Well it sure appears to me that the USA, may just end up winning more of these battles, but definitely will never win the "War," by way of their abhorent and autocratic demonstrations of "American-Diplomacy," and non-ending rhetoric.

By all historical observations far and world-wide, the now prevalent New Rules, regulations, "Patriot Act impositions," and blatant invasions of personal privacies, not to ignore the human indignities being sufferred at Guantanimo-Bay institutions, do fully describe and demonstrate to the "Whole World," just how the various factions of so called bad-guys, and as otherwise referred to as; - "Terrorists," have made them the "Winners." &Yes! - They certainly have unwittingly been made the winners, by the sadly discraceful "Cringing" that is now so prevalent within all USA foreign policies and dictatorial infringments to any and all Personal, Human, Rights and Freedoms, that used to be a real genuine part of our previously enjoyed democracy, that no longer is existant or enjoyed.

Again in final summation, that is most specifically what has put them in the winners-circle, and onto the podium. And, my God........ how did such a former great country become so glued in it's own demise and possible-eventual self destruction, by way of it's deteriorating ways and means.

Would it were, that someone in USA government diplomatic circles, actually make genuine observation of all the forgoing with true concern and sencerity, it may then come to pass, that eventual turn-around could be possible to save this "Great Land," and country of North America.

Sincerely, .....by a real genuinely concerned person of what used to be a great Free-Country, that is actually no longer, in 2006. ........"Cheers."

Well it sure appears to me that the USA, may just end up winning more of these battles, but definitely will never win the "War," by way of their abhorent and autocratic demonstrations of "American-Diplomacy," and non-ending rhetoric.

By all historical observations far and world-wide, the now prevalent New Rules, regulations, "Patriot Act impositions," and blatant invasions of personal privacies, not to ignore the human indignities being sufferred at Guantanimo-Bay institutions, do fully describe and demonstrate to the "Whole World," just how the various factions of so called bad-guys, and as otherwise referred to as; - "Terrorists," have made them the "Winners." &Yes! - They certainly have unwittingly been made the winners, by the sadly discraceful "Cringing" that is now so prevalent within all USA foreign policies and dictatorial infringments to any and all Personal, Human, Rights and Freedoms, that used to be a real genuine part of our previously enjoyed democracy, that no longer is existant or enjoyed.

Again in final summation, that is most specifically what has put them in the winners-circle, and onto the podium. And, my God........ how did such a former great country become so glued in it's own demise and possible-eventual self destruction, by way of it's deteriorating ways and means.

Would it were, that someone in USA government diplomatic circles, actually make genuine observation of all the forgoing with true concern and sencerity, it may then come to pass, that eventual turn-around could be possible to save this "Great Land," and country of North America.

Sincerely, .....by a real genuinely concerned person of what used to be a great Free-Country, that is actually no longer, in 2006. ........"Cheers."

Chris Ford your credibility is toast

Chris Ford.. Two quotes from your recent postings:
"I think the country would be much happier if we allowed the military to protect civilians where the military is liked and respected - and leave San Francisco, much of New England, most Jewish neighborhoods, and NYC undefended by the US military. The former would be happy with this arrangement, so too would the latter until another 9/11 hits them..."

"PS. Don't forget San Francisco, the gay Mecca, and the den of Jewish finance - NYC! And Allah has a special on killing ACLU members that are currently going after Christmas, but may target the Haj soon - an eternal supply of all the alcohol and drugs you can use in Paradise! The ACLU says they are your best friends, but they are sly liars!"

These postings clearly establish that:
1. You are a racist, homophobic, gay-bashing, idiot!
2. That your posts are no longer worth my time to read or reply to in the future.

Chris I finally figured you out, you are a gay Islamoid. Judging from your description you were separated at birth.

"So, why is it a surprise that "those in charge" who were originally shown to be incompetent, are starting to circle the wagons as though they are protecting themselves from the same people they were hired to protect?"

Matt, you might as well reopen the John F. Kennedy assassination investigation while you're at it. The MSM still won't seriously touch the JFK assassination with a ten-foot pole. If Americans would have "run that voodoo down" in 1963, we wouldn't be here today licking our wounds about 9/11. Instead, we're all been reduced to the ignominious status of "looney Oliver Stone conspiracy theorists," while the global body count keeps mounting. We've all been relegated to a state of passive compliance-- hostages with a massive case of Stockholm Syndrome-- while the serial murderers and natural born killers continue unabated in their ghoulish deeds.

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Privatize me... Corporatize me... Blackwaterize me...

http://onlinejournal.com/artman/publish/article_338.shtml
By Jason Miller
Online Journal Contributing Writer

Dec 16, 2005, 00:42

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Thomas Paine saw the United States as an "asylum for mankind." Sadly, under the political and social dominance of the Social Darwinists, America has become more of an "asylum for the insane". Torture, state-sponsored terrorism, illegal wars, flagrant disregard for international law, tax decreases for the wealthy, funding cuts for social safety net programs, government endorsed racism, and diasporas in the aftermath of natural disasters are but a few examples of the handiwork of the wealthy elite as they create a gross perversion of Paine's vision of the US. Not to worry though. America's patrician class now has its own private armies to protect its gold from the proletariat they so graciously tolerate.

Recently, a company called Blackwater Lodge and Training Center, Inc. ("Blackwater") unleashed some attorneys on me for an editorial I published on Thomas Paine's Corner (my blog). The article was by another writer and I had published it under Fair Use since my blog generates no revenue. Blackwater's legal representatives threatened me with a libel suit and demanded that I remove the article because it contained factual inaccuracies. After some research I agreed with them and removed the article from Thomas Paine's Corner. However, in the course of my research, I made some startling discoveries about the corporate mercenaries of Blackwater and their disturbing relationship with the US government, which clearly illustrates the threat America's parasitic aristocracy poses to the poor, working and middle class of the world.

Martial law? Here?

As some have written and conjectured, the Posse Comitatus Act (passed by Congress during Reconstruction to prevent the government from using the military to enforce civilian law) is in serious jeopardy of going the way of the dinosaurs. Signs of ill portent for the act are its statutory rather than constitutional nature (leaving it much more vulnerable to legislative changes): the federal government's use of the military to fight the "War on Drugs" along America's borders, the precedent set by the deployment of Blackwater's military proxies in New Orleans, and the Bush Regime's repeated statement of its intention to rely heavily upon the military in times of domestic crisis (i.e. during future hurricanes, a potential outbreak of Avian Flu). Unfortunately, Posse Comitatus affords the American public about as much protection from martial law (at the whim of our deranged president) as the levees provided New Orleans from the ravages of Katrina.

Tell Me Sweet Little Lies

In a time that is roughly comparable to that of the Gilded Age, corporations and the wealthy elite in the United States revel in their virtually unparalleled power and wealth. Labor unions, whose membership peaked at 35 percent of the hourly wage force in the 1950s, now comprise less than 10 percent of the US work force. The wealth gap continues to widen to devastating proportions as the middle class slowly disappears. Statistically, unemployment is relatively low, but many of those who are working are under-employed or working multiple jobs just to make ends meet. As the wealthy elite continue to tighten the screws by raising regressive taxes and lowering progressive taxes, lowering wages and benefits for the working class, off-shoring jobs, and cutting social programs, the threat of riots and social unrest becomes real. Hence the Bush Regime's moves to lay the foundation for declaring martial law and the raising the fortunes of companies providing private military forces, like Blackwater.

Blackwater provides an interesting solution to the Bush Regime's dilemma in sating its desire to employ martial law covertly. Despite their Social Darwinism, America's leaders prefer to maintain the illusion of "democracy and freedom" to keep the masses pacified. Just as they did in New Orleans, the federal government can now utilize the paramilitary employees of a company such as Blackwater to replace the overt presence of the US military. Rumsfeld, Chertoff & Company demonstrated that they can deploy a domestic military presence "under the radar," enabling them to side-step potential public backlash and legal challenges.

Their Reach Is Global and They Are Not Your Average "Civilians"

Here is what Blackwater has to say about itself on its website: "We have established a global presence and provide training and operational solutions for the 21st century in support of security and peace, and freedom and democracy everywhere."

Blackwater's global presence includes Iraq, where the murder of four of their employees triggered the US military's vengeful attack on Fallujah, in which it committed heinous war crimes and atrocities against hundreds of Iraqi civilians. Why the four Blackwater contractors were near Fallujah the day of their deaths remains unclear. The corporate media, Blackwater and the US government claim that they were on security detail protecting a food delivery. However, some suggest that the claims of protecting a food caravan were a ruse to cover the fact that Blackwater employees were completing a military operation. While the facts remain unclear, it is certain that the corporate media's portrayal of the Blackwater victims as "civilian contractors" was significantly inaccurate.

According to the Revolutionary Worker, "Soon after the four U.S. "civilian contractors" died in Fallujah, it became obvious they weren't "civilians" at all. All four were trained commandos -- at least three had years of experience in elite U.S. military units. They were working for the private mercenary army called "Blackwater USA." All were heavily armed. One carried a Department of Defense ID card."

Revolutionary Worker also indicated, "Increasingly, however, the main work of Blackwater has been deploying its own mercenary army -- recruited from elite U.S. military forces (especially from Navy SEALS and Marine Recon), SWAT police forces, and international 'soldiers of fortune.' In February it started training former Chilean commandos -- some of whom served under the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet -- for use in Iraq.

"In August 2003, Blackwater was awarded a $21 million contract to supply security guards and two helicopters for Paul Bremer III, head of the U.S. occupation in Iraq. Other Blackwater operations in Iraq are merely described as full protective teams 'for any threat scenario.'"

In light of the International Convention Against the Recruitment, Use, Financing and Training of Mercenaries of 1989, the US military and Blackwater are careful to frame Blackwater's mission in Iraq as security-related, but many of their employees are former military special ops, often heavily armed and working in dangerous combat areas. One would be foolish to believe that they would not become embroiled in combat, and once they do, the question becomes, "under the Geneva Conventions, are they considered to be civilians or soldiers?"

One particular danger to Iraqi civilians is that Blackwater "security" personnel are not subject to the Uniform Code of Military Justice, so if they do commit a crime, there is very little accountability. In the past, US mercenaries committing serious crimes while on assignment in foreign nations simply lost their jobs as punishment. US military and civilian courts lacked the jurisdiction, will, or capacity to prosecute them. In 2000, the US Congress passed the Military Extraterritorial Jurisdiction Act to provide a means for punishing civilian (and perhaps mercenary) personnel assigned to the military for committing crimes in foreign nations. Unfortunately, this law has yet to make much impact.

Business as Usual: Rewards for the Elites and Risks for the Rest of Us

Blackwater offers several advantages to the Bush Regime in its imperialist endeavors. The military can lower "body counts" by employing more private contractors and fewer military personnel. Forces provided by Blackwater are less subject to congressional oversight and public scrutiny than the conventional military. The availability of "guns for hire" negates the need for a highly unpopular draft and helps fill in gaps left by military recruitment shortages. As far back as May of 2004, the number of employees deployed to Iraq by private security firms, including Blackwater, was 20,000.

Twenty-thousand is a very significant number. The US government is relying heavily on private corporations like Blackwater, which demonstrates the Bush Regime's fetish with privatization (to benefit the wealthy and corporations) even extends to military operations. Unfortunately for the American people, as is true with most privatization schemes, the cost is high to the poor and working class. A typical Blackwater contract soldier reportedly makes six figures per year. Risking their lives side by side with people making five times their salary is tough on the morale of US troops. The lure of higher salaries naturally leads to a drain of talent from the US military, particularly in special ops. While the US needs to end its imperial conquest in Iraq and scale its military down significantly, we still need a standing army (which is accountable to the representatives of the people) of qualified, well-equipped individuals to provide for the national defense. Bypassing oversight by Congress by employing private warriors, the Bush Regime is increasing its opportunities to violate the Geneva Conventions and the US Constitution it so loathes. At the same time, it exposes the American people to the dangers of the fickle loyalties of avaricious corporations and their employees.

Since it began its involvement in the Bush Regime's "War on Terror," Blackwater has been the defendant in at least two lawsuits. Family members of the four Blackwater employees killed in Fallujah are pursuing legal action against Blackwater for failure to properly equip its employees. Blackwater and its aviation subsidiary also face litigation stemming from the deaths of three US soldiers killed in a plane crash in Afghanistan.

Read the following written by Kristin Collins and draw your own conclusions about our "friends" at Blackwater:

According to the suit, the plane lacked even the most basic safety equipment. It had no global positioning system or radar. Its crew did not wear oxygen masks. And its two pilots, who had been in Afghanistan only two weeks and had never flown the route before, failed to take the basic step of filing a flight plan, leading to a delay in finding the wreckage.

That delay could have been fatal for Miller, who apparently survived the crash. When his body was found, it was clear he had gotten out of the wreckage, smoked a cigarette, pulled out a sleeping bag and tried to find shelter, said Robert Spohrer, a Florida lawyer who is representing the families.

"These contractors are certainly in a position to make a lot of money from the government," said Jeanette McMahon, whose husband, Michael, died in the crash. "But they have to take their jobs as seriously as the military."

Blackwater officials said Monday they had nothing to do with the doomed flight.

The company's lawyer, Jonathan Stern of Washington, said in a statement that the government contracted with Presidential Airways of Florida, not Blackwater, to transport troops and cargo in and around Afghanistan.

But the company's Web site says Presidential Airways is part of Blackwater's aviation services.

As you contemplate Blackwater and its relationship with the US government, consider the inherent danger and ethical conflicts involved in using public funds to engage a private corporation (which exists to generate profit) to supplement (or perhaps to supplant) the military in its role to "provide for the common defense". Alarming issues leap to mind like a panther springing upon its prey.

More frightening still, the Social Darwinists sitting atop the food chain in the wealthiest, most powerful nation in humanity's history now have access to their own paramilitary force. They can unleash their private army on the "unfittest" when the need arises, whether it be within America's borders or otherwise. New Orleans is a prime example. One hundred-fifty highly trained Blackwater quasi-military professionals, openly armed with assault weapons, descended on a tragedy-stricken city. As hurricane victims taking necessities were called "looters" and shoot to kill orders were in effect, those who value property over people saw to it that their interests were well-protected. Thankfully, Blackwater was there to protect the patrician class from the "savages" from the Lower Ninth Ward who had the audacity to attempt survival.

Blackwater is one of many symptoms of a very sick America. Thomas Paine would feel deeply ashamed of what has become of the nation he helped forge with his powerful writing.
Jason Miller is a 38-year-old activist writer with a degree in liberal arts. He works as a loan counselor in the transportation industry, and is a husband and father of three sons. His affiliations include Amnesty International and the ACLU. He welcomes responses at willpowerful@hotmail.com or comments on his blog, Thomas Paine's Corner.

Copyright © 1998-2005 Online Journal
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"Islamoids - just so you know, Hollywood is the center of all the gays, feminists, and cultural filth that you all despise. The glitterati pretend they are your friends because they hate America so much, and speak out for enemy civil liberties - but really, the place is crawling with Zionist Jews giving Israel billions and secular Jews that will one day make it a crime to beat your womenfolk for insolence. "

So, it looks like Chris Ford has no problem with terrorists murdering Americans, so long as they murder people he doesn't like. Nice to see that good old Republican value of anti-semitic genocide at work.

The current issues in the "war on terror" seem to keep tracing back to the tragic events of 9/11/01. If one is to be objective about any construct that derives itself from that, a careful excruciatingly detailed analysis of "all aspects" of what occurred before, during and after those events that day would be performed. This would be crucial for any detailed scientific analysis to be meaningful as a sound basis for policy and action. It appears that such an analysis was never done at any respectable level, rather, it was a kneejerk reaction by what appeared to be, on the surface, unparalleled incompetence of the most powerful military intelligence complex in the world. It is obvious at this point that lack of careful analysis has resulted in a continued knee jerk reaction for the past 4+ years, costing lots of money, causing more grief and very little resolution in the "war on terror". Am I surprised? No, when incompetemt people do things behind closed doors with a hidden agenda, things usually don't work out well in the long run, or certainly not "as planned". So, why is it a surprise that "those in charge" who were originally shown to be incompetent, are starting to circle the wagons as though they are protecting themselves from the same people they were hired to protect?

"Are we going to make mistakes you bet your life we will. I'm going to throw my lot in with President Bush he has a pair of stones."

Yeah...Bush's two "stones":

1. The Islamic Republic of Iran

2. The Islamic Republic of Iraq

"Stones" hanging around all of our necks.

Thank you for your column. It's nice to see a reporter reporting. The pentagon can't police itself, but heads will roll when all is said and done.

There will be a huge hearing on this. The domestic spying overreach will be the undoing of the adminsitration and all of its pet projects.

OD approvingly quotes Ben Franklin's trite 1759 platitude:

"They who would give up an essential liberty for temporary security, deserve neither liberty or security.
Ben Franklin"

OD has shown he has brains in his ability for researching and analyzing weapons systems, hopefully he will extend that one day to issues of history and national security.

Because the Franklin of 1779 was of a far different opinion than the publisher in safe, peaceful Philly in 1759.

Wartime Ben supported confiscation of Loyalist property without trial. He supported George Washington's military tribunals and commandeering of resources with payment in only worthless colonial scrip to the property owner. Franklin was silent as Loyalist presses were silenced by Revolutionary militia or mobs. Most notably, Franklin supported the arrest and imprisonment without trial of key Loyalists, including his own son Richard. Richard was imprisoned in Litchfield, which had almost a 50% death rate (so too did the British prison "hell ships" in NYC Harbor).

Franklin was a man of common sense. In war, he found his own 1759 platitude made no sense, so he moved on to a more logical position.

If only the Lefties and extreme civil liberties nuts were more like Franklin. But if they had the ability to intelligently cognate, they wouldn't be Lefties or civil liberties nuts in the 1st place.

They who would give up an essential liberty for temporary security, deserve neither liberty or security.
Ben Franklin

Bye bye USA, hello the New Prussia.
At least the new kind of American freedom should be easier to export by war. Foreign armies have been delivering this kind of freedom for millenia.

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www.onlinejournal.com
www.takingaim.info/audio

Spies warned of Tube attack

http://www.prisonplanet.com/articles/december2005/181205warned.htm

David Leppard / London Times | December 18 2005

SPYMASTERS warned Tony Blair before the July 7 suicide bombings that Al-Qaeda was planning a "high priority" attack specifically aimed at the London Tube.

A leaked four-page report by the Joint Intelligence Committee (JIC), which oversees all spying, is the first definitive evidence that the intelligence services expected terrorists to strike at the Underground.

The disclosure will fuel critics' suspicions that Blair decided to rule out a public inquiry into the bombings last week because it could expose intelligence failings at the highest level.

The document, marked Top Secret and signed off by the heads of MI5, MI6 and GCHQ, the government eavesdropping centre, was based partly on the interrogation of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, Al-Qaeda's then operations chief.

It stated: "The UK and its interests remain high in Al-Qaeda's priorities . . . Plans have been considered to attack Heathrow, the London Underground and other targets."

Ministers and senior security officials have insisted that there was no warning of an imminent attack ahead of the July 7 bombings, in which 56 people died.

While technically true, the leaked document dated April, 2003, will be seized on by critics to show that ministers failed to disclose that they knew Al-Qaeda was targeting the Tube.

A statement in September 2003 by the prime minister and Sir John Stevens, the then Metropolitan police commissioner, that a suicide attack was "inevitable", did not name the Tube as a specific target.

The performance of MI5 has already been criticised because it lost track of Mohammad Sidique Khan, leader of the suicide gang, whom it placed under temporary surveillance 18 months before the bombings.

Officers judged that Khan was not an immediate threat to national security and decided to stop monitoring him.

Blair ruled out a public inquiry on the grounds that it would detract from the investigation into the July 7 bombs and the failed July 21 attacks.

The report dated April 2, 2003 is entitled International Terrorism: The Current Threat from Islamic Extremists. Mohammed, who organised the 9/11 attacks, had been arrested in Pakistan the previous month.
In a key passage it states: "The UK and its interests remain high in Al-Qaeda's priorities. Interrogation of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and other detainees confirms this.

"It shows that plans have been considered to attack Heathrow, the London Underground and other targets."

The report adds that terrorist suspects with links to east Africa are under surveillance.

"We do not yet know the full nature of their activity, but they do not appear to be planning attacks here (some were questioned by the police)."

Five men have been charged over the July 21 attacks. Four of them came from either Ethiopia, Eritrea or Somalia.

JIC documents are circulated to a small group of senior ministers. These include the home secretary, the foreign secretary and defence secretary as well as top civil servants in Whitehall.

The Tories demanded the government publish the whole JIC document and disclose what other intelligence there had been about threats to the Tube. Patrick Mercer, the party's homeland security spokesman, said: "This leak underlines our demand for an independent inquiry."

The police would consider shooting civilians to prevent contaminated people leaving a cordoned-off area in a radiological, biological, nuclear or chemical attack, Chris Fox, president of the Association of Chief Police Officers, has said.

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Official: Voting machines hacked

http://www.guerrillanews.com/headlines/6626/Official_Voting_machines_hacked

Fri, 16 Dec 2005 11:38:16 -0800Summary:
The interesting part is "some." Yes, Diebold made, of course. I did not know Diebold also made optical scanning machines used in some elections. However I did recall a number of news stories appearing with problems with results from optical scanning systems, as well as questions about their now infamous touch-screen voting machines. Naturally the American Government in Exile will be the first to congratulate John Kerry on his election as the 43rd president of the United States, succeeding President Al Gore.

[Posted By alexander]
By AP
Republished from Daytona Beach News Journal
Would that mean we would be stuck with Kerry instead?
TALLAHASSEE--Tests show some Diebold voting machines used in Florida and elsewhere around the nation can be hacked by election office insiders to change results, Leon County Supervisor of Elections Ion Sancho charged Thursday.

Sancho said the tests on optical machines that scan paper ballots, conducted for his office and a monitoring group, also indicated they can be manipulated without leaving any evidence of tampering.

"This is not supposed to be possible," Sancho said. "We did it."

Diebold spokesman David Bear discounted the tests as unrealistic because they bypassed normal security procedures.

"If I gave you the keys to my house and I turned off the alarm and told you when I wasn't going to be home, I don't doubt you can get into my house," Bear said. "But is that going to have any effect on the election? Absolutely not."

The Ohio-based company has been criticized for its connections to President Bush, whose brother, Jeb Bush, is Florida's governor.

Florida Acting Secretary of State David Mann said he couldn't comment on specifics because his department wasn't invited to participate in the testing but that he was confident in the state's process of certifying voting machines.

Sancho, however, said the tests show the certification process is flawed and that the Department of State refused to act when initial tests earlier this year showed the machines' memory cards could be hacked.

He was unable then, however, to test if altered results on the cards could be uploaded into his mainframe computer because he was afraid it might be contaminated. He said he performed the upload this week only after county commissioners approved his request to buy a new optical scan system from another company.

The hacked results transferred into the mainframe although Diebold had contended its software would prevent that, Sancho said.

Mann said he would like to discuss the tests with Sancho but it was up to the supervisor to ask for state involvement as decisions on what systems to use rest with supervisors.

Sancho said he would bypass the Department of State and seek changes in the certification process by taking his results to the Florida Legislature.

Mann also noted, and Sancho acknowledged, all attempts to hack into the system from the outside failed.

Bear said the tests were unrealistic because polling places and vote-counting centers are filled with observers, including representatives of both major political parties, who are watching for such tampering. Sancho said the system could be hacked by an elections staffer or technician beforehand to produce faulty results.

The tests involved optical-scan machines that use paper ballots voters mark with pencils. The ballots are fed into scanners that record the results onto the memory cards, which are then tabulated by a central computer. Some critics prefer the machines because any discrepancies can be accounted for by recounting the paper ballots.

Most of the debate over voting machines in Florida has focused on touch-screen computer systems because the state doesn't require that they also spit out paper records that can be counted by hand if needed.

That makes Sancho's tests somewhat ironic, Bear said.

"Now we're not trusting paper," he said. "Somebody could also steal the pencil and then you couldn't mark the ballot."

Paper ballots are examined only during a recount triggered when results are very close, Sancho said. He said they would never come into play if an election thief made sure the difference was larger.

One test was conducted for Sancho's office and the nonprofit election-monitoring group BlackBoxVoting.org by Herbert Thompson, a computer-science professor and strategist at Security Innovation, which tests software for companies such as Google and Microsoft. Another test was done by Finnish computer expert Harri Hursti.

After BlackBox and Sancho announced the results in May, Diebold's senior lawyer, Michael Lindroos, sent a letter to Sancho that questioned the results and called the test "a very foolish and irresponsible act" that may have violated licensing agreements.

In 2003, Diebold's then-CEO Walden W. O'Dell invited people to a fundraiser for President Bush with a letter stating he planned to help "Ohio deliver its electoral votes to the president." Ohio turned out to be the state that clinched Bush's re-election in 2004.

The company since has prohibited top executives from making political contributions.

Diebold supplies optical-scan voting systems to 29 Florida counties and touch-screen machines to one.

hallelujah - Our government is doing something positive Maybe we can accomplish something. Arkin is sitting in his study in the woods of Vermont writing books and articles wringing his hands with a good dose of that left-over paranoia from the 70's. His soulmates are agonizing over who is going to get access to their Library records. Arkin's law enforcement philosophy and ideas are obselete and designed to combat criminals not terrorists. Are we going to make mistakes you bet your life we will. I'm going to throw my lot in with President Bush he has a pair of stones.

Regards
Bob Cerra

"Actually, John,you appear to be the idiot: our founding fathers were quite clear as to the limited role of the military-to protect us from foreign threats. It is the job of local, state and Federal law enforcement agencies to protect us (including military personnel and installations) from internal threats, if there were any."

Actually, Rob, they weren't. From the earliest days, the military dealt with internal threats - Loyalists, Shays Rebellion, hostile Indians...then the Civil War, and so on...

That is why every member of the Armed Forces takes an oath to protect America against all enemies, foreign AND domestic. The idea that the military's job is only past our Borders is ludicrous.

The failure of the cops 'n lawyers approach, only becoming involved after a "crime" was committed by enemy combatants - is what got us to 9/11.

The military has long had a lead or major role in quelling domestic threats such as city riots, and disasters - natural and man-made.

Similarly, it isn't the job of local, state, or federal cops to protect military installations. The military does it itself, or contracts out to private security. Lethal force is authorized for force protection and for public safety. Yes, Dorothy, those guns you see on a military base are not just for show! When possible, though the military would much prefer locals or state cops, or the National Guard shooting the bad guys - because the paperwork is easier for a cop or Guardsman who makes use of lethal force against a civilian or an unlawful enemy combatant out of uniform.

I think the country would be much happier if we allowed the military to protect civilians where the military is liked and respected - and leave San Francisco, much of New England, most Jewish neighborhoods, and NYC undefended by the US military. The former would be happy with this arrangement, so too would the latter until another 9/11 hits them...

"As a former MI Officer, you of all people should know that this is a new world, with new threats - very real ones, and that not all of them originate from outside our borders."

Yeah, that's why the DHS has excuded extreme rightwing groups from its watchlist. Remember a guy called McVeigh ? What about Robert Jay Mathews ? We're oh so concerned about the threats, much like we were about securing Saddam's existing WMD's. What a bloody rip-off this whole "war on terror" scam job is. When are people going to f***ing wake up and start taking responsiblility for their tax dollars at work. Bullets bought and paid for by *your* money are being used to shoot Iraqis in the face and kill Palestinian children. Boycott Christmas if you have a soul left for saving.

I wonder how much of these torture and surveillance  'revelations' coming out of WaPo are all just so much Operation Mockingbird Psyops:

Mock (yeah)
ing (yeah)
bird (yeah)
yeah (yeah)
Mockin'bird, now

Everybody have you heard
He's gonna buy me a mockingbird
And if that mockingbird don't sing
He's gonna buy me a diamond ring
And if that diamond ring won't shine
He's gonna surely break this heart of mine
And that's why I keep on tellin' everybody
Say yeah, yeah whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, uh, oh

Hear me now and understand
He's gonna find me some piece of mind
And if that piece of mind won't stay
I'm gonna find myself a better way
And if that better way ain't so
I'll ride with the tide and go with the flow
And that's why I keep on shoutin' in your ear
Say yeah, yeah whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, uh, oh

Now, everybody have you heard
She's gonna buy me a mockingbird
Yeah if that mockingbird don't sing
She's gonna buy me a diamond ring
And if that diamond ring won't shine
Yes, it'll surely break this heart of mine

Carly Simon and James Taylor - MOCKINGBIRD Lyrics

Kathy M, dingbat posts like that are proof that the 19th Amendment was a big mistake and should be repealed immediately.

Re:John's "You are an idiot..." post.

Actually, John,you appear to be the idiot: our founding fathers were quite clear as to the limited role of the military-to protect us from foreign threats. It is the job of local, state and Federal law enforcement agencies to protect us (including military personnel and installations) from internal threats, if there were any.

And no, this is NOT a different world just because a handful of (foreign) religious lunatics committed an atrocity. It's the same old world with the same old threats from pretty much the same old sources, including the delusional paranoids who always take such opportunities to insist that the enemy is us.

Has it occured to any of the great thinkers that America may have been Bushwhacked by a Bushmaster?

America today is so consumed with fear that we'll do and permit anything. Until we decide not to be afraid, our freedoms and laws will continue to be dismantled. Of course, if we'd gone after the terrorists rather than launch this Iraq crusade, we'd be a lot safer. Then again, Bush wouldn't be able to keep us under his thumb.

Arkin, you're an idiot. As a former MI Officer, you of all people should know that this is a new world, with new threats - very real ones, and that not all of them originate from outside our borders. You act as if the Department of Defense doesn't have the responsibility to protect DoD facilities, personnel and assets from attacks that could possibly cripple this great country of ours. I'm sure you'll be the first one to jump up and rail against the DoD's lack of aggressiveness when the next attack on U.S. soil occurs. These agencies are simply executing the directives given by DoD, as recommended in both the 9-11 Commission and the WMD reports. Any member of Congress that claims not to have knowledge of the recommendations in those reports is either a liar or incompetent. Any credible reporter would also have read those documents before writing tripe that is full of half-truths and inflammatory rhetoric. Your writings smack of a disgruntled failed intelligence officer with an axe to grind. I am embarrassed for both you and for the Post for allowing you a forum to wage a personal attack against men and women that are trying, against all odds, to protect us all from an unseen enemy.

Dano, huh? As in "'book 'em Dano' and don't forget the damn Quakers"? West Hollywood has something in common with Ft.Benning - their young people are at risk of dying for no other reason than that we have a bunch of lying, psychopathic
radicals in power. As for "Amurca" doing more "for the rest of the world", I'm thinking of the people of Guatemala & Iran who had their liberal democracies overthrown in 1954 by the CIA & replaced by decades of blood-soaked oppression & corruption. We've never met a dictator who claimed to be anti-communist we wouldn't suck up to, Saddam included. I'll be glad when this country matures & realizes it is just another country.

Having derided those whose views he does not share in offensive, derogatory language ("Euro-weenies"), the bigot William Arkin will no doubt find some other slur with which to label those whose views do not match his own here.

Robert in West Hollywood makes me think...If the Islamoids hit us again, if it HAS to happen in some place, please, please let it be Hollywood!!

Islamoids - just so you know, Hollywood is the center of all the gays, feminists, and cultural filth that you all despise. The glitterati pretend they are your friends because they hate America so much, and speak out for enemy civil liberties - but really, the place is crawling with Zionist Jews giving Israel billions and secular Jews that will one day make it a crime to beat your womenfolk for insolence.

Allah offers a double your Virgins in Paradise special if you smite the nest of evil. 144 Virgins. A dozen dozen, half fair-skinned!!!

PS. Don't forget San Francisco, the gay Mecca, and the den of Jewish finance - NYC! And Allah has a special on killing ACLU members that are currently going after Christmas, but may target the Haj soon - an eternal supply of all the alcohol and drugs you can use in Paradise! The ACLU says they are your best friends, but they are sly liars!

Robert in West Hollywood huh? I guess that says it all. A "Fascistic Christian Theocratic Authoritarian Police State"? Did you think of that all by yourself? I'll bet that took you all day. If you only knew how foolish these immature rantings of yours sounded to most of us you would probabily break your keyboard in embarrassment. Amerca has done more for the rest of the world in the last one hundred years than all of the other countries in the rest of the world have done for each other in the history of the world. I'll be glad when you get a little older and become mature enought to appreciate the fact that even though the US has some minor problems that need to be resolved, you still live in the greatest country in the history of the world.

What I find highly telling is who "is" and "is not" actually considered a threat by the DOD. Quakers, avowed pacifists, are considered a threat. Gay groups are considered a threat. Mothers of fallen soldiers protesting against the war are considered a threat. Peace activists are considered a threat. Immigrants rights groups are considered a threat. Is this list starting to sound familiar to anyone? It should, it's the same list of groups that the Republican Party also considers to be a "threat" to our nations future. Is this a coincidence? If you believe it is I've got a bridge in Brooklyn you might be interested in buying. In other words, a coincidence it is not.

Domestic spying on citizens by the US Military is disturbing and wrong under any circumstances and highly reflective of Neo-Con paranoia and their self-inflated Christian Dominionist agenda. This case of domestic spying is only the latest piece of evidence in a mounting portfolio of evidence, that when taken together, can be viewed in no other way than as the intentional, incremental subversion of our Constitutional Democracy in favor of the installation of a Fascistic Christian Theocratic Authoritarian Police State. It's time for the "rational" majority of US Citizens to take back their government and marginalize these fanatics back into their basements across America to spend their time red lining books for "obscenities," lusting for authoritarian rule and dreaming of the days when they had managed to deceive people into believing they had only the best intentions.

If you look at Che's other posts, you see that globalq is another internet handle he goes by. So it is fun to read Che praising Che and urging Che/globalq not be banned for refusing to link and instead posting full copyrighted articles...

"It is good to hear a balanced view, I have gotten subtantial learnng from the che postings to understand the issues. Recommended removal of these posts smacks of editing of what one does not want to hear. If anyone does not want to read his postings, well...... dont!

Posted by: globalq"

The problem Che/globalq, is your pattern of SPAMMING off-topic crap in toto on other blogs because no one visits your own blog. But you violate copyright law everytime you post as well as misuse bandwith by not simply summarizing then linking an article..It's gotten you banned from other forums and will eventually get you banned here for visting every WP blog and trying to slap your purloined daily shit on every thread.

PS If the military is conducting domestic surveillance, what kind of file do you think they keep on people who read/post on Arkin's Early Warning blog??

Hey , Arkin, ever heard the term "agent provocateur"??
heh heh

Why does no one mention the leadership of the National Rifle Association? As a long time member, I've been hit up for money by the leadership year after year, in order to protect the right to keep firearms --the rationale being that some time in the distant future, a dictator might arise who would have to be resisted by force of arms.

So what happens? The NRA helps install a Republican Congress, A Republican President, and a Republican Supreme Court. Suddenly, our 1000 year old right to habeas corpus and trial by jury is scrapped. Our Attorney General crafts a bunch of elegent sophistry claiming the Executive Branch can torture "enemy combatants " --anyone seeing Gonzales making a distinction between foreigners and US citizens? And the Executive Branch is spending hundreds of Billions of our tax dollars to build a massive system of oppression. Spy cameras are sprouting up everywhere and the Patriot Act is supporting extensive domestic surveillance.

It seems to me that the dictatorship the NRA leadership was always so concerned about is being created. And what do they do? Nothing.

Well, they have stopped talking about "jack booted thugs". They have stopped waving firearms in the air and chanting "from my cold dead hands".

I guess it's easy to shoot off your mouth while liquored up on Saturday night but
cold reality --the prospect of acting on their rhetoric -- seems to have turned the NRA leadership into a bunch of cowards. Sober cowards.

What's interesting is that firearms play a small part in any real insurgency. The real threat to government power at those guns shows was not dealers selling registered firearms --which can be confiscated at any time.

Rather, it was the dealers using the First Amendment --not the Second -- to sell books like the US Army Technical Manual "Improvised Munitions Handbook".
Or the Army manual on boobytraps and sniping.

Bush's rants against terrorists seems ironical when you realize that the federal government itself has written some of the best handbooks for terrorists --excuse me, for "freedom fighters".

I can understand why the NRA leadership decided to cut and run. If you look at the rural right wing grassroots, you see some of the most ignorant people on the planet. People too stupid to realize that Bush and the Republicans are giving the superrich huge tax cuts by stealing $4 Trillion from the Social Security/Medicare accounts of those grassroot supporters.

Not very promising material for revolutionaries. Some people are just born to be screwed.

I find myself agreeing with this blog in general. But then again, let's say I am exercising my constitutional rights and engaging in a protest on say, July 4th and some "domestic spy type" decides me and my group are "not a threat". Does the 90 day rule mean that I we protest on September 4th that the 90 days will begin again and its possible a semi-active activist would always be in a/the database? Or alternatively, if I wait until October 10th to do my next exercise of my rights on another protest, that the next later "domestic spy type" has to reinvent the wheel, that is go through again whatever malarky they go through to determine that "we" are "not a threat".

I'm not so sure these guys are good enough bureacrats to follow the rules.

william wrote:
"Threat is what drives every military mission, and in the case of "force protection," that is, the actions needed to protest Defense Department installations, persons, and interests, the threat demands not just more guards and better fences and more cooperation between the military and law enforcement agencies." I believe he meant to say "protect", not "protest". The sentence doesn't make sense as written.

The intelligence folks are trying to do a job. I intend to do mine--which is anything I want to do or say. I expect them to do their--stay out of my way. If there's something I don't want people to know, I'll make sure that they don't know it. The answer to what "they" are doing is for "us" to do what's our right. So they have a file on me. Big deal. I have a file on them. I know that columnists have to write about this issue in order to keep their income, and that's their right. It's the resonsibility of citizens to be smart enough to discount the ravings of the media by balancing biases and trusting them as much as they trust politicians to tell the truth. Duh. So this is a blog, huh?

It is good to hear a balanced view, I have gotten subtantial learnng from the che postings to understand the issues. Recommended removal of these posts smacks of editing of what one does not want to hear. If anyone does not want to read his postings, well...... dont!

Will somebody hurry up and give Bush a blow job so we can get on and impeach him.

I stole this line.

Sorry about the double posting - I'm new at this

The 90 day limit can be found in DoD Regulation 5240.1-R (Procedures Governing the Activities of DoD Intelligence Components That Affect United States Persons).

The DoD office responsible for these matters is the Assistant to the Secretary of Defense for Intelligence Oversight. He has a website at:
http://www.dod.mil/atsdio/

I uppose the question then becomes: if we become the threat, if we become the enemy...what will the military do to end the threat? Stop the enemy? Destroy us? Contain us? Arrest us?

The 90 day limit can be found in DoD Regulation 5240.1-R (Procedures Governing the Activities of DoD Intelligence Components That Affect United States Persons).

The DoD office responsible for these matters is the Assistant to the Secretary of Defense for Intelligence Oversight. He has a website at:
http://www.dod.mil/atsdio/

Thank you for exposing this story. I hope the exploration goes farther and people are held accountable for these ridiculous actions.

I propose that if the anti-terrorist groups really want to find things that are hurting Americans, they go the the halls of Congress where the priorities are taking care of the rich and wealthy, while starving and slowly killing the poor and middle classes of this country. If anything is anti-American, it is the way our politicians are not governing for all, but rather for a very few.

Or perhaps, instead of what seems like an attack on perceived "leftist" or other activist groups, worry about the only protestors and such groups in recent histroy to have actually committed and condoned acts of terrorism, that is, those who seek to harm abortion clinics and have done so in the past.

Someday this country will get its priorities straight, and someday perhaps we'll move past the McCarthy era times we're drifting back in to.

Thanks again for the coverage on this issue.

How long is it going to take the Post to block "Che" from spamming the comments section? What a complete tool.

otherside123.blogspot.com
www.onlinejournal.com
www.takingaim.info/audio

What will it take to impeach the whole Bush regime?
By Bev Conover
Online Journal Editor & Publisher

Dec 14, 2005, 01:35

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Doug Thompson, the founder and publisher of Capitol Hill Blue, set off a firestorm last week when he reported that George W. Bush called the US Constitution, which he twice took an oath to "preserve, protect and defend," "just a goddamned piece of paper" -- which ought to be the final straw in bringing about his impeachment, conviction and removal from office.

Now Thompson, expressing surprise about the public's anger over Bush's remark, says he doesn't see it as an impeachable offense. Said Thompson, "He's not the first president to consider the Constitution an expendable document and he won't be the last. Most presidents have complained that the Constitution gets in their way."

To bolster his case, Thompson cited President Theodore Roosevelt who wanted to send the Marines to North Africa rescue Ion Perdicaris, who had been kidnapped by a band of Berbers intent on extracting a large ransom from the sultan of Morocco. When informed by his secretary of state that "such an act would be unconstitutional," Thompson said, "Teddy snapped back: 'Why destroy the beauty of the act with legalities?"

Aside from the fact that two wrongs don't make a right, how Teddy Roosevelt's remark equates with calling the constitution "just a goddamned piece of paper" escapes us. Thompson may wish to play apologist in saying he only reported the remark, after verifying it from two additional sources, as another example of Bush's increasing temper tantrums, to lessen the heat he is taking from both sides. How, though, does that serve the country that the Bush regime is turning into a militaristic police state?

Given that Bush is at the center of two stolen elections, the "new Pearl Harbor" of September 11, 2001, the USA PATRIOT Act, illegal wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, the torturing of war prisoners and those he has deemed "enemy combatants," the lies he and his cohorts told to launch their wars and the lies they keep telling to keep their wars going, a destroyed US economy, and more scandals and corruption than Carter has little liver pills, and now the slap in the face that the constitution is "just a goddamned piece of paper," what constitutes and impeachable offense? Is only oral sex in the Oval Office and/or lying about it impeachable?

What will Thompson say if between November 4, 2008, and January 20, 2009, Bush totally casts aside that "goddamned piece of paper" and announces he isn't giving up the presidency or perhaps he calls off another rigged election to put a successor clone in office and simply declares himself "president for life?"

Ironically, Thompson has joined with those of us -- the noted psychiatrist, Dr. Justin A. Frank; Mark Crispin Miller, Mike Hersh, Jerry Mazza and yours truly, among others -- who have pointed out that Bush is a paranoid psychopath who isn't playing with a full deck. (See Thompson's Bush's Increasing Mental Lapses and Temper Tantrums Worry White House Aides and Avoiding Detection at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.)

Arianna Huffington took a similar weak-kneed approach in her blog Monday, in which she started off by saying Bush's "fanaticism is a scary prospect for the country."

She noted, "The latest issues of both Time and Newsweek paint a portrait of an isolated president detached from the reality of all that is going on around him. Nothing seems to be penetrating -- not the rising death toll, not his depressed poll numbers, not the continuing revelations about the deceptions his administration used to lead us to war. Not even the growing skepticism about the war being expressed within his own party."

"And today's speech," she wrote in reference to the one he gave in Philadelphia, "showed that it might be even worse than we think. Bush came across as a true believer who refuses to let little things like facts get in the way -- a zealot who has utterly convinced himself that fighting on (and on and on) in Iraq is the right thing for America and the world."

But did the Huff step up to the plate on which Thompson refused to tread? No. Her solution was to tell the gutless Democrats "to stop waiting for Bush to do the political math, and start offering their full-throated support to Jack Murtha."

Her final paragraph started off with a glimmer of hope, when she wrote, "And Republicans, particularly those concerned about getting their clocks cleaned in '06, need to take a page from the Watergate years, and send a delegation of party leaders -- pick those not currently under indictment -- up to the White House to tell the president that the jig is up. In 1974, GOP leaders, including Barry Goldwater and Hugh Scott, convinced Nixon that it was time for him to get out of Washington." Then it came crashing down with, "The question is, will anyone be able to convince George Bush that it's time for us to get out of Iraq?"

Say what? She just expended 836 words telling us he ain't gonna get out of Iraq and that knowing what he knows today, he would do it all over again. Yet, she expects the Republican leadership that is growing fat on Bush's illegal wars, criminal tax cuts and economic mess to march into the White House and tell him to get out of Iraq. Talk about delusional.

If we want to reclaim what is left of America and our freedoms, we must demand that the whole Bush regime be impeached by the House, convicted by the Senate and turned over to civil authorities for prosecution of their crimes. Three more years of the Busheviks is a recipe for more disaster at home and abroad.

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Where are the historians? We went through all of this domestic spying back in the 60s and 70s and laws were passed to prevent its abuse. Then the Patriot Act comes in as "needed" after 9/11, wipes those laws off the books and now we're wondering how we got to this state of affairs. I know there are historians out there. Maybe the Pentagon and White House should employee them to let them know that they are repeating a sad chapter in American history.

It wouldn't hurt the Post to hire a few historians as well. I've been waiting for the Post to even mention the Swine Flu debacle of 1976 when they report on government efforts to prepare for the "Avian Flu epidemic". But nothing so far. We all know we can learn the hard lessons of history, but the government and press don't like to go back more than 10 years.

Bill:

Where is the 90-day limit found? Is it in a memo from the 1980s? Not arguing, just interested.

Thanks.