committee.
> That the biggest sanctions busters were not me or
> Russian politicians or
> French politicians. The real sanctions busters were
> your own companies
> with the connivance of your own Government."
>
>
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article8884.htm

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The Rape Of The Rainforest... And The Man Behind It

Makes you not want to eat soy products anymore...
http://www.rense.com/general65/behind.htm

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A fascinating essay entitled How to Die

A fascinating essay entitled How to Die
>
> The following 1942 essay/address was included in an
> interesting book I
> have been reading entitled, "After We Die--What
> Then?" by George W.
> Meek. I was able to locate this online (the essay
> has been out of print
> for years) and want to share it with all those who
> are dear to me. If
> you are interested in commenting, I would like to
> hear from you what you
> think of it. I agree with it. It seems sensible
> and practical to me.
> In my opinion, preparing for death is not something
> to be avoided. I
> have had friends and a daughter who were taken very
> quickly, in the
> blink of an eye and realize that could happen to any
> of us. Perhaps you
> will agree or disagree with some or much of the
> following, but it is
> still wise, don't you agree, to be thinking about it
> at all? For those
> who may be disturbed by the subject, I apologize in
> advance for
> including you in this e-mailing. I have tried to
> leave off from this
> mailing the names of those who I thought might be
> upset by the subject.
> Personally, I have not been able to understand why
> people want to avoid
> the subject of death, because it comes to all of us.
>
>
> Probably because of so many leave-takings of people
> I have loved in
> life, this subject has been of paramount interest to
> me. That may not
> be the case for some of you to whom I am sending
> this today. If it is
> not a subject of interest to you, or it bothers you
> to think of it, or
> your beliefs are different from it, please delete
> this without reading
> it. For those who decide to read it, I hope it will
> give you some
> hope. For myself, I am certain that we live on
> after earthly "death."
> I have had far too many proofs in my own life by
> visits from loved ones
> who have made that passage, to ever doubt it. For
> those who find the
> essay interesting, I recommend George Meek's book.
> He was extremely
> intelligent and curious, of a scientific mind, and
> he did not accept
> anything without delving deeply into it. He left
> his earthly body in
> 1999. You might find his book as fascinating as I
> did, as you read
> about the different experiments he and fellow
> scientifically minded
> colleagues made into this deep and most important
> subject. If you are
> interested, Meek's book can be ordered from
> amazon.com
> Love,
> Eileen
>
>
> How To Die
>
>
>
> Substance of an address
>
> by
>
> Mabel Rowland
>
> Author of
>
> "HOW TO LIVE"
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> "Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make
> you free".
>
> John 8:32
>
>
>
> "Regardless of who we are and how we feel about it,
> each one of us must
> one day leave the body. But there is absolutely no
> reason to fear this
> change, for LIFE is continuous and, what is still
> more comforting,
> CONSCIOUSNESS and individuality are continuous.
>
> What happens is that the soul leaves the body
> we now dwell in and
> starts anew in its next phase of existence,
> vibrating at a different rate.
>
> The change is as natural as breathing and we should
> be as trusting and
> fearless concerning it as we are about breathing.
> There is nothing to
> fear any more than when we lie down to sleep for the
> night.
>
> As God's creatures, we are PRIVILEGED to live LIFE,
> and this privilege
> includes stewardship of a body--a body housing this
> dynamic, precious
> and most wonderful thing in the world--LIFE.
>
> We must take care of the body, but we are not to
> presume that we own it.
> We dwell in it. We do not own it. The Creator put us
> into these bodies
> "for the duration" of our earth lives, and we are to
> follow the first
> law of Nature and strictly observe
> "self-preservation."
>
> We are to fight for our lives to the very last
> ditch and to protect
> our bodies to the very best of our ability. Even an
> insect does as much,
> instinctively.
>
> Painless as we know "dying" to be, it is
> nature's own process and is
> arrived at upon the Creator's exact moment scheduled
> for us in the great
> plan. When will it be for ME? --- Forget it! It is
> none of our business,
> but preparing for LIFE afterward IS.
>
> It is only fair to yourself to take in these
> few facts which I
> shall give you and remember them---you may not
> believe them--- nor do
> you need to---but it is necessary for you to read
> and remember them.
> That is the intelligent thing to do. Then when you
> need the information,
> it will suddenly pop up out of your subconscious
> mind and be useful.
>
> Now when we have completed this cycle of our
> earth life and it is
> over---finished, we awaken in the next state of
> existence, discovering
> that our thought and feeling reactions are exactly
> the same as they
> always were! Remember that. You are YOU. There is no
> death. There is
> only a change of apparel, so to speak. You have shed
> the body, but your
> thoughts and feelings do not undergo any change in
> the passing over.
>
> However, you become quickly conscious of the
> fact that things other
> than yourself are slightly, but definitely,
> different, and it is for
> THAT VERY REASON I am making this talk. So please
> heed this, that you
> may not be at all PANICKY , but know exactly what to
> do.
>
> You probably at some time have dreamed you were
> falling. If so, you
> know that the dreamer never hits and hurts himself.
> He wakes up. In the
> experience of "dying," sometimes the individual
> realizes he is going-or
> he may merely suspect it--but the truth is, that
> while people rarely
> admit it, even to themselves, most of them FEAR it.
>
> There is no need to. There is no death: it is a
> misnomer. The TRUTH
> is that the actual passing over is not only
> painless, as I told you a
> few moments ago, but often beautiful--a natural
> transition, never to be
> dreaded.
>
> We do not get whisked to a city with "golden
> streets" and see
> angels flying around--no. If there is any such
> place, which was held out
> to us as "bait" to be "good" in the theologies we
> were raised on, then
> we are certainly not ready, in our present state of
> being, to take up
> residence there, anyway.
>
> The REAL of the person leaves the body--very
> much as a butterfly
> leaves its old chrysalis. Many, many persons
> everywhere have seen this
> passing over. I have seen it myself. Ask any
> experienced nurse. She will
> probably tell you of seeing a vaporous cloud of
> ectoplasm--that's what
> it looks like to our human vision. It is the silver
> cord that holds us
> to our bodies. Everyone has it and here in our earth
> life it is never
> severed, but it stretches when we are asleep to let
> our souls or
> entities, the real of us, go from the body and
> experience dreams. Then
> it shortens again and comes back to the body. It
> holds "body and soul"
> together. There might be four or five people present
> at a bedside when a
> soul passes out and maybe only one or two of them
> will have their human
> vision stepped up to the frequency even to see this
> much.
>
> Some of us have seen a great deal more. There
> IS no death.
>
> Now you understand that you are the same
> individual after you leave
> the body as before. No wings, no thrones, no crowns.
> You may be pleased
> with conditions, or you may at first be a little
> disappointed. It just
> depends on what you expected.
>
> For the first few days, everyone's fate is the
> same, whether saint
> or sinner, and after that there are spheres of life
> where you will
> belong and nothing can keep you out of your sphere.
> You are drawn into
> it by the LAW of attraction; that law which proves
> that like attracts
> like. We will be with people of the same tastes and
> degree of spiritual
> interests as ourselves, just as we naturally
> gravitate to and choose
> suitable associates here.
>
> Individual reactions are just that-individual
> reactions. And there
> are some people who have lived a sheltered earth
> life to a ripe old age,
> steeped in theological tradition and with fixed
> ideas about streets of
> gold, gates of pearl, harps and so forth. These good
> souls are
> oftentimes their own worst enemies, being stubbornly
> unwilling to adjust
> to anything even similar to their earth life
> conditions, although the
> next plane IS similar--surprisingly so.
>
> Some people, through theological training, actually
> expect, when they
> realize they have "died," to find the streets made
> of gold. Certain it
> is that if they believed that literally while here,
> they will be of the
> same opinion still.
>
> Some theologies teach that when we die, the
> body, soul and entire
> entity lie in the grave and sleep until the
> "judgment day." Well, these
> dear souls actually believe that literally. And when
> helpers on the
> other side of life try to tell them they are the
> same John or Annie
> Smith they've always been, but that now their life
> is going to have a
> few changes in its working out, they are skeptical
> and react as they
> might to a Bunko man at the county fair. Some folks
> of this persuasion
> insist on sleeping until "Gabriel" shall blow his
> horn. They often sleep
> for years.
>
> Let us consider now, a soul just out of the
> physical body, through
> a natural, leisurely process. It is YOURSELF
> perhaps. You are greeting
> your parents. How wonderful they look and they have
> been gone for years!
> They were quite old and a little bent when you last
> saw them in earth
> life. It used to grieve and tug at you a little to
> see them aging and
> failing. But here they are as lovely looking and as
> smiling and happy as
> you remember them when they were young and you were
> very young, just
> starting to school back in the little home town.
>
> Perhaps you are dreaming--something like this
> has happened to you
> before in dreams. No, they were very brief and
> fleeting flashes, those
> dreams. This is real and enduring. Still, your
> parents aren't saying
> very much--that is like a dream, too. But their gaze
> is fond and steady
> and they smile so reassuringly. It is real. And what
> a nice cool light
> feeling you have! They embrace you. It is real!
>
> Lovingly, they lead you off into their own
> circle or vibration,
> where you will rest and talk. Soon you will
> experience a lovely drowsy,
> but very safe feeling, and letting yourself go, will
> fall into a sleep
> of anywhere from three days or so to several weeks.
>
> Even the most spiritual personalities we have any
> record of remained and
> rested the first sixty hours or a few days, in the
> astral, then
> sometimes reappeared here on earth, briefly, before
> ascending into
> higher realms.
>
> The "dead" person doesn't feel nor act any
> differently for having
> "died," but adjustments have to be made, just as
> they have to be made
> here on earth. For instance, when summer is waning,
> we move in off the
> sleeping porch, wrap up a bit and get out our furs
> and make a hearth
> fire. That is all there is to it: it is that simple.
>
> When you have slept for your few days or so
> after "dying" and
> wakened to start living in your new environment, you
> never sleep again.
> You rest as all do in the spiritual realms, but they
> do not sleep. The
> exception is those people I just mentioned, waiting
> for Gabriel.
>
> Please bear in mind that when the soul leaves
> the body it doesn't
> GO anywhere. The change geographically is no greater
> than you would
> experience in life if you walked from one room to
> another, from a
> darkened room into a lighted one or from a warm room
> onto a cool balcony.
>
> Please realize also that while your body is to be
> protected and
> cherished, leaving it, in God's own time, is no more
> to be feared than
> is sliding out of your overcoat, letting it fall on
> a chair and walking
> away from it. And at first there is no consciousness
> of this "shedding"
> as it were, of the body of flesh.
>
> Our rate of vibration has changed, that is all. And
> the life we have
> entered is so very much like the earth life the new
> arrival is often
> quite confused, particularly if he has been taught
> all his life to
> expect something different.
>
> Should you ever experience the baffling
> sensation of walking up to
> your loved ones, embracing them, while they,
> completely unaware of your
> presence, walk THROUGH you, just do not get panicky.
>
> Do the same as you should do in an earth emergency,
> or any situation
> which you do not understand. We are told by the
> Psalmist to "Be still"
> (Psalms 46:10). It matters not what your religious
> belief is, or whether
> you have any--that is perfect advice. Just be
> perfectly still, within
> your own mind and lift your thought to your highest
> concept--whatever
> you think of a GOD. Call to It or Him or breathe His
> name silently or
> aloud, just so it is from the heart, which it will
> be then-it will be
> YOU "as a little child" and IMMEDIATELY--even more
> quickly than I can
> tell you this, help comes. Pleasant, friendly aid
> and you are never in
> that "spot" again.
>
> The helper finds your relatives and loved ones for
> you. This is
> necessary when deaths occur accidentally and
> suddenly. Remember what you
> are reading PLEASE. Simply raise your consciousness.
> It is your same old
> consciousness you know, to YOUR OWN HEAVENLY FATHER.
> Just say as much as
> "Father" and help will come. The astral realm is
> organized. I repeat:
> you need not believe this that you are reading, but
> please remember it.
> In accidental death and in wartime it all happens so
> suddenly that the
> soul may be hurtled out of the body and stand amidst
> a hellish scene of
> disaster and destruction and see his own body lying
> there. It isn't a
> pleasant experience, but it is LIFE. Life is
> progressive. It blooms and
> fades and grows again and lifts us from sphere to
> sphere INDIVIDUALLY
> according to each one's consciousness. Stand still
> and pray. Death is a
> natural part of life.
>
> If your life here has been devoted to the
> accumulation of material
> things or to the making of money, to the extent that
> you have come to be
> steeped in it--to enjoy it, say, more than anything
> else, you are
> building up a hazard for yourself in the "next
> world."
>
> Be wise enough not to have your chief interest a
> material one like
> collecting or selling to make money, because when we
> leave the body, we
> go where there is NO ECONOMIC standard--money is not
> used. You will be a
> fish out of water unless you have a hobby which is
> something less
> material, more intangible and important than buying
> and selling.
>
> Things "of the earth earthy" are just that. Be
> careful not to grow so
> fond of them to be obsessed by them, for once we
> actually LOVE things
> or money, then we are in danger of being drawn and
> held by this earth
> vibration.
>
> Briefly, that would mean that we should, as a
> disembodied soul, yours or
> mine, after we have died, hang around others still
> in earth life, whose
> tastes and activities are the same as ours used to
> be. Our satisfaction
> would be merely vicarious. There are hoards of these
> pitiful earthbound
> souls haunting clearing houses, counting houses and
> money markets and
> trade centers of all sorts. Also we see the souls of
> the morally weak
> and depraved in drinking joints and low places.
>
> While you are still living your physical existence,
> realize that money
> is important to you merely for body-comfort needs.
> This is temporary, so
> don't feed your soul to it. In the next plane you
> see no "business as
> usual" sign. It is then that your artistic
> attainments may be enjoyed
> and you will receive instruction for far more noble
> service than money
> grubbing.
>
> So, my advice is to be prepared--to prepare while
> still living here.
> Cultivate your SOUL SIDE. Learn to love and serve
> your fellow man. If it
> is not easy for you to love people, it can be an
> impersonal kind of love
> until you become a more loving person. Cut down on
> the criticisms of
> others and magnify their desirable qualities. I mean
> just to yourself,
> as they start to "irritate" you when you think of
> them. The way they
> walk or talk or some little fault--forget that and
> refuse to see it. The
> Hindu, when he passes another human soul, mutters
> "pranam," meaning,
> "The God in me salutes the God (part) of you."
>
> I am not being sentimental. I am giving you the key
> to the situation of
> living, more fully, both here and now and AFTERWARD.
>
> World wars have come from little warring feelings in
> the HUMAN HEART.
> People are shocked at first to hear that, but it is
> true. Self seeking
> people here on earth, have compete, connived,
> monopolized and hated in
> their driving urge to control. To be top man; to get
> most; have most;
> regardless of how and inconsiderate of at what cost.
>
> Yes, little wars of greed (called Ambition)
> starting in the
> individual human heart, larger wars in families,
> cities and governments
> finally form the snow ball which becomes a WORLD
> WAR.
>
> The cure for war is peace and it, also, must
> start in the
> individual human heart , with the word
> "UNITY"..oneness, coming to
> fruition in deed as well. We are leaves of one
> tree. Children of the
> same Father. Coals of one fire. And we are each
> endowed with the great
> solvent power of LOVE, which if recognized and USED,
> INDIVIDUALLY, would
> immediately start working to redeem the world.
>
> Let us live with our thought upon God and with
> this attitude of
> mind we shall be living the right way-and then
> surely we will "die" the
> right way. "
>
> ________________________________
>
>
>
> HOW TO DIE was published in 1942 in a 24 page
> booklet that sold for 25cents.
>
> Copyright expired in 1970 and was not renewed.
>
>
>

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The Chinese Connection - New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/20/opinion/20krugman.html?hp

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Fwd: BBC NEWS Explosive showdown in Senate

BBC NEWS Explosive showdown in Senate
>
> I applaud this man who defended himself and told the
> truth so eloquently
> to Coleman and his committee. I wish he were an
> American--we need more
> people like him. The Brits should be very proud of
> him. The full text
> of his speech is below the BBC article that follows:
>
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/4553601.stm
>

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Sibel Edmonds - Official Web Site - www.JustaCitizen.org

Sibel Edmonds - Official Web Site -
> www.JustaCitizen.org
>
>
>
> We all need to write our representatives and
> senators about this case
> that the White House hierarchy does NOT want
> revealed to the public.
> Read the information...Sibel Edmonds is a brave and
> honest woman who is
> trying let us know what is going on behind the
> scenes--as a translator,
> she read documents that told, months before 9/11,
> that a terrorist
> attack and the use of planes flying into buildings
> was being planned
> against the U.S. Her testimony directly refutes the
> lies Condosleezza
> told the 9/11 investigating committee. The White
> House, through the
> Justice Department, is determined to keep her
> silenced.
> http://www.justacitizen.com/

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Don't Blame Newsweek--good truthful column by Molly Ivins

Don't Blame Newsweek--good truthful column by Molly
Ivins

> Yes, as we have seen in the past many months, news
> of U.S. military
> torture of its prisoners has been escalating.
> Throwing a Koran down the
> toilet (or pages from one) really pales in
> comparison with some of the
> torture those prisoners have been subjected to.
> Could you honestly
> believe that the Koran-flush was somehow left out of
> the already
> publicized horrendous torture techniques? Our
> military/government seems
> to believe it is OK to do whatever they want to the
> prisoners, no matter
> how excruciatingly painful or humiliating. It's no
> holds barred. Makes
> you proud to be an American, doesn't it? (NOT!!!)
>
> Newsweek should never have apologized for telling
> the truth (and I
> don't think we have heard the end of this story--new
> reports of Koran
> flushing are coming out--and as this article says,
> those reports have
> also come out in the past from several different
> sources). But that
> seems to be the way of things these days in the
> upside down Alice in
> Bushland world: If you tell the truth, you must
> apologize if it differs
> from what the Bush White House wants the sheeple to
> hear. BUT if BushCo
> tells lies--big ones that get us into unnecessary
> war--hey, no apologies
> there! It's the New Neocon Rules, folks! How do
> you like them apples?
> Personally, I can't stand 'em--and I'm hoping in
> 2006, our vote will
> show 'em where to stick them apples. That is, if
> the votes are counted
> fairly, which, judging by the vote fraud in Ohio and
> Florida and other
> states in 2004, we can be quite certain they won't.
> You don't really
> expect paper trails to ever be added to the Diebold
> voting machines
> while the Republicans are in power, do you? (You
> remember how Diebold's
> CEO promised Bush he would deliver Ohio to
> him?...well, he sure did.
> It's easy when you own the machines and the
> hackers.)
>
> No, those changes will not come while the
> Republicans own our country,
> with no checks and balances on their Rove power.
> Putting changes in
> place to make sure votes are counted fairly will
> have to wait till the
> pendulum swings back and puts Democrats back in the
> majority. I only
> hope it's not too late for that to happen. If the
> neocons own the
> paperless voting machines, how will we ever get a
> fair vote?? Are we
> too deeply into a fascist society to make our way
> out? Or will we have
> to wait, as the people in Nazi Germany did, for more
> and bigger horrors
> to occur before the majority of the public wakes up?
> I fear our country
> is no longer a Republic...it has been taken over by
> greed-driven Empire
> builders who have a huge appetite for power. Their
> end is predictable.
> All Empire builders fall in the end. But how long
> until that end? And
> how much damage can they do before that inevitable
> end?
> http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0517-34.htm

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Gagged, but Still Going Strong - by Sibel Edmonds

> How our government now works. This is a very
> important story that is
> also being buried by the major media. Shouldn't
> this also be on Page
> One? Don't hold your breath for that to happen.
>
> ******************************
>
> Sibel Edmonds is a 33-year-old former FBI translator
> whose February 2004
> allegations to the commission investigating the
> Sept. 11, 2001, terror
> attacks directly challenge the credibility of the
> commission's star
> witness, national security adviser Condoleezza Rice.
> In an April 2, 2004
> interview with the
>
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/story.jsp?story=507514
>
> Independent of London, Edmonds said she read
> intelligence reports from
> the summer of 2001 that al Qaeda operatives planned
> to fly hijacked
> airplanes into U.S. skyscrapers.
>
> "There was general information about the time-frame,
> about methods to be
> used but not specifically about how they would be
> used and about people
> being in place and who was ordering these sorts of
> terror attacks," she
> said. She added that specific cities with
> skyscrapers were mentioned.
>
> Edmonds said that she had provided the commission's
> staff with "specific
> dates, specific target information, specific
> managers in charge of the
> investigation. I gave them everything so that they
> could go back and
> follow up. This is not hearsay. These are things
> that are documented.
> These things can be established very easily."
>
>
> Where is this story now? Read this EXCERPT from the
> following new
> article by Sibel Edmonds: On Oct. 18, 2002, three
> months after I filed
> my suit against the Department of Justice for the
> unlawful termination
> of my employment caused by my reporting criminal
> activities committed by
> government officials and employees, John Ashcroft,
> then attorney
> general, claimed the rarely invoked state secrets
> privilege. According
> to Ashcroft, everything involving my case and my
> allegations was
> considered a state secret, and whether or not I was
> right in my
> allegations, the United States District Court had to
> dismiss my entire
> case without any questions, hearings, or oral
> argument, period.
> According to Ashcroft, the court had to grant his
> order and dismiss the
> entire case with no hearings solely because he said
> so. After all, our
> government knew best. That day, my case was gagged,
> but I continued on.
>
> Those of you who still think my case is about
> covering up some
> administrative blunder or bureaucratic
> mismanagement, please think again.
>
> Those of you who still think that the unprecedented
> secrecy is
> justified, please think again.
>
> Those of you who still think that our leaders may be
> investigating the
> criminals involved in my complaints, please think
> again.
>
> The inspector general's report confirms my core
> allegations. What were
> those core allegations, and whos did they involve?
> Not just some
> low-level terrorist or terrorist organization; not
> just some possibly
> critical foreign entities. No, trust me: they would
> not go to this
> length to protect some nobody.
>
> And lastly, for those of you who think that since I
> have been gagged and
> stopped by almost all available official channels, I
> must be ready to
> vaporize into thin air, please think again. I am
> gagged, but I am not
> dead. Not yet. (Comment by Eileen: I fear for this
> woman's life. If
> she keeps pursuing her truth against the lies of
> Condosleezza, she just
> may end up as dead as Paul Wellstone. It will be
> classified as an
> "accident," of course.)
>
>
> http://www.antiwar.com/edmonds/?articleid=5954
>
---------------------------------
Gagged, but Still Going Strong - by Sibel Edmonds



Highlights

Uzbekistan's Nightmare:
Justin Raimondo Gagged, but
Still Going Strong: Sibel Edmonds
Speed Bumps on Democracy Blvd: Pat Buchanan
Newsweek Got Gitmo Right: Calgacus
Bolton Means Bombs Away: Jude
Wanniski




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war, but endless war, still breed?

#150; John Milton



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May 16, 2005

Gagged, but Still Going Strong
by Sibel Edmonds


The appeal court's decision on the Sibel Edmonds
case is out: case dismissed, no opinion cited, no
reason provided. The court's decision of Friday, May
6, has generated a string of obituaries; "another
major blow, maybe the last one, to Sibel Edmonds, a
woman who has faced an unprecedented level of
government secrecy, gag orders, and classification."
Well, dear friends and supporters, Sibel Edmonds may
be gagged, but she's not dead.

On Oct. 18, 2002; three months after I filed my suit
against the Department of Justice for the unlawful
termination of my employment caused by my reporting
criminal activities committed by government officials
and employees, John Ashcroft, then attorney general,
claimed the rarely invoked state secrets privilege.
According to Ashcroft, everything involving my case
and my allegations was considered a state secret,
and whether or not I was right in my allegations, the
United States District Court had to dismiss my
entire case without any questions, hearings, or oral
argument, period. According to Ashcroft, the court had
to grant his order and dismiss the entire case with
no hearings solely because he said so. After all,
our government knew best. That day, my case was
gagged, but I continued on.

In April 2004, after attorneys for a large group of
9/11 family members subpoenaed my deposition,
Ashcroft made his next move: He invoked the state
secrets privilege for the second time, and this
time, he designated my place of birth, date of
birth, my mother tongue, my father tongue, my
university background, and my previous employment
all state secrets, classified, and matters of
highest-level national security. Based on this new
ruling and designation by our ironically named
Justice Department, my passport would be considered a
top secret document since it contains my place of
birth. My Virginia driving license would be considered
a top secret document, since it contains my date of
birth. Heck, even my resume would be considered top
secret since it contains my linguistic credentials and
my degrees. That day, I officially became a gagged
whistleblower, but I continued on.

In May 2004, two years after two ranking senators
(bipartisan) had, in public records and documents,
announced me credible and my case and allegations
confirmed and supported, an emboldened Ashcroft
struck again. This time, he decided to gag the
entire Congress on anything that had to with my case.
He ordered two ranking senators to take everything
referring to me off their Web sites; he ordered them
to consider all documents and letters related to my
case top secret; and he commanded that members of
Congress shut their mouths on any issue that in any
way referred or related to me. Our senators obliged,
disregarding the principles of the separation of
powers, dishonoring the United States Constitution,
and disrespecting their own prestige and status. That
day, the United States Congress was gagged about my
case, but I continued on.

In June 2004, the United States District Court bowed
to His Highness John Ashcroft and announced its
decision to no longer honor the Constitution's
guarantee of due process: it dismissed the case and
excused itself from providing any real explanation,
on the grounds that any possible explanation, or lack
thereof, might be classified state secrets. Our
court system, too, was unwilling to stand up for its
authority and its separation from the executive
branch. In other words, the District Court allowed
itself to be gagged, but I continued on.

In July 2004, after two years of unexplained
foot-dragging, the Department of Justice's Office of
Inspector General announced that its long overdue
investigation of my case complete and issued its
report. The further empowered and emboldened
attorney general stepped in on that same day and
gagged his own inspector general's findings and
report by classifying it. The supposedly independent
inspector general's office wrapped and duct-taped
its report, bowed, and left the scene, but I
continued on.

On April 21, 2005, for the first time in these three
gagged years, my attorneys and I finally had, or
thought we had, our day in court. Just hours before
our hearing, the appellate court judges issued an
unexpected ruling barring all reporters and the
public from the courtroom. Numerous media entities
tried to flex their weakened muscles by filing a
motion to oppose this ruling. The judges denied
their motion without citing a reason; when asked, they
responded that they didn't have to provide any
reason. Everyone was kicked out of the courtroom
except for me, my attorneys, and the large corps of
attorneys from the Department of Justice. All the
doors to the courtroom were locked, and guards were
placed in front of each door to watch out for
eavesdroppers. Then came the next shock: after
bypassing our brief, asking a couple of puzzling and
irrelevant questions, and allowing my attorneys 10
minutes or so of response, the appellate judges
asked my attorneys and me, the plaintiff, to leave the
courtroom so that the government attorneys could
secretly answer questions and make their argument.
The guards escorted us out, locked the doors, and
stood there in front of the courtroom and watched us
for about 15 minutes. So much for finally having my
day in court: here I was standing outside the
courtroom, guarded, while in there, three judges
were having a mingling cozily with government
attorneys. Then, it was over; that was it; we were
told to leave. My attorneys and I were barred from
being present at our own hearing, but I continued on.

On May 6, two weeks after this Kafkaesque proceeding,
my attorneys and I were given the verdict: The lower
court's decision was upheld, meaning my entire case,
whether or not we had an inspector general's report
that confirmed my allegations, whether or not we had
several congressional letters confirming my case and
my allegations, was prevented from going forward
because of some unspecified state secrets that were
so secret even the judges could not hear or see
them. In fact, the appellate judges in my case did not
cite any opinion because the opinion itself would
have been considered secret. Doesn't this mean that
the appellate court and these three judges were in
effect gagged? It appears so, but I will continue
on.

In the past three years, I have been threatened, I
have been gagged several times, I have been
prevented from pursuing my due process, all reports
and investigations looking into my case have been
classified, and every investigative authority
dealing with my case has been shut up. According to
legal experts familiar with my case, the level of
secrecy and classification is unprecedented in the
entire history of U.S. courts. According to other
experts, I am one of the most, if not the most,
gagged woman they have ever heard of. Why?

Those of you who still think my case is about covering
up some administrative blunder or bureaucratic
mismanagement, please think again.

Those of you who still think that the unprecedented
secrecy is justified, please think again.

Those of you who still think that our leaders may be
investigating the criminals involved in my
complaints, please think again.

The inspector general's report confirms my core
allegations. What were those core allegations, and
whos did they involve? Not just some low-level
terrorist or terrorist organization; not just some
possibly critical foreign entities. No, trust me:
they would not go to this length to protect some
nobody.

It is way past time for a little bit of critical
thinking. The attorney general cites two reasons to
justify the unconstitutional, panic-driven assault on
me. Reason one: to protect certain diplomatic
relations � not named since our officials are
obviously ashamed to admit to these relations. Reason
two: to protect certain U.S. business interests.
Let's take each one and dissect it (I have given up
on our mass media to do that for us!). Since when is
the Department of Justice in the business of
protecting U.S. diplomatic relations? They appear to
be acting as a mouthpiece for the State Department.
Now that's one entity that has strong reasons to
cover up what will end up being considered a mammoth
blunder. It is the American people and their outrage
they must be worried about; they wouldn't want to
have a few of their top officials held criminally
liable; would they?

As for reason two, I can assure you that the U.S.
foreign business relations they may be referring to
are not among those that benefit the majority of the
American people. But the American people's security
and best interests are being sacrificed for a
handful of military-industrial entities and their
lobbying arms. And since when are nuclear black
market activities considered legitimate business,
one may wonder? If you want the answers to these
questions, please ask your representatives for
hearings � not behind closed doors, but open, public
hearings where these questions can be asked and
answered.

And lastly, for those of you who think that since I
have been gagged and stopped by almost all available
official channels, I must be ready to vaporize into
thin air, please think again. I am gagged, but I am
not dead. Not yet.







comments on this article?

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var clickURL =
"http://www.antiwar.com/edmonds/index.php";
var clickTitle = "Gagged, but Still Going Strong";

Archives

Gagged, but Still Going Strong
5/16/2005

FBI Whistleblower Edmonds Files New Lawsuit
3/17/2005

Statement of Sibel Edmonds
3/3/2005

FBI Whistleblower Sibel Edmonds to Testify Before
Congress for First Time Wednesday
3/2/2005

Demand Accountability
1/27/2005

FBI Audit Leaves Vital Questions Unanswered
10/7/2004

Whistleblower Sues for Release of 9/11 Info
9/22/2004

National Security Experts Demand to Be Heard
9/14/2004

An Open Letter to the 9/11 Panel
8/2/2004

The Puzzling 9/11 Report
7/24/2004

Our Broken System
7/9/2004

An Interview with Sibel Edmonds
7/1/2004

Sibel Edmonds began working for the FBI
shortly after the Sept. 11 attacks. Until
the spring of 2002 she worked in the FBI's Washington
field office translating top-secret
documents pertaining to suspected terrorists.
She first gained wide public attention in October
of that year when she appeared on '60
Minutes' on CBS and charged that the FBI, State
Department, and Pentagon had been infiltrated
by agents of a Turkish intelligence
officer suspected of ties to terrorism. She also
accused members of the FBI's translation
services of sabotage, intimidation,
corruption and incompetence. On October 18, 2002, at
the request of FBI Director Robert
Mueller, Attorney General Ashcroft imposed
a gag order on Ms. Edmonds, citing possible damage
to diplomatic relations or national
security.



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Copyright 2003 Antiwar.com

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Read More

Stop the Crime of the Century

> Please read the following article written by a
> political science
> professor at Hofstra University. It speaks of an
> important truth that
> is not being told to the American people. Many of
> us who read the
> British press know about it, but the majority of
> Americans are being
> kept in the dark by an American media that has given
> up on reporting the
> truth in news. As suggested by the author, I am
> writing the New York
> Times and the Washington Post today. I hope more
> people will feel
> inclined to do the same. However, given the apathy
> so far of the
> majority of Americans to the nefarious deeds of the
> Bush administration,
> I don't have too much hope that, even if this story
> were splashed in
> headlines on page one of every newspaper in the
> country, the Bush
> supporters would pay the least bit of attention to
> it. They are like a
> hypnotized bunch of zombies, following their neocon
> "masters" wherever
> they may lead them. The rest of us who have not
> been "zombified" have a
> chance to refuse to follow. But it does take a
> little effort and
> action--and the strong determination of "Hell, NO,
> I won't Go!"
>
>
> EXCERPT:
>
> Did you know that there now exists in the public
> domain a 'smoking gun'
> memo, which proves that everything the Bush
> administration said about
> the Iraq invasion was a lie? If you live in
> Britain you probably do,
> but if you live in the United States, chances are
> minuscule that you
> would be aware of this.
>
> Think about that for a second. Apart from 9/11, has
> there been a more
> important story in the last decade than that the
> president lied to the
> American people about the reasons for invading Iraq,
> and then proceeded
> to plunge the country into an illegal war which has
> alienated the rest
> of the world, lit a fire under the war's victims and
> the Islamic world
> generally, turning them into enemy combatants,
> locked up virtually all
> American land forces in a war without end in sight,
> cost $300 billion
> and counting, taken over 1600 American lives on top
> of more than 15,000
> gravely wounded, and killed perhaps 100,000 Iraqis?
>
> Could there be a bigger story? "How Do Japanese Dump
> Trash?", perhaps,
> which ran on page one of today's (May 12) Times?
>
> Notwithstanding our worst horrors and fears these
> last four years,
> American democracy is in deeper trouble than we
> knew. Now is the time
> for patriots to act.
>
> We must begin by demanding coverage of this
> explosive evidence by the
> leading organs of American journalism. If the
> American people remain too
> jaded or frightened to demand the heads of those who
> deceived them so
> thoroughly, they're entitled to inherit the
> consequences of their own
> failures. However, they cannot make that choice
> until they know the facts.
>
> Please therefore, for the sake of innocent Iraqis,
> for the sake of
> American soldiers, and for the sake of American
> democracy, do two things
> 'write now':
>
> * First, send a message to the New York Times and
> the Washington Post,
> demanding that they cover this most significant of
> stories. Top brass at
> the New York Times can be emailed at the following
> addresses: Executive
> Editor Bill Keller at executive-editor@nytimes.com
> <mailto:executive-editor@nytimes.com>, and Managing
> Editor Jill Abramson
> at managing-editor@nytimes.com
> <mailto:managing-editor@nytimes.com>. For
> the Washington Post, try National Editor Michael
> Abramowitz at
> abramowitz@washpost.com
> <mailto:abramowitz@washpost.com>, and Associate
> Editor Robert Kaiser at robertgkaiser@yahoo.com
> <mailto:robertgkaiser@yahoo.com>.
>
> * Next, forward this article on to everybody you
> know, and ask them to
> write the Times and the Post as well, and then to
> forward this article
> in turn to everyone they know. With some luck,
> perhaps we can achieve a
> critical mass which can no longer be ignored by
> these papers, with the
> electronic media then to follow.
>
> In any case, we are evidently going have to take
> this country back
> ourselves, without even the benefit of a competent
> media to report the
> news.
>
> Fortunately, we possess the greatest weapon of all,
> the truth.
>
>
>
http://www.axisoflogic.com/artman/publish/printer_17682.shtml
>
---------------------------------
Stop the Crime of the Century From
AxisofLogic.com

Global Empire
Stop the Crime of the Century
By David Michael Green
May 15, 2005, 16:57

In Iraq, there is a crime of breathtaking
proportions taking place. Breathtaking, but not
necessarily surprising. We know from the historical
record that governments will lie and deceive, and
we've rarely seen one as immoral and venal as the Bush
administration.
What has turned this crime into an astonishing
demonstration of the depth of American democracy's
decay is the complicity of the media establishment in
hiding the original crime, and in thus doing so,
ripping a gaping hole in the fabric of our political
system.
Did you know that there now exists in the public
domain a 'smoking gun' memo, which proves that
everything the Bush administration said about the Iraq
invasion was a lie? If you live in Britain you
probably do, but if you live in the United States,
chances are minuscule that you would be aware of this.

Think about that for a second. Apart from 9/11, has
there been a more important story in the last decade
than that the president lied to the American people
about the reasons for invading Iraq, and then
proceeded to plunge the country into an illegal war
which has alienated the rest of the world, lit a fire
under the war's victims and the Islamic world
generally, turning them into enemy combatants, locked
up virtually all American land forces in a war without
end in sight, cost $300 billion and counting, taken
over 1600 American lives on top of more than 15,000
gravely wounded, and killed perhaps 100,000 Iraqis?
Could there be a bigger story? "How Do Japanese Dump
Trash?", perhaps, which ran on page one of today's
(May 12) Times?
Of course not. But then how is it that this is not
being reported in the American mainstream media? How
is it that the two organs most responsible for
coverage of political developments in this country -
the New York Times and the Washington Post - have
failed to splash this across their front pages in bold
headlines, despite the fact that they clearly know of
the story? How, especially, could these two papers sit
on a story like this after both recently issued mea
culpas for their respective failures to critically
cover administration claims of bogus Iraqi threats
during the period leading up to the war, thereby
contributing to the war themselves?
From the Bush administration and the current
generation of Republicans, I expect nothing but the
most debased and vile politics. And, of course, ditto
for Fox News and the rest of the overtly right-wing
media. But I have been naive enough, until now, to
believe that at least some of the American mainstream
media has not climbed completely into bed with those
destroyers of all that is decent about American
democracy. Apparently I've been a fool.
Here is the story we are not being told.
Several days before their election last week (May 5),
a patriot within the highest circle of British
government leaked to the Times of London a memo, which
proves the degree of deceit to which both the
Americans and British publics have been subjected on
the subject of the Iraq war. You were never supposed
to see this document
(http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2087-1593607,00.html).
It is headlined in bold with this warning: "This
record is extremely sensitive. No further copies
should be made. It should be shown only to those with
a genuine need to know its contents."
The memo provides minutes from a meeting of Tony
Blair's most exclusive war cabinet, held in July of
2002. In the meeting, two of Blair's top officials
report on discussions they had just held in Washington
with officials at the top levels of the Bush
administration.
Before describing the contents of the memo, it is
important to note that nobody in the British
government has denied to even the slightest degree the
authenticity of this document. A highly placed
American source has verified, off the record, that it
is completely accurate in its recounting of the events
described. And Tony Blair's only comment has been that
there is 'nothing new' contained in the memo. This
could not be more false. The memo proves beyond doubt
the following:
* The Bush administration had decided by July 2002, at
the latest, to invade Iraq. The memo says that
"Military action was now seen as inevitable. Bush
wanted to remove Saddam, through military action..."
Later in the memo it notes that "It seemed clear that
Bush had made up his mind to take military action".
This means the claims that the president did not have
a war plan on his desk at that time are now proven
lies. It means that the whole kabuki dance of going to
Congress, going to the UN, sending over weapons
inspectors, pulling them out before they could finish
their work, requiring Iraq to report to the Security
Council on its weapons of mass destruction, then
immediately rejecting their report as incomplete and
deceitful - all of this - was a completely counterfeit
exercise conducted for public relations purposes only.
It also means that when former Treasury Secretary Paul
O'Neill and former terrorism czar Richard Clarke
reported that Bush had planned to attack Iraq from the
beginning, they - rather than the administration which
was personally savaging them as loonies - were telling
the truth.
* The Bush and Blair administrations knew that the
argument for war against Iraq was weak. As Foreign
Secretary Jack Straw notes in the meeting, "But the
case was thin. Saddam was not threatening his
neighbors, and his WMD capability was less than that
of Libya, North Korea or Iran". This is proof that
Iraq was never anything like the serious threat it was
portrayed to be before the war, and that both
administrations knew that it was no threat, but
knowingly and completely oversold the necessity for
the war with their massive phalanx of lies and
distortions.
* Because the case was thin, the war would have to be
"...justified by the conjunction of terrorism and
WMD". This proves that former Deputy Defense Secretary
Paul Wolfowitz wasn't kidding when he let slip that
the weapons of mass destruction argument was decided
on by the administration for "bureaucratic reasons",
meaning a rationale that all the leading actors within
the administration could agree on as the most
effective public relations device for marketing the
war.
* Both the Bush and Blair administrations manipulated
intelligence to get what they wanted in order to
justify the war, and knew that they were doing
precisely that. As the memo states, "...the
intelligence and facts were being fixed around the
policy". This is the most remarkable statement of all,
as it makes clear that the decision to invade had
nothing to do with facts or any sort of real threat.
Rather, it was simply a preference of the Bush
administration (and probably just a personal one for
Bush), which then became its policy, for which they
then twisted and fabricated information and
disinformation in order to sell the war to a rightly
skeptical public.
* The war was illegal. Kofi Annan and the
international community clearly believed that the war
was a violation of international law. But we now also
know that the British Attorney-General, who has to
rule on this point (the question of the legality of
launching a war is far less significant,
unfortunately, in the American political tradition),
"said that the desire for regime change was not a
legal base for military action. There were three
possible legal bases: self-defense, humanitarian
intervention, or UNSC authorization [which was never
ultimately obtained from the Security Council]. The
first and second could not be the base in this case.
Relying on UNSCR 1205 of three years ago would be
difficult. The situation might change of course." Yes,
of course. Then, again, if it didn't, one could always
just lie about it.
* Knowing that the war was neither legal nor morally
justifiable, the American and British governments
therefore sought to find a way to make the war
politically acceptable by baiting Saddam. As the memo
notes, "We should work up a plan for an ultimatum to
Saddam to allow back in the UN weapons inspectors.
This would also help with the legal justification for
the use of force". And, "The Prime Minister said that
it would make a big difference politically and legally
if Saddam refused to allow in the UN inspectors". And,
"If the political context were right, people would
support regime change".
* Well before the war was 'justified', even in the
bogus sense of Washington's and London's inspections
and UN resolutions game, it had already begun. The
memo states that the "US had already begun 'spikes of
activity' to put pressure on the regime".
* Finally, it is worth noting that, even putting legal
and moral questions aside, the memo also substantiates
the sheer strategic incompetence of the
administration, a failure which has, of course,
produced excessive loss of life. It states that "There
was little discussion in Washington of the aftermath
after military action".
Let's review the bidding here.
We now have definitive, verified and undenied evidence
documenting a panoply of lies told to the American and
world publics about the invasion of Iraq, a bloody war
which was neither legally nor morally justified,
despite overt attempts to make it so by those who
wished to launch it.
On top of that crime, we can now also add that of
America's fourth estate, which has completely
abdicated its role and responsibility to present this
crucial bombshell of information to the public.
It gets worse, however. Eighty-nine members of
Congress have taken note of the items described above,
as well as a separate secret briefing for Blair's
meeting, in which it was agreed that "Britain and
America had to 'create' conditions to justify a war",
and have sent a letter to the president
(http://www.house.gov/judiciary_democrats/letters/bushsecretmemoltr5505.pdf),
demanding a response.
And, yet, still there is no coverage from our press.
It appears that demanding that the government respect
the will of the people is no longer enough in American
democracy. We must now also carry the burden of
demanding that the media do its job and cover
developments which are unfavorable to the national
kleptocracy of which these giant media corporations
have become a part.
That noise you hear? It's the sound of America's
Founders spinning in their graves. And well they
should, for this scenario is precisely the massive
concentration of power they most feared. All branches
of the government are now in the hands of the same
party (meaning, effectively, there virtually are no
branches any longer).
The so-called opposition party facilitates Republican
rule through the flattery of imitation, when it hasn't
gone into hiding instead. The public is frightened and
ill-informed. And now this. To this hall of shame list
must be added a mainstream press which a week ago
seemed only biased and intimidated, but now appears
entirely complicit. We are now living precisely the
nightmare of Washington, Jefferson, Madison and the
rest. It must stop. We cannot have a prayer of an
informed public curbing the worst excesses of American
government if, in fact, that public is not informed.
Sad as it is, if we ever hope to reclaim American
democracy, it appears we must now fight for outrageous
news to be aired, if we ever expect that news to
outrage.
Notwithstanding our worst horrors and fears these last
four years, American democracy is in deeper trouble
than we knew. Now is the time for patriots to act.
We must begin by demanding coverage of this explosive
evidence by the leading organs of American journalism.
If the American people remain too jaded or frightened
to demand the heads of those who deceived them so
thoroughly, they're entitled to inherit the
consequences of their own failures. However, they
cannot make that choice until they know the facts.
Please therefore, for the sake of innocent Iraqis, for
the sake of American soldiers, and for the sake of
American democracy, do two things 'write now':
* First, send a message to the New York Times and the
Washington Post, demanding that they cover this most
significant of stories. Top brass at the New York
Times can be emailed at the following addresses:
Executive Editor Bill Keller at
executive-editor@nytimes.com, and Managing Editor Jill
Abramson at managing-editor@nytimes.com. For the
Washington Post, try National Editor Michael
Abramowitz at abramowitz@washpost.com, and Associate
Editor Robert Kaiser at robertgkaiser@yahoo.com.
* Next, forward this article on to everybody you know,
and ask them to write the Times and the Post as well,
and then to forward this article in turn to everyone
they know. With some luck, perhaps we can achieve a
critical mass which can no longer be ignored by these
papers, with the electronic media then to follow.
In any case, we are evidently going have to take this
country back ourselves, without even the benefit of a
competent media to report the news.
Fortunately, we possess the greatest weapon of all,
the truth.
David Michael Green (pscdmg@hofstra.edu) is a
professor of political science at Hofstra University
in New York.

http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0513-20.htm

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Lahontan Valley Nevada News - Opinion

> Eagle Standard - Opinion
>
> Others are concerned, too...here's a column from a
> Nevada newspaper re.
> the "You're out of our church if you don't vote for
> Bush" brouhaha in
> N.Carolina.
>
http://www.lahontanvalleynews.com/article/20050516/Opinion/105160003

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Article to read and form your own opinion

> The evangelical "Christian Reconstructionists" are a
> hootin' and a
> hollerin'. Their "Justice Sunday" TV and radio
> broadcast reached 60
> million Christians. They're poised to take over the
> government, to push
> through legislation and judges who will vote the way
> they want. They
> are enthused by one of their own in power in the
> White House and really
> believe they will be able to control the world--and
> make everyone in it
> a Christian (their kind of Christian, of course).
> The irony is, Jesus
> would be first on their hit list and considered a
> major threat to them,
> a threat to be done away with. His teachings are
> too pacifistic for them.
>
> The following article, Damned If You Don't, is
> meant to wake up
> thinking people in our country and point out to them
> the dangers of the
> Christian radicals. The author thinks we are not
> taking their threats
> seriously enough. Bill Moyers thinks so, too. I
> agree with them on
> that. I hope we will all remember this in 2006 when
> our votes will
> count (and let's hope they will be fairly counted.
> Unfortunately, that
> is not one thing we can be sure of anymore, with no
> paper trails to
> follow--and proven vote fraud having taken place in
> the last two
> presidential "elections" in Ohio, Florida, and other
> states). If you
> don't want to read the entire article, just glance
> at the following
> excerpt. It gives something to remember at voting
> time.
>
> EXCERPT: Reconstructionism as well as the Christian
> Dominionism theory
> are getting really popular in this country. Big
> Time. And we're not even
> noticing. Gary North, one of the Evangelical's
> loudest voices, has
> declared that Reconstructionism "argues that it is
> the moral obligation
> of Christians to recapture every institution for
> Jesus Christ."
>
> George Grant, author of "Bringing In The Sheaves:
> Replacing Government
> Welfare with Biblical Charity," declared in "The
> Changing of the Guard:
> Biblical Principles or Political Action:"
>
> "Christians have an obligation, a mandate, a
> commission, a holy
> responsibility to reclaim the land for Jesus Christ
> -- to have dominion
> in civil structures, just as in every other aspect
> of life and godliness.
>
> " But it is dominion we are after. Not just a voice.
>
> "It is dominion we are after. Not just influence.
>
> "It is dominion we are after. Not just equal time.
>
> "It is dominion we are after.
>
> "World conquest. That's what Christ has commissioned
> us to accomplish.
>
> "We must win the world with the power of the Gospel.
> And we must never
> settle for anything less... Thus, Christian politics
> has as its primary
> intent the conquest of the land -- of men, families,
> institutions,
> bureaucracies, courts, and governments for the
> Kingdom of Christ."
>
> George Bush told Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud
> Abbas: "God told me
> to strike at al Qaida and I struck them, and then He
> instructed me to
> strike at Saddam Hussein, which I did, and, now, I
> am determined to
> solve the problem in the Middle East..."
>
>
> 'Damned if you don't'
> May 16
>
------------------------------------------------------------------------
> By Ed Naha <http://mkanejeeves.com/?p=111>
>
> Are you the kind of person who yearns for an
> old-fashioned world? You
> know, wherein we'd all obey the laws and the
> punishments of the old
> Hebrew Scriptures? Wherein all religious
> organizations, congregations
> other than strictly Fundamentalist Christianity,
> would be pummeled and
> persecuted? Wherein any person who advocated or
> practiced other
> religious beliefs would be tried for idolatry and
> executed? Wherein
> blasphemy, adultery and homosexual behavior would be
> criminalized; with
> those found guilty also executed? How about public
> floggings and
> burnings? You down with that? Hoo-yah! Welcome to
> the future!
>
> Now, I know you're thinking: how can things get any
> better than that!
> They do! Imagine women being reduced to slave status
> (Hey, you Hooters
> fans!), considered the property of their fathers
> and, after marriage,
> the property of their husbands! Dads could even sell
> their daughters
> into slavery if the SUV payments posed a problem!
> People who owned
> slaves could physically abuse them as long as the
> beatings didn't kill
> them within three days! (I mean, sometimes less is
> more.) Is that
> far-out or what? Totally.
>
> Welcome to a type of "Christianity" that is bubbling
> under the surface
> of our Bizarro society. If you're into all the
> above? You are a
> Christian Reconstructionist. Take a bow!
>
> Reconstructionism as well as the Christian
> Dominionism theory are
> getting really popular in this country. Big Time.
> And we're not even
> noticing. Why? We're above it. We're smarter.
>
> Not really.
>
> We think because we're smart, because we read books
> and newspepers,
> because we know that Jesus said "love one another,"
> we get it. We don't.
> And that's what these deviants are counting on.
>
> There's a war going on and we're not paying
> attention.
>
> It's being fought right here, right now.
>
> It's a war of conquest; geared towards, not only
> conquering our minds,
> but our souls...and, eventually, our nation.
>
> Gary Hedges, who has an excellent article in this
> month's Harper's
> magazine about religion on the airwaves, told
> interviewer Amy Goodman of
> an annual gathering of the most powerful national
> religious broadcasters
> held in Anaheim, California, last month: "Over the
> last few decades," he
> said, "these radical religious broadcasters, who
> have essentially taken
> control of the airwaves, have built a parallel
> information and
> entertainment service that is piped into tens of
> millions of American
> homes as a way of essentially indoctrinating
> listeners and viewers with
> this very frightening ideology
>
> "...I grew up in the Church. My father was a
> Presbyterian minister. I
> have a Master of Divinity from Harvard Divinity
> School, which is what
> you get if you are going to be a minister, although
> I was not ordained.
> For me, this is not a religious movement. It's a
> political movement.
>
> "If you look at the ideology that pervades this
> movement, and the term
> we use for it is dominionism, it comes from Genesis,
> where the sort of
> founders of this movement, Rouses Rushdoony and
> others, talk about how
> God gave man -- this is a very patriarchal movement
> -- dominion over the
> land. And dominionists believe that they have been
> tasked by God to
> create (a) Christian society through violence, I
> would add. Violence.
> The aesthetic of violence is a very powerful
> component within this
> movement. The ideology, when you parse it down and
> look what it's made
> up of, is essentially an ideology of exclusion and
> of hatred. It is a
> totalitarian ideology. It is not religious in any
> way.
>
> "These people quote, as they did at this convention,
> selectively and
> with gross distortions from the Gospels. You cannot
> read the four
> Gospels and walk away and tell me that Jesus was not
> a pacifist. I'm not
> a pacifist, but Jesus clearly was. They draw from
> the Book of
> Revelations - the only time in the Bible - and
> that's a very
> questionable book, as Biblical scholars have pointed
> out for centuries,
> the only time when you can argue that Jesus endorsed
> violence and the
> apocalyptic visions of Paul. And they do this to
> create an avenging Christ.
>
> "They have built a vision of America-- (and) latched
> onto a religious
> movement or awakening that is radically different
> from previous
> awakenings, and there have been several throughout
> American history. In
> all religious revivals, Christian religious revivals
> in American
> history, the pull was to get believers to remove
> themselves from the
> contaminants of secular society. This one is very,
> very different. It is
> about taking control of secular society.
>
> "...And this is an America where people like you and
> me have no place.
> And you don't have to take my word for it, turn on
> Christian
> broadcasting, listen to Christian radio. Listen to
> what they say about
> people like us. It's not a matter that we have an
> opinion they disagree
> with. It's not a matter of them de-legitimizing us,
> which they are. It's
> a matter of them demonizing us, -- describing us as
> militant secular
> humanists, moral relativists, both of which terms I
> would not use to
> describe myself, as a kind of counter-militant
> ideology that is
> anti-Christian and that (is) essentially propelled
> by Satan that they
> must destroy. Listen to their own language.
>
> " You know... in 'Justice Sunday,' listen -- I urge
> everyone to go back
> and look closely at what James Dobson, head of Focus
> on the Family,
> said. He talked about Roe v. Wade causing the
> biggest holocaust in the
> 20th century. There is a frightening kind of
> revisionism and a kind of
> moral equation of a magnitude that... having lived
> through
> disintegrating states in Yugoslavia and other
> places, essentially
> divides -- destroys the center, divides the American
> public, and creates
> a very dangerous and frightening culture war. And
> that's what these
> people are about."
>
> Ah, but it's hinkier than that. Much more surreal.
>
> On December 24th, 2001, Pat Robertson resigned his
> position as President
> of the Christian Coalition. Many Conservative
> Christians were dancing
> (discreetly) in the streets. They believed
> Robertston had stepped down
> in order to allow George W. Bush to take his
> rightful place as the head
> of the true American Holy Christian Church. Dubya
> was the first to be
> the anointed President, the first regent in a
> dynasty of regents
> awaiting the return of Jesus to earth. The President
> would now be the
> minister through whom God would execute His will
> over the nation. Dubya
> accepted the crown and his holy sword.
>
> And Dubya loved wielding that sword.
>
> As he told Bob Woodward: "We will export death and
> violence to the four
> corners of the earth in defense of this great
> nation."
>
> Welcome to the new Crusades, kids.
>
> Dubya considers himself a Crusading Knight.
>
> That would explain everything, in terms of his holy
> wars and his
> threatening half the countries on earth, quoting
> from The Sacred Book
> "My Way or the Highway."
>
> It's delusional. But it's here. Right under our
> noses. Smell it. It
> reeks of catastrophe. These zealots aren't kidding
> around. These people
> are REAL. And they're beginning to reshape this
> country.
>
> Both of these groups want to eradicate what we know
> as America, today.
>
> The poor? Screw them. If their family can't help
> them? It's a curse from
> God. The rich? They're blessed. That's God beaming
> down on them and
> saying they're "okay with Me." Some of this nonsense
> actually goes back
> to Calvinism wherein, the richer you were, the more
> you plowed over the
> poor, the more God blessed you. If you had nothing.
> God didn't like you
> all that much.
>
> Oh, how far we've come along. (But please NOTE: this
> would explain
> Bush's take on bankruptcy, Social Security, tax cuts
> for the rich, the
> obliteration of the inheritance tax for the rich,
> Medicaid for the poor,
> "tort reform," national ID cards and outsourcing
> American jobs to
> benefit the wealthy at the expense of American
> workers.)
>
> Journalist Frederick Clarkson, who has written
> extensively on the
> subject, warned in 1994 that Dominionism "seeks to
> replace democracy
> with a theocratic elite that would govern by
> imposing their
> interpretation of 'Biblical Law.'" He described the
> ulterior motive of
> Dominionism as eliminating "...labor unions, civil
> rights laws, and
> public schools."
>
> Clarkson then described the creation of new classes
> of citizens: "Women
> would be generally relegated to hearth and home.
> Insufficiently
> Christian men would be denied citizenship, perhaps
> executed. So severe
> is this theocracy that it would extend capital
> punishment [to cover]
> blasphemy, heresy, adultery, and homosexuality."
>
> With my Jersey mouth? I'm dead.
>
> Pat Robertson and his ilk have long urged that the
> true believers go
> underground, infiltrate the political system. Get
> the zombies in place
> to overthrow the government. I know it sounds crazy.
> It is. But we live
> in crazy times. These people are determined to turn
> Jesus' "Kingdom of
> God," a spiritual place ("My kingdom is not of this
> world.") to a real
> place. America. And that's just the launching point.
>
> From here? They want to conquer the world. (Does
> this sound like PNAC
> to you?) Leo Strauss, the Godfather of the NeoCons
> and the teacher of
> Paul Wolfowitz and his PNACers, stated that a leader
> had to deceive the
> citizens he ruled and that those who lead must
> understand that there is
> no morality. There is only the right of the superior
> to rule the inferior.
>
> These folks are into Christ as an avenging warrior,
> sort of a Biblical
> Rambo. According to Reconstructionist Gary North,
> women who have
> abortions should be publicly executed "along with
> those who advised them
> to abort their children."
>
> And just think. In Biblical terms, punishments for
> non-capital crimes
> include whipping and restitution in the form of
> indentured servitude, or
> slavery.
>
> Remember: "Justice Sunday" was seen by 60 million of
> the flock.
>
> Remember: This flock is fine with public floggings.
>
> And that's not even taking into consideration being
> forced to watch Fox
> News. (Me? Two orders of flogging to go, please.
> ANYthing but Hannity!)
>
> And some of these true believers have now
> infiltrated our current
> government. Look at them. DeLay? Frist?
>
> Gary North endorsed stealth tactics to infiltrate
> the government as far
> back as 1981 to help "smooth the transition to
> Christian political
> leadership...Christians must begin to organize
> politically within the
> present party structure, and they must begin to
> infiltrate the existing
> institutional order."
>
> Pat Robertson's Christian Coalition threatened to
> take over the
> Republican Party "from the bottom up" and to run
> "stealth candidates"
> for local offices and to get into local public
> school boards to bring
> them down.
>
> Back in the day, Dr. Stanley Monteith, a California
> activist and a
> member of the Christian Coalition intoned in 1993:
> Democracy was a "mob
> rule" and declared that the purpose of (a Christian)
> "civil government"
> was to "terrorize evil doers...to be an
> AVENGER!...to bring down the
> wrath of God to bear on all those who practice
> evil!"
>
> Like people who help the poor, the sick and who
> still admire FDR's programs.
>
> People like Us.
>
> Or, as we laughingly call ourselves, spawns of
> Satan.
>
> These are folks who believe that the Bible is free
> of error.
>
> These are people who oppose inter-racial marriages.
>
> These are people who believe Catholics, Jews,
> Muslims and all
> non-like-minded Christians are going to hell.
>
> The kind of Mayberry folks who would still burn
> witches, but make it
> family-friendly by introducing marshmallows into the
> fray.
>
> Katherine Yurica, an expert on Dominonism, notes
> that it's followers
> include Bush, Cheney, Rumsefeld, Wolfowitz,
> Ashcroft, Scalia, Thomas,
> Gingrich and Robertson.
>
> Sure, we think they're crazy. Oddballs. Loonies.
>
> But maybe WE'RE the ones who are crazy. Why? Because
> we dismiss them as
> "Loonies."
>
> Last week, Governor Haley Barbour of Mississippi
> signed into law a
> measure that authorized state officials to post the
> Ten Commandments,
> excerpts from Jesus' Sermon on the Mount, and the
> phrase "In God We
> Trust" in any and all public buildings, thus
> officially sanctioning
> Christianity as the state's official religion.
>
> Nobody caught that story. Why? Because we're too
> smart. We're focusing
> on the important issues, the faux red meat issues
> the Republicans toss
> in front of us to distract our vision.
>
> Gary North, one of the Evangelical's loudest voices,
> has declared that
> Reconstructionism "argues that it is the moral
> obligation of Christians
> to recapture every institution for Jesus Christ."
>
> George Grant, author of "Bringing In The Sheaves:
> Replacing Government
> Welfare with Biblical Charity," declared in "The
> Changing of the Guard:
> Biblical Principles or Political Action:"
>
> "Christians have an obligation, a mandate, a
> commission, a holy
> responsibility to reclaim the land for Jesus Christ
> -- to have dominion
> in civil structures, just as in every other aspect
> of life and godliness.
>
> " But it is dominion we are after. Not just a voice.
>
> "It is dominion we are after. Not just influence.
>
> "It is dominion we are after. Not just equal time.
>
> "It is dominion we are after.
>
> "World conquest. That's what Christ has commissioned
> us to accomplish.
>
> "We must win the world with the power of the Gospel.
> And we must never
> settle for anything less... Thus, Christian politics
> has as its primary
> intent the conquest of the land -- of men, families,
> institutions,
> bureaucracies, courts, and governments for the
> Kingdom of Christ."
>
> George Bush told Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud
> Abbas: "God told me
> to strike at al Qaida and I struck them, and then He
> instructed me to
> strike at Saddam Hussein, which I did, and, now, I
> am determined to
> solve the problem in the Middle East..."
>
> Still think these people are silly?
>
> A week ago, so-called secular humanists and regular
> Christians, gathered
> in New York City at the Open Center to try to
> understand all this
> religious politicism that twists the teachings of
> Christ into a weapon.
>
> "This may be the darkest time in our history," said
> Bob Edgar, general
> secretary of the National Council of Churches and
> former six-term
> Democratic congressman from Pennsylvania. "The
> religious right have been
> systematically working at this for 40 years. The
> question is, where is
> the religious left?"
>
> The religious left died on a cross two-thousand
> years ago.
>
> A resurrection is long overdue in American politics.
>
> I'm thinking '06.
>
>
>

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